TheRetroCritic

I play some of the totally original Genesis game Ristar .

Stream in which I review Netflix's Godzilla mini-series and the live-action Fullmetal Alchemist movie... among many other things.

We talk about the Avengers: Infinity War trailer on The Big Rewind .

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

We talk briefly about Howard The Duck .

We talk about the upcoming Dumbo remake on The Big Rewind .

I talk a bit about Netflix's The Cloverfield Paradox .

We discuss the upcoming Dick Cheney movie on The Big Rewind .

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

I try a Black Licorice drink from Rocket Fizz.

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

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 .

I talk about a couple of late 2017 movie releases.

I review the 1992 dark comedy Stay Tuned .

I play just a few minutes of the game Shockman .

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