Screeners Podcast

...so let’s talk about the past for awhile. Seriously, though, if even CNN thinks it’s news, we should probably at least mention that October 21, 2015 was Back to the Future Day—the day the DeLorean took us to all the way back in 1985. Everything that might have happened in the future has now happened in the past. Think about that for a minute.

OK, minute over. We probably shouldn’t have taken our news cues from CNN anyway. Their credentials are...suspect. J-j-jump Cut time!

This episode’s short on topics but plenty long on discussion. To foreshadow our main event, we put out some feelers on Facebook to see what your favorite Steven Spielberg movies were. We got some good responses, but you didn’t think the Screeners were going to stay silent, did you? As it turns out, the real question isn’t, “Name a good Spielberg movie,” but rather, “How well can Daniel defend a nearly apocryphal Indiana Jones movie?” Oh, and we also talk about our least favorite Spielberg joints, so Josh should probably have something to say about that.

Our second and final(?!) Jump Cut is a slight twist on the first. Instead of “greatest film ever”, what are the movies that each Screener can watch over and over again and still be entertained? Without listening to the segment, we’re going to guess Daniel’s jam is Star Wars: Episode I, Chris can’t get enough Bad Boys, and Melody could binge on Eragon. Ed. note: Surprisingly enough, those predictions aren’t spoilers. And just for sake of completeness (though not endorsement), here's the article Josh was complaining about.

Let’s bring it full circle. For the main event this episode, the Screeners—yes, all the Screeners—dissect Steven Spielberg’s newest film, Bridge of Spies. Sure, it’s Spielberg, but is it too Spielberg? How much Spielberg is enough Spielberg? If we had too much Spielberg, would we know it? Spielberg’s just such ripe conversational fodder. Spielberg.

OK, so there’s more to it than that, but we’ll leave it up to you to determine just how much more. For example, we hear that some of the things in the movie may have actually happened. Oh, and don’t forget Tom Hanks. He’s in it too.

There you have it—Oscar season is definitely upon us, and we have a couple formidable opening salvos already. Join us next time and, as always, head over to Facebook for all the content that didn’t quite make the podcast (and some that did). Thanks for listening!

It’s a nice round episode number, and all of the Screeners are back on...what are we calling this? “The air”? Sure—they’re all back on the air. It seems that the Facebook audience (that’s y’all!) was plenty interested in the last episode’s discussions, though, so Melody and Josh spend the first few minutes getting caught up on some of your favorite fight scenes. And as promised, here's the undeniable winner.

After that, it’s straight into an extended Jump Cuts section. Chad’s recent viewing of the The Walk and its box office troubles have gotten the five thinking about the history of the box office bomb and asking themselves if there are any that don’t belong on Wikipedia’s list of the biggest flops in history. A preview: Keanu Reeves doesn’t do well.

Next, we hear how many movies Chad saw last week, and we get a brief tour of what everyone else has been watching recently. Josh’s answers just might surprise you.

The careful reader will have noticed that the last paragraph was short. That was intentional:  The length of the paragraphs reflects the relative importance of each Jump Cut. The description of our penultimate discussion will be much longer, because its topic, Destiny: The Taken King, might be the most significant video game release in many years—or, at least, the most significant release for the Screeners’ marriages. By virtue of simple majority, the Screeners welcome their new MMOFPSRPG (that’s a thing, right?) overlords. Chris, Chad, and Josh attempt to exorcise their addiction through conversation; Melody gives a voice to all the wives, girlfriends, and other victims of the game’s terrible power; and Daniel simply listens in silence as the train wreck unfolds. If the three gamers are lucky, maybe Chad cut out the part where they mentioned just how many hours they've each been playing...or maybe sunlight is the best disinfectant.

And assuming life after Destiny is even possible, the Screeners try to recover by talking about Kevin Bacon for some reason. Who are we kidding? Chris is the reason they’re talking about Kevin Bacon. Why else would they be talking about Kevin Bacon?

Josh was playing Destiny instead of seeing The Martian, so all he knows about it is that the guy from Team America: World Police went to space and...can’t get back? Didn’t we just see this movie last year with the guy from the good season of True Detective? According to the other four Screeners who occasionally do go to theaters, no. And that’s as much as we’ll say about the review for now; if you want the rest, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and listen!

As always, join us for the follow-up on Facebook. Some of you already have chimed in about Kevin Bacon (and yes, Chris’s head grew three sizes that day), but we can’t wait to see the Destiny support group that will certainly spring up after our on-air catharsis. See you next time!

