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Dorking Out

The podcast for anyone who loves to dork out about movies. Every week, writer Sonia Mansfield (The Sonia Show, formerly of The San Francisco Examiner, EON Magazine, IF Magazine, Assignment X and Cinescape) and podcaster Margo D. (Book Vs. Movie, Best Neighbors, Fit Bottomed Girls, Not Fade Away) dork out about movies from the past and present.
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Now displaying: 2017
Dec 30, 2017

Rundown: In honor of the end of the year family gatherings, we talk about great movies to watch with the family. 

 

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Sonia’s Twitter
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The Sonia Show Blog
http://www.thesoniashow.com/


The Sonia Show Facebook Page
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Chris’ Twitter:
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The Jett Jergens Blog
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Jett Jergens Facebook Page
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Dec 23, 2017

Rundown: Sonia, Chris and friend of the show Raymond Scott Daigle, cinematographer and former Lucasfilm employee, close out our Last Jedi coverage with a talk of the Star Wars stories we'd love to see.

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The Sonia Show Blog
http://www.thesoniashow.com/


The Sonia Show Facebook Page
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Chris’ Twitter:
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The Jett Jergens Blog
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Jett Jergens Facebook Page
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Dec 20, 2017

Rundown: We welcome back onetime Lucasfilm employee and cinematographer Raymond Scott Daigle, talk about Star Wars in the wake of The Last Jedi's release. We talk about the backlash. We talk about what challenges JJ Abrams has in making Episode 9 as well as the prospects for Rian Johnson's new Star Wars Trilogy. Scott also opines about how the real soul of the trilogy is being carried on by Dave Filoni in The Clone Wars and Rebels.

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog
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Dorking Out Show Twitter
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ufLeNHiA59ANCMPlAdAOQ


Dorking Out Show Facebook
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Dorking Out Show Patreon
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Sonia’s Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheSoniaShow


The Sonia Show Blog
http://www.thesoniashow.com/


The Sonia Show Facebook Page
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Chris’ Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JettJergens


The Jett Jergens Blog
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Jett Jergens Facebook Page
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Dec 18, 2017

Rundown: Our Star Wars: The Last Jedi review...

If you’re any kind of fan of this show, you don’t need this preamble. This is a review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Joining us today is one-time Lucasfilm employee Raymond Scott Daigle because… Lucasfilm.

From the top, we are just going to spoil the nuts off this thing. We’re figuring if you love this podcast, you’re going to be seeing The Last Jedi and quick. So if you haven't’ seen it, stop here. If you have, lets begin…

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog
http://dorkingoutshow.com/


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https://twitter.com/dorkingoutshow


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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ufLeNHiA59ANCMPlAdAOQ


Dorking Out Show Facebook
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Dorking Out Show Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/DorkingOutShow


Sonia’s Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheSoniaShow


The Sonia Show Blog
http://www.thesoniashow.com/


The Sonia Show Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/TheSoniaShow
Chris’ Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JettJergens


The Jett Jergens Blog
https://jettjergens.com/


Jett Jergens Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/JettJergens/

 

Dec 15, 2017

Rundown: Another excuse for Chris to talk to his favorite living critic, Jeff Bond and do a deep dive into his new book, The Art of Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline. Or at least that’s where this started. When Seth McFarland revealed Jeff’s book on McFarland new show, The Oroville, I thought I’d pepper in a few questions. Then Jeff revealed he wrote a very thoughtful piece for the 40th anniversary Vinyl Record Edition of John Williams’ Star Wars score. That’s out now as well. Then there are his liner notes for the new edition of Burt Bacharach’s 1960s James Bond parody Casino Royale soundtrack. That’s famous for The Look of Love.

But we start with the nutty Star Trek/Quentin Tarantino news...

Amazon links

...to Jeff's Kelvin Timeline book:

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Star-Trek-Kelvin-Timeline/dp/1785655841

...to Jeff's Orville book

https://www.amazon.com/World-Orville-Jeff-Bond/dp/1785657615

...to the 40th anniversary Vinyl Record Edition of John Williams’ Star Wars score

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Hope-Death-Hologram/dp/B07685195W

 

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog
http://dorkingoutshow.com/


Dorking Out Show Twitter
https://twitter.com/dorkingoutshow


Dorking Out Show YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ufLeNHiA59ANCMPlAdAOQ


Dorking Out Show Facebook
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Dorking Out Show Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/DorkingOutShow


Sonia’s Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheSoniaShow


The Sonia Show Blog
http://www.thesoniashow.com/


The Sonia Show Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/TheSoniaShow
Chris’ Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JettJergens


The Jett Jergens Blog
https://jettjergens.com/


Jett Jergens Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/JettJergens/

 

Dec 13, 2017

Rundown: In this episode, we review the new Amazon series THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL, which is created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, the mastermind behind GILMORE GIRLS. And whenever I think of GILMORE GIRLS I think about how much Smith’s wife, Laura, hates them. So, Laura will be joining us to talk about it. Does she hate it with the same burning hot passion? Stay tuned.... or just hit PLAY on this episode.

 

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog
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Dorking Out Show Twitter
https://twitter.com/dorkingoutshow


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Dorking Out Show Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/dorkingoutshow


Dorking Out Show Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/DorkingOutShow


Sonia’s Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheSoniaShow


The Sonia Show Blog
http://www.thesoniashow.com/


The Sonia Show Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/TheSoniaShow
Chris’ Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JettJergens


The Jett Jergens Blog
https://jettjergens.com/


Jett Jergens Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/JettJergens/

Dec 11, 2017

Rundown: Chris and Sonia announce our new format, then dive into today's Golden Globe nominations... the ridiculous, ridiculous Golden Globe nominations.

2018 Golden Globe Nominations: 

Best Motion Picture, Drama
“Call Me by Your Name”
“Dunkirk”
“The Post”
“The Shape of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
“The Disaster Artist”
“Get Out”
“The Greatest Showman”
“I, Tonya”
“Lady Bird”

Best Director, Motion Picture
Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Christopher Nolan, “Dunkirk”
Ridley Scott, “All the Money in the World”
Steven Spielberg, “The Post”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Jessica Chastain, “Molly’s Game”
Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”
Michelle Williams, “All the Money in the World”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Judi Dench, “Victoria & Abdul”
Helen Mirren, “The Leisure Seeker”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Emma Stone, “Battle of the Sexes”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture
Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Hong Chau, “Downsizing”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Tom Hanks, “The Post”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel Esq.”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Steve Carell, “Battle of the Sexes”
Ansel Elgort, “Baby Driver”
James Franco, “The Disaster Artist”
Hugh Jackman, “The Greatest Showman”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture
Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Armie Hammer, “Call Me by Your Name”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, “The Shape of Water”
Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird”
Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, “The Post”
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Aaron Sorkin, “Molly’s Game”

Best Original Score, Motion Picture
Carter Burwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Alexandre Desplat, “The Shape of Water”
Jonny Greenwood, “Phantom Thread”
John Williams, “The Post”
Hans Zimmer, “Dunkirk”

Best Original Song, Motion Picture
“Home” — “Ferdinand”
“Mighty “River” — “Mudbound”
“Remember Me” — “Coco”
“The Star” — “The Star”
“This is Me” — “The Greatest Showman”

Best Motion Picture, Animated
“The Boss Baby”
“The Breadwinner”
“Coco”
“Ferdinand”
“Loving Vincent”

Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language
“A Fantastic Woman”
“First They Killed My Father”
“In the Fade”
“Loveless”
“The Square”

Best Television Series, Drama
“The Crown,” Netflix
“Game of Thrones,” HBO
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” Hulu
“Stranger Things,” Netflix
“This Is Us,” NBC

Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy
“black-ish,” ABC
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Amazon
“Master of None,” Netflix
“Smilf,” Showtime
“Will & Grace,” NBC

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
“Big Little Lies,” HBO
“Fargo,” FX
“Feud: Bette and Joan,” FX
“The Sinner,” USA Network
“Top of the Lake: China Girl,” SundanceTV

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama
Caitriona Balfe, “Outlander”
Claire Foy, “The Crown”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Deuce”
Katherine Langford, “13 Reasons Why”
Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy
Pamela Adlon, “Better Things”
Alison Brie, ”Glow”
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Issa Rae, “Insecure”
Frankie Shaw, “Smilf”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jessica Biel, “The Sinner”
Nicole Kidman, “Big Little Lies”
Jessica Lange, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Susan Sarandon, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Reese Witherspoon, “Big Little Lies”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies”
Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Chrissy Metz, “This Is Us”
Michelle Pfeiffer, “The Wizard of Lies”
Shailene Woodley, “Big Little Lies”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama
Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”
Freddie Highmore, “The Good Doctor”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy
Anthony Anderson, “black-ish”
Aziz Ansari, “Master of None”
Kevin Bacon, “I Love Dick”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Eric McCormack, “Will & Grace”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Robert De Niro, “The Wizard of Lies”
Jude Law, “The Young Pope”
Kyle MacLachlan, “Twin Peaks”
Ewan McGregor, “Fargo”
Geoffrey Rush, “Genius”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
David Harbour, “Stranger Things”
Alfred Molina, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Christian Slater: “Mr. Robot”
Alexander Skarsgard: “Big Little Lies”
David Thewlis: “Fargo”

 

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog
http://dorkingoutshow.com/


Dorking Out Show Twitter
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Dorking Out Show Facebook
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Dorking Out Show Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/DorkingOutShow


Sonia’s Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheSoniaShow


The Sonia Show Blog
http://www.thesoniashow.com/


The Sonia Show Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/TheSoniaShow
Chris’ Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JettJergens


The Jett Jergens Blog
https://jettjergens.com/


Jett Jergens Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/JettJergens/

Dec 4, 2017

Rundown: We talk about Francis McDormand's new movie, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and possibly the larger subject of promising storytellers aping the style of other successful storytellers. Then we bring on best friend of the show Peter Brown, Associate Editor of Assignment X for a mini segment of Dorking Out About Trailers in light of this week’s The Avengers: Infinity War trailer breading every trailer record ever. We talk about the trailer, the movie and what besides silver bullets can stop Disney’s march toward world domination.

 

Topic 1: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

When the local police fail to solve the case of her daughter’s rape and murder, Mildred Hayes (played by France McDormand) rents three billboards on the outside of town with a message directed at the police chief, William Willoughby (played by Woody Harrelson). "Raped while dying", "And still no arrests", and "How come, Chief Willoughby?"

Sam Rockwell plays one of Willoughby’s fellow officers. He’s a racist hothead mama’s boy who just makes things worse. Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI is getting award show buzz with nominations for Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell’s performances from the Los Angeles Film Critics, Independent Spirit Awards and the British Independent Film Awards.

 

Topic 2: Dorking Out About the Avengers: Infinity War Trailer with Peter Brown

We take a deep dive into all things MCU with a look at the massive smash the Avengers: Infinity War has become. Plus, we predict what we think will happen when the movie finally hits the big screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZfuNTqbHE8

 

What We’re Dorking Out About This Week:

Smith’s appearance on Book vs Movie

http://brooklynfitchick.com/2017/12/book-vs-movie-podcast-bonus-ep-firestarter/

 

Sam Rockwell dancing in the Flight Facilities video for “Stranded”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH5L4qTVsTk

 

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog
http://dorkingoutshow.com/


Dorking Out Show Twitter
https://twitter.com/dorkingoutshow


Dorking Out Show YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ufLeNHiA59ANCMPlAdAOQ


Dorking Out Show Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/dorkingoutshow


Dorking Out Show Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/DorkingOutShow


Sonia’s Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheSoniaShow


The Sonia Show Blog
http://www.thesoniashow.com/


The Sonia Show Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/TheSoniaShow
Chris’ Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JettJergens


The Jett Jergens Blog
https://jettjergens.com/


Jett Jergens Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/JettJergens/

Nov 27, 2017

Juan Uriarte from the INSTANT RAMEN PODCAST and David Tracy join us to review Pixar’s COCO, which opened in theaters this weekend. Is it another TOY STORY or is it another GOOD DINOSAUR? In our second segment, we share some of our underappreciated animated features. And finally, we end our show with what we’re dorking out about this week, including SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, Amazon’s Echo and whatever Smith wants to talk about.

 

Topic 1: Coco Review

It’s time to rejoice, for a new Pixar movie arrives this holiday season and it’s named COCO. Voiced by Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt and Alanna Ubach, COCO tells the story of Miguel’s journey to the land of the dead and an exploration of the relationship we have with the family who has passed and where tradition can be both a curse and a blessing.

Joining us today Emmy Award Winning editor and host of the INSTANT RAMEN PODCAST, Juan Uriarte and David Tracy, an animation dork who works at an Oscar award winning special effects software firm. Also, he happens to be married to my co-host. They host a podcast together called OLD MOVIES, NEW BEER.

 

Topic 2: Underappreciated animated movies

Smith’s Pick

Treasure Planet (2002)

http://ew.com/movies/2017/11/22/still-not-over-disneys-treasure-planet/

 

Sonia’s Pick

Peanuts (2015)

The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

 

David’s Picks

Emperor’s New Groove (2000)

Allegro Non Troppo (1976)

 

Juan’s Pick

A Troll in Central Park (1994)

 

What We’re Dorking Out About This Week:

SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING, Amazon’s Echo, Spike Lee’s SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT on Netflix and the podcast app CastBox.

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

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Dorking Out Show Twitter
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Dorking Out Show Facebook
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Dorking Out Show Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/DorkingOutShow


Sonia’s Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheSoniaShow


The Sonia Show Blog
http://www.thesoniashow.com/


The Sonia Show Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/TheSoniaShow
Chris’ Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JettJergens


The Jett Jergens Blog
https://jettjergens.com/


Jett Jergens Facebook Page
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Nov 20, 2017

Rundown: We talk about Justice League, the culmination of Warner Bros’ attempt to replicate the success Marvel has had on the big screen with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Has DC’s Cinematic Universe, which includes the critically battered Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad and the critically lauded Wonder Woman, turned their creaky ship around? Then we talk about what we’re dorking out about, including Lady Bird, Rian Johnson's new Star Wars trilogy, The Lord of the Rings TV show, Only the Brave, Murder on the Orient Express and Logan’s Run, Alias Grace on Netflix.

