Category: Film Review

Midway through “Dirty Grandpa,” there’s a scene that features Jason (Zac Efron) emerging from unconsciousness on a Florida beach after an evening of smoking crack, answering a Face Time call from his high-strung Jewish fiancée Meredith (Julianne Hough), who’s introducing the rabbi hired to oversee their wedding. In his daze, Jason doesn’t realize he has a swastika inked on his forehead. The character is also trapped without clothes, with only a stuffed bee toy strapped to his groin. A little boy, playing on the beach, spots the bee and immediately begins tugging on it, much to Jason’s horror. The ensuing physical confrontation creates the image of the child performing oral sex on Jason from afar, inciting anger from the boy’s inattentive father. That’s “Dirty Grandpa.” If you choose to see it, it’s your own damn fault. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Declan Dale is the credited director of “Exposed,” but the name is a pseudonym for Gee Malik Linton, who walked away from the film after executives drastically recut the movie. Even without this information, it’s clear something is awry with “Exposed,” which is all over the map in terms of story and character, stumbling around while on the hunt for a grander meaning that never arrives. It’s a baffling feature, especially in its current confused state, providing little reward for those electing to piece together what appears to have been an eerie exploration of sexual abuse and police corruption at one point during its troubled production history. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The 5th Wave” is Sony’s latest attempt to play the Young Adult adaptation lottery, recently striking out with 2013’s “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.” Chasing “Hunger Games” money (though I’m sure they’d settle for “Divergent” grosses at this point), the studio selects a strange book to bring to the screen, with author Rick Yancey’s coming-of-age saga set against the backdrop of an alien invasion a troublesome tale to manage on the big screen. Unfocused and dull, “The 5th Wave” doesn’t offer much of a punch, sticking close to YA formula that emphasizes teen heartache over a global battle for survival. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Most World War II Holocaust films tend to remain at a respectful distance, permitting the audience to understand the atrocities in play without a full submersion into horror. “Son of Saul” is a Hungarian picture that does away with boundaries, dragging the viewer along as a specific point of view is explored, with graphic details evident, but just out of focus to represent a true perspective with a character living inside the nightmare. Exploring a fractured sense of honor in the face of extinction, “Son of Saul” is brilliantly executed and chillingly evocative, creating a screen space that, while suffocating, also provides a window to pure behavior, with co-writer/director Laszlo Nemes locating a fresh chapter of the Holocaust to inspect. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Subtle and haunting, “45 Years” is often an extraordinary dissection of a marital union that’s carried on for decades, where routine has replaced intimacy. It’s not an angry offering from writer/director Andrew Haigh (“Weekend”), remaining insightful while exposing rising discord in a once seemingly happy home. Stars Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay are exquisite in their respective roles, capturing behavior authenticity with care, making the characters feel lived-in. However, the true star of “45 Years” is time itself, with the screenplay carefully shifting perspective and reflection to become an emotional thriller of sorts, studying the sudden disruption of complacency. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s difficult to tell if there’s still an audience for a movie like “Martyrs” in 2016. The product of a bygone era in horror filmmaking, the feature is soaked in pain and agony, spending most of its run time in state of panic. Now that we’re past the “Saw” era, it feels little strange to be pulled back into a suffering machine such as “Martyrs,” which isn’t scary or intimidating, it’s just persistent. Working to find a sense of profundity in the midst of ugliness, directors Kevin and Michael Goetz (“Scenic Route”) try to make an artful, intense picture, but they come up short, battling a one-dimensional premise that’s entirely constructed out of feeble attempts at shock value. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

