39 thoughts on “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)”

1. Is there anyone that Andy doesn’t look a little like? I’m fully expecting him to eventually claim that some have said he looks a little like Samuel L Jackson.

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   • Yeah…If Andy had an eye patch on…and I had an eye patch on the opposite eye and I squinted really hard…It all kinda becomes sorta clear to me..,Andy really hates these MF movies on this MF podcast!!!

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2. So happy Jay loved 10 Cloverfield Lane…but I need more…I’m hitting up the Sci Fi Podcast…

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   • I’d like an HMP/TSFP cross-over show review.

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     • I know Jason made a point to give his classification for the film and did not include horror, but he’s crazy if he doesn’t consider 10 Cloverfield Lane to be horror.

       CRAZY!

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       • No, it’s horror, too. I was just:
         1. Being ultra-militant about any sort of spoilers…
         2. Trying to get Karl to go see it.
         J

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         • Ah, I see.

           #respect

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3. Thanks for your show guys! I love it.
   Victoria N.

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4. So, I watched some movies that were recently reviewed by MPW.

   Daddy’s Home

   It’s a cute little popcorn flick that stresses the importance of family. It’s pretty predictable and never strives to be overly original, but I was fine with that. I’m a fan of Will Ferrel and with the exception of Anchorman 2, I can’t say I’ve been disappointed by any of his movies that I’ve seen. I had plenty of laughs and I’d definitely recommend the movie as something to watch especially if you’re with your family. If you’re a fan of Ferrel, it’s an easy watch.

   Rating: 7.5/10

   Sisters

   I had not expected this to be as raunchy as it was. I guess since Tiny Fey was in it, I had expected it to be fairly tame. While I enjoyed Fey and Amy Poehler, I felt most of the other characters were underwhelming. Bobby Moynihan was so over the top and unfunny that I dreaded every time his character had a scene. Maya Rudolph continues her reputation of being a “Comedian” by name only with yet another unfunny performance. I honestly don’t understand why she gets so much work. Since I had watched Daddy’s Home and Sisters back-to-back, I was pleasantly surprised that both films feature John Cena in a small role. What are the chances of watching both of these movies in one night without knowing he was in either one? As a wrestling fan, I have not liked Cena in a decade, but I’m warming up to him as an actor. He’s got some good comedy chops. For a film based around family ties, Sisters had virtually zero heart. Instead we’re just presented with a mindless raunchy party while the other family members are thrown to the side where they’re quickly forgotten until brought back. I really wanted to like this due to it’s two main stars, but unfortunately, the film wasn’t just 90 minutes of Poehler and Fey.

   Rating 5.0/10

   The 5th Wave

   Apparently, I need to pay closer attention to the movie posters in the sidebar. I saw the poster for The Wave and thought it was The 5th Wave getting a full review from the rest of the gang after Karl’s previous one. As a result, I made the mistake of watching this. To my surprise, I was actually enjoying the movie for the first 50 minutes or so. It didn’t feel nearly as overdone or a half dozen stories crammed together into one movie like it appeared in the trailer. It was just an interesting story of a girl’s journey through this wasteland that was the midwest. The problem is around the 50 minute mark is when the Young Adult plots kicked in. They’re awful. Just awful. Any originality is thrown out of the window with the addition of every Young Adult movie trope. There’s two big twists in the movie and in both cases, they couldn’t have been any more obvious than had they flashed the reveals at the bottom of the screen in neon colors. I went into this movie without knowing anything about the original story and sadly, it’s yet another Young Adult trilogy. Are all Young Adult series the same? Can’t we find something a bit different? My advice is to completely skip out on The 5th Wave and watch The Maze Runner. That one at least felt a little different in the first movie. Thanks to the movie’s disappointing box office returns, I imagine this will die a quiet death like Vampire Academy and Beautiful Creatures instead of coming back for additional sequels.

