Movies, Film, and Chili

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle  is about four teenagers who get transported into the video game world of Jumanji. A sequel to the original with a twist, instead of the world of Jumanji coming to the real world it's in reverse and with video game elements. Director, Jake Kasdan , is probably best known as the director of Bad Teacher and Sex Tape (the bad Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel movie, not a porno). While the film is pretty straightforward with the shots used and imagery, Kasdan focuses on the performances of his actors. Smart movie Kasdan. I've been enjoying Chris McKenna's writing for a long time now. If you consider since 2010 long. He did a TV show called Community and The LEGO Batman Movie which has grown on me since it's my eldest daughter's favorite movie. Oh, and he also did a little movie called Spider-Man: Homecoming. The dialogue in the film is great. Look forward to his writing in the upcoming movie Ant-Man and the Wasp. Dwayne Johnson is pe

Les Mis érables is about 19th-century France where a former prisoner, Jean Valjean, takes in a troubled girl. Director, Tom Hooper, has some great shots. They are so short though a few times that they could be missed for how wonderful they are. It's not his fault the CG isn't up to par. Speaking of the CG scenes, they are sometimes so bad it's laughable. At the beginning of the film, Jean Valjean rips up papers and throws them to the wind. The papers fly up like in every film that has this floating effect to end a scene, but the papers are so obviously fake the effect was ruined. Hooper has very few technical issues when it comes to direction though and that's to be expected from the director of The King's Speech. Hugh Jackman 's origin and introduction are mostly meh. His singing is a miss for me at the early parts of the movie. Jean Valjean is such an interesting character but I only wish that the faces Jackman made didn't make me think of Wolverin

The Commuter  is about a businessman who gets caught up in a criminal conspiracy aboard a train. Jaume Collet-Serra is not a household name by anyone's standard. He's mostly made non-blockbuster or really rememberable films. I mean he did The Shallows and Orphan, but not many people have seen those. The direction isn't bad but it's nothing special. The writers are having their first crack at a movie except for Ryan Engle who also wrote Non-Stop, another Liem Neeson movie. He's also writing the upcoming Dwayne Johnson movie Rampage. The dialogue is really weird, it's like playing dungeons and dragons with an ill-prepared dungeon master. I suppose that's a really specific and not easily understood reference. It's as if an alien came from outer space, learned English and then tried to have a conversation with people from Boston. Liam Neeson isn't the same character he was in Taken but he acts and fights like he is. He makes decisions an everyda

Fantastic Four is the origin story for one of Marvel's most noteworthy comics. Four youngins are transported to a mystical alternate dimension where they obtain superpowers. Josh Trank threw a fit when Disney saw how bad this movie was because it lost him the director's chair for a Star Wars film. To be honest I would be upset too. This film ended his career. He has yet to do anything since and I doubt he'll do anything significant in the future. I enjoyed Miles Teller in Whiplash, but that's it. Most of his movies I dislike because of the cocky-but-nothing-to-back-it-up attitude. His scar on his chin is still distracting. Kate Mara had a wig in some scenes and not in others. Hmm, I wonder if this film had reshoots? Her performance felt wooden and phoned in. She was great in Shooter, and I adored her performance in House of Cards. Michael B. Jordan is one of the few saving graces in this film. He did his best with what was given to him. Between the upcoming

Proud Mary  is about a female assassin in Boston whose life gets twist-turned upside down when she meets a little boy. The direction in this movie is worse than London Has Fallen. The choices in camera angles are off, the movement is weird, and the quick cuts in a slow scene are just objectively wrong. Babak Najafi has done better, maybe it was his work with Mark Gill that helped with London Has Fallen. There are a surprisingly low number of producers compared to London Has Fallen and that's where I think the problem is. I like Taraji P. Henson. You know her as Cookie from Empire. I don't like some of the characters she plays. Some might say she's strong and independent, but because the characters she plays are usually close-minded and only think their way is right. This has nothing to do with her as a person just a typecast that I find weird. There are a couple of exceptions like Hidden Figures and The Karate Kid. Result: D+ (Don't even get me started on the w

