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Episode 119 – My Cousin Vinny (1:03:43)

We are joined by a yout from the Liberty Weekly Podcast to discuss a lawyer-themed movie, My Cousin Vinny. That’s right, Patrick MacFarlane is joining us to discuss another movie based on lawyering, and it should be a great time as we explore this Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei flick that still holds up to this day.

Two naive youts traveling from New York City to college in California drive through Alabama and are erroneously arrested, and accused of homicide. Luckily, one of them has a cousin who’s an attorney – Vincent Gambini, a previous auto repairman from Brooklyn who just passed his bar exam after his 6th attempt. Vinny’s never been in court – or in Alabama – and when he lands with his leather-clad fashionista sweetheart, to attempt his first case, hilarity ensues – for him and the deep South!

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Episode 118 – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (1:11:45)

We do an analysis of the Coen Brothers latest effort, the Ballad of Buster Scruggs. It’s a series of 6-western themed vignettes with the requisite Coen-quirkiness. Each story has a few interesting points for the sake of our discussion…and what do you know, it comes out to enough for a show.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs recounts the narrative of a sharp-shooting vocalist. In Near Algodones, a would-be bank-robber gets his due to say the very least. Meal Ticket is a dreary story around two fatigued weary traveling entertainers. All Gold Canyon is a nearly one-man show about a miner digging for gold, while a lady finds a startling level of adoration, alongside a portion of life’s savage incongruity, on a wagon train over the prairies in The Gal Who Got Rattled. And lastly, spooky feels frequent The Mortal Remains as a Woman downpours judgment upon a diverse group of fellow carriage companions each with a different philosophy on life.

We throw about ten minutes at each story and this falls right into Robert’s wheelhouse. Join us for the lively discussion.

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Episode 117 – Incredibles 2 (1:04:59)

We don our super suits one more time and get back into the fray with Incredibles 2. Brad Bird is posing some questions here that we really enjoyed even though the movie plot has a few holes and never truly resolves.

The Incredibles hero family takes on a new mission, which involves a change in family roles: Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) must manage the house while his wife Helen (Elastigirl) goes out to save the world.

Helen is called on to help bring Supers back, and Bob must juggle the daily heroics of home life. But when a new villain arises with a sinister plot, the Parrs meet the challenge together!

In ‘Incredibles 2’, Helen is called on to lead a campaign to bring Supers back, while Bob navigates the day-to-day heroics of ‘normal’ life at home with Violet, Dash and baby Jack-Jack whose superpowers are about to be discovered. Their mission is derailed, however, when a new villain emerges with a brilliant and dangerous plot that threatens everything. But the Parrs don’t shy away from a challenge, especially with Frozone by their side. That’s what makes this family so Incredible.

This is a fun, if incomplete movie that cashes in on the goodwill of the first Incredibles and rides that to 1.2 billion dollars at the box office. Plot holes aside, we take this opportunity to get into some meaty topics and have a good discussion on law vs. morality, gender roles and narratives being pushed in media and entertainment, and how the division of labor is the truly incredible thing in our world that has made it possible for billions of people to have an improved standard of living.

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Episode 116 – Brazil (1:00:17)

A tribute episode to our friend Lewis Liberman to discuss one of his favorite films, Terry Gilliam’s noir steampunk, “Brazil”.

A bureaucrat, in a retro-future world, tries to correct an administrative error and becomes an enemy of the state. Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro and Michael Palin star in this landmark cult classic about a government clerk in a future world who gets caught up in a case of mistaken identity.

It’s a movie about bureaucracy and totalitarian control with a populace of lobotomized passivity of consumerism. Mistaken identity due to a clerical error leads to government kidnapping and coverup intermixed with heroic dream sequences of saving himself from himself? Perhaps it’s all in his head. And remember, information is prosperity. Don’t suspect a friend. Report him.

There’s a “happy” version where he awakes from the nightmare with the woman he thought had died. In the director’s version discussed in this episode, the dream is the happy version in his lobotomized state of sitting in a chair with a grin as he finally escapes the horror of his world.

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Episode 115 – Les Misérables (1:02:43)

We are joined by special guest, Alex Hay, to sing our way through the 2012 musical version of Victor Hugo’s, “Les Miserables”.

