Think of all the good the Wages of Cinema does.... muahaha!

Nah but seriously, we talk at great length about these ridiculous pieces of modern exploitation pulp (yet with kernels of true facts all around).

ROOOAAAAR!

SCRREEEOOONK!

This is all to say this movie's about Capitalism, folks! Our first major release-review of 2021 and we have returning guests Andrew and Guest-Star Matt as we take apart and try to figure out what is is that makes this big bag of emotions known as Kong and the less-emotional but no less motivated Godzilla go after one another. Is there even reasoning to their bashing each other's heads in? And what about the human characters? Just how useless are they in the scheme of things? Are there other major classic monsters in the mix? Or new terrains that astonish the eye? And how may the ghost of Ricardo Montalban be involved (and no that's not a joke, at least according to Jack). Incidentally, there may be some verbal fisticuffs thrown in this episode, despite the fact that everyone is.... well, we won't spoil anything about the review (though SPOILERS come at about the 35 minute mark).

Email us at [email protected] and visit us as well as Matt on social media on Twitter and Facebook (and Matt's blog at https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com)

Well... they can't all be Oscar nominees, right, folks?

We watched six - count your gold pieces there, SIX - Leprechaun movies (we neglected to mention we saw one of these *on St Patrick's Day" because of course we had to - of the Leprechaun series of movies starring Warwick Davis! what did we think? With one of our co-hosts with the alias "Trash-Panda," It's difficult to say for sure. I mean, is one of them being in SPACE the deal clincher? or that not one but TWO are "in Tha Hood" (emphasis on 'a' instead of The)? hey, just maybe Jack enjoyed these as well... Tune in to find out as we go chronological on a franchise that... known and loved, we don't know, we're just made people and all...

LEPRECHAUN (1993)

LEPRECHAUN 2 (1994)

LEPRECHAUN 3 (1995)

LEPRECHAUN 4: IN SPACE (1996)

LEPRECHAUN 5: IN THA HOOD (2000)

LEPRECHAUN 6: BACK 2 THA HOOD (2003)

Psst hey everyone, did you know there were movies released last year? Madness, we know, but even more wild a thing: the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (those lovable scamps known as the AMPAS) are not backing away from the same thing they've done for almost a hundred years and counting, giving cinema and the people who star and craft it all recognition through nominations and in particular for "Best Picture." How do we at the Wages of Cinema fit in? turns out we (and by we, we mostly mean Jack but Trash-Panda Korey as well) have seen all eight nominated films, and here spend a good lot of time reviewing and discussing them in depth (the exception being MANK, which was discussed in an episode in full December 4th of 2020).

Some spoilers but we mostly tried to review these spoiler free. here is the ranking from least to favorite and thus our order in discussion:

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO SEVEN

MANK

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

THE FATHER

MINARI

SOUND OF METAL

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

NOMADLAND

here's our full talk about MANK:

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/zvdXh

- want to share your thoughts on the nominees? [email protected]

Tonight on this special Saint Stephen's Day podcast (or is it Boxing Day, one of those), Jack, Trash-Panda Korey, and joining for the first time as a group since Rise of Skywalker (shudder - the movie, not the episode, that's great and you should listen to it), Guest Star Matt and Andrew discuss the latest from Warners and the DCEU (no, we don't get into HBO Max and the theatrical experience differences, that's for another time), as Diana is now in 1984 for some reason (yes, we do try to figure out why and what for) and is in a story that may seem familiar to anyone who has seen Wes Craven's Wishmaster, or Wish Upon, or that one segment of the Simpsons where they get the Monkey's Paw. Point is, the wishes are running rampant in this story, and there may be an excess amount of time spent on high heels and trying on 80's clothing.

SPOILERS died in your arms tonight at 30 minutes in! Join us as we talk the highs, the lows, and the uh Geo-Politics of Wonder Woman 1984. Also make sure to visit Matt the Catania at https://www.mattthecatania.wordpress.com for all your blog-reading needs (and he will very forthwith make a longer dissection of this film, with helpful links!) also visit is at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram - email is [email protected]. The cartoon clip is from the 70's.

Is it at all possible to come to the suspenseful and gothic heights of what Alfred Hitchcock and producer David O. Selznick achieved with their (Best Picture winning) achievement in 1940? Ben Wheatley, the idiosyncratic and very off-kilter genre director behind such films as Free Fire, A Field in England and Kill List, decided to aim as high as he could with his first Netflix production, and the results.... Well, let's just say Manderley could still use a paint job....

