Author: Joshua Ryan

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Movie ReviewsReviews

‘Smile… the Worse is Yet to Come’ Review: A Surprisingly Honest Look at Love and Growing Older

Joshua Ryan ,  4 min read

There’s something uniquely terrifying about reaching a point in adulthood and realizing that the life you’re living looks nothing like the one you imagined. Careers stall, relationships change, and the dreams that once seemed inevitable slowly become increasingly difficult to reach. Smile… The Worst Is Yet to Come taps into those anxieties with a surprisingly honest examination of marriage, disappointment, and

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‘Pinocchio: Unstrung’ Review: Robert Englund Elevates the Poohniverse’s Best Story Yet

Joshua Ryan 4 min read

Since the launch of the Twisted Childhood Universe with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey in 2023, the franchise has become synonymous with one thing: taking beloved childhood characters and transforming them into blood-soaked slasher villains with absurd storylines. It’s a fun premise that’s celebrated by hardcore gore hounds but carries little weight in the realm of truly respected filmmaking. That just might

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‘Reminders of Him’: Heartbreak, Hope, and Colleen Hoover’s Strongest Film Yet

Joshua Ryan ,  ,  ,  4 min read

Colleen Hoover has been on an upward trajectory in the realm of cinema.  With It Ends With Us, Regretting You, and now Reminders of Him, the author turned screenwriter has shown a strong presence in theaters for three years straight. Reminders of Him is the first film adaptation to feature Hoover as a writer adapting her own work, and the film benefits from it,

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‘The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants’ is a Hilarious Return to Classic SpongeBob

Joshua Ryan ,  ,  ,  4 min read

The very first episode of SpongeBob SquarePants premiered on Nickelodeon on May 1, 1999. I was twelve years old at the time, and I remember thinking I was too old for a ridiculous-looking cartoon about a juvenile sea sponge. I watched the premiere with a close childhood friend, fully intent on mocking what I was certain would be a cringe-inducing flop of

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‘Wonder Man’: A Bold, Character-Driven Detour from the MCU Machine

Joshua Ryan ,  ,  ,  ,  4 min read

Marvel Studios’ Wonder Man hits Disney+ on January 27th. I was provided access to watch all eight episodes early, and I can say with confidence that it’s among the most audacious and successful entries since the MCU began tackling television in 2021. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, the standout of DC’s Aquaman, brings an emotional vulnerability and sensitivity to the character that we

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‘Eternity’ Delivers a Powerful, Heart-Crushing Meditation on Love Beyond Life

Joshua Ryan ,  ,  ,  4 min read

A24’s Eternity is a story about the journey rather than the destination. The question of whether an afterlife exists and what it consists of has been a topic of debate since the beginning of time. Since the advent of film, filmmakers have endeavored to explore this concept. Eternity presents an afterlife where the newly deceased must choose a destination to spend their

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‘Marvel Zombies’ is Undead and Underwhelming

Joshua Ryan ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  4 min read

Twenty years ago, the limited run of Marvel Zombies hit comic stands. Now, the story of our favorite heroes turned flesh-hungry undead horde is brought to life through the colorfully vibrant animation style of Marvel’s What If…? series. The idea was first explored in the fifth episode of the first season of What If…?, and was hinted at even earlier when the zombified

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‘Ironheart’: Small-Scale, Big Impact

Joshua Ryan ,  ,  ,  3 min read

Ironheart made her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the 2022 follow-up to the original Black Panther. While I love the sequel, the absence of Chadwick Boseman and T’Challa made the continuation of Wakanda’s story difficult, and the character of Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne, Judas and the Black Messiah) didn’t stand out in the action-packed battle against Namor. In her

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‘Predator: Killer of Killers’: A Fresh Take on a Killer Franchise

Joshua Ryan ,  ,  ,  4 min read

Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the height of his action star persona, went toe-to-toe with an advanced, trophy-hunting alien species and won. As Dutch in John McTiernan’s Predator, Schwarzenegger embodied the muscled-up masculinity of 80s action cinema. For decades, the franchise existed as an exercise in machismo, featuring strong-minded, big-biceped men in combat against the physically superior species of hunter. That all shifted

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‘The Penguin Lessons’ is a Wholesome Yet Conventional Story About a Man and His Penguin

Joshua Ryan 4 min read

People love animals, and the charms and cuteness of animals have acted as the driving force behind heartfelt and wholesome stories for decades. The Penguin Lessons follows in the footsteps of movies like Beethoven, with a curmudgeonly middle-aged man who reluctantly takes in a pet, only to form a bond with the animal that changes his outlook on life. It all feels very

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‘Disfluency’: A Heartfelt Coming-of-Age Drama That Falls Short

Joshua Ryan 4 min read

Disfluency tackles the coming-of-age genre with a fresh sense of honesty that helps to carry an otherwise weak and didactic script. There are lessons to take away from this story, and writer/director Anna Baumgarten wants to make certain that those messages are received. Still, it’s a film that feels relevant, relatable and important for the time. Not every generation is blessed with

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The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim: An Animated Epic Worthy of Middle-earth

Joshua Ryan ,  ,  ,  4 min read

Is The Lord of the Rings the new Star Wars? Both franchises feature an iconic, groundbreaking trilogy followed by spin-offs, sequels and television series of varying qualities, and both franchises have vocal fans that can be difficult to please. Now, the vast and expansive world created by author J.R.R. Tolkien is brought to life once again with The Lord of the Rings:

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