A modest adaptation of a Jane Harper novel, 2020’s “The Dry” managed to find an audience during pandemic times, emerging as a box office hit while restoring some faith in the acting talents of star Eric Bana. Taking on the role of Detective Aaron Falk, Bana handled the complex emotions of the character with skill, also finding his place in co-writer/director Robert Connolly’s atmospheric approach, exploring the ways of small town life, especially when stained by past mistakes. Aaron returns in “Force of Nature: The Dry 2,” once again facing potential mistakes and memories from a time long ago, with Bana offering a study of pain and restlessness, newly joined by a supporting cast of personalities all dealing with secrets and lies. “Force of Nature” is more of a mystery and a survival film, but Connolly (who also scripts) commits to finding some raw relationships and psychological wounds to examine, again following Harper’s lead as he tracks various subplots during the run time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Frank Berry examines the experience of asylum seekers in “Aisha,” a drama that doesn’t sugarcoat the endurance trial of the process. Instead of making a documentary about the subject, Berry looks to go dramatic, following one Nigerian woman’s journey into various living spaces around Ireland and legal entanglements involving her case, often dealing with a system that doesn’t exactly know what to do with her. There’s time for tenderness as well, though the feature isn’t interested in romance. It’s more about companionship and support during an extended waiting period, with Berry exploring all the turbulent feelings and frustration in play. “Aisha” doesn’t offer big swings of drama, electing to remain muted and real, allowing star Letitia Wright to find her way through troubling developments and cruel realities involved in the main character’s case. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“KillRoy Was Here” is an attempt from co-writer/director Kevin Smith to create his own movie maniac. In this case, he takes inspiration from a famous offering of graffiti art from World War II (identified in the effort as “the first meme”), turning a doodle into a dangerous individual, and one who has a special relationship with children, often protecting them from harm. KillRoy in history and popular culture makes sense. “KillRoy Was Here” often doesn’t. It’s an anthology feature that feels unfinished, delivering four tales of terror(?) involving various predators doing their worst in Florida, with prey looking to the fury of a monster to help right all the wrongs. Smith and co-writer Andrew McElfresh (“White Chicks”) have an idea for the creature, but they don’t have a picture to back it up, with the endeavor’s short run time (63 minutes) turning into a long slog of half-baked chapters and no-budget filmmaking. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Prom Dates” is a teen comedy that’s like many teen comedies. Screenwriter D.J. Mausner has a to-do list of cliches to follow while creating the usual in situations of humiliation and conflict. What could be here is an effort to veer off course just a little bit, either in silliness or heart, giving viewers a taste of freshness to go with all the familiar antics. But that doesn’t happen in the film, which follows a nightmare evening of exposure as two high school seniors scramble to find prom dates at the very last minute. “Prom Dates” initially wants to be a farce, albeit a crude one, and some offerings of high-speed tomfoolery are welcome, but Mausner doesn’t color outside the lines with this one, and director Kim O. Nguyen struggles to find the right balance between silliness and sincerity, doing little to alleviate the sameness of this mediocre endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2007, stand-up comic and television star Jerry Seinfeld decided to try his luck in the film business, overseeing the creation of “Bee Movie.” It was an odd offering of family entertainment, and rarely was it laugh-out-loud funny, remaining a curious creative choice. Seinfeld is back on screen with “Unfrosted,” reteaming with his “Bee Movie” writers (Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, and Andy Robin) to make a farce out of breakfast food history, screwing around with the details concerning the development of Pop-Tarts. It’s a battle of industry titans, with the material attempting to turn the war between Kellogg’s and Post into a zany affair packed with cameos and visual reminders of the 1960s. And, again, rarely is it laugh-out-loud funny. Seinfeld takes a starring role in the endeavor, also directing “Unfrosted,” giving him almost full control of the picture, which tries hard to be wacky and snappy, but the silliness of it all is mostly mild. At least until it turns borderline tasteless. Much like the toaster pastries celebrated in the feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Directors Spenser Cohen (co-writer of “Moonfall”) and Anna Halberg make their feature-length debut with “Tarot,” following a path of industry introduction traversed by many, going the low-budget horror route to generate a first impression. An adaptation of a 1992 YA novel (titled “Horrorscope”), the picture plays it safe to appeal to a teenage demographic, exploring the escalation of doom that arrives when a pack of college kids elect to mess around with a cursed tarot card deck. It’s slasher cinema working with a dull knife, but there are some technical achievements worth a look in the film, especially when more violent experiences arrive in the story. “Tarot” is very familiar, putting young people in peril, while supernatural forces provide Cohen and Halberg with opportunities to stage shock imagery and arrange sequences of torment. Seasoned genre vets will be well ahead of the endeavor, which is primarily meant to spook younger viewers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

