What We’ve Been Watching Episode 007

Full Episode Transcript
This episode of What We've Been Watching features hosts Reginald Titus Jr. and Casey G. Smith discussing recent films and shows they've consumed, ranging from action franchises and dark comedies to documentaries and stand-up specials, while also delving into industry trends and the intricacies of film adaptations.

Opening and Mortal Kombat Discussion
Reginald Titus Jr.: Welcome to What We've Been Watching, a spin-off of Filmmaker Commentary. We will cover the latest content we've consumed from movies, television, and streaming platforms, as well as more. As always, it's hosted by Reginald Titus Jr. and Casey G. Smith. Let's jump into the show. Welcome, thank you, sir.
Casey G. Smith: All right, so what have we been watching? We jump right into it, right? So what have you been watching?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Let's do it. So for me, it starts off in the theaters. Yes, I've been frequenting the theaters quite a bit the past couple of episodes.
Casey G. Smith: Hey, that's legit. That's good to, you know, support the exhibitors.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It is. I agree. I do enjoy, still enjoy the movie-going experience, especially when I can get some good food. So where I go, I get a, I get a burger and some fries. It's kind of my treating myself for the, for the week.
Casey G. Smith.: American staple.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Indeed, indeed. But what I went to see was Mortal Kombat 2.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, this is the follow-up from the HBO, the HBO Max.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes. So for those that are in the know or not in the know, several years ago during the pandemic, basically, 2020, 2021, they did a reboot of Mortal Kombat. And it was during the time that with Warner Brothers in particular, they, they kind of burned some, some filmmakers and rubbed some the wrong way by releasing films both day and date. So they they did release, and they were in theaters, but then they were also showing up on streaming, which, you know, given the lockdown that we were experiencing at the time, is I guess somewhat justifiable, but but some filmmakers were really, really pissed off.
Casey G. Smith: Especially, I remember um, Scarlett uh, Johansson.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Scarlett Johansson. Yes, she was very, very upset.
Casey G. Smith: She was waiting on that back-end money, man. She probably already had that spent. Mansion, car.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, yeah. So yeah, there were some uh, yeah, challenges with all of that. But nonetheless, so that first Mortal Kombat, it came out. I watched it on on on Max at the time. And it was okay. It was, it was visually like pretty, pretty good, pretty well done, but introduced a number of characters. Introduced a new character, which that's just in the film, which I found totally unnecessary. You have a whole slew of characters to pull from.
Casey G. Smith: I'm trying to I think I've only watched Mortal Kombat that Mortal Kombat once. Who who they introduce?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, some guy who who he's his skin will become armored up. Again, in my opinion, very forgettable. Honestly, when I went to see the sequel, I was like, oh, I forgot they introduced that guy.
Casey G. Smith: Meh. Meh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Like just not necessary.
Casey G. Smith: Out of all the characters Mortal Kombat has, it had nothing to do with any of the characters they created. That's.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Somehow they said apparently he was somehow related to Scorpion, but I'm like, sorry, bro, we don't need you. We've got we've got all these characters. Again, I don't know if you've played a Mortal Kombat game within the last 10 years, but the roster has grown. There are so many people. They they go in the future, they go back in time. There's a there's a lot of people. Anyway. Walking into Mortal Kombat 2, I'd seen some of the trailers. Obviously, we now have Karl Urban stepping in as Johnny Cage. And he does his thing. It's it's it's wild to look at Karl Urban's filmography. There was an article that popped up someone that says Karl Urban has quietly like taken over like geek culture. Because, right, we see him in The Boys.
Casey G. Smith: The Boys.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Years ago, but before that, he was Judge Dredd.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, wow. In the new Judge Dredd?
Reginald Titus Jr.: The last Judge Dredd film that came out with Lena Headey, that one that was like in 3D. I forgot who directed it, but it was really like good-looking, well-done film.
Casey G. Smith: It was the one they were like taking the drugs and they were like kind of falling.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Exactly. Yeah, that's the one. But he had he had the helmet he committed to keeping the helmet on the whole time, which is what those judges do.
Casey G. Smith: That's why I don't recognize him.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Whereas with Sylvester Stallone when he did it in the '90s, the first thing he did, pop, take his helmet off.
Casey G. Smith: That's coming off. That's coming off.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. I'm not mad at him. Yeah. So Karl he committed. So you get him in Judge Dredd, you get him in Thor: Ragnarok. He plays the executioner with the big machine guns. He's so he's he's in there. We get him in The Boys. There's something else I'm missing, but of course now we also have him in Mortal Kombat. So he's
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, that is a kind of like a silent little takeover.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, that's a lot of pop culture to be in. Uh, but as far as the film goes itself, it was a lot of fun. And again, this is feels silly to say with Mortal Kombat. It was so violent. Man, I've seen a lot of violence.
Casey G. Smith: That's pretty bad if you say it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. I was like, oh, dear. That's uh, that's quite the fatality going on there. Yeah, there's some folks getting crunched and and murked. It's yeah, it's pretty brutal. I'm like, whoa, wow. Sign me up. Yeah. Yeah, but what I appreciate about it is that a film like Mortal Kombat and even Street Fighter, these are films, I think I mentioned this when we talked about the trailer for Street Fighter a previous episode. These are films that are based on fighting tournaments. The format works. You don't have to change it. Throw some other, you know, story elements in there, okay, fine, give some additional reasons. Okay, fine. But at the end of the day,
Casey G. Smith: We know why we're here.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, person A, person B, fight. Okay, move on to the next round. Or not. Exactly. Mortal Kombat, it's it's mortal kombat. So if you don't make it, you are not likely to survive.
Casey G. Smith: Fatality.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, so Johnny Cage is our main guy and he's he kind of he has, you know, a good chunk of kind of the storyline. He has a character arc that happens. Um, another character, Katana. Yeah. She's also a a main part of the of the storyline as well. There's a continuance from the first film. I almost wish I'd gone back and watched that film again before going into this. Uh, but um, but , I enjoyed the film. It was it's what it needed to be, and there will be a third film. Of course. I can tell you that much.
Casey G. Smith: I like it. I like what they've done with the franchise because it was cheesy, the first very first one, but we did not care.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I mean, for its time, speaking of things I watched, I actually I'd never seen the first Mortal Kombat. I watched it, couple days ago before I saw
Casey G. Smith: Whoa. Yes. You never seen the first one?
Reginald Titus Jr.: I'd never I'd seen the trailers, but it just it just it didn't didn't happen. So I I finally watched the first one.
Casey G. Smith: Wow. The martial artists were great in there.
Reginald Titus Jr.: They were pretty good. But I finally I finally watched it. I was like, man, this would have been really awesome in in '95. That's when it came out, 1995.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, it was really awesome.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Just one quick thing. Interesting correlation between Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Both video game franchises. Well, Street Fighter 2 came out in '91. And then three years later, '94, they have a they have a they have their first film. Mortal Kombat comes out in '92. And then three years later, '95, they have their their first film. I was like, that's crazy. That's super interesting to see that that that happened for both those franchises. Anyway, just want to throw that out there. Reginald, what have you been watching, sir?

