Category: Film Review

Producers rarely need a reason to mount sequels, but it would be nice to know why 2011’s “The Mechanic” was selected to become a franchise. The picture wasn’t particularly well-received with audiences and critics, and its box office take was flat, failing to achieve the same results as star Jason Statham’s previous action series, “The Transporter.” This mystery may never be solved, but something triggered the creation of “Mechanic: Resurrection,” a follow-up that strips away all the faux grit of the original feature to transform into a James Bond-esque romp that’s as loosely scripted as can be. Paycheck performances and cartoon heroics tend to dominate in “Mechanic: Resurrection,” making it a less satisfying effort than its passable predecessor, with outrageousness missing genuine thrills. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s tough to get excited about a boxer bio-pic. All these tales tend to follow the same dramatic arc, following the hardscrabble life of a restless kid in search of discipline and glory, battling his way to success and, inevitably, personal corruption. “Hands of Stone” is billed as an examination of boxer Roberto Duran, but there’s very little that defines the subject’s life. Writer/director Jonathan Jakubowicz simply bites off more than he can chew, forced to resort to clichés to keep the feature on the move, forgoing a detailed inspection of triumph and disaster to play the entire effort as a random crisis generator featuring a boxer who isn’t nearly as interesting as the production would like to believe. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Fede Alvarez pulled off the impossible in 2013, put in command of a remake of Sam Raimi’s horror classic, “The Evil Dead.” Prospects were grim, fans were ready to revolt, and yet the director managed to make something suitably bloody and bananas to celebrate the brand name, overseeing an inventive take on an Ash-less deadite invasion. Returning to screens with a different style of chiller, Alvarez cements his skill with “Don’t Breathe,” an askew home invasion thriller that offers an enormous amount of suspense, boosted by accomplished performances and an appreciation for genre insanity. “Don’t Breathe” is a terrific nail-biter that makes a few noticeable errors, but Alvarez delivers a clean and snappy fright experience, striving to locate terror in a real-world setting, away from any cabins in the woods. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Unlike most former child actors, Daniel Radcliffe has managed to keep his career fresh by finding interesting parts to play, some miles away from his heyday as Harry Potter in the blockbuster fantasy franchise. Just this year alone, Radcliffe has portrayed a malicious magician (the lone highlight of “Now You See Me 2”) and a farting corpse (“Swiss Army Man”), showing encouraging versatility. For “Imperium,” the star goes deep as an undercover federal agent infiltrating a neo-Nazi community, and he’s convincing as a rattled man in a troubling situation. Thankfully, writer/director Daniel Ragussis (making his helming debut) backs Radcliffe up with a powerful movie. “Imperium” is haunting, skillfully blending procedural highlights with a prolonged study of shock, giving Radcliffe plenty to work with. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s a rare event to have a movie about the President of the United States created and released while the subject is still in office. In 2008, there was Oliver Stone’s “W.”, which tried to crack a tough nut of political ambition and suspect behavior, rushed into production to capitalize on the final days of the George W. Bush presidency. “Southside with You” is about Barack Obama, but writer/director Richard Tanne takes a different approach in his inspection of the world leader’s personality, traveling back to 1989, where a young lawyer from Chicago went out on a date with his colleague, Michelle Robinson. Stripping the story of flammable material, Tanne recycles the “Before Sunrise” formula, tracking developing chemistry between the individuals long before they became one of the most famous couples in the world. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A few years ago, director Hirokazu Koreeda crafted “Like Father, Like Son,” a sincere examination of parental love soon challenged by a strange events and custody concerns. It was a terrific picture, showcasing Koreeda’s preference for humanistic stories and a love for deceptively simple drama, adding another triumph to an already impressive filmography (including “After Life” and “Still Walking”). Koreeda returns to screens with “Our Little Sister,” which also explores a family disrupted by unforeseen developments. While urgency is less of a priority this time out, the helmer still puts together an irresistible collection of characters and personal issues, fashioning a community of anxious types looking for clarity in life and love. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Spaceman” inspects a rough period in the career of pitcher Bill Lee, a notorious wild man who led with passion, growing comfortable with recklessness during his time in Major League Baseball. However, those expecting to see much sport in the picture (executive produced by “Bull Durham” helmer Ron Shelton) are going to be disappointed. “Spaceman” isn’t a baseball story, it’s a tale of desperation and aging threaded through the internals of a man who can’t process change and loss. Lee is a fascinating subject for a cinematic exploration, and writer/director Brett Rapkin is pointed the right way, but this is not a satisfying overview of panic, missing important pieces of the story as the effort speeds through its run time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Miss Sharon Jones!” is a documentary about a singer, but isn’t really a musical film. It’s directed by Barbara Kopple, famed helmer of “Shut Up and Sing,” “Wild Man Blues,” and “American Dream,” and she clearly has great affection for the subject, separating Jones from her professional career in the picture, which details her fight with pancreatic cancer. It’s an emotional journey, observing stages of hope and frustration that traditionally go along with such a medical diagnosis and treatment. However, with Jones, there’s a bit more to explore, finding a viciously talented performer struggling to maintain a burgeoning career along the way, finally feeling the cool air of fame as she faces her own mortality. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The recent “Nerve” touched on the idea of cruelty disguised as internet gamesmanship, focusing on a paying audience logging in to watch strangers strip themselves of humanity to achieve popularity — fame being a more prized currency than actual money. While a promising thriller, “Nerve” didn’t follow through on many of its ideas, copping out with melodrama instead of maintaining incisive commentary on the sorry state of the internet union. “Level Up” has roughly the same idea, though it launches with more ferocity, inspired by gaming culture and its addictive rhythms of violence. Sadly, the production also fails to dream up a satisfying closer, but in spurts, “Level Up” connects as bleak entertainment, with co-writer/director Adam Randall generating a propulsive viewing experience, though one that just isn’t furious enough. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“War Dogs” is being marketed as a comedy, using the trusted name of co-writer/director Todd Phillips to help conjure memories of “The Hangover” trilogy (okay, maybe not the second film) instead of confronting what the new movie actually is: a drama. It’s a typical shell game from the Hollywood publicity machine, selling one experience to lasso ticket-buyers, but the relief here is that “War Dogs,” while rickety as it searches for an ending, is actually intriguing, taking a long look at arms dealing as it pertains to the gold rush dreams of two greedy Americans. It’s not perfect, but it’s Phillip’s best effort in nearly a decade, summoning a crucial sense of threat when the helmer would normally go for the goof. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Laika Entertainment has developed a strong reputation for quality work, keeping up the tradition of stop-motion animation with movies like “Coraline,” “ParaNorman,” and “The Boxtrolls.” They’re a studio that respects artistry and welcomes sophistication, trying to distance itself from the competition with more advanced family films that often take on mature themes and vivid style. “Kubo and the Two Strings” is Laika’s most challenging effort to date, mixing Japanese culture and folktales with a heaping helping of magic, entering realms of life and death to feed an unusual adventure. It’s a bewildering feature at times, but impressively constructed, always managing to secure awe with subtle character animation when the larger quest at hand fails to hold attention. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Ben-Hur” isn’t untouchable material, with Lew Wallace’s 1880 book inspiring numerous media adaptations. Most recently, the novel was reworked as a U.K. miniseries co-starring Joseph Morgan and Hugh Bonneville, and, most famously, the 1959 epic with Charlton Heston remains a classic in the eyes of many, defining the widescreen majesty of the era (a 1925 silent production is also treasured). Reviving the tale for another cinematic inspection is Timur Bekmambetov, helmer of “Wanted” and “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.” Bekmambetov’s primary language is overkill, and he brings his excesses to the picture, softening the book’s religious direction to underline melodrama and action, basically making the movie to construct his own chariot race. He’s not an especially gifted storyteller, barely committing to the community of characters and winding plot of “Ben-Hur.” Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Although “Joshy” has a credited screenwriter in Jeff Baena (who also directs), it barely adheres to any type of structure. It’s an improvisational Olympics starring a who’s who of independent cinema, with the actors committed to conjuring mood over story, tasked with playing off one another as Baena tries to shape all the camaraderie and personality into a vague narrative. Mercifully, instead of feeling slack, “Joshy” preserves a sense of humor and timing, with the helmer delivering encouraging management of talent, allowing the feature to reach its share of sensitivities and big laughs. It’s not a tight effort, but we’ve seen this permissive style of movie before, and it rarely turns out this well. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Sian Heder has made a name for herself as a creative force on the hit Netflix show, “Orange is the New Black.” Pouring her experience on the gritty program into her helming debut, Heder issues “Tallulah,” a troublesome tale of purpose discovered and grief gradually confronted. Although it welcomes viewers with moments of quirk and comforting catharsis, the feature is actually quite disturbing, challenging Heder to locate a way to embrace difficult characterization and still keep the audience interested in the unfolding drama. Heder gets it mostly right, with “Tallulah” largely engrossing and impeccably acted, watching stars Ellen Page, Allison Janney, and Tammy Blanchard create living, breathing people who aren’t easy to watch, yet it’s hard to ignore their fascinating surges of pain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I can’t imagine a man more curious about the planet and the details of its inhabitants than Werner Herzog. The celebrated filmmaker of “Fitzcarraldo” and “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” Herzog has showcased a longstanding fascination with nature and the influence of humanity, which often leads to breakthroughs and destruction that touches on the very meaning of life. Herzog has also developed an impressive but low-key career as a documentarian, recently releasing “Into the Abyss” and “Cave of Forgotten Dreams,” while hitting a box office high with 2006’s “Grizzly Man.” The famously philosophical helmer returns to non-fiction exploration with “Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World,” taking on the enormity of the internet, which proves to be as elusive and intimidating as any of Herzog’s previous subjects. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“My King” is directed by Maiwenn, an actress who’s appeared in several European films, but perhaps is best known globally as Diva Plavalaguna, the blue opera singer from Luc Besson’s gloriously bonkers sci-fi extravaganza, “The Fifth Element.” She’s also chiseled out a directorial career in recent years, with “My King” arguably her most personal offering. Plumbing the depths of her own toxic relationships, Maiwenn creates a troubling ode to submission with “My King,” which, as honest as a may be, is also a deeply disturbing portrait of a woman who only achieves clarity through calamity. It’s raw, exhaustive, and completely dismissible, but there’s something about Maiwenn’s study of human fallibility that keeps the effort passably interesting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The concept of “Killer Party” is enticing, studying an end of the world scenario played out at a baby shower, offering the material plenty of opportunities to poke at celebration clichés and genre traditions. Writer/director Alex Drummond has the right idea, but no real budget or filmmaking finesse to bring it to life. A backyard production, “Killer Party” attempts to deliver laughs and gore normally associated with horror comedies, looking to “Shaun of the Dead” for inspiration. However, the picture doesn’t work, often caught in static situations instead of kinetic fun, laboring through relationship woes as the occasional burst of violence breaks through, acting as smelling salts for the rest of the feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I applaud Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg for their continued celebration of juvenile humor, with the producing/writing partners trying to keep up with demand through recent releases like “Neighbors” and its sequel, “”The Night Before,” and “The Interview.” “Sausage Party” is perhaps their most direct offering of raunchy mischief, only now their game’s been elevated to the CGI-animated realm, delivering a sweeping adventure (on a low budget) that’s packed with cursing, sexual situations, and gore, all involving supermarket foods. It takes a special mind to dream up such a fantasia of fluids and puns, and “Sausage Party” is surprisingly ambitious when it comes to thematic reach. However, a little of this berserk creation goes a long way, especially when it feels like the production is running out of ideas to fill 80 minutes of screen time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The original “Pete’s Dragon” is no classic, but the 1977 Walt Disney production isn’t without charm. In an effort to replicate the live-action/animation formula that turned “Mary Poppins” into a smash, the movie goes broad with musical numbers and character design, trying to make every frame lovable. While remake cinema is rarely a positive creative direction, the feature is ripe for a do-over, bringing a tale of a magic and friendship to a new audience. The 2016 “Pete’s Dragon” does away with songs and mugging, focusing on more dramatic pursuits while still celebrating the protective instincts of a green dragon. It’s a wonderful film, an unexpectedly triumphant reworking of the earlier picture, assembled by a talented and patient production team committed to launching a new “Pete’s Dragon” that’s all heart. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last year, actor Taylor Sheridan made the leap to screenwriting with “Sicario,” which attracted plenty of positive attention, awards, and decent box office, launching his writing career in the best way possible. He was rewarded for his strong characterizations and ability to construct suspense in surprising ways, also managing to twist clichés into something approaching originality, delivering meaty material. His follow-up is “Hell or High Water,” and it’s an even tighter, more stunning meditation on criminality, moving the action from the bowels of Mexico to the punishing flatness of Texas. It’s a knockout feature from Sheridan and director David Mackenzie, who bring touchable textures to the big screen, creating a smooth mixture of menace and humor, investing in human nuance over cinematic stylistics. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com