BRIAN ORNDORF

Author: BO

  • Blu-ray Review – Tag: The Assassination Game

    For many people, the game “Assassin” or “Senior Assassin” was a rite of passage in school. Gameplay involved organized chaos, sending players into the world with dart guns, aiming to “kill” targets using spy game wits and dedication to the spirit of the competition. Of course, the idea of young people tearing around a college campus carrying realistic-looking guns seems a little strange today, but the 1980s were a different time, and writer/director Nick Castle uses the organized specifics of the era to inspire 1982’s “TAG: The Assassination Game,” which follows the exploits of players trying to take down their targets in the middle of a college year. Castle (who makes his helming debut with the endeavor, eventually going on to oversee such efforts as “The Last Starfighter” and “Major Payne”) isn’t making a cold-blooded thriller with “TAG: The Assassination Game,” going the semi-comedic route instead, aiming to turn a tale of toy pistol elimination into a film noir tribute/spoof, blending silliness with some degree of severity as dead bodies begin to pile up in the story. It’s a big swing from the production, which is more effective as a modest tale of campus pursuit than a pulse-pounding detective tale. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – Boxcar Bertha

    Careers must start somewhere, and for so many in the film industry during the 1970s, employment was usually found with producer Roger Corman. The king of frugality was mostly happy to help hungry moviemakers, especially those he didn’t have to pay very much, and part of this roster of stars is Martin Scorsese. Having made his first feature (1967’s “Who’s That Knocking on My Door”), Scorsese was finding his way to Hollywood, eventually attracting attention for his short films, creating a path to make 1972’s “Boxcar Bertha,” which follows a Depression-era woman and her experiences with violent, desperate men. Scorsese and Corman appear to be an unlikely pair, but work is work, and the helmer puts in as much effort as possible for the producer, ready to deliver exploitation for the masses in the B-movie. Cinematic mastery would start to form in 1973’s “Mean Streets,” but Scorsese has his moments here, out to deliver the basics in Corman demands while figuring out his style and fondness for screen intensity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Goodbye, Columbus

    1969’s “Goodbye, Columbus” attempts to adapt a tale from author Philip Roth’s 1959 short story collection. As with any effort to expand on something limited in scope, screenwriter Arnold Schulman has difficulty trying to extract drama out of an experiential journey for the lead character. Director Larry Peerce works hard to make the picture memorable, leaning into the appeal of youth culture from the era to land a faint take on “Romeo and Juliet,” managing the romantic combustion of the writing with Roth’s vision of Jewish American activities and family ties. “Goodbye, Columbus” has style, with Peerce laboring to find visual energy for a feature that’s not commanding with emotional issues, lacking sharpness when it comes to matters of the heart. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – The Dead Thing

    Mystery is the goal of “The Dead Thing.” Co-writer/director Elric Kane (“Kissy Kissy”) isn’t open with the hard details of this story, which tracks a woman’s increasing disorientation as she pursues love with a strange man who remains elusive in more ways than one. Kane (and co-writer Webb Wilcoxen) doesn’t go for a horror experience with the picture, which contains no scares and no particular genre appetite. It’s more of a psychological study with touches of eroticism and menace, slipping into ghost story territory at times. “The Dead Thing” intends to be slow-burn, with Kane pursuing atmosphere, not intensity. However, earning audience interest in this puzzle is up for debate, as such glacial pacing isn’t rewarding. The tale plays like a short film that’s been expanded for feature-length examination, failing to deliver an interesting dramatic experience as Kane works out his cinematic influences and love of ambiguity, which doesn’t translate into riveting cinema. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Evil Dead Burn

