Category: Film Review

There’s controversy whenever Disney elects to create a live-action version of one of their animated films. The company isn’t exactly interested in creativity with these offerings, with most emerging as impressive technical achievements content to rehash the same story for a young audience (think “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King”). And then there was 2016’s “Pete’s Dragon,” with co-writer/director David Lowery endeavoring to do something different than the original 1977 musical, finding freshness and big heart in his remake opportunity, emerging with the best of the Disney do-overs. Lowery returns with a true career challenge, dealing with the oft-told tale of J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan.” There’s been enough media devoted to Neverland happenings over the last century, putting the helmer in a difficult position of invention. “Peter Pan and Wendy” doesn’t stray far enough from the basics of Barrie’s world and Disney’s 1953 animated offering, but it finds ways to restore a little magic to the tale, and it’s newly focused on the emotional health of the characters, which keeps it interesting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Meg” was a hit film in 2018, and it’s taken a long time for the studios to get going on a sequel, which is an unusual choice when dealing with material that explores a rampaging megalodon. There’s a “Meg 2” finally coming sometime this year, but the producers of “The Black Demon” are looking to take advantage of the long wait, cooking up their own version of a rampaging megalodon feature. However, to really make a memorable disaster picture with a monster shark, one has to spend big bucks, and the producers of “The Black Demon” don’t have that kind of money, giving the eating machine more of a cameo in its own movie, with screenwriter Boise Esquerra believing most audiences will be happier to watch a story of ecological ruin and family strife. Of course, that’s not the case, and the new killer shark event on the scene misses its potential by a country mile. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2016, writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig created “The Edge of Seventeen,” which took a look at a time of adolescence and maturity, when teenage feelings start to intersect with adult realities. It was a magnificent movie, announcing the helmer as a talent to watch. The wait for her follow-up is over, with Craig returning to explore the pains of growing up with “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” adapting the beloved Judy Blume novel for the big screen. And she does a remarkable job with it, generating another sensitive and real understanding of a young person’s education while on the front lines of puberty. Blume wrote with compassion and emotional authenticity, and Craig completely captures such delicate tone, juggling the story with a rich sense of intimacy, following the author’s lead as characterization is beautifully detailed and the dramatic journey finds a nuanced understanding of behavior. It’s one of the best films of the year. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For those who like their cinematic offerings lean and mean, there’s “Sisu.” A Finnish production that clocks in around 90 minutes, the endeavor is all about aggression, with the World War II tale focusing on a basically unkillable soldier doing battle with Nazis trying to murder him over a two bags of gold. Writer/director Jalmari Helander (“Rare Exports,” “Big Game”) doesn’t have much more in mind than revenge, creating a viewing experience that’s simple and visceral, and also has the added pleasure of watching Nazis get slaughtered in increasingly painful ways. “Sisu” isn’t a rollicking good time, but Helander has a healthy sense of the absurd with the effort, delivering a mildly bizarre but commanding actioner that does quite a bit with very little. It's wartime horror sold in a distinctly B-movie way, and for those who usually can’t find an interesting alternative to glossy, pointless bruisers that fill the marketplace, here’s a stark offering of pain and justice to refresh the possibilities of screen intensity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Clock” is based on a short film, with writer/director Alexis Jacknow offered an opportunity to expand on her original idea, working to deliver a deeper sense of character connection and achieve greater thematic reach with the material. Jacknow examines the state of motherhood, and the choice to avoid such an experience, using intense peer pressure and internalized confusion to generate a semi-Cronenbergian viewing experience that taps into a specific area of unrest. “Clock” tries to be a traditional horror movie in a few ways, with Jacknow overseeing the creation of nightmare imagery and psychological fracture, but it offers a more interesting take on the female experience, especially when it digs into mounting concern and judgment surrounding baby fever. The endeavor doesn’t really have enough to fill a feature-length run time, but Jacknow details unusual topics and behaviors with her screenplay, trying to communicate something few productions dare to explore. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been 42 years since the initial release of Sam Raimi’s “The Evil Dead,” and audiences are still craving deadite pandemonium, delivered in sequels, video games, comic books, and a television series. Horror returns once again with “Evil Dead Rise,” which isn’t explicitly connected to the 2013 “Evil Dead” remake, but retains the same ruthless spirit of genre engagement, this time taking an outbreak of malevolence to a California apartment building, which, in a way, remains a suitable cabin-in-the-woods replacement. Writer/director Lee Cronin made a strong impression with 2019’s “The Hole in the Ground,” and he sustains promise with this spin-off/remake/thingee, which does some proper “Evil Dead” damage to characters and property, winding the saga up for another satisfying bloodbath with fierce demons and panicky acts of survival. “Evil Dead Rise” is perhaps the darkest chapter of the series, quite literally at times, but Cronin takes the moviemaking challenge seriously, nailing tone and bodily harm with this gore zone event. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Recently, actor Chris Evans detailed his reluctance to host “Saturday Night Live,” stating that he’s “not a funny person.” Perhaps it’s time to start believing what Evans says. “Ghosted” offers Evans a brighter personality to play, reteaming with co-star Ana de Armas after working together in “Knives Out” and “The Gray Man,” with the pair taking command of an action spy movie that’s also a romantic comedy. Much of the endeavor is dependent on charm and skill with humor, and Evans and de Armas are lacking such chemistry and effervescence, showing limited signs of life while director Dexter Fletcher (“Rocketman,” “Eddie the Eagle”) oversees a paint-by-numbers adventure film that grinds on the senses soon after it begins. “Ghosted” isn’t a misfire, it’s a complete miscalculation, with the wrong people hired to make a picture audiences have seen many times before, and with much more amusing people in the leading roles. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Ari Aster previously helmed two pictures, and they managed to get under the skin of select viewers. With 2018’s “Hereditary” and 2019’s “Midsommer,” Aster pulled together tough and taxing studies of nervous breakdowns, showing a deep interest in the agony of psychological erosion while paying tribute to his favorite genre offerings, delivering disturbing efforts for those with the patience to remain invested in his somewhat meandering ways. He’s a specialized moviemaker for a specialized audience, and there’s rarely been a more specialized endeavor than “Beau is Afraid,” which is Aster’s first offering in four years and, quite possibly, could be his last for the foreseeable future. He’s making a journey here that’s tight with anxiety and loose with reality, asking for a three-hour-long commitment for material that goes everywhere and nowhere, coming across as a filmed adaptation of an Aster therapy session. It’s indulgent, but that’s the point. It’s also artful at times and unbearable, and that’s also the point. But it’s seldom meaningful, emerging as a feature only for Aster, who crafts quite the endurance test with “Beau is Afraid.” Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Guy Ritchie is eager to work, and he’s ready to graduate to a possessory credit. His fifth movie in four years, and his second offering of 2023, “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” seeks to disrupt the helmer’s love of criminal shenanigans and “toff guy” entertainment, sobering up with this examination of extreme bravery during the latter years of the Afghanistan war. Slickness and cynicism are left behind, with “The Covenant” trying to nail a more aggressive tone of threat, going into the heart of Taliban country to study an unusual relationship between two men who eventually trade acts of heroism. Suspense is big here, with Ritchie blending wartime pressure points with explosive moments of frustration, backed by a production team that’s dedicated to making a propulsive viewing experience. Ritchie gets most of it right, capturing fear and guiding exceptional performances, with stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim securing optimal intensity for this violent odyssey. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s certainly something very familiar about “To Catch a Killer,” which is a procedural cop thriller about the hunt for an armed and dangerous lunatic who’s developing an interest in committing mass murder. It’s the stuff of film history and, more recently, television, with dozens of shows all chasing the same formula for weekly consumption, playing it safe as viewers begin to treat human misery and sleuthing as comfy sweater entertainment. What’s different about “To Catch a Killer” is its rawness and timing, with co-writer/director Damian Szifron (helming his first picture after 2014’s “Wild Tales”) digging into our modern world of mental illness and armament, emerging with a compelling study of psychological fracture on both sides of the law. There’s striking violence in the movie which is meant to snap viewers to attention, but Szifron brings a balance of realism to the hunt, blended with theatrical police activity, giving the endeavor an unusual atmosphere that should keep its audience invested to the end. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We know Ray Romano as a comedian. And we know Ray Romano as an actor. Now, he wants to be a director, graduating to new creative responsibilities with “Somewhere in Queens,” also sharing writing duties with Mark Stegemann. To keep things manageable, Romano plays to his strengths with the endeavor, with the Queens-native attempting to capture the vibe of his neighborhood experience and the bustle of his family life, using this reality to support a soft-on-the-senses study of parental responsibility and young dreams, taking some ideas from the “Rocky” playbook. Romano doesn’t bite off more than he can chew with “Somewhere in Queens,” and he’s wise to gather a cast of real pros to support his helming debut, sharing time with talented actors who bring extraordinary charm to the effort, giving it the color and heart it needs to make a positive impression. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Comedy troupe Broken Lizard was last seen on screens in 2018’s “Super Troopers 2,” which acted as an opportunity for people to get reacquainted with the performers and their crude sense of humor after the team endured a series of box office busts. The sequel managed to make money, but instead of marching right into “Super Troopers 3,” Broken Lizard tries to do something a little different with “Quasi,” which is their take on 13th century France misadventures featuring a physically disabled character of literary renown. There’s no trace of Victor Hugo here, with the screenplay more interested in silliness, oysters, and a scrotum nailed to a log. “Quasi” isn’t a radical creative departure for Broken Lizard, who still revel in their love for vulgarity, but it does have a pleasing energy during its first half, gleefully going weird and lowbrow with its take on French history and culture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Steve Zahn doesn’t receive many chances to challenge himself as an actor. He’s typically cast as the goofball or free spirit, brought in for comic relief, often for movies that don’t need his specialized thespian energy. However, Zahn’s been strong in recent years, appearing in 2020’s “Cowboys” and now “Gringa,” where he’s asked to portray a complex person struggling with the weight of the world. He’s joined by star Jess Gabor, with the pair offering outstanding performances as a father and daughter getting to know each other after tragedy strikes, testing the power of their compulsions and their emotional availability. “Gringa” hits some dramatic turbulence in the final act, but the opening hour supplies a compelling study of strangers coming together, working to communicate their pain while learning to live together. It’s decently scripted by Patrick Hasburgh (who co-created “21 Jump Street”), who tries to find some uncomfortable realities before formula and weird story choices eventually take over the film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with action movies these days, but there are few filmmakers out there who really understand the importance of ferocity and pace. “The Best Man” is the latest B-movie offering with marketing that promises something more active than it actually delivers, with co-writer/director Shane Dax Taylor (“Masquerade,” “Isolation”) never showing all that much enthusiasm for what’s meant to be a “Die Hard”-style endeavor, with the hunt taking place inside a New Mexico resort hotel and casino. “The Best Man” has a serviceable set-up for danger, but the writing isn’t adventurous, and Taylor doesn’t have a proper vision for physical activity, failing to do something exciting with the small budget he’s working with. There just isn’t an enjoyable level of adventure in the feature, which certainly has the potential to be passably thrilling, but the production is stuck in neutral. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Ten years ago, writer/director Scott Walker tried to deliver a serial killer story with “The Frozen Ground.” Even with the participation of stars Nicolas Cage and John Cusack, Walker fumbled the production, making a bland chiller with a to-do list of genre cliches. Walker returns to moviemaking with “The Tank,” which doesn’t provide any recognizable actors, investing in creature feature appeal instead. There’s something in a depths near a coastal Oregon home, launching a study of nature-gone-mad, with a side of survival. Walker works with known elements, but he’s in no hurry to reach whatever scary stuff is found in the endeavor. The helmer goes slow-burn with “The Tank,” which isn’t compelling until its final moments, making for a long sit as the writing sorts through an iffy mystery and extended investigative sequences. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There are plenty of movies about exorcisms, with the practice of pulling demonic spirits out of innocent souls catnip to genre filmmakers still chasing the high 1973’s “The Exorcist” left behind. After recently enduring the dullness of 2022’s “Prey for the Devil,” audiences are now offered “The Pope’s Exorcist,” which tries to amplify its message of Catholic might by using a real-world man of Satanic action as inspiration, with the evil encounters and experiences of Father Gabriele Amorth (who allegedly performed over 50,000 exorcisms) used by screenwriters Michael Petroni (“The Rite”) and Evan Spilliotopoulos (“The Unholy”), with both men taking previous stabs at the subgenre, coming up short in the fright department. The authenticity of Amorth’s claims are the subject of “The Pope’s Exorcist,” with the material aiming to turn him into a heroic figure of authority, facing a most determined demon working to rattle the man of God. There’s a lot of a same old stuff in the feature, which does have the benefit of an engaged performance from Russell Crowe, but as a chiller, director Julius Avery (“Overlord,” “Samaritan”) doesn’t provide a fresh approach. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Nicolas Cage is no stranger to playing vampiric characters, delivering one of his kookiest performances in 1988’s “Vampire’s Kiss.” However, for “Renfield,” Cage is tasked with bringing Count Dracula to life, not just an average lunatic, and the notoriously extreme actor takes the professional challenge seriously. Cage is most of the fun of the feature, putting in the work to create a nightmarish interpretation of the original creature of the night, but the film is more of a graphic novel-style experience than Bram Stoker-minded. Director Chris McKay has some experience in the world of cartoonish entertainment, previously helming “The Lego Batman Movie” and “The Tomorrow War,” and he gives “Renfield” a defined sense of silliness and acrobatic violence, going for a semi-lighter take on all the death that surrounds Dracula. There are elements to the effort that don’t connect as intended, but McKay and screenwriter Ryan Ridley try to merge action cinema with an absolute bloodbath, delivering a highly bizarre and periodically electric endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A lot of strange creative choices went into the making of “Mafia Mamma,” which attempts to offer viewers some big laughs and acts of shock value, trying to turn underworld life into a sandbox for star Toni Collette. She’s in Goldie Hawn mode here, asked to carry a story of a personal awakening that also touches on criminal management and broad romantic activity. Collette is more than capable of playing daffy, but her choice of material is underwhelming, with screenwriters J. Michael Feldman and Debbie Jhoon unable to master a balance of light and dark “Mafia Mamma” requires. The picture is all over the place, but it’s never funny, which appears to be the primary goal of the endeavor. Instead of laughs, the effort grows tiresome, which only inspires director Catherine Hardwicke to hit harder when it comes to wacky misadventures in organized crime. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Mummies” is a Spanish animated production that’s hoping to use Disney formula as it explores a world of strange magic and restless characters. Screenwriters Jordi Gasull and Javier Lopez Barreira don’t offer an original take on the needs of a princess and the concern of a future prince, trusting in the familiarity of it all as cartoon shenanigans carry the endeavor. Perhaps younger audiences won’t mind the formula, and there’s something potentially compelling about the concept of mummies on the loose, but the feature isn’t pushing too hard when it comes to excitement, making it hard for those who’ve seen this kind of story before to sit through it again. “Mummies” plays it safe, dealing with slapstick comedy, broad villainy, and the torment of easily solvable problems, and director Juan Jesus Garcia Galocha doesn’t challenge any of it, electing to coast on bright animation and occasional silliness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Christian entertainment receives a necessary jolt of suspense with “On a Wing and a Prayer,” which dramatizes the experience of Doug White, an aspiring pilot caught in a desperate situation when he’s forced to take the controls of a plane after the official pilot dies in mid-air. The picture is based on a true story, and it’s one that just so happens to be structured like a Hollywood disaster movie, with screenwriter Brian Egeston tasked with juggling multiple perspectives as a team of professionals try to help Doug land his plane safely, and if he can’t do that, land in the ocean. “On a Wing and a Prayer” is suspenseful and sharply paced, with director Sean McNamara (“Cats and Dogs 3: Paws Unite,” “Bratz”) wisely sticking to the essentials of panic, making a mostly lean, procedural endeavor with occasional questioning of God’s way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com