There are many iconic horror pictures throughout cinema history, but few
have actually established their own subgenre. 1968’s “Night of the
Living Dead” arrived without much fanfare, brought to the public by a
distributor that had no clue what to do with it, yet it found an
audience with its austerity, suspense, and era-specific bleakness. Over
the years, “Night” has become a classic, wowing viewers with a pure shot
of entrails-munching terror, launching the concept of undead, lurching
zombies as one of ultimate fright. “Birth of the Living Dead” seeks to
understand how the movie came to be, interviewing those involved with
the production and its many admirers to explore the creative background
and thematic resonance of this truly independent feature.
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“Diana” doesn’t succeed at a great many things, but it somehow excels at making its subject an unstable, repellent person who’s prone to manipulations and unreasonable tantrums. Any film concerning the life and times of Princess Diana is going to run into trouble, encountering disconcerting personal details in the quest for truth, yet “Diana” doesn’t appear all that authentic, trading grit for glamour in what amounts to a Lifetime Movie treatment of a problematical existence. That the screenplay turns the iconic woman into a petty, vindictive shrew is surprising considering the celebratory summation of the feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2011’s “Thor” was a minor miracle. Out of all the superhero stories that
have inundated theaters in recent years, this character, a Norse god
who wields a magical hammer, was perhaps the least likely to translate
to the screen without coming across as pure silliness. Yet, director
Kenneth Branagh managed to summon a mythical sense of wonder while
keeping the story down to Earth, crafting a funny, adventurous tale of
broad heroism that allowed access into this strange comic book realm.
Unexpectedly, the picture took off at the box office, allowing Thor to
tag along with “The Avengers” extravaganza in 2012. And now he’s up to
bat again with a new solo effort, this time without Branagh’s guidance.
The helmer’s pursuit of majesty is missing, but “Thor: The Dark World”
comes across just as exciting and good-natured as its predecessor, once
again finding the bulky, hardware-hurling superman in the thick of
intergalactic war, only this time finding just as much hostility
emerging from his love life.
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Judging by its exterior, “Dallas Buyers Club” could be considered a
traditional slice of “Oscar bait,” with star Matthew McConaughey
physically transforming himself to deliver a performance intended to act
as flypaper for awards season accolades. And the movie does contain a
few scenes that strain for no discernible reason outside of pure
showmanship. The actual film doesn’t invest in shallow theatrics,
submitting a fascinating tale of a death sentence refused, watching one
man build his own medical industry to save his life, disturbing the
slumber of the powers that be. Meaningful and explosively performed,
“Dallas Buyers Club” is an oddly inspirational picture that has a little
more on its mind than a late-in-the-film-year victory lap.
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In 1985, after complaints about livability and hostility were logged
against the MOVE organization, a black liberation group living in a
fortified townhouse on peaceful Osage Avenue in Philadelphia, local
police moved in to contain the situation. A standoff of indeterminate
aggression ensued, with the city officials bombing the MOVE compound,
not only eradicating the perceived threat, but also wiping out 60 homes
and killing 11 people. It was a catastrophic mess executed in front of
countless witnesses and captured on multiple news cameras, with
reporters eagerly narrating every step of the meltdown. The documentary
“Let the Fire Burn” endeavors to explore the incident and escalations
preceding the disastrous event, passing on the formality of talking head
interviews, using television and film footage to reconstruct the
timeline of the bombing and emphasize the longstanding antagonism
between MOVE and the police.
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Finding yet another shadowy corner of WWII history to draw from,
writer/director Wladyslaw Pasikowski mines the misery of Poland for the
seething picture, “Aftermath.” However, this is not a traditional tale
of victimization at the hands of invading Nazi forces, but a gut-punch
mystery that uncovers horrifying secrets and national shame, positioning
Poland as a malevolent force in a crime of opportunity. It’s heady
material, executed in a clenched-fist manner that maintains a pleasing
unrest about the film, which always seems one carefully chosen taunt
away from exploding into rural war. Tackling an impossibly bleak
subject, Pasikowski infuses the effort with passion and tragedy, making
the work come alive onscreen.
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The current cut of “Best Man Down” seems compromised, as though the
producers and the director had different visions for the material, so
they ended up with a passable but uninspired version for general
release. Sensitivity battles comedy is this uneven effort, failing to
find a stable middle ground that permits writer/director Ted Koland a
chance to explore his ideas in full. It’s intermittently disarming work
with a terrific supporting performance from Addison Timlin, but there’s
very little meat on these bones, with long passages of “Best Man Down”
resembling a trailer for another iteration of the movie that isn’t
rushed through at top speed.
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“Paris Countdown” offers an interesting twist on the crime film routine.
Instead of younger participants, twentysomethings caught up in a world
of drugs and money, we have two 50-year-old men for this underworld
go-around. They can’t quite outrun their pursuers and have serious
family issues to deal with, complicating what turns out to be an
extremely formulaic endeavor from writer/director Edgar Marie, who makes
his helming debut with this loud, stylish picture. “Paris Countdown”
aims to be a slick piece of action entertainment, but there’s little
imagination beyond the age of the lead characters, and while the feature
is mercifully simplistic, it’s rarely engaging, even as a violent
distraction.