    The “Evil Dead” film series took a bit of a break after the success of a 2013 remake, raring back after a decade of inactivity with 2023’s “Evil Dead Rise.” While franchise connections were limited, the production captured the spirit of director Sam Raimi’s original creation, successfully reviving the Deadite massacre for another installment of big screen hellraising. Three years later, there’s “Evil Dead Burn,” which offers a different tale of torment from screenwriter Florent Bernard and Sebastien Vanicek (who also directs) while firmly committing to the “Evil Dead” way. Wonderfully menacing, gory, and visceral, “Evil Dead Burn” sustains the momentum of “Evil Dead Rise,” launching a new descent into torturous encounters and horror exploding in contained settings. It’s a post-Ash universe now, but the brand name still packs a punch as a new group of characters are exposed to absolute danger and bodily destruction. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Moana (2026)

    Of course, one fully understands why the Disney corporation continues on a mission to produce live-action remakes of their animated classics. Even with a few financial stumbles, the features make a lot of money for the company, and they carry built-in brand recognition, easing the pain of marketing movies to the masses. The last offering, 2025’s “Lilo and Stitch,” was a massive box office success, and represented a relatively recent release to reheat, redoing the 2002 original. Now “Moana” cuts even closer, with the first film in theaters only a decade ago, enjoying many years of home entertainment domination as audiences warmed to an absolutely wonderful picture. The new “Moana” (which was intended to be released last year, only to be bumped from the schedule to make way for 2024’s animated “Moana 2”) is looking to coast on such popularity and viewer love, but of all the live-action endeavors, this is arguably the most pointless. Director Thomas Kail has technology and casting, but he doesn’t have heart and originality, with “Moana” a cold-blooded copy of the 2016 effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Mockbuster

    The Asylum is a movie studio that specializes in low-budget entertainment, often taking advantage of major studio releases to submit a poorly constructed knockoff (“Transformers” vs. “Transmorphers”) to make a few bucks off the curious and the confused. They’ve built an entire library of pictures, with most barely making a buck, but remaining just profitable enough to keep the entire machine running for another round of movies. To quote the “Hellraiser” tagline, the company is “demon to some, angel to others,” and for Australian corporate video director Anthony Frith, The Asylum is just the place to get his start in the film business. “Mockbuster” is a documentary about Frith’s experience helming the 2025 feature, “The Land That Time Forgot,” putting him in the middle of a potential production disaster, hiring a crew to capture the insanity of the opportunity and the inner workings of Asylum life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Black Box

    Stephen Susco is a seasoned horror screenwriter, previously credited on features such as 2004’s “The Grudge,” “Hell Fest,” and 2013’s ludicrous “Texas Chainsaw.” He turns his attention to more genre classics to help inspire “Black Box,” which is an airline disaster picture that blends “The Thing,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” and the “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” episode of “The Twilight Zone.” It’s a horror film playing a glacial game of discovery, asking viewers to remain patient with a low-budget endeavor that’s in no hurry to develop suspense or scares, and its feel for paranoia is severely lacking. Director Steven Quale (who’s racked up underwhelming efforts such as “American Renegades,” “Into the Storm,” and “Final Destination 5”) is tasked with making something exciting in a series of small spaces, but “Black Box” doesn’t break through with thrills and chills, mostly remaining lukewarm as characters are explored and mysterious threats are eventually defined. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Night Nurse

    “Night Nurse” offers a profoundly slow-paced journey into dark eroticism. It’s the debut for writer/director Georgia Bernstein, who aims to catch an indie film wave with the production, looking to find uncomfortable areas of human engagement while exploring various kinks in play. It’s an unusual picture that demands quite a bit of patience from viewers, who are asked to remain focused on lengthy scenes of seduction and staring as elements of story start to form over the course of the feature. “Night Nurse” is pursuing atmosphere, and the helmer is successful in her quest to make something unsettling and strangely alluring, laboring to craft a movie that tempts and repels in equal measure. It’s no rocket ride of surprises, emerging as highly specific work for an audience willing to go with the diseased Rorschach test Bernstein is making here. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Outer Threat

