It's time for an Off Mike Discussions episode! This week, Mike D recaps his experience at the All-Nighter Horror Marathon at the Cinema Arts Center in New York, while Smith talks new releases like TONY, COYOTE VS. ACME, TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA, and gets really into the new HBO series LANTERNS!
[00:00:02] Let's get together, talk about the movies that we saw this week. We'll have discussions, talk film news, we'll laugh a lot and act like geeks. Sometimes we'll have a guest or two, sometimes it's just the two of us. Let's crack some jokes and tell some folks to come along and hang with us! Mike and... Chosen wisely.
[00:00:28] In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's Mike beware my power. It's Mike and Mike. Go to the movies! What? I'm Mike Smith and joining me as always is someone who is spending the summer in Cape Cod while he discovers his passion for cooking and maybe learns to be less of an asshole in the process. Mike DiCruccio. How's your day, Mike? Doing just great. I would love to know how to cook. That'd be nice.
[00:00:55] Seems like one of the skills that like every time I'm like, fuck, I gotta practice and get better at this. And then I'm like, nah. Do you have any like dish that you can cook well or that you can cook easily? Well, describe dish. You know the like dog food for boys thing? Like that. Like chicken, rice, whatever veggie, like just in it. Sure, yeah. Yeah. Crushed it. Okay. I mean, that's mostly what I got to. Uh, anything that looks nice? Nah. Okay. Yeah. Fair enough. I, I can't really make anything that looks nice, but make you a pretty good plate of spaghetti.
[00:01:25] I can do that. Uh, you want some hamburger helper? Baby, I got you covered. Uh, I make a mean scrambled egg. You know, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, absolutely. Uh, you know, I did for a couple of years, I did have hello fresh and like genuinely like really enjoyed like getting the new recipes and like getting stuff and all that. It was great. And then we stopped getting it. And, uh, I lost, uh, I lost all skill. I need some kind of like step-by-step instruction on how to do it. That's the thing. With pictures.
[00:01:51] Yeah. I definitely don't have the skill, uh, to like look at a bunch of raw ingredients and be like, oh, this can be done. This, this, this, this, I'm just like, what now? And then I'm just holding like salt and rice. Like how, how, how I need, I'm lost. Yeah. Anthony Bourdain would, uh, look down on you and disdain. I need a green lantern to save me. There you go. Absolutely. Uh, what's going on, Mike D? It's an off mic discussions episode.
[00:02:16] It's an off mic. We're here. We're alive. Unfortunately, in the year of 2026, um, I thought you were going to cut it off there where you're like, we're alive. Unfortunately, I, who knows, you know, take that however you want.
[00:02:32] Um, unfortunately I have eyes to see, uh, you know, uh, the horrors, they persist, but back in a reading in a big way. That's pretty cool. Nice. What do you read some books? Um, I've been trying to just read some fantasy stuff. I, I, uh, read some stuff at the library. There was a new Witcher book that came out recently, which is a prequel. Uh, so I checked that out. That's called Crossroads of Ravens, which is pretty good. Very fun. I mean, you know, I love those books anyway, but they're definitely like, it's that weird thing where like those books were done.
[00:02:59] And then the games came out and Witcher 3 became massive and TV show. And they're just like, Oh shit, here's another one. Like, and, but because of those books have an ending, all the other books, the last two that have come out have to had to be prequels. Okay. And they're starting to do, this one is starting to do the, uh, like Han Solo. Like it's starting to do that kind of thing. Cause in the books, which is very funny, um, Geralt has a, like a, like a headband, like a Rambo,
[00:03:28] like headband he wears, you know, keep his hair out of his face in a fight kind of thing. And Crossroads of Ravens gives a plot reason for why he wears that. And it's just so funny that he gets like a sword cut across his forehead. And somebody is like, you know, that's a very recognizable scar. You should cover it. And so he wears a head, starts wearing a like a leather scrap headband thing.
[00:03:46] Okay. Um, which is hilarious to be like a tiny detail that's in three books, like somewhere else to make it like a character reason. So anyway, yeah, just from reading stuff. I had a, I had a fun thing where I put some like holds on the library, um, that the, uh, library had zero copies of. And I was like, well, let me, you know, notify me. They have the thing in the Libby app where like, if they ever get a copy, you'll get a notification email to be like, Hey, this book's available. Um, and both books came back at the sit, like they got copies of both books at the same time. And I was like, Oh God, Oh shit. Oh no.
[00:04:16] So I had to like, just try to plow through some stuff. Um, and I did. And that's, that's been fun. I just recently started the jungle by Upton Sinclair since we now live inside the jungle, um, where, you know, FDA and everything is gone basically. Um, we're in every other day is a new food recall and it's intense, you know, it's kind of a tough read. I don't, I don't know if my like mush brain, I don't know if I've trained it back into reading mode enough to be reading, you know, like a muckraking socialist expose from 1914 yet. Sure. Um, so I
[00:04:45] may have to put that back on the shelf, but, uh, you know, get, get back into reading kids. It's fun, fundamental. Yeah, absolutely. But today we are not talking about the written word, Mike. Uh, we're, we're talking about stuff on a screen that you can watch moving pictures. Uh, yes. No, we're talking about the movies, some television, uh, as well. Yes. But, uh, yeah, this is an off mic discussions where we each just kind of talk about, uh, what we have been watching lately. And so let's get right into it, Mike. It's time for our discussions.
[00:05:12] Watch this. These are my discussion. Just when I thought I said all I could say, my buddy and I talk about movies. We see these are my discussion. There is so much to see you and me. So we're going to talk about movies for our discussions. All right. It's time for some discussions here on The Complete Works Podcast. I think we should kick things off, Mike with, uh, your big, uh, events that you went to recently. I think, uh, we got to talk about this.
[00:05:41] Sure. Yeah. I went to, um, at the cinema arts center in Huntington, New York, uh, which is, oh, okay. So I have slight news. Uh, well, not really, but so cinema arts center is a, you know, uh, how'd you used to say the Roxy, the local independent cinema? Uh, the, the local theater in my house near Missoula, the local indie theater near Missoula. Now I've lost it. You can. The indie theater near your house in Missoula, Montana. Right. Yeah. It's not that close to me. It's 45 minutes, but it's a local independent theater.
[00:06:08] But there's another one opening much closer to me that just had its like unofficial soft opening thing with, uh, Steve Buscemi was there to do a 30th anniversary screening of the tree lounge or whatever the hell the one movie he directed. Um, right. My close personal family friend, Steve Buscemi.
[00:06:24] He's a local boy. Exactly. That's what I was going to say. Yes. Did I ever tell you this? My mom dated his cousin, I think, or something like, yeah, she, she dropped this news on me like a couple of years ago. Like, why did you never tell me that? Incredible. Yeah. Uh, so she's like met Steve Buscemi in passing, I think is from what I, what I understand. Yeah. That's awesome. So yeah, there's a theater, the Malvern, the Malvern theater, uh, near my house ish. That, uh, was a, you know, art, art house, foreign film kind of thing.
[00:06:51] I don't think they did repertory screenings and stuff, but I also didn't like know about that at the time and closed down during lockdowns, the pandemic and all these things. And was recently re-bought. It's coming back. They're restoring it. I think one theater is complete. Uh, and so do like a drum up support soft opening. It's not actually, there's no screenings of opening yet, but like fundraiser thing. Steve Buscemi screened the 30th anniversary of his film there. So hopefully that happens soon is what I'm getting at.
[00:07:16] Very nice. I too will one day have an independent theater near my house on Long Island. There you go. Hopefully. But anyway, at the cinema arts center, um, I went to their all night horror marathon, which happens, uh, every year at the end of August. Yes. You've gone to this before, correct? You went last year. I went to two, I didn't go last year, but I've gone to two other ones. Okay. Uh, the first year I went was a zombie thon, specifically zombie, all the five zombie movies overnight starts at 9 PM goes till the last movie. Um, uh, the, but the last two, I didn't go last year, but this year,
[00:07:46] and the last one I went to were not themed. They're just hard. Actually this year was themed. Um, it was called witchcraft and dark, dark desires and witchcraft or something like that. Um, so it was all like female, female rage, uh, kind of thing was sort of the underlying theme. And it fucking rocks. It's a lot of fun. If you don't go to horror marathons and or movie marathons and you're a movie freak like us, do it. It's the best thing ever. It's a lot of fun. It's, it's great. I haven't been to like a proper marathon in a very long time because there hasn't really been, uh, anything like that in Missoula.
[00:08:16] Uh, until maybe soon, we'll see, see what happens. Then the Roxy may have some stuff in the works, which I'm very excited about. But yeah, the Roxy does like an annual, like new year's Eve marathon of Kung Fu movies. Uh, but it's not, but it's not like a marathon pricing kind of thing. And it's sort of more, it's more of a situation where you pop in for a movie or two and you pop out, you're paying a normal ticket price, all that stuff. What Mike D is talking about is like the kind of stuff that we used to go to all the time. Uh, Hudson Horror Show, the dismember the Alamo, remember cinema apocalypse, the Alamo apocalypse. Yeah.
[00:08:43] That was great. Uh, where it would be like five or six movies. You'd play a marathon price of like somewhere between like 40 and $60. Uh, and you would be like locked in for five or six movies. Uh, and it'd be awesome. It was great. I missed them a lot. Uh, one of my favorite marathons, you weren't at this one, Mike, but it was the Rocky marathon, the Alamo draft house, which was all seven Rocky movies at the time. Uh, with, uh, and all of them, uh, the Rocky was a 4k restoration and the rest of them were all on 35 millimeter,
[00:09:07] including Creed, a very rare print of Creed on 35 millimeter. And Rocky two was like Quentin Tarantino's personal print, uh, as well, because it's the only one that they could find or something like that. That's awesome. So yeah, no, I, I'm jealous that you still have access to relatively frequent movie marathons. Yeah. I know you don't go as much as we used to. We used to go like every couple of months. Like whenever, whenever there was a marathon happening, it's like, all right, might do. We got to go. We got to make it happen. Yeah. This is annual so far. Um, and, uh, yeah, it's, it's through there.
[00:09:37] They have like, you know, uh, a horror, you know, like the trash vault equivalent at, at the, at the Roxy, there's like a horror series or something they do. And like, they put this on. So, um, you know, it's kind of, it's like just far enough away. It's like, like I said, 45 minutes to an hour that I can't like be a regular and like go to this, like a long way to drive to go to a normal movie. Um, but for a all night marathon thing, like, yeah, that's totally worth it. Um, and it's fun. It's, you know, starts at 9 PM, goes to the, to, to, to this time we got out after 7 AM. Cause there's, you know, a little bit of a break.
