Since we’ve wrapped up Marvel Phase 4 with ‘Wakanda Forever’, Mike ranks all 7 movies in the phase and decided where this series of films ranks inside the Marvel Universe. Mike gives his review of ‘Devotion’ about the inspirational true story of Jesse Brown, the first Black aviator in U.S. Navy history. And in the Trailer Park, Mike talks about the action/comedy Christmas movie called ‘Violent Night’ that comes out on Friday.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back to movie Mike's movie podcast. I
am your host Movie Mike. Today is a ranking episode.
I'm gonna be ranking all of the seven movies inside
of Marvel Phase four and answer the question are we
living in the worst era of movies ever? Because director
Quentin Tarantino says so, Do I believe it? Well, we'll
(00:20):
talk about that in the movie review. We'll talk about
a new war action movie called Devotion, which is in
theaters now so over the weekend, and in the trailer park,
we'll talk about a action, dark comedy Christmas movie coming
out on Friday called Violent Night. Shout out to the
Monday Morning Movie crew. That's everybody who listens on release
(00:40):
day when these episodes are out, So thank you for
being subscribed, listening and showing your support on social media.
And now let's talk movies. In a world where everyone
and their mother has a podcast, one man stands to
infiltrate the ears of listeners like never before in a
movie podcast. A man with so much movie knowledge, he's
(01:01):
basically like a walking at MTV, which classes from the
nastrill podcast network Movie Movie Podcat Marvel Phase four. I
knew from the very beginning that this was going to
be a rebuilding stage in game forced us to say
goodbye to a lot of our characters. A lot of
(01:21):
those actors have moved on, and now we are being
introduced to so many new characters in Phase four, and
not only in the movies, but you also have the
Disney plus TV shows. So as a Marvel fan, there's
a lot to keep up with, and I'm fine with that.
I take all the content we can get, but I
do feel like Marvel Phase four hasn't really had a
(01:42):
cohesive theme. And it's now been dubbed as the Multiverse saga,
but I really feel like we've only had a taste
of that so far. I'm hoping as the Multiverse saga
continues onto Phase five we see more of that, but
it just feels like this Phase four was at little
bit Frankenstein together. It did have a lot of obstacles.
(02:04):
We saw no new Marvel movies. Black Widow didn't come
out until so we had the longest gap in between phases.
I think it was like fourteen sixteen months without a
Marvel movie. And not only that, Phase four was the
shortest phase, only spanning from one to now wrapping up
in two with Waconda Forever, so in that we had
(02:26):
seven movies. So let's talk about now where all those
seven movies ranked within this Phase four. I wanted to
kick it off with number seven, The Eternals. I think
that is the only Marvel movie I've ever watched only
one time and never cared to see again. If this
movie fell off, the Earth was a race from my memory,
I would not miss it one bit. And I love
(02:49):
Chloe Chow as a director, and I like the direction.
Marvel is going to get more pristine directors. I think
we need those visionaries to carry on what's superhero movies
need to evolve into. To show that there can be
a little bit more depth in a superhero movie is
what I'm here for. And I thought that's what The
(03:10):
Eternals was going to do. But I really feel like
the story in that movie I was never fully invested in.
And I loved all the actors individually, but together as
an ensemble cast, there was nobody I could grasp onto.
The premise of the movie never held my attention, and
with all of these characters, I don't know if they
(03:32):
were trying to build this new kind of Avengers thing
that didn't really work, so there was about a zero
percent rewatchability in that movie, much less wanting to see
a sequel for The Eternal So it's hard for this
phase to bounce back from this that. Not only do
I put this one at number seven, but I also
think it is the worst Marvel movie ever made. So
(03:55):
at number seven goes the Eternals. Moving on to number six,
I am going to put Doctor Strange in the Multiverse
of Madness. I wanted this movie to lean into the
multiverse more, and maybe I had two high of expectations
going into this movie, but it didn't really give me
all of those factors into the multiverse really only touched
(04:17):
on it. And I think the other issue I have
with this movie altogether is I am just not the
biggest fan of Doctor Strange as a character. I don't
even really see him as a superhero. I'm not that
fond of his powers or his story altogether. So it's
very hard for me to even really be interested in
(04:37):
a standalone Doctor Strange movie when I think at best
he is just a good supporting character. I like him
in The Avengers, I like him as a side character
in the Spider Man movies. But when it comes to
watching a full out Doctor Strange movie, I just don't
love it. I don't think he is that likable of
a character. I don't find myself rooting for him. I
don't really care if he wins in the end. I
(04:58):
think he's actually kind of a jerk. Even though I
like Benedict Cumberbatch and his commitment to the character, I
have just never loved his solo movies. I did see
him say something interesting in regard to the Avengers movies recently,
saying that it's kind of hard to put emotion into
those movies because there's so much going on that you
(05:19):
really only get five minutes out of the entire movie
to really give a performance to evoke some emotion because
there were all these other bigger things happening around it.
So I maybe we'll start taking that into consideration a
little bit as these actors try to flesh out these
new characters. Were building going into Phase five, knowing that
(05:41):
it's pretty hard to do this when you have stories
that are trying to intertwine connections you're trying to make
between all the movies, references that you know the hardcore
fans are going to pick up on and question and
the question, all these plot holes, and in the midst
of all that, you have to give a really good
but vable performance to put your own self into these characters.
(06:04):
It's probably a harder thing to do than other actors realized,
and especially that we realized just watching these movies as entertainments.
So we'll get into a little bit more of why
superhero movies are being criticized right now by all these
big directors. But they need to back off a little bit.
There's a lot going on in this. But I don't
think Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a
(06:25):
bad movie. Same way I don't think Black Widow was
a bad movie. Internals, that was a bad movie, But
I'm putting Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It
ends up at number six, at number five, This is
where I put Black Widow. And the timing of this
movie was curious. We were coming out of it was
that longest stretch without a Marvel movie, and that really
(06:46):
factored into how I felt about this movie. I was
itching for one. I am an addict for a Marvel movie,
and I just wanted to have one that feeling again
in theater going to watch a Marvel movie and to
also a familiar face of seeing Scarlett Johansson as Black
Widow finally get her solo movie. So those two things
(07:07):
combined and looking back on it, it just made me
realize that that movie came out at a weird time.
I don't think this movie should have come out after Endgame,
and maybe they were trying to get it made before,
but I think Black Widows should have and would have
made more sense in phase two because this entire movie
kind of felt like falling action. And maybe it was
(07:28):
because a lot of it was like origin story and
it was a prequel to everything that had already happened,
because we ultimately know after watching Endgame what ends up
happening to Black Widow, so all of the timing in
this movie just felt very off. So as excited as
I was to see Black Widow get her own movie,
(07:50):
and I actually thought the story they put her character
in in this movie was actually pretty good. I know
a lot of people hate it on Black Widow, so
maybe I did have a little bit of rose colored glasses.
Is just wanted to see another Marvel movie, and this
is also a one that I've only gone back and
rewatched once, but I also feel like it's a movie
in five years that I'll go back and rewatch and think,
(08:10):
you know what, they actually did a really good job
with that one, and I like it even more so
I feel like this movie we'll get better with time.
I've kind of had that feeling with a couple of
Marvel movies, and Man in particular being one of those.
But I feel like if this movie would have came
out earlier in the m c U, we would have
loved it a whole lot more. But I feel like
for some Marvel fans, maybe you weren't looking for this
type of movie at this time. At number five. At
(08:33):
number four, I'm gonna go with Thor, Love and Thunder.
I really loved that this movie leaned into the fun
side of Thor. It was all in the perspective of Cord,
which is why it was so much more comedic than
all the other stores, and it really kind of leaned
into that romantic comedy genre, which I feel like also
(08:55):
as the m c U carries into Phase five, that
they can make different superhero movies in different genres, and
I think that's what they are going to have to
do to survive they can just be all big, NonStop
action movies. I think the ability to bring in different
directors to give a Marvel movie an entirely different feel,
and I think Thor Love and Thunder set out to
(09:17):
do that and nailed it. I do think people now
are looking back and regretting liking this movie and kind
of turning on their reviews of saying it was a
good movie. I still stand by it. Was it a
little bit cheesy, yeah, but the movie had heart. I
do believe and hope that if they make another Thor movie,
now that he's gone through what he did in Thor
(09:40):
Love and Thunder, I would hope that they switch gears
a little bit and shift back towards more serious Thor
the one we had an Infinity War and endgame the
Vengeul floor that he can be this very serious, stubborn character,
and I think all he needs to do to lean
back into that is have a villain to fight that
(10:01):
he wants to take down as much as he did Fanos.
