Month: January 2013

The teaming of Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, and Alan Arkin seems like a
can’t-miss proposition, offering the screen legends a premise that
allows for light comedy and heavy emotion, making the most out of this
rare moviemaking event. And yet “Stand Up Guys” is the opposite of
inspiring, wasting the talent on a dreary collection of random
adventures and unimaginative tomfoolery, hoping the sheer radiation of
ability is enough to fog the fact that the script never decides what it
really wants to be. Mostly baffling with a handful of bright moments,
“Stand Up Guys” is a bust that doesn’t know when to quit. In fact, it
doesn’t really know when to start either. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With a documentary like “Sellebrity,” sympathy is in short supply.
Photographer Kevin Mazur, notable for his front-line access to famous
folks during red carpet events, endeavors to fashion a statement of
unease and outrage when it comes to the Wild West world of tabloid
photography, creating a portrait of anarchy to emphasize the divide
between self-promotion and exploitation. However, when dealing with
unshowered paparazzi types hunkered down on greasy street corners and
immaculate interviewees captured in their palatial homes, it’s a
lose-lose situation of sensitivity. “Sellebrity” is a numbing viewing
experience that’s oddly constructed and a touch too sanctimonious to
take seriously, eventually coming to blame the viewer for the ills of
the tabloid industry, despite Mazur feeding into the same diseased hype
with this cinematic effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Feminism meets exploitation in Austin Chick’s “Girls Against Boys,” a
particularly nasty revenge feature that attempts to explore a rattled
psychological space as it indulges in murders and a few grisly acts of
vengeance. It’s not particularly consistent or profound work from the
“XX/XY” filmmaker, but the effort has a certain style that holds
interest, scored to a throbbing range of soundtrack cuts that provide an
electronic pulse to otherwise banal events. Sure to divide audiences
with its fuzzy math and swing of the intellectual wiffle ball bat,
“Girls Against Boys” is best appreciated as a sensorial experience, with
the script successfully brushing against raw nerve endings of sympathy
and rage. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Now here’s a film with incredible promise, introducing itself as an
irreverent horror-comedy with profound interest in pantsing fairy tales
and splashing around in thick gobs of gore. “Hansel & Gretel: Witch
Hunters” aspires to be cheeky entertainment, sold with a wink and a fist
to the face (helping out its 3D presentation), with plenty of ghouls,
trolls, and horrible humans to populate a carnival atmosphere of genre
delights. However, despite a colorful presentation, the movie fails to
raise much hell, insisting on a flat tone of tedious storytelling when
all anyone really wants to see are the titular heroes continuously
slaughtering broom-riding she-devils, sprinting across this askew
fantasyland on the hunt to save humanity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I have no idea what the title “Movie 43” means, but I do know what the
picture is about. A series of sketches and commercials barely tied
together with a flimsy wraparound story, the collection is intended to
show off the zanier side of normally sedate talent, pushing
Oscar-winners and more dramatically inclined thespians into
taboo-smashing blasts of comedy, also making room for a few actors
specifically known for their crudeness a chance to join the party.
