“Spirited” is a strange film. It’s the umpteenth take on “A Christmas Carol,” though it has a distinct mission to become the next “Scrooged,” hoping to hip up the material with a modern take on lost hearts and regrets. It’s a musical featuring a cast not known for their singing prowess (or their ability to sing at all), working the Auto-Tune team so hard, they should be eligible for a special Academy Award. And the feature is written by John Morris and Sean Anders (who also directs), with the duo in charge of comedy, coming off their work on “Daddy’s Home” and “Daddy’s Home 2.” “Spirited” has major a creative mountain to climb, and the production just doesn’t have the stamina to make the journey, relying on routine performances from Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell and big Broadway energy to work through this 127-minute-long lump of coal. It’s a noisy, unfunny mess of moods, and while Anders delivers choreography and holiday sentiment, he’s not making a movie here, he’s chasing one. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2018’s “Black Panther” wasn’t just a hit film. It truly reached inside viewers, hitting highs of empowerment and representation few superhero movies will ever achieve. It became a phenomenon, performing way beyond expectations while transforming star Chadwick Boseman into an icon, going on to reprise the role of T’Challa in subsequent “Avengers” adventures. Alas, a true “Black Panther” sequel was not meant to be, with Boseman passing away in 2020, leaving producers without a lead character and the Marvel Cinematic Universe without one of its mightiest warriors. This is the challenge for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which has to figure out a new path for the brand name, with co-writers Joe Robert Cole and Ryan Coogler (who also directs) attempting to modify franchise plans, hoping to find some form of a future for a series that lost its most prized participant. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Paradise City” is being sold as a grand reunion between actors John Travolta and Bruce Willis, who last co-starred in 1994’s “Pulp Fiction.” Only the feature isn’t really about reuniting the stars, who only appear in a few scenes together, instead using this marquee value to lure audiences into a tepid tale of crime and punishment. Indeed, this is no major production, but another streaming-ready special from co-screenwriters Corey Large and Edward Drake, who’ve been pumping out wretched Willis films for years now (most recently in the instantly forgettable “Detective Knight: Rogue”), and they return with “Paradise City,” this time with director Chuck Russell (“The Mask”), who hasn’t made a thrilling movie since the Clinton Administration. Travolta and Willis are certainly in the picture, just not for very long, with the rest of the screenplay devoted to younger characters and their exploration of Maui, which is the setting for this investigative tale of bad guys doing bad things around glorious tropical locations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

What “Bar Fight” initially promises to be and what it eventually becomes are two wildly different things. Such tonal instability is not easy to endure during the film, which opens with some hope that a farce could potentially break out, dealing with a war between ex-lovers and their attempt to secure separate visiting rights to their favorite watering hole. Writer/director Jim Mahoney makes his feature-length helming debut with the endeavor, and he’s trying to throw a screen party with the effort, offering some pleasant shenanigans with a variety of characters. However, “Bar Fight” makes a critical error in judgment, losing steam as it begins to believe viewers are here to fall in love with these personalities. That’s not the case, leaving the picture severely underwhelming, skipping on sustained laughs to pretend there’s some kind of heart at the core of this cartoon. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Nobody likes to speak about nepotism in Hollywood, but here’s a film that’s hoping to entice viewers with its casting of real-life parents and their children. “Sam & Kate” brings together Dustin and Jake Hoffman, and Sissy Spacek and Schuyler Fisk, with the foursome tasked to play dramatic interpretations of intimate relationships, and perhaps some degree of biographical influence is in the mix as well. Writer/director Darren Le Gallo highlights the sometimes troubling, sometimes kind interactions between generations, also massaging in a small-time love story about shattered people trying to find their footing again. “Sam & Kate” has a mild form of stunt casting to call attention to the production, but the performances are genuine, and the screenplay offers some raw emotions to communicate. It’s not the most compelling picture, but Le Gallo has a way with softer moments and harsh realities, working to limit the coziness of the endeavor as much as possible. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For their fifth production, animation studio Cartoon Saloon continues their streak of filmmaking excellence with “My Father’s Dragon,” which follows such masterpieces as 2020’s “Wolfwalkers” and 2014’s “Song of the Sea.” However, the company slightly changes their artistic vision for their latest creation, heading in a Disney-ish direction with the endeavor, which is a loose adaptation of a 1948 book by author Ruth Stiles Gannett. Typically drawn to slightly more serious tales of life and death, Cartoon Saloon offers a bouncier feature with “My Father’s Dragon,” which highlights high adventure for a boy trying to cling to life as he once knew it, entering a fantasy land of wild creatures. Director Nora Twomey (“The Breadwinner”) oversees a mighty animation effort for the picture, which is absolutely gorgeous and deeply charming, whipping along with storytelling speed, giving the production company another creative triumph to go with the rest of their gems. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s fitting that a bio-pic of “Weird Al” Yankovic doesn’t contain a single authentically biographical moment from his life. “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” isn’t out to deliver an honest overview of the subject’s life and times, it’s a “Funny or Die” co-production, presenting not just an exaggerated take on Yankovic’s career, but a complete farce concerning the twists and turns of his existence. It’s in the tradition of “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” delivering a parody of bio-pics for the master of song parodies, turning his experiences into an operatic understanding of career determination and the intoxication of ego. “Weird” is often hilarious and always on the prowl for silly business, with director Eric Appel (who co-scripts with Yankovic) really going wild with this examination of one man’s quest to win the world over with his accordion and love of wordplay, facing incredible odds against his success and physical threats from Pablo Escobar. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“I’m Totally Fine” examines the difficulties and the pleasures of friendship, approaching the subject from a sci-fi/dramedy angle. It highlights the interests of an alien who’s arrived on Earth to study a human, emerging in the form of a recently deceased friend, which greatly complicates the scientific experience for both of the characters. There’s a lot of the John Carpenter masterpiece “Starman” in the screenplay by Alisha Ketry, but director Brandon Dermer (a music video veteran) is making a different kind of love story, using an amusingly strange situation to explore relationships and the complexity of longtime unions. “I’m Totally Fine” does a terrific job managing silly and serious business, and leads Jillian Bell and Natalie Morales provide outstanding performances, keeping the movie relatable and real while still going for laughs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director James Gray is not known for making films that elicit an emotional response. He’s a technical moviemaker who always seems to enjoy the process of production more than the urgency of storytelling, but he’s made some wonderful pictures during his lengthy career. He was last seen on the Moon in 2019’s “Ad Astra,” a space adventure that explored the strange ways of fathers and sons, and he returns to Earth for another round of patriarchal influence in “Armageddon Time,” which takes viewers to the bleak days of 1980, when Ronald Reagan was about to assume control of the United States and privileged moneymen of the country were teaching the youth that hard work and integrity were the only keys to success. “Armageddon Time” is typical Gray in many ways, exploring family ties and crises of conscience, but he offers a more tender understanding of growing up and growing aware, reaching a little deeper within to connect with viewers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Martin McDonagh typically makes very small pictures about darkly comedic events, embracing opportunities to surprise viewers with deep character work. His last feature turned out to be a very big deal, with 2017’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” overcoming indie film expectations to become one of the best movies of the year, eventually riding success to major box office and Oscar gold for two of its actors. Suddenly, McDonagh was exposed to the bright industry light and all the temptations that come with it. It’s heartening to see the helmer refusing to give in to big-budget ideas with his follow-up, “The Banshees of Inisherin,” with his latest perhaps his grimmest effort yet, asking audiences to be patient with a tale of a broken friendship and the unusual forms of violence it generates. It’s a small-scale understanding of troubled relationships, brought to life with exemplary performances and sharp screenwriting, keeping the bleak tone of the endeavor approachable in a way that’s pure McDonagh. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Two years ago, director Lorcan Finnegan and screenwriter Garret Shanley collaborated on “Vivarium,” putting together a highly weird picture that handled with “Twilight Zone” energy, exploring a special unreality tied to the demands of domesticity and relationships. It worked to a certain degree, with the duo putting together an unusual feature with a distinct visual approach, enjoying the creation of a cinematic puzzle for more adventurous viewers. Shanley and Finnegan are back with “Nocebo,” and they haven’t shaken their storytelling interests, returning with another mystery of motivation and possible insanity with this tale of a medicinal journey involving two shattered women. “Nocebo” shares many of the shortcomings that kept “Vivarium” from greatness, but there’s much here to appreciate, including an original take on menace and discomfort, and performances are always compelling, adding to a sense of threat the production occasionally struggles to maintain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Mel Gibson’s career as of late hasn’t inspired a lot of faith in his ability to pick scripts tailored to his talents as an actor. There was one notable exception in 2020’s “Fatman,” but the last few years have been strange for the performer, as he’s mostly pursuing forgettable parts in mediocre-to-terrible films, looking to make big bucks for a minimal amount of effort. There’s nothing technically wrong with paycheck gigs, but it’s been disheartening to watch Gibson flounder with crummy projects. “On the Line” initially promises to be more of a thespian challenge for the star, tasked with playing a curdled radio host dragged through a torturous evening by a mystery tormentor, and the first hour highlights an alert and eager Gibson, who seems invested in the material. Writer/director Romuald Boulanger doesn’t reward such dedication, pursuing a specific conclusion to “On the Line” that’s guaranteed to irritate most viewers, offering little reward after a reasonably tense introduction. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2020’s “Enola Holmes” became a big hit for Netflix, entertaining family audiences with its semi-spirited take on the YA book franchise by author Nancy Springer. Cinema history is packed with detective stories featuring Sherlock Holmes, but Enola permitted the production to approach sleuthing from a younger POV, with “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown accepting the challenge of portraying a wily teenager trying to find her own way as a detective, looking to get out of her older brother’s sizable shadow. “Enola Holmes” had issues with pace and overlength, but it did eagerly launch a franchise, and now there’s “Enola Holmes 2,” which continues the story of the kid detective, giving her a new case to solve and personal relationships to sort out. Nothing has been radically altered here, as the sequel is built to delight the same viewers who approved of the first chapter, delivering a serviceable game for the eponymous character and her more famous sibling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Daniel Stamm has made this movie before. In 2010, Stamm guided “The Last Exorcism,” a low budget found footage picture about demonic possession, with the helmer trying to make something terrifying out of a format that generally repels scares. “The Last Exorcism” was a box office hit, preparing Stamm for bigger things in the industry. There was a thriller in 2014’s “13 Sins,” but nothing else of note, inspiring Stamm to return to the genre that provided his greatest success, delivering “Prey for the Devil” (shot over two years ago), which is another round of innocent things being tormented by the Devil and his dirty tricks. It’s not exactly a creative challenge, but Stamm strives to make a more emotionally grounded, character-based take on the violence of the situation and how it touches on the lives of those committed to the mission to cast out Satan whenever he appears. Unfortunately, “Prey for the Devil” is more of a T.V. pilot than a cinematic event, with Stamm keeping the endeavor in neutral, skipping chances to make this dull effort more frightening, or at least more gripping. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As the Halloween experience comes to a close, it’s now the Christmas season, and what better way to celebrate than time with a picture about a tree that becomes possessed by the spirit of a dead serial killer, allowing the murderer to resume his rampage. Indeed, “The Killing Tree” is literally about a malevolent plant hoping to make Christmas miserable for the person who finally put a stop to their carnage, with writer Craig McLearie and director Rhys Frake-Waterfield (the upcoming “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey”) presenting a highly amusing idea in search of a watchable movie. “The Killing Tree” has the foundation for a camp classic spotlighting a wonderfully bizarre screen menace, but the production strangely avoids any sort of spirited engagement, lumbering along as a half-speed chiller that’s weirdly focused on characterization, and not the engrossing kind. Tree activity almost becomes an afterthought for the feature, which is certain to gift disappointment to anyone electing to spend time with a seriously unadventurous endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com