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

Black Panther Review - Part 1 - Non-Spoilers

***Part One of Our Two Pod Review of Black Panther which is Spoiler FREE***

When reality sucks: An Intro - Episode Start

Black Panther Review Part 1 of 2

Cast & Crew Bio/ Filmographies:
Coogler, Boseman, Jordan, N’yongo, Gurira, etc… - 2:50
Production Profile - 18:50
Movie Specs - 28:03
Review of Production Values - 34:18
Performances - 42:53
Spoiler Episode Previews/Tease - 45:14
Cultural Touchstones - 46:10
Watch/Don’t Watch - 48:47


Spoiler Filled Review Coming Soon in Part 2.

“And we’re back!”  It was so good to podcast again alongside my pal, Mike No 1.  He had a tough week, and we explain why we haven’t posted since last weekend.  Just know we’re thrilled to dive back into things here with a two part Black Panther Movie Event Pod, which for the record, may also turn out to be an Early Bird 2018-19 Oscar Profile.  

We go off on tangents early and often, leave some bloopers in the episode cuz we think it's more amusing that way, and if it's possible, I think the few days away from recording leave us all the weirder.

Part One is jam packed.  We begin with the Cast & Crew bios and filmographies of Ryan Coogler, Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita N’yongo, and Danai Gurira.  Then we gush over the rest of the dream cast including Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Andy Serkis, Sterling K. Brown, and break-out stars, Letitia Wright and Winston Duke.

Our Production Notes cover some of the highlights from the promotional tour interviews from Coogler and the cast.  Then we chronicle the long brewing development of the film from its early Wesley Snipes inception days to Ava Duvernay all the way to the launch of the Wakanda plotline in Captain America: Civil War and Ryan Coogler’s courtship with Marvel going into this film.

No 1 has all the movie specs, including the eye popping box office and critical / audience reviews of the film, and we then dive into our review of the production values.  We praise Rachel Morrison’s cinematography, the trademark Disney Marvel visual effects, Kendrick Lamar’s soundtrack, the rich tapestry of cultural influences affecting the costume and production designs, and  then we do a non-spoiler analysis of the screenwriting.  We have some quibbles throughout, but we’re mostly in awe of this landmark accomplishment.  The rest of the review teases some of our best / worst scenes and comments on the film’s impact on our culture and the industry at large.  

Part 2 of our Black Panther review will be a spoiler filled look at the plot, and we’ll discuss the reverberations this movie event has had upon Hollywood and upon the zeitgeist at large.  In retrospect, having the chance to digest the film for a bit longer has given us a greater perspective of this movie event, and we’re proud of the substantive discussion we have coming soon in Part 2.  So do stay tuned.

Our Best Original Screenplay, Director, and Picture category review pods are coming as soon as we can record, edit, and release.  We’ll be grinding through the weekend and sending them out ASAFP for you all over the next week as we continue to sprint through this Oscar Season.  We’ll have an Oscar Prediction pod, as well as the Mike Mike & Oscars, where we’ll give you our best films and performances on the year.

As always, thank you for all your support throughout our first Award Season in the life of this podcast.  We’re having a blast recording all these episodes, and if you can help us spread the word through social media or with some old school -tell a friend - word of mouth, then please do.  We truly appreciate the help.  When reality sucks, do watch movies with us.  We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!

Black Panther Part 1 - The spoiler FREE Review - Ep 42

Black Panther Review - Part 2 - Spoilers

***Part 2 is our Spoiler Section of our two pod review of Black Panther***

Spoiler Music - :05
Best Scenes - 2:50
Worst Scenes - 10:15
Effect on the Marvel Cinematic Universe - 18:17
Discussion on the Critics of the Film - 24:10
Trolling, Backlash, and Responding to Those Who “Hate” Black Panther - 30:05
Final Thoughts - 38:25


Check out part one for all the cast & crew bios, production notes, movie specs, and our non-spoiler reviews of the production values, performances, and some transitional thoughts on the script.  We do recommend you listen to Part 1 first.

Our review of the best scenes diverges into our wishlist for the next series of Bond films.  We reference a not-so-obscure South Park catch phrase in our worst scenes.  We harken back to some oh-so-good action movie conventions with this film and reference The Fugitive to Predator to Butch Cassidy to the Force Awakens as we examine some of our nit-picks with the plot.  

We connect lots of dots in the Marvel Cinematic universe and wonder how they’ll build the next phase from the game-changer of Wakanda and Vibranium, cheer on the next Avengers film, compare it to what DC has done, and we even speculate on how the Wakanda cinematic universe might unravel.  

Then we dive into the backlash against the film and have a substantive discussion regarding some of the naysayers and critics of the movie.  We also break down some of the themes and politics of Black Panther, which we argue have been misconstrued by some.  The cinematic merits of the film are undeniable, but we do cite some of the harshest critics of the film, including journalist Leslie Lee’s criticisms found here https://twitter.com/leslieleeiii/status/964697251372257281  It’s a serious and substantive discussion worth having in our opinion, but his criticism does have its merits, and we do try and make sense of it.

As always, thanks for listening.  We’ll get back to our previews and reviews of the Oscar Categories as we plan to complete that series with our Original Screenplay, Director, and Best Picture episodes.  Then we’ll do an Oscar Prediction pod followed by the Mike Mike & Oscars, which will include our Top 10 films of 2017 as well as our favorite performances, direction, screenwriting, etc…  

Of course, we’ll be covering and reviewing Hollywood’s big night.  We’ve got some surprises in store for you.  Do please help us spread the word about our little show, chat with us on social media, and get ready for the final push to and through the Oscars.  It’s gonna be a fun few weeks.

