Movies, Film, and Chili

  The Brutalist  is a historical fiction set in the forties and fifties about a Jewish man who survived the holocaust.  Written and directed by Brady Corbet , the film is primed with being nominated for an Oscar. I have never seen a movie done by him before, but I did see him in Funny Games  and it makes me wonder where the quality of filmmaking came from. While the Venice Film Festival has loved Corbet for years, this might be the first time he gets more wide recognition.  He relies on lead actor Adrien Brody to carry the film. Brody can channel the emotions needed to sell the film. I first saw him in The Pianist, and this film tries to recreate that spark. Alessandro Nivola  plays a supporting character in the film who was recently in the nearly horrible Kraven: The Hunter. It's not like the film will hurt from him being in it at the super limited box office as it is only available in four theaters. It's smart for Corbet  to keep the camera focused o...

  Sonic the Hedgehog 3  is the latest from the SEGA franchise.  It's wonderful that they keep getting Jeff Fowler  to come back repeatedly to direct these films. It adds an element of consistency that, let's say, Star Wars didn't have. Fowler  will be directing the upcoming The Pink Panther  film starring Eddie Murphy . With the Sonic franchise done for now, we could easily see the next universe of films in the coming years.  Jim Carrey  plays both Robotniks in the film and is just as goofy as you've come to expect. Keanu Reeves  plays Shadow and adds a lot of seriousness to Ben Schwartz's Sonic. Idris Elba and Colleen O'Shaughnessey  both shine as supporting characters Knuckles and Tails. There was a surprise character that I wasn't expecting in Krysten Ritter's Director Rockwell. She hasn't aged a bit. The film entertained from beginning to end and was full of so many Sonic Adventure 2 references. Result: A-

  Kraven: The Hunter  is a Marvel-Sony project set in their universe about the somewhat known anti-hero.  Directed by J.C. Chandor, the film has been chopped to pieces and reshot many times over. It becomes very apparent after Kraven's origin story as a teen. This is probably best put to the fault of Uncharted and Men in Black: International writer: Art Marcum.  Most of his movies are poor and he was carried through Iron Man  with Favreau. I feel bad for Aaron Taylor-Johnson  as I've enjoyed him in Kick-Ass  and Godzilla , but much like his character in Avengers: Age of Ultron , I doubt we'll see them again. Ariana DeBose  does her best with what was given to her. Her character is believable and her acting shows a lot of beauty and strength despite the poor writing.  Fred Hechinger  plays Chameleon and is probably the worst part of the film. Just like how his father in the movie picks on him, he looks like the type of person who was pick...

  Conclave  is a drama about the naming of a new Pope. Edward Berger  directed the film, and his direction quality has increased since All Quiet On The Western Front .  Peter Straughan, who is better known for writing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, is ambitious in his political statements, which I believe would very much alienate most religious people by the end of the film. It does overall diminish the film's integrity and value. Ralph Fiennes  plays Lawrence quite well and you can see his turmoil throughout the film. I believe there is an alternate ending that would see him in a different state by the end of the film, but alas we might never see that ending. John Lithgow  and Stanley Tucci  both play their respective political pope rivals as expected. Tucci the liberal, and Lithgow is the conservative. Since the film follows mostly Lawrence there is much to be desired from both of these characters. The film will still be nominated for an Oscar, but I fou...

  Gladiator II is the direct sequel to the 2000s modern classic.  Ridley Scott returns to direct. Someone in the marketing department needs to be fired as I went into the film thinking it would be horrible. It was great to get David Scarpa to write, as the story and the screenplay were better than expected. He wrote Napoleon and did the screenplay for The Day the Earth Stood Still . The CGI could have cooked a tad bit longer too. The film is not without its flaws, Yuval Gonen  has stupid tattoos on her face that are more distracting than immersive and the romance between her and Paul Mescal  is not believable. Speaking of Mescal, he struggles at the beginning of the film but finds his own towards the end. He starts at a four and ends at a seven. Pedro Pascal plays a complicated and well-written character as was Denzel Washington . Both Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger  were just annoying. The character of Ravi  played by Alexander Karim  was unnecessar...

  Carved  is a Hulu horror film about a killer pumpkin. Justin Harding  wrote and directed the film. He remains largely unfamiliar with the horror genre, exhibiting a propensity for incorporating a multitude of distinctive characters, yet not necessarily focusing on numerous instances of terror or alarm. While I haven't seen any of his other works, his first impression doesn't stand out.  The film does have some stand-outs as Peyton Elizabeth Lee  who plays Kira in the film does carry her portion of the film. Matty Cardarope is someone I recognized since he was in Stranger Things and Free Guy . He plays a stereotypical pothead. Also, I hadn't seen DJ Qualls  since I first saw him in The New Guy, he's aged so well for someone in their late forties. Chris Elliott  is also in the film, but every character he ever plays is just insufferable. He was Hanson  in Scary Movie. The film is almost so bad it's funny. Result: D