Category: Film Review

There’s a fine art to making movies about reprehensible characters. It’s not easy to ask an audience to spend time with people born without a moral compass, who engage in arbitrary violence and embrace the opportunity to humiliate those perceived beneath them. “The Riot Club” features a collection of personalities best viewed through the bars of a prison cell, but director Lone Scherfig and screenwriter Laura Wade endeavor to understand corrupted behavior, tracing it back through generations of English privilege and youthful indestructibility. “The Riot Club” is coarse work, attempting to rile up viewers with troubling scenes of destruction and dismissal, but it’s also convincingly acted, with accessible emotions keeping the material fascinating. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The pairing of actors Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper should inspire a great deal of moviegoer excitement. The duo has created magic before in hits such as “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle,” reinforcing their fluid chemistry and gift with sharp banter. “Serena” is their latest collaboration and it’s an ambitious drama, packed with betrayals, murder, and sex, yet a certain spark is missing from the feature, which has been edited in a way that strangely prevents momentum from building. It’s a handsome picture, and director Susanne Bier is a truly talented helmer, but something went awry here that’s difficult to pinpoint, leaving an enticing display of screen pain gasping for oxygen. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“It Follows” is a collection of compelling ideas trapped inside a movie that isn’t as sharp as it needs to be. It’s the second feature from writer/director David Robert Mitchell (“The Myth of the American Sleepover”), who maps out an unusual ghost story using familiar working parts, marrying a John Carpenter/Stanley Kubrick audio and visual aesthetic to contemporary indie film stasis, searching for ways to extract terror out of stillness. “It Follows” is accomplished work, always interesting to watch, but it doesn’t quite live up to its potential, finding Mitchell scrambling to reclaim suspense lost to budgetary and thespian limitation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Most movies are perfectly content to offer a single ending to satisfy ticket-buyers. “Home,” the new DreamWorks Animation production, has about five, and none of them are especially effective at wrapping up the story. However, vague climaxes are only a few of the many problems that plague “Home,” which boasts exceptionally detailed character designs and a few amusing vocal performances, but can’t seem to land a single joke, while its idea of what a 12-year-old girl sounds like is up for debate. Weirdly frustrating, without a level of self-awareness that favors pace over laborious plot, the feature doesn’t connect in a significant way, reduced to a series of skits, poo-poo, pee-pee jokes, and commercials for the soundtrack. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Mystery is a key component of “Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter.” Little is outwardly explained in the picture, which employs enigmatic behavior quite well, keeping viewers guessing about the final destination of the story as they’re slowly surrounded by cinematic atmosphere. Writer/directors David and Nathan Zellner create an alluring package with “Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter,” which is carefully made and intriguingly performed, but utterly airless at times, testing patience as the film moves along as slowly as possible. Despite its stasis, the feature is an original vision, best suited for those with high tolerance for art-house adventuring and an appreciation for the mischief the Coen Brothers conjured in their seminal 1996 hit, “Fargo.” Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2010’s “Monsters” was an unusual feature. The directorial debut for Gareth Edwards, the picture set out to find intimate spaces of human connection while standing in the shadow of building-sized alien invaders. It was low-tech and largely uneventful, but it had imagination, with Edwards’s strange vision contributing to an unexpectedly restrained sci-fi production. Five years later, there’s a sequel, and one without Edwards, who went on to make a true monster movie with 2014’s “Godzilla” update. His touch is profoundly missed in “Monsters: Dark Continent,” which attempts to keep the aliens-as-background-noise approach, while filling the foreground with an unreasonably oppressive, generic war film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To bring the firepower of “Miss Julie” to life, director Liv Ullmann has recruited actors Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, and Samantha Morton to do the heavy lifting. It’s just these three performers for two hours of screen time, interacting with varying speeds of vitriol, playing insanely detailed mind games as one idyllic evening of celebration turns into a visit to Hell. This is not an easy film to watch but a fascinating feature to study, with Ullmann managing levels of fiery behavior as her cast bleeds through their eyes, making the viewer feel every jagged edge of misconduct presented here. While tiring, “Miss Julie” is thrillingly raw and ghoulish, making the most out of minimal cinematic ingredients with rare emphasis on pure human explosion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Summit Entertainment went hunting for a Young Adult franchise while their raging success with the “Twilight” movies was winding down. They found “Divergent,” the first book in a literary trilogy from author Veronica Roth. Released in 2014 with an omnipresent marketing campaign, working its similarities to “The Hunger Games” in full, “Divergent” went on to become one of those strange films that, while financially successful, didn’t inspire a feverish reaction with the public. Trying to extend beginner’s luck, the producers have gone ahead with the sequel, “Insurgent,” hoping that now, with introductions out of the way, Roth’s dystopian world can achieve a sense of hostility and blistering action that was sorely lacking from the previous chapter. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The title “Zombeavers” promises a specific viewing experience the production couldn’t possibly provide. A riff on monster movies, “Jaws,” and trendy zombie efforts, the picture isn’t exactly a barnstorming blend of chills and laughs, but it’s also not unpleasant, emerging as a film that’s primarily interested in meeting viewers halfway, content to provide the titular demons and an excitable cast. This isn’t fine art, folks, yet “Zombeavers” manages to deliver the goods in a perfectly digestible manner, with co-writer/director Jordan Rubin providing a reasonable sense of mayhem with his tiny, undead stars, only missing a true daredevil instinct when it comes to assembling a jokey nightmare. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A documentary almost 20 years in the making, “The Wrecking Crew” sets out to put a face to a song. It’s the story of a group of studio musicians in the 1960s who took this newfangled rock and roll thing and turned it into a series of blissful symphonies, backing up the biggest and most enduring hits of the era, often without credit for their impressive work. Director Denny Tedesco positions himself as the guardian of the gang, using screen time to refresh memories and assign recognition, with his own father, legendary guitarist Tommy Tedesco, the point of entry into this celebratory, exhaustively illuminating tale of musical achievement. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Pierre Morel is the man behind “Taken,” a massive international success and one of the best action films of the last decade. With that in mind, there’s a tremendous amount of curiosity surrounding his latest, “The Gunman,” with Morel once again orchestrating a bruising thriller with an older, refreshingly creased star. Sadly, the formula doesn’t produce a kissing cousin to “Taken,” finding “The Gunman” more dour, confused, and sluggish than the Liam Neeson smash. Perhaps direct comparisons are unfair, but established formula is clearly being exploited for another round of bullets and Euro-based brawn, with Sean Penn suitably physical in appearance but mentally checked out as he slogs through a prolonged misfire. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The story of the delicatessen emerges as a surprise, simply because who knew there was a tale to tell? “Deli Man” is a documentary on the history of delicatessen culture and generational responsibility, with director Erik Anjou taking cameras into the most famous establishments remaining in America today, exploring kitchens and customers, out to understand how this tradition, rooted in an old-world sensibility, remains alive today. Obviously, there is a mouth-watering component to keep “Deli Man” in step with recent hits such as “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” yet Anjou cuts a little deeper, striving to achieve an understanding of longevity and culinary skill that gives certain delis their personality and popularity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There comes a time in every successful actor’s life when they want to break free from the norm, to stretch in some significant way, hoping to attract different attention with a movie of integrity. For Kat Dennings, “To Write Love on Her Arm” is that attempt, pushing away from her sitcom dominance on “2 Broke Girls,” and overly snarky turns in films such as “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” and “Thor.” Dennings isn’t a stranger to drama, but “To Write Love on Her Arms” has all the ingredients of a career-widening role, committing to the fried life of a psychologically smashed junkie trying to piece her mind back together. Mercifully, she’s a nice fit for the part. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Taylor Lautner received worldwide fame with his role as Jacob the shirtless werewolf in the “Twilight” series. Hollywood tried to capitalize on his pop culture ubiquity with 2011’s “Abduction,” a John Singleton actioner that wiped out at the box office, slamming the brakes on Lautner’s dreams of industry domination. The actor makes a return to starring roles with “Tracers,” a fleet-footed crime movie set in the world of parkour. Making use of his natural physicality, director Daniel Benmayor is wise to let Lautner loose to flip, jump, and sprint around the frame. However, “Tracers” also endeavors to tell a story, working with a to-do list of clichés to dream up a yarn strong enough to support extensive stunt work, only to end up with a limp, tiresome film interrupted periodically by exciting footwork. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Michael Almereyda has been here before. In 2000, the helmer modernized William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” transforming the play into a scrappy indie film production, turning broad strokes of obsession and death into a commentary on corporate and consumerist culture. “Cymbeline” returns Almereyda to the Bard’s playground of tragedy, once again updating ancient drama to fit a contemporary look, bringing along “Hamlet” star Ethan Hawke for good luck. Although ambitious, “Cymbeline” doesn’t display any type of storytelling fluidity, lurching from scene to scene, barely making character connections as the production fights to preserve the iconic language while letting the rest of the effort slip into a coma. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Movies focusing on the ins and outs of ballet companies and dancer ambition have become a subgenre in recent years, with “Black Swan” and the documentary “First Position” capturing audience attention, allowing the performance art to make a comeback in pop culture. Filmmakers have embraced fictional depictions of behind the scenes turmoil, but the documentary “Ballet 422” doesn’t bother with overt manipulation. Director Jody Lee Lipes simply takes his camera into the heart of the New York City Ballet to study the creative process, allowing the professionals to tell their own story through concentration and reaction, delivering a simple but effective study of these incredible shows. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

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