I don't particularly agree with this criticism is this the most culturally sensitive film no do I think this film is an egregious example of racism no I do not where do you land on this Nick

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you.

I see their points, but I don't think it's as extreme because we do see other characters that aren't raging, violent psychopaths.

They're just average people going about their lives, doing their thing.

But again, Owen Wilson's character doesn't speak the language.

So even if he goes to interact, what's he going to learn? And it's not one of those movies where he's walking through and someone's like, oh, you must be new here.

Here's like a necklace made out of a local flower.

Nick, what did you make of the exploding helicopter action?

So what was that for you when you were that age, when you were like a nine, 10 year old boy and this movie came out? What was your experience? For me,

it was just like, oh, there's a Star Wars coming.

And I just knew that there was going to be characters.

I remember the video games.

I remember all the toy and merch side of things.

Dude, it was everywhere.

I took a picture last weekend and sent it to you of a Sebulba drink topper from a Taco Bell or a Seven Letter Slurpee or just some type of merch that was at the brewery.

Okay, Nick, do you have anything else you would like to mention or touch on or talk about in terms of episode one?

But I just yeah, his character, it fell a bit flat and I felt that was a problem.

Yeah, absolutely.

I agree with you there.

Like, Sterling K.

Brown, great actor.

Brian Tyree Henry, I really like him.

Loved him in Atlanta, loved him in Bullet Train.

But, um, you know let's talk about the world of of Hotel Artemis it's it's a film that's set in the near future you know in a time where the public are rioting over water shortages or you know because of the privatization of Los Angeles's water supply how well realized do you think the world of this this film is did we need the riot does the film even need to be set in the future

I mean, it's an amazing crane shot here or helicopter shot, maybe.

Yeah, it's it's got to be helicopter and to kind of like leave the bus and then catch back up with the bus.

all while just showing you what this prison is about and kind of what it looks like.

It's just, you know, almost like a factory with a big yard in the center there.

And you can, it's not really glamorous either.

It's all concrete.

There's not a lot of grass, if any.

don't think I've ever heard of that.

uh but it's just it it sounds strange coming out of out of red's mouth i don't know why you know it feels as if it's too forced

yeah in in that because we see that character like you know yesterday like we talked about just like kind of timid unsure a little just like not him and then yeah just to be like All of a sudden sounding kind of like a tough guy or someone that's not just – and maybe he's just saying it hurriedly to shake it off and move on to the next conversation.

Saying it that way I feel like is much easier than going, I don't want to talk about it.

Because if you say that, most of the time people are going to press a little bit more and want to talk about it because I think at heart – most people are decent enough people to be like what's ailing you what can i do to help you kind of thing and some people you know don't want to go through that some people just want to go i you know what i'm good don't worry about me let's keep going

Is he their mascot? Like, what's the reason that they're letting Ernie around?

Could just be a hanger on.

And honestly, I mean, what else are they going to do? You know, they're going to have to be with this person for an undetermined amount of time.

So might as well make the best of it.

... it's, it's the, uh, what is it? The, the, the pot calling the kettle black.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And, and, and it's-- You would expect-- Yeah, exactly.

How they are acting is not at all how Morgan Freeman's character is acting, how Tim Robbins' character.

They're very much on their heels.

They're definitely, you know, taking a back and on the defensive, whereas, you know, this, uh, panel of five people and the judge there, and the DA for that matter, they're very much on the offensive and drilling in and being like, "This is who you are.

... with, uh, apparently it was a sandy red hair, and they originally wanted, uh, Robert Redford to play this character.

Maybe it's because we've seen so many procedurals that we're like, oh, objections.

I think it's that.

I think it's seeing so many procedurals.

And I also think if you put yourself in those characters' shoes, especially like the jury, I mean it's the 40s.

You've got this lawyer swinging a gun around.

They're not really thinking about logistics and stuff.

If you hear about a guy who his wife's sleeping around him, so he kills them both, I mean that's so much mounting evidence and just – you know coincidence and levied against you it's like how how do you fight back how do you try to prove your innocence in that way it's incredibly difficult because there's just so much you know against you and it's it's a tough it's a it's an uphill battle at that point especially when like you said he's waving around a gun that's like a replica of because they don't have the one there like that's just it's even more damn

All right, and the name of the original novel that it is based on is Go Like Hell.

So why don't you tell me and everyone else, what is your background with the Shawshank Redemption series?

Shawshank is one of those movies where I feel like it just I started watching it and I've never really stopped.

It's it's one of those phenomenas where if it's on like I'm watching it and I think in all of my life, I've only ever seen it in its entirety from beginning to end.

Two, maybe three times.

Everything else has always been catching the first hunk or the middle hunk or the end hunk.

But it's one of those movies where if it's on, I'm just going to stop what I'm doing and I'm going to watch it.

I think the cast is solid.

It

Louisiana?

I'm thinking he was bought in a pet shop in Baton Rouge, ate everything in his fish tank, and then the guy that bought him.

