Mike just went to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles after it was back in theaters for its 35th Anniversary. He shares the history of the movie and how it became the highest-grossing independent film of its time. He talks about why the movie is one of his Top 10 of all-time, how it felt watching it for the first time on the big screen and the top moments that still hold up after 35 years. In the Movie Review, Mike talks about Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters which had sing-along screenings over the weekend. It follows a K-pop girl group, Huntr/x, who lead double lives as demon hunters. They face off against a rival boy band, the Saja Boys, whose members are secretly demons. Mike talks about what sticks out about the animation, how the movie made a statement on the music industry and the pressures of being a pop star and why you shouldn’t be afraid to go to the movies alone for sing-along events. In the Trailer Park, Mike talks about Marty Supreme starring Timothée Chalamet. It is inspired by the life of legendary table tennis player Marty Reisman. Mike talks about if this is the year for the return of sports movies, why he is excited for Tyler The Creator to be in it, and will Chalamet finally get his Oscar?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back to movie Mike's movie podcast. I
am your host Movie Mike. Today we are talking about
the untold story of the nineteen ninety teenage mutant Ninja
Turtles movie. It was just in theaters for its thirty
fifth anniversary. I went, I experienced it. I want to
talk about does it hold up, why this movie means
so much to me, and the crazy history of this
(00:21):
movie of the unlikely comic book adaptation that went on
to be one of the biggest independent movies of all time.
In the movie review, we'll be talking about the movie
Sweeping the Nation came back into theaters for a single
long version Netflix's K Pop Demon Hunters. This movie is
not only crushing. It now on streaming, also at the
box office, but also on the Billboard Hot one hundred.
(00:43):
And in the trailer park, we'll talk about Marty Supreme
starring Timothy Shallomey playing a ping pong player. Thank you
for being here, thank you for being subscribed. Shout out
to the Monday Morning Movie crew. And now let's talk
movies from the Nastrolle podcast network. And this is Movie Mike.
Movie Plota teenagemw Ninja Thurtles came out in theaters back
(01:05):
in nineteen ninety, but just return to the big screen
for its thirty fifth anniversary, and I went to go
see it, and it was the first time I've seen
one of my favorite movies of all time on the
big screen. Because for me, TMNT nineteen ninety as a
top ten film for me. So I want to talk
to you about why this movie was so influential in
(01:26):
my life, the crazy history behind this movie, and how
it was an independent film based on a comic book,
which is so normal to us now, but it wasn't
the case back in nineteen ninety. I mean, we had Superman,
we had Batman going from eighty nine, but there wasn't
a formula that told you that if you made a
comic book adaptation that it was going to work. Actually,
(01:47):
a lot of people thought this movie was going to fail.
But before I get into all that, I just want
to tell you about my theater experience. So I'm going
to review TMNT as if it were a new movie,
because really, being there in theaters watching this movie on
the big screen for the first time, I saw it
in a whole new light. And my biggest question going
into it was, is this movie going to hold up
(02:09):
because the interesting thing about this, since this movie is
thirty five years old, what I noticed going into the
screening was that you had several different generations of fans
going because you have me, well, I almost feel like
I'm like the second wave of TMNT fan because the
original fans. I feel like you had to be born
in the eighties to either discover the comic first or
(02:32):
discover the cartoon and the toy line in the eighties,
because my older brother was born in nineteen eighty four,
the same year the Ninja Turtles were created, so he
was a kid when they were at the height of
their popularity because of the animated show, which was so
tied into the toy line, because the animated show was
essentially the commercials for the toys, and those were some
(02:53):
of the most popular toys of all time. And it
was his passion and his fandom for the teen age
Mutan Ninja Turtles that led me to be such a
big fan. And I probably didn't watch this movie until
maybe I was four or five years old, so by
the time I was introduced to tmn T, I already
had the first three movies to watch. But there was
(03:15):
always something about this movie that stood out to me
as a kid, even though I didn't fully understand it,
and I think it wasn't probably until I was a
teenager that this became my favorite TM and T movie
because to my young brain, Part two was actually my
favorite through the majority of my childhood because it had
so much more comedic elements, and that is actually what
(03:35):
they tried to do when making the sequel, because this
first movie is so dark and it's based more on
the comic book, which does have more of a gritty tone,
but that is exactly what came to life. And I
wanted to know when going to see this movie in
theaters now, is it going to feel really dated? Is
it not going to hold up on the big screen?
(03:56):
Because as I saw all these different generations of fans,
I saw people a little bit older than me, probably
born in the early to mid eighties. I saw people
my age. But then I saw all of those people
bring their kids with them. So there were five year
olds to ten year olds all going to experience this movie.
They've probably never seen it, maybe their dad made them
(04:17):
watch it at home, and that was interesting to see
because I wanted to know if they were going to
enjoy it because I think for me, I see this
movie and I think it's a perfect movie. But now
we've had so many iterations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
We've had the animated movie, We've had the Michael o'bay
version of the Turtles, We've had them on Nickelodeon. So
(04:38):
it's what is introduced to you is probably going to
be your favorite. But it meant a lot to me
to know if this movie would hold up for all
these generations of fans or is it just going to
look old and lame. But the thing that stuck out
to me is after this screening, all those kids were
still excited. I even heard them having conversations with their dads.
(05:00):
We're all filing out of the theater going up the escalator.
One of these kids was so excited. I was like, wow,
that came out thirty five years ago. It was so good.
And that made me happy because to me, going to
see this in theaters, I really felt like the movie
held up so well. It still hit me on an
emotional level, probably more so than it ever had because
(05:23):
I kind of felt like, this is a movie that
I've spent a lot of time with much like I
would spend a lot of time with my favorite album.
And you can spend so much time listening to your
favorite songs they become a part of you. But then
it transforms you even more as a person when you
go see those favorite songs performed live in person. And
(05:44):
that is what this experience felt like to me. It
was like I spent this entire time listening to this
album but never got to fully experience it live. And
for me, going to the theater to watch a movie
is like watching something live because it takes on a
different life. You get to see it how it was
meant to be seen, how this movie was designed, and
(06:05):
there were so many things that stuck out to me more.
First of all, this movie is beautifully shot, as far
as the composition that goes into all of these shots,
the cinematography, it is there. And yes, there were some
technical aspects that even in the original movie, they got
some things wrong. And it's crazy because this movie was
(06:25):
filmed so quickly that there were mistakes left in the
original movie. If you go watch it on VHS or
even some streaming services that don't have the updated version,
there are some parts where you see the actors inside
of the costumes. Especially there's scenes like in the sewer
where they're skateboarding and you see them have a human hand.
There are other aspects of the animatronics where maybe they
(06:47):
open their mouth a little bit too wide, and you
see some of the wires, you see the actor inside.
There's a part in the final battle between the Ninja
Turtles and Shredder wherever Shredder is going to a hack
splinter to try and knock them off the top of
the building, and you see the backdrop of the set.
(07:07):
Because a lot of this movie was filmed in a warehouse,
some of it was actually filmed on the streets of
New York, but you can see in that moment that
it's a big set and you see almost this big
curtain draped over. So things like that were left in
the movie, and I was happy that they fixed all
those in post production. But the movie just looks so good.
It had that rich film quality. I want the warmth
(07:30):
of a movie filmed on actual film and with characters
that are actually there in the flesh. They used animatronics
from the Jim Henson Company to make the Ninja Turtles
come to life, which is something that we don't really
get in the Michael Bay versions where they're all cgi.
They're too big, and I feel like those movies would
(07:51):
not hold up in this same way because that technology
that look is going to be so much more dated
than the actual animatronic Ninja Turtles. The other thing that
really stuck out to me going to see this movie
in theaters for the first time was the score. It's
so good behind all of these scenes, and it really
helps create that environment, that sense of urgency, and it
(08:13):
has this really dark undertone that it just lays the
foundation for this story where it starts out very chilling,
it builds up at times. It really brings the fight
scenes to life. And I never really appreciated the score
until I saw it in theaters and listen to all
the instruments that has that nineties influence, which of course
(08:33):
this movie came out in nineties, so it's probably the
remnants of the eighties sound, but it almost has like
this punk vibe to it that fits the story so
well that really amplifies all the emotional parts of this film.
And it was just so beautifully done and made every
scene come to life. When it came to seeing the
Turtles fight and really capturing their raw emotion, which is
(08:56):
what this movie is filled with and probably why it
resonates so much more with me as an adult now,
because like I said, Part two was my favorite as
a kid, but now as I go rewatch this movie,
I realize the story and how it impacts me so
much more and how yes, it is a story about
these four turtles that are in the sewer, playing in
(09:18):
this radioactive ooz that transforms them to grow bigger and
bigger splinter. Their father figure in this movie is also
affected by this ooz. He grows bigger and bigger and
smarter and smarter and trains them to beat ninjas. And yes,
that is what this movie is about, four teenage ninja
turtles who fight crime. But going to watch this movie
(09:41):
in theaters and viewing it like any other movie I
would go see in theaters this year. It is a
story about a father figure who cares so much about
his sons and just wants to see them succeed by
giving them all the tools they need to be successful.
From every mistake that they make, because that's what as
do they do, dumb things they don't listen to their parents.
(10:03):
He always shows them how much. He loves them, and
not only them, but anybody he comes in contact with.
He is this guiding light and just tries to help people.
Even when he is being beaten and starved to a
bloody pulp, he is still there trying to see the
good in people and trying to do the right thing.
And the story is about these four brothers who are
(10:27):
trying to understand that and trying to navigate this world
where they don't think they will be accepted. Because they
are confined to the sewers, they can't be seen. They
can go and help fight crime, but they must remain
hidden at all times, even though they hide their faces
with the bandanas. If you see a big turtle with
(10:48):
the bandana, you're not thinking, I don't know who that is.
Because they're wearing a bandana, You're gonna think that is
a huge turnle. I know exactly who that is. They
don't need to cover their face, but for aesthetics. It's
also because whenever the Ninja turtles were first created, they
all had red bandanas and you really couldn't tell one
apart from the other, so the creators decided to give
(11:08):
them all different colors, put their letters on their belts,
at least in the animated show. They don't have that
in the movie. And they also all have weapons unique
to them. So Leonardo is the leader. He has the
twin katanas, which are these really huge sharp blades. He
has given those because he is the leader, and it
shows you that you have that leadership quality to wield
(11:31):
those weapons. Also shows you how precise he is. In
the Samurai tradition, that katana is a weapon of honor,
and that is fitting for Leonardo. And Leonardo wears the blue,
Rafael wears the red. He has the Si, which is
the three pointed dagger, which at the beginning of the movie,
when he helps April O'Neil, he leaves one behind and
she tastes it and he's like, man, damn, I gotta
(11:53):
get that thing back. And that weapon is perfect for
him because he's hot headed, he's very aggressive, and the
sigh it's for short, close contact combat, which is perfect
for his brawling style because he is just a lot
of emotion, a lot of rage that just kind of
comes at you, and that is what I love about Raphael.
Then you have Michelangelo in the Orange aka Mikey, which
(12:15):
is somebody that I gravitated to a lot as a kid.
The reason I was called Mikey growing up was because
of Michelangelo. So growing up, I felt like I was
a Mikey and it wasn't until I was an adult
that I realized I'm a Rafael. But he has the nunchucks,
which are very fast and flashy, a little bit silly
at times, so I think that's why they fit Michelangelo perfectly.
(12:38):
He is the comic relief, and he has a lot
of comic relief with his nunchucks in TMN T one.
