Rekt Reviews

What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner from Taxi Driver with a mentally ill loner from The King of Comedy with a mentally ill loner from the Batman universe? You get a blended margarita of insanity that can only be pulled off by Joaquin Phoenix...and you get a pretty damn good movie!

After a long hiatus, we actually managed to get everyone in the same room, at the same time, having watched the same movie...though this doesn't mean we are all on the same page. Shark, according to all his texts and seeing the movie twice, really liked it...but you would never be able to tell from hearing him speak on this episode. Erik, not a big fan of Quentin, mostly had a problem with the exorbitant length of the movie but was immensely impressed with Leo DiCaprio's acting. Paul simply hated everything about it - the meandering plot to nowhere, the fetishiszed violence against women, and the only discernable message of the movie being "if you want to get into the inner circle of Hollywood with pedophiles like Roman Polanski, you better be good with a flame thrower."Amy enjoyed the movie the most out of everyone, in large part due to Brad Pitt's relentless bad-assery and six-packery...and who can blame her, really?The one thing everyone agreed on is that Quentin's portrayal of Bruce Lee was whacked out, wildly inaccurate and disrespectful. Quentin taking a pop-culture icon, universally beloved by everyone in the world, and disingenuously painting him as an arrogant ass, is a perfect example of a director lacking one of the most important tools in his tool set - someone that can tell him "No". Scary to think, that person probably used to be Harvey Weinstein! 

It is a rare occurrence when the whole Rekt crew actually likes a movie, and Endgame managed to make it into that rare company. It's hard to tell we liked it from listening to the show, because there is still quite a lot to gripe about, if you care for such things as logic, plot holes, and a movie following its own time travel rules. The disappointing thing was how strong the movie started out - with a real sense of loss, darkness and the aftermath of the infamous Thanos finger snap and some genuinely unexpected turns. The never-ending fan service also gets quite old, with constant references and flashbacks to earlier MCU movies. Some are integral to the plot and some are genuinely funny, but many other ones are unnecessary and if you are not a religiously obsessive fan, can get confusing. The final battle is big, very cartoonish and strives to give every single character a chance to take a swing at Thanos. All that's missing is little league soccer style participation awards being handed out after. The post-battle wrap-up is fairly anti-climactic and kind of a drag. Where the movie starts out poignantly underscoring the immense loss felt by the world that lost 50% of it's population, perhaps a better ending would be to show the joy of everyday people, impossibly, getting their loved ones back, rather than focusing solely on the small clique of heroes and their personal catharses. Flaws aside, most of the film is strong, entertaining and the sheer feat of landing such a huge thing after so many years and multiple story lines is quite impressive. 

The Rekt krew chimes in on the do's and dont's of Captain Marvel and expound on the wider aspects of the MCU and the upcoming "Endgame" culmination. 

Is this the real life of Freddy Mercury? Is this just fantasy? Doesn't really matter to meeeeeeee.

On a very special episode of Rekt Reviews, the reking crew, ever-hungry for the affection of strangers, reviews "The Predator" with live streaming video on Caffeine.tv. Caffeine is a brand new live streaming video platform, (think Twitch, minus the sexist, racist troll infestation). Amy - "The Predator is a national treasure!"Paul - "The greatest movie since "Gremlins!"Shark - "I can't believe you made me watch this piece of $H!t"Erik - "Kffshsst" (sound of microbrew cans openig"

Nobody really wanted to see this movie but since the previous Jurassic World was the very first episode of Rekt Reviews, we decided to review it for the sake of continuity and out of a misguided sense of sentimentality.Amy finally gets included in the show intro, Shark manages to VERY accurately discern the plot without even having watched the movie, Amy invents a new strain of weed called "The Sad Brontosaurus", Paul comes up with a million dollar idea for Jason Momoa sex dolls and Erik drinks craft beers while calling for dinosaur violence to be more traumatic to little children. 

