Category: Film Review

With a title like “Gehenna: Where Death Lives,” the production knows it has some explaining to do. The title refers to a place of extreme suffering, welcoming those who may deserve a cruel fate. Opening text provides a definition for the title and the rest of the feature struggles to create a nightmare worthy of such an introduction. Co-writer/director Hiroshi Katagiri is a longtime special effects artist (“Jurassic Park III,” “War of the Worlds,” and “Escape from L.A.”), and he makes his directorial debut with “Gehenna,” a film that’s not big on varied locations but does an adequate job creating scary business, at least the no-budget kind. Katagiri has some inspired ideas for his big break, and select scenes manage to achieve their intended genre pop. It’s the rest of the movie that could use a little bolt tightening and fresh air, with the smallness of the picture far too repetitive for comfort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been a long time since Adam Sandler really scored with a comedy. He’s lost a lot of his goofball charm over the years with movies that either tried too hard to be heartwarming family entertainment or never had the proper slapstick vision to begin with. “The Week Of” marks the directorial debut for Robert Smigel, a former “Saturday Night Live” writer and the creator of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, and while he’s been on the Happy Madison payroll since the beginning, this is his first real shot a creative authority. The promotion is most welcome, with Smigel (who co-scripts with Sandler) creating a charmingly manic farce with “The Week Of,” playing with wedding build-up clichés and absurdity with remarkable fluidity and appreciation for non-sequitur humor. It’s a very funny film when it wants to be, and mercifully, such desire makes up most of the run time, refreshing Sandler’s screen appeal for a good two hours of decent laughs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“Kodachrome” is based on a New York Times article, expanding the essentials of reporting to create a warm viewing experience about emotionally mummified men. Director Mark Raso wins points for sincerity, and he’s lucky to have an actor like Ed Harris in the role of an icy artist in need of a psychological thaw, helping the production reach a few of its lofty dramatic goals. “Kodachrome” is a road trip and a domestic disturbance tale, with Raso trying to add as much honeyed glaze as possible without suffocating the viewing experience. It’s a fine film, but it frustratingly refuses to be a great one. There are fascinating avenues of toxic behavior to explore, but Raso and screenwriter Jonathan Tropper sand down the rough edges of the saga, working to extract tears, not build riveting drama.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For their 19th film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is looking to shake things up in a significant way. Marvel Studios has adhered to formula before, building a brand name with superhero feats of strength and crisis-solving, spinning an intricate web of characters and motivations. With “Avengers: Infinity War,” the company is looking to add a more pronounced element of surprise, uniting all the big names and fringe players for battle against a powerful foe, and one who’s capable of wiping out the universe with the snap of his fingers. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo try to make the specialty of the community effort unique, generating a sprawling epic that crosses galaxies and takes lives, ordering up towering action sequences and primal emotions, delivering the most psychologically complex MCU event yet. “Infinity War” isn’t concerned with endings, but as set-ups go, it’s a humdinger, going apocalyptic while still retaining familiar beats of humor, heart, and body-smashing confrontations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

I’ll admit, it has been easy to accept Adam Pally as a major player in the world of comedy. There isn’t much about him that can’t be found elsewhere, and his brand of improvisation has never thrilled or delighted. However, with “Most Likely to Murder,” Pally finds a perfect match of delivery to material, putting his slacker self to proper use in this comedy, which plays around with murder mystery conventions, but mostly concerns itself with silly business. It’s wonderfully hilarious at times, with co-writer/director Dan Gregor happy to keep the feature in a state of stupidity for as long as he can get away with, wielding Pally and co-stars Rachel Bloom and Vincent Kartheiser effectively, giving “Most Likely to Murder” a nicely defined sense of humor and horror before it returns to the particulars of a whodunit.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

