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The Merry Culkin Keatmas rages on with our podcast that brings the Keaton to Keatmas, 1998’s box office bomb, Jack Frost. The film isn’t great, but we managed to extract a surprising amount of fun and holiday cheer from it. Enjoy! And don’t forget Lunch coming this Friday! Next week we’ll tackle Home Alone with both LiveWatch and podcast. See you then!
Cecily and A.Ron discuss the latest DC comic book movie attempt, and one with a lot of hopes riding on it, Justice League. It’s a real who’s who of comic book movies, does it manage to build on the momentum of the very good Wonder Woman, or is this another Superman vs Batman level disappointment? Well, we’d have to say it falls right in between those two extremes. It’s not great, but it’s also not terrible, and does just enough to hopefully give DC some room to breathe and establish these other presumably great characters in their own films and organically setup their universe for the next time the League has to assemble.
A.Ron and Jim saw the most recent film adaptation of the Agatha Christie mystery classic, Murder on the Orient Express. Directed and starring Kenneth Branagh, as well as a baker’s dozen other stars, is lush and lavish and maybe missing a few pieces it needs to be assembled into a fully functional whole? It’s like an Ikea bookshelf with a few screws and dowel rods missing, is what we’re saying. We discuss our general, non-spoiler thoughts before talking about upcoming films, before getting to our Club Member only spoiler section. If you want to hear our full thoughts on this and many other first run Bald Movies, consider joining the Club today!
Once again commissioner Fernando Rodriguez (you may better know him as FernNYC17 on our forums) steps up with a choice selection, this time the oft maligned Return of the Jedi. Often dismissed as derivative or childish when compared to A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back respectively, we have nothing but love for the climax of the story of Skywalker. It’s got the best space battle, the best lightsabre battle, and the best puppets in all of Star Wars. The Special Edition changes? Not so much love.
Jim and A.Ron have seen Thor: Ragnarok and let us be the millionth person to tell you that it is fun and colorful. There isn’t much else there, but, you know, but director Taika Waititi ensured that it’s really fun and really colorful. It asks some big questions about Thor, and Odin, and even the Hulk, but isn’t really interested in the answers. It’s not a bad thing, because it is really, really fun. Cate Blanchett is clearly enjoying being a vampy big bad with a flair for irony and the dramatic, Jeff Goldblum is a delight as an eccentric gladiatorial slave owner. The premise and resolution are quite clever. We just are a little puzzled at some of the over the top early buzz hailing it as the new benchmark for comic book movies.
A.Ron and Cecily went to do a make up review of the Coen Brothers written, George Clooney directed film Suburbicon, and it’s not great, Bob. Cecily saw some interesting things with the social commentary and A.Ron is in agreement that the movie was good looking and well acted, but ultimately the movie is pointless, depressing, and disappointing. We also discuss trailers like we do, but if you want to hear the full spoilers review of the film, you’ll have to be a Club Member. Why not join today?
A.Ron and Cecily begin a tradition of discussing the scary movies they’ve been watching throughout the Halloween season! No spoilers to scare any body off, we just talk about just how and what type of scary they are. This year’s crop of fresh indie horrors is courtesy Kimberly Dadds Buzzfeed article on 31 scary movies to watch during the month of October. The list is below, and I’ve linked to Jim and A.Ron’s in depth review of Pontypool.
A.Ron and Jim saw Jackie Chan’s return to action form in The Foreigner, a Taken-esque revenge film where a grieving father takes it upon himself to avenge the death of his beloved daughter at the hands of IRA bombers. It’s great looking, featuring great performances from both Chan and Brosnan, and Jackie hasn’t lost more than a step or two when it comes to the action, fearlessly throwing his 63 year old body all over the screen. What he might have lost in athleticism he makes up for in a ruthless intensity that I don’t think I’ve seen from him. Enjoy our spoiler free review on the house, but if you want to hear us delve into spoiler territory, you’ll have to join the Club!
Jim and A.Ron went to see Bladerunner 2049 tonight, what did they think? A.Ron thinks it’s amazing, absorbing, and needs multiple viewings to unravel all of it’s mysteries, while Jim thinks the same but wishes they’d cut about 20 minutes of Gosling walking down sidewalks and starring off into the distance. And that’s probably fair, but then again a somewhat stately, almost glacial pace is kind of a Bladerunner hallmark, no? Enjoy our spoiler free review, and discussion of upcoming movies for free, but if you want to hear our in depth thoughts on the movie, you’ll have to be a Club Member!
Special thanks to Ethan and Allison for commissioning Batman Begins, the first in the Nolanverse Batman trilogy (you can see our podcast on Batman: The Dark Knight here). This is a fantastic comic book movie that also happens to be a fantastic film in it’s own right. We love the fusion of gritty realism with the strong emotional core and exploration of Bruce Wayne and his struggle to walk the narrow path between justice and vengeance. Excellent casting, excellent performances, and while the third act perhaps leaves something to be desired in light of a decade of super hero movies continually trying to outdo themselves in terms of spectacle, the movie holds up like a champ and is an undeniable part of what makes the sequel work so superbly.