"Solo: A Star Wars Story" Gets RektHear more shows like this at https://entertalkradio.com/rektreviewsSpecial guest, host of the "Eye on Simpsons" podcast and Star Wars apologist Nick joins the crew for this episode of Rekt. On the reking block is "Solo", the origin story of Han Solo no-one realized they needed. Star Wars is always controvercial subject matter so whether you liked or disliked this latest installment, you can be certain that you are wrong and your opinion is invalid. Tune in to find out why.

The 10 year culmination of Marvel movies has all come to this, and it's time for Shark to bust out the long-promised Southern Comfort. It's time for the SoCo Loco Infinity War episode!Most everyone was impressed with the way the movie managed to keep the myriad charactes and story arcs fairly organized, wihtout it being an overwhelming mess. The time taken to flesh out the main villain, Thanos is also commendable. Overall a very entertaining and competent movie, the main problem though (according to Erik) is the lack of stakes. Although [SPOILER ALERT] many key characters die at the end, it is clear that they are not really dead, considering there is an infinity stone which can reverse time, not to mention the fact that many of these characters' franchises are just starting out, having grossed millions and have more of their own movies already green-lit. So many of the sacrifices and heroic deaths ring a bit false. Overall though, whatever you love about the MCU, you will find it here, and Infinity War is probably one of the most impressive Marvel films to date. 

The idea was to review "Annhialation" and we partially succeded in doing so, although Shark didn't get to see it. What initially looked like a promising sci-fi mindbender, proved to be a disappoinitning and confusing mess. All the suspense leads to an ending that can best be described as cross between the endings of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Black Swan". If that combination sounds nonsensical to you, you are absolutely not wrong. Like the bioforms in Annhilation, our conversation metastasizes into a myriad colorful topics - basically a rundwon of who is watching what, currently. Amy finally goes public with the details of her past work as a voiceover actress for Hentai flicks. 

The rekt krew is pretty much on the same page for Black Panther, disagreeing only on whether it's the greatest movie since Marvel's "Sliced Bread" or just a pretty dang good movie for a comic book film. What gives the story a sturdy backbone is a compelling, realistic, and politically relevant story arc of the main villain - Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan. 

In this episode we go over everyone's favorite and most disappointing movies of 2017. 

On this episode we welcome a special guest, Nick, host of  "Eye on Simpsons" Podcast. Nick is a true Star Wars fanboy and sheds some light on what for many hard core Star Wars fans was problematic with The Last Jedi. Opinions vary widely among the Rekt Krew, also reflecting the large discrepancy in the movie's official reviews - stellar reviews by critics and many abysmal reviews by fans. Whether you feel it's a strength or weakness, The Last Jedi  goes ruthlessly against your expectations. 

Shark, Paul and Amy weigh in on the pros and cons of DC's Justice League. Shark's obsession with Gal Gadot and Amy's lust for Jason Momoa cloud their respective judgments, rendering their opinions utterly unreliable. Paul, having gone into the movie with fairly low expectations was pleasantly surprised with some genuine humor and a few cool plot devices, and is willing to forgive the pointless presence of Aquaman and a lot of the gaudy CGI in what is overall a pretty entertaining superhero flick. Erik was nowhere to be found for this episode taping, and we can only assume that his derision for this movie is so endless and vast that he would not even chime in on the group texts out of fear that we would force him to go and see it. We hope you are alive and well, wherever you are, Erik.#PrayForErik

For more shows like this one, visit http://entertalkradio.com/ and Connect To All Things Music.On this episode of Rekt Reviews, Shark, Paul, Erik and Amy weigh in on yet another chapter in a seemingly endless stream of Marvel blockbusters - "Thor: Ragnarok"...and the opinions couldn't be more varied. Shark, in his eternal grumpiness, disliked the movie immensely. Erik was all set to love it, but had to sit trough one too many moments that were an affront to his inner man-child and lukewarmed his feelings. Amy seems to have liked the movie well enough, but when asked to elaborate, inexplicably would change the subject to the 90's cult classic "The Crow." Paul seems to have enjoyed Ragnarok the most and it's a good thing he is writing this synopsis, because had it been Shark, the whole thing would be a string of f*@%!ng expletives.Though not without some shortcomings, "Thor: Ragnarok" definitely succeeds in taking one of the less popular parts of the Marvel franchise and bringing it well to the forefront. Ragnarok comes pretty close to nailing the fun-loving tone of Guardians of the Galaxy with Chris Hemsworth fitting right in with a more comedic take on Thor. One thing everyone did agree on is that Cate Blanchett is hotter than ever and was the best part of the movie. 

