The Chronic Rift Network

On this week's Double Digest edition of The Weekly Podioplex, Black Panther is still fighting strong as it wins a fifth straight week, joining ranks with Avatar and The Sixth Sense. This week's competition will attempt to cancel the apocalypse and restart the Jaeger program with Pacific Rim Uprising. 

On the home entertainment front, the sluggers comes home with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle this week and Star Wars: The Last Jedi next week. Television gives audiences Archer, Legion, and Mister Rogers, and retro goes crazy with The 'Burbs and Scanners on Blu-Ray.

Denise brings the news from the world wide web to your ears with leprechauns, Amazon's deep pocketses, James Bond #25, and stop motion dreams.

Enjoy the journey, because it's showtime on the Weekly Podioplex, brought to you on The Chronic Rift Network.

Weekly Podioplex Notes for March 20, 2018

Introduction

Opening Clip: Pacific Rim Uprising

Box Office Report

Top Ten

#1 – Black Panther – [Fifth Week]
#2 – Tomb Raider – [New Release]
#3 – I Can Only Imagine – [New Release]
#4 – A Wrinkle in Time – [-2]
#5 – Love, Simon – [New Release]
#6 – Game Night – [-1]

#7 – Peter Rabbit – [-1]
#8 – Strangers: Prey at Night – [-5]
#9 – Red Sparrow – [-5]
#10 – Death Wish – [-3]

Box Office Premieres

March 23, 2018: Wide

Pacific Rim Uprising – [PG-13]
Midnight Sun – [PG-13]
Sherlock Gnomes – [PG]
Unsane – [R]

March 23, 2018: Limited

Isle of Dogs – [PG-13]
Paul, Apostle of Christ – [PG-13]
Hichki – [NR]
Final Portrait – [R]
Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town – [NR]
I Kill Giants – [NR]
Back to Burgundy – [NR]
A Bag of Marbles – [NR]
The Endless – [NR]
Getting Grace – [PG-13]
Beauty and the Dogs – [NR]
What We Started – [NR]
Ismael’s Ghosts – [R]

March 30, 2018: Wide

Ready Player One – [PG-13]
Tyler Perry’s Acrimony – [R]
God’s Not Dead: A Light in the Darkness – [PG]

March 30, 2018: Limited

Finding Your Feet – [PG-13]
Outside In – [NR]
The China Hustle – [R]
Gemini – [R]
Birthmarked – [NR]

Home Entertainment

March 20, 2018: New Releases on DVD and Blu-Ray 

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – [PG-13]

Pitch Perfect 3 – [PG-13]

Downsizing – [R]

March 27, 2018: New Releases on DVD and Blu-Ray

Star Wars: The Last Jedi – [PG-13]

March 20, 2018: New Releases on Digital Video

The Greatest Showman – [PG]

March 27, 2018: New Releases on Digital Video

Paddington 2 – [PG]

March 20, 2018: TV on DVD and Blu-Ray

Archer: Season Eight (2017)

March 27, 2018: TV on DVD and Blu-Ray

The Americans: Season Five (2017)

Legion: Season One (2017)

Mr. Robot: Season 3.0 (2017)
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: It’s a Beautiful Day (1968-2001)

March 20 2018: Blu-Rays From the Past 

The ‘Burbs (1989) – [PG]

March 27 2018: Blu-Rays From the Past 

Scanners (1981) – [R]

Podcast Promos

Skywalking Through Neverland

Skywalking Through Neverland is a Star Wars/Disney, fan-focused Podcast. We cover Star Wars, Disney, Superheroes and pop culture fandom. You know, that stuff that binds us all together as instantaneous friends! We showcase either what people have done with their fandom or talked to those who are involved first-hand in the universes that we LOVE.

Quick Flicks

Leprechaun Returns coming to Syfy
Captain Marvel makes some casting replacements
Amazon to drop $500 million on Lord of the Rings
Danny Boyle taking on Bond 25
Netflix going to stop motion animation with Key and Peele

Links

Visit the Chronic Rift site
Send us an e-mail
Tweet on Twitter:  The Chronic Rift, The Weekly Podioplex, Denise, and Michael
Listen on Stitcher Radio

Leave a review on iTunes:  The Chronic Rift

Shop the Rift’s Best Bets or search our Amazon Store. 

Michael’s blog at Creative Criticality

Denise’s blog at Accessories Not Included

"Batman Vs. Two-Face"

Released October 10, 2017

How is it possible to top the success of last year's The Return of the Caped Crusaders? You add William Shatner to the mix!  Shatner takes on the role of Harvey Dent/Two-Face in this new feature length film and just as with the previous film, the producers bring us an interesting take on the classic villain.  In this episode, we discuss Adam West's final performance, just how couched in the first season this film is, and our thoughts on the possibility of the series continuing without its lead actor.

