This was a fast-and-furious week of pop culture. Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con released tons of footage from Warner Bros.’ film slated, ‘Batman: The Killing Joke’ was on the big screen Monday night, and Tuesday was the press screening of ‘Jason Bourne.’
Strap yourself in buckaroos! Episode 85 of the Monkeys Fighting Robots podcast is here.
Episode 85: ‘The Killing Joke,’ SDCC Best Of, ‘Jason Bourne’
WONDER WOMAN Comic-Con Trailer
Justice League Special Comic-Con Footage
KONG : SKULL ISLAND Comic-Con Trailer
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword – Official Comic-Con Trailer
Do you have a question that you would like answered during the show?
Email your questions to matt@popaxiom.com.
If you are looking to sponsor the podcast email matt@popaxiom.com as well.
Never heard of Matt Sardo? For starters, he made the Kessel Run in less than 11 parsecs. Prior to that, he gave Doc Brown the idea for the flux capacitor and led the Resistance to victory over SkyNet – all while sipping a finely crafted IPA. As a radio host, he’s interviewed celebrities, athletes and everyone in between. He’s covered everything from the Super Bowl to Comic-Con.
Who is EJ Moreno? Is he a trained physician? No. Is he a former Miss Universe contestant? Possibly. But what we know for sure is he’s a writer, filmmaker, and pop culture enthusiast. Since film school, EJ has written & directed several short films. He’s used his passion of filmmaking to become a movie critic for MonkeysFightingRobots.com.
Title: Jason Bourne Director Paul Greengrass Summary: The most dangerous former operative of the CIA is drawn out of hiding to uncover hidden truths about his past.
I’ve never been a huge fan of the Bourne movies. I know I’ve seen all three of them but I cannot recall a single detail from all of them. I just remember that they were fun to watch at the time, but that I cannot imagine they have aged well. The rapid cut editing and shaky camera that defined the original trilogy were a novelty at the time, but compared to todays standards I had to wonder if they really could stand the test of time. This was also a movie that was on my far too long list of “movies I keep forgetting were coming out” which didn’t say a lot about how anticipated I was for it.
Jason Bourne feels like a relic of ten years ago that doesn’t bring anything new to the table and left me oddly bored.
There is a reason I often come down rather hard on action movies that rely heavily on rapid cut editing and shaky cameras; they make it hard to have a sense of space. This is a problem I have always had with the Bourne movies. We were about five minutes into Jason Bourne when I realized that I couldn’t remember a single thing that had happened in the previous four movies. This is because of the editing and the filming style; while it gives the movie a very grounded and gritty feeling it also diminishes any sense of space and you can’t remember where anyone is in reference to each other. There is a hand-to-hand fight at the end of Jason Bourne that was so all over the place that I can’t recall a single detail. I even had a hard time keeping track of who was punching whom because the camera was moving around so much.
This is something that the original Bourne movies did which is why they tend to blur together, even for fans. This type of filmmaking was new to the table when the original trilogy came out but now every movie is shot this way. The thing that made the Bourne movies unique is, ironically, the thing that makes the new movie feel extremely conventional. The plot itself is full of contrivances and double crosses, but again this is something that we see in almost all movies about the government. Jason Bourne is very much a sequel to its previous movies in that it brings nothing new to not only its series, but a genre it helped define.
There are things that work but they were so few and far between that I never really connected with the movie as a whole. There is an extended chase scene through Las Vegas and the only thing I took out of it was the massive loss of life. When I get distracted by loss of life in an action movie that means the movie is not keeping me engaged. Matt Damon is still excellent in the role and I was pleased with the direction that they took with Alicia Vikander’s new character of Heather Lee, but those moments weren’t enough to make me forgive just how bored I was by the entire movie.
Jason Bourne is a movie that hasn’t adapted to the genre it helped define. The Bourne trilogy gave us a new breed of action movie and action star so a sequel that just makes more of that cannot help but feel dated somehow. The fans of the previous movies will likely find a lot to enjoy in this new entry, but as someone who only has a passing fondness of the series this brought nothing new to the table.
