Showing posts with label 2010's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010's. Show all posts

Monday, June 26, 2023

Doc Watch: Deepsea Challenge (2014)




Watched:  06/23/2023
Format:  YouTube
Viewing:  First
Director(s):  John Bruno, Ray Quint, Andrew Wight

Like everyone else, I spent last week keeping up with the story of the Titan, the submersible that was designed by a California firm who seemed to play pretty fast and loose with fairly common knowledge about the ways in which one usually plans and develops a vehicle intended for use 3800 meters below the ocean's surface.  As details about the Titan came out, as well as photos, my eyebrows were raised as I saw how the vehicle worked and how it looked.

Look, I'm no engineer, but you couldn't have gotten me in that thing for love or money.  I'm modestly aware of how submarines look, the need for redundancy and failsafe systems that are as robust as possible when one is not going to be in a position to be rescued should something go wrong.  And while I agree that Playstation controllers are a marvel, I also don't want to lose connectivity to my controller whilst being pulled by ocean currents.  And, really, those game paddles were seen as a sign of the clear hubris suggested by the ship's design and thumbing of the nose at well-established standards of engineering, and, in fact, physics, that I think some of us were responding to.  It was less a lack of respect for other engineers and more of a lack of respect for the danger.*

Monday, June 5, 2023

Review Watch: Spider-Man - Into the Spider-Verse (2018)




Watched:  06/02/2023
Format:  Blu-Ray
Viewing:  fifth?  I don't know

Not going to write this up, but we did a re-watch in preparation for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which we saw Saturday morning.  

This movie holds up like crazy.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

PodCast 239: "The Raid 2" - A MikeS/ Social Bobcat PodCast Episode w/ Ryan



Watched:  04/09/2023
Format:  Netflix
Viewing: First
Decade:  2010's
Director:  Gareth Evans




The Social Bobcat is back, and this time he brought a whole case of whoop-ass. Join Ryan and MikeS as we talk about the surprisingly well-developed sequel to the 2011 film that came flying out of Indonesia like a boot to the head. In this installment, we ponder sequels that increase the scope and breadth of the original and stand-alone just fine. And somehow still manage to kick a metric ton of ass.


SoundCloud 


YouTube


Music:
Prison Riot - Joseph Trapanese, Aria Prayogi, Fajar Yuskemal, The Raid 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)  
Showdown - Joseph Trapanese, Aria Prayogi, Fajar Yuskemal, The Raid 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 


Action Watch!

Monday, April 10, 2023

Superheroes Every Day Watch: Man of Steel (2013) - Part 1



Watched:  03/26/2023
Format:  HBOmax
Viewing:  third?  4th?
Director:  Zachary Snyder

Well, Danny of Superheroes Every Day has started a podcast.  To kick things off, he's selected (1) the film Man of Steel (2013) and (2) me as his guest (!) for what is a 3-part discussion about the film.  

Even at three-parts of about 40+ minutes each, I'm aware of at least two points I didn't make, so that's to say there's a LOT to say about this stab at superhero flicks by the studio that brought you Catwoman and Green Lantern.  Sure, they did those Nolan-Bat-flicks, but we know who they really are.



Thursday, March 16, 2023

PodCast 237: "Drive" (2011) - A Neo-Noir PodCast w/ SGHarms and Ryan



Watched:  03/01/2023
Format:  BluRay
Viewing: Third
Decade:  2010's
Director:  Nicolas Winding Refn




Steven and Ryan will give you an hour and twenty-two minutes. For that time, you're theirs as they talk a fairly divisive bit of neo-noir from a curious inflection point in cinema. Join us as we put the pedal to the metal and get under the hood of a cult favorite that dares to ask if you can really hammer home an idea, and is Albert Brooks just a cut up?


SoundCloud 


YouTube


Music:
Nightcall - Kavinsky
A Real Hero - College w/ Electric Youth


Noir at The Signal Watch PodCast

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

PodCast 234: "The Raid: Redemption" (2011) - Action Watch w/ MikeS and Ryan




Watched:  02/17/2023
Format:  Amazon
Viewing: Second
Decade:  2010's
Director:  Gareth Evans




YouTube


Music:
We Have Company - Mike Shinoda and Joseph Trapanese
Putting a Mad Dog Down - Mike Shinoda and Joseph Trapanese 


Action Films

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

PodCast 229: "The Addams Family" Comics, TV, Movies and More - Jamie and Ryan



Movies/ TV Watched:  
  • Addams Family (1991) 01/16/2023
  • Addams Family Values (1993)  01/17/2023
  • Addams Family (animated - 2019) 01/19/2023
  • Wednesday (2022)
  • The Addams Family (original series, 1964-1966)
Format:
  • Addams Family/ Values/ Wednesday - Netflix
  • Addams Family (animated film)/ original series - YouTube
Viewing:
  • Addams Family/ Values - Unknown
  • Addams Family (animated) - First
Director:
  • Addams Family/ Values/ Wednesday - Barry Sonenfeld
  • Addams Family (animated film) - Greg Tiernan/ Conrad Vernon



Join us as we get creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky, and all together ooky, as Jamie and Ryan talk Addams Family comic strips, television, movies and more! We ponder questions of family values, romance, and what makes an ever-evolving franchise work when it passes through so many hands as new generations get involved. And what IS movie perfection, and why is it only seen in the two Addams Family films?