Black Panther Part 2 - The SPOILERS Review - Ep 43

***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.

YouTube Page

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!

RF Music's YouTube

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!

NCM's YouTube page

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

***This is a Spoiler Filled Episode***
Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther & much of the MCU is given the full spoiler treatment in this review.

Spider-Man: Homecoming
Cast and Crew - 2:28
Box Office/Reception - 7:46
Plot Overview - 12:15
Where it Fits in the MCU - 14:55
Best Scenes - 19:55
Worst Scenes - 25:38
Oscar Lens - 28:22

Thor: Ragnarok
Cast and Crew - 30:25
Box Office/Reception - 33:11
Plot Overview - 37:02
Where it Fits in the MCU - 39:02
Best Scenes - 46:08
Worst Scenes - 51:37
Oscar Lens - 54:27

Black Panther
Cast and Crew - 59:11
Box Office/Reception - 1:07:16
Plot Overview - 1:09:34
Where it Fits in the MCU - 1:10:40
Best Scenes - Check out MMO Episodes 42 + 43
Worst Scenes - Check out MMO Episodes 42 + 43
Oscar Lens - 1:16:29

See, Buy, Skip - 1:21:24

Final Thoughts - 1:22:49


This episode covers Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, & Black Panther, films 16-18 and perhaps the strongest trio in our six 3-film reviews of the MCU.

We made it!  The Mikes of Oscar have completed our review of the first 3 Phases, the first 18 films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  We did it in 6 episodes, analyzing all the movie specs including the cast & crew filmographies, box office, critical reception, and production histories.  We broke down every plot in a necessarily spoiler filled review format, where these stories fit in the overall MCU story as well as commentary on the structural stabilities or plot holes of the many franchise films.  Unlike other movie pods, we shared our unique Oscar Critic lens on each film, stacking these landmark movies up against the nominations in their years’ Academy Awards.  But most important, weeee had - the time of our liiiiives - and we’ve never felt this way before.  (Please rewatch either the Get Out scene with Allison Williams, that Eli/OBJ commercial, or the entirety of Dirty Dancing NOW...I’ll wait…. OK?  You are welcome.)

Spider-Man: Homecoming masters the art of genre bending, giving us a John Hughes movie inside of a patented Disney Marvel Superhero film.  The accomplishment that is the Spidey screenplay was super-snubbed, Tony Stark’s fate has become dicey at best, and we now have a new favorite villain to gush over in Michael Keaton’s Vulture.  

Thor: Ragnarok was beloved for many a good reason, and we talk about it’s adaptation of the Planet Hulk storyline in a brilliant crossover with the Thor MCU entries.  Also Mike breaks down some screenwriting efficiencies, Mike 1 nitpicks some unworthy clunkiness, but we both fall into gush-mode at the comedy and action spectacular-ness of the finale.

Then we update you on Black Panther since we last reviewed the film in episodes 42 & 43 of our show.  Check those out if you’d like a deeper review and breakdown of the film.  But we do refresh you on the movie specs, chronicling Black Panther’s continued success at the box office and in the hearts & minds of Academy voters (we hope).  We also nail down some MCU principles played to perfection as we tout this film as a bonafide Oscar contender.

So do please stay with us.  We’re a year round movie podcast with a website mikemikeandoscar.com in the works, grand plans for Youtube, and of course, we’re all over social media.  Contact us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and Gmail.  Review us with 5-stars, subscribe, like, follow, and do please help us spread the word about our show if you can spare a few minutes.  As always, we thank you for all your cooperation and support.  When reality sucks, watch movies with us.  We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!

MCU Review #6 - SpiderMan, Ragnarok, and Black Panther Lead Us to the Infinity War - Ep 66

***This Episode Has a Spoiler Section***
Our Infinity War review goes spoiler FREE until minute (34).  We have some funky spoiler dance music, and then we discuss full plot details.

INFINITY WAR NONSPOILER REVIEW:

Cast and Crew -  1:34
Story Inception - 7:15
Specs - 10:43
Expectations - 14:55
Production Values - 18:08
Performances Review - 22:41
Watch/Don’t Watch - 31:11

SPOILER WARNING DANCE OFF - 33:05


INFINITY WAR SPOILER REVIEW:

Nonspoiler Carry Overs - 35:17
Best Scenes - 40:38
Worst Scenes/Biggest Issues - 50:00
Death. vs. Death? vs. “Death” - 58:43
Post Credits Scene/MCU Future - 1:10:54
Oscar Lens - 1:17:43

Wrapping Up - 1:22:56


Eighteen films released over the past decade have built up to this movie event,  Avengers: Infinity War.  Backed by the full might of the Disney machine, Kevin Feige’s Marvel Studios commissioned two brothers named Russo & a star studded cast to portray all our favorite characters in one EPIC movie event.  The scope and ambition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a landmark achievement in serial storytelling, and you deserve one massive series of podcasts to celebrate it.  We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!  And this is MCU Part 7, our Avengers: Infinity War Review.

Do check out our 6 previous MCU Reviews, where we analyze 3 films per episode to bring you up to date.  Unlike those spoiler filled episodes though, part 7 has a spoiler section.  We give you a full non-spoiler review complete with cast & crew information, story inception & production notes, movie specs, budget & box office, critical reception, and reviews of the production values, performances, best / worst scenes, and some Award Season projections.

If you couldn’t tell by now, we’re big fans, literally and figuratively.  There’s a whole lotta movie to digest, and sitting by our microphones, we’re a whole lotta Man to digest them.  The result?  We had a ton of fun chatting about the entire MCU and this film in particular.  Don’t miss this episode.