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog
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Dorking Out Show Twitter
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Dorking Out Show YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ufLeNHiA59ANCMPlAdAOQ


Dorking Out Show Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/dorkingoutshow


Dorking Out Show Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/DorkingOutShow


Sonia’s Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheSoniaShow


The Sonia Show Blog
http://www.thesoniashow.com/


The Sonia Show Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/TheSoniaShow
Chris’ Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JettJergens


The Jett Jergens Blog
https://jettjergens.com/


Jett Jergens Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/JettJergens/

Nov 13, 2017

Rundown: We’re doing visit Dorking Out Studios and talk about some movie franchises that we’d like to see reboots. I think our picks will surprise you. One of the awesome things about Dorking Out Studios the complete lack of sexual abuse and harassment, which brings me to our second segment. Sexual abuse and sexual harassment: Is every man in Hollywood awful? We’re going to talk about it. And finally, Smith and our Star Trek experts Jeff Bond and Alexandra August talk about Sunday night’s Chapter 1 finale of “Star Trek: Discovery."

Topic 1: Remakes, Reboots and Revivals... What we'd remake if given the chance

Chris' Intro: A persistent theme on the show is remakes, reboots, revisits and revivals when it comes to the stories in pop culture we love. What separates something that could be a worthwhile reboot/remake, like The Thing, or Cape Fear, Oceans 11,  3:10 to Yuma or Casino Royale, and what makes something blasphemous, like a Casablanca, ET, The Wizard of Oz, Psycho, Back to the Future, Jaws or Airplane?

We thought we'd hash it over then offer up our own ideas for rebooting existing properties we’d like to see. I suspect one or both will get us quite a bit of heat and hate mail, and I’m somewhat counting on it.

Sonia: The Before Trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight)

Chris: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Indiana Jones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?! Well, give a look at Captain America: The First Avenger again...)

Topic 2: OK, let’s talk about it: Sexual harassment in Hollywood, or how is Michael Bay not on this list segment?!

Sonia's Intro: I don’t even know where to start with this one, so I’ll just start right here. For several weeks it has been nonstop raining sexual harassment allegations. Every day, another member of show business, whether it’s an actor, a writer, a director, a movie producer, is being accused of sexual harassment and sexual abuse. It’s a long list, but here’s just the ones I thought of off the top of my head and I’m leaving off the politicians like, you know, the President of the United States: Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner, Bryan Singer, James Toback, Louis CK, Andy Dick and Dan Schneider. Oh, and let’s throw Bill Cosby, Woody Allen and Mel Gibson on this list, too.

Every day I hear that another story is coming out and I think to myself, “Oh god. Please don’t be Weird Al Yankovic. He seems so nice.”

I’m so proud of these brave women and men for sharing their stories. And to the people that say that they are just sharing their stories for publicity, “Go f*** yourself.” It’s not easy to tell these stories. There are much easier ways to get publicity.

These stories make me so angry and so sad, but I’m glad that the truth is coming out. And these are just the actions of men in powerful positions. Imagine the stories of women who don’t work in Hollywood. I’ve talked a lot. Smith, what do you think? Is everyone in Hollywood the worst?

https://www.avclub.com/an-incomplete-depressingly-long-list-of-celebrities-se-1819628519

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/10/us/men-accused-sexual-misconduct-weinstein.html

Status Check: Star Trek: Discovery Episode 9

Joining us today to talk about the Chapter 1 Finale of Star Trek: Discovery is Jeff Bond, my favorite living pop culture critic. He wrote the book on STAR TREK MUSIC, has helped release the amazing STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES COMPLETE SOUNDTRACK boxed set, he even played Dr. Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy on the late, great STAR TREK: NEW VOYAGES. This December his new book, The Art of Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline will be released and I will be reading by noon on Christmas day... AND Alexandra August, one of the quickest, funniest pop culture commenters we know, Alexandra August. You may know her as the co-host for the fantastic GOT Thrones podcast, from her writing at Geek Magazine. If you don’t, well, that’s your loss dummy!

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

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Dorking Out Show Facebook
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Dorking Out Show Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/DorkingOutShow


Sonia’s Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheSoniaShow


The Sonia Show Blog
http://www.thesoniashow.com/


The Sonia Show Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/TheSoniaShow
Chris’ Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JettJergens


The Jett Jergens Blog
https://jettjergens.com/


Jett Jergens Facebook Page
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Nov 6, 2017

Rundown: In this week’s episode, we talk about the blonde headed stepchild of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor and review the third movie in that series, Thor: Ragnarok. Is this the best movie in the MCU, or another Dark World? Joining us for that is Peter Brown, Associate Editor of Assignment X. Then we welcome AJ Muller, writer for Daily Grindhouse and Horrorview to talk about Netflix’s most recent juggernaut, Stranger Things 2: The Strangening. I may have added to this title. Then we welcome Jeff Bond to talk about Star Trek: Discovery Episode 8.

Topic 1: Thor: Ragnarok Review

Thor: Ragnarok, the third movie in Marvel’s Thor series and the seventeenth movie in the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe came out Friday. As Marvel is starting to release these comic book epics at a nearly quarterly clip… Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 came out six months ago, Spiderman: Homecoming came out four months ago and Black Panther is coming out three months from now… we will dispense with our usual ‘State of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’ discussion.

Rejoining us is best friend of the show, Peter Brown, the Associate Editor of Assignment X and one of our favorite comic book movie thinkers.

Topic 2: Stranger Things Season 2

Unless you’ve been trapped in the Upside Down, you know that the second season of STRANGER THINGS dropped on October 27 on Netflix, but we have a no-binge watching rule here on Dorking Out, so we’re talking about the show now. If you don’t know what STRANGER THINGS is, well, welcome back from the Upside Down, and you don’t need to watch the show, because you lived it.

Created by the Duffer Brothers, STRANGER THINGS is about four preteen boys in the early 80s who get involved in the mysterious goings-on in their small town in Indiana. It’s a mix of Stephen King, John Carpenter and Steven Spielberg: in other words, it’s got horror, sci-fi and a big helping of nostalgia. Plus, throw in some Gremlins, oh and some Goonies with the addition of Sean Astin to the cast, and Aliens with the addition of Paul Reiser. The Duffer Brothers have said that STRANGER THINGS 2 is more of a sequel than a second season, and I think that comes across. It’s got a little sequelitis - it’s bigger; it’s got more, more, more.

Joining us to talk about Stranger Things is Albert Muller, and since all of his friends call him AJ we will be calling him Albert, and he writes for DailyGrindhouse.com and Horrorview.

Status Check: Star Trek: Discovery

Returning today to talk about Star Trek: Discovery Ep08, "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum” is my favorite living critic, Jeff Bond. He’s the author of several books, including The Music of Star Trek and The Art of Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline, as well as a forthcoming book on Seth MacFarlane's The Orville.

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Oct 30, 2017

Rundown: We review the new Netflix series MINDHUNTER. The 10-episode series is executive produced by David Fincher. Is amazing like ZODIAC or lame like THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON? You’ll have to listen to find out. For our second segment, we have a quick little chat about what we’re dorking out about this week. And finally, Chris talks two week’s worth of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY with Alexandra August and Jeff Bond.

Topic 1: David Fincher's Mindhunter

You may have noticed we don’t talk much about cop shows on TV. That’s because the police procedurals is one of the oldest genres in the medium, and  it’s been so picked over and redone, with your Dragnets, your Adam 12s, your Hill Street Blues, your Law and Orders, your CSIs, your Southlands and your True Detectives, there is very little new to do. The most interesting, engaging things on TV tend to not be cop shows. Argue with me on Twitter if you must.

