Episode 60: Tom Cruise and the Constitution

Episode 68 · November 8th, 2016 · 1 hr 15 mins

About this Episode

...no, we’re not talking about a remake of National Treasure, but wouldn’t it be great if we were? That’s the movie they need to remake. Why has noone done this?

Ahem. To mix things up this time, the Screeners are doing two reviews and a game. Or...one mini-review, one full review and a game. One short review, one really long review and a game? Um, whatever; there’s going to be a game at the end.

First on the docket is Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. With a title like that, the jokes write themselves. So does the script...but maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Someone might have liked watching Tom Cruise punch and kick things. He even has a couple female sidekicks, so the cast is diverse and everything. At least, we’re guessing that was part of the pitch to the studio. Anyway, everyone paid to see it, so they’re going to talk about it. For a little while.

From Laughable to the Exact Opposite

Instead of giving a Tom Cruise movie the satisfaction of being the main event, the Screeners called an audible and decided to have a longer discussion about 13th, Ava DuVernay’s new Netflix documentary. It’s a stark look at the black experience in America since the abolishment of slavery by the 13th Amendment, and everyone has a slightly different takeaway. None of the Screeners can claim personal experience, but they’re all invested in discussing the issues brought up by the movie.

The Bowels of FlickChart

As a sort of pressure release for a rather heavy main event, the Screeners decided to round out the episode with a “fun” round of FlickChart. At least, it’s fun for Josh since he gets to sit back and listen to everyone else agonize about their opinions of movies he’s never seen. Will Die Hard ever leave the Screeners’ top 10? Not if Daniel has anything to say about it.

OK, enough for now. Join this episode’s discussion on Facebook, and check back for our next episode, when we’ll be talking about the Netflix original Mascots (from Christopher Guest!) and Marvel’s Unstoppable Money Mach...err, Dr. Strange.