BRIAN ORNDORF

Author: BO

  • Film Review – K-Pops

    Anderson .Paak is a musician who’s been working on his craft since he was a teenager, achieving some degree of success in the music industry. He uses such history to help inform “K-Pops,” which marks his directorial debut (also scripting with Khaila Amazan), using elements of his life to inspire a dramedy about a man with a recording dream finding a different kind of education when he encounters his son during a career-making stay in South Korea. It’s not an original tale of understanding and bonding, but .Paak tries to give the endeavor a defined sense of culture and character, helping to move the material away from straight formula. “K-Pops” isn’t going to stun, but .Paak goes easy on the senses with the movie, searching for some laughs and tenderness, while music also plays a significant part in the effort, keeping the feature moving along when a stale sense of drama threatens to slow it to a full stop. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – For Worse

    Amy Landecker has been an actress of note for the last two decades, making memorable appearances here and there in television and movies, consistently working, which is no easy task. She assumes a little more control over her creative output with “For Worse,” making her feature-length debut as a screenwriter and director, and the endeavor certainly resembles a first film, remaining small in scale and completely attentive to characterization. “For Worse” is a comedy about post-divorce experiences, with Landecker taking the main role as a woman in her fifties trying to keep up with new experiences while surrounded by twentysomethings. It’s the stuff of sitcoms, and there’s certainly a touch of network T.V. in the writing, but Landecker wins on charm here, delivering a lively performance in a likeable picture that’s often funny and occasionally real, having a little fun with life’s challenges and humiliations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Bring the Law

    Scout Taylor-Compton is a veteran actress, maintaining steady employment in B-movies for a long time now. She’s ready for more control, making her directorial debut with “Bring the Law,” selecting material (scripted by Daniel Figueiredo and Josh Ridgway) that’s as generic as most of the films she’s been involved with over the last decade. It’s a crime picture examining corruption and acts of intimidation, and it’s a low-budget endeavor, leaving the helmer with little time and money to really illuminate the details of the story. “Bring the Law” doesn’t hold attention for long enough, but there’s some basic steeliness in the first half that holds potential, and Taylor-Compton has a largely committed cast to handle the workload of tough guy lines and hard reactions. Hopes for a more dramatically involving and active effort aren’t met, but it’s not a complete wipeout, putting Taylor-Compton to work trying to shape something out of a mess of cliches and formula. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Robo Warriors

    In the future of 2036, global control will be decided by giant robot combat. That’s the general idea of 1998’s “Robo Warriors,” though screenwriter Michael Berlin doesn’t exactly develop the central concept, preferring to ignore the details of this new world order to simply use the selling point of big brawling bots, spending most of the feature on more personal matters involving troubled characters. It’s actually surprisingly to find how little robo- warrior-ing is involved in “Robo Warriors,” giving viewers only a few conflicts to enjoy. The rest of the endeavor is tasked with building up to these fights, finding Berlin attempting to create a dire world of tomorrow while director Ian Barry only has a Duran Duran music video budget to bring an entire alien conflict to life. The result is a somewhat impressive display of filmmaking hustle, watching Barry work like crazy to sell the sense of scale Berlin imagines. However, this isn’t a particularly exciting offering of sci-fi conflict, and those coming to the title for red-hot robot action might walk away incredibly disappointed in the lack of mayhem. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.

    It worked once for Troma Entertainment, why not try again? After the success of 1984’s “The Toxic Avenger,” another superhero saga was created for the company to help with mainstream appeal, with “Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.” taking a more cartoon approach to askew heroism. Japanese culture is the inspiration for the offering, but co-directors Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz spin the material in their own Troma-like manner, creating another scattergun-style comedy that emphasizes cartoon extremes and strange violence. Working with their largest budget to date, the helmers certainly attempt to pull off some highly unusual visuals in the movie, and while production polish isn’t welcome here, there are moments of imagination that make for an intermittently engaging sit. Overall, “Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.” isn’t as strong as it could be, with all this crazy energy and attention to special effects trapped in a poorly edited endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – So Unreal

