The Monuments Men Review

Hey, this is Greg Berger and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Today on MRI Weekly

we discuss if Shia LaBeouf has lost his mind,

the latest Avengers, Star Wars, and DC casting,

and a review of George Clooney's latest film

Monuments Men. All that and more coming up on

MRI Weekly. Hello and welcome to MY Weekly, the

podcast dedicated to the movie week that was.

I'm one of your hosts, Dan Clark, and joining

me as always is Kevin Optimus Solo. How's it

going, man? Fantastic. Long time no talk to,

I guess. It seems like it. Yeah, yeah. We apologize

for being off last week with the Super Bowl craziness

and all that. It was a little bit difficult,

but we're back and better than ever. Hopefully.

Like to think so. And for those joining us for

the first time or those return visitors what

we are at my weekly as we Begin each podcast

with a discussion of what we've been watching

recently then we'll move into movie news and

then to our main attraction and our main attraction

for this week is George Kinley's latest film,

his World War II film, Monuments Men, and then

we'll finish up with our credit conversation

and a look at what's coming out in the theater,

as well as DVD and Blu -ray. So starting things

off here, we'll get into what we've been watching

recently. So Kev, have you been watching anything

in the past few weeks? I feel like I have watched

more than this, but maybe I'm completely losing

my mind. Let's see. My roommates were watching

the Lorax the other day, and I had never seen

that. So I saw most of the Lorax. Did not catch

the ending, but I don't feel like I missed too

much. I mean, I guess it is what it is, but it

just seems like a little too run of the mill

for me. Didn't really stand out too much. Outside

of that... I saw from Redbox, I saw Las Vegas,

obviously with Morgan Freeman and De Niro and

Michael Douglas, et cetera, and Kevin Kline.

You know, from the previous, that movie looked

like it was gonna be at least somewhat funny.

You think so with that cast. It had a good cast,

it looked like, hey, we're gonna make fun of

ourselves and kind of play off of the whole hangover

thing and do it like an old people's version,

and it had potential. Not so much. I mean, yeah,

they're good actors, so you can't complain about

the acting and that, but it just wasn't funny

enough. It was a little heavy on the sentimental

and the... Just try to play two emotions a little

too much for me and then that type of movie and

that's not what I was looking for Maybe that's

my fault for expecting more hilarity But I think

I think I'm letterbox I gave it like us a star

and a half So yeah, I wasn't super impressed

by that Saw a couple movies in the theater. Obviously

one of them will be our main attraction, which

I'll save that for later the other one I saw

was Labor Day with Josh Brolin um and I gotta

say that I you have not seen that one right yet

right no I have not okay I enjoyed 85 percent

of that movie um I like Josh Brolin as an actor

um and you know his uh being paired up with um

oh goodness I'm gonna forget her name Kate Winslet

cable yeah, yeah great pairing The younger kid

also did a fairly good job. I thought I had you

know kind of a unique story obviously It's based

on I believe a book of same name possibly You

know so they had good actors that I was looking

forward to and I think they did some some good

performances there I just feel like and I don't

know Without reading the book. I don't know if

this is the author of the books faults and they

were just kind of Translating that into the screen

or if they change stuff and if it's the screenwriters

fault I would guess I would have to look more

into it, but I don't feel like I will But I just

feel like they did this great job of setting

up these characters And there's some decent performances

and you kind of got a weird situation going on

for those of you that don't know what Labor Day

is about It's basically about Josh Brolin's character

who has broken out of jail or prison, what have

you, and has found his way into this single mother's

home with her son. And it just kind of sets up

this relationship between basically this convict

and this two -person family and how they deal

with that, et cetera. I just feel like it was

an interesting setup and everything, but I feel

for the last 10 to 15 percent of the movie they

just completely abandon every part of these characters

that they had spent developing for the last hour,

hour and a half. And I just feel like the way

the actions that take place towards the end and

the decisions that are made totally go against

what they had built these characters up as and

I don't find it believable that the characters

would have made the decisions that they make

in this film. And like I said, I don't know if

it's the screenwriter or the actual author's

fault. And they just kind of got careless at

the end. But it's almost like. I don't know,

it's basically building something up really nicely

and really well for, you know, like I said, almost

almost an hour and a half to two hours and then

just completely abandoning everything, all the

work you've done towards the end. That's not

very good. So like I said, I enjoyed 85 percent

of it in the last 15 percent. Just have there's

so many holes and so many problems that it would

take me a long time to get into and I don't feel

like We should do that. Um So yeah, so those

so that was the other one I saw and then obviously

monuments men. So what have you seen in the last

week or so? I also saw a movie in a theater as

well Called that awkward moment. There's review

up on the site at keycast radio .com and it's

For those that aren't aware, it stars Miles Teller,

Michael B. Jordan, and Zac Efron. And it's like

a bro -rom -com. It's kind of like a romantic

comedy with more of like a guy angle to it, I

guess. A guy, sex and the city in a way. It's

OK. I think it is powered mainly by the three

main actors. Even Zac Efron, I think, is pretty

strong on that. I think he's really... getting

away from that Disney status that we pretty much

know him from. But it's just really just plot

wise, just run of the mill, sometimes overly

sentimental when it doesn't really earn it. I

mean, the jokes are funny that the three guys

have a lot of great chemistry. You can tell they're

just ad -libbing a lot and just having fun. And

that's when it's at its best, but it just gets

really predictable. You're always ahead of it,

and you're just waiting for it to catch up. And

I think it just could have done so much more

with what it had. but it's in it the bad part

is to is like the It follows mainly Zac Efron's

character. He's like the main character But the

other characters in it are so much more interesting

dealing with much more interesting stories than

his But unfortunately, I think you know, it's

like Efron. So we're gonna go we're gonna go

his route, but uh Like my old cellar is great

in it and Michael Jordan's pretty good like I

think he struggled a little bit more than the

others because He doesn't really have a comedic

sense as much like it doesn't feel natural for

him But his role a little bit more dramatic too

because he's like dealing with a divorce which

was interesting I thought they could do more

with that because that's something we really

you know this young kid dealing with a divorce

like I said kid but he's like 27 but uh So it

was it was okay. Nothing. You need to rush out

the theater to see also just Speaking of Redbox,

I saw a movie at the Redbox called Thanks for

Sharing starring Mark Ruffalo, Granth Paltrow,

Pink is in this as well. And oh, and the guy's

name just headed down, but it escapes me. The

guy who played Olaf and he was in. Oh, yeah.

Oh, gosh. Find it while I'm talking. Yeah. Yeah

And he like this was pretty good like again nothing

super amazing but a little hidden gem from last

year and what it is is Mark Ruffalo along with

and Tim Robinson is as well and they're like

in this AA force people with sex addition sex

addiction and it kind of goes into their lives

and it's really great blend of you know truly

heartfelt drama with a great bit of comedy. It

meshes those really well. Pink was surprisingly

pretty good in it. She did a pretty solid job.

She's gonna have a huge part in it. But I also

think it's one of, not Zac Efron, but one of

Mark Ruffalo's better performances. And he never

really caught me as a leading man. I think he's

good as like a side character or something like

that. But he was pretty strong. He has a relationship

with Grant Paltrow, and their relationship does

get a little bit unnecessarily quirky at times.

Or there's some of the jokes that they're making

back and forth, just a little bit too on the

nose, a little bit too cute at times. But it's

pretty solid. I was a little bit surprised by

it, because it's really heartfelt. It felt really

real at times and it knew when it Stopped being

funny like it could have been just really slapstick

and really ridiculous, but it it knew how to

balance those out really well, so Something you

know something if you're looking forward because

there's not a lot in the theater right now If

you're looking for something I would advise checking

that out Had a question too for you and I don't

know Like the exact date that you saw this but

I saw in your letterbox that you also had a film

that you saw So far this month that you gave

a five -star rating to and it's an older film

obviously that I Have not seen yet And that was

the movie M Yes from 1931 Yeah Fritz Lang's M

What's the premise on that one? Basically, that

is about this child murderer who is basically

killing kids in this German town. And the city

is basically going crazy trying to find him.

And what's kind of interesting about it is that

you don't necessarily follow one character. It's

really like the reaction of the entire town from

the police to the... the actual other criminals

because what you see is the criminals are getting

together trying to find the guy as well because

they're there. The police are in order to try

to catch him. They're severely cracking down

on their business and stuff like that because

this guy's the killer playing by Peter Laurie

and who's pretty famous for being one of the

most weirdest actors of all time. He's probably

most notably he's in Maltese Falcon. And it's

just it's in a gorgeous film. It looks great

it it holds up it holds up really well because

you realize when they're they're dealing with

like child child murder and At that time like

that's something that was never really approached

and Fritz Lang isn't notoriously one of the best

directors of all time And it's currently I see

this it's on Hulu Streaming I was trying to knock

off some of my Biggest holes, you know lists

of shame type of stuff and this was one on there.

So interesting and I think what really makes

it work too is the story and it In the way it

kind of turns on itself a little bit because

what you it's kind of similar to like something

like clockwork Orange where you're given this

character that does these horrible things? But

by the end he almost comes a little bit sympathetic

without giving too much away based upon the reaction

But it's pretty cool. It's I could see some people,

you know since it's old it's a little bit slow,

but uh Like I think what makes it work too is

the direction of fritz lang and it's gorgeously

shot And then like I said peter lorry is pretty

he's just naturally creepy Like you almost wonder

it's like is this too true to life because the

guy does look like a serial killer um, so I would

I would highly advise checking that out All right.

I'll add that to the ever -growing list. Yeah.

Yeah, that's the bad thing. It's like you the

like I purposely created like a list of shame

and then It never gets smaller. It only gets

bigger. I'm gonna have to have an whole episode

about our list of shame at some point Yeah, yeah,

that'd be a good idea Oh also on my list of shame

that I watched I watched easy rider, which is

streaming on Amazon And I liked it. I I don't

think it Ages completely. Well, it's very much

whereas it's it's a decade on its sleeve if it

feels very much like a 60s like bad drug trip

at times because just with the editing and there'll

be a lot of times where it You'll be in a scene

and then like in which like there'll be frames

of another scene kind of just jolted into that

scene and then you suddenly transition to another

location like as if like you're just moving along

some bad drug trip. You know, Easy Ride is pretty

classic, obviously, with Dennis Hopper and whatnot.

I mean, I didn't love it. I can understand its

importance, though. It's one of those movies

where it's like, OK, I'm personally not going

to find this as one of my favorite films, but

I can see how it kind of pushed film along and

it was experimental and did things and approached

topics that, you know, weren't really being approached

at the time. Think it's like one of those it's

more of like an academic watch because you're

just looking for You know on it on that end more

so than enjoyment, but I can understand why people

love it so much And I'll just finish off with

this film. It's kind of a little bit related

to easy writer in some ways It's called this

is actually another 2014 film Currently available

on demand. It's called 12 o 'clock boys. I actually

have been really looking forward to this ever

heard a lot about it mainly because it's a documentary

about this biker gang type of, not really biker,

but more so dirt bikes. And this actually takes

place in Baltimore City, where I live. And there

are these kids in the city who... spend a lot

of their time on dirt bikes on ATVs in the middle

of the city just driving around and obviously

causing a lot of havoc and it kind of goes into

that subculture and specifically this kid named

pug who is you know young he's about eight or

nine when the film starts off and he really wants

to be a 12 o 'clock boy and it kind of follows

his story along and the the issues between the

subculture issues between the 12 o 'clock boys

and how that splits off with the rest of the

community and It's it was really good. I highly

recommend it I I feel like I'm a little bit biased

because it's you know because it's Something

that I'm aware of beyond just this documentary

but it's available on demand like I mentioned

and it I think it's really it reminds me of like

a combination of like Like I almost like an updated

version of hoop dreams if you've ever seen that

documentary and but kind of the opposite end

of it where instead of someone like trying to

become better because of Football or basketball

they're kind of being uh dreaming of something

not necessarily as positive But uh, it's it's

fascinating and it takes place over like three

or four years as you follow follow this kid pog

and it's just His transition and seeing him start

us as a young a kid who's like pretty sweet and

then like turn into a really hardened and kind

of sad, sad, sad person. It's a little bit depressing

and it puts a lot in perspective. So I would

highly recommend that. Cause like I said, it's

February, not a lot in the theater right now.

