Spoiler Alert - Movie Outsiders: Recent Episodes
Spoiler Alert
The inside scoop from outside the film industry. Movie reviews, news, and gossip from two guys who should not know this much about movies.
After far too long, friend of the Spoiler Alert Podcast, Ellen, joins Mike to discuss one of their favorite movies from the weeks preceding Covid lockdown. Direcor and co-star Taika Waititi (Eagle vs. Shark), takes a satirical look at WWII Germany in this Oscar-winning comedy-drama, also starring Academy Award winner Sam Rockwell (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles) and Scarlett Johansson (Home Alone 3). To hear more from Ellen, check out lovethatmoviepod.com
Jack Nicolson (Something’s Gotta Give) and Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) headline an Oscar-winning cast that is one of the few Best Pictures to also win the “big five”. This movie is on all kinds of “best of” lists, and is a long-awaited film for both of the co-hosts!
Writer/Director Charlie Kaufman (Synecdoche, New York) delivers a purposefully baffling, frustratingly obtuse riff on David Lynchian themes of unease, mistrust, and strange dancing. This direct to Netflix film is sure to divide any audiences daring enough to sit through the entire thing.
Christopher Nolan (Interstellar) returns to cinemas - at least those which are open right now - with Tenet, his new twisty, ultra-secretive thriller. Starring John David Washington (Monsters and Men), Robert Pattinson (Water for Elephants), Elizabeth Debicki (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), and Kenneth Branagh (Wild Wild West), this film really puts the audience through its paces. Bring your calculator, slide rule, copy of A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, graph paper, a much smarter friend, and an EXTREME amount of patience.
Disney (Song of the South) delivers a new live-action remake of a beloved animated film with Mulan. Starring Yifei Liu as the title character and minus the music, mischief, and family-friendly elements of the original, this film skews closer to a war epic with fantasy elements. It won’t be for everybody but there is a lot to like in this movie.
Sidney Poitier (The Jackal) and Rod Steiger (End of Days) star in 1967’s Best Picture winning film In the Heat of the Night. The film features staggering racism, a crazy soundtrack, and the most bonkers gum chewing committed to celluloid.
Writer/Director Spike Lee (Oldboy) delivers a blistering drama mixing middle age regret, wartime hell, and heist thriller with the Netflix-exclusive film Da 5 Bloods. Delroy Lindo (The Core), Chadwick Boseman (The Kill Hole), and Clarke Peters (Notting Hill) lead the impressive cast and help ground the film with terrific acting.
Andy Samberg (Space Chimps) and Cristin Milioti (It had to be You) star in a fairly fresh telling of the Groundhog Day-Inifite Time Loop situation with Palm Springs. The film is worth signing up for Hulu to see. Or at least signing up for a free month and then bailing after you see it. Or stealing your parents’ log in to watch it on Hulu on their dime. Anyway, check it out.
Writer/Star Tom Hanks (A Hologram for the King) combines his love of WWII stories and green screen usage with the Apple TV-exclusive film Greyhound. Also starring Stephen Graham (Hellboy) and with a brief appearance by Elisabeth Shue (Piranha 3D), the film offers engaging sea warfare scenes and a solid performance - as always - by Hanks.
The Great Ziefeld is a movie. It is a movie which, apparently, won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1936. It is a movie with a running time just under THREE HOURS and includes multiple song & dance numbers. If that is your thing, you MAY like this movie. But, then again, maybe not.
Somehow, for some reason, Academy Award voters were taken with Gigi back in 1958 and decided to award the film that year’s Best Picture Oscar. We recorded this episode more than a year ago in case we needed to release an episode but could not arrange to record or see film due to illness or vacations, etc. I think we might have just needed some space from having seen the film before we were ready to really talk about it. Louis Jordan (so strange in Octopussy) still gives us the creeps. Check it out.
Spaceship Earth, a documentary released VOD, on buildings in major metropolitan cities, and via a pizza place’s website, tells the story of Biosphere 2 - a long forgotten human experiment which drove local media ratings for a few months in the 1990s. Full of colorful characters and strange back stories, the trailer is AMAZING!!!
