Rudy Recommends - May 2026 Edition

Rudy's back this week for another solo pod. I really wanted to make sure you guys had an episode this week and felt it would be fun to loop everyone in on what I'm watching and what I plan to watch. This definitely isn't because I didn't schedule a guest or prioritize this podcast.. that would be absurd. I'm a professional. ANYWAYS - This week Rudy gives his thoughts on Mortal Kombat II, lists the movies he plans on watching in May, and talks about a few shows he is enjoying like Widow's Bay and Euphoria. Hope you all enjoy the show! I promise I'll get my act together.. 

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Transcript

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Hey folks, welcome to Did You See This with Rudy Martinez. I'm your host, Rudy Martinez. Today, your guest is me and only me. Dolo episode today. Couldn't get a regular episode recorded this weekend because of pure laziness and lack of planning. Something that I know millions of Americans suffer from on a daily basis. So you got just me today. I thought rather than wait several weeks to get a new episode out, I'd try to be a little bit more consistent and get you guys something every week, even if it's just me on here rambling. Uh so yeah, I thought I would just do maybe something kind of brief, a little bit out of the norm, rather than deep dive on one movie. I'll talk about a few things coming up that I'm really excited to watch. Some of these movies you've heard me talk about on prior episodes, some of these you haven't. I did a similar a similar-ish thing at the end of the of last year when I um probably a little after that, early January, when I gave you guys my top movies of last year and talked about some of the things I was looking forward to in 2026, which is the year we're in now, and believe it or not, we are coming up on halfway through May somehow. I'm recording this on the evening of May 11th. So we're coming up on halfway through the year, which is kind of insane. Uh, we've had a lot of good things come out this year that I've uh of course watched movies and television.

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And there's a lot more exciting stuff coming this way. So I'm gonna talk about a couple of things that I've seen and a couple lot of the stuff that I'm gonna be looking forward to this year, some of which will be uh covered on the show probably at some point. I may try to start incorporating more newer release movies onto the show, uh, usually maybe around the weekend of release. So maybe a bit different than some of the older movies I've been covering on the show, or at least they've been out for at least, I don't know, six months, maybe a year or so. I kind of experimented with the new release earlier this year when I did Scream 7 with my sister Julianne. So what have I seen recently? Let's see here. Uh so I just recently saw Mortal Kombat 2, a movie that I was pretty excited for. I I liked the first one, the or the most recent reboot that they released back in 2023, I believe. Or yeah, 2023 or 2022. I don't even remember anymore. I think it was 2022. Anyways, doesn't matter. Um, I'm terrible with release dates for some reason. Yeah, so I enjoyed the first one, although I felt the first one while it was like I liked the more grounded, realistic approach that they took with the first Mortal Kombat reboot, and I enjoyed some of the casting. I did feel like it was a first-time director who made that movie, and I felt like a lot of the fight scenes were poorly edited and not just not put not cut well together, and I think it was a little too over serious for my liking, and the in the original character they they created for the movie that kind of led the movie wasn't the greatest creation, in my opinion. And even though it was played by an actor I enjoy Lewis Tan for the most part, I felt like the writing and maybe the performance were a little bit lacking there. You know, although everybody in the movie for the most part performed as well, you know, on the physical aspects, it just I just felt like the the directing and the editing kind of let all of the martial artists in that movie down. Although I you know, but I did enjoy that it was a rated R kind of bigger budget movie, and it it was they were taking it seriously. But again, it's it's it's a it's a video game movie based off a fighting game that the plot you know can get a little bit crazy. So I think myself and a lot of the fans kind of wanted them to get a little more out there. Uh and I think they listened to the fans. Because Mortal Kombat 2 is a great time. It's not the greatest movie of the year. It it won't win any awards, but I think they definitely listened to the feedback from the first movie and took it into account. And while the script and overall like direction of actors, I don't think is like much more improved. Is is that much is is improved by much uh compared to the first movie. I do think as far as the fight scenes and a little bit of the entertainment factor, and it's a little less serious and full of itself than the first one is. This one's a little bit it's a bit sillier, and they embrace the campiness of the games and and the original nine movie movies from the nineties. Um you know, I I think again it's not it it it's it's silly. The the plot is you know, it's basically it's just designed to get you to the next fight scene. Um not every fight scene is is the best, but I think for the most part, all but all of the fight scenes are shot much better. There's much less cut, like there's much less editing around the fighting. And and the thing is too, a lot of times in these movies, especially if they're lower budget, or they just they they've cast actors who are not just for whatever reason are not, you know, they're just they're not there to they either didn't learn the fight choreography or they just they had a hard time with it, or they just didn't have the budget to choreograph a fight sequence that well. What you'll see is there will be a fight scene in a movie, and every time a punch or a kick is thrown, the the the the the the editing kind of jumps around from maybe a facial kind of appeal like a a sh like a close-up of their face, or it'll go behind the actor to kind of hide the stunt double or go around. Like it just it just it's really fast edits to kind of hide the fact that the fight scene isn't really well. They didn't get good coverage of the fight scene, uh, among other things. So in the first Mortal Kombat, they did a lot of that, which was surprising because a lot of the majority of the actors they cast are either martial artists or have a history of uh some sort of fighting background. Um and a lot of these actors whom uh are either professional fighters or have done a lot of action film have done a lot of action movies to where you could you know you know they know how to do it. It was just surprising to see how poorly the fight scenes were constructed. Nothing against the actors, the actors did their job. I just think the director was not equipped to capture the fight scenes and their in their glory they should have been. And I think he definitely learned the guy's name is Simon McQuaid McCoy McKay, I don't know what how to pronounce his last name, but definitely