As we do with all our OSP & movie event reviews, there’s a spoiler music interlude, and then we dive into full spoilers.  After the music, we break down the story structure, flush out our favorite and least favorite moments, scenes & sequences.  Then we have even more fun predicting what’s in store for future MCU installments as well as predicting the Oscar chances of both Infinity War and Black Panther in the upcoming Award Season.  This is a seminal moment in cinematic storytelling, and we break it down from every angle.  

If you enjoyed this series, stay tuned for our next episode where we rank each film in the MCU, from movie no. 19 down to our favorites.  Do please check out the rest of our catalog of podcast episodes as we’ve covered the hell out of last Oscar Season.  We review the streaming giant that is Netflix, cover other blockbuster movie events like Star Wars, and mine movie history for retrospectives on Oscar categories past.  From the major categories to some fun halfisodes about Best Original Songs, we wanna become one of your go-to entertainment podcasts.

Feel free to chat with us on social media.  We’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and Gmail.  We’re progressing with our website which we hope to launch soon at mikemikeandoscar.com, and do please help us spread the word.  We’re growing, and we have you to thank for it.  When reality sucks, watch movies with us.  We are Mike, Mike, and Oscar.

Avengers: Infinity War Ultimate Review - MCU Review #7 - Thanos Says Hi - Ep 68

***This is a Spoiler Free Episode***
Obviously, knowing what sequels get made or will get made could be considered spoilers.  We also discuss some plot premises.  But if you’re not counting those, we stay away from Spoilers on this countdown.

MCU Phase 1-4 Recap - 2:19 

Ranking Introduction - 8:23

Dishonorable Mention 20 - 8:35

Perfecting Marvel Perfection (Ranking the Entire MCU)

19 - 16 (A Family That Lists Together…) - 9:01
15 - 14 (A Slight Deviation) - 13:08
13 - 12 (Reunited and It Feels So Good) - 15:47
11 - 8 (The Band Finally Splits Up) - 19:15
7 (The Band Gets Back Together)- 27:55
6 (The Reunion Tour is Cancelled) - 29:18

Our Top 5 MCU Movies - 31:45

Top 10s Recap - 45:59

Final Thoughts - 46:59


There are 19 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  We’ve watched and reviewed each of them over the past two months in our MCU series.  Of course, we’re gonna devote an entire podcast to rank our favorites.  Though we give you a feel for each plot and may color in some of our reviews, this is otherwise a Spoiler Free episode.  

This show’s format is simple.  We recap the 19 films in the MCU over the four phases, including the upcoming films scheduled for release in Phase 4.  Then we rank & grade the MCU films in a duelling countdown from 19 down to 1.  We laugh while our lists (which we didn’t speak to each other about beforehand) go in the same way.  Then we have some red faced fun debating things when we begin to differ.  There’s some fire.  There’s some grand statement making, and the Mikes get heated up for a spell there.  But despite our differences (god, we live sheltered lives), we come together in our celebration of this wonderful landmark achievement that is the MCU.

It’s the Oscar Off-Season, and we’ve loved this chance to cover some other projects, including this MCU in review series.  Do go back and listen to the first 7 episodes reviewing each of the 19 films, especially our ultimate review of Avengers: Infinity War (ep 68), and our two parter on Black Panther (eps 42 & 43).  We also break for Netflix coverage (eps 9, 37, & 61), themed episodes like our series on Basketball Movies in time for March Madness (eps 54 & 55), we invent movie games like See Buy Skip (ep 59), and we cover all the best theatrical releases year round in our movie event reviews (like Star Wars: The Last Jedi eps 17 & 18, and A Quiet Place in ep 62).

The of course, we cover the hell out of the Oscars and the full award season leading up to Hollywood’s big night.  Just look back at our catalog for reviews of all the major nominees, which just happen to all now be on demand to buy or rent at home.  We review each Oscar category, predict the winners, and then review the show & the year in movies in multiple episodes.  From our own Award Show to a beat for beat recap of the one hosted by Hollywood, we do cover the hell out of the Oscars when the time comes.  To prove it, we’ve already previewed next year’s show with ep 53.  So stay tuned for much more 2018-19 coverage on the Academy Awards.

Otherwise, we also have fun diving back into Oscar History.  Our retrospectives review categories of Oscar’s past.  Whether we focus the big 7 like the four acting, screenplay, director, picture, or we have some off-season fun talking Best Original Songs, we love to mine Oscar history for the great stories both on and off the silver screen.
So Award Season or not, we hope to become a go-to movie podcast for you all.  We’re growing, and we thank you for that fact.  Any continued help to spread the word about our show is also appreciated.  Feel free to chat with us on social media.  We’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, & Gmail.  Our website is coming soon at mikemikeandoscar.com.

When reality sucks, watch movies with us.  We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!

Ep 69 (Nice) - Ranking Marvel Movies From 19 to 1 After Infinity War's Digestion

***This Ant Man & The Wasp Review Has a Spoiler & Double Movie Spoiler Sections***

Neither Section will review Avengers: Infinity War either.  We have a NON-Spoiler Review of Ant Man & the Wasp, then we have a Spoiler Filled Section for this movie, and finally, we will have a double spoiler section for Ant Man & The Wasp & Avengers: Infinity War.