Though right now there's actually a decent amount,

but if you're looking for something to watch,

I would throw that in. All right, anything else

before we take a break and get into the movie

news? Nope. Alright, we'll take a break and we

come back. We'll be discussing the latest movie

news and When we are growing apparently a lot

of news happened. So what to catch up on well

in a bit Hello pop culture connoisseurs to gain

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with that punish your body count twice a month

on Geekcast radio All right, and welcome back

we're gonna be getting the news like we always

do with a look at this past weekends box office

and It's official. We have our first blockbuster

of the year with the release of the Lego movie.

It kind of dominated the box office this past

weekend, ranking in about 69 million dollars.

It's coming in second place. Not too bad for

a solid opening for a World War II drama. The

Monuments Men coming in with 22 million. And

previously the number one for the last three

weeks, I believe, actually right along finally

was over claimed and dropped down to number three

followed by frozen and lone survivors still is

up there and awkward moment at number six what's

interesting about frozen is that with this past

weekend it also passed Despicable me too as the

number one animated film of 2013. I guess they

still count it. Yes For even though it's getting

paid in 2014. They still counted towards 2013.

So those box office people. Yeah Yeah, I saw

that the other day when they were like literally

a few like hundred dollars away from each other

And something else we might do I guess I haven't

talked about this beforehand But now that we're

on a fresh year, we can track the the yearly

leaders as we go through The box office so we'll

talk a little bit about the yearly Numbers right

after we talk about the weekend ones, but yeah

Lego movie um question for you were you Expecting

it to do that good $69 million? Oh, geez. No,

not that. I didn't think it'd do that. I figured

it'd be number one, but I thought more would

be like $45, $50, but $69 million for this time

of year is pretty incredible. And there's just

all the hoopla about that. It's just everywhere.

People are just praising it. I know they've already

signed on for a sequel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I really

want to see it. It wasn't this and Money Moments

Men was my anticipated movies of the year. So

I just. I haven't had the chance and I always

feel weird seeing a kids animated movie by myself

So I'm like, I don't know. It's just I don't

be that creepy guy that comes in the animated

movie Hopefully soon. I'll check it out. You

just got to take like a notebook with you And

then people will just assume that you're just

doing a piece on it. It's like a t -shirt like,

you know, I'm yeah like wear like I don't know

some glasses around your neck like on the little

lanyard ones and Get your notebook that and like

writing like a sharpie like a critic on the top

of it good idea the also the It seems like we're

getting a lot of bombs this year also opening

this past weekend was on vampire Academy and

Yeah, and that that opened at number seven with

only three million dollars and no budget release

for that, but I'm assuming it's a decent amount

and I'm actually going to say thank you, America,

for not going to see that movie because, I mean,

it's unfair to judge because I haven't seen it,

but it's called Vampire Academy, so I'm just

going to judge it on its title like you're not

supposed to. Are we nearing or have we already

now seen the end of the zombie craze and the

supernatural craze and the undead craze? Has

that peaked already? And I'm not saying it's

fair to base it off of the 2014 films that we've

seen so far. But if you look at Vampire Academy,

not opening very well, eye -tanked. There's just

been a few of those types within that genre that

have done bad. Is that just a product of them

being bad movies? Or are we starting to maybe

go into a different... Shift here as far as the

the mass appeal of I know, you know everyone

still likes walking dead and you know There's

still remnants of that time period but are we

are we seeing a little bit of a change? Um, I

think I think it's I think we are seeing this

happened this like twilight effect is kind of

coming to an end because Look like last year

when we talked about all the bombs of 2013 How

many of them were like trying to repeat what

twilight did and I think it's a combination of

a The fads gone and the movies aren't very good.

Yeah, twilight wasn't very good either, but I

think it was just this randomness that happened

I guess we'll see with It's probably unfair to

call something like divergence that new movie

coming out with Charlene Woodley I mean, they're

a little bit different But I feel like we're

moving away from the supernatural stuff and more

going towards the things like the Hunger Games

And that's kind of taking its place. So right.

Yeah, I think it is over I think the zombie thing

is still gonna be there because there's always

gonna be fans of zombies But I think the whole

vampire thing is just kind of you know lost it.

Yeah There's only so many ways you can retail

Not retail, but there's only so many variations

of That you can do I guess maybe I'm not saying

there hasn't been good ones. I mean World War

Z was fine last year and and it's still possible

to Do you know a good film or a good TV series

based on that if you're doing it, right? You

can still hit that cord and still draw those

people out But I think we're I think the part

of the phase that we're past is you can't just

throw zombie vampire You know whatever You know

into your title and then just expect people to

come see it exactly exactly Some other notable

notable things the Wolf of Wall Street's across

the hundred million dollar mark Lone Survivors

already been there, but yeah Yeah, yeah anything

else you wanted to make now? Interesting to see

you know we're talking about the maybe one of

the first huge success stories of the year with

the Lego movie But the bombs seemed to keep piling

up a little bit and there was no... Kind of making

up for lost territory for some of those films

that had bad opening or bad second weekends And

then it seems like the list is a little bit piling

up for certain movies I mean we we talked about

I Frankenstein and how that's not even going

to come close. We talked about that last week

Vampire Academy can join that group That one

of the biggest drops this week not that it should

be a surprise at all the Devils do Which also

Took it took a nosedive even more than it had

before almost 70 % decline Luckily apparently

that film didn't cost any money to make But yeah,

it's just interesting a few of the Oscar films

now are dying back down a bit, you know, they

had their little Surge there as all the nominations

got announced I'm sure they'll still be making

some money all the way through until you know,

the Oscars are announced But they came back a

little bit, which I think is also a product of

a few better movies coming out now in February,

but a few other choices so people have those

options. So that was interesting to see. Obviously,

it had an effect animation -wise because we saw

a frozen drop again, even though it's still staying

somewhat strong. We saw a nut job drop. So obviously

the Lego movie hurt that a little bit. Anything

that surprised you overall besides the amount

of success that the Lego movie had? Actually,

Monument Men did better than I expected. I didn't

think it would debut at number two just because...

I don't know. It just doesn't seem like a lot

of film, a film that will appeal to a large audience

because of World War II drama. That's kind of

about saving art, but maybe the cast or just

the intrigue build it up. So that was a little

bit of a surprise to me. So, as I said, besides

maybe just looking at the weeks, I guess we can

kind of track the yearly progress and the yearly

leaders as we go through. I didn't think about

it before because we're kind of entering at the

end of the year, but we're starting fresh, you

know, at the beginning of 2014. So, it's going

to be interesting to see how this list changes

as we go along. And kind of to go along with

that, next week we're going to give you a...

kind of play a game as far as our own box office

predictions. It's not movies that we're saying

are going to be good or great or our favorites

or anything. We're just going to try to predict

which movies will make the most money. So I guess

we can track that as we go out throughout the

year. And since we've had our first month basically

in the books, so far it looks like this as far

as your top five go for the 2014 domestic growths

at the moment. Number five, paranormal activity,

the marked ones, which is Total gross of 32 million

Then we have Jack Ryan shadow recruit at 44 the

nut job at 55 number two the Lego movie at 72

Obviously just opening which is why we were calling

it basically the first blockbuster and then ride

-along currently sits at number one at 105 almost

106 million Thoughts on what we're looking at

so far in 2014 you can tell us a lot there Wow.

I'm assuming that probably by next week that

LEGO Movie will move into number one. So I guess

they're considering Loan Survivor 2013 movie,

because I know that. Yeah. Yeah, which makes

sense. This is not on the list at all. Yeah,

not. I mean, I must have to use it. It makes

me sad that that top five, four, and three, just

a nut job. That movie looked so bad. Yeah, it

just tells you just how how slow we are right

now internal. It'll be like for those people

that like like WWF or I guess WWE now or whatever

it's it'll be like tracking who has the belt

because I remember back in the day when you'd

watch that it would be like one person for a

long time and Then I got to the point like in

the 90s or 2000s where it just seemed like the

belt switched hands like every other time and

then you had someone like What was it David Arquette

or someone like that holding the championship

belt? That's what I feel like that early part

of the year is where it's just every week could

be another number one So right now it's right

along I agree with you that we would assume next

week if we check the yearly Chart that Lego movie

will will be reigning supreme for a little while

or I guess you could look at it like like a CD

or like a song how long can they last at number

one before they get knocked off by somebody else?

So we'll keep track of that anything else at

all for the weekly yearly box. Obviously you

wanted to look at No, what do you want to take

us down this past weekend's headlines? Yeah,

we have some some headlines to go over. Obviously

we missed a week So we're not going to cover

everything that's happened since our last record,

but but we will cover a bit. So apologies if

there's a couple things here and there that might

seem old to you, but we want to at least give

you our thoughts on it. And I guess the first

place where we have to start, which is more than

just the initial story, but also kind of like

we talked about with Paul Walker, some of the

domino effects of it. So let's start obviously

with Philip Seymour Hoffman's passing and then

the connection to what he had been working on

with the Hunger Games. Obviously, Because we're

a movie news podcast we will talk about that

and we're not trying to trivialize or make you

know Not spend enough time or give him the respect

that You know he deserves in this time, but we'll

talk about them the movie effects as well So

what were your thoughts when you when you saw

that headline? I was always shocked. I first

thought it wasn't real like honestly cuz I I

Google I saw it like on Twitter and like that

can't be real so I Googled it and then I found

an article that actually came out earlier in

the week where there was a rumor that he passed

away Which wasn't true. So I'm like, okay goodie.

He didn't die It was just some fake rumor and

then like the Wall Street Journal posted it.

I'm like, well they I don't think they would

post it so that at first it was like disbelief

and then I was just it sucked honestly, it's

just like that it almost makes you angry in a

way because it's it's just Crappy way for someone

like that talented to go out and it's just it

just makes you realize like that guy had so much

more potential and just to kind of Throw it away

and you don't know what drove him to that and

I guess maybe even the saddest part Not even

the movie part is the fact that you know He left

his three kids and a wife now who are without

a father So that's that's probably even the saddest

part of it, but it's just it's tragic which is

it's just definitely something that you didn't

see coming like there's You know there's a lot

of celebrity deaths throughout the year each

year and You know you have I guess different

groups of them you have you know those that are

you know elderly or older that you know don't

come as shocked because you realize that you

know their age etc and then you have like the

ticking time bomb type thing you know like I'm

not trying to make light of this, but if Charlie

Sheen were to die or something like that, the

writing's already been on the wall. So maybe

it doesn't come as quite of a shock. But then

there's these ones that, for me at least, not

knowing him, not being some of those in the inner

circle or whatever that might know what's going

on with him, but just to kind of like the common

person, these types of individuals who just kind

of hit you out of left field. It's just something

you don't expect and it's something, you know,

they're not necessarily old You don't realize

that they had issues or demons that they were

working with etc And it's just like what? You

just don't expect someone like this To just be

gone all of a sudden So it's definitely sad and

like I said, especially for the family that it

leaves behind Relating it back to the movie news

that we cover on a weekly basis is obviously

the effects that the next Hunger Games will have

since that was the most major blockbuster film

that he had been working on. And the interesting

part was that he wasn't done with that. According

to the executives at the company there, there

was one major emotional scene left to shoot.

