The Weekly Movie Throwdown

In this episode, we discuss another beloved '80s TV property, The A-Team. The 2010 film version makes nods to the original, but they don't necessarily all hit the mark. With a bit of a tonal issue and way-too-big CGI swing, the film, directed by Joe Carnahan, is fun but could be a lot more so. We have a lot of love for the TV show, so this was always going to have to work hard to win us over. Ultimately it didn't, but it's still entertaining enough for us to enjoy breaking it down.__________________________________________And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.__________________________________________Still to come during '80s TV Show Adaptations month:5/27: Miami Vice__________________________________________Send your thoughts on The A-Team and the show to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's episode looks at David Leitch's latest film, The Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. Much to their surprise, Mike and Steven both enjoyed it for the most part. The discuss its fun tone, the TV show on which it's based, and much more. At the end of the show, prompted by the film's opening weekend box office numbers, they talk about what the rest of the summer—and Hollywood in general—might have in store. Spoiler alert: it's grim,__________________________________________And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.__________________________________________Still to come during '80s TV Show Adaptations month:5/20: The A-Team5/27: Miami Vice __________________________________________Send your thoughts on The Fall Guy and the show to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we kick off a month of '80s TV show adaptations with one of the best: Lord and Miller's 21 Jump Street from 2012. The film stays fairly true to the series but the tone is way lighter—something we think might be necessary to successfully bring one of these now-campy shows to the big screen. The R rating helps, too. We discuss all of that, along with a whole lot more.__________________________________________And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.__________________________________________Still to come during '80s TV Show Adaptations month:5/13: The Fall Guy5/20: The A-Team5/27: Miami Vice __________________________________________Send your thoughts on 21 Jump Street and the show to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, we deviate from our usual monthly theme to discuss Civil War directed by Alex Garland. It's a disorienting, fence-sitting road movie that stars Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, and Stephen McKinley Henderson. We discuss why Garland, a Brit, took on this story, the technical aspects of making the film, what its budget means for A24, and a lot more.__________________________________________Send your thoughts on Civil War and anything else to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.__________________________________________Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we round out our month of Dev Patel films with 2020's The Personal History of David Copperfield, a delightful contemporary-feeling period piece directed by Armando Iannucci. Like other films the actor was involved in, this one felt the wrath of COVID times and was barely seen in theaters. A shame since it's beautifully made and a lot of fun. But it is streaming (at least for now), so we recommend you seek it out.Next week we're shifting gears and airing a bonus episode where we discuss Alex Garland's divisive new film, Civil War.__________________________________________And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.__________________________________________Send your thoughts on Dev Patel and the show to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So far this month we've looked at Dev Patel the actor, but this week we're examining his work as a director. Monkey Man is his first film behind the camera and it's clear he's been paying attention while on the sets of people like Danny Boyle and David Lowery.This film, in which Dev also stars, is a visually striking revenge story set in India—something we don't see a lot of in America. It's been well-received so far and with good reason. The young filmmaker has a great eye and a really good sense of what works and what doesn't.Join us as we discuss this ambitious first feature from someone who is quickly becoming a Weekly Movie Throwdown favorite.__________________________________________And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.__________________________________________Still to come during Dev Patel month:4/22: The Personal History of David Copperfield__________________________________________Send your thoughts on Dev Patel and the show to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we go back to where Dev Patel began his big screen career with Danny Boyle's frenetic and heartwarming story of an Indian underdog, Slumdog Millionaire. It's the beautiful story of a young man who tries his luck on the world's most famous game show to get the attention of the love of his life. But much to the surprise of everybody, he knows all the trivia answers and is suspected of cheating. Through flashbacks director Danny Boyle creates a narrative of the young man's life to show how he came to know the answer to these tough questions.Slumdog talks a lot about destiny, and the film itself seems to have had a path drawn out for it that, despite some overwhelming odds, led it to eight Oscar wins. it's beloved, and worth a watch. We discuss all its greatness in this episode.__________________________________________To find out where to watch Slumdog Millionaire search for them on JustWatch.And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.__________________________________________Still to come during Dev Patel month:4/15: Monkey Man4/22: The Personal History of David Copperfield__________________________________________Send your thoughts on Dev Patel and the show to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a new month and that means a new theme here on the Weekly Movie Throwdown. We thought since Dev Patel's directing debut Monkey Man is out next week this would be a good time to look at the actor's filmography to see the steps that got him into the director's chair. What we'll learn is that he's someone who works with very visual filmmakers, something that comes through in Monkey Man. He's also a charismatic young man who handles himself well when he's on-screen alone or at the center of an ensemble.This week we kick things off with The Green Knight, David Lowery's retelling of the epic tale of Sir Gawain, a young man forced to face his destiny after a life-changing encounter. To help us we welcome Laura Carney, author of My Father's List: How Living My Dad's Dreams Set Me Free. She has an in-depth knowledge of the hero's journey after going on her own adventure to complete her late father's bucket list, and is loaded with knowledge of the teachings of Joseph Campbell. We thought this would make her the perfect guest to discuss The Green Knight.__________________________________________To find out where to watch The Green Knight search for them on JustWatch.And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.__________________________________________Still to come during Dev Patel month:4/8: Slumdog Millionaire4/15: Monkey Man4/22: The Personal History of David Copperfield__________________________________________Send your thoughts on Dev Patel and the show to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we wrap up Elmore Leonard month with a double feature of 1995's Get Shorty and its sequel from 2005, Be Cool. These two are night and day as far as how they handle their respective book adaptations and once again we hear about how studio involvement changes a film into something completely different than it set out to be.Barry Sonnenfeld's Get Shorty nails the Elmore Leonard tone with its quick wit, effortless humor, and crime-laden story. Be Cool, however, takes that cache and throws it out the window. Director F. Gary Gray says that what we see on the screen is not the same film that he signed up to do—for one thing the original script's R-rated content was pared down to an eventual PG-13. It's another example of the importance of a script above all else.We break both of these films down in this episode, and once again Mike has read the books on which they're based, so he offers some great insights into just how far afield Be Cool went from the source material.