Writer/Director Guy Ritchie (Swept Away) returns to his London criminal picture roots following the massive success of his live-action Aladdin adaptation. Starring Matthew McConaughey (Serenity), Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim), Colin Farrell (Dumbo), Jeremy Strong (Serenity), Michelle Dockery (Non-Stop), Henry Golding (A Simple Favor), and Hugh Grant (Did you Hear About The Morgans?), this film is packed with twists, reversals, double-crosses, fake outs, and tons of swearing. Fun for the whole family!
Director Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break) became the first woman to ever win the Best Director Academy Award with her 2009 war film The Hurt Locker. Starring Jeremy Rener (Hansel & Gretel) and Anthony Mackie (The Gangster Squad), this film holds the record for the lowest-grossing Best Picture winner of the modern age. We are joined by friend of the show Dan this week to share his thoughts and memories from his tour in Afghanistan.
Margot Robbie (Focus) stars in the DC Cinematic Universe sorta-sequeal/sort-reboot/kinda-apology for Suicide Squad Birds of Prey: and the fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. The title is a good indication for how this film is going to go. Complete with winking voice over, conspicuous editing and possibly the weakest villain in a comic book movie ever, this film struggles to find a voice and an audience. Give it a chance and check out our review.
Ben-Hur, winner of ELEVEN Academy Awards including Best Picture 1959, is huge. Really. It is YUUUUUUGE. Big. Grand. Vast. Epic. There is a LOT going on here. Charlton Heston (Waynes World 2) stars as Judah Ben Hur, the Forrest Gump of Biblical times. Check out the episode!
Disney (Song of the South) and Pixar (The Good Dinosaur) weave a tale of fantasy, adventure, and brotherly love with Onward. Starring Chris Pratt (Passengers) and Tom Holland (Dolittle) lead another great voice cast on a sweet, silly, Dungeons & Dragons-themed adventure to spend time with their deceased father. A “lesser work” by Pixar is still more fun than most other family entertainment, so fire up your Disney Plus account or rent this bad boy on Amazon or iTunes. The family will get a kick out of it and it will certainly keep your interest.
For all of us doing our part by doing nothing at all - here is a special DOUBLE FEATURE episode in which the guys watch and discuss 1995’s Outbreak starring Dustin Hoffman (Little Fockers) and Rene Russo (Freejack), and 2011’s Contagion which stars Matt Damon (The Brothers Grimm), Jude Law (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow), and a TON of other stars. Hear which one you SHOULD NOT watch during this time period and which one is OK to check out.
Everyone’s favorite Elisabeth Moss (Escape to Witch Mountain - TV version) stars in this slight update of Universal’s Invisible Man. If you’ve never seen a movie like this, you could watch this one. If you’ve ever seen a movie like this, you do not need to see this one.
Hollywood superstar Ray Milland (The Thing With Two Heads) stars in this riotous Best Picture winner from 1945. The Lost Weekend was a Billy Wilder hit and, apparently, taught a young America about the newly discovered dangers of alcoholism (heretofore unknown on American soil).
Co-writer/Director Sam Mendes (Jarhead) takes the audience into the trenches and through the hellscape of WWI in 1917. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards and the winner of the BAFTA, PGA, and Golden Globe for Best Picture, 1917 is a technical trick to be sure, but a harrowing emotional journey as well. Co-hosted by Ellen, this episode (recorded weeks ago) also discusses the Academy Award nominations. Posted JUST in time.
Writer J.J. Abrams (Gone Fishin’), who also directed this film, returns to close out the mega-opus Skywalker saga with Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Coming off the stinkbomb of The Last Jedi, Abrams had quite a hole to dig out of. Rather than claw his way towards the light, the filmmakers plumbed new depths. A posthumous turn from Carrie Fisher (It’s Christmas, Carol!) lends this whole affair a creepy vibe from which it never recovers. Overstuffed with fan service and an attempt to wrap up all the loose threads in the saga and to ret-con the most dumb portions of Rian Johnson’s (The Last Jedi) The Last Jedi, this bloated, exposition-heavy film splits the uprights by pleasing nearly no one. It has made a billion dollars already because this is the world in which we live.
