Category: Film Review

“Stolen Kingdom” is a documentary about the Disney black market. For those not paying close attention to the ways of theme park fandom, there are people out there who openly steal items from all the Disney parks, with many accessing “backstage” areas of the attractions to locate treasures for the taking. And there are buyers willing to pay top dollar for such finds, helping to add to personal collections. Director Joshua Bailey attempts to explain the whole subculture in the picture, putting focus on the character of Buzzy from the attraction “Cranium Command,” which was once open at Epcot in the Wonders of Life pavilion. The show closed in 2007, but Buzzy remained in place. That is, until one day some items of clothing were reported missing, and soon enough, the whole animatronic was gone. It’s a mystery ripe for examination, and Bailey gets most of the way there in “Stolen Kingdom,” examining the personalities and behavioral issues involved with those determined to access forbidden areas of Disney’s empire. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Natalie Erika James made a strong impression with her debut film, 2020’s “Relic,” skillfully merging horror happenings with a meaningful tale of health woes and family issues. She followed it up with a nearly impossible directorial mission, tasked with revisiting the world of “Rosemary’s Baby” in 2024’s “Apartment 7A.” Against all odds, James made an interesting movie, continuing her exploration of female-centric stories and genre intensity. She returns to her dramatic interests in “Saccharine,” this time merging a most unusual haunting with an examination of eating disorders and self-worth. Once again, the helmer delivers an atmospheric and periodically chilling understanding of pressure put on the main character as she confronts psychological and physical issues while trapped in a worsening situation. “Saccharine” is body horror with a potent message, and James continues on her path as one of the more talented filmmakers working today. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2018, musician Boots Riley made his filmmaking debut with “Sorry to Bother You.” It was a wild comedy flowing with artistic impulses and general craziness, helping to secure Riley as a director to watch. He’s finally back on screens with “I Love Boosters,” which is inspired by a 2006 song from Riley’s hip-hop group, The Coup, developing the central concept of fashion thieves confronting a top designer, on the hunt to lift her most expensive collection yet. It’s another wet slice of wackiness from Riley, who’s been handed a bigger budget to feel out his visual and thespian mischief, getting a little more epic with his vision. “I Love Boosters” is a lot, and not always in a fulfilling manner, but Riley is playful with the endeavor, keeping up with his interests in social commentary and extravagant imagery as he tries to surprise once again. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Corporate Retreat” is a comedy. Maybe? Or it could be a horror film. Co-writer/director Aaron Fisher is out to master many tones for this endeavor, attempting to enjoy the possibilities of dark comedy with a premise that invites a lot of ghoulish situations. The offering hopes to be a wicked good time for all, but Fisher isn’t all that refined a filmmaker, barely handling the basics in twists and turns for the feature, and his command over performances is severely lacking. Co-star Alan Ruck is the only capable actor in the ensemble effort, and I can’t imagine how intolerable “Corporate Retreat” would be without his commitment and skill with oddball material. He’s the only offering of hope in the mostly hopeless picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Since 2019, there has been no shortage of Guy Ritchie movies. The man has been on a directing tear, putting projects into motion or taking paying gigs wherever he can find them. Heck, just last week saw the release of a new Richie offering (“In the Grey”) that almost nobody paid to see. And here comes “Reckless,” which is written by Matthew Robert Kelly and Stu Small, and it strives to retain that Ritchie screen energy when it comes to British crime films and their wacky characters. Director Elliott Montello doesn’t seem to mind the comparison, leaning into the sameness of the story, which follows an ex-con trying to reclaim stolen money from his old underworld partners, and they’re not in a cooperative mood. “Reckless” isn’t original work, but there’s a little spark with performances, putting Scott Adkins into action as a man in panic mode finding problems everywhere he turns. Such enthusiasm is enough to make the endeavor enjoyable, but it’s never remarkable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Giant” is executive produced by Slyvester Stallone, because if there’s a boxing movie to be made, the man once known as Rocky Balboa must have something to do with it. However, this isn’t a “Rocky” sequel, but a British bio-pic of champion pugilist Naseen Hamed, focusing on his special relationship with longtime trainer Brenden Ingle. Writer/director Rowan Athale (2019’s “Strange But True”) attempts to make a very flashy picture, taking the lead from Hamed’s own high-flying ego and sporting showmanship, creating a few pockets of screen energy to help ease an otherwise laborious viewing experience. “Giant” doesn’t offer anything fresh to boxing cinema, and Hamed’s own story of triumph isn’t exactly compelling, leaving Athale to conjure drama with otherwise uninteresting people and their war of stubbornness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A respected, award-winning playwright, Alesha Harris makes her filmmaking debut with “Is God Is.” She’s adapting her 2018 play, which follows the agitated state of twin sisters on the hunt for their abusive father, following orders from their mother to kill a most monstrous man. It’s a powerful study of frustration and endurance, and the material finds blasts of raw power on the big screen. Harris is mindful of cinematic needs, and she makes a ferocious endeavor, and one that’s supported by many incredibly vivid performances and sharp technical credits. “Is God Is” doesn’t always offer commanding drama, but Harris achieves most of her goals, out to create an understanding of pain and fury contained within an odyssey that sends the two main characters into Hell, giving them a life-changing awakening as their bonds are tested. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Once again, Guy Ritchie loves to work. His latest endeavor, “In the Grey,” is his eighth picture since 2019, finding the prolific filmmaker tearing through productions for reasons that will probably make for a good book one day. Some of these offerings have been satisfying (“The Gentlemen,” “The Covenant”), while others didn’t come together (“Fountain of Youth,” “Aladdin”), and “In the Grey” is definitely one for the “disappointment” pile. The movie hasn’t enjoyed a smooth road to release, once stuck in studio limbo waiting for reshoots that couldn’t be scheduled. Now it’s out, presumably in its initial form, and Ritchie sticks with his formula for another round of loquacious characters weaving around games of intimidation. There’s a blast of violence waiting at the end of the effort, but it takes some work to stay involved in the convoluted, undercooked screenplay and lifeless performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Curry Barker finds a fresh way to escalate the passion of a young person’s crush in “Obsession.” It’s a fright film, but it deals with the fixations of youth and how such energy is challenged by a horrifying new reality once dark magic enters the situation. It’s Barker’s riff on “The Monkey’s Paw,” twisting adolescent concerns with a slow-burn approach that picks up on the strange details of a mistake that comes for a young man simply trying to transform his feelings for someone into reality. “Obsession” has a few darkly comedic scenes, but it’s mostly a severe examination of a twisted situation, and the helmer has the guts to get fantastically grim with the premise. This understanding of despair helps to make the endeavor special, out to leave viewers fully disturbed instead of merely upset. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

“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

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

“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

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

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