27 thoughts on “Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 177: Deadpool (2016) and How to Be Single (2016)”

1. Hello MPW,

   What a great show and loved that “what you talking about Willis” is back!!! My only gripe with Willis is that he will not see a movie if a certain actor is in it, which in my opinion is the worse way to determine if you are going to see a movie. You should see a movie based on the quality and the story of the movie. I do have actors that I don’t really care for but I go to see a movie for plot the story and hopefully the actors can give a good performance to the movie.

   My mini reviews for the week: In the theater was “the Witch” which I did not love it was very dark and I felt like I was watching a Shakespeare play with all the dialogue that I needed subtitles to keep up with the movie. I did enjoy the haunting story of how the family was in distress and there was no hope. I give it a 6.5 and it is a Netflix chill kinda of night.

   Also saw Deadpool and complete agree with Ryan for the parents that let their kids see this movie. What is wrong with them I refused to take my 11 year old son to see and after seeing I was glad I did not. I do work in the movie theater and this was the movie that every kid under 17 was trying to sneak into. It may be the Porkys of this generation! In saying that I loved the movie Ryan Reynolds was outstanding and I loved all the movie references, crude humor, and action it is a 9.5 and to go see it asap!!!

   Lastly in the theater I saw the 2016 Live action short nominations; they were all good but I have to say my favorite was “STUTTER” which was an outstanding short about a man who is unable to speak without stuttering but who is very intelligent and very shy. It is one to watch for sure.

   Here is the list of the shorts and my ratings for them.

   Ava Maria-6
   Shok- 8
   Everything is going to be all right.- 7
   Stutter- 9
   Day One- 8.5

   I wish more shorts would get credit as there are some really good ones out there.

   As for home watching I want to recommend 3 movies for you guys;

   The first one is for Andy called “MERU” about the story of 3 rock climbers that try to climb one of the most difficult climbs in the world. The movie is in documentary form but so heart felt and beautifully done that you are so encouraged and motivated to do more in your life. I would love to hear what Andy has to say about it being a rock climber himself!

   Second is the documentary “AMY” about the story of Amy Winehouse and her rise and fatal fall from glory. Even if you are not a fan of her music you will appreciate the story and feel for all the pain that someone goes threw with addiction. I think it will win best picture this year for best Documentary! Rating an 8

   Last I really love the series “LOVE” on netflix by the creator Judd Apthow I binged watched all 10 episodes this weekend and it is hilarious. Episode 4 and 5 were my favorite and you have to love GUS the loveable nerd who wants to find love. Jason please give this a watch with your wife I think she will like it. I give it a rating of 8

   I will give my Top 10 Films That We Love (But Are Ashamed to Admit It) emailed to you as it really bad!

   Thanks again for a great show and keep up the good work!

   Have a great week at the movies

   Mario (LOON)

   P.S. Also Jason If you are ever in Orange County CA come to the movies on me as I work there and will have your seat reserved in the top row in the back!

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   • Well said Mario.

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2. Deadpool: I really liked it, even loved it in many ways, but then almost immediately forgot about it. Empty calories, I’d say. I also don’t think it will hold up all that well. A fair amount of topical humor, and the super snarky humor style itself might wear thin before long.

   By contrast, I’m still thinking about scenes and images from The Witch after three days. Not that the two films are comparable, really. And there’s certainly a place for both. But I’m giving The Witch a 9 and Deadpool an 8.

   —–

   Cool story about Brad Paisley. Goes to show that sometimes inspiration is real, but not in the way you thought.

   —–

   I’ll chime in a bit on the new HBO series, Vinyl. For a full-time musician and music fan, it’s great, but it’s also a pretty solid drama on its own. It takes place in 1972 and is about a record company owner who is about to sell his company for a big profit, but may have a change of heart as he rediscovers his passion for what he does in the wake of the emerging glam rock scene in NYC.

   There’s a side plot involving a death, and the usual drugs/sex that you’d expect in any Martin Scorsese production about rock ‘n’ roll in the early 70’s (he and Mick Jagger are producing the show, and Scorsese directed the 2 hour pilot), and a lot of fun little interludes with actual performers and characters of the era, like Led Zeppelin, New York Dolls, Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, etc.

   The pilot did grab me enough, though it was uneven, but I especially enjoyed the second episode last night, which showed off a lot of nice character moments and development. The cast is amazing… Bobby Cannavale is the main guy, and Olivia Wilde his wife, but there’s also Ray Romano doing yet another wonderful character role (I loved him in Men of a Certain Age and Parenthood) and Max Casella almost unrecognizable as an A&R guy. And there is an outstanding performance by Andrew Dice Clay in the pilot that might earn him an Emmy.

   The musician cameos (meaning their characters as portrayed by actors) seems a little bit caricature or stylized (I didn’t buy Robert Plant from Led Zep acting the way he does in the pilot), but the show is more about the execs, anyway, so I think a view of the artists in that way is probably fitting. Then again, with Mick Jagger producing and co-writing the pilot, he probably knew those people, so it may be authentic. In any case, as a fictional drama set in and around that world and time, it’s definitely highly engaging so far for me.

