Podcast Episode 62: INSIDE OUT Is Beautiful, Animated Melancholy

As promised, here's the second podcast of the week, just under the wire.

Pixar's latest animated masterpiece is Inside Out, the story of an eleven year old girl named Riley and all the personified emotions that live within her head(quarters).  Pete Doctor has crafted a virtual wonderland of both sharp wit and deep pathos, filled with amazing visual gags, clever wordplay and vital philosophy. It is a marvelous bit of writing on pretty much every level, from the characters to the story to the world building to the themes.  It's also a remarkably mature script, laying out every detail clearly and distinctly without ever managing to talk down to the audience.  You also have to admire any children's film whose central message is telling kids that sometimes it's okay to be sad.  That the movie can manage to effectively convey that message while also being completely hilarious is all the more impressive.

This is another one of those podcast episodes that I'm particularly proud of, as Jamie, Jeff and I spend the majority of the running time analyzing not just what's happening on screen, but why it's happening.  Inside Out is basically the anti-Jurassic World: theme and character are just as important as the story here and the film is practically begging you to leave the theater talking about this stuff, while also listing off your favorite parts of Riley's mind world.  I'm an Abstract Thought guy myself, although Dream Productions is a close second.  We also talk about our favorite Pixar films and I take a brief diversion to analyze why Paul Feig's movies don't appeal to me as much as they probably should.

As always, be sure to subscribe to the podcast using iTunes, SoundCloud or some other app I haven't heard of yet.

Next Week: Terminator: Salvation and Big Game!

Podcast Episode 61: TERMINATOR 3 And The Rise Of Dat Funky Man

Due to some scheduling issues and our own loquacious natures, this week we're releasing two different podcasts.  Here's round one, in which we drag Jeff kicking and screaming into the Cameron-less world of Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines.  For me and Bart, it was our first proper revisit of the film in many years, and while a few key sequences totally hold up (namely the end and the infamous crane chase) we learn that most of the film was probably better left in our rose-tinted memory banks.  The Terminatrix is boring, the effects somehow look shittier than T2, and Nick Stahl is a poor replacement for Eddie Furlong.  Considering that I don't particularly love Eddie Furlong, that's really saying something.  Yet whenever Stahl is on screen with Arnold and Claire Danes, you almost forget that he's in the room.  Not exactly what you want out of the leader of the human resistance.

Ah well.  On the bright side, we expose Jeff to the best part of the movie that was actually cut from the movie, the infamous "Sargeant Candy" scene.  We all agree that Terminator 3 might have been saved if it had more openly embraced its sillier side, like the part where the Terminatrix has inflatible breasts, or the bit when Arnold hits her in the face with a urinal.  More of that please.  On the plus side, we did discover the timeless classic "Dat Funky Man," a.k.a. the song that plays over the gas station scene which was apparently written by director Jonathan Mostow.  I'm particularly fond of the lyric "Wabba wabba wabba!"  I think that about sums up the entire experience of watching this movie.

On a technical note, we're still working out the audio kinks when it comes to recording these things with remote participants using Skype.  This episode doesn't sound bad, but it's not up to my usual high standards from an audio engineering standpoint.  Suffice it to say, I'm working on it.

As always, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and/or SoundCloud!

Later This Week: Pixar's brilliant Inside Out!

Podcast Episode 60: We Root For The Dinosaurs In JURASSIC WORLD

Well that went about as well as expected.

What is there to say about Jurassic World?  It is a film which is at best problematic, and at worst complete garbage.  But then again, it's not as if The Lost World and Jurassic Park III really left a high bar to clear.  We all have fond memories of Spielberg's original and with good reason.  It's not only a fun and visceral piece of popcorn entertainment, but it's also a film that's brimming with great performances, compelling characters and sharp opinions on the scientific process and its sometimes dodgy relationship with morality and commerce.  It is, simply put, an all timer.

Jurassic World is none of those things.  Sure, you've got some fun set pieces and lots of crazy dinosaur action that, taken on its own, mostly works.  And it's fun to see what an actual working version of a dinosaur theme park would look like, even if some of it seems pretty half-baked.  I'm looking at you, nifty transparent gyro-ball car that is inexplicably autonomous with no safety measures.  (Seriously, how is that thing allowed to travel into restricted areas and why doesn't it automatically return to the gate when the ride is shut down?)  Then again, the idea of raptors being trained as some sort of military spec-ops unit is exactly my kind of ridiculous.  At one point someone compares them drones.  Seriously.

