101 thoughts on “Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 180: London Has Fallen (2016) and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) and Zootopia (2016) and The Assassin (2016) and MPW’s Top 10 Movies of 1984”

1. 200th Episode idea:
   Listeners write in a few of their fav moments and you choose top 20.

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2. Haven’t listened yet, but figured I’d register the first “hate the cinema” complaint… :o) Is it right from the lists I see that nobody included the actual 1984 film in their lists? Wouldn’t be my #1 from that year (Spinal Tap), but it would be up there. Quite bleak, of course, but also very well done, with an amazing cast (John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton), and a style and manner that I thought served the book very well.

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3. I do love Karl but I have to respectfully challenge his defence of London Has Fallen. The racism thing might get thrown around a bit too often regarding these types of films and I’ve not actually seen the movie in question (nor do I plan too) but if the “terrorists” are depicted as being of middle eastern race then I can’t help but feel that it is a little problematic, especially considering the fact that we’ve seen a growing number of Europeans joining ISIS of late. But I think the real issue is that setting such a film in London seems incredibly irresponsible considering the social context of anti-Muslim sentiment in this country at the moment. Recently we’ve seen a startling rise in far-right neo-Nazi type groups, many of whom are focusing the brunt of their hatred on British Muslims. I feel like the proliferation of the absurdly exaggerated negative stereotypes that fuel this kind of religious/race hate isn’t a reasonable choice taken by the filmmakers. In truth the Muslim communities in this country are the ones being terrorised and adding fuel to that fire, even via a dumb action movie, seems ill-considered and unfair to me.

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   • 100% agree, David. And I’m glad Andy chimed in on the show for that one, too.

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   • David, I 100% agree with you, but let me be the devil’s advocate for a second because I do think that in general, people are a little bit too sensitive these days. When you have an action movie, there’s bound to be villains and heroes. So, let’s say that filmmakers decide that making Muslims the villains in movies, especially movies that focus on terrorism, might just be racist and/or prejudist, which it is oftentimes. Which ethnic or religious group could then be the villain without everybody taking their hashtags to twitter? I mean, someone’s got to play the villain, right? So, is this really about race, about how stereotypical ethnicities are portrayed, about white actors playing the hero 99% of the time or all of the above? OR did I just miss the point? :/

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     • I’ll take your bait, against my better judgment…

       I know this isn’t your position and you are only playing devil’s advocate, but this (below) is a problematic argument:

       “So, let’s say that filmmakers decide that making Muslims the villains in movies, especially movies that focus on terrorism, might just be racist and/or prejudiced, which it is oftentimes. Which ethnic or religious group could then be the villain without everybody taking their hashtags to twitter?”

       So, essentially, it’s ok to always portray terrorists as Muslim because they are the most socially accepted group of people to call terrorists?

       I think the problem is that, right now, terrorists depicted in movies are almost exclusively portrayed as Muslim, or, even worse, Muslims are almost always portrayed as terrorists. Not only is that an inaccurate portrayal of reality, it’s just plain wrong and perpetuates the growing anti-Islam atmosphere that’s currently infecting western cultures. It’s no longer a question of being politically correct, and ignoring the problem or flat out claiming that it isn’t a problem is inherently racist.

       This is a particularly sensitive topic for me. As someone married to an Indian woman and with two mixed-race boys (Indian and Italian, obviously), I have a constant fear in the back of my mind that some ignorant person will one day see their brown skin and assume they are terrorists. They are not. They’re not even Muslim or Middle-Eastern, but those “little details” probably wouldn’t matter to the ignorant racist person coming at them. All they’ll see is their light brown skin and assume they are Middle-Easterners… Muslims… terrorists.

       And the racism is real, not some made up problem. I’m sure it’s hard for some people who don’t experience it themselves to see, but we see it everywhere in our daily lives – whether it’s my wife always (always) being “randomly selected” for search at the airport or the odd little side-glance from people on the street. And we’ve experienced this all over the place – where we live now in Cleveland, back when we lived in NYC, we’ve experienced it in Paris, South Africa, everywhere… sometimes it’s subtle, but it’s there. And that’s why dumb movies that perpetuate this racist climate ought to be called out on it.

       I’m not saying no movie should ever portray terrorists as Muslim, but it needs to make sense and their needs to be balance. I, for one, miss the good old days when eastern Europeans were portrayed as terrorists, like in Die Hard.

       Ok, ok… Hans wasn’t eastern European… nor was he actually a terrorist, but you get my point.

       * * *

       Again, Juan, I know this isn’t the position you were taking and you were only trying to spark conversation. My reply was meant more as a response to the “P.C. bull crap” grumbles that frequently make their way onto the show.

