After a bit of a break we are running full steam into massive, tentpole season, although many of them don't seem to be doing quite as well as we might hope. There was a time that Indiana Jones might have made twice as many movies and the all would have killed, but we aren't exactly in those times, and the question of whether or not a new Indy adventure is worth it is... well, a fairly live question. We'll let you know if this one is worth your time, and we have some bonuses to discuss as well....
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 179
As we start to hit the big-money releases, we're going to look at the new, animated Spider-Man effort. The first one smashed into the cultural awareness in a way we haven't seen in a while, and there are high hopes for this one, but will it live up to the fascination? With the potential to become an epic sub-franchise of the superhero genre, this one could be the key. We'll let you know if this one has what it takes.
Jul 13, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 178
As we approach some really big titles hitting theaters, we're taking on Sisu and looking at some other titles that may easily get overlooked. The box office ahead looks to be dominated by a few titles, but the numbers aren't quite reaching expectations and we're going to continue to try to showcase other options... in case Barbie isn't for everyone.
Jul 13, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 177
As we move into the summer, and some truly big releases, Fast X hits the scene and the potential puns abound. Is this one the charm? Do the high revving thrills and surefire excitement have surprises in store? Is this worth watching at all? Even if you haven't seen any of the others? We will dodge a lot of these questions and many more as we try to wrap our heads around reviewing this one. Or, we'll let you know where we stand after less than positive reviews of the 9th installment....
Jun 02, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 176
It's time for more Marvel adventure, but Guardians of the Galaxy isn't quite the same beast after two previous movies and appearances in several other features. This one may focus on a character, giving us our villain, but it seems not to focus on anything. We'll let you know if you need to get this one and we'll hit up one or two other things as well.
May 18, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 175
This week we're trying to catch up with three titles - Super Mario Bros, Renfield & Cocaine Bear. It's a wild mix to cover all at once and spans a lot of potential tastes, and unfortunately none of them really wowed us. We'll let you know if you need to seek any of these out and give you some quick takes on a few other things, like Picard, and the strange way a lot of these titles seem to connect.
May 01, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 174
As the theatrical window slows a bit, we're looking at some streaming release titles before getting into the late April/May black hole. A couple of surprises here, odd as they turned out to be, as Tetris and Murder Mystery 2 didn't really turn out the way we thought they would, for good or ill.
Apr 22, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 173
This week finds us borderline astonished with Dungeons & Dragons, though I liked it even more than Shane. This may well survive the entire year as the most surprising film of the year. Screwy fun, not too serious, and solid characters turned what could have been a "fan only" snooze into a popcorn hit.
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 172
This week we're reviewing John Wick 4 and looking at how it connects (or doesn't) with the entire franchise. Can Keanu's neverending endurance and ability to take punishment spawn a movie on its own? Is a stunning stung/FX highlight reel a story? Is there something wrong with the financial situation worldwide in John Wick's universe? We'll look at all these questions and more, plus we've got mail!
Mar 29, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 171
There's finally a fair number of decent possibilities in (or approaching) theaters, but something about 65 drew us in. Tune in and we'll let you know if this somewhat screwy idea can be made into something exciting, and if Driver can carry things when he's mostly on his own. Here's a hint, this worked a lot better for one of us than the other.
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 170
It's our awards show time again as we give you our picks for the "Can't Win" awards. Our picks to help highlight performances and films that just have no chance of winning "real" awards. A very interesting selection of movies this year, although I couldn't quite follow my own guidelines and ended up giving a few nods to the same movie, which doesn't spread as much love as I want from this whole idea. Tune in and find out where we think the underappreciation was felt most strongly last year....
Mar 14, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 169
Some technical difficulties pushed us back with this episode, but the wait is over for the Worst Movies of 2022, which I know everyone was looking forward to. It was an easy year for picking bad movies, but we also give some insights on other worst lists, which confuse us greatly. We also give our quick take on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which didn't win us over.
Mar 01, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 168
It's finally time and despite our best efforts there are still a couple of films that made our lists that we didn't have time to cover throughout the year. Find out what blew us away and let me tell you, there are some surprises. As usual, we will also call out those movies that are on everyone else's lists that just aren't actually worthy.
Feb 16, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 167
It's our last show to squeeze in everything we can before we hit you with our Best of the Year lists and things get a little dodgy in the rush. This week we look at Tom Hanks remaking A Man Called Ove in a film that truly Americanizes most of the best notes out of things, and Bill Nighy remaking Kurosawa's Ikiru in a film that is nearly perfect (spoiler warning for next week's list). We also go back to The Whale and Empire of Light as we try to make sure we mention everything getting awards seas...
Feb 07, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 166
We continue this week trying to knock out everything we can before the Oscars. We're notoriously bad at that, but we manage a good look at Triangle of Sadness and Tar. Two films that couldn't be less for everybody, but are worth checking out. Next week we are going to have perhaps our strangest episode ever as we tackle A Man Called Otto, Living, and at least five other films in one show.
Jan 27, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 165
This week we take a break from trying to get through every movie of the year before awards, because some awards happened. We'll run through the Critics' Choice Awards winners and discuss the highlights, great wins, and the things we think are a little silly. We're also going back to Violent Night, to further give a break from awards season, in case anyone missed this whacktastic delight over the holidays.
