Let's Watch 2 Movies

Green Book should not exist. And yet, it does, and it's nominated for a whole bunch of Oscars this year. You know what else got nominated for an Oscar and won it? Crash! These movies are supposed to be about overcoming racism but it turns out they just perpetuate it, and also, they are bad movies. You don't need to watch Green Book, but you might want to know what the heck happens in it, as well as the actual story of Don Shirley's life (which is not contained in this movie), so here you go.

CITATIONS:

Maurice Shirley's account: https://www.blackenterprise.com/don-shirley-the-green-book-family-blasts-movie/

Edwin Shirley III's account (among others): https://shadowandact.com/the-real-donald-shirley-green-book-hollywood-swallowed-whole

Carol Shirley Kimble's account: https://www.bet.com/celebrities/news/2018/11/21/dr--don-shirley-s-family-says-green-book-is-full-of-lies.html

Nick Vallelonga claiming "everything in the film is true": https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a25737971/don-shirley-green-book-movie-true-story-accuracy/

Nick Vallelonga re: Shirley's sexuality: http://time.com/5453443/true-story-behind-green-book-movie/

Shout-out to our brand new $5+ backers via patreon.com/letswatchtwomovies: Bethany, Nino Tarantino, and Omar Castellon!

Special thanks as well to our loyal, ongoing $5+ backers: Adrian, AHackFraud, Burhan Ali, Claire B, Jeremy Banks, Rebecca Bennett, Timothy Bennett, Soren Bliefnick, Samuel Bryant, Heather Buist, Emma Burton, John Calsbeek, Sean Cassity, Frank Chilese, Paul Collins, Justin Cousson, Pam D, Maximilian Gaß, Hbomb, Hwan, Callum Kerr-Edwards, Josh Link, Trent Maudier, Patrick Meany, Michiakig, Chris Moyer, Carl Noren, Shoshana Packman, Adam Page, Michelle Phelps, Quinn, Mink Rose, RSS, Kyle Ruiz, Shaun, shay, Sydney Shuster, Dan Spritz, Thomas, Dan Thurston, Toby, Josiane TR, Tommy Volkevics, Matthew Walden, Aaron Walker, Esther Weidauer, Greg Weise and Lilith White

Compared to Venom, Upgrade is a downgrade. Maddy and Mary Ellen watch Logan Marshall-Green do his best Tom Hardy impression in this 2018 cyberpunk thriller full of twists and unfortunate anti-climaxes. This movie is a dark mirror of Venom, all about trusting no one rather than making friends. If only Upgrade actually wanted to engage with any of the disturbing ideas that it introduces, like its drone-packed police state, or military veterans getting used as the tech industry's guinea pigs. Instead, we have a movie that's full of cool fight scenes and not much else. It's great fodder for jokes, though. Enjoy!

Shout-out to our loyal, ongoing $5+ backers via patreon.com/letswatchtwomovies: Adrian, AHackFraud, Burhan Ali, Claire B, Jeremy Banks, Rebecca Bennett, Timothy Bennett, Soren Bliefnick, Samuel Bryant, Heather Buist, Emma Burton, John Calsbeek, Sean Cassity, Frank Chilese, Paul Collins, Justin Cousson, Pam D, Maximilian Gaß, Hbomb, Hwan, Callum Kerr-Edwards, Josh Link, Trent Maudier, Patrick Meany, Michiakig, Chris Moyer, Carl Noren, Shoshana Packman, Adam Page, Michelle Phelps, Quinn, Mink Rose, RSS, Kyle Ruiz, Shaun, shay, Sydney Shuster, Dan Spritz, Thomas, Dan Thurston, Toby, Josiane TR, Tommy Volkevics, Matthew Walden, Aaron Walker, Esther Weidauer, Greg Weise and Lilith White

Like a couple alien symbiotes crash-landing onto this lovely little planet, Maddy and Mary Ellen have returned to take over your mind, body, and soul with a new pairing: Venom and Upgrade. These are two 2018 movies about men overtaken by powerful non-human beings that force them to fight in ways they don't want. In addition to being a superhero/action flick, Venom also happens to be a romantic comedy, a mystery/thriller, a buddy movie, and also every other genre. It's good, it's bad, it's all of the above. We loved it. And we're glad to be back, thanks!

Shout-out to our brand new $5+ backers via patreon.com/letswatchtwomovies: Heather Buist, Adrian, Shaun, Josh Link, Hbomb, Justin Cousson and Trent Maudier!

