Category: Film Review

While he’s developed a Hollywood career with thrillers and franchise employment (including three Jason Bourne sequels), director Paul Greengrass typically does his best work in the world of true life stores. He’s brought incredible intensity to offerings such as “Bloody Sunday,” “22 July,” and especially 2006’s “United 93,” and he returns to screens with “The Lost Bus,” which dramatizes the events of the 2018 Camp Fire, focusing on one school bus driver’s efforts to deal with all of his personal problems and save a group of kids from a rampaging wildfire. It’s an adaptation of a book, and Greengrass is certainly capable of summoning tremendous suspense with the chaos of the event, following various sides of the disaster as time ticks away. It’s the screenplay (credited to Greengrass and Brad Ingelsby) that’s surprisingly clunky, finding the writers laboring to add characterization whenever possible, making sure everything is nicely spelled out for viewers instead of delivering something more primal to fit a survival picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

One doesn’t have to be familiar with the intricate details of the television show “Gabby’s Dollhouse” (which debuted in 2021) to enjoy its feature-film debut, but it probably helps. However, co-writer/director Ryan Crego is making an effort to help with accessibility, bringing in a roster of comedians to help those unfamiliar with this world of toys and magic find some humor in the middle of all the animated adventuring. “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie” isn’t stunning, but it remains appealing, with Crego putting together a colorful journey into the wilds of imagination, adding musical numbers and comedy bits along the way. “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie” is obviously made for fans of the original program, but parents might find themselves suitably entertained for most of the picture, especially when Crego dares to get a little silly with the material. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Stolen Girl” is “inspired by a true story.” The picture actually lists this claim twice in the film, but screenwriters Kas Graham and Rebecca Pollock never share what the true story actually is that inspired the production. What’s here is more of an action movie, putting director James Kent (“The Aftermath,” “Testament of Youth”) to work finding aggression in strange places, looking to bring out a bit more than conversation when detailing the team involved in the “child recovery business,” including one mother’s battle to find her missing daughter. “Stolen Girl” has a very delicate tale to offer about emotional devastation and prolonged torment, but the production would rather become a generic B-movie instead, and Kent isn’t up to the task of creating a gripping, thrilling offering of askew heroism. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2020, William Bridges and Brett Goldstein created the television series “Soulmates,” which ran for a single season. It offered a look at a future world where true love could be determined by a test, giving patients an opportunity to achieve perfection in the messy game of human relationships. Apparently, the premise was just too good to simply throw away. Bridges and Goldstein return with “All of You,” which continues the “Soulmates” journey without being an official spin-off, adding a new chapter of trouble for two people who understand they’re meant to be together, only to have science disagree. “All of You” is a soap opera, and a slightly frustrating one at that, but the writers try to generate a tortured existence for the main characters, and this intensity has its moments while stars Goldstein and Imogen Poots do a satisfying job creating chemistry as two characters facing constant separation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Afterburn” is the third film from director J.J. Perry, who tried to make his mark with adrenalized endeavors such as “Day Shift” and “The Killer’s Game,” offering mid-budget spectacle. The features weren’t finely crafted, and the case of “The Killer’s Game,” were almost completely ignored by audiences, but Perry remains employed, reteaming with star Dave Bautista for a post-apocalyptic adventure story that can’t exactly afford to really show off a devastated Earth. Instead, the effort offers small bites of action and conflict, putting Bautista to work with physical business as the screenplay (which is an adaptation of a comic book) tries to make an interesting plot and characters passably compelling. “Afterburn” has the foundation to launch a successful B-movie, but the picture rarely gets out of first gear, stuck with uninspired writing and performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To help sell “Him” to the masses, Universal Pictures has been plastering the name of Jordan Peele all over marketing materials. However, the “Get Out,” “Us,” and “Nope” filmmaker is only involved as a producer, not a writer or director, though one could be forgiven for thinking Peele played a major role in the making of the