Writer/Director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) delivers a funny, fast, and wry whodunnit packed with character actors, has-beens, and Daniel Craig (Cowboys & Aliens). Don Johnson (Machete), Jamie Lee Curtis (Beverly Hills Chihuahua), Chris Evans (Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer), and Michael Shannon (Jonah Hex) add color and crazy to the endeavor. Johnson finds a way to turn the murder-mystery-formula on its head and keep the audience engaged until the thrilling finish.
Director Martin Scorsese (Boxcar Bertha) teams with screenwriter Steve Zaillian (Exodus: Gods and Kings) to deliver a thrilling, sad, contemplative mobster movie with The Irishman. Starring Robert DeNiro (Dirty Grandpa), Al Pacino (Jack and Jill), and Joe Pesci (Gone Fishin’), along with a strong supporting cast, great editing, and a killer soundtrack, The Irishman delivers the goods. And then he steals some. But you cannot prove it. Which is sort of the plot of the first twenty minutes or so of this movie. Spoiler Alert.
Disney (Song of the South) looks to add to their record-breaking box office year with a sequel one of the biggest animated hits ever. Frozen 2 hits a lot of the beats that made the first film so enjoyable and brings back the entertaining cast on an exciting adventure.
Writer/Director Bong Joon Ho (Snowpiercer) delivers a brilliantly complex, richly rewarding, and thoroughly entertaining film with Parasite. The Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, look for this knockout to make a dent come awards season. This week we welcome a special co-host to the show!
Writer/Director Robert Eggers (The Witch) provides a bleak, haunting, and confounding film experience with The Lighthouse starring Willem Dafoe (Aquaman) and Robert Pattinson (Water for Elephants). The dark, dreary, sad, and scary film is really something very different. Check it out.
Renee Zellwegger (Me, Myself, and Irene) plays screen and stage legend Judy Garland in Judy. Spanning a few weeks late in the legend’s life, Judy hits the highs and lows of an impressive Hollywood career.
Writer/Director Todd Phillips (Road Trip) and star Joaquin Phoenix (SpaceCamp) offer a gritty, ugly, sad take on DC Comic’s legendary villain with Joker. With nary a hero in sight, this film takes the “comic book universe” idea to a new level giving audiences a bleak, dark, scary peek into a troubled mind lost in a chaotic world.
Director Cecil B. DeMille (The Ten Commandments) delivers a divisive Best Picture Winner with The Greatest Show on Earth. Starring Charlton Heston (True Lies) and Jimmy Stewart (Airpot ‘77), the film tracks a traveling circus on their season around the country delighting and bewildering suit-wearing audiences who haven’t learned how to eat ice cream without getting it all over themselves.
Brittany Runs A Marathon is sweet, funny, tart, challenging, and a great film for any runners or would-be runners out there. Any amateur athletes should be able to identify with the selfish, spiteful, insecure, paranoid lead character and her journey towards health and having her life on track.
Director Andy Muschietti (It) returns to conclude his six-hour horror film opus based on the monstrous, 1,000 page plus horror opus written by Stephen King. The story ping pongs around time through flashbacks and parallel stories. Jessica Chastain (Dark Phoenix), James McAvoy (Dark Phoenix), and Bill Hader (Power Rangers) headline the adult cast in this sequel to the 2017 hit.
Ready or Not is a comedic thriller, or a humorous horror movie, or a tense date film with Satanic overtones…you know what? Don’t worry about trying to categorize it. It’s one of the most fun movies we’ve seen this year. It’s just fresh enough to keep you on the edge of your seat with impressive production values and plenty of dark laughs. Be sure to catch this one.
Special guest host Dan, a serious Bruce Springsteen fan, joins us to discuss the well-reviewed but little-seen film Blinded by the Light. Directed by Gurinder Chadha (Bend it Like Beckham), this film is a love letter to Springsteen and the power of his prose to cross cultural divides and shine a light on the common human experience. Or something. Also, it may or may not be a musical. But it’s a period piece which also examines the economic woes of Thatcher-era Britain and features a violent race riot. But it’s also about finding young love, or following your dreams, or fighting with your dad? I don’t know anymore. There’s a lot going on here…
Once upon a time a new film from Quentin Tarantino (Death Proof) was a big deal. Love him or hate him, Tarantino (writer of True Romance) was never boring. That is, until he decided to give us his newest film Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Celebrity), Brad Pitt (The Devil’s Own), and Margot Robbie (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot) along with a slew of Hollywood has-beens, notable character actors, and Tarantino regulars. This overly long, unnecessary film delights in getting all the period details of late 1960s California exactly right without giving any of the interesting characters anything interesting to do.
