44 thoughts on “Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 173: 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) and Anesthesia (2016) and Diablo (2016) and Concussion (2015)”

1. Happy Birthday, Karl.

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   • Happy birthday to everyone’s favorite foul-mouth Irish!

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     • F****** A Sal – thank you! 🙂

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   • Happy Birthday, KH!!!

     I’ll hoist a few **MEEP-ing** pints in your **MEEP-ing** honor, you **MEEP-ing** ‘Stop it, bear!!’. 🙂

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     • Thank you sir! Here’s to another year of beeps!

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   • Thanks Dino! Sorry for the delay – much appreciated!

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     • No apology needed. I assume you were recovering the last few days from the birthday festivities.

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2. Jason – Sounds like you’re starting to come around to my “avoid all trailers” policy.

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   • I may very well adopt your policy, Dino. They’ve been bad about spoilers for years, as we all know, but this is a scary new trend when they’re egregiously bad to the point that they show the major story beats of all three acts! It’s nothing short of criminal…

     If movie-lovers around the world could unite and not see any movies with ridiculous trailers like that, then perhaps they would stop. But I’m worried about where this trend is going.

     J

     P.S. Yep, today (Jan. 22) is Karl’s birthday!
     Proof: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0399673/

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     • I don’t disagree that some trailers give away too much, but I really enjoyed the trailer for ‘Cloverfield Lane’ and I didn’t feel like I knew too much about what was going on. In fact, it made me want to know more immediately. I also wanted to hear that cover of ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ over and over which might be an issue I need to look into.

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       • I’m with Jonathan. The trailer for Cloverfield Lane doesn’t give away anything at all. I’ll also add that JJ has gone on record saying that while not a direct sequel, the Cloverfield in the name is very much intentionally a reference to Cloverfield. Based on the trailer, I don’t think it’s too farfetched to think that both movies take place in the same universe, which I think is awesome.

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         • Well said. I don’t always like trailers but I do see the purpose of them as it does peak interest in me when I see something that Does looks good. there should be a rule of spoilers and a trailers,the longest trailer that I would like to see is 30 seconds especially if it’s going to give the whole movie away such as terminator genesis . Question for you guys is there any movie that you have seen the trailer and would have not seen if you didn’t see a trailer?

           Mario (loon) Leon

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     • Thanks producer! (I gotta change that pic – I can only dream I look that young anymore….) 🙂

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3. Happy Birthday Karl,

   Enjoy your day and look forward to putting my top 10 most important (socially) films of all time. I am having a great time putting this list together and me and my girlfriend are going back and forth arguing about is that really an important movie that made an impact on life!

   Loved your review on 13hours from all of you I rated it a 7.5 but agree with Karl very much would have loved to see it from the political view and why no help was sent to our men a little bit more drama would have been nice. I’m not a big Michael Bay fine and was just waiting for the slow motion blow up scene, he did not disappoint and I think in an other directors hand the story would have been very different! It is action packed but I needed more from the movie.

   Also J I would like to recommend two movies to you and one series. The first movie is “Avenged” about a deaf woman who is traveling east to reunite with her boyfriend and on the way is stopped and kidnapped by a group of men who brutalize her and torture her, after leaving her for dead the spirit of an Apache warrior takes over her lifeless body and sets out on a bloodthirsty quest for revenge. I would like to know what you think and your rating.

   2nd in honor of Leonard Dicaprio’s nomination go see the first movie where he was nominated for his supporting actor in a all time favorite movie in “what’s eating gilbert Grape” It is a 9.5 movie must see movie and truly shows Leo’s talent. It does make me mad that the academy overlooks him for so many years. I still believe he should have won for “Blood Diamond” !

   And last I want to highly recommend the CW’s Series “the 100” about a post nuclear Armageddon destroys civilization on Earth, the only survivors are those on the 12 international space stations in orbit at the time. Three generations later, the 4,000 survivors living on a space ark of linked stations see their resources dwindle and face draconian measures established to ensure humanity’s future. Desperately looking for a solution, the ark’s leaders send 100 juvenile prisoners back to the planet to test its habitability. It is a great series and season 3 has just started but you can’t catch the first two season on Netflix and I binged watched it in 3 days. It is a 10 and highly recommend it for all.

