Category: Film Review

In the grand tradition of “A Bug’s Life” and “Antz,” “Finding Nemo” and “Shark Tale,” and “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon” comes “Driven,” which is the second movie detailing the life and times of John DeLorean to find release in 2019. In fact, just last month there was “Framing John DeLorean,” a strange hybrid of fact and fiction that strived to unearth the subject’s complex personality through interviews and visual evidence, but also included dramatic recreations to help find the drama in the flow of information. “Driven” isn’t a bio-pic, but it covers essentially the same ground, exploring John’s gargantuan ego as he tries to make an automotive dream a reality, only to stumble mightily, ending up in in front of a jury. Writer Colin Bateman attacks the DeLorean saga from a different angle, but he largely whiffs on creating tension, trying to a make a thriller out of inherently mundane tale of a rich man trying to buy nobility to cover his own insecurities. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In a summer season that’s already celebrated the music of The Beatles through fantasy (in June’s “Yesterday”), it seems only natural to make way for Bruce Springsteen and his working class perspective for “Blinded by the Light,” a tale of fandom in the 1980s and something of a bio-pic for writer Sarfraz Manzoor, whose book, “Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll,” has inspired the screenplay. The film isn’t explicitly a jukebox musical working through Springsteen’s ample discography, but it certainly threatens to become one. Co-writer/director Gurinder Chadha (“Bend It Like Beckham”) is making a coming-of-age drama, but guitar spirit often takes command of the feature, which is even more of an audience-pleaser than “Yesterday,” even while working with far more sobering tunes. “Blinded by the Light” doesn’t know when to quit, but it’s loaded with charm and always attentive to heart, offering viewers the ride of life in motion, backed by the rock poetry of The Boss. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Three years ago, there was “The Angry Birds Movie.” It was a film nobody asked for, meant to cash in on a brand that was on the decline, and it managed to do some business during the summer season. Not exactly Disney numbers, but enough to keep the Rovio Entertainment corporate dream alive for a few more years. And now there’s “The Angry Birds Movie 2,” which doesn’t have a prime summer release date, but seems more energized to make sure audiences walk away from the picture satisfied with frenzied cartoon antics. The reality is the sequel is an improvement on the uninspired original effort, but that doesn’t automatically turn it into quality entertainment. The approach has been tightened, challenges are easily identified, and animation is more elastic, but 90 minutes of noise is still 90 minutes of noise, even when it’s brightly decorated and supported by celebrity voices. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2000, “Dora the Explorer” made its debut on Nickelodeon. The show was aimed at preschoolers just getting their bearings with language, with the titular host offering mild look-and-find adventures with help from her monkey pal Boots, various items of survival gear, and Spanish. Perhaps trying to age up the material to reunite with the original generation of viewers, “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” brings the character into her teenager years, replacing simple tasks with more sophisticated adventure puzzles and real-world struggles of acceptance. Dora’s pluckiness hasn’t been sacrificed in the transition, with star Isabela Moner delivering a pitch-perfect performance as the grown-up version of the animated character, helping to secure the lively, silly spirit constructed by director James Bobin (“The Muppets”), who does an impressive job redefining Dora for older audiences. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“Light of My Life” does have an issue with derivativeness, resembling Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” in more ways than one. Call it influence or homage, but writer/director Casey Affleck is clearly aiming for the same sense of unfolding countrywide illness with his feature, his first helming effort since 2010’s “I’m Still Here.” Similarities aren’t a problem for Affleck, as he’s very respectful towards “The Road” and its nearly overwhelming grimness, shooting for a more intimate study of parenthood as it exists in a post-apocalyptic setting. “Light of My Life” has its charged moments of conflict and paranoia, but it’s a small-scale affair that’s more invested in the lives of a father and his daughter than the evil facing them. It’s certainly not in a hurry to get anywhere, but Affleck has a vision for guardianship that’s realistic and heartbreaking, remaining on the little trials of communication as the world falls apart. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2015, “Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead” found a U.S. release. The Australian production was nuts, but in a good way, delivering a blend of “Evil Dead” and “Mad Max,” with writers Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner dedicated to offering as much mayhem and gore as possible, turning their endeavor into a proper genre extravaganza. The sugar rush of macabre events helped to keep “Wyrmwood” moving along at top speed, and the siblings try to tap into that same energy with “Nekrotronic,” which represents their effort to merge “Ghostbusters” with “The Matrix.” The duo (Kiah is assigned directorial duties) have no shortage of enthusiasm for their supercharged look at the ultimate battle between necromancers and a surging demon plague, but instead of supplying constant thrills, “Nekrotronic” feels like homework, with the final cut roughly 80% exposition and 20% ultraviolence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” were a series of popular books from the 1980s, with author Alvin Schwartz doing his best to traumatize young readers and raise the ire of parental groups in a ban-happy mood. They predate the “Goosebumps” series by a decade, but the film adaptation is only materializing now, taking its time to hit screens. The delay doesn’t exactly help the production, as the two “Goosebumps” movies basically offered the same idea of literary monsters coming to life, only those pictures were meant for a family audience. “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” aims more for sinister business, with co-producer Guillermo del Toro keeping the endeavor in line with his previous works, protecting director Andre Ovredal as he attempts to realize tales of horror that are largely celebrated for their descriptive power. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Kitchen” is an adaptation of a DC Vertigo comic book from a few years ago, bringing an adult-oriented crime story to highly artful pages detailing a female perspective to a typical 1970s organized crime tale. In the original creation, there was time to develop ideas and perfect visuals. The film version has trouble making sense out of mostly everything it presents. Screenwriter Andrea Berloff (“Straight Outta Compton,” “Blood Father”) makes her directorial debut with “The Kitchen,” and I’m sure somewhere in the WB vaults there’s a hard drive with a three-hour-long cut of the feature. In its current state, Berloff only has 100 minutes to work through a saga that involves dozens of characters and takes place over the course of two years. Intermittent scenes come to life, but the rest of “The Kitchen” feels gutted and frustratingly random. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For the latest offering of dogsploitation in 2019 (following “A Dog’s Journey” and “A Dog’s Way Home”), “The Art of Racing in the Rain” attempts to merge cute pooch shenanigans and wizened canine authority with a television melodrama, hoping to hit viewers right in the sweet spot with its assembly of manipulation and fantasy. We’ve been here before, especially when the material starts discussing the possibilities of dog reincarnation, but director Simon Curtis (“Goodbye Christopher Robin”) doesn’t seem to mind, moving forward with material that has no connection to human behavior. It’s a tear-jerker, and not an especially effective one, as this adaptation of Garth Stein’s 2008 novel loves to play by its own rules of interpersonal relationships, coming up with a broad approximation of drama, not an incisive understanding of one pet’s journey of observation. As with many of these coarse, clumsy endeavors: not every book needs to be a movie. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Currently in theaters is “The Farewell,” which was inspired by a story on the radio program, “This American Life,” and now there’s “Ode to Joy,” which is also pulled from the catalog of tales on the Ira Glass-produced show. The summer of 2019 is slowly forming the “This American Life” Extended Universe, with Glass its Nick Fury figure, bringing oddball tales of family and relationships to art houses everywhere. “Ode to Joy” isn’t as measured as “The Farewell,” but the features share quirks and curiosity about human behavior, only the former is a bit more sitcom-ish in delivery, with director Jason Winer endeavoring to protect the picture’s approachability while it deals with serious medical challenges. It’s not a particularly compelling movie, but it does have certain charms, with the cast working very hard to keep the effort bright and amusing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There have been many retrospectives about the life and times of Mike Wallace, but director Avi Belkin submits “Mike Wallace Is Here” during a very provocative time in American journalism. The timing of the documentary is no accident, talking a reasonably extensive look at Wallace’s career in television and his commitment to the producing of news pieces and interviews that went above and beyond the norm to offer audiences true insight into his subjects. It’s certainly a glossy endeavor, but Belkin manages to cut a little deeper than most, endeavoring to understand what drove Wallace to become a revered and feared reporter, isolating his intensity but also his vulnerability, examining many of the tragedies and doubts that fueled his rise to international fame, bringing real news to the world, with a customary dash of tightly-suited showmanship. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Just in time for…Labor Day(?) comes “Otherhood,” a Mother’s Day comedy meant to celebrate the unheralded work women put into child-rearing. It’s an adaptation of a 2008 William Sutcliffe novel, but it plays like a sitcom from the 1990s, with stars Angela Bassett, Patricia Arquette, and Felicity Huffman participating in one-dimensional antics as their characters learn a thing or two about life, love, and the wonders of urban distractions. Director Cindy Chupack is a veteran of “Sex and the City” and it shows here, delivering a similar experience of escapism and heartache with tedious, self-involved personalities, while attention to genuine humor is missing from the endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jason Mewes is Jay. And he will always be Jay, the profane, dim-witted half of Jay & Silent Bob, standing strong as the stoner heroes enjoy a lengthy run in pop culture awareness, with writer/director Kevin Smith even preparing their latest adventure for release later this year. In "Madness in the Method,” Mewes no longer wants to be Jay, growing tired of typecasting as he tries to score different roles, hoping to expand his career. There’s a definite autobiographical touch to the feature (scripted by Chris Anastasi and Dominic Burns), but Mewes decides to transform his directorial debut into a farce of rapidly dwindling effectiveness, calling in all favors to turn a simple idea into a snowballing take on fame, acting, and murder. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Perhaps it was a real beef or maybe just a publicity stunt, but Dwayne Johnson seemed like he didn’t enjoy sharing the screen with Vin Diesel in the last “Fast & Furious” sequel. In fact, they barely did, with the screenplay pairing Johnson’s Hobbs with Jason Statham’s Shaw, giving the big screen tough guys their own subplot, which happened to be the highlight of numbing picture. Pulled out of “Fast & Furious” circulation, the duo is gifted a spin-off in “Hobbs & Shaw,” which tries to turn something that was mildly amusing for 30 minutes into a feature that runs 135. Oof. The director of “Deadpool 2,” David Leitch seems to know what fans want with this first field trip away from Diesel’s bosom, maintaining the sheer ridiculousness, noise, and wretched banter the brand name is known for. “Hobbs & Shaw” has no interest in experimentation, keeping with the basics, only out to delight audience members who need a shot of the old boom, boom, bang. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“Skin” has the benefit of timing, put into production during a hectic time in American history, with the country experiencing an uptick in exposure to hate groups and crimes, with near daily reminders of unrest brewing across the U.S. Writer/director Guy Nattiv doesn’t shy away from the plain danger of such an uprising, but he’s interested in drilling to the core of the neo-Nazi issue, finding the true story of Bryon Widner to dramatize, giving an impressive tale of evolution a semi-suspenseful approach. “Skin” is frightening, especially when examining how organized hate is managed and unleashed, but the picture isn’t offering an overview of a movement. It’s much more intimate, with Widner’s tale working through tight situations of survival, emerging as an understanding of awareness expanding under impossible living conditions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s very strange that it’s August, and “A Score to Settle” is the first Nicolas Cage release of 2019. This is an actor who works constantly, nearly coming out with new movies monthly in 2018, barely giving himself time to breathe before diving into the next project, though most of these creative choices were sadly of lesser quality. The streak continues with “A Score to Settle,” which arrives promising a sort of one-man-army routine for Cage, who’s skilled at portraying acts of dead-eyed vengeance, but ends up more a dramatic creation, offering the lead a chance to detail a character who’s heavy with regret, pained by horrible choices in his life. Cage gives what he can to the low-budget endeavor, but director Shawn Ku (“Beautiful Boy”) can’t shake the stiffness of the effort, which buries a few of its better ideas with crude filmmaking and lackluster casting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As spy games go, “The Operative” is pretty light on suspense. That approach seems to be the intent of writer/director Yuval Adler, who’s not interested in mounting chases and near-misses, instead aiming to extract a psychological profile in the midst of international alarm. The screenplay adapts a 2016 novel by Yiftach Reicher Atir and tries to retain a literary mood, using deliberate pacing and layered characterization to find something different in the midst of recognizable subgenre construction. Fans of John le Carre should receive a mild charge out of “The Operative,” which strives to be an intelligent understanding of espionage and the dangers emotional ties bring to the ways of government-sponsored spying. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After the claustrophobic experience of 2015’s “The Hateful Eight,” writer/director Quentin Tarantino returns to the open air with “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” It’s a valentine to a time and a place, taking viewers back to Los Angeles in 1969, where free love was taking shape and the old ways of the studio system were coming to an end, while on Cielo Drive, a young woman named Sharon Tate was about to be murdered by the Manson Family. It’s a cocktail of nostalgia and unrest Tarantino loves sip until his lips bleed, going hog wild with his latest endeavor, which is a picture of extraordinary detail and run time, as the helmer isn’t content to merely recreate 1969, he wants to live there once again. Tarantino’s vision remains as potent as ever in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” but his unwillingness to judiciously edit his footage also returns, creating a feature that’s undeniable fun, but also unnecessarily lengthy, playing up bad habits that’ve been plaguing him since 2012’s “Django Unchained.” Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1977, actor Richard Dreyfuss starred in Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” which detailed the developing urge within an average man to experience the unknown with help from alien visitors. In 2019, Dreyfuss returns with a similar tale of an indescribable need to visit space, only this time with the aid of people-powered engineering. The stories aren’t an exact match, but it’s interesting to watch Dreyfuss revive a long dormant sense of longing and wonder for “Astronaut,” where he plays a senior citizen inching close to the possibility of spaceflight. Writer/director Shelagh McLeod has the wonders of the cosmos in her sights, but she remains on Earth with decent dramatics, striving to create a community of lived-in personalities while the tale surveys a seemingly impossible task of endurance, ultimately aiming to be a touching film, not an awe-inspiring one. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Well, there was a once a movie about a killer bed, so a killer camera isn’t a complete reach. “Polaroid” offers audiences a haunting via obsolete technology, trying to cook up some scares with evil that pursues a collection of teenagers who don’t fully understand the dark power of instant photography, trying to decode this oddball threat to their lives. The director of the recent “Child’s Play” remake, Lars Klevberg isn’t exactly aiming high with the production, which is pointed at pre-teens who aren’t used to the wilds of the horror genre, presented a mild PG-13 chiller with easily telegraphed scares and nondescript characters. There’s the whole Polaroid camera premise, which is unusual, but the rest of the film is a strictly paint-by-numbers affair, likely to bore seasoned genre admirers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com