Although we're missing Melody and Josh from the majority of this episode, Chad, Chris, and Daniel still manage to find something to disagree about, even without Josh here! In this packed episode, we've got some Jump Cuts and our first Oscar Bait review of the year, as well as a very special interview with filmmaker Brett Culp.

First up, we look back through film history to talk about our favorite fight scenes. Daniel keeps things current with a couple recent scenes, while Chad and Chris take a more classic approach. Also, Chad finds a way to bring up San Andreas and mock Daniel yet again.

And in our next Jump Cut, the Screeners discuss the Fall TV slate and their hopes for new and returning shows. Chad's given up on a favorite, Daniel's excited for some new ones, and Chris manages to STILL talk about Hannibal, despite it being cancelled.

Melody and Josh return as we interview filmmaker Brett Culp, the director of Legends of the Knight, about his upcoming project Look to the Sky. Brett discusses the documentary process, superheroes, and charity, and even warms Josh's cold heart. He also tells us to keep a lookout for his IndieGogo for Look to the Sky, so be sure and check out this inspiring project.

Finishing out this episode, the Screeners enter Oscar season. Chad, Chris, and Daniel discuss Johnny Depp's first real Oscar contender in years, Black Mass. With only three Screeners to review it, can Depp unite them all? We could tell you here, but it's a family secret (Get it?? Like from the trailer!).

Sadly, Melody’s not around for this episode, but the four guys have promised to try to argue enough to fill her role as the most belligerent Screener. We’ll have one fewer segment than normal for this episode, but there’s plenty of content to make up for it.

First off, late night TV has a new face in its roster. There have been profiles about Colbert and analysis of the dog-eat-dog comedy world he’s entering, but the Screeners (at least, the ones who still have ‘cords’, since you know how hard it is to watch network TV online...) have politely waited until his show started to pass judgement. It’s been a week, though, so gloves off. Has he changed anything for the better, or is it more of the same?

And since that was a reasonably interesting and timely discussion, we decided to let Chris ask a question. We’re not quite sure what happened next, but we remember it was something about physical media and that Josh had to make something up because he’s maybe watched a grand total of one DVD commentary in his life. Maybe Daniel can save us here...

This episode’s another famous Screeners double-header. First up, Alex Gibney’s The Man in the Machine, a documentary focused on Steve Jobs that simultaneously hit theaters and just about every on-demand service you can think of. Fresh off his mission against Scientology (which you might remember from a previous Screeners episode), Gibney seems to still be in skeptic mode. Tune in to find out if Chris is able to uphold the vow of fealty he’s sworn to Apple after Gibney’s assault.

To round out the show, we guess we’ll talk about the new M. Night Shyamalan movie—y’know, if we have to. Turns out he’s made a couple movies between The Village and this one too; that in itself is news to Josh. There’s more to say, of course; we just can’t say it here since, unlike with The Man in the Machine, we have a spoilers section to think about. Let’s just say that...not everyone agreed about The Visit. Is that unspoilery enough?

That does it for the first all-male revue review here at the Screeners—join us over on Facebook to keep the conversation going!

Turns out that Josh made it back safely from wherever he was (against Chad's wishes), so the Screeners have returned with a full complement of hosts, ready to take on the (media-related) issues of the day. After a summer full of blockbusters that at least 2 or 3 of our panel enjoyed, we're in a bit of a summer lull as far as movie releases go, so we're going to do things a little differently this time. Stick with us, though; we're sure *someone* will make it worth your while.

To start things off easy, the Screeners recap what they've been watching recently, new or not. Pop quiz: What's Chris going to talk about? We'll give you a hint:  It rhymes with "cannibal". Oh, and it has one in it. We think he's seen every episode of that show as many times as a kid raised by TV in the 90's saw every episode of Saved by the Bell. Josh wants to discuss True Detective, but he's the only one who's seen the second season so far. He wanted us to be sure to share that here and stress that he was both proud of and annoyed by this fact.

Next, if you can't get rid of Buzzfeed, embrace it:  The Screeners have found their first listicle to deconstruct as if its opinions were somehow representative of the culture at large. "The 10 Worst Best Pictures of The Last 30 Years" garnered a good bit of discussion on Facebook (at least for the Screeners page), and this can only end in argument—so, really, what are we waiting for? We're pretty sure Chad saw all of these in the theater (Get it? Because he's old!), and we're sure he'll have some good input. Daniel, as the youngest member of the panel...has probably still seen more of them than Josh has, so he should be OK too.

