EPISODE 125 - Steel: LIVE!

[RyanSz 3140]

 

Oh Wee-Bey, you murderous card!

 

Also, does anyone feel that Dick Crazy would make a great Dick Tracy porn parody? With how bonkers some of the characters are in that series, I think it could really work. Sorry, I got parody on the brain after going to the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas this weekend and saw the Landspeeder and some costumes from the Star Wars porn parody. Actually amazed Lucas didn't sue the pants off of Vivid since that towed the line as close as it could concerning parody and straight up infringement.

[RyanSz 3140]

Hey Friends,

 

This is my first time posting so please forgive me if I should post my "correction and omission" in a different place.

 

I was at this live show and raised my hand to ask this question but next time I will bring a small notepad and raise it in the air like a reporter so I will be noticed. That being said, here was my question/omission:

 

Tagline: Can Shaq Lift It? Yes He Can!

 

Omission: Who exactly is funding all of this? The items they made in the junkyard are clearly more advanced and would need some financial backing so I am wondering where they got the money to make items such as their earpieces and all of her technology.

 

That's all. Love the show and thanks for letting me crash the message board.

No funding needed, it all fell off the back of a truck.

[deepblueC.R.A.P 5]

Better NBA center on screen, Gheorghe Muresan in My Giant, or Shaq in Steel? Kareem Abdul Jabar is clearly the best center to ever star in a movie.

[BeingAllFishies 99]

This was a really great show. Y'all said just about all I wanted to say, I just wanted to point out...

 

1) The boring, boring, boring intro sequence. I mean wow, I almost turned it off before the credits were over. I think they were trying to go for something like the 1988 Batman, where the camera's moving all cool around abstract shapes, but it turns out that pouring molten steel is just not that interesting to watch after a minute. Also the Batman intro ends with it zooming back awesomely to the Batman icon, and I expected this to end with a Steel icon too. Instead it just slinks away in shame.

 

2) Just the sheer level of contempt that Shaq and his tiny brother have for their grandmother's (entirely reasonable) idea to combine Julia Child recipes with her homestyle cooking. Their eyes just roll so hard every time she mentions it. She's the only woman in the film who isn't exploded horribly within five minutes of her introduction, and it's just so they can laugh at her behind her back.

 

3) "Those broken ribs are really bothering you, aren't they?"

"...Nah."

[NathanielParker 43]

"I loved the Nazis." ~ Jason Mantzoukas

[OoofMaGOOF 348]

Absolutely loved the episode. Ders was a great guest and the conversation was excellent.

 

OMISSION (all caps with the hope it's read on this week's mini-sode): How did you not cover Sparky saying she got John's letter...and WHEELCHAIR?!

 

Look it's a nice thought and sweet, but damned if I didn't burst out laughing at that. It's almost like an FU.

 

"Sorry you're paralyzed. Here's a wheelchair."

[Cameron H. 23786]

But seriously, is there any superhero transportation lamer than being a scrub on the passenger side of a dump truck driven by your elderly sidekick?

 

Maybe...

 

 

 

(Editorial: Aquaman is dumb. And casting Jason Momoa to play him in a movie just makes him dumber.)

[markserletic 24]

I used to maintain and operate weapon systems for the Navy and I can tell you, no, there aren't senators hanging out watching the firing exercises. We once did a firing exercise where 6 ships took turns firing missiles and cannons at a decommissioned ship in order to sink it and create a reef structure for aquatic life. There were no admirals or senators watching or Judd Nelsons there.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

So, what IS the deal with how this movie fits in to the Superman universe? If it was going to tie in to an unmade Superman movie, why are there no indications that Superman (or any other superhero, or any supervillain) ever existed as a person in-world rather than as a fictional character? Dropping the phrase "man of steel" out of context is an in-joke that isn't supposed to refer to Superman in-movie. The Superman tattoo doesn't mean that Superman is real rather than an icon, especially if John Henry Irons is supposed to plausibly be Superman. Even the one time they do actually say "the S word" it's more of a fourth-wall-breaking joke to the audience, in the manner of another DC movie of the time's "This is why Superman works alone." At least the Halle Berry Catwoman movie went all the way in never referring to any other aspect of the Batman universe besides Catwoman herself.

[jarrycanada 2483]

on the subject of the tshirts, why can't they just redo the art work and then print them already, they can't fix a typo error?