William Monahan is perhaps best known as the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “The Departed,” also credited on “The Gambler,” “Kingdom of Heaven,” and “Edge of Darkness.” “Mojave” is his second directorial effort, coming after the effective “London Boulevard.” Monahan has a taste for violence and threatening behaviors, indulging himself with his latest work, which pits two broken men against each other in a game of intimidation. “Mojave” isn’t a sophisticated foray into the heart of darkness, but it’s a loquacious one, asking viewers to endure rambling monologues and permissive performances, with Monahan gradually revealing style and suspense, but no real direction for this strange chiller. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Jeruzalem” attempts to sustain interest in the fading found footage subgenre, taking its characters to an unusual location to help mix things up for audiences tired of the same frights and surroundings. A blend of “Cloverfield” and “World War Z,” “Jeruzalem” has the right intentions, but its execution leaves much to be desired, taking an eternity to arrive at any type of suspense, only to define the end of the world in the vaguest possible ways. Ideas are more interesting than actual screen events, with writer/directors Doron and Yoav Paz struggling to make their limited budget come alive with material that isn’t inspired. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Time travel pictures used to be wild creations that had fun with visions of the far future and the distant past. Independent moviemaking tastes erased all that, with 2004’s “Primer” changing the game, inspiring productions to take the details of time travel with the utmost seriousness, working overtime to decode the science of fiction. “Synchronicity” is the latest installment of furrowed-brow filmmaking, with writer/director Jacob Gentry (“The Signal”) trying to warm up the subgenre with passion, mixing the needs of the heart with tears in time. “Synchronicity” is a laudable attempt at mood and emotionality, but its ways with repetition and performance test patience, reducing the potency of its mysteries. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While it’s just beginning to play in American theaters, “Monster Hunt” has already proven its box office muscle overseas, currently standing as the highest grossing film in China. That’s no small feat, and it’s easy to see why the picture has become a phenomenon in its homeland, boasting furious action, cute creatures, and a comfortable balance of dark humor and slapstick. It’s a weird feature, slightly unhinged at times, but director Raman Hui keeps a firm grip on screen adventure and broad antics. “Monster Hunt” is an acquired taste, but those able to dial into its special frequency of fantasy and pandemonium are rewarded with a breezy, amusing extravaganza. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Little was expected of 2014’s “Ride Along,” which paired comedian Kevin Hart with Ice Cube, but audiences responded to the mixture of screaming and glaring. The feature turned into a significant hit for the studio during a softer box officer period, leaving a sequel unavoidable. Cooking up a continuation in a hurry, the stars are back in charge for “Ride Along 2,” which understandably doesn’t deviate from the formula that made the original movie a smash. However, while there’s nothing new here, the old stuff feels half-baked, finding the production struggling to come up with comedic scenarios and action scenes to fill 100 minutes. It’s the Cube and Hart show once again, but “Ride Along 2” plays even sleepier than its predecessor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The last time director Michael Bay lunged for legitimacy, he unleashed 2001’s “Pearl Harbor” on the world, laboring to locate the fine line between respect for history and profitable extravaganza. He’s after a different type of disaster story with “13 Hours,” which dramatizes the 2012 Benghazi diplomatic compound attack, pitting military contractors against Libyan militia. Bay’s not known for his light touch, and the opportunity to pound audiences with his traditional pyrotechnic display proves to be too great a temptation for an event that’s loaded with complexity and various participants. “13 Hours” doesn’t deliver a maturing Bay, just one taking a temporary break from the “Transformers” universe, embarking on a 2 1/2 hour celebration of American bravery and explosions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While deliberately paced, “Intruders” is a movie worth the time invested. It’s the directorial debut for Adam Schindler, who makes a strong impression with this unsettling chiller, which is scripted by T.J. Cimfel and David White. Although it seems easy to predict the events of the film from the opening ten minutes, the effort does a fantastic job with misdirection and surprise, keeping the viewing experience flavorful as the plot negotiates a few twists and turns. “Intruders” isn’t explosive, but as slow-burn pictures go, it retains an encouraging amount of menace as it goes about the business of making bad people suffer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The ironies, confusion, and tragedy of war are inspected in “A Perfect Day,” but the feature isn’t quite the level of homework it initially appears to be. It’s the English-language debut of director Fernando Leon de Aranoa (“Mondays in the Sun”), and he brings a funky vibe to the effort, which makes a creative choice to keep semi-light to best appreciate the frustrations felt by the characters. “A Perfect Day” benefits from the spring in its step, gifted a capable cast skilled enough to find nuances of reaction as the story moves from stop to stop, never remaining static for very long. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After portraying a reserved, humbled homeless man in last autumn’s “Time Out of Mind,” Richard Gere takes on a different, more loquacious type of pain in “The Benefactor.” Delivering an unusually amplified performance, Gere is the focal point for the drama, which shaves off significant turns of plot to lay low as a compelling character study. Making his feature-length debut is writer/director Andrew Renzi, and he delivers more than a few captivating moments here, wisely concentrating on Gere’s manic spirit to cover well-worn ground as the screenplay explores the savagery of addiction and abuses of power. It rarely makes a substantial impression, yet “The Benefactor” is alive, powered by a special nervous energy that can only emerge from Gere. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Moonwalkers” provides an hour of spirited, cheeky comedy and violent shenanigans, but it doesn’t remain there for its final 30 minutes. If you’ve seen the documentary “Room 237,” the plot of “Moonwalkers” is going to be familiar, playing around with the concept that Stanley Kubrick produced and directed footage of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, allowing the U.S. Government to cover for a problematic space program. Director Antoine Bardou-Jacquet has a terrific visual sense for his effort, but when it comes to sustaining pace, he’s not as successful. However, when the movie finds its footing, it’s agreeably oddball, delivering two solid acts of humor and madness that covers for a botched landing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It takes a film like “Norm of the North” to fully appreciate what big-budget animated pictures from major studios actually accomplish. Instead of wonderfully designed characters and a heartfelt tale, “Norm of the North” offers a cruelly plasticized viewing experience for family audiences, basically refusing to challenge its origin as an 80-minute-long babysitter for exasperated parents who will settle for anything to keep wee ones pacified. With flat voice work, crude humor, and a story that doesn’t make any sense, the feature, save for one bright spot, is punishment, subjecting moviegoers to the bare minimum of effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The weight of the world and its myriad of connections are felt in “Anesthesia,” a multi-character odyssey of misery orchestrated by writer/director/co-star Tim Blake Nelson (his first helming gig since 2009’s “Leaves of Grass”). There’s an idea here concerning human denial that’s inherently powerful, examined through the actions of fallible characters scrambling for meaning in their lives, but Nelson generally swats away natural behavior in favor of a more theatrical presentation. Stiff and unsatisfying, “Anesthesia” doesn’t snap together profoundly, straining to reach a sophisticated examination of desperation and confusion while it offers tedious dramatics typically found in a Lifetime Movie. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With “400 Days,” writer/director Matt Osterman attempts to revive a “Twilight Zone” atmosphere with a severely limited budget. More of a puzzler than a horror effort, the feature works to define psychological strain during extraordinary circumstances, teasing a deeper exploration of madness and close-quarter tensions to come. For reasons not entirely understood, Osterman pulls most of his punches, working to bend a compelling tale of extended isolation into a “Hills Have Eyes” sequel, which absolutely demolishes the appeal of the picture. “400 Days” isn’t strong stuff to begin with, but a few bewildering creative choices made by the production take a comfortably average thriller and reduces it to tone-deaf junk. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Early January is a strange time of year at the multiplex. Believing that certain audiences are tired of Oscar bait and blockbusters, Hollywood usually sends out a tiny horror picture to shake up the marketplace, with quality low on the list of production priorities. This year’s alternative is “The Forest,” a low-budget ghost story that gives “Game of Thrones” actress Natalie Dormer an opportunity to carry her own film. Sadly, Dormer is no match for the general lethargy and monotony of the movie, which spends half its run time trying to explain its premise, and the other half avoiding any satisfying payoff. The month of mediocrity strikes again, issuing another horror extravaganza that’s not interested in supplying real scares. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com