Mandalorian and Grogu Review

Technical Difficulty Note

Brent (00:00:00 - 00:00:57): Hello, loyal listeners. Uh, Brent with you. Uh, just a word of caution, uh, this episode we had every technical difficulty known to man occur, so you’re gonna find some of the audio is not the greatest. In fact, we, we almost thought about scrapping the episode completely, but we had talked for like an hour and a half and it felt like a waste and we didn’t really have much time to re-record. So, um, here it is. Uh, I’ve cleaned it up as much as I can within the amount of time that I had to clean it up. Uh, sorry it was late, but sometimes, uh, that’s how the cookie crumbles. Uh, we’re going to be exploring other ways of getting the podcast out to you. Uh, it just might be, uh, yeah. Anyways, I, I hate technical difficulties. Now, on with the show. Let’s go!

Intro Sketch

Rex (00:00:57 - 00:01:03): The True North Nerds are about to start! I know! I’m trying to find the signal!

Rex (00:01:03 - 00:01:05): Thank you, Monster Nerd!

Rex (00:01:05 - 00:01:08): No, that’s the wrong one. Move over!

Rex (00:01:08 - 00:01:10): Let me do it!

Rex (00:01:10 - 00:01:15): If I don’t go to this nerd school, I’m gonna lose my mind. Come on, come on!

Rex (00:01:15 - 00:01:17): We can’t go against that guy!

Rex (00:01:17 - 00:01:18): We’re nerds!

Rex (00:01:18 - 00:01:23): We’re gonna miss it! My fellow nerds and I will retire to the nerdery with our calculators.

Rex (00:01:23 - 00:01:24): Wait!

Rex (00:01:24 - 00:01:33): I got it!

Theme Song

Kirby Crackle (00:01:33 - 00:01:49): [Theme song lyrics omitted.]

Kirby Crackle (00:01:50 - 00:01:55): [Theme song lyrics omitted.]

Kirby Crackle (00:01:57 - 00:02:02): [Theme song lyrics omitted.]

Kirby Crackle (00:02:03 - 00:02:04): [Theme song lyrics omitted.]

Kirby Crackle (00:02:05 - 00:02:06): [Theme song lyrics omitted.]

Kirby Crackle (00:02:08 - 00:02:11): [Theme song lyrics omitted.]

Welcome and News

Brent (00:02:11 - 00:02:36): Welcome, loyal listeners, to another episode of True North Nerds. This week, The Mandalorian and Grogu. Was it good? Was it the end of Star Wars as we know it? Listen to the episode and find out. Um, but first we will have some news and maybe a little bit chit-chat. But, uh, we have Jen.

Jen (00:02:36 - 00:02:38): Hi.

Brent (00:02:38 - 00:02:39): And we have Ryan.

Ryan (00:02:39 - 00:02:40): That’s me.

Jen (00:02:40 - 00:02:41): Hello.

Brent (00:02:41 - 00:02:42): And we have Kevin.

Kevin (00:02:42 - 00:02:43): Hey, I’m here.

Ryan (00:02:44 - 00:02:45): Yay.

Brent (00:02:45 - 00:02:49): So Ryan. Yes, that’s me. What’s in the news this episode?

Ryan (00:02:49 - 00:03:06): Uh, this week we have a couple new trailers, some announcements, and Yeah, that’s about it. So let’s get started. Did you guys watch the trailer that I sent you for Stuart Fails to Save the Universe?

Kevin (00:03:06 - 00:03:08): I did watch a trailer.

Ryan (00:03:08 - 00:03:14): I don’t know if it was the one you sent or not, but probably the same one. I think there was only the one out. Thoughts?

Jen (00:03:14 - 00:03:15): I kind of want to see it.

Kevin (00:03:15 - 00:03:18): Yeah, me too. It’s on my watch list.

Brent (00:03:18 - 00:03:23): I think it’s going to be fun. I will be amazed if it goes into season 2.

Kevin (00:03:23 - 00:03:24): Yes.

Ryan (00:03:24 - 00:03:47): Uh, I agree with Brent. I think it’s gonna be fun to watch, but people that are gonna go into it expecting more Big Bang Theory are not gonna get Big Bang Theory. Um, I think I likened it from this trailer, at least it looks to me like, um, a rebooted Sliders, or at least like a sitcom-y version of it.

Kevin (00:03:47 - 00:03:48): Comedy Sliders.

Ryan (00:03:48 - 00:03:49): Yeah, there we go.

Brent (00:03:50 - 00:03:54): Um, yeah, I just— I, I think it will struggle to find a little bit of an audience.

Ryan (00:03:55 - 00:04:04): Yeah, especially being like a summertime show. And did everybody watch the trailer for Lanterns?

Jen (00:04:04 - 00:04:06): Yes. Yeah.

Ryan (00:04:06 - 00:04:10): Uh, thoughts? Because I liked it.

Kevin (00:04:10 - 00:04:11): I think it looks pretty good.

Brent (00:04:13 - 00:04:33): I’m— it makes me very interested in it. Like, the trailer sort of makes it like that Jon Stewart’s got to take Hal’s ring, which is an interesting dynamic. And also, Hal has been a Lantern for a while because we see like those flashback videos where he’s younger.

Jen (00:04:33 - 00:04:44): I think it looks interesting. I, I don’t know a lot about Lanterns other than what I’ve seen in the movies, um, and the TV show, not the, the animated one.

Ryan (00:04:44 - 00:04:48): Yeah, well, the cartoon that had all the different cartoons had some good Lantern lore to it.

Jen (00:04:49 - 00:04:51): So, so it looks interesting.

Ryan (00:04:52 - 00:05:04): We, we see him using powers. He talks about how it’s the most powerful weapon and have to be responsible with it, and then he makes a dollar bill to put into the jukebox.

Jen (00:05:04 - 00:05:08): Here you think for forgery? Yeah, that was cool.

Ryan (00:05:08 - 00:05:25): Um, so yeah, something to look forward to later this summer. Um, we have an announced date for Vision Quest. Uh, it will be coming to Disney+ October 14th of this year.

Jen (00:05:25 - 00:05:31): At this point, it’s been so long since WandaVision that I don’t even remember what happened.

Kevin (00:05:32 - 00:05:35): He was all white and torn apart on a scientific table.

Jen (00:05:36 - 00:05:43): Yeah, but like, are we gonna have to rewatch WandaVision and Agatha All Along to figure out what that was?

Ryan (00:05:43 - 00:06:00): So no, I feel like this will be this, you know, if it’s, you know, even with the title Vision Quest, it’s like I’m assuming Vision’s on a quest to figure out who he is again, who this new version of Vision is. Maybe. I don’t know. I’ve never been crazy based on—

Jen (00:06:00 - 00:06:01): oh yeah, girlfriend.

Brent (00:06:02 - 00:06:05): She’s dead now too, so crazy and dead.

Jen (00:06:07 - 00:06:10): Yep. I still don’t like that, but whatever, I don’t write Marvel.

Ryan (00:06:10 - 00:06:47): No. Uh, Dan Harmon has, has confirmed that they are working on a Rick and Morty movie. Uh, there’s a bunch of Rick and Morty, uh, I guess news recently because the new season just started, so, uh, that would be No, I like Rick and Morty, so it’d be interesting to see, uh, if this happens and what it’s all about. Uh, a new cartoon was announced and we saw images for it, um, maybe even a trailer. I didn’t get a chance to look on the link. Um, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Jen (00:06:49 - 00:06:57): It looks so cute. I didn’t watch the trailer, but just the still looked so cute. Yeah, it’s for like, uh, preschoolers, isn’t it?

Brent (00:06:57 - 00:07:04): Yeah, it’s trying to hit that same market that, that— what is Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends? Is that what that’s called?

Ryan (00:07:05 - 00:07:06): Friends or whatever it’s called?

Brent (00:07:06 - 00:07:06): Yeah, yeah.

Kevin (00:07:06 - 00:07:12): There’s also Iron Man and His Incredible Friends. I think it’s Incredible or Invincible Friends, something like that.

Ryan (00:07:12 - 00:07:17): And then what was that, uh, what’s that Star Wars one? There’s a Jedi Adventure.

Kevin (00:07:17 - 00:07:18): Young Jedi Adventures.

Brent (00:07:18 - 00:07:20): Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ryan (00:07:20 - 00:08:19): You get them into the fandom early and they grow up to be us. Yep. Poor, poor children. They become poor, poor adults because they spend all their money on toys. Yeah, but that’s a different podcast. Um, and then last but not least in my news notes, there are reports that if there is a new He-Man cartoon coming this June to YouTube. Called Tales from Eternia. It’s made by Snipple Animation Studio and will have a 20-episode run, and it’s labeled as a reboot of the classic ’80s animated show for Mattel. Okay, if the images that I’ve seen are the, the animation style, it’s kind of in line with with the Teen Titans cartoons. Okay, um, wait, I’m sorry, which version?

