Cinematic Brotastic Movie Podcast

Trap (2024)

A father named Cooper (Josh Hartnett) and his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) are going to a Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan)  concert. She's equal to a Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift type Pop Star. We quickly learn that Cooper has a secret, and that the concert was all a set up to find a serial killer. He must play dad and evade capture at the same time.

Trap was the first movie I got excited about that wasn't part of some huge franchise. There was nothing preceding this that I could rely on, other than my love for M Night Shyamalan movies, and even some of those haven't been really reliable lately. An original movie, low budget compared to the big franchises. It was the concept that really sold me.

What makes this movie's concept really interesting is that the concept is not just the "Serial Killer in a trap at a concert," but also, M Night Shyamalan's daughter wrote and produced an entire album of music for the film, played the music of the film, performed a concert for the film, and acted as a character in the film. And when you listen to it, it actually sounds good too. She wore many hats for this film, and that was a concept that I fell in love with personally.

Saleka's music as Lady Raven fits the mold of the pop music it is meant to emulate, creating a believable concert for a pop sensation that teens and tweens can get really excited about. I hope there is a special feature or behind the scenes documentary that goes into more detail on how this was accomplished.

Past that Josh Hartnett's performance as Cooper/The Butcher is one of the best things about this movie. He plays the duality of his role as father and killer well. Especially as the pressure increases and the line starts to blur a bit, and he starts to lose control. I've always been a fan of Hartnett, He's been working but has reentered the zeitgeist with Oppenheimer, and now Trap. I am excited to see what he has in store for us next.

M Night Shyamalan's Trap is not his greatest film, but don't get me wrong, it still is a good one. The Happening was a low point for him, and Old and Knock at the Cabin were good, but there were some aspects that just didn't work for me. This movie everything worked: the premise, the performances, the music, the motivations, and the story. I only have two criticisms. I felt that some things moved a bit too quickly. I would've liked it to be drawn out a little bit more. A good example of this is that we find out that Cooper needs to get backstage. I don't feel like the tension of "how does a regular person get backstage of this huge concert?" played out enough. We find out that he needs to, and then boom, the solution presents itself. The solution by all means was a good one, but it would've been nice to see some more panic or planning before that was revealed.

And then there was a character that I don't really understand why she was in the movie. There's a woman who is the mother of one of Riley's friends. There was a falling out, and she's trying to put things back together by talking with Cooper about it. IT doesn't really go anywhere, and it leaves me to wonder if there's a subplot that was taken out of the movie. It gave him a reason to run into someone outside to be an obstacle, which is fine, but then we see them inside during a specific moment, that if it was removed, it wouldn't have hurt the story.

I personally can't stop thinking about this movie. I've been listening to the fake "Lady Raven" album on repeat in my car. These are songs that are aimed at teenagers, and here I am blasting it in my car on my way to work. There is one question I have that we won't know for a while, and that is if M Night will push to have one of these songs considered for an Oscar. I think that would be really cool.

2 tickets

Thor: Love and Thunder starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, and Taika Waititi who also Directed the movie.

Thor is lost and trying to find his purpose. He meets up with an old flame, and then becomes the target of a man called Gorr the God Butcher. In a story not too dissimilar to Infinity War, instead of a McMuffin used to wipe out half of life, Gorr uses a McMuffin to kill all the gods. Jane, the old flame, takes the shattered Mjolnir (from Thor Ragnorock) and uses it to become “The Mighty Thor,” but at a cost.

I feel like what makes this movie so enjoyable, is also what I don’t like about it at the same time. Thor Ragnorock had a really good balance of comedy and seriousness. And with this latest iteration, Taika Waitit leaned even heavier into the comedy. While I laughed at all the clever humor, I wished that the movie took itself a little more seriously.

The shattered Mjolnir brought some new excitement for the action scenes. I liked how it acted like the classic hammer we all know and love, but it also had a few new tricks up its sleeve.

The inclusion of Guns’n’Roses to the soundtrack felt like it fit in really well. There were 3-4 songs sprinkled throughout the film, including November Rain — which I despised growing up because you would listen to it constantly and the song is 37 minutes long. But here, it isn’t too bad.

The biggest thing this movie introduces to the overall MCU is the introduction of The Gods. Any and all deities that we know of, and some from the comics too, all seem to dwell in Omnipotent city, a city that looks like what a city of gods would look like. Pristine and clean, and plentiful. They all seem to be living lavishly, which is where Gorr’s motivations come from. While he and many creatures throughout the cosmos worship and suffer(including his daughter who dies of thirst), the gods drink wine and party with no concern or care for those who worship them.

I was excited to see the inclusion of the character of eternity, but at the same time, he didn’t do anything on screen. He was almost like a statue. While in concept, a creature like that, probably would just be stoic, but at the same time, I hoped to see more interaction.

2 tickets, definitely want to see this again, with any hope I will. My criticisms of this movie are small and not enough to take me out of the latests installment in the MCU.

Dr. Strange finally gets a sequel after appearing in the MCU 4 times already. This time as the title says, he dives right into the Multiverse… of Madness. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochiti Gomez, Rachel McAdams, and featuring Patrick Stewart, Anson Mount, Lashana Lynch, Hayley Atwell, and John Krasinski as members of the Illuminati. Directed by Marvel Movie alum Sam Raimi.

