Category: Film Review

Beloved actress Allison Janney, known for her skills in comedy and drama, is now an action star? That’s the idea driving “Lou,” which puts the actress behind the wheel of her own bruiser, albeit with slightly less interest in a sustained run of physical activity. Screenwriters Maggie Cohn and Jack Stanley are in charge of making this magic at least partially credible, transforming Janney into an ex-government recluse with a particular set of skills, out to protect a young mother searching for her kidnapped child. It’s the stuff of Neeson, but Janney is a nice change of pace for this type of entertainment, providing an authoritative performance as the eponymous character, giving director Anna Foerster some behavioral business to manage while also participating in stunt work. “Lou” doesn’t win points for originality, but it does provide an enjoyable viewing experience, and a chance to watch Janney go into butt-kicking mode is certainly worth a look. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2019’s “Booksmart” was special, emerging from a murky sea of lame teen comedy films, trying to offer a fresh take on adolescent high jinks from a female perspective. It was the directorial debut for actress Olivia Wilde, and she managed to balance tone and performances, working with co-screenwriter Katie Silberman to offer something oddball and somewhat loveable, capturing a volatile high school energy. It was a pleasantly surprising offering from Wilde, and she returns with an intentionally cryptic endeavor in “Don’t Worry Darling,” reteaming with Silberman for a much different study of power and paranoia. While “Booksmart” carried a casual energy, “Don’t Worry Darling” is attempting to be a suffocating viewing experience, hammering viewers with an intimidating soundscape and cranked-up acting. Wilde’s trying to master a mystery with her second feature, but she’s mostly making noise with this aggressive picture, which is too derivative of other movies to truly shock. And while its messages on the state of gender relations are valid, the effort’s violent execution and painful overlength erodes any lasting appreciation for its themes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While time travel is often used to create fantasy scenarios of heroism and discovery, it’s also become a device to launch romantic comedies, with the potential of grand manipulation and relationship obsession driving a different kind of year-jumping momentum. “Meet Cute” is the latest production to use a “Groundhog Day”-ish approach to the obstacle course of love, with stars Kaley Cuoco and Pete Davidson tasked with playing people meant to be, only the path to partnership is complicated by disruptions in time. Writer Noga Pnueli offers some silliness with her concept, which involves weird science and dramatic repetition, but she’s also in sync with relationship concerns and demands, understanding how people often get in their own way when it comes to connecting with other human beings. “Meet Cute” is slight but funny, and Pnueli finds fresh ways to explore the same crisis of appeal, manufacturing a puzzle of emotions Davidson and Cuoco handle with authority. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Bandit” tells the story of Gilbert Galvan Jr., who, during the 1980s. became known as “The Flying Bandit,” traveling all over Canada to rob nearly 50 banks over a three-year period. It’s a tale that involves dented nobility and economic pressure, disguises and friendships, and a romance of sorts. It’s amazing this tale hasn’t found its way to the screen before, but the production turns to a 1996 book by Robert Knuckle for inspiration, trying to create a crime story worth paying attention to, filled with strange characters and conflicts of the heart. “Bandit” is a spirited picture, with director Allan Ungar (“Tapped Out,” “Gridlocked”) aiming to balance the sugar rush nature of criminal behavior with Gilbert’s emotional crisis, caught between the job he loves and the people he’s responsible for. Ungar keeps the feature on the move, and he has a dependable leading man in Josh Duhamel, who rises to the tonal challenge when playing this odd man and his particularly sticky situation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Adaptations can come from anywhere, but “The Infernal Machine” attempts to do something with a newer form of media, trying to form a feature-length movie from a 25-minute-long episode of “The Truth” podcast. “The Hilly Earth Society” explored the declining sanity of a writer dealing with a most determined stalker through a series of calls to an answering machine, giving writer/director Andrew Hunt a foundation for a mystery, building on the thinnest of ideas. What he ultimately comes up with is a very Stephen King-esque overview of paranoia and intimidation, working to create a story to pair with the central phone call concept, coming up with an uneven viewing experience. The first half builds to a few promising questions of sanity, but “The Infernal Machine” slips out of control soon after, as Hunt gets sloppy with his ideas for suspense. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While it walks and talks like a generic thriller, “The Enforcer” has moments when it feels like it’s genuinely trying to do something with its characters and their seemingly hopeless situations of criminal activity. Perhaps this has something to do with the screenplay, which is credited to W. Peter Iliff, who long ago created “Point Break,” helping to bring one of the finest action films of the 1990s to the screen. Iliff doesn’t have a high caliber director this time around to bring intense visuals and extract ideal performances, but there’s something interesting buried in the feature, which attempts to get past B-movie formula on occasion. Unfortunately, there’s not enough of the promising stuff to support “The Enforcer,” which soon gets tangled up in underworld cliches and dismal casting, losing sight of its more compelling elements. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Action films aren’t as special as they once were. Blame the VOD market, which has inspired producers to go crazy making violent entertainment for the masses, churning them out without much regard for quality. “Section 8” is part of this generation of B-movies, offering a decent tale of dark servitude that’s poorly executed all around. Director Christian Sesma has worked this routine before, helming similar exercises in low-wattage distractions (including “Paydirt” and “Take Back”), but he’s not one to challenge the norm when it comes to the ways of hard men trying to intimidate other hard men. “Section 8” could’ve worked with some passion for the game, pushing the endeavor into more of a free-for-all experience of shootouts and fist fights. Sesma doesn’t have the vision to really go for it, and the writing (credited to Chad Law and Josh Ridgeway) has no imagination, sticking with familiar grunts of bad dialogue and unwelcome turns of plot. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Dig” is a minimally budgeted production made in the COVID-19 era, offering a low stakes plot featuring a handful of characters, with the action largely contained to a single location. It doesn’t exactly charm with its bland visuals, but it does open with a loaded moment of suspense and horror, establishing hope that the screenplay by Banipal Ablakhad might be interested in a more gripping level of viewer engagement, dealing with the dangers of the real world as a road rage incident goes horribly wrong for the lead character. “Dig” has a chance to be different than most VOD offerings, but such promise isn’t realized by the production, which gradually falls into routine with cartoonish villains and basic acts of survival. Director K. Asher Levin puts the movie into motion early on, but he’s soon stuck with a bad case of storytelling inertia, leaving the viewing experience disappointingly uneventful. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Blonde” began life as a 2000 novel by Joyce Carol Oates, who presented a fictionalized version of Marilyn Monroe’s life, playing up her torturous experiences and the violence, in many forms, forced on her by men. The book was quickly adapted into a 2001 television miniseries, sanitized for the mass audience, and now returns to the screen in an NC-17 interpretation, with writer/director Andrew Dominik (“Killing Them Softly,” “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”) free to explore the murky headspace of the subject as she craves to be treated humanely, only to face horror. There have been so many versions of this story across all forms of media, but Dominik doesn’t lead with his Monroe obsession, looking to explore the turbulence of her existence, spending nearly three hours in the swirling vortex of her cancerous thoughts. The helmer touches on the steps in Monroe’s life, but he’s more interested in creating a suffocating viewing experience, which works to a certain degree, especially when interpreted by star Ana de Armas, who delivers a full-body breakdown in the part, singlehandedly supporting the feature at times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Goodnight Mommy” was originally a 2014 Austrian chiller from writer/directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. The pair concocted a dark tale of suspicion featuring twins who no longer trust the identity of their mother, going to extreme lengths to deduce if she’s truly the woman she claims to be. It wasn’t a horror endeavor in the traditional sense, aiming for more of a slow-burn churn of discovery, and it worked wonderfully, delivering terrific menace. The premise has been recycled for an American remake, with “Goodnight Mommy” attempting to summon the same level of unease with a different set of actors, with director Matt Sobel and screenwriter Kyle Warren tasked with sprucing up the fear factor while retaining the same story. Unfortunately for the filmmakers, “Goodnight Mommy” didn’t need a remake, especially one that doesn’t do anything special with the working parts of the original movie, sanding down some of the sharper edges of the 2014 effort to appeal to a wider audience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Originality is in short supply in “Do Revenge.” The screenplay is an update of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 