Screeners Podcast

Among the deluge of movies released over the holidays were All The Money In The World and Downsizing, so it’s time for another bonus episode! Daniel’s joined by Next Trek Podcast host Tyler Howat for the reviews.

All The Money In The World has been a subject of controversy and anticipation. Only a few short weeks ago, Christoper Plummer replaced Kevin Spacey after his career imploded. Was that the right move? Did the movie come together in such a short time? Daniel and Tyler made sure to weigh in.

Alexander Payne is the authority on films about white men going through a midlife crisis, and Downsizing sits squarely in his wheelhouse. Matt Damon shrinks himself down to outrun his problems. Is tiny Damon better than regular-size Damon? We’re not so sure.

We’ll have plenty more reviews coming your way in the days to come, so keep an eye out for those soon!

Special Guest: Tyler Howat.

Training Day meets Lord of The Rings. With a pitch like that, you know it’s Chris’s type of movie. Bright is Netflix’s first blockbuster, but can you really call it a blockbuster if you can only watch it from your couch?

Either way, it stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton as LAPD officers in a gritty cop movie, but with a twist: Edgerton is an Orc. It’s about as high-concept as you get. Humans, Orcs, and Elves have made it past Middle Earth and now co-exist in the present day. Conflicts arise, etc., etc.

Some are calling it the worst movie of the year, others are merely calling it terrible, so what did Chris and Daniel think? Check out this Bonus Review of Bright.

Reviews of Star Wars movies need no introduction in our culture; they just have to come with a big red-letter guarantee that no one’s going to spoil any plot points (a line from Tommy Boy comes to mind). Well, four of the Screeners will guarantee that they’ll at least warn you before spoiling everything. The fifth Screener isn’t around for this episode, so you’re safe there too.

Even Josh saw The Last Jedi on opening weekend, so unless this is one of those rare unanimous reviews, there should be a little intrigue to be had here. There had better be, since this is the last Screeners episode of 2017. Our Facebook page, though, is open 24/7/365—no time off for the Internet gnomes toiling away in the bit mines.

Happy Holidays, and see you next year!

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These bonus episodes are coming at you fast; we know. Sorry (notsorry); there’s just a lot going on right now. Today, it’s the Golden Globe nominations; tomorrow, maybe someone’s career gets destroyed by something totally unexpected. One can never know.

What one can know, however, is that James Franco will continue making movies until he gets the respect he so richly deserves. Or at least until he runs out of things to adapt. Despite some not-so-glowing remarks from The A.V Club, maybe Chad or Daniel found something to love about The Disaster Artist. And if they didn’t...well, there’s always Chris. The lover of loving things vs. a movie you’re supposed to love to hate. It’s a match made in...purgatory? Anyway, you should listen.

And don’t forget to head over to Facebook and tell us if you’ve seen The Room and, if so, if you have any desire whatsoever to see a making-of starring the guy from Pineapple Express and his brother.

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We’ve finally gotten to the movie season designed for Josh, and guess who’s still not at the theater. Oh well, at least we have Chad and Daniel to talk about the year’s less “important” events—you know, like the best-reviewed movie on Rotten Tomatoes.

Daniel’s brother Tyler (of Next Trek fame) fills out the cast for this double feature bonus episode covering Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Lady Bird.

Next on the agenda: a recap of The Disaster Artist, James Franco’s tribute to The Room, then it’s straight to The Last Jedi. In the meantime, jump on the hype train over on our Facebook page!

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Special Guest: Tyler Howat.

Willem Dafoe as a good guy? In a movie starring children? The Florida Project may not have been in too many theaters around the country, but it’s getting plenty of awards buzz. Daniel is joined by co-host of The Next Trek Podcast (and his brother) Tyler Howat for a quick review. They do a deep dive into the movie, its themes, and even a little bit of its Oscar chances.

We know Chad is mad he missed recording this episode, but he’ll let us know his thoughts on the movie elsewhere—and you should too! Chime in on Facebook and Twitter if you got a chance to see The Florida Project, and tell us what you thought.

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Special Guest: Tyler Howat.

Disney doesn’t have the world’s greatest track record when it comes to cultural diversity in their movies: Try as they might, they seem to always have detractors crying foul over reductive stereotypes. It seems like they may have finally done something right* with Coco, though, at least according to Mexican audiences.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the Screeners will like it. In fact, if we’re honest, the majority of them haven’t seen it yet. Chad and Daniel have, though, and they couldn’t wait any longer to talk about it. They’re joined by a special guest host, Dr. Jeff Salyer, who not only teaches this stuff for a living, but whose dissertation was on Pixar's work. You won’t even miss Josh’s complete lack of useful input.

To accompany the main event, it only seemed fitting to have a PIxar-themed top 3. We’ve already done overall favorites, though, so this time we’re limiting it to Pixar endings. Don’t forget to add yours over on Facebook!

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Special Guest: Dr. Jeff Salyer .

As we’re all painfully aware by now, Marvel movies are reliable money printing machines, mostly beloved by audiences—or at least inoffensive to them. The DC universe, though, has enjoyed no such consistency. They had the Nolan Batman movies, regarded by some as masterpieces. If they’d just quit while they were ahead, we wouldn’t be here today talking about what an embarrassment Batman vs. Superman was. Wonder Woman was OK, though, right? Sure; why not.

Anyway, there’s another one now. Justice League is what you might call DC’s answer to Avengers, except with fewer A-list heros and Zack Snyder at the helm for most of production. Chad, Chris, and Daniel are dedicated enough to see it early on opening weekend, so they’re here to help you decide how to spend your movie dollars. Has DC learned from their mistakes, or should they go sit in a corner and think about what they’ve done...again?

Don’t forget to join us on Facebook and tell us what you think of the DC universe so far!

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We’ve had our share of remakes over the past couple years, but there haven’t been too many adaptations. We’ll take what we can get in that category, even if it has to be an adaptation and a remake (no matter if Kenneth Branagh sees it that way or not). This episode’s main event is Murder on the Orient Express, a movie that Josh might have actually seen if he had thought to check the recording schedule ahead of time. Anyway, think Snowpiercer, except...not at all.

In keeping with the “I’m on a train” theme, our Top 3 this time is single-location movies or small-screen “bottle episodes”. Seems pretty specific for a segment that famously doesn’t have any rules; how will the Screeners deal with this one?

We’re sure that, if nothing else, you have some favorites to add to the Top 3 list. (We know that for a fact, actually, because a bunch of you have added them already—if you haven’t, don’t be shy!) Head on over to Facebook, add your picks, and let us know what you think about Murder on the Orient Express!

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We looked back in the Screeners vault, and did you know it’s been over 10 episodes since a Marvel movie has been the main event? That’s way too long, right? Well, pine no longer, because Chris Hemsworth is here to save the day. Thor: Ragnarok is the Norseman’s (Norsegod’s?) third movie, and a quick scan of the Googles reveals people calling it the best yet. Will the Screeners (or, um, three of them) agree?

Also, comic book movies are great and all, but as we learned from the Oscar preview episode, the Screeners do their best to be Serious Critics. What better way to do that than debate the relative merits of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Mean Girls courtesy of Flickchart? We’re glad you agree—let’s go ahead and do that.

Just two segments this week, but there’s plenty of room for audience feedback—if you think that Sin City was a criminally underrated masterpiece, you know where to go (hint: it’s Facebook). ‘Til next time!

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