Exorcism movies have been all the rage in recent years, with titles like “The Devil Inside,” “Deliver Us from Evil,” and “The Last Exorcism” scratching the itch some ticket-buyers have to see young women possessed by Satan, with clueless, powerless priests unable to draw evil out. “The Vatican Tapes” is yet another installment of embedded demon cinema, and it arrives without a gimmick, basically telling a blah exorcism story with some vague found-footage elements, laboring to summon the end of the world without anything memorable to work with. Dull and somewhat amateurish, “The Vatican Tapes” goes through the motions, working on vomiting and eeriness, but ends up nowhere in particular, with director Mark Neveldine unnervingly comfortable making something everyone has seen before. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Pixels” began life as a 2010 short film from Patrick Jean, which detailed an alien invasion carried out by classic video game enemies, giving the director a chance to show off his skill with visual effects and love for arcade gaming. “Pixels” concludes its journey as a big-budget Adam Sandler comedy, which probably isn’t what Jean had in mind when he set out on this journey years ago. Sluggish comedy and tired Sandler-isms aside, the picture definitely has its moments of visual might, successfully translating Jean’s idea, just not his universe. Without Sandler, perhaps “Pixels” would’ve been spectacular. With the comedian slumped over in the starring role, the best the production can do is pay close attention to CGI nuances and gaming references, leaving the jokes to a guy who looks like he needs a nap these days. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Southpaw” is demanding to be experienced squarely in the gut. It’s not an intellectually stimulating picture, only an emotionally charged one, with everything the production has to offer poured into scenes where blood and tears flow, and dialogue pushed out of grinding teeth. Unfortunately, while such simplicity triggers visceral reactions, “Southpaw” can’t eye-bulge its way past a disappointing script that’s mostly about recycling moments from boxing cinema classics instead of inventing its own hero’s journey. The feature has a big heart and a tiny brain, and while I wouldn’t deny anyone the opportunity to lose themselves in juicy manipulation, it’s clear the production could’ve tried a little harder to make something significant instead helping itself to the towering pile of “Rocky” clichés. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Unexpected” initially presents itself as your average pregnancy dramedy, focusing on a 30-year-old woman confronted with the possibly of motherhood, refusing to let reality sink in. It doesn’t take long for co-writer/director Kris Swanberg to reveal her impatience with clichés, quickly moving past shock to mine the emotional depths of potential parenthood. “Unexpected” soon finds a plot, but it’s rather remarkable with silences, with Swanberg permitting the movie a chance to observe the lead character’s whirring mind without pausing for formula, depicting the enormity of the challenge ahead in a natural, honest manner, delivering encouraging depth and emotional nuance to the picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Last summer, “The Fault in Our Stars” managed to break out of the blockbuster stranglehold and become a sizable hit. Adapted from the novel by John Green, the feature had heart and youth on its side, with a largely teenage audience driving ticket sales. Hoping to continue this profitable union, Hollywood reaches back into Green’s career to find “Paper Towns,” a novel published in 2008. While not even remotely close to the emotional volatility of “Stars,” “Paper Towns” does proudly wear Green’s fingerprints, playing directly to a younger audience while maintaining the perspective of its thirtysomething author, emerging with a certain degree of honesty about the teen experience that’s largely cloaked in quirk and thematic indecision. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Building a Scorsese/De Niro-style relationship of fruitful collaboration, director Christian Petzold and actress Nina Hoss continue their successful ways with “Phoenix,” a modest but highly charged drama set in post-WWII Berlin. Their fifth feature together (with credits that include “Yella” and “Barbara”), the team creates another squeeze of longing and loss, this time employing slight noir-ish qualities that develop the screenplay’s central theme of identity. However, “Phoenix” isn’t stylish escapism, but a psychological drama that touches on betrayal in the aftermath of incalculable tragedy, finding Petzold in command of mood and reveals, while Hoss delivers exemplary work in the lead role. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It may be hard to believe, but the original “Joe Dirt” was released all the way back in 2001, a time when movie theaters were open to the idea of running a comedy starring David Spade. Now there’s “Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser,” which took its sweet time to arrive on the scene, though it’s trading a theatrical release for an internet streaming debut, giving away the sequel for free. Despite such an enticing price tag, the follow-up remains overpriced, with Spade and co-writer/director Fred Wolf hitting rock bottom with this cheap, unimaginative effort. Not that the first feature was an example of comic timing and good taste, but the depths of laziness reached in “Joe Dirt 2” are genuinely shocking at times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Long before Hollywood immersed itself completely in comic book movies and geek culture, such big screen extravaganzas were few and far between. In the mid-1990s, Batman was really the only game in town, recently flexing box office muscle with “Batman Forever,” which pushed Tim Burton’s franchise down a brighter path of audience engagement, refreshing monetary potential. In the moments before “Batman & Robin” popped the superhero bubble, Warner Brothers was ready to revive another caped crusader for mass consumption: Superman. After burning through its own series of blockbusters, Superman was ready for a facelift, finding producer Jon Peters and the powers that be ready to return to Burton for another radical reworking of known elements. The picture was “Superman Lives,” and it never made it into production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As a stand-up comedian, Amy Schumer is known for her biting, off-color material, frequently taking jabs at her sex life and personal appearance. As an actress, Schumer hasn’t been fully tested, with work on her Comedy Central hit, “Inside Amy Schumer,” mostly regulated to broad, satiric antics and straight-man reactions to impossibly awkward situations. “Trainwreck” is her first starring vehicle, scripting herself a tale that’s not entirely different from ones she’s told before. There’s a feeling of repetition to “Trainwreck,” which is more about showing off what Schumer can do instead of changing career directions. Mercifully, she’s outstanding here, delivering a tart, touching performance, reaching surprising depths while director Judd Apatow struggles with tonality and timing, never exactly sure what type of movie he wants to make. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As Marvel Studios completes their “Phase Two” of film production, they’ve decided to sneak in one last superhero before the gate closes. After the gargantuan action of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” rattled multiplexes last May, “Ant-Man” arrives as an after-dinner mint, highlighting a little-known character in the Marvel universe, but one with unique technology. Sadly, to bring the diminutive warrior to the screen, the studio hired director Peyton Reed for the job. With credits such as “Down with Love,” “Bring It On,” and “Yes Man,” Reed isn’t the first helmer that comes to mind when thinking of a proper visionary for a comic book extravaganza, and “Ant-Man,” while second-tier by design, doesn’t benefit from his limited scope and impotent way with comedy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The Mexican Drug War is devastating its homeland, with violence and misery spilling over the border to America. When governments prove useless, with corruption overtaking responsibility, civilians proceed to make themselves the first line of defense. The documentary “Cartel Land” studies aggression fueling cartel butchery and vigilante justice, with director Matthew Heineman embedded in Mexico and America to grasp the subtle ways the average person is striking back at encroaching evil. The you-are-there aspects of “Cartel Land” are compelling, with Heineman capturing street horrors and subtle shifts in power, creating an inherently frustrating but informative look at national defense and human vanity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In a summer moviegoing season that’s light on heartwarming entertainment, “Batkid Begins” is specifically designed to make sure every ticket-buyer exits the theater with a lump in their throat and hope for a better tomorrow. Recounting the saga of young Miles Scott, a six-year-old boy from small-town California with leukemia who elected to use his Make-A-Wish dream to become Batman, “Batkid Begins” journeys into the heart of charity and community support, clearing away the ugliness of the world for 80 minutes to bask in the glow of what was intended to be a block-wide event that eventually snowballed into a global phenomenon. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com