I think that was the villain I thought we were
going to get with Gore, the god Butcher, even though
that was a great character. I don't see him being that.
But I can only imagine Thor fighting Nay more or
as we see more from King the Conqueror and the
threat he is going to be. In the m c U,
(10:22):
maybe we get that Thor back, but for now we
put Thor, Love and Thunder at number four and number three.
Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This
movie I went into with kind of weary expectations going
into an origin story. But I feel now that not
only in Phase four, but out of every origin story
(10:43):
made in the m c U, this was one of
the best. It was the most reminiscent of a movie
that came out in Phase one. Like those feelings I
had in those first set of Marvel movies, that is
the feeling I got back again. And it's weird to
feel in this doalogic about the year two thousand and
eight through two thousand and ten and twelve, But that's
(11:05):
what Shanchi did for me. It was the perfect Marvel formula,
which consists of comedy, action, and the telling of a
hero's journey. I love the diversity in this movie and
the visuals and the new world that this movie created.
I would only hope that they put Shanchi in more movies.
I can't wait to see him, even though they have
(11:26):
an announced who is going to be in all the
new Avengers movies, but I can't wait to see how
he stacks up against all the other superheroes At number two.
I'm gonna put Wakonda forever, and I have now seen
it twice. Over the Thanksgiving break, I went and watched
this movie again to see if I felt the same
way I did about it, because I know sometimes when
(11:47):
I watch a Marvel movie for the first time, I'm
so hyped on it, I'm so excited. I gave this
one a five out of five rating, and watching it
for the second time, I stand by it. I still
believe that this movie transcends the genre. It really solidified
that feeling for me, and I was also able to
pick up on things that I may be missed the
first time around, or now that I knew certain things
(12:09):
were coming, I kind of put the pieces together beforehand,
and things just make a little bit more sense when
you watch this movie for the second time. I love
the message that director Ryan Coogler put out recently, thanking
all the fans. I think that was a really cool
thing to do, because sometimes I feel that directors are
a little bit self indulgent, especially with a movie like
(12:29):
this making it two hours and forty minutes plus. But
he recognized that told everybody thank you for seeing it once,
seeing it twice, taking family to go watch this movie
and allowing us to indulge him on the long run time,
and sticking with him allowing us to indulge him with
(12:51):
the subtitles in the movie, and just seeing how this
movie has been received means so much to him, really
makes me love him more as a director, and he
is definitely moving his way up as one of my
favorite directors because of his vision for all of his movies,
but on top of that, his real dedication to his
(13:11):
fans and anybody who not only goes to pay money
to watch a movie, but also taking that time out
of your day. It's an investment. So recognizing that and
not just seeing us as numbers on a spreadsheet, not
just seeing us as people who tally up that big
box office gross, but actually just putting out this written
(13:32):
statement thinking fans like that meant a lot to me.
So reading that note made me love this movie even
more after watching it a second time. So if you
haven't seen it yet, I still highly recommend it. It
is a five at a five superhero movie, and that's
why I put it at number two in Phase four,
leaving only one other movie and at number one that
(13:56):
would be Spider Man No Way Home. And here's the thing,
Black Pan. There is probably a better movie on paper,
it is a more unique and novel film, but when
it comes to what I look for in a Marvel
movie and the feeling that No Way Home gave me,
I couldn't not put this movie at number one. It
(14:16):
was a culmination of my childhood days because the original
Spider Man came out when I was eleven years old,
my college days because the Amazing Spider Man came out
when I was twenty one years old. And then, of
course you've had all the Tom Holland movies in Phase three,
and now having this movie come out in Phase four,
(14:36):
it brought all of those movies all the way around
full circle. And this is another movie I've seen a
lot of people turn on their initial feelings and say
this movie isn't as good as we thought it was,
because outside of the cameos that happened in this movie,
people were now viewing that as cheesy of even Marvel
(14:57):
allowing time for audience ree action because knowing how much
of a moment that was going to create. But I
don't think that takes anything away from this movie. I've
watched this movie a couple of times since it came
out in theaters, and I think outside of even just
those moments, it is a very strong story and very
important chapter in Tom holland Spider Man. It is really
(15:18):
the moment he became Spider Man. In any superhero story,
whether it be in their second film or usually in
the third film, there is this moment where something happens
that they have to snap. It is something that takes
them to the lowest moment of their life, and seeing
a superhero build themselves back up from that is really
(15:39):
what makes them all who they are, and that is
what we got in this movie. We saw Peter Parker
at his lowest, seeking vengeance and wanting to burn the
world down. So I still stand by this movie. I
stand by my initial review, and it is a five
out of five still and the number one movie in
Marvel Phase four. Now where does Marvel Phase four rank
(16:03):
among all the other phases. Well, let's see here. At
number four, I would put Phase two, which ranges from
to fifteen. Inside of Phase two we got iron Man
three or The Dark World, Captain America, The Winter Soldier,
Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers, Age of Ultron, and ant Man.
So I think you have three of the weakest movies
(16:25):
out of the entire m c U. But the reason
I put this one at number four is because none
of these movies are my favorite. I like them all,
but if you were to say that I could never
watch another one of these movies again, the only one
I would really miss would probably be Guardians of the Galaxy,
and Man has a special place in my heart. I
think that movie deserves more credit than people give it.
(16:45):
But all the other ones I think would be The
Dark Spot, the Smudge, and all of these other characters stories.
So at number four would be Phase two. I would
put at number three Phase four, which is the phase
we just talked about. It is the first phase is
without an Avengers movie. It is the shortest phase. The
top three is pretty strong the ones that just talked about,
(17:06):
but that Eternals really just brings this phase down a
whole lot and it not having that cohesive theme. So
at number three, I would put Phase four at number two.
I would put Phase one, which was from two thousand
and eight to two thousand and twelve. You had all
the O G S. Iron Man, the Incredible whole iron
Man two, Thor, Captain America, the First Avenger, and The Avengers.
(17:28):
I still think in this phase the m c you
didn't really have its identity yet. Each of these films
were very different. There wasn't that cohesive feel to them,
even though they were all building towards the Avengers. It
also just really wasn't the m c U that we
know it to be now. The term m c U
wasn't used until two thousand and nine to talk about
(17:51):
iron Man two, so it wasn't really established yet. But
with that said, that is almost a perfect phase. The
Thor character wasn't quite there yet, but I still love
that movie. Initially I thought the First Captain American movie
was a little bit boring, but after rewatching that, I
realized it is a pretty great origin story and everything
else is top tier. Phase four is good stuff, but
(18:14):
it's still at number two. At number one, I would
put Phase three, which was from Seen This is It's
a Golden time. This was the best time to be
a Marvel fan. You have Captain America Civil War a
k a. Avengers Light, you have Doctor Strange, Guardians of
the Galaxy Volume two, Spider Man Homecoming, Thor Ragnarok, Black Panther,
(18:36):
Avengers Infinity War, but I think is the best superhero
movie ever made. Aunt Man in the Wasp also a
little but still good. Captain Marvel, which I will defend.
I still think that is a good movie. Avengers Endgame,
and then Spider Man Far from Home, which probably should
have been moved over to Phase four and would have
made Phase four a little bit stronger, maybe even made
(18:57):
a little bit more sense. But it is what it is,
as they say. And I do want to talk a
little bit about what Quentin Tarantino has been out saying.
He's promoting this new book which is all about his
love of movies, and I've been seeing him do all
these interviews talking about it, and he said that we
are living in one of the worst eras of movies ever.
(19:19):
He talked about some of the other worst decades, one
being the nineteen fifties, the other being the nineteen eighties,
which I agree with. I don't really love eighties movies.
I know you guys, give me a lot of hate
for not liking eighties movies, and I tried to dive
more and more into them, but there's just something that
lacks identity about the eighties that I can't get into.
(19:39):
Not to say there aren't some good movies from the eighties,
but as somebody who was born in the nineties, I
just don't really gravitate towards anything that came out in
the eighties. But what he's really been criticizing now is
saying that we are living in the worst era of movies.
