Category: Film Review

Their name is Astron-6. A filmmaking collective from Canada, the
production team specializes in retro entertainment with a distinct wink,
fueled by a love of eighties cinema and the freedom of no-budget
creative challenges. Their debut feature, “Father’s Day,” was an
unexpectedly hilarious, imaginative take on splatter shenanigans,
cutting the toxicity of the gore with a sly sense of humor, articulated
by a sharp ensemble of capable comedians. Astron-6 returns with
“Manborg,” another dip into the warm waters of violent B-movie
reverence, this time channeling “RoboCop,” Sam Raimi, and the “Mortal
Kombat” video game to generate an acid-washed cornucopia of action and
laughs. Short, silly, and superbly crafted with next to no money,
“Manborg” is a delight. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Oblivion” is sci-fi entertainment that recalls genre pictures from the
1980s and ‘70s, where character and spectacle were more evenly matched.
It’s a strikingly designed and photographed effort that indulges only a
handful of blockbuster bonanza moments, more attentive to its knotted
exploration of identity and paranoia, almost old fashioned in its
inspection of psychological disruption. That’s not to suggest “Oblivion”
isn’t exciting, but it carries more of a literary tone, hoping to
extract suspense through intimacy instead of explosions, constructing a
beguiling atmosphere of isolation and revelation that keeps the
production alert, despite a few convoluted twists along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Robert Redford is no fool. The screen icon and celebrated director knows
full well that audiences wouldn’t be very patient with his latest film,
“The Company You Keep,” without the security and color of a large cast
made up of famous faces. It’s a smart move, providing a sense of
stability with this labyrinthine tale of aging radicals, weighty
secrets, and dubious journalism, with the talent helping to ease the
often scattered feel of the storytelling — an effort that faces a
difficult job of establishing numerous names and places. Never
underestimate these modest flashes of star power, as the ensemble
manufactures the suspense and reflection necessary to make “The Company
You Keep” stick as a stirring drama and as a statement of generational
idealism greeting the golden years. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the interconnected world we live in, dangers are abundant. With so
many people exchanging their inner most thoughts and fears, along with
all kinds of sensitive information, the potential for catastrophe is
great, yet the warning signs remain hazy. “Disconnect” seeks to navigate
the divide between machine and humankind, initially setting out to
inspect intimate violations brought to life via online communication.
It’s a fascinating topic and one of utmost importance in today’s
plugged-in society. Unfortunately, director Henry-Alex Rubin doesn’t
examine the issues long enough, soon clearing away a promising
cautionary tale to sermonize with a heavy, almost suffocating
melodramatic approach to close out this crushingly formulaic picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Terrence Malick makes a particular type of movie. There’s nothing wrong
with an artist in possession of a singular style, with many filmmakers
enjoying mighty careers basically making the same feature over and over,
with subtle shifts in approach. “To the Wonder” is Malick’s latest work
(his sixth project since 1973), and it resembles his previous
accomplishments in numerous ways. What’s lacking here is character,
watching the helmer construct his traditional ode to environmental
instability and human weakness, yet there’s not a single interesting
figure onscreen capable of holding attention. A sudsy wash of
sensations, “To the Wonder” is gorgeous and ambitious, but cold to the
touch, nearly carrying on as a parody of a Malick endeavor instead of
solidifying its poetic ways as a step forward in the slo-mo evolution of
the reclusive creator. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It seems the poisoned apple doesn’t fall far from the rotting tree.
