Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: What up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Nerd Jim Report. I'm your host, Pablo, and joining me, as always, is Mr. Brian Scholz. Brian, lots to talk about.
We're gonna start off with our top five most anticipated films. Some of it may be surprising to you, Brian, but I've been ever since this movie was mentioned the possibility of it, I said, I am in. I cannot wait.
That might be my number one, but we'll see.
[00:00:30] Speaker B: No, we don't have the same number one. I will be shocked. The other ones, I could see some difference, but yeah.
[00:00:36] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. Top five most anticipated films, Brian.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Well, maybe before we get to the countdown, five to one, this is a huge movie year.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:00:47] Speaker B: And I said to you, for me personally, I was surprised at how easy it was to identify five that I wanted to put on this list. That being said, there's a ton of big movies and all types of genre movies that won't be on the list that I think will be popping up in the show or in the conversations, even just in passing because it's such a busy year, including some really big box office surefire movies that I'm just not super duper interested in, but I think will be incredibly successful. So that's why I thought the exercise was interesting. And I think even though we're into January a little bit, in some ways the year really kicks off with Captain America 4. Right when brave New World hits. That's kind of the first blockbuster of the year. And that's what we mean by 2025. January is generally referred to in Hollywood as dump uary. That's usually where the movies they don't want to put out but have to go. So February is kind of when we get get most years going in earnest. But you know, there's a couple of things that may be on the list. Not on the list, but just I don't know where you want to take it, but there was a movie that at least I thought about. I didn't put it on the top five, but it would have been the honorable mentions list that had an incredible news story break over the weekend that was just kind of one of these, like, how did this happen?
And now who knows?
[00:02:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I was thinking about it because when I first heard about how they were doing this and who they were using to emulate them, I was like, yeah, I want to see this movie and some, you know, serious stuff because this is a drama here, you know. So I was definitely looking forward to seeing that this year. But I don't know now, so we're.
[00:02:34] Speaker B: Talking about the, in the, in the era of biopics where every rock and roll band and artist is seemingly getting a movie made about them. We are talking about the Antoine Fuqua directed Michael, which of course is about the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Supposed to come out in October with Jafar Jackson, who is relation playing the lead with Colman Domingo and Nia Long as sort of the co stars. This movie had a base budget of $155 million, which is a lot for this kind of movie. So expectations are high and I think they're reasonably high. I think certainly globally this movie would be set to do some major numbers.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: He's a, he's an icon, you know.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: I mean, yeah, if you look at the numbers that like Rocket man to Bohemian Rhapsody to like those movies are putting up worldwide, like, yeah, you could reasonably expect that this movie is halfway decent. And obviously like Antoine Fuch was directed some stuff. Training Day most notably. Yeah. Could this be like a 500, 600, 700, $800 million type movie? Yes, like it could.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:46] Speaker B: But then, small problem. You want the quote.
[00:03:49] Speaker A: Somebody was like just, just not even reading. Go ahead.
[00:03:52] Speaker B: Okay. So obviously we know in the, in the annals of Michael Jackson's life, there's, there's some legal stuff and in particular, you know, he was accused in 1993 of sexual abuse of a 13 year old boy. That he settled with the family for $25 million, reportedly out of court. Important detail. One of the terms of the settlement was that the teenager and that family can never ever be mentioned or dramatized in any movie. Come to find out, at least according to this report, the script of the movie uses that incident and relationship as the quote, backbone of the movie.
And that the legally binding agreement was overlooked when the script was vetted and approved by the estate and has now caught Fuqua and the filmmakers off guard, rendering the quote already shot third act of the film unusable, end quote.
[00:04:53] Speaker A: Wow, that's crazy because how like, damn, that's, that's, that's, that's bad. That's bad for whoever didn't read that part and just. I don't know how that gets overlooked, you know, in this, at this level.
You know, I don't know how that gets overlooked into. We've done, we're in post production.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: I mean, that's. You're right, because who, how many people had to have dropped the ball here. It's not really the writer's fault because the writer's just doing the creative. Right. It's not his. It's not John Logan's job to know the ins and outs of the legality. Right?
[00:05:37] Speaker A: That's lawyers stuff.
[00:05:39] Speaker B: That's what I'm saying. How many lawyers on the side of the studio and on the side of the estate did this have to pass? And a movie like this, right, we know this thing doesn't make it to green light unless his family is okay with every last detail.
This is not the unauthorized biopic. Right? This is in conjunction with the Jackson estate.
So this should not be possible.
It should never happen that it gets this far. This should literally be like, Logan delivers the idea. They're like, great pitch, but can't do it because here's the clause, but we find out the movies been made, and like, they're trying to downplay it. There's a quote from an inside source saying, oh, it's not in chaos, but the source confirms they're reshooting it in March.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: That's chaos. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Because if that's the backbone and you gotta now spend more money to. Spend more money to what? To rewrite this joint, then shoot or you Die Hard. It.
[00:06:50] Speaker B: I mean, but have you ever seen.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: Have you seen Die Hard?
The. The movies that make us on Netflix?