And although he hasn't come out and said it directly,
I believe it's because he thinks that superhero of movies
(20:00):
aren't really cinema. He is saying that all the Marvel
directors are hired hands, that today's filmmakers are saying they
can't wait until they can work on something different that's
not a superhero movie. He's even criticizing the actors in
superhero movies, saying that they aren't really movie stars, that
in movies like Thor and Captain America, that Or and
(20:21):
Captain America are the movie stars, not Chris Him's worth,
not Chris Evans. That people are only going to watch
these movies because of the characters and not because of them,
kind of saying that they can't really have a career
outside of those movies, which I think, to some extent
may have a little bit of truth to it, but
I don't think that takes anything away from them. I
think to have those roles is so prestigious and allows
(20:44):
an actor to reach a level of fame and the
level in their career that not just one other single
movie could do for them. But what Quentin Tarantino is
saying that nobody is going to watch all their other
movies unless they are playing those characters. But I don't
think we're living in the worst era of movies ever.
A lot of my favorite movies have come within the
(21:06):
last ten years. And again going back to the weirdness
of Phase four, we're also not starting off on the
greatest foot with not having a whole lot of new movies.
But in the last year alone, there has been a
lot of inventive filmmaking, a lot of original filmmaking. You
just have to know where to look for it. And
I think a lot of the people criticizing superhero movies
(21:28):
saying they aren't real film is a lot of the
older directors. Quentin Tarantino is almost sixty years old. Martin Scorsese,
who has also been a hitter of these movies, is eight.
Of course they're not going to like these movies because
one thing Quentin Tarantino did say that I feel invalidates
all his other thoughts is that he said, if these
were coming out when I was in my twenties, yes
they would be my favorite. So why are you criticizing
(21:50):
that for somebody like me, that all these movies did
come out when I was mostly in my twenties, You're
always going to be the biggest fan of things that
were coming out new when you are a lot of
people's favorite music are things and artists that they discovered
when they were younger, and I think that is what
all of this is now. I bet him and other
directors got crap when they were making their best movies,
(22:12):
saying they weren't abiding to some of the old rules
from traditional filmmaking, using special effects, using c G. I
was probably seen the same way the shift we're making.
You know, every single probably be of practical effects. We
have all those old school guys who probably thought what
they were doing wasn't real filmmaking. It's a cyclical thing,
and of course the guy who's still films movies on
(22:33):
actual film is going to say things like this, But
I feel like he is also a person who should
be able to at least know that all movies, regardless
the genre, have a place, especially right now, where we
need to be making sure everybody is just putting out
their best stuff because we need movie theaters to stay alive,
(22:55):
We need film to be inspiring again for everybody. So
are we living in the worst era of movies ever? No,
not even close. You are just looking for things to
say exactly how they were when you like them. And
that's fine. Watch all the movies from the nineties, the
two thousand's evens. They're great. But I don't think that
(23:15):
is the attitude we need to get the next best,
greatest film ever made, because I know it is still
out there, and that's why I continue watching movies. Let's
get into a spoiler free movie review now. I want
to talk about Devotion, which is a new movie out
in theater starring Jonathan Majors, and it is the inspirational
(23:38):
true story of Jesse Brown, who was the first ever
black aviator in the U. S Navy. It's about all
the hardships you could expect to go through, breaking that barrier,
and his friendship with another aviator named Tom Hudner played
by Glenn Powell. And yes, another movie about aviators just
six months after one of the biggest of all time,
Top gun Mavericks. So there will be some parallels here.
(24:00):
I just kind of have to compare them when talking
about two major movies about the same subject. Also starting
one of the people who was also in the other movie,
So our aviator movies back now, we'll talk about that too.
But here's just a little bit of the devotion trailer
before we get into this full review. The commanding officer
called you one of the best pilots has ever seen.
It must be hard being the naval aviator. It's a
(24:23):
stop the rest to think that you'd be in a
squashron colored avia. I can't take it. How many times
people have told me to give up a quick not
even that's more. You could always do what you're told.
What do you want me to do? Just be babling man.
(24:45):
So this ended up being a pretty powerful movie, and
I didn't really know the emotional roller coaster that you
were going to go through from start to finish. And
the interesting about this is I tend to like my
war movies to be grittier. For example, Fury is one
of my favorite war movies. It's very bloody, a lot
of it is focused on the action, but this movie
(25:08):
was nothing like that. It was almost like the actual
war scenes were important, but they weren't the main focus.
So it's a lot different than Top Gun Maverick in
that regard. And really, it is a story about friends.
It is a story about love, and it is a
story about breaking down those barriers. Jesse Brown was the
first black aviator in the Navy, and I think Jonathan
(25:31):
Majors was the perfect person to play this Navy officer
and tell his real life story. All the men in
Jonathan Major's family have actually served in the Army, so
it was kind of cool to see him take on
this role. And alongside him you have Glenn Powell, who
was also in Top Gun Maverick. He plays another real
life pilot named Tom Hunter, and the story is all
(25:53):
about their friendship and their heroic sacrifices that they made
in the Korean War and how they went on to
be two of the most celebrated wingmen in history, so
there aren't very many Korean war movies, So for that reason,
I think this movie is right up the alley of
history buffs and also just aviation fanatics. And I love
Jonathan Majors and Glenn Powell's chemistry throughout this entire movie.
(26:17):
They worked impaired very well together, and I think that
is important because it is a lot more emotional than
I was expecting. I think this is the most crying
I've seen from characters in a war movie like this,
which was really interesting to see to show the weight
of war and the weight of all these decisions that
you make and how one little mistake can lead to
(26:39):
some catastrophic results. And this movie was also beautifully shot.
They used a lot of the same technology as Top
Gun Mavericks, so visually, I think it's just fun to
watch airplanes like when it comes to movies like Top Gun,
I'm not the biggest fan of that movie, but going
into that movie, I was so intrigued by the technology
(26:59):
they use of really putting these actors into those planes
and flying them. And they did a lot of those
same things in Devotion. The only real difference is Devotion
didn't have the budget that Top Gun Maverick did. They
didn't have the pool that Tom Cruise did to get
those same kind of hookups to make a movie like that.
(27:19):
But from what I've read online from big aviation fanatics,
devotion is actually a lot more historically correct, and they
actually used real vintage planes that some of them were
eighty years old. And I felt like the action in
Top Gun Maverick was a lot more like a video game.
It was very fast and high flying. It was a
(27:40):
big summer blockbuster. You gotta make a movie that looks
like that. This one kind of had more of an
Oscar s type movie feel to it, So a lot
of the action and the airplanes wasn't as high flying
and intense, but it was more so that you were
invested in these characters more so than you were in
a movie like Pop Gun. This movie is a bit
(28:02):
of a slow burn, but the reason it is is
because you're getting to know the story of Jesse Brown.
You're getting invested in his life and all these obstacles
he has to go through. So so there's a lot
more substance in this movie because at the core of
this movie, it is a drama. I guess I was
going into it expecting more of just a straight on
war movie, and I was actually happy with having a
(28:25):
drama like this because you have two really great actors here.
I think if I was buying and investing in an
actor like you would have Stock, I would definitely invest
in Jonathan Major's he's gonna be in the new Creed
three movie. He's also gonna be Kane the Conqueror, and
he gave a really solid performance here. I don't think
it's Oscar worthy. This movie doesn't quite get to that level,
(28:47):
but it kind of feels like Oscar batty at times.
And then you have Glenn Powell, who I feel Hollywood
is really trying to make him a thing right now.
Very good looking guy, great actor, so I feel like
we're gonna see him and a lot more movies like
this as a lead. I thought he was actually pretty good.
So this was a movie I had low expectations for.
And one of the main reasons is there's a Jonas
(29:09):
brother in this movie, Joe Jonas, And sometimes I feel
like whenever you put a musician like that in a movie,
it feels like a cheap tactic to get all of
their fans to come in and watch them in this movie.
But his brother has also been in an aviator movie.
But Joe Jonas actually did a pretty good job in
this It wasn't distracting, and that was all I guess
I was looking for. And the other thing about this
(29:31):
film is you don't have to be somebody who loves
or movies. You don't have to be somebody who loves
action movies to enjoy this movie, because I think Jesse
Brown's story is very motivational, very powerful. There are some
scenes in this movie that will get you in the gut.
