2 Cents Critic

Tune in for Arthur’s thoughts on The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

This isn’t any regular old review, listeners. Nope, 2CC is presenting its first ever author interview (albeit one that kicked off with a technical blunder)! Arthur has brought on historical romance author Manda Collins, whose work includes A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem, the Studies in Scandal series, and the Ugly Ducklings series, with her latest release being An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire. Topics of discussion include the pitfall that aspiring authors should always avoid while querying agents, favorite film scores, the vast world of true crime, and the differing pronunciations of “GIF.”

TW: discussion of murder

Manda’s website: https://www.mandacollins.com

Manda’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/MandaCollins?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Manda’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mandacollinsauthor

Manda’s Good Word: Acorn TV’s Dalgliesh

Reach out at [email protected] if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!

Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes or any of your preferred podcasting platforms!

Follow Arthur on Twitter: @arthur_ant18

Follow the podcast on Twitter: @two_centscritic

Tune in for Arthur’s two cents on Netflix’s Red Notice, the high-flying heist flick that cost a whopping $200 million, making it the Big Red N’s most expensive original production to date. Additional side topics include the application of Last Action Hero logic to Red Notice, the ruthlessness of strangulation as a murder method, and the surprising number of times that Arthur brings up 2015’s Ant-Man.

Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (Skyscraper), Red Notice stars Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Ritu Arya, and Chris Diamantopoulos.

Spoilers start at 16:30

Red Notice blog review: https://2centscritic.com/2021/11/24/my-2-cents-on-netflixs-red-notice/

Research:

Red Notice blooper reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgQrWZ3xMio

Good Word: Netflix’s Passing

Reach out at [email protected] if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!

Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes or any of your preferred podcasting platforms!

Follow Arthur on Twitter: @arthur_ant18

Follow the podcast on Twitter: @two_centscritic

Tune in for Arthur’s breakdown of the well-constructed flashbacks, the memorable fight scenes, the fleshed-out villainy, and more in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the 25th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the superhero franchise’s first entry to star a predominantly East Asian cast.

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Just Mercy), Shang-Chi stars Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Tony Leung, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Michelle Yeoh, Ronny Chieng, and Benedict Wong.

Spoilers start at 22:40

Resources:

Asian Superheroes? Is that a thing? | An episode of the podcast Colonize This:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5KKlra9oE5FqnfSFkQX1yK?si=5jhc4tIYRHqLHPirrDRntw

Good Word: Netflix’s Love Hard

Reach out at [email protected] if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!

Tune in as Liam Gareau (Deep Feels podcast) hangs out on the program to discuss Finch, the Apple TV+ flick that launches Tom Hanks, a dog, and a robot on a buddy road trip through a solar flare-ravaged world. Plus, the episode includes bonus bits like Arthur failing to recall that Hanks is a two-time Oscar winner, the hosts’ shared admiration for Jeffrey Wright, and a Garbage Town deep cut.

Directed by Miguel Sapochnik (Game of Thrones), Finch stars Tom Hanks, Caleb Landry Jones, and Seamus (that’s the dog).

Spoilers start at 21:45

Resources:

Monday Morning Critic Podcast Interview with Finch screenwriter Craig Luck: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ue1zlb2VWyqBcOrqu5dGW?si=8w3vRyOaRLGWPsBtUGSSVw

• Liam: Give Me That D: A Disney Channel Original Movie Breakdown Podcast

• Arthur: “A needlessly thorough roast of Dear Evan Hansen (2021)” by YouTuber Jenny Nicholson

Reach out at [email protected] if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!

Tune in for Arthur’s opinions on It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover, author of numerous books like November 9, Ugly Love, and Verity. Following 23-year-old protagonist Lily Bloom as she falls in love with neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid, Hoover’s 2016 New Adult contemporary romance is an empathetic and heart-wrenching navigation of the cycle of domestic violence and the reasons why someone would stay with their abuser. This episode also addresses the unpleasant qualities of Ellen DeGeneres as a person, the unrestrained corniness of Romance Moments like taking someone’s heartbeat during sex and telling someone they’re the most addictive kind of drug, and a minor plot point that evokes one of the creepiest scenes in the Fifty Shades Trilogy (and that’s saying a lot, considering almost everything between Anastasia and Christian falls on varying levels of the Icky Scale).

TW: domestic abuse, sexual assault, mention of suicide, flashbacks to an age-gap romance between a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old

Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE

Spoilers start at 5:45

Good Word: The Mummy (1999)

Reach out at [email protected] if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!

Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes or any of your preferred podcasting platforms!

Follow Arthur on Twitter: @arthur_ant18

Follow the podcast on Twitter: @two_centscritic

Tune in for Arthur’s breakdown of The Push by debut author Ashley Audrain. Having been advertised as a psychological thriller, this much-hyped novel about chillingly dysfunctional mother-daughter dyads is actually much more of a psychological drama. But don’t think that diminishes any of the slow-burn shudders and anguish that you’re sure to experience over the course of the novel.

TW: child neglect/abuse, child loss, child with sociopathic tendencies, post-partum depression, self-harm, suicide, mental illness

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

Spoilers start at 12:30

Good Word: Late Night with Seth Meyers, particularly the at-home Closer Looks and the exclusively online Corrections segment

Reach out at [email protected] if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!

Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes or any of your preferred podcasting platforms!

Follow Arthur on Twitter: @arthur_ant18

Follow the podcast on Twitter: @two_centscritic

Tune in for Arthur’s thoughts on Steelstriker, the second and final entry in the Skyhunter Duology by Marie Lu (Legend, Warcross). Like the first book, this sequel brings out the dystopian YA tropes: “special rebel youngsters lead an insurrection against a dictatorial government,” “post-apocalyptic world built on the ashes of a technologically advanced civilization,” and “psychic bond romance.” Is Arthur up for all of them? In this specific package, yes, yes he is.

TW: torture, murder, colonialism, cultural appropriation, PTSD, discussion of child abuse and parental death

Spoilers start at 12:40

Steelstriker blog review: https://2centscritic.com/2021/10/06/my-2-cents-on-steelstriker-by-marie-lu/

Good Word: Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray

Reach out at [email protected] if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!

Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes or any of your preferred podcasting platforms!

Follow Arthur on Twitter: @arthur_ant18

Follow the podcast on Twitter: @two_centscritic

Tune in for Arthur’s two cents on What If…?, the Disney+ nine-episode animated anthology series that takes the various characters and events we’ve followed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and shows us the divergent paths they head down throughout the parallel realities of the multiverse. In addition, Arthur declares that T’Challa and Chadwick Boseman are cinnamon rolls, does a Megamind impression, and praises an alternate-reality Hawkeye for his badassery (shocker, right?).

Helmed by executive producer/head writer AC Bradley (Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, 3Below: Tales of Arcadia) and director Bryan Andrews (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Samurai Jack), What If…? stars a massive cast that includes Jeffrey Wright, Hayley Atwell, Josh Keaton, Sebastian Stan, the late and great Chadwick Boseman, Djimon Hounsou, Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg, Lake Bell, Karen Gillan, Carrie Coon, Tom Hiddleston, Frank Grillo, Danai Gurira, Benedict Cumberbatch (pause to take a breath…