Cameron H.

Anyone having any luck finding a (legal) way to watch The Boy Next Door without having to buy it outright? If your willing to face Mr Scheer's derision, someone on Facebook has said some Redbox's still carry it, but so far, I haven't had any luck. Normally I don't mind paying full price for HDTGM movies (and will do if I don't have any luck by tonight), but I have a feeling I don't want this one just staring at me from my Amazon queue for all eternity...

I sincerely hope this isn't the reason it's being called off... Even though I voiced my concerns about the movie, I certainly would never have wanted, nor called for, the whole episode to be scrapped. For my part, I simply thought the movie would be difficult to pick apart, not that it couldn't or shouldn't be. I would have rather heard, "We watched it, and we just didn't think we'd have much to say about it." I was actually looking forward to it because I was expecting, due to the movie's staggering mediocrity, we'd get some pretty epic tangents out of it. Oh well, at least it wasn't a total loss. In order to watch Dragonheart I signed up for a free week of Showtime on Amazon Prime which means I finally get to watch Captain Ron again! And that, dear friends, is the greatest gift of all...

Sorry, Cinco, I meant to respond to this earlier. I think it's the fact that when he's thrown on the hood of the car, his back leg flings back and kicks one of the guys in the back of the head--which is, insanely funny.

Inkheart?! As in a movie that managed to make Paul Bettany a sexy, fire-wielding, rogue? Honestly, I think they are of about the same quality. Benign and forgettable. I actually like them both, or--at least in Inkheart's case--remember liking okay. I think I have a movie that is perfectly analogous to how I feel about Dragonheart, and that would be First Knight. They're the kind of movies that you put on on a rainy Sunday afternoon, but don't really think about too much afterwards. I mean, I can intuit what they're going to say about it, but I'm not sure it's really worth it--especially when a lot of it can be brushed away as "well, it's a fantasy." I hope I'm surprised, but I think we're going to get a lot about Thewlis in general, Quaid's voice, the fact that "England" looks like California (although it's not, I looked it up), the slow pacing, and the overall creepiness of the dragon's face and some of his dialog. They may also touch upon how the female character looks pretty good considering she's a peasant in England circa 900. I'm also relatively sure that there will be some talk about how it was by the same director who did xXx and The Fast and the Furious--specifically how the action in those movies compare to the action in Dragonheart. However, I hope I'm wrong. They're funny regardless, and I know it will be a good episode, I just hope they are able to mine it for something interesting. Okay, I'm done talking about it Dragonheart for now. Now, on to THE LIST GAME! I was wondering how you all would rank the last five movies you've seen. I'm not talking about specific genres or favorites of all time, just the last five movies you've most recently seen. They can be movies you've seen before. For my list, I'm going to include HDTGM movies (so they'll actually be seven of them), but I'll mark them with asterisks since they were movies I would not have otherwise taken the time to see. I'm just curious as to what you're all watching... 1) What We Do In Shadows 2) Kung Fu Panda 3 Dragonheart * 3) Pride & Prejudice & Zombies The Avengers (1998) * 4) Cinderella (2015) 5) Gods of Egypt

That was pretty much exactly my experience. I don't want to sound like I'm defending the movie or anything, it's just the kind of movie that I've seen once, liked when I was a kid, and never really thought about ever again. In fact, when Paul announced it, I was like, "Oh yeah...I remember that movie. Huh..." It's not to say that there aren't flaws, it's just sort of exceptionally mediocre. It also made me think of, I think it was, Tim Heidecker on the Timothy Green episode saying something like, "I'm judging this based on it's intended audience" and under that criteria, I think it works. It's a fantasy film for kids made in the 1990's with 1990's technology. It's cute and I even got a little misty at the end. Also, my son seemed to like it. I mean, I guess, in a weird way, I'm happy about it. If they're going to open it up to middle of the road 90's movies, then I'm confident HDTGM will be set for years. God knows there are enough of them. For example, and I know I've brought this movie up before, but I though this movie was better than, say, The Lost World: Jurassic Park. That's a movie where unlikeable characters do insanely stupid things and ends in the most ridiculous way possible. I find it to be utterly unwatchable

I'm sure that is all in there. I'm just saying if you want to do a bad Sean Connery movie, dumb David Thewlis movie, or dragon movie--talking or otherwise--there are probably better options.

Um...I'm with you guys. Why this movie? There are far worse Sean Connery movies. I just finished watching it, and, no, it's not the greatest movie ever, but I found it to be pretty good. I guess, like a solid C+--neither crazy, nor bad enough to really have much to say about it. I just don't see enough meat on the bones on this one. I think it works as a kids' movie and it works as a fairy tale. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to looking for here...David Thewlis' acting and making fun of his hair? I mean, is that, like, it? Yeah, kind of crazy, I guess... I guess I just have to wait and see what they have to say. I'm just sort of perplexed is all...