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       • Dino was not only faster on the draw but constructed a way more coherent and articulate response than my own.

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       • Dino, my friend, thank you for keeping your cool about such a sensitive topic. I didn’t even think about your situation, so if that was insensitive of me, I apologize. I sincerely agree with everything you said and I hope that my comments don’t end up offending anyone. Having said that, I think you misunderstood my far less political point (but more than likely, I could’ve written it a bit more clearly):

         “So, let’s say that filmmakers decide that making Muslims the villains in movies, especially movies that focus on terrorism, might just be racist and/or prejudiced, which it is oftentimes. Which ethnic or religious group could then be the villain without everybody taking their hashtags to twitter?”

         I didn’t mean to say that Muslims should be the only ones to play terrorists. That would be idiotic of me to think. What I really meant was far simpler; that just because a movie makes someone a villain—in the general term, not a terrorist—that doesn’t automatically always mean that the reason behind that choice was a racist one, does it? I was simply arguing that the role of a villain could be anyone and that we should look beyond race and concentrate on the role itself instead of assigning political meanings to everything. So what if the next Bond villain is Mexican, or black, or Asian? Should these groups of people be upset because some writer chose a certain ethnicity over the other for the role of a villain? In movies, a villain should just be a villain, not a black villain or an asian villain, etc. At least, that’s the way it should be, right? Look, I realize I’m probably being naive. I know racism is real and I know it’s everywhere, including movies, and it’s a damn shame that you, your family, and countless others have to experience such a terrible thing. I guess what I’m trying to say is, can’t we all just get along?

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         • Hey, we’re just friends cordially discussing a difficult and politically charged topic. Don’t worry, you did not offend me at all.

           To directly respond to your response, I would say that the problem is specifically tied to the fact that “Muslim” and “terrorist” (and vice versa) is the norm in today’s cinema. Again, there are instances where it’s unavoidable, like David mentioned with Zero Dark Thirty. In these instances, it makes sense and (depending on how it’s handled, of course) is fine, imo. More often than not, though, I find that it’s an unessential detail for a movie to have a Muslim terrorist and, frankly, is probably indicative of lazy filmmaking.

           This goes back to balance, like I mentioned before. Not every movie needs to have their terrorist be Muslim; or for its only “Muslim” to be a terrorist.

           Also, I don’t want to mis-characterize my position. My wife and I don’t go through our daily lives in constant fear or torment from racism. But, it is a seed present in the far reaches of my conscience, a seed that did not exist before the proliferation of Islamophobia.

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         • I love you guys :*

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     • Definitely valid points and in a way I long for the days when action movies could be politically incorrect to their excessive hearts content. But I feel that the world has moved on and that filmmakers have a degree of social responsibility to reign in inflammatory themes, particularly relating to cultures/religions that are already on the receiving end of skewed hate campaigns. It’s a very complex issue though, for example; a film like Zero Dark Thirty ostensibly features middle eastern Muslim stereotypes as antagonists but it makes an effort to show a more balanced, nuanced and arguably realistic view of both sides in the terror vs anti-terror conflict. It raises questions about the morality of ALL of the characters and actions that it depicts. And as far as we know it’s based on actual events and strives towards an accurate and realistic tone.

       But a dumb action movie like London Has Fallen does none of those things ans if it’s akin to the few scenes from Olympus Has Fallen that I caught on TV the other day then it asks the audience to suspend their disbelief to the extent that just flat out making up a totally fictional terrorist organisation wouldn’t make any tonal difference. You could argue that it might detract from the stakes but that’s problematic in and of itself as it suggests a projection of white western bias.

       The real problem with presenting a very shallow portrayal of middle eastern/Muslim stereotypes as faceless, evil terrorists is that it’s not quite the same as presenting, say right wing extremists in such a way. Neo-Nazi’s aren’t defined by skin colour in any way other than their own inherent racism and they aren’t localised to a specific area of the world. They’re also not necessarily theologically specific, they could be Christians, Satanists, atheists etc etc. The defining feature of a Neo-Nazi’s terrorist credentials would be their actions, NOT their race or religion. To me it’s like the difference between saying “That man is a terrorist of the Muslim faith” and saying “That man is a terrorist BECAUSE he’s of the Muslim faith”. It’s not so much that it’s wrong to reflect real world issues in this type of film but that if they are going to reflect real world issues they should do so in a realistic and nuanced way, rather than being cheap, lazy and exploitative and ultimately culturally damaging.

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       • David, like I told Dino, I agree with you 100%. I didn’t mean to broadly talk about racism, I was really just questioning whether choosing a person of color as a villain is racist in and of itself. Hopefully, I did a better job at explaining myself in the response above. But I love all of the dialogue that my original comment sparked. I think a lot of people are afraid to talk about racism when the only way to end it is to engage in conversation.

