Category: Film Review

People love cats, and it’s a safe bet that these fans will pay money to attend a movie that’s primarily about watching felines in various forms of play and curiosity. “A Cat’s Life” is an adaptation of a novel by Maurice Genevoix, with co-writer/director Guillaume Maidatchevsky attempting to bring the fluid world of literary imagination to the screen, working with an animal that’s not typically known for its ability to be trained. “A Cat’s Life” is a French production, often eschewing the lure of Hollywood-style cutes to offer something more primal about behavior and connection. There’s plenty of mischief in the film, but the helmer doesn’t craft a strictly gentle endeavor, electing for more of a reality when it comes to life and death, and the stresses of human life, which makes for a decently involving viewing experience. The effort eventually pulls away from cat activity in its final movement, but Maidatchevsky does well working with his furry stars, creating a feature that, for its first two acts, finds its magic in the simple ways of feline behavior. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Immaculate” is written by Andrew Lobel, and it’s his first effort in the world of feature-length filmmaking. He doesn’t have many fresh concepts for the picture, but he does have blood and various grotesqueries, also trying to have some fun in the world of “nunsploitation,” merging Catholic oppression with something macabre brewing over the run time. Director Michael Mohan (“Save the Date,” and the most screencapped movie of 2021, “The Voyeurs”) has the job to make a sinister premise come alive, but suspense and frights are basically uninvited to this genre party. Instead of a nail-biter with a palpable sense of evil, “Immaculate” is lethargic and unwilling to put in the work to really rile up viewers with its ideas on religious submission and perversion. Star Sydney Sweeney is no help, unable to bring the thunder in a role that requires a special level of panic she’s seemingly incapable of summoning. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” was an effort to get fans back into the franchise while introducing a younger generation to the highlights of the series. Director Jason Reitman (who co-wrote the film with Gil Kenan) had a specific mission with the movie, and he successfully put the brand name up on its feet with an exciting, emotional, and well-cast sequel. Now the Ghostbusters are back in business, with Kenan taking over helming duties (pairing with Reitman for the script), pursuing more of a ghostbusting tone that deals with generations of personal problems. “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” doesn’t quite have the heart or mystery of its predecessor, but it remains tremendous fun as Kenan returns the saga to where it all began, creating a fresh enemy for the expanded squad, juggling their various missions and concerns. Callbacks and the return of a few old faces aren’t denied, fitting into the flow of this exciting feature, which feels like the next logical step for the Ghostbusters as they look to enchant the faithful and engage the newcomers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The potential audience for “Road House” probably has no idea the feature is a remake. The 1989 Rowdy Herrington original was a rough-and-ready drive-in picture for the 1980s, exploring bad attitudes and bare-knuckle enlightenment, becoming wonderfully trashy entertainment with A-film technical achievements and B-movie atmosphere. It also offered perfect casting, with the late Patrick Swayze fully understanding the acting assignment, bringing a duality of strength and wisdom to the character of Dalton. For 2024, Jake Gyllenhaal tries to create a different Dalton for a new “Road House,” which takes its lead from the world of MMA fighting. Director Doug Liman offers lovely locations and some bar fights, but he’s not really trying to recapture the flavor of the 1989 endeavor, making more of a video game-esque viewing experience instead, aiming to be sillier with the premise. It’s not that the first “Road House” is high art, but it had a defined vibe and fantastic execution. Liman is just making a technical exercise in search of real cinematic conflict. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A documentary on the life and times of William Shatner conjures plenty of expectations, with the actor in command of a colorful existence filled with career highlights and general eccentricity. However, “You Can Call Me Bill” is directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, and he’s not a helmer interested in making something flashy and superficial. The man behind “Memory: The Origins of Alien” and “Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist,” Philippe is more interested in getting under the skin of his subjects, playing with stillness and introspection to best extract a deeper understanding of the situation. Thankfully, Shatner is ready to play along, sitting down for this unexpectedly reflective conversation