Category: Film Review

“There Are No Saints” comes from the mind of Paul Schrader, who’s certainly capable of making terrible pictures (“The Canyons,” “Dog Eat Dog”), and this is most definitely one of them. It’s Schrader’s version of a revenge movie, and one that teases elements of culture and religion while trying to compete in the marketplace with select action sequences. The feature doesn’t want to be generic, but it can’t fight fate, with director Alfonso Pineda Ulloa basically making an episode of a bad television show here, trapped by weak writing and vague characterization. “There Are No Saints” tries to be ruthless, butching up with salty language and rough treatment of women and children, but as a “Taken”-esque ride of violent interactions, it falls woefully short of VOD cinema standards, offering a steady display of tension-free scenes and flimsy filmmaking. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Directors Scott McGhee and David Siegel haven’t made many films over the course of their career, with “Montana Story” their sixth production since 1993. They’ve taken their time when developing projects, and the endeavors typically focus on human behavior during challenging times of familial strife or relationship fractures. Through titles such as “Bee Season” and “What Maisie Knew,” McGhee and Siegel have proved their commitment to telling stories about intimate connections and unresolved feelings, and “Montana Story” is no different, with the helmers using the wide-open spaces of the state to examine internalized pain, offering a tale of sibling communication after years spent apart. As with other McGhee/Siegel efforts, their latest is in no hurry to get anywhere, offering a slow flow of feelings and developing conflicts that doesn’t always translate into compelling cinema. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) and Mod Sun (aka Derek Ryan Smith) are musicians attempting to transition into filmmakers. The men have made music videos, even collaborating on a long-form endeavor, 2021’s “Downfalls High,” but “Good Mourning” is their feature-length debut, and to ensure they have some type of hit on their resume, they’ve elected to make a stoner comedy, which always seem to end up profitable no matter the quality. They aim to create a new “Up in Smoke,” but they end up with another “How High 2,” and their lack of practice when dealing with the nuances of a big screen comedy is abundantly clear during the run time (about 85 minutes, but it feels three times as long). “Good Mourning” has no tricks or treats, marching forward as a dumb guy experience with dismal improvisation and generic plotting, putting a lot of faith in Baker and Mod Sun’s fans to be patient enough to sit through what’s essentially a joke-free endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Producers certainly tried to pull together a continuation over the last 36 years, but it remains awfully strange that a “Top Gun” sequel didn’t materialize right after the release of the 1986 film. After all, the original was a monster box office success, becoming the highest grossing feature of its release year, and the picture became a pop culture phenomenon, launching a hit soundtrack, creating a sunglasses craze, and it even became a potent recruitment tool for the military. “Top Gun” was massive, but star Tom Cruise kept his distance from a follow-up, finally returning to his high-flying ways with “Top Gun: Maverick,” which picks up the saga of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell as he returns to the scars of his past while tasked with training the next generation of fighter pilots. Director Joseph Kosinski (“Tron: Legacy,” “Oblivion”) takes command of the endeavor, which is acutely aware of audience expectations, forcing the production to ride the line between nostalgia and high-tech thrills, presenting a movie that’s incredibly successful as an offering of entertainment, with barely tolerable levels of corniness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2019’s “Downton Abbey” wasn’t a financial risk, but it provided a clear creative challenge for writer Julian Fellowes, who was tasked with bringing his hit television show to the big screen without losing the small-screen essentials of the show. Melodrama remained, but Fellowes attempted to upgrade character tensions and aristocratic stakes, coming up with a very comfortable and appealing victory lap for his creation, gathering the cast for another go-around with wealth, class, and British matters of heart and manners. The film turned out to be a huge hit, forcing Fellowes to rethink finality, returning to the franchise with “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” which offers another reunion of familiar faces and places, with the new picture out to give the fanbase what they’ve come for, but also move the story forward in a way that could inspire additional sequels now that the Crawley gang have proved their theatrical appeal. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While many attempts to put a sequel together were made over the years, a true follow-up to 1988’s “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” never found its way into production, robbing audiences of a chance to return to a world where pieces of animation history and detective fiction fit together with a comedic tilt. Writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand seem to have this feisty spirit in mind for “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers,” which offers an update of the 1989 animated series for ardent fans who’ve missed the crime-solving chipmunks, but also gives the whole thing a self-referential makeover that weaves the beloved characters into a world of cartoon heroes, villains, and monstrosities. Director Akvia Schaffer (“Hot Rod,” “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”) isn’t interested in reviving the show’s sense of playfulness, going hipper and louder with this mosaic of animated styles, brands, and history, hoping to huff some “Roger Rabbit” fumes while reintroducing the “Rescue Rangers” concept to a younger audience…in a film that’s not really for kids. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2018, writer Paul Myers decided to put his fandom to the test, assembling interviews and undertaking research for the book, “The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy.” It was his valentine to the Canadian comedy troupe, looking to provide some insight into complicated relationships and creative efforts, exploring the formation and rise to fame for The Kids in the Hall, filling pages with anecdotes, information, and tributes. It remains a vital biography of the group, reaching into the strange magic shared among members Mark McKinney, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, and Scott Thompson. “The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks” isn’t the film version of Myers’s book, but it tries to cover the same ground, examining how these strange stage performers found one another in the 1980s, combining forces to generate a wave of idiosyncratic comedy that was cult-ready and fabulously bizarre. “Comedy Punks” doesn’t have the deep grooves of “One Dumb Guy,” but as a visual summary of career highs and lows, it’s a compelling sit, offering fans some necessary intimacy with the performers as they walk down memory lane. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If it’s low budget, shot in Georgia, and co-stars Bruce Willis, it must be a revenge story. The subgenre is all VOD cinema is usually about, and “Vendetta” is no different, with writer/director Jared Cohn (2021’s “Die Hard” rip-off, “Deadlock,” which also co-starred Willis) trying to pretend he’s the first filmmaker to touch on the physical and psychological violence of vengeance, attempting to conjure a mighty sense of fury with dramatic working parts seen in hundreds of other movies. “Vendetta” is predictable until it comes to explaining what’s going on, with Cohn committing a few unpardonable errors with his storytelling choices, offering true surprise with all the confusion the production generates. He also doesn’t have a big enough imagination to bring something passably novel to the endeavor, which is in desperate need of something more than tough guy posturing to remain even the slightest bit interesting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Two years ago, Brea Grant directed “12 Hour Shift,” a nifty thriller about a corrupt nurse trying to make it through a long night where everything goes wrong. Grant proved herself skilled with dark comedy and strange material, and she’s back in the same creative situation with “Torn Hearts,” which examines a bizarre encounter between a country duo and one of their inspirations. Writer Rachel Koller Craft cooks up a pleasingly unusual plot for Grant to detail, examining the stresses of partnership and the demands of the music industry. There’s also some horror worked into the flow of the feature, giving it a handful of charged moments that go beyond emotional violence. “Torn Hearts” isn’t an overwhelming study of pent-up feelings and malevolent therapy, but it contains some interesting hostility and a unique idea for confrontations, highlighting the dark side of music business ambition. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Eugenio Derbez is a comedic actor who recently found success with a slightly different role in the Oscar-winning film, “CODA,” making a rare appearance in an emotionally charged endeavor that asked him to tone down his natural pull toward slapstick behavior. Derbez isn’t staying still for very long, quickly returning to sillier material with “The Valet,” which is a remake of a 2006 French comedy, directed by Frances Verber. The premise of a modest man caught up in a messy Hollywood situation seems to play to Derbez’s thespian strengths, but there’s something strangely off about the work, which has the star laboring to play a nice guy. It’s a vanilla approach in a feature that’s aiming to be as benign as possible, despite a story that welcomes an edgier approach to the ways of adultery and nervous breakdowns. “The Valet” finds Derbez basically taking a nap in the part, contributing little to an absurdly overlong effort that lacks charm and especially pace, going about its business often in the least memorable way possible. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Emergency” began life as a 2018 short, which attracted attention to writer K.D. Davila and director Carey Williams, who decided to expand the premise of a dangerous discovery made by three vulnerable college students into a feature film. The strain of such a move is evident while watching the movie, as Davila has her central idea about possible exposure to lethal force when young black men deal with the police, struggling to come up with an extra 90 minutes of material to support the expansion. “Emergency” isn’t a potent comedy, often fumbling through scenes of playful engagement before a crisis kicks in, and Williams struggles to find a level of interplay with his characters, as most of the endeavor involves people arguing, which isn’t all that interesting to watch. There’s periodic thematic clarity worth waiting for, but Davila and Williams show little command of comedic and dramatic escalation, keeping the effort at arm’s length from enlightenment. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2019 was a busy year for comedian Rebel Wilson, who appeared in four movies intended to send her career soaring. It didn’t quite work out that way (one of the offerings was “Cats,” which didn’t make magic for anyone involved in the production), and Wilson soon disappeared, taking the next three years off from filmmaking. She’s back with “Senior Year,” which is built to play to her sellable strengths of improvisation, dancing, and goofball antics, remaining in line with pretty much every picture she’s made during her career. Unsurprisingly, “Senior Year” is sincerely lacking a developed sense of humor, with the screenplay trafficking in millennium nostalgia and R-rated raunchiness, occasionally stopping the effort to deal with tender feelings. It all feels very programmed and unimaginative, and it keeps Wilson front and center, with producers once again asking her to carry a feature without thinking things through, and she barely puts in an effort to do anything different here. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Eskil Vogt (who previously collaborated on efforts such as “The Worst Person in the World” and “Thelma”) looks to update the “Bad Seed” formula with “The Innocents.” It’s a story about four children who each deal with certain mental powers, giving them the thrill of discovery and the challenge of self-control. There’s a certain graphic novel atmosphere to the endeavor, which largely remains a silent study of behavior and choices, occasionally dipping into some pitch-black events involving sudden violence. Vogt remains in observational mode with “The Innocents,” which gives it tremendous cinematic power, forcing viewers to process the strange magic and antagonism that emerges from these young characters, which provides some of the finest suspense sequences of the film year. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Operation Mincemeat” is based on a book by Ben Macintyre, who explored the story of a secret World War II mission to provide a “deception plan” used to help the Allies invade Sicily in 1943. It’s an extraordinary tale of teamwork and talent, and there’s a special addition to this slice of wartime history, with author Ian Fleming part of the planning, using his military knowledge to help inform the eventual creation of his most famous character, James Bond. The saga of Operation Mincemeat has been explored in previous productions (including 1956’s “The Man Who Never Was”), but screenwriter Michelle Ashford (“The Pacific”) brings a more immediate sense of suspense to the endeavor, working with the strange details of the mission and the inner lives of the players in the game, while director John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love”) brings a tight pace to most of the effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Ninja Thyberg originally shot “Pleasure” as a short film in 2013, helping to attract attention to her burgeoning career with a look at the technical ways and psychological damage of the adult film industry. Returning to the material, Thyberg looks to expand the experience for the lead character, depicted here as a young Swedish woman hoping to break into the business doing whatever she can to score gigs. Thyberg increases the run time and ups the graphic content, but there’s little dramatic expansion for “Pleasure,” which plays with a certain bluntness, but any emotionality is difficult to find. The troubling details of life in X-rated entertainment is what holds attention here, as Thyberg doesn’t have much in the way of characterization, presenting a simplistic take on the deadening arc of a pornography participant. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Chris Sivertson is best known as the helmer of 2007’s “I Know Who Killed Me.” It was a financial and critical disaster, but established Sivertson’s love of genre entertainment that deals with the violence of psychological pain and unresolved personal issues. He returns to the realm of brain-bleeders with “Monstrous,” which is being sold as a creature feature detailing one woman’s struggle against a mysterious monster from a nearby pond. The screenplay by Carol Chrest uses horror as a way to grab audience interest, but the film explores different areas of mental health and domestic unrest, helping to create an unsteady tonality where the first half of the picture wants to frighten viewers, while the rest of the endeavor hopes to make them cry. “Monstrous” isn’t a mess, just ill-conceived, and Sivertson (joined by a whopping 38 producers) isn’t a strong enough storyteller to generate a compelling understanding of a prolonged emotional breakdown. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Marmaduke” has been around for a very long time, originally debuting as a newspaper comic strip in 1954. It’s still around today, charming readers with its depiction of life with a Great Dane and all the impulse control issues such an existence offers. It’s paneled slapstick for a family audience, and Hollywood has tried their luck bringing the character to the screen before, with a 2010 endeavor using Owen Wilson to voice the oversized character. The feature wasn’t a complete debacle, but it failed to provide a reason why Marmaduke should be turned into a movie star. Producers have returned to the material, this time going the CGI-animated route with “Marmaduke,” which hires Pete Davidson to portray the pooch, while directorial duties are handled by the guy who made 1997’s “Spawn.” So yeah, this whole thing is a little weird. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

One doesn’t need many reminders when it comes to the power of Charlotte Rampling, with the actress often gravitating to greatly dramatic roles, especially during the last decade, playing characters of power and influence (including fine turns in 2021’s “Dune” and “Benedetta”). “Juniper” initially appears to be another opportunity for Rampling to showcase her skills with quiet stoicism, and there are moments like this in the film. However, writer/director Matthew J. Saville (a longtime actor making his feature-length helming debut) is more interested in the slow cracks of emotion, giving Rampling a part of unusual depth and history, trusting her to flesh out what appears to be a role of simple coldness. “Juniper” has many modest surprises to share, including Rampling’s performance, with Saville constructing a gentle understanding of sadness and human connection, finding little bits of life that add up to an impressively observed picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Shepherd” opens with a quote from Dante’s “Inferno,” which is meant to act as an introduction to the feature and identify what type of experience writer/director Russell Owen is preparing for his audience. He’s created an intensely atmospheric picture that surveys the lasting sting of grief and the corrosive ways of secrets, using a supernatural horror story to explore a deeper understanding of emotional processing. It’s a spooky film with familiar working parts, taking viewers into the mystery of remote Scotland and the confusion of the unreal. Owen makes an initial effort to craft a brain-bleeder, offering strange visuals without much explanation, and “Shepherd” is more engrossing when completely bewildering. When the answers eventually come, in one way or another, Owen can’t handle the burden of explanation, showing more confidence when establishing this foggy realm of sorrow. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Screenwriters Sean Wathen, Joshua Dobkin, and Emerson Moore (who also makes his feature-length directorial debut) aren’t presenting an original concept with “Escape the Field,” delivering a strangers-in-dangers tale that’s been explored repeatedly in television shows, adding a puzzling element that’s very close to the recent “Escape Room” films. They do have the mysteries of a maze inside an infinite cornfield, but that sense of unknown danger in the middle of nowhere was examined in 2019’s “In the Tall Grass” (which was based on a Stephen King and Joe Hill novel). Frankly, there’s little originality to “Escape the Field,” which should motivate Moore to really push the suspense factor of the production, giving viewers a wild ride when storytelling isn’t at its freshest. Unfortunately, screen tension is limited in the endeavor, with the writers trying to taffy pull their small ideas for confusion and paranoia into an 80-minute movie that doesn’t amount to much. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com