Barbie (2023)
Ryan as Ken – Directed by Greta Gerwig – Release Date in the U.S. 21/07/2023 – Distrubuted by Warner Bros. Pictures – Genre Comedy
Plot: Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence.
Barbie was released on digital download on September 12, 2023, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on October 17, 2023, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. As of October 29, 2023, Barbie has grossed $635.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $805.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.441 billion. This was described by Warner Brothers as “reaching a ‘Barbillion'”.
Bonus: Deleted Scenes
The Chase For Carrera (2023)
Starring TAG Heuer brand ambassador Ryan Gosling. Directed by David Leitch (John Wick, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train), the film is an action-packed, cinematic homage to the Carrera.
The Gray Man (2022)
Ryan is Six – Directed by the Russo brothers – Release date in Netflix globally 22/07/2022 – Distrubuted by Netflix VOD (World-Wide) – Genre Thriller
Plot: When the CIA’s most skilled operative, whose true identity is known to none, accidentally uncovers dark agency secrets, a psychopathic former colleague puts a bounty on his head, setting off a global manhunt by international assassins.
First Man (2018)
Ryan is Neil Armstrong – Directed by Damien Chazelle – Release Date in U.S. 10/12/2018 – Distributed by Universal Pictures. Genre Biopic.
Plot: Film on the life of the legendary American Astronaut Neil Armstrong from 1961-1969, on his journey to becoming the first human to walk the moon. Exploring the sacrifices and costs on the Nation and Neil himself, during one of the most dangerous missions in the history of space travel.
Universal released First Man on Digital HD on January 8, 2019 and Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-Ray and DVD on January 22, 2019
Official Website www.firstman.com
Universal official Twitter Page @FirstManMovie
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Ryan is Officer ‘K’ – Directed by Denis Villeneuve – Distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures and Sony Pictures Releasing. Genre Sci-Fi.
Plot: In 2049, with the powerful Tyrell Corporation under the control of the visionary scientist Niander Wallace, the bio-engineered replicants, NEXUS-9, seem to have integrated seamlessly into society. Purposed to eradicate the outdated rebellious NEXUS models, LAPD’s officer K–a new generation of Blade Runners–stumbles upon a dangerous and well-hidden secret that could easily undermine an already frail stability in the world. As K puts the pieces together, he will soon realise that the key element that binds everything together in this mystery is the retired Blade Runner, Rick Deckard, who has either disappeared or gone underground. But is K allowed to unearth the truth?
It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 16, 2018 and distributed by Netflix and Redbox on January 23, 2018.
Blade Runner 2049 Official Website link
Link to HQ Screenshots of the movie
Song to Song (2017)
Ryan is BV – Directed by Terrence Malick – Distributed by Broad Green Pictures. Genre Drama.
Plot: Two intersecting love triangles. Obsession and betrayal set against the music scene in Austin, Texas.
In February 2015, Broad Green Pictures acquired U.S distribution rights to the film. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 10, 2017. The film was released on March 17, 2017.
La La Land (2016)
Ryan is Sebastian – Directed by Damien Chazelle – Distributed by Lions Gate. Genre Musical.
Plot: In Hollywood, Mia and Sebastian are struggling to make it in their respective respective careers, about which each has extreme passion. Mia is an actress who dropped out of college and moved from small-town Nevada five years ago to pursue her dream. She is enamored with old-tome Hollywood – the movies she grew up on – but hates the cattle-herding feeling of going on auditions and her belief that she needs to schmooze at social events to get ahead in the business. Sebastian is a jazz pianist, his style of jazz in the vein of traditionalists Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. He wants to do his part to preserve that tradition, especially as he knows that that style of music is dying. He has trouble emotionally playing music he doesn’t like just to get a paying gig. He dreams of opening his own jazz club, most specifically in what used to be a famous jazz club that has since been converted to a tapas-bar-cum-salsa-dance-club. Partly because of their individual struggles and partly because of the situations, their first few chance meetings are antagonistic. But they eventually become attracted to each other largely because of the passion for their dreams that they see in each other. But there are many obstacles to a happily-ever-after. They may be able to endure the struggling-artist life for so long before those struggles take their toll. The pursuit of their individual dreams may take all their energies with nothing left for their relationship. And any compromise each may make in getting ahead may change the person with whom each has fallen in love.
