Banking scandals, thieving yuppies and a nearly nude Margot Robbie. We’re talking about The Wolf of Wall Street, right? Nope. We’re talking about The Big Short, a sorta, kinda, docu-drama dense with information about the financial crisis of 2007-2010 due to collateralized debt obligation and the people who saw that bubble was going to collapse and bet against it. Sound dry? Thanks to a stellar cast of folks like Steve Carell, Brad Pitt, and Christian Bale, and a wry, pitch black sense of humor, this educational film ended up being one of the most strangely funny and entertaining watches of the year. At least for some of. Chris, JC, Beau, Elliott and Sarah describe the proceedings.
Marco and Richard ring out the old year as they team up this week to deliver you the best in home release movie reviews available for any price…much less how we give it to you…FOR FREE. Long loving looks at One Eyed Girl, The Square and Jaco and some not so loving at Some Kind of Beautiful and Momentum. And then there’s the giveaway, which is some Amy Schumer goodness. You’ve absopositively got to tune into this week’s show.
Here’s the links that Richard promised on the show. Check ’em out:
Please use our Amazon links for all your online purchases! Thanks!
Academy favorite Tom Hooper directs this tale of an artist living in Copenhagen in the early 1920s (Eddie Redmayne) with his also-an-artist-but-not-as-successful wife (Alicia Vikander) and all is well. That is, until one day she asks him to model for her as a woman and he likes it. A lot. So much so that he decides that he wants to be a woman. Tragic stuff ensues. Listen to Beau, Ashley, and Chris weigh in.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler play two very different sisters who nonetheless, are the best of friends. When their parents announce that they’re selling the girls’ childhood home, the two decide to throw one last huge party in the house to give Poehler the chance to cut loose the way she never got to when she was younger. And then things go terribly wrong. Or terribly right? Depends on your perspective on huge parties, I guess. But Chris, Ashley and Beau say that as a movie, pretty much everything goes terribly right here. Listen to them rave about what they call ‘the best giant party comedy since Old School‘.
Is there any sort of lead-in here that I can give that anyone requires to understand what movie I’m talking about? I didn’t think so. What I can tell you is that this is the first of two reviews our site is going to do for this anticipated film.
This, the first, is spoiler free. Which was no easy task. Chris, Richard and Ed all dove in with the dedicated intent of spoiling as little as possible. While saying that, understand that we had to give at least a bit of first act plot and character set-up description that some will certainly feel is more than they want to know until they see it. So enter with caution those of you who want to know absolutely nothing.
The second will go live at some point mid-to-late next week as we gather as many of our contributors who’ve seen it and gather them together for a big, long, spoilleriffic discussion of every damn detail of the thing. You know you want to hear both. And it certainly wouldn’t hurt for you guys to post this around your social media. The US thanks you.
Know in advance that this somewhat self-indulgent signoff was intended to be a part of our Blue Christmas livecast, but in an entirely appropriate turn of events, I indulged too much in a different fashion and heroically…passed out early. Somehow, I feel like I am now going out with an embarrassing bang which effectively curbs the inherent egoism of the goodbye letter.
That is, sadly, what this is. After 2.5 years, I will be departing One Of Us after the first of the year.
I am extremely proud of the work Chris Cox and I have put in and the creative geek network that we have created. I am so grateful to all the content creators, listeners, and supporters we have garnered in that time period. I’ve worked for a lot of outlets, but actually building something from the ground up is an entirely different, supremely thrilling experience. It has been one of the most creatively fulfilling aspects of my career.
That career, that chapter of my life, is also largely closing. And yes, we’ve arrived back in the land of indulgence, so kindly permit me to share or discretely scroll to the bottom; the fairer fields of TL:DR as it were. Being a film critic, writing (and later podcasting) about my greatest passion (movies, duh) was a dreamed that snuck into my brain shortly after moving to Austin in 2008, but one that took a firmer foothold than any other aspiration I’d ever previously had. I am extremely fortunate in that, for three years, I actually got to live my dream, working as a freelance writer/podcaster full time. It was the hardest I’ve ever worked–writing until sunrise to meet deadlines–and the most I’ve ever loved a job.
But life, uh uh uh, found a way to alter that course for me. Major changes, both catastrophic and joyfully fortuitous, have caused a major shift in my priorities and my direction in life. Much as I love film, and much as I relish the chance to gather with friends to crack wise (in addition to cracking numerous brews) around a microphone, the sad truth is that the landscape of our business has become nigh impossible to traverse. I have watched some of the very best critics on the web pack up their laptops and depart for more conventional (read: far more stable) employment. I count myself among this group—the alternate employment group, not at all the “best critics” group—as I now have a full time job with a non-profit cancer-fighting organization; perhaps my penance for some of the more terminal ailments I may have jestingly wished upon the likes of Friedberg and Seltzer.
