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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). . .

“Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Marlowe”

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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. . .

“Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” “Consecration,” “Your Place or Mine,” and “You People”

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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”).

“80 for Brady,” “Knock at the Cabin,” and “The Amazing Maurice”

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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).

“Women Talking,” “Living,” “To Leslie,” and “Infinity Pool”

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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”).

“Missing,” “EO,” and “The Son”

2023 Academy Awards Nominations

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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. . .

“Skinamarink,” “Plane,” and “House Party”

Predicting the 2023 Academy Award Nominations

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Mike talks with Dave and Darren about M3GAN, the witty, homicidal robot girl-doll that’s won a nation’s hearts (and screens) and A Man Called Otto (not about a robot, but featuring Tom Hanks as a mean human who eventually becomes a little less mean — a “PC jerk,” as Mike calls him). A nice, light week — but the coming of Plane and the House Party reboot may change all that. . .

“M3GAN” and “A Man Called Otto”

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Mike (Shulz) talks with Dave and Darren about Avatar: The Way of Water (enjoyable, even if Edie Falco was unaware that it hadn’t already been released, and bombed), Babylon (“absolutely the mess you think it is,” “thoroughly obnoxious,” “couldn’t stand it”), The Whale (“I would have flipped off the movie if I could have”), Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (“It works, kind of, because it’s non-stop Whitney songs,” “a Wikipedia page,” “a PG-13 version of Whitney’s life, which feels wrong to me”), Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (“The script is great, and it’s filled with incredible jokes,” which the trailer somehow managed to avoid sharing audiences), and Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (“It was decent, it was okay, and it has Emma Thompson as the bad guy.” Need one say more?).

 “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Babylon,” “The Whale,” “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” and “Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical”

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Mike Schulz talks with Dave and Darren jaw about the dubious-sounding merits of Chantal Akerman’s celebrated 1975 Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, and The Fireplace, an Adult Swim Yule Log that’s reminiscent of “Too Many Cooks” — in a good way — before segueing into the dramedy Spoiler Alert, based on an end-of-life memoir where the focal character is “aggressively irritating” — but the film’s “pleasant, at best” nonetheless; Emancipation, Will Smith’s “attempt to reclaim the Oscar’s glory,” but which probably won’t happen, despite his portrayal of Whipped Peter, a real-life slave who gets his own back; and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, whose stop-motion-animated charms are lost on Mike, in spite of (or because of) the critical adoration it’s received. . .

“Spoiler Alert,” “Emancipation,” and “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

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Mike, Dave, and Darren suss out the forthcoming Avatar sequel, which needs to make approx $2 billion in order to break even, before getting down to Violent Night (David Harbour as a pissed-off Santa and a “transcendent” scene that acts as a hilarious corrective to the Home Alone house-defense sequence); RRR (an Indian action musical that’s “really over-the-top and well-staged,” with musical numbers that are “insanely good, insanely well-choreographed and fast and fun”); Sr (a Netflix documentary about Robert Downey Jr getting to know Robert Downey Sr, who died in 2021); Stutz (doc about Jonah Hill’s therapy with Dr Phil Stutz — better than it sounds); Causeway (an Aghan War vet played by Jennifer Lawrence which ”could have been better”); and All Quiet on the Western Front (an adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel about a German soldier’s experience in the First World War — “talk about ‘Violent Night’!” — that may well be an Oscar-winner when that hallowed event finally rolls around).

“Violent Night,” “RRR,” “Sr,” “Stutz,” “Causeway,” and “All Quiet on the Western Front”