Joining John to breakdown this movie in a double-sized episode is Dan Greenfield of 13th Dimension, Billy Flynn of Geek Radio Daily, and Ben Bentley of the Batman 66 Message Board.

Comment on the episode here or write [email protected].

Dan Greenfield is the editor and co-creator of 13thDimension.com, a website devoted primarily to comics and pop culture, past and present. To him, the basic food groups are Batman, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek (the Original Series), James Bond, the Beatles and the Stones. But if he had to he'd be able to subsist on Batman alone. Channel 11 in New York was his favorite syndicated channel as a kid -- you can guess why -- followed closely by Channel 5. Channel 9 didn't really enter into it unless he was home sick and there wasn't much else on. He's married to his remarkably patient wife Wendy and his best sidekick is his son, Sam. They have two cats,Lex and Zod.

Links

13th Dimension Website

Facebook page

Twitter

The Wonderful Billy Flynn brings the funny each week on Geek Radio Daily! His daytime alter ego is mild-mannered (well, that part is a stretch) radio station personality at WLEE in Virginia.   He actually gets paid to sit on his butt and run his mouth! His “edumacation” is from UNC-Wilmington, the Columbia School of Broadcasting, and University of Phoenix. When he is not gracing the podcasting airways with his comedic stylings, you can find Billy Flynn on Xbox Live (flynn71), rockin’ out on Guitar Hero or Rock Band, watching movies, reading comics, working out, or posting on the forums at geekradiodaily.com (ding!).

"Ben Bentley is an internationally published music photographer and Bat-Fan based in the United Kingdom. When Ben isn't behind the camera, you can find him sharing his lifelong love of Adam West's TV Batman as a co-moderator over at the 1966 Batman Message Board (66batman.com). Having traveled to California several times to attend conventions and hang out with Bat-friends, Ben has been lucky enough to try on one of Adam's original screen worn Cowls, meet several surviving cast members from the show and even run up and down the steps of Gotham City Police Headquarters in his own Adam West Batsuit. 

You can keep up to date with Ben's photographic work over on his blog... http://www.benbentleyphoto.tumblr.com or why not come and join Scott, Ben and the gang at the internet's longest standing 1966 TV Batman message board... http://www.66batman.com" 

Recorded on Facebook Live Sunday, March 18, 2018.

Our monthly review episode is jammed packed with opinion pieces from old and new contributors to the Rift.  Keith DeCandido and Dan Persons are back with TV and movie reviews.  We welcome Denise Lhamon of The Weekly Podioplex as our book reviewer.  And for the first time ever on The Chronic Rift, we have a music reviewer in the form of J. Andrew World.  Add to it another look at pop culture by Ken Holtzhouser and you've got a new In Review episode of The Chronic Rift.

Contents

0:00 - John shares two items of interest in Bringing it to the Table - a tin Batman sign and an animated figure of the alien from 
Independence Day.

3:50 - Dan Persons takes a look at Justice League now that it's been released on DVD and Blu-Ray.

12:10 - Denise Lhamon talks about Rasputin: Faith, Power and the Twilight of the Romanovs by Douglas Smith.

19:40 - We introduce a new music review segment as J. Andrew World breaks down the album Ridotto by Out Out and offers quotes from an interview he did with the album's writer Mark Alan Miller.

28:50 - Keith DeCandido is digging the second season of Jessica Jones on Netflix and suggests you try out The Alienist on TNT.

39:10 - Ken Holtzhouser makes the claim that Superman is back as his portrayal was the most heroic in the recently released Justice League.

48:10 - Promo - The Weekly Podioplex

“Vic and Sade” is the driest of domestic comedies.  We present two 15-minute visits to “the small house half-way up on the next block.”  First, Sade may have at last found a place to store all of her husband’s fraternal lodge regalia that’s always cluttering up the house.  Then, what did people do for entertainment at the height of the Depression?  Rush’s pal Rotten makes performance art out of a collapsed porch.  Finally, on “Escape,” we all escape to Kafiristan, via an adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling classic story, “The Man Who Would Be King.”

Episodes

 Vic and Sade

[1939]

“Mr. Gumpox Offers Sade a Stall”

 June 13, 1939

“Porch Collapses, Rotten Takes the Blame”

2:37

Escape

August 1, 1948

“The Man Who Would Be King”

29:18

On this week's edition of The Weekly Podioplex, the Black Panther is unstoppable as the film crests $1 billion worldwide and just keeps on kicking tail. Gringo couldn't stop it, a hurricane couldn't stop it, Strangers couldn't stop it... not even Disney could stop it. Lara Croft and a new version of Tomb Raider is leading a small army of newcomers who will try to stop the king, but it's anyone's guess as to who will come in on top.

