Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 115: The Pyramid (2014) and Comet (2014) and The Babadook (2014) and St. Vincent (2014) and Seven More Feature Reviews!

Episode 115

Episode 115 of Movie Podcast Weekly is a record-breaking first for this show: Our weekly guarantee is to bring you a Feature Review of at least one new release that’s currently in theaters. Our previous record for the highest number of Feature Reviews in one episode was six (which we’ve done several times). But in Episode 115, we bring you 11 Feature Reviews for The Pyramid and Comet and St. Vincent and The Babadook and Before I Disappear and The Internet’s Own Boy and The Color of Time and Memphis and You and the Night and The Strange Little Cat and Periods. And to help Jason, Andy, Karl and Josh accomplish this feat, we welcome special guest Jape Man!

If you’re new to our show… Movie Podcast Weekly typically features four hosts — Jason, Andy, Karl and Josh — along with frequent guests. We give you our verdicts on at least one new movie release from the current year that’s currently playing in theaters or on VOD, as well as several mini reviews of whatever we’ve been watching lately. And we usually provide specialized genre recommendations. New episodes release every single Tuesday. Join us!


SHOW NOTES:

I. Introduction
— Welcome special guest Jape Man!


Episode 115b

II. Miscellaneous Warm-Up:
— Don’t miss Episode 118 — our Top 10 Movies of 2014 — on Tuesday, December 30, 2014!
— Enter our CONTEST! E-mail your Top 10 of 2014 to MoviePodcastWeekly@gmail.com
— Discovery Channel’s “Eaten Alive” Debacle


[ 0:22:55 ] III. Mini Reviews
Karl: Dan Brown’s “Inferno” (book), Dan Brown’s “Deception Point” (book), Atmos theater technology, Nebraska, Later in this episode: Freaks and Geeks, pilot episode
Jason: Rampart, The Day
Jape Man: Canopy, NSFW: Not Safe for Work, Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever, The Missing (TV show), Girl Meets World (TV show)
Josh: Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon, The Office (American) Christmas episodes
Andy: The Great Beauty


IV. What’s New in Theaters This Past Weekend
The Pyramid
Comet [ Limited ]
Zero Motivation [ Limited ]
Pioneer [ Limited ]
Life Partners [ Limited ]
She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry [ Limited ]


FEATURE REVIEWS HAVE TIME STAMPS:

[ 1:14:48 ] V. Feature Review: THE PYRAMID (2014)
Jason = 6.5 ( Theater / Rental )
Josh = 4.5 ( Low-priority Rental )


[ 1:30:33 ] VI. Feature Review: BEFORE I DISAPPEAR (2014)
Jape Man = 10 ( Buy it! )


[ 1:39:55 ] VII. Feature Review: ST. VINCENT (2014)
Andy = 8.5 ( Buy it! )


[ 1:45:48 ] VIII. Feature Review: PERIODS. (2014)
Andy = 6.5 ( Rental )
Josh = 6 ( Rental )
Jape Man = 1 ( Avoid )

— Andy and Karl depart the show for the evening.


[ 2:02:28 ] IX. Feature Review: COMET (2014)
Jape Man = 10 ( Buy it! )


[ 2:15:32 ] X. Feature Review: THE BABADOOK (2014)
Jason = 10 ( Theaters / Buy it! )
Josh = 8 ( Buy the Blu-ray! – Watch at home, not in theaters )
Jape Man = 9 ( Buy it! )


[ 2:29:39 ] XI. Feature Review: THE COLOR OF TIME (2014)
Jape Man = 5.5 ( Low-priority Rental )


[ 2:35:45 ] XII. Feature Review: THE INTERNET’S OWN BOY (2014)
Jason = 6 ( Rental )
Josh = 6 ( Strong Rental )


[ 2:51:18 ] XIII. Feature Review: MEMPHIS (2014)
Jape Man = 7.5 ( Rental )


[ 2:55:42 ] XIV. Feature Review: THE STRANGE LITTLE CAT (2014)
Josh = 6 ( Low-priority Rental )
Jape Man = 10 ( Buy it! )


[ 3:11:52 ] XV. Feature Review: YOU AND THE NIGHT (2014)
Jape Man = 7.5 ( Rental )


XVI. Wrap-Up / Plugs / Ending


COMING UP ON MPW NEXT WEEK:
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS and BOYHOOD and CALVARY and LIFE AFTER BETH and THE SKELETON TWINS and PIONEER — Join us!


LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:

Links for Jape Man:
Jape Man’s Film Diary
On Twitter: @Jape_Man
On Facebook
Follow Jape Man and watch for his forthcoming eBook and filmmaking project!

Contact MPW:
E-mail us: MoviePodcastWeekly@gmail.com.
Leave us a voicemail: (801) 382-8789.
Follow MPW on Twitter: @MovieCastWeekly
Leave a comment in the show notes for this episode.

Listen to MPW:
Add MPW to your Stitcher playlist: Stitcher.com
MPW on iTunes
MPW’s RSS feed
Right-click to download the MPW 100 Rap

Josh’s links:
Twitter: @IcarusArts
Josh covers streaming movies on: Movie Stream Cast

If you’re a Horror fan, listen to Jason and Josh on HORROR MOVIE PODCAST

We’d like to thank The Dave Eaton Element and Dave himself for the use of his music for our theme song. Buy Dave’s Eaton’s music: BandCamp.com


If you like Movie Podcast Weekly, please subscribe and leave us a review in iTunes. If you want to support the show, we have PayPal buttons in our right-hand sidebar where you can make a one-time donation or you can become a recurring donor for just $2 per month. (Every little bit helps!)

Thanks for listening, and join us again next Tuesday for Movie Podcast Weekly.


