In 2010, writer/director Quentin Dupieux made his filmmaking debut with “Rubber,” a horror/comedy about a killer tire. The premise was enough to draw interest, but the picture’s command of absurdity and atmosphere kept the feature fascinating. A second bizarre comedy, “Wrong,” followed, also hitting wonderful notes of weirdness while remaining periodically hilarious, quickly chased by another winner, “Wrong Cops.” Dupieux enjoys the strangeness of cinema, but he’s managed to retain some sense of subversive gravity to his work. With “Reality,” the helmer aims to pull his own effort inside out, endeavoring to build a comedy that messes with perception and manipulation while mining laughs out of pure oddity. For those who enjoy their brain-bleeders with a significant sense of humor, “Reality” is truly something to experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2012’s “The Avengers” was an experiment of sorts. With audiences around the globe responding positively to comic book heroes in individual adventures, how would they react to a group effort? Fears of overkill were put to rest immediately, with “The Avengers” received rapturously by fans and critics, quickly becoming one of the top grossing movies of all time. After a three year break to tend to the specifics of these costumed men and women, the A-Team has reunited for “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” a darker, more internalized follow-up that still retains all the expected bang and boom. Writer/director Joss Whedon has pulled off an impressive feat here, sustaining the intensity of a ripping adventure yarn while digging into a few of the characters a little more deeply, finding fresh ground to cover in a more satisfying epic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There is no shortage of information concerning the life and times of music icon Kurt Cobain. Through countless magazine articles, books, and films, a fairly accurate portrait of the man has been created, but a mystery surrounding his troubled existence somehow remains. Director Brett Morgan (“The Kid Stays in the Picture”) appears to understand this impasse, going after the one thing so many journalistic endeavors fail to achieve: access. With permission to pore through diaries, recordings, home movies, and art, Morgan crafts “Cobain: Montage of Heck,” which isn’t an A to Z exploration of the Nirvana frontman’s history, but a full submersion into the viscous fluids of his life force, trying to locate the spirit that existed before the empty shell became famous on a global scale. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

We’ve reached a point where fashion documentaries have created their own Marvel Cinematic Universe-style of interconnection. Art-house cinemas have been flooded with titles in recent years, with filmmakers setting out to dissect the faces and style that fuels fashion’s most popular brands. Think “Valentino: The Last Emperor” and “The September Issue,” with this push (arguably fueled by the popularity of the cable show “Project Runaway”) to discover how haute couture is created and presented to the world offering a fascinating look at the priority of superiority. “Dior and I” joins the line-up with conviction, managing a portrait of creative and physical effort, while tilting the presentation by including images and recollections from Christian Dior (who passed away in 1957), who appears as a ghostly presence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Building her career as an actress, working for most of her life, Helen Hunt’s screen appearances have been few and far between over the last decade. She’s been concentrating on a directorial career, with “Ride” her second feature after 2008’s “Then She Found Me”– a warm, amusing effort that showcased Hunt’s skill with managing actors and maintaining an itchy atmosphere conducive to comedy. “Ride” isn’t quite as secure with tone, but it does have a visual personality, and emotional moments are genuine, inspiring some satisfyingly haunted work. Sitcom touches to make the movie malleable are unwelcome, but when Hunt works up the courage to avoid the obvious, she delivers welcome pathos. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As a faith-based movie out to create a tale that celebrates repentance and emotional connection, “Any Day” stumbles every step of the way. A stunningly amateurish effort, the feature strives to create a tragedy out of stupidity, hitting every cliché imaginable as it lumbers from scene to scene. The actors gathered here are left with nothing to work with, trying to make the best out of a bad situation, yet only they manage to make the picture worse. Abysmal, manipulative, and often caught with its shoelaces tied together, “Any Day” is either one of the most poorly edited features I’ve seen this year, or director Rustam Branaman is trying to pull off a colossal cinematic prank. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s important to remember that “The Age of Adaline” is a fantasy that plays by its own rules, avoiding hard science to depict a singular event in history that’s primarily played for all its romantic possibilities. It’s “Highlander” with a heart, and while the premise is fairly bizarre, director Lee Toland Krieger does a fine job keeping the picture grounded with true emotion and an enticing mournful quality that rightfully shadows a character who cannot age. Warmly crafted, with a satisfactory sense of mystery, “The Age of Adaline” resembles a Harlequin novel, but offers more spirit than simple forbidden love escapism. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Alex Garland is an accomplished screenwriter, creating such works as “Dredd” and “Never Let Me Go.” He makes his directorial debut with “Ex Machina,” and the premise continues his fascination with isolation and doomsday events, only here the threat, or perhaps the cure-all, emerges in the form of artificial intelligence. A.I. is certainly familiar terrain for cinematic exploration, but Garland constructs something fascinating and unnerving with “Ex Machina,” feeling out numerous acts of manipulation with full attention to mood. While slowly paced, the feature isn’t dull, emerging as a potent study of power and corruption, setting a sinister, tech-heavy atmosphere that almost seems achievable in our day and age. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“After the Ball” is constantly threatening to be undone by a case of the cutes. A blend of “Twelfth Night,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” and “Cinderella,” there’s no shortage of preciousness about the work. Mercifully, there’s a significant amount of charm too, helping the movie dilute its sitcom tendencies and come together a perfectly pleasant play on fashion world insecurities. Retaining a handful of laughs and guiding a winning lead performance from Portia Doubleday, director Sean Garrity (“My Awkward Sexual Adventure”) keeps “After the Ball” on target, preserving mischief and romance, providing a charming viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A basic cable stalwart and occasional supporting player in studio comedies, Nick Kroll aims for the big leagues with “Adult Beginners,” cooking up starring role for himself that demands a full display of his dramatic range. It’s a test Kroll doesn’t necessarily pass, but he’s smart enough to surround himself with more capable actors who can transform the screenplay’s addiction to cliché into convincing emotion. “Adult Beginners” has a lot of laughs and sharp understanding of the demands of parenthood, but every time it steps outside of its comfort zone to address more sophisticated feelings concerning maturation and grief, it loses its personality, resembling any other effort that takes on the pressures of man-child development. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com