Category: Film Review

At the age of 86, Elaine Stritch doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. An accomplished actress, singer, and all-around broad, Stritch’s career contains an amazing run of theater, television, and feature film credits, all boosted by her innate charms and brassy attitude, most recently viewed in the series “30 Rock,” a comedic turn that gifted her a third Emmy win. Refusing insincerity, demanding attention, and committed to the art of performance, Stritch’s life seems tailor-made for a documentary, allowing director Chiemi Karasawa access to a wealth of anecdotes and daily experience to draw from, resulting in “Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me,” a potent look back at a life lived in full and a future that remains unwritten. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We’re used to seeing screen depictions of motherhood that lean toward heroism or self-sacrifice in a quest to preserve a future for their children. “Child’s Pose” posits the idea that this noble selflessness could be a programmed response to strife, following a woman’s attempt to relive her son of obvious guilt and legal interests out of habit, not an innate need to protect her own. A Romanian production, “Child’s Pose” is observational and manipulative in a fascinating manner, asking the audience to digest the mechanics of concern without ever feeling as though the lead character is capable of such an emotion. Raw and frighteningly authentic, the feature has a causal immorality that’s fascinating to watch unfold. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The crudely titled “U Want Me 2 Kill Him?” has a few tricks up its sleeve as it recounts a true tale of online obsession that led to murder. Misdirection is a major selling point, managing to keep the story wound tight as it surveys various acts of gullibility, most stemming from the easily swayed mind of an undersexed teenage boy. That any of this absurdity is rooted in reality is simply amazing, and director Andrew Douglas (his first effort since the 2005 “The Amityville Horror” remake) does a fine job massaging tension out of the tale. Opening as a demonstration of adolescent lust, “U Want Me 2 Kill Him” takes some interesting left turns as it unfolds, holding attention with its weirdness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s the older generation’s right to lament the disorderly state of the average adolescent, but it wasn’t always that way. “Teenage” is an unusual documentary that probes the development of juvenile attitude and independence throughout the first half of the 20th century, isolating certain movements and incidents that helped shape the marvel of youth. Using eye-opening footage of kids on the prowl and parents on the defense (along with dramatic recreation), director Matt Wolf paints a striking portrait of development and unity, sold through individual experiences that add intimacy to a broad sweep of change, articulated through a range of narrators. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Face of Love” boasts a terrific premise that promises to inspect the difficulty of the grieving process, especially when faced with the comfort of the familiar versus the reality of the unknown. The potential for honest heartache is great, but a few ideas break the concentration of the picture as it enters its third act. At the very least, there’s phenomenal work from Annette Bening, who invests in the frailties of human emotion, and Ed Harris, showing uncharacteristic warmth in a difficult role. Co-writer/director Arie Posin almost nails the subtlety of temptation, delivering an hour of compelling, provocative drama. He doesn’t stick the landing, which ends up the most important element of this interesting effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The name Jeremiah Chechik hasn’t been associated with a major motion picture in quite some time. The director of “Benny & Joon,” the “Diabolique” remake, and the mangled “The Avengers” big screen adventure from 1998, Chechik retreated to television when his multiplex fortunes soured, finding a medium that welcomed his interests in quirk and speed. “The Right Kind of Wrong” is a return to feature-length storytelling for the helmer, but old habits die hard. Overly cutesy and strangely unpleasant, the picture endeavors to rework stale romantic comedy clichés with flashes of R-rated behavior and escalating misery for the lead character. Mostly, the movie comes off fatigued and unfunny, laboring to fashion a farce that never gets off the ground. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I wouldn’t call it hope, but there was a desire to see “Shirin in Love” attack a romantic story with a distinct Iranian perspective, shaking up the routine. Unfortunately, writer/director Ramin Niami isn’t interested in a substantial exploration of culture, keeping the material as Hollywood as possible, with Iranian influences mere decoration that often get in the way of numbing cliché. Although it seeks to be soft, approachable entertainment concerning the needs of the heart versus the demands of tradition, “Shirin in Love” almost seem ashamed of its heritage, electing shed its personality to make a movie we’ve all seen a hundred times before. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“12 O’Clock Boys” initially promises a story concerning the mystique of inner-city dirt bike riding, but ends up a terrifying tale of innocence lost. It’s strong work from director Lotfy Nathan, who acquires incredible access to a subculture that largely seeks out anonymity, following a boy as he develops into a young man with a questionable direction in life. Although it initially positions itself as a surface portrayal of urban decay, “12 O’Clock Boys” has the benefit of time, with three years of footage collected and edited into an unsettling and combustible portrait of neglect and wayward ambition, riveting all the way to the end. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2007’s “300” was a massive box office hit, tempting moviegoers with a vision of historical fantasy that dripped with blood, screamed until hoarse, and was wallpapered with abs. Director Zack Snyder gleefully adapted Frank Miller’s graphic novel, digging into its pulpy roots as he fashioned an epic that teased regality as it welcomed absurdity. Seven years later, we have “300: Rise of an Empire,” a follow-up that’s more of a parallel story, trading the rhythmic march of soldiers for the high seas, adding a naval aspect to the ongoing war between the Greeks and Persians. Out to mimic Snyder’s vision, “Rise of an Empire” sheds its stasis quickly, achieving a thunderous tone of combat and sword-swinging screen stylistics that brings thrilling aggression to all this ridiculousness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The Mr. Peabody and Sherman shorts from producer Jay Ward were a highlight of “The Bullwinkle Show” and “Rocky and his Friends,” charming audiences of all ages in the 1960s with misadventures through “Peabody’s Improbable History.” Armed with wry wit and finger-snap timing, the animated segments were silly and swift, embracing the cartoon dog’s supergenius and his adoptive son’s goofy naiveté. Taking something meant to play out in full in five minutes and inflating it to 90 minutes creates quite a challenge for the producers of the CG-animated effort, “Mr. Peabody & Sherman.” Unable to replicate sublime brevity, they overload with exposition and characters, while exhaustively Seth MacFarlane-izing the jokes to a point where the big screen version barely resembles its small screen inspiration. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Acting is a difficult profession to be successful in, and I don’t begrudge anyone an opportunity to take a paycheck now and again. It’s this continued interest in money gigs that causes some concern. “The Bag Man” is a thriller co-written and directed by David Grovic, his debut as a helmer, and somehow, someway this tiny, bottom-shelf production managed to entice John Cusack to star, with Robert De Niro taking a supporting role. Why these two were drawn to such dismal material isn’t clear, but something tells me there were a certain number of zeros motivating their decision. Grovic is lucky to have the professionals around, as this shabby mystery has little to offer audiences besides unintentional laughs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Appreciating “Awful Nice” means enduring “Awful Nice,” and that’s not always easy to do. A story of brotherhood, with an emphasis on combative behavior, the feature isolates a verbose, wandering vibe of communication, and while this chatterbox behavior fulfills a dramatic purpose, it generates a challenge for the viewer, forced to endure actors feeling around for the moment instead of directly connecting to the meat of the scene. In return for such patience, “Awful Nice” delivers a steady stream of laughs and an accurate depiction of sibling rivalry, contributing to a funny, freewheeling effort that’s missing focus, but finds an unusual personality of its own. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Godfrey Reggio has built a career out of the observation of our world. In “Koyaanisqatsi,” “Powaqqatsi,” and “Naqoyqatsi,” Reggio created rhythmic hymns to the hustle and bustle of Earth, isolating its movement, grace, and oddity while critiquing humanity’s capacity for hostility and destruction. He turned experimental filmmaking into event movie excitement, mastering a specialized perspective that awes and concerns, scored with aplomb by Philip Glass. With “Visitors,” Reggio returns to his cinematic perch, only instead of absorbing the enormity of life, he focuses on the nuances of emotion and industrial texture, assembling a black and white odyssey across faces and places, soaking up every last detail his subjects are willing to share. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s much to admire about the Israeli drama “Bethlehem,” which contains powerful emotions and charged situations concerning Middle East politics and behavioral influences. It’s the work of director Yuval Adler, making his feature-length debut, and his inexperience shows often during the film. An effective statement of trust and abandonment, “Bethlehem” remains a compelling picture with laudable performances. A few missteps here and there don’t derail the viewing experience, only hindering enough to rob the movie of its consistency and potent elements of anxiety, keeping the work grounded at the very moment it begins to take off. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Someone Marry Barry” demands an extraordinary amount of patience from its audience. It’s a lewd comedy that openly abuses rom-com clichés to create a sense of comfort while it details obnoxious behavior via cringingly broad performances. Writer/director Rob Pearlstein only seems interested in the basics of sophomoric humor and grand theft movie, while developing a lead character who’s not just loveable trouble, but a genuine menace, openly destroying lives to feed his own needs. A picture like “Someone Marry Barry” requires approachable personalities and conflicts able to be conquered by endearing people. Pearlstein sketches out shockingly detestable individuals who appear to enjoy the havoc they generate. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s always interesting when a filmmaker decides to return to the source of a great success. Released last December to strong box office and reasonable audience approval, “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” fulfilled a promise made a decade earlier, finally bringing a sequel forward to satisfy those who were dangerously close to exhausting their fandom. Sensing a premium opportunity to squeeze out additional coin from the faithful and the curious, director Adam McKay has gone back to the movie, swapping out jokes and extending scenes to create the “Super-Sized R-Rated Version” of the feature, stripping PG-13 shackles off the work to fashion a more impish take on the “Anchorman” follow-up. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Wind Rises” marks the final film for director Hayao Miyazaki, who recently announced his retirement. The legendary animator, creator of such pictures as “Ponyo,” “Spirited Away,” and “Princess Mononoke,” has enjoyed an illustrious career of critical acclaim and hefty box office returns, manufacturing beloved characters and expansive fantasy realms that have filled the hearts and minds of fans for nearly three decades. With “The Wind Rises,” Miyazaki focuses on a different flight of fancy, turning attention to historic matters from a controversial era in Japanese history. While dramatically short-sheeted, the movie retains visual beauty and respect for intelligence, striving to find a comfortable middle ground between the foreboding details of the past and a hope to find humanity in the midst of memories. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

At the age of 61, Liam Neeson has developed into one of the screen’s great action heroes. However, in this quest to remain a superman, the actor has shown questionable judgment in scripts and directors. “Non-Stop” reteams Neeson with helmer Jaume Collet-Serra, with the pair previously collaborating on the dismal 2011 thriller, “Unknown.” Despite a crackerjack premise and a decent first hour of suspense, “Non-Stop” abandons the art of surprise to magnify its menace, losing the promise of clandestine evildoing to play up Neeson’s knighthood. Instead of unleashing a proper thrill ride, the picture eventually clings to predictability and irrationality, ignoring the sinister potential of the material to go through the motions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Stephen Sommers makes a specific type of feature, even when he’s trying to broaden his horizons. The helmer behind the first two “Mummy” extravaganzas, “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” and “Van Helsing,” Sommers is an architect of noise and speed, bringing his interests to the delicate story of “Odd Thomas,” adapting the popular book by Dean Koontz. Although it plays swiftly, the picture doesn’t unleash excitement, with the demands of exposition and the moviemaker’s insistence on explosions and swirling visual effects diluting the pleasingly weirdo vibe. As a television pilot, “Odd Thomas” is agreeably small-scale and wide open for episodic exploration. As a film, it’s unnecessary overkill, either explaining things or destroying things as it inspects the titular character’s powers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If America can have Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbor,” why can’t the Russians too? “Stalingrad” sets out to tell the story of a major turning point in World War II, but from a Russian perspective, adding some dimension to a cinematic tapestry of combat pictures. However, instead of grit, there’s gloss, with the production electing the Bay route of slo-mo spectacle to tell a story of monumental loss and developing insanity. It’s familiar terrain but historically motivated, allowing “Stalingrad” to be sporadically entertaining and illuminating while it walks in established directorial footprints. At the very least, the bigness of the movie is diverting, showing the world that Russia can create just as much noise at the multiplex as its competition can. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com