June 8, 2025 • 48 mins
In this episode of The Moviegoers Society, we're diving into the return of King of the Hill with a brand-new season, Disney’s heartfelt live-action take on Lilo & Stitch, the epic generational crossover in Karate Kid: Legends, and what might be Mike Flanagan’s most emotional Stephen King adaptation yet—The Life of Chuck.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
Well, hello and welcome to the Moviegoer Society podcast,
brought to you by Nurtropolis. I'm your host, Shawn Todberg,
the mayor of Neutropolis. And joining me, as always, is
Drew Manhausen, the professionalmedia and movie mastermind, who
is definitely disappointed of our just typical intro this
time. I, I kind of was expecting like
(00:33):
to reuse the maybe like the summer movie one that had kind
of like a Lilo and Stitch Hawaiian theme or something.
But now it's fine. You know, sometimes you just got
to get back to basics. Well, this episode is jam
packed. I will say it's extremely jam
packed. I didn't know which theme to
lean into because we're talking about a lot of things and not
(00:53):
just film a little bit of television before we jump into
like the four things we want to get into.
I got some show and tell. I like doing some some some
interesting stuff. I was very busy in this past
weekend. First off Friday I went to
Austin for the ATXTV festival. First time went there because I
(01:15):
wanted to cover the return of a very, very iconic TV show.
I'm not Drew. I'm not sure how much you are
familiar with the King of the Hill.
Very familiar with the show, like of course it has.
It's a huge place in kind of popculture history.
(01:36):
And I'm looking, it ran for 13 seasons, which I didn't even
realize it was on for that long.But you know, this premiered,
King of the Hill premiered when I would have been like 8 years
old. And so ironically, the idea of
like, guys standing outside drinking beer as kind of like
the marquee. Image that we're all.
(01:57):
Used to, yeah. Exactly.
Is this the image you're Speaking of?
I joined my fellow neighbors forsome Alamo.
Did not necessarily appeal to 8 year old Drew, but adult Drew
grew into that like that. It just is me now.
So I mean, I'm sure I would likeit now.
Yeah, so we're heading back to Arlen, Texas.
(02:19):
Thanks to the people at Hulu, Disney Plus, where the beer is
cold, conspiracies are wild, andpropane is still king.
The return of King of the hell. Dude, I am so excited for this
brand new revival season coming back Monday, August 4th.
I went to Austin in to kind of go to the panel and also I got
to do a really fun interview with the voice cast and
(02:42):
showrunner real quick. Season 14 picks up years after
the original finale. Hank, Peggy are back in Arlen
after moving abroad to Saudi Arabia.
Yes, that's where they went to for the propane industry over
there. But he's now retired and is now
adjusting to a modernized Arlen.And Bobby Hill is about in his
(03:05):
20s. He's chasing his dream of being
a chef in Dallas and trying to make his own.
But yeah, everyone else is back as well.
And yeah, this is this is them. This is the like the modern day
the Hills. And like I said, I got to speak
to the voice actor. So on the far left is Sal, who
is the showrunner. And then you have Pamela right
there. Who's the voice of Bobby?
(03:26):
Actually, if if you know out there Toby Haas, then various
characters for the show are is now taking over of Dale Gribble,
who we lost the voice actor who originally did him and I'm
Harwick was his name. I think it was Jonathan
Hardwick. Yeah.
Johnny Hardwick. Yeah, Johnny Hardwick.
(03:48):
And then next to me is, oh man, I'm drawing a blank.
Lauren Tom. And she voices Connie and Con,
so they're awesome to talk to and they had a lot to share.
There's some stuff on Nurtropolis about the panel.
My interviews by Roundtable interviews are not up yet.
(04:11):
I'm going to hold those probablycloser to release, but I'm
telling you, this is exciting that they're coming back.
And also you had Greg Daniels and oh man, my brain is drawing.
Like Mike Judge was also in attendance for this panel.
A lot going on with King of the Hill.
Drew, I must say that it's if you haven't watched it, you can
(04:31):
watch it on Hulu or Disney or Hulu on Disney Plus and start
binging again because I've been doing that and it was fantastic.
I do want to mention today was like crazy news.
The panel was crazy itself, to be honest, because it was kind
of crashed by oh man, Jonathan, I'm trying to think his name
(04:53):
right now. That's what I'm telling you
about my. My I saw you like Joel McHale
was there at 1:00. .0 Yeah, for for animal control, but the
voice of Johnny Redcorn. Sally passed away today after
some craziness that happened. Jonathan Joss passed away today.
Who is the voice of Johnny Record?
He got shot by his neighbor on Sunday.
(05:16):
His wild story. But what's crazy about it is he
was at this panel kind of the shovel a little bit.
But I think something happened between not being invited and
stuff like that. But he was OK.
It was just like a weird situation where he showed up and
wanted to say some things about,I guess about the his late voice
actor friend that voiced El Gribble.
But afterwards I talked to him, here's my picture with him and
(05:38):
he was awesome. And I just thanked him for being
like an awesome Johnny record and everything else he's done.
He's been Parks and he's done somany shows.
So I I personally wanted to thank him for all his like, you
know, entertaining he's done. He's a super sweet guy.
It's just so crazy when you meetsomeone and then a few days
later, his past, it's just surreal.
But his Johnny record was awesome.
He was the second person to takeover that role.
(06:00):
His John record was just really awesome.
I loved it. So it's just sad news that we we
had to mention today online and yeah, it's just sad when things
like this happen. You just never know.
But King of the Hill is returning.
He is in. Mike Judge says that he is in
about 6 episodes or so. Did they show any episodes as
part of this panel or was it mostly just promoting the show
(06:21):
and and letting you all know what to expect?
They were showing us the intro that's online now, and they
showed us like, I don't know howmany seconds of the first
episode of Hank and Peggy returning back from Saudi
Arabia. So not much, but actually pretty
good. I didn't want to be.
I didn't want anything to be ruined for me.
I kind of want to watch this fresh.
I don't want to watch any trailers or anything.
(06:43):
And then, yeah, I was there alsofor the animal control panel
with Joel McHale was in, I mean,in Austin, dude, everyone was
there. It was wild.
Anyone part of television was there from Billy Bob Thornton,
the Jon Hamm, Seth Meyers. I mean, everyone was in town.
So I did that as well. Some fun panels.
But honestly, the cool part the next day is I got invited to
(07:07):
check out this new Shutter IFC film called Dangerous Animals.
Have you heard about that one? I have It's a shark movie.
It is a shark movie, I will say that, but I got to watch it off
a boat up there in Austin and this is how they they showed the
movie, which is really cool. And that was a fun time.
(07:29):
I I would say that. So I got to spend time with the
director, Sean Byrne, another Sean spelled the same way as
well. And Hassie Harrison, the star of
the film and I know Hassie from Tacoma FD Great show.
Drew, have you seen that that show from the guys from Broken
Lizard, A couple guys from Broken Lizard on there.
I. Don't think I have.
(07:50):
Tacoma FD. If you like that comedy from the
guys from Super Troopers, a couple of them started the show.
It it is pretty, pretty funny I will say.
And Hass is great in it and Dangerous Animals is pretty darn
good. I will say I didn't watch any
any trailers going into it and just dove right in.
And watching on the water was even creepier because it does
(08:10):
take place, you know, in Sydney surrounded by water on a boat,
everything else fantastic. But Drew by weekend did not end
there. I know I'm taking so much time
just talking about what was going on from Austin.
I went to Dallas because I was requested by Gabriel Fluffy
Iglesias himself to bring him their Tropolis shirts last time
(08:31):
I talked to him and that interview has not dropped yet.
But I did speak to Gabriel for voicing boots in the new Dora
the Explorer live action movie. And when he saw this, he wanted
one. And I said I will hook you up
and if you're you're going to bein Texas, I'll come bring it to
you. He has moved down here, but with
Fan Expo in town, I packed up a bunch of Nurtropolis shirts and
(08:52):
goodies for him and went up to to give it to him and he was
very grateful for it. It was very surprised that I
actually made it up there to hand deliver it.
And the icing on the cake, Drew,that I will end on this weekend
is I brought my mom along for this entire ride for the three
days from Austin to Dallas. And what I wanted to do is I
wanted to introduce her to Priscilla Presley, who was in
(09:13):
Dallas so she could sign our Graceland photo album.
And I took my mom to Graceland and this was an amazing
experience. Super sweet she is.
And we got to thank her for justpreserving Graceland for what it
is. So I highly recommend anyone go
to Graceland. It is highly recommended any
time of year to go, but that waspretty much my wild weekend I
(09:34):
got back. It just passed out, I will say.
And this is following a weekend where you were in DC, so it's
just like a lot it's. True, it is a lie.
I have a lot of interviews coming this week.
I'm hosting the first in person Neutropolis event this Saturday.
The Hey you guys Bingo trivia out there, Eureka Heights in
(09:54):
Houston, Ballerina interviews, Kevin Smith interviews, Jason
Mew interviews. I mean, and more just I have to
say and more so that's my spiel of my show and tell and talking
about what's going on. Drew, before we do move on.
I've talked so much. I'm like how Kevin Smith likes
to talk so much as well. I he's rubbed off on me.
(10:16):
We're talkers, I guess, but tellus anything new, anything that
you know before we dive into these films.
I, I do want to say this is justkind of teasing something
because the kind of folks at Universal and Blumhouse sent me
the Blu-ray of the Woman in the Yard, which is a horror movie
that came out recently. It just arrived.
(10:36):
I have not had a chance to watchit yet.
And so once I do watch it, I'll definitely want to talk about it
here on the show cause I've actually heard some good things
about it. That's like actually pretty
creepy and pretty good. So I'm, I'm looking forward to
that. But yeah, I mean, it's like
we've just been delayed on recording honestly, because of
movies. Like last week, the normal
nights we probably would have recorded, you know, like we saw
(10:59):
Karate Kid Legends together, which was fun, and we probably
would have recorded something the day after.
But then we had the Life of Chuck screening then.
So it's just there's been a lot of screenings, there's a lot of
movies, which is a good problem to have when what you want to do
is cover movies, although difficult when you have to find
the time to then proceed to talkabout them.
Exactly because tonight I'm I'm I'm skipping re watching
(11:19):
ballerina, which I'm glad because I was like then June and
I probably wouldn't record for another week if I didn't
schedule a night to do this. So we have a lot of movies this
summer to talk about. I will say that it's just wild
how busy and quickly things are going in Hollywood with films
and television. But we got King of the Hill
(11:40):
coming in August. But the the stuff that we are
going to jump into is a movie that is merging this Karate Kid
universe that we didn't think that was going to happen.
It collides them. That is Karate Kid legends.
Sony decided to find a way to write a script that merges that
Jackie Chan film with what we'veexperienced with Ralph Macho and
(12:04):
then with Cobra Kai. But it's more interwoven with
the original Karate Kid movie and really ties in the Miyagi
and and Han in these two different franchises and kind of
what was it? 1 tree, 2 branches is what they
said. And I really enjoyed this movie.