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   • I hadn’t gotten to your Deadpool review in the podcast before writing my earlier post, and now I’m bumping it up half a point to 8.5. You reminded me of some things that were indeed brilliant about it, and your enthusiasm swayed me in that direction.

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3. +1 to Andy’s reccomendation for the 25th anniversary Phantom DVD. It is a fantastic production and it’s great to be able to see and hear everything so well, and the performers are absolutely top notch. And Michael Crawford and Colm Wilkinson (the Phantom when I saw the show in Toronto) and Sara Brightman and other alumni perform together after the show ends.

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4. I’m planning on catching a double bill of The VVitch and Deadpool on Tuesday.

   While I can’t say I’m Andy like in actively hating superhero movies, I do feel a great indifference towards them to the extent that I’ve seen a grand total of zero movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, I believe the only superhero movies I’ve seen in the theater were a couple of the Batman sequels from the 90’s when I was a kid.

   I may end up changing my tune after seeing it, but it does go to show that Deadpool has something unique going for it that other comic book movies don’t have. I suppose it shows what sort of cult popularity Deadpool has gained on the internet in recent years that someone who doesn’t read comic books can know enough about him that I’m willing to pay to see the movie.

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   • Way to open up and see a movie that you wouldn’t normally watch glad to see that you’re seeing something out of your comfort zone looking forward to your review.

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5. I feel like I always end up sounding like a [stop it bear] whenever Jason reads my comments on the show…

   :-/

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   • Jason – Don’t listen to Karl. You rock that Mac hard and proud.

     I do.

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6. I know we briefly discussed them when the nominations were announced, but I wanted to try and get some quick Oscar talk going with the show coming up this weekend.

   I’ll kick things off by saying I’m afraid The Revenant will do well. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie just fine, but I certainly don’t think it’s worthy of cleaning house at the Oscars. I could live with DiCaprio winning for best actor, but that’s about it.

   And I’m still bummed that It Follows wasn’t nominated for Best Original Score, and neither Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) or Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road) were nominated for best actress.

   Aside from Best Picture, the category I’m most interested in is Best Documentary (Feature) – how do you decide between Amy, Cartel Land or The Look of Silence?

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   • Well, Alicia Vikander was nominated, at least, and I think in a sense her amazing Ex Machina performance helped her to get that nomination, with much increased awareness about her from that film.

     I don’t think The Revenant will win much, other than DiCaprio and possibly cinematography,

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     • Vikander was nominated for Supporting Actress — that doesn’t count. 😉

       I hope you’re right about The Revenant, although I don’t even want it to win cinematography. I think both The Hateful Eight and Sicario are more deserving.

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       • Dino, I know you’ve voiced your dislike of Iñarritu’s cinematic style, but that’s really a personal preference that shouldn’t nullify The Revenant‘s technical prowess. The movie is absolutely gorgeous and as is usual with Iñarritu, it pushes the envelope of what can be done with the medium. With The Hateful Eight being snubbed altogether, except for best actress, my money’s on The Revenant although I’d be perfectly happy with Fury Road cleaning house.

         “I could live with DiCaprio winning for best actor, but that’s about it.”

         Bro, DiCaprio should’ve won the Oscar multiple times by now. There simply isn’t another choice this year, especially if you think Charlize’s performance is Oscar worthy 😉

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         • It’s not that I dislike Iñarritu’s style. Sometimes it works very well, like in Birdman, where it really added to that film’s manic non-stop mood. That same technique does not work for The Revenant, imo. Like I said before, I think it’s boring and overindulgent for the subject matter and setting, and would have preferred a more nuanced presentation. I fear it will win cinematography, though, because it is flashy and showy. But my vote is for The Hateful Eight to take that category, followed by Sicario.

           And I agree with you about DiCaprio… that’s why I said I’d be good with him taking Best Actor.

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         • Don’t make me buy a plane ticket…

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           • Look, the bottom line is there’s more to cinematography than just technical prowess and pretty pictures. Truly great cinematography lives to serve the film – to enrich the story – and should be absolutely transparent. [I know you know this]

             I just don’t believe The Revenant‘s cinematography is that. It ticks off the “flashy” and “beautiful” boxes, but that’s about all. It’s not truly great.

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         • That’s it, I’m getting a plane ticket…

           Haha look, I know what you mean, but at the end of the day, it’s your personal opinion, so we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

           I agree with your thoughts on cinematography, but for me, The Revenant just worked to great effect all-around. The cinematography had the opposite effect on me. Whereas it was boring to you, it transported me to the very forefront of the action. It was as if one of those frontier life paintings had come to life and I was part of it, completely immersed in the time and place. Of course, this was my personal experience and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me.

           Is the movie worthy of cleaning house? That’s up for debate, especially considering it’s running against Fury Road in many categories. I do think it’s worthy of being in the running though.

           Anyway, it’s not like I look up to the Oscars the same way Jay does. They can be fun to watch, but they’ve snubbed enough movies in the past that I always take the nominees/winners with a grain of salt. Speaking of, are you watching them?

