Category: Film Review

What’s most frustrating about “The Possession” (not to be confused with
last week’s “The Apparition”) is that it’s filled with potential. It’s a
distinctive story of demonic ownership with a specific cultural tilt,
yet the production seems hesitant to follow through with its chilling
ideas for terror. Instead, “The Possession” is locked in mediocrity,
always wincing when the horror hits a few memorable extremes. Maybe it’s
the PG-13 rating or perhaps director Ole Bornedal isn’t up for the
challenge, but this feature is exceptionally good at pulling its
punches, leaving discouraged viewers to fantasize about a more
satisfying picture poured from the same filmmaking ingredients. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Sure to raise pulse rates and incite shockwaves of disbelief,
“Compliance” is an exceptional example of provocative filmmaking, taking
viewers on a 90-minute-long journey of humiliation, manipulation, and
good old fashioned stupidity. It’s a riveting watch, with a stranglehold
of suspense expertly maintained by writer/director Craig Zobel, who
accepts the challenge of adapting a true crime situation without pumping
the plot full of fiction, holding to the innate horror of the central
violation while subtly shifting the ground beneath the viewer’s feet.
Bravely uncomfortable and sure to inspire heated post-movie (and likely
mid-movie) conversation, “Compliance” is haunting, positively enraging
when it sinks in that this was no nightmare, but a reality. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure” is the brainchild of Kenn
Viselman, a marketing wizard behind “The Teletubbies” and “Thomas the
Tank Engine” who decided to strike out on his own, overseeing a family
film geared toward the short attention spans of pre-schoolers. Billed as
“interactive,” “Big Balloon Adventure” encourages young viewers to
twist and shout in front of on-screen characters, getting into the
spirit of this lackluster musical blasted with puppetry and nuclear
colors. Although it’s meant to tickle toddlers, “Big Balloon Adventure”
isn’t worth punishing multiplex pricing, delivering small-scale thrills
on a limited budget. It’s definitely a rental, offering parents a chance
to escape while wee ones bop around for 85 minutes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s difficult to recommend “Lawless” to the average moviegoer. It’s a
film that contains scenes of pure evil, with lacerating violence to back
up its arguments, making it extremely troubling for those with
sensitivity to screen brutality. Thankfully, there’s a consistently
impressive effort inside its grim ambiance, embellishing its
Depression-era setting just enough to activate splendidly as an offering
of pulp cinema, keeping viewers glued to dramatic developments and
widescreen menace. It’s a rough feature, yet this intensity keeps the
material on task. Instead of lounging around as an evocative slice of
backwoods history, “Lawless” stands up straight as a revenge picture,
with flawed heroes and a villain of unparalleled sliminess. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Marketed as a sinister picture with heavy demonic overtones, “The Tall
Man” turns out to be something quite different, absent a juicy genre
hook to immediately pull viewers in. That’s not to say the film is
successful, but its intentions are unique, hoping to approach formulaic
scares with moralistic twist. It’s a shame the feature isn’t terribly
interesting beyond its central concept, laboring through pedestrian
chase sequences and flaccid confrontations. Writer/director Pascal
Laugier has a few inspired visual ideas to share, but what begins as an
intriguing Stephen King riff devolves into a Lifetime Original,
effectively burning off the potential of the complex misdirection. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Victim” has been routinely referenced as a classic grindhouse
production, out to charm fans of sleazy, violent entertainment. However,
writer/director/star Michael Biehn doesn’t put his best perverted foot
forward with this lackluster, budget-minded suspense picture.
Underdeveloped and occasionally directionless, “The Victim” is actually
quite tasteful for the genre, preferring windy dialogue exchanges to
wrathful acts of bloodshed. While not without a few highlights, the
feature is disappointingly tame, missing a grand opportunity for screen
insanity. Biehn has a germ of an idea here, but lacks the sickness
needed to bring this tale of murder, sex, and feverish uncertainty to
life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The trailer for “The Apparition” contained more story than the picture
it was promoting. In fact, I think the trailer for “The Apparition” is
actually more of a movie than “The Apparition.” A wildly incoherent
effort that spends most of its running time avoiding its own plot, “The
Apparition” is one of those major studio releases that is so stunningly
inept, it’s a wonder it’s receiving a theatrical release. However, maybe
a brief stay in multiplexes is a positive thing, allowing those with
heavenly B-movie patience to sit down and decode the bungled filmmaking.
