Movie Wars

Kyle, Drew, and Phil decided to take on two psychological icons for the scary October episode of Movie Wars. Hannibal Lector is a cinema-defining character while Se7en is considered one of the most innovative, creative, and daunting thrillers of all time. Get a break from the slashers and listen to the MWP as they get psychological.

Want access to bonus content, interviews with legendary filmmakers, and Host Q and A's? Click here to become a Movie Wars Patreon Supporter! This helps keep the show ad-free, and gets you access to Kyle's show "Filmosophy", Interviews with legendary filmmakers, Q and A, a private Facebook group, and outtakes!

SE7EN

When retiring police Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) tackles a final case with the aid of newly transferred David Mills (Brad Pitt), they discover a number of elaborate and grizzly murders. They soon realize they are dealing with a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who is targeting people he thinks represent one of the seven deadly sins. Somerset also befriends Mills' wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is pregnant and afraid to raise her child in the crime-riddled city.

• Director:
• David Fincher
• Producer:
• Arnold Kopelson, Phyllis Carlyle
• Writer:
• Andrew Kevin Walker
• Release Date (Streaming):
• Dec 19, 2000
• Box Office (Gross USA):
• $100.1M
• Runtime:
• 2h 5m

(Courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seven)

The Silence Of The Lambs

Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

• Director:
• Jonathan Demme
• Producer:
• Ronald M. Bozman, Edward Saxon, Kenneth Utt
• Writer:
• Thomas Harris, Ted Tally
• Release Date (Theaters):
• Feb 13, 1991 Wide
• Release Date (Streaming):
• Aug 21, 2001
• Box Office (Gross USA):
• $130.7M
• Runtime:
• 1h 59m
• Distributor:
• Orion Pictures

(Courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/silence_of_the_lambs)

Phillip K. Dick wrote two incredibly prophetic stories of technophobia with The Minority Report(1956) and We Can Remember it For You Wholesale(1966). It doesn’t hurt that they also led to two Sci-Fi classics carried by leading men Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Cruise. Get paranoid and get weird with the Movie Wars crew as we discuss Total Recall and Minority Report.

Want access to bonus content, interviews with legendary filmmakers, and Host Q and A's? Click here to become a Movie Wars Patreon Supporter! This helps keep the show ad-free, and gets you access to Kyle's show "Filmosophy", Interviews with legendary filmmakers, Q and A, a private Facebook group, and outtakes!

Film Summaries:

Total Recall

Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a bored construction worker in the year 2084 who dreams of visiting the colonized Mars. He visits "Rekall," a company that plants false memories into people's brains, in order to experience the thrill of Mars without having to travel there. But something goes wrong during the procedure; Quaid discovers that his entire life is actually a false memory and that the people who implanted it in his head now want him dead.

• Rating:
• R
• Genre:
• Sci-Fi, Action
• Director:
• Paul Verhoeven
• Producer:
• Buzz Feitshans, Ronald Shusett
• Writer:
• Philip K. Dick, Jon Povill, Gary Goldman
• Release Date (Streaming):
• May 21, 2002
• Box Office (Gross USA):
• $117.8M
• Runtime:
• 1h 49m

(Info courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/total_recall)

Minority Report

Based on a story by famed science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, "Minority Report" is an action-detective thriller set in Washington D.C. in 2054, where police utilize a psychic technology to arrest and convict murderers before they commit their crime. Tom Cruise plays the head of this Precrime unit and is himself accused of the future murder of a man he hasn't even met.

• Rating:
• PG-13 (Drug Content|Brief Language|Some Sexuality|Violence)
• Genre:
• Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller, Action
• Original Language:
• English
• Director:
• Steven Spielberg
• Producer:
• Gerald R. Molen, Bonnie Curtis, Walter F. Parkes, Jan de Bont
• Writer:
• Philip K. Dick, Scott Frank, Jon Cohen
• Release Date (Theaters):
• Jun 21, 2002 Wide
• Release Date (Streaming):
• Dec 17, 2002
• Box Office (Gross USA):
• $132.0M
• Runtime:
• 2h 24m

Sports have often been utilized as a vehicle for intricate storytelling in film. Jerry Maguire and Moneyball tell the stories of two men seeking reform while challenging the status quo. The parallel rebirth experienced by both characters, however, may be the ultimate triumph in these two incredible stories. "Help Movie Wars help you" as we navigate one of our most prolific leading man battles to date.

Want access to bonus content, interviews with legendary filmmakers, and Host Q and A's? Click here to become a Movie Wars Patreon Supporter! This helps keep the show ad-free, and gets you access to Kyle's show "Filmosophy", Interviews with legendary filmmakers, Q and A, a private Facebook group, and outtakes!

Film Summaries

Jerry Maguire

When slick sports agent Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) has a crisis of conscience, he pens a heartfelt company-wide memo that promptly gets him fired. Desperate to hang on to the athletes that he represents, Jerry starts his own management firm, with only single mother Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger) joining him in his new venture. Banking on their sole client, football player Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), Jerry and Dorothy begin to fall in love as they struggle to make their business work.

• Rating: R
• Genre: Romance, Comedy
• Original Language: English
• Director: Cameron Crowe
• Producer: Richard Sakai, Laurence Mark, Cameron Crowe, James L. Brooks
• Writer: Cameron Crowe
• Release Date (Theaters): Dec 11, 1996 Wide
• Release Date (Streaming): Jul 29, 2003
• Box Office (Gross USA): $153.6M
• Runtime: 2h 18m
• Distributor: TriStar Pictures, Columbia TriStar Home Video, Columbia Tristar

(Info Courtesy of https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jerry_maguire)

Moneyball

Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), general manager of the Oakland A's, one day has an epiphany: Baseball's conventional wisdom is all wrong. Faced with a tight budget, Beane must reinvent his team by outsmarting the richer ball clubs. Joining forces with Ivy League graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), Beane prepares to challenge old-school traditions. He recruits bargain-bin players whom the scouts have labeled as flawed, but have game-winning potential. Based on the book by Michael Lewis.

• Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Drama
• Original Language: English
• Director: Bennett Miller
• Producer: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt
• Writer: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
• Release Date (Theaters): Sep 23, 2011 Wide
• Release Date (Streaming): Jan 10, 2012
• Box Office (Gross USA): $75.6M

Info courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/moneyball

First Blood and Commando - these two films became the blueprint for the modern action movie. While these films have completely different tones, they share the same core: they're built around the concept of the one-man-army while yielding two of the most recognizable and iconic action stars to ever grace the big screen.

Want access to bonus content, interviews with legendary filmmakers, and Host Q and A's? Click here to become a Movie Wars Patreon Supporter! This helps keep the show ad-free, and gets you access to Kyle's show "Filmosophy", Interviews with legendary filmmakers, Q and A, a private Facebook group, and outtakes!

Film Summaries:

Commando

Retired Special Forces soldier John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) lives with daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) in isolation, but his privacy is disturbed by former commander Franklin Kirby (James Olson), who warns him that his fellow soldiers are getting killed one by one. After Kirby leaves, Jenny is kidnapped by former Latin American dictator Arius (Dan Hedaya), who wants Matrix to restore him to power. Instead, Matrix sets out to take down the rogue leader and rescue his daughter.

• Rating:
• R
• Genre:
• Action
• Original Language:
• English
• Director:
• Mark L. Lester
• Producer:
• Joel Silver
• Writer:
• Matthew Weisman, Jeph Loeb, Steven E. de Souza, Steven E. de Souza
• Release Date (Theaters):
• Oct 4, 1985 Wide
• Release Date (Streaming):
• Nov 1, 2005
• Box Office (Gross USA):
• $34.9M
• Runtime:
• 1h 30m
• Distributor:
• 20th Century Fox

(Info courtesy of Rotten Tomatoeshttps://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1004567-commando)

First Blood

Vietnam veteran and drifter John J. Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) wanders into a small Washington town in search of an old friend, but is met with intolerance and brutality by the local sheriff, Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy). When Teasle and his deputies restrain and shave Rambo, he flashes back to his time as a prisoner of war and unleashes his fury on the officers. He narrowly escapes the manhunt, but it will take his former commander (Richard Crenna) to save the hunters from the hunted.

• Rating:
• R
• Genre:
• Action, Adventure
• Original Language:
• English
• Director:
• Ted Kotcheff
• Producer:
• Buzz Feitshans, Herb Nanas
• Writer:
• Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim, Sylvester Stallone, David Morrell
• Release Date (Streaming):
• Nov 23, 2004
• Runtime:
• 1h 35m

(Info courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/first_blood)

Point Break presented a massive evolution in action films when it was released in 1991. Its flow of adrenalized action sequences became a benchmark for many films to come; one of those being 2001’s The Fast And The Furious. Similar to Point Break, The Fast and the Furious embraced an obscure subculture and made it a societal focal point. But did it drive a little too closely to Point Break’s plot? Hit the NOS with Kyle, Drew, and Phil as they ride the wave of Point Break Vs. The Fast And The Furious.

Want access to bonus content, interviews with legendary filmmakers, and Host Q and A's? Click here to become a Movie Wars Patreon Supporter! This helps keep the show ad-free, and gets you access to Kyle's show "Filmosophy", Interviews with legendary filmmakers, Q and A, a private Facebook group, and outtakes!

Point Break

After a string of bizarre bank robberies in Southern California, with the crooks donning masks of various former presidents, a federal agent, Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), infiltrates the suspected gang. But this is no ordinary group of robbers. They're surfers -- led by the charismatic Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) -- who are addicted to the rush of thievery. But when Utah falls in love with a female surfer, Tyler (Lori Petty), who is close to the gang, it complicates his sense of duty.

• Rating: R
• Genre: Action, Mystery & Thriller
• Original Language: English
• Director: Kathryn Bigelow
• Producer: Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy
• Writer: Kurt Wimmer, W. Peter Iliff
• Release Date (Theaters): Jul 12, 1991 Original
• Release Date (Streaming): Oct 3, 2006
• Box Office (Gross USA): $40.5M
• Runtime: 2h 2m

Info courtesy of https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/point_break)

The Fast And The Furious

Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) enjoys the adrenaline of street car racing and his fans treat him like a rock star. After a blazing encounter with the ruthless Johnny Tran, Dom decides to take Brian (Paul Walker), a newcomer to street racing, under his wing. Dom's sister Mia sees something she likes in Brian, too. Trouble is, neither of them realize he's an undercover cop, and Dominic and his rival Johnny Tran are both the prime suspects in a case involving dirty money and big-rig hijacking.

• Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Adventure, Action
• Original Language: English
• Director: Rob Cohen
• Producer: Neal H. Moritz
• Writer: Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist, David Ayer, Gary Scott Thompson
• Release Date (Theaters): Jun 22, 2001 Wide
• Release Date (Streaming): Jun 3, 2003
• Box Office (Gross USA): $144.5M
• Runtime: 1h 47m
• Distributor: Universal Pictures

(Info courtesy of https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1108372-fast_and_the_furious)