Charlie Day has been a professional actor for over 20 years, and with “Fool’s Paradise,” he makes the leap to direction, making his debut behind the camera. Day also handles screenwriting and acting duties, giving him a level of control over the endeavor, which asks audiences to embrace the replication of a Charlie Chaplin feature, with the production hoping to recreate the tone and tempo of a silent comedy while keeping the final cut distinctly 2023 in humor. There’s sizable labor put into the feature, and Day has called in a lot of favors to help fill out the cast, trying to keep the offering exciting as famous faces pop in for supporting roles and cameos. However, there’s a lot that’s fundamentally wrong with “Fool’s Paradise,” which wins points for ambition and homage, but is extremely difficult to sit through, despite Day’s best efforts to keep the whole thing racing along with absurdity and satiric targets. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” isn’t a beat-by-beat documentary exploring the actor’s life and times. There are books and interviews if one is interested in more of a biographical approach. What director Davis Guggenheim (“He Named Me Malala,” “It Might Get Loud”) is after is the experience of being with Michael J. Fox and being Michael J. Fox, with the Canadian achieving rare global success in television and film, making him a ubiquitous presence in the media, but he’s also famous for his battle with Parkinson’s disease, still managing his condition in a public way 33 years after his diagnosis. “Still” covers the basics in career highlights, getting a feel for such an impressive rocket ride to stardom, but it’s also intimate and patient with the subject, who’s open to providing a glimpse into his daily life, giving viewers a chance to see what Parkinson’s looks like and how Fox processes its physical and emotional challenges, sharing his thoughts with the director in this moving, funny, and illuminating film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2018’s “Book Club” was not a film to be casually approached. There had to be absolute certainty when purchasing a ticket, which granted access to a highly bizarre feature about four grown women going through various difficulties in their lives, unified in friendship and sexual response to the ways of the novel “Fifty Shades of Grey.” It was like a Lifetime Channel version of “Porky’s,” but with a stiffer sense of mischief and looser grip on broad behavior. “Book Club” managed to find something of an audience, at least enough to inspire a sequel five years later, with returning writer/director Bill Holderman trying his luck again with “Book Club: The Next Chapter.” The helmer tones down supremely awkward raunchiness this time around, which helps the cause, but he’s still stuck in bigness mode, keeping things distinctly sitcom with four talented actresses trying to perform every line like they were selling used cars. “The Next Chapter” is an improvement in a few ways, but once again, you must understand the viewing experience ahead to really get the most out of it. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Andrea Pallaoro makes a deeply personal film with “Monica,” but refuses any invitation to burn away the delicate nature of the story with grotesque overkill. It’s a nuanced, patient tale of a unique reunion, following the eponymous character as she returns home after years away, learning how to care for her sick mother and deal with all the pain shared between the two. It’s a character study, and an emotional one, with Pallaoro taking his time with the endeavor, working to get under the skin of the people involved, who share an experience together, but reunite as strangers. The picture is outstanding, but the real surprise is lead actress Trace Lysette, who really gets to spread her wings with the material, showcasing remarkable dramatic capability and screen authority in this, her first starring role. She makes the movie feel alive and real, helping Pallaoro find those deep places of contemplation as her character experiences a reawakening. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While the major studios prepare to release several high-profile family films for the summer season, smaller charms and creative achievements are found in “Rally Road Racers,” which hopes to offer a passable distraction for young viewers. It’s a somewhat lively study of car race dreams and high pursuit on crazy, video-game inspired tracks, with writer/director Ross Venokur trying to deliver something exciting with broad cartoon action and wacky characters engaged in all kinds of mischief and antagonism. There’s a chance for Venokur to make something high-flying with the inherent need for speed found in the story, but he mostly sticks to screenwriting formula, keeping the viewing experience familiar for those who’ve seen many of these pictures before. Kids will be more responsive to what “Rally Road Racers” has to offer, but select moments of silliness are fun, making one wish the whole thing was comfortable with a breezy take on speed demon antics. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Everyone loves a good “Die Hard” knockoff, but the trick is that the film has to put in the effort to be worthy of the John McClane saga, and this includes the latter “Die Hard” sequels. “Mercy” is the latest production hoping to deliver the action goods with a similar plot of a lone hero going up against invading terrorists in a single location, and while the screenplay by Alex Wright (“Nantucket Noel,” “Christmas in Rome,” “A Family Christmas Gift”) liberally lifts the vibe of the 1988 action cinema masterpiece, it’s not entirely clear if Wright was really paying attention to the specifics of “Die Hard” while replicating it for this B-movie. “Mercy” has the story and the setting, but director Tony Dean Smith (“Volition”) doesn’t have the pace or the right amount of punishment with the endeavor, which goes too soft too quickly, unable to shake its low-budget limitations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Jim Strouse made a positive impression with his last two features, guiding 2015’s “People Places Things” and 2017’s “The Incredible Jessica James” to big hearts and sizable laughs, positioning him as a helmer to watch, especially with smaller, more human tales of love and confusion. However, indie film work has its professional limitations, with Strouse trying on a studio project for size with “Love Again,” which is a remake of a 2016 German picture, detailing the experiences of two strangers who find each other through text-based confessions, leading to a romance that’s built on a big issue of trust. “Love Again” isn’t an event movie, but it does have some scale thanks to a supporting turn from Celine Dion, and the material plays to Strouse’s strengths with its presentation of wounded souls. Typical romantic comedy shallowness isn’t completely avoided, but the material makes a serviceable attempt to highlight human concerns, and chemistry with leads Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan is pleasant enough to lift the endeavor up when it needs it. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After sitting through the opening 15 minutes of “Johnny & Clyde,” I’m sure most viewers will ask themselves the same question: Am I watching a sequel? Co-writer/director Tom DeNucci (joined by 26 producers) doesn’t put any care into character introduction and storytelling is something beyond his capabilities, instead throwing all kinds of faces, places, and information at the screen in the hopes something will stick. There’s no information readily available that lists the endeavor as a follow-up to another movie, but anything is possible, and the majority of “Johnny & Clyde” certainly acts like the second chapter of a crime saga, and one with interest in fantasy elements while running through the same old business with thrill-killers. It’s an unwatchable mess, sure to be one of the worst films of 2023, but perhaps this is what DeNucci is going for, but that would be giving him credit for this jumble of noise and colors, and he hasn’t earned such consideration. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Shekar Kapur, the director of 1998’s “Elizabeth” and its 2007 sequel, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” returns to duty after a 15-year-long break from big screen storytelling with “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” Shedding interest in historical dramas, Kapur joins screenwriter Jemima Khan for this study of arranged marriages and challenges with true love, endeavoring to make something that deals with authentic relationship issues while still hoping to remain approachable as a study of a tentative romance. “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” (which doesn’t have anything to do with the Tina Turner hit, but try explaining that to your brain) has the opportunity to say something meaningful about ongoing battles between the heart and mind, but the production isn’t courageous enough to really offer an honest assessment of near-misses when it comes to relationships, eventually turning to a to-do list of cliches just to make sure the material meets expectations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The Guardians of the Galaxy haven’t exactly been lying around since the release of ‘Vol. 2” back in 2017, with the space gang caught up in Avengers business while spending some time with Thor and his personal issues. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” looks to return the team to full screen power with a new sequel, but something is a little off with their latest adventure. Writer/director James Gunn made a positive impression with his buoyant vision for the first two chapters of the series, but his instincts for merriment and space opera are dulled for “Vol. 3,” which emerges as an angrier, noisier, and sadder turn for the MCU, with Gunn straining for emotional manipulation as he makes his usual mess of things in the comic book realm. Joyfulness that was present before is mostly gone here (along with more decisive editing), keeping the viewing experience only intermittently appealing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s controversy whenever Disney elects to create a live-action version of one of their animated films. The company isn’t exactly interested in creativity with these offerings, with most emerging as impressive technical achievements content to rehash the same story for a young audience (think “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King”). And then there was 2016’s “Pete’s Dragon,” with co-writer/director David Lowery endeavoring to do something different than the original 1977 musical, finding freshness and big heart in his remake opportunity, emerging with the best of the Disney do-overs. Lowery returns with a true career challenge, dealing with the oft-told tale of J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan.” There’s been enough media devoted to Neverland happenings over the last century, putting the helmer in a difficult position of invention. “Peter Pan and Wendy” doesn’t stray far enough from the basics of Barrie’s world and Disney’s 1953 animated offering, but it finds ways to restore a little magic to the tale, and it’s newly focused on the emotional health of the characters, which keeps it interesting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com