DC Shakeup: James Gunn Out as Marvel's Latcham Takes Over and VisionQuest E5-6

0:00 Greetings nerds. This is Seena Nerd. I'm your host, Sarah Belmont, and with me as always is our Mr. Producer, Will Paulk. How are you doing tonight, Will? Doing very well, Sarah. How you doing this evening? I am just praying that we don't have a lag. Yeah, I know. But, hopefully we don't. But, speaking of lags, we were right before started to record, you were, just catching up on the news today about, a very, prominent person in the studio world, Mr. James Gunn and, Peter Safran are both out at DC Studios. and, Jeremy Laxman is now the president of the, studios and, chief creative officer. So I guess the, what was the rock thing, the, the hierarchy and the, DC universe is like changing and whatnot. I guess here we are again. I Was gonna say, like, the thing about that is it changes every other year. Yeah. Do we know Jeremy Lachman from anything? Yeah. So he was, actually he's, was a Kevin Fogey, protege. Okay. Wow.

0:56 Yeah. Yeah. he, he was part of Marvel Studios. He actually worked with James Gunn on, Guardians, as well, but, when, Gunn was at Marvel Studios. yeah. let's see. He also, I mean, he was there pretty much from the beginning. I'm just looking here at his, his, bio here. Yeah, he did. Yeah. Yeah, go ahead. wanted to jump in and ask, so by Step Down, I know likemhead of studio production, but - Yeah. What about his current projects that he has in the pipeline? Yeah. So he did speak to that. so he did share that, he'll still will be around for Mad of Tomorrow. Right. then he also, is going to continue to be a creative for the studio. he said he's got another project that they're working on.

1:38 there's also the, People versus Gorilla God with Grod, which is the, spinoff of, Superman as well. Supergod. Yeah. He essentially will still be - Yeah. Likely be involved with all things Superman. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. as long as they continue it. I mean, we'll see what happens. I mean, that's, I guess that's one of the big questions that's out there. of course, we do have Man in Tomorrow. and of course And Grill as well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And Garad, but, will Atchman continue the foundation that James has started with as far, with these, the Superman, since Corn Sweat overall was pretty well received as far as Superman. Oh, I'm sure they will. Yeah. don't view this, the more you explain to me about it and the situation, it doesn't sound like it's gonna be a complete like rewrite. The only part of Superman that, like, James Gunn should step away from is Supergirl.

2:30 Yeah. Well, that's, it's funny, that's, that's... Yeah. I think that's, that's been one of the critiques about him. And even, I think he even speaks to it in his, in his statement today too, he, he does all the, the things, as far as being a studio head and he's like, has been trying, to say the least. I dislike the, at times, corporate nature of the job. Thanks to Peter Saffron for taking the brunt of it, but a filmmaker and he, he wants to get a little break. Yeah. But, but yeah. I mean, I think - Yeah. It's, it's hard. It would be hard to, for someone who, like, Guardians of Galaxy, that was all him - Yeah. arguably, to then suddenly stretch yourself, like, have your main focus on Superman and then stress yourself saying, "I can just handle the DC world as a whole." Yeah. I'm - Yeah.

3:17 Like, it's a weird mix, I'm feeling about this where I'm glad he's still gonna be involved with Superman because Superman was a success. you can see the vision there, but - Yeah. I also am not necessarily surprised by this. Yeah. given some of given the reactions to, the expansion that he has tried to do. Yeah. And then to have, like, that occur in the same year where the MCU is just like, "Yeah, we're gonna drop another Spider-Man movie with Sony and then just break records that no one saw." Like, just out of nowhere, the fourth movie all of a sudden is, like, the biggest thing in the world. Yeah. Jesus Christ.

