OSPs / Movie Events on Captain Marvel, Ant Man and the Wasp, Avengers: Infinity War, & Black Panther.

+ 6 Episodes reviewing the first 18 films in the MCU. 3 spoiler reviews per ep leading up to Infinity War.

+ Previews of recent releases like Captain Marvel & a Ranking Episode of our favorites.

Marvel Cinematic Universe Series Review

***THIS IS A SPOILER FILLED EPISODE***
In our MCU Review 1, we discuss Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, & Iron Man 2 with full spoilers in play.  Although there may be foreshadowing, we avoid spoilers for future MCU films.


MCU Review Format - 2:50

Iron Man:
Specs - 4:55
Story Recap - 9:21
Movie’s Fit in the MCU - 14:17
Yinsen Issues - 22:50
Screenwriting Going Against Convention - 24:10
The Oscars Lens on Iron Man - 26:35
Best Scene/Worst Scene - 28:35

The Incredible Hulk:
Specs - 31:27
Story Recap - 37:16
Movie’s Fit in the MCU - 40:57
The Oscar Lens on The Incredible Hulk - 45:25
Worst Scenes/Best Scenes - 46:22

Iron Man 2:
Specs - 50:49
Story Recap - 53:26
Movie’s Fit in the MCU - 55:24
Best Scene/Oscar Lens on Iron Man 2 - 1:01:42
Worst Scenes - 1:05:27

Episode Recap/Final Thoughts - 1:11:13

You wanted it, Mike needed it, and the other Mike is happily along for the ride.  We at MMO are continuing the diverse programming of the Oscar Off-Season by diving into a 6 Part Series on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  We’ll take the 18 films and review them in order, 3 films per episode in the lead up to The Avengers: Infinity War, premiering April 27th.  

Today’s episode covers Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man 2.  The format for each review includes a Specs segment that recaps the Box Office, Critical Reception, Awards, and a production note or two.  Then we zip through a plot summary and analyze the highs & lows from our usual best scene / worst scene segment before completing these reviews with an Oscar Lens, where we compare the elements of the MCU film with those nominated at that year’s Academy Awards.

Iron Man launches the Robert Downey Jr led franchise as well as it grounds the MCU with star power.  Showcasing one of the better executed origin stories in the superhero genre, the film also admits some weakness regarding the series wide villain problem and attempts to make up for it with trickery, and one might say, a scary tone of voice.  Did they succeed?  We also fight over the wigs AND bald caps in this film.

The Incredible Hulk begs questions about whether it’s a sequel or a reboot or a seboot or a requel.  All we really know is that it’s Edward Norton’s first & only turn as Bruce Banner, and sadly his last starring role as the protagonist in a big budget Hollywood film.  As we get into our review, that villain problem isn’t exactly solved in this film either.  But there are some fun moments & callbacks to Hulk lore, and we wonder if the box office failure might have been a blessing in disguise.

Iron Man 2 both manages to elevate it’s star and round out the ensemble.  We get more agency for Pepper Potts, more screen time for Nick Fury, a lot more Rhodie, and we’re introduced to Scarlett Johansson as The Black Widow.  So this money making sequel had many highlights going for it.  But we also debate how and why it missed the high marks set by the original and how the MCU missed the great opportunities for other films that demanded their own stories.

Our MCU Review Part 2 will review the rest of Phase One including Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Marvel’s The Avengers.  So stay tuned.

Other programming will include another Hollywood News episode, some upcoming movie reviews of new releases about to hit theaters, a Netflix Quarterly with an overview of all the Netflix Original Movies released since we our last 2017 review of the streaming service, and we’ll get back to our retrospectives on former Oscar races.

As always, thanks for listening.  We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and Gmail.  Do chat with us on social media, and if you can, please help us spread the word about our show with a few clicks, a positive review, or simply by telling some people to tune into MMO.

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MCU Review #1 - Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 - Ep 56 - Avengers: Infinity War Leadup

***This is a Spoiler Filled Episode***
We discuss the plots of Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers.  Although we may foreshadow things, we do steer clear of spoilers for future MCU films.

