Category: Film Review

“Three Peaks” is a film that requires a tremendous amount of patience from the viewer. It’s a slow-burn affair, populated with only three characters working around a remote setting, dealing indirectly with potent but ill-defined issues of guardianship and family. Writer/director Jan Zabeil takes the long storytelling road, but unlike many of his contemporaries, he’s actually going somewhere with the material, locating a way to surprise the audience as domestic unrest turns into a fight for survival. “Three Peaks” doesn’t find physical peril until the final act, with Zabeil more interested in brewing tension and disappointments, leading with domestic disturbances before heading into a more extreme conflicts that take advantage of natural dangers in the middle of nowhere. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Aaron Harvey has a lot of competition in the marketplace for his revenge thriller, "Into the Ashes.” Tales of men folding inwards after suffering through tragedy or facing dire circumstances are popular these days, with the efforts trying to tap into the messiness of wounded masculinity and lost purpose, examining family ties and gender roles with a heaping helping of violence to secure some sense of finality. “Into the Ashes” goes by the same playbook, with Harvey arranging big screen hostility with bloody results, only to pull back some when it comes time to assess the true motivation for vengeance. This slight deviation from the norm helps to support a picture that’s not particularly packed with incident, as the helmer is more interested in the big stew of choices and mistakes, not simple fury. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We’ve been inundated with shark films in recent years, with the fish a top predator for movie studios trying to frighten audiences with something more than just another slasher offering. Rarely is there a killer alligator endeavor, giving director Alexandre Aja a chance to do something against the trend with “Crawl,” which takes viewers into the middle of a hurricane that sets the scene for a deadly battle between human and reptile. Aja’s been in this situation before, helming the delightful 2010 remake of “Piranha,” and he’s returned without a campy approach, treating the central survival tale with some degree of seriousness, while his gifts for water-based suspense and creeping terror remain intact. “Crawl” isn’t light or particularly revolutionary, but it’s short, slick, and offers plenty of satisfying scares. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

While the title “Point Blank” conjures images of Lee Marvin in cold-stare mode during the 1967 adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s “The Hunter,” the feature is actually a remake of a 2010 French thriller, which attempted to make a big screen mess with characters unprepared for action. Director Joe Lynch is certainly used to generating cinematic chaos, previously helming the misfire “Everly” and 2017’s more successful “Mayhem,” returning to the world of battered human beings with “Point Blank,” which plays to his interests in ultraviolence. However, instead of a thrill ride, Lynch is put in charge of a story with a few turns and attempts at characterization, showing visible restraint as he strives to insert as much freewheeling activity as possible in a picture that weaves somewhat erratically from frantic activity to sobering realities. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For their third remake of an animated classic in 2019 (following “Dumbo” and “Aladdin”), Disney returns to 1994’s “The Lion King,” which, at the time, collected a massive box office haul for the studio, resulting in sequels, theme park attractions, T.V. shows, and even a triumphant Broadway musical. The company has never abandoned Simba and Co., but the time has come to turn traditional animation into CGI to help wow a new generation of young fans and delight their nostalgic guardians. To help the cause, Disney returns to director John Favreau, who managed to do something special with 2016’s “The Jungle Book,” but the same level of tonal and visual experimentation doesn’t return with “The Lion King.” While not a shot-for-shot remake, Favreau and screenwriter Jeff Nathanson deliver a beat-for-beat reworking that’s meant to wow with dazzling visual effects, generating an entire animal kingdom with nothing but celebrity voices and computer power. The story? It’s basically the same, with the production avoiding any major changes to avoid upsetting the faithful, taking very few risks with a valuable brand name. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Lynn Shelton adds “Sword of Trust” to her impressive filmography. Gifted a curiosity about human behavior and the strange quirks of relationships, Shelton doesn’t stray far from her interests with her latest endeavor, but she always finds a compelling way to understand how characters work. “Sword of Trust” (co-scripted with Mike O’Brien) is a bit more comedic than her previous interests, heading into pure silliness on occasion, but the turns aren’t jarring and the feature is very funny, consistently so. Shelton gathers in an impressive cast for this study of secrets and lies, also making use of her Alabama locations, delivering a feel for the surroundings as she assembles a tour of idiosyncrasies and gullibility. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When considering all the unlikely sequels that’ve made their way through production, it’s hard to imagine many were craving a follow-up to 2011’s “The Woman” (which was a sequel itself, picking up where 2009’s “Offspring” left off). The Lucky McKee picture wasn’t unsettling or thought-provoking, it was just bad, offering crude, repetitive ultraviolence as a way to keep viewers awake, with McKee unable to master tone or performance, too busy whiffing on the theme of dehumanization. “The Woman” went away eight years ago, but star Pollyanna McIntosh isn’t ready to give up the titular role, returning not only as an actress for the feature, but also claiming writing and directing duties. There’s plenty of room for improvement here, and “Darlin’” takes advantage of pronounced shortcomings. While she doesn’t have any big ideas, McIntosh has determination to expand this universe one more time, reviving all the feral female energy the series is known for, but wisely picking and choosing her gore zone visits with more care than McKee. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s hard out there for a home invasion thriller. There’s a lot of competition for the horror hound’s dollar, and the subgenre has been exhausted. “Trespassers” (previously known as “Hell Is Where the Home Is”) has something interesting brewing underneath its ultraviolence, with director Orson Oblowitz trying to inject as much visual variation as possible while working with very little money, and screenwriter Corey Deshon has a germ of an idea to help subvert expectations, which is more exciting than any offering of bodily harm. “Trespassers” doesn’t remain in the realm of promise for long enough, soon switching over to a formulaic understanding of terror from masked men. It’s certainly inspired at times, but not particularly brave. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Joseph Cross has been an actor since he was a child, appearing in pictures such as “Jack Frost,” “Running with Scissors,” and “Wide Awake.” After a lengthy career in front of the camera, Cross elects to go behind one for “Summer Night,” realizing a screenplay by Jordan Jolliff. The helmer doesn’t put too much pressure on himself for his directorial debut, with “Summer Night” presenting a loose tangle of personalities searching for clarity and commitment in small town California, creating a film more about The Hang than truly pressurized confrontations between friends and lovers. We’ve seen this type of feature before, but Cross provides decent performances and a sense of nightlife to give the endeavor some atmosphere, and there’s effort to battle cliché by simply being vague with the details, trusting in the folksy rock vibe of the movie to keep it afloat. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“Stuber” is a film stuck between two time periods. It deals with the modern rideshare business, where customers are usually awful human beings and drivers live for 5-star reviews, and the cast is populated with young comedians who’ve been trained to mindlessly riff, not necessarily sell a punchline. The rest of the picture plays like an action comedy movie from the 1980s, with hard violence supporting a buddy cop premise, giving the feature peaks of dangerous encounters. “Stuber” doesn’t have an idea what it ultimately wants to be, instead electing to be everything, which doesn’t inspire a snowballing viewing experience. It’s lively at times, but never sure of itself, while screenwriter Tripper Clancy always turns to formula when he’s backed into a corner, somehow under the impression viewers want to feel for these characters, not simply watch them unearth continuous trouble while crossing Los Angeles. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