thriller, “Strangers on a Train,” and the rest of the feature is a homage to teen cinema of the 1990s, even working with a soundtrack from the decade. It’s the second directorial outing for Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (who co-wrote last summer’s “Thor: Love and Thunder”), and she’s not in the mood to push the material very far, keeping things familiar to help find an audience for the dark comedy, where plans for murder are replaced by grand schemes of high school humiliations. “Do Revenge” has a game cast to embody troubled characters trying to keep up appearances, and early scenes suggest sharper antics to come, but Robinson isn’t interested in sustained cattiness, trying to give the endeavor an emotional core, which adds more formula to an already overwhelmed and overlong picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While certainly boosted by the mega success of “Black Panther,” “The Woman King” hopes to sell a more historical story, going the “Braveheart” route as it mixes elements of culture and character with heavy big screen action, providing grand sweeps of physical and dramatic conflict. It tells the story of the Agojie, an all-female African team of warriors tasked with defending the kingdom of Dahomey from potential invaders. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood (who recently helmed “The Old Guard,” preparing her for the stunt-heavy gig) makes a valiant attempt to preserve the reality of this story of bravery while remaining highly cinematic with the work, providing a gripping ride of dangerous events and tight relationships. There’s deep feeling and power on display here that’s thrilling to watch, with Prince-Bythewood extremely focused on making a mostly overlooked tale of honor and dedication feel enormous and emotional, largely achieving her ambitious goal, especially with help from star Viola Davis, who was born to play such roles of fiery authority. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The character Irwin Maurice “Fletch” Fletcher was born from the mind of author Gregory Mcdonald. For two decades, the author developed a universe for the investigative reporter, delivering multiple novels that tracked his interactions with crime and mischief. He was a popular literary creation, but perhaps most people know the character from 1985’s “Fletch,” with comedian Chevy Chase hired to bring the wiseacre to the big screen. The Michael Ritchie film was a hit, giving Chase one of his most important successes in the 1980s, and there was a 1989 sequel that effectively terminated future tales of Fletch in action. For “Confess, Fletch,” Chase is out, with Jon Hamm taking over the part, bringing his debatable comedic personality to the picture, working with director Greg Mottola (his first feature since 2016’s “Keeping Up with the Joneses”) to create a slightly less wacky take on Mcdonald’s creation. Humor remains, but “Confess, Fletch” would also like to be taken a bit more seriously as a mystery, putting the clever man in the middle of a collection of eccentric characters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The monster success of 2019’s “Knives Out” was sure to stir interest in the return of the big screen mystery movie. “See How They Run” hopes to ride a trend with its own take on the ways of Agatha Christie, this time involving the author in a different way. The screenplay by Mark Chappell looks to restore some period activity to a classic Christie whodunit, returning audiences to post-war London, which is prime setting for cinematic troublemaking. The material launches as something of a comedy, having fun with its assortment of fussy characters and secret motivations. “See How They Run” doesn’t remain spirited for long, with director Tom George endeavoring to shape a substantial tale of criminal activity while still tending to a rapidly diminishing sense of playfulness. It’s a handsome feature with lively performances, but George can’t get the film off the ground at times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“God’s Country” takes some getting used to, as it wants to be many different films over the course of its run time. Co-writer/director Julian Higgins uses the comfort of a revenge movie to lure in viewers, teasing them with classic Charles Bronson/Clint Eastwood elements of intimidation, almost crafting a neo-western in many ways. It’s compelling, watching as the main character deals with an escalating situation of intimidation featuring two unhinged antagonists. Suddenly, all that work is set aside as Higgins explores a few different tales of confrontations and frustrations, sniffing around for additional themes useful in the pursuit of characterization. “God’s Country” loses focus soon enough, and Higgins is in no mood to maintain a steady pace to the endeavor, almost intentionally pushing away his audience after a set-up that connects as intended. There are some creative choices made here that are difficult to appreciate, but lead Thandiwe Newton works uphill to make her moments count, giving a deeply felt performance in a picture that wavers between searing and slack one too many times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1994’s “Clerks” had a very appropriate ending, offering a sudden resolution to a crude comedy that was more about scenes than a narrative journey. 