Film Junk Podcast Episode #420: After Earth, Now You See Me, Behind the Candelabra

Posted by on June 3rd, 2013   Filed under: Featured, Film Junk Podcast

After Earth

0:00 – Intro
8:36 – Review: After Earth
40:00 – Review: Now You See Me
57:05 – Review: Behind the Candelabra
1:16:34 – Headlines: Theatre Owners Want Shorter Trailers, More Expendables 3 Casting News, Kon-Tiki Directors to Direct Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Sam Mendes Coming Back to Direct Next Bond Movie, Dan Harmon Returns to Community, Machete Kills Trailer
1:35:00 – Other Stuff We Watched: Silver Linings Playbook, Medium Cool, Side Effects, The Village, Back to School, The Book of Eli, The Sixth Sense, Predators, Stories We Tell, The Bengali Detective
2:07:47 – Junk Mail: Favourite Stoner Movies, Fast and Furious Titles, Modern Black and White Films, Will You See a Movie You Wouldn’t See Otherwise If You Heard It Had a Good Twist, Waiting for Smaller Films to Come to Blu-ray Versus Buying Them Immediately on DVD, Inconsistency in Sean’s Top 100 List, Thoughts on Steelbooks, Criterion Reviews
2:36:23 – This Week on DVD and Blu-ray
2:40:46 – Outro

Film Junk Podcast Episode #420: After Earth, Now You See Me, Behind the Candelabra by Filmjunk on Mixcloud

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  • Flo Lieb

    Considering your recently shared “love” for the newest outing, a “Fast & Furious” premium is definitely a must :D

  • Primal

    Time to enjoy the sticky-icky and light it up fellas!

  • Jonny Ashley

    film blunk sparkin up with another hot potcast!

  • devolutionary

    Just listening to new podcast now. After hearing a few reviews already for After Earth, it didn’t even dawn on me that this was a Shyamalan movie. I can now see why!

  • Kasper F. Nielsen

    Gary Whitta surely has ties with the videogame industry. Not only is he a writer on The Walking Dead, he also used to be a videogame journalist from way back in the early 90’s. For a period of time he was the editor in chief of the PC Gamer magazine, which he also took part in creating.

  • Guest

    Hannibal Lecter Premium (Slightly topical because of the NBC show)

  • Sean

    Kasper: Thanks, I think I had heard that before and it kind of makes sense.

    KylG and Flo: Good suggestions. Fast and Furious might be better when part 7 comes out next summer though.

  • Andrew Lincoln

    Premium idea:

    A Cannon Group/Golan Globus era premium to coincide with the release of NINJA III: THE DOMINATION on blu from Shout Factory. These films are incredibly fun. I don’t know how much is worth discussing about them or if people would be interested, though.

    Some films to consider:

    NINJA III: THE DOMINATION
    DEATH WISH II
    LIFEFORCE
    MISSING IN ACTION
    INVADERS FROM MARS

  • Andrew Lincoln

    The best premiums are the ones that include both good and bad films, such as Star Trek and Rocky. I love the idea of an Alien premium with Prometheus and the two AVPs (with Reed there of course).

    Other ideas:

    Jaws series
    Turteltaub retrospective
    A Statham special
    Weird sequels: Blair Witch 2, Gremlins 2, etc
    Mid 1990s erotic thrillers: Basic Instinct, Jade, etc
    Ron Howard retrospective ;)

  • Steve Kroodsma

    I’m on board for a Harry Potter premium, for sure. I’m hoping at least one of you will actually like the movies. Musician Biopics would be another good one, and it would give Sean a much needed opportunity to rewatch “I’m Not There,” which is great and to quote Jay on that particular episode, “You’re an idiot.”

  • Matthew Colton

    Ancient Epics: Ben Hur, Spartacus, Gladiator, Troy and throw 300 in there for variety

  • Colin

    I second this… a large amount of their confusion and/or lack of appreciation for the series – which, admittedly, has significant ups and downs – comes from the fact that they haven’t watched all of the films in the series.

    If anything, it can’t possibly be worse a suggestion than asking them to sit through the Twilight saga.

