Category: Film Review

This isn’t the first time Alec Baldwin and Demi Moore have starred together in a film. Their last pairing was 1996’s “The Juror,” a moronic thriller that attempted to cash in on the John Grisham gold rush of the decade. It was one of the worst movies of the year. 21 years later, Baldwin and Moore try again with “Blind,” which heads in the more romantic direction. The results are better, but not by much, as the screenplay by John Buffalo Mailer (“Hello Herman”) actually achieves some sense of intimacy and personal loss before it plunges into complete stupidity. “Blind” might work on a lazy Sunday afternoon with relaxed expectations and an iPad on the lap, but it’s hardly successful, almost obsessed with sabotaging itself in its pursuit of dramatic motivation that’s completely unnecessary.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Stop me if you’ve read this one before: troubled kid grows into a troubled man, gets in deep with local mob and the wrong woman, forced to fight for a life that might not be worth saving. “The Persian Connect” is bereft of new ideas, but it does offer a cultural fingerprint few productions have attempted to explore, showcasing the Iranian criminal underworld in Los Angeles. That alone should be enough to get the movie up and going, but director Daniel Grove (making his feature-length debut) doesn’t pursue the production’s most promising element. Instead, he sticks close to the crime saga playbook, suffocating the picture in style and pounding it with overacting, eventually stripping “The Persian Connection” of anything identifiable.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There has been no shortage of films concerning the Afghanistan War, and tales concerning the war at home are just as common. Perhaps the producers have dreams of crafting a modern companion to “Coming Home,” using recent breakthroughs in PTSD comprehension to support a new look at the true price of combat. Unfortunately, a majority of these endeavors aren’t successful, with most features hitting the exact same beats of conflict and domestic disturbance. “Battle Scars” has taken its time to reach screens (it was shot in 2012), losing the war of timeliness, and it’s not a successful movie, but it does manage to locate a particularly sensitive understanding of bodily harm that makes it stand out from the competition, although any distinct viewpoint is eventually buried under clichéd criminal behavior.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Considering how everyone with the last name Coppola is already in the movie industry, it’s amazing that it took Eleanor Coppola so long to make her first feature-length film, graduating from documentaries and shorts at the age of 80. Her choice of subject is love, but not in the traditional sense, with “Paris Can Wait” a valentine to food, art, and travel, with interpersonal communication eventually working its way to the surface of the effort. It’s a mild endeavor, never challenging its audience with a deeper inspection of sadness, but it’s not a picture that’s easily dismissed, with Coppola finding a heartbeat here that holds attention, turning what’s essentially a travelogue into an engaging tale of exposure to new things and ideas, finding Diane Lane a practiced star of this kind of story. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The magnetized pull of fate is explored in “2:22,” an attempt from screenwriters Todd Stein and Nathan Parker to create a brain-bleeding viewing experience big enough to compete with similar titles. It all boils down to a question of patience, with the best of the genre inviting viewer participation and decoding, stimulating a burning need to keep with the big screen puzzling. “2:22” doesn’t encourage that type of response, trying a bit too hard to achieve a sense of confusion that eventually clears into profundity by the end credits. The movie doesn’t have the creative drive to be anything more than a tepid mystery, and even with a few ridiculous twists and turns, director Paul Currie can’t connect the dots in a fascinating way, with the entire effort resembling more of a screenwriting exercise than a hypnotic overview of celestial guidance.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When one hears the title “Gremlin,” thoughts of the 1984 Joe Dante-directed classic, “Gremlins,” come immediately to mind, recalling how masterfully the blockbuster balanced dark comedy with PG-bending terror, emerging as one of the top films of its release year. But this is “Gremlin.” Singular. And we’re about as far away from Dante territory as possible. Co-writer/director Ryan Bellgardt has a vision for horror featuring a tiny creature that lives inside a box, but it’s not a strong one, manufacturing a chiller that takes itself seriously, but not in a way that strengthens viewer involvement. Instead of a high-flying creature feature with distinct gore zone visits, Bellgardt gives birth to a bummer, more content to numb his audience than thrill them. Perhaps it’s best to get lost in memories of Gizmo and Stripe while watching this dismal endeavor.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Inconceivable” doesn’t aspire to be anything more than a Lifetime Original, but even with those lowered standards in place, the feature doesn’t carry a level of insanity required to make it interesting. It’s an updated take on “The Hand that Rocks the Cradle” from “Poison Ivy II” screenwriter Chloe King, who heads in the wrong direction by taking the story seriously, trying to find the reality of these damaged characters and how they deal with strange conflict. “Inconceivable” isn’t campy, it’s bland, and the more helmer Jonathan Baker trusts in the dramatic limitations of the effort, the harder it is to sit through the movie. Those expecting a soap opera will be tremendously disappointed by the endeavor, which tries to establish itself as a proper psychological thriller, only to abandon all the amusing extremes of the subgenre.