Category Archives: Banter

Star Wars: The Pre-School Sing Along

Oh my.  I … I simply cannot begin to write the description for the following video.

I watched it.  Let it digest for a second.  Then I thought of all sorts of jabs and jokes I could make about it.   They practically write themselves!

But as I write this post, its just…its just really difficult to cope with the fact that this thing even exists.  I don’t even want to joke about it.  This is no laughing matter.  This is the cold, hard truth that entertainment is driven by financial figures and demographic polls.  This is George Lucas saying, “Yes, I have heard all of your complaints about the direction of the Star Wars franchise.  And NO, I don’t care.  Don’t believe me?  Watch THIS!”

The fact of the matter is, George Lucas is in the business of making money.  He does not care if your childhood is tarnished.  He does not care if Han shot first.  He does not care if you think Jar Jar is annoying as shit.  Why?  Because special editions make money.  Because re-tooling characters can appease a broader audience.  Because little kids like annoying shit.

And so it is.  This official Star Wars: Episode 1 trailer will make George more money.  It will reach a broader audience.  And it will cause little kids, who have no idea what Star Wars is, to perk their ears and beg their parents to take them to see it in extra profitable glorious 3D.

The Internets are, without a doubt, roaring over this trailer.  I suppose I could bemoan along with them.  Although, it would not be very surprising for me to tell you I don’t like this (I don’t).  It would not be very shocking if I said this is utterly hilarious (it is).  So I will simply just present this to you, so you can mull it over for yourself.  And when you can finally put those thoughts into words, just realize… it doesn’t matter.  Because at the end of the day, George has still found another way to turn one dollar into two.


Look at this adorable baby! Now go listen to Cinema Recon!

Here it is… more proof that Cinema Recon is more enjoyable than peach & spinach baby food! If the other picture wasn’t proof enough, here is even more evidence that babies love Cinema Recon! And babies know whats up, on the real. Look at this hip baby listening to her Cinema Recon, on her iPhone 4s, bossing Siri around – “Siri, find me the most knowledgeable, hilarious movie review podcast on all of the Internets.” “HERE, LISTEN TO CINEMA RECON (read in robot voice).” So if this baby is smart enough to know we rock, what are you waiting for, go listen to some Cinema Recon! After all, you’re smarter than a baby right!?

Cinema Recon does not endorse babies eating electronic devices - unless you're this cute.


Even babies love Cinema Recon!

The power of Cinema Recon cannot be stopped! Feast your eyes on this amazing image for absolute proof that Cinema Recon is the best thing in the world, ever. Why is it the best thing in the world ever you might ask? It’s because we transcend all genres, all demographics, and all language barriers! Even infants who cant speak love Cinema Recon as proven by the picture of this adorable baby obviously listening to the latest podcast and enjoying the hell out of it. But this baby not only has exceptional taste in podcasts but also in clothing! She is wearing the latest addition from our winter line of baby onesies (aren’t they fierce?), made to keep babies comfortable and fashionable all year long, or until they outgrow it I guess. They will be the hippest infant at the coffee shop while they strap on their headphones, sip their non-fat latte, get out their iPhones and listen to the warm, fuzzy, and fierce tones of Cinema Recon.

I like it when Jake says "wreck shop."


Awesome new posters up! (posters may not actually be posters)

It’s funny how time changes things isn’t it? Gas use to be $.99 a gallon, TV only had 10 channels, and Paul use to be funny. Movies use to have soul, depth and meaning, their titles were unique and clever, and their posters and advertisements were pieces of  artwork that tried to wrap up different elements of the film into a single poster, and was something that you looked forward to seeing at the theater. They stood tall and long, draped over the side of a wall, or hanging from the ceiling. You walked in and saw a poster for a movie you had never heard of and the poster alone gave you this awesome impression and usually made us say things like, “that looks bad ass” or “…dude, so awesome.”

But times are a changing’. Gas is $4 a gallon, TV has about 6,000 channels, and Paul is… well, he’s trying ladies and gentleman, give him some credit. I am not sure if this has been going on for some time now or if it is something rather new, but the art of movie posters seems to be very different today than it used to be. I feel there use to be a lot more thought put into movie posters than there is nowadays. Take the following poster from the upcoming Expendables 2… it’s just a bunch of guns! I feel like they are dumbing down movie posters so that the average movie goer who reads at a 4th grade level can understand what the movie is all about… in this case, MACHINE GUNS! YAY! The poster just consists of people looking one way or another, and pointing machine guns. But since The Expendables 2 is pretty much all about machine guns, maybe this is a bad example.

My mustache makes me angry.

The other thing I don’t like about today’s movie posters is this… THEY ARE NOT POSTERS AT ALL! This really bothers me! All of the movie news sites across the Internets constantly have updates about the “new posters” released for such and such movie. But here is the deal, I have never once seen any of these “posters” in a local theatre or in any physical form whatsoever! So if they never get turned into actual posters, then they aren’t really posters at all but rather just digital images on your computer screen which makes me feel completely ripped off! Hollywood is taking the cheap way out and just throwing these images online without the least bit of effort put into them. They don’t pay the extra buck to actually produce a physical product to be put on display, but rather just throw something up on the Internets. And we all know, if Paul can put something on the internet, then anyone can do it! I just wish I could walk into a theater and get excited by the awesome movie posters like I use to. But instead, I guess I’ll just go on the Internets and look at a picture of this guy laying on the ground…

Classic case of guy on the ground.


