Over/Under Movies Episode 42: Rush Hour/The Last Dragon

Hi everyone, here's a new episode of Over/Under Movies, where three Pacific Northwest-based film critics talk about one overrated and one underrated film within the same genre, style, or tone. If you enjoy our show, please write us a review on iTunes (You can find us if you search for Over/Under Movies). We're on Twitter @overundermovies. You can also like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/overundermovies so you can be kept up to date on new episodes. If you enjoy our podcast, or find things we can improve, or even have suggestions on overrated or underrated films, please comment so we can improve the show. This episode focuses on Oktay's picks, and was intended as a palate cleanser after our discussion about the most underrated movies of 2015, which included some great but fairly depressing films (Make sure to check that one out. And while you're there, check out our episode about the most overrated movies of 2015 as well). So after all of that heavy stuff, we decided to have a bit of fun with some goofy genre fare as we dove into two martial arts films with african-american influences, or vice versa. First up, we discuss the 1998 hit Rush Hour, the buddy-cop comedy that propelled Jackie Chan to the US mainstream (Good), and turned Chris Tucker into a bona fide movie star (Bad). Of course, since this is un film de Brett Ratner, the discussion quickly turns into a desperate attempt to understand why people in Hollywood keep hiring such a mediocre hack. Then, it's time to meet Sho Nuff, The Shogun of Harlem, as he makes the honorable kung fu master Bruce Leroy kiss his Converse, in the glorious Motown/chopsocky mash up The Last Dragon. Does The Last Dragon deserve its reputation as a "so bad it's good" 80s artifact, or is it a genuinely good and entertaining bit of 80s fun? Erik McClanahan is the lead film critic at Oregon Arts Watch, co-host of the Adjust Your Tracking podcast (Also available on iTunes), and a contributor at The Playlist. Ryan Oliver is the co-host of the Unspooled Reel podcast and the author of the blog Wellness in 24 Frames. Oktay Ege Kozak is a film critic for The Playlist, DVD Talk, The Oregon Herald, and Beyazperde.