Category: Film Review

2020’s “Becky” was a low-budget revenge thriller, and probably little was expected of it in terms of financial success. It was a small film, using the strangeness of star Kevin James in a villainous role to attract attention, eventually finding release in June. But this was no ordinary June, but a full COVID-19 pandemic June, with Hollywood refusing to put their product into theaters. This allowed “Becky,” a delightfully hostile, blood-soaked riff on adolescent fury, a chance to be seen, ending up on the top of the box office chart for two weeks thanks to steady drive-in business. Suddenly, this tiny endeavor was a big deal, and now there’s a sequel, with “The Wrath of Becky” looking to return to the teenager and her problems with vile men. Violence returns, as does star Lulu Wilson, who delivers a mighty show of force for the effort, which isn’t quite as lovably feral as its predecessor, but manages to bring the pain as the main character once again faces off against the worst of American society. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Robots” doesn’t have the best timing when it comes to jokes and commentary on American life. Perhaps this is due to its European sensibility, with Danish co-writer/co-director Caspar Christensen (partnering with Anthony Hines, who’s worked extensively with Sacha Baron Cohen) attempting to make a farce about the ways of the U.S.A., trying to fashion some type of satire concerning the mess we’re all in, imagining a future of Trump-ian politics, Tesla-led technological liberations, and human insensitivity. And there’s even a gag centered around a mass shooting. To label “Robots” a comedy is being generous, as it consistently fumbles funny business, with the production stuck in a weird holding pattern of dismal slapstick and misguided performances. It could’ve been a Quentin Dupieux-esque batch of mischief covering sex and fraud, but Christensen and Hines don’t have a vision for cinematic silliness, creating a terrible episode of television instead. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Calmatic is having a strange year. In January, he tanked a remake of 1990’s “House Party,” forgoing the original picture’s charm to make a comatose comedy, and one few people actually saw. Now Calmatic is remaking 1992’s “White Men Can’t Jump” (mistakenly listed as a 1991 release on the end credits), once again in charge of a ‘90s comedy many people adore, tasked with bringing a modern sensibility to the tale of two men struggling in their personal lives as they turn to street basketball games to make money. Original writer/director Ron Shelton isn’t involved in the project, and stars Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes are long gone, forcing viewers to deal with a decidedly sleepy take on the original material, with writers Kenya Barris and Doug Hall largely eliminating humor to make a more heartfelt movie about the emotionally fragile ways of basketball hustlers and the women who possibly love them. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2021’s “F9,” the “Fast and the Furious” saga managed to drive cars into space. In any other series, this would be the height of absurdity, but this franchise is basically defined by its ridiculousness, hoping to entertain the seemingly indefatigable fanbase with an escalating level of cartoonishness. “Fast X” doesn’t go into orbit, but it does manage to achieve a similar kind of ludicrousness, with director Louis Leterrier (“The Transporter,” “Grimsby”) out to generate a 141-minute-long wall of noise with the feature, keeping the action coming with the latest sequel, which isn’t a complete picture, basically here to assemble the “Fast and the Furious” avengers for one last ride (sure) in 2025. This is a Part 1 of sorts, but fans have already seen most of what “Fast X” has to offer, as the endeavor is basically a recycling facility, delivering the same story beats, same car-fu, and same stakes, only here the mission is to pump up the faithful so they’ll buy another ticket in two years. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Joe Lo Truglio is best known as one of the members of the comedy troupe The State, and he recently was part of the ensemble for the hit television show “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” maintaining his interests in the realm of comedy. For his feature-length directorial debut, Lo Truglio (who also scripts) isn’t pursuing funny business with “Outpost,” looking to craft a small-scale psychological horror picture that eventually abandons most of its mental gamesmanship, going for more visceral frights. Lo Truglio keeps it in the family, working with wife Beth Dover in a tale of a shattered woman looking to reclaim her sanity through the safety of extreme isolation, and she’s terrific in the film, giving the production a thoroughly unsettled performance. The rest of “Outpost” is a little uneven, but the helmer captures the mental quake of trauma reasonably well, getting the endeavor on its feet with some degree of success. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Steven Luke really likes war films. In fact, he’s spent the majority of his career in the subgenre, trying to make some low-budget magic happen with grizzled tales of battle including “Operation Seawolf,” “Battle of the Bulge: Winter War,” “The Great War,” and “Wunderland.” It should come as no surprise to learn that Luke’s latest production is yet another war film, with “Come Out Fighting” looking to highlight the challenges of racism and displays of bravery involving black soldiers during World War II. It’s a noble endeavor, but not an especially exciting one, with Luke limited in resources and dramatic power to bring his men-on-a-mission story to full power. It’s not all disappointing, as the feature shows some signs of life, but there’s a better, more stirring effort to be made about the subject, with “Come Out Fighting” in need of budgetary might and a more direct approach to battlefield activity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A game of death is meant to break out in “Assassin Club,” but the film is far more interested in conversations than aggressive actions. A production like this needs a true leader, and there isn’t one in director Camille Delamarre, who’s made some dismal actioners in his career (including “The Transporter Refueled” and “Brick Mansions”), and his streak continues here, with the helmer striving to go full Michael Bay mode with this study of survival involving a noble killer trying to take out colleagues before they end his life. There’s the possibility of an engaging ride as a battle royal begins, but screenwriter Thomas Dunn is married to his twisty plot, keeping the characters conversing and threatening, which severely limits the momentum of the endeavor. “Assassin Club” has trained hitmen on the run to murder one another, crossing the globe to do so, but the whole thing is just impossibly dull. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Crater” isn’t the usual Disney production, with screenwriter John Griffin looking to deliver a more dramatic experience, using the run time to delve deeper into character and handle delicate emotion carefully. It’s a tale of a special journey across dangerous terrain, only here the setting is the moon, watching a collection of sudden lunar explorers deal with a special road trip and all the challenges they encounter along the way. Griffin isn’t looking to comedy to support this examination of young people and their concerns, trying to take these personalities seriously as they deal with friendships, adult realities, and a permanent separation. “Crater” is for patient viewers, and director Kyle Patrick Alvarez (“The Stanford Prison Experiment”) generates a warm sense of bonding and partnership with the space odyssey. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jennifer Lopez spent the last year and change trying to play up her viability as a romantic comedy star, softening for the films “Marry Me” and “Shotgun Wedding,” going matrimonial and silly as a way to preserve her acting career. Now there’s hardness with “The Mother,” which turns Lopez into a killing machine in the tale of an ex-military parent doing whatever she can to protect her daughter from advancing villains. The star has a capable director in Niki Caro, who recently managed big-budget action in 2020’s “Mulan,” and the helmer offers serviceable work here, aiming to create a mash-up of Bourne and Bond with screenwriters Misha Green, Andrea Berloff, and Peter Craig. “The Mother” is limited by miscasting and strange storytelling choices, but physical activity is lively in the picture, with Lopez (and her stunt doubles) trying to bring some intensity to the effort, which works best during its most aggressive moments. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writers Max Borenstein and Robert Rodriguez (who also directs) hope to tap into the joys of pulp sci-fi novels with “Hypnotic,” which is their version of a Philip K. Dick story, mixed with elements of “Scanners,” “The Matrix,” and Christopher Nolan productions. It’s a noir-ish take on mind-bending happenings, and it initially appears to play directly to Rodriguez’s strengths of slightly silly but kinetic entertainment, giving audiences a ride into a specialized unreality with a detective on the hunt for his missing daughter, discovering a hidden world of mind control. What’s actually presented here is far more sedate, as the writing pays closer attention to the mystery it’s trying to piece together than the thrills and spills it should provide. “Hypnotic” is strangely inert in many ways, occasionally showing signs of life when the movie locks into thriller mode, but these moments are sadly few and far between. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Charlie Day has been a professional actor for over 20 years, and with “Fool’s Paradise,” he makes the leap to direction, making his debut behind the camera. Day also handles screenwriting and acting duties, giving him a level of control over the endeavor, which asks audiences to embrace the replication of a Charlie Chaplin feature, with the production hoping to recreate the tone and tempo of a silent comedy while keeping the final cut distinctly 2023 in humor. There’s sizable labor put into the feature, and Day has called in a lot of favors to help fill out the cast, trying to keep the offering exciting as famous faces pop in for supporting roles and cameos. However, there’s a lot that’s fundamentally wrong with “Fool’s Paradise,” which wins points for ambition and homage, but is extremely difficult to sit through, despite Day’s best efforts to keep the whole thing racing along with absurdity and satiric targets. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” isn’t a beat-by-beat documentary exploring the actor’s life and times. There are books and interviews if one is interested in more of a biographical approach. What director Davis Guggenheim (“He Named Me Malala,” “It Might Get Loud”) is after is the experience of being with Michael J. Fox and being Michael J. Fox, with the Canadian achieving rare global success in television and film, making him a ubiquitous presence in the media, but he’s also famous for his battle with Parkinson’s disease, still managing his condition in a public way 33 years after his diagnosis. “Still” covers the basics in career highlights, getting a feel for such an impressive rocket ride to stardom, but it’s also intimate and patient with the subject, who’s open to providing a glimpse into his daily life, giving viewers a chance to see what Parkinson’s looks like and how Fox processes its physical and emotional challenges, sharing his thoughts with the director in this moving, funny, and illuminating film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2018’s “Book Club” was not a film to be casually approached. There had to be absolute certainty when purchasing a ticket, which granted access to a highly bizarre feature about four grown women going through various difficulties in their lives, unified in friendship and sexual response to the ways of the novel “Fifty Shades of Grey.” It was like a Lifetime Channel version of “Porky’s,” but with a stiffer sense of mischief and looser grip on broad behavior. “Book Club” managed to find something of an audience, at least enough to inspire a sequel five years later, with returning writer/director Bill Holderman trying his luck again with “Book Club: The Next Chapter.” The helmer tones down supremely awkward raunchiness this time around, which helps the cause, but he’s still stuck in bigness mode, keeping things distinctly sitcom with four talented actresses trying to perform every line like they were selling used cars. “The Next Chapter” is an improvement in a few ways, but once again, you must understand the viewing experience ahead to really get the most out of it. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Andrea Pallaoro makes a deeply personal film with “Monica,” but refuses any invitation to burn away the delicate nature of the story with grotesque overkill. It’s a nuanced, patient tale of a unique reunion, following the eponymous character as she returns home after years away, learning how to care for her sick mother and deal with all the pain shared between the two. It’s a character study, and an emotional one, with Pallaoro taking his time with the endeavor, working to get under the skin of the people involved, who share an experience together, but reunite as strangers. The picture is outstanding, but the real surprise is lead actress Trace Lysette, who really gets to spread her wings with the material, showcasing remarkable dramatic capability and screen authority in this, her first starring role. She makes the movie feel alive and real, helping Pallaoro find those deep places of contemplation as her character experiences a reawakening. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While the major studios prepare to release several high-profile family films for the summer season, smaller charms and creative achievements are found in “Rally Road Racers,” which hopes to offer a passable distraction for young viewers. It’s a somewhat lively study of car race dreams and high pursuit on crazy, video-game inspired tracks, with writer/director Ross Venokur trying to deliver something exciting with broad cartoon action and wacky characters engaged in all kinds of mischief and antagonism. There’s a chance for Venokur to make something high-flying with the inherent need for speed found in the story, but he mostly sticks to screenwriting formula, keeping the viewing experience familiar for those who’ve seen many of these pictures before. Kids will be more responsive to what “Rally Road Racers” has to offer, but select moments of silliness are fun, making one wish the whole thing was comfortable with a breezy take on speed demon antics. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Everyone loves a good “Die Hard” knockoff, but the trick is that the film has to put in the effort to be worthy of the John McClane saga, and this includes the latter “Die Hard” sequels. “Mercy” is the latest production hoping to deliver the action goods with a similar plot of a lone hero going up against invading terrorists in a single location, and while the screenplay by Alex Wright (“Nantucket Noel,” “Christmas in Rome,” “A Family Christmas Gift”) liberally lifts the vibe of the 1988 action cinema masterpiece, it’s not entirely clear if Wright was really paying attention to the specifics of “Die Hard” while replicating it for this B-movie. “Mercy” has the story and the setting, but director Tony Dean Smith (“Volition”) doesn’t have the pace or the right amount of punishment with the endeavor, which goes too soft too quickly, unable to shake its low-budget limitations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Jim Strouse made a positive impression with his last two features, guiding 2015’s “People Places Things” and 2017’s “The Incredible Jessica James” to big hearts and sizable laughs, positioning him as a helmer to watch, especially with smaller, more human tales of love and confusion. However, indie film work has its professional limitations, with Strouse trying on a studio project for size with “Love Again,” which is a remake of a 2016 German picture, detailing the experiences of two strangers who find each other through text-based confessions, leading to a romance that’s built on a big issue of trust. “Love Again” isn’t an event movie, but it does have some scale thanks to a supporting turn from Celine Dion, and the material plays to Strouse’s strengths with its presentation of wounded souls. Typical romantic comedy shallowness isn’t completely avoided, but the material makes a serviceable attempt to highlight human concerns, and chemistry with leads Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan is pleasant enough to lift the endeavor up when it needs it. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After sitting through the opening 15 minutes of “Johnny & Clyde,” I’m sure most viewers will ask themselves the same question: Am I watching a sequel? Co-writer/director Tom DeNucci (joined by 26 producers) doesn’t put any care into character introduction and storytelling is something beyond his capabilities, instead throwing all kinds of faces, places, and information at the screen in the hopes something will stick. There’s no information readily available that lists the endeavor as a follow-up to another movie, but anything is possible, and the majority of “Johnny & Clyde” certainly acts like the second chapter of a crime saga, and one with interest in fantasy elements while running through the same old business with thrill-killers. It’s an unwatchable mess, sure to be one of the worst films of 2023, but perhaps this is what DeNucci is going for, but that would be giving him credit for this jumble of noise and colors, and he hasn’t earned such consideration. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Shekar Kapur, the director of 1998’s “Elizabeth” and its 2007 sequel, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” returns to duty after a 15-year-long break from big screen storytelling with “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” Shedding interest in historical dramas, Kapur joins screenwriter Jemima Khan for this study of arranged marriages and challenges with true love, endeavoring to make something that deals with authentic relationship issues while still hoping to remain approachable as a study of a tentative romance. “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” (which doesn’t have anything to do with the Tina Turner hit, but try explaining that to your brain) has the opportunity to say something meaningful about ongoing battles between the heart and mind, but the production isn’t courageous enough to really offer an honest assessment of near-misses when it comes to relationships, eventually turning to a to-do list of cliches just to make sure the material meets expectations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The Guardians of the Galaxy haven’t exactly been lying around since the release of ‘Vol. 2” back in 2017, with the space gang caught up in Avengers business while spending some time with Thor and his personal issues. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” looks to return the team to full screen power with a new sequel, but something is a little off with their latest adventure. Writer/director James Gunn made a positive impression with his buoyant vision for the first two chapters of the series, but his instincts for merriment and space opera are dulled for “Vol. 3,” which emerges as an angrier, noisier, and sadder turn for the MCU, with Gunn straining for emotional manipulation as he makes his usual mess of things in the comic book realm. Joyfulness that was present before is mostly gone here (along with more decisive editing), keeping the viewing experience only intermittently appealing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com