Alternate Ending - Movie Review Podcast

With Godzilla squaring off against King Kong (for the second time!), we've turned our attention to some of the best versus-es in cinema history. We're getting ready to fight about the top 5 rivalries in movie history, the antagonism and fighting and lifelong grudges and discovering that you both have mothers with the first name "Martha", and all of it. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Godzilla vs Kong, Assassin 33 A.D. and WeWork.

I'm calling it now, I don't think this is going to be my favorite show of all time (we can't all be Friends), but nevertheless, we're back with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S1 E2, because it's fun to commiserate about the flare and flaws that come with millions of Disney's dollars. Admittedly, we were feeling the love (well more like, a solid first date where nobody does anything creepy) for episode 1.  I don't know if the high just wore off a bit, but we collectively were feeling a bit blaahhh about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S1 E2.  If you've seen the episode, you be the judge if our thoughts jive with yours or if we just were feeding off of each others pessimism. In other good news, my Dad reached out this week and after 3 short months of Rob telling him about Wandavision being on Disney+, he called to confirm how to login to his TV and wondered how to find WonderWanda. So what I'm saying is, this TV advocacy is really paying off. We hope you'll share your thoughts on the episode (or shows tha

As a followup to Alternate Ending’s Top 5 Belated Sequels, Brennan is sitting down with Carrie to discuss a movie both of them just watched for the very first time… ROCKY! Join us as we discuss the moments in the film that haven’t aged quite so well, Carrie drops a bizarre truth bombs about the biology of empathy pain, and we generally just have a conversation that certainly won’t make anyone mad under any circumstances!

As soon as we hit 4 content feedback survey submissions and with 50% of those saying they were interested in a podcast dedicated to television, Rob deemed it necessary that the Alternate Ending community know our immediate feelings on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Unlike Tim, who after a long, stressful day unwinds with a little Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, sometimes Rob and I just won't make it through a 2-hour-and-something movie, by the time the kids have come down 17 times to tell us their thirsty or remind us that they hate school.  So instead, what usually happens is we have a mini-marital spat about "somebody finding something good" (it's actually not that mini, it's one of our biggest rage-triggers) and one of us ends up wielding the unwanted power of finding something interesting for the next 45 minutes before we drift off. So we'll just say it in hushed voices.  We love TV.  There. It's out there. We love movies too, but we also love what TV has to offer our fatigued-parent lives.  The other

With a big thank you to Patreon subscriber Carter, we officially had the most fun we've had in a LONG TIME covering our Top 5 belated sequels.  Despite having more overlap than we've had in awhile, we still manage to find ourselves carefully belittling each others picks.  You know, like real friends do. We had a lot to catch up on and lots of news to share! In worth mentioning, Rob reviews Flora & Ulysses and Carrie brings her loving feelings for I Care A Lot. Tim shares is not so loving feelings on Cherry but is able to rebound with much admiration for the Across 110th Street, in celebration of the life and many great performances of Yaphet Kotto.  Tim and Rob both commiserate on Zack Snyder's Justice League Parts 2-3, while Carrie briefly naps in her chair. Thanks to a hilarious "Tim's Sack" submission we all share our most horrifying movie date experience. Ahhhh sweet memories. Our Amazon movie rental winner this week was Hunter Allen, highly recommend using it to rent Mary Poppins Returns. Upcoming

As a followup to the Spoiler Alert episode discussing Kurosawa’s Kagemusha and Ran, Brennan is sitting down with Tim to discuss the Godzilla franchise, many of which were directed by Kurosawa’s compatriot Honda Ishiro! Join us as we discuss the various horrible forms that baby Godzilla has taken throughout the years, our top (and bottom) 3 Godzilla films, and even get a scoop on next week’s main feed episode!"

I love my kids.  Though, between you and me, I also really loved my life before kids too.  I've definitely sunken into all of the parenting cliches of glueing finger paintings all over my house, seeing my friends almost never and saying things like "because I said so" a million times a day.  The thing is, I swear used to be fun.  I never missed a party (like never ever, actually, I probably should have skipped a few). I traveled, hiked, biked, spiked... I was in a band for Godsakes!  But having kids is like a constant battle, waged on your sense of self, and they usually win.  I said I love my kids, right? The thing about Yes Day... I don't think it's a film for everybody.  In fact, I know Tim is going to want to claw his ear drums out.  But the thing about Yes Day is that I feel seen. Miguel Arteta and the writing team know me.  They know that I used to be fun.  They know that I thought I was going to be the "fun parent." They know I can't be because my husband is made of unset pudding and can't bear to tell

Real talk.  The most common question I get from friends about Alternate Ending is, "how do you juggle it all, on top of jobs and kids and the rest of your life?" The motivational speech answer is, we juggle and take on too much, until one of us feels like we're on the verge of a panic attack and then the other person rises to the occasion, if the other breaks.  Feel free to write that down in your wellness journal.  On this particular occasion, Rob was on day 5 of the same pair of sweatpants and his face was twitching.  And that, is the story of how I ended up going-it-alone on a press interview for Language Lessons with Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales. So many questions about making Language Lessons Without having participated in a press junket, I over-planned and prepped a million questions, because what if nobody else remembered to join? Or what if there were only two of us and the other interviewer underprepared and I had to carry the conversation? OR what if Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales realized at

