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Life Review – “In Space, No One Can Hear You Monologue”

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Release date: March 24, 2017

Studio: Columbia Pictures (Sony)

Director: Daniel Espinosa

MPAA Rating: R (for language throughout, some sci-fi violence and terror)

Screenwriters: Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, Olga Dihovichnaya

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Life, a space horror thriller starring Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal, revolves around an international crew of astronauts on a mission to study and, most importantly, keep secure the first Martian life form discovered by humans. If you’ve seen the trailer, or have seen any movie about space ever, you know that the mission…doesn’t go well.

The movie, which reunites Reynolds with Safe House director Daniel Espinosa and the writing team behind Deadpool, does accomplish its mission. Unfortunately, that mission is: “Be a so-so third date movie that people will talk about until they get to their cars and then forget once someone brings up whether or not to get ice cream.” That’s not to say that there aren’t generally funny moments (delivered almost exclusively by Reynolds) or that there aren’t generally surprising or scary moments (the most surprising of which also includes Reynolds). There are a bit of both but, when it’s said and done, it feels like you’ve seen it all before.

The movie opens with the crew preparing Reynolds for what looks like an unnecessarily dangerous space walk to capture a probe returning with the Martian specimens. This is all presented as one continuous long take, which is interesting and ambitious but lacks the real ‘Wow!’ moments of a movie like Gravity and has zero real suspense. Despite some pretty good anti-gravity effects, the scene’s sense of, “That was kinda cool, I guess” sets the tone for the rest of the movie.

After the single celled specimen is brought on board, much to the delight of Ariyon Bakare as ‘Dr. Guy-Whose-Fault-Everyone-Dies’, it begins to grow at an alarming pace, much to the concern of apparently no one besides Reynolds…but only kinda. There is something extra frustrating about apparently super intelligent scientists using super intelligent words to describe the super idiotic things they are doing that will get them super killed. The first act is super chock full of that.

Gyllenhaal is there too, his job is mostly to share a few moments of lukewarm sexual tension with Rebecca Ferguson and delivering contrived monologues. My god…the monologues. At about the fifth, which begins with Gyllenhall staring into the distance and recalling, “I remember when the Challenger exploded…” I groaned. By what felt like the 12th, as he recites Good Night Moon, I was actively rooting for the alien. Oh, and the alien is named Calvin, which is distractedly non-threatening, adding to its overall underwhelming presence.

What follows is a game of cat and mouse as Calvin grows bigger and smarter while damaging crucial parts of the space station, setting up a fight for survival on two fronts. The script doesn’t seem to know how to keep both going at the same time, however, and a lot of time is spent explaining why we should feel tense in the scene. There are a few moments of heroic self sacrifice and tense “We’re not gonna make it” moments to keep you semi-interested but by the time you reach the hard to follow twist ending, you’re already thinking about that ice cream.

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Paramount+ Reveals Official Main Title Sequence for the Upcoming Series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

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During the TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES panel earlier today at San Diego Comic Con, Paramount+ revealed the official main title sequence for the series. The sequence is composed by EMMY® nominee, Matt Mahaffey, known for his work on Sanjay and Craig, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie and much more. 

From the studios of the Mutant Mayhem film, the all-new Paramount+ original series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES explores the adventures of everyone’s favorite pizza-loving heroes as they emerge from the sewers onto the streets of NYC. Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey are faced with new threats and team up with old allies to survive both teenage life and villains lurking in the shadows of the Big Apple. The series is produced by Nickelodeon Animation and Point Grey Pictures.

TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES is executive produced by Chris Yost (The Mandalorian, Thor: Ragnarok) and Alan Wan (Blue Eye Samurai, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2012 Series]). Production is overseen for Nickelodeon by Claudia Spinelli, Senior Vice President, TV Series Animation, Nickelodeon, and Nikki Price, Director of Development and Executive in Charge of Production.

In addition to the upcoming new series, stream all things Turtles on Paramount+.

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Comic-Con 2024: Those About to Die Activation

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DISNEY+ CASTS DANIEL DIEMER AS FAN-FAVORITE ‘TYSON’IN SEASON TWO OF “PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS”

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 in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, Rick Riordan and Disney+ revealed that Daniel Diemer (“Under the Bridge”) will star as fan-favorite cyclops “Tyson” in the epic adventure series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” Diemer joins Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Leah Sava Jeffries (Annabeth Chase) and Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood) as a series regular. The Disney+ Original series from Disney Branded Television and 20th Television will start filming its second season next week in Vancouver.

Season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is based on the second installment of Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series titled “The Sea of Monsters” by award-winning author Rick Riordan. In the new season, Percy Jackson returns to Camp Half-Blood one year later to find his world turned upside down. His friendship with Annabeth is changing, he learns he has a cyclops for a brother, Grover has gone missing, and camp is under siege from the forces of Kronos. Percy’s journey to set things right will take him off the map and into the deadly Sea of Monsters, where a secret fate awaits the son of Poseidon.

Diemer stars as Tyson – a young Cyclops who grew up all alone on the streets, and finds it difficult to survive in the human world.  Shy and awkward, with a heart almost as big as he is, Tyson soon discovers that Poseidon is his father, which means Percy Jackson is his half-brother… and that Tyson may have finally found a home. 

Diemer recently starred in the Hulu limited series “Under the Bridge” based off the critically acclaimed book of the same name and a tragic true story of a missing teen girl in Vancouver in 1997. He will next star in the indie “Thug” opposite Liam Neeson and Ron Perlman for director Hans Petter Moland. Daniel was recently seen as the lead in the indie “Supercell” opposite Alec Baldwin and Skeet Ulrich and the lead in the film “Little Brother” opposite Phil Ettinger and JK Simmons. Daniel can also be seen in the Netflix series “The Midnight Club” and recently starred as the male lead in the breakout hit Netflix feature “The Half Of It” from producer Anthony Bregman and director Alice Wu. He is a graduate of Victoria Academy of Dramatic Arts in Vancouver.

Created by Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg, season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is executive produced by Steinberg and Dan Shotz alongside Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Craig Silverstein, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Bert Salke, The Gotham Group’s Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Albert Kim, Jason Ensler and Sarah Watson.

The first season of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is available on Disney+

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