The Post  is about the cover-up of the Vietnam War and the U.S.A's first female newspaper publisher. Directed by Steven Spielberg  who needs no introduction does a wonderful job with camera angles and getting the most out of Streep and Hanks that I can imagine most people overlook. He uses  Fincher-like choices for many of the shots. Which involves moving the camera with the pace of the scene. It really is great. Meryl Streep would have been my first choice for this film and maybe Cate Blanchett if I couldn't get her. Her acting raises the bar for everyone else supporting her. Even actors that I disliked, Zach Woods, did better while around her. Tom Hanks  speaks in a very groggy voice throughout the film. It bothered me at the beginning but I grew used to it by the third act. He thinks differently than most at the post and challenges Streep, something that few people can do. Bob Odenkirk does a wonderful job in this film even in scenes without Streep or Hanks. You

Sicario is about an optimistic FBI agent who gets picked for a task force to aid in the war on drugs at the U.S. and Mexico boarder. Directed by one of the new up-and-comers Denis Villeneuve. There is something to be said about a film like this when there are film analyses being done on YouTube. I agree that this film needs to be studied to find out what makes it so great. Emily Blunt plays the young FBI agent who is trying to prove herself in a man's world but not only because she's young and female but also because she's physically weaker than most, having a lean frame and not much weight to throw around. Josh Brolin  plays the leader of the task force and loves taking off his shoes or at least wearing sandals. He's not above torture and believes that he's doing the right thing which really makes him the underlying antagonist of the film. Benecio del Toro  plays the wildcard. Not much is know about him and he is being used by Brolin's character to ge

Pacific Rim  is about gigantic robots fighting kaiju to prevent the apocalypse. When going into a Guillermo del Toro movie most people, by now, should expect a dash of something new and weird. Blending CG metal monstrosities and large lizard-like creatures with actual storyline and background for most characters, he does a decent job making you care when people go out to fight. Charlie Hunnam isn't the best actor, but I love his performance in this. He plays the cocky but not ready to take the leadership role. He can dig into the deep anger of not being enough on his own but also care for his co-pilot. Oh yeah, all the robots require two people to function. That's important later on. Rinko Kikuchi does the hard part of being an Asian actress in an American movie. For some reason, their roles always seem off to most people but I thought she did better than most everyone else. Idris Elba plays her surrogate father and probably the best actor in the film, giving the best

12 Strong is a film about the declassified story of the first Special Forces team to enter into Afghanistan after the events of 9/11. The film is directed by Nicolai Fuglsig  in his first really big film. The film is shot like an action flick with hints of Black Hawk Down and 13 Hours. It's definitely a good first attempt. The writing is where the film goes a little awry. Ted Tally  is best known for writing The Silence of the Lams, but this film feels more the writing of Mission to Mars. There are good moments with the writing, like the relationship between the soldiers and Trevante Rhodes character with a young Afghan. Peter Craig is the other writer who has mostly done screenplays by this point and is slated to write the reboot for Top Gun. This makes me worried. Chris Hemsworth  gets to play a soldier who has never seen war and it makes sense for his casting. He doesn't sell being married to the beautiful Elsa Pataky . I didn't really buy him as the leader of t

Mom and Dad  is about two teenagers who try to survive a zombie-like apocalypse that causes mothers and fathers to attempt to murder their children in whatever "happening" manner. Mom and Dad is written and directed by Brian Taylor . Taylor is best known for the Crank movies and Gamer. Those were high action, adrenaline filled thrill rides and Mom and Dad is no exception. The pacing of the film is intentionally fast and once you think you're done with one scene it melds into another heart-racing scene. Selma Blair plays the bigger part in the film as the Mom of two. She has a complicated relationship with her daughter and with her husband. There are little interactions with her son as that is saved for Cage's character. She's better than I expected, especially since I haven't seen her act since Hellboy II. Nicolas Cage is a hit or miss actor and this movie has Cage dialed to eleven. His quirks and ticks are back as well as the extreme back and forth em