The main problem is that, while the dinosaurs all look great (though I wish they'd employed some more practical effects) the human characters and their relationships are all very poorly rendered.  Whether it's the two kids with their dramatically inert divorce backstory who exist solely as MacGuffins to be rescued, Irrfan Khan's well-meaning but oblivious benefactor or Vincent D'Onofrio's goateed asshole whose villainy is as ill-defined as his occasional southern accent, none of these characters ever gain any emotional traction.  The only characters who are able to provoke any kind of strong reaction are Chris Pratt's Owen and Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire.  Unfortunately that reaction is one of abject hatred and disdain.  Both are boring and two-dimensional on their own, but when paired together they threaten to single-handedly destroy the entire film.  Director Colin Trevorrow aims for this sort of old school, screwball comedy vibe that is executed in such a tone-deaf manner that it actually left me hoping against hope that both of the protagonists would end up devoured by the Indominus Rex, a genetic hybrid dinosaur whose abilities vary wildly (and are promptly forgotten) whenever the script seems to have backed itself into a corner. They might as well have named it Conveniensaurus Rex.

I mean sure, I guess you could "turn your brain off" and just enjoy the dino-mayhem and Jake Johnson's delicious snark.  But all Transformers movies to the contrary, I'd like to think that audiences are better than this.  We should demand higher standards from our blockbusters.  Truly great movies have characters you LOVE and root for, not just empty spectacle that trades on nostalgia and cheap sentiment.  The fact that Jurassic World had the biggest opening weekend of all time IN THE WORLD is more than a little bit depressing.  Maybe there will be a tremendous drop-off in second week grosses, but I kind of doubt it.  My social media feeds are full of people who loved this movie and most critics seem willing to shrug it off on the basis of, "It could be worse."  But I'd rather watch a movie like Tomorrowland which has a point of view and fucks up the execution, or Jupiter Ascending which attempts grandiose world building and sinks under the weight of it's own confusing bureaucracy.  Those movies at least have something to say.  Jurassic World is a snake oil salesman, selling you some slick packaging filled with actual cinematic poison.

Expect a sequel to be announced later this week.

Bart and Jamie join me on the podcast this week where we break down Jurassic World's numeous flaws and also revisit that timeless classic Terminator 2: Judgement Day.  Jamie discovers that the Terminator timeline/continuity is even more fucked up than any of us ever realized.

Next Week: Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (!) and Pixar's Inside Out

Podcast Episode 59: TERMINATOR Is The Ultimate B-Movie

Like a giant bowl of sugar cereal, the Terminator franchise is deeply flawed yet also a complete delight.  Each of these movies has their issues: the original has almost no plot, the T2 is saddled with human awkwardness generator Eddie Furlong, the T3 suffers from a profound lack of Linda Hamilton and Terminator: Salvation is far too dour for its own good.  And yet, I love them.  I love them all.  (Okay, Salvation really tests the limits of my affection.)  So while, yes, the marketing for the upcoming Terminator: Genisys has been complete dogshit, I still find myself excited at the prospect of more time travelling killer cyborg adventures.  Because while the series has been in freefall for over a decade, at its core this is a franchise whose very premise allows it to be completely stripped down and reinvented at any given moment.  I will always hold out hope that Terminator will be awesome.

In the lead up to the release of Terminator: Genisys, we'll be revisiting all four of the previous films week by week starting this week with James Cameron's original B-movie masterpiece.  In truth, this is the movie with which I am probably the least familiar, as I did not see it in its entirety until much later in life and, before last week, I think I'd only seen it once all the way through.  Why this wasn't in constant rotation on TV when I was a kid, I will never know.  But it's good to revisit these things periodically, to give yourself the chance to marvel at Stan Winston's mindblowing work creating practical Terminator effects or to remind yourself that yes, that IS Bill Paxton playing a street punk with blue spiky hair.

I'm really looking forward to the next few weeks of podcasting.  I'm particularly excited for the chance to extol the virtues of T3: Rise Of The Machines, which is sneakily kind of wonderful.  As always, be sure to subscribe on iTunes or SoundCloud!

Next Week: Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Jurassic World

Podcast Episode 58: TOMORROWLAND Is A Monorail Ride To Nowhere

Well Brad Bird, you had a pretty great run.

I had such high hopes for Tomorrowland.  Bird is a filmmaker whose work I completely adore.  Ghost Protocol is easily the strongest entry in the entire Mission: Impossible franchise and the one-two punch of The Iron Giant and The Incredibles is frankly staggering.  The idea of that particular director crafting a live-action adventure tale steeped in the sort of retro-futurism intimated at in those two animated titans was enough to make me dizzy.  Sadly, the most dizzying thing in Tomorrowland is the script, which seems to spin in endless circles before collapsing in on itself and going precisely nowhere.  Sure the movie looks great and Bird can build one hell of an action set piece, but in the end it's all just sound and fury, signifying nothing.

