Category: Film Review

Created as a sort of Hail Mary pass, a let’s-see-if-anybody-still-wants-these-movies production, 2011’s “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” ended up becoming the highest grossing installment of the “Mission: Impossible” film franchise, revitalizing the brand name and infusing the ongoing narrative with renewed outlaw vigor. “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” is the payoff punch, and while it doesn’t reach the thrills of “Ghost Protocol,” the latest chapter in the Ethan Hunt saga remains secure with enormous stunts, blazing chases, and needlessly convoluted villainy. Writer/director Christopher McQuarrie isn’t known for spectacle, but he manages an impressive fireworks display here, delivering a first half that frequently bests previous sequels. It’s the second half of “Rogue Nation” that’s worrisome. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1983’s “Vacation” wasn’t exactly a family friendly movie, but its pursuit of R-rated humor was always balanced with smart screenwriting (credited to John Hughes) and marvelous direction (from the late, great Harold Ramis). It’s a bona fide classic that’s stood the test of time, displaying Chevy Chase in top form as lovable lump Clark Griswold, who simply craves a family experience, dragging his wife and children across America to see the sights and visit theme park Walley World. There were sequels, two of them not exactly living up to the brand name, but they remained in step with a sense of humor that was never mean-spirited, just silly. 2015’s sequel/reheat “Vacation” doesn’t bother with taste or spirit, embarking on a long ride of poo-poo, pee-pee humor that’s pure punishment to sit through. It’s a new dawn for the Griswolds, and this time they’re making the journey to family bonding covered in human waste. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While it could easily read as career repetition, “Irrational Man” returns writer/director Woody Allen to a moral void he once investigated to great success in 1986’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors.” His aim isn’t quite a sharp the second time around, and his timing is a little slack, but Allen has a special perspective when it comes to acts of violence and pangs of guilt. Coming after last year’s dispiritingly shapeless “Magic in the Moonlight,” it’s encouraging to see Allen bare his teeth again, and the picture, while deeply flawed and periodically meandering, does a successful job grasping the art of justification, turning superiority into an aphrodisiac, which creates an interesting air of discomfort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Boulevard” represents the final onscreen appearance for Robin Williams, who passed away last August. While the role doesn’t provide a moment of comedy for Williams to work his customary charms, it does display his range as an actor, portraying a tortured man mummified by his own life. It’s a low-key turn from Williams, who barely raises his voice here, but his command of introspection, isolating a specialized pain that’s muffled by social obligations, is precisely what “Boulevard” requires to find meaning. Director Dito Montiel almost ruins the somber ambiance with hysterics, but it’s Williams (and co-star Kathy Baker) who hold interest, portraying a complex study of self with exceptional humanity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The actual Stanford Prison Experiment has inspired a few post-mortem documentaries and dramatic endeavors over the last four decades, most notably the 2001 German production, “Das Experiment.” It’s a scenario that’s built for screen exploration, offering actors juicy parts to play as average men are lured into extraordinary responses to a pressurized situation. For a director, the premise is thematically rich and wide open for suspenseful extremes, also challenging visual skill with its claustrophobic setting. “The Stanford Prison Experiment” is handled well by helmer Kyle Patrick Alvarez (“Easier with Practice”), who extracts enough tension and bizarre behavior to keep hostilities and cruelties compelling, though the inherent limitations and repetition of the Experiment retains its unsatisfying influence over the entire movie. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last year’s “The Lego Movie” was a glorified commercial for the globally beloved toy line, but it was handled with care, emphasizing the magic of the plastic bricks and their broad, multi-generational appeal. “A Lego Brickumentary” has the unfortunate position of being the follow-up to a story already told, though filmmakers Kief Davidson and Daniel Junge appear to understand the redundancy of their documentary, trying to find fresh avenues to explore when it comes to a toy that’s been around for over 60 years. “A Lego Brickumentary” isn’t stunning stuff, but for those in the mood for heartwarming stories of achievement and concentration, the effort isn’t hard on the senses, working overtime to be accessible to viewers of all ages, which successfully covers the Lego demographic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet doesn’t work very often, but when he ultimately winds himself up into production mode, his output is usually filled with substantial cinematic artistry, dark comedy, and flashes of tart whimsy. Responsible for “Amelie,” “The City of Lost Children,” and “A Very Long Engagement” (his lone dip into poisoned Hollywood waters, 1997’s “Alien: Resurrection,” remains woefully underappreciated), Jeunet doesn’t make lazy movies, but he doesn’t always make precise ones either. “The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet” is a head rush of big screen detail and beauty, but as a story, it’s something of a mess, trying to focus on profound pain while the production arranges all types of widescreen minutiae. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Exorcism movies have been all the rage in recent years, with titles like “The Devil Inside,” “Deliver Us from Evil,” and “The Last Exorcism” scratching the itch some ticket-buyers have to see young women possessed by Satan, with clueless, powerless priests unable to draw evil out. “The Vatican Tapes” is yet another installment of embedded demon cinema, and it arrives without a gimmick, basically telling a blah exorcism story with some vague found-footage elements, laboring to summon the end of the world without anything memorable to work with. Dull and somewhat amateurish, “The Vatican Tapes” goes through the motions, working on vomiting and eeriness, but ends up nowhere in particular, with director Mark Neveldine unnervingly comfortable making something everyone has seen before. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Pixels” began life as a 2010 short film from Patrick Jean, which detailed an alien invasion carried out by classic video game enemies, giving the director a chance to show off his skill with visual effects and love for arcade gaming. “Pixels” concludes its journey as a big-budget Adam Sandler comedy, which probably isn’t what Jean had in mind when he set out on this journey years ago. Sluggish comedy and tired Sandler-isms aside, the picture definitely has its moments of visual might, successfully translating Jean’s idea, just not his universe. Without Sandler, perhaps “Pixels” would’ve been spectacular. With the comedian slumped over in the starring role, the best the production can do is pay close attention to CGI nuances and gaming references, leaving the jokes to a guy who looks like he needs a nap these days. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Southpaw” is demanding to be experienced squarely in the gut. It’s not an intellectually stimulating picture, only an emotionally charged one, with everything the production has to offer poured into scenes where blood and tears flow, and dialogue pushed out of grinding teeth. Unfortunately, while such simplicity triggers visceral reactions, “Southpaw” can’t eye-bulge its way past a disappointing script that’s mostly about recycling moments from boxing cinema classics instead of inventing its own hero’s journey. The feature has a big heart and a tiny brain, and while I wouldn’t deny anyone the opportunity to lose themselves in juicy manipulation, it’s clear the production could’ve tried a little harder to make something significant instead helping itself to the towering pile of “Rocky” clichés. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Unexpected” initially presents itself as your average pregnancy dramedy, focusing on a 30-year-old woman confronted with the possibly of motherhood, refusing to let reality sink in. It doesn’t take long for co-writer/director Kris Swanberg to reveal her impatience with clichés, quickly moving past shock to mine the emotional depths of potential parenthood. “Unexpected” soon finds a plot, but it’s rather remarkable with silences, with Swanberg permitting the movie a chance to observe the lead character’s whirring mind without pausing for formula, depicting the enormity of the challenge ahead in a natural, honest manner, delivering encouraging depth and emotional nuance to the picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last summer, “The Fault in Our Stars” managed to break out of the blockbuster stranglehold and become a sizable hit. Adapted from the novel by John Green, the feature had heart and youth on its side, with a largely teenage audience driving ticket sales. Hoping to continue this profitable union, Hollywood reaches back into Green’s career to find “Paper Towns,” a novel published in 2008. While not even remotely close to the emotional volatility of “Stars,” “Paper Towns” does proudly wear Green’s fingerprints, playing directly to a younger audience while maintaining the perspective of its thirtysomething author, emerging with a certain degree of honesty about the teen experience that’s largely cloaked in quirk and thematic indecision. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Building a Scorsese/De Niro-style relationship of fruitful collaboration, director Christian Petzold and actress Nina Hoss continue their successful ways with “Phoenix,” a modest but highly charged drama set in post-WWII Berlin. Their fifth feature together (with credits that include “Yella” and “Barbara”), the team creates another squeeze of longing and loss, this time employing slight noir-ish qualities that develop the screenplay’s central theme of identity. However, “Phoenix” isn’t stylish escapism, but a psychological drama that touches on betrayal in the aftermath of incalculable tragedy, finding Petzold in command of mood and reveals, while Hoss delivers exemplary work in the lead role. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It may be hard to believe, but the original “Joe Dirt” was released all the way back in 2001, a time when movie theaters were open to the idea of running a comedy starring David Spade. Now there’s “Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser,” which took its sweet time to arrive on the scene, though it’s trading a theatrical release for an internet streaming debut, giving away the sequel for free. Despite such an enticing price tag, the follow-up remains overpriced, with Spade and co-writer/director Fred Wolf hitting rock bottom with this cheap, unimaginative effort. Not that the first feature was an example of comic timing and good taste, but the depths of laziness reached in “Joe Dirt 2” are genuinely shocking at times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Long before Hollywood immersed itself completely in comic book movies and geek culture, such big screen extravaganzas were few and far between. In the mid-1990s, Batman was really the only game in town, recently flexing box office muscle with “Batman Forever,” which pushed Tim Burton’s franchise down a brighter path of audience engagement, refreshing monetary potential. In the moments before “Batman & Robin” popped the superhero bubble, Warner Brothers was ready to revive another caped crusader for mass consumption: Superman. After burning through its own series of blockbusters, Superman was ready for a facelift, finding producer Jon Peters and the powers that be ready to return to Burton for another radical reworking of known elements. The picture was “Superman Lives,” and it never made it into production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As a stand-up comedian, Amy Schumer is known for her biting, off-color material, frequently taking jabs at her sex life and personal appearance. As an actress, Schumer hasn’t been fully tested, with work on her Comedy Central hit, “Inside Amy Schumer,” mostly regulated to broad, satiric antics and straight-man reactions to impossibly awkward situations. “Trainwreck” is her first starring vehicle, scripting herself a tale that’s not entirely different from ones she’s told before. There’s a feeling of repetition to “Trainwreck,” which is more about showing off what Schumer can do instead of changing career directions. Mercifully, she’s outstanding here, delivering a tart, touching performance, reaching surprising depths while director Judd Apatow struggles with tonality and timing, never exactly sure what type of movie he wants to make. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As Marvel Studios completes their “Phase Two” of film production, they’ve decided to sneak in one last superhero before the gate closes. After the gargantuan action of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” rattled multiplexes last May, “Ant-Man” arrives as an after-dinner mint, highlighting a little-known character in the Marvel universe, but one with unique technology. Sadly, to bring the diminutive warrior to the screen, the studio hired director Peyton Reed for the job. With credits such as “Down with Love,” “Bring It On,” and “Yes Man,” Reed isn’t the first helmer that comes to mind when thinking of a proper visionary for a comic book extravaganza, and “Ant-Man,” while second-tier by design, doesn’t benefit from his limited scope and impotent way with comedy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The Mexican Drug War is devastating its homeland, with violence and misery spilling over the border to America. When governments prove useless, with corruption overtaking responsibility, civilians proceed to make themselves the first line of defense. The documentary “Cartel Land” studies aggression fueling cartel butchery and vigilante justice, with director Matthew Heineman embedded in Mexico and America to grasp the subtle ways the average person is striking back at encroaching evil. The you-are-there aspects of “Cartel Land” are compelling, with Heineman capturing street horrors and subtle shifts in power, creating an inherently frustrating but informative look at national defense and human vanity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In a summer moviegoing season that’s light on heartwarming entertainment, “Batkid Begins” is specifically designed to make sure every ticket-buyer exits the theater with a lump in their throat and hope for a better tomorrow. Recounting the saga of young Miles Scott, a six-year-old boy from small-town California with leukemia who elected to use his Make-A-Wish dream to become Batman, “Batkid Begins” journeys into the heart of charity and community support, clearing away the ugliness of the world for 80 minutes to bask in the glow of what was intended to be a block-wide event that eventually snowballed into a global phenomenon. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The world of Sherlock Holmes has never really gone out of style, but the consulting detective, created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is all the rage these days, inspiring movies, television, and books that continue to mine the character’s obsession with mystery over 125 years after his introduction. “Mr. Holmes” takes a slightly different approach to crime-solving, introducing an elderly Sherlock at the very end of his days, struggling with memory as he winds down his life. Director Bill Condon (“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”) remains respectful of Doyle’s creation, and purists will likely enjoy viewing a different incarnation of the famous sleuth, but this is a very deliberate picture, restrained and observant, perhaps a bit too slow for its own good. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com