Loading ...Podcast Episode 14: Summer Movies and the Evolution of Two Film Geeks
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Loading ...We’re back with the Summer edition of the podcast!
Download now to find out what we have to say about this Summer’s movies. Which ones we have seen, plan to see, and avoid at all costs. Perhaps more interesting to our long time listeners will be our discussion of the movies that turned us into the film geeks we are today. Our selections just may shock you.
As usual there is the randomness that you have come to expect from this podcast. Somehow we managed to also squeeze in a discussion of the current issues facing the publishing industry and our thoughts on the best car chases of all time.
Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments below.
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June 8th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Well it’s about effing time! It’s been far too long since I’ve heard Dale’s golden tones. I was afraid that the only dose of Dale we were going to get this summer was his awesome imitation of Kate Beckinsale!
June 9th, 2009 at 12:01 am
Have no fear! Every now and then we still muster the will power to crank one of these out.
Usually it happens about the time we feel like we have something to say. LOL
June 14th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Just a comment and question before I begin: When the notice for this podcast’s posting appeared in my RSS feed, it did so with every other podcast notice that there’s been. I was wondering if this happened in anyone else’s feed?
Dan Brown did inded just write something, “The Lost Symbol” (previously known as “The Solomon Key”); it’s the third Robert Langdon book, and his first book since “The Da Vinci Code” (which was 2003, for the record). I shan’t be reading it, howver, because I find Dan Brown’s stuff to absoutely suck. Even ignoring the laughably broad and florid style, the stories themselves are simply too outlandish and unbelievable for me. I had seen the “Angels & Demons” trailer and thought it looked cool, so I went and read the first chapter of the book, and was immediately reminded of “The Da Vinci Code,” a work I hate on so many levels. All this said, I can’t blame Ron Howard or any other movie people for “The Da Vinci Code” being lousy; I think that rests entirely upon the atrocious dialogue found in the source material. There’s simply no way to deliver those lines on-screen that isn’t flat without looking like a buffoon. And I must agree, “Charlie Wilson’s War” was VERY good, and that “Have you been standing at the door listening to my conversation?! That’s a THICK DOOR!” scene was one of the funniest I’ve encountered in a while.
I enjoyed Michael Crichton’s works a great deal some years ago, but what he wrote towards the end of his life I found to be increasingly stale and implausible. And King books don’t sell like they used to anymore with good reason. They’re still good, they’re just not routinely amazing like they once were.
Dirty Harry: \m/
Entrapment: Not so much, though it did have its moments. And “The Jackal,” for the record, is good good shit.
Speaking of book formats, I can’t help but be reminded of this comic strip: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/3/9/ What really nails it for me is the line “where are people going to KEEP all their Book?” with the singular “Book.” Also, I love the word “trepidation.” Not for any particular reason, it just TASTES good to me or something, I don’t know.
Dale, I hope the final half hour of “BsG” doesn’t disappoint you; I know it disappointed me.
I could never really handle Lost. I think it’s mostly because I find the acting is awful. The story itself seems compelling enough, albeit a little heavy on the mindfuckery for the sake of mindfuckery, but I just can’t get past the acting, by and large.
Sony should definitely try that early release business for Blu-ray, see if they can get a leg up that way on DVDs. They did actually do that “five free discs” business for a while with the PS3 and some other Blu-ray players, and the selection wasn’t too shabby, if I remember right.
I’d definitely have to agree with Morgan Freeman being a doubtless front-runner for best actor just for portraying Mandela in a Clint Eastwood movie. If Jamie Foxx could win for “Ray,” which I think is one of the most overrated performances ever (along with Halle Berry’s in “Monster’s Ball,” which itself is a shitty movie; in fact, weren’t those both in the same year? I know Don Cheadle’s amazing “Hotel Rwanda” performance was the same year as “Ray,” at any rate) that same year, Morgan Freeman will DEFINITELY pull this one out (in fact, check out this headline for hilarity’s sakes: http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2007/06/morgan_freeman_locks_up_2009_b.html).
