Jason Squared

It's the third official edition of "Does This Hold Up?", just in time for the holidays. The Jasons re-visit the Chris Columbus/John Hughes Christmas mayhem-fests of Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

Paul Rudd has, officially, been cast as Ant-Man. The Jasons have some thoughts and also opinions, because that's what they do. They discuss the casting news, Ant-Man as a character, the special effects demo reel, Edgar Wright's plans for the script, Nathan Fillion and the Starjammers, the convoluted legal dealings of Marvel and Fox, and more!

As we work our way towards Christmas, the Jasons tackle more Holiday-themed Horror films. This time they take on Jack Frost (1997) (no, not the one with Michael Keaton) and its sequel Jack Frost 2: The Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman (2000). They tackle bad humor, bad taste, Jack Frost vs. ThanksKilling, nonsensical snowman powers, toxic waste vs. voodoo spells, low budget moviemaking, when to show off your costumes, Deus Ex Bananas, murderous snowballs, and more! This episode is sponsored by Audible! Visit audibletrial.com/jasonsquared for a FREE 30-day trial and FREE audiobook download!

LBJ got dragged to go see The Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire over Thanksgiving, and he wasn't going to rest without dragging Superbuddy down with him. The Jasons discuss the series as a whole, the problems with the adaptations, how terrible The Hunger Games 1 managed to be, set and costume design, so many good actors for so many bad characters, why Katniss Everdeen is the worst, why this is the most boring sci-fi revolution ever, and more!

The Doctor has been traveling through time and space in everyones favorite blue telephone box for 50 years! Writer-Producer Steven Moffat got David Tennant, John Hurt and "Bad Wolf" Billie Pipper to join Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Colman for a special episode. Meanwhile, Jason Guerra got Jason Harris to join him for a lively, wibbly-wobbly discussion of the special and all the extra-special activities related to the big day!

Happy Thanksgiving! Here's hoping you have an awesome one... the Jasons certainly won't, not after having to suffer through ThanksKilling, a movie about a foul-mouthed turkey hand puppet murdering idiots.

It's 4am, do you know where your pseudo-anarchist punks, Latin-American sterotypes, clichéd clandestine goverment agents and alien bodies are? If you haven't guessed, it's the Terrible Movie Throwdown, fourth edition. SB has picked one of the best, worst movies from his "stupid shit he liked in high school" file. It's Repo Man, the Alex Cross cult classic from 1984, starring Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez (not that really, truly stupid one from 2010)!

The Jasons return once again to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this time to discuss Thor: The Dark World (2013). While there, they discuss the film's tonal shifts, hopes and expectations this film met (and/or dashed), Jack Kirby, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, whether Natalie Portman should be in your big-budget science fiction film or not, the lack of a proper antagonist, Dark Elves, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, looking ahead to the Infinity Gauntlet, and more! CHAPTER BREAKDOWN 00:00:00 - 00:01:35 = Intro 00:01:35 - 00:36:50 = Thor: The Dark World 00:36:50 - 00:58:09 = Thor 2 ending, Guardians of the Galaxy preview, and looking ahead *SPOILERS* 00:58:09 - 01:00:22 = Outro This episode is sponsored by Audible! Visit audibletrial.com/jasonsquared for a FREE 30-day trial and FREE audiobook download!

The Jasons tackle the recently released Ender's Game adaptation... even though LBJ has never read the book! They discuss the perils of film adaptation, where obvious holes can be spotted (even to someone who hasn't read the book), Col. Graff as the "Santa Clause-boogeyman," Harrison Ford and "actorly indifference," Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, terrible child actors, the alien bug planet, Battle School and Command School and Whatever School, director Gavin Hood, when a film's budget/vision becomes a detriment, and more!  This episode is sponsored by Audible! Visit audibletrial.com/jasonsquared for a FREE 30-day trial and FREE audiobook download!