4:02 Yeah. Yeah. and I think that's a good point. I mean, you, that, with respect to Marvel, I mean, Marvel is, having a comeback as far as with, I think VisionQuest has been well received, everybody's really looking forward to Doomsday coming up. the thing about Latchman, he, he is someone who is, you know, he's been behind the scenes and been a producer on a lot of stuff, as far as some of the, the big films from Marvel, like Iron Man and, Avengers and some of the other ones. he's not coming to this universe cold. one thing that, I did, like, hop on social media a little bit to see some of the reaction today and, all throughout the whole Skydance, HBO, the whole merger and stuff, there's always been this element of, there's been the political aspects of it, and, David Ellison, being very close, to President Trump and, and his father, who owns Oracle, having those ties. And there's been concerns about, well, James is gonna stick around. And then, of course, Ellison actually said, "Hey, look, I want these guys to stay around." But, whenever something like this happens, it wasn't like it just happened on Monday, November the 9th, that we're, all of a sudden James gonna, and Stafford's gonna step away. The way this looks, especially given that they had a successor already in the pipeline, you this has definitely been, going for weeks here, I think.

5:16 if not weeks, then definitely, maybe it would happen a few days ago, but, Oh, no. I think you're right. Weeks or Months. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And also, they released that Suicide Squad podcast, so I don't know if that's, like, a swan song kind of thing that they were just, getting it out there since it's one of his last hurrahs or... Yeah. And then there's still the outstanding question about Lanterns, because, Peter Saffron did say shortly after Lanterns ended that, hasn't been green lit for, a season two yet. So there's a lot of things that are still, that's gonna happen out there. And then the last thing I'll say about it as far as Latchman, when I was going into the social media, I know some people were concerned about, what direction he may take the studio because, again, no matter how you feel about it, I think he's very open about his faith, and he was in an interview with a Christian broadcast network, program, and talked about how, his, whenever they were, filming, the first Iron Man, would this be something that grandma would like? And, and, and he tells this anecdote of a story about his grandmother's pastor, using, using the first Iron Man movie as a story of redemption and preaching about it on Sunday at, the church service on Sunday and stuff. So, people out there are concerned about that as far as, like, well, will that influence his storytelling and those kind of things?

6:30 mean, paradters are creatives. People, of course, people may have worldview, but many people are able to separate their personal beliefs from, you know, the creative process. this remains to be seen, but I know that I've seen that sentiment out there as well. Yeah. Yeah. I don't... so moving on to VisionQuest, which apparently, as Will put it, is very well received, and I'm watching a completely different show. I just continue to watch a completely different show. Although, I did listen to quite a bit of Midnight Boys review these two episodes, and I finally, at one moment, felt like I was watching the same show, and then it diverted a little bit. It was like fifty fifty. so we are talking season one, episode five, Firewall, Ultron, and Jacosta join forces.

7:13 comes to Vision's aid to help him evade capture. and so, this is all about what happened after the gala. Was it a gala? It was a gala. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, Tommy and Ultron have an exchange, and honestly, Edith delivered probably my favorite line between the two episodes. It's like watching Hannibal Electric swipe. Not when he was talking to Tommy. Later when he was talking to Joe Costa - Joe Costa, yeah. Just to clarify that. But that was, like, my, okay. Yeah. That was a good one. what did you think about the conversation between Tommy and Ultron? so I have to say, Well, this was the first time I actually... it was a lot for me this week. I don't know if it's just because I watched these episodes back to back or what, but it was a lot of exposition.

7:58 to answer your question about Tommy and Ultron, I just felt like Ultron was talking around things. He wasn't, Yes. Yeah. he wasn't giving direct answers and stuff. one thing I did appreciate though was Well, I guess this is more with DeCosta, but as far as the conversation about, But, you know, you know, he finds the human race to be incurable disease. And I mean, again, it was just like that, that, that's very own brand for Ultron. Um Yeah. Yeah. Uh, but it wasn't... I just felt like this episode had a lot of exposition in it that was making it very, very hard. It felt very dense because of all the talkiness of it. for me at least, I think the set design was beautiful though. I mean, I just really loved how they just, they used the television sets and stuff, to, like, basically...