Lionsgate released La La Land on Digital HD on April 11, 2017, and Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-Ray and DVD on April 25, 2017.
Wikipedia Page link
Official Website link
Link to HQ Screenshots of the movie
The Nice Guys (2016)
Ryan is Holland March – Directed by Shane Black – Distributed by Warner Bros. Genre Comedy.
Plot: Set against the backdrop of 1977 Los Angeles, The Nice Guys opens when single father and licensed PI Holland March (Gosling) is hired to investigate the apparent suicide of famous porn star Misty Mountains. As the trail leads him to track down a girl named Amelia (Qualley), he encounters less licensed and less hands-off private eye Jackson Healey (Russell Crowe) and his brass knuckles, both hired by the young hippie. However, the situation takes a turn for the worse when Amelia vanishes and it becomes apparent that March wasn’t the only party interested. As both men are forced to team up, they’ll have to take on a world filled with eccentric goons, strippers dressed as mermaids and even a possible government conspiracy.
The film was released on digital on August 9, 2016 and DVD and Blu-ray on August 23, 2016.
Wikipedia Page link
Link to HQ Screenshots of the movie
The Big Short (2015)
Ryan is Jared Vennett – Directed by Adam McKay – Distributed by Paramount Pictures. Genre Biographical Comedy Drama.
Plot: The film consists of three separate but concurrent stories, loosely connected by their actions in the years leading up to the 2007 housing market crash.
On September 22, 2015, Paramount set the film for a limited release on December 11, 2015 and a wide release on December 23, 2015. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 15, 2016.
Only God Forgives (2013)
Ryan is Julian – Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn – Distributed by Radius – TWC. Genre Neo-Noir Psychological Thriller.
Plot: Julian is an American expatriate who runs a Muay Thai club in Bangkok, Thailand as a front for drug dealing. His older brother Billy rapes and kills an underage sex worker and is cornered by Thai police. Lieutenant Chang allows the girl’s father, Choi Yan Lee, to beat Billy to death in the same room Billy killed the girl. Chang then cuts off the father’s forearm for allowing his daughter to be a sex worker.
The film won the Grand Prize at the Sydney Film Festival.
Link to HQ Screenshots of the movie
Gangster Squad (2013)
Ryan is Sgt. Jerry Wooters – Directed by Ruben – Distributed by Warner Bros. Genre Action Crime.
Plot: In 1949 Los Angeles, gangster Mickey Cohen has become the most powerful figure in the California criminal underworld, and intends to continue to expand his criminal enterprise to Chicago and New York City. The police have not been able to stop Cohen’s ruthless rise, as Cohen has eliminated witnesses and bribed both the court and the police, controlling both illegal and legal sides of L.A. Determined to put a stop to Cohen, Chief Bill Parker, the head of the Los Angeles Police Department, creates a secret police unit with the sole mission of stopping Cohen and bringing him to justice. Respected L.A. police officer and Parker’s old friend, Sgt. John O’Mara is placed in charge of recruiting additional officers. With the help of his wife, Connie, he recruits Sgt. Jerry Wooters and detectives Coleman Harris, Conway Keeler, Navidad Ramirez, and Max Kennard. Calling themselves the “Gangster Squad”, the unit begins the task of destroying Cohen’s criminal operations.
Gangster Squad was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 23, 2013. The Blu-ray includes director’s commentary from Ruben Fleischer and several segments about the real life men and stories of the Gangster Squad and Mickey Cohen.
Link to HQ Screenshots of the movie
The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
Ryan is Luke – Directed by Derek Cianfrance – Distributed by Focus Features. Genre Crime Drama.
Plot: In 1997, Luke Glanton (Gosling) is a motorcycle stuntman. In Schenectady, New York, Luke reunites with his ex-lover Romina Gutierrez (Mendes), who is dating another man named Kofi Kancam (Ali). Luke discovers that Romina has a baby son named Jason that he fathered which she never revealed to him, so Luke quits his job to stay with Romina and their son. Luke begins working part-time for auto mechanic Robin Van Der Hook (Mendelsohn). Luke asks Robin for more work, and Robin offers to partner with Luke in robbing banks. Luke and Robin successfully rob a few banks, with Luke performing the robbery and using his motorcycle as a getaway vehicle, hiding it in a box truck driven by Robin.
