Category: Film Review

Six years ago, director Derrick Borte and actor Russell Crowe collaborated on the thriller, “Unhinged.” The B-movie was released during prime pandemic days, and it managed to find a small audience during a stretch of zero multiplex competition. It took a bit of time, but the pair are back with “The Get Out,” which is an adaptation of a 2010 novel by Thomas Perry. Borte and co-writer Daniel Forte attempt to find some balance to the story’s tonal highs and lows, with the crime saga taking occasional dips into comedy before it fully commits to violent events. “The Get Out” opens with noticeable confidence, but there are a lot of characters and motivations to manage, and Borte doesn’t have the stamina to pull off the labor. It’s uneven work, but the first half remains inviting with its collection of odd characters and their stressful connections to monetary theft. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Uwe Boll. Now there’s a name that hasn’t been publicized in a long time. The notoriously schlocky director caused a little chaos around two decades ago with a series of awful, video game-inspired pictures (“House of the Dead,” “Alone in the Dark,” “BloodRayne”) that turned Boll into an Ed Wood-style helmer, only without the B-movie charm. He hasn’t stopped working, still churning out no-budget endeavors, but Boll is back on the hunt for publicity, crafting “Citizen Vigilante,” which hopes to inspire some rage with its look at the migrant issue in Europe. Boll doesn’t up his filmmaking game in the process, but he does court controversy, hiring Armie Hammer for the lead role years after his own troubling behavior caught up with him, effectively ending his already fledgling Hollywood career. However, he’s back in action, attempting to look stern for Boll, who works to build an entire movie around hard stares and poor execution, serving up what appears to be a genuinely unfinished feature that’s solely out to antagonize with its intense idiocy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Rod Lurie found some attention with his pandemic release, 2020’s “The Outpost.” The picture brought audiences into the middle of combat pressures during the Iraq War, with Lurie looking to generate a look at the brutality of service and the sacrifice of soldiers. While he messed around with inspirational football drama in 2025’s “The Senior,” Lurie returns to global conflict with “Lucky Strike,” which is set during the “Battle of the Bulge” during World War II, but it isn’t a full-scale war movie. The co-writer/director goes smaller in scale, electing to follow one man’s quest to survive behind enemy lines, facing brutal conditions, a leg wound, and waves of Nazis as he strives to make it back to safety. “Lucky Strike” has the makings of a pulse-pounding thriller, offering a defined goal and plenty of setbacks, but Lurie remains oddly muted with the endeavor, trying to create a respectful understanding of sacrifice instead of a more feral one. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Julian Schnabel was last seen on screens in 2018’s “At Eternity’s Gate,” trying to make sense of personal and artistic struggles involving Vincent van Gogh in a feature that didn’t attract much of an audience. Schnabel is known for artful undertakings that strive to burrow into character experiences, and he returns with another study of stress in “In the Hand of Dante,” which is an adaptation of a 2002 book by Nick Tosches. The tale covers two time periods and lots of trouble coming for all characters, and there are moments when Schnabel actively pursues something of a crime story involving the theft and authentication of Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy.” There are blasts of aggression and research that give the helmer something to do, but there’s also a hunt for artistic meaning and inspiration that makes the viewing experience feel endless (the picture runs around 160 minutes), with Schnabel trying to generate an epic, and visibly straining to do so. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“40 Dates and 40 Nights” returns viewers to the routine of the romantic comedy. There are seemingly hundreds of these kind of movies being pumped out every year, and screenwriter Sarah Howard is trying to keep up with the competition, creating another tale of a young woman facing the brutal ways of the dating scene while on the hunt for one functional male. There’s a gimmick in play, as the main character is tasked with completing a series of dates to achieve a taste of financial security, but Howard doesn’t dig into the comedic possibilities of the premise. Instead, she generates the mildest picture imaginable, going slo-mo with relationship and personal challenges to happiness. “40 Dates and 40 Nights” is certainly soft enough, with functional performances to follow, but there’s no snap to the offering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Surprisingly, “Voicemails for Isabelle” isn’t based a book. It’s romantic novel material from writer/director Leah McKendrick (“Scrambled”), who’s working with subgenre formula to deliver an easily digestible viewing experience built on big feels and easily avoidable relationship issues. The helmer is serving pudding to the masses with the picture, but she has a fully committed performance from Zoey Deutch to keep things interesting, with the actress going nuclear to help bring some spirit to an otherwise mediocre collection of wild tonal shifts and strange dramatic detours. “Voicemails for Isabelle” tries extremely hard to be lovable, but McKendrick overdoses on cliches and can’t quite find the true heart of the material, pushing the whole endeavor into sitcom territory instead of generating a more meaningful understanding of grief and human connection. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Chapter 51” is a film about filmmaking, using all kinds of cinematic formats, and it’s structured like a television documentary. Confusion runs throughout the offering, as writer/director/actor/cinematographer Tyler Shields (2015’s “Final Girl”) is out to make a study of madness surrounding the creation of “Dissident,” which is meant to be the biggest film of all time. However, Shields doesn’t have a lot of money to realize the reality of his story, following an investigation into the vicious ways of a serial killer targeting actresses connected to the picture. “Chapter 51” is an odd collection of satire and sleuthing, and the material’s understanding of Hollywood egomania isn’t provocative. The endeavor is more of a technical exercise for Shields, who gets more excited about imagery than storytelling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A lot of people were understandably trepidatious when Pixar Animation elected to make “Toy Story 4.” The original trilogy has come to mean a lot to fans, including many who’ve grown up on the movies, and any non-short extension of the franchise was viewed as a corruption of creativity. And then “Toy Story 4” was released, revealing itself to be a fully charming, hilarious, and meaningful addition to the saga. Now there’s “Toy Story 5,” with co-writer/director Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo,” “WALL-E,” “Finding Dory”) attempting to keep the saga of the playthings and their eternal battle with anxiety alive for at least another feature. And, once again, Pixar has the right idea to keep returning to “Toy Story,” creating another gem of a picture that offers time with old friends and makes a few new ones. It also dares to take on the modern world of omnipresent tech and how physical pals manage to exist in the long shadow of digital distractions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

John Early is known for his comedic roles, developing a reputation for his commitment to wacky business through a variety of projects. He makes his directorial debut with “Maddie’s Secret,” also taking care of scripting duties and starring in the feature, portraying a character experiencing a professional high while reaching a mental health low. The endeavor has the outward appearance of something campy, with Early taking on the central role as a troubled woman in the middle of a major crisis. “Maddie’s Secret” is certainly an unusual movie, with Early teasing broadness while remaining impressively compassionate with the material, which leads into light and dark moments. The helmer has quite a challenge of tonality to master with the offering, and Early does a commendable job balancing ideas and emotions in the effort, which is always surprising with its plot turns and directorial confidence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The tale of Robin Hood has been told time and again, routinely bewitching storytellers with its clash of good vs. evil, romantic ways, and elements of class warfare. Think swashbuckling with a 1938 adaptation, or animated with a Disney picture from 1973. There was a blockbuster take in 1991, and, most recently, an attempt at modernization in 2018 with a film few will admit to seeing. Robin Hood has been done to death, and that’s precisely the entry writer/director Michael Sarnoski needs to give his take on the legend a unique dramatic fingerprint. “The Death of Robin Hood” isn’t about men in tights or a study of injustice. It’s a mostly hyperviolent understanding of barbarity and a calcification of a man’s soul. Sarnoski (who did well with 2021’s “Pig” and 2024’s “A Quiet Place: Day One”) aims for cinematic textures with the undertaking, and while his instinct for pacing is way off, his aim is true when it comes to creating a gritty, vicious understanding of the famous outlaw’s moral ruination. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Demonic possession movies are common, but that’s not stopping writer/director Mark O’Brien from trying his luck in the subgenre. He offers “The Voices of Our Mother,” which isn’t strictly an exorcism picture, and that’s a good thing, as the screenplay spends a lot more time with a collection of siblings coming together to deal with their troubled, possible evil-infused mother during a grim time of mental health decline. There are secrets to be revealed and an entire personal history to inspect, and O’Brien’s focus on more human matters is what keeps the film as upright as possible. “The Voices of Our Mother” isn’t fully committed to the whole idea of familial confrontation, eventually giving in to genre demands, but parts of the production are executed with some style and dramatic potency, helping to deliver a sufficiently involving examination of distressed people trying to deal with the intensity of their past. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last year, writer/director/actor Edward Burns went the sequel route with “The Family McMullen,” looking to revive career momentum with a return to his big debut, 1995’s “The Brothers McMullen.” The feature managed to give Burns renewed career focus, bringing him back to the comfort of family stories and Irish heritage. This work continues in “Finnegan’s Foursome,” which adds the game of golf to the usual stew of character concerns, difficult relationships, and lengthy conversations. Burns goes the paid vacation route with the endeavor, bringing his cinematic interests to Ireland for an examination of a competitive clan working through personal and professional issues while touring various golf courses. “Finnegan’s Foursome” maintains enthusiastic performances and some mild charm, but Burns is out to create a very casual offering with his latest, and one really starts to feel the excessive run time in the second half of the picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Horror from Australia is having a moment. The success of 2023’s “Talk to Me” certainly attracted attention, with the directing duo Danny and Michael Philippou following it up with 2025’s “Bring Her Back,” delving into the creepiness of the unknown. Writer/director Adrian Chiarella hopes to sustain this momentum with “Leviticus,” which strives to take the concept of a haunting into different, more personal directions. The picture takes its title from a charged biblical passage condemning homosexuality, and Chiarella follows this hatred into small town life, observing a crisis of desire coming for two teens facing punishment for their attraction. “Leviticus” is something in the realm of a supernatural tale, but the screenplay is primarily out to study human magnetism and ostracization, which is where the feature finds its greatest dramatic successes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The parody picture took a bit of a hit last week with the release of “Scary Movie.” The Wayans Family avoided actually crafting a sharp offering of tomfoolery, relying on unrelenting crassness instead, which, of course, was rewarded handsomely at the box office. “Stop! That! Train!” won’t find the same success, but the production certainly understands what the subgenre is all about, returning viewers to the style of Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker and their way with “Airplane!” and “The Naked Gun,” trying to remain as cheery as possible while poking fun at movies, celebrities, and the general foolishness of the feature. “Stop! That! Train!” isn’t big on laughs, but it has the right idea, having fun with broad antics and characterizations, and director Adam Shankman tries to make the film tap dance with an extremely limited budget, filling the endeavor with lively performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Every now and then, an action movie breaks through the routine, displaying unusual energy when it comes to the destruction of property and the smashing of bodies. “The Furious” is the new black, emerging from director Kenji Tanigaki, who’s worked for the last 30 years as an action choreographer, overseeing the labor of talented stunt teams to bring violence to the masses. He pours all that seasoning into his latest production, which works hard to outdo the competition, mounting a series of conflicts out to deliver pure brutality and cinematic physicality. The story is the usual in genre entertainment, following two men as they pursue a criminal organization that’s kidnapping children, but the production has something a little more in mind when it comes to acts of aggression. “The Furious” is a wild ride for the most part, dazzling with its intensity and intricate manufacturing of hostility, sure to delight genre fans who’ve been searching for a fresh surge of big screen adrenaline. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

American Teen is a production company that specializes in making crude comedies for streaming audiences, including “The Binge” and its sequel, and last spring’s “Pizza Movie.” They return with “Never Change” (which could be a subtle comment on the company’s formulaic ways) offering another rough examination of arrested development, this time exploring the pains of 35-year-olds forced to return to high school to complete their education. Screenwriters John Reynolds and Marty Schousboe (who also directs) have a fun idea to explore, which twists the usual take on class reunion cinema, but they don’t have much interest in a sharper sense of humor for all this strangeness. “Never Change” pounds on the senses with its vulgarity and attempts at meme-style jokiness, but patches of clear thinking remain, giving the film the occasional inspired moment and an assortment of amusing performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Izabel Pakzad makes her feature-length debut with “Find Your Friends,” which attempts to merge the concerns of Gen Z women facing the brutal realities of adulthood with a grindhouse-style revenge chiller from the 1970s. The picture is all about overstimulation, challenging viewers to remain invested in aggressive personalities getting into real-world trouble as friendships are put to the test during a long weekend in the desert. Pakzad pays tribute to drive-in cinema with the endeavor, aiming to make violence gnarly and psychological troubles persistent, striving to present younger viewers with a horror show that reflects today’s social and emotional dangers. It’s a fine idea for a terror picture, but actually sitting through the movie is a supreme challenge, as Pakzad plays a strange game of excess, which tends to undercut the primal fears being explored here. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If there’s one thing director Steven Spielberg likes, it’s aliens. The unknown has played a major role in the helmer’s career, dating back to childhood productions (1964’s “Firelight”), but Spielberg has been away from close encounters for some time (since 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”), making his latest, “Disclosure Day,” something of a personal release as he also takes a story by credit (longtime collaborator David Koepp writes the screenplay). There’s a lot of information to process in the new picture, which explores the connection between humans and aliens on Earth, and the battle to keep such evidence a secret. However, Spielberg isn’t in an action-oriented mood with the endeavor, trying to win viewers through heaps and heaps of exposition in an overlong movie (145 minutes). The truth is out there, but it takes a little work to stay interested in the film, which politely ignores a more urgent edit to bathe once again in the cinematic waters of awe. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Ayden Mayeri is an up-and-coming actress who’s been quite enjoyable in recent years, including work on the criminally underseen television show, “I Love That for You,” and supporting turns in “Cora Bora,” “Jackpot,” and “Confess, Fletch.” Mayeri receives a chance to explore more dramatic challenges in “Honeyjoon,” paired with co-star Amira Casar (“Call Me By Your Name”) for this very modest study of grief and family relationships during a time of emotional upheaval. Writer/director Lilian T. Mehrel finds a break in communication and healing and gradually digs into the ways of a mother and her daughter attempting to take a trip together while dealing with the weight of the world. “Honeyjoon” is delicate, but also funny and refreshingly spare when investigating the troubled union and individual character concerns. Mehrel makes her feature-length helming debut with the offering, showing confidence with atmosphere and casting, and Mayeri and Casar are wonderful together. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s been a lot of media coverage for actress Simone Ashley in recent years. She made a strong impression during her time on the streaming show “Bridgerton,” amassing a passionate fanbase, but she hasn’t had much to do when it comes to feature-length releases, appearing in smaller roles in 2023’s “The Little Mermaid” and the recent “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” Ashley receives a chance to show her dramatic side in “This Tempting Madness,” a psychological thriller “inspired by actual events.” Co-writer/director Jennifer E. Montgomery is tasked with generating an involving maze of possible insanity with the film, and she packs the picture with plenty of nightmare imagery and confusion, attempting to keep viewers guessing as to what is happening to the lead character. Ashley delivers capable work in the offering, which retains a decent behavioral puzzle to solve, but there’s not a lot of substance to match all the style. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com