36 thoughts on “Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 115: The Pyramid (2014) and Comet (2014) and The Babadook (2014) and St. Vincent (2014) and Seven More Feature Reviews!

  1. The Josh and Andy Get Eaten Alive Movie Podcast Weekly Christmas Special! Josh please make this happen. It’s all I want for Christmas.

  2. MPW out of context:

    [31:03]
    Andy: Here’s the crazy thing, Karl, he didn’t actually need to take a dump.
    Josh: NOW what do you think of his performance?

    Just one of the many, many reasons to treasure this podcast.

    Also, all of the recent discussion of “Force Majeure” reminded me of an incident I was involved in a couple of years ago. I was taking a Varsity Scout team through Burro Wash in the backcountry of Capitol Reef National Park. There’s an awesome less-than-shoulder-width slot several miles in, with knee-to-waist deep water in its gullet. I was already having a tough time getting everyone through: It’s fairly claustrophobic if you aren’t accustomed to that sort of thing. Then, quite literally out of a clear blue sky, we start to hear a dull rumble, gradually increasing in volume until the canyon walls are actually vibrating. (This all happened in the space of maybe 15 seconds; it was definitely a “time slows down” moment.) The weather had been sunny for days, without a hint of rain. Logically, it made zero sense to panic. Only I’m standing there knee deep in cold water with three scouts (two of them already jumpy) and one other adult and only a thin ribbon of pale blue sky visible overhead. All I could think was, “Flash flood.” So, doing my best to remain calm, I tell them, “We’ve got to get out of here, guys, fast. Everybody get moving.” And right about that time, a low-flying helicopter (who knows from where, or en route to what; we were probably at least an hour’s flight from the nearest helipad) goes roaring by overhead. In addition to feeling super silly, I remember thinking at least once, “Well, it could have been worse. At least you didn’t shove anyone out of the way, or say something like, ‘Every man for himself!’ “

    • Hahaha. Wow! Great story, Cody. Congratulations on not being a Costanza-type.

      I probably would have passed out from claustrophobic fright immediately because shoulder-width for you is about one arm for me. I’d be wedged in there for eternity like Aron Ralston, but the boulder is my own bulk.

      On a really tangential note, is it in any way physically possible to swim out of a slot canyon flash flood? I’ve always wondered.

      And yes, our potty humor is top notch.

      • I’ve only observed small flash floods first hand, and never in an area anywhere close to what could be considered a slot canyon. Based on everything that I’ve read and been told, however, as well as on repeated inspection of debris jams in tight places, we’d have been dead more or less instantly in a space that small. There are comparatively wide spaces on either end of that particular slot where we could maybe have gotten above flood level, but we were only about two-thirds through it at the time. You can climb above a flood if you’re not in a slot, but as far as I know, being in a slot canyon (particularly a body-width slot) when just about any size flood passes through is essentially a death sentence.

        Even in a more open canyon, the problem is not really keeping your head above water, so much as keeping it above your shoulders. The amount of debris that gets carried through by floods is staggering. I saw footage of a flood that came out of the Zion Narrows this summer, and the river, from bank to bank, was seething with large (arm- and leg-sized) jagged pieces of wood. And the boulders that get pushed along below the surface can weigh hundreds of pounds.

        There probably wouldn’t have been a Virgin River-sized volume of water pouring through Burro Wash under just about any but the most extreme circumstances, but it doesn’t take much. And there’d have been debris for certain. There are a couple of impressive boulder jams right where we were, and I’ve seen logs and boulders jammed 20 feet overhead in canyons ten times as wide as that slot.

    • You chaps over there have the coolest scout activities. All I remember from my brief tenure was sitting in a moldy basement under a church sewing up wallets while it rained outside.

      • The cool stuff is what keeps them coming back. (Well, that and their parents.) Last night we went to the firing range at the local community fitness center and they plowed through 150 .22 rounds in an hour of target shooting. It’s funny: I don’t even own a gun, myself, but being a Scout leader means that I probably shoot shotguns and rifles 5 or 6 times a year (and I don’t even shoot every time there’s a shooting activity).

  3. Is it just me or does Jape Man sound kind of like Woody Allen doing an impression of Willis Wheeler?

    This is meant as an amazing compliment.

  4. And if Mark Wahlberg really wanted to set a good example for his kids then he’d just accept his status as it is defined by his previous felonies and show his kids that horrible actions have lasting consequences. Or is the example he wants to set for them: violently assault and blind someone in a racist attack and then become rich and famous and you can get pardoned?

    Jay I honestly admire how compassionate, forgiving and non-judgemental you are but really hasn’t Mark Wahlberg done well enough for himself considering that he pretty much permanently ruined another humans life? Is this “pardon” something that he really needs or deserves? Don’t forget he was in The Happening as well.

  5. I’d like to set up a poll amongst our listeners whether they support the addition of a “MARRY IT” ranking to our movie rating scale. Can we announce that poll on the next episode and get it up on the site?

  6. Guys, have any of you seen a film called OXV: The Manual (Frequencies in the U.S.)? It’s a really interesting indie sci-fi romance film that I think falls in that weird and rare zone where Josh and Jay actually agree. The film’s about an alternate universe where humans’ frequencies determine luck, love, destiny, and basically one’s quality of life. It’s a pretty low budget film, so there are problems that it can’t overcome probably because of its budget—most notably, the acting. The main actor and even the child actors are very solid, the rest of the cast not so much. The way the story is structured works really well, but I feel like the last “point of view” is a little weak and the story becomes kind of contrived towards the end. Still, it’s a very good little film and one that’s going to end up on my 2014 honorable mentions. It’s an 8 and it’s streaming on Netflix, so give it try!

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