Wikipedia Page link
Link to HQ Screenshots of the movie
Drunk History Christmas (TV Series short 2011) … here’s the short video
Ryan is Dad – Directed by Derek Waters & Jeremy Konner for funnieordie.com series. Genre Comedy.
Plot: The poem The Night Before Christmas recited by a drunken Allan McLeod; enacted by some friends.
Touch of Evil (Short 2011) … here’s the short
Ryan is The Invisible Man – Directed by Alex Prager.
Plot: Some of 2011’s stand-out film actors appear in “a video gallery of cinematic villainy” for New York Times Magazine.
The Ideas of March (2011)
Ryan is Stephen Meyers – Directed by George Clooney – Distributed by Columbia Pictures. Political Drama.
Plot: The Democratic Party presidential primary process is currently in Ohio, where two candidates are realistically still in the running as the ultimate party nominee for president: Pennsylvanian Governor, Mike Morris, and Arkansas senator, Ted Pullman. Based on what is happening on the Republican side, the Democrats are likely to win the White House, and whoever wins the Ohio primary will likely be the Democratic candidate. Under campaign manager Paul Zara, thirty year old Stephen Meyers is the idealistic press secretary for the Morris campaign. Although Stephen is a political veteran, he has never felt more passionately about a candidate than Morris, who outwardly aspires to a campaign that deals with his policies reflecting his ideals as opposed to back room politics. Stephen takes a calculated risk, one that does not pay off as his actions are leaked to reporter Ida Horowicz, who had been friendly to the campaign up to this point. Ida gives Stephen the opportunity to confirm or deny the accusations before she goes to print, the story which would ruin his standing within the campaign. Stephen also begins a casual sexual relationship with twenty year old intern Molly Stearns, who is well connected herself within the party as the daughter of Jack Stearns, the Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Through Molly, Stephen inadvertently comes into knowledge of some scandalous information about Morris. Stephen has to decide how all these revelations affect his own idealistic attitudes of working under Morris and Zara, and if Morris winning the White House is still the most important goal, especially at the risk of his own professional future within the party and possibly within government.
Link to HQ Screenshots of the movie
Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)
Ryan is Jacob – Directed by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa – Distributed by Warner Bros Pictures. Genre Comedy.
Plot: Cal Weaver is a middle-aged man who learns that his wife Emily has cheated on him with a co-worker, David Lindhagen, and that she wants a divorce. After moving into his own apartment, Cal goes to a bar night after night, talking loudly about his divorce, until he attracts the attention of a young man named Jacob Palmer, a womanizer who beds different women each night, although a young woman named Hannah has recently rejected his advances. Jacob takes pity on Cal, and offers to teach him how to pick up women. Using Jacob’s teachings, Cal seduces Kate at the bar. After the encounter, Cal manages to successfully seduce other women in the bar. He sees Emily again at their son Robbie’s parent-teacher conference. The interaction goes well until they discover that Robbie’s teacher is Kate, who reveals to Emily that she and Cal have slept together. Cal then confesses to sleeping with nine women. Emily leaves in disgust and begins actively dating David. Meanwhile, Hannah, a recent law school graduate, is expecting her boyfriend Richard to propose marriage while they celebrate her passing the bar exam, but he does not, instead, offering her a position at his law firm. Offended and hurt, Hannah returns to the bar where she originally rejected Jacob’s advances and kisses Jacob passionately. The two return to Jacob’s home to have sex, but end up talking to each other all night and making a connection. Jacob starts a relationship with Hannah, and he becomes distant from Cal.
Crazy, Stupid, Love was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on November 6, 2011. DVD sales grossed $19.8 million and Blu-ray sales $5.6 million.
Link to HQ Screenshots of the movie
Drive (2011)
Ryan is the Driver – Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn – Distributed by FilmDistric. Genre Crime Thriller.
