Category: Film Review

“Puzzle” presents a story that’s been done many times before, examining the awakening of a bored homemaker as she finds inspiration beyond daily duties and finds attraction to another man. It’s the stuff of Lifetime Television, where such primal urges are approached with a superficial treatment. “Puzzle” offers blue-collar New York stasis, marital shackles, and parental concern, but screenwriters Oren Moverman and Polly Mann remain attentive to the subtleties of distress and the first steps of liberation, creating a drama that’s tinged with quirk (taking place in the world of competitive puzzle assembly) but always interested in difficult spaces of communication and messy acts of empowerment. It might sound cutesy, but “Puzzle” has a real soul and interest in the working parts of its personalities, largely refusing the easy route of melodrama to capture deadening routine shattering into a hundred little pieces.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While it’s difficult to forecast just how well “Teen Titans Go! To the Movies” is going to go over with ticket-buyers, the picture will likely find two distinct audiences: those who live, eat, and sleep the “Teen Titans Go!” franchise, and those who wanted to get out of the heat for a chunk of time watching a hyperactive cartoon about marginalized superheroes. It’s the big screen debut for the popular Cartoon Network series (which began its run in 2013), with producers hoping to cash in on comic book cinema fever by stretching a show that runs 11 minutes into a cheeky blockbuster that runs 90 minutes. The strain to fill the feature with stuff to do is evident throughout, but there’s a defined sense of humor on display that helps “To the Movies” get to where it wants to go, triggering sensible chuckles and a boatload of superhero cameos and references that should make it the second most pointed at picture of 2018 (placing right behind “Ready Player One”).  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If you’ve ever experienced any sort of conflict with a neighbor, the Icelandic production “Under the Tree” will most certainly trigger some level of PTSD. Co-writer/director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurosson is endeavoring to make a dark comedy out of this saga of warring couples living inside tight spaces, but he’s especially skilled at detailing the madness of suburban hostilities and the escalation of minor quibbles into all-out war. “Under the Tree” has some laughs along the way, but it mostly remains in a state of shock, picking up on human behavior when unimaginable stress is introduced, with Sigurosson playing a chess game with rattled characters, working his way to perhaps the most fitting conclusion of the film year. It’s uneasy work and wonderfully so, getting under the skin as it slowly works its way into madness.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

They don’t make ‘em like Larry Cohen anymore. The veteran helmer of such cult classics as “It’s Alive” and “The Stuff” is a man from a different age, when moviemakers went out into the world and just made features, often without asking permission. Cohen used New York City as his own personal playground, forging a career that celebrated the DIY spirit and satisfied genre appetites. “King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen” is a valentine to the creative force, using interview time with Cohen and his friends, family, and frequent collaborators to explore a wily oeuvre that transformed a guy from New York into a one-man movie studio, creating crazy pictures that were made with smarts and surprises when budgets weren’t immediately available.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Even if the whole thing doesn’t quite come together as forcefully as it should, “Dead Night” does have a great deal of inviting peculiarity. Screenwriter Irving Walker has a decent idea to develop, approaching slasher cinema from two perspectives, while adding some monstrous events to keep things comfortably growly and gross. And there’s help from actress Barbara Crampton, who seems to be having genuine fun in a villainous role, giving the feature some needed eccentricity. “Dead Night” is minor, running only 76 minutes, but there are many technical achievements to enjoy, and director Bradford Baruh (making his debut) certainly has potential as a genre helmer, displaying appreciation for gruesome events and moody settings.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I’ve stated it in previous reviews and I’m reiterating it here: I believe David Spade is a funny guy. The snarky comedian usually does well on talk shows, and his television output has been mostly successful, while recent forays into literature have permitted him time to explore a more autobiographical path to humor, putting a personal stamp on traumatic events and humiliations, always preserving the silliness of every situation. I like David Spade, but I loathe most of his movies, which never take advantage of his timing and successfully translate his stage persona. “Father of the Year” is his latest endeavor (working once again with Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions), and while it isn’t his worst picture (that honor goes to the wretched “Joe Dirt 2”), it’s pretty close, watching Spade stumble through a no-budget comedy for Netflix (apparently financed by Postmates, who enjoy a huge plug in the feature) that requires no punchlines, reactions, or acting. Just pratfalls. So many pratfalls.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With a title like “Hot Summer Nights,” certain promises are made by the production, and they’re not kept by writer/director Elijah Bynum. The idea here seems to be a modern revival of the 1950’s greaser drama, exploring bad boy concerns in a recognizable setting, with Bynum hoping to inject as much style as possible while wrestling with a smaller budget. Lusty business is staged and generally falls apart in “Hot Summer Nights,” with the rest of the feature weighed down by tedious subplots and an overall turn to hysterics in the finale. Bynum is a first-time filmmaker and it shows, getting the movie all worked up with potential, only to suddenly lose interest in the job at hand, with the screenplay piling on clichés just to connect the dots.