Episode 5: Hulk

Hulk,

Podcast friends: I’ve got a great new episode for you this week, as Ryan Steans from the Signal Watch returns to discuss Hulk, the 2003 Ang Lee/Eric Bana film about how hard it is to blow up frogs for a living. The film is entirely populated by furious people, and in this episode, you’ll see what kind of effect that has on our personal outlooks.

You don’t have to actually watch Hulk in order to enjoy the podcast episode, and in fact it might work out better for you to avoid it. We walk through the movie and give you all the context you need to appreciate this absolutely terrible and unintentionally amusing mess of a movie.

The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Overcast, Audible, Stitcher and lots of other places. Come check it out!

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3: Violence, Feelings and Pop Music

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

So here we are, at the end of an actual era. The big current-events story that I’ve been tracking for a while now is the transition of James Gunn from the writer and director of some of the best Marvel movies, to a role that’s probably going to end up as the writer and producer of all the best DC movies.

James Gunn wasn’t the first writer to make a really good Marvel movie — in my opinion, that was Joss Whedon, in 2012’s The Avengers — but he was the first one who showed that you could do it as a stand-alone film.

If you look at the movies that came after The Avengers — Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier — you can see that Joss Whedon’s work on the first Avengers film didn’t have much of an impact on the rest of the line.

It took Gunn writing and directing Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014 for everybody at Marvel Studios to say, “oh, that’s how you do it!” and start making better films. Basically, the formula is: turn the lights up, create funny characters with interesting backstories, give the lead characters an emotional story arc that drives the action, be visually inventive, and above all, make it fun. In other words: make a Pixar movie.

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Episode 4: Batman Forever

Batman, Batman Forever,

Ah, I remember the good old days, when the tail wagged the dog so hard it had to go and get a spare dog.

This week on the podcast, Ryan Roe from the Muppet movie podcast Movin’ Right Along joins me to discuss Batman Forever, the 1995 film that set new standards for movie merchandising. We talk about the stars of the film — McDonalds and Kenner Toys — and also, to some extent, the actual movie.

Batman Forever features an unforgettable Jim Carrey as not-quite-the-Riddler and a shouty Tommy Lee Jones as not-really-Two-Face, and involves no actual crime-fighting on Batman’s part. I thought that stories were supposed to feel perfect and powerful, but this turns out to be the other kind.

The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Overcast, Audible, Stitcher and lots of other places. Come check it out!

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Episode 3: Steel

Hulk,

“First of all,” my guest says, already backpedaling two minutes into the episode, “I didn’t know that your intro was going to say ‘pivotal moments in the history of superhero movies.'”

But you take your pivots where you find them, and in this week’s episode of the Superheroes Every Day podcast, that means Steel, the 1997 Shaquille O’Neal epic that uses a spinoff character from the Superman comics to create something beautiful and utterly goofy.

My guest this week is Anthony Strand from the Muppet movie podcast Movin’ Right Along, and Steel is, non-credibly, one of his favorite movies. We dive head-first into the beautiful mess of this movie, talking about jargon generation, incompetent crime decisions, our new gang program, and the trouble with having a romantic story in which the two lead characters can only touch each other by their fingertips.

This is a high-energy episode with lots of enthusiastic recreations of the movie’s terrible dialogue, which need to be heard to be believed.

The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Overcast, Audible, Stitcher and lots of other places. Come check it out!

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Episode 2: X-Men: First Class

X-Men, X-Men: First Class,

You know, things were a lot easier, back when you could tell whether someone was a Nazi or not a Nazi. Then X-Men: First Class came along, and all of a sudden, everything was on the table.

Luckily, this week, Trevor Bolliger and I dissect First Class, the 2011 violent rom-com about doomed romance on the high seas, and we try to make sense of this thrilling and utterly bizarre reboot.

We discuss Nazi coins, nuclear missiles, and most importantly: What is happening with women in this movie?