The summer is almost over and the back to school specials have already appeared in stores. With another month down it’s time to look at the different titles which are coming to Netflix and pick the geeky titles you need to check out. It’s slim pickings this month but there are still a few new arrivals which will entertain you as summer comes to a close.
1. Big Daddy (August 1st)
One of the better Adam Sandler movies to come out back when people still looked forward to him making a new film. Here he tries to adopt a kid to show a girlfriend he is capable of growing up but of course it isn’t so easy. Worth a viewing just for the scene in the McDonalds.
2. Funny Or Die Presents: Donald Trump’s The Art Of The Deal: The Movie (August 1st)
It’s an election year which means there will be a lot of focus on politics. The best way to handle so much intense real world debate is to watch parodies and spoofs making fun of the candidates. In this Funny or Die presentation, Johnny Depp plays the Donald as he shows people the proper way to conduct business. The trailer alone will have you rolling on the floor with laughter.
3. The Fast And The Furious (August 1st)
The film which started it all. Watch as an officer named Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), goes undercover in the racing world and tries to find out if Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) is behind a series of armed robberies. The third film, Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is also coming but it’s not exactly the best of the series.
4. Sleepy Hollow (August 1st)
Sleepy Hollow returns to Netflix. The film which featured Johnny Depp as a crime solving Ichabod Crane who works to solve the murders of the Headless Horseman. This film really is one of director Tim Burton’s best works and you owe it to yourself to check it out.
5. Star Trek: Nemesis (August 1st)
Not the best Star Trek film by the opinions of many fans but still not the worst way to spend a lazy Saturday. Watch as Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) must fight his own clone who has aspirations of destroying Earth. Plot really does sound a lot more entertaining than it actually is, but still a decent movie. Plus, Tom Hardy.
6. The Little Prince (August 5th)
After much back and forth on whether this film was getting a proper theater release or not, Netflix has simply decided to release it through their service. Based on the widely popular french children’s book, it follows a boy from another world who has come to Earth to discover all he can about life, roses, and sunsets. Hopefully the new film will be able to capture the warmth and entertainment of the book.
7. No Country For Old Men (August 11th)
Thought to be one of the best films by the Coen brothers, this film has all the makings of a western but set in modern times. The film features a man who finds the aftermath of a drug deal gone bad, finds himself in possession of a large cash, and on the run from a mysterious man. Check it out and see why so many people praise Javier Bardem’s performance as hitman Anton Chigurh.
8. Blue Is The Warmest Color (August 26th)
This is one of the those films you wouldn’t know it was based on a comic book unless someone told you. Based on a French graphic novel the movie focuses on a woman named Adele as she works through her budding sexuality and her relationship with the blue haired Emma. The film features an intense look at love, addiction, and identity and really shouldn’t be overlooked.
9. Glitter Force: Season 2 (August 26th)
Did everyone enjoy the first season? Yes? No? Well either way the series, adapted from the highly popular Pretty Cure franchise continues. Watch as the team works hard to fight back the minions of the evil Emperor Nogo.
10. Once Upon A Time: Season 5 (August 28th)
The 5th season of the popular fantasy series featured the show’s 100th episode. It also introduced a plethora of new characters including Hercules, Merida, and Merlin. If you hurry, you may be able to binge watch through the entire series to be ready for when season six premieres.
What films and shows are you looking forward to coming to Netflix in August? Leave a comment below and let us know.
I think I remember something about a movie called The Great Wall. Somewhere in the recent past. But nobody was expecting to see a new trailer today, one starring Matt Damon in a role that seems wildly out of his comfort zone as an actor.
This is a fantasy epic, with dragons and all sorts of battles, and what appears to be some stunning visuals from director Yimou Zhang. It looks very cool:
This is supposedly a story about the construction of The Great Wall of China. But I doubt it’s taken from any historical texts. The Great Wall also stars Willem Dafoe, Pedro Pascal, Andy Lau, and Tian Jing.
We’ll see what this is all about February 17, 2017.
Mel Gibson is in the middle of a comeback. I started to notice it a few months ago, when projects were attached to him in front of and behind the camera. Now, here’s Hacksaw Ridge, his upcoming war epic starring Andrew Garfield and… Vince Vaughn?