The film takes place in France during the early 19th century and tells the story of Jean Valjean who, while being hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker’s daughter. The story reaches resolution against the background of the June Rebellion.

It’s a story of redemption for one character, and a relentless pursuit for another. There is love at first sight in the midst of a revolution that will never come.

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Episode 114 – Starship Troopers (1:10:43)

A B-movie/war movie that is so over the top that it is actually an anti-war movie. Back when the left was dependably against war.

Mike C. joins us again to do his part as we discuss one of his favorite movies.

We also discuss how they acquired rights to Heinlein novel for the name and some characters, but is pretty much the opposite of the sentiment of the novel and was already written prior to said acquisition. In fact, the director couldn’t even get through the novel.

This may be one of the great troll jobs in film history.

One person who had early access to this episode gave this glowing remark:

Awesome show this week! I was just going to listen to a few minutes now and wait until Monday, but here I am having finished it. I thought it was funny that somebody referred to it as having a Saturday morning cartoony feel, and that is what I did when I woke up this morning.

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Episode 113 – Collateral (1:05:31)

We are joined by Mike C. to discuss the Michael Mann, Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx vehicle, Collateral.

This is a tense thriller centered on a cabby with bigger dreams who is holding himself back while waiting for perfection, meanwhile, his opposite who improvises with ruthless efficiency in his job as a hitman brings the cabby to a point of self-actualization under extreme pressure in a bid to save his own life and another.

Vincent (Tom Cruise) is a cool, calculating, contract killer at the top of his game. Max (Jamie Foxx) is a hapless cabbie with big dreams and little to show for it. Now, Max has to transport Vincent on his next job – one night, five stops, five hits, and a getaway. And after this fateful night, neither man will ever be the same again. Tonight everything is changing… Acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann directs a powerhouse cast that also includes Jada Pinkett Smith in this stylish thriller that critics call “A Pure Adrenaline Rush” (Access Hollywood).

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Episode 112 – Smallfoot (1:05:12)

The noble lie for the greater good. The all-purpose excuse for tyranny the world over. Is it better to live in a blissful ignorance, protected and coddled your entire lives; or is it better to be aware of the dangers and the opportunities available to you so you can make your own choices?

We discuss these topics and many more as we are joined by Rocky Ferrenburg (https://rockyferrenburg.com/) for a dissection of the abominable snowman animated feature film flick, Smallfoot.

An animated adventure for all ages, with original music and an all-star cast, “Smallfoot” turns the Bigfoot legend upside down when a bright young Yeti (Channing Tatum) finds something he thought didn’t exist—a human. News of this “smallfoot” (James Corden) brings him fame and a chance with the girl of his dreams. It also throws the simple Yeti community into an uproar over what else might be out there in the big world beyond their snowy village, in a rollicking story about friendship, courage and the joy of discovery.

This star-studded animated adventure is a charming mix of positive messages, physical comedy, and a few catchy songs, all of which are sure to please young moviegoers.

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Episode 111 – Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (58:40)

Time is a construct.

Mirrors let you move through time. The government monitors people, they pay people to pretend to be your relatives and they put drugs in your food and they film you.

There’s messages in every game. Like Pac-Man. Do you know what the PAC stands for? P-A-C: Program and Control.

He’s program and control man, it’s a metaphor. He thinks he’s got free will but really he’s trapped in a maze, in a system, all he can do is consume, he’s pursued by demons that are probably just in his own head, and even if he does manage to escape by slipping out one side of the maze, what happens? He comes right back in the other side.

People think it’s a happy game.

I’ve set you free.

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Episode 110 – Death Wish (1:07:42)

Charles Bronson vs. Bruce Willis (who would win?)

The original is one of the classic revenge thrillers that has that satisfying edge of the bad guys getting what’s coming to them. Also shows the incompetence of government to “solve” the problem and how individuals accepting the responsibility for their own safety is a much more effective solution.

The remake has a similar air to it, but tones down the social commentary by our hero and focuses more on the cat and mouse with the ridiculous final villain.

In both, however, the government has a monopoly on police services and has no incentive to actually solve the problem. Their biggest concern is “how it looks”, so they bury statistics that are unfavorable to their perception. Another funny thing was how hard they were hunting the “vigilante” and they had literally dozens of people in the room all working the case – such a huge waste of resources.

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