Category: Film Review

It’s difficult to understand any reason for remaking pictures that were part of the French new wave of extreme horror, which was all the rage with genre enthusiasts about decade ago. They were features created during a specific time and in a specific region, making translations difficult, especially for material that perhaps should remain attached to a single interpretation. After dealing with the deflation of 2015’s “Martyrs,” now comes “Inside,” which hopes to rework the 2007 Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (who recently helmed the crummy “Leatherface”) endeavor for mainstream audiences, under the impression that a wide assortment of moviegoers might be interested in 80 minutes of a pregnant woman being threatened with sharp objects. That a new take on “Inside” is unnecessary is a given, but director Miguel Angel Vivas fumbles whatever debatable tension was there the first time around, delivering a routine chiller that’s largely free of suspense.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

George Romero’s original “Dead” trilogy has already experienced multiple remakes and reworkings, with “Night of the Living Dead” and “Dawn of the Dead” producing passably regarded do-overs. It’s 1985’s “Day of the Dead” that perpetually confounds the reheating process, with “Day of the Dead 2: Contagium” and 2008’s “Day of the Dead” (with Nick Cannon and Mena Suvari) failing to do anything with Romero’s original vision. Now there’s “Day of the Dead: Bloodline,” which is being promoted as a more respectful version of the 1985 endeavor, juiced up with modern visual effects and additional movie science. It’s not like there isn’t room for improvement with “Day of the Dead,” but “Bloodline” is a complete waste of time, taking part in what’s now become a bad movie tradition: watching dismal filmmakers botch Romero’s relatively simple zombie outbreak.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Abe & Phil’s Last Poker Game” marks the final acting effort for star Martin Landau, who passed away last summer, leaving behind a varied career with consistent work. The picture provides unusual punctuation for the thespian, who’s asked to not only communicate the ravages of medical and marital strife, but also, at the age of 88, he simulates masturbation and the digital manipulation of a loved one. While it initially appears to be a kissing cousin to Michael Haneke’s “Amour,” “Abe & Phil’s Last Poker Game” eventually strives to be something of an “American Pie” sequel, with writer/director Howard L. Weiner unafraid to depict nursing home shenanigans and senior sexuality, adding a tremendous sense of surprise to what’s typically a funeral dirge for the lead characters. The horrors of life soon visit the players, but the game is mostly about bedroom interests. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the “Insidious” series is watching how writer Leigh Whannell manages to squeeze out new directions for the saga to take after exhausting all his ideas in the 2010 original film. After going the prequel route for “Insidious: Chapter 3,” Whannell makes a sequel to the prequel with “Insidious: The Last Key,” which is meant to lay track up to the first movie, creating a crooked circle of character connection for a franchise that never had a decent road map to bring it through various installments. “The Last Key” promises finality for the brand name, but endeavors to squeeze out a few more scares using the proven fright formula that turned the three previous pictures into low-budget hits. Whannell is out of ideas, but he goes soft for the new journey into the Further, giving a fan-favorite character the spotlight she deserves. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

In recent years, writer/director Mike Flanagan has made a name for himself in the world of horror. He pulled off the impossible, making a compelling sequel to a complete turkey with “Ouija: Origin of Evil,” and last year he successfully loaded up nightmares with the tense, profoundly macabre “Gerald’s Game,” managing a successful Stephen King adaptation. And there was “Hush,” a little-seen but celebrated chiller executed with limited dialogue. Now finally seeing release after experiencing several delays due to a bankrupt distributor, “Before I Wake” (shot in 2013) joins the growing list of Flanagan achievements. While it’s not a true genre exercise, the feature has its scary stuff, but it’s after something more heartfelt between moments of shock and terror, with Flanagan and co-writer Jeff Howard digging a little deeper with the material, trying to keep “Before I Wake” as human as possible while still delivering requisite unease.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After years becoming part of the television routine, author Agatha Christie is suddenly big business these days, experiencing a cinematic resurrection as talented filmmakers try their hand at adapting the famed mystery writer’s puzzles for grander budgets and bigger stars. Last November, there was “Murder on the Orient Express,” which became a major box office hit, securing the return of Hercule Poirot for Kenneth Branagh in 2020. And now there’s “Crooked House,” which doesn’t have the financial means to generate a grand whodunit, but it does have the better story, launching a sinister mystery that, much like “Orient Express,” is largely contained to a single location, simmering with a collection of restless, possibly murderous characters. “Crooked House” lacks scale, but of the two recent Christie efforts, it’s the tighter, more compelling endeavor, providing a jolt of evil to go along with all the psychological gamesmanship.