Movies That Make Us

Good Will Hunting was released in 1997. It was the screenwriting debut of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. It also stars the duo, along with Robin Williams, Stellan Skarsgard, and Minnie Driver. Despite being their first screenplay, the duo of Damon and Affleck were nominated and actually won the Oscar for best original screenplay. How’s that for a debut effort? The story follows Will Hunting (played b...

Pacific Rim came out in 2013. It was directed by Guillermo del Toro and has his signature feel and look to it. It is the story of giant monsters from the sea and the giant robots we’ve created to fight them. What else do you need? The movie stars Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Charlie Day, Rinko Kukichi, and even has an appearance by Ron Perlman. In this episode, Val wasn’t available, so Jake and Tra...

Finding Neverland came out in 2004 and starred Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, and Freddie Highmore. The supporting cast was also exceptionally strong. This film was directed by Marc Forster, who also directed Monster’s Ball, Stranger Than Fiction, The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace, World War Z, and Christopher Robin. How’s that for a diverse resume? And why aren’t more people talking about Marc Forst...

Up was released in 2009 and was the tenth Disney/Pixar film. It followed Ratatouille and Wall-E. It follows the adventures of 78-year-old Carl Fredrickson and stowaway scout, Russell, as they float away in Carl’s house and leave the big city for some jungle adventures. Along the way they’ll meet a talking dog named Dug and a crazy bird named Kevin. How was this movie not made for our podcast team?...

Top Gun was released in 1986 and has been a popular culture staple ever since. This is a film that all of us have seen so many times and can quote up and down. There is a lot to unpack with this film, so much fun, so many one liners, so many men trying to woo ladies by singing “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling” by the Righteous Brothers. And of course, all the music. So many memorable songs. Top Gu...

Tim Burton’s Batman came out in 1989 and changed everything about the Batman image in the mainstream consciousness. And it was all pretty interesting, from bringing on a director who had never done any kind of major action film, to hiring a lead actor who had been known up to that point for his major comedic roles. And somehow it all worked. Prior to Batman , the way the caped crusader had been ty...

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was released in 1971. Since then it has become a beloved classic for many. There are many adults who grew up on a steady diet of Willy Wonka. That might explain quite a bit, actually. This is a strange, fun, and imaginative film that has shaped children for decades. Our team takes a look at what has made this film endure for so many years and have such a huge...

Spider-Man Far From Home was released on July 2, 2019. It is the sequel to Spider-Man Homecoming and the highly anticipated follow up to the events of Avengers Endgame, wrapping up phase 3 of the MCU and is the epilogue to the Infinity Saga. It has been shattering records and is a bona fide hit. But, here’s the question, was it any good? We are here to answer that for you. Spoilers- before you lis...

Everything old is new again, and nowhere is that more true than in Hollywood. Remakes, reboots, and sequels abound, and Disney is no exception. It seems like every week a new Disney live action remake of a beloved animated classic is announced. But are they any good? Tracy, Val, and Jake are going to discuss just that in this fun filled, Disney edition of Movies That Make Us. In this episode, the...

Toy Story 4 is the latest installment in the beloved Disney/Pixar franchise. The first three Toy Story movies are considered modern classics that revolutionized the way animation is done and the way family friendly stories are told. Can this fourth chapter live up to that kind of pressure? Tracy, Val, and Jake are together again to answer that question. In this episode, they also welcome special g...

Spider-Man: Homecoming came out in 2017 and officially introduced everyone’s favorite web-slinger not the MCU. In a film that bucked Spider-Man film tradition by not giving us his origin story, we get a fully powered Spidey who is trying to figure out where he fits into the larger world of superheroes. In Homecoming, we see Tony Stark take a young Peter Parker under his wing and helps him become h...

The latest of Disney’s live action remakes, Aladdin was released on Memorial Day weekend. This new version of the 1990s classic stars Will Smith as the Genie, Mena Massoud as Aladdin, and Naomi Scott as Jasmine. As Tracy, Val, and Jake take a look at this new film, the question is asked: Does it live up to the original? Released in 1992, Disney’s animated Aladdin was right in the middle of the Dis...

