37 thoughts on “Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 202: Blood Father (2016) and Anthropoid (2016) and Pete’s Dragon (2016) and Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) and Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) and Edge of Winter (2016)”

1. I don’t know about the Vin Diesel/Rock feud: something seems screwy. They are both traditionally super-nice guys, and I have a feeling they may just be goofing around. We’ll see, but I wouldn’t be so quick to jump on Vin’s personal character just because you don’t care for his acting. Also, what is this about Meagan Fox getting canned for taking too much time in her trailer? I seem to remember her getting blackballed by Spielberg for making a Hitler analogy.

   Reply ↓

   • Hear, hear, Alex. Thank you!
     I think they’re both great guys, too.
     Bunch of jerks on this podcast…
     (It’s probably a publicity stunt to ramp up some buzz and free press, much like Hulk Hogan and “Zeus,” back in the “No Holds Barred” days.)
     J

     Reply ↓

2. Jay, I think there might be a typo. The WordPress page for this episode says it was posted on “August 17”?

   Reply ↓

   • Burn

     Reply ↓

   • Cody Clark, dammit, have I ever mentioned to you that I’m an “orange belt” now? (That’s two belts up from white.) Don’t provoke me, Cody Clark…
     ; )
     J

     Reply ↓

     • What is an orange belt? Are you talking about a temperate zone that’s optimal for citrus farming? Or does it have something to do with jiu-jitsu? 🙂

       Reply ↓

3. ANGST! ANGST!

   Jason, I’ll make a deal with you. If you finish watching through Game of Thrones, then I’ll finally take the plunge and watch-through The Wire. You can ask Josh, I’m good on my watch-through word.

   Reply ↓

   • Dino, my boy…
     Here’s something you don’t know about your sad little friend Jay:
     I lie awake at night crying for about 2 hours until I’ve cried myself to sleep, because yet another day has passed when I did not have the time or energy to return to watching Game of Thrones Season 1… I know it doesn’t seem like it, but it’s at the top of my list! I have seen the first three episodes (probably a year ago now), and I loved them! I cannot wait to return to it. : ) Thank you for your encouragement. I promise it’s at the top of my watchlist… The last thing I watched was the brother and sister’s “meeting” and the little kid near the window… ha ha. I can’t WAIT to see more!

     Your pal,
     J

     Reply ↓

   • I don’t know why people say Jay hates the cinema. He’s always been far more up front and honest about hating TV. Guy can’t even watch three episodes of a TV series before giving up (While saying he’s still going to finish it in the future).

     I assume the only reason he actually watched all of The Wire is because putting on the Wire is a fantastic way to avoid insomnia and instantly fall asleep at night.

     Reply ↓

     • Sal is right, guys. I hate TV.
       And stage plays.
       J

       Reply ↓

       • J – I have a recommendation for you and Andy – (screw those other hosts 🙂 ) It’s on Netflix and it’s a rockin’ crime drama that’s been called the Irish The Wire, although I think it’s probably closer to Breaking Bad stylistically and in it’s pitch black humor and occasional crazy violence. It’s called Love/Hate, and there’s a good chance the first episode will grab you immediately 🙂

         It’s got the best performance I’ve seen by Aiden Gillen (Tommy Carcetti in The Wire and Littlefinger in Game of ‘Thrones) playing the Dublin crime boss, John Boy, using his native Irish accent, as well as many other very fine Irish actors (that have gone on to bigger things since).

         One of the best crime shows of recent years, I’d give it a 8.5/10.

         Reply ↓

   • After all of the talk of The Wire the other episode, I decided to re-watch Season 1 last week. I hadn’t seen it since it was first broadcast over 14 years ago, and I was curious about how well it held up.

     It does look a little bit dated since it’s shot in 4:3 aspect ratio, but other than that, it’s still gripping, still the most realistic depiction of drug gangs and police behavior I’ve ever seen in any US film or series (due to the fact, I suppose, that it was created and written by a crime reporter and a homicide detective), and still apropos to the continuing situation (the drug “war” continues and Baltimore still has 250 – 300 murders per year).

     It’s funny though – even though I knew how good The Wire it is – it still took me 4 or 5 episodes until I reached the point where I wanted to start bingeing.

