It is often said we're living through "unprecedented times", and I must admit that it rings true when reading the news. Normally, we're fortunate enough to be discussing the frivolous world of entertainment - shielding us from much of the dower nature of the the modern world. Unfortunately, that does not mean we are immune - this week proves there's still plenty of bad news in the entertainment world to go around. And while we try to focus on the fun stuff, sometimes the bad stuff threatens things we love, like creators, and movie theatres, and therefor must be called out. As such, Matt and Julian spend the front half of the show talking about the Netflix/WB deal, and the Disney's investment in AI. Pick your poison on that one. However, stick around, as things take a turn back to the fun as the latest in film and tv news is covered, including discussions about a new '28 Years Later' movie, a new 'Men in Black', 'Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair', and 'Stranger Things',. All this and so much more on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!
Julian joins Axel and Andy on The Daily DVR Podcast to wring out all the angst surrounding the impeding sale of Warner Bros. and their myriad of assets, including HBO, to Netflix. With Paramount still sniffing around this is far from done but all of it is far from good for fans of movies and TV.
The term often used to describe the 1998 Alex Proyas film, 'Dark City' is "Proto-Matrix" given the many similarities between the two movies. Fair or not, they do have a lot in common but I think the comparison does a disservice to what is still a very clever and well made genre-film that largely holds up today (minus some questionable early CG effects). The 4K re-release gives it a fresh coat of paint, looking extremely sharp on modern televisions, accentuating the mostly dark and moody imagery of this sci-fi film noir, and given it's title this is all very fitting. Alex Proyas has some bid ideas here; what is the human soul? Are we the sum of our memories? Can memories be distilled into chemistry? Is love transcendent? Many of these themes are explored with depth, with answers to many of the films mysteries being laid bare in mostly satisfying way. Performances are strong, with everyone seemingly understanding the assignment, though there isn't much for the female characters to do here. Which is unfortunate as what we do get from Jennifer Connelly is intriguing, if lacking depth. On the whole, despite being pretty weird, this is still a very fun movie, if a bit silly at times, that was unfortunately overshadowed by the phenomenon that was 'The Matrix' dropping the following year.
Julian and Matt start getting into the swing of thigs as they tackle the latest in film and TV news, with the hot story being about the turmoil surrounding the new Bond film. Fortunately, 'Goldeneye' turns 30, providing a positive 007 topic to dig into in an effort to balance things out. A new 'The Mummy' starring Brendan Fraser is in the works with Rachel Weis also set to return. To Matt's chagrin, more 'Jurassic World' is on the way as well with the 5th film in the franchise in development with Gareth Edwards looking to return to direct (say what you will but 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' was pretty fun). Lastly, the guys dive into what they've been watching, including 'Predator: Badlands', 'One Battle After Another', 'Pluribus' and for some reason, 'Dexter'. All that and so much more on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!
Before Matt officially joined the show as a co-host he was invited on as guest to talk about one of his favourite movies of all time, ‘Swingers’. Now returning in an official capacity to the ToB Film Club, he brings with him another film from his top-3, another comedy, ‘Kingpin’. A Farrelly brothers film that followed up their smash hit breakout, ‘Dumb and Dumber’, and you can see the through lines. Like ‘Dumb and Dumber’ we follow two guys who are down on their luck as they head out on the road where chaos and hilarity ensue. Unfortunately it wasn’t the hit they hoped despite a killer cast, including legends Bill Murray, Randy Quaid and Woody Harrelson and as a result it didn't leave as large of a cultural footprint as some of the other Farrelly brothers films from this era. It's been nearly 30 years so now seems as good a time as any to revisit this sleeper and see what everyone was missing back then.
Happy holidays ToB Fans! Completing a string of 3 straight publicly available Film Club episodes, commemorating the show's relaunch, we finish with our annual tradition of doing a Christmas movie for December. This year, with Matt joining the show it was his choice. He went with a movie from the mid-2000s that he's revisited time and again - 'Surviving Christmas'. A Ben Affleck vehicle that comes from a rocky era of his, just one year removed from 'Gili'. Fortunately, it features a strong supporting cast, with both Catherine O'Hara and the late James Gandolfini stealing the show and preventing this from being a complete disaster. Devoid of any type of strong holiday message, we spend much of the movie indulging Affleck's character's obnoxious desires, and despite some funny moments peppered throughout and a relatively strong third act, the tonal inconsistency and unlikability of the main character leave this movie mired in mediocrity. See you all again in 2026!