No, the movies that made us watch that movie. I mean, watch that show. This is. There's an episode dedicated to how Die Hard getting made. How a lot of movies got made. But that one in particular was crazy. But go ahead.
[00:07:12] Speaker B: Well, I was going to say, look, third act problems and reshoots. Look, we know movies deal with this all the time. I think that the challenge here is that unlike in Mission Impossible, where you can. We know that they move set pieces around, they write script every day, like all that sort of stuff. Even the Marvel movies, we know that that happens.
This is a biopic. Like, you're choosing an angle and a perspective with which to try to capture this artist's life. To have one angle for two thirds of the movie and then erase that and not pay it off in the third or have to totally redo that, that strikes me as dangerous and something that could definitely upend or ruin what could otherwise be a really interesting time at the movies. So. And the other thing too is, if they're redoing it in March, if it's really that extensive, can they have this movie ready on time in October? Which means it may not. May be on the 2025 release date, you know, release calendar. And therefore, you know, for our purposes, but certainly for the fans purposes not able to consume it and have it be part of this year. So I mean this movie is already interesting now. It's probably become fascinating but more in like a car wreck, train wreck sort of manner. Like is this thing going to literally collapse or fall apart or become something unwatchable because of this? But I mean we'll see. But I think for now I'm kind of putting it in the bucket of like if you want to put it on your 2025 list I would probably asterisk it at least because. Because it now seems like it has at least a real chance that it slips to next year because they have to do something more substantial to fix a mistake that seems impossible to have been made.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: I say this, that person or that group of individuals who were in charge of that of those details and never make the mistake again.
[00:08:57] Speaker B: They won't get the chance.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: I don't think they'll get the chance. They'll get somebody. They're going to make it financially able for those people who. Because big money ain't coming to them. They're going to have to build that rep up again with the small little things that the impossible. We can't win this. But we could. We got to try and do the impossible in order to get back up to those. I guess the possibility of working with those new people to get that. To earn that trust again. Because this is like what.
But anyway, so you want to start off with your five.
[00:09:38] Speaker B: I have five. And I picked one true honorable mention. But I did want to throw out some movies that I did not have on my list. That you might have on your list. But just to show you how this year is set up.
I did not have what I think is most likely to be the biggest box office movie of the year which is Avatar 3, fire and ash. Not on my list.
[00:09:57] Speaker A: I was looking at people's list and.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: It wasn't update but $5 billion after two movies. The even if this thing drops off.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: I think it will.
[00:10:09] Speaker B: It's probably 1 6. Like it's probably going to set a bar that will be at least competitive for biggest movie of the year. Yeah, it's just not on my list. But anyway so that's not on my list. Jurassic World, Rebirth, not on my list. I think that's another surefire billion dollar movie.
Wicked for good. Not on my list. Conclusion of what was a phenomenally commercially successful Part one. So there's. There's already a couple right there. I did not put, you know, a spoiler. Did not have Thunderbolts did not have Cat 4. Like, these are. These are Marvel movies that in years past probably would have been automatics for a top five inclusion, but they're not on the list.
So I just say, and. And there's a lot of awards fair and stuff like that. That wouldn't typically be in our conversation, but you know, those are among the movies. And also I would highlight not my genre, but like 28 years later, I think is going to be a big hit. That sort of horror trilogy. 28 days later, 28 weeks later, 28 years later.
[00:11:04] Speaker A: You know what? They should take advantage of those people from the 28 days production. Do a 28 seconds later and put it on Instagram. Put it on real. That's what you do. 28 seconds. Show me what that looks like. I'm interested in that.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: So I'll give you my. My formal honorable mention and then I can start with number five and I'll kick it back to you. So my honorable mention that I do want to highlight is the live action adaptation of how to Train youn Dragon.
I think it looks phenomenal. I think of all the kids franchises that I've been exposed to by being a parent, this is probably my favorite. I think it's the one that kind of does span both, you know, fun for children, but also is really well crafted as a trilogy, as a TV show. And the fact that they've got all the same people, you know, redoing this, even if it is mostly a note for note, which it seems like it might be similar to the way Disney did the Lion King, I still think it can look great and introduce this franchise to, you know, new audiences. So I think this could be a massive hit and I'm genuinely excited to see it. So that was my honorable mention, but my number five is. Is actually not a huge movie, but it's a movie I'm fascinated in, I think has a potential to be awesome, which is Edgar Wright's remake of the Running man with Glenn Powell.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: I am there, Brian. I just put it on my list because I saw it. I was like, oh, snap. I gotta put. Wow. Okay. Yeah.
[00:12:33] Speaker B: Okay, wait, is. Okay, is it five on your list or is it just.
[00:12:36] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:12:36] Speaker B: Okay, so let's just have the conversation. What draws you to, you know, what was, at least in his first iteration, a fun but pretty ridiculous Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle in the late 80s.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: For me growing up watching that film. And every time is on, I watch it.
[00:12:54] Speaker B: That is true, yes.