What's most frustrating is that you can see the seeds of a better movie trapped in there somewhere.  I would have much rather watched a movie about George Clooney's character growing up in Tomorrowland amidst all these great dreamers and inventions.  I think Bird could have still told the kind of story he was aiming for and it almost certainly would have had a stronger chance of presenting an actual vision of hope for the future, as opposed to just talking about it with all the finesse of an exploding jetpack.  It's a damn shame.

This week's podcast is a short one, but perhaps that's more to your liking?  I don't know.  Personally I'm a fan of longer content because I never listen to a whole podcast in one sitting anyway, but I might be in the minority there.  Anyway, Jeff calls in from the wilderness of Colorado to lament what a lost opportunity this movie ultimately turned out to be, while Jamie and I argue about Tomorrowland's recruiting protocols.  In the end, we all sort of wish we'd seen Mad Max: Fury Road again instead.

Next Week: We begin our complete Terminator Rewatch with James Cameron's original Terminator.

Podcast Episode 57: What A Lovely Day For MAD MAX FURY ROAD!

What a lovely day indeed!

I don't even know where to start with Mad Max: Fury Road except to say that I wish every blockbuster was so richly detailed, visceral and exciting.  This is pure, uncut, balls-to-the-wall cinema and it is unlike anything else you have ever seen.  Director George Miller has crafted a career best film, which is really saying something considering the career in question.  Seriously, the man is 70 years old (!) and he's crafted the type of film that looks like it was made by an energetic 28 year old and is also better than anything currently being made by such young and hungry filmmakers.

I could go on and on about the incomparable action sequences, the strong pacing and the rich, nuanced performances, but there's something else about Fury Road that sets it apart from every other modern blockbuster and it's the thing that elevates the film from being great to being an outright masterpiece.  That thing is minimalism.  There is an economy of story here to which more films should aspire.  Make no mistake, Miller has created a uniquely detailed world and has considered every possible detail and eventuality.  That crazy guy you've seen in the trailer with the flame-throwing guitar?  His fucking name is The Doof Warrior.  He may not have any dialogue and he may have only a minimal interaction with the story, but The Doof Warrior has a long character history as devised by Miller.  And yet, none of it is on screen.  It's left largely open to interpretation.  This is literally true of every character, vehicle and location in the film.  Everything has been mapped out and connected in Miller's head but he only reveals the absolute bare minimum of information needed to propel the story forward.

By eschewing long expository monologues or overly complex explanations, Miller allows the audience to fill in the gaps with their own imagination.  He makes you work for it.  Go see this movie with a group of friends and I guarantee you will all walk out of the theater not only with a dozen questions, but also with a dozen different answers to each of those questions.  And yet, the film is in no way unsatisfying; you're left wanting more, but in the best way possible.  Fury Road is a film that spurs long and fascinating conversations, whether it be about large scale thematic elements or something as small as "What about those guys on the stilts?"  At the end of the day, there's no greater compliment I can pay a film.

My only regret is that we only got a chance to see the film once before we recorded this week's podcast.  More than any film in recent memory, Fury Road will unquestionably reward repeat viewings.  I could watch it ten times and discover something new every time.  It's going to take me years to fully unpack this movie.  But there's also value in what you come away with after the first show.  Bart, Jamie, Jeff and I all do our best to wrap our heads around this mind-bending film as well as its three predecessors.  We pick our favorite vehicles, we give ourselves warrior wasteland names, and we talk about that one time that George Miller almost made a Justice League movie.

As always, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Soundcoud!

Next Week: Brad Bird's Tomorrowland!

Podcast Episode 56: This Just In! CITIZEN KANE Is Still Amazing

Last week was the 100th birthday of Orson Welles, so it only seemed appropriate that, with a dearth of compelling new releases at the box office, we should take this opportunity to re-evaluate Welles' greatest cinematic work, Citizen Kane.  Spoilers: it still totally holds up.

If you've never seen Citizen Kane, you'd be forgiven for expecting it to be kind of overrated.  It's been at the top of every "Greatest Movie Of All Time" list for decades now.  How can one movie really be THAT good?  But then you watch it and you have to keep reminding yourself that not only was it shot over 70 years ago, but that Orson Welles wrote, directed and starred in the film at the ripe old age of 25.  It's one of those facts that instantly forces you to question all of your life choices.  Kane is astoundingly ahead of its time and it continues to influence countless modern day features, everything from Pulp Fiction to Birdman.  There's one scene in particular that is now impossible to watch without immediately recalling The Wolf Of Wall Street.  Bart and I even found a number of things that reminded us of our own film projects over the years.  Looking back it seems like we're doing direct homages, but we hadn't actually seen Kane at the time.  But Welles' contribution to the visual language of cinema have become so ubiquitous that film fans like us have been internalizing them for years without even knowing it.

