It has been suggested that production for “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” began to protect a loss of film rights, with another batch of J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired big screen adventures being cooked up for release in a few years. Instead of speeding up the timetable on these endeavors, Warner Brothers and Peter Jackson’s WingNut Films have decided to turn to the world of anime to help extend contractual power. This style of animation is usually cheap to produce and carries a passionate fanbase, allowing the producers to continue to explore the stories of Middle Earth while remaining, visually, in a fantasy realm that doesn’t require the expense of live-action moviemaking to create. “The War of the Rohirrim” is scripted by Jeffrey Addiss, Will Mathews, Phoebe Gittins, and Arty Papageorgiou, who attempt to expand on mere ideas from Tolkien, hoping to generate a tale of conflict and family capable of satisfying the die-hard “Ring”-ers. Perhaps the offering is successful in this regard, but it doesn’t carry a thunderous cinematic presence, as the inherent thinness of the animation tends to undermine its quest to provide towering visuals. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Jaume Collet-Serra once specialized in making mid-range genre pictures, favoring thrillers such as “Non-Stop,” “Run All Night,” and “The Commuter.” He decided to head for the big leagues in recent years, going the monster-budget route in “Jungle Cruise” and “Black Adam,” only to find audience rejection and disappointing box office. Collet-Serra is back in B-movie mode with “Carry-On,” which follows the panicky efforts of a TSA agent trying to stop a terrorist from getting a weapon onto a plane on Christmas Eve. Say what you will about 1990’s “Die Hard 2,” but the feature knew how to use its airport setting and retained a tremendous appreciation for hard violence and enjoyable absurdity. “Carry-On” starts off with promise, getting about an hour’s worth of suspense and escalation in before it goes bananas, and not in a fun way. Instead, the helmer and screenwriter T.J. Fixman (“Ratchet & Clank”) offer overkill, ruining a decent attempt to mount a dangerous game of intimidation in a most exposed setting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Martin Campbell and actress Eva Green previously collaborated on 2006’s “Casino Royale,” helping to bring the world of James Bond back to life with new star Daniel Craig. They reteam for “Dirty Angels,” and Green is promoted from damsel-in-distress to fierce warrior mode, portraying a haunted U.S. soldier receiving a chance for some payback as she leads a team on a rescue mission in Pakistan. Green isn’t the first performer that comes to mind when considering one-woman-army roles, and she’s miscast here, struggling to supply a stable accent and certain fury for a production that needs a little screen authority. “Dirty Angels” (a bizarre title) isn’t a slam-bang ride of revenge, and Campbell doesn’t show any personality in his work, overseeing a routine actioner that has a few moments of aggression, but mostly remains in planning mode, becoming dull instead of thrilling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Luca Guadagnino is keeping busy these days. Last spring saw the release of “Challengers,” which managed to find an audience for its sexually charged understanding of friendship, rivalry, and lust. He returns to screens in “Queer,” taking on another challenge of sensuality and psychological unrest, attempting to bring the world of William S. Burroughs to life with screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes. The adaptation material is a 1985 novella from the author, and 160 pages is turned into a 137-minute-long picture that surveys special feelings and relationships while the characters kill time in Mexico during the 1950s. Guadagnino typically makes specialized features for certain viewers, and he doesn’t deviate from his formula in “Queer,” working to extend what little story there is here, filling the offering with dreamlike visuals and pregnant pauses. For some, this descent into Burroughs-ville might be as restless as anticipated. Debatable creative adventuring aside, there’s not much to the endeavor, which carries on for far too long, following actors well out of their range. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2024 basically opened with “Madame Web,” a wretched film attempting to do something in the world of Spider-Man without actually having Spider-Man involved in it. And now the year closes with “Kraven the Hunter,” finding producers continuing their quest to explore comic book realms while forgoing anything approaching quality filmmaking. These spin-offs have been strange (including “Morbius” and the “Venom” trilogy), but this year has been especially tough on the senses, as Sony Pictures is seemingly unable to fully understand what kind of entertainment they want to make. “Kraven the Hunter” has a character of some note (dating back to his 1964 debut), but the production completely botches any study of superpowers, family