Shower Beer Vol XVIII: 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) Punisher: War Zone - (Tubi) The word on the street is that this is one of the most underrated comic book movies out there. I think that praise is a bit lofty, but it's a pretty solid film with a bunch of action and good gore. The late Ray Stephenson doesn't bring much charisma to the role of Frank Castle, but he exudes the perfect amount of stoicism and is an intimidating Punisher. Jigsaw is done pretty over the top, but his brother...holy fuck dude what is going on there? If you take that character out of the movie you might have something here. I'll still put the opening scene up there with some of the more fun comic book movie set pieces.

2) 500 Days of Summer - (Hulu) On the podcast we're in the midst of counting down our top 100 movies of all time. I have not yet gotten to 500 Days of Summer on my list, but let me just tease that it is a movie I rewatch at least once a year. It is a perfect romantic movie that isn't melodramatic and has a realism that escapes most films that tackle love. It's cynical, in all the right ways without being negative. The "expectations vs. reality" scene is one of the most genius films ever don't @ me. More to come on a future pod cast...shameless self promotion.

3) Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins - (Hulu) I'm a sucker for G.I. Joe shit, but I'll admit the movies blow. This is by far the best one, and I actually am having issues finding something wrong with it. Henry Goulding isn't great as the lead, but the whole world around him and the plot that mirrors The Departed in a lot of ways is really badass. There's action aplenty with no shortage of cool visuals. One particular scene in the rain in downtown Tokyo gave me big time Ronin in Avengers: Endgame vibes. If you haven't seen this I promise it's not as bad as you might've heard.

4) Guy's Grocer Games S11 - (Max) If you've read any of our shower beer blogs before you know this is my go to reality competition show. In season eleven Guy has some interesting twists to the game with a few tournaments featuring some of his favorite chefs from Diner's Drive In's and Dives, as well as a season culminating tournament where twelve chefs compete for the final three to get to face off against legendary reality chef Robert Irvine. Irvine's biceps are enough to crush the head of anybody who dares overcook his chicken, and he fucking shows some people up. I love this shit and I fully plan on watching all 300+ episodes. If that mean's I'm a loser with no life then so be it.

5) One Day (2011 Movie) - (Amazon Prime Rental) See above regarding 500 Days of Summer for how much I enjoy this movie. I just watched the 14 episode limited series on Netflix and really enjoyed the book as well. Turns out I'm soft as baby shit when it comes to a good romance. Anne Hatheway fucking kills it, and this is the role of a lifetime for Jim Sturgess as Dexter. If you watch this movie and don't cry it's a dead tell that you're a cyborg with no human emotions, but don't worry because one day I'm sure you will learn to develop feeling. I'm already wanting to watch this again and it's only been a few days. Also has a sneaky good score that will stay with you.

6) Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone - (Funimation App) As I'm going back through watching DBZ for probably the fourth time I thought I'd fuck with the OG movies as well. They're quick watches which is great since it spares us the usual twelve minute power up scene with exposition and gets straight to the fighting. Dead Zone features a classic plot trope of Gohan getting captured, and Goku and Piccolo somehow put aside their differences to fight Garlic Jr. in an effort to save him. Garlic Jr. might go down as one of the biggest dumbasses of all time as he successfully wishes for immortality from the eternal dragon, but by exhibiting zero patience he opens up the dead zone which he gets knocked into for eternity instead of just running out the clock in the fight. Dude just got out coached that's all.

7) The Floor S1 - (Hulu) I know there are a million gameshows out there, but the floor was a pretty interesting concept that has the benefit of being simple to understand, and having questions that as a viewer at home I feel like I can answer enough to feel like a genius from the comfort of my couch. In ten episodes you can watch the floor of contestants go form 81 to the final champion. The concept is on a 9 x 9 giant digital board, 81 contestants enter, each with a chosen "expert category" of trivia attached to them as they challenge the others. As they gain more space on the floor they win money, and make themselves a target as the final contestant standing wins $250k. It's a fun, simple game and Rob Lowe as the host seems to be enjoying himself. If there's a season two I will definitely come back.

8) Winter House S3 - (Peacock) I find it hard to say I have guilty pleasure shows because I will proudly sit here and defend how shitty/enjoyable some of the Bravo reality tv is, but Winter House can fall into that category. Without spoiling season 3 since I know I'd never be forgiven, Danielle is in a rough emotional state in this season, and Kory is getting more attention from the ladies than he can handle. There are quite a few new guests that are all pretty lame, but at least they're not annoying. It's a ten episode season that flies by as it encapsulates about ten days of partying at the lodge, and quite a bit is packed into that time.

9) Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest - (Funimation App) Starting in the Arctic...good move. Our villain here is a man named Dr. Wheelo who is like a zero sugar version of Dr. Gerot from the Android saga. He has some pretty fun henchmen, but they don't stick around long enough and Piccolo is nowhere to be found until the third act of this movie which is a bummer. I continue to wonder why Krillin shows up to these fights and then is always super shocked that he can't contribute at all. Dude is just playing with fire everytime and has no self perception. While I know none of the DBZ movies really fit anywhere into the show's continuity, this one features a quick dream sequence from Gohan where Piccolo is sacrificing himself in the Saiyan saga, and then has Piccolo alive and Goku present. Still a fun watch and just part of the reason I love Dragon Ball Z.

10) Miller's Girl - (Amazon Prime Rental) Martin Freeman and Jenna Ortega...count me in. The plot is an intense one as Freeman plays a high school English teacher, and Ortega his star pupil. They develop a dangerously intimate relationship that borders on the physical at times, but never crosses that line...until it does...allegedly. The movie goes totally ape shit in the second act and I thought it was actually becoming a parody on these types of sexual thrillers, but it was playing it straight. It rights itself a bit in the third act, but not enough to right it's own wrongs. Ortega gives a pretty inconsistent performance with her one big monologue being a miss for me, but her overall character developed pretty well.

-JH