  • Colin

    Several critics are hypothesizing that Shyamalan was director in title only, and that Smith pretty much directed the thing himself.

  • Kasper F. Nielsen

    Btw Sean, awesome that you’ve switched to Disqus.

  • Colin

    I think Frank was dead on with an early video game adaptations premium… load up some Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Wing Commander, and Tomb Raider. Polish it all off with a discussion of The Wizard, and you’re golden.

  • Honest Dave

    I am really looking forward to the Film Junk movie commentary idea. I really enjoyed their commentary on the Beauty Day DVD.

  • devolutionary

    Yeah I am honestly more ambivalent with M. Night than anything. I enjoyed some of his earlier works but kind of glaze over most of his recent films. I don’t find him offensive so much as middle-of-the-road now. Yes, he’s developed an obvious predictability to his movies but maybe that has more to do with the fact that he typically controls everything in them. It might be better for him to step back from the reigns and start focussing in one medium only (writer or director or producer). Although if what you say is right, maybe that’s too far gone for him as well.

  • Colin

    I think that the DVD commentary idea is a good one, but only as something that augments the premiums rather than replaces them… I think you’re going to find that the amount of people buying a premium will be much, much higher than those buying a commentary for a few reasons… mainly that a person must have access and be interested in watching/rewatching a film.

    The reason that premiums sell, even if a person isn’t a fan of – or indeed ever seen – a particular film, is that they can be enjoyed on the go as stand alone pieces of entertainment… heck, I’ve never seen an Evil Dead or Dawn of the Dead film and I bought those premiums simply because the discussion and tangents are interesting on their own; that said, there’s no way I would have purchased commentaries for these films.

  • Kasper F. Nielsen

    I wouldn’t count in Tomb Raider as part of the first wave, but other than that I wholeheartedly agree with this suggestion.

  • I honestly do not want to annoy you, Jay, but there’s something I just can’t stop thinking about.

    I do understand why you dislike this “internet-mentality” of tearing apart a movie for its supposed plotholes or whatever reason. I get how silly it is, that some people just jump on board, repeating stuff they read on whatever website.

    Having said that, lately I do feel that sometimes you try to see the positive things in a real stinker just for the sake of being AGAINST those people.

    I’ve heard you pick apart certain movies for their lack of coherent storytelling and vapid attempts of being meaningful, their character-development or character-motivation, yet, you liked Prometheus or After Earth. It’s just weird, that you would have a problem with those things in one movie, but do not seem to mind them it in another one.

    I also understand, that some movies have compelling characters or a pacing that makes you forget its logical shortcomings (The Dark Knight?), but with Prometheus and After Earth it’s completely beyond me, how someone who cares about storytelling can not at least be annoyed by all the flaws.

    Maybe it’s because i care too much about storytelling. I just can’t enjoy a movie that constantly makes me think: “These people are idiots!”, or “This doesn’t make sense!” I don’t mind a cheaply produced movie if I like the characters or am engaged in the story, but as soon as I question every single decision the characters make, I’m out. Or when it’s blatantly obvious, that characters only do whatever it is they do, so the screenwriter can get from point A to B.

    I don’t remember which one it was, but on one episode Sean said something along the lines of: “Yeah, I know, many people dislike this movie for its plotholes, but if you watch as many movies as we do, you learn to appreciate movies for different reasons, … like the cinematography (or whatever).”

    I don’t agree with that. Movies are a storytelling medium. Saying something like that is like saying about an album: “Yeah, the songs suck, but if you listen to as many albums as we do, you learn to appreciate them for different reasons, … like the soundquality.”

    :-)

    Again, I love you guys. I really do. Lately I just wonder, if your assessment of a movie sometimes is based more on the message you’re trying to send, and how you want to portray yourself, than on the movie itself. Yes, the internet-mob-mentality can be stupid, but disagreeing with it, just for the sake of it, is … weird as well.

    Sorry for this longass post. Can’t wait for the next preium episode.

  • Matthew Colton

    thats why an Independence Day commentary would work. who hasn’t seen that film at least a couple of times?

    and i totally agree that i can listen to premiums or podcasts without having seen the films.

