Category: Film Review

The interesting thing about “Sweet Virginia” is that it could work as either a small town drama or a suspense picture. Benjamin and Paul China’s screenplay manages to combine the cinematic speeds with care, offering an engrossing tale of mishandled anger and desperation, putting effort into characterization while saving room for savage acts of violence. Director Jamie M. Dagg doesn’t overdo style, remaining respectful of the writing and the cast hired to turn lengthy dialogue exchanges into pained exchanges of need, keeping “Sweet Virginia” slow-burn but highly effective. It takes time, but the China Brothers manage to build something threatening and deeply felt, keeping the viewing experience surprising even while the story deals with familiar elements of intimidation and distress.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Revolt” isn’t really a movie, it plays more like a director’s reel for Joe Miale, who does what many other aspiring helmers do and looks to sci-fi/action to establish his name and style. It’s a road picture of sorts, using an alien invasion hook to explore African locations, working to build a few mysteries that might play out in multiple sequels. It’s a shame Miale doesn’t get the first one right, though his technical skill is impressive in spots, showing similarities to 2010’s “Skyline,” which also came off as a calling card instead of a full-fledged movie. “Revolt” feels incomplete and undernourished in the dramatic department, though Miale isn’t aiming for hospital corners with the effort, electing to focus on alien mayhem and anguished reactions from stars Lee Pace and Berenice Marlohe, who offer thespian commitment to the film and receive little in return.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With “Almost Friends,” writer/director Jake Goldberger tries to make an honest movie about matters of the heart. He almost pulls it off. It’s a story about friendships that endeavor to be romances, but encounter too many issues to permit a full blossoming into love, with the production establishing multiple subplots to create a cat’s cradle of dysfunction and confession. Goldberger has interest in these lives, but his command of storytelling fluidity and consistency is a tad off, with “Almost Friends” spending too much time on characters who fail to add anything to the picture’s sense of sincerity, while clichés soon catching up to the helmer, kneecapping its dramatic integrity. There’s gentleness to the effort that’s appealing, but it doesn’t last long enough.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Less than two years ago, “Daddy’s Home” had the guts to open in the wake of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” hoping to be the family film alternative for those searching for broad laughs over the holiday season. Amazingly, it worked, giving Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg one of the biggest hits of their careers, cementing a screen partnership that began with “The Other Guys.” Not willing to squeak by with an unexpected smash, the duo returns with “Daddy’s Home 2,” a quickie sequel that weirdly isn’t trying its post-“Star Wars” release luck again, coming out early in the season armed with more slapstick and a support act in Mel Gibson and John Lithgow. With these movies, anything that conjures even a smile should be considered a triumph, and “Daddy’s Home 2” has a few chuckles to go with its painful repetition.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Murder on the Orient Express” is perhaps the most famous of Agatha Christie’s literary achievements. Adaptations of the 1934 book are numerous, with a 1974 Sidney Lumet film often held as the gold standard for big screen Christie translations, while other efforts, including a 2001 television movie and a 2010 episode of “Agatha Christie’s Poirot,” have had their way with the mystery writer’s twists and turns. Now something grander has arrived from director Kenneth Branagh, who busts out the CGI polish and star-studded casting to give his take on “Murder on the Orient Express” its own modern lift, gifting a new generation with an aged tale of death and deception on a stalled train. Branagh makes a pretty picture and invites some real talent to join in on the game of suspicion, but all is not well when it comes to cinematic sleuthing, as the production tends to gloss over the fine details of certain characters, which leaves the feature feeling empty and anticlimactic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“24 Hours to Live” is being sold as a spiritual sibling to the 2014 action bonanza, “John Wick,” with the productions sharing a few producers and a similar interest in the creation of screen havoc, preferably with as much ferocity as possible. However, “24 Hours to Live” isn’t actually a similar endeavor, eschewing one-man-army revenge steeliness for more of a chase throughout South Africa, while the plot leans more toward “Bourne Identity”-type of secret government cruelties. The picture wisely avoids replication to become its own bulldozing actioner with a slight sci-fi twist, and it benefits from Ethan Hawke’s participation, watching the actor commit in full to his character’s brawling abilities and moments of pained introspection, finding a soul to the effort before B-movie demands close in to claim it for good.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When Hollywood decided to make a “21 Jump Street” movie, they were afraid to be sincere with it. The late-‘80s Fox show about undercover cops in high school certainly had its goofy moments, and perhaps the program is hopelessly dated, but there was a mission to bring the complexity of the world to an impressionable audience, highlighting social issues and various forms of abuse. “Thumper” isn’t as primary colored as “21 Jump Street,” but it’s a close match in some respects, with writer/director Jordan Ross taking the idea of a cop in deep with teenagers to grittier areas of personal conduct and law enforcement. Perhaps Ross wouldn’t enjoy having his picture mentioned alongside a bubblegum TV show, but the comparison is a compliment, nailing a fascinating tonality as the pursuit of justice clashes with matters of the heart.