I'm rather proud of this episode.  It's relatively short and we spent a lot more time discussing theme and subtext than the actual plotting of the film.  I'd like more of our podcasts to be like this.  We also attempted a new method of podcasting remotely, as Bart could not actually be on the premises at the time.  The audio quality suffers a bit for it, (for some reason I can't explain, Bart actually sounds louder and clearer than Jeff and I do) but we'll perfect the process eventually.  At the end we also get revved up for Mad Max: Fury Road and start to take stock of the string of summer blockbusters peeking out over the horizon.

As always, please subscribe on iTunes or SoundCloud!

Next Week: The whole damn Mad Max franchise!

Podcast Episode 55: We Assemble For AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

We're passing what feels like the halfway mark of the Marvel's grand cinematic plan and I'm happy to report that the state of the MCU is strong.

I'm a big fan of the first Avengers. It's one of those movies that my wife and I can pretty much watch at the drop of a hat, whether it be for 20 minutes for the full running time. It's light and it's fun and it's full of of these incredible moments of unbridled joy. I would caution you not to expect quite the same experience from Age Of Ultron, which isn't to say it's not an expertly crafted summer blockbuster or that it somehow lacks in entertainment value. It's just a different kind of beast. In a way, Ultron is a collection of contradictions; compared to the first Avengers, the latest entry is both darker and more exhilarating, more epic in scope yet also far more intimate in dealing with its characters. 

All your favorite Avengers are back and in fine form, but we’ve also got a host of new additions to the cast.  Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson are fine as “the twins” Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (the accents are pretty hit-or-miss) but the real standouts are Paul Bettany, who absolutely kills it with only a few scenes as The Vision, and James Spader as the titular Ultron.  Spader is such a natural fit for Whedon’s trademark quippy dialogue that I can’t believe the pairing never occurred to me earlier.  It seems so obvious in retrospect.  

I just wish that, while Ultron does actually threaten to cause a global extinction level event, the action wasn't quite so contained.  With a title like Age Of Ultron, I was expecting, well, an age.  Something that redefines civilization, the kind of singular event that is spoken about in hushed tones from generation to generation, not just a week of individual battles where it feels like the villain is largely operating in the shadows.  I wanted Ultron to truly fuck up the world for a while, crashing communications networks or global finance or something.  Ultron drones descending upon major cities all across the globe.  Chaos on an epic fucking scale.  Granted this movie is certainly very globe-trotting, with major set pieces in Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, New York and South Korea, but each incident is pretty isolated and somewhat small scale.  The new status quo at the end also feels a bit too easy.  Sure, Hulk has sent himself into mysterious exile, but Thor has just gone back to Asgard while Hawkeye has retired to his family farm and Tony Stark has very politely and amicably gone into semi-retirement.  It basically feels like, while most everyone has left the Avengers, they can all come back whenever they get bored.  If you're gonna break up the band and replace them with the B-team, I'd like there to be some real dramatic obstacles to bringing everyone together again.

Since we’re dealing with a team of superheroes, it seemed only appropriate that I assemble a team of my own for this week’s podcast.  Believe it or not, our conversation actually went much, MUCH longer but, at Jamie's suggestion, I'm trying to keep the podcasts shorter than the running time of the movies we're talking about.  We tackle Joss Whedon’s propensity for killing beloved characters, the film’s tricky onscreen romance and even answer some listener questions!

As always, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and/or on SoundCloud.

Next Week: We get classy and celebrate Orson Welles' 100th birthday with Citizen Kane!

Podcast Episode 54: ROAR Is The Most Insane Thing I've Ever Seen

Some movies defy explanation.  Defy logic.  Defy reality.

And then there's Roar, a movie that was directed by fucking lions.

The story of Roar's production seems so unhinged from reality that you wouldn't believe it really happened if the film itself wasn't there to taunt you with the proof of its own deranged existence.  Writer/director/star Noel Marshall, his wife Tippi Hedren, their sons John and Jerry and their daughter Melanie Griffith spent the 1970s living in a sprawling California estate surrounded by over 100 wild lions, tigers, panthers and leopards.  Their unique lifestyle was part of their fervent support of wildlife conservation and the ethical treatment of large jungle cats, and they felt these issues were so important that the best way to bring them proper attention was to shoot a feature film starring themselves and their extended feline family.  So they embarked on a decade-long cinematic journey in which no animals were harmed, but most of the humans suffered grievous bodily injuries.  Director of photography Jan De Bont (who would go on to direct Speed) was fucking scalped and had to get 220 stitches in the back of his head.  That's what happens when you try to shoot scenes with a hundred untrained lions.