Thor
Specs - 3:16
Also Mike’s Super Long Plot Recap 1 - 7:18
Overall Film Impressions - 17:26
GoT in the MCU?? - 19:16
SHIELD Building + Bright Blue Squares - 20:20
Plot Issues- 21:17
Best Scenes - 22:58
Worst Scenes - 24:18
Oscar Lens of Thor - 26:46
Stan Lee Cameo/Post Credits Scene - 28:53

Captain America: The First Avenger
Specs - 29:42
Also Mike’s Super Long Plot Recap 2 - 33:59
Best Scene/Worst Scene - 49:31
Oscar Lens of Captain America - 53:06
Stan Lee Cameo/Post Credits Scene - 54:35

Marvel’s The Avengers
Specs - 55:23
Also Mike’s Super Long Plot Recap 3 - 59:04
Film Impressions - 1:09:47
Best Scenes - 1:14:02
Worst Scenes/Plot Issues - 1:15:25
Oscar Lens of The Avengers - 1:17:49

Overall Thoughts of These 3 Films - 1:21:26

Final Thoughts - 1:22:53


Our review of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues through the end of Phase One with films 3 through 6: Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers.  The ambitiousness of all 3 films impressed the hell out of us, but there are certainly strengths and weaknesses for us to react and to of course, overreact to in patented MMO fashion.

For some insane reason, we decided to flip jobs for this episode as Mike No 1 handled the specs including each of the film’s premiere & release, box office & critical reception, cast, crew, & production nuggets.  While Also Mike, the ever so long winded of the two of us was tasked with the plot summaries.  The result is a MUCH longer synopsis and breakdown of each plot.  So the bad news is that if you loved our breezy synopses of MCU 1, this is not that.  But the good news might be - you get a deeper dive into the plot, and Mike No 1 banters into it with a whole lot of wonderful nonsense, including multiple references to Taylor Swift lyrics, which also might be worth the price of admission (Wait, we’re a free podcast?  Mooving on.).

The second MCU trio unleashes the movie critics in both of us.  We gush over what we love, which is a whole helipad of a lot, and we snark like we’ve never snarked before over the plot holes and other lows, MOSTLY involved in the first two films.  Then we have a love fest over the culmination of the phase that was the box office triumph, The Avengers.  
It was another fun episode to record, & we hope our enthusiasm for the MCU comes across the WiFi as you listen.  Go back & listen to MCU 1 where we reviewed Iron Man 1 + 2 along with The Incredible Hulk, and stay tuned for our next installment in the MCU review series covering Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  

The next two weeks of programming will include the MCU part 3, another Hollywood Hot Takes, some movie reviews of current releases, our introduction of a fun new game we wanna play with all of you (just wait for that), and as long promised, our Netflix Quarterly covering the last 3+ months of Netflix Original programming on our favorite streaming service.

Chat with us on social media.  We’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and Gmail.  As always, do please help us spread the word about our show.  We’re having way too much fun not to spread it around to more people.  So we hope the feeling’s mutual, and we thank you for all the clicks, likes, reviews, and referrals in advance.  When reality’s sucked, you’ve been watching movies with us, and we thank you for it.  It’s the Oscar Off-Season, and we’re having a blast with our spring programming.  Join us.  We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!

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MCU Review #2 - Thor, Captain America, Marvel's The Avengers - - Ep 58 - Fun Films Turned Phenomena

***This is a Spoiler Filled Review***
It’s a full spoiler filled review for Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, & Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as well as a spoiler warning for the previous films in the MCU.

Iron Man 3
Specs - 2:28
Story Recap - 7:19
Where It Fits in the MCU - 10:02
Best Scenes - 15:55
Worst Scenes - 18:43
Oscar Lens - 23:28

Thor: The Dark World
Specs - 27:31
Story Recap - 31:18
Where It Fits in the MCU - 33:57
Best Scenes - 42:37
Worst Scenes - 44:06
Oscar Lens - 46:50

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Specs - 48:48
Story Recap - 54:59
Where It Fits in the MCU - 57:20
Best Scenes - 1:03:33
Worst Scenes - 1:10:28
Oscar Lens - 1:13:05

Closing Thoughts - 1:17:57


Avengers: Infinity War is a few weeks away, and we’re here to catch you up on all 18 films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  This is our review of films 7 through 9, including Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, & Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  You can go back to our first two MCU pods to hear our reviews of Phase One, but it’s time to genre hop into the Kevin Feige’s second phase of his favorite childhood stories with these three sequels.

The money really starts to pour into the bank accounts of the Walt Disney corporation as they are now teamed up with Marvel Studios, and our production profiles cover the stars of the Cast & Crew, each film’s box office & critical reception, their awards big & small, and a production nugget or two (because I can’t resist).  Then our review portion breaks down the plots of each film with brisk synopses from Mike No 1 (& yes, Also Mike hereby retires from this task), and we rant & rave about our best & worst scenes.  Then we discuss how the films coulda / shoulda fit into the Academy Awards of that year, if they could have been considered in the Big 7 categories that we like to cover most on this pod, or if they did or should have factored into the other 17 Oscars.