So when David Fincher announced plans to adapt Mindhunter, the non-fiction book by pioneering FBI Criminal Profiler John Douglas about the early days of the FBI’s famous Behavioral Science Unit, I was not sure what to expect. I love Fincher like a lot of modern fanboys, and am with their consensus he’s one of the best directors working today. But he is a very particular taste. And of late, he has mentioned the comic book pressures of modern Hollywood are making it tougher to get the kinds of projects he likes off the ground.

So is the new Netflix show, also called Mindhunter just a cash-in retread of Seven, Zodiac and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?

Or has Fincher found a patch of untilled soil in the cop show fields and given us something unique and interesting while still having as his subject FBI agents and serial killers?

 

Topic 2: What We’re Dorking Out About This Week Potpourri

Sonia talks about recent scary movies she's been loving, and Chris dips his toe into movies hoping for Oscar gold in 2018.

Topic 3: Status Check, Star Trek: Discovery

Returning today to talk about Star Trek: Discovery Ep06, "Lethe" and Ep07 "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" is my favorite living critic, Jeff Bond, author of The Art of Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline as well as a forthcoming book on Seth MacFarlane's The Orville.

Alexandra August, huge Star Trek fan, writer for Geek Magazine as well as host of GOT Thrones and the new DiscoTrek, will return to this segment next week.

 

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Oct 16, 2017

Rundown: We bring on our old Pop Show friends Peter Brown, Ryan Mitchelle and Anthony C. Ferrante to discuss scary movies we might not think are our favorites but that we just really, really like. Then we discuss the new tennis horror film, a Kafkaesque distortion of the natural order, Battle of the Sexes starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell… my description might not be entirely accurate… then we welcome again Jeff Bond and Alexandra August to talk about Episode 05 of Star Trek: Discovery.

Topic 1: Scary Movies We Love with Anthony, Peter & Ryan

Anytime is a good time for scary movies, but October is THE BEST time. Smith and I shared some of our favorite scary movies last year with Patrick Bromely from F This Movie. This year, we decided to have a little Assignment X Pop Show reunion to talk about some of our horror movie favorites. We have my favorite chainsaw wielding maniac, Anthony C. Ferrante, director of a few horror movies himself, including “Boo” and “Headless Horseman,” as well as the “Sharknado” movies and “Forgotten Evil.” We also have my favorite axe-wielding serial killer Ryan Mitchelle, director of “Jesus, Bro!”, and my favorite favorite cannibal who will eat your liver with fava beans and a nice chianti, Peter Brown, associate editor of Assignment X. Thank you, gentlemen, for joining us. Let’s just jump right and talk about our favorite horror movies to watch in October.

 Anthony: American Werewolf In London (1981) The Changling, Videodrome

Ryan: Poltergist (1982)

Peter: The Thing (1982)

Chris: The Dead Zone (1983)

Sonia: The Tingler/House on Haunted Hill (1959) - Vincent Price movies, Christine

 

Topic 2: Battle Of The Sexes

Our review of the new Battle of the Sexes, new film directed by Little Miss Sunshine’s Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell. It’s about the famous 1970s exhibition tennis match between the world’s reigning top women’s player, Billie Jean King and one time men’s champion Bobby Riggs. 

 

Topic 3: Episode Discussion, Star Trek: Discovery Ep05

Returning today to talk about Star Trek: Discovery Ep05, "Choose Your Pain” is my favorite living critic, Jeff Bond. He’s the author of several books, including The Music of Star Trek and The Art of Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline, as well as a forthcoming book on Seth MacFarlane's The Orville.

Also joining us is Alexandra August, one of the quickest, funniest pop culture commenters we know, Alexandra August. You may know her as the co-host for the fantastic GOT Thrones podcast, from her writing at Geek Magazine. If you don’t, well, that’s your loss dummy!

 

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Oct 9, 2017

We review BLADE RUNNER 2049, which is the latest installment in the BLADE franchise starring Wesley Snipes. I kid, obviously. Margo D. from the Book vs. Movie podcast joins us to talk about one of the long-awaited sequel to BLADE RUNNER, which is one of the most influential sci-fi movies of all time. In our second segment, Smith and I talk about the new documentary SPIELBERG, which aired on HBO Saturday night. After watching it I have a whole new appreciation for THE LOST WORLD. Not really. And finally, we end our show with our weekly roundtable discussion about Sunday night’s episode of STAR TREK DISCOVERY with Jeff Bond and Alexandra August. 

Topic 1: Blade Runner 2049 Review with Margo D from Book v Movie

The original 1982 BLADE RUNNER directed by Ridley Scott is considered a sci-fi masterpiece. It influenced pretty much every futuristic sci-fi movie that came after it, and it was burned in the brain of a generation of visionary filmmakers such as Guillermo del Toro and Christopher Nolan. Still, at the time of its release, BLADE RUNNER wasn’t a box office success. Perhaps if it had been a box office success we wouldn’t have had to wait 35 years for a sequel … but maybe that’s a good thing. BLADE RUNNER 2049 is directed by Denis Villeneuve, who directed one of my favorite recent movies ARRIVAL, and stars Ryan Gosling as a blade runner who uncovers a huge secret that would disrupt the uneasy relationship between replicants and humans, which leads him to Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard from the original. We’re going to talk about the movie spoiler free for a bit, but we will probably get into spoilers a little later. Don’t worry, though. We will give you a heads up first.

Joining us to talk about BLADE RUNNER 2049 is one of my favorite podcasting people, Margo D from Book vs Movie. But before we jump into our BLADE RUNNER review, and I want to ask you both: Which one of the BLADE RUNNER cuts is your favorite? This movie has been tinkered with countless times, and there are three different versions floating around, including the original, the director’s cut and the final cut, which is the only one that Ridley Scott had complete control over.

Here’s where you can find Book vs. Movie

http://bookvsmovie.libsyn.com/

https://www.facebook.com/bookversusmovie/

https://twitter.com/bookversusmovie

https://twitter.com/BrooklynFitChik

Margo also co-hosts The Best Neighbors Podcast, which I super love

https://twitter.com/bestneighbors

Topic 2: SPIELBERG... the documentary and the man

On Saturday night HBO premiered a Susan Lacy’s new documentary on the films and life of Steven Spielberg, who needs no introduction beyond this: He is the director of Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T: The Extra Terrestrial, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, AI, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, Lincoln and Bridge of Spies.

Topic 3: Episode Discussion, Star Trek: Discovery Ep04

Returning today to talk about Star Trek: Discovery Ep04, "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry is my favorite living critic, Jeff Bond. He’s the author of several books, including The Music of Star Trek and The Art of Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline, as well as a forthcoming book on Seth MacFarlane's The Orville.

Also joining us is Alexandra August, one of the quickest, funniest pop culture commenters we know, Alexandra August. You may know her as the co-host for the fantastic GOT Thrones podcast, from her writing at Geek Magazine. If you don’t, well, that’s your loss dummy!

Hear Alex's Star Trek: Discovery podcast:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/got-thrones-a-game-of-thrones-podcast/id1006016678?mt=2

SyFy’s Happy Series Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eLnaLCZklo

 Jeff Bond's story in Backstory (it's an iPad magazine)

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/backstory/id521967972?mt=8

 

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Oct 2, 2017

Show Rundown: We’ve decided to do an expanded edition of our periodic segment, Why Should I Listen to You? In this entry, our top five favorite comedies. Joining us to talk about Airplane!... and all the other comedies, is a man who knows a hell of a lot about comedy, director of Sharknados 1-5, Anthony C. Ferrante. Then we revive another, somewhat related segment, ‘You’re Dead To Me’ wherein Sonia and I talk about a piece of culture we straight up hate. And finally, we are joined by our favorite Star Trek expert Jeff Bond to talk about Episode 3 of Star Trek: Discovery, Context Is for Kings.

