Words from the Nerds Podcast
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Words from the Nerds Podcast
Supergirl Is Severely Overhated | WFTN #146
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We got a mid year ranking for 2026 movies and a sweet supergirl review for you wonderful folks
Time Codes
0:00 Intro/Comments
8:30 Supergirl Review
51:00 Favorite 2026 Movie
1:00:05 Worst 2026 Movie
1:05:30 Most Surprising 2026 Movie
1:13:45 Favorite Movie Theatre Moment This Year
1:27:00 Most Anticipated Movie Rest Of Year
1:40:45 Box Office Talk
2:22:55 Outro
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@aidenhtalks
@itscubson
@benjimovies
Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the words from the nerds podcast. Hey, hold on, hold on, hold on. Y'all both hosted the last two weeks.
SPEAKER_03Wait, actually?
SPEAKER_07Yeah. Yeah, it's Instagram. Wait, so then it wasn't my turn last week?
SPEAKER_05You were the week before. I hosted last week. I thought Charlie, the two weeks, two weeks ago is whenever y'all both started at the same time and you went. And then last week Ben did. Really? It's my turn this week. Yeah. Interesting. That's why I sent the freaking agenda. That's why I was the one planning all that. I was like, all right, here's the agenda. Here's where we're hidden. You just ruined a perfectly beautiful. I was in a flow state.
SPEAKER_06I actually wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Uh well, it'll be it'll be fine.
SPEAKER_05Uh Charlie hosted last week, dude.
SPEAKER_03That's what I was saying. That's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_05Ben hosted the week before, then. No, I'm no, you did.
SPEAKER_03You did. I'm looking at it right now. You did. Whoa. I knew I wasn't tripping. I like what the fuck? I need to try. I need to trust my mind. Oh my gosh. I knew I wasn't tripping.
SPEAKER_05My turn.
SPEAKER_07Whoa. Holy man. Hey, hey, I got next week. Aiden, you got a whole agenda. Just run with that, you know?
SPEAKER_05All right, all right. Welcome back to the Words from the Nerds podcast. Uh, I am your host, Aiden, joined by my two favorite co-hosts in the entire world, Ben and Charlie, not to be confused with Ben and Jerry's. Okay.
SPEAKER_07I just gotta say, you saying that almost feels disingenuous after the past 20 minutes ago of you over box office stuff.
SPEAKER_03He verbally abused us, chat. I just want you to know that before he sorry, before he hit record, he verbally abused us.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, it was borderline racist against me.
SPEAKER_05We're using we're using that term because it was worse, but we can't use that worse term on YouTube. So um I verbally something them. Um, it's your boy Aiden joined with my two wonderful co-hosts. Uh, we got a doozy for you today, but before this doozy gets started, I gotta kind of touch over my wonderful boy Memish, dropping some comments here. As always, a hashtag best podcast ever from the best viewer ever. Yes, I say it. Yes, I stand on it. That's my boy Memish. Shout out to Memish. Thank you for always showing love. His other comment says, Since the World Cup is in the United States, Canada, Mexico, North America, if you will. Who are you guys supporting? What football team are you guys rooting for? It's soccer, buddy. It's soccer, buddy, because we just won today, baby. We just won. We're heading to the freaking Sweet 16.
SPEAKER_04USA, USA.
SPEAKER_05Bleed, red, white, and blue, man. Come on. I'm rooting for the United States.
SPEAKER_07I'm not a big sports guy, so I'm gonna say I am supporting all of the people coming to visit the United States.
SPEAKER_05It has been uh it has been a treat. I'm not gonna lie. I love seeing all the videos. It's been very cool. Everyone's chugging buzzballs and shit. Like, what are we what are we doing?
SPEAKER_07I love uh specifically. I've seen some videos of this like Japanese guy going around and trying a bunch of different American food. Are the interview clip? He's like, I do not speak English, but I am so excited.
SPEAKER_05Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dude, that one uh on the uh on the news. Yeah, yeah, yeah, dude. It's been it's been great. They're they're going and they're hitting up all the Texas barbecue spots, and heck yeah. Um, it's it's funny to see everyone going crazy. Yeah, it's been awesome. They like uh I think what was it? I think Ireland was maybe playing in Boston, and Boston like just ran out of beer, like all of Boston ran out of beer. Everyone was over there drinking. Um, so yeah, it's been it's been super cool to see everyone all fascinated with with uh with America. I'm like, yeah, baby, let's go. Red wine, blue, USA. So it's been fun, yeah. Uh Memish, come on. I think you knew the answer to that, baby. Who else do you think we're rooting for? It's soccer. Come on, it's not football, it's soccer. Uh so that's been fun. Uh, what is what would what would Memish be? England.
SPEAKER_03I actually don't even know the UK teams. Like, are there multiple times in the UK?
SPEAKER_07I think there's a couple.
SPEAKER_03Because like Rexum, right? Isn't that that's a team? But I don't know if they made it into the it's a body part, yeah. Well, is whatever is what whatever the ones called that Ryan Reynolds owns, I don't know, bruh. But did they even make it into the into the World Cup? I don't even know. I have no clue. I don't know. So that's why soccer, bro. Rest of the world can can keep it, bro. Rest of the world can keep it.
SPEAKER_07Is this poster behind us AI? Look at the look at the fingers right here. Whoa. Look at that. Yeah, maybe something weird going on.
SPEAKER_03That is this is the this is the official poster, and they didn't. We just did nobody, nobody saw it until now.
SPEAKER_05Jeez Louise.
SPEAKER_03DC put that shit up.
SPEAKER_05Thank you. Thank you, Mimish, as always. We always appreciate reading your comments and your words of support. Hashtag best podcast ever. We love to see it. We got a big one today, folks. This is our halfway through the year ranking. I prematurely clicked up the uh supergirl wallpaper because we will also be touching on supergirl. So time codes will be down there at the bottom. We're gonna talk about supergirl. Uh, there's been a lot of discussion around the state of the DC universe. So we're gonna talk about that a little bit with uh with just our thoughts. And we don't know each other's thoughts on the state of the DC or the state of Supergirl, so we will get into that. Um, and then there will be time codes for every single category that we're gonna be touching on today in terms of our 2026 movies that we have seen so far. So, halfway through the year, we're gonna do a big um a big category, big ranking of everything because we talk a lot about these movies, we talk about our initial reactions, we keep that stuff a surprise. Um, we also keep our lists a surprise sometimes. So when it comes to best, worst, most anticipated for the rest of the year, things like that. We tend to keep that kind of close to our chest, um, especially not touching on certain movies. So all of that will be down there below. Um, we're gonna talk about our schedule for July. And then if time permits, we're gonna touch on some box office stuff halfway through the year as well, because we have a box office draft and we also have a Rotten Tomatoes draft. You can find those episodes um on our page. So if you like what you hear today, stick around, throw some uh some comments down there, show us some love, and uh yeah, without further ado, boys, I think we need to just hop straight into the movie that we watched this week, right? So we all went and watched Supergirl. Um, real quick, can we just talk about that freaking digger trailer? I know I know I texted y'all, yeah, but that was so odd. I was not expecting that at all. And I'm sitting there and I thought I was watching like a we're gonna do a Tom Cruise marathon, like come sit in at AMC and watch this. I was like, so I'm going through the whole thing, and I'm like, oh man, like Tom Cruise is just the best, dude. Like, this is awesome. Like, I can't wait to see what theaters are gonna or what movies are gonna be in theaters, and then it's just the digger. I was like, yo, so I had to text y'all and be like, Did did y'all also get that? Was that just me? It was so long.
SPEAKER_07I mean, it was like a five-minute highlight of his career, and it's also weird because they're like they're selling his new movie right now simply based on the appeal that it's him. It's like, yeah, you you know this guy, you've seen this guy, he has a new movie.
SPEAKER_03We're not there's not like a really they're not even showing his face in the movie yet, though, right?
SPEAKER_07Like, I so which we're getting a trailer in like two weeks or something, so that is happening, but it still was just like it's a very, very interesting choice that they made.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, it completely caught me off guard. But once it was over, I was like, that was freaking awesome! Like, I I don't know what I would have done different. Uh, it wouldn't have been that though, and I I really commend them for that. That was that was great. So, anyways, I wanted to bring that up because I thought that was cool. Okay, Supergirl 2026 release. This is the second installment in James Gunn's DC Universe. We got Superman last year, and we are just we're chugging away with this. We got lanterns coming up this year's peacemaker. Was uh uh was a couple months ago. Supergirl 2026. Our thoughts, our reviews, our reactions. Boys, let's have a rating in three, two, one. This shit was hot fucking ass. Excuse my language. Hot ass is crazy. This shit was hot ass.
SPEAKER_03Hot ass is crazy.
SPEAKER_07I I actually I thought it would be worse. I still thought it was bad though. I can't I can't lie. Like, yeah, there was more redeeming qualities than I expected because some people were calling it the worst one of the worst comic book movies of all time. I think that was just online exaggeration. It still is pretty pretty bad. I I've legit seen people post lists of like here are the worst comic book movies, and this is on that list. Yeah, interesting. So I was expecting worse, but it I I I still it's not it's it's not not very good.
SPEAKER_03Um yeah, yeah. I mean, I I I think I think it's okay, you know. I I think um Millie Millie's great as supergirl, and we kind of already knew that, I guess, after after Superman. And I would have I would have liked for her, of course, to like get more to do emotionally, because I think that's my big thing for this movie, is that they uh like pretend like they're doing some emotional things, but they really aren't. Uh they it's just it's really ham-fisted, I guess is the best way to put it. But I just think that above everything else, the issue was with like the pacing of the story for me. Like I don't know, you spend the first part of the movie with her just not like doing anything with her. It's called Supergirl, and you're not she's not doing anything with her powers. Like, I get it from the last time I saw her, like she's super drunk and she she that's like her favorite thing to do. She loves doing it. And it it's admittedly when she finally gets to use her powers up on that space bus or whatever, that it was like an interesting scene and a cool scene, and watching her float away and then finally touch a a little bit of the sun was was was cool. But also, I just I have a lot of Cinemasins problems with this movie too. That I I you you could probably make an argument that they're maybe bigger than uh Cinema Sins probably uh problems. But considering considering if you if you really think about it, like the movie can't happen for if if that character if her character stays consistent with what they portray her as at the very end of the movie, this movie would would end a lot quicker. But in also Ruthie, I don't care about her as a character. I think that uh they could have done a lot more with her, like give me more with her and her family at the beginning without doing spoilers. Give me more of that at the beginning, like show me uh just even a one day in a life with her family, and then I'm gonna I'm gonna care a lot more than just you instantly showing me these random people and then they they they die. Like, I don't know. That's uh that that that seemed a little annoying to me. But I mean, honestly, I I was still down with a lot of everything that I was seeing in the movie. Like it was just it was alright, you know, like the action sequences with with Lobo were were were pretty good. Jason Momo, I g I guess I should talk about him as as Lobo. He's good. I I I've seen a lot of people say that like he was born to play Lobo, and uh like I don't I wouldn't even like a hundred percent disagree with that. Obviously, I like him as Lobo more than I liked him as Aquaman, but even then, like I've I've only seen him as Lobo for a little bit now, and uh it it it wasn't super captivating to me. It was just it felt like Jason Momoa in other things, like almost like Jason Momoa in Minecraft, but just like a little a little bit more like like uh harder and and and and uh grizzled maybe. But yeah, I think that like this movie is fine. I don't think it's egregiously bad. I would compare it to like a I've seen this comparison, this isn't me coming up with this. I think it's like a phase one movie. I think it's like a Thor. I'd put it on the level of Thor, probably. And uh I do think that it was in terms of the grander state of the DCU, probably not a great idea to do your second movie with Supergirl. Uh like great character, sure, and apparently a great comic run that this is supposed to be based on, but apparently they didn't follow that very well. I haven't read the comic myself. Apparently, I've but I'm I'm told they didn't follow it very well. And also, there's just so many other things you could have done. We haven't had a uh granted, we haven't had a supergirl movie in a long time, but we haven't had a Wonder Woman movie since 2021. Like you could have had that be the second movie if you wanted to keep it like with with with a woman and and and do that whole thing. Uh I just I don't know. I think that this had the potential to be so much better, and it was too afraid to go there. Even stuff with like crypto. Give me more of that. Like, I I think that this movie hinges on a lot of the idea of of like I care about crypto already because of Superman. And I just I don't like that idea. I think that you need to give me a reason to care about crypto as it as he pertains to Cara, not not not just Superman and and and and everything else like that. So I don't know. I think saying it's egregiously bad is a little crazy, but I mean did one of us say egregious?
SPEAKER_07Whatever, whatever you said.
