A Star to Steer Her By

Come with us to the early 2020s, when WB was busy making legacy sequels and canning random completed movies for tax breaks and check out "The Matrix Resurrections". One of the Wachowskis comes back under duress since the trilogy was going to become a tetralogy (quadrilogy?) whether they liked it or not, so they figured they may as well try to say something with it. It's very meta, oddly introspect...

It's the original end of "The Matrix" trilogy as we take a look at the very noisy "The Matrix Revolutions"! We've got a big CG battle loaded with characters we don't care about, we've got another visit with the Merovingian, and we've got a new Oracle (did you notice?!). Sense has largely left the building in this messy, loud, and frankly perplexing finale. Also this week: who's who in Zion, unsubt...

"The Matrix" is BACK, baby, and it's bringing along WAY more money and WAY more special effects for "The Matrix Reloaded"! Get ready for MORE fighting, MORE Agent Smith, and MORE uncomfortably long gyrating rave scenes! What, you don't want that last thing? TOUGH, it's there and it ain't leaving! Also this week: too much movie, who's Tank, and story time with an 8 year old! [Reloaded: 01:51] [Ames...

Mr. Anderson! Come in, sit down, put on your comfiest headphones. It's time to discuss possibly the most iconic of Keanu Reeves' many iconic roles. It's time for "The Matrix", a movie that arguably had as big an impact on how Hollywood works as the original "Star Wars" did some twenty-two years before. Reeves is Neo, a man who finds out his world is not what he believed and he might be the Chosen...

What happens when a painter/sculptor and a sci-fi writer want to make an art film but can only get the budget for an action movie? The very, very confused "Johnny Mnemonic". Watch in confusion as Keanu is told to switch off his usual, easy charm to play a fairly wooden courier! Be annoyed as rights issues and studio meddling turned the much more interesting bodyguard character into a dull sidekick...

We're taking a break from our break (insert "Inception" horn) to check out "The Mandalorian and Grogu", the latest theatrical "Star Wars" outing! Everyone's favorite buckethead and baby are back, hunting down war criminals and fighting CG monsters. SO. MANY. CG monsters. Also this week: a hot Hutt (?), almost Minioning, and bringing back the board! [Mando and Grogu: 1:08] [Classic Board: https://s...

Well, it took a lot longer than the writers hoped, but a third "Bill & Ted" finally graced our screens in 2020! With most of the world locked indoors, maybe all we really needed was a film with a simple message lacking in any cynicism. After your hosts' cool reception to "Bogus Journey" last week, did the more straightforward "Bill & Ted Face the Music" resonate with us? Listen and find out! Also...

Next stop on our Shore Leave jaunt is "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" and what can we say but: at least William Sadler is a delight. Your stalwarts find themselves a bit underwhelmed by this odd sequel, which maybe was a little TOO different from its predecessor. Something is just missing this time around, and no amount of weird robots or caked-up Martians can fix it. Also this week: sequel issues, m...

We're taking one of our patented Shore Leave breaks before the next leg of "Trek", and this time we're going over some choice cuts of the career of Keanu Reeves! So we're starting where you know we have to: "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure"! It's a classic tale of two well-meaning dopes trying to pass history with the help of time travel so that they can be the foundation of a utopian future! Als...

This week we're looking at arguably the reason the reprehensible "Section 31" exists: the excellent "Everything Everywhere All At Once"! In a movie that turns the Chosen One narrative on its head, Michelle Yeoh plays Evelyn, who is the best hope for the multiverse because she is the worst version of herself. Come along for a story of generational trauma, nihilism, kindness, and the simplest little...

Brace yourself for "Section 31", the abysmal "Star Trek" movie that's a mashup of all the worst ideas from your favorite franchises and none of the good ones! Despite the universe seeming to not want it to happen, what had once been planned as a Shazad Latif–led spy series instead became a Michelle Yeoh heist vehicle. Brace yourself for samey, quippy dialogue, unlikable characters, and the most ob...

We've come to the end of the beginning of the "Trek" streaming era with "Life, Itself". Unfortunately, it's all a bit underwhelming. We've got a pointless space battle, a mall-looking ancient temple/lab/whatever, and an ultimate puzzle that a five year old could crack. There's also a stupid, stupid, stupid reveal and an idiotic epilogue. Also this week: unexpected "Titanic", poster profundity, and...