8:39 how Edith and the team and, and Vision, used the used The technology of the world to be able to locate, Tommy and, and Ultron. So the set, everything around the episode, Well, it felt like a lot like a play. So I really liked that part. But then the talkiness of it just felt very stilted to me at sometimes. So what was the underlining point for the set design in terms of the black and white? I think it was, a bottle show. I mean, in some respects, as far as, taking it out of... Yeah, I mean, it was somewhat of a bottle show as far as sort of resetting things. It was Definitely a bottle show. Yeah, resetting things for the back half of the season. but also, I think I think it was a way t I think about, for example, when Friday talked about she just basically sat there and, like, talked about Tony dying.

9:28 and it was just a lot of talk about it. Whereas here, I think the set design really gave a good dynamic for the to propel the story along as far as, like, Vision and the other AIs being locked up in, in the cell that Vision had created for, Ultron. but but they used the files and stuff and everything of feeding the book into the old video VCR and stuff, it helped to propel the story forward so that, to me, To me, at least, gave momentum to something that otherwise would've just been just a big exposition dump of just Ultron and Tommy sitting there in the room, without the rest of our team being able to look at them and, and, and follow them along.

10:11 Yeah, but they used the black and white stuff for more than just Tommy and Ultron. They used it throughout the entire episode. Yeah. There's always a reason for it, or there should be. There always should be. Yeah. And in my mind, the easiest answer I could come up with was, like, these conversations happened previously. Mm. because often black and white - Yeah. Especially when you're going in cover, it's like a time difference. Yeah. But, it wasn't really tracking with me. Mm. it just, to go to your point, a lot of exposition, and then the way they decided to display it, it didn't make it intriguing in my opinion. Yeah. I the set design felt too much like a set.

10:52 I guess to an extent that it was probably purposeful. I'm just, like, at the end of the day, I am not agreeing with a lot of the creative decisions of the show. Yeah. Yeah. So we just have to acknowledge that, that's there - Yeah. And that's where my critique... And I'm glad if it resonates with people, but I can also admit when something does not resonate with me - uh-huh. And I was very much, like, tuned out within the first two conversations. I picked up on that one line, and then the rest of episode, I was pretty much on my phone. So - Yeah. I, I get there's a lot of exposition. I also don't necessarily feel like I missed anything even. Yeah. Even though I was not engaged in it, I don't I, will admit, like, I probably missed nuances and whatnot, but in terms of what they were trying to do to move the story along, was like, "Okay, understand, like, the..."

11:51 Yeah. To go back to that, to talk about the overall story mechanics that are at play here. So we have this conversation between Ultron and Tommy to start things off. And at the end of the conversation, Tommy says that Ultron is afraid. Yeah. Because he can't figure out connection. And which is very odd way to phrase things, in my opinion. And it felt... I will admit the delivery was off for me a bit there. Yeah. Then you fast forward and we get all of these scenes, this connection between Ultron and Jo Costa. And so they are clearly forming a connection. And then Then it starts to unravel in a way to explain what makes Ultron different. Yeah.

12:38 And it goes back to the line he said in a previous episode. He was born in the lab. All these other AIs are copies. Yeah. And then they also are based on real life people. So their quote unquote memories of life and experience are coded into them. So they're dealing with a different situation in terms of trying to understand humanity than even Ultron can relate to. So he can't relate to humans because he's not a human. He also can't relate to all of these other AIs because he is not based on a human. Right. And I thought that was really interesting.

13:20 That was Interesting. But for it to be buried in this monologue, monologue, monologue, and in this very play... Like, I think you hit the nail on the hammer. play production didn't help me, like, engage with the episode. Mm-mm. It made me more bored with how things were, like, being said and everything. but I do like that point. And I do like the chemistry between these two actors. Now - Yeah. My other issue that I've come to terms with is I think my problem is... Now, this might be a longer point to get to, but stay with me. I will. I'm locked in. Seeing James Spader act as Ultron is taking me out.