   Rating 3.5

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5. Hearing Karl’s mention of Downton Abbey (I love it, too) and Scott mention Elementary, it occurred to me that in the past 6-7 months that I’ve been listening to MPW I haven’t heard a reference to the BBC’s Sherlock. Sherlock is my #1 favorite show, possibly of all time. Have you guys seen that? If not, by all means, give it a spin. Outstanding writing, directing and acting, and a great mix of drama, humor and intrigue. Each episode is basically a very dense 90 minute movie, and other than the Hound of the Baskervilles episode, which I thought was weak, the other 9 have been either very good or amazing. And I think it’s grown stronger and more layered and interesting with each successive season. By comparison, Elementary is okaaaay, but a rather pedestrian and predictable procedural.

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   • I’m pretty sure that “Sherlock” has come up on past MPW episodes, but I don’t recall any mention of it in the last year or so. “Sherlock” is totally boss. Anyone who enjoys Benedict Cumberbatch and/or Martin Freeman is really missing out if they’ve never seen any “Sherlock.” I actually really like the “The Hounds of Baskerville.” Fun spin on what has to have been a difficult story to bring to the modern age. (Plus I’m a sucker for illicit military research and government conspiracy shenanigans.) The relationship between Sherlock and Watson across the series is dynamite, and I also enjoy the ongoing presence of Mycroft.

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     • I enjoyed Baskervilles, too, but it did feel weak to me compared to any of the others.

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   • Sherlock is one my favorite shows as well.

     I watched the first two seasons of Elementary and just couldn’t do it anymore. It’s every CBS procedural but just happens to have Sherlock Holmes as it’s main character. Although a female Moriarty was a nice touch.

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6. I’m super-interested in this $2 Dollar Bill Doc. Having come over from The Traders Podcast, which, IMO, is predominantly centered around currency trading, it’s great to hear about something related to my side-passion.

   Anything to do with the Fed, or other central banks around the world is very fascinating. It’d be interesting to hear from any other currency traders out there that have come over here to MPW from TTP. What are their go-to doc’s about global currencies, finance, etc…
   Alot of them are extremely wonk-y, but nearly required watching to get a handle on how the global monetary system works. For anyone considering dabbling in currency trading, some of these would be good watches, regardless of whether you agree with the sentiments touched on or not:

   Century of Enslavement: The History of the Federal Reserve (youtube)
   The Money Masters: The Rise of the Bankers (youtube)
   Inside Job (pay on youtube, prob elsewhere)
   Trader: The Documentary (not on youtube, sometimes hard to track down, but it can be found 😉 )
   Floored: Into the Pit (interesting doc on the soon-to-be completely extinct floor trader; youtube)
   25 Million Pounds (youtube)
   The Ascent of Money (episodes; youtube)
   Commanding Heights (episodes; youtube)
   Princes of Yen (youtube)
   Frontline Documentaries (there seems to be a couple of these…I haven’t seen them and they aren’t on youtube, but reading about them makes me want to track them down)

   All of these are on some list of financial docs to watch out there, so I’m not breaking any ground, but for those of you out there not in the financial world and would like to get into it these are all very interesting. And there’s a ton that I’m leaving out as I didn’t intend for this post to be a rabbit-hole of youtube vids. 🙂

   Also, they’re not ‘How To’ videos on trading, mostly just historical or somehow informational. The actual ‘How To’ of trading is a whole ‘nother rabbit hole to fall down, which could be ruinous to a person, or a tremendous boon…but that seems like a topic for somewhere else. 🙂

   Jay, it’d be interesting to hear R.Booker’s take on this $2 Dollar Bill Doc. He usually has something humorous and insightful to say. It’s good to see ya reppin’ your former pod-casting roots a bit. 🙂

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7. It’s low-hangin’ comedic fruit…..but how did no one respond ‘Chicken,’ when the question was posed, “What does unicorn meat taste like?” Yuk, yuk, yuk…

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   • Ry sort of did… not on the show, but in the reply he posted on the site (which he mentioned on the show) >> https://moviepodcastweekly.com/the-geek/#comment-32654

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     • Ahhh…thanks Dino…figured it was too easy to have been missed. 🙂

