Close Up

Justin and Joe review The Social Reckoning. 00:00 Movie Says Nothing 08:21 Regulatory Oversight 14:46 Three Perspectives 20:25 How It Could Be Fixed 24:10 Conversation Starter 32:41 Some Good Things 33:50 To A Higher Standard 38:42 Filmmaking 41:38 Some More Good 44:38 The Social Media Problem 53:10 Final Thoughts WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.instagram.com/jchurchtpm/...

Justin and Joe review Neon Genesis: Evangelion. 00:00 Overview 01:82 Shinji Is Pathetic 05:52 Nonsensical Story 15:08 The End of Evangelion 20:46 Rebuild Movies Overview 27:47 Rebuild 3 34:06 Franchise Themes 37:32 Action 44:12 Visual Style 46:49 More Themes 53:48 Rankings 01:03:18 Final Rankings 01:06:23 Where Does the Franchise Go? WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.insta...

Joe blind-reacts to the famously confusing series finale of Neon Genesis: Evangelion. This is a watch/ listen-along format, with sporadic commentary. So pull up the episode and follow along! 01:10 Episode Starts 23:24 Joe's Review

Justin and Joe review Grave of the Fireflies. 00:00 Overview 01:02 Frustrating 06:36 About Regret 09:42 Struggling to Empathize 13:33 Technical Aspects 15:37 This Is A Kid's Movie 18:26 What Makes A Tragedy? 22:51 Wartime 25:55 Expressiveness 28:10 Emotional Intelligence 32:46 Rare Presentations of Death 35:27 Parental Guidance 41:10 Movies That Make Us Cry 50:47 What's The Takeaway? 58:21 Final T...

Joe and Justin learn how to become more effective game masters of TTRPGs with some basic game theory., 00:00 GNS Theory Overview 11:38 Where Does DnD Lean 17:15 Narrative TTRPGs 23:08 Situationist TTRPGs 30:12 How It Helps Players 34:41 DnD Is a Gateway Drug 41:33 The Problem With Narrative 47:06 Wrap-up WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.instagram.com/jchurchtpm/ Recorded...

Ryan and Joe review House of the Dragon S3. *Apologies for Joe's subpar audio. There was a technical glitch while recording. This was the best he could manage to fix it in the edit. 00:00 Intro 05:55 Real Problems With S3 08:47 Undermining Deaths 11:42 Too Many Characters 18:01 Poor Halaena 24:24 Aemmond 25:57 Lord Ormund 31:51 The Knights 35:28 Aegon 40:24 Alicent 41:50 Action 50:48 Dialogue 52:4...

Justin and Joe review Spider-Man: Brand New Day. 00:00 Overview 06:16 Classic Marvel 09:55 Flashbacks 13:34 Pacing 16:31 Themes 32:45 Stylization 35:55 Brings Out Inner Child 37:09 The Hulk 44:17 Humour 46:19 Ned and MJ 57:42 Tom Holland is the Best Spider-Man 01:05:31 Effects Work 01:07:33 Franchise Quality 01:10:10 Jean Grey 01:14:51 Mutants 01:20:23 Final Thoughts and Rankings WEBSITE: thoughtp...

Justin and Joe review Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. 00:00 First Impressions 04:26 Greek Gods 11:46 The Cyclops Scene 18:34 Odysseus 29:50 Penelope 33:05 Robert Pattinson 35:50 John Leguizamo 36:42 Immersion 41:08 Editing 46:03 Thematic and Narrative Payoffs 54:06 Telemachus 59:05 Length 01:03:32 Action 01:06:44 Controversies 01:09:56 Rankings 01:12:35 As An Adaptation 01:20:09 Score WEBSITE: th...

Justin, Joe, and special guest star Ryan Walker review The Legend of Vox Machina S4. 00:00 Expectations 03:02 Cliffhanger Finale 05:00 Animation 08:14 Fractured Team Spirit 14:18 Lack of Communication 20:09 The Whispered One 23:18 Taryon Darrington 28:01 Pike 32:51 The Power of Faith 35:40 Great Character Moments 40:30 Matt Mercer 41:35 The Bard's Lament 48:11 Long-term Setup 49:37 Other Character...

