Author: Jolie

Join the gang as they discuss the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy.

• Directed by James Gunn
• Written by James Gunn, Nicole Perlman
• Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio Del Toro, Peter Serafinowicz

Guardians of the Galaxy is the latest Marvel offering and a departure from their typical symphony of explosions that happen while superheroes walk away from them slowly in slow motion. In Guardians, director James Gunn—a St. Louis native—takes on a third tier comic book franchise with almost entirely new characters and takes a stab at doing a Marvel movie like one has never been done before. The results are epic: critically acclaimed, financially successful, and a well-rounded movie that can be enjoyed as an action adventure, a comedy, or both. Packed with stars and with perfect casting of Chris Pratt as the lead, Guardians tells the story of an unlikely band of characters, brought together to keep a powerful orb out of the hands of evil. You know, typical comic book stuff.

Worth noting:

• Gencon wrap-up: apparently, that guy didn’t actually die.
• Donate to Sausagefest! Lots of perks available, including some lovely movie posters (donated by Jolie who is in Seattle but still takes the time to write hilarious and awesome show notes for you… you’re welcome.)
• Bold opinions: David says it’s the best of the Marvel movies, hands down. It’s well loved all around.
• Also, Darrell is Groot. Because Groot.
• Highly accessible!
• Rocket is awesome even without a back story!
• This movie felt effortless and didn’t take itself too seriously which is why the story flowed so well and why it was better than other comic book movies.
• Also a big thumbs up to the soundtrack packed with cheesy rock goodness.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Darrell
• David

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Join the gang as they discuss the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

• Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
• Written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
• Starring Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the sequel to 2011’s Captain America. This movie differs because it takes place in the linear storytelling of the Marvel Universe (which causes plot problems we discuss in the episode). In this movie, all previous movie story lines have happened and now Cap has to deal with the possible return of Hydra, being hunted down by SHIELD, and a mysterious dude that keeps showing up with a scary mask, a fake arm, and a need to kill. Also, for MMA nerds (Jolie and all two others of you), Georges St-Pierre shows up. You’re welcome.

Worth noting:

• Warning! More How I Met Your Mother spoilers.
• Some of the nerdier among us had a problem with the continuity issues with the Marvel Universe story line. Some of us, however, didn’t notice.
• Is this a big, topical NSA allegory? Probably not but let’s discuss.
• David’s brilliant idea: this movie is the sequel to Sneakers. You know, with Robert Redford? Yeah, go see that.
• Doesn’t Cap need to bang somebody soon?
• Is Willem Dafoe playing Satan or is it the other way around?
• Despite the complaints, we generally liked this movie. It’s still a lot of fun to watch.
• If you’re playing at home, both yoga pants and scissoring are mentioned.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Jolie
• Darrell
• David

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Join the gang as they discuss the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club.

• Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée
• Written by Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack
• Starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto

Dallas Buyers Club cleaned up male acting awards at the Oscars with Matthew McConaughey winning Best Actor and Jared Leto winning Best Supporting Actor. These were, in our opinion, well deserved awards because of the stretch and growth each one plays in this biopic set in the early days of AIDS. McConaughey plays Ron Woodroof, a man who finds out he has AIDS after suffering an accident at work and has very little time left. He goes on a search for the answer to longer life and ends up starting a collective to address the needs of AIDS patients in Dallas.

Worth noting:

• David is wrong about not liking Bill Murray. That’s just science.
• Tony breaks out the apples soaked in Fireball to really get this party started.
• The gang insists on the weekly TV roundup and the weekly tense negotiation over next week’s movie before getting started.
• We got mail! (Okay, it’s a feedback comment, but still…)
• This movie is gritty. It’s sometimes hard to watch.
• The acting Oscars it earned are well deserved.
• Hey, is it okay to make AIDS jokes yet? Anybody want to call an audible on this?
• When Jolie was a college freshman, she learned that everybody was, at some point, going to get AIDS.
• Also, who else was terrorized by the made-for-TV movie about Ryan White?
• Jared Leto did so well. We all agree. And it wasn’t even because of his magnificent Oscars hairdo!
• We all now know there’s a lot of wang in Spartacus. Well THAT ruins my weekend.
• Tony finally drinks the apple/Fireball monstrosity. Because peer pressure.
• Alternative media! Also, David is dead inside.
• Hot, hot death of journalism talk.
• Criticism of common core methods to learning math is stupid.
• Math is FUNdamental.
• What happens when gaming gets really weird?
• The gang makes bets about the sex scenes in next week’s movie, including lots of scissoring talk. I encourage a Google Image search for that term.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• David
• Jolie
• Darrell

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