Spy has been getting all of the praise lately, so what does Team Conspiring think about its success? Get ready for some heat, Paul Feig style.
We cover tons of movie news this week (including some comic news), along with some coverage of some recent trailers that just dropped. We also read your comments from the last episode and bring up this week’s topic of discussion.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What is a movie that you hate, even though everyone else loves it?
Enjoy the show! Let us know your answers to this week’s question in the comments. Or just hit us up on Twitter! We’re @NowConspiring. And don’t forget to rate/subscribe us on iTunes or the Stitcher app if you feel like it.
Our Song of the Week is “Beat of My Drum” by up-and-coming band, Powers.
You also heard these songs in this week’s episode:
“Wish You Were Here” – Lee Fields and The Expressions
This week on the podcast, we talk about San Andreas (if 2012 was just in California basically) and Aloha (if Jerry Maguire was just in Hawaii basically). But really, we spent most of our time trying to figure out which Beach Boys song is the best.
In this week’s episode of Now Conspiring, we’re joined by Reid Jones as we have a spoilery discussion about Marvel’s latest Avengers-related assembly. If you want to avoid spoilers, stop listening at the 8:25 mark of the podcast and then pick it up again at 34:44.
But Age of Ultron isn’t all we’re talking about this week. We also cover the new Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts film, While We’re Young for a quick review. We also cover the latest movie news, including the recent 21 Jump Street crossover, the AMC Star Wars marathon, and more.
Later in the show, we try to decide what the best trailer is for the worst movie. Don’t forget to add your suggestion to the comments!
Question of the Week: Who is your favorite Avenger?
By the way, our Song of the Week this week is “Bad Dream” by The Mowgli’s. Be sure to check out their new album (same name as the song), which is in stores now.
The new trailer for Thor: The Dark World has just come out and unsurprisingly confused moviegoers everywhere. Luckily, screenshots and sarcasm exist, so I broke down what I got out of the whole thing.
Here’s the trailer first, and then we’ll have an honest discussion:
The trailer kicks off where the last one left off, Thor approaching his evil brother, Loki, for help.
After all this time…now you come to visit me brother. Why? To mock?
For some reason, Lowkey doesn’t seem very keen on this battle-plan and takes it out on the appliances. Harsh.
So the starcrossed brothers agree that they hate/don’t trust each other and officially join up. I like the idea, especially since Lowkey and his hair have been well-loved by Avengers fans.
Odin/Anthony Hopkins begins narrating, because thank Asgard, and tells us that things actually existed before things.
Some believe that before the universe, there was nothing. Well, they’re wrong.
Apparently, this darkness hates London, because that’s where all this vague, evil stuff is happening.
We see the only comic relief from these movies looking pretty serious (unfortunately) as darkness ship approaches. Also, we get a look at Darcy’s boyfriend, Ian Boothby. I don’t really know who this guy is from the comics or if he’s significant. Let’s just hope he doesn’t die that quickly.
Apparently Ian is British.
Thoar shows up and makes eyes with Jane, presumably telling her what the trailer makers refuse to tell us (what’s going on). Then he whisks her away on a rainbow and stuff.
She probably said something like, “Hey this seems pretty dangerous,” but that’s definitely not enough to dissuade Thoar from hanging out with Natalie Portman, so.
We then see a steel pod. No idea. Even Idris Elba comes on the scene and points out how unnecessarily mysterious this movie is.
But Thoar claims that there is someone who knows who the villain is, and that’s Lowkey. Because apparently villains friend each other online.
We then see the ThunderGodFriends each displaying how much they don’t like their former comrade, which is the highlight of the trailer. Even Sif-ylous gets a jab.
When is she getting her own movie again? Oh and Jane Hostage gets a slap in.
Aside from Sif-ylous looking overly worried in the background and Lowkey apparently being turned on by pain, the trailer transitions to the soundtrack-fueled action scenes.
There’s a waterfall which is pretty cool. Everyone is on a boat. Oh, and the Drell make an appearance as the villains!
The villain starts talking (probably the guy who played the cop in Bridesmaids) and tells Thoar that his awesomeness isn’t that awesome because they’re going to do bad things.
