• Film Review – The Mongoose

    At this point in his career, Liam Neeson isn’t turning anything down. There has been a lot of B-movies starring the actor, and “The Mongoose” is another one for the pile, putting Neeson behind the wheel of a fast car as his character spends 90 minutes trying to evade law enforcement for a crime, of course, his character didn’t commit. Director Mark Vanselow is making his helming debut with the picture, and he knows Neeson well, working as his stunt double, dating back to 2008’s “Taken.” Vanselow is attempting to generate lively entertainment, overseeing a film filled with speeding vehicles, swooping helicopters, and physical entanglements. “The Mongoose” has spirit when it comes to screen activity, but it’s also an incredibly dopey offering of action cinema, with screenwriter Thompson Evans painting conflict with primary colors as the whole endeavor attempts to become a new “Smokey and the Bandit” for older audiences. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Ali G: Who Iz I?

    Ali G was Sacha Baron Cohen’s first breakout character, introduced in the late 1990s as a goofy take on British “chav” culture, taking youthful idiocy and unearned confidence to the extreme. The bit had its moment, generating a path to fame for Cohen, who co-created “Da Ali G Show,” which placed the character in the role of moronic interviewer, working to infuriate guests and expose absurdities. There was even a film in 2002’s “Ali G Indahouse,” which dropped the mockumentary angle to deliver scripted entertainment starring a determined boob. Cohen returns to the character 24 years later, hoping to use “Ali G: Who Iz I?” to reconnect with his old brand of mischief, but it’s hard to deny that the time for such shenanigans has passed. The feature feels tired and out of date, with “Ali G: Who Iz I?” out to make fun of political correctness through pranks and satire that doesn’t exactly play in today’s angrier, divided world. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Christmas at the Kringles

    The screenplay for “Christmas at the Kringles” is credited to Zack Imbrogno, but it’s difficult to understand what exactly he’s written. Perhaps he doesn’t even know. There’s the vague outline of a plot concerning a father and husband trying to make sense of his holiday-obsessed neighbors, watching as his wife and child submit to their jolly ways, forced to deal with the situation when everything escalates to a new level of threat. Director Kevin Lewis (“Willy’s Wonderland,” “Misdirection”) doesn’t really care about storytelling in the endeavor, putting most of his faith in the cast and their ways with improvisation to find the humor and horror of the tale. The actors certainly work up a sweat to remain alert in the picture, but “Christmas at the Kringles” doesn’t score laughs, and its weirdness is just as strained, emerging as a bland, tedious take on holiday hellraising in dire need of actual scripted lines for its characters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Mosquito Bowl

    "A group of WWII-era soldiers in dusty uniforms are shouting and cheering around two men, possibly during a brawl or contest, outdoors near metal barrels and mountains in the background."

    In 2004, co-writer/director Peter Berg set out to understand the power of community and competition with “Friday Night Lights,” looking to move beyond the world of high school football to capture the energy of small town America. It was an adaptation of a book by journalist H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger, and now Berg tries to find his way around “The Mosquito Bowl.” It’s another Bissinger endeavor (published in 2022), also about the strange influence of football over the lives of young men in conflict. This time the battleground is World War II, putting Berg (and co-writer Mark L. Smith, “The Dog Stars”) to work generating emotional and physical intensity as a global conflict comes for individual lives just beginning to form. “The Mosquito Bowl” attempts to overwhelm with violence, but Berg doesn’t trust his audience, repeatedly taking the whole film into overkill when he isn’t drowning the movie in speeches and irksome cinematography. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Bitter Christmas

    In his last picture, 2024’s “The Room Next Door,” writer/director Pedro Almodovar ventured out of his comfort zone just a little bit, working with English-language actors (including Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton) to give the feature a higher profile and different vibe than his usual Spanish offerings. The stretch was interesting but not overpowering, returning the helmer to his home country for “Bitter Christmas.” It’s the latest melodrama from Almodovar, with the screenplay following his interests in troubled relationships, adding an overall examination of creativity and manipulation in the process. “Bitter Christmas” retains the vibrant filmmaking Almodovar is known for, with impeccable technical credits, but it’s not entirely gripping work, playing with timelines and realities without much of a dramatic hold, though the endeavor periodically scores with moments of passion and distress that help to snap the feature to life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – I Play Rocky

