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Jack, Mike and Robbie tackle nine trailers for new movies being released this year in Story Screen Presents freshest show, Coming Attractions . This episode covers Star Wars: The Last Jedi , Thor: Ragnarok , The Bad Batch , It Comes at Night , Okja , Blade Runner 2049 and more. TRAILERS: Star Wars: The Last Jedi - www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB4I68XVPzQ&t=1s Baby Driver - www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9YZw_X5UzQ It Comes At Night - www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKnigN8OiNc Buster's Mal Heart - www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9S9F5DRhbg Thor: Ragnarok - www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7MGUNV8MxU Spider-Man: Homecoming - www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbQdPBiF3Co Okja - www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjCebKn4iic The Bad Batch - www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pse9E9DzZ4 Blade Runner 2049 - www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCcx85zbxz4&t=1s #Newsletter #Podcasts #TheBadBatch #StarWars #BladeRunner #Marvel #JackKolodziejski #MikeBurdge #RobertAnderson #ComingAttractions

It's another round of Star Wars for Mike, Brian and Jeremy! This time out, they discuss the very first installment of the cultural phenomenon in honor of its 40th anniversary, from the impact on summer movies to how the film works so well, even on its own. #Newsletter #Podcasts #StarWars #40thAnniversary #Overdrinkers #MikeBurdge #BrianCastellano #JeremyKolodziejski #BlueMilk

Ya boi's Jack and Robbie checked out the new Ridley Scott Alien joint. Were they scared? Enlightened? Annoyed? Bewildered? Angered? Over-joyed? Would you believe us if we said all of the above?? #Newsletter #Podcasts #HotTakes #JackKolodziejski #RobertAnderson #AlienCovenant #Alien #RidleyScott #May2017

Jack and Robbie get hooked on a feeling again in Marvel's latest cosmic chapter, filled with tunes, jokes, daddy issues and Sylvester Stallone.

Mike is joined by Bernadette to drink fancy wine and discuss the 2004 stage-to-screen adaptation of Patrick Marber's Closer. #Newsletter #Podcasts #Closer #Overdrinkers #MikeBurdge #BernadetteGorman #Wine #Romance #Drama

Two teams of mobsters meet up for a simple deal, money in exchange for weapons, but a small feud between two hot heads spiral out of control creating an hour- long shootout in Ben Wheatley’s thriller comedy, Free Fire . What separates this film from other gangster movies involving shootouts is that this standoff in particular isn’t saved for the last showdown of the movie; it is the movie. Making fantastic use of its singular setting - an abandoned warehouse in the middle of somewhere - the film’s scenery never feels stale. Most of the flick consists of our two gangs, hiding behind cover, on opposite sides of an open space. Though the film succeeds in making a single shootout last an entire movie, it never quite hits the same emotional highs as some of the earned final standoffs in other films. As much as this film has the “bang bangs” or the “boom booms” of other action movies, what sets it apart is our colorful cast of characters. The fight started between Sam Riley and Jack Reynor is our inciting incident for the shootout, and their banter between gunshots across the room from one another is hysterical. As the shootout devolves into betrayals and team changes, that’s where other characters like Sharlto Copley and Armie Hammer really shine. Other performances feel flat, specifically Cillian Murphy, whose character is almost too much of the archetypal “grumpy gangster who’s not all that bad of a guy.” The gunplay and action of this movie feel great but also distinctly different from other films that have come out this year. None of these characters are John Wick, no one is scoring perfect head-shots or laying waist to hundreds of drone like opponents. Every gunshot in the flick feels loud and realistic, and every shot landed is against a major member of our ensemble cast. The way the cinematography weaves in and out of characters crawling on the ground from cover to cover feels more like a World War II movie than anything else. What helps prolong the shootout is that our cast doesn’t get killed off right away, but almost everyone is wounded. Shots are being fired wildly, but for every five bullets shot only one usually hits, leaving a character clipped in the shoulder but still in action. By the time we get to the end of the flick, everyone is wounded and running out of time making the audience feel their fatigue. Though we have group of over ten, distinct characters, no one feels fleshed out enough to care for. Once the deal between the gangs goes sour, the singular goal of the movie becomes survival. No character on either side is a “good guy,” so it leaves the audience with no one to root for. No one really has a fleshed out back story, so when we eventually start seeing some (SPOILER ALERT) death, there’s really no reason to care. There are characters whom I mentioned before are funny, but no one is likable. The movie merely feels like a vessel for banter and gunshots, though that can be a good time, it left me feeling empty by the end of the flick. This movie didn’t have the same weight of say our final moments of Reservoir Dogs , where there is an inherent build up, leaving us at the edge of our seats to see what’s going to happen and who’s going to make it. This movie is that moment stretched out so thin that I just don’t really care. Free Fire is a film that asks a very interesting structural question: “What if an entire film was the shootout.” Though I’m afraid the answer to that question is a movie that can be a lot of fun, but ultimately feels flat by the end. I’m not saying don’t see Free Fire , I just don’t think you need to rush out to the theater to see it. Robert Anderson Robert has a degree in Screenwriting and Playwriting and works in multiple genres. He's just your typical man-child who enjoys most things nerd culture. You can follow him on Twitter @RoBaeBae #Newsletter #Review #FreeFire #BenWheatley #RobertAnderson #Guns #Action #Comedy