For him and now obviously they are trying to

come around some type of way to get around that

according to that same executive and this is

a quote His performances and in the movies will

be up to the best of his craft. We feel it will

be a good tribute to him we're going to have

a couple of workaround issues, but the movie

will be creatively whole and Then continuing

the quote you can do digital things you can have

conversations where you're not focusing on him

but the people he's talking to, if it is what

they're calling a major emotional scene and he's

not there to give his brilliant touch to it,

it's a shame. And I can't see it being anything,

but when I'm watching that scene to kind of be

left a little, man, what could this scene have

been? Type situation or you know how much better

with this event if he was able to put his mark

on it But I guess it'll be an interesting Thing

to watch as far as the buzz that comes around

You know that next Hunger Games film Yeah, yeah,

I don't I hope they don't do the digital route

or something like that from what I'm hearing

it I think that would be a mistake. I'd say either

we write it with a different character or something

like that just because it would I don't know

I just fear what it Would be like if it was done

digitally, I mean look at something like Jeff

Bridges and like The Tron's equal and I tried

that it just did not work out Maybe the technology

is better, but still it just would feel I don't

know it would it would It would feel off -putting.

I think even if they did it that way and it looked

better, but uh, I don't know I mean, that's that's

a sad part to Beyond that it's just this how

much work he had left to do and it's just not

gonna happen now So I guess we'll have to see

how they do that and hopefully they can find

a tasteful and a way to be respectful to both

the movie that they're shooting and to the individual

that was involved there. Shifting modes here

a little bit, let's talk about something we always

talk about. Let's talk about some comic book

stuff. Captain America the rumor about it that

the Winter Soldier film will have a post -credit

scene that may directly tie into Avengers 2 Age

of Ultron the rumor being that they will Let

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch show up in that

post -credit scene possibly Which find it interesting

in the article that they feel the need to point

out that that if they do that that it would be

Marvel's way of possibly getting Quicksilver

on screen before Fox gets their version on with

X -Men Days of Future Past. That's completely

to me besides the point. What are your thoughts

of the kind of revealing an early tie into the

next Avengers film? I would assume so in some

ways. If you look at Thor, I felt like that end

credit scene was more, I guess not even end credit

scene, it was like mid credit scene. Didn't feel

like that was leading into the next Avengers

almost felt like that was leading more into either

Guardians or like Avengers 3 So I it seems like

it's on point for what Marvel's done up to this

point for them the shoe hell I guess not you

horn in but for them to throw in Quicksilver

and Scarlet Witch first I could see them doing

that just to kind of you know, hey One up them

as long as he looks better than the pictures.

I've been saving Quicksilver in the new X -Men

movie because he's not looking all that great

there. So they you know, they don't have much

to beat Alright shifting to our next piece of

news here find this one interesting Talks of

a of a new franchise that might be about to to

be birthed here Guy Ritchie, this is the headline

here guy Ritchie and talks for six film series

about King Arthur Warner Brothers had plans for

a King Arthur movie for many years, so the idea

here is that we have a kind of a launching pad,

so to speak, of a possible six -film deal here

involving Guy Ritchie and the Arthurian legend.

What are your thoughts? Are you a fan of the

King Arthur lore and those types of stories?

Do you think this is something that's needed,

something that could be done well, or is this

doomed? I feel like it's almost trying to Make

up for the fact that you know, the Hobbit and

Lord of the Rings are over something like that

I'm not a huge King Arthur person. I mean I like

the legend I mean I actually even like that old

the King Arthur movie that came out in like 2004

or so with Clive Owen I thought that was okay

like a poor man's Lord of the Rings Six movies

for King Arthur that seems like a little Counting

your chickens before they're hatched type of

thing seems like I don't know. It's almost like

I Don't know with with King Arthur. I Am a fan

of King Arthur and that that type of you know

the legendary stories and all the stuff that

goes around with it But it but has been done

so many different ways and so many times now

that To like you said to bite off a six film

type of deal might Come you know might be something

hard to live up to yeah, I can see them doing

I would think I don't see what the problem is

just doing like a one type of film and Seeing

how it goes and you leaving it open to do more

Or maybe they're thinking if they come out right

off the bat and say that it's gonna be you know

This big franchise and try to build it up like

that. Maybe it'll help them out. I don't know

Yeah, I mean that if anything I make if you're

gonna do six things like why not do like a miniseries

or something Yeah, it sounds more to me like

an HBO or a Showtime type thing. Yeah that six

movies. I mean even Yeah, I just to start something

from scratch and go districts six movies. That's

not really yet space upon King Arthur But it's

not like it's in the common people know of it,

but it's not like a huge like rabid fan base

for King Arthur right now, that's gonna You know

climber to go see it. So that's it. That to me

is a huge risk to try to do something like that.

I agree All right. Well, what else is a huge

risk possibly? Letting shy of the buff anywhere

near your movie Has the man lost his damn mind?

Think it's I think it's just an act. I think

it's like you remember when walking Phoenix kind

of went crazy with Yeah with the beard and I

I don't know. I I just feel like it he's trying

to be like avant -garde and Like shocking but

it's just he's not even good at that I don't

I don't hate try the buff. I thought he's fine.

I think I find him funny Sometimes I know people

hate him in the Transformers films, but to me

he's part by far the the most egregious thing

about those movies, but I don't know, maybe just

child star who's been in the long light for too

long and just kind of reacted towards it again,

I don't know. And for those of you who don't

keep up, I guess, on the Shia Labeouf newsfeed,

you know, this is all stemming from accusations

of his plagiarism. And you can look into that

and get all kinds of information, but basically

he was accused of plagiarizing someone else's

work. At first, and I haven't kept up super well,

so I apologize if I'm sounding like an idiot

here, but at first he denied that. And then I

believe at some point then he kind of somewhat

acknowledged parts of it. And then he just kind

of went on to just be very weird about it. He's

like... tweeting stuff about non -stop. He's

doing everything he can to make it more in the

public's eye, I guess. a press conference for

the Nymphomaniac movie that's coming out this

year in the two -part film. He walks out of the

press conference, he shows up with a paper bag

on his head that says, I am not famous anymore

and just has two eye holes in it. He continues

to try to have somewhat of a communication or

interaction with the person who wrote the novel

that he was supposedly plagiarizing. And now

it's kind of leaking over into other celebrities

that are coming. I know Bill Murray recently

made a headline because he kind of called him

out and said that he was an idiot. So we might

have some Shia LaBeouf Bill and Bill Murray back

and forth here. I don't know, but it just. I'll

take Bill Murray. Yeah, it just seems like he's

either putting on this entire act or he legitimately

is somewhat off his rocker. Yeah, he I mean he

he apologized but he plagiarized his apology

and then Right and then he keeps everything he

does like all his tweets or everything that he

can his quotes that he's using or whatever All

are very carefully picked out to be connected

to the idea of plagiarism or this that and the

other so it's like He's not dumb He's he's trying

to be very clever in a way or like you said he's

putting on an act one of the two I don't know

he I think he was even said he's like, oh, it's

just like performance art. I'm like, okay It's

not very it's just I mean, I guess you got to

give him credit the fact that he is successfully

getting people's attention. So Alright, so you

can definitely weigh in on your thoughts on what

exactly is he doing? And is he the other thing

that might be interesting to see is he really

hurting his? career as far as will this scare

people off from, you know, connecting, you know,

bringing him into their projects or their movies,

or is this just, you know, stuff that'll make

him more popular and maybe get him more deals?

I don't know. Be interesting to see that. On

a completely different note, Elton John, we've

had the... Seems like a recent turn and a lot

more people willing to do, you know adapting

musicals or Broadway Plays into film and it looks

like Elton John is trying to turn Joseph and

the amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat into a movie

Thoughts on that possibility It seems fitting

with you know, Noah this year and Exodus that

I know it's not necessarily it's more of a take

because it's a musical but hey I think you're

probably a bigger musical fan than I am, but

John's certainly a musical genius. Yeah, apparently

it's coming from the same studio or company that

did Nomeo and Juliet, and I never saw that, so

I'm not sure what kind of connection that even

has or how they're involved in that. He did a

song for that that actually was nominated for

an Oscar, so they do have a past relationship.

That movie was actually a million times better

than it deserved to be. So we'll see. We'll see.

I mean, we have obviously Jersey Boys and Into

the Woods happening this year. We have possibly

Joseph and Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat coming.

I know there's been rumors for at least a decade

on Wicked eventually being turned into a film.

We'll see if that ever happens. So it's just

interesting, you know, with the success of Chicago

and then, you know, Les Mis and a couple of these

other ones. you know how that genre moves forward

and it seems like there definitely is an audience

for it these days. So that should be interesting

to see how that develops. As far as another headline

that just kind of popped up in the last little

bit here, this I guess is like a reverse casting

call headline because it's news about someone

who won't be in a film. Possibly and that would

be Independence Day 2 which we've talked about

in previous weeks episodes Apparently Will Smith

will not be back for Independence Day 2 Is that

a vital piece of the puzzle for them doing this

film does that kill the film? I know that we

had rumors that we talked about like a couple

months ago that they had done two scripts one

that included him and one that did not But don't

you have to have Will Smith in Independence Day

2 film? I would assume so. I don't think it kills

it completely I think you can still do it, but

I I don't think it's gonna feel very different

without him there. It's I don't know it's gonna

feel a Goldblum and Bill Pullman will be in it

But now they're saying that it's possibly that

it'll go possible that it'll go Playing off of

Smith's grown -up son This is gonna be Jaden

Smith no But that would be hilarious And that

would kill the film. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't

know. I wish he would do it because I want to

see him in those movies again. To me, I think

that's what that movie made, broke him into a

huge star. And he did Fresh Prince, but I think

that made him into a movie star. So I think he'd

be grateful enough to come back to it, but maybe

he's just doing other things. Could be. Yeah,

it's kind of interesting because, you know, like

you said, that is kind of one of the films. thrust

him onto the stage as far as a legit actor so

it's weird that he wouldn't want to be connected

to it again but you can't necessarily always

blame people for not wanting to be you know parts

of sequels remakes reboots etc because there

could be a lot more to it speaking of sequels

remakes and reboots and all this kind of stuff

some announcements of some sequels that are now

getting the green light that we can expect to

see here and See what kind of reactions you guys

all have to these Films being given a sequel

first of all the one that we already talked about

a little bit and that would be the Lego movie

has now been greenlit to have a Sequel and Warner

has hired the writers for and that sequel Obviously,

I have not seen the film yet since it's just

now out in the theater But what are your thoughts

on the Lego movie becoming kind of like a franchise?