SPEAKER_05And I think it, I think it, and I think it was hot ass. I mean, like I think everything just fell super flat for me. Um I I feel the same way you feel, Charlie, but I I think I feel even more strongly about it, and I also don't really see a lot of the redeeming qualities in the movie. Um, I think the villain is really bad. Uh, it just it not only did it feel like evil for evil's sake, but I also think the character design is horrible, which I know was a topic of conversation leading up to the movie, and I think that that just also hinders my experience while watching it that he just uh looks like a Ravager, essentially. Um, he there's just there there was no creativity in here, and if there was, it was all in the first 20 minutes when there was a bunch of practical effects, and that was it. Um, but everything else falls flat, there's no color in this, it is all just like warm orange and gray tones, and I feel like that's not what I was expecting from this movie. You think of Supergirl, you see how colorful Superman was, and even whenever he's falling towards a black hole, how colorful everything there is, and then you deal with this movie that's all in space and all dealing with a bunch of different planets, and that's all just gone all of a sudden. Um, so uh I mean, yeah, like you compare it to like a phase one Marvel movie where you know the the phase one Marvel movies were also kind of dull and were very paper um or um very were very cookie cutter. Um and I agree, but I I just I feel like everything else here is also so lackluster. Um, I agree that I think crypto should have been a very central uh he should have been like a more important to the plot rather than just here's our setup and then here's everything in between, and then here's the end. Like those are the only two times we see him in the entire movie. So I'm I'm supposed to be bought into the fact that Kara's doing all of this, and she's also taking this girl under her wing and going on this grand adventure for crypto, but crypto such an afterthought because I see him for a combined like seven minutes of screen time in a two-hour movie or whatever. Yeah, that is not how this should be structured. That's not what we should be doing here. Um, and I I get nerfing her throughout the whole story so that you can actually have because like it's it's unfair. And I leaned over to my wife and I told her this. It's unfair that you get to do any action scenes with Superman and Supergirl because man, it's always gonna be some of the coolest shit ever. We saw Superman and it was awesome. Their powers and their skill set is just way too cool that I could just see Kevin Feige over there shaking his head that he doesn't get to work on a Superman project, right? That's how it should be. We just don't, I feel like we don't see that at all. And uh in Superman, I saw it again. I still had problems where maybe some of the emotion I wish I could have sat in a little bit longer, maybe the fight scenes I feel like could have been a little bit longer. And here all of that is just ripped away. Like it's not even just a matter of I liked it, I wish it was longer. It was I didn't even like it, and I don't even know if I wanted it to be longer because maybe it would have just been a lot more bad, and and maybe that would have hindered the movie even more. Um, we get a nice little taste of it towards the end, and I think it is really cool. And seeing her do the same move as Superman was freaking awesome. Again, though, why does this movie look so freaking bad? Why is her flying into action just looks so much worse than seeing Superman do it? That's not what we should be doing. Like, why are we so inconsistent with our second project in the DC universe? So, a lot of these things really piss me off, and that's where I can't see any of the redeeming qualities. I didn't care about Ruthie, I didn't care about their relationship because again, we're just getting a little bit of it, and whenever whenever we do get what's supposed to, you know, make it hit harder towards the end of the movie, when we get that sprinkled in, it's the same conversations they're having over and over again. Hey, don't kill him, I'm gonna kill him, and then a couple minutes later, hey, don't kill him, you need to do this. No, I'm gonna kill him. He killed my family. It's like, man, can we find anything else? Can we find any other like compelling story to be told here with these two? Um, and whatever what we do have that can work is crypto. And again, he hasn't been seen since the beginning of the movie. That stuff really pisses me off, and that I can't really forgive. So, all the stuff that could maybe be cool, like the third act action and fight scene, even that falls flat on its face, in my opinion. So I I was really, really disappointed with it because I went in with low expectations and I feel like that still wasn't met. Um, and I just I feel like people weren't bouncing off each other as well as I feel like they should have in this movie. I don't think any Ruthie and Lobo scenes really did it for me. I don't think any Lobo and and Supergirl scenes ever did it for me. I feel like nobody in this movie has chemistry with each other, um, which in my opinion made for some like awkward feeling scenes, uh, but that could just be a me thing. Uh so yeah, man, I I was not a big fan of this at all.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, uh, I'm more in alignment with Aiden, other than I do have some positives. Uh I think, of course, Millie Alcock as as Supergirl, I think was really good. And then I will agree, she was great. Charlie, what are you smirking at?
SPEAKER_01Is it just is it just me, Aiden? Is it just me?
SPEAKER_05What's happening? What is it just oh no no no no no yeah, Ben, you're very delayed. You're very you're delayed.
SPEAKER_03Your your camera looks like pixelated.
SPEAKER_05I it happened after you froze earlier and thought it was it was me.
SPEAKER_01Has it been bad this whole time? Yeah, yeah. I mean, but I thought it was gonna get better, so that's why I didn't say anything. But uh by the time you started talking, it's not it's not better. So okay.
SPEAKER_05Uh I can pause it first if you if you want to mess with it. Sure. If you want to pause real quick, I'll see. Uh brief technical difficulties, we'll be right back, folks. All right, Mr.
SPEAKER_07Benjamin. Your thoughts on Supergirl. As I was saying, Millie is great. I'm starting with the positives. Millie is great. Um, we knew that from Superman. Obviously, we all think she's limited by what happens in this story and by the script and whatnot. And we'll get into some of the specifics of like character motive and the ending and stuff like that. We'll talk about when we get into spoilers and whatnot. But that's my first positive. Another positive, David Cornswhat is Superman.
SPEAKER_05I mean, oh my gosh, my goat, my goat teared up every single time he was up there.
SPEAKER_07He really liked in recent years, this might be like the best comic book casting that we've had in a while. He is really, really good. Um, another positive, I loved all the stuff with her backstory. I actually think that we should have started there and like we should have had an extended like 20 minute like opening sequence, just fully exploring the backstory, how she got to like. Like Earth and all of that should have been done in like an opening sequence. Cause that stuff I was so bought in, and that would have established like things just way better from an emotional perspective. Um, and obviously, I think you still need to fix like other parts of the movie, but like when it was those things, I was just so invested, and I think it would have worked so much better as like an an extended opening sequence rather than flashbacks, because they work way less well as flashbacks when you don't care as much about what's happening in the present day. So that that kind of drew a lot of problems out. But the flashback stuff I thought was good, and then I was a fan of Jason Momoa as Lobo, I thought it was enjoyable. Uh, because there's a lot of humor in this movie that I just don't I think it it feels very like MCU-y, like very forced. Um but I actually there was a couple of scenes with Jason Momoa's character that I actually really enjoyed and got a chuckle out of. So he was a standout for me, um, just in comparison to like the parts of the movie that are there just like purely like for just an entertainment factor. Um again, like his actual incorporation into the story, pretty like insignificant, could have done more with that, but um he's there just to like go ahead.
SPEAKER_05I was I was just gonna say I feel like I didn't really enjoy them getting their ass kicked a lot. I feel like that happened quite a bit. And I I get that we have to like sure. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I feel like we I I know I know we had to get to the third act, but I also was like, I don't enjoy really seeing them get manhandled as much as they were, especially Supergirl, like in the third act, she's it has all her powers and she still starts to get like they start to get the upper hand on her. And I'm like, it's not until they take it to the ground. I know she had the kryptonite in her, yeah, okay, but but like even after she like gets that out, they still have to take the fight to the ground to then also anyways. Sorry, I cut you off, Ben. I was just uh went on a side note.
SPEAKER_07No, you're good. Um, no, I agree with that. It it definitely felt like he was shoehorned in to have Lobo for Lobo's sake and not really, you know, much more. But if you're just taking it at face value and the entertainment that it brings, I actually thought that that was really good in comparison to the other ways that the movie tries to entertain you with, like humor and stuff like that. So um, those were my positives, but that it kind of ends there. I thought the whole premise and idea for this story was just not um not all that interesting, especially like if people really like the comic that it's based off of. It's kind of confusing how this is like the movie translation of that. And uh, I think clearly people have said that there's some either creative differences and just there's some liberties that were taken to change the story and make it the movie that it is. And clearly, I don't think that was a good thing, just with how not well received it's been. Um, and we'll talk bigger picture for like the DC universe and whatnot. But even if we're saying this is like a good comparison to like a phase one project, you yeah like you can't be feeling good about that if you're James Gunn and Peter Saffron. Like, I'm sorry, you just like sure for today's day and age, sure.
SPEAKER_03I agree.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, this to me, like this feels as big of a misstep in the DC universe as like Mando and Grogu did for the Star Wars universe. Oh, in the way of just like you had John Favreau and Dave Fallone, who are supposed to be like, uh hey, they just took over, they're making these creative decisions. This is like, you know, they're making a movie, and this is what they give us. This to me, like, I get there's a lot of differences, but the point being it's a new universe to have a character development or a story, you know, mainly that. I I agree with what you're saying, but I'm just saying uh James Gunn and Peter Safran sat there, read the script, watched the movie, and said, Yep, this is good enough to put out as our second film. That to me doesn't make sense. And in the same way that I don't understand how John Favreau and Dave Falone made the Mandalorian movie. So uh we'll talk about more of that a bit later. But yeah, I I agree with everything that Aiden was saying. It it was really tough to get into. I also think like for a I don't want to call this a James Gunn movie, but uh we heard that he had some influence out over this. So for a produced by James Gunn, James Gunn overhead movie, this has like a very like I did not like the soundtrack at all. And I know a lot of people are pointing specifically to like that moment in the finale, and I agree with that. That was like genuinely really, really bad, but I actually thought that was the case for multiple points in the movie. Uh and I also don't come out thinking that Supergirl really has her own theme, whereas I absolutely felt that for Superman because there's multiple moments where they really like let that theme resonate with his character in specific moments. That never happened here, and instead the music that they chose, which isn't like original theme music, really sticks out like a like a sore thumb. So there's just there's a lot of just very weird choices for how this movie exists in the way that it does. So my positives, as limited as they are, I mean, they do exist, um, but I I still didn't think this was very good. I I actually liked it a little more than so. I went to see it with a few people. One of them was my wife, and she hated it. Like she I saw her, she recently got letterboxed, and I saw her log it on letterboxed. She gave it two stars on letterboxed. I gave I gave it two stars. I also gave it two stars. Yeah. I was somewhere between two to two and a half, only because of what I said, which is like it's not as like egregiously bad as some of the internet wants you to believe that it is. It shouldn't be in conversation for one of the worst comic book movies of all time. Is it in conversation that it's like one of the lower comic book movies in the last few years? Maybe. I mean, outside of like the Sony universe.
SPEAKER_05We've been on we've yeah, but I feel like we've been on such a great run recently with superhero movies. Where do you think the last bad one was, Aiden? I mean, obviously Madam Webb, but if we want to if we don't omit the omit omit the MC MCU and DC only.
SPEAKER_03Uh minus jumper two. Don't count. That's not even really a superhero movie, though. I mean, the the last one that was at the this bad, yeah. Oh yeah. I I don't think I don't think I would put the this bad just just just bad in general. I'm not even saying this bad, just just bad in general for you. The flash. Sure, sure. Sure, yep, yep, yep.
SPEAKER_05I could the marvels was after the flash, so I would say the marvels. I would say the flash, then yeah, because I like the marvels. I I I saw a lot of joy and value in the Marvels, not as much as this in The Flash, but about Deadpool, yeah. I thought I'd say the flash. See, that's kind of unfair because that was such an experience. That was kind of like that brought us like that brought us back. That brought the feeling back. Like we started we started it up again because of Comic Con and Deadpool and Wolverine. So dude, yeah, I know I was like, that's still our most highest like viewed episode ever. Like I don't know why like two thousand views.
SPEAKER_03Did we get it out like right when the movie came out? So I don't I still don't know why people no, we were two weeks after. Really? Oh okay.
SPEAKER_04Maybe it's just a thumbnail then. I mean, that was a good thumbnail. I remember liking that though. That was a really good thumbnail, anyways. Yeah, I'd probably say the flash.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, Deadpool and Wolverine. We talked about it, like, oh, is it saving the MCU or whatever? And it's like, obviously, no. Um, but that kind of at least for me, because I really liked that movie compared to you guys. Since then has been a pretty good danger.
SPEAKER_03Oh, wait, but what about Cap? We didn't even think about Cap last year.
SPEAKER_05Cap is that's honest, but but like in in terms of bad movies, I don't know if honestly, I I'd say Cap is a three-star movie. Yeah, I don't think it's bad. I gave it to the city. I actually I was high on it. I never gave my uh because y'all did the that episode alone, but I yeah, enjoyed Captain America Brave World. Yeah, maybe I need to read it. I actually thought it was like ri I actually thought it was great up until um uh up until I guess the third act, but I was actually all for it.
SPEAKER_03I was like, I just because I I I feel like I don't remember like a character arc for for Sam in that movie, but I don't I mean I don't know. It's it's been a while since I watched it. It's just a forgettable movie for me.
SPEAKER_07I was simply basing it off of like what was the last movie that I gave below a three-star, which I think was the most exactly, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05And for me, I think it'd probably be Flash.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03Uh just yeah, I just just wanted to engage then.
SPEAKER_05I want to say, like, I think that this movie the direction the direction I think I was at least hoping for, I don't want to say would have done, because like what am I gonna go write a whole movie, but the direction I think I was at least hoping for when it came to a supergirl movie that was gonna cover the death of crypto and how she how that kind of like wakes her up from this like airplane mode that she's been in. Maybe Ruthie just shouldn't have been in the movie at all. Like, I take Ben's idea of the first 20 minutes just being everything with Krypton and Superman picking it up with her and crypto and how her life is falling apart, but she's doing all of this stuff with crypto, and we see some good moments, and then crypto gets killed, and and crypto like dies, and she has to find a way to bring him back to life by getting the antidote and just look treating it as a just character study, like uh this coming of age movie of hey, she's down and out, she's in the worst spot of her life, she's hit rock bottom, and by the end of the movie, she realized she realizes like, hey, I might not be as good as Clark, or I might not, you know, be as like whimsical as him, but I like that moment where he's like it's it's bright and it's corny, but it's because people need to know that we stand for good. Like to have her come to that realization over this journey of trying to save crypto, I don't think you need Ruthie in this at all. Um, and I don't even think the brigand has to be as big of a villain as he is in this movie for that to work. I think that's kind of what I was hoping to get out of this, and that's why when that second trailer hit, I was like, this actually could bang. I was tearing up every single time I saw the trailer, and and they just yeah, that that wasn't what they remember.
SPEAKER_01I remember we all said that that trailer was really good in him.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I think uh go ahead.
SPEAKER_04Okay, you scared him, Charlie. You're Oreo.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I think if they would have shown the backstory and then leaned into the whole idea that Supergirl as a character, her whole thing currently is not feeling like she has a home and not feeling like she has a people, other than like crypto. Like crypto is what she has left of who she was. And so if you found a better way to tie into that to add to the emotional stakes of the story, other than literally like see him for a couple of scenes, okay, crypto's now injured, and we have to get the antidote, and then the next time we see him, we have the antidote, and like everything's fine. Like, it needs to be more than that, it needs to be a central focal point of the story. Like, you have to lean into it further. But more than just that, I think they needed to uh lean into the idea of where where supergirl's journey, how how they actually like tell a compelling story for her to actually feel at home somewhere and feel like she has a people because they do that at the end of the movie, but it feels so forced. She and it's you know, the way that it's worded is like a you know, I think I'm gonna stay here for a bit, and it's like I'm gonna give it a shot, I'm gonna try. Um, but I think there was even a specific line of like, I'm glad to be home or something like that, um, towards the end of the movie. And like that just doesn't feel very warranted, given like the journey that we've been on. So I just think like if if that's supposed to be the central premise, which is like she's trying to figure out who she is and she's holding on to like this last piece of of her old home, how they portrayed that by adding in the brigands and by adding in Ruthie and all these other things, just really doesn't do it. It just doesn't tell that story in any sort of interesting or compelling way. So I just think like from a fundamental level for the message that they were trying to portray and the character arc that they wanted her to go on, it completely fails with the story that they decided to tell.
