• Film Review – Project Hail Mary

    “Project Hail Mary” is the first film from directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller since 2014’s “22 Jump Street,” not counting their hands-on approach to overseeing production on the two animated “Spider-Verse” movies. It’s been quite some time since “The Lego Movie” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” filmmakers have been in control of a production, and their latest certainly plays like a purging of ideas build up over the years. They’re put in command of an adaptation of Andy Weir’s 2021 “hard science” novel, with “The Martian” writer cooking up another tale of desperation in space and all the intellect required to solve problems. Screenwriter Drew Goddard handles the literary translation (returning to duty after work on 2015’s “The Martian”), and the production team is clearly out to make an epic with “Project Hail Mary,” which offers space exploration, a complicated mission to save Earth, and contact with a helpful alien. Lord and Miller attempt to go very big with the offering, which remains engaging enough, but the directors are definitely out to win hearts with the feature, getting a little too pushy with sentimentality as the story unfolds. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Slanted

    Amy Wang makes her feature-length directorial debut with “Slanted,” and she takes on an interesting storytelling challenge with her screenplay. It’s a teen-friendly introduction to body horror, examining the emotional struggles of a young Chinese woman hoping to find a way to fit in with the white society that surrounds her. There’s satire in play, but the picture is mostly sincere in its concern for a fragile mind taking a big health risk to alter her identity, which only manages to create even more complications. “Slanted” has an angle on low self-esteem and acceptance issues that’s worth examining, and Wang offers an appealing cultural perspective to help support dramatic entanglements. The movie isn’t razor sharp and doesn’t get weird enough, but Wang’s creative voice remains clear in this thought-provoking offering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Undertone

    2009’s “Paranormal Activity” was the surprise hit of the year, launching a haunted house-style viewing experience created with extraordinarily little money and story. The whole event was made up of loud noises and the occasional offering of threatening imagery, managing to win its audience over by trying to rattle nerves. The same concept for minimalist horror returns in “Undertone,” with writer/director Ian Tuason endeavoring to create a brain-melter with a severely limited budget, keeping the tale of a podcaster experiencing a week of torment to the confines of a single house. It’s not a found-footage effort, but more of a psychological chiller, putting Tuason to work building a sound design capable of carrying an entire feature, placing the main character in the middle of an aural hell. And sound is basically all “Undertone” has, unable to cook up a more dynamic haunting to follow as everything in the movie goes crash, bang, boom. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Bodycam

    The “V/H/S” series of anthology films has been going strong in recent years, and just last year welcomed the release of the franchise’s eighth installment. The features focus solely on found-footage/POV horror, giving viewers a sense of immediacy as wicked things happen to hapless characters. “Bodycam” isn’t a lost chapter of the “V/H/S” saga or even a spin-off title, though it basically offers the same viewing experience. Co-writer/director Brandon Christensen (“Superhost,” “Night of the Reaper”) return to the chaos of gradually building insanity facing personalities who don’t understand what they’re up against, with two police officers involved in trouble, recording their night of terror on body-worn cameras. “Bodycam” isn’t anything genre fans haven’t seen before, and there are long stretches of the endeavor where little is happening, but Christensen gives minimalist horror a try, coming up with a few involving points of pressure and a decently hellacious conclusion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Optimist

    Stephen Lang plays tough guys. He’s been doing it throughout most of his career, and he’s done it very recently, keeping up a villainous presence in “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and doing B-movie duty in the recent “Hellfire.” For “The Optimist,” Lang offers a welcome change of pace, tasked with portraying Herbert Heller, a Holocaust survivor who decided late in life in begin sharing the story of his experiences during World War II, with hopes to reach others carrying considerable pain. Writer/director Finn Taylor (“Dream with the Fishes”) looks to make an intense but sensitive drama from the tale, creating a study of unexpected connection found during troubling times, and Lang is there to hold the picture together with his sturdy, gentle performance. “The Optimist” runs into storytelling issues late in the film, but it remains a powerful understanding of endurance, providing intimacy with crisis and compassion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Gang Related