Justin and Joe review Spider-Noir. 00:00 Sony Has a Win 02:17 Colour Choices 05:37 Filmmaking Craft 08:53 VFX 17:39 Characters 21:28 An Original But Classic Spidey Story 28:38 The Spider 33:31 Supporting Cast 37:42 Stray Thoughts 44:05 Final Rankings WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.instagram.com/jchurchtpm/ Recorded by Joseph Morin and Justin Church Edited by Joseph Mori...

Justin and Joe review Maul: Shadow Lord. 00:00 Introduction 02:10 Technically Exceptional 06:14 Action 13:52 Score 14:47 What Era Is This? 17:06 Joe Being Petty 24:25 Characterizations 28:28 Moral Grays + The Final Fight 33:41 Sith Are Emotional 35:12 Working Around Canon 41:39 Pacing and Energy 48:23 Recycled Concepts 53:40 Final Thoughts WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOCIAL MEDIA https://www...

Justin and Joe review Invincible S4. 00:00 Introduction 02:31 Diminished Returns 07:06 Repeated Sins 09:24 Burden of Responsibility 12:39 Guardians of the Globe 16:41 Zoe 20:06 General Writing 25:58 The Action 28:56 Thragg 32:55 Speculation for S5 36:07 Ethical Dilemmas 37:47 Redemption 42:56 More Speculation 46:54 Unbelievable Plots 52:29 Animation 56:12 The Show's Popularity 59:10 Comparison Gam...

Justin and Joe review The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. 00:00 Introduction 01:26 Nintendo Cinematic Universe 06:06 Animation 07:51 Bad Writing 16:12 Early Final Rankings 19:51 Stray Thoughts 22:24 Themes 26:18 Ratings, For Real WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.instagram.com/jchurchtpm/ Recorded by Joseph Morin and Justin Church Edited by Joseph Morin Close Up cover art by Jus...

Justin and Joe review Project Hail Mary. 00:00 Introduction 01:06 The VFX 06:14 Visual Style 10:10 Hard Sci-Fi 14:51 Adaptation 17:36 Character Development 20:07 Rocket Fuel 22:16 Music and Sound 23:38 Length and Pacing 27:38 Broad Appeal 34:35 Some Stray Thoughts 39:09 Final Thoughts WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.instagram.com/jchurchtpm/ Recorded by Joseph Morin and...

Justin and Joe review Beastars Season 3 Part 2 00:00 Our Backgrounds on Beastars 02:52 The Ending Sucked 09:23 The Black Market 11:20 More That Bugged Us 15:44 Technical Issues 18:28 Why the Lower Quality? 21:03 Some Positives 26:59 Stray Thoughts 34:12 The Animation Style 39:27 Final Rankings WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.instagram.com/jchurchtpm/ Recorded by Joseph M...

Ryan and Joe review A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms S1. 00:00 Intro 03:18 George R.R Martin 06:07 Egg 12:25 Writing and Tone 18:04 A Knight Who Remembered His Vows 24:36 World Politics 31:05 Ser Arlan of Pennytree 34:13 Baelor Targaryen 39:26 Supporting Characters 44:31 The Ending 47:58 Is Dunk a Knight? 52:12 Colouring 55:40 Production Design 59:32 Trial of Seven 01:04:47 Perspective of a Real Squ...

Justin and Joe count down the top character introductions in the Star Wars Franchise (Movies/ TV)! 00:00 Honourable Mentions 05:57 Cassian Andor 08:38 Anakin Skywalker/ Darth Vader 12:44 Darth Sidious 14:57 Asajj Ventress 17:42 Fives and Echo 20:28 Yoda 23:48 General Grievous 27:03 Han Solo 30:30 Luke Skywalker 38:56 Obi-Wan Kenobi 41:55 George Lucas vs Disney WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOC...

