September 14th, 2020
Photo credit: Chicago Sun Times article.
Matt watched this the day we lost Chadwick Boseman. There was no way it'd feel good to put it out that weekend, but a postive part of grief paying tribute to those we lose. Technically part of (& the fulcrum of) the "We Need To Talk" series, it tells a superhero story while scrutinizing the ongoing story of relationships among races and nations. We think it's actually a good gateway to talking about such things with family & friends, which is why we recommend everyone watch it (again) to maybe gain some empathy toward what others go through.
Note: The score DID win an Oscar, as did Costume & Design; Kendrick Lamar was nominated.
Here is the crucial part of Chadwick's Howard speech. This might be the most inspiring 14 minutes you'll hear this year...
Links: Boseman: 42 (also has 12 yrs a Slave for Lupita Nyong'o), Message From The King (also Capt Amer Civil War). Michael B Jordan: Creed. Angela Bassett: Boyz in the Hood (Malcolm X link on that post). Daniel Kaluuya: Widows. Andy Serkis: LOTR 1/2/3, Planet o' Apes trilogy Forest Whittaker: Phone Booth, Street Kings, Good Morning Vietnam.
January 28th, 2020
- Widows/
- Alita: Battle Angel/
- Wonder Woman/
Our 1st shuffle-sode of the decade!! With varying levels of financial success, all 3 of these movies are tremendous to us. May they all gain the notoriety they deserve as quality entertainment.
- The Sia song is actually from Wonder Woman, not Alita, so watch THOSE credits with your kids!
November 25th, 2019
As the day of gluttony arrives, we bring a binge of the new series based on 1982's The Dark Crystal from Jim Henson. Plenty of modern attempts have fallen way short of previous incarnations or installments of a franchise/story. Hoping for the best, this show blew Matt's cursed mind! After so much time, capturing the majesty & creating a larger plot with a similar blend of awe and fear was not likely, yet it was done with gusto. Come listen to the gushing, plus the idea for a follow-up episode where we'll dig deeper into what this show represents on various levels.
April 2nd, 2019
- Room (Brie Larson)
- Atomic Blonde (James McAvoy)
- The Soloist (Robert Downey, Jr.)
The title doesn't work as well as "Prefinity War," but hopefully you get the point... This time we're giving you other movies some MCU stars have been in. Xavier isn't likely in Endgame, but the uncertainty of X-men & their current stars is a hot topic with Fox purchased by Disney so a crossover is now possible.
3 very different genres. 3 splendid examples of how these actors are more than merely their Marvel counterparts. We even included a movie based on real people. Enjoy the departure as we finally take a break from directly talking about Marvel!!
LINKS: Short Term 12 (has links for Scott Pilgrim, Don Jon & 21 Jump St), Manhunter, Magnolia, Law Abiding Citizen, Iron Man 3 (has Kiss Kiss Bang Bang & RDJ links), Home for the Holidays, Good Night & Good Luck, Spiderman Homecoming, Being John Malkovich, Capote, 40 Year-Old Virgin, Monster (has all Theron mentioned plus Prometheus & Die in the West links), X-Men Days of Future Past (also link for 1st Class), 10 Cloverfield Lane, Red State, Barton Fink (also Coens I: Raising AZ link), Star Trek Beyond, Halloween.
BTW: Steve Lopez STILL writes about Nathaniel Ayers! lookey here -
https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-ayers-20171227-story.html
Here's an article featuring an interview vid with Brie about the hubbub.
https://movieweb.com/captain-marvel-brie-larson-inclusion-controversy/
IMDB scores (in order): 67%/82%/67%
February 17th, 2019
GUEST HOST: VALKYIRE!!
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
So much of science fiction represents society that has grown past our petty distinctions into a better world. The question is how successful are the stories themselves in getting past some of the same obstacles? We take a step back from some of our favorite things to see if they hit the mark from a particular perspective. It shouldn't be hard to meet the expectations, but do all 3 movies do that? Part one gets the ball rolling...
Notes:
Strange that we'd somehow bypass the Mads of Mikkelsen. Fear not, here's an entire episode about him.
Here is the Death Star Canteen bit with some lego animation.
December 17th, 2018
GUEST HOST: GODFREY!!!
Do we need to say anything else?! The answer's NO, Bub.
ARTWORK: lordmesa.com. Check out their other amazing stuff!!
Links: *Hugh Jackman - Days o Future Past (has link to 1st Class), Prestige, The Fountain (ep 36 is spoiler-sode in same month), Swordfish.
*Marco Beltrami - The Wolverine, Carrie, The Thing, Die Hard (& this episode), Hurt Locker, Red Eye, I Robot(also Chappie), Flight of the Phoenix, Hellboy (has link for X2),
*The Lookout & Minority Report for the writer.
December 3rd, 2018
GUEST HOST: GODFREY!!!
- X-Men: Days of Future Past
a 2nd serving of service to Stan, we talk aboot the sequel to 1st Class by Matthew Vaughn (link for that HERE). Starting with The Wolverine last month, we have 1 more entree coming up. Come back to us for a strong finish. Though you do have to clean your plate before we offer dessert...
Links: Kick Ass link in 1st Class episode above - also links for Flatliners, Fassbender, & Fury Road (Hoult). John Ottman links are on the page for episode 247 HERE, though we forgot to link 8-Legged Freaks.
