In 2016, there was “Suicide Squad,” with Warner Brothers trying to expand their interests in the DC Extended Universe by offering a sort of greatest hits package of fringe comic book characters. The feature was a gigantic success at the box office, but didn’t connect with the fanbase, emerging as something of a disappointment to everyone except studio accountants. Fearing a sequel might not be welcome at multiplexes, the keys to the franchise have been pulled from director David Ayer’s tight grip and tossed over to James Gunn, who made monetary magic with two “Guardians of the Galaxy” pictures for Marvel Entertainment. He also managed to charm a wide audience with the films, keeping up the kid-friendly PG-13 plans of the MCU. With “The Suicide Squad,” Gunn is permitted to return to his Troma Entertainment roots, offered and R-rating and carte blanche to transform the do-over into a “Guardians of the Galaxy”-style adventure, only with harsh language, splattery violence, and irritable anti-heroes. This isn’t the cuddly Gunn of recent years, but the “Super” Gunn, who wants to make a punk rock comic book extravaganza with a pronounced sneer, almost declaring war on his success with Disney with this surprisingly graphic endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jean-Claude Van Damme has made some very heavy films in recent years, using his naturally gruff screen presence to support dark tales of crime and revenge (“We Die Young,” “The Bouncer,” “Black Water”). While he’s skilled at playing dangerous men, it’s nice to see Van Damme break away from his usual gloom, with “The Last Mercenary” a pleasant reminder of his lighter side. The action hero leaves a good portion of the comedy to the rest of the cast, but he’s the big draw in the picture, portraying a former secret service agent trying to save the world while connecting with his lost son. Director David Charton comes to play with “The Last Mercenary,” keeping the French production in a constant state of wildness and wackiness, which offers a few big laughs as the production aims to please. And there’s Van Damme, who delivers one of his best performances in years in the movie, hitting hard when necessary, but also eager to get a little loose, which is highly amusing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Disney struck gold with 2003’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” which proved to the studio that audiences were willing to line up for features based on theme park attractions. And it ended up being the only brand name to attract an audience (sorry “Country Bears”), putting the company in a position to relentlessly merchandise and sequelize the film, ending up with five Jack Sparrow cinematic adventures. Interested in a fresh I.P. to transform into a major movie event, Disney turns to a classic ride with “Jungle Cruise,” which has been operating in Disneyland for 65 years. There’s not much to the experience, with guests enjoying the sights of a cartoony jungle and the sounds of their wisecracking skipper, but that’s not stopping the screenwriters (Michael Green, Glenn Ficarra, and John Requa), who make a direct effort to revive the “Pirates of the Caribbean” atmosphere for “Jungle Cruise,” once again hitting the water with heroes, villains, and the cursed for a shockingly familiar viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There have been a few movies made about the COVID-19 global pandemic and, really, who wants to sit through that story right now? “Ride the Eagle” isn’t about a health emergency, but it represents what filmmaking is like these days, with co-writers Trent O’Donnell (who also directs) and Jake Johnson (who stars in the picture) working with the bare minimum in actors and events to create a tale of human beings in isolation striving to make connections previously thought to be impossible. There are no grand dramatic stakes in “Ride the Eagle,” and the production sticks close to interiors for much of its run time, but the screenplay creates an intriguing intimacy with lonely characters, while the production makes an interesting choice to be as broad as cinematically possible while dealing with a few real emotional challenges of life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As the world awaits a new chapter in the Indiana Jones saga, set for release next year, fans might have to tide themselves over with “Monuments,” which has nothing to do with high adventure and big thrills, but writer/director Jack C. Newell is prepared to show his love for the film series throughout this unusual picture. The production has plenty of quirk to go around, but Newell mostly concentrates on the grieving process, creating a journey for the lead character as he confronts the pain of loss and the panic of sharing such an event with others. Mix in some psychological fracture and references to the cinematic odysseys of Henry Jones, Jr, and here’s one bizarre endeavor. Thankfully, “Monuments” is sold with a decent sense of humor, credible heartbreak, and sharp editing (from David Burkart), keeping this oddball effort on the move as Newell works to figure out just what kind of movie he’s ultimately making. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The idea behind “Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage” is to better understand the disaster that developed during the troubled music festival. It was intended to be a celebration of music and art, and one that mirrored the original Woodstock experience, which occurred in 1969. That iconic counterculture gathering became part of Americana, playing up the wonders of the hippie generation and the unique community experience. Woodstock ’99 ended up a horror show of widespread violence, and director Garret Price (“Love, Antosha”) makes an early attempt to understand how promoters Michael Lang and John Scher couldn’t make perceived magic happen all over again, watching as their event was eventually transformed into a riot. “Peace, Love, and Rage” has the footage and the time to dissect the Woodstock ’99 nightmare, but Price is often distracted, straining to connect this experience to the world of 2021, not 1969. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Dan Mazer has scored some creative successes over the years, helming “I Give It a Year” and “Dirty Grandpa,” but he’s best known for his work with Sacha Baron Cohen, becoming a consistent collaborator over the last 20 years. He’s participated in the making of “Ali G Indahouse,” the two “Borat” movies, and various television endeavors, including the recent “Who Is America?” It makes sense to find his latest effort, “The Exchange,” offering some Cohen residue, highlighting the strange adventures of a French exchange student as he studies North American life, with sexual ideas often clouding his mind. Mazer comes close to unleashing a new Borat, but “The Exchange” pulls back on unstructured comedy, having more fun creating absurdity and culture shock jokes, at least until formula creeps in to smother the spirit of the picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Edson Oda makes his directorial debut with “Nine Days,” and he picks quite a subject to study for his introductory feature. The film is about the ways of life and death, with Oda (who also scripts) offering a stylized look at the order of the afterlife. It’s not another “Soul,” but it’s about souls, examining the trials of spirits being prepared for the pure experience of living, with one man making tough decisions about potential. “Nine Days” goes poetic and deliberate with its existential exploration, with Oda mixing a little Malick and Gondry into his cinematic cocktail, which is filled with deep feeling and interesting ideas about how life is lived, sometimes in the shadows. It’s not an urgent movie in any way, but Oda has strange ideas and a strong cast of performers who work hard to make the helmer’s vision come through with clarity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Does the world need another adaption of “Oliver Twist”? Probably not, with the 1838 book by Charles Dickens repeatedly returned to through television, radio, theatrical, and film versions since the book’s publication date. A few of these offerings have become beloved (including 1968’s “Oliver!”), one was Disneyfied (1988’s “Oliver & Company”), and many have been simply tolerated. What “Twist” brings to the table is a modern-day take on a world of partnership and poverty, bringing Dickens to today’s London, with the subculture of graffiti inspiring a heist picture that’s also mildly obsessed with demonstrations of parkour. Director Martin Owen seems to have an update of 1995’s “Hackers” in mind with the endeavor, trying to stylize the misadventures of young people and criminal activity. “Twist” has a capable supporting cast, but it’s all empty calories and glossiness, forgetting to add interesting characters to a tale that’s been done to death. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Two months ago, writer/directors David Charbonier and Justin Powell made a positive impression with “The Djinn,” a horror feature tracking a night of survival for a boy trapped inside an apartment with a malevolent spirit. For their second picture of 2021, “The Boy Behind the Door,” the helmers do away with supernatural interests to make a straightforward suspense endeavor about two boys trapped inside a house with malevolent people. It’s not a huge creative leap forward for Charbonier and Powell, who seem to have a tremendous fondness for tormenting innocent kids onscreen, but they also know how to create some viable thrills and chills. “The Boy Behind the Door” definitely has the dramatic goals of a short film, but Charbonier and Powell work hard to extend the tension of the movie, coming up with a few effective cat-and-mouse sequences to juice up a mostly static effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Home invasion movies can be made quickly and cheaply, which seems to be the motivation behind the creation of “Masquerade.” Writer/director Shane Dax Taylor isn’t trying to cook up his own “Panic Room” with the picture, merely working to slap together some low-wattage thrills with what appears to be an unfinished screenplay. Taylor really doesn’t have much to work with in “Masquerade,” which is playing the long game when it comes to surprises, and even then, the climax is not worth the wait. If extended scenes of house exploration and attic hiding are your thing, perhaps there’s something of worth here. For everyone else, the endeavor is perhaps most interesting as an example of independent film financing, with the producers putting their money behind a feature that has no polish, no tension, and carries visible stretchmarks as it tries to reach an 80-minute-long run time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com