    The writer of “Stakeout” (and, well, “Another Stakeout”), Jim Kouf, tries his luck with a twisty tale of crime and paranoia in 1997’s “Gang Related.” Primarily known as the last film rapper Tupac Shakur worked on before his death, the picture tries to fit in as many tributes to the co-star as possible, even using his music on the soundtrack. However, Shakur is arguably the least compelling element in this examination of police corruption, with James Belushi enjoying the meatier part as things go from bad to worse for his character. “Gang Related” has a little trouble with its resolution, but overall escalation is terrific in this darkly comedic thriller, with Kouf clearly having fun arranging difficulties and inventing mistakes for his characters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – The Strange Affair

    “The Strange Affair” is an adaptation of a novel by Bernard Toms, and it certainly plays out like paging through a book. The picture explores corruption in many forms, and it follows a large community of characters in the process, with the screenplay trying to braid multiple subplots into a single understanding of ruination. The 1968 feature is a little wobbly as it attempts to juggle motivations and mistakes, but director David Greene (“Godspell,” “I Start Counting”) maintains a steely view of bizarre developments in the tale, and he has an incredible cast to help bring such oddity to life, selling the emotional moods of the endeavor. “The Strange Affair” remains a compelling sit as it details crooked behavior and bad decisions, managing to maintain focus on the basics of desperation as it works its way to an ice cold conclusion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – The Life of Chuck

    “The Life of Chuck” is based on a Stephen King novella from 2020, and we’ve been here before. Works from the iconic author, especially shorter ones, have inspired a few of the finest King adaptations around, including 1994’s “The Shawshank Redemption” and 1986’s “Stand by Me.” That same level of cinematic magic isn’t quite present in the new picture, but writer/director Mike Flanagan (a King Country vet with work on “Gerald’s Game” and “Doctor Sleep”) remains ambitious with the effort, out to scramble minds and soothe souls with the movie, which looks to fold time and space in an attempt to address the human condition. “The Life of Chuck” is all over the place, and Flanagan’s lyrical approach to the endeavor might feel like itching powder to some viewers. It’s a deeply flawed offering of mystery, but the helmer fully commits to the strangeness of it all, which is impressive, clearly out to deliver an inscrutable feature that’s meant to connect in a heartfelt manner. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Watch the Skies

    Co-writer/director Victor Danell is part of a filmmaking collective known as “Crazy Pictures.” “Watch the Skies” is their second feature (after 2018’s “The Unthinkable”), with Danell (and co-writer Jimmy Nivren Olsson) attempting to launch an alien conspiracy thriller for a family audience, going a bit softer with the material’s depiction of paranoia and pursuit. Released in Sweden three years ago, “Watch the Skies” attempts to crack the North American market with its presentation of emotional wounds and physical endangerment, using a special A.I. program to help match lips to the English dub, hoping to attract more than the usual specialty cinema crowd. It’s a lively endeavor, and one that benefits greatly from its engaged acting, which lifts an occasionally familiar screenplay that’s often trying to replicate the Spielberg Experience without a truly inspired story. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Bride

    For her second feature-length directorial effort, Maggie Gyllenhaal goes from the smallness of the psychological thriller “The Lost Daughter” to the bigness of “The Bride.” Armed with a massive budget and her own screenplay, Gyllenhaal sets out to redefine 1935’s “Bride of Frankenstein” with help from the ghost of author Mary Shelley and the pumping heart of cinema, submitting a significant effort to transform the endeavor into a lawless, anarchic overview of monster love. “The Bride” goes for broke with its tone and character creations, putting Gyllenhaal to work transforming the idea into a meditation on feminism and askew empowerment. It’s hard to fault her intentions, but sitting through the picture is an exceptional endurance test at times, finding the helmer showing little interest in telling a viable story while the rest of the offering becomes an overacting convention from performers left alone to do anything they please. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – War Machine (2026)

