You can check out hotels and skyscrapers in new DVDs out this week.
“Hotel Artemis”; 3.5 stars: A shining example of how it is not the amount of money spent to make a movie, but how the budget is being spent. Director/writer Drew Pearce has managed to create a high-energy, gritty-looking and prophetically scary tale set in the near future that comes across as big as any summer blockbuster but offers far more bang for the bucks in the writing, visuals and acting.
“Hotel Artemis” is filled with standout performances topped by an Oscar-worthy effort by Jodie Foster, who in recent years has been more content to work behind the cameras. She’s not stopped acting, but will only take on roles that intrigue her, as in the case of The Nurse.
“Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation”; 3 stars: The animated feature picks up with the getaway destination for creatures doing booming business. Things are going so well they need a break, and the group books passage on the first monster cruise that will take them from the Bermuda Triangle to the found city of Atlantis. Dracula falls in love again, but the object of his affection is the last in the long line of Van Helsings who have made it their life’s work to kill Dracula.
“Hotel Transylvania 3” doesn’t suck. It is a visual splendor from the fun way the creatures are portrayed to the pacing of the action. Keeping Genndy Tartakovsky as the director of all three films creates a fluid sense of comedy and look.
“Skyscraper”; 2 stars: The 21st century attempt to repeat the kind of yippee-ki-yay action that made “Die Hard” so exciting features Dwayne Johnson running, jumping, climbing and lifting heavy objects. To be honest, a workout video would have been just as interesting.
“Skyscraper” ends up being a poor man’s “Die Hard” because it is still entertaining on a familiar level, especially if all you want is some mindless entertainment.
“Prayer Before Dawn”; 3.5 stars: This is one of the most difficult films in recent years to watch. It is brutal in tone and presentation, depicting a relentless savageness to the struggle for survival. Because this is such an honest production, it’s also a movie that has a strong story about the strength of spirit that is so powerful it is imperative to make yourself watch.
Director Jean-St?phane Sauvaire’s decision to film the movie in a real prison using actual prisoners as the supporting cast to Joe Cole takes the movie to the edge of being a documentary. The horror of what boxer Bill Moore went through in a Thailand prison can be seen without filter because the locations aren’t Hollywood sets but real-world venues caked in blood, sweat and more blood.
Also on DVD
“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot”: Man in rehab learns he has a gift for drawing edgy, irreverent newspaper cartoons that develop an international following.
“Dark Money”: Montana journalist works to expose the impact of the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United.
“The 100: Season Five”: Season five of the CW Network series has the post-apocalyptic survivors trying to establish a new home and protect the future generations.
“Egon Schiele: Death and the Maiden”: A look at one of the most scandalous artists in early 20th century Vienna.
“Champion”: Former arm-wrestling champion has his life complicated by the biological family he never knew in the sports comedy.
“The Real Story: The Da Vinci Code”: An investigation of Ron Howard’s 2003 film that reveals it was based on more real organizations and events than previously thought.
“Mama Mia! Here We Go Again”: Tells present-day story of Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) as she prepares for the grand reopening of her mother’s hotel and 1979 tale of when Donna (Lilly James) first arrives on the island. Out on DVD and Blu-ray Oct. 23.
