Episode #69.2 – Dudes!

Since this week’s episode went super long (which is saying a lot for us), we cut a bunch out. But some of that bunch was not half bad. So, we thought we’d drop it here for a bonus episode. You won’t find it on iTunes, or Stitcher, or whatever fake podcast app name I come up with next. Only here on the site. Give it a listen. Or ignore it. Whatever. You’re an adult.

 

Episode #69 – Women Be Shoppin’!

It’s a slow news week. So it’s pretty much all tangents!

  • Top Gun 2 “definitely happening”
  • Tom Holland is Nathan Drake….?
  • More like Alien: Covenope
  • Fantastic Beasts 2 will have a script!
  • SNL loses another cast member.
  • The creator and stars of Hannibal up for more Hannibal.
  • Floriana Lima won’t be around as much for Supergirl season 3
  • Stephen Amell, Arrow Ninja Warrior
  • Lois & Clark reboot? No.
  • Hanna: The Series
  • Ellen, stand up!
  • Ride some Guardians (and whatever else Marvel/Disney may have planned).
  • Zack Snyder deals with a tragedy as Joss Whedon steps in to help.
  • Justice League Dark loses its director, again.
  • The Flash script is done, and good, and The Batman will face some villains.
  • Deadpool gets a new villain to face.
  • New Mutants will be scary.
  • Silver and Gold Black.
  • James Gunn holsters his Guardians 3 plans (for now) while Guardians 2 outgrosses Guardians 1.

All that, the Weekly Watched, and all the tangents. Like, all of them.

As always, please check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Don’t forget to rate/review us on iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d really appreciate it!

Weekend Watch – 5/26/17

Welcome to the Weekend Watch. Where we try to point you towards the best ways to spend your viewing time (or, at least, steer you clear of the garbage).

Movies

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Loren: I was totally into this as the Pirates movies have been a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine (except for that abysmal 4th movie), but the critics have not been kind. I may check it out for myself this weekend.

RDT: Capt. Jack Sparrow works best as a side character, sparingly, not as a lead. I am 100% out of this franchise.

Rick: Despite having avoided the last one like the plague, I’m mildly interested in this. Bringing the original cast back together is probably the best thing they could have done with this series. I mean, apart from giving less screen time to Johnny Depp. Adding Javier Bardem as the villain is just enough to entice me into watching. Probably from my couch, though.

Jen: This does not look as bad as the previous to outings, which, to be fair, I have not seen. It feels like there’s a lot going on at this point in the franchise and I’m too lazy to even look up the Wikipedia summary to see where we left off. I’m out but only due to laziness.


Baywatch

Loren: And yet on this one I’ve been kinda out on since the first trailer. It’s weird I love the cast, and thought the Jump St. movies were a ton of fun, but this does nothing for me. I’ll check it out streaming/Redbox down the road.

RDT: I know the reviews aren’t great, but I kinda don’t care. It looks funny enough. I could see myself catching it on an upcoming Saturday afternoon.

Rick: I’m sure this leans way more terrible than good, but it looks just silly and self-aware enough that I can tune out and enjoy how ridiculous it is.

Jen: I agree with all of the above. This is likely silly, but the cast is so charming and aware of their own silliness and that may just carry it.


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Episode #68 – Well That’s It. We Talked About TV.

This week, the guys cover some movie news and ALL THE TV NEWS!!! AGAIN!!!
Seriously though, it’s that time of year and after last weeks deep dive, the networks released a whole mess of trailer for their mediocre new shows! Yay!

  • Zac Efron will play Peg Ted Bundy
  • Mamma Mia, Here we go again
  • David Ayer signs on for Scarface
  • Angela Bassett takes over for Alec Baldwin in MI6
  • Godzilla adds a couple cast members
  • ABC trailers
  • NBC trailers
  • CBS trailers
  • Fox trailers
  • CW Trailers
  • Wonder Woman might actually be good *fingers crossed*
  • And Tom Hardy might be Eddie Brock, Mac Gargon, or Flash Thompson

All that, the Weekly Watched, and just a couple tangents.

As always, please check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Don’t forget to rate/review us on iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d really appreciate it!

Weekend Watch – 5/19/17

Welcome to the Weekend Watch. Where we try to point you towards the best ways to spend your viewing time (or, at least, steer you clear of the garbage).