Yeah, I agree with you on that. I definitely don't think I'll be subscribing to it. She seems nice (and Chris Pratt sounds WONDERFUL), but I don't think it's something I'd listen to on the reg. As it stands, I think I'm subscribed to too many podcasts and I'm thinking it's high time to do another podcast purge. Lately, I'm finding that when certain shows drop a new episode, it feels like I'm listening to it out of obligation or habit rather than true enjoyment. It's kind of like dropping a comic title you've been collecting for years, and realize that you are only still buying it out of loyalty to the character/writer/or whatever. I'd say CBB is definitely one of those shows that's on the bubble. Also, I've really been getting in to Audible lately (sorry about the plug), and I'm finding that more and more often I'm like, "No, I think I'd rather have this book read to me instead." If I really thought about it, I think there's probably only a few podcasts left that I currently subscribe to that could trump my Audible enjoyment. HDTGM obviously being one of them.

A little off topic, which sounds funny since I'm about to talk about people relevant to the show, but if you haven't already, you should all listen to the "Anna Faris is Unqualified" episodes with Paul Scheer and Jason. I've been on the fence about checking out her podcast for awhile, but when I saw Paul had done it, I figured this would be a good time to check it out. Who knew Paul was such a talented impressionist?

Or just have them kiss already...

Oh, I'm very familiar with Swiss Chalet! Long ago, my father used to be in advertising and they were one of his clients.

Well now...if we're talking about Canadian cuisine, I'd have to add: Granted, I haven't been back to Canada in many years, so I'm not sure if the quality has held up, but I remember always liking them. And, for a place that only people in Ontario might know: Going to Webers was a family tradition whenever we'd go visit my grandparent's cabin in Lake of Bays. If anyone is ever heading that way, and has the time to wait through their massive line, I highly recommend it!

That makes sense too. Thanks to "Jay & Miles X-plain the X-men" I have made it my mission to catch up on all the Claremont stuff now, but haven't gotten to her introduction yet. Like them, I am in the middle of "Inferno"...which is actually quite a lot of fun to hear their take on the issues as I'm reading them. And, to go back to the Jubilee to encourage female readers thing...the more I think about it, (in my opinion) the less sense it makes. I am too young to have read them as they came out, but I can't imagine there was a huge marketing push for her at the time. At least, no more than when Kitty Pride joined the team--which is to say, none. In fact, if we're working under the assumption that comic book readers at the time were primarily adolescent boys, how would the hypothetical girl during this time (who doesn't already read comics) even know she existed in the pre-X-men cartoon, pre-Internet, and pre-X-Men movies world? In fact, the only cover I can even think of with her on it around this period is this one: Which was a very Jubilee-centric story, but only insofar as it related to her being a young girl being forced to cope with the mortality of another young person. I mean, maybe our hypothetical 80's/90's girl saw this cover of a young woman holding a sobbing teenage girl on the cover, read the "If you only read one..." tagline, and thought to herself, "Well, I guess I should pick this up since it has teenage girl on the cover," but I highly doubt that. P.S. This has got to be one of the weirdest tangents this thread has ever seen. Somehow we went from discussing the movie the Avengers to discussing the merits of Jubilee as an X-Men character.

I meant to comment on this before, but how weird was it that the "Mutant Massacre" involved Thor? I mean, I get it since the Simonsons were involved, but it's like, "Here's a big event we've got planned for the X-Books. It's got all the mutant heroes you know and love...and the God of Thunder."

For the record, as a male X-Men fan, I straight-up love Jubilee! I was so happy when I heard she was going to be in Apocalypse and I think it's a shame they cut her, mostly, from the movie. I also think it's a shame, that by re-introducing her in this movie, they screw up the their own timeline even further...but I guess that's neither here nor there with the X-men movies at this point. Anyway... Yeah. I loved her as a mallrat. I loved her in Generation X. I loved her as Wondra. I loved her as a vampire. And I love her as a weird vampire mama. I mean, I get why she might be cloying for an older reader, but for me growing up, she functioned exactly how a sidekick is supposed to work: she was the character that I could most relate to--regardless of gender. I couldn't relate to being a Weather Goddess (at least, not as far as I'll admit to...), or a hairy, angry dude with claws coming out of his knuckles, or a sexually aggressive Cajun that could blow people up with playing cards. However, what I could relate to was wanting to hang out with those people and go on adventures with them--well, all except for maybe Gambit who has come off as a lot less "cool" as I've gotten older. I guess what I'm saying is: I don't think she was ever intended as being a character to "attract female readers." To me, that's a really weird assumption, and although I can't speak for him personally, it's something I don't think Claremont--as an avowed feminist--would have been cool with. Love it or hate it, I think Jubilee was just as much a product of her time (albeit, maybe a tad exaggerated) as the O5 were in the 60's (also exaggerated) when they were hanging out with Bernard the Poet at the Coffee A-Go-Go, y' dig? To be honest, the only thing I find problematic about Jubilee is the fact that she's a Chinese-American character whose superpower is to...shoot fireworks. That's a big "...er, yikes" if you ask me. I wonder if, in an attempt to keep her as a character, but fix some of the more stereotypical racial aspect about her, that isn't the reason why her character has been all over the map power-wise for the last decade or so... Anyway, that's been your JUBILEE JAMBOREE with Cameron H.