Special thanks as well to the rest of our $5+ loyal standbys: AHackFraud, Burhan Ali, Claire B, Jeremy Banks, Rebecca Bennett, Timothy Bennett, Soren Bliefnick, Samuel Bryant, Emma Burton, John Calsbeek, Sean Cassity, Frank Chilese, Paul Collins, Pam D, Maximilian Gaß, Hwan, Callum Kerr-Edwards, Patrick Meany, Michiakig, Chris Moyer, Carl Noren, Shoshana Packman, Adam Page, Michelle Phelps, Quinn, Mink Rose, RSS, Kyle Ruiz, shay, Sydney Shuster, Dan Spritz, Thomas, Dan Thurston, Toby, Josiane TR, Tommy Volkevics, Matthew Walden, Aaron Walker, Esther Weidauer, Greg Weise and Lilith White

Maddy and Mary Ellen enjoyed Logan, but it can't compare to Children Of Men. Okay, actually it can compare to Children Of Men, since comparing those two movies is exactly what we set out to do here, but suffice it to say that Children Of Men does a lot very well. Logan does, too, but Children Of Men's haunting pacifist message and portrayal of grief, parenthood, and sacrificing yourself for someone else hangs together in just the right way. It also helps that the sacrifices in this movie don't feel like they're only twisting the knife, and instead are about characters making deliberate choices to be there for one another. We don't have a guest this time around, so we're back to our usual carefree and lengthy dissection of smart cinematography, depictions of male violence, and encouraging our listeners to eat the rich. It's part of a balanced breakfast.

Shout-out to our brand new $5+ backers via patreon.com/letswatchtwomovies: Burhan Ali, Greg Weise, Shay and Patrick Meany!

Special thanks as well to the rest of our $5+ loyal standbys: AHackFraud, Claire B, Jeremy Banks, Rebecca Bennett, Timothy Bennett, Soren Bliefnick, Samuel Bryant, Emma Burton, John Calsbeek, Sean Cassity, Frank Chilese, Paul Collins, Pam D, Maximilian Gaß, Hwan, Callum Kerr-Edwards, Michiakig, Chris Moyer, Carl Noren, Shoshana Packman, Adam Page, Michelle Phelps, Quinn, Mink Rose, RSS, Kyle Ruiz, Sydney Shuster, Dan Spritz, Thomas, Dan Thurston, Toby, Josiane TR, Tommy Volkevics, Matthew Walden, Aaron Walker, Esther Weidauer, and Lilith White!! HOORAYYYY

When you think of the 2017 movie Logan, you immediately also think of comedian and podcaster Paul F. Tompkins. Obviously! Maddy and Mary Ellen chose the pairing of Logan and Children of Men, and through the magic of the internet, they soon learned that Paul loves the movie Logan and that he wanted to come on our show to share his thoughts. Also, he has heard of our show. This all actually happened, and luckily, we recorded it. Barely.

We'd like to give a shout-out to our new $5+ Patreon supporters (via patreon.com/letswatchtwomovies), who are: Dan Spritz, Esther Weidauer, Frank Chilese, Kyle Ruiz, Hwan, Tommy Volkevics, Josiane TR, Samuel Bryant, Matthew Walden and Sydney Shuster. Hooray!!

Here are our continuing $5+ backers, whom we also appreciate: Rebecca Bennett, Timothy Bennett, Soren Bliefnick, John Calsbeek, Mink Rose, Jeremy Banks, Maximilian Gaß, Sean Cassity, Michelle Phelps, Thomas, Adam Page, AHackFraud, RSS, Paul Collins, Chris Moyer, Aaron Walker, Pam D, Callum Kerr-Edwards, Emma Burton, Carl Noren, Claire B, Michiakig, Shoshana Packman, Dan Thurston, Toby, Quinn, and Lilith White.

Thank you!!!!

Continuing our pairing of movies about burning down the institutions that failed us, and the idea of human lives being more important than said crappy institutions, Maddy and Mary Ellen follow up Thor: Ragnarok with Star Wars: The Last Jedi. People were mad about this movie, so we're going to settle this debate once and for all. The movie is good! The flashbacks are good! You shouldn't want to hear about Snoke's backstory, or whatever! There's sex jeans involved, and it just gets weird, okay? Anyway, join us on this episode which is almost an hour longer than the movie itself, during which we don't even get to the spoiler tag until over an hour in. Why is our show like this? Because it's perfect in every way, and we won't change a thing. You're welcome.

We have a Patreon at patreon.com/letswatchtwomovies! One of the rewards includes shout-outs to backers at the $5+ tier. Here are our brand new backers as of this episode: Claire B, Michiakig, Shoshana Packman, PRS, Dan Thurston, Toby, Quinn, and Lilith White.