There’s a lesson to be learned from “Killers Anonymous.” Its marketing boasts the participation of Gary Oldman and Jessica Alba, pushing the stars up front to secure some attention that wouldn’t be otherwise afforded to the low-budget endeavor. Predictably, Alba’s barely in the effort, while nearly all of Oldman’s screentime finds the Oscar-winner in a seated position, looking through binoculars. It’s a common deception, especially with B-movies, which need something to lure innocent viewers in, especially fans of the actors hoping to keep up with filmographies. It would be grand if there was something more to “Killers Anonymous” that’s worth paying attention to, but director Martin Owen doesn’t have a prize for those willing to sit through the picture. He loads up on colored lighting and scattered violence, but the feature is actually a series of audition pieces, not a cohesive thriller, and it’s an absolute chore to sit through. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After spending the last few decades playing uptight guys in mild comedies, Greg Kinnear has finally decided to become a director, putting himself in charge of “Phil,” also nabbing the lead role. One would think that with such creative authority, Kinnear might be interested in attempting something different, permitting himself to stretch as a performer. That doesn’t happen in the picture, but there is a level of darkness to “Phil” that’s mildly intriguing, as the story deals with the aftermath of a suicide and the plate-spinning panic of deception, only most of the screenplay by Stephen Mazur (“Jingle All the Way 2,” “Benchwarmers 2: Breaking Balls”) goes for jokes, attempting to whip up silly business to make sure the movie reaches the widest possible audience. It’s not without some charms, but the effort doesn’t ring with invention, as Kinnear plays it all too safe to protect himself. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It seems like Bill Wyman is ready to speak. For 31 years, Wyman played bass for The Rolling Stones, garnering a reputation for being the “silent Stone,” unable or unwilling to share himself with the press and public, permitting his bandmates to take the spotlight, which they happily did. Now in his eighties, Wyman is in a retrospective mood, giving director Oliver Murray access to his vast archive of personal items, including an enormous year-by-year assembly of Rolling Stones photos, film, and memorabilia. While he was always the guy hanging in the back of the stage helping to keep the rhythm, “The Quiet One” hopes to offer more insight into Wyman as an average man with keen interest in the art of collecting, also tracing his years in one of the biggest bands in the world, doing his best to downplay rock god-ery. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Perhaps hunting for a ripe acting challenge, actresses Kate Mara and Ellen Page co-produce “My Days of Mercy,” helping to bring difficult material to the screen. There so much here for the talent to dig into, with Joe Barton’s screenplay touching on the death penalty, forbidden love, and family ties, giving the leads a chance to feel around for emotional purgings as they strive to stretch as performers. It’s mission accomplished for the most part, as “My Days of Mercy” has a severe tone that welcomes nuanced performances and troubling turns of fate. There’s a message about the reality of the death row experience, and a potent one, but the feature is mostly about watching Page and Mara manage dramatics, trying to make potentially one-dimensional characters into living, breathing human beings. They’re successful, even when the movie isn’t. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

