Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 056: Carrie (2013) and The Fifth Estate (2013) and Escape Plan (2013) and All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2013) and Blue Caprice (2013) and Our Top 5 Movies About the Human Spirit

In Episode 056 of Movie Podcast Weekly, Jason, Josh and Karl take bets on whether or not Andy will actually show up before giving you 6 (count ’em, 6!) feature reviews including the Bruce Willis sci-fi action / comedy “The Fifth Element” the Benedict Cumberbatch Wikileaks / Julian Asange bio-pic “The Fifth Estate,” followed by another film based on a true story, this one about the DC sniper, “Blue Caprice,” the Sylvester Stallone / Arnold Arnold Schwarzenegger double-team “Escape Plan,” both Kimberly Pierce’s brand new “Carrie” remake, as well as the 1976 De Palma adaptation of Stephen King’s classic work and, finally, the long-awaited indie slasher “All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.”

When Andy eventually drags himself into the show, Movie Podcast Weekly features four hosts (and frequent guests), who give you their verdict on at least one new movie release that’s currently in theaters, mini-reviews of what they’ve been watching lately, and specialty recommendation segments. New episodes release every single Monday.

SHOW NOTES — with Time Stamps!
( 00:00:00 ) I. Intro
— Will Andy make it to the podcast?
—Haunted Camp Floyd
—Random movie news
—Bad theater experiences

(00:22:38) II. Mini-Reviews:
Karl: Dark Shadows, Enough Said
Jason: Elevator, Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet
Josh: The Private Eyes, Tremors

( 00:40:16 ) III. Feature review of ESCAPE PLAN:
Jason: 7 ( See it in Theaters / Rent It )

( 00:49:14 ) IV. Feature review of THE FIFTH ESTATE:
Karl: 9 ( See It in Theaters / Rent It )

( 01:00:18 ) V. Feature review of CARRIE (1976):
Josh: 7 ( Rent It )
Jason: 
7 ( Rent It )

( 01:18:45 ) VI. Feature review of CARRIE (2013):
Josh: 
6 ( Younger Horror Fans See It In the Theater / Rent It )
Jason:
 6 ( Younger Horror Fans See It In the Theater / Rent It )

( 01:39:56 ) VII. Welcome Andy to the show for our Top 5 Movies About the Human Spirit

( 02:14:56 ) VIII. Feature reviews continued, ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE:
Jason: 5.5 ( Rent It )
Josh:
5 ( Rent It )

( 02:20:36 ) IX. Another Landmark Andy Moment

( 02:23:48 ) X. Feature review of BLUE CAPRICE:
Jason: 
6 ( Solid Rental )

XI. Segments:

( 02:34:32 ) ANDY’S ABSURD ASSOCIATIONS:
Road Trip Movies:
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Dumb & Dumber
Zombieland
The Road
The Book of Eli

( 02:37:05 ) JOSHUA LIGAIRI’S CONTINUING EDUCATION:
Classic / Remake Double Feature: The Wicker Man (1973) and The Wicker Man (2006)

( 02:42:31 ) JAY OF THE DEAD’S CREEPS AND CRIME:
Creeps: Motel Hell

( 02:46:48 ) XII. Wrap-Up

Next Monday on MPW: We will have a feature review of the Ridley Scott film “The Counselor” and several trick and / or treats for Halloween. Join us!

Links for this episode:

Watch the “no-budget” music video that Josh directed years back for a local pop-punk/post-hardcore/nu-metal band at the “Haunted Mental Hospital” Josh talked about (that, incidentally, got the band signed to Universal Motown): Get Scared YouTube Channel

Read the article Josh talked about “SHUSHERS: WRONG ABOUT MOVIES. WRONG ABOUT THE WORLD” here: Dashes.com

And the response article Josh talked about “RESPECTING CINEMA IN THE DIGITAL AGE” from the same blog here: Dashes.com

Listen to the interview with Carrie remake director, Kimberly Pierce, that Josh talked about on iTunes or watch the video interview here: The MacGuffin YouTube Channel

Check out the website Josh thinks is somehow related to movies about the human spirit, a blog called “Thumbs and Ammo” that replaces famous movie guns with thumbs-ups and carries the moto “Real tough guys don’t need guns, just a positive can-do attitude” here: Taste of Cinema

This Halloween, remember to check out our very first premium bonus episode here: Cujo Commentary

