Category: Film Review

“Accidental Texan” is an adaptation of a 1999 novel by Cole Thompson, which was titled “Chocolate Lizards.” One can certainly understand the name change, but screenwriter Julie B. Denny endeavors to keep literary structure alive in the feature, which oversees the growth of characters as they battle with elements of their past with hopes of securing a brighter future. The movie explores the oil business in Texas, which perhaps doesn’t automatically conjure images of heroism in play, but director Mark Lambert Bristol is pursuing underdog cinema with the effort, looking to generate an audience-pleasing ride of personalities and setbacks. “Accidental Texan” isn’t interested in coloring outside the lines when it comes to dramatic stakes, but as easygoing entertainment, the picture connects in a modest manner. Bristol maintains a straightforward approach to the material, keeping viewers engaged through colorful performances and a decently enjoyable ride of ups and downs in the realms of money and matters of the heart. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While released with the highest of hopes for serious box office performance, 2010’s “Megamind” didn’t live up to expectations, only managing to attract a smaller audience for a DreamWorks Animation endeavor. Franchise plans were dropped, but apparently they never died. 14 years later, DreamWorks returns to “Megamind” via the launch of a streaming series, giving the new idea a feature-length pilot in “Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate,” which looks to entice fans by returning to the comedic mayhem of Metro City and its newly heroic defender. Missing from the update is all of the cast and crew, with the sequel aiming to make magic with a substantially lower budget. No more Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, and Jonah Hill in voice roles, and no more lavish CGI animation. What “Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate” does provide is a way to keep younger viewers occupied for 80 minutes, with the effort mostly about making noise, finding the writing unable to improve on the already low standards of the original film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Longtime actress and comedian Chelsea Peretti makes her directorial debut in the aptly titled, “First Time Female Director.” While not a faux documentary, Peretti looks to mimic the mood of Christopher Guest’s “Waiting for Guffman” with the feature, which examines the messiness of a play handled by someone who’s never had to manage large egos and tough criticism before, creating chaos after receiving a prime career opportunity. Peretti (who also scripts) gets very silly with the picture, which is a blessing, happily fumbling around with various disasters and uncomfortable interactions. “First Time Female Director” has a few sizable laughs, but the helmer isn’t big on structure or technical refinement. The whole thing feels a little too slapdash to really connect as intended, but those willing to relax expectations might find plenty of good-natured goofiness during the viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The title “5lbs of Pressure” refers to the trigger sensitivity on a gun. It’s a detail of violence in a film that’s filled with it, touching on the physical and mental wear of aggression, especially in cyclical form. Writer/director Phil Allocco has big ideas he wants to share on the state of crime and family, trying to offer a big-hearted study of people dealing with past sins and future mistakes, scrapping together a functional life to lead when facing the predatory nature of human existence. It’s easy to sense the feelings baked into the screenplay, but Allocco’s eyes are often bigger than his stomach when it comes to the cat’s cradle nature of relationships and the stress of responsibility. “5lbs of Pressure” has a tough time cutting through melodrama and limited performances to reach its potential, but it’s certainly well-intentioned work from the helmer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Screenwriter Theodore Melfi (director of “Hidden Figures,” “The Starling,” and “St. Vincent”) examines the emotional and financial misery of a man trying to rebuild his life in “American Dreamer.” It’s not a critique of housing market woes, but something of a character study with a little dark comedy blended into the endeavor. Shot three years ago, “American Dreamer” took its time to reach screens, and after the first act passes, release hesitancy begins to makes sense. Director Paul Dektor doesn’t settle on any one mood for the feature, which doesn’t have much of a presence when it comes to humor, and it doesn’t really know what to do with dramatic entanglements. There are capable performances to help enjoy the journey, with star Peter Dinklage personally laboring to keep the movie alive, but the material grows clouded as Melfi tries to make a proper screen mess with relationships and legal affairs. The picture ends up a misfire, though