BRIAN ORNDORF

Author: BO

  • Film Review – Marty, Life Is Short

    In 2024, Steve Martin was the subject of a two-part documentary about his life and career. Martin’s good friend and show business partner, Martin Short, was featured heavily in the film, providing valuable insight and general silliness to best capture what makes their relationship work. Now Short has his own space to reflect on past achievements and emotional spaces, and Martin is there to support him. Director Lawrence Kasdan oversees “Marty, Life Is Short,” which is his first effort since 2012’s “Darling Companion,” returning behind the camera to take a good, long look at his dear friend and the incredible experience of life and love he’s enjoyed and endured over the years. The picture doesn’t take a scalpel to Short’s life and times, remaining very much in awe of the subject and his ability to persevere through so much, staying playful whenever possible. “Marty, Life Is Short” captures the magic of the man, but also offers access to a private life few have seen before. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – LifeHack

    Timur Bekmambetov is a strong supporter of screenlife movies. He’s produced a slew of these endeavors over the last 12 years, embracing a deep love for the single word title with offerings such as “Unfriended,” “Bloat,” “Unfollowed,” “Profile,” “Searching,” and “Missing.” And yes, he had a hand in 2025’s disastrous “War of the Worlds.” Bekmambetov (who recently helmed the box office bomb “Mercy,” which was a semi-screenlife picture) is back once again with “LifeHack,” supporting co-writer/director Ronan Corrigan, who makes his moviemaking debut with the feature, and he tries to do something a little different with the production. Instead of focusing on suspense and horror, Corrigan (and co-writer Hope Kemp) launches a heist film with “LifeHack,” using the cinematic world of keyboard-n-clicking to follow four characters as they get in deep with their thrill-seeking ways. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Tuner

    Director Daniel Roher built his career as a documentarian. He broke through with his work on 2022’s “Navalny” (which won an Academy Award), and was recently on screens with “The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist.” He now tries his luck in the realm of drama, co-scripting “Tuner” with Robert Ramsey, bringing his interests in the lives of people to the ways of a small-scale thriller. There’s a lot of Hollywood lubrication with the material, which follows the ways of a sound-sensitive piano tuner turning to crime to make sure his loved ones are financially supported. Roher shows real verve with the endeavor and, for the first two acts, he has something very special in the film, which delivers a lot of life with characterization and tension. The helmer doesn’t land a particularly strong ending, but there’s an incredible foundation here worth admiring, and Roher clearly has the skills to handle fictional entanglements. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – An Enemy Within

    The poster for “An Enemy Within” features two characters covered in blood, holding big guns, while sparks fly and fire burns all around them. It’s a typical poster for an action offering, but, as it turns out, writer/director John Michael Kennedy isn’t making an action film here. He’s out to generate a character study of untrustworthy people coming together for a wedding, eventually fighting for their lives when an outside force of vengeance threatens to kill them. “An Enemy Within” is small-scale stuff, largely taking place inside a single room, with Kennedy working to keep his budget down by eliminating locations. There’s a decent idea for a night of horror in the screenplay, but the helmer doesn’t push for a more active viewing experience, basically making a filmed play with the sluggish endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Driver’s Ed

    2026 is the year of dueling Farrelly Brother projects. Last month saw the release of “Balls Up,” where Peter Farrelly attempted to launch a raunchy good time with a project that combined the usual in R-rated Farrelly humor with World Cup-themed shenanigans. It was an awful picture. Now Bobby Farrelly tries his luck with “Driver’s Ed,” which also hopes to launch a raunchy good time minus a soccer world setting, switching things over to the tenderness of the teen heart and the wonders of a road trip premise. Thomas Moffett is credited as the screenwriter on the project, but the whole endeavor plays just like every Farrelly production, supplying wackiness and sudden sensitivity, while constant profanity is meant to offer edge to a thoroughly unmemorable film. However, it’s better than “Balls Up,” giving Bobby a victory with his slightly less labored attempt to revisit the 1990s. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – Pee-wee’s Big Adventure