And then you have Donna Tello who has the bo staff,
which is interesting for Donna Tello not so much in
TMNT one, but later he becomes the tech brother who
is so good with electronics and hacking into things, and
it's kind of ironic that his is the most basic
(13:01):
of all. It's basically a big stick, but also kind
of fitting because if you just have a big stick,
that means you have to be more precise with it,
you have to value technique and strategy more than just
having a really cool weapon. And you probably know this
by now, but they're all named after Renaissance artists. Leonardo
da Vinci, Donna Tello, Michelangelo, and Rafael. They're all Renaissance artists.
(13:22):
I do want to get into the more emotional parts
of this movie, but before it gets said, here are
my top five funny moments from TMNT. One at number
five is this joke that went over my head as
a kid, but now as an adult, I get it,
and even getting it now as an adult, it's almost
twice as funny because Casey Jones is a very interesting character.
(13:44):
He is somebody who was a professional hockey player and
then got injured so couldn't play hockey anymore, and then
just started fighting crime. Stumbles upon the Ninja Turtles in
April O'Neil and then just kind of hangs out with them,
even though nobody really questions that he He doesn't really
have a job. He just hangs out in sweatpants the
entire time and then just becomes the normal part of them.
(14:08):
But he's not the brightest guy, but he has some
brute strength. So they're all going back into the city,
back into the sewer, and he realizes that he doesn't
like being down there. You're a claustrophobic. You want to
fisting them off. Never even looked at another guy before,
and I didn't really get that joke as a kid,
and even now as an adult, it's a little bit
(14:30):
complex because the joke is that he thinks Dona Tello
is calling him homophobic, and Casey Jones thinks that that
would mean that he likes guys, which is not what
homophobic means at all. It kind of means the opposite
of that. But then it gets even more complex when
you realize that Casey Jones actually is a claustrophobic because
(14:50):
after this scene down in the sewer, he goes back
up to his truck to go to sleep, and he
has trouble falling asleep in the truck because that's also
a tight space that he opens up the window. So
he is claustrophobic, and who knows if he likes guys
or not. He got really defensive there though. And number
four was this quote from Michelangelo. It's's watching a cartoon
and it's really quick, but I found myself saying this
(15:12):
so much as a kid. Come on, don't just then
you kick the damn rabbit. Do something. It's just funny
because he's sticking up for the turtle in the cartoon,
racing the rabbit. I just always thought that was funny.
At Number three was this scene when they first go
hang out with April O'Neil at her apartment and they're
trying to impress her, and then Michael Angelo bust out
(15:33):
the impressions you dirty rat you killed by brought off
you dirty rat us be Splitter's favorite. It was a joke.
(15:53):
And number two was right before that moment whenever she
invites them up to their apartment and can only offer
them one thing to eat. I really don't have anything
to offer you guys except for a frozen pizza. Let
go for it. You said the magic word, you guys,
die pizza. Yeah, well, all right. This scene was still funny,
(16:19):
but I did notice some of the technical aspects. The
frame rate is just weird, and I remember this as
a kid. Whenever Michaelangelo comes up from the sewer, they
speed it up, but they also kept his mouth still
at that speed whenever he says that line, let's go
for it, and that whole thing looks weird. That was
one thing I did notice watching it on the big
screen is how much their mouths do not align with
(16:43):
what they are saying. So that was the only technical
aspect that I thought, oh man, that looks a little
bit off. It looks a little bit dated at times.
But at number one is the most classic line of
this movie. And I think I didn't really get it
as a kid. Why the Ninja turtles love pizza so much,
It's because the only food that could be delivered was pizza.
Think about it. Now we have uber eats, you can
(17:04):
get anything delivered, but back in the nineties it was
really pizza, maybe Chinese food. But if they are living
in New York City, the easiest thing for them to
order to get delivered would be pizza. Because they can
be seen. They can't go out and get any food
they want. They can't go to a restaurant. They have
to get things delivered to them. Even though ra Fayel
does go out to a movie which was kind of weird,
like how are you not going to notice a turtle
(17:26):
in a trench coat? But the origin of them getting
pizza is because that's what they could get delivered to them.
And he drops this gem of a line that is
not only the best quote of the entire movie, one
of the best quotes from any nineties movie. This is
a ten that have thirteen. You're dooming us late dude. Nah,
come on, I couldn't find a place wise man say
(17:47):
for kidnas is divine, but never pay full price for
late pizza.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I gotta get a new route.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
That is a classic line. So those are my top
five funniest moments from TMN T All right, let's get
to the emotional stuff. Now. This is why this movie
is one of my favorites, is because you do have
the fun things like that, there are the moments of levity.
It was intended to be a movie for kids. But
what I love when somebody makes a movie for kids
(18:17):
and doesn't undermine their brain, doesn't make something that just
plays down to them because maybe they can't get some
of these more complex things. You make something in its
true form, honoring the comic that it is based on,
and not talking down to your audience. Because the emotional
level of this movie is off the charts, and I
think it really captures that energy, that feeling of what
(18:42):
it's like to be a teenager just frustrated with the world.
And that is really what I took away from this
movie and why it still holds up to me and
why it is one of my favorites because I remember
exactly what it's like to feel like this, and sometimes
even as an adult now, I still feel these ways
that the Ninja Turtles felt dealing with these issues of
having their father figure ripped away from them, feeling like outcasts,
(19:04):
feeling like everybody in the world was against them, like
they couldn't get any credit even when they did good things.
So there's a moment in the movie with Rafayel is
just chilling on a rooftop and the entire Foot Clan,
which is the bad guys that are out to get
the Ninja Turtles. They are the secret organization run by Shredder.
He is their leader. They all gang up on him
(19:25):
and kick his butt so bad that he gets put
into a coma for days. They leave the city and
go out to a farm and put him in a
tub and just wait for him to wake up until
one day where Leonardo has been just watching over him.
He feels guilty. Raphael finally wakes up. Hey, what Raff,
you're awake? Yep, I do feel what's the guy got
(19:49):
it too? To get some food around his Hey, hey,
he's awake, he wants some food. Bring some food. Just
the emotion Leonardo's voice in that moment, how happy he
is because he thought that Rafael was dead. He thought
it was going to be his fault and to finally
(20:09):
see him come to life, and rap is kind of
in this state of like, I'm all right, man, He's
just happy to be awake. And that is one of
the most genuine interactions between these two characters because they've
been button heads this entire time because Leonardo is the leader.
Rafael doesn't want him to be the leader. Really, they
just butt heads because he doesn't want to do everything
(20:30):
that Leo says. He's like, oh, you're the great leader.
Everybody listens to you, much like you would your older brother,
your older sister. You would just clash just because they
are older and wiser than you and maybe sometimes do
have things in your best interest that you don't realize
at the time. And this is the manifestation of that.
And it's something that's always resonated with me having an
(20:53):
older brother and an older sister where at times we're
always just at each other's throats, but in moments of
turmoil and when things get really bad, you know that
they are there for you. And that is what I
fell in that moment, so Rafael waking up after being
in a butt induced coma is at number five and
number four. This movie has one of the best final
(21:15):
battles of all time. Splinter was taken from them and
they had their butt beat in the process trying to
figure out where he was. They had to go out
to the farm to find themselves and then come back
to the city to take on the Foot Clan and
the final showdown is with Shredder, and it is such
an emotional match as each Ninja Turtle comes up individually
(21:37):
trying to take him down, trying to prove that they
have been given the skills by their leader to take
down this evil villain. And then this moment comes in
the fight where all that emotion, all that crap just
hits the fan with Splinter. Ah the right.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Sword house A name name, you lie.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
And it's that raw emotion that I'm talking about. What
you heard there was Leo getting just all this rage
built up into him and let's out that as he
charges Shredder Like that emotion is what I look for
in a movie. I love that so much because he
just wants to find Splinter. He hates Shredder so much.
(22:35):
In that moment, and you just hear all that manifestation
in that scream right there, which we're gonna hear more screams,
and I got a little bit of emotional there. But
this is how passionate I am about this movie. But
I have that Leo charging Shredder as my number four
emotional moment in this movie because they were just told that, yeah,
I killed him, what are you gonna do about it now?
(22:56):
But then Shredder pins him and then almost kills Leo
and they all surrender their weapons, but it does lead
to them eventually defeating Shredder after Splinter throws them off
the roof. Next up my number three most emotional moment
from this movie. I don't know how I'm gonna make
it through this list, but at number three is whenever
they're out at the farm and they go to meditate,
because Leo had this quick moment when he was meditating
(23:20):
before this where he had a vision of seeing Splinter
a little bit, but more so hearing his voice and
knowing that he took all his brothers out there and
they all worked hard together they could manifest their powers
through meditation and find out if Splinter is alive or not,
and Splinter comes to them in a vision. They're all
(23:41):
sitting around this campfire. The flame turns from red to blue,
and almost a hologram appears, much like it would in
Star Wars of Splinter, and he drops this line on them.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
And always fem menimum, the true force that find you,
the same that would want to be here tonight, that
which I gladly returned with my final words, I love
you all.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
My sons lit all crying. You see Michaelangelo with the
tear and as I much like I do right now,
because they saw Splinter in this vision, and with all
the crap he is going through, he is still giving
them advice and just reassuring them that out of everything,
all they need to know is that he loves them.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Like man.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Maybe it's because I think back on my relationship with
my father. He would tell me that he loved me.
I take that back. He wouldn't always tell me, but
he would show me. I do remember him. Maybe when
I was young, young, like kindergarten, maybe first grade, he
would tell me that he loved me. Later, as I
got older, I think it was harder for him, just because,
like man, you know, you don't say you love you
(24:56):
to another man, even though they're your son. But he
would show me ways like taking me to Burger king,
getting me at the Pokemon toy, taking me to get
a video game, basically making sure I was fed and
at times entertained when we can afford it. And it's
even now as an adult that he does that. Like
one time I went home as an adult, maybe three
or four years ago, and he found out my favorite
(25:18):
drink was Topo Chico. So he went to the gas
station and bought every single Topo Chico that that gas
station hadn't stuck and brought them all for me for
the weekend, even though I couldn't even drink all those
in a weekend that I was home visiting my parents,
but he knew I loved to drink. Maybe in that
moment wanted to tell me that he loved me did it,
but instead he showed me by getting me every Topo
(25:39):
Chico from the shell gas station. So maybe that's also
why that scene hits a little bit at number two
is the first moment that they realized that the sewer
has been broken into, their layer has been destroyed, and
splinter has been stolen. He's been kidnapped or rat napped.
Raphael just had this big conversation with Splinter. Splinter was
telling him that he needs to control his anger, which
(26:00):
he tries to do that all throughout the film, but
once he realizes that Splinter has been stolen, he freaks
out just a plus screams all movie long. He screams
so loud that what you hear there at the end
(26:21):
is somebody walking over the sewer and they hear his
scream coming from underneath them, like what the But at
number two is Rafayel freaking out in that moment. And
at number one again because this movie is filled with
rage emotion that I just identify with maybe I just
have this rage deep inside of me. But at number one,
it's from the first battle between Casey Jones and Raphael,
(26:43):
after Rafael stops these two thieves from stealing a woman's
purse and he fights them off of the woman. But
then Casey Jones steps in and says, now we got
to take it up a level and teach them a
real lesson by really kicking their butt. And Turtles really
aren't about that life. They're all about in crime, but
not beating up people for the sake of beating up people.
(27:03):
That's not the Ninja way. But that turns into Raphael
and Casey Jones having an epic showdown. Early on in
the movie. Rafael knocks out Casey Jones with a bat
and then Casey Jones knocks him out with a cricket
paddle and then drops this insult on him.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Frey, Frey, come back, I'm not puttish for you.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Damn all movie long, Rafayel just yelling, damn screaming at people.