Plot: An unnamed mechanic who is a stunt double, a stunt driver, and a criminal-for-hire getaway car driver lives in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles. His jobs are all managed by auto shop owner Shannon, who persuades Jewish mobsters Bernie Rose and Nino to purchase a car for the Driver to race. The Driver meets his new neighbor, Irene, and grows close to her and her young son, Benicio. Their budding relationship is interrupted when Irene’s husband, Standard Gabriel, is released from prison. Standard owes protection money from his time in prison and is beaten up by Albanian gangster Cook, who demands that Standard rob a pawnshop for $40,000 to pay off the debt. Cook gives Benicio a bullet as a symbol that he and his mother are in danger. The Driver, concerned for the safety of Irene and Benicio, offers to act as the getaway driver for the pawnshop robbery.
Link to HQ Screenshots of the movie
All Good Things (2010)
Ryan is David Marks – Directed by Andrew Jarecky – Distributed by Magnolia Pictures. Genre Crime/Thriller.
Plot: In 1970s New York City, David Marks (Gosling), the son of a powerful real estate tycoon, marries a beautiful working-class student, Katie McCarthy (Dunst). Together they flee New York for country life in Vermont—only to be lured back by David’s father (Frank Langella). Upon their return, they buy a beautiful apartment where Katie brings up the idea of having children, whereupon David implies he can’t have any. They eventually buy a lake house out of town and Katie tells their new pregnant neighbor that she is expecting as well. Katie tells David, to which he responds by throwing a chair and breaking a shelf. David makes Katie have an abortion, which he misses while doing work for his father. Katie goes back to college and eventually applies and gets into medical school. During a celebratory party at her parents’ house, David drags Katie out by her hair when he wants to go home and she asks him to wait. Katie wants a separation, but her funds, which she needs in order to graduate, are cut off when she attempts to leave. David gets violent and Katie begins to show signs of abuse. Family secrets are slowly revealed, and then Katie disappears without a trace. Years later, the 20-year-old case is re-opened, and soon after David’s best friend Deborah Lehrman (Lily Rabe) is found dead, with David as the main suspect.
Wikipedia Page link
Official Website link
Blue Valentine (2010)
Ryan is Dean – Directed by Derek Cianfrance – Distributed by Weinstein Company. Genre Romantic Drama.
Plot: The film is presented in a nonlinear narrative. Throughout the film, the present timeline is intercut with the story of how Dean and Cindy became involved. The following is a linear summary of the plot. Dean is a young hopeless romantic high school dropout, working for a moving company in Brooklyn. Cindy is an aspiring doctor studying pre-med, living with her constantly fighting parents and caring for her grandmother in Pennsylvania. She is also dating a fellow student named Bobby. During intercourse one day, Bobby didn’t use protection causing an angered Cindy to break up with him. Dean and Cindy meet at her grandmother’s nursing home while Dean is delivering a new resident’s furniture. He gives her his number but she never calls. They coincidentally meet again on a bus and begin dating shortly afterwards. The two fall deeply in love and soon after, a jealous Bobby finds out and beats Dean up. Cindy discovers she is pregnant and tells Dean the baby is unlikely to be his. At an abortion clinic, Cindy decides at the last moment to cancel the procedure. Dean comforts Cindy and tells her he doesn’t mind if the child is not his and wants to begin a family with her. Cindy and Dean get married. 5 years later, the couple lives in rural Pennsylvania with their daughter, Frankie and family dog, Megan. Dean paints houses for a living and struggles with alcohol while Cindy is a nurse at a clinic. Megan goes missing one day and is found dead on the road side, further straining the couple’s marriage. After watching old family videos, Dean insists on taking Cindy out for a romantic getaway at a motel so they can have some time off from their preoccupied lives, much to Cindy’s reluctance. At a liquor store, Cindy runs into Bobby and begins a conversation. Cindy and Dean get into an argument in the car when she mentions seeing Bobby again.
Link to HQ Screenshots of the movie
Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
Ryan is Lars Lindstrom – Directed by Craig Gillespie – Distributed by Metro Goldwin Mayer. Genre Comedy/Drama.
