Shower Beer Vol XIV: 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) Only Murders in the Building S3 - (Hulu) While this is probably the third best season of this show so far, it's still very good. I fucking love this show so take that into consideration, but the format still feels fresh and it's essentially reinvented itself each season which is great. This is the funniest I've ever found Martin Short, and the rest of the cast in season 3 is insanely loaded. If you haven't given this show a poke yet, definitely do so.

2) Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain - (Peacock) The first feature film from the SNL trio that have a very niche sense of humor. You'll know within the first ten minutes if this will work for you...and it did for me. While I'm not a huge fan of some of their SNL shorts, the movie is ridiculous and has a fun plot conceit that never feels like it's trying too hard for the laughs. Conan O'Brien is also in it in a fairly big role which is incredible. Peacock has had a solid last few months with the original content.

3) Thanksgiving - (Theaters) With the pre production for Scream VII seemingly dooming that project, this is my hope for a new slasher franchise that can gain some momentum. The trailers were incredible and I was instantly sold. The cast feels like we might have some future stars making some of their early career performances in this film. I love the killers mask, and while the "reveal" in the finale of the third act doesn't totally stick the landing, there are some really creative kills and the impetus for the kills starting is a really creative conceit.

4) Home Alone - (Disney +) Probably a legit 40th time seeing this movie, and somehow I always find something new. This time it was how much the lady working at the grocery store is a fucking narc when Kevin shows up and takes a toothbrush. Apparently she also has the job of loss prevention Director, and any Oral B disposable toothbrush comes directly out of her paycheck. I watch this pretty much every Christmas and it never gets old.

5) Jingle All The Way - (Disney +) Speaking of once a year Christmas watches, I make the annual decision to see if Howard Langston bought his som Jamie that TurboMan when Liz requested every holiday season. This is one of my guilty pleasure favorite movies, and it's in my top 500 movies of all time. That may not seem like anything to be impressed with, but I promise this is a film that keeps inching it's way up my rankings everytime I see it. Sinbad is hilarious, and a great counterbalance to Schwarzenneger. The late Phil Hartman is an absolute scene stealer, and has some incredible quotes. IT'S TURBO TIME BITCHES!

6) Guy's Grocery Games S8 - (Max) I've been crushing this show the past few months as it's a great background watch while the wife and I eat. This season Guy gets wild with the contestants as he pairs them up in teams for a bunch of the episodes, and one specific idea he has is to put them with another chef they've never met before. I'd fucking kill him if somebody overcooked salmon on my watch and cost me a shot at the $20,000 shopping spree. This is also the last season before a real changing of the guard with the judges, and it feels like we need some new blood because Artie Sequera only has one critique-- "I needed more heat in your dish"...umm Artie the prompt was to make a dessert.

7) Noel - (Amazon Prime) I was doing some research to find a good Christmas movie, and as you'll see if you click the link, the cast for this thing sells itself. I'm a huge fan of the late Paul Walker, and it's rare that I find a film of his that I didn't know existed, so that really drew me to this one. I have to say though, it's one of the most flawed movies I've seen this year. Chazz Palminteri is teh Director, who I've really only seen as an actor in bit roles. This is framed as several anthology stories that briefly interweave, but the script really feels like it should be three separate movies. None of the characters really get fleshed out, and in the third act when all of their stories culminate they all feel a bit half baked, and one of them even crosses into some genre stuff which feel really out of place. This def won't make my Christmas rotation, but I'm glad I got to see Paul Walker again.

8) The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes S1 - (Disney +) I'm rewatching this show to scratch my Marvel itch, and hot damn is it doing the trick. First off the intro song is an absolute banger. The roster of characters has all the core players you want to see, and regularly brings in a calvalcade of other Marvel characters, some stick around for multiple episode arcs. The best thing about this show is it's a serialized story as opposed to an episodic one, and even though the antagonists come and go, they all tie back in at some point which is very similar to the comics. I can't wait to watch season 2 as all the characters get sick costume upgrades, and it plays around with the secret invasion storyline.

9) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - (Max) Not to sound like a broken record, but this is part of my core three annual Christmas rotation with the other two films listed above. I'll cycle in a few other solid contributors each year, but this one is always in the mix. Cousin Eddie gets less and less funny each year, but as I myself get older I find me laughing way more at Clark and his plight to keep a family Christmas afloat despite one tribulation after another. I said in my letterboxd review that the opening animated credits are something that have no business being as badass as they are, and this is probably my favorite Vacation movie.

10) The Christmas Chronicles - (Netflix) One of the most underrated Christmas movies ever, that has one of the worst sequels to ever grace the planet. Kurt Russell as Santa Claus...fucking brilliant. The elves are as unique a take on them as I've ever seen, and I'm almost embarrassed at how much I laugh at their antics. It's like if the Minions weren't insufferable, and placed in a Christmas movie. The plot does get a bit heavy, especially in the first act, but it lightens up enough to not be a total downer.

11) Big Brother Reindeer Games - (Paramount +) I'm a diehard fan of Big Brother, and this year at the end of the season they announced a six episode special starting in December called "Reindeer Games". The premise is they bring back eight former players, and essentially exclude the social element of the game and make it only competition based. The result was actually a great product that I could watch every year. I don't want to say it cuts out the bullshit, because the bickering and backstabbing that is part of the social game is something I enjoy, but it was a nice way to expedite the game and still incorporated some strategy. If you're a BB fan I really think you'll like this, and if you're not it could be a nice way to give it a test drive and see if it's for you.

That's it for us in 2023 everybody. Thanks for being a part of the journey with us. I hope you watched a shit ton of movies and shows. Can't wait to do our year end episodes and talk about everything we watched. Have a safe and happy New Years, and we will see you in 2024!

-JH