Ed's Review Dot Com

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Regency Enterprises,

Claire Foy, Sverrir Gudnason, Lakeith Lee Stanfield, Sylvia Hoeks, Stephen Merchant, Claes Bang, Cameron Britton, Vicky Krieps, Synnøve Macody Lund

Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) is a hacker who is hired by a computer programmer to retrieve a program called Firefall, a program which is capable of accessing all the world’s nuclear codes. Frans Balder (Stephen Merchant), the programmer, wrote the program, but now feels it is too dangerous to have out there. Lisbeth is able to retrieve the program, but they are unable to unlock it. Once the program is stolen by Jan Holtser (Claes Bang) a mercenary steals the program and then the chase is on to recover it, providing they don’t die in the process in this high adventure chase story.

If there ever was a movie who’s trailer has nothing to do with the actual movie, this is it. I saw the trailer in the theater a number of times and it looked like a good story, but when I actually got to watch this DVD, I found myself totally lost in this movie. I didn’t ever really catch up and found it really confusing. There a lot of major problems in the story, and the technology of how the program has be retrieved really doesn’t make any sense. The whole premise is real strange. I just really did not get into this movie, and I just didn’t really enjoy it. I don’t recommend this movie. It just had nothing interesting in it to make it worth the time. I suggest you skip this one.

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3311 Productions, 21 Laps Entertainment, Story Ink,

Anna Kendrick, Craig Robinson, June Squibb, Lisa Kudrow, Stephen Merchant, Tony Revolori, Wyatt Russell, Maria Thayer, Thomas Cocquerel

Four friends are planning a wedding. Eloise (Anna Kendrick) is set to be Maid of Honor for her Boyfriend’s brother who is the Groom, and her good friend who is the Bride. But just weeks before the wedding, her boyfriend breaks up with her via text. Heartbroken, she is staring at the invitation and trying to decide whether to go or not. Finally she decides to show up, but she finds she’s been relegated to “Table 19”, the worst table in the house kept for those who don’t matter. When the wedding day arrives, Eloise gets a chance to meet the other “losers” who were sent to Table 19. Most of them don’t realize their lack of status, but as time passes, they find each reveal their story and each one is quite interesting. Meanwhile, things get rather sticky for Eloise as her ex is there along with her former friends, but no one is interested in her. As the chips fall where they may, this group of six set forth to make as much mayhem as possible.

Anna Kendrick, as usual, does a really good job in this film. Some of the other guest at Table 19 are also very good. Lisa Kudrow, Craig Robinson, Margo Martindale, and more, bring a lot of back stories as to why they’re at the loser table as well. Plus there’s a little romance or two in the air that helps to move the movie along. It’s a little bit funny, there’s some clever comedy here, but it’s not the funniest movie I’ve seen. It could have been better, but at least it was interesting enough to keep me focused on the whole movie. It’s not a hysterical laugh fest, but it is kind of cute and is worth watching. I enjoyed it, so if you’re looking for a little romantic comedy, this reminded me of some classic sit-coms on TV and so it’s harmless fun.

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StudioCanal, Anton Capital Entertainment (ACE), Starcrossed Films,

Rose Byrne, Rafe Spall, Anna Faris, Simon Baker, Stephen Merchant, Minnie Driver, Jason Flemyng, Jane Asher, Terence Harvey, Nigel Planer

Nat (Rose Byrne) and Josh (Rafe Spall) are newlyweds. They have a true fairy tale wedding and start off with high hopes, but their marriage starts to crumble almost immediately. Both insist on making a go at it, but both are tempted by others. As the one year anniversary arrives, they decide to stay together, but it’s questionable as to whether they will make it or if one, or both of them will blow it as the grass is always greener on the other side.

This is a cleverly done romantic comedy about coincidence and definitely about star-crossed lovers, that’s for sure. Do we have the right to go after real happiness, or should we stick with what we have committed to, and make the best of our promises. That’s the whole subject here, and though it’s a serious premise, it’s done with a lot of humor and fun. There are so many other good actors in this film, and that adds a lot to the story as well. It’s actually a fairly clever film, and a good chick flick for sure. Here Anna Faris gives us one of her most serious performances to date. This is a far cry from the silly “Scary Movie”, “Yogi Bear”, and “House Bunny” roles. She’s very good. All in all, this is not a ground breaking blockbuster event, but it’s a nice little romantic comedy with enough cerebral matter to hold it together. The only problem I had is that the English accent is a bit hard to follow sometimes, even for an old Monty Python fan such as myself, but turn on the subtitles as they swallow a lot of their lines. Aside from that it’s not a bad job at all, actually, and if you’re in the mood for a decent romantic-comedy, you can do far worse than “I Give It a Year”.