(12:26):
I have a couple interviews I didwith Sadie Stanley as one of the
stars movie and the director as well.
Those are great conversations sodefinitely check them out.
But I thought this was a fantastic Karate Kid film,
especially how Cobra Kai ended, Cobra Kai ended and what it
offered. Because towards the end it got a
little bit crazy, little too cheesy.
(12:47):
But I was like, then I guess yougot to carry that over a little
bit to the next Karate Kid movie, right?
Like, what is it going to be? It can't be super serious to
what we just experienced in Cobra Kai for so many seasons.
They got to find a midway point of what type of tone they want
to give. And all I have to say is, First
off, Ben Wong, great, great casting as the New Karate Kid,
(13:09):
which I know from American Born Chinese.
And he definitely has a chops, man.
He is young, but his performanceis really promising to what else
he can deliver. Drew, what was your reaction
after first initially seeing Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan
finally team up? We'll do some spoilers.
Obviously, it takes a while before they meet up, but that's
really what the fans wanted whenthose two collide.
(13:29):
How was that for you initially? Can I, can I step back and just
give a little bit of my like Karate Kid history first?
Does it go back to Ralph Macho or does it go back to Hilary
Swank? No, it goes back to Ralph Macho.
So I'm not like Karate Kid is not my franchise.
You know, it's not like the one that I have rewatched and
rewatched. I don't, I haven't even seen all
(13:50):
the entries, but I have seen theoriginal Karate Kid with Ralph
Macchio and I even rewatched it before this movie and that
movie's really good and it and it holds up now.
I just want to point that out. And I actually worked at a movie
theater in college at the time that The Karate Kid remake with
Jackie Chan came out. So I saw that one when it came
(14:10):
out and and I remember enjoying it at the time.
Not one that I've revisited, butI remember thinking like it was
surprisingly solid. So I've at least seen, you know,
where these where these characters have originated and
seeing them come together in this movie I thought was
enjoyable. I think that Karate Kid Legends
and the original Karate Kid movie kind of have like opposite
(14:35):
problems if you watch them back-to-back now.
And what I mean by that is I love the original Karate Kid.
I think it's a little bit overlylong.
There's like maybe 15 minutes that you could cut out of that
movie and it would be like even more perfect than it already is.
Whereas Karate Kid Legends is like 94 minutes long.
It is rare on this show that youwill hear me be like, I wish
(14:57):
this movie would have been a little bit longer, but like they
could have given an extra 10 to 15 minutes to this movie to
really let it breathe and expandsome things.
So I feel like, like I said, those movies like one could have
15 minutes cut, this one could have had 15 minutes added.
It's definitely mirroring that original Karate Kid to an
extent, but I thought there wereactually some really, really
(15:20):
interesting things in the first half of the movie that it set up
and, and some things it was doing a little bit differently.
And then in at the end of the movie, it was like, hey, but we
got to be a Karate Kid movie. And it just they steamroll
through some things really quickly.
And even the, you know, I don't think it's a spoiler to say like
this movie ends with the tournament as the original
(15:42):
Karate Kid does. Although this one goes by really
fast. And I really could have used
some more time there building some things up, especially
because it's in that latter halfof the movie when Ross Macchio
really comes in, and it could have given him more time on
screen too. So that being said, I I haven't
watched any of Cobra Kai. This movie made me want to go
(16:04):
back and watch Cobra Kai, so I guess that says something about
it too. Yeah, you might want to watch
Cobra Kai for many reasons and Iguess to understand some of the
tone that we saw in this one, because I think at some point it
did grab some it it it was kind of a this is not a bad thing,
but the tone was a little mixed throughout right from the start
(16:24):
to finish. And then it kind of got a little
different towards the fights andstuff like that.
But I really love like the stylized direction of the film
and them doing a lot of stuff like comic bookie and video game
like style wise. They do it a lot at the very
beginning that I thought was really cool with like the
language because we start off inin China and I, I was like, oh,
OK, this movie is going to be really stylized.
(16:45):
And then it kind of drops that and then brings it back again at
the end. And I'm like, I could have used
some of this more consistently throughout.
Yeah, with the stuff with like Ben and Sadie remind me of stuff
with like Ralph and Elizabeth shoot, right and kind of setting
it up and kind of kind of molding all that stuff.
But I really liked everyone in this film.
(17:05):
I definitely would have watched probably more more, more of the
fighting, probably kind of longer scenes and stuff like
that. But I'm happy for another Karate
Kid. I would definitely watch another
one. Would would you watch another
one that kind of follow up? I I can see where they can kind
of take it. So I'm hoping they kind of do.
What do you think? I would this this is an
interesting franchise, I think because, you know, they they
(17:26):
made this Karate Kid movie on like a relatively small budget,
like, you know, pretty, pretty tame budget, I'll say that.
But it does kind of get like thebig blockbuster summer
treatment. And it's an interesting movie
because it does tie these two movies together, being the
(17:49):
original and kind of the remake,but it doesn't really do that
much new. Like it's very much a Karate kid
movie. And and also to your point, and
I've seen some criticisms of this online is like Cobra Kai
really took it and went with like a more silly tone.
And there's maybe some of that here, but not really it's it's a
(18:09):
little bit more self serious. So it's kind of like this is a
franchise that needs to decide what it wants to be.
Does it want to be self serious,kind of like the original Karate
Kid was? Does it want to be the slapstick
silly that Cobra Kai is, or is it something in the middle?
I'm saying that in general, and coming from a place that I liked
this movie, I enjoyed watching it.
(18:29):
I think that there's things you can pick apart with it and
things that could make it much better, but for what it is, it's
an enjoyable time at the theater.
And Ben Wang is is great and extremely charismatic.
I thought Sadie Stanley was really good and the two of them
had good chemistry, so I would absolutely watch more with these
characters. Yeah.
And, and the fact that they brought Jackie Chan back for
(18:51):
this, I watch, I, I want to see more of Jackie Chan.
The fact that Ralph Macchio agreed to be part of the story
because I think so. Also, some of the it's not
licensing, but some of like the producing rights is back with
like that 20, is it 2010? I guess when the Jackie Chan
version came. So Will Smith and his companies
have more say on that. And Jackie Chan was saying that
they kept delivering scripts that no one really felt
(19:13):
comfortable. And then when they said there is
a connection to Miyagi, that's when the light bulb pit.
And I really like that. I think that was a brilliant way
to connect everything and it makes a lot of sense and nothing
it never, it didn't feel forced to me watching every single
Karate Kid in Cobra Kai and and and really enjoying that Jackie
Chan film. Even though it's not really an
authentic Karate Kid film, it was still really well done.
(19:33):
Really good storyline there and this one was really great.
I could see them kind of figuring out the tone going
forward. I think more on serious side of
things because they could kind of raise the stakes a little
bit. I think.
I think they got what they want out of the way, and if they want
to continue, which I hope they do because this one also really
Mr. Miyagi, which we know is a character, they honored that
(19:55):
character's legacy, though, in this film.
And going forward, they are going to do that.
And that's what I love about it,is that whole connection to
everything. But yeah, I definitely love
seeing Ben in this. Sadie's awesome.
Everyone is pretty good in this.Joshua Jackson really surprised
me. I didn't know he was in the
movie until he popped up and I was like, is that Joshua
Jackson? And I thought he was very
charming in it. He's very good.
He played a good to to Sadie's dad.
(20:17):
I mean, I, I, I believed it. I dig, I dug it like it was
really great. Definitely would have seen
wanted to see more of him and everyone else, but it's all part
of the story too. I I thought the story was kind
of steering the in the in the best way possible and it, and it
kind of worked. It was not what I expected
because I I didn't really watch any of the trailer.
So very surprising stuff and great way to kind of connect
(20:37):
everything. And then can we talk about the
end credits scene? But you did.
Yeah, of course. I kind of expected this was
going to happen at some point inthe movie.
Well, we get. We get we got a Cobra Kai
mentioned kind of in there I thought was funny.
So they sent a pizza at the veryend.
I mean, these are spoilers or whatever, but we we get a pizza
delivery at the at the Dojo withRalph Macchio's character
(21:03):
getting it. And then to our surprise, Johnny
Lawrence is behind him with it and they're having a jab of
starring Miyagi Dough as a pizzacompany.
And I thought that was brilliant.
I was like, that was awesome. A great way to kind of include
him towards the end. And you can kind of see some of
the comedy that you'll see in Cobra Kai, Drew, when you go
back to watch it. I'll say that because there's
there's a lot of that stuff. I'm definitely going to going to
(21:26):
check it out because I've just heard good things about it.
Well, I've heard up and down things about it.
Mostly good, though. I feel like until maybe this
most recent season, I feel like some people were maybe
disappointed. Is that kind of the right read
of the room? I don't know.
People are enjoying it. I remember our audience loved
it, everything about it, and I think.
It's I've heard really good things about Paul Walter
(21:47):
Hauser's character in the show. Yeah, everyone loves Cobra.
I mean, and he's not major in it, but when he pops up it's
great. That's more of the slapstick
stuff. Yeah.
But honestly, like it went on for six seasons.
And for me personally, I'll say this like a little bit of
negative is kind of too much repetition and storyline.
It kind of like resets, OK, now we have to go against the same
(22:08):
person again. There's more drama happening.
It's just like they're trying toshut the door on all this drama
and everything going on, but they finally do.
But it's it's worth the watch. It's really good and but I just
hope like we kind of get some ofthese characters back in some
way because they're they're really fun, especially Williams
Zapka as Johnny Lawrence. That's the reason Cobra Kai is
(22:29):
it was really good, to be honest.
But that's Karate Kid legends. Really enjoyed it.
My full review is on the site neuropolis.com and also my
interviews as well. You can check out a movie.
We still haven't talked about what we need to talk about Drew
because we also have one of the stars of the movie on one of our
podcast. But Lilo and Stitch, Drew, we
finally got to talk about Lilo and Stitch.
(22:50):
We finally get to talk about Hawaii and surfing and
spaceships. Let me catch to the chase with
something on this, because I have to give you credit on
something. Reluctantly, slightly
reluctantly when we were doing summer movie previews and even
like months ago when I, I think we did our most anticipated,
(23:12):
however long ago it's been, it feels like a long time ago with,
with Lilo and Stitch, you were like, it's going to make a
billion dollars, like it's goingto make all the money.
And I kind of was like, yeah, OK, I haven't.
Checked. I haven't checked the box office
lately, I've been so busy. Well, hold on.
I mean, it's it hasn't made a billion dollars.
(23:32):
Let me. But I was like when you said
that, I was like, maybe it'll make half a billion dollars.
I was like, this movie will make500 million.
I have underestimated the fandomthat is behind this movie and
the people that have shown up for it.
At this point, Lilo and Stitch has made over $600 million
(23:54):
worldwide and it's still doing really well.
It was just number one at the box office this past weekend.
Yeah. So, Sean, I have to give credit
where credit is due. I.
Was pretty far off, but still with the merch.