Topic 1: Our Favorite Comedies of All Time

Guest: Anthony C. Ferrante, director of Sharknado

Chris' favorite comedy scene mentioned:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSELOCMmw4A

Topic 2: You’re Dead To Me, Comedy Edition

Topic 3: Star Trek: Discovery Ep03, Context Is for Kings

Guests: Jeff Bond, Alexandra August

 

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Sep 25, 2017

Rundown: In this week’s episode, we review KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, which topped the weekend box office with $39 million. We also talk about ATOMIC BLONDE and wonder if the spy genre is at a crossroads. Are either of these movies any good, and are they the next James Bond? I think Smith and I do not agree on the answers to those questions. In our second segment, friend of the show Mike Richman, our favorite hobbyist historian joins us to talk about the new Ken Burns documentary series THE VIETNAM WAR. And in our final segment, we kick off our weekly recaps and roundtable discussion with Jeff Bond and Alexandra August about STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, which premieres Sunday night. We’ve been talking about this show for more than year.

Topic 1: Kingsman, Atomic Blondes and the Spy Genre?

On Friday,KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, the sequel to Matthew Vaughn’s irreverent spy hit of 2015 opened to mild reviews and we will have our review in a minute. But in this segment we also wanted to talk about this summer’s ATOMIC BLONDE, Charlize Theron’s entry into the genre once, and maybe still, ruled by James Bond 007. Blonde was directed by David Leitch, who also co-directed the energetic gunfight movie JOHN WICK. That movie struck a lot of action fans as a fun, modern take on the gentleman spy/hitman genre.

But this also comes after JASON BOURNE flamed out last year (remember that was a thing?), and Atomic Blonde, while lauded, underperformed at the box office. So, agents, your mission today is to discuss the current state of the spy movie genre.

Topic 2: Ken Burn’s Vietnam War

One of the problems we don’t talk about much on this show is, well, it’s a show about stories we love. And some weeks, it’s just stories we like. Or stories we watched, or read, or listened to, and frankly they were fine for passing the time, but they didn’t leave us with anything that lingered. And stories that linger is why we love stories in the first place.

But last week legendary documentarian Ken Burns released, along with co-director Lynn Novick, THE VIETNAM WAR, a 10-part, 18-hour examination of America’s involvement in that war. Parts six through 10 started last night and will run through this Thursday on PBS. I’m showing my cards here and saying like his previous great achievements in filmmaking, THE CIVIL WAR, THE ROOSEVELTS, MARK TWAIN, BASEBALL and JAZZ maybe better than all of those, and I’ve discussed the impact THE CIVIL WAR had on me, this series is maybe the best documentary on an American subject I’ve ever seen.

To discuss, we brought back friend of the show Mike Richman, co-host of NOR CAL NEWS NOW but more importantly our favorite hobbyist historian.

Status Check: Star Trek: Discovery Episodes 1 and 2

Joining us today to talk about it are two people who will be talking Star Trek Discovery every week. First up is Jeff Bond, my favorite living pop culture critic. He wrote the book on STAR TREK MUSIC, has helped release the amazing STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES COMPLETE SOUNDTRACK boxed set, he even played Dr. Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy on the late, great STAR TREK: NEW VOYAGES. This December his new book, The Art of Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline will be released and I will be reading by noon on Christmas day.

Also joining us is Alexandra August, one of the quickest, funniest pop culture commenters we know, Alexandra August. You may know her as the co-host for the fantastic GOT Thrones podcast, from her writing at Geek Magazine. If you don’t, well, that’s your loss dummy!

 

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Sep 18, 2017

Show Rundown: We welcome our Star Trek Jeff Bond and maybe Alexandra August (we kid) to join us in a talk about what STAR TREK means to us as a lead up to STAR TREK DISCOVERY which premieres this Sunday! We’re going to be doing weekly recaps and discussions after each episode, so consider this your warm up. In our second segment, Todd Bishop, co-founder of Geek Wire and our old boss at The Orion, the weekly newspaper at Chico State, joins us to talk about Silicon Valley-ing of Hollywood: How Silicon Valley is impacting storytelling. And finally we end our show with a quick recap of Sunday night’s Emmy Awards. What were our favorite moments? Least moments? And why is this one show that’s supposed to celebrate the best TV has to offer the most boring thing on TV?

Topic 1: The Meaning of Star Trek and Preview of Star Trek: Discovery w/Jeff Bond and mentions of Alexandra August

Star Trek, to put it simply, is the bedrock of science fiction for millions around the world. Many of us were first introduced to the magic and wonder of science fiction storytelling by Gene Roddenberry’s unkillable show decades ago, and ever since every aspect of genre storytelling has been their influenced by the adventures of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, or their successors, like Picard, Data and Riker, or Sisko, Odo and Kira, or Janeway, Chakotay and Seven, or Archer, T’Pol and Trip. Or back again to Kirk, Spock and McCoy from the new movies.

All of this is introduction to our discussion of Star Trek, and our upcoming episode by episode reviews of Star Trek Discovery starting next week and this simple question: Is Star Trek still a thing?

Joining us today to talk about it are two people who will be talking Star Trek Discovery every week. First up is Jeff Bond, my favorite living pop culture critic. He wrote the book on STAR TREK MUSIC, has helped release the amazing STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES COMPLETE SOUNDTRACK boxed set, he even played Dr. Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy on the late, great STAR TREK: NEW VOYAGES. This December his new book, The Art of Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline will be released and I will be reading by noon on Christmas day.

 

Topic 2: Silicon Valley Disrupts Storytelling w/Todd Bishop of GeekWire.com

To talk to us about how the Silicon Valley will be changing and remaking the stories you watch, we’re bringing in an old friend the Award Winning Journalism program at California State University, Chico. Don’t laugh. That’s Todd Bishop. Since graduating with Sonia and I, he’s gone onc to become a hell of a journalist… one out of three ain’t bad… covering Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, modern technology all from the tech news website he co-founded, GeekWire.com. So Todd, welcome to Dorking Out.

 

Topic 3: Emmy Awards 2017 Reactions

 

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Sep 13, 2017

Show Rundown: We review Stephen King’s IT, which scared up $117 million at the box office this weekend. Neither of us have read the book so we brought in an expert, Margo D from Book vs Movie. She’s a big Stephen King fan, so Margo is going to stick around for our second segment while we share our favorite Stephen King adaptations. And finally, we will end our show with what we’re dorking out about this week. Another Star Wars movie, another director firing, but does that mean things are on the right track? All that, and some Emmy preview talk after we get rolling.

Topic 1: IT Movie Review

Over the last 40 years, Stephen King has quietly, but not too quietly, been one of the most influential storytellers in Hollywood. More on his body of work in Topic 2, but we say that as a set-up to our review of this last weekend’s monster hit, IT. While King has made his name as a horror writer, he’s expanded out into all kinds of fiction and nonfiction work. What that’s lead to is a total lottery situation when his works are adapted to the big screen. Sometimes we get a classic, like a Stand By Me or Shawshank Redemption or The Shining. Sometimes we get a Dark Tower or Sleepwalkers. So what did we get with It?