Also special for Halloween, be sure to check out the premiere episode of the Horror Movie Podcast that features Jason (as Jay of the Dead), Josh (as Wolfman Josh), and former MPW guest Kyle Bishop (as Dr. Walking Dead) here: HorrorMoviePodcast.com

Follow Movie Podcast Weekly on Twitter: @MovieCastWeekly

Follow Joshua Ligairi on Twitter: @IcarusArts
Check out Josh on a reality TV show for documentary filmmakers: Pursuit of the Truth
Read Josh’s post on Halloween movies hereIcarus Art & Entertainment Blog

Check out Jason and frequent MPW guest Willis Wheeler on: THE DONUT SHOW

Listen to Jason’s Movie Stream Cast here: Movie Stream Cast.com

Special thanks goes out to singer-songwriter Frederick Ingram and the voice talents of Midnight Corey Graham from The Electric Chair Podcast, Willis Wheeler from the Terror Troop Podcast and Mr. Ron Baird for their help with our recommendation segment intros.

We’d also like to thank The Dave Eaton Element and Dave Eaton himself for the use of his music for our theme song.

If you like what we do here at Movie Podcast Weekly, please subscribe and leave us a positive 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. You can also check out our Premium podcasts, available at BandCamp for a minimum donation of $1. Lastly, remember to start your Amazon shopping here by clicking through our banner ads at no additional cost to you.

You can always contact us by e-mailing MoviePodcastWeekly@gmail.com. Or you can call and leave us a voice mail at: (801) 382-8789. And you can leave us a comment in the show notes for this episode.

Thank you for listening, and join us again next Monday for Movie Podcast Weekly.

26 thoughts on “Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 056: Carrie (2013) and The Fifth Estate (2013) and Escape Plan (2013) and All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2013) and Blue Caprice (2013) and Our Top 5 Movies About the Human Spirit

  1. Sly and Arny to action movies are Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller to comedy movies. Their stuff is very routinn-ish and often is just the same thing packed in different wrapping papers. How many Jacky Chan’s movies do you really remember as ‘different’? these guys are bad actors, rarely original and selling the stereo types.
     
    For these dudes, they need significant help to produce something outstanding, like ‘punch drunk love’ or ‘T2’.
     
    But i have to admit, just like Fast and Furious will never be a master piece, it is nothing wrong to find them entertaining when in the right mood. As long as they are not pretending to be a master piece.
     
    didn’t ‘Judge Dred’ just get remade?

    • Good points, Que.

      And I’m not a hater. I just don’t care either. I love several of the Rocky movies, the Terminator movies, etc. Copland is a great film. True Lies is a guilty pleasure. But even Keanu Reeves is brilliant in the right part, be it Neo or Ted. These guys aren’t great actors, to be sure.

      Judge Dredd is based on a good comic book and the new movie is a reboot based on the comic. Much, much better than Stallone’s.

      Jackie Chan is a different story, though. I suppose he’s not an amazing actor either, but he at least has a natural talent of some kind. What he can do physically begs to be captured on film. And his comedic persona while fighting is really entertaining as well, ie: The ladder scene in Police Story 4 (First Strike) or every action scene in Rumble in the Bronx. And occasionally he just turns in a brilliant film like Police Story 3 (Supercop).

      • Jacky chan has two expression in total. That smiling ‘I am a nice guy, everyone likes me’ expression for all non urgency scenes and that ‘I need to be somewhere right now’ expression for all the running and fighting.

  2. Just calling myself out briefly on a really weird slip of the tongue. See if you can follow this … when talking about laser pointers during the “bad theater experience” section of the show, I intended to mention that, when seeing Scream in theaters it was the height of the laser pointer era and, during the scene where Rose McGowan goes into the garage to get more beer, there were always a bevy of lasers flying at her chestal area. BUT, my brain shorted-out, I apparently I blanked on her name, and I accidentally switched to calling her by her character name, “Tatum.” BUT THEN, my brain shorted-out again and associated that with the name Channing Tatum, which I then intended to call her. BUT FINALLY, my brain, pulling at straws, reached and grabbed the joke nickname they have for Channing Tatum on the Film Junk podcast and I called her Tanning Chatum. This all happened in a split second and is oddly embarrassing.

