In 2017, Hallie Meyers-Shyer made her directorial debut with “Home Again.” The daughter of filmmakers Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers, Meyers-Shyer elected to follow the family way, making a droopy romantic comedy. There was room to grow, to develop her own voice as a helmer, but she returns to the same vibe in “Goodrich,” which details the life of a workaholic getting a full gulp of fatherhood for the very first time at an advanced age. Meyers-Shyer (who also scripts) has star Michael Keaton, who does a magnificent job communicating a range of feelings as his character is hit from all sides by life. Those expecting something of a sequel to “Mr. Mom” are sure to be disappointed with “Goodrich,” but Shyer-Meyers doesn’t have any distinct vision for the material, once again trying to mimic movies made by her parents, unable to make the material feel real in the process. A true Jack Butler reunion would be more appealing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Only in the strange film year of 2024 would a story about an assortment of cardinals in Rome gathering to vote on the next pope become one of the most suspenseful movies of the year. Of course, “Conclave” has help, as it is an adaptation of a popular 2016 novel by author Robert Harris, who labored for over 400 pages to create a charged situation populated with stubborn and secretive characters. The material also has the benefit of exploring the little-seen world of Vatican hierarchy and power plays, making it unique to a certain degree. Director Edward Berger, following up his breakthrough hit, “All Quiet on the Western Front,” and screenwriter Peter Straughan (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”) create an icy yet riveting understanding of conflict in the feature, boosting Harris’s plotting through exceptional technical credits and some of the best ensemble acting of the year. “Conclave” surprises with its potency, and it has a few ideas to share about the human condition and the state of God’s influence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2022’s “Smile” has an interesting release history. Originally created for streaming audiences, the movie managed to knock ‘em dead at test screenings, forcing the suits at Paramount Pictures to take the feature seriously, granting it a theatrical release. “Smile” went on to become the third highest grossing film of the year for the studio. Naturally, now there’s “Smile 2,” with writer/director Parker Finn and his production team returning to see if there’s truly franchise life in the brand name. The helmer doesn’t take any bold creative risks with the follow-up, committing to what’s essentially a remake of the previous offering, returning to the creeping madness of a young woman encountering a force of evil she doesn’t understand, ruining her life in the process. “Smile 2” is much too long and repetitive, quickly becoming a series of jump scares in need of a better script. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Anna Kendrick has certainly made an effort to try different things in recent years. She pays the bills in movies about singing and dancing trolls, but she’s also branching out dramatically, giving one of her finest performances in 2022’s “Alice, Darling,” a tale of domestic abuse, and she returns to the dangers of predatory men in “Woman of the Hour.” Kendrick assumes control of the endeavor, making her directorial debut with this tale of serial killer Rodney Alcala and his obsession with making his female victims suffer. It’s a true crime tale given many interesting angles in Ian McDonald’s screenplay, while Kendrick offers a confident study of unusual menace and Female Experience frustration, doing particularly well during moments of suspense. “Woman of the Hour” isn’t graphic, but it’s strong stuff, summoning genuine cinematic horror as it details the real-world tale of a vicious man and his smooth-talking ways. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Experimental filmmaker Guy Maddin has spent his career creating peculiar movies for art-house audiences. He’s in love with the dreamlike possibilities of cinema, maintaining a sense of humor and bold visuals to bring his creations to life. He’s been away from screens for quite some time (2017’s “The Green Fog” was his last project), and he returns with perhaps his most accessible undertaking yet in “Rumours,” examining the strangeness of an apocalyptic event occurring during the G7 gathering of world leaders. Maddin doesn’t come alone, joined by collaborators Evan and Galen Johnson, and the trio is out to craft a disorienting journey into ego, power, and panic with the effort, which also aims to be a comedy, at least for the most part. “Rumours” is a little bit of everything, and while it does get a tad fatigued, it remains a periodically hilarious and fantastically performed offering of oddity from a helmer who just loves the stuff. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There have been several cinematic examinations of fraternity life over the last decade (including “Haze,” “Goat,” “Pledge” and “Burning Sands”), with most putting emphasis on the violence of hazing and how it connects to the college experience for some intimately involved in the process. “The Line” inspects such ugliness and physical harm, but there’s more to the endeavor than a simple show of cruelty in the name of brotherhood. Co-writer/director Ethan Berger looks to delve a little deeper into frat house life, following one young man’s experience with routine and isolation as he tries to achieve a brighter future through connections, not necessarily relationships. “The Line” doesn’t go to expected places until the final act, leaving the rest of the feature an intense, interesting character study about denial, supported by a cast immersing themselves in complex parts. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There are zombie movies for every occasion, and writer/director Lowell Dean is taking his shot with “Die Alone,” mixing elements of pandemic life and a depiction of a monstrous threat. Dean is the mastermind behind the “WolfCop” saga, but he sobers up in his latest endeavor, shying away from any kind of silliness. Instead, it’s a dire tale of desperation set in a ruined world, becoming a sort of “Memento”-ish take on memory and confusion, and a little horror is periodically tossed into the mix. “Die Alone” gets a bit too wrapped up in its mystery of clarity, leading to some storytelling inertia, but Dean is generally dedicated to landing his overall idea. There’s a satisfying payoff for all the bewilderment that comes along during the viewing experience, which helps the picture capture emotions and provide answers while the helmer toys with the details of this mixed up sense of reality. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Ant Timpson delivered a charmingly oddball picture in 2019’s “Come to Daddy,” willing to explore dark material and a sense of humor, also giving star Elijah Wood something to play in a particularly anxious character. Timpson and Wood reteam for “Bookworm,” which is more of a family film that tries very hard to avoid becoming a Taika Waititi production despite sharing many similar qualities and quirks with the “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” helmer. The movie offers a mild adventure instead, with Timpson and screenwriter Toby Harvard setting up a hunting mission for the main players, spending more time exploring their emotional states and the strengthening of their bond, and that doesn’t always result in the most engrossing study of understanding. “Bookworm” has its charms, and a few turns of plot are welcome, but it’s not a lively examination of connection, as Timpson is content to bring the endeavor to a slow boil instead. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While primarily valued for her work in intense dramas, Laura Dern gets a chance to enjoy her time with cinematic fluff in “Lonely Planet.” It’s the new film from writer/director Susannah Grant, who hasn’t made a movie since 2006’s middling “Catch and Release,” and she’s not taking on a major creative challenge with the feature. It’s vacation destination time for the cast and crew, with the material exploring the magical ways of Morocco, which carries a special influence over the lead characters as they engage in the slow simmer of mutual attraction. There’s little in “Lonely Planet” that thrills, with Grant going for an easy lay-up with the picture, as it primarily deals with easily solvable problems facing people who seem to lack basic human understanding at times. But there’s Dern, who tries to bring some feeling to the endeavor, and her effort is appreciable in an otherwise bland offering of romance and pretty views. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Brad Anderson has made some interesting pictures during his career, collecting a cineaste following with his work on 2004’s “The Machinist” and 2001’s “Session 9.” He’s known for more thoughtful storytelling with heavy emphasis on mood, but Anderson goes the B-movie route with “The Silent Hour,” which borrows elements from “Die Hard” to explore a panicky afternoon for a cop and the witness he’s trying to protect. It’s a study of survival that almost entirely takes place in an empty apartment building, and the screenplay by Dan Hall offers something a little different, adding hearing impaired characters to the situation. Anderson and Hall provide a blessedly simple take on chase cinema with “The Silent Hour,” and it scores with moments of suspense and intimidation. Acting is also strong, with leads Sandra Mae Frank and Joel Kinnaman (who played a mute man in last year’s “Silent Night”) delivering intense performances to help sell the pressure of the violent hunt. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Apprentice” is trying to create some noise during an already noisy election season, but one has to ask: who is this film really for? It’s reminiscent of the first few years of the COVID-19 pandemic, when moviemakers were determined to create tales of sickness and woe when viewers already had plenty of that in their lives. Is there anything left about the world of Donald Trump that needs illumination? For screenwriter Gabriel Sherman (“Independence Day: Resurgence”), the answer is yes, working with director Ali Abbasi (“Holy Spider”) to create a portrait of Trump’s formative years in the 1980s, where, under the tutelage of lawyer Roy Cohn, he went from a pushover man of business to a show of force as a celebrity and real estate overlord. The details aren’t new, as Trump has enjoyed sustained media coverage for the last 45 years, but the execution is a little wobbly. “The Apprentice” is a bizarre picture, and not a particularly inviting viewing experience, with Abbasi teetering on the edge of making a “Saturday Night Live” short with the endeavor, though he is supported by committed performances from the cast. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s a quick way to describe what kind of viewing experience “Caddo Lake” provides: it’s produced by M. Night Shyamalan. A filmmaker with a profound love for twists, turns, and behavioral oddity is here to support writer/directors Celine Held and Logan George as they attempt to generate their own journey into the knotted ways of time. The story follows two characters as they fight to understand a different sense of reality found in local swampland, and the helmers are surprisingly patient while building this world of relationships and private pain. It takes some time for the material to find its way to its first major disorientation challenge, slowly creating a sense of time and space before attempting to rattle viewer minds. The reward for such patience is a decently compelling ride of panic and mystery, with “Caddo Lake” (which was shot three years ago) certainly attempting to generate a brain-bleeder with a bit more emotional pressure than what’s usually found in this type of tale. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com