Tag: Billy Ray

Animals (2026) | REVIEW

Gillian Anderson as 'Dayle' in Ben Affleck's ANIMALS -- PHOTO: NETFLIX (Still image from trailers).
Gillian Anderson as ‘Dayle’ in Ben Affleck’s ANIMALS — PHOTO: NETFLIX (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Ben Affleck — Screenplay by Connor O. McIntyre, Billy Ray, and Ben Affleck.

Earlier this year, I reviewed Joe Carnahan’s The Rip, an occasionally quite exciting action-thriller with Ben Affleck in a prominent role. Although I liked that film, I was even more excited about his next Netflix project: Ben Affleck’s sixth directorial feature, Animals. Affleck has long proven himself a genuinely terrific director of unforgettable films such as Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo. I also had a good time with his previous directorial feature, Air, in 2023. Another kidnapping thriller from the director of Gone Baby Gone sounded like such a good project. Unfortunately, although there are good elements found in Animals, it is a considerably inferior kidnapping flick. Honestly, I was surprised by how this just felt like another remake of Akira Kurosawa’s High & Low.

Continue reading “Animals (2026) | REVIEW” →

REVIEW: Richard Jewell (2019)

Still Image Richard Jewell
‘Richard Jewell,’ Still Image — Photo: Claire Folger / Warner Bros.

Directed by Clint Eastwood — Screenplay by Billy Ray.

There is a lot to say when it comes to Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell, which is a biopic about the security guard who discovered a bomb during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, then alerted authorities, and was later wrongly accused of having planted it. While the film is not without problems, on the whole, I thought that Clint Eastwood’s 2019 picture was a success. This is a heartbreaking and infuriating film about the investigation into the Centennial Olympic Park bombing and the media circus and harsh media trial that followed as a result of an FBI leak, and at the center of the film is a breakthrough performance that I don’t think got the praise it deserved. Continue reading “REVIEW: Richard Jewell (2019)” →