Shower Beer Vol III: Stuff We’re Watching

What up fellow movie and television fans. If you've ever listened to our podcast you know that the second segment of our show is called our "protein shake" where each bro discusses things that are "in our cup", or what have we watched lately. Well recently I've been watching too much shit to bring up on just the podcast, so with the help of our creative team (Nate Thurmond) we decided to blog about a few of the things we've seen recently that we wanted to discuss that we might have left out. We're naming it after the greatest pre-gaming invention of the 21st century, the shower beer!

Here are the things I've seen lately as well as the link to their IMDB page if you want a little bit more info to see if it's something down your alley. In addition, I write Letterboxd reviews for all the movies I see without any spoilers, but I might go into a bit more detail in this blog than I do over there.

1) Modern Love S1, S2 - (Amazon Prime) An anthology series of love stories dealing with all types of relationships based on a New York Times column, Modern Love was an incredible show...until it wasn't. I can honestly say that the cast list alone if worth a watch, but it's very inconsistent in it's quality and storytelling. Season one was incredible for the most part, and culminates in a very cool way, considering it's telling a new story each episode. The emotional beats were on point in the majority of the first seasons episodes and had me on the verge of tears several times. Call me a pussy that's fine.

Season two takes some big swings, and doesn't really connect. There are a lot of more unlikeable characters, and a few stories end on very odd cliffhangers. Like not cliffhangers in the sense that it teases where the narrative will go, but a story just ends abruptly. The cast list for season two isn't as insane as season one, but there are still some solid performances.

2) Bros - (Theaters) A lot of chatter about this one and the writer/star Billy Eichner's social media posts about how it performed at the box office. If you take out all that noise, I thought it was a solid romantic comedy that definitely had a message it was going to get across. it's a bit heavy handed at times, and the laughs aren't on par with a lot of Judd Apatow's other movies, but I don't regret seeing it. There are some clever cameos that are well utilized which is always a fun time. At the end of the day I just don't think Eichner is cut out to be a lead performer. He definitely has great writing chops, and I enjoyed him as Timon in the Lion King, but his style of humor is better served as an ancillary part of a movie in my opinion.

3) Daredevil (2003) - (HBO Max) I have no idea what compelled me to go back and rewatch this after nearly two decades, but it's a steaming pile of shit and I have no regrets. The way the story is told is pretty crazy in terms of almost the entire thing being a flashback, and there is really only one character in the entire movie who isn't played as a cartoon. Having said that, with the super hero fare we get now being very competently made and this having an absolute banger of a track on it by Evanescence that would never get put into a movie these days, it was a fun trip down memory lane. Not a good movie, but a good time.

4) The Haunted Mansion (2003) - (Disney Plus) It was Halloween and I was in the mood for something spooky adjacent, and The Haunted Mansion scratched that itch. I remembered Eddie Murphy being annoying as hell in this, but on a rewatch he was actually cracking my shit up. Terrence Stamp is an absolute scene stealer as the creepy butler of the mansion, and if you've ever been on the ride at Disney Land there are some really cool callbacks. I will prob put it into my every other year Halloween rotation just because it didn't fumble the ball too poorly.

5) Halloweentown - (Disney Plus) A Disney Channel Original Movie from back in the day, there is a cult following for Halloweentown bigger than the religion of Scientology. I'm going to get death threats for this, but every time I watch this movie I ask myself wtf I was ever thinking when I enjoyed it. It's utter trash, and I'm a huge stan for DCOM's. The costumes are all from Spirit Halloween, and the town itself doesn't even feel like anything related to the Halloween season. It's like a festival for furries. If you enjoy this movie great for you, but don't touch me please.

6) Coco - (Disney Plus) Wrapping up my spooky season movie watchlist was Coco. A first time watch for me somehow, and a movie I'd heard great things about. Visually this is unreal and some of Pixar's best work. The color is incredible and really sets the tone for the film. I thought the story idea was amazing as well, and the only thing I needed more of was some banger original music. With the premise of the film being so heavily rooted in song I felt that was where it missed the mark. "Remember Me" is a solid track, but would be maybe the fourth best song in other Pixar classics. Just like Haunted Mansion though I'll move this into my rotation for Halloween movies.

For more of what we've been watching be sure to check out our podcast episodes every week or so. If you have any recommendations on what I need to be checking out please comment below. See you at the movies!

-JH