Shower Beer Vol LIX: Stuff We’re Watching

Hey there 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) Police Story (1985) - (HBO Max) I’ve been on a bit of a kung fu movie kick lately as you might know, and this has come up on several lists of suggested movies for people looking to scratch that itch. Jackie Chan directs and stars, and it’s easy to see why American audiences fell in love with him. He’s so goofy and fun, and really goes all out on his stunt work and I have to imagine hurt himself at some point making this movie. The film has a pretty good plot focusing on organized crime and the pursuit of a mob boss with tons of cool fight scenes, but ultimately it is too slapstick at the wrong times, and tonally threw me off in several key moments. I’m also not sure if we’re supposed to take Chan’s character seriously, or if he’s almost lampooning the way police officers are portrayed in movies, especially in America.

2) Jungle Cruise - (Disney +) Tell my why I enjoyed this movie so much, because I was not expecting it. Jesse Plemons as always is a delight and even though he’s in a substantial part of the film, it still could’ve used more. His German accent is fucking hilarious, and he is chewing the scenery and having a blast with this one, which could have easily just been a paycheck gig. I don’t think the movie needed the lore at all and the twist that comes with it, but by the time it’s revealed I had already bought into the characters and concept to the point where it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the movie. Considering the IP that this was based on I really think they got a solid script out of it, and the visuals are good enough to check the boxes for an action/adventure flick.

3) The Floor S5 - (Hulu) The game show that I just can’t seem to quit returns for it’s fifth season. Rob Lowe is solid as always, and I love how i can tell when he actually hates one of the contestants, but is a pros pro so he pretends they’re aight. This show has always done a great job of tweaking the format and adding little twists with each season to keep things fresh, and this season we see a pretty big change. It’s called the territory freeze, and effectively gives the player with the most territory by the eighth episode immunity from being challenged until the show’s finale which is huge. In the past we had winners who basically just got to play on the last day and won the grand prize, but now it incentivizes players getting more aggressive early on. Also this season we saw a decrease in the alliances people were forming which was a relief because it made no fucking sense for them to do so in most cases. I think there’s still some juice left in this show, but I won’t lie I am starting to get to the point where it is becoming a bit repetitive.

4) Avengers: Infinity War - (Disney +) A once a year watch for me, and as you will find out soon on our podcast as we count them down, one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s a master class in script writing and the narratives it was asked to weave together was a monumental task. Markus and McFeely are gods among men, and every time I watch this I pick up on a different story arc. This time Thor’s story resonated the most with me, and how after Ragnarok he is searching for what he has left in his life and feeling like he is cursed to lose all those that he cares about. Thanos is representative to him of how the relationships in his life have all sadly ended and he needs to triumph over that sorrow. Rocket being his “shoulder to cry on” was a genius idea as he is hardened by loss as well, but far too proud to ever admit it. I will probably watch Endgame soon in preparation for Doomsday later this year, and it’s re-release in theaters.

5) Police Story 2 (1988) - (HBO Max) Picking up basically directly where the first one left off, Police Story 2 is Jackie Chan's character dealing with the fallout of bringing down an organized crime gang, and trying to protect his family from them seeking revenge. The action is still at the level of the first one, but here they've toned down the goofiness to the right level and it works much better. I still don't understand the relationship between Jackie Chan and his girlfriend as she acts like a petulant child who just had a lollipop stolen, and he never seems to have any interest in her at all, yet he will murder a group of twelve gangbangers if they take her handkerchief. The police force in this one has quite a few of the characters from the first one acting completely different than they did in the previous movie, but I actually prefer this version of them more. The final fight in this one is pretty sick, and Jackie Chan and the dude he's up against are using fireworks on each other in a way that it had to all be practically done, and you have to respect two dudes willing to burn themselves to a crisp just to get a good shot.

6) Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City - (Hulu) I have no connection to this franchise, or the video games, so I really can't tell you why I was intrigued enough to throw this on. Hulu recommended it to me and my streaming services know what I'm into, so I figured there might be something here. It has it's ups and downs, and I'm probably missing a lot by not knowing the games. I do love a good zombie movie, and especially one that focuses on the origins of the outbreak. Here you get a heavy does of sci fi, and enough character stuff that isn't too awful to keep the movie afloat. There are a few cool set pieces, especially one that is set in an orphanage that I could see being a badass level on the PlayStation. The dark hue of the whole film makes it kinda hard to see the things that are attacking the main characters, and I'm hoping that was just a budget issue to save on some CGI. The last twenty mins of this you can tell they were ambitious about setting up a franchise, but with the Zach Cregger reboot coming out soon I think this thing is dead in the water, and that's probably for the best.