Dark Humor and Survival Thrills
Casey G. Smith: Uh, let's see. It's a little mixture of a little bit of things. Um, I watched speaking of violent. I watched a movie called Send Help.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, I watched that too. I've been waiting for it to hit streaming.
Casey G. Smith: Yes. And um, man, what do I got to say about this? It was violent, right?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes. Had you seen any of the previous trailers for it?
Casey G. Smith: I only saw one trailer. And so that's what kind of like it it lured me in. And I think we all can kind of relate as working people just like, you know, maybe look being looked over at your job or uh why is this not happening, certain things, you know, like little certain things that can happen at a job.
Reginald Titus Jr.: The politics.
Casey G. Smith: Politics at the job. And so we kind of ride with this woman, you know, she's getting treated badly. She's promised the VP role and uh it doesn't get to her just because of nepotism, literally because of nepotism.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes, very much so.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, she goes to her manager or is he he's the CEO.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: And he was like, yeah, I know they promised you that, you're not going to get it. You know, it's my frat brother.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And she and she's brilliant at her job. She's she's high-functioning, she's planning, she's strategy.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, she knows everything.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Important things to to keep in mind. And she's a fan of the show Survivor.
Casey G. Smith: Survivor. Which they show us visually as we walk look through her apartment or condo, whatever it is. Um, long story short, they end up on a plane trip together cause she's basically probably going to be training her replacement or the person the job that she was supposed to get, she's going to train the guy to get that job.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, and make him make him make him look good. And then and then be passed over, not get credit. Also early in the film, we see her prepare a report and she's she didn't put her name in the actual report, but she put a a little post-it on top with her name. And we watch and he says, oh, I'll make sure you get credit. Your name's right here. And she sees him around the corner as he goes in, and he takes her name off the post-it off and throws it in the trash like, oh, man.
Casey G. Smith: So I'm riding with this lady, you know, throughout the whole thing like, all right, yeah, they deserve what they get. You got to suspend belief a little bit. I mean, a lot actually. Plane lands in the ocean and her and that guy are the only one that survived, and they wash up on a secluded, quote unquote, secluded island.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And this is all in the trailer as far as we we know. Okay, this is the premise that they've landed on this island and he's he's hurt. He's actually unconscious. Yeah, she rescues him out of the water, drags him up on the under the land. She's starting to prepare things, figure out how to how to trap and get fresh water, which it's going to remind me of another thing that I watched that I'll mention right after this, but it kind of ties in. I was like, I've seen that somewhere. I'm like, oh, I saw it in this movie.
Casey G. Smith: Ah. Coconuts and something.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes. Rain water, like leaves. They get the rain water drop into the coconuts. Yeah, that that comes directly from this other thing that I watched. I'm like, ha, interesting. They're they're I feel like they almost are pulling from that. You you'll see in a moment, but yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Okay. Um, and he continues to treat her like trash. Even though his leg is jacked up and can't move around. But anyhow, um, do we want to spoil, do we spoil when it comes to the movie we've been watching?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Probably.
Casey G. Smith: Probably. Fast forward. If
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, if you plan on watching Send Help on Disney Plus, which is where it's currently streaming, then just be mindful that uh spoilers incoming. You've been forewarned.
Casey G. Smith: You have. So, I'm with the film about 65%. And then it starts taking a turn, you know, it's like first being that he poisons her to try to escape on some logs or whatever on this little boat that he put together.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Well, I'm going to actually, like I said, before that, there's a point where she is gathering some things up and she sees a boat in the distance. And she doesn't try to flag it down. She says, oh no, not not yet. Not not ready yet.
Casey G. Smith: Not yet.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We're like, oh, wait a minute. Why would you not call for help? Like, what's going on?
Casey G. Smith: And so like, I remember that. Yeah, that is and so I was like, hmm, you know, so what's up with this chick? But I don't but he didn't know that at that time. And so it didn't make to me it didn't make sense for his character to try to poison her to get on some logs to try to escape.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Get on the raft. Yeah, it didn't justify it. To me it didn't justify it and then like, you know, try to poison her. He didn't have to do that.
Casey G. Smith: Um, or did he? I feel like he didn't have to.
Reginald Titus Jr.: As as well when he's like kind of hurt and laid up and she's kind of she's letting him know the power dynamics have shifted and that she she understands how things work. She she has a a knife that she says she found on the island that's helping her cut and prepare things. She she she she she really does know how to handle herself. She's quite good. She kills a wild pig.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, that's that was like the first like, oh, wow, that's a lot of blood.
Casey G. Smith: She changes after the bloodshed because it's like, have you ever killed anything? I think I like hunting.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, okay. She got the bloodlust. But they but here's the thing. They they they seem he seems to really be coming around. They even kind of like share a moment. Like they're they're they're they're looking that actually getting along. He's starting to be more nice to her and she she's called him out on on his behavior and he kind of apologizes. They seem to be getting along. His leg gets better. They start to kind of move around and they reach this point in the island where they're they're searching for something or hunting for something and they're up on this kind of high cliff or whatever. And she lets him know that you got to you can't don't eat any berries that are uh yellow or green, I think she said. Since you don't have any any doubts. She takes a berry, she rubs it on her arm and it starts to kind of turn red and kind of rash-like, rash-looking. She says, if you get a reaction like that, that's how you know it's poisonous. Um, and so he offers to cook dinner for her. And that's when the the poison Oh no, he had mentioned earlier about, you know, like as far as like ways like, shouldn't we be doing this this or this? Shouldn't we make a raft? And she's like, no, I don't think we should do that yet. And he he even alludes to, wouldn't it be nice if we were like just stayed here or something like that. I think it's when she made that suggestion that planted something in him. So anyway, he ends up he ends up actually making, quote unquote, dinner. And as she's eating, she takes the first couple of bites of of something in some sauce and all of a sudden she starts to get woozy. And that's when he attempts to make his escape on his. He pulls this makeshift raft.
Casey G. Smith: Woozy. He was like, f you. And then he.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, he pulls his raft out of the cut and hits the waves.
Casey G. Smith: That's going to be good.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Destroyed.
Casey G. Smith: Then she does the same thing to him, paralyzes him and then.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh man, she pulls like a hard candy. He has hard candy. I was like, I was like, this has to be a hard. Please be a hard candy. Please be a hard candy moment.
Casey G. Smith: And and uh she's doing his castration and um and the camera is just focused on his face. You know, so it's just reaction. You don't see anything. Same thing with
Reginald Titus Jr.: She hit him with a uh she she convinces she feeds him this octopus that has a strong neurotoxin that causes him that causes paralysis and a lack of ability to feel. And while he's sitting there, she she talks about some kind of there's there's certain kind of like animals or whatever that the only way to get them to stay and not leave is to castrate them. Oh yeah, and they used to do that to the eunuchs.