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Of course, the title “Spider-Man: Homecoming” has dual meaning. The story is set during the countdown period to a school dance, but it’s also the big return for the superhero brand name, which finally joins up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe after an extended tease in last year’s “Captain America: Civil War.” Spider-Man has endured a few lumps on the big screen in recent years, and lord knows the world doesn’t need another reboot, but for his third incarnation in 15 years, the wall-crawler reclaims multiplex dominance with “Homecoming,” which truly understand the cravings of its teenaged character, backing up frothy but meaningful characterization with some of the finest comic book-inspired entertainment in recent years. Sure, wedging Spider-Man into an already crowded community of costumed avengers is perhaps anticlimactic at this point, but director Jon Watts and his army of screenwriters (six in total) reclaim the swinging ambiance and sheer joy of the character, fashioning a superb refreshing that hopefully will carry on for a long time.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Within the first five minutes of “The House,” the movie makes light of date rape, and it’s all downhill from there. This should be a home run, pairing Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler in a comedy about an underground suburban casino, encouraging major mischief from two actors perfectly capable of onscreen play until something strikes gold. And yet, “The House” is nearly a complete dud, watching co-writer/director Andrew Jay Cohen tank every moment, unable to get a rhythm going as the picture stumbles from scene to scene. It’s thinly connected series of sketches in need of a script, finding Ferrell and Poehler oddly powerless here, struggling to come up with one decent, considered, expertly timed joke. Cohen would rather scattergun the humor, which creates an unfocused, unhelpful mess starring talented people. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Animation studio Illumination Entertainment has built a cash machine with the “Despicable Me” franchise, maintaining a rhythm to releases since the first film’s 2010 debut. Although it’s been four years since the release of “Despicable Me 2,” Illumination didn’t let the brand name wither, unleashing spin-off “Minions” in 2015, which racked up over a billion dollars in worldwide box office. Now it’s time for “Despicable Me” to prove itself once again, with the second sequel returning to the neuroses of ex-supervillain Gru, keeping the Minions to a supporting position for this successful continuation — the finest installment yet in the series, valuing ridiculousness, pace, and wisely bringing in Trey Parker to energize the picture as Gru’s latest nemesis. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Jeff Baena has made a positive impression during his emerging career, pulling off a horror comedy with “Life After Beth,” and achieving a cinematic miracle with “Joshy,” a movie about male bonding that wasn’t basted in ugliness. “The Little Hours” proves to be his greatest tonal challenge yet, mounting a comedy that’s not always pursuing laughs, and its target is repression found in organized religion. It’s a gamble from Baena, likely alienating a great number of potential viewers right out of the gate, but he mostly sticks the landing, finding ways to scrape out the blasphemy by playing it all so broadly, making a film that certainly has the potential to reach farcical highs, but pulls back a bit too often, perhaps afraid to really dive into the weirdness of the material.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Sofia Coppola was once a filmmaker of immense power, delivering subtle emotion and overwhelming atmosphere with early works such as “The Virgin Suicides” and “Lost in Translation.” Her subsequent endeavors have been beautiful, but cold to the touch, adrift in style not storytelling with “Marie Antoinette,” “Somewhere,” and “The Bling Ring.” There’s immediate disappointment with “The Beguiled,” as it’s not a return to form for Coppola, but it remains a fascinating feature. While the R-word (“remake”) is forbidden around these parts, “The Beguiled” is the second adaptation of Thomas Cullinan’s 1966 novel, which was first brought to the screen via a 1971 Clint Eastwood vehicle, helmed by Don Siegel. Coppola’s effort isn’t quite as direct with its tension, but she does manage to dilute the insistent masculinity of the previous production, constructing a measured, feminine take on what’s essentially an exploitation picture tastefully displayed behind glass.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Producer Judd Apatow has a formula he likes to recycle. Embracing realism to inform character and comedy, Apatow frequently encourages writers to dig deep within, challenging them to use private humiliations and fears, with hopes that a personal touch will result in a more intimate movie or show. Think Pete Homes in “Crashing,” Amy Schumer in “Trainwreck,” Lena Dunham in “Girls,” and even Apatow himself in “This Is 40.” The latest member of the introspection club is Kumail Nanjiani, a Pakistani comedian using his borderline disastrous courtship with Emily Gordon to help shape “The Big Sick.” Scripting with Gordon, Nanjiani makes the leap to leading man status with the effort, following Apatow’s to-do list of mishaps and neuroses to conjure the expected awkwardness and warmth these pictures tend to generate, only the predictability of it all is more pronounced.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Ana Lily Amirpour made her directorial debut with 2014’s “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” described as “the first Iranian vampire western.” Some found it to be revelatory work, blending cultural investigation with genre mechanics, coming up with a moody original that signaled the arrival of a major creative talent. Others found the picture dull and indulgent, working a bit too hard to be offbeat, preferring style over substance. “The Bad Batch” is Amirpour’s second at-bat, and she largely retains the same genre interests, constructing another dialogue-light foray into graphic novel-inspired menace, this time using a different type of bloodsucker: cannibals. “The Bad Batch” enjoys a larger budget and an ensemble of familiar faces, but Amirpour shows no improvement when it comes to focus, laboring through another tedious exercise in nothingness, working extra hard to end up nowhere.