     Reply ↓

4. Hey All,
   In case you didn’t see it in the Show Notes above (and since you guys have so much free time to make fun of me in the comments), I want you to know that “Blood Father” is now streaming on Amazon. Worth your time! Watch it! : )
   J

   Reply ↓

5. I actually watched Blood Father yesterday and I thought it was great…Being a big Mel fan…he brings the goods in a big way in this one.

   Reply ↓

6. Hello, Jay, my old friend. I just wanted you to know that I’m still listening to the show, though I’m a little behind. But I’m alive and well and have made all the arrangements necessary to attend the meet-up in only a few more weeks. I’m very excited and can’t wait to punch you in the face, I mean shake your hand 😉 Anyway, I just thought I’d drop by. I know I’ve been absent for some time now, but don’t worry, I haven’t left you… yet. Juuuuust kidding. I’m here for life, bro.

   Reply ↓

   • Thanks, Juan. Glad to hear from you again. It’s OK that you’re a few weeks behind, because hey — me too!

     Can’t wait to catch up with you in Indiana.

     J

     Reply ↓

7. I’ve probably said it before around these parts, but I think Harrison Ford is an excellent actor. Yes, some of his core screen persona bleeds over into most of the characters he plays, but the same is true of many other actors who don’t seem to get nearly the level of (shmeep!) that my boy Harry does for “playing himself” in every movie. I don’t even think one has to comb through his filmography for isolated interludes of great acting. Sure, he’s great in all of the usual suspects that people line up in that column (“The Mosquito Coast,” “Witness,” “Frantic,” “Presumed Innocent,” “Working Girl,” “Regarding Henry” [I *guess* we can include that here, just for Jay], “The Fugitive,” and so forth). There’s no real reason to dig deep, however, to defend him. I think Indiana Jones and Han Solo are BOTH fine examples of great acting. He nailed Peak Indy right off the bat in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and Peak Han Solo came along in “The Empire Strikes Back,” but he’s very good in all of the films where he plays those roles. Think about the most recent example, “The Force Awakens.” With the possible exception of Daisy Ridley, Harrison Ford blows everyone else in the movie off the screen. And that’s established well before the plot starts to really lay it on thick with the Han Solo sentimentality.

   Really enjoyed this episode; it was fun to have so many reviews in a single show. I’m particularly intrigued by “Florence Foster Jenkins,” because if Karl is praising a Meryl Streep movie, then it must really be doing something right. Also, given the fairly recent discussion of “hottest” Disney princesses, I’m a little surprised that Jay and Ry didn’t have more to say about how “The Killing Joke” explicitly crosses the line into the rarely encountered realm (rarely encountered in the cinematic mainstream, that is) of animated sexuality. More like sticks a toe over the line and then bashfully looks around to see whether anyone noticed, I know, but still an interesting footnote. It’s not just that sex is implied, either. Characters discuss intimacy as though it actually exists in their world, Barbara Gordon slogs through “morning afterglow” (so to speak), Batman pulls a total guy movie by pretending that nothing ever happened and not returning anyone’s calls. I’ve read speculation that the Batgirl prelude was included to a) pad out the basic story to feature length, and b) gin up the emotional stakes for Batman. Whatever it’s doing there, it seems like a discussion-worthy element of the movie.

   Ry, I know it’s after the fact at this point, but I’m counting on you to see/have seen “Ben-Hur” so that you can report whether it is a true “honest remake,” or just a Christian-tinted cash grab.

   Reply ↓

   • Cody – I respect your opinion, but I’m sticking to my guns. Harrison Ford is a perfectly fine actor, but I wouldn’t describe him as “excellent”. He does some things extremely well (the Indy/Han Solo type is his forte), but in virtually every movie you mentioned (and others you didn’t), there are always some scenes that don’t quite ring true for me, so I’ve rarely found myself fully immersed in his performance throughout a film. I think the fact that he’s only ever received one nomination for an Oscar tends to support my view, since even other actors that are often accused of “playing themselves” tend to have more nominations (e.g. Jack Nicholson: 12 nominations).

     Reply ↓

8. Just for the record “Shameless” is another US remake of a show from the UK. The original is pretty highly acclaimed and looks to have the kind of gritty, realistic tone that I like but I’ve never got around to watching it.

   Reply ↓

   • I was kind of surprised to hear GCR describe the US version as a show “no one watches”. It’s been critically acclaimed, already had 6 seasons on Showtime, and it’s ratings haven’t been that much lower than Dexter’s (Showtime’s flagship for years) were.