Intro / The Ultimate Dad Joke - Start of the Show

Production Profile (Story Inception / Cast & Crew / Production Notes) - 2:22
Movie Specs (including Critical Scores & Box Office Projection) - 8:34
Expectations & Teaser Review - 11:52
Our Movie Going Experience - 14:20
Production Values (Visual Effects, Cinematography, Design & Sound) - 15:57
Review of the Performances - 23:58
Oscar Lens (Will it Contend as a Technical Marvel?) - 30:53
Final Non-Spoiler Thoughts / Watch or Don’t - 33:55

Spoiler Warning Dance Break - 35:03

SPOILER REVIEW for Ant-Man And The Wasp (Still No Avenger Spoilers)
Worst Scenes: 
The Laurence Fishburne Problem - 36:36
A One Dimensional Wasp - 41:26
Debate Over Michelle Pfeiffer’s Character - 46:26
Some More Best Scenes - 55:56
Final Spoiler Thoughts / Grades - 1:00:36

Acapella Double Movie Spoiler Music (FINALLY AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR SPOILERS)
Where It Fits in the MCU/ Mike 1’s Quantum Realm Theory - 1:02:42

Outro / Social Media / Other MCU Episode Callbacks - 1:09:45

It’s a loaded episode of MMO here with three levels of Spoilers.  We do a NON-spoiler section for Ant-Man And The Wasp, and don’t worry, we are ALSO NON-SPOILERS for Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and other MCU films.

Our Production Profile gives you the Cast & Crew miniature filmographies so you can place the faces on screen, and Also Mike gives you some story inception information about the first Ant-Man’s Box Office & some production notes here.  Then Mike 1 brings you up to date on the sequel’s critical & opening night gross in his Movie Specs.  

The Mikes then join forces for the rest of the Non-Spoiler Review as we review the Production Values.  We gush over the 3D, De-Aging, and many other Visual Effects, including some snapshot reviews of the cinematography, production & costume design.  Then we shift into a review of the performances from the entire ensemble before diving into a non-spoiler look at the script and overall popcorn movie appeal of the film.  The Oscar Lens yields our opinions on if & where this movie should contend come award season before we offer our final non-spoiler takes.

You dance with our Spoiler Music, and we dive headlong into the Quantum Realm.  We have some character and plot issues with the Laurence Fishburne, Evangeline Lilly, and Michelle Pfeiffer characters.  But don’t worry, we bring it all back to some of our best scenes and praise the genius of the film.  It’s a fairly balanced review from us for a change, some majestic highs and some plot hole into the quantum lows, with a loud debate thrown in for good measure.

Finally, we discuss the entire MCU with a unique movie watcher theory from Mike 1 on how the Quantum Realm fits into the overall tapestry of this Cinematic Universe.  You don’t want to miss this whether or not you’re a comic book reader.  Laugh with or at us here, and do set us right on social media.

We’re “Mike, Mike, and Oscar” on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and Gmail.  We are @MMandOscar on the Twitter machine.  Let us know your thoughts and weigh in on our debates and theories.  We may have had too much fun watching and reviewing this film, not an uncommon thing for us Mikes and the MCU as this is technically our 12th episode on Marvel properties.  When reality sucks, watch Marvel movies with us!

Ant Man and The Wasp Review - Ep 83 - No Spoilers? Check. Spoilers? Check. More Spoilers? Check?!

Carpenter would approve.

***Halloween Trailer 2, Captain Marvel EW Photos & We Play 6 Degrees of MMO***

So there’s obviously trailer & photo related spoilers here, if you consider such as ummm… such?  Whatever, it’s a mash-up quickisode here discussing some recent news & playing some classic film trivia games.

Halloween Trailer 2  - 2:28
Captain Marvel EW Photos - 12:11
Introducing the 6 Degrees of MMO segment - 19:18

YOUR FIRST “#SixDegreesOfMMO” Challenge - 23:39

Social Media/Leave an iTunes Review PLEASE! - 26:58


So this quickisode combined two of our favorite things… horror films and Marvel movies.  Then as an added bonus, we wanted to lay down the gauntlet for an upcoming new segment on Mike, Mike, and Oscar… 6 degrees of MMO.

Mike 1 is a raging Halloween movie franchise fan.  Also Mike has always loved him some John Carpenter.  So we couldn’t resist a chance to pounce on the new & improved trailer 2 for this Michael Meyers vs Laurie Strode showdown.  We continue our preview and ramp up for the late October release from Blumhouse, David Gordon Green, & Danny McBride.  We’re also thrilled to see the enthusiasm from franchise stalwarts Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis.  Hot takes abound, and the MMO hype machine is rolling.  To be continued… Michael Meyers will return...

The other big news of the week in movie fandom was the Captain Marvel first look photos and Entertainment Weekly article on the next installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Since we’re such big fans, since we reviewed all 20 films released previously in the MCU, and since that’s such a flashy costume, we needed to comment in this episode.

Again, as an added bonus, we introduce a new segment 6 Degrees of MMO, where we’ll be playing 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon with our audience.  Send us your 6 Degrees actor tandems and watch us squirm as we try and solve your mysteries on the air.  Or send us your creative answers to our first question of Debra Messing to Anthony Hopkins.  However you’d like to play, let’s have some fun with this.  Can’t wait to hear all your responses.

Go back and listen to our review of the first Halloween trailer in DatA 2.  We also previewed Captain Marvel once previously in our Comic Con episode 88 part 1, and we’ve played some movie games on the pod before as well with See Buy Skip, which we introduced in episode 59.  Soooo we like to talk about things we enjoy.  That's the thesis statement here, Oscars or otherwise.

Chat with us on social media & send us those 6 Degrees of MMO responses.  We are Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and at Gmail .com.  We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter.  Find us most everywhere you listen to podcasts on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, etc… 

Also, remember our slogan.  When reality sucks, watch movies with us.  We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar! (And Mike Myers).

Halloween, Captain Marvel, and Introducing: Six Degrees of MMO - Halfisode #19

Punch that old lady!

***This is a Captain Marvel Trailer Review***
Therefore, it’s trailer spoilers only, if you even consider those spoilers.  We may allude to a few general arcs of the Guardians and Avengers franchises within the overall MCU storyline, but remain spoiler free.

