Pete and Trevor want to take this opportunity to thank Charles Krantz for 39 great years! Thanks Chuck! And thanks for Mike Flanagan for making this little miracle of a movie that we were lucky enough to see in theatres. Listen to hear our immediate reactions (while giving you plenty of warning before heading into spoilers).

This is also the seventh week for our ongoing Project Superman, wherein we watch every single live-action theatrical Superman movie. Today we talk Superman Returns, the forgotten early 2000s entry into reviving the Superman franchise.

Don’t forget to enter our ongoing contest to win a subscription to Letterboxd Patron: https://boxd.it/Gbt3O

Intro and history with Stephen King and Mike Flanagan (0:00)

Review of Superman Returns (9:28)

Spoiler-free review of The Life of Chuck (39:40)

Spoiler-talk (53:30)

About The Life of Chuck:

The Life of Chuck is a 2024 film inspired by Stephen King’s novella from his collection If It Bleeds. The story unfolds in three parts, told in reverse, tracing the seemingly ordinary life of Charles “Chuck” Krantz against a backdrop of strange cosmic events.

Charles “Chuck” Krantz – Tom Hiddleston

Young Chuck – Jacob Tremblay

Marty Anderson – Chiwetel Ejiofor

Felicia Gordon – Karen Gillan

Sarah Krantz – Mia Sara

Albie Krantz – Mark Hamill

Also starring – Carl Lumbly, David Dastmalchian, Matthew Lillard, Q’orianka Kilcher, Annalise Basso, Rahul Kohli, Violet McGraw, Kate Siegel, Benjamin Pajak, Cody Flanagan, Heather Langenkamp

Mike Flanagan – Director / Screenwriter / Editor / Producer

Trevor Macy – Producer

Stephen King – Story (original novella)

Eben Bolter – Cinematographer

The Newton Brothers – Composer

About Superman Returns:

Superman returns to Earth after a five-year absence to find that the world has moved on without him

Brandon Routh – Clark Kent / Superman

Kate Bosworth – Lois Lane

Kevin Spacey – Lex Luthor

James Marsden – Richard White

Frank Langella – Perry White

Sam Huntington – Jimmy Olsen

Eva Marie Saint – Martha Kent

Parker Posey – Kitty Kowalski

Kal Penn – Stanford

Tristan Lake Leabu – Jason White

Marlon Brando – Jor-El (archive footage and CGI)

Bryan Singer – Director / Story / Producer

Michael Dougherty – Screenwriter / Story

Dan Harris – Screenwriter / Story

Jon Peters – Producer

Gilbert Adler – Producer

Newton Thomas Sigel – Cinematographer

John Ottman – Editor / Composer

Elliot Goldenthal – Additional Music

For those of you who are excommunicado, exiled from The Continental, and out of favour with The High Table, this is the podcast for you.

Pete and Trevor saw Ballerina, the latest entry in the John Wick universe. Listen for our immediate reactions to the movie after immediately leaving the theatre.

This is also the sixth week for our ongoing Project Superman, wherein we watch every single live-action theatrical Superman movie. Today we talk Superman IV: The Quest for peace, closing out the Christopher Reeve era. Next week we discuss Superman Returns.

Don’t forget to enter our ongoing contest to win a subscription to Letterboxd Patron: https://boxd.it/Gbt3O

Intro and our history with John Wick (0:00)

Review of Superman IV (16:10)

Spoiler-free review of Ballerina (39:00)

Spoiler-talk (55:06)

About Ballerina:

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

Eve Macarro once dreamed of becoming a ballerina. Instead, her father’s brutal murder draws her into the shadows of the Ruska Roma assassin network. Trained in a deadly ballet of knives, guns, and improvised weapons, Eve becomes a force to be reckoned with.

Ana de Armas as Eve, Keanu Reeves as John Wick, Ian McShane as Winston, Anjelica Huston as The Director, Gabriel Byrne as The Chancellor, Norman Reedus as some guy, Lance Reddick as Charon

Directed by Len Wiseman, written by Shay Hatten, produced by Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Chad Stahelski, and Len Wiseman, cinematography by Nigel Bluck, music by Marco Beltrami, edited by Brett M. Reed.

About Superman IV:

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) finds the Man of Steel facing his most ideological challenge yet. Disturbed by the escalating threat of nuclear war, Superman (Christopher Reeve) takes it upon himself to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent / Superman, Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, Mariel Hemingway as Lacy Warfield, Mark Pillow as Nuclear Man, Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Jon Cryer as Lenny Luthor, Jim Broadbent as Jean Pierre Dubois, Sam Wanamaker as David Warfield

Directed by Sidney J. Furie, story by Christopher Reeve and Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal, screenplay by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, produced by Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan, cinematography by Ernest Day, music by John Williams (themes) and Alexander Courage, edited by John Shirley, production design by John Graysmark.