This really happened.  In this universe.  If you think I'm making it all up, just take a look at this trailer, courtesy of my personal idols over at Drafthouse Films who have recently re-released this long forgotten scrap of madness into theaters.

How do you not want to immediately watch that movie?

Bart returns for this week's episode of the podcast and I threw him right into the deep end with a midnight screening of Roar, a movie that's basically ninety minutes of terrified humans being chased by giant killer animals.  It is both the most entertaining and the most horrifying thing I've seen in a theater this year.  We were so dumbfounded in fact, that it actually turned into a pretty short conversation on the relative scale of this podcast, so we changed gears about halfway through to catch up with Star Wars, Batman v. Superman and our first look at Jared Leto's incarnation of The Joker.

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or SoundCloud and we will love you forever and bring you cookies!

Next Week: Avengers: Age Of Ultron, obviously.

Podcast Screening Episode 53: EX MACHINA And The Gender Politics Of Fuckable Robots

I'm particularly happy that my wife Jamie was around for our discussion about Alex Garland's directorial debut Ex Machina.  Jeff and I, as tried and true science-fiction fans, probably would have largely focused on the conflict between artificial intelligence and humanity or the stunning effects work used to bring Ava's robotic form to life.  That's just where my mind gravitates, to the technological implications and the science of it all.  But Jamie has a different mindset, and her focus on gender politics and identity issues not only elevates the discussion, but proves a vital aspect of the film's central themes, an aspect which I probably would have somewhat overlooked.  It pays to marry an intellectual.

Ex Machina is a tremendous film, one which I'll admit has stayed with me in the days since we recorded this episode.  I didn't walk out of the theater with that buzz of excitement that so often comes from viewing a truly special film.  It just didn't hit me the way as something like Upstream Color or Her.  But it's intellectually engaging in a way that so few films are anymore.  There is A LOT going on in this movie, from am emotional, technological and philosophical perspective.  In truth, we probably could have talked for another hour if the prospect of poutine and Game Of Thrones hadn't been heavy on the horizon.

All that aside, the three central performances by Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleason and Alicia Vikander are each stunning in their own respect.  Vikander's Ava possesses an otherworldly grace both physically and psychologically, which stands in stark contrast to Oscar Isaac's Nathan, a sort of coarse, hard-drinking, dude-bro Steve Jobs.  Domhnall Gleason's Caleb is the nice guy caught between these two magnetic forces, and while his role isn't quite as compelling on the page - he spends a lot of time sitting in a glass box asking questions - the fact that he isn't completely overrun by Isaac and Vikander just goes to show the power of Gleason's strong screen presence.  It's hard to describe aside from saying that the guy is just incredibly watchable.  I can't wait to see how he and Isaac fit into the Star Wars universe.

As always, be sure to subscribe on iTunes and/or SoundCloud.

Next Week: I'm not sure!  I suspect that Jackie Brown will come into play, and perhaps some of the offerings from this year's Independent Film Festival Boston.

PODCAST: Screening Episode 52 - We Dig Some Coal With JUSTIFIED

I've been a huge fan of FX's Justified from the opening moments of its electric pilot episode.  Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder are two of the most entertaining and compelling characters of the past half decade and I'm not gonna lie, I had a hard time saying goodbye to them and all the other colorful inhabitants of Harlan, Kentucky when the series finale aired last Tuesday night.  It was funny, it was violent, it was emotional...it was all the things that made Justified such an absolute joy to watch over the years.

I found the finale so affecting that I just couldn't let it go without talking about it in the latest episode of the podcast.  It's our first TV episode!  Jeff Schwartz, a fellow Elmore Leonard aficionado and the next biggest Justified fan I know, was happy to fill in for Bart for the second week in a row and what was meant to be a quick half hour chat before our movie of the week turned into a sprawling, two hour examination of the finale, the last season and the series as a whole.  We compare the various big bads, rank all six seasons and finally declare our respective allegiances to Team Boyd or Team Raylan.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Justified, first of all I recommend diving in head first.  Sadly the series is not streaming on Netflix but it is available for all of you Amazon Prime members.  But worry not, we also recorded another, shorter episode in which Jamie joins us to talk about AI paranoia and the examination of gender roles in Alex Garland's directorial debut, Ex Machina.  That should be up by the end of the week.

As always, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and on SoundCloud.

Later This Week: Ex Machina!

Podcast Episode 51 - GOLDFINGER Is The Best And Worst Of James Bond

For the past few weeks, my very patient wife Jamie and I have been making our way through my shiny new James Bond box set.  She agreed to embark upon this adventure with me on the promise that each film will be accompanied by a themed cocktail.  So Goldfinger and whiskey sours it was!

