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October 2022

Blu-ray Review - Satan's Children

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1974's "Satan's Children" is a Floridian production, with director/producer Joe Wiezycki looking to enter the drive-in marketplace, coming up with his own take on the horrors of the Devil and followers who will do anything to gain favor with the Lord of Darkness. As it usually goes with this type of quickie endeavor, there's no filmmaking finesse present, with the production generating a collection of random moments and loose characterizations, with the glue of the feature homophobia in many forms. The legitimacy of such hostility is up to the viewer to decide, but Wiezycki is not skilled in the art of genre entertainment, creating an exceedingly boring viewing experience that has no suspense or surprises, mostly registering as a curious installment of Z-grade cinema from the murky depths of 1970s.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Blu-ray Review - Rollerbabies

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1976's "Rollerbabies" is presented as a parody of 1975's "Rollerball," but director Carter Stevens is really doing his own thing with the endeavor. The film eventually gets around to roller skating, but the ride there is a strange one, filled with puns, vaudeville-inspired comedy, an act of telepathic oral sex, and a most bizarre use of ice cream to jazz up a bedroom encounter. One doesn't expect hospital corners when it comes to storytelling efforts in an adult movie, but "Rollerbabies" is all over the place at times, and while it's entertaining, the feature isn't quite as fun as it initially promises to be.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Blu-ray Review - The Mount of Venus

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1975's "The Mount of Venus" tries to have plenty of adult film fun on a shoestring budget. There's very little here to go on, with director Carter Stevens merely using some corners of a stage, trying to turn a few spaces into a visitation from Roman gods trying to make sense of humanity. Stevens favors comedy, his first love, while heated couplings are as limited as set design money, keeping the feature low on visual power, hoping to get by on occasional charms and the rare bit of weirdness.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - The Good Nurse

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Director Tobias Lindholm made a name for himself as the helmer of “A Hijacking” and “A War,” working with a restrained yet powerful sense of emotion while exploring the procedural experience of terrorism and military combat. They were excellent features with outstanding performances and a rich sense of tension, and now, after years working in the Danish film industry, Lindholm goes Hollywood with “The Good Nurse,” where he teams up with stars Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne for another suspenseful understanding of character and mystery. Screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns (“1917,” “Last Night in Soho”) adapts a true crime book by Charles Graeber, endeavoring to transform the details of possible murder and an ensuing investigation into more of a human story while still tending to the tightness of discoveries and suspicion. “The Good Nurse” isn’t quite as gripping as Lindholm’s previous efforts, but it remains deeply compelling as it finds its way through a disturbing story. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - Call Jane

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The story of “Call Jane” would be of interest anyway, but the timing of the feature is fascinating. Reaching screens in 2022, the film shares the tale of the Jane Collective, which, in its early days, provided safe abortions for women hoping to find some help during dark times of legality and gender equality. The screenplay, by Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi, returns viewers to the pre-Roe v. Wade time of 1968, following the main character as she moves from the numbness of domestication to the awareness of liberation, embarking on an eye-opening, life-changing education when a pregnancy threatens to end her life. Director Phyllis Nagy (who wrote 2015’s “Carol”) handles the sensitive subject carefully, making sure to keep “Call Jane” approachable for a wider audience, but she doesn’t sacrifice complexity. It’s not always an easy sit, but “Call Jane” delivers a potent reminder of fear and empowerment during a time when women began to comprehend and gradually reject a feeling of disposability. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - The Lair

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Director Neil Marshall’s career took a major hit when his do-over of “Hellboy” attracted disdain from the critical community, while audiences also maintained their distance from the picture (a film even Marshall would eventually disown). He’s retreated to the ways of low-budget productions, working exclusively with his girlfriend, Charlotte Kirk, and their first endeavor, 2020’s “The Reckoning,” didn’t inspire much of a reaction outside of hope they wouldn’t team up again. Marshall continues his Kirk collaboration with “The Lair” (a third movie from the pair is due out next year), which is basically a remake of James Cameron’s “Aliens,” only without the style, acting, and ferocity. Marshall can’t do much with his limited resources here, occasionally working up some monster mayhem in small settings while also managing a cringe-inducing screenplay (co-written by Kirk) that leaves no cliché behind. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Blu-ray Review - Heavy Metal Parking Lot