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Bong Joon-ho has maintained an impressive streak of dramatically satisfying films, displaying wonderful creativity with efforts such as “The Host,” “Mother,” and especially 2014’s “Snowpiercer,” which astounded with its tonal confidence, dark comedy, and vivid performances. The helmer returns to duty with “Okja,” another strange event from a man who has considerable experience in the realm of oddity. What begins as a tender tale of friendship between a little girl and her gigantic pig becomes something incredibly wild and grim, while still retaining engaging action and offerings of social commentary the keep the viewing experience lively, even when it already involves the antics of a massive CG-animated creature.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been four years since Edgar Wright last directed a movie (2013’s “The World’s End), and “Baby Driver” plays like a picture made by a man who desperately wants to release some wiggles. It’s a semi-furious concoction of music and widescreen movement, continuing Wright’s addiction to cinematic speed, this time taking his fetishes to the streets of Atlanta to mastermind a crime film that’s driven by the mystery of an iPod playlist. “Baby Driver” is an idiosyncratic endeavor, perhaps a bit too in love with itself, but it’s entirely, 100% Wright, who rubs his fingers over every edit and lubricates the viewing experience with full soundtrack of hits and misses. The effort is noticeable and carries on longer than it should, but Wright has something here that’s volatile and distinct, keeping himself busy with another visit to Planet Edgar, where feats of strength are superhuman, attitudes are plentiful, and direction is nearly unstoppable.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There are always going to be ardent fans of director Michael Bay. People who not only respond to the helmer’s pictures, but wear their fandom like a badge of honor, proud to celebrate a man whose chief pursuit during his career has been the creation of utter screen chaos. Bay has always been a populist filmmaker, and his “Transformers” movies have been welcomed with open arms, even when they suffer through severe storytelling issues, wretched performances, and aggressive visual effects. Audiences just love this stuff, all over the globe too, making him bulletproof when it comes to criticism, but not immune to shortcomings. “Transformers: The Last Knight” isn’t the worst chapter of the eye-crossing saga (the one that showcased Decepticon testicles, that’s the worst), but it’s close, watching Bay say sayonara to this blockbuster cash machine with a “Transformers” retirement party that’s deafening, bewildering, and painfully clichéd, showing little interest in anything besides the Bay basics when it comes to yet another round of metal-crunching madness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Timing is everything, and “Letters from Baghdad” hits theaters right after “Queen of the Desert” breezed through a few U.S. art houses this past spring. Both pictures endeavor to tell the story of Gertrude Bell, but “Queen of the Desert” had the advantage of Werner Herzog as a director, and a notable cast, featuring Damian Lewis, Robert Pattinson, James Franco, and Nicole Kidman as Bell. It was far from a triumph, but it offered a sufficiently dramatic take on the woman’s experiences in life and love, laboring to turn her adventures in the Middle East into sweeping big screen entertainment. “Letters from Baghdad” emerges as the more successful production, armed with the basics in evidence. Directors Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum pore through diaries, letters, and observations to generate a portrait of Bell, making a feature that’s more in tune with her achievements in archaeology, filling in necessary gaps with Bell’s own intimate thoughts. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I suppose a stoner comedy should be easygoing, but it’s often difficult to tell if “Ripped” is even awake. The picture doesn’t exude much energy, putting its faith in the entertainment value of F-words and pot smoke, but it’s not a mean-spirited effort, which should be a blessing, as gentleness is one of the few appealing aspects of “Ripped,” which doesn’t lunge for the throat when depicting low-brow funny business. A mild attempt to replicate the “Hot Tub Time Machine” viewing experience, writer/director Brad Epstein doesn’t have the inner drive to do something insane with the material, putting stars Faizon Love and Russell Peters in charge of screen charisma and one-liners. The men certainly look like they’re having a good time, but seldom does that ease translate into laughs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Hero” doesn’t exactly tell a story. It’s more of a valentine to lead actor Sam Elliot, supplying him with a role that makes full use of his thespian gifts, offering enough contemplative screentime to watch him explore the frame in ways he’s rarely even enjoyed before. Of course, such adulation is entirely deserved, with the leathery, thickly mustachioed actor capable of amazing things when paired with the right material, with co-writer/director Brett Haley (“I’ll See You in My Dreams”) making sure all of Elliot’s needs are tended to. “The Hero” floats along without much focus, but it’s not meant to be sharp, electing a dreamy journey through the trials and tribulations of a man forced to confront his own mortality and mistakes, suddenly faced with finality after decades gliding along, self-medicating and denying. And Elliot plays it all just perfectly. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com