Steel Mill Pictures, Logie Pictures, Altitude Film Entertainment,

James McAvoy, Imogen Poots, Jamie Bell, Joanne Froggatt, Eddie Marsan, Jim Broadbent, Shirley Henderson, Emun Elliott, Iain De Caestecker, Pollyanna McIntosh

Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy) is a rude, obnoxious, racist, cop who is in line for promotion. He’s set his mind on getting it at all costs. He sets his partners against each other and plays one against the other. When a major murder case comes along, he sees it as his chance to seal the promotion. He uses every trick in the book, setting up his fellow officers at every turn. But Bruce has some serious demons, among them, alcohol, drugs, and kinky sex. But he’s obviously quickly losing his sanity and his whole purpose it to try to reunite his family, but it’s obvious that things run a lot deeper than that as he descends into madness.

James McAvoy does an awesome job in this extremely difficult role. This film is very disjointed, giving us a feeling of the madness that Bruce is getting deeper and deeper sucked into. For that reason, a lot of people looking for a light comedy are turned off completely. This is a very dark movie, and I am not sure how it’s billed as a comedy, as there is very little funny going on here. The last five minutes of the film bring it all home with an unexpected ending, and it’s probably worth sitting through this just for the ending. Basically it’s a movie about insanity and as such it’s very hard to follow. Obviously some of the characters and situations are easily identified as something going on in his mind, but at the same time, all the way through we’re not really sure what’s real and what’s insanity. Bruce actually is a nice guy caught up in the mistakes he’s made and the inner demons he’s nursing his way through. Many people have stated that they absolutely hated this film, and I can understand that. I read a review where a guy suggested if after 20 minutes you hate this movie, don’t hang in there waiting for it to get better, as it’s very similar all the way through. Don’t expect laughs and light banter. This is one of the darkest films I’ve seen in a long time. Yet I am not disappointed that I watched it, as I felt I got a lot out of it, mostly due to James McAvoy’s awesome acting ability. This is not mainstream movie for sure, but it’s a fringe feature with a lot of interesting stuff going on.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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LD Entertainment, Exclusive Media Group, Pioneer Pictures,

Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, Tom Felton, Jessica Lange, Shirley Henderson, Matt Lucas, Mackenzie Crook, John Kavanagh

Therese (Elizabeth Olsen) is in a loveless arranged marriage with her cousin Camille (Tom Felton). Camille is sickly and has no affection to show for Terese. But when his old friend Laurent (Oscar Issac) comes to visit Terese quickly falls in love with him as he’s got all the things she wished for in a lover. But Camille’s mother (Jessica Lange) is watching her like a hawk, and when tragedy strikes, things go from bad to worse.

This is a period drama created from the novel by Emile Zola, and has a great cast. The story is like many of the other novels of the era, but in some ways is a more interesting story. We really can hardly blame any of the characters in this story. It’s one of those things that was bound to happen. The old saying “Be careful what you wish for as you just might get it” really applies to this story. Lust and passion lead to tragedy and regret as it often does. Once we obtain what we think we wanted, we often find that we don’t want it quite that much. Jessica Lange is really excellent in this story as she plays the overbearing mother that has turned Camille into a real mama’s boy. But Elizabeth Olsen also nails her part as a flitty and light minded girl, not quite grown up who’s forced to grow up in a hurry. There is a lot of tragedy, but it’s a good romance story and the period costumes are really well done. All in all it’s a decent movie with a relatively unknown (at least lesser known) story that makes it fun to watch. I usually do not like movies like this, but I have to admin it was happy to sit through this one. I had my reservations about a Gothic novel, but I was happy that I did. I got myself a little bit of culture at the same time!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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HCC Media Group, Nutcracker Holdings, Russian Roulette Ltd.