    To celebrate the release of 1976’s “Rocky,” producers have elected to skip on the creation of a new sequel or spin-off continuation, electing to dramatize the formation of the original picture instead. Screenwriter Peter Gamble is out to make an underdog movie about an underdog movie in “I Play Rocky,” which tracks the hardships and great successes for Sylvester Stallone as he tried to make his acting dream happen on his own terms. The rough edges of reality are completely sanded down by Gamble, and director Peter Farrelly is no stranger to soft cheese filmmaking, previously scoring a major success in 2018’s “Green Book.” “I Play Rocky” is meant to be a crowd-pleaser, not a documentary, and it’s mildly successful in primary color mode, with Gamble attempting to land easy emotion with Stallone’s battle for respectability and his rise to tremendous success when the whole world seemed to be against him. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Breeder

    Dot-Marie Jones is a veteran actress who’s made her way through many film and television roles. She has a defined physical presence, often hired to play tough or imposing characters, and that’s exactly the energy writer/director Alex Goyette needs for “Breeder,” which follows a young man getting into deep trouble with a poodle breeder who’s up to no good on her remote ranch. The picture isn’t a fierce genre offering, but a slow-burn study of psychology, sticking with the characters as they dole out and endure punishment for lengthy periods of time, playing a long game of intimidation. Goyette doesn’t summon much creepiness with “Breeder,” but he has Jones, who’s commanding in the villain role, adding enough unsettling behavior to keep the overlong movie alive, delivering the pressure the helmer is hoping to provide. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – Explorers

    In 1985, director Joe Dante found himself in an incredible career position. After working up the ranks in the world of producer Roger Corman, Dante found his footing in bigger Hollywood productions, managing to land a minor hit in 1981’s “The Howling,” and a place in 1983’s “Twilight Zone: The Movie,” creating arguably the best segment for the ill-fated anthology picture. And then came “Gremlins,” with the 1984 release managing to survive brutal competition (it opened on the same day as “Ghostbusters”) to reach a huge audience, charming ticket-buyers with Dante’s special sauce of cartoonish humor and love of monster mayhem. “Gremlins” was one of the highlights of the release year, and gave the helmer a bona fide hit (becoming the fourth highest grossing picture of 1984, sandwiched between “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “The Karate Kid”), putting him in a rare position of desirability with studio executives, and he jumped into another project, emerging just a year later with “Explorers.” The 1985 offering has everything one could want from a production of the era, mixing Spielberg-ian wonder, special effects, young characters, and Dante’s impish sense of humor, returning him to a world of fantasy and discovery. The ingredients are all there for a cinematic home run, yet “Explorers” comes up short as it hopes to provide a satisfying viewing experience. There’s a lot to love in the endeavor, but also a lot to endure, with the effort testing patience once the exploratory elements of the script (by Eric Luke) wear off. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – BlackBerry

    In 2023, there was “Tetris,” which took a serious look at the creation of a beloved video game, transforming business dealings into a spy film of sorts, with the production trying to wring some suspense out of contract negotiations and corporate villainy. Released in the same year is “BlackBerry,” which offers the same idea, only here the subject is the once popular smartphone that revolutionized the mobile device industry, inspiring insane popularity in the early 2000s. There’s more corporate villainy and contract negotiations, but co-writer/director Matt Johnson (taking inspiration from the book “Losing the Signal,” by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff) creates a more involving arena of egos and business dealings with the feature, keeping the picture moving along as the story grows meaner and stranger, also examining a wealth of idiosyncratic personalities. “BlackBerry” is listed as a “fictionalization” of the company’s rise and fall, but there are universal truths about human behavior to savor in this engrossing endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – The Boys in the Band