I think if I had a soul and my heart
wasn't made of stone, I probably would have found myself
(29:53):
crying at least at a couple of parts in this movie.
But like the soulless person I am, I just didn't
quite get there. I do feel like this movie is
in a little bit of a weird place. Like I said,
it is not quite a Oscar Worthy film. I think
the acting doesn't quite get there even though the story
is powerful. I don't think it's powerful enough to get
(30:15):
that type of recognition. But it's also not like a
full on action movie like Top Gun, So I think
it's one that people may overlook, but it's a pretty
good solid pick to go watch in theaters right now.
I think seeing it on the big screen definitely adds
another level to watching this movie. It didn't quite reach
that IMAX scope that Top Gun Maverick did. I wasn't
(30:37):
really expecting it too, but there were some very beautiful shots,
and I love how this movie wrapped up and really
went out on a high note and brought even the
title all the way around together. I thought that was
a really strong moment too. So if I had to
write devotion, I would easily give it four out of
five Aviator jackets. And now that I've watched two a
(30:59):
Via Eater movies this year, I think I'm about ready
to give my pilot's license. It's time to head down
to movie Mike Try Laura Paul. Christmas movies they're my
least favorite genre, right there at the very bottom. They're cheesy,
they're predictable, and I know you have to be kind
(31:21):
of have an open mind when going to watch a
Christmas movie. It's all about the feeling they give you.
Is something I've really just recently learned after being married.
There are very few movies that are Christmas movies that
I love, and they're usually only the ones that I
watched as a kid and just associate those early childhood
memories with movies like Home Alone. Those will always be
(31:42):
my favorite Christmas movies and ones that I also view
as just being good movies, even outside of the genre.
But for some reason, I have this fascination with R
rated Christmas movies because they take everything that you expect
from a movie in this genre and kind of turn
it on its side. They're supposed to be cheesy and
wholesome and family friendly, but you take those same concepts,
(32:04):
that same imagery with Santa with snow, with carrying with presents,
and then you add an R rated element to it,
And now you have my attention. And there's a movie
that appears to be doing that coming out this Friday.
It's called Violent Night. It's about an elite team of mercenaries.
They break into this very wealthy Famili's compound on Christmas Eve.
(32:26):
They take everybody hostage to try to get all the
money in their family vault, but then they are surprised
to find that Santa Claus is also making his rounds
and just happens to stop at this house and now
they have to face off with st Nick himself. As
ridiculous as this sounds, the trailer actually looks pretty promising.
(32:46):
It's from the producers who made movies like Nobody in
Bullet Train, which both had very great levels of action
in it. But before I get into more about this movie,
here is just a little bit of the Violet Night trailer.
Welcome to your worst Christmas Summer. You have three hundred
million dollars in your personal vault. That's what I want
(33:09):
for Christmas? Are you going to help? No? My nice list.
Santa Claus is coming to down time for some seasons beatings.
So you have David Harbor in this movie, who you
(33:30):
would know as Hopper on Stranger Things. He plays Santa Claus.
You have John Luca Samo as Mr Scrooge, who is
the bad guy in this movie. He is the head
of this team who has broken in and holding these
people hostage trying to get into their vault. And after
watching this trailer, you may have think that you just
saw like a skit on S and L. And that's
(33:51):
kind of the vibe I get from this trailer. But
it takes that cheesiness of a Christmas movie and combine
some very fun looking action. You have somebody getting a
star into their face. You have Santa taking a candy
cane and sharp ending it like a knife to stab
somebody with. And that is what I look for in
an R rated Christmas movie. I do have this weird
(34:14):
fascination with them. Some of my favorite Christmas movies that
come out that are new just happened to be the
R rated ones, because, let's be honest, Christmas movies on
their own aren't really that great, but they don't have
to be. I'm not looking to really be challenged on
a Christmas movie. You want to know exactly what's going
to happen and have something that you can put on
(34:34):
and the entire family enjoy. So I kind of love
the oxy moron that is the R rated Christmas movie.
Some of my favorite recent ones that have come out
have been Office Christmas Party, A Bad Mom's Christmas, and
The O G to Me, which is Bad Santa. I
watch at least one, if not all of those, every
single Christmas now, because I think when you make an
(34:56):
action movie, there's always just a level of cheese this
and one that is sometimes hard to look past. With
just the traditional action movie, but making it a Christmas
movie kind of makes that cheesiness acceptable because you already
kind of expect that going into a Christmas movie. And
I think this could be the first real Christmas action
(35:19):
movie that I enjoy, because, let's be real, die Hard
is not a Christmas movie. And that's another reason that
I don't love Christmas movies is we have to fight
for any movie that just has a hint of Christmas
in it and justify its reason to be a Christmas movie.
That is how weak the genre is. We have to
fight for die Hard. We have to fight for Gremlins,
(35:40):
which are not real Christmas movies. They just have like
a Christmas light in it or a Christmas tree, and
everybody's like, oh, it's a Christmas movie. No, those movies
are not Christmas movies. This one is. We just have
to cling onto those little things to give us an
excuse to actually watch a decent movie around Christmas. And
I've actually really come to enjoy David Harbor as an
(36:04):
actor and as a lead. I thought he crushed it
in Stranger Things season four. He was pretty good in
Black Widow, and I'm kind of starting to see him
now as an action star he got pretty ripped up
for Stranger Things, and seeing him play this violent Santa
actually translates it really well. I think in that trailer,
(36:24):
my favorite lines are the cheesy lines. I am all
for the Santa Claus puns and everything to traditional Christmas
movies getting thrown out the window. So if you're like
me and looking for an alternative Christmas movie to watch
this season, Violent Night comes out this Friday on December two.
I can't wait to watch Santa Claus kicks him. This
(36:47):
makes a movie. And that's gonna do it for another
episode here on the podcast. But before I go, I
gotta give my listeners shout out, which I do every
single week, and this week it is going to somebody
who commented with the Christmas tree emoji, which was the
secret emoji from the Amy Brown interview from last week.
(37:07):
I went through and read all the comments on Instagram,
Facebook and Twitter and randomly selected one of you, and
the winner of this week's Listeners shout out is Kimberly
Suzanne on Instagram, who commented with the Christmas tree emoji
and said I am not a huge fan of Christmas movies,
but my family and I are so excited to watch
this because Amy is in it. Mike, thank you for
(37:30):
all of your spoiler free reviews. I have used and
enjoyed many of your movie suggestions that I otherwise may
have skipped. So appreciate you Kimberly for listening to last
week's episode and for listening to a lot of the
reviews here on the podcast. I try to cover all
different types of movies and bring you guys what I
enjoy and let you know what kind of movie fan
(37:52):
you need to be to watch all these movies. And
if ever I do have a viewer bias going into review,
I try to be up run about that as well,
just to let you know. I have no agenda on
my reviews other than just talking about what I like
and what I don't like, So I try not to
lead you guys astray, and hopefully, yeah, you've seen some
(38:12):
stuff that you otherwise wouldn't have watched unless I mentioned
it here on the podcast. I think that is also
my biggest goal from doing this podcast, because my favorite
era of film will always be what is happening now,
and that is the entire purpose of this podcast. So
thank you Kimberly, and thank you all for listening I
will give a bonus shout out. I was in Austin,
(38:34):
Texas over the Thanksgiving break and actually ran into a
few listeners on that trip. One in particular, I didn't
get your name, but it's because I ran into you
at the Torches bathroom, and it's also just kind of
weird to ask for somebody's name in the bathroom. But
we were washing our hands together and you said you
(38:54):
were a fan of the podcast. And it was also
one of the first times that I've been recognized as
just movie Mike and not from being on the Bobby
Bones Show, So that kind of meant a lot to me.
And it also made me realize that I have been
doing this podcast for three years now and it's really
been in the last year that I've felt the love
(39:15):
from you guys, So I really appreciate that. And it's
still just kind of weird to me. So if you
ever meet me, and I'm kind of stunned by the
fact that you listen to this podcast, that is why
I'm just surprised that anybody listens, and for that to
be the first thing you reference when you do run
into me, that is kind of the greatest compliment ever.