  3. I thought perhaps the shush article had some merit so I read some. I think it’s just a guy needlessly stirring the pot. That, or this guy has to be incredibly difficult to be around. So basically ignoring the wishes of the director and the crowd around you and not giving the film your undivided attention is one thing (still sorta crappy tho) but what gives this guy the right to out and out disregard the rules and regulations that are put forth by the movie theater itself? This must be the guy who doesn’t mind pulling out his cell phone in middle of the library and proceed to call his mother who can barely hear and talk loudly while others attempt to research or read. If you wish to watch movies in the same way that people watch sporting events in a bar, then by all means create that venue but a movie theater isn’t it. Secondly his example of someone yelling “yeah” or whatever when they see a robot say “I am Optimus Prime” would never get a shush from me. That is a genuine reaction from someone engaged by the film, it’s similar to laughing. What might get a shush is if the same guy went to see it again and turned to the person next to them and said loudly “you’re not going to believe this, you gotta watch, it’s awesome.” However I will say that I’m not sure how polite s shush really and there does come a point when 50 shushes to one person talking semi-quietly becomes more irritating than the offense itself.

    • The same type of people everywhere, that they can’t be told wrong. They will find or makeup arguments to defend themselves even when they know they are at fault. The unapologetic parents of a crying baby in a restaurant, the owner of a dog that shit on your lawn and spilled your garbage bin, etc.

      They are just sore losers.

      • By the way I meant to point out that this guy undoubtedly has friends who hate going to the movies with him and really wish he’d shut up.

  4. Theater Experiences:

    Weirdest- at the midnight showing of X-Men Origins: Wolverine a guy stands up and laughs maniacally as he runs down the ramp and out an emergency exit. Maybe he intended to cause mayhem when an alarm went off, but the alarm never came. Nice use of $10. But let’s be honest, he made the right call, that film sucked.

    Worst / Most Surreal- I went with a friend and his girlfriend to see Ed Wood at an artsy type theater in downtown Bloomington. This was probably over ten years after its release. I did as Josh does and checked my phone because it kept vibrating. I had like 15 missed calls. Some from my wife, (no kids at the time) a some from my parents. So since I’d seen the film before and obviously something was going on, I went outside to see what was happening. I had voicemails, so I listened to them. The first was my mom who told me that we shouldn’t worry about my uncle (who had been missing) because he was back in Texas. I thought “really, all these calls for that?” Then I had another voicemail that said “Jeff it’s mom call when you can.” So I did, she told me that my uncle had went back to his wife but they had argued and then he doused his truck in gasoline and lit it on fire while he sat in the cab. Or at least that’s the story, it’s probably the truth, but some in my family have doubts I think. So knowing my uncle had burned to death I walked back in and it was during the Bela Lugosi funeral scene, I didn’t want to just leave and worry them, nor did I want to try to explain it and disturb the crowd so I sat and watched the rest. Actually as I think about it, I think I might have been giving my friend a ride home, so maybe that’s the real reason. But anyway that’s my morbid theater story.

  5. I have to say, I don’t get that Mandy lane movie. It doesn’t make sense. It has terrible plot lines, not everyone loves Mandy lane, no one in the movie has persinality and that ending had been used so many times elsewhere it provided no twist. The worst part about the movie is, it is not that bad! I would stop and walk away from movie such as ‘sharktopus’, but this Mandy lane junk floats somehow and I somehow finished watching this super ordinary film.

    Now that is two hour of my time gone. I was somehow drawn to the movie, just like Andy did, by the poster of this movie. But Mandy in the movie looks nothing like the poster.

    Life is too short for mediocre movies.

    • I was just messing around. Your experience sounds horrible. Just playing devil’s advocate for fun. As Americans, we love our “green backs” and like to make fun of the rest of the world’s “Monopoly money.” You mock what you fear and you fear what you don’t understand.

  6. I can see both sides of the movie theater etiquette discussion. I get bugged by talkers and cellphones, same as the next guy. This is especially true when the movie I’m watching is special to me.

    I do agree with Hammer; I love the audience involvement in the theater experience, even if their reactions don’t mesh with my own. I remember watching “The Fellowship of the Ring” at the theaters. SPOILERS!* During the scene where Boromir has been shot with three arrows and is awaiting a fourth arrow by the orc towering over him, a distressed girl in the audience cried out: “Oh, just leave him alone!” END SPOILERS.*

    Ha ha. I always thought that was pretty funny. I live in a college town and many college students love to make loud comments. Sometimes they are terrible. Sometimes they are pretty funny and enhance the ‘popcorn’ movie experience. When I get together with some friends to see a movie…man, sometimes you just can’t help it. Some of my favorite movie-going experiences is going to an empty matinee with friends and talking/joking throughout. All the fun, without all the guilt.