Mom and Son have to move into a new home after a tragedy but the twist is that it's their aunt's home and they're trying to sell it. So every weekend there's an open house for people to come in, but did they come out? The Open House  is directed and written by Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote . This is both of their's really first time trying a major movie. Major enough for Netflix to put their name on the title. I watched this with my niece and she loved the first half. I've seen enough horror movies to kinda guess where this one was headed. She was surprised. I suppose that's good writing, but only for a niche crowd. Dylan Minnette  acted as if someone told him, just be a teenager like you were in 13 Reasons Why and Don't Breath. He pauses before he speaks, he consistently has furrowed brows and pursed lips. Don't get me wrong he's a talented actor. He's just pigeonholing himself. I know he has the drive to show range. Piercey Dalton  d

Mad M ax: Fury Road  is about a group of women who flee from their ruler in a post-apocalyptic Australia with the help of "loveable" ol' Mad Max. George Miller directed one of my favorite movies of all time. Of course, that movie is Happy Feet. All jokes aside, George Miller not only has the skills to make a movie like this but also the audacity to make a film that is one long chase. No scenes feel out of place, there's not a dull moment, and the feel of the film is consistent. Miller was nominated for best director for this film and deservedly so. More fantasy and sci-fi movies need to be nominated each year instead of the same drama Oscar bait movies. Tom Hardy  has, if not should, become a household name. Between being Bane, playing Eames in Inception, or becoming Venom in 2018, he's certainly shown he can handle tough roles. It takes a certain kind of person to fill the role of Max and Tom Hardy was almost a no-brainer. His cool, calm, and collected atti

Fist Fight is about a teacher who accidentally gets another one of his colleagues fired and in such is challenged to a fight after school. Most of this movie is unbelievable. Richie Keen  directed this film and will probably go back to directing TV after this. There was nothing special about his direction, though nothing really technically wrong either. He's just caught in the limbo of not being good or bad. Ice Cube plays his typical character and since he's so good at selling that person it really wasn't a stretch to see him act this way. Even if his character does unbelievable acts. Charlie Day  is my favorite "Sunny" actor and like Cube he's basically playing the same character he always did. It's like a What If? movie where what if Ice Cube fought Carlie Day, because they're playing themselves with the added addition that they are teachers. Did it make me laugh? Yes. It wasn't even Day or Cube that made me laugh but more so the minor

The Polka King is written and directed by  Maya Forbes and   Wallace Wolodarsky about the polka legend Jan Lewan and his Ponzi scheme that eventually collapsed. Maya Forbes hasn't really directed much before, just one other film that I've never heard of. She's put in her dues though with writing, having written the screenplay for Monsters vs. Aliens, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, and A Dog's Purpose. It's hard to see who did more of the directing her or Wolodarsky but I did notice a better direction than A Dog's Purpose from last year.  This isn't the first combination of Forbes and Wallace Wolodarksy,  the movie Seeing Other People back in 2004 was the first I'd have seen them together. I think what prevents this movie from being great is whoever wrote the majority of the film. Without Jack Black , this film would be unwatchable. His character, Jan, is so loveable and you care about his success and failure because of how likable Black makes h

Death Race 2050 is about a government-sanctioned race to help with population control. Competitors race and score points for murdering people with their car. Death Race 2050 is written and directed by G. J. Echternkamp. There are many directorial flaws that people learn in film school. The writing is laughably bad. Here's a quote from one of the more idiotic characters Jed Perfectus "Why can't they see me as I see myself? A kind gentle soul imprisoned by abs of steel." Echternkamp has directed other films, but after watching this I doubt I'll look forward to them. Manu Bennett  plays Frankenstein in this film. He's not really recognizable for the regular movie going audience but I remember him from Arrow (Deathstroke) and The Hobbit trilogy where he played Azog. He's the better actor in a film with a bunch of nobodies. The only exception to those nobodies is Malcolm McDowell who probably got the highest paycheck for this film. He's kind of kno

