About this Episode
Just when you were beginning to think the heat had fried their Internet connections, the Screeners are back to take some more shots at summer movies and look forward hopefully to some promising entertainment in the fall.
The lightning round starts out with a quick look at Monsters University. Some would say that Pixar’s offerings have been a little unsteady recently, and others would say that’s an understatement, but did they pull a Lloyd with their latest sequel? Has Josh even seen it? Will we ever stop asking questions we already know the answer to?
After that, it’s on to a new program that Sony and Disney are debuting in some international markets - the “day-and-date” release model Steven Spielberg recently predicted. They’re letting would-be moviegoers stream feature films at home while they’re still in theaters. Any guesses as to which Screeners are all for this experiment? Place your wagers now; we’ll wait.
That’s enough Hollywood talk, though—a sentiment that more and more screenwriters seem to be adopting. For awhile now, we’ve been seeing a trend of A-list writers migrating from big screen to small. It’s led to some of today’s runaway cable (and now streaming) hits—think The Newsroom, House of Cards, Mad Men, and others. It’s gotten so good that we’re supposedly in the middle of “The Golden Age of Television”. We’ll open the bookie’s window one more time for bets on the Screeners’ opinions here, but make it quick; this is an easy one.
Last but not least (or maybe it is, depending on your viewing habits), the studios that run Hulu are in the news for deciding to not sell their brainchild after all. Love it or hate it, at least Yahoo! isn’t getting their hands on it (yet). Hipster—sorry, “cord-cutters”—of the world, rejoice!
Look, Down in the Sea! It’s Godzilla! It’s Voltron! No, it’s...
Our main event this time is Guillermo del Toro’s newest feature, Pacific Rim. It’s got robots, monsters, and soldiers not following orders; what’s not to love? While the other three talk IMAX special effects and debate del Toro’s competence vis-à-vis the anime genre, Josh is strangely silent. Turns out he just can’t decide which joke to make next—Transformers, Godzilla, or Power Rangers—demonstrating once again the danger that the overabundance of options poses to Western society.
Looking Back and Looking Ahead...Great; Now We Have a Headache.
It’s back to the living room for this episode’s Cutting Room Floor, which finds the Screeners reminiscing about this year’s spring TV season and looking forward to the fall lineup. This year saw some comedy powerhouses close out their runs and some powerhouse dramas solidify their place in the cultural consciousness; is there room for any more greatness on television, and is the coming season up to the challenge of providing it? These questions and more, along with an impromptu argument about Modern Family, in the show’s final segment.