Category: Film Review

Surprisingly, “Voicemails for Isabelle” isn’t based a book. It’s romantic novel material from writer/director Leah McKendrick (“Scrambled”), who’s working with subgenre formula to deliver an easily digestible viewing experience built on big feels and easily avoidable relationship issues. The helmer is serving pudding to the masses with the picture, but she has a fully committed performance from Zoey Deutch to keep things interesting, with the actress going nuclear to help bring some spirit to an otherwise mediocre collection of wild tonal shifts and strange dramatic detours. “Voicemails for Isabelle” tries extremely hard to be lovable, but McKendrick overdoses on cliches and can’t quite find the true heart of the material, pushing the whole endeavor into sitcom territory instead of generating a more meaningful understanding of grief and human connection. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Chapter 51” is a film about filmmaking, using all kinds of cinematic formats, and it’s structured like a television documentary. Confusion runs throughout the offering, as writer/director/actor/cinematographer Tyler Shields (2015’s “Final Girl”) is out to make a study of madness surrounding the creation of “Dissident,” which is meant to be the biggest film of all time. However, Shields doesn’t have a lot of money to realize the reality of his story, following an investigation into the vicious ways of a serial killer targeting actresses connected to the picture. “Chapter 51” is an odd collection of satire and sleuthing, and the material’s understanding of Hollywood egomania isn’t provocative. The endeavor is more of a technical exercise for Shields, who gets more excited about imagery than storytelling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A lot of people were understandably trepidatious when Pixar Animation elected to make “Toy Story 4.” The original trilogy has come to mean a lot to fans, including many who’ve grown up on the movies, and any non-short extension of the franchise was viewed as a corruption of creativity. And then “Toy Story 4” was released, revealing itself to be a fully charming, hilarious, and meaningful addition to the saga. Now there’s “Toy Story 5,” with co-writer/director Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo,” “WALL-E,” “Finding Dory”) attempting to keep the saga of the playthings and their eternal battle with anxiety alive for at least another feature. And, once again, Pixar has the right idea to keep returning to “Toy Story,” creating another gem of a picture that offers time with old friends and makes a few new ones. It also dares to take on the modern world of omnipresent tech and how physical pals manage to exist in the long shadow of digital distractions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

John Early is known for his comedic roles, developing a reputation for his commitment to wacky business through a variety of projects. He makes his directorial debut with “Maddie’s Secret,” also taking care of scripting duties and starring in the feature, portraying a character experiencing a professional high while reaching a mental health low. The endeavor has the outward appearance of something campy, with Early taking on the central role as a troubled woman in the middle of a major crisis. “Maddie’s Secret” is certainly an unusual movie, with Early teasing broadness while remaining impressively compassionate with the material, which leads into light and dark moments. The helmer has quite a challenge of tonality to master with the offering, and Early does a commendable job balancing ideas and emotions in the effort, which is always surprising with its plot turns and directorial confidence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The tale of Robin Hood has been told time and again, routinely bewitching storytellers with its clash of good vs. evil, romantic ways, and elements of class warfare. Think swashbuckling with a 1938 adaptation, or animated with a Disney picture from 1973. There was a blockbuster take in 1991, and, most recently, an attempt at modernization in 2018 with a film few will admit to seeing. Robin Hood has been done to death, and that’s precisely the entry writer/director Michael Sarnoski needs to give his take on the legend a unique dramatic fingerprint. “The Death of Robin Hood” isn’t about men in tights or a study of injustice. It’s a mostly hyperviolent understanding of barbarity and a calcification of a man’s soul. Sarnoski (who did well with 2021’s “Pig” and 2024’s “A Quiet Place: Day One”) aims for cinematic textures with the undertaking, and while his instinct for pacing is way off, his aim is true when it comes to creating a gritty, vicious understanding of the famous outlaw’s moral ruination. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Demonic possession movies are common, but that’s not stopping writer/director Mark O’Brien from trying his luck in the subgenre. He offers “The Voices of Our Mother,” which isn’t strictly an exorcism picture, and that’s a good thing, as the screenplay spends a lot more time with a collection of siblings coming together to deal with their troubled, possible evil-infused mother during a grim time of mental health decline. There are secrets to be revealed and an entire personal history to inspect, and O’Brien’s focus on more human matters is what keeps the film as upright as possible. “The Voices of Our Mother” isn’t fully committed to the whole idea of familial confrontation, eventually giving in to genre demands, but parts of the production are executed with some style and dramatic potency, helping to deliver a sufficiently involving examination of distressed people trying to deal with the intensity of their past. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last year, writer/director/actor Edward Burns went the sequel route with “The Family McMullen,” looking to revive career momentum with a return to his big debut, 1995’s “The Brothers McMullen.” The feature managed to give Burns renewed career focus, bringing him back to the comfort of family stories and Irish heritage. This work continues in “Finnegan’s Foursome,” which adds the game of golf to the usual stew of character concerns, difficult relationships, and lengthy conversations. Burns goes the paid vacation route with the endeavor, bringing his cinematic interests to Ireland for an examination of a competitive clan working through personal and professional issues while touring various golf courses. “Finnegan’s Foursome” maintains enthusiastic performances and some mild charm, but Burns is out to create a very casual offering with his latest, and one really starts to feel the excessive run time in the second half of the picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Horror from Australia is having a moment. The success of 2023’s “Talk to Me” certainly attracted attention, with the directing duo Danny and Michael Philippou following it up with 2025’s “Bring Her Back,” delving into the creepiness of the unknown. Writer/director Adrian Chiarella hopes to sustain this momentum with “Leviticus,” which strives to take the concept of a haunting into different, more personal directions. The picture takes its title from a charged biblical passage condemning homosexuality, and Chiarella follows this hatred into small town life, observing a crisis of desire coming for two teens facing punishment for their attraction. “Leviticus” is something in the realm of a supernatural tale, but the screenplay is primarily out to study human magnetism and ostracization, which is where the feature finds its greatest dramatic successes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The parody picture took a bit of a hit last week with the release of “Scary Movie.” The Wayans Family avoided actually crafting a sharp offering of tomfoolery, relying on unrelenting crassness instead, which, of course, was rewarded handsomely at the box office. “Stop! That! Train!” won’t find the same success, but the production certainly understands what the subgenre is all about, returning viewers to the style of Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker and their way with “Airplane!” and “The Naked Gun,” trying to remain as cheery as possible while poking fun at movies, celebrities, and the general foolishness of the feature. “Stop! That! Train!” isn’t big on laughs, but it has the right idea, having fun with broad antics and characterizations, and director Adam Shankman tries to make the film tap dance with an extremely limited budget, filling the endeavor with lively performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Every now and then, an action movie breaks through the routine, displaying unusual energy when it comes to the destruction of property and the smashing of bodies. “The Furious” is the new black, emerging from director Kenji Tanigaki, who’s worked for the last 30 years as an action choreographer, overseeing the labor of talented stunt teams to bring violence to the masses. He pours all that seasoning into his latest production, which works hard to outdo the competition, mounting a series of conflicts out to deliver pure brutality and cinematic physicality. The story is the usual in genre entertainment, following two men as they pursue a criminal organization that’s kidnapping children, but the production has something a little more in mind when it comes to acts of aggression. “The Furious” is a wild ride for the most part, dazzling with its intensity and intricate manufacturing of hostility, sure to delight genre fans who’ve been searching for a fresh surge of big screen adrenaline. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

American Teen is a production company that specializes in making crude comedies for streaming audiences, including “The Binge” and its sequel, and last spring’s “Pizza Movie.” They return with “Never Change” (which could be a subtle comment on the company’s formulaic ways) offering another rough examination of arrested development, this time exploring the pains of 35-year-olds forced to return to high school to complete their education. Screenwriters John Reynolds and Marty Schousboe (who also directs) have a fun idea to explore, which twists the usual take on class reunion cinema, but they don’t have much interest in a sharper sense of humor for all this strangeness. “Never Change” pounds on the senses with its vulgarity and attempts at meme-style jokiness, but patches of clear thinking remain, giving the film the occasional inspired moment and an assortment of amusing performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Izabel Pakzad makes her feature-length debut with “Find Your Friends,” which attempts to merge the concerns of Gen Z women facing the brutal realities of adulthood with a grindhouse-style revenge chiller from the 1970s. The picture is all about overstimulation, challenging viewers to remain invested in aggressive personalities getting into real-world trouble as friendships are put to the test during a long weekend in the desert. Pakzad pays tribute to drive-in cinema with the endeavor, aiming to make violence gnarly and psychological troubles persistent, striving to present younger viewers with a horror show that reflects today’s social and emotional dangers. It’s a fine idea for a terror picture, but actually sitting through the movie is a supreme challenge, as Pakzad plays a strange game of excess, which tends to undercut the primal fears being explored here. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If there’s one thing director Steven Spielberg likes, it’s aliens. The unknown has played a major role in the helmer’s career, dating back to childhood productions (1964’s “Firelight”), but Spielberg has been away from close encounters for some time (since 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”), making his latest, “Disclosure Day,” something of a personal release as he also takes a story by credit (longtime collaborator David Koepp writes the screenplay). There’s a lot of information to process in the new picture, which explores the connection between humans and aliens on Earth, and the battle to keep such evidence a secret. However, Spielberg isn’t in an action-oriented mood with the endeavor, trying to win viewers through heaps and heaps of exposition in an overlong movie (145 minutes). The truth is out there, but it takes a little work to stay interested in the film, which politely ignores a more urgent edit to bathe once again in the cinematic waters of awe. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Ayden Mayeri is an up-and-coming actress who’s been quite enjoyable in recent years, including work on the criminally underseen television show, “I Love That for You,” and supporting turns in “Cora Bora,” “Jackpot,” and “Confess, Fletch.” Mayeri receives a chance to explore more dramatic challenges in “Honeyjoon,” paired with co-star Amira Casar (“Call Me By Your Name”) for this very modest study of grief and family relationships during a time of emotional upheaval. Writer/director Lilian T. Mehrel finds a break in communication and healing and gradually digs into the ways of a mother and her daughter attempting to take a trip together while dealing with the weight of the world. “Honeyjoon” is delicate, but also funny and refreshingly spare when investigating the troubled union and individual character concerns. Mehrel makes her feature-length helming debut with the offering, showing confidence with atmosphere and casting, and Mayeri and Casar are wonderful together. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s been a lot of media coverage for actress Simone Ashley in recent years. She made a strong impression during her time on the streaming show “Bridgerton,” amassing a passionate fanbase, but she hasn’t had much to do when it comes to feature-length releases, appearing in smaller roles in 2023’s “The Little Mermaid” and the recent “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” Ashley receives a chance to show her dramatic side in “This Tempting Madness,” a psychological thriller “inspired by actual events.” Co-writer/director Jennifer E. Montgomery is tasked with generating an involving maze of possible insanity with the film, and she packs the picture with plenty of nightmare imagery and confusion, attempting to keep viewers guessing as to what is happening to the lead character. Ashley delivers capable work in the offering, which retains a decent behavioral puzzle to solve, but there’s not a lot of substance to match all the style. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The Norwegian film industry has maintained an interest in the ways of disaster cinema and monster movies. The country has scored many successes over the last ten years, and 2025 saw the return of towering terror in “Troll 2.” Now horror plunges into the depths in “Kraken,” which confronts the deadly presence of an aquatic beast swimming around a popular body of water home to scientific research and fish farming. Director Pal Oie (who previously helmed 2019’s “The Tunnel”) hopes to merge a creature feature with disaster movie-style build-up and characterization, taking his time to get to the one thing most viewers want to see: the kraken. There are technical credits to enjoy and sturdy performances to follow, but “Kraken” waits a little too long before it begins to make a mess of things, requiring some patience with the endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“I Am Frankelda” is a prequel to the television series, “Frankelda’s Book of Spooks.” But don’t worry, knowledge of the program isn’t necessary to enjoy the picture, though it might help with an overall appreciation of the story. There are numerous characters in play, and an entire dark fantasy world to take in, but there’s one element to the endeavor that ties it all together: artistry. It’s a stop-motion animated feature from writer/directors Arturo and Roy Ambriz, and the siblings go especially hard with their imagination for the movie, generating a deep, exquisitely textured look at an adventure that explores monster and madness with wonderfully rough-around-the-edges craftsmanship. “I Am Frankelda” isn’t as powerful a viewing experience when it has to deal with its dramatic complications, but the helmers deliver a visually stunning effort that’s fascinating to watch. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last year, Jennifer Lopez attempted to shake up her career some, starring in the prestige musical, “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” Unfortunately for the actress, almost nobody saw the feature, pushing her back to the comfort of a romantic comedy, but it’s never quite clear how sincere “Office Romance” wants to be. Screenwriters Joe Kelly and Brett Goldstein (who also co-stars) and director Ol Parker (“Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again,” “Ticket to Paradise”) aren’t pursuing something extremely sweet with the offering, which deals with the tingles of new love, but primarily plays like a Farrelly Brothers movie, complete with coarse language, accidental erections, and fierce commitment to tired formula to help keep the film on course. “Office Romance” is a bizarre viewing experience, watching Parker and the writing visit extremes to secure laughs, weirdly forgetting gentleness is usually the key to a successful rom-com. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2000’s “Scary Movie” was a response to the red-hot trend of horror movies released after the unexpected success of 1996’s “Scream.” It was a parody overseen by the Wayans Family, with director Keenan Ivory Wayans previously enjoying a tremendous creative success with his hilarious Blaxploitation send up, 1988’s “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.” “Scary Movie” was extremely crude, but it hit at the right time, delighting young audiences previously subjected to four years of slashers and spooky films. The wild comedy served as a release for viewers. Wayans Inc. moved on to “Scary Movie 2” before being removed from the franchise, which carried on for three more chapters before dying out in 2013. Marlon Wayans tried to keep the fires lit, repeating “Scary Movie” formula for a series of horrendous offerings, including “A Haunted House” and “Fifty Shades of Black,” and now he’s back with his frequent collaborator, director Michael Tiddes, for, well, “Scary Movie,” which seeks to return the Wayans Way to the franchise after a 25-year-long break. And what they ultimately deliver is a dreadful reboot that stumbles through tired, miserable ideas for comedy with no invention and little enthusiasm. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Movies about dangerous hippo attacks aren’t common. One could go back to 1995’s “Congo” for some elaborate river mayhem, and a few “Jumanji” pictures have dealt with the threat, but filmmakers don’t usually turn to hippos for rampaging action. With the oversaturation of shark attack cinema, writer/director James Nunn turns to hippo horrors for “Hungry,” which provides an unusual screen threat, but largely resembles every movie made about aquatic dangers. The endeavor is no “Jaws,” and it’s disappointing to watch Nunn keep his distance from a more active viewing experience, spending a lot of time on uninteresting characters while nightmare situations of survival are few and far between. “Hungry” has a few technical achievements to keep it involving, but the overall lethargy of the offering is surprising to behold, with hippo attacks not prioritized by the production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com