Matthew Wrather hosts with Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Josh McNeil for the first installment of their annual overthinking of Summer Movies, covering Clash of the Titans through The A-Team.
Don’t miss the podcast recording livestream on the Overthinking It Podcast Ustream Channel every Sunday at 9:15pm ET (6:15pm PT).
Want new episodes of the Overthinking It Podcast to download automatically? Subscribe in iTunes! (Or grab the podcast RSS feed directly.)
Tell us what you think! Leave a comment, use the contact form, email us or call (203) 285-6401 to leave a voicemail.
dont watch: valentines day >.<
do watch: frequently asked questions about time travel (a movie about time travel where they use time travel movies to deal with time travel)
Opening Question: Well, ACTUALLY, _Gettysburg_ is over four *hours* because it was a made-for-TV movie, with a prequel (by the same people) _Gods and Generals_ (which wasn’t nearly as good, or so I hear- I never saw this because people that knew how much I loved the original would be quite disappointed in the prequel). I used to make my parents rent it once a month, at least, when I was 4-5 or so, to the point where Blockbuster finally let us keep it because I had worn the tapes down so much. I rented the DVD from my college library and hosted two different showings of it, but I have yet to own it myself, sadly. As such, it’s probably a safe conjecture to assume I would have been too caught up in the film to make out with you, Fenzel, which kind of breaks my heart. And same with _Willow_, actually. What kinda women are you trying to make out with, anyway? I mean, geez, I’m a little disappointed in you. ;p
@Josh: “[But when] Pirates of the Carribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.”
_Iron Man 2_: Yes, yes, and yes again. (And about it as compared to _The Dark Knight_- perhaps this has been brought up before, but I do think the quality and success of _Iron Man_ gave _The Dark Knight_ more “cred” with non-comic book fans, which helped the success of the latter.) There was a teaser for an Avengers movie at the end of the Ed Norton Hulk movie in which Tony Stark shows up, and yes, he’s played by Downey Jr. So I wouldn’t doubt that they’re sort of face-dropping in this movie to set things up for a different one.
_Robin Hood_: I agree with Fenzel. So what if it’s _Gladiator: Redux_? The Disney one is adorable (and the friar looks like a badger, I think). The Sean Connery one is terrible, which is heart breaking because the cast is made of such usually awesome actors- but the script and story is so bad, they couldn’t save it. They did alright with what they were given, but even good acting can’t save some movies.
_Shrek 4_: Again, agreed with Fenzel.
_Prince of Persia_: Yes, I want to see it, even though, as has been pointed out by another commenter, Gyllenhal is playing a Persian by having his skin darkened… It’s by the _Pirates of the Caribbean_ crew (HAH! CREW!! PUNS!) and looks like sort of much of the same, so I’m looking forward to it as a fun, period action piece. And the games, while I don’t own them, were fun when I sampled them at friends’ houses and have a lot of cut-scenes done in a sort-of-Matrix-type style that will probably look rather awesome on the big screen. And the trailers look pretty sweet, at least.
_Sex and the City 2_: I watched the whole series, but didn’t see the first movie, so I’m rather indifferent about this one. I do remember a few times in the series where Carrie runs into financial woes, but they’re just episode-specific and don’t matter by the time the next episode starts up. I think the money thing here wasn’t as terrible for me as it was with, say, _Friends_ because the only one seeming to do it so much was Carrie, and I liked the other ones enough to focus on them and just sort of roll my eyes at her.
_The A Team_: I have a feeling this one is going to get an event movie following a lot like _Tron: Legacy_ will, meaning a bunch of younguns that never saw the original will get all hyped up and become retro-hipster fans and flock to see it together.
I don’t think most people think the actual events, plot, premise of a romantic comedy will happen to them…but I think there’s some belief that the emotions are feasible/probable. Meaning, they want a relationship where it’s possible that the other person will say such dialogue to you or chase you and want to repair the relationship. It’s not so much the events as the vibe of the couple, which is why I think people are always talking about the chemistry of the two leads being so important.
Robin Hood: I was so surprised to see the trailer with Cate Blanchett. I kind of love her after seeing her on Inside the Actors’ Studio. Given her crazy range of roles, she should definitely be an overthinking it muse. I think it looks like they’re going for a drama, but it looks ridiculous so…I am confused. Maybe they can pull it off. I loved Robin Hood: Men in Tights though as another chance to see Cary Elwes before he became the Cary Elwes of Ella Enchanted starring Anne Hathaway. Sigh…
Shrek Forever After: Why? Especially after each movie seems to promise “OK. Now we’re done.”
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time: I watched a spot on one of those entertainment shows for this. I know nothing about the source material but the plot of this movie sounds…terrible? And yet recycled. She’s some kind of princess/priestess and there’s a dagger and they’ve got to travel so it has that whole banter, arguing, now we fall in love as we complete a quest thing going on. The British actress who plays the princess was in “St. Trinian’s” though so that’s kind of a plus. Or not.
Sex in the City 2: The first was such a terrible movie. The plot was illogical. There was the sort of contradictory behavior you complained about. It had crude humor that you wouldn’t expect in a movie targeted at women.