SoundCloud 


YouTube



Shakespeare!


Music:
The Addams Family Theme - Vic Mizzy
Addams Groove - Hammer


What is Love? Playlist




Sunday, January 1, 2023

Marvel Watch: Captain America - The First Avenger (2011)





Watched:  12/31/2022
Format:  Disney+
Viewing:  ha ha....  no idea
Director:  Joe Johnston

This was actually the last movie I watched in 2022.  I have cedar fever something fierce, so it was not really time to watch something new I'd never seen before.  So in between naps, I watched a favorite.

The movie has flaws, and maybe even feels like it's part of a wave of movies that came before the Marvel-era, which makes sense.  Directed by Hollywood staple Joe Johnston and with an eye toward what I'd consider the 1960's-era of WWII movies which inspired the Howling Commando comics it borrows from, it's also got a terrific old school story about a guy with a good heart and the girl who believes in him.  I recall concern when the movie was being made and headed to release that Captain America was too old fashioned and not in line with the view of today - not like hip, wise-cracking Tony Stark - and that's missing the point of Cap.  And the line Cap draws from what we know and acknowledge as outright evil in humanity worth fighting, and that that brand of heroism and clarity of purpose is something that absolutely makes sense in any era.

It's a Marvel villain who is truly villainous, not someone with a perspective worth considering - from the comics, I have wanted to hit the Red Skull with a sledgehammer for years before the movie, and the movie *nails it*.  

The pacing of the movie is also flatly incredible.  A two-hour run-time, it covers over a year of time, something other Marvel films don't ever really do, even if they include flashbacks (see: Captain Marvel).  I kept trying to find a place to pause the movie to do things that needed doing, and suddenly I was looking at the flying wing and knew we were in the last twenty minutes.  

And, of course, an all-star cast, which is maybe the secret-sauce to Marvel Phases 1 and 2.  Sure, Chris Evans was somewhat known, and Sebastian Stan, Hayley Atwell and Dominic Cooper unknowns here, but Tommy Lee Jones, Toby Jones, Stanley Tucci and Hugo Weaving?  Not a bad foundation of talent to make sure the kids knew what was what.  Throw in Neal McDonough as Dum-Dum and the rest of the Howling Commandos, and it's a fascinating mix.  

Anyway - this movie also produced one of the longer podcasts we did early on.  




Monday, December 12, 2022

Hallmark Holiday Watch: Lucky Christmas (2011)

for the record, I don't believe there's any snow in this movie



Watched:  12/10/2022
Format:  Peacock (apparently now carrying old Hallmark movies...)
Viewing:  First
Director:  Gary Yates

So, did I watch this 11-year-old, largely forgotten Hallmark movie because it stars Elizabeth Berkely, she of Jessie Spano of Saved by the Bell fame?  

Buddy, you know I did.  

Let's get to it. 

Is the movie good?  No.  

Is it Berkley's fault?  In no way.  She's doing what she can here.

Sunday, December 11, 2022

Friday Holiday Watch Party: A Christmas Melody (2015)




Watched:  12/09/2022
Format:  Amazon Watch Party
Viewing:  First
Director:  Mariah Carey (...I KNOW!)

I thought it was very strange that A Christmas Melody (2015) does not play more on Hallmark's two 24/7 Christmas movies channels.  It stars Hallmark favorite Lacey Chabert and America's Accidental Christmas Mascot, Mariah Carey, with a supporting role from the omnitalented Kathy Najimy.  I mean - seems like a winner, as far as Hallmark goes.  I was wondering if Carey had some deal that made it financially onerous for Hallmark to run the movie, or there was some extenuating circumstance.  But, no.

Friends, this movie isn't very good.  

I mean, sure, you could blame the fact they gave a whole movie to Mariah Carey to direct (no, she did direct it), but something is wrong at the script stage and it feels like 2015 was a year Hallmark's writers were still figuring out the formula and forgot to do things like give the male romantic lead any inner life so he doesn't seem creepy.  

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Holiday Watch: A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)




Watched:  11/30/2022
Format:  HBOmax
Viewing:  Second
Director:  Todd Strauss-Schulson

Look, I'd seen this once back in 2012 and that was it for me, but Jamie is currently dealing with COVID, and so we're not looking for movies that are downers or super complicated at the moment.  