    Pee-wee Herman was becoming a big deal for actor Paul Reubens in the 1980s. He scored attention with the creation, and success when generating a stage show for the nerdly character, earning spots on late night television and the attention of Hollywood producers. In 1985, “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” was the first real nationwide test of the character’s appeal, pairing Reubens (who co-scripts with Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol) with director Tim Burton, a young talent making his feature-length debut with the endeavor. The idea was to take Pee-wee’s strange ways and stick them into a story about an outsider hunting for his stolen bicycle, but something wonderful happened to the project during its creation. Burton and Reubens found a way to take something potentially goofy and turn it into a splendid celebration of cinematic imagination, with visual and performance mischief found everywhere in the endeavor. “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” is a special film, sharing an exquisite amount of playfulness and low-budget inventiveness during its run time, allowing Burton to run wild with his youthful interpretation of Pee-wee’s bizarre world of panic, road trip connections, and indefatigable determination to right a horrible wrong. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – Jimmy and Stiggs

    Writer/director Joe Begos is a fan of exploitation movies, and he’s been trying to replicate the approach of these films throughout his career. He’s had some visibility with endeavors such as “VFW” and “Christmas Bloody Christmas,” and he goes ultra-independent with “Jimmy and Stiggs,” which was shot inside his own apartment for almost no money, while cast and crew is mostly made up of pals who endured the three-year-long production journey. It’s an alien invasion picture, but certainly not a traditional one, as Begos (who also stars in the film) arranges a splatter-fest with the offering, keeping the tale contained to a single setting, and filling up this place with as much blood and guts as possible. “Jimmy and Stiggs” is a mess in many ways, and while it maintains a defiant attitude and enjoyable technical credits, the viewing experience also feels like a prison sentence at times, as Begos loves extremity and nothing else. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Sorry About the Demon

    In 2009, Emily Hagins was the subject of the documentary, “Zombie Girl: The Movie.” The feature focused on Hagins and her moviemaking dreams, embarking on a mission to create her first project as a 12 year old, finding help from her parents and pals as they attempted to generate a proper horror experience. “Zombie Girl: The Movie” was a delight, and Hagins has seemingly pulled off the impossible, managing to build something of a career as she became an adult, eventually launching three follow-up projects (“My Sucky Teen Romance,” “Grow Up, Tony Phillips,” and “Coin Heist”) and various short films, maintaining some longevity in an industry that’s a true survival challenge. 2023’s “Sorry About the Demon” is Hagins’s fourth offering, and she sticks with her love of genre entertainment, attempting to mount a horror comedy about a twentysomething man and his war with insecurity as he deals with a recent breakup and the reality that he’s sharing a new rental home with a demonic force of doom. “Sorry About the Demon” isn’t ambitious, remaining dialogue-driven and sticking with a single location, and Hagins has some difficulty deciding what kind of movie she wants to make, as the comedy is limp and the scares are nonexistent in this overlong effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Slapface

    Horror films have a long history of addressing real world problems through the fantasy of fear. “Slapface” takes aim at the issue of bullying, with writer/director Jeremiah Kipp constructing a monster movie that touches on deep psychological situations of abandonment and isolation, following the lead character’s experience with a mysterious entity as he struggles to make sense of grief. “Slapface” is a low-budget production, often fighting against some visual ideas that don’t work, and performances aren’t always where they should be, but Kipp has an idea worth following in the feature, which does an effective job communicating abyssal pain and fear that’s starting to consume young minds, leaving them confused and exposed to an outside evil that works in strange ways. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Remarkably Bright Creatures

    Initially published in 2022, the novel “Remarkably Bright Creatures” has become a smash hit for author Shelby Van Pelt, also serving as her writing debut. With such success comes Hollywood, and now there’s a screen adaption of the tale, with John Whittington and Olivia Newman handling screenwriting duties, out to make cinematic sense of the original text and its semi-whimsical, deeply introspective ways. Newman also directs the picture (previously helming “Where the Crawdads Sing”), and she has tremendous help from star Sally Field, who doesn’t act very often anymore, and here’s another reason why she should. Field gives a powerful performance, carrying the emotional weight of the endeavor in a tricky role that demands attention to the deep recesses of pain. The actress is splendid, and “Remarkably Bright Creatures” is graceful when it comes to investigating personal issues and Van Pelt’s somewhat fanciful ideas for friendship, sure to please those looking for a softer film to get lost in. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Mortal Kombat II