(39:36):
So I'm weird with compliments. I try not to be
awkward in person, so if ever i am, that is
why is because in my head I'm thinking, why is
this happening? So thank you for saying hello. That has
definitely made my day. So thank you, even though I
didn't get your name. And thanks to you again you're
listening now for listening to this week's episode. I'll talk
(39:56):
to you again next week here on the podcast. And
until then, go out and watch good movies and I
will talk to you later. Mmmmm
Hello, and welcome back to movie Mike's movie podcast. I
am your host Movie Mike. Today is a ranking episode.
I'm gonna be ranking all of the seven movies inside
of Marvel Phase four and answer the question are we
living in the worst era of movies ever? Because director
Quentin Tarantino says so, Do I believe it? Well, we'll
(00:20):
talk about that in the movie review. We'll talk about
a new war action movie called Devotion, which is in
theaters now so over the weekend, and in the trailer park,
we'll talk about a action, dark comedy Christmas movie coming
out on Friday called Violent Night. Shout out to the
Monday Morning Movie crew. That's everybody who listens on release
(00:40):
day when these episodes are out, So thank you for
being subscribed, listening and showing your support on social media.
And now let's talk movies. In a world where everyone
and their mother has a podcast, one man stands to
infiltrate the ears of listeners like never before in a
movie podcast. A man with so much movie knowledge, he's
(01:01):
basically like a walking at MTV, which classes from the
nastrill podcast network Movie Movie Podcat Marvel Phase four. I
knew from the very beginning that this was going to
be a rebuilding stage in game forced us to say
goodbye to a lot of our characters. A lot of
(01:21):
those actors have moved on, and now we are being
introduced to so many new characters in Phase four, and
not only in the movies, but you also have the
Disney plus TV shows. So as a Marvel fan, there's
a lot to keep up with, and I'm fine with that.
I take all the content we can get, but I
do feel like Marvel Phase four hasn't really had a
(01:42):
cohesive theme. And it's now been dubbed as the Multiverse saga,
but I really feel like we've only had a taste
of that so far. I'm hoping as the Multiverse saga
continues onto Phase five we see more of that, but
it just feels like this Phase four was at little
bit Frankenstein together. It did have a lot of obstacles.
(02:04):
We saw no new Marvel movies. Black Widow didn't come
out until so we had the longest gap in between phases.
I think it was like fourteen sixteen months without a
Marvel movie. And not only that, Phase four was the
shortest phase, only spanning from one to now wrapping up
in two with Waconda Forever, so in that we had
(02:26):
seven movies. So let's talk about now where all those
seven movies ranked within this Phase four. I wanted to
kick it off with number seven, The Eternals. I think
that is the only Marvel movie I've ever watched only
one time and never cared to see again. If this
movie fell off, the Earth was a race from my memory,
I would not miss it one bit. And I love
(02:49):
Chloe Chow as a director, and I like the direction.
Marvel is going to get more pristine directors. I think
we need those visionaries to carry on what's superhero movies
need to evolve into. To show that there can be
a little bit more depth in a superhero movie is
what I'm here for. And I thought that's what The
(03:10):
Eternals was going to do. But I really feel like
the story in that movie I was never fully invested in.
And I loved all the actors individually, but together as
an ensemble cast, there was nobody I could grasp onto.
The premise of the movie never held my attention, and
with all of these characters, I don't know if they
(03:32):
were trying to build this new kind of Avengers thing
that didn't really work, so there was about a zero
percent rewatchability in that movie, much less wanting to see
a sequel for The Eternal So it's hard for this
phase to bounce back from this that. Not only do
I put this one at number seven, but I also
think it is the worst Marvel movie ever made. So
(03:55):
at number seven goes the Eternals. Moving on to number six,
I am going to put Doctor Strange in the Multiverse
of Madness. I wanted this movie to lean into the
multiverse more, and maybe I had two high of expectations
going into this movie, but it didn't really give me
all of those factors into the multiverse really only touched
(04:17):
on it. And I think the other issue I have
with this movie altogether is I am just not the
biggest fan of Doctor Strange as a character. I don't
even really see him as a superhero. I'm not that
fond of his powers or his story altogether. So it's
very hard for me to even really be interested in
(04:37):
a standalone Doctor Strange movie when I think at best
he is just a good supporting character. I like him
in The Avengers, I like him as a side character
in the Spider Man movies. But when it comes to
watching a full out Doctor Strange movie, I just don't
love it. I don't think he is that likable of
a character. I don't find myself rooting for him. I
don't really care if he wins in the end. I
(04:58):
think he's actually kind of a jerk. Even though I
like Benedict Cumberbatch and his commitment to the character, I
have just never loved his solo movies. I did see
him say something interesting in regard to the Avengers movies recently,
saying that it's kind of hard to put emotion into
those movies because there's so much going on that you
(05:19):
really only get five minutes out of the entire movie
to really give a performance to evoke some emotion because
there were all these other bigger things happening around it.
So I maybe we'll start taking that into consideration a
little bit as these actors try to flesh out these
new characters. Were building going into Phase five, knowing that
(05:41):
it's pretty hard to do this when you have stories
that are trying to intertwine connections you're trying to make
between all the movies, references that you know the hardcore
fans are going to pick up on and question and
the question, all these plot holes, and in the midst
of all that, you have to give a really good
but vable performance to put your own self into these characters.
(06:04):
It's probably a harder thing to do than other actors realized,
and especially that we realized just watching these movies as entertainments.
So we'll get into a little bit more of why
superhero movies are being criticized right now by all these
big directors. But they need to back off a little bit.
There's a lot going on in this. But I don't
think Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a
(06:25):
bad movie. Same way I don't think Black Widow was
a bad movie. Internals, that was a bad movie, But
I'm putting Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It
ends up at number six, at number five, This is
where I put Black Widow. And the timing of this
movie was curious. We were coming out of it was
that longest stretch without a Marvel movie, and that really
(06:46):
factored into how I felt about this movie. I was
itching for one. I am an addict for a Marvel movie,
and I just wanted to have one that feeling again
in theater going to watch a Marvel movie and to
also a familiar face of seeing Scarlett Johansson as Black
Widow finally get her solo movie. So those two things
(07:07):
combined and looking back on it, it just made me
realize that that movie came out at a weird time.
I don't think this movie should have come out after Endgame,
and maybe they were trying to get it made before,
but I think Black Widows should have and would have
made more sense in phase two because this entire movie
kind of felt like falling action. And maybe it was
(07:28):
because a lot of it was like origin story and
it was a prequel to everything that had already happened,
because we ultimately know after watching Endgame what ends up
happening to Black Widow, so all of the timing in
this movie just felt very off. So as excited as
I was to see Black Widow get her own movie,
(07:50):
and I actually thought the story they put her character
in in this movie was actually pretty good. I know
a lot of people hate it on Black Widow, so
maybe I did have a little bit of rose colored glasses.
Is just wanted to see another Marvel movie, and this
is also a one that I've only gone back and
rewatched once, but I also feel like it's a movie
in five years that I'll go back and rewatch and think,
(08:10):
you know what, they actually did a really good job
with that one, and I like it even more so
I feel like this movie we'll get better with time.
I've kind of had that feeling with a couple of
Marvel movies, and Man in particular being one of those.
But I feel like if this movie would have came
out earlier in the m c U, we would have
loved it a whole lot more. But I feel like
for some Marvel fans, maybe you weren't looking for this
type of movie at this time. At number five. At
(08:33):
number four, I'm gonna go with Thor, Love and Thunder.
I really loved that this movie leaned into the fun
side of Thor. It was all in the perspective of Cord,
which is why it was so much more comedic than
all the other stores, and it really kind of leaned
into that romantic comedy genre, which I feel like also
(08:55):
as the m c U carries into Phase five, that
they can make different superhero movies in different genres, and
I think that's what they are going to have to
do to survive they can just be all big, NonStop
action movies. I think the ability to bring in different
directors to give a Marvel movie an entirely different feel,
and I think Thor Love and Thunder set out to
(09:17):
do that and nailed it. I do think people now
are looking back and regretting liking this movie and kind
of turning on their reviews of saying it was a
good movie. I still stand by it. Was it a
little bit cheesy, yeah, but the movie had heart. I
do believe and hope that if they make another Thor movie,
now that he's gone through what he did in Thor
(09:40):
Love and Thunder, I would hope that they switch gears
a little bit and shift back towards more serious Thor
the one we had an Infinity War and endgame the
Vengeul floor that he can be this very serious, stubborn character,
and I think all he needs to do to lean
back into that is have a villain to fight that
(10:01):
he wants to take down as much as he did Fanos.
