Oops, All Movies!

"Pinball Wizard" - In our review of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we discuss the management of the characters, reflect on the themes, and much more before delving into spoiler territory to process the story’s twists and turns. Also: We kick off the review with a tale of the most confrontational theatergoing experience yet discussed on the show.

"Noah Big Deal" - Special Guest Simon Tatum joins us for a discussion of Darren Aronofsky’s Noah in which we theorize about when it takes place, analyze its themes, praise the acting and much, much more.

"Five Tool Player" - For a movie about five factions, the three of us were largely united in our disregard for Divergent, Hollywood’s latest attempt to start a blockbuster franchise based on a popular young adult book series. In our review, we critique the movie’s portrayal of women, discuss how the relationship between Shailene Woodley’s Tris and the older Four, played by Theo James, made us slightly uncomfortable, and deride both the world-building and the motivations of the villains.

"Zombie Reagan" - We tackle a listener-requested review this week of The Dark Knight Returns, the recent feature-length animated adaptation of Frank Miller’s seminal Batman graphic novel of the same name. We discuss the movie’s animation style, praise its exceptional first half while criticizing its uneven second, and chat about Peter Weller and Michael Emerson’s performances as the Caped Crusader and the Joker, respectively.

"Spiders" - Enemy, the second collaboration between Prisoners director Denis Villeneuve and actor Jake Gyllenhaal, turns us into enemies, with Steve praising it as a complex character study with dark, existential themes while Neal and Joe contend that it’s ambiguous to a fault and has some random spider cameos.

"Liam Neeson With A Gun" - In this episode, we chat about the recent glut of old man action movies before breaking down this year’s Academy Awards, discussing the highs and lows of the telecast, the Best Picture win by 12 Years a Slave and more. Afterwards, we review Dallas Buyers Club, praising Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto’s Oscar-winning performances as well as the editing.

We saddle up for a listener-requested review this week of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, dissecting its montages and pacing while praising Conrad Hall’s cinematography and the chemistry between Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Also, we have a quick discussion about Season 2 of House of Cards.

"Hologram Technology" - In our review of RoboCop, we discuss the pros and cons of its futuristic look, compare this version to the Paul Verhoeven original, chat about its themes, react to the news that one of us fell asleep during it and praise Gary Oldman’s performance. Also: Neal and Joe recount the most harrowing theatergoing experience on the show to date.

"Everything Is Awesome" - We piece together our thoughts on The Lego Movie, praising its look and feel, the well-cast voice actors and its subversive tone before delving into spoilers to discuss its interesting twist.

"2037" - In this episode, we review Semi-Pro and The Big Lebowski, which were requested by listeners during our Indiegogo campaign. During our chat about Semi-Pro, we agree that it starts out promising, but loses steam after that to go down as one of Will Ferrell’s more forgettable comedies. In our discussion of The Big Lebowski, we appreciate its standing as the Coen Brothers’ quintessential comedy, talk about the characters as metaphors for different generations, and debate whether or not the ending works.