Shower Beer Vol LVII: 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) The Land Before Time - (Netflix) Growing up I remember loving this franchise, and the first one is still a banger. The animation is sick, and the OG Commissioner Gordon is the narrator which I either didn’t know, or totally forgot. Let’s not mince words, Cera is a total bitch here and Littlefoot lets her walk all over him. The cast of characters is hilarious, led of course by my boy Petri. Spike is welcome at any party I throw even though you know you gotta keep him away from the snacks. The story here is darker than I realized as a kid, and I almost wonder if the Great Valley is actually like heaven and all the characters actually die in the initial event. That’s a shower thought that you aren’t prepared for.

2) Kung Fu Hustle - (Tubi) Somewhere I saw this on a list of the top kung fu movies of all time, and that list should be burned and whatever is left of it buried so no human beings ever discover it. This is an utter piece of shit in every word and I cannot find a single good thing to say about it. It’s not funny at all, and thinks it’s hilarious. The main character is so fucking annoying, and horribly acted by the guy who’s also the Director I believe. The action scenes, sans one are so stupid and meant to either be a parody, or really inventive to the point you just roll your eyes. This has no right being viewed by anyone, and the creators should be sent to prison for putting it together and releasing it.

3) The Avengers - (Disney +) I won’t say where, since we are nearing the end of our countdown, but this movie is very high up in my top 100 movies of all time lists. It’s probably still a once a year watch for me, and I quote it every day in some way shape or form; usually some of the iconic lines from Loki. It’s a master class in film making, and changed cinema forever showing how to successfully put together a cinematic universe and give all the important characters an arc and throughline. I love how simple the story really is, and how organically it not only brings the team together, but puts them into conflict that doesn’t feel overdone or contrived. I miss these days of the MCU. Looking forward to watching Age of Ultron soon to keep the momentum going.

4) Office Romance - (Netflix) Another one of these Netflix algorithm films, but this time we have Brett Goldstein writing and starring in it, and of course Jennifer Lopez as his love interest. I liked JLo’s last Netflix outing, Atlas, which was a SciFi action movie so much different, but still really fun. Here the trailer will have you rolling your eyes, but give this a chance and I think like me you will find yourself shocked at how much fun you have with it. Betty Gilpin is a total scene stealer in this, and there are a few other great character actors including Bradley Whitford who all elevate this thing. The ending gets really cliche and goes off the rails, but before the last ten minutes this thing really works. In a day and age where I’m starved for good comedies, and am always a sucker for a romcom this scratched the itch. The premise is a bit unique as it is almost like if Hallmark made a competent movie around the conceit of the workaholic woman who just can’t find love because of her obsession with her career, but finally gives it a chance and is surprised at how little she regrets it.

5) Ready or Not 2: Here I Come - (Digital rental) I really liked the first one and it’s tongue in cheek approach to a horror/thriller. Sequel idea is basically a copy paste of the OG, and it doesn’t try to hide it, but this world is so whacky and fun that I was interested. I think Kathryn Newton is a talentless hack so I could do without her, but I love the additions of Sarah Michelle Gellar and Elijah Wood. It does the John Wick move of just adding ot the lore by making the stakes a bit higher from the original, but here we have Samara Weaving’s character much more prepared and less of the hunted and even more of a hunter than we saw her in the first one. I still don’t totally understand the supernatural elements that were introduced in the first one, and those are used again here. I also like how it kind of does the Halloween II thing where it picks up literally right where the first one left off, and follows our main character to the hospital as she recovers from her injuries sustained in the original film. Not sure if there’s any more juice in this thing for a third entry, but if we get one I’ll give it a chance.

6) Hellraiser (1987) - (Fubo TV) I’d always been interested in this franchise as a horror fan. I love the look of Pinhead which is iconic, and when I saw the short runtime on this and that it was on Fubo TV which I have a free month trial of I said why the hell not (pun intended). While I love the 80’s synth score and appreciate some of the practical effects, this is a fucking turd. There is a kind of cool part in the second act when the main chick is doing a little black widow thing and luring men to her home to kill them pretending like she’s gonna blow them, but ultimately this movie is just so stupid and thinks it’s really edgy when it’s not. The lore is sorta explained, and just gets more and more idiotic as they continue to pile on what you can tell they think are haunting visuals. We hardly get any pihnhead at all which is so fucking stupid because he’s what I jumped on this thing for. I know there are like a million sequels, but I’m not interested.