Jen (00:08:19 - 00:08:20): Teen Titans Go?

Ryan (00:08:20 - 00:08:22): So Teen Titans.

Brent (00:08:22 - 00:08:22): Ah, boom!

Ryan (00:08:22 - 00:09:02): More than Teen Titans Go, uh, but still kind of actually maybe even somewhere in between, uh, which made sense because I think if you look up that Stipple Animation Studios, like the artwork that shows like their, their studio name, I saw like a Teen Titans Robin Fly— it looks like he’s flying around the logo. So I imagine they’ve worked on that stuff then. So yeah, it’s funny. So all this came out of someone posting a thing online that, oh, I can finally announce what this project I’ve been working on. I don’t know if there’s been an actual official Mattel announcement about it yet.

Jen (00:09:02 - 00:09:03): Got it.

Ryan (00:09:03 - 00:09:08): So stay tuned. That’s it for me. Anybody else got any news?

Kevin (00:09:10 - 00:09:46): Um, the, the new— well, not new, a refurbished ride has opened this week at Disney World. Um, the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, which formerly starred Aerosmith, just opened this week, and it now stars the Electric Mayhem. Uh, it is a Muppets, uh, a Muppets-themed roller coaster now. It plays several several popular songs, including Song 2 by Blur and Born to Be Wild, which is sung by the chickens, the Muppet chickens.

Ryan (00:09:47 - 00:09:47): Nice.

Kevin (00:09:48 - 00:10:05): There are some fun throwbacky Easter eggs in the queue and in the ride. And yeah, it just looks like fun. So, um, it’s always been a fun, uh, ride. I think it’ll be even more fun now that it’s a Muppets ride.

Ryan (00:10:07 - 00:10:15): So that explains— I kept seeing the clips, uh, pop up in my feed of, uh, The Electric Mayhem playing Song 2.

Kevin (00:10:15 - 00:10:48): So I was like, yeah, well, The Electric Mayhem did a concert for the press, um, at the media day. Um, yeah, it was The Electric Mayhem with John Stamos. Uh, there are a lot of celebrity cameos in the queue, uh, including Weird Al Yankovic and, um, some other people. So yeah, that looks like fun. Oh, the other thing that’s opening at Disney very soon is a new, uh, Bluey meet and greet. He’s— Bluey is very popular.

Brent (00:10:48 - 00:10:50): You don’t say. Yeah.

Jen (00:10:50 - 00:10:53): Have you ever watched Bluey though? It is so adorable.

Kevin (00:10:53 - 00:10:55): I’ve heard it’s very cute.

Jen (00:10:55 - 00:10:59): There are some, like, this— I think, is it on Disney Plus?

Kevin (00:11:01 - 00:11:02): It is on Disney Plus.

Jen (00:11:02 - 00:11:11): Yeah, yeah. So there’s even like some little shorts. They’re like a couple seconds long. Even if you just watch those, you get a real feel for what Bluey is about, and they’re hilarious.

Brent (00:11:11 - 00:11:22): The, the one where it’s the unboxing video where Muffin decides she wants to be like a toy influencer on YouTube and makes an unboxing video is so good.

Jen (00:11:22 - 00:12:30): And I’m fairly certain that Muffin is the character with ADHD, like actually in the show she’s diagnosed. Oh wow. Yeah, so there’s a lot of inclusivity and there’s a lot of, of that kind of stuff. And, uh, the, the dad is, is completely unhinged and he’s hilarious. So, and the thing I’m going off on a Bluey rant, the thing that I love best about it is that when I first saw it, like, I— okay, let me preface this by saying I’m not one of those Bluey adults. I haven’t seen every episode, but you know, I’ve seen things here and there. And me, North American me, firstly just assumed, oh, Bluey’s a boy and Bingo’s a girl, right? You know, every time there’s any kind of, uh, nuclear family in, in the Western media, it’s usually a boy and a girl and a mom and a dad. But both Bluey and Bingo are girls, and that’s amazing. Like, I just love that it’s not— there’s always, there’s almost always an older brother and a younger sister Or if it’s the other way around, then the younger brother is still like the main character and he’s the one with all the energy and everything. But I really love that this family is showing, you know, a mom and a dad and two girls.

Kevin (00:12:31 - 00:12:35): Which isn’t the dad the stay-at-home parent?

Jen (00:12:35 - 00:12:36): I think he works from home.

Kevin (00:12:36 - 00:12:37): I think so.

Jen (00:12:37 - 00:12:40): Yeah. Yeah. I honestly don’t know.

Brent (00:12:41 - 00:13:26): I, I think my favorite story about Bluey right now is like Bluey’s had a lot of celebrity guest voiceovers. Like Chris Hemsworth has done a voice and a lot, mainly Australian celebrities. But, um, comedian Jim Jefferies, I guess he has kids now, or at least nieces and nephews. So he’s been like, he’s messaged several times to try and get them on and stuff like that. And then like he was like having a conversation with somebody and like, I don’t know why they won’t call me back. And the friend or something is like, maybe they’re trying to avoid using the comedian that says cunt a lot. And he’s like, oh, when you put it that way, I understand why they haven’t called me back.

Jen (00:13:26 - 00:14:32): The other neat thing about— sorry, I have all these Bluey facts apparently I didn’t realize were in my brain. Um, I saw an interview and the voice actresses for Bluey and Bingo are unnamed. They’re obviously credited and they get paid, but they’re unnamed in the credits because, uh, and they never do any publicity. They never go on any talk shows. They’re they wanted to keep them anonymous so that they could still have a positive childhood. And if they decided to pursue a career in entertainment after this when they’re older, because they’re very young, um, then they can do that. But if they decide that they don’t want to be in the limelight, they’re not tarred by that brush already, having been the voice of Bluey and Bingo. And I just, I just love that they have that kind of child protection in place for— I don’t know if the other children, uh, voice actors in Bluey, because they specifically just said Bingo and Bluey in the interview I saw, but I’m assuming that they would do it for all of them. And I, I think that that’s really nice too. It’s just such a good show. Like, it feels like everything around it is wholesome too, and I really hope that it doesn’t end up being awful.

Ryan (00:14:33 - 00:14:48): And there’s a lot of deep lore and storytelling going on in these episodes that you wouldn’t think anything of until you start watching a few or hear people talk about watching them and it’s like the connections that get made from story to story over time.

Jen (00:14:48 - 00:14:58): Oh yeah, there was one about, again, I sound like a Bluey adult, I swear to God I’m not. There was one clips I’ve seen of, I think it’s the mom’s sister.

Ryan (00:14:58 - 00:15:00): Yeah.

Jen (00:15:00 - 00:15:01): Was struggling with infertility.

Ryan (00:15:02 - 00:15:04): Yeah, that’s the ones I was thinking of too.

Jen (00:15:04 - 00:15:15): Yeah, and honestly I saw a clip like the end of one of the episodes and it made me cry. They’re so well written and they’re so beautiful. This is why I understand why it feels— Yeah. Oh, sorry.

Kevin (00:15:15 - 00:15:36): I was going to say, I understand why it appeals to adults. Yeah. The one episode I’ve seen was they went on a camping trip and Bluey makes a friend with a French, a French kid who’s there with his family and they have a wonderful time and it’s almost like this sweet little whirlwind romance. And then at the end he goes back to France and Bluey never sees him again.

Jen (00:15:36 - 00:15:39): Yeah, but that’s like 100% what happens in real life.

Kevin (00:15:39 - 00:15:40): Exactly.

Jen (00:15:41 - 00:16:05): Which is why it’s so amazing. It’s like you make these— it’s the whole point is that, you know, every person that you meet has an influence on your life, whether they’re in your life for a short period or a long period. You still, you know, take what you’ve learned with that from that experience with them. Yeah, it’s such a good show. Anyway, that’s been my little Bluey tangent.

Kevin (00:16:05 - 00:16:15): I do have one more little piece of news. It’s kind of personal, but I thought it would be fun to announce here, uh, that production of Clue that you guys came to see that I was in, uh, last month.

Jen (00:16:16 - 00:16:16): That was awesome.

Kevin (00:16:17 - 00:16:43): We won Best Comedy at the, uh, Thea Awards, which is the— which are the awards for community theater in Central Ontario. Uh, there were 18 musicals up for the award, and Clue was, uh, Clue won Best Musical. We also, uh, the actor who played Wadsworth the butler also won, uh, for Best Lead in a Musical— in a— not a musical, in a comedy. Best lead in a comedy.

