Down To Watch

This week on Down to Watch, our hearts grow two sizes in one episode! Dan and Raul watched the 2000 live action remake of How the Grinch Stole Christmas starring Jim Carrey to get into the holiday spirit, Who-style. Ron Howard made an extended version that includes backstories for some of the classic Seuss characters and leans deeply into the aesthetic of the Chuck Jones Looney Tunes-esque cartoon special from the 60s. A bevvy of comic and character actors fill in Whoville's community of revelers who are too focused on materialism and are poised to learn a lesson delivered by a very un-jolly fellow. Make your Christmas green and furry by giving it a watch and giving us a listen!

This week on DtW, it's all spirit fingers and stolen routines with Bring It On! Dan and Raul caught another anniversary film with the 2000 cheerleading competition flick that is turning 25 this year. Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku and Gabrielle Union all star in this slightly spoofy sports story centered around a suburban championship cheer squad and their new leader finding out their trophy-winning moves were plagiarized from an inner city team. As a film that seemingly bridges classic film tropes and modern cinema sensibilities, it manages to stay entertaining and relevant a quarter century after release and definitely worth a watch. The cheerocracy has declared you listen to this pod!

This week on DtW, it's holiday travel at it's best/worst in Planes, Trains and Automobiles! Dan and Raul braved the winter wilds of 80s airports and depots to follow fast frenemies Del and Neal played by John Candy and Steve Martin respectively in this classic story about a trip home for Thanksgiving. The two travelers are seemingly as mismatched as their trip is fraught with implausible calamity, but they make an incredible duo on screen and might actually be just what each of these Chicago castaways needs. This one is beloved for a reason, and if you needed a reason to pop this on around turkey time, this podcast serves as an appetizer OR dessert!

This week, DtW is enjoying the one from many in Pluribus! Dan and Raul are excited to get into the new AppleTV series from Vince Gilligan, mastermind behind Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. This show that sees Rhea Seehorn as Carol, one of the last independent people in the world after a signal from space acts as a virus that turns all of humanity into one being with an interconnected mind. This hive mind is peaceful, friendly and helpful in making Carol's existence as comfortable as possible, at least until they can figure out how to remove her individuality. She may protest, but the collective creature is so sure she'll love it that it sounds like maybe she will not have a choice. What's this show about and what makes these two first episodes so great? I bet our two hosts can figure it out if they just put their minds togeth... wait a sec.

The It that It is all about is back and DtW is feeling quite Welcome to Derry! Dan and Raul went into It with some expectations and so far It has delivered both scares and gross-outs, often together. The town of Derry is tortured by an active Pennywise the Dancing Clown every 27 years with this series investigating each occasion going backwards in time per season, and this season lands perfectly in line with 60s era discrimination. Two families in the idyllic Maine hamlet will deal with what it means to be a racial minority in a town that is steeped in evil even when the ghoulish title character is hibernating. Add to that a military operation to weaponize Derry's scariness and the usual youthful angst that goes along with an It story and it's a powder keg of creepy chaos that has already exploded in buckets of viscera and mountains of madness. Come see if we all float down here!

We're looking forward to the rest of the year on this week's Down to Watch! Dan and Raul are looking at the winter weather watchlist and picking out great gifts for listeners good and bad alike. Nov has plenty to pick from including a surreal sci-fi story from Apple called Pluribus, an American history lesson with great actors in Death by Lightning and Danes doing dangerous secret stuff again in The Beast in Me. There's a true life tales  as well with Alex vs A-Rod, a remake worth a look with The Running Man, and while December is a little empty we're gonna see the return of Fallout, Stranger Things and the whole of Kill Bill in theaters. Santa's coming down early and he's got some tv for ya! 

Down to Watch lines up an evening of scares with 2011's Fright Night! Dan and Raul are squaring a spooky circle they started last year with the 1985 original by checking out the second go-round with Colin Farrell, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots and Anton Yelchin in the main roles (we still get an Ed but lose a Billy). This retry at a horror version of Rear Window has the advantage of 20+ years of horror history to draw inspiration and experience from in order to turn this send up of b-movies that ended up as one itself by addressing the mistakes of the first and bringing these characters into the 2010s, an ideal position for a cast and crew to tackle the dreaded remake. Do these modern filmmakers make good on the promise of a clever premise and talented cast or is this an uninspired rehash of the first foray into fang territory?  Vegas odds are good!

This week, DtW is going to Alaska to see about some chairs! Dan and Raul caught a couple of pilot episodes for The Last Frontier and The Chair Company. In Frontier, we revisit the idea of a bunch of Cons in the Air when a prison transport crashes near remote Faibanks, and Frank the local marshalls have to contend with dangerous fugitives in the area while an arriving CIA agent has to lock down one specific asset she's lost. Codenamed Havelock, this asset was added to the transport roster at the last minute and he's got skills that make him very dangerous to the rest of the cast. On the other side, The Chair Company sees the perennially intense and awkward Tim Robinson take his over the top characters into a long form story about shame, aging and how hard you can freak out without throwing everything away. Lead character Ron has an embarrassing event escalate into an absolute collapse of decorum while he runs down a seemingly real conspiracy surrounding the titular company. What do these shows have in common? They're on this pod!

This week on Down to Watch, it's a dangerous business being a truthstorian! Dan and Raul caught a couple eps of The Lowdown, Hulu's new drama from the creator of Mare of Easttown. The cool new series follows Ethan Hawke as an indie reporter getting the dirt on the powerful people in town. He's great at lots of things, like being a dad, getting the scoop, and receiving a whooping. But how many punches to the face make a great reporter in this promising new tale based loosely on a true story? Maybe this pod knows! 

Spooky season is upon us and Down to Watch is rattling up some new TV! Dan and Raul have sifted through the tricks and treats of October and have filled your round plastic pumpkin pale with a bit of everything. There's Tim Robinson getting weird at The Chair Company, Pennywise making people feel Welcome to Derry and something like Con Air redux in The Last Frontier. Scary stuff includes animated Avengers with a hankering for brains while the theaters welcome back some freaky favorites. There's docs and true stories and a cartoon about spies so make sure to double check your haul and dig in!