Off The Shelf With Phil and Dave- A Movie Review Podcast

"Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and podcasting" - Luckily for us there is Site B as Dave takes 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park off the shelf this week. Phil is fired up and offended at the precipitous drop in quality from one movie to the other. Turning Malcom from scientist to hero, from co-star to lead hurts the movie and the rest of the film fails to bring anything new to the table; except maybe the cast. New faces doing what may be their worst work. Dave, for a brief period, enjoyed this one more than the original! We'll dig into why. 

"Welcome to Jurassic Podcast" - It's time to get prehistoric as Dave takes 1993's Jurassic Park off the shelf this week. Phil remembers the time he went to see the movie in theatres only to find out it was sold out. Lamentably, he only experienced it on VHS later and has since upgraded to 4K. Dave remembers that he wasn't able to see it later until later. A rare movie where both Phil and Dave enjoy almost every aspect of the filmmaking, performance and score. There are few films better than this. 

 "Just when you thought it was safe to listen to a podcast" - Phil takes to the beach as he grabs 1978's Jaws 2 off the shelf this week. The summer is here and it's a great opportunity to talk about the first sequel to one of the greatest movies ever. Phil remembers finding this movie to be a failure in almost every way when he first saw it. Bland characters, boring scenes and poor special effects, however, he is somewhat turned around on this most recent watch. The characters are still bland and some scenes are still boring but the effects are better than he remembered. Dave thought the shark looked better than the original shark and was possibly even related by blood. Some challenges with the script are noticed but overcome by the end. It's nice to talk about the Jaws Ride too which borrowed the same ending as this movie. 

"Me and my boy here, we're gonna put a podcastin' on ya!" - It's back to the well for Bruce Willis and Dave as he takes 2013's A Good Day to Die Hard off the shelf this week and subjects Phil to another movie that he had never seen. Judging by  the quote above, this movie has nothing memorable or interesting to bring to the table as Phil found it to be bland and uninteresting. He further finds that Bruce has none of the self-awareness that Stallone infused Rocky 5 with. Dave, however, still enjoys some of the cut of Bruce's jib and despite walking out of the theatre back in 2013, enjoyed it revisiting the movie in the basement. A ranking of these movies is included in this episode too! 

"A lot of people come to Vegas to Podcast, I didn't" - One more round in the Rocky franchise as Phil takes 2006's Rocky Balboa off the shelf this week. Dave find this entry to be a fitting conclusion to the story and things that it makes up for the casting issues of the last one Phil remembers seeing this movie in the theatre in Vancouver and coming out jacked up and excited. A beautiful ending to the story with some great heart and humour that elevates it above some of the previous sequels and a great example of tapping into what made the original great even after 30 years.  Stick around to the end as we rank the 6 movies.

"Touch me and I'll Podcast - it's round five as Phil takes 1990's Rocky 5 off the shelf this week. Dave isn't that eager to get back in the ring but in the end thinks the movie is better than he thought it would be, though does think that the casting of Tommy Morrison is a weak link to the film and ensures that it never reaches the heights it could. Phil finds the choice to humble Rocky and return him to the neighbourhood to be a good one and helps ground the character after Rocky 4. Bringing back the director and composer of the original film is a nice touch. Will we cover Rocky Balboa? Well, I didn't hear no bell..

"I don't think the dead care about podcasting" - It's the second Bond movie that Phil has ever seen as Dave takes 2008's Quantum of Solace off the shelf this week. Phil expresses his disappointment in the film as it fails to capitalize on the strength of the previous entry. Some weak performances, drab colours and poor villain is a real let-down. Dave feels there's a good movie in there but fails due to poor editing. Neither of them could piece together the plot. 

The Name is Pod - Pod Cast.....Dave finally brings down 2006's Casino Royale off the shelf this week and continues to enjoy the action adventure story. He confirms that Daniel Craig may be his favorite Bond in the franchise, right after admitting he's only seen one other. Phil has never seen a Bond movie before but is impressed with how many things he knows of the series of films just from the ubiquity of the character. From a great song to great titles, Phil is engaged and pretty locked in. Dave finds the chemistry with Eva Green to be believable, even without a trunk to be seen.

"Fame has a fifteen minute half-life, podcasts last a little longer." - In these troubled times, Phil takes 1999's The Insider Off the Shelf this week and find that this story is just as important as it was then. Michael Mann's brilliant direction , except for the jowl-cam, and the pitch perfect performances of Russel Crowe and Al Pacino make this movie incredibly watchable. Dave was compelled by the movie but felt it a little too scene heavy and may have been a little shorter to still get the same result. It's Christopher Plummer that we both agree deserved an Oscar nomination as he delivers an incredible performance. Journalism is under attack by, not just corporate interests but the most powerful figure in politics. A sadly prescient film from 25 years ago.  

New Rocky episode coming your way soon!!