history, and villainy, making for a shockingly lifeless viewing experience that gradually becomes an underwhelming actors convention. It’s tough to state that this is the worst of the not-quite-Spider-Man batch, but it’s darn close, as the whole movie is one big mess trying to stand up straight as a superhero epic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Unless the story involves some type of basketball showdown, the Looney Tunes gang doesn’t get many chances to prove their stuff on the big screen. Television is where the brand thrives, with generations of fans getting their fix of cartoon silliness, which makes the creation of “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” somewhat strange. Director Peter Browngardt and a slew of screenwriters try their luck with an extended offering of animated mayhem, this time focusing on the panicking antics of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, who get a shot to prove their box office appeal as the co-leads of the feature. Thankfully, the characters can handle the pressure, helping to make “The Day the Earth Blew Up” a periodically hilarious viewing experience, while Browngardt and his team offer striking, elastic visuals to support this goofy take on B-movie terror from the 1950s. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Earlier this month, there was “Unstoppable,” which told the story of Anthony Robles, a one-legged wrestler trying to make his way through the sport, dealing with all sorts of setbacks, including a violent home life. “The Fire Inside” is very similar, this time detailing the days of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, a teenage boxer attempting to survive her environment and learn from a coach who cares about her future. There’s formula in both pictures, and while “Unstoppable” was indeed stopped by familiarity, “The Fire Inside” makes a noticeable effort to get past cliché. The screenplay, by Barry Jenkins, strives to merge the rush of underdog cinema with the reality of disillusionment, offering a more textured appreciation of struggle and sacrifice. And director Rachel Morrison (a longtime cinematographer making her helming debut) knows how to capture such tricky tonality, overseeing a challenging understanding of flickering spirit, and the production finds some fresh dramatic avenues to explore. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Mike Leigh went uncharacteristically big in his last picture. Working under a sizable budget (for Leigh at least) and a different sense of scope, the helmer launched a historical epic in 2018’s “Peterloo,” but audiences weren’t very interested in watching the lengthy endeavor. Instead of trying to top himself, Leigh returns to the intimacies of a domestic drama in “Hard Truths,” which plays to his strengths as a storyteller favoring tough tales of distraught people recognizing the difficulties of their lives. Leigh doesn’t go easy on the audience with the effort, taking a close look at a woman managing all sorts of mental health issues while handling family demands. “Hard Truths” cuts to the core with its study of emotional and physical pain, and while the cast is exceptional here, the feature fully belongs to star Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who provides a full-body understanding of a calcified person unwilling to participate in the world any longer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Last Showgirl” is meant to be a comeback film for Pamela Anderson, giving her a “The Wrestler” moment where she can show off her acting chops in a story that deals with the cruel realities of aging, especially when the main character is faced with past glories. Anderson hasn’t really acted much in recent years, but her history of glamour and sexploitation is enough to inspire the screenplay by Kate Gersten (“The Good Place,” “Schmigadoon”), who creates a study of finality after decades of routine, putting a Las Vegas dancer through a difficult two weeks where her entire world shifts and, in some ways, sinks. “The Last Showgirl” makes odd choices as it unfolds, as director Gia Coppola (“Palo Alto,” “Mainstream,” “The Seven Faces of Jane”) is looking to feel the material instead of guide it, resulting in a few wayward scenes. However, shock present in the writing is fully understood, and whatever Anderson is capable of delivering is on-screen in the feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Nickle Boys” is an adaptation of a 2019 Colson Whitehead novel, which examined the horrible history of Dozier School, a Florida reform school that specialized in abusing students, using torture and murder to maintain control. The setting has been fictionalized, but the story remains close to real-world atrocities, as “Nickle Boys” attempts to turn such painful experiences into an eye-opening study of racism and violence, mixed with little moments of humanity and the dangerous ways of hope. Co-writer/director RaMell Ross (the excellent “Hale County This Morning, This Evening”) doesn’t oversee a conventional understanding of dramatic entanglements and relationships, electing