Filmspotting #102: X-Men: The Last Stand / Top 5 Screen Parents Preview

In the People vs. Brett Ratner, Filmspotting sides (just barely) with the defendant. For X-Men 3: The Last Stand, 20th Century Fox filled the director's spot made vacant by Bryan Singer ("Superman Returns") with the much maligned director of the "Rush Hour" movies and -- most recently -- "Red Dragon." Adam and Sam won't speak for die-hard X-Men fans, who may not be happy with the film's high death toll, but "The Last Stand" should be praised for what it doesn't do: change what worked so well in the first two films. The cast returns largely unaltered, with a particularly (and, by know, expectedly) good turn by Ian McKellen as Magneto; and the mutantcy-as-homosexuality parallel continues with its most intriguing storyline yet. Unfortunately, Ratner's execution lacks subtlety and his hamfisted direction doesn't help cushion an already hamfisted screenplay... But even if it is this franchise's "Return of the Jedi," go on, admit it, "Jedi" wasn't that bad.

Also on the show: Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre and a preview of this week's Top 5 ... Screen Parents.

Music by The Great Distance.

Filmspotting is brought to you by Peerflix. Enter the Peerflix 'Show Us Your DVDs' contest and get a shot at a 400-Disc DVD Mega Changer and more!

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Filmspotting #102
:27-17:47 - Review: "X-Men: The Last Stand"
Music: The Great Distance, "Savings to Dollars"
18:41-23:01 - "X-Men 3" cont.
23:02-28:47 - Peerflix Winners/New DVDs, Donations, Polls
28:48-35:05 - Listener Feedback (Performances)
Music: The Great Distance, "Irrelevant But True"
35:59-39:35 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Christian Clarion)
39:36-44:54 - The Linney Redemption, "Da Vinci Code" Feedback
44:55-50:50 - Top 5 Preview: Screen Parents

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

#102 Slight Delay

How do you know you're stretching yourself too thin lately? How about getting to work and realizing that you left your bag... with your laptop... with the finished but not uploaded Filmspotting #102... sitting on your kitchen table? The show will be up this afternoon... hopefully by 3 pm CT. Thanks for your patience.

Filmspotting #101: The Da Vinci Code / Top 5 Religious Movies

"The Da Vinci Code" ... Religious Movies ... Fitting subject matter for Cinecast's first show re-christened as Filmspotting. With Sam out of town all week, Adam and guest host Scott Smith pore over Ron Howard's big-screen adaptation of Dan Brown's bestseller like two medieval biblical scholars. Their theory: Howard's dull direction + Akiva Goldsman's dull screenwriting + dull acting by usually-reliable star Tom Hanks = a "mindnumbingly dull" movie. Among "Code's" few bright spots are Ian McKellen's scenery-chewing turn as scholar Leigh Teabing and Paul Bettany's limited but suprisingly effective performance as Silas, the killer albino monk.

Also on the show: Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre and our Top 5 Religious Movies ... Filmspotting will return to its two-show format next week.

Music by Keith Jenkins & The Moving Parts courtesy of Reverbose Records.

Filmspotting is brought to you by Peerflix. Trade DVDs online at peerflix.com.

And also by the Honda Fit. It delivers 38 miles per gallon on the freeway! Learn more at fit.honda.com.



Filmspotting #101
:26-19:53 - Review: "The Da Vinci Code"
19:54-20:22 - Audio Feedback
Music: Keith Jenkins, "Disguise"
21:12-27:42 - New DVDs, Donations, Poll Questions
27:43-28:27 - Masters of Horror Winner: Eliot Gerstel
28:28-38:46 - Listener Feedback (One-Timers, M:i:III)
Music: Keith Jenkins, "Golden Ages"
39:35-41:23 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Peter Labuza, St. Paul, MN)
41:24-59:55 - Top 5 Religious Movies
59:56-1:01:11 - Close, Next Week Tease

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

Cinecast #100 - Part II: Top 5 Screen Performances, cont.