Jamie has a serious (and justifiable) issue with James Bond in that he is an incredibly chauvinistic and condescending prick around women.  Seriously, he borderline rapes Pussy Galore at one point.  This stuff is undeniable, but so is the pure pleasure of seeing Sean Connery fight super-lasers and a mute Asian manservant with a decapitating bowler hat.  Goldfinger set the tone for all James Bond films and the entire spy genre for years to come.  The real question is whether Goldfinger's hijinks doomed 007 to become too silly for its own good. And if you don't think that argument holds water, remember that the first time we see Sean Connery in this movie, he's wearing a duck as a hat. 

That being said, this is also the movie that broke Jamie in terms of her ability to keep watching this franchise.  I have now given up any hope that she'll make it through all 24 movies.  Still, her unbridled rage makes for a pretty entertaining podcast.

As always, be sure to subscribe on iTunes and/or Soundcloud.  We're officially back in the swing of things over here with lots of good films on the horizon.

Next Week: Ex Machina (hopefully) and reflections on the end of FX's Justified.

PODCAST: Screening Episode 50 - FURIOUS 7 Brings Flying Cars And Teary Eyes

 

I will admit it.  I totally shed a single tear at the end of Furious 7.

Is this the best entry in the unlikeliest of all blockbuster franchises?  No way.  Not by a long shot. Fast Five is still the best single film in the franchise in terms of quality storytelling and character work.  At the same time, Furious 6 is definitely the most entertaining movie overall, due mostly to a healthy dose of the The Rock playing an ally as opposed to an enemy.  Also, The Battle On The Infinite Runway at the end is the best action sequence of this or most any other franchise.  But what Furious 7 lacks in sharp storytelling or non-stop action, it makes up for with steady entertainment value and an emotionally devastating coda.

This franchise has been incredibly nimble, striving to redefine itself with each entry.  The latter half of the series has effortlessly transitioned from cops & robbers to a heist flick to a comic book story and now, with part seven, we are solidly in globe-trotting secret agent mode.  Amazingly, this feels like the franchise's destiny all along, particularly with the always great Kurt Russell playing the team's jovial yet badass handler.  The story feels a bit half-baked ("Let's give them a MacGuffin to chase and be done with it.") but each component of the story works fine on its own.  The entire mountain chase scene, featuring cars parachuting out of a cargo plane, is an absolute franchise all-timer.  Seriously, it's incredible.  But it happens pretty early on in the proceedings and none of the set pieces that follow ever really surpass that scene in terms of action or pure excitement.  Dom and Brian driving a rare and expensive sports car mid-air across three different skyscrapers in Abu Dhabi does come pretty close though.

I was really looking forward to Jason Statham stepping in and lending some real weight and menace to the villain role, something a lot of these movies tend to lack.  And while Statham's silent force-of-nature routine is pretty effective, it somehow pales in comparison to Luke Evans' turn as the younger Shaw brother, mostly because his impassive "Everyone is a cog in my machine" approach feels like a more direct counter point to Dominic Torretto and his fierce family loyalty.  Also, the revelation in the opening scene that Evans somehow managed to survive the last film really deflates Statham's need for vengeance.

But all of these issues (along with a Michelle Rodriguez subplot that falls flat and a significant squandering of Djimon Hounsou) feel totally minor and didn't really start to bother me until long after I'd left the theater.  For most of the film's running time I was having WAY too much fun to get bogged down by any of this stuff.  And by the final scene, I guarantee that you just won't care.  Credit must be paid to director James Wan (who brings his own visual flourishes without alienating the film from the rest of the series) and writer Chris Morgan for pulling off the impossible in the wake of Paul Walker's death.  It would appear that Walker had already finished filming the vast majority of his scenes before his passing and most of the body doubling/digital face-swapping absolutely works on screen.  That's not to say you don't notice it, but it still feels mostly organic to the story and the effects work is not so jarring as to grind the movie to a halt.  And that final scene...man that final scene.  It's just a killer.

We ended up taking an accidental two month hiatus from podcasting but the snow has melted and we're officially back in business. For our first episode after the break we've got a great five-person round table of returning guests, all of whom have varying levels of affection for the Fast & Furious franchise as a whole. Also, at different points we inadvertently confuse Jason Statham with Jason Segal and Eugene Levy with Elliott Gould. True story.

As always, make sure to subscribe on iTunes and/or SoundCloud!

Next week: Ex Machina!

