The Wild Robot

Scorecard, sick day movies, Ryan Coogler returns, Ryan Gosling

New Mexico Drew

Kelly

Eric H

, and 3 others

Sep 27, 2024

Who else feels like they can’t keep up with all of the great movies and shows coming out? 🙋‍♀️🙋 Now our ever-growing watchlists will be put on hold because spooky season is right around the corner and Josh is making the rest of us work through his horror movie list all October. The crew’s gotta do what the crew’s gotta do. 🫡

Here’s what we have for you this week:

Concession Stand Scorecard: The Wild Robot
Temp These Takes: You have a full sick day of movies - what are you watching?
Watchlist Worthy: Ryan Coogler dropped his latest trailer - just in time for spooky season.
Pod Drop: The crew gets together to debate Ryan Gosling’s range.

We go to the movies every week to tell you if the latest films are worth the price of admission and what you can expect.

This week’s movie - “The Wild Robot”

Letterboxd Description:

After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island’s animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.

Best Watched With

Your mom, anyone who calls you mom.

End credit thoughts

Some may say The Wild Robot has an over-told story, but we'll get tired of stories about outcasts finding belonging and love on the big screen when they finally find them here on Earth. Writer/director Chris Sanders has a knack for giving us beloved animated movies, and he’s given us the most lovable spherical robot since BB-8.

The Wild Robot is beautiful both metaphorically and visually. The animation is unique, it's fresh, and it invited us into a new world that was immersive and gorgeous. We don’t know how they keep coming up new ways to animate motion pictures, but if not knowing is the price to be paid for visual artists to keep pushing the limits, we'll gladly pay it.

The music by composer Kris Bowers didn't just tug at our heartstrings, it played them like a first chair violinist.

The voice acting legends Catherine O'Hara, Matt Berry, Mark Hamill, and Bill Nighy gave us the best supporting cast you could ask for. But it was the relative new comers to voice acting that delivered. Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, and Kit Connor covered the spectrum of funny, frustrating, clever, hopeless, endearing, and admirable.

The story is fun and playful, showing us how technology can interact with nature, while not straying away from the realities of the circle of life; reminding us if life is anything, it is not fair. And yet, it can be good. It gracefully weaves in humor and charm, especially around the family dynamics of the furry island friends.

The Wild Robot plays to a younger audience, and it has a level of optimism that some might take as corny, but it's done with conviction and purpose in such a way that it works. If you're able to turn off the programming in your head and feel with what's in your chest, you should have a ball.

Go hug your mom and watch this on the big screen.

Watch the trailer here

The Crew’s hottest and coldest takes (you decide) on all things movies.

You’re sick at home - what four movies are getting you through the day?

Eric
The first thing I’m doing when I am sick is throwing on the LOTR trilogy - extended editions ONLY. HBO Max has come in clutch in recent years by ALWAYS having these bad boys available. For my fourth watch when I’m ill and bedridden is The Big Short. Do NOT ask me why. It’s just, a comfort movie for me. All-timer cast, with truly terrible vibes throughout. Who knew a housing market crash would be therapeutic for a cold!

Josh
The first time I watched There Will Be Blood I was sick as a dog with a 103 fever. Fever dreaming while watching Daniel Day-Lewis talk about milkshakes and drinking them up, which basically is a fever dream, was not the move. Not even a little bit.

The Social Network is at bat, Molly’s Game is on deck, The Big Short is in the hole, and Good Will Hunting is batting clean up. Familiar favorites that I know like the backs of my hands, a horror film cosplaying as a comedy drama to remind myself the world could of ended and today is a gift, and wrapping up with the reminder “It’s not my fault” and forgiving myself for thinking it is.

New Mexico Drew
I’m probably feeling terrible in the morning, so I’ll have to start with something I’ve seen a bunch - Nacho Libre. Next, I’m watching my favorite sick day movie from my childhood, Arachnophobia. By this point, I’m starting to question why I stayed home, because I’m feeling great, I’m feeling strong, I need a pump-up movie. I let Jean-Claude Van Damme fire me up in Bloodsport. I was overzealous, I realize that I feel like death, and I just want it all to end, so I watch humanity’s near end in the cinematic masterpiece Armageddon. I let Steven Tyler’s sweet melodies take me into a deep sleep.

What’s your take? Hit Reply or leave a comment below and let us know!

A movie one of us added to our Letterboxd watchlist this week.

Sinners 2025 Directed by Ryan Coogler

It feels like Ryan Coogler is collecting infinity stones with what movies he chooses to make. He gave us drama with Fruitvale Station, a sports epic in Creed, and two super hero movies, The Black Panther, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Now, Ryan is giving us the vibiest horror flick in Sinners.

We are confident this will be a great movie, and if it is, it will prove there is nothing Coogler can’t do. We can’t fail to mention that Michael B Jordan has been in every movie mentioned above, and Coogler enjoys working with Jordan so much he has him Lindsay Lohan’ing by playing his own twin.

The only bad news in all of this is that we have to wait until March 2025 to see it.

-NMD

Letterboxd Description:

Dance with the devil.
Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

Watch the trailer here

Movies Directed by Ryan Coogler:

Black Panther (2018)
Creed (2015)
Fruitvale Station (2013)

Ryan Gosling: Hot Funny Guy or Hot Brooding Guy #036

🎧 Listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
🎥 Watch the video of the latest podcast on YouTube

So sorry we didn't get to Kelly's Quiz or Mickey 17. Kelly and Eric were raptured.

In this episode, hosts Josh, Drew, Eric, and Kelly engage in a spirited discussion about Ryan Gosling's acting range. They debate whether Ryan Gosling is a versatile actor or if he typically falls into two categories: 'hot, funny guy' and 'hot, broody guy.'

The four explore his filmography from 'The Notebook' to 'La La Land,' discussing his performances in each. Additionally, the episode includes tangents about their rating systems on Letterboxd, their favorite films, and an unexpected conversation about penguin anatomy. The session wraps up with reflecting on their research and a shoutout to their newsletter and YouTube channel.

Ryan Goslings IMDb