offering, as it closely resembles his vision for suspense and commentary. Co-writer/director Justin Tipping is the credited leader of the pack here, and he’s ambitious with the project, which means to explore the cult-like fame and fandom of professional football, following the torturous experience of a rookie trying to take advantage of interest one of the greatest athletes in the game is showing him. “Him” could be sharp critique of NFL excess and the meat grinder experience it offers most players, but Tipping would rather make a horror movie, and a particularly clumsy one at that, gradually losing control of the endeavor’s insanity to a point where it all just becomes white noise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Francis Ford Coppola isn’t afraid of having his moviemaking experiences documented. He welcomes the attention, becoming the focus of many fascinating studies of creative drive and its inevitable slide into madness. Perhaps most famously there was “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse,” a 1991 release that explored the pained process of bringing 1979’s “Apocalypse Now” to life. Various video releases have included behind-the-scenes journeys as well (including an excellent one for “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”), helping to remove the mystery of Coppola’s process for those interested in filmmaking achievements. “Megadoc” is the latest offering of observance, but this time the subject is “Megalopolis,” which debuted in 2024 to great hype and low box office, representing the end of a long filmmaking odyssey for Coppola, who poured his life and fortune into the bewildering endeavor. Director Mike Figgis was invited to capture the craftsmanship and camaraderie, and “Megadoc” provides a fascinating look at the experience of “Megalopolis,” where excesses clashed with ego, putting Coppola in the middle of another production whirlwind where his vision didn’t always mesh with reality. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Screenwriter Seth Reiss (“The Menu”) asks a lot of the audience with “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.” It’s a study of fantasy, heartache, and love, using the ways of magical realism to provide an odyssey for viewers, with hopes to sweep them up in a strange adventure. Director Kogonada is also committed to the cause, striving to supply a sense of the bizarre and the painfully real, overseeing a mission of reawakening as two strangers experience a return to their heaviest days to help inspire a brighter tomorrow. “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” intends to provide a warm viewing event highlighting two characters who learn to need each other over the course of the run time. Such sensitivity is difficult to buy in the picture, which is too twee to really sink into the system, and stars Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie aren’t a particularly well-matched pair, straining for chemistry in a feature that assumes it has a great deal more appeal than it actually provides. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1974’s “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” is a horror classic, and a feature that’s never been forgotten. The picture returns to pop culture power every year, most notably around the Halloween season, retaining generational fandom as the brand name is examined in sequels, remakes, video games, toys, and other media and products. It’s hard to recall any time when the movie wasn’t in film appreciation conversation, and now director Alexandre O. Philippe hopes to have his way with the movie in “Chain Reactions,” which is part documentary, part visual essay, putting the “Memory: The Origins of Alien” and “William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill” helmer to work placing Tobe Hooper’s creation up for analysis with help from five interviewees who share the same reverence for the iconic offering. “Chain Reactions” isn’t out to understand behind-the-scenes accomplishments, more interested in the wonders of memory and the adventure of interpretation, looking at the world of Leatherface from personal places as each participant articulates their love for the endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Waltzing with Brando” is “based on a true story,” which was documented in Bernard Judge’s 2011 book, “Waltzing with Brando: Planning a Paradise in Tahiti.” Judge (who passed away in 2021) led a colorful life, and experienced a relationship with the reclusive movie star, befriending Marlon Brando during a special time in his life, catching the actor as he worked to remove himself from Hollywood interests. Writer/director Bill Fishman (“Tapeheads,” 1994’s “Car 54, Where Are You?”) has a bizarre tale to share about an unlikely connection, and he has the natural wonders of Tahiti to use as a location, working to create a type of seduction meant to tempt the characters into submission, along with viewers. Such environmental splendor certainly has its appeal, and there’s Billy Zane, who does an impressive job inhabiting Brando, managing to elevate