Category: Film Review

Anthology pictures typically remain in the world of horror, a genre that welcomes small bites of the macabre and the scary. “Immortal” has its moments of uneasiness, but screenwriter Jon Dabach aims for something different with the feature, concocting four tales of titular indestructibleness, viewed through characters experiencing great trauma, personal loss, and pure sadistic glee. The change in pace really suits the endeavor, which ebbs and flows like most omnibus efforts, but it has an offbeat approach to chills. “Immortal” is inventive and engaging, with more emotionality and surprise than similar offerings, as Dabach attempts to lead with strange tests of personality, not always shock value, giving the movie a pleasing unpredictability and comfort with small-scale fantasy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“You Cannot Kill David Arquette” welcomes viewers into the world of the titular actor as he tries to shake up his stagnant life with a return to the weirdness of professional wrestling. If you weren’t aware David Arquette was once a pro-wrestler, don’t feel too bad, nobody really did, with the actor claiming the WCW heavyweight championship title in 2000, forever marked as a fake titan of the squared circle. Following the “sports entertainment” lead of pro-wrestling, there’s nothing particularly real about “You Cannot Kill David Arquette,” with directors David Darg and Price James eschewing a firm documentarian focus to make a reality television pilot for the once and future Deputy Dewey. It’s a fairly obvious submission of career rehabilitation, with Arquette trying to downplay the circus his life has been for the last two decades by…jumping right back into the circus. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Centigrade” is a survival picture that’s based on true story, though the specifics of the inspiration are vague at best. It’s better to put the reality of the story aside and approach the feature as a two-hander drama, where the participants are stuck inside of a car buried in the snow for 85 minutes of screen time. Screenwriters Daley Nixon and Brendan Walsh (who also directs) have quite the creative task, trying to make near immobility into a nail-biting experience of panic. “Centigrade” doesn’t achieve a few of its limited goals, but the movie is largely successful as a claustrophobic mission of self-preservation and logic. It’s not the easiest film to sit through, presenting all sorts of anguish and argumentative behavior, but Walsh believes in the endeavor’s importance as an offering of emotionality and perseverance, even when he can’t communicate such urgency to the viewer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s difficult to fully comprehend what’s motivating the release of “Robin’s Wish,” which documents Robin Williams and his final days. The feature is basically hosted by Williams’s widow, Susan Schneider-Williams, who endeavors to explore Lewy body dementia, the degenerative disease the comedian was struggling with in the last years of his life, ultimately committing suicide in 2014. Perhaps Schneider-Williams means well enough, sharing the experience of the disease and its nightmarish takeover of the human brain, but she’s also making something of a commercial with director Tylor Norwood, selling the genius of Robin Williams (of course) and her relationship with Robin Williams, making a valentine to her husband that often feels self-serving. Despite its warm intentions, “Robin’s Wish” is a bleak viewing experience, and one that doesn’t feel particularly honest about the subject’s wants and needs, with the package more about Schneider-Williams and her experience with life, death, and self-appointed heroism. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Armando Iannucci is best known for his love of silliness, developing a reputation for smart funny business, which has evolved into a career in satire, expanding his fanbase with work on “The Thick of It,” “The Death of Stalin,” and “Veep,” which has awarded him a chance to take his imagination anywhere. He’s chosen to explore the world of Charles Dickens with “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” adding his fingerprint to material that’s been celebrated and reimagined many times since its publication in 1850. Iannucci has enormous production support for the feature, which intends to bend his career away from more politically minded endeavors, and “The Personal History of David Copperfield” is a gorgeous picture, filled with period details and blessed with the cast that’s greatly appealing. It’s the overall focus of the screenplay that’s less impressive, with Iannucci (and co-writer Simon Blackwell) juggling Dickensian structure with his comedy habits, emerging with a slightly deflated semi-farce. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The One and Only Ivan” presents itself as “Inspired by a true story,” only to introduce the main character, who’s a talking gorilla. It’s not clear how much reality is actually included in the feature, which is very much a modern Disney movie, keeping the story simple with cuddly characters and mild dramatic incidents. It’s easy on the senses but not especially satisfying, with screenwriter Mike White trying to create a picture aware of animal cruelty but not exactly condemning it, refusing a broader sense of villainy out of fear of losing young audiences getting their first sampling of confined creatures and the humans who exploit them. “The One and Only Ivan” is technically impressive, offering a lovely voice cast and excellent CGI, but as an offering of heart, the film remains cold to the touch, sticking with Disney formula to find its way to a conclusion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Unhinged” had an opening to do something with the idea of thinning American patience hitting the open road, searching for a reason to explode. Other films have explored the idea (including 1993’s “Falling Down”), and the way things are going these days with citizens and their need to express themselves violently, there’s definitely a movie here for the taking. “Unhinged” tries to remain topical for the duration of its main title sequence (showcasing increasing roadway violence), but the rest is