SPEAKER_03Sure. Yeah, uh and I I I agree with that. Yeah, I just I think for me it was a lot of I like and I agree with what you said at the beginning, especially with like showing her uh past on Argo and everything like that. I think that that would have been a great. I mean, it goes hand in hand with like showing me like a day in the life with Ruthie's family. I think that that would have been better as well. I just really wanted you to show me how much Kara really connects to to crypto and why she connects to him so much. Don't just throw him in right as her mom dies, and then uh like you barely show me her like growing up with him in a sense, or him growing up with her. Uh like just a couple of shots of her in the ship with him, and then another shot of her in uh metropolis with him. Like, I don't like that doesn't that doesn't do enough for me. But yeah, I want to uh touch on some of those those uh CinemaSins moments that I was referring to that I think arguably could be bigger, bigger plot points. The first one is at least the first one that I can remember is on the second fight or the second time she's using her powers on that dirt planet or that that that uh that trash planet or whatever where those that couple tries to poison her at first. Sure, she's in uh you could argue she's in a lower-powered state at this point, but I think uh but later on in the fight, I think she's gotten it all out of her system. So when she's flying around looking for the villain guy and she can't find him for the life of him, whole time I'm thinking, don't you have fucking x-ray vision? Like, what are we talking about right now? Don't you have x-ray vision? And then she doesn't use it. And then the very next scene when she has to have a bag over her head to not see where she's going or whatever, she uses her fucking x-ray vision just sitting there looking down through the fucking, oh, you couldn't use that two seconds ago, two seconds ago to fucking find the guy. All right, buddy, whatever you say. The next thing, and this one's the more egregious one, uh kinda, because it's in the third act, is why I'd say it's only kinda, but anyway. If you're gonna show me that she's willing to kill the villain and stab him in the chest and in the neck, you're gonna show me she's willing to kill him. Why the fuck would she not kill him the moment she had the chance, right there on the ship when she comes back all suited up, right? Like there's no because you and sure, I would argue even earlier in the movie, but you you could make the argument, oh, she was inebriated, like she couldn't, she wasn't at full potential, like she couldn't have killed him, yada yada yada. So like that moment when she first puts on her suit and goes down and starts punching him, why do you not just laser, why don't you fucking heat vision his ass and kill him right there? Like what are we talking about? Snap his neck, something. Like it doesn't, if you're willing to kill him, it doesn't make any sense that you're that you wouldn't kill him right then and there. Uh and then last thing, this I guess this one isn't really like a uh a cinema sense thing so much as just like a it was just stupid and it wasn't it didn't feel earned whatsoever. Two seconds two seconds ago when Ruthie puts down her shirt her her suit in front of her, she's like, it's just a stupid suit, it doesn't matter. Fast forward, fast forward basically two seconds of screen time where she's just been sitting in the cave, and then all of a sudden she wants to put the fucking suit on. Like, I just don't. I like I get it. David Core, David Corn Sweat as Superman as your cousin, he's got aura, and he's and when he tells you what the colors mean, I should put this bitch on. Sure, I get it to a certain degree, but from a story perspective, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_05Well, and also Ruthie's just hanging off the side of the helicopter for like half the fight, just hanging there, like you couldn't find anything else for her to do, and then you you knock off top dog brigand, and then he's hanging on the rope with her.
SPEAKER_07And I'm like, all right, so the rope's dude, and she pulled that like trapeze artist, like she like turned and dropped down and dropped.
SPEAKER_05I'm like, what? Uh yeah, geez Louise. Um, yeah, uh, that's super girl. Um, for a very fast brief thoughts on the state of the DCU. I don't think we need to be worrying too much. I'm gonna be honest. I I don't think that this is the end all be all. I will say, looking forward though, and looking a little bit back, it's like, all right, why are we well why are we not so much Green Lantern, but creature commandos, peacemaker.
SPEAKER_03I would also say I would add Clayface to that. I'd add to yes, yes, yes, even though and banana, before you pipe up, even though it looks somewhat good, like it does, like the first little teaser we got, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Why right now? Yeah, like I and and I saw this this dude on TikTok, and I wish I knew his name because he's he makes some funny stuff. Uh Benjamin movies, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, he hasn't uploaded in like five years, though.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, when the world needed him most, he vanished. Um but I forget his name, but he was like, if we don't get a fucking Wonder Woman movie in the next two years, at least just something like you have completely fumbled the plot. It's Superman, Supergirl, Superman, and then throw Clayface in there. What are we doing? No Batman, no Wonder Woman, Batman, no casting at all for Batman. Like, oh my god, guys.
SPEAKER_07I don't I don't see the big issue here. I can't lie. What?
SPEAKER_05Well, it's it's just I like Superman Supergirl Superman is just like going Iron Man Hulk Iron Man, which is what they the MCU did going, but hold on, is Super League gonna be that big of a factor going forward for like the Justice League, or this like and also we just established that we that they can't be doing stuff like how Marvel did with phase one way back in the day.
SPEAKER_03Times are different now, like we just established that. So, like that's not I don't think that's an argument for that. I don't think that you can say, Oh, that's just like doing that when that's not that's not necessarily the right path to go down, and it's also that's not what's happening because clayface is coming out before Man of Tomorrow for seemingly no reason.
SPEAKER_05Well, that's yeah, yeah, superman, superman, supergirl, clayface, superman. Like, I my thought is go for it, Ben. Go for it.
SPEAKER_07I'm true, and I'm truthfully not defending their current approach to things because I feel like it has really been just like shoot from the hip so far. It's been like whatever James Gunn directly has his hands in, and then whatever has enough of a script and a director and whatever to actually get made, because there was a whole slate, and we're getting a lot of that stuff, but we're not getting it in the order we're supposed to, and clearly not by order of importance, considering, yes, I agree with you guys, not getting not having a Batman movie or a Wonder Woman movie on the slate for the next two years as we're building this universe is ridiculous. I think we probably will get both of those movies by the end of this decade. I think that'll happen.
SPEAKER_03Um, but I think it's ridiculous that we don't already by 2030, you're saying we'll get both a Batman, a DCU Batman movie, and a Wonder Woman movie.
SPEAKER_05I think so. Okay, I think so. I I I just feel like we need to pick up the pace. Like, if your goal, if James Gunn's goal with this universe when he took it over, if his goal was I just want to tell a bunch of stories and that's it, like just throw some stories out there in this universe, play around, have a bunch of different genres, okay. But are we gonna lead up to a Justice League movie? Are we gonna build this universe? Are you are you trying to make something that's gonna compete box office and um score-wise with the MCU? What are your what do you what's your goal with this? Because right now it looks like you just want to tell a bunch of stories with whoever comes up and hands you a script. And also, I thought we were approving good ones. What the fuck, buddy? What are we like what's going on? Um I just I want to know your your goal. What's your motive? Right. What are you aiming for? Once I figure that out, then I feel like I can have a better stance. But like right now, I don't think that the state of the DCU is all that bad because Superman was great, and I don't want us to forget, and I'm not saying us three, but like I don't want people to forget the high that we were on last year. Going into Supergirl, um, going into Peacemaker, going into Green Lantern or the Lanterns, like, but I'm also gonna need some help from Mr. Gunn to you know back up my my stance here and and help me out a little bit if I'm gonna go to bat for this universe.
SPEAKER_03So the one-two punch of Peacemaker season two and supergirl back is really not great, not great whatsoever.
SPEAKER_05I know. Is it enough to worry though, in your mind? What do you think?
SPEAKER_03No, because I'm very excited for Green Lantern. Uh I think Green Lantern is a great step in the right direction. I do think Green Lantern should be a movie, probably. And maybe I'll change my mind and eat my words when the show comes out, and if we really like the show.
SPEAKER_01Probably.
SPEAKER_03Uh but even if I really like the show, I don't think that that means that they couldn't have done a movie to make it like more important. Uh wait, what was so funny there? He said, probably I'm gonna eat my words. Hey, buddy, don't for don't forget you're uh you're you we were on the same shit for Toy Story, and you're about to eat your words there too, bitch. You're gonna shut your ass up.
SPEAKER_07But going into you can't reference that. That's not in the episode. They don't know what we're talking about. Keep it on the pod, keep it on the pod.
SPEAKER_03But like to to to touch on the TV show stuff a little bit as well. Like, I mean, we I I just saw something today that they're uh they're starting to cast or something for the Jimmy Olston TV show. What the fuck are we doing? Oh my god, what are we doing? Like, okay, apparently Gorilla Grad's gonna be in it, but like, dude, I just I I mean, I don't know. Like, obviously, I'll I'll withhold true criticism until we actually watch said things because maybe that's gonna be super good. Like, I thought a I didn't think a Loki show was necessary. Loki season two is fantastic, but I don't know. I just think that and even like going back to Peacemaker, even if Peacemaker season two was really good and we and we loved it, is it really like the right time to be doing that right now? Uh I I don't know, man. I I just I I at the end of the day, I can make it all these criticisms of the live long day, but uh as I as I said, like I'm still all in on the DC. I'm I think there's even with the one-two punch, as I just mentioned, of of Peacemaker Season 2 and and Supergirl, I have way higher hopes than I did after the one-two punch of Man of Steel and uh BVS and the Superman.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So so with that being said, uh I'm I'm still I'm still ready and waiting. I just I I do think it it's rough out here right now. It's rough out here.
SPEAKER_07So I'm personally going to draw I'm gonna draw two lines in the sand. The first line is the green lighting of a Batman and a Wonder Woman movie. Absolutely. I think that those need to happen. Like in the next year, we need to know that those are like in development, good progress is being made. The other line that I'll draw when it comes to actual like when do I become concerned about this new DC universe? I think the line is man of tomorrow. Um, I think Clayface is gonna be good. I've I've put it out there that I think it's gonna be really good. We don't know about the lantern show, but even if lanterns and uh clayface aren't as good as we're maybe hoping them to be, I think we're all still gonna be very much anticipating man of tomorrow because it's another James Gunn directed movie. It's a sequel to a movie that we all really love. So that to me would be the line where, like, if Man of Tomorrow is a letdown, then I would start to get concerned about the universe as a whole. Because that's kind of like, you know, that would then be four or five projects in a row, and now this one, like a direct project made by James Gunn himself, then I would start to be a little bit more concerned.
SPEAKER_03But presently, no, I'm not. Speaking of that, though, I and I rem cr remind me what we all thought after Peacemaker Season 2. Were we all in a like need a break from James Gunn projects kind of mindset after that?
SPEAKER_05I don't think so. I don't think we were.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_05All right.
SPEAKER_03I for some reason I've I feel like I remember us talking about Peacemaker Season 2, and like we we have a bit of James Gunn fatigue afterwards because it was uh just stylistically uh similar to Trick Commando, Superman, and Peacemaker.
SPEAKER_05I think you might have been in terms of the humor, though.
SPEAKER_03Maybe I could see I could see myself saying that. I'm not sure. I don't know either, but well DCU, man. Yeah, I'm I'm excited still, but we'll see.
SPEAKER_07Oh, I I'll just say the only reason I brought up the MCU as a comparison is uh there we've had this conversation of can the DC universe reach the same heights and have the same momentum that the MCU had, uh, which you know that had more momentum in like phases two and three, but I have always said that it could have it sooner because I feel like we're gonna have a better start. I still think quality-wise, we have had a better start with the DC universe than we did the MCU. I'm taking Superman over Iron Man, I'm taking Supergirl over Incredible Hulk for me personally. So I I still would say, like, just purely based on the two movies, I'm taking the quality that we have here. Um, it's hard to factor in some of the other projects. Like, how do you factor in Creature Commandos and Peacemaker into that, or even Clayface? Because, you know, it's like if the MCU was releasing those movies that they were early on, but then we're also doing random one-off shows of different characters. They were doing like a Hawkeye isn't even a great. They were doing like a moon night show, let's just say that. They were doing a moon night show around the same time as phase one. It's like, okay, well, you know, it's kind of how do you factor that into the main story that's happening? That's a little bit of what we have here with something like Creature Commandos and Peacemaker. So, um, but purely just the two movies that we've gotten, I I think we're off to a better start, at least quality-wise. And they do need to get their plan in place sooner, because like we didn't know that they were building. I mean, we kind of knew that they were building to the Avengers because they had like Nick Fury showing up and ask and recruiting the Avengers and whatnot. So maybe we do need like an idea that, like, okay, we are building to something, but I also think that was something that James Gunn directly said in his original announcement video of like the original slate. He's like, we have a continual idea, a thread of things that's gonna connect all of these storylines, and we're gonna get to that point. It's hard to see that right now, and I do think that we're gonna need that soon.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's super girl. Those are our thoughts. Moving on to maybe a more light-hearted topic, right? We get to talk about some movies this year, um, specifically our halfway point. Uh, I got some categories here for the boys that I cooked up. Um, and yeah, so we're gonna do this at the end of the year. Um, and last year we did our halfway check-in. So that is what we're doing this year, ladies and gentlemen. We are uh a good amount of the way through. I have watched 27 movies, so I'm on pace for a little over 50. I gotta get those numbers up, which as soon as award season comes around, I'm sure uh all these winter movies hidden streaming, that will not be an issue at all. Uh I think we need to bring in the trusty wheel to see who goes first. T he I need I need to the reason why is because I needed to make sure that the wheel wasn't solely used for the winter draft, and then the next time we use it is for summer draft, and then the next time we use it is for possibly the biggest moment ever that the wheel has ever seen on this podcast, which is he's really testing it right now because he wants to see if like it has a bias against him because he wants to nah bro. I'm I'm not dude, I'm not testing out mechanics to see if I can if there's any way I can rig it to hit my name. Okay, I'm not doing that. All right, I'm not, I'm definitely not doing that. We will spin the wheel to see who gets gonna open it up.