“Antiviral” marks the feature-length directorial debut for Brandon
Cronenberg, son of David Cronenberg, the master filmmaker behind such
classics as “The Fly,” “Videodrome,” and “Dead Ringers.” Following in
his father’s footsteps, Brandon conjures a diseased take on our engorged
celebrity-fixated culture with this ominous, gruesome production. While
the younger Cronenberg is undeniably sipping from his dad’s reservoir
of corporeal nightmares, he proves himself to be visually fascinating
helmer with a unique perspective on societal decay. “Antiviral” is
stimulating work with a fulfilling grasp on agitation, though it works
ever better as a glimpse into futureworld psychosis and extremes of
consumption. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Scary Movie V” opens with Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan in bed. Then
they begin to have sex. Then “Yakety Sax” kicks in to score their
gymnastic lovemaking session. And this is the type of viewing experience
“Scary Movie V” becomes, with bad ideas spread like curdled butter over
lousy ideas, and it doesn’t let up for 75 minutes (add another 15 for
the end credits). What began with the Wayans Brothers spoofing “Scream”
has now turned into a cinematic garbage bin for the franchise’s fifth
outing, with a reduction in budget, casting surprises, and fodder for
satire flattening the potential for even a single responsive titter. If
you absolutely need to experience the feature, bring a pillow, as
there’s nothing to the effort that promises to keep the viewer awake. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jackie Robinson was a miraculous baseball player, but one would never
know that after watching the bio-pic “42.” Instead of focusing on a
sterling Major League Baseball career that lasted for nine years, the
feature only covers Robinson’s introductory season with the Brooklyn
Dodgers, where he faced torrential amounts of bigotry as he broke the
color barrier. Racism is primarily on the mind of writer/director Brian
Helgeland, and it often results in dramatic dead ends, beating the same
drum of intolerance while a towering portrait of a sporting legend is
left behind. “42” isn’t a baseball movie, it’s a flaccid, obvious
melodrama with occasional moments of dazzling diamond activity. What a
shame. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After soaring to box office heights and striking Oscar gold with his
last two pictures, “Slumdog Millionaire” and “127 Hours,” director Danny
Boyle comes crashing back down to Earth with “Trance,” a soggy jigsaw
puzzle of a movie that’s so intent on frying the brains of its viewers,
it completely forgets to invite them in on the grisly festivities.
Crafted with Boyle’s traditional electro bounce and cinematographic
A.D.D., “Trance” is best left for those who either adore the filmmaker
no matter the inconsistency of the work or those who love taffy-pull
strands of interpretational material, working the stickiness until it
makes some type of sense, even if the creator didn’t intend such
meaning. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While in possession of a storied filmmaking career, director Ken Loach
isn’t one to hunt for a laugh. Rarely exposing his funny bone, Loach
aims for a slightly lighter tone with “The Angels’ Share,” though any
smiles are quickly tempered by the crushing reality of human
fallibility. As with any Loach picture, the effort is a mix of emotions
and hardships with a Scottish tilt, yet pockets of brevity are welcome,
permitting the movie an approachability and unpredictability that’s
often missing from the helmer’s work. I’d even go as far as to suggest
“The Angels’ Share” is somewhat charming, which is a reaction not
typically found with a Loach endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Following in the footsteps of numerous stories concerning the dangers of
granted wishes and the unmerciful nature of greed, “The Brass Teapot”
takes an extremely dark premise and treats it like an afternoon picnic.
Lacking fangs and consequences, the picture at least moves, granted a
buoyant forward momentum by director Ramaa Mosley, making her
feature-length helming debut. She knows how to make a movie skate along,
but in terms of black comedy and vicious delights, “The Brass Teapot”
is missing numerous layers of sickness, fearful of pushing a plot of
pain on its audience, forcing them to study the complexity of unsavory
desires with unlikable characters. Instead, it’s a candy bar commercial
with the occasional act of violence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Seeing a horror remake pop into moviegoing view certainly isn’t a new
development. After all, Hollywood has been on a recycling tear as of
late, returning hits such as “Friday the 13th,” “A Nightmare on Elm
Street,” “Halloween,” and “Dawn of the Dead” to the big screen. It’s an
unfortunate development driven almost entirely by the prospect of easy
box office returns (with newcomers and fanatics lining up in droves),
but a few of these reheated properties have managed to score with
imagination and a renewed thirst for blood. Count “Evil Dead” in the win
column, successfully reworking the legendary cult feature from 1981 for
a younger audience while teasing the faithful with elaborate acts of
violence and survival that live up to the exalted brand name. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s not like Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” was a modest art-house
release back in 1993. It was destined to be a blockbuster from the
moment work began on the picture. An expensive, visually groundbreaking
tale of dinosaurs run amok, “Jurassic Park” fulfilled its promise with
enthusiasm and armrest-rattling suspense, supported by a level of
Saturday-matinee-style directorial heft that felt like opening gifts on
Christmas morning. It’s been two decades since the mighty T. rex first
rampaged onscreen, and to celebrate the anniversary of this now-classic
fantasy adventure, “Jurassic Park” has undergone a makeover, pushed and
pulled into 3D, while an IMAX-approved sound mix carries the theme park
chaos to new heights of eardrum-banging intensity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Those who prefer their horror cinema to resemble a demolition derby
would be wise to steer clear of “Thale,” a Norwegian effort that takes
its time to arrive nowhere in particular, showing remarkable restraint
with common displays of violence and gore. Electing a more reserved
direction of tension, the feature plays with stillness and the unknown,
doing an effective job building mystery despite a no-budget production
scope that keeps the action confined to a single dingy basement.
