The Latecomers

Show Notes Let’s talk about boys vs girls and the societal downfall delivered by car culture this week with Cars from 2006. Yes, Lightning McQueen is a big jerk and Mater is an offensive stereotype played by an offensive stereotype but mostly we talk about boy movies vs. girl movies for some reason. This merchandise powerhouse mostly held our attention and was enjoyable - but would have been even...

Show Notes Lemuel is MAD as we plumb the depths this week with probably the worst movie Disney has ever made. Visuals: bad. Writing: bad. Story: bad. Characters: bad. Cast: Stellar!!! What on earth happened? Come listen to our rant and see if we can come to a conclusion together. Recommendations: Memento (Peacock) - you’ve probably forgotten it - you should watch it again. I, Madman (MGm+) Next up...

Show Notes A true animated Film this week as we watch The Incredibles from 2004. One of Pixar’s best, this one hits on looks, acting, story, and writing making it completely re-watchable. Fast, strong, invisible and stretchy - the four major super powers - are all represented here. We also get to see the super-villian truth of rich “smart” people - more often a Syndrome than a Batman. Grab some po...

Show Notes Anti-capitalism and anti-toxic masculinity come together in a movie about cows starring Rosanne Barr and Judy Dench - non of this was expected when we put on this week’s film, Home on the Range. Kung-fu horses embodying misogyny, a yodeler pied piping livestock to become a land baron, a foul-mouthed blue ribbon cow, a regal cow in a hat and a tone-deaf heifer - all characters in this ca...

Show Notes 2003 brought us this week’s offering - Brother Bear. We are of two minds on this one but everyone can agree that more movies should have moose doing bits. This precolonial setting keeps capitalism from being the villain but we’d be hard pressed to name a villain at all other than childishness perhaps. This is a strange one, join us in wrapping our heads around it. Recommendations: Outla...

Show Notes The sequel to Finding Dory this week, where we start by Finding Nemo. A fantastic cast brings the beautiful animation to life. From an uber-sympathetic Willem Defoe to an “unfunny” Albert Brooks, the intention of the casting is impeccable. Pixar is really coming into its own with this one. Recommendations: Abbott Elementary; Last Kill (AMC+) Next up: Brother Bear (2003) Email us at late...

Show Notes They don't know me 'cause I'm not here - sometimes a Goo Goo Dolls song is actually the theme song to a movie you didn’t know existed, so we are learning things this week with Treasure Planet from 2002. A story that has been put on film a number of times, this iteration gives us space twist with cyborgs and mantis and morphs, oh my. If you have daddy issues, this one’s for you. Recommen...

Show Notes Travel to Hawaii with us this week and let’s meet a stubborn master of destruction and her pet alien in Lilo & Stitch. There are a lot of things to like in this - the animation, messages, jokes, Elvis - if you are into that. We have some questions and some frustrations - you might hear an evolution in real time in this episode.  Recommendations: Andor (Disney +), The Burbs (Peacock)...

Show Notes Back to Pixar this week as they have a blast with fur texture and character design in Monsters Inc. We learn the power of cuteness and laughter and the dangers of Capitalism - AGAIN. Sully and Mike are inseparable until a little girl with giant eyes appears and tears Sully away. Fortunately Mike is one of Billy Crystal’s more mature characters and they find their way through. This movie...

Show Notes We’re going under the sea - and then back up again to find Atlantis. A city was lost, and now a linguist and his capitalist adventurer buddies are off to find it. And yes, that does mean that the villain in this film is in fact capitalism. Linguist Milo is more powerful than any other language expert as he can speak a language that no one knows just by looking at it, and it’s not even t...

Show Notes This week we travel to the Incan empire with The Emperor’s New Groove. How do we know it’s the Incan Empire? They kinda allude to it a couple of times in order to promptly forget where, when and who they are. A cast of mostly white actors, all fantastic in their characters, all funny, none of which has anything to do with the Inca or Peru other than the existence of a llama. Enjoyable a...

