Ed's Review Dot Com

Endgame Entertainment, Vendian Entertainment, KrautPack Entertainment,

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson, Scott Eastwood, Logan Marshall-Green, Timothy Olyphant, Ben Schnetzer, Lakeith Lee Stanfield, Rhys Ifans, Nicolas Cage

This biographical drama covers the life of Ed Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) for a period of about 10 years until he shocked the world by showing the world the scope of the data the U.S. Government was collecting on private citizens. It covers his love of his job with the CIA, and his relationship to his girlfriend Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley) which was doomed from the start because he couldn’t divulge what he was up to without putting her in danger, and she knew very well something major was going on, but had no clue. With a lot of background on the time, and the technical data collection, and the life in the CIA, it’s a very technical look into the events and the motivation behind what happened. Whether you look at Snowden as the devil, or as an American Hero, this will give you the background of what really went on.

I was a bit disappointed in this movie, although I have been anxious to see what it had to say. I think I have figured out why I was disappointed as I struggled to figure out why. I do not think I have ever seen a movie made by Oliver Stone that I was not disappointed with. I don’t mean to say he’s not a good director, or that he is not an amazing talent, but I am saying that his movies never seem to work for me. There must be something on a personal level that make these movies never click for me, even though I have always been excited about the subject matter. It’s just one of those things I guess. So what did I find wrong with this film? Well, typically when you watch a movie about a historical event you are given enough background for even a layman to understand what it all means. From the housing bubble and the stock market crash which was explained to us in a way that I was able to understand, to even the crash and investigations covered in the movie Sully which dealt with complicated issues of whether or not the right choices were made or not, was fairly easy to follow. But I feel, after this one, that I couldn’t really follow the technical gobbledygook that was thrown out at us at a feverish pace. Yet great detail of Ed’s relationship to Lindsay was explained in great detail which doesn’t seem to really have much to do with the story or the motives of Ed Snowden. I found at times it was really slow and hard to stay interested in, and at other times the scope and magnitude of the data that was being gathered was overwhelming and went past me way too fast. I suppose I could get more out of it by watching it again, but I am not sure I want to put myself through the slow parts again. I think it’s a very interesting subject and one very worthwhile to learn about, but I’m afraid this movie is a missed opportunity to explain the story to us normal folks out there. I work in IT and I still found it hard to follow. It’s a shame.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Open Road Films (II), Rice Films, Gulfstream Pictures,

Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Julia Roberts, Jon Lovitz, Kate Hudson, Timothy Olyphant, Britt Robertson, Aasif Mandvi, Sarah Chalke, Grayson Russell, Shay Mitchell, Margo Martindale, Loni Love, Ella Anderson, Cameron Esposito, Jack Whitehall, Lucy Walsh

Mother’s Day is an ensemble film, telling four different stories that all tie together in the end. There are many different kinds of mothers, and many different situations, but we all stop on Mother’s Day to remember and honor those special women in our lives. As this story unfolds, we meet different families and different situations, but all are touched in the end in different ways.

Directed by Garry Marshall, this is the same team that brought us Valentine’s Day and New Years Eve. It is a great cast, and it’s a very touching story. Each situation is unique, yet they manage to tie it all together in the end. It’s got funny moments, and of course, the cheesy romantic ones. It’s a very clever put together tale and was fun to watch. If you have seen these hinds of stories, there have been dozens, where a number of different stories come together in the end. This is a very good one. Julia Roberts does a very great job as a childless, driven TV host, as does Jason Sudekis as a single widower dad trying to raise his two daughters. Jennifer Anderson is really good as a divorced mom of two boys who is trying to deal with her situation. It’s a very well developed story line that comes together beautifully. This is a touching movie, and one I can highly recommend for anyone who is a mother, who has had a mother, or knows a mother. If you don’t fit into any of those categories, you’re out of luck. This film is a tribute to mothers. This is a really good film, and I recommend this, especially now that it’s on DVD.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

21 Laps Entertainment, Spring Creek Productions, Warner Bros.,

Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Rose Byrne, Jane Fonda, Connie Britton, Adam Driver, Timothy Olyphant, Kathryn Hahn

Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) is having a bad year. He just walked in on his wife and his boss in his bedroom, lost his home and his job, naturally, and then find out that his father has passed away. So even though Judd has not been home in a long time, he naturally flies back home for the funeral only to be told by his mother Hillary (Jane Fonda) that his father’s last wish was to have all four siblings home and to perform the Jewish ritual and sit shivah in the house for seven days. The problem is that though they start out nicely for a few minutes, old resentments and problems arise and set the family into a turmoil of epic proportions. There are so many surprises and secrets revealed that no one can keep up with it all. This is a very realistic dysfunctional family full of crazies, just like all of us seem to have. Can they make it through a whole week without something else awful happening?

