NathanGordon

The Hunt was incredible, and I don't say that lightly -- if it were an American film, Mikkelsen would have won a Best Actor at the 2012 Oscars. So hard to watch, impossible to turn away from. My only beef was 99% of this movie is completely CGI, so why the hell not? Do actors in movies like these even mo-cap their own stunts? This must be the easiest gig there is, literally everything is made up in post-production.

My thoughts exactly! Gods of Egypt reminded me a lot of Sucker Punch in that regard. I could have been watching someone play Prince of Persia on xbox. It's set up like a game -- there's different levels filled with smaller enemies (give chase to the guards! avoid the statues and steal the treasure! there's even a mine cart stage) that lead to boss fights. I mean, there's absolutely no attempt at versimllitude or reality at all, from the Anglo actors to their wildly differing accents (Welsh? Aussie? Liam Neeson impersonation?) to the depiction of Egyptian pyramids as some kind of Death Star battle fortress with robot security guards. So it's hard to fault the movie for its nonchalant racism -- is that a cop out? Maybe, but Gods of Egypt is so disarmingly dumb and eager to please that it achieves a sort of charm, not unlike a dog that keeps dropping a toy in front of you, even though you're not in the mood. Plus, do any of y'all really need an excuse to watch Nikolaj Coster-Waldeau for 90 minutes? I hope his work on Game of Thrones eventually leads to better films than this; he's been killing it for years in foreign language films like Nightwatch (1994, so good!) and the excellent Headhunters. I'll be very surprised if the lead actor (generic nobody Brenton Thwaites) isn't referred to as "bobo Orlando Bloom".

Somewhere there's an argument to be made for Rooney's depiction, but "suck it up, nerds" ain't it.

The use of "-mania" as a suffix word indicating "totally crazy for" has a usage that predates Lizst, back to the 16th century. Words like nymphomania, megalomania, etc. Although Lizst is a wonderful precursor to modern pop star swooning! Handsome guy in his youth, not surprising.

I actually just made my way through Mann's filmography. Manhunter is the superior film -- please do yourself a favor and watch it! It's interesting not only for its early Hannibal Lecter, but its astounding cinematography and art direction. I'm not being hyperbolic at all, it is visually amazing. I've never paused and rewound a film more times to just admire the composition. Thief is a very good film and a terrific sign of things to come for Mann. Heat is good, but it's more about the performances and a few very well staged shootouts; there's less of the visual flair of his earlier films. Pacino's relationship with the much younger Amy Brenneman is unbelievable and without chemistry (understandably), and the film is slightly overlong -- probably due to its star-studded cast. Still, it's prime Pacino, just at the tipping point before his descent into self parody. Manhunter, or failing that, Thief. James Caan deserves to be in the canon.

I'll admit that I don't know anything about Hollywood or screenplays, but six months seems like plenty of time to me? That's what, 150 pages or so? Aukerman & friends knocked out Rocky vs Rambo in a weekend, and that's at least twice as good as Suicide Squad.

Boo hiss. I'll be over here in the corner, stirring my boiling pot of dissenter's brew. Just two pages of this fawning praise is enough to make me want to strangle a baby boomer.

Having a favorite Beatle is like having a favorite brand of paper towel.

I haven't liked anything Kevin Smith's done since... Mallrats, I think. And I don't like his weird neckbeard persona -- but I have to admire him for creating a mini media empire out of his passions. It's pretty impressive that he took a half-assed twitter joke and turned it into a legit film. That said, Tusk is garbage and should have stayed a joke. It's on the level of some of the less watchable Troma movies. I feel like it never decided if it was full camp or not; only Michael Parks seemed to know what to bring to his role.

Not Slytherin?

Also I'm so glad Paul said that was the last proposal on the show. I'm happy for your dumb marriage (congratulations! it's as low stakes and commonplace as going to the bathroom) but please stop hijacking my podcast. The sense of entitlement some people get about their super important marriage is absurd.

The Matrix stands so well on its own; I like that you can ignore the terrible sequels entirely. It ends on a perfect note. I don't remember walking out of the theater and saying "man, I REALLY want to know more about the convoluted mythology of this world." I don't think it's possible to overstate just how influential and ubiquitous the cinematography and visual effects of this film were. You can argue about who did "bullet time" first, but The Matrix popularized it to such a degree that it was inescapable in 1999 and 2000, appearing in commercials, parodies, and becoming part of the standard visual language of action films and video games. Other visuals have stayed too, like the cascade of green ASCII characters that represent the code of the matrix itself. I was a huge HK action nerd in the world 1990s and was excited about The Matrix because genius kung fu choreographer Woo Ping Yuen was on board for it. At that point, western cinema hadn't embraced the stylized fights of wuxia and Chinese kung fu flicks. The very next year, Yuen supervised the high flying wire fu of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and was then tapped by Tarantino for Kill Bill. Along with Jackie Chan, Yuen is one of the most important figures in HK action cinema to make a significant impact in Hollywood.