learned his lesson from the first movie, and right when the movie begins, you kind of the right when the movie begins, the fight scene is uh immediately much better. There are very far less edits and cuts around the fight scenes, and the majority of the fight, I mean some of the fight scenes in this movie are are they're pretty incredible, a lot of fun. They do a lot of really exciting things from the games. They they literally pull moments and moves from the video games, uh, and it's really exciting to see that. I went with my brother-in-law Emilio, who was on the show when we talked about Iron Man, and he's a avid player of the recent games in particular, and he was calling out every move, every fatality that was pulled directly from the game, catchphrase, uh, you know, whatever the case may be. He he was like, he he caught all of it and he was really excited by it. Uh and yeah, so was as was I. I mean, it was cool to see it. Um again, the not every actor is the greatest actor in the world. Some of the visual effects are a bit cheap looking. Um but again, the movie's just a really good time, and it's violent and it's funny, and I'd say one of the biggest things about the movie, like that was kind of a big question mark for me, was they cast Carl Urban as Johnny Cage. Johnny Cage is a really is one of the the big fan favorite characters of the franchise. He was not in the first reboot, he was not in the the prior movie. Um and I think a lot of people were kind of curious, if not against the casting of Carl Urban. He's he's an older actor, a really good actor, an actor I really like a lot. Uh, if you don't know who he is, he's the lead uh Billy Butcher in The Boys. He was in the Star Trek reboot movies from a few years ago. He's in Lord of the Rings, uh, he was in Thor Ragnarok. I mean, if you guys look him up, you'll you've you've probably seen him in something. He's he's been in a bunch of really big stuff, and he's a he's a really cool actor and somebody I I enjoy quite a bit. I didn't think that he was the right fit for Johnny Cage when he was announced. I thought somebody along the lines of like a Glenn Powell. I don't think Glenn Powell would do this movie, like every would I necessarily do a movie like this or would be in Mortal Kombat 2. I I say that, but I mean he was he did just do a voice in the Super Mario Galaxy movie, so he's not above a paycheck, obviously. But I I I don't think he would do this movie in particular, like uh but somebody of that nature, kind of a a a cocky, you know, shitting and grin kind of guy is uh is kind of who Johnny Cage is, a cocky, arrogant movie star, million-dollar smile face, you know, kind of guy. And Carl Urban just didn't really fit the bill. Uh now watching the movie uh and having seen his performance, and uh I I think he was he he did the job. I don't think he ultimately sold it or nailed it. I think he's having a lot of fun in the movie. Some of the funniest moments are from him, uh at least in the first half, and he doesn't really get a sh chance to uh to shine really as far as the fight scenes go until about the midway, probably like the middle of the movie. Uh he has one fight scene in the beginning that he's kind of purposely like he's he it's bad because the character is not really sure of himself and isn't like he's he's like not aware of the rules of Mortal Kombat, so he is you know he doesn't do well in the first fight. Um But I I also just thought that the way the first fight his first fight was put together was kind of poor either, as well. Like there's some really obvious cuts to a stunt a stunt double, which are you know not always great. And again, not and to be expected because again, he's he's an older actor. He hasn't really done a lot of like fight choreography. He I mean he he plays a lot of like badasses, but he doesn't he doesn't do a lot of like hand-to-hand combat stuff. And um I don't know, the first fight it just seemed very much like he had his stunt double did the the mo the but the majority of the heavy lifting, which you know again, these types of movies, stunt doubles tend the stunt team do a lot of the heavy lifting. The movies just are really good about editing and cutting around them to make it seem like it's the actor. That's the job of you know, editing. You want to make it seem like the star is doing the the heavy lifting, and that's not always the case. It's rarely the case, actually. Uh no matter how many of these articles you hear about actors doing all of their own stunts. Um, not everybody is Tom Cruise. But uh but yeah, but then he he he gets a middle there, he has a fight scene in in the middle of the movie that is and just for I mean I'll I'll do mild spoilers. I'm not really gonna get into like spoil I'm not gonna spoil like anybody that dies or big plot points. Not that there's not that there's any like huge plot. The movie's story is you know a little it's not that memorable, but um, I won't spoil like death scenes, but Carl Urban's Johnny Cage gets a pretty good gets a much better fight scene in the middle of the movie where he kind of finds himself and becomes more sure of himself. Uh and I and you can kind of tell Carl Urban is a little bit more, was definitely more involved in that one, and he's doing a lot more of it, uh, at least for what's in the movie at that at that point, and it works much better. But again, I don't I don't think he was the the hundred percent right choice for that role, although I did enjoy him. And I think later on like another character joins the movie and fills the role of the funny guy and kind of takes a lot of the shine away from Johnny Cage. So it almost felt like they were kind of feeding off of each other's energy, and the uh and this other character ultimately I think is the more entertaining funny character than and I think that's what they want Johnny Cage to be in the movie. He's he's the funny guy. And honestly, the movie really isn't it's not really his story as much as the trailers kind of sell you. It's not really Johnny Cage's arc, it really belongs to Katana, another another new addition to the movie, but a a you know kind of a fan favorite character from the games, um, which was surprising to me. I I thought Johnny Cage was going to be the main character of the movie, and he really isn't. I mean, he's he's a big part of it, but he's not the main character. He's the selling point because Carl Urban is a bigger star, but uh again, not really the main focus of this the story that Mortal Kombat 2 is telling. But overall, I enjoyed it. I'd give it probably like a 7 out of 10. Um, I guess I don't know why I give you guys a number. I don't really rate things on here. But I mean, I I enjoyed it. It's a lot of fun. The fight scenes are really cool, the violence is really cool. There's a lot of fun surprises as far as which characters live and die. They definitely don't pull their punches when it comes to hero characters or villain characters, and I'm excited to see them continue it. I just think it's a fun franchise. Again, these movies are not they're I mean, they're not gonna win awards, man. They're they're they're fun uh entertainment for fans of the games. These games are just they're kind of nonsensical violence, uh, button mashing, combos, crazy fatalities, and the