Monthly Archives: February 2014

Oscars 2014

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This week, we take a look at the nominees for the Oscars 2014! Earl brings back Patrick Barfoot, who brings in new guest Shawn Lotte to the show, to talk about the Academy Awards, hash out their thoughts on the choices and offer up some alternate nominations. They also end up discussing the Jonah Hill conundrum, and completely go off the rails when they start power rankings on the actor and actress categories. Before the awards show, why not check out our pre-show episode! (No major spoilers here.)

Guests:
Patrick Barfoot (@patrickbarfoot) – Editor and Director, patrickbarfoot.com
Shawn Lotte – “Hello, Google”

Supplementary notes:
2014 Oscar Nominees
How To Pronounce Chiwetel Ejiofor
Most Americans have yet to watch any best-picture Oscar nominee: poll

Audio notes: (1hr. 9min. runtime)
0:01:35 – Documentaries: Stories We Tell, The Act of Killing, and Crystal Lake Chronicles
0:08:10 – Makeup & Costuming: Jackass presents Bad Grandpa, Evil Dead, The Hobbit, and American Hustle
0:13:35 – Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema, Emmanuel Lubezki, and Roger Deakins
0:18:15 – Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave, and Gravity
0:24:05 – Alternate Best Pictures: Out of the Furnace, Side Effects, Pacific Rim, and returning to Gravity
0:33:55 – The Jonah Hill conundrum, Vince Vaughn, and Leonardo DiCaprio
0:39:25 – Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Nicolas Cage
0:49:35 – Power Rankings: Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Michael Fassbender, and Jared Leto
0:58:00 – Animated films, who’s watching the awards this year, hosting, and Pixar
1:01:10 – Best Directors: Steve McQueen, Alfonso Cuarón, David O. Russell, and Martin Scorsese
1:04:00 – Google, and more than 60% of Americans have not seen the nominees

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The LEGO Movie

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Today we’re talking about The LEGO Movie! Andrew returns to chat with Earl about the animated film, dish out their impressions, and talk about their own experiences with the long-running toy franchise. They also bring up terrible LEGO sets, collecting, the “believing in yourself” epidemic, and seeing knock-off brands’ commercials before the screening. (Some noted spoilers.)

Guests:
Andrew Lawrence – “Everything is Lawesome”

Supplementary notes:
Clone High Opening
‘Lego Movie’ Production B Roll
You Can Do Anything: Must Every Kids’ Movie Reinforce the Cult of Self-Esteem?
The LEGO® Story
​The 16 Most Awful Lego Sets Ever Assembled

Audio notes: (1hr. 1min. runtime)
0:00:50 – Initial thoughts, experiences with LEGO, and the movie
0:15:15 – Animation, orange chainsaw & laser pieces, “believing in yourself”, and licensing
0:27:00 – (Spoilers here.) Differing views on LEGO building, custom sets, and being creative
0:35:50 – Attention to detail, The LEGO Story, and classifying it as a kids’ movie
0:47:05 – General LEGO talk, Modulars, awful LEGO sets, knock-offs, and disappointments

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Final Fantasy

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This week we’re talking about the Final Fantasy series! With FFXIV in full swing, and Lightning Returns now released, Earl brings in Brent and Tony to talk about the long-running game series, with Stephen jumping on-board a little later. They talk about Tony’s involvement with the Official Strategy Guide, Brent’s impression of the updated MMO, among a ton of other things. They also end up talking about the ridiculous names for titles, and offer Square-Enix some spin-off game ideas. (Very light spoilers, or some so old they don’t matter anymore.)

Guests:
Brent Peckham – “Brently Default”
Tony Gao – “Unredacted: Gao’s Fortune”
Stephen Hanek – “The Late of Us”

Supplementary notes:
Lightning Returns: Complete Official Strategy Guide
Unsong Story – Kickstarter

Audio notes: (1hr. 10min. runtime)
0:00:55 – The FFXIII-3 strategy guide, what’s interesting about the series, and FFXIV
0:08:45 – FFXIII’s story, lead designers & ideologies, Stephen appears, and FF’s problems
0:20:35 – Battle system, FFXV & Kingdom Hearts, and nomenclature
0:27:50 – Unsung Story, Bravely Default, spin-offs, and solving franchise issues
0:36:10 – FFXIII, how Tony worked on the guide, and story vs. gameplay
0:44:10 – Mystic Quest, completionists, FFT, Fire Emblem, and Valkyria Chronicles
0:54:25 – FF13 trilogy, time travel, Crazy Chocobo, FF10, and villains
0:59:35 – Franchise’s future, lack of identity, and going mobile
1:02:40 – Series’ successors, MMOs, F2Ps, RPG issues, and money

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Netflix – House of Cards

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Today we’re jumping into House of Cards and the online network, Netflix! Earl chats with Leo Panasyuk about the series, David Fincher, anti-heroes, and the network’s future. They also discuss avoiding spoilers, and whether or not we need a statute of limitations on divulging spoilers. Plus a moment of remembrance for Philip Seymour Hoffman. (Very minor spoilers overall, with one segment tagged with a spoiler warning.)

Guests:
Leo Panasyuk – Film critic for We Eat Films

Audio notes: (48min. runtime)
0:00:00 – Intro and Philip Seymour Hoffman
0:05:15 – Impressions of House of Cards, critical acclaim, and general thoughts
0:12:30 – David Fincher, writers & directors, and cinematic style in television
0:18:00 – (Spoilers in this segment.) Beau Willimon, politics, and anti-heroes vs. villains
0:25:50 – Longform narrative, spoilers, and dealing with spoilers
0:36:55 – Netflix, binge-watching, exclusivity, and competing with streaming networks

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