“Violette” has a darkness about it that isn’t always easy to process, but it does achieve the striking sensation of a writer striving to find her voice. It’s the hunched-over, furious fingers pose that co-writer/director Martin Provost masters throughout the picture, acquiring a special intimacy with the subject and her vast appreciation for traumatic incident. Perhaps “Violette” overindulges with its run time (130 minutes), but the reward for such excess is a profound appreciation for a woman who struggled with sexism, self-doubt, and a troubled life to create something pure on paper, seeking salvation in the creative process, which is beautifully rendered in this film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

During my experience in moviegoing, I’ve observed that it isn’t easy to bring a Philip K. Dick novel or short story to the big screen. A sophisticated sci-fi writer, Dick’s material needs special care when translated to a screenplay, while a few of his ideas are truly resistant to the cinematic realm, better served in the expansive canvas of imagination literature provides. “Radio Free Albemuth” is the latest attempt to bring a headrush of exposition and ideas into theaters, and while it’s ambitious work, writer/director John Alan Simon is in way over his head with this enormous narrative that connects an alien empire to a Los Angeles record executive, fiddling with fascist government interests, a chart-topping song of revolution, and marital dissolution along the way. It’s a story meant to be consumed in small bites, but Simon attempts to swallow it all at once. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There have been numerous Woody Allen knockoffs created over the last four decades, but the German production, “A Coffee in Berlin,” has the right ambiance, just not the same neuroses and interest in wit. Writer/director Jan Ole Gerster (making his feature-length helming debut) has the right idea to mount a tribute of some type, but in trying to make his own mark with this somber material, he misses the connection between visual jazz and downbeat dramatics, creating a movie that always seems like it’s reaching for a laugh, only to reveal some type of grim behavior. “A Coffee in Berlin” does have its moments, and Gerster knows how to milk a running gag, but it’s difficult to accept this picture as anything besides confused, no matter how well intentioned it is. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Signal” is a brain-bleeder with surprising accessibility. This is a tricky review to write, as much of the film’s power comes from its secrets and reveals, with a deliberate leisurely pace to help accentuate moments of paranoia and an overall sense of psychological disturbance. Co-writer/director William Eubank conjures elements of “The Twilight Zone” and superhero cinema to help shape this odd but striking effort, and while the young helmer doesn’t have the tightest command of pace, Eubank makes up for occasional cinematic stasis with a convincingly mysterious viewing experience that successfully sustains interest all the way to the final frame. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The whole point of 2012’s “Think Like a Man” was to celebrate the words of wisdom shared by comedian Steve Harvey. Adapting his 2009 book, “Think Like a Man, Act Like a Lady,” the feature embarked on a study of coupling, clashing personalities, and gender solidarity. It wasn’t a good film, but it was a box office hit, with audiences eager to absorb relationship advice from the host of “Family Feud.” For “Think Like a Man Too,” everything that defined the original picture has been wiped away, replaced with straightforward shenanigans, taking the celebration of dysfunction to Las Vegas, where, despite ample evidence of the contrary on television, anything goes. If the first movie was an irritating, poorly managed tale of people in love, “Think Like a Man Too” is straight-up obnoxious. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After a stunning early career with such pictures as “Show Me Love,” “Together,” and “Lilya 4-Ever,” writer/director Lukas Moodysson has spent the last decade floundering with artful, symbolic, but often unsuccessful efforts, trying to reclaim his voice through chaos and strained drama. “We Are the Best!” (his first film since 2009’s “Mammoth”) restores some of Moodysson’s lost mojo, helming a loose, buzzing dramedy about musical ambition and personal expression. Although the movie often goes cross-eyed trying to figure out how to slip out of scenes, it retains joy and a rich sense of curiosity, brought to life through three terrific lead performances Moodysson manages with palpable glee. It’s great to have him back on two feet again. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With his last film, 2011’s “Carnage,” director Roman Polanski guided an adaptation of a play. With “Venus in Fur,” the helmer returns cinema back to the stage, exploring the theatrical possibilities of David Ives’s play. It’s a minor boomerang effect that’s enlivened Polanski’s creative side, presenting him with the challenge of summoning tension in tight spaces. However, “Venus in Fur” takes more than a few unusual directions, evolving from a tale of persistence into a full-scale dissection of submission, boosted by two outstanding performances from Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Seigner, who communicate quite a range of reactions to provocative situations, while Polanski, ever the mischievous one, amplifies deceptively casual combativeness into an engrossing psychological flaying. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Jersey Boys” was a sensation on Broadway, charming audiences and even winning a few Tony Awards in a run that continues to this day. It’s a show known for its lively energy, its toe-tapping hit songs, and meaty East Coast attitude. So why is the big screen incarnation such a joyless, tuneless slog? Perhaps most of the blame can be placed on director Clint Eastwood, who doesn’t possess the right kind of rhythm to make the material stand up and sing as it should. There’s also the legacy of Frankie Valli, the star of the show and a man treated so preciously, he’s practically fitted for a halo. Whatever magic was created onstage is missing from the movie, which spends more time mourning The Four Seasons than celebrating what made them a massive group to begin with. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Rage” is a generic title for a generic film. After clawing his way back to critical respectability with last spring’s “Joe,” Nicolas Cage boomerangs to paycheck roles with this rather impressively confused thriller, teasing Steven Seagal career territory with his participation in such a low-budget actioner. With dead eyes and stiff hair, Cage simply shows up for this tale of revenge, working through beats of distress and menace that require little effort. Director Paco Cabezas seems to understand the limited interest, working to liven up the picture with stylized brutality, not quite understanding that the screenplay by Jim Agnew and Sean Keller is a meditation on the merciless, cyclical nature of violence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I’ve seen my fair share of ugly movies, and while most revel in mean-spiritedness to attract attention, a few manage to build something artistic and substantial while maintaining the beat of their black hearts. “The Human Race” is a double threat. It’s both a no-budget disaster and an effort that’s desperate to offend, imagining itself a “Death Race 2000” on legs, only without a satiric slant, rudimentary filmmaking skills, and authentically wacky performances. An amateurish mess that’s only out to provoke with its abuse, “The Human Race” sprints forward with its shoelaces tied together. Despite a nifty premise, the feature is a complete waste of time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The director of “Day of the Beast” and “The Perfect Crime,” Alex de la Iglesia has built a reputation for screen insanity, creating wild visions of death and destruction, often with a darkly comedic slant. “Witching and Bitching” is perhaps his most berserk creation. A horror free-for-all that toys with the irritations and appetites of witches while surveying the frustrations of men, the feature burns through a cinematic playground of magic and misery, supplying ghoulish images and situations that play directly to the helmer’s interests. Slick and humorous, “Witching and Bitching” is not a film that’s easily forgotten, burning a welcome amount of energy trying to entertain and repulse in equal measure. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s always an absolute pleasure to come across a performance that’s in perfect sync with the material, especially work from a talent who’s never received a proper dramatic challenge before. After a few uninspired years at “Saturday Night Live” and a high-profile supporting role in “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” it was easy to write comedian Jenny Slate off as another nondescript performer unable to get their voice out into the open. With “Obvious Child,” Slate proves her screen worth in a big way, delivering what I can safely proclaim to be one of my favorite performances of the film year. Her chuckling take on an open-wound personality is a revelation, backed by an oddball but sneaky dark comedy that’s almost pitch-perfect, taking on taboo subjects and silly behavior with lovable scatterbrained enthusiasm. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2010’s “How to Train Your Dragon” was a revelation, a thrilling, poignant animated movie that broke through conventions to become a richly defined character piece with the odd scene of soaring adventure. It was beautifully made all around, rewarded with big box office, television spin-offs, and now a sequel, which has the disadvantage of trying to keep up with the achievements of the original effort. “How to Train Your Dragon 2” eschews repetition to deepen its mythology, finding a fresh theme of maturation to explore with hero Hiccup and his trusty dragon Toothless, while delivering a formidable villain, epic battle sequences, and a more profound understanding of the personalities that populate this irresistible world. While it’s missing the opportunity for introductions, “How to Train Your Dragon 2” sustains all the pitch-perfect filmmaking that carried the original feature to glory, allowing for sophisticated emotions to develop organically. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com