     Reply ↓

     • If it’s anything like the UK version then I do imagine it’s a show that doesn’t get as much discussion in “geek” type circles as the more overt genre fair on offer.

       Reply ↓

       • That’s probably true. I watch and enjoy it, but it does annoy me sometimes with it’s propensity to keep trying to come up with new ways to shock the audience (e.g. let’s shoot and eat a bald eagle, etc).

         Reply ↓

9. Hey guys,
   So, I was listening to episode 161 the other day, the one where Andy says he likes Johnny Depp’s version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory over the Gene Wilder version (blasphemy right?). Then GCR pipes in with “isn’t he dead”?
   The next morning I wake up to hear that Gene Wilder died. Like Jay always says “it blew my mind”. I guess what I am trying to say is that I blame GCR for Gene Wilder’s death. Just joking RIP Gene. My favorite movie of his will always be Young Frankenstein, it cracks me up every time.

   So I have been getting through some of your recommendations:

   Absentia : Great movie, really creepy and scary. My wife and I loved it. I was thinking about this movie for days afterwards. 9 / 10 Buy it.

   Sinister: Ethan Hawke was fantastic in this movie. I was totally into this movie until near the end when you find out who or what is committing the murders. It had some scary parts and I really enjoyed it but I can’t see myself watching it again. 7.5 / 10 Rent it.

   Bait : This was just one of those absurd but fun horror movies to watch. Some good kills, pretty gory in parts and a good movie to watch with some mates. 7 / 10 Rent it.

   Killer Joe : I’m not sure if any of you recommended this or you guys were just discussing it. Either way I liked this movie. It was pretty bizarre and had an ending that you would either love or hate. I am a fan of endings like this but I can also understand why people would hate it. A pretty crazy but enjoyable movie if you don’t mind something a bit different. 7.5 / 10 Rent it.

   Stranger Things : I have only seen 2 episodes of this so far. I will wait until I have seen the whole season before I rate it, unlike some people I don’t judge a series by only watching 2 episodes (not mentioning any names).

   Thanks guys loving all the podcasts.
   P.S Have you guys ever heard of WD-40? There is a squeaky door or cupboard that you can hear throughout the podcasts. My best guess is that it’s GCR or Karl every time they get a beer.

   Reply ↓

   • Andy’s office chair…when he leans back to nap…

     🙂

     Reply ↓

     • We should start a donation fund to get him a nice ol’ Barcalounger, for podcast napping. 🙂

       Reply ↓

       • Or is it Andy’s chair after he has told a joke (he has been dead the whole time) and leans forward to give Karl a high five. Karl obviously rejects the high five and it squeaks again as Andy slumps back dejectedly.

         Reply ↓

10. A lot of good movies this week, it sounds like. I always intended to see Florence Foster Jenkins when it hits Redbox, but Anthropoid, Blood Father and Edge of Winter all sound good, too. I’d forgotten about Anthropoid… saw one trailer for it a few months ago and thought it might be comparable to Valkyrie, which I love. Sounds like it is.

    Catching up on a few things…

    DON’T BREATHE: Another pretty great suspense thriller about a small group of people trapped in a place. This seems to be the year for that kind of thing, eh? I think I’d have loved this more if the main young actor guy didn’t seem to have a dopey look the whole time, and if it didn’t strain credulity more than once. So it’s going just under 10 Cloverfield Lane and Green Room at an 8, but it is definitely top-notch, and I’m expecting a rave from Jason.

    I finished HBO’s series THE NIGHT OF, and enjoyed that quite a bit, especially the first episode, but it held my attention reasonably well after that. It’s about a Pakistani guy who borrows his father’s taxi to go to a party, and ends up inadvertantly driving a young lady around, who later ends up dead. It’s essentially an extended crime procedural, but has some nice moments and details and characterizations. John Turturro stars as the guy’s defense attorney, and is excellent. I give it an 8, overall.

    Oh, I also saw HELL OR HIGH WATER with some cinema-hater guy, and KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS with my girls. But I’ll blab more about those later.

