Category: Film Review

“Spencer” is not a bio-pic of Diana, Princess of Wales. It’s a chamber piece about the haunted woman, offering more of a psychological profile than a tour of exact details concerning her personal history. The feature is directed by Pablo Larrain, who attempted a similar study of unimaginable stress brewing inside a delicate mind with 2016’s “Jackie,” seemingly drawn to these types of cinematic inspections. “Jackie” was a hypnotic, funereal viewing experience, while “Spencer” aims to be more abstract and artful, with Larrain intentionally getting away from expectations during his examination of Diana’s fragile state of panic. Larrain aims to get inside Diana’s head and remain there for two hours, which is good for some striking images of struggle, but the picture isn’t exactly satisfying, with its addiction to elusiveness throttling dramatic potential. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Tom Hanks has made his fair share of movies about isolated characters, which plays to his considerable strengths as an actor. This tradition returns in “Finch,” with the star portraying a brilliant mind trapped inside a dying body, looking to the company of A.I. to help carry on through an apocalyptic situation on Earth. Hanks is the reason to remain with the story, as his ability to portray nuanced emotions and register degrees of panic are what make him such a special talent. Thankfully, screenwriters Craig Luck and Ivor Powell have something in mind with “Finch,” which explores the nature of trust, parenthood, and responsibility while highlighting various acts of survival. It’s a softer picture than it initially appears, finding ways to be meaningful about the human experience while still meeting suspense needs with its dystopian setting, and all the dangers it contains. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“One Shot” is the latest picture to use the gimmick of a “one take” filmmaking approach, helping to make material that might otherwise be mundane emerge as something cinematically exciting. Director James Nunn (“The Marine 5” and “The Marine 6”) embarks on a technical journey with the production, organizing controlled chaos to best amplify the action interests of the screenplay, using his camera to dodge danger and weave around the characters for 90 minutes of exposition and deadly confrontations. “One Shot” employs technology to sell the magic of an unbroken take, and while the idea doesn’t make for stunning drama, it does manage to generate a few adrenaline rushes during the run time. Complexity isn’t the goal of the feature, which does just fine with pure aggression and a somewhat chilling study of obedience, and Nunn works to crank up the endeavor’s kill count with help from star Scott Adkins. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

This time last year, writer/director Jim Cummings delivered “The Wolf of Snow Hollow,” with the idiosyncratic filmmaker striving to put his stamp on a genre picture, remaining in touch with the violent extremes of a horror movie while still overseeing a screenplay populated with unusual characters and odd situations. Cummings returns with “The Beta Test,” sharing helming and writing duties with co-star P.J. McCabe, this time trading the possibility of fictional creatures with the harsh reality of Hollywood predators, who are just as vicious and relentless. The material is a hodgepodge of ideas and targets, blending sexual obsession with relationship anxiety, and there’s plenty of material about the brutality of the agent system, which is soon joined by an assessment of digital footprints and their power to ruin lives. “The Beta Test” tries to be everything, keeping Cummings out in front with a twitchy lead performance. It ultimately takes on too much, but the production nails some aspects of employment and cohabitation, offering unsettling realism when it comes to the way people treat one another. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Making low-budget films isn’t easy, with challenges common to the job, forcing moviemakers to dream up solutions to make sure something ends up on the screen. In the case of “Dangerous,” money matters allegedly crippled the production, which started shooting in 2015 before running into difficulties, triggering a five-year break from work, resuming in 2020. This incredible delay is perhaps the most interesting aspect of “Dangerous,” which suffers from a nondescript title and an even blander plot. Screenwriter Christopher Borrelli hopes to generate a “Die Hard”-style actioner with a northwestern island setting, but he doesn’t have many ideas for mayhem, electing to keep the material in neutral as dull characters interact, occasionally shooting guns at one another. Director David Hackl is equally uninspired, playing a long game of padding to make a feature-length run time, showing limited vision for the level of extreme physicality this type of entertainment needs to distinguish itself. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Earlier this year, there was “Body Brokers,” a misguided attempt to expose the minor and major scams of the insurance industry as it deals with the revolving door approach of drug treatment facilities. Writer/director John Swab had a great idea for a stinging expose on unrepentant greed, but he decided to bury the good stuff under layers of crime movie mush. Swab is back with “Ida Red,” which does away with commentary on the ways of the world to charge ahead as a tale of bad dudes making poor life choices, with a vague summary of tangled family ties to give it all some deeper meaning. Swab likes the hard stuff, but it’s impossible to ignore just how derivative “Ida Red” is. There’s criminal activity and desperate times, but Swab can’t bring the film to life, with the finished picture playing like a work-in-progress cut. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Wes Anderson has been away from live-action moviemaking for quite some time, taking a break from his routine to mastermind 2018’s “Isle of Dogs,” an animated adventure. 2014’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” was Anderson’s last traditional endeavor, and it was one of his best, combining his tremendous love for the European experience and silly business with incredibly game actors, launching a lively farce that also increased the idiosyncrasy of his filmmaking vision, miraculously doing so without smothering the picture. The same can’t be said of “The French Dispatch,” which has been a long time coming, and isn’t entirely worth the wait, finding Anderson consumed by his own meticulousness, attempting to plunge deeper into his helming eccentricities and still emerge with a clever study of art, politics, and people. It’s gloriously acted and gorgeously crafted, per usual, but it’s a movie without an entry point, playing strictly for one member of the audience: Wes Anderson. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There hasn’t been a “Paranormal Activity” movie since 2015, but before that, there were so many “Paranormal Activity” movies. The original feature was a massive word-of-mouth hit that came out of nowhere and delighted horror fans, offering a haunted house experience with no-budget filmmaking achievements. Shocked by the profitability of the effort, Paramount Pictures ordered up a franchise, squeezing the brand name for every cent it could collect. Sequels and prequels (five of them) were basically all the same, save for some ill-prepared backstories and character connections, and eventually the faithful gave up the ticket-buying habit, sending the series to the shelf. Well, after a break, the found footage nightmare is back with “Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin,” which seeks to revive the scare zone for a new wave of frights, this time making a move from jump scares to sinister cult business, merging an old trend with a new one as the production tries to A24-up the atmosphere of the endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As a director, Scott Cooper is drawn to dark material, last seen on screen with “Hostiles,” a powerfully bleak picture. He’s also interested in character-based storytelling, trying to maintain some level of emotional engagement with the audience as he deals with heavy violence, avoiding pure exploitation. With “Antlers,” Cooper has a more difficult job of approachability, slipping into genre interests with this tale of a small town and the monster that’s bringing death to the community. It’s not a movie that takes it easy on the audience, with Cooper constructing some powerfully macabre imagery and grim turns of fate. However, “Antlers” isn’t here for cheap thrills, it attempts to be deeper than that, which doesn’t always work for the film, though Cooper’s dedication to a cheerless atmosphere of suffering is impressive, finding a few ways to freshen up the creature feature routine. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Last Night in Soho” is director Edgar Wright’s latest attempt to merge the worlds of cinema and music, enjoying a breakthrough with 2017’s “Baby Driver,” and recently on screens with the documentary “The Sparks Brothers.” Wright has always enjoyed a full-on sensorial show, attracted to the marriage of pop sounds and action, but he aims to dial down the ferocity with his newest endeavor, which is more about freak-outs than adrenalized activity. Paying tribute to London of yesterday and Italian genre offerings, Wright creates a visually potent cocktail with “Last Night in Soho,” offering extreme attention to design details with the movie, which is primarily a showcase for technical achievements. Storytelling isn’t nearly as robust, with Wright and co-screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns (“1917”) getting lost in their quest to generate an unsettling mystery that’s capable of keeping up with the extreme visual presence of Wright’s work. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last May, director Zack Snyder unleashed “Army of the Dead,” which was presented as a single chapter in a larger story of zombie horrors and character connections. It was a huge film that examined the dangers of a new world order, doing so with Snyder’s signature style and love of an expanded run time. “Army of Thieves” is the first step forward for the “Army of the Dead” universe, or perhaps a step backwards is a more apt description, with actor/director Matthias Schweighofer going the prequel route to explore the formation of master safecracker, Ludwig Dieter. Without horror elements to manage, “Army of Thieves” emerges as more of a playful caper featuring an energetic cast and glossy European locations, providing an entertaining ride of heist activity and near-misses with law enforcement. Zombies aren’t the focus this time around, which works very well for this lively endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For obvious reasons, the last four months have been packed with films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, with “Black Widow” and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” the MCU was in action and introduction mode, endeavoring to sustain the excitement of superheroes in various forms of conflict, sold with huge CGI-laden set pieces. “Eternals” is a different beast, looking to set a more contemplative mood with its cast of alien personalities and their different powers. There’s also an unusual choice in director, with Chloe Zhao following up her Academy Award-winning work on “Nomadland” with a Marvel extravaganza, and she fights such expectations throughout the excessive 150-minute-long run time. “Eternals” has a lot to process, but there’s not much screen energy this time around, with Zhao gently refusing a zippy pace and defined performances to create her own version of an MCU experience, which involves a lot of windy locations, sparse imagination for action, and a cast of characters who are seldom interesting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

About a decade ago, I stumbled across a video titled “Mongrel & The Wrath of the Ape King,” which was created by Morgan Galen King. The director was paying tribute to the work of Ralph Bakshi with the short, creating a “Fire and Ice”-style fantasy adventure with the use of rotoscope animation, which offers fluid bodily movement and fascinating strangeness, helping to set the mood of the adventure. It was bloody and gorgeous, dripping with synth and loaded with R-rated content, recalling an era when such creative risks were actually attempted. King has now graduated to feature-length filmmaking with “The Spine of Night,” joined by co-helmer Philip Gelatt, extending ideas found in his earliest works to construct an epic tale of magic and horror with the same visual approach as before. “The Spine of Night” is deep dive genre entertainment, possibly for a very small audience, but it retains King’s love of barbaric storytelling, creating an unsteady but visually arresting picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Bobcat Goldthwait has been balancing work between features and television, continuing on his career path as a director. He’s taken on various projects outside of comedy, working to lower his profile as an actor, but “Joy Ride” is a rare on-screen outing for Goldthwait. It’s something of a stand-up film for the longtime performer, who’s partnered up with comedian Dana Gould to make a movie about their longstanding friendship, celebrating their camaraderie as they cross a handful of states on a tour of clubs. “Joy Ride” isn’t meant to be anything outrageous, primarily splitting screen time between on-stage storytelling and the exploration of personal history, adding more dimension to Goldthwait and Gould as they strive to make sense of their lives and the demands of the road, which, at one point in the journey, almost kills the pair as they make their way from town to town. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We don’t see a lot of sides to actor Michael Shannon. In most of his recent efforts, he’s played villains, working with his natural intensity to create appropriate evilness to help inspire screen heroism. He’s been consistent in these parts, but rarely surprising. In “Heart of Champions,” Shannon is meant to play a source of inspiration, albeit a person haunted by a dark past. Still, the thespian is stretching a bit, joining a Disney-style celebration of teamwork as screenwriter Vojin Gjaja tries to make the ins and outs of collegiate rowing exciting for the screen. Shannon is a major asset to the production, delivering expected severity with a side of benevolence, elevating a frustratingly pedestrian storytelling, with Gjaja much too reliant on cliches to connect the dots on this underdog feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It takes a lot to compete in the disaster movie subgenre, as audiences are used to seeing massive offerings of global destruction and all-star casts sprinting away from a catastrophe. “13 Minutes” is a budget version of a big screen extravaganza, created for the new weather emergency age we live in. Writer/director Lindsay Gossling endeavors to bring attention to American heartland anxieties, where severe storms are growing more common and deadly, ruining the lives of people already dealing with poverty, politics, and mistakes. Gossling attempts to fill the film with as many characters as possible, aiming to create a full understanding of community connection, but this approach offers a more dramatic viewing experience, which doesn’t quite work for the underwhelming screenplay. Tornados spin and hail pelts small-town U.S.A., but “13 Minutes” could use more focused writing, juggling the cinematic intensity of a superstorm and the emotional lives of those stuck trying to make it out alive. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Will Sharpe sets out to create the most English feature in the history of filmmaking with “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain.” It’s an impossible task, but Sharpe is committed to the cause, with the Victorian England study of artist Louis Wain trafficking in repressed emotions and grungy locations, and it deals with a tale that’s packed with absolute misery at times. And yet, the subject represents a lighter side of artful pursuits, with Wain famous for his whimsical paintings of cats. Sharpe offers many technical achievements with “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain,” and he’s certainly eager to get inside the man’s head and discover a pained, obsessive existence. Parts of the picture are successful, while the rest takes a large amount of patience to get through, especially when the helmer gets lost in the Britishness of it all, blending lyrical style with bleak content. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Earlier this year, there was “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” which presented a highly comedic and visually active take on the dangers of technology facing a disconnected family. “Ron’s Gone Wrong” features a different story but basically contains the same idea, examining the demanding digital realm for children, especially those who don’t have the ability to naturally grasp the process of making friends. It’s the first offering from Locksmith Animation, and the company plays it safe with “Ron’s Got Wrong,” which checks off all the boxes for animated entertainment in this day and age, remaining formulaic to a fault. The production tries to squeeze some meaning out of its take on the dangers of social media, but directors Sarah Smith and Jean-Philippe Vine make something noisy and insincere instead, working a little too hard to be cuddly with a tale that demands a more delicate approach. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Night Teeth” seems to be an attempt to build a new franchise featuring vampires in Los Angeles, detailing their hostilities with humans and their quest for fresh blood. There’s plenty of world-building in place, as screenwriter Brent Dillon is in charge of turning a little idea on rideshare horrors into a battle for control of the city, featuring a plethora of supporting players and extensive backstory with the lead characters. Dillion tries to kickstart something big with the material, and director Adam Randall (“I See You”) keeps it stylish, aiming to bring a little graphic novel energy to the film. “Night Teeth” is a handsome picture, offering eye candy while the writing aims to be epic and intimate, coming up a little short in both departments. Still, it’s an entertaining ride with the creatures of the night and their mounting frustrations with their enemies, with Randall keeping matters lively as he sorts through exposition and character introductions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2018’s “Halloween” was more than just another installment of the long-running franchise. It was an attempt to get the brand name back on track, with co-writers Danny McBride and David Gordon Green (who also directed the effort) clearing away most character connections and pretzeled storylines, aiming to get back to basics with a follow-up to the original 1978 horror classic. “Halloween” struck gold at the box office, but it didn’t feel all that fresh as a movie, going through the motions of slasher cinema while star Jamie Lee Curtis clearly enjoyed a chance to reprise her role as the traumatized Laurie Strode. Stumbling into a major hit, McBride and Green (now joined by Scott Teems) suddenly have a chance to keep going with the series, resurrecting Michael Myers and his undying evil for “Halloween Kills,” which gets away from the solo flight of misery, out to examine mob mentality and the true source of wickedness in Haddonfield. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com