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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: May, 2017
May 29, 2017

Show Rundown: In this week’s episode, we review “War Machine,” starring Brad Pitt. This is Netflix’s first big attempt at blockbuster-style filmmaking. How’d they do? We’re going to talk about that. In our second segment, we have not one BUT TWO movie reviews for you, including “Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” and “Baywatch.” And finally, we end our show with what we’re dorking out about this week, including the women-only screenings of “Wonder Woman” and savor-watching, which is the anti-binge watching.

Topic 1: War Machine on Netflix

Netflix, the little company that started out sending DVDs through the mail has grown over the last 10 years into the second most prestigious, interesting power in TV. In comedy, in dramas, in mini-series, they are now the first stop whenever the best creatives in Hollywood are pitching their new shows, with HBO largely falling to second. Their success, with House of Cards, Master of None, the adult Marvel stable of shows, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Making a Murderer… the list speaks for itself.

But now, they’re looking to move into movies in a serious, prestigious way. One of the first big swings at the large-scale Hollywood movies is this weekend’s War Machine, from Brad Pitt’s production company and starring Pitt as an army general trying to bring a rational end to the war in Afghanistan.

What does this move mean for Netflix’ continuing campaign to eat everything in Hollywood? Will they become a big force in prestige movies, as they have with TV, or is this a bridge too far? Also, is the movie any good?

Topic 2: Our “reviews” of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” and “Baywatch”

SONIA’S INTRO: We got two movie reviews for you: “Pirates Of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” and “Baywatch.” Let’s start with “Pirates Of The Caribbean,” which was the #1 movie at the box office this weekend, pillaging more than $62 million. It’s the fifth movie in the franchise based on the popular Disneyland ride, starring Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, as well as Javier Bardem, and the return of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. “Baywatch” was the 98-pound weakling at the box office this weekend. “Pirates” kicked sand in its eyes. It made $18 million this weekend and got scathing reviews. It has 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. This movie reboot stars Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron, and it’s based on the 90s TV show phenomenon, starring David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson, was about lifeguards who spend more time solving crimes than saving people from drowning. I never watched an episode of the show, which I’m not going to lie, I’m not sorry about. I don’t think you need to have seen the show to understand what’s going on in the movie. 

What We’re Dorking Out About This Week:

Kevin Costner Returns To Westerns

http://moviehole.net/2017115773costner-set-for-new-tv-western-yellowstone

 

Best way to watch TV is the savor it

https://theringer.com/the-case-for-savor-watching-8c76446ac5aa

 

Trolls are losing their minds about the women-only screening on “Wonder Woman” at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. The theatre’s social media responses are amazing.

http://flavorwire.com/606109/alamo-drafthouse-is-doing-a-women-only-screening-of-wonder-woman-and-dudes-are-very-mad-online

 

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog - Twitter - YouTube - Facebook - Patreon

 

Find Sonia here...

Twitter - The Sonia Show Blog - The Sonia Show Facebook Page

 

Find Chris here...

Twitter - The Jett Jergens Blog - The Jett Jergens Facebook Page

 

May 22, 2017

Show Rundown: In this week’s episode, we talk about “Twin Peaks,” which returned last night on Showtime. In our second segment, Peter Brown from Assignment X joins us to review “Alien: Covenant,” which was the #1 movie at the box office this weekend. And finally, we end the show with what we’re dorking out about this week, including Kevin Costner returning to westerns and the third season of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”

Scratch those last two. We're talking about "Star Trek: Discovery"

 

Topic 1: Twin Peaks

Unless you’ve been stuck in the Black Lodge for the past few years, you know that “Twin Peaks” returned Sunday night with two of the 18 all-new episodes on Showtime. If you are one of those weirdos who has never watched “Twin Peaks,” then I’m going to explain to you why “Twin Peaks” is kind of a big deal.

Created by filmmaker David Lynch and Mark Frost, there was nothing like “Twin Peaks” on network television in 1990. Now the line between television and movies are blurred. Actually, there are no lines. Movie stars regularly make TV shows, and TV stars make movies; BUT, in 1990, a TV series created by a filmmaker as highly regarded as David Lynch was really unusual and special.

The elevator pitch for Twin Peaks was Agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle MacLachlan, comes to a small Northwestern town to investigate the murder of the Laura Palmer, the seemingly perfect teenager, the homecoming queen dating the football team captain, etc. etc. But, of course, the show was much more than that. Twin Peaks was a mix of murder mystery, horror, dark comedy and drama. It could be absolutely heartbreaking and absolutely terrifying in the same episode. Creatively, Twin Peaks’s influence cannot overstated. It’s DNA is all over TV shows including genre shows such as “The X-Files” and “Lost” and more recently “Fargo” and “Riverdale,” as well as more mainstream TV such as “Northern Exposure.”

“Twin Peaks” aired for two seasons for a total of 30 episodes. It lost its creative footing after the murder of Laura Palmer was solved midway through the second season, and the show struggled in the ratings and was canceled. Lynch wrote and directed the prequel “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me,” which I think is underappreciated, and a small taste of where Lynch would later serve up with “Lost Highway” and “Mulholland Drive.”

