Category: Film Review

In 2020, “Antebellum” attempted to address American history and the current state of race relations, conjuring a sinister tale of kidnapping and violence to help unsettle viewers. “Alice” has a similar tale of pained existence to share, with writer/director Krystin Ver Linden also tackling the ways of slavery, but taking more of a “Twilight Zone” approach to the subject, blended with M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village.” “Alice” is well-intentioned and features deeply felt performances from Keke Palmer and Common, and the idea Ver Linden tries to develop has tremendous potential, but the helmer can’t get the picture going in a way that creates excitement for character transformations or plans for vengeance. The film is surprisingly slack and unfortunately unsatisfying, despite a noble vision for the black experience that Ver Linden is trying to communicate. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Cheaper by the Dozen” began life as a 1948 book, where siblings Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey shared their experiences being part of a massive family, charting the strangeness of such a life. The memoir inspired a 1950 film adaptation (starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy), and a 1952 sequel. The material was revived for a 2003 reworking starring Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, which also inspired a follow-up in 2005. There’s been a lot of “Cheaper by the Dozen” over the years (including knock-offs and freak show pay cable programs worshipping the concept of large families), and now it’s back again, this time with Zach Braff and Gabrielle Union as the overwhelmed parents, who not only have to deal with the demands of too many children, but the challenges of guardianship in 2022, which involves social media, racism, and corporate pressure, with screenwriters Kenya Barris and Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry in charge of updating the formula for a new generation of household problems. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Adrian Lyne popularized cinematic eroticism in the 1980s, combining style and heat to generate hits such as “Flashdance,” “9 ½ Weeks,” and “Fatal Attraction.” Lyne would go on to challenge audiences with dark visions (“Jacob’s Ladder”), burning questions of trust (“Indecent Proposal”), and the power of jealousy (“Unfaithful”), creating quite an impressive oeuvre. And then he walked away for two decades, distancing himself from moviemaking, watching audience tastes and obsessions change during this extended break. Lyne is suddenly back with “Deep Water,” and he’s attempting to revive his aesthetic for a different era, returning to the ways of lustfulness and suspicion, taking inspiration from a 1957 novel by Patricia Highsmith (the adaptation is written by Zach Helm and Sam Levinson). While a little unsteady at times, “Deep Water” is a nice return for Lyne, who plays to his strengths with the endeavor, making a sinister and sexual picture, and one that does well with leads Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, who share terrific chemistry, giving the helmer something to work with. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If you’ve felt that war movies have suffered from tremendous sameness in recent years, here comes “Black Crab,” which focuses on a special mission during a Scandinavian conflict that requires the use of soldiers on ice skates to help transfer a mystery device behind enemy lines. Perhaps fearing he’s coming close to absurdity, co-writer/director Adam Berg focuses his attention on the harshness of conflict, reinforcing the human price of warfare and all the difficult moral choices contained within military service. “Black Crab” takes its inspiration from a novel by Jerker Virdborg, and Berg labors to keep the endeavor visually interesting and dramatically potent. He has some trouble with length, but Berg gives the picture memorable encounters and a few gut-punch moments, with star Noomi Rapace delivering another skin-tearing performance, occasionally broken up by lengthy periods of ice skating. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“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