Author: BO

Bono has a healthy ego. He’s been part of the band U2 for nearly 50 years, experiencing all kinds of incredible creative and financial success, even achieving a level of political influence as his charitable interests intensified. Nobody thinks more highly of Bono than Bono, and it’s precisely this theatricality that powers all of “Stories of Surrender,” which brings the singer’s one-man show to screens under the care of director Andrew Dominik (“Blonde,” “Killing Them Softly,” and “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”), who seems to understand the best way to present the performer. Bono’s been big for most of his career, offered a chance to physically interpret sections of his 2022 memoir for an audience at a New York City theater, and this cinematic experience is strictly reserved for fans. However, there’s artistry from Dominik and passion from Bono, collaborating on an emotional journey of achievement and loss that goes a bit beyond the U2 Story, and music supports the odyssey, offering a fresh perspective on old songs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Gonzo Girl” is a tale about author Hunter S. Thompson that’s trying to avoid becoming a tale about Hunter S. Thompson. The movie is an adaptation of a book by Cheryl Della Pietra, who detailed her experiences with “Walker Reade,” a madman writer running out of creative gas after decades on the move. Listed as an “essentially true” story of an unexpected relationship and writing challenge, the picture hopes to present a different side of Thompson without actually using the details of his life. Making her feature-length directorial debut is actress Patricia Arquette, who tries to understand both sides of the emotional standoff as a young woman is sent to deal with Reade and his particularly forceful ways. “Gonzo Girl” isn’t “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Where the Buffalo Roam,” or even “The Rum Diary,” looking to peel back a few layers of insanity and understand the unique pressures emerging from what’s meant to be a babysitting assignment. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Tim Travers & the Time Traveler’s Paradox” began life as a short film, one of several created by writer/director Stimson Snead. The helmer looks to expand his vision with a feature-length study of time travel and oneness, inspiring Snead to develop more of a story to support his central concept of time traveling insanity and all the danger and confusion it creates. Perhaps the material was best left as a brief display of moviemaking cleverness, as Snead clearly has difficulty trying to maintain humor and contemplation with the effort, which means to be a fun time with the eye-crossing ways of science fiction and violent comedy, but comes off as a chore to sit through. Snead has his production achievements on such a tiny budget, but “Tim Travers & the Time Traveler’s Paradox” isn’t the roller coaster ride it initially promises to become, growing too cumbersome and repetitive as it unfolds. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Four years ago, Netflix attempted an ambush in film releasing, generating three features based on the “Fear Street” book series, created by YA writing machine, R.L. Stine. The three movies were released over the course of three weeks, introducing viewers to time jumps and troubles in the towns of Sunnyvale and Shadyside. The horror offerings found their target audience of genre fans and teenagers, and the brand returns for a new era of terror in “Fear Street: Prom Queen,” which brings the story to 1988 to examine more adolescent nightmares in school and social relationships. The picture is a throwback to slasher entertainment of long ago, putting co-writer/director Matt Palmer in charge of bratty characters, plenty of bloodshed, and a soundtrack filled with hits of the era. “Prom Queen” isn’t a revelatory viewing experience, but as junk food entertainment for the small screen, Palmer tries to keep the effort gory and passably pained as it deals with a lot of personalities and motives in a short amount of time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Since 2019, director Guy Ritchie has been on a professional tear, overseeing the creation of multiple films, most delivering a satisfying sense of style and attitude while the helmer makes do with mid-range budgets. Such sharpness is immediately dulled in “Fountain of Youth,” which is Ritchie’s attempt to make a monster-budgeted adventure movie for all ages. Not helping the cause is screenwriter James Vanderbilt (“Independence Day” Resurgence,” “White House Down,” 2022’s “Scream”), who liberally lifts tone and ideas from the “National Treasure” and Indiana Jones films, out to generate a globetrotting adventure epic with plenty of puzzling and physical challenges to fill the run time. “Fountain of Youth” is a highly derivative endeavor, and Ritchie doesn’t shake up the formula, delivering a dull take on blockbuster moviemaking, pulling back on his recently revitalized sense of humor and intensity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Paul Reubens passed away in 2023, lost to a cancer battle that lasted for six years, and fought in almost complete privacy. His death was a complete shock to fans, who were left to wonder about Reubens’s private life and reflect on his legacy as an actor, including his decades portraying Pee-wee Herman to massive success. “Pee-wee as Himself” is a documentary by director Matt Wolf (“Teenage,” “Spaceship Earth”) that’s out to process Reubens’s history and pop culture domination, with the subject himself sitting for 40 hours of interviews to help guide the two-part film, providing fresh access to most areas of his life. Pee-wee Herman was a magical force on big and small screens, and Wolf achieves an acceptably deep understanding of Reubens’s career quest, keeping the star talking, focusing on “perspective” when taking in the expanse of his professional accomplishments, family experiences, and private adventures. “Pee-wee as Himself” truly