Category: Film Review

Earlier this month, there was “Unstoppable,” which told the story of Anthony Robles, a one-legged wrestler trying to make his way through the sport, dealing with all sorts of setbacks, including a violent home life. “The Fire Inside” is very similar, this time detailing the days of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, a teenage boxer attempting to survive her environment and learn from a coach who cares about her future. There’s formula in both pictures, and while “Unstoppable” was indeed stopped by familiarity, “The Fire Inside” makes a noticeable effort to get past cliché. The screenplay, by Barry Jenkins, strives to merge the rush of underdog cinema with the reality of disillusionment, offering a more textured appreciation of struggle and sacrifice. And director Rachel Morrison (a longtime cinematographer making her helming debut) knows how to capture such tricky tonality, overseeing a challenging understanding of flickering spirit, and the production finds some fresh dramatic avenues to explore. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Mike Leigh went uncharacteristically big in his last picture. Working under a sizable budget (for Leigh at least) and a different sense of scope, the helmer launched a historical epic in 2018’s “Peterloo,” but audiences weren’t very interested in watching the lengthy endeavor. Instead of trying to top himself, Leigh returns to the intimacies of a domestic drama in “Hard Truths,” which plays to his strengths as a storyteller favoring tough tales of distraught people recognizing the difficulties of their lives. Leigh doesn’t go easy on the audience with the effort, taking a close look at a woman managing all sorts of mental health issues while handling family demands. “Hard Truths” cuts to the core with its study of emotional and physical pain, and while the cast is exceptional here, the feature fully belongs to star Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who provides a full-body understanding of a calcified person unwilling to participate in the world any longer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Last Showgirl” is meant to be a comeback film for Pamela Anderson, giving her a “The Wrestler” moment where she can show off her acting chops in a story that deals with the cruel realities of aging, especially when the main character is faced with past glories. Anderson hasn’t really acted much in recent years, but her history of glamour and sexploitation is enough to inspire the screenplay by Kate Gersten (“The Good Place,” “Schmigadoon”), who creates a study of finality after decades of routine, putting a Las Vegas dancer through a difficult two weeks where her entire world shifts and, in some ways, sinks. “The Last Showgirl” makes odd choices as it unfolds, as director Gia Coppola (“Palo Alto,” “Mainstream,” “The Seven Faces of Jane”) is looking to feel the material instead of guide it, resulting in a few wayward scenes. However, shock present in the writing is fully understood, and whatever Anderson is capable of delivering is on-screen in the feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Nickle Boys” is an adaptation of a 2019 Colson Whitehead novel, which examined the horrible history of Dozier School, a Florida reform school that specialized in abusing students, using torture and murder to maintain control. The setting has been fictionalized, but the story remains close to real-world atrocities, as “Nickle Boys” attempts to turn such painful experiences into an eye-opening study of racism and violence, mixed with little moments of humanity and the dangerous ways of hope. Co-writer/director RaMell Ross (the excellent “Hale County This Morning, This Evening”) doesn’t oversee a conventional understanding of dramatic entanglements and relationships, electing to go more artful and innovative with the picture, which is mostly shot from point-of-view angles. Viewers are put into the bodies of the main characters as they navigate a treacherous world, creating a visceral feature that’s intent on exposing the building of trauma which, for some, offers no escape. “Nickle Boys” is technically daring and deeply felt, putting Ross on a mission to generate a grim sense of poetry that’s wholly cinematic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Young Werther” goes all the way back for its inspiration, serving as an adaptation of a 1774 novel (“The Sorrows of Young Werther”) by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Opening information for the picture lists the book as a creation that caused a “literary tizzy,” and while the wilds of movie exhibition are usually unpredictable, it’s a safe bet such fandom won’t find its way to this film. Updating the tale to 2024 is writer/director Jose Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenco, making his feature-length helming debut, and the challenge proves to be a little too much for him as the material sets out to make a wholly unlikeable character at least emotionally understood. “Young Werther” aims to be romantic, comedic, and meaningful, but Lourenco isn’t brave enough with the effort, refusing to get dangerous with a plot that invites a darker understanding of obsession. The endeavor hopes to be light and cheeky, but it mostly remains insufferable, unable to find much in the way of spirit and soul. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Return” is a retelling of Homer’s “Odyssey,” only the “epic poem” has been whittled down to a more manageable size by the production, which isn’t out to fully explore the fantastical elements of the story. Instead, writers John Collee, Edward Bond, and Uberto Pasolini (who also directs) search for a character-based understanding of Odysseus and his special battle against the memories of war and the ache of reunion. It’s a prime opportunity to do something deep with personality, getting into the dark corners of the players as they figure out an extended game of power, but Pasolini isn’t too concerned with summoning thunder for the endeavor. “The Return” doesn’t take advantage of the cast or the emotional journey, remaining largely motionless for a great deal of the run time. The helmer mistakes stillness for profundity, dialing down pacing to a crawl, which doesn’t help the feature reach a few moments of fury it cares to deliver along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Kyle Mooney makes his directorial debut in “Y2K,” which continues his interests in the power of nostalgia. He poked at the past during his many years on “Saturday Night Live,” and co-scripted an ode to children’s entertainment from the 1980s in 2017’s “Brigsby Bear.” And he recreated animation blocks from the ‘80s and ‘90s on his show, “Saturday Morning All Star Hits.” Some might say Mooney is obsessed with his youth. He returns to days of long ago with “Y2K,” which is set in 1999, using elements of horror and comedy to imagine a world when concern about computer safety on New Year’s Eve is actually justified, following a collection of teenagers as they try to survive the night. It’s an amusing premise, but the picture is weirdly light on laughs and imagination. Mooney has ideas but no real writing, and as a helmer, he has little command over tone, keeping the endeavor painfully unsteady at times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Slowly but surely, Marielle Heller has become one of the more interesting filmmakers working today. She found layers of character and pain in 2018’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me,” and she turned the world of Fred Rogers into a deeply felt study of human connection in the wonderful “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” She’s taking on quite a creative challenge in “Nightbitch,” which is an adaptation of a 2021 book by Rachel Yoder detailing the experience of a woman feeling the full squeeze of motherhood, finding ways to escape the grind that delve into strange fantasies. It’s a tonal tightrope walk for Heller (who also scripts), overseeing a study of exasperation and coping that’s not easy to process. However, the realism of it all is quite thrilling to watch, as “Nightbitch” offers an unblinking view of life’s complications and cruelties, and it’s processed beautifully by star Amy Adams, who gives one of the year’s best performances in the feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Robert Eggers enjoys making atmospheric films. He’s built an oeuvre with them, delving in the mysteries of black magic (“The Witch”), madness (“The Lighthouse”), and violence (“The Norseman”). He returns with a remake of the 1922 horror classic, “Nosferatu,” and Eggers once again sticks to darkness in the offering, remaining fairly close in story and shock as the original, while also crediting Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” as its obvious influence. The helmer doesn’t aim for a radical reworking of the tale or his filmmaking interests in the effort, which is a carefully constructed offering of nightmare cinema, pushing to get under viewer skin through its displays of monsters and rising fears. As a technical exercise, it’s an impressive achievement, generating tension through sight and sound. Dramatically, “Nosferatu” isn’t always as urgent, going conversational and confrontational for most of the excessive run time (132 minutes), creating a slow drain of suspense as the story unfolds. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Justin Kurzel gravitates toward icy material, typically following tales of hard men in all sorts of trouble with the law and loved ones. The helmer of 2015’s “Macbeth” and 2019’s “The True History of the Kelly Gang,” Kurtzel returns to familiar narrative ground in “The Order,” a tale “based on true events” that tracks the efforts of the FBI and police to capture members of a white supremacy gang making big plans to organize and declare war on America. “The Order” follows troubling developments and conflicted characters, and the production maintains such darkness throughout the entire endeavor, which is impressive. “The Order” is tough stuff, exploring a yesterday of hate and violence that’s still relevant today, and while it’s not always stunning in presentation and pace, Kurzel maintains some focus on suspense as sharp words of