[00:12:55] Speaker A: Every time. Because you got the stalkers. The stalkers but you got this dude that was into the announcer.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: Oh, Richard Dawson, who is really famous at the time and kind of inappropriate.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: Kind of do that stuff now and there's problems, you know what I'm saying?
[00:13:20] Speaker B: It's true.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: So. But anyway, he was entertaining. You had Jesse the body venture. Yes. The stalkers and Arnold Schwarzenegger's charisma.
[00:13:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:30] Speaker A: Dark. It was. It was not scary, but it was suspenseful.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: My recommendation to people, if you were to watch, go back and rewatch that movie, is you should watch it stacked with Predator because that's the way Arnold released it. He did Predator in the summer and he did Running man in the fall in the same year. And I think the one is Predator, despite having some epic one liners, is a very serious movie. That's a drama, action drama in the jungle. Running man is definitely got his lighter side. He's definitely doing the sticky one liners throughout that movie. He's having more fun. It is sillier. You got, you know, Jim Brown with a flamethrower. Right. Jesse the body leading these crazy workouts. Right. I mean, this is designed to be over the top. And then as you said, Richard Dawson, who was a big deal at the time. I don't even know there. You're right. There is no modern equivalent because you can't do the things he did in the context of his shows.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: I'll try to find some video clips so you can see what I'm talking about.
[00:14:30] Speaker B: I don't know, but he would have been. It would be the equivalent of like who the biggest host would be showing up in a movie and actually having a meaningful part today. So.
But it also is based on a Stephen King book. Right. He was writing under a different name to experiment with whether the name Stephen King sold or whether the story sold. He. So he writes this movie, the Running man, which kind of winds up being like a fortune telling movie. I mean, it's reality tv. Before there was reality tv, it was, you know, people kind of wanting to see like UFC style violence, like live before people got into that. Like this movie is sort of prescient. And so the idea of Edgar Wright with his stylisms and his approach to filmmaking doing this in. I don't think it's going to be 100% serious, but a more faithful adaptation, let's call it, of the King work. And then Powell, who I think is, you know, one of the rising stars in Hollywood, who I've got tickets to almost anything he wants to do at this point.
I think this could be like the sleeper action hit of the year when we're. We're all said and done.
[00:15:36] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. My honorable mention, Brian, is F1.
[00:15:44] Speaker B: Okay. I have it higher. Let's talk about it.
[00:15:46] Speaker A: There was this other movie that came out that was based on a game and I forget the name of it. I saw it once, but I was. It left an impression. I would say Gran Turismo. Yeah. Is it Gran Turismo? I think so.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: In the last couple of years.
[00:15:59] Speaker A: Yes. Yes, yes.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: Yeah, that's it. That's Gran Turismo. Yeah.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: Yeah. I really enjoyed watching that movie. Is not on enough for me to catch it, but I really enjoyed that one. So. And I'm looking forward to seeing Dabs and Idris because who might think does a great performance? I think in terms of being very emotional in his delivery when he's saying intense lines or whatever the case may be. Right. And listen, I like Moneyball. I see every time he's on, I catch a glimpse of it and just. He's just great in it. So I want to see how different or how the same it'll be. Certainly is going to be Brad Pitt. But let's see what sort of lines, what sort of dynamic these two guys have.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: So I actually have this movie number two.
[00:16:46] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:16:47] Speaker B: So here's why.
I think of all the movies that we're going to see this year, this is in the conversation for the reason why you go to the movies. Movie. And I was thinking about this the other day, actually, I was thinking about this in why I did not include Avatar. There is a category of movies that I feel like if you don't see it on the biggest screen possible, you kind of are not seeing the movie.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: You miss out.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: I am not like. I'll give you an obvious example. I am not a fan of Gravity, but I never saw Gravity in the theater. I saw it on a plane. So I understand. I didn't see the movie.
[00:17:24] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:17:26] Speaker B: And I feel that way about Avatar in the sense that it's so visual, it's so immersive in 3D. That's what makes it captivating. When I just watch it on tv, I get kind of bored. Then it's kind of long. I'm not really there. And I have a feeling I might feel that way about F1, but if I don't see F1 in IMAX for the week that it's going to be an imax, I think I'm going to miss something. Because Joe Koszinski, what he did in Top Gun Maverick with aircraft makes me want to see what he can do with the fastest sport on earth. And this is a sport. Look, I'm in the driver. Strive to survive, convert generation. That reality show on Netflix got me hooked on F1 during COVID and I've followed the sport ever since. So the fact that this is sanctioned by Liberty Media, it's produced by Lewis Hamilton, it has a lot of the actual drivers and characters from racing in the movie alongside the actors means like, this is not like the Sly Stallone F1 movie they did like 20 years ago. That's preposterous and awful. Like, this will be visually stunning and I think very real about what it's like to drive and compete in Formula One, which I think is for worldwide audiences a huge deal. Like, this is a huge sport. People in the US are just getting there. This is a big deal to a lot of people.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: This is a collaborative movie for sure. This is what you call a collaborative movie between the people that actually do it and not hiring actors, you know, although you got some actors there, but you have collaborative efforts between. As far as extras.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: Yeah, right.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: You got expert extras in the movie that you're filming about. So that's.
