Friday, February 18, 2011

The Minority Podcast

2011 seems to be the year for milestones and innovations for Moviesucktastic, as the latest episode of the podcast features yet another first for the show: Episode #27 is the first podcast in which Movie Guys Joey and Scott review a film actually sent to them for review by the filmmakers themselves.

360 Sound and Vision, an independent production company based out f New York, sent us a screener copy of The Minority, starring Billoah Greene and written/directed by Dwayne Buckle (aka D-Buckle). In the words of the promotional website for the film:
Hardworking African American citizen Jake Jackson is constantly subjected to racial biases, until he captures a wanted fugitive, then his luck changes.
At first, your humble podcasts hosts were concerned about the implications. Did these struggling filmmakers realize that our show was dedicated to talking about mostly bad movies? Did the understand what the "Suck" in Moviesucktastic stands for? We were worried that the production company's expectations regarding our critical input (or more precisely, output) might be somewhat excessive.

Even worse, we became concerned that agreeing to review their film would result in a moral dilemma: Never ones to trash a film just for the sake of being mean or spiteful, would we end up giving a boring positive review that would do little to entertain or inform our listeners, who depend on our bitter hatred for films that fall below our rather shallow artistic standards? Even worse, would we be tempted to violate our journalistic ideals and give a negative review to a film undeserving of critical scorn and derision?

Fifteen minutes into the film, we new they had made the right choice.


Listen to the groundbreaking Episode #27 of Moviesucktastic, and find out why it is not only the first episode to feature a solicited review, but the first to ever start with an apology for the review to come. You can download this momentous episode from iTunesPodcast AlleyPodcast.com or stream it directly at the newly updated MovieSucktastic.com website. And if you feel that our review of The Minority was unnecessarily harsh or unkind, be sure to let us know.
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Spring Cleaning!

As spring approaches, warmer weather rapidly approaches, and with it cooler website designs. That's right, Joey (the more technically advanced and level headed of the Movie Guys) has revamped the Moviesucktastic website. Not only is it way more snazzier than before (You can't deny the snazzy of that!), but he's also installed a brand-new podcast player with expanded room for future episodes. Is he cool or what? Head on over and take a look at all the shiny newness and let us know what you think. And don't forget, our live Oscar show is coming up next weekend (just like last year's, only with the inclusion of alcohol), so start your Oscar pools now!


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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

There Are No Bad Movies, Just Bad Podcast Hosts!

Moviesucktastic Episode #26 goes live today, and with its release, two milestones in Moviesucktastic history are reached! Not only does this episode feature the first-ever Moviesucktastic Interview, it is also the first episode of Moviesuckastic to be released without an 'Explicit' rating! That's right; not only did we bring a fresh new voice and viewpoint into the MST domain, we also managed to prevent Scott from flinging vulgarities a F-bombs around for an entire recording session. The string of expletives he releases in future episodes will no doubt make up the difference. 

The multi-talented artist/actor/singer/writer John Dimes, aka Dr. Sarcofiguy (the first and only African American Horror Host), author of the books Coincidissonance and The White Corpse Hustle: A Guide for the Fledgeling Vampire, joined the Movie Guys via the latest high-tech, state-of-the-art phone conferencing technology (Scott propped his Droid X against the microphone) to discuss his latest book, There Are No Bad Movies! (Only Bad Audiences). In the book, John argues that all films merit approval on some level, and that people who nitpick and complain about the trivial flaws and minutia only distract from the overall entertainment value that the films are trying to provide. Proving to be both bold and brave, the author decided to give his pro-movie manifesto the ultimate test by offering up a review an interview by two people who seem to be dedicated to nothing more than trashing and complaining about films.

That would be us.

