Category: Film Review

The third effort in Disney’s business plan to mine their animated empire with live-action reworkings, “Cinderella” rockets to the top of the list, easily outdoing last year’s “Maleficent,” and the blockbuster that ignited this company mandate, 2010’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Leading with heart, charm, and exquisite production achievements, “Cinderella” is the first of this new breed of upgrades to find a balance between spectacle and intimacy, while retaining its fairy tale accouterments to give the picture some much needed magic. Credit director Kenneth Branagh, who’s seasoned enough to comprehend when the movie needs the presence of anthropomorphized mice, fairy godmothers, and broad villainy, and when it simply requires time with genuine feeling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In their third collaboration, “Run All Night” reunites star Liam Neeson and director Jaume Collet-Serra after their work on last year’s “Non-Stop” and 2011’s “Unknown.” Keeping the streak of mediocrity alive, “Run All Night” is yet another disappointing thriller from the duo, which supplies a screenplay (by Brad Ingelsby) bursting with emotion, yet the film itself insists on frivolity, putting slick visuals ahead of gritty characterization. Again playing up the unstoppable nature of big screen Neeson, the feature fails to ignite, with the actor and the movie revealing more of a limp than a full gallop, while Collet-Serra goes cross-eyed trying to keep his action sequences in a straight line. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Hopefully, there will come a day when writer/director Thomas McCarthy dares to sit down and explain what exactly he was intending with “The Cobbler.” Likely 2015’s strangest film, McCarthy’s script attempts to braid together ideas on gentrification, abandonment, depression, envy, and the restorative power of pickles. Also, it’s a superhero origin story, just to keep audiences guessing. Whatever ambition has been funneled into the picture, the end result is a mess — a complete whiff from McCarthy, who clearly has a vision for “The Cobbler,” but no secure idea how to communicate it without resorting to syrupy sentimentality or mean-spirited violence. Star Adam Sandler will certainly receive the brunt of the blame for the mangled effort, but he doesn’t deserve the heat. This is all McCarthy’s doing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Frank Whaley has always been an interesting actor, with compelling supporting roles in “The Doors,” “Born on the Fourth of July,” and “Hoffa,” while earning center stage in such films as “Swimming with Sharks” and, a guilty pleasure of mine, “Career Opportunities.” As a director, Whaley has been hit and miss, finding a confident dramatic rhythm with his debut, “Joe the King,” while subsequent efforts, “The Jimmy Show” and “New York City Serenade” weren’t quite as finely tuned as hoped for. Thankfully, Whaley’s sharpened his vision for “Like Sunday, Like Rain,” a sensitive, exploratory character study that retains a remarkably peaceful presence despite checking in on turbulent lives. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Walter” is a strange movie with big ideas it doesn’t confront in full. It’s a fantasy rooted in severe trauma, boasting a comedic opening and a crushing closer, trying to find a comfortable place where the story’s sincerity can be felt in full. The moment never arrives, but director Anna Mastro and screenwriter Paul Shoulberg offer interesting moments of psychological clarity as they attempt to address the ways people avoid the grieving process, slowly poisoning their own lives. It’s uneven work, but not without elements that come together quite well, including a game supporting cast skilled at bringing personality to picture, while lead Andrew J. West commits in full. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When one considers the career of writer/director Roland Joffe, substantial pictures such as “The Killing Fields” and “The Mission” come immediately to mind. However, Joffe’s overall filmography isn’t without a few misfires, with recent fare such as “There Be Dragons” failing to connect with audiences. There’s also the 2011’s effort “You and I,” which was meant to launch the group t.A.T.u. to big screen heights. And, of course, there’s 2007’s “Captivity,” a mangled “Saw” clone that was reportedly taken away from the helmer to beef up scenes of torture and gore. I hope somebody writes a book about that production one day. It’s been a rough journey for Joffe lately, and “The Lovers” isn’t about to reverse his fortunes. Commanding a confused, overblown romantic adventure, Joffe loses concentration quickly, allowing the movie to shatter into pieces of stunted emotion and visual design, never registering as the complete, complex journey the helmer imagines. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A decent heist movie has to share a sense of discovery, camaraderie, and contained panic, allowing the audience to feel the pressurized atmosphere of crime and the nervous energy of its participants. “Kidnapping Mr. Heineken” doesn’t have much in the way of excitement or grit, stuck in a cycle of repetition with crooks that come across as interchangeable, while the crime at hand turns into more of a waiting game than a battle of tempers. A nondescript cast, featuring a coasting Anthony Hopkins performance, doesn’t help the cause, finding “Kidnapping Mr. Heineken” chasing a pulse-pounding pace without success, missing critical tension as bad men plan out a wicked crime. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The journey began with 2012’s “Bad Ass,” where writer/director Craig Moss endeavored to turn the Epic Beard Man viral video into an action film, using elements of parody to beef up a movie based on a three minute YouTube upload. Lines of profit being sketchy in low-budget cinema, a sequel was ordered up, recruiting Danny Glover to co-star with Danny Trejo for “Bad Asses,” resulting in an equally uninspired blend of comedy and shootouts. What started as a lark for Moss has now turned into a franchise, with “Bad Asses on the Bayou” extending the adventures of Frank Vega for another chapter, this time moving the shenanigans from Los Angeles to Louisiana, but the script remains the same. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The sci-fi interests of writer/director Neill Blomkamp were introduced with “District 9,” which creatively used allegory to amplify genre appetites, elevating the work away from typical mindlessness. His second effort was “Elysium,” another politically-charge actioner following the same intellectual template, only its message was buried under a thick layer of noise, with Blomkamp slipping into overkill to preserve his cinematic punctuation. “Chappie” is his third “big idea” blockbuster and another career misstep that tenders the idea that perhaps Blomkamp is a one-trick pony. More headache-inducing than “Elysium” and unclear in its thinking, “Chappie” is only valuable as a visual effects display, with any attempt at dramatics frighteningly inept, while acting by select cast members is sure to be remembered as the worst of the year. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2007, Adam Carolla co-scripted and starred in “The Hammer,” a breezy boxing comedy that attempted to translate the comedian’s sense of humor for the big screen. It was feisty and fresh, making Carolla appealing as he worked through his rehearsed bits. “Road Hard” doesn’t share that same spunky attitude as it once again mines Carolla’s point of view for cinematic misadventures. Instead of massaging old jokes into the script, “Road Hard” nail guns tired material to a clichéd plot of professional and familial humiliation and burgeoning love, becoming the type of saccharine, predictable movie Carolla has spent his entire career making fun of. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Vince Vaughn needs to take a break from making comedies. It doesn’t have to be a permanent one, but it has to be long enough so the actor can shed his bad habits when it comes to creating screen hilarity. His once Ginsu-sharp instincts for funny business have dulled to a frightening degree, with his latest, “Unfinished Business,” another feeble attempt to stage boisterous mischief with a heart, trying to extract a few tears between bellylaughs. The picture is a drag, playing up Vaughn’s uninspired formula for a surefire hit film. “Unfinished Business” certainly has the potential to tear through madcap Euro-based misadventures, but it would rather stick to sobering reminders of real-world behavior, draining most of the fun out of a feature that aims to please. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Nothing was really expected with the 2012 release of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” A minor British dramedy, the picture wasn’t destined to find much of an audience, issued during a month of movies that celebrated comic book heroes and super sequels. But word of mouth lifted the little film to surprising grosses. Not blockbuster returns by any means, but just enough coin to make the production company pay attention, making a dent with its Indian locations and cast of seasoned actors. And now a sequel has been made, laboring to find a story that could extend this newly minted franchise for another chapter while presenting its cast with enough fresh drama to keep all parties interested. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A vision of crisscrossing characters engaged in destructive behavior is nothing new, but “Human Capital” finds way to make the familiar fresh again. Director Paolo Virzi avoids the oppressive Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu route to find a vein of suspense that carries the viewing experience through four chapters of accidents, accusations, and panic, braided together with a fluid sense of community. It’s a dark picture, touching on volatile emotions and devastating mistakes, but it holds attention through Virzi’s storytelling skill and an excellent cast, who portray the often devastating turns of fate presented here with a welcome sense of restraint, allowing internalization to do most of the heavy lifting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Buzzard” is a difficult film to describe and a taxing movie to sit through. Taking on the angry