Shower Beer Vol XXV: 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) Broadcast News - (VOD Rental) This is one of those “they don’t make movies like this anymore” situations. This feels like a definite precursor to Anchorman, but doesn’t lean near as much into the comedy. The characters are compelling and really fun to watch as the dialogue is so unique. Holly Hunter is in it a bit too much for my taste though, and when I say that I don’t mean her performance is bad, but her character is incredibly kinetic and it’s kind of fatiguing to spend so much time with her. The plot doesn’t exactly go where you think it’s going which is a fun surprise. It’s a nice inside baseball look at producing the news, and the late William Hurt shows he can be a tour de force when given the right material. Really enjoyed this.

2) Creep - (Netflix) When I heard they were making a series based on these two movies, and with my found footage binge I’ve been on it was time to give this a watch. I love the simplistic approach and Mark Duplass is pretty creepy as the title would imply. The film does a good job of keeping you guessing with what’s going on and having most of it take place at an isolated cabin really skeeves you out. The problems arise once we leave that cabin and the movie no longer takes place essentially in that one isolated day. I found myself snoozing, even at the one scene that’s supposed to be the freaky moment of the film towards the end. Having said that I will give the second one a watch because the final shot of this movie does have me very intrigued for more.

3) Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons - (Max) I love a good DC animated property. The visual style used here is badass, and reminds me a lot of the “What If” show that Marvel puts out. The premise is pretty interesting as it focuses on Damian Wayne and Jonathan Kent (son of Clark Kent) having to take on the villain Starro, who is actually also the villain in the James Gunn Suicide Squad movie. We get appearances from the Teen Titans, and a few of the Justice League members which is always fun. This isn’t quite as dark as a lot of the DC stuff, and Jonathan Kent in general as a character is really fucking lame in my opinion, but the movie manages to rise above most of that and be pretty fun. There is a cool scene at the Fortress of Solitude, and we get some good batcave stuff as well. If you have Max and you’re a fan of DC characters you’ll enjoy this.

4) Ezra - (VOD rental) If you’re a parent you might want to get the tissues ready for this one. Ezra tells the story of an eighth grader (the titular character) who is autistic, and his struggles socially and the impact it has on his family and two recently divorced parents played by Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne, who I believe are married in real life. Cannavale plays a stand up comedian who would jump in front of a moving train for his son, and he has to make some pretty crazy decisions in this movie based one what he thinks is best for his kid. The movie oozes heart, and the runtime flies by. Unfortunately I feel like Cannavale just doesn’t have the dramatic chops to carry it, and it feels like he’s delivering the same exact dialogue in three or four scenes. Robert Deniro plays Cannavale’s dad and this is a great performance from him. Rose Byrne is rock solid as always. A good watch, and one the type of movie that isn’t’ made too often these days.

5) This Is Spinal Tap - (VOD rental) I’m a huge fan of mockumentaries, and this is an OG from 1984. I’ve been told it’s one of the best ever made, and the infamous scene where the guitarist of the fake band shows off an amp with dials that go to 11 instead of 10 is one I knew about even before I saw the movie. It definitely holds up to it’s reputation. I was audibly laughing at most of the gags, and the premise in and of itself is perfect ground for comedy. The music is solid, but no bangers for me which could’ve elevated this to a whole other level. I didn’t know Rob Reiner was the Director until I started it, and it’s clear as day this was him in his early days about to burst onto the scene. I’d recommend this to anyone who loves films like Best in Show because it definitely has the same sensibilities.

6) Train to Busan - (Peacock) I’m a sucker for a good zombie movie, and this one has been on my radar for awhile. I finally got around to pulling the trigger when I saw it was on Peacock. The conceit in and of itself is brilliant for the genre. Survivors fighting on a train to survive a zombie apocalypse going car by car trying to limit casualties as they attempt to reach loved ones at the front of the train. The setup gives us enough to care about the characters involved, and as the movie goes on we get sufficient details as to what caused the outbreak in the first place. There is a really creative set piece in the beginning of the second act that serves as a way to get off the train for a bit, and then get back on that I really dug. It kinda reminds me of Snowpiercer set during a zombie outbreak, which just writing that makes me see how genius this movie is. The ending totally stuck the landing for me, but I could see some people thinking it’s a bit too melodramatic. If you like a good zombie flick and you haven’t seen this, you have to give it a shot.

