Category: Film Review

As understated romances go, “Felix and Meira” has the advantage of religious divide. An unusual story of hesitation and self-expression, the French-Canadian production manages to preserve a sense of restraint, delivering characterization through looks instead of melodrama. While it features a few bizarre touches, “Felix and Meira” is strongly detailed by co-writer/director Maxime Giroux, who uses the limited space he’s created to examine intimacy that rarely carries over to demonstration. It’s a refreshing change of pace in a measured movie, with emotion pushing through silences as the plot seeks to understand personal need, not itemize the high and lows of human connection. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

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It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Steven Seagal take on a starring role in a feature film. There’s was a supporting turn in 2010’s “Machete,” but little of his output receives much attention these days, sticking to the DTV market to pump out actioners with nondescript titles such as “Urban Justice” and “A Dangerous Man.” He was once an excitingly intimidating screen presence in the early 1990s, but Seagal isn’t interested in making an effort anymore. “Absolution” is his latest thriller, a sequel to 2013’s “Force of Execution” and 2014’s “A Good Man,” though one could hardly tell from the general programmed feel of the picture. Returning to his comfort zone of bulky costuming and easily defeated baddies, the new Seagal production is much like the other Seagal productions, with the mumbly, iron-fisted star barely paying attention while the movie carries on around him. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been 30 years since the release of “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome,” the last installment of the George Miller franchise to star Mel Gibson as a titular post-apocalyptic survivor. Having gone on to create some memorable cinema (“The Witches of Eastwick,” “Lorenzo’s Oil”) and a few creative question marks (“Babe: Pig in the City,” “Happy Feet Two”), it seems Miller is itching to return to the open road, craving some automobile mayhem. Fitting star Tom Hardy for the famous boots and protective gear, Miller revs up a new generation of hero for “Mad Max: Fury Road,” which pumps the core battle between man and machine up to an epic size, while losing none of the delightful idiosyncrasy the helmer has turned into a fingerprint. It’s enormous, destructive, and largely indescribable. It’s also a gleefully barnstorming actioner that’s going to be difficult to top this year. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Following in the footsteps of “Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey,” “I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story” tells the tale of an icon underneath an icon. Spinney is the performer of characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on “Sesame Street,” dividing his time between two of the most popular puppets in the history of the globally revered public television program. Spinney is also one of the few left who was there at the very beginning, spending over 40 years entertaining children with puppetry that places tremendous demand on his body. It seems appropriate that Spinney should have a moment in spotlight, with directors Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker securing the performer’s legacy with this fascinating documentary. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2012’s “Pitch Perfect” was a type of sleeper hit Hollywood doesn’t experience much anymore. Without stars to sell, the featured used music as a way to entice its audience, and once those ticket-buyers where lassoed into the theater, they were sold a smorgasbord of stereotype humor and vomit jokes. But the music remained, helping the picture score big with its primary demographic, spawning a hit single in Anna Kendrick’s “Cups.” Of course a sequel was ordered, only little thought has been put into the continuing adventures of the Barden Bellas, with director Elizabeth Banks returning to the comfort of songs and broad performances, declining to do anything original with chapter two. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Iris Apfel is an original. Sharp, funny, and in possession of a worldly knowledge of fashion and art, Iris has made a name for herself through collecting, filling an apartment and storage units with diverse clothing, accessories, and tchotchkes. It’s no wonder director Albert Maysles elected to make a documentary about her life and philosophy. In fact, Maysels, a legendary documentarian (“Gimme Shelter,” “Grey Gardens”), almost becomes a part of the feature, joining Iris as she visits her favorite places, displays her authority and instinct, and carries on with everyday business, leaving the filmmaker to create his own moments of cinematic focus. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Screenwriter/star Sonja Bennett has the right idea with “Preggoland.” Confronting the cult of mommydom and assorted issues of maturity, Bennett creates a comedy that reaches a few honest points of repulsion, dealing with real emotions surrounding the peer pressure to reproduce. There are also numerous sitcom touches to the writing that derail Bennett’s themes, with “Preggoland” caught pulling a few punches. Despite a few ill-advised detours into predictability, the feature generally remains on task, constructing a compelling, periodically amusing look at conformity and misunderstanding, finding some fresh material to mine with a plot that’s already informed a wide range of comedy projects. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Welcome to Me” is a story about mental illness, though it’s difficult to tell if writer Eliot Laurence is celebrating or sympathizing with his main character’s gradual emotional breakdown. It’s a film of details and obsessions, with star Kristen Wiig delivering customarily strong work in the lead role, finding all the little behavioral beats required to find humanity in the supposed hilarity. Wildly uneven, “Welcome to Me” comes off as a cry for help, yet the production tends to process instability as quirk, attempting to find the bright side of psychological decay. It leaves the picture uncomfortable to watch, and this is perhaps the exact response director Shira Piven is looking for. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“5 Flights Up” teases dramatic arcs and directions, but it’s primarily a character piece about memory. It’s a surprisingly fussy movie, carrying a nervous energy typically reserved for more plot-driven efforts, but its momentum is valued, especially when articulated by stars Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton. Director Richard Loncraine generates a New York City ambiance that’s fascinating, but the screenplay by Charlie Peters does most of the heavy lifting, capturing the rusty hinges of marriage and the panic of change with, at times, startling accuracy. “5 Flights Up” doesn’t always feel whole, but its perspective on aging and domestic partnership keeps the story engaging with periodic poignancy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A film career revival after a decade in politics hasn’t gone well for Arnold Schwarzenegger, who’s been trying to return to his previous glory with a few satisfactory action efforts, only to have the pictures disappear quickly from theaters. “Maggie” is a necessary change of pace for the global star, who drops overt brawn to portray a broken rural father facing the most difficult decision of his life. “Maggie” isn’t a sharply paced feature, with director Henry Hobson taking his time to develop mood and remind viewers of the sacrifices contained in the story. Adjust expectations accordingly, and the movie has moments of real heartbreak, turning what appears to be a traditional zombie exploration into an intimate study of paternal devotion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The D Train” is a very strange movie, but in a positive way. It’s the debut for writer/directors Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel, who use their first shot fired to create a feature that’s surprising, uncomfortable, and periodically hilarious, making sure obvious directions are refused along the way. Tonality isn’t achieved in full, finding the picture unsure what it wants the audience to feel at certain times, but “The D Train” manages to secure a strangeness that encourages unpredictability, while the cast makes a concerted effort to support Paul and Mogel and their plans to marry laughs with serious acts of personal corruption. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Attempting to make an action comedy, “Hot Pursuit” decides on overkill as a surefire way to laughs and thrills. It’s the latest effort from director Anne Fletcher, who keeps getting hired to helm funny pictures despite a spotty track record (“27 Dresses,” “The Proposal,” “The Guilt Trip”), only here there’s a manic energy to manage. Instead of taking it slowly, developing intricate stunt sequences and massaging punchlines, Fletcher encourages broad antics and chunky pratfalls one would expect to find on an elementary school playground. “Hot Pursuit” isn’t funny or exciting, it’s just loud, gifting stars Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara a holiday to let loose with caricatures, trusting volume to be the cure-all for a dud script. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Noble” isn’t shy about piling on acts of misery. Telling the story of Christina Noble and her fight to protect orphaned and abandoned children in Vietnam, the feature has a wealth of cruelty to cover, with much of the script devoted to hardships in dire need of conquering. Miraculously, writer/director Stephen Bradley infuses the picture with spirited determination and purpose to lend the material some needed oxygen, with the viewing experience certainly bruising, but not suffocating. “Noble” largely works due to its clenched-fist approach, tending to the particulars of Christina’s war against suffering while maintaining its message of hope, making it the rare faith-based film that’s more show than tell. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s a fine line between nobility and exploitation, and “Skin Trade” is just barely able to maintain balance between the extremes. Co-scripted and starring Dolph Lundgren, the feature endeavors to expose the evils of human trafficking, using the action genre as sugar to help the medicine go down. It’s impossible to argue with such intention, especially when dealing with the world’s wickedness. However, “Skin Trade” doesn’t follow through on its potential for horror, quickly devolving into a roughhouse revenge picture that consumes cliché by the pound, spending more time perfecting explosions, kicks, and chases than it does sharpening its focus on human violations. Purpose is pure, but the execution favors anarchy over sympathy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While it’s an accomplished and engaging dramedy, “The Mafia Only Kills in Summer” is perhaps most valued as a tonal tightrope walk writer/director Pierfrancesco Diliberto (making his helming debut) pulls off with remarkable balance. Here’s a film that takes on Italy’s blood-stained history with the mob, filled with assassinations and general chaos on the streets of Palermo. And yet, “The Mafia Only Kills in Summer” is work filled with slapstick comedy and reverence for real-world figures who stood up to deadly intimidation. It’s funny and shocking, often in the same moment, securely positioning a coming-of-age story on top of reality, developing all the awkwardness and awareness with enticing wit, timing, and horror. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared” will forever be compared to “Forrest Gump.” And there’s a good reason for that: it’s practically the same movie. Testing legal powers at Paramount Pictures, this Swedish production launches a strange tale of a simple man somehow finding himself in the nooks and crannies of history, unaware of the sights he’s seen. Giving the effort its own identity is a dark sense of humor, which helps encourage interest in familiar shenanigans. Unfortunately, the material’s bite doesn’t last long enough, finding “The 100-Year-Old Man” coming down with a case of the cutes as it lurches from scene to scene. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2014, during promotion for “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” actor Chris Evans let it slip that he’s grown tired of acting, fatigued by his Marvel contract and recent gigs. It was a moment of honesty in an intensely guarded industry, making it clear that Evans’s heart just wasn’t in the work anymore, save for a few extraordinary projects (including “Snowpiercer”). After viewing “Playing It Cool,” Evans’s latest release (actually shot in 2012), his disappointment is understandable, caught playing a creep in a movie that ultimately seeks to endear itself to its audience, stroking the same romantic comedy clichés it strives to satirize. It’s dreary, unfunny work, but as a catalyst for future career reinvention, Evans couldn’t have made a better professional choice. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2010, writer/director Quentin Dupieux made his filmmaking debut with “Rubber,” a horror/comedy about a killer tire. The premise was enough to draw interest, but the picture’s command of absurdity and atmosphere kept the feature fascinating. A second bizarre comedy, “Wrong,” followed, also hitting wonderful notes of weirdness while remaining periodically hilarious, quickly chased by another winner, “Wrong Cops.” Dupieux enjoys the strangeness of cinema, but he’s managed to retain some sense of subversive gravity to his work. With “Reality,” the helmer aims to pull his own effort inside out, endeavoring to build a comedy that messes with perception and manipulation while mining laughs out of pure oddity. For those who enjoy their brain-bleeders with a significant sense of humor, “Reality” is truly something to experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2012’s “The Avengers” was an experiment of sorts. With audiences around the globe responding positively to comic book heroes in individual adventures, how would they react to a group effort? Fears of overkill were put to rest immediately, with “The Avengers” received rapturously by fans and critics, quickly becoming one of the top grossing movies of all time. After a three year break to tend to the specifics of these costumed men and women, the A-Team has reunited for “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” a darker, more internalized follow-up that still retains all the expected bang and boom. Writer/director Joss Whedon has pulled off an impressive feat here, sustaining the intensity of a ripping adventure yarn while digging into a few of the characters a little more deeply, finding fresh ground to cover in a more satisfying epic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There is no shortage of information concerning the life and times of music icon Kurt Cobain. Through countless magazine articles, books, and films, a fairly accurate portrait of the man has been created, but a mystery surrounding his troubled existence somehow remains. Director Brett Morgan (“The Kid Stays in the Picture”) appears to understand this impasse, going after the one thing so many journalistic endeavors fail to achieve: access. With permission to pore through diaries, recordings, home movies, and art, Morgan crafts “Cobain: Montage of Heck,” which isn’t an A to Z exploration of the Nirvana frontman’s history, but a full submersion into the viscous fluids of his life force, trying to locate the spirit that existed before the empty shell became famous on a global scale. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com