about acting, nature, and the ways of life and death. “You Can Call Me Bill” is a fascinating portrait of Shatner, who, at 92 years of age, remains as animated as ever, eager to walk through the memories of his active days, doing so with a hearty sense of humor and emotional intensity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Weston Razooli wants to restore the days of high adventure with “Riddle of Fire,” which is a mash-up of “Goonies” energy and role-playing gaming, featuring a very young cast working in the open world of Montana. The helmer looks at the challenges of life from a kid perspective, finding the magic of childhood as the story sends three friends on a perilous quest to bring a blueberry pie to an ailing mother for control of the television. “Riddle of Fire” is not a romp, with Razooli slowing down with the feature, stretching out a 75-minute idea to a 115-minute-long run time, and pacing isn’t always kind. The reward for patience is a chance to watch an adventurous filmmaker summon a unique look at amateur actor energy, playing with unrefined ways to capture a special spirit for the endeavor, which retains some wonderful moments of humor and mystery. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Late Night with the Devil” returns viewers to the ways of television talk shows in the 1970s, where looser standards for constant audience engagement meant that wild situations could develop. With horror fanatics typically favoring a younger demographic, it’ll be interesting to see if there’s an audience for the feature, which uses the conventions of network television programming from 50 years ago to serve as inspiration for a demonic possession film. Writer/directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes (“100 Bloody Acres,” “Scare Campaign”) have the right idea for what’s technically a found footage endeavor, creating a special evening of surprise for the host of the show, “Night Owls.” “Late Night with the Devil” visibly battles to come up with stuff to do to fill 90 minutes of screen time, but the helmers deliver effective atmosphere for the effort, which periodically scores with T.V. replication and visits to the dark side. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Sleeping Dogs” is an adaptation of a 2017 novel by Eugen Chirovici, with Adam Cooper making his directorial debut with the picture. Cooper and his screenwriting partner, Bill College, have a very strange filmography, co-scripting such movies as “The Transporter Refueled,” “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” and the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen comedy, “New York Minute,” and they bring some of that creative oddity to “Sleeping Dogs.” It’s a slice of detective fiction, following an ex-cop’s investigation into a murder he was previously involved with, dealing with new evidence and the degenerative effects of Alzheimer’s disease as he searches for clues. The premise has some potential, but Cooper doesn’t oversee a motivated endeavor, going sluggish with this collection of suspects and entanglements. The feature has a capable lead performance from Russell Crowe, but little else feels remarkable about the effort, which doesn’t provide a hearty enough whodunit to really pull viewers in. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While John Ridley has a distinguished career as a screenwriter (winning an Academy Award for “12 Years a Slave”), he’s not the most consistent director. Previously helming features like “Needle in a Timestack” and “Jimi: All Is by My Side,” Ridley returns with a study of political and personal determination in “Shirley,” which shares the story of a planned path to the American presidency for congressperson Shirley Chisholm in 1972, who battled all sorts of dismissal and doubt to attempt something incredible as a black woman. There’s a noble effort here to provide inspirational cinema for viewers that need it, with Ridley reinforcing Chisholm’s personal quest to bring real change to the system, believing she could do good for the nation. A sharp lead performance from Regina King helps to keep “Shirley” moving with dignity and emotion, but such thespian commitment can’t always prevent Ridley from delivering bio-pic staleness and needless speechifying, which gradually diminishes the viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Irish Wish” isn’t a grand return to the screen for Lindsay Lohan (a Lohanaissance?), but a picture that easily plays to her strengths as an actress. Once a Disney trooper and ex-“Mean Girl,” Lohan hasn’t been seen in major endeavors for quite some time, recently making a play for a career resurrection in 2022’s “Falling for Christmas.” Apparently, the job was a success, as Lohan reunites with director Janeen Damien for a fresh feature, which details another magical time with love, only here the setting has been moved to Ireland and warm feelings aren’t exactly enticing. Screenwriter Kirsten Hansen (“Cross Country Christmas,” “Return to Christmas Creek,” and “Christmas on My Mind”) isn’t out to challenge formula with “Irish Wish,” but certainly a more secure command of tone would’ve been welcome. Going from slapstick comedy to crying fits, the movie doesn’t really know what it wants to be, which weakens whatever level of enchantment was intended here. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Actor Kobi Libii (“Alpha House,” “Madame Secretary”) makes his directorial debut with “The American Society of Magical Negroes.” It’s a playful, barbed title in search of a better movie, with Libii (who also scripts) taking a look at American racism with material that’s sometimes mischievous and mostly heavy-handed. It’s a “Harry Potter”-esque portal into an unseen world of black subservience, with Libii looking to have some fun with the fantasy elements of the endeavor, but he’s primarily hunting for a more human story about a black man who’s been too timid during his days, finally understanding, with the help of sorcery, his individuality. The idea is a solid one, open for an uproarious and thought-provoking ride through the state of race relations in 2024. However, the helmer doesn’t have a plan for it all, creating a juicy Spike Lee-esque tale, only to offer Malcolm D. Lee-style direction for it. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Arthur the King” was shot three years ago and was awaiting release for such a long time, actor Mark Wahlberg and director Simon Cellan Jones actually made another feature together, “The Family Plan,” which came out last year. The wrong movie was left on the shelf. Instead of making an expensive action mess for streaming consumption, “Arthur the King” offers a mostly simple tale of physical and mental endurance, bringing viewers into the world of Adventure Racing, which is not a sport that’s been exhaustively examined in film, possibly ever. The challenge is the stuff of cinema, highlighting teams of four pushing through difficult conditions for long stretches of time, learning to work with one another to reach a common goal. There’s also a dog story woven into the picture, with the real-life tale of an athlete and his canine support making for compelling cinema when the production elects to stay away from mawkishness, which it doesn’t always do. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Rose Glass made her debut with 2020’s “Saint Maud,” a psychological horror picture that was basically smothered by the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, which ruined its release and slowed potential exposure for the helmer. Glass aims for a more direct shot of filmmaking brutality with “Love Lies Bleeding,” going the pulp fiction route with an American tale of obsession, overkill, and violent reaction, co-writing the work with Weronika Tofilska. The material has a few wild ideas when it comes to creating the visual representation of physical power, and most of the cast submits to the extremity, with co-star Katy O’Brian quite effective as a bodybuilder searching for some form of stability, only to end up right in the middle of a criminal mess. “Love Lies Bleeding” is most definitely a style over substance viewing experience, but Glass provides moments of imagination and fury that are worth sticking around for. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been 16 years since Michael Keaton last directed a film (“The Merry Gentlemen”), returning to duty for “Knox Goes Away.” The screenplay by Gregory Poirier (“Tomcats,” “A Sound of Thunder”) examines the experience of an older man succumbing to dementia, dealing with the demands of his job as a hitman and his relationships with the few people he’s remained intimate with. It’s a complex situation of introspection, with Poirier aiming to bend and twist the tale along the way, as elements of police work and family ties complicate the eponymous character’s always confusing life. Keaton also takes on the main role, offering understated but cooly involving work to help the picture achieve some sense of suspense and silent horror. “Knox Goes Away” isn’t a riveting study of decline, often quite deliberately slow, but the acting is capable, carrying the weirder elements of Poirier’s writing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Longtime actors, James A. Woods and Nicolas Wright (who both appeared in “Independence Day: Resurgence”) make their debut as writer/directors with “French Girl.” It’s a Canadian production, almost acting as a commercial for Quebec tourism, and it hopes to delight audiences looking for a lighter film about relationships and slapstick comedy, following an American’s bumbling ways when it comes to the reality of his girlfriend’s past and present. It’s not refined work from the helmers, and they can’t resist the lure of formula, sticking with the rom-com playbook from beginning to end. “French Girl” has some charm in its cast and a few ideas worth pursuing, but the predictability of it all becomes too much in the final act, and Zach Braff’s star turn is hard on the senses, watching the actor teeter on the edge of obnoxiousness as he makes it his personal mission to be the most hilarious performer in the frame at all times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

From Juan Carlos Fresndillo, the director of “28 Weeks Later”, and Dan Mazeau, the writer of “Fast X” and “Wrath of the Titans,” “Damsel” seeks to update fairy tale storytelling for a more empowered generation of viewers. Set in “a faraway land,” the feature returns to the threat of a dragon and the desperation of a kingdom, establishing a crisis not unlike the one found in 1981’s “Dragonslayer.” However, instead of magic and mystery, “Damsel” offers a YA version of danger, with the picture looking to turn star Millie Bobby Brown into a warrior strong enough to launch a new franchise of fantasy action adventures. Fresndillo supplies candied visuals and Mazeau delivers formula, making for an easily digestible viewing experience, especially for the target demographic. What the endeavor lacks is a real sense of danger and doom, missing a grand opportunity to play with the horrors of dragon combat in an ultimately disappointing effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Jeff Wadlow doesn’t possess the most inspired filmography. In fact, most of his endeavors have been dismal, remaining committed to the horror genre in duds like “Truth or Dare” and “Fantasy Island.” Wadlow returns to fright cinema, kinda, with “Imaginary,” also claiming a co-writing credit on the feature, which is more of a fantasy about psychological trauma than a true nail-biter. The picture also sustains the helmer’s low batting average, with Wadlow trying to mount some ambitious visuals with a limited budget, and his directorial-fu just isn’t powerful enough. “Imaginary” isn’t scary and it doesn’t hold viewer attention, though star DeWanda Wise puts in some effort to sell the ridiculousness of it all with her authoritative performance. However, such dedication isn’t strong enough to get this snoozy movie off the ground, with Wadlow providing feeble offerings of suspense along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With “Snack Shack,” writer/director Adam Rehmeier (“Dinner in America”) looks to teen cinema from the late 1970s and early 1980s for inspiration. It was a time where such entertainment could be incredibly coarse but also sincere, dealing with some levels of reality in a heightened representation of adolescence. It’s quite a tonal balancing job to manage, and Rehmeier is more interested in extremes than nuance, but there’s plenty to like about the movie, which examines the hustle of two kids attempting to make a small fortune any way they possibly can. There are scams, pranks, female distractions, lots of smoking and swearing, and parental disapproval, keeping “Snack Shack” busy with mischief and deep feelings. A 112-minute-long run time is a big ask from the helmer with this kind of material, but the feature has its appeal and a direct understanding of the teen boy mindset. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Well, that didn’t take long. Six years ago, “Dumb and Dumber” and “There’s Something About Mary” co-director Peter Farrelly won two Academy Awards for his work on “Green Book,” effectively reviving his career after a string of box office disappointments. He attempted to build on such prestige with 2022’s “The Greatest Beer Run Ever,” but the feature was largely ignored by audiences and collected little critical acclaim. Farrelly is now back in Farrelly Brothers territory with “Ricky Stanicky,” which is a return to old filmmaking habits for the helmer, overseeing yet another crude comedy with a heart of gold. The Farrelly Way has been lost for decades now, and “Ricky Stanicky” doesn’t help the cause, offering an abundance of dreadful humor and wretched writing, and it offers a moment to reevaluate the comedic worth of actor John Cena, who’s the worst thing in this excruciatingly lame movie. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

DreamWorks Animation makes “Kung Fu Panda” movies, but they certainly take their time with them. “Kung Fu Panda 4” is the latest sequel in a saga that began in 2008, with the last chapter, “Kung Fu Panda 3,” released eight years ago. It felt like a franchise closer, the end of a trilogy for panda Po and his fighting ways, but the producers aren’t ready to give up on a good thing, bringing the Dragon Warrior back for a potential franchise reset that introduces new characters and reorganizes positions of power. Thankfully, the old “Kung Fu Panda” fun remains in the third sequel, with directors Mike Mitchell (“Shrek Forever After,” “Trolls”) and Stephanie Stine working to sustain action and silliness in the endeavor, which provides a nice reminder of series highlights while aiming to redirect focus in this universe of spiritual balance and overeating. “Kung Fu Panda 4” doesn’t feel tired, which is perhaps the greatest compliment the feature can receive, giving the now multi-generational audience a pleasant cinematic adventure. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com