To make things easier for you, the podcast episodes are split into three parts according to the Syd Field three-act structure, and released separately over the course of the week. The episodes are fast, funny and full of surprises, and if you haven’t tried it yet, then my prediction is that you’ll love it.

The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Overcast, Audible, Stitcher and lots of other places. Welcome to my facility!

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New podcast! Episode 1: Man of Steel

Man of Steel, ,

You know, you hear about superhero movie fatigue, but nobody ever gets superhero movie podcast fatigue, right? Impossible!

So I’m thrilled to announce the launch of the Superheroes Every Day podcast, a weekly endeavour discussing pivotal moments in superhero movie history (mostly the terrible ones).

The first episode is about Man of Steel, the 2013 Zack Snyder / Henry Cavill reboot which landed on our planet and made everything worse. My guest is Ryan Steans from the Signal Watch podcast, and we have a funny and insightful discussion about how hot Henry Cavill is, how much Krypton sucks, why we shouldn’t have the concept of “cool” anymore, and why people are not actually afraid of things that we don’t understand.

For your listening convenience, the episodes are split into three parts according to Syd Field’s three-act structure, and released on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The podcast is currently available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, Overcast, Stitcher, iHeart Radio and YouTube!

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Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Believe in Yourself and Be True to Your Friends, and You Can Accomplish Anything

Shazam! Fury of the Gods,

Finally! They’ve made a movie with a positive message that we just don’t see often enough: believe in yourself and be true to your friends, and you can accomplish anything.

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Superman III 4.32: The Game… and How to Play It

Superman III, , ,

Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight Outfit), Princess Leia Organa (Boushh Disguise), Admiral Ackbar, Squid Head, Chief Chirpa, Logray (Ewok Medicine Man), Klaatu, Weequay, General Madine, Ree-Yees, Gamorrean Guard, Emperor’s Royal Guard, Rebel Commando, Biker Scout, Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard Disguise), Bib Fortuna for fuck’s sake, and Nien Nunb.

That’s the list of 17 action figures that Kenner made in 1983 to tie-in with Return of the Jedi. There are at least four figures in that collection that don’t even have proper names; they’re just like “Rebel Commando” and “Biker Scout”, and Kenner expected people to buy them anyway, which we did.

You know who’s not on that list? Wicket W. Warrick, the cutest of an entirely cute species, an Ewok so adorable that they gave him a middle initial. Kenner didn’t release a Wicket action figure until 1984. That’s how confident they were, that they could keep Wicket in the tank, and hold onto him until next year.

Meanwhile, you know how many action figures they made for Superman III? Find out the answer after the jump.

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Superman III 4.31: The Other Worst Scene

Superman III, , , ,

It was never going to be funny, of course. “Funny” is not the issue; we’ve moved beyond “funny” as a concept.

And yeah, it was always going to be offensive, and insulting to the audience, and generally off-putting. That is a matter of grim inevitability.

But at least it would have made some kind of motherfucking sense.

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Superman III 4.30: As the World Turns

Superman III, , ,

“Whoa, Dwight, slow down!” urges Morgan Edge, president of Galaxy Communications, to a high-school age visitor that he is inexplicably responsible for. “Kent may be smooth-as-vanilla on the air, but off-camera he’s no electric thrill!”

Dwight Decker is a member of his school’s journalism club, who’s traveled sixty miles to Metropolis for an interview with Clark Kent. He hasn’t tried to contact Clark before this; he just showed up at WGBS in the hope of grabbing a few minutes with his news idol.

“Mr. Kent — you and I need to rap!” Dwight cries, sighting his prey down the hall. But when he turns the corner, Mr. Kent has vanished, still unrapped. In the next issue, Dwight tries hanging around outside Clark’s apartment building, but is disappointed once again.

You may be wondering what role Dwight has to play in the ongoing saga of Superman’s comic book adventures. The answer is: none at all.

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