After the Hype

So I guess this is hello and welcome to this week's episode of Behind the Hype, where we're talking about Superstar , starring the amazing and hilarious Molly Shannon. You want to do what? Now? Well, sure. We should warn you that what follows is a very quotable film that transcends its sketches on SNL and provides some genuine laughs. It may not be as good or considered to be a classic quite like...

It's Wayne's World, Wayne's World! Party On! Excellent. Wew wew wew weewwwww! In a month of SNL films, it was only a matter of time before we discussed this cultural touchstone of a film and give it the effusive praise that it deserves. And a podcast about one of the best SNL films wouldn't be nearly as awesome without a special guest. We're joined (for the first time since our rebrand as Behind t...

Greetings Earthlings. We come to you from the planet Remulak to provide mass quantities of discourse around the film known as Coneheads , starring Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, and a myriad of fun SNL cameos. It's a movie that's held up remarkably well, and has in fact gotten better as the years have progressed. There's an earnestness to the absurdity that becomes endearing and it's hard not to fall i...

We're doing something a little bit different from our usual "filmmaker of the month" and taking a deep dive into the Saturday Night Live library of films. To start off we've got our sights set on the absolute best of the bunch, the cream of the crop: The Blues Brothers , featuring stellar performances from Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, and a whole slew of cameos that will put a smile on your face....

To finish up our month of Taika Waititi we talk his most recent film Jojo Rabbit. It's certainly a weird one, but we love it all the same. The acting is superb, the sets and costumes are powerful, and the comedy works well to offset the rather dark subject matter. We have a few quibbles here and there, but overall this one is a must see and we can't recommend it highly enough. We don't really have...

The trajectory continues upward in our month of Taika Waititi as we discuss Hunt for the Wilderpeople . There's a lot to love in this movie and we struggle to come up with any significant complaints. Sam Neill, Julian Dennison, Rachel House, and frickin' Rhys Darby all give stellar performances, and even the director himself pops in for a bit to play perhaps the worst (or best) priest I've ever se...

Talk about a jump in quality! This week in our Taika Waititi retrospective we discuss Boy , his feature-length follow-up to Eagle vs. Shark set in New Zealand in 1984. It's a story about overcoming grief, growing up, and being there for your family, all told from the point of view of the title character. Taika has a larger role in this film compared to the last and his energetic and comedic touch...

A new month means a new filmmaker, so for this month we're talking Taika. We begin with his feature length debut Eagle Vs. Shark , which at first glance looks like the next Napoleon Dynamite. Instead it's much more down to earth and features characters that are more than just dorky caricatures. Doesn't mean the film is without flaws and we note that were this movie made today it would end quite di...

We end our John Singleton month with Four Brothers, a movie that never quite finds its tone and never really hits its stride. It's a well-directed movie, and the acting is fun across the board, but the script drags the experience down by playing more to caricature than to character. We also discuss his entry in the Fast series: 2 Fast 2 Furious and why despite his obvious skill as a director, he w...

We take a bit of a turn in our John Singleton retrospective with the film Shaft, not to be confused with Shaft, or the more recent film Shaft. It's a film that features a lot of dirty cops and dirtier criminals and the sum of all these interesting parts leave us feeling uncomfortable. It's a film that features the line "It is my duty to please the booty" along side a frat boy version of Patrick Ba...

This week in our John Singleton retrospective we're discussing his sophomore film Poetic Justice , starring Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur. There's a lot here to like. In fact, there's a lot here in general. The film doesn't feel nearly as focused as his previous but despite that feels very unique and very personal. The leads do marvelous work here, especially Tupac, and for those of us who are on...

In light of the current political climate we decided it would be best to educate ourselves and expand our perspectives. To do this we chose director John Singleton as our filmmaker this month, who gave us the intense and illuminating Boyz n the Hood. Everything about the film was astounding and took us out of our comfort zone. It was wild seeing the talent at play in front of the camera and behind...

We survived the month of May and now it's time to say goodbye to our man JT. Well, until we watch another one of his movies that is. Anyway, we decided the best way to end the month was by watching the romantic comedy Friends With Benefits. No...you're thinking of No Strings Attached. This is the other rom-com about two friends deciding to keep their sex casual while ultimately falling in love. It...

Our month of May takes a bit of a downturn with the film In Time, which just can't seem to make up its mind what movie it wants to be. There are a few solid hooks throughout, but they never really pan out and never get much deeper than surface level. It's quite the frustrating watch, but the cast is strong and our main man JT continues to impress with his charisma and utter watchability, even if h...

Our month of May continues with another winner for good ol' Justin Timberlake: The Social Network, from writer Aaron Sorkin and director David Fincher. There's so many things to love about this film, from the standout performances of everyone involved to the masterful score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Obviously, our focus is on JT and his scene-stealing portrayal of Sean Parker, but everyt...

IT'S GONNA BE MAAAAYYYY! That's right. We're talking about Justin Timberlake in the month of May because we couldn't help ourselves, and like...why not? To start off, we're going to talk about the huge bummer known as Alpha Dog. But don't worry, it's not a bummer because of quality; it's just going to completely and thoroughly bum you out. Justin proves in this film that he's got some serious acti...

To celebrate our last week of ScarJo month we're discussing perhaps one of the worst of the MCU fare, the film that put Scarlett on our radars and Black Widow in our hearts. That's right, we're talking about Iron Man 2. It...doesn't hold up, but not for lack of trying. You've got Robert Downey Jr. in top form, Sam Rockwell killing it as usual, and Scarlett Johansson kicking ass and taking names. Y...

Our strange ScarJo retrospective takes a turn for the better as we discuss the Jonathan Glazer film Under the Skin . It's quite a bit different from the other movies of hers we've seen this month and it's a far cry from her more action-heavy roles. The thing is, it works and her performance really makes this thing pop. If anything, the experiential nature of the film loses a bit in the watch from...

We continue our trek upward in our month of ScarJo and reach the Luc Besson oddity Lucy, which we didn't mind as much this time around. Sure, there are a lot of flaws in this film and as soon as we start tugging at those loose threads the whole thing falls apart, but ScarJo is good in this, Morgan Freeman is entertaining, and the car chase sequence is rather exciting (even if she could have just f...

First Rough Night and then Girl With A Pearl Earring. We swear we didn't intend to review two clunkers back to back in our month of ScarJo, but here we are. Truth be told, Girl With A Pearl Earring isn't a bad film and in fact has some really good moments in it. The problem is that everything surrounding those good moments is just...boring. You'll be happy to know, however, that the painting remai...

A new month means a new subject for our retrospective series, and this month we've chosen ScarJo. That's right. We're following the varied career of Scarlett Johansson. First film on the docket: Rough Night, a movie that tests her comedic acumen and finds her wanting. It's not like her performance is bad, it's just that she has nothing to do and doesn't have any moments that really push her to do...

We wrap up our month of Dede Allen with a bit of a flop, and for that Jon apologizes. We're talking The Final Cut, starring Robin Williams, Jim Caviezel, and Mira Sorvino. You would think based off the talent alone that we were in for a treat, but you would be mistaken. The movie is more interested in raising questions than answering them, and after awhile it becomes painfully tedious. Production...

This week in our Dede Allen retrospective we take a sharp left turn from the tense crime dramas of Bonnie and Clyde and Dog Day Afternoon to the leisurely paced stage musical adaptation of The Wiz. It's quite the shift and the results are...mixed. There's a lot to like here, from the imaginative sets, to the strong choreography and impressive musical numbers. There's also a lot that has us scratch...

Our month of Dede Allen continues as we dive into the film that earned her an Oscar nomination for her powerful editing - Dog Day Afternoon . There are so many amazing things about this film, from Sidney Lumet's masterful direction to Al Pacino's intense performance, but it's Allen's pacing that really shines here for us. She takes a movie with relatively low action and raises the stakes by cuttin...

This month we shift gears from the wacky antics of Joe Dante to the potent editing prowess of Dede Allen, and what better way to do this than with the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde , a masterpiece of editing and style that takes its cues from the French New Wave and gives us a sharp and energetic look at the famous duo. Beatty and Dunaway are absolutely iconic and are joined by a fun ensemble includ...