Perhaps there’s someone out there who could possibly explain the
feature to me one day. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After his lackluster turn in the recent “Magic Mike,” it’s encouraging
to watch star Matthew McConaughey dig his teeth into something
positively evil like the character of Joe Cooper. A cop drenched in
Texas swagger, Joe is a man you wouldn’t want to cross, yet he carries a
seductive, strangely respectful aura about him that’s almost appealing.
It’s a tremendously controlled and creepy performance from the actor,
matching the intensity of director William Friedkin, who summons a humid
atmosphere of desperation and humiliation for “Killer Joe,” a ripe,
captivatingly repellent picture that challenges its cast with stark
portrayals of stupidity and intimidation, roasting in the Dallas heat.
It’s a punishing viewing experience, but a uniquely vile sit that
rewards the brave with exemplary technical credits, a sure pace in the
early going, and the sight of McConaughey reacquainting himself with
excellence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The rush in “Premium Rush” only arrives in short bursts, often after
lengthy offerings of exposition I doubt most ticket buyers will care
about. A chase film that consistently torpedoes its momentum, the
picture is frustrating sit, finding co-writer/director David Koepp
insisting on a story that matches the intensity of the pursuit. He fails
to find one, though “Premium Rush” is determined to deliver on
characterization despite a premise that works just fine focusing on the
heat of the moment, supported by a marvelous display of bicycle stunts
and streetwise navigation that’s depicted with the utmost urgency. Koepp
doesn’t trust the basics of the hunt, bending over backwards to paste a
soul on a simplistic machine of suspense. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade since the release of “Like
Mike,” leaving “Thunderstruck” ample room to pick up where the
teen-centric sports fantasy left off. However, while “Like Mike” at
least made a faint attempt to conjure curiosity concerning the iffy
magic dust it was spreading, “Thunderstruck” doesn’t even attempt to
pinpoint its basketball enchantment. It’s a peculiar creative choice in
an otherwise bland, feebly acted comedy, concentrating more on laughs
and half-realized messages of adolescent responsibility than solidifying
a truly bizarre premise, at least to a point where it appears as though
the production actually cared about telling a coherent story. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Cosmopolis” requires viewers to set aside their every thought, perhaps
every motor function too, and focus on the enormous exchanges of knotted
dialogue launched between comatose characters. There’s no possible way
to appreciate the movie in a half-hearted manner, yet writer/director
David Cronenberg isn’t exactly inviting outside interest in this
polarizing work. With its stretches of byzantine conversations,
bloodless characterizations, and inert thematic push, “Cosmopolis” is a
rare miscarriage from the always exciting filmmaker. Cronenberg seems
like he has something specific, possibly devilishly satiric in mind, but
his screen instincts are numb, constructing a feature that lurches from
scene to scene, convinced it possesses a wicked intellectualism it
rarely finds the energy to display. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A great car chase movie should inspire the viewer to leap out of the
theater when the end credits hit, sprint through the parking lot, dive
into their automobile, and burn rubber back home, dodging imaginary bad
guys on the way. It should trigger a dormant recklessness that’s frowned
upon in daily life, creating a surge of pedal-to-the-metal daydreams.
