Tag Archives: Doug Liman

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #209 – “Road House” (dir. Doug Liman), “The Book of Clarence” (dir. Jeymes Samuel)

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Poster for "Road House" (2024)

This week on the FilmWonk Podcast, Glenn and Daniel check out Doug Liman‘s faithful and surprisingly enjoyable Road House remake, a film which somehow finds its feet with a western premise that was dated in the 80s, transplanted here into the Florida Keys, where that decade never ended. And then we reach back into 2023 for an epic of Biblical apocrypha by The Harder They Fall director Jeymes Samuel, The Book of Clarence, a mixed bag of religious satire which somehow manages to give The Life of Brian a run for its money. Exvangelicals should not miss this one (1:05:48).

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating (Road House): 7/10 (Glenn), 7.5/10 (Daniel)
FilmWonk rating (The Book of Clarence): 7.5/10 (Glenn), 6.5/10 (Daniel)

Still from "The Book of Clarence" featuring LaKeith Stanfield and RJ Cyler

Show notes:

  • [02:17] Review: Road House
  • [27:17] Review: The Book of Clarence
  • [53:13] Spoilers: The Book of Clarence

Listen above, or download: Road House, The Book of Clarence (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play)

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #104 – “The Wall” (dir. Doug Liman) vs. “Buried” (dir. Rodrigo Cortés)

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Poster for "The Wall" (2017 film)

In this week’s podcast, Glenn and Daniel return to the latter days of the Iraq War with a lean thriller from Amazon Studios and director Doug Liman, The Wall, and we revisit the 2010 Rodrigo Cortés thriller, Buried. It all looks a bit grim, and while there may be an ending in sight, we’ll figure out which flick handled that ending best (47:15).

May contain NSFW language.

Still from "Buried"

The Wall is in theaters this Friday, 5/12, and will be available on Amazon video later this year.

FilmWonk rating (The Wall): 7/10 (Daniel); 6/10 (Glenn)
FilmWonk rating (Buried): 6/10 (Daniel); 7.5/10 (Glenn)

Show notes:

  • [00:33] Review: The Wall/Buried
  • [24:02] Spoilers: The Wall/Buried
  • Music for this episode is the opening title theme from Buried, composed by Victor Reyes.
  • Check out Glenn’s 2010 review of Buried.
  • Clarification: We stated a figure of 500,000 deaths from the Iraq War, and this appears to be on the high end of estimates, based on a 2011 study in PLoS Medicine, which relied on census-style household surveys, and had an extremely high uncertainty interval (95%), meaning that the study’s casualty estimate was anywhere from 48,000-751,000. The Iraq Body Count project, which relies largely on media reports (and thus may be underestimating), puts the figure at closer to 120,000. The overall point notwithstanding, there does not appear to be a single, agreed-upon figure. See Wikipedia: Casualties of the Iraq War for more information.
  • As promised, according to RF Cafe, the density of dry sand is 100 lb/ft3. A standard coffin is approximately 7 feet long, and 2.333 feet wide at its widest point. If Paul was buried under 3 feet of sand, this amounts to approximately 49ft3 of sand above him, weighing just under 5,000 pounds (2,268 kg). With all respect to The Bride, Paul’s not punching his way out of this.

Listen above, or download: The Wall, Buried (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #50 – “22 Jump Street”, “Edge of Tomorrow”

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Poster for "22 Jump Street"

This week on the podcast, Glenn and Daniel take in a criminally underseen sci-fi romp from director Doug Liman, Edge of Tomorrow. Listen and find out why we thought this film was an instant sci-fi action classic, right alongside the likes of Starship Troopers. But first, listen to us talk about a sequel that also felt like it was stuck in a temporal loop, 22 Jump Street. How precisely can this film toe the line between trolling its audience with its genre-savvy and deliberate stupidity, and merely being funny? Listen as we struggle to answer that very question. (57:11).

May contain NSFW language.

Still from "Edge of Tomorrow"

FilmWonk rating (22 Jump Street): 4.5 out of 10
FilmWonk rating (Edge of Tomorrow): 8 out of 10

Show notes:

  • (02:02): 22 Jump Street
  • (16:00): Spoilers for 22 Jump Street
  • (24:07): Edge of Tomorrow
  • (41:26): Spoilers for Edge of Tomorrow
  • Music for tonight’s episode includes the…truly abysmally-named track, “#STUPiDFACEDD (White Boy Wasted)” by Wallpaper, from the trailer for 22 Jump Street. It also includes the track “D-Day“, from the original score to Edge of Tomorrow, which was indeed composed by Christophe Beck.
  • We actually referred to our Divergent podcast in both reviews, so listen here if you’re curious what we’re talking about (specifically with regard to female action hero casting). We promise we like Shailene Woodley, you guys! She just needs the right roles.
  • Update: Just learned we’ve been mispronouncing Peter Stormare‘s name for years (the last part is closer to rhyming with “Sorry” than “Stare”). Rest assured that the irony of us mispronouncing his name in the process of criticizing his accent work is completely lost on us. We’re pretty sure we could pronounce his given name (Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm) correctly.

Listen above, or download: 22 Jump Street, Edge of Tomorrow (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)