On today's episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar make up for their missed week due to COVID by discussing six other films before delving into this week's central topic, Superman. Once they've finished their dives into Megan 2.0 and Sinners among other films, the two discuss their hopes for the DCU heading into and out of this film, how this version of Superman captures the characteristics that had been thrown aside in recent adaptations, how the supporting cast adds or subtracts from the final product, and whether our co-hosts are still capable of buying into the message of hope and optimism that sits at the center of the film.
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On today's episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar hammer out their definition of what it means to be a sport before getting behind the wheel with their discussion of the F1 film. Together, they discuss why you really need to like Brad Pitt to enjoy this movie, how well the film highlights why fans love Formula 1, and whether a better version of this film was possible.
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On today's episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar share some recent stories from their lives before delving into The Materialists. Together, they discuss whether or not Dakota Johnson's performance lives up to her fellow cast members, why the film's second act twist falls flat, and why both of our hosts left the movie feeling let down.
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On today's episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar delve into some board game recommendations before turning to the latest film from the John Wick universe: Ballerina. Together, they discuss the action scenes that pulled them into the film before dissecting the poor scriptwriting that pulled them out of it.
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On today's episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar share some recent highlights from their lives before delving into the (probably?) final installment of the Mission Impossible series: The Final Reckoning. Together, they discuss the film's early pacing issues, how it struggles to maximize the value of its villains, and whether the action set pieces are enough to overcome its flaws.
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On today's special episode of Final Cut, hosts Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar take some time to share some vulnerability about their mental health journeys before delving into the first Marvel film in years that could make that topic relevant: Thunderbolts*. Together, they discuss Florence Pugh's amazing performance, how the film manages its cast, and whether this movie did enough to give them hope for future MCU projects.
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On today's episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar delve into before turning their attention to this week's film, The Amateur. Together, they discuss how the film handles its core themes, whether calling it a perfect cable network afternoon film is damning with faint praise, and why this film has one of the largest gaps in scores between our two co-hosts in the show's history!
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On today's episode of Final Cut, Chase Wassenar regales Walter Fedczuk with the cosmic insanity of the recent Venom War event before Walter catches Chase up on Rory McIlroy's Masters victory. They then turn their attention to the first feature length fully-animated Looney Tunes, The Day the Earth Blew Up, discussing why Porky and Daffy were the best protagonists for this new era, their favorite bits and gags throughout the film, and whether it did enough to justify full theatrical experience.
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On today's episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar do a quick check-in on the opening week of the MLB season before taking a look at Bong Joon Ho's first film since Parasite, Mickey 17. Together, they discuss how the film targets Western audiences for better and for worse, the strength of the film's acting performances, and how its politics dramatically split our co-hosts' opinion on the film.
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On today's special episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar head to Peru to check out the Paddington films. After a quick dive into their previous Paddington experience, they discuss how the movie's writing evolves over the three films, their favorite villains and side characters throughout the series, and why the Paddington movies rise above the "kid movie" moniker.
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On today's packed episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar invite author Gabriella Shlyakh onto the podcast to discuss two different movies. First, they take a quick(ish) look at Captain America Brave New World to recognize what worked and why everything that didn't work isn't likely to be fixed anytime soon. Then, they move to the Latvian animated film Flow, one of few animated movies to get an Best International Feature nomination. Together, they break down their favorite animal moments, the unique animation style, and share their takes on the ending and what it means to them.
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Follow Gabriella Shlyakh on Instagram, and check out her latest audiobook series The Moth of Glen Mailey!
On today's episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar briefly share their thoughts on the Super Bowl (congrats Philly fans!) before moving on to Love Hurts. Together, they discuss the film's reliance on ADR to fill in missing plot details, how the film struggled to bring its core themes and relationships together, and how much their expectations affected their viewing experience.
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On this special episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar take a look at a trio of Sonic the Hedgehog films that they were too slow to watch before the latest entry. Together, they discuss how the films manage to capture the tone of the video games, their favorite acting performances, and what elevates the latest film over the other two.
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On this week's episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk lets co-host Chase Wassenar share his favorite k-pop songs of 2024 before the two dive into Sony's latest mess of a technically Spider-Man related film, Kraven the Hunter. Together, they try to make sense of a way too long flashback sequence, questionable characterization and acting choices, and why this film didn't have to be bad despite its narrative limitations.
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On today's surprise episode of the Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar look at Francis Ford Coppola's baffling Megalopolis film and try to make sense of it all. There's plenty of chaos and ridiculous moments along the way, but the core themes and philosophy of the film leave a bad taste in our hosts mouths all the same.
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On today's episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar look at The War of the Rohirrim, the latest entry into the Lord of the Rings canon and the first high fantasy animated film not intended for kids that our co-hosts can think of in a long time. Together, they discuss their history with the LotR franchise and how the film's rotoscoping enhances the experience before Chase gets out his editor's pen while dissecting the film's plot and characters.
After a brief discussion on Arcane and the future of League of Legends media, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar make their way into the arena to discuss Gladiator 2. Together, they compare this sequel to the original film, discuss the high production value of the action scenes that drove most of the interest and advertising around this movie, and argue over whether that's enough for a film to be considered good.
On today's episode of Final Cut, Walter Fedczuk and Chase Wassenar take a look at Netflix's future Oscars darling, Emilia Perez. Together, they discuss how the film handled its musical elements, the incredible performances from the lead actresses, and why the film's ending unfortunately didn't land with our co-hosts.
For the third movie in our wild card sidequest, Walter Fedczuk introduces Chase Wassenar and special guest Kristen Pignuolo to the 1962 film Taras Bulba. Together, they discuss the historical context of the original novel and Russia's attempt to reclaim this important piece of Ukranian culture, how the movie embraces Cossack culture, and why Chase and Kristen could not get behind the Tony Curtis of it all. They close with a touching tribute to Walter's Ukranian heritage and how it's shaped him to this day.
On today's episode of Final Cut, Chase Wassenar leads Walter Fedczuk through a brief tour of Venom's current comics shenanigans before diving into Sony's latest film, Venom: The Last Dance. Together, they discuss how this film compares to the first two in the series, the film's numerous missed opportunities, and whether or not Sony has an actual plan for their Marvel films moving forward.
