23 thoughts on “Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 223: Silence (2017) and Patriots Day (2017) and Sleepless (2017) and Live by Night (2017) and Sing (2016)”

1. Note:
   As I publish this episode, I am wincing at how many potentially offensive topics we discuss (or opinions we express) that could make people leave us forever…

   I hope not. I hope you don’t leave.

   I hope people will hang with me until I get to my point during our “Patriots Day” discussion… It gets uncomfortable there for a while but ends up in a good place. I promise.

   In other words, here’s just another episode of MPW… : ) ha ha

   J

   P.S. Ryan actually is NOT a terrible person… #RIPcat

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   • If you haven’t lost me at this point, I think you’re good. Ha!

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2. Entertainment Value, In Order
   (even though I am not sure these can be classed as entertainment)

   Transformers 4 > Pan > Gods of Egypt

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3. Cheers for the Review of West World!

   I will check out the link for Geek Cast as well as I have just recently ventured over to horror movie podcast so I guess its time I ‘LOST’ my Geek Cast virginity as well.

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   • Yay! Glad you are over at HMP as well.

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4. Haven’t listened yet, Josh isn’t on it is he

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5. Jason, you continue to baffle and astound.

   You talk about the technical brilliance of Silence, describe how it asks and wrestles with big questions of faith and belief, and relate how you (who usually dislike slow movies) remained engaged for the whole 2:41.

   And then you give it 4.5 and say to avoid it.

   What. The. Fork.

   Heck, I actually raised my own rating from 8.5 to 9 while hearing you talk about it, as I was reminded of what depth it has and how well it portrays a very interesting historical time that I wasn’t aware of (like Karl’s co-worker). And I’m not even a believer anymore, but I found it wonderfully nuanced and resonant and insightful.

   After all of the positives you describe, you finally end by saying it was a difficult experience to watch, and then drop the 4.5/avoid bomb. First of all… so what? How does being difficult affect whether it’s good or not, or worth seeing? And this from the guy who likes the horror genre so much because its violence and dangerous nature is unsettling and makes you better appreciate your life. How could this portrayal not have the same effect? And it’s ten times more real and impactful than the dozens of slasher/paranormal movies that will come out this year.

   I’ve heard you give high ratings and recommendations (or at least highER ratings and not “avoid”s) for several mainstream Christian boilerplate pap-filled McFaith movies. Silence is a work of intimate searching and yearning for faith and belief and connection and purpose, with incredible craft and cinematography and writing and acting.

   But nope, avoid this one, film lovers… Instead, go see Christian Fireman IV starring Kirk Cameron.

   [Picard face-palm]

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   • This confused me as well. All through his review, Jay seemed to be saying that, although the film challenged him and made him uncomfortable, the difficult of watching it was rewarding and invigorating in the way that excellent cinema about touchy subjects often is. But, yeah, the 4.5/Avoid seems to send a different message than that altogether.

     I wish “Christian Fireman IV” starring Kirk Cameron was a real movie, just so I could giggle to myself about the injustice of the universe. I had to sit through the original “Christian Fireman” once … man, is that thing a slog.

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6. I loved the journey of Lost, but the destination was blech. That finale was terrible and also negated the whole last season.

   Sherlock is my favorite show ever, but I have to acknowledge that this last season (which may be the *last* season) was pretty weak. I really liked the second one with Toby Jones, and the last one was okay, but the first episode might have been the worst of them all. Just off in tone and rhythm, and too much “look how cool we are” kind of stuff. And normally I love the show’s over-the-top/in-your-face confidence, but it felt misused or layed on too thick in that one. I’d like to hear your feelings on this season, Karl.

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   • SPOILER WARNING: At the bottom of the thread below this one, which carries on the discussion of “LOST,” Cody gives a minor spoiler. That is all. Forgot to include a warning there; hoping that unspoiled individuals will catch it here.

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   • I agree Eric. I think this was a weak season. And I’m doubting there will be another – there’s a rumor that those two don’t have the warmest friendship. Apparently Martin Freeman has a bit of a temper. 🙂

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7. Spot on about “LOST.” Pretty sure I’ve spoken up to defend it around these parts before (and probably already made most of these points) … but I love the story and characters with a deep love and still consider the Season 3 finale to be one of the greatest episodes of television every made. The betrayal of the series finale is so much more bitter because Cuse and Lindelof were given the great gift of knowing exactly when the series would end, and they STILL muffed it. There didn’t have to be any of the rigamarole that so many great series go through of endlessly stringing out storylines while praying for renewal, and then throwing everything into a tossed salad series finale midway through the final season when you find out you’re being canceled. There’s even a smoking gun, of sorts, in Cuse’s own words from 2007, when ABC signed off on the final three seasons: “What we didn’t know was how long we had to play the story out,” Cuse said. “By defining the endpoint we can now really map out the rest of the series in confidence.” #NeverForget

   Seasons 4 and 5 feel like they’re actually following their own storytelling mandate and bringing together all the pieces of a grand puzzle. I started to smell a rat pretty early in Season 6, but still trusted that all would be revealed in due course and enjoyed the story right up until the literal final hour. And then … blech is a good word for it. I think a lot of people who initially enjoyed the series were so soured by the finale, that they’ve more or less thrown the baby out with the bathwater ever since: The ending sucked, so now everything else about it must have sucked all along as well.

