It's Palm Springs! Plus His Dark Material and Legion, both of which come with the Nerd Critic stamp of approval. Also, a short (and important) announcement at the end. Oh, and we spend the first 7 minutes of the episode talking about hard boiled eggs, just so you're aware.

Questions/comments/hatemail? Send it all to ask[at]nerdcriticpodcast.com

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2:36 - You invitation to the first ever Nerd Critic Movie Night! JOIN HERE - https://discord.gg/DY6UeV3

5:25 - Introducing our deep dive into Holes

44:55 - Spoiler-free review of Project Power (on Netflix)

46:32 - Jordan makes an rambling, impassioned recommendation to watch Waco (also on Netflix)

51:25 - Q&A - Should Netflix move forward with another live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender?

55:10 - The new poll: https://bit.ly/3jYVS1t -- Go vote!

 

Movie suggestions? Burning questions? Send them to:

ask [at] nerdcriticpodcast.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nerdcritic.substack.com

It's frankly astonishing that it's taken us this long to get around to covering Forrest Gump. And we can't even take credit! This is the movie YOU voted for, and so here we are.

 

6:48 - Our deep dive into Forrest Gump

45:55 - Spoiler-free review of American Pickle

47:48 - Jordan recommends Killing Eve

50:40 - Q&A - Why doesn't my mother like movies of faith?

55:10 - The new poll: https://bit.ly/3jYVS1t -- Go vote!

 

Movie suggestions? Burning questions? Send them to:

ask@nerdcriticpodcast.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nerdcritic.substack.com

NOTES

1:08 - Poll Results

4:15 - The deep dive into Honey Boy

36:53 - A spoiler-free review of The Old Guard

40:18 - A spoiler-free review of Greyhound

46:40 - Our short conversation about anime (and why we don't spend much time on it)

51:25 - How to be part of the conversation

 

LINKS

This week's poll - https://bit.ly/3jYVS1t

Shia LaBeouf YouTube musical number - https://youtu.be/o0u4M6vppCI

 

Movie suggestions? Burning questions? Send them to:

ask@nerdcriticpodcast.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nerdcritic.substack.com

- Discussing the discussion of banter

- The explanation of our break

- Updates about what's new in our lives (a lot can change in a month -- mostly for CJ)

- Our radical new plans for how Nerd Critic will become an ongoing conversation

- Polls! Here's a link to the first: nerdcriticpodcast.com

- A breakdown of what to expect from future episodes, and a promise to cut out the boring bits

- A totally unnecessary freakout about a problem that was fixed shortly after we finished recording

- CJ completely misses a FANTASTIC setup, then recovers...reasonably well

(A helpful reminder to listen at 2X speed. It's so much better that way. Trust us.)

Twitter: We're back, and we've got big plans. Want to know what they are? That's what listening is for.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nerdcritic.substack.com

Will this be the very LAST episode of Nerd Critic ever? (No.) In this episode, we talk ourselves out of covering the movie we planned to cover, and then decide to push pause until the theaters reopen. We're proud to have stubbornly (and stupidly) kept the show going for so long without the magic of the silver screen to sustain us, but it's time to take a break. And we'll be back as soon as Tenet hits the theaters, so keep your candle lit for that grand and glorious day. Also, feel free to keep in touch! For the duration of this overdue pause, we'll be collection recommendations for future Off the Shelf episodes, and any other questions or topics you'd like us to spend time talking about.

Until next time, remember to keep loving movies like a nerd, and respecting them like a critic.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nerdcritic.substack.com

0:40 - Buddy Lindsey (CJ's big brother) introduces the movie

4:25 - Above the line

5:30 - The spoiler-free review (the challenge of spoilers in this movie)

10:10 - Spoilers ahead

16:00 - Jordan thinks he can fix this movie

22:00 - Structural problems

24:55 - Discussing the idea of empathy for self

38:30 - Coming up next week: 7500 on Amazon

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nerdcritic.substack.com

 

1:00 - CJ apologizes for his echoey recording, and Jordan apologizes for bad audio last week. Neither of them realize no one cares.

3:10 - The timing of this movie

4:40 - Above the line (and LOTS of early nerding out over the cast)

11:50 - A fantastic easter egg

12:40 - The spoiler-free overview

15:15 - Jordan burps, and doesn't edit it out

18:50 - The movie plays out like a really cool history lesson

20:00 - SPOILERS ahead (lots of stuff we loved)

24:10 - Flashbacks, music, and vicarious experience

28:50 - The point where we finally let go and get sucked into the vortex of Paul's story arc and Delroy Lindo's apocalyptic performance

37:50 - Shoutout to The Bridge on the River Kwai

40:30 - Time to bring in Black Panther

43:00 - Getting the criticisms out of the way, and acknowledging the weaknesses in the fabric of the movie

48:30 - The respect this film has for all of its characters, and all of the groups of people they represent

56:00 - Next week: Predestination (available to rent) and 7500 (available on Amazon Prime)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nerdcritic.substack.com

2:50 - Does CJ's wife work too much?

4:30 - James Montague / Andrew Patterson, a first-time writer and director

8:00 - Spoiler-free review (you should go watch it!)

14:00 - Spoilers ahead!

17:20 - Jordan's favorite sequence, deconstructed

23:30 - Incredible pacing, especially considering the way it used and relied on audio

27:00 - How the story encourages close listening to characters who deserve to be heard

29:00 - Shout out to The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), and lots of other sci-fi classics

31:15 - Culture of the 1950's

33:00 - Some honest criticisms

39:00 - The difference between a loose end and an effective hanging question

40:00 - The two people we hear the most from are the people who are often not listened to

44:30 - Jordan does his best to make sure CJ doesn't get to say anything

45:30 - Coming up next week: Uncut Gems and Da 5 Bloods, both available to see on Netflix

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nerdcritic.substack.com

Once again, we have a request from a loyal listener. We couldn't have been more excited to talk about this exceptionally entertaining and popular movie. It's actually a little embarrassing that we haven't covered it up to this point. Is this podcast called NERD Critic? Whatever.

 

0:55 - Rachel Reyes explains why she requested Star Trek

6:10 - The meta-data (above the line)

9:20 - Baby Thor!

9:50 - A very, very brief primer on Star Trek, including CJ and Jordan's (unimpressive) history of Star Trek fandom

14:00 - The reason Star Trek was "rebooted"

15:00 - Spoilers ahead! (but...come on, it was 11 years ago)

18:40 - "This is the Star Trek movie I've always wanted to see" -Jordan

20:10 - A shoutout for Megaplex in Jordan Commons

22:40 - Things that JJ Abrams is good at: cold opens, first acts, casting, dialog, pacing (his superpower)

31:20 - Specific example of great pacing (breaking down a sequence)

35:10 - Talking about the characters, the central relationship, and Spock, specifically

46:40 - Nero, the other extreme -- Kirk sans Spock

49:40 - Wrapping it up

51:00 - Coming up next week: The Vast of Night

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nerdcritic.substack.com