Category: Film Review

1987’s “RoboCop” is a special film. A roaring mix of satire and action, the movie is unspeakably violent, slyly scripted, and masterfully crafted by director Paul Verhoeven, who gorged on police procedural pictures and vomited up a hardcore ode to heroism and humanity. For 2014, there’s a remake, a chance to return the iconic character to the screen, bewitching old fans and tempting new. Of course, all the CGI, chaotic action, and screaming characters can’t even begin to match the assertive steamroller experience of the original feature, and while the remake tries to have an identity of its own, it forgets a personality. It’s easy to label the new “RoboCop” a failure, a pale imitation, but the effort makes dismissal painless, coming off as a basic cable production from CNN. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the opening five minutes of “Nurse,” a promise is made by director Douglas Aarniokoski (“The Day”) that the next 70 minutes of the feature will be devoted to an atmosphere of sleaziness so thick and colorfully B-movie, it will be impossible to resist. The promise isn’t kept. As mischievous as “Nurse” is, winding through extended displays of nudity and violence, it’s also surprisingly uneventful, only coming alive when it has ghoulish behavior to detail. Actually, for all the ugliness this effort commits to, it’s surprisingly tasteful, electing to mount a tale of obsession over a more enticing plot concerning a gradual psychological unraveling fueling a twisted vision of heroism. “Nurse” is gruesome, but it’s never nasty. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Perhaps J.K. Rowling should contact her lawyers. “Vampire Academy” is the latest young adult literature adaptation with dreams of becoming the next big screen sensation, spawning sequels and hysteria as it marches into a profitable future. The source material is a six-book series from author Richelle Mead that was first published in 2007, right in the midst of “Harry Potter” mania. The similarities between the franchises are striking, with “Vampire Academy” providing a vague prophecy of purpose for the lead characters, a school for special beings who practice magic, and a revolving door of adult characters with nothing but secrets to share. All that seems to be missing is the butterbeer, but blood will have to do here. A road map and a glossary would’ve been nice to have as well to help navigate through this convoluted mess. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

This production takes the time and effort to hire a group of comedians and habitual improvisational types, and it’s Jean-Claude Van Damme who turns out to be the funniest part of “Welcome to the Jungle.” Going for a workplace-gone-mad comedy, director Rob Meltzer hits more than he misses, though this is surprisingly slack work with a guaranteed premise. The stunt casting of Van Damme is the only true inspiration of the film, asking the normally stoic action star to play silly for a change, bestowing the picture with some surprise as it hits familiar targets. Laughs are present, but “Welcome to the Jungle” could be a tighter production — it merely entertains, and is quickly forgotten. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Lego Movie” is a 100-minute-long commercial for the world-famous building bricks, but it’s marketing executed in a truly inspired manner. Taking advantage of the cinematic possibilities of the construction toy, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller explore a vast realm of color and cartoon snap, creating a boldly designed, stop-motion-style tour of the Lego universe, arriving with a pronounced sense of humor and an unbeatable sense of screen energy. It’s a snappy, amusing picture with a long list of characters to help flavor the film, but its greatest asset is imagination, living up to the promise of Lego play with a charmingly berserk creation that’s wickedly entertaining and effective as a tool to sell more bricks. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s no way around it: “The Monuments Men” is flawed work. The latest from George Clooney, who co-scripts, stars, and directs, the picture lacks the firm narrative glue that its deserves, making the film feel like random chapters in a compelling book that’s missing every tenth page. However, many of these chapters are wonderfully executed, brimming with tension and an oddly mournful approach that maintains interest in the wartime quest at hand. Cohesion is missing, but Clooney makes up for the random quality by making moments stick beautifully, blurring the limitations of the feature by treating its working parts so well. “The Monuments Men” can be a frustrating sit, especially when it becomes clear that greatness rests just outside its reach. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“After the Dark” posits provocative questions of survival in the face of certain doom, approaching such quandaries from an academic point of view, establishing a cooler approach to situations of panic and emotion. It’s an interesting picture with a different sense of dramatic conflict, rooted in hypothetical situations instead of realism. However, “After the Dark” doesn’t maintain its intellectual muscle, eventually giving in to a Hollywood mentality that demands a melodramatic arc of obsession to taint the purity of debate. Predictability doesn’t sour the viewing experience, but it does leave a nagging feeling that writer/director John Huddle isn’t pushing hard enough to challenge his audience in a manner that befits the plot. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Without anyone paying attention, writer/director Brian A. Miller has been amassing a handful of credits in the low-budget, bottom-shelf action movie genre. With “Officer Down” and “House of the Rising Sun,” Miller has demonstrated an interest in the lives of vicious men, emphasizing brutality as a way to cover up the fact that his productions are left with little money to work with and less imagination to cover the seams. “The Outsider” is as nondescript a thriller as they come, trying to merge technological bustle with fist-first screen activity, failing to make any sort of impression as Miller fights to create panic out of nothing, employing a bland leading man and a repetitive sense of violence to snap this snoozer awake. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Sex plays an important part in the Mexican horror picture, “Here Comes the Devil.” It has to, as the terror elements often fail to make their intended impression. Devoid of substance and smart, inventive scares, the feature flounders as it searches for ways to intensify the viewing experience, with writer/director Adrian Garcia Bogliano attempting to extract discomfort through the use of loud, chaotic music, trusting this alone will create nightmares. “Here Comes the Devil” has mood but no real presence, making the movie a grab bag of lustful encounters and skin-ripping gore, while submitting the most vaginally-inspired imagery of the film year. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer make up the filmmaking duo behind efforts such as “Meet the Spartans,” “Epic Movie,” and “Vampires Suck.” Divisive industry figures like Uwe Boll often get knocked as the worst director working today, but this twosome has a legitimate claim to the title. Building their brand name with movie parodies that feature no actual parody, Friedberg and Seltzer have managed to sustain a career on painfully obvious imitation, replacing funny bone invention with bodily function humor and bug-eyed punchlines. “Best Night Ever” promises a change of pace for the pair, who shed satire to make a found footage take on “The Hangover,” freeing them of their toxic routine. Sadly, old habits die hard for the partners, with their lethal sense of humor and tuneless timing decimating whatever plans “Best Night Ever” had to throw a cinematic party. Although it might be difficult to believe, this is their worst picture to date, if only because it offers a creative opportunity to prove themselves, and they blow it on yet another round of substandard stupidity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Movies do not come more chilling than “Big Bad Wolves.” While writer/directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado strive to inject the feature with a modest amount of darkly comic moments, there’s very little to laugh at during this frightening effort, which submits a grisly plot of revenge only to have the gumption to nurture its nightmare all the way to its natural conclusion. An Israeli production that doesn’t shy away from the brutality of life, “Big Bad Wolves” is a semi-masterful suspense picture that blends the violent appetites of Chan-wook Park and Quentin Tarantino, pouring such delectable disease into a film that’s hypnotic, even as it details unimaginable suffering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A solid literary adaptation will preserve the feeling of paging through a book, advancing chapter by chapter through a story. “Labor Day,” originally a 2009 novel by Joyce Maynard, retains this wonderful feeling of narrative movement. It’s a corny premise, ideal for a Harlequin hangover, yet writer/director Jason Reitman takes the endeavor seriously, engaging in a sensorial ode to human connection and coming-of-age awareness. Gracefully handled by stars Josh Brolin, Kate Winslet, and Gattlin Griffith, “Labor Day” is comfort food filmmaking with a few rough edges, ideal for those who prefer to get lost at the movies, discovering strange sensuality and sturdily built drama. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s not entirely clear what decade “That Awkward Moment” is supposed to originate from. Its synth-based score is pulled from the 1980s, its blind adulation of New York City emerges from the 1990s, and its treatment of women seems dated around the 1950s. Struggling to execute a brohiem comedy in a hopefully enlightened age, writer/director Tom Gormican makes a mess out of the game of love. When “That Awkward Moment” isn’t funny, it’s painfully confused, attempting to celebrate louts as lovable, while female characters are disposable, treated as mere decoration in this allegedly romantic comedy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Love Is in the Air” is a French romantic comedy that makes a controversial dramatic decision by making its leading