Tyler "Llewyn" Taing
(He/Him)
Orange County, CA, São Paulo
Covers:
Film, Television, Gaming, Entertainment, Music, LGBT perspectives on media, Asian-American perspectives on media.
Articles by Tyler "Llewyn" Taing
‘Whalefall’ Review – Austin Abrams Fearlessly Leads Man Vs. Nature Thriller
On the surface, Whalefall (2026) seems like the type of movie where you know exactly what you are walking into. For the most part, that’s true. It has a high-concept yet easy-to-understand premise, where the satisfaction comes from watching a character somehow survive an extraordinarily fatal circumstance. It’s a man vs.
‘Wildwood’ Review – Laika’s Stop-Motion Fantasy Epic is a Celebration of Art for Art’s Sake
Stop-motion animation studio Laika occupies such a fascinating niche in the Western animation industry. While most animation studios in the U.S. are owned by major media corporations, Laika has remained privately owned since it was founded in 2005. Moreover, no Laika movie, outside its first feature-length release, Coraline (2009), has ever broken even at the box office, despite the studio’s cultural relevance. Laika has consistently operated at a loss.
‘Carrie’ Review – A Toothless Adaptation of Stephen King’s Teenage Tragedy
Few filmmakers are as attuned to Stephen King as Mike Flanagan. His adaptations of Gerald’s Game (2017), Doctor Sleep (2019), and The Life of Chuck (2024) are widely praised and beloved for wholly capturing the light, darkness, and deep eccentricities of King’s world. Despite the love for those adaptations, fans were cautious when the horror auteur announced his first project with Amazon MGM: a show based on King’s first published novel, Carrie.
‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ Review – Mahershala Ali Leads a Genre-Defying Study of Muslim Faith
When Bassam Tariq’s sophomore film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (2026) made its world premiere at TIFF, many people suggested it symbolizes Marvel Studios’ failure to produce their now-shelved Blade movie.
Marvel’s Wolverine Review – Insomniac’s Bloody Hack and Slash is Fun But Familiar
We all know it. It’s been a rough ninth console generation in general, let alone for the PlayStation 5. Game development has become staggeringly long. The live-service genre trend has produced far more failures than success stories. The worlds in our games have never looked more real, so much so that the idea of upgrading to a new console generation seems more like a pointless endeavor. This year, the PS5 will turn six, marking the rear end of the console’s lifespan on the market.
‘One Night Only’ Review – A Delightfully Absurd Yet Sincere Rom-Com
One Night Only (2026) is a film with a logline so bizarre that it has achieved instant meme status: On the one night a year when single people are legally allowed to have sex, a man and a woman fall in love. Akin to Old (2021) and “the beach that makes you old,” it’s a premise that raises endless questions.
‘Moana’ Review – A Heartless Remake of a Disney Classic
In the late 2010s, Disney’s live-action remake experiment turned into box-office gold with titles like Beauty and the Beast (2017) and The Lion King (2019). Today, Walt Disney Pictures has produced over twenty different remakes, and in that time, what was once a guaranteed success has become something of a gamble. There are still movies that break a billion, such as the live-action Lilo & Stitch (2025).
‘Supergirl’ Review – Milly Alcock Rises Above Poor DCU Growing Pains
With last year’s Superman (2025), James Gunn and Peter Safran’s grand reboot of the DC Universe (DCU) launched with a strong foundation. Written and directed by Gunn himself, the film was praised for returning to the hero’s optimistic roots, David Corenswet’s breakout performance, and a sturdy emotional core that set it apart from the current state of the superhero genre, which often suffers from apathy.
‘I Love Boosters’ Review – Boots Riley’s Imagination Runs Wild in Maximalist Robin Hood Fantasy
It’s been eight years since the maverick musician/writer/director Boots Riley established himself as a fresh voice in the film industry with 2018’s Sorry to Bother You, a genre-defying, satirical tale of a Black telemarketer who climbs the corporate ladder after discovering how to use his “white voice.” Remembered for its absurdist critique of late-stage capitalism and its heightened portrayal of Oakland, California, Sorry to Bother You has been celebrated as one of the defining modern films...
‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Review – Mario’s Cosmic Adventure Feels Unimaginative
Almost every mainline Super Mario game has been a critical and commercial success. Still, when Super Mario Galaxy was released for the top-selling Nintendo Wii in 2007, it was instantly regarded as a masterpiece of modern gaming. Galaxy took the fundamentals of 3D Mario and elevated them to new heights with its innovative gravity-based mechanics, iconic orchestral score, and grand sense of scale. The game is widely considered one of the very best from the Mario franchise to this day.
‘Project Hail Mary’ Review – Ryan Gosling’s Star Power Shines Bright in Unique Space Adventure
A film like Project Hail Mary (2026) almost needs no introduction. It’s an adaptation of Andy Weir’s 2021 best-selling novel of the same name, which has sold over two million copies, a return to live-action filmmaking by the creative duo behind the award-winning animated Spider-Verse franchise, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and a star vehicle specifically molded for Ryan Gosling.
A Highly Charming Breath of Fresh Air for Pixar
Pixar Animation’s latest original film, Hoppers (2026), feels like either a ray of hope or the last breath of an inspired era for the studio. Like all Disney subsidiaries these days, Pixar has found itself in an odd position as of late. For decades, Pixar movies were considered the gold standard of their medium, but in a post-Spider-Verse world, the studio seems to be having an identity crisis.
How 'Hoppers' Makes Big Changes to Pixar's Traditional Animation Style
Despite Pixar Animation‘s renowned filmography exploring a wide array of themes, settings, and colorful characters, the studio’s movies have largely shared a consistent look and feel. Although their characters are cartoony and feature exaggerated proportions, their finer details and the settings around them lean towards hyperrealism as the company has continued to modernize, always remaining at the cutting edge of computer animation.
A Seductive and Challenging Exercise in Adaptation
It’s clear, if nothing else, that writer-director Emerald Fennell is an artist who adores controversy. Her first two feature films, the female-revenge deconstruction Promising Young Woman (2020) and the class-warfare thriller Saltburn (2023), despite critical acclaim, are extremely divisive among moviegoers online and have inspired endless debate over Fennell’s merit.
Marvel's Latest Falls Short of its Potential
With tentpole releases like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday on the horizon, 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This makes it all the more ironic that the first MCU project of 2026 might be the smallest one to date. Marvel’s Wonder Man is the second Marvel Television series placed under the “Marvel Spotlight” banner, following Echo (2024).
How 'The Force Awakens' Radically Changed Pop Culture 10 Years Ago
There’s a newfound layer of irony to the first line of spoken dialogue in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, released a decade ago on December 18, 2015. Lor San Tekka (Max von Sydow) is referring to the data chip he’s given Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), which contains intel that could change the tide of the Resistance’s battle with the First Order. This is soon revealed to be the current location of the now-missing Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).
The Whole Bloody Affair's Extended Anime Sequence Explained
Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004) have always been viewed as a single movie. Shot back-to-back as one long production, both volumes are counted in Quentin Tarantino‘s filmography as his “fourth feature film.” However, due to a bloated budget and pressure from disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, the story of Uma Thurman‘s Beatrix Kiddo, otherwise known as The Bride or Black Mamba, was split into two and released one year apart. Today, 21 years after the release of Kill Bill Vol.
'Five Nights at Freddy's 2' Review
Five Nights at Freddy’s is such a uniquely modern cultural phenomenon — a multi-media franchise born from the lightning-in-a-bottle success of a series of independent horror games designed by a single mind: Scott Cawthon. As horror games, they excelled at creating a hostile atmosphere and, by design, were minimalist enough to spark players’ curiosity about the larger narrative behind the killer animatronics.
A New Kill Bill Movie in Fortnite? Yuki's Revenge Collab Explained
Epic Games just announced one of its craziest collaborations to date: this Sunday, November 30th, 2025, Fortnite players will be able to watch a short film directed by Quentin Tarantino himself on the platform as part of the Kill Bill promotional tie-in with Chapter Seven. But this isn’t just any short film — it is actually an unproduced segment from the original draft of Kill Bill that never made it to the big screen.
A Safe, But Hilarious Animated Sequel
Aside from the massive success of the live-action Lilo & Stitch remake, it’s been a tough year for Disney at the box office. None of Marvel Studios’ releases (Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps) made a notable impression, Pixar’s Elio bombed, and Tron: Aresfailed to revitalize a cult classic franchise.