movie delivers on that. So ultimately, I enjoyed it. It was a great kickstart to May for me. Uh and I'm excited to see where the rest of the summer movie season kind of kind of goes now after this movie. As far as what what's coming up in May, I'm gonna talk a little bit about the movies in May that are coming out. I won't go too much further than that because I think I'll probably start doing these types of episodes maybe like once a month. Just an update as to what's coming, what I've seen, what I'm enjoying, what I recommend, etc. etc. Hopefully you guys enjoy my opinions and my recommendations. Uh if not, then hopefully you just enjoy the sound of my voice. Um, and if you don't enjoy that, then I I really don't know why you're listening to me. Uh, but yeah, so anyways, uh Mortal Kombat 2 is the first movie in May I saw. I was supposed to see Devil Wars Product 2, but timing just has not been able been on my side lately. Uh, so I've not been able to see to see the Devil Wars Product 2, although I'm really look I'm really hoping I get to I get to catch it in theaters. All signs point to it being a really worthy sequel to the first one. I I really do love the first movie. It's not like an ironic thing. I I think it's a I think the first movie is actually a pretty pretty good movie and highly rewatchable. So I do it I do intend to see that movie in theaters if I can. But May is pretty stacked, or quite a bit of movies in May that I want to watch, so we'll see what I find. I'm hoping to be able to get to it. I am trying to prioritize it, but only so many only so many days in a week, and I do have to uh be present for my family at times, I guess. Um I guess it's good to be a to be a a steady figure in my daughter's life. I am planning on watching two movies this week actually in the theaters, believe it or not. Uh so it's probably tomorrow on Tuesday, I'm gonna be watching The Sheep Detectives. This is the new Hugh Jackman movie. Uh it's kind of like a mystery film, a family mystery film. Hugh Jackman plays a a shepherd who reads crime mystery murder mystery stories to his uh sheep every day, and with the with the assumption that they don't understand what he's talking about, and then tragedy befalls his character. He is mysteriously he mysteriously dies. It's revealed that his sheep actually do talk and they believe he's been murdered, so now they use their extensive knowledge of all the murder mysteries he's read to them to try and solve the crime of his death. It's got a pretty star-studded voice cast on for all of the sheep. I wasn't planning on seeing this movie. I mean, I I had seen the trailer for it. It it looked amusing. It didn't seem like something I'd want to see in theaters, but my wife, Priscilla, actually, for whatever reason, was really drawn to the trailer and wanted to watch it. I was kind of hesitant, uh, just because there's so many movies that come out in the summer, and I we only have so many days or so much time to go see these movies. And I was like, do I really want to use one of my visiting my movie theater visits on the Sheep Detectives? Uh so I told her, uh, we'll see how it looks. If it gets good reviews, if people are saying that it's good, then we can go watch it. Or I'll go watch her. If anything, you can go watch it by yourself if she wanted to. Lo and behold, the movie got pretty gets received pretty strong reviews. Uh a lot of folks that I follow or people that I know that have seen it have or they recommend it, say it's a really good family movie, amusing, and stuff like that. So I had a condition that I would go see it, you know, for and uh it was met, and now I will be seeing the movie on Tuesday. But I'm I'm looking forward to it. I mean, again, if it's a good movie, then I don't really care what type of movie it is for the most part. Uh so it's fine. You know, she goes to see a lot of the movies that I want to see, so it's only fair that I see something that she's looking forward to and excited about. And she does she doesn't always have a movie like that that she's like super stoked about that I'm like not it's not on my radar. Generally, she's kind of going to the movies that I put on her radar and she enjoys for the most part, I think. Um at least early, or so she tells me anyways, she's just nice and lies to my face, which is fine. So that's Tuesday's plan. And then on Thursday, I'm gonna go see this new horror movie called Obsession, directed by Curry Barker. It's a really small independent horror movie that was that premiered last year at several film festivals and then was acquired by uh a bigger studio, Focus Features, and I think Blumhouse also had a hand in it as well for a pretty large deal. I think the movie was produced on a budget of a million dollars, and then it was sold to Focus Features for $15 million. So, you know, they made their money back and then some, and now it'll be released in theaters. It got insanely positive reviews out of all the festivals. It's been kind of it's been playing at festivals since last fall. So it's a lot of folks have seen it that have attended a lot several of these events, and it's been getting it's it's been insanely hyped. A lot of the folks, a lot of people that I follow that whose opinions on horror movies that I trust that have seen it have said that this movie does not, I mean, it lives up to the hype. Uh on the recent episode of uh Bring Her Back with Jacob, we were talking about kind of why I missed that uh Bring Her Back and that that director's pre-prior movie Talk to Me because a lot of times these especially these like in horror, there's a lot of these horror movies are pro they premiere at these festivals and they're kind of overhyped, and it takes such a long time for them to come out just because they they do the horror circuit and then they kind of to build up their release, and then the studios will release them, and then the audience sees them, and they're not there's just there's been like six to eight months of hype on a movie, and then you're kind of like uh it was it's fine or it's okay or it's like good, but is it like what everybody sold it as? Not not usually. So I tend to kind of that stuff kind of just puts me off, you know. Again, I I'm kind of trying to stop being I'm I'm kind of trying to stop having that sort of attitude because uh again, there's really nothing like my opinion is not so high that I can I need to be like, oh my god, I'm not gonna see that because everybody says I love it. I usually I tend to not like being like that with other things, anyways. I just I just sometimes I'm like, I just want I just want to see the damn movie rather than hear everybody talk about it. But this movie, like it it sounds really great. The premise, the premise of the movie is a anxiety-ridden, loner, awkward, you know, older male named Bear, uh, it's his nickname, uh, is kind of going through a crisis in his life, and he's had a longtime crush on his coworker named Nikki. And despite the chemistry they share with each other, their friendship, their relationship has kind of it's stuck at a very platonic level, and although he's extremely interested in her, and she it seems to maybe give him the time of day and maybe shows a little bit of interest in him, he's never had the courage to ask her out. And after