Author: BO

“The Honor List” needs to work a little harder to emerge as something unique. It’s a tale of teenage friendship as it faces challenges from estrangement and distrust, with death bringing together a group of young women who were once inseparable, but now have little idea how to communicate with the same enthusiasm they once shared. The screenplay by Marilyn Fu targets emotional authenticity with the material, trying to sneak around clichés by taking matters of the heart and clique seriously, grounding the feature in relatable behavior. “The Honor List” doesn’t always succeed when it comes to the exploration of various relationships, but there’s an effort to handle delicate feelings with care, giving director Elissa Down (“The Black Balloon”) a tonal challenge she does well with, only periodically losing her grip on nuanced interactions.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Steven Tyler has been in the public eye for over 40 years, making the possibilities of the documentary, “Steven Tyler: Out on a Limb,” almost limitless, following a career that’s seen its share of glory and humiliation, while intense personality issues color the subject’s professional and personal life. Director Casey Tebo doesn’t wrap his arms around the enormity of Tyler’s existence. He doesn’t event try to examine the true grit of the Aerosmith front man. Instead, “Out on a Limb” is a tongue bath for the now 70-year-old rocker, but it’s a compelling one for those eager to consume anything about the singer. Tebo constructs a celebration of Tyler’s aura and talent, taking the occasion of the musician’s first solo country album as a chance to showcase his newfound joy of performance and an assortment of cheeky moods.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I suppose the idea of “The Con is On” is to resemble retro entertainment, recalling a time, around the late 1960s, when filmmakers were chasing every whim, slapping controlled chaos on the screen to create a perfect cocktail hour mood for intended shenanigans. It’s meant to be a criminal caper of sorts, but the clockwork nature of organized theft is suffocated under layers of terrible screenwriting, unleashed performances, and a weird vision from director James Oakley, who seems to think audiences will want to endure double-crosses and near-misses performed by a set of characters in various stages of addiction. “The Con is On” (which was shot three years ago) means to be edgy and cheeky, yet it’s always struggling for oxygen, with Oakley stuck trying to create something appealing when every person onscreen deserves to be pushed into the nearest river.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Timothy McNeil makes a love story with “Anything,” but not necessarily a tender one. Dewy feelings and meet cutes are in short supply here, with the material angling for a different understanding of personal connection, with broken people, not cartoony ones, discovering something special during their time together. McNeil labors to keep the endeavor away from predictability, and his overall control of tone occasionally fails him, but he does manage to locate warmth in the midst of minor upheavals. “Anything” eventually reaches tenderness, but the climb there is more interesting, examining characters figuring out who they are and what they want while experiencing difficult challenges to their mental health while living in the middle of a place many consider to be an absolute hellhole: Hollywood.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Michael R. Roskam made an art-house impression with the Belgian drama “Bullhead,” and quickly graduated to Hollywood employment with 2014’s “The Drop,” put in charge of a crime saga that featured actor Matthias Schoenaerts, his good luck charm. With studio work out of his system, Roskam returns to Belgium with “Racer and the Jailbird,” an unusual film that teases criminal interests and action before it takes a leap into the deep end of melodrama, with the production aiming to break a few bones before it jerks a few tears. Roskam is after something specific with his latest work, but he doesn’t have a viable map to get there, leaving the picture intermittently alluring, with two fine lead performances from Schoenaerts and Adele Exarchopoulos carrying the effort through some bewildering plotting and sudden emotional manipulation.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Harris Goldberg may be trying to subvert the romantic comedy norm with “Alex & The List,” presenting a slightly repellent premise and a collection of unlikable characters. There should be kindness, but it’s lacking throughout the picture, which might’ve had a shot at a more refined psychological inspection with another filmmaker, but Goldberg wants a sitcom. “Alex & The List” doesn’t have laughs, it inspires confusion instead, collecting a community of abrasive personalities to help color what turns out to be moronic empowerment tale where the lead character is dumbed down to such a degree, it’s almost difficult to believe he’s capable of standing upright without falling over. Warm fuzzies and heartening acts of independence are not found in this frustrating comedy.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Actor Eric Stoltz made a transition to directing some time ago, cutting his teeth on television productions while gradually phasing out his career in front of the camera, only taking a few jobs in recent years. “Class Rank” is a rare theatrical venture for Stoltz, and he can’t quite shake his small screen training, keeping the picture mild and unadventurous as it takes a closer look at people and their comfort zones, with high-strung characters facing seismic shake-ups to their routines. Screenwriter Benjamin August (“Remember”) goes the cutesy route with the comedy, which doesn’t take anything it presents seriously, trying to pass itself off as a confection even while it deals with rather severe behavioral issues, forcing Stoltz to figure out a way to keep matters appropriately fluffed and still manufacture something that resembles the human experience.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1987’s “Overboard” isn’t a beloved picture, but it has a following, with fans building support for the Garry Marshall film though basic cable omnipresence, which created comfort food out of the comedy. The only redeeming factors about the feature were star turns from Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, who used their natural chemistry and beaming personalities to make something out of virtually nothing, giving the production some charm Marshall couldn’t produce on his own. And now there’s a remake, with Hawn and Russell replaced by Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez, and the director is Rob Greenberg, who’s built his career on television work. That’s what the paying audience is promised with the new “Overboard,” and that’s exactly the type of entertainment they receive. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

