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UGA is headed back to the Natty, and it was never in doubt! Aside from most of New Year's Eve. We'd never let the facts get in the way of a good story, and we've got Mike on the pod to talk out how I'd rather UGA be lucky than good, the ballad of Hypno Toad, and having to cheer for Stetson for 60 more minutes. This episode, we also lightly review my stand up comedy debut, weep for LeBron and bask in all that is Luka. We recorded this BEFORE Monday Night Football, but stick around for a discussion on the safety of football at the end.

Guest: The Homie Mike

 

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If you're planning on watching Whitney Houston: I Want to Dance with Somebody because you want to celebrate the woman behind the icon, this isn't what you've been waiting for. Script writer Anthony McCarten (The Two Popes,  Bohemian Rhapsody) designed a narrative built on innuendo, interviews, videos, and b-reel footage to such a degree that its central character, Whitney Huston, is never more than a plot device in a highlight reel of her career. And director Kasi Lemmons (Self-Made: Inspired by the life of Madame C. J. Walker), who should know better than to be satisfied with caricatures of Black people, did little to steer the story much deeper than offering a parody of a life lived. This talented cast's been set adrift with no hope of ever fitting an extraordinary life in such a meandering, and sadly subpar, homage. 

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Writers: David Kajganich, Camille DeAngelis

Starring: Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders, Tamara Tunie, Nafessa Williams, Clarke Peters

Runtime: 146 (very long) minutes

Synopsis:  A joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, one of the greatest female R&B pop vocalists of all time, tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom.

Listen to the Full Review: 

Ro and Brandon accidentally go long (but spoiler-free) about where things went wrong and why it's time we as a community stop accepting mediocrity when it comes to celebrating our icons on film. 

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Director: Luca Guadagnino

Writers: David Kajganich, Camille DeAngelis

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance, Kendle Coffey, André Holland

Runtime: 2 hour 11 minutes

Synopsis:  Maren, a young woman, learns how to survive on the margins of society.

The worst IMBD synopsis (see above) for Bones and All leads to one of our funniest episodes. Listen as Brandon, Kriss and Ro discuss the film that should get Luca Guadagnino on a watchlist (if Call Me By Your Name didn't already have him on one). 

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Director: Liz Garbus

Starring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Afua Hirsch, Doria Ragland

Episodes: 6 

Since the announcement of their courtship the global media has been hyper-focused on the pairing that is Prince Henry Charles Albert David (Prince Harry to the rest of us) and Meghan Markle, the American actress and activist.  Like his mother Princess Diana, Sarah Ferguson, and even Princess Margaret, this hyper-fixation on outspoken women with a desire to engage the public in a new and modern way has led to a campaign of venom and hate.  Prince Harry, who expressed an intense dislike of the media and a desire to step away from the royal box even before his marriage, saw these repeated patterns and decided on a course of action that disrupted the status quo.  

Harry & Meghan is the Duke and Duchess' response to the ongoing campaign that appeared to be designed to destroy their relationship and return Harry to his "rightful place."  The documentary, which features a compilation of family videos and photos, archival news footage, and personal interviews with family, friends, and the couple, attempts to provide answers to the accusations lobbied at them by the media and by, according to the couple, the institution that is the British royal family.  From four differing perspectives and understandings of the British royals,  we examine the production value of the documentary as well as provide commentary on some of the themes presented, including the development of a non-traditional family, patterns of the Black community, and more.

 

 

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Director: James Cameron

Writers: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis

Runtime: 3 hour 12 minutes

Synopsis: Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the extrasolar moon Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na'vi race to protect their home.

James Cameron returns after 13 years to give us a sequel to 2009's Avatar. Avatar: The Way of Water is a visually stunning film as one would expect. What is unexpected (or maybe expected depending on who you talk to) is how bland and regressive the story and plot is. While no one would claim the first Avatar film was some marvel of story-telling. It's clear that Cameron "borrowed" from several different sources for that first film but it still was edited together in a coherent and enjoyable story. This new film is not only blatant in which films it rips dialogue and scenes from but its way too long and edited together in a way that just doesn't make sense. It's really ironic considering how much talk about how superhero and other big blockbuster films "aren't real cinema" that Cameron decided to rip so much from those films for this. 

The other problem with Avatar: The Way of Water is that while Cameron made huge technological progress in how the film was shot and looks, it's almost as if his mindset with the story is still stuck in 2009. It's not just that he rips from other films but he does it in ways that waters down the impact of so many of those scenes. It's the equivalent of someone taking a soul food recipe for fried chicken, removing all seasonings and then baking it instead of frying. 

We have a lot of spoiler-free thoughts on this film so listen as we talk about it. And then come back from the Premium spoiler review that will drop sometime the following week.