Jan 20, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 164
This week we're catching up with Glass Onion as we try to cover everything as fast as we can with awards looming (and passing). We'll also look at The Pale Blue Eye, a Christian Bale vehicle which bizarrely is going almost completely unnoticed.
Jan 16, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 163
As awards close in (and pass by) we're trying to get to as many films as we can, but in all honesty... we're bad at that. This week we had to go back to Glass Onion, because in all the rush we passed by that one in past weeks. The main struggle with this one seems to be between those who think it is better than the original and those that find it not quite as good. Either way, high praise. We'll let you know where we fall on that strange spectrum. We're also covering The Pale Blue Eye, the Chris...
Jan 16, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 162
The big thing this week is obviously Avatar: The Way of Water and listeners may know that we don't both have the same feelings about Cameron, or Avatar. Is this one worth the mountains of box office cash? Is it worth anything? We'll let you know. We will also give you a bit of a rundown of the nominations for the Critics' Choice Awards and while I won't exactly give away my voting, it probably isn't to hard to tell where I'm leaning.
Jan 02, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 161
As awards season starts truly rocking, with CriticsChoice noms and a lot of critic group and other awards coming out, we're looking this week at some of the (sorry) smaller things out there. Although, Pinocchio is hitting things pretty hard on the animated front. Both Bones and All and The Wonder seemed like they were going to get a lot more attention a few months ago, but as the year winds down, they just aren't what people are taking about... but should they be? Tune in and we'll let you know ...
Dec 22, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 160
This week we are diving into awards season with our usual reckless abandon, hoping to cover the films you most need to know about as nominations hit and we close out the year. Three big titles to cover means we can't give any of them what they might deserve and as far as nominations go, these are films you are going to hear about a lot, but are they really deserving of the hype? The Fablemans practically got nominated a year ago, She Said seems like it's a lock to get attention just on the subje...
Dec 22, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 159
This week is our last bit of normalcy heading into awards season and we're taking this opportunity to cover a couple of films that aren't the biggest releases. For the next two months we will probably be running through several films per week and the smaller things will, as always, not get the attention they deserve. All Quiet on the Western Front is probably our main pick for films that are going to be overlooked, and while we didn't love Wendell & Wild exactly, it's worth a look. We also c...
Dec 02, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 158
This week we run through as many possibilities as we can at a time when movies and series utterly bombard us with choice. Wakanda Forever is the big name, but we'll also cover Enola Homes 2, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and many more. We may not have liked everything, but with Rosaline, Causeway, Inside Man, The Good Nurse, and still more, if you can't find something you'll love, we just can't help you.
Nov 18, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 157
It's obviously Black Adam week and there is a lot of talk about the disparity between critical and audience reception as this one takes over the box office. We'll let you know our take on it, and whether that disparity really even exists, and we're also going to look at a few more films including circling back to Halloween Ends again.
Oct 26, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 156
This week we try to take advantage of the lull before Black Adam and catch up on a few things. We'll look at Luckiest Girl Alive, Halloween Ends, The School for Good and Evil, and The Peripheral. A couple of these are pretty highly recommended, and we have to defend one of them against critics who don't seem to make a lot of sense, though it probably isn't the one you think.
Oct 23, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 155
This week we look at Amsterdam, a film with a lot of stars that is taking a lot of heat from critics. Does this star-studded caper deserve the press it's getting, or is the backlash aimed at the writer/director overshadowing the merits... and is it worth seeing in theaters? We'll let you know what we think, and we'll also look at Marvel's version of a Halloween Special, Werewolf by Night. Plus, we've got a listener question to address.
Oct 14, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 154
This week (after a Covid break) we're hitting Don't Worry Darling, Blonde, and going back for See How They Run. It turned into a somewhat weird week, especially as Blonde and Don't Worry Darling had similar issues, which doesn't seem like it should be possible.
Oct 06, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 153
This week we are catching up due to some technical difficulties so we are not only reviewing 3,000 Years of Longing, but we are hitting a few available on streamers - Me Time, Samaritan, and Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. Unfortunately, the oft-mentioned lull in big, theatrical releases hasn't quite been the boon for these smaller affairs we hoped, but 3,000 Years of Longing is an "adventure" we recommend, even if it disappointed.
Sep 09, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 152
As we head into an episode in which we will probably be getting to three films - two streamers - we are stuck doing our best with lack of big titles at the box office. We'll be looking at Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, the twenty-something, rich kid vehicle that finds a bunch of snots throwing a party for a hurricane when the bodies start dropping. We will also run you through some possibilities at home, including big name series, like House of Dragons, etc.
Aug 29, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 151
We're solidly in the lull, so this week we look at the new Netflix film Dayshift and we catch up on Prey, and while neither film is devoid of positives, you really have to be looking for them to get much out of them. We'll let you know all the details and try to give you a sense of whether or not you're going to like them. We also give a quick take on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which is potentially a lot of fun, and potentially alienates a lot of Marvel fans.
Aug 20, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 150