SPEAKER_03It's just gonna say Aiden three times.
SPEAKER_05All right, shuffle three times, and we will click to spin to see who goes first. I think it's gonna land on Charlie. I can't lie. I am feeling a Charlie. Get everything out, like I need to get out all of the gone now. Okay, dude.
SPEAKER_03Is it actually gonna oh no, that's Benjamin?
SPEAKER_05It'll be Mr. Benjamin, Mr. Benjamin. Holy cow, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, Mr. Benjamin will go first. Uh yeah, come on any day now. Yeah, you're good. You can slow down. Fucking hell. Ten seconds it is. Uh, and then who will go second? Was that 10 seconds? I felt like it was way longer than this.
SPEAKER_03This was yeah, it feels longer.
SPEAKER_05Dude, Charlie the wheel hates you. I guess.
SPEAKER_03Seriously. Seriously, bro.
SPEAKER_06Yay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Charlie, you're it's getting all the outs.
SPEAKER_05No, it's gonna that's you're ultra screwed. You're ultra screwed for me. No, he thinks he thinks he's next up for the yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_03That means that means it's not picking me now, and it's gonna pick me day of. Let's go, baby. I love you, Wheel. I love you.
SPEAKER_05All right. Not more than not more than me, no more than me. Okay, Benjamin. You will go first. Um, I don't think you also uh you don't I don't think you know um what order I'm going in either. Is that correct?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I just I need you to I need you to rip a category and I'll I'll give you a move.
SPEAKER_05Um Mr. Benjamin, what has been your favorite? Doesn't necessarily mean it has to be the best. What has been your favorite movie of the year so far?
SPEAKER_07Okay, wow. Oh bro. I I mean I'm just gonna I'm just gonna rip what I think is the best movie because it's also my favorite movie at this point. Just gonna go Project Hail Mary, get it out there early. Um business casual. Yeah. Yeah. There's a couple things that I've missed that I want to watch that I think could sneak into the number one spot. But at this point, yeah, that just clearly like the anticipation leading up to watching that movie, seeing it in all its IMAX glory. Ryan Gosling is amazing, movie's really funny. Phil Lord and Chris Miller just know how to know how to craft movies. It's beautiful to watch. I love the story. Uh, I think it's you know, it's gonna remain up there. I think for a lot of people, it'll probably stay in my top 10 by the end of the year. So going with a safe pick, but I just gotta, I just gotta follow my heart. It's my favorite movie of the year so far.
SPEAKER_05I get it, baby. I get it. I like it. I'm not mad at it. It's very business casual, casual pick. Um, my favorite movie of the year so far. Nirvana the band to show the movie. There you go. I I think that is great. Now, I don't necessarily think it's the best movie of the year. I will stand with you, Ben. I think Project Home Air is the best movie of the year. But Nirvana the band that show the movie is just one of those uh like how could you not love it? I've even seen clips uh recently of him where he looks at the camera and he's like, you better count your lucky stars that you get to watch this in theater because there's like this is a copyright hell. Like, there's there's if you're watching this in theater, count your lucky stars because I'm surprised that we're even that we even uh got it there. So um there's just a lot of moments like that that I'm like, ah, dude, I miss watching that. So Nirvana, what a fantastic freaking movie. I've I've I've gone back and forth. I've gone back and forth on if I should put this at one or not. Ultimately, I didn't. Um, but yeah, dude, it is it is a stellar freaking piece of cinema. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before, also, which I think makes it that much more special. So it's it's definitely gonna stay up there for the remainder of the year. I freaking love that movie. I I hold it dearly. So I'm waiting for it to be accessible again. And I didn't really think that he meant what he was saying when he's like, it's I don't know if y'all are ever gonna see this movie. So if you're watching it now, like, but it looks like if I don't pay for it, then that might be true. So, but gosh, I want to rewatch it so bad. It it truly is a gem. So that would that probably have to be my favorite movie of the year so far. Mr. Charleston, South Carolina. Yeah, man. My I think I think I know. I think I know where we're going here. It's gotta be. Hit it, baby. Hit it.
SPEAKER_03Um I don't think you do. Uh my favorite movie of the year is How to Make a Killer. I couldn't even finish it. I couldn't finish it. I couldn't finish it. Uh my favorite movie of the year is Obsession. You're right. You're right. You're right. Let's go, let's go. It's a great movie, man. Great movie. I mean, there's nothing else I need to say. It's it's it's carrying me through the through the box office still. I mean, it's gonna start dying now. It just came out on digital yesterday.
SPEAKER_06Uh god. Oh god, jeez.
SPEAKER_03But uh, you know, that's that's just par for the course. But this movie, I think, is uh one of, if not the best horror movie I've ever seen. But obviously that doesn't mean much because I'm not a big horror guy. I just think that it manages to capture everything that makes a horror movie great while also still adding elements of other creepy eeriness that just you just shake your head at and you just want nothing to do with, but also you're still captivated and you just can't look away. Um you guys are uh haters on it because of all of its performance right now, but like, come on, guys, let's you let's let's acknowledge you guys love the movie still.
SPEAKER_01Come on, I guess I'll how many of us saw it twice?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you saw it twice, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, now I do I will retract a statement that I said before. Uh like it's not better than Sinners. I do like Sinners more. Um uh just solely for the fact I've only seen this movie once, and I because I haven't had a desire to go back and see it. I mean, I do want to watch it again, but to go back and see it in theaters versus Sinners. I went and drove up three hours and watched it in IMAX. So, like, yeah, like Sinners, I I I feel a certain type of way about but uh this movie's still great. I'm excited to see what Curry it's got me so invested that as I said, I think last episode or two episodes ago, I'm excited to see what Curry's got next, even though I don't like horror movies.
SPEAKER_05So yeah, uh, didn't he say it's like uh it's like Key and Peel walked into hereditary was their description of the next movie. Yeah, I was like, dude, uh why do I love that? Like Aaron Paul, Aaron Paul.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. What they're gonna be like a Key and Peel? Okay, yeah, interesting.
SPEAKER_05Well, and it makes sense because it's two like ghost catchers that fake all their videos actually encountering a dark entity. Yeah, um, so I'm like, oh man, that's probably the best sentence I've ever heard in my entire life. Aaron Paul's gonna crush that. That's gonna be good. That is that's gonna be great. Uh okay, cool. Those were those were some great answers, folks. Um, moving on to our next category, Ben will circle right back to you. In your opinion, what has been the worst movie of the year so far?
SPEAKER_07I am going to go. I'm I'm gonna approach this as least favorite and not my actual like bottom of the list. Worst. My least favorite movie of the year so far is Scream 7. Uh I I have it third from the bottom. I have two movies that I would consider to be like genuinely worse movies, but Scream 7 was such an abominable dumpster fire when it comes to the Scream franchise, widely known as one of the like most consistent, highly rated, well-thought-of horror franchises, and absolutely ruins so much of what's been built up, ignores previous movies, has the worst like storyline for like who was Ghostface and why they have the motivation to be Ghostface. Oh my god, the worst in the whole franchise. It's ridiculous. It's just uh it it it just it doesn't even feel like you're watching a a real movie, like when you're watching it. It's it's actually unbelievable how this movie came to be. So um there's barely any redeeming qualities about it, and it just like not that I even love the Scream franchise, but it just like I like the Scream movies, and this has been the biggest example because we've seen this like there's a couple other examples of like a movie coming out in a franchise that just like is not as good as it should be. We've had that happen this year. This to me is the biggest example of like the biggest dump on a franchise that we've seen in recent years. So there's a couple movies that I have rated a little bit lower, but just because I hated this thing so much in comparison to what you would expect from a Scream movie, I'm gonna go with Scream 7.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I'm actually upset. For me because that was that was gonna be my pick because this actually is my dead last of the year. Oh, I fucking hate this movie. I'd rather eat my own shit three times over than watch this again. It was genuinely an embarrassment to cinema, a fucking embarrassment to cinema, dude. You just reminding me of the ghost faces and how they were revealed and who they were just pissed me off so bad. Holy shit, fuck everything about this movie. Uh, whoever touched this, whoever went to work on this, even if you just brought coffee to the stars, kill yourself. I don't know, man. I mean, this shit was ass.
SPEAKER_07Charlie, why is that why are you surprised by that?
SPEAKER_03Because, man, I I think your objective answer should be Mandalorian Grogu. For you specifically as a person, I think your your least favorite should be Mandalorian Grogu. I think, but obviously you know yourself better. But I just think that how you feel about Star Wars and everything that you put for on this movie and everything that you hoped that this movie would bring to the franchise, I I think that that movie should be your your least favorite.
SPEAKER_07But I'll I'll respond to that briefly because I this movie could be brought up. I don't know what other categories we're gonna go through. Um, but truthfully, I still there was a piece of me that still enjoyed sitting down to watch a Star Wars movie in theaters. There was still like a sliver of me that had a semblance of like there's a part of this that feels good.
SPEAKER_03There's a sliver of even that still has Stockholm Syndrome. Good to know.
SPEAKER_07Yep. For me, Scream 7 was not that. Like it was not only that it was bad, but like there was no even redemption of like, oh, it's in a franchise that I know and that I've seen and whatever. So um I don't know. I mean, if you ask me most disappointing movie, then you know, may that's that would be higher up on that list. But I think that's a little different than like worst or least favorite.
SPEAKER_03Sure. Um fair enough. My least favorite movie is uh everything Aiden just said about uh Scream, uh mercy. I think mercy is terrible. Mercy is like I just can't even put into words the sheer vitriol, vitriolic hatred that I have for this fucking movie. That it just even came together at all, and they someone thought it was a good idea. Um, and it I I'm also just shocked that people like Rebecca Ferguson and Chris Pratt signed on to be part of this fucking thing. Because, like, I mean, sure, I it was an Amazon thing, so I'm sure they got money, so maybe that's why. But also, Chris Pratt is involved with a lot of uh other Amazon stuff, so maybe they just that was part of his like bigger contract. I don't know. Uh yeah, this I don't even want to talk about this movie. This movie's terrible, so I don't want to talk about that shit.
SPEAKER_05Fair enough. Uh cool. I love it. I love it. We're gonna keep chugging along here. Mr. Ben, I want you to give me out of everything you've watched so far this year, what has been the most surprising movie of the year for you?
SPEAKER_07Oh man. I really want to give two answers, but I can't. So I'll I'll just I'll just give one. Uh I'm gonna go with Markiplier's iron lung. Oh yeah. You're still high on that. I like that. I I'm scared to rewatch it. I can't lie. I I worry that a rewatch would really like lower my rating of the film, but I have a very like special memory of watching this in theaters and really enjoying it. And it made me feel like whoever is in charge right now of making the Five Nights at Freddy's movies really needs to step their game up because this truly felt like a video game movie. It really like the atmosphere of it, the lore behind it, even like the rules that are set in place of like, oh yeah, we're on this, we're limited to like being in this submarine, but this area of the ship, you have these things that can be used in these different ways. And then over here, there's something else that you can press, and it does this thing. It very much just like sets the rules like it's a video game, and then it always like abides by those rules. And so like watching that, it's it's one of the best, like at honoring, like truly the feeling of like playing a video game, in my opinion. Uh, so I just appreciated it so much, and I actually thought that the world building was really cool. It's a little long, it's definitely longer than it should be. And Markiplier is a fine actor, but like you know, he either needs I feel like you need to pick a lane. You need to have somebody else either write the scripts or you need to have somebody else act and you can focus on making your scripts a little better. Doing both isn't gonna work for him moving forward, I don't think, but it it was fine for this movie. Um but I think for me, this was like because mainly before this point, we had seen like Shelby Oaks and like Talk to Me, but we hadn't quite gotten to like this summer where we had obsession and backrooms, where like now YouTuber movies are like a big topic of conversation. And so uh Talk to Me was really good, but Talk to Me almost felt disconnected from the fact that it was made by YouTubers. That wasn't really like I mean, that was like two years ago. That wasn't a topic of conversation when that movie came out. It wasn't like a big part of it of like, oh, who made this movie? Shelby Oaks a little bit, but this was I feel like the first one to really have big momentum, solely based on like a fan base and a fandom for a YouTuber. And so it just had like a very like special feeling to watching it that I think carried into like backrooms and obsession as well. So um I'll leave it at that. I really enjoyed the movie, it's like just shy of still being in my top five for this year. Um, it's not like I have it super highly rated. I mean, I have it at a seven out of ten, but I just it was a very like special experience sitting down and watching the movie in theaters.
SPEAKER_05Okay, for me, my most surprising movie of the year so far. It's probably the drama. I have this number three on my list. I have it at number three on my list. I still absolutely love everything about this movie. Um, I was a lot higher on this. Uh, even leaving the theater, I was like, man, I cannot believe that I really liked this as much as I did. Um, everyone around me that I watched it with was a little bit lower than me. I came on the pod to talk with y'all, and y'all were a little bit lower, but uh I truly fell in love with everything about this movie. I think it's the right amount of raunchy while also tying everything back in a nice bow, um, which I wasn't expecting. Towards the end, I'm like, oh yeah, this is a rom-com. Like, there is gonna be some romance in here, like, of course. And I think that they play their parts so incredibly well to make that really work as we get towards the end of the movie, um, which was which was really surprising to me. So it wasn't just dark for dark's sake, like it still had a really good story to tell, and I really appreciated that, which was very surprising to me because I didn't like Dream Scenario, but the drama just it just had it. So it's it's been in my, you know, out of everything on my list, the only movies to not change since I've added them on there have been Project Hill Mary, Nirvana, and the drama. Those have been my top threes through and through, and I've never felt better about placements on my list than I do about those three movies. So the drama was absolutely far, far away the most surprising movie of the year so far for me. Also, it's funny, Ben, that you mentioned Iron Lung. That was kind of the first indicator this year to let us know what we were in store for when it came to these freaking movies and YouTubers throwing up some action or some horror movies. Insane that that was just like the freaking tip of the iceberg in terms of low budget profit movies, YouTubers. Like it's we got three already. Um, so I think that's that's interesting. But yeah, the drama, absolutely phenomenal. Uh, I I love it a lot. Mr. Charleston, South Carolina, took us away.