1933’s Cavalcade packs in decades of drama, melodrama, intrigue, war, love, drama, more melodrama, overacting, Stiff Upper Lips, and a pinch of drama. It’s a lot.
Director Jon Favreau (Zathura) delivers his second Walt Disney “re-imagining” with an updated animated version of The Lion King. The cast includes Donald Glover (The Muppets), Beyonce (Austin Powers: Goldmember), James Earl Jones (Scary Movie 4), and Chiwetel Ejiofor (2012). Blurring the line between animation and photorealism, this film will confound you as your friends call it “live action.”
Director Danny Boyle (28 Days Later) tries to inject his typical visual flair and kinetic energy but cannot keep up with the complete joy and immense power of the Beatles’ catalog. Himesh Patel (Aeronauts) and Lily James (Downtown Abbey) star in this fun film which could have been INCREDIBLE. Both guys liked it. Check out the episode below.
Pixar returns to the characters who started it all with Toy Story 4. Adding a chapter to their nearly-perfect trilogy was either gutsy or an enormous act of hubris. Your call. The movie is fun, though your favorite character likely receives little screen time as old characters get pushed aside for new friends. Visually stunning and surprisingly philosophical.
Writer/star Mindy Kaling (Ocean’s 8) and co-star Emma Thompson (Junior) headline a comedy about a comedy legend who nobody finds funny who spent decades warming America’s hearts in hilarious interviews but who struggles to connect with almost any human on almost any level. Sound funny?
Writer/Director Oliver Stone (U-Turn) won the Academy Award for Best Director and the award for Best Picture for his Vietnam nightmare Platoon. The films asks the audience to take Charlie Sheen seriously. Does it work? Does it hold up? Did the Academy get it right in 1986? Check out the episodes to hear what the guys thought.
Director Guy Ritchie (Swept Away) brings yet another live action version of a beloved Disney classic to life. Featuring Will Smith (After Earth) filling the shoes of the late Robin Williams as the Genie, this one is actually a little more fun than you would expect.
Director Chad Stahelski (John Wick) and star Keanu Reeves (Replicas) return to the shadowy, yet blood-soaked world of John Wick in John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum. Starring Reeves, Halle Berry (Catwoman), Ian McShane (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice), Laurence Fishburne (TMNT), and Asia Kate Dillon (Hitting the Wall), this film packs a punch (and a kick, and a headshot, and a groin chomp).
Mike couldn’t wait to see this one. It checks every box for him: Diane Keaton, retirement homes, evil Southern Belles, cheerleading, and Bruce McGill. This movie may have been perfectly engineered for him. Who else was supposed to like it is hard to imagine.
Seth Rogen (The Green Hornet) and Charlize Theron (A Million Ways to Die In the West) star in Longshot, and improbable new romantic comedy which aims to please everyone in the theater - and maybe ends up pleasing none? Critics liked it, audiences largely missed it, what with Avengers and all. Check it out.
The Russo Brothers deliver the ultimate capstone to 22 MCU films with Avengers: Endgame which is already a multiple record breaker for box office results with less than a week in theaters. This means that most of your friends and ALL of their friends on Instagram have already seen this movie at least once. You really should head out and see it right now before someone mentions something and ruins it for you!
Peter O’Toole (King Ralph) headlines David Lean’s epic tale Lawrence of Arabia which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1962. Starring Sir Alec Guinness (Murder by Death), Omar Sharif (The 13th Warrior), and Anthony Quinn (Last Action Hero), this film won 7 Oscars. Nearly every scene will take your breath away.
DC comics ups the young-adult quotient and takes on the 1980s body-switching genre with Shazam! (the original Captain Marvel for all you purists out there) starring Zachary Levi (Thor: The Dark World) and Mark Strong (Green Lantern).