Movies

Alien: Covenant

Loren: Apparently I actually need to see Prometheus first, which I still haven’t done. Watching that trailer I was thinking oh this actually looks pretty ok, until that shower scene. Then I was like nah, I’m just going to go watch the original Alien instead.

RDT: Post-Prometheus (a gorgeous piece-of-shit of a movie), I have little to no desire to see this. Idle curiosity and an eventual boring Saturday afternoon will get me to see it, but that is months away and on some kind of streaming service.

Rick: You’ve done it, Hollywood. You made an Alien movie that is actually an Alien rip-off. That’s…that’s amazing. Also, you made this instead of the far more interesting Neill Blomkamp-shepparded sequel to Aliens (1986), which had both James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver’s endorsement. This movie is literally why we can’t have nice things.

Jen: I was good at Aliens. I don’t really need anymore of these movies. Thanks, though.


Everything, Everything

Loren: Didn’t we already do this movie? Isn’t this just a gender swapped The Fault in Our Mars?

RDT: I am not the audience for this movie. (Rick wins, by the way…)

Rick: I prefer the title The Fault in Our SARS. This might be wonderfully sappy for the right crowd, but all I could think of while I watched the trailer was this scene from the Jake Gyllenhaal classic, Bubble Boy jake gyllenhaal bubble boy GIF

Jen: I dunno guys, this feels a little more like A Walk to Remember: dying girl falls in love with boy family doesn’t approve of…I’m sure 13 year-old girls will swoon for it.


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Episode #67 – Dr. Show meets Lawyer McLawyer

This week, the guys cover some movie news and ALL THE TV NEWS!!! Seriously, it’s insane.

  • Hellboy rebooted
  • Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland not staring in a zombie movie
  • King Arthur was apparently a movie some people might have seen
  • Too much tv news to list (cause I’m super lazy right now)
  • Ma Kent hates the Justice League
  • Josh Gad disagrees with Josh Gad over whether Josh Gad will be playing The Penguin or not
  • New Mutants casting confirmed and unconfirmed

All that, the Weekly Watched, and a few not-so-brief tangents.

As always, please check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Don’t forget to rate/review us on iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d really appreciate it!

Weekend Watch – 05/12/2017

 

Welcome to the Weekend Watch. Where we try to point you towards the best ways to spend your viewing time (or, at least, steer you clear of the garbage).

 

Movies

 

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Loren: Someday Charlie Hunnam will do something good. Today is not that day.

RDT: 23% on Rotten Tomatoes (as of right now). Seems pretty spot on to me.

Rick: Sweet Jesus, Warner Bros. Why do we need a CGI’d, tatted up, dude-bro version of Excalibur? I’m good, thanks. I’ll go back and watch John Boorman’s version instead.

Jen: We finally have the gritty reboot of the King Arthur legend we’ve all been clamoring for. Wait, you mean no one was asking for this? Then… why?


Snatched

Loren: I kinda got all I wanted from Amy Schumer’s movies in Trainwreck. Can we just get more of her TV show instead?

RDT: I wouldn’t say I’m part of the Amy Schumer backlash, per se. I just don’t find her particularly funny anymore. Nice to see Goldie Hawn working again though.

Rick: I really like Goldie Hawn, but I…I don’t know if I can make it through this one.

Jen: I feel like I should want to see this, but… meh. Maybe when it’s streaming and I’m through half a bottle of wine?


Lowriders

Loren: It’s like a Sons of Anarchy Reunion up in here. I don’t know how I feel about this movie though. It doesn’t look like it’s good enough to give you a good understanding of the subject matter. Maybe I’d just rather watch a documentary about Latino culture in East LA.

RDT: I’ve watched 8 Fast & Furious movies recently. I’m good.

Rick: While I enjoy me some Demián Bichir (The Bridge) and appreciate that the criminal aspect to the story isn’t the typical drugs/guns/murder trope, I don’t know that I’ll ever get around to this.

Jen: I am not the target audience for this one. At all. Continue reading

#Family – RDT’s Official Ranking of the Films in the Fast & Furious Franchise

If you follow our Twitter, you know I (RDT) recently completed an epic rewatch of the Fast & Furious franchise. You’d think it was because I needed a refresher before The Fate of the Furious was released. But, in actuality, a coworker and I were scheduled to debate the best film in the series. In front of our whole office. For real. I wore a tie and jacket!

