Category: Film Review

Nostalgia is a major component of horror movies these days. Young filmmakers typically look to the best to inspire their own work, but homage is a tricky game to play, with reverence often slipping into recreation. While “Beyond the Gates” has a slight Italian shocker tilt, drenched in synth and strange colors, the feature wisely digs deep into home video obscurity to stimulate its vision for terror, exploring the strange world of VHS board games to give essentially routine drama a fascinating strangeness. Co-writer/director Jackson Stewart doesn’t have much in the way of a budget, but he has plenty of imagination and a solid cast. Doing something with video store memories, “Beyond the Gates” has the right ideas when it comes to shadowy evil and VHS ephemera, creating a very entertaining and mildly spooky B-movie version of “Jumanji.” Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Sadness is an unavoidable response to “A Monster Calls.” Director J.A. Bayona (“The Orphanage,” “The Impossible”) is tasked with brightening up somber material, using heavy swings of fantasy to alleviate a tale that touches on terminal illness, bullying, and absentee parenting. While never jaunty, “A Monster Calls” does reach a compelling level of mystery to keep it on the move, working to wrap its arms around the saga of a teenage boy facing the grim reality of death for the first time in his life, turning to his imagination to help deal with a flurry of feelings. Behaviors ring true and performances are aces here, helping Bayona find the life in all the darkness, hitting proper tearjerker beats without corrupting a fascinating study of adolescent denial.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Jim Jarmusch crafts very specific films, though often in the most vague manner imaginable. He’s a one-of-a-kind craftsman, and “Paterson” is a remarkably low-key creative success for a guy who adores screen stasis. After examining the malaise of vampiredom in 2013’s “Only Lovers Left Alive,” Jarmusch returns to real-world wonder with “Paterson,” which samples introspective behavior from all sides, working to identify the power of art in a world of routine. It’s intelligent work from the helmer, who plays everything with his customary dryness, still managing to shape a compelling look at a shy soul teasing a grand awakening through the power of self-expression. It’s a distinct Jarmuschian effort, but I doubt few would want his work any other way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Julieta” is Pedro Almodovar at medium speed, but even at a deliberate pace, his work is better than most filmmakers working today. After releasing some serious wiggles with 2013’s “I’m So Excited,” Almodovar returns to melodramatic interests with this tale of grief and memory, utilizing his sumptuous style and gift with actors to make seemingly innocuous moments burst with life. “Julieta” isn’t thunderous drama, but it finds engrossing elements of behavior and tragedy to explore, with the helmer creating a propulsive journey of doubt with the troubled titular character. It’s typically gorgeous work from the helmer, but for those switched on by his return to beyond broad comedy in the last effort, his latest takes a decidedly more introspective route. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Patricia Highsmith built her career on the art of suspense, writing tales of murder and betrayal, feeling around deep psychological grooves to build the players in her games. Filmmakers have enjoyed a longstanding fascination with the author, with adaptations issued periodically over the last 55 years. The most famous work is perhaps 1999’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” which struck gold with its combination of atmosphere and illness. “A Kind of Murder” probably won’t be remembered in the long run, as its take on Highsmith’s plotting is on the lackluster side, unable to find the strangeness of possible coincidence, while casting is uninspired, ending up a costume party with the occasional act of violence. “A Kind of Murder” has a handful of production achievements worth noting, but the rest is frustratingly forgettable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Hollow Point” has the right idea. It brings big guns and bigger attitudes to a western-flavored revenge story, and one with just the right amount of extremity to add tremendous chaos to the proceedings, giving everything a special boost of nastiness. Sadly, director Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego doesn’t follow through on initial promise, though with a troubling filmography that includes “Apollo 18” and “Open Grave,” the picture’s failure to connect isn’t surprising. “The Hollow Point” is violent but not consistent, trying to make a mess out of a border conflict, only to come up short when it comes to intimidation and storytelling. Lopez-Gallego spends more time polishing his weapons than he does strengthening editing and building characterization. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As a dramatic subject, Jackie Kennedy has been exhaustively featured in film and television productions, but she’s often regulated to the background, existing as a figure of support in stories about the life and times of John F. Kennedy and his colorful, powerful family. “Jackie” seeks to change the routine by focusing exclusively on the woman, but only picking a small slice of time to inspect behavioral nuance and psychological wreckage. This is no bio-pic, with screenwriter Noah Oppenheim (“The Maze Runner,” “Allegiant”) zeroing in on specific moments in Jackie’s life that identified her past and solidified her future, grasping the essence of the First Lady without painstakingly inching through her years. Instead of satisfying in a grandly educational manner, “Jackie” offers laser-like focus on the details of a human going through