With the merch it's easily over 2 billion.
I can probably. I, we'll, we'll see where it
goes. The problem is it's coming out
(24:15):
in a busy summer season at the beginning.
I think this will linger for a bit because the competition from
like kids programming. I mean, the the big release
coming out this upcoming weekendis Ballerina, as you've
referenced. So like Lilo and Stitch is still
pretty great counter programmingto that.
There's the biggest competition that to Stitches box office run
(24:35):
will be when How to Train Your Dragon comes out in another week
and 1/2. So I think that Stitch will
still do pretty well for anotherweek or so and then maybe we'll
really slow down then. But yeah, I I just have to admit
that, you know, Lilo and Stitch was not one of mine as a kid.
I was old enough that I was kindof over, you know, I was like
(24:58):
too cool for the Disney animatedmovies.
But I know that there are peoplejust a few years younger than us
that Lilo and Stitch is like oneof their core movies that they
grew up with. I mean, everyone loves Stitch,
right? This, this, this Stitch in
general, but I mean, I wasn't always illegal in stitch guy.
I always loved Hawaii. My wife loves, you know, the
movies and everything else aboutStitch because Stitch reminds
(25:20):
everyone of like their favorite puppy or dog or pets with his
attitude. But really this movie really
made me appreciate like the original movies deeper meaning
and stuff like that really highlights it because you see it
in a non animated form of real people.
And I really felt this live action remake, you can call it,
which I thought it's not beat for beat, but there are some
(25:43):
pretty solid changes and I can see why they did them and I'm
not, I have no gripe about the changes they made.
There is a vocal group of fans that do have a big problem with
it. I'm with you.
Like I don't have, you know, theway it ended, I thought was
fine. And the changes they've made,
you know, I understand why they had to do it.
Right. But I mean, let's read this live
(26:04):
action remake. It's heartfelt.
I thought it was stunning. It looked great because I
obviously they filmed this in Hawaii.
It's a love letter both to the original film and to the
Hawaiian spirit of Ohana. I loved all everything about it.
And obviously the cast I thoughtwas spot on.
Lilo cast perfectly right. Drew Maya shines as Lilo.
She's funny, she's raw. I think it's her first film,
(26:25):
right? So and and she nailed it.
I thought all the casting in this was good.
The girl who played Lilo looks like Maya, if that's if I'm
pronouncing it right. She was great.
I thought that Nani, the older, the actress, the older sister
was, was actually really good. Typo, of course, was good.
Stitch is Stitch. And I thought Billy Magnussen
(26:47):
was kind of like an MVP of the movie, personally.
Like I thought he was actually very funny and just kind of
understood the tone of what theywere doing here and kind of
being cartoony, and I appreciated that.
Yeah, it was really fun. I, I liked it.
I think it's going to green light a sequel.
I really think so. I think there's no way you don't
(27:09):
do one. I think this is the only live
action Disney adaptation that's going to be able to get to a
sequel. Well, they did Mufasa, you know.
Consider that live action to some extent, yeah.
And that's technically a prequel.
They. Yeah, that's true.
Which I really like. I really do like those films,
though. Those still get me emotionally.
The Mufasa and The Lion King movie.
But still like to your point, sothey did Mufasa and Mufasa was
(27:33):
kind of a disappointment in its opening weekend box office, but
then it did really well over a long period of time over the
holidays and. Because everyone was so good,
which it is, it actually is really good.
I I really enjoyed it. Mufasa performed really well,
then Snow White didn't perform well and a lot of people were
like Snow White, This is it. Like they're done with the live
action remakes. Leave them.
Stitch will come out, but they're done and then this movie
(27:55):
has come out and it's like, no, they're not done.
If if they're they'll still continue to mine.
I think a few other franchises we've already got the live
action. They could still, I think, do
like a Princess and the Frog if they wanted to.
And they haven't even touched onFrozen yet, which I'm sure will
come will happen at some point. But I think that Lilo and
(28:16):
Stitch, as far as these live action adaptations goes, is the
most ripe for a sequel at this point.
I think this movie's done gangbusters.
The fans are vocal and they showup to the theater and I think
they would show up to a sequel. Yeah, I mean, there's so much
they could do. I mean, there's been the TV show
that's been LILO and such sequels.
There's just so much more characters you can introduce to.
(28:40):
You can go like the Sonic the Hedgehog route, right, where you
kind of do your sequels, you do spin offs.
You can add more stuff to this franchise if you really wanted
to, and you can take it, animateit if you really wanted to as
well. I mean, this is something that
should keep going. This is their number one IP for
Disney when it comes to merch. They said it.
This is the number one selling is Lilo and Stitch.
There's nothing else. I have a 5 year old and we have
(29:02):
a stuffed stitch in our home. Just one.
Just one of them. Just one.
Just one at this point. More will come.
Christmas is around the corner. But yeah, really enjoyed this
one. It was a lot of fun.
I love seeing Hawaii as, you know, the backdrop or a
character of its own. I think we need more films that
(29:24):
are taking place in Hawaii. I just love, love that place and
the people there. Amazing.
So yeah, great cast, everyone knocked out of the park.
And definitely hope we do get a sequel Drew from Ohana and Alien
Chaos. We can move on to this other
(29:44):
film that I had no clue about. A film we got to watch together
called The Life of Chuck. This is a Mike Flanagan film
adaptation of a Stephen King. Is it a short?
Was it a short or what was it? It it is a short story or part.
(30:07):
Yeah. It's part of a larger series
that that came out like just a few years ago.
It's it's relatively recent. Oh, it is new.
It's it's new for Stephen King. I can't remember, is this one a
a novella or is this a a short story?
That's what I'm trying to think.It's it's a novella.
Is it's. Considered a novella, that's
what it is. It's crazy Stephen King is
getting so many adaptations and also wasn't his.
(30:30):
His son is the one that did the black phone correct.
That's a Stephen. That's his son's story, if I
recall as you. Oh, is it?
I don't even. Know Fact Check me real quick
but I think Stephen King's Sud is the black phone that's what
that's based off of it's one of his shorts maybe and then the
black phone 2 which was never part of any of the shorts or or
(30:52):
stories prize it's coming out this year with our friend Mason
Thames but I didn't think Stephen King Scott.
Scott Derrickson wrote and direct OH, based on the Black
Phone by Joe Hill. Which is Stephen King's son if
I'm. Parent Stephen King is his
father. You are correct.
(31:13):
You are. I did not know this.
I win. Her Tropolis, Jeopardy.
I'm always searching the webs and things come up and and stick
with me. But yeah.
And also there's another the law.
Is it called the Long Walk? That's none.
Another Stephen King adaptation coming out and Mark Hamill's
also in that too. I think it's called the Long
Walk. Yeah, it's it's kind of like
(31:35):
Stephen King has always been. There's a lot of text to adapt
into TV or movies or what have you.
And I think that then the success of it back in 2017, I
think really revitalized the Stephen King, you know, like
people trying to get their handson any Stephen King property.
(31:55):
And then that has led to, you know, another take at Pet
Cemetery and all kinds of Stephen King adaptations.
And of course, we've seen that Mike Flanagan, who directed The
Life of Chuck, he has done, he did like Gerald's Game for
Netflix, which was really good and really well received.
And then Dr. Sleep, which is a movie that I really loved.
(32:17):
That's one of my favorites of his, and I did not know
anything. I didn't know who Mike Flanagan
was, like even when I watched Doctor Sleep.
But Doctor Sleep I thought was really well done and was woven
perfectly into The Shining movieas well.
Interwolf perfectly. I think Mike Flanagan has really
made a name for himself amongst our fans as like he, he just
(32:37):
understands the genre and thingslike OK, he did Oculus, which is
pretty well received. And then again in 2016 he did
Ouija Origin of Evil. So this was the sequel to the
Ouija horror movie, the originalOuija horror movie.
Not very good. Then he took this like prequel
(32:57):
movie that could have been just more trash and actually made it
really good and then has gone onto only do film adaptation as
far as his film career adaptations of Stephen King
properties. But he's had a really big
presence on Netflix with the different series he's done
almost annually. Like he did The Haunting of Hill
House and The Haunting of Fly Manor, The Midnight Mass, The
(33:17):
Midnight Club, and most recentlyThe Fall of the House of Usher,
which I actually reviewed for Nurtropolis after seeing the
first couple episodes at Fantastic Fest a while back, a
series that I really liked. Actually.
He only directed 4 episodes of it, but he wrote 7.
Of them but still but also Next up he also has Carrie that he's
doing a Prime Video which which just.
Today a bunch of casting news came out about that show, I
(33:40):
think solidifying all the all the casting.
All casts but one of the original casts that was was
actually for Lilo and Sidney's sister Sienna's in it, which is.
Oh, perfect. Yeah, small world that is out
there, 2 talented sisters doing some really great things.
But Life of Chuck, a movie I wasnot aware of prior the story did
(34:03):
you? You never read the novella then,
right? You, don't you?
Have not read the novella, but Iwas aware of the movie because
of at at TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival this
past fall. Back in September it won the
coveted People's Choice Award, which I remember like it won
that award. I've never even heard of the
movie and of course not now I'm aware of it.
(34:26):
And then I thought because Mike Flanagan had a presence at
Fantastic Fest, I was like, oh, maybe the life of Chuck will be
like a secret screening or something.
It wasn't. And it's now coming out, you
know, a good while after TIFF. So it you know, it's interesting
that it made the festival circuit and now it's coming out
in the middle of the summer. The reason why that's notable is
(34:49):
I put this in my review, which is up under Tropolis of this
movie, that the past 15 of the past 16 winners of the Tiff's
People's Choice Award have gone on to earn best picture
nominations at the Academy Awards.
So typically the TIFF People's Choice Award is pretty
indicative of, you know, Oscar chances.
And six of those that won the People's Choice Award went on to
(35:11):
win the Oscar. So like, even looking at the
life of Chuck, the movies that it was nominated against for
this award were a Nora, which ended up winning best picture,
and Amelia Perez, which was, youknow, had many, many nominations
at the Academy Awards. The life of Chuck was pushed
till this year for wide release.It's now out in the middle of
the summer. And I think with the weight of
(35:32):
that on its shoulders, I went inkind of being like, all right,
is this going to be like a firstbig Oscar movie of this year?
And having seen it, I don't really think so.
Yeah, when you told me that and I watched it and I did enjoy it
and I love the messaging in it and the ride we're on.
(35:54):
Maybe because I wasn't aware of it.
What does the Stephen King novella that I wasn't prepared
to what I experienced, which waspretty odd at the same time and
very I felt like I was also a little bit shorted on what it
was going to be delivered based on some of the things I've seen
online. First off, like Tom Hiddleston
shows up really late and so. I clocked it.
(36:15):
We were in the theater. He actually shows up on not
including the ads, like that picture that you have on screen
'cause he does show up almost like, and he's referenced almost
as a meme in this kind of like, you know, like sci-fi paranormal
ask the way his ads show up and nobody knows who he is.
Whatever. He doesn't actually show up on
screen until about 36 or 37 minutes into the movie.
(36:39):
Yeah, Did that affect your connection to the character?
A little bit I I just I, I really like Tom Hiddleston as a
performer and I was like ready to go see a Tom Hiddleston
vehicle in theaters. I'm like cool a Stephen King
adaptation starring Tom Hiddleston as the title
character. Let's go.
But he. But it is not starring Tom
(37:01):
Hiddleston, if you really think about it at all.
Yeah, he gets he doesn't really have that much screen time.
It's a huge ensemble cast in this movie.
You got Chivotel, Ezio 4, Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, you've got
Nick Offerman's doing like the voice over in it and Jacob
Tremblay, Benjamin Pajak who played the younger version of
(37:22):
Chuck, who get way more screen time than Tom Hiddleston.
And knocked and knocked it out of of the park.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, they were really good.
And Tom Hiddleston was great when he was there.
There's a scene in the middle ofthe movie where he's dancing and
it was the electric. Like I was like, yes, this, I'm
I'm all in. And then that scene ends too
(37:43):
early and. Too early.
That was a very long dance and. Well, I mean, I mean, I just
mean like that buzz or that energy then ends.
And to me, never really. We never really got back to that
high in the in the rest of the movie.
Maybe for obvious reasons, though I think it was obviously
purposeful based on the story ofa highlight, a memory of his
(38:07):
that he really enjoyed, and thenit's kind of a flashback as well
to why he was dancing. Did you like the reverse
timeline structure? Yes that's how the novella is
told as well from the research they've done, because I have not
read the novella. I thought the opening was really
(38:28):
interesting that the act three, it opens with where you're
facing these kind of like into the world scenarios, but
everybody's just kind of accepted it and they're just
kind of living out their days somewhat peacefully, but just
waiting for, you know, the Internet to go out for good and
these things. And I, I really, I was really
fascinated by all of it and interested to see where it was
(38:49):
going. And then it kind of reaches this
crescendo and then we go to Act 2 and which makes sense.
You know, the way, the way that it worked, like the way it plays
out in the movie makes sense. And then Act 2, I'm like, OK,
now we're really going to get Hiddleston in the movie and we
do for this act, but it's the shortest act of the three
before. Then we go on to like the
(39:09):
beginning of his life and where,you know, why Chuck was the way
you are, what you know, how he learned to love, to dance and
things like that, which I thought all of that was good
too. It just again, it just kind of
the plane leveled out and then slowly descended until we hit
the end of the movie. And while I found a lot of bits
(39:32):
and pieces of the film, I enjoyed the overall package.
I'm a little bit more mixed on. Yeah, I did like, you know, the
the last part of the film when it shows him when he's younger.
I actually surprisingly really enjoyed that more than probably
many, many other people did. I thought Mark Hamill was
(39:53):
fantastic in this, actually. I agree.
I haven't seen him do a performance like this.
And you know, you can say some of his performances seem the
same. This is not a knock.
Sometimes he does. To me, he does not come off of
having that much range for whatever reason.
But I like anything he does because it's Mark Hamill.
So but in this he did show some range, especially that one scene
(40:15):
when he goes up the stairs and then when the kid falls down and
he goes to console him and like shows like how sorry he was for
for yelling at him. I really felt that actually,
surprisingly, there's not many scenes that stick with me.
But I felt Mark Hamill was like,his character was so, so sorry
and saddened by what he experienced and saw and just
trying to make him feel better about it as his grandson.
(40:36):
And I thought that was the best part of the one of the best
scenes in the movie. Yes, yeah, I agree.
Yeah, Hamel's really good in this and he's a Flanagan
regular. And it just goes to show, you
know, when you let him, when youlet him take on these different
role and kind of character roles, he's, he's very good.
Yeah. Would you recommend this to King
fans or? I would absolutely for King
(40:59):
fans, 'cause it, I mean, it's Stephen King to a tee for sure.
It's just King. King does this.
He's got his scary stuff and then he has his more reflective
life stuff. And this is probably wants to be
categorized more alongside like your Shawshank Redemptions, your
Green Miles, your Stand By, Meet, that kind of stuff.
Those are all movies that I probably find a little bit more
(41:21):
emotionally impactful than this one, but I mean, this one has
interesting ideas. It does have great performances.
I just like I said, there's a lot of parts that I like about
it that I like more than the whole.
Yeah, it was an interesting cinematic experience for us.
I believe it was something totally different.
It kind of reset my palette, to which I'm glad.
(41:43):
After all these big blockbustersand big stuff, this is something
that felt very small and intimate, and I was up for the
ride. A very strange ride, maybe not
as fulfilling as I wanted to, but I enjoyed the messaging.
A lot of heartfelt moments as well when it leaned into the
sci-fi part. That was pretty interesting and
I I kind of wish it leaned more into that sci-fi.
But like I said, I didn't know anything about novella, the
novella by Stephen King. So if this was kind of something
(42:06):
went in blindly, I was expectingsomething a little bit
differently because this is not your typical King story, right?
Like this isn't. It's very rare to get a story
like this right, Drew, compared to the other ones.
It is, yeah. You know, I haven't read all of
his short stories and things, but it's like the other short
story that was adapted this yearfor into a film was the Monkey.
(42:26):
So like very different movies here.
I I also think I'm fascinated inthe kind of acquisition.
Acquisition of this movie by Neon, who you know, they
acquired Anora last year, which won Best Picture.
Actually, they had the monkey aswell.
But the fact that they had this movie and they're releasing it
(42:50):
in the middle of the summer kindof makes me feel like I guess
the reason they didn't want to release it in the fall, even
having won the TIFF People's Choice Award, is probably
because they knew what they had on their hands with Anora and
knew that Anora was more the awards play at the time.
And the fact that this is releasing in the middle of the
summer makes me think that they know that the Life of Chuck is
(43:10):
not going to be an awards film. And they just acquired a movie
out of Cannes that or I guess going into Cannes, that one of
the movies that they had won thePalmdor.
And it looks like it's probably going to be a huge awards play
again this year. So, you know, we'll see.
(43:34):
Yeah, there's two other Stephen King movies coming out.
Like I said, you have The Long Walk, which comes out September
12th, and that's directed by Francis Lawrence, which is
pretty cool. And it's written, obviously it's
based on Stephen King, shorter than whatever it was.
I don't know what's based on exactly.
What a novel, a 1979 novel. JT Molnar, who did one of our
(43:58):
favorite films, Strange Darling wrote it.
Winning combination. Francis Lawrence is known for
The Hunger Games. Did he do the first Constantine
or is he just tied to the secondone?
Did Red Sparrow? I mean, Francis Lawrence is
amazing. Yeah, he did the Constantine in
The Hunger Games films and everything else.
And then also the other one is the running Man.
(44:20):
Are you? Except for the running Man?
I am, I'll tell you that much. I've heard really good things
about The Running Man for the people that saw clips of it out
of Cinemacon, and I'm a big Glenn Powell fan, so I I'm
actually pretty pumped for The Running Man.
And that's from Edgar Wright, soit's Stephen King.
Oh, and Redgar Wright. Yeah, that that behind it, too.
I mean, I'm I'm a big Edgar Wright fan.
(44:41):
Even his stumbles I find to at least be the very least
interesting. Stumbles.
What has he done that you think of Stumbling?
I'm not too familiar with his monger.
I am, but like what? What is his stumbles?
I'm. Curious.
His most recent film, Last Nightin Soho, left a little to be
desired. I didn't.
I liked it. I didn't.
I didn't. I liked it too.
(45:01):
I just didn't. You know it could.
Have been stronger. It could have been stronger for
his for his filmography. I we will consider.
We can say that for sure. You know a lot of other friends
have like I'm on here. He's a writer for the Adventures
of Tintin. That's amazing.
He was a Co writer. I love Tintin, That was a great
one. I'm waiting for that sequel for
years. I'll tell you the Adventures of
Tintin. You might.
You're probably going to be waiting for a while.
(45:21):
I don't. I love it the priority.
For Spielberger, Peter Jackson. It is animated, it's animated,
it's animated, it's easy to do, it's easy to do.
Drew, any last thoughts before Iwrap things up this this Monday
evening? No, I just, you know, I'm
excited to see ballerina. I'm excited to see how to train
your dragon in the coming weeks.I still have not had a chance to
(45:43):
see friendship. Unfortunately, I just haven't
had the time. It's in it's it's unlimited
screens and it was on my most anticipated list, but also the
press screening for it was the same night as Mission
Impossible. So like you can't do this to me.
So I'm hoping to get out and seeit soon.
You didn't grab a popcorn bucketfor Mission Impossible, did you?
No I didn't with the complete with cruiser form key.
(46:08):
Real quick before we wrap thingsup, there it is.
I I don't have the space for these popcorn buckets.
I don't have the space for anything.
Bucket collector. Yeah.
But this one you have to have. It's the IT could be the last
Mission Impossible movie ever, and it's the way to say goodbye.
But. What made you get this one?
Is that why the? I mean, this is heavy.
This doesn't even look like a popcorn bucket.
(46:30):
Like it's heavy. Yeah.
Anything that's very prop like when it comes to popcorn buckets
I probably will get because that's just pretty darn cool.
If any of the popcorn buckets, like gimmicky, you know,
promotional popcorn buckets you've gotten, have you ever
actually eaten popcorn out of them?
No, actually, yes. Which one was it?
Was it Garfield because of this?Garfield's head?
(46:53):
That's a good one. I used to collect the 10, the 10
ones before they went a lot withthese crazy ones.
So I mean, I I really don't wantto get these.
I was going to get The Karate Kid one, but I was kind of iffy
on it. I didn't see it catching my eyes
too much. They were cool because you can
karate chop it and it opened up.Did you get the Dune popcorn
bucket that really kicked off this craze?
(47:13):
No, but I do have the obviously the Deadpool and Wolverine one
them around here. I actually have like 2 popcorn
buckets right here and some in the back.
I'm blocking them but they're around here and they're
sprinkled throughout. I wish I got the Star Wars one,
the Darth Vader one. There's a lot I wanted but why?
I have so much cool stuff as youcan see like that.
Don't need more popcorn buckets,but they're pretty cool.
(47:34):
Do both Regal and AMC do these? And Cinemark and like Cineopolis
does it and other places I. Mean do they get the same ones
or they all get their own? Special they're all different
they're. All that's way they make they
make this way too difficult. They're very insulating.
What can you say about that? I mean, it makes sense as a
comic collector. Like, I get it, but yeah, I
(47:58):
can't do it. I can't.
My wallet can't do it. I can't do it.
I already like buying physical media.
I'll I'll stick to that. Yeah, I'm with you on that.
But yeah, that's it everyone. Thanks for hanging us for
tonight for another episode of the movie Gover Society.
Once again, I'm Sean Toshore, the mayor of Neutropolis and.
We'll see you. No, you're Drew.
(48:18):
Drew. You got you?
Come on. Yeah, I'm Drew.
Yeah, I'm Drew von Allison. You can catch me at Drew von
Hausen on all the socials. And can I say it?
Yes, you can say it. And we'll see you at the movies.
That's it. Drew's got it right.
We'll see you all at the.
Well, hello and welcome to the Moviegoer Society podcast,
brought to you by Nurtropolis. I'm your host, Shawn Todberg,
the mayor of Neutropolis. And joining me, as always, is
Drew Manhausen, the professionalmedia and movie mastermind, who
is definitely disappointed of our just typical intro this
time. I, I kind of was expecting like
(00:33):
to reuse the maybe like the summer movie one that had kind
of like a Lilo and Stitch Hawaiian theme or something.
But now it's fine. You know, sometimes you just got
to get back to basics. Well, this episode is jam
packed. I will say it's extremely jam
packed. I didn't know which theme to
lean into because we're talking about a lot of things and not
(00:53):
just film a little bit of television before we jump into
like the four things we want to get into.
I got some show and tell. I like doing some some some
interesting stuff. I was very busy in this past
weekend. First off Friday I went to
Austin for the ATXTV festival. First time went there because I
(01:15):
wanted to cover the return of a very, very iconic TV show.
I'm not Drew. I'm not sure how much you are
familiar with the King of the Hill.
Very familiar with the show, like of course it has.
It's a huge place in kind of popculture history.
(01:36):
And I'm looking, it ran for 13 seasons, which I didn't even
realize it was on for that long.But you know, this premiered,
King of the Hill premiered when I would have been like 8 years
old. And so ironically, the idea of
like, guys standing outside drinking beer as kind of like
the marquee. Image that we're all.
(01:57):
Used to, yeah. Exactly.
Is this the image you're Speaking of?
I joined my fellow neighbors forsome Alamo.
Did not necessarily appeal to 8 year old Drew, but adult Drew
grew into that like that. It just is me now.
So I mean, I'm sure I would likeit now.
Yeah, so we're heading back to Arlen, Texas.
(02:19):
Thanks to the people at Hulu, Disney Plus, where the beer is
cold, conspiracies are wild, andpropane is still king.
The return of King of the hell. Dude, I am so excited for this
brand new revival season coming back Monday, August 4th.
I went to Austin in to kind of go to the panel and also I got
to do a really fun interview with the voice cast and
(02:42):
showrunner real quick. Season 14 picks up years after
the original finale. Hank, Peggy are back in Arlen
after moving abroad to Saudi Arabia.
Yes, that's where they went to for the propane industry over
there. But he's now retired and is now
adjusting to a modernized Arlen.And Bobby Hill is about in his
(03:05):
20s. He's chasing his dream of being
a chef in Dallas and trying to make his own.
But yeah, everyone else is back as well.
And yeah, this is this is them. This is the like the modern day
the Hills. And like I said, I got to speak
to the voice actor. So on the far left is Sal, who
is the showrunner. And then you have Pamela right
there. Who's the voice of Bobby?
(03:26):
Actually, if if you know out there Toby Haas, then various
characters for the show are is now taking over of Dale Gribble,
who we lost the voice actor who originally did him and I'm
Harwick was his name. I think it was Jonathan
Hardwick. Yeah.
Johnny Hardwick. Yeah, Johnny Hardwick.
(03:48):
And then next to me is, oh man, I'm drawing a blank.
Lauren Tom. And she voices Connie and Con,
so they're awesome to talk to and they had a lot to share.
There's some stuff on Nurtropolis about the panel.
My interviews by Roundtable interviews are not up yet.
(04:11):
I'm going to hold those probablycloser to release, but I'm
telling you, this is exciting that they're coming back.
And also you had Greg Daniels and oh man, my brain is drawing.
Like Mike Judge was also in attendance for this panel.
A lot going on with King of the Hill.
Drew, I must say that it's if you haven't watched it, you can
(04:31):
watch it on Hulu or Disney or Hulu on Disney Plus and start
binging again because I've been doing that and it was fantastic.
I do want to mention today was like crazy news.
The panel was crazy itself, to be honest, because it was kind
of crashed by oh man, Jonathan, I'm trying to think his name
(04:53):
right now. That's what I'm telling you
about my. My I saw you like Joel McHale
was there at 1:00. .0 Yeah, for for animal control, but the
voice of Johnny Redcorn. Sally passed away today after
some craziness that happened. Jonathan Joss passed away today.
Who is the voice of Johnny Record?
He got shot by his neighbor on Sunday.
(05:16):
His wild story. But what's crazy about it is he
was at this panel kind of the shovel a little bit.
But I think something happened between not being invited and
stuff like that. But he was OK.
It was just like a weird situation where he showed up and
wanted to say some things about,I guess about the his late voice
actor friend that voiced El Gribble.
But afterwards I talked to him, here's my picture with him and
(05:38):
he was awesome. And I just thanked him for being
like an awesome Johnny record and everything else he's done.
He's been Parks and he's done somany shows.
So I I personally wanted to thank him for all his like, you
know, entertaining he's done. He's a super sweet guy.
It's just so crazy when you meetsomeone and then a few days
later, his past, it's just surreal.
But his Johnny record was awesome.
He was the second person to takeover that role.
(06:00):
His John record was just really awesome.
I loved it. So it's just sad news that we we
had to mention today online and yeah, it's just sad when things
like this happen. You just never know.
But King of the Hill is returning.
He is in. Mike Judge says that he is in
about 6 episodes or so. Did they show any episodes as
part of this panel or was it mostly just promoting the show
(06:21):
and and letting you all know what to expect?
They were showing us the intro that's online now, and they
showed us like, I don't know howmany seconds of the first
episode of Hank and Peggy returning back from Saudi
Arabia. So not much, but actually pretty
good. I didn't want to be.
I didn't want anything to be ruined for me.
I kind of want to watch this fresh.
I don't want to watch any trailers or anything.
(06:43):
And then, yeah, I was there alsofor the animal control panel
with Joel McHale was in, I mean,in Austin, dude, everyone was
there. It was wild.
Anyone part of television was there from Billy Bob Thornton,
the Jon Hamm, Seth Meyers. I mean, everyone was in town.
So I did that as well. Some fun panels.
But honestly, the cool part the next day is I got invited to
(07:07):
check out this new Shutter IFC film called Dangerous Animals.
Have you heard about that one? I have It's a shark movie.
It is a shark movie, I will say that, but I got to watch it off
a boat up there in Austin and this is how they they showed the
movie, which is really cool. And that was a fun time.
(07:29):
I I would say that. So I got to spend time with the
director, Sean Byrne, another Sean spelled the same way as
well. And Hassie Harrison, the star of
the film and I know Hassie from Tacoma FD Great show.
Drew, have you seen that that show from the guys from Broken
Lizard, A couple guys from Broken Lizard on there.
I. Don't think I have.
(07:50):
Tacoma FD. If you like that comedy from the
guys from Super Troopers, a couple of them started the show.
It it is pretty, pretty funny I will say.
And Hass is great in it and Dangerous Animals is pretty darn
good. I will say I didn't watch any
any trailers going into it and just dove right in.
And watching on the water was even creepier because it does
(08:10):
take place, you know, in Sydney surrounded by water on a boat,
everything else fantastic. But Drew by weekend did not end
there. I know I'm taking so much time
just talking about what was going on from Austin.
I went to Dallas because I was requested by Gabriel Fluffy
Iglesias himself to bring him their Tropolis shirts last time
(08:31):
I talked to him and that interview has not dropped yet.
But I did speak to Gabriel for voicing boots in the new Dora
the Explorer live action movie. And when he saw this, he wanted
one. And I said I will hook you up
and if you're you're going to bein Texas, I'll come bring it to
you. He has moved down here, but with
Fan Expo in town, I packed up a bunch of Nurtropolis shirts and
(08:52):
goodies for him and went up to to give it to him and he was
very grateful for it. It was very surprised that I
actually made it up there to hand deliver it.
And the icing on the cake, Drew,that I will end on this weekend
is I brought my mom along for this entire ride for the three
days from Austin to Dallas. And what I wanted to do is I
wanted to introduce her to Priscilla Presley, who was in
(09:13):
Dallas so she could sign our Graceland photo album.
And I took my mom to Graceland and this was an amazing
experience. Super sweet she is.
And we got to thank her for justpreserving Graceland for what it
is. So I highly recommend anyone go
to Graceland. It is highly recommended any
time of year to go, but that waspretty much my wild weekend I
(09:34):
got back. It just passed out, I will say.
And this is following a weekend where you were in DC, so it's
just like a lot it's. True, it is a lie.
I have a lot of interviews coming this week.
I'm hosting the first in person Neutropolis event this Saturday.
The Hey you guys Bingo trivia out there, Eureka Heights in
(09:54):
Houston, Ballerina interviews, Kevin Smith interviews, Jason
Mew interviews. I mean, and more just I have to
say and more so that's my spiel of my show and tell and talking
about what's going on. Drew, before we do move on.
I've talked so much. I'm like how Kevin Smith likes
to talk so much as well. I he's rubbed off on me.
(10:16):
We're talkers, I guess, but tellus anything new, anything that
you know before we dive into these films.
I, I do want to say this is justkind of teasing something
because the kind of folks at Universal and Blumhouse sent me
the Blu-ray of the Woman in the Yard, which is a horror movie
that came out recently. It just arrived.
(10:36):
I have not had a chance to watchit yet.
And so once I do watch it, I'll definitely want to talk about it
here on the show cause I've actually heard some good things
about it. That's like actually pretty
creepy and pretty good. So I'm, I'm looking forward to
that. But yeah, I mean, it's like
we've just been delayed on recording honestly, because of
movies. Like last week, the normal
nights we probably would have recorded, you know, like we saw
(10:59):
Karate Kid Legends together, which was fun, and we probably
would have recorded something the day after.
But then we had the Life of Chuck screening then.
So it's just there's been a lot of screenings, there's a lot of
movies, which is a good problem to have when what you want to do
is cover movies, although difficult when you have to find
the time to then proceed to talkabout them.
Exactly because tonight I'm I'm I'm skipping re watching
(11:19):
ballerina, which I'm glad because I was like then June and
I probably wouldn't record for another week if I didn't
schedule a night to do this. So we have a lot of movies this
summer to talk about. I will say that it's just wild
how busy and quickly things are going in Hollywood with films
and television. But we got King of the Hill
(11:40):
coming in August. But the the stuff that we are
going to jump into is a movie that is merging this Karate Kid
universe that we didn't think that was going to happen.
It collides them. That is Karate Kid legends.
Sony decided to find a way to write a script that merges that
Jackie Chan film with what we'veexperienced with Ralph Macho and
(12:04):
then with Cobra Kai. But it's more interwoven with
the original Karate Kid movie and really ties in the Miyagi
and and Han in these two different franchises and kind of
what was it? 1 tree, 2 branches is what they
said. And I really enjoyed this movie.
(12:26):
I have a couple interviews I didwith Sadie Stanley as one of the
stars movie and the director as well.
Those are great conversations sodefinitely check them out.
