Category: Film Review

Actor Pat Healy has been involved in a few very uncomfortable films, playing unsettled types in “Compliance” and “Cheap Thrills.” For his latest directorial effort, Healy collects every darkly comedic trick he’s picked up while working in front of the camera, joining screenwriter Mike Makowsky for a twisted romp that examines escalations in violence and fetishism, making “Take Me” a decidedly weird and often surprising viewing experience. The production doesn’t always sustain momentum, but Healy manages his opening and closing to satisfaction, while leaving plenty of room for himself and co-star Taylor Schilling to communicate a specialized situation of mutual antagonism, making excellent scene partners as the oddity of the movie ebbs and flows, sometimes spilling over in the best ways. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Comedian Jeff Garlin is an acquired taste, with his pinched voice, casual delivery, and fondness for the uncomfortable moments in life fueling successful careers in stand-up comedy and television, appearing on the popular HBO program, “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Along the way, Garlin has attempted feature film direction, helming “I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With” and the improvised comedy, “Dealing with Idiots.” Both were highly amusing efforts that showcased Garlin’s comfort with actors and stillness, trying to find the funny in awkward encounters and everyday frustrations. Taking a slight detour into genre moviemaking, Garlin mounts “Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie,” a strange whodunit that adds to his cinematic interests in weird wit, once again turning to a talented cast to make magic in a relatively calm, but silly, manner. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When one considers the filmography of director Doug Liman, a certain adrenaline level comes to mind. He’s a helmer who embraces the visceral possibilities of cinema, drawn to stories that emphasize physical peril and group mayhem, and he’s quite good at making a sweat-drenched mess. Think about efforts such as “The Bourne Identity,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” which all shared delirious peaks of bold action, mixing raw energy with precise chorography. “The Wall” brings Liman to the Iraq War, but instead of going haywire with an oft-used setting, he settles into a simple study of battling temperaments and survival skills in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, “The Wall” is a disappointment, carrying more of an iffy experimental tone than a richly suspenseful atmosphere, watching the production try to cook up something heart-racing with almost nothing to work with. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Tracktown” is all about the details. Making her feature-length co-writing/co-directing/acting debut is Alexi Pappas, an accomplished long-distance runner and recent Olympian trying to bring elements of her life to the screen. Playing to her strengths, Pappas tells the story of a young runner suddenly facing the pressures of a world beyond training and competition, joining fellow filmmaker Jeremy Teicher to give “Tracktown” a lived-in feel to help inspire a bizarre coming-of-age story. Delayed adolescence, first romance, and mother issues generate the drama of the effort, but Pappas and Teicher are at their best with the particulars of the running world, giving the movie a distinct personality when it moves away from formula and samples athlete routine, allowing its star to relax and simply exist in the world she’s creating. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Following the recent “Dad’s Army,” “Whisky Galore” is another remake that looks to revisit beloved British material with contemporary timing. It’s a reworking of a 1949 Ealing Studios Comedy, making another pass at a strange but true World War II story, offering director Gillies MacKinnon (“The Playboys,” “Hideous Kinky”) a chance to reassess older material with some degree of hindsight, permitted a shot at fixing the shortcomings of the original picture. Unfortunately, MacKinnon doesn’t reach down deep enough, showing signs of stress as he juggles the broadly comedic movements of “Whisky Galore” and its often sobering sentimental side. It’s a digestible feature, a safe matinee choice, and while it’s easy on the senses, it could be strong and should be funnier. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Grief, and its many stages of evolution, is the focus of “Violet,” which marks the feature-length directorial debut for Bas Devos (who also scripts). Following a chain of artistic freedom that wraps around the works of Bela Tarr and, soon after, latter-era Gus Van Sant, Devos devotes himself to the power of film imagery, telling as much of the story in silence, permitting cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis full command of the effort, dictating moods with shots that either ripple with meaning or trail off into nothingness. “Violet” is a specialized sit for a specific moviegoer, dealing with death in a manner that feels distant for much of the picture, yet the pain of loss comes surging into view periodically. While Devos gets a little too wrapped up in his process, trying to remain elusive, he certainly has a vision for the endeavor that braids art with ache, looking to make sense of personal loss. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While hardly a risk for Marvel Studios, the 2014 release of “Guardians of the Galaxy” was a bit of a curveball for comic book movie enthusiasts. Up to this point, it was mostly a brand name business, with the studio careful to use their biggest names to help secure what would become the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Guardians of the Galaxy” didn’t offer superheroes, just various aliens, sold with a funky presence by co-writer/director James Gunn, who used a tightly curated soundtrack and bottomless enthusiasm for fantasy shenanigans to bring fringe characters to the big leagues of multiplex domination, with audiences falling in love with the rag-tag band of outsiders and their newfound interest in helping those in need. It was an exhaustively charming film, but it also provided a challenge for Gunn, who left plenty of mysteries to solve if a sequel should ever arise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To pull off a disaster movie set inside a high school, animation is the only art form left to handle the enormity and fantasy of the event. Death and destruction are contained within “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea,” a darkly comedic take on adolescent survival (both literal and social) from writer/director Dash Shaw, who examines the plight of a crumbling school with emphasis on quirky, psychedelic visuals and distinctive voice work. “My High School Sinking Into the Sea” isn’t a major offering of animation, but it’s wonderfully creative in its approach to doomsday, with Shaw arranging an idiosyncratic tour of behavior and physical challenges that permit him time to conjure a charmingly low-fi world of teen neuroses. It’s strange work, but accomplished and quite funny when it wants to be. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While there’s a grand tradition of comedies about stalkers, or at least unstable people, it’s “The Cable Guy” that generally stands out at a particularly pointed look at the difficulties of an unwanted friendship as it evolves from careful pleasantries to something more sinister and consuming. The woefully underrated 1996 Ben Stiller film appears to be an influence on “Another Evil,” which moves the concept of professionalism gone mad to a single cabin location, pitting two characters against each other in a strange waiting game of companionship, which is shadowed by the relative urgency of ghost hunting. Writer/director Carson D. Mell delights in all the discomfort he can provide, overcoming a minuscule budget with a strong sense of dark humor and terrific eye for casting, with stars Mark Proksch and Steve Zissis handling degrees of insanity with outstanding timing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1988’s “Bloodsport” isn’t going to be selected by the National Film Registry anytime soon, but to fight movie fans, the picture is a treasure. While responsible for turning Jean-Claude Van Damme into a global star, “Bloodsport” also spawned a franchise and shed light on underground fight tournaments, inspiring a league of knockoffs. Instead of trying to restart the series machine with Van Damme (like the recent “Kickboxer” remake did), the producers go all female for “Lady Bloodfight,” which isn’t a straight do-over, but a riff on the original feature, once again pitting a slightly overwhelmed outsider against a variety of hard, fierce competitors in the feared Kumite, an illegal martial-arts tournament. Changes in gender are interesting, and the cast is ready to brawl, but director Chris Nahon doesn’t tighten suspense or aggression to satisfaction, making an average DTV endeavor when the potential is there for something explosive. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The screenwriting team of Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen returns with “Enter The Warriors Gate,” which at first seems like a return to form for the duo, who’ve previously pulled off cartoonish entertainment with projects like “The Transporter,” “Kiss of the Dragon,” and “The Fifth Element.” Cruelly, their sense of escapism has been tainted in recent years (including “Taken 2” and “Taken 3”), and while “Enter The Warriors Gate” presents a premise that easily welcomes big action and broad personalities, Kamen and Besson can’t get the story out of first gear. Lumbering and unfunny, the feature is aimed at 10 year olds and perhaps nobody else, showing significant signs of stress whenever it attempts to subvert predictability, while its video game theme is bizarrely ignored in favor of Euro cinema-style shenanigans. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“3 Generations” deals with gender and identity, but it isn’t defined by it. Co-writer/director Gaby Dellal would rather make a film about parenting than anything else, turning to the troubles of guardianship over a combustible teenager to fuel most of the feature’s dramatic potential. Unfortunately, while Dellal is good with specific adolescent challenges and a general sense of need, she hasn’t edited together a complete movie. “3 Generations” feels aimless at times, confusing core issues with behavioral messiness and performance indulgence, while the picture’s sense of humor isn’t defined to satisfaction. While the material approaches an important subject, Dellal often seems like she doesn’t know what she wants to accomplish here, resulting in a forgettable effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Atmosphere is of primary concern for “Voice from the Stone.” It’s a gothic chiller that’s bathed in fog, with its eeriness boosted by a remote setting and a cavernous castle-like dwelling, while the actors have been instructed to work in deliberate ways that emphasize the mystery at hand. Director Eric D. Howell certainly has a vision for the picture, which, at times, is quite successful in conjuring tone, achieving his dream to make a Hammer Films-style endeavor for a contemporary audience. Less successful is the story, which touches on issues of grief and loneliness, but also features a pronounced genre pull that tends to value movie moods instead of emotional realities. “Voice from the Stone” isn’t very good, far too messy and unfocused to demand full attention, but when it comes together, it offers a glimpse of what could’ve been. There are simply too few moments of clarity to keep the effort interesting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A few years ago, writer/director Evan Katz made a strong first impression with “Cheap Thrills.” A macabre chiller that toyed magnificently with dark comedy and gruesome events, “Cheap Thrills” provided a vivid introduction to Katz’s particular sense of humor and his preference for screen violence, packaged into a sneaky, alarming indie effort. For his follow-up, Katz remains in the company of awful behavior, joining co-writer Macon Blair for “Small Crimes,” which also seeks to expose awful people engaged in troubling business, but instead of mounting another game of dares, the helmer tries a traditional buffet of corrupt characters and small town murder. Considering the surprises Katz was previously capable of landing, “Small Crimes” is a disappointment, lumbering through a series of uneventful encounters with ill-defined characters, with only periodic bursts of aggression acting as the glue that fails to keep the picture together. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Circle” had a shot at greatness. An adaptation of a 2013 novel by Dave Eggers, the story inspects a modern age of online permission and surveillance, imagining a Google/Facebook-style company as an evil empire trying to take over the world under the guise of honest exposure, gifting users the chance to live an idyllic life free of secrets and solitude. It’s a sinister plot, perhaps already a reflection of the world we live in, but the film version of the Eggers book runs into serious trouble with tone and editorial finesse, almost reaching cartoon extremes with incidents and disasters that should be horrifying, cutting too close to home. Co-writer/director James Ponsoldt (“The Spectacular Now,” “The End of the Tour”) graduates to large-scale storytelling with “The Circle,” but the effort slides right out of his hands almost as soon as it begins, with the picture often too clumsy and overcooked to frighten viewers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Sleight” is a movie about a magician, but it’s not a movie about magic. Much like the “Now You See Me” films, “Sleight” isn’t dedicated to the craftsmanship of the profession, instead using magic as a means to explore sci-fi ideas while keeping the whole endeavor tethered to the ground with an urban survival story. Co-writer/director J.D. Dillard presents a peculiar blend of the fantastic and the real, but he’s not particularly prepared to do something astonishing with the adventure. The picture bites off more than it can chew as it tries to make sense of its unreality, often turning to cliché and repetition just to fill 90 minutes with limp dramatics and the periodic pop of B-movie invention. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Their Finest” would make a lovely double feature companion for the recent smash hit, “Hidden Figures.” Both movies explore a journey of empowerment, albeit in wildly different eras and settings, but the pictures touch on a primal struggle to be seen and heard in both work and love, showing amazing respect for its leading characters. Where “Hidden Figures” was a decidedly American production, “Their Finest” couldn’t be more British, with director Lone Scherfig managing the sights and sounds of wartime London, with all its sacrifices, destruction, and frustrated citizens. Scherfig is also challenged to balance the needs to comedy with intimate emotional exploration, handling a story that’s wide open for pure silliness, sly wit, and stressed hearts and minds. It’s a blend of pathos and industry satire that works quite well. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Graduation” captures the turmoil of parenthood with startling accuracy. While it’s a drama with a few convenient turns of plot, writer/director Cristian Mungiu remains committed to a realistic portrayal of a father and husband slowly losing what little control he has left over his dismal life, sent on a torturous journey of desperation to a secure something resembling a future for his daughter. Mungiu pinpoints behavioral leaps and emotional strain, highlighting the process of parental sacrifice, which is never as cleanly defined as hoped. “Graduation” doesn’t tear itself apart as it depicts this particular fall from grace. Instead, it chips away at integrity, real and imagined, finding the exact moment when a child recognizes their parent as the human they are, which is devastating for both parties. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

James Gray is a very patient filmmaker, and he doesn’t work often. The helmer of “The Yards,” “The Immigrant,” and “We Own the Night,” Gray is a deliberate craftsman who takes the challenge of dramatic recreation seriously, filling his pictures with a remarkable amount of texture and depth, offering those who choose to take a cinematic journey a chance to get lost in screen particulars. Even when Gray slips up, he does it with style, always sincere and confident in the work. “The Lost City of Z” presents a true test of directorial courage, as it covers adventures into punishing locations, deals with tightly-wound characters not prone to emotional outbursts, and takes on a story that doesn’t exactly have an ending. At least a tidy one. Taking his chance to make a David Lean-style epic, Gray gives everything he has to “The Lost City of Z,” which isn’t an easy sit, but rewards with its attention to detail and fondness for the unknown.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Black Rose” was originally released in Russia in 2014. For reasons not entirely understood, the picture is finally making its way to America in 2017, creating a Netflix-series-worthy mystery of film acquisition and delayed deal-making. Without stars and a pronounced genre hook, “Black Rose” is simply a generic cop thriller in need of something interesting to define itself, coming close with director/star Alexander Nevsky, who positions himself in the Seagal/Van Damme mode of tough guy justice. Sadly, Nevsky is a big guy but doesn’t possess anything more than a scowl, making him a weirdly inert hero for the endeavor, which could use a dose of physical prowess. Someone, somewhere thought it was a good idea to bring the feature west, but there are few clues in the movie as to why this decision was made. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com