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8. Andy….I’m interested to hear how your journey giving up carbs is going. Are you going with the keto diet? Have you given up all carbs, or just ‘bad’ ones like those from white sugars and some other grains? I did some personal research into the keto diet, and although it can be controversial, I agree with most of what I read about. The science behind it is fascinating. I’m attempting to settle on something probably closer to a paleo diet, which, to me, is still having carbs in your diet, but those coming from vegetables and to a certain extent, fruits. I’m no expert, by any means, so I apologize if my understanding of any of this is flawed. The keto diet is intriguing, as it gets your body to switch from using carbs as its main source of fuel, to using fats. The way your brain uses both of these is also a fairly interesting area to read about. But, man, it’s soooo hard to deny myself beer and frozen pizza, my two biggest kryptonites. I guess I’ll have to finally accept that I’ll never sorta look like either of the Ryans, Reynolds or Gosling…..or Samuel L. Jackson, for that matter. 🙂

   Anyway, sorry to take away from fabulous flicks banter, just thought I’d reach out to Andy, as it’s rarely done… 🙂

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   • yes. I’ll answer you on podcast.

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9. Jason and gang, this was the least offensive show you’ve had in awhile. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, or if it means you’re slipping…

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   • Totally backsliding

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     • I see what you did there.

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10. Karl – i totally second the DowntonAbbey pick. It’s way overlooked bt the dude population. Sidenotw to that….everyone needs to what the SNL commercial that poses the question ‘What if Downton Abbey was on the Spike TV channel?’ I think it can only be found as someone having recorded their TV with their phone as it plays, old-school bootleg style, but its totally worth it.

    Also Karl – i believe there are plenty of podcast apps for android phones, but the one i use is Podcast Addict…Ive found everything ive ever searched for there, so the selection’s good, and if you download the episode, you can then listen to the episode offline, which i do to monitor my data usage. Just a suggestion… 🙂

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    • Wow…errors abound…

      **by the dude population
      **Sidenote to that
      **needs to watch
      **anything that should’ve been possessive that wasn’t

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11. Here’s a tidbit of what I hope is extremely little-known trivia. I’m amused that my long-ago review of “Freddy Got Fingered” came up in the context that it did, given that it sounds as though “Grimsby” features an elephant penis joke. It can be “hard” to “get there” first in comedy, Mr. Baron Cohen, as Tom Green himself once learned. This is the first paragraph of the late Mr. Showbiz’s official review (which I don’t believe can still be found anywhere on the internet) of “Freddy Got Fingered”:

    “Some of you may have been asking yourselves whether we, the moviegoing public, would ever see an ejaculation gag to rival the geyser of creamy goo that plastered Anna Faris to the ceiling in ‘Scary Movie.’ This dilemma has plainly been preying on the mind of prank-loving provocateur Tom Green, who clearly resents the Wayans clan for beating him to the punch and brazenly snatches up their gauntlet with a scene in which he stimulates a comically distended elephant penis and turns it on Rip Torn like a fire hose. I’ll say this for Green: He really throws himself into his work.”

    There’s no data that proves it, but “comically distended elephant penis” is without doubt the most statistically improbable phrase in my entire body of work as a film critic.

    One Sick Puppy is sorta right about “Downton Abbey” (of which I am a devoted fan). When PBS aired it in the United States, their programming schedule mandated 90-minute episodes. Most of the U.K. episodes are about 48 minutes, or essentially the standard length of a regular one-hour show on U.S. network television. So PBS cut and pasted things together to fit its 90-minute programming blocks, which resulted in the U.S. episodes being longer, and also starting and ending in different spots. Additionally, some of the “Downton” holiday specials (which began with Season Two and, in terms of plot, are essentially the ninth episode of each season) were not initially aired on PBS and were left out of U.S. DVD compilations. In the beginning, to get the whole enchilada, you had to order the BBC DVD compilation, and not the PBS one. I don’t think they issue separate compilations anymore, although I’m not certain. To Ry’s point, they didn’t dumb down any of the content, although the PBS airings did include Laura Linney as presenting host, and she would clarify various U.K.-centric plot points or language idiosyncrasies.

    Jay, given your love for “Titanic,” I think you might actually dig “Downton Abbey.” They’re set in the same period, but the characters and writing are much better in “Downton.” Actually, the sinking of the Titanic is the inciting incident that sets the whole series in motion. Also, there’s a [MILD SPOILER ALERT] murder mystery element that starts in Season Two and isn’t entirely resolved until Season Five. It’s not “The Fall” or “Broadchurch,” by any stretch, but there do end up being multiple dead bodies, police investigations, accusations, court proceedings, prison sentences, and so forth.

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12. I’d love to have a little discussion on 10 Cloverfield Lane. I gave it a 9 and I think I said before that it’s one of my favorite psychological thrillers ever, but the reason I knocked a point off is…

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    The ending. I have misgivings about that. The thing is, at the time, in the moment, it was fun and I enjoyed it. But by that point, yet another turnaround of my expectations also felt a little tedious and disappointing.

    To have her get out and discover that it was indeed all a ruse (somehow showing that the lady who tried to get into the bunker had either been put up to it or maybe was Goodman’s ex-wife whose face he had burned with acid, or something like that)… I think that would have been just as mind-blowing of an ending, considering all she/we had been through. And that’s what I thought it was when you see the birds and I was like “wooooow,” but then, uh no, it is the aliens. Nng-kay. That was a bit of a letdown, and I think one turnaround too many.

    But because of the title, I kind of had the view and expectation that it would be aliens, ultimately. So yes, the title slightly spoiled the final turnaround of the movie. And it kind of makes that end sequence feel a little cheap, especially with its deus ex molotov. Someone elsewhere said that the point is to show that people are scarier than the usual boogey monster aliens, but that point would already be made, regardless of seeing them.

    Still a fantastic psychological thriller, regardless, and I think this could be John Goodman’s first Oscar nod. I’m going to see it again tonight, so I’ll see how that ending sits the second time.

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    • >>Eric Herman on March 21, 2016 at 12:03 pm said:

      ##### Spoilers for 10 Cloverfield Lane #####

      “Someone elsewhere said that the point is to show that people are scarier than the usual boogey monster aliens…”

      * * *

      Unless the point is actually to show a series of disparate isolated incidents surrounding these “Cloverfield” attacks, like a modern take on The Twilight Zone. It feels like that’s what they’re going for and, in that case, it makes perfect sense. (personal note: I certainly hope that’s what they’re going for)

      Also, I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m baffled by how many people insist the molotov cocktail is far-fetched. We’re not talking about a digital encryption buster fashioned out of a paper clip and some chewing gum; it’s a bottle of booze, some paper and fire. Plus, the movie had already established that Michelle was a highly capable, crafty fighter who routinely fashioned tools and weapons out of every day items.

      It’s fine if the alien invasion ending didn’t work for everyone; that’s a personal preference. It absolutely worked for me, but I’ll be the first to admit that it is a complete tonal shift from the preceding 80 minutes-or-so (*sort of*). However, I just don’t see the argument that Michelle’s character and actions during that ending are unbelievable.

      I initially gave the movie an 8.5/10, but I’m definitely higher on it now after having some time to process. I’ve said before that I’m curious how this film will hold up on re-watch, and I think I’m going to hold off on adjusting my rating until then. As of now, though, the only problem I really have with the film is the cheesy/convenient final 30 seconds when she hears the call for help on the radio as she’s passing the literal/metaphorical fork in the road.

      But, then, even if that plot contrivance is a bit cheesy, it is necessary to complete Michelle’s character arc. After all, this is the first time she chooses her circumstance and puts herself in a situation to fight the problem rather than run away from it.

      And, of course, having this ending and completing Michelle’s character arc wouldn’t have been possible if she never faced the aliens (and personally witnessed the severity of the situation) in the first place.

      🙂

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      • I didn’t say the molotov was far-fetched to blow up the alien. Just too convenient. Same with the radio/roadsign. I guess I’m not sure I wanted it to be anything more than a super tight and tense psychological thriller, but then that ending, combined with the title, takes it somewhere else. Like I said, I rolled it with it fine at the time, but it’s something that feels a little odd in retrospect.

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        • But the bottle of booze was setup by comments made by Howard earlier in the film. That’s why I don’t see it as being too convenient – it was explained.

          There’s no denying that the ending has been a polarizing topic. Like I said before, I actually caught myself with a big stupid grin on my face during the end sequence. I loved it. At that point, I was hook, line and sinker.