SPEAKER_03Uh, that's my answer too, but just to be different. Um, probably uh 28 years later, the Bone Temple. I didn't have a lot of high expectations for this movie just because yeah, shut up, Ben. I didn't have a lot of high expectations for this movie just because of the one from last year. Uh I just thought that one was like alright to to to decent. But I mean this one was this one was great. Like I I think that uh coming off of something like because I think her last project was uh the Marvels after we were just talking about the Marvels, so that's funny. Um but I think uh she her the her her last name's De Costa, right? Is that Nia DeCosta? Yeah, yeah. Nia De Costa, let's say okay. Um I think that that is a wonderful comeback story is uh is with this movie. I think that she handles everything far and away better than the first movie does, uh even with just like as something as not as simple, I guess. They're they're relatively complex, but just the infected and everything with that, like diving deeper into that and the alphas and everything. I think that that was such a uh a lot better thing to do with this uh setting and everything like that, rather than just wandering with. I guess like the part of the thing I like about the first movie too is you see somebody who lives and is part of the rest of the world, and you finally got to see that in the in in this franchise. But this movie I think really gets down to the roots of where everybody's at who's part of uh the the UK or wherever it is, whatever island it's on. Um, and just how established some people are, just how d degraded some people are, and how they they go around and transfer that hatred and and and and violence to everybody else and make their lives worse. But yeah, I don't know. It was it was great, and I was I was wholly entertained. This is number four on my list. I was wholly entertained the entire time. Yeah, it's still number four after everything.
SPEAKER_04Nice.
SPEAKER_05That's interesting. Um, cool. Well, thank you for that, Mr. Mr. Charleston. Uh on to our next topic, Mr. Ben. I want to know this year. What was your favorite movie theater moment? A specific scene from a movie that has stuck with you throughout the entire year.
SPEAKER_07Oh man. Oh man. You're really making me think about this one. It shouldn't be that hard. Should it not?
SPEAKER_02It shouldn't be. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I know what my answer would be.
SPEAKER_05I have a couple. I have my answer. If if I were you, do you think I'm gonna take it? Oh yes. I I think I have two answers in mind. One is by far away the number one, but I knew if someone was going before me that they would pick it, so I had to.
SPEAKER_03Well, clearly he's not gonna pick it, so I guess not, yeah.
SPEAKER_07Because I think I know I think you you're on the same page with me now, but I yeah, I'll be curious to see what you guys say because I'm looking, I'm looking at my list, and like there's multiple things coming to mind, but there's not like a clear one-one answer in my brain. So I'll just take like what you know, looking at the list and thinking about it. I'm gonna take the ending of obsession.
SPEAKER_05Whoa, holy crap! I'm gonna take it. I I like that.
SPEAKER_07Oh my god, I remember that and we thought we talked about this in our review, but just like how dreadful the movie ends. There is no shred of happiness, but it's also the layers between there's this unused one-wish willow that only Nikki can use. Bear is contemplating killing himself, he's contemplating shooting himself and doesn't go through with it, and he's a coward, he's contemplating using pills. There's all these factors, and you don't you don't quite know how all of this is going to play out. Uh, of course, you had um is his name Ian in the movie, right? Cooper Tomlinson. You had, of course, everything that happened with Ian uh and Sarah, like all of that has transpired as well. So there's kind of like just all of these layers, and I truthfully didn't know how they were going to end it because there's so many different factors that you could add together to get an ending. And I just remember like when it hit, and it hit even harder watching it a second time, just how devastating everything is, but also like it was a perfect blend of layers because like Bear decides to kind of go through with it and he takes the pills. Well, then he regrets it and he wants to go back on it. Um only then for Nikki to use the wish, but you know, it's too late. And then for Nikki to finally uh wake up and yet still is in just like the she's in the worst possible situation, and all of her friends are there just dead, and like it's so devastating and dreadful, but it's also like such a good a good combination of everything that was set up and every precedent that was set in the movie before it. So it like it's visceral, it's shocking, it's awful, and it's heartbreaking, but it also as an as an ending to this specific movie, it works so incredibly well. So I remember especially the second time around, um that just like that moment was so like it it hit even harder knowing what to expect. It almost made it even more dreadful knowing like there is no hope, and just like truly just seeing it for what it is, no more surprises, you know what's gonna happen, but it still is just as bad. That to me, like that stands out as just like a you know, the credits start rolling, and I love the final shot that like flips to the TV, and Nikki's still there, like crying after waking up, and the credits roll, and that's one of those where you just sit around and you just go, damn, that was a what that was a movie. So that you know, I just gotta shout it out because that it just truly made me go through so many different emotions, and that was elevated seeing it a second time, which doesn't always happen.
SPEAKER_05I respect the absolute heck out that answer, man. Wow, that was that was not where I was expecting you were you were going, but yeah, I I I'm curious on what these these other picks are gonna be. I'm I'm actually starting to worry that me and Charlie aren't on the same page. I think I think we are. If we're not, then that's that's baffling to me. Okay. Um I'm gonna skip my number one. I I can acknowledge it's my number one, but I kind of want to shout something else out. Okay. Uh maybe Charlie wants to talk about the number one. I don't know, but I'm gonna shout my other one out because I I'm not gonna get to talk about this project. Uh movie theater moment that really stood out to me and and stuck with me throughout halfway through the year is seeing human nature in IMAX. Seeing human nature be performed in IMAX. Um, that is a feeling and a moment that I will not get out of my head for a long time. I think I teared up every single time I watched it. And even the third time I watched it when it wasn't in IMAX and it was just uh at the Alamo Draft House with a buddy of mine, I was just still sitting there and we were just looking at each other, reaching out. Oh, just hitting that shit, man. And it was it was good, it it felt amazing. It's the climax of the movie, so it just it hits that much harder. Yeah, man. I absolutely love I loved watching human nature in IMAX. I don't think that that will escape me for for for a while. So I I have my one of one, but I do really want to talk about that because I I did go back and forth a little bit while I was thinking about this uh a couple days ago. So yeah, I'm really seeing human nature performed in IMAX.
SPEAKER_07I'm really hoping that comes to streaming soon because I still haven't seen it.
SPEAKER_06So and it it it should, but yeah, dude.
SPEAKER_05In IMAX though, like they the whole thing is filmed in IMAX, and it like obviously everything's bumping. So it's just like as soon as you hear the first couple of notes, you're just like, oh my god. And it's what what made it hit even harder is I had two Michael Jackson songs saved. Um obviously I heard I had heard others, but I had two that I had in my liked on Spotify, and it was it's the falling in love and human nature. And right before we went to go see the movie, I played the song for my wife because I was like, Have you ever heard this song before? She was like, No, and I was like, dude, I was like, real quick, I just caught wind that they are gonna have this song in the movie, and I need to like have a witness here that I liked this song before if it just in case anything happens, because I've heard that this movie is great. I was like, listen to this song, and she was like, I don't know if I like it. I was like, dude, this is one of the greatest songs ever. And every time we got in the car, that's the first thing she played. She was like, I fucking love this shit, dude. Like, and I was like, Yes, I told you. Like, I called my shot before it came out. So just watching the whole movie, knowing that, like, oh, human nature's coming up, human nature's coming up, and then seeing it all play out. I was like, dude, this was this was worth everything. So that'd probably be my moment.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well, I saw it in Screen X. So IMAX. Embarrassing.
SPEAKER_03Uh okay, buddy. Uh um, yeah, the clear one of one is uh is the yeah, the astrophage scene. Like, especially for you guys seeing it in IMAX. Like, I just don't I don't understand how that does not come to mind right away.
SPEAKER_07It does, but it's not a it's not the clear one of one. I don't think it is.
SPEAKER_05Wow, yeah.
SPEAKER_07No, I think that was like I think it is.
SPEAKER_05I cried, I cried, and like I'm talking like the same tears that I got watching Paul ride in on a fucking sandworm, like the same tears I got seeing him and him and Shawny sitting on the sand talking about like those are the same same tears that came up during the astrophage scene. Like that shit hit.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that shit hits the oh my gosh, that score, dude. Everything about that is fucking euphoric. I don't like man. I I do like your answer. I think you you had a great answer, but I do think that this is just like the one of one. Yeah, I think the one of one.
SPEAKER_07No, like it came to mind, and I was like, obviously, I thought of it, but I'm just you know, it I think we knew about it, we knew it was gonna be great, and it did hit hard. But to me, like a more memorable and surprising moment in the moment in the theater is obsession. So, like, I don't, you know, there's just different reasons. Like, I I totally get it, and sure, it of course came to mind, but it's just you know, maybe when that movie's making a bunch of money at the box office, don't hate on it.
SPEAKER_03You know, just maybe. Uh, but yeah, I think the Astrophage scene is fucking phenomenal. I think that like everything that it brings out of you, and I'm I'm jealous of that. Is something that I am truly jealous of the fact that I did not get to see it in IMAX. I think that you guys got it should be. Yeah. Hey, hey buddy, calm your ass down. All right, I saw it looking at Screen X.
SPEAKER_07I saw it in Screen X, guys.
SPEAKER_03I didn't see it in the Screen X. Screen X didn't exist for me when that came out, okay?
SPEAKER_07I have Screen X tickets for Spider Man.
SPEAKER_03It gets even more depressing. Holy shit. Listen, I'm seeing the Odyssey in Dolby. Okay, you guys are seeing in 70 millimeter? I'm seeing it in Dolby.
SPEAKER_07So I like it. We literally get to see more of the Odyssey than you do. How do you feel? God damn.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You guys have to drive how far though? Shut up.
SPEAKER_07But fly how far?
SPEAKER_03But I'm doing that for something else, though. I'm doing that for something else. Anyway, yeah, I think that scene is phenomenal. And I think uh I think that that is the one, at least so far, leaving the year. I'd love for another, as as Aiden mentioned, I'd love for another um sandworm riding type of scene from Dune. Not literally that, but just something that monumental that you you leave the movie with. Well, hell, I'd love that from Doomsday. Do I think Doomsday can do something like that with Doctor Doom? Probably, if they do it right.
SPEAKER_05Um, this this category will come back at the end of the year. I wanted to use categories that I feel like we could revisit and come back to. And this one, I was like, oh my gosh, we have so many freaking opportunities to have a favorite movie theater moment. Whereas this one, obviously, we knew the one of one, but like you got four huge movies that could have uh like favorite movie theater moments that just who knows who knows who it resonates with the most.
SPEAKER_03So that'll be very I need I need a Spider-Man redemption one after No Way Home. Like, I like I don't think obviously it's not gonna be anything up to that level, but uh I just need something. I need I need to feel something like that. You don't even know. You don't even know. I don't know. You're right.
SPEAKER_07I don't actually know. Can I read you a text that I got today, real quick?
SPEAKER_03Well, is it is it in regarding the trailer or something?
SPEAKER_07I got a text from my friend John. He said, and this is just out of the blue, I am no longer watching any new content about Spider-Man or the Odyssey wanting a good theater experience.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Yep, yep, yep, yep.
SPEAKER_05Dude, they're and they're dropping so much stuff right now. Where it's getting to the point where it's super fucking ridiculous. Yes, that's what I've been seeing. I've been seeing people say that.
SPEAKER_03And I was like, dude, what are the odds at like the time that I decide? I've never done this before. I've never like, especially with a Marvel movie. I am locked in on every single little thing, even the TV spots. All the whole time, I'll be I'll be saying, like, bro, they're dropping way too much. What are they doing? But I'll still watch every single one. But for this, like, this is the first time I'm doing it, and then like that's happening where they're just doing way, way, way too much. But I also saw somebody say that they're just showing the same things, but like slightly extended, like a couple more seconds or something.
SPEAKER_05There's there's some stuff in there that I that I'm like, I genuinely wish I could have just seen this in the theater. Yeah, dang, okay, kind of annoying. Yeah, I don't really know what you're referring to, but uh organic webbing. That's all I'll say about it. Did you not see that clip? Yeah, yeah. I know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, it's un, it's it's unfortunate.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, it's just it's just like TV spots coming out of random different countries that just have like a random different like five to ten seconds that's like I'm like, how did we get this clip?
SPEAKER_05Uh why does this exist? 50 of those, like it's so there's so much. Yeah, it sucks. Yeah, um, okay, and then um our last category. I had another one, but I don't think if I don't think it would really hit. I was gonna say, what is like you know how you are looking forward to the year? What movie are you dreading having to go watch in the theater? But I don't really know if there's I know what mine is, but we can circle back to that. If y'all feel like y'all have an answer, we can say we can do it if we want. But I will start this one off with what is your most anticipated movie for the rest of the year that is not named Spider Man, Odyssey, Doomsday, or Dune? Mr. Ben, take us away.
SPEAKER_07Can we please do two answers for this? Can we go around and then go around again, please? Yeah, yeah, we can. I I have a couple I'm thinking of. Because I I I feel like I have one that's like my actual like real answer, and then I have one that's just like I'm I'm going from the heart, I'm going for prediction, I'm just going based off of what I think. Um so yeah, man. If I am going based on the movie that I am just most excited to see later this year in theaters, my actual like most anticipated, I'm gonna go with Godzilla Minus Zero. Oh, really? Okay. Oh I love Godzilla Minus One, and with how highly I rated that movie when it came out a couple years ago, yeah. Like if this movie is as good as that movie was, it will end up being like a top five, top ten movie of this year. Um and so I like just looking at everything around it, like there's a lot of other options, but do I think those have the same potential to be as highly rated compared to like Godzilla minus one? I don't think so. So I'm I'm gonna take that as just like truthfully looking at it. I think that will be like one of the best moves, obviously, like barring the few that we kind of disqualified. I'm really looking forward to that one, yeah.
