Movies, Film, and Chili

  Extraction 2 is the follow-up to the Netflix hit. This time Tyler Rake is extracting, again. Sam Hargrave  is a better student director than anything else. The film has some great stunts in it and nothing really more to it. You might remember his stunts from Avengers: Endgame, Atomic Blonde, and Captain America: Civil War. Joe & Anthony Russo  wrote the movie but really phoned it in on this one. It wasn't nearly written as well as one might expect from the duo, but then again they are better directors than writers. They should stick to what they're good at. Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as Tyler Rake. If anything is to say about his acting in this one he was given more to work with but delivered less. He really shines when he has less to say and more to do. He fills out the role of Rake really well, and I look forward to Furiosa . The actor who does the best in the film was Golshifteh Farahani  who shines better in this film than in the first. You might rem...

  No Hard Feelings  is a comedy romance about a 32-year-old woman who is left with no other choice but to date a 19-year-old rich recluse. Written and directed by Gene Stupnitsky , the film is his second feature just after Good Boys  which wasn't too bad. He knows how to pace his film and the shots aren't wrong. There were certain scenes that made me laugh but like the problem with most comedies, all the funny parts are in the trailer. Something I expect from Strays  later this summer. Jennifer Lawrence's makeup in this film isn't what she would normally wear so it feels off. Her acting has also taken a bit of a downturn. She has her moments of emotion and comedy but my expectations out of her are much higher. Andrew Barth Feldman  is either playing himself or doing a great job playing a recluse virgin. He was believable throughout the film, and he delivered his lines as expected. The problem with him is that he would have to have a major transformation if I we...

  Asteroid City is a play within a movie about a grieving father and the random people he comes across while being in Asteroid City. Written and directed by Wes Anderson , who I've grown to appreciate more in my later years. I thought his first movies were pretentious until someone showed me the meticulousness of his films. It is very prevalent throughout the film that every detail was intentional and the pacing of the film is something to be dissected. Jason Schwartzman  plays a different character than I expected him to play after watching the trailer. He was very grounded and the humor was situational rather than wordplay like in his previous Anderson showings like Rushmore and Moonrise Kingdom. Scarlett Johansson plays up her acting abilities to play a 1950s actress who has to deal with the climate of the era. She is flawed and knows it, and uses it to her advantage. She hasn't been this good since Lost in Translation. Maya Hawke is in this film. You might know her from St...

  The Boogeyman  is a horror film about a family plagued by a sadistic presence that latches onto the pain their family is feeling after the tragic death of their mother. Directed by Rob Savage , who is probably best known for his 2020 film Host . Continuing with horror he does his best to add some scares in there, some land, and others don't. It's paced well and the shots are well-placed and timed. The screenplay was written by Scott Beck , Bryan Woods, and Mark Heyman. There are some feelings of A Quiet Place  here from Beck and Woods. While it seems Heyman was there to write the more intimate moments as he wrote The Skeleton Twins  and Black Swan. Sophie Thatcher  from Yellowjackets and The Book of Boba Fett  makes a splash here as the female lead. She's supposed to be a teen dealing with the tragic death of her mother as well as the surrogate mother now for her sister. She plays the conflicted older sister pretty well. I've never seen Yellowjackets but ...

  The Blackening  is a comedy horror about a group of friends who are targeted in a series of sinister games while at a bed in breakfast. I enjoy Tim Story movies, Barbershop, 2005's Fantastic Four , and Ride Along.  He had a stinker last year with Tom & Jerry . He knows how to put a film together and there weren't any directorial choices that I found apparent. The only issue I have with the writing is that it seems certain scenes were clearly written by Tracy Oliver , while others were written by Dewayne Perkins  who also stars in the film. That's not to say the writing is bad. Some of it is on the nose of how these characters would interact with each other. As far as the acting goes Antoinette Robertson is clearly more developed than the other actresses in the film. Not only was she believable but also she has the charisma to take the film to another level. Without her, this film would lose a few grades. Also,  Melvin Gregg  did a great performance wi...

  The Flash  is a continuation of the DCEU where Berry Allen tries to go back in time to fix the problem of his past. Directed by Andy Muschietti , the film takes a lot of chances when it comes to directorial choices and at other times plays it safe with nostalgia and cool action sequences. Comic book fans might be upset with the direction the writers Christina Hodson and Joby Harold  took but I never was a big fan of the Flash comics. Andy knew how to direct horror movies as he did Mama and Stephen King's 2017 adaptation of It . James Wan made the transition from horror to superhero with Aquaman why not Muschietti as well? One of the problems is Hodson's intentional writing that bleeds over from Birds of Prey  into this film. Also,  Harold wrote the atrocious Obi-Wan Kenobi mini-series and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword . Berry Allen is played by Ezra Miller  and has to play two versions of himself. He knows he's annoying and that he's playing an annoyi...

  Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse  is the sequel to the Academy Award-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse . This time there are even more spider-people. With completely different directors the film feels the same, perhaps that's due to the writing duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller who return to continue their success train from the prior film and The Lego Movie.  This goes to show the real lack of impact the directors of animated films have and their success doesn't necessarily transfer to live action. Anime fans will be happy to know Joaquim Dos Santos  is here to direct but the average audience will have no idea who he is. Justin K. Thompson got credit for directing too but he's always been known as a production designer. Kemp Powers  also received directorial credit but he's most known for his screenplay and staff writing and it's odd that this is his second director credit.  Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld are back as ...

  The Wrath of Becky  is a revenge action adventure film following Becky as she kills a bunch of right-wing extremists. Co-directed and written by Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote, the film suffers from experienced directors. There were many issues that people would point out on say a CW show. The writing is very politically left and if that's your leaning you'll probably enjoy this film more. There are various scenes that don't make sense and are very coincidental. Lulu Wilson  plays the manic pixie dream girl boss that has no love interest. Her whole purpose is just to punish the men in the movie. She overacts throughout the film. I hadn't seen her in the first film, and I hadn't seen the poster saying "she's back" to know that it was a sequel. Seann William Scott,  of American Pie and Goon fame, plays the main antagonist of the film as the leader of a domestic terrorist group. He certainly was the most skilled as well as prolific actor in the film. Ma...