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2014’s “Unfriended” was a minor surprise during the film year, offering a desktop chiller aimed at teenagers that actually worked in many respects, keeping suspense alive and the strangeness of the setting active. It was small in design and supernatural to boot, but it managed to make something out of next to nothing, giving the computer-based thriller subgenre a nice boost of invention. Four years later, there’s a sequel, and one that does away with ghosts and jittery teenagers, graduating to a more mature set of victims and the grim evening they’re about to experience. “Unfriended: Dark Web” doesn’t have the element of surprise, and it doesn’t have much of a story either, finding writer/director Stephen Susco (screenwriter of “Texas Chainsaw 3D”) trying to be edgy by going bleak with laptop hellraising, engineering a strangely angry sequel that liberally borrows from better movies to feed its own mediocrity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

The world doesn’t need a “Mamma Mia!” sequel, but when a jukebox musical that wasn’t expected to make many waves at the box office ends up grossing as much as a superhero film, an attempt to make a second chapter isn’t surprising. What is unusual about “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” is that it took a decade to reach multiplexes, which is an eternity with this material, which generally thrives on in-the-moment charms, not waiting games. There’s some disappointment with this rusty installment of an unlikely franchise, which clearly doesn’t have the same spring in its step as the 2008 original, but writer/director Ol Parker tries to put on a big show with a limited scope, going the origin story route to establish a fresh perspective and inject a little youthful energy into a movie that always seems happiest when sitting down. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“The Cakemaker” contains a lot of heartache, examining the ways of love and obsession, but writer/director Ofir Rual Graizer handles all the hurt in a most humane way, capturing unspeakable feelings with a powerful cinematic language. It’s a production from Germany and Israel, already bridging a few gaps in culture and history while the script sets out to do the same thing, with the titular character working through emotional divides while embarking on an unusual mission of observance as a form of grief. “The Cakemaker” is tender and often unexpected, and Graizer absolutely nails the confusing feelings and anxieties of the moment, creating a modest but open space for the actors and the craft to achieve a sublime rhythm of discovery, making the endeavor quite special.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When Robin Williams died in 2014, he took a part of the entertainment industry with him. The comedian, actor, and all-around madman seemed almost indestructible and definitely indefatigable, and when he passed, there were few words that could pinpoint exactly what the mood of the world was when Williams left it. “Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind” is an attempt to wrap both arms about the experience of being one of the fastest, funniest people of all time, and director Marina Zenovich almost touches fingertips, creating a documentary that’s light on extreme detail, but generally gathers the basic elements of Williams’s personal and professional experience, asking viewers to fill in the gaps with personal recollections while the feature covers most of the essential movements in an extraordinary life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Equalizer” started life as a television series for CBS in the 1980s, making Edward Woodward into an unusual force for justice, celebrating the steely authority of an older man. 2014’s “The Equalizer” handed the lead role of Robert McCall to Denzel Washington, who also projected wizened confidence as the titular vigilante, only instead of a mild reprise of network television heroics, director Antoine Fuqua cranked up the ultraviolence, with plans to make the pain McCall inflicts as vivid as possible. It was overkill in a dim movie, but “The Equalizer” found something of an audience, with the fanbase large enough to lure Washington back into McCall’s shoes for “Equalizer 2.” Keeping in line with traditional sequel mentality, Fuqua recycles most of everything that was found in the original picture, serving up the same scenes of intimidation and graphic punishment to stoke the fires of a newfound franchise.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Deborah Haywood goes dark for “Pin Cushion,” her feature-length debut as a writer/director. She’s made a movie that introduces itself with extreme quirk, and slowly but surely poisons it with tremendously unsettling scenes of emotional abuse. Haywood attempts to communicate the pain of the outsider, and one who isn’t adjusted to the cruelties of the world, and she’s amazingly accurate in her summary of despair. However, while bleak, “Pin Cushion” has its artful achievements, dramatic potency, and fantastic lead performances from Lily Newmark and Joanna Scanlan, who march into horrors as instructed by the helmer, but find ways to make doom relatable, especially for female audiences hunting for an accurate overview of juvenile bullying in the connected age, while most mothering fears are realized in this disturbing chiller.