14:02 And you may be like, "Well, why is that? He's a great actor." Yeah, he's a great actor, but I know he's James Spader. And I was thinking about it. I think my problem is I was introduced to the CGI character Ultron with the voice of James Spader. Like, it's very different than, as we previously mentioned, or I previously mentioned, watching four movies, if not more, if you count all of the Avengers movies, with Tom Holland. Like, I know in watching Brand New Day that that's Tom Holland and that's Zendaya. Yeah. But I've also been watching them in these characters for so many movies.

14:42 James Spader, I've heard his voice. So it's a weird. I'm like - Yeah. That's James Spader. That's Ultron's voice. There's, like, some kind of weird disconnect there. Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you. I, you know, that... I'm so glad you said that, because I think that was probably why it was so hard for me to connect with this episode. Uh-huh. And wasn't it interesting how you would get all of this and then they would do a shot to remind you that these are two, robots talking? Yeah. And, I think between the two, because in those moments, I was like, "Oh, yeah. Okay." Yeah. Because they're... And I get it. This is a low production TV show. I mean, they're not spending millions upon millions of dollars on this. And so there's a reason why they, can't do Ultron as CGI. I totally understand that. Yeah. But that's leading to a disconnect as someone who was introduced to Ultron as that. Yeah. Not just the voice. It's... So Yeah. Yeah, that's, an excellent point. I, think, because I, mean, I think for me, that, this was the first episode where I did I did find myself having difficulty really connecting, because I think whether it was Ultron or, like, even, like, with the AIs, as well, I, it, it's acts...

16:02 I don't know if it's just a, bias that I'm having with the more, with... I understand what they're trying to do as far as, like, using these AI constructs to, like, try to explore the human condition and, emotions and, and them feeling things. And, like, whenever, Friday, jumped into the void to, whenever the, when it broke down the firewalls to, to go after... When when they had to make the choice and, Vision did, turn on the firewall, so then Ultron got out. and, and then, Edith goes, know, goes to Vision to, be consoled when, Friday also, like, jumps out to, to run after, after - uh-huh. To run after Ultron. I just, I... It's, just something about... I don't know. I know. Maybe it's just a, thing of me, just my, just trying to... I don't know if it's, like, a, they're trying to normalize, or maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I just feel like it's, like, at the end of the day, I'm like, I'm I'm wrestling, and maybe that's part of what the show's trying to do. I'm wrestling with the, mor - trying to normalize AIs? AI have become a sentient. I mean, for, lack of, I mean, I, think that's part of what I'm really grappling with and, and with... At least when I was this particular episode is what was... I mean, I mentioned it before, but this episode - Yeah, yeah. Was, like, really, really driving home for me and it, was just...

17:18 I just could not connect with it. Right. But my question is, isn't that 99% of stories we get about? I mean - Yeah. Go back to early 2000s with the movie AI or - Yeah. What was that Robin Williams one? I know what you mean talking - Bicentennial And man. Bicentennial man. Bicentennial Man. Yeah. Yeah. Like, they... I don't think... Normalization, I wouldn't use that word. Yeah. They are trying to explain how the questions of, there's this technology, right? Yeah. I mean, go back to last week's episode with that whole evolution of man. Yeah. And then it, like, is the evolution man into machine?

18:02 Yeah. And then now we're looking at that backwards too, where the machines are like, "But wait a second. There's all of these good things about being human." It's, similar to when we get stories about alien races - True, true. That come to earth and see humanity. Yeah. So it... I don't think it's normalization. It's just trying to - Yeah. Analyze humanity and what makes something have, like, what is the qualifications of humanity - Yeah. From a, something or - uh-huh. That is not a part of that race. Yeah. Yeah.