[00:10:07] In between movies. And I think in the middle there, they, it went more than 15 minutes. Uh, it was like a 20 to 30 minute break at some point. And then they were like, Oh shit. Oh crap. And they like started the next movie. It was like, so the sun was fully up by the time we came out, which was crazy. Yeah. Disconserving. Yeah. Really freaky to like walk out and be like, Oh shit. Yeah. But yeah. So, I mean, I don't know if I'm going to necessarily go through every movie, but, uh, the movies were Pearl, you know, nice dark desires, female revenge, you know, for sure.
[00:10:36] On 35 millimeter, which was very cool. That's awesome. That was pretty sick. It was pretty funny though. I mean, you know, between of that whole trilogy, you know, the Pearl Maxine. Yeah. Yeah. X is my favorite just because of the kinds of movies I like. That's the, you know, slasher exploitation kind of thing. Pearl, of course, the big colorful, much more into the kind of like wizard of Oz movies of the thirties. Like when the movie takes place. Right. Although I guess it takes place way before that. Cause it's during world war one, but the print had like some damage to it a little. Okay.
[00:11:04] Okay. I mean, just some scratches. Cause that movie's from 2022. Yeah. Yeah. And I can't imagine there's many prints of this. So it's, if it's the one, uh, right. Sure. That makes sense. Probably has some, but it was just funny to watch. Like, like if I was just thinking if I was watching X on film and it had that, it'd be like, Ooh, like, Ooh, interested. But like watching Pearl with it's like bright, like technical color kind of vibe. And it's got some scratchies on it and stuff. You're like, Hmm. Like it's just a different, different reaction to it, which is fun. Makes sense. Yep.
[00:11:31] Yeah. Uh, next movie was Suspiria also on 35. The original Suspiria, correct? Yes. Not the, uh, not the remake. Okay. The Argento Suspiria on 35. Witchcraft, you know, dark desires as well. Makes sense. Rocks that rocked. That started at like 11. So it was like a perfect, cause the last two I've been to, there's been like a Fulci movie. Cause you know, zombies, whatever. Sure. And they played that last. Both times they played the Italian movie last. Right. Uh, which is rough. You know, those movies are cool. They're a lot of fun. They're very atmospheric and weird.
[00:12:01] A lot of times. Sure. But when it's like four in the morning, you're struggling to stay awake. Yeah. Yeah. Fully asleep. I just the out, like I'm not, you make it 10 minutes in and I'm gone. Uh, yep. So to get this at 11 was like, Ooh, it's a midnight movie. I'm kind of scratchy 35. It was pretty funny to see like the beginning and end of every reel had so much damage that, uh, but then like the middles were fine, but it was still, but it's cool. You know, Suspiria rocks. Um, and then next we watched was the craft. Okay. Also on 35.
[00:12:31] Which was very cool. Uh, I had never seen the craft actually. Oh, nice. Yeah. Yeah. What a blast. I can't believe this movie, this movie, the craft 10 out of 10 movie until the final 15 minutes. And you're like, wow. Okay. What happens in the final? It's been a little while since I've seen the craft. Uh, it just goes like full, like they're flying and throwing magic spells at each other. And like, it just goes like full, full, like full witchcraft stuff. And it's just like all the others to it just, I was more into the like high school drama with the like weird girls before that.
[00:13:01] Uh, and it's cool. I mean, it's fine. It's just the last 15 minutes is just like a hard swerve into full of special effects laden, like magic fight. Um, one of my favorite things about the craft is that, uh, I feel like a lot of it, it's been a while since I've seen it, but I remember watching it on the criterion channel a few years back. Like it was part of like a collection of witchcraft or whatever. And one of the things in that movie is like Neve Campbell's character, uh, keeps talking about how hideous she is. And like, you know, all this whole thing, like it's like, Oh God, don't look at me. And she has like, you know, maybe a pimple or something.
[00:13:28] And she's like using magic to like make herself more beautiful. And it's like, you're Neve Campbell. What the fuck? Yeah. No, she, she has, um, like full body burn scars is the like thing. That's the thing. I agree. Yeah. But yeah, that movie is great. So yeah, I had a ton of fun with, with, with the craft. I had never seen it. So that was exciting on 35. That's very cool. Um, and then next movies were ginger snaps, which is like an all time fave for me at this point.
[00:13:51] Yep. Love that movie. Um, and then, so this, that was digital. And then, uh, the last movie was also digital and that was Jennifer's body. Okay. And also one that you hadn't seen, right? I had seen it when it came out. Okay. At the time. You were the guy who saw it. I was the guy who saw it. I was in 2009. I was, uh, high school, graduating high school.
[00:14:12] So like, I, you know, saw it, but definitely fell into the like, oh, it's like cheesy schlock. Like what? You know, blew it off. Cause I didn't like get it, man. You know? Um, but I don't understand how we didn't get it though. Like this movie is fucking incredible. I was blown up. Like I know, like obviously now at this point it's like fully been reclaimed and all that stuff. Um, They're making a sequel now. Like Megan Foxx and Amanda Safer, they're coming out, they're making one. Yeah. Amanda Safer and Megan Foxx are making a Jennifer's body too.
[00:14:40] Wow. Yeah. Like that's how much it's like, you know, totally been reclaimed in the eyes of the public or whatever. It's, it's such a big movie now. But holy shit. Incredible. 10 out of 10. There's, uh, I mean, unfortunately a Chris Pratt drum scare, you know, in a 2009 movie, definitely never expect him. Sure. But, uh, yeah, totally tons, tons of fun. Who's, uh, who's also Kyle Gallner is in it. He's one of, he's the like kid who gets eaten up. What else? There's a couple other moments that I forget that, uh, uh, uh, it has just like,
[00:15:10] like a nine 11 jokes and stuff in it. Like what the fuck is going on? But anyway, yeah. Jennifer's body. Totally, totally a blast. Love that movie. So, uh, and that was, that was 5am to 7am. That was the final movie. That's a, that's a good final movie to end now. I feel like that's a good, like energetic, like fun movie to wrap things up. Yeah, exactly. I forget what movie it was. I think it was like city of the dead or whatever. The Fulci movie that, um, was just like, nah, nah, not like not having it. Can't do it. Yeah.
[00:15:36] People walking through, slowly walking through like a foggy graveyard and like, I'm going to bed, man. It's over. Cause that's the thing. I, I've never been to a marathon like that where it's an all night marathon where it's like, you know, 9pm to 5am or whatever the timing is. All the marathons that I've been to have been during the day where it like starts usually like 10 or 11am and just goes until maybe like midnight. Midnight or something. Yeah. Something like that. And so, but even when it's during the day, like by the time you get to the last movie, you are tired, you know?
[00:16:03] And so it's, you know, you buy a movie three or four, like you kind of have to figure out like, okay, well, what's your nap movie going to be? What's like the movie that's like, and I remember there was one, I think it was dismembered the Alamo where they, or maybe some apocalypse or something where they played Messiah of evil is like the third movie. Yes. We sliced up through that also. Yeah. And that's, I think a really cool movie, but a very slow paced one. And it was like, after we had watched like two or three movies, it's like, okay, I'm kind of nodding off here a little bit. And then it came, I remember that, I think it was that marathon slumber party massacre was the last movie.
[00:16:30] And I totally like, all right, we're back. We were reinvigorated, you know? Yeah. And it's like, you know, they usually have like beers and stuff for sale and, and it's a dangerous game. You have, you know, three, four beers or whatever. You're going to, you're going to get a little sleepy. Yeah. That's just, that's just how it goes. That's how it goes. Um, yeah. Speaking of, I mean, I, uh, one of the first, uh, Hudson horror shows we went to, one of the movies they showed was a Shogun assassin. Yeah. Uh, the American recut of the first two lone wolf and cub movies. Right.
[00:16:57] Uh, and, uh, this past week I wasn't going to include this in my discussions or anything, but I watched the first lone wolf and cub movie, uh, for the first time. Like, but I was like, Oh yeah, I kind of remember this from watching a Shogun assassin amidst five other movies, uh, like 10 years ago. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And if I remember right, that was like a mystery move. Cause I remember Hudson horror show would do like one movie as a mystery. Yeah. The rest, you know, and then eventually it became all six mystery movies. All mystery. Cause, cause they were illegally operating out of the South Hills mall. Underground. Yeah. Like the theater itself barely existed. Right.
[00:17:27] Uh, yeah, man. But yeah, it sounds like it was an awesome time, Mike. Yeah. It was really fun. I don't know. They said what number marathon it is. I forget off the top of my head. Um, but they said it, it was the, uh, highest attendance since pre COVID. So that's very cool. And it was packed at the beginning. You know, not everyone, of course, only the freaks like me made it to seven, made it to the final movie. Sure. But the first, you know, three, four movies, probably three, you know, I think after, after the craft, which was, you know, ended at 2 AM or whatever. Sure. Yeah. A lot of people left.
[00:17:57] That makes sense. Makes sense. Yeah, for sure. But yeah, so that's very exciting. And, and lots of, I thought was very interesting, like groups of teens, like, you know, like the kids are yearning for the all night movie marathon experience, which is pretty fucking cool. Yeah, that's great. I mean, that's something that I've noticed with the Roxy too, is just, uh, you know, we're right by the university of Montana. So there's a lot of college students nearby. And it's one of those things where like, I feel like whenever like movie stats are being reported, like, you know, people are like, oh, kids don't go to movies anymore.
[00:18:24] Like that's like a thing. And it's like, you know, only old people are at the theater and, uh, whenever I met the Roxy, it's fucking packed. And that's always kids who are like kind of making that charge happen. And I think especially in the last year, you've seen movies like obsession or back rooms, like doing really well. And it's because like, yeah, no, the Gen Z is like really into this and wants to see more of this. Like these are the movies that they're being drawn to, you know, and sometimes it's like super Mario galaxy movie or whatever, but sometimes it's really cool stuff like obsession. Sometimes it's Minecraft. Sometimes it's something else, you know?
[00:18:50] Yeah, exactly. So there are, there, there are kids going to the movies and, uh, that's a good thing. Uh, that's a very good thing. Um, but all right, that is Mike D's movie marathon. Uh, I'm gonna talk about a couple of new releases here, Mike, a couple of new movies that came out recently. Uh, the first of which, uh, let's keep it on the horror theme. Uh, it's a new movie from Jane Shunbrunn, teenage sex and death at camp miasma, which, uh, I think I referenced in our episode on the town that dreaded sundown, uh, recently with Laura culinary, but teenage sex and death at camp miasma.