seismic political and personal changes in her life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s always a wonder why film producers pursue video game properties. Sure, there’s brand recognition, squeezing money out of the faithful, but these screen-to-screen adaptations rarely work out, especially with open world games that don’t pursue a direct narrative path. And yet, in 2016, there was “Warcraft,” which managed to achieve a sense of scale and fantasy life, finding ways to crack source material that’s famous for its lack of boundaries. And now there’s “Assassin’s Creed,” which, much like “Warcraft,” is incredibly flawed, but there’s something to the confident execution of the feature that gives it a cinematic presence and passable respect for console origins. It rumbles and leaps, and is just bonkers enough to cover for the multitude of head-scratching ideas it introduces, especially to newcomers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It takes a movie like “Passengers” to act as a reminder that not all romantic stories are created equal. Some soar due to heartfelt content or smartly designed adversity, and there’s the latest from “The Imitation Game” director Morten Tyldum, which is completely bereft of heart, mind, and even soul. It’s often astonishing to grasp what “Passengers” believes to be warm, cuddly entertainment, marching forward with plot so fundamentally screwy, there’s no star power in the world capable of selling it in any appealing way. Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt commit for the most part, but even they lose faith in the final act, finally giving up a picture that bizarrely tries to transform absolute horror and cold-blooded murder into the date night event of 2016. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s nothing particularly daring about “Why Him?” It’s a comedy that’s only making a pit stop at multiplexes before a long, prosperous life on basic cable, charming viewers through the power of channel omnipresence, where dead jokes are rendered palatable on a lonely Saturday night. It’s the latest from director John Hamburg, who weirdly hasn’t directed a feature since 2009’s “I Love You, Man,” taking his sweet time to dream up a fresh idea, though one where the most sophisticated joke involves star Bryan Cranston’s character losing a battle with a special, high-tech Japanese toilet during a bowel movement. Perhaps Hamburg wasn’t missed after all, with “Why Him?” trying so hard to be doofy and profane, it forgets to be funny. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Fences” isn’t your average film adaptation of a stage play. This is monumental work from playwright August Wilson, who collected a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for the 1987 effort, which spawned several powerhouse performances over the last three decades, including turns from Denzel Washington and Viola Davis on Broadway in 2010. The pair returns to the source of one of their greatest career achievements, teaming up to bring Wilson’s troubling work to the screen. Washington directs, taking special care of the material and its thematic potency, trying to master a cinematic stance for a story that’s always been served on stage, delivered with distance. Intimacy is a challenge for “Fences,” but the acting is expectedly dynamic, with raw nerve work from the leads carrying the feature through a few rough patches of storytelling, supplying a richly defined sense of character as their seasoned ways in front of a camera finally combine with Wilson’s achievement.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Paul Verhoeven was once a mighty force in Hollywood, and we have him to thank for the brilliance of “RoboCop,” “Total Recall,” sections of “Basic Instinct,” and at least half of “Showgirls.” But after suffering through a few flops, Verhoeven elected to return to his European filmmaking roots, and doing so in a semi-retired state. His last proper production was 2006’s WWII thriller “Black Book,” and now the helmer has reconnected to his once alluring appreciation of psychological disease with “Elle.” While lacking extremity Verhoeven is known for, “Elle” still packs quite a punch, examining sexual violence and almost casual self-destruction, plucking the strings of David Birke’s screenplay with shards of glass. It’s a strange feature, but one doesn’t want Verhoeven any other way, and he delivers a unique viewing experience as the story touches on some truly disturbing events. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Movies about cities populated with anthropomorphized animals are all the rage these days. Coming after the astonishing success of Disney Animation’s “Zootopia” is “Sing,” which does away with social commentary to emerge as a musical of sorts, working to win over audiences with songs. So many songs. The picture is written and directed by Garth Jennings, who, nearly a decade ago, found perfection with “Son of Rambow,” which featured an off-kilter sense of humor and encouraged oddball performances. “Sing” is Jennings playing it safe, creating a world of cutesy creatures and colorful antics, and the film is missing his mischievous sense of humor. While some dramatic grit remains in small amounts, the effort isn’t anything special, checking off a to-do list of animated antics with a large cast of characters, with performance sequences breaking up a slow slide into banality. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Movies like “Moonlight” are rare. While the picture investigates a multitude of behavioral issues and cultural crimes, it’s most interested in identity, displaying remarkable patience and understanding of the process of self-discovery, which often elicits more fear than satisfaction. “Moonlight” is a film about the Black Experience in America, but the war it wages with personal comfort and corruption is universal, and its depiction of this struggle is exceptional. Writer/director Barry Jenkins handles the material with courage and indie cinema style, providing a clear view of murky issues, also guiding a gifted cast through intricate emotional speeds. It’s a special feature, rich with character and perspective, and it showcases what Jenkins is capable of, especially with difficult tales of lives lived in a constant state of fear. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Due to various reasons, some of them legally inclined, Kenneth Lonergan doesn’t make movies very often. “Manchester by the Sea” is his third directorial effort since 2000, and it’s a cruel reminder that Lonergan should really work more often, as he possesses such a pure vision for character and drama, giving his films a 3D feel just from behavioral nuance alone. Sure, 2011’s “Margaret” was a bit messy due to extensive production problems, but Lonergan returns to stability with “Manchester by the Sea,” which plays with raw nerve concentration and authentic emotional flow, joining 2000’s “You Can Count on Me” as another example of Lonergan’s gift with storytelling and timing, taking a slow but engrossing journey into the ways of grief and responsibility, and doing so with an expert handling of humor, heart, and paralyzing pain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When Will Smith decides to get serious, there’s cause for concern. “Collateral Beauty” is the actor’s latest attempt to project sincerity, which doesn’t come naturally, attaching himself to a screenplay by Allen Loeb (“So Undercover,” “Here Comes the Boom”) that requires intense bouts of staring and teary monologuing, serving up a chance for Oscar gold while trying to reach an audience that never arrived to see a similar exercise in saccharine behavior: 2008’s “Seven Pounds.” “Collateral Beauty” is impossibly flimsy work, trying to merge whimsy with profound pain, emerging with a ridiculous premise that somehow attracted top-tier actors who were either excited to work with Smith or delighted with the number of zeros on their paycheck. Either way, the feature is shallow, programmed, and obvious, with Smith at the center of it all, swinging for the fences with a showy emotion turn that only reinforces just how misguided the effort is. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Some movies are worthy of recommendation due to filmmaking care and control, with helmers fashioning elegant assessments of the human condition, using thespian skill and technical knowhow to master visual and emotional communication. And some movies are worth a look just to see Catherine Deneuve romance a gorilla. “The Brand New Testament” is a mischievous creation from co-writer/director Jaco Van Dormel (“Mr. Nobody,” “The Eighth Day”), who picks apart heavenly order to construct a cheeky comedy about creation, God, and a new dawn of human awareness. It’s clever and intricately manufactured, with the production putting everything possible into the picture’s details, making “The Brand New Testament” an effort to be studied, with its craftsmanship as engaging as its dark sense of humor.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It seems like every filmmaker holds a secret desire to make a musical, but few actually take a chance and attempt to restore a little sampling of Old Hollywood for modern audiences. The biggies have tried: Scorsese, Coppola, and Allen, laboring to relive their childhood fantasies of choreography, costuming, and songwriting. In the case of “La La Land,” writer/director Damien Chazelle is quick to pounce on a rare opportunity, using accolades collected from his last effort, “Whiplash,” to help fund his dream project. An elaborate homage to the musical genre, with specific attention to the world of Jacques Demy, “La La Land” is expectedly indulgent, but it’s overlong and thinly scripted, with Chazelle putting everything into The Moment, breaking up the feature into bite-sized pieces of song, dance, and Hollywood reverence. Production passion is indisputable, but the movie doesn’t know when to quit.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Fashion mogul Tom Ford turned to filmmaking with 2009’s “A Single Man.” The highly designed and tightly measured drama still managed to communicate a healthy amount of personal history and emotionality, dealing with intimate issues of love, loss, and friendship. It was an ideal debut for Ford, who managed to highlight his visual gifts and his comfort with actors. “Nocturnal Animals” is his long-awaited follow up, and Ford attempts to switch gears, heading in a Hitchcockian direction with a melodrama that’s braided with thriller-esque events, once again using his interests in symmetry, style, and relationships to boost the significance of what’s essentially a weightless effort. “Nocturnal Animals” is more of an exercise in manipulation than a piercing story of paralyzed hearts, eventually dissolving into a movie of moments instead of a cohesive arc of illness.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Solace” isn’t trying very hard to subvert expectations, though it certainly has the opportunity to do something new with the serial killer subgenre. It’s a psychic warfare picture, though one that doesn’t go bananas with its depiction of special individuals capable of manipulating the present by seeing into the future. Director Afonso Poyart doesn’t explore the cinematic potential of the premise, electing to bring the production down to television standards, making the film more procedural than fantastical. “Solace” offers dead bodies, bruised backstories, and an all-consuming hunt for a sly madman, but it’s a frustratingly flat effort, and one carried along by an Anthony Hopkins performance where the actor’s lights are visibly switched off, creating a dramatic gap where urgency usually resides. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com