Category: Film Review

Over the past two years, studio A24 has built something of a reputation for releasing challenging horror pictures, trying to capture an audience perhaps a little woozy from blockbuster consumption, in need of something slow-burn and slightly radical to help realign moviegoing chakras. There was “The Witch” and last summer’s “It Comes at Night,” with both efforts working to unsettle viewers instead of simply scaring them. A24’s latest addition to this ongoing experiment is “Hereditary,” which also samples from the slow-burn chiller playbook, along with several other films. Writer/director Ari Aster creates a mix tape of genre events for this deliberate endeavor, obsessing over mood and frenzied moments as he constructs something that’s difficult to decode in one sitting, but isn’t powerful or concise enough to demand a second. “Hereditary” is haunting in stretches, but Aster doesn’t know when to quit, threatening to ruin a good thing with needless overkill.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

As the world awaits the release of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” there’s some time beforehand for a B-movie to sneak in and attempt to steal a little of its thunder. “The Jurassic Games” isn’t going to wow viewers with cinematic craftsmanship or sharp screenwriting, but as a slippery actioner with a limited budget, the picture provides some entertainment value, especially for those who enjoy the occasional insanity VOD releases provide. More “Running Man” than Spielberg, “The Jurassic Games” tries to give viewers an exciting ride with aggressive types and CGI predators, and with lowered expectations, it comes together intermittently, especially when co-writer/director Ryan Bellgardt leans into the potential of the premise, delivering violent game show challenges and roaring assassins from the titular age.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

For his fourth film release of 2018, Nicolas Cage plays a cop caught in the middle of a particularly violent bank heist, forced to use his law enforcement experience to survive the event. And Cage has to summon his acting experience to make anything out of “211,” which is a bland actioner, stranded somewhere between procedural concentration and network television heroics. Cage isn’t exactly straining himself to command this feeble effort from writer/director York Alec Shackleton, but he’s offering something to a production that needs all the help it can get. “211” has moments of ferocity, but it’s not a convincing thriller, with clichés too pronounced and severity watered down to make much of a lasting impression.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Writer/director Bart Layton made an industry splash with 2012’s “The Imposter,” saucing up documentary formula by adding some sense of theatricality to the work, blurring the line between information and performance. He’s back with “American Animals,” which is a similar endeavor, only here the emphasis is on drama, putting actors partially in charge of recreating a true crime event that occurred nearly 15 years ago in Kentucky. While Layton’s already made other film and TV projects, he seems intent on proving his cinematic chops this time around, keeping “American Animals” steeped in style and attitude, but there’s little else that sticks after a viewing, finding the material too manipulative and the story too familiar to successfully keep the effort from resembling anything but a showy director’s reel.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“The Gospel According to Andre” feels like a Marvel Studios-style payoff for subject Andre Leon Talley. Finally, the focus is on the Vogue editor after years of bit parts in other documentaries such as “The September Issue,” “Unzipped,” and “The First Monday in May.” Of course, Talley is a superhero in a way, and it’s about time someone recognized that, with director Kate Novack focusing exclusively on the larger-than-life personality, delivering biographical details and fly-on-the-wall footage, making sure that at all times, Talley is the star of the show. “The Gospel According to Andre” isn’t always stuffed with dynamic interactions, but it does manage to isolate Talley’s vitality and expertise, working through his history in the fashion industry and his childhood in North Carolina to paint a portrait of an unusual man who’s lived an extraordinary life.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