[00:19:05] Speaker B: Then you got. Your actors are Brad Pitt, Harvey R. Bardem, you know, like Shea Wiggum, like, you know, Carrie Condon. Like, this is a good cast to complement Dams and Idris as his star making vehicle. And I agree with you, Gran Turismo is not bad. But I think visually this is going to be levels up from that, especially on the big screen. So I actually have it at number two. I'm actually pleasantly surprised it made your. Your honorable mention list. I think the risk for this movie is so exp.
Is that it is in the heart of summer. And I could see this losing especially in US audiences to what is around it. Because like I said, you got how to Train youn Dragon is two weeks before Jurassic World and Superman are the two weeks after this tight for this movie to really excel.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: This movie will be in the theaters for as long as they can leave it in the theaters for I think is see this movie in the theaters is what it was meant to be. How is it meant to be shown? And I think the word of mouth would get around. You gotta go see this movie in theaters. People will go just for the experience of it and the performances obviously. So I think it'll do well. I think it'll do well. Ain't gonna make no billion dollars, but it's gonna definitely do.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: Even though it Might need to because apparently the rumor budget on this is over 300.
So would you throw in marketing, which F1 will help them market because the season starts in March and there's going to be a lot of marketing through that. This thing might need to get close to a billion dollars for it to be profitable.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: I think they're looking at the long game. I guess they're Palpatine in it next for me, not my number four is Mission Impossible.
[00:20:47] Speaker B: That is also my number four.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: Okay. Mission Impossible obviously has its reputation of giving us perhaps the most action packed.
It does what Fast and Furious attempts to do at a silly level and they do what. What you would think is not possible and do it for real.
There's the difference.
And there's usually some high stakes involved obviously, you know, so. And this is Tom Cruise last hurrah.
He said it in the teaser.
One more try, one more chance, one more time. You know what I'm saying? So this is it. And I think people see it that this is his last go around that making certain types of films possibly. I think he's not going to give up acting. He's going to do other things that doesn't involve him putting himself at risk all the time. He's like that dude in. What's that movie with Ben Stiller and Jennifer Lawrence where he's an insurance guy and he's trying to ensure this dude that does crazy stuff all the time. He was. The dude. He actually. He was is supporting actor in Cocktails with Tom Cruise.
You don't see Cocktails.
[00:22:21] Speaker B: I've seen Cocktail, but that's Brian. Brian Brown. That was the supporting. That was the other guy, wasn't it?
[00:22:26] Speaker A: The one that. The one that offed himself at the end. He was. He was. He was. He was his bento.
[00:22:31] Speaker B: I don't remember this movie. Okay. Wow.
[00:22:33] Speaker A: Okay. But he's. He wasn't like. He's trying to ensure this guy that he jumps off buildings and does crazy stuff. And Tom Cruise is sort of, you know, I think reaching that end where he's not going to be. Doesn't perhaps want to do it anymore. And he realizes it as well, I think. And he's just going to do other stuff. But this is an opportunity for everybody to see that. So I want to. And. And to see how this.
[00:22:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:57] Speaker A: Conclude concludes.
[00:23:00] Speaker B: I agree. It's my number four. I think the only reason it's not a little bit higher is like. I do think Dead Reckoning was a step sideways and a step back from as Good as Rogue Nation fallout that pairing was. Yes, But I think part of the reason that was the case is because they knew this movie was coming. And I know because Chris McCrory has said it, there were certain scenes they thought they were going to put in Dead Reckoning that they pushed to Part two because they knew there was going to be a Part two. And I think that hurt Dead Reckoning a little bit. Because I'm telling you, when I rewatched that movie, and it's not as easy to rewatch as. As I think 4, 5 and 6 are. Part of what you feel is like, the set pieces are just like a little too long and they're not quite as original as you're used to seeing. But when you look at the trailer for Final Reckoning and you see him hanging off the biplane and you see what they're doing underwater and you see the little nods to the series because there's a quick shot in the trailer where he grabs this thing that's the rabbit's foot from Part three. Like they are nodding all of the films. Right.
That makes me think that they're going all out for this one and we're gonna get one that flows better, that wows us. And there's a report that. I don't know how true it is. I think of Macquarie, who said it, they screened it apparently to like a theater operator or something recently, and they claimed the guy had a cardiac event, like, not life threatening, but they claimed that he had some kind of heart event during the movie.
[00:24:38] Speaker A: Wow. Wow.
[00:24:39] Speaker B: So we're gonna see what that's about. But anyway, I don't. I just think this has been one of the most reliable franchises that we've had over the last, you know, however many years. I think the real question, because it has never done it and it is a crowded marketplace. Can this movie threaten a billion dollars? The reviews for the last four have been amazing, but seven only made about 600 and fallout is the peak, about 800. Can this actually get higher than that and get close to $1 billion? I think that's a question. Like, is Mission Impossible big enough?
[00:25:14] Speaker A: Just like. Like how you said and how the previous movie didn't do as well and it had to do with it not having those issues you mentioned.