It “Wood” Certainly Seem No Cartoon is Safe

Well here we go.

The Hollywood Reporter is …reporting… that yet another piece of childhood nostalgia was hunted down by a film studio, cornered, and eventually captured, all so that it may be dragged from the cool confines of our memories and paraded down the street before our present day eyes (for a nominal fee from us, of course).  I speak of Illumination Entertainment (Universal owned) bringing Woody Woodpecker onto the big screen

Now I love me some Woody Woodpecker, but I don’t think its a surprise to anyone when I say I think they should leave well enough alone.  Maybe I am coming across as a grumpy old man, and maybe a lot of you actually want to see the beloved Woody Woodpecker character recreated for a modern audience, and maybe (on paper at least) this is indeed an exciting, heartwarming look into our childhoods!   Maybe the film will be more than just 90 minutes of “Hey!  Remember when Woody used to laugh like THIS [insert laugh 50 times] …Hilarious!!”

…You know what, this is sounding better and better!  Yeah, maybe they can pull this off!!  And then they can go and do the same for George of the Jungle, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Curious George, Inspector Gadget, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Garfield, Speed Racer, Mr. Magoo, Scooby Doo…. 

Oh.  Right.

Shit.

Hopefully the film will have a happy ending


TDKR IDF… (The Dark Knight Rises is done filming!)

Well, we are that much closer to seeing the finished product that is Christopher Nolans The Dark Knight Rises. According to an article on Superherohype.com, filming is officially complete! We had Batman Begins, then The Dark Knight, and now The Dark Knight Rises which will close out the Batman trilogy. These movies have been some of, if not the best movies adapted from comic books to the big screen, and we are all waiting and extremely curious to see how this wraps up the story of The Batman.

But, if you have listened to Episode 9/25/11 and Episode 10/01/11, you know that both Paul and I are a bit skeptical about how this will turn out. From the way that Anne Hathaway is strutting around in her dominatrix-like cat-eared wearing high-heeled outfit, to the fact that Tom Hardy sounds like a 12 year old prepubescent boy when asking the citizens of Gotham to rise up and take back their city. Both of us aren’t really buying Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, I have no clue what they are doing with Bane, and the Batplane looks like a downgraded version of a Power Rangers set piece.

However, I think even with all this skepticism we are still putting our trust in Christopher Nolan to turn this into an amazing finale for the caped crusader. But what I am looking forward to most of all, maybe even more than actually seeing the film, is not seeing any more god damn set photos from filming! If I have to see Christian Bale leaning up against the catering cart and perusing the bagel options one more time, I’m going to go all Joker on everyones ass! The Dark Knight Rises is slated to open July 20th, 2012 even though most of us have seen pretty much the whole movie by now. By the way Christian… go with the jalapeno bagel, it’ll put some hair on your bat-chest.

Hey, how do you eat these bagels with that thing on your face?


The Pixel Washing Machine! (wash non-colored items separately)

Although Paul and I both really liked the movie The Thing (2011), there was one part that really stood out from the others, and not in a good way. It really was a WTF moment towards the end of the movie. Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character Kate has chased The Thing across the frozen landscape and into its spaceship. She must prevent it from reaching civilization at all costs. As she is tip toeing around the innards of the spaceship, she stumbles on what appears to be a mysterious power source or computer of some kind, most likely of extreme power or intelligence. But what do we as the viewer see… a random assortment of floating colored pixels. Literally.

I have no idea what the visual effects crew was going for… but I’m pretty damn sure they missed the mark. What the audience sees is just a random mess of colored pixels floating in circles. I bet its one of those things that is really cool in concept, but then when you start to develo… wait, no… never mind, its not even cool in concept.

But I thought it was so funny that I couldn’t resist but to share it with you the way I saw it. So without further adieu, as promised from the 10/16/11 show here is my rendition of the mysterious power source/Crayola factory that Mary Elizabeth Winstead stumbles upon which I have deemed… The Pixel Washing Machine!

Ugh... where do I put the bleach?


MGM found their next movie, even though it was hidden so cleverly!

Anyone see any flying monkeys? Movies are a funny thing these days. Remakes, prequels, re-envisioning, re-imaginings (which apparently is different from a re-envisioning somehow?), re-boots, sequels, and re-imagined boots as I like to call ’em, have been flooding the theaters a lot lately as Hollywood keeps churning out different versions of existing material. This is of course, not to mention the surge of ideas floating around looking to turn the next nothing into the next something. Books turn into movies, so why not comic books? Comic books turn into movies, so why not video games? Video games turn into movies, so why not board games? And hell if a board game can be turned into a movie, why not a series of childrens books where the sole point is to stare at the page and find the guy in the Santa sweater.