It makes sense. I feel there's so much you can

do with that universe. Like I myself haven't

seen it, but it's making a lot of money and getting

amazing reviews. So it seems, you know, I don't

think you can make a successful animated movie

and not make a sequel. So. All right. So and

then another one that is now confirmed. from

this article possibly at least and they're even

giving a date for it and that would be a Guardians

of the Galaxy sequel. They're saying Guardians

of the Galaxy 2 possibly planned for 2016 could

go head -to -head with Batman versus Superman.

See, we worked it in there. We worked it in there.

Marvel always has the slate that kind of goes

into the, you know, if you check like a coming

soon or like a listing of future things. You'll

always see like these untitled Marvel project.

Some of the animated companies do that too, where

it's like, oh, this will be some type of Disney

film. We don't know what yet, but there will

be a Disney animated film this month of this

year. Well, Marvel kind of does the same thing.

So they're kind of looking at the fact that Marvel

has a slate there in May of 2016, which would

put it against Superman and Batman. And the guesses,

I guess, are going that it possibly could be

a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel before we know

if the first one either. even succeeds or not.

First, I guess, is it, again, counting the chickens

before they hatch, already starting to talk about

a sequel for this film? And second, if they do,

is it wise or not wise for them to put that against

Batman versus Superman? I think it's unwise to

put it for Batman versus Superman. I would assume

they're going to move it. I think they're trying

to play chicken, assuming maybe Batman versus

Superman gets delayed again or something. It

would get I think it would get crushed uh, maybe

if it was like avengers or something they'd have

a better chance, but I guess guardians of the

galaxy is the one that i'm I'm excited for but

i'm wondering if how big of a financial success

it's going to be Uh, so i'm a little bit surprised

that they're already green lighting or thinking

about a sequel and I was kind of hoping that

They would go into like some new properties and

you know, do you have black panther your doctor

strange? They've been talking about but it doesn't

seem like those are getting announced at all

And so a little bit I don't say disappointing

because it's I guess it's a good thing that They

feel strong enough that they're gonna make a

sequel But I was just hoping they would kind

of widening their scope a little bit with more

characters We will have to see like I said, it's

all rumors at this point and we're looking a

little bit too far into the future to to get

too much information and obviously a lot of stuff

can change. So we'll see if that Marvel product

turns out to be that or something completely

different. As far as other sequels go, and I'm

just quoting the news article here, but Akamazing

News, and if you don't get that tie -in you will

hear shortly, Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson

have signed on for Pitch Perfect 2, which will

also represent the directorial debut of Elizabeth

Banks. Who was in the first one as a producer

and an actress? Apparently the original writer

is also going to be involved with this So there's

some consistency there pitch perfect was a good

film in my opinion I Guess we have an audience

for something like that with a sequel. I don't

know if it's necessary but Don't know I like

Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson, I guess. Yeah.

Yeah, I didn't I like pitch perfect too. I'm

not gonna lie. Yeah Sure, I mean I Don't know

it. I guess it's successful enough that they

want to make a sequel. It's a cheap movie to

make and Right. I'm more Anna Kendrick the better.

I guess there we go And let's not just talk about

second films. Let's talk about some third films.

For those that love sequels, you always got to

like the third film in the series here. We got

a set of three, amazingly enough. Marvel apparently

has also set writers in place for Thor 3, which

would be Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, who

apparently Christopher Yost did do some script

work on the last Thor film. And Craig Kyle's

not a stranger to Marvel animated films, which

I don't know if that's a good thing or not But

you know as far as how many were How many are

we expecting of all these different properties?

I guess I never thought about how many You know,

I understood that they were going to go the Avengers

route and we're going to have multiple Avengers

films. We're going to have other films in between

it. I guess I never thought about how many are

we going to have? How many Thor films are we

going to have? How many Captain America films

are we going to have? How many Hulk films are

we going to have? I'm thinking they're stopping

at three because I feel like they're not. I mean,

they're done with Iron Man for the most part

for individual movies, it seems. Maybe that's

the magic number. And then they see they go from

there. But. I guess the Thor made based upon

the ending of the last Thor movie. It seems like

they would have to do another Thor movie. So

Yeah, I'll just go back with what I said before

I I think these movies would be good I'm just

hoping I would just wish they would branch out

to new characters Which might echo your thoughts

here on this next one because not only will it

be a Thor 3 but there's also gonna be a Captain

America 3 and Anthony and Joe Russo are set to

direct in that even though the second one hasn't

hit theaters yet and it says that the third one

hasn't been green lit but that they're still

kind of pegging these two who are obviously the

ones involved with Captain America the Winter

Soldier to do a third one if that is something

that goes forward with it so I just basically

have the same thoughts I didn't I guess I didn't

realize how are they just going to do three of

everybody except for Hulk apparently Hulk only

needed one So I don't know this one's a little

different. I mean because at least the second

Thor has already been in theaters whereas second

Captain America has not I don't know. Like you

said, I think Hopefully they're not gonna try

to do more than three for anybody No, I I get

the good thing I guess is the fact that they're

bringing in the same directors for camp three

that to me sound That to me means that they had

faith in the second one that it was a good movie.

So Hopefully that means it's you know, it'll

develop the expectations And just in case you

haven't got enough news about the sequels. We

got a couple more for you here Taken three because

the second one was so good and The person being

connected to this one apparently forced Whitaker

in talks to be involved in taken three Just don't

do it no Yeah, apparently even Liam Neeson was

not necessarily wanting to do Taken Three until

they, according to the article, threw a huge

bag of money his way. And then he decided that

it might be worth it. And it says, according

to the article, Forrest Whitaker is a toxic star

in the film. He will be joining Neeson and most

likely Neeson's daughter from the previous two

films. I can understand if the second one was

did well or was well received, because a lot

of people liked the first one, but the second

one, wasn't that just kind of a universal tank?

No, I think it did actually really well. Oh,

it did well money -wise? Yeah, it was a big boss

-off success. Man, I think the world will look

back at this decade in films and we will find

out that there was many more than just three

Takens. Who's it? Here's her who's herself to

take they've taken his daughter. They've taken

Liam Neeson. I guess they're gonna take force

worker now I don't know just some random character

that didn't exist in the other films. Wait, that

was my best friend from high school I'm gonna

take his dog. That's the next one. There we go.

I haven't touched his animals yet That's when

I get serious Don't mess with someone's dog and

then kind of a late Addition to our news talk

today which fits into the sequel category apparently

Joel silver is in talks for a new escape from

New York trilogy again, this is like why just

like Like it just seems on it again like you

haven't made the first one yet and why do we

start with trilogy? Just you can't just have

a deal for one movie. You need to have a deal

for a trilogy or six films That's apparently

the only the way the only way to get people around

it. I mean I could see Maybe something that has

something as broad of a base as I cannot like,

you know with King Arthur that maybe you would

have enough to explore there But to even think

that you are gonna be able to do three films

from the escape from New York franchise is Doing

some type of wishful thinking there Yeah, I can

predict that right now if that goes and if that

actually gets greenlit and everything goes ahead

That will be a trilogy that ends after the first

movie. Yeah, it's like we buy it It's like where

the movies have become like Sam's Club and you

can only buy in bulk. So it's Yeah, cuz people

please don't support stuff like that Cuz that

will just mean more bad stuff for us down the

line and less original stuff and It's just, I

don't know, like I understand some things being

remade and I guess this is a conversation you

always have with remakes and reboots, but just

some stuff has you scratching your head thinking,

why do they think that's gonna be popular with

today's audience? Anyways, enough sequel talk.

That is plenty for now. How about some casting

talk? First off, we have, well, let's start with

some Star Wars talk, because we haven't talked

about Star Wars yet today. The latest person

connected to Star Wars Episode 7 is none other

than Gary Oldman. He's done the Dark Knight,

he's done Harry Potter, he's been involved with

now Don of the Planet of the Apes. Can this guy

really be involved with another big franchise

and be included in the Star Wars cast? Oh, of

course. I mean, he's such a dynamic actor that

he could pretty much do anything. Like, I think

he'd make an awesome, like, any, like, Villain,

you know, he's a great villain actor. But yeah,

I'm I'm completely for throwing him into a Franchise

film because he brings I think a lot of gravitas

to to any role he's in I guess the interesting

thing as far as Star Wars fans and movie fans

here would be that this would be One of the first

people that's been connected. That's not a member

of the old cast I mean, we've had rumors and

people that have been talked about etc. But this

is seems to be the most substantial name That's

not denying it. Because so far we've had Harrison

Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams,

Anthony Daniels, all the classic original trilogy

figures that have been connected to it. But Gary

Oldman would be one of the first big names outside

of that original cast. And they could have done

much worse. So nothing bad so far as far as things

that I've heard about the Star Wars film so far.

We'll see how long that can last. I always like

rumors about her because I don't know if I'm

a fan. Evangeline Lilly is apparently in talks

to join Ant -Man in line to play Paul Rudd's

love interest. Are you a fan of Lilly and do

you think she could play a part in the Ant -Man

film? My only experience with her for the most

part was in The Hobbit and I thought she was

good in that. I know a lot of people had issues

with that character, but I thought her performance

was still pretty good. I'm I guess the question

is that she's playing the love interest. Will

it be the wasp? Which is the love interest of

ant -man which I which I could see So I do like

her. I do think she's a very fun presence and

I from what I saw of She was in loss, correct?

Yes. I think I when I did watch loss I didn't

finish that series. I thought she was good in

that too. So That is old topic for another day

Let's just try to get all the superhero stuff.

We're just gonna feast on superhero news for

a while Hopefully people don't hate us for it

Next casting as far as superhero goes and again

some of this will be old news to some people

newer news to other people But Paul Bettany cast

as the vision and Avengers age of Ultron You

know, obviously he is previously connected to

the role of Jarvis But now possibly the vision

in the next Avengers film. Are you a fan of Paul

Bettany? I'm a fan of him. I'm not often. I'm

not a fan of the movies He's in he's in a lot

of duds and like Legion and priests He's usually

the best thing about bad movies sometimes but

I thought he's been I thought he's been awesome

as Darfus and I really like this casting and

I see him really fitting into that role of vision

so I kind of surprised that they're bringing

him in for the next movie just because it it

seems to come out a little bit out of nowhere,

but I I think the casting is spot on. Alright,

and the next superhero stuff is all about Fantastic

Four. Apparently Miles Teller, Emmy Rossum, and

Kate Mara are testing for Fantastic Four. Looks

like they're definitely going for a young group

with this one. Do those names make you more or

less interested in this project? I'll give him

points for ambition like I will it's a little

odd seeing fantastic before that young but Since

spectacular now in smiles tellers to me has me

interested it. Like I said, I thought in that

awkward moment I thought he was even really good

in that so His presence does have me intrigued

It's also said that the villain they'll be going

against in this film will be dr. Doom So we'll

have to see who gets cast for that I myself it

would take a whole lot to interest me in the

Fantastic Four so yeah, they're there in the

room where Michael B Jordan being in Yes, sorry

Michael B Jordan being the human torch has been

there for a while So I guess if they have the

exact out front as the thing they can have like

a that awkward moment reunion, but uh Yeah, the

Fantastic Four is kind of They can be a dry team

so I can I could see why not being interested

in I think that's why they're going young young

because it's maybe gonna help get rid of that

image a little bit. Here's one that I didn't

think I would see connected as far as the superhero

world. The Rock hinting at possible green lantern

roll. This could be reading a whole lot into

nothing. Talking about Instagram and hashtags

and this that and whatever where he hashtag line

here from him is John Stewart can still whoop

Superman's ass. Maybe he's just making a comment.

