Trilogy in Theory

We dive into the mucky-muck of sensationalistic stories that have made audiences feel guilty since 1931. That year is our starting point because we will be talking about the 1931 film FIVE STAR FINAL vs. 2010's TABLOID which is a documentary that revisits a crime that dominated the headlines in the UK back in the 70s. But first we talk about a film of our time and about current blood and guts local news with the new release NIGHTCRAWLER.

On this episode we talk about an obvious double feature selection of HEAT vs. OUT OF SIGHT to celebrate the release of the very obvious film BIRDMAN. It's also a celebration of the escape that three actors made from the Batman film franchise, with Val Kilmer reaching heights that would become the norm for George Clooney by working with great actors and an acclaimed director; a plan that Michael Keaton hopes to follow with his new film.

GUEST: Comedian Jericho Davidson invokes the cursed film MUST LOVE DOGS and pays the podcasting price.

On this episode we regret to inform you that just by listening to this show, you have stepped into the dangerous world of the Internet. A place where young assholes make billions off the muscled backs of handsome rich twins from Harvard in THE SOCIAL NETWORK, and dick pics wreak havoc on teenagers and skeevy business plans in DISCONNECT. But first, thankfully we don't get a dick pic of Adam Sandler in Jason Reitman's new release MEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

GUEST: Philip Gelatt, writer of EUROPA REPORT and director of THE BLEEDING HOUSE warns us of the go-to move of The Internet, which is to punch us in the face... in slow-motion.

On this episode we raise some kids with the likes Bill Murray, Hugh Grant, and Billy Bob Thornton, which can't go TOO wrong. This means a look back at the adopted father figures from ABOUT A BOY and BAD SANTA, inspired by the new release ST. VINCENT.

GUEST: Jairo from the True Bromance Film Podcast praises the work of a young member of the X-Men and prepares his Santa hat for the office Christmas party.

We celebrate Halloween with devilish heroes, some with horns, like HELLBOY, and one in particular who is Nicolas Cage AND ALSO has a flaming skull head. But let's go back to the horns with a mini-review of the new release... HORNS.

GUESTS: Coolness from Podgravy and Justin Stewart from Sequential Spirits attempt to recruit us into their Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance fan club, but Mike will only join if it's a biker club and he can live out his days as Ron Perlman.

On this episode we talk relationships with robots. In BLADE RUNNER we have Harrison Ford meeting cute with a very acrobatic Darryl Hannah replicant, and in HER we have Joaquin Phoenix who is unable to make it work with Rooney Mara and Olivia Wilde, but finds his soul mate in the hottest smartphone ever invented where Siri is played by Scarlett Johanssen. But first, the newest look at human relationships with robots, Antonia Banderas dances away desert depression in AUTOMATA.

GUEST: Coolness from the podcast PODGRAVY joins us to talk about standing at the abyss of the robot apocalypse, and laughing at it.

We break out the board games, which is just about as nerdy as podcasting. Michael Bay is the inspiration for this nerdery, with the new OUIJA film being yet another check to cash for the man while he takes breaks from terrible TRANSFORMERS movies. But as we will see later in the episode, Bay influences films he actually had no hand in with BATTLESHIP. Thankfully we've got a game of CLUE in between.

GUEST: Shawn Pryor of The Black Box podcast joins us and explains that BATTLESHIP classifies as its own genre of badness in film.

We get our perfect tank crew together, under the command of Brad Pitt's hair in FURY, aided by the desert charisma of Humphrey Bogart in SAHARA, and the book smarts of Jason Patric in THE BEAST OF WAR. Add in a horse driving the tank, and it's a perfect episode of War Machine vs. War Horse.

GUEST: JD Duran of InSession Film graciously allows us to discuss his own hair style this episode, and we think we have him talked into The Wardaddy look.

In this episode of War Machine vs. War Horse, the dog dies. This also is the premise for Keanu Reeves to go on a rampage of revenge in the new release JOHN WICK, as do we against cinema that portrays this act that is known to produce tears the world over. The two dog hating films we take to task are 2009's HACHI and 2012's FRANKENWEENIE. Thankfully the former has the very handsome Richard Gere, and the latter is a visual feast of a film even without the beauty of Gere.

On this episode, like the new release DRACULA UNTOLD, we attempt to find new blood in a story that has been bled dry. This character's story has been told before in cinema, going back so far as 1931 when Bela Lugosi put on the cape, up to 1992 when Gary Oldman put on MANY different costumes in the Coppola version of Dracula. All three films attempt to do different things with the character, they don't all succeed, but all three do feature a more attractive looking vampiric lead than NOSFERATU. In true War Machine vs. War Horse fashion, that may be setting the bar very low.

GUEST: Congo Rilla of the podcast Soiled Restroom Cinema joins us to discuss the appropriate apology a vampiric werewolf should give his lady when he is caught in the act with another woman.