Tag: Deadpool

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) | REVIEW

Deadpool looking up at the Wolverine in Shawn Levy’s DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE — PHOTO: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Directed by Shawn Levy (Free Guy; The Adam Project) — Screenplay by Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, and Shawn Levy.

Later this year, it’ll have been 7 years since Disney’s acquisition of Fox was announced. Included in the Fox acquisition were its assets including ‘their’ portion of Marvel characters, which had long been unable to be a part of Disney’s immensely popular Marvel Cinematic Universe of stories. I think a lot of fans out there will have, at that time, thought that years later they would have all been integrated into the Disney-Marvel-connected universe of live-action films, but, in actuality, it’s been quite slow. Certain characters have popped up in relatively insignificant ways, the classic X-Men theme song has played once or twice, and, sure, Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) did have some non-committal fun with the characters that Marvel fans have been desperate to have alongside the Avengers. Now, though, a significant part of that wait is over. Shawn Levy’s Deadpool and Wolverine is the first Marvel Studios film to be explicitly about a Marvel-Fox character and his integration into Marvel Studios. And, as if that wasn’t enough, it’s the one character that is the least audience-safe Disney character of them all: Deadpool, who is known for his R-rated violence and crude humor. Going into this film the big question for many fans was whether or not Disney, through Marvel Studios, would allow Deadpool to actually be the character that fans have come to know and love. The answer, which I can now give after having seen the much-anticipated film, is a resounding ‘yes.’

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REVIEW: Spiderhead (2022)

Chris Hemsworth as the charismatic antagonist, Steve Abnesti, in Joseph Kosinski’s SPIDERHEAD — Photo: Netflix.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski — Screenplay by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick.

No, my fellow cineastes, your eyes are not deceiving you. This adaptation of the George Saunders short story Escape from Spiderhead was indeed directed by Joseph Kosinski whose film Top Gun: Maverick — a charming, thrilling, and crowd-pleasing legacy sequel — invigorated the film and movie theater industries by being a huge hit just this very month, and its screenplay was indeed written by the writers of Zombieland, Deadpool, and Life — Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. When you add the fact that Spiderhead is spearheaded by acting talents like Marvel Studios’ God of Thunder, Chris Hemsworth, and Whiplash lead, Miles Teller (who also starred in Top Gun: Maverick), then it starts to sound like the kind of film that ought to have been released in theaters or, at the very least, been given a larger marketing push than it has gotten thus far. You’d be right in thinking that. Even though it has some issues, it deserves far better than falling into obscurity as one of the many overlooked entries in Netflix’s vast content library.

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Best of the 2010s: Directorial Debut Films

There is something very exciting about a directorial debut. Obviously, the filmmaker is excited about their first chance to step behind the camera on a feature film, but, as an audience member or film writer of any kind, it is so fascinating to see the choices being made. Sometimes some of the boldest and most imaginative filmmakers present us with instant classics, other times newcomers deliver a product that may not be extraordinary filmmaking but which may still be a moving or exciting motion picture. In this month’s best of the decade list, I’m honoring the very best directorial debuts. Some of them are first works for potential auteurs, while others are impressive blockbuster entertainment from untested new filmmakers just learning the ropes. Continue reading “Best of the 2010s: Directorial Debut Films” →

REVIEW: Deadpool 2 (2018)

Release poster — 20th Century Fox

The following is a review of Deadpool 2 — Directed by David Leitch.

I was a big fan of Tim Miller’s Deadpool. Miller’s directorial debut somehow exceeded my expectations. It was an immature but hilarious superhero movie that found a lot of success in poking fun at its own subgenre, even though it still suffered from some of the same problems as the lesser films in its subgenre. What made me love the film, however, was the central love story, which was the driving force of the origin story. Continue reading “REVIEW: Deadpool 2 (2018)” →

Box Office Predictions – May 2018

Let’s be honest, you don’t want to compete with a Marvel event movie, the sequel to a surprise superhero hit, or a Star Wars movie. All of that means that no other film that studios have much faith in are positioned in between these films. So, today I am going to be talking about Deadpool 2 and Solo: A Star Wars Story. Continue reading “Box Office Predictions – May 2018” →

Best Superhero Performances – Special Features #12

I don’t believe in the idea that general audiences have superhero fatigue. Each and every year it is the superhero films that comprise most of the spots on the list of the ten most successful films of the year. They make a lot of money, and a lot of them are pretty great. But some of these heroes are iconic, and even some of the performances are iconic. Today I want to honor the ten best superhero performances given by actors and actresses portraying these iconic characters. Continue reading “Best Superhero Performances – Special Features #12” →

Reaction to the Nominees for the 89th Academy Awards

'Manchester by the Sea,' Amazon Studios
‘Manchester by the Sea,’ Amazon Studios

And here we are! I had a lot of fun with trying to predict the nominations this awards season, it went a little bit better than last year’s predictions. I believe I got 77% of my predictions correct this year. But that’s not important. Now, let’s discuss the biggest shocks and surprises from this year’s nominations. Continue reading “Reaction to the Nominees for the 89th Academy Awards” →

74th Golden Globe Awards: Film Predictions

globe-predictions

It’s finally time for the big award shows. The first huge show of the three that I follow closely (Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Academy Awards) is the Golden Globe Awards. So, today I’ve outlined my predictions for the Golden Globe film awards. Who is going to win? Are there any surprises? Let’s see. Continue reading “74th Golden Globe Awards: Film Predictions” →