But some people are connecting him to a Green

Lantern role. Can you see him in that role? Sure.

I guess that would be kind of funny, though,

is if he's in that movie, he's going to like

tower over Superman, which would be a little

weird. Have to do some digital effects here and

change peoples. Henry Cavill out this like Santa

soapbox or something. Uh, I Feel like there's

just like the Rock isn't like every franchise

ever now. It's like we need we need more interest

We'll throw the rock in I do like the Rockies

of you know, he's charming. He's fun. I Just

to me if like I think if he's in that movie Like

I think he's gonna overtake it which could be

a good thing But if like the Green Lantern to

me is should be that be that character, but I

don't know I wouldn't be like He can play if

he's I'm guessing he'd be John Stewart who's

like a former military? person and I guess I

mean the Rock plays that role pretty well, so

Yeah, I mean he's like someone said that he's

like franchise Viagra so I could see that happening

Yeah, and of course the news that everyone has

been talking about that We are late to the game

without having our episode last week, but we

got at least comment on it a tiny bit Glass superhero

casting news of the day and it's all about Batman

versus Superman. We already knew that Ben Affleck

would be playing the role of Batman and it was

confirmed that Jeremy Irons would be playing

the role of Alfred and then The news that Jesse

Eisenberg would be cast as Lex Luthor Shocking

Yikes I like Jesse Eisenberg. I've liked him

in certain roles This is bizarre to me It does

seem out of place a face value just seem kind

of doesn't seem like he fits that type at all

like the you know Lex Luthor We know and love

he doesn't really fit that character based on

what I'm hearing and the direction that they're

going They want him younger. They want him around

the same age as Superman, which he is. He's the

same age as Henry Cavill, which you wouldn't

think. They kind of seem like they're being influenced

by Smallville in some ways with that. And he's

supposed to be like this kid from the streets

who grows up and becomes like a self -made man.

And rumors he's going to be like a bald, like

a shaved head and not bald, but shaved head and

like with tattoos and stuff like that. So I guess.

Don't know I guess my problem is more in just

this and I'm not a huge obviously Superman person

I don't know all you know a ton about Lex Luthor

or anything like that, but he iconically has

a certain image And you don't have to play that

image you can play someone you can play a younger

version of him I have no problem in that you

know that we've seen younger versions of a lot

of superhero characters Just look at the X -Men

what the X -Men has done there, and they've very

Well pulled off younger versions of a lot of

those characters without a hitch. To me, the

leap of faith is trying to, there's no way, even

if this is a younger version of Lex Luthor, I

can't picture him growing into someone that would

fit that character. Yeah. I heard someone, I

can understand it, but I guess you look at it

like, if Lex Luthor was made today, He probably

would be someone like a Mark Zuckerberg person,

possibly. I don't think he's going to be like

the Lex Luthor we know. It's going to be a lot

different. I don't know. It seems like they are

definitely bucking the trend as far as they have

this major film coming out that's going to be

including a lot of iconic people that have been

played by a lot of different actors, voiced by

a lot of different actors, had a lot of different

designs, looks, et cetera, all within a certain

You know constriction there and it just seems

like they're like, you know what? to heck with

what people expect let's Every time we cast someone

for this film. Let's go against the Against the

trend and I don't know if that's a good game

to play yeah, I mean it's it's Taking it's one

of those things. Like if you're gonna go that

way, I mean maybe you know you're risking a lot

like you're you're asking a lot and you're Reminds

me of a certain Batman film from days of past.

Yeah, it could it could be like that. But they

could pull it off. I don't know. I mean, yeah.

I mean, it it does seem like based upon what

I'm seeing, like, like, Blue Thor is not going

to be a big role in this next movie, but maybe

further down the line. I don't know. Like, I,

I give them like, I like some I kind of for me.

Don't mind it when they completely change things

and do their own thing because I figure give

it a few years We're gonna get a reboot and it's

gonna be back to normal. Anyways It does it question.

Is it gonna work? Like is this them? Just like

Are they throwing the baby without baby with

out with a bath water? Are they not really? Focusing

on what they're doing and they're just like here's

a vision and then they get so far off that they're

not even back into making a superman Batman movie

or what have you but I guess if I'm putting stock

in something at this point and I have X amount

of money and I have to buy stock and it's either

gonna be in Marvel or DC right now It's definitely

all going towards Marvel. I am NOT chancing anything

with what DC is doing right now DC is really

great at making their fans upset. That's basically

I kind of feel like that is a thing they're doing

that they're chasing headlines and they're that's

their goal is kind of getting the movie in the

public consciousness more than ever. And I think

what worries me the most is the fact it's pushed

back a year and it's like, what's going on here?

It does seem like a gigantic mess that they can't

get a hold of. And every time you think they're

close to it, it's like something other crazy

thing gets thrown in there. It's like, oh, by

the way, we're casting Lady Gaga as Supergirl,

so just just throwing that out there with our

new vision for the characters It definitely seems

like it was a runaway train that got a little

too far ahead of them before they could reel

it back in and It would just would have been

better to keep a lot of stuff more tight -lipped.

Yeah, I think some more people could learn lessons

I think that's one thing that JJ Abrams does

well Just kind of comparing this to another major

film coming out You know as the Star Wars thing

is yes, then you know bit by bit more learning

stuff about that But it seems like it's just

so much more well thought out and planned and

more methodical Yeah, they like JJ Abrams like

kind of dips his you know toe in the water and

then you know DC just jumps right in and it's

like no We're doing this. They had jackknife

into the pool into the deep end. Let's get away

from the superhero stuff talk about some I guess

I guess superhero fans might be bored by this

but stuff that we might find a little more interesting

in some some casting news here. Apparently Leonardo

DiCaprio and Jonah Hill are set to re -team up

on a new biopic about the falsely accused Olympic

bomber Richard Jewell back in the Atlanta Olympics

in 1996. Just your thoughts in general of DiCaprio

and Jonah Hill co -starring in another film.

I like I like I thought they were really you

know worked well together and Wolf of Wall Street,

so I'm for it. I'm I'm liking Jonah held doing

more dramatic roles because I assume that even

be More dramatic than what he's done before so

Yeah, I'm definitely a fan of it too. I thought

they worked very well together. Yeah, I wasn't

expecting it But I think they did they're even

really great on SNL when they were did a little

oh, yeah Yeah, I saw that too. And Matthew McConaughey

continuing his desire apparently to be in some

more serious films and he has apparently signed

on for Gus Van Sant's next film entitled Sea

of Trees. I don't know how much you've seen of

that or if you're a fan overall of Gus Van Sant.

I can't remember if we've talked about him before

or not together. But just your thoughts on kind

of Matthew McConaughey's projection so far as

an actor this last year and going into the future.

Yeah, I mean, at this point, if Matthew McConaughey

is in anything, I'm going to be checking it out.

So Gus Van Sant as director, he's hit or miss

for me. Like he'll do some crazy things like,

you know, he did that shop by shop remake of

Psycho, but then he'll do like a movie like Elephant,

which I think is a fantastic movie. So he he's

one you never know what he's going to do. So.

I think you get a good Performance out of McConaughey

and you know McConaughey can do no wrong right

now. So let's keep going from the synopsis of

this film It's about a man entering Mount Fuji's

suicidal forest with the intention of committing

suicide and then he meets a Japanese man Ken

Watanabe and Who is having second thoughts about

his own suicide and the two embark upon a journey

of reflection and survival in this forest Yeah,

it sounds like a Gus Van Sam. All right. Ben

Wheatley has confirmed Tom Hiddleston for the

High Rise film, which obviously the adaptation

of J .G. Ballard's High Rise. So interesting

to see Tom Hiddleston's projection as well. Thoughts

on that film or his role in that? I'm not really

familiar with the source material much. I can't

say much except the fact that Tom Hiddleston

is, again, another He's just a fun present, so

I would be interested in seeing that, but I can't

really give too much because I really don't know

what it all entails. Alright, fair enough. And

then just showing today here this news article

as we're recording this. Some casting news on

Terminator. Again, we've been getting a lot of

this, but apparently the short list for Kyle

Reese is down to two. And the title of the film

was going to be Terminator Genisys, so we got

Kyle Reese down to two, and that's, I don't know

if I'm going to say the first name right, but

Jay Courtney or Boyd Holbrook, and I'm not super

familiar with either of these individuals. Holbrook

has been seen in supporting roles in Milk, The

Host, and Behind the Candelabra, as well as Jane

Got a Gun, Gone Girl, and... Courtney was in

A Good Day to Die Hard and Jack Reacher and he'll

be in Divergent. So they would be alongside Arnold

Schwarzenegger as well as Jason Clarke as John

Connor. What are your thoughts on either one

of those? Are you familiar with either one of

their work? I think Courtney played John Carter's

son in A Good Day to Die Hard and I wasn't very

impressed with him there. I was a little disappointed

like Jason Clarke was in the running for John

Connor. I thought he'd be really No, Jason Clarke

is in the John Connor. We're I'm sorry. We're

talking about the role for Kyle Reese. Oh, geez.

Yeah Yeah, I Only one I really familiar with

is Courtney and I wasn't really a fan of him

in Good day to die hard though. He wasn't too

bad in Jack Reacher He didn't really have a big

part, but he was fine in that so and I think

he's Wasn't Spartacus or something like that

before one of those one of those TV shows like

Vikings or Spartacus or whatever. Gotcha. But

yeah Sure, but I really can't say much because

I don't know either Gotcha. All right. Well moving

on from all of that Just getting into some brief

trailer talk before we get to our main attraction.

Thanks for sticking with us through all these

news stories like i said apparently what we're

learning here is even though january is not necessarily

a good movie or good month for movies that as

soon as february hits the news channels light

up and we got all kinds of news but uh... some

trailer talk um... start with the ones that you've

seen and then i'll kind of talk about a little

of the of the ones that you haven't yet okay

uh... well there is a trailer probably the biggest

one that came out which which was for uh... a

million ways to die in the west New movie by

you know, the crater family guy Seth MacFarlane

And I'm a fan of Western. So I'm all for making

more rest Westerns like even if it is Seth MacFarlane

who I do like I'm my big hesitation with the

film. I do think it looks pretty interesting

is I don't know if I buy six month farlin in

that role I did I that's my my one beef. I think

Him as a side character something like in Ted

doing a voice. Yeah, I get that but I don't know

but on -screen role because not really handle

that before but I Can't help but think that this

movie is gonna and I don't think it's fair or

not at all But I can't help but think of the

maverick when I see this when I see the ideas

of it or some of the Little shot so far like

in the trailer Which kind of goes to your point

because in that it is a Western that's completely,

you know making fun of itself and and you know

comedy full -on But but there you have some unbelievable

like a Mel Gibson playing the lead role in that

time period For those that have problems Mel

Gibson now. This is obviously before all that

So yeah, I don't know if he would necessarily

be able to pull off that part But if he can,

you know, I'll give it a shot Yeah, yeah, the

other ones I've seen there's a new trailer for

sabotage the new honors Schwarzenegger movie

and I Keep going back and forth with that movie

like part of me think it could be it could be

absolutely awful but I don't know I I think it

could be kind of fun to I don't know my issue

is like that movie seems like a kind of like

a realistic film or trying that approach but

Schwarzenegger is such a cartoon at times. I

just don't know if he's gonna fit into it very

well And the last one I saw was Alan Partridge

with Steve Coogan. And I never watched the Alan

Partridge show that's based upon, so I felt like

I was a little bit out of it when it came to

some of the stuff it was referencing. But I love

Steve Coogan, and I think that's actually on

demand right now. So I might check it out, but

I'm just hesitant because I don't know the source

material. Fair enough. Yeah, I wasn't sure on

that one, too. I thought one that you might be

interested to check out, which you'll have to

watch when you get a chance, would be the trailer

for Hector and the search for happiness. I know

you're a fan of a couple of the different people

that are involved in that, including Simon Pegg,

Christopher Plummer's net, Stalin's cars guard.