[00:19:16] So Jane Shunbrunn, uh, directed a movie called we're all going to the world's fair a few years back and a couple of years ago directed, I saw the TV glow and I saw the TV glow. One of my favorite movies that year. That movie is incredible. Uh, and teenage sex and death at camp miasma also great. And it's, I think it's an interesting thing. If you look at all three movies about how each one is kind of exploring our relationship to different kinds of media.
[00:19:36] Uh, the first one being very internet focused, but, uh, I saw the TV glow really like honing in on like nineties television, uh, and teenage sex and death at camp miasma really being about eighties slashers and taking kind of metatextual approach to all of that. Uh, and so this movie stars Hannah Einbinder, uh, from hacks, uh, as a young indie filmmaker, uh, who has come out with like one respected movie at Sundance, uh, you know, queer filmmaker, got some good reviews, all that stuff.
[00:20:02] Uh, and has now been, uh, hired by the studio to direct a new movie in the camp miasma franchise, which is basically Friday the 13th. Uh, you know, and so she has been hired and she goes on a journey to visit, uh, the star of the original camp miasma film played by Jillian Anderson, uh, Dana Scully from the X-Files. And what follows is, uh, a really surreal, weird movie that kind of follows its own sort of dream logic.
[00:20:27] And there's moments where you're not quite sure whether you're watching the film, like whether you're watching the outside of the film story, or if you're watching one of the camp miasma films, uh, they kind of like start to blur together towards the end. There are extended moments where you're just watching them watch camp miasma, the original, and the stuff that's like recreating that is fantastic. That like kind of captures that film grain and captures the style of those eighties slasher movies very, very well. And, uh, yeah, no, this movie is a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. It's really funny. It's really surreal.
[00:20:57] It's scary at times, but not really. It's more kind of leaning into the surreality, surreal reality of it all. But yeah, really dug it. I think, uh, Hannah Einbinder especially is great. And Jillian Anderson currently, I think the Mike award winner for best supporting actress. Uh, so, uh, yeah, I think she's great in this as well, but, uh, yeah, teenage sex and death of camp miasma, uh, absolutely worth watching. It's really good. Nice. Yeah. I want to see it.
[00:21:26] Uh, so I'm in, but yeah, I just haven't had a time. I was watching five movies overnight. What do you want for me, man? Well, that was over one night. This is like, I saw this weeks ago. I don't know. This year after Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie. Uh, but this is more in line with Matt Johnson's previous film, uh, which was Blackberry. Right.
[00:21:56] The, uh, Blackberry. Yeah. Great movie. Blackberry rules. Uh, did you get to watch, did you see Blackberry? I didn't see that. No. Blackberry is really good. Yeah. Want to check it out? Um, yeah, it's really good. And Tony is, uh, an Anthony Bourdain biopic. Sort of. It is Anthony. It is an Anthony Bourdain biopic. It is based on his book, Kitchen Confidential, but only based on, I believe chapters two and three of Kitchen Confidential. So the entire movie just takes place, uh, in Cape Cod during the summertime when Anthony
[00:22:24] Bourdain was like 17, when he like kind of drops out of college and goes to follow a girl out to Cape Cod, pretending to have a writing fellowship, uh, from his, uh, from his college, uh, from Vassar college actually, which, uh, you know, shout out to Vassar, uh, close to my hometown. But, uh, yeah, it's just him hanging out in Cape Cod and ends up taking a job at a restaurant for the summer, uh, and working with a chef played by Antonio Banderas. And the movie, I think if this movie wasn't an Anthony Bourdain movie, it would still be
[00:22:50] like, like it has as much resonance, you know, regardless, you can go into this movie knowing nothing about Anthony Bourdain. If you didn't know going into the movie that it was Anthony Bourdain biopic, uh, and you cut out like one or two things at the beginning of the movie, like you could go the entire movie, not knowing he grows up to be Anthony Bourdain, uh, until the very end. Like it's that, that's sort of how it is. And, uh, Dominic Sessa from the holdovers, uh, plays Anthony Bourdain in this. He's amazing in it. Uh, Antonio Banderas is really great.
[00:23:17] Uh, Stavros Halkius, uh, is in this movie as well and he's fun, but yeah, no, the movie is, uh, just a coming of age story about, uh, this, you know, kind of a drift kid trying to figure himself out, uh, in the summertime. And, uh, that's the kind of stuff that I love. So, uh, yeah, Tony, it's really great. It's shot beautifully. It's acted really well. Uh, it's just a really, uh, excellent time. So yeah, Tony, it's, it's fantastic. Do you think it would pair as the summer flip side of a double feature with the holdovers? Uh, you know, I could actually see that. Yeah. That'd be good. Cause the holdovers is a very winter movie.
[00:23:46] Yeah. Uh, and Tony is a very summer movie. So yeah, absolutely. Uh, Dominic Sessa double. I think they're the only two movies he's been in. I think so. Yeah. I think those are his two movies. Yeah. Uh, so yeah, no, Tony really, really good. High recommend. Uh, and then one more new release I'll throw out before passing it back to Mike, uh, is I went to go see coyote versus Acme, uh, which, uh, finally came out. It happened. It's happening. It's real. Yes. Uh, so for those who don't know coyote versus Acme, a movie that was supposed to be released a couple of years ago that Warner brothers, uh, ended up, uh, shelving for tax purposes.
[00:24:15] This is one of the many movies, uh, like Batgirl or like, uh, there's probably a couple, I think there was a Scooby-Doo movie as well that like just got shelved. Uh, TV shows like that they canceled TV shows that they canceled or took off the service or that kind of thing. David Zaslav head of Warner brothers found out that, uh, there were certain things where like, Hey, I would rather have the tax write off on this than risk putting it out in theaters and maybe losing money on it. Right. Uh, which, uh, is an incredibly anti art sentiment. And of course this like has resulted in a lot of backlash in social media on behalf of a
[00:24:44] lot of these movies, but coyote versus Acme, like definitely had like the biggest backlash to it. And I think a lot of that backlash was because a lot of people who were involved in the movie or people who had seen like early cuts of it were like, this is actually great. Like this is really good. Right. And, and so this is a Looney Tunes movie that features a Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme corporation for all of the faulty products, uh, they've given him over the years. Uh, Will Forte plays a cartoon lawyer, uh, like an actual like live action lawyer for a lawyer for cartoons, a lawyer for cartoons. Exactly.
[00:25:13] Uh, and it ends up into this like huge protracted legal battle, uh, with the Acme corporation. Uh, so John Cena, uh, plays one of the Acme lawyers, uh, and Foghorn Leghorn is the head of the Acme company, uh, Southern chicken lawyer. That's exactly right. Uh, so you get Southern chicken lawyer, Foghorn Leghorn in the movie, uh, which is fantastic. And so yeah, if you're a fan of the Looney Tunes, which I very much am, uh, my number one movie of 2024 was hundreds of beavers, which is heavily inspired, uh, by the Looney Tunes.
[00:25:41] This captures the tone really well. It's great live action animated combination. I'm a huge fan of a Wile E. Coyote and road runner. And there was a lot of that stuff here. A lot of great slapstick moments, a lot of great cartoon moments. And it's Will Forte is the lead. So he, he's my guy. So it's just like, yeah, perfect stuff. So yeah, I really enjoyed a Coyote versus Acme and like the legacy of like Looney Tunes movies, you know, space jam, the original, I have like a nostalgic affection for, but I recognize that there's, it's not like a great Looney Tunes movie necessarily, uh, space jam to an abomination really bad. Yeah.
[00:26:11] Looney Tunes back in action. I think it's a lot of fun. I haven't seen it in a very long time. The Joe Dante movie. Yep. But then recently, of course there was the day the earth blew up the, uh, the first fully animated Looney Tunes movie, which is crazy. And that was a lot of fun. And, uh, Coyote versus Acme, I think it's just as good, if not better. So, uh, yeah, absolutely worth checking out. Hell yeah. Yeah. I know it's, uh, been making big strides for the box office, which is pretty cool. It's exciting that a movie like that, uh, it's like proving itself. So that's cool. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see it. Yeah. I think you should check it out when you get a chance. Um, but all right. What else on your list, Mike?
[00:26:38] Um, well sort of, you know, invoking, uh, Space Jam 2 makes sense. So I'll just pivot to the movie I watched after the marathon, literally got home from the marathon. Uh, like I said, we got, it got out after seven. It's an hour away. It was like 8 a.m. I picked up a bagel. I was like, oh man, it's, it's kind of like too late now to go to sleep. Cause like if I go to sleep at like 9 a.m., I'm going to wake up at four. I'm fucked. Like, you know, my old days.
[00:27:05] So I got to like, just try to power through as long as I can and make it at least to the afternoon before I like crash. Yeah. You know? Makes sense. So I'm like, okay, I got a, got a coffee. I got my bagel. I turn on TV. I'm like, I guess I'll watch it. Like, what am I going to, it's too early to do anything else. I guess I'll watch another movie. I just watched five movies. I'll watch one more. Why not? I'll watch one more. I've been in that position. Absolutely. Yeah. And what do you know? It's the opening credits of Steven Spielberg is ready player one. And I was like starting on HBO or something.
[00:27:34] Just starting on HBO 2 or whatever the hell. Yeah. And I was like, I know this is supposed to be bad, but Mike's always talking about wanting to do this Spielberg sci-fi let's rank thing. What else am I ever going to have a chance? Sure. Like to watch, I'm never going to choose to watch this. Fine. And I read that book. I liked that book when it came out. Sure. Man, what a rough picture. What a rough time. Fine. I kind of really regretted to watch it being like, you know, within 20 minutes I was done
[00:28:04] with my bagel and coffee and I was like, I could just turn this off. But you've already locked yourself in. You've already on this journey. You entered the oasis. You can't leave. Exactly. What about, look at how weird Mark Rylance looks in that wig. I got to watch this movie. He suffered for us. Yeah, this movie sucks. This movie is rough. Everything about it is bizarre. I don't know. It's got that weird, you know, half the movie takes place in the VR world. Yeah.
