The MovieByte Podcast #109: Denzel Fu

TJ is back from the dead! Well, it seemed like he was dead anyway. Really he was just very, very sick. But he’s back and together with Joe sets for the review two film to try to catch up for lost time. ‘The Equalizer’ is R rated for a reason — it’s bloody and violent, but it’s not a bad story and probably worthy of your investigation. ‘The Judge’ on the other hand was pretty fantastic. Overall Joe’s not as happy with it as TJ, but they both feel it’s probably worth your time. And there’s lots of messages in the film to tease out, so TJ and Joe do so.

• The Equalizer — ReviewRobert McCall (Denzel Washington) is former black-ops for the CIA. He’s now retired and living somewhere in Boston.
• The Equalizer — IMDbA man believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and has dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by - he has to help her.
• The Equalizer — Rotten TomatoesCritics Consensus: The Equalizer is more stylishly violent than meaningful, but with Antoine Fuqua behind the cameras and Denzel Washington dispensing justice, it delivers.
• The Equalizer — Box Office MojoDomestic Total as of Oct. 20, 2014: $89,573,265 Distributor: Sony / ColumbiaRelease Date: September 26, 2014 Genre: ThrillerRuntime: 2 hrs. 8 min. MPAA Rating: RProduction Budget: $55 million
• The Judge — ReviewRobert Downey Jr. plays hot shot lawyer Hank Palmer who has (seemingly?) never defended an innocent man. And he knows it.
• The Judge — IMDbBig city lawyer Hank Palmer returns to his childhood home where his father, the town’s judge, is suspected of murder. Hank sets out to discover the truth and, along the way, reconnects with his estranged family.
• The Judge — Rotten TomatoesCritics Consensus: Solidly cast and beautifully filmed but thoroughly clichéd, The Judge seems destined to preside over a large jurisdiction of the basic cable afternoon-viewing circuit.
• The Judge — Box Office MojoDomestic Total as of Oct. 20, 2014: $27,506,183 Distributor: Warner Bros.Release Date: October 10, 2014 Genre: DramaRuntime: 2 hrs. 21 min. MPAA Rating: RProduction Budget: $50 million