Category: Film Review

“American Ultra” wants to be a number of different movies, never settling on a consistent tone to carry out its interests in dark comedy. It’s a mixed bag of highlights, and one that grows tiring the longer it meanders with bland character and jokes. The big draw is the opportunity to watch star Jesse Eisenberg, king of the nebbish performances, become Jason Bourne for the brief moment, portraying a killing machine with severe anxiety issues. “American Ultra” has promise but not much payoff, unless a steady stream of breaking glass, superfluous style, and miscastings are your idea of an enriching night at the multiplex. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We already endured this less than a decade ago. 2007’s “Hitman” was an attempt to launch another video game-inspired franchise after a few others titles, notably “Resident Evil,” began to dominate the box office, hoping to lure players in with a big screen exploration of genetically-modified ultraviolence carried out by a bald man with a barcode on the back of his head. The feature underperformed and slipped out of sight, but a little profit is still profit. The producers have decided to try their luck once again with “Hitman: Agent 47,” a decidedly more plasticized version of the same old story, replacing previous star Timothy Olyphant with Rupert Friend, though I doubt anyone will notice. The emphasis is on CGI and scowling, and “Agent 47” is filled to the brim with cartoon imagery and angry faces. Anything more challenging simply confuses an already brain dead production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Marlon Brando spent the first half of his life seeking fame, and the second half rejecting everything stardom had to offer. As a Hollywood enigma, he was one of the most enticing, with most of his filmography made up of curious creative choices and pure money gigs, while his personal life was a mystery of social withdrawal and tragedy, finding the blinding spotlight too much to handle as youthful careerism gave way to maturation and concern. “Listen to Me Marlon” isn’t a straightforward documentary on the legend’s life, but it does file though the highlights. However, instead of an outside narrator guiding the experience, director Stevan Riley cuts together Brando’s own words, filing through recordings the actor made while in the mood for confession. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Ten Thousand Saints” marks the return of directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who, a little over a decade ago, made a splash with “American Splendor,” only to stumble with follow-ups including “The Nanny Diaries,” “The Extra Man,” and the unpleasant “Girl Most Likely.” “Ten Thousand Saints” frequently struggles to put together a sizable story with interconnected characters, but it finds warmth, humor, and heartache along the way, allowing Berman and Pulcini a chance to explore dimensional personalities in a flavorful setting. It’s far from a perfect film, but when it locks on to an emotionally complex moment, the feature succeeds more than a fails. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To some, he was just a daredevil. To others, Evel Knievel was a hero, with his fearless attempts to conquer danger providing a unique source of inspiration. “Being Evel” is actually the second Knievel documentary released in the past year, and instead of simply checking off accomplishments and biographical highlights, the production submits a tone of recollection, gathering friends, family, and admirers to reflect on Knievel’s career, with emphasis on his volatile personality. “Being Evel” isn’t a complex deconstruction of the stunt icon’s history. It’s more of a campfire remembrance, asking those closest to the star to share anecdotes and provide perspective when needed. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s tough to be a Pierce Brosnan admirer these days. The talented actor has been caught in a career rut as of late, participating in dreary actioners (“Survivor,” “The November Man”) that merely require him to grimace and shoot blanks at stunt professionals. Truthfully, he’s been the highlight of most movies he makes, but even his tight-faced charm is buried in “Some Kind of Beautiful,” a bewilderingly titled romantic comedy that’s about as warm and humorous as a TSA waiting line. While Brosnan and co-stars Salma Hayek and Jessica Alba try to wind up the effort with a healthy dose of manic energy, “Some Kind of Beautiful” limps along with dud scenes and a weird appreciation for happily ever after. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Any appreciation of “She’s Funny That Way” requires digestion of star Imogen Poots’s comically large Brooklyn accent. The British actress attempts to squawk her way through the latest effort from Peter Bogdanovich, who hasn’t helmed a big screen feature since 2001’s “The Cat’s Meow,” attempting to tap into the picture’s broad style and classic Hollywood exaggeration, only to emerge with a performance that’s shrill and unconvincing. The rest of “She’s Funny That Way” follows suit, struggling to retain a certain madcap snap, only the screenplay doesn’t offer much in the way of punchlines and the actors gathered aren’t especially known for their crisp timing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After watching Rosamund Pike portray a scheming, murderous psychopath in last year’s “Gone Girl,” it’s a little strange to see the actress attempt a variation on the role in “Return to Sender.” As exploitation goes, the picture doesn’t add up to much, delaying the inevitable for so long, it doesn’t really matter much to the movie when violence finally arrives. Rocking back and forth between sensitivity and cheap thrills, “Return to Sender” is kept alive by Pike’s performance, which strives to make the character arc meaningful while director Fouad Mikati (responsible for the cringe-worthy misfire, “Operation: Endgame”) fumbles the essentials in suspense. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After smashing through box office expectations with two highly successful “Sherlock Holmes” movies, director Guy Ritchie tries to keep the same intrigue and action alive, but in a slightly more modern setting. “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” takes special care to revive the 1960s, with Ritchie trying to celebrate the era of the original television show the movie takes its inspiration from, reviving big style and paranoia for a retro romp through Cold War tensions. “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” is stacked with stunning visuals and Ritchie’s dry wit, but it struggles to snap out of its too-cool-for-school slumber, while leads Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer do a terrific impression of male mannequins, robbing the picture of needed charm. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

On the album cover of the 1988 N.W.A. album, “Straight Outta Compton,” there are six men displayed. The N.W.A. bio-pic, “Straight Outta Compton,” only focuses on three members of the group. For some, emphasis on rappers Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E is a no-brainer, with the artists forming the identity and sound of the band. However, for dramatic purposes, the highlighting of only half the group immediately rings false. In fact, much of “Straight Outta Compton” comes across as fiction, with screenwriters Andrea Berloff and Jonathan Herman trying to create a superhero origin story that keeps the brand names happy, making Dre and Cube the stars of the show, preserving their reputations as they cloud the true creative nucleus of the group. The picture isn’t really a biography, it’s an application for sainthood. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A talented actor and comedian, Jemaine Clement has never truly found his footing as movie performer. He’s always the bright spot in anything he appears in, but Clement certainly deserves a more significant challenge to bring out his charisma and depth. After scoring major laughs in the delightfully silly “What We Do in the Shadows,” Clement finds a proper sweet and sour balance in “People Places Things,” which truly brings him to life as a leading man. While hilarious, “People Places Things” is also smart about the confusion of divorce and the fatigue of parenthood, launching a dramedy that’s knowledgeable about the human heart while still tending to moments of humor that Clement sells with customary dryness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Jon Watts recently won himself the opportunity to helm the next big screen version of Spider-Man, with his name a surprising addition to the big screen superhero journey. There isn’t anything contained in his newest film, “Cop Car,” to suggest time in the Marvel Universe is a natural extension to his career, unless the next crime-fighting odyssey for the web-slinger involves long passages of stillness, near-silent performances, and a cold-blooded look at the true price of mischief. “Cop Car” is deliberate, which might drive some viewers to give up on it long before it reaches a conclusion, but patience is rewarded with intense performances, darkly comic highlights, and finale that pays off all the waiting with a wallop of suspense. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While trying to sustain a career in Hollywood, recently appearing in pictures such as “Homefront” and “Straw Dogs,” Kate Bosworth has been balancing the money gigs with indie features that ask a little more of the actress. Movies like “Black Rock,” “And While We Were Here,” and “Still Alice” provide richer dramatic possibilities, yet “Amnesiac” is situated somewhere in the middle of creative risk-taking, with director Michael Polish (Bosworth’s real-life husband) attempting to merge exploitation interests with deliberate art-house filmmaking. While packed with scenes of malicious conduct, “Amnesiac” isn’t an effort that’s looking for cheap scares, taking its sweet time to find tension, putting its faith in Bosworth and co-star Wes Bentley. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Juan Jose Campanella is best known for his work on the adult dramas “The Secret in Their Eyes” and “Son of the Bride,” along with his extensive time on television, helming shows like “House M.D.” and “Halt and Catch Fire.” “Underdogs” is his first foray into animation, and to give his production a distinct personality, he’s elected to make a foosball comedy. The Argentine production, “Underdogs” backs up a fascinating premise with a decent amount of laughs, making a soccer comedy on a tiny scale, using cartoon exaggeration to play with visuals and find a fresh way to attack the routine of a sports picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Big Sky” is a story of survival mixed with crime film clichés. The psychological aspects of the screenplay are enticing, taking a long look at agoraphobia, and how such anxiety is managed while trapped in frantic flare-up of self-preservation. Director Jorge Michel Grau (“The ABCs of Death”) struggles with a basics of suspense, and screenwriter Evan M. Wiener (“Monogamy”) looks to create a community aspect of panic, which inches the feature away from an intimate understanding of the lead character and her long road to safety. “Big Sky” is engaging, with select moments locating an intriguing tone of doubt, finding its more conventional ideas and stand-offs intrusive. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As televised intellectual pursuits go, few showdowns have managed to rival the series of debates that took place in 1968 featuring William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal. Two titans of the political and literary realm, the men were paired in an effort to boost ratings, only to walk away from the experience with a newfound hatred of each other. “Best of Enemies” is a documentary devoted to the debates and their aftermath, tracking an impressive display of ego handed a prime time slot to the delight of Americans everywhere, also helping to shape shrieking punditry as we know it today. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Air” offers an intriguing premise, but there’s little evidence provided here that supports the decision to take what’s clearly only enough plot for a short film and stretch it out to feature-length standards. It’s a two-hander acting opportunity for stars Djimon Hounsou and Norman Reedus, who obviously relish the chance to be the main attraction, guiding this concrete-bound post-apocalyptic tale of survival. Co-writer/director Christian Cantamessa guides a sharp, evocative effort, but there just isn’t anything here that demands attention, with much of “Air” handed over to exploratory sequences that feel like padding, trying desperately to make something major out of something minor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Although there have been plenty of movies made about the struggle of mountain climbing, with its impossible tests of physical and psychological limitations (the big-budget “Everest” opens in the fall), “Meru” has a different approach to the assembly of breathless participants and frightening heights. Taking an emotional look at the spirit of climbing and the process of taking on one of the most difficult mountains in the world, “Meru” imparts lessons on the value of determination and shares imposing images of the center trek — a quest that threatens the safety of three men in the midst of life-altering challenges. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Final Girl” is a directorial debut for photographer Tyler Shields, who takes the opportunity to show off his visual prowess with a minor riff on slasher film formula. Storytelling isn’t his strong suit, as the movie lacks almost any level of suspense or characterization, existing only to show off dramatic lightning. A dismal, uneventful, and pointless picture, “Final Girl” never really knows what it wants to do with its screen time, fumbling psychological examination to play with silly violence, while personalities and motivations are missing from the final cut. It’s a resume effort from Shields, who seems better suited for beer commercials than big screen dramatics. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As the title suggests, “Do I Sound Gay?” is a story about the quest for a voice, and for writer/director/star David Thorpe, one that’s masculine is preferable. Using his own mission to fix speech patterns and deepen his voice, Thorpe opens a can of worms with his documentary, touching on a subject that isn’t covered very often in pop culture beyond unfair punchlines. “Do I Sound Gay?” isn’t profound, but Thorpe’s investigation into self-esteem and public personas touches on a few universal truths about identity, while delivering interesting theories about the origin of specific speech challenges and the power of influence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com