PODCAST: Screening Episode 49 - JUPITER ASCENDING Cannot Maintain SUPREMACY

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I want to love Jupiter Ascending.  SO MUCH.  And make no mistake, there is plenty here to keep you entertained, including some beautiful outer space visuals, Channing Tatum's anti-gravity rollerblades, the adorable Elephant Man and every second of Eddie Redmayne's utterly batshit performance which consists solely of hoarse whispers punctuated at random by ear-splitting screams.  But in the end, the most impressive thing about the latest Wachowski film is that it somehow manages to feel both thinly drawn and completely overstuffed at the same time.  Throw in a surprisingly inert Mila Kunis and a stifled Channing Tatum, add a romance with absolutely no chemistry whatsoever, and you end up with a movie that simply collapses under the weight of its richly detailed yet completely empty spectacle.

And yet, part of me can't wait to watch it again.  I guess that's just the kind of guy I am.

Jamie and Bart join me on the podcast to break down this big bad space opera, plus Bart and I continue to forge ahead through the Bourne franchise with The Bourne Supremacy.  Bart didn't particularly care for it, while I discovered that I've apparently been confusing it for the third Bourne movie for years.  Who knew?

PS: At one point I suggest that the Wachowskis particular brand of storytelling would be far better served by a long form premium TV series, completely forgetting that their next project, Sense8, is exactly that.  It airs on Netflix this May.  Huzzah!

Next Week: We celebrate Bart's Birthday with Kingsman: The Secret Service and The Bourne Ultimatum.

PODCAST: Screening Episode 48 - NIGHTCRAWLER Is A Natural BOURNE Creeper

Here is the second of two podcasts that Bart and I were able to squeeze in just before the Patriots epic Super Bowl victory.  If you listen carefully, you can hear the first of our party guests arrive, greeted by the howling barks of my dog, Nemo.

First we kick off our latest franchise rewatch with The Bourne Identity, although it's really only a rewatch for me.  Somehow Bart has managed to go 12+ years without ever seeing a Bourne movie, which is almost impressive.  I was surprised at how well the first entry holds up over all this time.  Bart was even able to overcome his longstanding disdain for Matt Damon and his "resting stupid-face," which actually comes in handy when he's playing an amnesiac.  We also tackle the birth of the quick cut/shakycam fight sequence and I must admit that it's nice to see the earliest, best version of what's become an overplayed gimmick.

After that we delve into the shocking Nightcrawler, which serves as further evidence of just how badly the Academy screwed the pooch on this year's Oscar nominations.  Holy hell.  Jake Gyllenhaal is nothing short of astounding as Lou Bloom, a freelance news cameraman who brings a whole new meaning to the word sociopath.  It is a riveting performance in a breathtakingly ugly film and I mean that in a good way.  How Nightcrawler has managed to fly largely under the radar is utterly beyond me.  Not only does the film demand your attention, but it stays with you long after it's over. This thing is a conversation starter to be sure.  Between this and the upcoming Southpaw, it looks as if we're entering into a golden age of Gyllenhaal.  I can't wait until he wins an Oscar and later generations go back and discover his seminal performance in Bubble Boy.

Next Week: We continue on with The Bourne Supremacy and blast off with Jupiter Ascending.

PODCAST: Daley Planet - These Ghostbusters Have No Dicks (Feb 1, 2015)

We had a little hiccup in the recording process this week, which means that while we recorded about an hour's worth of podcast for the latest Daley Planet, I'm only publishing the first 25 minutes or so.  The last half sounded like it was recorded in an echo chamber for reasons passing understanding.  Oh Garageband, you fickle beast!

But this little mini episode is still pretty good!  You can listen to Bart and I expound upon our totally not sexist trepidation over the recently announced Ghostbusters reboot cast and then hear us contemplate Chris Pratt's cinematic future.

Coming Soon: The Daley Screening tackles Nightcrawler and begins a full rewatch of the Jason Bourne franchise, beginning with The Bourne Identity.  No glitches in that one!

PODCAST: Screening Episode 47 - Smoke A Thousand Joints With INHERENT VICE

I am a big fan of the collected works of Paul Thomas Anderson.  Bart is decidedly less so.

This makes for a fairly entertaining podcast.

His latest film, Inherent Vice, is certainly not his best work and it's easy to see why the majority of audiences would find it pretty off-putting.  After all, it's a detective noir about the death of the 1960's west coast counter-culture wrapped in a mystery so dense as to be practically impenetrable.  But that's part of why I found it so enjoyable.  Instead of spending the (very lengthy) running time trying to figure out what happened to Shasta Fay Hepworth and why I should beware the Golden Fang, I was able to sit back and let the colors and the textures all wash over while basking in the glory of Joaquin Phoenix's doper PI, Josh Brolin's unhinged LA cop and Jenna Malone's ridiculous chompers.

I will say that I think the film suffers some pacing issues and feels like it goes on about 20 minutes longer than necessary.  There's also a part of me that wishes the film's tone retained some of the lunacy and charm of that first trailer.  Ultimately, the strong performances by Phoenix and Brolin were joyful enough to get me through, but I must admit that Inherent Vice didn't pack quite the emotional wallop of some of Anderson's previous efforts.