And I'm sure people feel similarly to that. And it just shows that the word of mouth wasn't there. There wasn't the. You gotta go see this movie and.
[00:25:38] Speaker B: Then see it again. You got to see that stunt again, that scene again. It doesn't have that for Me. Whereas, like Rogue Nation and. And Fallout, like, especially Fallout. That movie just, like, takes you and you're just.
[00:25:48] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:25:49] Speaker B: So, all right, so number. We're both with the same number four. So we have. All right, so so far, I'll give you my number three. And I'm gonna guess if it's not your number three, it's your number two. It is. Fantastic Four First Steps.
[00:26:00] Speaker A: Wow. Is my number three. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
[00:26:05] Speaker B: We did not talk about this.
[00:26:07] Speaker A: So I'm gonna share my screen so that people know what I'm talking about. I'm not. I'm not saying yes because I want to say yes. Here. There's my screen. Look at my. Look at my number. I'll probably block out the other two. Brian.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: Fantastic Four First Steps. I think this is a critical movie for Marvel. It is a movie that, honestly, I started from a negative position on, just given the baggage that Fantastic Four has had in cinema for 20 plus years.
And then we got stuff that made me feel even more concerned with, like, oh, my gosh, they're bringing in Surfer and Galactus right away and like, all that sort of stuff. But then.
And they had all this trouble finding a director. Remember, it was John Watts. And then we heard all these other names that were going to take over and like. And then we settle on Matt Shackman, who did a great job with WandaVision. But that's TV, right? We're kind of like.
But what's got me, what's got this movie high on the list for me? This high on the list for me is the motif of the footage.
[00:27:13] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:27:13] Speaker B: When I saw that, that had me. That got me even. And I know you are higher on Pascal than I am, but I will say in totality, look, I mean, Kirby's a 10 out of 10. Moss Bacharach's a 10 out of 10. Having seen Joseph's Quinn and Gladiator 2, I'm more excited about his potential as Johnny Storm. But it is the look, it is the retro look of the 60s to feel like this is something we haven't seen before and a real attempt at, if not a reboot, a redirect of what, what is possible for Marvel. So that alone has me just kind of really, really edging my seat, wanting to see more, wanting to go see this on the big screen.
[00:27:55] Speaker A: I'm looking for that wow factor when I see this movie. And I think in that footage that we saw, the wow factor is creeping up. And I meant. And I'm. I'm going to be sitting at the edge of my seat sort of when I watch this movie. In terms of how they do this because of the previous, this has to be a 1:80 from what we've gotten in the past, from the attempts of the past.
And so far, they've done a good job in showing you how different it is and hiring the right cast for this.
So my only concern is Galactus, Silver Surfer and how that goes, because he's been a legosum.
[00:28:46] Speaker B: I think that one unfinished shot, he looks good. The head looks good, like outside the windows, like Galactus. Yeah.
[00:28:52] Speaker A: And I heard the dude's voice, so he's going to sound like the Galactus we've heard in all the iterations that they've voiced. Galactus. I'm telling you, if you haven't seen Silver Surfer on Disney plus is not all great, but that first episode is just amazing. The anticipation for that film is just so high.
I can't wait to see that one.
[00:29:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. I mean, I'm nervous about Julia Garner as a surfer, like you said. I also. I don't know if this is the totally right place to talk about this, but I'll link it and we can come back to it later. This idea that the Fantastic Four are kind of not just in Avengers Doomsday, but kind of the leads, if you will, on the hero side, it. It just got my attention. And we'll talk about it from the Avengers side, but it got my attention from a storytelling perspective of wondering, like, does that mean there's more, like, direct connectivity between what we're going to see in First Steps and then setting them up opposite Downey's Doom, which would be sort of the classic, you know, Fantastic Four conflict in Avengers. Does that mean Avengers 5 is actually more of, like, almost a hybrid sequel to Fantastic Four in some ways, and. And not sort of a sequel to, you know, previous Avengers movies? It just got me asking the question if that rumor is true.
[00:30:15] Speaker A: So, yeah, yeah, yeah. As soon as I. I read that.
That text that you sent me about what was going to. What we were going to discuss, I started thinking about that. I was like, it almost feels Civil War ish.
[00:30:30] Speaker B: Yeah, good analogy. Also must mean, considering that the Russos came in to and brought in McFeely to rewrite Avengers 5 after first steps was pretty far along.
Makes me optimistic. Part of the reason you would make the shift in story toward the Fantastic Four is they're killing it in the role and the studio's happy, and there's a feel of, like, the These four have it together.
[00:30:58] Speaker A: Although it's. I mean, I guess we'll talk about it when we talk about Avengers. But I've been saying ever since we heard the announcements of who was playing who and what differentiates this sentiment and what I'm about to say now, I'm looking forward to seeing visually what this will be and the performances, the story. I'm a little bit concerned.
[00:31:23] Speaker B: Yes, agree.
[00:31:25] Speaker A: You know, that's where. But I'm.
In terms of what we're going to see, because we've already seen what this looked like before in other people's heads. Right. So the.
