Episode 86 - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Spoiler-Free! Fresh off a record-breaking night at the Golden Globes, Damien Chazelle's La La Land is shaping up to be an award season powerhouse. A successful musical is no easy feat. Were Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling able to sing and dance into Jay and Cybill's hearts and dreams? Was there a good balance between big musical numbers and well-developed characters and story? Was that J.K. Simmons? We answer these questions and more as we head to the sunshine coast for episode 87 of The Smoking Screen Podcast. Come and join the circle!

Spoiler-Free! It was a dark time for the rebellion. With the Empire's forces massing and threatening to bring destruction on a scale never seen before....but enough about President-Elect Trump. Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, takes us through the events that transpired just before the opening scene of 1977's Star Wars (A New Hope). How well does the film ingratiate itself into the existing Star Wars universe? Was the talented and diverse cast (Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker) able to create a loveable and memorable group of rebels? Where does this film rank among the other Star Wars films? We answer all of these questions and more in episode 86 of The Smoking Screen Podcast. Come and join the circle!

SPOILER-FREE! In episode 85 we review a pair of films set during the Second World War. Allied certainly has the talent to be a great film. Helmed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forest Gump), and starring a-listers Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, expectations for this romantic thriller were very high. Did the film deliver on its potential? Hacksaw Ridge marks Mel Gibson's return to the Director's chair for the first time in close to a decade. Is it time to forgive him? Does this film make it easier to do so? Does Andrew Garfield prove himself a serious force to be reckoned with come Oscar time? We answer all of these questions and more in episode 85 of The Smoking Screen Podcast. Come and join the circle!

Spoiler-free! In episode 84, we review two of the most hotly anticipated films of the year. Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange combines one of the most popular actors in the world (Benedict Cumberbatch), with an intriguing character, surrounded by a solid cast (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton), within the unstoppable juggernaut that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Can it live up to the very high (in our case, very, very high) expectations? Denis Villeneuve's Arrival is already garnering strong Oscar buzz. Do Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker deliver the anti-Independence Day that hardcore Sci-Fi have been waiting for? We look to the stars answer all of these questions and more in episode 84 of The Smoking Screen Podcast. Come and join the circle!

Spoiler-free! In episode 83, we take a detour into the dark and disturbing underbelly of the America psyche with two powerful films. David Mackenzie's Hell or High Water (Chris Pine, Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster, Gil Birmingham) takes us through the backroads of Texas and the growing divide between corporate interests and the will of the people. Oliver Stone's Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Zachary Quinto, Nicholas Cage) raises similar questions about the abuses of power and privacy perpetrated by the US government own their people. (A special "Hello" to our good friends at all of the intelligence gathering agencies reading this post! Hope you have a great day!)  So....how fucked are we? Come join the circle and find out in episode 83 of The Smoking Screen Podcast!

Spoiler-free! We saw these two extremely fascinating films recently and decided to pull a double-feature this week. What goes better together than a South Korean zombie film and a stop-action animated "kids" feature? Does Train to Busan (or Zombies on a Train) takes advantage of its unusual setting to great effect? Is Laika's Kubo a work of breathtaking art? Was that Matthew McConaughey as a bug? We answer all of these questions and more in episode 82 of The Smoking Screen. Come and join the circle!

SPOILER-FREE! We have been looking forward to this one for a while. The concept is utterly ridiculous. The sexual innuendo blatantly in your face. Crude and crass jokes abound. To top it off, its the brainchild of fellow stoner and friend of the show, Seth Rogen. Loaded with a cavalcade of voice talent and Rogen friends (including: Kristen Wiig, Edward Norton, James Franco, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, Salma Hayek, Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Nick Kroll, Craig Robinson), does Sausage Party live up to its immense potential? Does it manage to transcend its baser nature and become a new animated gem? What's the difference between a sausage and a hot dog anyway? We answer all of these question and more in episode 81 of The Smoking Screen Podcast. Come and join the circle!

Spoiler-Free! And for our final trick we will make this joint.....disappear! After a successful first installment, Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Wood Harrelson, Lizzy Caplan, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, try to pull another cinematic rabbit from a hat with Now You See Me 2. The budget is bigger, the tricks are more elaborate and the action much more frenetic. But, are those good things? Is there more style than substance? Does it matter that one of "The Horsemen", Isla Fisher's Henley Reeves, is noticeably absent? Are we likely to see a third film? Do we want to? We answer all of these questions and more in episode 80 of The Smoking Screen Podcast. Come and join the circle!

SPOILER-FREE! We hit up the drive-in for the most ill-suited double feature of the summer: The Secret Life of Pets and Jason Bourne. WTF! Pets has been a huge moneymaker for Universal, raking in over $500m worldwide. Is this gang of furry friends the start of a new and beloved franchise, or a summer crush that will soon be forgotten? It has been almost 10 years since we have seen Matt Damon play Jason Bourne. Are we glad to see him back? Does the film bring something new to the franchise? How the hell does Matt Damon look even sexier than last time? We discuss all of these questions and more in episode 79 of The Smoking Screen Podcast. Come and join the circle!

Space. The final frontier. These are the rebooted voyages of the super sexy crew of the starship, Enterprise. With J.J. Abrams off busy playing with lightsabers, Justin Lin (of Fast and Furious fame) takes over the director's chair for the third installment of the new series. Was he able to find the right balance of humor, action and family, that has made Star Trek such a beloved franchise? Do we think of Chris Pine as Captain Kirk now? Did Idris Elba deliver a bad guy that Benedict Cumberbatch and Ricardo Montalban would be proud of (KAHHHHNNNNN!!!)? We answer all of these questions and talk about the DNC in Philly (what a disgusting mess) in episode 78 of The Smoking Screen Podcast. Come and join the circle!