I very much enjoy my new job, and I am happier in my personal life than I ever knew was possible for me, but these commitments have limited the amount of time left over for writing and podcasting. Truly adhering to the mantra that one should never half-ass anything, I now leave this site in the more-than-capable hands of Mr. Chris Cox and our phenomenal OOU team. I know they will continue to entertain you and cater to your every fandom.
Though life changes far more than finances are the inspiration for my departure, let me offer this encouragement/call to action on behalf of those brave creatives still in the trenches. If there is a website/podcast/YouTube channel/Etsy creator that you love, that gives you countless hours of enjoyment, please support those content producers. I know many of you already do this, and your patronage could not be more appreciated. Just know that you are endowed with great power here, as it is you who allows us (not just One Of Us, but all of us) to survive and do what we love, which hopefully then translates into content that you love.
A few notes of thanks before I head out the door (I know, I know, but I promise this will wrap up in a far more timely fashion than those Hobbit movies). I want to thank Neil Miller of FilmSchoolRejects, Peter Hall and Erik Davis of Movies.com, Korey Coleman and Martin Thomas of DoubleToasted.com, and our own Chris Cox for being the ones who opened the most doors for me and supported me as I took those first clumsy steps through them. I also want to thank Grant Davis and Jeff from Rageselect for their advice and support through the years. I want to thank the Alamo Drafthouse for being the nexus of the biggest decisions I’ve made in my life and for bringing me to the city that (in an admittedly roundabout way, but one nevertheless cherished) lead me to the place I didn’t know I always wanted to be.
And last, but never least, I want to thank the listeners who have been overwhelmingly supportive and kind to me. You will never know the extent to which your support, generosity, and words of encouragement have motivated me through some of the toughest moments of my life.
With that, I hand over my badge and my gun (not sure why I was issued either of those) and hit the red button.
I’ll see you all at that magical place where the screens are bright, the popcorn is hot, and the floors are upsettingly sticky.
Matt Frank sits down again with Chris as a sidekick and regales him (and all of you, natch) with tales of his adventures in Tokyo. Which, of course, means lots of stories about hanging out with other famous Godzilla and Kaiju creative folks. Listen up.
Welcome back to “I’m All Out Of Love,” in which I take a pop culture subject (film series, director, actor, television show, etc) and dissect how my ‘love’ of them from early on slowly dwindled and what my current stance on them is.
An article about Star Wars? This week? What. A. Shock. Yes, we’re all eagerly anticipating this week’s release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the cinematic return of the beloved sci-fi saga, which hasn’t been seen on a big screen since Revenge of the Sith a decade ago… well, unless young count the Clone Wars film/TV pilot that was rushed to screens in 2008, but who really is? Speaking of prequels, I’m sure given the title of this series, some may expect this to be filled with nothing but full on prequel bashing from the onset. The type that was screamed large by first generation Star Wars fans back in 1999 and continues to this day ad nauseam. However, in that 15 year gap of time there’s been “an awakening” of sorts, in as much as the children who served as the primary demographic for The Phantom Menace during its initial release have reached their early adulthood and are (hopefully) capable of expressing their thoughts on films they grew up with.
Amongst those children… was myself. At time of release, I was the perfect age to consume each of the prequels; I saw Phantom Menace at age 7, Attack of the Clones at age 10 and Sith at age 13. Though I managed to see the original trilogy beforehand, the prequel trilogy served as the initial in-theater experience for the Star Wars franchise and helped launch an initial love for Star Wars as well as science fiction in general. For the children of 1977, the moment of the rebel ship being chased by a massive Star Destroyer served as their big screen introduction to the saga. For myself and others my age, it was the Galactic Republican ship docking onto the main droid hub in Phantom Menace. Some would say this is a major step down… and maybe it is, from certain eyes. But, as with any entry of I’m All Out Of Love, the thoughts here are only coming from one central perspective: my own.
The Spark
“Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi’s life.”