[00:28:34] So everything just looks like a bad PlayStation cut scene. You know, I don't know. Like, didn't have any fun. Who's the Ben Mendelsohn like as the evil corp guy? Like, oh man. I think this movie, when this movie came out, I was officially like, all right, we can't keep casting Ben Mendelsohn as the villain anymore. We got to stop this. Yeah. We got to let him be redeemed somewhere else. So yeah, didn't have a ton of fun. And it was a rough, like, coming off the like, man, Jennifer's body, baby. Like, we're so back. The cinema is holy shit.
[00:29:03] And then I watched Ready Player One. So that was rough. So yeah. Yeah. That's one of them. I did my, so I did my Spielberg sci-fi rewatch before Disclosure Day came out. And so I watched Ready Player One for the first time since theaters. Okay. And I didn't like it all that much when I saw it in theaters. But like, I thought there was like stuff there. And I think there is like still like, you know, Spielberg directs cool action sequences and stuff. You know, all that stuff is there. Like the fun Spielberg camera moves, all that. And rewatching it, I still kind of felt that way, but liked it even less.
[00:29:32] Or I was just like, ah, man, there's something about this. And I think part of it is like, it's a weirdly prescient movie. And like, you watch it now and you're like, oh, this is what all of pop culture is now. This is everything. Like Fortnite, I don't think existed in Ready Player One came out or if it did, it was at its infancy. And like now Fortnite exists and it's like, oh, that's just, that's what this is. This is Fortnite. This is just all these pop culture things being mashed together in one thing. And here you are eight years later from the movie. I don't remember how long it was before the book and the, between the book and the movie.
[00:30:02] Um, but here you are in eight, eight years later watching fucking lost kill bill footage set in Fortnite. Like, like, like kill me now, you know? Yeah. You know, and it's one of those things where like, oh yeah, now like kids who play Fortnite are like more familiar with a character because they're in Fortnite than from, you know, you know, the actual thing that they're from, you know, and in Ready Player One, at least the characters are like students of pop culture, I guess, in a, in a way that's pretty insufferable when you're watching the movie, honestly. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:30:31] But it is like, oh, at least they know who Buckaroo Banzai is and what he's from, you know, like that kind of thing. Uh, whereas Fortnite, I don't think that's the case. I think kids are just like, oh yeah, if, if Buckaroo Banzai ever makes his way to Fortnite, like, oh yeah, here's a guy in Fortnite. But yeah, it's, it's a weird thing. I do think the movie is like an interesting pillar of the Spielberg filmography, uh, because it is very much about, you know, a guy kind of looking over his creation and being like, what hath I wroughts? True. Sort of deal. And I feel like Spielberg sees more of himself in that Mark Halliday.
[00:31:01] He's a character of like, and I think it's interesting that this is a movie that Spielberg decided to make. I was going to say, yeah. Like that's crazy that he made this movie. Hey, you know. Stuff is like his own properties, you know? Yeah. You know, or stuff he at least produced. Like Back to the Future featured in it and stuff like that. Yeah. And all that stuff. So it's like, I think it's interesting to look at it kind of through that lens, but unfortunately it's not a very entertaining movie, which is a bummer. Yeah. Yeah. It did make me think of like, oh, Tintin, you know, like the action sequences and Tintin and all that stuff. Tintin rocks. And that was pretty good. So yeah.
[00:31:31] Anyway, so cross one off the Mike D preparation for the Spielberg sci-fi rank list if we ever do that. We keep talking about it. We're going to do it one of these days. When disclosure day sweeps the Oscars. It's going to be time, baby. All right. What else on your list, Mike? What's another movie you've been watching? What else is another movie I've been watching is a great question. I haven't been watching a ton of movies lately, honestly, which is crazy. But a movie I did watch, did catch up on from this year is Evil Dead Burn. Right.
[00:32:01] Okay. Which came out the beginning of the summer, I think? Earlier? That was like mid-July, early July when that came out. Yeah. And I know I talked about it when I saw it, but I didn't get your, you hadn't seen it yet, so I didn't get to hear your take. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, it's like, okay, I guess. It's pretty cool. It's weird. So, you know, we're big Evil Dead boys here on the pod. Absolutely. For sure. And I, I don't remember, what's your, is Evil Dead 2013, the Alvarez remake, it last for you?
[00:32:30] Is that your, or maybe before this now, I guess? If I were to make, Evil Dead Burn is currently last. But if, if not that, then yeah, it would be the 2013 one for me. Right. St. Mary's trilogy, you know, can't, can't be topped. There's not, there's not really any, like, I'm excited for any new Evil Dead movie. I love Evil Dead. I'm excited to see new stuff and new directors take it on. There's no way you're beating fucking Army of Darkness. What are you talking about? Okay. I guess that's, that was the wrong way to phrase that. But yeah, you knew what I meant. Like, yeah, what's your take, I guess, on that? If I were to rank them all, it's like, the original Evil Dead is probably still my favorite.
[00:32:59] Which I think is sort of a hot take for the Raimi fans. Because I feel like a lot of people prefer Evil Dead 2. Yeah. Which is a movie I think is great. But is, I think, to me, the weakest of the three films. Okay. And I think part of that for me is whenever it's not on Bruce Campbell, it's a little bit slow. You know? And there's like a few moments throughout Evil Dead 2 where like, oh, you cut back and see what like the other people are doing. You don't want to know what Bobby Joe's up to. Right. Like before they get to the cabin, you cut in on them. And I'm like, I want to see Bruce Campbell fucking cut his hand off again.
[00:33:29] Show me that. You know? I want to see the farewell to arms joke 20 more times. Yes. That's what I want to see. And so I love Evil Dead 2. It's great. Right. And Army of Darkness is also like a perfect movie. It's a great comedy. It's so good. The original Evil Dead, though, I think is probably in the running, if not for Jaws, like my favorite horror movie of all time. Wow. And I think it's largely because, A, I think it's jinglingly scary. Yeah. And it's made on a shoestring budget and all of that stuff.
[00:33:55] And I think part of it is when I saw it when I was like 15, 16 or whatever and like thinking about like, you know, I want to be a filmmaker when I grow up kind of thing and all that stuff. And something like the Evil Dead like really resonated with me because it was like, oh, like a guy who was about my age did this. Like I could do this, you know, if I had the resources, which I don't, you know, if I had the resources and the drive. Neither did they is the thing. That's the thing. If I had like the drive to do it, I could do it. You know, it was like an inspiring story for me.
[00:34:22] It was like that and Clerks genuinely were like the two like, oh, I could just make this. Like I could do this. Yeah, that was there was a thing going around Blue Sky a while ago that was like such and such didn't do blank just for AI to replace what art, you know, AI art. And one of them that I saw that was like Sam Raimi and Scott Dabber didn't nail a camera to two by fours just for AI to make a video or whatever, you know. Yeah, exactly. And yeah, that's what it is. Yeah. And so the original Evil Dead is an all time favorite.
[00:34:51] Army of Darkness, Evil Dead 2 would then be my next ranking. And then it's like, OK, Evil Dead Rise to me captures the tone of the originals pretty well, or at least like the tone of Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness pretty well. And then, you know, then it would be Evil Dead 2013 and then Evil Dead Burn. Ash versus Evil Dead would also be probably above Army of Darkness or not below Army of Darkness above Evil Dead Rise. Like it's still Sam Raimi and Jason. He directed the pilot. Yeah. And the show as a whole is really great and it's a lot of fun. So, you know, there's that.
[00:35:18] But yeah, I but I really do enjoy Evil Dead in its current form, which is like, hey, let's give interesting directors. It's their own, you know, just give them a budget and let them just give them a canvas to do whatever crazy shit they want in an Evil Dead movie, you know? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And that. Yeah. So I'm there with you also. I happen to like. I know you like the Fetty Alvarez one a lot more than I do, I think. Yeah, more than you do, for sure. I don't know if I regret asking it as a ranking thing because I don't think that's fair. Sure. Yeah. You know?
[00:35:46] So, but yeah, I do like that one a lot, even though it is very fucked up, very mean, like very dark and much closer to the first evil, the original Evil Dead in just like tone, I guess. Then. Yeah. Barber Darkness 2, which like we see, you know, it's got a fucking eyeball three stooges bit, which might be in the first one too. Actually, I don't remember. I think that's like a recurring thing. I think it is. Yeah.
[00:36:08] So, yeah, I think Evil Dead Burn is definitely much more in line with, with the 2013 darkness, mean spirited kind of fucked up thing. And it's the director. What's his name? Sebastian Vanacek. Yeah. I think that's right. It's like, it's like vaguely, Evil Dead Burn is like vaguely from the French extremity kind of like vein. So it's got that kind of vibe to it. I think the characters are just like unlikable and mean to each other, to themselves, everything, you know.
[00:36:38] It's a dark, twisted thing, but it is pretty funny sometimes too. So, yeah, I ended up liking it, but not as much as Evil Dead Rise, which I think really kind of like just took me by complete surprise when it came out. I didn't really know anything about it. It was like, yeah, they're making another Evil Dead movie. Like, what? And then it was like, holy shit, this rules. Like, wow. Yeah. So this is definitely, you know, of the two, I like this one less than Rise, but still had fun with it. It is connected though. So I'd be interested to see like where that goes. There is a third one. Evil Dead Wrath, I think, comes out next year.
[00:37:07] Evil Dead Wrath from the director of Last Stop in Yuma County. So I'm actually very excited for that one. That's going to be pretty cool, I think. That's going to be sick. But yeah, so yeah, cool. Evil Dead. I mean, it was crazy that this movie came out and, you know, we're Evil Dead boys and I was like, oh baby, here we go. And then it kind of got like mixed reviews-ish in general. And I was like, oh, and I didn't see it in theaters, which is crazy. Like, I didn't go see the new Evil Dead movie. What the fuck? Yeah. I mean, I went to go see it with my girlfriend and we ended up driving separately for whatever reason.
[00:37:34] I think she had to like go dog sit, like let a dog out and then come over and all that stuff. And she walked out. She left the movie about a half hour in. There's a scene where a dog gets brutally murdered. And that was the one. It's an evil dog though by then. It's a dead-eyed dog, I think. Yeah. No, I think it's a normal dog then. But then it comes back as a dead-eyed dog. Oh, is that what turns it into a dead-eyed? I don't remember. And then it gets murdered again. Like it gets killed again. You're right. Yeah. But that was a real like, all right, I'm out kind of moment. Fair.