captures the complexity of the performer and his personal struggle with identity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Soon after their attempt to turn “Snow White” from an animated film into a live-action event, Disney is back in theaters with “Lilo & Stitch,” which is an adaptation of the 2002 animated picture. The original feature was exactly the modest hit the company needed at the time, helping to restore some cartoon mojo for Disney, but Stitch proved to be a most popular character, going on to become a major merchandise staple and beloved creature creation. There have been sequels, video games, a television show, and even a theme park attraction out to keep the brand name alive, making a live action experience the natural way forward. However, “Lilo & Stitch” is a little different from other remakes, with most of its original appeal emerging from hyperactive animated high jinks and elastic visuals. Director Dean Fleischer Camp (“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”) doesn’t bring much creative verve to the update, and while casting mostly works, the cartoonishness of it all doesn’t translate well to the real world. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Perhaps something has happened to Wes Anderson. The writer/director was once in touch with his cheeky side, making lively pictures that retained his meticulous sense of visual design without becoming mummified by his vision. Recent efforts such as “The French Dispatch” and “Asteroid City” reflect a refinement in his particular moviemaking manner, but his humor has eroded over the years, now firmly committed to creating deadpan operas involving all-star casts, absolutely devouring period settings in the process. The helmer returns with another overbaked offering in “The Phoenician Scheme,” which maintains the Anderson way in sound and vision, but visibly struggles to become the darkly comedic romp the filmmaker imagines it to be. A great cast and sharp technical credits do their thing, but “The Phoenician Scheme” doesn’t show signs of life, slowly stiffening up with material that’s more concerned with Anderson’s cinematic fetishes than taking viewers on a wild ride of faces and places. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Two years ago, YouTubers-turned-filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou made a splash with their directorial debut, “Talk to Me.” It was a “haunted hand” picture that attracted media heat and some box office attention, delivering a small-scale fright film that either managed to terrify viewers with its tense atmosphere or fall short of expectations with its ridiculous premise and underwhelming performances. The siblings have returned to scary business in “Bring Her Back,” which trades the unquestioned mysteries of a cursed severed hand for a story of manipulation and grief, sold through the semi-tight grip of a possession tale. The Philippous have a much better script this time around (credited to Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman), and a more engrossing set-up for macabre happenings. The pair don’t stick their landing in full, but “Bring Her Back” has two acts worth of mystery that connects, generating needed uneasiness as grimness floods the endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Laura Piani makes her feature-length directorial debut with “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” which carries a title that makes the movie seem like a brash British comedy, in the vein of “Bridget Jones’s Diary.” However, this is a French production, and one that enjoys picking at the little details of heartache when dealing in love and, more importantly, the creative process. Piani makes a wonderful first impression with the film, refreshingly dialing down hysterics to create a simple but real study of a woman trying to locate clarity in confusing times, challenged to find her voice in many ways. “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” has a sense of humor, landing many laughs along the journey, but it’s also sensitive work wonderfully supported by Camille Rutherford’s charming lead performance. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jon Avnet was once the director of “Fried Green Tomatoes,” but those days are long gone. The helmer has struggled in his career, making movies that didn’t completely work (“Up Close and Personal”) and others that utterly failed (“Righteous Kill,” “88 Minutes,” and “Three Christs”). Avnet restores some of his storytelling skills for “The Last Rodeo,” which isn’t challenging material in the least (he shares a writing credit with Derek Presley and Neal McDonough), but an easygoing underdog story that deals directly with family issues and relationships. Surprises are limited, actually nonexistent, but there’s a bit of heart to the material and a feel for a troubled soul confronting the mistakes in his life, seeking redemption on the back of a bull. “The Last Rodeo” is in definite need of a tighter edit, but Avnet delivers a semi-sturdy character examination with tasteful sports world action. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Death and relationships. They pair together pretty easily for most filmmakers, providing fertile dramatic ground to explore. Writer/director Julia Max makes her feature-length helming debut with “The Surrender,” which takes a surreal look at the pains of personal loss and frayed interactions during a difficult time, also adding a few elements of horror to maintain appeal for genre fans. It’s a tale of communication in many ways, offering a real-world understanding of tensions rising between a mother and daughter who are facing an unbearable situation, and Max hits a few potent notes of confusion along the way. “The Surrender” doesn’t become a riveting chiller or a devastating understanding of grief, but it has some effective sequences when it remains closer to a human experience. Unreality presented here seems better suited for a short film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com