   Let me know if you have seen any of them and your thoughts. Look forward to hearing more of your mini reviews which is the best part of the podcast.

   Have a great weekend at the movies

   Mario (LOON) Leon

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   • I just started ‘The 100’; I’m only a few episodes in to Season 1 and I’m enjoying the hell out of it.

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     • Jonathan, are you still enjoying the hundred would love to hear your review and what you read it so far.

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       • I am still enjoying it immensely. I’ve only watched a couple more episodes since I wrote the above. While it does fall into some teen show trappings at times, overall it’s very smart sci-fi. Something we haven’t seen the likes of since probably ‘Battlestar Galatica.’

         I love that the stakes are real – you never know who is going to live or die and from what I understand this gets even more crazy in Season Two.

         I’m so early in I really don’t know what else to comment on – I’m actually DVR’ing Season 3 so when I can get through the first two seasons I can jump right in. I’m actually about to have foot surgery in a couple of weeks so I’m going to have a good 3-4 days to binge the remaining episodes and will report back after that but so far so good.

         With ‘The 100’, ‘The Flash,’ ‘Arrow,’ and ‘Supernatural’ the CW has some pretty great genre television currently and I watched the first episode of ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ and was interested enough to stick around for a few episodes to see where it is headed.

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   • Thank you Mario!

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4. I caught Anesthesia a couple of nights ago due to Jay’s upcoming review. I’m glad Jay brought up Smart People because it did remind me of that movie. In both cases, the movie tries so hard to come across as if it’s smart, but the result is pretension drivel. There’s a couple of points in Anesthesia where characters flat out state that they have problems because they’re just so darn smart. It was difficult getting behind and caring about any of the characters. By the end of the film, I felt as if some of the interconnecting stories weren’t even necessary. Would the movie have been any different had the story about the cheater and his drunk wife have been removed? I’ll give Kristen Stewart credit, she tried. She really did try, but God I hated her character. She gave this emotional monologue about blaming all of her problems on the world, how everyone loves technology, and so much other crap, and I could not stop rolling my eyes.

   For what I liked, I enjoyed the story about the drug addict and how can anyone dislike anything Sam Waterston does? The fate of his character was heartbreaking.

   If there’s a biggest complaint, it’s that IMDb doesn’t even have an accurate plot for the movie. From IMDb:

   “Multiple lives intersect in the aftermath of the violent mugging of a Columbia University philosophy professor.”

   In reality, 95% of the movie takes place in the days leading up to the mugging, not afterward. It’s almost as if the person who wrote that plot didn’t manage to watch all of the film. Lucky him.

   I’d recommend watching 2012’s Disconnect or 2014’s Men, Women & Children if you want a similar idea of a movie about interconnected stories about relationships and technology.

   Rating: 4.5 (Sam Waterston bumped this up a point) Recommendation: Avoid or possible low priority rental if you like pretentious crap.

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5. “New episodes release every single Wednesday.”

   Love the show, but really? I get them Friday in euro time. Would be awesome, if you could have them ready around the same time every week, and let us know when that is.

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   • I’ll second that!! I’ve expressed the same sentiment in an e-mail. Jason, you mentioned this a few weeks ago – spend less time editing. We’ll forgive you and continue to enjoy the podcast.

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6. And, would be cool if you could watch some of the “Best Foreign Moview” nominees. Feel they are often hidden gems in the mainstream cinema.

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7. Happy Birthday, Karl and screw you guys because I guess now I will have to check out ’13 Hours…’ a movie I had decided not to spend my hard earned money on because you know, Michael Bay. But you’ve talked me into it.

