Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about how Martin Scorsese bummed out his producers when he didn’t just make plain his disinclination to make sequels of any of his original works (which rules his 1986 The Color of Money, which continued the story of Paul Newman’s pool-shark character “Fast Eddie” Felson from Robert Rossen’s 1961 classic The Hustler), but, worse yet, directed 2006’s The Departed to be specifically sequel-proof. (Aside from “Marky” Mark Wahlberg and Vera Farmiga, everyone of consequence in that film dies.) Scorsese’s point was that he was dealing with a changing of the guard Continue reading September 28, 2023 on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Expend4bles,” “Dumb Money,” “Cassandro,” and “It Lives Inside”→
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about how spectacular A Haunting in Venice was to watch, Levora’s personal disdain for Kenneth Branagh notwithstanding. Directed by Branagh from Agatha Christie’s 1969 novel Hallowe’en Party, it is the only work of hers starring her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (played by Branagh) that hasn’t been adapted for cinema. Part of what made this third outing enjoyable, in contrast to the first two, was that Branagh chose not to employ so many stars for every conceivable role, and thus he was free to scale down the production to something quieter, smarter, spookier, more suspenseful, and thus more effective a film. Continue reading September 21, 2023 on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “A Haunting in Venice,” “The Inventor,” and “El Conde”→
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about “the laugh-riot, feel good movie of 2023,” The Nun II, directed by Michael Chaves and starring Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Bonnie Aarons, Storm Reid, and Anna Popplewell. Given that the film was not a comedy, one can presume that it failed as a horror movie, and in dubious fashion, too. Schulz also confesses to a bit of Conjuring fatigue (“What are we? Nine films in?”) thanks to its precise placement within that shared universe (“It’s the sequel to a prequel to a prequel to a prequel. . . we’re going backwards here. Conceivably, it will be, like, the invention of God within fifty years”). Continue reading September 14, 2023 on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “The Nun II” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3”→
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra discuss at length the perilous state of super-hero films — and, moreover, movies with numbers in their titles — before getting down to discuss the merits of, funnily enough, The Equalizer 3, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Denzel Washington as retired Marine and DIA officer Robert McCall. This is supposedly the final film in a trilogy that neither Mike, Darren, nor David thought even existed; they weren’t aware that The Equalizer 3 was a thing until they saw the previews. They knew that it’s an adaptation of the TV series of the same name, starring Edward Woodward as McCall in the first run (1985-89) and rebooted for Queen Latifah, Continue reading September 7, 2023 on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “The Equalizer 3,” “Bottoms,” and “Zombie Town”→
Mike Schulz and Dave Levora tell Darren Pitra that Retribution was just as bad as they hoped it would be: Liam Neeson commits too much emotion on behalf of Matt Turner, a character trapped in an absurd premise; and his two bairns, Emily (Lilly Aspell) and Zach (Jack Champion), have the audience — well, two of them at least — actively rooting against their continued existence. Schulz deplores the film’s bad plotting, for which director Nimród Antal deserves obloquy, and excessive overwriting, which dings Chris Salmanpour. Unfortunately, Salmanpour’s commitment to detail does not preclude him from allowing logical plot howlers to pass along unacknowledged. Continue reading August 31, 2023 on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Retribution,” “Golda,” and “The Hill”→
Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra point out that, traditionally, no good movies have been released in the last week of August. This fact suggests the forthcoming Liam Neeson action/road-thriller Retribution may be an even bigger box-office crash than the three of them anticipate. Still, they’re going to see it this Friday, and they expect the resulting wreckage to provide a schadenfreude-provoking good time. They’re inviting their listeners to take in the spectacle as well — and, possibly, inadvertently convince the local cinema, based on opening-night attendance, to hold it over an extra week. Continue reading August 24, 2023 on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Gran Turismo,” “Blue Beetle,” “Strays,” “Red, White, and Royal Blue,” “Of an Age,” and “Close”→
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about The Last Voyage of the Demeter, director André Øvredal’s adaptation of the “Captain’s Log” chapter from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula — ever heard of it? Schulz assures us that “the only thing wrong” with The Last Voyage is that “it’s not scary and it’s repetitive” — usually the sign of death for a movie critic, but for Schulz, ‘tis but a flesh wound, as it’s “surprisingly easy to sit through and it looks great.” He also praises the cast for providing characters in whom one can invest one’s feelings, so Continue reading August 17, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” and “Jules”→
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about the utter failure of Haunted Mansion, both as a film (a cast whose individual comic sensibilities jar against one another) and a money-making proposition ($38.7 million to date against a $150 million budget). The straight-up horror film Talk to Me, directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, had better acting and started strongly, with a distinctly modern take on demonic-possession stories (cellphones get used a lot), Continue reading August 3, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Haunted Mansion,” “Talk to Me,” and “The Baker”→
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about 21 July 2023 being a date for the history books. There were two financial Goliaths released that very day — Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which, by 25 July, had grossed $472.6 million worldwide against its $145 million budget, and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, having grossed $231.1 million worldwide against its $100 million (though, by producers’ standards, it will have to break $400 million in order to be considered profitable), as well as the plebeian David Continue reading July 27, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Cobweb”→
Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about their varying levels of enthusiasm for the forthcoming Wonka film. Schulz isn’t on board for it, whereas Levora and Pitra sound intrigued by what director Paul King, who was previously responsible for 2014’s Paddington and its 2017 sequel, will bring to the enterprise. Still, no one sounds so obsessed about the origins of Willy Wonka, not any more than they are about how Charlie Bucket’s grandparents became such bedridden parasites. Concerning Insidious: The Red Door, the weekend’s acknowledged blockbuster, which earned $74 million against its $14 million budget Continue reading July 13, 2023 Movie Mike on Planet 93.9 with Dave and Darren — “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” “Sound of Freedom,” “Joy Ride,” and “Insidious: The Red Door”→
