The French drama Standing Tall has a strong story at its core and a great, non-pretentious, message to boot even if it can feel like a Hallmark Movie of the Week feel and the performances by Catherine Deneuve and Rod Paradot are both excellent.
Marauders isn’t a half-bad crime-thriller though it has plenty of problems from a villain portrayed by Bruce Willis who once again phones-in his performance to some atrocious dialogue and a needlessly complicated plot. However, I did enjoy Christopher Meloni in the lead role and the director at least attempted to bring atmosphere.
Money Monster, in spite of the talent involved, never delivers. George Clooney and Julia Roberts give good performances but I had a really hard time feeling sorry for Jack O’Connell’s Kyle character even as the filmmakers try to pull at the dramatic strings in the third act.
This long lost film by Cecil B. DeMille, The Captive is an interesting time capsule and makes for an interesting, if not quick, viewing just to see a film from that era. The Blu-ray released through Olive actually is half impressive; although there are no features, the video doesn’t look bad and the music comes through nicely enough.
Supernatural: The Complete Eleventh Season manages to keep up the energy in spite of going on over a decade on the air. The performances are pretty much standard for Padalecki and Ackles but they’re still in top form and the storyline for the season at least feels fresh and is entertaining.
Hard Target 2 isn’t a half-bad DTV flick though it is pretty standard fare and probably went on a good 10-minutes too long. Still, Scott Adkins makes for a serviceable action hero with the right amount of charisma to pull off the role while seeing Robert Knepper playing a villain is always a welcome.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows might’ve been an ever-so-slight improvement over its predecessor but that’s not saying a whole lot. It’s still too Bayish for my taste and the inordinate amount of visual effects makes it tiring, though the fan service at least makes it a tolerable enough experience.
Road House is another classic of the 1980s, a fun romp with a cheesy story and yet Patrick Swayze has more than enough charm to pull it off and make it all the more memorable.
James Wan’s The Conjuring 2 is the rare horror-sequel that at least matches the quality of the original with some genuine scares and well written character development for the Warrens in conjunction with fine performances by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.
I so wanted to love and embrace the insanity of Urge, and yet with a few absolutely unlikeable characters and a story that devolves into zombie apocalypse territory, I can’t recommend it. However, it might be worth a rental.
Star Wars Rebels: Complete Season Two is a strong entry into the series with some decent animation to go along with well written storylines and nice character development.
Ratchet & Clank is a perfectly safe movie for younger viewers and passable enough for parents to watch with them, however between the animation and story, this probably better off as a direct-to-video release than something a studio spent millions to release to theaters.
Now You See Me 2 is not the type of movie that will tax your mind but instead is a perfectly serviceable caper-comedy, one that succeeds more on the chemistry with the ensemble, with newcomer Lizzy Caplan being the highlight, rather than anything to do with the thin plot, though I did appreciate some of the magic even if it’s CGI-generated.
Paul Schrader’s drama is disturbing and excels both with the writing, also by Schrader, as well as powerful performances from George C. Scott and Peter Boyle, even if for the former it might not make the list of his top 5 roles, but it’s harrowing nevertheless.
Me Before You is a film adaptation that attempted to capitalize on the massive success of The Fault in Our Stars not to mention it’s the latest rom-drama in the vein of a Nicolas Sparks adaption sans an overabundance of sappiness, though the heavy-handedness doesn’t quite mesh with some of the more levity of light-hearted scenes that came before.