• 4K UHD Review – Married to the Mob

    Director’s Jonathan Demme’s career was headed in the wrong direction during the 1980s. The troubled production of 1984’s “Swing Shift” seems to slow down his Hollywood momentum, and general audience disinterest in 1986’s “Something Wild” didn’t help the cause. Endeavoring to make something spirited, Demme found success with 1988’s “Married to the Mob,” and for good reason, as the picture is a wonderful collection of comedy, oddity, and threat sold in a distinctly Demme-ian manner. While it contains moments of sudden violence, “Married to the Mob” remains light and quite funny, supported by excellent, engaged work from the cast and screenwriting that delivers an engrossing story of rising tensions with mafia interests. It’s the first step in Demme’s rise to industry supremacy (albeit a short reign), and arguably one of his best films. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Hunting Season

    Action fans craving a hit of sustained suspense might be thoroughly underwhelmed by “Hunting Season.” There are a few blasts of violence along the way, but screenwriter Adam Hampton isn’t fully interested in going the one-man-army route with this story of a father trying to protect his teen daughter from the evils of the world around them. Instead of consistent carnage, Hampton tries to manufacture a study of parental love and isolation, getting somewhere with the fatherly elements of the tale. “Hunting Season” is an odd one, as a portion of it works on a dramatic scale, and there’s a surprising amount of viciousness in the picture, giving it some snap. But there’s hideous overacting as well, and director Raja Collins (“Crescent City”) doesn’t have command of pacing, leaving the offering uneven, but with promising moments. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – She Came from the Woods

    Co-writers Carson and Erik Bloomquist aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel with “She Came from the Woods,” presenting a horror film set at a summer camp, which is a location repeatedly used in the genre. What they want to do with the great outdoors is make a slightly cheeky chiller about an evil presence on the property, hoping to have some bloody fun with this mildly exaggerated take on terror entertainment. And it works, mostly, with the screenplay noticeably hustling when it comes to introducing characters and a spooky history to decode, and there’s enough physical activity to give the endeavor some more animated sequences. “She Came from the Woods” is capably handled by director Erik Bloomquist, who pays tribute to the history of nightmare cinema while also hoping to contribute to it, coming up with an engaging romp involving malevolent spirits and family strife. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Stop! That! Train!

    The parody picture took a bit of a hit last week with the release of “Scary Movie.” The Wayans Family avoided actually crafting a sharp offering of tomfoolery, relying on unrelenting crassness instead, which, of course, was rewarded handsomely at the box office. “Stop! That! Train!” won’t find the same success, but the production certainly understands what the subgenre is all about, returning viewers to the style of Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker and their way with “Airplane!” and “The Naked Gun,” trying to remain as cheery as possible while poking fun at movies, celebrities, and the general foolishness of the feature. “Stop! That! Train!” isn’t big on laughs, but it has the right idea, having fun with broad antics and characterizations, and director Adam Shankman tries to make the film tap dance with an extremely limited budget, filling the endeavor with lively performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Furious

    Every now and then, an action movie breaks through the routine, displaying unusual energy when it comes to the destruction of property and the smashing of bodies. “The Furious” is the new black, emerging from director Kenji Tanigaki, who’s worked for the last 30 years as an action choreographer, overseeing the labor of talented stunt teams to bring violence to the masses. He pours all that seasoning into his latest production, which works hard to outdo the competition, mounting a series of conflicts out to deliver pure brutality and cinematic physicality. The story is the usual in genre entertainment, following two men as they pursue a criminal organization that’s kidnapping children, but the production has something a little more in mind when it comes to acts of aggression. “The Furious” is a wild ride for the most part, dazzling with its intensity and intricate manufacturing of hostility, sure to delight genre fans who’ve been searching for a fresh surge of big screen adrenaline. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Never Change