    Writer/director William Woods makes his helming debut with “The Outer Threat,” and he attempts to generate an apocalyptic scenario with an extremely limited budget and use of a few locations. Woods turns to math and science to conjure a sense of adventure for the picture, along with a healthy dose of paranoia, trying to give the feature some liveliness without having to pay for major action set pieces. The mildness of it all shows throughout the viewing experience, putting Woods to work on character and revelations for what’s kinda, sorta an alien invasion movie. “The Outer Threat” might not please those on the hunt for more defined thrills, as Woods can’t lift the whole endeavor off the ground, but acting and intelligence survives, keeping the offering engaging at times, especially when the tale comes into contact with more physical threats. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Reading Lolita in Tehran

    In 2003, author Azar Nafisi published a memoir about her days in post-Islamic Revolution Iran, returning to her homeland to remain an English professor at the University of Tehran during a time of severe social and political change. Director Eran Riklis (“Spider in the Web”) and screenwriter Marjorie David (a television veteran) attempt to make a film out of Nafisi’s details, with “Reading Lolita in Tehran” endeavoring to understand the pressures of living in the country, and how such intensity worked to grind down the professor’s spirit. It’s a story told in four chapters, and doesn’t always provide the most enlightening understanding of the subject’s experience. However, the bullet points are clear, and Riklis oversees fine performances to help sell the anguish of the educational and living situations presented here, preserving Nafisi’s experience as she attempts to endure an impossible situation of gradual submission and form a plan for a secret revolution. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Isolate Thief

    Director John Suits has been concentrating on making DTV entertainment, including a dip into the business of Bruce Willis and his medical issues for 2020’s “Breach.” Suits returns with “The Isolate Thief,” moving away from tech and dystopian misery to make a western, going the slow-burn route with help from screenwriter Kevin Lefler, who arranges a tale of survival and threat set during the end of the Civil War. The material plays like a short story, generating a conflict inside a small space, with a handful of agitated characters forced to deal with one another without engaging the outside world. “The Isolate Thief” doesn’t really have enough to support a feature-film exploration of trouble coming for a young woman on her own, but the picture finds a few ways to develop suspense, and acting helps the cause, giving the endeavor some weight as the story hunts for trouble to explore. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Glenrothan

    An actor of incredible presence, career achievements, and personal opinion, Brian Cox makes his feature-length directorial debut with “Glenrothan.” He’s out to tell a Scottish story, working with a screenplay by David Ashton and Jeff Murphy that investigates the emotional wounds of two brothers experiencing a reunion after four decades of separation, trying to make sense of their current situation. Cox sells the stuffing out of Scotland, bringing locations to life to the best of his ability, making for a very rustic viewing experience. He’s less confident with dramatic entanglements, as most of the picture offers a formulaic study of communication issues involving stubborn characters. “Glenrothan” doesn’t reach its goal to become a heartwarming tale of forgiveness, but Cox clearly loves the setting, providing a pleasing advertisement for Scottish tourism. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – California Schemin’

    In the early 2000s, Scottish men Billy “Silibil” Boyd and Gavin “Brains” Bain were warmed by their dream of becoming rap stars. They had no industry connections, just ambition and confidence in their talents. They also had a gift for spinning lies. The story of the rap group Silibil N’ Brains was previously explored in Bain’s 2010 memoir, which inspired “The Great Hip Hop Hoax,” a 2013 documentary about the duo and their adventures in the music industry. Actor James McAvoy (joined by screenwriters Elaine Gracie and Archie Thomson) is also interested in the story of Silibil N’ Brains, inspired to make his directorial debut with “California Schemin’”, which dramatizes Boyd and Bain’s experiences as they attempted to con their way to music business glory. McAvoy brings energy to the picture’s opening half, capturing the excitement of deceit and the troubles of sustaining such a scam. The feature eventually slides into melodrama, but McAvoy has his moments of liveliness and character, getting the film upright before he loses his way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – The Gambler

    The abyssal depths of addiction are explored in 1974’s “The Gambler,” with screenwriter James Toback using his experience in the world of gambling to inspire a dramatic understanding of powerlessness. Emotions are tightly controlled in the picture, with director Karel Reisz aiming to follow the tentative stability of the main character as he wrestles with a reality he doesn’t want to accept, growing more desperate as the roller coaster ride of wins and losses begin to do real damage to his life. The endeavor maintains some emotional distance from the worsening situation, but Reisz and Toback have their way with the psychology of it all, creating tense moments of blistering internalization, giving star James Caan a chance to deliver one of his finest performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Doomsdays

