Movie
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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the second full movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular Doctor Stephen Strange. The movie serves as an introduction to a new character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, America Chavez (played by Xochitl Gomez), a teenager with the ability to jump between dimensions. Can Doctor Strange save her before her powers are stolen by a mysterious villain? This week, Evan and Brian discuss their general non-spoiler thoughts about the movie during the main portion of the podcast, followed by a more in-depth spoiler filled discussion that an be found after the closing music.
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CODA
The film CODA, written and directed by Sian Heder, was released at the Sundance film festival in 2021, and was purchased for distribution by Apple TV. The movie is set on the coast of Massachusetts, and tells the story of Ruby, a 17 year old high school student who is the only hearing member of her family; her mother, father, and brother are all deaf. Ruby spends her mornings helping with the family business, fishing, but longs for a time when she can escape to follow her passion, singing. The film stars Emilia Jones as Ruby, Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur as her parents Jackie and Frank, Daniel Durant as Leo, Ruby’s brother, and Eugenio Derbez as the choir director Mr. V. CODA won numerous awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kostur, and Best adapted screenplay.
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Turning Red
This week we discuss Turning Red, a 2022 animated movie by Pixar Animation Studios. The story follows Meilin "Mei" Lee, a 13-year-old girl who, through a quirk of her family history, suddenly turns into a panda when she experiences strong emotions.
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Eternals
Marvel's Eternals tells the story of a group of ancient, near immortal guardians who travel to Earth in order to protect the planet from evil beings known as Deviants. The Eternals have lived here for thousands of years, but are tasked not to interfere with the human course of history. This week, we react to the movie, and come away with mixed feelings for a story that felt too long, and had too many new heroes for our liking.
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Miracle / Winter Olympics
What America needed was a miracle. What it got was a hockey game. That was the tagline to the 2004 movie Miracle, which told the story of the 1980 US Hockey team and their incredible journey to Olympic gold. This week, we talk about the movie, and also some of our thoughts about the current Winter Olympic games.
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Hilda and the Mountain King
Hilda and the Mountain King is an animated film that premiered on Netflix on December 30th, 2021. The story is based on the sixth book of the popular Hilda graphic novel series by author and Illustrator Luke Pearson, and provides closure to the cliffhanger end of Hilda's second season. Also on this episode, our pop-culture news, and fortune cookies. In case you missed it, you can check out our review of seasons 1 and 2 of Hilda on episode 22 from February 2021.
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Animation, Movie, Musical, Podcast
Encanto
The animated Disney musical Encanto tells the story of the Madrigal family, who are all blessed with a special, magical gift. All except for Mirabel, that is. But when their magical house begins to crumble and her sibling's gifts start to fade, it is up to Mirabel to find out why and save the family.
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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Evan planned and hosted our discussion of Marvel's latest movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. We talk about our favorite characters, plus the fact that there are (finally!) no floating sky cities. All that, plus our pop-culture news and fortune cookies.
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The Parent Trap
It's our 60th episode, so what better to cover than the 1961 Disney comedy The Parent Trap, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary! Brian remembers watching this movie in his elementary school library on actual film. Does the movie hold up for Linnea and Evan? Find out on today's show.
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Black Widow
Marvel's Black Widow is now available to all Disney+ subscribers, so we decided to watch it for this week's show. We also discussed the idea of whether there are movies that need to be seen in the theater, or if story matters more than spectacle.