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director/star Marianna Palka knows that titling her latest endeavor “Bitch” is going to attract some attention. After all, this is the same filmmaker who arrived on the scene with the relationship drama, “Good Dick,” making provocative titles a practiced game for Palka. Thankfully, she can back up such mischief, creating a specialized take on the ways of neglect and depression with this strange but fascinating dramedy. “Bitch” is sure to launch 10,000 essays from bloggers everywhere, but the core experience of the movie supplies a fascinating understanding of mental fracture and repair, with Palka offering her unique take on gender and marital roles and the pain that builds up when respect and communication exit a relationship. She takes things to an extreme, yet her sense of intimacy remains powerful, cutting through a gimmick to identify relatable stress and conjure a startling feeling of hopelessness.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Ruben Ostlund made an art-house splash with 2014’s “Force Majeure.” A sharp look at relationship woes and the readjustment of patriarchal roles, the picture was emotionally authentic and dark, leaving any follow-up with the challenge of matching an original vision from a burgeoning filmmaker. “The Square” isn’t nearly as precise as “Force Majeure,” but Ostlund doesn’t make it easy for himself with this dissection of behavior, modern art, and the limits of patience. More episodic than focused, “The Square” emphasizes the helmer’s fascination with human response to troubling situations of misconduct and mistakes, attacking uncomfortable moments with a dark sense of humor and an indulgent run time (140 minutes). It’s certainly not a picture for everyone, but when Ostlund finds his footing, he creates periodic hilarity and a frighteningly accurate inspection of selfishness and poor decision-making skills.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A few years ago, director Joe Lynch crafted “Everly,” a low-budget actioner (starring Salma Hayek) that cut costs by staging chaos inside a single apartment location, requiring helming ingenuity to help shake up the inherent stasis of the setting. It didn’t work, but Lynch apparently loved the challenge, returning to basically the same idea for “Mayhem,” which is a low-budget actioner set inside an office building, with hellacious combat claiming one area of the building at a time. It’s a battle royal with business people, and Lynch loves to generate a big screen massacre, keeping things wet with blood and high in panic for “Mayhem,” a fatiguing effort that’s saved by a bright lead performance from Steven Yeun, an underutilized movie actor (best known for this work on “The Walking Dead”) who really should be a leading man in more pictures, confidently carrying a sense of humanity to help balance Lynch’s one-note hellraising.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Thor sat out 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War,” which basically acted as an “Avengers” sequel, but without the full roster of superheroes. Thor (and the Hulk) were off on their own adventure, and finally audiences are allowed to catch up with the God of Thunder in “Thor: Ragnarok,” which is also the third official Thor movie, picking up where 2014’s “Thor: The Dark World” left off. Admittedly, there wasn’t much of a wait for the return of the hammer-launching hero, but he was missed, as “Thor: Ragnarok” is a thrilling, unexpectedly hilarious sequel that changes the tone and direction of the character. It’s not a radical departure from the usual comic book mayhem, but director Taika Waititi makes inspired choices with the material, leaning into the fantasy of it all, creating worlds, monsters, and towering action to go with the feature’s generous sense of humor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Last year, “Bad Moms” satisfied a certain appetite for raunchy entertainment from a female perspective, offering summertime audiences a joy ride through bad behavior and motherhood lament. It found a sizable audience, becoming a sleeper hit despite not being much of a movie, with writer/directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore simply throwing as much juvenile behavior and uninspired raunch at the screen to see what sticks. Rewarded with a financial success, Moore and Lucas have coughed up a quickie sequel to capitalize on the moment, moving the R-rated party to the holidays for “A Bad Moms Christmas,” which is very similar to “Bad Moms” but somehow worse. Laziness chains the follow-up to the ground, with the helmers not taking a moment to think about the feature they’re making, only motivated to reheat bawdy humor for a fast buck, giving fans the same viewing experience, only this time there’s snow on the ground.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Polarizing is a nice way to describe the work of writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos, who creates profoundly upsetting movies by cutting into seemingly stable lives, exposing all the illness that’s been festering for quite some time. Efforts like “Dogtooth” and “The Lobster” aren’t easy pictures to digest, but for more adventurous viewers, Lanthimos tends to reward patience with an incredible command of strangeness, utilizing a static style of direction that favors observation over manipulation, forcing the audience to pick up on feral behaviors and subtle turns of fantasy. “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” rivals “Dogtooth” in terms of sheer unease, and it reinforces just how skilled Lanthimos is with this style of storytelling, summoning a range of horror that’s hypnotic to watch.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Joining the gold rush of Stephen King adaptations is “1922,” with writer/director Zak Hilditch taking inspiration from 2010 novella from the famous horror author. It’s been a big autumn for King, who dominated multiplexes with “It,” and raised anxiety levels with “Gerald’s Game,” and “1922” is another striking creative success, respecting the source material’s macabre interests and Edgar Allan Poe tribute, while offering a sharply visual endeavor that communicates terror superbly. Hilditch has some difficulty turning a 131-page story into a 100-minute movie, but he’s mostly successful when it comes to locating gruesome highlights and maintaining a haunting viewing experience, managing a dark tale of murder and expanding guilt with style and care for King’s wicked interests in the corrosion of soul and the blurring of reality.