Eye of the Storm Movie Podcast

In our series "Have You Seen?" we discuss a movie that some of us know well and others have just now seen for the first time. Our conversation focuses on the experience of someone watching the movie for the first time today and their reaction.

This week we revisit The Returned, a 2013 Spanish-Canadian zombie thriller directed by Manuel Carballo and starring Emily Hampshire and Kris Holden-Ried, about a physician and her infected husband go on the run to avoid angry demonstrators when a rare and difficult to obtain medicine that requires daily doses to stave off the effects of a zombie infection runs low. 

We talk about why The Returned is probably the most realistic zombie movie, how the writers drew from real world public health crises including the history of HIV and AIDS to craft a believable world in which some of the population carries the zombie virus, the difference between zombie movies and movies that have zombies in them, and much more.


Check out our other reviews and clips on all major platforms here:
https://linktr.ee/EyeOfTheStormMoviePodcast

This week we review and discuss Karate Kid: Legends, a martial arts drama movie directed by Jonathan Entwhistle and starring Jacke Chan, Ben Wang and Ralph Macchio, in which Li, a kung fu prodigy who, after moving to New York and confronting with a local karate champion, receives help from his former master Mr. Han and karate sensei Daniel LaRusso.

We discuss how character is both the movie's strong suit and it's biggest weakness through its likeable characters even though in several cases their character arcs leave much to be desired, how Hollywood tends to struggle with martial arts and whether this movie rises above that, how the movie fits in with the lore and spirit of the previous movies in particular how it handles Mr Miyagi's legacy, and much more.

Check out the video version here:
https://youtu.be/uMMBWl0GW9s

0:00 Intro
0:20 Movie Recommendations
04:01 Summary and Non-Spoiler Impressions
09:44 Spoiler Discussion 
49:31 Conclusion and Ratings

This week we review and discuss season 2 of Star Wars: Andor, a science fiction spy thriller series directed by Tony Gilroy and Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgard and Adria Arjona, in which thief-turned-rebel spy Cassian Andor during the formative five years that lead to the events of the two films, exploring how he becomes radicalized against the Galactic Empire and how the wider Rebel Alliance is formed.

We discuss whether season 2 lived up to the hype created by season 1 and whether it was worth the wait, whether it lives up to its reputation of being smart Star Wars for grownups, whether it is proper Star Wars and what that even looks like, why some of us couldn't get on board with the storytelling style, and much more.

Check out the video version:
https://youtu.be/wSFwfmyE4_0

0:00 Intro
0:20 Summary and Non-Spoiler Impressions
7:25 Spoiler Discussion
55:46 Conclusion and Ratings

This week we review and discuss Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, a action spy movie directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atweell and Angela Bassett, in which Ethan Hunt and his Impossible Mission Force team unite to prevent the Entity, a rogue AI, from unleashing global destruction against humanity.

We discuss whether this movie delivers on its promises of breathtaking stunts and action set pieces, why keeping promises is important for movies, which parts of the story worked for us and which didn't and whether that mattered in this kind of movie, whether the movie has its full effect for people not immersed in the franchise, and much more.

Check out the video version here:
https://youtu.be/wkjdkDBE9oY

0:00 Intro
0:20 Best Recent Thing Watched
5:11 Summary and Non-Spoiler Impressions
11:41 Spoiler Discussion
48:29 Conclusion and Ratings

In our series "Have You Seen?" we discuss a movie that some of us know well and others have just now seen for the first time. Our conversation focuses on the experience of someone watching the movie for the first time today and their reaction.

This week we revisit 28 Weeks Later, a postapocalyptic zombie film directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and starring Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne and Idris Elba, about the efforts of United States-led NATO forces to establish a safe zone in London, the consequence of two young siblings breaking protocol to find a photograph of their mother, and the resulting reintroduction of the Rage Virus into the safe zone.

We talk about our disappointment in 28 Weeks Later after we liked 28 Days Later, how this movie squanders its potential and undoes any unique elements the first movie used to differentiate itself from the zombie genre, how the movie is thematically empty and how other zombie media handle the reconstruction story better, how it relies on idiot plots, and much more.