Check out this trailer, it is definitely action heavy:
WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Here’s the thing for me: Andrew Garfield is a fine actor. He has potential, but is he really the best choice for this role? A southern war hero? That accent he’s rolling with is really, really bad. Laughably bad. It’s all I remember right after seeing the trailer.
The cast of Hacksaw Ridge sure is… something. Aside from Garfield and Vaughn (in all honesty I like to see him trying once again), we have Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths and, for some unknown reason, Sam Worthington. This is definitely an eclectic squad.
Hacksaw Ridge opens November 4. We’ll see if Gibson can keep the bloodshed on an appropriate level.
The original Bourne Trilogy left a significant mark on the history of action/spy cinema. The films are unique and original; they set the bar high for every spy thriller that followed. Jason Bourne, the franchise’s latest installment, tries hard to meet that bar – and has the potential to do so – but it falls short.
To be fair, Jason Bourne is a serviceable action film. It’s an entertaining two hours, and it’s a huge step up from The Bourne Legacy. Matt Damon hasn’t lost his edge one iota, and he steals the show with ease. No, Bourne himself isn’t the problem with this flick; the problem is the story that surrounds Bourne.
This movie tries much too hard to remain relevant. The world of espionage has changed tremendously since The Bourne Ultimatum came out in 2007; the issue of privacy is on everyone’s mind. We’re living in a post-Snowden world, and Jason Bourne will not let its audience forget this. It mentions the infamous “traitor” multiple times as the CIA frantically tries to prevent another hack from going public.
Meanwhile, a tech mogul (Riz Ahmed) is getting ready to roll out a new social media platform that promises total privacy. Unfortunately, he’s being held up by the CIA, who wants a secret backdoor to the system for security purposes. It’s a narrative that sounds extremely familiar to anyone that followed the recent Apple controversy.
I get it, “security vs privacy” is a major issue right now, and the filmmakers wanted to address that. That’s a respectable agenda, but it’s a bit heavy handed at times (most of the time), and it detracts from what the audience actually wants to see – some unadulterated Jason Bourne awesomeness.
Riz Ahmed gives a solid performance, but his subplot is still unnecessary.
The original Bourne Trilogy is so great because the films are more than just formulaic spy thrillers. They break down Jason’s psyche, and tell a very intimate story in the midst of massive action sequences. They aren’t as focused on real world social issues, and they certainly don’t put whatever political agenda they do have ahead of the Bourne story.
Granted, the main story is the absolute best part of Jason Bourne. The new mystery that Jason tries to uncover keeps the audience invested and wanting more. Unfortunately, the privacy subplots just don’t. They instead disrupt the flow, and dilute the otherwise strong plot. Bourne fans want to know more about their favorite former assassin’s past; that’s why they watch the flicks.
So why does this installment spend so much time on a side story that ultimately goes nowhere? Doing so takes away from the personal narrative that made the first three pictures as interesting and iconic as they are. It takes what could have been yet another stellar piece of work, and makes it just another entry in a long line of average spy films.
It’s crazy that, in a movie called Jason Bourne, Bourne takes a back seat to Facebook.
Keeping the focus on the titular character would have been a huge improvement; it’s that simple.
In 1992, Disney produced one of it’s biggest box office flops of the studio’s history. Fast forward almost ten years, and that flop turned into a Broadway hit, complete with two Tony awards and an open-ended touring production. Now Newsies is swinging back around to film, but this time, you might get a chance to cameo.
Newsies From Film to Stage and Back Again
Filming will take place in Los Angeles when the Newsies tour is performing at the Pantages Theatre (August 30-September 4). It is unclear whether the show will be recorded with a live audience or not, but one thing is for certain: we’re getting original cast members Jeremy Jordan (Jack Kelly) and Kara Lindsay (Katherine Pulitzer). Other cast members have not been confirmed. Official sources such as Playbill.com are reluctant to rule them out.
Post-Newsies, Jordan went on to star in several other Broadway productions, and the short-lived television show Smash. More recently, Jordan’s fan base grew exponentially with his recurring role as Winn Schott on Supergirl.
This is certainly not the first time that a live recording of a stage show was released. In fact, the prospect has provenworthy on more than oneoccasion. We’re quite sure this will be no exception.