Plot: Lars Lindstrom lives a secluded life in a small Wisconsin town. It is gradually revealed that his mother died when he was born, causing his grief-stricken father to be a distant parent to Lars and his older brother, Gus. Gus left town as soon as he could support himself, returning only to inherit his half of the household when the father died.The inheritance has been divided between the brothers: Lars lives in the converted garage; Gus and his pregnant wife Karin live in the house proper. Karin’s attempts to invite Lars into the house for a family meal are usually unsuccessful; when he does come, conversation is difficult and he doesn’t stay long. He avoids social contact, finding it difficult to interact with his family, co-workers, or members of his church. A co-worker, Margo, is interested in him, but he avoids anything more than brief encounters. One day a large package arrives; that evening Lars tells Gus and Karin that he has a visitor whom he met via the Internet, a wheelchair-mobile missionary of Brazilian and Danish descent named Bianca. They discover that Bianca is a lifelike doll which Lars apparently ordered from an adult website. Concerned about his mental health, they convince Lars to take Bianca for a checkup to the family doctor, Dagmar, who is also a psychologist. Dagmar diagnoses Bianca with low blood pressure and advises Lars to bring her in for weekly treatments. Her aim is to have regular contact with Lars, hoping to get to the root of his behavior. She explains to Gus and Karin that his delusion is a manifestation of an underlying problem that needs to be addressed. She urges them to assist with his therapy by treating Bianca as a real person.
Official Website link
Link to HQ Screenshots of the movie
Fracture (2007)
Ryan is Willy Beachum – Directed by Gregory Hoblit – Distributed by New Line Pictures. Genre Legal Drama.
Plot: Theodore “Ted” Crawford (Anthony Hopkins), a wealthy and resourceful Irish aeronautical engineer in Los Angeles, confirms that his wife, Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz), is having an affair with police detective Robert Nunally (Billy Burke). Confronting his wife, Crawford shoots her. Police are called, including Nunally, who enters the house cautiously, negotiating with Crawford for both to put down their guns. Crawford confesses he shot his wife. Recognizing the victim, and being subtly goaded by Crawford, Nunally becomes enraged and assaults him. Now in jail awaiting trial, Crawford engages in a battle of wits with rising star deputy district attorney William “Willy” Beachum (Ryan Gosling), who considers the case an open-and-shut matter and agrees to go to trial immediately. Beachum is preparing to transition from criminal law to a corporate attorneyship at well-known law firm Wooton & Simms, and flirts with his future boss, Nikki Gardner (Rosamund Pike). At the trial, Crawford acts as his own attorney, thereby matching himself, an untrained litigant, against a star prosecutor. Crawford informs the court that the arresting officer (Nunally) was having an affair with his wife, assaulted him during his arrest, and was present during his interrogation. Crawford’s confession is therefore ruled inadmissible as evidence, being fruit of the poisonous tree. Beachum discovers that Crawford’s handgun could not have been used in the shooting because it does not match shell casings at the crime scene and in fact has never been fired. This baffles police, since CCTV surveillance was in effect during the shooting and until Crawford’s arresr.
Half Nelson (2006)
Ryan is Dan Dunne – Directed by Ryan Fleck – Distributed by Think Film. Genre Drama.
Plot:Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a young middle-school history teacher at a Brooklyn school, with a teaching style that rejects the standard curriculum in favor of an approach based upon dialectics (specifically Engels’ three laws of dialectics, though this is never referred to by name). Though he seems to have it all together in the classroom, on his own time he is found frequently snorting and freebasing cocaine. After a basketball game, Dan’s ex-girlfriend, Rachel (Tina Holmes) turns up, evoking emotions that he cannot handle. A short while later, one of his students (and a player on the girls’ basketball team he coaches), Drey (Shareeka Epps), catches him getting high in the locker room. Meanwhile, Drey has to deal with a single-mother (Karen Chilton) who is always at work, a brother, Mike (Collins Pennie), who is in prison for selling drugs for neighborhood dealer, Frank (Anthony Mackie) and an absent father. Drey’s lack of supervision makes her a target for Frank’s operation and he encourages her to become involved in his business.As Dan and Drey begin to get a better understanding of each other as friends, they both know what the other one should stay away from and what they need, but is struggling to get by themselves. Dan perceives that Frank is a bad influence on Drey and tries to intercede on numerous occasions. And Drey tries to get Dan to open up about his drug habit to no avail as he feels uncomfortable talking with a student about it.
