Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 371 – the next episode after Episode 370!
This week on show, Ian and Dave have gummy troubles; cry over spilled water; re-visit Dave’s Christmas story; make spawn talk; discuss Ian’s Robin Hood fan fic; hear of a new Hellboy; have a comic book nerd out; have an open door policy; have thoughts about Sherlock Holmes; honour King Arthur; celebrate public domain; bite their nails at small yet dangerous stunts; become disgruntled; dig Austeniana; try to explain Logan Paul; learn about strange cat skills; drink in Aquaman; elaborate on Dave’s problems with Black Panther; learn Ian’s cat-based religious beliefs; find out about a bad dog film; deny Christian films; destroy with one little fact; have controversial opinions; are haunted by The Conjuring questions; face faith in the face of certainty; lack social graces; have prayer envy; meditate over It’s a Wonderful Life; don’t make elaborate punches; further destroy with one little fact; and, finally, ask are there mom jokes.
Thanks for listening.
This person sums up Dave’s feelings about Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur better than Dave could:
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Ian, I also have a pet peeve about live-action movies that have CGI characters or creatures battling other CGI characters or creatures. For me, there’s not much at stake other than the reputation of the animation company.
But overall, my sister and I enjoyed Aquaman and all its goofy watery shenanigans (of course, nowhere near as much as the amazingly beautiful Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse.) I can see why it may end up making as much at the box office as the better-written, better-acted Black Panther. Aside from a rather perfunctory give-a-hoot-don’t-pollute message, Aquaman seems happy to be mostly just escapist entertainment.
I did wonder why Aquaman wore black jeans for some of the movie as everyone know how uncomfortable wet denim is. It was also interesting to see who got to have the expensive undulating animated underwater hair and who had to slick theirs back. And it got me thinking about who wore the missing-mom role better – Nicole Kidman in Aquaman or Michelle Pfeiffer in Ant-Man and The Wasp? Also, I got the theme from Flipper stuck in my head for days after: “Everyone loves the King of the Sea…”
One police procedural where the characters are Christian without being overly-religious is Blue Bloods which I watch with my mom and which she like cuz there are no swears and/or vampires in it. The central cop family is Catholic and they often say grace and/or debate right and wrong during the weekly family dinner scene. Occasionally a story will involve a priest with knowledge of a crime, or a Catholic church official trying to call in a favour. But generally their faith is just there in the background as one factor informing the moral and ethical choices of the characters.
Correction: I don’t use a pad, I jot down my podcast correction notes on scrap printer paper.
I could be wrong but I thought Disney had gotten around their whole Steamboat Willie problem by making it the “Walt Disney Animation” logo screen that now plays in front of all their animated movies. Something about a difference between a trademark and a copyright. If you keep using the trademark it will never be up for grabs. Plus, being an animated trademark, it includes Mickey’s look, the style, the music, the iconic whistle, everything. That might need some citation but I’m busy. Not so busy I can’t comment on a podcast website, but too busy to do that other thing.
I’m about to run Episode 371 – noticed Caanan Grall’s note above, so I thought I’d add a preliminary comment. You may have noticed that since Disney animated features have been appearing on VHS, that there is no copyright date on the product. No hint that Snow White is an “old movie” from 1938, Sleeping Beauty from 1959, etc. You may have also noticed that when “classic” movies are now on DVD, or Blue-Ray, they have some slight alterations in their appearance, or have been “cleaned up” in the digital processes (the Blue Ray for Pinocchio, for example, gives the film a nice frame on either side to provide a wide-screen effect, their release of “Skeleton Dance” has added sound effects over the opening credits). This creates a “new” product in copyright terms, enabling Disney to keep updating its copyright on that particular version, which ultimately squeezes out any already existing versions. A 16mm print of “Skeleton Dance” from the 1960s may be a public domain item in 2024, but the DVD issue on their “Silly Symphonies in Black and White” won’t.
Now I’m going to listen to #371 and discover you’ve already said all this and I’m just a babbling noob from the surreal city.
Cudos to “Sparks,” by the way. I may let some kids look at it, but only if they promise to save their pennies and get a copy of their own some day.
Hello! Just listened to Episode 371 again because since the first listen, my 11 year old grandson and I went to see Aquaman a couple days ago, after hearing your take on it, Ian, over the weekend. I am only recently getting into the super-hero movies as grandson and I have a mission to see all the new ones together. We absolutely loved this one! Completely lost ourselves in all that CGI wonder… one kingdom after another. Crazy fun! Of course, I agree the whole Manta thing was dumb. Why not just start a new movie with that premise instead of inserting it in this story??? Still, the rest was very cool, in our opinion. We loved the Spiderman movie too, and I mainly made sure we got to that one on your say-so, Ian!
As to the whole Christmas at your Mom’s story, David… from Ep. 370…I’ve been over that again and again in my mind. Still find it unbelievable, like Ian and all the others who have commented. We just have to remember, about the “toxic” people in our lives, that we do not owe them anything. And then just walk away emotionally, and sometimes physically. You are stronger in your kind spirit than others who haven’t figured out how to love.
Thanks, Laurel. That’s something my wife likes to tell me too.
Good! Keep listening to your her… and her wisdom.