Ryan (00:16:44 - 00:16:45): Congratulations.

Kevin (00:16:45 - 00:17:04): Yeah, we had a bunch of other nominations too, including costumes, set, uh, stage management, direction. The Doors got a special acknowledgement. Um, oh, and hair and wigs. We got a nomination for hair and wigs too. So yeah, we were very, uh, very excited.

Jen (00:17:07 - 00:17:15): A little, a little personal, you know, um, pat on the back and well deserved. It was an excellent production.

Kevin (00:17:16 - 00:17:17): Yeah, we had a good time with that show.

The Mandalorian and Grogu Review

Brent (00:17:19 - 00:17:53): All right, so we’ll go into the main topic, which is The Mandalorian: Grogu. Uh, at the time of this recording, it had come out the previous weekend. It was number one at the box office. Um, but who cares about money when it’s more about, uh, you know, uh, how— what you can get enjoyment-wise out of it. Uh, with that in mind, uh, hmm, let’s start with Kevin because Kevin has seen it the most.

Kevin (00:17:53 - 00:19:33): Yeah, I saw it. Well, it ended about 2 and a half hours ago from when I saw it. Uh, and, uh, I, I quite enjoyed it. Um, it I, I, there were, there were a lot of fight scenes in it, which, which I thought this would be a movie that you could, you would normally take your kids to, but there was a lot of big monster fight scenes in this film, which was fun. But I, I wondered if it was a little too much. I also felt like it, it really kind of felt like 2 or 3 episodes of a TV show squished together. Like if it, this was originally written as a, as maybe like a 4 to 6 episode series. And so, but other than those tiny qualms, it was just fun. Mando, Grogu is so cute and he’s really come along as a, as a character too. He’s, he’s more than just a cute little Muppet and You know, uh, we got to see, uh, Pedro Pascal’s face for 5 minutes. Other than that, he probably wasn’t in the suit at all. He was just doing voices. There was a lot of silence in this film too. There were long scenes where there was no talking, which was also kind of nice. So yeah, uh, I, I give it a— I would, I would give it a recommendation if you like Star Wars, especially if you like the TV show. There’s no reason not, not to see this film. Yeah, that’s me.

Brent (00:19:33 - 00:19:34): Uh, Ryan?

Ryan (00:19:34 - 00:21:16): Uh, yeah, no, I liked it. I’d give it a solid, you know, 7.5, 8 out of 10. It’s a Star Wars movie. It’s a— like I’ve been saying on the weekend, it’s a Star Wars adventure. In the spectrum of, you know, serious Rogue One, Andor, to a little more fun Return of the Jedi, yes, it’s on the Return of the Jedi side of the spectrum with the teddy bears in the forest. But we get a bunch of action. Mandalorian shows off his skills and kicks all kinds of stormtrooper butt, especially in that opening sequence. We get to see a new space— he gets a new home, or splash, the return of the Razor Crest. We get some new returning characters. Zeb got a lot of screen time. Those little aliens that fix things, those guys are great running around with Grogu on Grogu’s big adventures. But I do agree with the, yeah, this clearly would’ve been suited the next season. And you could totally tell the spots where, say, if you padded, this could’ve been padded out to a season. It’s like, okay, you guys think that the seasons are too padded out? Fine, we’ll take out all the fluff. Here’s a movie. Um, the, the, the set pieces, like the new— we got to see new worlds. We got to see Nal Hutta. Um, I don’t remember the other one, what the name of the world where the, uh, where the, the fight pit was. But that was a new place.

Kevin (00:21:17 - 00:21:18): Shakira—

Ryan (00:21:18 - 00:21:21): Shakari, is that what it was? The Moon of Chicago.

Jen (00:21:22 - 00:21:23): The Moon of Chicago.

Ryan (00:21:26 - 00:21:59): Um, but yeah, no, I, I enjoyed it. I— it’s— well, Star Wars, chances were I was gonna like it no matter what. But, uh, you know, my brother and I went and saw it. We both had a good time. Somebody in our theater The scene early on when Grogu, Zeb, and the Mandalorian are walking on the tarmac back to the base, someone pulled their phone out and took a picture of the screen with their flash. Because that’s how cameras work to take pictures in a movie theater.

Jen (00:22:00 - 00:22:01): Well, hopefully the picture was ruined.

Ryan (00:22:02 - 00:22:38): I hope so too. My brother said that they were sitting off on his side of the theater and he looked over and it was a guy and his girlfriend, and it was his girlfriend who had pulled the phone out And my brother was— he looked at the guy and the guy just looked at him and my brother shook his head. And then he heard her say— her— the guy’s, “Why’d you do that?” So, um, yeah, no, agreed. I— if you like Star Wars, you’ll like this. If you like The Mandalorian series, you’ll like this. If you don’t like The Mandalorian, then guess what? You won’t like this. It’s The Mandalorian.

Jen (00:22:38 - 00:22:39): Why are you going to this movie?

Ryan (00:22:39 - 00:22:40): Yeah, exactly.

Jen (00:22:41 - 00:22:56): Yeah, that’s my thoughts. Jen, uh, I, I quite enjoyed it too. Uh, Brent and I went with our nephew who is 8, 9.

Kevin (00:22:56 - 00:22:57): Yeah, 8 or 9.

Ryan (00:22:57 - 00:22:57): Horrible aunt.

Jen (00:22:58 - 00:23:06): Oh, you know, I have a lot of kids I got to keep track of, and two of them are like born, uh, like a week apart. Yeah.

Ryan (00:23:06 - 00:23:10): Anyway, that should make it easier. They’re the same age.

Jen (00:23:11 - 00:24:37): I think he’s 9. Yeah. Anyway, he really wanted to see it. Brent’s sister has no interest in anything Star Wars, so we took him, and it was— that was super fun. I really liked going to see it with him, but I don’t think he’d seen anything. I don’t think he’s seen any real, like, a lot of Star Wars. I know he hadn’t seen The Mandalorian, um, so he was asking me a lot of questions and he was talking a lot through it, but yeah, I don’t think he pissed off anybody around us because nobody glared. But it was really kind of fun watching it through his eyes and listening to him, like, his exclamations. And every time Grogu came on, he was like, “Oh, he’s so cute!” I had to explain what a Hutt was, and I’m like, “Oh boy.” Very succinctly, “Space slugs, crime lords. There you go.” But I think that he was probably bored through some of the quiet parts, but he really liked all the action. And at the end, he said it was a good movie. Anyway, that’s his review. My review, um, I quite enjoyed it. I mean, I love— I really like The Mandalorian. It’s— it was a great show. Um, I like that, yes, this could have been a TV series, but it moved really well. Like, even though it could have been padded out to be a TV show, um, I didn’t think Zeb was going to be in it as much as he was. I thought he was going to be like maybe a couple cameos, but I’m glad he was in it quite a bit. I really liked that if Hutts just apply themselves in exercise, they can get some wicked abs.

Ryan (00:24:37 - 00:24:40): He was totally swole.

Jen (00:24:40 - 00:25:46): Yeah, I was like, dang. And I liked that he didn’t end up being treacherous. He was a genuine character. Rotta the Hutt wasn’t like— at the end, he wasn’t like, “Hahaha, I’ve betrayed you too.” my aunt and uncle, uh, but he was actually like genuinely wants to join the Rebellion and is like became friends with Grogu. And I really liked his character. Um, what else? Grogu, of course, was adorable. Uh, that whole part where he’s alone in the jungle and is tending to, uh, Mando was very cute, especially when he tried to shove him into the hut. 3 times. Our nephew loved that part. He cracked up. Um, I just wish at the end of that, because he has like this whole scene, it was several days, he’s surviving in the wilderness. Like, I mean, at the end of that, when he— when, when Mando woke up, I’m like, he could have hugged him, could have said thank you, could have, you know, shown some sort of appreciation for keeping him alive.

Ryan (00:25:46 - 00:26:00): Well, he kind of did when he said the whole line of the young— the old protect the young, and then the young protect the old. That’s the Mandalorian. Yeah, but that’s their— his— that’s his way.

Jen (00:26:00 - 00:26:37): Eh, I think that Grogu should have like run over to him and hugged him. I think that would have been cute. Like, they need to show some sort of affection. Anyway, uh, I loved that, uh, blind dragon creature. That poisoned him. Oh, that was cool. Um, it was really well designed, and that one shot that they showed in all the trailers of him facing it was just like— it’s very pretty. Uh, and of course the little Boba Fett guys who kept going, come on baby, good baby, good baby.