But I thought this was a fantastic Karate Kid film,
especially how Cobra Kai ended, Cobra Kai ended and what it
offered. Because towards the end it got a
little bit crazy, little too cheesy.
(12:47):
But I was like, then I guess yougot to carry that over a little
bit to the next Karate Kid movie, right?
Like, what is it going to be? It can't be super serious to
what we just experienced in Cobra Kai for so many seasons.
They got to find a midway point of what type of tone they want
to give. And all I have to say is, First
off, Ben Wong, great, great casting as the New Karate Kid,
(13:09):
which I know from American Born Chinese.
And he definitely has a chops, man.
He is young, but his performanceis really promising to what else
he can deliver. Drew, what was your reaction
after first initially seeing Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan
finally team up? We'll do some spoilers.
Obviously, it takes a while before they meet up, but that's
really what the fans wanted whenthose two collide.
(13:29):
How was that for you initially? Can I, can I step back and just
give a little bit of my like Karate Kid history first?
Does it go back to Ralph Macho or does it go back to Hilary
Swank? No, it goes back to Ralph Macho.
So I'm not like Karate Kid is not my franchise.
You know, it's not like the one that I have rewatched and
rewatched. I don't, I haven't even seen all
(13:50):
the entries, but I have seen theoriginal Karate Kid with Ralph
Macchio and I even rewatched it before this movie and that
movie's really good and it and it holds up now.
I just want to point that out. And I actually worked at a movie
theater in college at the time that The Karate Kid remake with
Jackie Chan came out. So I saw that one when it came
(14:10):
out and and I remember enjoying it at the time.
Not one that I've revisited, butI remember thinking like it was
surprisingly solid. So I've at least seen, you know,
where these where these characters have originated and
seeing them come together in this movie I thought was
enjoyable. I think that Karate Kid Legends
and the original Karate Kid movie kind of have like opposite
(14:35):
problems if you watch them back-to-back now.
And what I mean by that is I love the original Karate Kid.
I think it's a little bit overlylong.
There's like maybe 15 minutes that you could cut out of that
movie and it would be like even more perfect than it already is.
Whereas Karate Kid Legends is like 94 minutes long.
It is rare on this show that youwill hear me be like, I wish
(14:57):
this movie would have been a little bit longer, but like they
could have given an extra 10 to 15 minutes to this movie to
really let it breathe and expandsome things.
So I feel like, like I said, those movies like one could have
15 minutes cut, this one could have had 15 minutes added.
It's definitely mirroring that original Karate Kid to an
extent, but I thought there wereactually some really, really
(15:20):
interesting things in the first half of the movie that it set up
and, and some things it was doing a little bit differently.
And then in at the end of the movie, it was like, hey, but we
got to be a Karate Kid movie. And it just they steamroll
through some things really quickly.
And even the, you know, I don't think it's a spoiler to say like
this movie ends with the tournament as the original
(15:42):
Karate Kid does. Although this one goes by really
fast. And I really could have used
some more time there building some things up, especially
because it's in that latter halfof the movie when Ross Macchio
really comes in, and it could have given him more time on
screen too. So that being said, I I haven't
watched any of Cobra Kai. This movie made me want to go
(16:04):
back and watch Cobra Kai, so I guess that says something about
it too. Yeah, you might want to watch
Cobra Kai for many reasons and Iguess to understand some of the
tone that we saw in this one, because I think at some point it
did grab some it it it was kind of a this is not a bad thing,
but the tone was a little mixed throughout right from the start
(16:24):
to finish. And then it kind of got a little
different towards the fights andstuff like that.
But I really love like the stylized direction of the film
and them doing a lot of stuff like comic bookie and video game
like style wise. They do it a lot at the very
beginning that I thought was really cool with like the
language because we start off inin China and I, I was like, oh,
OK, this movie is going to be really stylized.
(16:45):
And then it kind of drops that and then brings it back again at
the end. And I'm like, I could have used
some of this more consistently throughout.
Yeah, with the stuff with like Ben and Sadie remind me of stuff
with like Ralph and Elizabeth shoot, right and kind of setting
it up and kind of kind of molding all that stuff.
But I really liked everyone in this film.
(17:05):
I definitely would have watched probably more more, more of the
fighting, probably kind of longer scenes and stuff like
that. But I'm happy for another Karate
Kid. I would definitely watch another
one. Would would you watch another
one that kind of follow up? I I can see where they can kind
of take it. So I'm hoping they kind of do.
What do you think? I would this this is an
interesting franchise, I think because, you know, they they
(17:26):
made this Karate Kid movie on like a relatively small budget,
like, you know, pretty, pretty tame budget, I'll say that.
But it does kind of get like thebig blockbuster summer
treatment. And it's an interesting movie
because it does tie these two movies together, being the
(17:49):
original and kind of the remake,but it doesn't really do that
much new. Like it's very much a Karate kid
movie. And and also to your point, and
I've seen some criticisms of this online is like Cobra Kai
really took it and went with like a more silly tone.
And there's maybe some of that here, but not really it's it's a
(18:09):
little bit more self serious. So it's kind of like this is a
franchise that needs to decide what it wants to be.
Does it want to be self serious,kind of like the original Karate
Kid was? Does it want to be the slapstick
silly that Cobra Kai is, or is it something in the middle?
I'm saying that in general, and coming from a place that I liked
this movie, I enjoyed watching it.
(18:29):
I think that there's things you can pick apart with it and
things that could make it much better, but for what it is, it's
an enjoyable time at the theater.
And Ben Wang is is great and extremely charismatic.
I thought Sadie Stanley was really good and the two of them
had good chemistry, so I would absolutely watch more with these
characters. Yeah.
And, and the fact that they brought Jackie Chan back for
(18:51):
this, I watch, I, I want to see more of Jackie Chan.
The fact that Ralph Macchio agreed to be part of the story
because I think so. Also, some of the it's not
licensing, but some of like the producing rights is back with
like that 20, is it 2010? I guess when the Jackie Chan
version came. So Will Smith and his companies
have more say on that. And Jackie Chan was saying that
they kept delivering scripts that no one really felt
(19:13):
comfortable. And then when they said there is
a connection to Miyagi, that's when the light bulb pit.
And I really like that. I think that was a brilliant way
to connect everything and it makes a lot of sense and nothing
it never, it didn't feel forced to me watching every single
Karate Kid in Cobra Kai and and and really enjoying that Jackie
Chan film. Even though it's not really an
authentic Karate Kid film, it was still really well done.
(19:33):
Really good storyline there and this one was really great.
I could see them kind of figuring out the tone going
forward. I think more on serious side of
things because they could kind of raise the stakes a little
bit. I think.
I think they got what they want out of the way, and if they want
to continue, which I hope they do because this one also really
Mr. Miyagi, which we know is a character, they honored that
(19:55):
character's legacy, though, in this film.
And going forward, they are going to do that.
And that's what I love about it,is that whole connection to
everything. But yeah, I definitely love
seeing Ben in this. Sadie's awesome.
Everyone is pretty good in this.Joshua Jackson really surprised
me. I didn't know he was in the
movie until he popped up and I was like, is that Joshua
Jackson? And I thought he was very
charming in it. He's very good.
He played a good to to Sadie's dad.
(20:17):
I mean, I, I, I believed it. I dig, I dug it like it was
really great. Definitely would have seen
wanted to see more of him and everyone else, but it's all part
of the story too. I I thought the story was kind
of steering the in the in the best way possible and it, and it
kind of worked. It was not what I expected
because I I didn't really watch any of the trailer.
So very surprising stuff and great way to kind of connect
(20:37):
everything. And then can we talk about the
end credits scene? But you did.
Yeah, of course. I kind of expected this was
going to happen at some point inthe movie.
Well, we get. We get we got a Cobra Kai
mentioned kind of in there I thought was funny.
So they sent a pizza at the veryend.
I mean, these are spoilers or whatever, but we we get a pizza
delivery at the at the Dojo withRalph Macchio's character
(21:03):
getting it. And then to our surprise, Johnny
Lawrence is behind him with it and they're having a jab of
starring Miyagi Dough as a pizzacompany.
And I thought that was brilliant.
I was like, that was awesome. A great way to kind of include
him towards the end. And you can kind of see some of
the comedy that you'll see in Cobra Kai, Drew, when you go
back to watch it. I'll say that because there's
there's a lot of that stuff. I'm definitely going to going to
(21:26):
check it out because I've just heard good things about it.
Well, I've heard up and down things about it.
Mostly good, though. I feel like until maybe this
most recent season, I feel like some people were maybe
disappointed. Is that kind of the right read
of the room? I don't know.
People are enjoying it. I remember our audience loved
it, everything about it, and I think.
It's I've heard really good things about Paul Walter
(21:47):
Hauser's character in the show. Yeah, everyone loves Cobra.
I mean, and he's not major in it, but when he pops up it's
great. That's more of the slapstick
stuff. Yeah.
But honestly, like it went on for six seasons.
And for me personally, I'll say this like a little bit of
negative is kind of too much repetition and storyline.
It kind of like resets, OK, now we have to go against the same
(22:08):
person again. There's more drama happening.
It's just like they're trying toshut the door on all this drama
and everything going on, but they finally do.
But it's it's worth the watch. It's really good and but I just
hope like we kind of get some ofthese characters back in some
way because they're they're really fun, especially Williams
Zapka as Johnny Lawrence. That's the reason Cobra Kai is
(22:29):
it was really good, to be honest.
But that's Karate Kid legends. Really enjoyed it.
My full review is on the site neuropolis.com and also my
interviews as well. You can check out a movie.
We still haven't talked about what we need to talk about Drew
because we also have one of the stars of the movie on one of our
podcast. But Lilo and Stitch, Drew, we
finally got to talk about Lilo and Stitch.
(22:50):
We finally get to talk about Hawaii and surfing and
spaceships. Let me catch to the chase with
something on this, because I have to give you credit on
something. Reluctantly, slightly
reluctantly when we were doing summer movie previews and even
like months ago when I, I think we did our most anticipated,
(23:12):
however long ago it's been, it feels like a long time ago with,
with Lilo and Stitch, you were like, it's going to make a
billion dollars, like it's goingto make all the money.
And I kind of was like, yeah, OK, I haven't.
Checked. I haven't checked the box office
lately, I've been so busy. Well, hold on.
I mean, it's it hasn't made a billion dollars.
(23:32):
Let me. But I was like when you said
that, I was like, maybe it'll make half a billion dollars.
I was like, this movie will make500 million.
I have underestimated the fandomthat is behind this movie and
the people that have shown up for it.
At this point, Lilo and Stitch has made over $600 million
(23:54):
worldwide and it's still doing really well.
It was just number one at the box office this past weekend.
Yeah. So, Sean, I have to give credit
where credit is due. I.
Was pretty far off, but still with the merch.
With the merch it's easily over 2 billion.
I can probably. I, we'll, we'll see where it
goes. The problem is it's coming out
(24:15):
in a busy summer season at the beginning.