Our next podcast topic comes courtesy of Patreon subscriber Andrew, who had a simple request: watch and discuss two of the richest, most exhausting costume dramas ever filmed. It's a Spoiler Alert this time around, as we dive deep into the late epics by the legendary Japanese director Kurosawa Akira: the 1980 Palme d'Or winner Kagemusha, and the monumental King Lear adaptation Ran, from 1985. That's almost six hours of the most sumptuous pageantry Japanese cinema (or world cinema, for that matter) has to offer, and six hours of the most morally complicated anti-war fury as well. It's no small task to undertake both of these movies in one go, but we're up for the challenge! In Worth Mentioning we're cover Tom & Jerry, Coming 2 America, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, Raya and the Last Dragon, Language Lessons and Yes Day.

At the Ready premiered at Sundance 2021 and I was super excited about it.  It appeared on my most anticipated films of Sundance list, in fact.  The headline reads "a group of seniors train to become border control agents at El Paso's Horizon High School, near the US/Mexico border." I surmised that the film would feature stupid kids that don't have a big-picture view on humanity. Then, over the course of At the Ready I was going to feel all warm and fuzzy as these kids are given an education on empathy and how we treat other humans.  Well, I was wrong.  The the small-minded view on humanity, instead fell on me. A bit about At the Ready At the Ready is a documentary that aims to show the world "in the gray".  Immigration is such a polarizing topic and the last several years have pushed us into very tightly woven perspectives.  At the Ready focuses on El Paso, Texas because its demographic is predominantly hispanic, so the officers who police the border are largely of Mexican descent.  At the Ready focuses on th

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Take 2, a sideshow hosted by AE contributor Brennan Klein, where every other week we will dive deep into a movie mentioned on the previous episode. As a followup to the Top 5 Love Scenes episode, Brennan is sitting down with Carrie to discuss a movie she had never seen before: 2005’s BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN! Join us as we discuss our differing opinions on who is the more frustrating partner, Carrie goes to great lengths to make sure she can see every detail of the tent scene, and Brennan teaches her about a LOT of gay sex stuff!

Wild Indian made it's debut at Sundance 2021 Wild Indian stars Makwa (Michael Greyeyes), a young Anishinaabe boy, is dealing with two pretty terrible parents..  He's abused, he's neglected and all of the trauma pours over into his mental health.  He and his only friend, Ted-O, like to escape by playing in the woods, until the day Makwa murders a schoolmate.  It's a shocking and unexpected moment that leaves you considering whether to blame nature or nurture.  After covering up the crime, the two boys go on to live verydifferent lives. Now, as adult men, we see these two different paths converge and the outcome is once again, unsettling.  Makwa has become professionally powerful but has not shed the ghosts from his past.  Makwa is juggling the married man life with his wife (Kate Bosworth), his executive life where we meet his eager employee (Jesse Eisenberg) and his sociopathic/creeper life.  Talk about a lot going on. A bit about composer Gavin Brivik It was a pleasure to sit down with the mind behind the f

Valentine's Day is just behind us, but we're still feeling a little swoony and amorous. That's why our next episode is going to be dedicated to those movie moments that make us feel all tingly and gushy inside, with our picks for the top 5 love scenes in movie history. Maybe they're as sweet as a first kiss on a spring day; maybe they're as hot and steamy as the lead-up to a round of athletic screwing; maybe they involve very prim Brits in seventeen layers of clothing finding the moral strength to refer to each other by first names. Whatever the case, if it made us feel that pang of romantic longing, you can expect to see it on our lists. In Worth Mentioning we cover Little Fish, The Mauritanian and Rams.

You've probably never heard of Little Fish and that's a real problem.  It's like when you hear some 14 year old, who is also an Inta-Snap-Tic-Tac-Toe influencer, makes bazillions of dollars singing auto-tuned rhymes, while the actual musical geniuses are eating ramen and playing at dive bars in Chicago. I'll get this out of the way first, the "will love prevail in the face of imminent disaster?" trope has my name all over it It worked for me in Eternal Sunshine, and Perfect Sense and it worked for me big time in Little Fish.  It probably helps to add that our love story begins with Olivia Cooke and Jack O'Connell, whose chemistry will ignite your own memories of those first intense months of a relationship, destined for more than smooches (if you know what I'm sayin').   As we all come to find, relationships can be hard.  They're made even more difficult when a global virus is spreading quickly and robs you of your memories.  I'll just leave the plot there, because Little Fish ends up being so much more abou

