Best of 2017

This has been a tricky show to nail down in the past. A number of technical problems have prevented our year end shows from being posted the last couple of years, but not this time. After much research, and a year where we all went to the theater way too many times, we are prepared to give you our top 10 films of 2017. Now here's the thing, each of us brings a different set of values in regards to what we consider the "best". If you have comments about any of our choices, we will happily listen to them, but sometimes a movie being really fun is more important than a movie that is particularly well made. There is room for all kinds of opinions, and these just happen to be ours. 

 

Enjoy!

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

There were a lot of people rolling their eyes when a new Jumanji movie was announced. Some people thought it looked stupid, others thought that rebooting the Robin Williams "classic" was sacrilege. So I am sure people were surprised when Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle turned out to be one of the biggest hits of the year. For me, the most gratifying part is knowing that it outgrossed Justice League, and at a 1/3 of the cost to make. Sometimes, it's the little things.

 

Enjoy!

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Now that we've got the first 100 episodes in the book, it is time to look towards the next 100. What better way to start this new chapter than by tackling the latest film in the biggest franchise of all time, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. If you've been on the internet anytime in the last month, you know that people have opinions about this movie. While we are certainly immature, and often vulgar, the one promise I can make regarding our complaints about this movie, they have nothing to do with the race of gender of the characters. 

Please feel free to let us know why all of our opinions are wrong.

 

Enjoy!

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100th Episode!

If you can believe it, this is the 100th show that we have posted. It took us awhile to get here, but we really focused in 2017 and managed to create a steady stream of our nonsense. Instead of talking about any one movie for this special occasion, I pulled out everyone's "All Time Top 10" lists which were made several years ago. We discuss and make fun of how fluid a top 10 list can be, and speculate on some possible future shows. Thanks to anyone who may have listened to any of the previous 99 shows that we've done. Luckily, they are always making movies, so we will continue to share our opinions on them. 

 

Enjoy!

At the beginning

At the beginning

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Rewind: 2002

2002 was kind of a big deal here at COtR. It was the year that a couple of us met while working at Hollywood Video, thus starting the never-ending conversation about movies. As far as movies go, 2002 seems to have had a lot of terrible movies, but a handful of really great ones. Maybe that applies to almost every year, but it really seemed to stand out as we did our research for this episode. 

 

Enjoy!

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Our favorite holiday movies

There are hundreds of holiday films out there, and that's only including this year's lineup of original Hallmark movies. Besides those, there are still a seemingly infinite amount of choices. We are here to help in anyway we can by suggesting some our favorite holiday films to revisit. I thought that this would be a civil conversation, but it turns out that some we don't all see eye to eye when it comes to some holiday "classics". 

 

Enjoy!

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Avengers: Infinity War is right around the corner. Before the culmination of 10 years of world building comes to fruition, we thought that we would rank the existing MCU. This list is based on  our average ranking of each film. It has nothing to do with what critic's thoughts, or how much money they made, but simply about our own enjoyment of the movies. Except for Thor: Dark World, no one enjoyed that. 

 

Enjoy!

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Potpourri

In this episode, we each talk about something that we have watched lately that may not have gotten a full episode. We cover several genres as we discuss Murder On the Orient Express, A Bad Moms ChristmasThe Florida Project and Wind River. For those keeping track at home, this makes the fourth episode where one of us has talked about Wind River. This is what happens when you can't all see the movies together. 

As the holidays comes racing towards us, it is time to start thinking about which movies we should watch to get us in the spirit. What are some of your favorites holiday classics? Hopefully not A Christmas Story.

 

Enjoy!

Justice League

There has definitely been a love/hate relationship with the DCEU here at COtR, and the latest addition to that cinematic world is no exception. What I will say, this episode was a lot less heated than our conversations about Man of Steel or Batman vs. Superman, so maybe we are all growing up a little, and learning how to suppress our emotions...like adults do. 

 

Enjoy!

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Geostorm

That's right, we saw Geostorm. I knew this would be one that split the group, and I was right. So give it a listen, and you can decide if this is the kind of bad movie that you might enjoy. And it is the day before Thanksgiving, so this year you can be thankful that you didn't pay money to see this in the theaters, I've looked at the box office, I know you didn't go. 

 

Enjoy!

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Thor: Ragnarok

Six years ago, Ryan and I did an episode of Coming Off the Reels where we discussed Thor and Hobo with a Shotgun. At the end of the show, I think we both agreed that Thor was the lesser of those films. Six years, and many Marvel films later, we are discussing the latest MCU offering, Thor: Ragnarok. Without giving away too much, I will tell you that we enjoyed it more than the first Thor film, but perhaps still shy of Hobo with a Shotgun

 

Enjoy!