    The world of tomorrow is often used to power the imagination of cinema. But what happens when such futurism actually becomes part of daily life? “So Unreal” is a visual essay that explores the pursuit of technological advancement in moviemaking, with co-writer/director Amanda Kramer endeavoring to track the history of media prediction as she examines two decades of productions that set out to understand the changing world of technology. Computers are the key to it all in “So Unreal,” and Kramer is joined by music legend Debbie Harry, who provides narration for the odyssey into examples and moods, focusing on cinematic adventures that tried to make sense of the previously unthinkable, and optimism was certainly not a priority. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – The Ritual

    “The Ritual” is a little late to the party. Over the last few years, there’s been an abundance of films released concerning the powers of Satan and his insistence that the only way to disrupt faith and humanity is to emerge through possession. There was “The Pope’s Exorcist,” “The Exorcist: Believer,” “The First Omen,” “The Exorcism,” and “Immaculate.” Hollywood loves their demon tales, but “The Ritual” hopes to distance itself from the pack, labeled as “based on true events,” examining the case of Emma Schmidt (a.k.a. Anna Ecklund), an alleged victim of possession who battled evil with help from Father Theophilus Riesinger nearly 100 years ago. Co-writer/director David Midell seems to think there’s dramatic potential in an extremely well-worn topic, and he tries to find the urgency of the story. However, there’s no suspense to be found in this offering, which looks cheaply made and isn’t concerned with creating a fear factor as it slowly reheats scenes from subgenre classics. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Pout-Pout Fish

    Screenwriters Elise Allen and Elie Choufany don’t have it easy when trying to figure out just what story to tell with “The Pout-Pout Fish.” It’s an adaptation of a 2008 children’s book by Deborah Diesen, who offered readers 32 pages of simple life lessons and colorful characters. The material has been turned into a 90-minute-long movie, requiring a significant boost in drama and adventure to help support a feature-length version of the literary success story, with Diesen moving on to create dozens of sequels and spin-offs, keeping a good thing going. As a film, “The Pout-Pout Fish” doesn’t have much in common with the book, electing to generate its own saga of lessons and exploration for its film debut, definitely lifting ideas from other animated hits, especially 2003’s “Finding Nemo.” Directors Ricard Cusso and Rio Harrington manage to keep things lively and charming in the offering, finding humor and a sense of discovery, even if fans of the original book might be slightly bewildered by what the endeavor does to reach a sellable run time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Psycho Killer

    1995’s “Seven” put screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker on the map. The feature’s dark obsessions and bleak worldview turned Walker into a go-to man for grim tales of humanity’s viciousness (including work on “8mm” and “Sleepy Hollow”), maintaining employment with harsh material. 31 years later, and Walker is still doing the same thing, creating “Psycho Killer,” which, once again, deals with an obsessive serial killer taking victims on his way to a final solution of sorts, hunted by a cop driven to take him down before he completes his vision for mass destruction. It’s definitely no “Seven,” with anything even remotely disturbing about the story peeled off the project by director Gavin Palone, who has tremendous difficulty juggling several subplots and overall tone. “Psycho Killer” (which was shot three years ago) is dreadful and an editorial mess, doing nothing to conjure a case of the creeps with its study of pain and suffering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – How to Make a Killing

    “How to Make a Killing” is a loose adaptation of the 1907 novel, “Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal,” which also served as the inspiration for the 1949 comedy, “Kind Hearts and Coronets.” Writer/director John Patton Ford made a decent first impression with his work on 2022’s “Emily the Criminal,” blending unlawful entanglements and social commentary, and he returns to the same dramatic ground with his follow up effort, reuniting with the dark thoughts and actions of desperate people. “How to Make a Killing” has a solid first hour of complication facing the main character, who’s looking to get ahead in life by killing family members standing in the way of a large inheritance. Darkly comedic action doesn’t sustain for long enough, but Ford achieves an engrossing setup, and star Glen Powell delivers a fine lead performance in a part that demands a balance of good and evil for a story that takes many turns. Perhaps too many. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – This Is Not a Test