At this point, there probably won’t be another “Jackass” sequel. The guys are getting up there in age, and wear and tear on the body isn’t a party in your forties. Johnny Knoxville seems to understand the shelf life of his stunt days, working to build a bridge between self-harm and acting with “Action Point,” which isn’t a sequel to 2013’s “Bad Grandpa,” but shares a similar interest in pranks and stunts, mixed in with some relaxed Knoxville mischief. “Bad Grandpa” was a surprise, offering good-natured nonsense and decent direction for its type of entertainment. “Action Point” is the opposite, handling a surefire concept with low energy and a limited appreciation for the finer points of slapstick. It’s not fun, which is a bewildering response to a movie that sets Knoxville and a cast of goons loose inside an amusement park where safety is of no concern. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s not easy to make a surprising film about a true story that was covered extensively in magazine articles and news reports, and inspired a popular book. However, the makers of “Adrift” are willing to give it a try, working a little movie magic to turn known quantities into renewed suspense, recounting the story of Tami Oldham Ashcraft, who entered a hurricane while sailing across the Pacific Ocean, only to come out the other side with a severely damaged boat, while her fiancé, Richard, was washed overboard. It’s a harrowing tale of survival, but in the hands of director Baltasar Kormakur, “Adrift” isn’t always about the details of self-preservation, maintaining a tight grip on the romantic aspects of Tami’s tale as a way to remain marketable to a wider audience. Suspense is there intermittently, but the screenplay doesn’t trust inherent dangers and tests of endurance, downplaying real-world horrors to coast along on Hollywood conventions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The market is saturated when it comes to raunchy, R-rated comedies that primarily use the scattergun art of improvisation to secure jokes, with recent efforts such as “Game Night” and “Blockers” trying to push make-em-up silly business on fatigued audiences. “Ibiza” doesn’t have a radical approach to funny stuff, remaining in line with similar productions, but it does possess a wonderful velocity for its madcap events. It’s a terrifically high-energy movie that’s certainly light on plot, only submitting basic romantic conflicts and travel challenges, but it has timing, with director Alex Richanbach working to keep “Ibiza” flowing along as fast as possible, creating an appealing screen party with game actresses and a throbbing EDM soundtrack, also providing a steady run of laughs to support all the goofiness.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director John Cameron Mitchell enjoys eccentricity and celebratory chaos, solidifying his creative interests with his first two endeavors, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “Shortbus.” Mitchell’s last feature was 2010’s “Rabbit Hole,” a sensitive drama that widened his cinematic world view, showcasing his gifts with actors and ability to mute his wild side when necessary. “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” is Mitchell’s return to insanity, or at least his version of it, reuniting with his performance art habits for this adaptation of a Neil Gaiman short story, which requires quite a bit of on-screen hustle to transform into a proper movie. “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” isn’t complete, but that’s the way Mitchell wants it, going loose and free with this valentine to punk music and the mysteries of the universe.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Blumhouse Productions receives a lot of credit from the media for their success stories, employing a simple low-budget approach to horror endeavors to achieve their monetary goals. They’ve had their triumphs, but for every “Get Out” there’s a “Delirium,” which joins pictures like “Visions,” “Curve,” and “Stephanie” as another paint-by-numbers genre exercise for Blumhouse, whose see-what-sticks approach to film production coughs up a new instantly forgettable story of murder and insanity. Perhaps the original screenplay by Adam Alleca was once a beaming example of chiller craftsmanship and psychological layers, but in the hands of director Dennis Iliadis, the end result is a dull take on encroaching madness and single location hellraising, rendered incomplete by choppy storytelling and an overall drowsiness that makes it difficult to maintain patience with 90 minutes of routine frights.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Late last year, James Franco collected numerous accolades and awards for “The Disaster Artist,” a surprisingly sincere dramatization about the making of “The Room.” However, while it was a successful directorial outing for the actor, it was hardly his only helming gig of the year, also responsible for two other movies (“In Dubious Battle” and “The Institute”) in 2017, with an additional six over the last five years. It’s the type of work output that puts Tyler Perry to shame, but while Franco’s fast, he’s also not very attentive to screen details, churning out experimental projects as a way to expand his thespian horizons, not necessarily refine his filmmaking chops. “Future World” is his latest grab-bag of tone and performances, this time trying on the world of “Mad Max” for size, seeing what he can do (with co-director Bruce Thierry Cheung) with a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The short answer: not much.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Social Animals” plays it safe with its subject matter, taking a long look at the wandering hearts and minds of unhappy people trying to conquer their confusion and chart a different course in life. There’s a bit of arrested development going on, and a lot of domestic disturbance issues. Pieces of millennial anxiety are present as well. Writer/director Theresa Bennett isn’t going for originality with her dramedy, but she does have a valuable perspective on character, managing to form living, breathing people in the midst of clichés, taking at least some of their personal issues as seriously as the effort’s tone allows. “Social Animals” makes a few ill-advised turns during the run time, but it offers a satisfying peek at the difficulties of being an adult, especially when facing relationship woes and professional failure.