Category: Film Review

Director Tim Story isn’t the first name that comes to mind when talk of quality cinema commences. He’s been making mediocre movies for decades, working in the studio trenches, making sure to deliver bland entertainment that’s easy on the senses, recently in command of “Tom & Jerry,” the ill-conceived “Shaft” rework-thingee, and sequels in “Ride Along 2” and “Think Like a Man Too.” He’s not a helmer that values edginess and timing, but he actually does something different with “The Blackening,” which is a horror comedy that’s somewhat playful and genuinely moves for its first two acts. Screenwriters Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins (expanding a Comedy Central short) have a fun idea to play with the genre and the black experience, whipping up a semi-slasher that’s basically in a goofball mood. Story supports with strong casting and a commitment to the screwball tone of the effort, and while the feature starts to sag when it should lift off, “The Blackening” is a mostly exciting ride of mischief, establishing a party mood for all audiences. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Actor John Slattery returns to direction with “Maggie Moore(s),” which marks his first feature-length helming project since 2014’s ‘God’s Pocket.” Slattery is attentive to the thespian potential of his offering, and his latest is defined by its colorful collection of personalities and the performers who capably bring them to life. There’s a murder mystery component to the endeavor as well, but screenwriter Paul Bernbaum isn’t focused on building a whodunit. He’s more into a Coen Brothers vibe, with “Maggie Moore(s)” hoping to provide a mild ride of suspicion and violence, with more attention paid to quirky and potentially dangerous types involved in two small-town murders where the victims share the same name. Slattery doesn’t wring much suspense out of the picture, but there’s depth to characterization that keeps it involving, with curious behaviors more interesting than any crime. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Two years ago, writer/director Wes Anderson debuted “The French Dispatch.” It was a transitional film for the helmer, who tucked away his usual mischief and aural command to immerse himself completely in his own moviemaking fetishes, showing little care for viewer connection as he lost himself to somewhat tedious world-building. It felt like a rare whiff from Anderson, who’s made some mighty pictures during his career, but with his latest, “Asteroid City,” designating “The French Dispatch” as a misfire appears to have been a mistake. The 2021 feature seems to be the start of a trend, with Anderson once again refusing to have fun with himself, newly committed to another period examination of deadpan stillness that’s loaded with frame details but stunningly hostile to joy. “Asteroid City” has all the talent in the world driving it, but it’s all so flatly executed, getting lost in Anderson’s newfound love of playing his cinematic ideas only to himself. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Mad Heidi” is an offering of “Swissploitation,” with co-writers/directors Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein looking to raise a little hell in their home country, bringing B-movie madness to the screen. They’ve chosen to do something messy with “Heidi,” Johanna Spyri’s children’s story from 1880, only here the specifics of innocence and life in Switzerland have been eliminated, replaced with a semi-bonkers prefab cult film that hopes to conjure the attitude of a Leone western and the exaggerated fantasy wackiness of 2012’s “Iron Sky.” “Mad Heidi” gets a little overexcited in the editing department, and the comedic tone of the endeavor isn’t always appealing, but Hartmann and Klopfstein really deliver an impressively constructed offering of pure nonsense, working with technology and dietary impishness to secure an entertaining sit for those willing to go along with its insanity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“97 Minutes” is a terrorism thriller from director Timo Vuorensola, who found early success with his work on 2012’s goofy “Iron Sky” (a.k.a. the movie about moon Nazis), but stumbled when trying to keep a good thing going with “Iron Sky: The Coming Race,” also spending time on the little-seen “Jeepers Creepers: Reborn.” Vuorensola goes the VOD production route with his latest endeavor, and he spends most of the run time trying to figure out the screenplay by Pavan Grover, which is a collection of half-realized subplots and monologues. Perhaps it’s meant to echo real-world air hijacking panic, but “97 Minutes” doesn’t replicate real horror, and it’s pretty lousy when it comes to Hollywood-style thrills, visibly struggling with its limited budget and sense of danger. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2015, director Peter Sohn was the creative force behind “The Good Dinosaur,” bringing some darkness and unusual sensitivity to a Pixar production. The picture received a mixed reaction from audiences and is one of the company’s lowest-grossing endeavors, but Sohn delivered a tender story about friendship, family, and adventure, trying to do something with Pixar formula. He’s in a similar situation with “Elemental,” which won’t win awards for originality, but dazzles with its extraordinary animation and charms with its unexpected tale of romance. It’s “Romeo and Juliet” with literal fire and water, with Sohn using the arc of a love story to study the ways of familial expectations, prejudice, and melting pot immigration, coming up with big characters and a pleasing kindness to the effort as Pixar continues to pursue more mature takes on animated storytelling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In a few years, the DC Extended Universe will undergo a complete overhaul, with new creative guidance once again trying to build a cinematic empire out of famous comic book characters. “The Flash” is one of the last offerings from the old guard, and it’s really trying to do something special with its run time, exploring not only the DCEU of the last decade, but the world of comic book entertainment, looking to boost the adventures of Barry Allen with an expensive and expansive epic that often tries to be more than just a film about The Flash. It’s a major undertaking from director Andy Muschietti (“It”) and screenwriter Christina Hodson (“Birds of Prey”), as the story plays with multiple timelines, characters, and settings, working to provide a massive viewing experience for those who still remain invested in Zack Snyder’s DCEU vision. And there’s fun for others, with “The Flash” going everywhere with its story, conjuring a defined energy that’s often exhausting to keep up with, and it periodically overwhelms the helmer, who’s hanging on to control of the feature by his fingertips at times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2018’s “Bumblebee” was a chance for the “Transformers” series to rethink things after director Michael Bay brought the brand name to box office highs and critical lows. It served as a prequel/restart for the saga, and while it didn’t scare up enormous box office returns (released during heavy competition), it connected with viewers, successfully getting fans reinterested in the ongoing big screen adventures of the robots in disguise. “Bumblebee” was a lot of fun, and director Steven Caple Jr. (“Creed II”) is determined to keep the party going in “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” supplying a thrilling sequel that hopes to wow kids and kids-at-heart with a grander display of Autobot heroics and human courage, presenting an epic study of action and planet-gobbling doom. Of course, this is a “Transformers” picture, with silliness unavoidable, but Caple Jr. really captures the enormity of the brand’s warrior spirit and ways of destruction, making for a lively sit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Love him or hate him, there’s nobody quite like Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s been an athlete, a movie star, a family man, a politician, and a social media figure, and there’s plenty more to the man than meets the eye. The idea behind the documentary series “Arnold” is to identify his extraordinary personal journey, tracking Schwarzenegger’s rise from a little boy raised in a tiny Austrian village to becoming one of the most famous people in the world, seemingly enjoying almost every second of his remarkable development. Director Lesley Chilcott (“Helter Skelter: The American Myth”) has quite the challenge of corralling so much living into three episodes, aiming to break up the odyssey into chapters of growth and professional redirection, allowing Schwarzenegger to tell his own story in his inimitable way. “Arnold” has its glossiness, dealing with a subject who fully understands the power of self-promotion, but it also carries outstanding attention to Schwarzenegger’s sacrifices and ferocious ambition, with Chilcott delivering a fascinating understanding of the media figure and his singular way of living. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Wartime secrets are explored in “Brooklyn 45,” which offers a single location and a cast of characters for a 90-minute examination of death, patriotism, and xenophobia. There’s a supernatural element to the tale, which involves a particularly active séance, but writer/director Ted Geoghegan doesn’t make a horror feature, going the psychological route with a real-time journey into suspicion. There’s a lot to like about the endeavor, with Geoghegan challenged to create a suspenseful viewing experience while the story remains in one position. There’s an interesting examination of World War II and all the pain involved with service and intimidation, which is just beginning to spill into civilian life for the players, and while it seems to be headed in an Agatha Christie direction in the opening act, “Brooklyn 45” shies away from mystery elements, as Geoghegan shows more interest in character wear and tear, not the capacity for murder. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Mary Shelley has inspired a plethora of interpretations of her 1818 novel, “Frankenstein,” with “The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster” the latest attempt to do something with material that’s been reworked repeatedly. For this round of literary inspiration, writer/director Bomani J. Story (making his feature-length helming debut) turns to the problem of inner-city life to inspire a fresh take on death and scientific obsession. “The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster” has a terrific idea, using the plagues of gangs and drugs to explore the singular desperation of the main character and her drive to reanimate the dead, and Story manages to work up some decent atmosphere for the low-budget endeavor. There’s a distinct level of dread in the film, and strong performances to carry the effort when it needs it the most. What’s actually here is more of a short story, and the stretch marks to bring it to 90 minutes are visible, but there’s power in its most primal moments. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Flamin’ Hot” tells the story of Richard Montanez, who claimed to have invented an extra spicy snack food that helped to boost the fortunes of megacorporation PepsiCo when they needed it the most. The movie arrives with some controversy, which is unexpected when dealing with a story about Cheetos, but there’s been a general questioning of Montanez’s claim of ownership in recent years, with the screenplay (credited to Lewis Colick) working solely from Montanez’s 2013 autobiography (“A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie”), strictly following his version of the events that led to his marketplace breakthrough. Take “Flamin’ Hot” as a true story, and it doesn’t connect. Accept it as a one-note inspirational tale, and there’s more to enjoy, with director Eva Longoria making sure viewers understand the power of self-worth and motivation when selling the story of a man and his junk food destiny. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If you have no idea what “Buddy Games” is, I understand. The 2020 release attracted very little attention and box office, but in this world of streaming, perhaps the endeavor managed to find an audience. Three years later, there’s “Buddy Games: Spring Awakening,” a sequel from returning director/star Josh Duhamel, who reunites most of the original cast for another round of crude antics featuring unlikable characters. “Buddy Games” was one of the worst films of its release year, and “Spring Awakening” is sure to hold a special spot on this year’s list, finding Duhamel simply out to make a goofy, raunchy comedy for the broheim crowds, but he can’t even land a single joke. The follow-up is lazy, unprepared to deal with some of its more pointed ideas on culture. When all else fails the effort, the helmer serves up a poop joke, which is about as clever as it gets with this slapdash production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Sean Patrick O’Reilly has an extensive background in budget animation, overseeing the creation of such titles as “The Steam Engines of Oz,” “Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom,” and “Go Fish” (he recently took on a live-action project, “Corrective Measures,” which has the distinction of being the least depressing of the “Bruce Willis isn’t well” run of features). He returns to duty with “Heroes of the Golden Mask,” which is a Chinese production looking to offer some action and magic to younger viewers in the mood for a simple distraction. The picture does just fine with physical activity, with O’Reilly keeping the endeavor on the move, staging chases and battles with mild excitement. However, while “Heroes of the Golden Mask” is filled with world-building and characters, it’s also determined to have a sense of humor, making funny business quite unappealing, often getting in the way of a passable offering of low-budget adventure. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Matt Drummond is paying tribute to the fantasy films of his youth with “The Secret Kingdom.” It’s a valentine to Jim Henson-style cinema, where imagination dominates and adventure awaits the lead characters, who are sent on a lengthy quest to find special objects, face adversaries, and battle to reunite a broken kingdom. The screenplay has the ingredients to get at least halfway to excitement, but Drummond strangely struggles with the endeavor. He’s absolutely committed to constructing a fantasyland odyssey, but he’s missing a sense of urgency with the picture, unable to find dramatic power, especially for younger viewers who will likely feel restless with the fatigued spirit of the movie. “The Secret Kingdom” has all the good intentions in the world, but the helmer doesn’t have the budget to really provide stunning visuals, and he’s often too busy working on the animation to really pay attention to what’s happening with the snoozy storytelling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Simulant” definitely