Turn car on, turn car off. Pete and Trevor took a trip to see the Karate Kid: Legends, another legacy sequel (but one that Pete loves). Will this live up to the high-expectations out of Cobra Kai? How will the Will Smith/Jackie Chan remake fit into this? Listen for our immediate reactions after leaving the theatre.

This is also the fourth week for our ongoing Project Superman, wherein we watch every single live-action theatrical Superman movie. This week we discuss Supergirl, which although does not contain an appearance by the man of steel himself, it still serves as an important part of the Christopher Reeve franchise (in that they tried to create an expanded universe and fell flat).

Don’t forget to enter our ongoing contest to win a subscription to Letterboxd Patron: https://boxd.it/Gbt3O

Intro and Pete’s history with Karate Kid (0:00)

Review of Supergirl (19:00)

Spoiler-free review of Karate Kid: Legends (35:50)

Spoiler-talk (51:40)

Karate Kid: Legends

Ben Wang (Li Fong), Jackie Chan (Mr. Han), Ralph Macchio (Daniel LaRusso), Sadie Stanley (Mia), Joshua Jackson (Victor Lipani), Ming-Na Wen (Dr. Fong), Aramis Knight (Conor), Wyatt Oleff (Alan), Shaunette Renée Wilson (Ms. Morgan), Tim Rozon (O’Shea), Marco Zhang (Young Li Fong), William Zabka (Johnny Lawrence – cameo), Pat Morita (Mr. Miyagi – archival footage)

Director: Jonathan Entwistle

Writer: Rob Lieber

Producer: Karen Rosenfelt

Executive Producers: Ralph Macchio, Jenny Hinkey

Cinematographer: Justin Brown

Editor: Dana E. Glauberman

Music: Dominic Lewis

Casting Director: John Papsidera

Production Designer: Maya Sigel

Supergirl:

Cast: Helen Slater (Kara Zor-El / Supergirl), Faye Dunaway (Selena), Peter O’Toole (Zaltar), Mia Farrow (Alura), Brenda Vaccaro (Bianca), Hart Bochner (Ethan), Peter Cook (Nigel), Maureen Teefy (Lucy Lane), Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen), Simon Ward (Zor-El)

Director: Jeannot Szwarc

Writer: David Odell

Producers: Timothy Burrill, Ilya Salkind

Music: Jerry Goldsmith

Cinematography: Alan Hume

Editor: Malcolm Cooke

Production Designer: Richard Macdonald

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to listen to Pete and Trevor travel to see Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth and potentially last instalment in the MI franchise. Christopher McQuarrie is back with Tom Cruise to single-handedly save stunt work and the movies and the world.

Listen to the episode for our immediate spoiler-free reactions to the movie before heading into spoiler-talk.

This is also the fourth week for our ongoing Project Superman, wherein we watch every single live-action theatrical Superman movie. This week we discuss Superman III, directed by Richard Lester, starring Christoper Reeve (Clark Kent), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), Richard Pryor (Gus Gorman) and Annette O’Toole (Lana Lang).

Don’t forget to enter our ongoing contest to win a subscription to Letterboxd Patron: https://boxd.it/Gbt3O

Intro, history with Mission: Impossible and recap of Dead Reckoning (0:00)

Review of Superman III (24:00)

Spoiler free review of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (42:12)

Spoiler-talk (51:40)

About the Movie:

Ethan Hunt and the IMF team race against time to stop a rogue artificial intelligence known as “The Entity” from falling into the wrong hands and reshaping global power. As loyalties are tested and old enemies return, Ethan faces his most personal and perilous mission yet.

Main Cast

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt

Hayley Atwell as Grace

Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell

Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn

Esai Morales as Gabriel

Pom Klementieff as Paris

Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge

Angela Bassett as Erika Sloane

Crew

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Producers: Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, Jake Myers

Writers: Christopher McQuarrie, Erik Jendresen

Cinematographer: Fraser Taggart

Editor: Eddie Hamilton

Composer: Lorne Balfe

Production Designer: Gary Freeman

Costume Designer: Jill Taylor

Visual Effects Supervisor: Alex Wuttke

Stunt Coordinator: Wade Eastwood

Casting Director: Lucy Bevan

The window creaks, the fire extinguishers rattles, maybe the hedge clippers turn on or something…you get the idea. Pete and Trevor saw Final Destination Bloodlines, the sixth installment in the "death is everywhere and everything can kill you" franchise. Which means a lot of fun, creative deaths to talk about.

Listen to the episode for our immediate spoiler-free reactions to the movie before heading into spoiler-talk.

This is also the third week for our ongoing Project Superman, wherein we watch every single live-action theatrical Superman movie. This week we discuss Superman II, directed by Richard Lester (and also Richard Donner depending on the version), starring Christoper Reeve (Clark Kent), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), Terence Stamp (General Zod), and Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor).

Don’t forget to enter our ongoing contest to win a subscription to Letterboxd Patron: https://boxd.it/Gbt3O

Intro (0:00)

Discussion of Superman II (11:20)

Spoiler-free Review of Final Destination Bloodlines (43:58)

Spoiler-talk (52:35)

About the Movie:

Plagued by a violent and recurring nightmare, a college student heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle of death and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.

Cast:

Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger, and Tony Todd

Crew:

Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein and written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor, based on a story developed by them and Jon Watts

Pete and Trevor saw Fight or Flight, the new action comedy starring Josh Hartnett and directed by James Madigan is his directorial debut. Listen for our immediate reactions after leaving the theatre.

We also discussed Richard Donner’s Superman (Christopher Reeves, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman) as part of our ongoing Project Superman to cover ever single live-action theatrical Superman.

Don’t forget to enter our ongoing contest to win a subscription to Letterboxd Patron: https://boxd.it/Gbt3O

About the Movie:

Fight or Flight follows exiled American agent Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett), who is given one last chance to redeem himself by tracking down a high-value target known as “The Ghost” on a flight from Bangkok to San Francisco. Complicating matters, the plane is filled with assassins from around the world assigned to kill them both.

Cast:

Josh Hartnett as Lucas Reyes.

Charithra Chandran as Isha.

Katee Sackhoff appears as Katherine Brunt.

Julian Kostov as Aaron Hunter.

Marko Zaror as Cayenne.

JuJu Chan Szeto as Master Lian.

Crew:

Directed by

Intro (0:00)

Review of Superman 1978 (9:05)

Spoiler-free review of Fight or Flight (34:43)

Spoiler-talk (44:58)

Castaways and perpetual B-team members Pete and Trevor take a trip to see Thunderbolts* (or is it The New Avengers maybe?). Thunderbolts is the 36th entry in the MCU and the 4th covered on this podcast, but how does it stack up? (Really, really well!)

This week also marks the beginning of Project Superman, our ongoing project to watch every single live-action Superman film. We are starting right at the beginning with Kirk Allyn in the 1948 serial and its 1950 sequel Atom Man vs. Superman. We also cover the Superman and the Mole Men, the 1951 debut of George Reeves as Superman and the first feature length Superman film. Tune in next week for Richard Donner’s Superman (1978).

Be sure to enter our draw to win a subscription to Letterboxd Patron: https://boxd.it/Gbt3O

Intro (0:00)

Review of Superman (1948), Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), and Superman and the Mole Men (16:32)

Spoiler-free Review of Thunderbolts* (40:09)

Spoiler-talk (54:20)

ABOUT THE MOVIE

Thunderbolts—recently rebranded as The New Avengers—is directed by Jake Schreier, known for his work on Robot & Frank and the series Beef. The screenplay was co-written by Eric Pearson (Black Widow) and Joanna Calo (The Bear).

The film features an ensemble of returning and new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) characters:

The film features an ensemble of returning and new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) characters:

Florence Pugh plays Yelena Belova (Black Widow), Sebastian Stan plays Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier), David Harbour plays Alexei Shostakov (Red Guardian), Wyatt Russell plays John Walker (U.S. Agent), Hannah John-Kamen plays Ava Starr (Ghost), Olga Kurylenko plays Antonia Dreykov (Taskmaster), Lewis Pullman plays Bob Reynolds (Sentry/Void), Geraldine Viswanathan plays Mel Gold, Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Chris Bauer plays O.X.E. Agent Holt, and Wendell Pierce plays Congressman Gary.

May the 4th be with you! Time for another bonus Star Wars episode in honour of Life Day!

Returning to the pod is Ben and Delaney, our Star Wars experts on retainer. Today we watch Revenge of the Sith on full-screen DVD and provide our immediate reactions.

In celebration of this day, we also performed a short play recapping the events of Revenge of the Sith.

Be sure to enter our draw to win a subscription to Letterboxd Patron: https://boxd.it/Gbt3O

Intro (0:00)

Star Wars Recap Play (13:30)

Review of Revenge of the Sith (23:19)

Directed by George Lucas

Starring Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Jimmy Smits, Frank Oz, Anthony Daniels

Music composed by John Williams