Matt's Movie Lodgecast

In one of the most divided episodes we've ever had, the Lodgecast takes on Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar! We've always said comedy is subjective, but Barb and Star have taken that to a whole new level! Either we witnessed one of the funniest comedies in recent memory, or we witnessed a film as bad as the worst Adam Sandler comedies. Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo are Barb and Star in this highly controversial comedy, also featuring Jamie Dornan, Damon Wayans Jr., and Andy Garcia as Tommy Bahama. In the film two best friends from Nebraska travel to Florida on vacation only to become caught up in a villain's plot. Either you love it or you hate it!

To celebrate the Lodgecast surviving one year of being locked down, we watched an HBO Max Original movie called Locked Down! The movie is directed by Doug Liman (Swingers) and written by Steven Knight (Serenity) and stars Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor. With all this talent, we thought it might have something to offer! Written, financed, and filmed entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic, the movie featured an abundance of Zoom conversations and pandemic-related humor and drama. It also showcased a whole bunch of cameos including Stephen Merchant, Mindy Kaling, Lucy Boynton, Mark Gatiss, Claes Bang, Ben Stiller, and Ben Kingsley. While this romantic comedy heist film tested the resolve of the Lodgecast, we are all better people for seeing it!

An Amazon Original Movie called Nocturne came out a while back. The schnapps is "An incredibly gifted pianist makes a Faustian bargain to overtake her older sister at a prestigious institution for classical musicians." Writer/director Zu Quirke conducts this symphony starring Sydney Sweeney, Madison Iseman, Jacques Colimon, and Ivan Shaw. Three Lodgers perform their own trio of criticism, lyrically spinning a Lodgecast of love and light for your ears. We keep it short and sweet as we analyze this 90-minute movie available on Amazon Prime!

"You don't get it do you? Me and you. It's madness!" It sure is madness in this new film written, directed, produced, and starring Louise Linton. For those of you who don't know, Louise Linton is married to ex-U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Mnuchin is worth about $300 million and I'm sure a bundle of that money went into his wife's vanity project entitled Me You Madness. In this movie Louise plays a rich, narcissistic serial killer named Catherine Black who runs a hedge fund, lives in Malibu, and loves money, fashion, and 80s music. The Lodgecast takes a deep dive (perhaps too deep) into this criminally insane film. The 80s hits and salad dragons keep coming in this movie so sit back and enjoy the ride!

Lodgers didn't know how good they had it when they viewed Ad Astra for Episode 68 of the Lodgecast! George Clooney's The Midnight Sky continues in the tradition of what is being termed the "Sad Dadstra" genre of melancholic space movies. George Clooney directs and stars in this $100 million Netflix movie. Clooney is stuck with child actor Caoilinn Springall in the Arctic Circle as they try to tell space cadets near Jupiter not to come home because most of Earth has been wiped out. The space cadets are played by Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Tiffany Boone, Demian Bichir, and Kyle Chandler. The Lodgecast brings on a George Clooney expert to help us evaluate the man, his career, and his latest bewildering science fiction film. Why George, why!?

It's The Little Things. A new neo-noir crime thriller from boring writer/director John Lee Hancock. With an Oscar-winning cast in Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto we were hoping for a little magic, but we'll let you know what we got. Denzel Washington & Rami Malek play the hard-charging detective duo trying to track down a serial killer that might be Jared Leto. Denzel & Rami mope around Los Angeles for two hours. Thomas Newman composed the sleepy score. Jared Leto somehow got Golden Globe nominated for this! The film can be watched on HBO Max, preferably while folding laundry.

After months and months of failed attempts to see Christopher Nolan's Tenet on the big screen, the Lodgecast finally settled for watching it in the comfort of our homes. The home viewing of this film allowed us to pause, rewind, and reflect on this mind-bending story of time travel and inverted entropy. We try our damndest to explain what we saw as the 150-minute spectacle unfolded. The movie stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh. It was photographed by the great Hoyte van Hoytema, with a wild score by Ludwig Goransson. When the lockdown ends we'll be returning to cinemas to see this one on the big screen!