How difficult is it to make fun of a comic book convention? “The Simpsons” did it brilliantly. “Ted 2” did it recently. And yet, “Supercon,” a film whose sole purpose is to pants geek culture and convention business, doesn’t contain a laugh, a satiric idea, or a single functional scene. Co-writer/director Zak Knutson is flailing from the first frame, in charge of material that has no sense of timing or structure, and its concept of humor is downright deadly. “Supercon” should be an easy lay-up in terms of plot and characters, but the writing destroys whatever potential invention was there to begin with, hammering the audience with a level of crudeness that transforms a wannabe romp into a punishing viewing experience.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Chris Le has a strong idea for “Cartel 2045.” It takes place in a futureworld where technology has advanced criminal interests, giving the unsavory and the violent access to unimaginable power and precision, making it impossible for law enforcement to do their job. Unfortunately, Le doesn’t have the “Chappie”-style money or the sheer helming power to pull off such an ambitious concept, which requires a lot more than good intentions and a crackerjack concept. There are a host of problems keeping “Cartel 2045” grounded for most of its run time, watching Le struggle to make the gritty actioner he wants to, often facing the constraints of bad dialogue (or none at all), budget CGI, and editorial slackness. There’s something here that has potential, but it’s never realized to satisfaction.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Little Pink House” is based on the true story of “Kelo vs. City of New London.” It’s a David and Goliath tale of a woman forced to fight for her own home when corporate interests and local government threaten to take it away through the use of eminent domain. Writer/director Courtney Balaker has passion for the battle, which explores basic American rights and human need, also detailing morally corrupt practices and abuse of laws that were never meant to be bent in so many directions. There’s a television movie feel to “Little Pink House,” but messages on spirit and community remain vividly detailed by Balaker, who seeks to create a war cry for injustice with the feature, reminding viewers how easy it is for one percent interests to steamroll over hardworking citizens when stacks of money are at risk.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Grace Jones has been a recording artist and general pop culture figure for over 40 years, but those who’ve stood outside her fame would probably find it difficult to identify what makes the icon tick. “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami” isn’t a career overview or a very in-depth biographical investigation, but director Sophie Fiennes makes it a priority to deliver a seldom seen side of the artist as she approaches the age of 70, following her as she records a new album, dominates the stage, does the promotional rounds, and pays a visit to her family in Jamaica. “Bloodlight and Bami” offers outstanding concert sequences to refresh appreciation for Jones’s talents and blazing sense of style, but it’s also an intimate study of temperament and trauma, with the subject unafraid to showcase her impatience with world as she quests to realize her art.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s a particular speed of teenage angst that charges “The House of Tomorrow,” but it’s difficult to catch the vibe writer/director Peter Livolsi is shooting for with his muddled adaptation of a Peter Bognanni novel. The material strives to understand the rhythms of rebellion facing three adolescent characters, and Livolsi definitely achieves a level of frustration common with kids, especially during exploratory years. But there should be more to “The House of Tomorrow” than juvenile behavior, offering writing that cares for all the characters, not just the ones who haven’t turned 18 yet. While some ideas and design elements break through to make a decent impression, the rest of the feature doesn’t share the same distinction, ultimately presenting a limited representation of musical and domestic liberation.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Human trafficking is a major issue in the world today, with organization and corruption transforming kidnapping into big business, often occurring right out in the open. “Traffik” is interested in addressing the idea of human trafficking, but it has no real game plan when it comes to a thoughtful, harrowing study of crime. Writer/director Deon Taylor would rather make a B-movie than something that addresses real issues, and he’s not especially skilled at summoning suspense. “Traffik” is trashy and, most painfully, quite dull, with Taylor struggling to establish some type of POV when it comes to ugly business. A little portion of the feature wants to show concern for the real world plight of human trafficking, and the rest is content to offer DTV-style thrills and performances, quickly draining the life out of the picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor” is a documentary on the life and times of Fred Rogers, but it also acts as a form of therapy for the dark times we live in today. It’s one thing to understand what Fred was pursuing during his lifetime in children’s television, but director Morgan Neville (“20 Feet from Stardom”) reaches for a grander comprehension of the PBS icon’s work, where a seemingly simple man decided one day to give kids the confidence and communication they need to interact with the big world outside. It’s not a picture that can possibly avoid heart-tugging offerings of memory and adulation, with Neville managing to shape a complex portrait of an atypical human being. “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” isn’t a valentine, but a necessary inspection of creative control, selflessness, and gushing concern for the welfare of children. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

