Category: Film Review

A few years ago, writer/director Tomm Moore made a dent in the notoriously competitive animation marketplace with “The Secret of Kells,” a charming adventure that eventually worked its way to an Academy Award nomination. Not too shabby for a modestly budget effort from Ireland. Eschewing a bold follow-up to play into industry trends, Moore returns with “Song of a Sea,” another delightfully modest picture that trusts in the power of imagery and amplifies a spectacularly successful sense of emotion. A gorgeously crafted take on Celtic myths and sibling bonds, “Song of the Sea” is a soulful smash, with Moore absolutely nailing the needs the heart to go along with his now expected finesse with traditional animation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Still Alice” is likely to be the most daunting filmgoing experience of the year, asking viewers to view the mental deterioration of brilliant woman. An adaptation of a 2007 book by Lisa Genova, “Still Alice” takes on the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease, with writer/directors Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer working to make a palatable picture out of a harrowing subject. The effort is largely successful, with the feature compassionate, honest, and superbly articulated by the cast, with special emphasis on Julianne Moore’s striking lead performance, which provides a direct identification of decay and the fight to preserve the memories that remain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Putin’s Russia gets a thorough workout in “Leviathan,” a potent look at the state of political and personal corruption in rural areas. Its substantial run time (140 minutes) is eased along by its exceptional tech credits and bruising performances, funneled into an intimate story that keeps vital emotions within reach as cultural concepts take some time to work through. It’s strong work that’s not always satisfying, but its silent power registers as intended, creating a hypnotic atmosphere of unrest that fuels several sensational scenes and a decidedly unsettling conclusion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Credit must be paid to writer/director Kate Barker-Froyland for even attempting to make something as still as “Song One.” It’s a film filled with musical performances, but the picture is largely made up of quiet reflection, with character interactions limited to knowing looks and painful understandings. It doesn’t entirely work, especially to those who might find the live performance angle of the feature rough on the ears, but “Song One” is encouragingly earnest, providing hope that with a more refined approach, Barker-Froyland will one day be able to tap into intimate emotions while securing a stronger narrative. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Here’s a film that deals with immense pain, both physical and mental. It has a rare opportunity to address the struggle of those who cannot work past their agony, one step away from giving up on life altogether. It opens a door to a fascinating study of depression, yet “Cake” would rather be a basic cable movie than a gritty cinematic dissection of behavior. While the lead performance from Jennifer Aniston is credible and the one element of the production that works in full, the rest of “Cake” feels like a series of pulled punches, with director Daniel Barnz trying desperately to keep his feature approachable despite a devastating subject matter. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Simon Helberg is best known as a cast member on the hit television show “The Big Bang Theory,” allowing his personal touch with comedy to connect with millions of viewers in the comfort of their own homes. On the big screen, Helberg hasn’t enjoyed much luck. Attempting to alter his cinematic fortunes, Helberg and wife Jocelyn Towne have teamed up to issue “We’ll Never Have Paris,” which puts the actor front and center in a tale of bent relationships and obsessive behavior. Helberg is venturing into Woody Allen territory with the picture, and he’s a lot like Allen, minus the sense of humor, comedic timing, likability, masculinity, and directorial skill. Looking to secure his position as a viable leading man for multiplexes everywhere, “We’ll Never Have Paris” is a great reason to root for “The Big Bang Theory” to stick around for ten more seasons. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Vice” has been marketed as an update of “Westworld,” and one with sexier qualities, giving the premise a fresh spin for a modern audience. However, there’s very little of “Westworld” in the picture, which plays more like a rip-off of “RoboCop.” Marking the return of schlockmeister filmmaker Brian A. Miller (helmer of such Redbox filler as “The Prince” and “The Outsider”), “Vice” is yet another muddle of clichés from the director, who seems determined to turn everything he touches into a blue-tinted firestorm of shoot-outs, chases, and unenthused performances. While the effort holds initial promise, hope doesn’t last for very long, with budget-minded mayhem making the movie feel noisy and hollow. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Paddington Bear has been a beloved fixture of children’s literature since his debut in 1959. His legacy has endured through numerous books (written by Michael Bond), a few animated television series, and now his first feature film, which gives the character a CG-animated makeover to help him compete in the marketplace. Directed and co-scripted by Paul King, “Paddington” is a largely successful translation of Bond’s world to the big screen, though prone to formulaic plotting and routine kid-pleasing mischief. Launched with a British sensibility, “Paddington” is engaging and gentle, and while it won’t win any awards for originality, it manages a few laughs and a surprising amount of warmth. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The pairing of Josh Gad and Kevin Hart probably looked great on paper. They’re a pair of opposites coming off an interesting year career-wise, with Gad emerging as the fourth most beloved element of “Frozen,” while Hart scored one major hit out of three major releases. It’s not the most inspired union of wheezy comedic forces, but “The Wedding Ringer” is determined to make it fit, quickly establishing itself as a raucous farce that doesn’t even need the two leads to sell itself as a crude, mean-spirited effort. Hart and Gad only seem to make matters worse, tempting director Jeremy Garelick to sink lower with dreadful improvisations and angry humor, while painfully formulaic screenwriting keeps a firm boot on the picture’s throat. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After his disastrous handling of “Jersey Boys” last summer, with its frustrating cinematic stasis and celebration of unpleasant people, it’s encouraging to see director Clint Eastwood back on his feet again with “American Sniper,” a screen adaptation of United States Navy SEAL Chris Kyle’s 2012 autobiography. While certainly flush with flaws and an inconsistent sense of thematic exploration, “American Sniper” often brings out the best in Eastwood’s helming attitude, presenting a silent hero stewing in the poisons of his life, struggling to define his commitment to military duty and domestic service, often powerless to prevent a storm of clouded emotions as he repeatedly returns to war. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Michael Mann has been deified by his fanbase, and for good reason, with features such as “Thief,” “Heat,” and “Manhunter” creating a specialized aura around the helmer, who often favors stylish, insular filmmaking and stories about untouchable men facing the battle of their lives. However, recent efforts have failed to fulfill, with “Public Enemies” his last and least effective picture. After six years in hibernation, Mann returns with “Blackhat” a well-timed cyber thriller that threatens to expose the hidden world of computer manipulation as it takes on doomsday plans. Sadly, any hope for a pants-wetting night at the movies with real-world horror is brushed away in the first act, where Mann solidifies his intent to make a standard-issue actioner filled with logic whoppers, dim performances, and banal dialogue. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

J.C. Chandor has displayed a great deal of directorial prowess in a short amount of time. With “Margin Call” and “All is Lost,” the helmer showcased good taste with dramatics and smart casting, while launching unique tales of discomfort covering the world of financial ruin and the extremes of physical endurance. “A Most Violent Year” isn’t an extreme change of pace for Chandor, but it does provide a certain temptation he surprisingly refuses. It’s a period piece, with New York City in 1981 its setting, which normally triggers the sound of disco, the hoovering of cocaine, and the bustle of urban life. “A Most Violent Year” remains intimate, detailing psychological unraveling and encroaching paranoia, keeping in step with Chandor’s developing filmmaking interests. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A tale of criminal enterprises, paranoia, and burgeoning love, “Son of a Gun” appears to understand that originality is not one of its strong suits. Writer/director Julius Avery (making his helming debut) does a laudable job steering the feature away from outright cliché, pumping the picture full of action and heated confrontations, while the details of hood life are arranged interestingly, allowing the audience to dig into wicked behavior while fully aware they’ve seen it all before. Fumbled ending aside, “Son of a Gun” is an energetic and periodically penetrating thriller, competently isolating a pulse-pounding feeling of survival as underworld indignities pile up for the lead character. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Dramatically, “Loitering with Intent” doesn’t break any new ground, once again investigating neuroses attached to such traumatic events as love and aging. It’s familiar work, recalling the slacker comedies of the mid-1990s, including “My Life’s in Turnaround,” though co-stars/co-writers Ivan Martin and Michael Godere have the advantage, actually turning in a shapeless but amusing look at panicky life choices and hasty ambition, generating a pleasing sense of mischief to go along with all the worry. Periodically funny but always amiable, “Loitering with Intent” finds a groove and sticks with the delayed maturation routine, electing to extract the most personality out of its engaged cast. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The dismantling of a once mighty action movie continues with “Taken 3,” a particularly sad sequel to 2012’s “Taken 2,” which effectively destroyed everything that was so wonderfully pure, concise, and brutal about 2009’s “Taken.” Instead of regrouping and rethinking franchise direction after the first follow-up stumbled with surefire genre elements, co-screenwriter/producer Luc Besson marches forward with stupidity, coasting even more intently on improbability to connect the dots for a new adventure. And to add insult to injury, he’s asked director Olivier Megaton to return, dooming “Taken 3” right off the bat. Lazy from start to finish, the picture barely makes the effort to give fans the bruising elements they deserve, coughing up nondescript chases and beatings before it slips into a coma. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s interesting to note that few films have dared to explore the life and times of Martin Luther King, Jr. Perhaps access to the raw materials of the man’s history was limited, or maybe interest just wasn’t there. It’s a dearth of dramatization that’s likely to change after the release of “Selma,” a powerful and direct depiction of the civil right leader in his element of courage and peaceful protest, surveying the struggles of equality and the political pressure needed to oil the American legal system. It’s incomplete work, but utterly persuasive, held together by David Oyelowo’s commanding lead performance as Dr. King, single-handedly carrying the picture while director Ava DuVernay juggles the many perspectives surrounding the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches. Read the rest a Blu-ray.com

Paul Solet made a powerful impression with his 2009 directorial debut, “Grace.” A macabre story handled with care, the picture was a confident horror effort that ranked as one of the best films of the year. It took a little time, but Solet has finally returned with “Dark Summer,” another no-budget chiller, only instead of exploring the anxieties of motherhood, he’s after a ghost story featuring atypically stoic teenage characters. Although the details are perhaps too obscure to feed into a rousing time at the movies, “Dark Summer” retains eerie elements and strong performances, once again showcasing Solet’s gift with the genre and his ability to turn limited funds and locations into a compelling tale of psychological erosion and spectral doom. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Michael and Peter Spiering do not make movies very often, with their last effort, “Daybreakers,” released in 2010. After flirting with the production of a “Dark Crystal” sequel for a few years, the Spierigs have returned to screens with “Predestination,” a mind-bending time-travel tale inspired by a Robert A. Heinlein short story. Growing more confident with their cinematic style and ability to knot up storytelling in compelling ways, the helmers generate a fluid feature that’s ripe with intentional confusion and sneaky suspense, playing up the weirdness of the premise while tending to the sensitivity of the characters. “Predestination” is strange stuff, but always fascinating, featuring sensational performances from Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When Paul Thomas Anderson makes a movie, it’s an event. He’s proven his mastery time and again with efforts such as “Boogie Nights,” “Punch-Drunk Love,” and “There Will Be Blood,” consistently making quality, layered pictures that celebrate eccentricity, satire, and gut-rot emotions. 2012’s “The Master” found Anderson caught in his own webbing, displaying an uncharacteristic sterility with his provocative take on soulful unrest and religion. It was a handsomely mounted feature, but habitually indulgent in ways that seemed to stymie its creator. “Inherent Vice” continues Anderson’s creative decline, once again picking a project that isn’t cinematic, finding the production working diligently to create a rich, pot-infused odyssey into crime and seduction with a script that’s primarily dedicated to the trading of last names and laboriously following through on anticlimactic encounters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

An actor perhaps best known for his supporting role on television’s “Felicity,” Scott Foley makes his feature-length directorial debut with “Let’s Kill Ward’s Wife,” a dark comedy that calls in a few favors from his friends and family. Reaching for a grim pitch of hilariously immoral behavior, Foley largely botches attempts at shock value and humor, saddled with his own unadventurous screenwriting that’s too reliant on sitcom-esque antics. Although the cast is game to play, often emerging as the only sign of life here, “Let’s Kill Ward’s Wife” is a one-joke effort that wears out its welcome as it struggles to dream up new misunderstandings to organize and macabre antics to choreograph. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com