18:44 I, think that's... And maybe normalization's not the right word. I agree with you there. I think, I mean, I think it, it's... And it's not normalization. maybe it's just, like, I've seen this story before. Oh, yeah. Yes. And, and I think as we discussed it, you're right. I mean, This not groundbreaking storytelling here. I mean, we... these questions have been presented many times over. and they'll, as as we see with with Jacosta and her... I mean, if we wanna pivot to - Yeah, Absolutely. Yeah, pivot to to episode six deadlock. uh-huh. and, learning about her illness and, we see how she is, Sorry. Yeah. To clarify, what was the illness? It had... was some, Some neural they said, like, her father's illness got her, and I - Yeah. Her mind, which makes me think Alzheimer's. I think it was Alzheimer's. I think it was some kind of neural, yeah, degeneration, degenerative disease. Alzheimer's, dementia, something like that. I agree.

19:35 Yeah. Yeah. that was my understanding. I can't recall if they actually named what it was, but it was... Alzheimer's seems to be the most logical, uh-huh. Yeah, but no, like, you're right then to pivot into this episode where we learn more about her - Yeah. And you're suddenly, after all of that with Ultron and Decosta, suddenly you learn what the keys unlocked and it's - uh-huh. These nanobots where - Yeah. Her big project was creating a AI for everyone. Which, and it's presented... I appreciate the word choice of companion. Yeah. I thought that was interesting - It was. Especially given what we just went through with, with Ultron and loneliness.

20:16 So, but... Yeah. and how these nanos would even, like, be doctors inside your body, just - Yeah. Just all... They... Yeah. it's definitely, a lot. And it goes to more of, like, suddenly, well, if you can't join them - Yeah. Because they can never join them, so it's like we're gonna beat them by making everyone just like us. Yep. Well, not you, Ultron. You'll never be like us. Yeah, You'll never be like us. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. Yeah. No, yeah, with the whole... Yeah. so I will say, I think the, sixth episode worked a little bit better for me. the issues I had with the sixth episode was just, it They were trying to do too much in that episode.

20:57 going to Mad Rapport, dealing with the things, they could've just really just spent the whole hour with Jacosta and Ultron, and I would've been just fine, because just going into her backstory as far as trying to find the keys, she, like, they're, you know, exploring, falling in love. I mean, those kind of things, and to your point too, is like, they would switch back and forth just to remind us that they are machines - uh-huh. And not people. But I mean, those, those were the points that I really, like, their conversations w - getting into the heart of the matter, Is... Yeah. I, I - Not to cut you off, but I think it was more palatable for you in this episode - Yeah. Because there was a balance. Yeah.

21:39 there was a balance between Altron and Joe Costa and the father element, father-son dynamic between Tommy and Vision. And then you even bring in Paladin in there, who has his own kid, and the exchange between two fathers who are protecting their... Our own and everything. Yeah. So I think that in the previous episodes, because that was more prominent, you were on board. But in that fifth episode, there was an absence, because we got that one scene with Tommy and then didn't see him. Yeah, Yeah. So I think, think that's what held you back. I think that there was honestly was more palatable because it felt more like the previous episodes where there was vision with humans and vision, and not even vision, but then the AI dynamic on the other side.

22:31 I though it was hilarious. For some reason, it reminded me a bit of Severance when when We learned more about Paladin's AI. Yeah. Especially when she immediately was like, so what's the benefits over there?" Yeah. what package? It just reminded of an Indian and outie talking. Yeah. It it definitely gave all some severance vibes there, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. but I think you're right. I think that's part of it. I think getting more backs, because it truly is like the whole parallels, I think the the three major A, B, and C stories in this because, because in many respects, Jacosta is the mother. And they even call it out, the whole motherhood, Oedipus, vibes there as far as them, falling in love with with his mother in a very house of the dragon kind of way with - I don't think anybody can be house of the dragon.

23:14 True, true. I mean, There was twinces in Game of Thrones, so. True, True. Just thinking of things from this year, but, but then also, we did learn about, a lot about the Paladin. and I did appreciate too, just the, the tie into the Marvel War, with the Snap. Yeah. you gotta reference the Snap. I mean, this is a few - Yeah. And especially it makes sense, we're getting a lot of Snap references considering that's how Original Vision died. and so, and just the correlation between that moment and the Snap. So I, or the Snaps. Yeah. Snaps. There's a lot of Snap. Yeah. but yeah, I think it, we all know my opinion about this show, so I'm not gonna go too deep, but, it definitely was a bit more palatable in the sixth episode than it was in the fifth episode.