    “Mortal Kombat” returned to screens with a do-over in 2021, and producers were intent on making a movie that played more like the video game that inspired it. Instead of candied action, there was blood and guts, and a major attempt by the screenplay to generate world-building capable of sustaining a fresh take on an old franchise. The picture did well, surviving pandemic release blues, but I wouldn’t fault any viewer out there who’s now a little hazy on the details of a feature that came out five years ago. “Mortal Kombat II” isn’t quite as concerned with the specifics of all the universe jumping, trying, at least for the first half of the offering, to explore the tournament setting promised at the end of the last effort. “Mortal Kombat II” offers no noticeable creative gains in screenwriting, but it remains an entertaining endeavor, returning to the violence of it all with a more capable lead actor in Karl Urban. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Sheep Detectives

    A pastoral setting. A farmland looked over by a tough but secretly tender sheepherder. A collection of talking animals trying to understand the horrors that face them while enjoying light play in the open world. Surely another sequel to 1995’s “Babe” is here! “The Sheep Detectives” isn’t another chapter in the aborted franchise, with screenwriter Craig Mazin (“Scary Movie 3,” “The Huntsman: Winter’s War”) out to make sense of author Leonie Swann’s 2005 novel, “Three Bags Full.” The book was a dark take on the cartoon premise of sheep out to solve the murder of their handler, putting Mazin to work softening up the source material, tasked with making it a bit more palatable for family audiences. Kyle Balda makes his live-action directorial debut with “The Sheep Detectives” after a lifetime spent in the world of animation (helming hits such as “Minions” and “Despicable Me 3”), and he’s presented with quite a tonal challenge here, out to balance the gentleness of the CGI characters with the general menace of the human world. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Couples Weekend

    The trials of being in a long-term relationship are examined in “Couples Weekend.” The picture comes from writer/director Nora Kirkpatrick, a television helmer making her feature-length debut, and she aims to inspect the difficulties of partnership involving two couples seeking to enjoy a holiday weekend together. The screenplay doesn’t break free from the main location, and the theatrical nature of the material isn’t avoided, but Kirkpatrick takes on a few interesting areas of insecurity while trying to manage what’s basically a comedy. And she has a decent cast to aid in this understanding of doubt, with Alexandra Daddario, Josh Gad, Ashley Park, and Daveed Diggs capturing the intensity of thought as infidelities arrive during a seemingly peaceful time of celebration. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Wizard of the Kremlin

    “The Wizard of the Kremlin” is an adaptation of a 2022 book by Giuliano da Empoli, which explored the fictional tale of a young man’s rise in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. The film emphasizes the “fiction” label, making distance from real events clear, especially since the tale charts the development of Vladamir Putin as he goes from government spy to the new “Tsar.” Co-writer/director Olivier Assayas clearly has a passion for this era in Russia’s history, offering viewers insight into power plays and relationships that helped to form the country as we know it today. “The Wizard of the Kremlin” is interesting when it comes to politics, exploring shifts in control and information as Putin became used to running things his way. It’s also an extremely dry viewing experience, with Assayas refusing screen momentum at times to linger on character tensions that aren’t always there. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Affection

    Writer/director BT Meza makes his filmmaking debut with “Affection,” and he’s determined to keep things small enough to manage. It’s a tale that only features three characters, and they work through their issues in an isolated area, keeping the outside away. Where Meza is a little more ambitious is in his screenplay, which carries enough spoiler-rific turns to challenge any film critic, so those who are determined to stay completely clear of information concerning the movie shouldn’t read anything about it. Meza attempts to generate a creeping sense of danger and confusion with his study of a family challenged by undefined trauma, and he’s invested in a few genres to help him out. “Affection” does fight limited ideas and somewhat sluggish pacing, and while the endeavor scores with performances and imagery, the effort often plays like a short story being stretched to fit a feature-length run time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point