The reking krew sits down to dissect the dense sci fi film noir - Blade Runner 2049. Shark goes MIA for this episode and in his absence no one can seem to find much to complain about with this movie. Visually, Blade Runner is absolutely stunnig, with incredibly detailed world building that engulfs the viewer completely. The movie tackles some interesting philosophical themes about the nature of sentience and determinism, and structures its plot twists in a way that makes you feel like you've figured something out before throwing you for a loop. Blade Runner 2049 mainatains a hard impersonal edge with the interesting effect of Harrison Ford, when he finally shows up, being the warmest, most human element of the film (despite being as crotchety as ever.)

Special guest Dr. Thu Ho joins Shark, Paul, Erik and Amy to talk about the latest attempt at nailing down a Spider-Man movie in "Spider-Man Homecoming". Recorded on the last day of the San Diego Comic Con, the krew talk about their Comic Con experiences, super hero movies in general and weigh on on the latest Spider-Man movie. The general consesus is that although Tom Hollland's dorky high school Spider-Man is probably the closest to nailing the comic book character, the movie, although not particularly offensive, is a bit middle-of-the road. Probably fun for kids and pre-teens, it does not have enough complexity to engage an adult audience very much. Then again, adults should maybe stop watching super hero movies...that means you - Shark, Erik, Paul, Amy and Thu. Go out and do some adulting for Pete Parker's sake!

The REKT krew weigh on on Wonder Woman. Shark an Amy face off in a battle of who loves Gal Gadot more. If you are wondering whether a beautiful and charismatic lead actresss equals a good movie...well...so are we.

We're pouring our derision upon everyting Ridley did, exposing every weakness, however carefully hidden by the kid. Alien: Covenant is a pretty big disappointment for everyone involved. Paul goes back to watch Prometheus for the 3rd time to try to make sense of the whole story arc, Erik goes back to watch Alien 1 to recapture the sense of suspense and awe that spawned the franchise and no one is willing to give Covenant any breaks once the characters' asinine decision is made to go to an alien planet with no space suits. Sure, the movie is technically and cinematically impressive, (Ridley Scott films usually are). But no matter what deep existential themes he is trying to tackle are, it is really hard ignore the fact that Alien: Covenant is essentially "Idiocracy" in space. 

This Mother's Day seemed like the perfect day to dedicate to the daddy issues that form the main theme in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.With Kurt Russel delivering as always, the movie is fun enough but it suffers from the inevitable pitfalls of a sequel trying to live up to it's original success. All the elements that made the first Guardians work in a fresh and effortless way, here are forced, saccharine, convoluted and often unfunny.

Today we dissect the Marvel TV show "Legion" on FX. This series is incredibly heady, with a higher than usual barrier to entry. In fact, it took Erik and Shark about 2 episodes before really getting on board. Cinematically gorgeous, with a fantastic soundtrack, Legion looks at the B-Side of the X-Men universe, focusing on the psychological, psychedelic and psychotic elements of mutant superpowers.The show is very much unlike anything else on TV and perhaps can best be described as an LSD trip shared among Wes Anderson, Stanley Kubric and Stan Lee. If that sounds like your cup of electric Kool-Aid, you owe it to yourself to give it a viewing.

Erik, Paul and Shark offer their six cents on "Logan", the final chapter of the Wolverine trilogy.If you can get past the somberness, nihilism and brutal violence, the film is excellent, arguably one of the most well-executed superhero movies in recent history, (at least from an adult fan's point of view.) Logan's gritty down-to-erthinness gives the movie more of a hrad sci-fi/drama feel, a welcome break from those of us tired of pretty people flying through the air and shooting various energy beams out of their various orifices. 

Erik and Paul discuss their impressions of John Wick: Chapter 2. The movie's popularity is well earned by fresh and technically impressive action sequences and its grasp on what kind of movie it is and isn't. It does not take itself too seriously and delivers what it promises: Matrix legacy stunt work, stay-outta-trouble acting from Keanu, and some cool cameos.

