SMART-POPcast Episode 8

As expected, we're back to our longwinded selves for Episode 8: Revenge of the Phil.  This is our most enjoyable episode yet, with a "nerd fight" over Star Wars, a heated debate about piracy, and all-around zaniness.  Happy birthday, Phil!

Cast: Phil Stricklin, Thom Stricklin, and Mitch Goossen

Topics:

• Movie Review: Jarhead
• No, it's not "political enough"--thank god.
• Despite being apolitical, Jarhead poignantly displays the futility of war.
• Phil & Thom agree...  Jamie Foxx and Peter Sarsgaard dance in circles around Gyllenhaal.
• Mendes remains a consistently great director.
• Cinematographer Roger Deakins finds the artfulness in reality.
  
• Movie Review: Chicken Little
• It's like Robots without the zany cast.
• Chicken Little only begins to entertain at the end, when it takes heavy cues from The Explorers, Get Shorty, and Austion Powers in Goldmember
• The best voices--Fred Willard, Patrick Warburton, Adam West--only come in the last fifteen minutes.
• Don't bother with this movie...  Just rent The Explorers.
  
• Movie Review: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
• Thom was disappointed that Lucas nearly turned the franchise into kids' movies...  Finally some redemption comes in Revenge of the Sith.
• Is Ewan McGregor the best actor to star in a Star Wars movie?  What about Anthony Daniels or the guy who played Chewie? (Or more seriously, Harrison Ford?)
  
• Movie Review: The Boondock Saints
• This is one of Mitch's favorite movies...  or not.  He owns it, and that puts it among an elite few movies.
• Like most lesser-known or obscure movies, says Mitch, this has plenty of unconventional entertainment to offer.
• Phil enjoyed the scenes in which Willem Dafoe's character breaks down the crime scenes.
• Thom thinks this is one of the all-time best vigilante movies.
  
• Industry News
• Thomas Hayden Church is Sandman in Spider-Man 3.
  
• Serenity is available on pre-order...  Thom's gonna try and score screener copies for the special Serenity episode in December.
• Disney is already playing the blame game over Chicken Little, but Disney is ultimately at fault for alienating Pixar.
• The Weinstein Company is prepared to take product placement to the next level...  Care for Motorola Boy and Dove Girl in 3D?
  
• Thom's Movie News in Briefs
  
• The MPAA sues a grandpa $600,000 because his grandson downloaded four movies...  including The Forgotten.
  
• Maybe the kid knows it was wrong, maybe he doesn't.
• Regardless, there is NO reason to go after this grandfather when there are pirates with terabytes of movies available.  This is a scare tactic to frighten ordinary people into compliance.
• Piracy IS bad...  But the MPAA should be harnessing technology for their own gain, not stifling it at everyone's expense.  Can't they learn from the RIAA's mistakes?
  

Next Week: Derailed, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Dazed & Confused, and more.