After a small break from American distribution, writer/director Isabel Coixet returns with “The Bookshop,” bringing Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel to the screen. It’s a fitting project for the helmer, who typically finds creative inspiration with tales about the inner workings of women, and she has a careful story of submission to work with here. “The Bookshop” has all the opportunity in the world to become a soap opera, working through extreme frustrations and monitoring awful human beings, but Coixet doesn’t take the bait, instead offering a gradual unraveling of confidence that’s dotted with realistic emotions and literary liberation, achieving a sense of cultural position instead of blasting everything with hysterics. The feature may be too glacial for some, but those who can locate the rhythm of ache that’s presented here are sure to value the filmmaker’s patience with character development.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While Guy Ritchie is trying to secure a place as a go-to director of monster-budgeted adventure films, there’s still a push by some to replicate the crime pictures he left behind. Writer/director Hadi Hajaig may have a plethora of influences he’s paying tribute to in “Blue Iguana,” but it’s hard to escape the blanket of pop music, stylistics, brohiem bickering, and casual ultraviolence of the endeavor. “Blue Iguana” wants to be a wild ride with criminals and the mishaps they encounter while trying to pull off a plan, but Hajaig gives the effort a lightness that makes it float away, wasting too much time trying to be funny when the heist movie really needs concentration on sharper scripting and underworld stakes.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After working for decades as an assistant director, Jonathan Watson finally takes command of his own production with “Arizona.” Scripted by Luke Del Tredici (“30 Rock”), the picture is a darkly comic thriller that carefully establishes the setting and characters, but enjoys the hunt more than the meet and greets. It’s the rare chiller that could use more meat on its bones, with Del Tredici hesitant to add more substance to his writing, which merely sets things up for a few prolonged chases. Watson’s ready to show off his command of suspense and violence, and “Arizona” has plenty of tense stretches, but such sustained intensity starts to wear out the endeavor at the midway point, making set-ups the most appealing elements in the feature, while payoffs take too long to find their way.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Down a Dark Hall” is based on a novel by Lois Duncan, an author whose works have been used to inspire many movies, including “Hotel for Dogs” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Duncan’s YA-leaning vision provides a sufficient directorial challenge for Rodrigo Cortes, who’s handed a mission to make the common genre setting of a gothic boarding school situated in the middle of nowhere interesting. Duncan supplies an enjoyably bizarre reason for hellraising, and Cortes almost finds a way to sustain weirdness for 90 minutes, but “Down a Dark Hall” only gets to its second act before it loses interest in mystery, eventually relying on sound and fury instead of the oddity that initially makes it fairly compelling.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Ever get the feeling the film you’re watching wasn’t actually finished? It’s not a common sensation, but it’s an impression returned to repeatedly in “An L.A. Minute,” which plays a lot like a feature where everyone gave up during the production process, simply releasing half-realized work just to put a dreary moviemaking experience behind them. Director Daniel Adams displays no noticeable leadership with the endeavor, which meanders from scene to scene, vaguely stroking themes and issuing dismal performances, while the picture as a whole suffers from a lack of focus. Perhaps there was something to the screenplay by Adams and Larry “Ratso” Sloman, but “An L.A. Minute” is numbing viewing experience that’s missing most of the essentials required to pull off whatever Adams is trying to communicate.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Well, it was great while it lasted. Just two years ago, director Peter Berg suddenly seemed interested in becoming a filmmaker of integrity, trying to void his system of “Battleship” residue by switching focus from adrenaline-pumping actioners to a true-life disaster (“Deepwater Horizon”) and a police procedural (“Patriots Day”). It was a one-two punch that suddenly elevated estimation of Berg’s previously dubious ability to put a movie together, joined by Mark Wahlberg, who also worked a bit differently to tackle something more explicitly dramatic. The results were impressive, with the pair discovering a new kind of screen intensity that didn’t involve comic book jingoism or exaggerated masculinity. Of course, both features failed to drum up much interest at the box office, forcing Berg back into testosterone-huffing mode, with “Mile 22” a fairly transparent attempt to reclaim industry standing, taking command of an ultraviolent, barely coherent black ops extravaganza that’s all about making noise and spilling blood. Professional editing and cinematography need not apply. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