It looks like it could be interesting. But some

of his films are hard to tell just based off

a trailer on what exactly you're going to get.

So that should be something that I'd be interested

to see what your take is on that. We had a trailer

for Sly Cooper, so fans of that video game. Apparently

that's one of the next video games that's going

to get a movie treatment. Looked interesting,

I guess. Joe starring Nicolas Cage. That's one

that I have a hard time here. He's an ex -con

who finds himself in the role of being a role

model for a 15 -year -old boy whose father seems

like a complete douchebag. So it's kind of this

weird situation where you have an ex -con who,

I guess it reminds me a little bit of Josh Brolin

playing that role, even though it's going to

be a completely different film. not even close

to the same type of plot or anything, but where

we have the next kind who's in that position

to kind of play a positive role in someone's

life and kind of dealing with a little bit of

maybe of coming of age as well. That movie looked

like it had potential, but again, Nicolas Cage

is someone that is so hit or miss sometimes.

Mainly missed recently. Yes, that is true. Stalingrad,

which looked somewhat interesting for this perspective.

And for me, as a history buff and someone who

likes war films, et cetera, the reason Stalingrad

appeals to me is because it's a little different

than what we usually get. Every time we get a

war film, it seems like it's either from the

side of the US or it's from another side of someone

who is dealing with the US. And this is Depicting

a battle that really had nothing to do with the

US. This is Russia and Germany and for me that's

kind of a Different take now and then it seems

like it could be something that would be interesting

as far as World War two Events seeing something

that you know is from that side of things and

then the battle of Stalingrad between the Russians

and the Germans I Don't know does it have the

potential to be you know an epic classic war

film along the same lines of Saving Private Ryan

possibly. And it could also be absolutely crap.

So it's going to be hard, but I will say that

I am at least a little bit intrigued just to

see, you know, something outside and away from

what was going on with the US in World War Two.

Interesting. Yeah, I'll have to check those out

for sure. And I'll post those on the website

so people can check them out themselves. Yeah,

and then just a couple other ones I wanted to

bring up real quickly. Enemy starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

He's somewhat becoming someone who I will give

a shot to regardless. And it's also dealing with

the director of the Prisoners film from last

year. I could not get a real good... feel for

that based on the trailer, so I'll have to kind

of hold out judgment on that one. And then the

one that I did want to bring up was the trailer

that I saw for The Fault in Our Stars, which

was one of the films that I listed as one of

my anticipated films for 2014. Obviously, another

coming -of -age film from the person that gave

us 500 Days of Summer, as well as The Spectacular

Now starring Shylin Woodley. What you didn't

see, you know, I didn't see this in basically

most of the Posters or any of the stuff that

I was looking at I kind of just listed this based

on her and the director But it looks like it

could be an interesting one. Maybe a little bit

of a tugging at the heartstrings or whatever.

It seems like she's playing An individual who

has a major health issue And that she meets somebody

at a cancer support group. Obviously, she's a

young individual that's dealing with cancer,

and it seems like it's kind of going through

her relationship with this person, etc. It definitely

added a different level to it, and I'm definitely

interested to see how she does with that role,

because she's played certain roles so far, as

far as the films I've seen her in, and this looks

like something, although in the same vein, a

little bit of a different take for her. Even

more interested than I was before on this one

Very nice. So that's it. So you can check those

out and like you didn't like Dan said We'll have

links to some other trailers too that you can

check out Yeah, and you can get that Ikeycastradio

.com and we're just gonna take a break here and

when we come back we'll be discussing George

Clooney's latest film Monuments Men. We'll see

you in a bit Want to get into the war Monuments

Men I'm to put a team together and do our best

to protect buildings, bridges, and art before

the Nazis destroy everything. How many men? Six.

Jesus. Well, with you it's seven. That's much

better. So you want to go into a war zone with

some architects and artists and tell our boys

what they can and cannot. Blow up. That's right.

Aren't we a little old for that? Yes. We go through

basic and then we wait for orders. Basic? A little

help? Basic training. Oh, boy. If you destroy

an entire generation of people's culture, it's

as if they never existed. We got company! Frank,

we gotta go! That's what Hitler wants. And it's

the one thing we can't allow. So we get to shoot

some Nazis? It's your responsibility now. I've

never shot at anyone before. He really wanted

it all. We better get it back. What have you

got? I seem to have stepped on a landmine. Why

would you do something like that? What do you

got? Lieutenant here seems to have found himself

on top of an unexploded mine. Why would you do

that? You are spending too much time together

All right, and welcome back today we'll be discussing

Monuments Men It's directed by George Clooney

starring George Clooney and pretty much everyone

ever else George Clooney Matt Damon Cate Blanchett

Bill Murray, John Goodman, and a host of others,

including Deja Jan, the former Oscar winner.

Back when we did our last episode, we talked

about our most anticipated movies of 2014, and

surprisingly, we're already on one that was in

the top 10, and Bonnie Mitchman with both mine

and as well as Kevin's top movies that we're

looking forward to. So with that in mind, Kevin,

I'm curious, did it live up to your expectations?

I'm gonna say yes and no. I have been somewhat

listening to a little bit of the critiques and

what not and I'm gonna say my issues, I don't

have like major issues with the film so in that

way it did live up to it. I think it could have

been even, you know, I had the potential to be

even. better given the cast and the situation

and everything like that. I don't have the same

problem everybody else has with it. So I actually

do rank this one somewhat well. I mean, I don't

think it has much of a shot of being in like

my top 10 list or anything like that by the end

of the year, but for my own personal taste, I

enjoyed the film. Okay. I'll say when I first

saw the film and I walked out of it, I was like,

okay, I was thinking star rating and like, all

right, where would I rank that? And I got a thing

in my head and I'm like, okay, I liked it. I

did, I liked it. And the more I thought about

it, okay, I'm like, well, what did I like about

it? And I kept going into my head trying to find

things that I really liked about it. And I kept

finding it harder and harder to do that. And

I realized it was one of those things as the

more I thought about it, the more I looked back

on it and kind of analyzed. The film like the

more issues I had and like I don't necessarily

think it's a bad movie by any means I just do

think I would fall I Would call this somewhat

of a disappointment. I Was again very much anticipating

it. I love George Clooney as a director Good

night and good luck as a movie. I adore a great

deal I even liked the eyes of March and I just

thought he had such a This is a song strong director

Toro sense. He's got an eye for the camera. He

knows how to bring a lot of style and with this

cast and the idea of you know, these men going

across Europe to try to see you know infamous

monuments and art and and things of that nature

I thought like okay There's a lot of potential

here for him to really should like bring in his

style as a director and I guess that's a one

thing that Maybe bugged me the most with uh,

I just felt at the directorial standpoint that

it was just kind of bland like there's there's

for a movie about art about saving art that it

was lacking in style for a great deal, uh, it

just felt like it was just Point and shoot and

there was not him bringing in anything extra

like that. I was hoping for And I mean that's

the my biggest issue with it and I do think there

are some moments. I really enjoy like I love

the opening, uh when they all come together,

it reminded me of a Dirty Dozen movie or something

like that with the theme song and all these people

bringing together this team. And I do think the

team, there are moments that they do get to shine

some, but I just thought with that cast that

there would be more standout moments, more standout

performances. I don't feel like that happened.

I can't really point to a lot of moments that

stuck out to me or... overall just looking at

all these actors and and seeing like okay well

I just felt like he did not get as much as he

could have as a director Clooney Clooney did

and I think maybe maybe there was just too much

and I I don't know it just to me they're I just

feel like this movie could have been so much

better than it is, and I guess it's hard to do

that to a film. It's almost unfair because you're

placing upon, you know, maybe unfair expectations,

but it's hard not to when you just look at what's

involved. I think for me he was making some conscious

choices about how he wanted to attack this. Obviously,

again, like we talked about last year, somewhat

of a trend recently where we're doing a lot of

films and seeing a lot of films based on somewhat,

whether it loosely or strictly, based on some

real life events and some stuff that actually

happened. And I think what his dilemma was, as

far as everything that I've been reading, hearing,

listening to, et cetera, was With the subject

material that we're talking about You're making

a story about this group of individuals, you

know tasked with saving the culture saving the

art of generations here during obviously a time

of war and Just given that you can approach that

in a lot of different ways You can approach it

Like we might expect like a Steven Spielberg

to approach it You know and really get into the

Trying to you know get to the emotional parts

of it and really tug it and you know Your heartstrings

for whatever you can go that route and really

try to go epic with it In a way, you know super

serious super, you know that direction You can

go somewhat the way that you were kind of Alluding

to in a way since you're doing a piece about

art and you can go very stylistic with it and

very kind of you know Art imitating art I guess

as far as that route and try to you know play

to those chords I think what his issue was is

he's tackling a subject That on one hand is dealing

with a group of individuals who obviously are

not soldiers Who are tasked with this art Expedition

and You have these major stars that are that

are cast in these roles and and you can get somewhat

I mean if you look at you got John Goodman and

Bill Murray who Although can do very serious

stuff also are very genius with their with their

comedic talents and do you want to go full on

and let them really explore and be funny as you

have these groups paired off, you know, in these

twos and et cetera. And as you have these older,

you know, out of shape people acting like soldiers,

et cetera, you know, you can go funny and go

that route. But then you're also balancing the

fact that this is a World War Two film and we're

dealing with the atrocities that is, you know,

Hitler and, you know, Holocaust. all this other

stuff and it's just such a fine line you have

to walk where you can go too serious or you can

go not serious enough and then get blasted for

making light of a super serious historical event.

So, I don't know, I understand, I'm not saying

you're saying any of this, I'm saying just based

on some of the backlash I've heard is a lot about

the tone and a lot about the feel and the approach.

But I don't know if I can fault him for for making

choices that I might have made other choices

but Can I fault him for making the choices he

did when he's balancing such a delicate? Line

as far as how you approach the subject matter

Yeah, and I mean that that's you know, obviously

a little difficult because you're you know, you're

dealing there is a comedic Sensibility to what

they're doing but there is I mean, I think there

is a huge I think that the comedic side is really

a small portion. I think maybe people thought

there would be more comedy to it, because if

you look at the cast, Bill Murray, John Goodman,

this is going to be really funny. And the comedy

is there, but it's very limited, I would say.

It's far more sentimental and far more dramatic

than that. George Clooney does a lot of voiceover

of the seriousness of the situation. And I guess

you did talk about the fine line. I kind of feel

like it didn't really walk that fine line very

well at times. There are moments where I almost

thought, oh, this is a comedic moment, but it

ended up being really serious without spoiling

anything. But there's a death of a certain character.

And the way that death happens, it's almost slapstickish

in a way, where they stumble upon this situation

that they get caught in the middle of. I almost

thought like they're approaching it as like more

of a comedic side, but then it's only no, this

is actually a seriously sad moment. So that was

a little bit jarring to me. And then there are

other moments like that, too, where it's like,

OK, this is it. It's being more dramatic now.