Paddington 2  is the sequel that inevitably came from the success of the first. Paddington wants to get his Aunt a birthday present only to have it stolen and a case of mistaken identity ensues. Paul King attempts to capture the lightning in the bottle that was the first Paddington. It's hard to do sequels and have them live up to the original, statically it's doomed to fail. This one was directed fine, nothing special, but the writing and screenplay were all over the place with subplots and in so the film suffers. Ben Whishaw returns to voice Paddington. You might recognize him as Q from the bond film Spectre. His voice matches Paddington perfectly just as in the original. I look forward to seeing him in Mary Poppins Returns. Sally Hawkins reprises her role as well and generally looks to be authentic in the film. Her smile always seems genuine. She was great in The Shape of Water, so maybe that's just swaying my review a bit. Little known fact about Sally Hawkins w

Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a film about an idealistic lawyer who finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place. He doesn't really know how to speak to people and he doesn't play the game of bartering with other lawyers when it comes to plea deals. Dan Gilroy wrote and directed this film. The same man who did Nightcrawler, which was great. He adds so many subtle things in the movie that you don't really pick up on till later. Symbolism runs high in this film and it's not always easy to see. I enjoyed that the more I thought about the film the more I realized. Denzel Washington  plays the main character Roman who is socially awkward. Everyone has a friend, or has met someone like him and so you immediately have a sense of understanding if not sympathy. There were only a few scenes where he turned it off and I got a sense of Denzel but for the most part he's Roman through and through. Colin Farrell is a hit or miss actor for me. He was great in Saving Mr

Chef (2014) is written, directed and stars Jon Favreau. It's about a head chef who is forced to quit his job and gets a food truck to try something new. The movie is more about how he has to change his life and through the process understand the importance of family over work. Jon Favreau is probably a household name just because of how recognizable he is and how talented an actor, director, and writer he is. I first saw him in Rudy and then Swingers, but most people know him from Iron Man I would assume. The younger crowd would recognize him from Spider-Man: Homecoming. He plays the main character, Carl Casper, in this film and does an amazing job stepping out from his usual roles and completes his character arc perfectly. I used to find Sofia Vergara annoying from Modern Family but she tones it down for this film and is amazing. She plays the ex-wife of Jon Favreau's main character Carl Casper. Scarlett Johansson is also in the film and the relationship she has with Car

Phantom Thread (2017) is written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. In the 50s, a British dressmaker falls in love with a waitress only to have her find out that he's very picky about most things. The problem when watching "artistic" movies is that there's going to be symbolism almost throughout the film. Phantom Thread is not shy on the symbolism and it suffers more than it helps. It almost seemed like a test for Paul Thomas Anderson  to say 'I wonder if I can get away with this and still get an Oscar nomination.' I'm not hating on PTA, I mean he did There Will Be Blood, one of my favorite movies. Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the best, if not the best actor ever and continues to show it. There's not a scene of his acting that I can complain about. I expected such going in. Vicky Krieps  plays the female lead, Alma, and can't hold a candle to Lewis and in such her performance is easily criticizable. She has two good scenes in the film, and

Your Name (2016) is written and directed by Makoto Shinkai , about two teenagers who switch bodies every day. They get to leave eachother messages as to what they did that day, but they don't live in the same city so they haven't met. Makoto Shinkai  really came out of no where. The anime and manga he's written in the past isn't noteworthy and to have the highest-grossing anime film of all time. The ideas he use aren't new but they're fresh and used in a great way. I will follow this director from now on and make sure to watch whatever he comes out with next. Ryunosuke Kamiki voices the main male character Taki. You're recognize his voice from Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away, The Secret World of Arrietty, and Howl's Moving Castle (my wife's favorite). He's also going to be in a film that's coming out soon that I'm eager to watch called mary and the Witch's Flower. There's not really much to say about him other than he'

Blackhat (2015) is a film about cybersecurity and the hacker who is released from prison to help deal with a serious incident in China. Blackhat is directed by Michael Mann , the same...man...who brought you Heat, The Insider, Ali, and Collateral to name a few. So he isn't a nobody, but for some reason, this film seems like a direct to DVD film. Maybe it was the writing department since the writer of the film doesn't have much writing to his name, Morgan Davis Foehl . Yeah, I had never heard of him either. The credits he does have is being in the editorial department as an assistant editor for Click and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Lady. Two strikes against him in my book. Nick Hathaway, played by Chris Hemsworth , is a prisoner, so that explains why he's super buff. Oh and he's also a hacker. When I think hacker, that's what first comes to mind, Chris Hemsworth. He doesn't really have much to work with and just looks confused most of the movie. Holt Mc