Jack is joined by his brother, Jeremy, to take a look at the little-horror-movie-that-could of 2016, The Void . #Newsletter #Podcasts #HotTakes #JackKolodziejski #JeremyKolodziejski #TheVoid

All roads lead here. This is it. The final 1/4 mile. Jack, Robert and Mike talk about the latest installment, The Fate of the Furious , fresh from their first viewing and talk about the franchise as a whole, as well as how the experience has blasted their friendship into overdrive. #Newsletter #Podcasts #QMAAT #QuarterMileataTime #TheFateoftheFurious #F8 #JackKolodziejski #RobertAnderson #MikeBurdge

Jack, Robert and Mike hit the NOS at the final sprint of Quarter Mile at a Time , just in time to catch up to the new installment pulling into the driveway, and find themselves looking back on the franchise - and what it's gained and lost. #Newsletter #Podcasts #QMAAT #QuarterMileataTime #Furious7 #JackKolodziejski #RobertAnderson #MikeBurdge

Jack, Robert and Mike go double the speed limit for this one, but not before making sure there's plenty of antifreeze, because shit is about to get cool. #Newsletter #Podcasts #QuarterMileataTime #QMAAT #Furious6 #TheFastandtheFuriousTokyoDrift #JackKolodziejski #RobertAnderson #MikeBurdge #Corona

Robert and Jack got around to visiting Skull Island and neither of them were prepared. But would they recommend the trip? #Newsletter #Podcasts #KongSkullIsland #HotTakes #JackKolodziejski #RobertAnderson #KingKong #Kaiju

The story of love in modernity is one of growth and decay. Derek Cianfrance captures this sentiment beautifully in Blue Valentine . Through a series of flashbacks interspersed with present day, we are given glimpses of how love persists between Dean, (played by Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) – two people who no longer understand each other, nor are they able to provide for each other’s emotional needs. How do you not stand by the person who stood by you? How do you turn away when you have made a vow stating, “for better or for worse,” in a society that views the dissolution of relationships as a personal failure? From the film’s opening scene, we are confronted with rural isolation and domestic misery. Dean and Cindy’s young daughter, Frankie, calling out for her dog Megan who is no longer there, echoes Dean’s pleas for Cindy to love him again. When Dean tells Frankie that Megan is not dead, just off becoming a Hollywood star, it is clear how his belief in Cindy’s love keeps him from seeing the truth of its death. The lies we tell children about missing dogs are the same lies we tell ourselves when love has faded; the memory of love persists long after its deterioration. This is obvious in the way Cindy tries to comfort Dean over the loss of Megan, in the way he does not listen to what she says, and how she allows him to push her into going to a cheesy sex hotel with the hope of reinvigorating their marriage. The kismet of their meeting – by chance in a nursing home and then, again, on a bus – fits the mold of an idealistic fairy tale romance. The best dialogue in the film is between Cindy and her grandmother: You ought to be careful that the person you fall in love [with] – that they’re worth it to you. How do you trust your feelings when they can just disappear like that? The film jumps to the past in sharp relief to the grief of its present. There are bright spots – as there always are – in the beginning. Dean charms Cindy with music, but only her. He is not some Lothario out for quick action. He is a romantic, in love with the idea of finding the one girl he wants to marry. Cindy is a young woman looking for authenticity of feeling – to believe in the true and undying nature of love despite its seeming lack of existence in her parents’ marriage. She hides in the safety of Dean’s love from her abusive father and ex-boyfriend. When Dean stands by Cindy in her unplanned pregnancy, they create a bond forged in fire and blood. Cindy’s discomfort in the clinic where she plans to have an abortion is so subtly portrayed that any person who has been in a similar position empathizes with her. “Let’s be a family” is a seductive offer when the only other option is single motherhood. Obvious incompatibilities seem surmountable through the lens of young love. The clinic is the turning point of the film – when everything becomes clear. This is the point where the audience realizes that Cindy has traded one abuser for another. The framing of Cianfrance’s film is so powerful that it delivers like a punch to the gut. Cindy and Dean are brought together, while simultaneously being torn apart. Underscoring the unraveling of their marriage in the present are The Platters’, “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” – a classic song about how love blinds us from seeing the truth. The young woman who fell in love with Dean no longer exists – his alcoholism and emotional abuse have destroyed Cindy’s image of him – the sensitive artist and her personal champion. This is most obvious when Dean attempts to arouse Cindy with the idea of making a baby together while on their sex retreat. Any woman who has experienced an abusive relationship knows the fear of being tied down by a child and effectively stuck with their abuser forever. The film begs an answer to the question: what constitutes love? It challenges the notion that love and abuse are mutually exclusive. How can you leave someone who loves your child? Who fights for you when your boss makes inappropriate advances? Who provides escape from an abusive home? The decay of love does not diminish its depth, veracity, intensity, nor does it make its experience any less real. It does not make leaving easier. In the words of Junot Díaz, “The half-life of love is forever.” Liz Velez Liz has a background in film & television production and has worked with NBC, Comedy Central, VH1, and Spotify. Her interests include diversity/representation in media, gender & sexuality politics, social justice and the impact of pop culture in shaping popular opinion. She also slays at drunken karaoke. You can follow her on Twitter @telitlikeitliz #Newsletter #Review #LizVelez #BlueValentine