'Welcome to Derry' Just Fixed a Huge Pennywise Problem From 'It: Chapter Two'
With the fourth episode of It: Welcome to Derry, titled ‘The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function,’ we’ve reached the midpoint of this first, eight-episode season. Although Bill Skarsgård‘s full presence as Pennywise the Dancing Clown has not yet fully manifested (to the frustration of some impatient viewers), this episode offers the most explicit glimpse into the origins of the beloved horror icon to date.
A Poor Revival of a 2000s Family Classic
The golden rule of the Walt Disney Company’s current ethos is that the mouse will always go where the money follows. Lindsay Lohan recently made her Hollywood comeback with the Netflix holiday film Falling for Christmas (2022), and has since starred in and produced more rom-coms for the streamer, after disappearing from the public eye for most of the 2010s. Meanwhile, in 2023, Jamie Lee Curtis won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once (2022).
'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Review
The fact that it took six phases and thirty-seven entries into the Marvel Cinematic Universe to finally get a Fantastic Four film is almost juvenile, considering the group’s vital status as Marvel Comics’ first superhero team created by the legendary Jack Kirby. After years of oversaturation, it’s ironic to recall that the MCU‘s foundation was built on the love for Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as Iron Man — once a C-list character, then the center of the franchise (and now its future?).
'I Know What You Did Last Summer' Review
Much like karma herself, nostalgia comes for us all in the end. Ever since the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), nostalgia has overshadowed virtually every genre that mainstream Hollywood has to offer.
Pixar's Latest is Gorgeous and Heartfelt, Yet Still Very Flawed
It’s poetic that after numerous production delays, director switches, and screenplay rewrites, Pixar’s latest animated feature, Elio (2025),is finally hitting theaters in the shadow of the massive success of Lilo & Stitch (2025),the live-action remake of the 2002 animated film. There’s no denying that Elio boasts plenty of visual flair, crafted by a highly capable creative team at Pixar.
An Enchanting, Star-Studded Summer Romance
New York City has been the quintessential backdrop for the romance genre for decades, and it’s obvious why. The city is a cultural symbol of the American Dream, the land of opportunity and personal reinvention. In her feature directorial debut, Past Lives (2023), filmmaker Celine Song stunned audiences with her ability to re-contextualize the romance genre through a unique story based on her own life experiences.
'Lilo & Stitch' Review
Over two decades since its initial release, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders’ Lilo & Stitch (2002) has rightfully earned its place as one of the most beloved Disney animated movies to come after the studio’s ’90s renaissance period. In the time since 2002, the character of Stitch has also become one of the studio’s most iconic and lucrative mascots outside of the mouse himself, spawning direct-to-DVD sequels, an animated series, and a strong presence in Disney’s merchandising empire.
How The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 6 Ruins the Iconic Porch Scene
Going on a soapbox to critique The Last of Us as a franchise is a difficult, though necessary, task. While it is a highly acclaimed video game series turned wildly successful HBO show, the brand is also associated with an intensely toxic fandom that has nurtured a culture of negativity for nearly a decade. Naughty Dog Studios head Neil Druckmann, as well as involved talent like voice actress Laura Bailey and HBO series star Bella Ramsey, have been the subject of targeted hate campaigns.
Florence Pugh Anchors an Emotional Marvel Team-Up Flick
The never-ending saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe appears to be approaching a final act of sorts, as the franchise’s next three theatrical releases set the stage for a fresh start in the near future. Earlier this year, Captain America: Brave New World failed to deliver a story worthy of Sam Wilson’s leading role as the star-spangled hero, due to its obligations to the wider MCU.
Indiana Jones Devs Explain How 'The Great Circle' Captured Steven Spielberg's Signature Visuals
Initially released as a timed Xbox and PC exclusive, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was one of last year’s biggest gaming surprises. Published by Bethesda Softworks and developed by subsidiary MachineGames, The Great Circle earned unanimous acclaim, quickly becoming one of the best-reviewed video games of 2024. This week, the game finally became available on PlayStation 5 consoles, bringing a thrilling new adventure from our beloved professor/archeologist to a wider audience.
The Last of Us Season 2 Review
The release of HBO’s The Last of Uswas a landmark moment for live-action video game adaptations after decades of doomed studio attempts. Whereas recent TV shows like Halo on Paramount+ and Twisted Metal on Peacock failed to make an impression on their dedicated fan bases, the HBO original series in questionmade new fans out of general audiences on top of appealing to pre-established players of the Naughty Dog games.
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