Blade Runner 2049 is the sequel to Blade Runner (1982) about a new blade runner and new secrets that start to come unraveled. Director Denis Villeneuve is becoming one of my favorite directors. I first saw Prisoners and thought it was a decent film, then both Sicario and Arrival happened and I was sold on him. Villeneuve chooses his shots carefully and how he gets the most out of what we all know Gosling is capable of, is short of perfection. Ryan Gosling can lead a film, he proved it in Drive. One of my favorite films of all time. The audience knows character traits about "K", his name, and watches his character arc as it is thrown up and down the proverbial roller coaster. Harrison Ford 's character isn't a spoiler for the film, seeing how he's on the poster. That being said he doesn't show up for quite some time. It was a good and daring move on Villeneuve's part to really give the audience to come to love the main character, K. Ana de Armas

The Wedding Ringer is a comedy directed by Jeremy Garelick . In this movie, Doug is a lonely, heavyset man who manages to catch a beautiful woman. It's basically The Simpsons. Well, not really. It's about Doug's need for a best man and groomsmen for his wedding since he believes that her love for him would falter if he didn't have any friends. He hires Jimmy to get a bunch of groomsmen and to be his best man. Jeremy Garelick isn't really known for much except maybe The Breakup. This is his first chance to direct and write a major movie. The direction isn't bad, there were some technical issues that most of the movie-going audience won't notice. The events in this film go from zero to a hundred really quick. The score makes it worse I've noticed too. The comedy just doesn't land with me. Doug is played by Josh Gad , and he's firmly cementing himself as a comedic actor that doesn't make me laugh. He also plays pretty much the same charac

Released January 5th, 2018, Day of the Dead: Bloodline is about the zombie apocalypse and the lengths a woman will go to help her friends. This was the director, Hector Hernandez Vicens', first real attempt at a feature film, if that's what you'd call this. He also did a movie called The Corpse of Anna Fritz which I had never even heard of. Stick to writing Vicens, you've already proven yourself there. He wrote a movie called Phoenix 11-23. Zoe Parker, played by Sophie Skelton , is a medical student who's stuck having to draw the blood of someone she has already reported to have been creeped out by. The choices bosses make in movies are odd, but then again this is a B-zombie-movie. On a side note, she's pretty. On an even sider note, if that's even a phrase, look at the name of the actress and the character. Sophie Skelton looks like the made-up name while Zoe Parker seems the more normal. Get it together UK. When watching the beginning I was thril

Straight Outta Compton is a biopic about the LA centered rap group NWA. Directed by F. Gary Gray and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Director F. Gary Gray isn't necessarily a household name. Though if one were to look up his credentials, you'd start to appreciate him more. He's directed The Fate of the Furious, Friday, and my favorite The Negotiator. The direction in the film has little problems but there's nothing special. Which is why I thought this film didn't get nominated for direction or best movie. The writing, oddly enough, was my biggest complaint. The movie itself is about NWA, but for the character of Ice Cube, played by his son O'Shea Jackson Jr., has a deeper connection since Ice Cube and F. Gary Gray actually worked together on Friday 20 years ago. Other than looking like his father, Jackson delivers an amazing performance to the point I forget that's not actually Ice Cube on the screen. The best performan

Minor Spoilers Ahead It's not really a spoiler since you know it's (he's) coming. Justice League directed by both Zack Synder and Joss Whedon is about a group of superheroes that come together to fight an alien henchman for Darkseid. Highest paid actor, Ben Affleck , feels like he's just going through the motions of doing this film. He doesn't really have any good stunts and keeps his body suit on for all of the action scenes which makes me wonder if he actually trained for the film like he did Batman v. Superman. Henry Cavill had a pretty bad rendering done on his mustache to remove it from the film and thus hinders his ability to act. It's not his fault he was contractually obligated to keep the stache. Gal Gadot doesn't have the same sort of direction she did with Patty Jenkins, and it is more noticeable to trained eyes. The average movie-going audience won't notice though. She's a highlight of the film. Ezra Miller should have