[00:38:03] She just left without a word. Everyone's got their limits, you know? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, totally. So yeah, Evil Dead Burns, okay. I was like a little scared for a second, like between Lee Cronin's The Mummy and then this. I was like, oh, what's happening to the Evil Dead extended family? Oh no. Yeah. So I'm excited for the Yuma County guy to join that and see what he puts for. It's going to be like, you know, a small time crime comedy set in the Evil Dead universe. That'd be rad as hell actually. That'd be sick. That'd be a lot of fun. Yeah.
[00:38:33] But I do love this idea that like what's happened, like you said, with this franchise. Like I'm not necessarily one of those people in general that's like, oh, they're ruining the sanctity of the franchise or whatever, like about other things that like people do with that. But I think this is sort of like always the thing I want out of most franchises is like just make it fucking anything. Like, you know. Give interesting filmmakers a canvas to do interesting stuff, which, you know, is interesting.
[00:39:00] There's a, so I don't know how much you've been following a Zack Kreger making a Resident Evil movie, Mike. Yes. I know that's soon, right? That comes out. Yeah, it comes out in a few weeks actually. Yeah. And I'm very excited for it. The trailers look amazing. Zack Kreger, of course, made Barbarian, Weapons, and a lot of Resident Evil fans are like, there's a backlash against it because they're like, this doesn't look like a Resident Evil movie or whatever. And I've seen other people. I have not really played the Resident Evil games, you know, but I've seen like other people who are like very into the games. They're like, this actually looks like exactly what a Resident Evil movie could and should be.
[00:39:30] And like, it's exactly the kind of person I want making a Resident Evil movie if we're going to do this. You know, like that's, this seems like a perfect use of Zack Kreger, you know, and it's something that he clearly wants to do. It's according to him, like recently he was like, I don't think I'll ever do like an IP movie ever again. That seems fair. But you know, it seemed like something that he was really into and wanted to do. So I'm very excited for what he's doing for Resident Evil. I think it's gonna be cool. Yeah. I watched or saw somewhere the like first trailer of it like a while ago when it first came out and was like, I'm in. I've seen enough.
[00:39:59] Like I know Zack Kreger plus this cool, freaky trailer. Yeah. I don't need to see more. I'm excited about it and I have not watched a Resident Evil movie since 2004. Like genuinely, like I have not watched any of them since then. Hell yeah. So yeah, a part of me is like, what if I did a whole Resident Evil deep dive? But I know this movie is not going to be connected to the Paul W. Sanderson ones like in any way. Yeah. So I might skip that. I don't have time. I mean, there's, yeah, there's a lot of those.
[00:40:26] There's like new Netflix movies and shows and stuff that I watched some of with my friends. Like they were watching it. So I was like tuned in a little bit and like, they look like shit. I don't know. Like, okay. Like, what do you mean? It's not faithful to them. Yeah. Every once in a while I start flirting with, so I'm gonna start and I'll be talking about this in a little bit. Kingdom Hearts 4 is coming out next year and I'm gonna start like a Kingdom Hearts replay through of just like all the games and stuff, which is a very like deep and dense mythology and a lot of different games, a lot of different spinoffs and all that stuff.
[00:40:53] And there's two other game series that I keep like flirting with doing that with that I've never played through. One of them is Resident Evil. The other one is Metal Gear. I feel like I think now that I've hit my 30s, it's like, it's time to become a Metal Gear guy. It's just like, it's time to become that guy. Yeah. You know? And I know there was recently, there was a Metal Gear like collection of like the first two, like the two Metal Gear games and the first three Metal Gear Solid games that came out on the PlayStation and they're coming out with like a volume two of that
[00:41:22] collection, which has like Metal Gear Solid 4 and 5 on it or something. So theoretically I can experience the whole story. Right. And I think I want to do that at some point. I think that'd be fun. But Resident Evil, another one that I'm like, what if I did it? What if I did the, like, I probably wouldn't do all the spinoffs, but like, you know, do all the mainline like narrative games, like figure out what the narrative is and go from there. Yeah. There's so many, um, you know, I'm not super in like familiar with the Resident Evil,
[00:41:48] like game story chronology or whatever, but like there's so many different like Resident Evil 1 through whatever number, like multiple times. They remade Resident Evil 4 like three times. Like it's just like it's constant. Yeah. Like I, and I just can't be bothered to understand what the difference between this Resident Evil, it's not Resident Evil 4 remake, even though that is a thing. Like it's like, you know, there's just a different time, a different story, uh, with the Resident Evil number.
[00:42:13] And it's like, I, you know, and I can't, is this, is this Jill and, uh, uh, Leon? Otherwise, I don't know. Yeah. Fair enough. Uh, and I'll, I'll be getting back to video games with confusing chronology in a little bit, but let's talk about a few more movies, uh, for now. Sure. Got a new release that I want to talk about, uh, which is on shutter right now. Came out earlier this year. It's called exit eight. Speaking of video games also. Oh yeah. This, this movie is actually based on a video game. So there we go. There's our, uh, our transition. There's a, there's a segue.
[00:42:42] You're captain segue at this time around, actually. I did it. Yeah. There you go. Uh, so exit eight is based on a video game. This is a Japanese film, uh, about a guy who gets stuck on a subway platform in like an infinite loop. And he has to make his way to exit eight. He starts at exit one. He goes through a hallway and he has to note the discrepancies, like the things that shouldn't be there. Right. The, uh, the, I forget the word that's used. It's a, it's a normal word. I don't know why I'm blanking on it. Uh, differences. Yeah. Like basically some of the differences.
[00:43:10] Like he, he walks down a hallway and he notes like, okay, there's posters here. There's a door here. There's a sign here, all of that stuff. Uh, and you go down the hallway and then you notice like, wait, this doorknob is like a little bit askew or whatever. And if you notice something like that, then you have to turn back around and you will be led to the next exit, like exit two. Right. Uh, and if you don't notice it, then you go back through and then you go, you revert back to the beginning. You're back down to exit one.
[00:43:38] And so that keeps that he's stuck in this infinite loop and it kind of turns into this like horror thing where a lot of horror stuff starts happening as well. We're like suddenly there's like crying babies in a locker or there's like blood gushing from the elevator or that, that kind of thing is happening. Right. Uh, and, uh, this movie is a lot of fun. It's really good. Wow. Uh, it is about this guy who is, um, you know, kind of a drift in life. He's sort of like figuring out things with his girlfriend, uh, who may or may not be pregnant. He's trying to figure that out, all that stuff. And he's on his way to go visit his girlfriend in the hospital.
[00:44:06] And that's when he gets stuck in the subway platform. And it's just like this infinite loop that happens. Uh, and you see things from his perspective and then it starts to expand into other people's perspectives, uh, as well. And, uh, yeah, it's really fun. A really weird message towards the end, uh, but a really good time nonetheless. So, uh, exit eight, it's on shutter right now. And, uh, it's really inventive, really clever. And I had a lot of fun with it and it really does feel like you are watching a video game sort of happening, but in a very positive way where it's like, you're seeing his progression happening in the same way, like hundreds of beavers utilize, utilizes that really well
[00:44:36] to check that movie again. Yeah. I never saw this, but I, I do know that that's like the gameplay of the game is you walk, walk down the hallways when you notice the difference, turn around and you know, weird shit starts happening. Yes, exactly. So exit eight worth checking out. Uh, also got to see, uh, the new film from Adam Wingard, which came out this weekend, which is called onslaught. Uh, and so this is a new action horror movie. Uh, he is describing it as like a spiritual sequel to the guest. Uh, and the super soldier program that is in this movie is I guess supposed to be the
[00:45:06] same one that like Dan Stevens' character is like part of in the guest. Uh, but anyway, this movie stars Adria Ariona, uh, who I love big fan. Uh, she was an Andor. Uh, she's also in, uh, splitsville last year. Uh, she was a hit man. She's been in a lot of good stuff lately. And so she is the star of this movie as like an ex soldier who lives in a trailer park. Uh, her daughter comes to visit her like for the weekend, like after her husband, like her ex husband like drops her off. And so she's the star of this movie when suddenly these three genetically modified super
[00:45:34] soldiers escape from their facility nearby and start wreaking havoc on the town and eventually make their way to the trailer park. Uh, and they have to fight for survival and, uh, it's pretty good time. It's all right. It's, it's, it's, uh, the nice, the great thing about this movie is it's 92 minutes long. Nice. Love to see it. But I've been a fan of Adam Wingard for a long time because I really loved your next and the guests when they came out. Uh, and basically ever since then, he's mostly been doing, uh, franchise stuff. You know, he had, uh, the Blair Witch movie, which I liked, uh,
[00:46:04] you know, I'm the guy who liked his Blair Witch movie. Yep. There was the Death Note movie, which is pretty bad. Uh, and then there's the two Godzilla Kong movies that he made, right? He made Godzilla versus Kong, which is pretty fun. And Godzilla X Kong, the new empire, which is less fun. Uh, that's so, you know, hit or miss on that side. Yeah. Uh, and so onslaught kind of felt like, okay, he's getting back to basics. He's doing his thing. He's doing a similar thing to the guest excited to see it. Adria Ariona. Great. Love her. And she's a really effective like action movie lead for this. Uh, and a really fun supporting cast.
[00:46:33] This movie has Rebecca Hall is in this from Godzilla versus Kong. Dan Stevens is also in this movie playing a different character from the guest. Uh, he's like, he's like the scientist who creates these super soldiers and he's in like heavy bald cap and makeup and all that kind of stuff. Being a freak. Yeah. Michael bean is in this movie, uh, which is great to see him. Reginald Vell Johnson, uh, is in this movie, which is great to see him. Uh, so yeah, really fun, like supporting cast that this movie kind of builds up.
[00:46:57] Really fun to head off the Terminator and die hard, like comparisons by just putting them in the movie. Get them in there. Yeah, absolutely. And so yeah, really fun supporting cast. There are some good set pieces and some effective, uh, action moments. Uh, it just all feels kind of slight, I guess is my thing. I feel like it's, it kind of feels like maybe there could have been a little bit more developed. It all feels like stuff that, uh, has been explored already in Adam Wingard's other films. Like I think both your next and the guest like are more creative and fun, but I did have
[00:47:25] a decent time with onslaughts and, uh, Adrian Ariona is fantastic in it. And there's this one moment, uh, this one line that goes really hard, I think, uh, which is when early in the movie, like when the guys show up, she gets like an injury to her eye and she has to, you know, clean it out. She has to put like a bandana over it. So she's dealing with one eye the entire rest of the movie. Cool. It's cool. Uh, and when she gets over to Reginald Vell Johnson's house, he's like, Hey, how's that eye? And she's like, it's fine. I got another one. Yeah. It's like, yeah, great. Fantastic. Love it. Uh, yeah. Onslaught.
