Are You Screening? Podcast

Justice League and Wonder Reviews

Justice League managed to bounce back in its intro in a way that few movies can, but it doesn't seem like it's enough to truly turn the sentiment of the public at large. Wonder Woman won over audiences tremendously, but it seems as though DC still has a problem with where it left Batman and Superman.
Does it up the game, or has much the DC comic effort become the lost wanderings aiming at piles of money that much of the public seems to suspect? We'll let you know, but you probably won't be very surprised.
We're also covering Wonder, a film that turns out to be quite a surprise, even if only in the extent to which it isn't a giant pile of syrup.

Murder on the Orient Express Review

Apart from avoiding news at all costs, we're reviewing Murder on the Orient Express this week, and it's a more interesting adventure than you might imagine. The review, that is.
Not simply a time-honored classic, but also a film that seems to defy being remade, Orient Express is a film that has to make you wonder what exactly Branagh has in his bonnet. Of course, we all know that he just wanted to get the money to do Death on the Nile.
At any rate, the movie is a strange feature for many reasons, not least of which is the curious case of no one talking about it for awards. What happened here? We'll let you know.

Thor Ragnarok, Suburbicon & The Foreigner Reviews

In a year that has ultimately been rather disappointing, a comic-book hero film that doesn't take itself seriously won over audiences, but is it really any good, or is it just better than the last few months of offerings?
We'll let you in on everything you need to know about Thor: Ragnarok, and the huge surprises that came from Suburbicon and The Foreigner. Two films would be hard-pressed to have a wider gap of expectations and the results probably shocked us more than anything else this year.

Blade Runner 2049 Review

Blade Runner 2049 was nerve-wracking for us, and not just because at least one of us love the original. The box-office doesn't reflect the cult status of a film that was truly a game-changer for the sci-fi genre, but the critical response was pretty positive leading up to this one.
Listen in and we'll let you know where this one falls compared to the original, and whether or not it's going to ultimately achieve the same kind of zeitgeist success.

American Made Review

American Made had so much going for it that we found ourselves chomping at the bit, which is somewhat unusual for this kind of "true story" effort, and a lot of what the film delivers should have won us over. Unfortunately, it didn't quite come together in the way we expected and it ultimately left us wanting something more to show up.
We'll let you know if this is the right film for you and whether or not you need to add it to your list, and we'll give you the scoop on industry news and more.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle Review

Kingsman: The Golden Circle didn't live up to expectations of the original, and while that one was a lot of fun, it had problems of its own.
There's certainly a fair amount of fun to be had, but Millar doesn't seem to have sequels nailed down. 
We'll also cover a lot of the latest new shows you should be checking out from Kevin Probably Saves The World to, surprisingly, Young Sheldon.

Mother! Review

It was a very special episode for us this week because while we had some reservations about Aronofsky's latest, we weren't expecting to find a new low in film. We've both been to some low places in the world of cinema, and few of those spaces are occupied by writers and/or directors that also produced films that we loved.
It's certainly a conversation piece, though we have some thoughts on Aronofsky's claim that it is metaphoric/allegoric in nature.
Along with the many reasons to avoid this film, we'll give you some industry news and a look at some more shows head to the small screen this fall.

It, Leap!, Good, and Fall TV Reviews

It would be hard to jam up a week more than this, and in addition to three movies, we're also giving you the scoop on some new TV, including The Orville.
We're overly tied to It, just as we were with The Dark Tower, but this time around our proximity to Derry didn't lead to a disappointment pitfall. Leap! looks like the sleeper animated hit we're rooting for, and Goon just didn't need a sequel.
Tune in to get all the info on these films and find out why you too should love or hate them.

Logan Lucky & The Glass Castle Reviews

Another strange pairing finds us looking at Logan Lucky and The Glass Castle. Expectations were thrown and hopes were somewhat dashed this week as a pretty screwy adventure ended up not all that bad and a setup for a lot of laughs fell flat.
We'll let you know if you need to get to these and catch you up on industry news.

The Dark Tower Review

We're a bit into Stephen King here in Bangor, and The Dark Tower is one of his most popular books and series, which means we were looking forward to this one more than most. On the other hand, we were hesitant for several reasons, not least the production problems the film apparently had.
Did things work out? Is this one worthy of the series it's born from? 
Adaptations of King's work are famously rather hit or miss, but this is one that we were really holding out hope for.
We'll let you know if this is worth your time and/or where things went wrong.