With “I Feel Pretty,” star Amy Schumer wants to make an empowerment anthem for those who suffer from low self-esteem. It’s a fringe demographic, roughly 99% of the Earth’s population, and Schumer hopes to define the anxiety of body acceptance in today’s world of extreme glamour and continuous judgment from others. She also wants to make a date night movie. And a wish-fulfillment comedy. And a friendship melodrama. There’s a lot going on in “I Feel Pretty,” but the picture remains weirdly simplistic, following a strict formula for laughs and pathos as it attempts to relate to every last ticket-buyer. Schumer is a spirited performer, but this is her worst starring role to date, watching her struggle with a dismal screenplay that’s too broad and predictable to drive home intended messages on self-worth.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Ghost Stories” is based on a play by Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson, who adapt their own work for the screen. While horror material emerges from everywhere, the stage is rarely employed as inspiration for cinematic frights, giving the creators a quest to find some movement to inherently static storytelling. Three tales of guilt, fear, and the unknown, “Ghost Stories” does an adequate job with suspense, enjoying the chance to play extensively in the dark with completely rattled characters. Nyman and Dyson never dial the tension up all the way, but they manage to find pockets of high anxiety and strange occurrences, crafting a compelling descent into the unexplained and the forbidden, boosted by the occasional nail-chewing showdown between humans and the other side. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Actress Jennifer Morrison makes her feature-length directorial debut with “Sun Dogs,” and she’s selected a very human story to launch her helming career. It’s a tale of dysfunction and confusion that’s familiar in many ways, and it also threatens a level of quirk to help the sameness of it all stand out from the competition. But Morrison doesn’t sweeten behavioral extremity to a sickening degree, delivering a vision for Anthony Tambakis’s script that feels as real as possible while still embracing the strange fantasy found in the plot. “Sun Dogs” is a peculiar film at times, and there’s really no way for the material to find a neat conclusion, but it connects with intimate moments, with Morrison preserving as much personality and private yearning as possible, keeping the picture away from becoming a complete cartoon.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Tomb Raider” was released a few weeks ago, and now there’s “Rampage,” making this spring flush with feature adaptations of popular video games. However, with “Rampage,” the process to bring arcade highs to the big screen is a bit trickier, as the original 1986 release wasn’t exactly an open world game, offering players only the most basic in button-mashing entertainment. It was a chance to live out “Godzilla” fantasies, offering a simple showdown between panicking humans and gigantic monsters, with the pleasures of the game coming from mass destruction and growling antagonists. Turning the brand name into an event movie was never going to be easy, but director Brad Peyton only seems interested in creating noise, not excitement, as his helming duties here primarily consist of adhering to an embarrassingly crude screenplay and overseeing one of the worst ensembles of the film year. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

He was often billed as “The Eighth Wonder of the World,” but it seems all Andre Roussimoff wanted was to be treated as an everyday man. It’s not an easy request when one is over seven feet tall and weighs nearly 500 pounds, but the documentary “Andre the Giant” does a fine job getting to know the person inside the incredible size, looking to explore just how Roussimoff became one of the most popular professional wrestlers of all time. It’s not an especially eventful story, but director Jason Hehir creates a portrait of a young man who used his extreme look to his advantage, finding a home in the squared circle, making a name for himself as a legend while searching for a place in society where, just for a few hours, he could experience a level of normality alien to his existence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

That writer/director Jeff Wadlow has managed to maintain a helming career for the last 13 years is impressive. He hasn’t made a decent movie yet, but Wadlow has been offered numerous opportunities to guide productions, making filmgoing painful with endeavors like “Never Back Down,” “Kick-Ass 2,” “Cry_Wolf,” and Netflix’s “True Memoirs of an International Assassin.” “Truth or Dare” is Wadlow’s latest waste of time, and it’s one of the most idiotic features in recent memory, with the director aiming to make a PG-13 horror event solely for the pre-teen sleepover audience. Its success is assured simply due to obvious budgetary limitations, but Wadlow has nothing to offer his picture, which is a chore to sit through, delivering an insipid story, overly emphatic performances, and complete lack of scares, playing to pushover crowds with the weakest production effort possible.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I’m not sure the world is ready for a serious study of tennis players reaching peak psychological strain, but the makers of “Borg vs. McEnroe” have set out to understand what goes on inside two of the finest players the game has produced. A Swedish production directed by Janus Metz, the picture endeavors dramatize a critical 1980 Wimbledon match between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, but it doesn’t devote itself entirely to the ins and out of the epic showdown between rivals that attracted world attention. Tennis remains a priority for the production, but the screenplay (credited to Ronnie Sandahl) looks to peel back the layers on these famous men, working to understand their respective childhoods and personal drive to become the best tennis players around. A competitive battle ensues, but “Borg vs. McEnroe” does a sharp job holding attention away from the court, finding ways to keep personalities as engaging as the titular showdown.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Fritz Bohm crafts a Grimm Brothers-like tale in “Wildling,” which doesn’t set out to redefine the monster movie, enjoying a chance to play in the subgenre sandbox while dreaming up a few fresh ideas of its own. It’s a dark picture, often quite literally, and one with a plan to sneak up on audiences with scenes of unexplained behavior and baffling personalities, with hopes that when clarification sets in, the feature will have a tight grip on viewers. “Wildling” gets mostly there thanks to a chilling tone and capable performances, and while Bohm doesn’t always have the most original vision for the central metamorphosis, there’s a momentum to the endeavor that’s compelling, and its general direction toward macabre discoveries is periodically hair-raising.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com