24:01 and, and I, I liked hearing about... it was a very nice might not be the right word, but it was a very, clever, "I'm protecting my kid, you protect yours." Because if you threaten my kid, I will threaten yours no problem. I'm a super computer. So - Yeah. And, and you could tell Paladin, for whatever reason, he did not factor that in. Yeah. He did not factor, like, he's very much in his mind, and I mean, ignorance is bliss when you're dealing with technology as advanced as the vision. Yeah. So you're, you're kind of put off. And, and I think, like, again, even though we know that Vision is a quote unquote good guy, he is our hero, he is our lead, there still is that, but he is still artificial.

24:57 Yeah. And he has this power that cannot be controlled. so there's that. what did you think at the end when, when, what's... Lisa gets injected - Lisa, yeah. With the nanon. Yeah, that, Someone's gotta be put in peril. So Lisa, was it, to your point about, don't mess with Mike. Well, I think it Was Altron, right? I guess it was... Yeah. Huh? well, yeah. Ultron made sure that Joe Costa was gonna put it on Tommy, but - Tommy, yeah. Yeah. He was like, "No, no, no. We, we don't poke the bear." Yeah. We put it in somebody else. Yeah. Yeah. So, so again, I think, so it gets into the... I guess Ultron's motivation was more, wasn't altruistic. It was more like, "Oh, no, we don't wanna fuck with this guy because he's gonna pull, will burn it all down if we, if we mess with Tommy." But, but, yeah. So I, so, I don't feel like it was earned because I don't have any attachment to Lisa. So it was just sort of like, it was just moving plot point.

25:51 we're gonna put this in there. I just, I don't know. At least for me, I haven't felt like they've built that character up enough for me to be vested in, like, what her fate is. Oh, they definitely have it, but they've - Yeah. They've made it very clear what her relationship to Tommy is. Yeah. Yeah. So, so it's not so much as her as a character, but her - Yeah. His attachment to her - Yeah. Oh, yeah. Is now at risk. Yeah. and am I correct that she is supposed to be some sort of young Avenger? yeah. She was, I think... I don't know if it was - A coat of arms? Coat of Arms. Yeah, that... Yeah. She is, she does have, yeah, she is a meta, I guess, for lack Of a better term. So that's what I took from it. Yeah. I was kinda like, "Oh, is this how we get her to be the coat of arms eventually?" Yeah. So I felt like it was more of that.

26:35 the big thing in this episode though, out of all of it really is, I mean, besides Joe Costin learning about the keys and everything, the nanons, is, the man in the hat or whatever you wanna call it. Yeah. and, and we finally get an interaction between this person who is after vision - uh-huh. And, and vision. And he says, "You died for love then words. we reborn without that love? I can't imagine the pain you are in, how empty you must feel. I can give you the heart, heart and soul that you came back to life without." Yeah. What are your theories now on who this person is?

27:16 And I know we're a week behind everybody else in our discussions, I haven't seen anything, just to be clear. But my thought when I saw it last night, I had two thoughts. one of two characters. one could be, we've been getting teased all season about the synthetic man, the original synthetic man, the human, the original Human Torch. Yep. That was thought as well. Yeah, my first though. My other though, given all the Sukovia references is just maybe somehow Zemo, just given all the Sacovia, the Sacovia of it all. And, there's been the anniversary of that, will be my other guests. those are the two people I though. No, I, I, I agree with the first one. That's what I lean, I'm leaning towards. Yeah. Just because, I mean, you pointed it out, what, in the first episode? There's a picture of that man - Right.