a a recent kind of fumbling of trying to get her uh ask her out romantically, he turns to a kind of I don't know, new age store knickknack called uh One Wish Willow. Uh it's like this, it's like a a little, you know, stuff you find like a little like swap meets or like just random like stores, like on like a shop where you know it's it's contraption. And anyways, the the whole thing is you make a wish, you s you snap the the willow, and your wish will come true. Bear, after fumbling his recent attempt to ask Nikki out, he breaks he makes his wish, and it's essentially a monkey paw scenario where uh you know though his wish turns against him, and it's it's you know, it's it's the it's the concept we've all heard. Be careful what you wish for. It's not an original concept, but from what I understand, the the execution uh is something highly original and and something we haven't seen before. So though his wish comes becomes true, and Nikki ends up falling in love with him, and his wish is specifically is he he wishes that Nikki would fall would love him more than anyone else in the world ever. And it apparently it in it instantly works, and what start what what starts off as a seemingly innocent wish that you know works to his favor quickly becomes his worst nightmare as Nikki's affection for him goes from his dream come true to overly clingy, obsessive, to the point of you know, violence. Uh I guess. Uh I I haven't obviously I haven't seen the movie, I'm going off with the trailer and just you know some online plot summaries. Uh the trailer looks insane. The performance uh of the character Nikki by an actress named I believe it's Indy Navaretti, um, who I I've not seen before, uh, but she looks amazing in the trailer as far as her performance. Uh and I'm it looks like a very unhinged performance. I'm very excited to see what it I'm very excited to see this movie. I'm hoping I've been trying to drag my wife to go watch it with me, but she's she may or may not be on board, so we'll see if she sees it. Uh, but anyways, that's what I'm seeing on Thursday. So I'm excited about that. Any horror fans, you guys, I would definitely check it out. It looks like a really, really good time. And the director, it's a really cool story. So his name's Curry Barker, and he is a YouTuber. He uh made a bunch of comedy and horror shorts on his YouTube channel called This Is a Bad Idea with his partner. I don't have his name here, but uh, he has a uh a guy that he works with on all of his stuff and that guy is in the movie in uh obsession as well so it's really cool that he's kind of bringing the people that he's come up with in his Hollywood his Hollywood arc of his career uh but anyways he he's made a bunch he makes he makes a bunch of horror and comedy shorts they're on YouTube I would check them out I I recently watched so last year or or the year I think believe last year he premiered a short film it's about 60 minutes long called Milk and Cereal spelled S-E-R-I-A-L uh it's about two prank pranksters who host who like have their own YouTube prank show or or whatever they put some something amount along those lines and basically it's about pranks going too far and there's there's a lot of twists and turns and it's a really really cool short I actually I I checked it out the other day uh just because I've been kind of make this I've been obsessed with obsession I it's my obsession has been watching everything and I can about this movie reviews and footage and etc etc I try not to do that but sometimes a movie just kind of catches my eye and I'm like I have to like know all about the folks that are involved with it and see how it came to be etc and and that's kind of where I've been with this movie so I'm pretty hyped for it. So anyways I was kind of I was looking up what this guy did on YouTube and yeah I I would check out I would I recommend checking out his milk and cereal short on YouTube. It's really pretty fun. He made it was made for like a budget of like $800 and I think he had like a it was a for like a you know sum it up like he tried to get it I think acquired by a uh some someone in Hollywood nobody would budge so he they just decided to release it on YouTube for free and it ended up blowing up and that kind of led to him getting this movie Obsession which yeah like I said has it now a million dollar budget so a big upgrade from the $800 budget he had in a short film but still a per but for a Hollywood movie it's very very low budget but then to be acquired by $15 million and then the reception it's been getting just kind of shows this guy's Curry Barker is the next kind of big thing in in in Hollywood for horror uh following a similar path to directors like Zach Kregger who did Barbarian and weapons and has a movie called Resident Evil coming out this year. He was a a sketch comedy guy who started you know had a passion for horror and is now one of the big horror autors working today some you know someone like Jordan Peel who although Jordan Peel had a little bit more was a little bit more in Hollywood was what was much more involved in Hollywood than these guys were but uh the directors of Bring Her Back that I did cut cover recently in their prior movie Talk to me the Philippo brothers they were YouTubers they had a YouTube channel they had a YouTube channel uh Raka Raka that they did a lot of comedy horror shorts on there and now they're big horror art horror art horror autors uh Kane Parsons has a movie coming out later this month I guess I'll touch on briefly uh backrooms that I'm uh cautiously optimistic for just because I've not I'm not too familiar with that sub with that kind of IP but again these are these are youtubers uh there was another movie that came out re earlier this year Iron Lung which I didn't see I talked about it a bit on the Brinkert back episode but that guy is a youtuber who basically crowdsourced money from his from I I believe he just cra he was a he made a movie independently got it released independently and just used word of mouth of his YouTube community his YouTube channel and community and was able to gr gross like a hundred million dollars at the box office off of a very off of basically he self-financed the movie all that majority of that profit comes back to him so a lot of horror filmmakers are coming from YouTube uh which is pretty exciting um to see that you know there's a lot of creativity going on online and that there's just a new way to break into Hollywood like they're just they're kind of breaking all the rules and it just kind of goes to show you like if you are creative and you have ideas like pick up your phone make movies with your friends and see where it takes you man a lot of these guys are just they're they're young kids and they're becoming big big Hollywood names all of a sudden so anyways Curry Barker I would I'd recommend checking this stuff out I'm excited for this movie obsession he is he just recently got tapped to direct uh a new reboot of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre I'm very stoked to see what he does with that I think there's a lot of potential there the the the recent movies in that franchise have been pretty terrible so I'm I'm hope I'm hopeful to get someone someone like him on on a on a project like that could kind of bring