the feature with his graceful commitment. “Waltzing with Brando” has its issues with some casting choices and a general dramatic slackness, but pieces of this behavioral puzzle snap together easily enough, making for an acceptable viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Neil Marshall keeps making movies, but few of them have worked, especially in recent years. He’s committed to collaborations with his girlfriend, actress Charlotte Kirk, and the pair return to screens with “Compulsion,” which once again endeavors to celebrate Kirk’s thespian abilities and physical fitness. This time, Marshall trades the action-minded ways of “The Reckoning,” “The Lair,” and “Duchess” for an erotic thriller of some type, using his love of giallo entertainment to inspire another descent into masked killers, lusty characters, and poor police work. “Compulsion” hopes to generate heat and chills as the production piles on nudity and graphic violence, but there’s a limit to all the bad acting and screenwriting one can take, and that point is reached early in the effort. Marshall is trying to go all De Palma with the offering, but he’s mostly Wiseau in this clunky, exceedingly lifeless film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Social Network” was released 15 years ago, but the picture’s influence remains. “Swiped” explores the rise and fall of another famous online experience, this time examining the days of Whitney Wolfe Herd and her experience as the co-founder of Tinder, which helped to revolutionize the dating experience by targeting a millennial audience with a gamified take on instant attraction through the power of swiping. Screenwriters Kim Caramele, Bill Parker, and Rachel Lee Goldenberg (who also directs) don’t have a particularly deep subject in Herd, but her tale (listed here as “inspired by actual events”) is loaded with ambition, treachery, and paranoia, which is a bit easier to bring to the screen than basic app development. “Swiped” is simplified and a bit cartoonish at times, but if one accepts the endeavor as an empowerment tale, there are elements of the production to appreciate, especially when it focuses on the toxicity of tech bro employment environments and Herd’s drive to make things better for female users, using her own experience with humiliation and hostility to inspire change. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The massive success of 1982’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” certainly spawned plenty of copycats, putting producers to work dreaming up stories involving alien visitors and the young humans who love them. Traces of the Spielberg smash can still be found in cinema today, with “Xeno” clearly inspired by the classic film, providing a tale of discovery and bonding with a monstrous creature who’s drawn to the benevolent ways of a teen girl. However, there’s very little that’s cuddly in the feature, as writer/director Matthew Loren Oates aims to push his PG-13 rating with the material, which has its sweet moments, but also a violent side. A little extra intimidation factor helps “Xeno” achieve a different type of atmosphere, which is welcome, and there’s some wonderful technical surprises, as Oates dials down CGI achievements in the movie, turning to the Henson Company to create the eponymous visitor, giving the endeavor a sense of the real as it deals with fantasy conflicts. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Raunchy comedies aren’t in the best shape these days. Many of these offerings are either too muddied with loose improvisation games or locked in a quest to outdo the Farrelly Brothers when it comes to shock value. Being outrageous just isn’t very fun to watch in recent years, and “Doin’ It” is certainly trying to deliver crude laughs when exploring a story about a woman’s quest to teach sexuality to teenagers while also experimenting with her own virginal ways at the same time. It’s a decent premise from screenwriters Neel Patel, Lilly Singh, and Sara Zandieh (who also directs), creating moments of broad antics and more sensitive soul-searching. There’s a decent picture here when Zandieh dials down the grossouts, doing much better with human moments of absurdity than routine coarseness, giving star Singh some moments to shine with a lively performance. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Brandon Christensen remains committed to horror entertainment. The helmer of “Superhost” and “The Puppetman” returns to fright features with “Night of the Reaper,” which hopes to be a little more complicated than the average slasher offering. There’s a lot to like about the picture, as Christensen is attentive to suspense and style, trying to play up threats on a limited budget as multiple characters get involved with dangerous developments in a small town. “Night of the Reaper” loses a lot of steam as it tries to form climatic relationships and events, hurting the overall viewing experience, but it opens with enthusiasm for genre events, giving it a nice push into danger, which the helmer manages to sustain for a good hour before explanations come to