No, seriously, can we be at all kind? With a cast like Armie Hammer and Kristen Scott Thomas? Surely they'll come to bat and hit some grand slams against the Master of Suspense? In other words, we watched Rebecca, starring Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, George Sanders and Judith Anderson, and Rebecca starring Lily James and ::squints:: Sam Riley, and this is our first "Versus" episode in quite a while. Oh, and Spoilers abound for both films so be warned.

email us at [email protected]

Everybody's always talking about Mank! Mann- Mank- Mank!! Actually, not really, but in this latest episode, Jack and Korey watch the new film from director David Fincher (and his late father, writer Jack) about the man who had a hand in crafting what many call the greatest American film ever made (as the poster said more simply of Citizen Kane: "It's Terrific!" and that's truth in advertising right there). Starring Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried and Tywin Lannister in an aptly cast role (and... yep that is Bill Nye as Upton Sinclair, also, what), we look at old Hollywood, the politics of California in the 30s, and what it means to record audio in such a way that... well, we don't want to give away too much yet.

oh, and as a little treat for us, we answer a listener question! It comes at about the 1 hour mark. Make sure to send emails as this nice chap did to wagesofcinema at gmail dot com.

What started as a pulp author doing a tawdry riff on the Ripped-from-the-Headlines saga of Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein somehow turned into - via one of the superlative True Entertainers of his century in the medium, Alfred Hitchcock - a series! (though mostly after he died, funny that, but anyway). This is a story all about how Norman Bates got twisted upside down, we'd like for you to take a little moment and sit right there and hear a story about... the Bates Motel, and Detective Arbogast, and that guy Dennis Franz plays in Psycho II, and so on. And how about Olivia Hussey's breasts?! But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

It's not only the 60th anniversary of the seminal horror thriller, the one that made a generation afraid to go into their showers ever again (citation needed), or to speak frankly to their mothers and/or behoove them to take them down to the fruit cellar, it's the 30th anniversary of Psycho IV: The Beginning, which... well, we'll certainly get to that (and "Trash Panda" Korey talks about the Bates Motel in the last ten minutes or so of the episode). Come with us, take room 1, and listen to our retrospective review of the PSYCHO movies! (Except for the remake, we don't acknowledge that here, oh wait...)

oh and SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

1) PSYCHO (1960) (from 2 mins in to 45 min)

2) PSYCHO II (1983) (46 min)

3) PSYCHO III (1986) (1 hr 6 min)

4) PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING (1990) (1 hr 19 min)

All clips from the film for fair use, as well as Busta Rhymes song "Gimme Some More". Score by Bernard Herrmnann and Jerry Goldsmith.

The question isn't "Oh, this Hulu 'Into the Dark' series from Blumhouse? That's vaguely familiar based on the targeted ads I get on my Instagram. What's it about?" The question is "What ISN'T it about?" We mean, just in the crop of films we talk about today on this SPOOKTACULAR SAVINGS episode (and rightfully posted on Tuesday... the 13th!) - We're talking sinister religious purity rituals; dastardly cloning experiments; a maniacal security guard with a look of "love" and an elevator key; a dog who has seen a few prior owners go mysteriously to jail; an insidious government program with an All-American Simulacra; and the INTERNET ITSELF CAN CREATE MONSTERS! Mwaha... ha?

We watched six of these films (or, Jack saw six, but Korey saw a seventh) - only a sampler of the (looks at list Jesus Christ) couple of dozen that have been produced, which may or may not be more like a Black Mirror inspired TV series slapped together by the people at Jason Blum's production company. How does it fit into the brand that crafted Get Out, Paranormal Activity, The Purge, Happy Death Day, and... Nothing else?! You'll have to listen to find out (and yeah, spoilers abound).

If you watch any of the films and have thoughts, let us know at wagesofcinema at Gmail, or Instagram, Twitter and/or Facebook.

(Please note, there were some issues with the audio recording for this episode, in part due to the air conditioner but also the placement of the mics too close to it, our apologies in advance for dip in quality, we hope you still enjoy)

Finally, the movie uh... some of us were asking for(?) (One of them, Special Guest Star Matt returning for the first time since before the pandemic hit, now has been sated) A whole new start to the X-Men franchise that... ended just before it could really get to the beginning process, The New Mutants has for audiences a brand spanking new cast, and only scant (err, one) presence of any characters that we've seen or heard of before in the previous X-Men world. And this time, horror is brought into the series, not to mention the setting being an institution for the wayward teens (re: dangerous to homicidal levels, woops) who can't quite be ready for the X-Men or Xavier school, so this will have to do... but what about those demons that keep cropping up once the new girl, Danielle, has been brought into the fold? Uh oh, once again, only this time the threats are dark, sinister, and there's nowhere to run for this group of hormonal, intense youngsters.

So, is it any good? Find out here! Once again, you can visit Matt at https://mattthecatani.wordpress.com for his full, in-depth reviews (and believe us, he will go spelunking into the New Mutants even more there), and [email protected] for any questions, comments, compliments, input and/or advice.

The Clip is from the X-Men Evolution TV show, used under fair use.