On the home entertainment front, Shape of Water and Justice League lead the pack with The Last Jedi coming to digital. The Handmaid's Tale brings a frightening future to TV shelves, and our retro title takes us on A Trip to the Moon. 

Denise returns to your ears with news of a holistic detective, a Green Lantern that jumps on couches, and a treatise on Universal's Dark Universe. It's showtime on the Weekly Podioplex, brought to you on The Chronic Rift Network.

Weekly Podioplex Notes for March 13, 2018

Introduction

Opening Clip: Tomb Raider

Box Office Report

Top Ten

#1 – Black Panther – [Fourth Week]
#2 – A Wrinkle in Time – [New Release]
#3 – Strangers: Prey at Night – [New Release]
#4 – Red Sparrow – [-2]
#5 – Game Night – [-1]
#6 – Peter Rabbit – [-1]

#7 – Death Wish – [-4]
#8 – Annihilation – [-2]
#9 – The Hurricane Heist – [New Release]
#10 – Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – [-3]

Box Office Premieres

March 16, 2018: Wide

Tomb Raider – [PG-13]
Love, Simon – [PG-13]
7 Days in Entebbe – [PG-13]
I Can Only Imagine – [PG]

March 16, 2018: Limited

Flower – [R]
Allure – [NR]
Josie – [NR]
Journey’s End – [R]
Ramen Heads – [NR]
Maineland – [NR]
Demon House – [NR]

Home Entertainment

March 13, 2018: New Releases on DVD and Blu-Ray 

The Shape of Water – [R]

Justice League – [PG-13]

The Disaster Artist – [R]

I, Tonya – [R]

Ferdinand – [PG]

March 13, 2018: New Releases on Digital Video

Star Wars: The Last Jedi – [PG-13]

March 13, 2018: TV on DVD and Blu-Ray

The Handmaid’s Tale: Season One (2017)

Fear the Walking Dead: Season Three (2017)

Major Crimes: Season Six (2017)

March 6, 2018: Blu-Rays From the Past 

A Trip to the Moon (1902) – [G]

Podcast Promos

The Flopcast
Kevin and Kornflake are back in business, and bringing you The Flopcast, live from Chickentown. They are still quite obsessed with both coffee and cartoons, as well as comedy music, and various other silly and geeky pursuits. And rubber chickens. And yaks. They remain frightened and confused. And they still base all their personal and business decisions on the advice of that invisible toad thing. A huge mistake? Well, based on the track record of these two hopeless dreamers, the answer to that question can only be: "You're still reading this? Really?"

Quick Flicks

Tom Cruise is a Green Lantern?
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is closing shop
The Shape of Water producer considering Universal’s Dark Universe

Links

Visit the Chronic Rift site
Send us an e-mail
Tweet on Twitter:  The Chronic Rift, The Weekly Podioplex, Denise, and Michael
Listen on Stitcher Radio

Leave a review on iTunes:  The Chronic Rift

Shop the Rift’s Best Bets or search our Amazon Store. 

Michael’s blog at Creative Criticality

Denise’s blog at Accessories Not Included

Tom is a troubled student who tries to make friends, but fails.  He comes up with the idea of really impressing a kid with a dirt bike he wants to ride by offering him an antique gun that belongs to his father.  The problem is the firing mechanism of the gun is rusted and the weapon could go off in the user's hands.

This is a packed episode even though it isn't action packed.  First, Richard relates his attending Big Apple Comic Con in New York with Jackson Bostwick and how the two participated in a panel on the history of the use of the name, Captain Marvel.  Next, John and Richard discuss the third issue of the 1976 DC Comics run of Isis.  Finally, they discuss the episode itself.  Richard likes it more than John, finding the time manipulation elements interesting, while John just finds it weird.

It's all here and we want to hear from you on what you think of the episode.  Write us as [email protected].

Moral: "In today's story, Tom learns that you cannot buy friendship.  Real friends are those who like you for yourself, not because you are giving them presents.  And Tom learned something else.  He learned that a gun is not a toy.  A lot of people are sorry, because they were hurt by a gun they thought wasn't loaded.  So, play it safe.  Don't play with a gun, then you'll never be sorry."

​Guest Cast

Mike Lookinland as Tom Anderson

Buddy Foster as Billie

Tommy Norden as Joe

Russ Martin as Mister Anderson

&

Albert Reed as Dr. Joshua Barnes

There's an arsonist on the loose in the city and the Hornet takes the case.  But Mike Axford has a former police investigator with a specialty in arson that he'd like to bring in.  He quickly learns that the man has more to prove than just the case.  John and Jim are at odds over the merits of this episode.  Take a listen and see. 

