TheRetroCritic

Review now available on the new website .

I n this 81st episode of  The Big Rewind , we discuss the Oscar winners and review  Black Panther . Email us if you have any questions, requests or contributions:  bigrewindpodcast@gmail.com Or simply comment below :) Oh and you can also find us on  iTunes ,  Stitcher ,  Soundcloud  and  Player FM  where you can subscribe to the podcast and download every episode thusfar, like a boss. @TheRetroCritic #TheBigRewind retrocriticblog.blogspot.com thebigrewind.blogspot.com youtube.com/TheRetroCritic youtube.com/Cablogula

We talk briefly about the first few seasons of The Walking Dead on The Big Rewind .

We talk briefly about Howard The Duck .

I n this poor-sounding 80th episode of  The Big Rewind , we discuss the Oscar nominations and review Downsizing .   Email us if you have any questions, requests or contributions:  bigrewindpodcast@gmail.com Or simply comment below :) Oh and you can also find us on  iTunes ,  Stitcher ,  Soundcloud  and  Player FM  where you can subscribe to the podcast and download every episode thusfar, like a boss. @TheRetroCritic #TheBigRewind retrocriticblog.blogspot.com thebigrewind.blogspot.com youtube.com/TheRetroCritic youtube.com/Cablogula

From director Yorgos Lanthimos, The Lobster is an absurdist black comedy set in a near future where single people are forced to pair up romantically with someone within a month and a half or else they get turned into animals. Colin Farrell is a newly single man who is escorted to a strange hotel where he begins his search for a new mate. He is given a specific number of days to meet someone and this time can only be extended if he manages to hunt and kill other single people who have escaped to live in the forest as they are not welcome in society. As you can see, this isn't exactly your typical rom-com and, in fact, it's a rather grim look at dating norms and the pressures of society in general. The very dry, deadpan humour makes it a more palatable satire but the film never sugarcoats the more brutal aspects of that dystopia. People literally lose their humanity, commit suicide, mutilate each other: this is a desperate and cruel world that forces emotional connections i

Based on the true story of polka band leader Jan Lewan, The Polka King is a new comedy released by Netflix starring Jack Black, Jenny Slate and Jason Schwartzman. The film follows the rise and fall of Lewan, who was convicted for running a Ponzi scheme in the early 2000's. Jack Black is in familiar territory here playing a likeable, well-meaning yet off-beat and troubled character based on a real person like he did in the underrated 2011 film Bernie . This story, however, isn't so much dark as it is fascinatingly ridiculous: the idea that a little-known Polish polka singer in Pennsylvania somehow convinced a lot of people to invest in him for years is so surreal that it's ripe for parody. Black could have easily turned this role into a Nacho Libre -style cartoon but, even though he puts on an impossible accent here, he still captures what made this guy so appealing to others and shows different sides to his personality. Most of the time, Lewan is friendly and generous

Pulled from release amidst the sexual misconduct claims that recently surfaced against Louis C.K., I Love You, Daddy , co-written and directed by the disgraced comedian, remains mostly unseen and probably will stay that way for a bit. Did we miss out on a gem or a misguided train wreck? The answer is arguably a bit of both but the horrible timing for this film still lands it firmly in the latter category. The film follows successful Hollywood producer Glen Topher, played by Louis C.K., who freaks out when he suspects that his 17 year-old daughter China (Chloë Grace Moretz) might be having a relationship with respected film director Leslie Goodwin (John Malkovich), who is much, much older. Parallels between Leslie and Woody Allen are tough to ignore as we're told that Leslie has a reputation for liking young girls and is rumoured to be a pedophile. A film criticising Allen's alleged behaviour while being a  Manhattan  pastiche would have certainly been hypocritical coming f

Released in 1981, Modern Problems is an off-beat comedy starring Chevy Chase as a loser air traffic controller who is dumped by his girlfriend then somehow gets covered in nuclear waste which leads to him acquiring telekinetic powers, for some reason. Chevy Chase is a comedian who could easily elevate silly or potentially bland roles to something special. While his movie career has stumbled since the late 90's, probably at least partly due to him having a bad rep with his peers and being apparently difficult to work with, he remains one of the most reliable comedy actors out there. It's a shame, then, that Modern Problems is not a better film. Made when Chase was near the peak of his career, it not only failed to capture the actor's comedic talents but failed to tell a funny, or at least entertaining, story. The concept, while random, could have translated into a really fun movie: Chevy Chase has superpowers, he uses them in silly ways, goes too far, has to redeem him

Review of the Chevy Chase comedy Modern Problems .