I'll put my hand on the bible right now and tell you right now that Mother Schmuckers will be the weirdest movie you'll see all year.  Weirder than The Holy Mountain. Well, maybe equally weird but in such different ways.  There's fecal consumption and bestiality and plenty of unshaven-body nudity.  What am I even saying, it's exactly The Holy Mountain. I'm going to plagiarize the Sundance's synopsis of Mother Schmuckersbecause frankly, I have no idea what I saw Two low-down, rotten brothers named Issachar and Zabulon are starving and can’t seem to scrounge up a meal anywhere. Things only get worse when they lose the beloved dog belonging to their mom, Cashmere, who kicks them out of the family apartment until they return her nippy little January Jack. Things are going to get uncomfortably bizarre with these two dopes on the run in the ruthless urban jungle of Brussels. Filthy and yet oh-so-charming, the Belgian filmmaking duo of Harpo and Lenny Guit (who will likely never be confused with the other Belgian

In the chaos of Sundance we had about 10 minutes to spare.  Luckily Raspberry was just 7 breezy minutes between me and snagging some lunch. At minute 1 my eyes were quickly pooling with water, by minute 2 I had tears streaming down my face, by minute 3 I was laughing, at minute 4 I was laughing through sobs, coming in at minute 5 I was audibly crying and sucking back nose drool, rolling on to minute 6 I was in shock and by the final minute I had a tension headache. Raspberry is a film you have to experience for yourself There is basically one plot point that is a spoiler, so don't worry, I'll steer clear.  A family is grieving the timely loss of their father and husband.  With almost no dialogue, we have a sense of the family dynamics and each child's relationship with their Dad.  What's more, we understand their fears and insecurities and how they are respectively dealing with their personal tragedy.  The experience of Raspberry is deeply personal and offers its viewer a glimpse into the sometimes awkward si

I'm going to tag this post as #journalingforwellness and #freetherpy and hope that you don't throw rotten tomatoes at me as a traverse my feelings on Cowboys.  The last few years has forced me to grapple with some hard truths about myself.  I've spent the majority of my life thinking that I was "good" just because I don't care what you look like, who who love or how you live your life.  But that complacency has made me so terribly ignorant. Somehow I thought I was "better" because I didn't ask questions, because being inquisitive means that you see somebody differently and because I DON'T CARE, I now have so much to learn. Ugh. A bit about Cowboys... The story at its core introduces us to Josie "Joe" (Sasha Knight), who is a 10 year old kid that is acutely aware he was born in the "wrong body" and identifies as a boy.  Joe gets up the courage to tell his parents that he wants to nix the dresses his Mom keeps pushing on him and live and present as a young man.  His parents' response is mixed and friction arris

Jockey didn’t make my most anticipated list of Sundance, because frankly, horse movies usually depress me.  The horse always gets injured or dies or gets injured and then dies and who amongst us really needs that kind of heartbreak right now? Well shame on me for judging In a surprising turn, I don’t even really remember much about a horse in Jockey.  I mean, there definitely is a horse and there is definitely horse racing but the tragedy is wrapped up in the self-destructive addiction to a profession, which he believes gives him purpose.  In so many ways it’s reminiscent of Sound of Metal, in that you’ll be tightly clenching your teeth and yelling “JUST STOP” with exasperation, for most of the film. A bit more about Jockey from the festival program Seasoned horse jockey Jackson (Clifton Collins Jr.) has weathered decades of races on the riding circuit, but he now finds himself facing what could be his last season as his health deteriorates. With the help of Ruth (Molly Parker) and a promising new horse, Jac

Well, Sundance is over and we're all breathing a collective sigh of exhausted relief. Over the course of 5 days, we cumulatively watched over 50 features and shorts.  While our experiences were wildly different, with Tim watching at least 7 films a day and cranking out reviews, while Rob and I averaged 3-4 films a day and stressed about prepping for interviews.  On this episode we talk about some of the highs and lows of Sundance and our varied perspectives on the best movies.  There was certainly a wild mix of movies, from dudes with testicles flying off to 90's beastiality comedy (was that a thing?!).  To be fair, there were some really great movies too that made us feel good about humanity warmed our hearts, but I guess I don't need to keep talking about Tim's #1 pick.  In Worth Mentioning we cover Cowboys and Earwig and the Witch. *********************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twi

Eight for Silver made the Most Anticipated Movies of Sundance lists for both Rob AND Tim.  Despite our often differing tastes, there are still through lines that connect us.  For this film, “extreme violence and gore,” meets werewolves, was all they needed to know. I’ll tell you my worry, for this Eight For Silver interview For starters, Boyd Holbrook and Alistair Petrie.  These two edgy bad-guys top my list of favorites. I loved Holbrook in Logan and Petrie in Rogue One, but with my penchant for revennge and holding grudges, I wasn’t sure I wanted to meet these two.  Nevertheless, Rob reminded me that they are in fact “actors” and are probably lovely in real life and they were lovely, indeed. We also had a chance to talk with the mind behind this wild horror-haunting-monster genre mash-up, Sean Ellis.  I mean, the dude clearly has incredible talent, that is obvious even if you’re not a “extreme gore” fan.  Metro Manila and Anthropoid were two of his more popular films. Three interviews for the price of one