Tim Burton (Planet of the Apes) takes another stab at a relatively unnecessary live-action Disney remake with Dumbo. Burton puts his own twist on things and brings Michael Keaton (Jack Frost), Danny DeVito (Death to Smoochy), Colin Farrell (Fright Night), and Eva Green (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For)to the mix.
Academy Award winning writer/director Jordan Peele (Get Out) returns to deliver a new, original horror film with Us starring Lupita Nyong’o (Non-Stop) and Winston Duke (Black Panther). Filled with self-referential images and packed with subtext and meaning, Peele crams this thriller with a lot of extra weight to bear. Some viewers will marvel at the complex multi-level narrative and the social commentary. Others will wonder why it isn’t scarier.
Director Steven Soderbergh (Bubble) whips out an iPhone to shoot, edit, and direct a new, direct-to-Netflix feature High Flying Bird starring Andre Holland (Bride Wars). Featuring a buzzy cast of supporting actors (including Bill Duke!) and intercut with documentary interviews (why?), this is an interesting sit.
Brie Larson (Short Term 12) and Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane) headline a 1990s-set buddy-cop picture for Marvel Studios to introduce one of the most powerful superheroes in the MCU - Captain Marvel. The 21st entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the first female-centered Marvel Studios release and is is heavy on mid-1990s music cues, pagers, CD-roms, and slightly awkward computer-aided reverse aging technology.
Independent Spirit Award Nominee and film festival darling The Rider wows the guys with verisimilitude, grit, beauty, and honesty. A slow, raw, touching, and moving independent film worth your time and attention.
Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, and Joan Crawford headline the movie you’ve all been waiting to hear us discuss! 1932’s Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Grand Hotel, was nominated for only one award back in 1932 but it was the BIG one!
Albert FInney (Scrooge) stars as Tom Jones in the film adaptation of the novel. This movie was nominated for ten Academy Awards and took home four including Best Picture in 1963. This may be one of the worst films to ever take home the Best Picture honor. Seriously, we take back what we said about Crash.
Writer/Director Spike Lee (Oldboy) earned his first ever Best Director nomination for his 2018 film Blackkklansman starring John David Washington (Denzel Washington’s home movies) and Adam Driver (Midnight Special). The film has also been nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Score).
Writer/Director Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) delivers one of the most critically-acclaimed movies of the year with the Netflix Original film Roma. The film has won a number of awards already including Best Director honors from the Golden Globes and Directors Guild and is nominated for ten Academy Awards. The guys were split on this one - Mike loved it, Danny didn’t.
Writer/Director/Cameo Fetishist M. Night Shyamalan (The Last Airbender) returns to the cinematic universe he created in 2000’s Unbreakable with Glass starring James McAvoy (Filth), Bruce Willis (The Last Boy Scout), Samuel L. Jackson (XXX: Return of Xander Cage), and Sarah Paulson (New Year’s Eve). The film is a master class in falling short of expectations. A mess.
Honestly, this one is a mess. For Sherlock Holmes completists, you may need to see it. For fans of Will Farrell (Bewitched) and John C. Reilly (Days of Thunder), you may need to see it. For anyone other than die hard fans, this one is hard pass. Try Without A Clue starring Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley instead!
Writer/Director Adam McKay (Step Brothers) offers a quasi-biopic/in-your-face-mockumentary look at the life and legacy of former Vice President Dick Cheney in Vice. Starring Christian Bale (Reign of Fire), Amy Adams (Sunshine Cleaning), Steve Carell (Melinda and Melinda), and Sam Rockwell (The Search for One-Eye Jimmy), this film definitely wears its heart on its sleeve.
Sony finally figures out what to do with their Spider-Man property rights with the stunning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Incredible visuals, great music, an impressive cast, and a wholly original concept introducing a clown car’s worth of interesting characters make this one of the best films of the year.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster) delivers a new, strange, disaffected, oddly-comic drama with The Favourite. Featuring impressive performances by Olivia Colman (Hot Fuzz), Rachel Weisz (The Mummy), and Emma Stone (Aloha), this film will likely be an awards magnet, although not one to take your family and friends to. Designed for a VERY specific audience, you’ll either hate or love The Favourite.