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While making movies for quite some time, Sean Baker made an impression with 2015’s “Tangerine,” which offered unique atmosphere and vivid characters, and also carried the gimmick of being shot entirely on iPhones, giving it a boost in publicity. Baker’s returned to professional equipment with “The Florida Project,” but he continues on his verite path with the effort, which swaps coasts, moving from Hollywood streets to the sunbaked hotels of Kissimmee, Florida, examining positions of poverty located next door to Walt Disney World. “The Florida Project” is alive, on a perpetual sugar rush of behavior, most of it toxic, but Baker retains a feel for humanity at its most feral and overworked, capturing the sheer fatigue of daily survival in a tourist-laden sweatbox. There are storytelling issues that aren’t resolved, but Baker largely gets by on atmosphere and periodic screen poetry, finding an original location to sort through troubled people.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The celebratory aspect of the “Blade of the Immortal” release is the picture’s status as the 100th film from director Takeshi Miike, which is no small feat when considering the man began his career ascent in 1991. He’s an extremely prolific creator of violent entertainment, hitting some potent cult movie highs over the years (“Ichi the Killer,” “13 Assassins”), but he’s always swinging at the first pitch, keeping himself busy behind the camera dreaming up new ways to brutalize human beings. “Blade of the Immortal” is not a significant creative departure for Miike, but it does utilize his gifts for blunt aggression and screen style well, adding touches of the unreal to a samurai extravaganza adapted from a popular manga, which permits the story to generally disregard Japanese history and charge ahead as a lengthy, funky bloodbath.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Saw: The Final Chapter” was released seven years ago. It was intended to be the last stop on the Jigsaw tour of trap-based pain, but as it goes with horror movies, there’s never truly a final bow when there’s money left on the table. By this point, the franchise (which began in 2004) was a carnival dark ride, offering Halloween audiences a dependable multiplex partner for the holiday, with more care going into the extremity of murder sequences than into the ongoing plot, which by this sequel, resembled a stale pretzel left out in the rain. While dealing with a wildly profitable brand name, studio Twisted Pictures ultimately decided to take a break from the yearly grind. The machine cranks back to life with “Jigsaw,” which offers a new title for the same old games of misdirection and suffering, offering not a reboot or a remake, but yet another sequel…er, kinda. “Jigsaw” has promise in filmmakers Michael and Peter Spierig, but seems determined to provide the least amount of effort with this out-of-the-blue endeavor, giving devoted fans basically a television pilot with periodic geysers of gore. In an ugly, insipid series, the latest chapter has the distinction of being the least surprising and the most boring. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Joel and Ethan Coen don’t usually allow their scripts to be manhandled by others, making “Suburbicon,” which they wrote in the 1980s, a rare event. Of course, with George Clooney directing the picture, they might as well be credited as helmers. A longtime associate of the Coens and a man with tremendous awareness of their specialized sense of humor and horror, Clooney (who teamed with the siblings for “Intolerable Cruelty,” “Burn After Reading,” “Hail, Caesar,” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”) is an ideal choice to guide “Suburbicon” through its labyrinth of tonal changes, mysterious characters, and hidden motivations. The Coens (along with Clooney and Grant Heslov) have attacked the poisoned suburbia story with attention to criminal endeavors and trust issues, while Clooney fights to find stable ground, unsure if he wants to play some of this jokingly or all of it sinisterly. There are no hospital corners here, but Clooney finds ways to keep the material rolling along, even when humor and suspense take a periodic break. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There aren’t many pro-nun movies made anymore. Most endeavors tend to view the calling as a simplistic journey of sacrifice and comfort. Other pictures view the experience as a horror show of submission or, according the 2018 “Conjuring” spin-off, “The Nun,” an actual horror show. The miracle of “Novitiate” is how intimate it becomes, taking the Catholic journey seriously as it explores the fogged, searching minds of those who’ve elected to surrender their hearts to God and devote their lives to service, with most of the women electing to experience this mission already overwhelmed teenagers. “Novitiate” isn’t a to-do list of abuse, but writer/director Margaret Betts doesn’t flinch when punishment arrives, ultimately playing closer attention to the voice within as it searches for heavenly comfort in the unknown. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The state of arrested development and young men isn’t exactly fresh ground to cover, but “Crash Pad” supplies a healthy sense of humor to ease the routine of it all. It’s a silly endeavor that rarely pauses to get real, enjoying a semi-farcical tone that’s greatly enhanced by star Domhnall Gleeson, who delivers a spirited performance that’s capable of transforming screenwriter Jeremy Catalino’s iffy ideas into gold. “Crash Pad” isn’t a revelation, but it maintains mischief and exaggeration, playing nicely with a potentially sitcom story and familiar assessments of lose self-esteem and martial panic. At the very least, it’s funny, and that goes a long way to help forgive some of Catalino’s bad ideas.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com