  • KylG

    Troma Premium Podcast

    Toxic Avenger, Surf Nazis Must Die, Tromeo and Juliet, The Class of Nuke Em’ High & Rabid & Troma’s War

  • Sean

    I can’t speak for Jay but when I was talking about learning to appreciate movies for other reasons, it was more in reference to experimental / experiential movies that aren’t aiming for a straightforward narrative. I would say that if a movie is trying for a straightforward narrative and it fails, then it should still be held accountable for that.

  • Sean

    I think some of your concerns are definitely valid, but on the other hand, I think it’s possible that some people might prefer commentaries to premium podcasts.

    We know that some people just don’t have time to listen to the premiums on top of the regular episodes and the commentaries will be somewhat shorter. Also, if people want to make sure they’ve seen the movies beforehand, at least in this case there is only one movie to watch instead of 5 or 6.

    I don’t know if I agree that people would only listen to an audio commentary while watching the movie at the same time. Plenty of people listen to them as if they are podcasts… just ask Jay!

    Anyway, all we can do is try it and see how it goes! We’re running out of major franchises for the premiums, so it’s time to try something new.

  • Sam

    I’d say movies are simply a visual medium, not specifically a storytelling medium. Music could be very well just as much as a storytelling medium as movies, but it’s not what we widely expect from music. So I don’t necessarily agree with the analogy either.

  • Sam

    The Takeshi Kitano film that Jay was struggling to remember the name of I believe is simply “Fireworks” which coincidentally is the English title to Hana-bi (the movie that the e-mailer wrote in it about).

    For Sean and Jay, I’d also recommend Sonatine as far as Kitano films

  • Sam

    I agree with you Sean about listening to it as a podcast which I plan to do, but to be completely honest, I personally would definitely prefer a premium.

    I do however see your point about people not having time to watch the movies to keep up with the premium, but for me, I welcome the premiums because they’ve been giving an excuse to watch movies I’ve been putting off checking out or an excuse to revisit others I have seen, and I have a blast doing it.

    Recently, I had never seen any of the Star Trek movies, or any of the 80s fantasy movies (outside of Willow), and it’s good times catching up on all those movies in time for each premium. Plan to do the same with all the Superman movies in the next week or two as well.

    So I do look forward to the Independence Day commentary, but slightly less than I would a standard premium.

  • Tommy

    Sean. The title card of Fast and Furious 6 definitely just said ‘Furious 6.’ It’s sad they didn’t advertise under that.

  • bobsponge42

    These comments are SO MUCH BETTER. Thank you Sean!

  • Kenneth Serenyi

    How about a Godzilla vs. Mechs movies Premium podcast in honor of Pacific Rim and then a sequel for the new Godzilla film. Maybe a Speilberg-athon podcast. I’m a big fan of audio commentaries for movies, including Rifftrax, so I would be totally up for some film-junk commentaries.

  • Heradixle

    Episode 420…

  • devolutionary

    In honor or Ep 420 you could even determine if a Stoner Movie Premium Podcast could be in order. It might even be more interesting coming from people who don’t ingest the ‘green tea’ if you will. This could be a better test of a movie’s quality amongst some sober individuals (unless you’d rather be drinking ;) )
    Another ‘stoner’ movie I really enjoyed was Saving Grace featuring Craig Ferguson. Outside of the main plot element, it’s actually a pretty light-hearted watch.

  • John D. Robinson

    Blood and Ice Cream “Trilogy” (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) Premium! Add Scott Pilgrim an Paul and surely that’s worth .99 cents?!?!

  • Cy_Ed

    At one point Frank mentioned a Pulp Hero’s premium idea.
    -The Rocketeer
    -The Shadow
    -The Phantom

  • Cy_Ed

    Works with The Worlds End August release. I’d pay for Franks trilogy cerd examination alone!

  • John D. Robinson

    Hearing that rage boil. Worth a pretty penny.

  • I’d have to go back and listen to it, but I think, you actually said it about The Dark Knight Rises or Prometheus. That’s why I brought it up. If we’re talking about filmmakers like Jonas Mekas i.e., I agree. I love that guy. That’s not what I meant, though.