The Green Hornet: A History of Radio, Motion Pictures, Comics and Television by Martin Grams and Terry Salomonson is a reference work we're consulting as we move through the series.  Pick up your copy by clicking on the link and getting it today.

Take a listen and then let us know what you think of the episode by writing us here or at [email protected].

Author Jeremy K. Brown returns to the podcast to discuss his new book, Zero Limit.  Before they get to that, he and John discuss Netflix and how the streaming service is moving towards feeling like a television network.  Then, they discuss Zero Limit and the parallels of motifs with his previous work, Ocean of Storms.  

Jeremy K. Brown has authored several biographies for young readers, including books on Stevie Wonder and Ursula K. Le Guin. He has also contributed articles to numerous magazines and newspapers, including special issues for TV Guide and the Discovery Channel, and recently edited a collector’s issue on Pink Floyd for Newsweek. He worked for 10 years for WWE, serving as Deputy Editor of WWE Magazine and as a member of the company's television writing staff. Jeremy published his first novel, Calling Off Christmas, in 2011 and is currently at work on another novel. He lives in New York with his wife and sons.

On this week's edition of The Weekly Podioplex, we find out that there are turkeys in Wakanda and they are tasty. Black Panther is king for a third week straight, breaking a few more records and overpowering even Jennifer Lawrence and Bruce Willis. This week, it's Disney versus Disney as A Wrinkle in Time tries to take down the Panther. Either way, the Mouse is champ.

On the home entertainment front, thunderbolts and lightning are very very frightening with Thor: Ragnarok leading the charge. Jumanji goes digital as Atlanta and The Good Fight bring TV home. We also have Gelflings on HD as The Dark Crystal makes a 4K debut. 

Despite a slow news week, it's still showtime on the Weekly Podioplex, brought to you on The Chronic Rift Network.

Released November 1, 2016

It's the movie 50 years in the making (well, in the waiting).  Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar return to the Batman 66 universe in an all-new animated movie.  Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman have reunited to take control of Gotham City and the world once again with the theft of a duplicator ray.  But it wouldn't be Batman 66 if there wasn't more to the plot and there certainly is as Batman becomes more aggressive in his pursuit of the villainous quartet.  What is happening and will good triumph over evil in the end?

​Joining John to breakdown this movie in a double-sized episode is Dan Greenfield of 13th Dimension, Billy Flynn of Geek Radio Daily, and Ben Bentley of the Batman 66 Message Board.

Comment on the episode here or write [email protected].

Dan Greenfield is the editor and co-creator of 13thDimension.com, a website devoted primarily to comics and pop culture, past and present. To him, the basic food groups are Batman, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek (the Original Series), James Bond, the Beatles and the Stones. But if he had to he'd be able to subsist on Batman alone. Channel 11 in New York was his favorite syndicated channel as a kid -- you can guess why -- followed closely by Channel 5. Channel 9 didn't really enter into it unless he was home sick and there wasn't much else on. He's married to his remarkably patient wife Wendy and his best sidekick is his son, Sam. They have two cats,Lex and Zod.

Links

13th Dimension Website

Facebook page

Twitter

The Wonderful Billy Flynn brings the funny each week on Geek Radio Daily! His daytime alter ego is mild-mannered (well, that part is a stretch) radio station personality at WLEE in Virginia.   He actually gets paid to sit on his butt and run his mouth! His “edumacation” is from UNC-Wilmington, the Columbia School of Broadcasting, and University of Phoenix. When he is not gracing the podcasting airways with his comedic stylings, you can find Billy Flynn on Xbox Live (flynn71), rockin’ out on Guitar Hero or Rock Band, watching movies, reading comics, working out, or posting on the forums at geekradiodaily.com (ding!).

"Ben Bentley is an internationally published music photographer and Bat-Fan based in the United Kingdom. When Ben isn't behind the camera, you can find him sharing his lifelong love of Adam West's TV Batman as a co-moderator over at the 1966 Batman Message Board (66batman.com). Having traveled to California several times to attend conventions and hang out with Bat-friends, Ben has been lucky enough to try on one of Adam's original screen worn Cowls, meet several surviving cast members from the show and even run up and down the steps of Gotham City Police Headquarters in his own Adam West Batsuit. 

You can keep up to date with Ben's photographic work over on his blog... http://www.benbentleyphoto.tumblr.com or why not come and join Scott, Ben and the gang at the internet's longest standing 1966 TV Batman message board... http://www.66batman.com"