One of the most popular books created by author Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, 1957’s “The Cat in the Hat” has managed to charm generations of readers with its playful mischief, detailing the shenanigans of the eponymous feline and his desire to bring chaotic fun to those in need of it. The source material has been adapted for television on a few occasions, and Hollywood tried to go the blockbuster route with a 2003 live-action film that few enjoyed. “The Cat in the Hat” returns with a new animated offering from co-writer/directors Erica Rivinoja and Alessandro Carloni (“Kung Fu Panda 3”), trying to turn the book into the beginning of a universe for the character, working overtime to pack as many subplots and busy business into the feature as possible. The endeavor is not without a few charms, but it’s mostly overwritten and labored, weirdly scraping out the Dr. Suess-ness of it all to give viewers as formulaic a viewing experience as possible. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Gyorgy Palfi has an animal tale in mind with “Hen.” However, he’s not going the Disney route with the endeavor, keeping his distance from cuteness and animation. Instead, the helmer favors slightly harder edges to his offering, which follows the experiences of a chicken who’s managed to escape factory farm life, ending up on an adventure into the wilds of Greece, experiencing multiple encounters with those looking to help the creature, and those out to cause it harm. There’s a sense of humor to the picture, but also reminders of reality, and Palfi mostly sticks with a spare narrative as he follows the feathered star around. “Hen” is actually quite remarkable in how compelling it is, tracking the chicken’s view of the world as it handles survival situations and the ways of birth, with Palfi making an involving study of existence in the midst of all the bird behaviors. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Last Temptation of Becky” is the second sequel to 2020’s “Becky,” which delivered solid B-movie goods concerning a 13-year-old girl out to defend her home against an invasion of white supremacists. The picture contained some hard hits and wild behavior, unexpectedly launching a franchise. The main character returned in 2023’s “The Wrath of Becky,” which wasn’t as successful with its smashmouth entertainment, showing a few signs of struggle from the production as it attempted to keep an idea created for a single film warm enough for a second outing. And now Becky rises again, with screenwriters Matt Angel and Jenn Wexler (who also directs) heading to campiness to power another chapter, keeping the character in beast mode as she takes on another wave of neo-Nazis, handed a slight James Bond-like spin as the production tries to make a bigger, badder “Becky.” Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The opening scene of “Being Heumann” follows the eponymous character as she navigates her wheelchair around New York City streets. The year is 1972, and the world as we know it today wasn’t the world back then, leaving the physically disabled with no options when it came to sidewalk accessibility, keeping Judith Heumann in competition with vehicle traffic as she attempts to arrive at her destination without getting run over. It’s an eye-opening understanding of challenges and determination, with co-writer/director Sian Heder (who broke through with her last endeavor, 2021’s “CODA”) capturing a moment without much dialogue, relying on visual communication to understand the struggle. It’s the best part of “Being Heumann,” which is as well-intentioned as a movie can get, but doesn’t return to the same level of cinematic language, preferring to use speeches and showy performances instead. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s a lot of life and hurt wrapped up inside “La bola negra,” which is overseen by directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. The duo (who also co-write the picture with Alberto Conejero) launch what’s been referred to as a “queer epic,” following multiple timelines and connected characters on the hunt for relief they can’t possibly receive from a world of judgment and horror. The feature is a juggling act, and an extremely artful one at that, moving around people and dates as history merges with intimacy, giving viewers a real journey to process at times. “La bola negra” carries a substantial run time (about 160 minutes), which isn’t always earned, but passion from the production is hard to deny, as the helmers pour their soul into the endeavor’s command of longing and tragedy, making an offering that’s profoundly felt and richly constructed. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When it comes to the history of the television show “SCTV,” a documentarian is going to need a lot more than 90 minutes to take it all in. Director Jason Hehir (“Andre the Giant”) doesn’t do himself any favors by making such a short movie, trying to pack in basically nine years of life into a single flow of information and interviews. “SCTV: The Greatest Show You’ve Never Heard Of” is a decent reminder of the sly comedic splendor the original series produced during its years of production, hitting viewers with intelligent writing and full commitment from the brilliant cast. Many of these actors reunite for parts of the feature, offering recollections and analysis of the program and its delightfully strange ways. Hehir catches the spirit here and there with “The Greatest Show You’ve Never Heard Of,” but the endeavor is not made for die-hard fans of “SCTV,” with lots of information missing or untouched, but there’s joy to be found when the documentary highlights incredible talent finding their way through a very special show. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Martin McDonagh doesn’t make films very often, but he’s been on a roll over the last decade, with 2022’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” following up his award-winning work on “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” With “Wild Horse Nine,” the writer/director remains committed to creating particularly itchy characters going through major life changes in a mostly private manner, this time inspecting a partnership between two CIA officers that’s challenged by professional demands and the loss of mental faculties. It’s a character study that occasionally heads into greater confrontations and suspicions, but McDonagh is primarily invested in the twisty ways of temperament and memory, and he has a heck of a setting in Easter Island, giving the feature a rich visual presence. “Wild Horse Nine” goes deliberately with its storytelling, putting the helmer in control of an unfolding drama that surprises and periodically intimidates, carried along by excellent performances and, at times, genuine mystery. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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