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In 1986, filmmakers Jeff Krulik and John Heyn made their way to the Capital Centre arena in Largo, Maryland, paying a small fee to enter the parking area and record fan activity present before a Judas Priest concert. The short "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" was born, with the footage taking the slow road to cult fame, building a reputation as a comedy gem and delightful time capsule of an age when metal ruled the music scene, giving the faithful something to scream about as Judas Priest (and opening act Dokken) arrived to shred faces and blow minds, playing to what appears to be a mostly inebriated audience of enthusiastic locals ready for their time in front of a camera.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Blu-ray Review - Raw Nerve

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Director David A. Prior has never been accused of being a perfectionist. During his career (he passed away in 2015), the helmer churned out product, working during the video store glory days, happy to create genre entertainment capable of filling shelves for renters who weren't too fussy when selecting their evening's entertainment. Prior created "Killer Workout," "Future Force," and "Deadly Prey," maintaining a steady stream of employment for 15 years. 1991's "Raw Nerve" is part of this dented legacy, with Prior and co-writer Lawrence L. Simeone attempting to cook up a murder mystery with some defined elements of psychological exploration, hoping to keep viewers off-balance with damaged characters long enough to deliver a few surprises along the way. The ambition is there, but execution isn't for most of "Raw Nerve," which tries to make a mess of the players in this deadly game, only to get lost in snoozy melodrama and half-hearted detective work.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Blu-ray Review - Heartbreakers (1984)

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In 1984, film critic Gene Siskel covered "Heartbreakers" on the review show, "At the Movies," tearing into the picture for its lack of likable characters, making for a deeply unsatisfying sit. It's one of those great Siskel moments when he latches on like an angry dog to one idea and won't back down, determined to decimate the feature as a wholly unpleasant viewing experience. Such a take isn't entirely wrong when examining "Heartbreakers," as it does highlight the actions of extremely self-absorbed people refusing to step back and think about their actions, running purely on soured instinct. However, writer/director Bobby Roth doesn't remain fixated on toxic behavior, making a noticeable effort to get past it to better understand what makes the main characters tick, providing an interesting psychological study with difficult men and their self-made problems.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Blu-ray Review - Lux Aeterna

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Gaspar Noe is a director with an addiction to making provocative films ("Irreversible," "Into the Void"). Some have suggested he hates his audience, looking to punish them with impossibly bleak material and hostile visuals, aiming to create tortuous viewing experiences strictly out to satisfy his malicious intent. His moviemaking modus operandi is up for debate, but Noe isn't the most consistent storyteller, and his last endeavor, 2018's "Climax," played like a parody of his previous efforts, identifying a defined limit to his corrosive mischief. For 2019's "Lux Aeterna," the helmer gets back on track with what's basically a short film about a production disaster, exploring explosive personalities and technical mishaps, keeping his cameras on the move as they capture the disintegration of what was meant to be a simple day of creative collaboration. "Lux Aeterna" is Noe's version of a valentine to cinematic experimentation and philosophy, and while he eventually drives it into the ground with tributes to the avant-garde highlights of his early education, he manages to have some fun for a change, toying with the fragility of personalities involved in the creation of art.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - Terror Train (2022)

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In 1980, “Terror Train” was released during the Halloween season, and it was…okay. The Roger Spottiswoode-directed picture did moderate business, attracting audiences with the strange visual of a Groucho Marx mask used by the killer, and there was the appeal of Jamie Lee Curtis, who spent the year building on her “Halloween” success and cementing her reputation as cinema’s most recognizable scream queen (also appearing in “Prom Night” and “The Fog”). The feature wasn’t big on frights, but it had mood and an unusual location for slasher movie activity. It took 42 years, but a remake has finally materialized, with “Terror Train” returning to life, out to capture attention from older genre completists and younger viewers who have no clue there was an original version of this story. The 1980 offering was no great shakes, but it was odd enough to pass. The 2022 take is a faithful remake, only lacking a more tempting sense of mystery to successfully keep fans and first timers invested in rail-based terror. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - Detective Knight: Rogue