    While co-writer/director Patrick Hughes came on the scene with the grittiness of 2010’s “Red Hill,” the helmer has largely abandoned reality for most of his career. Hughes favors the world of action/comedy, looking to charm and pummel audiences with endeavors such as “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” (along with its 2021 sequel) and “The Man from Toronto.” He’s not the most inspired architect of entertainment, but Hughes finally puts his funny bone to rest for “War Machine,” which hopes to become a more destructive sci-fi/thriller, pitting U.S. Army Ranger hopefuls against a heavily armed alien menace. It’s a straightforward tale of survival from Hughes and co-writer James Beaufort, and they mostly deliver an exciting ride with the picture, investing in heated scenes of confusion and defense, giving star Alan Ritchson plenty of panic to play as he carries the periodic intensity of the offering, which is always most confident in battle situations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Protector

    It hasn’t been easy to sell a Milla Jovovich action picture that doesn’t have “Resident Evil” in the title. The actress has been struggling to maintain an audience in recent years, with features such as “In the Lost Lands,” “Breathe,” and “Monster Hunter” mostly ignored by paying audiences. Her latest, “Protector,” is probably going to join the box office bomb club, but to the film’s credit, it goes down swinging. Screenwriter Bong-Seob Mun has an idea to do something slightly sneakier with the one-person-army concept, and director Adrian Grunberg (“Get the Gringo,” “Rambo: Last Blood”) has a fondness for viciousness, trying to deliver a hard-hitting tale of revenge that celebrates Jovovich’s commitment to physical acting. “Protector” is harsh at times, but also exceedingly ridiculous overall, and while dumbness isn’t always a problem when it comes to the highlights of B-movie entertainment, it definitely doesn’t help this loony offering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Hoppers

    “Hoppers” is the first Pixar Animation production for director Daniel Chong, who’s been with the company on a story development level for the last 15 years. Chong is perhaps best known as the creator of the delightful animated series, “We Bare Bears,” even helming 2020’s “We Bare Bears: The Movie.” He returns to this special sense of humor and love of animal shenanigans in “Hoppers,” which is Pixar’s first endeavor since 2025’s criminally underrated “Elio.” Screenwriter Jesse Andrews is tasked with bringing a sci-fi edge to a mostly wacky comedy about a teenager’s incredible effort to save nature, also working in Pixar’s usual fondness for tenderness and dramatic impact. They score a major success with the wonderful feature, with Chong overseeing rich animation and flavorful voice work, while Andrews manages to find a plot and a message worth following. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Dolly

    “Who will survive and what will be left of them?” was the famous tagline for 1974’s horror classic, “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” and such a question of survival also applies to “Dolly.” Co-writers Brandon Weavil and Rod Blackhurst (who also directs) are obviously huffing “Chain Saw” fumes with the endeavor, which follows a collection of characters spending time in the middle of nowhere coming into contact with a special, brutal kind of evil. Blackhurst isn’t messing around with the picture, which is incredibly violent and often gross, hoping to bring viewers back to the wilder days of exploitation cinema from the 1970s with its displays of bodily harm and functions, coming pretty close to fetish film territory. “Dolly” is often caught trying to fill a short run time (77 minutes before end credits), but it’s vividly sold with all kinds of gruesomeness, putting on a big display of nastiness for those who really enjoy such extremity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Heel

    The director of “Corpus Christi,” Jan Komasa returned to screens last year with “Anniversary,” taking a timely look at American troubles and the stranglehold of family ties. He’s right back in the thick of distress with “Heel,” which provides an unnerving view of a specialized rehabilitation situation involving a young man chained to a wall and the guardians looking to bring out the potential for good from within him. “Heel” has moments where it plays exactly like an early Yorgos Lanthimos production, hunting for disturbing situations within a seemingly functional setting, but Komasa and screenwriters Bartek Bartosik and Naqqash Khalid endeavor to find a more askew emotionality to the offering, looking for some heart to go with all the darkness. It’s an unsettling movie at times, but also one that enjoys playing with perspective and performance, creating a memorable understanding of imprisonment that’s meant to benefit both the captive and the captor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Youngblood (2026)