I think the question needs to be asked: What the fuck was the deal with “The Grinch,” anyway? What compelled Ron Howard to ever do that? And “EdTV” over “The Truman Show?” Blasphemy!
“The Fifth Element” is a good time, though.
The car chase in “The Bourne Supremacy” might’ve been bad for not being able to see it, but I have to disagree about it being less coherent than the “Holy shit, I think I just went blind” indecipherable fast-cut car chase in the otherwise totally incredible “Quantum of Solace.” If I recall, the reason the technique was in “Batman Begins” was two-fold: firstly, they were trying to go for the “move as though a shadow, ninja grasshoppah” vibe, and second-of-ly, they cut the actual violence seen down further because they had gotten an R from the MPAA. Now, you mentioned car chases and “Batman Begins,” but not the motorcade chase/battle where the fucking Batmobile explodes and the Batpod flew out and all that crazy shit in “The Dark Knight.” It’s not the best car (vehicle?) chase ever, but it’s fucking AWESOME. Including “Terminator Salvation,” every “Terminator” film, without fail, has had a completely awesome fucking car chase. In “Terminator,” it was awesome because of how tense it was, whereas in “3″ and “Salvation,” it was just awesome because it was awesome. “Terminator 2,” however, that’s collection of car chases that’re great because they’re awesome AND they have a sense of importance and necessity to them. Concerning the overall quality of “Terminator Salvation,” certainly it was a little thin plot-wise, but it was just so totally awesome in general, and that’s really what I went to see. Because, really, this is what the first three movies have been setting up, I feel; they told the story so this one (and its sequels) wouldn’t have to, so this one could just be awesome. I truly believe that that’s what the plan’s been for a long time; we’ve had three movies of backstory (the backstory given in “Rise of the Machines” being largely unnecessary, in my opinion, though I think it’s a fine movie), now it’s time to just watch some shit blow up. And for the record, I don’t feel that the film suffered from a lack of Arnold; one might say there was a lack of Christian Bale, but I thought the personal story which was told, that of the cyborg’s, was an effective lens through which to depict the events of the film, particularly the theme of them not losing their humanity in trying to save, well, humanity. Going back to the car chase topic, I know that this is an unpopular opinion, but I think the forty minute (or however long it is) chase in “The Matrix Reloaded” is awesome.
Man, I hate Will Ferrell, too, save for “Stranger than Fiction.” I tried watching “Eastbound & Down,” but I simply couldn’t stomach it.
Dale, I have to warn you that if you see “Imagine That” in theaters, I will feel incredibly obliged, to the point of experiencing physical pain if I do not, to find you and kick your ass. A NetFlixing seems acceptable, but so long as it’s not done TOO soon after the movie comes out on DVD. For the record, I thought “Transformers” was awesome, and I think the new one looks awesome, too.
I’m looking forward to “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.” The book was great, the original film was great, the Edward James Olmos TV movie was sort of awesome, Denzel Washington is awesome, John Travolta is awesome when he’s playing a crazy motherfucker, and Tony Scott is awesome. I have to say, I found it strange that you guys were talking shit about the “text on-screen of things you’re hearing” in his recent films, but then spoke highly of the two films he did that in. They are meant to be companion films of sorts, so I wouldn’t expect to see him use the style used in them again. “The Proposal,” meanwhile, seems to me like a film to kill yourself to. Maybe I shouldn’t open my mouth too soon, though, because that “27 Dresses” was surpisingly decent. I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if “Year One” was decent, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was completely horrible, either. Aside from “Transformers,” all I can remember Megan Fox being in was that horrible remake of “The Hitcher” which, if that’s any indication of a film where the director wasn’t trying to nail her, maybe she SHOULD start fucking directors for roles.
But come on, Dale, “Transformers” was badly rendered? Aside from “Terminator 2,” “Tranformers” has the only perfect special effects I’ve ever seen; every effects shot is completely convincing in every way.
I thought the first “Ice Age” was good times, though I didn’t bother with the second one. This one, I fail to understand how dinosaurs come into the fold. Maybe it’ll be explained in a briliant way.
On the other hand, probably not.