7) Maniac Cop (1988) - (Tubi) Inject these 80's low budget slashers into my veins. I saw the poster, and Bruce Campbell and once you've made the sale quit selling. While I'm not entirely sure if there is a supernatural element to this, I will say both the mystery of what was going on, and the method by which the Maniac Cop was stalking his prey were really fun. The police force in this is riddled with cliche characters, and you wouldn't have it any other way. We have the lead detective who is overcome with trauma, and projects that into solving this case. We have the police chief who just can't stand how he doesn't play by the rules and causes him issues. Then you have a few simpletons in the group who are perfect fodder to be brutally murdered. I don't know the timeline, but the "twist" in this feels very similar to the OG Friday the 13th so one of them kinda copied the other. I also loved the St Patrick's day climax, although I wish it took place at night like most of the other action in this movie. There's a sequel I saw, which makes no fucking sense to me, but I might check it out even though I see it doesn't return Bruce Campbell.

8) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - (Digital rental) Two part animated DC movies have historically been a mixed bag, and this one pretty much follows in their path. The story as told in the comics is pretty iconic, and the animation here really does justice to that run. I loved the first half of this story how it focuses on the end of Gordon's run as commissioner, and a retired Batman being forced to watch as a gang slowly takes back the power in Gotham that he worked two decades to acquire. I'm not sure where Barbara Gordon is in this (is she Oracle?) and I wish we got to see Dick, Damian, and/or Tim Drake. Jason Todd is heavily referenced as his Red Hood arc seems to be the impetus for Bruce hanging up the cowl. In the second part when Superman becomes a bigger part of the narrative it kinda loses me. I'm not the biggest Superman fan to begin with, but the story becomes less about Bruce and his inability to let Batman go, and more about the repercussions of people acting as vigilante's, and the plight that Superman always faces when there is some international conflict that he could solve in five minutes, but has to weigh if he should really get involved.

9) Blade: Trinity - (Digital rental) I'd heard legend about not only how awful this movie is, but the horrors behind the scenes and how insane Wesley Snipes was on set. While the ladder might definitely be the case, I have no clue why people don't like this movie because I had a fucking blast! I'm a big fan of the Blade character, but think there's still much to be improved on when it comes to putting him in movies and I pray to the gods that we do end up getting Mahershala Ali's iteration of him. In Blade: Trinity we get all the elements you'd want in a Blade movie, even if it focuses too heavily on the newly introduced side characters. My biggest knock is why the fuck they keep bringing Whistler back, only to kill him and then resurrect him every five minutes. You can't keep pulling that string, it's not attached to anything. Dracula as the main villain is badass, and when he's in his monster form he looks fucking sick. Parker Posey and Triple H as villains? Hell yea! Patton Oswalt and Natasha Lyonne filling out Blade's team that also of course includes Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel is the best cast we've ever had in a Blade movie. I will say though, Natasha Lyonne's blind character being on "lookout" while the rest of her team sleeps was maybe a decision in hindsight that the coaching staff should take a long hard look at.

10) The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) - (Tubi) One of the OG slasher movies to ever come out, it's very clear the influence this had in creating the genre. The creepy narrator, the mask of the killer, and the small town being picked apart by fear and terror. Ultimately this movie focuses way too much on the police procedural aspect and not enough on the murders, but having been an unsolved case I wonder if the filmmakers were just not willing to take enough liberties to fill in the gaps there. Every slasher movie that had teens get murdered while having sex owes it to this film for that idea. I definitely think The Strangers, and all the Texas Chainsaw Massacres were taking ideas from this, and that's the ultimate compliment. The dude who shows up in the town from New Orleans kinda confused me as he is a red herring that they really don't use to trick the audience since it's revealed almost the second he gets interrogated by police that he's full of shit and not the killer. He also doesn't commit to any of his alibi the second he's pressed about it which I found hilarious. Gotta stick with your made up story, at least through one line of questioning bro.

-JH