Cast & Crew - 1:50
Trailer Overview - 3:57
We Combat the 3 Main Objections Against the Trailer - 11:40
Upcoming in the MCU - 20:13

Our Social Media Where YOU SHOULD TALK TO US- 22:39


Marvel surprised us this week with a new trailer for the 21st film in the MCU, Captain Marvel.  Brie Larson stars as Carol Danvers, a marvelous captain on the one hand, and of course, her character marks the first female led franchise in the entire cinematic universe on the other.  So it’s about damned time!  And let’s state for the record, this film will be the definition of a MMO movie event.  

Our trailer review is a simple structure where we give you some basic cast & crew information followed by a beat by beat analysis of what we saw, and then, as we do best, we react to how all of you reacted to it.  We comment on the viewer numbers in the first few days, remenisce with all of you about those good ole days back at our local Blockbuster Video stores, and then we combat some of the main objections the critical community and film twitter has been leveling against the trailer.  HINT: we liked it.  So we throw down.

To get the rest of our Captain Marvel coverage, enjoy our entire series on the MCU from our 2-part review of Black Panther (eps 42 & 43) and our recent OSP on Ant-Man and the Wasp (83).  Of course, don’t miss our 8 part series from this past spring on the rest of the Feige films beginning in episode 56 and culminating in a full review of Avengers: Infinity War (68).  We followed that up with a Marvel Ranking episode (69...nice), and we even reviewed the Fox Marvel cousin that was Deadpool 2 in its own OSP (70).  Our focus has since shifted toward Captain Marvel in several episodes.  First, we reviewed the teaser footage from 2017’s Comic Con in our SDCC18 trailers episode (88 p1).  Then we covered the release of all the first look Captain Marvel photos from EW two weeks ago in Halfisode 19.

Our year round podcast certainly builds to a fever pitch come Oscar time, but we had also had a ton of fun this past year with the spring and summer movie events like Black Panther & Avengers: Infinity War.  We shall do so once again this spring, and films like Captain Marvel will become a big part of our programming.  So if you’re one of the Feige faithful, know that we’re the same.  

Feel free to chat with us on social media, join in on our movie game Six Degrees Of MMO, and get ready for a few more interactive ways to enjoy our movie podcast listening experience with the Mikes.  We are Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, and Gmail.  We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, where we’re definitely our most active.  When reality sucks (hashtag Mario Kart), keep watching movies (and movie trailers) with us.  We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!

Captain Marvel Trailer Review - Punching Grandmas + Combating Criticisms - Halfisode #21

Excelsior!

***We celebrate the life of Stan Lee***
So we do have some MCU cameo spoilers at the end of this podcast.  Look below to see when those happen if you’re allergic to spoilers of any kind.

Intro / What Stan Lee Meant To Us? - Top of the Show

Growing Up - 5:39
Professional Writer/Marvel Timeline - 10:48
Bringing the Properties to Visual Mediums - 20:49
Lee the Father/Husband - 24:53
Career Specs, Awards, Titles - 26:39
Death and Coverage Of - 30:16
Dirtman Lives and Other Tributes - 33:13
His Famous Marvel Cameos: Discussed and Ranked - 39:10

Outro/Social Media - 51:22

WORD of Wisdom (as if it can be anything else) - 53:17


We needed to celebrate the life & career of Stan Lee. The news of his death saddened us this week, but the tributes to his life & his life’s work encouraged us so much that we knew we must weigh in and pay tribute where we could, and where we could is this podcast episode. 

His was a full and happy and extraordinary life, and the size & scope of Stan Lee’s bio/ filmography is a testament to his staggering legacy. If there was any doubt, then we also list off his credits, awards, and both his comics & prose bibliography. There’s a lot to look back upon fondly.  There’s a lot to laugh about & plenty of banter throughout these opening segments, so much so that we didn’t want them to end.

We follow up our thanks with some of the highlights and quotes from some of those who knew him best.  Both Marvel & DC Comics have released their own acknowledgments to Lee, and we also can’t resist some hot takes on the rest of the media’s eclectic coverage.  To end the episode, we recap near every single Stan Lee cameo in a Marvel movie or TV series and discuss our favorites.  Yes, one of us tries a Stan Lee impersonation. No, it could never do him justice. But darnit, we are true believers and do our very best to honor this great man. He was truly legendary.

What’s your favorite Stan Lee movie cameo? What’s your favorite Stan Lee character, quote, or contribution? How has his career affected your lives? We hope this episode helps you all mourn & celebrate this wonderful life & career. In other words, we hope you’re true believers too.

Chat with us on social media. We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and Gmail. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and our website launch is forthcoming. When legends pass on and reality sucks, do keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar. Excelsior, MMO’ers. Excelsior!

Stan Lee Memorial  Episode - The Life, Legacy, Career, and Impact of a Marvelous Legend - Ep 128

Marvel, why so serious? Oh, yeah. I remember now.

***These MCU Trailer Reviews are SPOILER FILLED***
We have no choice but to go full spoilers for these two trailer reviews. Avengers: Infinity War & Ant-Man and the Wasp are most notably spoiled in this episode & in these trailers.