This is one of those “relationship” movies that have been so popular over the years. This is, like some of the others, a collection of real starts brought together as a group in an ensemble movie. Truly it’s basically told through Judd’s eyes, but this is really about the entire extended family and everyone shines. The characters are marvelously developed and it’s truly funny. From the pranks that you can’t see coming, to the quirkiness of each different member of the family, it’s a laugh riot. I really have to say that I laughed a lot throughout the film, and I must say it kept me really entertained throughout. This is one of the best comedies I’ve seen in a while. There are some really funny sideline characters too that will make you laugh. With Ben Schwartz as a childhood friend of the family turned rabbi tries to play it straight and be serious (acting of course) the family tortures him and it’s a long running gag throughout the movie. It all feels very real, and painfully funny, and even though I am not usually blown away with Jason Bateman’s typical nice guy who gets dumped on by everyone, I really thought he shined through this movie and it was a good call to cast him. I found this highly entertaining and I recommend you give this movie a shot. I hope you’ll like it too.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Blind Wink Productions, GK Films, Nickelodeon Movies

Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Stephen Root, Harry Dean Stanton, Timothy Olyphant, Ray Winstone

Rango (Johnny Depp) is a Chameleon who, being able to shift to his surroundings, naturally wants to be an actor. He performs his plays in the terrarium in which he lives along with such friends as a wind up fish and half a kids doll. Needless to say because these are lifeless objects, they do not perform up to the standards of Rango. But a sudden accident finds Rango stranded all alone out on the highway in the middle of the Mojave Desert until he meets Beans (Isla Fisher). Walking to find water brings him to the town of Dirt, a failing town full of reptiles and the like with no water. One by one the residents are giving up, selling off their land and moving out of Dirt. Rango finds many opportunities to carry on his craft of acting, and becomes the Mayor and sets out to save Dirt. But there are some really evil outlaws waiting to see that Rango doesn’t make it through the day.

This is a successful animated film. Rango is such a lovable character, that we feel for him as he lies and bluffs his way into the minds and hearts of the people of Dirt, making them believe that he alone can find water and save the town. But he’s bit off a bit more than he can chew, and it looks like curtains for poor Rango and the end of Dirt. Rango works because the story is so clever and the character is very fun to watch. We know Rango’s a buffoon and has no idea what he’s doing, but he’s so intent on helping the town and the people he has come to care very much for that he wants to do it so bad. This film is as good as any live action western, and has a lot of good values and reasons to keep you interested in what happens. I was expecting to be disappointed, but I wasn’t. Try as I might, I couldn’t look away and the movie pulled me in right away and kept me riveted throughout the film to the closing credits. Nickelodeon has done a fine job with this film, and should be commended. I recommend Rango for adults and children alike, as it’s a good story, sure to keep everyone’s interest.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

DreamWorks SKG, Reliance Big Entertainment, Bay Films

Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron, Teresa Palmer, Callan McAuliffe, Kevin Durand, Jake Abel, Jeff Hochendoner, Patrick Sebes

John (Alex Pettyfer) is an unusual boy. He has moved from town to town all his life and is always the new kid. In fact, he tries to be invisible because in fact he is an alien. Life on his planet was destroyed with an evil monstrous alien race, the Mogadorians, who conquered their planet and killed all of the Lorians except 9 children who were given special powers and sent to Earth to colonize and maintain their race. John is Number Four. But the aliens are hunting them one by one in numerical order and killing them. Number 3 has been killed and John is next. He has a guardian, Henri (Timothy Olyphant), who aids him in his deadly fight to survive. But John is at home on Earth, and meets a special human girl, Sarah (Dianna Agron), with whom he falls in love. Now in addition to trying to save himself and his race from those who want to destroy him, but he’s honor bound to protect his girlfriend as well. Along the way John, Henri, and Sarah meet a few other friends who help with the fight.

This is a really good movie. It did not make back the sixty million it took to make it, but it seems to be doing good in it’s first week of rental release. Hopefully this is one of those films that will do very well in the rental category. I hope so, because it’s a very nice story. In the beginning, it’s fairly slow developing which gives us time to learn the back story of where John came from and at the same time, gives us the opportunity to know him and what kind of person he is. It’s a love story, high school, with the usual gang of geeks and bullies, and very much like the Twilight series with aliens instead of mythical creatures. Then in the last half, it catches on and gets really action packed as the bad guys show up and a huge showdown is inevitable. This is Twilight like as well. It’s a fresh story though, even though it’s similar. The special effects and the creatures are spectacular, and the fight scenes are awesome.

I had a lot of technical difficulties with the DVD I received from NetFlix though. I’m not sure whether it was just that one disk, or if something else was wrong, but I could not play it with WinDVD on the laptop, and my two DVD players failed. Finally I tried an old DVD burner that I have had for years, and it played, although several times I got “bad media” errors, and a couple times the DVD froze and had to be restarted to make it work again. But it was certainly worth the effort, and I am happy I was able to see it and not have to return it as unwatchable. I hope other copies of the disk do not have similar problems, as the disk itself is brand new, and looks pristine.

I certainly hope this stunning science fiction film does well in rentals, as we know of 5 of the 9 people, but still have 4 to find out about, where they are and what they are up to. And we know they have ugly bad guys coming to look for them. The ending is perfectly setup for a sequel, but it may never get made if the film does not find its legs. It would be a shame to miss the rest of the stories, for sure.

I recommend this film for anyone who is a science fiction fan, as it is a great alien adventure.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog