Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 191: The Nice Guys (2016) and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) and The Angry Birds Movie (2016)

Episode 191

Don’t be fooled… Episode 191 of Movie Podcast Weekly is actually better than it seems. At first blush, when you glance over our Feature Reviews in the title, this episode seems like it will suck a la MPW Ep. 176, when we really covered nothing of interest… In this show, even though we bring you Feature Reviews of The Nice Guys and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising and The Angry Birds Movie, we also talk about:

— our feelings regarding the opening credits in movies
— our definitive declaration of the hottest Disney princess
— Interactive Cinema: Choose Your Own Adventure Movies and Other Gimmicks
— off-handed mentions (but no further description) of potentially interesting films, such as “Silver Streak” and “The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea”

If you’re new to our show… Movie Podcast Weekly typically features four hosts — Jason, Andy, Karl and Geek Cast Ry — along with frequent guests. We give you our verdicts on at least one new movie release from the current year that’s currently playing in theaters, as well as several mini reviews of whatever we’ve been watching lately. New episodes release every single week!


SHOW NOTES:

I. Introduction
— The 36th Anniversary of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”
— Thanks for the comments of MPW Ep. 189
— A must-listen: Geek Cast Live Movie Episode
— Andy’s sour grapes over Karl’s high rating of “Green Room” (and Jason winning the bet)
— Andy’s legitimately egregious Netflix complaint
— Ryan’s perpetual epic failure to experience “Blade Runner”
— Comments from Mario
— Solidifying the Sept. 9, 2016 MPW / GCL meet-up
— Eric’s SLC meet-up invitation! Check out: Eric Herman Music.com (Guaranteed to make you smile warmly and knowingly)


[ 0:22:54 ] II. Mini Reviews
Karl: Schitt’s Creek, Opening Credits in Movies
Ryan: Game of Thrones Season 6, Ep. 4; Teen Mom
Andy: Gary Gulman: It’s About Time, Special Correspondents, Sisters, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
Jason: Sherlock, trailer for Swiss Army Man, Emma Watson’s casting as Belle in the live-action Beauty and the Beast, Concept Discussion: Interactive Cinema: Choose Your Own Ending Movies and Other Gimmicks
***Excellent Roger Ebert article: Screen Gimmicks Nothing New
Also: Ebert’s Review of Mr. Payback (1995)


III. New in Theaters This Past Weekend (May 20, 2016):
The Nice Guys
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
The Angry Birds Movie
Maggie’s Plan
Weiner
Ma ma
Welcome to Happiness


FEATURE REVIEWS HAVE TIME STAMPS:

[ 1:07:48 ] IV. Feature Review: THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE (2016)
Ryan = 5 ( Rent only for younger kids and hard-core Angry Birds fans )


[ 1:16:43 ] V. Feature Review: THE NICE GUYS (2016)
Jason = 4 ( Avoid )
Karl = 8 ( Rental )


[ 1:33:46 ] VI. Feature Review: NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING (2016)
Karl = 7 ( Rental )


VII. Wrap-Up / Plugs / Ending
Thank you to our generous supporters:
Lance from Provo
Christian
Vance
Eric E.
Joshua G.
Patrick H.
Mario L.
Shannon N.
Amos P.
Hans S. from Sweden!
Scott C. who donated specifically to Horror Movie Podcast
Adam M.

Also: Karl recommends the Manhunter (1986) Blu-ray, as well as Risen (2016)

— Post-credits invitation for the listeners


COMING UP ON MPW NEXT WEEK:
Episode 192 where we’ll be reviewing “X-Men: Apocalypse.” Join us!

Based on the awfulness of its trailer, here are our ratings predictions for X-Men: Apocalypse next week:
Jay = 4.5 out of 10
Karl = 6 out of 10
Ryan = 5 out of 10
Andy = Doesn’t care.


LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:

Jay recommends: Horror Movie Podcast Ep. 089: Horror Short Films

Contact MPW:
E-mail us: MoviePodcastWeekly@gmail.com.
Leave us a voicemail: (801) 382-8789.
Follow MPW on Twitter: @MovieCastWeekly
Leave a comment in the show notes for this episode.

Ry’s BIO
Ry’s flagship show: Geek Cast Live Podcast
DONATE here to facilitate the creation of more Geek content!
Blog: Geek Cast Live
Web site: Geek Harder.com
Facebook
Twitter: @GeekCastRy

Jason recommends supporting: Operation Underground Railroad

Listen to MPW:
Add MPW to your Stitcher playlist: Stitcher.com
MPW on iTunes
MPW’s RSS feed
Right-click to download the MPW 100 Rap

Josh’s links:
Hear Josh named as one of the Top 5 Up-and-Coming Directors on The Film Vault Podcast!
Twitter: @IcarusArts
Josh covers streaming movies on: Movie Stream Cast
Hear Josh on The SciFi Podcast
Hear Josh on Horror Movie Podcast

If you’re a Horror fan, listen to Jason and Josh on HORROR MOVIE PODCAST

We’d like to thank The Dave Eaton Element and Dave himself for the use of his music for our theme song. Buy Dave’s Eaton’s music: BandCamp.com


If you like Movie Podcast Weekly, please subscribe and leave us a review in iTunes. If you want to support the show, we have PayPal buttons in our right-hand sidebar where you can make a one-time donation or you can become a recurring donor for just $2 per month. (Every little bit helps!)

Thanks for listening, and join us again next week for Movie Podcast Weekly.


46 thoughts on “Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 191: The Nice Guys (2016) and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) and The Angry Birds Movie (2016)

  1. The hottest Disney princess is Princess Leia. Boom! TRUTH.

    I refuse to be baited into a conversation about the relative attractiveness of drawings.

    • I’ve had this conversation plenty of times. I’m with Andy. Jasmine and Ariel above Belle. I do think that Emma Watson would make a fantastic Belle.

      • Same. Princess Jasmine is the hottest. From there, I actually go Belle and then Rapunzel.

        Not that I think about this sort of thing…

      • Side note:
        My 12 year old daughter is disappointed in Emma Watson. She’s a massive Hermione fan, and when I asked if she was excited to see her as Belle she said,
        “I can’t believe she’s going to be Belle! Belle has Stockholm Syndrome!”
        I have weird kids.

    • I’m not ceding any ground here, but I feel like it needs to be acknowledged that The Walt Disney Co. (of which I am a former employee, incidentally) has already kind of settled the “hottest princess” issue. I reference the words of the song “Belle,” from “Beauty and the Beast”: “Now it’s no wonder that her name means ‘beauty’ / Her looks have got no parallel.”

      Seems pretty unambiguous to me, especially when it comes to a debate about “hotness” (a term which, I think most would agree, narrows the scope of the discussion primarily to physical appearance). Belle’s looks “have got no parallel.” That’s about as succinct as it’s possible to be. Belle wins. Nobody else even gets to be in the discussion. Now whether you think Disney itself should have the last word may be a separate issue … but the official company position is quite clear.

      • Dude. That’s colder than Elsa’s ice castle. It’s like the old guy says to Poe: She’ll always be royalty to me.

        And also: bit.ly/_I_WIN

      • Or shoot, Episode IV for that matter. The buns hairdo and the white curtains she was wearing were doing her no favors.

  2. Hello MPW,

    Thank you Jason for getting this PODCAST out so early I was shocked to see it on my playlist and I was like a kid on Christmas looking forward to hearing all you had to say about this weeks movies….

    I know you guys are true fans of movies and do this not for fame or money but for the pure joy of cinema arts, it is a true honor to listen to you guys every week. As I love the movies just as well and that is why I work at a movie theater part time to get to see all my movies for free and before the Blockbuster debacle damm you Netflix, I worked there to to always get my free movie rentals…..

    In saying that Andy how come you still get DVD’s sent to you by Netflix??? You can easily have ordered “Dark City” on Itunes or Amazon and seen it by now. The Netflix customer rep is probably saying really you still have us mailing you DVD’s LOL 🙂

    GCR do not feel bad about Blade Runner I have not seen it either, Karl don’t be mad but the one attempt I tried to watch it I fell asleep within 10 mins of starting. I will attempt to watch it soon. In saying that I will have to watch “the sailor who fell from Grace with the sea” with Kris Kristofferson not Christopher Walken GCR…. I was intrigued since I have never heard of it.

    Karl as for your opening credits in a movie I do enjoy them and do like to read who was involved in the movie. Not only the stars but who Directed, produced, or who composed the music it is giving credit where credit is due. My two favorite opening credits are “Airplane” so many gags in just that opening scene you know you are in for a good time! My other one is “Naked Gun” that siren on the car going to the different scenes is always a good laugh!

    Now on to the hottest Disney Princess debate, I am in total agreement with Andy on this one Jasmine is the hottest one there is! Emma Watson is going to be making a great Belle and I think she will pull it off however Cara Delevingne would have been my choice if you have seen Paper Towns you will understand. Let me know what you think.

    Now Jason I know this is usually for HMP but have you seen the trailer for “Clown” by Eli Roth per IMDB it is about “A loving father transforms into a savage killer after he dons a cursed clown suit at his son’s birthday party.” I am so looking forward to seeing this because as a child growing up I was terrified of clowns even KISS freaked me out! Watch the trailer and would love to hear your feedback on this.

    Well hope you enjoy your movie weekend as I look forward to seeing X-MEN this Friday with my kids who are looking forward to it also. My prediction on this im going to say an 8 or higher if it is half as good as Days of Future Past I will not be disappointed!

    Take care and look forward to the next Podcast

    Mario (Loon) Leon

  3. By far Belle is the most attractive Disney princess. Easily. She’s also smart, hardworking, etc. And she falls in love with an ugly beast…so we all got a chance!

    Ariel is a rebellious 16 year old that want to hook up outside her species. Ugh. No way. And Jasmine, she’s cute sure, but way too much baggage.

    • Well, the fact that Belle fell in love with a beast can also be seen as her not having standards. After all, falling for someone with that bad of a temper doesn’t speak wonders of her as a person. But that’s besides the point. We’re talking hotness here, so your arguments about Ariel and Jasmine are moot (but so are mine). We’ll just have to put it to a vote. Jay? We need a poll, bro. DO IT!

  4. Fellas, regarding the meetup, you’re absolutely right that my soon-to-be 1 year old son would have no memory of me not being there for his first birthday.

    But my wife would remember… and she would never let me forget.

    • Haha that’s a great point. Well, I would hate to be the only one at this meet-up, but I also would hate to get everyone riled up and not go. Is there any interest at all from the other regulars? Sal? Vance? Mario? Cody? Eric? Gomez? Shannon?

      • I’ll say this….I don’t think I could be in for an Ohio excursion…well, maybe. But if it takes place somewhere closer in Indy…consider me riled up and on-board!!! A nice little day trip into an over-nighter if the gin and tonics flow too much could do me wonders. 🙂

        Eff it…I’m down for Ohio too. Count me in!! 🙂

      • I still plan on going. West Lafayette is about a 5 1/2 hour drive for me, so I can go on Friday (the 9th) and then drive back the next day (the 10th). His birthday is the 11th.

      • Hi Juan,

        Unfortunately I will not be able to go as I help with a Jets fan group and that weekend is the first weekend of Football and I know the MPW guys don’t care about Football but I run the fan club so I have to be there.

        I do like to Skype idea Imaking it a live show that would be fun to watch and contribute to !

        Let me know what you guys think

        Mario (Loon) Leon

  5. Oh, new thought….

    We get a small, rag-tag motley crew together and the others skype in or something.
    Might be weird in a bar, but I’m sure we’ve all seen weirder things in a bar….especially in Indiana. Ha ha, JK….some IL to IN love for the hoosiers out there. 🙂

      • Ha! I love ridiculous hashtags…

        Somehow all of GCL listenership knew you have something as far as weird bar stories. Thanks for alluding to what sounds like a gem. Can’t wait to hear the full version!!

        And I’m pretty sure I know what you mean about pickle backs (just give me the whiskey), but less classy minds than mine are REALLY anticipating it. 🙂

        #vegetables&sexualinuendo2016YOLO!!!

  6. Thanks for the plug for my gig in July. I wasn’t expecting or asking for that, but I do appreciate it, and I really look forward to meeting you, J (and hopefully Karl, too).

    One thing I should probably clarify is that the free DVD/CD and treating for movie/DQ thing was meant in that email as a gesture specifically for Andy, J and Karl (and Ry if he can make it). I’m picturing 3,000 angry MPW listeners showing up and demanding free stuff, and then chasing me out of town with pitchforks and torches. 😀

  7. While I process the implications of J’s 4 rating of The Nice Guys, and whether I should rescind my offer of treating him to a movie when I’m in town (what’s the point if he hates the cinema??), I will share that I revisited all three Austin Powers movies recently.

    Not sure it merits a CTS treatment, but for the most part they were still pretty entertaining. Like most comedies, though, time can really hurt. I recall watching Wayne’s World with my girls a couple years ago, and other than a couple of classic parts, it was painfully unfunny (and I saw that twice in the theater and loved it then). Austin Powers holds up better than that, but still suffers a bit from time drift.

    I had to appreciate the original for being unique and charming for its time, and for providing so many iconic moments and phrases… but things like seeing Austin say “oh behave!” a hundred times aren’t really funny anymore, and characters like Fat Bastard are just repellent to me now, and not really funny. That being said, there is a lot of very clever comedy in these films, especially on the Doctor Evil side of things. As a send-up of spy movie villains, I love a lot of what they do with that.

    I ended up seeing these out of sequence, as I didn’t realize that Goldmember was the third one (though it made a lot more sense with Mini-Me having first been introduced in the second one). I think Goldmember might have been the funniest, overall, though also the most derivative, so I’ll have to give props and an extra half point to the original for being original.

    Austin Powers: 8
    The Spy Who Shagged Me: 5.5
    Goldmember: 7.5

  8. Redboxed (yes, that’s a verb now) the Risen movie today. Karl, you are right on. I really enjoyed it. Some good depth to the story, and some great cinematography. There’s a stretch from about 40 minutes in to about an hour or so in where it kind of gets flat or loses energy or something, but the moment that the Tribune first meets Jesus is really powerful, and I liked everything after that point quite a bit. I give it an 8, and might even buy it to watch again.

  9. Popstar was about exactly what I expected, in a good way. A quite consistently funny mockumentary. Some lulls, but a good amount of laughs, which is about all I can ask from a comedy. And a lot of fun music biz connections and send-ups. Wait ’til you see Seal’s part. LOL 7.5/10

    • Good review Eric,

      I just saw it today and agree with you giving it a 7 for the music and I’m sure in time it will be a classic mockumentary

      Mario

  10. Hey guys! Thanks for the solid recommendation of “Arlington Road”. Never saw it before, but picked it up from some list or other of yours. WOW! I really. really. liked it. 9 out of 10 and that’s rare for me.

  11. I watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang today. How did I never see that before? Wow, I loved it. So great.

    J, I would totally agree with you that Kiss Kiss is better than Nice Guys. More energy, better plot, and feels more original (Nice Guys really does borrow some things pretty closely from KKBB). But having seen The Nice Guys first, without the comparison, it is definitely comparable in quality. And I would give Crowe and Gosling a slight edge over Downey Jr. and Kilmer, in terms of rapport and charisma (though Downey Jr. and Kilmer have many great moments).

    So I will give KKBB a 9.5, but I stand by the 8.5 I gave The Nice Guys. And I also stand by my “J hates the cinema” rating for your incomprehensible 4/avoid. :p

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