It is pure, un-cut horror about a group of kids who discover, as you might expect, there is a supernatural evil at the heart of what appears to be their tranquil New England town.

Joining us today to discuss IT, and later to talk about the towering figure Stephen King is in the world of storytelling, is Margo D from Book vs Movie, whose podcast has charted more than a few King adaptations, including episode by episode reviews of the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist.

Topic 2: Our Favorite Stephen King Adaptations

While Stephen King has been the undisputed King of the best seller since the 1970s, the era which saw Brian DePalma make King’s first book, Carrie, into a horror classic, a veritable trainload of movies have been based on his stories, not all of them screaming ‘Stephen King’ horror mister. Among these are good movies and classics, like Stand By Me, Apt Pupil, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Misery, even Arnold Schwarzenegger’s camp action flick The Running Man. Added to these are undisputed horror classics, like The Shining and The Dead Zone as well as a huge number of good to middling horror movies like Firestarter, The Mist, Cujo, Needful Things, Children of the Corn, Hearts of Atlantis and the recent TV adaptation 11-22-63.

While we love a lot of these stories, we thought it would be good to have Margo stick around as we try to tackle the big task of naming our favorite Stephen King adaptations. It’s a big task because Stephen King has written more than 90 books and his work has been adapted more than 60 times (but I think 3 or 4 of those are different adaptations of CARRIE). That’s an insane amount of stories. I’m not going to waste a lot of time talking about how crazy it is that Stephen King has written so many books, while I’m still struggling to write one, because that’s a segment for another time. Let’s just dive right in.

Margo D Favorites

Dead Zone

Stand By Me

The Shawshank Redemption

Dolores Claiborne

Sonia’s Favorites 

The Shining

The Running Man

Pet Sematary

Carrie

Chris’s Favorites

Apt Pupil

11-22-63

Misery

(Plus exactly Margo D's list)

 

What We’re Dorking Out About This Week:

Colin Trevorrow’s Firing From Star Wars Is Another Reminder That No Director Will Ever Be Bigger Than the Franchise

http://www.vulture.com/2017/09/star-wars-episode-8-colin-trevorrow-firing-explanation.html

Winners of the Creative Arts Emmys

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/2017-creative-arts-emmy-winners-list-1202552858/

 

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Sep 4, 2017

Rundown: We talk about the ultimate piece of WTF pop culture, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return. The finale was on Showtime last night, and we have thoughts. Joining us for that is our old friend Anthony C. Ferrante, pop culture encyclopedia, but you may know him as the director of all five Sharknado movies. Then in our second segment, we are joined by a new friend, Alexandra August from the GOT Thrones podcast and Geek Magazine, to ask the question… Now that we’ve digested Season 7 and look forward to the final episodes, is Game of Thrones overhyped? Is it one of the greats? We’ll find an answer. And finally we return for a while to giving our thoughts on pop culture stories of the moment… An all female Lord of the Flies? True Detective Season 3?

 

Topic 1: David Lynch and the finale of Twin Peaks: The Return

Guest: Anthony C. Ferrante

http://www.darkhorizons.com/twin-peaks-closing-out-on-soft-ratings/

 

Topic 2: Is Game Of Thrones a Fad, or One of the Great TV Shows?

Guest: Alexandra August 

Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/alxaugust

Her show: http://gotthrones.com/

https://twitter.com/gotthronespcast

 

Last week, the season seven finale of Game of Thrones was broadcast and raked up the biggest audience in the show’s history. It was seen by 16.5 million viewers, which in today's atomized media landscape is like the final episode of Seinfeld by comparison.

Through Season 7, we’ve been doing weekly versions of our Status Check segment, taking a look at each and every episode and giving our thoughts. So what else is there to say about Game of Thrones? A lot.

With the 8th and final season of this hugely influential show coming, we thought we’d take a look at all of Season 7 and also talk about GOT as a thing. Now that we can see the end, where does it rank with the great TV shows? The Breaking Bads, the Mad Mens, the Hill Street Blues and the Star Treks? Is Game of Thrones merely a great genre show, or is it one of the greats.

Joining us today is a leading expert Game of Thrones, and someone who will be joining our Star Trek: Discovery status checks in a few weeks, Alexandra August. You may know her as the co-host for the fantastic GOT Thrones podcast, from her writing at Geek Magazine, and she’s currently recapping Preacher at CBR.com and as one of the wisest asses we know.

 

What We’re Dorking Out About This Week:

Lord Of The Flies Remake With Girls

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/arts/lord-of-the-flies-girls.html?mcubz=1&_r=0

 

True Detective Season 3

https://nytimes.com/2017/09/01/business/media/true-detective-will-return-for-a-third-season-on-hbo.html?

Marvel’s Inhumans getting wrecked in reviews

http://lrmonline.com/news/early-reviews-of-marvels-inhumans-are-brutal

 

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Aug 28, 2017

Rundown: We share our most anticipated TV shows of the fall 2017. And speaking of TV, in our second segment, Ben Weddell from Big Ben’s Movie Show joins us to review THE DEFENDERS on Netflix. Is this one going to be a street fight between a DEFENDERS defender and two hosts ready to ditch the Marvel TV Universe? Yes. And finally, Peter Brown from Assignment X joins us to talk about the season 7 finale of GAME OF THRONES and what we are expecting for the eighth and final season.

Topic 1: Fall TV Preview

It feels a little silly do to a Fall TV Preview anymore. This was a thing that TV critics and entertainment websites always did because the TV season officially started in September and ran through May. That’s right, kids. There was a time when the only thing on during the summer months were reruns. But now there are new TV shows all year around, but a majority of the broadcast networks still save their big TV premieres for the fall, so the Fall TV Preview lives on. We’re each going to pick the five TV shows we’re most excited about this fall, not including STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, because - DUH - of course we’re excited for STAR TREK DISCOVERY. So excited, we’re going to talk about it every single episode on this show.

 

Master lists of TV premieres:
http://www.metacritic.com/feature/tv-premiere-dates
http://ew.com/tv/2017/07/24/fall-tv-premiere-dates-2017/

Chris’s Picks
The Vietnam War - PBS 9/17
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-vietnam-war/home/

Mindhunter - Netflix 10/13
https://www.netflix.com/title/80114855

The Good Place - NBC 9/20
https://www.nbc.com/the-good-place?nbc=1

SMILF - Showtime
http://www.sho.com/smilf

Star Trek: Discovery CBS All Access 9/24
http://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-discovery/

Honorable Mentions: Rick and Morty Season 3, Curb Your Enthusiasm HBO in October, The Crown on Netflix in December

Sonia’s Picks
The Orville - Fox 9/10
http://www.fox.com/the-orville

The Deuce - David Simon’s new show on HBO 9/10
http://www.hbo.com/the-deuce

Alias Grace - Netflix 11/3
https://www.netflix.com/title/80119411

Top Of The Lake: China Girl - Sundance TV 9/10
http://www.sundance.tv/series/top-of-the-lake

Stranger Things Season 2 - 10/27 Netflix
https://www.netflix.com/title/80057281

Honorable mentions: I Love You, America - Hulu 10/12; Too Funny To Fail - Hulu - a documentary about the failed Dana Carvey show that featured Louis CK, Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert
Returning shows - The Good Place, South Park, Will & Grace

Topic 2: Netflix's The Defenders and Comic Book Fatigue?