Casey G. Smith: Oh yeah, and they used to do that to the eunuchs.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, exactly. And she may have even been talking directly about eunuchs. So she's she she pulls his pants off and then she pulls off his underwear. And again, we're kind of seeing this like the the frame is like the
Casey G. Smith: From the perspective of him looking at her.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Exactly. We see his underwear get lifted up and then and then we we we her arms are, you know, work doing the work or whatever. It's a simple it's a simple enough procedure. And we we see her like cutting and then all of a sudden you can see the blood splashes up and he's he's got the tear forming in his eyes. He's he's just freaking out. And I was like, oh dear god. Please let this be a hard candy thing and not what a real castration. And then she ends up relax. And she pulls her hand up in the frame and it's a dead rat she was cutting up. She goes, it's just a rat. She goes, but if you tries it again, the next time it won't be a rat. He's like, oh my gosh. Got him in line. Um,
Casey G. Smith: Blood splashes his face. Tear drops. Oh my gosh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Man. Uh, did we cover Hostel?
Casey G. Smith: No.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. We have not. Spoiler alert.
Casey G. Smith: Ha. Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, dear. I don't think I'll want to see it. I actually I have seen Hostel though. I think I saw the first one a long time ago.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, okay. Spoiler alert. Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, I I must have blocked that.
Casey G. Smith: So, cause you know, in Hostel they were torturing people and stuff like that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes, yes, it's torture porn, as they say.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, well, it was um, it kind of can relate to today, you know, it was like, it was based on the story of people that needed money like and let's say, for example, like Thailand or something like that. Real real real poor people in uh certain countries. And they would literally be willing to sacrifice themselves for entertainment as long as they their family got paid. So it was like, yeah, and so this was based on a real site. And so you know, Eli Roth likes to write about real things and turn it into horror cause it is horrific. And so that's what the idea is based on. I was like, huh, what if a bunch of guys around the world like would do this stuff for money and this this and that. They were paid money to kill these people. So anyhow, uh one of the villains ends up in the chair to get tortured and they cut off his junk and and he uh and then there was a girl, she cuts off his junk and then throws it to a dog and the dog's like.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Got taken care of.
Casey G. Smith: Mhm. Mhm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Pork and beans.
Casey G. Smith: It's but the way that Eli Roth shoots the stuff, it's kind of comical on the way, you know, so it doesn't feel like like all the way real. There's a little heightened comedy, dark comedy to it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: He take the edge off a little bit. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, but this one it felt real. Anyhow, long story short with uh Send Help, I you know, I get about like a six out of 10 or something like that. It was just some things I was like, oh man, I don't know if I can go all the way with this film.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, the the ending got interesting, but it it it it ramp it ramped up uh to an interesting crescendo. And an interesting ending that that again, ultimately ties back to this is this is someone our main character who was good at strategy and planning. I was like, oh, you know, that's kind of kind of well, well played. Like she she she had a reason behind why she wanted to stay on the island a little bit longer. Like, oh, wow.
Casey G. Smith: And I was having a conversation just about um older movies. Now that we're like kind of going back and looking at older movies like from the '90s and we um, The Soldiers, that was from the '70s, right? Or that's '80s. Mid-'80s. Um, we're looking at movies where every frame seems to count. Like, hey, this shot we we need to get this shot and everybody's in on it. These days it feels like this it's content. And some things
Reginald Titus Jr.: Digital digital age.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, so everything is like faster and faster and like the CGI sometimes is shotty in this film, you can tell. It kind of takes you out a little bit when you're like, oh man, like when we just go back to some at least do miniatures or something like that, like make us believe that it was real.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Gotta find people with those skills.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That they're willing to willing to pay.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. And so it was like get a replace with the CGI. But you know, it's all good. Uh, but I feel the difference. You know what I mean? Because when you compare this to like someone who's crazy like uh the Misery, like in the movie Misery. Same kind of like premise, you know, you're dealing with the crazy woman and you're trying to escape. And um, and it's just like their performances that is just like bringing you in. So sometimes I think some of the the CGI and all that stuff kind of takes you out of it. It had a lot of um, it had a lot of promise though. It was very promise like premise uh for the film, but I feel like it didn't land like it was supposed to. Ah. Yeah, so, anyhow, still entertaining though, nonetheless.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh man.
Casey G. Smith: Ah.

Music, Comedy, and Biopics
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. Speaking of entertaining and islands, I watched the Netflix limited series Lord of the Flies. Now, Reginald, this is based on a a novel that's been around for a long time. I've I've heard of it for a long time. I know a lot of people read it in school. I never read it. I've often saw the title and all that kind of stuff. I know it's been adapted, but I never read it, never saw it. I just I just knew it was about just from the cover art, okay, these are a group of young boys that get stranded on an island and they begin they begin to kind of devolve into savagery. Oh. Yeah. This was it was four episodes. This was awesome.
Casey G. Smith: Really?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. It was live-action. Yes, it was it was animated. But the way it was shot beautifully shot. Uh, they they do these close-ups on the boys' faces as they're kind of they they they wake up on the island and each each again, four episodes, each episode is is titled after several of the kind of main characters we interact with. Even though they're all interacting with each other, but they it's it's really well done and it uh I don't I don't want to spoil any of it. But yeah, it's Lord of the Flies. I'm curious now to kind of listen to the audio book just to kind of hear for the differences and how that's done, but But uh, but yeah, yeah, Lord of the Flies on Netflix. Worth checking out. And I'll say this, the the the young actors that are in this, these are these are future stars. They
Casey G. Smith: When did it drop?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Just like this week. Really? Yeah. I when I saw it like, oh,
Casey G. Smith: Limited series, right? Limited series?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, limited series. It's just like four episodes.
Casey G. Smith: I'm signing up for more of those. I like things that that stop.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. Four episodes, it's a it's a wrap.
Casey G. Smith: Okay. I'm with it. I'm with it. Speaking of short, okay. I watched a trailer of Martin Short, your favorite actor. In a a trailer, I believe it's on Netflix, called Life Is Short.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I saw the key art pop up. I was like, skip, skip, skip, skip. You wouldn't believe it, Reginald. You wouldn't believe it, man.
Casey G. Smith: Yes. Martin Short though, I don't know, he's he's like one of those he's just I just want to laugh every time I see him. Like just because of his just his face and like some of the gestures he makes and stuff like that. All movies aren't hits as I talked about Clifford.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I'm glad he brings you joy.
Casey G. Smith: I'm glad he brings you joy.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I'll be over here stewing. Yes. Ha.
Casey G. Smith: Life is short, but it um, dealt with a lot of tragedy in his um, I think it was his mother that passed away.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So it was like a documentary on his life.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. And so you have like Steve Martin and all these people.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, that's his that's his dude. They they've been bros for a long time. They've got that show on Netflix, Only Murders in the Building with Selena Gomez. It's been it's been around for since the pandemic. And it's I think they're on three or four seasons in. I think they've won a couple of Emmys.