    • Agreed on all counts–especially about home viewing.

      It is fun to goof on movies with friends. What I hate at a home viewing is when people are just going on and on or talking about something other than the movie so as to make it impossible to follow. So, I guess there is a line for me between “enhancing” and “distracting” and I want to be friends with people who know the difference.

  7. Theater experience:

    When I was a kid I went with a friend to see “Men in Black” and ended up sitting near the back of the theater. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a couple making out a row or two behind us. They were REALLY going at it. I nudged my friend and nodded in there direction. There hot and heavy action blew our adolescent minds. We kept an eye on them through the trailers and opening credits, but then our love for cinema won out and we focused on the film. To this day I can’t see the opening credits of Men and Black without remembering the show behind us in the theater that night. (So careful Josh. I know that’s how you and your wife watch movies in the theater. Think of the kids man!)

    Hey, I will be in Provo this weekend and am looking for a good IMAX 3D theater to catch “Gravity.” Any suggestions? I am thinking either the IMAX theater in Sandy or West Jordan. Any IMAX 3D recommendations? It is a first for me.

  8. Karl,

    Thanks for the recommendation. We caught the Saturday matinee of “Gravity” in IMAX 3D in Sandy. It was amazing. It was definitely my favorite theater experience this year.

    I went back and listened to all of your reviews of “Gravity.” Good points from everybody. I think this was an excellent movie. Definitely a see-it-in-theaters/buy-it recommendation from me.

    If it wasn’t for the scientific inaccuracies in the film (especially the big one mentioned by Karl–I think that was was avoidable), I’d be giving this one a 10/10. I wish I hadn’t researched the science after watching the movie. The movie was perfect up until I had to go and get myself smarter.

    I didn’t mind the lack of story, and I think it is wrong to fault the movie for it.

    A FEW SPOILERS BELOW* I am a bit surprised some viewers didn’t feel more invested in Sandra Bullock’s character. For a single event movie with zero visual back story and limited character development, I thought the movie did an excellent job showing us who she was. I really enjoyed her transformation from drifting, scared, and inexperienced to determined, brave, and adaptable. I love the camera shot at the end of the film that starts at her feet and pans up to view her like she was some sort of Olympian. I knew this movie was going to wow me visually, but I was surprised and pleased that it affected me on a deeper, emotional level as well. *END SPOILERS.

    Bullock did an awesome job. It was a great role for her and one of the better roles I’ve seen for a woman in Hollywood in a long time. 9.5/10

    • Awesome, Vance. This made my day. Made me want to watch the movie again! I was afraid we’d over-sold it and I’m always glad when we collectively get it right. I might have to try and catch this in theaters one more time. It just won’t be the same on DVD.

  9. Okay, so I’m going to tell you about my experience seeing Gravity. I decided after listening to your reviews that it would be worth it to spend some gift money I recently received on two IMAX 3D tickets for my wife and me. I have a condition called Meniere’s Disease that affects my balance nerve in my inner ear, which sometimes brings on vertigo episodes, and like a dim-wit I didn’t even think about it when I bought the tickets. Let’s just say the movie is *very* realistic. I made it about half way through before the vertigo hit me. I didn’t want to ruin the movie for my wife so I just closed my eyes and listened. I actually started drifting off during that quiet moment in the film. I did end up having to leave before the credits rolled, but not before my wife knew how it would end. I figured it would be better to lurch out at that point than grab the popcorn bucket from the guy sitting next to me and ruin everyone’s experience. I did make it to the restroom before “losing it” and there was nobody else in there so my humiliation was kept to a somewhat low level.

    I really hope Ender’s Game isn’t as realistic as Gravity, I’ve been waiting forever for that book to be made into a movie. I think I am finished with 3D.

    • Oh, man. That is a true horror story. Sorry for our involvement with it. So, did you like the movie? Haha. Probably hard to distinguish. What a bummer. Now, I feel like a jerk.

  10. Great comments from Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore on their Carrie remake. Made me respect what they did more and want to give the film another try. This is a bit distracting, however, because the film clips are dubbed in French, just FYI.

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