Guest: Ben Weddell from Big Ben's Movie Show

On August 18, Netflix gave us a gift the Defenders, the Avengers-like team up show of its adult oriented Marvel superhero shows which include Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and The Iron Fist. If this were a real gift, I would return it. As promising as it started, I am done with Netflix’s Marvel shows. More on that to come. In our show prep, I learned Sonia and I might be on the same page. So we’re bringing back friend of the show, Ben Weddell, host of Big Ben’s Movie Show… you can see it on YouTube … who has declared his misguided love for this show.

Status Check For Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 7

Guest: Peter Brown from Assignment X

RECAP: The dueling queens, Daenerys and Cersei, get together for a little chat about maybe putting their differences aside and fighting the undead together. Cersei is reluctant, but then after a very tense heart-to-heart with Tyrion, she agrees. Of course, Cersei is a lying liar. She tells Jaime that she plans to just sit it out and wait to see who wins in the fight between good and evil, and she’ll fight the winner. Jaime says, “I’m out.” Theon Greyjoy finally grows a pair and decides to try and free his sister from his uncle’s prison.

Brann tells Sam that the luckiest bastard Jon Snow isn’t really a bastard; he’s not Ned Stark’s bastard son, but really the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, Jon Snow, the luckiest bastard ever, is currently having sex with his aunt Daenerys. Hot! Littlefinger finally gets what he deserves, his throat slit, after the Stark Sisters confront him of all his misdeeds. Oh, and The Night King flies his undead dragon to The Wall and destroys it, and now the undead are marching right on through.

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Aug 18, 2017

In this week’s episode, we talk about the summer movie season... Our favorite movies, our least favorite movies and what it all means and in our second segment, we look ahead to our most anticipated movies of the fall and winter movie seasons - movies that are not THE LAST JEDI. But Star Wars: The Last Jedi is in there for sure. Finally, Peter Brown from Assignment X joins us talk about Season 7, Episode 6 of Game Of Thrones.

Topic 1: The Movies of Summer of 2017

But first, a little review 

Chris’ Picks from his Summer Movie Preview

War for Planet of the Apes
Dark Tower
Dunkirk
Chris’s Bomb: The Mummy

Sonia’s Summer Movie Preview Picks

Wonder Woman
Cars 3
Rough Night/Girls Trip
Sonia’s bomb: King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword
Honorable mentions: Atomic Blonde, The Beguiled

The 25 Major Movies of Summer 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%
King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 28%
Snatched, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 35%
Alien: Covenant, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%
Baywatch, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 19%
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: 29%
Wonder Woman, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
It Comes At Night, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
The Mummy, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 16%
Cars 3, Rotten Tomatoes Score:  68%
Rough Night, Rotten Tomatoes Score:  48%
Transformers: The Last Knight Rotten Tomatoes Score:  15%
Baby Driver, Rotten Tomatoes Score:  94%
Despicable Me 3, Rotten Tomatoes Score:  61%
The House, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 17%
Spider-Man: Homecoming, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
War for the Planet of the Apes, Rotten Tomatoes Score:  93%
Dunkirk, Rotten Tomatoes Score:  93%
Girls Trip, Rotten Tomatoes Score:  88%
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 50%
Atomic Blonde, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76%
The Emoji Movie, Rotten Tomatoes Score:  8%
The Dark Tower, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 18%
Detroit, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%
Annabelle: Creation, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69%
The Hitman's Bodyguard, Rotten Tomatoes Score: 50%
Logan Lucky, Rotten Tomatoes Score:  92%

Topic 2: Fall/Winter Movie Preview

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2527336/

 

Chris’ 5 most anticipated movies:

Blade Runner 2049, Oct 6 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1856101/

Marshall, Oct 13 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5301662/

Suburbicon, Oct 27 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491175/

Downsizing - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1389072/

Molly’s Game - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4209788/

 

Honorable Mentions:

Justice League, Nov 17 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974015/

LBJ, Nov 3 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4778988/

Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Sept 29 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4649466/

 

Sonia’s 5 most anticipated movies:

mother! - Sept. 15 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5109784/

Battle Of The Sexes - Sept. 22 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4622512/

Thor: Ragnarok - Nov. 3 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3501632/

The Papers - Dec. 22 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6294822/

Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Film - Dec. 25 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5776858/

 

Honorable Mention:

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5027774/

The Greatest Showman - Dec. 25 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/

A Bad Moms Christmas - Nov. 3 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6359956/

 

Dishonorable Mention

9-11 on Sept 8, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4917224/

 

Status Check: Episode Discussion, Game of Thrones Season 7 Ep06 w/Peter Brown

 

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Aug 14, 2017

Rundown: On this week’s show we’re talking about Kathryn Bigelow’s new movie, Detroit about the riots, the Algiers Hotel incident. It’s a searing, adult drama about race, police, the changes in American society of the 1960s, and one that has an all-too timely feel today. Wonder Why. We also use this as a jumping off point to talk about dramas for adults and wonder if they’re still a thing. We then talk about a provocative piece in The Guardian by Danny Leigh which asks the question is Hollywood in desperate need of a Bonnie and Clyde moment… more on that in segment two. It’s a good discussion. We then wrap up with our old pal Peter Brown, the Associate Editor of Assignment X, as we do one of our Status Check segments on, what else, Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 5, Eastwatch.

 

Topic 1: Review of Detroit and the state of Movie Dramas

Is there a movie more timely playing in theaters right now than “Detroit?” Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and written by Mark Boal, who previously worked together on “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Detroit” tells the true story of the Algiers Motel incident, which happened during the 12th Street riot in 1967 Detroit. The police raided the Algiers Motel believing there was a sniper, and proceeded to beat and torture 9 people, 7 African American men and 2 white women, most of them teenagers. Three African American teenagers were killed by police officers. The film stars Algee Smith, John Boyega, Will Poulter, Jason Mitchell and Anthony Mackie.

The movie about race and police brutality, and after everything that happened this weekend in Charlottesville, and the acquittal after acquittal of police officers in the murder of black men, this movie is set in 1967, but it could be set right now.

 

Topic 2: Does Hollywood need a shake-up?

For the past few years now, film lovers and movie critics have commented on the rise of the genre film, how wanna-be blockbusters have broken out of summer and seemingly eaten up every month of the movie calendar, and how movies don’t seem to get any love anymore unless there’s some comic book connection. Movies have become very predictable and stale, and have more or less lost their preeminence as the most valuable real estate in pop culture storytelling.

To quote a Battlestar: Galactica, this has all happened before and will happen again. 50 years ago, the old studio system was dying. Big movie after big movies were bombing. But back then those movies weren’t wanna-be blockbusters but bible movies, musicals and westerns… essentially the comic book movie fads of their day.

Then along came a little movie called Bonnie and Clyde, starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, and that movie started a revolution in 1960s filmmaking leading to the golden age of director centered movies in the 1970s, including The Godfather, Taxi Driver, Jaws, Star Wars and on and on. Essentially, Bonnie and Clyde blew up the status quo and made way for a new Hollywood era. Is Hollywood ripe for new Bonnie and Clyde? If so, what would that look like today?

