Category: Film Review

“Kandahar” marks the third collaboration between director Ric Roman Waugh and actor Gerard Butler, with the pair previously dealing with a presidential threat in “Angel has Fallen,” and the end of the world in 2020’s “Greenland.” Their newest effort takes on the lack of peace in the Middle East, with “Kandahar” piecing together elements of spy cinema and action spectacle for what’s ultimately trying to be a character study, using cultural instability to understand multiple sides of this conflict. Those coming to the film for another Butler-led bruiser might be let down by the movie, with screenwriter Mitchell LaFortune aiming to understand personalities and motivations, saving big displays of destruction for just a handful of moments in the feature. Such restraint is laudable, but it doesn’t make the picture riveting work, as the endeavor lacks editorial sharpness, making for only an intermittently grabbing viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last year, there was “Easter Sunday.” It was the big showcase for stand-up comedian Jo Koy, who turned to the ways of his overbearing family and their cultural peculiarities to provide the foundation for a big screen comedy. With “About My Father,” stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco turns to the ways of his overbearing family and their cultural peculiarities to provide the foundation for a big screen comedy. There’s some major déjà vu surrounding the new release, though Maniscalco has a bit more thespian firepower to work with, hiring Robert De Niro to portray his tough but lovable Sicilian parent who has a difficult time dealing with separation issues. “About My Father” is an extremely mild comedy, but it’s not a funny one, largely leaning on Maniscalco’s charms and De Niro’s professionalism to deliver something that hopes to be silly and sweet, but the whole thing feels way too undercooked. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To many, 1989’s “The Little Mermaid” isn’t just an animated classic from Disney, but something of a religion, with many fans devoting their time to the celebration of Ariel, the sea creature who wanted something more from her life, including love. It’s the picture largely credited with helping the company pull out of a box office tailspin, commencing a run of hits throughout the 1990s that basically followed the formula set by the aquatic musical. And with such extreme popularity comes a live-action remake, with director Rob Marshall coming back to the Disney way after 2018’s “Mary Poppins Returns,” tasked with making the heart and cartoon antics of “The Little Mermaid” into something at least semi-real. And he manages to do just that with the reworking, which uses an extraordinary amount of digital tricks and the raw talent of star Halle Bailey to deliver a satisfying journey into mermaid yearning, sea witch scheming, and oceanic creature goofballery. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Nicole Holofcener hasn’t made a movie in five years, last seen on streaming with “The Land of Steady Habits.” She’s a vastly talented filmmaker dealing with the changing tides of the industry, still determined to make smart, real, and hilarious pictures for adults, and she’s one of the best at it. “You Hurt My Feelings” isn’t a grand departure for Holofcener, who returns to the land of troubled characters dealing with communication issues, but she finds fresh dramatic ground to explore in the area of codependency, examining the presence of honesty and all the trouble and weird areas of renewal it inspires. “You Hurt My Feelings” deals with neurotic people in a New York City setting, but sameness isn’t an issue in the feature, which is often elevated by wonderful performances and the deceptive nebulousness of the screenwriting, which ends up a most insightful examination of marital and parental woes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

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