But that's just like it is. Go ahead. To me,

I think what it goes down to best is I'm not

necessarily faulting him for not. For not necessarily

knowing which way to go with it and to kind of

always be conscious of I can't go too far this

direction I can't go too far that direction,

but I think in doing so he never went any direction.

Yeah, that's a good point He was balancing so

many different things that it ended up not being

any of those things that he could have gone Like

I think it would be better if you just go all

in and make a completely serious film or you

go all in and make it I'm not talking about like

in glorious bastards. Just we're not even gonna

You know what I mean? And I'm not saying anything

bad about that movie at all, but I'm saying,

you know, go totally that route or go in this.

you know, kind of wry humor route, like there

was a lot of different ways you could have gone

and I think it would have been better just to

pick one and go with it, but instead he was going

back and forth and doing like a little bit of

humor and a little bit of stylistic stuff on

this part and then having seriousness on this

part, like you said with the voiceovers, etc.

or and it leaves you not knowing where you're,

how you're supposed to be feeling about certain

events. Am I taking all of this, you know, somewhat,

you know, I'm not going to let myself get invested

too much in this because it's going to be a little

bit I'm gonna take the approach of this whole

film as light -hearted in a way and kind of take

that approach and not let myself get sucked into

it or you know and I can do that at times when

you have Bill Murray and John Goodman playing

off of different characters and you're like oh

I can just take this as you know almost it has

like a feel of not really Wes Anderson but you

know something like that where you're like okay

I'll just go along for the ride But then as you're

getting ready to go along for the ride, then

he hits you with something serious. Yeah, or

you know, he sits he was hits you with something

that You just can't ignore as far as you know

the historical aspect of it and so it kind of

was a tug of war with yourself on What type of

movie am I watching and how do I let myself get

invested in this film one way or the other? Yeah,

I think part of that too was like a lot of the

film just felt there wasn't like a lot of connecting

tissue to Because what you had is a lot of these

Monuments many got split up and they were all

in these different parts doing different things

and I don't I think that that transition hurt

in that aspect because you're dealing with a

certain character and they're dealing with something

that's maybe a little bit more comedic than a

serious and then you're now on to another character

who is Now fighting for his life and it's like

wait. Hold on. I was just laughing and now I'm

gonna worry about this person getting getting

killed I guess I don't know to me there's just

it was a almost like a lifelessness to it like

I just in the way I'm just felt like that there

should be more happening, but there isn't I don't

know it just seemed to Also made it made it somewhat

hard to follow Like it's not like I ever had

a problem with like what? You know like the chain

of events that was happening But it made it hard

to follow in a way that you know, they'll map

this out and they're like, okay You're gonna

go way over here to this country and then you're

going to go over to this country and you're going

to go into a third different country. And then

we're going to visit all of these different things,

even though they all feel like they're taking

place in the same place. Yeah. And then we're

all going to be together. And there's no sense

of. You know the time or the the fact that these

people were not if they're going based on how

they map stuff out they're not anywhere near

each other and It's just seemed like it was Meet

up and you know huddle up and see what was going

on and then go from there and then again they're

in random different place like As far as the

time and the place goes you don't have a good

feeling for for what's happening in that respect

especially since For all intents and purposes

if you're not if you take away a couple scenes

where they actually have maps out You could be

convinced that all this is happening in one city.

Yeah and especially like you look at Matt Damon

spends a lot of time in in Paris with Cain Blanchett's

character and that like that entire storyline

so plot almost feels like In inconsequential

to like everything else that's going on even

at the end it it seemed like it didn't like it

was all for not that much I mean, I guess in

hindsight it did lead to something very important,

but it just I Don't think it expressed its importance

a great deal like that entire, you know third

of the film Just didn't feel like it there was

much there was curious what you thought about

that the Matt Damon campland jet like little

I thought I enjoyed their performances, and I

enjoyed Matt Damon when he was on screen, etc.,

but I guess my initial reaction to both of their

appearance in this film was that they were underused

in a way that I expected them to be more of a

part of the entire thing. Maybe the trailer misled

me in a way, but it was almost like you were

showing all these people. And you know you showed

John Goodman and you show Bill Murray you show

George Clooney and Matt Damon and and then you

know the other individuals and they show cable

and said I made it seem like she was gonna be

along for the ride and they Involved in this

more like an active participant And then I got

the feel that Matt Damon was gonna be more involved

with the other individuals even though you know

and not saying he wasn't but They're almost like

it removed those two for a good portion. And

like you said Although yes, they do play a part

You could almost do the movie without them. Yeah.

You could do most of the stuff that happens without

having to have that story. I'm not saying it

was a bad story, even though I don't know. I

don't know. It didn't really go anywhere, but

I don't know. I just like you said, I do feel

like the potential is there to do even more.

That being said, I'm not going to say one bad

thing about about the performances, especially

I know it's a broken record, but Bill Murray

and John Goodman were great. Yeah, I guess my

own I don't I don't think I had any issues with

the perform I just kind of wish they had more

They were given better material to work with

Yeah, I'm just saying you could you could give

them like a note written on a piece of toilet

paper somehow They're like, oh, okay. I'll do

this and make it look good. I mean Bill Murray

Had some of my favorite moments like there's

a scene with Like I guess you can call it to

John Wayne scene when they stumble upon like

a lost German soldier, which I thought was pretty

good And I thought a pretty strong moment in

like during the Battle of the Bulge, there's

like unexpected gifts from a family member that

you see and I think he sold that moment really

well. To that moment and to that scene, since

you brought it up, you'll know what I'm talking

about and it doesn't have to spoil anything and

not that there's anything to spoil anyways. But

did that scene not scream to you that, man, if

this film would have came out when it was originally

scheduled to, this scene would resonate even

more? It probably would, yeah. I didn't even

think of it at the time, but that's a good point.

But you know, if you look at the movie when it

centers on, I mean, a big thing I think it kind

of points out is like the price of that you're

willing to pay to save art or save culture. And

I think the movie is very evident that it's that

it knows the answer to that question. You know,

is it worth, you know, risking lives to say to

say pieces of art some of Some of which are historic.

I mean historical almost for sure, you know,

and it seems very willing to say yes It's willing

to say those, you know, it's willing to do that

Do you think it would be? More interesting if

it kind of juggled that question a little bit

more instead of just kind of blatantly knowing

like yes without a doubt It's it's it was the

right thing to do I mean I think, yeah, if it

was a little more ambiguous, if it was a little

more out for debate, possibly, if there were

some more decisions. I think, you know, obviously

they do touch on it because there's deaths involved,

there's the political side that's touched on.

I think it would have been maybe even a bit more

effective if they would have put somebody in

a position where they almost had to choose within

that film. One or the other like if you take

a George Clooney or Matt Damon's character and

like, you know, even something as simple as They

literally have to pick, you know, I can save

this art piece Or I can you know put one of my

colleagues At you know grave risk and not saying

they didn't come close to doing that at times

But I'm saying if there was a more of a and a

definite moment where you kind of felt that someone

really had to weigh that decision You know when

it boils right down to it Do I'm sure my friend

is safe or do I ensure this piece of art is safe?

Yeah, yeah, I I mean I don't have an issue with

like them answering that question I guess the

fact that like none of the characters really

questioned it at all. I mean it could be the

fact Well, and then not to interrupt you but

my point is then not only do they not question

it But they're never forced into a situation

where they have to exactly. Yeah I think that

would have maybe made it a little bit richer

in the material, I think. Cluny makes his point

known and his opinion known pretty quickly. I

just think it would be a little bit more interesting

if they kind of explored it a little bit further

and maybe thought, like you said, put people

in that situation where they kind of have to

maybe second think what they're doing because

maybe it's not worth it. Go ahead. I was just

saying, I think it avoids a certain element that

would have given you another layer, because what

it does is it presents you with a movie that

gives you the question, OK, is art important

enough to possibly sacrifice life for? OK, that's

a completely different question than if they

would have kind of Put that in a you know juxtaposition

of Well now we have these guys who signed up

to do exactly that But when push comes to shove

is there a moment where they choose? The person

they've been going on this ride with and learning

about and learning about their family and learning

about them as a person when it comes down to

sacrificing them or not all of a sudden, you

know this question that Seems easy to answer

when we're just talking about it as a question

when it comes down to real -life situation also

becomes a little bit harder Yeah, you know I

think if you were forced to ask them and then

you have one of these characters It's actually

signed up for to do exactly that now going against

that some way or maybe saying, you know in this

situation It's not worth it. It would have added

another element to me I don't know. I just would

have made it a little bit more something where

it's not so cut and dry Yeah, it's easy to say

it's easy to say yeah, you know arts worth it

and culture is worth it and all this is you know

He's trying to destroy this and we have to you

know, save this that's easy to say It's easy

to say a lot of it's easy to take stances when

you're just answering a question like that Yeah,

and I think it frames it the way like George

Clooney like frames that art because you know

it's brought up in the movie itself like with

with characters and and I think the way that

You know Clooney frames it within the film. There's

like no question, but I just think it like it

I Have no issue with like a movie taking a stance

on something, but I guess if you're unable to

even like Recognize the other side and maybe

think okay. Is there legitimacy into like maybe

I don't know not not going this route Think it

bold it strengthens into your argument if you

at least approach it in some ways because then

you you know I'm just like ignoring it and just

not even questioning it, you know, it's just

almost like blind faith But yeah, I mean I I

feel with a film like this it's hard because

I Had so I did have really high expectations.

So it's almost like okay now you're just sitting

back and looking hey impress me and I don't know

I just at the end of the day I Wanted more from

it and that maybe be in maybe like a rewatching

it again It could I say I could maybe appreciate

what it was trying to do But on a first time

watch it just it just wasn't there for me I don't

say I disliked it. I enjoyed it I was able to

still enjoy it, you know and just see what it

is and and kind of just to see what Clooney's

vision was for it and just kind of take it from

that and to see this other side of you know,

this true event that Basically, I didn't know

a whole lot about. So, you know, I do I did enjoy

it and it was entertainment. But if I'm going

to put a critical eye on it, I can't find stuff

that I think could have been better. And, you

know, I would have liked to see that cast used

in a more effective way, you know, if that's

the right term for that. But I don't want to

completely kind of crap on it and say that I

didn't like it because I did enjoy myself during

that. Yeah. Yeah, I It's a film I had like I've

been struggling with what since I've seen it

too It's just like when I look back and I'm like,

okay Did I like it or I I still don't know if

I really made my made up my mind if I really

liked it or not I really want to like it and

So it's one of those things where sometimes if

you were you I think we put so high of expectations

on something and it's like, okay, I like that

movie and then when I go back Okay, what did

I like about it? I'm like, well, there's this

thing like I did I mean I did like the music

to it I did like I said, there were certain montages.

I really liked certain scenes that were really

well done. I Did I don't know the George Clooney

in this I thought was good, but he wasn't on

his on his bathroom for me I mean part of it

that he's such a small he's almost not even the

biggest portion of the film like he he comes

in here and there i think he comes in almost

like to like a certain moment happens and he

comes in to kind of explain the importance of

what just happened and then he comes back and

he leaves and he comes back and then he goes

after it uh but i don't know and i guess i i

would say this for it it does have me like really

curious to know how much of this is actually

factual how much is true and how much has been

changed and yeah Anything else you want to say

about Monumentsman? No, I'd just be interested

to hear other people's takes on it. You know,

like I said, my problem isn't so much with the

feel for what he went for. I mean, I understand

that it was a choice, so I'm not going to fault

him for that, even if it might not have been

the feel that I would have gone for. But I'm

interested to see what other people think about

it as well. Yeah, definitely let us know you

can leave comments on a geek ass reader calm

and at the end of the show We'll go over all

the different ways. You can leave us feedback.