“Public Enemies” looks fucking tits, and it’s Michael Mann, the man responsible for the best bank robbery scene ever, making a movie about a guy who robbed banks. I don’t see how you could go wrong.
My interest in “Bruno” depends entirely upon how the reviews for it are. I’ll probably see the new “Harry Potter,” though I haven’t seen the last one, as I stopped reading the books after “Goblet of Fire” and would like to pick them back up. “Funny People” has potential, I think, and I actually thought “G. I. Joe” looked awesome, for all the wrong reasons, yes, but awesome nonetheless.
It’s funny, when I saw them show the shot of Starfleet as the drill was dropping to the Earth, I thought “Every fucking time, they got to destroy that damn bridge.” Pleasant surprise, to say the least. What’s funny is that, considering the San Andreas fault, it actually WOULD be logical for him to drop the drill right into the Bay in front of Starfleet. Meanwhile, a new “Clue” movie? Wah…? For the record, I thought “The Pursuit of Happyness” was a four star (fist?) film. “Inglourious Basterds” looks fine, and it’s Tarantino, so I’ll see it (but what’s wrong with volume two of “Kill Bill,” which I believe to be the better half?). I don’t think “Inglourious Basterds” will suffer from any up-his-assery the way “Death Proof” did, just because of what appears to be the nature of the film. Certainly, it appears exploitive, but all his films are. “Werewolf Women of the S. S.” was indeed awesome, and good news, friends: It appears “Machete” has finally gone into filming. Inexplicably, the “Nightmare on Elm Street” remake has landed the best possible actor to play Freddy Kreuger, that being the guy who played Rorschach in “Watchmen,” a performance that I think may have rivalled Heath Ledger’s Joker.
I think the “why didn’t they just have a fucking gun?” question is why I like the remake of “The Hills Have Eyes.” It has other redeeming factors, but having protagonists who are actually armed to the teeth and are getting fucked up anyway by people with crippling birth defects is definitely more compelling than any zombie movie, where the people are armed to the teeth, but the numbers of things trying to kill them is effectively infinite.
I have to agree that the “Sherlock Holmes” movie does look more entertaining than it does “Sherlock Holmes-y.” I think a definite see’s got to be “9″ in September (on the ninth, of course). But, I suppose I’ve gone over this in the forum.
I would assume there hasn’t been a full-frame Blu-ray release because it’s a format meant for HDTVs, which very, VERY rarely have a 4:3 ratio. I think part of the problem Blu-ray has is that, to the general public, it isn’t so obviously different. With VHS and DVD, you could SEE the difference just into the media itself; it was a tiny silver disc when compared with this cumbersome matte black cassette tape, not to mention all the content and “no rewinding” and those kinds of things. With Blu-ray and DVD, however, I think it just looks like another disc to people. I think HD is definitely a worthwhile investment, though, and what show convincd me of that? “Battlestar Galactica” (what else would you have expected?). And yes, the sound on the Blu-rays is definitely much, much better. Luckily for me, however, I was late in getting a DVD player, and by the time I had, HDTV was starting to make a big stir and I was aware that the DVDs weren’t typically doing HD resolutions, so I more or less held off on buying any, since I figured some sort of media would be produced to carry HD (I was actually, to my chagrin, expecting digital downloading to become the prevelant means of getting HD video; fortunately, it’s not–I don’t know why, there’s just something I like about a physical package). I have to say, that “2001″ Blu-ray was pure sex. Luckily for me, I’ve also seen “2001″ in the theater; in the biggest non-IMAX theater in New York City, for that matter. I was also supposed to see Alien prior to that at the same theater, but in one of the biggest disappointments of my (or anyone else’s) life, the print got damaged and the show was cancelled. I also saw “Che” about half a year ago at that theater, in all five hours of its glory. “2001″ was indeed an amazing film-going experience, but I actually have to say that my release day “300″ experience was nothing short of incredible. I saw it in IMAX, and was in the third row or something, which kind of sucked, but which I forgot about the moment the battle began. When the Persians first collided with the wall of Spartan shields, there was a combination of visuals and sound that literally knocked the breath out of me. Seriously. I literally had to catch my breath. Before that day, I thought I knew the meaning of the word epic, but I can tell you today that I did NOT.