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The story of “A Kid Like Jake” details careful steps of observation as two parents of a four-year-old child try to assess his place in the world once they pick up on her transgender future. It’s not an easy tale to tell, with screenwriter Daniel Pearle adapting his own play, laboring to take something very intimate and give it a bigger sense of life and stakes for the screen. He’s mostly successful, as “A Kid Like Jake” does very well putting forth a state of normality that’s corrupted by anxiety, keeping focus on the parents, who wrestle with various issues, trying to care deeply for their child as she goes from the bubble of home life to the social challenges of kindergarten. There’s no sensationalism here, just honest feelings and relatable concern, with Pearle making sure to keep challenges realistic, doing whatever he can to shoo away the artificiality of a television movie.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last year, Guillermo del Toro won an Academy Award for “The Shape of Water,” which depicted a loving, sexual relationship between a mute woman and humanoid amphibian. This year, director Xavier Gens drinks from the same creative well, only his “Cold Skin” showcases a more mysterious love triangle between two salty men and the female humanoid amphibian they both strive to possess. Gens doesn’t share del Toro’s love of fantasy and textures, but he does offer intermittent intensity with his latest, which is just strange enough to pass, finding oddity often competing for scene attention with overblown dramatics. “Cold Skin” struggles to maintain pace and surprise, but Gens has the right idea more often than not, staying true to an operatic take on man vs. nature, creating something that’s better with the dark and violent stuff than anything psychologically profound.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There have been many attempts to bring “Fahrenheit 451” to the screen over the last decade (Mel Gibson came awfully close on the few occasions), but now seems like the perfect time to revisit author Ray Bradbury’s iconic tale of government authority and the death of knowledge in America. The producers of the new adaptation are certainly careful not to assign the material to any specific presidential rule, which is a smart move, but the atmosphere of “Fahrenheit 451” is recognizable and its themes timely. It’s only a shame it’s not a better picture, with writer/director Ramin Bahrani generally fumbling the futureworld horror of the premise, which demands a more intricate touch than the problematic helmer is capable of offering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“In Darkness” attempts to pay homage to the work of iconic director Alfred Hitchcock, and, to a lesser degree, similar cinematic tributes arranged by Brian De Palma. However, to bring out the best Hitchcockian elements from any story, some sense of pacing and a gradual tightening of suspense is required, and “In Darkness,” which arrives with the best of intentions, doesn’t have the same nail-biting interests. Co-writer/director Anthony Byrne doesn’t generate much tension in the feature, which is nicely mounted but lacks a great amount of oomph, playing everything carefully to a point of inertia. Games of murder, betrayal, revenge, and torment are played, but Byrne doesn’t bring anything to a boil.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Misandrists” is not a movie built for a casual viewing. It’s the latest from writer/director Bruce LaBruce (“Hustler White”), and he’s not known for his careful way with onscreen elements, often using forward sexuality and heightened personalities to keep viewers on their toes. With “The Misandrists,” LaBruce explores the beginnings of an uprising, using black comedy to detail the happenings at a female-centric revolutionary group as they’re infiltrated by a man and confront rising doubts about their mission. It’s a very strange picture but also a fascinating one, and while the helmer doesn’t have a significant budget to bring many of ideas to life, he has his interests in odd events orchestrated by unbalanced characters, which gives the film a pleasingly off-kilter vibe, going a long way to cover certain limitations LaBruce can’t avoid.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jim Carrey’s list of dramatic performances is short, but he’s been here before. Usually, such trips to the grim side of his personality are seasoned slightly with comedy, but much like 2007’s “The Number 23,” the actor’s work in “Dark Crimes” is intentionally free of any sort of sunshine. This is Carrey purging a few demons and showcasing his serious side, but in this film, he flings himself down an abyss of perverse behavior and murder, remaining as bloodless as humanly possible. If only the picture was as committed to something specific as Carrey, with this detective tale (“Inspired by a true story”) from screenwriter Jeremy Brock (“The Last King of Scotland”) endeavoring to be more of a moody odyssey than a detailed one, offering a central whodunit that’s not interesting, while characterization doesn’t pop as significantly as Brock intends. “Dark Crimes” has Carrey, who seems like he’s auditioning for an HBO procedural, but the rest of the movie is motionless when it isn’t baffling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“Cold November” is a coming of age tale where maturity occurs over the course of a few days. Writer/director Karl Jacob speeds up a normal period of growth for dramatic purposes, creating a tale of awareness within a young girl who suddenly realizes that things in her life will never be the same. It’s a story of family, tradition, consciousness, and location, with Jacob making smart use of rural Minnesota to help isolate his characters, strengthening their bonds in the process. While its pace can be somewhat trying at times, “Cold November” captures specific lives superbly, while examining the universal truths of burgeoning adolescence, where the comfort of childhood is rudely interrupted by responsibility and bodily changes that are impossible to stop. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

A few weeks ago there was “Tully,” which explored depression emerging from the pains of motherhood and chemical imbalance. It was meant to be a dark comedy with particular sensitivity to the demands of parenthood. “The Escape” handles basically the same idea, but writer/director Dominic Savage goes down a much bleaker route with the material, which is delivered with complete sobriety. “The Escape” offers a personal journey of mental erosion and domestic suffocation, and while Savage tends to the pressure points of household responsibility, he also provides a commentary on gender roles and marital enslavement, giving the screenplay some grit to go along with its study of self-destruction. It’s not a cheery picture, but its level of melancholy is haunting, especially when interpreted by star Gemma Arterton, who delivers career-best work in the challenging feature.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com