__________________________________________To find out where to watch Stick search for them on JustWatch.And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.__________________________________________Send your thoughts on Elmore Leonard and the show to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elmore Leonard month continues on the podcast this week with a sort of middle-of-the-road adaptation: Stick. Steeped in its time—the mid-eighties—this passion project of director/lead actor Burt Reynolds is filled with sub-machine guns, Members Only jackets, and synth music that is super groovy. But while it is a fun ride, reshoots and sub-par editing make it more of a mess than a masterpiece. And to nobody's surprise, Elmore Leonard was not happy with this big-screen version of his novel at all—even though he wrote the first draft of the script!This is a really fun episode that is full of both praise and ridicule—you won't want to miss it.__________________________________________To find out where to watch Stick search for them on JustWatch.And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.Still to come during Elmore Leonard month:Get Shorty and Be Cool__________________________________________Send your thoughts on Elmore Leonard and the show to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we continue Elmore Leonard month by going from one of the best adaptations of his work last week in Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight to one of the worst—a sentiment which might carry over into all of film history. It's 2004's The Big Bounce.Directed by George Armitage, and written by Sebastian Gutierrez (with some help from Leonard himself), this heist film set in Hawaii has a terrific cast consisting of Owen Wilson, Morgan Freeman, Gary Sinise, Sara Foster, Movie Throwdown favorite Vinnie Jones, and more. But with a lot of cooks in the kitchen behind the camera it turned into an incoherent mess that makes little to no sense. Upon seeing it Elmore Leonard said he was responsible for two of the worst films ever made, both from the same book that he wrote (a previous version was made in 1969 starring Ryan O'Neal). We do our best to make sense of it all in this episode.To find out where to watch The Big Bounce, search for them on JustWatch.And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.Still to come during Elmore Leonard month:StickGet Shorty and Be Cool__________________________________________Send your thoughts on Elmore Leonard and the show to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a new month, which means we're diving into a brand new topic on this week's show. March is Elmore Leonard month here on the podcast, so we're going to check out a few of the dozens of screen adaptations based on the novelist's work. Some are great, some are lukewarm, and one or two are God-awful. But we're gonna have a lot of fun talking about all of them.Up first is Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight from 1998. This star vehicle for Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney was an important film for almost everybody involved, and it might just be the best Elmore Leonard adaptation to date. To find out where to watch Out of Sight, search for them on JustWatch.And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.Still to come during Elmore Leonard month:The Big BounceStickGet Shorty and Be CoolSend your thoughts on Elmore Leonard and the show to moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We wrap up Jason Statham month we go back to the beginning with a double feature from the actor's early days. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch are both great examples of what Statham brought to the table right from the start. In these two collaborations with director Guy Ritchie he has leading man charisma without the throat-punches and dropkicks he'd go on to incorporate later in his career. This month has been a fun examination of a career that is surprisingly diverse. Our initial thoughts of Statham as a bull in a china shop who's dropped into various scenarios went out the window quickly as we discovered the nuances of his performances over the years. Fighting, playing for laughs, and even narrating, this badass Brit can do it all.Send us your thoughts on the show and Jason Statham at moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.To find out where to watch Crank, search for them on JustWatch.And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you only think of Jason Statham as a throat-punching, ass-kicking assassin, this film is for you. From 2015, this Paul Fieg action/comedy puts our boy into a whole new role: comic actor. And just like when he's throwing someone through a window, he doesn't disappoint.Melissa McCarthy is the lead in this one, playing a CIA operative who's forced out into the field to help retrieve a missing nuke. Along the way, she's continually reminded by Statham's character, Rick Ford, that he's a real spy and that she's going to screw up the mission, even though that's pretty much all he ever does.Equal parts James Bond and Laurel & Hardy, Spy is a really fun one to dive into.Send us your thoughts on the show and Jason Statham at moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com.Still to come during Jason Statham month:Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch (2/26)Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.To find out where to watch Crank, search for them on JustWatch.And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.Subscribe to the Weekly Movie Throwdown on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wow, wow, WOW! We continue Jason Statham month with a truly insane film from the directing duo Neveldine/Taylor. 2006's Crank tells the story of a man who was poisoned and quickly needs to get revenge . . . and find an antidote if there's time left over. In this episode, we discuss where Crank falls in Statham's filmography, the innovative filmmaking used to make it, and lovingly question the plausibility of just about every scene. The show, like the film, is a wild ride.Send us your thoughts on the show and Jason Statham at moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com._____________Still to come during Jason Statham month:Spy (2/19)Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch (2/26)_____________Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content, and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.To find out where to watch this episode’s film, search for them on JustWatch.And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our inaugural episode, we kick off a month of Jason Statham appreciation with a discussion of his latest film The Beekeeper. Join us as we dip our toe into the star's '80s action hero-style career, the John Wickness of this film, the thinking around having an assassin codenamed Beekeeper become an actual beekeeper in retirement, and a whole lot more.Send us your thoughts on the show and Jason Statham at moviethrowdownpod@gmail.com._____________Still to come during Jason Statham month:Crank (2/12)Spy (2/19)Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch (2/26)_____________Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes and a bunch of other content, and follow us at @moviethrowdownpod on all your favorite social media platforms.To find out where to watch this episode’s film, search for them on JustWatch.And if you’d like to log as you go you can find everything we discuss this month on our Letterboxd list page here.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.