Category: Film Review

“Bad Education” plays like a chiller pulled from the darkest area of a screenwriter’s brain, coming up with tale of personal corruption that’s tightly braided with the American educational system, finding rot, literal and otherwise, within an institution meant to buttress the future. It’s frightening to note that the picture is actually based on a true story, with the saga of Roslyn, New York superintendent Frank Tassone brought to the screen by writer Mike Makowsky (“I Think We’re Alone Now”), who has the delicate task of exploring vain and greedy characters with specific attention to their inner lives. “Bad Education” avoids true crime grittiness to be more understanding with motivations, giving director Cory Finley a chance to portion out the shock value of the story, which creeps along, making critical discoveries about seemingly normal people in a riveting manner. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After building her resume with short films, actress Amy Jo Johnson makes her feature-length directing debut with “Tammy’s Always Dying.” While a working actor for nearly three decades, Johnson will be forever known as The Pink Ranger in “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” delighting young audiences with her youthful spark and ability to sell complete weirdness with a straight face. And now she’s an accomplished moviemaker, taking command of Joanne Sarazen’s intensely introspective screenplay, capturing the material’s dire examples of mental instability while mastering an unusual sense of hope in the making. “Tammy’s Always Dying” has all the ingredients of a grungy indie production, but Johnson makes it all feel human, taking care of her characters and extracting wonderful performances as she shapes an atypical mother/daughter tale. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2018, the release of “Beastie Boys Book” was a surprising development for a band that prided itself on denying any closer inspection of its working parts. It was a massive tome (572 pages), filled with Beastie Boys history, guest commentators, photos, and even recipes, doing a fine job showcasing the lovable impishness of co-writers Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz as they strived to celebrate their professional achievements and highlight the fantastic mystery and humanity of Adam Yauch, who passed away in 2012. “Beastie Boys Book” was a smash success, inspiring Diamond and Horovitz to take the tale on a tour, transforming the pages into a multimedia presentation that delivers basically the same information, only with a bit more intimacy and visual evidence. Shot at the King’s Theater in Brooklyn last year, “Beastie Boys Story” is the document of the live show, offering those unable to see the event a chance to enjoy Diamond and Horovitz’s longstanding partnership, walking through the early years of the group as three teenagers with hardcore ambitions turned into one of the biggest rap acts in music history. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Chris Hemsworth is often cast in physical roles, with producers working very hard to transform him into an action-ready leading man. Recently, he’s done time in “Men in Black: International” and “12 Strong,” while continuing his work in the MCU as Thor in three recent features, but “Extraction” is meant to be his “John Wick.” Directed by Sam Hargrave, a veteran stuntman (in charge of the mayhem found in “Avengers: Endgame” and “Captain America: Civil War”), “Extraction’ makes a very specific attempt to deliver controlled chaos for its audience, going feral with extended chase sequences and moments of highly choreographed brawling. It’s Hargrave’s helming debut, and his instincts with editing leave much to be desired, but the raw power of the movie is impressive, making good use of Hemsworth’s non-Thor appeal, offering the performer a chance to pound bad guys and deal with his character’s potent sense of protection. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Cult movies aren’t born, they’re made by audiences willing to put in the time and money to celebrate features that either died while trying to be mainstream, or never stood a chance when offered for universal acceptance. Cult entertainment is a topic that’s been explored repeatedly in all forms of media (it’s bread-and-butter content for podcasts), but director Danny Wolf hopes to provide expanse and access with “Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All-Time,” which is a three-part examination of cinematic offerings that’ve become a secret language for some, creating legacies few could predict but millions adore. First up is “Volume 1: Midnight Madness,” which delves into the genesis of the cult film as we know it today, inspecting a handful of pictures that managed to survive distribution woes, studio mismanagement, and initial audience apathy