Tag: Ryan Reynolds

John Candy: I Like Me (2025 – Documentary) | REVIEW

PHOTO: Amazon MGM Studios.

Directed by Colin Hanks.

Not a month goes by in my family without someone referencing Uncle Buck. It’s fair to say that John Candy has a special place in both my heart and the hearts of my family members. Therefore, I was especially excited to watch Colin Hanks’ film about John Candy‘s life, which, tragically, ended much too soon back in 1994. Actor John Candy, a gentle giant with a special comedic talent, is best known for Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and the many other John Hughes films in which he appeared. This latest Amazon Prime Video documentary paints a beautiful portrait of Candy but is, ultimately, both heartwarming and heartbreaking, as you see how many lives he touched, how much of a positive inspiration he was to others in the industry, but also the hole that he left behind for his family. A beloved father, actor, and comedian, John Candy was larger than life, and the documentary does a good job of emphasizing just how talented he was with archival footage of his Second City skits, his films, and plenty of footage of him making public appearances and still being witty as ever.

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‘Night Swim,’ ‘IF,’ ‘For Evigt,’ and ‘Birthday Girl’ | Bite-Sized Reviews

Top Row (L-R): NIGHT SWIM (Universal Pictures); IF (Paramount Pictures).
Bottom Row (L-R): FOR EVIGT (Nordisk Film); Birthday Girl (Nordisk Film).

In addition to all of the other reviews I’m publishing by themselves, and other relevant articles to kick off the year, I am also starting the year by publishing a small handful of bite-sized review compilation posts. In this edition, I’ll give you my thoughts on two Danish films from last year that didn’t fully win me over, as well as an American horror film released 12 months ago, and John Krasinski’s family film about imaginary friends.

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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: Ghosted (2023)

Ana de Armas and Chris Evans in “Ghosted,” now streaming on Apple TV+.

Directed by Dexter Fletcher — Screenplay by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers.

A romantic action-comedy from the director of Rocketman, with a screenplay from the writers of Deadpool and Spider-Man: No Way Home, and starring Captain America himself and the Oscar-nominated star of Blonde and Knives Out (who, notably, proved her action chops with a memorable appearance in the James Bond flick No Time to Die) sure sounds like a winning combination. Apple TV+’s Ghosted is a film with so much marketable talent that it has several major cameos that almost feel crammed in there. However, even though this is a project that has attracted a lot of talent, Ghosted is a largely ineffective romantic action comedy where neither the romantic, action, nor comedic elements work all that well. 

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REVIEW: The Adam Project (2022)

Ryan Reynolds and Walker Scobell in Shawn Levy’s THE ADAM PROJECT – Photo: Netflix.

Directed by Shawn Levy (Free Guy) – Screenplay by Jonathan Tropper, T.S. Nowlin, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin.

In Shawn Levy’s The Adam Project, we follow Adam Reed (played by Walker Scobell), a 12-year-old who makes a lot of witty remarks and gets into fights. Adam and his mother (played by Jennifer Garner) are struggling after the recent death of his father (played by Mark Ruffalo), and they’re still trying to adjust to their new normal. While his mother is out on a date, something incredible happens. After going outside to check on a mysterious sound, he returns to his family home and finds a wounded fighter pilot, who has let himself inside. It doesn’t take Adam long to figure out that this isn’t just any fighter pilot, this is himself from a dystopian future. This older Adam (played by Ryan Reynolds) has traveled back in time to save lives and the future, but, now that he is injured, he may need his 12-year-old self to accomplish the job.

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REVIEW: Red Notice (2021)

Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and Gal Gadot in Red Notice — Photo: Netflix.

Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber — Screenplay by Rawson Marshall Thurber.

Rawson Marshall Thurber’s Red Notice is an action-adventure buddy comedy film about the search for three priceless eggs once owned by Cleopatra. In the film, FBI Special Agent John Hartley (played by Dwayne Johnson) is forced to team-up with Nolan Booth (played by Ryan Reynolds), an internationally renowned art thief, in a race against time to find all three eggs before Booth’s main competitor, The Bishop (played by Gal Gadot), finds them and sells them to the highest bidder.

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REVIEW: Free Guy (2021)

Jodie Comer as Molotov Girl and Ryan Reynolds as Guy in FREE GUY — Photo: Alan Markfield / 20th Century Studios.

Directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) — Screenplay by Matt Lieberman & Zak Penn.

It feels like I have been waiting for Free Guy for so long, and, in a way, I have. The first trailer was released back in 2019, then its theatrical release was delayed again and again due to the COVID-19 pandemic until it was finally released in the summer of 2021. And now it has finally been released on Disney+ in select regions. I actually always enjoyed the trailers, but, I must admit that, a small part of me was trepidatious about the film because I worried that I would have the same problems with Free Guy that I had with Ready Player One. But even though Free Guy does have plenty of references, I never thought it was as overwhelming as I thought the aforementioned modern Spielberg dystopian action film was. I quite enjoyed this movie, warts and all.

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REVIEW: 6 Underground (2019)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of 6 Underground — Directed by Michael Bay.

If you think the Netflix film-catalog merely consists of Oscar bait and shoddy romantic-comedies, then Michael Bay’s 6 Underground is here to disprove that notion. While Netflix is releasing this year’s batch of awards-worthy dramas — like Marriage Story and The Irishman — they also have their complete antithesis, 6 Underground, ready for quick consumption. Its star, Ryan Reynolds, has been seen in marketing describing the film as the ‘most Michael Bay movie in the history of Michael Bay,’ thus promising an explosion-heavy, no-holds-barred modern action movie from one of the most commercially successful filmmakers in history. Reynolds’ description is apt, however, 6 Underground just isn’t a very good movie. Continue reading “REVIEW: 6 Underground (2019)” →

REVIEW: Pokémon – Detective Pikachu (2019)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros.

The following is a review of Pokémon – Detective Pikachu — Directed by Rob Letterman.

There are going to be plenty of reviews out there that come from the perspective of someone who knows nothing or very little about the world of Pokémon. But that isn’t my perspective. That isn’t my review. For as long as I can remember, Pokémon has been a part of my life. I’ve played and replayed the games, I’ve had tons of trading cards, and I loved to watch the anime with my sister. For this reason, I want this review to be playful with these little references and inside jokes. So, if you’ll indulge me, then please read along.

Pokémon was a huge part of my childhood, and, with that in mind, I have to say that even though Detective Pikachu didn’t rock my world, I thought it was a very enjoyable but safe start to a live-action North American series. I have a lot of issues with the film, but I’m surprised this film works as well as it does. It isn’t perfect, but it’s more than enough for me as a starting point for a live-action film series. Continue reading “REVIEW: Pokémon – Detective Pikachu (2019)” →

2019 Film Preview: Franchise Films and Blockbusters – Special Features #38

It’s that time of the year again. We are still in awards season, Golden Globe hopefuls are getting their acceptance speeches ready, and we are getting closer and closer to the new year. We are getting closer to the end of December. So, I thought, this is probably a good time to look at what films we’ll fall in love with in 2019. In this, the first of two articles about 2019 films, I present you with select franchise or blockbuster films that I have on my watchlist for the upcoming year. Continue reading “2019 Film Preview: Franchise Films and Blockbusters – Special Features #38” →