Possible insanity and aggressive music collide in “Enter the Dangerous Mind,” a loose study of schizophrenia that only work from afar, as any close inspection of its working parts reveals thematic and creative limitations. Electronic dance music fills the picture with grinding and throbbing, but it does little to compliment what attempts to be a study of a psychological breakdown. Directors Victor Teran (who also scripts) and Youssef Delara are unable to use abrasive sounds to cover for a lack of atmosphere, and while a starring turn from Nikki Reed brings out the depth of a desperate situation, “Enter the Dangerous Mind” is more of a surface examination of brewing instability, missing cinematic precision. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Wild Card” is based on the 1985 William Goldman novel, which was turned into a 1986 film starring Burt Reynolds. It was a notoriously troubled production, and it seems the curse has lasting power, returning in 2015 to inspire another deflated pass at Goldman’s idiosyncrasies. Transforming themes of self-destruction and delusion into a martial arts actioner starring Jason Statham, “Wild Card” is one confused picture, endeavoring to find pockets of dramatic depth as it organizes a big screen bloodbath, populated with appearances from actors not traditionally associated with movies where the lead character flings credit cards like ninja throwing stars. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The found footage subgenre finally finds its way to the needs of the lovesick teen. “Project Almanac” spends an enormous amount of screen time trying to sell itself as a scientific take on time travel, buzzing through terminology and scenes of furious basement construction, but this MTV-produced picture really wants to figure out a way to inject adolescent romance into a sci-fi adventure. The resulting concoction of year-leaping agitation and sweaty-palm encounters with crushes doesn’t work, but instead of being offensively bad, “Project Almanac” is merely dull. For a wily, quaking camera take on the needs of the heart, dramatic inertia, not time itself, is perhaps the feature’s greatest enemy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Loft” is actually the second remake of 2008 Belgian picture, only now the action has been transferred to North America, while retaining the services of original director Erik Van Looy. It’s a mystery with a pronounced sexual component, following immoral, unpleasant characters as they fight to clear their names when faced with accusations of murder. Normally, this type of argumentative conflict results in a passable nail-biter, but “The Loft” isn’t up to the challenge of manufacturing surprises. Dim, sleazy, and poorly made, the feature (which was shot in 2011) comes across laughable at times, doing an alarmingly thorough job making decent actors look bad and heterosexuality look worse. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Submarine movies do not come around very often. The subgenre isn’t usually full of surprises, tending to the same routine of underwater pressure and crew hostilities, out to create a perfectly combustible atmosphere within the tightest spaces. “Black Sea” isn’t one to ignore formula, but it has a few twists worth paying attention to, along with blunt but compelling characterizations to hold attention. Director Kevin Macdonald and screenwriter Dennis Kelly essentially update “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” but do so with style and a periodically nail-biting sense of widescreen suspense. “Black Sea” is flawed, but when it clicks together, it does so superbly, giving classic cinema conventions a successful modern spin.
Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Mike Binder hasn’t enjoyed the most consistent career, but he’s managed to keep plugging away despite a filmography littered with disappointments. The writer/director of “Reign Over Me” and “Man About Town,” (and let’s not forget 1994’s “Blankman”), Binder tries to cut to the heart of race relations with “Black or White,” a melodrama that uses skin color to complicate a tale of custody and familial relationships. There are laudable elements here worth their screen time, with Binder showing good taste with troubling conflicts. Yet, “Black or White,” despite its best intentions, is often too simplified for mass acceptance, losing big screen appeal once the audience realizes that everything about the picture would be better suited for the small screen. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Fully entrenched in an experimental phase, director Barry Levinson has been issuing uneven work in recent years, hitting a rare high note with the 2012 found-footage shocker, “The Bay.” “The Humbling” sustains his erratic interests, this time exploring the slow, painful grind of artistic command losing its potency, bringing in acting legend Al Pacino to run his fingers along the jagged edges of his character’s despondency. “The Humbling” contains a few intriguing beats of psychological clouding, but it mostly comes across as indulgent, finding Levinson unwilling to give the picture focus when he finds a haze of behaviors and broad performances much more appealing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Mommy” is the latest work from writer/director Xavier Dolan, helmer of “Tom at the Farm” and “Laurence Anyways.” If you’ve seen his previous efforts, you’ve seen “Mommy,” which once again attempts to marry a wandering sense of emotion with bitter behavior, finding visual poetry often taking priority over humanity. The picture can be a frustrating sit as it reaches an indulgent run time, but it’s also Dolan’s best feature to date, showcasing exceptional performances from the cast, who always capture moments of implosion and vulnerability with more accuracy than the creator, getting the film to a place of helplessness that’s absolutely riveting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With “Suburban Gothic,” co-writer/director Richard Bates, Jr. (“Excision”) is going after a specific balance of sarcastic humor and supernatural terror. It’s a tonal high-wire act in need of a precise vision to pull off, developing characters charismatic enough to follow while establishing a darkness to the material that’s capable of delivering requires chills. “Suburban Gothic” is much too sloppy to connect in full, but the helmer delivers a few atmospheric touches and some amusing antics as he strives to keep the feature together. Low-budget but ambitious, the movie has the right idea, just no defined direction, hampered by the production’s creative indecision. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Johnny Depp’s career has been erratic lately, but he keeps plugging away with pictures, working to entertain himself between “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequels. “Mortdecai” is his most indulgent effort since his unexpected surge in global box office popularity, gifting himself an opportunity to make a Peter Sellers movie, or perhaps a long lost “Austin Powers” sequel. Based on the novels by Kyril Bonfiglioli, “Mortdecai” is thoroughly silly business, requiring Depp transform himself once again into a wobbly British boob. Shades of Jack Sparrow are difficult to brush away, but the film stands as its own creation, finding director David Koepp busying himself with slapstick set-pieces that mostly work, if one can find the proper mood for the feature’s limited but unexpectedly available charms. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Before George Lucas reached out and collected billions by selling his own studio to the Walt Disney Corporation in 2012, there was one last movie in production. “Strange Magic” is a CG-animated endeavor conceived by Lucas and directed by Gary Rydstrom (famed sound man who worked on the “Star Wars” films), and it plays up many of the themes and visuals Lucasfilm has used to help build an empire over the last 45 years of smash hits and interesting failures. Unfortunately, “Strange Magic” falls somewhere between the two extremes, emerging as an ambitious but overstuffed take on Shakespeare by way of a jukebox musical. Living up to its title, the feature is wildly bizarre, but it’s also more fatiguing than it should be, asking audiences to be patient with a picture that hangs around log after its initial charms wear off. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com