to develop into special events that celebrate all the weirdness and wonderfulness of their filmmakers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Martha Stephens made a distinct impression in 2014 with “Land Ho,” a film she co-directed with Aaron Katz. A deeply idiosyncratic picture, “Land Ho” endeavored to understand the subtleties of male friendships, using the premise of a unique trip to Iceland to examine the interplay and extremes of such a pairing. Losing Katz, Stephens embarks on a solo flight with “To the Stars,” which takes a close look at the details of female relationships when pressure builds inside a rural community during the 1960s. “Land Ho” was a bit of a lark, funny and proudly weird, but “To the Stars” is far more sobering in its depiction of broken hearts and troubled times. Screenwriter Shannon Bradley-Colleary eventually turns to cliché to find a way to close the effort, but there’s true emotion winding through the movie, which takes its characters seriously, treating their wants and needs with a wonderful level of respect, gifting the feature refreshing power when it comes to primal emotions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Filmmakers love to make movies about the history of the Bushrangers, and the saga of Ned Kelly is a particular favorite, with his story repeatedly brought to screens of all sizes, presenting different creative visions a chance to get to the core of Kelly’s violence and bruised sense of honor. Talents from Mick Jagger (in 1970) to Heath Ledger (in 2003) have played the man, offering different takes on dangerous behavior, but it’s George McKay (recently seen in “1917”) who’s permitted to go bonkers with the part. “True History of the Kelly Gang” isn’t your average period outlaw experience, with director Justin Kurzel (2015’s “Macbeth,” “Assassin’s Creed”) looking to shake things up with his take on the Kelly Gang, blending in brash cinematic style and punk rock attitude to fully realize the primal instinct found within the screenplay by Shaun Grant, who adapts a 2001 novel by Peter Carey. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

25 years ago, there was “Braveheart.” It was a passion project for director/star Mel Gibson, who delivered a lengthy take on Scottish history, with primary attention placed on masculine pursuits and vivid violence. It was the little epic that could, going on to strike oil at the box office, collect critical accolades, and dominate the Academy Awards, collecting a Best Picture trophy. While Gibson obviously benefited the most from the whole experience, he managed to launch a few acting careers along the way, bringing greater exposure to talents such as Brendan Gleeson, David O’Hara, and Catherine McCormack. And then there was Angus Macfayden, who was new to the big screen at the time, making his moments count in the important role of Robert the Bruce. Macfayden couldn’t maintain professional momentum (appearing in follow-up films such as “Warriors of Virtue” and the “Saw” series), inspiring him to return to Scotland for “Robert the Bruce,” which isn’t a sequel to “Braveheart,” but the producers probably won’t correct anybody believing it to be one. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

30 years ago, there was “Kindergarten Cop.” The Ivan Reitman comedy presented a muscular star in Arnold Schwarzenegger in a picture that was sold as a family comedy, but was actually a hard-edged PG-13 thriller with some stretches of cuddly silliness and romantic tingles. Parents at the time weren’t pleased with the marketing switcheroo, and they probably won’t be delighted with “My Spy,” which also provides PG-13 surges of violence and language while trying to widen beefy star Dave Bautista’s screen appeal. The new release is very reminiscent of the 1990 hit, with the exception of entertainment value. Watching Schwarzenegger deal with little kids while blasting away at bad guys is one thing, seeing Bautista’s natural stiffness mingling with jokes and googly eyes is another, with the whole thing overseen by the director of “Second Act.” This is not progress. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s been “Bad Grandpa,” “Bad Teacher,” and “Bad Moms,” with each of the films attempting to offer a level of crude comedy to support their blunt titles. And now there’s “Bad Therapy” (not to be confused with “Bad Education,” coming out in a few weeks), which isn’t a lowbrow comedy about the horrors of human behavior, but something darker, curious about the ways of psychological damage. At least that appears to be the original intent of the screenplay, credited to Nancy Doyne, adapting her own book. “Bad Therapy” has a game cast and a faint sense of marital engagement, but it’s also a thriller in roundabout way, attempting to explore a damaged person’s descent into obsession. There’s something promising at both ends of the story, and