intent become destructive actions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Shea Whigham is an actor primarily known for doing one thing. He plays low to the ground types, men who are often wrestling with their emotions in private, putting up a steely front to protect themselves and others. He’s developed cult appreciation for his work, often gravitating toward the same type of semi-mute guys. In “Lake George,” Whigham isn’t coloring outside the lines, but he’s in command of a slightly different personality, portraying a nervous man assigned to murder the ex-lover of a crime boss, put in charge of violence he’s completely unfamiliar with. It’s not a drastic change of pace for Whigham, but it’s something slightly different, and that’s the right direction, joined by the talented Carrie Coon on this weird crime/relationship tale that’s deliberately handled by writer/director Jeffrey Reiner, a television veteran bringing his tough sensibilities to this turn-filled story that moves slowly, but rewards this patience periodically. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Hope is elusive in “The Room Next Door,” which returns writer/director Pedro Almodovar to one of his cinematic obsessions: death. The film is an adaptation of a 2020 novel (“What Are You Going Through”) by Sigrid Nunez, examining the relationship between two longtime friends and the strain involved when plans for euthanasia are introduced for one of them. Almodovar doesn’t craft a hard-hitting study of medical decline with the picture, still remaining true to his melodramatic interests and love of cinematic craftsmanship, retaining the power of sight and sound in the feature. “The Room Next Door” is more unwieldy than other offerings from the helmer, not always providing a rich sense of storytelling and character, but the idea retains potency and a refreshed feel of gloom from Almodovar is interesting to watch, especially from a moviemaker still connected to the vibrancy of life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Nick Frost is suddenly everywhere. “Get Away” is his third acting job over the last few months (following “Black Cab” and “Krazy House”), also accepting screenwriting duties for this take on folk horror and the ways of dysfunctional family life. It’s not a parody, poking fun at recent releases such as “Midsommer,” but it plays darkly comedic, observing an English family’s trip to a small Swedish island for a much needed vacation, visiting a village preparing for their annual celebration of murder and community pride. “Get Away” remains mysterious and uneasy for its opening act, as Frost sets up decent suspense while blending in a sinister sense of humor. The material has a final destination, which is its least enticing development, but there’s a vision in play for bloody activity and domestic antagonisms, and that carries most of the viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s the end of the world, and characters are going out with a little song and dance in “The End.” Documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer (“The Act of Killing,” “The Look of Silence”) tries his luck with a narrative-driven feature, examining the strange ways of a wealthy family living out their days inside an enormous bunker during a climate apocalypse, determined to carry on as normally as possible before someone enters their lives to change everything. Oppenheimer has elected to serve up such grimness as a musical, allowing these cautious personalities to express themselves through songs, trying to give the endeavor a sense of the unusual and poetic while confronting deep emotional wounds. “The End” carries on for nearly 150 minutes, which is the first of many indulgences from the helmer, but he’s attempting to do something unusual in the work, addressing real-world ills and familial tensions in unexpected ways, helping to digest a somewhat unwieldy film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The story of wrestler Anthony Robles is an impressive one. Born with one leg, Robles held on to a dream of sporting competition, working his way through high school using his physical strength and mental focus, backed by supportive coaches and teammates. His tale of endurance is turned into “Unstoppable,” a bio-pic of sorts that’s very interested in becoming the latest offering of underdog cinema. Screenwriters Eric Champnella, Alex Harris, and John Hindman are determined to hit all kinds of inspirational moments in the feature (adapting Robles’s own 2012 autobiography), looking to reach out to impressionable viewers with this study of adversity and inner drive. They also craft an overly simplistic endeavor, while director William Goldenberg (a longtime editor making his helming debut) gives the movie plenty of television-style glossiness to aid digestion. “Unstoppable” doesn’t have much grit or originality, missing a hearty sense of triumph and toil, becoming more of a commercial for Anthony Robles than a nuanced study of his indefatigable spirit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There seems to be some sort of unwritten rule in film production that movies