Viggo Mortenson (Young Guns II) and Mahershala Ali (Predators) showcase their range and their considerable buddy chemistry in the slightly more than by-the-numbers Green Book. This is a movie you can encourage your parents to go see - they will really enjoy it.
Director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking) brings Hugh Jackman (Van Helsing) to the screen as Gary Hart, former candidate for the U.S. Presidency and media punching bag. Backed with an impressive cast and lacking the typical Reitman soundtrack, this movie exists - for some reason.
Michael B. Jordan (Fantastic Four) and Tess Thompson (When a Stranger Calls) join Sylvester Stallone (Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot) in a sequel to their Rocky spinoff with Creed 2. The emotional baggage is high and the melodrama thick as Dolph Lundgren (Masters of the Universe) returns as Ivan Drago, the Russian beast from Rocky IV.
Benedict Cumberbatch (War Horse) voices everyone’s favorite awful Christmas hater, The Grinch. Supported by Keenan Thompson (The Smurfs 2) and Angela Lansbury (Magnum, P.I.), this re-imagining of the holiday classic packs on an additional 65 minutes or so. Bring your kids.
Director Bryan Singer (Jack the Giant Slayer) delivers (some of? most of? either way, he got fired before finishing the film) the world a quasi-biopic of Freddie Mercury and his band Queen in Bohemian Rhapsody. Rami Malek (Battleship) stars as Mercury and dials up both the glam rockstar posturing and the loneliness. The music is fun and there are flashes of a more exciting picture here. Audiences are loving it, so your parents will probably dig it.
Writer/Director Woody Allen (Casino Royale) earned his first Oscar love for 1977’s Annie Hall starring him and Diane Keaton (The Godfather Part III). It also went on to define a “Woody Allen movie” for the next forty or so years. This film is responsible for romantic comedies, New York stories starring curmudgeons like Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm, and a brief fashion trend in the late 1970s which Diane Keaton continues to rock these days.
Michael Myers is back forty years after he last terrorized Laurie Strode in Halloween (unless you include a few of the eight sequels now ignored by this latest installment in the Halloween saga) looking for opportunities to brutally attack people, lurk quietly in the back of the frame, and to rock a mask and coveralls. This new, John Carpenter-approved sequel delivers on the promise of the original and features a bookend performance by Jamie Lee Curtis who made her screen debut in Halloween forty years ago.
Director Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) delivers a non-musical (!) biopic of Neil Armstrong in First Man. Played by Ryan Gosling (Murder by Numbers), Armstrong is, apparently, half-robot, half space hunk. Claire Foy (Season of the Witch) offers a portrayal of Janet Armstrong as Neil’s closed-off, half-robot wife. They are perfect for one another, although you may not know it from seeing this movie. The technical details and production values are stellar.
Director/Star Bradley Cooper (All About Steve) joins superstar Lady Gaga (American Horror Story: Hotel) in the fourth film version of A Star is Born. The film surprised the guys, as both of them liked it more than they expected. Check out the episode here.
Director/Academy Awards Magnet Frank Capra (It Happened One Night) picked up his second Best Picture and third (!) Best Director Oscar at the 11th Academy Awards back in 1939 for 1938’s You Can’t Take It With You. Starring a young Jimmy Stewart (Vertigo) and an impressive cast of misfits and anarchists this screwball comedy is full of energy for about two thirds of its running time. Check out the episode and hear what the guys thought of this classic film.
Writer/Director Paul Schrader (Dog Eat Dog) takes a break from helping Nicolas Cage repay his back taxes to bring a small, quiet film about a disillusioned pastor battling with his health, his faith, his work, and his belief in his fellow man. First Reformed stars Ethan Hawke (White Fang) who brings the monotone voiceover in a performance earning him a lot of attention.
Writer/Director/Star John Krasinski (Leatherheads) brings us a world filled with bare feet, organic produce, and quality family time in A Quiet Place. Also monsters that will eat you if you make a peep or belch accidentally. This also stars Krasinski’s real-life wife Super Star Emily Blunt (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen).