young man genre, writer/director Joel Potrykus dries up the rage and keeps the unrest, electing for a darkly comic approach to troubling psychological behavior. It’s a strange effort that only reaches for modest goals in laughs and disturbing material. It’s more comfortable in stasis, with long stretches of the feature devoted to mind-numbing tasks. For some, the mummification of pace will take on a higher meaning, reflecting the slack-jawed state of working-class millennials. For everyone else, “Buzzard” might register as unforgivable tedium, missing the type of dramatic surges necessary to reward such concentration on nothingness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Two Men in Town” comes dangerously close to profundity. It’s a sharply acted drama about the past and its chokehold on life, providing characterizations that aren’t always complete and easy to classify. Director Rachid Bouchareb doesn’t follow through on a few promising subplots, but what lingers here remains powerfully realized, depicting the futility of self-control and the longevity of grudges. “Two Men in Town” eventually fails to live up to its initial promise, but as an overview of human frailty, it contains several powerful scenes that allow the cast room to articulate complex emotions in an honest manner. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As thrillers go, “October Gale” is mostly effective but strangely distant. Reuniting with her “Cairo Time” writer/director Ruba Nadda, actress Patricia Clarkson makes a plausible transition to home defender, wielding a gun and selling suspicion with co-star Scott Speedman. However, “October Gale” takes a substantial amount of time to get going, with those early moments filled with a far more interesting examination of grief, making the picture a rare event where action isn’t entirely welcome, distracting from a far more satisfying examination of a broken heart. Credit to Nadda for the change in expectation, allowing her feature to step away from formula and reach the viewer in a different way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Throughout his career, actor Leland Orser hasn’t made much of an impression. He was hit with typecasting for a long time, always the go-to guy to play twitchy, screechy types on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He’s been wallpaper as well, playing one of the background characters in the “Taken” trilogy. “Faults” is the first truly substantial Leland Orser performance I’ve seen, asking more of the man that most other productions would, and he’s up for the challenge, providing a riveting depiction of frayed respectability and financial desperation colliding with professional responsibility. “Faults” is lucky to have such an unusual presence, as the rest of Riley Stearns’s directorial debut tends to deflate when he’s not around. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Most anthology films go out of their way to provide a reason for the sampler selection of stories. The Argentinean feature “Wild Tales” cuts out the middle man and delivers titular narratives of disaster, frustration, and love without explanation. It’s a mixed bag but the movie covers a lot of ground, attempting to disorient viewers with disparate perspectives on the humiliations of the world. Some of it is funny, most of it is puzzling, but when writer/director Damian Szifron locks into the weirdness of the moment, stacking coincidences and playing with puzzled reactions, “Wild Tales” finds a welcome shot of mischief. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To pull off a reasonable movie about con artists, a script has to offer some likability. I’m not suggesting sainthood or part-time dog-sitting, but there has to be a level of charm that makes inherent evil take a two hour vacation. “Focus” does not have an embraceable moment. It’s a style piece from the writer/directors of “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” who try to tart up a sleepy script of misdirection with sex appeal, only to cast two actors who are more credible as siblings. “Focus” has the raw materials to generate a thrilling combination of emotional gamesmanship and sticky-fingered fun, but it’s unwilling to pursue anything resembling excitement, thinking the mere presence of Will Smith is enough to razzle-dazzle the audience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

One of the better filmgoing surprises within the last decade has been the opportunity to watch Taika Waititi develop into one of the finest comedy directors around, displaying his gifts with timing and performance in hilarious efforts such as “Eagle vs. Shark” and “Boy.” “What We Do in the Shadows” is a slight change of pace for Waititi, turning away from a human element to mess around with the undead, sharing helming duties with co-star Jemaine Clement to mastermind a faux documentary about the life and times of New Zealand vampires. Hilarious, with refreshing attention to the gruesome possibilities of the premise, “What We Do in the Shadows” is a creative step forward for Waititi, taking interesting tonal risks while maintaining a steady flow of silly business. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com