For the main event, the Screeners decided to skip a current theatrical release (dog days of summer and all) and picked a movie with some cult acclaim that's available through most streaming channels. More than just cult acclaim, really—It Follows currently has a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

For those unfamiliar with the etymology, the title of It Follows is a clever play on the Latin phrase non sequitur, or "it does not follow". It's a deeply philosophical piece that, through its exploration of love and loss, manages to inspire its viewers to explore their own decisions while simultaneously drawing us deep into the story of the main character, who...just kidding; it's a horror movie. You either like them, or you don't—or you spend 10 minutes defending the genre as a whole, making excuses for lazy storytellers by saying they're just paying homage to all the lazy storytellers before them, and our collective intellect dies just a little more on the inside. Either way, a few people die along the way, and the rest learn nothing. The end. Spoiler alert!

Well, that was fun. See you next time, but until then, join the conversation over on Facebook; we'd love to hear about your favorite listicles, least favorite Oscar winners, or why (Chris/Melody/Chad/Josh/Daniel) should go jump in a lake. It's hot outside; they might actually do it.

Hey, what do you know? We told you that we are going to be more regular … and did we deliver, or did we deliver? Two episodes released in less than a month – we are on a roll!

We are missing our favorite host this episode – Josh is away travelling the country, probably visiting all his favorite movie theaters without us. We miss you Josh! But Daniel is back with us for another episode and he manages to throw us a curveball or two.

SUMMER FAVORITES AND FAILURES

We have a fun time this episode trying to determine our best and worst of the summer, along with our biggest surprise. Good thing Josh is away this episode because he would never have let us get away with our pick for best film! Ha! That’s what you get for taking a week off, Josh!

SECRETS AND SPIES: For your Entertainment

Another double header this week! Mostly because Melody demanded to review The Gift even though it’s been out for a few weeks. And we couldn’t pass up The Man From U.N.C.L.E, because we just haven’t had enough spy movies lately!

We did not manage to come to a unified perspective about The Gift, despite it’s critical acclaim. Which screener is the party pooper this time? You’ll have to listen to find out.

Next up – more spies. Melody appears to have enjoyed The Man From U.N.C.L.E. way more than anyone expected… for reasons that have little to do with plot or characters or cinematography. Though perhaps it was to do with beautiful things being on the screen…

In any case, listen to find out what we think of the latest Guy Ritchie release.

And that’s it for this episode of the Screeners. Head on over to Facebook and let us know what you think! We’ll be back soon!

Welcome back to another irregularly scheduled episode of the Screeners Podcast! It’s been awhile, but we’ll be better from now on, we promise! C’mon, you can trust us...when have we ever let you down? OK, so there was that one time, but you know we didn’t mean it—wait, no, don’t go; we’re serious this time!

Jokes aside, though, this episode marks a new chapter for the Screeners:  We’re adding a new cast member! Introducing new co-hosts makes it easier for at least four Screeners to be available to record a new episode, so everyone wins. Look for us to be adding about 50 more in the coming months; that should keep us nice and regular. Everyone say hi to Daniel!

For such a long time away, the Screeners have realized they don’t have a lot to talk about. They must’ve been too busy preparing for tonight’s double-header review. The best they can come up with is a couple trailers from Comic-Con: Batman vs. Superman and Suicide Squad. If you haven’t seen them yet, take a couple minutes and head over to YouTube before listening to us blather on about them.

As promised, this episode’s main event is a double feature—and for what may be the first time in Screeners history, at least 4 Screeners have seen both movies! It only took adding a fifth Screener to make that happen; if only we’d known it was that easy before...live and learn, we guess.

Anyway, Marvel’s Ant-Man is first on the schedule. Paul Rudd has conquered both the romantic comedy and the bromantic comedy, which uniquely qualifies him to put on a suit that makes him really small and move really fast. At least, we’re pretty sure that was his agent’s pitch to the studio. Do his dry wit and impish charm make up for the fact that Ant-Man has no reason to exist, let alone add to the already cluttered pantheon of superhero movies? Well, you tuned in to hear us answer that, so we’ll...try, at least.

Next up are the almost superhuman members of the IMF coming back for another installment of America’s answer to the James Bond franchise, Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation. Tom Cruise has been doing crazy stunts for nearly 20 years, and he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Must be all the auditing*. Anyway, is the series aging well? Keep listening for the definitive answer—the Screeners’ answer.

And that’s it for another action-packed episode of the Screeners. Head on over to Facebook and let us know what you think of our casting choices and the idea that we might actually produce a regular show. Talk [at] you next time!

*You didn’t seriously think we were going to be able to resist that joke, did you?

