Saying Ryan Reynolds' Name in the Mirror 5 Times is Suicide! - Renegade Marquee #11
Tonight, on a long awaited episode of Renegade Marquee, Captain Kaye and the Streamin' Demon catch up on the biggest August releases: Candyman, Free Guy, Pig, and Jacob gets to finish his thoughts on James Gunn's The Suicide Squad!
How’s it going, fellow Renegades? THE DIRECTOR is here to give you an episode that’s been in the oven since last month! August was a turbulent sea of diverse releases in theaters that our beloved Captain and Demon braved in order to bring you their full thoughts on the all these amazing films!
Well, without further adieu, I’ll go ahead and kick it over to the Captain himself for his written thoughts on these films. Just as a warning, I am not including his thoughts on The Suicide Squad due to including it on the main episode involving the film. We do highly suggest listening to hear Jacob’s full thoughts on the film however. Likewise, we also want to offer fellow colleague of the site Richard Newby’s thoughts on Nia DaCosta’s Candyman for a more diverse take on the film, which you can read here.
PIG (2021)
“Nicholas Cage has always been a great actor, so saying he's great isn't the surprise. The surprise is how great he is in a quieter, more subdued role, while it's Wolff who gives the flashier performance. Something else I love about this is the writing. Sarnoski understands the concept of ‘show, don't tell’ so well that even though the film has exposition, it's used as sparingly as possible, while the actors' body language and inflections fill in the gaps. For a feature film debut, Sarnoski directs this like a seasoned veteran. It's incredibly well paced, if not a bit episodic in its structure, but it works for the story that's being told. The ending, while not at all what I was expecting, was certainly impactful. That scene alone might have been some of Cage's strongest acting I've seen in a very long time. If you haven't seen Pig, I highly recommend doing so as soon as you can, and go in as blind as possible.” - Captain Kaye
FREE GUY (2021)
“Look, it would be all too easy to draw comparisons to The Truman Show, of which there are plenty, but that movie has been around long enough to inspire at least a dozen other stories with a similar premise. Free Guy is a great movie standing on the shoulders of an all-time classic, but that's not the only reason why it works. The main reason it works is because it's the perfect synthesis of everyone's strengths. Reynolds, as both the leading man and a producer on the film, knows exactly what his strengths are, and with the help of Shawn Levy's incredible direction and a surprisingly sweet script written by Matt Lieberman and Zack Penn, they all bring out the best in each other. As someone who sits on the outside of the gaming community, I can understand certain criticism they may have concerning its rose-tinted depiction, despite cameos from a number of popular streamers. For me, my biggest takeaway from the film is how much it rejects cynicism on all fronts. Within the world of the video game, Guy rejects his mere existence as a non-player character in a hyper violent first-person shooter, and our two human protagonists Joe Keery as Walter ‘Keys’ McKeys and Jodie Comer as Millie Rusk (Molotov Girl in the game) reject the idea of selling out to a major gaming corporation, aiming instead to create something with more ambition. Also, this turns out to be a really sweet love story, even when things get weird. There's more I want to say about the film, but that's breaching spoiler territory, and I'll elaborate on that later. For now, the last thing I want to mention is Christophe Beck's terrific score, and my new found appreciation for ‘Fantasy’ by Mariah Carey.” - Captain Kaye
CANDYMAN (2021)
“Full disclosure, I went into this movie blind, having not seen either the original Candyman or DaCosta's directorial debut Little Woods. The benefit of that is being able to judge this movie solely on its own merits, while the downside may be whatever important context I'm missing. With that being said, I really loved the themes being explored in this film. Contrary to popular (and in bad faith) belief, horror has always been political, and the best films in the genres are the ones that really get under people's skin. This movie is no exception, and while sometimes the dialogue can get a little clunky in its execution, the fact that DaCosta is discussing the negative effects of gentrification this openly is a feature, not a bug. The performances are all terrific, but I specifically want to give credit to Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for crushing his first leading role as Anthony McCoy, and artist who becomes obsessed with the legend of the Candyman. Even though this is supposed to be a direct sequel, I don't actually think it matters whether or not you've seen the original. I was already hooked by the film's exploration of communal folklore, and how easily the narrative can be distorted from a white perspective to villainize black victims. Other than some clunky expositional dialogue and Peele's trademark sense of humor that doesn't always click, I just would have liked to see Tony Todd have a little bit more of a presence, but in the context of the film he did exactly what was needed. I'll revisit this movie another time after I watch the original, but for now, I very much enjoyed this new iteration of Candyman!” - Captain Kaye
Alright people, that’ll do it for this stacked yet tight episode! Special thanks to Jacob for editing this installment, and we’ll see you guys very soon!