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        • And to elaborate on why the fork in the road at the end bothered me a bit… it was a necessary thing to have in order to complete Michelle’s character arc. It just felt a little hamfisted, whereas the rest of the film was elegantly handled.

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          • Guys,
            I wanna talk spoilers on “10 Cloverfield Lane,” but I can’t get any of my dumb co-hosts to listen to me enough to go see it…
            Sorry. I’m one man.
            J

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          • Why not save the spoilers for a bigger HMP review?

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          • All I know is that this movie needs a spoiler episode…somewhere pronto…

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    • I actually was afraid the movie was going to go with the “nothing was actually wrong outside” ending, which to me would have been the unbelievable turnaround.

      I mean, you could tell Goodman’s character 100% believed what he was telling Michelle about the chemical attack. Emmett too. And Michelle said she saw the woman outside die (though it doesn’t actually show the woman die). Michelle believed the world had ended, even though every part of her wanted to not believe it. And I think we as an audience were right there with her. The evidence that there was something wrong outside was always there. The audience (and Michelle) just didn’t want to believe it.

      That scene where she stands on the car and sees the aircraft in the distance…chilling.

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13. Glad to hear you liked “10 Cloverfield Lane” Jay. I freaking loved that movie! Karl, you know I am nothing like your psychotic co-hosts–at least when it comes to horror. Trust me when I say you need to check this movie out. It’s Hitchcock meets Shyamalan meets J.J. Abrams. So good. 8.5/10 for me too.

    And I definitely want to hear a spoiler-filled discussion in the coming weeks. This film deserves to be talked about.

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14. Hello MPW,

    Great podcast had me loving every minute you guys speak.

    My mini reviews for this week are:

    Final Girl which for some reason you guys did not like but I thought it was very entertaining and liked the story. I gave it a 6.5 and to stream it on Netflix

    Spare Parts- About a group of illegal high school students that enter a robotic competition it has George Lopez and Marisa Tomei in it and yes it is very predictable but sometimes these stories are very inspiring and heartfelt you just have to love them. Also it is based on a true story I give it an 8.5 and to stream it on Amazon Prime.

    Jason for your review of 10 Cloverfield Lane I have to admit for 3/4 of the movie was exciting and thrilling and John Goodman was outstanding and Mary Elizabeth Winstead is beautiful and is exciting to watch she is the girl next door you want to introduce to your mom. If you have not seen her in “FAULTS” that is one to watch she is outstanding in that movie and the movie is creepy, thrilling and very HITCHCOCK like! Josh the wolfman recommended it on Movie Stream Cast and it was outstanding! I am giving the movie a 6 and to stream it when you have time.

    Andy I totally get what you mean about the “Brother Grimsby” I saw it yesterday in empty theater and was laughing out loud I felt almost dirty laughing out loud. The elephant scene is the worse but I could not tear myself away from watching it!!! I totally understand your review after watching the movie and it was good and felt like I needed a good shower scrubbing after watching it! However you did enjoy it more than me I give it a 6 but feel so wrong laughing out loud when watching this is a movie that will be on my guilty pleasure list for years to come.

    Thank you for another great podcast once again and look forward to more.

    Have a great weekend at the movies

    Mario (LOON) Leon

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15. Greetings. Love the show and really look forward to it every week. I just ponied up $4 and bought the Cujo/Planes Trains commentaries. I believe your offer was that if anyone donated $2, a commentary would be done for any movie suggestions? Done. Here’s my suggested list.
    1. Fight Club
    2. Karate Kid
    3. Escape from New York
    4. Ghostbusters
    5. Big Lebowski
    6. Total Recall (the original)
    7. 1941
    8. Poltergeist
    9. Pulp Fiction
    10. Wolf of Wall Street.
    Keep up the great work, and if any of these ever get done, count me in as a customer.

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16. MPW Ep. 182 is posted! Happy Easter!

    https://moviepodcastweekly.com/movie-podcast-weekly-ep-182-allegiant-2016-and-the-bronze-2016-and-pee-wees-big-holiday-2016-and-yosemite-2016-and-the-wave-2016/

    J

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17. I’ve got a suggestion for a commentary, it’s a total guilty pleasure, but it’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” with Michael Caine and Steve Martin.

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