So, yeah, it’s been awhile. Again. The Screeners had the best of intentions, they promise. Somewhere in the past month or so there were at least two episodes that were planned and fell through the cracks. Since Josh actually went to the theater for said episodes (and he really wants you to know that he did his job in all of this), the four have given up on the lightning round this week and instead have opted for a grab bag of “whatcha been watchin’?”.

Chris starts the segment off with a review of the most recent season of Game of Thrones...and ends up somewhere else entirely, but we won’t begrudge him his burning passion for network TV. Or maybe we just fed him the GoT topic so we could post this.

Next up is Chad, who admits he’s late to the party for once, but loves Silicon Valley all the same. The show’s been a big hit with a majority of the Screeners, actually, and there’s definitely some fun to be had guessing which of the show’s characters may have been modeled after Josh.

Since Josh gets a turn, you know he’s going to insist on talking about one of the movies he actually saw this year. Ex Machina’s part of what seems to be a recent thematic trend in sci-fi; does it have anything to set it apart from, say, Transcendence as an AI movie?

In what must have been an attempt to ramp up the energy level for the main event, Melody rounds out the segment by covering the Screeners’ latest failure for an episode plan: Mad Max: Fury Road. Some might say we saved the best for last. One person, amidst a sea of positive reviews, might dare to say otherwise. We’re tired of telling you to guess who that person might be and implying that you might be surprised. You know, and you won’t be.

We just can’t shake the mental image of Pauly Shore riding a velociraptor that we’d hoped against hope would be the climax of Jurassic World. Alas, we’ll have to settle for Chris Pratt on a motorcycle. It’s fine, really. Totally fine.

No spoilers for the latest installment of the Godzilla franchise here; you’ll have to listen to hear how much Chris loved it and how deep his forgiving spirit runs.

This episode may not look like much in outline form, but trust us; there’s enough material in there to either get you thinking or alienate you forever; take your pick when you’re done with the episode, and head over to Facebook to tell us whether you’ll be coming back for more.

Have we got a treat for you!

OK, lower your expectations a bit; it's not that special...

The Screeners got a chance to see Avengers: Age of Ultron on opening weekend—together! It was the first time they were all in a theater together in...well, no one could remember how long, so they decided to sit down and talk about their reactions that very evening. In true Screener style, they waited a week to release the recording, but hey; that's just how they roll.

Now, prepare yourself:  An off-the-cuff recording means Josh's pessimism will lack the polish that rewriting his episode notes several times normally gives him, but that just gives Chris the chance to fill that gap with genuine wonder and exuberance, like a child at the first day of space camp. Chad and Melody were there too, but their opinions are of course far too level-headed to make for entertaining notes.

OK, enough rambling; enjoy the recording, live-ish from Chad's dining room table. And listen without fear, there are no spoilers from opening night.

Chris did such a bang-up job with Jump Cuts last time that we figured we’d just make him the semi-permanent lightning round czar. It’s not the title he wanted, but as we kept trying to tell him, there can be only one Highlander.

Anyway, the Screeners were terrified to learn of a change in direction for the next Star Trek movie...or at least, the two Screeners who care were. The other half of them were mildly bemused, and we all know there’s nothing more entertaining in a Jump Cut than mild bemusement.

Next up, the Screeners delve into a bit of personal preference with a discussion of what they’d like to see more of in the movies. Josh is left temporarily speechless when he’s told that asking for “more less” doesn’t make sense.

And because one human interest piece just isn’t enough for one episode, the four then spend some time talking about a villain (from the medium of their choice) whom they find memorable or especially effective. Turns out that Chris’s secret fear is mixing media and exercise. Wii Sports must haunt his dreams.

And then there was some kind of news roundup. We don’t know what it was about; we dozed off after Chad picked a villain from every medium.

Despite Melody’s best efforts at discretion, the Screeners watched and have sat down to discuss Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, the new Alex Gibney documentary distributed by HBO.

As we all know, Scientology is a famously litigious organization, so we’ll keep commentary and spoilers light and leave the bulk of the allegations about what Scientology “is” up to Gibney. We just think it’s great that the conversation has been started and that HBO’s willing to air it.

So here’s how this episode’s Cutting Room Floor went down: Josh likes an NPR podcast called “Ask Me Another”. One day, Josh heard them play a movie-related game on the podcast and thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?” He then thought, “Hey, they borrow game formats from Jeopardy; why can’t I borrow one from them? I could write puns like that!”

Then he wrote some of those puns, and he made the other three Screeners listen to them and try to guess what he was talking about. It was an abject failure, and everyone hates him, but we’re airing it because it’s the only third segment we have. Deal with it.

Whew, OK; it’s over. That last segment made the show seem even longer than normal, right? Yeah, we know. Head over to Facebook to leave your hate mail.