It's "Lagrange Point", the penultimate episode of the final "Discovery" season! And we're heating things up with a heist! The Breen have gotten their hands on some kind of garbage bin/TARDIS hidden between two black holes, and Burnham and her crack team have to get it back! On the ship, Rayner gets judged for his command style, while back at Fed HQ, Saru decides to volunteer for a dangerous missio...

Keep your voice down as we make our way to a Marvel-ish library in "Labyrinths"! The race is on to the final clue and Michael has to endure one of the more tedious "Trek" tropes: going into your own mind made of recycled sets! Meanwhile, Moll leads a coup to become Queen Breen! Also this week: a very busy secret location, an obvious revolt, and shipping! [Labyrinths: 01:23; Our Ships: 41:00; fanfi...

In "Erigah", we've caught up to our plucky bandits, and one of them is in a bad way. Worse still: uncle has come calling! Meanwhile, the B team is trying to get to the bottom of the latest clue. And in both cases, we have a "Discovery" superpower: sudden backstory out of nowhere! Turns out Rayner has a long history with the Breen, while Jett gets a Poe Dameron style upgrade! Would've been nice if...

It's that time again; the first season of a new "Trek" series has come and gone so we're going to do our general overview first impressions chat! How do we feel about "Trek" taking on the teen romance/drama genre? What do we think of our students, faculty, and Mudd-esque villain? Settle in before the bell and find out! Also this week: Fishpower and cost-cutting, a huge cast, and the look and feel...

We had the big Breen reveal last week, so surely now everything's REALLY going to kick off in "Whistlespeak"! Oh, no? We're going to just go follow the next clue and have a frankly-dull and VERY undercooked adventure? Well, at least the titular whistle language will surely be a major factor! Oh, also no? Those...those certainly are some choices right there. Also this week: another lethal ritual, m...

Despite the title, "Mirrors" only briefly brushes against the Mirror Universe, as we find out the next clue is on the ISS "Enterprise"! It's floating in a pocket and the gang's all here: Michael, Moll, Book, and L'ak. And some kind of shenanigans force them to have to play nice or none of them are getting home. We also finally get some background on our little thrillseekers and how they met! Also...

In "Face the Strange", Rayner has to face his own little "Christmas Carol", except instead of three ghosts he's got Michael and Stamets. When transporters and time travel tech have an inverted space baby, they find themselves bouncing all around time, learning about themselves...and a possibly doomed future if our old friends THE BREEN change everything via Progenitor tech! Also this week: a unifo...

The hunt continues in "Jinaal", where the next clue is actually someone who was there from the off! Yes, through the magic of symbionts we meet the titular scientist who was part of the team that decided this Progenitor tech is SUPER dangerous but also let's preserve a path to it because...uh.............. Also this week: everything falling into place, an uninteresting end, and the Love Station! [...

The treasure hunt begins in earnest in "Under the Twin Moons"! Because "Star Trek", Michael and Saru head down alone to explore some ruins, only to find its arsenal of explodo-drones are still up and running and ready to protect both graves and secrets at all costs! Thank God Rayner zooms in to be the one non-nerd in the room to help save the day! And in a B plot we make a large galaxy feel small...

The final season of "Discovery" starts with a bang in "Red Directive"! Everyone's least favorite "Trek" character is here to resurrect one of TNG's dumbest plots when Kovich tasks Burnham with collecting a journal that belonged to an extra from "The Chase"! But the might of Starfleet is apparently no match for a couple of kids with a spaceship, somehow. Also this week: Temu Data, cherries and Gree...

Look, seriously, if you haven't seen "Arrival", watch it first. It's a great movie to go into as uninformed as possible. It's new to two of your hosts and they were blown away by this moody, complex film about the complications of language and cultural exchange. See where "Discovery" season 4 pinched some of its ideas from and then spread over way too many episodes in this 2016 film featuring Amy...

We're "Coming Home" in "Discovery" this week, and we're finding all sorts of rubbish there! We get a major level-up in translation off-screen! We get a lot of proposed sacrifices that don't actually need to happen! And we get a "Return of the King" amount of endings without it feeling particularly earned! Also this week: Tarka's ark(a), classic mind-meld action, and the season wrap! [Coming Home:...

Well shoot, a lot is happening all at once this week in "Species Ten-C"! With the key to talking to the titular aliens unlocked, it's time for negotiations and Harai to strut his stuff! Okay, he actually gets to do precious little yet again, the poor sod. Meanwhile: Tarka takes a hostage! Also this week: Ames loves a puzzle, homebrewed technobabble, and sci-fi video games! [Species 10-C: 01:35; pr...