That is still my favorite part of this movie as
an adult. I think going into where the teenage Muant
Ninja Turtles are going, where the Last Rownin is still
in production, still in development, I think if they take
(27:50):
the same blueprint that was made with this nineteen ninety
movie and apply it to the Last Ronin, which is
an even darker graphic novel than the original comic book,
I honestly think that's all you need to do, because
this movie, if you added some blood and added some
more violence, would be right. It are And it's wild
that this is considered a kid's movie because if you
(28:12):
just listen back to the things that we've talked about,
they're not the most family friendly moments. But why is
this movie still relevant and so important? It was really
a landmark film back in the nineties, directed by Steve
Barron who shot this movie in forty days on a
thirteen point five million dollar budget. That is fast, that
(28:33):
is cheap, and the movie went on to gross over
two hundred million dollars. It got that sequel. Steve Barron,
at the time was known for directing music videos like
Michael Jackson's Billy Jean and also AHA's Take on Me
music video, which is that cool animation. So maybe not
my first choice of who I thought would bring the
Ninja Troats to life, but he really took Kevin Eastman
(28:54):
and Peter Laird's story and did it justice. Which they
are the original creators of TM and TEE. They didn't
really have a whole lot of creative control as far
as final decisions, but they did help them during the
development of the movie. And even though they kind of
went back and forth, I'm like, should we turn our
comic book into a big movie, they knew that this
(29:16):
would cement them in pop culture if it was successful.
The movie was shot in September nineteen eighty nine in Wilmington,
North Carolina, which, like I mentioned earlier. Some exterior shots
were shot in New York City. Some of the things
they experienced that they don't really talk about is that
some of the actors experience heat exhaustion, which you hear
now people who play superheroes like Anthony Mackie, they don't
(29:39):
want to wear the mask the entire time. Which I
think is why they have kind of shifted to some
digital suits in Nanotech, is because it is a pain
to make movies like this. But you had actors and
stunt performers in this Ninja Turtles movie overheating inside of
these things because they are so big, and it's not
(29:59):
only the you're wearing these big rubber suits, but you're
also under these massive studio light. And not only were
they super hot, they were also hard to work, which
the movie was riddled with mechanical failures and facial expressions
that didn't come across right. And you think about it too,
you're inside of this big suit, you have such limited visibility,
(30:21):
but then you're supposed to do these fight sequences that
have to look so real and so authentic. It led
to take after take after take. The filming of this
movie was not easy. It was a Nightmare, And yes,
it probably is easier to make a CGI Turtle where
you just have somebody kind of wearing the exoskeleton, kind
of like they do The Incredible Hulk now where Mark
(30:42):
Ruffalo puts on the suit. It's big and bulky and
it kind of outlines the character. But then they go
into post production and with CGI they put the character in.
But there's just something about having a tangible thing that
you can interact with that just feels so much more authentic,
and that was captured here and that's what made this
movie work, even though they probably almost die doing it.
(31:05):
Because actually, in that last scene that I played Whenever,
Casey Jones fights Rafael and he gets thrown into a
trash can, the actor inside of the raft suit actually
broke his nose, and if you go and watch the movie,
you can actually see him get up from the trash
can grabbing his nose because he broke it being flung
into the trash can. But the movie went on to
(31:27):
be a huge success, and it became the highest grossing
independent film of all time until The Blair Witch Project
came out in nineteen ninety nine. But to me, it's
just wild to look back on TMN T one and
think that was an independent movie, because now it is
a huge franchise. You have several generations of fans, and
(31:47):
I'm so glad I got to go see this movie
in theaters and see Turtle fans from every walk of
life just come and enjoy this movie on the big screen.
So if they do this for the fortieth anniversary, I'll
be right back there as well. And so that I say, Cowabunga, cow,
(32:09):
I made money. Let's get into it now. A Sportula
Free movie review of K Pop Deepen Hunters. I was
unaware how much I was just gonna instantly love this movie. Obviously,
I'm a huge fan of animation. Sony animation, in particular
from the same studio that brought us into the Spider Verse.
(32:29):
Across the Spider Verse. Just the animation alone in this
movie is beautiful. It is so fluid and vibrant and
so much expression in all of these characters that if
you strip this movie of the voice acting, of the music,
it would still be a delight to watch. And a
weird thing to say about animation in twenty twenty five.
Sometimes I just feel like it lacks inspiration, It lacks originality. Obviously,
(32:52):
some of that comes from animation being so expensive because
it takes so long to make. But if you are
gonna make a movie that really stands out, you have
to commit to giving us something visually that we haven't
seen before, and Sony is really great about doing that.
And the reason I love this movie so much just
on an animation standpoint is because I feel like this
(33:14):
is a movie I wish I grew up with, and
growing up in an era in the nineties and two
thousands where there were so many movies that had so
much artistic thought put into them that we don't really
get right now that I feel like some young people
are being robbed of that with movies like this. I think, oh,
this is going to be a nostalgic movie for a
kid in ten to fifteen years where you remember something
(33:37):
really good you watched as a kid, you go back
and watch it because it's so nostalgic. That is what
I get from K Pop Demon Hunters and knowing that
they are still putting movies like this out into the
world that are not only crushing records on Netflix, but
this past weekend went into theaters, which is something that
Netflix rarely does, but they know how much of a
cultural impact this movie is having because the song Golden
(34:00):
not only is fantastic in the movie, but also when
number one on the Billboard Hot one hundred. All the
songs in K pop Demon Hunters are so infectious. I'm
still singing Yo mas it up pop, Yo maso it
up Pop. Golden just has this very massive feel to it.
And it's really hard to make a music movie because
(34:21):
not only do you have to make the story compelling,
the music has to be good. Because the movie is
about a K pop band named Hunterricks that is at
the top of their game. They're selling out stadiums, they
have a massive fan base. They are also demon Hunters.
They come from a lineage of people who have been
not only entertaining audiences but also killing demons with their voice.
(34:41):
So you have Rumy, Mira, and Zoe, who are all
unique in their own way, much like you would find
in any K pop or pop band, and they are
so close to reaching the final stage in their journey
as demon Hunters, and all is going well until they
have to face off against a rival boy band, the
Saga Boys, whose members actually happen to be d humans.
So you have these two pop forces fighting against each other.
(35:05):
And not only is it just about good versus evil,
the pop stars fighting the demons. This movie makes a
really big statement on the music industry because underneath all
the demon hunting you have the pressures of what it's
like to be a pop star. Roomy is the leader
of the K pop band, and she has been pushing
them harder and harder to achieve this level of greatness.
(35:28):
They are about to wrap up this tour and they're
all excited to take a break. All they want to
do is hang out on the couch, and she pushes
them to continue forward because they are so close in
their journey. So right after their tour, they're about to
go on break and she decides to drop their next single, Golden,
and at that time, she starts struggling with her voice,
(35:50):
and you start to see all these little details about
how much pressure there is on pop stars to continue
pushing forward when they're at the top of their game,
when they're selling not the stadiums, when their fan base
is at an all time high, their social numbers are
off the charts, their singles are selling like crazy, and
there's a demand to keep putting out more new music,
(36:12):
keep touring the world, keep up with appearances, keep doing interviews,
And it shows you how all those things can really
start to wear you down and how much pressure there
is on an artist when it's all about your ability
to perform, your ability to get on that stage. Whether
you're sick, whether you're tired, whether you need rest, whether
you're hungry, You have to go up there no matter what,
(36:34):
and it shows how much that can really tear a
person down. And even though they love their fans so much,
they put them first, They try to do all these
things to make sure that they are happy. They know
how also that is a very delicate line to walk
about how much of yourself do you want to give
away and how much do you want to keep their attention,
because in the pop world it is so hard to
(36:56):
keep your fan base just right there with you more
than any other genre. You can be cool one day
and uncool the next. So it also speaks on that
pressure of just remaining relevant and everything you put out
has to be the best, it has to go number one,
and if it doesn't, you start to feel that pressure
of you becoming a little less relevant, you starting to
(37:16):
lose your fan base. And then they have this rival
boy band come out of nowhere. They are also secretly demons,
showing you the evil side of the music industry, and
suddenly they are all fighting for attention, which is all
what it means to be to be a pop star.
You're just fighting for people's attention, and in this case,
they're also fighting to keep their fans safe and keep
the entire world safe from all of these demons. I
(37:39):
really love that over the weekend they decided to put
this movie into theaters and have these sing along screenings,
because I think that is what movie theaters really need
to lean into more to get people engaged. That is
something that you can't get from watching at home, because
I think I see this debate online all the time
of like why would I go to a movie theater
(37:59):
when I have a big screen TV and I have
a big sound system at home. You know what you
can't get at home. You can't get community and seeing
K pop demon Hunters in a room full of people
who are all there that already know these songs, because
like I mentioned earlier, all these songs are so catchy.
To go into an environment like that with all these
(38:20):
like minded fans, you can't get that at home. You
can't get that community of going into a theater of
strangers to sing along to a movie that you've all
spent time with and love now and you all have
this shared experience in this room and then leave there
completely changed because of it. So I think we have
seen in the past year or so movie theaters really
(38:40):
start to embrace that more. Maybe it got a little
bit out of hand with the Minecraft screenings of people
losing their crap, So I don't think they want another
Chicken Jockey situation with every movie like this that has
viral success. But I think their ability to realize that
there is something here, and I do credit Netflix to
that we should put this thing and like Sey seventeen
hundred theaters and see what we can do. Because Netflix
(39:03):
doesn't really need to do that. I feel like they
care more about putting movies in theaters that are going
to be able to be nominated for Oscars, but here
if they can make more money from a big hit
on their hands, create a sense of community, create somebody
wanting to spend more money with their Netflix subscription, and
keeping that. I think that is a powerful thing, and
(39:25):
I think with Netflix not really having a movie with
Big Ip. This is one they're really gonna sink their
teeth into and really get all that they can out
of it. We're gonna start getting pop toys and more
merchandise out of this movie. So I think this could
be one of their flagship movies. So I'm glad if
there's a movie that they're going to really push like that,
it is one that is actually good for everybody. There
(39:48):
is something about going to the movies that I realize
some people think is weird, and that is going to
the movies alone. And I have been doing that my
entire life that I forgot that to some people that
feels a little bit awkward. But I am here to
tell you, if you are a fan of a movie
and want to go see it in theaters, don't think
twice about going to the movies alone. And I know
(40:10):
how weird it can feel. You think everybody's looking at you.
You think that other people who are there with friends
or family and a group of people are going to
look at you weird because you walk in with nobody.
Don't even think about that, nobody cares. You feel these
eyes on you, but they are not there. If you
want to go experience a movie in theaters and you're
(40:31):
worried about being a weirdo going alone. Don't even think
about it that way, because what you're gonna find is
that most everybody keeps to themselves. Nobody second guesses it,
and you're robbing yourself of that experience. So even with
the movie like this, if you wanted to go to
a sing along and you didn't have a friend to
go to because they don't like movies about K pop
(40:52):
demon hunters, don't rob yourself of that experience because going
to something like this, where maybe you don't know anybody,
you could find there's some real community there. You could
find other people who you don't even have to talk
to anybody, but maybe you do end up meeting somebody
who is also there alone. Because I think that is
what I love about going to the movies, is that
(41:12):
even though you are a room of strangers, in that moment,
you're all kind of in it together. You're all laughing
at the same parts, you're all cheering at the same parts,
and in this case, you're all singing along together. So
never let that worry of feeling like you're gonna be
a loser going to a movie alone and that is
coming from me, the biggest loser ever. When it comes
to doing things alone without having friends, people aren't going
(41:33):
to think you're weird unless you go do something weird
and don't do that. Just please don't do that. So
when it comes to K Pop Demon Hunters, much like
Hunterricks in the movie, they were known for their three
part harmonies. This movie, to me also had a great
three part harmony with great music, great animation style, and
a story with heart because it left me just very
emotional at parts. So for K Pop Demon Hunters, I
(41:55):
give it four out of five Soda Pops, It's time
to head down to movie. Mike Traylor Paul are sports
movies trying to make a comeback because F One crushed
it earlier this year. And I know when we think
about sports movies, we probably think about the ones we
grew up with, sand Lant baseball movies, football movies like
(42:17):
Varsity Blues. F One still a sports movie, and even
though the race motorsports genre has been a thing for
a long time, it feels different. And I think that
is going to be the key excuse me, going to
be the key to sports movies returning. Is we have
(42:38):
to get away from those traditional sports and give us
things that we haven't seen done before. That is what
movies are all about. Right now. You have to bring
us novel things, things that I have not seen or
witness with these eyeballs, or told in a way that
it's more unconventional, that feels new, that feels fresh, that
doesn't feel like Disney just making a really great story
(43:00):
to a very just okay by the numbers type sports movie,
which still even though they are predictable at times, even
though they can be on the fringes of going full
out cheesy at any moment, I still love me a
good sports movie. But I think to make something that
is really impactful in twenty twenty five, going into twenty
twenty six, we have to look outside of those traditional
(43:22):
sports that we've kind of seen covered. Even F one
didn't really reinvent the racing motorsport genre, but it brought
us something great and something that demanded the big screen.
Could that be the case here with Marty Supreme starring
Timothy Shalomey, which is about a guy who plays table tennis.
(43:43):
It is based on a true story, although it's not
a biopick because the actual guy's name that it is
based on his name, Marty Riiseman, but in this movie
he goes by the name of Marty Mauser and then
takes on the persona of Marty Supreme. But it's about
his rise to fame in the nineteen fifties as he
chases his dream of being a professional ping pong player.
(44:07):
The movie also starts Gwyneth Paltrow and a couple of
wild cards that I want to get into. But before
we do, here's just a little bit of the Marty
Supreme trailer.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
I know it's hard to believe, but I'm telling you
this game at phil Stadiums overseas, and it's only a
matter of time before I'm staring at you from the
cover of a Whitty's box.
Speaker 1 (44:28):
I'm not trying to control you, Martie. It's an acceptable
there's an acceptable to But I don't think you understand
the stakes. You have no power here. What do you
plan to do if this whole dream of yours doesn't
work at It doesn't even enter my consciousness. So even
though it is based on a true story, the actual
story in this movie is entirely fictional. So we have
(44:51):
a real life person Marty Riseman was an American ping
pong player who won twenty two major ping pong titles
from nineteen teen forty six all the way to two
thousand and two. I myself don't really know a whole
lot about table tennis. I remember the game on maybe
I think it was Xbox three sixty possibly PS three.
(45:13):
Rock Star made it, which is also the same company
that makes all the Grand Theft auto games, and it
was a really weird game for them to make. But
that is my extent of any experience playing this sport
is only playing it on Xbox three sixty. This movie
is coming out on Christmas Day of this year, directed
by Josh Safti, who you might think, why does that
(45:34):
name sound familiar? Maybe you heard this TikTok sound go
viral maybe two three years ago. It was Julia Fox
on call her daddy and she said this, I was
Josh Safti's news when he wrote Uncut Jabs. So Josh
Safti is usually a part of a directing deal with
him and his brother Ben Safti, who have directed movies
like Good Time and like Julia Fox said there in
(45:55):
that clip uncut Gems, this is the first time he's
done a solo movie since two thousand and eight. Normally
it's him and his brother teaming up, but his brother
has been busy this year. He's about to put out
The Smashing Machine with a twenty four that stars The Rock.
So two incredibly talented directors who not only can come
together and make great movies as a directing brother duo,
(46:17):
but also separately now really starting to just dominate when
it comes to making movies like this, movies that you
didn't think were going to be good, which, of course
I haven't seen this movie yet, but whenever this movie
was first announced that Timothy Chalomey would be starring alongside
Gwyneth Paltrow in a movie about a guy who's really
great at table tennis, directed by Josh Safti, I was like,
(46:38):
how is this movie even going to make sense? And
from the moment I heard what this movie was about,
and then when I heard who was all in this cast,
because you also have one of my favorites, Tyler the Creator,
who is not really an actor yet. He's kind of
dipping his toes into the waters, which I think a
lot of musicians have done, some have had. I had
(47:00):
successful careers crossing over. Some became more famous as actors
than they ever were as musicians. I love his music
so much. He is the one artist who I've still
not seen in concert that is on my bucket list.
And I'm kind of in a year right now where
I'm not going to concerts because they are so expensive.
I have to be really driven to go see an
(47:21):
artist and want to spend that amount of money. And
he is up there on that list of mine, but
has just not come to Nashville. But I will go
see him for the low price of fifty five cents
using my Regal Unlimited in Marty Supreme on Christmas Day.
The movie also stars fran Drescher, who you probably remember
best as the Nanny. And the most oddball casting in
Marty Supreme has to be Kevin O'Leary, the Kevin O'Leary
(47:46):
from Shark Tank, and he plays a rich guy in
this movie as well, So maybe it's not that much
of a stretch, but I just did not expect to
see him in this trailer and think, oh, man, he
can actually kind of act, because he is my least
favorite shark on Shark Tank just because man, dude loves
(48:07):
a royalty deal. And I think the reason he is
so successful in business is because he knows what he wants,
He knows what he wants to pay for things. He
will cut you down in an instant. And even though
I hate him sometimes on that show, I realize he
is doing his job because he is supposed to be
the villain on that show. And just the fact that
maybe I hate on him because he is so successful
(48:29):
that I wanted to see him in this trailer and think, ah,
look there's something that you can't do well. You can't
do everything. And then I see him and he looks
so convincing. It looks like he was perfectly cast. And
it's just such an oddball pairing of all these people.
It was almost like they put a bunch of actors'
names into a hat and just pick them out randomly
(48:49):
that I don't think anybody would think this is my
dream cast for a movie. I would never put Fran
Dresher next to Tyler the Creator, But somehow I think
this is going to work. It reminds me much of
whenever they first made the Facebook move, and you thought, man,
they're making a movie about Facebook. That is going to
be so stupid. But then David Fincher proved us all
(49:10):
wrong and drop a banger back in the twenty tens,
and I'll compare it to one of my favorite activities
to do what I'm feeling overwhelmed. When I'm just fload
it up to my neck in anxiety. Sometimes I'll go
over to YouTube and I'll watch old Bob Ross videos.
He was that famous painter did the joy of painting.
He had the big afro, and he talks in such
a calming voice. He paints happy little clouds, and I
(49:34):
would watch that show and think, man, after listening to
him and watching his tutorials, I think I too could
be an artist. Because sometimes he would just take a
big blob of black and throw it on this canvas
and say, I'm gonna turn this thing into a mountain.
And that thing is just like right there in the
dead center, and it looks so awful. He had just
painted this beautiful sky, all these happy little clouds. It
(49:57):
looks so perfect, and then he just drops this big
black blob and I'm like, man, you just ruined it.
But then he starts to just kind of paint away
at this big black blob with some white and he
fades it a little bit, these little brushstrokes that he does.
It suddenly starts to fade into the background, and then
it goes from being this big black blob to being
(50:19):
this beautiful mountain with a snowy top. And it came
out of nothing, and it came at a point where
you thought, there's no way this is going to work
and be beautiful, and now here it is a beautiful
painting with a beautiful mountain. That is how I feel
from the moment I learned about this movie, from the
moment I learned about the cast, and now at the
(50:40):
first look of it, thinking, man, this all makes sense.
This all came together beautifully, much like that mountain side
that Bob Ross painted on the joy of painting, And
sometimes all you need is that visionary, that artist like
Josh Safti to bring all of these lovely colors together.
In this case, it would be all the actors and
(51:01):
use his camera much like Bob Ross wood a paintbrush
to create something special. The movie is also coming out
on Christmas Day of this year, so it is right
smack dab there in the middle of Oscar season, which,
if I know something about Timothy chalomag is he is
hungry for an Oscar. He gave it as all last year,
(51:21):
got really close playing Bob Dylan in a Complete Unknown,
but didn't quite get there. He is somebody who is
hungry for it. He stays working, he stays busy, He
picks the directors he wants to work with to get
him to that goal because I truly believe that is
on his vision board and he will not rest until
he wins an Oscar for Best Actor year after year.
(51:44):
For the last three or four years now, he has
given his best effort to do that, which I feel
like at some point he thought, maybe I'll just do
a fun movie where it kind of be myself what
he did do Don't look Up a few years ago,
but that was more of a quick cameo. He is
not at that point yet where he's just going to
do a movie for fun if he is going to
invest his time in it. Right now, I believe he
(52:06):
is only going to do it if it's gonna get
him at least at minimum an Oscar nomination. But I
think with a movie like this, with just what I
see so far from his performance in the trailer, he
goes all in and he wants to take home that
golden trophy to hang it over his bed, which he
still looks really young to me. He's twenty nine years old,
(52:28):
But to me, I just envisioned him still living in
a college dorm room, sleeping on a mattress that's just
laid out on the floor, still has posters up on
his wall with thumbtacks, but probably he lives in a
really nice house. I think. Allegedly he's still dating Kylie Jenner,
even though there was rumors about them breaking up, them
not being able to spend time together because of how
(52:49):
busy he's been filming all of his movies. He's working
on Dooing three right now, so I truly believe he
will not rest until he is up there on that
stage delivering his speech, crying into the camera saying I
can't believe it. I finally want an Oscar. But out
of everything in this trailer, I'm still the most excited
to see Tyler the creator and hopefully that will lead
(53:11):
him to doing more movies and eventually maybe he is
somebody that is on my list as a dream interview
could end up on this podcast. But again, Marty Supreme
comes out in theaters Christmas Day, twenty twenty five, head
that for us this week's edition of movie Li Tramer
Bar and that is gonna do it for another episode
(53:31):
here of the podcast. But before I go, I gotta
get my listeners shout out of the week. This week,
I'm going over to my YouTube channel, which if you
don't follow me there, got to what are you waiting for?
Individual movie reviews always up for you over there. So
if you ever think, Man, what did I think about Weapons?
What did Mike think about Fantastic four? I know some
(53:52):
movies come out way later on streaming, like you can
watch Superman at home now it's not available for free
yet on Max, but you can rent it at home.
So if now you're checking out some of these movies
that I reviewed maybe a month ago, two months ago,
you can go there. You can check out my Superman
review all over at YouTube dot com slash Mike Distro,
(54:13):
where you can always find the link in the episode
notes of this podcast, so you can just click it
hit subscribe so you get brand new episodes every single Monday.
And this week's listener shout out goes to Invincible five
nine six', two who left a comment on my weapons
review and SAID i absolutely loved the. MOVIE i am
not a fan of the horror comedy, genre but this
(54:35):
one has the lol moments at the right. Time the
scare factor in this one is four out of. Five
it also more deeply gave a commentary on how we
enable people and entities to control our. LIVES a must.
SEE i appreciate That invincible five nine six. TWO i,
too was raving so much about weapons last, week to
(54:57):
the point THAT i thought MAYBE i raved about it
too much because people are going to go see it
now and be, like, man this is so. Overhyped BUT
i highly recommend it even if you're not the biggest
fan of, horror BECAUSE i do believe it leans more
on the thriller. SIDE i, think, though in the, marketing
to sell that movie as a horror movie is probably
(55:18):
more exciting and the way to. Go but Like invincible
said here in this, COMMENT i think there is a
much deeper message. THERE i Think Zach kreiger put a
lot of his own real life experiences into this, story
into these, characters so like any good horror, movie there's
way more to dig into than just the scary things
that pop out and scare. You so appreciate that. Comment
(55:40):
thank you for being subscribed over on, YouTube and thank
you right now for. Listening and until next, time go
out and watch good movies AND i will talk to
you later
Hello, and welcome back to movie Mike's movie podcast. I
am your host Movie Mike. Today we are talking about
the untold story of the nineteen ninety teenage mutant Ninja
Turtles movie. It was just in theaters for its thirty
fifth anniversary. I went, I experienced it. I want to
talk about does it hold up, why this movie means
so much to me, and the crazy history of this
(00:21):
movie of the unlikely comic book adaptation that went on
to be one of the biggest independent movies of all time.
In the movie review, we'll be talking about the movie
Sweeping the Nation came back into theaters for a single
long version Netflix's K Pop Demon Hunters. This movie is
not only crushing. It now on streaming, also at the
box office, but also on the Billboard Hot one hundred.
(00:43):
And in the trailer park, we'll talk about Marty Supreme
starring Timothy Shallomey playing a ping pong player. Thank you
for being here, thank you for being subscribed. Shout out
to the Monday Morning Movie crew. And now let's talk
movies from the Nastrolle podcast network. And this is Movie Mike.
Movie Plota teenagemw Ninja Thurtles came out in theaters back
(01:05):
in nineteen ninety, but just return to the big screen
for its thirty fifth anniversary, and I went to go
see it, and it was the first time I've seen
one of my favorite movies of all time on the
big screen. Because for me, TMNT nineteen ninety as a
top ten film for me. So I want to talk
to you about why this movie was so influential in
(01:26):
my life, the crazy history behind this movie, and how
it was an independent film based on a comic book,
which is so normal to us now, but it wasn't
the case back in nineteen ninety. I mean, we had Superman,
we had Batman going from eighty nine, but there wasn't
a formula that told you that if you made a
comic book adaptation that it was going to work. Actually,
(01:47):
a lot of people thought this movie was going to fail.
But before I get into all that, I just want
to tell you about my theater experience. So I'm going
to review TMNT as if it were a new movie,
because really, being there in theaters watching this movie on
the big screen for the first time, I saw it
in a whole new light. And my biggest question going
into it was, is this movie going to hold up
(02:09):
because the interesting thing about this, since this movie is
thirty five years old, what I noticed going into the
screening was that you had several different generations of fans
going because you have me, well, I almost feel like
I'm like the second wave of TMNT fan because the
original fans. I feel like you had to be born
in the eighties to either discover the comic first or
(02:32):
discover the cartoon and the toy line in the eighties,
because my older brother was born in nineteen eighty four,
the same year the Ninja Turtles were created, so he
was a kid when they were at the height of
their popularity because of the animated show, which was so
tied into the toy line, because the animated show was
essentially the commercials for the toys, and those were some
(02:53):
of the most popular toys of all time. And it
was his passion and his fandom for the teen age
Mutan Ninja Turtles that led me to be such a
big fan. And I probably didn't watch this movie until
maybe I was four or five years old, so by
the time I was introduced to tmn T, I already
had the first three movies to watch. But there was
(03:15):
always something about this movie that stood out to me
as a kid, even though I didn't fully understand it,
and I think it wasn't probably until I was a
teenager that this became my favorite TM and T movie
because to my young brain, Part two was actually my
favorite through the majority of my childhood because it had
so much more comedic elements, and that is actually what
(03:35):
they tried to do when making the sequel, because this
first movie is so dark and it's based more on
the comic book, which does have more of a gritty tone,
but that is exactly what came to life. And I
wanted to know when going to see this movie in
theaters now, is it going to feel really dated? Is
it not going to hold up on the big screen?
(03:56):
Because as I saw all these different generations of fans,
I saw people a little bit older than me, probably
born in the early to mid eighties. I saw people
my age. But then I saw all of those people
bring their kids with them. So there were five year
olds to ten year olds all going to experience this movie.
They've probably never seen it, maybe their dad made them
(04:17):
watch it at home, and that was interesting to see
because I wanted to know if they were going to
enjoy it because I think for me, I see this
movie and I think it's a perfect movie. But now
we've had so many iterations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
We've had the animated movie, We've had the Michael o'bay
version of the Turtles, We've had them on Nickelodeon. So
(04:38):
it's what is introduced to you is probably going to
be your favorite. But it meant a lot to me
to know if this movie would hold up for all
these generations of fans or is it just going to
look old and lame. But the thing that stuck out
to me is after this screening, all those kids were
still excited. I even heard them having conversations with their dads.
(05:00):
We're all filing out of the theater going up the escalator.
One of these kids was so excited. I was like, wow,
that came out thirty five years ago. It was so good.
And that made me happy because to me, going to
see this in theaters, I really felt like the movie
held up so well. It still hit me on an
emotional level, probably more so than it ever had because
(05:23):
I kind of felt like, this is a movie that
I've spent a lot of time with much like I
would spend a lot of time with my favorite album.
And you can spend so much time listening to your
favorite songs they become a part of you. But then
it transforms you even more as a person when you
go see those favorite songs performed live in person. And
(05:44):
that is what this experience felt like to me. It
was like I spent this entire time listening to this
album but never got to fully experience it live. And
for me, going to the theater to watch a movie
is like watching something live because it takes on a
different life. You get to see it how it was
meant to be seen, how this movie was designed, and
(06:05):
there were so many things that stuck out to me more.
First of all, this movie is beautifully shot, as far
as the composition that goes into all of these shots,
the cinematography, it is there. And yes, there were some
technical aspects that even in the original movie, they got
some things wrong. And it's crazy because this movie was
(06:25):
filmed so quickly that there were mistakes left in the
original movie. If you go watch it on VHS or
even some streaming services that don't have the updated version,
there are some parts where you see the actors inside
of the costumes. Especially there's scenes like in the sewer
where they're skateboarding and you see them have a human hand.
There are other aspects of the animatronics where maybe they
(06:47):
open their mouth a little bit too wide, and you
see some of the wires, you see the actor inside.
There's a part in the final battle between the Ninja
Turtles and Shredder wherever Shredder is going to a hack
splinter to try and knock them off the top of
the building, and you see the backdrop of the set.
(07:07):
Because a lot of this movie was filmed in a warehouse,
some of it was actually filmed on the streets of
New York, but you can see in that moment that
it's a big set and you see almost this big
curtain draped over. So things like that were left in
the movie, and I was happy that they fixed all
those in post production. But the movie just looks so good.
It had that rich film quality. I want the warmth
(07:30):
of a movie filmed on actual film and with characters
that are actually there in the flesh. They used animatronics
from the Jim Henson Company to make the Ninja Turtles
come to life, which is something that we don't really
get in the Michael Bay versions where they're all cgi.
They're too big, and I feel like those movies would
(07:51):
not hold up in this same way because that technology
that look is going to be so much more dated
than the actual animatronic Ninja Turtles. The other thing that
really stuck out to me going to see this movie
in theaters for the first time was the score. It's
so good behind all of these scenes, and it really
helps create that environment, that sense of urgency, and it
(08:13):
has this really dark undertone that it just lays the
foundation for this story where it starts out very chilling,
it builds up at times. It really brings the fight
scenes to life. And I never really appreciated the score
until I saw it in theaters and listen to all
the instruments that has that nineties influence, which of course
(08:33):
this movie came out in nineties, so it's probably the
remnants of the eighties sound, but it almost has like
this punk vibe to it that fits the story so
well that really amplifies all the emotional parts of this film.
And it was just so beautifully done and made every
scene come to life. When it came to seeing the
Turtles fight and really capturing their raw emotion, which is
(08:56):
what this movie is filled with and probably why it
resonates so much more with me as an adult now,
because like I said, Part two was my favorite as
a kid, but now as I go rewatch this movie,
I realize the story and how it impacts me so
much more and how yes, it is a story about
these four turtles that are in the sewer, playing in
(09:18):
this radioactive ooz that transforms them to grow bigger and
bigger splinter. Their father figure in this movie is also
affected by this ooz. He grows bigger and bigger and
smarter and smarter and trains them to beat ninjas. And yes,
that is what this movie is about, four teenage ninja
turtles who fight crime. But going to watch this movie
(09:41):
in theaters and viewing it like any other movie I
would go see in theaters this year. It is a
story about a father figure who cares so much about
his sons and just wants to see them succeed by
giving them all the tools they need to be successful.
From every mistake that they make, because that's what as
do they do, dumb things they don't listen to their parents.
(10:03):
He always shows them how much. He loves them, and
not only them, but anybody he comes in contact with.
He is this guiding light and just tries to help people.
Even when he is being beaten and starved to a
bloody pulp, he is still there trying to see the
good in people and trying to do the right thing.
And the story is about these four brothers who are
(10:27):
trying to understand that and trying to navigate this world
where they don't think they will be accepted. Because they
are confined to the sewers, they can't be seen. They
can go and help fight crime, but they must remain
hidden at all times, even though they hide their faces
with the bandanas. If you see a big turtle with
(10:48):
the bandana, you're not thinking, I don't know who that is.
Because they're wearing a bandana, You're gonna think that is
a huge turnle. I know exactly who that is. They
don't need to cover their face, but for aesthetics. It's
also because whenever the Ninja turtles were first created, they
all had red bandanas and you really couldn't tell one
apart from the other, so the creators decided to give
(11:08):
them all different colors, put their letters on their belts,
at least in the animated show. They don't have that
in the movie. And they also all have weapons unique
to them. So Leonardo is the leader. He has the
twin katanas, which are these really huge sharp blades. He
has given those because he is the leader, and it
shows you that you have that leadership quality to wield
(11:31):
those weapons. Also shows you how precise he is. In
the Samurai tradition, that katana is a weapon of honor,
and that is fitting for Leonardo. And Leonardo wears the blue,
Rafael wears the red. He has the Si, which is
the three pointed dagger, which at the beginning of the movie,
when he helps April O'Neil, he leaves one behind and
she tastes it and he's like, man, damn, I gotta
(11:53):
get that thing back. And that weapon is perfect for
him because he's hot headed, he's very aggressive, and the
sigh it's for short, close contact combat, which is perfect
for his brawling style because he is just a lot
of emotion, a lot of rage that just kind of
comes at you, and that is what I love about Raphael.
Then you have Michelangelo in the Orange aka Mikey, which
(12:15):
is somebody that I gravitated to a lot as a kid.
The reason I was called Mikey growing up was because
of Michelangelo. So growing up, I felt like I was
a Mikey and it wasn't until I was an adult
that I realized I'm a Rafael. But he has the nunchucks,
which are very fast and flashy, a little bit silly
at times, so I think that's why they fit Michelangelo perfectly.
(12:38):
He is the comic relief, and he has a lot
of comic relief with his nunchucks in TMN T one.
And then you have Donna Tello who has the bo staff,
which is interesting for Donna Tello not so much in
TMNT one, but later he becomes the tech brother who
is so good with electronics and hacking into things, and
it's kind of ironic that his is the most basic
(13:01):
of all. It's basically a big stick, but also kind
of fitting because if you just have a big stick,
that means you have to be more precise with it,
you have to value technique and strategy more than just
having a really cool weapon. And you probably know this
by now, but they're all named after Renaissance artists. Leonardo
da Vinci, Donna Tello, Michelangelo, and Rafael. They're all Renaissance artists.
