Commit One

Even the beloved Disney characters are not safe! Will, Mike, and Sam continue Christmas month with a short direct-to-video feature that not only makes Will and Sam Disney-nerd out a bit but also raise Mike's chagrin who refuses to pay money to the "House of Mouse" even though he is a fan with the 1999 Christmas anthology Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas. Starring everyone's favorite Disney characters from Mickey and Minnie in the 100th retelling of "Gift of the Magi" to Donald Duck in a Groundhog Day-esque short to Goofy and his son Max pre-Goof Troop, it really has a bit more everyone despite being very paint-by-numbers and attempts at tugging at the heartstrings. But really, what else can you expect from Disney? Even though it is just a cartoon really meant for children, it still will get the same treatment from the Commit One crew.

Talk about Christmas family drama! Will, Mike, and Sam return from another brief hiatus to kick off their second annual Christmas month with a film that, while having its many flaws to the point where it is not as fondly remembered, does have its moments where filmmakers decided to show Santa Claus's extended family in the 2007 comedy Fred Claus. Starring Vince Vaughn as the titular Fred, the older brother of Santa Claus (played by Paul Giamatti), the film tries to show what happens when the older sibling of a beloved individual has to live in his brother's shadow. Yes, it checks off a lot of the boxes of a typical "sibling rivalry" that films love, but at least this is Christmas as the brothers must contend with an efficiency expert that may shut down the North Pole....wait....WHAT?! A bit of miscasting, an uneven tone, and a questionable overall plot keeps the film from being any better, but at least it is decent enough to be watchable. While it may not be the best way to kick off Christmas month, at least it is better than other options for the Commit One crew!

Well....at least the music was somewhat decent. Will, Mike, and Sam end their second annual Halloween month with a special Hater's Choice episode with a film that has been recommended several times by one of their first fans that also helped share the podcast with the 2008 science-fiction, horror rock-opera Repo! The Genetic Opera. Starring Alexa Vega (now PenaVega), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and even Paris Hilton of all people, the film is a constant barrage of over 50 musical numbers (earning the opera title!), trippy visuals, and a story that is more ridiculous and convoluted than any form of scary. Despite a few redeeming qualities (such as the GraveRobber character), this is one musical that the Commit One crew wishes could have been left on the recording-room floor.  

Well, can't say this one isn't rotten. Will, Mike, and Sam take a look at a cult classic film that somehow received three sequels and STILL gives parodies a bad name with the 1978 film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Even though it is meant to be a parody with a ridiculous premise, this film still fails on so many levels with terrible acting, random scenes and gags, sometimes forgetting to focus on the KILLER TOMATOES, and blowing over half of it's budget on an unintentional scene (listen to the episode to find out!). Even though it has a few funny moments, they are few and far between to make any difference in this film. It's a notoriously bad movie, and you knew that the Commit One crew was going to get to this one eventually.

Didn't we learn ANYTHING from Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2?!?! Will, Mike, and Sam continue Halloween month by looking at a film that they have talked about before on the podcast where they praised the original film that came before it and dreaded looking at the sequel. Well, the time has come for the trio to look at 2012's Grave Encounters 2. Taking the failed idea from Book of Shadows, the sequel presents the original film (Grave Encounters) as just a movie complete with "reviews" to start off the movie before going off the rails, and not in a good way. Poor acting from some of the characters, a boring pace, too many camera cuts to count, and worst of all not being in the least bit scary for a found-footage film (which is a major red flag), this film proves that when you try to recreate what worked before and try to get too fancy with the script you end up with an overall disappointing ride. This is one encounter that the Commit One Crew wishes that they had passed on.

No, but we are bored and slightly mad. Will, Mike, and Sam finally return to their movie reviews and kick of their 2nd annual Halloween month with the groan-inducing and head-scratching 2006 Saw rip-off film, Are You Scared? Starring nobody of note (not even a lower-level celebrity like in an Asylum film), this waste of time tries to take the "game" element of the Saw franchise and tries to get "creative" with the story only to end up with bad acting, bad character choices, and inept villain who LITERALLY GIVES EASY CLUES TO THE POLICE, and a "twist" and villain motivation that would make you have more questions than being shocked (as you can tell from Mike and Sam's reactions), it is no wonder that this one failed to be any good to the point where it's own sequel has absolutely nothing to do with the original. This is one game that the Commit One crew should have just left gathering dust on the shelf.  

FINALLY!!! The Commit One Movie Podcast HAS COME BACK!! Will, Mike, and Sam return from their one-month hiatus to discuss where they have been, what caused the hiatus from technical issues to the now "lost" episode that had THREE attempts to be recorded, what they have been up to in their lives along with what movies they have seen during the break, follow up their previous episode with a few more films that they will never cover, and give a bit of a preview of what will be upcoming on the podcast including information about the 2nd annual Halloween month which will feature the return of the Hater's Choice episode! There is quite a bit to cover, but the Commit One crew appreciates your patience and hopes you enjoy this fun discussion before the bad movie reviews return.

Some unfortunate news we need to share, Movie Haters. We will return as soon as we can!

Don't expect these on the podcast at any time! Will, Mike, and Sam take some time in this special episode to briefly look at some of the movies that, for one reason or another, they will never cover in a full-length episode. Although these films would qualify under the normal requirements to be included in an episode, whether they be too controversial, too raunchy that no amount of cleaning up will help, or just too horrible that the crew couldn't even get through ten minutes from just previewing the film! These are so bad for so many different reasons that even the Commit One crew won't touch them, so they will give these films a bit of acknowledgment if for no other reason than if they are suggested you will know the reason why they turn them down!    

UPDATE (9/30/21): When this episode was originally published and the intro was recorded we had said that this was a special ".5" episode and was named as episode 58.5. As we have gone on a one-month hiatus and have returned we decided to retroactively renumber this as the official 59th episode. The original audio will remain as is, but the number has changed.

Come out, come out, wherever the good movies are!! Will, Mike, and Sam question how childhood kids' games are suddenly being made into movies and how hide and seek can be horrifying with the 2018 film Hide in the Light. While having a decent premise and some promise if redone a different way, this independent film from the same people that brought Inferno: Skyscraper Escape (much to Will's annoyance) still fails on several fronts with poor acting, dumb characterization, pacing that is all over the place, and full-blown side conversations happening when the characters are in danger! This is one film that should just hide and never be found again, but the Commit One crew must stop, count to 10, and seek out the bad things to talk about in this one.