    I was in a thrift store recently and grabbed some DVDs. I won’t catalogue them all and then mention them again when I’ve seen them, like a certain podcast host is known to do for his immense Blu-ray collection. 😉 But among the titles I picked up was an old favorite of mine called CROSSROADS, which is a film from 1986 starring Ralph Macchio as a Julliard-trained guitarist who really likes to play the blues, and wants to track down a lost Robert Johnson song via an old blues guy who he befriends. I was 17 when this came out, and was a pretty flashy guitarist at the time (I had to learn the film’s climactic guitar solo after seeing this), so this was right up my alley. But I was actually surprised at how well it holds up today, just as a great music/drama story. The writing and dialogue is quite well crafted, and Joe Seneca’s performance and delivery as the fictitious but very believable bluesman, Blind Willie Brown, is absolutely wonderful. The guitar-playing also looks mostly real, so I’ll give Macchio credit for that, although there are a couple of the typical shots where they only show the hands, so you know someone else was playing. The story covers some of the mythos of blues legend, where Robert Johnson and others purportedly made deals with the Devil down at a crossroads in Mississippi, and the way that is all depicted and plays out is quite cool. I can see where other films might have gone more fantastical with that aspect of the story, but I love the more subtle style of this. Guitarist Steve Vai (Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth) also has a really fun part in this, related to that. If you haven’t seen this, by all means, give it a spin sometime. It’s a 9.5 for me, though I’ll allow that a half point or so might come off if you’re not as connected as I was/am to the specific material, musically speaking. Worth it for Joe Seneca’s performance alone, though.

    I don’t recall anyone here mentioning MR. ROBOT. Eh, I probably did at some point. I’m loving that series, and season 2 has been solid, but I do wish I had revisited at least some of season 1 before watching season 2. After several months away, some of the details and character names and such were fuzzy, and the show is pretty dense with material, so it made it tricky to get back into at first. At this point, though, I’m good, and it continues to be a great ride. It’s about a hacker who may be trying to infiltrate a large corporation, with implications for the global economy. I won’t say too much more, as you kind of need to see it to appreciate why it’s so good. Very well written, and has been getting Wire-like raves from critics and fans… so that means half of you MPW hosts should love it. 😀

    Reply ↓

    • Oh EH…you gotta be at the meet-up…just so I can high-five ya, homie. I’ve mentioned before that when I stayed home sick from from school, two or three movies stand out in my memories and standards that Mama Gomez would have for me to view. As a young pup, I must’ve seen Flight of the Navigator and The Neverending Story 1,000 times. Man, how sick of a kid was I? Anyway..jump forward a bit and I’m tellin’ you, Gomez was the only little homie in all of Rosa G Maddock grammer school that’d seen Crossroads, let alone seen it 50 times. That movie is great! The battle at the end is THE BALLS!!! (in a good way) I need to view it again, as I haven’t seen it in probably 20-25 years, to see if it holds up, but I’m with ya, man…..nice pick.

      Also, albeit a bit less enthusiastic, I’m with you on Mr. Robot. Whatta great show. I think I have less enthusiasm than I did for the Crossroads mention because I don’t have the nostalgic weight behind Mr. Robot….yet. 🙂 I’ve only hit season 1 so far, but was very pleased with it, and am excited to get to season 2 when it’s available to stream or get from my lovable local library.

      Speakin of the boob tube…the little lady and I have been watching You’re the Worst on Hulu. At first, my impressions were, ‘What is this Millennial crap?!?!’ But there were enough lines here and there that kept me coming back. I thought of Brooklyn99. It’s not similar in tone or structure, but when Mrs. Gomez watches Brooklyn99 and I happen to be around, I think, man, this show is close, but juuuuuussssst not there. I don’t know. It doesn’t comedically grab me by the juevos and thrash me around the room like I’d expect it to. Anyway, that’s what was happening with You’re the Worst.

      So the show is about two people that are despicable. They’re young, intelligent, and (I guess) attactive. But they’re brutally attached to the truth. They don’t pander. They don’t suffer fools. They’re the worst, kinda. Then they meet. They hook-up one night….and that turns into a fledgling relationship. It’s ok. And, again, some of the lines are knock-down, drag-out funny. But the more and more I watched, the more I became invested in the main characters…and a little bit with the side characters. The show also likes to tiptoe between comedy and drama. I guess it’s a dramedy. And near the end of season 2 I says to Mrs. Gomez, ‘Man, this show can be great if it gets real and one of these main characters is a full-blown alcoholic, or steals from work for heroin…or something.’