Wonder Wheel was Woody Allen's 2017 film starring Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake as two people with a bit of an age gap who start an affair before one of them decides to get together with the other one's younger daughter. If this plot rings any bells, by the way, you've successfully pinpointed the first troubling aspect of this movie. As the world increasingly struggles to separate artists from their, often less-than-remarkable, and sometimes just plain odious, personal lives, it was a bit of a blind gamble for Allen to release a film like Wonder Wheel. A film that, if not consciously, subconsciously evokes the allegations surrounding the celebrated auteur and his daughter Dylan Farrow. Then again, if you've convinced yourself that you have done nothing wrong, why would you bother avoiding certain subtexts? On the surface, Wonder Wheel is your typical Tennessee Williams-style melodrama about people making bad decisions leading them to some ironic tragedy.

I talk about a couple of late 2017 movie releases.

I review the 1992 dark comedy Stay Tuned .

My least favourite films of 2017 get the Top 10 treatment.

A relatively short Star Wars: The Last Jedi discussion.

I n this 79th episode of  The Big Rewind , we talk about  Star Trek , King Arthur and review Star Wars: The Last Jedi . Email us if you have any questions, requests or contributions:  bigrewindpodcast@gmail.com Or simply comment below :) Oh and you can also find us on  iTunes ,  Stitcher ,  Soundcloud  and  Player FM  where you can subscribe to the podcast and download every episode thusfar, like a boss. @TheRetroCritic #TheBigRewind retrocriticblog.blogspot.com thebigrewind.blogspot.com youtube.com/TheRetroCritic youtube.com/Cablogula

Along with Baywatch , another dated TV series that got the movie remake treatment in 2017 was CHiPs , starring Michael Peña and Dax Shepard as two California Highway Patrol cops who take on a mysterious gang of thieves and corrupt police officers. When FBI Agent Castillo (Peña) is sent undercover to help solve the aforementioned case, he finds that getting along with his partner Jon Baker (Shepard) might prove to be the real challenge. The latter is a down-and-out ex-motocross champion with a crumbling marriage and metal plates keeping most of his limbs in place and Castillo is a playboy with little patience so they obviously can't stand each other initially but eventually learn to work together and make a great team. This is pretty standard cop story stuff complete with the obligatory yelling chief, epic car chases and obvious bad guys so don't expect anything ground-breaking or completely unpredictable. The film was universally trashed by critics who seemed to be disappo

Before we lost Adam West in 2017, the iconic actor gifted us one last performance as Batman in animated sequel Batman vs. Two-Face . Based on the original 60's TV series, it introduced Harvey Dent/Two-Face who is voiced by William Shatner. The preceding movie, Batman: Return Of The Caped Crusaders , was a fun, silly homage with everything you'd expect from the classic show like lots of classic villains, an over-the-top storyline and a cast including Burt Ward and original Catwoman Julie Newmar. Batman vs. Two-Face also captures the spirit of the show perfectly with lots of funny mistakes left on purpose, silly labels on everything and onomatopoeia-filled fight scenes. The animation is a little less stiff than it was the first time around and there's a lot more emphasis on the story as this new take on Two-Face keeps you guessing throughout. We're introduced to Harvey Dent early on, his friendship with Bruce Wayne prompting some jealousy from Dick Grayson, of cours

I finally pick my 10 favourite films from last year!

Loosely based on the popular 90's television series, Baywatch is a blockbuster comedy starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron as lifeguards who investigate a potential drug lord suspected of conducting their business around the beach. The comedic approach to Baywatch makes sense: everyone knows how silly the show was and everyone made fun of it to a certain extent back when it was on, even if you enjoyed it. Friends celebrated its goofiness back in the 90's and there have been countless spoofs since, including a memorable cameo by David Hasselhoff in  The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie . Unfortunately, dated TV shows rarely translate all that well into big blockbusters: CHiPs (also released last year) got panned, everyone forgot there even was an A-Team movie and the  Starsky & Hutch  movie didn't exactly re-invent cinema, though it was admittedly a fun watch. With a project like this, arguably the best approach is to take a page from Airplane! 's book and play