Fans of Newsies on Broadway are fiercely loyal to the original cast, so it’s no surprise that Jordan and Lindsay have agreed to return. Perhaps Jordan’s new fanbase from his role on Supergirl will attract more ‘fansies’ than ever before.
Don’t worry, Batman. It wasn’t your fault ‘Newsies’ flopped. You were ahead of your time.
The first international trailer for Disney’s upcoming Moana was released this week. This movie has excited Disney fans for almost three years now–it was announced right on the heels of Frozen‘s box office success. Since then, news about the film has not disappointed: the titular character is a person of color, voiced by newcomer Auli’i Cravalho, who has no love interest in her storyline. It’s pretty much what Disney fans have been asking for since the internet existed.
Excitement grew exponentially when the news dropped that Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda both wrote the soundtrack and performed on it. Both the teaser and the international trailers include some of Miranda’s work–and both are, frankly, wonderful. Top it all off with a demi-god played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and it’s like a Sundae on a school night.
So What Does The Latest “Moana” Trailer Tell Us?
The most obvious element of the new trailer is magic. Baby Moana is on a beach, clutching a conch shell half her size, before the shore recedes and reveals more conch shells which create a path. An anthropomorphic wave teases her, playing with her hair and tilting its “head” in curiosity, as she gathers the shells. An enormous sea turtle swims past in greeting. Someone calls Moana’s name and the wave returns her to “land”. The final shot of the trailer shows a grown Moana holding a conch shell. It’s unclear whether this is a new shell or the one she collected as a baby.
The Differences In “Moana’s” Trailers
The teaser trailer features a comedic exchange between Moana and Maui (The Rock’s character), but the international trailer has no dialogue at all. The wordless exchange between Moana and the world around her gives us a peek into the magic inherent in her island. Of course, Disney trailers often give us a glimpse into the movie’s world while telling a slightlydifferenttale than the film.
So while we know there will be magic, we don’t know if it’s good or bad. We don’t know if Maui controls the magic, or how he and Moana know each other. Will she be a long-lost demi-god, too? A princess of the Polynesian? Will she have control over the magic in her life? And where is her pig??
You might call me the Anakin Skywalker of beer drinkers. At one time, I was a Padawan beer drinker learning the ways of the brew. I was trained in the light (not lite) side of beer: IPAs, Pilsners, Lagers, an occasional Kolsch.
But like Anakin, the dark side was calling. Guinness (not Sir Alec) was my gateway beer. Soon the dark side took over in the form of Imperial Stouts, Coffee Stouts and Milk Stouts. I have now gone full Darth Vader, embracing the dark side preferring a beer I can’t see through.
Most people prefer Stouts in the winter. Makes sense, they are after all heavy beers. But the dark side is strong with me and I drink stouts all year round. So during a 108-degree day in Northern California I cracked open Belching Beaver Brewery‘s Beaver’s Milk.
AROMA
The first thing you notice with this beer is the smell of coffee with hints of chocolate. It’s not an overpowering aroma, but it gives you a good indication of flavors that are about to hit your mouth. Overall, a really nice stout smell.
APPEARANCE
This beer is strong-coffee black, you most definitely can not see through it. Based on appearance alone this Darth Vader is pleased. Beaver’s Milk poured with a decent light brown head that gave the impression of creaminess. It makes me wistfully wonder what this beer would be like on nitro.
Beaver’s Milk comes in your standard 22 ounce brown bottle with an Applied Ceramic Label (ACL) which is just a fancy way of saying printed directly onto the glass. I always find these kind of labels a little more classy for whatever reason.
FLAVOR
Beaver’s Milk is exactly what I’m looking for in a milk stout: good flavor without seeming like it’s trying to hard. Belching Beaver delivers on the coffee and chocolate flavors it promises on the label.
The label also says this beer out sells the company’s IPA 2 to 1. I have not had the company’s IPA but this is such a good beer that even though IPAs are all the rage… I can totally believe this.
OVERALL
This is another really good beer coming out of the San Diego area. I don’t really have any complaints and I would certainly have this beer again. Consider this Darth Vader of beer drinkers… pleased.