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Throughout his storied career, Robert Redford has been drawn to tales
concerning the tranquility and unpredictability of nature. It’s in the
man’s blood, explored in pictures such as “Jeremiah Johnson” and even
the poetry of stillness found in “A River Runs Through It.” “All is
Lost” is perfect material for Redford, playing to his strengths of
internalization and measured physicality, and he provides an exceptional
lead performance in writer/director J.C. Chandor’s sublimely
straightforward tale of oceanic endurance. Working only with a sinking
boat, a willing star, and the open water, and the helmer is able to
create one of the most suspenseful, striking features of 2013.
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Writer/director Richard Curtis is known for his comfortable cinema. The
creator of “Love Actually” and the misfire “Pirate Radio,” Curtis has
developed a filmmaking voice that’s sentimental, concerned with
variances of feelings and relationships. “About Time” continues his
journey as an architect of sensitivity, only here the warmth has a
slightly sci-fi touch to it, concerning the impossible realm of time
travel. Even though the picture has every opportunity to slip into the
fantastical, it remains intimate and natural. Well, as natural as a
Curtis movie can get. Unpredictable and heartbreaking, “About Time” is a
wonderfully executed effort, smart with its scripting and parting
messages on the value of being present.
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Reviewed at the 2013 Twin Cities Film Festival

It seems unfair to compare “Last Vegas” to “The Hangover” franchise,
though it’s obvious where the production received its inspiration from.
Instead of brain-fried debauchery and R-rated shenanigans, “Last Vegas”
plays it pretty mild for its older demographic, with Viagra jokes and
bikini contests passing for edge around these parts. Director Jon
Turteltaub is rather notorious when it comes to cranking out pictures
with mass appeal (“Nation Treasure,” “Phenomenon”), and his vanilla
approach remains in full effect for this dramedy, though a few surprises
are sprinkled throughout the feature, and the helmer has quite an
advantage with his stellar cast, unleashing four pros on threadbare
script, using their natural gifts to make the viewing experience as
pleasant as possible.
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After battling convention with his uncompromising work on “Hunger” and
“Shame,” director Steve McQueen travels down a familiar path with “12
Years a Slave.” Harrowing, brutal, and heartbreaking, this tale of
abduction and subjugation is brimming with powerful imagery, making the
audience feel every last lash that’s cracked across the back of the lead
character. It’s powerful work, but it also has a fatiguing
concentration on suffering, lingering on torture instead of studying it
for the greater thematic good. Rich with details, “12 Years a Slave” is
an accomplished effort, yet McQueen is distracted by the weave work of
story, failing to find art in agony.
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“Ender’s Game,” based on the beloved, lauded 1985 book by Orson Scott
Card, finally blasts its way to the big screen after decades of
development. There’s franchise gold in them thar hills, with the
production carefully mounting what appears to be a story that could
carry on for multiple films, following the titular character as he
journeys from an awestruck boy to an intergalactic lawman, complete with
elaborate training missions and enormous space battles. While ambitious
and exceedingly well designed, “Ender’s Game” is mummified in the drama
department. It’s absolutely cold to the touch, with clumsy scenes
sapping power from the material’s thought-provoking commentary on war,
leaving writer/director Gavin Hood with a gorgeous picture that retains
very little spirit.
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“Blue Is the Warmest Color” is generating a considerable amount of
controversy due to its explicit content, with an eight-minute-long
lesbian sex scene helping the film receive the dreaded NC-17 stamp from
the MPAA. It’s actually amusing to see the movie’s release trigger such
uptightness because the sex adds up to a mere eight minutes out of 180 minutes
of screen time. It’s hardly a concern with a picture this ponderous,
acting more as smelling salts for this French after school special,
which is so distracted with its verite execution, it leaves out any
sense of emotional urgency. “Blue Is the Warmest Color” take three hours
to tell a story that tops out at 90 minutes, 98 if you leave in the
bumping and grinding. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Not every animated film needs to be an event, but “Free Birds” could use
a little more oomph to make it a must-see for crowds currently starving
for family entertainment. It’s not particularly exciting, never lands a
laugh, and doesn’t have the ambition to truly lampoon Thanksgiving
traditions. It’s a bland effort that’s contently cartoon until it
suddenly feels the need to trigger emotions with weird detours into
death and survival. Perhaps the idea looked better on paper. As a
CG-animated endeavor, “Free Birds” packs very little punch, with wild
mood swings that take a simple story and needlessly complicates it to
fill a contractual run time.
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Star power is a rare thing, but it’s important, often helping mediocre
work find its footing through exceptional acting, guiding dramatic
direction when the production itself can’t manage the task. With iconic
actor Michael Caine, talent was established long ago, and while his
taste in screenplays isn’t always inspiring, his clarity of
communication is never in doubt. “Last Love” is his latest endeavor
after receiving a late-inning career boost due to his collaborations
with Christopher Nolan, and the feature benefits mightily from his
effortless presence. Skillfully conveying the ache, newfound elevation,
and confusion required of him, Caine is terrific here, making “Last
Love” and its ultimate third-act nosedive palatable, even profound
during a few scenes of intimate soul searching.
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