And so it was that after approximately 45 seconds of looking, I tuned into A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas (2011) - a movie that a mere 11 years later could never be made.  It's still relatively funny, but I'm also far older than I was when the first Harold and Kumar movie hit in 2004.  So, you kind of have to put yourself into the mental state of the early 00's and then the shift to adulthood that this final installment reflects.  

But, yeah, its maybe the last gasp of a string of movies featuring dudes behaving badly for yuks and a pre-#MeToo worldview that impacts a lot of key punchlines.  Also:  baby doing drugs (this absolutely does not hold up).  And, of course, the charm of a stoner comedy doesn't necessarily hold up over time for reasons so complicated and out of the scope of this blog that I don't feel like getting into it - but I'll say "aside from their musical selections, stoners are mostly deeply boring and tedious IRL."

As left and right horseshoed into overlapping end-states driven by differing concerns, the movie landscape has become a very different and more...  concerned place, in a way not really seen since the early 1960's.  It's not that you can't make a movie like this - no one is stopping you, but it's often not seen as something for a general audience or theatrical release.  Stuff like this now feels like it's a Netflix or Hulu drop.  

It is also super weird that Kumar had spent a couple years in the White House and filmed this during a sabbatical.  

Saturday, October 29, 2022

PodCast 220: "Halloween Trilogy" (2018, 2021, 2022) - a Halloween PodCast w/ MRSHL and Ryan




Watched:  10/20 and 10/22/2022
Format:  HBOmax and Peacock
Viewing:   Second/ First
Decade:  2020's
Director:  David Gordon Green





To wrap up Halloween 2022, Marshall and Ryan take on the more recent trilogy of sequels based upon John Carpenter's 1970's ground-breaking classic, that spanned 2018-2022. We drive relentlessly through three movies, slashing our way through narrative complexity, taking down the multitude of ideas presented, slaying any questions about what the movie is trying to do, and staring into the abyss as we try to figure out what, exactly, is staring back.


SoundCloud 


YouTube


Music:
Halloween Theme - John Carpenter 
Halloween Ends - John Carpenter 


Halloween 2022 Playlist



All Halloween and Horror PodCasts

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

PodCast 208 D: "Inhumans" (2017) - Episodes 7 & 8 - A Superheroes Every Day PodCast w/ Danny and Ryan

 




Well. Against all sense or reason, we did it. Our final episode of intense coverage of Marvel's "Inhumans" comes to lengthy conclusion as we try to figure out what is happening and why and to whom and if anyone might care. We'll ponder Rubbermaid storage on the Moon, moonquakes, and trying to use the same hallway set over and over. Let's ponder a royal family you might just want to rise up against yourself.


SoundCloud 


YouTube


Music:
Paint It Black - Valerie Broussard
Don't Fear the Reaper - Denmark & Winters 



Superheroes Every Day Playlist

Saturday, September 24, 2022

PodCast 208 C: "Inhumans" (2017) - Episodes 5 & 6 - A Superheroes Every Day PodCast w/ Danny and Ryan

this show contains a shocking amount of loitering in the woods 




Oh, the Inhumanity! We reach the plodding 5th and 6th episodes, which feel like a whole lot of filler and not a lot of thriller. Once you get past realizing Dave is one hell of a right-on dude, you're in for more casual disregard for the sanctity of life, slow working drug dealers, and trying to remember Sammy is on the show. Oh, and Maximus is very, very sensitive. Mostly, the show is filling space and killing time til we can get to the final two episodes.


SoundCloud 


YouTube


Music:
Paint It Black - Valerie Broussard
Don't Fear the Reaper - Denmark & Winters 


Superheroes Every Day Playlist!

Monday, September 5, 2022

PodCast 208 B: "Inhumans" (2017) - Episodes 3 & 4 - A Superheroes Every Day PodCast w/ Danny and Ryan

contrary to this image, this show is not about two women about to present at a conference




More Coverage:

Danny and Ryan discuss episodes 3 and 4 of the ongoing tale of a bunch of mutant moon men kicking around Hawaii - all part of a TV series which made Marvel decide network TV was probably a terrible idea. Let alone doing it on a budget. Join us as we recount the puzzling adventures of our "heroes".


SoundCloud 


YouTube


Music:
Paint It Black - Valerie Broussard
Don't Fear the Reaper - Denmark & Winters 


Superheroes Every Day Playlist

Monday, August 29, 2022

PodCast 208 A: "Inhumans" (2017) - Episodes 1 & 2 - A Superheroes Every Day PodCast w/ Danny and Ryan



Watched:  August 2022
Format:  Disney+
Viewing: First
Decade:  2010's




For some reason, Danny and Ryan are talking Marvel's biggest failure - the 2017 attempt at a network TV adaptation of one of Marvel's highest concepts. The show dares to ask the question "sure, that's a neat idea, but what if we eliminated everything interesting about it?" We discuss the first two episodes (of eight) of the ill-fated show, and ponder what, exactly, was going on at Marvel and ABC?


