Category: Film Review

A few years ago, Universal Pictures lost a lot of money trying to bring the board game “Battleship” to the big screen. It was loud, explosive, and slick, but at the end of the day, it was a film based on a board game. The studio returns to the scene of the crime with “Ouija,” only now the budget has been miniaturized and the genre has switched over to horror and its notoriously forgiving fanbase. The true power of fright that drives the Ouija board experience remains up to the viewer, but as a feature, the dark distraction makes for a sleepy time at the movies. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Gregg Araki loves young people. Or, more specifically, the young people from his own coming-of-age period. He’s made several films chronicling the misadventures of reckless youth, and a few more about the pain of this lonely existence, leaving his latest, “White Bird in a Blizzard,” at a disadvantage, with its to-do list of dysfunction already worked through by the helmer. Helping to define the new feature are mystery elements concerning a disappearance, and there’s Eva Green in a self-destructive mother role, creating some fresh elements to survey while Araki works out a way to make “White Bird in a Blizzard” feel fresh to all interested parties. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Suffering for decades with a reputation as a house of schlock, there’s been a resurgence of interest in Cannon Films lately, mixing nostalgia and ironic appreciation. Founded by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, Cannon Films was a magic store of low expectations, striving to sustain a run of B-pictures throughout the 1980s, with plans to transform into an A-list moviemaking force that Hollywood couldn’t deny. Along the way, they made crap. A lot of crap. But also the occasional gem, and a slew of beguiling efforts that reveled in their tackiness and rickety sense of spectacle. “Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films” isn’t satisfying journalism, yet the opportunity to sit down for 105 minutes and hear war stories from the Golan-Globus trenches is irresistible. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Some consider 1996’s “The Island of Dr. Moreau” to be one of the worst movies of all time. I wouldn’t go that far, but clearly something was amiss during principal photography, with stars Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer off making their own film, while director John Frankenheimer bursts a few blood vessels trying to hold it all together, failing to make much sense out of the narrative puzzle. It seems there was a reason for such a fragmented feature, with the documentary “Lost Soul” working to transform hushed rumor into fact, tracking the development of the project under its original creator, Richard Stanley. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Joe Carnahan loves to make movies that push levels of intensity into the red zone. He’s built a filmography on surges of adrenaline, with “Smokin’ Aces, “The Grey,” and “The A-Team” all delivering big thrills with light dusting of sarcasm. “Stretch” brings Carnahan into a low-budget playground, forced to come up with fresh ways to build up momentum now that large piles of money aren’t available. While frugality keeps the helmer on a leash, “Stretch” remains incredible amounts of fun, with a ferocious sense of humor and attention to pace and character connection that maintains a smooth, silly viewing experience with the occasional acid splash to identify it as a Carnahan picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jai Courtney has been a difficult actor to pin down. Hollywood scooped him up a few years back, pushing him into bad action movies where he delivered bad performances, sleepwalking through dreck like “A Good Day to Die Hard” and “I, Frankenstein.” He’s never been able to show off any chops, making a small but searing effort like “Felony” all the more valuable. Courtney isn’t the star of the film, but he makes a positive impression for a change, adding subtle support to a wrenching drama directed by Matthew Saville. At the very least, “Felony” provides hope that Courtney will take greater care of his career and select better material such as this. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Fury” is an attempt to mount a throwback war film like they used to make in the 1940s and ‘50s. The kind where themes of innocence lost were deafening, while hero shots of Americans in battle were submitted to extend post-war national pride. “Fury” has its modern touches, but it’s also teeming with chewy characters and loaded with tank attack sequences. Unlike the bygone era, writer/director David Ayer asks the audience to sit through a lot of this effort, which run 135 minutes, and every second of it is felt. There are astonishing images of combat and terrifying passages of death, but this is repetitive work, periodically lost in its own chaos to satisfy those craving visceral thrills. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Feel-good filmmaking and Bill Murray rarely occupy the same space. It’s a rare event when the comedy icon can embrace sincerity while retaining his droll persona, and if there’s anyone who’s absolutely mastered the challenge, it’s Wes Anderson, Murray’s frequent collaborator. Although “St. Vincent” tries to sample Anderson’s style here and there, writer/director Theodore Melfi doesn’t have the vision to merge broad antics and emotional wreckage, with the feature gasping for air between a few genuinely successful scenes. Scattershot and artificial, “St. Vincent” is kept alive by Murray, who’s game to go where the script leads, adding his own spin to characterization when necessary, backed by an agreeable supporting cast. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A Nicholas Sparks film adaptation has become a yearly event, with “The Best of Me” out to trigger swoon and tears as it works through the author’s habitual storytelling interests. It’s a movie that’s almost likable, with a then-and-now plot device that’s adequately managed by director Michael Hoffman for the first half of the feature. That it takes an hour before “The Best of Me” becomes insufferably ridiculous is something of a record for a Sparks production, but unfortunately, the picture eventually grinds down to pure stupidity. Highlights remains, but this is not a competent effort, with clear signs leading to dramatic disaster that are intentionally ignored to remain tight with the writer’s loopy sense of threat. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been an interesting year for writer/director Jason Reitman. In January, the helmer issued “Labor Day,” his take on romantic fixation and coming-of-age perspective. While the feature didn’t receive much attention at the box office, it was a welcome boost in maturity for Reitman, continuing compelling work that began with 2011’s “Young Adult.” “Men, Women & Children” is another effort that’s unexpected, but ultimately fails under the weight of its own ambition. There are ideas on our wi-fi culture contained within that deserve exploration, yet “Men, Women & Children” is an overwrought movie that refuses to express itself in a measured, reflective manner. After an hour of provocative ideas, the material slips out of Reitman’s control, unable to secure its parting messages. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Book of Life” is a little different from your average CG-animated picture. Sure, it’s a comedy with flashes of adventure and an ambition to deliver grand spectacle on a tighter budget than the typical Pixar or Dreamworks production. However, Guillermo Del Toro is the movie’s godfather, shepherding his own “Nightmare Before Christmas” by steeping the effort in ghoulish imagery, messing around with tonality as it examines an unusual holiday in the Day of the Dead. “The Book of Life” is superbly designed and animated, but it’s also a cluttered endeavor, spending too much time explaining what’s going on instead of experiencing the rich multiverse co-writer/director Jorge R. Gutierrez is laboring to create. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Although its marketing suggests a continuation of Tyler Perry’s “Temptation,” “Addicted” has more in common with an Adrian Lyne effort. The film marks a breakthrough for author Zane, an “urban eroticist” who’s built an empire on sex, evolving from books to pay cable programs, placing emphasis on soft-core antics involving inquisitive characters. “Addicted” is based on her 1998 novel and takes a slightly more severe look at the needs of the heart and the urgencies of the mind, wrapped up in a ridiculous melodrama that’s confused and shameless. If one squints hard enough, all the nudity and grinding might retain appeal, but for those who can’t switch their brain off, the picture is maddeningly inconsistent and comically performed. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s hard to believe that “Dead Snow” debuted over five years ago, but director Tommy Wirkola had more pressing career matters to tend to instead of mounting a sequel right away. Testing the Hollywood experience with “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters,” Wirkola secured an unlikely hit movie, but also found his creativity zip-tied by industry power plays. To help reclaim some of his old mojo, the helmer has returned to his old Nazi-zombies stomping grounding with “Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead,” a ruthless and hilarious follow-up that feels more like a purging of filmmaking frustration than a straight-up continuation, with its blitzkrieg approach to gore and slapstick easily topping the original effort, while showing off exactly what type of mischief Wirkola can muster. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For family audiences, the multiplex is often filled with animated efforts to entertain all ages, dazzling the crowd with colorful, cartoony imagery. It’s been some time since a live action production has been able to please with PG rating, making “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” all the more special. Although loosely based on the 1972 children’s book by Judith Viorst, this update finds its own comic timing and misery to mine, resulting in a frequently hilarious movie that’s wonderfully charming, free of clutter, and enthusiastically performed. It’s a lousy day for the titular character, but a celebratory one for paying customers in need of a group outing, with “Very Bad Day” sly and broad enough to please all ages. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s isn’t much left unwritten when it comes to the cinematic exploits of Dracula. The famous monster has been covered from every angle, leaving the producers of “Dracula Untold” with a specific interpretational challenge to help revive the fanged character for a new franchise. Instead of intimate horror, director Gary Shore takes the blockbuster route, transforming the saga of Dracula into a CGI-heavy war film with a light dusting of tragedy. It’s numbing but not without its charms, though critical miscasting in the lead roles does more to damage “Dracula Untold” than sunlight and silver combined. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Pride” is as bold and big of an audience-pleaser as I’ve seen all year, practically determined to reach out from the screen and high-five each ticket-buyer. This English production is pretty shameless, but thankfully there’s a heart behind the ham, with director Matthew Warchus mindful of pathos, constructing a picture with a meaningful message of self-empowerment while exploring select characters in full, adding some profound emotions to the dramedy. “Pride” has its subtle moments, but Warchus doesn’t linger for long, more inspired by the larger arc of celebration and love, which successfully softens most displays of strident exaggeration. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last summer, actress Chloe Grace Moretz stated there will never be a “Kick-Ass 3” due to piracy woes (conveniently forgetting that few were interested in the original film to begin with). It was a crushing blow to the faithful, but never fear Hit-Girl fans, “Kite” is here to pick up the slack. A violent study of a teen assassin working in a smoky dystopian landscape, “Kite” creates quite a commotion as it smashes heads and dodges bullets, with the producers displaying a distinct interest in picking up where “Kick-Ass” left off, even bringing in a known Hollywood paycheck-casher (in this case, Samuel L. Jackson) to beef up the legitimacy of such a one-note viewing experience. The similarities are startling at times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A journalism thriller with an explosive subject of corruption and cover-up to inspect, “Kill the Messenger” is quite sharp when it comes to the depiction of stomach-churning betrayals and eye-wiggling paranoia. As a complete appreciation of the offenses that eventually overwhelmed writer Gary Webb, less is understood, leaving “Kill the Messenger” a fiery picture with nowhere to go, hitting a few painful incidents of pressure before it’s back in a dramatic gray area. Director Michael Cuesta is a gifted helmer, great with gritty, streetwise tales of survival, and moments score in the feature. There are just not enough of them to shake off a few questions of authenticity concerning Webb’s painful decline. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There are many films that deserve sequels, offering fans a chance to revisit favorite characters as they evolve during a new adventure. 2012’s “The Pact” was an effective no-budget chiller, tracking the particulars of a ghost story with encouraging imagination, even if the overall effort felt a little soft. While I’m sure a small profit was eked out of its release, I fail to see the need for a “Pact II,” which returns to the serial killer nightmare, interested in expanding the story for new participants while inviting a few old faces to return. It’s unnecessary, and worse, glacial and uninspired, laboring to come up with a few viable reasons to plunge back into this limited world and manipulate it into a burgeoning franchise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“One Chance” is so eager to please its audience, it practically curls up in their lap and purrs. It’s a broad “crowd pleaser,” which translates into fingerpaint filmmaking intended to stir up basic emotions and supply inspiration to those willing to believe everything the script offers. It’s the true story of Paul Potts, the opera singer who conquered “Britain’s Got Talent” in 2007, but the authenticity of Justin Zackham’s pedestrian screenplay remains in doubt, liberally cleaving away significant moments of Potts’s life to maintain an underdog storyline that rings false throughout. It’s painfully obvious work, ideal for a brain-mushing rental, only registering as sincere when focused intently on leading work from James Corden and Alexandra Roach, who bring life to an otherwise manipulative viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com