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Colette Burson has a lot of nervous energy she wants to release with “Permanent,” wielding this coming-of-age comedy like machine gun that’s a little too heavy to handle. There’s quirk galore in the film, which details the pains of adolescence and adulthood from a possibly biographical standpoint, attempting to make a funny movie about characters who are trapped in self-imposed prisons of vanity and frustration. “Permanent” isn’t particularly funny, and Burson’s furiously idiosyncratic approach registers as borderline obnoxious at times, but the “Hung” creator does have a way with providing dimension for all characters, with interesting neuroses to periodically explore when the production steps away from cartoon behavior. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To experience “The Strange Ones,” one must summon all patience humanly possible, as directors Lauren Wolkstein and Christopher Radcliff (who also scripts) aren’t going to make the cinematic journey easy on anyone. It’s cryptic work from the indie film-minded duo, and paced deliberately, offering a slow leak of symbolism, heavy breathing, and enigmatic behaviors that often make the 76 minute run time feel like 76 years. Perhaps for some viewers, the artfulness of Radcliff and Wolkstein’s efforts might be appealing, with the picture refusing the comfort of appealing characters and easy answers. However, “The Strange Ones” isn’t much of a puzzle, often too laborious to inspire deep consideration, missing a fundamental screen energy that could help with all the layer-peeling going on.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To create a big screen spy series takes a lot more than sticking to the basics these days. “Stratton” is the latest attempt to explore government heroism, taking inspiration from author Duncan Falconer’s series of novels, exploring the life and death struggles of the titular character, who’s part of the Special Boat Service. Such affiliation is rarely celebrated, giving the material something unique to help separate itself from the competition. Unfortunately, it’s the last defining trait in “Stratton,” which is quickly weighed down by clichés, most executed without an ounce of concern from director Simon West. He’s sticking to the basics with this globetrotting thriller, and while it’s far from a bad movie, it’s not an inspired one, testing patience as the production tries to pretend it’s an original vision.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A former child actress, Quinn Shephard has decided to take command of her career by making her directorial debut with “Blame,” which revives the sexual hysteria of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” moving the madness over to a high school setting, where such reckless behavior is daily routine. The script (written Quinn and Laurie Shephard) isn’t subtle with its scheming characters, with Shephard making a movie about a play, but can’t quite shake the theatricality of the production, leaving a “Mean Girls”-style approach to hallway antagonism, periodically interrupted by a compassionate understanding of the adolescent experience for teen girls. “Blame” has its heart in the right place, but Shephard isn’t seasoned enough to infuse the picture with necessary tension, often caught struggling just to fill 95 minutes of screen time.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Paul Thomas Anderson often takes his time between projects, and there’s a good reason why. He’s a perfectionist when it comes to screen style, making sure everything’s where it needs to be to help bring out the best in his actors, creating gorgeous spaces to stage emotional breakdowns. Anderson’s last two efforts, 2012’s “The Master” and 2014’s “Inherent Vice” were accomplished technical achievements, but icy and periodically tedious, with tonal whims often sabotaging pace, and the helmer’s interest in the mumbly range of star Joaquin Phoenix often registered as more permissible than it needed to be. “Phantom Thread” reunites Anderson with his “There Will Be Blood” star, Daniel Day-Lewis, who restores a certain illness the director’s last decade has been missing. While deliberate to a point of stillness, “Phantom Thread” is deliciously twisted and nuanced work, returning Anderson to the psychological games he’s skilled at capturing, while Day-Lewis provides one final reminder (he announced his retirement from acting last summer) that he’s the very best at what he does. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Co-writer/director Fatih Akin doesn’t make it easy for himself with “In the Fade.” The picture deals with the aftermath of terrorism, detailing modern fears of everyday violence striking the innocent, erasing entire lifetimes in a single horrific moment. Most movies play up the exploitation possibilities of a revenge scenario driven by grief, knowing that audience sympathy is easy to achieve. Think “Collateral Damage” or the recent “Patriots Day,” which used the fury generated by fear and grief to power breathless cinematic thrills. “In the Fade” teases this style of filmmaking, with Akin trying to walk the thin line between a thoughtful understanding of the primal scream of violence and the urge to celebrate comeuppance. The material doesn’t provide easy answers, and perhaps plays it all a bit too easy, but “In the Fade” handles frustration properly, asking necessary questions about the vicious cycle of violence.