For this week’s episode of Part-Time Characters, the friends get together to discuss their favorite movies based on books. With so many book adaptations, it was hard to whittle down the list. Just ask Sam.
However, we managed to get it done and bring you a diverse list- from young adult books, to horror adaptations and romantic historical dramas (cue Bridget’s extended sigh).
Go on…Top Book-to-Film Adaptations — Part-Time Characters
We had a special guest join us this week to help review Atomic Blonde. You might remember Robert Yaniz Jr. from our Alien: Covenant episode a few months back, but he also hosts his own entertainment podcast, Crooked Table. Robert gave us an early spoiler-free review of The Defenders Season 1, as well, which premieres August 18th on Netflix.
Will Ashton was out this week on vacation, but Maveryke Hines and myself came back to cover Ozark, Detroit, To The Bone, and The Incredible Jessica James. We also introduced a new segment we’d love your feedback on: “Would you even watch this?” The rules are simple: one of us describes the trailer for an obscure movie as a pitch for the other person to go see it. Let’s see if we can do a better job hyping up audiences than the actual marketing for these movies (probably not).
Go on…Atomic Blonde, The Defenders, Ozark, and Detroit — Cinemaholics
Atomic Blonde was directed by David Leitch, the stunt mastermind and co-director of the action-favorite, John Wick. Based on the graphic novel The Coldest City, this is a spy film with all the right moves, but does that hold true for the story itself?
Go on…‘Atomic Blonde’ Looks Great But Pulls Too Many Punches
This past week, there’s been the usual discussion between Nolan nerds over how his latest film, Dunkirk, fits in with the rest of his work. I normally stay out of these ranking conversations because my rule of thumb with Nolan is that his movies take time to process and analyze, for better or worse. Sometimes, his movies seem better on the second watch or months later. Sometimes, they’re worse. I doubt Dunkirk will be any different, either way.
Usually on Cinemaholics, we stick to covering one featured movie and leaving the rest for “mini reviews.” But for the second week in a row, the summer release schedule disagreed with us, so Will Ashton, Maveryke Hines, and I reviewed both Dunkirk and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets this week.
This was a more contentious episode than usual, with most of us differing quite a bit on both of these movies, particularly Valerian. If you’re at all interested in seeing either of these films, our conversation might prove useful.
Just two Mini Reviews this week: Aftermath (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Colossal (starring Anne Hathaway). The latter is a film I saw just this week as a blind buy on Will Ashton’s recommendation.
Go on…Is Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dunkirk’ Really A Masterpiece? — Cinemaholics
I’m joined this week by film critic Will Ashton and sound master Maveryke Hines to review Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. We had a great discussion with a separate segment just for spoilers, but we really want to know what YOU think about the followup to one of Marvel’s most successful movies.
Later in the show, we Cinemaholics dug into some shows and movies we think you might like, including season 1 of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu, Dean starring Demetri Martin, Handsome on Netflix, and season 1 of Dear White People on Netflix.
EMAIL US YOUR FEEDBACK & QUESTIONS: cinemaholicspodcast [at] gmail.com
Go on…‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Review Roundtable — Cinemaholics
The Fate of the Furious is an easy film to understand just by taking a second look at its title, which feels designed for a hashtag (F8), rather than something new or creatively crafted. This is the eighth installment of a 16-year-long franchise that has more or less stayed alive and successful by finding increasingly silly ways to escalate its rising action to a series climax that has never been hazier.
In F8, we have what many 2017 films seem destined to use as a plot device: a hero of the series (Dominic Toretto, who long slipped into Vin Diesel simply playing himself) “goes rogue” and his former teammates have to team up to try and stop him.
At this point in the franchise, the “family” almost solely consists of former enemies Dom has picked up over the years, including an indefensibly sympathetic Shaw (Jason Statham) who is wrapped up with a retcon for the last two movies, pitting Charlize Theron’s “Cipher” as the real villain all along…somehow. And her isolated master plan is at least one that generates some intense moments, including a deluge of remote controlled cars that devastate New York City.
There seems to be a clear effort from director F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton, Italian Job) to ground this franchise in darker subplots that make the characters feel somewhat less immortal, not just in the sense that they’ll die, but also in how death wrecks the characters. But overall, the movie’s main thrust (being a Saturday Morning Cartoon for adults) never gives way to any of the semi-serious tone that now has to reconcile with Dom’s never-ending sense of family, a theme that has certainly run its course as a passable explanation for what brings these characters together.
Yet F8 also consists of some of the most exciting and entertaining set pieces in the franchise to date, including some playful development involving Shaw and Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson in a bigger role than Furious 7) charming their way to what is hopefully spinoff territory, or just a retooling of the series that lets these two action heroes take the reigns. Aside from them, none of the familiar characters here are given a shred of character growth, and F8 only advances the plot of their lives in superficial ways that feel tacked on. And that’s not even mentioning the sloppy effort to replace Paul Walker with Scott Eastwood. There’s no question Furious 7 handled Walker’s tragic death with class, so it’s strange to see F8 stumble with this just two years later.
As the various family members deal with having to take down Dom, there’s no learning, application, or self-reflection to get them there. They simply do what they’ve done before; Roman wisecracks, Leti is always there for Dom, everyone drives fast, etc. It’s surprisingly weightless, even for a blockbuster franchise that has won many people over for how accessibly fun it can be, while still having enough style and shiny lights to bring you back for the next one.
If that was the only goal, then F8 does its job fine. And at times, it’s truly a spectacle that deserves to be seen on as big a screen as possible. But there’s no denying the early signs of a series that is running dangerously low on steam for the first time since 2005.
Grade: B-
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