The poster for “Villain” promises a blistering action viewing experience. There’s star Craig Fairbrass in full brutalizer pose, clutching a gun while walking away from a wall of flame and scattered sparks. Gotta have those sparks. The marketing for the feature is presenting a distinct image for revenge cinema, so it comes as something of a surprise to find out that “Villain” isn’t anywhere near the bone-breaker offering initially imagined. Writers Greg Hall and George Russo keep their distance from displays of aggression, with the story concerning the emotional toil of a life of crime, with the lead character spending his hours trying to pick up the pieces after experiencing a stint in prison, locked away while the world changed. Promotional efforts want to sell some slam-bang entertainment, but this movie is far from that, offering a compellingly emotional journey, boosted by a terrific turn from Fairbrass. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1997, Peter Cattaneo directed “The Full Monty.” The little picture about working class blues and male nudity became a big deal, enjoying critical acclaim and sizable box office, also starting a trend of sorts, with studios suddenly ordering their own tales of miserable people overcoming great odds through peculiar hobbies. Cattaneo couldn’t capitalize on the hit film (bottoming out with the awful 2008 comedy, “The Rocker”), and now he’s attempting a similar viewing experience 23 years later. “Military Wives” is based on the true story of female choirs who pour their heart and soul into song while their significant others are away on duty, and the premise is ripe for feel-good entertainment, observing emotionally wounded people coming together for a greater good. While the whole thing seems unbearably contrived, Cattaneo actually locates a pulse for “Military Wives,” finding a sincere way to approach pure cliché. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Two years ago, director Vaughn Stein delivered “Terminal.” It was his attempt at a stylish crime thriller, boosted by star power from Margo Robbie and a rare turn from Mike Myers, but the feature was seriously underwhelming, falling apart long before it reached its crescendo. Stein returns with “Inheritance,” which happens to peak way too soon, delivering an intriguingly twisted premise from screenwriter Matthew Kennedy (making his debut) before it doesn’t do anything of note with it. Stein once again provides a dearth of thrills with his twists and turns, and his feel for casting is way off this time around, finding the wrong people in the wrong roles trying to make a tepid, anticlimactic tale of dark secrets connect on some level. If “Terminal” was slow-burn stroll into tedium, “Inheritance” is in a hurry to get there, making a series of poor creative choices on the way down. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Fighting a fledgling directing career, Michael Showalter scored a hit with 2017’s “The Big Sick,” impressing many with his ability to balance frightening elements of medical uncertainty with silliness, going for big heart with a side of wackiness. Showalter also turned comedian Kumail Nanjiani into a leading man, as viewed in last year’s bomb, “Stuber.” The pair reteam for “The Lovebirds,” though sensitivity is really the last priority for the production, which intends to play as more of a farce, with brief elements of romance to preserve the date movie appeal of the picture. “The Lovebirds” doesn’t possess any noticeable depth, and its sense of humor is seriously lacking, with Showalter in more of a coaching position, cheering on Nanjiani and so-star Issa Rae as they stumble through terrible improvisations, trying to cover for the lack of a complete script. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Scoob!” marks the return of the “Scooby-Doo” franchise to the big screen (at least that was the original release plan), arriving after 2004’s “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed” failed to match the gross of its 2002 predecessor. However, there’s been no shortage of “Scooby-Doo” entertainment over the years, with Warner Brothers mining the brand name for everything it’s worth, churning out DTV animated movies (where the Mystery Machine gang has paired up with pro-wrestlers, Batman, and KISS) and television shows, making sure there’s a Scooby-themed offering for every star in the sky. And now there’s “Scoob!” Instead of ordering up a uniquely spooky adventure for the characters, the producers have decided to launch the Hanna-Barbera Cinematic Universe, blending known cartoon personalities to help give Scooby-Doo and Shaggy the big-budget formula to inspire future sequels and spin-offs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After scoring a commercial success with 2012’s “Chronicle,” director Josh Trank lost almost all of his critical and industry goodwill with his follow-up endeavor, the disastrous “Fantastic Four” do-over. While such a public flameout would kill most careers, Trank has managed to hang on to his employability by his fingertips, returning five years later with “Capone,” a much smaller picture for the helmer. While there was a lot of speculation as to who was really behind the colossal failure of “Fantastic Four,” “Capone” basically underlines Trank’s shortcomings as a storyteller, getting lost in his own unpleasant whims with the feature, which gradually becomes a prison sentence for viewers as it tracks the steady decay of Al Capone — a tale nobody asked for, especially from Trank. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Adam Sandler has a major deal with Netflix to create films for himself and his friends, and nobody seems to be benefiting more from the arrangement than David Spade. After appearing in Sandler-starring endeavors such as “The Ridiculous 6” and “Sandy Wexler,” Spade graduated to co-star status in 2016’s “The Do-Over.” He was presented with his own starring opportunity in 2018’s “Father of the Year,” which paired the actor with director Tyler Spindel, and they made one horrible movie. Trying their luck again, Spade and Spindel return with “The Wrong Missy,” which is another collection of gross-out gags, tired references, and buddy-buddy connections to the Sandler Cinematic Universe. And guess what? They’ve made another horrible movie. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Cult movies aren’t born, they’re made by audiences willing to put in the time and money to celebrate features that either died while trying to be mainstream, or never stood a chance when offered for universal acceptance. Cult entertainment is a topic that’s been explored repeatedly in all forms of media (it’s bread-and-butter content for podcasts), but director Danny Wolf hopes to provide expanse and access with “Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All-Time,” which is a three-part examination of cinematic offerings that’ve become a secret language for some, creating legacies few could predict but millions adore. Next up is “Volume 2: Horror & Sci-Fi,” which visits a corner of fandom where the thrills are greater and nightmares are formed, exploring genre efforts that’ve managed to survive initial financial failure and critical dismissal to find popularity, with a few titles going on to be considered some of the greatest features ever made. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s something about the idea of finding a bag of money in the middle of nowhere that excites filmmakers. The plot has been explored on multiple occasions, perhaps most effectively in Sam Raimi’s “A Simple Plan,” and it receives the low-budget treatment with “Blood and Money,” which takes the discovery of missing cash to the far reaches of Maine, giving suspense a wintry snap. Writer/director John Barr makes his debut with the feature, and he doesn’t bite off more than he can chew with the material, arranging a straightforward story of survival in a harsh environment, adding parental guilt and bad guys to the mix. “Blood and Money” isn’t a stunning endeavor, but the basics are appealing, finding Tom Berenger appropriately cast as a grizzled, pained man coming into contact with a discovery that changes his life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Addiction dramas are plentiful, but more and more recent productions have taken a closer look at the opioid crisis, presenting a current examination of broken lives as more powerful drugs take hold of seemingly innocent lives. “Castle in the Ground” is a Canadian production that isn’t interested in preaching to the audience, with writer/director Joey Klein offering a dire immersion into the world of pharmaceutical submission, plunging to the depths of grief and confusion to track one character’s struggle for clarity as he’s clouded by hopelessness. “Castle in the Ground” isn’t an easy sit, and it’s not a complete one either, as Klein prefers to offer a wandering sense of dramatic direction for his characters, electing to examine moment-by-moment choices instead of sticking to a grand arc of deterioration. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When is a remake not exactly a remake? I give you “Valley Girl,” which is a reworking of the 1983 cult hit. What was once a gentle but textured look at a developing romance between opposites in L.A. (a riff on “Romeo and Juliet”) has now been turned into a jukebox musical that’s all about soundtrack hits, candied cinematography, and broad performances. To bring “Valley Girl” back to the screen, the producers have made several changes to the tone and approach of the original film, aiming to reach a much younger audience with a simplified tale of love as it works through cultural and social challenges, and is frequently expressed through song. Director Rachel Lee Goldenberg (a veteran of The Asylum) isn’t trying to find dramatic grit with her vision, she’s striving to generate a party atmosphere for sleepover audiences, delivering a pleasingly fluffy, high-energy offering of teen exuberance. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Beanie Feldstein made a sharp impression in last year’s “Booksmart,” handed a juicy role that provided opportunities for the actress to showcase her range as a dramatic and comedic talent. She did well with good material. Feldstein flies solo in “How to Build a Girl,” which is an adaptation of a 2014 Caitlin Moran novel (she handles screenplay duties), playing an English teenager who, in the early 1990s, receives a thorough education in the ways of maturation and selfishness. Feldstein is an odd choice for the part, but she throws herself into the role, taking on accent duties and cranking up her charms to help director Coky Giedroyc alleviate the often sludgy formula of the endeavor. “How to Build a Girl” doesn’t fall apart, but it threatens to repeatedly, held together by Feldstein’s energy and a colorful supporting cast. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com