Shower Beer Vol XIII: 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 Wailing - (Peacock) Rony Seikaly recommended this to me, and since he's the biggest Horror Hound on the podcast I thought it was worth a poke. It's incredibly weird, and requires quite a bit of buy in from the viewer, but if you're down with the pseudo-supernatural element to the story then this will be a really interesting watch. I was getting whiplash from how quickly this goes from almost slap stick comedy, to harrowing family drama with high stakes and horror elements. Overall it was way too long and loses a lot of momentum in the beginning of the third act. Had some interesting ideas, but just couldn't execute them very well.

2) Muppets Haunted Mansion - (Disney +) This is a once a year watch for me around Halloween since it's released, and with us having not blogged in way too long I realized I hadn't talked about it. I'm a big muppets fan, and this is exactly the type of shit you'd want from them. The story follows Gonzo and Rizzo who are invited to a Halloween party at a reclusive mansion where Gonzo hopes to meet a famous magician he has idolized for years. It turns out the mansion itself has much more in store for them, and the ridiculousness of the people they encounter is vintage muppets. One thing this does suffer from is a big lack of other characters outside of the two mentioned at the outset, and none of the musical numbers really pop. Having said that, it's a pretty funa nd quick watch if you're a muppets fan.

3) Guy's Grocer Games S6, and S7 - (Max) My comfort watch with the wife usually while we eat dinner. I eat this shit up literally and figuratively, and these two seasons they really mix up the game by doing a bunch of themed shows for season 6 such as holiday centric, or one featuring former pro athletes working with celebrity chefs. Season 7 is mostly a tournament of champions style where previous winners compete, as well as chefs that Guy has visited on his other show Diners Drive Ins and Dives. I love this idea as a way to keep the show fresh, but definitely don't think it could work on a more permanent basis. One thing I do have to say is the judges are getting incredibly predictable with their critiiques, and I believe that there is about to be an influx of new ones on the show which I'm definitely ready for.

4) Trick 'r Treat - (Max) I'm a big fan of these anthology movies that coalesce into one narrative, and this film was right up my alley. It cracked my top 450 movies when I ranked it, which might not sound like much, but the competition it was near had me impressed. It's cheesy, and certainly not every one of the stories it tells are equally interesting, but it weaves them together in very clever ways and has a bit of all the genres in terms of horror. We get a slasher, super natural, vampire, and even a little possession thrown in there for good measure. I think this might crack my once a hear Halloween movie rotation.

5) You Get Me - (Netflix) This would definitely fall into the category of "Netflix trash" which I honestly do not mean as an indictment. I reserve the qualification for movies that Netflix has clearly greenlit to fit it's original production quota, but have the appeal of being so trashy they are a guilty pleasure. "You Get Me" is honestly just not trashy enough to be as fun as it had the potential to be. It follows a girl who hooks up with a fellow HS Senior from a neighboring school, and when he spurns her to get back together with a former girlfriend she begins to become obsessive. The main actress in this is Bella Thorne who is solid, but her character is nowhere near crazy or psychotic enough for this to live up to it's full potential. The characters aren't dumb enough to make it very interesting, but it is a quick watch and there are still a few great moments.

6) Ninja - (Freevee) I saw the poster for this and it looked pretty badass. I appreciated how the title wasn't fucking around...it's a movie about a Ninja what else do you need to know? I saw Scott Adkins name and know he's like the preeminent stunt guy in Hollywood so I fucked around with it. It's very short, and that is a good decision. There's nothing super interesting about the plot, and the acting is horrible which was actually great for me because it feels almost akin to an old school martial arts film where the only purpose of the dialogue is to let you know really quickly why these two people are trying to kick the shit out of each other. Lots of action which is shot pretty well, and there are some creative set pieces using darkness and lighting pretty effectively. I might check out the sequels since this is a fun thing to watch while I'm on the treadmill.

7) The Family Stone - (Hulu) Some people find this movie frustrating because there are a lot of characters who are kind of acting like dickheads to each other, but I find it endearing and the perfect balance of heart and comedy. So much so in fact that it clocks in at 93 on my top 100 list of films of all time. If you think that's me overrating it, agree to disagree. While I actually don't like Sarah Jessica Parker's performance in this, the ensemble cast is so strong around her that it really covers up for her character. It's probably an every other year Christmas watch for me so I was glad Hulu had it.

8) Surviving Christmas - (Amazon Prime) Starting off the Christmas movie season with the aforementioned Family Stone, and this film which I actually read about when we recently watched Christmas with the Kranks as they competed in theaters when they both came out. The premise is interesting about a multi millionaire struggling to recapture the Christmases of his youth now that his family has passed away and revisits his childhood home hoping he can bribe the family that lives there now to let him stay with them for the holidays. Ben Affleck and James Gandolfini are the selling points, but only Gandolfini gives a performance that works for me. He is what got me through this film. Affleck is way too over the top, and at this point in his career I do't think he had yet figured out how to utilize his comedic chops where now he has perfected the "less is more" approach. I can't in good conscience recommend this to you as there are so many other better Christmas movies you should be watching.

9) Avengers: Infinity War - (Disney +) This film will be incredibly high on my top 100 list (we aren't yet to the end of counting them down on our podcast) and I watch it about once or twice a year. This time I rewatched it with the Directors commentary for the second time I believe. Each time I am amazed at how well the screenwriters weave together all the narratives and their knowledge of the previous films. This time I was particularly impressed with their handling of Thor's character, especially after his arc in Ragnarok where he both had to deal with the tragedy of losing his people, but was also shown to have much more levity since his adventures on Earth have made him much less self serious. He is in a lot of ways the anchor of the movie, and his grief and anger culminate very well in both teh end scene of this film, and of course in Avengers: Endgame. One of the most easy to get through movies that is 2.5 hours plus of runtime.

10) Fair Play - (Netflix) Just got done watching this about an hour ago. I was happy to see Alden Ehrenreich in something new as he's one of the more interesting actors that doesn't usually get to headline things. This movie is really fucking intense, and I was not ready for it. it is a visceral look at toxic relationship dynamics through the view of a couple who are secretly dating, and get engaged, while working at an investment firm in NYC. One of them receives a promotion to a C level executive, and it throws the perceived power balance in their relationship all out of what they perceive to be a healthy balance. There are some really intense scenes of psychological abuse, and by the third act I was really uneasy. I am fully aware that was probably the intention of the film, but I'm a bit of a pussy and so seeing this play out the way it did made me uncomfortable, and although it is very well made and acted, it's not something I really enjoyed sitting through.

11) Exmas - (Freevee) One more Christmas movie before I let you go. This is a new one from this year that Freevee put out and was marketing hard. The premise is Leighton Meester and Robbie Amell are a recently broken up couple, and when Robbie Amell goes home for Christmas he realizes that despite their breakup his family loves his ex-fiancee so much they've invited her to come to Christmas! Sounds eye rollingly stupid, but I was in shock at how funny this was and how it some how manages to show us something fresh even though it feels like it would be walking into every trope in the book. The ending is a mixture of predictable, but also a bit unique and there is one plot point in the third act that I can honestly say stopped me in my tracks I was so surprised. This will get you in the holiday spirit if nothing else!

Have a Happy Holidays if you don't hear from us before the New Year, but I have a feeling you will!

-JH