On this very special episode of Movies That Make Us, we record at Watchtower Comics and Coffee and welcome owners Cori and Mike as our guests. Cori and Mike opened Watchtower Comics and Coffee (formerly Watchtower Café) about four years ago, and it has become a staple of the nerd and geek community here in Salt Lake City. Cori and Mike are two of the coolest people we know, and they really have pu...

Released June 20, 1975, Jaws forever changed the way we looked at summer movies. The term “blockbuster” didn’t really exist before Jaws. Since its release, people have spent countless hours in air-conditioned theaters watching the latest big budget summer blockbuster. And it almost didn’t happen. Join Tracy, Val, and Jake as they discuss this modern classic and the struggles Steven Spielberg and c...

Released on June 11, 1982, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial had a theatrical run that lasted more than a year. During that time, E.T. was everywhere, from toys, to coffee mugs, and even jewelry. This little guy from parts unknown was a bona fide pop culture sensation. At the heart of all of this was the actual movie. Suitable for almost all ages, E.T. was for many an introduction to stories of other wor...

Schindler's List opened on December 15, 1993, and was in theaters until September 29, 1994. During that time, it had grossed $96.1 million in the United States and over $321.2 million worldwide. In Germany, it was shown in 500 theaters and was viewed by over 100,000 people in its first week alone and was eventually seen by six million people. It would go on to win numerous awards and accolades inc...

Saving Private Ryan is Steven Spielberg's 1998 World War II epic set during the Invasion of Normandy. It tells the story of United States Army Rangers Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) and a squad (Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, and Jeremy Davies) as they search for a paratrooper, Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), who is th...

Avengers: Endgame opened to record-breaking numbers. Wait. Not record-breaking. Record-shattering. It was generally assumed that Endgame would break records in its first weekend; however, it decimated previous box-office records. Not only did Marvel's latest offering deliver an estimated $350 million over the course of its first three days in the United States, but it also raked in a massive $1.2...

The first trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has been out for a little more than a week now giving us time to over analyze it and come up with all sorts of wild theories. Is Rey Kylo Ren's secret twin sister? Maybe she's a clone made from DNA collected from Luke Skywalker's cut off hand? Is she Lando's secret love child with Leia? And how does Emperor Palpatine factor into all of this? I...

Few movies have come out over the course of cinema history that have been able to inspire a generation the way that  Rocky  did when it hit theaters in 1976. Written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, the film tells the rags to riches story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted working-class boxer from the slums of Philadelphia who gets a shot at...

Shazam! opened over the weekend to worldwide earnings of nearly $160 million (almost $57 million domestic) and a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes . Not too shabby for a movie about a superhero that nobody knows anything about. Unless of course they are either a comic book fan or were alive in the 1940s when Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel titles outsold even Superman books. Join Val, Tracy, Jake, and Z...

It's hard to believe now, but in 1978, DC and Warner Bros. were on top of the comic book movie world. Superman  was on its way to earning $166,200,000 at the global box office and turning its star, Christopher Reeve into a household name. Even after a few missteps in the 80s ( Superman IV: The Quest for Peace , The Return of Swamp Thing ), thanks primarily to Batman, they were still king...

What if mankind had to leave Earth and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? That is basically what happened to Wall-E, the hero of Pixar's first sci-fi adventure. We meet everyone's favorite robot garbage man doing what he was built for - cleaning up a planet that humans had long since abandoned. However, when he meets a sleek robot named EVE, he discovers a new purpose. EVE meanwhile comes...

Can you believe that it's been fifteen years since Tina Fey's first screenplay, Mean Girls  hit theaters? Fifteen years since the world was first introduced to Cady Heron and Regina George. It's been fifteen years since Gretchen Wieners tried to make "fetch" happen. It didn't happen. (At least I don't think it happened.) And it's been fifteen years since Glen Coco received four  candy ca...

In its opening weekend, Captain Marvel managed to exceed expectations by bringing in $153 million domestically and $455 worldwide. This all happened despite a large number of mixed reviews and even trolls who tried to sink the audience review scores on Rotten Tomatoes . To add a little perspective to these numbers,  Captain Marvel now ranks as the sixth largest worldwide opening in history. I...