Author: tiki god

The Adam Project: Directed by Shawn Levy. With Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner. After accidentally crash-landing in 2022, time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed teams up with his 12-year-old self for a mission to save the future. “Straight to Netflix” can mean many things, usually a movie that would have just barely made it’s budget back in theaters, but this “Adam Project” film turned out to be better than I was expecting, with the interactions between Walker Scobell and Ryan Reynolds being surprisingly earnest and seemingly legitimately emotional. It helps that there’s some eye popping spaceship scenes with...

Old Dogs: Directed by Walt Becker. With John Travolta, Robin Williams, Kelly Preston, Conner Rayburn. Two friends and business partners find their lives turned upside down when strange circumstances lead them to be the temporary guardians of seven year-old twins. Made in 2009, it’s a free spirited movie made right after Travolta’s kid died, and released right after Bernie Mac died from sarcoidosis complications; they both get appropriate dedications in the final credits. An interesting point of fact: they had to shave Robin’s chest for a few scenes of this movie, and considering I know how hairy that guy is,...

The Villain: Directed by Hal Needham. With Kirk Douglas, Ann-Margret, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Paul Lynde. Facing hanging, a bank robber makes a deal with the corrupt banker to avoid execution in exchange for a dirty assignment. It’s a stupid story with increasingly ridiculous and contrived plot points, but if you knew that it was a parody / love letter to the WB cartoons from the 1930 like I did, I bet you’d enjoy it much more than if you didn’t. The obvious name here to look for is Arnold’s, it’s only his 7th role and he’s obviously still getting his acting...

Wish Dragon: Directed by Chris Appelhans. With Will Yun Lee, Jimmy O. Yang, Constance Wu, Natasha Liu Bordizzo. Determined teen Din is longing to reconnect with his childhood best friend when he meets a wish-granting dragon who shows him the magic of possibilities. A heartfelt mix of Disney’s Aladdin and Disney’s animated version of Mulan, the entire cast of this movie appears to be either Chinese or Chinese American, which is fine, but I was surprised that a movie that was so clearly marketed to that audience would go to the lengths that it went to in showing the utter...