Roughly twenty years ago in a room not too far away from where my grandparents slept, my father sat me down to watch the original Star Wars trilogy on VHS. This was just before the special editions were released in theaters, meaning it was the 1995 THX remastered trilogy packaging that served as the final pristine version of the trilogy before George Lucas made his initial of many bizarre and unneeded to one film he directed and two others he didn’t. Still, my first and most impressional viewing of the original trilogy came from their unaltered form. Despite watching them on a small screen, my rather young self instantly had an adoration for the simple yet elegant brilliance of that original trilogy. The story of a farm boy losing his humble childhood home and finding himself with the help of his friends managed to be something I could easily follow even in my pre-school days, yet still stir up genuinely complex emotions. Emotions wrapped up in earth shattering surprises of paternity, the slow build of a budding romance torn apart by an oppressive government force and the potential compromise of one’s will at the hands of temptation. Of course, none of those emotions were ones I could wrap my head around, but they were definitely seeded there to blossom upon later rewatches.
Fast forward to 1999 with the release of The Phantom Menace. Already being a massive Star Wars fan at age seven, this first entry in a new trilogy gave me my first giddy excitement for a film in the theater. I still remember owning many of the Phantom Menace action figures even before the release, having battles between young Anakin and Darth Maul in my living room. Of course, the final film didn’t provide such an admittedly unfair fight, but I was still excited. The elaborate planets, the over the top lightsaber fights, the goofy antics of Jar Jar. I was up for pretty much all of it at that age. Well, not so much the Senate meetings, which even then I found to be a bit plodding – or, more appropriate for a child context, boring – to sit through. But I figured they’d improve with age, much like the original trilogy already had for me by that time. Regardless, I was hooked.
The Love Affair
“You’re trembling.” “I’m not trembling.”
Post-Phantom Menace, I truly was head over heels for Star Wars. Family members would even argue I was “obsessed.” Even between releases of the prequel films, my love for Star Wars was kept alive by things like Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars animated series & the first two Star Wars: Battlefront games. I had every single bit of merchandise I could handle; Kenner action figures, bed sheets, promotional cups. I even owned an Anakin Skywalker podracer skateboard that I never really used. The Star Wars universe really captured my imagination, making me more aware of the concept that different worlds could exist within the feasible distance of space or that someone could become more than their initial status in life. Both Luke and Anakin served as inspirations for such fantasies, the former being more of who I hoped to be as I got older while the latter was a more of what I could achieve at that age, given I was roughly as old as Anakin at the time. I wanted to be either young person thrust from humble beginnings to a larger world, which were scenarios I played out with my toys and dreams in a fan fiction style context I wasn’t even aware existed at the time.
Even when this pretend angle faded with the release of the other two prequels, there was still a certain fascination with the universe that was being presented every time I sat down to see a new Star Wars film. Attack of the Clones showed me more of a diversity with the planets on display while Revenge of the Sith evolved the tone into places the saga had never really partaken in. My age really helped with the latter, considering Sith was the first PG-13 movie I saw in a theater without my parents being around. The thematic depth that’s at the very least objectively attempted in the latter is definitely worth commending, particularly thanks to Ewan McGregor & Ian McDiarmid’s extremely committed performances that elevate the tension. Seeing Anakin’s fall was crushing at that time, betraying everything he knew by transforming into the Darth Vader figure that had haunted my younger nightmares. Those were all things I was enchanted by then, roughly as much as I was the original trilogy. Back then, there wasn’t really a distinction; they felt like one consistent saga… for the time being.
Nothing Lasts Forever
“You were the chosen one!”
Star Wars prequel bashing is perhaps the oldest and biggest pot shot to take on the internet. I could spend this entire section bringing up how elements like the CG backgrounds, clunky dialogue or underwritten arcs ended up “ruining” the entire saga. Hell, this could just be a Jar Jar hate paragraph and end on that. But that’s all well trod territory by the entire Star Wars fandom… including myself. When Sith first came out, I became more aware of the first generation’s rage against what Star Wars had become. All that bile puzzled me, motivating me to revisit the earlier two films before Sith, which was a fateful rewatch. Most of the childhood fascination began to melt like a popsicle on Mustafar, resulting in a disappointment that quickly turned to rage. Even with Sith, which I initially enjoyed for its darker themes, soon grew tired to me after giving in to more ruthless amounts of bashing against it. This only doubled with my discovery of RedLetterMedia’s prequel reviews and other content over the years that made me question them on more of a detailed story driven level. It felt like all that time I had spent playing with those toys as a child had gone to waste on soulless garbage. I felt betrayed, to the point of not even revisiting the original trilogy for several years.