The last collaboration between director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody was 2011’s “Young Adult,” which was a masterful take on arrested development and habitual behavior, emerging as one of the best films of that year, also giving star Charlize Theron a chance to shine dramatically in previously unthinkable ways. The pair reunites for “Tully,” which also brings back Theron for this study of motherhood as its most suffocating, exposing the brutal realities of parenthood as an all-consuming, all-distorting job. “Tully” plays a specific game of misdirection, but it’s another remarkably observed picture from Reitman and especially Cody, who saves her spot as one of the most perceptive writers working today, crafting a funny, frightening look at grind of parenting, cohabitation, and postpartum depression, managing to remain as real as it gets when it comes to the details of frustration and fatigue. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

With a title like “Gehenna: Where Death Lives,” the production knows it has some explaining to do. The title refers to a place of extreme suffering, welcoming those who may deserve a cruel fate. Opening text provides a definition for the title and the rest of the feature struggles to create a nightmare worthy of such an introduction. Co-writer/director Hiroshi Katagiri is a longtime special effects artist (“Jurassic Park III,” “War of the Worlds,” and “Escape from L.A.”), and he makes his directorial debut with “Gehenna,” a film that’s not big on varied locations but does an adequate job creating scary business, at least the no-budget kind. Katagiri has some inspired ideas for his big break, and select scenes manage to achieve their intended genre pop. It’s the rest of the movie that could use a little bolt tightening and fresh air, with the smallness of the picture far too repetitive for comfort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been a long time since Adam Sandler really scored with a comedy. He’s lost a lot of his goofball charm over the years with movies that either tried too hard to be heartwarming family entertainment or never had the proper slapstick vision to begin with. “The Week Of” marks the directorial debut for Robert Smigel, a former “Saturday Night Live” writer and the creator of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, and while he’s been on the Happy Madison payroll since the beginning, this is his first real shot a creative authority. The promotion is most welcome, with Smigel (who co-scripts with Sandler) creating a charmingly manic farce with “The Week Of,” playing with wedding build-up clichés and absurdity with remarkable fluidity and appreciation for non-sequitur humor. It’s a very funny film when it wants to be, and mercifully, such desire makes up most of the run time, refreshing Sandler’s screen appeal for a good two hours of decent laughs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“Kodachrome” is based on a New York Times article, expanding the essentials of reporting to create a warm viewing experience about emotionally mummified men. Director Mark Raso wins points for sincerity, and he’s lucky to have an actor like Ed Harris in the role of an icy artist in need of a psychological thaw, helping the production reach a few of its lofty dramatic goals. “Kodachrome” is a road trip and a domestic disturbance tale, with Raso trying to add as much honeyed glaze as possible without suffocating the viewing experience. It’s a fine film, but it frustratingly refuses to be a great one. There are fascinating avenues of toxic behavior to explore, but Raso and screenwriter Jonathan Tropper sand down the rough edges of the saga, working to extract tears, not build riveting drama.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For their 19th film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is looking to shake things up in a significant way. Marvel Studios has adhered to formula before, building a brand name with superhero feats of strength and crisis-solving, spinning an intricate web of characters and motivations. With “Avengers: Infinity War,” the company is looking to add a more pronounced element of surprise, uniting all the big names and fringe players for battle against a powerful foe, and one who’s capable of wiping out the universe with the snap of his fingers. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo try to make the specialty of the community effort unique, generating a sprawling epic that crosses galaxies and takes lives, ordering up towering action sequences and primal emotions, delivering the most psychologically complex MCU event yet. “Infinity War” isn’t concerned with endings, but as set-ups go, it’s a humdinger, going apocalyptic while still retaining familiar beats of humor, heart, and body-smashing confrontations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

I’ll admit, it has been easy to accept Adam Pally as a major player in the world of comedy. There isn’t much about him that can’t be found elsewhere, and his brand of improvisation has never thrilled or delighted. However, with “Most Likely to Murder,” Pally finds a perfect match of delivery to material, putting his slacker self to proper use in this comedy, which plays around with murder mystery conventions, but mostly concerns itself with silly business. It’s wonderfully hilarious at times, with co-writer/director Dan Gregor happy to keep the feature in a state of stupidity for as long as he can get away with, wielding Pally and co-stars Rachel Bloom and Vincent Kartheiser effectively, giving “Most Likely to Murder” a nicely defined sense of humor and horror before it returns to the particulars of a whodunit.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com