SPEAKER_05And obviously, you know, uh anyone listening, I disqualified the major ones because we all know that we're there day one. I'm pretty sure we could all name our most anticipated movie for the rest of the year, and and we're gonna name three of them, three of the four for sure, but then we're also gonna find a way to talk about the fourth one. So it's just that's how big that these movies are. So, but yeah, I I like that answer. I I like that a lot. I I don't feel as strong about mine, like when I think about my most anticipated, like what am I the most anticipated? Obviously, watching Doomsday with the boys, like you know, like but oh my gosh, I forget if I have to admit in there. Oh my gosh. If I had to pick um one of the movies, and I'm kind of just shooting from the hip here as well, I'd probably have to pick uh I'd probably pick Digger. I'd probably pick Digger. I am super excited after that trailer that they dropped on me in IMAX, especially seeing all of those scenes in IMAX was really cool. Um, so yeah, I'd I'd probably say say Digger so that I can get some eyes on my boy Tom Cruise one more time. Um, and I don't know, it just the concept looks interesting, and the fact that they're not showing us a lot, the fact that they're kind of playing their cars real close to their chest and and being real cautious about it is just getting me more excited for it as the as the day goes on. And this has been a movie that we've floated around a lot in terms of the Rotten Tomatoes, I feel like, but um, now that none of us have it on our list and we're just getting a little bit closer to it, uh, and that it has a huge break-even, so I doubt any of us are gonna touch it for the box office. Um I'm I'm very excited to see what what they cooked up with this one. So uh I really like Birdman. I know that his past comedies haven't reviewed very well. I also haven't watched his past comedies, but I'm interested to see what what he can what he can do with this. So yeah, I I don't feel the best about it, but I'd I'd go with Digger. Um Charlie uh forks down, no more research.
SPEAKER_03Um for me, no, I'm not um for me, my most anticipated going for the rest of the year. Uh I mean it sounds bad because I I don't know the name of it, but I think it's I think it's called it's it's the next Brad Bird movie, but I think it's uh Ray Gun. Oh, Ray Gun. I was gonna say laser beam. Uh Ray Gun. Yeah. You said you said in the you said in the group chat that I should have picked that from a Rotten Tomatoes, and I completely forgot it was coming out, and I probably would have picked it up. I did too.
SPEAKER_05But Ben had brought up Wildwood, so I was like, oh yeah, I'll take Wildwood. But when I saw that that movie got announced, I was like, dude, I would 100% put a bit on it right now. I would. Yeah. So I'm I'm mad that I forgot that it existed for a little bit. But I mean that is actually a really base pick.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm I'm I'm an incredible, I'm an incredible stan, bro. Like I'm here for for what Brad Bird's got cooking, bro. So I I'm I'm very excited to see what this is this is gonna be. Chuck is a spy show. This is gonna be a spy movie, so I'm very, very much into this and everything that it it it could potentially hold. So we'll see. We'll see, man. But uh when is that coming out again? I actually don't even know. I think it's like December. It's pretty late. November. Oh, it's late.
SPEAKER_04I don't know. Dang, okay. Straight to Netflix, right?
SPEAKER_07I think so.
SPEAKER_01Dang, okay.
SPEAKER_07Uh Ben, take us back around. Uh yeah, I'm gonna be honest. I I really just wanted to I wanna put it out there. I want to stake my claim on this, and um I'm I I I'm honestly, even though I'm saying I'm picking from the heart, I'm between picking two different projects from the heart, but I'm gonna I'm gonna only stick with one. Um, but they're for like pretty similar reasons. I I'm gonna go with Clayface. I am very excited for the movie. It's had a couple of test screenings, it apparently had another one just a couple of nights ago, and it's reviewing pretty well. I also just think that this year has been really good for horror movies. Um, even if I haven't like loved all of them or seen all of them, and there has been a couple of disappointments. I think just in general, like the view of horror movies, just looking at the success of like backrooms and obsession, I think we're about to have another success here with Evil Dead that is reviewing incredibly well with early reactions that have been coming out uh in this last couple days here. So uh I just have a lot of faith in Clayface to to be really good. Um I think it'll it'll be a very, very big step above what we just got in Supergirl. So I just I've I've said it before, and especially after the teaser trailer dropped, so I I kind of just want to like put it out there that I'm really like staking a claim. I'm anticipating that movie, and I do think it will be a very, very good movie.
SPEAKER_05I like that man, it's ballsy, it's very ballsy. But we shall see, we shall see. I like the pick from the heart. Uh, mine is gonna be disingenuous, but I really do also want to call my shot a little bit just to see what happens. Um, but Fajor, uh big getting big, big, big Oscar buzz. Sebastian Stan and Renee Rinz. I I don't know how to pronounce her last name. She was in background uh Cincinnati Valley. Renz Rinz Rinz V. Rinzfee?
SPEAKER_03I have no idea.
SPEAKER_05I was just saying Renee and Sebastian Stan. Um, when you were to look at the odds for who would win best actor and what would win best picture back in December of last year, this was the movie that was talked about. And this was the Sebastian Stan was the actor at hand for this one. I also don't know a lot about it. That's why I said I feel like it's a little bit disingenuous for me to pick it, but uh I think it comes out in November, and a lot of people are saying it's gonna be really, really good. Uh, that it might win best picture. Um, and I feel like the buzz will start to kick up as we get closer. So that was what one of my other obviously, that was my other movie that I had in mind. Uh, I'm I'm excited to see what they have cooking. All this word I keep hearing about it. I'm like, all right, you know, come come prove to me why why you you deserve to be talked about this much. So um, yeah, Fazured. I'm really excited for. Um, I had the premise pulled up, but I don't have it anymore. Um, but yeah, it looks it looks like it could be really good. Um and uh we will see if this starts to pick up some some buzz towards the the end of the year um for some for some uh awards. I hate clicking into the Rotten Tomatoes app or website because it always makes me turn off my ad block. But uh a devout Romanian-Norwegian couple resettle in a village set in a distant fajor where they become close with their neighbors, the Hallbergs. Their children bond despite their different education. When adolescent Elia shows up at school with some bruises on her body, the community asks itself if the traditional education that the children get from their parents would have anything to do with it. So I don't know. I'm just interested to see how this movie pans out um and how Sebastian Stan cooks up in it. So yeah, Fajor would be mine.
SPEAKER_03Um my second one. It's not not super niche, uh, but it's actually not niche at all. But uh Loki, the the the Hunger Games movie, man, it actually looks pretty good to me. Uh uh Ray Fienes signed on, so I'm hoping that he knows what he's done picking picking some good projects. And Ray Fines and what's uh what's his name from Begonia? I forget his name. Jesse Plemens. Jesse Plemens, yes, he's in it as well. And you know, uh, I I think well actually this the whole cast for this movie, there's a there's a lot of there's a lot of people in this, so um I'm never really good too.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, it was before they released.
SPEAKER_03So um, so I I I have high I have some higher hopes for this. I was never really a fan of like the original trilogy, quadrilogy, whatever it was. Um but this looks in after a after watching the last word, last one, a ballad of no, that's what this one is. Ballad of Songbird and Snakes? No, no, no, that's not yeah, that was the last one. This one's Sunrise on the Reaping, that's what it is. Yeah. So yeah, I think in continuation from from Ballad of Song, Songbird and Snakes, I think that this has the potential to be really, really good. And uh I I love the concept of the Hunger Games, of course. Like, I mean, just naturally from growing up and playing games that would like incorporate it uh into their stuff and whatnot. I think that that was uh like Minecraft, you know, and like honestly, that's what the whole like Battle Royale thing is kind of based on right now. It's Hunger Games pretty much. So uh as a concept, like yeah, I think a lot of people like that. And I just think that the way that they're building into this, and now we get to see like Hamich's story, which Hamich is not, again, I didn't really care about the original trilogy or whatever it was. Hey Mitch is not really a character that I like particularly clung to, but I think it's interesting seeing like it's gonna it's uh it's a quarter quell, so like they do something special, do something different to to differentiate the games, and so I think this will I think it'll be cool.
SPEAKER_05I like it. Casting is fantastic for it. Shout out to my boy Kieran Colkin. I get to see him on the big screen. Oh, yes, for the first time since since finishing succession. Yeah, so I'm excited. I think I think they have a stacked cast. I like the show more than you, so it's cool.
SPEAKER_03No, you don't. No, you actually don't. You actually don't, it's crazy. It's actually you actually don't, it's crazy, buddy. I know more about it than you. You don't get to pull up on no no no. That's like if I came off of that's like if I came off of better calls, and I said that shit. Get the fuck out of here.
SPEAKER_05The fuck rage bait, rage bait successful. Oh, we did it. We successfully rage baited Chargy, chargy, charlie. Let's go. Holy shit. I'm so excited. I'm stumbling on my words. Yeah, shut your ass. All right. And with that, we will head into another midway year, midway through the year. Um talk. Now, this is centered around our box office. Since um, while we paused for Ben's technical difficulties, Charlie was like, Hey bro, let's make sure we make time for that draft. Talk about that draft. Hey, Ben, let's make sure we make time for it.
SPEAKER_01Is it just is it just me?
SPEAKER_03No, no, no.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_03Oh, it's your turn now, buddy. It's your turn now. Yeah, you're delayed.
SPEAKER_06It's like a full, like you have to it's the whole thing that was happening in a band, bro.
SPEAKER_05It's the whole thing, the whole should be no, that's actually insane. Are you okay? Hold on. We need another two chapters. Uh we'll be right back. Oh, look at that. Sorry, chat.
SPEAKER_02These guys can't get their shit together. I am so sorry about that. Some of us are prepared.
SPEAKER_05It's almost like nothing ever happened. Speaking of prepared, we got the box office draft to talk about. Now, real quick, if you have made it this far, this is our wonderful, glorious draft that we have been doing throughout the year. Uh, we had an episode at the beginning of the year where we drafted for the winter season. Beginning of summer, we drafted for summer, and then the end of the year. We will be drafting for the fall. This is a year-long, um journey to keep up with the box office. So we are tallying it using the wonderful, beautiful website, fantasyboxoffice.com, fantasyboxoffice game.com. Uh, so very huge shout-outs there. Um, one of the greatest people that I've never met. Uh, so yeah, so this is our this is our our draft. What we're gonna do today, we're not gonna talk about the draft. We will talk about some projects on the draft, but uh I wanted to talk with these boys since we are at the half year halfway through the year mark. We want to kind of tally up where we think we will be leaving the summer. So we are gonna put our three minds together, we're gonna come to an agreement on where we think a project will land, and we will add that to said person's score. So, for instance, if our good friend Brandon, we will go through whatever projects he has out he has left um to have numbers on, and we will essentially finish off his list for him with what we think uh those numbers will look like. We'll take his number into consideration, we'll move on to the next, and at the end, we'll look at how everybody will fare uh based on our projections. So this will kind of be, you know, instead of us projecting something and then combating each other for it, we have to put our heads together on people's lists to come to an agreement. And this will be a words from the nerds podcast projection for how our draft will play out. So um, I want to first look at Mr. Brandon. So when we take a look here at his movies, the movie that he has left to fully get numbers on, we're looking at Jackass, Best and Last, and Minions and Monsters. Now, everything else, obviously, he has some numbers left, but I think at that point we'd be arguing like some double digits, not anything to truly, you know, push the the the camel on the uh the straw on the camel's back per se. And if people are gonna, you know, complain about it, then we can always just do like a oh Brandon's gonna be projected to finish anywhere from 1.2 to $1.3 billion profit. We'll just have a range. So we'll all come to an agreement. So right now, uh Brandon is in the lead of our box office draft with $523 million profit. Um, as I mentioned, the two movies he has left is Jackass and Minion. So Jackass has come out last week and has garnered him $12 million. Um, 8.5 million of that I think was opening weekend. So right now he's losing out on $12 million of profit. I think that this movie will at least get another um 20 mil. Uh I'd be interested in hearing y'all's y'all's thoughts though. I think he's anywhere from five to ten million positive.
SPEAKER_03I it's just hard for me. I don't know the best. I I don't know much about Jackass. So like I I of course I would love to say, and I'd love for this to be the case, but uh it just came out and it's already at 12 mil. Well, I guess came that's uh yeah, that's after one weekend, week and a half, uh weekend and and uh and a half a week. So I I do see this breaking even. I'd love for it to just break even and have that be it, but you know, I don't I don't foresee that. I don't think I see anything like above 30 though for this movie. I was gonna say 30 person.
SPEAKER_0530 I would okay. Yeah, I don't think anything above 30. I'm fine settling on a five mil profit.
SPEAKER_03No, sorry, sorry, gross, sorry, not not not profit, sorry. Yeah, 30 gross five mil profit. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05So yeah, 30 30 gross five mil profit. Okay, so then that would take our our total from from 523. We'll add and we'll make that 528. Okay, so we have a five million dollar profit there. Uh and then the next movie. Wait, that's not right though.
SPEAKER_07Because 523 already.
SPEAKER_05Oh, oh yes, I'm sorry. Minus 17. Yes, you're right. You're right. 17. Yeah, yeah. So he will garner up another 17 mil. Yeah, you're right. That's on me. I'm not the greatest at math. Um, 523. So that's what 540? Yeah. Please tell me. I'm right on that. Holy shit. That would have been so embarrassing. Okay. So we're at 540 million there. Okay. Minions and monsters. So uh this is day one numbers, I think, right? The movie came out today. Uh, this is day one numbers. We're at 16.5. This this one, uh I don't know. I've seen y'all go back and forth. I've also gotten Brandon's points of views. I don't I don't know enough. I don't have enough of a take on this. I've been taking what Brandon's been looking because he he obviously looks into this a lot more than I do. Um, and I think he's saying that bottom, he's thinking at least 800 mil total for this movie.
SPEAKER_03I really wonder why a Wednesday dropped for this. That's a different conversation, though. I just but that's the time to drop it, though. Would it not be holiday weekend? Like that's people would go out and do that.