about the holidays should go as easy on the senses as possible. It’s an understandable pursuit, as the ultimate goal of these productions is to provide mild feelings and seasonal reassurance, but a little more bite, or intelligence, is always welcome. “Our Little Secret” doesn’t lay on the Christmas atmosphere too thickly, but it does deal with yuletide reunions and family bustle. Screenwriter Hailey DeDominicis (making her debut) gets as far as a premise for the endeavor, creating a mess of relationships where everyone is a liar to a certain degree. It’s a set-up for devilish fun, but the writing sprints right into sitcom territory, presenting a series of lame, contrived conflicts and moments of humiliation. “Our Little Secret” doesn’t possess much energy, finding director Stephen Herek (who once helmed “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and “Critters,” but most recently issued “Dog Gone” and “Same Time, Next Christmas”) putting little effort into the film, which attempts to coast on thespian charm and easily avoidable difficulties for the main characters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s not entirely accurate to say that expectations were low for 2016’s “Moana,” but Walt Disney Animation was in a strange place at the time, figuring out how to reclaim its storytelling mojo. “Moana” managed to find a sizeable audience when it was released, but the feature developed into something special for most people, delivering an incredible soundtrack and gorgeous animation that only improved on repeat viewings. The movie also made Dwayne Johnson palatable, which is no small feat. “Moana 2” delivers a return to the animated realm, but not easily, as the project was originally created as a television show, losing songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda in the process. His presence is missed in the follow-up, but “Moana 2” retains many highlights and big screen scale, finding a way to return to wayfinder adventure without sullying the memory of the previous installment. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2018’s “Heavy Trip” was a big surprise. The Scandinavian comedy examined the panicked ways of a black metal band trying to fake it until they make it, hoping to share their “symphonic, post-apocalyptic, reindeer-grinding, Christ-abusing, extreme war pagan, Fennoscandian metal” sound with the world, only to find all kinds of goofy roadblocks to exposure. Co-writers/directors Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren certainly know their stuff when it comes to the strange world of this music genre, and they understand the value of silliness, making one of the best pictures of its release year. Some time has passed, but the men of Impaled Rektum are back in “Heavier Trip,” and the helmers endeavor to sustain the same speed of humor and music in the sequel. It’s a mostly successful effort from Laatio and Vidgren, who set up another wild journey for the characters, landing sizable laughs and knowing references for the follow-up adventure. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The Farrelly Brothers have mostly gone their separate ways since the release of 2014’s disappointing “Dumb and Dumber To,” with Peter Farrelly managing to go on to Oscar glory in 2018’s “Green Book,” signaling a more respectable future for the family name. That hasn’t been the case, as Peter went back to tone-deaf comedies in “The Greatest Beer Run in the World” and the odious “Ricky Stanicky,” and Bobby tried his luck with an underdog sports film, “Champions.” The siblings reunite, sort of, for “Dear Santa,” finding Peter taking a co-writing credit while Bobby steps behind the camera for this holiday entertainment, which is clearly out to recapture the strange chemistry that once powered their best pictures. “Dear Santa” maintains a Farrelly Brothers to-do list of jokes and dramatic asides, offering material that contains a zany idea for mischief, but is mostly suffocated by poor storytelling choices and lethargic direction. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Pablo Larrain is fascinated by the worlds of high-profile, deeply tormented women. It’s become a career obsession for him, initially taking shape in 2016’s “Jackie” (about Jacqueline Kennedy) and continuing into 2021’s “Spencer” (about Princess Diana). These were tales of hardship, performance, and emotional ruin, keeping the filmmaker on a mission to understand the subjects from a different, more intimate perspective. He returns to duty in “Maria,” which examines at least some parts of opera diva Maria Callas’s experience during her tumultuous life, digging into the misery and confusion that marked her final years of existence. Larrain uses the same dramatic template as before, joined by screenwriter Steven Knight as they attempt to merge the reality of certain behaviors with the poetry of suffering. “Maria” is a clear case of diminishing returns, and even with a fiercely committed performance from star Angelina Jolie, the endeavor remains cold to the touch, primarily focused on style instead of humanity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com