Yet, as time has gone on, that hatred for the prequels – much like the initial love – really has subsided into more of an acceptance. Last year, I marathoned through the entire saga in order of release date with friends, the only time I’d ever done so as of yet. Only then did I come to peace with my true feelings on the prequels. It wasn’t the hot blooded anger nor was it a rekindling of the childhood nostalgic love. It was more of that practical mixture of disappointment & confusion. The choices of the prequels no longer have that “ruined my childhood” sense of bitterness that I had adopted from a previous generation. Instead, it was more of an honest acknowledgement that they were a part of my childhood that didn’t age well… and that’s fine. The fact that I didn’t enjoy it doesn’t necessarily ruin those memories I had. The nostalgia of watching those films in a theater or with friends doesn’t fade just because of Jake Lloyd’s stilted delivery in Phantom Menace, the abominable comedic relief of C-3P0 & R2-D2 in Clones or the rushed death of Padme in Sith didn’t have as much emotional impact for me anymore. Much like several aspects of life, the prequels aren’t something I prefer, but at the same time something I can live with and move on from.
Final Thoughts
“Remember, a Jedi’s strength flows from the Force. But beware. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they.”
After all the trials and tribulations, the unadulterated love for Star Wars has subsided. I still enjoy the hell out of the original trilogy and can somewhat respect the prequels for their place in my past, but the massive love faded away awhile ago. Because of all this, my expectations for The Force Awakens are rather middling. I’d love for it to be a good movie, even a potentially great movie, but I’m not expecting something astronomical of it or the future of Star Wars in general. This may seem silly, but coming to terms with my personal thoughts on the prequels felt like the moment you realize your parents are just regular people. On one hand, I’ll always have a place somewhere in my heart for that larger than life aspect of Star Wars. It was a big part of what got me into movies and sci-fi in general. On the other more cybernetic hand, I’ve realized that Star Wars is fallible and capable of letting me down. Even the original trilogy has a few elements that don’t hold up either, like Han’s lack of agency in Return of the Jedi or the lesser rear screen projection effects on Hoth in Empire. So, it’s healthy to have more realistic expectations, especially now that the franchise is in new hands and could easily become even more uneven than before.
Regardless, I don’t begrudge anyone who criticizes or loves the entirety of Star Wars within reason. While I really do disagree with those that enjoy the prequel trilogy, I’m not going to suddenly distrust their opinions simply because they enjoy them like certain other actors from different sci-fi franchises. Star Wars is enough of a cultural touchstone that everyone has their own odd attachment and/or detachment to bring to it. That’s probably what excites me most about the series continuing for as long as Disney is willing to spend money on them. For so long, Star Wars was limited to the perspective of George Lucas for so long that made the films become too familiar and stagnant in their own way. Now, a whole new host of people who grew up with it can come in and play with the universe. Sure, that leaves more than a few opportunities for fanboyisms to seep in. Yet, I’m open to seeing where it goes and how people play with these metaphoric action figures on a large scale playset like I used to do. Given how uneven it’s been, there’s just as much chance for every new Star Wars movie to be good or bad. It’s a universe worth exploring… plus Rian Johnson’s going to be one of those people come Episode VIII. How could I NOT want to see that?
No, this ain’t no mirage. There’s a new trailer for Star Trek Beyond, the third entry in the rebooted film franchise and the entry in the Trek canon that will celebrate the sci-fi entity’s 50th anniversary. All the players are back; Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Dr. Spock, Karl Urban as Bones, Simon Pegg as Scotty, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Anton Yelchin as Chekov and John Cho as Sulu. Trek ’09 and Star Trek Into Darknes director JJ Abrams is still on as a producer, but he was a bit too busy with another sci-fi franchise to direct this one (I believe it was… a new Alf movie). Instead, director Justin Lin (of the 4th, 5th and 6th Fast & Furious franchise) will take helm of the latest adventure of the Starship Enterprise. The trailer can be viewed below;
Well… that looked like fun, didn’t it? The use of Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” (which played a role in the ’09 reboot) gave the trailer an energetic & lively tone. This helps liven up the action and character interactions, the latter of which seems to showcase Simon Pegg’s comedic work on the screenplay. Plus, even with the problems I had with something like Wrath of Khan RemixStar Trek Into Darkness, this reboot cast still has a phenomenal rapport with each other and a solid reign on who these characters are. The newcomers involved are also played by some capable actors under heavy make up: Idris Elba as our villain and Kingsman‘s Sofia Boutella as a mysterious alien out to help our crew. They seem to be quite mobile in their action scene moments, which showcase Justin Lin’s talent for elaborate stunts and character interaction. It just made me thankful that Lin replaced previous Trek writer Roberto Orci as director, who would have likely given us a disaster of a third entry. At least with Lin who brought life back to a pretty dull franchise with Fast and Furious this franchise has a chance of getting some steam back in it. Or we could get a repeat of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Hello, everyone! It’s One Of Us’ weekly article series, “The Weekly Wrap-Up.” Covering everything from film announcements to comic books, “The Weekly Wrap-Up” ensures that the biggest stories of the week are analyzed and discussed by our team of writers. This week we talk about the trailers for Independence Day: Resurgence and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows!