I think this will linger for a bit because the competition from
like kids programming. I mean, the the big release
coming out this upcoming weekendis Ballerina, as you've
referenced. So like Lilo and Stitch is still
pretty great counter programmingto that.
There's the biggest competition that to Stitches box office run
(24:35):
will be when How to Train Your Dragon comes out in another week
and 1/2. So I think that Stitch will
still do pretty well for anotherweek or so and then maybe we'll
really slow down then. But yeah, I I just have to admit
that, you know, Lilo and Stitch was not one of mine as a kid.
I was old enough that I was kindof over, you know, I was like
(24:58):
too cool for the Disney animatedmovies.
But I know that there are peoplejust a few years younger than us
that Lilo and Stitch is like oneof their core movies that they
grew up with. I mean, everyone loves Stitch,
right? This, this, this Stitch in
general, but I mean, I wasn't always illegal in stitch guy.
I always loved Hawaii. My wife loves, you know, the
movies and everything else aboutStitch because Stitch reminds
(25:20):
everyone of like their favorite puppy or dog or pets with his
attitude. But really this movie really
made me appreciate like the original movies deeper meaning
and stuff like that really highlights it because you see it
in a non animated form of real people.
And I really felt this live action remake, you can call it,
which I thought it's not beat for beat, but there are some
(25:43):
pretty solid changes and I can see why they did them and I'm
not, I have no gripe about the changes they made.
There is a vocal group of fans that do have a big problem with
it. I'm with you.
Like I don't have, you know, theway it ended, I thought was
fine. And the changes they've made,
you know, I understand why they had to do it.
Right. But I mean, let's read this live
(26:04):
action remake. It's heartfelt.
I thought it was stunning. It looked great because I
obviously they filmed this in Hawaii.
It's a love letter both to the original film and to the
Hawaiian spirit of Ohana. I loved all everything about it.
And obviously the cast I thoughtwas spot on.
Lilo cast perfectly right. Drew Maya shines as Lilo.
She's funny, she's raw. I think it's her first film,
(26:25):
right? So and and she nailed it.
I thought all the casting in this was good.
The girl who played Lilo looks like Maya, if that's if I'm
pronouncing it right. She was great.
I thought that Nani, the older, the actress, the older sister
was, was actually really good. Typo, of course, was good.
Stitch is Stitch. And I thought Billy Magnussen
(26:47):
was kind of like an MVP of the movie, personally.
Like I thought he was actually very funny and just kind of
understood the tone of what theywere doing here and kind of
being cartoony, and I appreciated that.
Yeah, it was really fun. I, I liked it.
I think it's going to green light a sequel.
I really think so. I think there's no way you don't
(27:09):
do one. I think this is the only live
action Disney adaptation that's going to be able to get to a
sequel. Well, they did Mufasa, you know.
Consider that live action to some extent, yeah.
And that's technically a prequel.
They. Yeah, that's true.
Which I really like. I really do like those films,
though. Those still get me emotionally.
The Mufasa and The Lion King movie.
But still like to your point, sothey did Mufasa and Mufasa was
(27:33):
kind of a disappointment in its opening weekend box office, but
then it did really well over a long period of time over the
holidays and. Because everyone was so good,
which it is, it actually is really good.
I I really enjoyed it. Mufasa performed really well,
then Snow White didn't perform well and a lot of people were
like Snow White, This is it. Like they're done with the live
action remakes. Leave them.
Stitch will come out, but they're done and then this movie
(27:55):
has come out and it's like, no, they're not done.
If if they're they'll still continue to mine.
I think a few other franchises we've already got the live
action. They could still, I think, do
like a Princess and the Frog if they wanted to.
And they haven't even touched onFrozen yet, which I'm sure will
come will happen at some point. But I think that Lilo and
(28:16):
Stitch, as far as these live action adaptations goes, is the
most ripe for a sequel at this point.
I think this movie's done gangbusters.
The fans are vocal and they showup to the theater and I think
they would show up to a sequel. Yeah, I mean, there's so much
they could do. I mean, there's been the TV show
that's been LILO and such sequels.
There's just so much more characters you can introduce to.
(28:40):
You can go like the Sonic the Hedgehog route, right, where you
kind of do your sequels, you do spin offs.
You can add more stuff to this franchise if you really wanted
to, and you can take it, animateit if you really wanted to as
well. I mean, this is something that
should keep going. This is their number one IP for
Disney when it comes to merch. They said it.
This is the number one selling is Lilo and Stitch.
There's nothing else. I have a 5 year old and we have
(29:02):
a stuffed stitch in our home. Just one.
Just one of them. Just one.
Just one at this point. More will come.
Christmas is around the corner. But yeah, really enjoyed this
one. It was a lot of fun.
I love seeing Hawaii as, you know, the backdrop or a
character of its own. I think we need more films that
(29:24):
are taking place in Hawaii. I just love, love that place and
the people there. Amazing.
So yeah, great cast, everyone knocked out of the park.
And definitely hope we do get a sequel Drew from Ohana and Alien
Chaos. We can move on to this other
(29:44):
film that I had no clue about. A film we got to watch together
called The Life of Chuck. This is a Mike Flanagan film
adaptation of a Stephen King. Is it a short?
Was it a short or what was it? It it is a short story or part.
(30:07):
Yeah. It's part of a larger series
that that came out like just a few years ago.
It's it's relatively recent. Oh, it is new.
It's it's new for Stephen King. I can't remember, is this one a
a novella or is this a a short story?
That's what I'm trying to think.It's it's a novella.
Is it's. Considered a novella, that's
what it is. It's crazy Stephen King is
getting so many adaptations and also wasn't his.
(30:30):
His son is the one that did the black phone correct.
That's a Stephen. That's his son's story, if I
recall as you. Oh, is it?
I don't even. Know Fact Check me real quick
but I think Stephen King's Sud is the black phone that's what
that's based off of it's one of his shorts maybe and then the
black phone 2 which was never part of any of the shorts or or
(30:52):
stories prize it's coming out this year with our friend Mason
Thames but I didn't think Stephen King Scott.
Scott Derrickson wrote and direct OH, based on the Black
Phone by Joe Hill. Which is Stephen King's son if
I'm. Parent Stephen King is his
father. You are correct.
(31:13):
You are. I did not know this.
I win. Her Tropolis, Jeopardy.
I'm always searching the webs and things come up and and stick
with me. But yeah.
And also there's another the law.
Is it called the Long Walk? That's none.
Another Stephen King adaptation coming out and Mark Hamill's
also in that too. I think it's called the Long
Walk. Yeah, it's it's kind of like
(31:35):
Stephen King has always been. There's a lot of text to adapt
into TV or movies or what have you.
And I think that then the success of it back in 2017, I
think really revitalized the Stephen King, you know, like
people trying to get their handson any Stephen King property.
(31:55):
And then that has led to, you know, another take at Pet
Cemetery and all kinds of Stephen King adaptations.
And of course, we've seen that Mike Flanagan, who directed The
Life of Chuck, he has done, he did like Gerald's Game for
Netflix, which was really good and really well received.
And then Dr. Sleep, which is a movie that I really loved.
(32:17):
That's one of my favorites of his, and I did not know
anything. I didn't know who Mike Flanagan
was, like even when I watched Doctor Sleep.
But Doctor Sleep I thought was really well done and was woven
perfectly into The Shining movieas well.
Interwolf perfectly. I think Mike Flanagan has really
made a name for himself amongst our fans as like he, he just
(32:37):
understands the genre and thingslike OK, he did Oculus, which is
pretty well received. And then again in 2016 he did
Ouija Origin of Evil. So this was the sequel to the
Ouija horror movie, the originalOuija horror movie.
Not very good. Then he took this like prequel
(32:57):
movie that could have been just more trash and actually made it
really good and then has gone onto only do film adaptation as
far as his film career adaptations of Stephen King
properties. But he's had a really big
presence on Netflix with the different series he's done
almost annually. Like he did The Haunting of Hill
House and The Haunting of Fly Manor, The Midnight Mass, The
(33:17):
Midnight Club, and most recentlyThe Fall of the House of Usher,
which I actually reviewed for Nurtropolis after seeing the
first couple episodes at Fantastic Fest a while back, a
series that I really liked. Actually.
He only directed 4 episodes of it, but he wrote 7.
Of them but still but also Next up he also has Carrie that he's
doing a Prime Video which which just.
Today a bunch of casting news came out about that show, I
(33:40):
think solidifying all the all the casting.
All casts but one of the original casts that was was
actually for Lilo and Sidney's sister Sienna's in it, which is.
Oh, perfect. Yeah, small world that is out
there, 2 talented sisters doing some really great things.
But Life of Chuck, a movie I wasnot aware of prior the story did
(34:03):
you? You never read the novella then,
right? You, don't you?
Have not read the novella, but Iwas aware of the movie because
of at at TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival this
past fall. Back in September it won the
coveted People's Choice Award, which I remember like it won
that award. I've never even heard of the
movie and of course not now I'm aware of it.
(34:26):
And then I thought because Mike Flanagan had a presence at
Fantastic Fest, I was like, oh, maybe the life of Chuck will be
like a secret screening or something.
It wasn't. And it's now coming out, you
know, a good while after TIFF. So it you know, it's interesting
that it made the festival circuit and now it's coming out
in the middle of the summer. The reason why that's notable is
(34:49):
I put this in my review, which is up under Tropolis of this
movie, that the past 15 of the past 16 winners of the Tiff's
People's Choice Award have gone on to earn best picture
nominations at the Academy Awards.
So typically the TIFF People's Choice Award is pretty
indicative of, you know, Oscar chances.
And six of those that won the People's Choice Award went on to
(35:11):
win the Oscar. So like, even looking at the
life of Chuck, the movies that it was nominated against for
this award were a Nora, which ended up winning best picture,
and Amelia Perez, which was, youknow, had many, many nominations
at the Academy Awards. The life of Chuck was pushed
till this year for wide release.It's now out in the middle of
the summer. And I think with the weight of
(35:32):
that on its shoulders, I went inkind of being like, all right,
is this going to be like a firstbig Oscar movie of this year?
And having seen it, I don't really think so.
Yeah, when you told me that and I watched it and I did enjoy it
and I love the messaging in it and the ride we're on.
(35:54):
Maybe because I wasn't aware of it.
What does the Stephen King novella that I wasn't prepared
to what I experienced, which waspretty odd at the same time and
very I felt like I was also a little bit shorted on what it
was going to be delivered based on some of the things I've seen
online. First off, like Tom Hiddleston
shows up really late and so. I clocked it.
(36:15):
We were in the theater. He actually shows up on not
including the ads, like that picture that you have on screen
'cause he does show up almost like, and he's referenced almost
as a meme in this kind of like, you know, like sci-fi paranormal
ask the way his ads show up and nobody knows who he is.
Whatever. He doesn't actually show up on
screen until about 36 or 37 minutes into the movie.
(36:39):
Yeah, Did that affect your connection to the character?