   Saw ‘Intruders,’ Jay and really curious what you thought of it. I didn’t hate it but I really wish it had kept being the interesting film it was for the first thirty minutes and not turn into what it did. Trying to be vague so I know that sounds stupid but for those that are going to watch it I don’t want to give too much away. It’s a lot better than ‘The Forest’ and ‘The Veil’ (the only other 2016 horror films I’ve seen) so it has that going for it.

   Hoping to see ‘The Boy’ tomorrow (or possibly 13 Hours) but kind of snowed in currently.

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   • I loved the middle portion of Intruders, but it lost steam once all of the questioned began to be answered at the end.

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     • I agree, Sal. I don’t think this is too spoilery but fair warning for anyone reading beyond this point…

       My guess about what the room that most of the finale took place in was used for was for the most part incorrect but I did not find the resolutions all that interesting or original. Although I think the ‘Saw’ comparisons I’ve read many reviewers cite are unfair, it definitely didn’t feel all that authentic or interesting.

       I just felt like Beth Riesgraf’s performance (especially at the beginning) was good enough and they could have played more on her agoraphobic tendencies. I’m not even saying you couldn’t keep the traps and what not in play but the reasoning could have just been so much more interesting than what they decided to go with.

       It was perfectly fine and I wouldn’t be surprised if I watched it again at some point, but just found the last half to be such a letdown after what came before it.

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       • —SPOILERS FOR INTRUDERS—

         I absolutely loved the reveal of the tricked out basement. It took a normal invasion movie and made it insanely interesting. I love it whenever the seemingly meek or shy end up being total bad asses. I wasn’t a fan of the reveal that Anna and her brother had been the ones to re-do the basement and was using it to punish sex offenders. For most of the middle part of the movie, I was under the assumption that Anna’s dad had been the one to fix up the basement and he kept his kids down there for periods of time. That would explain why Anna’s childhood room was completely duplicated downstairs. Had that happened, the movie would have been a sense of empowering, an abused woman finally stands up for herself and ironically uses the area she once thought of as her prison as her playground for standing up for herself. Instead, Anna and her brother becomes less sympathetic due to committing all of these killings instead of being the pure souls they would have been had they only been victims all of their lives.

         –END OF SPOILERS—

         I still enjoyed the movie, but more so for the solid opening filled with intrigue and the crazy middle. I gave it a 7.5.

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         • Agree 100%, Sal. I would go a little bit lower with the rating (6 or 6.5) but everything you wrote nailed it.

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   • Thank you Jonathon! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed in 13 Hours. But I have to confess I am a MB fan. 🙂

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     • I don’t hate MB by any means; he has provided plenty of movie going enjoyment in the past (I would say The Rock is my favorite of his), but the last few ‘Transformer’ films have tested my patience a little (I did like the first one) and I did not like ‘Pain and Gain.’

       Glad to hear ’13 Soldiers’ is a tick up in the right direction.

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       • I mean 13 Hours.

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8. I can’t wait for your review of Room. I saw it on Friday and it had an immediate and impactful effect on me. All of you should see it. Enjoy the experience…….

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   • Nevermind, Chuck. I’ve plugged Room 4-5 times now, to no avail. :oP It’s finally playing in my hometown this week, though, so I’ll probably go again.

     Otherwise, nothing for me to add this week except for “Happy Birthday” to Karl. You look darn good for 75!

     I haven’t seen 13 Hours or Concussion and probably won’t until they’re out on video. I am interested in seeing both at some point, but just don’t feel quite excited enough about either to go out for.

     Anyway, my blathering is at a minimum this week, and there’s nothing to gripe about to J, so that’s probably a relief.

     Oh, I did have a question… Being in Utah, have you guys ever been able to go to Sundance? I was thinking of going next year. I would have liked to hear your coverage of some of those films.

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     • MPW covered Sundance in 2013 and 2014:

       https://moviepodcastweekly.com/movie-podcast-weekly-ep-018-parker-2013-broken-city-2013-and-sundance-2013-report/

       https://moviepodcastweekly.com/movie-podcast-weekly-ep-070-i-frankenstein-2014-and-mitt-2014-and-life-itself-2014-and-sundance-2014-report/

       With Josh stepping down right before Sundance 2015, I can’t recall if there was any coverage last year.