Independence Day: Resurgence Trailer
Welcome back to Earth, alien scum! Yes, the 1990s really are back in full force and nothing spells that fact out further than a follow up to one of the biggest films of that decade Independence Day? Coming 20 years after the film’s events, Resurgence shows us an Earth that’s built itself up after being struck down by aliens. Using the technology the invaders left behind, the planet has rebuilt its defenses to standards more futuristic than our own. Looks like they’re about to come in handy, as it’s revealed that aliens from two decades ago sent out a distress signal that’s finally come back to haunt us as new fleets approach. Now, it’s up to heroes new and old (including Jeff “David Levinson” Goldblum and Bill “President Whitmore” Pullman) to save the world once again.
I’ll be frank: I think Independence Day is overrated. It’s grossly overlong, has far too many characters than it knows how to deal with and is full of cringeworthy cliches that horribly date the film. Basically, it was the harbinger of director Roland Emmerich’s career. Yet, ID4 still made somewhat watchable thanks to three key factors: Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith. Now, with the latest addition to (as Matt Singer so eloquently put it) the “legacyequel” trend, we’re seeing the return of many of those characters, including Pullman, Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox and, despite where we left him last time, Brent Spiner.
Yet, we’re still missing something key: Will Smith. More so than Pullman or even Goldblum, Smith truly was the glue that kept that first film from completely falling apart at the seams. Even when delivering terrible banter, he seemed to make it work. For Resurgence, our new lead is the rather dull clone of his bigger brother Thor Liam Hemsworth. As much as he did try to make an impression in those Hunger Games films, I doubt his efforts will carry much weight in a modern context.
There’s still some potential in this idea, though. I particularly like the concept of Earth adopting the alien tech for their own purposes. There’s a lot of creative possibility to be mined there for the sake of fun visuals. I just hope the overly dower tone of the trailer doesn’t sink things into the modern “gritty reboot” trend too far. Maybe we could get a Josh Gad to play the nephew of Harvey Firestein’s character here… or maybe not do that at all. We don’t want another Pixels on our hands.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Trailer
There’s no way to sugar coat it. The 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was pretty bad. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman and produced by Michael Bay, the TMNT reboot engendered little goodwill from fans of the beloved childhood property. Though the film bombed critically, it made enough money to warrant the creation of a sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. However, unlike its predecessor, Out of the Shadows appears to be making as many references to the original 1980s cartoon series as it possibly can to appease fans of the franchise.
The first trailer for Out of Shadows sees Leonardo (Pete Ploszek/Johnny Knoxville), Raphael (Alan Ritchson), Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) and Donatello (Jeremy Howard) not only going up against the mad scientist, Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry), but also fan-favorites, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Stephen Farrelly). Also appearing in the trailer is longtime TMNT ally, Casey Jones (Stephen Amell), who, like previous incarnations of the character, is using various sporting equipment to take out thugs left and right. We also see the return of April O’Neill (Megan Fox) and her midriff, and Vernon Fenwick (Will Arentt), arguably the only character that brought any semblance of entertainment to the original 2014 film. Probably the trailer’s biggest selling point for TMNT fans is the appearance of the Turtle Van, which amusingly fires manhole covers.
While I’m sure some fans are happy to see the manhole spewing Turtle Van, and characters like Jones and Bebop, I’m more excited to see the “evil death portal” making another film in 2016. Like many other people, I was rather disappointed by his lackluster performance in 20th Century Fox’s Fan4stic, but it’s great to see him bounce back so soon after starring in that abomination.
In all seriousness, I’m not going to pretend that I liked anything in particular in the trailer. Sure, it’s nice to know that there seems to be some actual effort on the part of filmmakers to include things that fans of TMNT enjoy from the original cartoons and 90s movies, but at the same time, Out of the Shadows looks to be nothing more than another bombastic Michael Bay blockbuster. While I’m always willing to give a movie a chance, this trailer is giving me little reason to be excited for TMNT’s return in 2016.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows arrives in theatres June 3, 2016.