one with a few inspired moments to savor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We have two sides of Adam Sandler these days. There’s the man who enjoys screen silliness and paid vacations, recently seen in “Murder Mystery 2” and “Hubie Halloween,” also taking a voice role in last holiday’s “Leo.” And there’s the actor side of Sandler, where he challenges himself to play various parts with focus on extracting previously unseen dramatic potential, found in “Hustle” and “Uncut Gems.” “Spaceman” has Sandler in serious mode, going across the galaxy with this tale of a cosmonaut experiencing the weight of his conscience while moving toward a celestial event, joined by a special passenger. Based on a book by Jaroslav Kalfar, “Spaceman” almost entirely relies on Sandler to communicate deep emotional wounds and physical activity, and the star is up for the acting challenge, delivering a meaningful performance in a somewhat elusive film. However, it’s one with a sharp visual sense, with director Johan Renck (“Downloading Nancy”) overseeing an interesting mystery of many dimensions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“One Life” is based on the true story of “Nicky’s Children,” following the experiences of Nicholas Winton and his efforts to rescue Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia before the outbreak of World War II. Why this tale may be of some familiarity is due to the spread of a viral video on social media channels, which provided a clip from the British show “That’s Life,” where the real Nichloas Winton was surprised to find himself sitting in an audience mostly comprised of the now-grown children he helped to save. It’s an emotional moment, perfect for bite-sized media consumption, and now it’s a feature-length film. Director James Hawes and screenwriters Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake endeavor to inspect the tale in “One Life,” looking to understand what drove Nicholas to commit his life to the quest, and how he deals with memories of the time, caught up in recollections of what occurred and could’ve been during a grim period in world history. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The world is changing, and co-writer/director Thomas Cailley is looking to take a form of evolution to an extreme in “The Animal Kingdom.” The French production examines a state of emergency involving the mutation of humans, with more and more people transforming into animals with nowhere to go, putting one parent and husband in a difficult position with loved ones. There’s plenty of dramatic potential in such a premise, and Cailley doesn’t head in a horrifying direction. He offers a sense of realism to emotional ties and survival challenges, with “The Animal Kingdom” also examining the stress of parental protection, even with such an incredible situation. Cailley creates an often riveting understanding of fear and belonging in the feature, also working with capable visual effects and a gifted cast to help secure the strangeness and universal feelings in play. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With “Club Zero,” screenwriters Geraldine Bajard and Jessica Hausner (who also directs, last seen with 2019’s “Little Joe”) take on the ways of eating disorders and cults, along with a few other topics that also pertain to certain power plays people face every day. It’s a psychological study of submission involving a small number of private school students and their introduction to “conscious eating” via the new teacher in town, with such elevated thinking causing trouble for all. Hausner makes a peculiar chiller here, which recalls the work of director Yorgos Lanthimos and his strange ways with tone and terror. Unease takes its time to build in the movie, but “Club Zero” has an original take on influence and control, and it does very well with its large cast. This includes star Mia Wasikowska, who brings an unnerving sense of stillness to the picture, providing a central figure of concern the material enjoys developing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Alice Englert has worked her way through acting assignments over the last decade, but now she wants to direct. The calling makes sense, as her mother is celebrated helmer Jane Campion, perhaps setting some example for Englert and her creative drive. “Bad Behaviour” is her feature-length debut, and Englert is determined to get as messy as possible with the slightly anarchic picture. A study of parenthood, love, and the heavy burden of trauma, the endeavor (also written by Englert) steps into the world of therapy and details the rush of feelings, with two passionate characters, a mother and daughter, enduring severe highs and lows during parallel experiences in the wild. “Bad Behaviour” doesn’t amount to much, as Englert is primarily pursuing an acting exercise with the movie, but small moments of focus makes some difference, suggesting the presence of a stronger film buried beneath all the showiness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Cate