the bring it back to its glory of the early early editions in that in that franchise so I'm excited about that so that's some session coming out this week I'll I'll be checking that out probably Thursday. As far as the rest of May um keeping in line with horror there's a horror movie coming out I believe at the end of the month called Passenger this is directed by Andre Overdahl who's done movies like scary movies to scary stories to tell in the dark which I thought was solid uh he did a movie a couple years ago called The Last Voyage of the Demeter which was fine um uh he has did a really really cool movie called The Autopsy of Jane Doe that's a that's incredibly creepy so he's a he's a generally a horror director I think he's got he's got some talent um his direction's usually good it's just sometimes the scripts he gets aren't the best but I think he's a solid horror director as far as creating tension and stuff like that. But um yeah this trailer for Passenger Man I I saw I watched it when I went to go watch this movie Primate watched this movie Primate earlier this year. It kind of was like a surprise teaser that wasn't online for quite a while but it was a really really creepy teaser and it it seems like there's it it follows these two this couple who are haunted by demonic presence on the road it looks pretty creepy. The trailer looks the trailer looks intense um so I'm looking forward to seeing that movie. I don't know a ton about it I kind of have kind of stayed away I haven't been I haven't been all into it like I have been with Obsession but I it looks cool. And then the next kind of really big movie of May it comes out my birthday weekend is The Mandalorian and Grogu this The Mandalorian and Grogu. This is the latest Star Wars movie well not I guess I say latest but this is the first this is the first Star Wars movie in theaters since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. Lucasfilm and Disney have had a hard time getting a movie in theaters a a new Star Wars movie in theaters. They kind of pivoted to television for the last seven years uh primarily because it it it started off pretty good for them the man that the the series so this is a follow-up this is a follow-up movie to the Mandalorian the Disney Plus series that premiered in 2018 uh which I really enjoyed the first two seasons of I the first season in particular I think is pretty fantastic. Season two I think is really really strong and has a lot of really awesome stuff. I think um I've talked about it a bit on the show but I think some of the pitfalls of Star Wars and Marvel lately have been quantity over quality and I think it's it's weird. So Marvel and Star Wars have been kind of on a downward trend lately uh with with with with the kind of moments of greatness scattered between with for Marvel you know I have I I can't praise the the recent movie or the one of the movies from last year Thunderbolts enough I think that's one of their with the great triumphs of Marvel in the last several years um on top of a couple of shows smaller shows recently Marvel had a show called Wonderman which I think is fantastic uh their Daredevil show on Disney Plus has has been pretty great as well they've really that's really been a improv they really improved upon kind of season one's uh shortfalls there uh and I think they're in a really good place uh um but but anyways to not to differ not to you know go off a tangent too much but whereas Marvel's problem has been they've just they have expanded so much and their their universe has just gotten so big it's hard to kind of keep track of everything and care about everything. Star Wars while they've while they've made a lot of shows I think their big the big issue with Star Wars has been they've kept the universe so small by making it about the same set of characters in every project they they have to con they have to find a way to bring in a Skywalker whether it be Luke or Anakin or some sort of character from the the main franchise rather than kind of focusing on new characters. I mean Star Wars is it's set in a in a made up galaxy and it's such a big world and it just it's been unfortunate that they have to like bring back in all these old characters and and rather than kind of start new stories. I mean you have to be I I would need a whole separate podcast to talk about kind of the the mistakes that they've started they've made with Star Wars since since 2019 but um I mean and it's a I'm not saying it's a shit show. I think there have been a lot of good things they've done on Disney Plus I've enjoyed most of the shows uh or at least have found things to enjoy in a lot of the shows even the ones that I feel weren't ultimately successful. Like I said I think the first two seasons of Mandalorian are are good. I think the Obi-Wan Kenobi show had moments of greatness but ultimately was probably should it should have just been a movie. The Ahsoka TV show I liked for the most part but it was very inside baseball if you didn't watch the animated TV shows which I did of course because I'm a nerd and I have no life and then there was a couple other ones that came out Acolyte which was fine uh good ideas good intentions not the greatest of execution uh skeleton true skeleton crew came out I think maybe two years ago that one was a fun show I think if it just I don't I just I don't think it was watched by many unfortunately um and then of course I've praised Andor uh on this already but I I mean just giving it flower Andor is one of the greatest things ever made it's just a fucking amazing television show and I I I I love it so so so so much. But uh so anyways and then you know there's been a long history of mm Star Wars movies that have been in development various phases phases of development have come close to actually happening and they're just being being flat out cancelled because Disney has just been scared of what to do next with Star Wars uh because fan reception to their movies and TV shows has kind of has not been great recently and for whatever reason they just have not been able to get a movie off you know Greenlit in in production and the first thing they got pretty the first movie that really got greenlit was this Mandalorian Grogu which is you know and I was I was excited when it was announced. I thought that's a cool idea they bring in John Favreau who created the show to direct the movie he's a director I like he you know directed the first Iron Man um Zathura Chef movies movies I enjoy uh and you know I think the third season of the Mandalorian I didn't love it it was I didn't really like it uh but so I was I was looking forward to it and seeing what they do with it. Uh and then the trailers the trailers have not been super exciting for me for this movie I if I have to be honest. I'm not extremely excited about it. I thought I would be it's the first Star Wars movie in theaters in six years. I thought I would be pretty over the moon about it and I'm kind of just whelmed by it uh which is fine. I mean that just means the movie has the opportunity to really surprise me. Um and I think that's been kind of the temperature check on the movie for the most part it's just been kind of a yeah this looks this looks okay.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

It's a movie.

