Steve Zahn doesn’t receive many chances to challenge himself as an actor. He’s typically cast as the goofball or free spirit, brought in for comic relief, often for movies that don’t need his specialized thespian energy. However, Zahn’s been strong in recent years, appearing in 2020’s “Cowboys” and now “Gringa,” where he’s asked to portray a complex person struggling with the weight of the world. He’s joined by star Jess Gabor, with the pair offering outstanding performances as a father and daughter getting to know each other after tragedy strikes, testing the power of their compulsions and their emotional availability. “Gringa” hits some dramatic turbulence in the final act, but the opening hour supplies a compelling study of strangers coming together, working to communicate their pain while learning to live together. It’s decently scripted by Patrick Hasburgh (who co-created “21 Jump Street”), who tries to find some uncomfortable realities before formula and weird story choices eventually take over the film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with action movies these days, but there are few filmmakers out there who really understand the importance of ferocity and pace. “The Best Man” is the latest B-movie offering with marketing that promises something more active than it actually delivers, with co-writer/director Shane Dax Taylor (“Masquerade,” “Isolation”) never showing all that much enthusiasm for what’s meant to be a “Die Hard”-style endeavor, with the hunt taking place inside a New Mexico resort hotel and casino. “The Best Man” has a serviceable set-up for danger, but the writing isn’t adventurous, and Taylor doesn’t have a proper vision for physical activity, failing to do something exciting with the small budget he’s working with. There just isn’t an enjoyable level of adventure in the feature, which certainly has the potential to be passably thrilling, but the production is stuck in neutral. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Ten years ago, writer/director Scott Walker tried to deliver a serial killer story with “The Frozen Ground.” Even with the participation of stars Nicolas Cage and John Cusack, Walker fumbled the production, making a bland chiller with a to-do list of genre cliches. Walker returns to moviemaking with “The Tank,” which doesn’t provide any recognizable actors, investing in creature feature appeal instead. There’s something in a depths near a coastal Oregon home, launching a study of nature-gone-mad, with a side of survival. Walker works with known elements, but he’s in no hurry to reach whatever scary stuff is found in the endeavor. The helmer goes slow-burn with “The Tank,” which isn’t compelling until its final moments, making for a long sit as the writing sorts through an iffy mystery and extended investigative sequences. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Like many films before it, 1973's "Santo vs. Doctor Death" brings the legendary lucha libre figure to the screen. He's a man of action in a tight silver mask, tasked with solving crimes, defeating villains, and, when possible, engage in lengthy wrestling sequences. "Santo vs. Doctor Death" maintains the formula of the movie series (with over 50 pictures to enjoy), finding star Santo taking on a determined enemy, which, for this chapter, involves strange happenings in a remote castle owned by a curious art restoration expert. It's museum activity meets body slams in the endeavor, which maintains a steady pace and interest in physical activity, keeping things compelling while the screenplay labors to generate a diabolical plan for the masked avenger to pull apart with his bare hands. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The success of the Blaxploitation subgenre inspired many filmmakers to try to participate in the gold rush, working with whatever they could to slap together a sellable product for a specific audience. 1974's "Solomon King" is an example of such small-time ambition, with writer/director/star Sal Watts trying to shape his own starring vehicle, delivering a valentine to his personal style and swagger. In the era of "Shaft" and "Superfly," "Solomon King" doesn't offer much craft or substance, though it remains a determined backyard production, with Watts using his homebase of Oakland to the best of his ability, trying to transform a section of the city into a global incident. He doesn't exactly succeed, but the randomness of the endeavor is something to behold. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1991's "The Black Crystal" arrives on Blu-ray, making its disc debut courtesy of AFGA, who elect to sell the picture with cover art title font that's an exact copy of the 1982 Jim Henson/Frank Oz masterpiece, "The Dark Crystal." It's a bewildering artistic choice, as the features have nothing in common and share no production connection, sure to leave those expecting to see a Gefling or two greatly disappointed. Instead of high fantasy and exquisite puppet work, "The Black Crystal" (which is titled "The Black Triangle" on the film) offers a no-budget thriller involving ill-defined magic and lengthy scenes of people driving. So much driving. Writer/director/composer/editor/star Mike Conway, who may have some type of automobile fetish, attempts to create excitement in the wilds of Tucson, Arizona with the endeavor, arranging a hunt for a special crystal pyramid involving an Average Joe and the jeans-only cult that wants to kill him. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1983's "Dressed in Blue" brings viewers to Spain to meet special individuals dealing with life experiences in their own way. These transgender women are brought together by director Antonio Gimenez Rico, who provides brunch for the group, capturing their natural dynamic, and he follows their stories as well, with a docudrama approach, endeavoring to highlight daily adventures, survival needs, and desires. "Dressed in Blue" is an interesting study of personality, but it connects more directly as an examination of personal history, learning more about these lives, with various psychological and physical challenges revealed as the subjects decide to open up for the camera. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There are plenty of movies about exorcisms, with the practice of pulling demonic spirits out of innocent souls catnip to genre filmmakers still chasing the high 1973’s “The Exorcist” left behind. After recently enduring the dullness of 2022’s “Prey for the Devil,” audiences are now offered “The Pope’s Exorcist,” which tries to amplify its message of Catholic might by using a real-world man of Satanic action as inspiration, with the evil encounters and experiences of Father Gabriele Amorth (who allegedly performed over 50,000 exorcisms) used by screenwriters Michael Petroni (“The Rite”) and Evan Spilliotopoulos (“The Unholy”), with both men taking previous stabs at the subgenre, coming up short in the fright department. The authenticity of Amorth’s claims are the subject of “The Pope’s Exorcist,” with the material aiming to turn him into a heroic figure of authority, facing a most determined demon working to rattle the man of God. There’s a lot of a same old stuff in the feature, which does have the benefit of an engaged performance from Russell Crowe, but as a chiller, director Julius Avery (“Overlord,” “Samaritan”) doesn’t provide a fresh approach. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Nicolas Cage is no stranger to playing vampiric characters, delivering one of his kookiest performances in 1988’s “Vampire’s Kiss.” However, for “Renfield,” Cage is tasked with bringing Count Dracula to life, not just an average lunatic, and the notoriously extreme actor takes the professional challenge seriously. Cage is most of the fun of the feature, putting in the work to create a nightmarish interpretation of the original creature of the night, but the film is more of a graphic novel-style experience than Bram Stoker-minded. Director Chris McKay has some experience in the world of cartoonish entertainment, previously helming “The Lego Batman Movie” and “The Tomorrow War,” and he gives “Renfield” a defined sense of silliness and acrobatic violence, going for a semi-lighter take on all the death that surrounds Dracula. There are elements to the effort that don’t connect as intended, but McKay and screenwriter Ryan Ridley try to merge action cinema with an absolute bloodbath, delivering a highly bizarre and periodically electric endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A lot of strange creative choices went into the making of “Mafia Mamma,” which attempts to offer viewers some big laughs and acts of shock value, trying to turn underworld life into a sandbox for star Toni Collette. She’s in Goldie Hawn mode here, asked to carry a story of a personal awakening that also touches on criminal management and broad romantic activity. Collette is more than capable of playing daffy, but her choice of material is underwhelming, with screenwriters J. Michael Feldman and Debbie Jhoon unable to master a balance of light and dark “Mafia Mamma” requires. The picture is all over the place, but it’s never funny, which appears to be the primary goal of the endeavor. Instead of laughs, the effort grows tiresome, which only inspires director Catherine Hardwicke to hit harder when it comes to wacky misadventures in organized crime. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Mummies” is a Spanish animated production that’s hoping to use Disney formula as it explores a world of strange magic and restless characters. Screenwriters Jordi Gasull and Javier Lopez Barreira don’t offer an original take on the needs of a princess and the concern of a future prince, trusting in the familiarity of it all as cartoon shenanigans carry the endeavor. Perhaps younger audiences won’t mind the formula, and there’s something potentially compelling about the concept of mummies on the loose, but the feature isn’t pushing too hard when it comes to excitement, making it hard for those who’ve seen this kind of story before to sit through it again. “Mummies” plays it safe, dealing with slapstick comedy, broad villainy, and the torment of easily solvable problems, and director Juan Jesus Garcia Galocha doesn’t challenge any of it, electing to coast on bright animation and occasional silliness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While the material was in development during the 1970s, "WarGames" hit at the perfect time when it was ultimately released in the summer of 1983. With Cold War tensions rising again between the United States and the Soviet Union, coupled with a nuclear arms race between the superpowers, it was time for a movie to analyze such lunacy via the rise of teen cinema, putting a bright but reckless young man from Seattle on the race to stop the end of the world. "WarGames" had timing, but it also offers a sharp script from Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes, who help to bring Hollywood into the personal computer age, and direction by John Badham is crisp, delivering some of the finest work of his career, endeavoring to bring a little extra personality into a feature that's loaded with suspense and surprises. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1979's "Walk Proud" hopes to present a gritty look at Chicano culture in Los Angeles, highlighting the rule of street gangs as power plays erupt into violence, and individual futures are threatened by dismal economic and societal opportunities. The production demands some type of name to help the endeavor's box office prospects, and weirdly, they settle on Robby Benson. Perhaps the most unthreatening actor of the '70s and '80s, Benson hopes to transform himself in the part, going "brownface" for his portrayal of a young man caught between his gang affiliation and his personal potential, with love on the line. Benson is such a strange choice for the character but, to his credit, he commits to the tone of Evan Hunter's screenplay, working to bring a sense of confusion and frustration to the effort. "Walk Proud" has interesting ideas and some level of interest in community politics, and while it refuses to avoid crushing melodramatic events, director Robert Collins handles the first half of the movie with care, capturing the energy of a time and place. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Trying to cash-in on the slasher cinema craze of the 1980s, co-writers Steven Baio and Dominick Brascia (who also directs) deliver 1986's "Evil Laugh," which, once again, details the survival instincts and bedroom activities of young people with limited situational awareness. The screenplay doesn't take many chances, refusing to bend the genre, going the self-referential route instead, with Baio and Brascia providing a slightly cheeky take on horror entertainment, keeping the characters clued into potential dangers to help navigate a murderous weekend in a remote house. "Evil Laugh" actually goes for laughs while trying to summon scares, but Brascia can't manage to balance tone and pacing is slack, creating a stale viewing experience with only a few crazy highlights. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While it carries a friendly title, "I Love My Dad" is a dark comedy about parental extremes, with writer/director/star James Morosini taking viewers on quite a ride with the material, which is shaped from a true story. The helmer spotlights the bad instincts and big heart of a father who doesn't understand right from wrong, generating an exploration of askew guardianship from a desperate man doing anything, I mean anything, to spend some time relearning how to engage with his emotionally fragile son. "I Love My Dad" hits a few farcical highs and some profoundly emotional lows, and while Morosini doesn't always maintain command of the feature's tone, he takes some interesting storytelling risks with the picture, which results in some major laughs and plenty of wincing along the way, making it one of the more appealingly stranger films of the year. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Christian entertainment receives a necessary jolt of suspense with “On a Wing and a Prayer,” which dramatizes the experience of Doug White, an aspiring pilot caught in a desperate situation when he’s forced to take the controls of a plane after the official pilot dies in mid-air. The picture is based on a true story, and it’s one that just so happens to be structured like a Hollywood disaster movie, with screenwriter Brian Egeston tasked with juggling multiple perspectives as a team of professionals try to help Doug land his plane safely, and if he can’t do that, land in the ocean. “On a Wing and a Prayer” is suspenseful and sharply paced, with director Sean McNamara (“Cats and Dogs 3: Paws Unite,” “Bratz”) wisely sticking to the essentials of panic, making a mostly lean, procedural endeavor with occasional questioning of God’s way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As a creature of folklore, the Chupacabra is a mysterious beast, meant to inspire fear with its history as a vampiric animal looking to suck blood out of its victims. Director Jonas Cuaron (“Desierto”) tries to rehabilitate the reputation of the Chupacabra with “Chupa,” which seeks to create an “E.T.”-like connection between a boy and a furry baby he learns to befriend, making for a spirited family film adventure. Cuaron endeavors to make something approachable for all ages with the picture, which doesn’t wow with its emotional magic, but gets far enough on charm, elements of Mexican culture, and the innate warmth of a story that involves kids trying to protect a cute critter from harm. “Chupa” is a pleasant feature, with Cuaron offering an easygoing journey of family and honor, buttering up the viewing experience with some nostalgic looks at the way the world once was. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The world of Nintendo’s Mario character has grown exponentially since its debut in the early 1980s. The little Italian man and his mighty jump has developed into a media behemoth, with the “Super Mario” video game series transforming the brand name into an event, leaping out of console play to become a fan obsession in T.V., books, theme park additions, and, of course, the movies. One of the early stabs at a game adaptation was 1993’s “Super Mario Bros.” To a few, the endeavor was a daring reimagining of the character’s adventures in unreality. To most, the feature was a cringe-inducing bastardization of the source material. Illumination’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” seeks to take back the big screen, with directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (“Teen Titans Go! To the Movies”) putting in a major effort to respect the Mario universe, delivering a bright, colorful, and swiftly paced odyssey for the Brooklyn plumber that’s packed with references and reverence, absolutely determined to satisfy loyal button-mashers who’ve been let down before. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Bob Ross was a painter who hosted his own PBS show, “The Joy of Painting,” which aired for 11 years. He’s the “happy trees” guy, with his bushy hair and unnervingly peaceful on-air demeanor reaching a small but appreciative audience of art enthusiasts and students. Today, Ross is big business, with Bob Ross Inc. protective of his image, but happy to turn the man into a merchandise machine, keeping his spirit and moneymaking potential alive decades after his death. There’s no way the company is going to allow Hollywood to make a Bob Ross movie, leaving writer/director Brit McAdams to invent Carl Nargle, a bushy-haired, unnervingly peaceful character going through major emotional upheaval in “Paint,” which plays with Ross’s world of creativity while generating its own study of a man dedicated to his ego, failing to noticed the changing times. “Paint” does its own thing with the not-really-Bob-Ross experience, and McAdams mostly lands a mellow, periodically amusing character study with this subject, doing his best to avoid a thin parody of a public television legend. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Making his way through the film business, actor Scott Caan appeared in many movies, trying his best to establish himself as a big screen presence. It didn’t quite take, but Caan made a wise career decision when he agreed to star in a remake of the television show “Hawaii Five-0,” spending an astonishing ten years with the program, maintaining steady employment as a network player, likely amassing a fortune in the process. Instead of jumping back into T.V., Caan tries his luck again in the movies, creating the screenplay for “One Day as a Lion,” giving himself the lead role in a tale of mistakes and misunderstandings. The endeavor teases a darkly comedic side with aggressive characters and their bristly interactions, but Caan mostly keeps everything simple and slow, putting his faith in mild tensions to carry the effort. Unfortunately, he needs something more than basic antagonisms to make this tale come to life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com