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As Bruce Willis winds down his acting career, he still has a few more duds to share with the world as predatory types hope to make a few bucks off his waning marquee value. For “Detective Knight: Rogue,” Willis makes occasional appearances in a weird crime movie that hopes to transform into an epic as it unfolds. Such ambition is not going to happen under co-writer/director Edward Drake, who’s been in the Willis business for the last few years, guiding bottom shelf offerings such as “Apex,” “American Siege,” and “Gasoline Alley,” and his habitual blandness returns in “Detective Knight: Rogue,” which is yet another cop vs. criminal tale of murky morality, though Drake and co-writer Corey Large do manage to sneak in one bizarre turn of plot before succumbing to the punishing sameness of all these Willis-branded VOD time-killers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - Black Adam

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As a D.C. comic book character, Black Adam has been around for a very long time, with his first appearance dating back to 1945. He’s enjoyed extensive development over the decades, turning him into a complex character with limited allegiances and patience. He’s now ready for the big screen in “Black Adam,” with Dwayne Johnson taking the part of an all-powerful “Champion” who’s been imprisoned for centuries, finally unleashed in 2022, where he receives a strange education on the ways of heroism and authority. The role plays to Johnson’s strengths, giving him a tight costume to wear and limited dialogue to share, but director Jaume Collet-Serra (“Jungle Cruise,” “The Shallows”) feels the need to generate a superhero film as big as his star. “Black Adam” is drenched in CGI-laden battles and loaded with character connections and backstory, creating a tiresome, repetitive picture, and one that really doesn’t do much with Black Adam, who spends most of the endeavor blandly scowling and swatting opponents, making for a deflated viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - V/H/S/94

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After three straight years of low-fi, low-budget horror anthology hellraising, the “V/H/S” series ran out of steam in 2014, seemingly sent to the genre entertainment afterlife. Of course, nothing horror-related ever really dies, and a revival of sorts was cooked up in 2021, with “V/H/S/94” looking to restart a franchise engine with a fresh offering of macabre events from a variety of filmmakers, ending up one of the better installments in this uneven journey of bite-sized terror. Turns out, the last effort did what it was meant to do, and a year later there’s “V/H/S/99,” which serves up another collection of twisted tales, this time inching the setting to the Y2K era, though the adventures here fail to do much with the potential for a millennium nightmare. “V/H/S/99” has periodic oddity, but not enough to sustain the creative excitement found in the previous endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - Raymond & Ray

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Writer/director Rodrigo Garcia is usually drawn to stories of personal strife. He’s interested in the human experience, focusing on how characters react to challenges in their lives, delivering often deeply flawed but reasonably felt endeavors such as “Albert Nobbs,” “Four Good Days,” and “Mother and Child.” He’s no stranger to melodrama, which makes the relative stillness of “Raymond & Ray” something to celebrate. Garcia cooks up a tale of half-brothers facing the death of their father, tasked with managing last requests from a man who never cared about them, sending them on a journey of self-inspection, processing their worth. “Raymond & Ray” features magnificent performances from the cast, but it also brings something special out of Garcia, who offers career-best work here, remaining patient with the players and their often inner odyssey of self-esteem and forgiveness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - Ticket to Paradise

