Lass Is More With Josh Lasser

At first blush, it may seem like a whole lot of silliness, but the truth is that there's a genius to Elizabeth Banks' "Cocaine Bear."  It is funny and disgusting and barrels its way through its 90+ minute runtime like a bear high on... well, cocaine.

The new "Avatar" sequel is... a lot.  A lot of pretty.  A lot of time.  A lot of CGI.  A lot of effort on all parts.  Well, all except for the story.  The story is a significant disappointment.  The story, which somehow tends to get a pass when the movie is discussed, sinks the whole endeavor.  It isn't that the memory fails to be mesmerizing, it's completely astounding on a visual level, it's just doesn't work on a story one.

We may have a soft spot for epic fantasy and adventure films, but that doesn't mean that we're a complete pushover.  This week, with the 1981 film "Dragonslayer" now available on 4K, we find an example of film in the genre that simply does not work for us.  What it does do, however, is spark more interest in our continued conversation about power and religion.

This past weekend, "Women Talking" won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.  The accolade is well deserved, as the movie is an incredibly powerful one.  Dealing with upsetting material, "Women Talking" is distrubing not just for the real events it is based on, but for the truths it shows us about our world.  Let's discuss.

Some actors find themselves, at some point in their career, having a moment.  Right now, Jonathan Majors is having a moment, one that we hope continues for decades to come; that the moment becomes a long and varied and fascinating career.  He not only has two movies in theaters as we release this episode, but one from last year has just arrived on Blu-ray, and that's the one we discuss today, "Devotion."

Currently out on Blu-ray is not one, but two different movies that hit theaters last year and deal with, in no small part, movies.  Yes, now available are Steven Spielberg's "The Fabelmans" and Sam Mendes' "Empire of Light."  While both movies are beautiful to look at, only one touches the soul.  Which goes right and which goes wrong?  Let's discuss.

Sometimes it is quite easy to pinpoint what is true and what is a lie.  Sometimes it is far more complicated.  And perhaps--just perhaps--sometimes it might not matter at all.  This week's episode looks at the new film, "Emily," which focuses on the life on Emily Brontë as it may have been but probably wasn't but could have been anyway.  Just where is the truth and does it matter if there's a lie?

How do we move from the past to the future?  How do we take what has come before, show it reverence (when appropriate), and still manage to create something new and wonderful?  This week we're discussing two new Blu-ray releases, "Black Panther:  Wakanda Forever" and "Mickey & Minnie 10 Classic Shorts - Volume 1," that, maybe, help guide us on that path. 

There are undoubtedly things about the animated film "Strange World" that are, well, strange.  However, you and I both know that there is a contigent of people out there who will watch the movie and get upset for bad reasons, that will view strangeness where there ought to be none.  How do we think about these things?  How do we judge?  How do we move forward?

Forget the endless drudgery that is "awards season."  Forget the hours that pople spend purposefully misunderstanding what is going on and why.  Forget the mindless outpouring of "movie news" designed solely to get clicks and foment outrage.  Do what we talk about this week -- sit down and watch the truly excellent feast that is "The Menu."

For this final podcast of 2022, we are going to discuss "Amsterdam," at least a little, one last time.  That's because this last episode of the year is going to focus on two other comedies that do work -- "Ticket to Paradise," and "The Banshees of Inisherin."  What can we learn from them about why they succeed where that other film fails?  What if we decided that an answer was in the clothing... or at the very least is divulged by the clothing?

Last time we were on about how the pacing for Amsterdam is just awful, how it fails to allow the jokes to hit, how it has some sort of faux gravitas that makes it deadly dull.  You want an example of how to do it right with a film that also came out on 4K last week?  Look no further than Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction."  This week we discuss how it goes right and the one place where it makes a misstep that bothers Josh to this day.  Take a listen and enjoy!

It may have the best of intentions, but "Amsterdam" is a film which crumbles under its own weight.  It is a movie that offers the sense that it desperately wishes to be Important and in pushing for that added weight, that added meaning, that added depth, it undercuts everything that works about the film.  Oh, there are most certainly some great aspects to "Amdsterdam," chiefly the performances, but it simply cannot get out of its own way.

Not every movie has to be the biggest and the best, the funniest and most clever, the loudest and most spectacular.  It is okay sometimes for a movie to just, you know, be a movie.  That is preceisely what we encounter today with the Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening-starring "Jerry and Marge go Large."  The now available on Blu-ray and digital comedy is... fine, and that's quite enough.

Some movies make us stop and wonder what exactly it is that we're seeing.  This can be either a good thing or it can be a bad thing.  With "Honk for Jesus.  Save Your Soul." we're definitely looking at either one or the other.  Which?  Why?  What does/doesn't work about this satire?  Only one way to find out -- open your hearts (and ears) to this podcast.

Out now on digital is the movie "See How They Run."  Rather than being a filmic adaptation of Agatha's Christie long-running play, "The Mousetrap," it is a comedic mystery surrounding a fictional murder taking place near the start of that show's historic run.  This leaves Josh with any numerable of imponderables to ponder and ponder he does.

Zach Cregger's "Barbarian" plays out as two distinct halves.  You might actually think that someone spliced the movie together incorrectly for a minute when the switch takes place.  Separately the halves are quite good.  Together they're even better.

"Thor:  Love and Thunder" is now out on DVD and Blu-ray and that makes this the perfect time to talk about the fourth entry in the "Thor" saga... or, as we put it, the second best "Thor" movie in the MCU.  Thinking of it that way, it is both admirable and a disappointment and it's something we need to look at a little more closely.

Listen, no one wants to be the guy out there saying, "I told you so," but it happens. Well, honestly, maybe Josh doesn't mind being that guy so much.  He gets in at least one good one this week as all six original crew "Star Trek" movies have now been released in a 4K boxed set, much like he said would happen last September after the first four got their own boxed set.

Other people out there might be tired of the Minions, with their silly speech and tendency to bash each other on the heads, but not Josh.  No, Josh still thoroughly enjoys the little yellow guys.  Of course, that's not the same as saying everything is perfect in terms of their second headling feature, "Minions:  The Rise of Gru."  Let's discuss.