Movies, Film, and Chili

  A Quiet Place: Day One  is a prequel to the hit John Krasinski  sci-fi horror. This time Michael Sarnoski  took over writing and directing the film. After his success in directing, little little-known movie,  Pig, I imagine Paramount had faith in him to take a stab at the franchise. There was one issue with the water CG and the monsters really have been too crisp and detailed in low light but other than that his writing was kinda of mediocre. Lupita Nyong'o plays the main character who has some sort of disease. I'm not sure if it was actually declared to be cancer but it was something like that. She plays a jerk through most of the film and her character arc is being nice to this scary cat played by Joseph Quinn. She's expressive even if her character is written to be unlikeable in the beginning. Speaking of  Joseph Quinn he plays a British lawyer who is the most timid lawyer there is. I mean I guess it makes sense that he's British as an American lawyer would have to

  Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1  is pulp fiction set in an 1800s western. Kevin Costner wrote, directed, and starred in the film. So its success can be defined and held accountable to him almost entirely. It's hard to believe he's nearly seventy years old. I never saw Yellowstone  but people swear by it. I was first introduced to Costner  in Waterworld  but my favorite movie of his is Draft Day . His acting, writing, and direction are fine. There was a single issue with CG but it was obvious to me but I doubt my wife saw it.  Sam Worthington  plays a prominent role, as does Jena Malone, Sienna Miller, Danny Huston, Abbee Lee, Michael Rooker, Will Patton,  and Not Sure himself Luke Wilson.  There really are a lot of good and great actors here. Abbee Lee  has the most trouble playing her character. You might remember her from Old.   While this is the first part in a two-part theatric event, it felt really long for not having a conclusion. For that: it earns a B+  instead

  The Exorcism  is about an actor hired to play a priest in an exorcist-style movie who gets possessed. Joshua John Miller  wrote and directed the film. He's probably best known for writing The Final Girls, and this is his first time directing in over two decades. In terms of writing the film is a slow burn that draws you in for who the characters are to build up to the finale. There are some jump scares and moments of terror and for a horror that's a must.  Russell Crowe plays the actor who is haunted by events in his past and can really transform at the drop of a hat into the demon-possessed version of his character. He's not really had a lot of love from Hollywood as they tend to put him in roles to remind us how far he's fallen from the limelight.  Ryan Simpkins  plays Crowe's lesbian daughter. It's important to the end of the film that she's lesbian. She does a good job as a daughter who has a lot of conflict with her dad. You might remember her as Ali

  Drive-Away Dolls  is an LGBTQ comedy mainly featuring lesbians. Ethan Coen  can direct but he can't take a film like this and turn it into something interesting. It is obvious that this film was written from the mindset of being a victim. It tries so hard to be Fargo which really just cements that Coen  has lost his touch. He's not writing for general audiences, he's writing for modern audiences. The problem is that "modern audiences" don't go to the theater. His quick dialogue is still there but it comes across as jarring with all the verbiage. Margaret Qualley  puts on an accent and while sometimes it comes across as charming, sometimes it comes across as trying too hard to be hick. She's supposed to be a Texan but doesn't act or sound like any Texan I've met. She's a good actress, but her character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood  was much better written as here she seems so one-dimensional. While I was disappointed in this film, I'm

  The Bikeriders  is a crime drama about a club of bike enthusiasts who turn towards crime. I really enjoyed Midnight Special  because of Jeff Nichols , and when I saw the trailer, even before I knew it was him, I thought this movie looked good. Nichols  also wrote and directed Mud . I like it when production studios just leave filmmakers alone to make a movie you get invested in. There were a few editing choices that I had issues with but none of them were directorial.  The film sets up Jodie Comer  as the main character who is Austin Butler 's Benny's love interest. You might remember Comer from an underrated Ridley Scott film called The Last Duel . I forgot that she was the love interest in Free Guy. Both Comer and Butler play believable and real characters. The same goes for Tom Hardy . Their relationships all make sense and there's only one issue. Mike Faist  is the worst actor in the film. Every scene takes you out of the story. I'm not sure why he got cast but he

  Sting is a horror filled with hot takes on how families should and do interact. Kiah Roache-Turner  trades scares for sending a message to the audience about men's roles in relationships especially when it comes to step-fathers. Considering he wrote and directed the film, it really shows his idea of what typical families should and are like. Why can't scary movies just be scary movies anymore? You're not Jordan Peele and stop trying to be. Ryan Corr plays the stepfather and does the best job of the bunch but his character is written in a way that men don't act in modern day. He hasn't been in anything you've probably seen. His interactions with Alyla Browne  seem forced and don't sell their relationship. She plays Young Furiosa in the recent Furiosa film. The most notable actor in the film is Penelope Mitchell  who you might remember from 2019's   Hellboy and Star Trek: Picard.  That being said she's okay. She's not bad but she did have some

  Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga  tries to make an action film for "modern audiences" set in the Mad Max world of films. Director George Miller  really phoned it in for this one. He must have had a major paycheck to throw away his franchise like this. It's full of horrible CG and bad acting. The film really could have used some reshoots. Also, the film's cinematography is just all over the place. Most of the blue shots weren't shot in that light but instead were obviously color-graded. Chris Hemsworth overacts in all of the scenes he was in. He was never a great actor in Thor, as he just looked the part. Alya Browne  plays the Young Furiosa  and has the issue Princess Leia  had in the  Obi-Wan Disney+ show. The issue is that no one will believe this tiny little girl is able to get the better of full-grown men. The film also spent too long in the prologue dealing with Young Furiosa, it's over an hour long. We get it. While Anya Taylor-Joy is beautiful and all she'

  The Watchers  is an Ishana Shyamalan horror film about monsters in the forest. Daughter of M. Night Shyamalan , Ishana  makes her motion picture debut with a splash. She has a few solid actors to work with and draws what she can out of them with her father of course having taught her everything he knows. It really feels like one of his films and the writer A. M. Shine  has an interesting story to tell that fits into the Shyamalan  world. I half expected this film to follow Glass . Olwen Fouere has been in a lot lately and I'm not complaining. The Northman  was one of my top films of 2022. Texas Chainsaw Massacre  while bad, was still improved by her acting. Here she plays the old woman who knows all the rules of the monsters in the forest. The main character though is Mina  who is supposed to be younger than Dakota Fanning actually is but she still sells the role well enough to pass as a twenty-year-old. She was such a great child actor in Man on Fire and War of the Worlds.  Th