Armed with only his wit, charm, charisma, and an extensive knowledge of cinema, Dr. Dimes faced off against his mortal enemies in order to defend his position that film critics like Joey and Scott have only themselves to blame for the hardships they endure sitting through films like Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

Surprisingly enough (or not so surprisingly - we can be nice guys as long as you're not a filthy Avatar Fanatic), Mr. Dimes and the Movie Guys actually ended up agreeing more than disagreeing. Whether obsessed with bad films or convinced that all movies are good, movie lovers are still movie lovers, and the common ground between these two opposing forces of film criticism proved to be as vast as the failure of James Cameron's Sanctum. What was meant to be a half-hour interview turned into an almost two-hour conversation about everything cinematic under the sun. Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, Star Wars, Troll 2, Dakota Fanning, nothing was deemed as off limits - until John listed Van Helsing as one of his favorite films. Joey and Scott politely bowed out in order to prevent the show from going into overtime, but promised to dedicate an entire future episode to their thoughts and opinions on that particular Hugh Jackman contribution to The Arts.

Fun was had by all in the end, and the differences in opinions were dulled by a mutual love of films, making for fantastic conversation and a great episode. We enjoyed having Dr. Sarcofiguy on so much, we are planning on holding him to his promise to come back on the show when his upcoming CD, Demo Demons, is finally released. Until that day arrives, be sure to checkout his book, and to listen to our lengthy interview with him in Episode #26, the John Dimes Interview Episode. You can download it from iTunesPodcast AlleyPodcast.com or streamed directly at MovieSucktastic.com. And if you happen to swing by Amazon and pick up a copy of John's book, be sure to let him know that the Movie Guys over at Moviesucktastic sent you.
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Sunday, February 6, 2011

Weekend Box Office: Cameron's Cave Conquered by Crazy Coeds!

Ashton Kutcher at Time 100 GalaImage via WikipediaJoy of Joys! Valentine's Day came early for your Moviesucktastic hosts Joey and Scott, as the estimates of this weekend's Box Office take clearly show that Mr. Avatar's newest 3D offering has been soundly thrashed by the only film daring to challenge it by opening on the same weekend! Who would have predicted (besides us, of course) that James Cameron's harrowing spelunker adventure (based ever-so-loosely on actual events) Sanctum would lose at the box office opening weekend to the Collegiate version of Single White Female, The Roommate? Sanctum may have been a small film for James "Four Years to Film Giant Smurfs" Cameron, but having his $30 million dollar soundly trounced by a film that cost half of that has to sting just a little, especially when the main draw is the decidedly un-CGI Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly sleeping in the same bed. Let's hope Kathryn Bigelow phoned James "Hurt Locker Would Have Been Better In 3D" Cameron this morning and told him to suck it.


Maybe you can blame this one on the titles. Considering the literacy rates in America (just mention subtitles to a prospective audience member and watch them run screaming into the night), titling a film Sanctum is definitely a risk, especially when you consider that you've just saddled a film featuring cave divers with a name that sounds uncomfortably close to Rectum (no doubt the name of the XXX parody already being written in Larry Flynt's deviant little mind). Perhaps he had gained some confidence regarding the title after the success of Inception, not fully grasping how long American film audiences would put up with theater marquees resembling SAT questions. So when it came to picking a film to watch this weekend, most moviegoers no doubt decided to forgo the time it would take to look up the definition of "Sanctum" (noun: 1. a sacred or holy place, 2. an inviolably private place or retreat) and just opted for the blatantly obvious and descriptively titled film. Then again, maybe they're just fed up with all of this 3D crap.

Behind that little chocolate coated goodness, there are no real surprises this weekend. A number of the top ten films are Oscar nominees, as is  to be expected, although Ashton Kutcher still holds the title of King of the January Release with No Strings Attached at #3. The King's Speech rides it's Oscar Nominations with pride at #4, and the thankfully Kevin Smith unrelated Green Hornet flounders in mediocrity at #5, looking very unlikely to earn its Hardee's-sponsored money back.

On a side note, I think it is worth pointing out that out of the top twelve films this weekend, only one of them boasts a budget of over $100 million (with no hope of earning its money back), and nine of them at under $50 million, with the three costing under $20 million already grossing more than the budget of the disappointing Tron: Legacy. So much for 3D. Suck it, Cameron.


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