the movie is engaging for its first hour. However, director William Teitler has noticeable difficulty trying to marry the writing’s extremes, stumbling at times with material that’s perhaps too complex for a feature adaptation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Quarry” is not a film for the impatient. Co-writer/director Scott Teems (“That Evening Sun”) is in no hurry to get anywhere with this tale, which is an adaptation of the Damon Galgut novella, electing to pore over every frame detail and invest fully in the power of pregnant pauses. The story delivers a fascinating study of moral corruption and possible redemption, using the small town crime subgenre to attract attention to what’s more of a character drama, albeit one with burning issues of guilt that occasionally spill over into violence. “The Quarry” is so deliberate, it’s almost a slide show at times, with Teems putting his faith in viewers to remain with the feature as it crawls its way to a resolution. There’s an ending to reward those willing to take the lengthy journey, with the helmer wisely finding a way to conclude a picture that often feels endless. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Drake Doremus specializes in intimate studies of jealousy and heartbreak, finding some art-house success with 2011’s “Like Crazy.” Since then, he’s floundered, having trouble with pictures that struggle with inertia (“Equals”) or consistency (“Zoe”), unable to match previous creative achievements. Doremus isn’t coloring outside the lines with “Endings, Beginnings,” mounting yet another take on emotional distortion and the complications of love, presenting a contemporary, American take on classic Euro cinema interests. Unfortunately, the helmer comes dangerously close to self-parody with “Endings, Beginnings,” which is surprisingly unpleasant, with Doremus and co-writer Jardine Libaire staying close to cliché and tedium while trying to sell the story of an uninteresting woman and her easily avoidable problems. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the grand scheme of animated movie box office performance, 2016’s “Trolls” didn’t exactly cause a commotion during its initial theatrical release. The picture did fine, but it was hardly a runaway hit, adding some monetary momentum with home media and toy sales. Dreamworks, never one to turn down a sequel opportunity, has reunited the fantasy gang for “Trolls World Tour,” which appears to be testing the potential of the brand name, to see if there’s an audience out there willing to keep the franchise going. The good news is that “Trolls World Tour” is a stronger endeavor than its predecessor, with the production more mindful of the elements that work for the features, increasing the use of blinding color, big musical moments, and Saturday morning cartoon humor. The production isn’t trying to make any daring creative choices here, delivering a simple, sunny continuation that’s merely looking to appeal to the core fan base with a more focused filmmaking effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Just last month, director Marc Meyers helped to bring “Human Capital” to the screen. It was a somber look at pained relationships and grim secrets, with Meyers working to find emotional truth in the midst of a semi-soap opera, showing some hustle to keep the picture afloat. He’s back a few weeks later with “We Summon the Darkness,” which is a significant change in genres, leaving behind a faint sense of reality to make a small-scale horror romp featuring a cast of screamers and bleeders. Playfully using the Satanic Panic movement of the 1980s heavy metal scene to develop his own nightmare scenario, screenwriter Alan Trezza (“Burying the Ex”) offers initial cleverness before the feature becomes a showcase for panicky interactions. “We Summon the Darkness” doesn’t have a strong enough fear factor, but it’s a tidy presentation of evil behavior, with a few surprises to keep viewers glued to a story that’s big on prolonged scenes of suffering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Sea Fever” doesn’t have the best release timing. It’s coming out a few months after “Underwater” failed to attract any attention at the box office, sharing a similar fondness for oceanic horror. And the screenplay details one character’s struggle to maintain a level of quarantine on an isolated ship while the rest of the crew is in a mad dash to return to civilization, capable of spreading a terrible disease. That’s a little too close for comfort as well. The good news is that “Sea Fever” isn’t exploitative or all that concerned with cheap scares, electing to do major character work instead, striving to find the personalities involved in a strange situation of survival instead of simply hammering on viewers with screen aggression. While it has some pacing issues, the picture is accomplished work, with writer/director