The intent of making this look drastically different from that and in the hands of Marvel is enough for me to be like, yes, I am there. I don't care what this story is. Right. But now you have this connection, seemingly.
[00:31:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:57] Speaker A: Right. So there's a lot of intrigue here.
[00:32:01] Speaker B: Before we hit the topic, because we've covered a bunch of these. So my honorable mention was how to Train youn Dragon. Then I had running Man 5, Mission Impossible for Fantastic 4 3, and then F1 number 2. So I only have one movie unspoken for. You have two movies unspoken for, because your number five was also Running Man. You're number four. Also Mission Impossible. You're number three. Also Fantastic Four. And your honorable mention was F1. So you actually have two slots. So maybe you should give your number two next.
[00:32:32] Speaker A: Before we get to my number two, my honorable mention is Karate Kids Legends.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: I wondered if you were going to put. I actually wondered if you were going to put this on the list. Okay, let's talk about it.
[00:32:44] Speaker A: And the only reason why. And I've had this conversation, but I think Freddie. I think I also had it with my brother. He's a Karate Kid. Fans like I am, but not of the show.
Sort of tapped out.
I'm wondering two things. I'm wondering if the kid is a Miyagi descendant.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: That would be logical.
[00:33:09] Speaker A: That twist is interesting for me because I would want to see then the performance between and I guess the relationship that me. That. That Ralph Macho will have with him.
The other thing is, again, Ralph Macchio can't beat me. He can't beat nobody.
What's. What's interesting to me is that they're going to make him look good. Why Jackie Chan is in this joint, a true martial artist.
[00:33:42] Speaker B: Yeah. That's okay.
[00:33:44] Speaker A: So I am looking at this from the perspective of how they're gonna make Ralph Macchio look good. Because that, for me, be the breaking point.
[00:33:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:00] Speaker A: Of me walking out.
That'll be interesting. And I'm also interested to see if this. This kid is. Is Miyagi's descendant, because so far, what we've seen. I like the. The fighting stuff. Jackie Chan is in it, so we're going to see good choreography.
[00:34:23] Speaker B: So Ralph Macchio is why this movie is not in my.
I'm sorry. He is the weak link of the Karate Kid franchise in more ways than one. In more ways than one. I mean, as someone who has stuck with Cobra Kai into season six, where it's gotten ridiculous, I would be. I would be. And I under. I get it. Because of the nature of the IP, he is the character. Dale LaRusso is the character you have to include, but Johnny Lawrence is the character you should include because Zapka is a much better actor, and he's a much better athlete, and he's a much more interesting Persona. So if they had done this Karate Kid legends with Macho as the cameo and Johnny Lawrence as the opposite for Jackie Chan, I would be more interested, and I think it would be a better movie. I'm not saying it'll be bad, but I just. When I watch Macho in the show, I'm like, this guy was a. This guy was a very successful, decorated child actor before he became an adult actor.
But he's not good. Like, he's not compelling as Daniel LaRusso as an adult, and he's certainly not compelling as a martial artist when he's asked to fight during the show.
[00:35:40] Speaker A: To me, the thing is that he just can't beat me.
He just can't beat nobody, man.
It is not believable.
Like, when I watch Karate Kid. Yo, for me, is the lesson, the lessons Miyagi gives him, that draws me, not him. The fact that he's able to pull it off with a few moves that Miyagi showed him.
That's crazy. And they did it to move on and continue on. He can't beat nobody. You know, he had to fight for his life. If that was the case, he would not be in this continuation of Karate Kid. Yo. That dude was a trade for me. That's all they did. Ralph Matrio wasn't doing that. He was selling cars.
He can't beat nobody.
[00:36:36] Speaker B: Disagreement. For me, I.
You know, I'm just trying to get.
[00:36:41] Speaker A: It into everybody's head who watches, you know, Johnny Lawrence, man, his story is the more compelling.
[00:36:47] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:36:48] Speaker A: When they switch off to anything else, I'm not interested. I'm interested in perhaps the relationship that he or the connections that he has. With other people. But, yo, if you watch Karate Kid, he. It was a fluke. He caught him with something that he ain't never seen before. That's understandable.
[00:37:06] Speaker B: It's also. Are we okay? Someone has litigated this online, and maybe it's because of my. My kid takes karate now. So, like, I'm not convinced that was a. The crane is a. Was a legal maneuver because he kicks him right in the face. I'm like, I'm not sure. Are you allowed to do that anyway? That's a whole other question.
[00:37:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, he can't be nobody.
[00:37:28] Speaker B: But to your point, before we leave this movie, even when you watch the Karate Kids, when you go back and rewatch the movie, I would love to see what got edited out of Johnny Lawrence's part, because there's these little snippets of humanity in. Even as he's being this, like, incredible 80s villain. You see these moments of humanity right down in the very end when Kreese asks him to sweep the leg, the look on his face is like, this is wrong. Like, what's wrong with you? And then even at the end, they cut it off. But he kind of congratulates Daniel for the win, and he gives him respect. And it's not explored why he feels that way. But when you get to Cobra Kai and he sits Miguel down and he retells the story of the first movie from his perspective, it all makes sense. And you're kind of like, this guy is actually.
