Mike Schulz talks with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra about how Schulz, contrary to Dave and Darren (D&D), thought Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves “fine, with really good jokes in it,” but, overall, a bland outing, hobbled somewhat by the screenwriters’ ambition to show that their characters have FEELINGS to go along with the action. Also, Schulz was never a D&D fan like D&D. Nevertheless, the jokes do land, so it’s got that going for it. . . About A Thousand & One, about characters living under the foster-care radar in lower-middle-class Nineties-era Harlem, Schulz declares it his favorite film of the year so far, “so moving and surprising and caring. . . a knockout.” A Good Person, directed by Zach Braff, is good, not great, but has strong acting, with Florence Pugh as an opioid addict making horrible choices left and right and Morgan Freeman as one of her victims. The film reminded Schulz that Freeman was once an actor — was there ever a time when he wasn’t? — and, at eighty-five years old, he’s once again Oscar-worthy. . .
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. . .
Iowa Roots, Election Integrity, Border Invasion, Lying Media and the Power of First in the Nation Caucus Highlight Recent Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate’s Event in Bettendorf, Iowa February 10, 2023
Listen to the audio recording above for Kari Lake’s entire speech and remarks, unedited.
To a standing room only crowd of over two-hundred fans, Iowa GOP officials, local and national news media Kari Lake kicked off her national speaking tour at the Tanglewood Pavilion in Bettendorf, Iowa. Lake was the guest speaker for the monthly Scott County Women’s GOP event.
After decades as a television news anchor in Phoenix, Arizona Lake ran for governor against the then sitting Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in 2022. Lake is contesting her purported loss to Hobbs by 17,000 votes with a lawsuit alleging election fraud, specifically regarding 300,000 ballots without a chain of custody, and election day shenanigans by intentionally printing a 19” image on a ballot that needed a 20” image to be properly tabulated by the election machines. This mishap caused thousands of ballots to be declined by the machinery and created wait times to vote of three to four hours at the polls. Her case in currently under review by an appellate court and details about the first judge’s ruling declining Lake’s complaint is available at this link here: https://www.uncoverdc.com/2022/12/28/the-kari-lake-decision-is-a-travesty-heres-one-reason-why/
Lake referenced her strong ties to, and influences from Iowa and recognized her family in the crowd. Lake was born in Rock Island, and grew up in North Scott County with seven sisters and a brother. Her father was the North Scott High School football coach, where she graduated in 1986.
“Iowa leads the whole charge when it comes to presidential politics. You guys see everyone come through here every four years. I know you take that responsibility seriously. You need to start calling out these candidates say ‘where do you stand on election integrity’ Because if we keep having elections stolen it does not matter how good the candidate is, or how good the policies are,” Lake said.
Explaining how when she first decided to run for governor in Arizone she was advised not to address controversial topics such as vaccines, COVID, masks or stolen elections. Lake explained she disregarded that advice because, “I’m not controlled by the uni-party, I’m not controlled by the political elite,” and that these were the very issues important to the voters.
Pointing to the row of television news cameras elevated at the back of the hall, Lake said of the media: “If you would talk about election integrity your viewership would go up.” Kari Lake says she has tried Iowa-nice plenty, and is about to go Iowa-witch on the media.
She explained she is focused 100% on her Arizona election court case and not running for any new office. “We’re taking our case all the way to the Supreme Court,” she said citing her father’s advice to “stay in the fight.” “I believe we will find some judges who have the courage to do the right thing.”
A crowd member yelled “Trump VP!” and Lake said, “I love the man, and I will do everything I can to help get him elected.”
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”).