7) How I Met Your Mother S4 - (Hulu) My favorite sitcom of all time which I’ve said many many times on the pod, and probably my fourth full run through of the show here. Season four is the first really emotional season of the show, and puts Ted through the ringer with some tough situations. He gets left at the alter, gets beat up, loses faith in finding the one, and is assaulted by a goat. It’s a pivotal season of the show as Sarah Chalke’s Stella character is ultimately what leads him to meeting the mother. I found this season is also where we start to see a big change in how Marshall is written. He goes from a more competent and confident law student, to a shell of himself and feeling beaten down by his career as he’s sold his soul to the corporate world. Barney and Robin finally getting together was a big shot in the arm for the show as well, and Cobie Smulders really comes into her own as a comedic actor in this season. I know the next two seasons veer away from Ted and focus more on Barney, but this season definitely felt like it was his show. I’d probably rank season four as my third favorite season behind season one and seven. Stay tuned as I will most likely start season five here within a few days and I know you’re so pumped for that.

8) Ninja Assassin - (Digital rental) On my kung fu kick, this one caught my eye as one of those early 2000’s movies that was pretty edgy and dark visually, and seemed to have some pretty sick action set pieces with a hard R rating for gore. Also extra points for having Sung Kang and the guy who plays Johnny Tran in the Fast and Furious franchise in it. The movie starts with a sick set piece where the titular assassin brutally murders a ton of gang bangers, but then we get no fighting for at least the next twenty plus mins and it was losing me. They get into a lot of lore and back story on this ninja which I can take or leave, but when he does start murdering people again I was willing to stick it out. The story here has enough to it that it’s both interesting, but doesn’t overburden the movie where we really just want to see dudes get sliced in half. I wish the second set piece set in a parking garage was lit better as you can’t really see the guys getting stabbed, and the camera feels akin to when Nolan was trying to shoot fight scenes in Batman Begins and it was atrocious and looked like your mom with the camcorder on your family vacation to Orlando. If you like early 2000’s action movies you’ll have some fun with this, but it’s not a hard recommend for me.

9) Striking Distance - (Netflix) I don’t know how, but seemingly every week I learn about another murder thriller that came out in the 90’s that I knew nothing about. Netflix has me figured out, and they’re now pumping these into my algorithm and I’m nibbling. Here we have Bruce Willis playing the only thing he knows how to play…a burnt out guy who’s just over everyone’s shit. He plays a cop who gave testimony that his partner was a piece of shit who beat up a witness, and as a result has to transfer departments because he’s a pariah among other homicide detectives. He finds himself patrolling the waters of Pittsburgh, when Sarah Jessica Parker is assigned his new partner and they find themselves tracking down a serial killer who is targeting women, specifically ones who Willis’ character has hooked up with. It’s kind of a tell that he didn’t get laid much in high school when there are like only two women who need to look out because they’re at risk of being murdered. The movie has a pretty big twist that I didn’t see coming, but it’s kind of bullshit so I don’t give it too much credit. Still this was a fun watch in a genre that I really like, and the runtime is palatable.

10) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia S1 - (Hulu) I’ve seen random episodes of this show and know how ridiculous it is, and in small doses I find it fucking hilarious and genius. I know it’s not for everyone, but it is in line with my comedic sensibility, and it seemed like the right time to finally give it a full watch through. Season one is as low budget as it gets, and that’s what the show is all about. Some of the ridiculous storylines include Mac trying to hook up with chicks at a pro life rally, the gang dating high schoolers so they get to go to a prom, and Charlie getting mixed up in a lawsuit alleging his gym teacher molested him in middle school to which Mac gets jealous that he didn’t receive the same attention in school. As I go through the show I’m going to try to award the most ridiculous plot from each season, and I think the latter one I mentioned gets that award for season one. The Horns Medal goes to S1E7: Charlie Gets Molested. Stay tuned to see what other episodes will bring home this illustrious hardware.

-JH