It’s the movie release dead zone of September which means we are looking for films you may have missed earlier in the year or that you can find on iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, or other streaming services (or your public library). Natalie Portman (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium) stars in Annihilation, the new film from Alex Garland (28 Days Later). It’s trippy, wild, visually impressive, and was adored by critics upon its release earlier this year. Audiences? Not so much. We had to check it out to see why there was such a division between the popular and critical reception. Check it out.
Writer/Director Bo Burnham (The Big Sick) delivers a fresh, raw, and unflinching look at the pressures and anxieties facing today’s 8th graders in Eighth Grade. The film is funny, sad, powerful, and provocative. It’s worth seeing - without your kids in the room. Be very glad that you grew up and moved beyond 8th grade.
Director Danny Boyle (127 Hours) took home the Academy Award for Best Director when helming the Best Picture from 2008 - Slumdog Millionaire. The film won 8 Oscars and is the highest domestic box office grossing Best Picture winner since 2003's Lord of The Rings: Return of the King. The film was praised by nearly every film critic alive in 2008 but is probably best known for being the film which won Best Picture instead of The Dark Knight. Check it out.
Director Peter Berg (Deepwater Horizon) teams up for a fourth time with his favorite leading man - Mark Wahlberg (Planet of the Apes) - for action thriller Mile 22. Their hopes of launching a franchise here are, if there is any decency left in the world, hopelessly dashed. In this episode, the guys dialogue with the manager of Flix Brewhouse to discuss the current state of the movie theater experience and to learn which beer to pair with Mile 22. Check it out.
Tom Cruise returns for the sixth (!) installment of the 22-year old (!) Mission: Impossible franchise with Fallout. This franchise is known for it's impressive practical stuntwork, intense action sequences, and ridiculous triple- and quadruple-crosses, all of which are on display in Fallout.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced changes to their annual Academy Award ceremony this week. The changes were not met with much enthusiasm by the entertainment industry. In this special episode, Danny and Mike react to the bizarre changes announced this week.
Writer/Director Boots Riley delivers a critically-adored film about a man who discovers a unique talent and has to decide if he will use that talent to enrich himself at the expense of his fellow men, or subvert his skill and speak truth to power. Also, there are half-human/half-horse people. Seriously. Mike loved it.
Dwayne Johnson (The Scorpion King) saves his family and some of a burning building from destruction and terrorists in the nearly incoherent thriller Skyscraper. We really don't have much more to say about this movie.
Holy cow! They really made interesting movies back in 1931! Cimarron, the Academy Award winner for Best Picture that year, is really something to see. Wild, unbelievably racist, hilarious in all the wrong ways, this is one to revisit.
Josh Brolin (Goonies) and Benicio Del Toro (Heinekin salesperson) return to the gritty, dark worlds of Sicario in Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado. The film sets up a dark premise, provides intense action, and plenty of dark-world intrigue and skullduggery. Mike really enjoyed it, Danny less so. Check out the episode for the dish.
Hollywood has struggled to connect audiences with a hit comedy in some time. 2018 has seen several comedies, headlined by known stars with successful track records, fall flat. Will Tag, starring Jeremy Renner (Wind River) be the film to break that streak and get audiences back to the theater for a mainstream comedy? No. No it will not. Is the film fully devoid of charms? No. Not it is not. It has John Hamm (30 Rock), Jake Johnson (Drinking Buddies), and Ed Helms (The Office). This movie just doesn't know what it wants to be or what it is trying to be about.
Indulge in nostalgia for a simpler time and a kinder world where a sincere, quiet, earnest, slightly odd man focused his entire being on educating and comforting children through the medium of television. Mr. Fred Rogers was, undoubtedly, a unique and visionary human being. This documentary gives us a glimpse into his impact and into just how radical his efforts were.
Writer/Director Brad Bird (Tomorrowland) revisits his classic The Incredibles with a sequel which picks up immediately after the original ended. Holly Hunter (The Firm), Craig T. Nelson (Turner & Hooch), and Samuel L. Jackson (Black Snake Moan) all return and are in top form along with stunning visuals and a terrific score.
Director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) take over for Steven Soderbergh to helm a new chapter in the Ocean's film canon - this time focused on Debbie Ocean (played by Sandra Bullock) and her gang of female thieves out to pull off a huge diamond heist. A rogue's gallery of co-stars includes: Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kahling, Awkwafina, Helena Bonham Carter, and Rihanna.
