Category: Film Review

“The Outfit” isn’t a COVID-19 movie, but it represents one of the better uses of limitations imposed on film productions during this frustrating time. The screenplay by Johnathan McClain and Graham Moore (who also directs) arranges a small-scale thriller that involves only a single location and a handful of characters, creating tension through escalating acts of suspicion and low impulse control. It’s a picture about gangsters, with period style and presence, and Moore skillfully brings such limited expanse to life in truly inspired ways. We’ve been here before, dealing with questionable characters and their secret plans, but “The Outfit” is a pleasant refreshing of formula, doing surprisingly well with the basics in storytelling opportunities, and it’s hard to resist another chance to watch star Mark Rylance turn a potentially limited part into a marvelous display of acting precision. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Mariama Diallo has two very different films with “Master,” challenged to bring together a tale of a supernatural haunting and an inspection of diversity issues on a college campus, and all the complexity that situation entails. Diallo is incredibly ambitious with her screenplay, tackling big ideas on racial identity and relationships, and she also wants to creep out the audience, playing into trends concerning the distanced eeriness of “elevated horror.” “Master” has its strengths, primarily found in performances, which are uniformly excellent, giving the material a strong emotional push, also selling the creepiness of freak-out sequences. The feature is interesting, bringing up potent ideas on the state of higher education and tokenism, but Diallo has a difficult time deciding what kind of movie she wants to make, losing control of her vision as genre elements take time away from far more commanding human horrors. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2006, Mark Neveldine co-directed “Crank.” The supercharged, hyperactive thriller managed to tickle some viewers with its vision for total mayhem, using sheer adrenaline and dark humor to provide entertainment. Neveldine has been chasing that career high ever since, offering berserk visuals to a “Crank” sequel, “Gamer,” and “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” with audiences mostly rejecting opportunities to witness what’s basically been more of the same old skate video chaos. In 2015, there was “The Vatican Tapes,” a dreadful film ignored by all, but Neveldine remains committed to his career, and he’s back with “Panama,” which is barely a movie at times, offering ticket-buyers a chance to watch the production remain in hotel rooms and march around suburban Puerto Rico, trying to conjure the insanity of Central America in 1989 for roughly the budget of a Toyota commercial. Cameras swoop and spin, lingerie-clad extras are scanned in full, and the screenplay goes butch, but Neveldine just doesn’t have what it takes to make an interesting feature. In fact, this is his worst endeavor to date. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Measure of Revenge” is a B-movie that desperately doesn’t want to be classified as such. Director Peyfa strives to make a picture about vengeance that plays more emotionally, exploring a mother’s sorrow when her troubled son is murdered, leaving her to deal with the demands of justice when the police back away. It’s a classic set-up for a vigilante thriller, with the plot already explored in dozens of similar endeavors, but Peyfa doesn’t take the hint. He’s making his helming debut with the effort, and labors to mute the exploitation potential of the film, which turns out to be a big mistake, as there’s little else to “Measure of Revenge” that commands attention. There’s New York City theater scene love and some soggy dramatics, but those gearing up to watch star Melissa Leo slip into Liam Neeson mode are going to be disappointed with the feature, which doesn’t pack much of a punch. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last August, director Shawn Levy and actor Ryan Reynolds managed to break through the pandemic blues with the box office hit, “Free Guy.” Sending up the wild world of video games, “Free Guy” had spirit and a few laughs, ready to charm viewers with formulaic storytelling. They same can be said of “The Adam Project,” which often plays like a video game, putting the star through the paces as a man from the future looking to set things right in the past. Levy isn’t one to challenge audiences, keeping his latest endeavor breezy and entertaining, but it’s certainly not without many issues. Much like their previous collaboration, “The Adam Project” is glossy entertainment aiming to be heartening while juggling big visual displays of action, which isn’t entirely thrilling, but fits into Levy and Reynolds’s mission to provide easily digestible escapism during troubling times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s important to note that “Outsiders” is being sold as an alien encounter film, with the studio trying to lure an audience typically drawn to tales of weird happenings with strange invaders. There’s a component of the unknown to the screenplay, but this feature is most certainly not the experience marketing efforts are pushing. Instead of danger time with the grays, writer Tucker Morgan and director Delmar Washington hope to use genre fixings to best amplify their social realism material, which examines the experience of a few black characters moving into a remote southern town. There’s a movie to be made about racial hostility involving a specific situation of isolation, but “Outsiders” isn’t it. There’s early promise that something eerie is about to emerge once the plot gets rolling, but Washington doesn’t get the picture to a point of suspense or education, keeping the endeavor quite dull. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Pixar Animation has never strictly targeted children with their movies, but they’ve made a noticeable move to more adult fare in recent years, hoping to challenge family audiences with deeper dramatic offerings and more sophisticated writing. For “Turning Red,” the company takes a look at the unpredictability of adolescence, targeting the early teen years with a tale about a 13-year-old girl who’s transitioning to maturity via full-body red panda breakouts. “Turning Red” will have younger viewers asking a few questions about the demands of puberty, but Pixar keeps matters appreciable with a fantasy tale of giant animal transformation, parenthood, and friendship, with director Domee Shi bringing the broadness of anime to the usual bittersweetness of a Pixar production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The insidious nature of greed drives the suspense of “Gold.” A dystopian survival tale from co-writer/director Anthony Hayes, the picture provides a spare overview of human suffering in a cruel world, which, I know, doesn’t sound like the greatest endorsement, as the feature is relentless in its grim atmosphere of paranoia. However, Hayes does create a gripping viewing experience that’s primarily about physical endurance, with star Zac Efron delivering a committed performance as a man just trying to make his way through the punishment of life, only to come into contact with a situation that could change everything. This reaction to the promise of easy money supports the endeavor, which largely remains in observation mode, extracting plenty of tension from seemingly mundane efforts of self-preservation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Offseason” isn’t based on a video game, but the film definitely plays like one. Writer/director Mickey Keating attempts to summon a spooky mood of investigation in the movie, following a confused woman’s experience in a fog-filled, largely abandoned town, wandering around the area on a quest for answers she’s not prepared for. There’s a heavy “Silent Hill” vibe to the feature, strong enough to pique the curiosity of lawyers I’m sure, but this doesn’t stop Keating, who arranges a screen nightmare filled with strange encounters, threating developments, and thick atmosphere. “Offseason” is a puzzle, but not one that’s begging to be solved, as the picture doesn’t have much of a story to sink into, mostly dependent on strange events involving unstable minds to bring confusion and frights to the endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Viewers will probably have many questions after watching “A Day to Die,” but co-writer/director Wes Miller isn’t too concerned with maintaining coherency with the endeavor. He’s out to pound on the senses with the material, which plays like a dollar store version of 2018’s “Den of Thieves,” dealing with bad guys and not-so-bad guys as they chase after stacks of cash and engage in power plays. Those who’ve been following recent trends in VOD cinema will find all of this very familiar, including rough technical achievements and the appearance of Bruce Willis and Frank Grillo in supporting parts, with these two men incapable of turning down anything, always up for a paycheck. “A Day to Die” is a low-budget action movie, and Miller doesn’t deliver anything more than that, going painfully generic with shootouts and showdowns, often caught skipping on storytelling clarity as this nonsense unfolds. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Surely the dating scene has always been a horror show, with people trying to find other people in a blur of weirdos and creeps. With apps, the situation has grown more complex, allowing people to zero in on hyper-specific wants, and this craving for perfection is brought to a macabre extreme in “Fresh,” which examines one woman’s experience with a seemingly special guy, learning more about his dangerous desires. Writer Lauryn Kahn (“Ibiza”) and director Mimi Cave are out to create something sinister but also knowing, exploring the preliminary stages of trust in a relationship, while staying aware of the dangers facing females on the hunt for a companion while making their way through a world of constant threats. There’s absolutely nothing in “Fresh” that requires 114 minutes of screen time, but an interesting twist on a bad boyfriend concept awaits those with enough patience to make through this twisted endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For reasons not entirely understood, there’s now a surge of movies dedicated to understanding the relationship between television legends, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Last December, there was “Being the Ricardos,” where writer/director Aaron Sorkin took a look at a specific time in these hectic lives, out to identify professional commitment, marital strain, and public scrutiny, going the dramatic route to best delve into these personalities. With “Lucy and Desi,” director Amy Poehler and writer Mark Monroe manufacture a documentary about the subjects and the span of their lives, out to supply a full sense of motivation and inspiration as Ball and Arnaz went from burgeoning performers to the biggest stars in America. “Lucy and Desi” is a celebration of artistic endeavors and an inspection of the domestic experience, giving fans a peek behind the curtain to best appreciate all the couple accomplished. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Eamon O’Rourke has a promising idea with “Asking for It,” merging exploitation trends of the 1970s with social issues of today, working up update the revenge film for a new audience. The story details an underground community dedicated to the protection and satisfaction of sexual assault victims, with this team facing their biggest challenge in the rise of a male power organization determined to destroy females in the name of masculinity. There’s a compelling concept that invites a high-minded take on B-movie mayhem, using enticing extremity to reach viewers with ideas on the screwed-up state of the world. Making his helming debut, O’Rourke doesn’t have the experience to make magic with “Asking for It,” which is repeatedly held back by painful budget constraints and poor execution, leaving a noble endeavor to gradually fall apart. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s been a lot of Batman on film recently, with the caped crusader recently released from his Ben Affleck phase for director Zack Snyder with last year’s “Justice League” reconstruction. Not much time has passed, but a new year demands a new Batman, and Robert Pattinson steps up for “The Batman,” which presents a fresh start for the franchise, with director Matt Reeves (“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “War for the Planet of the Apes”) in charge of a different vision for the same Gotham City misery. “The Batman” has all the ingredients the fanbase expects, dealing with villains, crime, and costumed heroism, but Reeves successfully shakes things up with his noir-ish take on the brand name, turning the picture into a brooding detective story that pays careful attention to character and atmosphere. It’s a lengthy endeavor (175 minutes long), and you’ll feel it, but the reward for such an extreme run time is full immersion in the mental health war that is the Batman experience, with Reeves nailing the brutality and awakening of this complicated dark knight. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Tyler Perry is a writer, director, producer, and actor. And now he’s a liar. 2019’s “A Madea Family Funeral” was meant to be the final feature starring the eponymous character, with Perry sharing his desire to retire from the demands of drag as a middle-aged man, having shared all that he could with the franchise. Three years later, there’s “A Madea Homecoming,” which brings the gun-toting grandma back to viewers for a 13th cinematic adventure, as Perry apparently has more to say with the one-note creation, refusing to keep his promise. Hoping to bring laughs to a pandemic audience, Perry relies on his old shtick with “A Madea Homecoming,” filling the picture with easily solved problems, loud personalities, and strange slapstick, with the major addition being Irishman Brendan O’Carroll, who joins the movie in his drag persona, Mrs. Brown, bringing his version of Madea-ing to American audiences, though nobody specifically asked for this. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“No Exit” is based on a 2017 novel by Taylor Adams, though it never plays as though it was inspired by a literary endeavor. Adams doesn’t offer an extravagantly designed plot to explore, more interested in pouring the foundation for a cinematic thriller about strangers in a small room growing increasingly suspicious of one another. Such simplicity makes an easy transition to the screen, with writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari attempting to preserve characterization and eventual turns of plot, while director Damien Power is tasked with creating a powerfully cold and chaotic weather event, and rising tempers, to maintain a proper thriller event. “No Exit” doesn’t overwhelm, but it clicks as an efficient summary of head games and direct threats, with escalation efforts extremely successful as conversations from the first half of the feature are traded for violent interactions in the second half. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Leave it to a rock band to make the most entertaining horror comedy in recent memory. Foo Fighters have been around in one form or another for nearly 30 years, but there’s something about a pandemic that inspires strange ideas. For frontman Dave Grohl, the downtime presented a chance to develop an idea for a demonic possession story, with screenwriters Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes hired to flesh out the concept of a band experiencing a developing nightmare while attempting to record their latest album inside a haunted house. There’s a single setting but lots of ideas for bodily harm in “Studio 666,” which updates the concept of a “band movie” for genre fans, asking members of Foo Fighters to play slightly cartoonish versions of themselves while the tale delivers blasts of ultraviolence and moments of silliness. “Studio 666” is tremendous fun, and while it’s aimed at the fanbase, there are gore zone delights for all. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Earlier this month, Roland Emmerich tried to thrill moviegoers with his vision of global disaster in “Moonfall,” spending an enormous amount of money on visual effects to create massive scenes of destruction. The film was greeted with a collective yawn from viewers. Now Norway has their shot at making a mess of things with “The Burning Sea,” which brings a smaller sense of danger to screens, though the writing doesn’t skimp on scary business, turning to the horrors of real-world ecological ruin to fuel an offering of disaster cinema. Norway has been here before, finding success with efforts such as “The Wave,” “The Quake,” and “The Tunnel.” The production is practiced in the ways of summoning suspense, and while “The Burning Sea” has its defined Hollywood moments, director John Andreas Andersen does an excellent job keeping the endeavor focused on the business at hand, scoring a few nail-biting sequences along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Desperate Hour” takes on the sensitive subject matter of school shootings, only it never fully explores the chaos that goes on inside a terrorized building. Screenwriter Chris Sparling (“Greenland,” “The Sea of Trees”) remains on the outside of the developing situation, creating a suspense picture about a parent who realizes their own child is involved in the event, left to madly contact others to better understand if the teen is a killer or a victim. “The Desperate Hour” aims to be an unsettling viewing experience, observing a real-world situation of shocking confusion, following a single character as she speeds to a destination that will forever change her life. There’s tremendous disappointment that comes with the realization that Sparling isn't committing to an authentic depiction of anguish, eventually going Hollywood with a feature that’s refreshingly pure in its intensity for its first two acts. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Unfortunately, “Gasoline Alley” isn’t a live-action adaptation of the long-running (103 years!) comic strip. Instead, it’s the latest offering of snoozy acting from Bruce Willis, who barely participates in this murder mystery, which presents Devon Sawa as a tattoo artist caught up in bad business that’s resulted in the deaths of four prostitutes. Sawa gets to have his Man on Fire moments, going steely and growly in the lead role, and there’s a curious credit here, with Tom Sierchio co-scripting the feature, previously known for his work on the fantastic 1993 film, “Untamed Heart.” Early hopes for something different from a Willis production are dashed fairly quickly, as co-writer/director Edward Drake doesn’t have the time or money to really think about the lurid material, trusting in routine chases and shootouts to get the endeavor to 90 minutes, skipping on a chance to really explore the griminess of the premise, unwilling to find a fresh way to deal with screen ugliness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com