Stacked high with famous faces while the material is primarily
bottom-of-the-barrel muck unfit for feature-length investigation, “Movie
43” looks to enchant with a proud parade of shock value, asking ticket
buyers to delight in ugliness in the name of good fun. If this is “Movie
43,” I’d hate to see the previous 42 attempts at pronounced stupidity
the production didn’t want to release. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Parker” feels like a three-hour movie that was whittled down to two
hours due to test screening complaints. As a story, it’s all over the
place, whipping around last names and refusing any deeper inspection of
motivation. As a bruising offering of crime film entertainment, “Parker”
is more successful, staging compelling heists and mano-a-mano contests
of strength. The entire production fails to gel into a cohesive whole,
yet parts of the picture remain agreeably distracting, while stars Jason
Statham and Jennifer Lopez deliver what they’ve been paid for, adding
brawn and sex appeal when needed. It’s a messy effort with plot holes
galore, yet director Taylor Hackford manages to convince with the
essential elements. Just don’t think about the details too hard. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Man vs. the elements is a common theme in moviemaking, allowing for an
appealing sense of ruggedness and oneness with nature that instantly
lends itself to movements of high adventure and the euphoria of personal
discovery. “Kon-Tiki” accepts the genre challenge with an incredible
story of survival and scientific craving to help power its cinematic
urgency, delivering genuine awe as it details the unwavering curiosity
of Thor Heyerdahl and his amazing trip from Peru to the Polynesian
Islands in 1947. Rich with character and heavy with ocean-based peril,
“Kon-Tiki” is unexpectedly exciting and refreshingly human, retaining a
searing sting of heartache and doubt as it manufactures eye-popping
moments of near-death experiences and the strange tranquility of total
isolation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The title “John Dies at the End” is a clever one, at least before the
film begins, promising a cheeky viewing experience with a boldly
spoilerific title that presents quite a challenge to the production,
tasked with keeping surprises when the very name of the effort gives
away the twist. It’s quickly established that “John Dies at the End”
isn’t going to be about a character named John, which is the first of
many disappointments contained within the movie. I suppose one isn’t
supposed take the picture so literally, but when the jokes are leaden,
the fantasy mangled by cut-rate visual effects, and the performances
rooted in sarcasm, there should be something here worth getting excited
about, even if it is just a mischievous title. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Knife Fight” often doesn’t know what type of film it wants to be.
Attempting to braid together political sincerity, political satire, and a
human element of guilt, the feature advances unevenly, stuck trying to
make sense of its erratic tone. While an ambitious effort to expose the
concentrated fraud of the campaigning process and all its collateral
damage, “Knife Fight” is a decent editor and a rewrite away from being a
passable statement of disgust. In its current form, the movie is a
mixed bag, offering a few winning performances and moments of
revelation, while the rest scatters aimlessly, in search of structure
director Bill Guttentag doesn’t provide. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s important to take Guillermo del Toro’s executive producer credit
seriously, as “Mama” bears all the signs of his previous work. It’s a
ghost tale with an almost storybook atmosphere, despite its search for
forbidding areas of confrontation between the unaware and the undead.
It’s spooky and weird enough to work, with a knockout resolution that
maintains the story’s integrity — the cinematic equivalent of finding a
four-leaf clover. Sure, flaws are readily apparent and length is an
issue, but “Mama” is after a retro atmosphere of spookiness, trusting in
the art of unease. It’s skillfully made and manages to provide the
willies with only a few cheap shocks, making the movie something of an
anomaly in a genre that routinely amplifies its scares and pulls its
punches. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It might be hard to believe, but Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn’t starred in
a movie since 2003’s “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.” Sure, there
have been cameos in two “Expendables” screen adventures and a weird part
in 2004’s “Around the World in 80 Days,” but the once mighty action
hero has laid low over the last decade, fighting different battles with a
special group of villains as Governor of California. “The Last Stand”
treats Schwarzenegger’s return as business as usual, dropping the star
into the thick of the hunt, with only a few jokes addressing his
advanced age before he’s back cracking skulls and blasting away goons.
Sure, the gags could be better, the casting stronger, and the thrills
continuous, but “The Last Stand” remains immensely enjoyable and
occasionally freewheeling. At the very least, it’s good to have
Schwarzenegger back on the screen where he belongs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Broken City” starts off with tremendous confidence, establishing a
story that pits corrupt politicians against corrupt cops during an
election season, with the future of New York City at stake. It’s Mark
Wahlberg vs. Russell Crowe in a big screen battle of brawn, with
director Allen Hughes creating an enticing web of lies to examine as the
film unfolds. There’s promise here, and a satisfying opening act. And
then the production begins to break down under the weight of its own
ambition, laboring to make plot points stick and characters significant,
eventually stumbling to a most unsatisfying close. In trying to
super-size its suspenseful interests, “Broken City” becomes a broken
record, hitting formulaic notes of fraud when the script is more
convincing as a visceral study of men behaving badly. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com