7) Kiss the Girls - (Paramount +) I’m a big fan of James Patterson’s thriller novels, and I actually just finished reading this book so figured I’d give the movie a poke. Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd are awesome in this, and you see a bunch of actors pop up who you recognize in fun roles. The story is hard to adapt to the big screen in a reasonable run time, and you really feel that. The killer isn’t fleshed out nearly enough, and the manhunt and cat and mouse game played between the police and them doesn’t get near enough of the narrative unfortunately. The ending to the film is actually much different than that of the book, and I think I prefer what the movie went with. If you like a good late 90’s thriller movie this will definitely scratch that itch. It’s weird though, this is a sequel to the book “Along Came A Spider” which I also loved and was adapted into a movie, but the movie was made four years after this one so they did them in reverse order which is interesting.

8) Twister - (Max) I grew up in Oklahoma so this movie is one I’ve always had a soft spot for. Rewatching it made me miss the late Bill Paxton and Phillip Seymour Hoffman a ton as they’re both awesome in this. The characters are so much fucking fun, and the special effects kick ass considering this was made in 1996. I wish we got more Cary Elwes as he’s just chewing the scenery here as the asshole villain. I’m not sure exactly what the plot is in the second act except for the fact that the storm chasing team we’re following has one of the most delicious looking meals I’ve ever seen, and their equipment keeps breaking. I also can’t believe this movie didn’t propel Helen Hunt into an A list actor. I know she had a lot of television success, but she holds her own against the likes of Paxton, and is asked to carry the real bulk of the narrative here. The drive in theater scene is iconic, and I think I will go to my grave with the image of the cow being tossed around from the winds of the tornado in the first act.

9) X-Men: The Animated Series S4 - (Disney +) As I’ve mentioned before I was a massive fan of really any superhero cartoon in the 90’s, and this was one of my favorites. I’m rewatching the series because it’s been decades, and I want to finally get to X-Men 97 because I’ve heard some really interesting things. After finishing season four I think it’s safe to say it’s my least favorite season so far, but it does still have some highlights. The four episode arc with Apocalypse is pretty wild, but I just don’t find him that interesting as a villain. One cool wrinkle with his appearance here is instead of summoning his four horsemen, he recruits the cream of the crop of the X-Men rogues gallery to do his dirty work and they all appear throughout the four episode arc leading to some cool team ups. The Proteus episodes are god awful and I don’t even know why they made it into the show. They attempt to give Wolverine some lingering PTSD from the fight, but it doesn’t seem to be any worse than a normal Tuesday for Logan so I don’t know why he’s so pressed over the events. Heading into the final season now and I’m very excited. I’ll report back soon!

10) Aliens - (Max) Another movie that somehow I’d never seen, but I’ve heard it’s praises and of course it was written and directed by the legendary James Cameron. It lived up to the hype. I’ll admit I’m a huge fan of the Alien franchise in general, and think Prometheus is the most underrated movie of all time, so I came into this giving it a leg up. The first act is a bit slow in building narrative in tension, but the second act totally lights the spark and shit gets crazy. Some of the coolest practical effects you’ll ever see, and such entertaining and ridiculous characters throughout. The concept of getting more of the aliens from the first one, but not making it so over the top that the audience gets desensitized is perfectly balanced here. We still get a lot of the close quarters tension from the first movie, but there are also some really unique set pieces and the aliens actually do battle with the humans quite a bit. The end fight scene is iconic, and it’s easy to see all the influences in modern sci-fi and action movies that came from this film.

-JH