Casey G. Smith: Hmm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, so Steve Martin kind of like explains like who Martin Short is. You know how out of the movies and stuff like that. He's like, if you have a party and you invite um Short over, Martin Short. But he doesn't show up. You don't have the party. Like that's how important he is to this party. So I was like, wow. So that kind of opens up on how he is and like, basically, he's flipped basically, he's flipped tragedy that happened to him at a young age. He's flipped that into basically his career. And so like what you see on TV is basically a version of who he really is. Yeah. And so it's all about, you know, this is a favorite, Kevin. This is what a favorite looks like.
Casey G. Smith: Life is short.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I believe it.
Casey G. Smith: Just bringing joy, just bringing joy to people. So, um, I watched that, you know, it's a documentary. So life is short. And I always root for the short folks.
Reginald Titus Jr.: All all good. I see your height bias. It's all right, it's all right. Vertical bias going on here. No, I I would, though I may not enjoy all of his content. I I respect him as a performer, and I would be willing to watch a documentary about his life because documentaries are always interesting. And just those involved in the process of comedy. That's always interesting to see that unfold and watch them interact and hear other comedians speak to that person's process, genius, et cetera. Again, I I I enjoyed Martin Short in The Three Amigos. That's like my favorite um experience with uh with Mr. Short.
Casey G. Smith: Absolutely. Yeah. Mhm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Speaking of Netflix and comedy, I watched the finality of Kevin Hart Funny A.F.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, I watched that too. Like cuz you told us last time that it was going to be live. And I I was watching something on Netflix and then I was like, oh, yeah, today uh the thing. And it was showing up so, um, when I hit live on Netflix, it was around the time the guy, uh the black guy with the glasses. Not the skinny one, but the
Reginald Titus Jr.: So on.
Casey G. Smith: It was around the time the guy, uh the black guy with the glasses. Not the skinny one, but the
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ron, that's Ron.
Casey G. Smith: That's Ron. Okay. When he was doing his thing. That's that's when I came in late. And so that's when I came dropped in, like.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. So here here's the cool thing about about this. I hadn't experienced this before on Netflix. So if you were if you were actually watching it live, live when it was going down, there came a point, two points in the night where you had to vote.
Casey G. Smith: That was fun, dude. I like voting. I was like, I didn't see the other people, but I was just vote for the person that just went.
Reginald Titus Jr.: There you go. Yeah, so I was so yeah, so it was like the the first four went because it was like it was eight in total. So the first four went and then you had to you had to vote. I was I was like, oh, I didn't I liked I liked them. I've been following their journey. I was like, I was like, I I like them all, but I had to vote. And then the next four went and then the the last four, like, that was really tough. I was like, oh man, I like all of them. But then the next night were the the finals, like the final four were there.
Casey G. Smith: They seem pretty polished.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Well, they've been again, they've they've all been doing this for years. They're just looking for that that big break. Yeah, that big break that one-hour Netflix special. But honestly, the the the top four, they're all going to go on to do more things. Like this exposure that they've gotten from this, they are all going to go on to do more things. Absolutely. Um, I won't spoil who who won, but I I I I enjoyed it, man. I I really enjoyed it. And uh I I'm I'm sure that Kevin's going to get this renewed to do it again. Uh, the fact he got Chris Rock to to come out. I was like, oh, man, he got he got Rock out here. Uh and then he had um, what's her name from the Roast of Tom Brady? Oh yeah, she's good. Yes. She's good. I like Nikki Glaser. He got her to come back out too for the for the finals along with his other the other guy keep forgetting his other other white comedian. He was he helped earlier.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, get their shot.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Tom Segura. He's Latino. Yes, Tom Segura, you got him to come out as well. But yeah, a lot a lot of fun. If you if you enjoy comedy, you want to laugh, and you're okay with some jokes that are a little raunchy. Uh, yeah, Kevin Hart Funny AF, highly recommend it. All three all the episodes heck for the the the season. Goes by pretty quick.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I, speaking of Kevin Hart, I watched um Kevin Hart, so he won the Mark Twain Award. And so I thought I watched that special. I didn't know that it was a special on Netflix because all this Kevin Hart stuff is starting to pop up cuz, you know, watching other things. And I was like, he won the Mark Twain Award. You know, I I watched the the Dave Chappelle one. And then I was like, well, I guess it's time to watch this one. So I watched it. My pops was around. So we we watched that together. And it was good. Like, uh, from uh, Jerry Springer, like, why am I here? I don't, you know, he's doing he's doing his oh Seinfeld? Seinfeld. What did I say?
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Springer. Lord. I was like, Jerry. Jerry. Jerry Seinfeld. Yeah, so like, like, you know, this is a favorite, Kevin. This is what a favorite looks like.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, that's right. That's right.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I watched that like, oof, maybe about a year ago or so. But it was it was enjoyable. He had his kids there with him. He had his wife there. Did he have that one comedian that that had had the stroke? Yes. And that guy is funny. He's still has his rhythm. He still has his timing. He throws a cane on the ground and then he picks it up. Um, but then he talked about Chris Rock cuz he said he called him Strokey Robinson. He said, and then everybody started laughing. He said, he's an ass hole. You know how he talked? An ass hole. But it's kind of true because like people know, you know, Chris Rock. That's why he got slapped in the first place. So, um, everybody hates. So, man, but he he even with that, he was, you know, but and he was like taking shots at himself. He was like, Kevin, give me four minutes to me three minutes to get up here. All right, good night. I was like, this guy's good. He I I've I've watched him um in another show and just I was like, this guy is freaking, yeah, amazing. I I hadn't heard of him previously, but I saw him come out and do a show and he's just, yeah, he he knows how to he has his timing down. Even with his deficits. And it's it's it's pretty incredible. And you even hear like how he how it happened. He was during COVID. Yeah, but he was he went to he said he went to Florida to go see a girl and he mixed a combination of uh, a drug made to get you hard and and he was doing like energy drinks or something like that. But he mixed mixed mixed them too much together and yeah, caused him to have a stroke. Oh, I didn't know that backstory. Yeah. Oh no, that's embarrassing. Yeah. Um, but it makes for a good comedy. But but like you know, they it's all about, you know, only the story that he could tell, you know, because it's his his journey. So it's like, man, that's so that's that's amazing. Obviously, it hits home for me, but it's uh, it's pretty incredible. And so like he went on and then um, yeah, Regina Hall, she came out, and she's like, yep, Kevin Hart's my work husband, you know, and then like you kind of go through all the movies and stuff like that. like, man, Regina Hall is legit. She's good at what she does. Um, and then you had Tiffany Haddish. Tiffany Haddish does Tiffany Haddish things. And I'm trying to remember if anybody else came on. Oh, Dave Chappelle, Dave Chappelle came on there. He sure did. He sure did, man. And uh, he kind of brings like kind of like the seriousness, like, man, this this is really important, you know, you know, kind of like pushing it home. It's like, man, this is good. Kevin's crying, you know, in the balcony and stuff like that. Then Kevin. So anyhow, it was just like a good, it was like a warm, um,
Casey G. Smith: Yes. He throws his cane on the ground. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. He's an ass hole, man. That's right. Yes, that's right. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's a good vibe.
