CHAMPION. CHARISMA. CHARACTER. These are the qualities that make a badass.
Are you ready?! Badass Fest VI is here and all month long Jim and A.Ron are bringing you the biggest, baddest, and burliest action movies! Kicking off the celebration is Jim and A.Ron’s coverage of Drunken Master II recorded in front of an audience of Bald Movers.
From Steven Spielberg comes a decidedly darker iteration of Indiana Jones. Jim and A.Ron have the behind the scenes stories about stunts, on-set injuries, and casting. Join in on the discussion as your hosts ponder the burning question, What makes a movie feel like an ‘Indiana Jones’ movie? Hold on to your costume, that elephant looks hungry.
If Chinatown (1974) were a funny movie, it would be Who Framed Roger Rabbit directed by Robert Zemeckis. Jim and A.Ron chat about the physics of Toontown, Bob Hoskins’ no holds barred performance, and Jim’s level of attraction to Jessica Rabbit. It’s a wild ride through toon humor, governmental corruption, and scenes to traumatize the kids. Yay!
The Fall Guy show from the 80s gets a modern reincarnation in this David Leitch helmed project. As a man who comes from the stunt world, Leitch did an excellent job of portraying the stunt men and women with life and laughter. It has the action of John Wick and the heart of a romcom. Don’t let “comedy torture” fool you, it’s a good time!
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The Raid 2, directed by Gareth Evans, is a stomach-churning follow up to The Raid: Redemption (2011). Jim and A.Ron chat about their relationship with this franchise and their impressions on this sequel. It features Indonesian martial arts, a great cast, and every single action trope. Viewers are warned that the violence in this film is brutal.
Director Guy Ritchie brings his style to the classic myth in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017). With the great cast and fun design, why did it get 30% on Rotten Tomatoes? Jim and A.Ron are here to hash that out. It has bigger elephants than Lord of the Rings, but the story is all over the place. Is this movie made of the stuff of legend?
Why is The Matrix a big deal? Find out in this rerelease in honor of the movie’s 25th anniversary.
Thanks to Jefferson Betmarik for making us pull 1999’s The Matrix off our shelves and talk about it. This movie was directed by the Wachowski siblings, and stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, and Carrie-Anne Moss among others. Jim and I have watched this movie so much, and spent so much time talking about it over the years, so it’s no surprise that we were able to easily fill 1:20 with our personal thoughts and observations. What surprised is was how many new thoughts and ideas we had from our latest watch. We had a lot of fun revisiting the movie, and I hope you get a kick out of listening.
Thanks again, Jefferson! If you’d like to find out how you can commission your very own podcast, check out our shop page for all the details.
The highly anticipated sequel to Dune is here. Director Denis Villeneuve takes us back to the gray and brown wasteland of Arrakis where an uprising is brewing. Did this blend of sci-fi and fantasy intrigue Jim and A.Ron? Can Denis justify the THREE HOUR run time for half of one book?
The American Dream has always been just that, a dream. Death of a Salesman (1985) is based off of the 1949 Arthur Miller play of the same name. This adaptation features powerful performances from Dustin Hoffman and a young John Malkovich. It’s thoroughly depressing, but magnificent to watch. Have something funny in your queue for viewing after.