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The fire, anxiety, and curiosity of a young man’s first love is brought vividly to life in “Call Me by Your Name.” It’s an adaptation of an Andre Aciman novel, but screenwriter James Ivory (“The Remains of the Day,” “Howard’s End”) strips the source material of literary pause, offering a more loosely defined sense of awakening, providing ample inspiration for director Luca Guadagnino, who delivers a highly sensual viewing experience, punctuated with powerful flashes of exposed emotion. “Call Me by Your Name” doesn’t force itself on the viewer, winding softly, almost aimlessly until it begins to form a connection between two people that’s more powerful than even they were expecting. Perhaps it’s not the most haunting tale of devotion found in the film year, but Guadagnino creates an evocative understanding of time and place, generating a sincere picture, and one that taps into the blur of primal longing.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After taking command of last summer’s disappointment, “Alien: Covenant,” director Ridley Scott explores a different kind of parasitical relationship with “All the Money in the World,” which examines a moment in time where industrialist J. Paul Getty had the opportunity to free his grandson, Paul, from kidnappers in Italy, and chose to do nothing. It’s the burden and power of vast wealth that drives the story, with David Scarpa (adapting a book by John Pearson) hammering home an atmosphere of denial as the haves and the have nots play careful games of negotiation as a dire situation slowly unfolds. “All the Money in the World” is mindful of its look at greed and familial indifference, but it’s not a particularly well defined feature, too slack to register as a thriller and too simple to dissect J. Paul Getty and his special disdain for the rest of the world.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For their first entry into the big-budget tentpole release game, Netflix has turned to director David Ayer to take command of “Bright.” Ayer is a helmer who favors gritty street and war stories, essentially making the same movie over and over with efforts such as “End of Watch,” “Street Kings,” and “Fury.” Last summer, Ayer was handed the keys to a comic book-inspired franchise in “Suicide Squad,” and while profitable, the feature divided audiences, weakening potential for multiple sequels and spin-offs. Now he’s handling “Bright,” which also has big aspirations to feed into additional films (a follow-up is already set), delivering a grim fantasy to viewers for the holiday season. And, once again, Ayer botches the execution, with far too much dependence on old habits to make it through an unsavory blend of the silly and the aggressively ugly. Ayer certainly likes to do that one thing, but after a 12 years of making urban horror shows with shell-shocked characters, perhaps enough is enough. Even with magic in the mix, this is moldy routine.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Lawrence Sher is a talented cinematographer, delivering clear, colorful visuals for some of the biggest comedies of the last decade, including his work on “The Hangover” trilogy. “Father Figures” represents his graduation to the director’s chair, finally in command of his own silly business. However, the new goofballery is the same as the old goofballery, with Sher playing it very careful with “Father Figures,” which offers few laughs as the lumbers from scene to scene. It’s a crude picture about a heartfelt subject, and Sher (along with screenwriter Justin Malen) can’t decide if they want to hold hands with the audience or slap them across the face with lowbrow jokes, keeping the movie wildly uneven and predictable in its desire to shock. Granted, this is Sher figuring out the next stage of his career, but the laziness of the production is disappointing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

There was really no need for “Pitch Perfect 2.” Everything about the premise was covered in 2012’s “Pitch Perfect,” completing the saga of The Barden Bellas, taking them from assembly to domination. Now there’s “Pitch Perfect 3,” which attempts to stretch the one-movie idea for a second sequel, and it’s clear franchise writer Kay Cannon (joined by Mike White) has run out of ideas, transforming what was once a tale of a struggling a cappella group into a…spy film? Singing and performance remains in “Pitch Perfect 3,” but Cannon attempts to add comedic adventure to the mix while moving the action to Europe, doing what she can to delay the reality that she’s tapped when it comes to the evolution of the group and their obsession with competition. Fan favorite characters are back and some mild weirdness is celebrated, but energy is sorely lacking from the unnecessary continuation.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com