25 years ago, Jean Reno starred in “The Professional.” It’s an odd film, but also an excellent one, using the star’s comfort with silent reaction to create a fully European action event that paid close attention to character. Today, Reno participates in “Cold Blood,” a low-budget thriller that’s not all that interested in providing thrills, once again putting the French actor in the role of a muted force of violence, stuck in a dangerous situation with a younger woman. It’s no “Professional” sequel, but writer/director Frederic Petitjean tries to pretend he’s making the new adventures of Leon with the effort, delivering Reno in enforcer mode, only there isn’t a script or a sense of style to back up his wavering commitment to the project. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” enjoyed the element of surprise. It was a reboot of a reboot, offered to audiences after two dull chapters with a different creative team. Nobody was expecting much from it, but director Jon Watts delivered a joyful, exciting, endearingly adolescent adventure that managed to make the Web-Slinger into a viable screen hero once again. While Peter Parker has been dealing with a few Avengers-related issues recently, he’s back on his own with “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” which has the unfortunate position of being both sequel to “Homecoming” and a continuation of April’s “Avengers: Endgame.” Watts returns to helming duty, and once again he knocks it out of the park, delivering a thrilling installment for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Spider-Man fans, recapturing all the speed, teen anxiety, and comic book atmosphere that was previously established. Watts doesn’t try to top himself, he simply expands and enjoys the world he’s helped to create. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Bringing the music of The Beatles to the big screen isn’t a new idea. The band did it themselves on multiple occasions, and in 1978, there was “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” which celebrated the amazing career of The Beatles by having George Burns and Steve Martin sing a few songs, while an entire sequence was devoted to the Bee Gees fist-fighting Aerosmith. Perhaps realizing such a sight is impossible to top, helmer Danny Boyle and screenwriter Richard Curtis head in a much softer direction with “Yesterday,” manufacturing a silly fantasy that’s eventually consumed by romantic comedy intentions. There’s plenty of Beatles in the feature, and some mild wackiness as well, but Boyle and Curtis aren’t in this to make audiences laugh. They want hearts, and the pair get awfully grabby when it comes to the plight of near-miss lovers and their extraordinary test of companionship, which frequently interrupts the potential for a promising farce. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

The biggest challenge facing the producers of “Escape Plan: The Extractors” is trying to get viewers to recall anything that happened in 2018’s “Escape Plan 2: Hades.” After finding some box office success in China, 2013’s “Escape Plan” was granted a pair of sequels, shot back-to-back. However, budgets were reduced or perhaps all the money was spent on getting Sylvester Stallone to return to the franchise, with his participation in the first sequel limited, keeping his work days short. Stallone has a larger role in the latest chapter, and there’s a new director in John Herzfeld (who previously worked with the actor in “Reach Me”), taking over for DTV machine, Steven C. Miller. While visual limitations remain, Herzfeld does more with the material than his predecessor, giving “Escape Plan: The Extractors” a pleasingly mean energy, stuffing the effort with violence and anger, even managing to pull off something that’s eluded the series up to this point: genuine surprise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Horror loves the anthology movie. The format offers the genre a rare shot to be explored in short film form, giving writers and directors a chance to shave down superfluous additions meant to beef up run times, creating an opportunity to approach scary stories with the leanest edits and wildest imagination possible. Co-producer Mick Garris has been here before, overseeing the “Masters of Horror” television show from just over ten years ago, and he’s back with “Nightmare Cinema,” which brings together tales of finality from helmers who don’t normally receive a chance to cut loose with big screen frights. There are five chapters of dark comedy and blurred reality, and while every omnibus endeavor has its creative highs and lows, “Nightmare Cinema” is often stuck in neutral, prizing oddity to a point where the effort loses all momentum and mischief. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last year, writer/director Ari Aster impressed horror fans with “Hereditary,” delivering an eerie meditation on loss mixed with demonic cult theatrics. I wasn’t as thrilled with the feature, finding its insistence on shock value more numbing than chilling, but Aster did manage to pull something special out of star Toni Collette, who delivered the best performance of her career. Aster returns a year later with “Midsommar,” and while he doesn’t have Collette by his side again, he does recycle many of his old tricks, heading once again into the deep end of atmosphere and ultraviolence, transferring the relative intimacy of “Hereditary” to the open land of Sweden with this “Wicker Man” riff that’s extremely long and terribly light with crucial psychological details. The gruesomeness returns, but in a more predictable manner, as Aster chooses to repeat himself to secure a burgeoning helming career. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com