“Fellowship of the Ring” was also a cool movie-going experience. “Attack of the Clones” is, in my opinion, an absolutely atrocious film that was made good by seeing it right when it came out. The experience was simply phenomenal, and I don’t remember a crowd reacting the way they did when Yoda busted out the lightsaber. Of course, in the time since then, seeing it without the communal effect in play, I’ve come to do nothing short of hating it, but at the time, it was a great experience. I saw “Watchmen” in IMAX at the opening midnight screening, though for some reason, the experience wasn’t particularly incredible (though I thought it was an incredible film). It’s actually the only midnight showing I’ve been to.
Jones mentioned the movie, so I’ll just come out and say it: I think “Requiem for a Dream” is one big preachy pile of shit. Bad plot, bad direction, bad acting, completely unbelievable and incoherent–just everything about it was bad, save for that one awesome song in the score, which was, naturally, overused in the film. As for “The Matrix Reloaded,” I thought it was awesome. I’ve gleaned a lot more from that film than many others have, so I’ll try to say these words in hushed tones, but: I believe it to be a better film than “The Matrix.” I think a lot of people tend to lump “The Matrix Revolutions” in with “Reloaded,” which I think is fair given that “Reloaded” ends on a cliffhanger, but nevertheless: in and of itself, in a vacuum with only the first film, I believe “Reloaded” to be a better film than its predecessor. For me, it’s all clinched by the scene with the Architect; each time I see it, something about it gives me at least a brief perspective on not just the film, but the world as a whole, that’s radically different than the one I have the rest of the time. Not to mention that every time I see the scene, I pick up some other small gem of knowledge pertaining to the “Matrix” universe that I didn’t have before.
For no reason at all, let me end here by mentioning that I had ESPN on in the background while listening to the podcast, and am simply so fucking sick of hearing about Brett Favre. You two are from Wisconsin, so I’m going to blame you.
June 14th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
My GOD! That was an enormous post! No way I can possibly respond to it all… LOL
Believe me Ecks, living in Wisconsin all our lives, Dale and I have had to put up with this Favre shit for far too long. We’re as tired of it as anybody else. Probably more so.
Don’t know if it can came out in the podcast, but I know I’ve mentioned it before: I agree with you that Reloaded is the best of The Matrix films. The other two just don’t work on the same high level for me as that one does. Also, thank you for pointing out the Reloaded car chase. Somehow I forgot to mention it and you are right in saying that it is one of the best.
Actually Kill Bill Vol. 2 is pretty good, but it does drag on a bit. I do love the fight scene between Uma and Darryl Hannah though. That part kicks some serious ass!
I didn’t see 300 in the theater, but when I did see it in the comfort of my own home I was left underwhelmed. Pretty lame and boring as hell. I’m glad that Zack Snyder didn’t turn in a repeat performance of it when he did Watchmen. Funny that we had pretty much the same experience with Attack of the Clones. It was great in the theater, but I now consider it to be the weakest of all the Star Wars films. The whole romance subplot is so terrible!
I do have to admit to being mildly intrigued by the new Terminator. Especially in light of your comments. If I hadn’t felt like shit all weekend I may have even made my way to a theater to see it since it is on the 5 Buck Club at the local theater now. Maybe some night this week or next weekend. I haven’t heard anything bad about it from the people I know who have seen it so I guess that counts for something.
I thought 27 Dresses was a fairly solid movie. Nothing spectacular, but it got the job done. I think The Proposal will be far superior. I expect it to be in the same league as Two Weeks Notice which was a lot of fun. There’s something about putting Sandra Bullock in a comedy (romantic or not) that just works for whatever reason. Yes, I liked Miss Congeniality. Sue me!
Oh and what the hell does “\m/” mean? I’m not up on all that internet shorthand I guess. I can only imagine it means something good since it was in reference to Dirty Harry.
June 18th, 2009 at 3:15 am
They’re the metal horns. Like such: http://images.google.com/images?q=metal%20horns