[00:47:54] It's a decent enough time. I had a good time with it. Uh, so yeah, if you're an Adam Wingard fan worth checking out, it's good to see him kind of back in this mode. And then also wanted to shout out the wrong girls, uh, which is the new movie directed by Dylan Meyer, best known as, uh, I mean a filmmaker, but also like she's married to Kristen Stewart. Uh, and Kristen Stewart is in this movie as well as Aaliyah Shawkat. Uh, and it's a stoner comedy. Great. Cool. Girls who are roommates and, you know, are kind of like screw ups in life and stuff like that.
[00:48:24] Aaliyah Shawkat is thinking about moving in with her boyfriend and Kristen Stewart, uh, is off at a concert and ends up at a party where there's a case of mistaken identity where her ex-boyfriend is now dating this girl who looks exactly like her in every way. And that girl happens to work for a corporation that is dealing with the handoff of some, uh, intense psychedelic materials that she, they, she ends up in the hands of like Heath Stanfield is like the bad man who like gives it to her. Yeah.
[00:48:51] Uh, and she ends up in the hands of like with this briefcase full of stuff. And there's these bad guys, like these German dudes who are trying to chase after them and get it. Uh, she and Aaliyah Shawkat think that they are some kind of like psychedelic drug and they decided to try it out for themselves, uh, before trying to sell it to people to pay their rent and this drug ends up giving them like psychic powers, uh, and like telekinesis and telepathy and they can read each other's minds and stuff like that. Uh, and so they end up being able to read their cats' minds and the cats are voiced by Seth Rogan and Camille Nanjiani. Uh, Gina Davis is in this movie like for like 30 seconds.
[00:49:20] Oh, it's great to see her again. Uh, all that stuff. Kate McKinnon's in this. Uh, yeah. And it's a fun enough time. I wish it was more fun. Um, but there was a good time. There's a good time to be had here. It's a fun adventure. It's like fun that it exists. I think my one weird complaint about the movie is that like the Kristen Stewart, Aaliyah Shawkat stoner comedy directed by Kristen Stewart's wife. Why isn't this gayer? Like, why isn't this like, why are both of the characters straight in this movie? I don't understand why that's the choice they made. Feels weird.
[00:49:49] Uh, feels like an odd decision, but that's, you know, their call, I guess. Uh, in any case, yeah, the wrong girls. It's a pretty solid time. I had a good time with it. Nice. Yeah. I saw this like the trailers for it or whatever online. And I was like, that's cool that Aaliyah Shawkat did a movie with Kristen Stewart. Like, yeah. And I feel like when I was describing the movie to people, I was like, oh yeah, the lesbian stoner comedy with Kristen Stewart and Aaliyah Shawkat. Just like I automatically assumed. And maybe that's on me. That's on, you know, you gotta check your prejudice fight. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
[00:50:15] But, uh, but also I feel like anybody who walks out of this movie be like, why weren't they lesbians? Well, what's going on here? They should have kissed. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So the end of twisters. Exactly. The wrong girls. It's an all right time. But what else is on your list, Mike? What else you got? Um, I got one more movie and then some TV shows. Sure. And so that movie is from friend of the pod, Yidin Wu Ping. Okay. I gotta watch this. I gotta catch up with this movie. Oh man, get in there, dude. Blades of the Guardians desert something.
[00:50:44] I forget what the subtitle is. But Blades of the Guardians. Blades of the Guardians. It's not on the poster on Letterboxd. So I don't remember what the subtitle is. Um, but it is available on the Letterboxd rental thing. Okay. So, you know, available. Check it out. Um, and yeah, this is a, a big, massive Wuja epic, um, directed by Yidin Wu Ping. Of course, director of such complete works classics as Tai Chi Master and, and, um, what's the, I always forget the other one.
[00:51:14] Uh, Tai Chi Master and Wing Chun are the two big, are the two big ones. But he directed like five Michelle Yeoh movies that we covered, uh, on that podcast. Yeah. Stunt coordinator for The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, all that stuff. Kill Bill. Kill Bill. Right. Directed through Crouching Tiger too. But, uh, yeah, this movie is fucking incredible. It's a, it's a classic, you know, I mean, massive Wuja epic martial arts kind of wire foo fights, all this stuff.
[00:51:38] But it's a sort of bounty hunter guy, um, gets tricked into transporting someone across the desert and it's all set in this like, you know, uh, like, uh, Western China, Mongolia steppe desert kind of thing. So it's really cool. Like everything kind of looks like Tatooine, uh, which is awesome. Uh, everything is like, you know, a hive of scum and villainy, like every town they go into. So yeah, it gets, you know, sort of, um, tricked a little bit, you know, kind of, uh, maybe doesn't
[00:52:07] get the full story about the person he's has, has to transport across the desert and maybe she'd be a person of great importance that other people are after. Uh, and you know, it's the whole big thing and it's awesome. Yeah. It's just tons of fun. Great fight scenes. Awesome. Twisty turny backstabby, you know, like literally masked swordsman that ripped their mask off and are revealed to be somebody from the past. Like, uh, my God, I thought you were dead. And it's like, yes, this is the coolest shit that's ever happened on screen. Um, and yeah, the fights are great. And, uh, you know, if this is his, he's, you mu ping is in his eighties, I believe.
[00:52:37] Um, that's right. Yeah. So, you know, if this is his last movie, I have no idea, but, uh, it would be a great one to go out on if it is. Um, so definitely check out blades of the guardians, especially like after having been steeped in that, you know, these, so many of these wuxia films from the complete works for Michelle Yeo. Uh, it's just like, oh man, these are great. These are, these are so much fun. And I'm so glad I got to like discover that, uh, genre much deeper than just like, oh yeah, crouching tiger, hidden dragon, or, you know, uh, those kinds of movies, the sort of the breakout culturally here in the U S.
[00:53:06] Um, and to get to go back in some of those early nineties, eighties movies. Um, and yeah, so blades of the guardians, check it out. I had so much fun, loved it. Like definitely like best of that genre out of the, you know, whatever the 10 movies I've seen, uh, you know, not that I've seen all of them or anything. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but yeah, big, big, uh, big recommend on blades of the guardians. Okay. Very cool. And then, uh, what are your TV shows, Mike? What do you got? So TV shows, um, I did finally finish, um, widow's Bay season one, uh, which wrapped up
[00:53:35] back in like June. Okay. I don't remember exactly what happened. I think it was a classic, like I'm why I was watching it with some friends and then there was like a couple of weeks where like schedules didn't line up and blah. And then like, we kind of just lost the momentum of fin it, of watching it. Um, and then we watched all of game of Thrones and then, and then I was like, wait a sec, like, you know, it's been a couple of months, weeks since then. And I was like, wait, did we ever finish widow's Bay? And they're like, Oh my God, what the widow's Bay? Um, and so we had three episodes left that we just never watched.
[00:54:05] Okay. And they're 30 minutes long. Like, I don't know what the hell we were. I have, you know, uh, a hundred hours of game of Thrones to watch. Sure. Yeah, absolutely. So we went back and watched them. Great. 10 out of 10. Incredible. End of the season. So much fun. Uh, you're going to love this shit when, when you finally get to it. I got to start it. Yeah. Have another time. Perfect blend of, of horror comedy stuff. And, and I love every episode is like vaguely, you know, the whole thing is like basically
[00:54:33] the fog, you know, it's this kind of sleepy. Yeah. New England coastal Island town, you know, allegedly has a curse, all this stuff. And, you know, this like, Oh, this is the folk car episode. Oh, this is the, the Halloween episode. Oh, this is the, I mean, it's not like literally doing those things, but it's that like kind of thing. Um, and so it's very fun to, you know, they, they leave it open ended for the second season. It did get renewed. Sure. So it's like pretty cool, but a satisfaction satisfactory, like, you know, end of the
[00:55:03] season and you're, and then like a little tease of like, Ooh, what's that noise? You know, maybe there'll be more. So I'm excited for that. Um, yeah. Widow's Bay. It's on Apple TV. So get on it, Mike. All right. Very cool. And then I think you have one more show, right, Mike? Yes. One more show. Uh, and that is a Reacher season four is going on currently as we speak airing. Um, there's two more episodes to come out on prime and, uh, we're watching it. Great, great season so far.
[00:55:29] I think it's like, you know, like the scale is like getting a little crazy. The stakes are like maybe too high, um, for what I like about this show, which is if you've, I know you've never watched it, but if anyone doesn't know Reacher, uh, he's large basically is what you need to know. He's a big guy. He's a big guy. Uh, and he wanders town to town, you know, each season he kind of like, um, gets accidentally embroiled in something. Um, I forget what season one or two.
[00:55:57] So like this season is he's, he's in Philadelphia, which is pretty cool. The other ones he's been like in the South. Uh, so he's in Philadelphia. He's on the subway, uh, or septa, um, at the middle of the night and he sees this woman and he's a military guy or whatever. And he thinks that she's like a suicide bomber or something, but like he can tell something's wrong. And this is all this first, you know, the, the, before the title drop, you know, in the first episode. And so he approaches her and is trying to, you know, deescalate the situation. And she pulls out a gun and shoots herself.
[00:56:26] And now, but he's an investigator. He needs to, what, what the fuck just happened? Why am I, what is going on? He gets, he gets arrested. The feds show up and question him. So now he's like, well, why is the, why are the FBI here to interview me about this? And so he's got to get to the bottom of this. God damn it. Um, and it's like, we're talking with senators. We're like, we're in DC and Philly and it's like, it's a little too much for like this guy that usually wanders into a small town and takes down the corrupt mayor, you know, like is what season one is about.
[00:56:56] So I don't know. I mean, it's cool. Like, you know, it's got the, it's all the same stuff I really love. He's, he is still large. Um, so that's neat. There's a couple other guest stars and stuff around it or, or like, um, who else is in it that I really like? Kevin, Kevin, Kevin Corrigan, Kevin Corrigan. Yeah. Who's the, another Long Island boy. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. The weird film professor or theater professor in that community episode, professor, professor son, um, who's also in good fellows and stuff like that. He, uh, it's on fringe for a while too.
