To Create Confusion

We wrap up our look at the Lethal Weapon series with the fourth, and as of now, final film, 1998’s Lethal Weapon 4. The series is pretty clearly out of steam by this point, but the movie is watchable, especially for the American film debut of Chinese actor Jet Li, who steals every scene he’s in. This film finds Riggs, Murtaugh & their family having to take down a group of Chinese Triads. We talk that, plus Big Cat’s visit to the Monster Mania convention & other topics.

We’re back and it’s the Two Man Power Trip lineup of TCC this time as Ryan & Big Cat go it alone for the third entry in the Lethal Weapon series, 1992’s Lethal Weapon 3. This is the first of the series your intrepid cohosts recall seeing with a lot of frequency, but in retrospect, it signals a series that was beginning to run out of gas. This time, Riggs & Murtaugh have to take down a dirty ex-cop with the help of previous ally Leo Getz & new ally Lorna Cole. It’s a breezy watch but the underlying darkness of the prior two films has been completely removed.

After a bit of a hiatus we’re back, and we’re resuming our look at the Lethal Weapon series with Lethal Weapon 2. In this one, Riggs & Murtaugh have to take down a group of shady South African diplomats who use their diplomatic credentials to run a crime ring. We love this one as it builds up to maybe the most famous line in the series: “DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY!!!” Plus, we talk the history of Apartheid era South Africa, what we did during hiatus & get into CIA-music conspiracies. It’s just been revoked!

We’re back after a bit of a break and as the Christmas season starts to come into focus, we’re starting another series, the Lethal Weapon films. We begin in 1987, with the Christmas themed first film, which find LAPD cops Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh trying to bust up a gang of ex-Special Forces soldiers turned drug traffickers. We do an extended riff on the career of star Mel Gibson, who has been revealed this century as a massive asshole and all around crazy person. Plus, we talk holidays and drop the line “I’m too old for this shit” numerous times.

On a special edition of TCC, we pay homage to the spooky season with one of, if not the, greatest horror movie of all time, 1978’s Halloween. John Carpenter’s film didn’t invent the slasher film, but it absolutely perfected it and this movie still remains a great watch all these years later. The premise is simple: child murderer Michael Myers is all grown up and escapes an institution to return and terrorize his hometown of Haddonfield. The object of his wrath is Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut) and her friends, but hot on Michael’s trail is psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis, who seeks to stop the man he believes to be pure evil.

We wrap up our look at the Mission: Impossible films with the sixth entry in the series, 2018’s Fallout. Picking up where we left off in Rogue Nation, Ethan Hunt and the team have to stop an offshoot of The Syndicate, The Apostles, who are trying to obtain weapons grade plutonium to make a nuclear bomb. This has the most insane Tom Cruise stunts yet as he flies a helicopter, jumps off buildings and jumps out of an airplane, all for our amusement. Plus, we rank the movies in the series up to now

On this episode we hit the fifth movie in the Mission: Impossible series, 2015’s Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. In this movie, Ethan Hunt and his team must stop a rogue group of secret agents who have banded together as the shadowy group, The Syndicate. This movie contains two of Tom Cruise’s most insane stunts, including hanging off the side of an airplane & holding his breath underwater. We talk the making of those stunts, hit on our favorite scenes and have a side conversation about the greatness of Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.

On this episode we have the full team assembled again to discuss the third film in the Mission: Impossible series, 2011’s Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol. This one finds Ethan Hunt have to stop a terrorist from launching a Russian nuclear missile, but oh there’s so much more to this movie than that as Tom Cruise does his craziest stunt to date: climb the outside of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest building. Plus he gets two new team members in the form of Paula Patton as Carter & Jeremy Renner as Brandt. We do a dive on various Jeremy Renner ephemera, touch on Robin Thicke’s embarrassing album about Paula Patton, let Kaya Papaya educate us on who the Real Housewives are & pay homage to the late, great Norm Macdonald.

On this episode we tackle the third film in the Mission: Impossible series, 2006’s Mission: Impossible 3. Directed by JJ Abrams, this film sees Ethan Hunt trying to stop international arms dealer Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) from obtaining a superweapon called the Rabbit’s Foot & all the double crosses & crazy stunts that follow in its wake. Plus, we talk horse paste, popes and the weirdest year of Tom Cruise’s career.

We go back to the Year 2000, a time when Fred Durst was king, Napster was a thing and Tom Cruise decided to once again choose an impossible mission. It’s Mission: Impossible 2, the John Woo-directed sequel and this one drew a mixed response from the crew. Big Cat & the returning Kaya Papaya loved its nonstop action & 2000 nostalgia, while Ryan and Rachel thought it got too far away from the series’ origins and was way heavy on John Woo’s signature flourishes (lots of slo-mo, doves, lots of shootouts & chases).