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         • It can be a minefield of an issue to discuss but I agree that any discourse is ultimately positive. But I think I know what you’re saying. I’ve often seen folks on the internet throwing accusations of racism around for pretty silly reasons eg: “This film’s totally racist because they cast a black dude as the main bad guy”. I even recall arguing with someone who claimed that one of my favourite movies This is England was racist simply because if featured racist characters, totally disregarding the fact that said characters are in no way glorified in that film and their actions and attitudes are depicted as horrific and abhorrent.

           A simple answer to your question would be: No, choosing a person of colour as a villain is not racist in and of itself.

           But it does very much depend on the reasons for such a decision and in my view it also depends very much on the socio-political climate in which the film is made/distributed. If I were to make a film about a serial killer who happens to be Jewish it probably wouldn’t seem particularly toxic. However, had such a film been made in 1930’s Germany it would be almost impossible to dissociate from Nazi propaganda and could theoretically have played a part in convincing the German public that the Jew’s were indeed untrustworthy and disdainful. So in a world where we have Trump grossly belching out his genuinely frightening anti-Muslim rhetoric (made even worse by the fact it’s likely as insincere as everything else he’s ever said; informed instead by his populist agenda and therefore a troubling reflection of a large portion of his potential audience) and a whole host of these far-right groups popping up over here I do feel that the filmmakers need to take on a degree of social responsibility. I think it’s less a matter of out-right racism though and more a case of potentially inflammatory material. It’s just a very complex conversation and very hard to reduce down to such blanket and sensationalist terminology.

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         • And I’m not intending to come across as combative (in case I am). I very much appreciate your overall point, Juan. And sometimes a devils advocate is very necessary in these discussions, lest I get bogged down in self-indulgent moralising. Though it’s likely too late for that!

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         • No topic is easy to talk about when you have different voices from different backgrounds telling you different things from different points of view. It could be a mess, but that’s what dialogue is for, to try to understand each other. The only thing needed is an open mind. From there, the possibilities are endless.

           And ‘vino, I’m aware that I reduced a mammoth of a topic to a simple discussion about movies. I never intended to get this socio-political, but as usual, I didn’t have enough foresight to predict how my comments could be inflammatory.

           David, you didn’t come across as anything other than a nice human being with thoughts, opinions, and feelings.

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4. I haven’t listened to this episode yet, but wanted to say how much I’m already looking forward to next week’s discussion of 10 Cloverfield Lane.

   My fear is that Jason was not too crazy about it because it does have some slow stretches, but, if that’s the case, don’t listen to him! It’s a fantastic movie, and if you’re at all interested in films with genuine suspense, tension and mystery then you need to go see it in the theaters. Like, now.

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   • I’ll have you know, Dino, that I love “10 Cloverfield Lane,” and I tried to persuade the guys to go see it, but Karl said he was going to re-watch “Deadpool,” instead… So, everybody, don’t listen to Dino when he says don’t listen to Jason…

     @David regarding Karl: Get ’em, David!

     And Eric, Andy lists both 1984 movies in his Top 10 list … at least, his Orwellian one.

     J

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     • Well, that’s good to know.

       And the other guys really need to get their act together and go see it.

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       • I bet you a Prairie Bomb! that Jay’s reasons for loving it are the siege narrative and the horror movie within a horror movie aspects 😉

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         • I will not take that bet because you’re probably right.

           But I will add a third factor – the mystery element.

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         • Then let’s bet how late the episode will be 😉

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     • Ah yes, I didn’t see Andy’s other “1984” list, originally. Glad to see it was mentioned.

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   • Good to hear, Dino. Going to see it on Wednesday. Can’t wait.

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     • What did you think of it, Jonathan?

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       • I’ve actually been under the weather so planning on seeing it Saturday. So looking forward to it. Will let you know.

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         • Sorry to hear, but at least you still have something to look forward to.

           As much as I liked The VVitch, 10 Cloverfield Lane is the first movie in 2016 that I’m really itching to re-watch.

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           • That hurts, bro. God I’m so sensitive!

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             • Don’t take it to heart, bro – The VVitch is a heavy movie. If I’m being honest, I had more fun with 10 Cloverfield Lane.

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               • Haha I know. I honestly don’t expect anyone to even see the movie a second time. It’s dense, heavy, and dark as can be. But you know how I like my beer and the same applies to horror. I’m actually very anxious to revisit 10 Cloverfield Lane myself. I’ve read there are a lot more callbacks to Cloverfield than one would think. And like my Pokemon, I gotta catch them all.