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       • I would love to go do that and have the guys do live podcast from Sundance you guys should look into that and have all of you listeners participate.

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     • I was considering going to Sundance this year, but I was actually very confused as to how film festivals work, so I decided to pass until I had some experience. I’ve decided to attend Fantastic Fest this year and then Sundance next year, so I might just get to meet some of you! You hear that, Jay? This damn meetup is happening whether you like it or not 😉

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       • Cool. January is usually off-time for me, so the odds are good I can make it next year.

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     • Oh, so they were seeing Room. Nice. Your comment seemed odd to me at the time because I didn’t hear that mentioned at the end of this episode. Now it makes sense (and mine doesn’t!).

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9. Hey Ryan, do you have a permit for those guns? 😉

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10. Just watched Chi-Raq. Really great. Alternately powerful, poignant and hilarious. Some of the scenes work better than others, but it’s quite an experience, overall. 9/10

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    • And speaking of films being socially important. I wish this one could be one of the top in that list.

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11. For the entire MPW crew:

    Thanks for yet another enjoyable episode! And although I’m late to the party here – and although my tastes tend to run a little bit counter to most of you guys (I think I’m closest to Andy) – the podcast is so much fun that I couldn’t resist sending some money your way in response to J’s “pledge drive.” So I guess I’m here for the long haul 🙂

    For J in particular – an interesting fact I discovered (which is completely unrelated to the movies this week):

    I watched the 2011 version of “The Thing” for the first time last night (although quite derivative, it was still better than I was expecting), and after realizing that it was, in fact, **SPOILER** a prequel **END SPOILER** to Carpenter’s 1982 version, I immediately rewatched that as well.

    I’m a huge fan of Carpenter’s “The Thing” for many reasons. When it came out, I was 24, living in L.A., working in special effects (the name we used back then – before visual effects, f/x, etc) in Hollywood, and even though I didn’t work on the film myself, I had some friends that worked on it. Other reasons it’s great: Kurt Russell’s breakout performance; Carpenter’s superb direction; the (for the time) stomach-churning practical creature effects; the fact that it captured so well (unlike the first adaptation) the fantastic story it was adapted from (“Who Goes There?”, by J.W.Campbell), which I loved since I was a kid; and, of course, the ominous score.

    But it wasn’t until I rewatched “The Thing” for the umpteenth time last night that I finally noticed who wrote that great score:

    Ennio Morricone!

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    • I’m not 100% sure but I’m sure I’ve heard somewhere that Morricone’s contributions to the soundtrack of The Thing were actually fairly minimal and that the main ominous synth riff was a Carpenter creation. I can’t remember where I heard this so it could be bullshit but I have always thought that the main motif sounds way more like a Carpenter piece than something Ennio would do.

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      • You know, I do remember some extra music credits in the closing credits (although can’t remember the specifics), so you could be right.

        In any case, I was a little surprised to notice Morricone’s name for the first time (even though I’ve seen the movie many times before), and it seemed serendipitous considering we had been talking about him in regards to The Hateful 8 review.

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12. Anybody seen Carol yet? I noticed that one of my local theaters finally brought in some of the Oscar contenders (Carol, Room, Joy, etc.), so I went there yesterday. I was eager to see Room again, but as I hadn’t seen Carol before, I opted for that.

    It’s a relatively quiet character study of two women falling in love in the 50’s. There wasn’t much story to it, especially early on, but the actors were all very good (though it’s amusing how Cate Blanchett gets nominated for Best Actress and Rooney Mara for Supporting, when Mara’s role was easily as important and had more screen time), the music and direction was very nice, and ultimately it was a pretty interesting portrayal of two people falling in love and patiently flirting and all of that… which in this case had the added dramatic wrinkle of them being women in an era when that was not acceptable, and the implications it had to their other relationships and families.

    I wasn’t blown away by it, but it was decent. 7.5/10

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