Then something surprising happens after a slew of confusing action scenes. Jane Hostage is back with her friends (stockholm syndrome?) and reveals what the villain’s actual goal is. This is huge people.
Because whatever.
Then Thoar fights the Drell from the London part of the movie that they skipped earlier, thank Asgard, and we’re treated to an extended scene of Thoar going Indiana Jones on this dude.
Thoar turns him into a bunch of rocks thanks to his hammer being magic and then he says something that isn’t actually cheesy.
Overall, I liked this trailer a lot. We got to see more of the London setting and interactions between the main heroes and Loki (okay I’ll say it right).
What’s looking good is the movie’s willingness to thrust the side heroes into bigger roles. Sif gets more screen time, and we even see Thor’s mom fighting. Also, using Asgard as the backdrop for most of this movie lends to the strengths of this adaptation.
After all, the stakes have to be high for the God of Thunder, and we need a reasonable explanation for why none of the other Avengers will show up, which Iron Man 3 managed to pull off pretty well.
I do have several questions however…
1. Will Jane slap Sif as hard as she did Loki when they fight over Thor?
2. Will EA sue Marvel for ripping off Mass Effect?
3. How will this movie affect Tom Hiddleston’s dubstep career?
Thor: The Dark World will be hitting theaters November 8.
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The brand-new Hunger Games: Catching Fire trailer has just come out, so I decided to break the trailer down using only graphics and sarcasm. Let’s see how this goes!
The word “argue” has a bad reputation. We typically hear that arguing gets us nowhere, but “discussion” and “debate” are glorious. Well, yeah they are but the truth is that the word “argue” has two meanings:
“to give reasons or cite evidence in support of an idea, action, or theory, typically with the aim of persuading others to share one’s view”
OR
“to exchange or express diverging or opposite views, typically in a heated or angry way.”
(New Oxford American Dictionary)
The latter is what we typically think of. Angry, emotion-filled arguments that result in fighting. I look at it differently. I see arguments beginning in the first definition and sometimes falling in the second.
All of that to say: I hate that I love to argue. I love to be challenged, and I love even more to be corrected.
When someone confronts me with their opinion that is opposed to mine, I honestly get extremely excited. Every outcome of an argument is a win for me, and here’s why.
1. If I lose the argument, I learn something. I’m forced to go back to the books and bolster my arguments, while re-analyzing why I believe something is true in the first place. My opinion evolves and my integrity is strengthened. The next time I confront someone about the subject, I will have a better understanding of both sides of the issue, allowing me to communicate more effectively, with the chances of a pleasant discussion being far higher.
2. If I win an argument, I am reaping the reward for doing my due diligence in educating myself. I am also seeing the results of my critical thinking and seeing that I can, in fact, gather strong (and correct) points very quickly without resorting to logical fallacies, such as the dreaded ad hominem and the sneaky straw man. I’ve also managed to help someone overcome their pride and see my perspective, which is pretty rare for most people to do.
3. If I tie with the person, I receive the benefits of both #1 and #2. I know for sure that I’m on the right track, I just need to put some more work into forming my ultimate opinion or observation. That said, there are two kinds of ties: good ties and bad ties.
A good tie is a mutual agreement that both sides have failed to offer a “clobber argument” or failed to fully persuade the other. This is the most common outcome of an argument, which of course is indicative of the fact that we just aren’t perfect.
Bad ties are ties that are a result of neither side willing to give up, usually because one person is repeating the same argument and making no progress or one person has resorted to emotion and fallacies. These are the worst arguments and happen almost exclusively online, as they are fed by anonymity because hey, why show respect to someone you can’t see?
I consider a bad tie beneficial, however, because it grounds me. It reminds me that there are people out there that aren’t interested in truth-seeking. They just want to be heard. The only benefit is that I am better prepared in the future to point out needless debates such as these ahead of time, thus saving me a headache.
So what’s the takeaway here? There’s nothing wrong with arguing. It really does make you more intelligent, but only if you are intellectually honest. If someone bests you, learn from it. Don’t be obstinate. At the same time, it’s okay to not be persuaded by a better argument. Sometimes your convictions are correct, you just need to research your position more.
Anyone want to argue with me about this?
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