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                 • I caught a bunch of Cloverfield references the first time around. There’s definitely a lot there. I do like the idea of having a sort of anthology series of disparate stories based loosely around the Cloverfield events. It’s sort of like a modern-day version of The Twilight Zone.

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                 • p.s. You’re into Pokemon? Roshan just started getting into Pokemon, out of the blue, about a week or two ago. He said he wants to start collecting the cards.

                   I know nothing about Pokemon.

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                   • I used to be hardcore into Pokemon. I have a ton of cards from the first few sets. I should’ve sold them when they were still worth money. Anyway, what would you like to know? It’s been a while, but maybe I can help if you have questions.

                   • I guess I don’t know what I want to know. I’ll hit you up when a question comes up.

       • Finally saw Cloverfield Lane today and absolutely had a blast with it. Your Twilight Zone comparison is very apt, Dino.

         The tension in this film is insane; I was on the edge of my seat or whatever cliche you would like to throw in there. I don’t believe there is anyway to know exactly where it is going, but I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never been great at predicting twists in films so it could just be me.

         I’m still not sure what I think of the very end, and I don’t think this is a spoiler but stop reading if you must…I would have to say that very convenient sign that pops up had me a little perplexed but very much looking forward to giving it another viewing.

         It’s a 9 and currently my favorite film of 2016 and would not be surprised at all if it’s still very near the top when all is said and done.

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         • Awesome, Jonathan. Glad you liked it. Like you, this film has a high likelihood of making my end of year top 10 list.

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5. Oh how badly i wanted to run to Google to verify my memories but i figure someone else on here could set me straight if i was wrong…

   Jay, i believe what you were remembering from the 80s as a child was Automan…the story of a bumbling computer scientist who, in some freak accident, causes this being to come out of his computer…along with the cursor. These two would help the bumbling scientist solve crimes. I remember it kinda being like a sci-fi Simon and Simon or Hart to Hart. The cursor would float around and make cute bleep-bloop sounds and if they had to catch the bad guy in a car chase, then cursor would turn into a Tron inspired Lamborghini. For a youngster, it was pretty dope. Oh, the dude that came outta the computer would occasionally have to wear a tux and his neon neck would poke out of his neckline and it was super-cool.

   Anyway, i also think the Starman TV show was about the Starman and the earth woman that helped him out, their child. I remember him being on the run from Big Brother scary government dudes while his alien powers developed. I dont remember when that was out though…would’ve had to have been in the 90s, i guess. What Im remembering could’ve been in addition to an original Starman TV show from just after the movie came out in the 80s.

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   • Gomez! Yes!! You’re exactly right! In fact, I just researched that yesterday and realized it was “Automan.” I’m going to talk more about this in Episode 181. : ) Thanks for making sure I had the right show… I’ve tried to figure it out for years…
     J

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6. Various other comments…

   Jay, i love your addition to the guilty pleasures TV list. I totally have Poject Runway on mine. The more dudes i talk to about it with my wife, the more i find other dudes that will come out and admit that their better half made them watch it and now they enjoy it. The best clip on the planet was from a couple seasons ago when the Russian dude was getting kicked off and he was so ticked off he made this ridiculous rant that culminated in him bopping the camera with his fist. Great stuff. 🙂

   Jay – Friedkin was on WTF! a couple of weeks ago…you’ll dig that ep.

   I think for the 200th episode you guys should do the Century Club. Its what you guys mentioned…100 oz. of beer, but with a twist. You do one ounce every minute. At first, it doesnt sound like much, but it’ll getcha turnt. If its too much, you could tone it down at bit to the Hour of Power…which is the one ounce every minute, just for 60 minutes, instead of 100. Your guys’ choice.

   I have to admit, i posted a comment about how amazed i was by the beauty of The Assissin when watching it….but then i fell asleep. And then the next day i had to return it and couldnt immediately revisit it. I still plan to though. I know what you’re sayin Jay, its slow, to be sure, but im gonna give another try. The beauty of it i remember wa something else.

   All that being said, i totally agree with ya Karl. IP Man is fantastic. Amazing fight scenes and a tremendous story. Apparently its based upon an actual person. Im sure some creative license was taken to punch it up a bit (pun totally intended), but it doesnt take away from it being a great movie.

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7. Great episode guys. I was checking out the comments and saw Jay and Dino both showing some love for, “10 Cloverfield Lane.” WELL DESERVED love I must say. I can’t properly describe how blown away I was by that film. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it next week Jay. Also, not trying to sound like a broken record or anything BUT, any chance that David Lynch bonus episode is showing it’s mug anytime soon? haha

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8. Just got back from seeing 10 Cloverfield Lane and loved it!!! It was as intense as “Stop it bear!!!