    Co-writer/director Tyler Taormina made an impression on indie film audiences with 2019’s “Ham on Rye.” The helmer invested in atmosphere, not storytelling, examining the behaviors and social interactions of teenagers as they prepare for a party. Taormina wasn’t interested in plot, just the vibe, and he returns to the same idea for “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point,” which takes the “Ham on Rye” concept and transfers it to the holiday season. There’s a family gathering to inspect in the feature, bringing all types of personalities together for a celebratory evening where relationships are revisited and experiences are pursued. “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” sustains Taormina’s filmmaking interests in shapelessness, but he’s remarkably observant when it comes to the creation of a reunion event with holiday flair. The picture is practically 3D in the way it captures household bustle and indulgence, creating some superbly vivid moments. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – The Advent Calendar

    The holiday season is meant to inspire warmth and joy, but to horror filmmakers, it’s a ripe opportunity to bring ghoulishness to the screen. 2021’s “The Advent Calendar” is a Belgian production that looks to disrupt the wonders of Christmas by offering a highly bizarre tale of a gift that keeps giving, and in increasingly malicious ways. Writer/director Patrick Ridremont shows some imagination with the picture, examining the tension of a young woman dealing with an unusual German present that takes command of her life, testing her sanity as the countdown to Christmas continues. “The Advent Calendar” is actually more a genie-style examination of wish-granting, following the main character’s journey into a different reality she wants for herself, only to be asked to sacrifice so much to keep it. Ridremont has a strong opening half, tracking the passage of days and the prizes inside the eponymous gift, achieving a strong atmosphere of mystery and menace as the central story develops. The endeavor eventually starts to lose focus in its second half, but there’s enough presented here to deliver on some welcome oddity and intensity as the main character experiences a very special countdown to Christmas. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Code 3

    When making a movie about the lives of paramedics, intensity to a point of insanity is always the atmosphere. There’s nothing cozy about the vocation, which demands everything from employees, especially those working in troubled areas of the country. Madness is the journey, but co- writer/director Christopher Leone makes a valiant attempt to find some dark humor in the details of life and death. “Code 3” strives to follow the rocket sled ride of EMS life during a 24-hour-long shift for two veterans and a rookie, sending them around Los Angeles as they encounter people in dire need of medical treatment. Leone and co-writer Patrick Pianezza aim for realism in the work, delivering a disturbing understanding of mental illness and physical damage involved in this world. They also try to keep the feature at least somewhat approachable, giving star Rainn Wilson an opportunity to deliver perhaps the best performance of his career in a supremely challenging role. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Hotspring Sharkattack

    People love shark attack cinema. Earlier this year, “Dangerous Animals” found release, which attempted to subvert the norm in the subgenre, playing around with human predators instead of strictly oceanic ones. And now Japan tries their luck with horrors from the deep in “Hotspring Sharkattack,” which is about an unserious as a film can get. We’ve done the “Sharknado” thing too many times, but writer/director Morihito Inoue delivers a different kind of wackiness with his presentation of death and destruction. He goes camp, but creatively so in the picture, which examines chaos caused by deadly ancient sharks awakened from the deep due to commercial development, seeking revenge on all for such an offense. “Hotspring Sharkattack” is low-budget and loving it, and while there’s definitely a limit on such exaggeration, Inoue has some imagination for his lunacy, mounting a bizarre and amusing riff on sharksploitation bedlam. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Hokum

    In 2024, the horror movie “Oddity” was a pleasant surprise during the film year. Writer/director Damian McCarthy found his way around an unusual take on “The Mummy,” keeping his second picture intensity atmospheric and genuinely creepy, delivering a rare highlight in a genre that often struggles to surprise. McCarthy returns with “Hokum,” and he’s looking to creep out viewers once again with another dark tale, this time examining a depressed author’s experience inside a remote Irish hotel. It’s not a feature that’s big on plot, keeping drama relatively lean as the helmer returns to the ways of shadowy encounters and increasing hostility provided by a supernatural force. “Hokum” doesn’t offer quite the same kick as “Oddity,” but it’s assured work that understands the power of eeriness and mystery, providing charged moments during the run time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com