    “This Is Not a Test” can be a strange viewing experience. It’s based on a 2012 YA book by Courtney Summers, who endeavored to mix matters of adolescent concern with a zombie outbreak situation. Writer/director Adam MacDonald (“Pyewacket,” “Backcountry”) attempts to bring such tonal balance to the screen with his take on the source material, though he amplifies the horror angle to help give the picture some edge. “This Is Not a Test” hopes to deliver a “Breakfast Club” meets “Dawn of the Dead” event with its study of teen concern during an apocalyptic situation, and MacDonald brings just enough oddity to help support the effort. There’s blood everywhere and high school concerns, and while the offering isn’t entirely thrilling, MacDonald does a fine job with atmosphere at times as the characters face unusual points of pressure while the world falls apart around them. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Beam Me Up, Sulu

    In 1985, Stan Woo had a dream. He was a young man in Los Angeles, trying to make his way through college and all the academic challenges it includes, but he had a distraction in “Star Trek,” with the franchise flying especially high during the 1980s. Stan grew up with the show, falling in love with its vision of the future and its inclusion of the character Sulu (played by George Takei), the Asian helmsman, who represented a place for himself in the bigger world. Not merely content to consume the show, Stan wanted to become part of it, eventually organizing the production of “Yorktown: A Time to Heal,” a fan film starring himself, also managing to land Takei for a supporting part as Sulu, instantly elevating his small endeavor. However, the project was never completed, putting directors Timour Gregory and Sasha Schneider on the case with “Beam Me Up, Sulu,” a documentary about Stan’s initial vision for his short film and the long road to a final cut, also making plenty of stops to understand the impact of “Star Trek” and its lengthy history of inclusion, consistently bringing light and hope to the fanbase. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Redux Redux

    “Redux Redux” is a time travel movie, but it’s really not interested in the specifics of such science fiction. The details of adventuring are fairly limited, which might drive some viewers bananas, but thankfully there’s an effort from writer/directors Kevin and Matthew McManus (“The Block Island Sound”) to give this low-budget endeavor a real run of suspense that carries throughout the entire viewing experience. Characterization is the primary focus here, with the tale using the ways of magical travel to boost a story of grief that’s slipped into madness. There’s energy to the picture, along with fine performances and plenty of enigmatic events to keep things interesting, and the helmers are dedicated to crafting an exciting effort. “Redux Redux” really shines at times, using time travel to inspire some twisted turns of plot and a few surprises, staying heated in a way that helps to hold back dozens of questions raised by the time the end credits arrive. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Dreadful

    Last year, writer/director Natasha Kermani explored the world of Dracula in “Abraham’s Boys,” taking a slow-burn approach to the horror tale, and perhaps it was too slow for some. The feature retained mood and an appreciation for developing moments of danger, and the helmer remains on the same creative path for “The Dreadful,” which is also careful with its movement but intermittently alert with its violence. Inspiration comes from an ancient Shin Buddhist parable, which also inspired the 1964 Japanese film, “Onibaba,” and Kermani attempts to make her own way with a story of jealousy and suspicion set in the 15th century. “The Dreadful” is in no hurry, with the endeavor working careful to build an atmosphere of strange events and suspicious motives. It’s not a movie that jumps off the screen, but for those who have some patience, Kermani captures stretches of unease as the characters experience something unreal while residing in the middle of nowhere. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Samurai Priest: Vampire Hunter

    While Blu-ray packaging lists “Samurai Priest: Vampire Hunter” as a 2025 release, there’s a bit more to this film’s history. The endeavor began life as “Live Evil,” a 2009 release written and directed by Jay Woelfel, who wanted to explore the well-tread terrain of exploitation cinema, looking to make his own drive-in offering in a tale of a “warrior priest” questing to destroy vampire colonies in the American southwest. The feature didn’t attract much attention, fading into obscurity after being pulled from distribution, but it didn’t fully go away. Years later, producer Mark Terry wanted a crack at reworking “Live Evil,” recruiting editor Michael Hoffman Jr. to return to the original footage to create a new tale from an old story, emerging with “Samurai Priest: Vampire Hunter.” Fans of the original offering are treated to a fresh take on the central premise, and those new to the endeavor are probably going to be left scratching their heads. As hard as Terry (who takes over as the credited director, eliminating Woelfel) and Hoffman Jr. try to manufacture something fresh out of the work, they come up short when it comes to excitement and narrative clarity in “Samurai Priest: Vampire Hunter,” which plays too messy at times, fighting for its own identity without having enough footage to work with. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Revealer

