Lost in the Stars (2023)

Lost in the Stars is a Mandarin thriller with twists you'll see coming and one you might not.

Directed by newcomer Rui Cui, and cinematographer Xiang Liu. Liu knows his cinematography very well while cherry Cui lets the viewer know he's relatively new with mistakes that will leave the average audience going "somethings off with this" and not really knowing what's wrong. It's the camera angles and quick cuts. I believe the quick cuts are intentional and this isn't a deep movie, its feelings are very much surface-level.

Yilong Zhu plays He Fei, a man who has lost his wife while on their anniversary trip to Southeast Asia. He is the most experienced actor and carries the film with his performance. By the end of the film, you'll understand the depths Zhu has in his acting. He hasn't done much, if anything, that would be considered American, but he's been working since 2010.

Janice Man is the femme fatal in this film. She plays the beautiful but also fake Li Muzi who has replaced He Fei's actual wife. It's not a spoiler as it's in the trailer and that's only within the first five minutes of the film. She's gorgeous, cunning, and dastardly.

The film has problems with its writing as the ending doesn't land. It's totally unbelievable. The acting shines, but the direction doesn't. The cinematography is also on point but most audience goers won't even notice. This is just an okay movie. C+

Comments

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is directed by Aaron Horvath , Michael Jelenic , and Pierre Leduc , with a script by Matthew Fogel , who also worked on The Super Mario Bros. Movie . This sequel brings back the core cast while expanding the universe significantly, pulling in fan-favorite characters like Fox McCloud , Rosalina , Bowser Jr. , and Yoshi . The film leans heavily into spectacle, bouncing rapidly from one set piece to another. It often feels like a chain of “and then” moments, stitched together with references to the games rather than a tightly constructed narrative. Chris Pratt , known for Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World , returns as Mario and delivers a similar performance to the first film. He remains serviceable in the role, but the script doesn’t give him much room to grow this time around. Mario feels more like a vehicle to move the audience through the different worlds rather than a character with a meaningful arc. Anya Taylor-Joy , known for The Queen’s Ga...

Whistle (2026)

Whistle (2026) plays less like a finished horror film and more like a theater kid’s passion project that somehow made it to the screen. The script tries to build emotional investment in the main character but never succeeds, and the horror elements are almost nonexistent. The scares simply are not there, leaving the film feeling hollow for a genre that depends heavily on tension and payoff. The screenplay comes from Owen Egerton , whose work here feels more like a personal self insert than a fully realized character. The protagonist, played by Dafne Keen , comes across almost like a gender swapped version of the writer himself. Keen, known for Logan and His Dark Materials , tries to bring intensity to the role but the material gives her very little to work with. The direction from Corin Hardy , who previously directed The Nun , feels restrained by the script. It is hard not to feel a bit bad for him because there is only so much a director can do when the writing does not provi...

Civil War (2024)

Civil War is a journey across the eastern United States during a hypothetical civil war. Alex Garland wrote and directed the film. I was worried there would be too much of a political message in the film but really the message was so muted and delved into the story of Lee and Jessie. There are undertones of who is right and who is wrong in Garland's opinion but I was glad he kept it from being the story. It seems he's learned his lesson from his 2022 film Men. I'm glad to see him branching out from science fiction but Ex Machina and Annihilation were his best movies. Kirsten Dunst plays Lee the main character and the manifestation of jaded experience. She's seen war, suffering, and horrible things. She wants to protect Jessie just because of how polar opposite Jessie is as the manifestation of innocence. The makeup even shows how dead Lee looks in the eyes with the first close-up. You'll remember her as MJ from Spider-Man . Cailee Spaeny plays Jessie and despite...

Movies, Film, and Chili

Search This Blog