Category: Film Review

Denis Villeneuve makes a specific type of movie. The director of “Prisoners,” “Enemy,” and “Sicario,” Villeneuve takes his fondness for the stillness of cinema to the sci-fi realm, assuming command of “Arrival,” which is an adaptation of a short story by Ted Chiang (scripted by Eric Heisserer). While the picture is technically an alien invasion tale, “Arrival” strives to be much more than the average disaster film. It’s intelligent and challenging, questioning time itself between exhaustive examinations of language and meaning. It’s introspective instead of demonstrative. It’s a fine effort, but incomplete, and that’s the way Villeneuve likes it. He’s a made a feature that enjoys questions, not answers, taking on the grand spectacle of visiting aliens in towering spaceships with more of an episodic approach, creating a viewing experience that’s filled with as much frustration as it is with awe. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s that time in the average movie year when a production emerges before Thanksgiving to claim a release date, hoping to be the film that captures the Christmas spirit so profoundly, popularity carries the effort until the New Year. I’m not sure “Almost Christmas” has a shot at sizable box office, but it wins the war of quality, sort of, emerging as a perfectly pleasant, perfectly obvious holiday distraction that isn’t nearly as Christmasified as it could be, but still delivers all the decent laughs and warm fuzzies expected from this style of entertainment. Writer/director David E. Talbert (“First Sunday,” “Baggage Claim”) isn’t reinventing the wheel with “Almost Christmas,” but he’s brought an eager cast and a mild sense of chaos, looking to celebrate the season with the widest possible audience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Marketing for “The Monster” sells the film on the strength of its director, Bryan Bertino, who helmed “The Strangers,” a sleeper hit at the box office. And yet, “The Strangers” came out eight years ago, raising interest in what Bertino has been up to in the interim, with another production, “Mockingbird,” coming and going in 2014. “The Monster” isn’t likely to revive a fledgling career, but it does provide an unexpected viewing experience. Using genre elements and formula to buttress a mother/daughter story of mutual bitterness melting in the presence of a genuine threat, Bertino aims high with this violent chiller, but the material’s quest to be a profound study of dysfunction always outshines its horror ambitions. It’s a slow effort, painfully so at times, but the reward is a sharp psychological study that ends up being the most interesting conflict in the movie. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Rainbow Time” is a Duplass Brothers production, which means that conflicts aren’t going to be resolved with weapons, but with long confessions and emotional vulnerability. It’s the second directorial effort from Linas Phillips, who last helmed “Bass Ackwards,” remaining in the indie hot zone for his latest, which details the intensity of family relationships and the frustration of shrouded sexual desires. Also contributing a colorful supporting performance, Philips maintains command of “Rainbow Time,” which periodically threatens to float away as art-house fluff, only to restore urgency with a keen sense of physical and emotional need. It’s a comedy too, often a hilarious one, but as with most Duplass-ian projects, appreciation for the picture’s layers of hurt require patience, allowing Phillips time to mix the brew of dysfunction, looking for the right consistency of anxiety. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The easiest way to describe “Operator” would be to compare it to Spike Jonze’s “Her,” which explored the relationship between a lonely man and his operating system. “Operator” isn’t the same picture, but it’s similarly interested in the ways of connection to the artificial world, with its lure of control and its promise of loyalty. Co-writer/director Logan Kibens collects provocative ideas and fascinatingly warped characters and finds compelling ways to tie big ideas to intimate encounters. His take on technological obsession does away with most sentimentality and darkly comic pursuits to spotlight a scenario where a lack of self-control divides a man from the women he loves, only this distraction emerges in the form of a voice, and one that just happens to belong to his wife. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Love and desire hit normal adolescent roadblocks in “Being 17,” the latest from co-writer/director Andre Techine (“Thieves,” “Wild Reeds”). The 73-year-old helmer is an unlikely source for adolescent woes, but Techine taps into something very personal and primal with the picture, which attacks displays of universal dysfunction with raw passion, gifting the feature real spirit as it inspects teenagers and their personal battles. “Being 17” isn’t the sharpest work from Techine — it actually doesn’t even have an ending. What the director gets absolutely right here are those abyssal feelings and paralyzing concerns that touch everyone’s life, treating arcs of attraction and friendship with the concentration and realism they deserve.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the movie business’s never-ending quest to find tales of heroism to exploit, especially military ones, the tale of the USS Indianapolis is finally realized. A story of combat, disaster, and shark attacks, the WWII adventure was referenced during a key scene in “Jaws,” providing the kind of real-world horror that identifies the root of the human experience: life and death. Decades later, we have “USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage,” a dramatization of the disaster that sunk the ship and stranded hundreds of the crew in open water. With Spielberg long gone, the production has to make do with director Mario Van Peebles, who has experience with “Jaws” (albeit a supporting role in “Jaws: The Revenge”), but little training with war extravaganzas. And this inexperience is obvious throughout the clumsy, cheapie “Men of Courage.” Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last year, there was “Strange Magic,” which welcomed audiences into a fantasy realm populated with magical creatures who communicated through jukebox musical hits. Now there’s “Trolls,” which is basically the same movie, only with more adorable protagonists, a more marketable soundtrack, and a famous brand to exploit for its debut feature. Thankfully for “Trolls,” nobody saw “Strange Magic,” giving the new release an opportunity to impress with its attempt to create a cinematic world for a toy that’s been around since 1959. Keeping to the basics of animated endeavors, the film doesn’t color outside the lines, delivering big songs and heart for family audiences, but not much originality. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After kicking off “Phase Three” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with last summer’s superhero battle royal, “Captain America: Civil War,” Marvel Studios returns to experimental mode with “Doctor Strange.” Attempting to establish a comic book character that’s different from the costumed savior norm, the producers try to bring a little magic to multiplexes, messing with time and space to give the titular warrior a unique widescreen space to show off his capabilities. Much like 2015’s “Ant-Man,” “Doctor Strange” isn’t based on a household name, requiring a little invention from the production to make the weird world of Stephen Strange something special. While the feature recycles Marvel origin story formula, it’s a mostly successful and visually dazzling introduction for the wizard, who fits in comfortably with the ongoing brand name world-building, making him a welcomingly oddball avenger. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been a full decade since Mel Gibson last directed a film, with 2006’s “Apocalypto” a challenging adventure story that miraculously managed to attract an audience. It was a follow-up to 2004’s “The Passion of the Christ,” a global phenomenon that cemented Gibson’s taste in extreme violence and depictions of abyssal faith, promising a helming career filled with unusual tales of survival and heroism. But then…other stuff happened, forcing Gibson to keep away from the camera after “Apocalypto.” He returns with a vengeance with “Hacksaw Ridge,” a stunningly vivid World War II tale that merges heavenly belief with earthbound horror, exploring the resolve of one man to serve his country without picking up a weapon. It’s an exceptional picture and Gibson’s finest work to date, gracefully but forcefully sharing faith-based interests without resorting to preachiness, putting Godly trust to the test on a merciless battlefield. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Trash Fire” does a terrific job of misdirection, retaining thematic wholeness while basically offering two different movies, or at least two genre experiences. Written and directed by Richard Bates Jr. (“Suburban Gothic,” “Excision”), the picture examines relationship dysfunction, first on a small, relatable scale, but soon inflating its menace to horror film proportions, introducing scares and a monstrous villain. “Trash Fire” is an unusual feature, mixing moods and offering dark comedy to brighten a grim subject matter. Bates Jr. brings a satisfying level of disturbance to the effort, keeping the audience sufficiently unnerved even with unknown turns of plot, while sustaining its rather lucid take on a terrible relationship. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Army of One” isn’t triumphant as a farce, but it does contain a surprisingly engaged performance from star Nicolas Cage. Over the last decade, Cage has mostly turned in dead-eyed, flat performances in terrible, low-budget movies, trying to do something with a career that’s lost its way due to financial concerns. His participation in the latest feature from director Larry Charles (“Borat,” “The Dictator”) isn’t going to change his fortune, but Cage is putting in a major effort to portray a mentally challenged man, going stratospherically big to capture the sheer force of Gary Faulkner, a man who decided to answer a spiritual calling by traveling to the Middle East in 2004, attempting to assassinate Osama Bin Laden. Cage is crazed, and it’s a joy to see the old madman juices flowing again, but “Army of One” doesn’t match his intensity, trying to stretch a thin premise that would be better served in a short film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Craig Moss has been a problematic helmer for the last six years. He’s a fan of silly comedies and parodies, but lacking the filmmaking skill to pull off such slow-pitch softball endeavors, making audiences suffer through abysmal efforts such as “The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It,” “30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” and a trilogy of “Bad Ass” movies, which quested to turn the world of online memes into fodder for multiple features. Giving his iffy sense of humor a rest, Moss turns his attention to the world of horror with “The Charnel House,” which is more interested in scaring viewers than making them roll their eyes. The change of view is welcome, but Moss isn’t inventive, ornamenting a curiously bizarre premise with routine scares. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When thinking about Paul Schrader, his work as a screenwriter on “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull,” and his direction of “American Gigolo” come to mind. But those projects were decades ago. The Schrader of the last 20 years has been decidedly more problematic, struggling to find his place in an independent film system that no longer welcomes his bitter point of view. He hit a career low point with 2013’s “The Canyons” (a wretched creation), and stumbled again with 2014’s “Dying of the Light,” a picture allegedly reworked without his permission (he did keep his name on the broken endeavor). Perhaps in an effort to cleanse himself of frustration, Schrader serves up “Dog Eat Dog,” a nihilistic, anarchic comedy that welcomes surreal imagery and the loosest definition of plot. It’s Schrader trying to raise hell with stars Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe, and while the feature achieves craziness, it doesn’t translate to anything particularly memorable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Actor Anthony Edwards has only flirted with direction before, helming the 1995 family adventure “Charlie’s Ghost” and a few episodes of his hit television show, “ER.” Going back behind the camera, Edwards crafts “My Dead Boyfriend,” a dramedy about a journey of self-discovery triggered by a brush with mortality. It’s based on a novel, scripted by Billy Morrissette (his first piece of writing since 2001’s “Scotland, Pa.”), and while it’s ripe for an exhaustive emotional inspection, Edwards plays the whole thing with unexpected casualness, selecting a wandering alt-rock mood to inspire snowballing insanity. The approach doesn’t always demand full attention to the details of the plot, but “My Dead Boyfriend” does find itself with few inspired turns, and it’s the best role star Heather Graham has enjoyed in years. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Even after watching “King Cobra,” it’s difficult to tell how seriously one is supposed to take its tale of sex, obsession, and murder. It’s based on the true story of porn star Brent Corrigan, whose quest for fame led him to a series of encounters with predatory individuals. And yet, while the material is inspired by a true crime book (“Cobra Killer” by Andrew E. Stoner and Peter A. Conway), the feature almost reaches farcical levels of comedy as it investigates the lunatics that descended on Corrigan, from coldly calculating businessmen to complete morons. “King Cobra” has its highlights, including fine work from co-star Christian Slater, but writer/director Justin Kelly attempts exaggerate the strangeness of the case, losing tonal balance and interest in the human particulars along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been a long time since Robert Langdon was onscreen solving puzzles and sprinting across European cities. The famous symbologist, the central character in author Dan Brown’s series of literary thrillers, was last seen in 2009’s “Angels & Demons,” a sequel to 2006’s “The Da Vinci Code,” and while both films were sizable hits, director Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks took their time returning to the franchise. “Inferno” doesn’t offer a radical reinvention of the Brown formula, but it does show a sharpening of it. The production strives to tighten the whole viewing experience, emphasizing action and feverish academic study while dialing down the extensive exposition and lecturing Brown’s work is known for. “Inferno” doesn’t rock the boat, it simply paddles along with a little more efficiency, mindful of longtime fans who’ve enjoyed the previous adaptations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After showing interest in thriller mechanics with 2013’s “Night Moves,” writer/director Kelly Reichardt returns to the meditative state she’s most comfortable with in “Certain Women.” The creator of “Old Joy,” “Wendy and Lucy,” and “Meek’s Cutoff,” Reichardt has showcased a fascination with the purity of human emotion, putting her characters through trials of survival, but on a relatable scale, with more attention paid to the nuances of behavior than overall pressures of plotting. She’s marvelous with personalities, mastering a way with small details and naturalistic interactions, finding tension in unexpected places. “Certain Women” plays to Reichardt’s strengths, working through three tales of attachment and negotiation, creating intimate spaces with fascinating people. It’s not a bold picture, but something that seeps into the system slowly and satisfyingly. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s been a certain wistful and fantastical quality to most Japanese animated features that find their way to the U.S. Obviously, the work of Studio Ghibli is an appropriate example of the tonality of these releases, offering viewers wide swings of nostalgia and excitement. “Miss Hokusai” emerges with the same visual style, but it’s tale of maturation is a little more adult and less precious. It’s an adaptation of a popular manga, and one that takes an askew look at the nature of art, the trials of personal relationships, and the burden of expectations. “Miss Hokusai” can be an abrupt picture, but it retains sizable charisma and artistry, locating a few emotional moments that work exceptionally well. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If you see a lot of horror films, there’s exposure to all sorts of crazy ideas for antagonists. There have been mutants, rodents, alien goo, houses, and even a laundry-folding machine, and “The Windmill” adds to this tradition by setting its slasher activities around the titular location, which happens to be a hotbed of demonic activity. It’s a bizarre idea, but director Nick Jongerius commits to it, creating a formulaic chiller that tries to add The Miller, a scythe-wielding ghoul from rural Holland, to the Screen Monster Hall of Fame. “The Windmill” doesn’t completely bungle the potential for askew encounters with death, but it’s also not interested in subverting predictability, sticking to the slasher routine as characters are picked off by the mangled villain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com