    “Youngblood” was originally released in 1986. Do you remember it? Probably not, but the feature did some business at the box office before becoming a pay cable staple for viewers of a certain age. The picture starred Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze (Keanu Reeves appeared as well), and provided a capable take on the “Rocky” formula, bringing sporting action to the world of hockey, tracking all the team interactions and game conflicts involved in the underdog story. “Youngblood” has now returned, with director Hubert Davis overseeing a remake that recycles some of the characters and behavioral issues from the earlier film, but peels off most of the 1980s from the production. Davis supplies a cooler, more internalized “Youngblood” for younger audiences, and he hits a few spots of dramatic authority along the way, also delivering plenty of rough hockey action as the endeavor tries to get steelier with basically the same plot. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – The Woman Chaser

    Darkness isn’t immediately apparent in 1999’s “The Woman Chaser,” but it arrives eventually in the feature, which is an adaptation of a Charles Willeford novel. It’s a slice of noir-ish cinema from co-writer/director Robinson Devor, who’s tasked with creating an odyssey into filmmaking and madness, managing a darkly comedic tone that’s accentuated by the casting of Patrick Warburton in the lead role, then fresh off his career-defining turn as David Puddy in “Seinfeld.” “The Woman Chaser” offers a strange look into the mind of a driven man, playing with masculine fantasies and Hollywood dreams, and the picture connects for the most part, finding Devor achieving a sense of style with a very limited budget. The last act isn’t quite as confident, but there’s interesting psychology on display in the offering, and odd behaviors to study. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Commando Ninja II: Invasion America

    2018’s “Commando Ninja” was an amusing riff on action cinema of the 1980s. The French production was looking to have some fun with the cartoon nature of the genre, with director Benjamin Combes inhaling Schwarzenegger and Stallone fumes to launch his own butt-kicking adventure featuring crazy characters and their quest for heroism. It was 68 minutes of passable fun, with Combes seemingly understanding the expiration date for this type of goofiness. “Commando Ninja II: Invasion America” runs 148 minutes (that’s not a typo), finding Combes intentionally ignoring the power of editing to offer a horrifically overlong sequel that’s basically out to make the same jokes, same references, and offer the same low-budget insanity as before, only it now takes what feels like a calendar year to finish the film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – Mixed Blood

    Paul Morrissey, the director of “Flesh for Frankenstein” and “Blood for Dracula” looks to understand the strange community of Alphabet City in “Mixed Blood,” taking viewers back to a much different time in New York City. The 1984 release follows rising violence between two gangs, tracking the concerns of their leaders and personal relationships as turf conflicts and all kinds of trouble come for the characters during a particularly heated season. “Mixed Blood” is all about locations, with Morrissey trying to remain as authentic to the situation as possible, delivering a sobering examination of urban decay and destruction. The movie has atmosphere. What it doesn’t have is a sense of thespian polish, as the helmer hopes to get raw with a mostly amateur cast, ending up with an ensemble where most of the performers can’t act, while the rest struggle to make sense of Morrissey’s semi-ridiculous screenplay. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Castle of Evil

    1966’s “Castle of Evil” is written by Charles A. Wallace, who looks to pair the suspense of a spooky castle movie with a whodunit of sorts. The tale explores a group gathering inside a remote dwelling, with the visitors confronted by evil events, giving Wallace enough room to develop specific personalities and build a sense of the unknown as danger begins to take shape. Horror seems to be on the menu for the picture, but the material doesn’t make a defined pursuit of terror. Instead, “Castle of Evil” is more conversational, almost registering as a play when handling the private lives and desires of the characters. Director Francis D. Lyon has the oddness of the premise to work with, and there’s effort made to liven up the offering through lighting and performance choices. Highlights remain in the endeavor, but it’s not something that speeds along, determined to sell macabre touches. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com