28:00 in Vision's house. Yep. and, and we're, we're talking about AIs. Yep. The conversation. Yeah. And so I don't think it's human. Yeah. Yeah. but, but then the question is Jarvis had too. Yeah. Okay, go ahead. No, I was gonna say also the, that Jarvis, the conversation vision that Jarvis had. Yeah. And then of course the, that the gala as well. So yeah, go... Yeah. So, I'm glad we're on the same page about that because I was like - Yeah. Am I just pulling at, grasping at straws here? But, it also validates that I'm watching just enough, guys. I'm paying attention just enough. Okay? Yeah, You're, I mean, you're paying attention. I mean, like I said, I mean, I, I'm actually glad we're, like, not just doing beat by beat and ro I mean, there's, there's, there's things about this show, I mean, that I think we, we're exploring the things that we, that we like about this show or dislike about it. And - uh-huh.

28:50 You know, I, I don't... Uh, you know, folks who've li - who've listened to us for a long time know that, you know, we're, we're... If you want, 74 Easter eggs, go to Screen Crush. Yeah. Yeah. we are not that... We don't have that much time and we do not have that much knowledge. Yeah. Even if I had... Sometimes I might have the knowledge, but I just don't have the time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, but, but no. It, it was a good conversation tonight and - Yeah. Wow, next week, next week - Oh, yeah. We will be not only caught up, but it's our last week. Yeah. Yeah. One little, one, one little thing that was cool though, that, I did see, I guess the, the, the watcher did show up, when, during that scene with the, with the man in the hat. if you look over in the, You can see it in the eyes. Yeah.

29:32 well, he's... What were we watching recently where we were like... Was it earlier in the season where I thought I saw the watcher at one point? You Might... Yeah, I think so. And I know we also... He was also, I think, in Daredevil season two, I wanna say. Okay. It might have been Daredevil. I forgot that that happened this year. Yeah. Yeah. I think it was... We, we've had, we've had some watchers, we've had some watcher discussions this year. Yeah. Either... Yeah. I don't know if it's this show, but definitely another Marvel property this year. Yeah. Well, what? They always say he's always watching, So. Yeah. Yeah. anything else, Will? No, I think I've, I've, I've, I've pretty much have shared all my thoughts about this episode this week. I mean, like, like I said, I, I did enjoy this, the, the sixth episode and, props to the actress plan, Jacosta, she's, she's really good.

30:19 Yeah. No, you're spot on. That actress, arguably was the, biggest highlight in these two episodes. She carried. Yeah. She, she, she, she, she's eaten it up. Yeah. And, I mean, Paul Bentley is always good. Yeah. And what... I like James Spader. I do. It's not him. Yeah. It's just what I talked about before. So - uh-huh. And, and Tommy, he's just doing what he's given. Yeah. The actor is doing what he's given, and I can't help him. I wanna help him. Yeah. all right. So, before we go, I do want to bring up a few shows that, Yeah. The general geeks probably don't care about. But if you're into Chinese dramas or K dramas...

31:04 Let me give you the rundown. Okay. Last month, I started the Chinese drama, Lament of Autumn. All the rage right now. So, the first 20 episodes are good. And then I, Then it started to get a bit boring. And by the last 10, because there's 40 episodes total, I started basically a 50-minute episode. I boiled down into... I skipped this much where I boiled it down into, like, seven minutes. Okay. So, I have yet to watch the last episode, technically. I know what happens, but I don't know if I wanna watch it. So, we will see if I ever get around to actually watching that. And by watching it, I mean, skip through all of the important parts. All the first four. So, but I, I really, really... The, the first 20 - uh-huh. If not the first 30, just solid enemies to lovers, soap opera.

32:01 Like very... I've, I've re-watched multiple episodes, especially in that early first half, but... So that, those, those were my thoughts on the Chinese drama, Lament of Autumn. If I did finish the K-drama that was very controversial. Had a lot of fans mixed on it. A love under, Other Than Yours. I knew what this show was. I don't know what y'all were watching, but I knew that this was basically the Korean version of the breakup. Huh. So, and I was right. Now, good on the writers for making me doubt myself halfway through. but, it was a... To me, it was solid. I did get bored again during the second half. I don't know what it is. The second half is killing things. Mm. The same thing happened to me with this short little drama called Make Me Tingle, that everyone was raving about. And I watched it. I got caught up. I was on board.