Anyway, he was Tokyo Drift. (No, really.) My choice, as well as the results of the debate, will be revealed below. To prepare, I felt it worth revisiting them all, though this time in chronological order.

So, without further ado, and with a little help via Flickchart, let’s get to it, starting at the bottom.

2 Fast, 2 Furious                fast and furious brian oconner tyrese gibson fast five tokyo drift GIF

Because when you can’t get Vin Diesel, you get Tyrese, amirite? After The Fast and The Furious was a surprise hit, Universal immediately put a sequel into development. But Vin Diesel doesn’t didn’t do sequels. Hoping to change his mind, but still hedging their bets, two scripts were written. One with and one without Dominic Toretto. Obviously, Vin passed (wisely), and we got Roman Pearce (sigh….). I give them a little (very little) credit for not just emulating Toretto with another stoic gearhead. But I’m still not sure Tyrese was the way to go. All in all, this movie is terrible, pretty much unwatchable. Uninteresting leads, comically over-the-top villain and just boring car stuff.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift movie the fast and the furious tokyo drift lucas black GIF

Third in the series (though sixth-ish in the timeline), this attempt at a franchise reboot was, in a word, unsuccessful. Critical failure and box office disappointment, it nearly killed the series. Admittedly, this movie is well directed (director Justin Lin would go on to helm three more movies in the franchise). The car stuff is pretty good. And we get our first look at Han, a beloved, integral character carried through the next four movies. Unfortunately, despite all that, in the end, it’s really no more than a poor man’s Karate Kid with cars.

Fast and Furious                paul walker brian oconner fast furious fastedit GIF

The original crew is back together, this time without the “the’s”! Brian, Dom, Mia and Letty (oh, not so fast, Letty) return to….fight…..Mexican drug lords…..I think? This movie is watchable. It’s nice to see everyone together again, and there’s some great Brian/Dom moments. But, at the end of the day, it’s pretty forgettable. So much so that I’m not 100% sure that gif is from this movie.

The Fate of the Furious the rock bros dwayne johnson jason statham fate of the furious GIF

The most recent release, just a few weeks ago, and the first to go into production since Paul Walker’s death, #F8 might be too much of a “good” thing. The dialogue is atrocious, the action ridiculous, the plot contrived, but still, I enjoyed the hell out of it. I may will see it again. Why rate it so low? Honestly, I just like the other ones more. The Hobbs solo and Hobbs/Shaw stuff is pretty great, though. Oh and Helen Mirren is in it. Helen Mirren!!! God damn, I love these movies (except 2, and most of 3).

The Fast and the Furious paul walker vin diesel the fast and the furious films ive watched rob cohen GIF

Ahh, original flavor. It’s a franchise that currently deals in international hackers and Russian subs, but started with street racers highjacking semi-trucks for DVD players. Point Break ripoff that it is, you can’t deny the sheer watchability of it. It’s not a great movie. It may not even be a good movie. But it’s enjoyable as hell and these leads fucking exude chemistry. I watch this and understand why 4 revitalized the franchise. I just like these characters. But where’s Leon?

Fast & Furious 6                 movies film fight total film features GIF

I have to be honest, right up until the epic rewatch, I considered 6 just as forgettable as 4, maybe more so. Sure, it’s a little soap-y (I’m looking at you, amnesiac Letty), the villain doesn’t quite standout (Owen “The Lesser” Shaw), and the plot is inconsequential. But I don’t care. This is prime Hobbs, covered in sweat (even at night), dropping dialogue the likes of which I want engraved on my tombstone (“They hit like thunder and disappear like smoke.”). Plus, they take on, and defeat, a tank. A TANK! And that’s not even the final action sequence. This one, even more so than Five, establishes what this franchise will be going forward (street racers who are now top secret government agents because why not?).

Furious 7                      paul walker GIF

Look, you can’t talk about this movie and not mention the elephant in the room: Paul Walker’s tragic, and ironic, death in a high speed car accident. He had only finished about 50% of his scenes when it happened. Like others, I wonder what this movie would have been had he survived. I heard a rumor that Kurt Russell’s character, Mr. Nobody, would’ve been revealed as Brian’s father. **shrugs** But that’s neither here nor there. Death aside. Creepy CGI Brian aside. Obvious rewrites aside. I try to take this movie at face value. And at face value, it’s a hell of a good time. Y’all, in this one, cars (practically) fly and we (finally) get a kickass villain in Jason “The Stath” Statham’s Deckard Shaw.