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Star power still carries weight in 2022, and while the film industry is working to understand how to market to the current fragmentation of pop culture, they’re still capable of powering a picture solely on the longstanding appeal of the veteran actors. In the case of “Ticket to Paradise,” there’s Julia Roberts and George Clooney, who were paired two decades ago in “Ocean’s Eleven,” making some screen magic with their chemistry, and they try again with their latest release, which is solely dependent on the innate charms of the talent. There’s not much else to savor in Daniel Pipski’s screenplay, which attempts to revive romantic comedy formula, adding a slight acidic touch with the journey of a divorced couple trying to play nice for their daughter’s wedding in Bali. There’s a vacation movie element to “Ticket to Paradise” as well, joining Clooney and Roberts as potential distractions once the comedic offerings of the feature start to wither and the drama feels wholly insincere. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - The School for Good and Evil

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Characters in dire situations in need of escape to a world of hidden magic. A secluded castle that serves as an educational facility for those who require special support for their gifts. A battle between forces of light and darkness for control of the realm. Perhaps you’re thinking Harry Potter is back in action after all these years? Well, he’s not, but that’s the general idea behind “The School for Good and Evil,” which offers another immersion into YA dramatics featuring school year challenges, complete with a quirky staff heavily involved in the lives of their pupils. The material was originally a novel by Soman Chainani, published in 2013, and now it's a franchise-starter from director Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids,” “Ghostbusters: Answer the Call”), who’s in charge of developing the material into a series of movies. “The School for Good and Evil” is the first installment of the saga (Chainani has created multiple sequels for his literary empire), and the production works hard to arrange friendships, romances, antagonisms, and magical hierarchy. What the picture doesn’t have is charm, with Feig’s iffy sense of humor and love of broadness smothering the world-building meant to be the star of this enormously derivative show. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - Wendell & Wild

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It’s been quite some time since Henry Selick directed a movie, with 2009’s “Coraline” his last effort, playing to his strengths as a helmer interested in darker tales of empowerment for older kids. His pictures tend to enjoy a more haunting worldview, searching for magic in the middle of trauma, and his return to the screen, “Wendell & Wild,” remains in line with his creative pursuits. The difference here is Selick’s primary collaborator, with Jordan Peele taking co-writing, co-producing, and co-starring credits, bringing his own appetites for strange situations and unreality to the mix. The feature provides a pleasant return to stop-motion animation and lively voice work, with “Wendell & Wild” enjoying moments of real creative inspiration, finding Selick and Peele trying to let their imagination run wild with this exploration of life, death, and guilt, resulting in an enjoyably weird endeavor, and one that tries to give viewers something a little different. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - Tár

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Actor Todd Field received critical acclaim, Oscar attention, and promising box office for his directorial debut, 2001’s “In the Bedroom.” He received the same treatment (minus the promising box office) with his follow-up, 2006’s “Little Children,” which cemented him as a filmmaker worth paying attention to, capable of extracting tremendous performances and capturing strange, deeply personal moods. Cineastes eagerly awaited the next project from Field, and they kept waiting, with the helmer walking away from moviemaking for a whopping 16 years, finally returning with “Tár,” which is another presentation of abyssal character examination and appreciation of trauma. To his credit, Field remains determined to provide itchy cinema featuring diseased personalities, and “Tár” is perhaps his most unapproachable offering, going cold and stern with this study of power and ego in the orchestral world, gifting Cate Blanchett yet another chance to showcase her stunning capabilities as an actor with this challenging, exceptionally detailed feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com


Film Review - Slash/Back

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“Slash/Back” is a story about an Inuit community fighting back against an alien presence in the land, emerging as a rare indigenous tale from the region, recently detailed in the 2019 film, “The Grizzlies.” Co-writer/director Nyla Innuksuk endeavors to balance an understanding of the community and preserve genre elements, hoping to bring a little John Carpenter to the Arctic Circle, with the feature freely referencing the influence of “The Thing.” “Slash/Back” has a unique setting and distinct cultural observations, and it’s an engaging picture, but only in short spurts, finding Innuksuk struggling with the basics in escalation and suspense as she makes a horror-tinged effort with a largely untrained cast. There’s plenty here to appreciate, with a lived-in feel for town interactions and frustrations, but this is no nail-biter, often making full stops between attack sequences. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com