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2008, Director Gus Van Sant made “Milk,” his passionate bio-pic of activist and politician Harvey Milk. It was work that felt vital and intimate, with Van Sant’s focus on the nuances of the story resulting in a vivid depiction of a noble life tragically ended by another. And then there was nothing for a decade, finding Van Sant obsessed with quirk (“Restless”) and environmental issues (“Promised Land”), hitting rock bottom with “The Sea of Trees,” an unexpectedly inept pass at mournful cinematic poetry that was soaked in confusion and pretention, becoming one of Van Sant’s worst films. Mercifully, “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” is a return to form for the helmer, who offers a passion project that actually plays like someone who doesn’t want to let go of the moment, showcasing a newly recharged director eagerly exploring the struggle, dark humor, and unexpected grace notes of life.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Luke Sparke really likes “Red Dawn.” And who could blame the guy, as the 1984 actioner is an engaging ride with harrowing violence and a premise that toys with war film clichés while still delivering its own sense of honor. Sparke’s second movie is “Occupation,” and it’s basically a remake of “Red Dawn,” only instead of an Earthbound threat attempting to take control of America, the screenplay goes a little bigger, finding Australia under siege, with evil alien forces arriving from space, and they don’t come in peace. It’s the resistance versus the galaxy in “Occupation,” with Sparke layering on the clichés to fill his feature, which may be appealing to those who live and breathe this type of entertainment, but the helmer doesn’t bring anything new to the alien invasion subgenre.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Spy games are everywhere on television these days, with small-scale stories of suspicion within global conflicts ideal fodder for weekly shows, adding a serialized element to develop characters and motivations. “Damascus Cover” has to work extra hard to emerge as something special, offering a decidedly cinematic sway to coax viewers into theaters. And yet, co-writer/director Daniel Zelik Berk makes a creative choice to dial back thrills as far as possible, almost to a point of complete stoppage. “Damascus Cover” aims for retro entertainment, trying to set up a Middle East chess game between spy agencies and the people caught in the middle of hostilities, but there’s not enough gas in the tank here, finding star Jonathan Rhys Meyers doing all the heavy lifting when it comes time to add some intensity to the comatose effort.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With confusion. That’s how it ends. But writer Brooks McLaren senses a creative challenge with the doomsday effort, playing a careful game of mystery with the pieces of this puzzle, exploring the end of days without actually identifying the steps toward extinction. McLaren doesn’t want to make a disaster movie, which is commendable, using elements of panic to create a character study, but one that indulges in action film cliches one too many times, diminishing the integrity it’s working to achieve. “How It Ends” delivers the vague shape of the apocalypse, but it’s a frustrating sit, continually interrupting compelling stretches of drama and terror with low-wattage stunts and tedious sequences of back roads survival.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While "The Divine Order" shares a story of gender discrimination, misogyny, and marital woes, it's almost refreshing to find the tale taking place in Switzerland, avoiding American hostilities for once. The change in location is most welcome, with writer/director Petra Biondina Volpe examining the pains of womanhood from a different perspective, and while American influence remains, the screenplay showcases a distinct cultural fingerprint as it details the jail sentence of being a woman in 1971. "The Divine Order" has its melodramatic urges, but it's an excellent overview of personal need with sharply defined characters, returning to an era of global change with a few details that mirror today's social turbulence. Volpe taps into the zeitgeist and shares a period saga of equality, creating a picture that's essential viewing for those interested in a wider perspective on feminist challenges. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“Sorry to Bother You” marks the feature-length directorial debut for musician Boots Riley and, for this grand occasion, he’s elected to construct a picture that’s often defies description. Imagine if Mike Judge and Michel Gondry joined forces to make a Spike Lee Joint, and that’s part of the experience watching “Sorry to Bother You.” It’s a unique vision of the world as it exists today, using wit and blunt force to comment on racism, greed, and powerlessness, but it’s also a silly movie for the first half, with Riley showcasing surprising chops with absurdity, trying his best to undermine expectations as the story begins to reveal layers of insanity. It’s not an especially tight creation, but Riley’s enthusiasm for his big moment is understandable, on a mission to go crazy with his first film, with hopes to make a lasting impression on the audience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

For his third release in the last seven months, Dwayne Johnson once again portrays a mighty hero up against impossible odds. There was the video game world of “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” and the…video game world of “Rampage,” but “Skyscraper” aims to be a more traditional offering of search and rescue, mashing together elements from “Die Hard” and “The Towering Inferno” to make a modern blockbuster, with gobs of tech tossed into the fiery chaos. Writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber (“Central Intelligence”) keeps his influences close, but doesn’t learn much from them, manufacturing a flat, routine Rock-against-‘em-all thriller that’s big on CGI spectacle but very limited when it comes to the creation of true heart-stopping sequences. Other films have done what “Skyscraper” is doing, and they’ve done it better, rendering the feature numbing instead of nail-biting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com