Next day, fills up the cab of the guy's truck with water, dives himself down to Baja, picking bones out of his teeth with the license plate.

We need to talk.

[squawks] Carter consults a map of Aquatica.

All right.

If Corridor B is dry, we go back past the wet lab to the maintenance ladder, climb down to level three.

We get to the wet entry.

So with all of that out of the way, Nick, what did you make of Half Past Dead 2?

It's certainly a movie, and I think that there's genuinely a good premise there, but I feel like they do a lot of stretching just to make the connection to Half-Past Dead, the first one.

I feel like you could have lost that connection and just called this something altogether different, and you still would have had the same fine a time, if not maybe a touch better.

You can tell there's no way this was ever released in theaters.

This is clearly just a direct-to-DVD or VHS at the time or just direct-to-television even because the acting isn't the best.

It's not the worst, but it isn't the best.

And there's some weird editing in the film, too.

this feels like a movie yes it's completely ridiculous uh scene completely ridiculous performance completely ridiculous character but like so what this is a movie we're here to enjoy ourselves and you know tony planter seems to understand exactly what he's doing with that role and he's like hamming it up hamming it up shamelessly but then after that like everybody else they haven't got the chops to elevate this c-grade material to anything other than just being simply c-grade

I, I, I don't-

Yeah.

I thought about that, and I'm not really sure, you know? And, and going back to what I, what I talked about, the, the consignment shop, thrift market kind of thing, it wasn't, like, it, it was a big glass case and there was a lot of stuff.

There were flags, there were pins, there were shirts, there were buttons, there was all kinds of stuff, essentially Nazi memorabilia, that you could very easily tell it wasn't like someone was making this stuff.

It wasn't brand new.

Someone collected this stuff for a while, either brought it over from overseas or however they got it, uh, like after the war assumedly.

And maybe, you know, somebody had passed and it went to a family member, and that family member was like, "I'm not okay with this anymore," and moved.

Um, so, uh, Nick, is there anything you want to say in general about Band of Brothers?

Like bloody [laughs] hell thing

... encompasses those two...

Oh, yeah.

I'm, like, really, really into it.

Like, I found this band out of Italy called Codaclips, uh, and I've been listening to them a whole bunch.

They're shoegaze.

I've been g- uh, digging deep into, like, Carl Dawkins and some of his, you know, rock steady and reggae stuff.

Yeah.

Yeah.

There's another feller walking past.

He's got two chairs.

He sets them down.

I'm like, it may be everybody's just taking a break from the cleanup for a split second.

Uh, maybe these guys have asthma and they can't do, like, physical labor or something.

I'm not really sure.

Looking forward to talking to, to Nick again on Friday, but, uh, until then, curryhee.

What is your background with Band of Brothers?

I watched Band of Brothers when it came out initially.

My uncle and aunt and grandfather – I have a lot of family members and extended family members that have served in the military.

So when the show came out, it was kind of big for them because two of them had served in World War II and others – like my uncle was just a big World War II guy, like just really into it, loved the show, loved – world war ii movies that have come out you know all kinds of things like that and when the show came out we remember watching on hbo and i remember at the time because i was rather young hbo kind of being like a big deal to me and being like oh wow here's this whole you know tv channel that has all this stuff and like we didn't have it but my uncle had it so it was like kind of a big deal to go over and watch the shows at his house and i'm like man maybe i'm a And it's one of those shows where every so often I just kind of get the bug and I'll rewatch it again.

I might not watch every single episode all the way through.

I might watch like the first three and then skip over to seven or just, you know, this time around, I'm just going to watch three and four on my piecemeal.

So it was kind of nice to revisit it again.

My assumption is that they had more of a clue beforehand.

Yeah, I think that's it.

And at what point – it's not like it's fun.

It's not like they all got together and said, hey, we're just going to goof off for a couple weeks and make a fun movie or something like really low budget, but there was love put into it.

It does feel manufactured, and because there's like – just a lack of any kind of love or interest, even in the project, it comes through in the performances where everything just feels just like I'm going to default to this, or I'm going to do what I think should be.

And it, none of it matches up and it's just, it's totally all over the place.

And it's a bummer because like I said, like it could have been like, Hey, let's just get really goofy.

And then everything feels kind of silly and, and whimsical like a wet hot American summer.

do i was trying to be funny the wings

isn't a submarine, so it felt like it could have been fitting.

It did.

That's why I was like, okay, this is kind of different, but sure, why not? So after Blackwater Abyss, I'm like, man, I really...

I didn't watch the right movie at all.

So I went back and I watched the actual Blackwater, and I really dug it.

I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.

I dug that it was single location for the most part, where they're kind of in the mangrove trees.

like i like to i like to miss a lot because there's more people when there's silliness and there's like a pregnancy and oh this is cheating and oh it's this guy cash is fun like with blackwater there's a fun character there's the boat guy and then he dies immediately like yeah this is a fun guy oh the fun guy's dead uh good did you have any other thoughts on these films nick