So, that’s why everybody is so excited that Twin Peaks is back. We watched the first episode, and we’ve got good news that gum you like is going to come back in style. Smith, what did you think about the return of “Twin Peaks?”

 

Topic 2: Alien: Covenant with Peter Brown

Over 30 years ago, Ridley Scott directed one of the best science fiction movies and one of the creepiest horror movies, and it was the same movie. That would be 1979’s Alien. Since then he’s made a career of lush, amazing looking movies which are a bit hit and miss on the storytelling side.

That goes double for Prometheus, the 2012 movie marking Scott’s return to the franchise he began. But by then, and maybe until today, the Alien franchise has become one of the most beat up, battered, messed around franchises in Hollywood history. For every classic sequel, like James Cameron’s Aliens, there were two or three deformed creatures, like the possibly underrated David Fincher entry, Alien 3, or the no-holds bar trainwreck like Alien: Resurrection.

When it came out, Prometheus had a lot of fans excited for a top shelf alien story, but the final movie left a divided fanbase, half liking it, half loathing it.

What We’re Dorking Out About This Week:

Star Trek Discovery Trailer Is Here FINALLY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dxe_ugmIVM

 

Kevin Costner in 10-Hour Western

http://moviehole.net/2017115773costner-set-for-new-tv-western-yellowstone

 

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Is Back For a Third Season

http://collider.com/unbreakable-kimmy-schmidt-season-3-review/

 

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog - Twitter - YouTube - Facebook - Patreon

 

Find Sonia here...

Twitter - The Sonia Show Blog - The Sonia Show Facebook Page

 

Find Chris here...

Twitter - The Jett Jergens Blog - The Jett Jergens Facebook Page

 

May 15, 2017

Show Rundown: In this week’s episode, the TV Networks are unveiling their new fall schedules so they’ve announced which TV shows have been canceled. Did your show make the cut? We’re going to talk about that with Peter Brown from Assignment X. In our second segment we are talking about favorite movies about journalism. Why? Umm, no reason. And finally, we will end our show with what we’re dorking out about this week, including Larry Wilmore’s new podcast and which Saturday Night Live cast member should run for president.

 

Topic 1: TV Season Wrapup

The official 2016-2017 TV season is almost over. Of course, the idea of the “official” TV season is over, too, but we’re going to pretend it’s still a thing. Back in September, we did an episode with Peter Brown from Assignment X in which we shared the new TV shows we were most looking forward to. This week, the TV Networks are meeting with the press and unveiling their new lineups and their list of shows that didn’t make the cut, so we figured it’s a good time to have Peter back on to revisit our picks and see how we did.

http://www.metacritic.com/feature/tv-renewal-scorecard-2016-2017-season

Peter’s Picks

Luke Cage (Netflix)

Timeless (NBC)

Westworld (HBO)

 

Sonia’s Picks

The Good Place (NBC)

Pitch (FOX)

Gilmore Girls (Netflix)

 

Chris’ Picks

Stan Against Evil (IFC)

Star Trek: Discovery (CBS All Access)

The Crown (Netflix)

 

Topic 2: Our Favorite Movies About Journalism

Chris’s Picks

Good Night and Good Luck

All The President’s Men

Spotlight

Zodiac

 

Sonia’s Picks

Broadcast News

His Girl Friday

Network

Fletch

Just One of the Guys

Honorable mentions: The Paper, Page One: Inside the New York Times, The Wire Season Five, Absence Of Malice, Sports Night, The Insider

 

What We’re Dorking Out About This Week:

Not Ready for the Oval Office Players

Julia Louis Dreyfuss

Al Franken

Dana Carvey

Will Ferrell

Tim Meadows

Amy Poehler

Tina Fey

 

Larry Wilmore Is Hosting a New Podcast

http://ew.com/podcasts/2017/05/09/larry-wilmore-podcast-black-on-air/



Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog - Twitter - YouTube - Facebook - Patreon

 

Find Sonia here...

Twitter - The Sonia Show Blog - The Sonia Show Facebook Page

 

Find Chris here...

Twitter - The Jett Jergens Blog - The Jett Jergens Facebook Page

 

May 8, 2017

Show Rundown: In this week’s show we review the 15th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 with friend of the show, and my better half, David Tracy from the Chaos Group. In our second segment, we talk about the state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and answer the question, “Are franchise movies getting better?” And finally we end our show with what we’re dorking out about this week, including the MTV Movie & TV Awards and Edge Of Tomorrow 2.

Topic 1: Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Review

Even though it’s only the first week of May, the summer movie season has officially started with the release of “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2,” the 15th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which made $145 million this past weekend, pushing the Marvel Cinematic Universe past $11 billion. The misfits from the first “Guardians Of The Galaxy” return, including Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, and the voices of Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon and Vin Diesel as Baby Groot. Michael Rooker as Yondu also returns, and we are introduced Mantis an empath who can feel people’s emotions played by Pom Klementieff and Ego The Celestial played by Kurt Russell.

Joining us to talk about “Guardians” and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is David Tracy, who co-hosts my other podcast Old Movies, New Beer and works for Chaos Group, which creates the rendering software that is used in pretty much every TV show and movie you love, including “Game Of Thrones,” “The Walking Dead,” “Doctor Strange,” “Rogue One,” “Deadpool” and - of course - “The Spongebob Squarepants Movie.”

 

Topic 2: The Marvel MCU and Are Franchise Movies Getting Better?

The state of the Marvel MCU and the wider world of franchise filmmaking, all based on some Dorking Out Show research Smith did, which can be found on our Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/dorkingoutshow/photos/a.1832239517003995.1073741828.1808733706021243/2000617333499545/?type=3&theater

and our twitter page here:

https://twitter.com/dorkingoutshow/status/860921992718843904

 

What We’re Dorking Out About This Week:

Did you know that MTV Movie Awards are now the MTV Movie & TV Awards? And the categories are not broken by gender. Best Actor is male and female ...

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mtv-movie-tv-awards-2017-highlights-and-winners/

Edge of Tomorrow 2 is on the way

http://www.darkhorizons.com/edge-of-tomorrow-sequel-gets-title-blunt/

 

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog - Twitter - YouTube - Facebook - Patreon

 

Find Sonia here...

Twitter - The Sonia Show Blog - The Sonia Show Facebook Page

 

Find Chris here...

Twitter - The Jett Jergens Blog - The Jett Jergens Facebook Page

May 1, 2017

Show Rundown: In this week’s episode, we are getting ready for the biggest movie season of the year with our Summer Movie Preview. Wil Wilkins of the NetHeads podcast on the Smodcast Network will be joining us as we share the three movies we’re most looking forward to this summer. In our segment segment, we review the new 10-part Hulu miniseries “The Handmaid’s Tale.” We will try to make the conversation fun, because what’s not fun about a 10-hour miniseries about a future in which women don’t have rights, right? And finally, we will end our show with what we’re dorking out about this week, including “The Gong Show” and the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why.”

Want your topic on the show? Give us a 5 Star rating and review in iTunes, and we'll talk about whatever you say. Here's the link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dorking-out-show/id1118636511?mt=2

 

Topic 1: Summer Movie Preview with Wil Wilkins

CHRIS’S PICKS

War for Planet of the Apes

Dark Tower

Dunkirk

Chris’s Bomb: The Mummy

Tom Cruise Nose

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/02/15/13/3136365D00000578-3447892-image-m-267_1455543787555.jpg

Jimmy Durante Nose

http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/images/jimmy-durante-4.jpg

 

SONIA’S PICKS

Wonder Woman

Cars 3

Rough Night/Girls Trip

Sonia’s bomb: King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword

Honorable mentions: Atomic Blonde, The Beguiled

 

WIL’S PICKS

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2

Spiderman: Homecoming

Baby Driver

Wil’s bomb: Snatched

 

Topic 2: The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu

The 10-part miniseries “The Handmaid’s Tale” debuted last week on Hulu. Based on the 1985 book by Margaret Atwood, the miniseries stars Elisabeth Moss, Joseph Fiennes, Samira Wiley and Alexis Bledel from Gilmore Girls, and is set in a dystopian near-future in which women have no rights. Most women are infertile in this future, but there is a handful of women who can still have children. They are forced to have babies for wealthy and powerful couples. I believe one of the characters actually refers to themselves as “two-legged wombs.” Elisabeth Moss is our narrator and main character, Offred, whose husband is murdered and 8-year-old daughter taken away. We see in flashbacks how we got to this future, and it’s almost scarier to me than the future which women are forced to have babies, but it’s more recognizable. It seems familiar. “They can’t do that. This is blow over.” I’ve said those things, or someone has said them to me. It’s chilling.

 

What we’re dorking out about this week:

Mike Myers To Host Gong Show In Character

http://www.darkhorizons.com/mike-myers-to-host-gong-show-in-character/

 

Ridley Scott is frank (and unkind) about Neill Blomkamp’s Alien 5

http://www.darkhorizons.com/ridley-scott-explains-alien-5-scuttling/

 

The Controversy Surrounding Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/04/29/school-superintendent-students-are-harming-themselves-and-citing-13-reasons-why/

http://people.com/human-interest/schools-sending-letters-to-parents-about-13-reasons-why/

 

The Frye Festival Didn’t Go As Planned

https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2017/04/30/trending-the-fyre-festival-was-a-disaster-but-it-inspired-some-beautiful-tweets/?utm_term=.6e2e085ef002

 

Find The Dorking Out Show here...

Dorking Out Show Blog - Twitter - YouTube - Facebook - Patreon

 

Find Sonia here...

Twitter - The Sonia Show Blog - The Sonia Show Facebook Page

 

Find Chris here...

Twitter - The Jett Jergens Blog - The Jett Jergens Facebook Page 

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