Casey G. Smith: It was a good good show.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And a lot of black excellence. Absolutely. Absolutely. So that was Kevin Hart, that was on Netflix. Um, winning the Mark Twain Award.
Casey G. Smith: Absolutely.

Action, Streaming, and Industry Trends
Reginald Titus Jr.: Awesome. I've been spending a lot of time on Netflix as well. And the other thing that I wanted to mention that that reminded me of Send Help. Oh, shoot, I already already already covered Lord of the Flies. But here's what I meant to to also mention about Lord of the Flies is that in Lord of the Flies, you you watch them figuring out how to get fresh water, and they literally do the the coconuts and the the leaves with the water. Like it's I was like, huh, again, I didn't realize until we start talking about it now. I was like, oh, wait a minute. I I saw that they use that in in in Send Help. But okay, they're doing it in in Lord of the Flies as well. So just those you know, those correlations obviously between, hey, we're stranded on an island, we need help. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, another thing I watched on Netflix. That was a little disappointing, uh only because I expected kind of more from the music. And that was Becoming Led Zeppelin. Reginald, are you familiar with the band Led Zeppelin?
Casey G. Smith: Okay. Oh. I am, but only like in name and brand. And if I and if I'm sure if one of their songs plays, I would know it. But I can't just be like, yeah, they sing this. But if I hear the song, I'm like, oh, I like that song. But I can't attach it to that band. Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Understandable. I'm by and large the same way. There's a couple of band from bands from the '60s that kind of lead into the the the the the rock era that I could I could recognize. Like I can I can recognize songs by, let's say, uh Pink Floyd. And whether they're considered '60s or '70s. I can recognize songs by Pink Floyd. I can recognize songs from like the Dark Side of the Moon. I think the only song that I may know by Led Zeppelin. I'm pretty sure is is Stairway to Heaven. Which I think is is is by them. But let me let me let me verify.
Casey G. Smith: Mhm. Okay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Let's fact-check it.
Casey G. Smith: When it comes to like rock bands, um I'm I introduced to a lot of music through movies. So if I watch if I watch movies in the '80s, it introduced me to a lot of music. Um, there's a movie called uh The Golden Child by Eddie Murphy. Yeah. And there's a scene where uh Eddie Murphy punches a guy in the stomach like, act, dude. And then as soon as he does it, music comes out. And he's like, Buddy talk, you make my buddy talk. It's a rat it's a band called Rat. And a popular song, but I was like, oh, so I know that song and I know the band that does it. So like that's how I was introduced to a lot of music. But it's usually like just popular stuff. Uh unless I went out of my way to study it like Nirvana or something like that. I'm going to know the album or Sure. Rage Against the Machine, something like that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Casey G. Smith: They brown They brown the family. They brown they brown the family.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. All right, so I so I I watched the documentary. It was it was interesting and it's it's well done. And it's only four members in the group and you kind of get the background of how they came about. You learn that uh the guitarist Jimmy Page, who who who uh Puff Daddy, careful. Shawn Combs, when he when he made he he did a remake of of Come With Me for the Godzilla soundtrack. Oh. I remember that on MTV. That was like a hit music video. Yeah, that's from like Led Zeppelin. Yeah, so he did a remake of that song.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Shout out to Puffy. Yeah. And then again another song, Stairway to Heaven. But again, those songs aren't played in this documentary, which really annoyed me. Probably expensive. I'm like, it's a documentary. Like, you got to go for it. You know? I mean.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Or present it in a way, as we learned, using fair use. You have to do it in a way to do that. Or they were they they were showing some like full song performances. And I like none of that stuff was hidden from me. I was like, I like all kinds of music. I was like, I'm bored. I'm like, man, I'm skip to the hits, please. Yeah, I'm like, and this is early on again, it's becoming Led Zeppelin. But even when I watch the Chili Peppers one, like I still, you know, they gave me a taste of like the the the hits. The vibes, man. Yeah, I'm not get like when you go watch somebody live in concert, they're going to save the best ones for the end. You got to stay all the way to the end. They're forced to sing that their whole career and they do not want to sing it, but they have to sing it.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. That's the for the rest of your life. You know, it blows up. You you got to you got to sing it. Be careful what you're writing and put out there. But yeah, but they they didn't get to those songs. Now, now that's that kind of disappointed me. I was like, uh, but it's interesting. Here's the most interesting thing I found out, was that Jimmy Page and one of the other like the lead other uh, the bass player or the drummer, I'll say the bass player, they were actually working on James Bond films. Like they were doing like the actual scores for like the early James Bond films. I was like,
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That's a good transition. That's pretty cool. Yeah, they were doing that. And then and um Robert Plant, he he was he, you know, he was singing and he loved like the the the the infusion of like the soul music that was happening, which is always so big in England. Like the way it impacted them and so many other groups from the Beatles, et cetera. But like he wanted to imitate a lot of that, you know, stuff they heard from James Brown. Like all that, you know, all that had an impact on him and even like the way he performed and it's interesting, a lot of rock and roll. Obviously, it was invented by black people, but in a lot of I'm like, not the architect. I'm like, no. A lot of these lead singers, these these frontmen, like their sounds are coming from like like original R&B and like soul. They're pulling from those sounds. Like even like some '80s glam rock, these the lead singers like, oh, they're oh, they're pulling like from like soul. It's super. I never realized it when I was younger, but I was like, oh no, it's clearly there. Huh. Anyway, but yeah, but Becoming Zeppelin on Netflix, if you're a fan of the group, or you want to learn more how they started, you can check it out.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: No hits. Yeah, that was a, that was talking about biopics today. Um like, um, the person I'll talk to is not really a fan of biopics. I'm not really a fan of biopics in that way unless it's something good. And I said, yeah, I said a lot of things got to come together for a biopic, because we were talking about Michael, uh the movie Michael. I haven't seen that one yet, but it's getting a lot of buzz and it's on the list. I got to support it in theaters. However, I was like, a lot of things got to come into place. Number one, you got to especially if it's a music biopic, you got to have access to the music. Jimmy Hendrix. I said that one. I said, you got a movie where it's about Jimmy Hendrix without the music. I've never I've heard of the film, but never seen the film.
Casey G. Smith: Okay. Oh. Oh. We'll damn.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh no, we can't use that. Oh no, can't use that one either. Oh no, can't use that one. That's Well, damn. That's yeah, that's that's rough. That is criminal. I'm sorry.
