This week we start off by reviewing Christopher McQuarrie’s Tom Cruise action vehicle MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE (2:45). As with all MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movies, this one brings amazing action and death-defying stunts, but is the story worthy of being told in two parts and is there an actual dead reckoning? You’ll just have to listen and find out. Next, we cover the Michel Hazanavicius horror comedy FINAL CUT (28:08), a French remake of the Japanese film ONE CUT OF THE DEAD. None of us at seen the original, but two of us are fans of this version, and one of us very much isn’t. And in this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we review Gus Van Sant’s 1991 queer drama MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves!
Tag Archives: Keanu Reeves
THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS on Episode #390
We’re taking the red pill for our last show of 2021 so we can discuss THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS! We had so much to say we felt that the movie deserved a whole episode worth of conversation. Lana Wachowski’s fourth entry in the franchise stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. We delve deep into the sci-fi film’s themes, particularly its humorous meta commentary on its own existence; its continuation of the Matrix story as a trans allegory; its exploration of trauma, romance, control, and free will; and the many exciting ways it both builds on the Matrix mythology and takes a hammer to it. We also talk about how the movie fits into the context of the franchise as a whole and briefly talk about our experience revisiting the previous films as a primer for this one.
And on this week’s Patreon exclusive audio, we go a completely different direction by talking about the winner of our Christmas heist movie poll, Daryl Duke’s 1978 film THE SILENT PARTNER starring Elliott Gould and Christopher Plummer!
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A Chadwick Boseman Tribute, BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC, CLASS ACTION PARK, and LINGUA FRANCA on Episode #321
It’s all office sounds before we get into the show. Megan opens by talking about her guest appearance on the Screen Fix podcast. Next, we pay tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman by celebrating his best performances. Then Megan and Evan discuss LINGUA FRANCA (21:38), Isabel Sandoval’s timely drama about a Filipina trans woman who’s undocumented. Afterward, everyone reviews the wild documentary CLASS ACTION PARK (36:33) about a deadly water park in New Jersey in the 1970s-1990s. They wrap up the show with their thoughts on the long-awaited sequel BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC (48:17), starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as time-traveling best friends. This week’s Patreon bonus episode also honors Chadwick Boseman with a discussion about 42, the 2013 Jackie Robinson biopic.
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SHAFT, THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO, I AM MOTHER, and ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE on Episode #257
After debating whether Janis Joplin wanted a pizza your heart, Kris, Evan, and Dave get down to the diverse slate of movies this week on Spoilerpiece. First up is festival-favorite THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO (3:50). Then it’s SHAFT (16:12), which is not another reboot of SHAFT, but a sequel to SHAFT. Did that make sense? Yeah, SHAFT doesn’t either. Then Dave and Evan get into I AM MOTHER (33:45), a new Netflix flick about a robot that may or may not be evil. Then it’s ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE (45:48), with Ali Wong and Randall Park.
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THE NUN, SEARCHING, MOM AND DAD, SORCERER, POINT BREAK, and THE AGE OF INNOCENCE on Episode #217
Get ready for jump scares in THE NUN, you’ll be seeing a lot of them.
Somehow DMX comes up again in conversation this week, but this time it’s in the context of an animated show! Kris kicks off the episode’s movies by talking about POINT BREAK (3:40), which he and his fiancé accidentally watched on Keanu Reeves’ birthday. After the guys gush about Kathryn Bigelow’s directing and Reeves’ general awesomeness, Kris moves on to MOM AND DAD (11:38), Brian Taylor’s madcap thriller where Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair play homicidal parental units. Next, Dave covers SORCERER (21:00), one of the all-time great movies with one of the all-time most confusing titles, and THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (28:00), a Scorsese period piece that Dave forgot is really funny, yet also really sad. Evan jumps in to rave about SEARCHING (30:43), a smart, tense thriller starring John Cho as a father searching (see what they did there?) for his missing daughter. And finally to wrap everything up, the guys review THE NUN (42:00), a toothless, glacially paced horror movie brimming with bizarre accents and equally bizarre plot choices.
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THE EQUALIZER 2, UNFRIENDED: THE DARK WEB, MAKTUB, and pot movies galore on Episode #210
Even a dual-wielding Denzel isn’t enough to make THE EQUALIZER 2 as good as its predecessor.
Just how old was the PEZ that Evan ate recently? Find out on this week’s episode! After the guys chomp through the answer, Evan and Kris share their most triumphant experience watching the Slaughterhouse Movie Club’s burlesque show and presentation of BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE (5:15) on the big screen. Next Dave fills them in on his not-so-hazy adventure tracing the evolution pot films (8:37), where he saw cannabis classics like REEFER MADNESS, MARIHUANA, SHE SHOULD HAVE SAID NO, EASY RIDER, and 9 TO 5. Once the smoke clears, Evan digs into MAKTUB (20:46), the adorable Israeli film about two mobsters who attempt reform by granting people’s wishes…in their own way. Unfortunately following his glowing review, Dave must reveal why UNFRIENDED: THE DARK WEB (31:00), a movie Evan and Kris hoped to see, is a terrible sequel to its smart predecessor. Finally, Kris and Dave wrap things up with THE EQUALIZER 2, another sequel that doesn’t measure up, mainly because, as they point out, it doesn’t feel nearly as dangerous, and lacks cohesiveness with its pacing and plot.