Show Notes Lemuel is in heaven today as we got to watch and get to talk about Dinosaur from 2000. Tippet to Verhoven to Katzenberg it’s almost a miracle this movie exists at all. Highly textured dinos against a real world backdrop gives us a post-apocalypse glimpse at an iguanodon and his lemur friends as they join their first herd in an attempt to survive. He makes friends with the old ladies of...

Show Notes Fantasia 2000 brings the original concept of Fantasia to fruition with six new vignettes and one they couldn’t get rid of. The flow is similar and the mouse is back but there are some notable highs and no real animation lows. Interstitials are interstitials and 90% unnecessary but the animation and music are working at a high level. Now to wait another 40 years for the next one.  Recomm...

Show Notes It’s our 400th episode!!! Thank you for listening, you’re the best! This week, three Pixar films in, we get to their first sequel with Toy Story 2. Woody and Buzz and the gang are back, but now we get backstory - Woody gets to find out his origin story and his own show, and Buzz meets his dad. Joan Cusack puts in a tour-de-force performance that leaves us genuinely upset and Kelsey Gram...

Show Notes This week we put Lemuel’s concerns to rest with Disney’s interpretation of Tarzan. How do you make a naked psychopath into a kid’s movie protagonist? Rosie O’Donnell and Phill Collins, of course.  Recommendations: One Battle After Another (HBO Max), Greystoke (Rentable) Next up: Toy Story 2 (1999) Email us at latecomers@gmail.com Our Facebook group is here for those who consent: https:/...

Show Notes We’re going back to Pixar this week with some four legged ants and their plight in A Bug’s Life. Sometimes you have to believe something for it to be true - whether it’s that circus bugs are warriors or that many little guys can rise up against a few big guys.  Recommendations: The Conjuring Last Rites Next up: Tarzan (1999) Email us at latecomers@gmail.com Our Facebook group is here fo...

Show Notes We’re going to Greece with Hercules, who is too strong for his own good. Trying to do good can get you in trouble with all sorts, especially Hades, who has no patience and flickers with rage much of his screen time. Gospel music and sexy damsels fill out this surprisingly funny romp with a man who can’t remember his own strength. Recommendations: A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott versi...

Show Notes This week, bafflement abounds as we discuss the 1996 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. We watched it, I dare say we enjoyed it a lot, we still are not sure how or why this movie exists. Beautiful animation, fantastic music, great voice acting (mostly) and yet, why is this? Is it a kid’s movie? No. Does Disney think it is? Yes? But I don’t think there is another G rated movie with the an...

Show Notes It’s not Disney… YET. We watched Pixar’s maiden feature film Toy Story, the first full CGI animated film in history and boy does most of it hold up. We talk about the smart decisions made by the filmmakers to set them up for success, our favorite toys, and the difficulty of drawing the human face in any medium.  Recommendations: Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein on Netflix and its accom...

Show Notes What if Hamlet, but lions. We watched the 1994 classic The Lion King and enjoyed the emotions inherently available in animated faces that simply cannot be duplicated in “live action.” Elton John thought the movie was ruined because his beautiful song was sung by a meerkat, but joke’s on him, it was a genius move.  Sometimes you gotta have a creepy little guy sing to the main characters...

Show Notes The genuine power of Robin Williams ignites the joy in our trip to Agrabah this week as we watched Aladdin. The most fun we’ve had in a while, we talk magic powers, the utter lack of problem solving by male sovereigns and best animal friends. Recommendations: Great British Bake-Off (Netflix) Next up: The Lion King (1994)   Email us at latecomers@gmail.com Our Facebook group is here for...

Show Notes This week it’s a love story as old as time along with just a dash of Stockholm Syndrome as we watch Beauty and the Beast. Regarded by many (including one of us) as peak Disney, this film has it all - a girl who looks down on all her neighbors, a boy who looks down on all of his neighbors, and a beast who looks down on everyone - the perfect set-up for love. A lot of the discussion this...

Show Notes We’re heading south of the equator with Miss Bianca and the inimitable Bernard in the Rescuers Down Under. This movie deserves more than it got (thanks Katzenberg). The story of young Cody and his one child crusade against poachers needing the RAS to come help him is beautiful and well told. The big thing that could have made it better was an indigenous protagonist (again, thanks Katzen...