Artwork: Rich Davies. Some other sweet art at
http://cromeyellow.com/x-men-days-of-future-past-by-the-poster-posse/
October 22nd, 2018
- Company of Wolves (1984)
- Sleeping Beauty (2011)
- Snow White - A Tale of Terror (1997)
We tap into the dark world of fairy tales without the Disney washout of hard edges. A select few can or will appreciate all 3 of these movies as they tap into particular tastes while opposing others in no subtle way.
LINKS: Interview with the Vampire, Last Unicorn, Manchurian Candidate, V for Vendetta, Tron, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, X2, Aliens, Copycat, Ghostbusters, Galaxy Quest, Jurassic Park, Event Horizon, Dangerous Liaisons.
Matt forgot about Chappie when talkin' aboot Sigourney episodes. Here is that link.
here's a link to the TMNT franchise podcast with Jas & John:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E99ghPX_15I
Here's some Robert Palmer artsy objectification!!
July 15th, 2018
More screwups, need we say anything else?
Matt finally made another flub mix track for the end as well!!
June 17th, 2018
- DO NOT listen to this as a 1st episode, pick ANY other post without the word Flub in it!! :)
Our fifth installment of mistakes that we make while recording. Also some things that for various reasons were cut out of episodes we've done.
NOTES: Even in the introduction segments there were errors!! This is in fact the 5th flubisode (counting the sound checkisode with David) not the 6th. Matt forgot to mention the times when he is swearing at thumping - that's the ridiculously loud upstairs neighbors that are loud enough to pick up on the mic. There is also some swearing when trying to get things right; here's a compilation of the Friends cast with similar foul flub struggles. Those really paying attention, Matt meant to say he has raging boners for soundtracks. He neglected to finish the thought, so it sounded like he just admitted to hard-ons while recording! Not MOST days, for the record...
June 4th, 2018
Stranger Things was a mammoth of a series when it debuted. It seems most saw the 2nd season when it appeared, the the hubbub quickly died down despite it doing a pretty durned fantastic job in creating another strong arc for the characters we've come to love & some noobs as well. We wanted to dig deeper than Matt's last TVsode when he almost scratched the surface with a drive-by thumbs up for ST 2. Really looking at the overall structure, it deserves far more credit than it got for changing it up without becoming something else.
Links: IT, TVsode III.
May 1st, 2018
- Deadpool
- Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2
- Spider-Man Homecoming
Feel the need for more comicbook movie discussion? Hopefully, cause we sure did!! Dig in as we load more Marvel onto our fork (with a dash of Fox in there, too!). Are these 3 necessary before seeing Inifinity War? No - but they are good examples of continued strength as Marvel keeps pushing heroes our way; also, all but Deadpool are almost surely in I-War.
Something Matt forgot to mention aboot GotG2: overuse of single songs is a thing & was pushed with 1 especially - even as it applies to your story, don't overdo it!! BUT here's a link to a fun sdtk video with The Hoff!
Other Links: Ryan Reynolds: Van Wilder. TJ Miller: Train ur Dragon. Rhett Reese/Paul Wernick: Zombieland. Tom Holkenborg (XL Junkie): Fury Road. Tyler Bates is also discussed in Dawn of the Dead & John Wick in the Zombieland & Fury Road links here. Iron Man 3 has Downey links. Michael Keaton: Batman, Batman Returns, Spotlight, Robocop, Beetlejuice, Much Ado About Nothing.
Kurt Russell: Bone Tomahawk, The Thing, Stargate (has all other links). Bradley Cooper: A-Team, Wet Hot American Summer. Chris Pratt: briefly discussed in Jurassic World. Zoe Saldana: original GotG.
April 1st, 2018
More TV.
How much more? III !!!
NOTES:
Here is an interesting essay about Taiwan.
February 10th, 2018
GUEST HOST: GODFREY!!
- Captain America: Civil War/
- Message From The King/
As we before the wave of badassery that is Black Panther coming out next week, we chose to tip the meter back over to Marvel side after looking at some of the DC animated films. We were gonna do a Michael B Jordan film, but we stumbled on another with Chadwick Boseman while searching. What luck?! So this episode is essentially a chunk of Chad, & next Saturday we'll follow up with a chunk of Chead(le). Join us, won't you?
Next weekend, we'll hopefully have a few words to offer about the Black Panther flick also!!
June 3rd, 2017
GUEST HOST: GODFREY!!
Join us for the exciting conclusion of our death discussion. Excitement for the movies, not for death & dead people. You know what we mean, consarn it. Labyrinth is a cornerstone of many a childhood. As Matt was limited in his praise for The Last Unicorn (here's a link), you will find him unlimited in his love for this one.
As we sadly witness the Muppet Show disappear as fast as it returned recently, we still have a strong catalog of Jim Henson creations to adore. As a fantasy film, there is only a small amount of overt time references that help it retain potency. We aren't saying it isn't drenched in 80's but hey, so is Blade Runner & that's timeless, right? If you ever liked it, you will probably still dig it as an adult. We would venture that kids growing up now will like it & each generation will come to gain respect for the fireball of beautiful ambiguity that is David Bowie. We forgot to mention that his songs have been used almost 600 times in movies/television (probably a lot more in the next few years.)
We didn't speak of it, but the writing actually doesn't slant Sarah as a 'girl' character. It is a teenager hanging onto youth. The character could have been a boy with almost no alteration in the script, which is significant in making it a rather universal character because that aspect doesn't really affect their story. Yet another subtlety in this movie that seems simple on the surface.
LINKS: Bowie: Prestige. Jennifer Connelly: Stuck in Love (all links on that post). Muppet episode, Dark Crystal. Trevor Jones: Last of the Mohicans (all links on that post). Also, here's the Yankee Rose video!
