26 thoughts on “Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 256: It (2017) and MPW’s Summer Movie Recap 2017 and Fall / Winter Preview 2017”

1. “KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!“

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   • Also:

     KARL: For me that movie’s a 10. It’s one of the best Star Treks movies ever.

     Fixed that for you, Karl.

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     • Also, BIG THANKS to Jason for working overtime to post this episode so soon after it was recorded. My brother told me a couple of months back about the Fathom Events 35th anniversary screening of The Wrath of Khan. At the time, I said, “Cool. I’m going to take my daughter and go see a great movie in theaters.” Then, because I am lazy, I did not create any sort of reminder to myself.

       Fast forward to this morning, when I am out for a run and listening to the podcast. Karl starts to review Star Trek II and in my head I say, “Holy Andy’s meep noise! Did I miss it?! Crap!” And then a second later, “Wait! There were going to be two screenings! What’s the date today? It might not be too late!” And then a few minutes after that Karl gets to the part where he starts talking about how there is going to be a second screening on Wednesday, and inside I’m all, “Yeaaaaaaah, baby!”

       As soon as I got home, I checked the Fathom Events showtimes, found a local theater, and grabbed some tickets. Tonight, my 13-year-old daughter, who recently watched the ENTIRE RUN of original Star Trek episodes with me (all 79 of them — thank you, Netflix) is going to see The Wrath of Khan in a movie theater with her dad! And Movie Podcast Weekly helped me NOT FORGET (which would have resulted in my winning the Worst Dad of 2017 prize). THANK YOU, Movie Podcast Weekly!

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       • How very Scrooge-y of you! What an inspiring story of redemption and a great reminder to us all for better living!

         Thanks for sharing that Cody!

         I also give thanks for the timely release of topical podcasting. Yay The Producer!

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     • Amen!

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2. Jason, that is so funny that you mentioned me when talking about The Truman Show. Maybe it is just because this is such a huge part of my childhood but this for me is one of my personal all time favorites. As soon as the music starts I get the chills. And if you listen to what he says at the end (before he goes through the door) it just bumps this up to a perfect movie for me. So creative and as entertaining as can be.

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3. Cody – you are such a geek.

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   • If that’s coming from a lepidopterist/particle physicist/diesel mechanic/cab driver, then I’ll take it as a compliment. 🙂 If it’s coming from some other Andy, then I guess it’s probably also a compliment.

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4. 23 minutes into this podcast… And I want to bash my head against the wall. Let me explain something: it is not “this generations” job to define what is it isn’t offensive… It is not the last generation, it was not Tipper Gore, was not the McCarthy Trials, and will never be the job of social justice warriors whinging about their feelings because they have a right to feel but u have a right to not give a hoot. Andy is wrong… Actually, so is Ryan in his hopes to recognize his “privelege” as a straight white guy living in the Midwest, because if you spend enough time you will grovel beneath the weight if implied guilt.

   It’s not a sign if our “progress as a society”, it’s just the latest in the next round of a struggle that has existed since the beginning of our fight for freedom. The freedom of speech. And that attack comes from every side: morality, guilt, shame, accusations, villification, sacred cows, and on and on.

   Freedom of speech .

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   • I’m in full agreement that Andy’s usually wrong. 😉

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5. You guys are killimg me on Ozark… better than Breaking Bad. Oy. Jesus wept.

   I loved loved loved that pilot episode, but it was the exact scene you guys talked about in episode two that brought it down hard.

   *** SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER ***

   The idea that he could talk those redneck criminals out of the millions in cash that they already had in hand was DUMB ABSURD RIDICULOUS. No f’ing way. That felt soooooo false. They’d have beat him up and thrown him in the river before he got three words out. And to make it worse, the one character (the girl) who could have maybe appreciated where he was coming from, because she was pretty smart and savvy, was the one person encouraging them to just kill him and take the money. Was it reverse psychology on her part??? Ahhh, that’s the only out for me, but I still don’t buy it.

   The show was still enjoyable overall, and Jason Bateman is terrific in that role, but I find the writing very uneven, and at times unbelievable (beyond usual exaggerated unbelievable). Especially everything related to those rednecks, but also some things with their family situation. And it started to get very stale in that setting after a few episodes.

   This is “cult of the new.” Breaking Bad will endure as the much better show.

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   • I agree that for me they need to smarten up the rednecks part of the story soon or my suspension of disbelief is going to wane.

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     • The suspenders on my disbelief snapped off during that episode. I was able to staple them together enough to enjoy the rest of it, to some extent. But the pants of my disbelief remained sagging, and there may have been some crack visible. 😀

       I hereby apologize for extending that metaphor beyond its safe limits.

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       • That made me laugh out loud.

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         • Hey guys – clearly you haven’t finished the entire series. They aren’t REDNECKS. They are HILLBILLIES. Totally different. They actually make that distinction.

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       • You do NOT apologize for that! It was brilliant.

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   • Eric, I disagree with your read on that bathroom scene…

     ********SPOILERS FOR Ozark**********

     We learn as the season goes on that the Langmore’s in reality are different than their reputation might suggest. They are not the murderous, completely morally corrupt family the town portrays them to be. Ruth’s father is the outlier–he seems truly evil–but that’s why they all fear him so much. For the most part, when the cards are on the table, the Langmore’s are more talk than action when it comes to violence.