Happy Halloween!  Sadly, the Month of Spooky Sh#% comes to an end, but not before the Jasons go truly old-school and check out some of the classic Universal Monster movies. They visit the Big Three of the Universal Monsters movies - Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931 also) and The Wolf Man (1941). They discuss different film audiences expectations, then and now, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., whether any of these men gave good performances or not, the iconographic nature of these characters and depicitions, novels vs. plays vs. movies, whether the 1940s audience paid any more attention than the modern audience, Universal's plans to resurrect these characters in an Avengers-style team-up movie, and more! This episode is sponsored by Audible! Visit audibletrial.com/jasonsquared for a FREE 30-day trial and FREE audiobook download!

As the M.O.S.S. winds to a close, the Jasons resurrect an age-old classic... the Remake Roundup! Also, Carrie (1976), since Carrie (2013) just came out. The Jasons discuss the steamy opening of Carrie '76, Brian de Palma, slow pacing vs. deliberate pacing, "70s dreamy," John Travolta, Sissy Spacek, Chloe Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, why anyone hates Carrie so passionately, whether the ending is justified, the male gaze, super powers, passive leads, the modernization of the movie, mean girls, whether Sue Snell is using Carrie or not, and more! CHAPTER BREAKDOWN 00:00:00 - 00:02:34 = Intro 00:02:34 - 00:22:31 = Carrie (1976) 00:22:31 - 01:00:40 = Carrie (2013) 01:00:40 - 01:03:06 = Outro This episode is sponsored by Audible! Visit audibletrial.com/jasonsquared for a FREE 30-day trial and FREE audiobook download!

The M.O.S.S. rolls along as the Jasons "celebrate" the release of Curse of Chucky (2013) by reviewing all 6 Child's Play/Chucky movies! The Jasons discuss LBJ's traumatized childhood, Chucky's resemblance to My Buddy, 80's economics, the lost art of animatronics, the mechanics of Chuckydom, the perversion of innocence, low aspirations and unintended inspirations, the USA network, Chucky in suburbia, Chucky in a military school, what is up with that Tyler kid anyway?, a criminal waste of talent, Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly, "slick, tarted-up garbage," the insane camp of Seed of Chucky, Glen/Glenda and Glen or Glenda?, Don Mancini's pet obsessions, reboots, anniversaries, what is up with the end of Curse of Chucky anyway?, and more! CHAPTER BREAKDOWN 00:00:00 - 00:04:52 = Intro 00:04:52 - 00:19:03 = Child's Play (1988) 00:19:03 - 00:32:14 = Child's Play 2 (1990) 00:32:14 - 00:49:19 = Child's Play 3 (1991) 00:49:19 - 01:02:18 = Bride of Chucky (1998) 01:02:18 - 01:19:25 = Seed of Chucky (2004) 01:19:25 - 01:4

It's time for Jason Squared's first annual M.O.S.S.! AKA "Month of Spooky Shit" for the uninitiated (so, everyone). In a bout of bad planning, the second M.O.S.S. installment is a new series, "I've Never Seen...". Here the Jasons take turns introducing each other to quality films they might have missed. For the first go-round, LBJ introduces Superbuddy to a rare gem from the early 90's, Cliver Barker's Candyman. (Yes, there were a couple of good things that came out of the 90's, get over it internet. Candyman is one of those good things, so we give it a whole episode all to itself. Well mostly, there may be a tangent or two...)

It's time for Jason Squared's first annual M.O.S.S.! AKA "Month of Spooky Shit" for the uninitiated (so, everyone). For all of October we are going to be diving into the wonderful, weird, and fucked up world of horror movies. We start off with Clive Barker's Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II, because we wanted to make sure both "weird" and "fucked up" where checked off list list right away.

The Jasons once again look to their pasts and ask, "Does This Hold Up?" The subject this time: Gremlins and Gremlins 2: The New Batch! They discuss troubled productions, script changes, the Steven Spielberg/Chris Columbus/Joe Dante combo, Gizmo's overwhelming cuteness, the Gremlins blatant disregard for self-preservation, whether the first one is a horror movie or not, the Gremlins mutability in the second one, Joe Dante's anarchistic streak, Daffy Duck, Ted Turner, Rambo, Grandpa Munster, Gomez Adams, the Riddler, people's relationships with movies and the media today vs. the 90s, Dan Harmon, the future of the series, and more! CHAPTER BREAKDOWN 00:00 - 04:44 - Intro 04:44 - 19:22 - Gremlins (1984) 19:22 - 39:18 - Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) 39:18 - 48:55 - Gremlins 3? 48:55 - 50:57 - Outro This podcast is sponsored by Audible! Visit audibletrial.com/jasonsquared for a FREE 30-day trial and FREE audiobook download!

