Category: Film Review

“Mississippi Grind” is a story about gambling, but it’s careful not to glamorize the potentially destructive pastime. Instead of taking in the thrill of horse racing and casino action, the feature carries an ominous tone of self-destruction, essentially updating James Toback’s 1974 screenplay for “The Gambler.” Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck keep their effort low to the ground, picking up on behaviors and “tells” as they explore the corrosive nature of addiction, taking a long journey with two wayward characters as they experience the thrilling highs and desperate lows of gambling. Whatever “Mississippi Grind” lacks in efficiency, it makes up for it in pure observation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The director of “Independence Day,” “2012,” and “White House Down” is trying to grow up. Roland Emmerich made an attempt for art-house legitimacy with 2011’s “Anonymous,” hoping some intrigue surrounding Shakespeare’s creative origins might stimulate a career detour into more respectable projects featuring real characters, not just cartoon creations battling heavy CGI. It failed to attract much attention, inspiring Emmerich to capture the zeitgeist with “Stonewall,” a tale of gay rights wrapped up in an historical event that triggered a revolution of pride. Well-intentioned but frighteningly tone deaf, “Stonewall” (already the subject of numerous documentaries and books) doesn’t inspire hope and awareness, it simply pushes dreary formula and torturous melodrama, with Emmerich failing to create a single moment of humanity as cliché and stereotype run rampant. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After restoring his professional reputation with 2008’s “The Wrestler,” star Mickey Rourke encountered difficulty maintaining the momentum, following up his award-winning work with forgettable B-movies such as “The Courier,” “Java Heat,” and “Black November.” “Ashby” brings Rourke back to the realm of thespian possibility, once again playing a vulnerable old soul in a leathered profession, required to display intricate feelings as the screenplay mixes in some tough guy antics as well. He’s low-key but effective in the picture, which periodically struggles to make sense of itself, showing more skill with comedy than penetrating drama as it attempts to manage a quirky plot with a degree of emotional authenticity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To flavor his unpredictable filmography, Nicolas Cage heads toward horror with “Pay the Ghost.” While initial moments suggest a kidnapping drama featuring a determined dad, the movie eventually reveals a supernatural side, trying for frights instead of thrills. A mix of “The Wicker Man” (not the Cage version) and “Mama,” “Pay the Ghost” only connects through its star, who gives a passably haunted performance to help boost the lackluster screenplay. The picture is absurd and low-budget, but Cage holds up his end of the bargain, making sure turns of plot find their intended emotion, while helping to sell the urgency of the unfolding ghost story. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The search for love drives the direction of the documentary “Meet the Patels,” but the feature is truly about the influence of family when negotiating any outside relationships. Starring and co-directed by actor Ravi Patel, the effort is a charming, agreeably unsettled look at the quest for a mate, viewed through the prism of the Indian matchmaking machine — a system of data and personal judgment that’s eye-opening to watch come to life. “Meet the Patels” has the potential to lose itself in cutesy shenanigans, but Ravi, along with co-star/co-director and sister Geeta, secures a necessary level of honesty about the odyssey as they explore the steps to domestic contentment. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The soullessness of war is examined in “The Keeping Room,” a Civil War-set thriller that’s gorgeously photographed, sturdily acted, and fiercely concentrated, but lacks any substantial chills. Scripted by Julia Hart and directed by Daniel Barber (“Harry Brown”), “The Keeping Room” is aimed at viewers in a meditative mood, taking in the pitiless extremes of human behavior during an era of remorseless violence. It’s out to shock, but the feature is missing raw nerve appeal, often caught up in ponderous monologuing as a way to beef up sparse plotting, though when push comes to shove, Barber knows how to properly manipulate with this askew take on a home invasion nail-biter. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Cut” can be approached several different ways. For some audiences, the film paints a portrait of the Armenian Genocide, focusing on the agony of detainment and separation during an especially grim stretch of world history. Director Fatih Akin also concocts a mournful but motivated adventure story, with western influences driving a plot that finds a father looking to reunite with his twin daughters, crossing the world one step at a time. Simplicity is the picture’s best friend, with Akin wisely electing more visceral events to help encourage audience interest, all the while trying to add some morsels of education to the mix. However, “The Cut” is primarily driven by emotion and suspense, putting cinematic interests first. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Francois Ozon specializes in dreamy, cheeky, unusual cinema, but rarely has he made a movie as human as “The New Girlfriend.” Tapping into the zeitgeist to explore the evolution of a transgender character gradually revealing herself to the world, Ozon (adapting a short story by Ruth Rendell) constructs a gentle mystery of gender, grief, and friendship, tapping into intimate thoughts and troubled lives with a plan to explore personalities, not just reinforce external appearances. It’s an oddly sweet film, gentle and genuine, but it’s also aware of murky psychological spaces, pushing focus on clearing confusion, not sensationalizing the obvious. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Zombie cinema gets especially dark with “Cooties,” which is best described as “Dawn of the Dead” set inside an elementary school. Little kids are pure evil in the picture, with screenwriters Leigh Whannell and Ian Brennan attempting to disrupt expectations by taking on a taboo subject. The good news is that “Cooties” isn’t offensive, managing to support its special brand of insanity with generous helpings of silly business, always out to score laughs. While the feature doesn’t always land its jokes, it remains spirited work from directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion, who make their helming debut with this impish, incredibly gory romp through a realm filled with the prepubescent undead. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last year, “The Maze Runner” managed to break away from the grind of YA adaptations, emerging as an energetic take on post-apocalyptic scheming and survival, boosted by impressive visuals and breathless performances. Now there’s “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials,” a quickie sequel that’s looking to maintain franchise momentum after the previous picture concluded with a significant cliffhanger. What was semi-fresh and inviting about the original film is mostly gone from the follow-up, with returning director Wes Ball forgoing the construction of an enticing tale to stage repetitive chase sequences and encourage overacting, while the screenplay by T.S. Nowlin is weirdly determined to avoid any similarities to the source material. For all the running that goes on in “The Scorch Trials,” the continuation is strangely inert. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Captive” is a movie without suspense and clearly defined meaning. It’s a faith-based feature that doesn’t really share much about God, but it’s also a psychological thriller of sorts, with intensity communicated through long stares. It’s based on a true story, giving it room to explore the intricacies of the moment, watching two characters feel each other out during a uniquely emotional morning. “Captive” has something to share about belief and the troubles of man, but when it comes time to sharpen itself into a fine point of soulful release, the material is nowhere to be found, primarily infatuated with panicked, quivering reactions, not substantive interactions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There have been books, documentaries, and television productions about the 1996 Mount Everest Disaster, but nothing can touch “Everest” in terms of sheer you-are-there intensity. While the fates of those involved in the event have been known for almost two decades now, director Baltasar Kormakur finds a way to refresh the suspense of the moment, building a large-scale disaster movie that’s impressively executed, generating all the nail-biting sequences an endeavor like this requires. This isn’t a particularly uplifting tale of a doomed climb, but “Everest” captures the physical effort of mountaineering, the bustle of mountain life, and the futility of rescue, skillfully creating intimacy in the midst of complete chaos. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Gangster cinema pumps the brakes with “Black Mass,” a periodically effective offering of criminal activity and tough guy encounters. It tells the story of James “Whitey” Bulger, a South Boston crime lord who joined forces with the F.B.I. for informational purposes, building an empire with almost no outside interference. “Black Mass” is based on a true story (an adaptation of a 2001 book by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill), but it plays almost too softly, with director Scott Cooper striving to construct a sprawling saga of corruption, only to end up with a few terrific scenes and a lot of dead air. The movie initially promises something more kinetic than it ultimately delivers, often caught up in the community of thugs and feds that surrounded Bulger on a daily basis. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A few years ago, Leslye Headland made her directorial debut with “Bachelorette,” a raucous comedy that attempted to secure a female perspective on crude antics typically found in male-driven endeavors. It was a lousy picture, but there was hope that Headland could evolve from dim-wit humor, locating genuine (possibly even likable) characters and sharpening her slack timing. “Sleeping with Other People” is more of a lateral move for the helmer, who trades broad antics for breathless improvisation, turning what appears to be a sweet reworking of “When Harry Met Sally” into a borderline insufferable session of joke skeet shooting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“War Pigs” is an attempt to revive a classic, meat-on-the-bones approach to a World War II story, focusing on crusty, cynical men as they do battle with Nazis and their own secret reservoirs of combat shock. It’s a broad picture from director Ryan Little (“Forever Strong”), with nearly enough B-movie ambition to power its vision for a war film, working to generate enough leathery performances and entertaining training montages to help fog the reality that the production is spending next to nothing on anything besides costumes and digital effects. “War Pigs” is a cheap effort, but not without a few charms. It just takes a little too much work to locate the positives as Little stages action in what appears to be his backyard. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We now live in a time when stories of harmony and support are needed, providing reassurance that when the moment arrives, human beings are capable of more than just rampantly selfish and destructive behavior. “Rosenwald” is the latest documentary from filmmaker Aviva Kempner, who continues her exploration of the Jewish experience in America after scoring successes with “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” and “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg.” For her latest work, Kempner examines a tale of philanthropy and compassion, bringing the saga of Julius Rosenwald and his personal mission of support to the screen with an affectionate and exhaustive feature that’s greatly informative about the man and his life of habitual service. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The last decade has been rough on filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. After making a mess out of big-budget endeavors (“After Earth,” “The Last Airbender”) and personal projects (“Lady in the Water”), Shyamalan elects to return to his roots with “The Visit,” a found footage production that doesn’t require stars or cinematic razzle-dazzle, demanding only a jittery frame and random frights. “The Visit” isn’t a return to form for the helmer, but it retains a modest punch, with Shyamalan trying to blend devastating psychological issues with cheap scares, emerging with an intermittently clear vision for trauma that’s almost completely undone by desperate third act developments. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Exploitation needs a certain level of disease to come alive. It’s difficult to pull off sleaze with a PG-13 rating, especially with a story that involves heavy amounts of sex and violence. “The Perfect Guy” has a host of problems preventing it from achieving desired levels of excitement, but its primary misstep is blandness, watching what should be a swirl of bedroom heat and aggressive acts of intimidation diluted by a production that wants to open its doors to all audiences. “The Perfect Guy” has a few capable performances and an enormous amount of potential, but this reworking of the “Fatal Attraction”/“Play Misty for Me” formula doesn’t have the energy to put up a decent fight. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Alex Ross Perry doesn’t make easy films. His last effort, “Listen Up Philip,” submitted one of the most unpleasant lead characters in recent memory. His latest, “Queen of Earth,” explores the abyss of mental illness. He’s not the cheery type, but Perry has a way of making these dramatic explorations worthwhile, with periodic blips of profundity. Carried by a wonderfully ragged lead performance from Elisabeth Moss, “Queen of Earth” steps away from a clinical understanding of depression to go semi-Polanski, treating the fractured experience of a complete unraveling with a full immersion into paranoia and hopelessness, emerging with a secure study of friendship and phobia that feels organically communicated yet sharply cinematic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Chinese director Zhang Yimou has enjoyed quite a varied career, but his most famous cinematic achievements remain in the realm of action spectacles, with “Hero,” “House of Flying Daggers,” and “Curse of the Golden Flower” reaching a wider international audience. However, the helmer’s finest work is often found in his intimate dramas, with efforts such as “Raise the Red Lantern,” “Ju Dou,” and “The Road Home” delivering on atmosphere and emotion in a primal manner, while big screen style remains. “Coming Home” is a melodrama, but it’s an accomplished one, reflecting a time and place with minimal moves, yet sustaining a feel of heartache that’s engaging, even when it offers decidedly bittersweet moments. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com