riddler645

Serious question to Trekkies, if we are considering Star Trek the multiple series as canon worthy then isn't Wrath of Khan extremely important in that regards? Before Khan came out Star Trek was more like Firefly, a cult hit show that had a big budget movie that didn't do very well. WOK pushed the series back into relevancy and I think if it bombed we wouldn't have TNG and all it's offshoots which to me personally are Star Trek at its heights. So even though I personally rank WOK as 4th in the Trek films, I do acknowledge it as the most important one of the bunch for both culture and Trek. So the question remains does it need to be in The Canon. The Trek film series is a weird franchise, one that has tons of entries but rarely had the same cultural impact of say a Star Wars or Bond. It was always a bit of an anomaly, but I think the hold Khan has on culture is enough to justify its entry into The Canon, but I acknowledge this as a soft yes. Even though I think First Contact and TPM are better films I respect what Khan did for the franchise and sci-fi filmmaking in general. And frankly I'm kind of tired of the Roddenberry's vision argument. Star Trek has often been better without Roddenberry around, particularly in the later years when TNG got so much better after his death. He's an incredible genius but his approach to an ideal future is often limiting. As much as I love TPM, WOK injected energy and life back into the franchise. To me Roddenberry is a lot like Lucas, best as a collaborator and a good person to put limits on.

I listen to too many film podcasts. I Was There Too - One of my favorite podcasts. Each episode the host interviews actors who had small parts in major films. For example in one recent episode he interviewed several of the bus passengers in Speed. Host Matt Gourley is extremely funny and very personable. Star Wars Minute - Two smart nerds analyze each of the original Star Wars films one minute at a time. Ultra in-depth but thankfully they aren't complete Star Wars fanatics and make fun of a lot of the stupid stuff, especially all the extended universe madness. They just finished analyzing Phantom Menace. The Film Programme - My preferred British review show. Kermode and Mayo is worth checking out but it's not my go to. This is a quick 30 minutes but usually fits in 4 or 5 segments including reviews and retrospectives. The Business - Great show I wish was a lot longer. Focusing entirely on the business side of Hollywood, the show starts with a quick rundown of the latest entertainment business news. The second part is an interview with a major Hollywood figure about their work in relation to the business side. The Treatment - Wonderful interview show with probably the smartest interviewer out there, Elvis Mitchell. Guy asks really strange but deep questions. Real good if you like the NPR style interviews. Filmspotting - The mainstay movie review podcast and with good reason. The two hosts are perfectly complementary, the segments are interactive and fun, and the top 5 lists that end each show are clever ways to garner recommendations. Filmspotting: Streaming Video Unit - Spin-off of Filmspotting focusing on films available for streaming or rent. Each week they tell you what's new on streaming and review a film or TV show chosen by the audience. Scriptnotes - Pretty good screenwriting podcast with two hosts with real experience. The hosts aren't my favorite but it's a good show. You Must Remember This - Incredible podcast about the secret dark underbelly of Hollywood. Has one of the best tellings of the Charles Manson murders I've ever heard. Invisible Worlds - Podcast about cultural appreciate of sci-fi and fantasy. Some very great stuff on topics like strong female characters, how costume designers create superhero outfits, and a five part series on the cultural legacy of Star Wars. The Next Picture Show - Reviewers from the sadly dead Dissolve website talk about a recent release and compare it to a classic film that may have inspired it. Some pairings include: The Wicker Man/The VVitch, Battle Royale/The Hunger Gamed, Barton Fink/Hail, Caesar. The Director's Cut - DGA podcast where two famous directors interview each other. First episode should speak for the quality of this show: Spielberg and Scorsese interviewing each other. Little Gold Men - Very in-depth but humorously cynical take on the Oscar Race. Seems to be going year round so maybe wait start listening between September - February.

This will be an interesting one. Carpenter is so random in terms of people's love or not and for me this is one of his weakest efforts, but holy shit some people love it. Certainly culturally it has a big impact so this could be a real sway vote.

And also this might be the worst Devin has ever argued. If I drank every time he sad the word "bad" or "badly" I'd be dead 10 minutes in.

Disagree. That episode was fantastic IMO. But yeah anything directed by Ryan Murphy is the worst of that show even if the episode are good. And boy I just don't see what Devin is talking about Singleton is no Spike Lee but he really knows how to tell a story (even if weirdly he rips off Stand By Me twice) and construct a scene and is very good with actors. I saw this film for the first time this week and found it to be really well made. The acting in particular is very well layered even with the soap opera style storyline.

Just wanted to point out that The Canon has a great wikipedia page including a summary of the episodes and whether or not the film made it into The Canon. It's a bit behind on episodes but I'm impressed! Highly recommended for those keeping up with what's in and out. https://en.wikipedia..._Canon_episodes Also shameless plug for the icheckmovies list I'm keeping of the films in canon. https://beta.icheckm...name/mi-16evil/

I'm sure plenty of people will write about all the character storylines the HDTGM gang didn't get, but to be honest even though I've played every game I still never quite understood the mythology. What I wanted to bring up is that there is a somewhat interesting series of connections I discovered between the Mortal Kombat and the Street Fighter movies and games. This takes a few steps, but bare with me. * Midway Games highers Ed Boon and three other programmers to create a fighting arcade game that will beat out the popularity of the arcade classic Street Fighter II. Boon came up with the idea to make a fighting game based on the Jean Claude van Damme film Bloodsport which would featuring digitized versions of van Damme and other actors. Van Damme did work with Boon's team for a short time but ultimately backed out to work for another video game that was never released, causing the team to shift focus and ultimately create Mortal Kombat with the work they had already put into the Bloodsport game. On a side note Johnny Cage is actually a parody of van Damme as Boon said that van Damme was an huge arrogant asshole. * Mortal Kombat becomes a huge hit and spawns a film franchise. Van Damme is offered a part in the film, but takes a role in the Street Fighter movie, possibly as a fuck you to Boon for the Johnny Cage character, though it's probably unlikely. * As a tie in to the Street Fighter movie, an arcade game based on the film was made. The game featured the same gameplay as Street Fighter II but featured digitized actors from the Street Fighter film in place of the usual characters, and yes Van Damme portrayed one of the digitized fighters. So van Damme's refusal to be in a video game cause him to inadvertently create Mortal Kombat which featured a parody of himself and then he ended up actually being a playable character in a tie game for Mortal Kombat's then biggest competitor. Wrap your head around that.