Stay (2005)
Ryan is Henry Letham – Directed by Marc Forster – Distributed by 20th Century Fox. Genre Psychological Thriller.
Plot: The film opens with a car crash on the Brooklyn Bridge, and introduces Henry Letham (Ryan Gosling), a survivor of the crash, sitting, unharmed, next to a burning car on the bridge. Psychiatrist Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) and his girlfriend (and former patient), Lila (Naomi Watts) are then introduced in a new scene. Sam discusses his patient, Henry, a college student and aspiring artist whom he describes as depressed and paranoid, with feelings of guilt and remorse over having ‘set fire to’ his car at the beginning of the film. Henry mentions that he sometimes hears voices, and seems able to predict future events. Henry is also suspicious of Sam because he had suddenly been called to stand in for his regular psychiatrist, Beth Levy (Janeane Garofalo). Henry has told Sam of his plans to kill himself that Saturday at midnight. Lila, who has survived a past suicide attempt, offers to help to dissuade Henry from killing himself.
I’m Still Here: Real Diaries of Young People Who Lived During the Holocaust (TV Movie documentary 2005) … here’s the Documentary video
Ryan is the Narrator Voice of Ilya Gerber – Directed by Lauren Lazin. Genre Documentary/History.
Plot: Brings to life the diaries of young people who witnessed first-hand the horrors of the Holocaust. Through an emotional montage of archival footage, personal photos, and text from the diaries themselves, the film celebrates a group of brave, young writers who refused to quietly disappear.
The Notebook (2004)
Ryan is Noah – Directed by Nick Cassavetes – Distributed by New Line Cinema. Genre Romantic/Drama.
Plot: At a modern-day nursing home, an elderly man, Duke, reads a romantic story from his notebook to a fellow patient. In 1940, Seabrook Island, South Carolina, Noah Calhoun is smitten with 17 year old heiress Allison “Allie” Hamilton after seeing her at a carnival, and they have a summer love affair, where they fall madly in love. Noah takes Allie to an abandoned house that he intends to buy for them. They try to make love, but are interrupted by Noah’s friend Fin with the news that Allie’s parents have the police looking for her. When Allie and Noah return to her parents’ mansion, Allie’s mother Anne calls Noah trash and they ban her from seeing Noah. Noah walks out and Allie chases after him. They have an ensuing argument, and the next morning, Anne announces that the family is returning home to Charleston. Allie attempts to contact Noah, but is unable to find him, so she asks Fin to tell Noah that she loves him. When Noah gets the message he rushes to Allie’s home, only to find the house empty. Noah writes to Allie every day for a year but Anne intercepts the letters such that they never reach Allie. Noah enlists with Fin to fight in World War II, where Fin is killed in battle. Allie volunteers in a hospital for wounded soldiers, where she meets officer Lon Hammond Jr., a young lawyer who comes from old Southern money. After a few years being together, the two become engaged, to the delight of Allie’s parents. When Noah returns from the war, his father has sold their home so that Noah can buy the abandoned house. While visiting Charleston, Noah witnesses Allie and Lon kissing at a restaurant; he convinces himself that if he restores the house, Allie will come back to him. Allie is startled to read in the newspaper that Noah has completed the house to the specifications she made years before. Allie returns to Seabrook to find Noah living in the restored house. The two renew their relationship and make love. In the morning, Anne appears on Noah’s doorstep, warning Allie that Lon has followed her to Seabrook. Anne reveals that in her youth she had been in love with a lower-class young man and still thinks of him. She then gives Allie the letters that Noah wrote to her, admitting that she hid them from Allie. Allie confesses to Lon that she has been spending time with Noah, and tells him she knows she should be with him, but she remains indecisive. Ultimately, she goes back to her relationship with Noah. In the present, it is revealed that the elderly woman is Allie, who is suffering from dementia. Duke is actually Noah, and was told by Allie during the onset of her illness to reread their journals to help her remember. She briefly remembers who he is and they reconcile, but soon forgets and panics, forcing medical personnel to sedate her. Noah has a heart attack and is sent to the hospital while Allie is sent to a dementia ward in the hospital. He visits her room in the middle of the night, and she remembers him again, expressing that she may forget again. Noah reassures her that they can do anything with the love they share, and fall asleep together in Allie’s bed, dying in their sleep with a nurse discovering them in the morning.
