Trilogy in Theory

On this episode we have a battle with exes. After watching Warner Bros. apology for MAN OF STEEL in the form of BATMAN V SUPERMAN we bring on former host of this podcast, Jared Dotson, to reminisce about the format changes we’ve made to the show without having the character of Batman to fall back on. As a celebration of Jared’s appearance on the show, we discuss one of his favorite films, SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, and see if the infatuations of a shallow young man still holds weight in our older years. Unfortunately we are much closer in age to the problems seen in KRAMER VS. KRAMER as Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep play a newly divorced couple fighting over custody of their son. A film very much of its time and seemingly a counter response to the women’s lib movement of the 70s, we discuss how the strong performances of Hoffman and Streep make up for the crushing disappointment that Meryl didn’t punch Dustin into a pile of a quarters. For more of that type of quality cinema, we turn to Zack Snyder’s newest meditation on motherhood in BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE.

On this episode I had the pleasure of forcing two other movie podcasters to experience first time watches of little seen films that deserve a big audience. That’s a not so subtle hint to our listeners to go check out 2001’s GHOST WORLD starring Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson as two best friends fresh out of high school and facing an adulthood pulling them apart. This goes up against my favorite film of 2013, THE SPECTACULAR NOW starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley as opposites influencing each other in the present and future as they leave youth behind. Both of these great films square off in a conversation with Ryan Snelling of the Filmbeef podcast, but first, I talk with Nate of The Best and Worst of the Best podcast about one of the best films of 2015 which is new to DVD and VOD, JAMES WHITE.

On this episode we bring in a friendly Canadian podcaster, Daniel of Get Reel Movies and a A Tale of Two Dans, to discuss a not so friendly Canadian film starring Christopher Plummer as a Nazi hunter. This inspires a conversation on two other films about past memories coming back to haunt characters hunting Nazis in Bryan Singer’s APT PUPIL and John Madden’s THE DEBT. But before we get ahead of ourselves and discuss the greatness of Jessica Chastain and Helen Mirren (which is really all we want to do), we talk about the new release REMEMBER.

On this episode we lock ourselves in from the monsters on the outside, only to find ourselves fighting monsters on the inside. Those two monsters are Dwight Hurst from The Broken Brain podcast, who discusses those in control and being controlled in THE VILLAGE and COMPLIANCE. But first, our other guest is Ben Zuk from the podcast Cinematic for the People as we talk about the need to open one more of J.J. Abrams' mystery boxes in the new release 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE.

On this episode we attempt to comedically cover films that comedically cover wars. In GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM Robin Williams tries to balance entertainment with truth in his broadcasts to men serving their country in a divisive war. And in WAG THE DOG Robert De Niro and Anne Heche outsource the creation of a fake war to a Hollywood producer played by Dustin Hoffman in an attempt to distract from a sex scandal involving the President during his reelection campaign. This double feature has been inspired by the new film starring Tina Fey: WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT.

On this episode we attempt to out-talk fast talking foxes as seen in our double feature of Disney’s ROBIN HOOD, a traditionally animated film with a liberal use of the traditional art of tracing, going up against the modern stop-motion animation film FANTASTIC MR. FOX which frustrated the artists involved due to director Wes Anderson’s insistence on old fashioned techniques. The conversation on these two films that center around anti-hero foxes who operate outside of the law has been inspired by Disney’s new release ZOOTOPIA where a con artist fox teams up with a bunny cop for a buddy cop comedy that also has serious matters on its mind.

On this episode we discuss the choices of Terrence Malick. New release KNIGHT OF CUPS goes back to similar territory about choices in love, or how the lack of making a choice has lead to an unfulfilling existence, which we also see play out in his previous films THE NEW WORLD and TO THE WONDER. However both of those films differ greatly in providing a straightforward narrative, so we also discuss the continued evolution of Malick as a filmmaker, where he assaults the viewer with an unrelenting amount of visual choices, and confounds them with his storytelling choices of dropping characters in and out of his films with little or no explanation. Unable to explain KNIGHT OF CUPS, we make the choice to discuss timing your sexual prowess by the length of a GREEN DAY song, how THE TREE OF LIFE is similar to BRING IT ON, and also a shoutout to NBA legend Tom Chambers.

On this episode we play good cop, bad cop with COP LAND and L.A. CONFIDENTIAL. These two modern classics about cops using other cops for criminal gain make it hard to play bad cop so we look to interrogate new release TRIPLE 9, and see if there is more to praise other than our undying love for Casey Affleck.

On this episode I’m joined by this podcast’s resident therapist, Derek Stewart, who you may remember from the 45 YEARS episode, to plot against perfection. In GATTACA, Ethan Hawke plays a man whose future accomplishments have already been genetically determined at birth, and his plan with Jude Law to surpass them. Then we have THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, where Ben Stiller and Matt Dillon attempt to scheme their way into Cameron Diaz's heart, in a film that presents a more horrifying present than seen in GATTACA’s future. But first we travel back to the past in the new screen version of Jesse Owens' story in RACE.

On this episode we fulfill our side of the podcasting pain crossover challenge with our friends over at the True Bromance Film Podcast by creating an episode centered around the new release RISEN. In this story starring the soon to be screen version of Michael Jackson, a Roman soldier plays detective after the death of Jesus, but unless we wanted to get into really dicey waters that has felled such great artists as Martin Scorsese… we decided to go a different route and look at films that show creators bringing their creations back to life. In the Rob Reiner film adaptation of the Stephen King novel MISERY, James Caan plays a man who is forced by his #1 fan to bring back her favorite fictional character in a new novel. And then in the slightly more heartwarming Tim Burton film BIG FISH, a father and son attempt to connect with each other for perhaps the first time, by reliving the narrative of the father’s life in his dying days.