August 12th, 2019
We dive into the mighty world of Lego as it has bled into our visual entertainment as well as getting stepped on & lost under beds around the globe. 'Nuff said - just listen!
Note: Matt was wrong as this wasn't traditional stop-motion with physical Lego pieces, it's more like South Park with digitized versions of practical designs (blocks) animated that way.
Links: Wet Hot Amer. Summer, Zack & Miri, Passengers (has Guardians 2 episode link, Guardians (+ 22 Jump st), 1m Ways to Die in West, Krull, Red (+Batman Begins, Excalibur, A-Team, Morgan Freeman links), Wes Anderson episode.
July 28th, 2019
Movies discussed: Late Night, MIB International, & Stuber; a little is also said about Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, Midsommar, & Crawl.
An episode done without the usual prep with movies playing in theaters, so it's shorter in part to go further than normal to prevent spoilers. Let us know if ya like it!!
A note: Matt did peek after recording - Mindy Kaling in fact wrote the script for Late Night. Solid enough for a 1st full length endeavor.
July 8th, 2019
GUEST HOST: GODFREY!!!
- Smokey & the Bandit/
- Beverly Hills Cop/
- Blues Brothers/
We give you a playing in the sandbox smashing stuff together episode. Steering (mostly) away from real serious things, we just take a dip in the memory hot tub with some fun-lovin' classics with crashes.
June 24th, 2019
- Sorry to Bother You (Tessa Thompson)/
- The Hate U Give (Regina Hall)/
- Addicted to Fresno (Aubrey Plaza)/
Once again we tumble scattered cinema into the dryer & see what shrinks. Focused on some stars you may see on the big screen this month, we pulled from some recent movies that perhaps didn't get ALL the attention they deserved.
Note: Matt was on the nose for Rotten Tomatoes critic score for Bother, but even the critics hated Fresno. (shrug)
June 11th, 2019
- Bride of Chucky/
- Godzilla (2014)/
- Terminator/
It is often said that Hollywood has no new ideas (have you used your Movie Pass/A-List to see indie films?!), so we leaned into that for this episode! Even those who will avoid the new installments or reboots can enjoy a look at the times "when they were good." This grouping accidentally became a nice mix of a brand new concept that still feeds Hollywood writing rooms, a reboot that spans 60 years back to the original, & a turning point where some fans gave up on a franchise after 10 years and 4 movies. Hidey ho, let them fight, laundry day - yes.
Links: Freddy v Jason, The Crow, Halloween, Dune, LOTR: Fellowship, 2 Towers, Return o' King, Rogue One, Expendables, Last Samurai (also has Shawshank Redemption), Inception, Batman Begins, Dark Knight (also has Dark City) Kick-Ass, Oldboy, Fright Night, Arnold episodes I & II, Last Action Hero, Terminator Genisys (has T2 link), Tombstone, Aliens, Planet Terror, The Rock.
May 26th, 2019
- One Wonderful Sunday/
- Scandal/
- I Live in Fear/
Taking a look at some films before his international infamy, we delve into the brilliant brain of one of Japan's most influential and epic directors. Though 2 of his major hits came to America within 2 years of release, the 3rd movie discussed did not do so for 12! Was it the subject matter? Likely so..
Tune in while we focus on some genius work.
LINKS: Yojimbo, Last Man Standing (based off Yojimbo story), 7 Samurai.
Notes: To the hardcore people - it was in fact Kagemusha that Lucas & Spielberg financed, Scorcese & Coppola helped rally for his later films as well.
May 14th, 2019
- John Wick Ch 2/
- Memoirs of an Invisible Man/
- Swordfish/
Whether or not you believe everyone can enjoy a movie overall, sometimes there are parts of it that they need to witness that are pretty badass. They can be a reason to deal with the other aspects. Does that give you a reason to listen to the episode - uhhh, yah!
Links: John Wick, In Defense of Keanu Episode, (more links soon!)
Notes: Matt completely blanked on Halle Berry being in the new Wick movie!!! He also neglected to mention Shirley Walker scoring Memoirs: She did Escape From L.A. with Carpenter, the Final films, & many superhero shows (Flash, Batman & Superman animated shows). Don Cheadle in fact has 89 roles..
April 29th, 2019
- Pee-Wee's Big Adventure/
- Kiss of the Dragon/
- a surprise Adam Sandler flick!/
Enjoy!
April 15th, 2019
- Wandering Earth
- Green Book
- Arctic
- Alita Battle Angel
- Captive State
- Gloria Bell
- Us
- Hotel Mumbai
- Shazam
- Hellboy
Bite-sized glimpses of flicks in theaters at the moment as Matt maximizes his A-List membership. Trying this on as a once-in-a-while departure, so let us know what you think!!
Notes: Just under $6 million of the total earnings for Wandering Earth was U.S. ticket sales, not $2 million. It still deserves more of our money...
As a modern comparison of current film budgets - Creed II, a boxing movie, spent the same amount of money as Hellboy.
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), 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%
March 18th, 2019
- Breach
- Coming Through The Rye
- Adaptation
So many actors aren't appreciated enough for their contributions to the film world. Today, we hand out another merit badge for being a cool cat of cinema.
March 5th, 2019
GUEST HOST: VALKYIRE!!!
- The Cloverfield Paradox
- Star Trek Beyond
The battle royale continues with space franchises fighting for feminine favor. As they should: neglecting half of any public is a bad idea, no? This skirmish felt like a David & Goliath situation, but maybe not the way some of you were thinking. Give it listen!!
Links: Death at a Funeral, Guardians of the Galaxy, GotG v2, Red (has links for LOTR episodes),
Notes: We breezed right past Don Cheadle/Terence Howard as well as Tessa Thompson, Idris Elba & Chewitel Ejiofor in Marvel before Black Panther. That still only brings the total to 8 with Zoe Saldana.
Here is a vid of Tenacious D doing the Trek Theme w/lyrics for those who want to hear all of the ending track we used. Pretty "stellar"!!!
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.
February 3rd, 2019
- Absolutely Anything
- Annihilation
The conclusion of the shuffle episode along with the Virgin Suicides (last episode), Matt tackles both ends of the spectrum with awe & disappointment. Which was which, you ask? Dunno - just listen.
Links: Mixed Nuts, Shaun of the Dead, 22 Jump St, House of D, Hook, Good Morning Vietnam. More links soon!!
Note: my favorite mistake ever with Gavin Scott, who wrote a 2009 Beauty/Beast movie rated 32% on IMDB!!
January 21st, 2019
Welp - another broken episode with the 1st segment that deserves it's own moment. The other 2 films will be the next episode. As it has heavy subject matter, a greater discussion beyond the film seemed necessary for all to ponder. Feel free to reply on any of our platforms if you feel the need or if something felt remarkably wrong as stated. Matt certainly doesn't seek to be the beginning & end of any topic..
Here's a 70's performance from Heart to show the haze of earlier film footage (even professional level) that the film recreated in select shots. Ann gives it some great live flair to prove it isn't a recorded track...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXOO7QVHgXs
Here is the page for the artist featured in the thumb nail.
http://ghoulnextdoor.tumblr.com/post/84066567540/bijou-karman-virgin-suicides