"It's like a live-action 'Wacky Races!'" "With murder." Faster than a speeding car, the Terrible Movie Throwdown is back! This time, LBJ throws down Death Race 2000, Roger Corman's carsploitation sci-fi action/racing picture. The Jasons discuss Corman pictures, Sylvester Stallone, David Carradine, "Kung Fu", the mechanics of vehicular murder, the ridiculous over-the-top antics of the film, working with your budget, 70s politics, Ronald Reagan, celebrity reality television, "Mr. President Frankenstein", and more.

To celebrate the release of Riddick and the start of the fall movie season, the Jasons tackle the Riddick "trilogy" of movies from Vin Diesel and David Twohy. They discuss the bizarre path of this character and franchise, FarScape, the late 90s, The Chronicles of Riddick's staggering badness, the "Chosen One" mythos (aka the Story of Moses), Mortal Kombat: Annihilation flashbacks, low budget sci-fi knockoffs, Jason Voorhees + Luke Skywalker = Riddick, Riddick's return to the wild, The Fast & The Furious, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff, Riddick as Superman, and more! CHAPTER BREAKDOWN 0:00:00 - 0:05:13 = Intro 0:05:13 - 0:23:30 = Pitch Black (2000) 0:23:30 - 0:36:43 = The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) 0:36:43 - 1:00:22 = Riddick (2013) 1:00:22 - 1:06:09 = Outro This episode is sponsored by Audible! Visit audibletrial.com/jasonsquared for a FREE 30-day trial and a FREE audiobook download!

It's time for the second round of the Terrible Movie Throwdown, and Superbuddy throws down the gauntlet with 1974's Dark Star. The Jasons discuss the careers of director John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing) and writer/actor Dan O'Bannon (Alien, Return of the Living Dead); what LBJ termed "the genesis of genius," or the obvious talent of Carpenter at such a young age; student films; terrible acting; existentialism; Star Wars and special effects; the 1970s political scene; Ray Bradbury; and Tom Baker-era "Doctor Who." CHAPTER BREAKDOWN 00:00 - 02:47 = Intro 02:47 - 32:17 = Dark Star (1974) 32:17 - 35:39 = Outro This episode is sponsored by Audible! Visit audibletrial.com/jasonsquared for a FREE 30-day trial and a FREE audiobook download!

The Jasons discuss Edgar Wright's "Cornetto Trilogy" (or the "Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy") - Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World's End (2013). They discuss the similarities to John Carpenter's "Apocalypse Trilogy," the brilliance of Simon Pegg, how precient Shaun of the Dead was, character arcs, genre blending, loving homages, '70s horror films, action cliches, Timothy Dalton, nerd culture, black comedies, let-down endings, Summer Movie Season 2013 and Edgar Wright. CHAPTER BREAKDOWN 0:00:00 - 0:04:48 = Intro 0:04:48 - 0:20:48 = Shaun of the Dead (2004) 0:20:48 - 0:31:39 = Hot Fuzz (2007) 0:31:39 - 0:37:03 = The World's End (2013) *SPOILERS* 0:37:03 - 0:57:45 = The World's End *SUPER MEGA SPOILERS* 0:57:45 - 1:07:29 = On Summer Movie Season 2013 and Edgar Wright 1:07:29 - 1:09:46 = Outro This episode is sponsored by Audible! Visit audibletrial.com/jasonsquared for a FREE 30-day trial and a FREE audiobook download!

In this special minisode, the Jasons take on the news of Warner Bros. recently casting Ben Affleck as the Batman for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Man of Steel 2, or Batman vs. Superman. They discuss previously odd sounding casting choices that turned out great, Ben Affleck vs. George Clooney, Zack Snyder, how overstuffed BvS may be, whether Affleck will deserve the brunt of nerd rage, and more!