The Film Board

Doctor Strange gets all magicky with Wanda in this multiversal leveling up to the MCU. There’s a lot going on here, and Ocean Murff, Krissy Lenz, and Tommy Metz III do their best to unravel the timey-wimey spaghetti of Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – this Raimi entry to the universe. Speaking of Raimi, just how Raimi is it? Too much? Too little? Hands tied by fancy MCU Earth-838 handcuf...

The team had twenty extra months to muscle Morbius into full release shape thanks to pandemic delays. What did they do with all that time? Well, judging by what we just witnessed, they cut it. A lot. The question that remains: is what’s left much of a movie? Welcome to the Sony Spider-Man Universe! We’re setting sail on the Sinister Sea with Dr. Morbius and friends. Ocean Murff is at the con with...

Fans of Nolan’s Bat-entries will probably understand our reticence walking into Matt Reeves's latest film, The Batman. Christian Bale already did a turn as a Darker Knight, right? Why on earth would we need another one? Another universe, another actor, another take on principle villains? And so it is that Ocean Murff, Pete Wright, and Tommy Metz III walked into the 3-hour epic, hopeful, cynical, n...

A bombastic treasure hunt with Spider-Man and Marky Mark? Sure! We’ll watch that! The Naughty Dog game that started it all, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune released in 2007, was the first in a four-part smash Playstation franchise that has spawned a number of spin-offs and legitimately fun fan creations. Judging by the length of the new PlayStation Studios logo reel in front of this movie, we can likel...

One week in the world of Lucy and Desi leading to a live taping of I Love Lucy in 1953, Being the Ricardos covers their rocky relationship as husband and wife, the accusations of Ball’s participation in the communist party, all wrapped up with a bow that leads to a commitment to have a baby on national television. All in a week’s work, sure. But it comes with baggage. From casting to family to J....

It’s time to Scream again! Ocean Murff is joined by our very own Tommy Metz III to discuss the fifth film in the Scream franchise, Scream. But why isn’t it called Scream 5? Is that part of the meta-nature of the film? What do Tommy and Ocean think about the return of Dewey, Gale, and Sidney in their inevitable return? What about that first kill, something that’s been such a key part of the franchi...

They stuffed a lot of movie into two and a half hours with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Villains and Spider-Men from multiple movies across the franchise hit the screen and while most of the rumors predicted such, there’s little room to deny that what the team pulled off here is truly epic. So, it’s the movie we got. But is it the movie we wanted? Is it the story we needed? To hash it all out this wee...

Eternals introduces us to a whole new era in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. New heroes, new villains, new locations and technologies. It’s hard to say the company faces any true risks anymore given their Celestial girth in the entertainment space, but this is a big movie with a lot of moving parts helmed by a director demonstrably adept at intimacy. How well does Chloé Zhao translate her brand of...

We’re off-world this week as we head into Denis Villeneuve’s Dune with Ocean Murff, Matthew Fox, Steve Sarmento, and Pete Wright. This is a property with some baggage and we come carrying a lot of it. Loved the book? Loved the Lynch film? Loved the SyFy remake? We’re a mixed bag on the show this week and one of us hasn’t seen a single dune-y thing until this very film. This, of course, gives us th...

James Bond is a brand - that's Ocean's opening take as The Film Board discusses the 25th 007 outing, No Time to Die. And with such an iconic brand comes responsibility. How has Daniel Craig's tenure as Bond evolved the franchise, and is this change permanent? Join Ocean Murff and Kyle Olson for an emotional yet nuanced conversation on Craig's final mission as 007. This isn't the reaction you might...

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings proves people don't tire of superhero origin stories when the storytelling is this good. Under director Destin Daniel Cretton, the narrative takes center stage in Marvel's 25th MCU film. Ocean Murff convenes The Film Board to discuss Cretton's knockout, joined by Justin Jaeger. They cover the family-focused story, standout performances like Simu Liu's comp...

The Film Board convenes in the Red Room to discuss Cate Shortland’s new MCU entry, Black Widow. It’s a packed house as Andy is joined by Kyle Olson from Marvel Movie Minute, Matthew Fox from the Superhero Ethics podcast, Craig Price from Matinee Heroes, as well as CJ Lindsey and Jordan Petersen for a spoiler-filled conversation. How popular was blue hair in the 90s? How great is our makeshift fami...

Justin Lin returns to direct the latest entry in the Fast Saga, F9. But despite Lin being back behind the wheel, reviews have been mixed for this installment. For this episode of The Film Board Podcast, Andy is joined by Film Board regular and Fast franchise fan Ocean Murff to discuss F9 and where it lands in the high-octane series. Do our thoughts align with the mixed reviews? How do we feel abou...

Fatherhood is a fairly loose adaptation of Matthew Logelin’s memoir, but unfortunately it feels loose in all the wrong ways. There seems to be an interesting story there, but it never quite clicks. Andy Nelson is joined by Ocean Murff and Steve Sarmento to discuss this latest Netflix release for Father's Day, but they're left frustrated with a film that never lives up to its potential. Kevin Hart...

Is the magic in the new film In the Heights from Jon M. Chu’s direction or from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s original Broadway show? We think it’s Chu working wonders here to bring Miranda's show to vibrant cinematic life. Andy Nelson is joined by Mandy Kaplan, Justin Jaeger, and special guest Brian Rowe from the Film at Fifty Podcast to form our artistic opinions. While the story doesn’t wow us as much a...

Ed and Lorraine Warren are back battling ghosts in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, the third Conjuring film and eighth entry in The Conjuring Universe. Andy Nelson discusses the movie with Pete Wright, Tommy Metz III, and special guest Justin Harlan from Cinapse and The Farsighted podcast. Does this latest chapter fit well into the franchise? Why did James Wan hand over directing duties to...

The Film Board convenes! We're back on the Zack Snyder train with the first entry in what promises to be a big, nasty zombie universe - the Netflix film Army of the Dead. Board the container with Pete Wright, Jordan Petersen, and Ocean Murff as we head to Vegas. Coming on the heels of Zack Snyder's Justice League re-cut, and with his zombie credibility locked thanks to 2004's Dawn of the Dead, we...

Guy Ritchie steps outside his usual stylized crime films with the gritty, dark new action thriller Wrath of Man. Though it features his trademark flair and his longtime collaborator Jason Statham, does this brooding revenge story play to Ritchie's strengths as a filmmaker? Andy is joined by Charlie Juhl and Hannah Buchdahl from The Cinema Clash Podcast and Jordan Petersen to analyze what works and...

An animated film about one family trying to stop a robot invasion from taking over the world doesn’t seem like the sort of movie that’s going to elicit tears, but that’s what The Mitchells vs the Machines did here. In this episode, Andy Nelson is joined in the board room by Mandy Kaplan from the MandCave podcast, Pete Wright from The Next Reel Film Podcast, and Steve Sarmento from Trailer Rewind t...

Science fiction is often used as a way to explore aspects of social mores, painting pictures of what’s working and what’s not in our societies. These stories often are thrilling, horrifying, or full of action as part of the nature of sci-fi. It’s not too common we end up in a science fiction story that’s a dramatic morality tale. Joe Penna’s second film Stowaway explores the complex and painful de...

"Sometimes, you just have to take the first step.” The Film Board convenes in the land of Kumandra to discuss Disney’s new animated feature Raya and the Last Dragon. The voice cast is amazing – Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh, Benedict Wong, and more – but how well does the story work? How much more impressive is the animation? And has Disney hit a point yet wher...

The Film Board is on the road with Frances McDormand in Chloé Zhao’s new film Nomadland. Do McDormand and Zhao deliver the goods and is the film worth all the awards it’s already raking in? Short answer: they definitely do and it definitely is. Andy Nelson, Steve Sarmento, and Tommy Metz III meet in the board room to talk about the film, now streaming on Hulu, and what they thought of it. Tune in!...

Shaka King delivers a strong second film with Judas and the Black Messiah, his new film that follows FBI informant Bill O'Neal as he infiltrates Chicago’s Black Panther party to get close to Chairman Fred Hampton. Is this the political biopic we need right now? How brilliant are Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya in the lead roles? And does the film hold up as more than just a history lesson? Th...

The Film Board convenes to discuss Fisher Stevens’ new film Palmer starring Justin Timberlake, Juno Temple, Alisha Wainwright, and Ryder Allen. Does it deliver the emotional punch it sets out to deliver, or does it end up feeling more like a well-made Lifetime movie? And does the film do its job in delivering something the family can use to talk about gender nonconformity? Andy Nelson, Mandy Kapla...

The Film Board convenes to talk about Ramin Bahrani’s new Netflix film The White Tiger as our first film discussion of 2021. What does the film have to say about India’s caste system and does it relate universally to the haves and have nots? The performances are great, particularly from Adarsh Gourav as the lead, but the structure is a bit of a stumbling block for us. But is it enough of a stumble...