Ryan (00:26:37 - 00:26:46): I love it when they— we got a ship, we can get away. Oh yeah, here’s our ship. He’s like I’m not gonna fit in this.

Brent (00:26:46 - 00:26:54): Yeah, he should have just surfed on top of it through space. Well, no, but like, it’s not even waterproof.

Jen (00:26:54 - 00:26:55): He’s not gonna survive space.

Brent (00:26:56 - 00:27:11): Which, okay, somebody correct me if I’m wrong, don’t he and what’s-her-face from Battlestar Galactica in like, maybe not the last season, but the season before, like go for a swim in their armors without any issues.

Kevin (00:27:11 - 00:27:16): Well, when he ended up in the water, I kept thinking, oh my gosh, he’s going to sink to the bottom. He’s wearing that heavy metal armor.

Jen (00:27:18 - 00:27:20): He did for a while, then he climbed his way out.

Brent (00:27:20 - 00:27:27): See, that’s what I’m saying is like, I, I, I thought they had already sort of established that they’re like environmental suits.

Ryan (00:27:28 - 00:27:30): I remember.

Brent (00:27:30 - 00:27:32): Well, yeah, well, you know what I’m talking about though, right?

Jen (00:27:32 - 00:27:32): Right.

Ryan (00:27:32 - 00:27:51): Or in like what I guess that’s season 2. They’re out on some water planet. Yeah. And I can’t remember if they ended up in the water in that, but I know that when they go to redeem themselves in the waters of Mandalore, but he struggles because he gets pulled underwater. There’s a whole— I don’t know.

Brent (00:27:51 - 00:27:54): I don’t think— I feel like they—

Ryan (00:27:54 - 00:27:56): I don’t know if that’s been established.

Brent (00:27:56 - 00:27:59): Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan (00:27:59 - 00:28:05): Maybe he’s only a few gifted— Not good against the water. There’s no air filtration. It doesn’t stop them from knockout gas.

Jen (00:28:05 - 00:28:14): Yeah, that too. I was like, shouldn’t that helmet have some sort of— like, it seems purely decorative at this point. Yeah. Other than— it’s Beskar.

Kevin (00:28:14 - 00:28:15): Yeah.

Brent (00:28:15 - 00:28:19): Yeah. Maybe it was affected by the power. But if you also look at the comments, there’s nothing underneath it.

Ryan (00:28:19 - 00:28:22): There is— it is just open. Like, Grogu was able to feed him through it.

Jen (00:28:22 - 00:28:23): Oh, that was so cute.

Ryan (00:28:23 - 00:28:27): Well, it’s not— yeah, it’s not a fully sealed helmet.

Brent (00:28:27 - 00:28:28): Yeah.

Jen (00:28:28 - 00:29:04): Yeah. So yeah, there were some parts like the fish guy. Like, that would have been— again, if it had been a TV show, they probably could have developed that kind of relationship a bit more. But, uh, he seemed again there for the power of plot. Um, oh, the one other thing I really liked, that Nal Hutta, you could really see what Jabba took from that when he made his palace on Tatooine. Like, the architecture was similar, the pit was similar. Like, it was a lot of kind of similarities. And I was like, oh, look at that, he took, he took this familiar architecture from his home planet and made his palace. That’s sweet.

Kevin (00:29:04 - 00:29:39): I looked at that planet, I looked at that planet and thought two things. It felt to me like a combination of Pandora from the Avatar movies with the floating mountains, because there was a lot of like rock formations way up, uh, with like roots going up to them. And also that the buildings looked like Hutt. Yeah, not, not Hutt the building, but Hutt the space creature. Like, they all had that sort of conical, flat-topped conical shape with long tails off the back. And so I thought, yeah, if we’re going to build buildings, we’re going to make them look just like us.

Jen (00:29:39 - 00:30:08): Yeah, I feel like Hatsu as a species are very arrogant. Also, when the space snake ate the twins, I was thinking to myself, oh, bless his heart, he’s going to sleep well tonight. He’s not going to need to eat for another year or two. Uh, yeah, so that’s— I, I enjoyed it. Um, that was the third movie I saw that week, so, uh, it was a busy week for me. But, uh, Brent, what’s your review?

Brent (00:30:09 - 00:30:36): Uh, I enjoyed it a lot. Um, I— it was fun. I, I think I enjoyed it more because, you know, my nephew was loving the movie. Yeah. Um, to add on to the the review that Jen knows about. I’ve been messaged by both my sister and my brother-in-law saying he hasn’t stopped talking about it since he saw it. That’s a good sign of things to come.

Jen (00:30:36 - 00:30:42): I also told him, I was like, Uncle Brent has been waiting since the day you were born to show you Star Wars.

Brent (00:30:43 - 00:30:44): Yeah.

Jen (00:30:44 - 00:30:45): So now we need to have a movie night.

Brent (00:30:46 - 00:30:57): Yeah, because I’m— and I debate which way to go. Like, sidetracking here, like, do I start with A New Hope or do I start with the prequels and like just go? Because he is younger.

Ryan (00:30:58 - 00:31:04): No, so the prequels won’t have the same gravitas if you don’t do, you know, start with A New Hope.

Jen (00:31:04 - 00:31:04): Yeah, but he is—

Brent (00:31:04 - 00:31:15): no, but he’s also super young, so like, like Jar Jar is going to be the shit for him right now. Yeah, okay, like all those jokes that they do with Jar Jar, that, that will be right up his alley.

Kevin (00:31:15 - 00:31:31): I was 6 when Star Wars came out and it was the only movie I wanted to see with all of my heart and soul. Um, so, uh, if, if ’70s 6-year-olds can take it, 2020s 6-year-olds could take it.

Jen (00:31:31 - 00:31:32): Oh yeah, he could definitely take it.

Brent (00:31:32 - 00:31:40): Oh, I don’t, I don’t mean it more like— I mean it not so much that he can take it, Kevin, more like out of interest level. You know what I mean?

Kevin (00:31:41 - 00:31:49): I think A New Hope has an easier, more fun story to follow than Phantom Menace. Phantom Menace is a movie about trade disputes.

Jen (00:31:49 - 00:31:51): That’s a valid point.

Kevin (00:31:51 - 00:31:54): Star Wars is a movie about a farm boy saving the world.

Jen (00:31:54 - 00:31:55): It’s also princess.

Ryan (00:31:57 - 00:31:58): And space wizards.

Jen (00:31:59 - 00:32:03): Mm-hmm. We should show it to them as the creator intended.

Brent (00:32:04 - 00:32:19): Good point. Yeah. The— Yeah, let’s not go there. Yeah, or, or maybe I can—

Kevin (00:32:19 - 00:32:29): I do know where a LaserDisc set apparently is, but, uh, for the next year, we’ll just wait a year because next year the despecialized versions are coming out, aren’t they?

Brent (00:32:29 - 00:32:32): Well, only A New Hope, maybe, right?

Kevin (00:32:32 - 00:32:40): That’s, that’s what you want to start with. This is the way we watched Star Wars when I was your age, and we liked it.

Brent (00:32:41 - 00:33:12): The only, like, this isn’t a complaint. Well, it is a little bit. My one nitpick that I came away with after, like, thinking about it a little bit is, you know how we, like, we’ve heard that story that Netflix is mandating in their movies that you have to, like, do a run-through of the plot and characters? In the dialogue of the movie, like something like every 20 minutes because people can’t pay attention anymore. Really?

Jen (00:33:12 - 00:33:13): Yeah.

Ryan (00:33:13 - 00:33:13): Yeah.

Brent (00:33:13 - 00:33:41): Huh. Yeah, I feel that there was a bit of that in this movie, and it might just be like a little bit of clumsy writing because I was thinking about it like the amount of times that Rotta talks about the fact that he is not Jabba the Hutt. I am not Jabba the Hutt’s son. Like, it— like, like naming him each time was like a little bit towards that, but that, that might just be me.

Jen (00:33:41 - 00:34:01): I just took that as him as a middle child. I just took that as him trying to assert his independence. And, you know, yeah, it was probably a really sore spot for him, so any chance he gets, he’s like, look, don’t think of me like this, I am not him. I know that’s what you’re thinking, but I’m not him.

Brent (00:34:01 - 00:34:16): Not so much that, but yeah, the mechanics behind the dialogue, it’s like it’s naming him every time, like full name, you know what I mean? Like, not my father, it’s like Jabba the Hutt.