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So we'll see. I I just it it it just it looks like the TV show it looks like just an uh an extended episode of the of the show and I feel like if it's gonna be the first movie back in theaters for Star Wars it should be this grand thing. It should be worth it. And for it to have been six years since the last movie has come out in theaters in the movie to just kind of look very I don't know a little flat um it's a bit disappointing. But I I will see it because I I I love Star Wars I'm a huge Star Wars fan I you know I enjoy the characters I enjoy the Mandalorian and Grogu um and I you know I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. They do have another movie another movie coming out next year called Star Wars Starfighter starring Ryan Gosling which uh I I'm a bit more excited about that one um just because it sounds like it's an it's an original story all new characters as far as we know uh and it's not going to be bringing including any of these legacy characters uh so yeah I I think the Mandalorian and Grogu is also that they're utilizing a bit of the characters from the animated TV shows but seems like it's kind of doing its own thing for the most part but we'll see I I wouldn't be surprised if a cameo from Luke Skywalker or something you know doesn't happen in the movie but we'll see. Either way it it it comes out the weekend of my birthday so you know I usually I usually get a pretty big exciting movie for my birthday weekend because it's around usually around Memorial Day and that's a big movie movie going weekend generally so I'm excited. Right now it's not like mandatory viewing for me. I I will see it but I'm not like I need to be there Thursday night right away. Like if I see it Sunday like I'll probably I'll be okay which I you know I don't want to be for a Marvel movie or a Star Wars movie or a big event movie like that for a franchise that I love. But I'm I'm hoping I'm hoping they prove me wrong. So we'll see how it goes. So yeah I mean it's a pretty pretty busy May uh and I'm excited there's an uh you know there's a smaller movie and then yeah I guess I'll finish with movies um and then I'll talk a little bit about some television shows I'm watching or excited for I think there's one last movie it's a really small movie called Power Ballad. It's a musical comedy movie it's it's not a musical not a musical in the sense that characters break out in a song but it's it's a movie about music starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas directed by John Carney he is a somebody you probably have not heard of but he's done some really really he's done some really cool musical films begin again Sing Street Florence movies that I I really really recommend if you have not seen those movies I would check them out they're really really good movies and I'm excited about this one um it looks like a good time smaller movie uh Paul Rudd plays a I think he's a he's a wedding band he's in he's in a wedding band and he's an aspiring musician Nick Jonas's character is a part of a boy band trying to break out into I think a solo career and hasn't been able to branch out and I think after a chance meeting of the two Paul Rudd's character shows him or sings him a song he was working on and then Nick Jonas's character steals it and the song becomes a giant hit and it's about the fallout of that of Paul Rudd knowing his song his song was taken and became this global sensation and he's not received any credit or accolade or compensation for it. So it's like a musical comedy I'm excited about it. I like I'm a big Paul Rudd guy. I think Nick Jonas is a solid actor as well as well as obviously a capable capable musician uh so looking forward to that so if you guys you know that's a smaller movie that you guys I recommend you guys checking out Hope Webing I I would say check it out I can't I I can't say I recommend it because I haven't seen it but I'm excited I'm looking forward to that movie. So yeah I mean this sounds you know again saw Mortal Kombat 2 and then of the movies I still need to see or I'm going to see we've got Sheep Detectives Obsession Passenger Power Ballad Devil Wars product 2 and The Man Lord and Grogu. So pretty stocked May um yeah and as far as TV what am I watching currently or finishing up uh just some shows I'm watching right now there's a few I'm watching and then I'll I'll highlight two shows uh one you guys probably have heard of and one I I'm sure you guys have not but of the shows that I'm watching currently I'm watching the boys is the final season of the boys starring Carl Urban who I just spoke about in Mortal Kombat 2. Really enjoying the final season um sad to see the show ending but glad it's ending before it you know runs its course also watching your friends and neighbors on Apple TV this is a John Hamm kind of comedy crime show uh it's a solid show it's it's very you know it's it's it's uh it definitely thinks it's probably more clever than it actually is but it's very entertaining and it's got a really fun cast of characters and I love John Ham so good to see him back in a in a television show. He's in the second season um or this show is in its second season now so pretty it's solid I I recommend it if you guys just need something to kind of have on and and enjoy and you know but it's it's it's a fun show. And finally and then I just recently finished Paradise on Hulu. I was a little late in finishing season two but if you guys have not seen this show Paradise on Hulu it's a really really fun show uh a lot of twists and turns very dramatic uh really really cool show and um kind of gives me vibes of like Lost uh from back in the day if you've uh it's just a show that really you know mystery box show with a little with a lot of again twists and turns and fun characters and it's action it's got it's got action mystery sci-fi it's it's really cool I I highly recommend if you've not checked it out as far as two shows that I'm in and two shows that I'm watching currently that I'll highlight I'll the the first one I'll I'll start with I'm sure you guys are all watching or know what it is and that's Euphoria season three the uh rumored final season of euphoria who knows I I I think it is the final season they just aren't ready to announce it yet uh this is the and if you're not if you've not if you're not aware of the show which I'm sure most of you are it's the HBO teen well it was a teen high school drama starring Zendaya and in a you know at the time these were not known actors but uh you know Sydney Sweeney Alexa Demet Jacob Alordy Maud Apatau Colman Domingo just uh basically everybody in the the cat the the everybody in the main cast now is essentially a a big star now and and lead their own shows and movies at this point. So yeah Euphoria's a show that I've I think I've I've really enjoyed season one and two uh I I think season two got a little full of itself but I still enjoyed I still enjoyed a lot of what they did in season two and uh the creator of the show Sam Levinson is he's this autour guy who's again a little full of himself and he there was just a there was a long break between season two and three and boy I think we thought we were never even we I think a lot of us assume we were just never going to get season three because the actor schedules just all got so busy Zindaya in particular who is a the lead of the show and a producer like her movie career is blowing up Sydney Sweeney's an A-list star Jacob Alordy's an A-list star um it had been it's been five years since the last season I believe and four or five years I think it's been five years honestly um or almost five and in between seasons we've a couple of the actors actually uh you know tragically passed away Angus Cloud who played Fez Eric Dane who played Nate's dad um and one of the main producers of the show also passed away and a more behind the scenes guy but it just seemed like the show was not going to happen um and it's back it it's it came back in April uh and they got basically they got