A little bit I I just I, I really like Tom Hiddleston as a
performer and I was like ready to go see a Tom Hiddleston
vehicle in theaters. I'm like cool a Stephen King
adaptation starring Tom Hiddleston as the title
character. Let's go.
But he. But it is not starring Tom
(37:01):
Hiddleston, if you really think about it at all.
Yeah, he gets he doesn't really have that much screen time.
It's a huge ensemble cast in this movie.
You got Chivotel, Ezio 4, Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill, you've got
Nick Offerman's doing like the voice over in it and Jacob
Tremblay, Benjamin Pajak who played the younger version of
(37:22):
Chuck, who get way more screen time than Tom Hiddleston.
And knocked and knocked it out of of the park.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, they were really good.
And Tom Hiddleston was great when he was there.
There's a scene in the middle ofthe movie where he's dancing and
it was the electric. Like I was like, yes, this, I'm
I'm all in. And then that scene ends too
(37:43):
early and. Too early.
That was a very long dance and. Well, I mean, I mean, I just
mean like that buzz or that energy then ends.
And to me, never really. We never really got back to that
high in the in the rest of the movie.
Maybe for obvious reasons, though I think it was obviously
purposeful based on the story ofa highlight, a memory of his
(38:07):
that he really enjoyed, and thenit's kind of a flashback as well
to why he was dancing. Did you like the reverse
timeline structure? Yes that's how the novella is
told as well from the research they've done, because I have not
read the novella. I thought the opening was really
(38:28):
interesting that the act three, it opens with where you're
facing these kind of like into the world scenarios, but
everybody's just kind of accepted it and they're just
kind of living out their days somewhat peacefully, but just
waiting for, you know, the Internet to go out for good and
these things. And I, I really, I was really
fascinated by all of it and interested to see where it was
(38:49):
going. And then it kind of reaches this
crescendo and then we go to Act 2 and which makes sense.
You know, the way, the way that it worked, like the way it plays
out in the movie makes sense. And then Act 2, I'm like, OK,
now we're really going to get Hiddleston in the movie and we
do for this act, but it's the shortest act of the three
before. Then we go on to like the
(39:09):
beginning of his life and where,you know, why Chuck was the way
you are, what you know, how he learned to love, to dance and
things like that, which I thought all of that was good
too. It just again, it just kind of
the plane leveled out and then slowly descended until we hit
the end of the movie. And while I found a lot of bits
(39:32):
and pieces of the film, I enjoyed the overall package.
I'm a little bit more mixed on. Yeah, I did like, you know, the
the last part of the film when it shows him when he's younger.
I actually surprisingly really enjoyed that more than probably
many, many other people did. I thought Mark Hamill was
(39:53):
fantastic in this, actually. I agree.
I haven't seen him do a performance like this.
And you know, you can say some of his performances seem the
same. This is not a knock.
Sometimes he does. To me, he does not come off of
having that much range for whatever reason.
But I like anything he does because it's Mark Hamill.
So but in this he did show some range, especially that one scene
(40:15):
when he goes up the stairs and then when the kid falls down and
he goes to console him and like shows like how sorry he was for
for yelling at him. I really felt that actually,
surprisingly, there's not many scenes that stick with me.
But I felt Mark Hamill was like,his character was so, so sorry
and saddened by what he experienced and saw and just
trying to make him feel better about it as his grandson.
(40:36):
And I thought that was the best part of the one of the best
scenes in the movie. Yes, yeah, I agree.
Yeah, Hamel's really good in this and he's a Flanagan
regular. And it just goes to show, you
know, when you let him, when youlet him take on these different
role and kind of character roles, he's, he's very good.
Yeah. Would you recommend this to King
fans or? I would absolutely for King
(40:59):
fans, 'cause it, I mean, it's Stephen King to a tee for sure.
It's just King. King does this.
He's got his scary stuff and then he has his more reflective
life stuff. And this is probably wants to be
categorized more alongside like your Shawshank Redemptions, your
Green Miles, your Stand By, Meet, that kind of stuff.
Those are all movies that I probably find a little bit more
(41:21):
emotionally impactful than this one, but I mean, this one has
interesting ideas. It does have great performances.
I just like I said, there's a lot of parts that I like about
it that I like more than the whole.
Yeah, it was an interesting cinematic experience for us.
I believe it was something totally different.
It kind of reset my palette, to which I'm glad.
(41:43):
After all these big blockbustersand big stuff, this is something
that felt very small and intimate, and I was up for the
ride. A very strange ride, maybe not
as fulfilling as I wanted to, but I enjoyed the messaging.
A lot of heartfelt moments as well when it leaned into the
sci-fi part. That was pretty interesting and
I I kind of wish it leaned more into that sci-fi.
But like I said, I didn't know anything about novella, the
novella by Stephen King. So if this was kind of something
(42:06):
went in blindly, I was expectingsomething a little bit
differently because this is not your typical King story, right?
Like this isn't. It's very rare to get a story
like this right, Drew, compared to the other ones.
It is, yeah. You know, I haven't read all of
his short stories and things, but it's like the other short
story that was adapted this yearfor into a film was the Monkey.
(42:26):
So like very different movies here.
I I also think I'm fascinated inthe kind of acquisition.
Acquisition of this movie by Neon, who you know, they
acquired Anora last year, which won Best Picture.
Actually, they had the monkey aswell.
But the fact that they had this movie and they're releasing it
(42:50):
in the middle of the summer kindof makes me feel like I guess
the reason they didn't want to release it in the fall, even
having won the TIFF People's Choice Award, is probably
because they knew what they had on their hands with Anora and
knew that Anora was more the awards play at the time.
And the fact that this is releasing in the middle of the
summer makes me think that they know that the Life of Chuck is
(43:10):
not going to be an awards film. And they just acquired a movie
out of Cannes that or I guess going into Cannes, that one of
the movies that they had won thePalmdor.
And it looks like it's probably going to be a huge awards play
again this year. So, you know, we'll see.
(43:34):
Yeah, there's two other Stephen King movies coming out.
Like I said, you have The Long Walk, which comes out September
12th, and that's directed by Francis Lawrence, which is
pretty cool. And it's written, obviously it's
based on Stephen King, shorter than whatever it was.
I don't know what's based on exactly.
What a novel, a 1979 novel. JT Molnar, who did one of our
(43:58):
favorite films, Strange Darling wrote it.
Winning combination. Francis Lawrence is known for
The Hunger Games. Did he do the first Constantine
or is he just tied to the secondone?
Did Red Sparrow? I mean, Francis Lawrence is
amazing. Yeah, he did the Constantine in
The Hunger Games films and everything else.
And then also the other one is the running Man.
(44:20):
Are you? Except for the running Man?
I am, I'll tell you that much. I've heard really good things
about The Running Man for the people that saw clips of it out
of Cinemacon, and I'm a big Glenn Powell fan, so I I'm
actually pretty pumped for The Running Man.
And that's from Edgar Wright, soit's Stephen King.
Oh, and Redgar Wright. Yeah, that that behind it, too.
I mean, I'm I'm a big Edgar Wright fan.
(44:41):
Even his stumbles I find to at least be the very least
interesting. Stumbles.
What has he done that you think of Stumbling?
I'm not too familiar with his monger.
I am, but like what? What is his stumbles?
I'm. Curious.
His most recent film, Last Nightin Soho, left a little to be
desired. I didn't.
I liked it. I didn't.
I didn't. I liked it too.
(45:01):
I just didn't. You know it could.
Have been stronger. It could have been stronger for
his for his filmography. I we will consider.
We can say that for sure. You know a lot of other friends
have like I'm on here. He's a writer for the Adventures
of Tintin. That's amazing.
He was a Co writer. I love Tintin, That was a great
one. I'm waiting for that sequel for
years. I'll tell you the Adventures of
Tintin. You might.
You're probably going to be waiting for a while.
(45:21):
I don't. I love it the priority.
For Spielberger, Peter Jackson. It is animated, it's animated,
it's animated, it's easy to do, it's easy to do.
Drew, any last thoughts before Iwrap things up this this Monday
evening? No, I just, you know, I'm
excited to see ballerina. I'm excited to see how to train
your dragon in the coming weeks.I still have not had a chance to
(45:43):
see friendship. Unfortunately, I just haven't
had the time. It's in it's it's unlimited
screens and it was on my most anticipated list, but also the
press screening for it was the same night as Mission
Impossible. So like you can't do this to me.
So I'm hoping to get out and seeit soon.
You didn't grab a popcorn bucketfor Mission Impossible, did you?
No I didn't with the complete with cruiser form key.
(46:08):
Real quick before we wrap thingsup, there it is.
I I don't have the space for these popcorn buckets.
I don't have the space for anything.
Bucket collector. Yeah.
But this one you have to have. It's the IT could be the last
Mission Impossible movie ever, and it's the way to say goodbye.
But. What made you get this one?
Is that why the? I mean, this is heavy.
This doesn't even look like a popcorn bucket.
(46:30):
Like it's heavy. Yeah.
Anything that's very prop like when it comes to popcorn buckets
I probably will get because that's just pretty darn cool.
If any of the popcorn buckets, like gimmicky, you know,
promotional popcorn buckets you've gotten, have you ever
actually eaten popcorn out of them?
No, actually, yes. Which one was it?
Was it Garfield because of this?Garfield's head?
(46:53):
That's a good one. I used to collect the 10, the 10
ones before they went a lot withthese crazy ones.
So I mean, I I really don't wantto get these.
I was going to get The Karate Kid one, but I was kind of iffy
on it. I didn't see it catching my eyes
too much. They were cool because you can
karate chop it and it opened up.Did you get the Dune popcorn
bucket that really kicked off this craze?
(47:13):
No, but I do have the obviously the Deadpool and Wolverine one
them around here. I actually have like 2 popcorn
buckets right here and some in the back.
I'm blocking them but they're around here and they're
sprinkled throughout. I wish I got the Star Wars one,
the Darth Vader one. There's a lot I wanted but why?
I have so much cool stuff as youcan see like that.
Don't need more popcorn buckets,but they're pretty cool.
(47:34):
Do both Regal and AMC do these? And Cinemark and like Cineopolis
does it and other places I. Mean do they get the same ones
or they all get their own? Special they're all different
they're. All that's way they make they
make this way too difficult. They're very insulating.
What can you say about that? I mean, it makes sense as a
comic collector. Like, I get it, but yeah, I
(47:58):
can't do it. I can't.
My wallet can't do it. I can't do it.
I already like buying physical media.
I'll I'll stick to that. Yeah, I'm with you on that.
But yeah, that's it everyone. Thanks for hanging us for
tonight for another episode of the movie Gover Society.
Once again, I'm Sean Toshore, the mayor of Neutropolis and.
We'll see you. No, you're Drew.
(48:18):
Drew. You got you?
Come on. Yeah, I'm Drew.
Yeah, I'm Drew von Allison. You can catch me at Drew von
Hausen on all the socials. And can I say it?
Yes, you can say it. And we'll see you at the movies.
That's it. Drew's got it right.
We'll see you all at the.
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