Toddlers and Movies Made for Them

The Screeners start out this week’s Jump Cuts by proving they’re not completely self-absorbed—it seems the next generation might have becoming-so-addicted-to-iPads-they-require-therapy.html?">a bit of a media problem, and the Screeners have a solution. You’re welcome, toddlers. Listen carefully, and you’ll also gain some key insight into Chris’ views on marriage.

Next up is a mini-review of Pain & Gain, Michael Bay’s latest...let’s just say “effort”. It’s a movie ready-made for Chris; can Josh convince him otherwise, or is there a twist in the works? Remember, folks; it’s all a true story.

After a rousing discussion of Michael Bay’s merits as an auteur, the tone turns sober as the Screeners ponder a recent Danny Boyle interview. The director gave his take on the state of modern cinema, and it’s not entirely rosy. Do today’s movies reflect the difficult yet rewarding complexity of life, or is Hollywood just filling seats? If so, whose fault is it?

Finally, the four have some words for the theater industry and their new crop of tie-in advertising during trailer time. The focus in this Jump Cut is on a theater spot for Pacific Rim, but the campaign’s bigger than that, and the only video example we can seem to find is for Fast & Furious 6. Just replace the cars with mechs and Vin Diesel with an actor, and you have pretty much the same movie, so it’ll do.

The discussion quickly moves on from cross-promotion to the theater experience in general, and we begin to question Josh’s motives for being a Screener in the first place.

The Man in the Iron Mask (is back)

This week’s main event is, of course, none other than Iron Man 3. It dominated the North American box office with over $175 million on opening weekend, so statistically speaking, there’s a decent chance you’ve seen it or will get around to it before long. Will Tony Stark’s PTSD leave him vulnerable, or will his sarcasm-as-defense mechanism drive away everyone he loves? Oh yeah, and there’s a villain too.

We won’t ruin the fun here, but this episode’s spoilers section just might, so go ahead and fast forward to the Cutting Room Floor if you want to be, um, surprised by the comic book plot. Oh, and before you see it and get the wrong idea, Chattanooga wants you to know something about their Internet speed.

Some Love for the Runners-up

Shifting from a movie-heavy week back to the other screens in their lives, the Screeners dedicate the final segment to the also-rans from their entertainment schedules.

Here’s the gist:  Josh wants Arrested Development to start (are we surprised?), can’t wait to watch West Wing for the second time, and has found a new music streaming site that’s taken over a bit of Pandora’s market share for him. Chad’s kept watching The Americans and also has some quality movies he thinks you should catch on your streaming service of choice.  Melody still loves Game of Thrones and follows a number of other shows religiously, both comedies and dramas. Chris still admits he owns a PS Vita and is really hoping ratings go better for Hannibal than they do for almost every other NBC show.

Before signing off, the Screeners give a shout-out to a couple listeners they’ve heard from since the last episode. They’re planning on making this a regular thang, so leave yr comments here or on Facebook for reals, yo. We also accept e-mails, tweets, and self-addressed stamped envelopes (preferably addressed to somewhere we’ve gotten a bill from recently; we hate addressing envelopes).

That’s all for now; we’ll be back in a couple weeks with reviews of Star Trek: Into Darkness (with or without Josh, who thinks he might have to do himself physical harm if he has to watch a combination of Zachary Quinto and J.J. Abrams for two hours) and The Great Gatsby (with or without Chris, who got distracted trying to figure out who Henry James was while looking at the reviews for the eponymous book on Amazon).