the bulk of the the m the the main cast back somehow I mean it's probably was probably a scheduling nightmare for the producers of the show but they did it um whether or not any any of these act you know and it's funny because a quite a bit of characters actually sh share the screen in the show which is surprising because I think a lot of people assumed myself included that the show was going to be very like that the characters were going to be very isolated and not really with each other because all these actors are so big now and their schedules are so big and it's just hard to the euphoria in general to it's a pretty big it's a pretty big show to make it costs a lot of money and it it they film for a long time and uh it's it's just it's a really difficult show to make in it mostly because of the guy who created Sam Davidson I'd say it's mostly due to him but uh just because he just he has such a very precise vision of what he wants um but he managed to get the cast together it's been a very strange kind of I don't know marketing or or not marketing but the the the cast has been it's just been a very weird thing. Like none of the actors are really talking are like doing interviews for the show or like press like Zendaya, Jacob Alordy, Alexa Demy, Hunter Schaefer like none of the actors are doing interviews or press for the show. It kind of seems like Zendaya's like just done with it. Like she wants nothing to do with the show anymore. I think just you know I think maybe her working relationship with Sam Levinson is is uh not what it used to be. These are all rumors that have been out on the internet for quite a while but it seems like some of the actors maybe are not you know enjoy the experience of making the show as much as they used to in season one and two. But anyway season three is I think has been a pretty I think it's actually been pretty good. The critic reviews have not been great but I I think the show's actually pretty strong um it's a much different vibe there's been a there's a big time jump it's more of a dark crime show now than it is like a teen drama um which I think it had to be because all the actors even in season one and two were in their you know late 20s so like they couldn't believably play high school kids anymore. They had to get out of there. So they did the show smartly does like a five year time jump. I'd say for the most part it's been mostly successful for every character. I think the jewels character has suffered a lot. Hunter Schaefer gives a great performance but there's just not a lot for that character to do. Jacob Alorty's character Nate he's playing he's playing a completely different person. He's not the same guy that he was in season one and two which which I it's been very strange. Nate the Nate character in season one and two is a very narcissistic Violent, um psychotic, or basically sociopathic, or just bully. Like he's a very interesting character, but just like he was a monster in season one and two. And in season three, he's kind of just like a buffoon, like a because he's just a big joke. And it's like while it's it's it's I guess uh nice to see Nate like uh being uh in this position where he's not in power, it's also just like he's just not he's fundamentally not the same guy that he was in season one and two. So that's been kind of interesting and uh uh frustrating to watch. Um but I think for the most part, like Alexa Demi's Maddie, Sidney Sweeney's Cassie, Rue Bennett from you know Zendaya uh are all doing great work, and I think the show is actually servicing those characters really well. Uh there's been there's there's there are some new additions to the cast that I think are that have been really, really good as well. Um and yeah, I mean they haven't announced that it's the final season, but I I assume this will be the last season. I can't imagine there's a world in which they get all these actors to come back again for another season. If they did, it would I think would have to be a total reboot, which I I doubt they even do. Um and but you know, I've been enjoying it. It's it's it's not the same show as season one and two, but I do like I do like what it's evolved into for the most part. Uh obviously, again, some characters are a little bit off and not exactly what they were in the original seasons, and and you know, but I'm enjoying the ride, and and there's a few we have we got three episodes left, and I'm I'm curious to see how it ends. Uh you know, rumors out there point to it being a pretty dark ending for some characters and maybe hopeful for others. So we'll we'll see what happens. Um but yeah, that's Euphoria season three. And then the show I'm watching, the one the last show I want to highlight that I'm super like I'm just in love with this show. I strongly recommend the show to everybody. Like, please, guys, check the show out on Apple TV. It's called Widows Bay. It's a new this is a new comedy horror show on Apple TV starring Matthew Reese, uh, an actor I love from the show, from a show like The Americans, uh, and Perry Mason on HBO recently. Um, you guys probably don't know who he is, but I love I love this guy. Anyways, this is a comedy horror show on Apple TV, and it is basically Parks and Rec meets Jaws or like a Stephen King book. Like it's it's and when I say that, it's not like an over-the-top goofball joke a minute show, but it kind of is. Um it's just the show finds it it does this thing. I don't know how it does it, it's so insanely well done. It it it the show manages to be incredibly funny with some very smart jokes and humor coming from some of the best written characters I've seen in in a while, and then just played by these actors that played by a group of actors that you you you probably don't know their names, but you've seen them in all kinds of things. That just it's just uh an incredible roster of character actors that again I know who they are for the most so who some of them are because again, I'm I'm a sicko and I watch too much shit, and I for whatever reason I can memorize these actors' names, but but but uh there's even a there's a lot of actors that I don't I have no idea who they are. I I've seen them in things, but I don't know their name, and they're they're becoming some of the most iconic characters I've seen all year. I I I have a hard time thinking that any that there's gonna be a show that takes place that that I love more than this show. It again, it it manages to be incredibly funny, but also incredibly scary. Like when I say it's a comedy horror, it's not like scary movie or like even scream to a to an extent. It's it's the tone. It'll go from a character making a joke, and then it'll just shift to this to this intense psychologically scary scene. Like, and not just like you know, the the premise of the show is Matthew Reese's character is the mayor of the town Widows Bay. It's a it's like a it's a town, it's a town like a it's it's like a sea town, um kind of uh more on the east coast, and it's a dying town. It's a very old town. There's there's literally there's like no Wi-Fi on the town, like in the town, there's no internet, there's no cell reception, everything has to be if you want to get a hold of somebody, it's it's either you either gotta find them physically or get a hold of them on a landline. Um and the local rumors or legends are that the town is cursed. And one of the big legends is that if you're born in the town, you can't leave the town, and that there's there are cases allegedly where people that are people that were born in the town that have tried to move out of the town died tragically and mysteriously. Um on top of that, there are several local legends uh about benevolent spirits or whatever whatever the case may be on the island that um the mayor just does not believe. He thinks it's nonsense. He's trying to revive the town's popularity. And he he the first episode is about it's a reporter from the New York Times comes to do a uh piece on the town for to to gain attraction for you know to to gain tourist attraction so that we can they can start they can revitalize the economy of the town and and make it uh just bring it back to life, bring it back to or you know, bring some glory to the town. And um every episode it every episode's kind of a different situation, a different horror, like a different yeah, a different like terrifying event. Um and it's just I I I can't express how much I love the show. There's three episodes out as of the recording. Um every episode has gotten better and better. The first one is like a kind of a it's like the fog and a little bit of like zombies in a sense, not not like and then season uh episode two, sorry, is like the shining almost where the character the mayor has to stay in a a haunted hotel, and then episode three is uh yeah, I mean it's like I don't even know how to explain episode three, but it's it's amazing. I mean, some of the humor, again, like the the I I don't understand how the show walks this line of being incredibly hilarious and also incredibly scary. Like like the the the the the horror scenes are genuinely scary. Like some of the scariest stuff I've seen on television or even movies. Uh episode two in particular has a really scary scene that I was like, even I was like kind of uncomfortable watching for a second. Um and it'll it it'll have this, it'll have a terrifying scene, and then it'll just it'll somehow just immediately go into a joke, and you don't feel like you're losing like you don't feel like the horror suffers or that the comedy suffers. Um so I I don't know how they do it, but I strongly recommend the show for you guys. Please check it out. It's it's really, really great. Widow's Bay on Apple TV. Um probably gonna be one of my favorite shows of the year, if not my favorite show of the year. Definitely. Um but yeah, man, that that's that but yeah, that's about what I've been watching and what I'm looking forward to this year. Uh hope you guys kind of enjoyed me rambling for about I don't know, we'll see how long we'll see where this episode ends up, maybe about 45 minutes or you know, maybe about an hour. If so as far as what's next for the podcast, uh I don't have any episodes scheduled. I need to get on that. Um I'm very bad at planning and scheduling this show. Uh, and I pay for it because I record and then I'm up late editing episodes because I do everything so last minute. But I think what I'm gonna what I definitely want to do uh in this month is uh uh what I want to start doing is making sure I get episodes to you guys out weekly as much as possible. Um I know there have been some kind of there have been breaks. I'll I'll usually I'll do a chunk of episodes and then I'll I won't release anything for a week or for like two weeks or three weeks, and I want to kind of stop doing that. So you may get a little bit more of these episodes where I'm kind of just rambling. Some I I may, you know, I'll probably maybe I'll bring on it won't always be just me. Maybe I'll bring on a guest uh to talk about what we what I've been watching or and we'll do you know mini reviews of movies. Maybe they maybe I won't do a full episode on every movie, but I'll you know, maybe I'll do I'll talk about a few of them with a guest. Uh so or or or myself, we'll see how it goes. Um if I'm maybe maybe my wife will join me if she wants to talk to me. But yeah, so as far as what's what I want to do next, I I I want to continue uh the Fast and Furious franchise. Last one I did was Tokyo Drift. Uh so I need to do the next movies in the franchise. Every movie probably won't get its own episode. I'll probably do like I think the next one I'll mix the fourth and then fast five. It'll be a fast five episode, but I'll talk about the fourth movie. Um so I'll I'm gonna get a guess on that one pretty soon. I I want to continue that franchise, especially with there's uh I don't know if you guys follow me on on the if you guys follow the podcast on Instagram at did you see this pod, listen to the uh, you know, please like, share, and subscribe. Listen to the theme song. Um the it was just announced today that they're making a live action Fast and Furious TV show. Vin Diesel's part of it producing it. So huge news for the pod. You know, whenever it comes out, I'm gonna have to do cover every episode. I'm very excited about that. As you guys know, family's very huge family's really important to me, especially the fast family. Um so yeah, I'm definitely gonna get the next episode of the next fast and furious episode out. I'll I think I'm gonna try to do that this month. So I don't want to delay it anymore because I want to try to get them, I want to try to get them finished before the uh before the next movie comes out, which I think is 2028, if not 2027. And then I want to start I need to start doing some Christopher Nolan movies on here. Uh I want to kind of get I'm hoping to do a couple of them before leading up to the Odyssey. So there's a couple of those movies I want to do. Maybe Interstellar, Inception, uh maybe get the Dark Knight Rises so I can do a little bit more Bane impressions. You think Darkness is your ally? You maybe adapted the dark. I was born in it. Yeah. You guys want you guys want that for two and a half hours? I'm sure you do. Uh that's kind of my last impression I've got left. I've done all my Nick Nulty impressions. Um I don't think I have anything else that left in me. Um, I don't know, maybe movie for my birthday weekend. Might do my favorite movie of all time, Jurassic Park. I don't know. We'll see, or I'll do something stupid. Probably something stupid. Yeah, I'm I'll do something stupid. Um so yeah, that's kind of what's next for the pod. And then video is not happening because I don't want to buy a camera. Uh no, I I I've been definitely been thinking about doing video. There's a couple things I want to do before I get into video. We'll see. I'm also just very lazy and they don't want to edit video, but you know, maybe I'll pay somebody to do it. Probably not. But uh I have a couple of couple of folks have asked me about doing video. We'll see. I'll again I'm an audio, I'm a I'm a podcast period, audio only, but uh we'll see how it goes. Definitely gonna work on getting some some good episodes out to you guys this month and going forward. You could probably expect episodes like this at least once a month, just to kind of fill out you know, a pad out so I'm not missing weeks. Um and I can kind of talk about you know what's coming up in the month that I'm excited about. This was partly inspired from my uncle Eric who told me to do something like this. So shout out to my uncle Eric who gave me the idea to do this. Uh so this is the the first version of this. I'm sure how I do it will be a little bit more maybe more organized or more chaotic, or like I said, I'll bring people on to talk about stuff I've watched or I'm going to watch. Um but yeah, man. But uh yeah, thanks everybody for checking this out. This is again just a short one here today. Hope you guys enjoy this. Uh now I know it's not as exciting as when I'm talking to somebody else. Um but hopefully hopefully my voice, hopefully just my voice wasn't too bad for everybody. But I do appreciate everybody. I do appreciate everyone listening. Hope you guys have been have hell hope hope you guys have been enjoying the show. I've been enjoying doing it. I feel like I um hope hopefully you know this every episode's getting better and better for you guys. I'm trying my best to be a better host and create better conversations. I've been really happy with the last few episodes. Uh really happy with the theme song I made. I hope you guys it seems like you guys enjoyed the theme song. The feedback on it was really was really fun and exciting to get. It was a lot of fun to make. Um, and I'll probably continue to make music uh professionally because why not? Uh podcast host, musician. Uh maybe I'll do stand-up comedy too. Do you guys think I can do it? Anyone? Somebody answer me. Um all right. Well, thank you guys for listening. I'll stop torturing you all. Take care and talk to you guys next week.