Remember last time, when we were light on non-spoilable topics to talk about in the show notes? Well, here we are again, except there’s only one Jump Cut this week. The Screeners seem to be on a campaign to make these show notes as dull as possible, so if you can’t beat ‘em…

Indulge your humble guide for a moment while he reflects on one of his favorite brunch foods. Eggs Benedict, when made properly, is a delicious dish, but it demands a certain willful ignorance toward what one is about to put in one’s mouth. Too long spent pondering the fact that it resembles a pair of warmed oysters filled with liquid, and all is lost. Cut, lift, swallow. There can be no other strategy.

OK, that was an extra paragraph. That should substitute for at least one or two missing Jump Cuts. English teachers of the world, cringe in horror. We’ll never speak of this again.

Have You Tried Turning It Off and On Again?

Anywho, there actually is a full-length episode in here somewhere. We start out with something that became a fairly popular topic on the Screeners Facebook page:  Remakes—er, “reboots”—or whatever euphemism studios are using these days instead of saying “We want more money, and we don’t want to give any of it to a writer.”

We’re sure everyone can probably name at least one bad remake, but were there any good ones? Are there any movies that are actually due for a remake? Are there any movies that, if they were remade, you’d spiral into a profound depression that would take years of therapy to overcome? This is serious business, people, and not just because Chad’s about to list a bunch of movies so obscure they’ll make you question his national loyalties. Oh well; we always thought there was something off about him anyway. On to the main event!

Drones vs. Soldiers

Another week, another Steve Jobs movie—and, true to the source material, each one is almost entirely incompatible with the previous version. At least this one brought a real writer and real actors to the party, but was that enough to satisfy the gamut of personal preference and emotional baggage the Screeners represent? Fun fact:  If you toss all the iPhones Chris has owned over the years in a pile on the ground, they self-organize to spell out “#firstworldproblems”.

For the second movie in this episode’s main event, though, there are no cute one-liners. Beasts of No Nation is an often unpleasant look at a grim reality. Netflix’s first feature-length movie was written, directed, and shot by Cary Joji Fukunaga, is adapted from a novel about a child caught in the middle of civil war in an African country. What makes a movie about subject matter like this “worth watching”? Tune in to see how Chad, Daniel, and Josh would answer that question, since Chris and Melody...didn’t watch it.

And that’ll do it for another episode of the Screeners. Head over to Facebook to let us know what you thought, what you’d like to hear more of, and if you have any strange cravings for eggs Benedict.