Justin and Joe review Fallout Season 2. 00:00 Our Backgrounds on Fallout 01:41 Overview + Thaddeus 05:32 Supermutants and Lore 08:03 The Enclave 12:29 House 13:52 Pacing Issues 16:26 Maximus 20:02 Season 3 Setup 21:26 The NCR 24:41 Some of the Writing and Arcs 29:27 Production Design 34:45 Talking Technical 37:52 The Canadian Parts 41:51 Rankings and Wrap-up WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOCIA...

Justin, Joe, and special guest star Ryan Walker review The Mighty Nein Season 1. 00:00 Introduction 02:06 Preconceived Notions 05:15 Keeping Old and New Fans Invested 07:29 Voice Acting 10:16 vs Vox Machina 16:33 Into the Characters 24:19 Animation 28:13 The Villains 35:44 Fjord 41:05 Beau and Nott 47:59 Re-writing Yasha 51:21 The Cliffhanger 01:03:41 Stray Thoughts 01:17:37 Wrap-up WEBSITE: thoug...

Justin and Joe review Stranger Things 5. 00:00 Overview on the Series 04:01 Bloated Cast 10:00 Pacing Issues 13:31 New Lore 15:53 Parents Trusting Children 18:56 Will Byers 28:19 Inconsistent Writing 33:31 Technical Aspects 37:37 The Mind Flayer Twist 38:58 Character Arcs 42:24 The Military 47:46 The Finale 52:08 Wrap-up WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.instagram.com/jchu...

Justin and Joe review 52 holiday films (which they've never seen), then use them to discover the meaning of Christmas. 00:00 Intro 01:27 Reviews 01:03:04 Rom Com Lessons 01:05:18 Communication and Vulnerability 01:07:57 Family and Community 01:11:47 Save Relationship With Your Father 01:14:41 Christmas Protagonists are Jerks 01:17:52 Pushing Away Negativity 01:21:40 Family is Better than Money 01:...

Breaking into internet artistry is next to impossible, thanks to a series of decisions and trends which de-incentivized creativity. 00:00 Our General Dissatisfaction 02:05 Greed Swallowed Internet Individualism 05:35 Clickbait Equals Revenue 08:15 Shilling For Ads 13:56 Maximizing Ad Revenue 17:15 Influencers 22:57 The Rise of AI Content 28:58 AI Makes Creative Careers Harder 34:38 AI Ruined Tradi...

Every fan of every fandom eventually comes across the concept of "Head Canon", whether or not they realize. Is it a useful coping mechanism or a pathetic fantasy? 00:00 Protects the Good Vibes 04:36 It's Silly 05:59 Honour the Creator's Intentions 10:45 Ignoring Hard Emotions 16:03 Sometimes Good Things Exist Within Bad 18:37 Fandoms Are Nightmares 28:38 What's Considered Definitive 34:42 Wrap-up...

Justin and Joe review Zootopia 2. 00:00 Surprising Adult Appeal 02:48 Side Characters 05:54 Nick and Judy 10:03 Follow the Snake 12:49 Animation 15:58 Presentation and Writing 21:57 Score 22:50 Action 25:25 Wrap-up WEBSITE: thoughtplane.ca JUSTIN'S SOCIAL MEDIA https://www.instagram.com/jchurchtpm/ Recorded by Joseph Morin and Justin Church Edited by Joseph Morin Close Up cover art by Justin Churc...

Justin and Joe celebrate their "Friendaversary" by going over their favourite friendships from some of their favourite entertainment! 00:00 Intro 01:20 Commander Sheppard and Garrus Vakarian 02:07 Woody and Buzz Lightyear 04:18 Chuck Bartowski and Morgan Grimes 06:17 Oliver Queen and John Diggle 08:20 Doctor/ Donna 11:09 Will Smith and Carlton Banks 14:27 Liz Lemmon and Jack Donaghy 16:48 Spongebo...