    It’s difficult to make a movie about the end of the world when there’s very little budget to power the production. “Revealer” is the latest attempt to highlight an apocalyptic event without actually showing much of anything, with director Luke Boyce basically sticking to two sets while the screenplay (by Michael Moreci and Tim Seely) suggests a major event is happening around the globe, forcing viewers to use their imagination as a much smaller dramatic event unfolds indoors. The chance to go big with the endeavor isn’t possible, but Boyce looks to do something with a very little he has to work with, investing in cinematographic ideas and terrific casting to bring this strange take on the chaos of the Rapture to life. “Revealer” doesn’t add up to much, but it retains effective moments of conflict and mystery to get the feature through some slower patches of limp exposition. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – Clown in a Cornfield

    It’s been a little while since we’ve heard from co-writer/director Eli Craig. His last release was 2017’s “Little Evil,” an entertaining follow-up to his raucous debut, 2011’s “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil.” Craig is a talented helmer and someone who clearly loves genre moviemaking, heading right back into the darkness with “Clown in a Cornfield,” which is an adaptation of a novel by author Adam Cesare. It’s a YA title handed the R-rated treatment, as Craig transforms a potentially self-aware concept into a bloody but amusing ride of slasher cinema, paying tribute to the traditions of the subgenre while also exploring a little more characterization than what’s usually pursued. “Clown in the Cornfield” has substance, which is impressive, and strong performances, which is rare, and while the writing fights a feeble climax, the build to a payoff is exciting and intentionally funny. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – An Evening with Rodney Ascher

    Rodney Ascher is a filmmaker. He’s created several documentaries over the last 13 years, but he’s primarily known as the director of 2012’s “Room 237,” which explored various forms of analysis and conspiracy theories surrounding the making of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining.” Ascher went deep into the 1980 release, working with interviewees to generate an odyssey into insanity, offering access to the far reaches of the human brain as these “experts” and admirers were offered a chance to share their fixations, trying to solve a cinematic puzzle that’s intentionally missing many pieces. The world of obsession is key to Ascher’s work, also examined in 2015’s “The Nightmare” and 2021’s “A Glitch in the Matrix,” and that grip of compulsion carries into “An Evening with Rodney Ascher.” It’s a mixtape of sorts, presenting various short films, videos, and visual essays, investigating the labor of passion and its all-consuming ways. Ascher doesn’t get too serious with the offering, but for those who enjoyed his previous adventures into fascination, there’s more of the same here, presented in bite-sized helpings of lunacy and artistry. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Tyler Perry’s Joe’s College Road Trip

    “Joe’s College Road Trip” is writer/director Tyler Perry’s eighth film since 2024, and it’s the first in his career to open with a warning for audiences. The production wants to make sure viewers fully understand what they’re getting into with the picture, which isn’t his usual Christian-pandering entertainment. Instead of calling on the wisdom of Jesus, Perry is looking to the ways of Redd Foxx instead, making something of a “party album” with his latest, out to test the endurance of his streaming audience with a hard R-rated feature. Madea appears, but Joe is the focus of the movie, and he’s listed as a “dying breed” prone to awful opinions and foul language as an ex-pimp. “Joe’s College Road Trip” attempts to give the supporting character the star treatment, but Perry doesn’t do nuance. He’s back again with another cheap endeavor that mixes rough comedy with insincere messages on black history, remaining as slapdash as ever with his writing and direction. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Wuthering Heights (2026)

    2023’s “Saltburn” was meant to rock theaters with depictions of sexuality, kinks, and perversions. It was the follow up project for writer/director Emerald Fennell after she attracted attention with 2020’s “Promising Young Woman.” However, few saw the feature during its original theatrical engagement, with popularity arriving after its streaming debut, allowing viewers to dissect its extremity, turning scenes into social media moments. “Saltburn” went in a funny direction on its way to fame, but Fennell still has cinematic aspirations with her particular approach to eroticism, returning with “Wuthering Heights,” a loose, very loose, adaptation of Emily Bronte’s 1847 novel. The English stiffness of the source material has been eliminated, with Fennell after something more feral with the endeavor, and she’s perfectly happy to recycle habits and fixations for the period piece, out to “Saltburn”-up a tale of obsession, which often resembles a blend of music videos and telenovelas. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com