The highs and lows of Iron Man 3 is a roller coaster ride of film appreciation and criticism, where one of us Mike’s loves to hate a child, and the other Mike goes off on a tangent about John Wick and that cinematic universe involving gun-fu.  Thor: The Dark World shortens it’s prologue, but falls into some plot holes just the same.  Still, there are some strong performances and progress to be made with this film, especially when another infinity stone is uncovered from the planet earth.  Then we gush over the action spectacular that is Captain America: The Winter Soldier, while also lamenting it’s continuation of the Hydra storyline.  We roar, and we rage throughout these 3 reviews.  You don’t wanna miss em.’  

Stay tuned for the next 3 MCU reviews, the fourth installment including Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Avengers: Age of Ultron is scheduled for the end of this week with the following two coming soon afterward.  We’ll mix in a few smaller pods including a review of Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs.  Then we’ll review April’s mega-movie event, Avengers: Infinity War.  

Do please mix it up with us on social media.  We’re @MMandOscar on twitter.  Send us your #SeeBuySkip ‘s as we’ll be happy to include those on forthcoming episodes.  We’re also on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail.  Mikemikeandoscar.com is further down the road of development.  It is now out of development hell so to speak, and we hope to launch it in the foreseeable future.  Then of course, do please help us spread the word about MMO.  We sincerely appreciate all your listens, likes, and feedback.  We’re very pleased to have kept our audience growing past the Oscars.  So from the bottom of our movie loving hearts, we thank you.  When reality has sucked, you’ve been watching movies with us.  We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!

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MCU Review #3 - Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Ep 63

***This Episode is Spoiler Filled***
We break down Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man with full plot details & debate.

Guardians of the Galaxy:
Cast and Crew - 1:58
Box Office/Reception - 5:09
Plot Overview - 11:53
Where it Fits in the MCU - 13:45
Best Scenes - 22:06
Worst Scenes - 27:41
Oscar Lens - 29:59

Avengers: Age of Ultron:
Cast and Crew - 34:22
Box Office/Reception - 35:19
Plot Overview - 39:20
Where it Fits in the MCU - 42:25
Best Scenes - 50:56
Breaking Down the Finale - 57:01
Worst Scenes - 58:47
Oscar Lens - 1:03:42

The Best 3 MCU Movie Stretch? - 1:05:10
See, Buy, Skip - 1:05:33

Ant Man:
Cast and Crew - 1:06:56
Box Office/Reception - 1:08:27
Plot Overview - 1:11:50
Where it Fits in the MCU - 1:13:31
Best Scenes - 1:18:30
Worst Scenes - 1:22:33
Oscar Lens - 1:25:00

Final Thoughts/Social Medias - 1:26:34


So we felt like a lot of Sponge-Bob gif’s where we’re about to overflow with happiness during this recording.  Both of us reserve a special place in our hearts for the Guardians of the Galaxy, we’re huge fans of Joss Whedon, and from Evangeline Lilly to Edgar Wright’s screenplay, there’s a lot of fun to be had with Ant-Man.  As jam packed with content & criticism as we’ve ever been here on MMO, this is MCU Review No 4 for Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man.

Guardians of the Galaxy feels like another pay-off for Disney & Marvel’s strategy to make expertly crafted genre films out of their properties.  We love many moments big & small, we gush, we rave, & we turn into fanboys for much of this first review because if nothing else, these characters of Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot are a great hang.  

Avengers: Age of Ultron is also quite the movie, epic in his scale and humongous in its ambition, if not it’s casting.  We theorize about the blockbuster bias of the Academy with the strange snubbing of the film in all of the technical categories, there’s a seriously large plot to break down and fit into the MCU, and then we talk some story structure by review’s end.  It’s a substantive discussion that of course rants and raves and digresses as only we can.  

Be on the lookout for our See, Buy, Skip around this point in the pod.  As Mike1 hands AlsoMike a nearly impossible choice to decide between 3 of his MCU favorites.

Then, Ant-Man is a slow starter, but we come to praise it all the same.  The story production backstory might be more interesting than the first act, and we chronicle some of the Edgar Wright film that could have been.  Then we have rage for some of the movie’s failings before we’re won over by the charms of Disney, Marvel, Rudd, Lilly, Pena, and jokes about size.  There is catharsis in our review and break down of this plot.  How many movie critics can give you somma that??!!  