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   • Yes! It’s fantastic. One of my favorite thrillers ever. So many great moments throughout, and really keeps you guessing in different ways. I’m giving it a 9.5 for now, and only hold off on a 10 because while I liked the ending a lot, I might need to digest that a while or see it again to know a little better about how I feel about that. There’s another way (well, probably several other ways) things could have gone at that point, and in my mind I think I might have preferred that. That’s my only hesitation, though. Wonderful.

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9. So I listen to you guys at work all the time. I get funny looks when I start laughing at your banter. I especially love the top ten lists. On that point , I would love to hear everybody else’s opinions on the Orwellian list. I definitely think that V for vendetta is definitely at the top of mine.

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10. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot = WTF

    ::mindblown::

    Honestly, I hadn’t even thought of that until you guys mentioned it on the show… probably because I haven’t about that movie at all, but still, pretty funny.

    As for naming the sequel to White House Down, in the London Has Fallen from Olympus Has Fallen vein, I think the obvious choice is “London Bridge Down.” It ticks off all the boxes:

    – Set in London… check
    – Title focuses on a famous landmark in set location… check
    – Title follows the same naming convention as the original… check

    As an added bonus, people would definitely confuse “London Bridge Down” with London Has Fallen, causing the inevitable discussion about this new movie they saw called “London Bridge Has Fallen Down.”

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    • I could see Moscow Has Fallen as the next installment. President goes on a diplomatic mission to Russia, hilarity ensues.

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      • Possibly. Having trouble coming up with an analogous “Down” movie for that off the top of my head, though….

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11. Re: MPW’s 200th episode extravaganza

    Jason – I know you’re into number symmetry, but I think you should stay away from doing any 200-themed things for the 200th episode. That simply is just too unwieldy a number to do a “top 200 list” or “200 questions” type of a thing. The different-themed top 5 and top 10 lists totaling 100+ movies that you guys did for episode 100 was great, but probably right at the limit for “big lists.”

    Anyway, here is my wish list (in order) for episode 200:

    1. Live show w/an audience; meet-up party to follow – If you announce this now for the end of July, then that should be enough advance notice for people to make plans to attend.

    2. Live show streaming on YouTube or Periscope – Not as great as live and in-person, but would still allow for audience interaction and an “unfiltered” view of the host’s interactions with each other.

    3. Unique segment idea: TWHMP format on steroids – For those unfamiliar with one of Jason’s former podcasts, The Weekly Horror Movie Podcast, the format of the show was four hosts select one movie for another host to watch each week, which yielded four movie reviews/discussion per show. So, TWHMP format on steroids would be each host picking one movie for EACH of the other hosts to watch. In other words, Jason would pick one movie each for Andy, Karl and Ryan; Andy would pick one movie each for Jason, Karl and Ryan; and so on. That would give a plump, but not completely unwieldy, 12 movie reviews/discussion, in addition to the new releases for that week. Also, would give the hosts an opportunity to get their co-host(s) to watch a movie they’ve been trying to get them to watch.

    4. Bring on every guest host who ever appeared on MPW – If you’re looking to go the sentimental route, why not bring on every single guest host who ever appeared on MPW. I’m not suggesting they all be on for the entire show, but bring them on for quick 10 to 15-minute segments to discuss some of the highlights (or low lights) from their appearance(s).

    4a. Alternatively, if you’re looking to go the sentimental route, I like Skip Sanders’ suggestion in the comments above >> “Listeners write in a few of their fav moments and you choose top 20.”

    Ideally, my suggestion (wish) for episode 200 is to have one of #1 or #2 above happen, with one of #3 or #4 (or #4a) be a part of that live show.

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    • I second all of Dino’s very fun-sounding options for the 200th episode. I’ll take any combination but my favorite thing would be to get to meet everyone. Like he said, there’s ample time to plan and get people excited about this and for people interested, to purchase any tickets and book accommodations with plenty of time in advance.

      Please, Jay. Acknowledge this comment sometime in the near future. I know I’ve asked you plenty of times about this meetup that’s been “in the works” for about two years now and you always sidestep the topic. I really think there’s a lot of interest out there and it could be a great experience for everyone involved. Let’s make it happen already, yes?

      About your 200 themed ideas… I don’t know, man. That’s not very practical. Think about the 1,000th episode. What are you going to do then? Mini-review 1,000 movies? It just doesn’t make much sense. Instead, just come up with something special or just listen to your viewership. We’ve got plenty of ideas to throw your way. All you have to do is listen to us the same way we listen to you 😉

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12. My 1984 list. Wow, what a great year! I typically think of the 80’s as a weak decade for films, but this year, at least, would prove me wrong. And there were several I could have added, easily…

    This is Spinal Tap
    Amadeus
    All of Me
    1984
    Temple of Doom
    Romancing the Stone
    The Terminator
    Stranger than Paradise
    Gremlins
    Blood Simple

    For the 200th episode, maybe take an existing list, like the top 200 ranked films at IMDB, and have some kind of discussion focus based on that, without going through all 200.