Neasa Hardiman (a television veteran) looking to bend a genre offering in unusual ways, disrupting some expectations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s a lot of competition for “The Lost Husband” out there. Aiming to appeal to a more sensitive audience with trials of the heart and mind, the feature’s premise seems pre-mixed for a Lifetime Movie, while its execution is more in line with a Nicholas Sparks endeavor, complete with tragedy, secretive pasts, and slow-burn romance. However, the material is based on a Katherine Center novel, with writer/director Vicky Wight tasked with adapting something that seems very familiar, left to find elements of the tale that might offer a little more emotional emphasis than the story is capable of delivering. Wight is moderately successful, but she does particularly well with casting, finding appealing actors willing to go where all this mildness leads. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Kirill Sokolov makes his feature-length debut with “Why Don’t You Just Die!” It’s one of those creative introductions that’s engineered to attract plenty of attention, and while Sokolov doesn’t make a horror film, he generates enough blood and bodily harm to best even the most potent scary movies. It’s a showy endeavor, delivering all sorts of technical gymnastics to keep the eye engaged, and it’s Russian to the core, offered as a slab of black comedy from a country that’s practiced in the tradition, with the writing getting extraordinarily dark at times. It’s the humor aspects of the endeavor that are debatable, as “Why Don’t You Just Die!” makes a distinct pass at being funny, but the jokes are strictly for those who find macabre games of power and intimidation amusing. It’s meant to be a cartoon, and one dripping with gore, but there are one too many moments where Sokolov is more attentive to cinematographic precision than inspired twists and turns. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The directorial career of Michael Dowse has been difficult to follow. The helmer has made a few distinct impressions over the years, delivering the interesting “It’s All Gone Pete Tong,” and he built a genuine cult classic with the hockey comedy, “Goon.” He’s also had some duds, including last summer’s bomb, “Stuber,” which tried way too hard to be funny, ending up a laugh-less noise machine. Dowse’s sensitivity to silly business goes almost completely numb with “Coffee & Kareem,” which basically reheats the formula of self-aware action and riffing galore that ruined “Stuber,” only here the screenplay (credited to Shane Mack) falls apart right from the first scene. Profane and insipid, “Coffee & Kareem” is a bad title stuck with a worse film, making very little effort to become the semi-parody it wants to become, held back consistently by lame jokes, air horn performances, and Dowse’s inability to tighten the reins on the production and squeeze out some decent wackiness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Longtime actor Mike Doyle makes his feature-length directorial debut with “Almost Love,” concocting a small-scale relationship drama (he also scripts) that examines a collection of characters all experiencing relationship troubles in one way or another. Doyle plays to his strengths with the film, which is an actor-driven production that gives plenty of room to the ensemble to explore personalities and showcase their gifts in ways other helmers wouldn’t allow. While it has a tendency to lose focus on the group effort, “Almost Love” has feeling, with the writing and the performances going deep to examine the fragility of the human heart and the work required to make and sustain connections in the world. Sincerity certainly supports the endeavor while it slowly slides away from its initial concept of a community in distress movie. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jon Abrahams has been a working actor for a few decades now, with his most notable credits including “Scary Movie,” “House of Wax,” and “Meet the Parents.” Over the last few years, Abrahams has been taking back some control of his career, becoming a director with 2016’s “All at Once,” a post-9/11 drama, and now there’s “Clover,” which is a more direct shot at audience acceptance, delivering a mob movie for the Spring thaw. Screenwriting duties belong to Michael Testone, who’s seen his share of Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and Guy Ritchie endeavors, hoping to take the goodfellas subgenre for a spin, presenting a series of violent misunderstandings with “Clover,” keeping Abrahams busy as he tries to butch everything up. It’s not a tremendous distraction, but the helmer has the right idea for screen energy, keeping things on the move before the whole endeavor tries to aim for cleverness instead of directness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com