(13:22):
I do want to get into the more emotional parts
of this movie, but before it gets said, here are
my top five funny moments from TMNT. One at number
five is this joke that went over my head as
a kid, but now as an adult, I get it,
and even getting it now as an adult, it's almost
twice as funny because Casey Jones is a very interesting character.
(13:44):
He is somebody who was a professional hockey player and
then got injured so couldn't play hockey anymore, and then
just started fighting crime. Stumbles upon the Ninja Turtles in
April O'Neil and then just kind of hangs out with them,
even though nobody really questions that he He doesn't really
have a job. He just hangs out in sweatpants the
entire time and then just becomes the normal part of them.
(14:08):
But he's not the brightest guy, but he has some
brute strength. So they're all going back into the city,
back into the sewer, and he realizes that he doesn't
like being down there. You're a claustrophobic. You want to
fisting them off. Never even looked at another guy before,
and I didn't really get that joke as a kid,
and even now as an adult, it's a little bit
(14:30):
complex because the joke is that he thinks Dona Tello
is calling him homophobic, and Casey Jones thinks that that
would mean that he likes guys, which is not what
homophobic means at all. It kind of means the opposite
of that. But then it gets even more complex when
you realize that Casey Jones actually is a claustrophobic because
(14:50):
after this scene down in the sewer, he goes back
up to his truck to go to sleep, and he
has trouble falling asleep in the truck because that's also
a tight space that he opens up the window. So
he is claustrophobic, and who knows if he likes guys
or not. He got really defensive there though. And number
four was this quote from Michelangelo. It's's watching a cartoon
and it's really quick, but I found myself saying this
(15:12):
so much as a kid. Come on, don't just then
you kick the damn rabbit. Do something. It's just funny
because he's sticking up for the turtle in the cartoon,
racing the rabbit. I just always thought that was funny.
At Number three was this scene when they first go
hang out with April O'Neil at her apartment and they're
trying to impress her, and then Michael Angelo bust out
(15:33):
the impressions you dirty rat you killed by brought off
you dirty rat us be Splitter's favorite. It was a joke.
(15:53):
And number two was right before that moment whenever she
invites them up to their apartment and can only offer
them one thing to eat. I really don't have anything
to offer you guys except for a frozen pizza. Let
go for it. You said the magic word, you guys,
die pizza. Yeah, well, all right. This scene was still funny,
(16:19):
but I did notice some of the technical aspects. The
frame rate is just weird, and I remember this as
a kid. Whenever Michaelangelo comes up from the sewer, they
speed it up, but they also kept his mouth still
at that speed whenever he says that line, let's go
for it, and that whole thing looks weird. That was
one thing I did notice watching it on the big
screen is how much their mouths do not align with
(16:43):
what they are saying. So that was the only technical
aspect that I thought, oh man, that looks a little
bit off. It looks a little bit dated at times.
But at number one is the most classic line of
this movie. And I think I didn't really get it
as a kid. Why the Ninja turtles love pizza so much,
It's because the only food that could be delivered was pizza.
Think about it. Now we have uber eats, you can
(17:04):
get anything delivered, but back in the nineties it was
really pizza, maybe Chinese food. But if they are living
in New York City, the easiest thing for them to
order to get delivered would be pizza. Because they can
be seen. They can't go out and get any food
they want. They can't go to a restaurant. They have
to get things delivered to them. Even though ra Fayel
does go out to a movie which was kind of weird,
like how are you not going to notice a turtle
(17:26):
in a trench coat? But the origin of them getting
pizza is because that's what they could get delivered to them.
And he drops this gem of a line that is
not only the best quote of the entire movie, one
of the best quotes from any nineties movie. This is
a ten that have thirteen. You're dooming us late dude. Nah,
come on, I couldn't find a place wise man say
(17:47):
for kidnas is divine, but never pay full price for
late pizza.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
I gotta get a new route.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
That is a classic line. So those are my top
five funniest moments from TMN T All right, let's get
to the emotional stuff. Now. This is why this movie
is one of my favorites, is because you do have
the fun things like that, there are the moments of levity.
It was intended to be a movie for kids. But
what I love when somebody makes a movie for kids
(18:17):
and doesn't undermine their brain, doesn't make something that just
plays down to them because maybe they can't get some
of these more complex things. You make something in its
true form, honoring the comic that it is based on,
and not talking down to your audience. Because the emotional
level of this movie is off the charts, and I
think it really captures that energy, that feeling of what
(18:42):
it's like to be a teenager just frustrated with the world.
And that is really what I took away from this
movie and why it still holds up to me and
why it is one of my favorites because I remember
exactly what it's like to feel like this, and sometimes
even as an adult now, I still feel these ways
that the Ninja Turtles felt dealing with these issues of
having their father figure ripped away from them, feeling like outcasts,
(19:04):
feeling like everybody in the world was against them, like
they couldn't get any credit even when they did good things.
So there's a moment in the movie with Rafayel is
just chilling on a rooftop and the entire Foot Clan,
which is the bad guys that are out to get
the Ninja Turtles. They are the secret organization run by Shredder.
He is their leader. They all gang up on him
(19:25):
and kick his butt so bad that he gets put
into a coma for days. They leave the city and
go out to a farm and put him in a
tub and just wait for him to wake up until
one day where Leonardo has been just watching over him.
He feels guilty. Raphael finally wakes up. Hey, what Raff,
you're awake? Yep, I do feel what's the guy got
(19:49):
it too? To get some food around his Hey, hey,
he's awake, he wants some food. Bring some food. Just
the emotion Leonardo's voice in that moment, how happy he
is because he thought that Rafael was dead. He thought
it was going to be his fault and to finally
(20:09):
see him come to life, and rap is kind of
in this state of like, I'm all right, man, He's
just happy to be awake. And that is one of
the most genuine interactions between these two characters because they've
been button heads this entire time because Leonardo is the leader.
Rafael doesn't want him to be the leader. Really, they
just butt heads because he doesn't want to do everything
(20:30):
that Leo says. He's like, oh, you're the great leader.
Everybody listens to you, much like you would your older brother,
your older sister. You would just clash just because they
are older and wiser than you and maybe sometimes do
have things in your best interest that you don't realize
at the time. And this is the manifestation of that.
And it's something that's always resonated with me having an
(20:53):
older brother and an older sister where at times we're
always just at each other's throats, but in moments of
turmoil and when things get really bad, you know that
they are there for you. And that is what I
fell in that moment, so Rafael waking up after being
in a butt induced coma is at number five and
number four. This movie has one of the best final
(21:15):
battles of all time. Splinter was taken from them and
they had their butt beat in the process trying to
figure out where he was. They had to go out
to the farm to find themselves and then come back
to the city to take on the Foot Clan and
the final showdown is with Shredder, and it is such
an emotional match as each Ninja Turtle comes up individually
(21:37):
trying to take him down, trying to prove that they
have been given the skills by their leader to take
down this evil villain. And then this moment comes in
the fight where all that emotion, all that crap just
hits the fan with Splinter. Ah the right.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Sword house A name name, you lie.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
And it's that raw emotion that I'm talking about. What
you heard there was Leo getting just all this rage
built up into him and let's out that as he
charges Shredder Like that emotion is what I look for
in a movie. I love that so much because he
just wants to find Splinter. He hates Shredder so much.
(22:35):
In that moment, and you just hear all that manifestation
in that scream right there, which we're gonna hear more screams,
and I got a little bit of emotional there. But
this is how passionate I am about this movie. But
I have that Leo charging Shredder as my number four
emotional moment in this movie because they were just told that, yeah,
I killed him, what are you gonna do about it now?
(22:56):
But then Shredder pins him and then almost kills Leo
and they all surrender their weapons, but it does lead
to them eventually defeating Shredder after Splinter throws them off
the roof. Next up my number three most emotional moment
from this movie. I don't know how I'm gonna make
it through this list, but at number three is whenever
they're out at the farm and they go to meditate,
because Leo had this quick moment when he was meditating
(23:20):
before this where he had a vision of seeing Splinter
a little bit, but more so hearing his voice and
knowing that he took all his brothers out there and
they all worked hard together they could manifest their powers
through meditation and find out if Splinter is alive or not,
and Splinter comes to them in a vision. They're all
(23:41):
sitting around this campfire. The flame turns from red to blue,
and almost a hologram appears, much like it would in
Star Wars of Splinter, and he drops this line on them.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
And always fem menimum, the true force that find you,
the same that would want to be here tonight, that
which I gladly returned with my final words, I love
you all.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
My sons lit all crying. You see Michaelangelo with the
tear and as I much like I do right now,
because they saw Splinter in this vision, and with all
the crap he is going through, he is still giving
them advice and just reassuring them that out of everything,
all they need to know is that he loves them.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Like man.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Maybe it's because I think back on my relationship with
my father. He would tell me that he loved me.
I take that back. He wouldn't always tell me, but
he would show me. I do remember him. Maybe when
I was young, young, like kindergarten, maybe first grade, he
would tell me that he loved me. Later, as I
got older, I think it was harder for him, just because,
like man, you know, you don't say you love you
(24:56):
to another man, even though they're your son. But he
would show me ways like taking me to Burger king,
getting me at the Pokemon toy, taking me to get
a video game, basically making sure I was fed and
at times entertained when we can afford it. And it's
even now as an adult that he does that. Like
one time I went home as an adult, maybe three
or four years ago, and he found out my favorite
(25:18):
drink was Topo Chico. So he went to the gas
station and bought every single Topo Chico that that gas
station hadn't stuck and brought them all for me for
the weekend, even though I couldn't even drink all those
in a weekend that I was home visiting my parents,
but he knew I loved to drink. Maybe in that
moment wanted to tell me that he loved me did it,
but instead he showed me by getting me every Topo
(25:39):
Chico from the shell gas station. So maybe that's also
why that scene hits a little bit at number two
is the first moment that they realized that the sewer
has been broken into, their layer has been destroyed, and
splinter has been stolen. He's been kidnapped or rat napped.
Raphael just had this big conversation with Splinter. Splinter was
telling him that he needs to control his anger, which
(26:00):
he tries to do that all throughout the film, but
once he realizes that Splinter has been stolen, he freaks
out just a plus screams all movie long. He screams
so loud that what you hear there at the end
(26:21):
is somebody walking over the sewer and they hear his
scream coming from underneath them, like what the But at
number two is Rafayel freaking out in that moment. And
at number one again because this movie is filled with
rage emotion that I just identify with maybe I just
have this rage deep inside of me. But at number one,
it's from the first battle between Casey Jones and Raphael,
(26:43):
after Rafael stops these two thieves from stealing a woman's
purse and he fights them off of the woman. But
then Casey Jones steps in and says, now we got
to take it up a level and teach them a
real lesson by really kicking their butt. And Turtles really
aren't about that life. They're all about in crime, but
not beating up people for the sake of beating up people.
(27:03):
That's not the Ninja way. But that turns into Raphael
and Casey Jones having an epic showdown. Early on in
the movie. Rafael knocks out Casey Jones with a bat
and then Casey Jones knocks him out with a cricket
paddle and then drops this insult on him.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Frey, Frey, come back, I'm not puttish for you.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Damn all movie long, Rafayel just yelling, damn screaming at people.
