The First Run - Episode 4: Up In The Air, Paranormal Activity, Blu-Ray Picks, Inventory of our Favorite Films of 2009 (10-6)

And we're back with a little bit of lovin' for everyone.  Chris revels in his man crush on George Clooney with 'Up In The Air'. Meanwhile, Espo tries desperately not to pee himself in fright while watching Paranormal Activity.  Matt attempts to maintain a level of sanity and decorum.  Give us a listen to see if he succeeds.  

Intro / Up In The Air / Dead Man's Curve: 0:00-20:41

Blu-Ray DVD Picks / I Burn Today:  20:42-26:41

Paranormal Activity / She's My Way: 26:42-41:26

Inventory - Favorites of 2009 10-6 / The Water: 41:27-109:09

Wrap Up: 109:09-1:11:47

Download Episode 4 for your mp3 device here: Episode 4

If you can't wait to download it, click play on the player below for instant gratification!

Oh, and enjoy the new, official theme song!  Thanks to Jamal Malachi Ford-Bey.

This week's music features Black Francis.

So which had a better return on investment...?

Paranormal Activity

Production Budget: $15,000

Box Office Gross: $107,870,499

Halloween

Production Budget: $325,000

Box Office Gross: $47,000,000

The First Run - Episode 3: The Road, Sukiyaki Western Django, Blu-Ray picks, Inventory of Post-Apocalyptic Movies

Road Trip!

Episode 3 is all up in your grill this weekend.  We start things off with a discussion of the feel good film of the year, 'The Road'.  We then dive into our Blu-Ray & DVD Picks, and listener e-mail.   Then you get your chance to win the DVD Joe 'Lunchbox' Woronick reviews for our first contest.  Next we dust off our chaps, luckily Espo had a few extra pairs for us to borrow, and ride into Japan, by way of Nevada and lasso us up some 'Sukiyaki Western Django'.  We wrap up the big show by checking off our Inventory of favorite Post-Apocalyptic films.  So stock up your bomb shelter, charge your iPod and give it a listen.

Download the show for your mp3 device here: Episode 3

Or listen right now!

0.00-0.39 Intro

0.40-14.54 The Road

14.55-16.08 The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room - FOTC

16.09-25.40 Blu-Ray & DVD Picks

25.41- 26.28 Bret, You Got It Going On - FOTC

26.32-30.17 Contest

30.18-31.50 I'm Not Crying - FOTC

31.51-45.06 Sukiyaki Western Django

45.07-46.16 If You're Into It - FOTC

46.17-1:05.28 Inventory of Post Apocalyptic Films

105.29-106.28 Business Time - FOTC

106.29-107.02 Wrap Up

107.02-1:07.45 Boom! - FOTC

Music this week by Flight of the Conchords: Official Site

Kick-Ass looks...well, you know where I am going with that one.

I'm going to have to admit, I have high hopes for this one. I think it is going to be pretty awesome or, at the very least, better than Wanted. Way to aim high! The first link is the theatrical trailer. The second link, however, is a totally NSFW, not for cry-baby peacenik hippies red-band trailer featuring Hit Girl. It has all the little girl swearing, ultra violence and Nicholas Cage you can handle! (And let's be serious, 5 seconds of Nick Cage is about all anyone can handle.) Follow the links below to Yahoo! Movies and superherohype.com for the pretty pictures.

Kick-Ass Theatrical Trailer

Hit Girl Red-Band Trailer

More upcoming awesomeness/pending disasters.

Here's a fun game for you...match theses reactions to the following movie posters.

A.) "While I am pretty psyched, my question to you is...how did this beat out Don't!, Thanksgiving and Werewolf Women of the SS?"

B.) "I think I overheard a passing nerd talking about this character once. They are at the bottom of the DC barrel already?!"

C.) "Who gave this the greenlight? Fire that man or lady."

D.) "Sweet Jesus no."