SoundCloud 


YouTube


Music:
Paint It Black - Valerie Broussard
Don't Fear the Reaper - Denmark & Winters 


Superheroes Every Day

Sunday, April 10, 2022

Doc Watch: American Grindhouse (2010)




Watched:  04/08/2022
Format:  Amazon?
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010
Director:  Elijah Drenner

This doc felt weirdly slight, and I see now it was 80 minutes.  It traces the history of film from its origins to what sorts of theaters carried schlocky, sexy, or violent films not produced by the studios.  

But... it's weirdly focused on just New York and LA, forgetting these movies had audiences all over, and never curious about how they were (or were not) seen in the rest of the country.  I'm not sure I buy of the main theses of the film, that the studios started making "grindhouse" movies because of the end of the vertical integration of studios and theaters that dissolved post WWII.  But I would agree that eventually studios got involved with content formerly reserved for the grindhouse market.  I'd just point to studios trying to differentiate from what was on TV once the Hays Code fell apart and the rating system came to be.  

There are pretty good interviews, including Eddie Muller, and some creators of some classic schlock, much of which I haven't gotten around to seeing (pitching a 'Women in Cages' movie to Jamie is not as easy as one would believe).  And I've never come across availability of Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS.  But I was pleased with which ones I'd seen.  I think they gave Russ Meyers and his real legacy basically no consideration, and it's weird.  There's no mention of kung-fu or other genre.  Instead, they seem to want to follow a thread to porn that I'm not sure works if you remember actual porn theaters existing and that was an adjacent but not entirely related thing.  

In short - it's fine, but feels... debatable?  Like the narratives only work if you aren't thinking too hard.




Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Doc Watch: You Don't Nomi (2019)




Watched:  03/29/2022
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Director:  Jeffrey McHale

After watching and podcasting Showgirls, I believe Justin (and then Paul) suggested I watch the documentary You Don't Nomi (2019) a sort of retrospective investigating how we can view the 1995 film, seen as a catastrophe at the time of release but which has been reconsidered as a camp classic in the intervening years.  The doc features multiple reviewers, entertainers and others engaging with the film.  No small amount of the original film is seen as the movie leverages the idea of fair-use in investigating and transforming the source material - and so too does it liberally borrow from other films by Paul Verhoeven.  

In many ways, it's like a bit of film school packed into a tidy 1:38 or whatever it was.  Opinions are applied as fact, schools of thought as dogma.  But almost no one speaking is in total agreement.  We look at what else Verhoeven has done, we look for things he returns to, what his films say on certain topics (women!  violence!  seeeeeeeexxxx!) and try to draw conclusions.  And with Verhoeven, the answer is often that, no, he's not making a mistake or doing something goofy, he meant something specific and it wasn't there to make you feel better or confirm your biases.  All of which, were I to watch Showgirls sober, would definitely make me re-evaluate the film.  

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Parker Watch: Parker (2013)




Watched: 03/18/2022
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  Second
Decade:  2010's
Director:  Taylor Hackford

By now, I assume y'all know I'm a bit of a completionist, and I'm slowly buying the BluRays of all the movies based upon the Parker novels by Richard Stark.  Most famous of these movies include Point Blank with Lee Marvin and Payback starring Mel Gibson (which I don't own because Gibson, but probably will buy used to take him out of the money chain).  

If you're newer to the blog, when I traveled a lot for work, I read all 24 Parker novels and the Grofeld offshoots.  The movies never match the books - writer Richard Stark (real name: Donald Westlake) was not willing to let them use the name "Parker" as he was aware that the movies would differ too much from the books, and movie people tend to miss the point of Parker.  Which is 100% true.  So the movies are all oddball mutations of Parker as a character and the plots of the novels  - which, if done straight, would be fascinating stuff and probably spur a 1000 think pieces about following a character who is in no way a hero.  He is not a badguy, but he is a bad guy.

Monday, February 28, 2022

PodCast 186: "The Expendables" (2010) - w/ SimonUK and Ryan



Watched:  02/22/2022
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing: First
Decade: 2010's
Director:  Stallone




SimonUK and Ryan relive some glory days by teaming up and trying to recapture the magic of when a man could be a man by blowing up an imaginary Central American country with a drug trade. We talk the melting pot action adventure that crosses multiple decades, revived careers, and firmly believes that Charisma Carpenter should stay off the market on your behalf even if you only check in with her quarterly and won't tell her anything about yourself. But, also, Eric Roberts has a plan that makes literally no sense but seems profitable. Like the My Pillow guy.






Music:
Expendables Main Theme - Brian Tyler



SimonUK Cinema