Sensing a good thing with the reimagining of “Sherlock Holmes,” screenwriter Max Landis gives the same treatment to the legacy of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, “Frankenstein.” Adding adventure and scientific smarts to his reworking of the original story and its many cinematic adaptations and perversions, Landis gets lost early, attempting to pack in a myriad of ideas to help sympathies and surprises, laboring to deliver a fresh take on old material. “Victor Frankenstein” doesn’t work, but its ambition is encouraging, along with an interest in practical effects to bring the goopy particulars of mad science to the screen. However, tedium soon topples the effort, which fights to make a viable movie out of a grab bag of ideas. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The great journalism films make the audience feel like they’ve joined the hunt for truth, embedded alongside bleary-eyed, rumpled writers as they pore through tips and research, trying to shape a viable story out of bits and pieces of evidence. “Spotlight” is such a movie, carrying itself with confidence as it explores the delicate subject of molestation and the Catholic Church. Co-writer/director Tom McCarthy doesn’t lunge for incendiary material, instead building an atmosphere of unease, developing the case along with the reporters. “Spotlight” is sharp and flawlessly performed, joining the ranks of exceptional journalism pictures with its commitment to procedure and willingness to investigate both the guilty and those looking to expose them. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Billy Ray (“Breach,” “Shattered Glass”) is asking for trouble with “Secret in Their Eyes.” A remake of a terrific 2009 Argentinean film, the update has the impossible task of domesticating material that was best served in its native country, which offered twists, turns, and memorable locations. The new “Secret in Their Eyes” is a flatter, blunter object, laboring to recreate the same Double Dutch routine of mixed timelines and pained lives, brightened considerably by periodic surges of suspense. Ray doesn’t completely wipe out, but inertia is the feature’s greatest enemy, somehow conjuring monotony when handling a fairly eventful story. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Brooklyn” shares an old-fashioned story of love and personal awakening. It’s a simple tale with complex but relatable emotions, sold expertly by director John Crowley (“Intermission”) and screenwriter Nick Hornby (“High Fidelity,” “Wild”), who respect the classic cinema tempo of the material, laboring to realize a level of innocence that’s rarely attempted anymore. “Brooklyn” is lovely work, sensitive and evocative, always downplaying the potential for melodrama to find the truth of the moment. Moviegoers often caught complaining that “they don’t make ‘em like they used to” should make attendance a priority, as failure to support such endearing, achingly human filmmaking only hastens its obsolescence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Hunger Games” pulled a “Harry Potter” last year when it decided to maximize profits and split the final book in the Suzanne Collins series, “Mockingjay,” into two pictures. When “Part 1” was released last year, there was a noticeable dip in screen enthusiasm, finding momentum that was established in 2013’s “Catching Fire” erased due to heavy amounts of exposition and a general throttling of urgency to help fill two sequels. “Part 1” was a disappointment, one-note and dull, but it did promise a war zone grand finale to send the franchise off on a high note. “Mockingjay – Part 2” is finally here, and, bizarrely, it’s nearly as inert as its predecessor, once again straining futilely to transform a wafer-thin story into a nearly five hour viewing experience when paired with “Part 1.” Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Coming down from their world-rattling attempt to make fun of North Korea with “The Interview,” co-writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg set their sights on the holiday season with “The Night Before.” Obviously, with this duo guiding the mischief (along with Ariel Shaffir and Jonathan Levine, who also directs), warm, cuddly feelings of Christmas cheer aren’t on the menu, but this rowdy, drug-laden comedy certainly tries to remain meaningful as it attempts to make a worthy big screen mess. Funny in fits and perhaps too obsessed with maintaining character, “The Night Before” isn’t quite the guns blazing comedy it could’ve been, but there are more hit than misses as Rogen and Goldberg return to their happy place of cursing, bodily fluids, and celebrity cameos. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With “Unbroken” and “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” Angelina Jolie Pitt has shared a fascination with human endurance. Depicting wars, horrors, and cruelties, she’s never been one to detail the joy of life, only coming across such an epiphany by accident. With “By the Sea,” Jolie Pitt returns to direct herself and real-world husband Brad Pitt in a tale of complete and utter anguish, staying within her comfort zone with this throwback effort to intimate tales of self-destruction from the 1970s. “By the Sea” is a vanity film, but not completely without merit. When it isn’t permissive with performances and indulgent with its run time, the picture has a few insightful ideas to share about loss and marital strife, but it takes considerable work to find such wisdom. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While Quentin Tarantino continues his exploration of the western in this holiday’s “The Hateful Eight,” director Jackie Earle Haley and screenwriter Robert Lowell keep the old Tarantino spirit alive in “Criminal Activities.” A mixture of violence, comedy, and loquaciousness, the picture is reminiscent of the many knockoffs that found release after “Pulp Fiction” became a phenomenon, handled with a buzzing energy by Haley, who makes his helming debut with the feature after managing an acting career for the last four decades. While it all plays very familiar, “Criminal Activities” has a few creative moves of its own, finding the production trying to nail down a special rhythm to all the conventional intimidation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The last time actor Simon Pegg decided he wanted to warm up his image, it resulted in 2014’s particularly unpleasant “Hector and the Search for Happiness,” which actually made the jovial performer come across unappealing, suggesting that perhaps tales of love were not his forte. “Man Up” is a decent enough rebound for Pegg, who teams with Lake Bell for a lively adventure through misunderstanding and silliness. It’s definitely not Pegg’s finest professional hour, but as fizzy romantic comedies go, “Man Up” has its share of surprises and enthusiasm for the material, maintaining an effort to disrupt the subgenre routine with speed and a great deal of mischief. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Following the footsteps of “Anvil: The Story of Anvil,” “I Am Thor” looks to locate another overlooked member of the heavy metal community who’s interested in a comeback. The documentary surveys the life and times of Jon Mikl Thor, a once mighty bodybuilder who rode his physique to the heavy metal middle in the 1980s, blending superhero theatricality and blazing riffs to wow audiences. He was also the star of junk drawer cinema classics such as “Zombie Nightmare” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare,” creating an image as a hulking master of ceremonies, out to conquer the entertainment industry with his unique, hammer-wielding presence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com