2006’s “Clerks II” had a perfect ending, with writer/director Kevin Smith successfully creating a full circle moment for his lead characters, concluding their convenience store odyssey on a bittersweet, borderline ominous note. “Clerks III” is the unexpected third installment of Smith’s study of minimum-wage shenanigans, and it doesn’t really have an ending, reflecting a picture that spends most of the run time trying to understand why it even exists. The helmer wants another bite of the apple, continuing his recent career choice to revisit past glories (2019’s “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot”), but “Clerks III” makes some strange creative moves, including Smith’s decision to turn the feature into a dramedy, looking to mine some emotions while juggling the raunchy humor he’s known for. It’s a deeper, more sensitive “Clerks,” leading to an uneven, somewhat befuddling viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s been a lot of “Pinocchio” in recent years, with various live-action and animated productions trying various ways to capture the original magic of Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel. For Disney, the material represents the company’s second foray into feature-length animation, with a 1940 adaptation gradually becoming a classic to fans and film scholars, offering a brighter take on the source material, keeping up with the Disney way. To help advance their work on live-action remakes of animated endeavors, the company turns to Robert Zemeckis to help bring “Pinocchio” back to life, with the co-writer/director tasked with reviving the general mood of the 1940 picture while sprucing it up for modern audiences, mixing actors with CGI creations, also changing around some of the storytelling choices and adding musical numbers. It’s not a radically different version of an already altered take on Collodi’s work, with Zemeckis in an unusually subdued mood as he assembles a perfectly entertaining viewing experience, but nothing more. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1997, writer/director Neil LaBute made his debut with “In the Company of Men,” which studied the casual cruelty of male characters covering for their own self-esteem issues by declaring war on women. The picture created quite a stir when it was originally released, helping LaBute achieve a career that’s seen some fairly drastic differences in quality over the decades, though his obsession with heated interactions between genders has remained consistent. LaBute is back with “House of Darkness,” which also deals with growing hostilities between men and women, only this time LaBute is using genre moviemaking to help his cause, reworking a vampiric tale of gradual intimidation into an assessment of male behavior, especially when confronted by female power. Some blood flows in “House of Darkness,” but the helmer sticks with his usual presentation of conversations, which explore some fascinating areas of vulnerability, making this LaBute’s best endeavor in quite some time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2009’s “Miss March” was the last time Zach Cregger directed a feature film (sharing duties with Trevor Moore). It was one of the worst movies of the year, quickly forgotten by the public, which is likely why it’s taken him so long to make another picture. However, instead of returning to slapstick comedy, Cregger goes solo with “Barbarian,” which tries to make something happen in the world of horror. The writing has a little more on its mind than simple scares, trying to untangle the ways of predatory men and problematic choices, using the menace of subterranean terror to connect the dots on some type of gender commentary. Cregger has a stunning opening 45 minutes, offering a smooth communication of his ideas and wonderful suspense involving a disturbing situation of exploration. And then it all falls apart in a way that’s more shocking than the material’s eventual reveal of evil, with Cregger trying to be clever and surprising while he quickly loses command of his unsatisfying endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There have been killer house movies before, but “Margaux” hopes to update the formula with its presentation of a high-tech dwelling turning on those wishing to spend time inside of it. It’s “smart house” A.I. gone mad, with screenwriters Chris Beyrooty, Chris Sivertson, and Nick Waters cooking up ways to use fantasy technology in a slasher film premise, and, for the opening half of the feature, they manage to deliver some enjoyably wicked violence while gradually introducing the power of the home. “Margaux” gets lost trying to pursue some form of logic, afraid to simply be a picture about a residence that’s interested in destroying humans, but the endeavor gets off on the right foot, with director Steven C. Miller delivering blood and suspense, maintaining a decent pace for the B-movie, which always works the best when leaning into its wilder ideas for wonderful nonsense. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com