 

QUESTION: for Paul. What would your blockbuster late return call be like? could you please give us a sample of what that would be like to get paul scheer phoning us up and threating us to return a movie! LOL I want to hear more tales from blockbuster horror storys in the future.

 

God that is just so shocking to think about now. they would have a late fee if you didn't return the tape back to the store by 6pm. I think it was maybe 7pm, not sure. a didn't rewind the tape charge, and if you broke the tape, 110 dollars down the drain charge because most tapes are price to rent. i am not sure what it was but I do remember repairing VHS tape once with scotch tape because my VCR had eatten the dam thing, They didn't notice it. That's the worst thing that could happen is the tape getting locked in the VCR that you have to return it the next day.

[markserletic 24]

Omissions: Why is it that they craft a hammer that Irons never uses as a hammer? It just turns into a gun/magnet.

 

Also, why can't Sparks just make some robotic leg braces? She already made a weaponized laser chair!

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

Also I can't tell if "Big Willy" the arcade manager was meant to be more social commentary, were people blaming video games for gun violence as early as 97, and his scheme was just a very literal portrayal of it?

 

Doom had been out for 4 years by then.

[seancarroll 26]

Here is the "Second Opinion" song I performed for this episode, but with a pick.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

it should have been a dead giveaway for his secret identity.

 

"Yeah, we're looking for an African-American male, 7 ft tall, approximately 350 lbs, and wielding what looks like a large railroad hammer."

 

"Oh, like John Henry..."

 

*sighs* "Yes, like John Henry...Wait a tick. John Henry? John Henry...Irons? Oh. My. God. I think I've cracked the case!"

 

Although a lot of other comics characters with secret identities didn't get the memo either. Victor Fries was Mr. Freeze, Otto Octavius was eight-limbed Dr. Octopus, etc. Heck, even Batman took, well, forever to figure out that "Myster-E-Nigma" was "the Riddler" even with clues.

 

But the most ridiculous one of all is a Flash villain who uses rainbow beams of light as his weapon. His real name: Roy G. Bivolo.

[OoofMaGOOF 348]

Omission #2: NO comments on the hilariously awkward toothpick move?

 

If I were at the show I'd have asked if they thought it was an actor's choice, a director's choice, or if it was in the script...

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

The boring, boring, boring intro sequence. I mean wow, I almost turned it off before the credits were over. I think they were trying to go for something like the 1988 Batman, where the camera's moving all cool around abstract shapes, but it turns out that pouring molten steel is just not that interesting to watch after a minute. Also the Batman intro ends with it zooming back awesomely to the Batman icon, and I expected this to end with a Steel icon too. Instead it just slinks away in shame.

 

Those sequences were all the rage for a while. (At least Steel doesn't subject us to the atrocity that was

) It is understandable that it could be more interesting back when 3D computer graphics were a novelty, with shiny "flying logos" a neat way to show off the 3-dimensionality to an audience used to flat graphics. I was tickled to see a throwback to it in that

that consisted solely of a close-up shot flying around a detailed CG version of the glass slipper.

[MissMovies 9]

Hi again

 

I also want to know if I am the only one that chuckles that his name is "John Henry." I taught 4th grade and we had a unit on tall tales and would talk about John Henry and how he used his hammer to beat the steam powered hammer. We would listen to the song from the Disney short film, so throughout the whole movie I was singing the song in my head.

[Sievers 233]

FYI guys, they just announced on Twitter that the grammar error has been fixed on the T-Shirt and Tote Bag.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

But seriously, is there any superhero transportation lamer than being a scrub on the passenger side of a dump truck driven by your elderly sidekick?

 

Maybe...

 

 

 

(Editorial: Aquaman is dumb. And casting Jason Momoa to play him in a movie just makes him dumber.)

Eeeehhhhhh....I can't get on the Aquaman hate bandwagon. He's actually pretty badass (Superfriends notwithstanding). Starting around the time of Infinite Crisis, he started getting awesome.

 

Also, Jason Momoa is the least of that movie's problems.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

So, what IS the deal with how this movie fits in to the Superman universe? If it was going to tie in to an unmade Superman movie, why are there no indications that Superman (or any other superhero, or any supervillain) ever existed as a person in-world rather than as a fictional character? Dropping the phrase "man of steel" out of context is an in-joke that isn't supposed to refer to Superman in-movie. The Superman tattoo doesn't mean that Superman is real rather than an icon, especially if John Henry Irons is supposed to plausibly be Superman. Even the one time they do actually say "the S word" it's more of a fourth-wall-breaking joke to the audience, in the manner of another DC movie of the time's "This is why Superman works alone." At least the Halle Berry Catwoman movie went all the way in never referring to any other aspect of the Batman universe besides Catwoman herself.