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TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT, WAR MACHINE, THE JOURNEY, and THE BAD BATCH on Episode #154
Optimus Prime goes bad in TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT
This week the guys muse about pugs before they dive into their full slate of movies. First Kris deals with TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT (3:20), a movie that feeds into Marky Mark’s savior complex with a story dating back to medieval times. Beaten, a little bruised, and exhausted by its stupidity, Kris passes the baton to Evan, who tackles the Netflix film WAR MACHINE (19:57), a glacially-paced bore with a strangely stacked cast led by Brad Pitt, and a narrator that doesn’t show up until halfway through the picture. Dave enters the fray next with THE JOURNEY (34:14), a decent Irish drama with light comedy and two leads using very different acting styles. Kris wraps everything up with THE BAD BATCH (46:00), a gritty post-apocalyptic Western with Jason Mamoa, Keanu Reeves, and Jim Carrey?! Before signing off, Evan gives a shout out to Max Covill and John Gilpatrick for having him on their show It’s the Pictures to talk about 80s films and his book.
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JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2, THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE, and FLASHDANCE on Episode #135
Keanu Reeves has his work cut out for him in JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2.
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Although Boston meteorologists predicted that Snowmageddon would decimate the area this week, the guys were still able to record their episode before disaster struck. The show starts with a first, Kris spoilerpiecing vinyl album covers, before Evan shares his experience watching the touchstone ‘80s film FLASHDANCE (at 5:20) for the very first time. He agrees that it’s crazy he hadn’t seen it before, as he discusses how impeccably lit it is, how fantastic its music is, and how sultry its epic dance numbers are under the direction of Adrian Lyne. Next, Dave reviews THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE (at 18:10), which is exactly what you think it would be. Will Arnett is perfect as Batman and the movie is chock full of one-liners, but it doesn’t quite have the same impact as THE LEGO MOVIE. After that Dave and Kris join forces to review JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 (at 26:50), a movie that they both loved, and not just because it fulfilled one of three big criteria for good films declared by Dave’s uncle. It compellingly continues mythology established in the first picture without retconning, and features dynamite action scenes, as well as Keanu Reeves speaking multiple languages. Lastly, before they completely wrap, the guys take a moment to thank a fan for her kind email.
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GOLD, 2017 Oscar Nominations, and Dede Crimmins on Episode #133
Matthew McConaughey and Edgar Ramirez bromancing in GOLD
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Baby Henry is under the weather, prompting Dave to quarantine himself – so guest Dede Crimmins joins Evan and Kris this week to talk about the ‘90s and lots of film-related topics. Dede fills the guys in on her latest adventures, which include recording a DVD commentary, and participating on panels at the Arisia science fiction convention. Following some philosophical discussion about horror, Dede shares three movies to look out for this year (at 13:00): RAW, THE BAD BATCH, and COLOSSAL. After that, she and the guys discuss the 2017 Oscar nominations (at 21:52), revealing surprises and disappointments in the major categories. Finally, all three of them review this week’s new release GOLD (at 33:50), the Matthew McConaughey gold prospecting movie that Kris describes as AMERICAN HUSTLE on NyQuil. Evan and Dede find it charming for McConaughey’s spirited performance as a balding, overweight, drunk, but they admit that they’ll probably forget it in a week.
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ZOOTOPIA, BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENURE, and the Oscars on Episode #86
Ginnifer Goodwin plays police officer Judy Hops in ZOOTOPIA, a bunny cop movie.
This week the guys talk about bread (yeah, that’s right, bread) before Evan shares some BIG news. Then Kris starts things off by talking about ZOOTOPIA, a hard-PG Disney film about racism. His commentary leads to an odd tangent about Tom Selleck and a brief tangent on politics. Afterward, he, Dave, and Evan discuss BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, one of their favorite dumb movies. The guys comment on how fast-paced and lean it is with its perfect dialogue, while sharing visual gags and suspect editing they didn’t notice in previous viewings. In the process of reviewing it, they delve into BILL & TED’S BOGUS JOURNEY and the BILL & TED cartoon too. In the final part of the show, they express their gripes with this year’s Oscars. They also get into lengthy discussions about the Best Original Screenplay category by way of EX MACHINA and the Best Original Song category by way of Sam Smith. Speaking of songs, stick around after the closing credits for Dave’s fresh take on a Beatles classic.
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