Casey G. Smith: No guitar. Yeah, that's bad. Um, and then uh I said a couple of things got you got to have access to the um music. Preferably, if the person is still alive, the actor can talk to them. That's why you have Jamie Foxx been able to pull so much from Ray Charles and they won an Oscar and all that stuff. Um, same thing with um uh Tina Turner's film with with Love Got to Do With It. Angela Bassett. Being able to talk to her and like kind of like get into her mind and Tina Turner actually sung the songs because Angela Bassett couldn't sing. So it's uh, we don't have to force you to be a singer. You just act as if you're singing. Yes. Um, there's probably and then uh, the story has to be done in such a way. You are not going to especially if it's a person that's super prolific, you cannot put their whole life into two hours. Sorry. People have tried it, it doesn't work. It needs to be a limited series. Like they did for Michael Jackson, the the Jackson 5 and we saw the American Dream. Yeah, do a limited series. But that was about the, quote unquote, the family. Think about how much material was that before he even became what we're seeing. And because that thing dropped in '92. So we we hadn't even we were still in the Bad era. We were we were up to where the Michael biopic ends. That's that's when Michael was at in his career. Yeah. We hadn't gotten the Dangerous album, we hadn't gotten History. We hadn't gotten Blood on the Dance Floor. None of that. Oh, man. So it's it's it's impossible to do that. So you have to pick a section where you can do it or you're going to find yourself jumping around real quickly through time. Not giving enough context. Yeah, like we saw in the James Brown story. It's like, but the thing that they had for was they had all the music. So they can kind of rely on that to be, all right, you know, we're jumping around a lot. But at least the songs are still hitting, you know. Um, that would have benefited as a limited, you know, series, a docu not a docu series, but a limited series. Um, just so they can give it room to breathe, room to breathe. Um, um, anyhow, so yeah, that's I don't know how I I got on to. Reginald's biopic tips. These are the tips. It's biopic commandments. It's you're already limited, so you got to make some choices on what is more important. Okay. So, what did I watch? another Kevin Hart. So he had um Kevin Hart: Acting My Age. I saw that one. Saw that one? So that one that one was like real relatable, as you know, we're like all in the same age group and just like just the woes of getting older. That may have been my least favorite Kevin Hart comedy special.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mmm.
Casey G. Smith: Really? I I I watched it last year and I was like, oh man, didn't it didn't it didn't hit. I mean, relatable, yes, but it didn't it didn't hit for me the the same way I I would hope. But I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yeah. But it didn't it didn't uh it didn't do what it was supposed to do.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, that was you know, could be just me.
Casey G. Smith: Hmm. Yeah, it I wouldn't put it at the top, but it it did what it was supposed to do, which was entertain. Um, and it was kind of funny because he was talking about though, like you were talking about the guy that got a stroke from like taking all the penis pills or whatever. And then and then uh Kevin Hart's talking about that on on on this stand-up. He's like, you shouldn't be going to your um the clerk at the 7-Eleven, you know, for uh health advice. Should I do I take a rhino or should I take this? rhino or gorilla. I think it was the gorilla. And then he does the whole um story about him visiting Africa and like going on to see these uh silverback eight gorillas or whatever. And then he came kind of like does the punchline with that. So I was like, okay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, but that was just you know, could be just me.
Casey G. Smith: So, uh ladies and gentlemen that that I watched, but I normally don't write write it down that I that I watched it, but I watched uh John Oliver last week tonight. And he's always covering different things. But specifically in the last episode, he had a whole segment on drugstore um pharmaceuticals. The little supplements people can buy at the drugstore. And it was crazy. Basically this this is not something regulated by the FDA. No, that's why it's so dangerous. And the yeah, the the the amount of things that they put in in these wrappers. Like you can you can in essence, anybody could in essence go and and and and buy the packaging and put whatever, literally whatever inside these things. They there was there was one story where it was like, the the content said it was only X amount, but like when they were they tested multiple ones, it was like four times the amount. They even showed something like Joe Rogan. Like he had he had said he had taken something. He said, oh, I ended up taking like, you know, three or four of them. And then he pulled out the packaging he says, oh, he said, I should have only taken one. But it was like, it was like, so people getting hooked on stuff. It it's wild. But uh, yeah, you'll be careful with the uh over-the-counter, you know, um not even drugstore. Just your your gas station pharmaceuticals and supplements. Gas station pharmaceutical. Totally unregulated. And in some instances, it's like just sand in a bag. It's it's wild stuff. Just a um, what they call that? A placebo. Yeah. Yeah, just like. And it's crazy stuff. Placebo always sounds more medically kind of when I when I heard that. I was like, that a part of a woman's body? Like what's what is a placebo? I'm thinking of placenta, I guess. But it sounds medically important. Yeah. I need to have my placebo removed. Please. No problem. It's gone. I don't feel any difference. No, I feel much better. Thank you. Um, so I finished watching Invincible, and I didn't realize I finished the season. I was I was waiting. I was waiting for the next one. I was like, when's when's the next one coming out. It never came. Eight episodes, my boy. That's right. Woops. Nine consistent. I talked to the to another person about that. I watched the last episode and I didn't realize it. Where's my Invincible? Another hanging. I don't know where I put it. I'm waiting on them. I'm waiting on it. Someone called the Amazon. That's this show needs to end cuz it's I'm going to call Robert Kirkman to get a piece of my mind. Cause what ends up happening is I forget about it. And then when it drops, like I did this time.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, no.
Casey G. Smith: Unbelievable.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We know what happened last time, Reginald. Unbelievable.