While major horror franchises receive all the publicity and adulation, the “Puppet Master” series has been hanging on in one form or another since 1989, nearing its 30th year of staging slaughteramas featuring small, malicious toys. Fresh blood is being introduced to the fatiguing story, with “Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich” trying to reposition the brand name for future installments, giving it a new massacre mile to walk while still tending to a few of the sights and sounds fans have come to expect. Granted, I’m no expert when it comes to all things “Puppet Master” (a saga that’s unfolded over 11 sequels, prequels, and spin-offs) but it’s hard to resist the utter strangeness of a bottom shelf staple that’s brought in Thomas Lennon and Charlyne Yi to star, while the screenplay is provided by S. Craig Zahler, who previously created the genre brutalizers “Bone Tomahawk” and “Brawl in Cell Block 99.”  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Perennial provocateur and man of mischief Spike Lee has always made films about racial hostility and growing unrest in America, but his instincts are uncharacteristically sharpened for “BlacKkKlansman,” which finds the helmer trying to pull off one of the most mainstream features of his career while still pouring his cinematic DNA all over his latest joint. Lee’s fired up with the effort, but tries to remain respectful to the steps of suspense and police procedure, in charge of an undercover cop story that doubles as a cruel reminder about racism and its longstanding hold on the nation. “BlacKkKlansman” isn’t subdued by any means, but Lee is atypically patient with the tale, making careful moves to strengthen his comparisons, fuel his outrage, and still remain faithful to a tale of cops looking to make the largest bust of their careers.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

After watching his brother Allen find his way as a solo director, Albert Hughes (formerly of the helming duo The Hughes Brothers) finally gets one to call his own in “Alpha.” Allen went to crime and male posturing to make his mark with 2013’s “Broken City,” but Albert goes in a completely different direction for his endeavor, about 20,000 years into the past, taking audiences into a time of man and creature and hostile environments, with the director laboring to pull off his best Caroll Ballard impression with “Alpha,” a survival picture that’s big on atmosphere but light on suspense. Albert certainly knows how to put together a striking image, but his work here feels incomplete, with the production aiming for a grander adventure than what actually ends up onscreen.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“The Miseducation of Cameron Post” is an adaptation of Emily M. Danforth’s 2012 novel, returning to a darker age of acceptance to examine the unsavory details of a gay conversion camp. It’s a potent snapshot of intolerance, but executed in a subtle way, with co-writer/director Desiree Akhaven not banging a trash can lid with the material, electing to highlight the ways of religious condemnation as it takes on the formidable foe of human nature. “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” is perceptive and sharply performed, and Akhaven creates an evocative depiction of the titular character’s submersion in guilt, left to Evangelical sharks as she tries to take hold of her identity during an already turbulent time of adolescence.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“The Miseducation of Cameron Post” is an adaptation of Emily M. Danforth’s 2012 novel, returning to a darker age of acceptance to examine the unsavory details of a gay conversion camp. It’s a potent snapshot of intolerance, but executed in a subtle way, with co-writer/director Desiree Akhaven not banging a trash can lid with the material, electing to highlight the ways of religious condemnation as it takes on the formidable foe of human nature. “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” is perceptive and sharply performed, and Akhaven creates an evocative depiction of the titular character’s submersion in guilt, left to Evangelical sharks as she tries to take hold of her identity during an already turbulent time of adolescence.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

“Crazy Rich Asians” is an adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel, which proved to be so popular, it inspired a series of books concerning class volleying and family anxiety, with the first chapter taking the action to Singapore. It’s an exotic location, impressively magnified on screen by director Jon M. Chu, who drenches the picture is style, color, and heightened performances, just to make every frame of this endeavor shine as brightly as possible. It’s a considered effort, but the labor doesn’t extend to the plot, finding “Crazy Rich Asians” lacking when it comes to dramatic invention, delivering the same old conflicts and situations, with the staleness of the plot contrasting harshly with the vibrancy of the imagery. Chu is armed with a charming cast, and they help aid digestion of the leftovers found in Adele Lim and Peter Chiarelli’s screenplay, which plays everything very comfortably to ensure mainstream acceptance.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com