Media Management: Matt's 2017 Theatrical Watchlist

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My recent ritual of charting my viewing techniques (inspired by Steven Soderbergh's yearly listicle) has developed into something of professional obsession that I pore over and update with the satisfaction of someone admiring their Hummel figurines. And while I've recently begun keeping track of my "extra-cinematic" viewing habits as well (episodic or mini-series endeavors, Netflix-only documentaries, etc.), I feel that particular expansion is a project for 2018. For the purposes of my 2017 list I've decided to keep it to only to viewings that took place in a movie theater or screening room. And this distinction seems only appropriate as 2017 is the first year that I managed to break triple digits! Let's hear it for film festivals and masters degree programs- the guilt-free justification for watching 5 movies in a day! 

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TITANIC 20th Anniversary Podcastacular!

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Happy Holidays, WLM family!

20 years ago today a little movie about a big boat premiered in theaters around the world. Said theaters have been in pain ever since due to the insane foot and rear-end traffic that persisted for next 5 months as the film went on to gross over 2 billion dollars worldwide and basically bow-checked the modern blockbuster paradigm into the the 21st century. James Cameron's TITANIC was the recipient of 11 Oscars including best picture and currently holds the #83 position on the AFI's top 100 American films of all time list.

6 Months ago we invited TITANIC superfan Laura Crow to join us for our AFI / TITANIC dis-cush  and the conversation went so well that we decided to post an encore presentation of that podcast today in honor of Kate, Leo, and James's 20th anniversary celebration.

Here's hoping you're just as "Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave" as we are. <---That's a deep cut for the hardcore JacknRosers.

226: Discussing THE DISASTER ARTIST and THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

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It's awards season! It's happening! There's no turning back! You can't escape it!
With that in mind we dedicated this week's episode to running down the 4 major critic's circle prizes that have been announced over the last 2 weeks as well as taking some quality time to address a couple of those award winners in earnest:
00:21:30 - THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
00:38:30 - THE DISASTER ARTIST
Vive la différence!

225: Judging JUSTICE LEAGUE and Loving LADY BIRD

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It's our 2nd comic book behemoth review in as many weeks here at We Like Movies and the overwhelming fatigue has certainly crept into our collective unconscious. We struggle valiantly to remain constructive as opposed to outright dismissive about the inevitable JUSTICE LEAGUE fiasco on this week's episode. We fail just as often as we succeed- comic critical mass is a real thing, after all... But, on the upside, we also take the opportunity to gush about Greta Gerwig's delightful LADY BIRD which is almost an effective counteractant for DC doldrums.... almost...
Oh, and MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS too... cuz that's also a movie. Seriously!  

224: The Unconventional Conventionality of THOR: RAGNAROK

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After an early winter hiatus we're back at it and in familiar territory with our bi-yearly shlep into the weird, wacky, wonderful, yet confoundingly customary Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's time for our spoiler-free, shoulder-shrugging reaction to THOR: RAGNAROK, the 17th (!) installment in the venerable, nigh-unstoppable MCU.   

223: A 35 year old genre classic gets sequelized in BLADE RUNNER 2049

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If you thought the original BLADE RUNNER was dark, somber, deliberately-paced, and philosophically-inlined, then boy-howdy you've yet to experience the sequel. BLADE RUNNER 2049, a film nearly 4 decades in the making, has finally arrived on a wave of critical swooning and breathless anticipation... only to be met with a wildly disappointing opening weekend at the box office. Join us as we break down the film's complicated relationship with its predecessor, its ambitious approach to "franchise" filmmaking, and the implications of its current financial predicament.
Casual spoilers kick in at 00:41:45
SERIOUS spoilers kick in at 00:49:01

Bonus! If you're interested in hearing a more in-depth discussion about the 1982 original, check out this episode of our AFI Top 100 Challenge from April of last year: BLADE RUNNER

222: The MOTHER! of all Podcasts and our awards season preview

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This week on your podcast of podcasts we journey down the allegorical rabbit hole with a giddily bible-obsessed (not to be confused with bible-THUMPING) Darren Aronofsky and get conflicted about his latest, unhinged, Studio-produced, "arthouse" oddity MOTHER!

But first we run down the release schedule through the end of 2017 and psyche ourselves up about awards season hopefuls.

Fall-in! 

Bonus - An Interview with INGRID GOES WEST Director Matt Spicer

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The highly-anticipated new film, INGRID GOES WEST rolls out wide this weekend on the heels of a red-hot bow in limited release. I was fortunate enough to interview director and co-writer Matt Spicer a couple months back and he impressed me with a candid eloquence about his journey from film student to writer-for-hire to Sundance Award Winner.

The interview took place over the phone and I never really intended to release it on the site (otherwise I certainly would have arranged for a more appropriate audio-capture method). But, in light of how much I enjoyed the film, how much respect I have for Matt, and how surprisingly decent the audio quality turned out to be (after some minor tweaking) I decided it all made sense as a bonus episode.

So listen in, listen up, and go see INGRID GOES WEST post haste! I promise you that I'm not just waxing Mr. Spicer's car when I say it's one of the best films I've seen in 2017 thus far. #IGW

219: Oeuvre - The 1st Age of STEVEN SPIELBERG - 1971-1979

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Our long-promised, much-delayed "Oeuvre Series" finally bows in earnest with the the first of [at least] 6 episodes chronicling the 40+ years and 30+ films of an artist named Steven Spielberg. Perhaps you've heard of him.
This installment is affectionately titled "The 70s Wunderkind" and spans 1971-1979:
-DUEL
-THE SUGARLAND  EXPRESS
-JAWS
-CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
-1941
It's time for a new journey and we're so flattered to have you with us.

218: Nolan Redefines Yet Another Genre with the Breathtaking DUNKIRK

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Here we are, 1 episode shy of our podcast bicentennial, and what better way to celebrate the occasion than with a review of one of the most hotly-anticipated films of the summer? Christopher Nolan’s 10th directorial feature, the big, short, artsy war epic DUNKIRK bowed to nearly unanimous raves over the weekend. It appears the best picture starter pistol has officially been discharged.

We embrace Nolan’s newfound taste for brevity with a nice tight episode of our own. But before we get into the Nolan gush-fest we gotta catch up on some Comic-Con trailer premieres, brief TV talk, and an overdue reaction to SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING.

DUNKIRK business kicks in at 00:24:18   

217: The Problematic Brevity of THE BEGUILED and a contrarian BABY DRIVER opinion

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Here's the juice this week:
-We stew and hand-wring about the unceremonious sacking of Lord and Miller from the Han Solo movie.
-We chat amicable about THE LITTLE HOURS and the miraculous rise of Kate Micucci.
-We get briefly nostalgic regarding the cinematic output of 2017's first 6 months.
-We bemoan the missed opportunities abound in Sofia Coppola's remake of THE BEGUILED.
-We get awfully impassioned while agreeing (though likely not how you'd expect us to) about Edgar Wright's new heist bauble, BABY DRIVER (hard core SPOILERS kick in at 00:52:30).
We're gettin' awfully close to bicentennial time. Don't act like you're not excited <3

216: AFI #83 - TITANIC (w/ Special Guest- Superfan Laura Crow!)

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"Music to drown by. Now I know I'm in first class."

Note: We experienced a little sound glitch that starts up around the 55 minute mark and continues until the end of the podcast (hazard of a 3-way skype call across as many states). But don't be deterred! It's a minor annoyance. This is a great episode worth toughing it out 'till the end!

214: 2017 Fantasy Film League Draft, the CASSIDY RED premiere, and a controversial WONDER WOMAN stance

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The past week has been quite busy for our fearless podcasters.
Travel, movie premieres, hobnobbing, and meeting-taking has defined the first week of June.
Needless to say there's much to discuss and we decided to do it in this order:
-A run-down of the 2017 Fantasy Film League Draft
-Comparing notes and nostalgicly reflecting on last Friday's world premiere of CASSIDY RED
-A brief and perhaps controversial discussion on the social implications of WONDER WOMAN's cultural impact.
So much to discuss we may need to launch a spinoff podcast!

213: Scandinavians take the Caribbean in DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES

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Heyo!
This week we're talkin' Cannes, we're talkin' ALIEN: COVENENT, we're talkin' KING ARTHUR, we're even talkin' Netflix (natch).
We also shamelessly (albeit briefly) plug the upcoming world premiere of CASSIDY RED (if you're gonna be in LA this Friday, June 2nd, you should come out and join us!).
And, of course we gotta talk PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES because, you know, it's what we do.