Tag: Glen Powell

The Running Man (2025) | REVIEW

Glen Powell (as Ben Richards) in disguise in THE RUNNING MAN — PHOTO: Paramount Pictures (still image from trailers).

Directed by Edgar Wright — Screenplay by Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright.

The British writer-director Edgar Wright has a fairly significant fanbase, and I think of myself as part of that fanbase. Ever since he burst onto the scene with his second feature, Shaun of the Dead, the first film in his Cornetto trilogy, Wright has been widely praised for his distinctive brand of comedy and his distinctive visual inventiveness that has seen his film stand out for their comedically fast and/or precise editing or the way the films sometimes are paired extraordinarily well with music, with Baby Driver being his best example of that. His latest effort as a director is an adaptation of Stephen King’s sci-fi novel (written under a pseudonym), The Running Man, which was previously adapted into an Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action vehicle (despite being a product of its time, it does have its moments, as well as a very good performance from Richard Dawson). It is a story that I can totally understand why it is being put on the big screen again, because that Schwarzenegger flick can be improved upon. Does Wright succeed with that challenge? Well, I’d say that he mostly does, but not by as much as I imagined he would. This is not as smooth a film as the ones Wright has become known for. 

Continue reading “The Running Man (2025) | REVIEW” →

Twisters (2024) | REVIEW

(L-R) Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos, and Glen Powell in TWISTERS — PHOTO: Universal Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Lee Isaac Chung — Screenplay by Mark L. Smith — Story by Joseph Kosinski.

Reportedly, one of the first (if not actually the first) films to be released on the DVD format was Jan De Bont’s disaster classic Twister. The Dutch cinematographer-turned-film director delivered a genuine hit about a fear of the uncontrollable power of Mother Nature, and, now twenty-eight years later, it finally has a sequel. Twisters is one of this year’s big summer movie releases, and it has somewhat of an unlikely filmmaker in the director’s chair. Twisters has been made by the award-winning and critically acclaimed director of the American Dream/immigration film titled Minari, Lee Isaac Chung. Though perhaps a surprising choice of filmmaker, rest assured that the end product more than lives up to the original and that he has done his best to infuse the film with a human story at the center so that it isn’t all about CGI tornados.

Continue reading “Twisters (2024) | REVIEW” →

Hit Man (2024) | REVIEW

Glen Powell as Gary Johnson in Richard Linklater’s Hit Man — Photo: Brian Roedel / AGC Studios.

Directed by Richard Linklater — Screenplay by Richard Linklater and Glen Powell.

Loosely based on a Skip Hollandsworth magazine article from Texas Monthly, Richard Linklater’s Hit Man follows Gary Johnson (played by Glen Powell), a professor of psychology and philosophy who moonlights for the New Orleans police department during sting operations. While out on his second job, Gary is asked to step into a suspended colleague’s role as a fake hitman. It turns out that Gary, a slightly dorky professor with little-to-no social life, is a natural at pretending to be someone he is not, to improvise, and to get the criminals who had sought out the services of a hitman to confess to him that they want to order a murder from him. Not only is Gary a natural at it, but he also appears to love the thrill of it, as well as the ways he can come up with outfits and hitman-looks tailored to the ‘clients.’ As he becomes more and more comfortable being someone else, he, too, becomes a different person, and soon he becomes both sympathetic and attracted to one of his clients.

Continue reading “Hit Man (2024) | REVIEW” →

REVIEW: Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Tom Cruise as Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in Joseph Kosinski’s TOP GUN: MAVERICK — Photo: Skydance Media / Paramount Pictures.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski — Screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie.

If there is one thing that the release of Top Gun: Maverick has already proven, it is that Tom Cruise is still a real movie star capable of drawing a crowd even in the Post-COVID lockdown world. Although the 1986 original Tony Scott film, Top Gun, did leave a cultural imprint and is an iconic 1980s film, it isn’t like most people have been crying out for a sequel to the original film that, way back when, received mixed reviews. And yet, when I saw its sequel, people of all ages — including several people over the age of fifty — had such a need for speed that they had flocked to the theater to watch Tom Cruise as “Maverick” take another ride into the danger zone. I’m happy to tell you that — yes, it’s true — Top Gun: Maverick is every bit as awesome as you may have hoped. In fact, I think it’s a much better film than the 1980s classic.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Top Gun: Maverick (2022)” →