Pixar's latest film, Coco has arrived in theaters and it is time for our podcast review of the film. There was a time when it seems as though every Pixar film was a monster hit, and a treasure of modern storytelling. The studio was unstoppable. Recently however, they have been in a bit of a slump. Inside out earned rave reviews and was an outstanding film, but The Good Dinosaur and Cars 3 fell well short of expectations both critically and financially.
It's time for our review of Justice League. It's been a rocky road for the DC Comics Cinematic Universe. After fairly decent start with Man of Steel, they stumbled badly with Batman v Superman and things got even worse with Suicide Squad. Wonder Woman however, turned out to be a great success and rekindled some hope that these amazing characters could be brought together for an awesome film.
Unfortunately, many of the problems that existed in Batman v Superman still exist in Justice League. The story is choppy, the script is below average, the villain is underdeveloped and the moments that should feel epic and awesome just simply fall flat. There are some positives in the film. Wonder Woman is a joy to watch and The Flash essentially steals the movie. There is an excellent scene at the Superman statue and the soundtrack also has some fun throwbacks to previous DC films. But in the end, its just a big CGI laden mess.
Perhaps most frustrating is that this is a film that had a decent outline. The elements of a potentially good film all exist, but nothing really comes together. The story begins by establishing a world hopeless without Superman, a plot point restated several times through the film, but that hopelessness is never resolved on screen. We don't see how they world is affected by these heroes coming forward.
In this podcast we give our full review of Justice League.
The final installment of our Star Wars Revisited series is here as we discuss Episode VII: The Force Awakens. This series has given us the opportunity to re-watch the saga and comment on it with fresh eyes. In this podcast we discuss a film that we both believe to be one of the best in the saga. This is the installment before we head into The Last Jedi next month.
However, before we get to The Force Awakens we have some other great items for you.
First we have the major announcement from Lucasfilm regarding Rian Johnson currently developing a brand new Star Wars trilogy as well as information on a new live-action Star Wars television series that will be part of Disney's upcoming streaming service. The announcement of the Rian Johnson trilogy seems to indicate a high level of confidence in The Last Jedi. It seems unlikely that they would give Johnson so much creative freedom if they were no quite happy with the work he did on Episode VIII.
Second, we have our first guest interview in the brief history of Nerd Flix & Chill. Jack Geckler, who worked on digital animation for The Force Awakens joins us to discuss his experience working on the film. Jack provides a lot of great insight about all the work involved in creating a film like TFA.
As always, let us know your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter @nerdflixchill
Thor: Ragnarok is a change of pace for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Director Taika Waititi went in much different direction than the previous Thor films, opting to make a film that is a comedic buddy romp, rather than a mythological clash of gods and monsters. Waititi’s choices serve the film well as Ragnarok is fresh, funny and a lighthearted spectacle that will much needed as we head toward a darker time with the Marvel films to come.
The strength of the film lies in the chemistry of it’s cast members. Everyone is having fun on the set and it is evident in the finished film. Chris Hemsworth shows off his underused comedic timing and the script allows for a lot of improvisation that really helps the film maintain it’s energy. Cate Blanchett chews up the scenery as the sadistic and sexy Goddess of Death, Hela.
Thor: Ragnarok is not a film that delves deep into story…it’s more spectacle than substance but there is enough of a heart to the movie that it doesn’t feel cheap or forgettable. This is a film that relies on humor and spectacle and succeeds in being exactly what it set out to be. In this podcast we give our full review of the highly enjoyable, Thor: Ragnarok.
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