    By the time 1970’s “The Boys in the Band” arrived, William Friedkin was already a working filmmaker. Hired to oversee an adaptation of Mart Crowley’s 1968 play, Friedkin accepted a unique challenge to peel the theatricality out of the writing, giving it a cinematic presence, laboring hard to turn the material into a fiery picture about a party involving a collection of gay men that gradually dissolves into an emotional mess. Crowley’s landmark work offered a humane but acidic understanding of men fighting through troubling issues and relationship woes, delivering a dimensional appreciation of hidden insecurities during a time reserved for a celebration. Friedkin respects the assignment, collaborating with Crowley (who handles scripting duties) to preserve the complexity of fears in the endeavor while also delivering a more visual experience. “The Boys in the Band” has its place in media history, but the feature is sure to deliver more than a just respectful take on the play, adding the intensity of closeness to the experience as the helmer plays careful attention to faces while detailing a nightmare evening of exposure for most of the characters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Holler

    The agony of life in the Midwest is once again examined in “Holler,” which is perhaps the first production to deal with false manufacturing promises made by Donald Trump during his first presidential term, setting the scene for a once thriving industrial town facing its final days of life. Timeliness is appreciated, with writer/director Nicole Riegel trying to capture the current woes of American life, examining cycles of poverty and denial facing those who are unable to make a meaningful difference in their lives. “Holler” deals with rough emotions and bitter realities, and it gets somewhere when it concentrates on universal feelings of frustration, with a little helplessness mixed in. The rest of the picture is more difficult to digest, as Riegel is prone to meandering with her storytelling, looking to coast along on atmosphere when the feature could clearly benefit from a sharper dramatic approach. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Klara and the Sun

    In 2019, co-writer/director Taika Waititi pulled off a bit of a magic trick with “Jojo Rabbit.” He managed to marry the extremes of the material, handling silliness and absolute severity during the World War II tale, emerging with a unique viewing experience when all initial signs pointed to a cinematic disaster. Waititi is back to try again with “Klara and the Sun,” endeavoring to adapt a 2021 book by Kazuo Ishiguro, which follows the experiences of an android sent to live with a sick girl, exposed to a whole new world while managing family life. Once again, Waititi is faced with a delicate tone to balance, but the new film is no “Jojo Rabbit,” often struggling to make sense of itself as whimsy and gloominess compete for screen time. “Klara and the Sun” is clearly out to be charming and heartbreaking, but the helmer visibly wrestles with the assignment, ending up with a frustratingly flat picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Clayface

    “Clayface” is the latest offering from the DC Extended Universe, with producers looking to test the fanbase with a live-action depiction of a character previously realized in comic books, video games, and animation. It’s quite a challenge for director James Watkins (“Eden Lake,” “Speak No Evil”), who’s handed a limited budget and a cult character, tasked with bringing something menacing and messy with what’s ultimately a body horror crime picture. Screenwriters Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini come up with a decent story to support a bizarre evolution, landing close-ish to a remake of 1990’s “Darkman” with a tale of a sensitive soul who has access to many faces, out to seek revenge on those who destroyed his. “Clayface” has a few creative limitations, but it’s an enjoyably gruesome ride and sturdy origin story. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

    In 2022, actor Noah Segan made his feature-length directorial debut with “Blood Relatives.” It followed a vampire coming to terms with his new role as a father to a teenager, allowing Segan to play with elements of horror and drama as he constructed a flawed but engaging picture. He’s back with “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,” and Segan shows improvement with this endeavor, getting leaner with a study of a small-time criminal who’s made a mess of his life suddenly confronted by big trouble he doesn’t fully understand. “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” is invitingly direct in its storytelling and superbly cast for the most part, with star John Turturro delivering layered, internalized work in a part that does something with his unusual screen presence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story

    "A woman with blonde hair performs stand-up comedy on stage, holding a microphone and gesturing expressively with one hand, set against a dark background."