    2013’s “Doomsdays” is the directorial debut for Eddie Mullins, and he goes as indie as possible with the endeavor, also creating the screenplay, based on his original short. Story is basically ignored for a series of experiences for the lead characters, with Mullins examining the passing days of two homeless men and their addiction to breaking into houses, living their lives one day at a time. The feature is meant to be a comedy, looking to remain unpredictable with behaviors and reactions, and Mullins puts a lot of faith in his lead actors, with Leo Fitzpatrick and Justin Rice tasked with creating some sort of appeal or understanding of two practiced troublemakers and their battle with spring vacancies in the Catskills. “Doomsdays” is spare and maybe a bit silly, best served to viewers in a relaxed state of mind, as the offering contains no drama or urgency as it follows weeks of deceptive people committing property destruction. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – Salaam Bombay

    For her directorial debut, Mira Nair elects to explore the experience of children living on their own in Bombay, India. 1988’s “Salaam Bombay” isn’t a celebration of life, but a striking feature about the death of innocence, following young characters as they’re confronted by the harsh realities of their surroundings, and the realization that nobody is going to save them. It’s a potent offering of drama from Nair, who manages amateur performances and chaotic locations with remarkable skill at times, finding a way through a difficult tale of survival. “Salaam Bombay” is unique in its screen energy and daring in its tonality, with Nair hoping to bring attention to a dire situation of living where life seems disposable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains

    1982’s “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains” has a cult following, with the movie’s reputation steadily developing in the decades since its original theatrical release. And there’s a reason for that, as the picture provides a pleasing shot of attitude, sold with interest in burgeoning feminist rebellion that went on to inspire a lot of musicians and viewers, especially in the alternative rock scene of the 1990s. There’s something here worth understanding and appreciating, but there’s also the reality of watching “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains,” which has been edited and rethought into near nothingness, putting director Lou Adler at odds with screenwriter Nancy Dowd (who disowned the film, credited here as “Rob Morton”), creating two very different dramatic approaches for the endeavor, and they don’t mix well. It’s a messy offering, just shy of being incomprehensible, speeding through major moments in life and maturity to hit simplistic points of pain, creating a wildly uneven viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Enola Holmes 3

    2020’s “Enola Holmes” was a surprise streaming hit, and it was quickly followed by 2022’s “Enola Holmes 2,” giving “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown another franchise to participate in. “Enola Holmes 3” arrives four years after the last installment, and there’s a sense of maturity in the production, which, once again, is inspired by the YA book series by author Nancy Springer. There’s no radical change in tone or moviemaking approach, but new director Philip Barantini (who helmed “Boiling Point” and the series “Adolescence”) brings a bit more spirit to the sequel, and the production suddenly realizes the value of a shorter run time. “Enola Holmes 3” offers slight improvements on its predecessors without altering the recipe for mildly engaging murder mystery entertainment, created for younger audiences. Surprises aren’t included, but a more inviting viewing experience remains. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass

    Co-writer/director David Wain makes very funny movies, but he hasn’t made one in a long time. The helmer of “Wet Hot American Summer,” “Role Models,” and “They Came Together” was last seen guiding the National Lampoon story, “A Futile and Stupid Gesture,” all the way back in 2018. Wain returns with “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass,” and it’s a relief to find that he hasn’t lost interest in creating incredibly silly endeavors, returning to shenanigans with co-writer/actor Ken Marino, inspecting the insanity of a woman trying to process her fiancé’s cheating ways by pursuing her own carnal fantasy in Los Angeles. In an age when most (all?) R-rated comedies are loaded with dismal improv and raunchiness, “Celebrity Sex Pass” is a breath of fresh air, with Wain and Marino out to have scripted fun with the material, scoring big laughs along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com