      Whelp…season two delivered. I won’t delve any further, but I’ll say I like where they took it. It hits me in the feels and I can’t wait for season 3. 9/10 Stream it.

      🙂

      Reply ↓

      • I had heard good things about You’re the Worst, and watched a few minutes of it at some point and said, “nah.” Talk about not giving something a chance, eh? 😀

        But Juan, since you exhibit obvious good taste with Crossroads and Mr. Robot, I may have to try that again based on your recommendation.

        Wish I could make the meetup, though. I’d really love to meet you guys. I’ll try to catch Blair Witch at the same time you all do, so I can feel like I’m participating.

        That reminds me that my wife and I did something like that. We met on the internet back in 1999 (when that was still a novelty), and she lived in WA and I lived in NY. We decided to go on a virtual date to each go see You’ve Got Mail (which seemed like an appropriate choice for that) at about the same time. It was fun to do, but I recall that neither of us loved the movie. 😀

        Reply ↓

        • Whoops. I meant gomez, not Juan! I don’t care about Juan’s recommendations. :p

          Reply ↓

          • j/k of course, Juan. You, like gomez, also rock.

            Not Dino, though… 😀

            Reply ↓

          • Hi Eric,

            I just wanted to say that I loved the song you composed for the 200th episode and I thank you for the shout out. It was so awesome and funny, truly a masterpiece (10/10). I’ve been absent from the forums due to lack of time, but I do read comments from time to time and you said something really interesting that caught my eye and that I happen to agree with: Dino does not rock. He’s the worst! 😉

            Reply ↓

          • I have also not been keeping up with my movies and the few times that I have, I have re-watched old stuff. Most recently, I revisited the Predator franchise and the Alien franchise. Highly recommend both.

            Reply ↓

11. Total non sequitur, sorry. I just tweeted this for HMP:
    Horror Movie Podcast ‏@HorrorMovieCast
    J is torn: USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage trailer http://bit.ly/1TMeSx8 Am I more sad b/c it’s not a #Horror movie or b/c it’s Nic Cage?

    Ugh.
    #KeepNicCageAwayFromMovies

    JP

    Reply ↓

    • I think I’m more sad because that trailer is such a flaming disaster. The cross-cutting between shark violence and slice-of-40s-life flashbacks in the second half is just ghastly. To say nothing of the fact that the production quality make the whole thing look like it should be an epic four-hour miniseries event on CBS.

      It’s funny, when you look at Nic Cage’s filmography, the transformation into self-parodying buffoon is hard to pinpoint. Bad Nic Cage just sort of creeps in gradually from 2000 or so until about 2011, when his output for the year was “Season of the Witch,” “Drive Angry” and two “cup of coffee in theaters on the way to Redbox” thrillers from gone-to-seed journeyman directors of the ’80s and ’90s, “Seeking Justice” (Roger Donaldson) and “Trespass” (Joel Schumacher). R.I.P. Nic Cage. It was a good career (for a while anyway), but it’s over now.

      Reply ↓

12. I kind of feel like Karl has something in his teeth and no one is willing to tell him. Ridley Scott isn’t directing the Blade Runner sequel. He developed it for a few years and passed it off to Denis Villenueve (Sicario, Arrival). He’s listed as an Executive Producer and gets a story by credit with Hampton Fancher. Also, due to his working relationship with Villenueve, Johann Johannsson will be filling in for Vangelis as composer. Although the film will take place in Los Angeles again Villenueve has said that it has been decades since the last one and “the climate has gone berserk” so the earth’s atmosphere will be different. Think of this as a natural progression rather than a typical “more of the same, but different” type of sequel. Despite all this I’m still looking forward to this movie. I love the original Blade Runner in all it’s versions (but prefer the Final Cut, sorry, Karl) and knowing Scott and Hampton Fancher are responsible for the story and the screenplay is co-written by Fancher I still have high hopes.

    Reply ↓

13. Hi Friends!

    Here is MPW Ep. 203:
    https://moviepodcastweekly.com/movie-podcast-weekly-ep-203-hell-or-high-water-2016-and-kubo-and-the-two-strings-2016-and-ben-hur-2016-and-war-dogs-2016/

    And Episode 204 will be released “inappropriately soon,” so you’ll have some MPW to listen to this week!

    Thanks,
    J

    Reply ↓