[00:57:24] I have another weird connection to him where my buddy's mom went to elementary school with Kevin Corrigan. That's awesome. They were friends. Yeah. Yeah. And he's great. He's, he's like the, what he's the, like, he always, Reacher always ends up paired up with like a cop from the town. Uh, and he, Kevin Corrigan is that cop's partner. That's just like, I'm trying to ride out my pension. What do you do? Don't get involved with this guy. Uh, uh, so he's great. Um, but yeah, it's like, I, that's my like one complaint so far with this season is like, I'm a little nervous for where it's going.
[00:57:53] There's still a couple more episodes, so I don't know the full resolution of it, but it's like, I think he'd be on national news. Like he wouldn't be able to like fade back into obscurity. And go to another town, you know? Sure. Yeah. He'd have a Wikipedia page, you know, like, um, so we'll see what happens. But, um, I also recently found out that there's a spinoff coming, uh, called Neely, which is the name of one of his, like, uh, she's a character that showed up in the, like the other seasons as like one of his old crew that when he's in a bind, he calls Neely and she shows up and
[00:58:22] joins the team. And so she hasn't shown up in season four yet, but I found out that she is getting a spinoff show. So that'll be exciting. Uh, cause she fucking rocks. So keep an eye out for Neely season one and also get into Reacher Mike because it's not just for dads. Yes. I, I've heard good things about Reacher one of these days. I'm going to, I'm going to pull the trigger on that. Uh, I might want to watch, I, I mean, every time you talk about Reacher, I'm like Jack Reacher is a pretty good movie with Tom Cruise. I know he's not, I know he's not good casting as Reacher for the Reacher fans, but if you like Tom Cruise action movies, Jack Reacher is a good time.
[00:58:52] Jack Reacher is good. Um, I do have, uh, book one on my like wish list or whatever, uh, from the library, but there's like 30 of those books. And I'm like, do I want to like really do this to my, to myself? This could be your metal gear. This could be, uh, like dive into Reacher. Yeah. We're in our thirties now, Mike. This is what we're supposed to do. This is what we're doing. Yeah. We watch, we watch, uh, movies or replay games made by weird guys and we read books, uh, that are 30 books long. So yeah, Reacher season four.
[00:59:21] I'm enjoying it so far, but I'm a little like, oh man, we'll see how this wraps up. Yeah. All right. There you go. All right. And is that the end of your list, Mike? Is that everything you got? That's all the stuff. We did it. All right. I got two more movies, a TV show and a video game to get through here. So, uh, try to go, try to go kind of quick. Uh, but want to talk about, uh, the end of Oak Street, uh, which, uh, is the new film from David Robert Mitchell, uh, director of it follows and under the silver lake under the silver lake, uh, in my top five of 2019. And that movie rocks. Uh, you're the guy. Woefully misunderstood, uh, in its own time.
[00:59:49] Um, uh, and the end of Oak Street, I, I did name like one of my most anticipated movies of the year back when we did our 2025, like wrap up episode, like looking ahead to 2026. Uh, so yeah, I was very excited for this movie. This stars Anne Hathaway, uh, and Ewan McGregor as two parents, uh, in the eighties and they have two kids, you know, a nice suburban neighborhood, all that kind of stuff. Uh, and suddenly one day without warning their neighborhood suddenly shifts their entire streets.
[01:00:15] Their entire neighborhood, uh, has gone through some kind of portal and is now transported, uh, into the dinosaur times, uh, into like the Jurassic era. And so they now have to fend off against dinosaurs and maybe try to find their way back home. It's like that one show that producer Colin made me watch where they fall through the earthquake opens a sinkhole and they fall through a time. Um, oh yeah. What was the name of that show? I can't remember the name of it.
[01:00:45] I'll look it up while you talk, but anyway. Okay. Uh, but yeah. And so it's, uh, I think what's fun about this movie is it's a, it's a relatively mean spirited movie. You see a lot of people getting eaten by dinosaurs. Uh, a lot of, a lot of times it's happening like in the background of shots. Like you're watching Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor run somewhere else and you're seeing like neighbors getting ripped apart by dinosaurs in the background. Uh, and that's a lot of fun. Love that. Uh, Anne Hathaway, especially great in it. Uh, you know, she's been having a great year with, uh, this and the Odyssey and double worst product too and all that stuff. Like she's a mother Mary.
[01:01:15] She's great in, you know, she's been doing great. She's great in this. She's a very fun lead. You know, I've seen a lot of reviews compare it to like the Amblin films of the eighties. And I think it does try to capture that tone a little bit. And I think my only real issue with the movie is it kind of pulls its punches at the end. Uh, there are some things that happened throughout the runtime where I'm like, hell yeah, this rocks. And it kind of like reverses those things by the last like five, 10 minutes. Uh, and that's a little bit of a bummer, uh, to kind of give the movie a little bit more of a happier ending.
[01:01:43] Uh, you know, and it's doing it in a really weird way. Like there's a lot of like weird implications about the ending of the movie, but it kind of does undo some of the stuff that the movie did before. And you know, it's, it's a little weird thing. So I don't want to get too much into spoilers for that stuff. That is like the true ending of the movie. Are they in a video game like Serenity? They're not in a video game. I can confirm that. But, uh, they're not like that. Uh, but I had a really good time with end of Oak street. I think it's a lot of fun. Some great set pieces and great performances. Uh, just some good dino action. Uh, so that's great. Nice.
[01:02:13] Um, but yeah, end of Oak street. Uh, did you figure out what the name of that show was? Yes. Yeah. If a producer Colin hasn't already crashed his car, it's called La Brea. La Brea. There it is. Where there's an earthquake at the La Brea tower pits that opens a giant in Los Angeles, a giant, uh, sinkhole. And they all fall through and wake up 10,000 years in the past. Yes. So it's not dinosaur times, but there you go. That is La Brea and the end of Oak street. Uh, and now one more movie on my list, Mike, and this is one I have to get out there. Uh, this is one of my favorite movies of the year. It's a new comedy.
[01:02:43] Uh, it's called the Napa boys. Okay. Have you heard of this at all? Are you familiar with this at all? I think so, but I don't know. Is it the, the, the guys you like from SNL? Those two guys that made the bear with the, but I guess not. Cause you're not saying yes. The bear. What are you talking about? Are you talking about police on destroy? Is that what you're thinking of? No. Uh, so Brim, Brimley bear. What the fuck was the two? Brigsby bear. Brigsby bear. Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett you're talking about. Those guys. They're not involved with this. No, this is not them. Then no, I haven't heard of it.
[01:03:14] Uh, so the Napa boys, this is a really funny movie. It's really good. And it's a very difficult movie to explain what it is. Uh, but so the movie is presented as the Napa boys for the Somalia is amulet. Okay. Uh, so it's presented as if this is a fourth movie in a series that you've already watched. Those three, first three movies don't exist. Uh, but what it actually is. Have you seen sideways? Uh, no, but I know, I know what it is. You're familiar with sideways. Yeah. Paul Giamatti, Thomas Hayden church.
[01:03:44] Right. So this is, you know how American pie had a lot of direct to video sequels. Yes. Yeah. The naked mile or whatever. Yes. This is like if sideways had a bunch of direct to video sequels. Oh my God. Turned into like a big sex farce kind of comedy thing. Okay. So the two main characters are named miles junior and Jack junior. They are supposed to be the sons of the guys from sideways. That's never mentioned in the movie. Yeah. Yeah. But it's just that their names are miles junior and Jack junior and everyone calls them that all the time. Nice.
[01:04:14] Uh, and it's an incredibly absurd, funny premise about just these two guys going through the California's wine country, getting into hijinks, but like up to 11. And there's just like so many insane bits. It's very reminiscent of the David Wayne style of humor that I really love. Uh, when American summer, all that stuff recently, Gail Daughtry and celebrity sex pass, which I really enjoyed to the point where David Wayne is in this movie. Uh, look at that. He's in it. Uh, and there are in fact several people who I love in this movie. David Wayne's in this Paul rust, uh, plays the villain of the movie.
[01:04:43] Um, who of course is on comedy, bang bang all the time. He plays a guy named squirm. Uh, he's, he's incredible. And Ray wise, uh, is in this movie. A couple of guys from the birthday boys, uh, are in this movie. Uh, Mike Mitchell, Mike Hanford, uh, Steve agey, but also, and I'm going to give away this cameo spoiler, uh, because it's in the opening credits of the movie. So once you start the movie, you're going to see who's in it. Yeah. Jay and silent Bob are in this movie. As Jay and silent Bob, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith play Jay and silent Bob in the Napa boys.
[01:05:11] Uh, it's for like one scene. It's wild. It's crazy, but yeah, no. So it's, it's a lot of things that I love specifically. Yeah. Yeah. Coming together all at once for a very, very strange movie. That is incredibly funny. Laughed a lot. Uh, and is genuinely one of my favorite movies of the year. So, uh, the Napa boys, uh, it's streaming right now on to be if anybody wants to watch it is the, the, Oh no, nevermind. It kinda is the, the poster for it, them sort of doing the dance from the seventh seal
[01:05:41] across the horizon, but not really, but it has like an Indiana Jones font on it. With the font. With the Napa boys. Yeah. That's the one. That's incredible. Uh, so yeah, I think absolutely worth watching. It rocks. It's really funny. And so, yeah, if you have, if you, if it's not, if it's, if it's not on your radar, it's on to be right now. And I think people should watch it. Nice. I think it's, it's not going to work for like 80% of people, but the 20% that love it are going to really love it. Yeah. Um, but yeah. All right.
[01:06:10] That is the Napa boys. Then I just have a couple more things on my list, Mike. Uh, one of which is a new TV show, which is airing on HBO backs right now. The fourth episode just aired the other night. And that is lanterns, which I know you haven't watched a ton of superhero stuff in the last couple of years, Mike, you've been kind of off the superhero train. I don't think you've watched any of the new, uh, DC stuff, uh, post, uh, like James gun coming in for Superman and all that stuff, right? Correct. Yes. Okay. I highly recommend you check out lanterns. I think you would love this. Well, I watched, uh, well, peacemaker peacekeeper. Okay. Yeah.
[01:06:39] The first season of peacemaker, right? Yeah. I don't think I finished season two. Oh, okay. But you did start season two. Okay. Yeah. Gotcha. Okay. So you watched a little bit of peacemaker. Gotcha. I think you would love lanterns. I think you would be really into this. Uh, this is a green lantern TV show that is developed by Damon Lindelof, uh, who of course, uh, created the leftovers, created watchmen, all that stuff, shows that we really like. Yeah. And lanterns is essentially a green lantern TV show. That's like, what if green lantern, but true detective, uh, and that's sort of the angle they go with here.