Ryan (00:34:16 - 00:34:28): Maybe part of that’s because people are like, oh, that’s Jabba the Hutt. No, no, it’s not Jabba. Jabba’s dead. This is his son. Oh, Jabba has a son? Yes. You know, for all these people that never watched Clone Wars, didn’t see those episodes.

Jen (00:34:29 - 00:34:30): I didn’t see that episode.

Brent (00:34:30 - 00:34:46): So that’s, that’s not even— I would— the weird thing is, Ryan, is like, I don’t think those are episodes. Isn’t that in that first movie that they did? Remember that, that they started the show off with it? Like, it had a theatrical release and everything.

Ryan (00:34:46 - 00:34:51): Yeah, but if you watch it on— I think if you watch it, the, uh, on it It’s like the first 3 episodes.

Kevin (00:34:51 - 00:35:02): It is, because I’m— I am slowly watching Clone Wars, and that’s when the animation’s real rough. It’s not great. Yeah.

Ryan (00:35:02 - 00:35:09): Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t remember if it was that first one or if it was later, like second season, or—

Brent (00:35:09 - 00:35:11): um, so I’m curious.

Kevin (00:35:12 - 00:35:17): I want to ask a question. Why do you think Martin Scorsese was in this film?

Jen (00:35:17 - 00:35:19): Because he looks like the alien.

Brent (00:35:19 - 00:35:57): I, I thought it was odd, but, um, they, you know, half of the, the like background cast are directors. Now they’re directors directly involved Star Wars, but like, like that entire— so Gourney Weaver’s entire fight— entire fighter squadron are just people who have directed episodes of The Mandalorian. Yeah, they, they were, they were in the show a while ago too. Like, it’s not like they’re not new, but they’re all people who have directed episodes of The Mandalorian.

Kevin (00:35:57 - 00:36:03): And did you also cheer when Paul Sun-Hyun Lee showed up? Yes. Yes.

Ryan (00:36:03 - 00:36:04): Oh yeah, and he’s not in the credits.

Kevin (00:36:05 - 00:36:07): He is in the final credits. He’s not in the opening credits.

Ryan (00:36:07 - 00:36:10): Uh, is he? Because Drew and I didn’t see him.

Brent (00:36:10 - 00:36:12): Yes. Yes, he is.

Ryan (00:36:12 - 00:36:13): I saw it.

Brent (00:36:13 - 00:36:51): We didn’t see his name when we looked at the credits, but Um, but beyond that, I can, I can only go with it was somebody’s idea and they asked and he went, sure, I’ll be a four-armed monkey king. Because like the, the thing that I’ve heard with this before is like, I, so I’ve been talking about it with other like customers at the store and stuff like that. Is he is in the audiobook version of, uh, World War Z.

Kevin (00:36:51 - 00:36:51): Okay.

Brent (00:36:51 - 00:37:56): And the reason he did the voice for that is he was a voice in, I think it’s a Will Smith animated movie called Shark Tale. So Will Smith or Jack Black, or I honestly don’t remember anything about it other than the fact that weirdly, again, Martin Scorsese does a voice of it. Like he’s like a supporting character too. And maybe it— so maybe it’s just one of those things you just need to know who to ask and if he’s free, not doing anything. Because like the, the story I was told about World War Z for— like, here’s my name drop for the episode— from Max Brooks when I interviewed him was he basically like, they were watching the movie, him, Mel, and his son And Max’s son goes, you should get that guy to be a voice in your book. And he’s like, I don’t know, buddy. He’s like, you know, he’s pretty up there. And then Mel goes, yeah, you know what?

Kevin (00:37:56 - 00:37:56): He’s right.

Brent (00:37:56 - 00:38:50): You should get him. At which point Max is the wheels in his brain turning and he’s like, oh no, I don’t think I have any way of getting him or anything like that. And Mel is like, well, I think I could get him for you. And that’s how he ends up in World War Z. Is that— but maybe that’s just like all you need to do is you just have to have his number and he has to be free and you can like meet his paycheck. The, the other weird thing is like he is part of like that, that group of directors from the ’70s that were like all kind of friends the time, like him, Lucas, Spielberg, uh, Brian De Palma. So, but Lucas isn’t directly involved in this movie, so yeah, who knows.

Kevin (00:38:50 - 00:39:02): The other thing is, why, why go through all the trouble of hiring Jeremy Allen White to play Rotta the Hutt when you’re going to alter his voice so he doesn’t sound anything like Jeremy Allen White?

Brent (00:39:02 - 00:39:11): Oh, see, I thought it sounded like— maybe it’s a little deeper, but not like, not like out of the—

Kevin (00:39:11 - 00:39:14): like, I can recognize it. Maybe I’m just listening for a Chicago accent.

Brent (00:39:16 - 00:40:34): The only reason I say that is because that, that’s what I was expecting, because like, we’re, we’re seeing that, um, Ryan and I were talking, uh, yesterday night about the— there’s some like vague reviews on Masters of the Universe have started coming out, and that seems to be like, uh, Jared Leto as Skeletor has been like, as we have discussed on the show, is kind of like, like, oh, I don’t know about that. Um, apparently it’s quite good. I keep forgetting it’s also one of those cases of you don’t recognize his voice at all, and you don’t like because he’s under tons of CGI and possible makeup, you don’t recognize him at all. So, um, sidebar time, the, the story going around is Amazon is aware that, um, his presence in movies is off-putting, or around movies. Like, I guess they became aware of that after they hired him. So if you look at it, he is nowhere near this thing. He is not doing promo for it. He is not— he was not at the premiere for the movie. Like, it’s like he— you almost wouldn’t know that he is a part of this film.

Ryan (00:40:34 - 00:40:37): And isn’t he a producer on it too?

Brent (00:40:37 - 00:41:26): I think he might be, but that— who knows what that means. That like, that could have been just like an, you know, another way to get two paychecks, which happens a lot, is an actor signs on as a producer and an actor, and then they don’t like— they, they don’t do actually much of the producing job other than like fronting some of the money to get it made. And also they get like the nice little pay for play with that is if you end up leaving the movie, sometimes your deal stipulates you’re still producer, you still get a paycheck out of it. Yeah, yeah. So, um, overall, uh, I like it. I’m curious where Star Wars as a film entity goes after this.

Kevin (00:41:26 - 00:41:30): Well, the next movie is that Ryan Gosling film, right?

Brent (00:41:30 - 00:41:40): Yes, that’s next year. Um, do we get any Star Wars before that, Ryan? Do we get— is it— is Ahsoka out?

Ryan (00:41:41 - 00:41:58): Ahsoka is— right now it sounds like early 2027. So yeah, we’ll probably get Ahsoka in like January or February, and then I assume the Starfighters like this time next year, which I’m looking forward to.

Jen (00:41:58 - 00:42:02): I’m mostly looking forward to it because of Ryan Gosling. Yes.

Ryan (00:42:02 - 00:42:04): Yep.

Brent (00:42:04 - 00:42:16): Ryan’s and Star Wars just go together, even when they’re spelled wrong, like the, the guy who directed, uh, The Last Jedi. Well, that’s the best of the three.

Ryan (00:42:16 - 00:42:18): I love—

Kevin (00:42:18 - 00:42:25): well, that’s episode 8, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I, I like that too, the Rian Johnson one.

Brent (00:42:26 - 00:42:34): Last Jedi was awesome. Wait, it’s a, it’s a good film, the second one of the new ones.

Jen (00:42:34 - 00:42:37): Uh, I have to re— wait, is that the one with Space Monaco?

Kevin (00:42:40 - 00:42:44): Because the last one just ignored all the events of the previous ones.

Jen (00:42:44 - 00:42:45): The problem is that they’re so—

Kevin (00:42:45 - 00:42:46): Yeah, I hated that.

Jen (00:42:46 - 00:42:47): They’re not connected.

Brent (00:42:49 - 00:43:19): Because the last one was made like last minute. They really should have just regrouped and come back around. But yes. So Mandalorian, Grogu, go see it if you like Star Wars. If you don’t like Star Wars, I’m not sure if this is going to convince you to like Star Wars. But, uh, um, I guess the next movie up on our plate is going to be Masters of the Universe in 2 weeks.

Ryan (00:43:19 - 00:43:21): Yes.

Brent (00:43:21 - 00:43:28): Which I’m— yep, I’m trying to keep my expectations low. Yes, but they’re slowly growing and it worries me.

Ryan (00:43:28 - 00:43:36): Yeah, it’s had— it’s had good merchandise, it’s got some good buzz behind it right now. It’s like it’s building.