SPEAKER_07No, but the point is any holiday weekend a release is always pushed up a little early. Oh, okay. They do that for Thanksgiving weekend releases.
SPEAKER_05What was what was uh Mario's? Is it what was Mario's holiday? Because Mario wasn't out that Wednesday. I I thought it was an illumination thing.
SPEAKER_02Oh, Mario came out on a Wednesday? I didn't even know that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I don't think Mario came out on a Wednesday.
SPEAKER_04Uh what was first? Yeah, April 1st.
SPEAKER_03Oh, y'all can't. It was a Wednesday. April. It was a Wednesday. It was a Wednesday.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's I just I just wonder why.
SPEAKER_03I mean, it must be an illumination thing. I don't know.
SPEAKER_05That's what I'm thinking. Okay, anyways. I'm inclined just to do an even like $812 million is what this movie's gonna make, and we'll give Brexit $600 million profit. Okay, then there you go. That's that might be it then. Um I don't know, Ben, what do you think? I'm inclined to I think projections are also around $850, 900 mil for this one. Uh I'm open to conversation though.
SPEAKER_07I don't want to buy, I don't want to buy into the hype and I don't want to believe it, but like I gotta be realistic. Um, yeah, yeah. So I I'll give it 800.
SPEAKER_03Gosh, bro. My dream would be Moana comes out next weekend, and people choose to go see Moana's from then on out, but obviously that's not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_07Word of mouth is gonna play a weird factor in this too, because people are loving this freaking movie. Yes, people are loving it.
SPEAKER_05Okay, can can we can we be uh I don't know. I was gonna say, can we be conservative and say 850? But that way we give ourselves room for error. But I I do also want to treat this as kind of our predictions for what the movie will be, so I don't want to be too conservative. I'm pretty strong on eight currently. You're strong on eight, Charlie. You don't care?
SPEAKER_03I I don't care, but I I could uh I eight is probably where I'd land too.
SPEAKER_05Okay, see I'm more towards see it higher, word of mouth. I'm more I'm more towards eight fifty, but okay, let's call it eight twenty-five.
SPEAKER_06Sure.
SPEAKER_05Is that okay? Um that's a six hundred and twelve million dollar profit. Jeez. Okay. $612 million profit that we would get off or that he would get off of minions. That brings Brandon's total coming out of the summer. Geez, I I cannot use two monitors ever. Uh, that brings Brandon's total out to one point one five billion dollars. Is there anything else on here that we're missing?
SPEAKER_03No. I think we're good.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean, disclosure as you said, but uh disclosure day is still going a little bit, but uh as you said, it's just gonna be like well we can we can we can round up to 1.2 then uh because he's at 1.15.
SPEAKER_05I think we can round up to 1.2 just to cover our bases a little bit for yeah, 1.2 to 1.3.
SPEAKER_07I would take that we want to give a range over 1.1 to 1.2. Okay. I would lean on the high higher end of the range personally.
SPEAKER_05You would lean on the higher end of the 1.2 to 1.3?
SPEAKER_07Like if if we're leaving, yeah, if we're leaving wiggle room like for minions and then for leftovers from scary movie and disclosure day, that would skew it just to one two to one three instead of one one to one two.
SPEAKER_05Um so do we want to settle on one point three or one point two? One point two.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_07If I had to pick if I had to pick one number.
SPEAKER_05Okay, we'll settle on one point two. I think that's a good that's a good wiggle word. Okay, can this so that's one point two make me kill myself, dude? I know, I know, yeah. All right, next up we we have we have Mr. Charles. Did you change my posters? Yeah, I changed your posters. I changed all of y'all's because I just I don't know. I like to I like to change them all. So sure. I think this looks like more aura. I don't know. So uh the only one I think I don't like is good luck, have fun don't die, but yeah, sure. Well, they don't have any good ones, like the rest of them would have been the ugly ass, like blue, red, green, like all the colors in there. I just I think it I think those posters just look so ugly, especially with everything else on your list. I'm like, see, like these just don't look good. Yeah, uh those colors are I think I like this one that one, yeah.
SPEAKER_01That one's all right, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Out of all of them, I'm like I like that black one on the right, but it's just me. Oh, yeah, that okay likes black. I didn't know that. Okay, so Charlie. Charlie, you got uh you got a bit of a tough one here. Okay, Charlie has 441 million dollars profit. All right, let's start with with Toy Story 5.
SPEAKER_03All right, we have so crazy to look at. I just want to pause for a second. That is so crazy to look at. My gross is 610 million. I haven't snipped profit yet. I haven't sniffed the shit.
SPEAKER_05So Charlie's break-even for toy story five is a $625 million. So, all right, where do we think this movie falls? I'm I'm I'm in the camp of of agreeing on $1.2 billion. I think that that's where the movie you look at minions, you look at Moana coming out the week after, and then if you're like, well, maybe some other audience members, okay, cool. Well, Odyssey and Spider-Man are gonna swing in, like you just you have to factor that in. Yeah. Um I think I'm personally at 1.2, so I'd be fine to call this an even $600 million profit. I'm open to having conversations because again, this is something we have to come together on as a team.
SPEAKER_03Uh I think honestly, at this point, for me, I'm I'm I would say 1.3 probably, but that's that's probably where I'd uh I'd land now. I don't think I'm not gonna I'm not gonna I don't think the numbers support anything higher. I'd I'd be fine. I know you still got hope for it, Ben, but yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_05I mean, yeah, I'd be I'd be fine to say you have a 600 you get out of this with a 650 million dollar profit. That would put you at 1.275. I feel like that's kind of leaning more towards your way, but also meeting you in the middle. Sure.
SPEAKER_07Let's just call it 1.3.
SPEAKER_05I I think say that's what that's what I'm saying. I think 650 that puts you at 1.275, and uh I'm I'm fine with that. 650, 650 million dollar profit. So you add another, let's just say you add another 15 mil to Charlie. That's 45. What's 441 plus 15? 456. Uh 456. So we have right now for Charlie over here, 456 plus 650. All right, we'll leave it there for now. All right, 650 profit.
SPEAKER_04Okay, sure, sure, sure.
SPEAKER_05Uh we have some wiggle room, right, with Michael, because Michael's gonna make another 30 million dollars, right? That's what that's what people are in the camp. They're they're saying a billion for sure. So I'll I'll add another 30 because that will make another couple hundred mil. I know, right? Geez, actually, people are saying that like uh uh 390 finish is in the works, so it will grow so we'll add it 15. We'll add another, we'll add another 20 because I'll be on the high side of it just because this movie has proven us wrong multiple times. Because it's out on digital, but it's still cheaper to go see it in theaters. Yeah, all right. So that's 456 plus 650 plus 30 plus 20. Um here comes the big one, right? Because we should be getting a budget on this next week by next week at the at the latest. Yeah, I'm I'm fine calling this a 500 million dollar break-even. I'm I it I'm I'm fine saying that if it's 200 to 225 and I had to pick, I think Disney flubs their numbers a little bit and they're gonna put out 200. I think a 200 million dollar budget. Ben, do you think higher? Are you thinking what it was? I'm waiting to see what Aiden says next. I if I genuinely had to pick where I how much money this movie made, not factoring in like my my competition or anything like that, because I've gone back and forth with this. I've been conservative and I've given $400 million profit before, which is a $900 million, but word of mouth tracking 80 opening up to $80 million. I think I would confidently say that Moana will make about $550 million when it's all said and done.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so just you think wow.
SPEAKER_03I because I would say at this point, I am so down on this movie. I I think it's oh really? So you're completely you're like lower than well. No, I don't think I'm losing money. I think it's breaking even, but I think it's barely breaking even, dude. You don't I don't think you know how many people are shit. I was gonna say six a lot of people, you were gonna say six.
SPEAKER_05Okay, so we're all right there, we're at five, five, fifty.
SPEAKER_07But truthfully, I think it could have a higher budget. Like that's that would be the question of if you make money or if yeah, you don't. That's yeah, yeah, totally true.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I I have heard a lot of really bad things, which is what's gotten me kind of kind of worried on this. Um, what are we comfortable? I know we're all kind of in weird spots. Um, what is uh Charlie's at five, Ben? You're at six, but again, the profit is a little up in the air. Do we want to call it a 50 million? 50.
SPEAKER_03I was gonna say we'll call it a 50 mil 50 million.
SPEAKER_05Okay, so that leaves Charlie with after everything is said and done, a profit leaving the summer of 1.26, 1.2 billion dollars. Jeez, huh? So now you and Brandon are tied, leaving out the summer. That's kind of what we're looking at. Um, and if there's any wiggle room, it's between y'all two, one of y'all being at 1.3, the other being maybe also at 1.3 or 1.2. That's our range for both of y'all so far. So okay, this will be easy because there's no projects out right now. Um, but there there are still some challenges here. So uh we're talking about me, and obviously we're not accounting bomb picks because I feel like whatever we have out here is kind of the worst, obviously, of what we're gonna have. So we'll leave that. Uh so I have a $374 million profit right now. Uh let's start with Insidious because I want to work up to the big dog. Um hundred and fifty mil. You think this movie makes 150 million?
SPEAKER_07I think it's 150, and I think you profit 100.
SPEAKER_05Okay. I don't really have a lot of uh because I would have said a while back, no, me and Brandon talked about this. The most recent Insidious obviously made it made a whole bunch of money. Um, the Red Door, but they also brought back Patrick Wilson and a lot of the OGs. Yes. Now the breakeven was 42.5 mil, and the movie made almost 200 mil. This being a continuation of that movie, but not having the OG cast, does that bring my profit down a little bit? And what does that look like then? So I do agree. I think a break-even of 50 mil is gonna be in play. I I might say that I think this movie could perform more like 125, which would give me a 75 million dollar profit.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, again, I think it's gonna be 75 to 100 million dollars profit. I just went on the higher end personally. I'm gonna say fifth. I'm honestly, I might say fifth uh horror's been so good this year. I'm gonna say anywhere from 50 to 75 million profit.
SPEAKER_03Uh yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't push back. I mean, I'm not I'm not the horror guy, so I couldn't even yeah. Some of these were just gonna have to kind of yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05And that's fine. That's fine. I'll I'll fall at I'll fall at 60. I'll put 60 mil uh profit from insidious. Uh Paw Patrol. No clue. I don't have a clue either. I I always go off of when I look at this movie, I always go off of um the recent the recent movie, which I think came out in 2023. Had a 75 million dollar break-even, made 205 million dollars. Uh, I don't know. I don't think they're bringing back uh the same cast. I don't know if the budget will really change a whole lot. 2023 and 2026. I'm fine bumping it up a little bit to like a 40 million dollar budget, maybe.
SPEAKER_02Um, this is what's gonna stop Spider-Man, bro.
SPEAKER_05Just you wait and see. So that's uh I think I I'm fine saying another 100 mil from this one. Yeah, I was gonna say 100. Yeah, hundred dollar, 100 million dollar break-even, and then I think this movie makes about 200, uh, maybe a little bit more. So I'll add another hundred. We'll we'll stay safe here. The Odyssey. This one is this one is tough. Um 625 million dollar break-even. I see projections still say anywhere from eight to nine hundred. I don't know how confident I feel in that. Like this, this this is the movie of the summer, I think. Like, this has been the movie of the summer for the past year and a half. Sure. Uh, but that is a big breakeven. Uh I have felt confident that this movie is gonna make 800 mil. I used to say that that was the floor, I now think that that's the middle ground, which would be a 175 million dollar profit. I'm open to negotiations.
SPEAKER_03Wait, what's the ground? Sorry, 700?
SPEAKER_05800. My ground used to be 800. Now I think 800 is kind of like the middle. So I think the floor, the floor now would be about 750, 700. I think the ceiling always will be nine, nine fifty, but I don't I don't know if we sniff a billion that if we get that close to sniffing a billion. I'm comfortable with 800 here. I just I get it though.
SPEAKER_07There's a lot. I know it's different audiences, but I still still think that Spider-Man will have an impact on legs, not because like people are gonna choose to see one or the other, but because of actual like movie screens that are showing this movie, yeah, because Spider-Man is gonna take so many of those. So I think it'll have an effect on legs, and I think there's some online controversy that I don't know, like we're not gonna know how that's gonna play a factor.
SPEAKER_05So yeah, it's still tracking to open the same as Odyssey, granted or uh Oppenheimer. Um, I think it's maybe gonna track to open a little bit more than Oppenheimer, but how much of Oppenheimer getting close to a billion was the hype with Barbie? Yeah, Barmenheimer, yeah.
SPEAKER_07Um, was there another big Oppenheimer in 2023? It's a good question.
SPEAKER_022023, I don't think so.
SPEAKER_05That'd have been July. So let's see, we have Oppenheimer. Uh nothing until Aquaman, I guess. I guess you could say haunted Mission Impossible was before, but but it obviously it didn't perform well.
SPEAKER_07Aquaman came out in August that year. That feels wrong. I know. Oh, oh yeah, that I no, that actually is wrong. That actually is wrong. If you look after August 2nd, everything is showing an 8-4 day, and it's sorted by uh alphabetically. Yeah, December came out or uh Aquaman came out in like December. Okay, interesting. That's why I felt wrong. I was like, that's not that can't be right. So I don't actually know what was in competition, but um I don't think there was anything like huge two weeks later, is my my point, I guess.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. But is that like uh I mean it's 975? I don't know. I've always been at 800 here for this movie. I am a little bit worried though, so I mean I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Uh I would I'd I'd be I'd be fine with like a 750 for this. I think you I'm fine with 750 also because you combine you combine the online controversy, which we've talked about on here before, and you combine that with Spider-Man shortly after a different, slightly different audience is sure, but yeah, I think mostly like male-centric if you want to get down to like the bare bones of it. And I think that like yeah, people are gonna they're more looking forward to Spider-Man than they are looking forward to this.
SPEAKER_05That being said, people love Christopher Nolan, so like I do agree with you that this movie is the movie of the summer, but also Yeah, I'm fine with 750 because I feel like that's kind of where I've been. Um yeah, I don't know. I'm I'm fine with this 750 million dollar gross so 125 profit on 25. Okay. Spider-Man, let's I think this is a 250 million dollar budget. So I think a six six twenty-five break-even.