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    • To give a little more specific suggestion, here’s the IMDb top 250 list: http://www.imdb.com/chart/top?ref_=nv_mv_250_6

      You could each count how many of those you’ve seen, what’s the highest ranking film that you haven’t seen, the highest ranking film that you really didn’t like too much, which ones you haven’t seen should be the biggest priorities, etc.

      I just counted through the ones I’ve rated, and I’ve seen 120 of the top 200; 42 of the top 50 and 72 of the top 100, but only 48 from 101-200. Seven Samurai is the only one from the top 20 I haven’t seen, so that would be my highest priority in terms of ranking, but others like City of God and The Departed would probably be higher in priority in terms of my personal interest. I didn’t really like Gladiator (#47) too much, so that’s the highest rated film that I rated as low as a 6.

      But I think something like that would be interesting to hear you guys cover, as opposed to getting too detailed about all 200 movies, or some other list of 200 things. And yet, it still has a “200” theme to it.

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      • Of those 120 films I’ve seen of the top 200, I rated 22 as 10’s. You guys could see how many you each ranked as 10’s and list which ones overlap.

        Of course, this idea requires that you each have an IMDb account and take the time to go through that list and rate the ones you’ve seen. But that’s something Andy could potentially do ahead of time, and his results still be part of the mix, even if he’s away in Alaska at the time.

        Anyway, that’s enough about that. Whatever you do will be great, I’m sure.

        But FWIW, since I have the page up, here are my 10’s. I’d be curious which of these y’all would most disagree with being a 10. Yup, I’m pickin’ a fight. :o)

        The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
        The Dark Knight (2008)
        Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
        Inception (2010)
        Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
        Life Is Beautiful (1997)
        Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
        Rear Window (1954)
        Back to the Future (1985)
        The Lion King (1994)
        Das Boot (1981)
        Braveheart (1995)
        Toy Story 3 (2010)
        2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
        Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
        Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
        Room (2015)
        Fargo (1996)
        The Sixth Sense (1999)
        Finding Nemo (2003)
        Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
        The Princess Bride (1987)
        Jurassic Park (1993)
        The Wizard of Oz (1939)
        Monsters, Inc. (2001)
        Groundhog Day (1993)
        Jaws (1975)

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        • I haven’t seen ‘Room’ and I do not like ‘Life is Beautiful,’ but I think everything else is strong. A few I might give an 8 or 9 but semantics.

          That’s an awesome idea; I hope they do it.

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13. Here is my top 10 of 1984:

    1. The Terminator
    2. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
    3. A Nightmare on Elm Street
    4. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
    5. Ghostbusters
    6. Gremlins
    7. Beverly Hills Cop
    8. A Passage to India
    9. Sixteen Candles
    10. The Karate Kid

    Honestly, it’s really close between the top 3 movies for me, and any of them could be #1 on any given day. I could also swap in The NeverEnding Story for Sixteen Candles or The Karate Kid.

    There are a handful of great movies from 1984 that I’m ashamed to admit I have yet to see. The most notable of them are:

    – Amadeus
    – This Is Spinal Tap
    – The Killing Fields
    – Nineteen Eighty-Four
    – Red Dawn
    – 2010

    I know I’ve seen Amadeus at some point, but I honestly can’t remember any of the movie so I’m counting it as unseen.

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    • You can’t remember Amadeus and haven’t seen This Is Spinal Tap? What. A. Crime.

      Other than that, nice list. I’ve never seen Temple of Doom, A Passage to India, or Sixteen Candles :/

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      • You’ve never seen Temple of Doom? I feel like that’s an even greater crime.

        Of course, it’s horribly racist (against Indians, no less!), but still… :p

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        • Haha, nice. Well, confession time. I’ve never seen any of the Godfather movies or Indiana Jones movies in their entirety, only bits and pieces. I have, however, seen all of the Beverly Hills Cop movies, so that should balance out the scales, right?

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          • Bro, it’s like I don’t even know you.

            How have you gotten through life without seeing The Godfather trilogy or Indiana Jones?! That’s a crime against yourself.

            I’m literally weeping for you. Right now.

            Tears…

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          • I actually haven’t seen Amadeus. But Spinal Tap and the Indiana Jones movies. You guys!

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          • We should start a podcast about three guys who claim to be movie buffs, but have glaring blindspots. Each week we get to cover one of our blindspots.

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            • I think you’re onto something…

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          • Each episode could begin with us ridiculing the other for not having seen [insert movie title].

            And beer, of course.

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            • It could be a super short format where we just literally make fun of each other while we finish our beer and the only in-depth talk would be about the beer itself. We could end the show by patting ourselves in the back for having such refined taste. Of course it would all be with a terribly fake English accent à la Karl. David could either fake an American accent or, my preferred choice, a Mexican accent.

              Let’s make this happen!

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              • Elaborately descriptive soliloquys of chewy (or chewie) beer will be had, for sure.

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    • Love the list. Glad to see ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ is getting so much love. I really feel like that is a film that has lost some love on the whole in the past decade or so which annoys me because I still find it funny.

      Lots of nostalgia attached to it (pretty sure it was the first R Rated movie I saw in the theater) but nostalgia be damned it’s a great film.

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      • And I forgot to add… “The Super cop story? It was working.”

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14. Here is my top 10 of 1984:

    1. Ghostbusters
    2. The Terminator
    3. Amadeus
    4. This Is Spinal Tap
    5. Gremlins
    5. A Nightmare on Elm Street
    6. The Karate Kid
    7. Naussicaä of the Valley of the Wind
    8. Conan the Destroyer
    9. Revenge of the Nerds/Cannonball Run II
    10. Firestarter

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    • Wow, surprised to see Gremlins above Nightmare.

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      • It’s just a lot of fun and the fact that it takes place during Christmas makes it that much more enjoyable. I love them both very dearly though.

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        • Yeah, I can’t fault you for it. Just surprised.

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    • Sweet….Firestarter AND Conan!?!?!?! Dope list, Juan!! Man, ’84 really was a bang-up year….
      (**thumbs up emoticon**)

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      • Thanks gomez! Now, where’s your list?

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        • I need to address the as-yet-unmentioned films:

          10 – Repo Man – how else did anyone learn to steal cars?
          9 – Greystoke – how else did anyone learn to wear loincloth?
          8 – Splash – how else did anyone learn to fish?
          7 – Revernge of the Nerds – how else did anyone learn maths? (great pick Juan, not mentioned enough)
          6 – Buckaroo Banzai – how else did anyone learn to fight inter-dimensional aliens?
          5 – Footloose – how else did anyone learn to disrespectfully dance against the wishes of the church?
          4 – Dune – how else did anyone learn to take mind-expanding drugs?
          3 – Breakin’ – how else did anyone learn to electrically boog-a-loo?
          2 – Last Starfighter – how else did anyone learn about racial sterotypes?
          1 – Neverending Story – Big….Sphinx….Racks (shoulda went with this Dino)

          🙂

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          • Nice list, man. Splash really takes me back. I considered it. I had very dirty thoughts of Daryl Hannah growing up.

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    • Great list, Juan. Need to look at Wikipedia to make sure I don’t miss any for my list but I’m pretty sure ‘Ghostbusters’ will be at the top of mine and ‘Terminator’ will not be too far behind it.

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    • I used to love Firestarter. Now that I have a little girl I find it a hard watch. Not because I’m worried she has the ability to set people on fire mind you. Watching Mr. Keith do everything he can to protect little Drew just freaks me out.

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15. I was 14 in ’84 and there was so many great movies that year that shaped my life that a top 10 is almost impossible…Here are my top 5 that had the most impact on me at the time…
    1. This is Spinal Tap…I learned that 11 is better than 10 and that none more black is as black as you can get…
    2. Night of the Comet…Two cute valley girl sisters…one being the inspiration for Buffy…end of the world…apocalypse…zombies…way before they were cool…
    3. Dreamscape…Made falling asleep scary before Freddy…
    4. Sixteen Candles…”No more yankie my wankie. The Donger need food!”
    5. Bolero…Bo Derek’s boobies! Heck Bo’s everything!!!

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    • Night of the Comet and Dreamscape were constantly playing in the background back then. They were on cable all the time.

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16. My top 10 of 2016…
    1. Deadpool
    2. 10 Cloverfield Lane
    To be continued…

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    • Have you seen The Witch, Shannon?

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      • No I haven’t yet…but I sure want to…I couldn’t even finish the witch podcast because I don’t want to know any spoilers…

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        • I’m afraid I may have to wait until the blu ray release…

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17. My 1984 top ten:

    1. The Terminator
    2. The Neverending Story
    3. This is Spinal Tap
    4. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
    5. Ghostbusters
    6. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
    7. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
    8. The Last Starfighter
    9. Macross: Do You Remember Love
    10. Stop Making Sense

    Honourable mentions go to A Nightmare on Elm Street, Purple Rain and Gremlins.

