Category: Film Review

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

The director of “Wings of Desire” and “Paris, Texas,” Wim Wenders has kept his distance from fiction filmmaking in recent years, immersing himself in documentary work (including “Pina” and “The Salt of the Earth”) to provide artistic clarity. “Every Thing Will Be Fine” is his first dramatic effort in nearly a decade, and the feature unfortunately reflects such rustiness. Trying to capture the curvature of the Earth, Wenders gets lost in his own creation, lacking concentration on the basics of human response as gorgeous cinematography gradually becomes his only reason to keep hanging around a seriously undercooked production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s going to be difficult for Scott Eastwood to have an acting career that isn’t always compared to his father, Clint. However, he’s not making it easy for himself by starring in “Diablo,” a modern take on a spaghetti western that finds the famous progeny brandishing guns and squints as co-writer/director Lawrence Roeck plays with his interests in the genre. “Diablo” has a few tricks up its sleeve and a familiar face in the lead role, but it doesn’t piece a convincing mystery together, sloppily revealing its hand long before the feature reaches its climax, leaving Eastwood to do all the heavy lifting with little inspiration to work with. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Chi-Raq” represents a return to form for co-writer/director Spike Lee. The last decade has been tough for the once mighty helmer, with recent releases (“Da Sweet Blood of Jesus,” “Red Hook Summer”) forgotten soon after their initial release, while his last studio effort, the wretched “Oldboy,” almost killed his career. “Chi-Raq” revives Lee’s distinctive interests in social commentary and satire, taking on gun and thug culture with a blistering overview of Chicago as it slowly succumbs to brutality. Submitting his finest work since the 1990s, Lee is inspired and alert for a change, displaying renewed interest in the world around him. The mischief and outrage presented here is outstanding. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s important to note that “Yosemite” is based on a few short stories conceived by James Franco and writer/director Gabrielle Demeestrere. The picture doesn’t have shape, it has ideas and moments, with only a vague tethering of characters to help acclimate audiences to the experiences at hand. Demanding a more fluid moviegoing mind, “Yosemite” is ideal for those who enjoy atmosphere and a distant sense of conflict, with Demeestrere handling the material as test of exploration, not necessarily drama. It’s an interesting effort with a clear portrait of pre-adolescent curiosity, but it’s not something to be viewed casually, as the feature’s patience with tone takes some getting used to. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Absolutely Anything” is dripping with promise. Its main source of curiosity is a Monty Python mini-reunion, with the comedy troupe members contributing voice work to portray a race of malevolent aliens. It’s also the first feature film directed by Python vet Terry Jones in nearly two decades (1996’s “The Wind in the Willows” being his last effort). And the movie marks the final screen work of icon Robin Williams, who participates as the voice of a dog. “Absolutely Anything” has a lot going for it, including an enthusiastic lead performance from Simon Pegg, yet Jones doesn’t quite know how to manage all the quirk and slapstick of the picture, which never comes together as completely as it could, disappointing on multiple levels. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Charlie Kaufman is an acquired taste. He’s a filmmaker who loves to build puzzles out of human misery, and he’s collected a cult following with screenplays for “Being John Malkovich,” “Adaptation,” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” It’s been awhile since Kaufman made a movie, with 2008’s “Synecdoche, New York” (his directorial debut) his last endeavor, failing to attract much attention from understandably fatigued audiences. Kaufman returns with “Anomalisa,” but he’s moved over to the animated realm, co-helming (with Duke Johnson) a stop-motion feature that doesn’t stray far from his dramatic interests, once again boarding a downward spiral into depression and delusion, only here the characters participate in a more defined universe of unreality while Kaufman strives to keep the tale achingly authentic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com