That is still my favorite part of this movie as
an adult. I think going into where the teenage Muant
Ninja Turtles are going, where the Last Rownin is still
in production, still in development, I think if they take
(27:50):
the same blueprint that was made with this nineteen ninety
movie and apply it to the Last Ronin, which is
an even darker graphic novel than the original comic book,
I honestly think that's all you need to do, because
this movie, if you added some blood and added some
more violence, would be right. It are And it's wild
that this is considered a kid's movie because if you
(28:12):
just listen back to the things that we've talked about,
they're not the most family friendly moments. But why is
this movie still relevant and so important? It was really
a landmark film back in the nineties, directed by Steve
Barron who shot this movie in forty days on a
thirteen point five million dollar budget. That is fast, that
(28:33):
is cheap, and the movie went on to gross over
two hundred million dollars. It got that sequel. Steve Barron,
at the time was known for directing music videos like
Michael Jackson's Billy Jean and also AHA's Take on Me
music video, which is that cool animation. So maybe not
my first choice of who I thought would bring the
Ninja Troats to life, but he really took Kevin Eastman
(28:54):
and Peter Laird's story and did it justice. Which they
are the original creators of TM and TEE. They didn't
really have a whole lot of creative control as far
as final decisions, but they did help them during the
development of the movie. And even though they kind of
went back and forth, I'm like, should we turn our
comic book into a big movie, they knew that this
(29:16):
would cement them in pop culture if it was successful.
The movie was shot in September nineteen eighty nine in Wilmington,
North Carolina, which, like I mentioned earlier. Some exterior shots
were shot in New York City. Some of the things
they experienced that they don't really talk about is that
some of the actors experience heat exhaustion, which you hear
now people who play superheroes like Anthony Mackie, they don't
(29:39):
want to wear the mask the entire time. Which I
think is why they have kind of shifted to some
digital suits in Nanotech, is because it is a pain
to make movies like this. But you had actors and
stunt performers in this Ninja Turtles movie overheating inside of
these things because they are so big, and it's not
(29:59):
only the you're wearing these big rubber suits, but you're
also under these massive studio light. And not only were
they super hot, they were also hard to work, which
the movie was riddled with mechanical failures and facial expressions
that didn't come across right. And you think about it too,
you're inside of this big suit, you have such limited visibility,
(30:21):
but then you're supposed to do these fight sequences that
have to look so real and so authentic. It led
to take after take after take. The filming of this
movie was not easy. It was a Nightmare, And yes,
it probably is easier to make a CGI Turtle where
you just have somebody kind of wearing the exoskeleton, kind
of like they do The Incredible Hulk now where Mark
(30:42):
Ruffalo puts on the suit. It's big and bulky and
it kind of outlines the character. But then they go
into post production and with CGI they put the character in.
But there's just something about having a tangible thing that
you can interact with that just feels so much more authentic,
and that was captured here and that's what made this
movie work, even though they probably almost die doing it.
(31:05):
Because actually, in that last scene that I played Whenever,
Casey Jones fights Rafael and he gets thrown into a
trash can, the actor inside of the raft suit actually
broke his nose, and if you go and watch the movie,
you can actually see him get up from the trash
can grabbing his nose because he broke it being flung
into the trash can. But the movie went on to
(31:27):
be a huge success, and it became the highest grossing
independent film of all time until The Blair Witch Project
came out in nineteen ninety nine. But to me, it's
just wild to look back on TMN T one and
think that was an independent movie, because now it is
a huge franchise. You have several generations of fans, and
(31:47):
I'm so glad I got to go see this movie
in theaters and see Turtle fans from every walk of
life just come and enjoy this movie on the big screen.
So if they do this for the fortieth anniversary, I'll
be right back there as well. And so that I say, Cowabunga, cow,
(32:09):
I made money. Let's get into it now. A Sportula
Free movie review of K Pop Deepen Hunters. I was
unaware how much I was just gonna instantly love this movie. Obviously,
I'm a huge fan of animation. Sony animation, in particular
from the same studio that brought us into the Spider Verse.
(32:29):
Across the Spider Verse. Just the animation alone in this
movie is beautiful. It is so fluid and vibrant and
so much expression in all of these characters that if
you strip this movie of the voice acting, of the music,
it would still be a delight to watch. And a
weird thing to say about animation in twenty twenty five.
Sometimes I just feel like it lacks inspiration, It lacks originality. Obviously,
(32:52):
some of that comes from animation being so expensive because
it takes so long to make. But if you are
gonna make a movie that really stands out, you have
to commit to giving us something visually that we haven't
seen before, and Sony is really great about doing that.
And the reason I love this movie so much just
on an animation standpoint is because I feel like this
(33:14):
is a movie I wish I grew up with, and
growing up in an era in the nineties and two
thousands where there were so many movies that had so
much artistic thought put into them that we don't really
get right now that I feel like some young people
are being robbed of that with movies like this. I think, oh,
this is going to be a nostalgic movie for a
kid in ten to fifteen years where you remember something
(33:37):
really good you watched as a kid, you go back
and watch it because it's so nostalgic. That is what
I get from K Pop Demon Hunters and knowing that
they are still putting movies like this out into the
world that are not only crushing records on Netflix, but
this past weekend went into theaters, which is something that
Netflix rarely does, but they know how much of a
cultural impact this movie is having because the song Golden
(34:00):
not only is fantastic in the movie, but also when
number one on the Billboard Hot one hundred. All the
songs in K pop Demon Hunters are so infectious. I'm
still singing Yo mas it up pop, Yo maso it
up Pop. Golden just has this very massive feel to it.
And it's really hard to make a music movie because
(34:21):
not only do you have to make the story compelling,
the music has to be good. Because the movie is
about a K pop band named Hunterricks that is at
the top of their game. They're selling out stadiums, they
have a massive fan base. They are also demon Hunters.
They come from a lineage of people who have been
not only entertaining audiences but also killing demons with their voice.
(34:41):
So you have Rumy, Mira, and Zoe, who are all
unique in their own way, much like you would find
in any K pop or pop band, and they are
so close to reaching the final stage in their journey
as demon Hunters, and all is going well until they
have to face off against a rival boy band, the
Saga Boys, whose members actually happen to be d humans.
So you have these two pop forces fighting against each other.
(35:05):
And not only is it just about good versus evil,
the pop stars fighting the demons. This movie makes a
really big statement on the music industry because underneath all
the demon hunting you have the pressures of what it's
like to be a pop star. Roomy is the leader
of the K pop band, and she has been pushing
them harder and harder to achieve this level of greatness.
(35:28):
They are about to wrap up this tour and they're
all excited to take a break. All they want to
do is hang out on the couch, and she pushes
them to continue forward because they are so close in
their journey. So right after their tour, they're about to
go on break and she decides to drop their next single, Golden,
and at that time, she starts struggling with her voice,
(35:50):
and you start to see all these little details about
how much pressure there is on pop stars to continue
pushing forward when they're at the top of their game,
when they're selling not the stadiums, when their fan base
is at an all time high, their social numbers are
off the charts, their singles are selling like crazy, and
there's a demand to keep putting out more new music,
(36:12):
keep touring the world, keep up with appearances, keep doing interviews,
And it shows you how all those things can really
start to wear you down and how much pressure there
is on an artist when it's all about your ability
to perform, your ability to get on that stage. Whether
you're sick, whether you're tired, whether you need rest, whether
you're hungry, You have to go up there no matter what,
(36:34):
and it shows how much that can really tear a
person down. And even though they love their fans so much,
they put them first, They try to do all these
things to make sure that they are happy. They know
how also that is a very delicate line to walk
about how much of yourself do you want to give
away and how much do you want to keep their attention,
because in the pop world it is so hard to
(36:56):
keep your fan base just right there with you more
than any other genre. You can be cool one day
and uncool the next. So it also speaks on that
pressure of just remaining relevant and everything you put out
has to be the best, it has to go number one,
and if it doesn't, you start to feel that pressure
of you becoming a little less relevant, you starting to
(37:16):
lose your fan base. And then they have this rival
boy band come out of nowhere. They are also secretly demons,
showing you the evil side of the music industry, and
suddenly they are all fighting for attention, which is all
what it means to be to be a pop star.
You're just fighting for people's attention, and in this case,
they're also fighting to keep their fans safe and keep
the entire world safe from all of these demons. I
(37:39):
really love that over the weekend they decided to put
this movie into theaters and have these sing along screenings,
because I think that is what movie theaters really need
to lean into more to get people engaged. That is
something that you can't get from watching at home, because
I think I see this debate online all the time
of like why would I go to a movie theater
(37:59):
when I have a big screen TV and I have
a big sound system at home. You know what you
can't get at home. You can't get community and seeing
K pop demon Hunters in a room full of people
who are all there that already know these songs, because
like I mentioned earlier, all these songs are so catchy.
To go into an environment like that with all these
(38:20):
like minded fans, you can't get that at home. You
can't get that community of going into a theater of
strangers to sing along to a movie that you've all
spent time with and love now and you all have
this shared experience in this room and then leave there
completely changed because of it. So I think we have
seen in the past year or so movie theaters really
(38:40):
start to embrace that more. Maybe it got a little
bit out of hand with the Minecraft screenings of people
losing their crap, So I don't think they want another
Chicken Jockey situation with every movie like this that has
viral success. But I think their ability to realize that
there is something here, and I do credit Netflix to
that we should put this thing and like Sey seventeen
hundred theaters and see what we can do. Because Netflix
(39:03):
doesn't really need to do that. I feel like they
care more about putting movies in theaters that are going
to be able to be nominated for Oscars, but here
if they can make more money from a big hit
on their hands, create a sense of community, create somebody
wanting to spend more money with their Netflix subscription, and
keeping that. I think that is a powerful thing, and
(39:25):
I think with Netflix not really having a movie with
Big Ip. This is one they're really gonna sink their
teeth into and really get all that they can out
of it. We're gonna start getting pop toys and more
merchandise out of this movie. So I think this could
be one of their flagship movies. So I'm glad if
there's a movie that they're going to really push like that,
it is one that is actually good for everybody. There
(39:48):
is something about going to the movies that I realize
some people think is weird, and that is going to
the movies alone. And I have been doing that my
entire life that I forgot that to some people that
feels a little bit awkward. But I am here to
tell you, if you are a fan of a movie
and want to go see it in theaters, don't think
twice about going to the movies alone. And I know
(40:10):
how weird it can feel. You think everybody's looking at you.
You think that other people who are there with friends
or family and a group of people are going to
look at you weird because you walk in with nobody.
Don't even think about that, nobody cares. You feel these
eyes on you, but they are not there. If you
want to go experience a movie in theaters and you're
(40:31):
worried about being a weirdo going alone. Don't even think
about it that way, because what you're gonna find is
that most everybody keeps to themselves. Nobody second guesses it,
and you're robbing yourself of that experience. So even with
the movie like this, if you wanted to go to
a sing along and you didn't have a friend to
go to because they don't like movies about K pop
(40:52):
demon hunters, don't rob yourself of that experience because going
to something like this, where maybe you don't know anybody,
you could find there's some real community there. You could
find other people who you don't even have to talk
to anybody, but maybe you do end up meeting somebody
who is also there alone. Because I think that is
what I love about going to the movies, is that
(41:12):
even though you are a room of strangers, in that moment,
you're all kind of in it together. You're all laughing
at the same parts, you're all cheering at the same parts,
and in this case, you're all singing along together. So
never let that worry of feeling like you're gonna be
a loser going to a movie alone and that is
coming from me, the biggest loser ever. When it comes
to doing things alone without having friends, people aren't going
(41:33):
to think you're weird unless you go do something weird
and don't do that. Just please don't do that. So
when it comes to K Pop Demon Hunters, much like
Hunterricks in the movie, they were known for their three
part harmonies. This movie, to me also had a great
three part harmony with great music, great animation style, and
a story with heart because it left me just very
emotional at parts. So for K Pop Demon Hunters, I
(41:55):
give it four out of five Soda Pops, It's time
to head down to movie. Mike Traylor Paul are sports
movies trying to make a comeback because F One crushed
it earlier this year. And I know when we think
about sports movies, we probably think about the ones we
grew up with, sand Lant baseball movies, football movies like
(42:17):
Varsity Blues. F One still a sports movie, and even
though the race motorsports genre has been a thing for
a long time, it feels different. And I think that
is going to be the key excuse me, going to
be the key to sports movies returning. Is we have
(42:38):
to get away from those traditional sports and give us
things that we haven't seen done before. That is what
movies are all about. Right now. You have to bring
us novel things, things that I have not seen or
witness with these eyeballs, or told in a way that
it's more unconventional, that feels new, that feels fresh, that
doesn't feel like Disney just making a really great story
(43:00):
to a very just okay by the numbers type sports movie,
which still even though they are predictable at times, even
though they can be on the fringes of going full
out cheesy at any moment, I still love me a
good sports movie. But I think to make something that
is really impactful in twenty twenty five, going into twenty
twenty six, we have to look outside of those traditional
(43:22):
sports that we've kind of seen covered. Even F one
didn't really reinvent the racing motorsport genre, but it brought
us something great and something that demanded the big screen.
