Category: Film Review

Ghost stories are common fodder for low-budget horror productions, offering filmmakers an opportunity to stage eerie events in the near dark, playing up intensity without the need to spend gobs of money to execute broad visuals. “We Are Still Here” is the latest picture to try its hand at shadowy evil, emerging from the mind of writer/director Ted Geoghegan, who makes his feature-length filmmaking debut. Teasing routine, the endeavor instead spins off into its own strange world of poltergeists and family drama, supported by a full-throated moviemaking effort that gives “We Are Still Here” cinematic authority, punctuated with a killer third act. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Heaven Knows What” is a difficult film to sit through. Directors Ben and Joshua Safdie aren’t interested in crafting an overview of heroin addiction and homelessness, they want viewers to live alongside the characters, feeling every drowsy step and rambling thought. It’s certainly a challenge to process the story and learn to accept discomfort, but the reward is an evocative look at lost souls in New York City, updating “Panic in Needle Park” for a new generation of ailing young people who don’t have a future. Again, there are mental and physical endurance issues to consider before buying a ticket, but underneath the thick layer of disease remains a potent look at the demands of self-medication. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The 11th Hour” is produced by Zentropa Entertainment, a Danish filmmaking company co-founded in 1992 by Lars Von Trier. Throughout their history, Zentropa has dedicated itself to becoming a European misery factory, churning out such pick-me-ups as “Antichrist,” “Brothers,” and “Dancer in the Dark.” They’re responsible for a few legitimate classics and a handful of absolute cinematic atrocities, but rarely do they play on the sunny side of the street. “The 11th Hour” is one of their bleakest endeavors, surveying struggles with miscarriages, human trafficking, drug addiction, and rape. Somehow, Kim Basinger found her way to the production, and while she’s strong here, it’s difficult for anything to register as more than simple provocation from a studio that has a template for this style of storytelling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Legendary actor Robert Duvall received universal acclaim with his third directorial effort, 1997’s “The Apostle.” Stepping away for a few years, Duvall returned helming duty with 2002’s scattered “Assassination Tango,” co-starring with his wife, Luciana Duvall. “Wild Horses” marks Duvall’s fifth trip behind the camera (in a Hollywood career that dates back to 1960) and could very well be the most random picture he’s even been involved with. A cowboy soap opera with murder, bigotry, politics, and bible quotes, “Wild Horses” is likely the end result of a ten-hour-long rough cut that just couldn’t be tamed. It’s a mess, a complete and utter mess, but shockingly, the movie is rarely dull, embracing just enough of Duvall’s dedication to realism to make it bearable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2012, director Rodney Ascher created “Room 237,” a loving ode to the mysteries of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 effort, “The Shining.” Filled with paranoia, atmosphere, and insight, the documentary challenged everything there was to know about the movie, opening it up to a fresh round of cineaste dissection. Now intent on making his own Kubrickian picture, Ascher returns with “The Nightmare,” another voyage into psychological darkness, this time looking at the lasting effect of sleep paralysis, a phenomenon that locks the afflicted in a gray area of consciousness, typically summoning haunted visions and frightening dreamscape encounters. Ascher doesn’t have enough content to fill an entire feature, but “The Nightmare” is a fascinating study of fear and analysis, with eight subjects brave enough to share their stories with the viewer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2010’s “Insidious” was a fresh take on haunted happenings, yanking director James Wan out of a directorial slump and putting him on a new path of terror interests that pulled away from his dismal “Saw” origins. It was a snappy, scary ghost story that felt self-contained, but box office was juicy, and the moneymen rang the sequel gong quickly. In 2013, “Insidious: Chapter 2” was released, and while the sequel made a fortune, creatively, the series immediately started to sink. Without a viable story and considered scares, Wan couldn’t mask the cash-in motivation for the follow-up, effectively ruining a good thing. And now there’s “Insidious: Chapter 3,” which loses Wan, allowing writing partner and series actor Leigh Whannell to step behind the camera, making his directorial debut. Unfortunately, Whannell makes a disappointing impression, with his “Insidious: Chapter 3” the least frightening and dramatic of the bunch. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Spy” is a send-up of the James Bond series, and who better to pants 007 than Melissa McCarthy. The actress is perfectly suited for the broad antics of the movie, sent through an obstacle course of slapstick, action, and one-liners, emerging as a surprisingly effective big screen hero. “Spy” is McCarthy’s third collaboration with writer/director Paul Feig, with the pair easily topping the tepid antics of “Bridesmaids” and “The Heat” with this wonderfully amusing and unnervingly high-impact extravaganza. It’s one thing to simply pose the lead in funny positions as chaos erupts, milking a sight gag for everything it’s worth. But Feig is in love with McCarthy, giving her a real role to play as she works out the visual silliness she’s known for. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Hungry Hearts” is an unusual horror film. It doesn’t deal with poltergeists, zombies, or monsters, only the terrifying realm of marital manipulation. It’s a war zone where every word is a weapon and every action of protection a betrayal. As disturbing as any chainsaw massacre, “Hungry Hearts” deals in sinister business, inspecting depression and subtle acts of submission that register with realism, even as director Saverio Costanzo gradually pushes the illness into more cinematic areas of suspense. While it teases geniality, the movie gradually unleashes its poison, generating remarkable tension without indulging more grandiose acts of betrayal. Sometimes all it takes is a portrait of an unstable mother to conjure complete terror. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s a rumor circulating that Studio Ghibli, the famed Japanese house of animation, is going out of business. When legendary director Hayao Miyazaki, a studio founder, announced his retirement in 2013, it put the brakes on creative movement, with their last and possibly final effort, “When Marnie Was There,” finally making its U.S. debut. In keeping with Studio Ghibli standards, “When Marnie Was There” is mysterious and achingly human, using gorgeous animation to create an enigmatic, possibly magical world of secret friendships and otherworldly entities, using the unknown to guide the viewer through a screenplay that touches on sensitive issues of abandonment and doubt. It’s a puzzle at times, but an especially sensitive one that’s crafted with care. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After the global success of the “Sex and the City” movies, it’s bizarre that Hollywood hasn’t made the effort to turn every reasonably successful show into a big screen event. “Entourage” certainly seems like a good fit, with the HBO series (which premiered in 2004) offering salacious content, industry satire, and a warm climate to film in. It comes with some surprise to find “Entourage” failing to do much of anything as a feature, with creator/director/screenwriter Doug Ellin satisfied with turning the picture into an extended episode of the show, complete with dismal performances and the most anticlimactic ending of the year. Granted, the series wasn’t known for its quality, but Ellin is on autopilot here, content to hit the basics and pray for a sequel. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When most moviegoers hear the title “The French Connection,” memories of Gene Hackman slinging riddles, barking at baddies, and steamrolling through New York City in a runaway car immediately spring to mind. It’s a tough act to top, with the 1971 William Freidkin picture considered a classic. “The Connection” isn’t out to top the Academy Award-winning film, instead taking a different approach to a story of cops and criminals making trouble for each other over the heroin trade. A French production that’s clearly influenced by American cinema, “The Connection” has the directorial muscle to connect the dots on routine material, finding a steady thriller beat and strong performances to support another foray into the drug smuggling underworld. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A few years ago, writer/director Andrew Bujalski crafted “Computer Chess.” A quirky comedy with a distinct visual approach, the film was a free range creation, chasing every whim while showing comfort with stillness. It was an idiosyncratic journey into semi-tedium that felt like a novelty, but with “Results,” Bujalski’s follow-up feature, it’s clear that long displays of pure behavior might be his only interest. “Results” is amusing and uniquely performed, and the screenplay’s dedication to uncomfortable situations is laudable. Its shapelessness is a challenge, even with defined mischief, leaving the effort periodically struggling for oxygen, lost in permissiveness as the story begins skipping beats to simulate momentum. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Survivor” wants to be accepted as a serious study of global terrorism and the everyday heroes who fight the bad guys through investigative measures. It’s a fine idea for a movie, but the script from Philip Shelby would rather play with broad chase sequences and laborious exposition than dig into the authenticity of office-bound defenders. Director James McTeigue (“V for Vendetta,” “The Raven”) does surprisingly little with “Survivor,” staging mundane action and guiding blank performances as the picture quickly grows into a basic DTV thriller, only missing a supporting appearance from Steven Seagal. Aiming to be pulse-pounding entertainment, the feature is barely able to keep itself awake. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Cameron Crowe used to make wonderful movies. They were pictures filled with humanity, warmth, and humor, dissecting the challenges of everyday life with tonal precision. While many single out 2005’s “Elizabethtown” as the first misstep in Crowe’s career, 2011’s “We Bought a Zoo” is a more defined fault line for the creative quake to come, with the feature resembling a parody of a Crowe film, not the real thing. “Aloha” is his latest big screen effort and likely his last for quite some time. A staggering mess of characters and plot, “Aloha” runs on autopilot, finding Crowe completely mystified by his own work, returning to tried-and-true scenes of cutesy idiosyncrasy and dewy romanticism without a basic understanding of what he’s doing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The disaster movie genre isn’t quite the powerhouse it once was. Think 2009’s profoundly goofy “2012,” which attempted to destroy the world one tuneless scene at a time. And now there’s cheap parody entertainment flooding pop culture, with the likes of 2013’s “Sharknado” and its lunch money budget defining screen catastrophe these days. “San Andreas” isn’t going to win any awards for originality, but its solemnity is a gift, returning a little horror and pain to mass destruction, delivering an end-of-the-world tone with a firm handle on panic. It’s hokey at times, definitely too long for such a thin premise, but “San Andreas” is never jokey, displaying an endearing determination to take catastrophe with the passable seriousness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Gemma Bovery” gives the impression that it’s going to be an exhaustively intellectual experience, demanding audiences come to the picture with knowledge of author Gustave Flaubert and his greatest success, the 1856 story, “Madame Bovary.” Thankfully, “Gemma Bovery” isn’t a rigid foray into literary analysis, but a slightly cheekier examination of obsession with an interesting handle on tragedy. Adapted from a 1999 graphic novel by Posy Simmonds and directed by Anne Fontaine (“Adore,” “Coco Before Chanel”), the feature manages to tackle grim events with a certain lightness, while paying tribute to Flaubert’s work in a most unusual manner. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Barely Lethal” doesn’t know what type of film it wants to be. Opening as a satire of spy movies and teen cinema, the picture eventually gives in to cliché, becoming the very thing it was previously looking to lampoon. Director Kyle Newman gets caught up in the frivolity, concentrating on surface details and visual gags to such a degree, he forgets there’s a story to tend to. While it promises a clever pantsing, “Barely Lethal” ends up sleepover material, losing its bite and focus as it slowly becomes a tiresome Disney Channel-style production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

BASE jumping (Building, Antenna, Span, and Earth) is difficult to understand. Not the actual mechanics of the sport, but the mindset required to leap from impossibly high urban and rural areas without clearance from local authorities and often without warning. “Sunshine Superman” is a documentary about Carl Boenish, the man who essentially originated the pastime, tracking his development into a “freefall cinematographer” and focal point for the BASE movement. Director Marah Strauch has a lot of respect for Boenish, and this passion glows throughout “Sunshine Superman.” However, as an inspection of daredevil antics colliding with quasi-religious release, there are surprisingly few details about the man that contribute to a meaningful profile. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There are knock-offs of “Mamma Mia,” and then there’s “Walking on Sunshine,” a British jukebox musical that sets out to replicate the sun-and-song formula to fuel another blockbuster success. Directors Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini aren’t fooling around here, actively looking to reheat “Mamma Mia” for a slightly younger audience, eschewing ABBA hits to mine the depths of pop music from the 1980s, creating a mix tape-style experience that merges singing, dancing, and easily digestible conflicts, while the whole thing is drenched in sun and colored with tanned skin. The laziness of the effort is remarkable to watch at times, even when its cast works diligently to put on a big show, making “Walking on Sunshine” amiable but frequently insufferable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When writer/director Tom Six unleashed “The Human Centipede” on the world in 2009, I doubt he had any expectations beyond cult notice. His vision for horror was graphic and cruel, yet somehow the picture became a punchline in film nerd circles, while newcomers treated the feature as the ultimate dare. With extremity comes notoriety and profits soon follow, and now audiences are faced with “The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence),” which turns what was once intended to be a shocking and soul-crushing saga into a particularly violent “Funny or Die” sketch, leaving Six grasping to find a way to keep his cash cow sufficiently nourished for another installment of surgery and madness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com