Blanchett was last seen on screens in 2022’s “Tar,” where she delivered an exquisite performance in a difficult film, reinforcing her ability to handle all kinds of characters and moods. Before she goes the paycheck route with this summer’s “Borderlands,” Blanchett returns to challenging material with “The New Boy,” tasked with portraying a nun who witnesses a miracle occurring at a remote monastery, unsure how to process such an event. There’s a strange atmosphere to the feature, with writer/director Warwick Thornton looking to build a mystery with some supernatural elements, also delving into Australian history involving the collection and reprogramming of Aboriginal children. “The New Boy” isn’t always a well-balanced study of discovery, with its two-hour-long run time much too indulgent for the story it wants to tell. However, Thornton has an opening half that’s stocked with surprises, and there’s Blanchett, who creates a fascinating journey of faith and survival in this unusual picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Maiwenn has been acting for decades, but she’s probably best known for her role in 1997’s “The Fifth Element,” portraying Diva Plavalaguna (a.k.a. the blue opera singer). In an already highly bizarre film, Maiwenn managed to be one of its weirder additions, but she made an impression. She’s also been stacking directorial credits during her run, helming such efforts as 2015’s “Mon Roi.” Maiwenn shows a little more career ambition with “Jeanne du Barry,” which is a costume drama concerning the drive of a poor French woman trying to find independence in a world that has no patience for such desire. Created with a sizable scope and attention to costume and production design detail, “Jeanne du Barry” doesn’t radically subvert expectations, but Maiwenn oversees capable performances and some appealing emotional escalation. She gives the feature a little more feeling than anticipated, helping to melt some of the inherent iciness that comes with this type of endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Tyler Perry does the one thing, and it’s made him a fortune. His particular love of melodrama has inspired everything he does, even when he made an effort to stretch as a storyteller with 2022’s “A Jazzman’s Blues.” The picture began with some promise, but ended up with the same messiness as all of the helmer’s projects. Perry sustains his fondness for unwieldly performances and poor plotting with “Mea Culpa,” which is the director’s attempt to make an erotic thriller from the 1980s, pitting a lawyer against pure temptation with an attractive client who may be a violent killer of women. “Mea Culpa” is ridiculous, but that’s the point of it, with Perry making the same film once again, giving viewers a look at irrational characters and tepid performances, while his writing feels like a first draft that was hastily brought to the screen, lacking basic logic, chilling turns, and a decent ending. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Hollywood isn’t big on taking risks, but they put their faith into director Denis Villeneuve, who wanted to bring Frank Herbert’s literary sci-fi epic, “Dune,” to the screen once again. Such ambition isn’t unheard of, but labeling the picture as “Part One” without a second chapter in the can was unusual, depending on audience response to trigger production on a sequel. The gamble paid off, with the success of “Part One” finally clearing the way for “Dune: Part Two,” which realizes the second half of Herbert’s novel, with Villeneuve returning to finish what he started a few years ago. Picking up where he left off, the helmer looks to increase the scale and depth of “Dune,” newly emboldened to dig into the fine details of this universe, examining its chess game of power while confronting the potency of authority as it bleeds into extremism. “Part Two” makes some curious moves in its final moments, but it remains as consistently enthralling as the previous chapter, and Villeneuve certainly puts on a visual show for fans, once again wowing with his technical achievements. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jonathan Easley makes his screenwriting debut with “Red Right Hand,” and he’s not chasing originality with the material. It’s another one-man-army feature, this time offering star Orlando Bloom his moment as a once aggressive man is brought back into the darkness when a criminal kingpin threatens the health and happiness of his family. Easley looks to shake up the norm by setting the tale in the deep south, with this level of isolation creating a war zone for the story. He also looks to flavor the writing with defined characters dealing with past sins, endeavoring to add some emotional weight to the effort. Directors Eshom and Ian Nelms (who previously helmed the enjoyable Santa actioner, “Fatman”) do their best to support the slow ride to revenge, embracing the theatrical qualities of Easley’s work. “Red Right Hand” could certainly use a tighter