Movies, Film, and Chili

Animals is written and directed by Ben Affleck , who has shown with films like Argo and The Town that he can be a solid filmmaker when everything comes together. Unfortunately, Animals is all over the place. The movie is filled with race pandering, victim blaming, West-hating dialogue, and situations that fall apart if you spend more than five minutes thinking about them. The characters frequently make decisions that do not make sense, and the story struggles to convince you that any of this is unfolding naturally. Ben Affleck is equally inconsistent as an actor. There are moments when he is on point, but others where he veers into overacting. His crying, in particular, feels more annoying than emotionally convincing. Instead of making the audience feel what his character is going through, the performance can pull you right out of the scene. It is frustrating because Affleck has demonstrated that he can deliver much stronger performances, but this is not one of them. Gillian Ande...

The Social Reckoning is written and directed by Aaron Sorkin , who is better known for his writing than his directing, and it shows. Compared to David Fincher's vision in The Social Network , the direction here is a noticeable step down. Thankfully, the writing is top tier and easily on par with some of Sorkin's best work. The dialogue is sharp, the story holds your attention, and the script gives the cast plenty to work with. The movie is good, but it is not going to be for everyone. Mikey Madison , known for Anora and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , is a standout as Frances Haugen . She does an excellent job convincing the audience that she is socially awkward and a genuine nerd without making the performance feel forced. It is the kind of role that could easily become a caricature in the wrong hands, but Madison makes the character believable and gives the film one of its strongest performances. Jeremy Allen White , best known for The Bear and Shameless , plays Jeff Ho...

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma wastes no time letting you know exactly what kind of movie it wants to be. Unfortunately, that does not mean it is a movie that everyone is going to enjoy. Writer and director Jane Schoenbrun clearly loves horror and has plenty of ideas about the genre, but the film feels more like an art project than an actual horror movie. There are plenty of references to films like Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp , but most of the interesting ideas feel borrowed from movies that did this sort of thing much better. Hannah Einbinder is the biggest problem with the film. Her character, Kris , is intentionally and incredibly bland and spends most of the movie fawning over Billy without giving us much reason to care about her. Even her appearance feels oddly disconnected from the movie, like the makeup department decided to take the night off. Once it becomes obvious that Kris is essentially a self-insert for Jane Schoenbrun , it becomes even more irritating...

The Uprising is written and directed by Paul Greengrass , and the film certainly looks the part. The costumes, dialogue, and scenery all do a great job of establishing the time period and making the world feel authentic. Unfortunately, the movie has a frustrating habit of taking scenes that could have been much shorter and dragging them out until you are simply waiting for something to happen. Andrew Garfield does a great job leading the film and proves he still has what it takes to carry a movie on his shoulders. His performance reminded me of his work in Silence and Hacksaw Ridge , where he is able to bring a lot of emotional weight to a character without completely overplaying it. The problem is that the movie occasionally focuses on minor characters who do not have the same level of delivery. When the camera stays on them for too long, the cracks in the dialogue and performances become much more obvious. Jamie Bell , who you may remember from Jumper , does a decent job as a supp...

Colony is written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho , the director behind the cult classic Train to Busan . While Train to Busan has become the more celebrated film, Colony shows how much Yeon has improved as both a writer and a director. The story is stronger, the filmmaking feels more confident, and the way he builds the world gives the movie more substance than I expected going in. Jun Ji-hyun is the clear standout of the cast. She does a fantastic job conveying emotion through subtle movements and expressions rather than relying on exaggerated acting. That is not surprising considering she is one of South Korea's best actresses, but she still manages to make the character feel grounded and believable. She carries much of the emotional weight of the film. I did not recognize many of the other actors, and unfortunately, none of them really stood out enough to make much of an impression. That is not necessarily a knock against the cast as much as it is a testament to how much Jun ...

Verity was a surprise for me. Normally, the authors who turn their books into movies that I actually enjoy are Stephen King or Michael Crichton , but Colleen Hoover has been doing surprisingly well with the last four movies adaptations from her work. One thing I appreciate about her writing is that she knows how to write male characters who aren't weak or simply there to be punching bags for feminist talking points. That alone makes the characters feel more believable and gives the story a better balance. Dakota Johnson plays an up and coming writer who is brought in to ghostwrite for Anne Hathaway's character. This is easily Johnson's best performance yet. She does a good job carrying the movie and making the character's uncertainty and curiosity believable as the mystery around the house starts to unfold. Anne Hathaway does not have a huge amount to do because of her character's condition, but whenever she is actually on screen, she brings the energy you wo...