[01:07:09] So when you think of green lantern, I think of like big space bound cosmic adventures, all that stuff, the suit. Yeah. The whole thing. There's a little bit of the suit. There's none of the space bounce. There's very little of the space bounce stuff in this show, which makes it when it, when that kind of stuff, sci-fi kind of stuff does pop up happen. It's like more effective, I think. Uh, but this is about, uh, Hal Jordan played by Kyle Chandler training John Stewart's played by Aaron Pierre. And both of those guys are just incredible casting, like just great casting choices. Fantastic.
[01:07:39] Fantastic. They arrive in a small town and I believe Nebraska or Kansas, uh, you know, one of those states and they show up and there has been a series of murders and they think that aliens might be involved. There might be alien murders that are happening. Uh, and so they start to kind of uncover this case, all that stuff. Uh, Kelly McDonald plays the small town sheriff, uh, in the town, uh, who kind of aids the lanterns, uh, all that stuff. Uh, also the, the, the two guys, Hal Jordan and John Stewart fucking hate each other and, uh, and it's great. Big fan.
[01:08:08] Uh, and yeah, the dialogue is just really fantastic. The, uh, the writing is really great. The performance is really great. And it's just, it's not what you would expect from a green lantern TV show. Uh, and I think it's to its benefit where it's just like, it's totally its own thing and it's doing a great job of it. So yeah, lanterns is on HBO max right now and, uh, having a blast with it. And so far totally standalone. Like it's a lot of it takes place in 2016. So it's actually like 10 years before the events of Superman. So it's like, it's totally like kind of isolated in its own thing. Yeah.
[01:08:34] I, uh, I did actually watch like the last 20 minutes of the first episode. Okay. Cause my friends were watching it and like, we're already watching it when I jumped into discord. Um, and I was like, I'll just put whatever, I'll check it out. You know, I'm doing something else, but I'll have it on. And I was kind of like, Oh, wait a second. Hold on. What's going on? What's this about? Oh, is this good? Yeah. And then like the thing at the end of the episode one where it like cuts to present day and, and you know, a certain person is in a certain state. And I was like, what the, what the fuck? That's the guy though. That's the main guy.
[01:09:04] What are you talking about? How could that be the thing? Um, but I think that was all that was out when we watched that. Like, I don't think that next episodes had come out yet. Right. Gotcha. Uh, so I haven't kept up with it, but I was like mildly intrigued. Like, Ooh, maybe I will watch this. It's worth watching. It's I've been really into it. Uh, the last four weeks. So nice. Uh, yeah, definitely worth checking that out. Uh, I think there's four more weeks of it. I think it's an eight episode season. And I don't know if they're planning on making like more seasons or if it's like a one-off like mini series type thing. I'm not sure what they're doing there. Okay. Um, but, uh, yeah, really terrific so far.
[01:09:33] So yeah. Shout out to the lanterns. Uh, and then finally want to give a shout out to, uh, the conclusion of a big video game project, uh, that I've been playing for months. Uh, and that is final fantasy seven rebirth. Uh, speaking of games with, uh, confusing numbers and chronologies, uh, the final fantasy series totally normal. Yeah. One of my favorite, I love the final fantasy game is big fan. And I played final fantasy seven, uh, a bit like back in the day, I never had a PlayStation one.
[01:10:01] So I never like played it then, but I definitely had it on like a PlayStation three, like download, like when they would just put out all the old games on PlayStation network, I guess they still do. Uh, but it's different now. Uh, it used to be like, you know, spend two bucks. You can get final fantasy seven on the PlayStation three. We had it so good. Yeah. But now they claim when you buy a thing, you don't own it. Exactly. Yeah. Shut the fuck up. Yeah, it sucks. Uh, so I definitely played some final fantasy seven back in the day, but there's been this, uh, big restoration remake project, uh, that is taking final fantasy seven and splitting
[01:10:30] it into three larger games. Uh, cause final fantasy seven was a huge game on its own, uh, on the PlayStation one. Uh, and now they've been working on kind of creating a newer updated version of it, uh, as a trilogy of games with modern graphics and, you know, other updates as well. Uh, so final fantasy seven remake, the first part came out in 2020, uh, rebirth. The second part came out in 2024 and revelation. The third part is finally coming out in April. Uh, it's coming out pretty soon, which actually like in terms of like modern gaming, like three
[01:11:00] big triple a games in the, in the span of seven years is like kind of a miracle. Like that's crazy. Uh, that happens. Uh, anyway, I really enjoyed final fantasy seven remake when that came out and I finally got around to playing rebirth and I started it back in like February or March and it's a really long game. Uh, and so, and I haven't had like a ton of time to play it. So I've been playing it for months and months. Uh, and when I like looked back on it, I finally finished it over the weekend, which is why I'm talking about it. Uh, I logged like 45 hours into it, which for me in a modern day of gaming, it's a
[01:11:29] lot of hours to, that's a long time. Yeah. But, uh, yeah, finally finished the story of final fantasy seven rebirth. And, uh, I think this game is incredible. It's a well worth playing. If you're into it, I would recommend playing final fantasy seven remake first because it's a direct continuation of that. Um, but, uh, yeah, it's a great continuation of that. Yeah, no, I think, uh, the updates that it makes are really smart. I think the world that it builds is really creative and fun. Uh, this really expands it from final fantasy seven remake, which, uh, seven remake is a pretty linear game. And this one's a much more like open worlds sort of deal, uh, which I was initially like, man, I don't know.
[01:11:59] Open world games, not my, not my style. I like linear thing. Um, but I ended up just having a lot of fun, just exploring the deserts and those different cities and all that kind of stuff. And there are a lot of different side quests. I didn't do that many side quests kind of stuff. Uh, like, you know, the 40 hours is like mostly just the story of the game. And then there's like 60 hours of just like extra shit that you can do. Uh, right. Right. I said in rebirth. Um, but, uh, I think it's really great and the story is really strong and the characters are really fun and, uh, I was really swept up in it. So, uh, I'm sort of sad that it's over, but I'm also like relieved.
[01:12:29] That's like, okay, now I can finally just put this to bed for a while. Uh, and, uh, I'm playing Astro Bot now as a kind of a palate cleanser sort of thing. Uh, which is a lot of fun. Uh, if you haven't played Astro Bot, like it's, uh, it's really good. And that's a quick like 10 hour, like, you know, just fun platforming game. And then once I get through that and lock it in, do my kingdom hearts play through, it's going to happen before kingdom hearts four comes out. I got a year until kingdom hearts four comes out. Uh, and it's time to just play through the entire series again. It's going to be a lot of fun. Yeah.
[01:12:56] I had, uh, not played the final fantasy games ever, uh, or, or kingdom hearts games ever. Uh, and they scare me. So, I mean, the nice thing about final fantasy is like, it's a weird thing or like, obviously it seems confusing. However, every numbered game is its own standalone thing. Yeah. No, I have a lot of friends that are like deep into all of them. And so like, they've tried to be like, no, well you can do this one and that was skip that. You don't need to know. Yeah. And I remember my one friend tried to explain to me, uh, cause I mean, it's connected to the
[01:13:25] kingdom hearts stuff, obviously. Uh, like, Oh, there's, you know, like you can just like watch the, the like cut scenes from this. Yeah. I'm not going to do that. You're talking about a PSP game. Shut the fuck up. Like it was very funny. Uh, but, uh, I've been thinking about that recently too, because, um, the Witcher three, so there's a Witcher four coming out and I forget how it's like been like 10 years or something since Witcher three came out. Sure.
[01:13:51] Um, and so they announced they're doing a Witcher three remake to, for free for everyone that owns the Witcher three already with a new expansion that will connect it to Witcher four. Um, so I'm like, Oh shit, let's go. That's exciting. But it's like, it's like a hundred hour game. Like, how am I going to really, like, I got to reinvest that time in Witcher three. Yeah. I get that. But I might, that's like one of my favorite games. So yeah, we'll see. Hopefully the grid will still be on when that comes out.
[01:14:22] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I, again, I think with Final Fantasy, if you were to start with just like, I'm playing seven and that's it. Right. Right. You would get a complete story out of that, you know? Mm-hmm. You know, or if you were to like, I'm like a Final Fantasy 10 is my favorite. If you were to be like, I'm doing 10 and that's it. That's the one. Yeah. There is, there is a Final Fantasy 10 two, which you can play if you finish 10, but you don't have to, it's fine. Okay. Interesting. So yeah, there is, there is that element to it too, where it's like every numbered game is its own standalone thing.
[01:14:51] And then the successful ones all have a million spinoffs and all that stuff, which is why Final Fantasy seven is being milked pretty dry. But I think with this, I think this remake trilogy has been brilliant, really excellent. I'm very excited for the third part coming out soon. So that is our discussions, Mike. We did it. We did it. We did a lot. I know it's been a long time since we had one, but we did a lot. Yeah. We talked about some movies, some games, some TV shows, and even some books at the beginning of the podcast. Uh, so Mike D, where can we find you online this week?
[01:15:18] You can find me at MD film blog on letterboxd and blue sky. You can donate to support the show on our Kofi page, Kofi.com slash Mike and Mike pods, where you can donate $50 to pick a topic on the bonus episodes here on Mike and Mike go to the movies, which I want to just shout out our, two of our friends, friends of the show, David and also Dave, two different people, uh, have donated. They're in the pipeline. We'll, we'll watch the movies. But if you want to be just like the cool guys, just like them, you can donate 50 bucks and make us watch anything.
[01:15:47] I blanked on every movie that's ever existed. Um, make us watch sideways. Uh, yeah, you can watch sideways. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. We'll do it. Um, Kofi.com slash Mike and Mike pods. And if you want merch, we have merch available on our red bubble, Mike, Mike pods dot red bubble.com. That's right. You can find me online at Emma Smith film blog on Twitter and blue sky, Mike Smith film a letterbox radio, Mike sandwich, Instagram. Thanks so much for listening to you. Mike and Mike go to the movies. I'm Mike Smith's my decree show. Don't forget to rate and view the show on Apple podcasts or any other podcast app.
[01:16:16] And if you want to contact us, go to blue sky at Mike, Mike pod or at complete works pod. Uh, you can find the rest of our podcast and Rapture press alongside many other podcasts, what kinds of comic books and movie news and all that good stuff. Check out the main podcast, the complete works where season five is underway right now with Elijah wood. And that is the end of this. So Mike might go to the movies. We will see you on the other side.