  • Hm. As Sean said below, yes, of course there are experimental films that are mostly about the visuals, but they are basically never discussed on this podcast.

    When we’re talking about Hollywood-Movies, including most Indie-Films, I think they are always storybased. At least, they try to be. I agree, that music can also be a storytelling medium (I saw Springsteen live a couple of days ago), but that was not the analogy I was making.

    What I was trying to say simply was: If it’s a bad/mediocre song, its production values shouldn’t be the positive thing to latch onto. So, when talking about a movie, I dont think that great cinematography can make up for lacklustre storytelling.

    I totally get, that that’s only my personal point of view. The reason I wrote my original post was, because I find it weird, that someone is fine with those problems in one movie (that “the internet-mob” tears apart), yet, feels the need to nitpick the same kind of things in another one (that the mob is not going after).

    Okay?

    Pffff … I find internet-discussions really, really stressful :-) No matter how many smilies I put in a (critical?) post or how well I try to explain myself, it always seems to come across as kind of bitchy. I apologize. I really do, if necessary. It’d all be so much easier, if we were sitting in a bar, drinking beer. Or wine. Or a cocktail. Or eating Poutine!

  • Sean

    Oh okay I thought I had said something similar to this during our review of Upstream Color. Which I think sort of falls into the more experimental category.

  • Johnny Boudreaux

    I love the idea of the premium commentary. Also the Halloween and John Capenter premium would be great. But I think the Carpenter premium would be best since there’s a lot more there to delve into.

  • Tum Tum Tyranus

    Community S4 isn’t as good as S3 but the geeks are overreacting by saying it’s terrible.

    “What? This isn’t as good as last time? Lame! This sucks now. Blah blah blah… I’m fickle and only see things in extremes.”

  • Kenneth Serenyi

    Mel Brooks Premium-cast please.

  • Brad

    Lethal weapon, alien, superman, mad max and Independence Day commentary

  • Brad

    Lucky I just got a new credit card because I’m going to be milked dry

  • scoobydelite

    Personally, good psychological horror/thriller films are more effective at being unsettling/creepy than ones dependant on gore, jump scares, etc. Therefore, am proposing a show highlighting psychological horror/thrillers. Some considerations: Jacob’s Ladder(1990), Rosemary’s Baby(1968), Don’t Look Now(1973), The Machinist(2004), Requim for a Dream(2000), Bug(2006), Take Shelter(2011), the 2005 Norwegian film Next Door, and Roger Altman’s interesting 1972 film Images. Listeners might have some other good suggestions.

  • CrumbThumber

    With Wolf of Wall Street coming out later this year, you could do a Scorsese/DiCaprio pairing. I think I would actually be more interested in a Scorsese/De Niro premium, but I am not sure how that is related to anything coming out this year.

  • Owozifa

    A Godzilla premium to go with Pacific Rim would probably blow my mind, but I can see wanting to wait until the actual Godzilla film next year. But…there are a lot of Godzilla movies. I would be okay with two. :3 (For when Godzilla comes out I think the perfect selection would be the first entries in every series: Godzilla, Godzilla 1985, Godzilla 2000, Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla, and if you needed one more I would suggest Giant Monsters All Out Attack)

    I also gotta throw in my hat with pulp heroes, because that sounds awesome. Dick Tracy, The Shadow, The Rocketeer, The Phantom, and Flash Gordon would be my lineup. If you wanted to add one more, Green Hornet would technically fit as a representative from more modern film.

    Finally, on the Halloween front I gotta go with the John Carpenter idea. Shout Factory has been releasing a ton of his stuff on Blu-ray and the time is just ripe for it. Halloween, The Thing, Prince of Darkness, They Live, The Fog, In the Mouth of Madness. Maybe even Vampires just to be different.

  • Lucas3D

    I enjoyed After Earth, I think it’s getting bashed similar to how Lady in the Water was. I must be experiencing something else onscreen, these 2 films are pretty good for being hated.
    Jay gets it …’ma boy!