Drinking at noon on New Year's day is a hard job but someone's gotta do it and so the Rekt krew start off the new year with a little hair of the dog and a review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.Shark expresses some high praise for the movie saying he "didn't hate it" but both he and Erik felt the main characters offered nothing for the viewer to care about and so the dangers and sacrifices have no emotional resonance. They are also annoyed by the fact that although the movie promised to be a standalone story that was suposed to veer away from the baggage of the trilogies, it still ended up being tightly bound to the plot lines and characters of "A New Hope." Paul, being the least hung over, least grumpy and thus more forgiving seems to have liked the movie the most, particularly for it being less focused on all the Jedi woo woo and being more of a down to earth war film. The one thing everyone agrees on is that the end scene with Vader in top form, going through a squad of rebels like a hot knife through butter, is pretty kick-ass.

Erik, Paul and Shark share their views on the HBO hit series, "Westworld". Just because a show is critically acclaimed, doesn't mean a group of functional alcoholics with microphones can't find someting to complain about. Shark is grumpy as always, prefering the 1973 movie version of Westworld, (which he went to see in a blizzard, uphill both ways.) Erik and Paul feel that although the show started out incredibly strong, as the plot twists start piling up, so unfortunately do the plot holes. The season finale delivers some cool mind-twisting reveals but time will tell whether this show has a good idea of where exactly it's headed, aside from the contrivance of machines being more human than humans. 

While America licks its wounds from this week's presidential election, the Rekt Krew focuses on the truly important issues. In this episode we review the latest addition to the Marvel Universe - "Dr. Strange". On one hand the movie is visually very imaginative and trippy but copies too much of it's mind-bending visuals from Christopher Nolan's "Inception", something Erik and Shark have a hard time forgiving. Another sticking point is that Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Dr. Strange, while sharp and entertaining, seems to also be a very near copy of Robert Downey Jr.'s version of Iron Man.Paul seemed to enjoy Dr. Strange the most, being a sucker for metaphysical mumbo-jumbo and medical jargon that doesn't insult the viewer's intelligence. Eric was most impressed with the movie's ending, where Dr. Strange triumphs by relying on his intellect and cunning, rather than the typical choice by comic book movies to end a conflict with the biggest punch or a large explosion. 

Erik, Paul and Shark talk about their favorite and most despised horror movies, the decline of the horror genre from its 70's heyday and delve into Shark's irrational fear of little people. 

The foul year of our Lord 2016, seems to be some unholy axis of remakes and reboots and the Reking Krew dives into the ill-conceived rehashing of The Magnificent Seven. Using beer-regression therapy we delve into our impressions of the movie, which seems to have some sort of a racial message, albeit one so diluted and obscure as to be incomprehensible. Mag 7 is entertaining enough as far as action goes, though it is very "Hollywoody" and does not have much to offer in the Western tension department. Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke  and Vincent D'Onofrio give the movie just enough A-List acting to keep it out of Fast--Furious territory but not enough to impress either Erik or Shark. Chris Pratt basically plays the same character he always does, which may or may not work for you. Paul, expecting the movie to be unwatchable was surprised to actually find it entertaining. Florentino, (subbing in for Christopher) was the most forgiving, with the only complaint being weak military strategy applied to the defense of the small town. Everyone agreed on one thing - if you are going to bring out the obligatory gatling gun, do so in the beginning of the battle, not after 3/4 of your force is expanded...like...Duh!

The Rekt krew reviews DC's Suicide Squad and this is our breakdown:  The movie is pretty fun and visually rewarding, with charismatic performances by Will Smith as "Deadshot", Viola Davis as "Amanda Waller" and Margot Robbie as "Harley Quinn" (who arguably steals the movie.) On the other hand Jared Leto's "Joker" seems over-the-top and his presence in the movie is all but pointless. There are a lot of plot holes and tropes and dumb moves in the movie, but they are for the most part forgivable. What is hard to swallow, however is the desperate sense you get of the DC franchise trying to hectically catch up with the Marvel Universe with all it's branches and spin-offs. Whereas Marvel painstakingly earned its place with over a decade of origin stories and character development, this movie (like Batman v Superman) is trying to cash in on the franchise racket too quickly, and this is glaringly obvious in the film. We end the show with Paul's "Illuminati Corner", where he points out some of the more blatant occult symbolism sprinkled all throughout Suicide Squad. Shark and Erik are skeptical but if you are into spotting pyramids and pentagrams and all-seeing-eyes and Babylonian symbology and Luciferian transhumanism themes - this movie is for you!