Casey G. Smith: Left it unfinished this time. I can't get it on. Give me more. Give me. Yeah, I got to wait a year and then I forget about it. Oh god. So bad relationship. Oh, I I I this is this is abuse. I'll let you know when it comes around, my friend. Unbelievable. So instead of that, I was waiting on like, oh, it's going to happen next week. Spring Monday morning. Where's my Invincible? But I was like, you know what? The Boys came on. So let me play that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That's what we do. There you go. It's a it's a sweet spot when when The Boys is happening and Invincible, you're like, it's like a Fest. There you go. Well, yeah, that too. But it's like a double, man, just. Yeah. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Speaking of The Boys, it's uh, man, I so kind of to your point, I had started watching the last episode and didn't realize I hadn't finished it. I had to leave to go do something and then I was like, I was like, man, that last episode ended kind of on a funny note. And they were like, oh crap, I hadn't finished it yet. I went back and then I I I finished the episode. But I was like, oh, man, but the the previous episode. Are you caught up on The Boys? Yep. Okay. So the previous episode where they're they're trying to track down the guy to get the the V1 stuff. That's right. But they they end up in in that one The old folks home or Yeah, they they end up in the in the mansion of the of the one I guess former superhero who had who who who has the he's a speedster, I think. Yeah, he's a speedster. And The Boys hits Rogue and all the guys in. Plain themselves. That was that was hilarious. Like just watching those guys like That wasn't the last one. I know, I'm saying it was the previous episode previous previous episode. But just how how they were trying to be like courageous and bold and talk about what they would do. And all of a sudden, old man just starts saying whatever. And rightfully so, you get somebody, you get a you get a Superman archetype who shows up, superhearing, all the abilities in the world. You should be crapping your pants. You you are you are at that moment living on a prayer. Like you you you're alive that at their whim and that at this point you need to pray to Homelander. Oh man, it's so wow. Do you believe? Do you believe? But oh man, even what happened with spoiler alert with with Firecracker. Yeah. I'm like, oh. Shoved her head into the American Eagle. And it was so casual. Just, oh. Oh, dear. Yeah. Man. It's they they said a lot of people were going to die this season, and they are holding true to their word. And even in the last episode, we see I was again spoiler. I was I was disappointed to uh see Black Noir go out the way he did, the freaking The Deep. I was like, oh, this douchebag. Like, come on, Black Noir, you got to Yeah. Uh, man, it's well, they so what do you think about them um showing the the the finale of The Boys on the big screen? I didn't know that. They're they're promoting that. They're even promoting that on Amazon. The finale is going to be on you could you could view it and watch it on the big screen. They you could check certain theaters and see if they're if they're showing it. It's going to be like a longer it's going to be a longer episode, like an hour and a half or something. Maybe. I don't know for sure. I don't know if it's going to be, but maybe if it's going to be like the actual series finale, it might be. I think this stuff is important. I think making things a spectacle and going to the exhibitors, we need to get back to that model because the streaming stuff is like messing up the game in my opinion. The game is changed. Yeah, it's bad. The game is the change and I know. Mhm. Mhm. Cash here. Mhm. Uh one of my last ones. I'm actually in I probably have like 20 minutes left on this movie and it's on Amazon and it's called I Like Movies. It was at Sundance, came out about a year or two ago, and it's literally about um high school kid, coming of age story. And he treats everybody like crap. His mom, his friends. He's like, not a really likable uh character, but totally into films. You know, so I was like, all right, let's watch it, you know. I'll power through it. And he works at a ends up working at a video store. He's trying to get to NYU film school. Like that's his goal, like to get to that. Um, he's working at this like kind of like a Blockbuster. These are our Canadian people. And he's working at it's called Sequels. Yeah, that's the name of the store. It's called Sequels. Nice. That's a catchy name. Yeah. And I was like, I like this cuz it's nostalgic cuz you remember, you know, please be kind, rewind and all that stuff. And he's actually dealing with the suicide of his father. And so like you like, why is this guy like treating all these people like his own mom this way? And his friends like in a horrible way, but he's has hasn't really dealt with his loss. Yeah, and so he takes it out um on his mom and he might be on the spectrum a little bit and how he acts and things like that. And then um his manager at the sequels is she's dealing with her own thing. She's like, well, I hate movies. And she lied about what she did in college. She was actually I went to Hollywood and then basically tells him a story of like uh uh uh Weinstein, like a Weinstein story that happened to her. So like hit how he feels about movies is one way. He on the extreme love of them. And she's like, she has a disdain for him. And then she breaks it down to him. He's like, why did you tell me this? Like he's like, have you told anybody else? So it was like, you know, so that's where I'm at in the film right now. So it's it's an interesting kind of character uh story. It's called I Like Movies on Amazon. So so far it seems good. It's just one of those little uh independent films that you just hanging out with a few characters. It sounds interesting. I'll look forward to hearing how it uh how it wraps up in the end. Circling back around. Uh I mentioned that I'd watched the first Mortal Kombat in preparation for Mortal Kombat 2, even though this wasn't the Mortal Kombat 2 sequel to the original. Anyway, I'm I watched the 1995 Mortal Kombat for the first time. Yep. And not bad. I I I think I would have been blown away if I had watched it originally in '95. It's crazy that it went this long without seeing it, but it's just one of those things that that happened. It was definitely I mean, people always said for decades that this was the best the best video game movie adaptation at the time. And I I yeah, by leaps and bounds. Um, I guess maybe maybe now if you're I mean, from a live-action standpoint, Yeah. Yeah. Video games to to live-action now. Yeah, not there have been a lot of attempts and there's a lot of forgettable ones. I think Sonic probably has it from a live-action adaptation. The Sonic films are Was The Last of Us a video game? The Last of Us. The Last of Us. When that a video game? It was, but that's a show. But that that's quality also. That man, that man, that was I would say that's probably like the best adaptation based on I haven't seen it, but based on the response that you'll Oh no, I I saw the first season. freaking awesome. I haven't finished the second season because I haven't finished the second game and I don't want to spoil anything for myself. So I I was like, oh, I got to put this down. This is this is treading too close to the Yeah. And I might watch Fallout. Like Fallout is based on the video game. Oh, shoot. And um I haven't even started the season on that one. Yeah. I I haven't started the second season. Well, I did start it, but I haven't I haven't found no why I'm I I haven't found the motivation to watch the second season. I don't know what it is. I really like the first season. Oh, crap, you're right. Oh, man. But Sonic is honestly, have you watched any of the Sonic films, Sonic the Hedgehog with Jim Carrey? Yeah. James Marsden. Yeah, it's a good one. Those are really well done. I went to the theater and watched that with one of the kids. I can't remember which one. I've seen the first and the third in theaters. I think I watched the second like just on Paramount Plus or something. But they've all I've I've been impressed with all I'm like, dang, they they these are really well done. Um, yeah, yeah, yeah, anyway, so we we have they've gotten a whole lot better. And they're they're those are better than Mortal Kombat at this point. I'm very hopeful that this new Street Fighter film will be Oh. That has potential to go left. It does. It's it's we'll we'll see what happens. but I'm I'm excited by the trailer. Sure. But I know how this goes. Again, just stay to the tournament format. Which the fact here's the thing, right, the first oh man, some people love the first Street Fighter film. I'm like, no, the again, the best thing about it is the hip-hop soundtrack. But but you you love what you love. that's that's fine. I'm not I'm not I'm not shaming. But it it it is not Street Fighter. this is you took the character's names, but the director took such liberty. And it's like, no, this is this is something else. You you got everything laid out here in the game. They give you the lore. Who is what? Their motivations. Why they are these are Street Fighters. And he made them into something. Like, Ken, are you like our our our arms dealer? Like, what? No. E. Honda is a a cameraman. I'm like, what? Huh? Man. Man. We we had our occupations laid out for everybody already and he just did something totally different. I'm anyway, so that's a terrible. Whatever you do, Chun-Li, she's got to be fine. Yeah, Meeng Meeng, uh, I don't know, but she better be fine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's the boys was playing the game. They was like, oh. But she but she's a lethal and respectable warrior. That's right. That's right. But it's a little boys back then we're watching that video game. Man, okay, so like to where it really gets wild is again if you watch Street Fighter to the animated movie. Oh, yeah. When that thing dropped, that thing dropped, the Chun-Li shower scene. Is like, wait, what's happening right now? And then the fight against Vega, it's like, oh, man, that Yeah, that that that film is, again, not true tournament style, but there's plenty of fighting in it. Like some And in Bison comes across as just almost unbeatable. Like he is very powerful in that film. So we'll we'll see what happens with with this movie, but I'm I'm looking forward to it.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So we'll we'll see what happens with with this movie, but I'm I'm looking forward to it. Okay, okay. Um, one last thing. There's what's what's the name of the um, the actress from Seventh Heaven, the pretty one, uh, that's who married Justin Timberlake. Yes. She's in a TV show. Oh, we. Called The Better Sister. Oh, is that on Amazon also? Yeah. And I've been watching it with my sister. So about how the the episode starts off. Um, she's married, you know, they have, you know, they have a a good marriage. So we think. And then um we go to her house and then she stumbles over her dead husband's body. And then she goes outside, makes calls. She has like a knife. And then she just falls off and it just kind of fades to black. And then so throughout the whole series, they're just kind of unfolding, you know, what might have happened? Is it happening? Who's in trouble? She has a son that um is a suspect. Other people are suspect. And so she's trying to put things together. And I'm like, I'm try I'm trying my best to finish it. And you know, it started out great, but I'm like, we should have been done here. It's dragging along too much. Dragging is dragging too much. I'm like, we should be done here. And um, it has, you know, I I think they recently did a second season to it. Um, but I'm about two episodes away from finishing it. The first season. So this is if you like slow burns, I I recommend it. Like a who done it kind of thing. Uh, but I was like, man, they just need to hurry and wrap this thing up. I felt the same way about Silo on Apple. They like like, come on, let's wrap this thing up. Come on. Let's get to it. Okay. I got a couple more things. Excuse me to mention. Uh, I don't think I mentioned this before, but Cross Season 2. I finished that actually a couple of weeks ago.