SPEAKER_02Um I think this movie's going stupid, man. I'm not gonna lie.
SPEAKER_05I I think if I were if I were to have to put money on it, I would say that this movie makes 1.6. That's where I would confidently put it.
SPEAKER_07You're giving yourself a billion profit for this movie. What are you, I mean, what like what I mean what are you giving?
SPEAKER_03I wouldn't, I wouldn't. I actually don't think I'd push back seeing some of the numbers now, bro. That's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_05I just saw the China numbers today. The China and and China is having an IMAX release, and they have seven. I granted it's not like insane, but they're pushing back.
SPEAKER_03China's China has like one of the biggest IMAX markets in the world.
SPEAKER_05So, like yeah, yeah. So they're making room for Spider-Man there, marketing's kicking up. Like, I I don't think 1.6 is out of the realm of possibility. I'm I know I'm a little bit high on that, but if I'm I'm saying if I confidently had to put money and bias aside, if I had to put money on it, I'd go 1.6. I'm not mad entertaining 1.5, but why do you think not, Ben?
SPEAKER_07I guess more so than anything. I think this movie will have an explosive opening, as we've already seen with the pre-sale numbers. Yeah. I I think the people who really care about it and want to see it are all going to see it in the first couple of weeks, and I don't think it will have the longevity to hit these crazy numbers that we're talking about. So that's why I've always leaned lower on it.
SPEAKER_01I don't I just don't think it's even with nothing else coming out after it.
SPEAKER_07Yeah. I know I I I just don't I don't think that superhero movies. I mean, I get it's Spider-Man, but like I don't think that this has the ability to get 200 million away from what Spider-Man No Way Home did in 2021. I just don't see how that's possible. I I just okay, what is yours? Give me your number for this right now with tracking being higher and upping what I felt I'd give it 1.4.
SPEAKER_05Okay, I'm fine.
SPEAKER_07I'm fine coming down to 1.4. I'm fine with that. If I if I'm trying to be like fair and yeah, yeah, increasing my prediction while also like I just I really don't see it getting to 1.6, 1.6 like that would be I'm I'm fine. That would be a c if that happens to this movie in in the year 2026, that I feel like that would be crazy. I'm just I don't know.
SPEAKER_05I mean, I've always been I've always been in the camp that I think this movie is gonna make uh a crap ton of movie uh money. Um if I had to give my like ballsy prediction, yeah, of course I think this is a 1.7 billion dollar movie. Like I'm gonna put that prediction out there just because I feel so confident in this. Um I'm fine coming down to 1.4 though. So um we'll say 1.425 just to make math easy. We'll say it's an $800 million. Okay. So that means that I would be coming out of the summer at $1.459 billion. Okay, so that puts Brandon at 1.2, Charlie at 1.2, me at 1.4 billion dollars. Um, and then Mr. Ben, Mr. Moolah Motion. Okay. Ben is at 51. We'll round up and say 52. Uh Ben, you have backrooms still getting you a little bit of money.
SPEAKER_07What have you been making there? It's gonna make I mean this re-release maybe throws a wrench only because it has like there's more show times than there was, they increase the amount of show times that it's getting for this this extended edition of the movie. Um I still don't I mean I'd maybe give another 20 to 30. Like, I'm not I'm not gonna say anything too crazy here.
SPEAKER_05No, I'm fine with that. I think another I think another 20 is is safe. I also haven't been keeping up with a lot of what the the movie has been pushing towards. I know I saw you in Brandon's messages and whatnot. Yeah. So I'm fine with 20 mil to back rooms. Okay.
SPEAKER_04Sure.
SPEAKER_05Uh I don't really know. I saw that tracking for this movie was at anywhere from like I think it was like 23 to 26 million dollar opening.
SPEAKER_07Um a 20 mil budget, so 50 mil break-even. Um I I'm I'll go pretty conservative, but like I think this is realistic. I think this is gonna gross like 150 and profit about 100 mil. Um, I could see it being even higher because there's not really other like new horror movies coming out. Like, we're kind of past like the big hype of obsession, the big hype of backrooms, and this is like the next big thing of the summer until like August. So I kind of see this being like the next big thing that people are obviously not as big as like obsession and backrooms, but this is kind of the next big horror movie of the summer, and it's getting really, really great reviews. Like the social media movement is, I think, gonna push it. So I could see it going higher, but I think a hundred mil profit is pretty pretty. Safe.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, this has been a horror movie year, man. So I honestly wouldn't I wouldn't push back against that.
SPEAKER_05I'm fine with that too. A hundred mil uh profit for this movie.
SPEAKER_07Do we know what the last one did?
SPEAKER_05I was trying to look, but they didn't have the last Evil Dead um on like the clickable here. So I think you have to go to like 2023.
SPEAKER_07Okay, so the last one had a break-even of 37.5. Yeah. And made 147. Yeah. Made 147. So it ended up about 110. So this has a slightly higher budget and would just need to gross a tiny bit more, and then would end up doing about the same and profiting about 100 mil. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I'm I'm fine throwing uh throwing 100 mil out as a prediction for now.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_05Um, and then yeah, the big the big hitter. So we have a billion dollar breakeven here for doomsday. Your hit pick that you will get to see. Uh so obviously we know that you'll leave the summer. I do want to factor in your your hit pick too, but we know that you'll leave the summer with 172 million dollars in profit. Yes, right hand to the man. I eat my words. I know, I know it's on everyone's mind right now. He he didn't come out double digits, I get it. Um, doomsday though. Ah man, if I again if I were to have to give my my put my money on it, give my gosh honest truth. Gosh honest. I think this is a 2.2 billion dollar movie.
SPEAKER_07I was gonna say 2.2. I'm not even lying. 2.2 is where I've been because I I feel like it's gotta be I need to see those endgame numbers first.
SPEAKER_05I mean, oh the re-release, yeah.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I I agree with you there, Charlie, but um yeah, I don't know, I don't know. I'm just like complete vibes gut feeling 2.2 is sticking out to me. Uh won't won't touch end game, but I think can can be infinity.
SPEAKER_031.9 is in my head. I'll say that.
SPEAKER_051.9. I think 1.9. Okay. Well, we have to come together as a team, and right now it's 2 to 1. Uh I think we can come down to 2.1 as like our absolute safe pick. I mean, that's kind of yeah, that's the average of our three. Yeah. Okay. Um, okay, cool. So that means when everything's said and done, that's where that's where Ben will be. So we'll factor that in because so then your total would be a $1.3 billion profit without, and this is essentially all of our picks right now before we draft for the winter, yeah, or for the fall season. The fall. Because what I wanted to do was I wanted to get a good grasp on we've talked about Dune. When Dune, yeah, Dune has been the pick. And right now, what we would have before our fall movies would be Brandon at $1.2 billion profit, Charlie at $1.2 billion profit, Ben at $1.3 billion profit, and Aiden at $1.4 billion profit.
SPEAKER_08Jeez.
SPEAKER_05Which truly means, folks, that when all this is said and done, I think I can confidently say whoever gets doomed, whoever gets Dune is winning the whole fucking thing. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03I don't know. I wanted to tally before we started recording, but yeah, like seeing it, seeing it now, seeing the the potential numbers. And obviously things can change, like maybe Spider-Man does go stupid fucking crazy.
SPEAKER_01Of course.
SPEAKER_03Like if Spider-Man goes stupid crazy and actually like you profit a billion, uh, billion plus even maybe, um, then I think we're talking a little we're it's a different conversation for for me, maybe me and and Brandon. I don't think that that's uh even with Dune, I don't think that the likelihood is even there.
SPEAKER_07Maybe Ben, maybe in Ben's case, if Ben were to get Dune, but well, yeah, because Spider Spider-Man doing well means that Doomsday probably does really well. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and Doomsday could go, could go even stupider. So okay.
SPEAKER_03Unless like well, something like and I don't see this happening, unless something like Hunger Games does great and one of us has that, or uh, I don't think Resident Evil would would be would be all that all that high, but I mean maybe the video game market is there, but yeah. Resident Evil's popular overseas too. So I don't know.
SPEAKER_07Well, it it'll be an interesting fall draft, but that's that's why I agreed with Aiden, because like part of it was just confidence in my doomsday pick. Like, I know it was hated on at first, but right now, if you took away Brandon having Super Mario Galaxy, like if his hit pick hadn't released yet, he's negative, he's in last. So it's like there has to be some understanding that like I'm gonna be in last until December. And if I'm not, that means you guys are screwed. Like that is just you know, um yeah, but I I totally agree with the with the Dune analysis. I I I think when that wheel spins here in the next few weeks, hold on.
SPEAKER_03I just I do just want to go back to you saying because like I hear what you're saying, but at the same, it's not like Brandon has bad picks, though. Like all of Brandon's picks are like he's mostly profitable. So like it's just versus well, no, I get no, I get it, but I'm just saying, like, comparing his list besides his hit his hit pick versus your list besides your hit pick, like you are very clearly worse off, other than backrooms.
SPEAKER_07But like I'm not though, like that's my point. No, but after minions, I guess after minions does its thing, yes, that that will be true.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. I mean, just look I'm like looking at like backrooms is the only thing that you have to speak on other other than versus like Brandon, I don't know, bro. Brandon has two projects both with four minions, two projects both a hundred over a hundred mil profit. Like setting aside hit picks, I just I don't think that that I don't know.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I mean Doomsday is I mean, well, Doomsday's always been the project that's gonna do all the heavy lifting, you know. Um that's I think Ben I think Ben also got screwed having the I don't know if I would say he got screwed having the fourth pick or that you picked Mando with the fourth pick.
SPEAKER_03But well I don't think uh no I I'm gonna push back on that too. I don't think there's any at any point Ben got screwed. I don't I don't think so. You got first round pick on when we first started, and so that's why he got doomsday. And and and clearly we think doomsday, we all think doomsday is gonna do good in some capacity. So and then in the second second draft, he got he got last pick or second one? Yeah, I got I got last pick.
SPEAKER_07And truthfully, if you go back to both of those draft videos, I was absolutely ecstatic that I got the one-one with doomsday. I wanted that. Um, now I agree that like then me getting the eighth pick for the weirdest season to draft for with the winter season. I'm not I'm not happy that like a Michael and a Project Hail Mary were never going to be available to me. I'm not very happy about that 100%. Um, but then in the second draft, I I wanted the fourth pick. I wanted the rapper. You wanted last.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_07Because I I wanted a big pick and then I wanted backrooms. Now, do I wish that I I actually I don't know if I would say that I wish I took Odyssey over Mando and Grogu because I I'm still like so hesitant on Odyssey, even though I think it'll do better than Mando. I'm I'm still worried about it. Um so I don't know.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_07It's all hindsight, whatever. This next draft is probably gonna throw a loop in everything as well.
SPEAKER_05It's it's gonna be crazy, and it is gonna be a close game before the fall. Like if everyone's movies could come out and then have we have the fall movies. I mean, it's it's definitely interesting. I mean, last place and first place, it's all a 200 million dollar uh difference, which that's that's dare I say, the two first picks of of the fall season that that you can get, you can make up that ground. Um, so it'll be interesting. But I'm glad we got to do this, at least look at it a little bit halfway through the year. I just I I go back and I listen to old box office episodes, and um, I feel like I'm always like, I want to hear more of our thoughts and in some of these situations. So um I wanted to see us break down, break this down so that we can have something to go back on and kind of uh you know see see how true or how false things ended up being. So um, and what better time to do it than the halfway point?
SPEAKER_03I don't know, bro. Deadpool and Wolverine 1.3 bill profit summer release rated R movie. I think Spider-Man has and Spider-Man, Spider-Man, I think Spider-Man has some crazy potential.
SPEAKER_05That's like well, what's funny is I I was thinking about it and I I put out 1.6 and then I was like, I can come down to 1.4 because whenever I was doing the math in my head, I was like, I'm gonna be at about like $1.4 billion profit, even if I come down to eight to $1.4 billion gross. So if it is 1.6, like Charlie said, then yeah, I'll be at a $1.6 billion profit. I'm 400 mil away from the next person, essentially. Um, which means I'd be running away with this thing. Thank you for that.
SPEAKER_03I all I can hope for is that those Moana numbers don't mean much. And as Brandon says, like uh walk-ups aren't aren't great for family movies, or uh sorry, no, no, the opposite. Pre-buys aren't great for family movies.
SPEAKER_05But I mean, yeah, you're you're gonna need uh you're gonna need a need a lot from Moana because we we gave you a little bit of profit, you would need another 200 mil, which that means Moana's a 700 to a 750 million dollar movie.
SPEAKER_03I don't know, maybe maybe the budget's lower, maybe, maybe probably not though. Maybe the but maybe the budget's lower.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, time will tell. All will be revealed soon, as as we like to say here. So that has been it, ladies and gentlemen, for this episode of the Words from the Nerds Podcast. Big mid mid-year review. Uh, next week we're gonna talk about some rotten tomato stuff. I know X-Men 97's audience scores at a 95 right now, which is which is really good. So uh we'll be talking about X-Men 97, we'll be talking about the bear. All of us have finished the bear, and um if Ben didn't, then he will be soon. Um but we're gonna talk about this.
SPEAKER_02X-Men 97, Ben.
SPEAKER_07Did I finish X-Men 97? Is that what you just asked? Yeah, I have not finished X-Men 97. Okay, damn, bro.
SPEAKER_05We'll we'll we'll talk. We'll talk. We'll talk whatever.
SPEAKER_07I probably won't be able to get to all of it by next week, truthfully.
SPEAKER_05Uh, are y'all watching minions? No. I I might I actually might go see it. Um I'm actually starting to get a little bit. I have seen I have seen the bear though. I have seen the bear though. Okay, well, we will talk about the bear, maybe what we've watched, Rotten Tomatoes. Uh, maybe we'll keep it light and chill. So um, we'll find something, uh, and we want y'all to be there for it. So thank you so much for listening to this episode. Um, we will see you in the next one. Like, comment, sub, all that fun sub.