On almost every list of the greatest American films of all time, at the top of the list, is a film from 1941 called Citizen Kane. Orson Welles' American classic continues to dazzle and impress more than 70 years later. Well, back in 1941 they felt differently. How Green Was My Valley ate Kane's lunch and forced Welles to try to be satisfied with an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. What a chump.
Director Ron Howard (Willow) steps in for Phil Lord (Caroline in the City) & Christopher MIller (Clone High) to launch a prequel set in the Star Wars universe featuring Alden Ehrenreich (Stoker) as a young Han Solo. Featuring a great turn by Donald Glover (Diet Coke with Lime Ad) as Lando Calrissian, the film tries to pack in all nine things we know about Han Solo into one film. More or less, it transmits that information. Did you need this sequel? No. Will your enjoyment of any other Star Wars property be diminished if you miss it? No.
You may not realize it upon first listening but both Mike and Danny really enjoy 1971's Academy Award winning Best Picture, The French Connection. The verisimilitude, the gritty look at 1970s New York, and the legendary car chase give this movie real gravitas. But there is just. so. much. going. on. What is up with this movie!??!
Charlize Theron (Mighty Joe Young, The Astronaut's Wife) stars in another collaboration from Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman following Juno and Young Adult. Theron stars as a normal woman who looks like a normal woman having a normal reaction after having a third child. Much of this movie is awesome.
Card shark Richard Turner is an incredible performer and an impressive guy. His varied interests and passions and the intensity with which he attacks them are something to see. That being said, Turner doesn't get a chance to see them. Check out the episode and then the movie.
Marvel's cinematic universe reaches a (box office record) breaking point with Avengers: Infinity War which seemingly stars one in three actors working in Hollywood today. The Russo Brothers (Captain America: Winter Soldier) work to deliver a universe-shaking comic book crossover event after 18 prior Marvel films. The result is entertaining, fast-paced, and fun and delivers a wild ending which tees up next year's Avengers 4.
Remember high school history class when you learned something about Ted Kennedy and Chappaquiddick? Yeah, well, that's a movie now. And a really good one. Don't worry, you won't feel stupid for not remembering anything from high school while watching the film. Jason Clarke (Knight of Cups) and Ed Helms (Meet Dave) star and both do a remarkably good job. Check out the episode and then, someday, the movie.
The last film to take home "the big five awards" at the Academy Awards - Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay (Adapted), remains as resonant and thrilling today as when it was honored for being the best picture in 1991. The Silence of the Lambs is a chilling, taut, and fully-realized thriller featuring great, award-winning performances from Jodie Foster (Somersby, The Beaver) and Sir Anthony Hopkins (The Mask of Zorro, Transformers: The Last Knight). Jonathan Demme's (Married to the Mob) direction gives the film a dreamy, musical quality and Ted Tally's (The Juror) screenplay masterfully adapts Thomas Harris' novel. This one will stick with you for days and is worth revisiting.
Steven Spielberg (1942, Always, War Horse) returns to sci-fi spectacle with Ready Player One adapted from Ernest Cline's novel. A heady nostalgia trip through the 1980's set in the near future, Spielberg gets to name check dozens of '80s classics while trying to mount a contemporary action film. Whether he succeeds is a matter of opinion.
Writer/Director Wes Anderson turns in another "only-could-be-made-by-Wes-Anderson-wonder" in his latest film Isle of Dogs. Starring just about everyone you can think of, and featuring a kidney-transplant surgery created in stop motion animation, the film is a wonder. Funny, sad, and made by human hands, it's definitely worth your time.
Writer/Director/Son of David Bowie Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) spent nearly a decade to bring his sci-fi film Mute to the big screen. It never made it to the big screen, instead ending up on Netflix as an original film. Starring Alexandar Skarsard (True Blood), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), and Justin Theroux (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle), the film follows a mute bartender looking for his girlfriend through a futuristic Berlin. It's about as fun as it sounds.
1979's Best Picture winner, Kramer vs. Kramer, gets a bad rap for being too sad. It's sad. But it isn't sad-sad. You get my meaning. It's a strong Best Picture winner and features a great performance from Dustin Hoffman.