That’s right folks, MGM has acquired the rights to turn the series of children’s books Where’s Waldo into a feature film. Yes, you read that correctly… a FEATURE FILM! Yes you read that correctly… WHERE’S WALDO! Holy shit, is nothing sacred anymore!? Is there even a point to Where’s Waldo? Was there even an underlying story as to why that lovable gent was traveling the globe in blue jeans and a sweater, no matter what time of year and no matter where on Earth he was? You ever wore a sweater in Hawaii? Yeah looking sharp there Wally, good luck getting the ladies with those pit stains you’re rockin’.

But the big point here is why, for the love of God, does this need to be a feature film!? It would seem that the subject matter would lend itself so beautifully to an animated adventure for say, I don’t know… a little company called Pixar! But I guess I am getting ahead of myself… why the hell is this even being made into anything at all (besides maybe another brightly colored book that I can give to Paul to keep him occupied for several weeks)!? Is this what movies are being reduced to nowadays? Where the plot just entails one single simple action such as finding someone in a crowd? Locate a battleship, find a Waldo, go to a Candyland or whatever the hell the objective was in that game.

There he is, behind the thing... next to the suff.

We’re doomed ladies and gentleman, simply doomed. I think Wayne Campbell said it best when he said, “Shaw… and monkeys might fly out of my butt!” Well bend over Wayne, here is a stick to bite down on. I just hope it’s literally an exact replica of one of the scenes from the books. Just because it is live action doesn’t mean the actors have to be moving. I would pay good money to see 1,200 extras standing perfectly still for an hour and a half, while I scour the screen looking for David Schwimmer in a red and white sweater. This should be a fun one to keep an eye on folks, we will be sure to keep you updated.


Ryan Reynolds and Ethan Hawke are interchangeable!

Well, at least according to Denzel Washington they are. Maybe I’m just coming off of the anger of my last post about Arnolds new movie The Last Stand being very similar to Walking Tall with The Rock. But I cant help but notice similarities between Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds new movie Safe House, and a little gem from 2005 that I really like called Assault on Precinct 13 starring Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne (hey you cant always get Denzel, or Samuel Jackson, or Will Smith…).

According to Collider.com Safe House is a story about “A young CIA agent (Reynolds) who must team up with a dangerous criminal in order to survive when their safe house is destroyed by mercenaries.” While that is all fine and dandy, and while the plot isn’t explicitly unique, the trailer looks extremely similar to Assault on Precinct 13. Maybe its just because they do the classic bad guy good guy team up in both? Or is it because they do the classic, black guy white guy team up in both? I don’t know what it is, but I cant wait to see it either way. Denzel is always awesome when he plays a bad ass, and Reynolds… well, lets just hope this gets him back on track after Green Lantern, which Paul and I have appropriately placed here, where it belongs. It looks like Reynolds might be able to pull off the tough guy act, but lets just hope he leaves his CGI at home this time.

Hey, you don't look like Ethan Hawke...


I’ll be back… to make movies that have already been done.

So the Internets were buzzing with thoughts of what The Terminator is going to be doing now that he is no longer the Governator of our fine state of California. Apparently driving the state into near bankruptcy, and knocking up the hired help got boring for the ol’ Austrian Oak. Word got around that he had taken his next project (not another maid) and was ready to get back into acting. We were all on the edge of our seats, waiting with baited breath (you like that one Paul, totally used your line) to see what the amazing action star was going to blow us away with this time. His next movie will be… The Last Stand.

Arnold will play the Sheriff of a quiet little town when all the sudden he is thrust back into action, and tasked with stopping a notorious drug kingpin who is on the run (in some sort of super-duper car apparently) and driving straight for Arnolds town. He is forced to assemble his deputies and get ready for the showdown, and make their… Final Destination. I’m just kidding, Last Stand.

The only problem I have with this, is haven’t we seen this movie before when it was called Walking Tall? Staring non-other than Dwayne “I’m the toothfairy” Johnson? Didn’t he have to defend his quiet little town against drug dudes who were ruining it? I’m sure that plot has been done before many times, but for some reason this time it really made me think of Walking Tall.

Now that being said, I’m sure it will be an action packed blockbuster and I personally, cant wait. Our generation is completely lacking an action star on Arnolds level. So I guess if we cant get one of our own, we might as well keep using him! I mean come on, 64 is the new 20 right… right…??? Holy shit I cant believe ol’ Dutch is 64. I think these days he is using more pull-ups than he is doing if you catch my drift (my drift being that he shits himself he is so old).

Hey look - Dopey, Sleepy, Grumpy, and a female (holding a tommy gun?) so the movie is politically correct.

The one thing that caught my good eye (pun intended for further in the article), is when I was scanning the cast line-up on IMDB, I saw non other than the Last King of Scotland himself, Forest Whitaker. I can only assume that he will play the drug kingpin hurling towards Arnolds town in his super-duper automobile. And for this I am thankful, because I cannot wait to see Forest Whitakers fat ass take on the 64 year old geriatric Terminator. Stay tuned with your ears for this one, it should be fun ladies and gentleman.