Category: Film Review

With “Wild” and “Dallas Buyers Club,” director Jean-Marc Vallee has showcased ability to communicate the inner thoughts of his characters, focusing on emotional issues and medical disruptions to find what people are truly made of. He’s effective with smaller, introspective moments, but “Demolition,” which continues this visual and thematic journey, doesn’t come together as easily as before. Screenwriter Bryan Sipe crafts a story that highlights the range of grief, reaction, and redemption, but the collaboration doesn’t provide a particularly illuminating viewing experience, finding “Demolition” powerful, but only in fragments, spending too much time on trivial matters while the rest of the feature slowly grows confused and, ultimately, pointless. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Grosse Pointe Blank” is one of the best films of the last twenty years, and it’s heartening to see that screenwriter Max Landis agrees with me. Instead of forging ahead with a remake, Landis take his adulation for the 1997 release and reworks it slightly to create his own variation on the central idea of a killer in love in “Mr. Right,” an action-comedy that’s big on fight scenes and casual interplay between stars Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick. Big on energy, for at least the opening hour, “Mr. Right” eventually runs out of steam in a major way, but for those itching for “Blank”-style thrills, the feature finds periodic inspiration as it goes from love to war. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2010, writer/director Deon Taylor created “Chain Letter,” an updated take on slasher formula that utilized cell phones as the harbinger of doom. It was an awful film, one of the worst of the year, but Taylor played it straight, working to whip up some sizable scares while the rest of the effort died a slow, painful death. Taylor returns to the genre with “Meet the Blacks,” but he’s no longer interested in frights, attempting to wring laughs out of murder with this painfully inept semi-parody of “The Purge.” Released too soon after Marlon Wayans dropped a box office bomb with January’s “50 Shades of Black,” “Meet the Blacks” covers basically the same ground, spending too much time on vulgarity and racial hostility, and not enough on wit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The reasons behind the production of “Frank and Cindy” aren’t especially clear. The story of Frank Garcia and Cynthia Brown was originally explored in a 2007 documentary, directed by their son, G.J. Echternkamp, who decided to introduce some overdue family therapy by turning the camera on his dysfunctional parents, allowing them a chance to share their illnesses with the world. Nine years later, Echternkamp returns to the tale, this time dramatizing the doc, hiring Rene Russo and Oliver Platt to play his trouble guardians. Granted, the opportunity to portray such fallible people doesn’t come around every day, and the leads are up for the challenge, delivering vulnerable, memorable performances. However, little else sticks during the viewing experience, which comes across self-serving at times, with Echternkamp making himself the lead character. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The end of the world is transformed into a first-person shooter in “Pandemic,” the first of two movies this month that stage unspeakable acts of violence from a chaotic perspective (the other, “Hardcore Harry,” is due out next week). Combining ferocious visions of murder and self-preservation with tender missions of familial protection, the feature, directed by John Suits, strives to be a more meaningful horror story, working to establish humanity behind every irrational decision. Unless you happen to be a major fan of extended sequences set in dark hallways, there’s nothing overtly impressive about “Pandemic,” but its working parts are engaging, watching Suits build his own doomsday with a limited budget and an extended visual gimmick. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

One day, a filmmaker is going to come along and mastermind a music bio-pic that’s about a passably functional human being, concentrating on the artist and their achievements, refusing to obsess over their abyssal flaws. Until that day arrives, we’re stuck with “I Saw the Light,” a particularly dismal exploration of the life and times of country singer Hank Williams. Instead of inspecting the performer’s creative drive, writer/director Marc Abraham (“Flash of Genius”) focuses almost exclusively on Williams and his troubling behavior with women, almost forgetting at times that the subject was a widely adored musician. “I Saw the Light” is tedious and roughly designed, though a star turn from Tom Hiddleston is the only truly committed aspect of the production, nailing a tricky performance while working with a frightfully vague script. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Girl in the Photographs” is credited as a final picture in the career of executive producer Wes Craven, who passed away in 2015. It seems fitting that the helmer would have interest in this production, as it periodically plays like a “Scream” knockoff, only instead of challenging genre formula, it dissects the world of fashion and art photography, trying to come up with a fresh take on aged slasher ingredients. “The Girl in the Photographs” is tremendously gory and aggressive, hoping to scare through acts of blunt trauma, but co-writer/director Nick Simon elects the meditative route with pedestrian material, generating more yawn than shrieks with this monumentally tedious feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A former child actor (“About a Boy”) struggling to find roles that reflect his development into adulthood, Nicholas Hoult attempts to guide his career into a sinister direction with “Kill Your Friends.” Co-producing and starring in the picture, Hoult provides a secure performance in a lackluster film, and one that strives to be stylish, ruthless, and darkly comic. We’ve been down this road before, with “Kill Your Friends” basically taking what it wants from “American Psycho,” working through murder and madness without inspired wickedness to encourage audience investment. At least Hoult is trying to do something different, but his effort can’t prop up the feature, which slowly loses focus and timing, ending up an uninspired mess. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Every talent in Hollywood deserves a chance to try different genres, to spread their creative wings. For John Schneider, best known for his work on “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Smallville,” “Smothered” represents an opportunity to shake up his directorial career, overseeing a cheeky comedy that pokes fun at horror icons and the celebrity convention grind, and offers a killer who uses her enormous breasts to suffocate her victims. Not bad for a guy who recently starred in “What Would Jesus Do?: The Story Continues.” “Smothered” isn’t entirely successful with comedy and thrills, but it does offer a chance for the men behind horror’s most famous masks a chance to expand their thespian horizons, with Schneider wisely leaning on their natural charisma to help the feature through some rough patches. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding” was the sleeper hit of 2002, emerging from out of nowhere to become the fifth highest grossing feature of the year (sandwiched between “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” and “Signs”). Expectations for a sequel were immediate, but writer/star Nia Vardalos chased a television dream with 2003’s “My Big Fat Greek Life,” which effectively killed the brand name. 14 years later, Vardalos returns with “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” attempting to recapture the vibrant cultural energy that fueled the original effort. While the story takes a leap in time, the jokes do not, finding much of the follow-up struggling to land punchlines and massage character quirk. While amiable, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” is dull and overscripted, watching Vardalos spin too many plates as she strives to give everyone something to do. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Compelling ideas on the entitled nature of millennials and the instability of long-term employment are explored in “Get a Job,” competing for screen time with scenes that feature a urine sample gone wrong and a character forced to drink a glass of deer semen in front of his co-workers. Iffy helmer Dylan Kidd (“Roger Dodger,” “P.S.”) tries to cushion hard truths about life with gross-out and marijuana humor, working diligently to dumb the picture down as far as it can go. It’s a shame, but perhaps “Get a Job” was never destined for greatness, with the picture finally seeing the light of day after completing production four years ago. After a viewing, it’s obvious why the producers lost interest in releasing it. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While the potential for mockery is ripe, “Marguerite” would rather understand its blissfully unaware lead character, working to achieve a larger portrait of charity when confronted with an absence of talent. Writer/director Xavier Giannoli (“Superstar,” “In the Beginning”) generates a mildly comic tone to some of the picture, but he remains largely respectful of emotions and awareness, trying to shave down the absurdity that drives the plot of “Marguerite” with welcome sensitivity and three-dimensional personalities. A little consideration helps the movie achieve its dramatic goals, allowing the audience to grasp all the necessary displays of humiliation that pepper the feature and still come away with a sense of warmth and askew devotion. It’s an impressive juggling act from Giannoli. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Considering his pop culture dominance, it’s strange to consider that the character Pee-wee Herman has only starred in two pictures, with the last, 1988’s “Big Top Pee-wee,” a tremendous financial and creative disappointment. Looking to restore a little mojo after decades away from the screen, actor Paul Reubens slips back into his old extra-small suit and refreshes his geeky mannerisms to revive Pee-wee for a new generation. “Pee-wee’s Big Holiday” is certainly a pleasant production, giving the fanbase what they want through numerous set pieces highlighting Reubens’s special way with slapstick. Those expecting another “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” are sure to be disappointed with this effort, as Reubens and co-writer Paul Rust dial down idiosyncrasy, keeping “Pee-wee’s Big Holiday” friendly, but rarely surprising. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2013’s “Man of Steel” was the warning shot. Director Zack Snyder takes citywide destruction and wonky superhero world-building to the next level with “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” manufacturing a DC Comics answer to the ongoing work Marvel is doing to construct their seemingly bulletproof cinematic universe. Snyder isn’t aware that nuance is an option, looking to create the biggest, baddest event film possible while pouring the foundation for assorted superhuman characters to come. Even with a 150 minute run time, “Batman v. Superman” feels claustrophobic and needy, with the helmer digging into his shallow bag of tricks to bring two iconic characters to life. Instead of servicing patient storytelling, Snyder gets lost in his own limited ambition, frequently relying on his love for noise and numbing violence to make sense of a poorly written, acted, and edited effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The last ten years have been a strange creative period for director Atom Egoyan. Once the darling of independent cinema, Egoyan has spent the last decade gasping for oxygen, stumbling through unfortunate efforts such as “Devil’s Knot” and “Where the Truth Lies,” effectively erasing his brand name with cineastes. “Remember” isn’t a return to form for Egoyan, but it’s a step in the right direction, taking on a provocative story of memory and murder that plays with thriller elements effectively. Mistakes in tone and scripting eventually work to trip the feature up, but “Remember” has its share of riveting moments, buttressing an atmosphere of unease that’s alien to Egoyan’s recent work. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When depicting the wreckage of substance abuse, a majority of movies tend to go the melodramatic route, flailing wildly to project a level of chaos normally associated with self-harm and chemical disorientation. “Krisha” is the rare feature to understand the insidious nature of addiction, playing it relatively calm and collected while gradually introducing an unsettling level of darkness, earning climatic explosions of accusatory behavior. A no-budget production that’s skillfully controlled by writer/director Trey Edward Shults, “Krisha” is harrowing work, diving into the abyss of dysfunction with stunning intimacy and creative confidence from the first-time helmer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Two years ago, “Divergent” entered the YA novel adaptation sweepstakes with hopes to tap into post-apocalyptic vibe of “The Hunger Games” to fuel its own box office success. Instead of dominating the competition, the series was merely accepted by a fanbase loyal to original author Veronica Roth, failing to reach pop culture ubiquity. The 2015 sequel, “Insurgent,” achieved the same level of mediocrity, with the production generally ignoring hindsight to mix up the same batch of blah filmmaking. With “Allegiant,” “The Divergent Series” finally threatens closure, but it’s not going without a fight. The first half of a two-part finale, “Allegiant” tries to razzle-dazzle with an increase in visual effects and supporting characters, but a distinct lack of suspense remains, paralyzing a chapter essentially designed to explain working parts while the next feature (2017’s “Ascendant”) is supposed to be the big payoff. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When 2014’s “Heaven is for Real” struck gold at the box office, it was only a matter of time before similar faith-based productions would follow. “Miracles from Heaven” utilizes the same questioning of a higher power formula to tell a story that concerns the elasticity of belief as it’s tested through unresponsiveness and the sheer weight of tragedy. Director Patricia Riggen (“The 33”) treats the iffy material with professional polish, making sure every scene of heartbreak extracts tears, while Godly mysteries are cared for through determined performances. But the actual dissection of miracles on Earth? It’s a bit of a gray area for “Miracles from Heaven,” which would rather stroll around the unknowable instead of actively pursuing careful examination. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2014, disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong participated in the making of “The Armstrong Lie.” A documentary about his life, love for the sport, and his addiction to performance-enhancing drugs to help secure cycling glory, “The Armstrong Lie” managed to crack open the famously defensive subject, exposing his lies and bitterness, with Armstrong’s interview a fascinating window into the mind of a diseased man. “The Program” is a dramatization of the same story, with director Stephen Frears using a brief summary of temptation and ego to capture Armstrong’s eventful career arc, keeping star Ben Foster front and center as the stained athlete. “The Program” is not without its heated confrontations, but it feels unnecessary, working to depict the downfall of a man who’s beaten them to the punch in terms of addressing his own self-destructive tendencies. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Little Prince” is no stranger to film and television adaptations. A beloved 1943 novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the material is frequently returned to for generational reinforcement, with productions striving to capture the lyrical fantasy of the original text, hoping to inspire the imagination of audiences young and old. For this incarnation, director Mark Osborne (“Kung Fu Panda”) turns to animation to help fill out his vision, mixing styles and complicated emotionality to bring the original work to life. While “The Little Prince” periodically threatens to become another assembly line CGI-animated endeavor, artistry and sensitivity win out in the end, while an all-star voice cast gives the feature a big boost in personality. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com