Month: June 2014

Join the gang as they discuss the 2014 film Edge of Tomorrow.

• Directed by Doug Liman
• Written by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth and Hiroshi Sakurazaka (writer of the graphic novel)
• Starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton

Edge of Tomorrow has been called many things, like Starship Troopers meets Groundhog Day. Well, anything-meets-Groundhog Day pretty much sums up the storytelling of this sci fi flick starring Tom Cruise, and that’s a good thing. Currently enjoying a healthy 90% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Edge of Tomorrow tells the story of William Cage, a slick and cowardly Army PR man during an invasion of Earth by aliens called Mimics. However, he gets manipulated into deserting his post and is kicked back down to private where he must join the front lines of a beach invasion of France. During the battle, he dies and keeps waking up the previous day, going through the same time jump after death until me meets Rita (played by Blunt) who explains what is happening to him. This movie has tense action, slick and funny dialogue, and never lags during the less than 2-hour running time.

Worth noting:

• Tom Cruise is one charismatic dude and picks good roles. Let’s talk about every Tom Cruise movie to prove this point and probably imagine how dreamy he is.
• Emily Blunt was ripped and awesome.
• This movie was released on D-Day and involves a beach invasion. In France. Go figure.
• There was more comedy in this movie than we expected.
• We keep seeing movies with either alpha beings or mythical reptiles. What does this say about us, anyway?
• In which heads explode debating the rules of time travel. Oh, it’s so complicated.
• Why is there not a Bill Pullman/Paxton buddy cop movie?
• Tony catches up on Game of Thrones, a year or two later than everyone else.
• Wrapped up with Roger Corman history and movie talk.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Darrell
• Jolie

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Join the gang as they discuss the 2014 film How to Train Your Dragon 2.

• Directed by Dean DeBlois
• Written by Dean DeBlois, Cressida Cowell
• Starring Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, Djimon Hounsou, Kit Harington

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the sequel to the Dreamworks tale of a teenage Viking nerd who discovers that dragons really aren’t all that bad. This movie begins five years after the first with all the same characters and the addition of Hiccup’s long-lost mother. The story begins that the town has embraced the dragons that live there and and that the dragons seem to like being used as transportation and to light fires. We learn they’re intelligent, loyal creatures. However some, like the mysterious and obviously-bad dude Drago Bloodfist, use them for evil. This movie doesn’t shy away from heartbreak, missing limbs, sheep tossing, or heights, but is an overall well-rounded family movie.

Worth noting:

• Theater presentation, piracy, and Snakes on a Plane, audio-only version.
• We generally liked this movie because it’s entertaining, tells a solid (if old) story, and is rarely dull.
• Another revival of the Disney-has-no-place-for-mothers-in-movies discussion. Important since Hiccup’s mother plays such a key role in this movie.
• Sometimes, this movie bucks the expected tropes and that’s a good thing.
• Jaques Tati’s Mr. Hulot’s Holiday, background action, physical comedy, and other discussions just right for film studies class. Because we’re so fancy.
• The accents in this movie are out of control. We purists demand consistency.
• Stick around for fun anecdotes about Roger Corman and Ray Harryhausen. Kids, Google those names.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Darrell
• Jolie

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Join the gang as they discuss the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past.

• Directed by Bryan Singer
• Written by Simon Kinberg
• Starring Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Nicholas Hoult, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Shawn Ashmore

X-Men: Days of Future Past is the latest offering from the X-Men franchise and the return of Bryan Singer. This movie is part sequel to X-Men: First Class and part continuation of the present-day X-Men story. It begins the story from the future with the present-day X-Men cast (Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, et cetera) who must figure out who to go back in time to change history and thus save mutants and humanity alike.

Worth noting:

• Hail the appearance of Quicksilver!
• Picking up a stadium is dumb but unnecessary.
• On moral ambiguity as an enduring feature of X-Men stories and awesome Peter Dinklage moustache action.
• David’s reign of supervillainy.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Darrell
• David

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Join the gang as they discuss the 2014 film Godzilla.

• Directed by Gareth Edwards
• Written by Max Borenstein
• Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche, David Strathairn

This time, it will be different! This Godzilla pretends that the whole Matthew Broderick/Roland Emmerich Godzilla debacle of 1998 never happened and that we’re back to the basics, back to the old Godzilla storylines we’re used to. In today’s environment, though, there’s the cushy advantage of better digital technology, allowing Godzilla and other giant creatures—in this case, MUTOs—to come to life in all their gross and city-destroying glory. In this reboot, Bryan Cranston is, for some reason, a nuclear engineer living and working in Japan when a terrible attack occurs that he cannot explain. His son, played by the guy who was Kick Ass, grows up and joins the Army and has to spring to action when attacks start happening. Then we learn why: Godzilla and now MUTOs are threatening everyone on Earth. Now get to destroyin’ stuff!

Worth noting:

• Do you know what a Cassingle is? Let the old people of BSP clue you in.
• Tony discussing his stack of floppy disks. We’re all about outdated storage technology here.
• When we finally talk about Godzilla, we have mixed reactions. One called it fantastic while another called it terrible. Let’s discuss this.
• Side note: seems like there are sure a lot of white people living and speaking English in Japan.
• We address the Fat Godzilla so-called controversy. And yes, Godzilla is fat, played perfectly by Andy Serkis. David is particularly impressed by this. He’s easily impressed by things.
• Godzilla is an over-the-top monster and disaster movie. Maybe you’ll like that, maybe you won’t.

Discussing this film:

• Tony
• Darrell
• Jolie
• David

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