"A Nightmare on Elm Street" Poster and Trailer

Well, I am just a blogging fool today. It's almost the new year so I decided to post some trailers and posters for some upcoming flicks that have my nerdar going crazy. First on the list is the remake of the Wes Craven classic, "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Can I be frank with you? I'm not so sure about this one. This one is definitely giving off that "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "Halloween" suck vibe. Will I go see it? Most definitely. Click the link below for the teaser trailer courtesy of Yahoo! Movies.

A Nightmare on Elm Street teaser trailer

What's next you ask? Well, it's "Up in the Air." (Get it?! I LOL myself.)

I’m glad to see you all made it through the holidays unscathed. I was a little worried there for a minute. But can you blame me? The pictures are all over the inter-web. Let me be the first to say that I am so, SO disappointed in you. Anyway, next week the Chrises (that’s one letter away from ‘crises’! So true.) and I will be watching “Up in the Air,” a little film starring a newcomer named George Clooney. I know you probably haven’t heard of this movie since this has completely avoided any sort of award buzz or publicity. But we are really cutting edge and avant garde so we like to give the small films a chance. I think it is about how flying is equivalent to purgatory and working for a living sucks or something and, you know, LIFE LESSONS. We’ll also be giving ourselves nightmares by viewing “Paranormal Activity.” I am trembling in fear just thinking about it. Of course, all of that is filler compared to part one of our end of year movie wrap up! I know, you are really excited to hear what our favorites of 2009 were but you are just going to have to wait. Patience is a virtue after all. We may also have a super special new feature dependent on how chatty we are! You’ll just have to listen to the fourth episode to find out if it makes the cut. TEASER!

While you are here, answer our poll about your favorite book-to-film adaption from our not-so-exhaustive list. Feel free to send us any comments, suggestions, or threats to our welfare to thefirstrun@gmail.com. The third episode will be up as soon as Scalzo starts getting serious and gets some work done. Geez, the nerve of that guy. See the December 15 post (December 15?!) for a breakdown of ep. 3. Until then, I say good day to you, sir. I said good day!

Episode 2: Avatar, Public Enemies, Call It, & an Inventory of our favorite Holiday Films

And we're back with our special holiday episode.  Chris and Matt are joined this week with two guests!  Fanboy Kenny, and Chris Esposito.  The guys sit down to discuss the potential future of filmmaking in their discussion of Avatar.  They also break out the fedoras and tommy guns and take a shot at Johnny Depp's Public Enemies.  You're also treated to this week's blu-ray and dvd picks, a brand spankin' new segment, 'Call It', and find out if Die Hard really is Chris' favorite holiday film.  So unwrap your presents, have some cookies, and give it a listen.

Happy Holidays everyone!



Download the show for your mp3 device here: The First Run: Episode 2

0:00-1:00  Intro

1:00-15:19  Avatar

15:20-16:29 Christmastime Is Here - Vince Guaraldi

16:30-21:15 Blu-Ray & DVD Picks

21:16-22:22 Misletoe & Holly - Frank Sinatra

22:23-33:02 Call It

33:03-34:19 Sleigh Ride - Wynton Marsalis

34:20-45:16 Public Enemies

46:17-46:15 Winter Weather - Squirrel Nut Zippers

46:16-1:14:53 Inventory of Holiday Films

1:14:54-1:16:03 Toyland - Leon Redbone

1:16:04-1:18:10 Wrap Up

1:18:11-1:19:14 Baby, It's Cold Outside - Dean Martin

1:19:15-1:19:31 Outtake

Send us your feedback, suggestions for 'Call It', or your own favorite Holiday Films to thefirstrun@gmail.com

Iron Man 2 Trailer Is Online!

Available at Apple.  Click on the link below to check it out!

Iron Man 2 Trailer

On the First day of Christmas, James Cameron gave to me...a $500 million movie.