Brent (00:43:39 - 00:44:27): Hmm. And, and like, I saw Pixel Dan’s like vague review of it because he can’t get into details because it’s embargoed right now. And it, it was pretty positive on a whole. Um, but he also admits his experience with it is going to be a little bit different than other people’s because he got invited to the premiere and like they put him up in a hotel and stuff. And there was like a Masters of the Universe bathrobe. Yeah, waiting for him. He got a little wine in like Eternian printed on it. But the one thing he did say, which makes me feel better about the movie, and Rex, since I know you’ll be listening to this, will hopefully make you feel better too, is apparently the Earth portion is only like 15 minutes of the film.

Jen (00:44:27 - 00:44:28): Oh, good.

Brent (00:44:28 - 00:44:39): So it’s not a very long part of the film. Uh, did, uh, did we talk about Punisher last episode, Ryan?

Punisher: One Last Kill

Ryan (00:44:39 - 00:44:41): I think you and I did because we just watched it.

Brent (00:44:41 - 00:44:45): Yeah, and Jen has not seen it. Did you watch it, Kevin, or did you skip it?

Kevin (00:44:45 - 00:44:47): I did. I watched that today as well.

Brent (00:44:48 - 00:44:50): Okay, so what were your thoughts on it, Kevin?

Kevin (00:44:52 - 00:45:38): Ah, well, I— it was very violent, uh, but that’s to be expected from a Punisher series. Our story. It’s, you know, it felt like Jon Bernthal was trying to be— to get into the psyche of Frank Castle. And it was really attempting to give him some depth and some— like, he was a man in this film. He was a man torn apart. Like, he, he, he has no joy in his life and everything reminds him of his family. Um, so I don’t recall, like, did this pick up from the end of the events of the Punisher TV series?

Brent (00:45:38 - 00:45:44): No. And, and, well, you— I’m— how far in Daredevil are you?

Kevin (00:45:44 - 00:45:45): I finished Daredevil.

Brent (00:45:45 - 00:45:48): Okay, so remember he was locked up by the Kingpin and escaped?

Kevin (00:45:48 - 00:45:50): Yeah, yeah.

Brent (00:45:50 - 00:45:52): So is this after that? This takes place after that.

Kevin (00:45:52 - 00:45:57): Yeah, but this crime family that he killed Had we seen that?

Jen (00:45:57 - 00:45:58): No.

Brent (00:45:58 - 00:45:59): No.

Kevin (00:45:59 - 00:46:34): So that was like— because I know I hadn’t watched the old Netflix Punisher show, so, um, I wasn’t sure if this was picking up on threads from that, this crime family that he killed and left only the mother alive. Um, uh, it kind of astonishes me the number of assassins that there are and, and hired killers that live in New York. Um, I don’t know why anyone would want to live in New York if, if there’s that many Uh, as we have talked about numerous times, Kevin, if you—

Brent (00:46:34 - 00:47:01): yeah, yeah, yeah— the Marvel Universe and you live in New York, you’re stupid. You’re just like— the only way— the only thing I can think of is it’s the one big difference beyond superheroes and stuff of Marvel New York and real New York is that the 616 New York rent is super cheap because you never know when Galactus is going to step on your apartment building. Like, that’s the only reason, because the rent is super cheap.

Jen (00:47:05 - 00:47:08): What happened to the previous tenants? You don’t want to know.

Brent (00:47:08 - 00:47:18): I, I didn’t know, however, that like the— his daughter that we see is actually played by Bernthal’s daughter.

Kevin (00:47:18 - 00:47:22): Oh, is she? Yeah, that’s sweet.

Brent (00:47:22 - 00:48:43): Would— because it makes it like that now that there’s like 3 or 4, like, dad, like, child combos that have appeared on screen in the MCU. But, um, okay, so like, kind of like along the line— your review is sort of along the lines of what Ryan and I were saying, by the sounds of it. Now, you’re an actor, Kevin. Um, I have gone on record a number of times being my major— like, and I don’t like to be that, the, well, it’s not like the comic book guy, but in this case I kind of am— is in my head he should be done with all this stuff in terms of emotional depth. The Punisher is just a murder machine at this point, or at least he should be. And I think that’s the problem that I, I’ve had with multiple Punishers, and Bernthal is— every time we get to that step where he becomes the Punisher again, the next season or the next series or whatever he shows up in, they’ve backtracked. Now, is that because, like, as an actor, he just doesn’t want to— like, he wants to have more meat to it, you think?

Kevin (00:48:43 - 00:49:17): I think so, you know, because what’s interesting is, you know, I watched the Punisher special this afternoon. And then the first trailer before Star Wars was Spider-Man, which also has Frank in it. And he’s, he’s quippy Frank, quippy Punisher who’s driving a getaway truck, you know. Um, so it’ll be interesting to see how the characterization compares in Spider-Man as compared to, um his own show.

Jen (00:49:18 - 00:49:20): Yeah.

Brent (00:49:20 - 00:49:25): Well, that brings us towards the end of this episode, which—

Mortal Kombat II

Jen (00:49:25 - 00:49:27): are we gonna— are we gonna talk about Mortal Kombat?

Brent (00:49:28 - 00:49:34): Um, go for it. We can. We have a little bit of time left that we can fit that in. Sure.

Jen (00:49:34 - 00:49:36): Oh, well, if you don’t want to, we don’t have to.

Brent (00:49:36 - 00:49:37): No, go ahead.

Jen (00:49:37 - 00:49:39): That was one of the other movies we saw.

Brent (00:49:41 - 00:49:57): Just, uh, peek behind the curtain, uh, listeners, is due to the new software we have to use, we have limited time on how much to record an episode with. So I’m just— I’m watching the clock, but we’re not even at it.

Jen (00:49:57 - 00:50:03): I don’t think I could talk an hour about Mortal Kombat, but I was like, we went and saw it, and I thought that was— we saw it because of the podcast.

Ryan (00:50:04 - 00:50:06): So, well, I saw it because I just thought it’d be fun to see.

Jen (00:50:09 - 00:50:11): Oh, I saw it for the podcast.

Ryan (00:50:11 - 00:50:15): Well then, Jen, tell us all about Mortal Kombat 2.

Jen (00:50:15 - 00:50:28): It was better than I thought it would be. Um, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter are the same movie, um, in your head. No, uh, plot-wise.

Ryan (00:50:28 - 00:50:32): Um, well, you don’t know that because you haven’t seen Street Fighter yet.

Jen (00:50:33 - 00:50:41): I’ve seen Street Fighter and I’ve seen Mortal Kombat, and then there was another movie apparently, and then this is the third one or the second one.

Ryan (00:50:41 - 00:50:48): The second Mortal Kombat in the new version of Mortal Kombat. I think there was probably three in the old version of Mortal Kombat.

Jen (00:50:48 - 00:50:50): There were three?

Ryan (00:50:50 - 00:50:51): At least two.

Jen (00:50:51 - 00:51:47): There were two? Oh, I only saw one. Anyway, uh Couple of things that really pissed me off about this movie. They never mentioned the blonde girl’s name once in the entire movie. They called her partner. They called her like, hey you. They called her everything except for her name. I still don’t know what her name is. I was calling her Kylie Minogue in my head. Uh, what else? I was annoying Brent for the whole time because, uh, whoever established Mortal Kombat clearly didn’t leave any kind of governing body or oversight. And it needs some referees, and the rules are really shaky, and the rules can be rewritten at any time, but only the bad guys rewrite the rules. And I didn’t understand why the good guys didn’t use that to their advantage, because they probably could have won it a lot quicker if they had just rewritten the rules like the bad guy was the whole time. Uh, what else was I pissing you off with, Brent?

Brent (00:51:48 - 00:51:59): You weren’t pissing me off. We’re way over— like, apparently a movie about where people fight one another.

Jen (00:51:59 - 00:52:31): They’re big loop— big plot holes. Um, overall I enjoyed it. I really love Karl Urban. I like— yeah, he was honestly the best part of the movie. Um, but yeah, it was, it was fun. I don’t know, it was— I liked the toothy guy, he was cool. Um, what else did I complain about? Those were my big things. Brent was calling me, uh, said that I should be a character in the next movie where I’m basically the referee of Mortal Kombat.

Brent (00:52:34 - 00:52:39): No, I didn’t say the next movie. I said a CollegeHumor skit.

Jen (00:52:40 - 00:53:16): Yeah, like, the biggest thing is the guy— this is spoilers— the guy, the main bad guy, gets— figures out how to make himself immortal. And if the whole point of Mortal Kombat is combat to the death, hence the mortal part, should making yourself immortal— immortal nullify you from the competition and remove you completely? And also, why do they limit it to only 5 when, when you’re down to 1, you can just have a whole gang of people go, ‘I’m fighting for the good guys now,’ and then suddenly you’re back up to 5? See, big plot holes.

