Author: Loren Elliott

Episode #181 – Comic Con 2019 Wrap Up

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There was a metric ton of news that came out of Comic Con this year and even though Loren was sick the guys suffered through to bring it to you. You’re welcome. They’ve got stories like:

All that, the Weekly Watched, and wouldn’t you know it, tangents!

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

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

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Weekend Watch – 07/19/19

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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

Wide Release

The Lion King

Loren: I, for one, am looking forward to this on pure nostalgia alone. Do we need it? Nope. Does it look as impactful as the original? Not really. Do I want to see it and hear this cast in these roles? Yes. Yes I do.

Rick: This is the absolute laziest of the of modern Disney remakes. It’s like Drawover: The Movie. It’s the family movie equivalent of Gus Van Sant’s Psycho. At this point I feel like Mr. Krabs is running Disney’s feature division, greenlighting anything that will stuff more cash onto its already overflowing coffers. Between that and the original writers/artists not getting credit or residuals, this whole exercise leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Besides that, the original movie ripped off Kimba The White Lion pretty much wholesale (Disney later settled out of court and quietly scrubbed any mention of Kimba from The Lion King’s special features on home video). I haven’t seen the original, and I will never see this remake.

Jen: Sure, I’m not *excited* for this, per se, but I am fine with it. I’ll probably see it eventually since the voice cast is stellar, but I’m not sure the talking “real” animals are any more effective for me that the animated ones.

AJ: I know I am the only one who is excited to hear John Oliver voice Zazu. But I am.

Limited Release

A Faithful Man

Loren: I do love Paris, but I think I’ll end up hating this movie.

Rick: I was interested for the hot second I thought it was going to be a thriller about whether the woman actually killed her baby-daddy. I got less so when it turned out to be a weird French farce. Meh.

Jen: I can’t believe I’m about to type this, but I want to see this movie. The premise is funny, the cast is great, I didn’t even mind the subtitles. I’m as surprised as you guys are, to be honest.

AJ: That critic that said “you can’t get more French than this”? I agree. Hee hee. But I kinda wanna see this, too, shockingly.

Supervized

Loren: No one needs Grumpy Old Supermen.

Rick: 

Jen: When did Tom Berenger get so old? See AJ’s note below for my additional feelings on the matter.

AJ: I think the premise is funny. And that is all I’ll say because I was taught to respect my elders. Continue reading →

Episode #180 – A Disgraced Nuclear Physicist

~ Loren Elliott ~ 1 Comment

Loren is back from assignment and talking entertainment news and pop culture with RDT. They’ve got stories like:

  • The Raid’s Joe Taslim joins Mortal Kombat reboot as Sub-Zero, movie will be R-Rated and feature fatalities.
  • New Power Rangers flick is a complete reboot
  • Hobbs and Shaw tracking somewhat low, $65MM
  • Ghostbusters reboot starts shooting
  • Space Invaders in development for some reason
  • Don Cheadle buys new boat and joins Space Jam 2
  • Sherlock Holmes 3 moving forward w/out Guy Ritchie
  • Movie Pass may finally be dead. Long live AMC Stubbs VIP.
  • Infinity Train finally coming next month
  • Warner streaming service confirmed to be called HBO MAX
  • What is Quibi?
  • Amazon picks up Paper Girls
  • “Adult” Flintstones reboot in development
  • Rise of the Resistance will open on Dec. 5th at WDW and Jan. 17 at Disneyland
  • Jon Favreau is already writing The Mandalorian season 2

All that, the Weekly Watched and of course tangents!

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

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

Listen on Google Play Music

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Weekend Watch – 07/12/19

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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

Wide Release

Stuber

Loren: I really like both of these guys and this looks fun. Not rush out to the theater fun, but definitely sitting at home bored on a weekend fun.

Rick: I feel like someone saw Deadpool and thought “Those bits with Dopinder and Deadpool are funny. We can make a whole movie out of that.” Also, isn’t this just the comedy version of Michael Mann’s Collateral? Regardless, despite my like for both these actors, I’m kind of meh about this.

Jen: OK, this premise *seems* dumb AND overdone, but, two things 1. Kumail Nanjiani 2. That very last gag in the warehouse with the operator made me laugh out loud for a solid minute.

AJ: This just makes my whole body hurt. That looks so… stubid.

Crawl

Loren: That definitely looked more serious than I thought it was going to. I can enjoy a killer animal movie from time to time but I can just about guarantee that the dog isn’t going to make it and that’s like one of my least favorite things in horror/action movies. I’ll wait until I get the go ahead from Rick to see this one.

