For our first Movie Battle Royale of 2019, we decided to climb aboard the Oscar train and look at some of the Best Picture winners of decades past. If you took a single decade, and looked at all 10 winners, which film would stand the test of time to be crowned the greatest film of that respective decade?

So this week, we’re discussing the Best Picture winners of the 2000s. A decade ripe with classics, but only 10 verified winners of The Academy Award’s top prize. Previous guest Scott Calgaro joins us to debate and decide on which one film rises above the others to win the title of the Best Picture of the aughts! ! Will it be Gladiator, Slumdog Millionaire, The Hurt Locker, Crash, Chicago, A Beautiful Mind, Million Dollar Baby, No Country for Old Men, Gladiator, The Departed, or Lord of the Rings: Return of the King? You’re about to find out.

Also this week: Rotten Tomatoes comes to their senses with audience scores; A Quiet Place 2, Escape Room 2, and The Haunting of Hill House Season 2(now known as The Haunting of Bly Manor) are all happening; and we discuss our reactions to this year's Oscar ceremony. From the winners, to the shocks, to the ceremony itself.

Discussed on this episode

Direct download: HO342_Oscars_Movie_Battle_Royale_2019.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:50pm PDT
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Found footage is a subgenre in which all or a substantial part of the film is presented as if it were discovered film or video recordings. The events on screen are typically seen through the camera of one or more of the characters involved, often accompanied by their real-time, off-camera commentary. The footage may be presented as if it were "raw" and complete or as if it had been edited into a narrative by those who "found" it.

While it wasn’t the first, The Blair Witch Project is the movie that truly launched found footage into the stratosphere, as many people believed that these “TAPES” were real, and that these kids had disappeared in the woods. Other films like Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield took the genre to varying heights, and countless others proved that it was the cheapest possible option to make a movie on an indie budget. Like any genre, found footage is stacked with pluses and minuses.

On this week's podcast, we discuss the highs and lows of found footage, what works and what turns us off about the entire genre. We also each put together our personal takes on the genre itself and build a perfect found footage film.

Also this week, Netflix and Marvel officially parts ways plus a slew of entertainment news. Reviews of How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Alita: Battle Angel, a peek at new releases, and much more.

Discussed on this episode

Direct download: HO341_Build_Perfect_Found_Footage_Movie.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:22am PDT
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Shipping, initially derived from the word relationship, is the desire by fans for two or more fictional characters (in film, literature, television etc.) to be in a romantic relationship.

The actual term "shipping" saw its origin around 1995 by fans of the TV show The X-Files, who believed the two main characters, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, should be or were engaged in a romantic relationship. They called themselves "relationshippers," at first; then R'shipper, 'shipper, and finally just shippers.

The concept has spawned passionate fans of all types of media, resulting in everything from online arguments to full-on fan fiction. On this episode, we take a look at our favorite characters in both movies and television that we would love to see "get together", as well as discuss the ones who finally have and might not have worked out as positively as we had hoped.

Also this week, Shaft and Child's Play finally receive trailers, Avatar begins live-action production, and Superman is taken to task for his building relocation skills. Our feature this week is Discover An Actor's Gem, where we discuss an unheralded film in a favorite actor's filmography and why it deserves a watch. Reviews of Cold Pursuit, The LEGO Movie 2, The Man Who Killed Hitler and the Bigfoot, a peek at new releases, and much more.

Discussed on this episode

Direct download: HO340_Shipping_Movie_TV_Characters.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:06pm PDT
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Television spin-offs are everywhere. Once a TV show garners success, an executive somewhere is trying to figure out a way to borrow a few of those characters, toss them into another setting, and see if they can duplicate those numbers. Often times, it crashes and burns. But there are many success stories along the way, including The Jeffersons, Young Sheldon, Benson, and Frasier. There have also been a few film characters spun off into their own successful shows, recently Cobra Kai completely redefined how many think of The Karate Kid. So this week, our hosts discuss the world of TV spin-offs, and even come up with several spin-off ideas they'd like to try themselves.

Also this week, The Batman has been a project with an excessive amount of speculation, and finally director Matt Reeves and current Batman Ben Affleck have elaborated on the details, Hobbs and Shaw's first glimpse of the Fast and Furious spin-off has hit, Y: The Last Man finally moves to series. Another round of Movie Innuendo arrives as we determine which lines in The LEGO Movie aren't quite as innocent as they seem. Reviews of Velvet Buzzsaw and Russian Doll, a peek at new releases, and much more.

Discussed on this episode

Direct download: HO339_TV_Spinoffs_We_Need.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:23am PDT
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