Fast Five                   movies fast and furious dwayne johnson vin diesel fast five GIF

Here you have it, the end of our journey together. Fast Five, the best in the Fast & Furious franchise. If 6 showed us what this franchise would be then Five opened the door to show us what it could be. This is the one that proved this franchise is more than just racing cars (#family). Hell, there’s a street race in it and it happens off screen. All of your favorites are back, oh and Tyrese, too (sigh…). Hiding out in Brazil, Dom and Brian put a team together to take down, and steal from, a Brazilian drug kingpin, all while trying to stay one step ahead of Luke Hobbs, the DSS agent hunting them down. (Apparently, the DSS is a real thing. Who knew?) One part Ocean’s 11, one part Fugitive, and one part, well, fast cars (but not just fast cars), put them together and you’ve got, unbelievably so, a truly great movie.

That’s it. A definitive ranking of the Fast & Furious franchise.

I lost the debate, by the way. Everyone pretty much agreed mine was the better movie. But my opponent blew me out of the water with his presentation skills. His argument was that, in addition to the introduction of Han and director Justin Lin, Tokyo Drift is the purest of the franchise. It is the one that is solely about street racing and nothing else. So while Five may be the better action movie, Tokyo Drift is the better Fast & Furious movie. A flawed, but well presented, argument.

Ride or Die.

From Culver City,

–RDT

Episode #66 – Guardians of the Furious

You want pop culture news? Well you’ve come to the right place.

This week the guys are talking:

  • Rampage Details acquired from Rock Johnson’s Instagram
  • Kingsman 3 is already in the works, obviously
  • The Crow Reboot still isn’t happening don’t worry
  • Maybe because Karl Drogo and Will Ferrell are doing a movie together
  • Live, Die, Repeat, and Repeat. Ugh
  • Incredibles 2 gets scored up
  • Big Sick trailer
  • ABC picks up FOX’s leftovers and relaunches American Idol
  • No Malcolm Merlin next year
  • Marvel’s Runaways releases first cast photo. Original for comparison
  • Netflix renews 13 Reasons Why because of reasons
  • Guy Ritchie would do Suicide Squad 2 if someone asked him but he can’t, cool
  • Inhumans Cast Photo
  • Kevin Feige walks back the TV/movies won’t cross over talking point a bit
  • Guardians 3 in 3 years?
  • Why Doug Liman said Adieu to Gambit
  • Plus the guys saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and think you should too

All that, the Weekly Watched, and all the usual tangents.

As always, please check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Don’t forget to rate/review us on iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d really appreciate it!

Weekend Watch – 5/5/17

 

Welcome to the Weekend Watch. Where we try to point you towards the best ways to spend your viewing time (or, at least, steer you clear of the garbage).

Movies

 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Loren: 

RDT: 

Rick: 

Jen: 


The Dinner

Loren: Everyone else seems really into this so sure why not.

RDT: I stopped watching about 90 seconds into that trailer. I started to feel like my brain was trying to figure it out. I’d rather just watch the movie (or read the book).

Rick: Yep. Totally in for this.

Jen: A four star cast? A trailer that builds suspense and interest without giving away the whole plot? An adult drama? Yeah, I’ll check this out.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MeFmXpkryw

3 Generations

Loren: Without reading anyone else’s below I thought, “Man that was not a good trailer for what could be a pretty good movie”. Glad to see I wasn’t alone in that thinking. It started like a movie that we covered last year, whose name eludes me at the moment, but changed up with the trans story that seemed really well handled.

RDT: Regardless of the subject matter, that’s a pretty generic trailer (and, like Jen says, title), yet I’m still intrigued. I get a little bit The Kids Are Alright vibe, too. I feel no need to run out, but I’m sure it’ll stay on my radar.

Rick: Like Jen mentions below, the title is lacking. The subject matter, however, is important. In order to make the movie more accessible to younger viewers, The Weinstein Company and GLAAD successfully protested the original R-rating the film was given by the MPAA and got it down to a PG-13. I have a feeling that this will do better on home video than in theaters, but good for them for putting up a fight to help its intended audience see the film.

Jen: Generic title alert! Why they changed this from “About Ray,” I’ll never know, but I love the matter-of-factness with which Ray is dealt. Heck of a cast too, this will stay on my radar.

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