6 thoughts on “Movie Podcast Weekly Ep. 310: First Man (2018) and Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) and A Star Is Born (2018) and Apostle (2018) and Stephanie (2018) and The Creepy Line (2018)”

1. I’m with Karl at 8.5 for First Man. I really loved most of it, even some of the slower family stuff, and I appreciated getting the more intimate, somewhat claustrophobic feel of the astronauts on their missions. Really felt the danger of those moments. Also, it’s a shoo-in at the Oscars for Best Sound Editing. Some amazing work there.

   As far as the flag thing, it was a giant leap for MANKIND, not just The United States. Good grief.

   More later on El Royale and Apostle…

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2. I’m with Andy on Bad Times at the El Royale. Don’t let the length deter you. It keeps your interest throughout with new information and unexpected moments and revelations. I didn’t quite love the last 20-30 minutes of it as much as the rest, in particular one moment that felt very laborious. But regardless, it’s a super fun experience. Definitely on the edge of being a ripoff of Tarantino, Hitchcock, and the Coen Bros., but well-done enough that, assuming you love Tarantino, Hitchcock, and the Coen Bros., you’ll probably love this, too. 8.5

   I’m NOT with Ryan on Apostle, though. I loved the premise, and yes, it is intense and has some good atmosphere and nicely horrific moments. But what ruined it for me was Dan Stevens. Now, I really liked him in Downton Abbey, and in the 2-3 other things I’ve seen him in since, and I appreciate him trying to stretch into something that’s different. But playing this kind of role just didn’t work for him. Super over-acted in terms of his scowly expression and angry demeanor, which is layed on REAL thick right from the start. Not sure if that was him, or the director telling him to look more angry, but I did not buy him in that kind of role, the way he did it. Picture someone like Hugh Grant trying to do that, and you’ll know what I mean. And, what made it worse is that it even works against the plot… At one point, the cult leader knows that someone has infiltrated, and he instructs his gang of thugs to find out who it could be. Gee, do you think it might possibly be that super scowly guy who they’ve seen sneaking around everywhere?? And when it came down to it, the story is really thin, too. There’s one main idea that’s kind of cool, as far as what’s going on, but once that’s known (pretty early on), there’s really little else of interest built around that. J, you’ll probably like it for some of its horror elements, but it is nowhere near as good as things like Mandy or The VVitch. 6.5

   I’m more with J on A Star is Born. Lady Gaga was a given, but I was surprised how great Bradley Cooper was, not just as a singer/actor, but directing. I appreciated his choice of focusing more on the characters than the audiences, and some of the big moments (like the one J alludes to) were really effective and powerful. I don’t expect this will win every Oscar like Ryan predicted, but it should definitely be nominated for several. 9

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3. Underrated comedy bit in this episode: Jay keeps telling everyone, “Orto, and thanks,” but nobody responds or reacts at all. Karl and Ryan were absent for the original “Orto” episode (310), and both have said that they never listen to the show. So they don’t know what’s going on, beyond maybe inwardly speculating that Jay is learning to speak Esperanto, or finally losing his marbles, or something like that. Meanwhile, Andy was present for the introduction of “Orto” to the MPW lexicon, but Andy has amply demonstrated that he doesn’t listen to the show even when he’s recording it. So it’s no real surprise that Andy doesn’t react to it either.

   This would all be 10 times as funny if Ep. 310 were one of the Lost Episodes. Then Jay would just be saying, “Orto, and thanks,” every 10 or 15 minutes and not even the listeners would know what was going on. You blew it by actually releasing Ep. 310, Jay.

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   • Also, although I would like nothing more than to imagine one of my bewildered grandmothers trying to figure out how to listen to a congratulatory message on a random episode of MPW, all five of my grandmothers (the two I was born with, the one we discovered when my mother learned about her birth mother for the first time a few years back, and the two I married into) have passed away. Gee, Jay, thanks for rubbing about a five-gallon bag of salt into that open wound. While you’re at it, why don’t you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?

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4. Ryan using the rope-a-dope was awesome! Let Jay tire himself out with his barrage of ineffective shots which Ryan just withstood, then when Jay had nothing left, Ryan comes out with the 1-2 knockout combo of The Village and The Apostle shots. It was a beautiful thing to listen to.

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   • *Tips cap to a fellow sophisticated human, saunters off*

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