“Hit and Run” doesn’t bring out four-wheeled fantasies. It actually
encourages a great deal of boredom as it lumbers from scene to scene,
placing its emphasis on a troubled relationship between two insipid
individuals, while the “Run” of the title is a rare occurrence, making
more of a cameo appearance as writer/co-director/star Dax Shepard
provides more screen time to dreary drama than an electric pursuit
element most will be itching to dig into. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There has been a rash of supernatural stories with period settings in
recent years, with “The Woman in Black” a box office smash just this
last February. “The Awakening” contains familiar working parts, carrying
a somber tone of torment in a secluded English setting, and while the
material doesn’t win points for originality, co-writer/director Nick
Murphy captures an immersive atmosphere of frights and paranoia,
creating a ghost story with a nice kick and deeply felt emotions. The
surface details suggest a banal return to a formulaic haunting, yet “The
Awakening,” while imperfect, captures an intensity of gradually eroding
conviction that carries the iffy material all the way to the intriguing
head-scratcher of an ending. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I was a great admirer of Sylvester Stallone’s “The Expendables,” released two years ago. A brutal throwback to the sweat-stained, no-nonsense actioners of the 1980s, the picture was undeniably rough around the edges, yet contained a slick appreciation for genre necessities and broheim comfort. After its unexpected box office success, we’re now faced with “The Expendables 2,” a crisp sequel that employs a great deal of hindsight to move ahead as a possible franchise. Stripped of Stallone’s tendency to ramble, the follow-up is a more traditional bruiser, barreling forward with waves of violence, self-aware humor, and a rowdy supporting cast pieced together out of newcomers, B-actors, and martial art icons. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Odd Life of Timothy Green” forces an enormous amount of whimsy down the throat of its audience in the early moments of the picture, though it doesn’t take very long to develop a taste for the sweet stuff. Heartfelt and genuinely magical, this Disney release is perfect for a family moviegoing outing, touching on themes of parenthood for adults, while kids will likely be charmed by the mysteries presented. A touching fable, “Odd Life” benefits from an eager cast and a unique sensitivity, finding a comfortable, endearing position between a bizarre premise and its enthusiastic execution. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Those used to the animated movie routine of princesses and anthropomorphized animals might find themselves shocked by “ParaNorman.” A macabre adventure that pays tribute to zombie cinema while working out its own scares and iffy stabs at irreverence, the picture is a stunningly animated effort carrying unexpected bite, taking its horror reverence seriously with a ghoulish tale of a community haunting that’s occasionally broken up by traditional cartoon shenanigans. Those tuned into the screen tributes and surprisingly severity of the story will enjoy themselves immensely. Others would be well advised to pay attention to the PG rating, as “ParaNorman” creeps into a few dark corners that aren’t solved with musical numbers or tears. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1970, an album titled “Cold Fact” was released in America. A product of a Detroit-based man known only as Rodriguez, “Cold Fact” (and its single “Sugar Man”) went out into the world with an expectation of success, wowing those in the industry who were knocked flat by Rodriguez’s skills as a songwriter and performer, revitalizing the folk rock genre. The record flopped in the U.S., as did a second effort, 1971’s “Coming From Reality,” leaving the artist without a future in the industry, joining the ranks of millions who tried and failed to make a career out of music. And then it all came to a horrible end in later years, when Rodriguez, after a particularly painful gig, put a gun to his head and killed himself on stage. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Sparkle” is a film that should’ve snapped together beautifully. Boasting a promising director in Salim Akil (“Jumping the Broom”), an earnest performance from star Jordin Sparks, and period setting drenched in the miracle of the Motown sound, the feature is also a remake of a 1976 Joel Schumacher-scripted cult hit, which came to inspire the Broadway hit “Dreamgirls.” The material is there for the taking, but “Sparkle” is a disaster, choked out by some of the worst displays of botched screen storytelling I’ve seen in some time. It’s a heartbreaker, especially with all this talent waiting to pounce on the electricity of the premise, not to mention the final screen appearance of Whitney Houston, who passed away in February. Instead of a celebration of music, the movie is a tonal wreck. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After the release of 1997’s “The Rainmaker,” legendary director Francis Ford Coppola retreated into his folds of own mind, giving up the Hollywood filmmaking routine to construct personal stories and indulge visual kinks. After “Youth Without Youth” and “Tetro,” Coppola returns with “Twixt,” a bizarre mosaic of grief, mystery, murder, creativity, and vampirism, unleashed inside a low-budget dreamscape that shows little interest in storytelling lucidity. It’s an interesting shotgun blast of ideas and moods from the filmmaker, and while it doesn’t braid together as evenly as Coppola might’ve hoped, the picture maintains a full punch of atmosphere, while giving star Val Kilmer something substantial to play after years of making moronic actioners with 50 Cent. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Celeste & Jesse Forever” is an independent production about a marriage in crisis. It’s not the most original concept, but the script attempts to disrupt the norm by greeting the heartache after the domestic divide. It’s the post-marriage movie about marriage, endeavoring to find a sincere take on separation while it stumbles through hoary scenarios and jokes. Although it means well enough, “Celeste & Jesse Forever” is cold to the touch, too exaggerated and fussy to register as meaningful, while laboring through two shallow performances by Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg, who come across as more of a dysfunctional improvisation duo than a plausibly aching couple. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com