Reel Phonies

This week we're returning to one of our favorite guilty pleasures to review the final season of Netflix's Castlevania. It's got monsters and gore and cynicism but it's also full of a surprising amount of rich characters and engaging struggles for power and survival. But is it better than Transformers?

It's 2001: Train releases their only good song, the Ravens win their first Super Bowl, and we are treated to the first installations of both the Harry Potter AND Lord of the Rings franchises. But beneath all the big budget hits are some classics from 2001 that deserve a little more appreciation.

This week we're talking Amazon's animated TV adaptation of Invincible. It's the superhero story about a teenage boy who gets his powers and discovers hero work is not quite what he imagined. It's got a stellar voice cast and a superhero story that was refreshingly original. Just don't watch this with kids!

This week we're finishing up Falcon and The Winter Soldier. We talk about what worked, what didn't, how this sets up the Marvel Universe, and why we keep trying to make cowls happen. They're not going to happen.

This week we're catching up on all the big entertainment news we haven't had time to discuss like the Obi-Wan cast announcements, the first trailer for Space Jam 2: The One With LeBron, and the first look at the 9th Fast and Furious movie. Also, Shang-Chi, Black Adam, Indy 5, and more!

It's a literal clash of the titans where two of our favorite monsters punch each other a bunch and also maybe there is a story or whatever. We discuss how to fix the human problems, proper Pensacola representation, and propose a special guest for the next kaiju smackdown.

It's more Marvel TV but less weird this time around. This week we're diving into The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Marvel's new superhero series which combines buddy cop energy, big budget action, and surprisingly poignant questions about how our symbols and icons define us.

Sometimes the internet wins and we all lose about 4 hours each. We spent 12 collective hours watching Zack Snyder's Justice League and, honestly, it wasn't what we expected. Outside of an absurd runtime, the Snyder cut boasts some genuinely interesting changes and additions worth discussing. And also Jared Leto.

In these trying times, there is one tradition that we as a people can rely upon to unite us: getting mad at the Oscar nominations. Join us as we discuss the nomination snubs and surprises and predict the winners based on almost no criteria.

Marvel's first and weirdest show has reached its conclusion but what does it all mean? We discuss the final third of the show, Easter Eggs, red herrings, loose ends, and how the conclusion of Wandavision impacts the future of the Marvel Universe.

JJ Abrams? Ta-Nehisi Coats? Superman?! Are we playing entertainment news mad libs and no one told me? Join us this week as we dive deep into the newest Superman announcement but also cover Blade, Cruella, Mortal Kombat, Last of Us, and *sigh* The Snyder Cut.

It's a double feature this week with the two latest HBOMax releases: Earwig and the Witch and Judas and the Black Messiah. One tells the real life story of the FBI's war with Black Panther leader Fred Hampton and an informant who is caught in the crossfire. The other one is about an orphan with bad hair who never gets better hair. I won't say which is which.

This week we're catching up on all the noteworthy entertainment news including a Black Panther TV series, Godzilla vs Kong trailer, a Wicked movie, and much more!

This week we're taking a look at One Night in Miami, a film adaptation of a stage play based on a real life meeting of Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke. It's a compelling and thought-provoking discussion on the responsibility of black influence in America and Regina King's directorial debut.

It's the first Marvel content we've been presented in over a year and it's weird, y'all. Join us as we take a look at the first two episodes of the strange mashup of Marvel superheroes and TV Land that is WandaVision.

This week we're tackling Wonder Woman 1984. Is it good? Is it bad? Is rational discourse about its quality even possible at this point? We're going to find out! Join us as we break down the best and the worst of the first superhero blockbuster we've seen in what feels like an eternity.

We're closing out the year by breaking down the last 3 episodes of The Mandalorian: Season 2. From the Robert Rodriguez-directed "The Tragedy" to the climactic finale, we discuss the best and worst that the final episodes have to offer and speculate on the future of the series.

Look, we were totally gonna do a Christmas movie episode but Disney dropped so much exciting content this week that we couldn't ignore it. We've got new Star Wars shows, a Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special, Buzz Lightyear movie, Hocus Pocus 2, The Fantastic Four, Hayden Christiansen returning as Vader, and quite literally so much more.

A good pilot episode should give you a good idea of what the show is going to be about while enticing you to watch the next episode. This week we're talking about shows that hit the ground running and never quit while comparing them to shows that took a little longer to find their footing.

Ahsoka Tano? Clones? Carl Weathers is good at directing? We've got a lot to catch up on in The Mandalorian! We've also got updates on a potential Spider-Verse with Alfred Molina (Doc Ock), a curious Black Widow announcement, and a potential casting on a new Black Panther.