Elle Fanning, Nathan Lane, John Turturro, Frances de la Tour, Richard E. Grant, Yuliya Vysotskaya, Shirley Henderson, Aaron Michael Drozin, Charlie Rowe, Peter Elliott

Note: This film in theaters was called “The Nutcracker in 3D” and is often referenced by that title. When it was released on DVD, it was NOT a 3D movie, so the title was changed to “The Nutcracker the Untold Story”. If you seek the DVD look for the alternate title although both are often referenced.

This is a very fanciful telling of the “story” of The Nutcracker without the ballet part. It’s fanciful and very imaginative, but it it is NOT the ballet. Let’s start with that upfront. This is the story of Mary (Elle Fanning) in a wonderful house with a bratty little brother Max (Aaron Michael Drozin) who drives her nuts, and two loving parents who are so distracted by their own lives that she is mostly lonely and neglected. On a big night out, Uncle Albert (Nathan Lane) arrives to babysit bringing a wonderful mechanical doll house filled with amazing dolls, and of course, a nutcracker which Max breaks almost immediately. Mary’s imagination takes off and brings the Nutcracker to life and all the other characters from the doll house. However, the Rat King (John Turturro) wants to take over the world of humans and turn it into a rat kingdom. He’s a bad guy, so Mary and NC (which the Nutcracker Prince prefers to be called) have to fight with all their might to turn back the Rat King’s plans.

This is a very bizarre story, and one that a lot of people hated. First, it’s a little bit dark and scary as the rat people look like evil “Whovians” from The Grinch! They’re a bit nasty toward the end, and act like Nazi’s, which might scare the under 10 crowd a little bit. Also, it’s not very believable. How many fantasy dream sequences are though? I’ve dreamed I can fly before, and it’s not very believable when you wake up. It’s also got the music of Tchaikovsky filled with lyrics which are a little bit strange to hear. But the thing is that this is a work of art. I wish I had seen it in 3D. It had it’s share of magical moments. I didn’t like the rats very much, but I guess that’s the point. The first part of the movie was certainly better than the latter part with the War of the Rats, but it had to go somewhere.

Don’t expect a traditional Nutcracker performance, and go into this with an open mind expecting that anything can happen, and you will probably not be disappointed. It’s out there, for sure, but it was fun to watch. I think they did a good job on it, and I liked it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Evenstar Films, Film Science, Harmony Productions

Paul Dano, Bruce Greenwood, Shirley Henderson, Neal Huff, Zoe Kazan, Tommy Nelson, Will Patton, Rod Rondeaux, Michelle Williams

The year is 1845 and a group of settlers are travelling the Oregon Trail. They’ve hired Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) to lead them. Meek says he’s familiar with the area and knows a shortcut across the Cascade Mountains. Taking an unmarked trail, and blazing it most of the way, Meek gets them into a lot of trouble. The become horribly lost, and many people died as a result of a lack of water and the extreme hardship of the trail. As things become worse, a native american crosses their pass, and since Meek has proven to be unreliable, the men are considering trusting the Native American to be their guide and help them find water. But the Native Americans are fierce warriors and enemies of the people and they’re not sure who to trust. Based on a true story, this is the story of some of the first pioneers to cross the Oregon Trail.

This is a western adventure. It should have been much better, but there are several problems. First is the historical accuracy of the story. The travelers are very cruel and mean to the guide. There is no indication that this was the case. Also it builds to a very anticlimactic and abrupt ending which is not warranted. There is a bit more to the story that should have been told and there should have been an ending. There is a point where one of the boys discovers some gold. This is what has been come to be knwn as the Blue Bucket Lost Mine. For years afterward people tried to rediscover this location that was filled with gold, but it has never been found. In order to learn of the history, you have to look outside the film. There is only a single scene here that is never revisited, but it was one of the great mysteries of the trip across the mountains.

That being said, it’s not all bad. The scenery is beautiful and the acting is certainly acceptable. It’s a good western adventure and worth watching. But be sure to look up the facts of Meek’s Cutoff and the history of these people for the background of the story. It’s a fascinating story. The movie is relatively exciting, and fun to watch, and it got me interested in studying more about the events of the story. Decent adventure and well worth my time.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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