This year has featured an inordinate number of sequels for films that are a decade, or more, old.  Some of these movies feel like bits of crass commercialism intended to do nothing more than make a buck off of nostalgia.  Others, however, are genuinely enjoyable.

Case in point: "Finding Dory."

The lead characters in "Morris from America" and "Bad Moms" both make decisions to walk off the proverbial cliff -- to deviate from that which is acceptable, in pursuit of something different.  

Today's podcast brings those decisions into stark relief, including looking at the ramifications of them.  Minor spoilers, major fun.

"Star Trek Beyond" follows on the heels of "Into Darkness," a not very good entry in the franchise.  Does the new film, helmed by Justin Lin, return to form or does it indicate a potential death spiral for this new crew?

There are movies that purport to impart a message, that supposedly want to offer up some sort of meaning as they close, something for the audience to walk away having learned.  But, what of the movies like "Nerve," where the filmmakers only claim to have a message, but actually don't?

"Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" is a classic, an utter classic, and the newly restored Blu-ray is a solid (but not perfect) effort.  Why though does Frank Capra hate New York?  Why does he hate all cities?  Why are the only nice places small towns whose name ends in "Falls?"  

This week, "Lass is More" both celebrates and laments.

Is "Shin Godzilla" a horror movie?  Is "The Thing?"  What is it that defines horror and is that the same as what makes a movie truly scary?

This week, we look at two maybe-horror movies, see where they fit the tropes, where they differ, and try to draw some conclusions. 

We don't always know what we're looking for in this world, but with any luck we know when we find it.  In "Beauty and the Beast," Belle wants nothing more than adventure, while Ricky Baker in "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" just wants a family who loves him.  Interestingly, by looking for one, each finds the other.

The movie "Warcraft" does so many things right.  It looks gorgeous.  It offers an epic scale.  It offers a brilliant world (or worlds, really).  And yet, it is not a good movie.  Why?  Because it utterly fails in the story department, offering up the worst sort of videogame cutscene storytelling.

Josh watched a lot of television when he was younger.  A lot of television.  

Some of the best days were snow days and various holidays when he was able to sit there in front of the TV for the day and absorb it in all its glory.  Oh, he didn't just watch TV though, he watched movies as well, and now he's figured out just why sitting there for days in front of the TV is so important.

Some in our society would choose to denigrate experts; choose to deride genius.  It is part of a strain of anti-intellectualism which we should all fight against, but that isn't to say that all genius is equal.

The very way in which we depict genius in films differs greatly as well -- look no further than "Now You See Me 2" and "Genius" for two exceptionally different viewpoints.