Movies, Film, and Chili

Coyote vs. Acme is directed by Dave Green , and this is easily his best work to date. Some of that credit belongs to Samy Burch , the Oscar-nominated writer whose screenplay gives the film enough personality to keep it entertaining. All that praise aside, Coyote vs. Acme is fun but ultimately nothing particularly special. The film is appropriately silly for a Looney Tunes movie, but the pacing is its biggest problem. At 103 minutes, it feels noticeably longer than it needs to be, and cutting it down to around 90 to 95 minutes would have made the movie considerably tighter. Will Forte is easily the best casting choice in the film. He fits the comedic tone perfectly and brings the right amount of energy to a movie that depends heavily on its absurdity. John Cena , on the other hand, is easily the worst casting choice. His performance is so wooden that it feels like he's barely trying, and he seems to be phoning it in throughout most of the movie. It's especially noticeable wh...

Idiots is written and directed by Macon Blair , who also has a small role in the film. The movie feels like Pineapple Express with more character development but worse pacing. There are some genuinely funny scenes that made me laugh out loud, and for a comedy, that's ultimately what it should be aiming for. Blair clearly understands how to write absurd situations and characters, but the film has several pacing problems, with scenes that could have been cut without hurting the overall story. When it works, though, the comedy lands and the character development gives the film more substance than expected. Dave Franco , known for Now You See Me and Neighbors , plays the drugged-out, lazy, down-on-his-luck type of character he has played before. He is entertaining in the role, but his character has very little development or arc throughout the story. O'Shea Jackson Jr. , known for Straight Outta Compton and Den of Thieves , gets the stronger character arc between the two and ma...

Insidious: Out of the Further is written and directed by Jacob Chase , who has made some solid shorts in the past but is making the first major motion picture of his that I've seen. There is very little to criticize about his direction, particularly when it comes to setting up scares. Chase understands how to build tension and makes especially good use of the film's more claustrophobic scenes, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere without relying entirely on cheap jump scares. The direction and horror setup are the film's strongest elements, even if the overall story doesn't quite reach the level needed for a full recommendation. Amelia Eve delivers a performance that feels reminiscent of Naomi Watts in The Ring . She channels that same exhausted and increasingly desperate energy, making her character feel convincing as the supernatural events escalate around her. The performance fits the tone of the franchise well and helps ground the film's more unsettling momen...

Mutiny is directed by Jean-François Richet , who directed Plane , and also who once again proves to be a better action director than character developer. The film's action sequences are staged effectively, but some of the quieter scenes feel strangely undercooked. I'm not sure if Richet simply ignored certain issues or chose to use the first take in order to save money, but several moments lack the polish the rest of the film displays. Writers Lindsay Michel and J.P. Davis do a good job setting up the action and giving Jason Statham's character a believable reason to find himself out on a boat, but the dialogue can be atrocious at times. The story works when it focuses on its action, but the writing becomes a noticeable weakness whenever the characters stop moving long enough to talk. Jason Statham , known for The Transporter and The Beekeeper , does exactly what audiences expect from him and does it well. He commands every scene he's in, bringing his usual physica...

  Tony is written and directed by Matt Johnson , and while I haven't seen Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie , this film has definitely made me want to. I've heard good things about it, and after seeing what Johnson does here, I'm curious to check out more of his work. Tony is filled with little details that I enjoyed, particularly in the way its characters mirror the relationships and careers of the actors playing them. The film doesn't quite reach greatness, but Johnson's direction and attention to those smaller details give the drama enough personality to stand out. Dominic Sessa  continues to find himself cast as the likable but uncharismatic underdog that audiences naturally want to root for. He was excellent in The Holdovers , and he's good here as well, but this is starting to feel like a type of character he could easily become stuck playing. Sessa has enough talent to become more than that, but he'll need to branch out soon if he wants to avoid ...

Sleepwalker is a horror thriller written and directed by Brandon Auman , who quickly reminds us why his career has primarily been in television rather than feature films. Writing for children's television can sometimes get away with simplistic dialogue and storytelling, but those weaknesses become glaring when stretched into a feature-length horror movie. The screenplay is filled with clunky dialogue and predictable horror beats, while the jump scares rarely land. Instead of creating tension, the film repeatedly left me sighing in boredom. Hayden Panettiere delivers a strong performance despite the material she's been given. It's clear that many of her lines weren't written with much care, but she does what she can to make the character feel believable. Knowing this is her final film makes the performance bittersweet, especially because she deserved a much better script to go out on. Fortunately, her performance here doesn't diminish the work she's done in bet...