Matt's Movie Lodgecast recommends you see the new movie Promising Young Woman. Writer/director Emerald Fennell has delivered a stunning debut feature with an all star cast lead by Carey Mulligan. Because the movie features so many dark twists and unexpected turns, we do our best to avoid spoilers on this one. The Lodgecast Boyz are joined by two amazing women on this 'cast as we do our best to cover this provocative, timely thriller. It's a rape revenge movie for the #MeToo moment that has to be contended with. The all star cast includes Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Connie Britton, Adam Brody, Alfred Molina, Molly Shannon, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (AKA McLovin). Watch it!

Hey y'all! We watched this brand new Oscar bait movie about white trash called Hillbilly Elegy. It's directed by Ron Howard and was meant to win all the awards, but it ain't gonna win nothin'! We'll let you know why in this wild Lodgecast review. The movie is based on the completely unadaptable and overrated 2016 memoir by J.D. Vance. Little J.D. and his mama played by Amy Adams and his Mamaw played by Glenn Close all reach for Oscar gold. Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett, Freida Pinto, Bo Hopkins, and Owen Asztalos also star.

Prestige season continues with the 97% Fresh, critically acclaimed movie Sound of Metal. Riz Ahmed gives an Oscar nominated performance. He hasn’t been nominated yet but he will be! Mark our words! Riz plays a drummer in a metal band who loses his hearing and struggles to deal with this new reality. Through the power of sound design the movie takes us into his world. This movie will be nominated for Best Sound Mixing! Mark our words! We’ll break down all the sights and sounds this movie delivered in our latest locked down Hawt Take! The movie also stars Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, and Mathieu Amalric. Enjoy the Silence!

It is thyme to tell you about this little known movie called Wild Mountain Thyme. Long ago in a land called Ireland, John Patrick Shanley wrote and directed a movie based on his play about a very strange Irish family. Emily Blunt throws herself at her next door neighbor Jamie Dornan, who constantly refuses her. Then Jon Hamm throws himself at Emily Blunt. It's all very lyrical and magical and whimsical and we can't wait to tell you the full tale. Also the movie stars an Irish-accented Christopher Walken!!

Son of Cronenberg (Brandon) grabs the torch from his father David and runs with it in the new ultra-violent sci-fi horror film Possessor. A contract killer implants her consciousness into other bodies so she can brutally assassinate people. Andrea Riseborough stars as the contract killer. She is implanted into Christopher Abbott who kills a bunch of people in the most graphic way possible. Definitely designed for fans of David Cronenberg, we'll let you know if Possessor delivers! The film also stars Rossif Sutherland, Tuppence Middleton, Sean Bean, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Mank! The most prestigious Hollywood picture of the year is here! David Fincher directs! Gary Oldman stars! As Mank! Herman J. Mankiewicz, the brilliant mind behind the writing of the greatest film of all time: Citizen Kane! Mank! The picture they tried to stop! A Netflix production. With an all star cast! Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Arliss Howard, Tom Pelphrey, Sam Troughton, Ferdinand Kingsley, Tuppence Middleton, Tom Burke, Joseph Cross, Jamie McShane, Toby Leonard Moore, Monika Gossmann, and Charles Dance. Mank! Written by David Fincher's dad Jack Fincher. Mank! The greatest motion picture of our time!

Time to get Freaky! A new movie called Freaky was getting buzz, so we watched this new comedy slasher film directed by Christopher Landon. Serial killer Vince Vaughn switches bodies with a teenage girl played by Kathryn Newton. Blumhouse Productions serves up blood and laughs in this twisted take on Freaky Friday. The movie also stars Katie Finneran, Celeste O'Connor, and Alan Ruck. We let you know if we were feeling freaky in this locked down hawt take!