David Leitch was once a stunt professional who managed to advance in the film industry. He became a director of action movies, with some quite appealing (“Deadpool 2” and “Atomic Blonde”), while others…were not (“Hobbs & Shaw,” “Bullet Train”). However, focus on physical activity is always central to his helming pursuits, and his latest, “The Fall Guy,” doesn’t deviate from this career plan, only the idea here is to celebrate the world of stunt performers, shining the spotlight on those who take a beating to help dazzle audiences. “The Fall Guy” takes its title and some ideas from a popular Lee Majors television show from the early 1980s, but Leitch and screenwriter Drew Pearce (“Iron Man 3,” “Hobbs & Shaw”) go their own way with the rest of the endeavor, which attempts to blend romance and roughness, desperate to remain lovable while stumbling through floppy dialogue exchanges and permissive performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There was a short amount of time when Hollywood was extremely interested in making movies based on novels by author John Green. 2014’s “The Fault in Our Stars” and 2015’s “Paper Towns” attempted to charm young audiences with depictions of hard love and tough feelings, and box office was booming, promising more to come. Other projects came and went, but “Turtles All the Way Down” plays like a focused attempt to reclaim momentum with Green’s audience, with screenwriters Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker working to bring the 2017 book to the screen with emphasis on teen concerns and messy psychological issues. It’s a particularly itchy story to tell, dealing with the suffocating ways of obsessive-compulsive disorder and personal loss, and there’s a lot of ground to cover in just under two hours. Director Hannah Marks (“Don’t Make Me Go”) can’t get her arms completely around the material, especially in the final act, but she crafts an engaging study of relationships and fears, giving “Turtles All the Way Down” some sense of emotional urgency along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Mars Express” is a French production from co-writer/director Jeremie Perin, who brings viewers into a future where the line between robot and human has been blurred. The feature is a low-budget endeavor with big creativity driving it, delivering a sci-fi tale of extinction with neo-noir elements, giving the detective story routine a different spin. Perin is attentive to the needs of his audience, keeping the picture active with futureworld sights and periodic blasts of action. However, there’s a human core to the film which is most impressive, as Perin and co-writer Laurent Sarfati aim to generate a deeper understanding of emotional ties with complex characters. Such attention to detail really helps “Mars Express” achieve dramatic satisfaction and land a few surprises along the way, making for a more meaningful sit, though the sleek visuals also have their tremendous appeal as well. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s been some suggestion that Robinne Lee’s 2017 novel, “The Idea of You,” is actually fan fiction detailing an obsession with the boy band One Direction, with particular attention on member Harry Styles. Lee’s denied this, but the premise has a certain focus that’s suspiciously specific, telling the tale of a 40-year-old woman falling into a torrid love affair with a 24-year-old singer who’s part of a music industry machine. Screenwriters Jennifer Westfeldt and Michael Showalter (who also directs) have a chance to turn fantasy into a more inviting reality with their adaptation, but they’re tasked with pleasing literary fans who enjoy getting lost in this type of material. It’s a mix of soap opera and deep feelings that’s not always balanced well by the writing, which delivers a little heat, but also cranks up the cringe at times, disrupting intended intimacy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

One has to wonder what the holidays are like in the Cronenberg household. Iconic director David Cronenberg has generated a family business with his offspring, as son Brandon has helmed three pictures (including 2023’s “Infinity Pool”), and now daughter Caitlin makes her feature-length directorial debut with “Humane,” building on her celebrated photography career. Keeping up with her father and brother, Caitlin offers her own slice of doom with the endeavor, which follows the events of a special family gathering during the ecological collapse of Earth, studying relationships and hostilities while facing an impossible time of decision and accusation. “Humane” is a dark comedy, a funny one at times, and Cronenberg shows skill with performances and tone, going to some rather bleak places cooked up by screenwriter Michael Sparaga. It’s a bizarre film, but one that holds attention with its sinister sense of humor and authentic sense of sibling resentment, which launches a most askew thriller. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Unsung Hero” is a movie produced by the Christian group For King & Country, with singer Joel Smallbone taking co-writing and co-directing credits, also starring in the feature, playing his own father. And yet, the endeavor is not about the formation of For King & Country. The material attempts to provide an origin story for the whole Smallbone gang, with the Australian family’s move to America in 1991 used as the plot for the picture, which is primarily about the development of singer Rebecca Smallbone (a.k.a. Rebecca St. James). “Unsung Hero” is a faith-based effort, with the celebration of God important to the production, but Smallbone and co-writer/co-helmer Richard Ramsey are also interested in making a commercial for Smallbone family projects. The film is labeled a “true story,” but all the rough edges of life have been sanded down, with the writing unwilling to supply the target demographic with a more substantial understanding of sacrifice and faith. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com