    American Teen is a production company that specializes in making crude comedies for streaming audiences, including “The Binge” and its sequel, and last spring’s “Pizza Movie.” They return with “Never Change” (which could be a subtle comment on the company’s formulaic ways) offering another rough examination of arrested development, this time exploring the pains of 35-year-olds forced to return to high school to complete their education. Screenwriters John Reynolds and Marty Schousboe (who also directs) have a fun idea to explore, which twists the usual take on class reunion cinema, but they don’t have much interest in a sharper sense of humor for all this strangeness. “Never Change” pounds on the senses with its vulgarity and attempts at meme-style jokiness, but patches of clear thinking remain, giving the film the occasional inspired moment and an assortment of amusing performances. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Find Your Friends

    Writer/director Izabel Pakzad makes her feature-length debut with “Find Your Friends,” which attempts to merge the concerns of Gen Z women facing the brutal realities of adulthood with a grindhouse-style revenge chiller from the 1970s. The picture is all about overstimulation, challenging viewers to remain invested in aggressive personalities getting into real-world trouble as friendships are put to the test during a long weekend in the desert. Pakzad pays tribute to drive-in cinema with the endeavor, aiming to make violence gnarly and psychological troubles persistent, striving to present younger viewers with a horror show that reflects today’s social and emotional dangers. It’s a fine idea for a terror picture, but actually sitting through the movie is a supreme challenge, as Pakzad plays a strange game of excess, which tends to undercut the primal fears being explored here. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Disclosure Day

    If there’s one thing director Steven Spielberg likes, it’s aliens. The unknown has played a major role in the helmer’s career, dating back to childhood productions (1964’s “Firelight”), but Spielberg has been away from close encounters for some time (since 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”), making his latest, “Disclosure Day,” something of a personal release as he also takes a story by credit (longtime collaborator David Koepp writes the screenplay). There’s a lot of information to process in the new picture, which explores the connection between humans and aliens on Earth, and the battle to keep such evidence a secret. However, Spielberg isn’t in an action-oriented mood with the endeavor, trying to win viewers through heaps and heaps of exposition in an overlong movie (145 minutes). The truth is out there, but it takes a little work to stay interested in the film, which politely ignores a more urgent edit to bathe once again in the cinematic waters of awe. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Honeyjoon

    Ayden Mayeri is an up-and-coming actress who’s been quite enjoyable in recent years, including work on the criminally underseen television show, “I Love That for You,” and supporting turns in “Cora Bora,” “Jackpot,” and “Confess, Fletch.” Mayeri receives a chance to explore more dramatic challenges in “Honeyjoon,” paired with co-star Amira Casar (“Call Me By Your Name”) for this very modest study of grief and family relationships during a time of emotional upheaval. Writer/director Lilian T. Mehrel finds a break in communication and healing and gradually digs into the ways of a mother and her daughter attempting to take a trip together while dealing with the weight of the world. “Honeyjoon” is delicate, but also funny and refreshingly spare when investigating the troubled union and individual character concerns. Mehrel makes her feature-length helming debut with the offering, showing confidence with atmosphere and casting, and Mayeri and Casar are wonderful together. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – This Tempting Madness

    There’s been a lot of media coverage for actress Simone Ashley in recent years. She made a strong impression during her time on the streaming show “Bridgerton,” amassing a passionate fanbase, but she hasn’t had much to do when it comes to feature-length releases, appearing in smaller roles in 2023’s “The Little Mermaid” and the recent “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” Ashley receives a chance to show her dramatic side in “This Tempting Madness,” a psychological thriller “inspired by actual events.” Co-writer/director Jennifer E. Montgomery is tasked with generating an involving maze of possible insanity with the film, and she packs the picture with plenty of nightmare imagery and confusion, attempting to keep viewers guessing as to what is happening to the lead character. Ashley delivers capable work in the offering, which retains a decent behavioral puzzle to solve, but there’s not a lot of substance to match all the style. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Kraken

