I do wonder if it’s the material? I really don’t pursue Cena projects but when he turns up in something I planned on watching or checking out anyway he’s often a pleasant surprise. Blockers, Barbie, what Peacemaker stuff I’ve encountered by happenstance… end of list?

I can accept it as a movie premise, like how Black Mirror starts with one outrageous thing, if what follows is more natural...which is why not knowing about a murder game and accidentally getting involved confuses the hell out of me.

This sounds a lot like Self Reliance

Michael Imperioli as Joe and Moe Dubelz

Isn’t that Bar the hang out of ...

Worked for The Hobbit . . . oh, wait . . .

“There’s enough violence to keep the dads awake—even when they’re on their feet, like the gentlemen one row down from me who stood up during the film for a solid ten minutes.”

Let’s be honest, his output has always been a little spotty. When he hits, he fucking hits, but as far back as ‘92 he made a garbage historical drama with 1492: Conquest of Paradise. And I know some people love the camp of Legend, it is also arguably pretty bad.

The Last Duel and All the Money in the World seemed pretty well reviewed. I haven’t seen them, but 85% and 79% on RT sure doesn’t look terrible. Looks more like 3 out of his last 6 are at minimum decent and 1 was only 3 years ago. I’ll take the 50/50 shot on this.

“More thoughtful, funny storytelling that appeals to teens and parents alike?”

Yeah, that and Whedon was hot after Avengers came out ad I recall.

Hard disagree on the most recent Spider Man movie. Take away the nostalgia and there is !nothing! in there. Fridging Aunt May in an obvious “See it’s Like Uncle Ben but different!!!” moment, Alex Jones JJJ...nah, just nope. Also sorry, but Maguire seems to be half asleep in his scenes.

It’s posts like this that make me suspect that you are Julian Day, the Calendar Man!

What's this!? That bombastic birdbrain the Penguin back to bamboozle the bourgeoisie of the bustling burg of Gotham City!?

Right, movies like Swiss Army Man or Guns Akimbo likely NEVER would have happened had he not signed on. And at least with Swiss Army Man he was 100% the reason I watched it, less so with Guns Akimbo since that just looked like a good time

Tangentially related: I used to listen to Chris Hardwick’s various podcasts years ago and he used to say “oh, I adooore [person/franchise/pop culture thing]” a lot. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that phrase, but same thing, it always sounded weird and off-putting. This has been on my mind for years.

But that’s because it wouldn’t have fit those three guys, who weren’t taking character actor roles - they were doing big leading man dramatic gigs in the prime of their careers. The analogue would only work if Cary Grant had spent the 60s appearing in Smothers Brothers sketches and doing Robert Downey Snr movies.

While Spaceballs is not nearly at their level, I think an excellent lesson of when movies should quitewhile they’re ahead can be learned by examining the dual paths of Ghostbusters and Galaxy Quest.

Parking meters. . . .

At least if you’re watching on your phone you aren’t doomscrolling with it.