Intro / Spider-Man: Coming Soon to MMOW - Top of the Show

Avengers: End Game Trailer Analysis + Review - 1:58
(Theories of Where We’re Going - 7:55)
(What Are We REALLY Being Shown? - 9:22)
(Who’s Missing? - 11:51)
(Antagonist Free - 13:04)
(YouTube and Movie Specs - 15:02)


Captain Marvel Trailer 2 Analysis + Review - 16:24
(Back to Old Lady Punching - 19:43)
(Why So Serious? - 21:28)
(That Good Good - 23:29)
(Villain Problems and Origin Stories - 26:33)

Outro:
A Look at our Upcoming MMO Programming Schedule - 30:15
Social Media / Words of Wisdom - 32:50



Lots of breaking news this week - we just covered the Golden Globe Nominations, and now we break down the sizeable new Avengers: End Game & Captain Marvel trailers for you. We’ve been chronicling the Captain Marvel marketing for awhile now, this being our third preview after our commentaries on the San Diego Comic Con & CM Trailer 1. We also reviewed the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe from a two part Oscars Sprint Profile on Black Panther, a full series on the entire MCU where we reviewed 3 films per episode, movie event reviews of Avengers: Infinity War & Ant-Man and the Wasp, and a fun Marvel re-rank. So we love to love this superhero mega-franchise & cinematic universe and pay the films & trailers their rightful due.

And we thankfully have a lot to digest and comment upon with these two new Avengers and Captain Marvel previews.  Of course, we have to go full spoilers after Infinity War, there’s a ton of cool stuff to theorize about here, and the Mikes do not hold back. The production values remain a highlight for us, and we gush over how awesome everything looks.  But we do have many questions.

Let us know what you think. We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. We are at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we’re dying to know your reactions to these internet breaking trailers. 

Do stay tuned for our upcoming MMO Weekly episode where we will hopefully have another Marvel sneak preview of the sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home. We’ll also get back to the Oscar Race with a massive update for you on all of the recent precursor award nominations and winners from the past week. Then there’s a huge topic of the Oscar Host that’ll be one of the main stories to break down, and finally, we’ll announce the winners for SixDegreesOfMMO round 7. So get your responses to us if you want to vie for a shout out in our next episode.

As always, thanks for listening. If you do have a free moment, please leave us a review & 5 star on iTunes. We certainly appreciate anything you can do on our podcast listening or social media platforms to help us spread the word about our show.  When reality sucks, you’ve been watching movies & trailers with us. Thanks again. We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!

Avengers: Endgame Trailer + Captain Marvel Trailer 2 Reviews! - Why So Serious, MCU? - Halfisode

So many fun questions arise from this trailer.

***This is a Spoiler Filled Episode***
We talk about Avengers: Infinity War & Iron Man spoilers in this trailer, and of course, we break down the trailers themselves.

Intro / Upcoming Marvel Movie Schedule - Top of the Show

Spider-Man: Far From Home Trailer:
Spoiler Warnings About the Trailer - 1:51
Our Takes on What Makes Spidey “Far From Home” - 3:14

Trailer Breakdown:
Aunt May is Feelin Happy - 4:28
Sedate Me, NYC - 6:59
Zendaya is Great - 8:40
Fury-Out Avengers Possibilities - 10:35
Introducing… - 12:10
Takes, Nuggets, and Callbacks - 16:47
The Business Side of it All - 18:21

Captain Marvel Trailer 3:
Improvements - 23:50
But Worries Remain - 25:40

Outro, Words of Wisdom, Social Media - 32:10


Spider-Man: Far From Home gave us a hilarious, action packed, nerd-tastic, AMAZING trailer this morning! So we could not resist giving you a day-of review, and as a bonus, we also give out high grades to the latest Captain Marvel trailer 3 to end the show. 

As usual, the Mikes of Oscar demonstrate that we have a year-round podcast for a reason. Yes, Oscar films get released throughout the entire calendar. But more importantly, and much more fun, we use the entire calendar to review some of our other favorite movies like those of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So do check out our entire series of MCU reviews, OSPs, and trailer breakdowns, and there’s a playlist on our Soundcloud account to give you all of these episodes in one spot.

We give you a few specs on Spider-Man: Far From Home in this episode, and they all act as good omens for the success of this film. There’s some business talk by the end of the sode about what Sony & Marvel’s timeshare could mean for the future of Spider-Man, especially after the success of the Spider-Verse with the help of Amy Pascal. But for the bulk of this fun halfisode, we just have a blast talking about these superhero movie trailers.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is the centerpiece for this episode, and we spend the majority of time talking about all of the best moments and easter eggs from this trailer. You’ll also get your fix of overall MCU talk as we discuss what may happen in the Avengers: End Game, and we even play those theories and possibilities out through the unannounced future of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as what Sony will do with the Spider-Verse. Then we finish up with some complimentary analysis on the improvement of the Captain Marvel trailer 3 over what they showed us in 2. Though cards on the table, we do still worry about this film.

It’s a surprisingly loaded halfisode of MCU talk. Do stay tuned for more Oscar Movie Reviews as we’ll have an If Beale Street Could Talk OSP for you later in the week, and we’ll also be diving back into our analysis of the awards season races with an Academy Award Nomination preview & prediction special before next Tuesday’s announcement.  MMO Weekly will still come your way for Monday Morning as we tie up a bunch of loose ends and update you on what’s happening with movie news, the box office, what we’ve been watching, and of course, we’ll read some of our audience interactions of the past few weeks like SixDegreesOfMMO.

On that note, let us know what you think of these trailers. We are Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and Gmail. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and you can enjoy our show just about wherever you listen to podcasts. If you can leave us an iTunes 5 star rating and/or review, we’d much appreciate it. But as always, we thank you for listening & ask you remember that slogan. When reality sucks, keep watching those movies and movie trailers with us. We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!

Spider-Man: Far From Home Trailer Review + Reaction - Captain Marvel Trailer #3 Too! - Halfisode

All the previewing you could ever need.

***This Episode Discusses Other MCU Movies***
We don’t get into all the details of Avengers: Infinity War, but you can certainly take what we say into spoiler territory pretty quickly. So our allusions kinda spoil things. Also, without seeing Captain Marvel or without reading the comics, we guess its plot. 