    The Norwegian film industry has maintained an interest in the ways of disaster cinema and monster movies. The country has scored many successes over the last ten years, and 2025 saw the return of towering terror in “Troll 2.” Now horror plunges into the depths in “Kraken,” which confronts the deadly presence of an aquatic beast swimming around a popular body of water home to scientific research and fish farming. Director Pal Oie (who previously helmed 2019’s “The Tunnel”) hopes to merge a creature feature with disaster movie-style build-up and characterization, taking his time to get to the one thing most viewers want to see: the kraken. There are technical credits to enjoy and sturdy performances to follow, but “Kraken” waits a little too long before it begins to make a mess of things, requiring some patience with the endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – I Am Frankelda

    “I Am Frankelda” is a prequel to the television series, “Frankelda’s Book of Spooks.” But don’t worry, knowledge of the program isn’t necessary to enjoy the picture, though it might help with an overall appreciation of the story. There are numerous characters in play, and an entire dark fantasy world to take in, but there’s one element to the endeavor that ties it all together: artistry. It’s a stop-motion animated feature from writer/directors Arturo and Roy Ambriz, and the siblings go especially hard with their imagination for the movie, generating a deep, exquisitely textured look at an adventure that explores monster and madness with wonderfully rough-around-the-edges craftsmanship. “I Am Frankelda” isn’t as powerful a viewing experience when it has to deal with its dramatic complications, but the helmers deliver a visually stunning effort that’s fascinating to watch. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – The Stendhal Syndrome

    After taking a creative hit with 1993’s “Trauma,” writer/director Dario Argento hopes to reconnect with his interest in psychological torment in 1996’s “The Stendahl Syndrome.” It’s not a grand change of pace for the helmer, who reunites with previous collaborators, including his daughter, star Asia Argento. What’s slightly different here is use of more creative interests, with the screenplay trying to work with an alleged condition that finds people overwhelmed when surrounded by art. It’s a fine starter pistol for truly twisted behavior, and “The Stendhal Syndrome” gets some of the way there with its macabre depictions of an obsessed killer. The picture has technical highlights and a few effective sequences of danger, but Argento certainly isn’t pushing himself with the feature, which goes on for too long and offers little excitement. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – Tank Girl

    Hey, they tried. Inhaling the four winds of alternative scene power in the mid-1990s, the producers of 1995’s “Tank Girl” had a vision to bring a spunky comic book series to the big screen. They loaded it up with attitude, visual mischief, and an alt-rock soundtrack, putting in a considerable effort to make sure the literary world translated to film. There are impressive technical achievements in the movie, which retains some scale and makeup wizardry. However, sitting through “Tank Girl” is another story, as director Rachael Talalay (“Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare,” “Ghost in the Machine”) fails to make this visit to a post-apocalyptic world anything but annoying, unwilling to corral star Lori Petty’s insufferable performance as the eponymous wiseacre. Editing is not a friend to the endeavor, with the feature working extremely hard to sell the main character as a delight. Perhaps she was on the page, but the cinematic version is difficult to endure. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Ghostkeeper

    Eager to join the horror cinema gold rush of the late-1970s, co-writer/director James Makichuk tries his luck with absolute fright in 1982’s “Ghostkeeper,” only he forgets to bring absolute fright. The endeavor (co-scripted by Doug MacLeod) intends to explore madness and monsters, doing so around a Canadian lodge located in the middle of nowhere. It’s the stuff of suspense and mystery, but “Ghostkeeper” doesn’t contain any tension, with Makichuk clearly struggling to manage the basics in genre entertainment. There’s a wintry location and some mysterious happenings going on around a seemingly deserted building, but the film just sits around for the most part, showing little enthusiasm for delivering chills, while the story simply never arrives. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – The Snow Creature