edit, but what’s here has occasional power and an appreciation for violent escalation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Joel and Ethan Coen are on a break. Maybe it’s a permanent one, who knows at this point, but the filmmaking siblings responsible for some incredible features during their decades of collaboration are currently operating solo. Joel went highbrow, taking command of 2021’s arty, stark “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” clearly out to flex his wings with a wildly different creative challenge. Ethan’s more interested in making a Coen Brothers picture, with “Drive-Away Dolls” basically tracing over tonal lines the siblings have previously drawn. It’s a dryly comedic, slightly madcap take on lovers-on-the-run cinema, and whatever Joel brought to the partnership is clearly missing from the endeavor. A labored exercise in zaniness, “Drive-Away Dolls” isn’t charming or funny, finding Ethan unable to cough up that old Coen magic in a movie that, well, he’s already made several times before. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Ordinary Angels” is meant to be feel-good entertainment, providing a “based on a true story” tale concerning the kindness of strangers and the power of community support. It’s faith-based cinema from director Jon Gunn, who’s spent his career in the genre, last seen on screens with 2017’s “The Case for Christ.” Godly influence is a little less prioritized in the feature, as the story deals with a medical and fiscal crisis facing a widower trying to help his sick five-year-old daughter. There are a lot of buttons being pushed in this endeavor, but “Ordinary Angels” does make some effort to find nooks and crannies in characterization to explore. Screenwriters Kelly Fremon Craig (“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret”) and Meg Tilly (yes, that Meg Tilly) work to bring some points of pressure to the film, locating a few realistic emotional struggles to go with all the honeyed ways of Christian storytelling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Luke Sparke has spent a chunk of his career trying to launch his own sci-fi franchise, overseeing 2018’s “Occupation” and 2020’s “Occupation: Rainfall.” The franchise didn’t take the world by storm, and Sparke’s filmmaking imagination was limited at best, trying to make his tight budgets look epic. He’s back to more human concerns with “Bring Him to Me,” which follows growing tensions between two men on a long drive to certain doom, with the passenger unaware of what’s coming for him. It’s a talky offering from screenwriter Tom Evans, who hopes to tap into damaged characters and their battle to express the pain that powers them. “Bring Him to Me” is something of a crime movie as well, but Sparke is better off pursuing the gut-rot elements of the material, which are always more compelling than showdowns. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Before my showing of “Bob Marley: One Love,” there was a brief video message from Ziggy Marley, one of Bob’s sons, offering a quick word about the family’s pride in the picture. There’s nothing inherently wrong with such promotion, but with such estate approval comes some skepticism about the movie, as the production needs the cooperation of Marley’s relatives to use his music in the feature, which doesn’t bode well for at least a passably authentic bio-pic. Suspicions are confirmed in “One Love,” with four screenwriters remaining incredibly careful with the details of this existence, ignoring most of it to highlight a few years in the life of the iconic singer and his battles with marriage, management, and declining health. Director Reinaldo Marcus Green (who also played loose with life details in 2021’s “King Richard”) is more interested in the aura of Bob Marley than the man himself, crafting a shallow understanding of behavior while emphasizing the music to please fans. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Sony is determined to do something with their rights to the Spider-Man Universe, emboldened to explore the comic book space after the massive success of two “Venom” pictures, which managed to entice the fan base back into theaters. 2022’s “Morbius” had the opposite effect, with the feature dismissed and fully ridiculed, identifying that name recognition alone isn’t enough to tempt the faithful. Sony takes another swing with “Madame Web,” which also plays in the “Spider-Man” sandbox without actually including the web-crawler, offering an origin story for a character with limited superhero appeal in a movie that makes every conceivable wrong move. From script to screen, “Madame Web” is a dire endeavor, with co-writer/director S.J. Clarkson in over her head with this stunningly clumsy exploration of strange powers, motherhood, and villainy. The film won’t be the death of superhero cinema, but it’s a good reminder that greater care is required when bringing these strange worlds to life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com