has interesting release timing, entering theaters as world leaders and the entertainment business discuss the future of artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity. The screenplay by Ryan Christopher Churchill looks to examine a futureworld of A.I. enhancement, where people claim machines to help with work and fill holes in their hearts, but this deceptive stability is newly challenged by someone who doesn’t believe in such order. “Simulant” has the appearance of a nail-biting thriller, but Churchill and director April Mullen (“Wander”) don’t step on the gas with the endeavor, preferring a more meditative understanding of the central crisis. Unfortunately, this approach keeps “Simulant” largely uneventful and dull, with the importance of the message and the urgency of the hunt lost in superfluous atmosphere and uninspired casting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Boogeyman” is based on a Stephen King short story from 1978. And with most, if not all, adaptations of King’s short stories, the tale has been changed dramatically to meet the needs of a feature-length run time. Enter screenwriters Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Mark Heyman, who are tasked with making something substantial out of a tale that only filled 25 pages, turning to the ways of tragedy, family ties, and teen angst to do so. “The Boogeyman” isn’t a fulfilling viewing experience, with director Rob Savage sticking to the basics in horror moviemaking, juggling the weight of damaged people and the movement of something sinister in the dark. It’s the usual PG-13 stuff, though it seems capable of avoiding routine with a deeper emotional journey. The picture has the means to get there, but the writing isn’t that brave. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s hard to believe it came out nearly five years ago, but “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” made a lot of comic book fans happy. It wasn’t an enormous hit, but it found an audience, and one ready to absorb the production’s love of the character and his superhero history, delivering a portal-opening ride of then-unique animation and interesting characters, only really running into trouble when trying to find a way out of the mess of the story. For “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” sequel-flexing is felt, with the run time expanded, the cast list lengthened, and dramatic ambition inflated. “Into the Spider-Verse” was a careful introduction to the eponymous character(s) and their amusing disorientation, but “Across the Spider-Verse” aims for an epic feel of multiverse maneuvering, attempting to deliver a heavily knotted tale of fates and friendships, with directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson speeding up the edits and slowing down the storytelling as they build on the previous picture’s artistic achievements, though they still have a problem with pacing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Robert Englund has been acting since he was 13 years old, working on stage and screen, pushing his way through the industry, pursuing a life as a character actor. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Englund managed to land a role that would turn him into a star, transforming a man of many faces into a scarred monster the public adored. It’s a crazy story of fame and pop culture ubiquity, and it’s a major subject for “Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story,” with directors Chris Griffiths and Gary Smart endeavoring to give the cult film legend a chance to explore his diverse career in this long-form interview with the once and future Freddy Krueger. It’s Englund’s big tour, and there’s nobody better at articulating the turns of his life than the man himself, who commands this exhausting but informative and entertaining documentary. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Machine” is based on a stand-up comedy routine from Bert Kreischer, who used the details from a disastrous trip to Russia in 1998 to create a story for the stage, and one that managed to go viral, catapulting the little-known comic (and occasional basic cable show host) into some degree of online fame, helping him to achieve a devoted fanbase. Kreischer’s act involves shirtlessness and volume, and now he’s being asked to lead a big screen comedy, with writers Kevin Biegel and Scotty Landes (“Ma”) tasked with turning the comedian into an actor, making something out of a mix of college day memories and his aggressive entertainment world persona. Oddly, “The Machine” isn’t a rip-roaring laugh riot, with the picture curiously muted when it comes to insanity and pace, asking the faithful to watch the eternal frat guy manage material that has him crying multiple times and participating in Screenwriting 101 arcs of redemption and atonement. It’s a movie specifically engineered to build Kreischer’s brand, and he’s the least appealing element in it. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com