There's millions and millions of different ways

So I guess before we move on I guess we should

give our star rating so out of five stars Kevin

What are you gonna give monuments men? Like you

said, this one's a tough one. I'm gonna have

to do some more thinking about it may even have

to do a rewatch But I'm not gonna say I disliked

it that right now. I'm sitting somewhere in the

three range. Okay, and Like I said, I'm debating

this as I'm saying it out loud. And this could

all put this thing, it's open up the chains.

But at the end of the day, if I have to gave

positive or negative, I think I would err more

on the negative side, but not by much. So I'm

gonna give it a 2 .5, a very strong 2 .5. It's

like a 2 .74. It's possible to be bumped up on

a rewatch when I kinda can maybe just look at

what it's attempting and not... See, I think

that's my thing is separating what you want it

to be Yeah, and and to and then to view it just

as how it was intended to be I guess I don't

know and I'm not saying Yeah, and I think I'm

guilty of it on this time. I usually can I'm

good at not doing that but for some reason for

this film I guess I was not the movie I was expecting

and doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad movie,

but maybe that's got a adjusting my perspective

on it, so All right, so let's take a look at

what else is coming out this this for next week

for DVD and blu -ray Actually, it's not you know

For theater for this time of year. It's not too

bad Obviously the big release is the new RoboCop

remake So we'll be talking about that next week.

Most likely you also have endless love the with

Valentine's Day coming up, you know, you're gonna

have that also Kevin Hart at heart in another

movie about last night So I'm sure that's gonna

make a lot of money and also winter's tale with

Colin Farrell and Russell Crowe and I'm surprised

that movie is not getting like they're not you

think with those two actors and that story it

would Be a bigger deal, but it doesn't seem like

it's really getting a huge marketing push So

right, do you think any of those movies have

a chance to beat Lego movie in the box office?

If there was one that would have a chance no,

they're not because they're they're all First

of all, obviously, it's a kid's film. It's a

film. So it's gonna go across the board to kids

everywhere, which is a huge audience Robocop

is going to appeal to a certain demographic which

is gonna be completely separate demographic that

endless love is going to appeal to which Again

in a way is going to be a separate Demographic

that winter's tale even though you can kind of

somewhat say winter's tale and then let's love

it There might be some crossover there. It's

still to me two separate demographics And then

I feel like they're all appealing to different

groups of people. So they'll all do the decents

Quote on decents because we're not gonna say

Lego movie decent But I still think Lego movie

with its wide appeal is gonna it's gonna reign

supreme at least another week or two you think

Kept with you know what will the power of Kevin

Hart beat the power of RoboCop a whole nother

demographic that I was leaving out That's an

interesting one. It's a the interesting thing

this week is really the number two spot Yeah,

because you have Kevin Hart and his legions of

fans on one hand you have RoboCop with its Blockbuster

appeal I guess if you want to call it that on

another hand and then you have you know a possible

teen Young adult female crowd that who knows

maybe they'll go crazy after endless love I would

say a winner's tale is gonna be the loser out

of that group But I'm not saying it's gonna be

the worst film out of that group Yeah, it couldn't

end up being the best film out of the group,

but I don't think that You know, I think that

appeals to a little bit more Like I said different

audience and those other ones and I don't think

they go see films that quite as much as these

other ones so yeah, it might be interesting to

see number two, you know between row I would

expect between Robocop and About last night and

endless love. I don't know who how do you see

us stacking up? I I think Robocop is gonna be

number two. I I just think it That's my Disgust

reaction though. I don't know it endless. I mean

it is Valentine's Day weekend, so that that does

have a lot going and the trailer's friendless

love I mean although you know for us looking

for potential top ten material we're gonna kind

of scoff at it I guess but the for what it is

and then in the Who it's going after the trailers

don't look awful As far as I don't see it like

I don't see The group of people that that movie

is aimed for seeing the trailers and saying You

know what I mean? Like, you know, like you have

a film like, like we just said with I, Frankenstein

or with vampire or whatever, or some of these

films going out there where you see the trailers

and you're saying, you know what? I think even

the audience that likes those types of movies

is going to see through this one. I don't see

endless love being in that situation. I see it.

From the trailers, it looks like it might be

something that resonates with the group they're

going after. Yeah, I can get like that Nicholas

Sparks crowd. Right. And if I had to put money

on it, my guess is probably about last night's

gonna be number two, just because I think it

has a dramatic appeal. You do have a comedy.

You know, it's Valentine's Day weekend, so people

are gonna want that date night appeal. But Robocop

is also an IMAX, so it's a... It's got a bigger

ticket price. So I don't know how you got all

this stuff kind of geared towards valentine's

day and then alongside it you have a robot Which

is really probably you know He uh, I mean maybe

he he finds love too. It could be a love story.

So we don't robot love exactly And also DVD Blu

-ray not that bad of a week either some interesting

stuff coming out all is lost the Robert Redford

film the Armstrong lie the documentary about

Lance Armstrong, obviously best man holiday The

counselor the infamous counselor from last year

two films that we talked about the counselor

and Ender's game both coming out this weekend

and not a new release but for animated fans the

jungle book is finally coming in the blue way

and What would Rajada Wakata I think I'm not

pronouncing that correctly, but I've heard really

great things about that as well But uh, you think

will be picking up any of those. Um, I will watch

all has lost at some point I don't know if I'll

be red box niche or if I'll be Whatever I'll

find a way to watch that somehow and I probably

will pick up jungle book on blu -ray. Yeah, I

will too I've gone back and forth regarding it

all's lost. I think that's when I'll wait on

buying It's a movie. I greatly enjoyed it was

in my top ten, but I'm like, I don't know if

I it's it's a Not in a bad way. It's a tough

movie to get through just because it's you know,

it's it's it's draining in some way So I know

I have desire to see it and I will definitely

not be buying the counselor. So If you're really

interested in seeing a bad film or seeing one

of the most talked about scenes of the film go

ahead and check it out You don't pay money for

it find a way to do it for very cheap. I'll YouTube

it by now. Yeah and back Finishing off with our

credit conversation our feedback from two weeks

ago feels like years ago, but Back last episode

we asked you some films you're looking forward

to in 2014 a lot of people looking for a lot

of things and when that really took out to me

was one that I Missed completely and I wish I

mentioned it, but I appreciate insurgent cinema

making a mention of it and that's the maybe the

trip to Italy We talked about Steve Coogan earlier

and I don't know if you ever saw the trip with

Steve Coogan That's a pretty funny film. It it's

actually in In england it was released as a tv

series but it came over here as a movie and now

they're making a sequel called the trip to italy

it's literally just them traveling across The

the trip was them traveling across the united

kingdom like going to different restaurants and

they're both comedians It was just it was like

a road trip film. That was fun to watch um, and

then he also mentioned the lobster, which is

a movie from the guy who did dog tooth, which

is Interesting film to say the least for those

that have seen that that's on netflix. It's Kind

of out there. So I'm looking forward to that

as well. So I appreciate in searching to mention

those because they were both off on radar but

Any comments from last week at all? Strike you

obviously we had a few people mention like we

expected Hobbit and and Transformers as being

films that we kind of somewhat completely left

off of our list That was to be expected Lot of

a lot of people excited for Godzilla. Yeah So

I was interested to see the number of people

that were really looking forward to that one

a lot of people agreeing with a lot of the films

we had on there as well, so It's gonna be interesting

to see how this year plays out. Definitely so

far. We have one down of our Most anticipated

so hopefully it goes a bit better. I think it

will but uh So the question for next week, unfortunately

a little bit Little bit more somber of a question,

but it seems fitting considering the news with

of philip sigma hoffman passing I'm curious to

hear what your favorite performances are your

favorite films Let us know In our comment section,

you know what what stands out for you, you know,

if you want specific scenes, you know What what

about his career did you really appreciate because

there's a huge amount to talk about so agreed

and I kind of wanted to also kind of in a closing

way for the show, I guess, in a way, go full

circle with the somber news. Since we waited

a day to record this, we actually had another

passing, which I realize that, you know, Philip

Seymour Hoffman is the bigger name as far as

modern day films and whatnot. But I wanted to

not go without mention this one, this other passing,

because for me, this The individual had a big

part in kind of giving me a love for film from

a very young age. It was just kind of like a

family tradition of ours. My mom, well, my dad

passed when I was really young, so it ended up

being something that originally, like my dad,

my mom, and my... sister and myself you know

we'd watch films or watch you know it usually

ended up being like a movie or something on tv

at night and we'd either have popcorn or ice

cream or something it was just kind of a little

thing that we would do and then it obviously

uh ended up being my mom and my sister and i

doing that a lot and my mom was a big fan of

this individual and we ended up i probably saw

most of her filmography i guess as a young person

and Guess it dates me in a way because I guess

you know more so before my time and maybe it's

odd for me to have enjoyed all this but I Really

instilled in me just a joy for entertainers and

for people who can just do everything sing dance

act and Talk about someone that had a unique

Unique history As far as what she was able to

do and I'm talking about Shirley Temple who who

passed I believe she was 80 And of course, she

was in a lot of stuff as a child star, Curly

Top, the little rebel, poor little rich girl,

Wee Willie Winkie. I mean, there was just Heidi,

Susanna of the Mounties. There was a ton of stuff

that she did. But I think the impressive thing

for me is there was, first of all, the time period

in which she was a star, which was basically

heading into the Great Depression. She was born

in 1928 and most of her stuff was done before

she was a teenager. So we're talking about the

30s and an interesting time there. But there

was a four year period in her life as a kid that

she was the top box office earner in all of Hollywood.

as a child, four years, going against some very

iconic names. And I don't know, I just wanted

to bring her up because I thought she's overlooked

by today's generation. And I think some of those

films actually, even though they're so old, do

stand up. And a child star who was able to do

it. without getting completely messed up in the

process. I mean, she went on to do all kinds

of political stuff as far as ambassadorships

and different kinds of stuff like that. But I

just wanted to mention her because she played

a big part in Kind of instilling a love for movies

as a child and myself that would later blossom

into you know All kinds of different types of

films that I enjoyed so a couple people that

we lost over the last couple weeks so far Yeah,

definitely definitely my mom's he was a huge

fan of Shirley Temple So I like yourself watched

a lot of her movies growing up as a kid A lot

of tap dancing, but yeah, she was extremely talented.

I mean to be that young and that successful is

and still be saying afterwards is pretty well

the other thing is she was young and successful

in a way that people that try to do or try to

i don't know like she was doing it in a way that

wasn't she didn't come across as this annoying

like pageant like beauty queen type you know

like they have those like little mis Yeah beauty

pageants where I mean she could could have completely

Been like someone like that cuz she was you know

Just this little cute little girl that you know

everybody adored and whatnot But she did she

did it in a way that didn't come across as you

know like annoying and conceited Yeah, there

was always an earnestness to her for sure and

just for her signature song animal crackers in

my soup That's pretty good Curly top so all right

But there are many different ways to get back

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