From the director of Welcome to Marwen (2018) comes a new dark fantasy comedy called The Witches (2020). That's right ladies and gents, Robert Zemeckis is back adapting Roald Dahl's book The Witches (1983) and remaking Nicolas Roeg adaptation of The Witches (1990). Why would Zemeckis remake a classic adaptation of a classic book? Because we now have the power of computer animation! Zemeckis miscasts Anne Hathaway as the Grand High Witch in an attempt to fill the shoes of Anjelica Huston from the 1990 version. And that's just one of Zemeckis's sins that we'll talk about in our comprehensive review. The movie also stars Octavia Spencer, Jahzir Kadeem, Stanley Tucci, and the voice of Chris Rock. Watch this movie on HBO Max or don't.

Writer/director Sofia Coppola has a new movie out on Apple TV+ called On the Rocks starring Bill Murray, Rashida Jones, and Marlon Wayans. After some discussion of Sofia Coppola's career, the Lodgecast analyzes her latest film. Rashida Jones plays a mother of two who suspects that her husband, played by Marlon Wayans, might be cheating on her. Bill Murray plays the father of Rashida Jones and he joins his daughter for an undercover investigation of her husband. The Lodgecast debates the merits of what ensues with much disagreement. Lodgecast listeners, what is your take on the films of Sofia Coppola?

We watched another VOD indie horror movie called The Wolf of Snow Hollow. Writer/director Jim Cummings stars as a stressed-out police officer when folks from his small Utah town keep getting killed by a werewolf. I guess it's a horror comedy but we weren't laughing too much. It's definitely The Jim Cummings Show as he steamrolls through his audition scenes that he wrote and directed for himself. It is the final film of the great actor Robert Forster, and it also stars Riki Lindhome, Chloe East, and Jimmy Tatro. But all the actors are overshadowed by writer/director/star Jim Cummings!

The Lodgecast takes on a popular documentary called The Social Dilemma available on Netflix. This movie is a must-see for all teenagers. Sit your teen down, take away their phone, and watch this movie. Then have a discussion with your teen about social media and the negative impacts it may be having on their life. This docudrama lays out a whole host of reasons that social media has been damaging society in the past ten years. The Lodgecast discusses these problems and then lays out clear solutions for how they can be solved in this coming decade. The Social Dilemma features a bunch of leading talking heads on the subject including Tristan Harris, Jaron Lanier, Roger McNamee, Shoshana Zuboff, and a ton of people that worked for Facebook, Twitter, and Google. It also features unique dramatic sequences where the horrors of social media are played out for maximum emotional impact. These dramatic sequences feature the actors Skylar Gisondo, Kara Hayward, Vincent Kartheiser, and other dramatic powerhouses. Put dow

David A.R. White is back with an AR-15 in the new ultraviolent Christian action film Beckman from PureFlix. Last time we covered David A.R. White was in Lodgecast Episode 4 where we reviewed God’s Not Dead 3: A Light in Darkness. Since then David A.R. White has been wrestling with some demons and he decided he wanted to make his own Christian version of John Wick. David A.R. White plays Aaron Beckman who was a contract killer but becomes a pastor. Things go haywire when a cult leader kidnaps Beckman’s adopted daughter. William Baldwin plays the cult leader. The movie also features brief performances by Burt Young and Jeff Fahey. Join us for our review of one of the most violent and exciting Christian films of all time!

Jagshemash! I like! Wa wa wee wa! These are some of the phrases you'll hear on our review of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Sacha Baron Cohen snuck up a Borat sequel on us and we watched it immediately and laughed heartily! Borat returns from Kazakhstan to the USA with his fifteen-year-old daughter Tutar and attempts to deliver her as a gift to Mike Pence and then Rudy Giuliani. Along the way Borat and Tutar encounter many adventures that we will reveal in our review of this movie that you should've streamed on Amazon Prime by now. If you haven't watched it yet, then watch it!