throttle any fear factor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Screenwriter Marc Clebanoff and director Louis Mandylor are attempting to make a steely film in “Prisoner of War.” It’s a World War II tale, exploring the brutality of the Battle of Battan while also striving to appeal to action movie fans with fight choreography, which is less expensive than trying to replicate a global conflict. The picture stars Scott Adkins (who also claims a story credit), who’s become a dependable screen presence over the last decade, playing up his physical presence in features that often have him working with stunts, not always dramatics. One can sense Adkins is trying to do something a little more challenging with his part in “Prisoner of War,” and he’s certainly good here, portraying a caged man looking to make sense of his enemy. The endeavor initially captures attention with its B-movie ways and cast interplay, and there are highlights, but Mandylor moves slowly with the offering, believing he’s making something thoughtful, killing pace in a quest to elevate the effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer Robert Eisele knows a thing or two about underdog cinema, previously credited on 2007’s “The Great Debaters” and 2009’s “Hurricane Season.” “The Senior” is his first screenplay in quite some time, and he’s not straying far from his wheelhouse, returning with the true story of Mike Flynt, who, at 59 years of age, elected to return to college and try out for his old football team, attempting to right many wrongs in the process. The fine details of the experience have been rubbed off, with Eisele and director Rod Lurie (last seen with 2019’s “The Outpost”) electing to keep the endeavor loaded with big feels and motivational content, offering a simplistic understanding of Flynt’s reunion with his favorite game. “The Senior” (which was shot three years ago) doesn’t overpower with dramatic might, but there’s star Michael Chiklis, who provides a committed, physical performance worth sticking with, especially when the writing veers into formula one too many times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2022, director Allan Ungar and actor Josh Duhamel collaborated on “Bandit,” making a decently paced crime story about a highly bizarre real life situation. Ungar and Duhamel reteam for “London Calling,” which is another underworld tale, this time examining the fictional exploits of an assassin tasked with bringing an 18-year-old kid with him during his latest assignment. High jinks ensue, but never inventive ones as Ungar (who co-scripts with Quinn Wolfe and Omer Levin Menekse) hopes to make a slapstick comedy out of the dark premise. Wackiness definitely has its expiration date in “London Calling,” which tries extremely hard to be silly and still remain violent, creating a tedious viewing experience as viewers are left with slack direction and editing, which transforms a simple idea into 110 minutes of criminal entanglements and strained humor. The highlights of “Bandit” are missing here, with Ungar clearly struggling to find a fun factor in the offering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Stalker cinema is a difficult subgenre to pull off. There should be a balance of intensity and intimacy as both sides of the conflict comprehend a break from normalcy, generating a level of helplessness as matters deteriorate, especially for those being targeted by evil. “Just Breathe” is the directorial debut for Paul Pompa, and he doesn’t have a lot of money to sell an unfolding nightmare for the characters. He also handles the screenplay, which lacks an inventive attempt to create a sinister viewing experience capable of riling up viewers. “Just Breathe” feels more like a T.V. movie, and while it contains R-rated material, the endeavor doesn’t seem especially dangerous, following flat antagonisms and formulaic writing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Few people actually saw “This Is Spinal Tap” when it was originally released in 1984. The feature came and went, attracting some positive reviews and cult appreciation, leaving the real exposure of the film to home video and cable airings, where a fanbase developed, while the intimacy of domestic viewings certainly helped to process director Rob Reiner’s clever approach to faux documentary moviemaking. 41 years later, and the picture is a bona fide classic, one of the greatest comedies of all time, and stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer have certainly kept the brand name alive, releasing albums, making TV specials, and even touring as Spinal Tap, doing an incredibly impressive job extending the illusion with tremendous wit and good-natured fun. And now there’s “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” which is an official sequel, bringing Reiner and the guys back to the big screen for a fresh round of heavy metal tomfoolery, assembling a valentine to the aging band while putting them through the wringer of comedic misfortune again in this slight but very funny follow-up. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com