I think that was the villain I thought we were
going to get with Gore, the god Butcher, even though
that was a great character. I don't see him being that.
But I can only imagine Thor fighting Nay more or
as we see more from King the Conqueror and the
threat he is going to be. In the m c U,
(10:22):
maybe we get that Thor back, but for now we
put Thor, Love and Thunder at number four and number three.
Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This
movie I went into with kind of weary expectations going
into an origin story. But I feel now that not
only in Phase four, but out of every origin story
(10:43):
made in the m c U, this was one of
the best. It was the most reminiscent of a movie
that came out in Phase one. Like those feelings I
had in those first set of Marvel movies, that is
the feeling I got back again. And it's weird to
feel in this doalogic about the year two thousand and
eight through two thousand and ten and twelve, But that's
(11:05):
what Shanchi did for me. It was the perfect Marvel formula,
which consists of comedy, action, and the telling of a
hero's journey. I love the diversity in this movie and
the visuals and the new world that this movie created.
I would only hope that they put Shanchi in more movies.
I can't wait to see him, even though they have
(11:26):
an announced who is going to be in all the
new Avengers movies, but I can't wait to see how
he stacks up against all the other superheroes At number two.
I'm gonna put Wakonda forever, and I have now seen
it twice. Over the Thanksgiving break, I went and watched
this movie again to see if I felt the same
way I did about it, because I know sometimes when
(11:47):
I watch a Marvel movie for the first time, I'm
so hyped on it, I'm so excited. I gave this
one a five out of five rating, and watching it
for the second time, I stand by it. I still
believe that this movie transcends the genre. It really solidified
that feeling for me, and I was also able to
pick up on things that I may be missed the
first time around, or now that I knew certain things
(12:09):
were coming, I kind of put the pieces together beforehand,
and things just make a little bit more sense when
you watch this movie for the second time. I love
the message that director Ryan Coogler put out recently, thanking
all the fans. I think that was a really cool
thing to do, because sometimes I feel that directors are
a little bit self indulgent, especially with a movie like
(12:29):
this making it two hours and forty minutes plus. But
he recognized that told everybody thank you for seeing it once,
seeing it twice, taking family to go watch this movie
and allowing us to indulge him on the long run time,
and sticking with him allowing us to indulge him with
(12:51):
the subtitles in the movie, and just seeing how this
movie has been received means so much to him, really
makes me love him more as a director, and he
is definitely moving his way up as one of my
favorite directors because of his vision for all of his movies,
but on top of that, his real dedication to his
(13:11):
fans and anybody who not only goes to pay money
to watch a movie, but also taking that time out
of your day. It's an investment. So recognizing that and
not just seeing us as numbers on a spreadsheet, not
just seeing us as people who tally up that big
box office gross, but actually just putting out this written
(13:32):
statement thinking fans like that meant a lot to me.
So reading that note made me love this movie even
more after watching it a second time. So if you
haven't seen it yet, I still highly recommend it. It
is a five at a five superhero movie, and that's
why I put it at number two in Phase four,
leaving only one other movie and at number one that
(13:56):
would be Spider Man No Way Home. And here's the thing,
Black Pan. There is probably a better movie on paper,
it is a more unique and novel film, but when
it comes to what I look for in a Marvel
movie and the feeling that No Way Home gave me,
I couldn't not put this movie at number one. It
(14:16):
was a culmination of my childhood days because the original
Spider Man came out when I was eleven years old,
my college days because the Amazing Spider Man came out
when I was twenty one years old. And then, of
course you've had all the Tom Holland movies in Phase three,
and now having this movie come out in Phase four,
(14:36):
it brought all of those movies all the way around
full circle. And this is another movie I've seen a
lot of people turn on their initial feelings and say
this movie isn't as good as we thought it was,
because outside of the cameos that happened in this movie,
people were now viewing that as cheesy of even Marvel
(14:57):
allowing time for audience ree action because knowing how much
of a moment that was going to create. But I
don't think that takes anything away from this movie. I've
watched this movie a couple of times since it came
out in theaters, and I think outside of even just
those moments, it is a very strong story and very
important chapter in Tom holland Spider Man. It is really
(15:18):
the moment he became Spider Man. In any superhero story,
whether it be in their second film or usually in
the third film, there is this moment where something happens
that they have to snap. It is something that takes
them to the lowest moment of their life, and seeing
a superhero build themselves back up from that is really
(15:39):
what makes them all who they are, and that is
what we got in this movie. We saw Peter Parker
at his lowest, seeking vengeance and wanting to burn the
world down. So I still stand by this movie. I
stand by my initial review, and it is a five
out of five still and the number one movie in
Marvel Phase four. Now where does Marvel Phase four rank
(16:03):
among all the other phases. Well, let's see here. At
number four, I would put Phase two, which ranges from
to fifteen. Inside of Phase two we got iron Man
three or The Dark World, Captain America, The Winter Soldier,
Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers, Age of Ultron, and ant Man.
So I think you have three of the weakest movies
(16:25):
out of the entire m c U. But the reason
I put this one at number four is because none
of these movies are my favorite. I like them all,
but if you were to say that I could never
watch another one of these movies again, the only one
I would really miss would probably be Guardians of the Galaxy,
and Man has a special place in my heart. I
think that movie deserves more credit than people give it.
(16:45):
But all the other ones I think would be The
Dark Spot, the Smudge, and all of these other characters stories.
So at number four would be Phase two. I would
put at number three Phase four, which is the phase
we just talked about. It is the first phase is
without an Avengers movie. It is the shortest phase. The
top three is pretty strong the ones that just talked about,
(17:06):
but that Eternals really just brings this phase down a
whole lot and it not having that cohesive theme. So
at number three, I would put Phase four at number two.
I would put Phase one, which was from two thousand
and eight to two thousand and twelve. You had all
the O G S. Iron Man, the Incredible whole iron
Man two, Thor, Captain America, the First Avenger, and The Avengers.
(17:28):
I still think in this phase the m c you
didn't really have its identity yet. Each of these films
were very different. There wasn't that cohesive feel to them,
even though they were all building towards the Avengers. It
also just really wasn't the m c U that we
know it to be now. The term m c U
wasn't used until two thousand and nine to talk about
(17:51):
iron Man two, so it wasn't really established yet. But
with that said, that is almost a perfect phase. The
Thor character wasn't quite there yet, but I still love
that movie. Initially I thought the First Captain American movie
was a little bit boring, but after rewatching that, I
realized it is a pretty great origin story and everything
else is top tier. Phase four is good stuff, but
(18:14):
it's still at number two. At number one, I would
put Phase three, which was from Seen This is It's
a Golden time. This was the best time to be
a Marvel fan. You have Captain America Civil War a
k a. Avengers Light, you have Doctor Strange, Guardians of
the Galaxy Volume two, Spider Man Homecoming, Thor Ragnarok, Black Panther,
(18:36):
Avengers Infinity War, but I think is the best superhero
movie ever made. Aunt Man in the Wasp also a
little but still good. Captain Marvel, which I will defend.
I still think that is a good movie. Avengers Endgame,
and then Spider Man Far from Home, which probably should
have been moved over to Phase four and would have
made Phase four a little bit stronger, maybe even made
(18:57):
a little bit more sense. But it is what it is,
as they say. And I do want to talk a
little bit about what Quentin Tarantino has been out saying.
He's promoting this new book which is all about his
love of movies, and I've been seeing him do all
these interviews talking about it, and he said that we
are living in one of the worst eras of movies ever.
(19:19):
He talked about some of the other worst decades, one
being the nineteen fifties, the other being the nineteen eighties,
which I agree with. I don't really love eighties movies.
I know you guys, give me a lot of hate
for not liking eighties movies, and I tried to dive
more and more into them, but there's just something that
lacks identity about the eighties that I can't get into.
(19:39):
Not to say there aren't some good movies from the eighties,
but as somebody who was born in the nineties, I
just don't really gravitate towards anything that came out in
the eighties. But what he's really been criticizing now is
saying that we are living in the worst era of movies.