That’s the provocative question we’re going to talk about, with a nod towards Danny Leigh’s article in the Guardian this weeks which asked this same question, and got us thinking.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/aug/10/bored-bad-blockbusters-why-hollywood-needs-another-bonnie-and-clyde

 

Status Check: Game of Thrones Season 7, Episode 5 "Eastwatch"

From the Game of Thrones Wiki:

Daenerys demands loyalty from the surviving Lannister soldiers. Jon heeds Bran's warning about White Walkers on the move. Cersei vows to vanquish anyone or anything that stands in her way.

http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Eastwatch

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Aug 7, 2017

Rundown: We review the long-awaited adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower,” starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. Does it live up to expectations? The answer is surprisingly long. In our second segment, the men behind HBO’s “Game Of Thrones” announced their next project, a controversial new series called “Confederate,” which is set in the present day and the South had seceded from the Union, and slavery is still legal. We talk about questionable stories and being offended by something you haven’t even seen yet. And speaking of “Game Of Thrones,” Peter Brown from Assignment X joins us to talk about Sunday night’s episode AND last week’s episode since we were on vacation last week.

 

Topic 1: The Dark Tower and the art of adapting books to film

Sit back folks, this one’s going to be a doozy.

The 1990s was an era of pipe dreams for nerdy story lovers. While more and more genre movies were being made, they missed as much as hit. It seemed moviemakers just couldn’t trust their source material. This was the era where Joel Schumacher took Batman, the raw materials you could use to make The Dark Knight, and chose to make Batman and Robin. Every time a genre movie was made, Hollywood directors and writers would have to put their stamp on it, discarding what fans loved in the source material and replacing it with Hollywoodized versions even while nerd fans dreamed of well-made, direct adaptations of their favorite works. For every Dick Tracy, there was a Saint (starring Val Kilmer, it was awful). For every Contact, starring Jodie Foster, there was a Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stallone.

It was a time where the greatest nerd stories ever told were just out of reach. I remember discussions in the back of comic book shops about how great it would be to adapt J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings into a fantasy trilogy, doing for fantasy storytelling what George Lucas did for sci fi in his original Star Wars. Or wouldn’t it be cool if they used Marvel comics as a basis for movies, but did it like they did it in comics so the characters could cross over into each other’s movies. The smart money said those things were never going to happen.

But in the early 2000s, Hollywood began to get smart. The did faithful adaptations of The X-Men, then in one glorious year Harry Potter and the first Lord of the Rings book. And they were smashes. The more the learned, the better they did. The Harry Potter series became a classic. The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead all showed with the right talent using the respect for the source material could make quality, lucrative movies and shows.

But one series stood out, unmade, above many of these. That was Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Now Stephen King was such a prolific storyteller that there were many undisputed classic movies to his name.. Stand By Me, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, The Dead Zone, Dolores Claiborne, even The Running Man. And the Dark Tower was his magnum opus, his series with the most ardent fans, all begging for a faithful adaptation of this series about a mythic gunslinger traversing a barren, magic filled land to kill a villain who may be the devil himself.

Now surely in the era of Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and The Walking Dead, a studio could see its way clear to do a diligent and modern adaptation of this storytelling icon’s most beloved series.

In fact plans were announced in 2010, with Ron Howard directing the first in a series of movies which was to adapt King’s books into a series of interlocking movies and short-run, Fargo-like TV series. Akiva Goldsman, hot off his Oscar winning screenplay for Howard’s A Beautiful Mind was to help adapt. And then, this, and then that, and then the Hollywood machine ground the idea more and more until Howard dropped out, the ambition was pared down from a seven or eight movie series to a single movie that wasn’t even based off any of King’s existing books. The Dark Tower, which hit theaters this weekend starring Idris Elba as Roland Deschain, and Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black, is a story which takes place after the last book in the series.

For Goldsman, one of the credited writers and also a writer on Schumacher’s 1990s Batman and Robin, and director Nikolaj Arcel, it’s like the last 20 years didn’t exist. You have one of the most beloved storytellers of the modern era give you eight books of stories, and no, they’re not good enough, you have to replace them with your own story? Did these guys, or Sony, not learn anything from The Lord of the Rings?

 

Topic 2: HBO’s Confederate and controversy in TV making

No script has been written and not a single frame has been shot, but the HBO show “Confederate” is already engulfed in controversy. Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the men behind “Game Of Thrones” and Nichelle Tramble Spellman, a writer/producer of “The Good Wife” and her husband Malcolm Spellman, a writer and producer of “Empire,” “Confederate” is an alternate-history drama set in modern times in which the South has seceded from the Union, and slavery is legal. Right after the announcement, the Twitterverse was lit up and there were calls for boycotts. A lot of folks don’t love the idea of Benioff and Weiss, two white men who have often faced controversy about “Game Of Thrones” lack of diversity and sexual violence, telling this story, even with the Spellman’s involvement. There are concerns that the timing for this type of show really sucks, because racist Trump supporters are more emboldened than ever. And the flip side, there’s a backlash to the backlash, asking if we’re supposed to offended and start protesting movies and TV shows we haven’t even seen yet? So, yeah, let’s talk about it. Smith, what do you think? Is the outrage premature?

Malcolm Spellman on the fantastic Scriptnotes podcast:

https://johnaugust.com/2015/malcolm-spellman-a-study-in-heat

 

TV Show Status Check: Game of Thrones Season 7 Episodes 3 and 4

We talk Episode 03: The Queen’s Justice and Episode 04: The Spoils of War.

 

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Jul 28, 2017

Show Rundown: We’re doing a massive entry in our periodic Why Should I Listen to You segment and we’re running down our favorite movies of the 2000s. The New York Times did it a few weeks back, so why not us? In our second topic, we’ll be talking about the new Netflix show, Friends from College starring Keegan-Michael Key, Cobie Smulders and Fred Savage. Is the Suddenly Susan of the Prestige TV Era? We’ll let you know (Psst, the answer is yes). Plus quick reviews of Girls Trip and Valerian: City of a Thousand Planets

 

Topic 1: Best Movies of 2000s

Inspired by the New York Times article The 25 Best Films Of The 21st Century, we decided to pick our favorite 10 (or so) movies of the 2000s.

Here's the original Story:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/09/movies/the-25-best-films-of-the-21st-century.html

Chris’s Favorite Movies of the 2000s

The Lord of the Rings
The Dark Knight
The Incredibles
Mad Max: Fury Road
Toy Story 3
Casino Royale
Zodiac
Catch Me If You Can
No Country For Old Men
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Honorable Mention: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Open Range, True Grit

Chris’ Top Movies of 1990s:

https://letterboxd.com/jettjergens/list/movies-ive-seen-a-jett-jergens-list/decade/1990s/

 

Chris’ Top Movies of 1980s:

https://letterboxd.com/jettjergens/list/movies-ive-seen-a-jett-jergens-list/decade/1980s/

 

Sonia’s Favorite Movies of the 2000s

ANIMATION SPOT: Toy Story 3 (2010)

CHICK FLICK SPOT: Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) / Pride & Prejudice (2005)

ACTION MOVIE SPOT: Mad Max Fury Road (2015)

DRAMA SPOT: Room (2015)

SCI-FI SPOT: Arrival (2016)

MUSICAL SPOT: La La Land (2016)

COMEDY SPOT: Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010)

HORROR MOVIE SPOT: Get Out (2017)

WES ANDERSON SPOT: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

FREE SPOT: High Fidelity (2000)

 

Honorable Mentions:

Her (2013)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)

Ghost World (2001)

 

Topic 2: Friends from College Review (first 2 episodes) Netflix

Nope.

 

What We’re Dorking Out About This Week:

Girls Trip

Valerian: City Of A Thousand Planets

 

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