Where Captain Marvel Seems to Fit in the MCU/2019 - 1:25
Cast and Crew - 3:47
Our Biggest Concern - 6:17

The Mikes’ 100% Accurate Plot Guesses of Captain Marvel:
AlsoMike’s Take - 9:15
Mike1’s Take - 16:51

A More Serious Discussion - 20:59

WE NEED YOUR FEEDBACK AND THIS WILL TELL YOU HOW - 25:19


Captain Marvel is easily the biggest movie event of the new year, and might be the most important film in the last 6 to 8 to 10 months. It’s a huge moment for the MCU and for blockbuster filmmaking in general. We’re certainly cheering it on, but we also have concerns with the marketing campaigns. There are definitely some red flags in the trailers, and we also recognize the high degree of difficulty that the film must take on itself. Captain Marvel has to launch a new hero and franchise while also satisfying audiences after the Infinity War. So of course, we needed one more substantive discussion on what we could and should expect with this new MCU film debuting this week.

On the heels of the Oscars, the new HBO docs, and since the stakes are so high for this movie, the Mikes needed to unwind a little bit and flex their creative muscles. Therefore, we decided to spend the latter half of the preview guessing the plot of Captain Marvel. It was a fun exercise, and we hope it’s a fun listen.

Stay tuned for our full movie review of Captain Marvel, which we’ll drop ASAP after we see it this Thursday. It’ll be the first Oscars Sprint Profile or Movie Event of 2019, and there’s a lot more coming. Last year, we put up near 50 episodes of this kind, and if we continue to build on our totals, we’ll probably top that number this year.

The 2019 film year is in full swing after those Oscars. We just previewed all of the likely contenders for red carpets come next February with our two part series of the Way Too Early 2020 Oscar Predictions. Then we reviewed several new Netflix films on our last MMOW including The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind and Paddleton.

As always, let us know what you think. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you listen to podcasts. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!

Captain Marvel Preview as MMO Introduces 100% Accurate Guess of the Plot - Halfisode

We discuss MCU implications, go at other critics, & play off our many previews.

***This Review of Captain Marvel has a Spoiler Section***
We also steer clear of Infinity War spoilers for the entirety of the episode.

What is an OSP? - 1:10

NON-SPOILER REVIEW:

Cast and Crew/Production Notes/Story Inception - 3:16
Specs - 7:15
Plot Premise/Expectations - 12:16
Production Values:
Sight - 14:26
Sound - 16:37
Performances - 17:54
Script Thoughts - 25:21
Oscars Lens - 29:30
Final Thoughts - 30:59

Spoiler Warning Dance Music - 32:54

SPOILER-FILLED REVIEW:

Worst Scenes - 34:26
(While Sneaking in a Best - 38:07)
(Back to Worsts: On the Nose-ness - 39:22)
(The Power is in You - 43:45)

Best Scenes - 45:41
(All Goose, All the Time - 52:03)
(Post Credit Scene 1 - 54:06)
(Post Credit Scene 2 - 56:04)
(Stan Lee Homage - 57:16)

Final Grades - 1:00:10

Social Media/Words of Wisdom - 1:02:45


After previewing Captain Marvel on 5 separate shows, we were thrilled to finally see the movie and kick off our 2019 film year, and yes, there’s certainly an Oscar Lens for this one. This episode is the first of our 2019/2020 Oscars Sprint Profiles.

This episode’s non-spoiler section goes a bit lighter on the production profile since we’ve talked about this film so many times previous. But we do update you on some key numbers before we get into our non-spoiler reviews of the production values, performances, & script. 

Then the spoiler warning dance music plays, and for the first time in awhile, we discuss the worst scenes first that somehow also make us talk about all our favorite & best scenes on top of those. So it’s a strange circular path for our plot breakdown in the spoiler section, but something we think fits well to this particular movie. We chat about the post credit scenes & cameos, and we dive into some of the ramifications Captain Marvel has on the series at large, but we do steer clear of Infinity War spoilers as well.

We’re only two weeks from the Oscars, but our coverage of the 2019 film year is already off to a strong start. Our interview with Awards Circuit’s Clayton Davis discussed how some of the fallout from the Academy Awards could affect this year & seasons to come as a way to set the stage. Then our two part, 100% Accurate Way Too Early Oscar Predictions series kicked things off with quick previews of all of the likely contending films before we debated our way through what to select as our predictions. So now we get back doing what we do best, review movies.

Fighting With My Family, Apollo 11, and Jordan Peele’s Us are all in our upcoming plans, and we’ll continue our usual programming slate of reviews, previews, & interviews throughout spring. Also be sure to tune in to our monday variety show, MMO Weekly, where we have a rotation of segments ranging from the rapid fire reviews of film, TV, youtube & streaming content in What We’re Watching to our audience interactions with our ongoing games of SixDegreesOfMMO, SeeBuySkip & our new Q&A with you called MMOasks. 

Finally, stay tuned for our many retrospectives. If they’re remaking something special, we’ll often review the original first. Then like we did with the entire MCU, 20 films before Captain Marvel here, we’ll just review the entire franchise. Halloween, Mission Impossible, & The Conjuring series retrospectives also fill our back catalog. Bottom Line… With 4+ new episodes a week, if you’re a movie lover, welcome home.

As always, let us know what you think. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you listen to podcasts. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!

Captain Marvel Review - The 1st 2019/20 Oscar Sprint Profile! - Ep 173

Part 1 of our 2 Part Avengers: Endgame Previews.

