Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about how a certain filmgoer should get over his hesitance about watching John Wick: Chapter Four — not to mention One through Three — which Schulz sums up as “Buster Keaton, but with a lot of bullets”: “You could put [the plots and dialogue from all four movies, running approx seven hours] on a cocktail napkin.” In the Wick world, everyone is an assassin Continue reading March 30, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “The Lost King”→
Mike Schulz celebrates Dave Levora and Darren Pitra with his sixteen Oscar predictions coming through, except for the Best Actor and Actress awards (didn’t see Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh coming). Still, he originally predicted fifteen, so he’s going great guns in the prognostication racket. They also talked about Woody Harrelson’s latest, Champions, which, despite having Bobby Farrelly directing, allays any fears of the subject matter Continue reading March 23, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “Champions,” “65,” and the 95th Oscars→
Mike Schulz talks with Dave and Darren about Cocaine Bear (“really delightful”. . . “it’s really hard to intentionally make a cult movie”. . . “the people were very entertaining, which I did not see coming”. . . “Judd Hirsch and Hal Linden do not show up in it”), featuring twelve-year-old kids eating cocaine (“Well done, Elizabeth Banks, the director!”), heaping amounts of gore, Ray Liotta in one of his final film appearances, and, most importantly, a coke-enraged bear; and Jesus Revolution, the two-hour story of the Jesus Freak uprising in late-Sixties southern California (“solid”. . . “really sincere, as you would expect; funnier than you would expect, which is nice”. . .). Also, for what it’s worth, Jeff Loveness, the screenwriter for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, expressed depression over the negative criticial reviews his film received, but a visit to his local Cineplex, and the rapturous noise he beheld, alleviated him of his condition. Message for critics: Your judgments have consequences, be it in the form of depressed screenwriters or coked-up carnivoran mammals; so be mindful of the feelings of your fellow domesticated primates, and try to avoid incursions by stimulant-riddled caniforms. . .
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about how Mike was underwhelmed by Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, even by the low bar the franchise sets: Though Michelle Pfeiffer was better used this time around, and Jonathan Majors kills as Kang the Conqueror, Paul Rudd as a presence remains as light as a soufflé, overshadowed even by Corey Stoll as Modok; and, as for Marlowe, the less said, the better. (Even less than was discussed the last time.) Meanwhile, everyone is excited about Cocaine Bear, a concept so rich that even drug-free viewers might want to roll around in baby powder beforehand — and (get this) it features stars Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, and Margo Martindale; practically the whole cast of The Americans, reunited (and it feels so good). . .
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about how disappointing Magic Mike’s Last Dance was (“a Muppet movie, but with gyrating torsos”); Consecration (“a horror film in a convent. . . the devil has to show up at some point”); and the Netflix rom-coms Your Place or Mine (“crushing exposition” and Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon, who seem to have made the same film on their own at least once) and You People (a funny first hour of an hour-and-fifty-minute film, with Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill doing a variation on that old “Will these polar opposites ever get along?” theme). Mike also previews Marlowe, which “looks ago,” though the “story drags” — not so promising, given we’re talking about Raymond Chandler material. . .
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about the perfectly charming 80 for Brady, which has won so many hearts at the box office that you’d figure it would prefigure a flood of elderly-themed films from here on out — only for one to realize, once the ambrosia has worn off, that such waves are a generational thing, ie a self-contained one-off phenomenon for a given era (remember Cocoon?); Knock at the Cabin, the latest M Night Shyamalan joint with the characteristic plot twist built into the story’s center (Apocalypse a-brewin’, somebody’s gotta something: “Either they’re not telling the truth or they are. . . I was engaged the whole time”); and The Amazing Maurice (“a talking cat and a whole bunch of talking rats kind of like swindle towns out of all their money. . . but it’s British, and it’s really witty, and it’s Emilia Clarke, who’s really funny as the human narrator, and Hugh Laurie. . .” “it’s goofy, but it’s better than I expected”).
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about Oscar nominations Women Talking (“not as hard a sit as I expected, [as] the subject matter is horrifying. . . horrible, horrible story”), Living (Bill Nye — the British actor, not the Science Guy — gets a cancer diagnosis; has a few months to live; is a buttoned-up bureaucrat in post-War London who’s never lived before; “and I wish it were more interesting than it is”); To Leslie (Oscar controversy notwithstanding, Andrea Riseborough “is tremendous, absolutely deserves that nomination”); and the outlier, the unnominated Infinity Pool (directed by Brandon Cronenberg, David’s son: “So gross”; “People go to a luxury resort and they meet evil”; clones killing clones killing clones, presumably).
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about the percentage of Oscar nominations that he called correctly this year as well as Missing (“moves really fast,” “fun,” “ends kind of poorly, but it’s clever,” “decent”), EO (a “tough sit” concerning a donkey — just a donkey — traveling the country, not kicking any footballs nor offering witty banter), and The Son (with Hugh Jackman, Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Kirby, and Laura Dern: “Not a believable moment in it”).
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about Plane, a film Mike didn’t hate as much as he hoped he might — “too well-done,” “shot really well,” “at least the director knows how to do his job”; Skinamarink “such a weird, boring, creepy thing,” made with $15,000 Canadian; and the reboot of House Party, “not worth talking about at all, but fun — superfun”; “a mess of fun.” Plus, everyone’s anticipating the Oscars. . .