    Maria Bamford is a comedian loved by other comedians. She’s been on the precipice of major fame for quite some time, but never reached media omnipresence, and there’s a good reason why. “Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story” puts directors Judd Apatow and Neil Berkeley to work investigating the subject, getting to understand her particular ways on-stage and off, also examining her lifelong struggle with various mental disorders she’s battled with and turned into material for her act. There’s nobody quite like Maria Bamford, and the helmers know it, presenting a raw but hilarious portrait of a woman who’s navigated so much in her life, yet remains committed to being a performer. She’s also incredibly open with Apatow and Berkeley, willing to inspect the darkness she’s been trying to make sense of since she was a child, adding to a sensational documentary about a gifted performer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Wildwood

    Laika, the stop-motion animation studio, has maintained a reputation for elegant visuals and challenging storytelling, trying to give viewers of all ages a bit more to process than the competition provides. Their last endeavor, 2019’s “Missing Link,” took a tumble at the box office, but the company isn’t retreating with their new picture. Instead, they’re going deeper into fantasy and mature tastes with “Wildwood,” which is an adaptation of a 2011 novel by author Colin Meloy. Laika goes PG-13 with the offering, delivering a darker, more violent adventure into magical lands, and director Travis Knight (who recently helmed “Masters of the Universe”) isn’t compromising the tone of the material, which deals with death and madness, also providing harder hits of adventure as the characters face challenges that could take their lives. “Wildwood” retains gorgeous animation, maintaining a feast for the eyes as screenwriter Chris Butler (“ParaNorman,” “Kubo and the Two Strings”) tries to manage many elements of survival and power, out to generate Laika’s biggest movie yet. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Wicker

    “Wicker” is an adaptation of a short story written by Ursula Wills-Jones in 2008, with emphasis on the word “short.” The writer only claimed 14 pages to explore her story, leaving writer/directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson (“Save Yourselves!”) with a substantial creative challenge as they attempt to fill over 100 minutes of movie. Stretchmarks are visible on the screenwriting, which endeavors to do some world-building while adding a number of supporting characters to help extend the effort. Additions are noticeable, but the central premise of “Wicker” is quite interesting, putting Fischer and Wilson to work examining the loneliness and shamed existence of a woman who turns to magic to create her ideal husband, and he just so happens to be made out of wicker. There’s a touch of humor involved in the picture, but the material tends to feel most balanced when investigating jealousies and insecurities that arise when a fantasy man comes to life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Cycle

    Director Jordan Downey was previously involved in the B-movie business. He helmed pictures such as “ThanksKilling” and “ThanksKilling 3,” and added a bit of ghoulishness to “V/H/S/Beyond.” Downey aims to get somewhat restrained and atmospheric with “The Cycle,” which follows a forensic anthropologist as she’s called in to investigate a horrible crime, getting in touch with her past in the process. There’s more to the tale, a lot more, but Downey (who co-scripts with Kevin Stewart) goes slow-burn with the offering, creating a first half that’s primarily about character histories and procedural events, eventually reaching increasingly intense matters that change the tone of the movie. “The Cycle” isn’t the most tightly edited endeavor, but it does maintain an involving case to follow, and Downey scores some surges of horror during the investigation, nailing intensity when the effort gets around to physical events. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Terrestrial

    Steve Pink is someone known for trying to have a good time with his movies. He’s been working in the world of comedy for most of his career, writing such classics as “High Fidelity” and “Grosse Pointe Blank.” As a director, silly business was prioritized for “Accepted,” an “About Last Night” remake from 2014, and “Hot Tub Time Machine” and its 2015 sequel. Pink goes dark with his latest endeavor, as “Terrestrial” (scripted by Samuel Johnson and Connor Diedrich) follows the slow unraveling of a reunion of college friends, keeping the host on edge as he manages multiple issues around his mansion. A smattering of lightness is found in the picture, but the offering is mostly a thriller highlighting troubled people making terrible decisions. “Terrestrial” is low-budget and limited in scope (mostly contained to a single location), but Pink makes it work, following the development of a crisis that puts all the characters in deep trouble. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Love Language

    “Love Language” is a romantic comedy, and one with a decent premise ready to be explored in full. The story concerns a young woman who’s burnt when it comes to love, but her writing skills are recognized by others, falling into a gig crafting wedding vows for a growing number of clients. It’s a classic study of a tortured person finding their way back to life through creative expression and research, but writer/director Joey Power doesn’t follow the grittier side of the material in full. He’s out to make something soft and warm-ish, investing in a cozy mood for material that isn’t inherently gentle. “Love Language” is propped up by agreeable performances and decent chemistry, but Power has no plans to avoid formula with the picture, making sure predictability is preserved throughout most of the viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com