I'm not sure where Paul got that from. Quincy Jones intentionally took away a lot of Steel's Superman ties for the comics and has said he wanted to make him more of a working class Batman.

 

I've never heard the rumor before that this was supposed to be tied in to Superman Lives. My best guess is that someone realized it was based on one of the Supermen from after the Death of Superman event from the early 90s. Superman Lives was supposed to tackle that same storyline, so I'm guessing somewhere along the way, someone speculated that they were going to be related films.

 

(Also, totally unrelated, but it bothered me more than it probably should have that they couldn't figure out whether the lead actress' name was Annabel or Annabeth for the whole episode)

[DanEngler 5249]

 

Could not get the image out of my head.

It is this sort of stunt, pulled early in their relationship, that left June with a lifelong fear of robots.

[SaltPeanuts 479]

There was another possible dick joke. Around 1:05:05 Sparks says to Steel "you're about to get the blues", and then right after Steel gets shot right in his armor-covered balls. Blue balls!

[Cam Bert 8145]

Hey everybody. Last week of work for me before winter break, so not sure how much time I'll have to talk here, but while I have some time this evening I just want to point out two quick things that really left me scratching my head a little.

 

1. I can't recall if this was mentioned on here earlier or on the show but where exactly is the camera mounted on Steel? It can somehow broadcast imagines of things happening in front of him, behind him, and wherever pertinent information is being had without Steel or the camera moving.

 

2. Was it just me or were there more references to Batman in this movie than Superman? I know they said that the comic stuff was all junked, but Sparks is clearly Oracle and Batman is referenced like three times. I mean even the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films had more Superman references than a movie based on a Superman character.

 

Also, I don't really get what the guy was saying about seeing it as a Rashomon situation. Typically this refers to multiple stories about a singular event from different points of view of eye witnesses or those enveloped.

 

Anyway, that's it for now. No funny Japanese name this week, will miss talking to you all.

[Cam Bert 8145]

Okay, I have some extra time so let me dissect the John Hawkes scene and why it bugs me. So as any old school comic fan knows there is the classic scene of the hero stopping a robber and leaving them for the police. Some use their super human strength to wrap them in steel girders or lampposts, others like Spider-Man tie them up and leave a note. Steel seemingly does this with John Hawkes and tells the opera couple to tell the police where he is. Two things about this. First, Steel pinned John Hawkes off the ground to a metal post via a steel pin that went through his flannel shirt. If John Hawkes were to simply raise his arms he'd slip right out of the flannel shirt, He may be cold on the walk home, but he'd be free. Also, even though he's a slight man his entire weight is being supported by the neck of the shirt. Between a combination of gravitational forces and the stress put on the shirt via his struggling chances are the shirt would begin to rip and he'd be free yet again. This was by no means a slam dunk, or should I say free throw in the case of this movie, way of detaining the mugger.

 

Secondly, Steel tells the couple the let the police know where the mugger is. He's not privy to the information that 911 is going to a recording so he has no idea that the police are not on their way. So the burden then becomes for that couple to stay by the pay phone calling 911 repeatedly until they can get through, and then they have to wait for the cops to arrive and take them to where the mugger is pinned. Now given the average response time to 911 can range from 4 minutes to 20 minutes we have to factor in that this is a simple mugging in downtown LA where the items have already been returned and suspect potentially detained. I would be hard pressed to imagine that this is a priority for the police. So between phoning and waiting that couple could have to wait up to 30 minutes to guide the cops to where John Hawkes is hanging, assuming his hasn't slipped out of his shirt or have it rip on him, and for what? For his lawyers to cop a plea and him to serve probation on electronic monitoring? Seems like a lot of work for little gain.

[ColleenMoravec 0]

I spent most of this movie confused by Judd Nelson's character. 1.) He seems to be evil for no reason? He seems like he's hitting on that politician in the beginning but then just wants to kill people for no reason? 2.) His "bad guy" acting seems to be predominantly eye fucking everyone. Seriously creepy.

 

Is this movie really just about dicks? So many dick metaphors.