As always, we have too much fun, and there’s more on the way.  We have an ambitious recording & release schedule coming up over the next few weeks as we’ll cover the MCU and Avengers: Infinity War from Iron Man to Black Panther, from Phase 1 to 3, and from blockbuster popcorn to serious Oscar talk.  

MMO is all over social media.  We’re on Twitter (@MMandOscar), Instagram (@MikeMikeAndOscar), Facebook (Mike, Mike, and Oscar), Reddit (MikeMikeAndOscar), and Gmail (Mikemikeandoscar@gmail.com).  Get at us, chat with us, and if you can, please help us spread the word about our show.  But whatever you do, stick to the plan.  When reality sucks, watch movies with us.  Escape and take a break with two goofy idiots in their basement as we continue to have a ton of fun chatting up the movie world.  We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!

NCM's YouTube

MCU Review #4 - Guardians 1, Avengers 2, and Ant Man's Debut - Ep 64

***This Episode is Spoiler Filled***
We break down Civil War, Dr. Strange, & Guardians 2 with full plot details.

Captain America: Civil War:
Cast and Crew - 1:40
Box Office/Reception - 2:45
Plot Overview - 7:23
Where it Fits in MCU - 10:12
Best Scenes - 22:09
Worst Scenes - 29:20
Oscar Lens - 33:42

Doctor Strange:
Cast and Crew - 37:47
Box Office/Reception - 38:35
Plot Overview - 41:30
Where it Fits in MCU - 43:56
Best Scenes - 48:36
Worst Scenes - 50:51
Oscar Lens - 54:38

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2:
Cast and Crew - 58:24
Box Office/Reception - 59:21
Plot Overview - 1:02:20
Where it Fits in MCU - 1:04:50
Best Scenes - 1:11:26
Worst Scenes - 1:18:22
Oscar Lens - 1:21:28

MCU See, Buy, Skips - 1:25:41
Social Media/Final Thoughts - 1:27:06


It’s Avengers week!!!  Our affinity for the Infinity War should be obvious at this point as this episode marks the 5th in our review of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Check out MCU 1 through 4, where we cover Iron Man through Ant Man, MCU films 1 through 12.  In this episode no. 5, we review the action spectacular that is Captain America: Civil War, the visual spectacular that is Doctor Strange, and the comic spectacular that is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.  Yes, there were a lot of spectaculars, and yes, I really enjoy that word.

Do stay tuned for our 6th episode of the series, which we’ll release later this week covering Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, and Black Panther.  For a fuller review of Black Panther, also check out episodes 42 & 43.  We’ll update you on the news surrounding this year’s biggest blockbuster and first Oscar contender as well as fully bridge the gap to The Infinity War.

Civil War was a magnificent achievement and somehow accomplished by a pair of comedy nerds.  But enough about our review, the Russo brothers are also pretty talented.  We gush about Marvel’s magic touch, compare it to those jabronies over at DC, and then we gush all the more.  We kinda liked this one.

Doctor Strange earns a more balanced and mixed review.  But there are plenty of moments to relish and visual effects to admire.  It’s one of the stronger origin stories to be sure, and we try to give it credit where it’s due.  As for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we’re often reduced to a Chris Farley Show from SNL like simplicity.  “You remember when….you remember that?...that was awesome.”  But we also have some quibbles with this movie too because we can’t silence our inner movie critic, which if we were schizophrenic, may have completely taken us both over at this stage in our podcasting lives.  Regardless, we hope it’s a fun listen.

It’s the Oscar off-season, and we’re having an absolute blast covering some different topics.  Check out our Netflix Quarterly episode (61) where we reviewed over 37 new titles from the streaming giant.  We invented a movie game called SeeBuySkip in ep. 59 and reviewed the movie event that was A Quiet Place (62).  We also did a mock award show for all of the Basketball Movies ever made in a two part mini-series (54 & 55).  But our Oscars clock keeps ticking.  We previewed next year’s show with an episode (53), gave you a history lesson on the winningest films (60), and we’ll have not one but two quick hitters on Best Original Song categories from 1997 and 2013 to be released over the next two weeks.  So stay tuned.

Feel free to contact us on social media.  We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and Gmail.  Please help us spread the word about our show where & when you can, and of course, we thank you for listening.  When reality sucks, watch movies with us.  We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!

MCU Review #5 - Civil War, Dr. Strange, Guardians Volume 2 - Legitimate Oscar Contenders - Ep 65

MMO is talk radio for movie fans with weekly news shows, reviews, previews, and special guests. We celebrate the Oscars by making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. If you love cinema, if you love showbiz, welcome home.