Rick: It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a good killer gator/crock movie. Even if this is terrible, it’s sparked my desire to do killer animal double feature. So many options…

Jen: I saw this trailer in the theater, it played after all the other trailers and didn’t have the usual MPAA intro card or anything. Most of the audience, myself included, thought it was an ad or one of those “pretend movies where a phone rings and the character turns to the audience” But it was actually just one jump scare and my god was it effective. Enraging, but effective. I don’t plan to see this but kudos, Cinemark.

AJ: I got about :30 into that trailer before I had to stop. Enjoy it, braver people.

  Limited Release

Trespassers

Loren: This movie has been done a million times already and probably so much better. I’m all set.

Rick: This is all pretty standard stuff as modern home invasion movies go. If this clocks in at like 80 minutes I might throw it on if I’m bored. Also, I swear that house was used in Velvet Buzzsaw.

Jen: I’m guessing AirBnB didn’t help fund this, huh?

AJ: Look, all I’m saying is, when you’re on vacation and the doorbell rings late at night and someone says DON’T OPEN THE DOOR, you DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR.  Continue reading →

Weekend Watch – 07/05/19

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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

Wide Release

https://i.imgur.com/WZp4csy.jpghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt9L1jCKGnE

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Loren: 

RDT: 

Rick: 

Jen: 

AJ: Oh, we’re all doing GIFs? Ok…. 

Midsommar

Loren: Neat. It’s got a little bit of The VVitch and a little bit of The Wicker Man and this guy makes scary fucking movies. I’ll see this at some point.

RDT: I will never see this movie. But it sure does look pretty.

Rick: Well, there’s one thing writer/director Ari Aster doesn’t have to worry about: the sophomore slump. He came out of the gate last year with the criminally underseen Hereditary, and has delivered a gorgeous and unnerving followup in Midsommer. The best way to describe it is if Stanley Kubrick returned from the dead and decided to do his own riff on The Wicker Man. There isn’t a wasted shot, performance, or set piece. Aster has proven himself a true master of dread, shock, and internal turmoil. And it takes a sure craftsman to bring all of those to the fore, especially when 99% of your movie takes place in bright sunshine. I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Jen: This looks like the kind of creepy horror I could actually enjoy from the safety of Rick’s kitchen.

AJ: This trailer sort of had me til I got a glimpse of…. Was that ANIMAL GUTS? No thank you. I recommend everyone go watch 2011’s Sound of My Voice instead.

Limited Release

The Eight Hundred

Loren: I don’t know enough about our own country’s history let alone other ones.

RDT: I will never see this movie for different reasons than why I wouldn’t see the previous one above.

Rick: I know nothing of the context of this story, but this looks like China’s version of Saving Private Ryan/the second half of Full Metal Jacket. I mean, if you have to imitate other movies, there are worse ways to go.

Jen: I… got nothing.

AJ: I will add in a little Empire of the Sun to Rick’s mixtape but I’m passing.  Continue reading →

Weekend Watch – 06/28/19

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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

Wide Release

Yesterday

Loren: They have been promoting this movie endlessly and that’s never a good sign. I’ll wait it out and watch it streaming at some point.

RDT: Ok, so, I’m gonna need you to sit down for this. I know, I’m not the music guy. Not at all. That’s my thing, how much I’m not “the music guy” (and I don’t read). I mean, I’d pick the Monkees over the Beatles. Srsly. And I didn’t realize the name “The Beatles” was a pun until I saw “That Thing You Do.” For reals. But….but…..I kinda wanna see this movie. I know! I’m as shocked as you are! But…..I’m into it. **shrugs**

Rick: I got tired of the concept halfway through the trailer. This just feels like a thinly veiled way to sell more Beatles music. Pass.

Jen: If you’ve been paying attention you know I have a type and Himash Patel is it. This movie could be really cute and I’m willing to give it All My Lovin’ and just hope I don’t end up stuck on a Long and Winding plot to Nowhere, Man.

AJ: I am a victim of the critics here. I was super jazzed to see this til I started to see some bad press…. I am a huge Beatles fan, though. I am sure I’ll see it at some point. And I also think  Himash Patel is cute.

Josh: I am really pulling for this film to be great. It has the potential to be a really funny, heartwarming movie with a killer soundtrack. I need more feel-good movies in my life.

Annabelle Comes Home

Loren: Haven’t seen anything out of this weird “Universe” yet, why start here?

RDT: And RDT stays home.

Rick: Yeah, no. The only movie worth its salt in the “Conjuring Universe” *eyeroll* is The Conjuring. The rest are just garbage cash-ins. No thanks.

Jen: When is the inevitable crossover with Child’s Play happening?

AJ: Nope. No. Pass. (Will someone please give Patrick Wilson a strong role?)

Josh: I feel like this movie is going to give you exactly what you expect. If you’re into this type of horror film, you will probably enjoy it. If you like being scared with an audience, check it out in the theater. If not, wait till it’s streaming.