So guess what? You know that post earlier in the week that I put out there about a post-apocalyptic movie I was super psyched to see? Yeah, ignore that one. Chris came to me and said “Matt, I’m already depressed enough because of the holidaze and I don’t want to watch anything that would bring me down even more. So let’s not see ‘The Road’ this week because I am a sniveling man-baby.” While I was just as struck as you are that he would use the term “holidaze” and nothing says holiday cheer to me like the remnants of a ruined society gripped by crushing despair (cause, you know, consumerism), I agreed to postpone that show for our week after Festivus come down show. The fact that “The Road” is still in limited release played some small part in this decision as well but let’s not dwell on that, ‘kay? Kay. So for this weeks show, we will be discussing “Avatar,” James Cameron’s obscenely expensive, ridiculously CGI’d (that means computer cartoons, if you didn’t know) return to sci-fi. Will it be a glorious love letter to genre a la “Aliens” and “Terminator 2” or a make-me-want-to-dig-my-eyeballs-out-of-my-skull ode to nonsense from a once great genre director, like “A.I.”? Oh, Mr. Spielberg, how you hurt me with that one. We’ll also be talking about the Johnny Depp and Christian Bale advertisement for the Thompson sub-machine gun, “Public Enemies.” And in the spirit of the season, The Inventory for this week will be our favorite holiday movies! Hooray for Christmakwanzakah spirit! (SPOILER ALERT: Scalzo’s favorite is “Die Hard.”) The much touted DVD contest WILL HAPPEN so I wasn’t lying about that part because I like to slip some truth into my lies. It keeps you on your toes. BUT WAIT…THERE”S MORE! We’ll also have a special celebrity guest, Christopher “Super-Fan” Esposito. I know you are shocked we could get Espo to associate with us but I will thank you not to ask how we got him to agree. Just listen to the show to make the latest addition to our list of secret shames worthwhile. Later guys, I’m off to practice for the Feats of Strength!

The First Run - Episode 1: The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Thirst, Top 5 Animated Films of the Decade

Chris & Matt sit down to discuss Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Park Chan Wook's Thirst, and their Top 5 Animated Films of the decade.

To listen to the show, right click and download the podcast here: The First Run: Episode 1
Or click the play button on the below player.

Show Info:

0:00-0:38: Intro
0:39-7:08: The Fantastic Mr. Fox

7:09-9:02: The Swell Season - Two Tongues

9:03-12:44: Blu Ray & DVD Picks

12:45-14:55: The Swell Season - The Verb

14:56-27:30: Thirst

27:31-29:21: The Swell Season - High Horses

29:22-38:14: The Inventory - Top 5 Animated Films of the Decade

38:15-39:39: The Swell Season - Feeling The Pull

39:40-40:23 The Wrap Up

40:24-41:45 Closing & Outtake

Blame it on nerves, or the pre-game booze, but I mispronounced Park Chan Wook's name numerous times, calling him Chark Pan Wook. Off to a great start...

Visit The Swell Season here:The Swell Season

We carry the fire and boy does it sting.

Greetings loyal followers...all one of you! It’s Matt, aka Thurston. I am very excited for this weeks viewing selection. I have literally been all a-flutter about this movie since it was announced 35 years ago. This week, Chris and I will be discussing “The Road,” starring Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee, based on the Pulitzer winning and Oprah approved book of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. While this wasn’t Chris’ first choice, I threw a tantrum until I got my way. So you’re welcome. We’ll also be rapping about “Sukiyaki Western Django” directed by Takashi Miike of “Ichi the Killer” fame (fame? I guess that’s the word.) There will also be our first ever DVD contest, another rousing Inventory around our favorite post-apocalyptic films and other such nonsen...er...I mean, important, relevant discourse. Oh my God, you guys are totally excited. I will see you there, or I will see you on another time!

P.S. The first show should be available for your listening pleasure forthwith. Check back soon!

What's Coming Up At The First Run?

Chris here!  Wanted to provide a taste of this week's upcoming inaugural episode of The First Run.  We'll be discussing the new Wes Anderson film, 'The Fantastic Mr. Fox'.  We'll also talk about Park Chan-Wook's newest, 'Thirst'.  We'll review what's new in blu-ray and dvd releases, and then break down our favorite animated films from this decade.

While you're here, check out our poll question and let us know who your favorite Wes Anderson character is.

We're getting closer to the release of our first show.  In the meantime, take a look at the teaser poster for Iron Man 2 from our friends over at Yahoo Movies.