    On the hunt for new terrors to exploit, producers turn to the horrors of the Yeti to inspire a B-movie experience that’s much like other B-movie experiences. 1954’s “The Snow Creature” is a family affair, with director W. Lee Wilder (older brother to Billy Wilder) and his son, screenwriter Myles Wilder, aiming to utilize an exotic Himalayan setting to launch an examination of exploration and hunting, sold with all the excitement of watching paint dry. “The Snow Creature” is a quickie production with an iffy central figure of menace, while the Wilders aren’t all that interested in generating excitement with the offering. The film does have a few moments of conflict involving a beast in a loose-fitting costume, but the rest of the effort is mostly asleep. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Office Romance

    Last year, Jennifer Lopez attempted to shake up her career some, starring in the prestige musical, “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” Unfortunately for the actress, almost nobody saw the feature, pushing her back to the comfort of a romantic comedy, but it’s never quite clear how sincere “Office Romance” wants to be. Screenwriters Joe Kelly and Brett Goldstein (who also co-stars) and director Ol Parker (“Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again,” “Ticket to Paradise”) aren’t pursuing something extremely sweet with the offering, which deals with the tingles of new love, but primarily plays like a Farrelly Brothers movie, complete with coarse language, accidental erections, and fierce commitment to tired formula to help keep the film on course. “Office Romance” is a bizarre viewing experience, watching Parker and the writing visit extremes to secure laughs, weirdly forgetting gentleness is usually the key to a successful rom-com. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Scary Movie (2026)

    2000’s “Scary Movie” was a response to the red-hot trend of horror movies released after the unexpected success of 1996’s “Scream.” It was a parody overseen by the Wayans Family, with director Keenan Ivory Wayans previously enjoying a tremendous creative success with his hilarious Blaxploitation send up, 1988’s “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.” “Scary Movie” was extremely crude, but it hit at the right time, delighting young audiences previously subjected to four years of slashers and spooky films. The wild comedy served as a release for viewers. Wayans Inc. moved on to “Scary Movie 2” before being removed from the franchise, which carried on for three more chapters before dying out in 2013. Marlon Wayans tried to keep the fires lit, repeating “Scary Movie” formula for a series of horrendous offerings, including “A Haunted House” and “Fifty Shades of Black,” and now he’s back with his frequent collaborator, director Michael Tiddes, for, well, “Scary Movie,” which seeks to return the Wayans Way to the franchise after a 25-year-long break. And what they ultimately deliver is a dreadful reboot that stumbles through tired, miserable ideas for comedy with no invention and little enthusiasm. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Hungry

    Movies about dangerous hippo attacks aren’t common. One could go back to 1995’s “Congo” for some elaborate river mayhem, and a few “Jumanji” pictures have dealt with the threat, but filmmakers don’t usually turn to hippos for rampaging action. With the oversaturation of shark attack cinema, writer/director James Nunn turns to hippo horrors for “Hungry,” which provides an unusual screen threat, but largely resembles every movie made about aquatic dangers. The endeavor is no “Jaws,” and it’s disappointing to watch Nunn keep his distance from a more active viewing experience, spending a lot of time on uninteresting characters while nightmare situations of survival are few and far between. “Hungry” has a few technical achievements to keep it involving, but the overall lethargy of the offering is surprising to behold, with hippo attacks not prioritized by the production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Masters of the Universe (2026)

    Producers tried to make sense of “Masters of the Universe” once before. The extraordinarily popular toyline/cartoon show was previously brought to the big screen in a 1987 film starring Dolph Lungren as He-Man. Unfortunately, it was a Cannon Films production, which means the budget was tight for an epic fantasy feature, and the production team didn’t have a firm grasp on the appeal of the source material. He-Man returns in 2026 with a whole bunch of money to help director Travis Knight (who did a wonderful job with another toy-central tale in 2018’s “Bumblebee”) realize Eternian conflict for several generations of fans and newcomers, with the new “Masters of the Universe” a spirited adaptation of the brand, bringing some much needed bigness to the endeavor. It’s a fun picture with several tonal and dramatic issues, but Knight understands how to translate a world of brawn, battles, and campiness, generating a decent cinematic ride with a newly self-aware He-Man. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com