It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Instead of trying to narrow down our Top 5 Performances of all-time -- a quixotic task if there ever was one -- Adam and Sam took a cue from special guest Dylan Kidd and assigned themselves four categories: male/female comedic and male/female dramatic. Why they thought that they could do four Top 5 lists in the same time it usually takes them to do a single Top 5 remains a mystery. Part I of the special 100th episode of Cinecast was posted Friday, May 12 ... Here's Part II with Cinecast's Top 5 Male & Female Dramatic Performances featuring writer/director Dylan Kidd. No, not even Nurse Ratched could stop Adam and Sam from putting Jack Nicholson on their lists...

Music by Aberdeen City ... Cinecast is off next week and will return on Tuesday, May 23 as Filmspotting with a review of Ron Howard's "The Da Vinci Code."

Cinecast is brought to you by Peerflix. Trade DVDs online at peerflix.com/cinecast.

And also by the Honda Fit. It delivers 38 miles per gallon on the freeway! Learn more at fit.honda.com.



Cinecast #100 - Part II
:39-16:47 - Top 5 Female Dramatic Performances
16:48-37:01 - Top 5 Male Dramatic Performances
37:02-41:04 - Thank You!

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to cinecast@cinecastshow.com. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

Cinecast #100 - Part I: Mission Impossible III/Top 5 Screen Performances

Adam and Sam worked out the math before they started recording the 100th episode of Cinecast and figured the show would clock in at just over an hour. Self-knowledge, it seems, comes late to podcasters. With a review of JJ Abrams' fantastic new Mission Impossible installment, M:i:III; a look back at the Top 5 Cinecast Moments from the first 99 episodes (starring Sam Hallgren); special exclusive tracks from Aberdeen City; contributions from special guests Dylan Kidd, writer/director of "Roger Dodger," and Scott Ferguson, co-producer of "Brokeback Mountain"; and our Top 5 (or, um, 20) Screen Performances, it shouldn't really be a surprise that the show comes in at over two hours.

So without further ado, here is Part I of Cinecast #100. Check back Monday for Part II featuring our Top 5 Male and Female Dramatic Performances... Consider it a drunken retirement party for Cinecast. In two weeks, Adam and Sam return as Filmspotting: the young, eager, recent college graduate to Cinecast's bitter, downsized retiree.

Cinecast is brought to you by Peerflix. Trade DVDs online at peerflix.com/cinecast.

And also by the Honda Fit. It delivers 38 miles per gallon on the freeway! Learn more at fit.honda.com.



Cinecast #100
:26-17:59 - Review: Mission Impossible III
19:34-20:54 - Exclusive: Aberdeen City, "Pretty Pet"
20:55-27:49 - Peerflix Winner/New DVDs, Donations, Notes, Polls
27:50-39:07 - Top 5 Cinecast Moments
39:08-45:42 - Listener Feedback (Thank you, listeners)
45:43-46:23 - Scott Ferguson: Top 5 Female Modern Perf.
46:24-47:26 - Exclusive: Aberdeen City, "Pretty Pet"
47:27-51:40 - Massacre Theatre
51:41-53:11 - Masters of Horror/Dope Sheet Giveaway
53:12-1:15:41 - Top 5 Male Comedic Perf. w/ Dylan Kidd
1:15:42-1:30:21 - Top 5 Female Comedic Perf. w/ Dylan Kidd
1:30:22-1:31:01 - Scott Ferguson: Top 5 Male Modern Perf.
1:31:02-1:32:59 - Music: Aberdeen City, "Another Seven Years"

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to cinecast@cinecastshow.com. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

Cinecast #99: Musicals Awards/Top 5 One-Timers

As Cinecast's 100th episode quickly approaches, Adam and Sam take a look back at their recent six-week Musicals Marathon and hand out the 1st annual "Gingers," their Best of the Musicals Awards. It's West Side vs. Cherbourg! Kelly vs. Cagney! Minnelli vs. Minnelli! Sticks, rocks, poles, cans, bricks, bats, and clubs are all approved for this Royal Rumble.

Also on the show: Listener Feedback and -- tying in with Monday's review of the unsettling new film "United 93" -- our Top 5 One-Timers Revisited... movies that we really like, but are really hesitant to watch again.

Music by Waco Brothers courtesy of Bloodshot Records.

Cinecast is brought to you by Peerflix. Trade DVDs online at peerflix.com/cinecast.

And also by the Honda Fit. It delivers 38 miles per gallon on the freeway! Learn more at fit.honda.com.



Cinecast #99
:26-18:50 - The Gingers (Best of the Musicals Marathon)
18:51-19:27 - Audio Feedback
Music: Waco Brothers, "Rest of the World"
19:58-32:25 - Notes, Listener Feedback (Movies About America)
Music: Waco Brothers, "Nothing At All"
33:53-49:05 - Top 5 One-Timers Revisited

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to cinecast@cinecastshow.com. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

Cinecast #98: United 93

Inevitable, and yet still unimaginable for many Americans, "United 93" hits theaters as the first Hollywood film to deal explicitly with the events that took place on September 11, 2001. Written and directed by Paul Greengrass ("Bloody Sunday," "The Bourne Supremacy"), the film depicts, in real time, the agonizing sequence of events preceding the decision by a group of the flight's passengers to attack their hijackers, forcing the plane to crash short of its target in Washington, D.C. With equal parts urgency and restraint, Greengrass' film plays like a thriller, while showing the utmost respect for the flight's heroic victims. Adam and Sam agree that "United 93" is powerful and intelligent filmmaking, but disagree about whether Greengrass has made a truly great film.

Also on the show: Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre, and a preview of this week's Top 5 ... One-Timers Revisited.

In case you're wondering what happened to our Top 5 Heroes list, after some last-minute consideration we decided to postpone it in favor of something that seemed more appropriate in connection with "United 93." Hence, films we admire ... that we might never watch again, a list we originally assembled for Cinecast #11. It somehow didn't seem right to talk about the "heroism" of Indiana Jones on the same show featuring a discussion of the real-life heroes of flight 93.

Music by The Pale Pacific.

Cinecast is brought to you by Peerflix. Trade DVDs online at peerflix.com/cinecast.

And also by the Honda Fit. It delivers 38 miles per gallon on the freeway! Learn more at fit.honda.com.



Cinecast #98
:26-17:51 - Review: "United 93"
Music: The Pale Pacific, "Fortune Folds"
18:57-25:31 - "United 93" cont.
25:32-29:49 - New DVDs/Peerflix Winner, Schedule Notes
29:50-34:41 - Donations, Poll Questions
34:42-39:39 - Cinecast's new name revealed!
Music: The Pale Pacific, "Tied to a Million Things"
40:23-41:20 - "I'll Miss Saying Cinecast"
41:21-45:43 - Listener Feedback (American Dreamz)
45:44-47:27 - Massacre Theatre
47:28-53:29 - Top 5 Preview: One-Timers Revisited
53:30-55:07 - Close, Masters of Horror DVD Giveaway

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to cinecast@cinecastshow.com. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.

The Return of the Sam

As first detailed in this morning's edition of The Dope Sheet [Sign up here]...

Let's start with the good news: Sam's NYC sojourn comes to an end this week. By Sunday he'll be back in the Chi and we can start having face-to-face conversations again rather than studio-to-studio ones.

Now for the bad news: Tuesday night's cross-country recording session of Cinecast #98, which was to feature a review of "United 93," presented a few technical difficulties. We decided that with Sam returning on Sunday, the smartest move would be to just hold off until he gets back and record then. That means no show today (Wednesday) or Friday. We sincerely apologize for the delay, but trust us... the shows will be better for it.

So here is our revised schedule, which will provide a triple dose of Cinecrack next week:

Monday, May 8: Cinecast #98, review of "United 93," Massacre Theatre, Top 5 Preview, Cinecast's new name announced!

Wednesday, May 10: Cinecast #99, The Gingers (Musicals Awards), Listener Feedback, Top 5 One-Timers Revisited. Tying in with "United 93," we thought it would be fun to resurrect a Top 5 from way back on Cinecast #11 -- movies that we really like but aren't eager to sit through again because they are so disturbing.

Friday, May 12: Special 100th Episode Extravaganza, review of Mission: Impossible III, the Most Memorable Cinecast Moments, and our Top 5 (or 10 or 20) Favorite Performances with Special Guest appearances by "Roger Dodger" writer/director Dylan Kidd and "Brokeback Mountain" co-producer Scott Ferguson. Plus, we hope to have Aberdeen City in studio for a live performance.

Thanks for your patience!