Kevin (00:53:16 - 00:53:30): So this was the 4th live-action Mortal Kombat movie. There were 2 in the original series and 2, this was the second of the reboot series. There are also 5 animated Mortal Kombat films.

Jen (00:53:33 - 00:53:36): Uh, oh my goodness.

Ryan (00:53:36 - 00:53:41): Yeah, see, I wasn’t sure if there was a third one that was like a straight-to-DVD home release.

Brent (00:53:41 - 00:53:43): And there was a YouTube series as well.

Ryan (00:53:47 - 00:53:49): Oh yeah, no, I mean before that one.

Brent (00:53:51 - 00:54:07): Um, yeah, well, yeah, I believe that’s the YouTube stuff that was collected, or YouTube, or like some sort of like— yeah, because Michael Jai White’s in that. He plays, uh, uh, what’s his name, Jax, before Jax’s arms get torn off.

Jen (00:54:07 - 00:54:21): I think it’s probably pretty clear that I’m not a huge fan of Mortal Kombat. I have not played the games. Um, But I just feel like as somebody who’s going into this movie with no knowledge of the games, they could have done a better job with the plot.

Ryan (00:54:22 - 00:54:27): Jen, I, I also— with a K.

Brent (00:54:27 - 00:54:37): I find it funny you were looking for plot in a movie where they spell combat with a K.

Jen (00:54:37 - 00:54:38): I wasn’t going to get into that.

Brent (00:54:45 - 00:54:51): Um, we, we will have to do a comparison time, uh, when Street Fighter comes out.

Jen (00:54:51 - 00:54:58): I kept waiting for M. Bison to show up and, and the guy with all the arms, Zangief.

Brent (00:54:58 - 00:55:01): Yeah, that’s the other one.

Jen (00:55:01 - 00:55:04): Wait, is he actually in that?

Brent (00:55:05 - 00:55:11): Yeah, I guess that Goro did No, he’s Agoro, um, from Mortal Kombat.

Jen (00:55:11 - 00:55:14): And was he supposed to be the green-haired dude?

Ryan (00:55:14 - 00:55:17): Yeah, I think— I don’t remember.

Brent (00:55:19 - 00:55:32): No, no, the one who has electric powers. Who’s the green-haired toothy guy? Oh, that— that one, he’s not green-haired, he’s orange-haired with a green body. And two, that’s also strange.

Jen (00:55:35 - 00:55:39): I’m waiting for you guys to explain the difference in these two, like in the basic plot.

Kevin (00:55:39 - 00:55:41): Stop thinking about this, Jen.

Brent (00:55:41 - 00:55:46): It’s not the plot. They are two different franchises with the same plot.

Ryan (00:55:47 - 00:56:04): Yeah, also no, the one is a fighting tournament, the other one is a fighting— you know, it’s like there’s not world domination, universe domination. Story plot in Street Fighter. It’s just a world domination story plot.

Jen (00:56:04 - 00:56:06): Then why is there a lightning god?

Ryan (00:56:07 - 00:56:11): That’s in— there is not a lightning god in Street Fighter. Yeah, there’s one in Mortal Kombat.

Brent (00:56:16 - 00:56:19): Anyways, uh, Ryan, you enjoyed Mortal Kombat.

Jen (00:56:23 - 00:56:26): I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

Ryan (00:56:27 - 00:56:29): Yes, I did.

Jen (00:56:29 - 00:56:30): Yes. Okay.

Brent (00:56:30 - 00:56:30): Go ahead.

Ryan (00:56:30 - 00:57:03): It was fun. Um, I have little to no experience with that, this franchise, um, other than knowing, you know, the, the, oh, it’s like the whole fatality, finish him, then all the gore and stuff. Uh, it was a game I didn’t have. I played, I was more of a, I played more Street Fighter 2 than I ever played Mortal Kombat. Um, So yeah, I don’t remember any of the characters’ names. Didn’t really care. I knew who the good guys were. I knew who the bad guys were. And, and it was fun.

Jen (00:57:03 - 00:57:08): I just care that the one, like, female character— there were two female characters and one of them didn’t—

Ryan (00:57:08 - 00:57:11): there were three or four female characters, remember?

Jen (00:57:11 - 00:57:14): There was— oh right, I forgot about the girl with the stick.

Ryan (00:57:14 - 00:57:18): The girl with the stick. And then their mom, the undead mom.

Jen (00:57:18 - 00:57:19): She doesn’t count.

Ryan (00:57:19 - 00:57:22): She fought in the tournament. She was a character.

Jen (00:57:23 - 00:57:33): She didn’t really fight in the tournament. Oh yeah, she did for like 6 seconds. But yeah, she’s like an NPC. She doesn’t need a name anyway.

Ryan (00:57:34 - 00:57:43): Like I said, I didn’t pay attention to any of their names anyway. So, um, what are you eating? Lies.

Jen (00:57:44 - 00:57:53): I’m putting away stickers and I can’t because I can’t mute the microphone because then I did that, it accidentally stopped recording.

Ryan (00:57:53 - 00:58:01): So do that. Yeah. Um, yeah, no, it was fun. What’d you— what were your thoughts, Brent? Did you enjoy the movie?

Brent (00:58:02 - 00:58:06): Yeah, it was like I went in with low expectations and I had fun.

Jen (00:58:07 - 00:58:08): It is dumb.

Brent (00:58:08 - 00:58:19): It is dumb. Is absurd, but like, it’s, you know, as Jen has pointed out, it doesn’t even follow its own rules most of the time.

Jen (00:58:20 - 00:58:23): Um, Max, Mack truck-sized plot holes.

Brent (00:58:23 - 00:58:27): I did like Kano is the best, best Australian guy.

Jen (00:58:27 - 00:58:29): Oh, I forgot about Kano. Yeah, he’s awesome.

Brent (00:58:30 - 00:58:31): Yeah.

Ryan (00:58:31 - 00:58:49): Um, yeah, yeah, the whole part was brought back from the dead, but they didn’t do it, you know, ‘He wasn’t worth turning into one of our people.’ So I just, I just say, ‘Oh, I only brought him back from the dead. I didn’t make him a full-blown acolyte.’ Which, what’s the difference? It actually, like, he has his own free will.

Brent (00:58:51 - 00:58:56): Yeah, it sounds like him not coming back as a full-blown, like, acolyte is the better choice.

Jen (00:58:57 - 00:59:02): I think they get superpowers when they’re an acolyte because the queen got screaming powers.

Brent (00:59:02 - 00:59:04): Maybe, but he got laser eye anyways.

Jen (00:59:05 - 00:59:08): So that’s just because he pissed off the Necromancer.

Ryan (00:59:08 - 00:59:18): All the other people that trained in the Mortal Kombat— like, he was in the first movie. He would have been— if he didn’t die in the first movie, he was supposed to be one of the fighters for Earth.

Jen (00:59:18 - 00:59:20): Was he a bad guy in the first movie?

Ryan (00:59:21 - 00:59:25): I don’t— there was issues. I don’t remember if he tried to double-cross them or—

Brent (00:59:25 - 00:59:37): yeah, because she stabbed his eye out. We got that much, but Um, yeah, so it like— I would— I go see the third one? Yes, yes, I would. I—

Ryan (00:59:37 - 00:59:43): you mean when they go to hell again? I—

Jen (00:59:43 - 00:59:48): oh my God, I have questions about hell too. I could make like an entire podcast just on this.

Brent (00:59:48 - 01:00:03): Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re getting a third one. It did— it did decently, but not decently enough, I think. For the, the bean counters at Warner Brothers who are hemorrhaging money like no tomorrow.

Jen (01:00:03 - 01:00:11): Um, yeah, maybe they should focus a bit more on plot and a little less on fancy schmancy.

Ryan (01:00:11 - 01:00:12): Okay, never.

Patreon and Community

Brent (01:00:12 - 01:01:20): Just the fun. So now that we’ve talked about Mortal Kombat, uh, that brings us towards the end of this episode. And with that, Patreon shoutouts, uh, patreon.com/true north nerds. If you would like to, uh, give us $3 a month. Goes towards, uh, various things involving this podcast, probably something to do with new recording software, the rate things are going. Um, but, uh, we appreciate it. And, uh, as part of that, get some exclusive content including Listen to This, which I think I’m recording with Alex sometime this week but not positive. And then there’s also, uh, uh, Kung Fu Island Season 1 is still up and available on our Patreon. Uh, Nate’s schedule is still lunacy, so Season 2 is being discussed, but, uh, we’re— we have tabled it for now until we figure something out. I’m, I’m gonna try and talk him into at least doing a special coming up.