man unpleasant and its female characters unreasonable. It’s a bumpy flight for the movie, though director Alexandre Castagnetti has firm control on the picture’s exemplary style and effervescent performances. There’s a sizeable amount of unpleasant behavior to work through here, most of it emerging from the temporary blindness of sexual attraction, yet “Love Is in the Air” somehow remains appealing, hitting a few beats of genuine emotion to help cut through its mangled sense of honorable actions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Stranger by the Lake” is mysterious, sensual, and disarmingly casual. The latest from writer/director Alain Guiraudie, the feature is a splendidly crafted effort that sneaks up on the viewer, lulling them into a state of comfort with the characters before gradually introducing elements of murder and suspicion. It works due to Guiraudie’s moviemaking control and patience, while the cast submits exceptionally interior work, projecting emotional concerns while working through the subtleties of small talk. Although it’s a repetitive film, it winds with purpose, slowly ratcheting up the tension in a confident manner that keeps the picture riveting, even when it seems to have no direction at all. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To appreciate any part of “At Middleton” requires swallowing an extreme case of the cutes. A romantic comedy with a French film fixation, the picture tests patience on occasion as performances go silent comedy broad and certain narrative steps are skipped on the road to mutual attraction. There are flaws to be dealt with, yet “At Middleton” retains a great deal of charm due to work from leads Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga, who look like they’re having the time of their lives in this indie production, relishing the opportunity to play faulty characters powerless to the urgency of love. Without their spunk, the movie would be nothing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Cottage Country” is a wicked, amusing black comedy that satisfies with its ghoulish sense of humor and appetite for escalating acts of frustration. Unfortunately, the blood-caked merriment only lasts for the first act of the film, with the rest of the effort failing to live up to its opening as it hunts for macabre business without much in the way of inspiration. Brightly mounted and nicely performed, “Cottage Country” has moments of delicious insanity, but screenwriter Jeremy Boxen can’t sustain the frantic tone, leaving the feature top heavy instead of building to a devastatingly funny and frightful conclusion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“I, Frankenstein” has been promoted as the latest release from the creators of “Underworld.” What the marketing fails to mention is that the effort is more of a remake of the hit 2003 picture starring Kate Beckinsale than a kissing cousin, trying to replicate the fantasy recipe to help launch a new franchise. The formula worked relatively well for “Underworld” and its three follow-ups, but I doubt we’ll see another chapter of the “I, Frankenstein” saga beyond this lumbering movie. Far too synthetic and dramatically self-conscious to embrace as genre escapism, the feature never builds its own dark personality, more invested in drab mythmaking than hearty, exciting storytelling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We all know Ralph Fiennes as one of the industry’s top talents — an actor of extraordinary skill and stamina, giving life to some of the screen’s finest tragedies and villains. After all, to remain a force of considerable malevolence in a role such as Voldemort in “Harry Potter,” played without the benefit of a nose, is a remarkable achievement. Quietly, Fiennes has been building steam as a director, with 2011’s “Coriolanus” storming across the screen as a particularly charged reworking of Shakespeare. And now there’s “The Invisible Woman,” which takes a tale of forbidden love and social decimation and turns it into fine art, with a beating heart that carries the viewing experience. Sumptuously made, with stellar performances from Fiennes and Felicity Jones, “The Invisible Woman” stuns with its cinematographic beauty and batters with its mournful examination of increasing isolation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The last two decades has been rough for director Peter Hyams. With efforts such as “The Musketeer,” “End of Days,” and “A Sound of Thunder,” the helmer has experienced a creative downfall that’s all but destroyed his once fruitful career. In fact, his last passable picture was 1994’s “Timecop,” making a reunion with star Jean-Claude Van Damme for “Enemies Closer” understandable, bringing the action star in to liven up this limited thriller, hoping their chemistry has endured long enough to fuel another collection of chases, shoot-outs, and hand-to-hand combat. Approached with lowered expectations, and “Enemies Closer” is a reasonably engaging B-movie, benefiting from Van Damme’s nutty performance and Hyams’s dedication to cinematic economy. Surprises are few, outside of the eye-roll count, which is unexpectedly low. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com