The Jungle Book is a success in Disney’s obsession with adapting beloved animated movies into live action features and while the likes of Maleficent and to some extent Cinderella weren’t great, this one is entertaining for almost the entire family, though some scenes might be a tad too frightening for younger viewers.
Finding Dory may not have the emotional resonance of its predecessor, yet it’s still a highlight entertaining entry in the Pixar line, even if it’s on the lower half of their films, which have generally been high quality work with one exception (Cars 2). The voice talents are all top notch and the animation is absolutely beautiful.
To Live and Die in L.A. is I think a bit of a forgotten crime-drama from the ‘80s and features a wide array of great performances headlined by William Petersen (though I felt he was better in Manhunter) and Willem Dafoe with some amazing cinematography and a vibrant color palette.
Deathrow Gameshow is a silly (ok, really dumb) movie that doesn’t really work on much of any level, though I guess in some ways it’s a predictor of the state of reality television today. The acting isn’t any good and the writing isn’t much better either.
Lucio Fulci’s supernatural thriller, Manhattan Baby (aka Eye of the Evil Dead) has some decently creepy scenes but little else that captured my attention from beginning to end, though any fans of his might get more out of it.
For any fan of The Marx Brothers, this Silver Screen Collection of 5 of their great films (or at least ones Universal holds the rights to) is wonderful with good video/audio transfers and a nice selection of bonus features highlighted by a feature-length documentary not to mention commentaries available on each film.
Both Cape Fear and To Kill a Mockingbird are great dramas and each featuring great performances by Gregory Peck, obviously the latter being the best and nabbed him a Best Actor Academy Award.
The Waxwork movies aren’t great, though the first one was very entertaining, and although the sequel wasn’t quite as good, they do make for a nice Saturday night double-header especially for fans of horror.
Morris From America is an entertaining, often charming, coming-of-age romantic-drama-comedy featuring a fine performance from newcomer Markees Christmas as well as Craig Robinson showing his more dramatic side.
Although uneven with the laughs, especially toward the third act, the three lead actresses have energetic chemistry with Mila Kunis and Kathryn Hahn being the headliners. As a rental this might be a worthwhile watch and perhaps a purchase down the line at a discount.
Imperium is a suspense-drama that is rather forgettable in its storytelling but is probably worth your time if only to see some a fine performance from Daniel Radcliffe who between this and The Woman in Black is turning into a solid actor in his attempts to get out of Harry Potter’s shadow.
Blood Father is a beautifully crafted drama about redemption and reconciliation featuring two great and emotional performances by Mel Gibson and Erin Moriarty in conjunction with an efficient story that doesn’t wear out its welcome with superfluous scenes.
Nerve, while hardly perfect, is one of the better surprise flicks of the year as it’s just a simple but fun suspense-thriller featuring two fine performances from Emma Roberts and Dave Franco and a nice moral at the core of what is really a convoluted story, yet I was entertained from beginning to end.
Special Effects is a convoluted crime-thriller that is merely one of many from the era. I did enjoy watching Eric Bogosian as the villain (SPOILERS!) so at least on that front it’s not a complete waste of time.
Café Society is perhaps one of Woody Allen’s weaker films though it is at least watchable if only for Jesse Eisenberg who now appears to be Allen’s pick to play the neurotic Jewish character he perfected back in the day. This might be worth a rental particularly if you generally like most of Allen’s works.