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    • Great list. I’ve never even heard of Macross. Will be checking that out.

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      • Word of warning: it’s a super cheesy anime movie with giant robots where the music of a futuristic pop star has the power to win a war against weird aliens.

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    • Man! Macross takes me back, David. Good one!

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      • Although that was released as Robotech in Mexico. I’ve always been confused about that.

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        • I believe it was the same in the US. Robotech was basically a westernised cut of 3 separate anime mech shows retconned to take place in the same universe.

          I don’t think we even got Robotech over here but maybe we did and it was just a bit before my time.

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          • If this was Robotech it’s possible I’ve seen this already.

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18. And Jay, I think you were grossly overstating my “sophisticated tastes” in the Assassin discussion. Unless having Basket Case and The Beyond in your top ten favourite movies of all time is an indication of sophistication these days?*

    *It isn’t.

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    • The accent has to count for something, though.

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19. My Top Ten of 1984:

    1. Ghostbusters
    2. Blood Simple
    3. This is Spinal Tap
    4. Amadeus
    5. The Terminator
    6. 1984
    7. Cloak and Dagger
    8. Nightmare on Elm Street
    9. Tightrope
    10. Body Double

    Such a great topic and year to cover. It was the year I turned Eight. 1982-1988 or so had to be some of the best years to be a kid.

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    • Forgot Beverly Hills Cop. Put in at number 8 in a tie with Nightmare. My list goes to 11 which is fitting for this year.

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    • Nice list, man. I see that a lot of us share love for the usual suspects: The Terminator and Ghostbusters. That warms my heart.

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      • Appreciate it, Juan. And how can you not love Ghostbusters and Terminator?

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20. All I have to say about “Don’s Plum” (harking back to two or three episodes ago) is, “Who the hell is Dale Wheatley?” Believe it or not, I remember the “Don’s Plum” kerfuffle from way back when it was very first a thing in 1997. I was an intern for Mr. Showbiz that year, and clearly recall the bitterly aggrieved party at the time being R.D. Robb, the director. My personal opinion is that Leo and Tobey made the whole thing a much bigger deal than it ever would have otherwise become by trying to zotz the movie. I’m highly dubious, for example, that anyone would have any reason to discuss “Don’s Plum” in 2016 if Leo and Tobey had just shrugged, laughed it off in whatever public forums where anyone inquired about it, and just moved on.

    Also, why do you hate the cinema, Jason, and also my birthday? I couldn’t quite stick the landing, so I was a Dec. 26 baby. It’s a holiday in Canada, but apparently just a big, fat, day-after-the-Oscars-comparable bummer in Movie Podcast Weekly land. On the other hand, I have to give Jay mad props for correctly identifying the best movie of 1984. Karl has a strong argument, but Jay is correct.

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21. Ok…Pee Wee’s Big Holiday has entered my top 10 of 2016…Delightfully Pee Wee pitch perfect!!!

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    • On my streaming list as soon as I finish Season Two of Bosch.

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    • I haven’t had a smile of pure innocence on my face the whole time watching a movie in I don’t know how long…

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    • ***deep voice***”Paging Mr. Herman. Mr. Herman, you have a telephone call at the front desk.”
      Oh man, I’m so glad to be hearing people liked the new one. I can’t wait to catch it now!!!!

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22. Hi y’all:
    Behold, Episode 181:

    https://moviepodcastweekly.com/movie-podcast-weekly-ep-181-10-cloverfield-lane-2016-and-the-brothers-grimsby-2016-and-the-young-messiah-2016-and-gods-of-egypt-2016-and-the-2-dollar-bill-documentary-2016/

    J

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23. Finally got to take my daughter to see ‘Zootopia’ this week and I agree with everything Karl said – I might even bump it up to an 8.5.

    Gets a little heavy handed with its message toward the end (even if it is a very good message) but corrects itself rather quickly.

    If you have young children I think this is a no-brainer must see in the theater and probably a purchase. But I believe all adults would enjoy this.

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24. Saw WTF last night and really liked it! A fish-out-of-water story well told, and there were some poignant moments mixed with a good general witty/humorous script. Not a Tina Fey being outrageously funny kind of thing at all, but she was quite good and I was engaged throughout. A solid 8 for me, and a great rental choice.

    I had also seen the somewhat similar Rock the Casbah on video a few weeks ago, and with very low expectations that wasn’t too bad. If you’re not expecting a screwball Bill Murray, then it’s a reasonably interesting tale about an American discovering an unknown singing talent in the Middle East. And I guess it was based on a true story, which I didn’t realize and added some interest. WTF is clearly better, all around, but I gave Casbah a 6.

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