And although he hasn't come out and said it directly,
I believe it's because he thinks that superhero of movies
(20:00):
aren't really cinema. He is saying that all the Marvel
directors are hired hands, that today's filmmakers are saying they
can't wait until they can work on something different that's
not a superhero movie. He's even criticizing the actors in
superhero movies, saying that they aren't really movie stars, that
in movies like Thor and Captain America, that Or and
(20:21):
Captain America are the movie stars, not Chris Him's worth,
not Chris Evans. That people are only going to watch
these movies because of the characters and not because of them,
kind of saying that they can't really have a career
outside of those movies, which I think, to some extent
may have a little bit of truth to it, but
I don't think that takes anything away from them. I
think to have those roles is so prestigious and allows
(20:44):
an actor to reach a level of fame and the
level in their career that not just one other single
movie could do for them. But what Quentin Tarantino is
saying that nobody is going to watch all their other
movies unless they are playing those characters. But I don't
think we're living in the worst era of movies ever.
A lot of my favorite movies have come within the
(21:06):
last ten years. And again going back to the weirdness
of Phase four, we're also not starting off on the
greatest foot with not having a whole lot of new movies.
But in the last year alone, there has been a
lot of inventive filmmaking, a lot of original filmmaking. You
just have to know where to look for it. And
I think a lot of the people criticizing superhero movies
(21:28):
saying they aren't real film is a lot of the
older directors. Quentin Tarantino is almost sixty years old. Martin Scorsese,
who has also been a hitter of these movies, is eight.
Of course they're not going to like these movies because
one thing Quentin Tarantino did say that I feel invalidates
all his other thoughts is that he said, if these
were coming out when I was in my twenties, yes
they would be my favorite. So why are you criticizing
(21:50):
that for somebody like me, that all these movies did
come out when I was mostly in my twenties, You're
always going to be the biggest fan of things that
were coming out new when you are a lot of
people's favorite music are things and artists that they discovered
when they were younger, and I think that is what
all of this is now. I bet him and other
directors got crap when they were making their best movies,
(22:12):
saying they weren't abiding to some of the old rules
from traditional filmmaking, using special effects, using c G. I
was probably seen the same way the shift we're making.
You know, every single probably be of practical effects. We
have all those old school guys who probably thought what
they were doing wasn't real filmmaking. It's a cyclical thing,
and of course the guy who's still films movies on
(22:33):
actual film is going to say things like this, But
I feel like he is also a person who should
be able to at least know that all movies, regardless
the genre, have a place, especially right now, where we
need to be making sure everybody is just putting out
their best stuff because we need movie theaters to stay alive,
(22:55):
We need film to be inspiring again for everybody. So
are we living in the worst era of movies ever? No,
not even close. You are just looking for things to
say exactly how they were when you like them. And
that's fine. Watch all the movies from the nineties, the
two thousand's evens. They're great. But I don't think that
(23:15):
is the attitude we need to get the next best,
greatest film ever made, because I know it is still
out there, and that's why I continue watching movies. Let's
get into a spoiler free movie review now. I want
to talk about Devotion, which is a new movie out
in theater starring Jonathan Majors, and it is the inspirational
(23:38):
true story of Jesse Brown, who was the first ever
black aviator in the U. S Navy. It's about all
the hardships you could expect to go through, breaking that barrier,
and his friendship with another aviator named Tom Hudner played
by Glenn Powell. And yes, another movie about aviators just
six months after one of the biggest of all time,
Top gun Mavericks. So there will be some parallels here.
(24:00):
I just kind of have to compare them when talking
about two major movies about the same subject. Also starting
one of the people who was also in the other movie,
So our aviator movies back now, we'll talk about that too.
But here's just a little bit of the devotion trailer
before we get into this full review. The commanding officer
called you one of the best pilots has ever seen.
It must be hard being the naval aviator. It's a
(24:23):
stop the rest to think that you'd be in a
squashron colored avia. I can't take it. How many times
people have told me to give up a quick not
even that's more. You could always do what you're told.
What do you want me to do? Just be babling man.
(24:45):
So this ended up being a pretty powerful movie, and
I didn't really know the emotional roller coaster that you
were going to go through from start to finish. And
the interesting about this is I tend to like my
war movies to be grittier. For example, Fury is one
of my favorite war movies. It's very bloody, a lot
of it is focused on the action, but this movie
(25:08):
was nothing like that. It was almost like the actual
war scenes were important, but they weren't the main focus.
So it's a lot different than Top Gun Maverick in
that regard. And really, it is a story about friends.
It is a story about love, and it is a
story about breaking down those barriers. Jesse Brown was the
first black aviator in the Navy, and I think Jonathan
(25:31):
Majors was the perfect person to play this Navy officer
and tell his real life story. All the men in
Jonathan Major's family have actually served in the Army, so
it was kind of cool to see him take on
this role. And alongside him you have Glenn Powell, who
was also in Top Gun Maverick. He plays another real
life pilot named Tom Hunter, and the story is all
(25:53):
about their friendship and their heroic sacrifices that they made
in the Korean War and how they went on to
be two of the most celebrated wingmen in history, so
there aren't very many Korean war movies, So for that reason,
I think this movie is right up the alley of
history buffs and also just aviation fanatics. And I love
Jonathan Majors and Glenn Powell's chemistry throughout this entire movie.
(26:17):
They worked impaired very well together, and I think that
is important because it is a lot more emotional than
I was expecting. I think this is the most crying
I've seen from characters in a war movie like this,
which was really interesting to see to show the weight
of war and the weight of all these decisions that
you make and how one little mistake can lead to
(26:39):
some catastrophic results. And this movie was also beautifully shot.
They used a lot of the same technology as Top
Gun Mavericks, so visually, I think it's just fun to
watch airplanes like when it comes to movies like Top Gun,
I'm not the biggest fan of that movie, but going
into that movie, I was so intrigued by the technology
(26:59):
they use of really putting these actors into those planes
and flying them. And they did a lot of those
same things in Devotion. The only real difference is Devotion
didn't have the budget that Top Gun Maverick did. They
didn't have the pool that Tom Cruise did to get
those same kind of hookups to make a movie like that.
(27:19):
But from what I've read online from big aviation fanatics,
devotion is actually a lot more historically correct, and they
actually used real vintage planes that some of them were
eighty years old. And I felt like the action in
Top Gun Maverick was a lot more like a video game.
It was very fast and high flying. It was a
(27:40):
big summer blockbuster. You gotta make a movie that looks
like that. This one kind of had more of an
Oscar s type movie feel to it, So a lot
of the action and the airplanes wasn't as high flying
and intense, but it was more so that you were
invested in these characters more so than you were in
a movie like Pop Gun. This movie is a bit
(28:02):
of a slow burn, but the reason it is is
because you're getting to know the story of Jesse Brown.
You're getting invested in his life and all these obstacles
he has to go through. So so there's a lot
more substance in this movie because at the core of
this movie, it is a drama. I guess I was
going into it expecting more of just a straight on
war movie, and I was actually happy with having a
(28:25):
drama like this because you have two really great actors here.
I think if I was buying and investing in an
actor like you would have Stock, I would definitely invest
in Jonathan Major's he's gonna be in the new Creed
three movie. He's also gonna be Kane the Conqueror, and
he gave a really solid performance here. I don't think
it's Oscar worthy. This movie doesn't quite get to that level,
(28:47):
but it kind of feels like Oscar batty at times.
And then you have Glenn Powell, who I feel Hollywood
is really trying to make him a thing right now.
Very good looking guy, great actor, so I feel like
we're gonna see him and a lot more movies like
this as a lead. I thought he was actually pretty good.
So this was a movie I had low expectations for.
And one of the main reasons is there's a Jonas
(29:09):
brother in this movie, Joe Jonas, And sometimes I feel
like whenever you put a musician like that in a movie,
it feels like a cheap tactic to get all of
their fans to come in and watch them in this movie.
But his brother has also been in an aviator movie.
But Joe Jonas actually did a pretty good job in
this It wasn't distracting, and that was all I guess
I was looking for. And the other thing about this
(29:31):
film is you don't have to be somebody who loves
or movies. You don't have to be somebody who loves
action movies to enjoy this movie, because I think Jesse
Brown's story is very motivational, very powerful. There are some
scenes in this movie that will get you in the gut.
I think if I had a soul and my heart
wasn't made of stone, I probably would have found myself
(29:53):
crying at least at a couple of parts in this movie.
But like the soulless person I am, I just didn't
quite get there. I do feel like this movie is
in a little bit of a weird place. Like I said,
it is not quite a Oscar Worthy film. I think
the acting doesn't quite get there even though the story
is powerful. I don't think it's powerful enough to get
(30:15):
that type of recognition. But it's also not like a
full on action movie like Top Gun, So I think
it's one that people may overlook, but it's a pretty
good solid pick to go watch in theaters right now.
I think seeing it on the big screen definitely adds
another level to watching this movie. It didn't quite reach
that IMAX scope that Top Gun Maverick did. I wasn't
(30:37):
really expecting it too, but there were some very beautiful shots,
and I love how this movie wrapped up and really
went out on a high note and brought even the
title all the way around together. I thought that was
a really strong moment too. So if I had to
write devotion, I would easily give it four out of
five Aviator jackets. And now that I've watched two a
(30:59):
Via Eater movies this year, I think I'm about ready
to give my pilot's license. It's time to head down
to movie Mike Try Laura Paul. Christmas movies they're my
least favorite genre, right there at the very bottom. They're cheesy,
they're predictable, and I know you have to be kind
(31:21):
of have an open mind when going to watch a
Christmas movie. It's all about the feeling they give you.
Is something I've really just recently learned after being married.
There are very few movies that are Christmas movies that
I love, and they're usually only the ones that I
watched as a kid and just associate those early childhood
memories with movies like Home Alone. Those will always be
(31:42):
my favorite Christmas movies and ones that I also view
as just being good movies, even outside of the genre.
But for some reason, I have this fascination with R
rated Christmas movies because they take everything that you expect
from a movie in this genre and kind of turn
it on its side. They're supposed to be cheesy and
wholesome and family friendly, but you take those same concepts,
(32:04):
that same imagery with Santa with snow, with carrying with presents,
and then you add an R rated element to it,
And now you have my attention. And there's a movie
that appears to be doing that coming out this Friday.
It's called Violent Night. It's about an elite team of mercenaries.
They break into this very wealthy Famili's compound on Christmas Eve.
(32:26):
They take everybody hostage to try to get all the
money in their family vault, but then they are surprised
to find that Santa Claus is also making his rounds
and just happens to stop at this house and now
they have to face off with st Nick himself. As
ridiculous as this sounds, the trailer actually looks pretty promising.
(32:46):
It's from the producers who made movies like Nobody in
Bullet Train, which both had very great levels of action
in it. But before I get into more about this movie,
here is just a little bit of the Violet Night trailer.
Welcome to your worst Christmas Summer. You have three hundred
million dollars in your personal vault. That's what I want
(33:09):
for Christmas? Are you going to help? No? My nice list.
Santa Claus is coming to down time for some seasons beatings.
So you have David Harbor in this movie, who you
(33:30):
would know as Hopper on Stranger Things. He plays Santa Claus.
You have John Luca Samo as Mr Scrooge, who is
the bad guy in this movie. He is the head
of this team who has broken in and holding these
people hostage trying to get into their vault. And after
watching this trailer, you may have think that you just
saw like a skit on S and L. And that's
(33:51):
kind of the vibe I get from this trailer. But
it takes that cheesiness of a Christmas movie and combine
some very fun looking action. You have somebody getting a
star into their face. You have Santa taking a candy
cane and sharp ending it like a knife to stab
somebody with. And that is what I look for in
an R rated Christmas movie. I do have this weird
(34:14):
fascination with them. Some of my favorite Christmas movies that
come out that are new just happened to be the
R rated ones, because, let's be honest, Christmas movies on
their own aren't really that great, but they don't have
to be. I'm not looking to really be challenged on
a Christmas movie. You want to know exactly what's going
to happen and have something that you can put on
(34:34):
and the entire family enjoy. So I kind of love
the oxy moron that is the R rated Christmas movie.
Some of my favorite recent ones that have come out
have been Office Christmas Party, A Bad Mom's Christmas, and
The O G to Me, which is Bad Santa. I
watch at least one, if not all of those, every
single Christmas now, because I think when you make an
(34:56):
action movie, there's always just a level of cheese this
and one that is sometimes hard to look past. With
just the traditional action movie, but making it a Christmas
movie kind of makes that cheesiness acceptable because you already
kind of expect that going into a Christmas movie. And
I think this could be the first real Christmas action
(35:19):
movie that I enjoy, because, let's be real, die Hard
is not a Christmas movie. And that's another reason that
I don't love Christmas movies is we have to fight
for any movie that just has a hint of Christmas
in it and justify its reason to be a Christmas movie.
That is how weak the genre is. We have to
fight for die Hard. We have to fight for Gremlins,
(35:40):
which are not real Christmas movies. They just have like
a Christmas light in it or a Christmas tree, and
everybody's like, oh, it's a Christmas movie. No, those movies
are not Christmas movies. This one is. We just have
to cling onto those little things to give us an
excuse to actually watch a decent movie around Christmas. And
I've actually really come to enjoy David Harbor as an
(36:04):
actor and as a lead. I thought he crushed it
in Stranger Things season four. He was pretty good in
Black Widow, and I'm kind of starting to see him
now as an action star he got pretty ripped up
for Stranger Things, and seeing him play this violent Santa
actually translates it really well. I think in that trailer,
(36:24):
my favorite lines are the cheesy lines. I am all
for the Santa Claus puns and everything to traditional Christmas
movies getting thrown out the window. So if you're like
me and looking for an alternative Christmas movie to watch
this season, Violent Night comes out this Friday on December two.
I can't wait to watch Santa Claus kicks him. This
(36:47):
makes a movie. And that's gonna do it for another
episode here on the podcast. But before I go, I
gotta give my listeners shout out, which I do every
single week, and this week it is going to somebody
who commented with the Christmas tree emoji, which was the
secret emoji from the Amy Brown interview from last week.
(37:07):
I went through and read all the comments on Instagram,
Facebook and Twitter and randomly selected one of you, and
the winner of this week's Listeners shout out is Kimberly
Suzanne on Instagram, who commented with the Christmas tree emoji
and said I am not a huge fan of Christmas movies,
but my family and I are so excited to watch
this because Amy is in it. Mike, thank you for
(37:30):
all of your spoiler free reviews. I have used and
enjoyed many of your movie suggestions that I otherwise may
have skipped. So appreciate you Kimberly for listening to last
week's episode and for listening to a lot of the
reviews here on the podcast. I try to cover all
different types of movies and bring you guys what I
enjoy and let you know what kind of movie fan
(37:52):
you need to be to watch all these movies. And
if ever I do have a viewer bias going into review,
I try to be up run about that as well,
just to let you know. I have no agenda on
my reviews other than just talking about what I like
and what I don't like, So I try not to
lead you guys astray, and hopefully, yeah, you've seen some
(38:12):
stuff that you otherwise wouldn't have watched unless I mentioned
it here on the podcast. I think that is also
my biggest goal from doing this podcast, because my favorite
era of film will always be what is happening now,
and that is the entire purpose of this podcast. So
thank you Kimberly, and thank you all for listening I
will give a bonus shout out. I was in Austin,
(38:34):
Texas over the Thanksgiving break and actually ran into a
few listeners on that trip. One in particular, I didn't
get your name, but it's because I ran into you
at the Torches bathroom, and it's also just kind of
weird to ask for somebody's name in the bathroom. But
we were washing our hands together and you said you
(38:54):
were a fan of the podcast. And it was also
one of the first times that I've been recognized as
just movie Mike and not from being on the Bobby
Bones Show, So that kind of meant a lot to me.
And it also made me realize that I have been
doing this podcast for three years now and it's really
been in the last year that I've felt the love
(39:15):
from you guys, So I really appreciate that. And it's
still just kind of weird to me. So if you
ever meet me, and I'm kind of stunned by the
fact that you listen to this podcast, that is why
I'm just surprised that anybody listens, and for that to
be the first thing you reference when you do run
into me, that is kind of the greatest compliment ever.
(39:36):
So I'm weird with compliments. I try not to be
awkward in person, so if ever i am, that is
why is because in my head I'm thinking, why is
this happening? So thank you for saying hello. That has
definitely made my day. So thank you, even though I
didn't get your name. And thanks to you again you're
listening now for listening to this week's episode. I'll talk
(39:56):
to you again next week here on the podcast. And
until then, go out and watch good movies and I
will talk to you later. Mmmmm
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