Category: Film Review

A veteran stand-up comedian, Iliza Shlesinger made a positive impression as an actress in last year’s “Spencer Confidential.” Forced to fight for screen time against Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg’s penchant for noisiness, Shlesinger managed to be funny and alert in an aggressive role. Aiming to generate a leading part for herself, Shlesinger takes a screenwriting credit on “Good on Paper,” creating a study of insecurity and treachery in the world of relationships, possibly drawing from her own experiences with a film that’s “based on a lie.” The approach seems to represent a general avoidance of romantic comedy formula as the lead character finds love with a man whose trustworthiness is elusive at best. The concept has potential, and the material gets most of the way there with comedic disasters, industry awareness, and snappy banter. Shlesinger doesn’t have a third act for the endeavor, but there’s enough lived-in discomfort to support a lively picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Vicious Fun” initially brings viewers back to a time when horror journalism was hitting its stride, offering power to reporters covering the latest in macabre entertainment, with the 1983 setting putting the action in the middle of the slasher cinema trend. While some Fangoria fumes are huffed, director Cody Calahan quickly abandons the most original element of his feature, getting rid of magazine authority and industry awareness to eventually make his own scary movie. Calahan isn’t pushing for major chills with “Vicious Fun,” preferring to make more of a comedy that’s frequently interrupted by gore zone visits, with characters dispatched in ghastly ways. The picture should be a carnival ride, but Calahan isn’t prepared to make something truly funny, keeping the effort wildly broad to invite a sense of fun that never fully arrives. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Filmmakers love gangster stories, and tales about Meyer Lansky have been told many times before. There’s the usual tough guy stance, with orders and intimidation offered with equal restraint, reinforcing Lansky’s power as organized crime took hold of gambling operations in the 1940s and ‘50s. There’s violence, women, and money, and writer/director Eytan Rockaway isn’t about to ignore the cinematic possibilities of these vices, with his “Lansky” yet another examination of the criminal life in motion. What’s new here is time with a different character, with Rockaway creating a dual examination of strained men and their costly mistakes. Expectations for a Meyer Lansky bio-pic are not met with the feature, which only cherry picks a few areas of underworld unrest. The rest of the effort is a mild drama about the hunt for missing money and the stress of personal responsibility, and it’s not a particularly gripping take on a complex man. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After getting caught up in a lust for sequels for few years, Pixar Animation Studios continues their return to original stories with “Luca,” which follows the successful releases of “Onward” and “Soul.” After exploring fantasy realms and jazz, the company now focuses on the delights of Italy, presenting a tale of sea monsters experiencing the wonders of Vespas and the heavenly highs of pasta. The screenplay by Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones has a lot of fun soaking up the sights and sounds of an Italian coastal town, and they do well with the unreality of the story, creating distinct characters brought to life through outstanding voice work. It’s the Pixar Formula that’s a little too heavy this time around, hurting the brightness of the feature, with its merriment periodically interrupted by tiresome dramatics and familiar messages on the power of friendship and family. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The success of 2017’s “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” came as a great surprise to everybody, but I’m guessing the producers were downright shocked at the audience response to the feature. It was a throwaway comedy for the late-August crowds, enjoying wonderful marketplace timing with a post-“Deadpool” appearance by Ryan Reynolds. “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” filled a need for viewers looking for big action and bigger performances, and now the gang’s returned for the awkwardly titled sequel, “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” which does what many unnecessary sequels do: rehash the original endeavor to maximize potential profits. There’s no bold creative leap in “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” just more noise from director Patrick Hughes, a once promising helmer whose mission with the continuation is to make an even more obnoxious movie with a bigger budget, keeping the talent screaming and the stunt set pieces chaotic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Kevin Hart isn’t known for his dramatic capabilities, offering a rare show of non-yelling sensitivity in 2017’s “The Upside.” He’s largely remained in the field of comedy, playing to his fanbase with silly pictures that demand volume, not timing, but “Fatherhood” is perhaps the most direct acting challenge Hart has faced during his screen career. He’s tasked with playing a broken widower trying to raise his daughter on his own, and while the endeavor isn’t too far from laughs, it makes a few attempts to deal with the emotional realities of parenthood, especially for those unprepared for its immense challenges. Hart’s does a fine job away from his usual shtick, and “Fatherhood” clicks when it stays focused on the taxing education of household management with a little baby. Any time the writing moves away from the core challenge of endurance, the movie gets caught up in irksome formula. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Birthday Cake” is a story about the Italian mafia in a day and age when tales of old-world criminal endeavors have been exhausted, with enough of these productions all following the same story of paranoia and “fuhgeddaboudit” family ties. The writing (credited to Diomedes Raul Bermudez, Shiloh Fernandez, and Jimmy Giannopoulous, who also directs) doesn’t aim especially high, supplying a tale of danger involving one young man’s dangerous night on the town as he makes his way to a celebration, and casting is both oddball and dispiritingly predictable. It takes a lot of patience to stick with “The Birthday Cake” as it deals with angry encounters with loud people, but it helps to have the knowledge that the material is going somewhere, offering a payoff that’s way more interesting than the picture’s laborious introductions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Music has always been important to director Edgar Wright. It’s been a major element in everything he’s made, with his last effort, “Baby Driver,” emerging as a musical in some ways, with the action edited with soundtrack selections in mind. For his latest picture, Wright makes a move into documentary filmmaking, trying to do something meaningful with his longstanding adoration for the band Sparks, who’ve been around for over 50 years. “The Sparks Brothers” is an unabashed valentine for siblings Ron and Russell Mael, who’ve created a striking career in the art pop genre, using their love of cinema and humor to mastermind 25 albums of spacey, polarizing songs. Fandom for Sparks is on the secret handshake side of things, but Wright is determined to share his love for the duo with “The Sparks Brothers,” which is more of a commercial at times than an offering of journalism, but it remains a joyous, educational viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s one thing to offer an underdog sports story, but “12 Mighty Orphans” presents a football saga set in Texas during the aftermath of the Great Depression. Hope for a measured understanding of adversity is pretty much lost in the opening act of the feature. The material is “inspired by a true story,” giving screenwriters Ty Roberts (who also directs), Lane Garrison, and Kevin Meyer wiggle room with the tale of Coach Rusty Russell and his radical efforts to create a football team out of a collection of teenage orphans, and one that could compete on a statewide level. “12 Mighty Orphans” isn’t looking to be much more than a thick slice of feel-good cinema, but Roberts gets carried away with his depictions of good and evil, transforming the endeavor into a cartoon at times, unwilling to pull back when it comes to a balanced understanding of gridiron glory and individual strife. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The big screen needs new action heroes, and it’s been difficult to find people capable of presenting such toughness while backed by at least passable direction and writing. Stepping up to the plate is Gia Skova, a Russian-born fashion model who’s tried to make something happen as an actress for nearly a decade. Perhaps fed up with the system, Skova decides to make her own cinematic bruiser with “The Serpent,” claiming acting, writing, directing, and producing credits on the picture, which follows a CIA agent working to crack a terrorist event involving bombs implanted in children. Skova keeps herself front and center during the film, trying to sell herself as a major threat to evil men, but the reality of “The Serpent” isn’t quite as captivating, with the production basically a gigantic mess of baffling moviemaking choices and low-budget blunders. Skova creates one seriously goofball feature that’s meant to celebrate her industry presence, but the endeavor primarily reinforces her inexperience with the production process. She wants to be an action star, but she barely qualifies as an action figure. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2018’s “Peter Rabbit” seemed like a disaster in the making, with the production working to hip-up the iconic Beatrix Potter character, going full-Poochie to get kids interested in a character who’s been around since 1902. The original film is not a great work of art, but it made a ton of money, delighting family audiences with its slapstick and lively voicework, fulfilling its purpose as the beginning of a new franchise that trades Potter-y stillness for more cartoonish antics. For “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway,” the vibe is generally the same, with returning director Will Gluck (who co-scripts with Patrick Burleigh) concentrating on his CG-animated stars as they find themselves in new kinds of trouble, while the adults also deal with mild moral corruption. What’s different about “The Runaway” is confidence, with Gluck knowing his vision for the brand name works for many, willing to let the sequel get wackier and weirder as it aims for laughs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Meet the Blacks” opened in 2016 to limited box office and horrific reviews, and director Deon Taylor has been trying to distance himself from the feature, working on a steady stream of low-budget thrillers with limited marketplace impact (including “The Intruder,” “Traffik,” “Black and Blue,” and last year’s “Fatale”). “The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2” is a sequel that doesn’t really want to be a sequel (the “Meet the Blacks 2” part of the title doesn’t appear onscreen), and it’s not a project that’s been rushed into theaters, with the helmer completing work on the movie four years ago. There’s no reason for a “Meet the Blacks” continuation, and Taylor once again makes a braindead comedy incredibly difficult to sit through, showing no aptitude for funny business or even horror happenings, and one gets the feeling he’s almost ashamed of the film, keeping his distance from any noticeable directorial influence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Infinite” is a loose adaptation of a 2009 book by author D. Eric Maikranz, with the producers working to inflate the novel’s understanding of reincarnation to fuel a potential fantasy franchise that could conceivably welcome a new ensemble with every installment. It’s a fascinating approach to blockbuster filmmaking, handed to director Antoine Fuqua, who’s not known for making refined movies. The helmer’s smash-em instincts work relatively well in this picture, which aims to become a type of comic book extravaganza featuring nasty villains, troubled heroes, and special abilities that develop over the run time. A few miscastings weaken the viewing experience, but “Infinite” is entertaining, transforming into a YA adventure for adult audiences, with the endeavor working especially hard to build enough momentum for future installments. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s difficult to imagine a world before “Hamilton,” the all-consuming Broadway sensation that turned creator Lin-Manuel Miranda into a household name. But there was an earlier success, with 2005’s “In the Heights” creating its own excitement as a little musical about life in Washington Heights, New York managed to march its way to a Tony Award victory for Best Musical. It was here where Miranda established his theater interests, sharpening his approach to “Hamilton,” and now the material is making a jump to the big screen. “In the Heights” isn’t playing with history, instead exploring the vibrant lives and big dreams of a tight-knit community, with director Jon M. Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “Jem and the Holograms”) aiming to amplify the setting and the culture with his music video-esque take on the stage creation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s been a big year for animated productions featuring dragons. A few months ago, “Raya and the Last Dragon” offered a tale of a warrior and the fantasy creature summoned to help bring peace to a fractured land. Now there’s “Wish Dragon,” which isn’t as epic as the Disney Animation event, offering a slightly more comical take on an odd couple relationship. It’s a Chinese production that aims to be sensitive to its cultural surroundings, and it’s also an adventure experience with plenty of chases and defined villainy. “Wish Dragon” is ultimately derivative of other, better pictures, but writer/director Chris Appelhans makes a positive impression with his helming debut, delivering engaging characters and fluid action, which helps to digest the familiarity of it all. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s a reason producers pay for star power. A leading performance can turn a horrible film into a good time, and in the case of “The Misfits,” it can turn a leaden romp into a less painful time-killer. Credit goes to Pierce Brosnan, who isn’t putting in the greatest effort with his turn as a practiced thief pulled into a Middle East gold bar heist, but he has his usual cool charms and pinched face concentration for “The Misfits,” doing what he can to make the latest feature from Renny Harlin bearable. In fact, the movie would be much better off with just Brosnan, but Harlin is trying to taffy pull the material into an ensemble piece, displaying incredibly poor judgment when it comes to finding funny people for funny business. It’s not the thrill ride the helmer intends it to be, but the picture is always more appealing when dealing with snappy criminal elements, leaving jokes behind. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The agony of life in the Midwest is once again examined in “Holler,” which is perhaps the first production to deal with false manufacturing promises made by Donald Trump, setting the scene for a once thriving industrial town facing its final days of life. Timeliness is appreciated, with writer/director Nicole Riegel trying to capture the current woes of American life, examining cycles of poverty and denial facing those who are unable to make a meaningful difference in their lives. “Holler” deals with rough emotions and bitter realities, and it gets somewhere when it concentrates on universal feelings of frustration, with a little helplessness mixed in. The rest of the picture is more difficult to digest, as Riegel is prone to meandering with her storytelling, looking to coast along on atmosphere when the feature could clearly benefit from a sharper dramatic approach. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2018, writer/director Luke Sparke wanted to remake “Red Dawn” with a sci-fi approach, organizing the alien invasion thriller, “Occupation.” The Australian production attempted to provide a Hollywood-style ride of visual effects and broad acts of heroism, but Sparke couldn’t find an original take on old “War of the Worlds” mayhem, and his limited budget showed in the scope of the feature and its casting. Apparently, the first movie did some business, prompting a relatively quick turnaround for “Occupation: Rainfall,” with Sparke attempting to expand the story to deal with a more continent-wide threat, this time lifting ideas and visuals from “Independence Day.” The issues that plagued “Occupation” remain in “Rainfall,” but there is genuine effort supplied to make a proper blockbuster with action and aliens this time around, keeping this unlikely franchise going. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A few features have included dominoes in a peripheral fashion, but “Domino: Battle of the Bones” attempts to transform the game into sporting cinema. Directors Baron Davis, Steven V. Vasquez, and Carl Reid come together to turn a static game with sitting players into a heated battle of attitudes and family, endeavoring to make a comedy with broad characters and crazy situations. It’s so incredibly odd to encounter a movie about the world of dominoes, but that initial strangeness represents the only interesting thing about the picture. “Domino: Battle of the Bones” doesn’t push hard enough to understand the game and its passionate participants. Instead, the endeavor wants to be a dopey comedy, and an unfunny one at that, spending a painfully long run time on bad jokes and shrill performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Netflix hit the jackpot with 2018’s “Bird Box,” collecting huge viewership numbers with the grim chiller, which also managed to become something of a phenomenon during the early weeks of its release. It only makes sense to return to such a tale of motherly concern during an apocalyptic event, with “Awake” using the slow-dip demise of sleeplessness as the primary source of terror. Elements shared between the films are noted, but “Awake” is a much more violent picture and, unexpectedly, has sharper spiritual interests, slipping some Christian concepts into a harsh movie. Writers Joseph and Mark Raso (who also directs) get a charge out of dangerous situations in the feature, creating a sort of suburban mom passion play that has a decent pace and compellingly bizarre touches to keep the endeavor alert. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com