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           • Yeah, I’ll be watching them. Ishani gets into the whole thing, red carpet and all. We used to have Oscar parties when we lived in NYC.

             It was a thing.

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   • Dino,

     I have seen 4 of the 5 for best Documentary and I have to say they are all good but Amy was the best to me, it made me realize how addiction and hopelessness feels. I am not even a fan of hers but after seeing the movie it made me appreciate her. The only other one that was a close second to me is “winters Fire” the story of the Ukraine revolution it was outstanding!

     All of them can be seen on NETFLIX or Amazon for (AMY).

     As for snubs for the oscars. I am still upset that “straight out of compton” did not get nominated for best picture or that “jason mitchell” did not get nominated for supporting actor for playing Eazy E his performance was outstanding. Also I think that “Jacob Tremblay” should have been nominated for supporting actor that kid has a bright future and he was outstanding in the movie. One of the best performances for a child actor ever.

     As for the Leo I am sure he will win this year for the Revenant but I still think he should have won a few years ago when he got nominated for “Blood Diamond” which I think he had a better performance in that!

     Mario (LOON)

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     • Wow, I’ll have to make Winter on Fire a priority stream, now. Thanks, Mario.

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7. My Deadpool experience was ruined by a couple bringing three children into the theatre, aging between 5 – 7, sitting just two rows up from me.

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   • Son of a bitch! I seriously would have started clapping and said: “Bravo! You guys win asshole parents of the year!”

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8. Enjoyed this episode. Fine work as always, team. Especially loved the very meta moment when Andy tries to spoil “Soylent Green,” Jason inserts a, “Stop it, bear!” (presumably during editing), and then Jason tells Andy, “The listeners just heard Ryan say, ‘Stop it, bear!’ ” Very appropriate, I have to imagine, for the “Deadpool” episode.

   I have to say, however, that I found one thing baffling. Well, OK, two things: First that Karl thought “How to Be Single” might be good. But also, I’m pretty sure that I heard Ry invoke “The Princess Bride” in proposing the “Movies We’re Ashamed to Admit We Liked” topic. Really? Is there anyone anywhere who is ashamed to admit that he likes “The Princess Bride”? (I deliberately did not say “he or she” just now. Among all women who like “The Princess Bride,” 110 percent of them are not ashamed to admit liking it.) “The Princess Bride” is simply a great movie. I think most people who are “ashamed” of liking a particular movie feel that way because there’s a consensus opinion about it’s being objectively “bad” (in the sense of being poorly made) in some way. I’ve encountered people who don’t particularly like “The Princess Bride” (which is fine), but I’ve never even gotten a whiff of anyone thinking it’s so terrible, or sentimental, or hypocritical, or cynical, or cruel, or whatever, that people who like it should be ashamed of liking it. We’re not talking about “Transformers: Rise of the Fallen” here, or any movie ever made that features Rob Schneider as the “above the title” star. It’s “The Princess Bride,” for the love of George Washington! If anything, the consensus opinion is that it’s a beloved classic ’80s movie. Would anyone ever say, “I love ‘Ghostbusters,’ but I try to keep that on the DL, because, you know, it’s pretty embarrassing.” I’m sincerely befuddled.

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   • I wondered the same thing. That movie is a bonafide classic (watched it again recently and it holds up really well). I think maybe the embarrassment would be from the title… “The Princess Bride” doesn’t exactly sound very cool.

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   • >> Cody on February 25, 2016 at 11:26 am said:

     “… I think most people who are ‘ashamed’ of liking a particular movie feel that way because there’s a consensus opinion about it’s being objectively ‘bad’ (in the sense of being poorly made) in some way…”

     At the risk of getting into a discussion of semantics, I will have to respectfully disagree with you, good sir. I believe what you described above would fall under the “guilty pleasure” category, whereas the “movies we’re ashamed to admit we love” category is more to do with movies that are normally thought of to appeal to a demographic other than our own. At least that’s my interpretation of the spirit by which this category was created on the show.

     For example, two movies that I would likely include on my list are The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Both are movies that I would argue are widely considered to be objectively good, but generally considered to appeal to a teenaged demographic (possibly slanted towards female teens, specifically). I do not fall into that demographic.

     While I like the idea and think it has the potential to make for a really fun show, I also think it has the potential to be mildly offensive to people who are not in my (or the hosts’) general demographic. At first, I thought it would be a good way to get a “sort of” female perspective on the show (at least based on some of the movie titles the hosts were throwing out there), but then came to realize how potentially offensive that actually is since these movies will be presented as a source of shame.

     Anyway, good times are ahead, I’m sure. 🙂

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   • Turns out we were both right, with the added bonus of the “reprehensible movies” category.

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9. Haven’t read through the comments, because I am on a treadmill… but I feel like I need to correct the guys on Deadpool’s voices… Deadpool never had the inner voices in his head until 2008 when Daniel Way got to write for the character, likewise he was never as crazy until then. Once Way was done, and Marvel launched Marvel NOW!, then Brian Posehn and Duggan took over writing duties and, they removed the voices again. More of the character’s history has him without the voices than do, so I feel that this is a more true adaptation than it would have been WITH the voices.

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