The United States of Leland (2003)
Ryan is Leland P. Fitzgerald – Directed by Matthew Ryan Hogs – Distributed by Paramount Classics. Genre Drama.
Plot:The film begins with a flashback narrated by Leland P. Fitzgerald, describing how he could not remember the details of the day that he killed an intellectually disabled boy named Ryan Pollard. Leland is arrested. Ryan’s parents, Harry and Karen, sisters Becky and Julie, and Julie’s live-in boyfriend Allen grieve the loss of their loved one. Leland’s divorced mother, Marybeth, is desperate to see her son, while his father, famous writer Albert Fitzgerald, discovers his son’s fate in a newspaper and returns home to be there for the trial. While in juvenile hall, Leland is schooled by teacher Pearl Madison, an aspiring writer who is searching for a breakthrough story. Like many others at the detention center, Pearl senses something is different about the emotionally detached Leland, and helps him circumvent the prison rules so he can keep a journal. While his girlfriend is out of town in Los Angeles, Pearl sleeps with a coworker and tells her that he is going to write a book about Leland. Through his discussions with Pearl, Leland reveals his childhood memories such as his grandmother’s funeral and traveling long distances to visit his father. One time, he decided to stay in New York rather than continue on to see his father. After he could not find a hotel, a kindhearted family, the Calderons, decided to take him in for his stay. He continued to visit the family over the years, and was especially captivated by Mrs. Calderon. The two also discuss Leland’s history with Becky, Ryan’s sister. He had met her innocently at a record store and begun regularly walking home with Ryan and her after school. They had grown to love each other, and Leland recalled a time when Becky asked him to promise her “everything’s gonna be okay”, despite his objections that he had no control over bad things that could happen. As she explained, sometimes it is just nice to hear things one hopes to be true.
Murder by Numbers (2002)
Ryan is Richard Haywood – Directed by Barbet Schroeder – Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Genre Psychological Thriller.
Plot: Richard Haywood and Justin Pendleton are high school classmates; Richard is wealthy and popular, while Justin is a brilliant introvert. After months of planning a “perfect crime”, they abduct a woman at random, strangle her, and plant evidence implicating Richard’s marijuana dealer, janitor Ray Feathers. Detective Cassie Mayweather and her new partner, Sam Kennedy investigate. Cassie sleeps with Sam early on—as she has with previous partners—but won’t let him see her chest, and curtly sends him home afterward. Footprints at the crime scene lead to Richard, and vomit nearby implicates Justin. Both have alibis, and deny knowing each other, but Cassie is convinced that Richard is the murderer and Justin is involved. Sam criticizes her refusal to consider other suspects, as most of the physical evidence points away from the two boys. Cassie’s boss, Captain Rod Cody, and her ex, Assistant D.A. Al Swanson, fearing Richard’s influential parents, take Cassie off the case. Sam, following the (planted) evidence, tracks down Ray. When Ray is found dead, apparently a suicide (actually killed by Richard), the woman’s murder appears solved; but Sam decides that Cassie may be right, and continues the investigation. Justin, who has a crush on classmate Lisa Mills, works up the courage to ask her out. A jealous Richard seduces Lisa, then gives Justin a video clip of the two having sex. Justin is enraged, but regains control, knowing Sam is still watching them. Cassie begins receiving calls from her ex-husband, Carl Hudson, who went to prison for stabbing her in the chest 17 times. His parole hearing is coming up, and he wants her to speak on his behalf. Cassie confides to Sam that although she became a cop to prove to herself that she wasn’t a victim, she is terrified at the prospect of seeing Carl again. She also confesses that Richard reminds her of Carl—which is why she is convinced of Richard’s guilt, and obsessed with proving it.
The Slaughter Rule (2002)
Ryan is Roy Chutney – Directed by the Smith Bros. – Distributed by Cowboy Entertainment. Genre Drama.