Casey G. Smith: Yes. Oh, Alex Cross. Yes, Alex Cross. So I finished the second season of that. Pretty good. Yeah, pretty good. Pretty like the the finish I was like, oh, this is all right. This was this is solid, another solid season for Cross. Uh, also again, it was a Mortal Kombat heavy kind of week. So, uh, there's two, no, there's several Mortal Kombat animated features on HBO Max. Worth to watch. Two of them that that I watched, I think are one is called Mortal Kombat Scorpion's Revenge. Okay. That kind of kicks things off. We get introduced to the life of Scorpion, like who he was beforehand. He's like a normal person and just an amazing warrior and then how he gets murked and and gets taken into underworld and and in essence kind of turned into, quote unquote, Scorpion and his Vendetta with Sub-Zero and the story behind that. But that that was, man, again, crazy violent. these like super, super violent. There was a lot of death and go. I was like, wow. So that was cool. But then then the the the sequel to that is Mortal Kombat Battle of the Realms. Mhm. It uh, it feels like it takes quite a few cues. No, Mortal Kombat 2, the movie that I watched in theaters, seems like it takes quite a few cues from this Battle of the Realms. It's we're we're getting introduced to Johnny Cage. We're seeing his dynamic with Sonya. She kicks him the nuts quite a few times, which is just like wild, but you know, it's animation, whatever. But it's that that that was pretty well done also. But just yeah, just as far as like Mortal Kombat lore. Uh, yeah, they just kind of put it on, watch it and and kind of burn through it. But yeah, but they they're well done. Okay. Okay. Last two things, some trailers that I saw. One is called Focker in-law. I had that written down. Um, but I couldn't remember the trailer. I had cuz I watched it like two or three weeks ago. Yeah. I couldn't remember it. And I'm like, all right. So it starts off right. We get, you know, uh Ben Stiller's character, I don't I honestly, I've never watched any of these films. You've never seen any of them? I haven't watched Me the Parents. I haven't watched Me the Fockers. Okay. This is has we have to cover Me the Parents. Okay, sure. Sure. We'll we'll put it we'll put it on the list. You have that is has to. That's an American classic. for sure, for sure. The other ones, you know, maybe maybe not. Uh, including this one. All right. But in this one, we're we're now kind of following the the exploits of Ben Stiller's son who's now dating Ariana Grande. That's right. Okay. And and we actually I think it opens up with with her like going like having a lie detector test done to her by Robert De Niro's character. Um, and then we kind of see as as things unfold, she's kind of cozying up to to him. Mhm. But but she's also dating, you know, getting Ben Stiller's son. And there's something that seems kind of off or sinister about her that we don't quite know. She seems just two-faced. Yeah. But uh, but yeah. She's winning over like De Niro character quickly. And um, but Ben Stiller's kind of on tour. Yeah, exactly. And she and she and she kind of knows he's on to him and she kind of makes him kind of, you know, those those the the the the nice threatening person kind of thing going on. But yeah, but Me Me the Fockers. And then lastly, I saw the trailer for The Odyssey. Oh, that's coming out in July. That is. So they they they they may have done it to you before, but this was kind of a they dropped a trailer right. This is This is the most recent uh trailer. Yes. This is actually showed when I watched Mortal Kombat. I don't think it showed during when they when I watched The Devil Wears Prada 2, but it did show during Mortal Kombat 2. But this is Christopher Nolan's next sprawling epic. Uh featuring Matt Damon. Mhm. Also uh featuring Tom Holland. Mhm. As as the son of Odysseus. And uh yeah, it meant to be just a sprawling epic, you know, based on the when, you know, they the the famous It's going to be good. It's going to be good. Yeah. probably have to go to the theater to see this one. Yeah, yeah, I I probably will end up going to to see it. Man, this this year is packed with with films. These are packed. It took a little while. Yeah. I was actually when I went to see Mortal Kombat 2, I was I was in line to get some food and there was a lady next to me. I was like, what are you here to see? I just kind of made conversation and she was there to see The Devil Wears Prada 2. And I was like, oh, I saw it last week. I was it was pretty good. It was very entertaining. And uh she was like, I'm so glad like people are coming back to movies now. They seem like they're like, yeah, I agree. It was random stranger, but just it was she said the the same sentiment. So. Communal. Indeed. Get out, support some films, ladies and gents. I know sometimes it could be a little uh expensive depending on how many you you have to to to bring to the films. But, you know, if if if you can, catch a matinee. Hey, there you go. Make it make it make a trip. We do matinees quite a bit. Indeed. All right, man. That's it for Filmmaker That's it for uh what we've been watching. That's right. Woops. Must remember. Uh oh. Um, all right, so you can catch us where? Facebook.com/filmmaker commentary. We're also on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher. No, that's that's old. iTunes, SoundCloud. I don't have my my deal pulled up yet. We're on iTunes, we're on SoundCloud, we're also on Spotify. Yes. You can also find us at youtube.com/filmmaker commentary. We're also on Twitter, at aka X, as well as the gram. He is at Reginald Titus Jr. I'm at Casey G. Smith 32. Until next time. Peace. Respect.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.