Category: Film Review

Joel and Ethan Coen have been to Hollywood before. In 1991’s “Barton Fink,” they constructed a surreal vision of creative Hell, satirizing industry types with a dose of insanity. “Hail, Caesar!” doesn’t share the same interest in self-destruction, but it returns to a position of mischief for the legendary filmmakers, who use the moment to revive and ridicule the Old Hollywood way of business, with its blinding star power, big screen extravaganzas, and habitual troublemaking. While brightly crafted and more playful a picture than “Barton Fink,” “Hail, Caesar!” is missing customary Coen Brother snap. That’s not to suggest it isn’t wonderfully entertaining at times, but the production as a whole seems a little undercooked, perhaps too caught up in the rare opportunity to recreate a specific time in a turbulent business. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” has an enormous amount of story to work though, and not a lot of time to do it. It’s an exposition festival peppered with visits from the undead, with nearly every scene packed with one character explaining the rules of this world to another, while the main titles are strictly devoted to a brisk education on the finer points of Seth Grahame-Smith’s 2009 cult novel. “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” is an exhausting picture, madly spinning plates to the best of its ability, but there are moments when the feature's outrageous premise finds inspired execution, or at least takes a minute or two out of its busy schedule to enjoy itself. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Choice” is the 11th Nicholas Sparks novel to make the long journey to the big screen. At this point, it’s difficult to figure out what separates these productions beyond their stars, with the latest effort yet another foray into honeyed North Carolina coastal bliss, idealized romantic, and sudsy melodrama. Despite its comfortable predictability, “The Choice” comes across particularly inept, never paying attention to the toxic central relationship it’s selling and the weirdly dangerous moral it’s manufacturing. Sparks is never one to create gritty displays of human interaction, and the picture is eventually hobbled by its blind obedience to the author’s gooey formula. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

What Alejandro Amenabar is looking to achieve with “Regression” and what ultimately ends up on screen are two different things. The director of “Open Your Eyes” and “The Others” returns to his chiller roots with his latest effort, which tries to marry traditional horror stings with a promising dissection of mass hysteria, attempting to bend formula into new and interesting directions. Amenabar doesn’t pull off the tonal experiment, but at least “Regression” strives to shake up expectations. It’s a frustrating sit at times, especially when it serves up the obvious, but there are kernels of invention scattered around the picture that keep it semi-involving, but overall storytelling satisfaction is never found. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been a long, hard road to a theatrical release for “Jane Got a Gun.” Hit with contract disputes (original director Lynne Ramsay left the picture on its first day of shooting), casting woes, and distribution setbacks, it almost seemed like the movie was cursed, unable to establish momentum as multiple release dates was scheduled and abandoned. Heck, the original Parisian premiere of the feature was canceled in November due to terrorist attacks. And yet, “Jane Got a Gun” has survived, finally seeing the light of day. Perhaps greatness was never in the cards for the production, but it manages to stand on its own two feet, with a mournful atmosphere that’s nicely handled by the cast and crew, who try to make sense of an impossible creative situation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s fairly easy to lampoon “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The source material is already nearing parody due to its misguided amplification of sensuality, leaving co-writer/star Marlon Wayans with little heavy lifting when it comes to making fun of something that’s already culturally shamed. Of course, this doesn’t stop Wayans, who returns to his juvenile sense of humor with “Fifty Shades of Black,” taking on the E.L. James empire with a no-budget vision for pantsing that sticks close to bodily orifices and racial humor. It’s awful, but you already knew that. On the bright side, at least this isn’t “A Haunted House 3.” Just kidding. There’s no such thing as a bright side when dealing with a Marlon Wayans production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While the wait between the first two installments of the “Kung Fu Panda” series was a surprisingly tight three years, the road to “Kung Panda 3” has been a little longer, with the last screen adventure for hero Po released in 2011. That’s an eternity in pop culture freshness time, putting pressure on directors Jennifer Yuh and Alessandro Carloni to make sure the second sequel was worth the extended production time. Mercifully, “Kung Fu Panda 3” is a respectable continuation of the animated franchise, and while the story isn’t completely engrossing, character charms and creative visual design remain as beguiling as ever. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Finest Hours” is a curious blend of a big-budget disaster movie and a modestly moving inspirational story of courage, politely refusing to commit to any single dramatic tone as it visits crashing waves and pained looks. It's an impressively mounted picture, favoring chaotic scenes of self-preservation as its details the horror of panicked men struggling to keep their ships under control and prevent loss of life as they face impossible odds of survival. And yet, as purely intentioned as it is, “The Finest Hours” isn't as emotionally charged as it would like to believe, gradually revealing an uncomfortable distance from the audience as ocean-based mayhem becomes a coldly realized visual effects display. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Veil” remains locked in a holding pattern between psychological horror and a ghost story, never prepared to take either extreme seriously. Yet another riff on the 1978 Jonestown Massacre, the picture isn’t particularly menacing, laboring to generate the claustrophobia of life inside a doomed cult without exploring its working parts to satisfaction. Director Phil Joanou is gifted a few provocative events in Robert Ben Garant’s screenplay, but the final edit generally strips the feature of intimidation, with cheap scares and lopsided storytelling diminishing attempts to introduce chills. “The Veil” has a certain way with menace, but it never follows through on the sinister business it introduces. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Lazer Team” certainly has spunk, carrying on with extraordinary energy as it attempts to satirize and celebrate the superhero genre. That little of it actually translates to laughs is a disappointment, but the production definitely deserves points for trying. Submitting untested actors in a low-budget action extravaganza, “Lazer Team” tries to get by on noise, cranking up performances and visual effects, but aggression doesn’t encourage comedy, finding the effort gasping for focus as director Matt Hullum struggles to achieve an overall balance of mischief and mayhem. The picture is never quiet for long, which might be enough to please its intended audience, but as long-form parodies go, “Lazer Team” isn’t particularly sharp. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I wish “The Boy” was nearly as fun as it sounds. Inspired by anthology horror shows like “The Twilight Zone,” the feature tries to pack in a few twists and turns as it slowly arranges a semi-haunted house environment for the main character. I suppose expecting something fresh from the director of the “The Devil Inside” is a mistake, but William Brent Bell only wants to cheat his way through “The Boy,” assembling a disappointingly flaccid chiller that’s never quite as amplified or disturbing as it could be, keeping a PG-13 mood of cheap scares and weak screenwriting before it gives up for good in the finale. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

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