Erik does his best to defend this installment of the Star Trek reboot against the onslaughts of Paul and Shark, who had some very harsh opinions and choice words for this movie. Whatever integrity or merit this movie has is held up by its (still) excellent core cast (the jibes and banter between Spock and McCoy in particular.) Sadly most of that merit is squandered through terrible direction, action sequences that amount to nothing more than vigorous camera shaking, a very thin plot, unclear motives of the main villain and utterly eye-rolling choices that border on idiotic. This movie could have been good in someone else's hands, but in director Justin Lin's it (predictably) becomes simply Fast Furious in space.

The Rekt Krew discuss the 20-year-gap sequel to Independence Day. We discuss the impact of the original movie on our (at the time) young and impressionable minds and proceed to an inebriated evisceration of "Resurgence", a movie that is an obvious money grab, aimed at a God-knows-what audience, badly written with labored exposition and weak dialogue and a parade of young 1-dimensional characters. The global-level devastation wreaked by the aliens may be visually more impressive than in 1996 but utterly fails to resonate emotionally, despite the unimaginable loss of life and the loss of loved ones by the main characters. It is just impossible to care about anyone in this movie. On the plus side it was nice to see Jeff Goldblum's familiar gangly gesticulations and signature rhythm and Brent Spiner (Star Trek TNG's "Data") was thoroughly entertaining and arguably the one saving grace of this movie. To quote Erik - "Spiner was the only one who seemed to be aware he was part of a complete shit-show and just having fun with it."Paul is goaded by Erik to wax intoxicated about some Illuminati conspiracy themes peppered in throughout the movie.

The Rekt Krew weigh on the latest X-Men movie and director Shane Black's "The Nice Guys". The prognosis for X-Men Apocalypse is not good. Though filled to the brim with undoubtedly pretty people, the rekt krew finds the movie to be uninteresting, unoriginal and forgettable.The Nice Guys on the other hand was a surprisingly fresh and utterly enjoyable "buddy cop" comedy. The chemistry between a fat brutish Russel Crowe and an inept detective Ryan Gossling is crisp and hilarious. If you liked Shane Black's other triumphs - Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3, this will not disappoint. 

The Rekt Krew reviews the latest bloated Marvel phantasmagoria - "Captain America: Civil War". Paul refuses to call the Black Panther anything other than "Catman". Erik seems to have reached the limit of his tolerance for superhero ensemble movies. Christopher is delighted with the new scrawny smart-alecky Spider-Man, (at long last liberated from the incompetent clutches of Sony Pictures Studios.) Shark hits the nail on the head with his synopsis: the movie is essentially working off a bad, sloppy script and the schism between the Avengers seems forced and utterly avoidable. At the same time the direction is solid, the action scenes are exciting, particularly the fresh hand-to-hand combat scenes, and overall the movie is entertaining...assuming you are not looking too closely at things like character motivation or plot coherence.

The Rekt Krew review Disney's Zootopia and discuss the ever-expanding Marvel universe in anticipation of next episodes rekening of Captain America: Civil War.

The REKT crew start off by paying respects to Prince who passed away that day and getting all the tangential nonsense out of the way before delving into reviewing Hardcore Henry (which only 1.75% of the crew has actually watched.) Chris offers his opinions, Erik having watched only half of the movie offers half his opinions, Paul, having watched only the first 10 minutes offers his 10 cents, and Shark who is absent altogether has no opinion to offer.The crew then goes on to talk about the semi-live action remake of Jon Favreau's "The Jungle Book". A gorgeous movie by all accounts, fun to watch in 3-D, works overall with a few drawbacks being songs that don't feel like they fit (and sung badly by actors who are not singers), a lot of the voice-overs being done by very well known actors (like Bill Murray) making it difficult to not picture said actor in a sound booth and thus taking the viewer somewhat out of the experience, and finally a fairly stiff performance by child actor Neel Sethi as Mowgli (though perfectly understandable being so young and the only live actor surrounded by green screens.)

The Rekt Krew with all hands on deck and all brain cells anesthetized take on the beautiful mess that is Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. It is all to easy to break a leg by falling into any number of gaping plot holes and being inebriated certainly doesn't help navigate such a hazardous environment. Erik, Shark and Chris point out the numerous ways the movie failed them - sitting through the gazillionth rehashing of Batman's origin story, the uselessness of Lois Lane, Jesse Eisenberg's over-the-top portrayal of an Aspberger's Lex Luthor, Justice League characters being shoved down your throat for no reason, and the utter incomprehension of anyone's motives. Paul is basically alone in attempting to find redeeming features in BvS and gives director Zach Snyder a lot of credit for at least attempting to weave together something resembling a serious film and saving most of his usual CGI shenanigans until the end. The movie is entertaining enough if you are willing to cut it a lot of slack and if your position is "any Batman is better than no Batman".However it suffers from 3 major ailments, from which most of its smaller symptoms stem:One - the movie inherits all the miscasts of Man of Steel (Henry Cavill and Amy Adams sorta look the part of Superman and Luis but have no depth and Kevin Costner is out of place as ever [having died in the previous film doesn't stop KC from reappearing in this one].) Two - the movie is attempting to emulate two mutually exclusive styles, on one hand trying to set up a Marvel-type fantastical shared universe and at the same time, trying to keep Batman grounded and moody, (something Christopher Nolan absolutely nailed with The Dark Knight), and predictably these two approaches prove to be (predictably) incompatible. Three -  this movie's ultimate goals are to set up a fight between Batman and Superman and to set up a Justice League franchise. The fight set-up is done with all the finesse of a shady fight promoter anticipating a big payout - the end justifies the means and we get to that fight through writing that is sloppy, lazy, full of shortcuts and incomprehensible plot lines. The attempt to set up a Justice League franchise feels overly forced and detracts this movie from standing on its own feet.

The Rekt Team is down a man this week, but that doesn’t stop Chris, Erik and Paul from forging on with drinks in hand. After a random bit of talk about the Wachowski Sister’s Sense 8, the crew moves on to the main discussion 10 Cloverfield Lane. Despite receiving glowing critical reviews, Bad Robot’s latest film wasn’t as well received with our hosts. Too bad a great opening and good performances from the actors can’t seem to save this film from a fair number of problems. What could be the problems that trouble our inebriated trio? Was it the simplistic plot? The lack of tension? An awful tacked on ending with a twist? The overuse of movie tropes? Not enough Final Destination? Lack of black actors? Not enough Slusho!? Spaceships with sphincters? Too much to drink before hand...? Probably most of these.Besides discussing Cloverfield, the crew gets geared up for the inevitable viewing of Batman v Superman. Chris catches the group up to speed on the history of BvS while Erik and Paul try to forget as much as possible about ‘Man of Steel’.  Also we talk alcohol with a local Hawaiian when Rekt gets it’s very first caller to the show. Chaos ensues. 

We start the discussion off with all the racial talk surround this year’s event and how the host, Chris Rock, approaches the subject. Most of us find his jokes on this subject pretty funny at first, however it’s gets a little redundant throughout the show. Moving on we discuss the careers of two nominees, Leonardo Dicaprio and Sylvester Stallone. Did Leo win because of his performance in The Revenant? Or is Hollywood playing kiss up since he’s been snubbed for so many years? Does Stallone deserve a nomination? Has he even been in a decent movie other than Creed? Find out as the gang ponders these questions in between sips of alcohol and blatant Uber sponsorship chilling.On our second round we discuss some of the best picture nominations. Spotlight won best picture, but does it really deserve it? Sure it’s a fine film, but is it better than Mad Max? Paul and Chris chat a little about The Big Short and how it stacks up to it’s competition. Somehow this leads to the crew talking about James Cameron’s filmography which Shark has strong opinions on. Also Johnny Depp’s Oscar snub, Erik hasn’t seen Forrest Gump, and Paul shares his thoughts about Deadpool.

The theme of the hour seems to be vengeance and the REKT crew dissect The Revenant and Deadpool, two movies that couldn’t be more different in their execution and style and yet both surprisingly similar in focusing on the hunt for the protagonist’s arch nemesis and the protagonist’s ability to survive ludicrous levels of trauma and abuse.The Revenant is a gorgeously shot wilderness drama, gritty and visceral, with powerful acting by Leonardo DiCaprio and a simply stellar performance by Tom Hardy, surely to go down as one of the year’s best films.Marvel’s Deadpool is a sarcastic teenage fanboy’s ultimate wet dream, chalk full of F-Bombs, boobies, self referential pop-culture references and cartoonish violence – all the ingredients of a terrible film, yet Deadpool manages to be fun, at times original and often quite funny. Ryan Reynolds may have finally found a B-side superhero (or supermenace really) that fits him well.

Erik, Paul and Shark discuss their impressions of the obscure little indie film called Star Wars: The Force Awakens and tackle the question – is it feasible to rekindle a 10-year old’s sense of wonder in a 40 year old man-child?The Rekt crew have some mixed feelings about “The Force Awakens”, (directed by J. J. Abrams), which undoubtedly captures the feel and flavor of George Lucas’ original pre-Jar Jar trilogy but is so scared to veer away and take a misstep in a wrong direction that a lot of the film ends up being a rehashing of same old plot lines, i.e., secret plans hidden in a droid, a bigger badder death star, etc.The movie is definitely fun and fast paced, the CGI is not overdone and the acting is pretty solid overall and is immensely boosted by Daisy Ridley, who is just outstanding in her role as Rey, a scavenger in the process of discovering her Jedi prowess and lineage.The hype, anticipation and longing to get back to the original Star Wars vibe makes it a bit difficult to critique this movie objectively but our overall impression is that the constant nostalgia-baiting is nothing a couple of beers can’t fix. What this movie’s place in the pantheon will be is going to be decided by the passage of time and the development of subsequent heavily Disneyfied sequels.

This week Paul and Erik are joined by special guest Florentino from The Changing Stage radio show to talk about Creed and Krampus. Florentino and Paul discuss Creed, a quite tasteful installment of the Rocky series, with Sylvester Stallone giving one of his best performances in years.Paul and Erik talk about Krampus, the out-of-left-field Christmas horror comedy featuring an evil antipodal Santa…which sounds terrible…and is terrible, but not completely. The movie is a mixed bag, in turns clever and imbecilic, predictable and surprising, clearly out to just have fun. Think National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation meets The Gremlins.We also take a detour to discuss the fantastic new Netflix shows, Marvel’s Jessica Jones and Daredevil, which take B-side superheroes and use them to create smart, dark, multi layered dramas.

This week we are joined by special guests Ronnie Revoredo, cohost of the Shark After Dark radio show and Dr. Thu Ho, a woman after Bond’s own heart, who shares his obsession with other people’s Aston Martins.We discuss Spectre, the latest installment in the Daniel Craig iteration of James Bond films. Everyone shares their disappointment with the movie, especially considering how highly all of us anticipated its release, (in the naïve hope that it will be as good as the previous Bond film – Skyfall). Sadly, Spectre seems to have taken everything Skyfall and Casino Royale got right and decided to throw it all out the window, replacing a smart, taught, complexly characterized spy thriller with a clichéd, caricaturistic, sloppy romp, reminiscent of the Roger Moore Bond era. The movie is rife with plot holes, lazy writing, tired gimmicks, ludicrous and cumbersome back stories, and vague, hastily sketched motivations for the characters’ actions. Craig is basically just phoning in a well-worn but no longer inspired role and Christoph Waltz’ acting prowess is wasted on a struggle to play a super villain so cartoonish it makes you pine for the days when villains had real complexity…like Shredder from the Ninja Turtles.This isn’t to say that the movie is unentertaining – it can be, and there have certainly been many versions of Bond much sillier than this. The trouble is that Spectre comes on the heels of Skyfall, arguably the sharpest Bond film of all time, and in comparison all of Spectre’s shenanigans leave the viewer shaken but not stirred.

After a lot of James Bond related non-sequitourism, Erik, Chris, Paul and Shark delve into the review of “Sicario”, starring Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin. A gritty and realistic portrayal of a desperate drug war waged around the U.S./Mexico border, the film is very tense, building suspense in layer after layer and taking the viewer on an eye-opening journey through a world where law and lawlessness are no longer distinguishable.Erik and Chris discuss why they think this could be the best film of the year, Chris learns to use his mic’s mute button to mask the suckling sounds of his vaping and Paul disgraces the show by drinking hot tea instead of alcohol, citing an illness as an excuse for what is clearly an absence of cojones and leaving the listeners to wonder – “where have all the cowboys gone?”

Paul takes a night off and Shark returns to the show for a Halloween episode of horror. The guys first talk action movies, which may seem off topic but segues smoothly into the unholy horror that was Die Hard 5, (which none of them actually watched but seem to all be horrified by.) Chris and Erik rave about Sicario, which will likely warrant a Reking in the near future.Erik, Chris and Shark discuss Crimson Peak, their shared love for director Guillermo Del Torro and their shared disappointment in this film. Though visually quite stunning, immaculately detailed, and well-acted, the plot is a bit thin, predictable and ultimately un-engaging. None of the ghosts are scary or dangerous and though the movie is not without blood-curdling moments, these are achieved by very gory murder sequences, horrific due to their stark realism rather than anything paranormal.The guys finish up by talking about some of their all-time favorite horror movies.

Erik and Paul are joined by special guest “Shark”, who actually has a film degree, a monster radio voice and shows up with 3 kinds of beer and a bottle of Southern Comfort – in short, a gentleman and a scholar! We talk about The Martian’s strengths and weaknesses, how the film compares with the book and with other movies in the Sci Fi genre, including Ridley Scott’s previous hits (Alien) and misses (Prometheus).The Martian, though not without a few faux pas, is a solid and quite entertaining Sci Fi film, anchored in real science, tonally taut without taking itself too seriously and very sharp visually.

Chris, shirking his responsibility to drink on a Thursday, takes a night off and Paul and Erik are left on their own, to dissect the intricate anatomy of Pixar’s “Inside Out”. They discuss the clever and often hilarious metaphors the movie uses in describing the human psyche, as well as Pixar’s unparalleled ability to craft movies equally appealing to children and adults (even intelligent adults). Paul and Erik dive into the imaginative scenes which tackle topics like personality formation, repression, compassion, sacrifice and maturity.The movie strikes an amazing balance of being entertaining, intellectually stimulating and deeply engaging emotionally – which is artistically very gratifying in a story where emotion is the main theme.

Erik, Paul and Chris discuss the epic awesomeness that is Fury Road. The idea behind Rekt Reviews is to juxtapose the opinions of Erik (who is dead inside and loves nothing), Chris (who finds subtle beauty even in Nic Cage movies) and Paul (who ignores plot and character development entirely, focusing only on finding hidden Illuminati symbolism), but in this case the crew found very little to disagree over. The film is undeniably kick-ass, taking the viewer back to a time when action movies had you on the edge of your seat and presenting a never-before-seen spectacle to an audience that thought it has seen it all.The guys discuss the bold plot choices Fury Road makes, its lean expository devices, Tom Hardy’s fetish for face masks, the production challenges the film had before finding its footing, and the hoopla surrounding the feminist themes it allegedly explores.

Erik, Paul and Chris inaugurate the show with a review of Jurassic World, the gazillion-dollar-grossing cautionary tale on the dangers of messing with nature…yet again. Paul and Erik let their hater flags fly, exposing the movies weaknesses and ill-executed conceits, leaving Chris to defend the movie’s raison d’etre on his own. Everyone finds common ground in the fact that seemingly, God never closes a Goldblum without opening a Pratt.