Episode 13: Meanwhile, in Paradise...

Episode 14 · August 25th, 2013 · 1 hr 8 mins

About this Episode

This time on the Screeners, we reunite the powerhouse filmmaking team that brought us Good Will Hunting! ...OK, so one of our Jump Cuts is about Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon’s in the Main Event movie. Like you’ve never exaggerated.

Movies, and Books that Approximate Them (01:48)

So Ben Affleck is Batman now, at least for one movie, which of course drove the Internet into a frothing frenzy of insanity. Does this really matter, though? Really? We can probably count on one of the Screeners to not care, but what about the movie fans in the group?

Next, you’ve heard of movie adaptations of books, but how about an autobiography based on a fictional movie character that may or may not have been loosely based on a real person? If you’re confused, good; that means you were actually reading that last sentence. But it seems like this is really happening:  Ron Burgundy’s autobiography is coming out in November. Will you read it? Will anyone?

After those two heated, profound discussions, the Screeners have to take a step back and talk about movie trailers for awhile. We’ll find out if there are any movies that interest the four solely on the merits of a heavily edited 2-minute montage.

Well, that was a nice break. Back to the grind:  It’s been announced that the new Star Wars trilogy (directed by our good friend JJ Abrams) will be shot on film instead of being what some might call a more modern digital production. There’s a chance that at least one Screener will care about this; let’s find out.

Symbolism, and Movies that Attempt It

(Spoiler-free at 21:54; Spoilers at 34:02)

Elysium, Neil Blomkamp’s sophomore release, was released a few weeks ago, but the Screeners are just now getting around to talking about it, so...deal with it, we guess?

Anyway, it’s a sci-fi look at inequality in a dystopian future (well, dystopian for most of the population), and we hear there’s supposed to be some allegory in there somewhere. The trailer looked good, Matt Damon and Jodie Foster are in it, and District 9 was almost universally well-regarded. Has Blomkamp kept his streak of one alive, though? The Screeners have some strong opinions about that one.

Movies, Again, and Other Things Josh Hasn’t Experienced (43:11)

Finally, it’s back to Flickchart for the Cutting Room Floor. The questions for this installment:  Has Josh seen any of the movies Flickchart wants to know about, and can the Screeners’ collective top movie list possibly get any more embarrassing? 

That about does it for this episode. Let us know what you think of Affleck and Damon’s latest efforts in the comments or over on Facebook, and we’ll see you next time!