to go more artful and innovative with the picture, which is mostly shot from point-of-view angles. Viewers are put into the bodies of the main characters as they navigate a treacherous world, creating a visceral feature that’s intent on exposing the building of trauma which, for some, offers no escape. “Nickle Boys” is technically daring and deeply felt, putting Ross on a mission to generate a grim sense of poetry that’s wholly cinematic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Young Werther” goes all the way back for its inspiration, serving as an adaptation of a 1774 novel (“The Sorrows of Young Werther”) by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Opening information for the picture lists the book as a creation that caused a “literary tizzy,” and while the wilds of movie exhibition are usually unpredictable, it’s a safe bet such fandom won’t find its way to this film. Updating the tale to 2024 is writer/director Jose Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenco, making his feature-length helming debut, and the challenge proves to be a little too much for him as the material sets out to make a wholly unlikeable character at least emotionally understood. “Young Werther” aims to be romantic, comedic, and meaningful, but Lourenco isn’t brave enough with the effort, refusing to get dangerous with a plot that invites a darker understanding of obsession. The endeavor hopes to be light and cheeky, but it mostly remains insufferable, unable to find much in the way of spirit and soul. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1984, "Red Dawn" offered a look at an American invasion by foreign aggressors, with co-writer/director John Milius trying to sell the idea of Colorado teenagers fighting to defend their land from occupation. Many critics scoffed at the idea of adolescents turning into patriotic war machines, leaving an opening for 1985's "Invasion U.S.A." to sell a more direct visual of American heroism. Would you laugh at Chuck Norris? Well, possibly, but the star goes full steeliness in the actioner, which also covers battle zone happenings between vicious foreign intruders and terrified locals. Director Joseph Zito ("Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter," "Missing in Action") seems to be hanging on for dear life with the endeavor, offering a wildly uneven and shockingly inert take on a surefire premise that welcomes big screen hellraising. There's Norris with guns and a growl, mobs of enemies, and locations to blow up. And yet, "Invasion U.S.A." feels too leisurely at times, only occasionally working up the energy to sell the central idea of home defense. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Dolph Lundgren has battled Rocky Balboa and Skeletor, but can he defeat an alien visiting Earth out to collect human bodily fluid to sell on his home planet? 1990's "Dark Angel" (released in the U.S. as "I Come in Peace") picks up where the 1980s left off, bringing the dangers of drug dealers into the sci-fi realm, with Lundgren fitted for a Schwarzenegger role, complete with big guns and one-liners. Director Craig R. Baxley ("Stone Cold") is tasked with waking up a strange serial killer-esque story, and he turns to fire to do so, filling the actioner with enough explosions to make the feature feel like a 1976 KISS concert at times. "Dark Angel" is wet with cliché, and the material doesn't do enough with its central idea of E.T. becoming Scarface, but the blow-em-up attitude of the endeavor is intermittently exciting, keeping things somewhat lively for the B-movie production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1998's "Phantoms" represents an attempt to do something cinematic with the literary world of Dean Koontz. The author claims a screenwriting credit on this adaptation of his 1983 novel, but the feature isn't too careful to remain in a state of mystery and horror. It's a Dimension Pictures production from the late 1990s, and the company's efforts to play to young moviegoers is in full effect here, sending easily overwhelmed actors into battle against some poorly realized CGI creations and screwy storytelling. Director Joe Chappelle ("Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers") tries to pack in as much atmosphere as he can, but it's a losing battle with producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, who demand foolishness and get it here, with a promising opening act quickly changing into tired routine. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Prolific Canadian director Bruce McDonald gets his start in feature-length filmmaking with 1989's "Roadkill." It's an offering of quirk and contemplation from the helmer, who sets out to make a road movie with very little money and a screenplay (credited to Don McKellar) that allows for a wandering mood of experiences facing a woman on a mission to find a band in Northern Ontario. "Roadkill" is something of a comedy, but McDonald is more interested in the journey, allowing the endeavor to roam. It's a fine example of indie cinema from the Great White North, but as a viewing experience on its own, the picture isn't quite as involving, especially when it starts to run out of ideas. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Return” is a retelling of Homer’s “Odyssey,” only the “epic poem” has been whittled down to a more manageable size by the production, which isn’t out to fully explore the fantastical elements of the story. Instead, writers John Collee, Edward Bond, and Uberto Pasolini (who also directs) search for a character-based understanding of Odysseus and his special battle against the memories of war and the ache of reunion. It’s a prime opportunity to do something deep with personality, getting into the dark corners of the players as they figure out an extended game of power, but Pasolini isn’t too concerned with summoning thunder for the endeavor. “The Return” doesn’t take advantage of the cast or the emotional journey, remaining largely motionless for a great deal of the run time. The helmer mistakes stillness for profundity, dialing down pacing to a crawl, which doesn’t help the feature reach a few moments of fury it cares to deliver along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Kyle Mooney makes his directorial debut in “Y2K,” which continues his interests in the power of nostalgia. He poked at the past during his many years on “Saturday Night Live,” and co-scripted an ode to children’s entertainment from the 1980s in 2017’s “Brigsby Bear.” And he recreated animation blocks from the ‘80s and ‘90s on his show, “Saturday Morning All Star Hits.” Some might say Mooney is obsessed with his youth. He returns to days of long ago with “Y2K,” which is set in 1999, using elements of horror and comedy to imagine a world when concern about computer safety on New Year’s Eve is actually justified, following a collection of teenagers as they try to survive the night. It’s an amusing premise, but the picture is weirdly light on laughs and imagination. Mooney has ideas but no real writing, and as a helmer, he has little command over tone, keeping the endeavor painfully unsteady at times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Slowly but surely, Marielle Heller has become one of the more interesting filmmakers working today. She found layers of character and pain in 2018’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me,” and she turned the world of Fred Rogers into a deeply felt study of human connection in the wonderful “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” She’s taking on quite a creative challenge in “Nightbitch,” which is an adaptation of a 2021 book by Rachel Yoder detailing the experience of a woman feeling the full squeeze of motherhood, finding ways to escape the grind that delve into strange fantasies. It’s a tonal tightrope walk for Heller (who also scripts), overseeing a study of exasperation and coping that’s not easy to process. However, the realism of it all is quite thrilling to watch, as “Nightbitch” offers an unblinking view of life’s complications and cruelties, and it’s processed beautifully by star Amy Adams, who gives one of the year’s best performances in the feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Robert Eggers enjoys making atmospheric films. He’s built an oeuvre with them, delving in the mysteries of black magic (“The Witch”), madness (“The Lighthouse”), and violence (“The Norseman”). He returns with a remake of the 1922 horror classic, “Nosferatu,” and Eggers once again sticks to darkness in the offering, remaining fairly close in story and shock as the original, while also crediting Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” as its obvious influence. The helmer doesn’t aim for a radical reworking of the tale or his filmmaking interests in the effort, which is a carefully constructed offering of nightmare cinema, pushing to get under viewer skin through its displays of monsters and rising fears. As a technical exercise, it’s an impressive achievement, generating tension through sight and sound. Dramatically, “Nosferatu” isn’t always as urgent, going conversational and confrontational for most of the excessive run time (132 minutes), creating a slow drain of suspense as the story unfolds. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Justin Kurzel gravitates toward icy material, typically following tales of hard men in all sorts of trouble with the law and loved ones. The helmer of 2015’s “Macbeth” and 2019’s “The True History of the Kelly Gang,” Kurtzel returns to familiar narrative ground in “The Order,” a tale “based on true events” that tracks the efforts of the FBI and police to capture members of a white supremacy gang making big plans to organize and declare war on America. “The Order” follows troubling developments and conflicted characters, and the production maintains such darkness throughout the entire endeavor, which is impressive. “The Order” is tough stuff, exploring a yesterday of hate and violence that’s still relevant today, and while it’s not always stunning in presentation and pace, Kurzel maintains some focus on suspense as sharp words of intent become destructive actions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com