28 Days Later Spoiler Review:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3gWKKzW2yHeS1FZ7hK6ZYM

28 Years Later Spoiler Review:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7BgzRscm9UIhaz6aZ7zFFx

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Spoiler Review:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5q8ZdcMfXe4J6fZsvtErwd

Check out our other reviews and clips on all major platforms here:
https://linktr.ee/EyeOfTheStormMoviePodcast

This week we review and discuss Final Destination: Bloodlines, a supernatural horror movie directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein and starring Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Tony Todd and Brec Bassinger, about a college student who inherits visions of a previous premonition that averted a deadly structural failure in 1968 from her dying grandmother and is warned that Death is coming for her family.

We discuss why this movie is so successful at reviving its franchise while building of the premise and delivering on its promises, compare favourite kills, why watching this movie made us feel 12 years old again, and much more.

Check out the video version here:
https://youtu.be/Y4VG27Sk9i8

0:00 Intro
0:18 Best Recent Thing Watched
8:38 Summary and Non-Spoiler Impressions
14:49 Spoiler Discussion
52:49 Conclusion and Ratings

In our series "Have You Seen?" we discuss a movie that some of us know well and others have just now seen for the first time. Our conversation focuses on the experience of someone watching the movie for the first time today and their reaction.

This week we revisit 28 Days Later, a  postapocalyptic zombie film directed by Danny Boyle and starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Christopher Eccleston, about a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagious, aggression-inducing virus has caused the breakdown of society.

We talk about our reactions to watching this zombie classic 23 years later, how the movie impacted the zombie genre and whether its innovations to the zombie genre are less impressive now that they have become genre staples, how the movie hits different if you lived through a pandemic in London, how 28 Days Later breaks just about all genre conventions of zombie movies and on balance is a better story for it, and much more.

28 Weeks Later Spoiler Review:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4w5fZ33QScoqldwL1u6u3P

28 Years Later Spoiler Review:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7BgzRscm9UIhaz6aZ7zFFx

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Spoiler Review:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5q8ZdcMfXe4J6fZsvtErwd

Check out our other reviews and clips on all major platforms here:
https://linktr.ee/EyeOfTheStormMoviePodcast

This week we review and discuss The Surfer, a psychological thriller movie directed by Lorcan Finnegan and starring Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon and Miranda Tapsell, about a man who plans to surf at an idyllic beach with his son but becomes thwarted and tormented by the locals.

We discuss why this movie may be the most polarising one we've reviewed so far, our interpretation of the movie's themes of ambition and compromise, what we thought of Nicolas Cage's performance, how The Surfer is really a Christmas movie, and much more.

Check out the video version here:
https://youtu.be/nRoRCcYQW6M

0:00 Intro
0:16 Best Recent Thing Watched
8:56 Summary and Non-Spoiler Impressions
18:27 Spoiler Discussion
50:40 Conclusion and Ratings

In this week's movie conversation we talk about our reactions to watching Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One, directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg and Hayley Atwell, after not having seen a Mission: Impossible Movie in over a decade.

We talk about our memories and expectations for a Mission: Impossible movie, how we felt about the storytelling, characters and practical action of Dead Reckoning: Part One, what we want out of action movies in general and how that lines up with this movie and how the experience compares to action movies that have come out recently, what expectations we have for Final Reckoning, and much more.

Check out the video version here:
https://youtu.be/sbImbXETRug

This week we review and discuss Thunderbolts*, a superhero movie and 36th film in the MCU, directed by Jake Schreier and starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, about a group of antiheroes that are caught in a deadly trap and forced to work together on a dangerous mission to defeat the Void.

We discuss our reaction to the movie's attempt to revive the MCU, whether it delivers on the character focus that we've wanted from superhero movies for a long time, what the movie sets up for the MCU going forward, the movie's treatment of depression and loneliness in the form of the Void, and much more.

Check out the video version here:
https://youtu.be/czS8zXpdrPE

0:00 Intro
0:19 Best Recent Thing Watched
5:29 Summary and Non-Spoiler Impressions
10:39 Spoiler Discussion
59:49 Conclusion and Ratings