I have a feeling June's response to this would be the same as if you asked what her favorite video game is.

You might be thinking of a different movie (Forbidden Kingdom, maybe?). Jet Li isn't in Drunken Master 2.

Mostly I found this movie agreeable. I especially liked the jungle location and the old school non-CGI stunts -- guys hanging on speeding trucks, jumping from planes, swinging off rope bridges -- that remains a joy to watch, regardless of the film it takes place in. The actor who played Drex perfectly captured the pulpy, mustache twirling villain of old -- "Looks like you won't need these anymore!" *smashes eyeglasses*. Billy Zane, however, I found completely charmless. He's beefy and good looking, but his face is locked in a smarmy smirk that doesn't suit a hero. It worked really well for him as the asshole fiancee in Titanic, but he comes off as kind of a dick here. Maybe this portrayal is left over from the 1940s Phantom; it seems like The Shadow had a similar jerk vibe.

I have a strong opinion regarding him, but it's not personal (I'm not Vincent Gallo). I can't think of another filmmaker whose entire career is based on being cool and having cool friends. The words "overrated" and "hipster" get tossed around enough to be meaningless, but I feel that they perfectly apply to Jarmusch. .... Bonnie and Clyde VS Smokey and the Bandit?

Drunken Master 2 or nothing. That axe gang fight is a thing of wonder. Anita Mui also shines as his mother. A desert island film for me personally. Police Story is great, but more heavy on the stunts than the fight choreography. *apparently Drunk Master 2 was called "Legend of Drunken Master" when redubbed into English for a late 90s theatrical release. Golden Harvest had already made a pretty good dub for video, as was the norm for HK action flicks.

Jim Jarmusch is an overrated NYC hipster who can't write and can hardly direct. His great skill is in networking and convincing otherwise interesting actors, musicians, and sycophants to appear in his films. Anything good in his films is accidental, and the parts of them are uniformly greater than the sum. His soundtracks are almost always better than the films themselves (case in point: Broken Flowers) and I'll admit that he has fantastic taste in music. Having great taste and cool friends does not make you a good director though. I suppose Dead Man should be canon for its Neil Young soundtrack, but even RZA's music can't save the joke that is Ghost Dog. Parts of Night on Earth are fun, even less parts of Coffee and Cigarettes are worth watching. The fact that he has a career today just shows how far a cool hairdo will get you.

This show had such a brilliant conceit and it's even more amazing that they genuinely pulled it off. It's really something else.

Me too. I think Affleck makes a great Batman, possibly the best we've ever had. I didn't think it was terrible, just overlong and overserious. And ended with yet another generic CGI monster that was kind of a Hulk villain, kind of a reject from Lord of the Rings. The Wonder Woman trailer looked great. I figure if BvS is what had to get us to that film, I'm okay with it. I think the DC/WB problem was initially not having the whole franchise mapped out, and then making a bizarre commitment to Zac Snyder -- I really don't get that one. I guess his films are generally box office earners, but no one's ever gonna mistake them for good films, much less great ones.

The AV Club review mentions that Suicide Squad uses not just "Bohemian Rhapsody", but also "Sympathy for the Devil", "Fortunate Son", and "Spirit in the Sky", presumably while things are happening in slow motion on screen. The movie could be good or bad, but those music choices have got to be the most tired, overused soundtrack cues in the history of cinema. That's pretty ballsy, but mostly stupid. I wonder what song will play over the credits? Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping"?

Bob Hoskins deserved at least a nomination for his performance here. One of the funniest and most fun films ever made, and certainly the best work in the microgenre of films mixing animation and live action.

Hahahaha, that clip is so embarrassing! That entire genre became dated so quickly. I read (and enjoyed) these books when I was 14, and they definitely appeal to a young teenager's sense of dark romance. If tumblr was around back then, it would have been full of Lestat fanfic. But I think Anne Rice's soapy, turgid stories work best in print, where you can imagine the least ridiculous version of it. It's very difficult to do gothic films without lapsing into cheese.

I guess the sunglasses and hat getup is sort of iconic, but the best parts of the film by far are the performances. Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and the show stopping number by Cab Calloway are terrific and much more memorable than any of the jokes in this. Aykroyd and Belushi are pretty one-note. Also, THIS happened and probably erased a lot of goodwill towards the original film: