Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the “Insidious” series is watching how writer Leigh Whannell manages to squeeze out new directions for the saga to take after exhausting all his ideas in the 2010 original film. After going the prequel route for “Insidious: Chapter 3,” Whannell makes a sequel to the prequel with “Insidious: The Last Key,” which is meant to lay track up to the first movie, creating a crooked circle of character connection for a franchise that never had a decent road map to bring it through various installments. “The Last Key” promises finality for the brand name, but endeavors to squeeze out a few more scares using the proven fright formula that turned the three previous pictures into low-budget hits. Whannell is out of ideas, but he goes soft for the new journey into the Further, giving a fan-favorite character the spotlight she deserves. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

In recent years, writer/director Mike Flanagan has made a name for himself in the world of horror. He pulled off the impossible, making a compelling sequel to a complete turkey with “Ouija: Origin of Evil,” and last year he successfully loaded up nightmares with the tense, profoundly macabre “Gerald’s Game,” managing a successful Stephen King adaptation. And there was “Hush,” a little-seen but celebrated chiller executed with limited dialogue. Now finally seeing release after experiencing several delays due to a bankrupt distributor, “Before I Wake” (shot in 2013) joins the growing list of Flanagan achievements. While it’s not a true genre exercise, the feature has its scary stuff, but it’s after something more heartfelt between moments of shock and terror, with Flanagan and co-writer Jeff Howard digging a little deeper with the material, trying to keep “Before I Wake” as human as possible while still delivering requisite unease.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After years becoming part of the television routine, author Agatha Christie is suddenly big business these days, experiencing a cinematic resurrection as talented filmmakers try their hand at adapting the famed mystery writer’s puzzles for grander budgets and bigger stars. Last November, there was “Murder on the Orient Express,” which became a major box office hit, securing the return of Hercule Poirot for Kenneth Branagh in 2020. And now there’s “Crooked House,” which doesn’t have the financial means to generate a grand whodunit, but it does have the better story, launching a sinister mystery that, much like “Orient Express,” is largely contained to a single location, simmering with a collection of restless, possibly murderous characters. “Crooked House” lacks scale, but of the two recent Christie efforts, it’s the tighter, more compelling endeavor, providing a jolt of evil to go along with all the psychological gamesmanship.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Colette Burson has a lot of nervous energy she wants to release with “Permanent,” wielding this coming-of-age comedy like machine gun that’s a little too heavy to handle. There’s quirk galore in the film, which details the pains of adolescence and adulthood from a possibly biographical standpoint, attempting to make a funny movie about characters who are trapped in self-imposed prisons of vanity and frustration. “Permanent” isn’t particularly funny, and Burson’s furiously idiosyncratic approach registers as borderline obnoxious at times, but the “Hung” creator does have a way with providing dimension for all characters, with interesting neuroses to periodically explore when the production steps away from cartoon behavior. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To experience “The Strange Ones,” one must summon all patience humanly possible, as directors Lauren Wolkstein and Christopher Radcliff (who also scripts) aren’t going to make the cinematic journey easy on anyone. It’s cryptic work from the indie film-minded duo, and paced deliberately, offering a slow leak of symbolism, heavy breathing, and enigmatic behaviors that often make the 76 minute run time feel like 76 years. Perhaps for some viewers, the artfulness of Radcliff and Wolkstein’s efforts might be appealing, with the picture refusing the comfort of appealing characters and easy answers. However, “The Strange Ones” isn’t much of a puzzle, often too laborious to inspire deep consideration, missing a fundamental screen energy that could help with all the layer-peeling going on.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To create a big screen spy series takes a lot more than sticking to the basics these days. “Stratton” is the latest attempt to explore government heroism, taking inspiration from author Duncan Falconer’s series of novels, exploring the life and death struggles of the titular character, who’s part of the Special Boat Service. Such affiliation is rarely celebrated, giving the material something unique to help separate itself from the competition. Unfortunately, it’s the last defining trait in “Stratton,” which is quickly weighed down by clichés, most executed without an ounce of concern from director Simon West. He’s sticking to the basics with this globetrotting thriller, and while it’s far from a bad movie, it’s not an inspired one, testing patience as the production tries to pretend it’s an original vision.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A former child actress, Quinn Shephard has decided to take command of her career by making her directorial debut with “Blame,” which revives the sexual hysteria of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” moving the madness over to a high school setting, where such reckless behavior is daily routine. The script (written Quinn and Laurie Shephard) isn’t subtle with its scheming characters, with Shephard making a movie about a play, but can’t quite shake the theatricality of the production, leaving a “Mean Girls”-style approach to hallway antagonism, periodically interrupted by a compassionate understanding of the adolescent experience for teen girls. “Blame” has its heart in the right place, but Shephard isn’t seasoned enough to infuse the picture with necessary tension, often caught struggling just to fill 95 minutes of screen time.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Paul Thomas Anderson often takes his time between projects, and there’s a good reason why. He’s a perfectionist when it comes to screen style, making sure everything’s where it needs to be to help bring out the best in his actors, creating gorgeous spaces to stage emotional breakdowns. Anderson’s last two efforts, 2012’s “The Master” and 2014’s “Inherent Vice” were accomplished technical achievements, but icy and periodically tedious, with tonal whims often sabotaging pace, and the helmer’s interest in the mumbly range of star Joaquin Phoenix often registered as more permissible than it needed to be. “Phantom Thread” reunites Anderson with his “There Will Be Blood” star, Daniel Day-Lewis, who restores a certain illness the director’s last decade has been missing. While deliberate to a point of stillness, “Phantom Thread” is deliciously twisted and nuanced work, returning Anderson to the psychological games he’s skilled at capturing, while Day-Lewis provides one final reminder (he announced his retirement from acting last summer) that he’s the very best at what he does. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com 

Co-writer/director Fatih Akin doesn’t make it easy for himself with “In the Fade.” The picture deals with the aftermath of terrorism, detailing modern fears of everyday violence striking the innocent, erasing entire lifetimes in a single horrific moment. Most movies play up the exploitation possibilities of a revenge scenario driven by grief, knowing that audience sympathy is easy to achieve. Think “Collateral Damage” or the recent “Patriots Day,” which used the fury generated by fear and grief to power breathless cinematic thrills. “In the Fade” teases this style of filmmaking, with Akin trying to walk the thin line between a thoughtful understanding of the primal scream of violence and the urge to celebrate comeuppance. The material doesn’t provide easy answers, and perhaps plays it all a bit too easy, but “In the Fade” handles frustration properly, asking necessary questions about the vicious cycle of violence.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The fire, anxiety, and curiosity of a young man’s first love is brought vividly to life in “Call Me by Your Name.” It’s an adaptation of an Andre Aciman novel, but screenwriter James Ivory (“The Remains of the Day,” “Howard’s End”) strips the source material of literary pause, offering a more loosely defined sense of awakening, providing ample inspiration for director Luca Guadagnino, who delivers a highly sensual viewing experience, punctuated with powerful flashes of exposed emotion. “Call Me by Your Name” doesn’t force itself on the viewer, winding softly, almost aimlessly until it begins to form a connection between two people that’s more powerful than even they were expecting. Perhaps it’s not the most haunting tale of devotion found in the film year, but Guadagnino creates an evocative understanding of time and place, generating a sincere picture, and one that taps into the blur of primal longing.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After taking command of last summer’s disappointment, “Alien: Covenant,” director Ridley Scott explores a different kind of parasitical relationship with “All the Money in the World,” which examines a moment in time where industrialist J. Paul Getty had the opportunity to free his grandson, Paul, from kidnappers in Italy, and chose to do nothing. It’s the burden and power of vast wealth that drives the story, with David Scarpa (adapting a book by John Pearson) hammering home an atmosphere of denial as the haves and the have nots play careful games of negotiation as a dire situation slowly unfolds. “All the Money in the World” is mindful of its look at greed and familial indifference, but it’s not a particularly well defined feature, too slack to register as a thriller and too simple to dissect J. Paul Getty and his special disdain for the rest of the world.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For their first entry into the big-budget tentpole release game, Netflix has turned to director David Ayer to take command of “Bright.” Ayer is a helmer who favors gritty street and war stories, essentially making the same movie over and over with efforts such as “End of Watch,” “Street Kings,” and “Fury.” Last summer, Ayer was handed the keys to a comic book-inspired franchise in “Suicide Squad,” and while profitable, the feature divided audiences, weakening potential for multiple sequels and spin-offs. Now he’s handling “Bright,” which also has big aspirations to feed into additional films (a follow-up is already set), delivering a grim fantasy to viewers for the holiday season. And, once again, Ayer botches the execution, with far too much dependence on old habits to make it through an unsavory blend of the silly and the aggressively ugly. Ayer certainly likes to do that one thing, but after a 12 years of making urban horror shows with shell-shocked characters, perhaps enough is enough. Even with magic in the mix, this is moldy routine.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com