***This Episode Includes Spoilers for Previous MCU Films***

What is This Show? - 2:55

Pre-Sale, Numbers, and Box Office Speculation on Endgame - 4:02

How Do Our Guess the Plot Episodes Work - 12:05

MMO’S 100% ACCURATE AVENGERS:ENDGAME GUESSES OF THE PLOT
AlsoMike’s 100% Accurate Guess - 12:45
(and Analysis - 27:07)
Mike1’s 100% Accurate Guess - 29:05
(and Analysis - 34:16)

Homework for You/Social Media/Words of Wisdom - 36:45



These are so much fun, perhaps TOO MUCH fun. Mike and I wanted to liven things up in the podcast studio a month or so ago when we decided to preview Captain Marvel. So we invented this game. Be 100% Accurate. Yield 0% Spoilers. It sounds impossible, but we unequivocally prove all of the skeptics wrong. We guessed the plot of Captain Marvel & “Us” already. Now since we have another major movie event, the biggest of this or maybe any year in fact, it’s time we preview & yes, Guess The Plot of Avengers: Endgame.

This episode features an intro covering the latest news and box office projections for Avengers: Endgame before we put on our writing caps and pitch you all how we would write the film in our guessing of that soon to be world famous plot.

This will be part 1 of 2.5 for our Avengers: Endgame preview mini-series. There will be another massive episode next week, where we debut yet another new episode format in our Avengers: Endgame dead pool (no, not that one). What we do in the dead pool is predict & debagte who will live, who will die, who should live or die, and what the betting odds are for life or death of the entire cast of the newest & biggest MCU property yet.

Do check out all our coverage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There’s a handy playlist on our Soundcloud account, and you can otherwise find our Marvel episodes all over our catalog. We cover breaking news & often review superhero movies on MMO Weekly, we did a 6 podcast arc on the first 18 films of the MCU last spring, we’ve reviewed all of the subsequent MCU releases like Infinity War, Ant Man and the Wasp, and Captain Marvel, and we’ve had fun ranking our favorite films. The half or .5 in that 2.5 miniseries from a paragraph ago also refers to another ranking episode we’ll drop next week in honor of this movie event, and then of course, we’ll review the film after digesting it over it’s opening weekend.

As always, we want to know what you think & how you would GTP. We’ll gladly read yours on our Monday variety show, MMO weekly, and you can always ask us questions via the AskMMO hashtag on social media. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you listen to podcasts. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!

Avengers Endgame 100% Accurate Guess the Plot Predictions - MMO Endgame Preview Series Part I

No. Not that one. We guess who will live and who will die in the Endgame. There’s debate surrounding all your favorite Avengers. Should you say goodbye? How likely is it that they’ll survive?

***This Episode Contains Spoilers for Other MCU films including Infinity War***

How Does This Dead-Pool Work? - 1:46
Confirmed MCU Titles Post-Endgame - 3:37
 
ENDGAME DEAD-POOL
The Original 6 - 5:52
(And a Plea WHERE WE NEED YOU!  - 11:19)
 
The Guardians of the Galaxy Heroes - 31:16
Black Panther Heroes - 42:14
Ant-Man Heroes - 48:11
The Remaining Heroes + Villains - 50:55
 
Multiple Choice Theory Questions - 1:00:47


Mike and I have debuted several new formats for our episodes. The Guess The Plot gimmick, where yes - we are 100% accurate in our own unique way, - these episodes for Captain Marvel, Us, and for this movie, Avengers: Endgame have been released to a lot of fanfare. We’ve also been pumping out MMO Interviews, & we’ve chatted about the next humongous movie event that is Star Wars Episode IX with Ken Napzok and Chris Reinacher. You have a new massive series re-watch of the Pixar films, where we’re diving into their 22 Rules of Screenwriting and the history of the Pixar company. And now, we use a new episode format to preview what's perhaps the biggest movie event of the last several years as we debate who will live or die in our Endgame Dead Pool (No, not that one). 

We ask questions of who will die, who should die, and what are the chances of them dying for each of your favorite marvel cinematic universe characters. Our predictions will surprise you, as we’re definitely not swimming with the current per usual. The result? This is one of our most thorough & lively conversations in the history of our podcast, and it’s a testament to the pull of this entire cinematic universe and the serialized storytelling that has brought us to this point. You won’t find something like this anywhere else on the web. Join us for our Avengers: Endgame dead pool, and yes, please tell your friends and send us your responses to what we outline here & what you think is gonna happen in this critical installment of the MCU.

Last spring, we reviewed the entire Marvel Studios film series in an 8 pod arc culminating in a review of Avengers: Infinity War and a re-rank of our favorite films of the franchise. We’ve since added many episodes to this playlist (now on Soundcloud) with Oscar Sprint Profile & Movie Event review shows on Ant-Man and The Wasp, Captain Marvel, and previously, a 2 part review of Black Panther. We’ve covered each and every trailer for Avengers: Endgame either in their own episodes or during our MMO weekly variety show.

Do stay tuned for our continuing coverage of Avengers: Endgame. We’ll go back in time in our movie watching lives to discuss the biggest Movie Events we’ve experienced in a Top 5’s episode. Then we’ll have some first reactions for you before the week is out as we debut yet another fun new format. Once the dust or the ash settles next week, we will do our deep dive(s). There’s at least 1 massive episode planned, and we may have to make it a 2 parter. Hopefully, there’s a guest host or at least a guest spot involved. We’ve tentatively booked one of our favorite comedians to join us. So yes, stay tuned. Everyone in the podiverse may be reviewing this film, but nobody is gonna cover it like MMO.

Tell us your predictions on who’ll live & die, and we’ll have some fun audience interaction posts on Twitter this week for you to enjoy. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you listen to podcasts. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!

Endgame Dead-Pool (Not That One) Predictions - MMO Avengers Endgame Preview Series Part II - Ep 191

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.