“The Deputy” is an adaptation of a 2009 Victor Gischler novel, and director Matt Sukkar makes his feature-length helming debut with the picture. He has a lot to manage with the material (scripted by Carlo Bernard), which explores a part-time deputy’s experiences during an evening of active law enforcement events. Sukkar is mostly interested in a Coen Brothers-type of tone for the movie, which plays with dark comedy and heavy violence, and the tale gets a major charge out of unexpected discoveries made by a character who can’t always process what’s happening to him. “The Deputy” doesn’t win on energy, as the production goes slow-burn for the most part, which doesn’t always encourage suspense. However, performances are largely where they should be, and turns of plot are handled well, giving viewers a maze to navigate as bad things happen to troubled people. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Some films have crazy origin stories. For “The Love Hypothesis,” the project originated in the mind of author Ali Hazlewood, who wanted to do something with her “Star Wars” fandom, electing to feed into the “Reylo” craze and create an offering of fan fiction that brought the sequel characters of Rey and Ben Solo into the world of graduate school. Hazlewood eventually went on to rework her writing to fit fiction needs, ending up with a more traditional, less Sith-infused story of romance and high-pressure academic performance. Such an industry journey isn’t unheard of (“Fifty Shades of Grey” began life as “Twilight” fanfic), but it remains an interestingly bizarre origin story for material that’s no longer weird, but a fairly standard romantic comedy. “The Love Hypothesis” is now a movie, and it doesn’t have lightsabers, but there’s charm from stars Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman (who, amazingly, is married in real life to Daisy Ridley, who played Rey in the sequels), who help to elevate a formulaic but occasionally involving story of deception and burgeoning feelings. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director David Ayer has been focused on adrenalized storytelling for as long as he’s been making movies. He’s addicted to the rush of violence, exploring big hurt in pictures such as “End of Watch,” “Fury,” and “The Beekeeper,” so it comes as something of a surprise to see Ayer calm down for a change with “Heart of the Beast.” Written by Cameron Alexander, the film is mostly about a battle for survival involving an ex-military man and his specially trained dog as they try to find safety after being stranded in the wilds of Alaska. It’s reminiscent of 2000’s “Cast Away,” only instead of Wilson, there’s a pooch serving as companion and mental health protector as the dangers of the world come for the characters. “Heart of the Beast” is terrific when Ayer trusts in spare suspense and natural elements, creating some incredibly tense scenes of endurance. Such confidence and quiet doesn’t last all the way through the endeavor, but the production gets most of the way there with this tale of partnership. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Primetime” isn’t the complete story of the “To Catch a Predator” television series. It’s a slice of lurid activity concerning the actions of the production team, who worked hard to expose dangerous men to viewers, while also enjoying the ratings such confrontations triggered. The screenplay (by Ajon Singh) adapts a 2007 magazine article about host Chris Hansen and his unusual relationship with fame, which resulted in the suicide of a suspect as he hunted for more powerful targets. Director Lance Oppenheim (“Some Kind of Heaven”) doesn’t stick to the facts of the case in full, preferring to use the troubling situation to launch a bizarre understanding of Hansen’s mind and actions, bringing in commentary on the T.V. business, the world of acting, and the evil around us to help bring texture to a darkly comedic endeavor that’s out to surprise viewers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Ken Carter was a Canadian stunt driver who wanted to taste glory by making himself known as the world’s greatest daredevil. His white whale was a super jump over the St. Lawrence River, with the planned act of automobile flight repeatedly delayed and disturbed by monetary, safety, and mental health concerns. Carter’s life was previously explored in the 1981 documentary, “The Devil at Your Heels,” with director Robert Fortier offered intimate access to the subject’s planning and concerns. Writer/director Michael Dowse (the excellent “Goon,” but also “Stuber” and “Coffee & Kareem”) looks to dramatize the movie with “The Stunt Driver,” adding bits of fiction to fluff up Carter’s battle with his self-esteem as he hopes to overtake Evel Knievel as the premiere man of action. The offering hits most of Carter’s highlights, likely reaching an audience that knows little about the man, giving star Jay Baruchel a chance to shine with his excellent performance, which gets the endeavor to dramatic places Dowse’s writing can’t reach on its own. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After spending time guiding a disappointing actioner (“Wildcat”) and a weak horror film about killer hippos (“Hungry”), director James Nunn is back in familiar cinematic territory with “One Last Shot.” It’s the second sequel to “One Shot,” a 2021 endeavor that combined B-movie action with the gimmick of a single, unbroken take to help bring something different to the usual in conflict and choreography. The picture was entertaining, and the creative team (including screenwriter Jamie Russell and star Scott Adkins) reunited for 2024’s “One More Shot,” which also delivered decently compelling tension and moviemaking trickery. “One Last Shot” carries a title and tone of finality, and while the future for the franchise is unclear, the latest installment isn’t quite as interested in excitement as the previous offerings, with Nunn showing signs of fatigue as he tries to summon passable threat. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jake Ryan has been a working actor since he was a child, gaining notice for his collaborations with Wes Anderson, appearing in such pictures as “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Isle of Dogs,” and “Asteroid City.” He receives a chance to show his stuff in “Lemonade Blessing,” with writer/director Chris Merola providing an interesting acting challenge for Ryan, who’s tasked with playing a teenager going through significant psychological trouble while handling various challenges in life and love. The endeavor also has the weight of religion to carry, with Merola using faith to add pressure to the players, taxing their already overwhelmed minds. “Lemonade Blessing” is a comedy, albeit a dark one, but it’s not the usual in tiresome R-rated shenanigans featuring adolescents. Merola enjoys taboo humor and boundary pushing, but he’s also out to general a humane understanding of confusion with kids and adults, locating fascinating areas of distress during the journey. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Tiny Fugitives” is co-produced by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, who enjoyed some success with 2019’s “Good Boys,” finding an audience for the raunchy picture, which used little kids in R-rated situations to help tempt moviegoers with a taboo good time. Rogen and Goldberg repeat the formula for a new endeavor, which examines the struggles of children feeling neglected by their families, working out a plan to remain at summer camp for the rest of their lives. It’s a story with promise, toying with the innocence of childhood and the open world fun of a camp setting, but screenwriters Jacob Kaplan and Michael Lewen (who also directs) are under orders to keep things edgy. “Tiny Fugitives” wrestles with its one-note sense of humor, believing in the power of cursing kids to cover for a mostly lame screenplay, which jerks back and forth between silliness and sincerity too many times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As a video game series, “Resident Evil” has managed to sustain fanbase interest since the release of its first installment 30 years ago. The movie business has also enjoyed the success of the brand name, launching many pictures based on the gaming world, including a long run with star Milla Jovovich that managed to make a fortune with international audiences, while a 2021 do-over (“Welcome to Raccoon City”) struggled to find ticket-buyers. The features led with horror and action, attempting to keep up with the spooky game, getting grisly and crunchy with endeavors that hoped to bring thrills to the big screen. Enter Zach Cregger, fresh off his work on 2025’s “Weapons,” now taking on this universe of eerie investigation, desperate survival, and monstrous encounters. Naturally, he turns the offering into…a comedy? The old “Resident Evil” saga lost the war with creativity, but they were stern, violent events. The new “Resident Evil” brings the blood and the ghoulishness, but also hopes to be hilarious, putting Cregger’s filmmaking habits to the test as he tries to get away from scary business, trying out silliness at times to take the series into a new direction. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The last “Shaun the Sheep” movie, 2019’s “Farmageddon,” was a complete delight, mixing Aardman Animation wit and artistry with a tale that brought real heart to the franchise. The gang is back with “Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom,” which follows 2005’s “Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” with another examination of Halloween happenings going on in a colorful stop-motion animated world. Directors Steve Cox and Matthew Walker look to meet expectations for cuteness and cleverness with the feature, which pairs slapstick comedy with horror homages and general hairy tomfoolery. “The Beast of Mossy Bottom” isn’t interested in sustaining the sweetness of “Farmageddon,” but it’s another humorous and satisfying offering of farmland happenings with beloved characters and their love of mischief. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As it neared release, 2022’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” didn’t seem like it was going to be anything special, emerging as a sequel few were clamoring for. Co-writer/directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado certainly took the creative challenge seriously, delivering a tremendous picture that easily topped the original in style and dramatic potential, ending up with one of the year’s best movies. The shock still hasn’t worn off, but Crawford and Mercado are back in action with “Forgotten Island,” going the original story route with this examination of friendship and fantasy, along with a lot of Filipino culture. Working with the lessons they learned on “The Last Wish,” and boosted by a post-“KPop Demon Hunters” world, the helmers deliver a hyperactive study of adventure, throwing a lot at viewers while also charming them with vivid characters, big heart, and lots of physical challenges. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Last Kiss” is billed as a slasher film, but the screenplay (by Alon Ziv, Krystal Houghton Ziv, and Yoko Okumura, who also directs) isn’t out to terrify viewers with its presentation of a masked killer on the loose. The picture is more of a YA chiller, and one with a premise that reworks Stephen King’s novel, “The Dead Zone,” giving it a loopier spin as the tale follows a young woman trying to decode doom through clairvoyant abilities brought on by kissing potential victims. Okumura, who did well enough with 2023’s “Unseen,” leans into the strangeness of the concept, out to provide more of a ride with the endeavor, not a fright machine. “The Last Kiss” is lightweight and sure to be dismissed by hardcore genre fans, but it’s certainly entertaining enough, held up by spunky performances and a playful tone, making it a perfect fit for sleepover cinema. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Documentarian Nick Davis is trying to communicate a special kind of magic with “You Had to Be There.” The picture examines the 1972 Toronto production of the musical “Godspell,” which wasn’t just a hit show, but a premiere showcase of young Canadian comedy talent, with some of these performers going on to become legends in show business. And it all started with a strange stage show about a hippie-fied Jesus and his followers. Davis endeavors to tap into memories and emotions with the movie, gathering a good amount of the original cast to discuss their experiences with “Godspell” and one another during a unique time in their early careers. We’re talking Martin Short, Victor Garber, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, and Paul Shaffer, with these performers (and more) sitting down to reflect on an experience that, for some, changed their lives. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Musical” is a bizarre feature. It initially seems to be polite enough, investigating a teacher’s inner life as he navigates a failed romance with a colleague and manages the daily drudgery of the job. Perhaps a “School of Rock”-like viewing experience is about to arrive, but screenwriter Alexander Heller isn’t going cute with the material. He creates a comedy, but a very dark one where the primary influence appears to be Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver,” blended with bits of Wes Anderson’s “Rushmore,” with the picture getting weird with its take on obsession. “The Musical” isn’t always inspired, but most of the endeavor is highly amusing, delivering a viewing experience with surprises and a demented sense of humor that’s capably handled by director Giselle Bonilla. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Goody Goody” is meant to be a horror movie, exploring the tensions of a home birth in the middle of nowhere to get viewers to the edge of their seats. Writer/director Raymond Creamer has a premise that could work, playing up the human experience of birth with the cinematic terror of an undefined evil joining the process, toying with the visceral and the unreal. However, the helmer isn’t all that inspired with the endeavor, taking an extraordinary amount of time to get the story going, and once a threat is somewhat defined, the picture doesn’t do much with it. The overall slowness of “Goody Goody” is maddening to endure at times, especially when it becomes clear that Creamer doesn’t have much to offer with the script, and the whole effort seems like a short film idea that was forced to become a feature-length release. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

At the start of “The History of Concrete,” director John Wilson is in a dark place. He’s recently lost his job as the creator of “How To with John Wilson,” losing a gig that kept him employed for a handful of years, also exposing his particular way of storytelling to a small but loyal audience. Jobs are hard to come by, and fame has its price, with the filmmaker’s voice stolen by A.I., making his peculiar way of speaking accessible to all, but mostly a gutter repair service. Wilson needs something to occupy his time, returning to New York City streets to reenergize his creative batteries, only to find a chance at focus with an educational opportunity provided by the WGA. “The History of Concrete” initially appears to tell the story of how Wilson got his groove back, but, keeping in line with the helmer’s career interests, it veers all over the place instead, taking a simple assignment to understand the world of concrete into a dozen different directions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com