Could that be the case here with Marty Supreme starring
Timothy Shalomey, which is about a guy who plays table tennis.
(43:43):
It is based on a true story, although it's not
a biopick because the actual guy's name that it is
based on his name, Marty Riiseman, but in this movie
he goes by the name of Marty Mauser and then
takes on the persona of Marty Supreme. But it's about
his rise to fame in the nineteen fifties as he
chases his dream of being a professional ping pong player.
(44:07):
The movie also starts Gwyneth Paltrow and a couple of
wild cards that I want to get into. But before
we do, here's just a little bit of the Marty
Supreme trailer.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
I know it's hard to believe, but I'm telling you
this game at phil Stadiums overseas, and it's only a
matter of time before I'm staring at you from the
cover of a Whitty's box.
Speaker 1 (44:28):
I'm not trying to control you, Martie. It's an acceptable
there's an acceptable to But I don't think you understand
the stakes. You have no power here. What do you
plan to do if this whole dream of yours doesn't
work at It doesn't even enter my consciousness. So even
though it is based on a true story, the actual
story in this movie is entirely fictional. So we have
(44:51):
a real life person Marty Riseman was an American ping
pong player who won twenty two major ping pong titles
from nineteen teen forty six all the way to two
thousand and two. I myself don't really know a whole
lot about table tennis. I remember the game on maybe
I think it was Xbox three sixty possibly PS three.
(45:13):
Rock Star made it, which is also the same company
that makes all the Grand Theft auto games, and it
was a really weird game for them to make. But
that is my extent of any experience playing this sport
is only playing it on Xbox three sixty. This movie
is coming out on Christmas Day of this year, directed
by Josh Safti, who you might think, why does that
(45:34):
name sound familiar? Maybe you heard this TikTok sound go
viral maybe two three years ago. It was Julia Fox
on call her daddy and she said this, I was
Josh Safti's news when he wrote Uncut Jabs. So Josh
Safti is usually a part of a directing deal with
him and his brother Ben Safti, who have directed movies
like Good Time and like Julia Fox said there in
(45:55):
that clip uncut Gems, this is the first time he's
done a solo movie since two thousand and eight. Normally
it's him and his brother teaming up, but his brother
has been busy this year. He's about to put out
The Smashing Machine with a twenty four that stars The Rock.
So two incredibly talented directors who not only can come
together and make great movies as a directing brother duo,
(46:17):
but also separately now really starting to just dominate when
it comes to making movies like this, movies that you
didn't think were going to be good, which, of course
I haven't seen this movie yet, but whenever this movie
was first announced that Timothy Chalomey would be starring alongside
Gwyneth Paltrow in a movie about a guy who's really
great at table tennis, directed by Josh Safti, I was like,
(46:38):
how is this movie even going to make sense? And
from the moment I heard what this movie was about,
and then when I heard who was all in this cast,
because you also have one of my favorites, Tyler the Creator,
who is not really an actor yet. He's kind of
dipping his toes into the waters, which I think a
lot of musicians have done, some have had. I had
(47:00):
successful careers crossing over. Some became more famous as actors
than they ever were as musicians. I love his music
so much. He is the one artist who I've still
not seen in concert that is on my bucket list.
And I'm kind of in a year right now where
I'm not going to concerts because they are so expensive.
I have to be really driven to go see an
(47:21):
artist and want to spend that amount of money. And
he is up there on that list of mine, but
has just not come to Nashville. But I will go
see him for the low price of fifty five cents
using my Regal Unlimited in Marty Supreme on Christmas Day.
The movie also stars fran Drescher, who you probably remember
best as the Nanny. And the most oddball casting in
Marty Supreme has to be Kevin O'Leary, the Kevin O'Leary
(47:46):
from Shark Tank, and he plays a rich guy in
this movie as well, So maybe it's not that much
of a stretch, but I just did not expect to
see him in this trailer and think, oh, man, he
can actually kind of act, because he is my least
favorite shark on Shark Tank just because man, dude loves
(48:07):
a royalty deal. And I think the reason he is
so successful in business is because he knows what he wants,
He knows what he wants to pay for things. He
will cut you down in an instant. And even though
I hate him sometimes on that show, I realize he
is doing his job because he is supposed to be
the villain on that show. And just the fact that
maybe I hate on him because he is so successful
(48:29):
that I wanted to see him in this trailer and think, ah,
look there's something that you can't do well. You can't
do everything. And then I see him and he looks
so convincing. It looks like he was perfectly cast. And
it's just such an oddball pairing of all these people.
It was almost like they put a bunch of actors'
names into a hat and just pick them out randomly
(48:49):
that I don't think anybody would think this is my
dream cast for a movie. I would never put Fran
Dresher next to Tyler the Creator, But somehow I think
this is going to work. It reminds me much of
whenever they first made the Facebook move, and you thought, man,
they're making a movie about Facebook. That is going to
be so stupid. But then David Fincher proved us all
(49:10):
wrong and drop a banger back in the twenty tens,
and I'll compare it to one of my favorite activities
to do what I'm feeling overwhelmed. When I'm just fload
it up to my neck in anxiety. Sometimes I'll go
over to YouTube and I'll watch old Bob Ross videos.
He was that famous painter did the joy of painting.
He had the big afro, and he talks in such
a calming voice. He paints happy little clouds, and I
(49:34):
would watch that show and think, man, after listening to
him and watching his tutorials, I think I too could
be an artist. Because sometimes he would just take a
big blob of black and throw it on this canvas
and say, I'm gonna turn this thing into a mountain.
And that thing is just like right there in the
dead center, and it looks so awful. He had just
painted this beautiful sky, all these happy little clouds. It
(49:57):
looks so perfect, and then he just drops this big
black blob and I'm like, man, you just ruined it.
But then he starts to just kind of paint away
at this big black blob with some white and he
fades it a little bit, these little brushstrokes that he does.
It suddenly starts to fade into the background, and then
it goes from being this big black blob to being
(50:19):
this beautiful mountain with a snowy top. And it came
out of nothing, and it came at a point where
you thought, there's no way this is going to work
and be beautiful, and now here it is a beautiful
painting with a beautiful mountain. That is how I feel
from the moment I learned about this movie, from the
moment I learned about the cast, and now at the
(50:40):
first look of it, thinking, man, this all makes sense.
This all came together beautifully, much like that mountain side
that Bob Ross painted on the joy of painting, And
sometimes all you need is that visionary, that artist like
Josh Safti to bring all of these lovely colors together.
In this case, it would be all the actors and
(51:01):
use his camera much like Bob Ross wood a paintbrush
to create something special. The movie is also coming out
on Christmas Day of this year, so it is right
smack dab there in the middle of Oscar season, which,
if I know something about Timothy chalomag is he is
hungry for an Oscar. He gave it as all last year,
(51:21):
got really close playing Bob Dylan in a Complete Unknown,
but didn't quite get there. He is somebody who is
hungry for it. He stays working, he stays busy, He
picks the directors he wants to work with to get
him to that goal because I truly believe that is
on his vision board and he will not rest until
he wins an Oscar for Best Actor year after year.
(51:44):
For the last three or four years now, he has
given his best effort to do that, which I feel
like at some point he thought, maybe I'll just do
a fun movie where it kind of be myself what
he did do Don't look Up a few years ago,
but that was more of a quick cameo. He is
not at that point yet where he's just going to
do a movie for fun if he is going to
invest his time in it. Right now, I believe he
(52:06):
is only going to do it if it's gonna get
him at least at minimum an Oscar nomination. But I
think with a movie like this, with just what I
see so far from his performance in the trailer, he
goes all in and he wants to take home that
golden trophy to hang it over his bed, which he
still looks really young to me. He's twenty nine years old,
(52:28):
But to me, I just envisioned him still living in
a college dorm room, sleeping on a mattress that's just
laid out on the floor, still has posters up on
his wall with thumbtacks, but probably he lives in a
really nice house. I think. Allegedly he's still dating Kylie Jenner,
even though there was rumors about them breaking up, them
not being able to spend time together because of how
(52:49):
busy he's been filming all of his movies. He's working
on Dooing three right now, so I truly believe he
will not rest until he is up there on that
stage delivering his speech, crying into the camera saying I
can't believe it. I finally want an Oscar. But out
of everything in this trailer, I'm still the most excited
to see Tyler the creator and hopefully that will lead
(53:11):
him to doing more movies and eventually maybe he is
somebody that is on my list as a dream interview
could end up on this podcast. But again, Marty Supreme
comes out in theaters Christmas Day, twenty twenty five, head
that for us this week's edition of movie Li Tramer
Bar and that is gonna do it for another episode
(53:31):
here of the podcast. But before I go, I gotta
get my listeners shout out of the week. This week,
I'm going over to my YouTube channel, which if you
don't follow me there, got to what are you waiting for?
Individual movie reviews always up for you over there. So
if you ever think, Man, what did I think about Weapons?
What did Mike think about Fantastic four? I know some
(53:52):
movies come out way later on streaming, like you can
watch Superman at home now it's not available for free
yet on Max, but you can rent it at home.
So if now you're checking out some of these movies
that I reviewed maybe a month ago, two months ago,
you can go there. You can check out my Superman
review all over at YouTube dot com slash Mike Distro,
(54:13):
where you can always find the link in the episode
notes of this podcast, so you can just click it
hit subscribe so you get brand new episodes every single Monday.
And this week's listener shout out goes to Invincible five
nine six', two who left a comment on my weapons
review and SAID i absolutely loved the. MOVIE i am
not a fan of the horror comedy, genre but this
(54:35):
one has the lol moments at the right. Time the
scare factor in this one is four out of. Five
it also more deeply gave a commentary on how we
enable people and entities to control our. LIVES a must.
SEE i appreciate That invincible five nine six. TWO i,
too was raving so much about weapons last, week to
(54:57):
the point THAT i thought MAYBE i raved about it
too much because people are going to go see it
now and be, like, man this is so. Overhyped BUT
i highly recommend it even if you're not the biggest
fan of, horror BECAUSE i do believe it leans more
on the thriller. SIDE i, think, though in the, marketing
to sell that movie as a horror movie is probably
(55:18):
more exciting and the way to. Go but Like invincible
said here in this, COMMENT i think there is a
much deeper message. THERE i Think Zach kreiger put a
lot of his own real life experiences into this, story
into these, characters so like any good horror, movie there's
way more to dig into than just the scary things
that pop out and scare. You so appreciate that. Comment
(55:40):
thank you for being subscribed over on, YouTube and thank
you right now for. Listening and until next, time go
out and watch good movies AND i will talk to
you later
Host
Mike D
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