Quick Review: OLD...

Earlier today, I went to my local AMC theater to watch M. Night Shyamalan's latest cinematic thriller, Old.

Overall, the acting in this movie was pretty stilted (so stilted, in fact, that it made the acting in the Star Wars prequels look Oscar-worthy. Okay, I probably shouldn't go that far). I guess most of Old's production budget went to filming on location in the beautiful Dominican Republic...and not to casting better actors!

Overlooking the performances (which did improve towards the latter half of the film, when it became more emotional as characters began to drop like flies on the beach), I still dug the twist at the end.

Well, it wasn't really a twist at the climax of Old, but we come to realize that those poor tourists were sent to a remote beach (affected by highly unusual geological activity) as part of a medical experiment performed by a shady biotech company. Pretty messed up stuff!

With that being said, 2002's Signs is still my favorite Shyamalan movie. Carry on.

Bring On FREE GUY 2!

In the wake of Free Guy's very successful opening weekend at the domestic box office (where it made $28.4 million as of today), Ryan Reynolds tweeted yesterday that Disney—which obtained the rights to Free Guy after the studio purchased all of Twentieth Century Fox's movie properties a few years back—officially wants a sequel to the sci-fi comedy flick. And to that I say, bring it on!

Free Guy is the most entertaining and clever film I've seen at the theater during the pandemic era so far, and I can't wait to see what's in store for Guy (played by Reynolds), Molotov Girl (portrayed by the very lovely and talented Jodie Comer) and Antwan (played by Taika Waititi; you know that we haven't seen the last of his hilariously villainous character) in the next movie!

Until then, don't have a good day. Have a great day! Again.

Aaaannnnd after 3 years messaging #FreeGuy as an original IP movie, Disney confirmed today they officially want a sequel. Woo hoo!! #irony pic.twitter.com/85mMxW4owx

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 14, 2021

Movie Review: FREE GUY...

Earlier today, I went to my local AMC theater to watch the Ryan Reynolds sci-fi comedy flick, Free Guy. Needless to say, it was a very enjoyable movie...and much deeper than the trailers made it out to be!

As a quick synopsis for the film, Free Guy is about a video game character named Guy (played by Reynolds) who was created through advanced artificial intelligence and quickly became aware that the world he lived in wasn't what it appeared to be.

Guy runs into Molotov Girl (portrayed by Jodie Comer), the woman of Guy's dreams who's on a secret mission to expose the true origin of Free City...the metropolis where Guy happily lived in and worked at as a coffee-sipping bank teller.

Like Deadpool, but with a PG-13 rating, Free Guy aptly made use of Reynolds' quick wit and comedic talent. Also providing hilarious and at-times heartwarming moments to the movie were his co-stars...from Comer (who also played Millie in the film's real-world scenes), Joe Keery (as Keys), Utkarsh Ambudkar (as Mouser), Channing Tatum (as Avatar), Matty Cardarople (as Gamer), Aaron W. Reed (as Dude) and Lil Rel Howery (as Buddy) to Taika Waititi (as the hilarious antagonist, Antwan).

In regards to the movies that Free Guy reminded me of, it had moments that were reminiscent of the 1998 Jim Carrey film The Truman Show, the 2018 Steven Spielberg flick Ready Player One, the 1998 rom-com You've Got Mail (starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan), Christopher Nolan's 2010 sci-fi flick Inception, 2010's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (starring Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and unsurprisingly, 1999's The Matrix. But with a much lighter tone and a PG-13 rating.

Free Guy was originally supposed to be released last year, but was obviously postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the wait was worth it! As mentioned earlier, this movie played to Ryan Reynold's greatest strengths, and it clearly had a couple of messages to convey (from betraying people to earn lots of money and wanting to live life to the fullest, to finding true love) that weren't really emphasized in the film's TV ads and theatrical trailers.

Free Guy is a must-see movie—especially considering that it also had a couple of cool cameos in it! SPOILER ALERT: I won't elaborate on the appearance made by a cast member who starred in several Marvel films like The Avengers, but it was emotional to see the late and great TV game show host Alex Trebek show up in Free Guy.

Before I end this blog entry, let me just say, "Don't have a good day, have a great day!" That is all.

VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE Will NOT Be Released in Theaters Next Month...

So I just found out through Variety and other news sites that Venom: Let There Be Carnage will not be released in theaters nationwide on September 24 as originally planned. It is hopefully opening on Friday, October 15 instead.

Thanks a lot, coronavirus' Delta variant and all the folks who remain unvaccinated in the United States.

Movie Review: THE SUICIDE SQUAD...

Several hours ago, I went to my local AMC theater to watch The Suicide Squad...the newest cinematic installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).

Needless to say, The Suicide Squad was very entertaining! Unlike 2016's Suicide Squad—whose original dark tone was minimized with humor added at the last minute, as a response to backlash caused by the dreariness of that year's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice—The Suicide Squad already had a nice blend of humor, gore and emotional elements in it thanks to director James Gunn, who previously saw comic book movie success at Marvel Studios with 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) and its 2017 sequel.

The biggest strengths of The Suicide Squad were the cast members and their amazing performances. Margot Robbie was back as the energetically unstable Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnaman returned as the stoic Colonel Rick Flag, Jai Courtney (briefly) reprised his role as Captain Boomerang, and the ultra-talented Viola Davis once again played the tough-as-nails but conniving Amanda Waller.

The newcomers in The Suicide Squad were commendable too...with Michael Rooker (who already worked with Gunn on the GotG movies) as Savant, Nathan Fillion as T.D.K., Flula Borg as Javelin, Mayling Ng as Mongal, Pete Davidson as Blackguard, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Sean Gunn (James' brother and another GotG veteran) as Weasel, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, Peter Capaldi as Thinker, Julio Cesar Ruiz as Milton, Alice Braga as Sol Soria and Sylvester Stallone (who appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) as the voice of King Shark.

And of course, The Suicide Squad's badass group of villains-turned-heroes was led by the formidable Idris Elba as Bloodsport, and John Cena as the ironically-named Peacemaker.

The Suicide Squad was filled with lots of awesome and equally-violent action sequences, with the final confrontation pitting Bloodsport, Harley Quinn and Co. against Starro the Conqueror highlighting the delightfully-absurd nature of James Gunn's take on this DC comic book property.

Along with the 2017 Wonder Woman movie, 2019's Shazam and Zack Snyder's cut of Justice League earlier this year, The Suicide Squad is an excellent addition to the DCEU. Even though it won't be connected to DC's cinematic universe, here's hoping that 2022's The Batman will be as well-made as the films mentioned above. Godspeed, Warner Bros.

Carnage Creates Chaos in the Latest Trailer for VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE...

The newest and presumably final trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage was released today...showing that Eddie Brock's (Tom Hardy) titular symbiote will have its hands full battling the crimson-colored alien beast residing in serial killer-turned death row inmate, Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson).

Here are some screenshots of Carnage in action—which reveals that this murderous creature will live up to its Marvel comic book origin and wreak havoc on Brock and everyone around him, even though this flick will be rated PG-13, just like its 2018 predecessor.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is still scheduled for release in theaters nationwide on September 24...though that may change as COVID-19 cases continue to increase around the United States due to the coronavirus' Delta variant and lots of Americans remaining unvaccinated. Get vaccinated.

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