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Jigsaw and Better Watch Out

October is finished, but we just can't seem to stop talking about horror films. To kick off the season where we give thanks, we delve into the 8th film in the Saw franchise, Jigsaw. When you're sitting around the Thanksgiving table, maybe you will be grateful that we here at COtR talked you out of wasting your time on with this rehash of a rehash. We also watched Better Watch Out, and we give you plenty of warning before we talk about all the twists and turns of this particular horror/thriller. 

 

Enjoy!

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Underrated Horror Films

It has been a long month here at COtR. We decided we would give you one last horror show, since it is Halloween and all. The assignment was simple, each of us brought to the table one horror film that we felt had been overlooked. The tone of these horror films were all over the map, which means there should be something for everyone...unless the only movie you like is Gone Fishin', in that case there is no place for you on this podcast, and maybe not anywhere. 

 

I can't wait until February when we spend a whole month talking about romantic comedies. 

 

Enjoy!

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Reel Scares - Drew Martin

The last in our monthlong series of horror lists. Rounding out the month is are 5 favorite horror films for Drew Martin. Sorry, but I am going to stop referring to myself in the third-person. I will admit that I am not as big a horror fan as some of the other people who have contributed this month. My list tends to skew a little more to the lighter side of horror, or to the films that first scared me. 

If you managed make it through all of the Reel Scares episodes, and you didn't hear your favorites, please let us know, and maybe we can make sure to get to them next year. 

 

Enjoy!

My brothers and I. I approve of all of these costumes. 

My brothers and I. I approve of all of these costumes. 

Reel Scares - Kaitlin Conner & Chessie Loewen

It is the last weekend before Halloween, which means it is time to politely decline all those invitations to costume parties, put on sweatpants, and watch nothing but horror movies all weekend. We here at COtR have tried to give you plenty of suggestions this month, and in an effort to keep that going, we invited two guests on the show to give us their top pics for this particular genre. You may notice that this episode feels a little different than some of the others...a  lot less rambling, a lot fewer impressions of Roy, no impressions of Gerard Butler...that's called acting like professionals, folks. Don't worry though, there will be plenty of junior high level jokes in future episodes. 

Enjoy!

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Happy Death Day

This show is always full of surprises. There were definitely some mixed feelings when we were talking about the Happy Death Day trailer a few episodes ago. Minds have been changed, both for and against the movie. Plus, you can hear what happens when Ryan is finally made to watch Hocus Pocus. What a magical time of year. 

Enjoy!

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Reel Scares - Ryan Venson

Anyone who has listened to the show, or anyone who has ever met Ryan, knows that horror movies are his bread and butter, his toast and jam, his Hall & Oates. Well now you can listen to an episode where Ryan talks about some of his favorite horror movies. Have some favorites of your own? Please let us know!

 

Enjoy!

A perfect Chucky!

A perfect Chucky!

Blade Runner 2049 & American Made

I never thought there would be a sequel to the cult film Blade Runner, especially not 35 years after the original one was released. There are lots of opinions out there about the Ridley Scott classic, and almost as many cuts of the film. We spend sometime today briefly talking about the original before shifting to the sequel from Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049. We also discuss the latest film from Domhnall Gleeson, American Made, costarring Tom Cruise, but we know what the people want, and the people want that cool drink of water, Domhnall. Don't fight with me on this point, I have my finger on the pulse of society. 

 

Enjoy!

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Reel Scares - Sean McClain

Happy Friday the 13th! I hope that everyone is out there watching horror movies all night long. Please enjoy our latest special show. This time we listen to Sean McClain try and justify his weird choice for a #1 horror film. Is it possible that he has been possessed by some weird demon who wants to convince the world to watch really bad horror movies? I think we all know the answer. 

 

Enjoy!

Have you ever seen anything so cute?!

Have you ever seen anything so cute?!

Mother! and Kingsman: The Golden Circle

I will apologize right now if parts of the Mother! conversation seem to make no sense. The movie was actually quite difficult to explain, and it may kind of feel like we are just rambling on and on. In a way that is kind of a motif of the film, so how about we all just pretend that we did it on purpose. We also discuss the good and bad of Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Seriously, why wan't Pedro Pascal on any of the posters for this film? It's a crime. 

 

Enjoy!

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