pure exploitation from screenwriter Carl Ellsworth, who previously showcased the limitations of his imagination with the “Red Dawn” remake, “The Last House on the Left” remake, and “Disturbia,” which was a loose remake of “Rear Window.” Aiming to create something efficient and ugly, Ellsworth succeeds for the first half of the feature, doing much better with setups than payoffs with this simple exercise in audience manipulation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Actor Bruce Willis and director Matt Eskandari have a friendly relationship, as “Hard Kill” is their third collaboration in the last year. And by collaboration, I mean Eskandari is in charge of creating low-budget mayhem while Willis sits comfortably somewhere away from the action, collecting what I assume to be a sizable paycheck. They teamed for “Trauma Center” and the reasonably engaging “Survive the Night,” but they press their luck with “Hard Kill,” which puts in next to no effort when it comes to creating even basic suspense or excitement. It’s a siege picture in a way, with the helmer in charge of making pennies spent on the production look like dimes. The production doesn’t have any fresh ideas or, at times, basic competency, staying weirdly small with a plot that welcomes a grander feel for B-movie escapism. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been almost two decades since the release of “Spy Kids,” and it’s not been fun to watch director Robert Rodriguez run the bubblegum appeal of the original film into the ground, churning out increasingly disappointing sequels. Screenwriter Sarah Rothschild has the idea to semi-revive the concept with “The Sleepover,” and while the feature doesn’t oversee the spy-ening of spunky kids, it does follow the general idea of children getting to know the secret life of parents. Director Trish Sie isn’t the most visionary talent for this type of entertainment, but she handles the escapism adequately, overseeing a lighthearted adventure across Boston as a collection of little ones sample dangers once reserved for adults. “The Sleepover” doesn’t have a special snap, but it offers an amusing ride for family audiences. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Considered the “de facto leader” of the Wu-Tang Clan, RZA has made his way from music to movie direction with mixed results. He attempted to scratch his genre filmmaking itches with 2012’s “The Man with the Iron Fists,” and addressed the power of personal expression in 2017’s “Love Beats Rhymes.” Now RZA is turning his attention to the plight of New Orleans during the shadow of Hurricane Katrina, coming up with a crime story to attract viewers to “Cut Throat City,” which has a lot of frustration to share. Taking on urban ruin and governmental indifference, the feature represents a primal scream from RZA, who’s working to highlight cycles of power and corruption while delivering a tale of thievery concerning reckless young men with no way out. “Cut Throat City” often moves as slow as possible to help underline its points, but there’s fury in the message, easily making it the best picture RZA has concocted during his burgeoning helming career. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jay Baruchel is best known as a voice of Hiccup in the “How to Train Your Dragon” film and television series, doing an amazing job bringing the character to life over the last decade, adding to the franchise’s sense of emotion and grandeur. However, it doesn’t seem like he wants to be known as a family friendly performer, making his directorial debut with the coarse hockey sequel, “Goon: Last of the Enforcers,” and he goes even darker with “Random Acts of Violence,” which is an adaptation of a 2010 comic book by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. Examining the influence of grim genre art and entertainment, Baruchel (who co-scripts with Jesse Chabot) presents a savage picture that has a few provocative ideas to share, but not a whole lot of story to deliver. There’s a tremendous short movie in here, with “Random Acts of Violent” making salient points on the glorification of brutality. There’s just not enough to fill a feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Thor Freudenthal built his career with family films, taking command of “Hotel for Dogs,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” and “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.” He graduates to teenage concerns with “Words on Bathroom Walls,” an adaptation of 2017 book by Julia Walton. Previously dealing with broad comedy and high fantasy, Freudenthal now takes on the challenge of visualizing the experience of having schizophrenia, following one character’s battle to understand and manage his mental illness. “Words on Bathroom Walls” isn’t a gritty viewing experience, softened somewhat to reach the intended adolescent audience, but that the helmer is capable of communicating such confusion and frustration in a clear manner is a major creative breakthrough, resulting in a flawed but fascinating picture that takes special care of a sensitive subject. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last year, “The Current War” finally made its way into theaters after a lengthy release delay. It explored the story of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla and their battle to control the future of electricity. It was a flashy feature that didn’t generate much interest from the public, but less than a year later, there’s “Tesla,” which also details power plays between two men devoted to the energy cause, but for entirely different reasons. While “The Current War” tried to get up and running with broad screen style, “Tesla” is more of a filmed play, with director Michael Almereyda inspecting the inner life of the titular character, using a theatrical presentation and anachronistic touches to provide creative fingerprints on a story that largely exists in legend. Almereyda remains true to his vision with the endeavor, which has its imaginative moments, but largely broods itself to a full stop on a few occasions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Unlike many documentaries about filmmakers, “Love Express: The Disappearance of Walerian Borowczyk” offers extraordinarily little biographical information about the subject. Director Kuba Mikurda has limited interest in the life and times of the Polish director (who passed away in 2006), preferring to provide more of a grasp on his artistic interests, featuring interviews with collaborators and admirers. “Love Express” remains elusive, but that’s the idea, with Mikurda turning his movie into a Borowczyk production in many ways, delivering an idiosyncratic look at an avant-garde mind, supplying a general understanding of the man’s professional demands and his textured appreciation of screen eroticism, especially when offered an opportunity to take his vision wherever it needed to go. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There are multiple movies “The Pale Door” is reminiscent of, but there’s something about its blend of character building and horror freak-outs that recalls 1996’s “From Dusk till Dawn.” For Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, there was a budget to spread around and filmmaking confidence to braid a story that utilized stillness and absolute chaos, giving “From Duck till Dawn” its kicks. Director Aaron B. Koontz can’t offer the same balance of extremes with “The Pale Door,” unable to craft something that’s just as compelling dealing with feelings as it is ripping out intestines. It’s a violent effort, but only for a few short bursts of time, leaving the rest of this witch attack western too dull to compete with what does work in the endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been a rough road to release for “Magic Camp.” The feature was actually shot three years ago, stuck in limbo ever since, bopping around release dates and corporate plans before finally being sent to Disney+ to help beef up content requirements for our quarantine times. It’s a smart play by the company, though it’s easy to see what they originally envisioned for the picture, which attempts to be a new variation on the world of Harry Potter, only without a sense of wonder, dramatic stakes, or, well, magic. It’s a connect-the-dots Disney endeavor that’s perfectly harmless and aimed directly at pre-teens, but there’s little enthusiasm from director Mark Waters (“Bad Santa 2,” “Vampire Academy”), who puts in a minimal effort when exploring the shenanigans and competitive escalation of life at a sleepaway camp for magically inclined children. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With the “X-Men” universe on a break after the poor box office performance of 2019’s “Dark Phoenix,” and the spin-off “New Mutants” playing a game of tag with release dates, it’s up to “Project Power” to meet any demand for superhuman action. There are no mutants in the movie, which details the spread of a special drug capable of turning the average user into a superhero or a supervillain for five minutes. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (“Nerve”) are typically drawn to such an adrenalized event, laboring to make “Project Power” stylish, violent, and aware of some social and political issues of the day. There’s plenty to enjoy about the endeavor, and while it’s deeply flawed, the helmers do put on quite a show at times, bringing out the fury of the central premise in a way that would make Professor X proud. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Sputnik” is an unsettling picture. It’s a Russian production that’s out to challenge expectations for an alien invasion story, providing a more sinister ride of paranoia and panic without expanding to epic size. It also marks the return of actress Oksana Akinshina to American screens, having made her breakthrough in 2002’s “Lilya 4-Ever,” a shattering feature about human trafficking that promised great things from the young talent. While she made an appearance in “The Bourne Supremacy,” Akinshina has largely remained in Russian films, returning to western view in “Sputnik,” where she delivers a commanding performance as a medical mind put into contact with an extraterrestrial experience that overwhelms her before it begins to threaten her. Akinshina’s part of a strong cast who give director Egor Abramenko a firm dramatic foundation while the tale explores close encounters and government control with sharp cinematic highlights. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A former music video director, Scott Speer has been on a professional tear recently, helming four movies over the last two years. He brings the features in for a low price, and the efforts are generally aimed at social media-savvy pre-teens looking for entertainment that fits their needs. Joining the likes of “Midnight Sun,” “Status Update,” and “I Still See You” is “Endless,” which moves Speer to the realm of Netflix filmmaking, in charge of a strange reworking of 1990’s “Ghost,” only without the charm, heart, or Swayze. Speer doesn’t have much style to share with the minor offering, and screenwriters Andre Case and Oneil Sharma head in the wrong direction with their work, sweating to bend the story into a tearjerker about the afterlife when it’s much more intriguing as a study of guilt. “Endless” is more of a promise than a title after the opening act, taking on some substantial feelings of loss with all the dramatic weight of a television pilot. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While “An American Pickle” is the latest comedy from Seth Rogan, gifting himself a dual role of a man out of time and his distant relative, the picture also represents the first solo directorial outing for Brandon Trost, a gifted cinematographer (dislike Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II” all you want, but that movie looks amazing) who’s put in command of a film that’s semi-serious about religion, but semi-farcical about everything else. As expected, Trost has some definite visual ideas for the feature, which looks interesting and does well with twin Rogens. He’s a little bit shakier when it comes to balancing tone, as “An American Pickle” has some difficulty moving from dramatic interests to broadly comedic sequences. It’s definitely funny in spots, working with a nutty idea from writer Simon Rich (who adapts his own short story). Consistency isn’t dazzling, but Trost gets the material most of the way there. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com