Here are the rest of our faithfuls: Rebecca Bennett, Timothy Bennett, Soren Bliefnick, John Calsbeek, Mink Rose, Jeremy Banks, Maximilian Gaß, Sean Cassity, Michelle Phelps, Thomas, Adam Page, AHackFraud, RSS, Kyle Sliva, Paul Collins, Chris Moyer, Aaron Walker, Pam D, Callum Kerr-Edwards, slimesiren, Emma Burton, and Carl Noren.

THANK YOU!!! We appreciate your support.

Maddy and Mary Ellen kick off their next pairing, Thor: Ragnarok and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, two big franchise tentpoles of late 2017 about colonialism, burning down the troubled trappings of an empire, and rebuilding anew with your collection of snarky revolutionary pals. We started with Thor: Ragnarok, a movie that truly has someone for eeeveryone to crush on. Oh, and good news for longtime listeners: THIS HULK FUCKS. If this is your first episode and you have no idea what that means, we're sorry, and also, go back and listen to the Hulk eps.

We have a brand new Patreon of our very own at patreon.com/letswatchtwomovies! One of the rewards includes shout-outs to backers at the $5+ tier, so here are the lovely folks we'd like to mention: Rebecca Bennett, Timothy Bennett, Soren Bliefnick, John Calsbeek, Mink Rose, Jeremy Banks, Maximilian Gaß, Sean Cassity, Michelle Phelps, Thomas, Adam Page, AHackFraud, RSS, Kyle Sliva, Paul Collins, Chris Moyer, Aaron Walker, Pam D, Callum Kerr-Edwards, slimesiren, Emma Burton, and Carl Noren. THANK YOU!!! We appreciate your support.

Follow us on Twitter at letswatchtwo, alissacaliente and MIDImyers!

After pairing The Departed and Good Will Hunting, Maddy and Mary Ellen settle in for some emails from fans about those eps. But also, we're still catching up on our massive email backlog, so we kick off the ep by reading a thoughtful email from last year about The Big Sick and immigrant experiences. Then we duel with the many men who sent us polite emails in defense of The Thing, and we try to be just as polite in response (Mary Ellen succeeds; Maddy doesn't and she's sorry, sort of). There are also multiple reprisals of "Trailer Talk," because mostly, we've just been watching trailers.

Lastly, here are the links that Ramesh sent us in his email about The Big Sick:

http://www.redbrick.me/comment/a-secret-double-life-for-young-british-asians/

http://www.browngirlmagazine.com/2016/10/my-story-of-living-a-double-life-indian-and-american/

http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/childrens-research-centre/sites/www.open.ac.uk.researchprojects.childrens-research-centre/files/files/ecms/web-content/ahmad.pdf

Follow us on Twitter at letswatchtwo, alissacaliente and MIDImyers! Lastly, please consider tipping us via Patreon: patreon.com/atomicblueproductions

[This track got re-uploaded because Maddy messed up the audio spacing slightly before. If you have the other version, please delete it and listen to this one. Thanks/apologies!]

After watching The Departed, we never believed we could fall in love with any man again. Fictional or otherwise. But somehow, Good Will Hunting has achieved the impossible and softened our hearts. The second movie in our Boston Boys pairing made us get choked up for all the right reasons. It turns out that Maddy and Mary Ellen can watch and enjoy a movie about dudes, dad-like figures, violent tendencies, and fraternal support networks if it's also a nuanced story about the difficulties of overcoming trauma and figuring out what the heck you want to do with your life.

There's not a rat in this movie. There are still "your mom" jokes. But they're funny this time! Somehow!

Follow us on Twitter at letswatchtwo, alissacaliente and MIDImyers! Lastly, please consider tipping us via Patreon: patreon.com/atomicblueproductions

The Departed made Maddy and Mary Ellen cry, but not in a "wow, what a poignant fable of our times" type of way. More in like the "we've completely lost it now and we're laughing but we're also crying" way. Like the toy plane moment in the 50 Shades of Grey episode, combined with the unmoored alienation of Batman v Superman, supplemented by the low roar of anger that comes with the knowledge that this movie won not one, not two, not three, but FOUR Academy Awards in 2006.

The Departed is a dude movie that everyone has since forgotten about, and with good reason. It's too homophobic to be as homoerotic as we want it to be, but we do our damnedest, because shipping Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen is the only thing we have left to hang onto anymore.

Next week, we pair The Departed with a far more famous Boston movie that also stars Matt Damon... Good Will Hunting! Hopefully we won't be as angry about that one.

Follow us on Twitter at letswatchtwo, alissacaliente and MIDImyers! Lastly, please consider tipping us via Patreon: patreon.com/atomicblueproductions