Next Week: We finally catch up with Nightcrawler and I introduce Bart to The Bourne Identity.

Introducing The Daley Planet Podcast!

I'm now at the age where a bunch of my friends have kids, which means that they no longer have time to go to the movies.  That sounds like a horrifying reality that I want no part of, even though I do want kids eventually.  It's a conundrum.

A few of my parent-friends (among others) have told me that they often don't listen to our Daley Screening podcast because they haven't had a chance to see the movie in question, which doesn't really make for an enjoyable listening experience.  We initially tried to combat this by doing movie news stuff at the top of each episode, but eventually it just meant that episodes were approaching two hours in length which is a tad unwieldy and perhaps a bit daunting.

Problem solved!

Introducing the Daley Planet podcast, a spin-off of our original Daley Screening podcast.  That's right, we're splitting up the podcast into two discreet branches.  The Screening will continue to discuss new releases and some old throwbacks in great spoilery detail, while the Planet will focus entirely on the latest news, rumors, casting and trailers in the world of movie magic.  We're still playing with the format a bit and working on some recurring bits to include, so if you have any suggestions (for either podcast) leave them in the comments below.

The good news is, because I don't want to pay double the web hosting fees, subscribing to our podcast feed either on iTunes or on SoundCloud will get you access to both shows as they become available.  I'm trying to work out a more routine release schedule too; since we typically record on the weekends, I'm shooting for Planet episodes to be come out on Mondays and Screening episodes to come out on Wednesdays or Thursdays.  We'll see how it works going forward.  Some weeks we might only do one show or the other, as scheduling requires.

Check out our first episode below, in which we talk about Simon Pegg writing the next Star Trek, Tom Hardy's potential replacements on Suicide Squad, and the impending resurgence of The X-Files.

Enjoy!

Podcast Episode 46: SELMA Is Too Good For The Oscars

I must admit to being largely underwhelmed by the majority of this year's Oscar nominees.  That's not to say I think 2014 was a bad year for movies, simply that the Academy's choices don't accurately reflect some of the stunning cinematic achievements of the last 365 days.  This is hardly a new phenomenon and it's the reason I gave up really caring about award shows long ago.  This year's crop of nominees are particularly egregious in that they're movies that are not actually about anything other than trying to win awards.

That's why the snubbing of Selma feels all the more frustrating.  Not only is it a timely story which speaks directly to the events of the day, but it is also a breathtaking dramatic and artistic achievement. The Imitation Game and The Theory Of Everything are decent, surface level films which totally vacate your consciousness immediately upon exiting the theater.  They have all the intellectual trappings of "important movies" but with subtext that is trite at best and non-existent at worst.  Selma is transformative.  It hits the audience like a ton of bricks, seizing their attention from the very beginning with the most artful depiction of an explosion I've ever witnessed and then refusing to let go until the credits finally roll.  Selma is emotionally exhausting in the best possible way, a film that demands to be seen and that will challenge and haunt you long after it's over.

Bart and I team up with our better halves Jenna and Jamie to talk about Ava Duvernay's remarkable film as well as how it relates to the current crop of protests taking place all over the country and the stupefying neglect paid to it by Academy voters.  We also chat about a weird series of trailers we saw in which Kevin Costner attempts to single-handedly solve racism.

Next Week: Inherent Vice.  For real this time.

Podcast Episode 45: We Get Honeydicked By THE INTERVIEW

And we're back!

Bart and I felt it was our patriotic duty to make our first podcast of 2015 about Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's The Interview.  It was, after all the biggest story of the holiday season.  The great irony is that, had it not spurred an international incident, this would be a fairly amusing but ultimately somewhat forgettable film.  There's plenty to laugh at, but it all feels fairly incidental.  The Interview makes you chuckle, whereas Rogen and Goldberg's last movie This Is The End frequently made me lose my breath from laughing.  Franco plays the whole thing SUPER broad, which most people will find either very funny or very off-putting.  Bart is firmly in the latter while I err more towards the former, although I'm a bit of a Franco apologist.

We also delve a little bit into the Ant-Man teaser and Fast & Furious mastermind Justin Lin taking over as the director of the next Star Trek movie, as well as William Shatner's plan to drive cross-country in one of the strangest looking automobiles I've ever seen.  But fear not, this is a relatively short episode.  Next week we'll be committing to our new battle plan of two shorter podcasts: The Daley Planet will focus solely on movie news while The Daley Screening will break down a single movie each week.  Who knows how long we can keep that going, but we'll soon find out.

Next Week: Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice!