Episode 186 - Geostorm: LIVE!

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

So when Gerard Butler's daughter was watching TV and anxiously awaiting her father's fate on board the space station, I was wondering how any TV network managed to get such glorious high-definition footage of something that is happening IN ORBIT. Does this local station have HD cameras in OUTER SPACE now?

 

 

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

damn that was good acting. i think R. Lee Ermey thought alot of us what swearing really was

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j3_iPskjxk

[RyanSz 3140]

damn that was good acting. i think R. Lee Ermey thought alot of us what swearing really was

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j3_iPskjxk

It's because of that great role I now use the term "unfuck" in my life. Also RIP R. Lee Ermey.

[emillion 4]

So... long timer-first timer opening up an account here for the sole purpose of pointing out that computer wizz, Zazie Beetz, grammar-nazies Jim Sturgess for saying “This is bigger than you and me”, even though he’s actually the one who’s right.

 

This bothers me more than it should. I’m sorry...

[Cam Bert 8145]

Of the many, many things this movie did not understand one of the ones that bothered me most was it's complete ignorance of time zones. At one point in the movie you have a hail storm going on in Tokyo while an arctic front is freezing Rio De Janeiro. Fun fact if you were to drill a hole straight through the Earth from Japan, guess where it would end up? That's right Brazil! They are literally on opposite sides of the Earth so if it is day time in Brazil it would be night in Japan. Yet the two events are happening during both of their days but are suppose to be happening at the same time. Once the storm starts in Brazil we are given a count down clock that states an hour and a half until the geostorm. When the geostorm starts where do we see it hit? Moscow, Dubai, and Mumbai. What do all those places have in common? They are all in Asia which again is on the opposite side of the Earth as Brazil which means all these geostorms would be happening in the dead of night or wee hours of the morning yet they are happening in the middle of their days too!! I mean I get it. Nobody wants to see a dust storm or tidal wave at night. It's just boring and dark, plus their wouldn't have been as many innocent people milling about to murder. But couldn't they have pick different cities though?

[taylor anne photo 11311]

An excellent observation from my wife:

 

When Gerard Butler is introduced to his team of scientists, they give him a bunch of sass for 5-10 minutes or so, and then near the end of the scene he says his name and they're all like: "You mean you're THE Jake Lawson?!" And yet . . .

When I mentioned this episode to my mom, who saw this in theaters with me, she asked if they brought up the fact that his name was on his shirt the whole time they were confused about who he was.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

• Secondly, wouldn't it be easier to make Ed Harris the VP so that he is more clearly bad guy with the most to benefit? Its not as if Ed Harris was doing Secretary of State type things throughout the movie anyway and the only time we see the VP is during the speech.
  

I started wondering if they were trying to take a dig at Hillary Clinton for being the former SoS that then wanted to become President...

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Okay I promise my last comment in a row but I needed to write this down before I forgot.

 

This weekend I took up the call of Jason and asked my mom, a former American Airlines flight attendant, about how gross everything is on planes. She said that they never thought about the water but yeah he is probably right. They do replace the water after every flight, but there is no gaurantee that they clean the giant tubs that the water goes in. She also said that they all drink the water and wash their hands as normal without a second thought, but she was horrified to hear that people go into those bathrooms barefoot (actually was horrified to hear people take their shoes off on planes at all). Also was horrified to hear that people still use the blankets and pillows because those NEVER EVER GET CLEANED (as we can see from Nicole's terrifying tale of Delta).

[Cameron H. 23786]

Great episode!

 

I have, what might be, a controversial suggestion.

 

I love June and I think she's a great co-host, but I also get that between work and family she hasn't been able to participate as much as she used to. So I was thinking, what if June were to be the "in-studio" co-host and Jessica St. Clair to be the "live" co-host? I feel like this would play to both of their strengths, while still leaving them both plenty of time for their other projects.

 

I think they're both absolutely fantastic, I really don't want to see either JDR or JSC leave. I know, I'm being greedy, but I think this might be an awesome opportunity.

 

(I apologize if this is overstepping my bounds or none of my business.)

[RyanSz 3140]

Okay I promise my last comment in a row but I needed to write this down before I forgot.

 

This weekend I took up the call of Jason and asked my mom, a former American Airlines flight attendant, about how gross everything is on planes. She said that they never thought about the water but yeah he is probably right. They do replace the water after every flight, but there is no gaurantee that they clean the giant tubs that the water goes in. She also said that they all drink the water and wash their hands as normal without a second thought, but she was horrified to hear that people go into those bathrooms barefoot (actually was horrified to hear people take their shoes off on planes at all). Also was horrified to hear that people still use the blankets and pillows because those NEVER EVER GET CLEANED (as we can see from Nicole's terrifying tale of Delta).

Things in public that are used by everyone everyday are never going to be fully cleaned and at best will be somewhat hospitable since the cleaning crews working in these areas are usually lowest bidder companies. Having worked in a public library for nearly fourteen years now I can attest to how utterly disgusting the public is. People think I'm joking when I say that if you used a black light on a library it would glow bright enough to see from space, but I'm not kidding at all. We literally had three teens SHIT IN THEIR HANDS and smear it on a chair for literal shits and giggles. Then the amount of fooling around by people or hobos getting sick or coming inside with soiled clothes. So whenever you're in public, just realize there is bodily grossness around you somewhere and then just push it to the back of your mind.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

Great episode!

 

I have, what might be, a controversial suggestion.

 

I love June and I think she's a great co-host, but I also get that between work and family she hasn't been able to participate as much as she used to. So I was thinking, what if June were to be the "in-studio" co-host and Jessica St. Clair to be the "live" co-host? I feel like this would play to both of their strengths, while still leaving them both plenty of time for their other projects.

 

I think they're both absolutely fantastic, I really don't want to see either JDR or JSC leave. I know, I'm being greedy, but I think this might be an awesome opportunity.

 

(I apologize if this is overstepping my bounds or none of my business.)

 

I'm loving St. Clair and support any plan to get her in more episodes.

[ChunkStyle 1160]

Great episode!

 

I have, what might be, a controversial suggestion.

 

I love June and I think she's a great co-host, but I also get that between work and family she hasn't been able to participate as much as she used to. So I was thinking, what if June were to be the "in-studio" co-host and Jessica St. Clair to be the "live" co-host? I feel like this would play to both of their strengths, while still leaving them both plenty of time for their other projects.

 

I think they're both absolutely fantastic, I really don't want to see either JDR or JSC leave. I know, I'm being greedy, but I think this might be an awesome opportunity.

 

(I apologize if this is overstepping my bounds or none of my business.)

 

I don't think I'd vote for a structured change like this, but I completely understand the sentiment of wanting Jessica involved on a permanent basis. She fits in perfectly. I'm for the laissez-faire approach and I imagine everyone involved in the show will have projects in the future that will give her more co-hosting opportunities if she is willing and able.

[PollyDarton 1807]

After the car chase between The Prez's crew in the electric car and Evil Mr. Bean, Ed Harris and one of his cronies set up a rocket launcher to take them down as they come barreling down the highway. The car comes into view as predicted and is then taken out by the launcher - bing bang boom - but the President et al were not in the car after all... that's right, they sent in a decoy while they came in from the side like Raptors on an Australian dude. Soooo... How exactly did they make this happen? Just a brick on the gas pedal and a prayer? Or was it another scenerio where they tricked some poor sap to be a decoy driver.

"Hey you, homeless guy in the underpass... you can have this car if you drive it straight ahead as fast as you can."

That car was driving awful straight for there to be no driver.

 

President Andy Garcia might not be so innocent afterall...You decide.

[Cam Bert 8145]

After the car chase between The Prez's crew in the electric car and Evil Mr. Bean, Ed Harris and one of his cronies set up a rocket launcher to take them down as they come barreling down the highway.

This just raised another question for me, and that is why did they even have a rocket launcher? Their plan was to have the president babble on at the convention while they sneak out in time for Florida to be destroyed right? When were they planning on using a rocket launcher? Where did that fit in the plan? It's a highly specialized weapon for special circumstances and not something they'd just keep in the back off their car for shits and giggles. Were they going to blow something up with it and then try to blame it on the geostrom? If so what? They flew in, so that means Ed Harris had to request for it be brought along, and now I really want to know what they had planned to use it for!

[ChunkStyle 1160]

 

That car was driving awful straight for there to be no driver.

 

 

This is the one part of the movie that is air-tight. When Secret Service Girlfriend sees what their escape vehicle is she says in disgust something along the lines of "you got a self driving cab?" If only she had read a little farther in the script she'd have known there was a HUGE payoff coming.

[PollyDarton 1807]

 

This is the one part of the movie that is air-tight. When Secret Service Girlfriend sees what their escape vehicle is she says in disgust something along the lines of "you got a self driving cab?" If only she had read a little farther in the script she'd have known there was a HUGE payoff coming.

 

Totally missed that!

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

This just raised another question for me, and that is why did they even have a rocket launcher? Their plan was to have the president babble on at the convention while they sneak out in time for Florida to be destroyed right? When were they planning on using a rocket launcher? Where did that fit in the plan? It's a highly specialized weapon for special circumstances and not something they'd just keep in the back off their car for shits and giggles. Were they going to blow something up with it and then try to blame it on the geostrom? If so what? They flew in, so that means Ed Harris had to request for it be brought along, and now I really want to know what they had planned to use it for!

 

Is there ever a reason to not have a rocket launcher?

[ChunkStyle 1160]

Totally missed that!

 

Now that I think about it just because it was a self driving car that doesn't rule out that they stuck somebody else in there. They might have put in three people as stand-ins to make sure their ruse wasn't discovered.

[tortoisebeats 113]

 

This is the one part of the movie that is air-tight. When Secret Service Girlfriend sees what their escape vehicle is she says in disgust something along the lines of "you got a self driving cab?" If only she had read a little farther in the script she'd have known there was a HUGE payoff coming.

 

Between this line about the self driving cab and the line about the President pro tempore of the Senate, I have no clue how the writers thought through the details to fill these plot holes, but the rest of the movie is so full of random nonsense.

 

Still, what a hilarious movie to sit through.

[SeaSkunk 212]

 

This is the one part of the movie that is air-tight.  When Secret Service Girlfriend sees what their escape vehicle is she says in disgust something along the lines of "you got a self driving cab?"  If only she had read a little farther in the script she'd have known there was a HUGE payoff coming.

 

My question with that scene has a few parts:

1. Bad guys were tracking the President and that's how they knew where and what to shoot, but what was the tracker? They could have cut the shower scene earlier just to have the President say something like "Oh crap, my phone has a tracker. That's how they found us under the highway in the middle of this pre-geostorm."

2. How did the three 'heroes' loop around and beat their car to the bad guys?

3. Why is the President even in on the takedown? If he dies in the takedown, bad guy gets to be President and it's his word against two crazies who kidnapped the (original) President. Mission accomplished.

 

Slightly related: How fast can cars drive in reverse?

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

 

This is the one part of the movie that is air-tight. When Secret Service Girlfriend sees what their escape vehicle is she says in disgust something along the lines of "you got a self driving cab?" If only she had read a little farther in the script she'd have known there was a HUGE payoff coming.

 

Yeah, when that line happened I remarked out loud, "Oh, that's a subtle setup."

[ChunkStyle 1160]

Does Geostorm have the biggest gap in the stakes of the A-story vs. B-story of any movie in history?

 

A-story: Plot to kill billions of people and forever change the geo-political climate of Earth. If successful the most significant event in Earth's history and even when foiled it kills tens of millions and causes hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damage.

 

B-story: Take your pick between healing the relationship of two brothers mad at each other for three years or the secret work relationship that could possibly get someone fired.

[PollyDarton 1807]

 

They also unlocked the secret of gravity in that time frame to have artificial gravity on the space station. I'd argue that is even more impressive than controlling the weather, but since it was done just so they didn't have to film so many people floating it didn't get much of a mention.

 

This fact that ChunkStyle brings up cannot be over emphasized. No one talks about it at all in this movie, rendering it as no big deal but the invention and implementation of artificial gravity is HUGE. If you're into space stuff I highly recommend Mary Roach's book "Packing for Mars" and while I cannot give Ms. Roach justice by trying to regurgitate her eloquent research about space travel, I can summarize part of it this way: without artificial gravity humanity will never really be able to truly explore outer space... at least in person. It is one of the biggest puzzle pieces to long term space exploration.

I totally agree that they probably had to film it this way because of money (and maybe they didn't even want to try after Gravity's success a few years prior), but it is funny to me that they gloss over something so profound.

In the world of this film I can only hope that someone off in the background is utilizing this new technology to send a ship of pilgrims into space to find a new planet since earth is effectively broken.

[SeaSkunk 212]

Also, we've developed an entire new generation of satellites and other tech, but still ride the same shuttles into space from the 1980's?

 

PS- "Packing for Mars" is an amazing book. My favorite part was describing people testing space toilet prototypes by going up in the Vomit Comet and having to poop in the brief period of weightlessness on the descent.

[Hosey 8]

I just want to say this episode was amazing. I listened to it twice consecutively, over the course of a few commutes. So many great bits.

 

"Italian meatball hero"

 

"No has ever felt safe around Ed Harris!"

 

"... laying on the floor, possibly having commited a hate crime..." (I hope there's a visual for this somewhere.)

 

 

I already love any Earwolf episode with Zouks and St. Clair, so I'm definitely biased, but I would vote yes for her to be permanent sub host.