   Haven’t watched the newest episodes of “Sherlock” yet (waiting for Netflix), but I’ve really enjoyed the first three seasons (or “series,” as they say in Blighty). There’s a tendency for the twists and turns to get over-the-top preposterous in the finale each year, but the characters, acting and (in general) storytelling are all tons of fun.

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   • Whoops … meant to post that as a reply to Eric Herman (above). GCR was spot on about “LOST” in Ep. 223, but I’d hate for anyone to think it was signing off on Jason’s “bitter old man” take. 🙂

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     • *feels validated , sips drink*

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   • Yeah, I’m not throwing out the baby of Lost. As I said, I loved the journey, and even though they were making it up along the way, I enjoyed the craziness of that. I never expected the ending to tie up everything, but I did expect something better than what we got, which turned out to be something the producers said more than once wasn’t going to be the conclusion.

     And like you, Cody, I loved the finale for the first hour or so, but then started groaning and actually saying “no no no no!” to the screen at a certain point when it became clear what was happening. Even then, I was hopeful that at the very very end there might be one final disturbing twist that would leave us with a “holy $#|*!” feeling, knowing that was the real conclusion of it all. If only.

     I will defend and praise Lost for its journey, but I think the damage of that finale is that it doesn’t make me want to watch it again, which I might have, otherwise. My girls are at an age where they might have liked to see that, but even with that great journey I had, I’m hesitant to take it again knowing where it leads. If the ending had been confusing, mysterious, uncertain, or otherwise not what it actually was, I think I’d be eager to take the trip again.

     Another show that apparently was flying by the seat of its pants like that was the more recent (i.e., not 1978) Battlestar Galactica. They didn’t expect the new version to go much beyond its intro film, and had to kind of make it up as it went along. But I think that other than a few weaker arcs, it was fantastic and definitely stuck its landing much better than Lost. I can’t recall BSG ever being mentioned on MPW, but you guys should check it out. One of my all-time favorite shows, no doubt, with terrific writing and acting. GCR, you must have seen that, right?

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     • Bears , Beets, Battlestar Galactica….

       Yes it has been seen and digested and a definite part of my geekdom.

       My issue with LOST is that it had every chance to go down as one of the greatest shows of all time. Talk about squander. I still have every intention of binging it with my children and their friends some rainy weekend. Watching their intrigue grow into conspiracy. Watching them switch from Jack , to Locke, to Sawyer. To be disgusted with Sayids justification of torture , and to openly weap at Charlie’s redemption story.

       I still love LOST.

       Not as much as I did but it’s still a part of what makes me me. There is a glut of creative writing , outlines for novels etc siting in files that are wholly inspired by that damn show.

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       • Not Penny’s Boat #Brilliant #Season3 #ThroughtheLookingGlass

         I will never stop loving LOST. And as soon as my firstborn is old enough for it (getting close), we are going to watch the whole thing straight through.

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8. Date night; A couple of Big Mac’s with fries and shakes, then “The Founder”.

   I thought this was a fairly entertaining project. I don’t understand people who rate the likability of a movie on whether or not the main character is likable or not. People are both good and bad. Why do we insist that our characters be one or the other? And that’s probably what I liked most about “The Founder”. It represented the good and the bad. We could see the situation from both sides of the fence. Cheering for the underdog who never gave up while also mourning with the underdogs who were just no match for one man’s ambition.

   7/10

   Also; “Lion”.

   I’m not basing any part of my rating on the gorgeous good looks of Dev Patel. Just wanted to get that out there. This is a great story about the plight of one lost boy in India. Indian children have been in peril for so many years now. How is this STILL going on? Dev Patel brings every ounce of his beautiful self. What I mean to say is that there is excellent filming, acting, and pacing here. I heard a lot of sniffling in the afternoon showing that I went to. That said, I didn’t feel like this movie was overly manipulative. Pretty straight up harrowing. Also Dev Patel.

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   • See, I thought that little boy in that movie was about the cutest thing ever (which makes his plight that much more harrowing), but apparently that would be Dev Patel. ?

     Jenifer, what was your rating for Lion (adjusted for Pateleumonia, of course)?

     A similar malady afflicts me when Hailey Atwell is on screen – Atwellicitis.
     ?

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9. Big props to Ryan for The Young Pope shout out!

   I love that show. I’m going to go sip a Cherry Coke Zero and watch episodes 3 & 4.

   Ah, the papacy…..

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10. Super Bowl ad for A Cure for Wellness… brilliant!
    😀

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11. Arghh….. by all that is Holy, will someone please correct Karl’s continual use of false movie trivia! Despite the many months that have passed, he’s just as wrong now as when he last stated it: High Noon was most definitely not the first movie to try to match “real time”; not only did Hitchcock beat it by 4 years with Rope. that movie was also the first film that was edited to appear as a single shot.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_shot_(film)

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12. Hi Friends,
    We got word (from back channels) that some people found Ep. 223 (this one) offensive, so we respond in our latest episode: MPW on Race!

    https://moviepodcastweekly.com/movie-podcast-weekly-ep-226-lion-2017-and-rings-2017/

    I know … Scary, right?
    J

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