This movie jumps right into the action with a multiversal variant of Dr. Strange trying to save America Chavez from a demon. Here it shows she can open up portals that allow her to travers the multiverse, albeit without any way to intentionally navigate it.

She inevitably runs into the Dr. Strange we all know and love, and he tries to protect her. Realizing that the forces following Chavez are a form of witchcraft, they go to the only witch they know, Wanda Maximoff. Unbeknownst to them, it was Wanda all along… not so much Agatha. No catchy song to go along with this one. Wanda is being warped by the Darkhold, a book of dark magic, and is searching for a way to reunite with her kids she lost at the end of the Disney+ series WandaVision.

This movie is fun, exciting, and just what the Marvel doctor ordered. Fans of Sam Raimi will no doubt see some of his signature filmmaking in this movie including his car's cameo, and of course Bruce Campbell. There is a lot to enjoy about this movie, but for better or worse, the most notable is the Illuminati. Seeing Patrick Stewart as Professor X again was a delight. Everyone was speechless, pun intended, when Anson Mount reprised his roll as Black Bolt. But the best kept secret and biggest surprise was John Krasinski, who’s already been fan casted into the roll of Reed Richards, showed up as Reed Richards!! The big question is, will we see these characters again with the same actors?

The Brothers Brotastic give this film 2 tickets. We are on board with the MCU through and through.

2021 Year End Movie Jamboree Part 2!

The Brothers Brotastic stray from the Marvel machine a bit and venture out into other mostly non comic book movies for this episode. We cover the likes of Dune, Mortal Kombat, The Suicide Squad, Snake Eyes, and The Matrix Resurrections.

With as much as we discuss these movies and how we viewed them on HBOmax, you would think they are a sponsor of this episode... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! No, we just are humble patrons of a streaming service that we enjoy.

What did you think of these movies?

BLACK WIDOW

DIRECTED BY CATE SHORTLAND

STARRING:

SCARLETT JOHANSON

FLORENCE PUGH

DAVID HARBOR

RACHEL WEISZ

THE MOVIE PICKS UP RIGHT WHERE Captain America CIVIL WAR LEFT OFF. BLACK WIDOW FACES HER PAST AS AN ASSASSIN FOR RUSSIA, SPECIFICALLY A HIT INVOLVING DRACOV… WHERE HIS DAUGHTER WAS COLLATERAL DAMAGE. DRACOV WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BLACK WIDOW PROGRAM WHERE GIRLS ARE KIDNAPPED AT A YOUNG AGE AND RAISED TO KILL. SHE THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD, BUT DUH DUH DUH… HE’S NOT AND IS STILL MAKING BLACK WIDOWS.

THE REAL MVP OF THIS FILM IS FLORENCE PUGH. SHE PLAYS YET ANOTHER GIRL FROM THE BLACK WIDOW PROGRAM THAT HAS BROKEN FREE OF DRACOV’S SPELL THAT FORCES HER TO BE AN ASSASSIN. HER PLIGHT AND RAW EMOTION REALLY COME OFF THE SCREEN.

THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN FLORENCE AND SCARLETT FELT VERY REAL, AND THE TALKING MOMENTS OF THIS FILM REALLY STAND OUT POSSIBLY MORE SO THAN THE ACTION SEQUENCES.

CLEARLY THIS MOVIE IS PASSING THE BATON FROM SCARLET TO FLORENCE, CONSIDERING THE END OF THIS MOVIE LEADS STRAIGHT TO INFINITY WAR AND ENDGAME WHERE SHE DIES.

TASKMASTER’S INTRODUCTION/OPENING FIGHT WAS REALLY IMPRESSIVE.

WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE TASKMASTER

FELT THIS MOVIE WAS TOO LATE

CHECKS ALL THE BOXES OF A MARVEL MOVIE… AND THAT MAY NOT BE ENOUGH.

DOMESTICALLY GROSSED AROUND 80 MILLION OPENING WEEKEND

AROUND 60 MILLION FROM DISNEY PLUS

IT SET A BOX OFFICE RECORD AT THE TIME

SALES DROPPED DRAMATICALLY THE NEXT WEEKEND

SCARLETT JOHANSON SUED DISNEY ALLEGING A BREACH OF CONTRACT BY DOING THE SAME DAY AND DATE DUAL RELEASE STRATEGY, THUS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTING HER COMPENSATION.

DISNEY RESPONDED BY PUBLISHING HER EARNINGS FROM THE FILM AT THE TIME WERE 20 MILLION. (I THINK IN AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE US MERE NONMILLIONAIRS LESS SYMPATHETIC TO HER CASE)

BOTH DISNEY AND SCARLETT JOHANSON HAVE SETTLED THE DISPUTE, AND IT SEEMS THAT SHE HAS SAID THAT SHE IS WILLING AND LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING WITH DISNEY AGAIN.

GAL GADOT’S CONTRACT WAS RENEGOTIATED BEFORE WARNER BROS DID THE SAME THING WITH WONDER WOMAN 1984, IT HAS YET TO BE REVEALED IF ANY LAWSUITS OR SETTLEMENTS WILL HAPPENED WITH EMMA STONE OVER CRUELLA’S SIMILAR RELEASE STRATEGY NOR EMILY BLUNT OVER THE JUNGLE CRUISE’S DAY AND DATE RELEASE