Intriguing without ever making the jump to riveting, “Thale” is solid
work from writer/director Aleksander Nordaas, who shapes a beguiling
monster movie without ever truly indulging the tropes that often
accompany the chaos. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In his last movie, 2010’s “Blue Valentine,” writer/director Derek
Cianfrance studied an intimate world of relationship deterioration,
focusing on the hearts and minds of two characters retracing their
mistakes. With “The Place Beyond the Pines,” the helmer opens his scope
up to move across generations, yet the core of the picture remains
quietly meditative, continuing his quest to explore human fallibility
and the yearn to right wrongs. It’s an impressively imagined effort with
a sweeping arc of drama to help carry it through three stories of
emotional disruption, and its ambition is almost worth a recommendation
alone. It eventually falls apart, perhaps by design, but Cianfrance
shows interesting new sides to his filmmaking ability with his latest
feature, while continuing to indulge a thespian permissiveness that’s
embarrassing to watch at times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Mental” is mental, living up to the potential of its title with a wild,
uninhibited display of psychological fractures and grotesque comedy.
The picture marks the return of writer/director P.J. Hogan to the
screen, who long ago helmed the cult hit “Muriel’s Wedding” before
embarking on a deflating Hollywood career that included “My Best
Friend’s Wedding,” 2003’s “Peter Pan,” and “Confessions of a
Shopaholic.” Revisiting his Australian roots, Hogan summons a tidal wave
of mischief and manic activity with “Mental,” straddling a thin line
between insanity and compassion. Hilarious but a tonal bucking bronco,
the effort is perhaps best reserved for viewers in the mood for a
runaway mine cart viewing experience, willing to absorb all the chaos
Hogan happily provides. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Tyler Perry makes two types of films: comedies and melodramas. He'll
usually blend the genres to give his audience the most bang for their
buck, but he's resolute in his directorial range, with "Temptation:
Confessions of a Marriage Counselor" his most combustible picture to
date, even out-heaving "For Colored Girls." A biblical parable dressed
up as an unruly Perry extravaganza, the feature does a commendable job
with fiery tempers and silky acts of seduction, showing signs of life as
a cheap thrill for an audience more than happy to interact with the
screen. Expectedly, Perry can't maintain the insanity for long,
eventually drowning the effort in severity to make a chilling
impression. Still, "Temptation," when it's just overheated and not
apocalyptic, is engaging enough to pass, generating sufficient
hullabaloo without taxing Perry's pedestrian moviemaking skills. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Phil Spector" opens with a bizarre disclaimer the places the events in
the film in a state of limbo, unable to comment on the murder trial of
the titular musical titan and unwilling to give the man an exhaustive
exploration of his life and times. It's an ephemeral picture, taking a
thin slice from the chaos of Spector's legal woes and savoring each
bite. It's also the latest work from powerhouse writer David Mamet,
lending the feature a pair of lungs to ease its odd quest to remain a
satellite in Spector's orbit for 90 minutes, making no judgments and no
pleas about a divisive individual flailing as he fights for his freedom. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2009, director Stephen Sommers brought “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”
to multiplexes, tasked with turning the popular cartoon series and toy
line from the 1980s into a viable franchise for a new generation. He
failed miserably, masterminding a leaden, nitwit film that actively
ignored what made the original creation such a delight to a generation
of kids. Rewarded with lackluster but passable box office returns, a
sequel was ordered up. Now we have “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” from helmer
John M. Chu, and while there was an enormous opportunity to
course-correct the series, the follow-up is essentially more of the same
nondescript action and unappealing characterizations as before.
Although some baby steps are made to please the hardcore fan base,
“Retaliation” doesn’t show the level of production bravery required to
make this brand name mean something on the big screen. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Purists will likely scoff at the suggestion, but it’s hard to discount
the “Twilight” DNA in the foundation of “The Host.” Both projects
originate from author Stephenie Meyer, who made a killing with her
sparkly vampires saga and has now moved over to sci-fi for her latest
effort, once again cooking up a love triangle template to hang prolonged
moments of swoon and physical contemplation on. It’s undeniably
derivative and about as thrilling as “Twilight” was, returning to a
droning ambiance of indecision to fashion a first step forward in a
burgeoning franchise for a young audience aching for a new fixation now
that Meyer’s original moneymaker has concluded. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com