Oh no you didn't!

In regard to the X-Men movies, my biggest issue with them (and I may have said this before--in which case--I'm sorry) is that they are married to too many things (especially the actors) that actually hinders them from making better films or just doing something different. They are also too committed to the idea of "being an outsider/freak." And while I think that is an important theme in X-Men comics, I don't think we need, I don't know, seven movies or so, about that same exact thing. What about "Fall of the Mutants," "The Brood Saga," or "Inferno?" If you want to do "God Loves, Man Kills," great--but make that one movie. I think the X-Men are so much more than just the social allegory. And I'm not saying get rid of it altogether, just not the main thrust every single time. If I had my druthers, after The Last Stand, they should have just gone with a true reboot, which In my mind that would have been: A First Class-type thing (set in modern day) with a teenage cast. Prof X is there, but merely to facilitate. The cast would be: Cyclops, Jean, Iceman, Beast, and Angel. Make Iceman or Jean your "new student/POV" and have them go up against (as much as I hate to say it) Magneto and the Brotherhood. However, after this movie, Magneto, if not gone for good, should off the table for a long time. All-New X-Men. In the opening scene, everyone would be captured instead of Cyclops. Or maybe, the opening scene is just of Scott escaping. He returns to Prof X and they recruit a new team. Here's where Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler would come in. Again, not too old, maybe early twenties. In this, maybe they go against Sinister who is harvesting mutant DNA since Krakoa the Living Island is a little dumb. You can now split the franchise with half of the cast going to X-Factor and the other half continuing as X-Men. You do Apocalypse in X-Factor and Fall of the Mutants/Mutant Massacre in X-Men. Then, a la The Avengers, you bring them all together for something like "Inferno" (Demons), "Brood Saga" (Sci-Fi Horror), or if you need a reason to do a hard reboot, "Age of Apocalypse" (Alternate Reality). And. if this sounds like it might actually work, it's because I'm pretty much following the comics timeline. It's all been done and story boarded for them! It doesn't have to be a literal translation and you can swap team members out if you want. I mean, I just read (or heard) the other day that Brina Singer won't even let his actors read X-Men comics. What the fuck? You made one version of X-Men, dude, but you didn't invent them and you're certainly not the final word on how they should be portrayed. I just think we're all done with the ideological arguments for now (as important as they are), and I would really like to see some wacky Sci-Fi stuff. But, most of all, give every character their due. Wolverine can have his own solo movie, but someone like Nightcrawler never will, so let's be fair.

I'm sorry to hear about your dog. That really sucks.

"Save the Cat" From Wikipedia: The Avengers (1998) Mrs. Peel's Introduction: She answers the doorbell to find a friendly, young delivery man. She neither greats him, nor thanks him for the delivery. She takes the package with a sphincter puckering look of smug superiority, does not tip him, and walks away. During the whole encounter Peel comes off as so unnecessarily cold and priggish, how exactly are we to "sympathize" with her? I can only imagine how this poor, affable delivery guy felt as he left her place--assured by her disdainful and hyperborean glances of his place in the world as a living piece of man-garbage.

Goddamnit, Elektra! Spoiler tags!

Hold the phone, guys! I think I've figured out the whole "Teddy Bears" thing! I think the idea is if you were just to wear a mask (as Jason suggested) there's still a chance you can be identified. For instance, you might still be able to identify a person by their skin tone, weight, and/or height which could potentially set the authorities on your trail. As briefly touched upon in the episode, these outfits make it so there is zero chance that one or more of your physical traits will betray your identity. In other words, a person who is short and overweight would be almost indistinguishable from someone tall and lean when they are wearing a huge Bear costume. I'm almost ashamed of myself for figuring this out. However, i do agree, that for this movie, wearing bright bear costumes is tonally out of place and there are still tons of problems with this and the subsequent scenes. Like, after murdering two of the bears, why didn't Connery bother to have anyone remove the bodies from his public weather retail outlet?

Not to derail this conversation too much, but it sounds like Paul and I share a very similar iTunes catalog--right down to the A.C. Newman. Although, I do own a-ha's entire Greatest Hits album--and I stand by that decision. " " is honestly one of my favorite songs. Every morning, I like to get up, put on my tightest neon colored leotard and do a little light rhythm gymnastics. I'm not great, mind you, but I think I'm getting better... Also, for June... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NvgLkuEtkA

Do you think this movie is occurring in an England concurrent to the events in Hell Comes to Frogtown?