He's not the hero, but he's probably more the protagonist of the movie than you realize.
[00:38:24] Speaker A: Karate Kid, too. How does it start?
[00:38:26] Speaker B: It starts with. Well, they basically do the scene that originally was shot for Karate Kid 1 where Miyagi beats up Kreese in the parking lot to protect Johnny.
[00:38:34] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:38:35] Speaker B: After Kreese goes after Johnny.
[00:38:37] Speaker A: But that was the beginning. That argument between him and his teacher, his sensei. And I was hooked. After that, this whole, sorry, you can't beat nobody but number my number two.
And, hey, I like Ralph Macho. I enjoy his performances elsewhere.
[00:38:58] Speaker B: No, agreed. That's the irony. Yeah, that's the irony.
[00:39:01] Speaker A: I mean, he's the keys. He's Steve Rogers before he became Steve Rogers.
Can't beat nobody. You can try, but my number two is Superman.
[00:39:16] Speaker B: What? It's not your number one. Oh, my God. Okay. It is my number one, but. Okay.
[00:39:23] Speaker A: And the reason why. I'll tell you the reason why. Is not my number one.
And it's petty stuff, but Superman is my number two. And if You've watched the shows that we've done on Superman. I'm excited. You can tell that we're excited for this movie. We have our concerns. But every time there is something James Gunn puts out, it sort of quells that, that, that, that. That concern a bit.
It's still there. We still. You know how they hold dogs. It's still there.
You know what I'm saying? It's still there. It's right at the cusp of going crazy. Like, oh, man, I see I'm out. But so far, so good. And one of the reasons why this is my number two, Brian, is that so much relies on the future of D.C. with this movie.
[00:40:23] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:40:24] Speaker A: Based on the things that are happening, the green lights and the production, there's not a lot of concern because we seemingly are getting, like, really good stuff.
Right. Green Lanterns, and that starts in the fall or starts soon. Supergirl, Some of the things that they've mentioned there. We already got a first look. I don't know if you saw that, Brian.
[00:40:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Or just the photo set. The photo of her in the chair with the logo. Yeah.
[00:40:56] Speaker A: So we're gonna be getting some good stuff, but for us to be excited for the rest of it, this has to smack.
This has to be the talk of the town. And I think that's. There's so much unknown here that has me so excited for this film. And so much of what we've seen so, so far has gotten me is doing what it's supposed to do at each step of the way in terms of what James Gunn releases and says.
[00:41:26] Speaker B: So that's why it's my number one, is because I feel like so much is riding on it, and they haven't let us down yet in terms of what they've shown. But there's real questions, right? There's still questions about how full this movie is. There's questions about how good could David Corn Swept be? There's questions about how much can James Gunn expand his own horizons as a director because this movie requires it. There's questions about how strong, visually, can this leave an impression? Because there's been some, you know, some little bits and pieces, but they haven't really shown us a ton.
But to me, this. This really was. This really is the movie event of the year.
Succeed or fail, right? It's. I don't think there's a middle ground for this movie, which I think is part of why my anticipation is so high. I think it's either going to be an unqualified win, and we are Excited about the future of the DC Universe or I think it is going to be a colossal failure and the universe is dead on arrival. I don't, I really don't think there's a world where we walk out of here and we're like, that's fine, let's see what's next. I just don't. And that's why, to me. But I also think the superhero genre needs a good Superman movie more than ever. I think we're ready. I think when we've seen how far afield some of the Sony product has gone and some of the slippage at Marvel and some of the other sort of non mainstream superhero IP attempts that have been made, I think the genre is ready for its Top Gun Maverick. And I'm hoping that this movie is it. And if it can be, then I think it can be, you know, not just a, you know, a creative success, but probably a bigger commercial success that I am forecasting that it will be like that's the formula for it to be a billion dollar movie. But I think it's going to be difficult because it's again, the margin for error is small. Look at that month. Jurassic World the weekend before. Fantastic. Worth two weeks later. This movie has to be great to sustain the momentum against that kind of competition. But it's my number one. I can't wait to find out what your number one is now because I thought for sure we were going to have to both have this at number one. So go ahead.
[00:43:36] Speaker A: What was your number two?
[00:43:38] Speaker B: F1.
[00:43:39] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:43:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:43:44] Speaker A: I want to laugh.
So much stuff going on in the world, man, that is like we don't have enough laughter now, man. It's just in quiet places where people say stuff or whatever.
This movie has the potential to do that.
When I first heard about this possibility a few years ago, I said, yes, I'm there, as I said in the beginning and I. I haven't heard anything since.
But now we've heard it's coming out this year and I can't wait for it. I can't wait to go to the theaters and laugh because I usually don't tend to go to comedy.
Like I didn't see 40 year old virgin in the theaters. I wish I would have seen that. I would have. I wish I would have seen Bridesmaid in the theaters. I didn't see that in the theaters, but I laugh as I would have in the theaters had I seen this in the movie with other people.
