We're back to launch Disney Plus and we give you some theories on what this means for Disney.
While we aren't back for a weekly show, this won't be a one-time episode. We're figuring out how to keep this going in a sustainable way, but you know we'll always Keep Moving Forward.
For our last show we dive into Disney's record year, the theme parks, and the Disney Wisdom we want to pass on.
In our second-to-last episode, we break down the photorealistic version of The Lion King and talk about where this fits in our rankings of the live-action remakes.
This week we talk about the Disneyland brawl, Mulan's teaser, the reaction to the casting for the live-action version of The Little Mermaid, and what it means that Disney World is getting more deluxe. Plus, why the show will be ending soon.
This week we break down Spider-Man far from home. What we liked and what we didn't.
This week Pixar released the fourth Toy Story film. So far they have never made a bad Toy Story, and they continue the trend of excellence with Toy Story 4. This week we break down the entire movie and how we would rank it in the franchise.
This week we dive into Disney's live-action movies to rank them from best to worst. Spoiler Alert: We all have the same #1. From there, our choices vary wildly.
Then we take a look at Frozen 2 and talk about whether we think it can live up to the first one.
This week there was kind of a smorgasbord of news this week as Disney has the top 3 domestic earners through the first half of the year. We take a look at those films and how Aladdin may have broken Disney's "Memorial Day" curse.
Plus, people are ALREADY stealing things from Galaxy's Edge.
Disney gave us a final look at Toy Story and our first look at Maleficent. Is she good or bad?
Disney gave us a final look at Toy Story and our first look at Maleficent. Is she good or bad?
I can't figure out why I like this movie, but I do. It broke Disney's "Memorial Day Curse" earning more than $86 million domestically. There is bad acting, weird script choices and some off special effects, but Aladdin finds its magic where it counts.
This week Disney stuck a deal that could (will) lead to them owning Hulu outright by 2024, Endgame continues to get closer to breaking Avatar's Worldwide Box Office record, James Gunn spoke out about his firing, and the new class of Disney Legends are out. It was a busy week for Disney but we break it all down this week.
This week we dive into the allegations against Jim Cummings, the voice of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. It's not pretty but it's also a matter of he-said-she-said.
Plus we got a new trailer for Spider-Man: Far from Home and it fits into Ed's theory about a multiverse.
Then Disney released a new slate with some interesting changes for Artemis Fowl and Avatar.
And Cameron gives us an update on his recent trip to Disney World.
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I'm torn about this one. No, really, I am.
I really encourage you to listen to our way-too-long Podcast on this film because we get into some great conversations.
On one side you have the Marvel fan in me. It's the one who has been to every opening night for nearly every Marvel film since Iron Man 2. That's the guy who researches movies and characters to learn more about their powers and possible story directions. That Ken easily gives this a 10/10.
Then there is that other side of me. The one who goes to the movies to see something he didn't even know he wanted to see. The one who feels movies should run as tight as possible, so every line of dialogue and scene has a purpose. The guy who feels like it shouldn't take a full hour of exposition to get us into the main plot of the movie. That Ken marks this down at about a 7/10.
I'm torn because all the things I love about EndGame are exactly what I hate about it. Consider all the things you have to know just to understand the motivations of the characters. You'll need to brush off Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man, the entire Captain America trilogy, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2., Ant-Man and the Wasp, and *maybe* Captain Marvel. Far from being a sequel, this is a behemoth of a feat to wrap up 11 years of movies. As a fan, this is great. As a casual movie goer, it leads to a bloated film that tries to wrap up too much in one sitting. As a fan it was everything I wanted to see (and more) but as casual viewer it had the predictable formula of a super hero movie.
The fan in me knows that this movie wasn't made for the casual movie-goer. It was made for you and I, the fans. Endgame really was/is the tightest story the Russo Brothers could weave for the adoring fans who have stuck with the MCU for so long. It's for everyone who could name every single Avenger on the battlefield in the final battle with Thanos and his army. It was not for the people who knew that a major Marvel film would have some sort of major battle and think that to be cliche.
So is it an epic conclusion or a cliche outing of superhero antics we've sen over and over? Is it detail-driven film that pays off all the knowledge we've amassed since 2008 or bloated film that could have lost 30% of its girth and still got the point across? The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
Long term fans are going to love it. Short-term fans probably will too. This is what we do. We are fanatics. Want to watch an action flick? The last battle alone makes this worthy. But I keep stopping myself from fully getting on board. As a movie itself, I just think it is good, not great.
The MCU is roughly the length of one season of a TV show, but I've always felt like people could join the ride at any time. That's probably not true anymore, but I'm not sure I can hold EndGame responsible for that. Instead, I consistently come down to the fact that EndGame does great fan-service, but it is a good-not-great movie.
Final Rating: 8/10
This is for those of you who may not have sat through 11 years of Marvel movies. We give a quick overview of who is who and why they matter in the upcoming movie.
This week Bob Iger announced he really does plan to leave the Disney Company at some point. No really.
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We finally know when we can binge Disney films to our heart's content. Mark it on your calendars - Nov. 12, 2019. We will never leave our couches again.
Investors were so excited they pushed Disney's stock to a record $129.85. It helps that the price is pretty manageable at $6.99/month or $69.99/year.
At launch, Disney plans to have 18 Pixar films, all the animated classics - including 13 classics that have previously been locked inside the Disney vault, all the Star Wars films, Marvel titles like Black Panther and Captain Marvel, more than 250-sum-odd hours of National Geographic programming, 100+ Disney Channel Original Movies and nine exclusive originals.
Not to mention all 30 seasons of The Simpsons--the exclusive streaming source. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Disney treated us to our first look at Star Wars: Episode 9 - The Rise of Skywalker. It looks like Rey has definitely completed her training and it set to open up a whole can of force whoop a$$. What's more, the team at Lucasfilm gave the film a title that tells us we may not have gotten the full story of Rey's legacy in The Last Jedi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adzYW5DZoWs
Speaking of the Last Jedi, I know some of you are still mad at Lucasfilm. Heck, it's not my favorite movie. But, I do think we should give Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy a chance to tell a complete story. Right now, we are only 8/9ths into a saga. If you hate episode 9, then feel free to burn you Star Wars flags in your mom's basement. Until then, realize that you can't judge a full saga by only a few episodes.
Not a whole lot to say here that hasn't already been said. This trailer looks life-like and every single animator that worked on it deserves a raise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TavVZMewpY
This week Marvel broke the internet by putting Avengers: Endgame tickets on sale. It was a madhouse. We talk about our experiences and why Cameron hasn't bought tickets yet.
Then we dive into Disney's full slate for 2019. They added in the Fox films and will be dominating cinema this year.
Finally we dive into the controversy of the removal of certain strollers from Disney parks. Plus loose ice. And smoking, that's gone too.
Dumbo earned roughly $45 million in its opening weekend, which is about what we expected. Some of us loved it and some of us didn't, but none of us hated it. So they must have done something right. Listen to the full review where we break down the good, the bad and the ugly.
Check out the Dumbo tab on the Disney Movie Database website for more details on the movie.
This week Disney finalized the deal to buy Fox. We've mentioned Fox at least once in almost every episode for nearly a year, but now it is finally here. And the layoffs have already started. We dig into what Disney has already closed and why they might have done it. (For some of our more in-depth episode on the Fox merger check out episodes 157, 161, 189, 192 and 194)
Toy Story 4 got a new trailer this week, and we dive into that. And Avengers: EndGame directors Joe and Anthony Russo admitted to creating fake footage to put in their trailers.
Plus, we finally get a chance to talk about the changes to Annual Passes at Disney World and Disneyland.
This week Disney released the last Marvel film before Avengers: EndGame. It just also happened to be Marvel's first movie that was lead by a female super hero and they knocked it out of the park. Take a listen to our thoughts on the origin story for the most powerful character in the MCU.
Kristin takes the reins this week as we dive into the new details of Black Spire Outpost, the Star Wars inspired areas coming to Disneyland and Disney World this year. But first we talk about Disney's historic Oscar Wins and the one glaring loss. Plus Rotten Tomatoes is trying to fix the parts of its scoring system that have been hijacked by trolls. And we talk about the Fox lawsuit that could really affect Disney's future creative efforts.
This week we dive into Disney's decision to pull its ads from YouTube over concerns of Pedophilia. But first, we talk about the interview Alan Horn gave to the Hollywood Reporter. And we bring back FastFlicks, with music and everything!
A little over one week ago, Disney debuted the genie that will take center stage in the live-action version of Aladdin. The blue version of Will Smith definitely broke the internet, but probably not in the way Disney was hoping for.
Before we get there, we talk a bit about Ron Miller, the former Disney CEO who recently passed away. Then we jump into Frozen 2 and talk about why the teaser was so epic. That and much, much more!