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Sometimes, it's not what you do, it's how you do it. And Deion chose some of the most unsavory ways to do the things he done did. Plus, Kriss is on to talk Brittney Griner coming home, transferring players taking shots, and Stetson "Heisman Finalist" Bennett.

Guest: Kriss - @InsanityReport

 

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Director: Rian Johnson

Writers: Rian Johnson

Starring: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn

Runtime: 2 hour 19 minutes

Synopsis: Famed Southern detective Benoit Blanc travels to Greece for his latest case.

Ro, Kriss & Brandon review and discuss the sequel to Knives Out, Glass Onion.

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In the shadows of UGA winning the SEC, the coaching carousel continues to spin in unsavory directions. Justin and I took a look at CFB Championship Weekend as a whole, and once again bemoan the existence of the Playoff.

Guest: Justin - @LJay90 - @3fifspodcast

Come See Me Do Stand Up?

 

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Now that the first season of the She-Hulk series on Disney+ is over, now is a great time to talk about She-Hulks comic book history. The timing has nothing to do with the fact that Kriss is late on releasing this episode because work has completely swamped him. Nope, this timing is completely planned. 

Anyway, after seeing some of the confused reactions to the Disney+ show, it actually is a pretty good time to remind folks just who Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk is and how writers have tackled that character over the years. First off, the show pulled their tone from John Byrne's classic time writing the character in the 1989 Sensational She-Hulk series. Yes, She-Hulk is a Hulk with incredible strength but she's also be written as a smart, funny character that has no problems crawling outside of the comic panels to challenge her writers/artists (sound familiar?). But aside from that, this character has always been about a woman challenging the male driven world around her. In the comics, Jen prefers to be in her She-Hulk form because that's the form that makes her feel powerful, invincible and capable of standing up to the world around her. That leads to some really funny moments (like her getting kicked out of Avengers mansion for being too wild). 

Post Civil War 2 sees a change for the character. The death of her cousin Bruce at the hands of fellow Avenger Hawkeye (and his subsequent acquittal) puts Jen on a path where she channel's Bruce's troubles with the Hulk and becomes uncontrollable when she transforms. She's consumed by anger and fear and that is explored as she finally reconciles her two halves. 

Overall the key issues for She-Hulk really do put new perspective on the show and highlight where the show pulled not only its tone but some of its arcs. 

Issues: 

Savage She-Hulk #1

Avengers #221

Secret Wars

Fantastic Four #265

The Sensational She-Hulk (1989  - 1994)

Issues 1 - 8

Issues #34 & #40

Avengers #64 - 76 (1998)

She-Hulk (Dan Slott's run)

Volume 1: Issues 1 - 12

Volume 2

Avengers Disassembled 

Civil War 2

 

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Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Writers: Adam Sztykiel, Rory Hainnes, Sohrab Noshirvani

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Shahi, Noah Centineo, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui

Synopsis: Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods-and imprisoned just as quickly-Black Adam is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.

After so many years (like 15), of Dwayne Johnson teasing a Black Adam movie, the movie has finally come out. And it's fine. The bar was extremely low for this film and despite all it's problems, it clears that bar. So there's that. This film can be explained by looking at its strengths being The Rock and its weaknesses are Dwayne Johnson. Here's what that means. For Black Adam to be any type of success it needed to be loud, violent and talk a big game. That's WWE The Rock. And that's what we got in the promotion of this film and even what the film does on screen. It's not interested in making too much sense but rather rocketing you from scene to scene with the promise of "The baddest man alive" doing his best "Bad Superman" impression. Where this film falters is everything else and that's because of Dwayne Johnson. Not because Johnson himself does anything really wrong but rather this seems to be a recurring theme with most films that case him. See, Johnson is such a big personality and can act well enough that for lazy directors and writers, they can just plop him into a movie and let that carry it enough to a popcorn film status. And that's what happens here in Black Adam. Surprisingly this film actually could have been good or even great had the things around Johnson been treated with some kind of care. 

Aldis Hodge is a great casting for Carter Hall but the film doesn't even try to give him a script that really utilizes his talents. Pierce Brosnan's Dr Fate is turned into if you ordered Doctor Strange on Wish (and he shouldn't have been). It just feels like the whole JSA angle was put into this film to be "bad ass" but not to actually make it work for the story. Throw in terrible song choices for scenes and an overuse of slow motion and what we get here is a mid film that is disappointing because it could have been so much more. 

Again, the bar was low for Black Adam. It did what it needed to do which was not completely end in disaster. But who knows what the future of DC films is because even if Black Adam wasn't a complete clusterfuck, WB Discovery clearly is.

 

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