Naked Gun.
[00:44:45] Speaker B: Okay, so this is your Super Mario Brothers of this year. Basically, this is it right here. Pablo nailed it with Super Mario Brothers being a billion dollar movie. This is it right here.
[00:44:53] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
Liam Neeson, when he first mentioned this was a while ago. I think he was on. They were on the golden. On the red carpet or something. I think Seth MacFarlane mentioned into him and that was the. That was the news about that possibility. And I said yes. To see Liam Neeson in a comedy as. Oh my God, Naked Gun.
Sign me up. Sign me up. This is going to be fantastic to go see the theaters and wow, Liam.
[00:45:24] Speaker B: Neeson, who, who he's already done kind of like the the 80s era remake with the A team, now goes to the comedy genre to do Leslie D. In the Naked Gun. Oh, my goodness. Okay, here's my question about this though. And granted, Seth MacFarlane is definitely pretty irreverent as far as writers go. Do you think they can? Because, like, I'm trying to think back. I haven't seen all of these in a while, but my memory of this era of comedy is like, there's definitely parts of these movies you couldn't do now.
[00:45:50] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:45:51] Speaker B: Do you think they could remake the Naked Gun in a way that it's like true to the essence of the Naked Gun without necessarily stepping over the line too far, or at least the way the society would define the line today?
[00:46:01] Speaker A: I think in the world that we live in right now, they're gonna. He's gonna push the limit.
He's definitely gonna go there, whatever there is.
[00:46:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, the one thing this movie has going for it and was not on my list, but the placement of it at the end of summer is kind of smart in the sense that you're gonna have had all these huge blockbuster epic movies for a month and a half straight.
So if you can nail a comedy that is a great counterpoint to that, that can get people excited for the month of August and back to school. I mean, I could see that's the argument, right? They're looking at like from how to train your dragon. F1 Jurassic Superman. Like audience could be tired of that kind of movie. And then what they want to do to your point is go relax with a bunch of people, laugh and have a good time. And that's why it's in August, you know, so. But if they.
The risk though is you're remaking a classic and if you tread on a classic, people will reject that hard.
[00:47:09] Speaker A: I think this will be more hopefully, I think a mixture of nostalgic and also new stuff for the newer generation. Right. And I think that he, he, he, he does that and I think it will definitely pay homage, obviously. I think so. And it is going to give us some hilarious things here. So there's so much material. There's so much material. So I think it's just gonna be hilarious and I want. And I can't wait to go to do. See that.
[00:47:41] Speaker B: That's an amazing number one pick. I would never forget. Okay, so is that also your sleeper? I mean granted this, the movie does not have to make a billion dollars to be a mass sleeper. Billion dollar movie.
[00:47:53] Speaker A: No, I think this will definitely spark a continuing a continuance of further films.
[00:48:00] Speaker B: Okay.
I think because I would have said to go back to our top. I would have said Michael is the sleeper billion dollar movie. That's the one that I would say like. Yeah, and, and the other one, which I think is a little bit on the nose, but I'm not interested. But I feel like the kids may drive this bus and could drive it all the way. A billion is the Minecraft movie. Movie. That's the other one that.
[00:48:21] Speaker A: Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
[00:48:23] Speaker B: The culture it might be. Right. And like, you know, Jack Black and Jason Momoa being silly and like, I mean, let's put it this way. My kid's a very passive Minecraft player. Not a serious Minecraft player, but she was pretty excited when she saw the trailer.
[00:48:38] Speaker A: So my son, I don't think has seen the trailer, but I, I'll show He like he watches Superman. He wants to watch Superman.
[00:48:46] Speaker B: Okay, that's a good sign. Yeah, yeah. And so does mine. Mine was really excited. But see, here's the thing.
[00:48:52] Speaker A: And Brian, Spider Man.
[00:48:53] Speaker B: Okay, we'll get to that. It's like. I agree. So both our kids are in the same.
But the number one reason my kid was super duper excited about Superman is crypto.
[00:49:04] Speaker A: Of course, man.
[00:49:06] Speaker B: I mean this guy's not stupid. Like that's. That character is there for other reasons than just, you know, comments. Accuracy.
[00:49:13] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly, exactly.
[00:49:14] Speaker B: So anyway, that's our, that's our list. But I mean it's going to be an incredible year.
[00:49:20] Speaker A: Definitely, definitely. I mean other honorable mentions, like Jurassic World looks interesting with Mahershala Ali. I can't wait to see him in a movie.
[00:49:30] Speaker B: He can't wait to see him in a movie.
[00:49:33] Speaker A: He's watching the dailies every day.
Oh, man. And we're gonna get into that. We're gonna get into that. I'm gonna get.
[00:49:44] Speaker B: Well, that connects to that other discussion we're gonna have about Black Panther.
[00:49:48] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:49:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:49:49] Speaker A: Let us know in the comment section below what you guys think of the movies that we have chosen as our top five, and let us know what your top five is in the comment section below. And we'll see you next time on the Report.