     I know what you’re going to say, that Russ and Boyd were going to kill Marty in the end and were only stopped by Ruth… BUT, we never actually see it play out so we can’t say for sure whether or not Russ would have gone through with it (we know Boyd was just there to do whatever Russ wanted). And even if they would have gone through with it, this would not have been a crime in cold blood just to get the money. At this point, Russ was in a dark place psychologically… far from where he was when then season began… having had his heart broken, not just for losing his lover but also for losing his chance at legitimacy with the bait and tackle shop, and also being fearful that his secret could get out.

     Which brings us to Ruth, who is BY FAR my favorite character on the show… one of my favorite written characters on television, period. Yes, she ultimately killed Russ and Boyd, but she only does it to save Marty. So she’s not killing for the sake of killing, she’s doing it to save a life. And not just Marty’s life. Why does she care about Marty so much? He’s a nice guy, sure, but he’s the only person who has ever given her a chance. By giving her a job and, eventually, increased responsibility by having full reign to run the strip club, he gave Ruth what she craved the most – a chance at a legitimate life. Just like Russ, what she ultimately wants is a chance at a normal life.

     This family is not a group of heartless criminals or cold-blooded killers. They’re a family struggling with poverty, mired by rumors and an unfair reputation, likely earned mostly by the one truly evil member of their family (Ruth’s father). I agree that the motivation of holding millions of dollars in cash is huge, but there’s still an equally huge gap to cross over to murder. Then, once Marty starts spinning his smart words of dirty money, trust issues, etc etc, it seals the deal.

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6. As I start to watch the first episode of Ozark, please consider these viewing options:
   1. Ken Burn’s documentary on Vietnam starts on Sunday. His series are always compelling.
   2. For Halloween: please re-watch Salem’s Lot, the TV series from 1979. I would love to hear your review. It’s one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Just think about hearing tapping on a window – doesn’t it give you the creeps?
   Thanks for putting out a great podcast each and every week.
   Take care.

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     • Also – directed by Tobe Hooper.

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7. No matter how many times he does it, it still cracks me up when Andy just hangs up.

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   • Don’t encourage him Andrew. He’ll start thinking he’s actually funny. And we all know better. 😉

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8. Fun show, fellas. Glad to finally have it back in my podcast queue.

   Just a few quick words on Ozark… my wife and I finished it last night. Oh man, that season finale was super good. I love Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, but Ruth Langmore is my favorite character. I love that girl so much, she’s such a complex character. Without getting into spoilers, I’ll just reference the scene when Wendy drives Ruth to prison to visit her father (about midway through the season) as the moment that sealed the deal for me with her. So good.

   As luck would have it, I actually caught Lego Jurassic World: The Indominus Escape a few months ago with my youngest son. It’s not bad… amusing enough for a short film, with some clever integration of the Lego stuff into the Jurassic Park theme. Definitely not on the same level as their feature length efforts, but worth a watch for Lego and/or Jurassic Park fans given its short runtime. It’s in the 5-5.5 out of 10 range, for me.

   It… so good. It might not top my end-of-year top 10 horror list, but it will likely be the horror movie from 2017 that I end up rewatching most into the future. As good as the good parts are, though, there are three issues I had with the film. Without getting into specifics, I had issues with some of the CGI/stylistic choices in the film… nothing really major, but some stuff that just bothered me a little. I also had some issues with the pacing, not just for the film’s structure overall but also within some specific scenes where I wish there was a little more patience exhibited in building tension. My last issue has to do with how Bev was handled towards the end. Again, I’ll wait for the HMP review to get into spoilers/specifics.

   That said, the stuff that’s good is GREAT, and there’s a lot of it. I love how the film portrays childhood fear of adults, just as equally as the threat from “It.” And there are so many great little moments that could be easily missed… I feel like this is a movie that will stand up brilliantly on rewatch, and most likely will get better with age and repeat viewings.

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9. MPW,

   It is well-known that I am a pretty conservative film goer, surrounded by family and friends in Idaho that are even more conservative in their movie tastes. Factor in that I get freaked out pretty easily (but kind of like it if it isn’t too disturbing), and am a mere babe when it comes to horror cinema. And yet I still am feeling the urge to check out “It” in theaters. I think it is the “Stand By Me”, “Goonies”, and “Stranger Things” vibe–all stuff I love. What do you think? Should I give it a go?

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   • Can’t tell you anything about It, Vance, as I haven’t seen it (or seen It, if you will). If you like Stranger Things, though, then I say why not just rewatch the first season while waiting for Season Two? The first season is 100 percent rewatchable. There’s a degree of suspense missing, sure, but Holy Just as Good the Second Time, Batman. I haven’t watched it since it was brand new, and I’d say (roughly) a year is about the perfect amount of time to have gone by between viewings. And now it will all be totally fresh in my head when Season Two gets here. (Hurry up, Season Two!)

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     • I just might give it another go before the new season rolls out. I have already watched it twice. Once by myself and then again when I convinced my wife to join me. It has been a while though…

       One roadblock is “The Vietnam War” PBS series. I need to get through that first, as it expires off my PBS Roku channel early in October. Maybe “Stranger Things” will happen after that.

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