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Relativity Media, Virgin Produced, GreeneStreet Films,

Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Jeremy Allen White, Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, Kieran Culkin, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Justin Long, Leslie Bibb, Uma Thurman, Kristen Bell, Bobby Cannavale, John Hodgman, Halle Berry, Seann William Scott, Elizabeth Banks, Stephen Merchant, Nicole Polizzi, Johnny Knoxville, Richard Gere, Jack McBrayer, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler, Terrence Howard, Chloë Grace Moretz, Josh Duhamel

Charlie Wessler (Dennis Quaid) is a washed up producer who is going nowhere. He weasels his way onto the studio lot to pitch his latest idea for a blockbuster Hollywood film to producer Griffin Schraeder (Greg Kinnear). Unfortunately it is a series of extremely inappropriate sketches. This movie is basically a really far out series of unrelated stores tied together with the efforts Charlie makes to get his idea turned into a movie at all costs, even at gunpoint with hostages if necessary in this hilarious star studded off-the-wall comedy.

Outrageous is an understatement for this film. The sketches are the most inappropriate stuff you have ever seen. This movie has it’s roots in the classic 1977 “Kentucky Fried Movie” but rather than just being short sketches, this one ties it all together with Dennis Quaid’s efforts to get this piece of crap made, even though Greg Kinnear is going to do everything possible to make sure that doesn’t happen. What happens is a series of extremely funny bits with a TON of major stars. I don’t know how they talked all these people into being in this crazy film, but it must have been a real blast making it. It gets so out of hand, and goes where no film has gone before. I really enjoyed the craziness of this film. It is really out there. You have to be able to deal with the gross subject matter as nothing is off limits, and it’s really nasty sometimes, but the outrageousness of it is what makes it really funny. If you remember Kentucky Fried Movie, and if you enjoyed that, then you’re sure to crack up over this one.

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Touchstone Pictures, Rocket Pictures, Miramax Films

James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Ashley Jensen, Michael Caine, Matt Lucas, Jim Cummings, Maggie Smith, Jason Statham, Ozzy Osbourne, Stephen Merchant, Patrick Stewart, Julie Walters

“Gnomeo, Gnomeo, wherefore art thou Gnomeo.” “No really, I’m stuck!” This is the garden gnome (Travelocity?) version of Romeo and Juliet. Duh! There are two families, the Capulets and the Montagues who have gardens in their back yards. Except one has only red hatted gnomes and the other has only blue hatted gnomes. Not only do the neighbors not get along, but the gnomes do not either. And they have Toy Story disease which is when any human is around you FREEZE! Well the humans go away on a trip and the gnomes fight, except that accidentally a red gnome and a blue gnome fall in love, and the rest is history.

I looked forward to this film a lot, but never got around to trekking out to the theater to see it. It finally released on DVD, and I watched it today, and I must say it wasn’t nearly as good as I expected. It’s a cute film with cute characters, and I’m sure the kids will have fun (especially the little boys) with all the battles and explosions, but it was definitely bland. It is clever to take the Romeo and Juliet story and make it fresh, but that’s been done before, so it’s not original. It has a “Smurf-y” feel though, I have to admit. The most recognizable voice in the film is, of course, Michael Caine. It’s so easy to recognize him, probably Patrick Stewart as well, but otherwise, the voice actors are fresh, even though some are well known. And of course Disney has to have a “Disney Death” at the end, but has to have a new ending as Mr. Shakespeare’s ending is bit too tragic. (If you’re not familiar with Disney Deaths, it’s like Baloo in Jungle Book, and basically one character in every film who appears to die causing great sorrow among his friends, only to wake up at the right dramatic moment. This one basically has THREE Disney Deaths, so enjoy that!) So, it’s colorful, and has some funny characters, but was not as awesome as I expected, and ranks in the middle of the pack of the great animation in the past couple years. But still it’s a good rental if you have kids, and they’re sure to be entertained for 90 minutes or so. So it’s good for that, for sure!

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