Kevin (01:01:23 - 01:01:23): Woo!

Brent (01:01:23 - 01:01:48): So, uh, the other thing you get is a shout out. So shout outs go to Drew, Karina, Alex, Team Woods, who has, uh, worked on our fantastic landing page, which had like a huge overhaul done to it. So, uh, truenorthnerds.com. Uh, speaking of which, Kevin, you need to send me like a headshot. Oh, okay, I got one of those. And, and your bio.

Kevin (01:01:48 - 01:01:49): Oh yeah, I got one of those too.

Brent (01:01:50 - 01:02:09): Yeah, send both of those to me, please and thank you. Will do. And my friend of Maple Printing, who prints some really cool 3D stuff, check him out. And our good friend Rex. So that brings us to Geek Picks. Anybody got one?

Geek Picks

Kevin (01:02:11 - 01:02:11): I do.

Brent (01:02:13 - 01:02:14): Okay, Kevin, then Jen.

Kevin (01:02:16 - 01:02:20): Okay, I’m going to pull a Jen today and talk about a book.

Brent (01:02:20 - 01:02:23): Yeah, losers who can read.

Kevin (01:02:23 - 01:02:37): I know. Well, I’m not actually reading, I’m listening. I listen, uh, I, I’m not finished this book yet, but I’m really enjoying it. Um, have you guys heard of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series?

Jen (01:02:37 - 01:02:40): No, it’s on my to-read list. Oh yes, I have heard of it.

Kevin (01:02:40 - 01:05:10): Yeah, so I am, I am Exactly smack dab in the middle of the first book, Dungeon Crawler Carl. It is written by Matt Dineman. The voice actor of the audiobook is fantastic. His name is Jeff Hayes. In the first book anyway, he plays all the characters, male and female, and they all have distinct voices. You totally know who they all are. It’s wonderful. The premise of the book is that an alien race came to the Earth and declared that their, um, that their contract for the mining rights for the planet were, uh, were, were due and, uh, proceeded to flatten all the buildings in the world, which killed many, many, many people. But if you were lucky enough to be outside, uh, you survived. So the story follows Carl, who is a retired Coast Guard, um, member, and he happened to be outside chasing his girlfriend’s cat when this event happened. So he was in nothing but a bathrobe and his underwear when this happened. And all these people— the world got flattened and then these portals opened up and he entered one with the cat. And it turns out that inside was a dungeon, as in a Dungeons and Dragons style, or more like an online game, like a World of Warcraft kind of dungeon. And he was now a player in a multiverse a multi— massive— a massive multiplayer online game. Not online game, televised game. This is the most popular television show in the entire galaxy, and people across the galaxy are now going to watch him and the cat Princess Donut attack— go through this dungeon. It has all of the sort of story tropes of a of an online role-playing game. It’s quite funny considering in the first few chapters, 6 billion people die. But, you know, never mind that. So he gets to level up while he’s in the dungeon and you get to hear all about the menus he can see in his mind and the items he picks up. But of course, it turns out that The cat has a higher intelligence score than he does, so she’s the leader of his party.

Jen (01:05:11 - 01:05:14): Is it a, is it a novel or is it like a graphic novel?

Brent (01:05:14 - 01:05:15): It’s a series.

Kevin (01:05:15 - 01:05:19): It is a series of novels. There are like 6 of them now.

Brent (01:05:19 - 01:05:23): Yeah, and it has been picked up as a TV series by Amazon and a graphic novel.

Kevin (01:05:24 - 01:05:25): There is a graphic novel.

Brent (01:05:25 - 01:05:34): I had the Lance speed record today of I received restock and it like we got a copy restocked 5 minutes later it was sold.

Kevin (01:05:35 - 01:06:09): There’s also— I don’t know, do you know the Webtoon platform that does online comics? And yeah, there’s a version of it on there too. So yeah, Dungeon Crawler Carl, I’m really quite enjoying it. I listen to podcasts all day at work and then I switch and listen to the audiobook on my drive home. So I listen for about half an hour a day and I’m on, I think, chapter 20 of about 40. So yeah, so, uh, I give, I give it my thumbs up. Cool. Jen, what’s your geek pick?

Jen (01:06:09 - 01:06:15): The third movie that I saw this week was The Sheep Detectives.

Kevin (01:06:15 - 01:06:19): Oh, it was awesome.

Jen (01:06:20 - 01:08:41): And I won’t do any spoilers because everybody needs to go and see it, but basically, uh, it’s based on a book called Three Bags Full, which was written in like 2010. And it’s about a shepherd who was murdered and the sheep solve the crime. And oh my God, it’s so, it’s so cute and it’s very touching and very heartwarming. And, um, if it doesn’t make you tear up at least a little bit, then you are a heartless person. Um, it’s also very funny. The humans are incompetent. Like, the human police officer who’s trying to solve the murder is incompetent because it takes place at a small English town, and he’s never had a murder before. There’s like— the police service is just this one guy, so he has no idea what he’s doing. But the sheep— the shepherd has read the sheep murder mysteries for like forever, so they know, they know how to solve a mystery. And so the sheep have to leave the safety of their meadow to, uh, try to help the humans solve the mystery of who murdered their shepherd. And the sheep they talk amongst themselves, so there’s— there is talking, but obviously humans can’t hear the sheep, like, talk English, so they just get meh. Um, but the animation is really good. Obviously the sheep are all CGI. Um, the sheep have distinct personalities, and I mean, Hugh Jackman is the shepherd. He is not in it a whole lot. But it’s just, it’s such a heartwarming movie. The yarn store that I go to every week for a little stitch social decided to put, they reserved a cinema and we all bought tickets and went and got popcorn and it was like recliner seats and they kept the lights up so that we could knit while we were watching it. And it was honestly one of the most relaxing evenings I’ve spent in a long time. So. Um, I highly, highly recommend it. The book, like I said, is from like 2010. It was an excellent read, so you could read the book. I don’t remember how different the movie is from the book because I read the book like 16 years ago, but, um, yeah, definitely you should, uh, watch that movie while it’s still in theaters because it’s nice on the big screen, and I will go see it again if anybody wants to see it.

Ryan (01:08:42 - 01:09:40): Nice. Um, so my geek pick Uh, I just watched it, uh, tonight before we recorded. Uh, I watched the new episode of the latest season of, um, Rick and Morty. Uh, we get Evil Morty returning in this episode and he’s forcing Rick to work with him and, uh, all kinds of space hijinks between, uh, Rick, Morty, and Evil Morty. Uh, they end up— Rick has built a bunker dimension that he drops the house and the family into to protect them from Evil Morty. And in this bunker dimension, the whole world is a bunker to protect them. So all their neighbors are like, you know, jacked, aren’t they? You know, soldier versions of all their, their neighborhood characters. And there’s houses that transform into robots and all kinds of, uh, wackiness.

Brent (01:09:40 - 01:11:12): For my geek pick, I am going with Absolute Green Arrow #1. Came out as of this recording, came out last week. It is a, a little bit of a different take for the absolute universe, as in, uh, no spoilers basically, but, uh, we’re year-old spoilers, I guess. In Absolute Evil, the guy that we would assume is Green Arrow, uh, Oliver Queen, uh, had his head bashed in by an Absolute Hawkman and is dead and is confirmed as such because his body has been found in— like, that’s mentioned in Absolute Green Arrow. So there is a guy dressed up as kind of Green Arrow with a bow made out of machetes killing billionaires, and, uh, it’s up to the absolute version of Black Canary to find out, uh, why and how. So yeah, it’s a— I’m very intrigued to see the, the next issue. So, uh, Absolute Green Arrow #1 from DC Comics. That’s it for this episode. Hopefully, uh, I can assemble this, um, well. Yeah, uh, we’ll try and figure something else out too, uh, for next time. But anyways, uh, thank you all very much for listening, and until next time, abomasday!

Closing

Jen (01:11:12 - 01:11:13): See ya!

Ryan (01:11:13 - 01:11:14): Bye!

Jen (01:11:14 - 01:11:15): Bye!

Outro

Kirby Crackle (01:11:15 - 01:11:34): [Theme song lyrics omitted.]

Rex (01:11:36 - 01:12:11): If you’d like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron Patreon at patreon.com/TrueNorthNerds, or go to your podcast app of choice and rate and review us.

Kirby Crackle (01:12:14 - 01:12:17): [Theme song lyrics omitted.]

Kirby Crackle (01:12:17 - 01:12:19): [Theme song lyrics omitted.]