Limited Release

The Other Side of Heaven 2

Loren: 

RDT:

Rick: For the love of…no. No. No. No.

Jen:   

AJ: Ok, no. I’m randomly a Chris Gorham fan — but he did the first “Other Side of Heaven” like 18 years ago? And they felt a need to make a sequel NOW? P.S. Anne Hathaway played his wife in the first one. Guess she didn’t wanna come back….

Josh: Nope. Nope nope nope. We don’t need any white savior movies and we sure as hell don’t need any Christian movies. Or at least I don’t. This is a super hard pass. Continue reading →

Weekend Watch – 06/21/19

~ Loren Elliott ~ 1 Comment

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

Wide Release

Toy Story 4

Loren: I really feel like this story wrapped up nicely in the last installment and don’t feel like this is necessary. But I said the same thing about Toy Story 2, so what do I know?

Rick: Disney: the company that’s unwilling to quit while it’s ahead. As unnecessary as this movie is, apparently it’s good…? I’m unlikely to catch this in theaters, but I’ll see it eventually.

AJ: Awwww, I just adore Tom Hanks as Woody. And I like this bad-ass version of Bo-Peep.

Jen: This feels unnecessary but Forky could be great and, who am I kidding, I have a five-year-old.

Child’s Play

Loren: While I agree with Rick about the voice casting, I also agree with him about wanting to see this. It looks like a pretty decent update to the property and could actually have some good scares. In.

Rick: Things I love about this: 1) The Buddi doll is almost entirely done with animatronic effects. 2) The tone seems in keeping with an actual horror movie and not the horror-comedies that every sequel took on. 3) Aubrey Plaza and Brian Tyree Henry. Thing I’m not so keen on: the voice acting. I love Mark Hamill, but he wouldn’t have been my first choice. Or second, even. He sounds too much like Brad Dourif. If you’re going to recast/reboot, make the voice distinctly different. I’d have geared the performance to be more gentle like a generic child’s toy instead of outright evil sounding, cast someone like Bill Hader or Adam Scott, or simply given the doll no voice or some sort of broken, digital gibberish sound when it tries to speak. Regardless, I’ll see this in theaters.

AJ: I don’t do horror movies but have you seen the “anti Toy Story” marketing campaign for this? Fucking hilarious. (See also: This. And this.)

Jen: I was just about to make a Toy Story/Chuckie joke but luckily, per AJ, marketing beat me to it. Way to go marketing team.

Anna

Loren: For the most part I like Luc Besson movies, I even saw Lucy in the theater. (It was bad but hey, I tried). This looks more like some of his earlier work and I think I’m kinda down. I doubt I’ll see this in the theater but it’s going to be a fun couch viewing.

Rick: Luc Besson seems to be obsessed with assassins/highly skilled killers (see also: La Femme Nikita, The Professional, Lucy, Columbiana, Danny the Dog, The Transporter, Taken). These efforts have been largely successful and more excellent than not. Here’s hoping this is more Nikita and a lot less Lucy/Columbiana.

AJ: Who hurt you, Luc Besson? Rick has a point. Jen has a point. I’m worried about Luc. (I agree – Lucy was so ridiculous.)

Jen: How does Luc Besson know so much about hitmen? Is HE a hitman? Are the movies just a cover? I see you Besson. Continue reading →

Episode #176 – That’s It E3 2019?

~ Loren Elliott ~ Leave a comment

The guys are back and this week they are rounding up the surprisingly light amount of news from E3. But they’ve also got all your Entertainment news like:

All that, the Weekly Watched and of course tangents!

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

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

Listen on Google Play Music

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Weekend Watch 06/14/19

~ Loren Elliott ~ Leave a comment


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

Wide Release

MIB International

Loren: This… doesn’t look good. I love the cast but yeesh. Maybe Men in Black movies subscribe to the every other theory like Star Trek.

RDT: Great cast and…. that seems to be it.

Rick: I didn’t like the first MIB movie, so I never bothered with the sequels. This one I’m sort of into, but the little alien character that tags along with Hemsworth/Thompson annoyed me in the trailer. I can’t imagine it’ll be less irritating over the course of two hours.

AJ: Fun/weird fact about me: In 1997, I saw Men in Black in theaters THREE TIMES. I just loved it. But I wish the franchise would retire. MIB 2 wasn’t good, MIB 3 was “meh” for me… I read a couple favorable reviews of this and I happen to think Hemsworth has superior comedic timing but it’s just a pass for me. I will look for it on HBO someday.

Shaft

Loren: Oof. Speaking of not looking good. I don’t know who thought this was the right direction to go for a rebootquel of Shaft.

RDT: This is dumb. Go see Booksmart!

Rick: I want this to be at least watchable, but I have a feeling it isn’t. The Shaft movies have been a study in diminishing returns since Shaft’s Big Score came out in 1972. I mean, that and Shaft in Africa are fine as a product of their time, but I wouldn’t call them good. They certainly don’t measure up to the original movie. And the only good thing about the first Sam Jackson entry is Jeffrey Wright’s turn as the villian. This will get a curiosity watch out of me, but not until near the end of its run or on video.

AJ: I once heard Sam Jackson say his criteria for choosing roles is “‘Will I have fun?’ and ‘Will I get paid?’” So I guess this did that for him. It does nothing for me.

The Dead Don’t Die

Loren: This feels like it’s five years too late. I also have no idea why Jarmusch would want to make a Zombie Comedy. I absolutely love everyone in this movie but it feels like they are doing their friend a favor and probably should have just said they were busy that weekend.

RDT: I’m kind of interested, I guess. But, yeah, enough with the zombies, please.

Rick: The only reason I’m interested in this is because it’s a Jim Jarmusch movie. I certainly don’t love everything of his I’ve seen, but I want to know what kind of weird spin he’s putting on the zombie genre. Lord knows it needs something to make it interesting anymore.

AJ: Ok, I just love Tilda Swinton so much but let’s put that aside. It’s nice all these cool people are doing Jarmusch a solid with this, right? (Basically what Loren said.) Continue reading →

Weekend Watch – 06/07/18

~ Loren Elliott ~ Leave a comment

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

Wide Release

X-Men Dark Phoenix

Loren: I hate that I don’t care about this movie, but the X-Men movies have systematically taken any of the good will I had for the franchise (of some of my favorite comic characters) and beaten it to death. There’s other problems afoot here besides the terrible time period continuity of these movies though. I really feel like you need to tell the story of The Phoenix before you get into Dark Phoenix, which is the same problem the terrible X-Men The Last Stand partially suffered from. This just crams it in to a 2 hour summer tent pole that doesn’t mean anything anymore. Furthermore, with the Disney acquisition of FOX, this movie is super irrelevant seeing as Marvel will start to pepper their own mutants into the MCU. Probably starting after Far From Home in Phase 4. Which is a shame because if nothing else these movies have been cast well. Honestly, I really just wish that Logan (or even better Logan Noir) had been the last movie in the X-Men franchise, what a perfect way to have ended it.

RDT: 22% on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s worse than X-Men Origins – Wolverine!

Rick: My opinion mirrors Loren’s, especially regarding the absolute irrelevancy of this movie after Disney’s purchase of Fox. I’ll be sad to lose this group of actors, but glad this more miss than hit series of movies is closing up shop.

AJ: My opinion also mirrors Loren’s. A lot of people credit Iron Man with launching America’s love of comic book movies but we often forget X-Men came out eight years before it. And I loved that movie. And X2. I am (maybe?) in the minority that loves Days of Future Past, too. But agreed, they have completely overlooked any kind of timeline consistency in order to cram as many stars as possible into these movies. They have mucked up a lot of iconic storylines — more than once. Apocalypse was so bad, I think I watched it while I did a research project and scarcely remember details of it…. And Rick is also right. With the purchase of Fox by Disney, this is really an irrelevant release now. I wish they’d left it alone with Logan. That movie’s quality was what the entire franchise shoulda/coulda been. (And look at DIsney trying to MCU the PR machine for this film, putting the whole cast on Kimmel. Cute.)

The Secret Life of Pets 2

Loren: Glad they switched out Louie for Patton but I still don’t care about this movie. The first one was way worse than I thought it was going to be and the marketing blitz for this one is TOO much. Smell ya later forever Secret Life of Pets 2.

RDT: I tried watching the first one a while ago. Five minutes in, I was good. I get it.

Rick: Oh no. Not even a little bit.

AJ: With the first one, all the fun was in the trailer and frankly, the movie stunk. So I’m not interested in spending any money on this sequel. (It is getting some good reviews – I’ll probably see it when it gets to Netflix or whatever.)

Late Night

Loren: I really wanted to like that but it just felt VERY Mindy Kaling. Like so much.

RDT: I got no beef with Kaling. And I like Emma Thompson (no relation). Sure, I’ll give it a shot.

Rick: My enjoyment of Emma Thompson may just outweigh my middling feelings about Mindy Kaling. Not in theaters, though. I’ll wait until this drops on Amazon Prime. Also, I fully support AJ’s dream (see below). Make that shit happen!

AJ: I am on a personal crusade. I want Emma Thompson to join me and my girlfriends for a happy hour. I just adore her. This love affair started in 2014 when she presented at the Golden Globes drunk and barefoot. God bless her.  I will now see anything she is in. So yes to this. Continue reading →