Plot: A teenager at a personal crossroads finds himself questioning the things that have given his life meaning in this independent coming-of-age drama. Roy Chutney (Ryan Gosling) is a high school senior in the fictional Montana town of Blue Springs. Roy does not have an especially close relationship with his mother Evangelline (Kelly Lynch), and he has not seen his father in years. That does not prevent Roy from feeling emotionally devastated when he learns that his father has killed himself, and Roy’s self-esteem takes a beating when he is cut from the high school football team shortly afterward. Roy whiles away his time by swilling beer with his best friend, Tracy Two Dogs (Eddie Spears), and falling into a romance with Skyla (Clea DuVall), a barmaid at a local tavern, but it seems that Roy’s short time on the high school gridiron impressed Gideon Ferguson (David Morse), a local character who coaches an unsanctioned high school six man football team when he is not delivering newspapers or trying to score a gig singing country songs at nearby honky-tonks. Gideon thinks that Roy has potential and asks him to join his team; encouraged by Gideon’s belief in him, Roy agrees, and he persuades Tracy to tag along. While playing hardscrabble six-man football helps restore Roy’s self-confidence, he finds it does not answer his questions about his future or his relationship with Skyla. When Gideon’s overwhelming interest in Roy begins to lend credence to the rumors that Gideon is gay, Roy starts to wonder just why he was asked to join the team.
The Believer (2001)
Ryan is Danny Baliant – Directed by Henry Bean – Distributed by Fireworks Pictures. Genre Drama.
Plot: Daniel Balint is a former Jewish yeshiva student, brilliant but troubled, who is now a fanatically violent Neo-Nazi in New York in his early twenties. As a child, he often challenged his teachers with unorthodox interpretations of scripture. He once argued that the Binding of Isaac was not about Abraham’s faith but God’s power: that God did not want Abraham to accomplish a particular task but instead asks unquestioning obedience, which Abraham refuses to give. He concluded that God is a bully. Daniel finds a meeting of fascists run by Curtis Zampf and Lina Moebius, where he also makes a connection with Lina’s daughter Carla. Daniel advocates killing Jews, and a banker named Manzetti in particular, but Curtis and Lina oppose harming Jews on practical if not moral grounds. Impressed with Daniel’s intelligence, Lina invites him to their camp retreat in the country. Afterward, Daniel and his fellow Neo-Nazi friends pick a fight with two African-American men, get arrested, and are bailed out of jail by Carla. He spends the night with her but returns to the home of his ailing father. Daniel searches his Hebrew school notebooks and finds a semiautomatic pistol. He is harangued by his sister Linda for his Nazi beliefs, but she also urges him to stay and have Shabbat dinner with their father. The men watch television, which is forbidden, leading them to commiserate on the incomprehensibility of Jewish law.
Remember The Titans (2000)
Ryan is Alan Bosley – Directed by Boaz Yakin – Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. Genre Sport Movie.
Plot: In July 1971, at the desegregated T. C. Williams High School, a black head coach, Herman Boone, is hired to lead the school’s football team. Boone is assigned to the coaching team under current coach Bill Yoast, nominated for the Virginia High School Hall of Fame. In an attempt to placate rising racial tensions and the fact that all other high schools are “white” only, Boone is assigned the head coach job. He refuses believing it is unfair to Yoast, but relents after seeing what it means to the black community. Yoast is then offered an assistant coach’s job by the school board and initially refuses, but reconsiders after the white players pledge to boycott the team if he does not participate. Dismayed at the prospect of the students losing their chances at scholarships, Yoast changes his mind and takes up the position of defensive coordinator under Boone. The black students have a meeting in the gymnasium in auditioning to play for the team until Boone arrives, but the meeting turns into a fiasco when Yoast and white students interrupt. On August 15, 1971, the players gather and journey to Gettysburg College, where their training camp takes place. As their days of training camp progress, black and white football team members frequently clash in racially motivated conflicts, including some between captains Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell. But after forceful coaching and rigorous athletic training by Boone, which includes an early morning run to the Gettysburg cemetery, and a motivational speech, the team achieves racial harmony and success. After returning from football camp, Boone is told by a member of the school board that if he loses even a single game, he will be dismissed. Subsequently, the Titans go through the season undefeated while battling racial prejudice, before slowly gaining support from the community. Gerry even has his best friend Ray removed from the team because of his racism, following a game where he intentionally missed a block which consequently led to the near-season-ending injury of starting quarterback Jerry “Rev” Harris.
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