32:57 Then I realized it was only 10 episodes, and I had two more. And the last two, I was like, "Okay." the tension just goes out the window with some of these shows - Okay. that have romantic plots. It just, it goes out the window once they're together. I have started on Netflix a Chinese drama, Sunshine Through the Rain. Mm. that has been interesting. A bit cliche in terms of storyline, but like the main actress. Okay. I'm liking what she's doing, how that character is written. So we'll see what happens with that one. and then I, am very much on board with the the K-drama Summer Vacation. I am fascinated with how this show is shot.

33:38 I have so many questions about certain things, certain creative choices they have made. I have re-watched all of the four episodes, and, I am wrapping this up so I can watch the episode that was released today. But It went into some directions I was not expecting, and I'm curious about where we go from here. So, like, non-spoiler review for all of this stuff, but yeah, Summer Vacation, I am very much... Because... And, and I say it that I like the way it's shot because it's shot like an indie movie. huh. And the only other time I've seen that done in a K-drama is when I watched a few years ago this drama on Netflix called Duna.

34:23 And Duna was also very much controversial in terms of fans of K-drama because... Or at least international fans. I don't know about actual Koreans. because it was so slow. But to me, I was like, "Yeah, this is what indie filmmaking is all about." You hold on certain shots. Yeah, yeah. you choose different angles. You have a very low budget. It's a very slow burn. I'm not saying summer vacation is slow because the two are already together, but Yeah, they're doing something and I've yet to put my finger on exactly what they're doing and why, and that's what I like about it. so anyway, that's just a rundown of - Cool. Me watching, some international content, because - Yeah. Y'all, if you've been listening to me long enough, come fall - Yeah. For some reason, just go out of the woodwork. Yeah. I'm done with Western media and I'm headed to the other side of the world.

35:16 Yeah, speaking - I have no idea. Yeah, speaking of a non, Western media, so I'm gonna go check out, Ramayana, this week, as far as, it's a Hindi movie, that's coming out. It's a, big legend. it's an Indian epic, it dropped last week. I mean, of course, this week is Diwali and stuff, with the Festival of Lights. but yeah, I will definitely give you my thoughts about it next week. That... Very much looking forward to that, and I hope it is awesome. Yeah, saw the trailer for it, when I went to go see Digger a few weeks ago. and it is part one, so, yeah. So for folks who are interested in seeing it, there is an English language version, It's actually showing in, IMAX here. and we got a pretty significant South Asian population. It was... When I was looking for my tickets today, it it was like when I was trying to, get tickets for the Odyssey. I mean, all the theaters are, like, just - Nice. Yeah.

36:06 That's what you wanna see, in a way. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I was telling my wife, I was like, "Yeah, we better get our tickets right now because we're gonna go see this on Wednesday, I need to get these things now because Yeah, I mean, when you go on Fandango and, like, the only thing that's left is, like, the front of the theater. I mean, It was like the Odyssey, the same kind of vibe. so let next week how it is, and do an out of theater reaction as well. We'll see. Nice. Yeah. Nice. Well, looking forward to that, whatever happens. Yeah. Yeah. I hope it is awesome. Yeah, yeah. yeah, it's like, how you were saying about fall. So I think the fall now is, like, my movie season because, yeah, I think Will's gonna be hitting a bunch of things over the next few weeks. Starting with - You get A lot of heartache with your Panthers, so I can understand - Yeah. Why you - Yeah. You had. hey, we're still in first place, well, trust me, I know you gave me a full rundown Yeah. Of all of the First place heartburn that you've experienced as of late. Yeah. We're three and five, but, it's the NFC South. What can you say?

36:55 Yeah. All right. Well, on that note, Will, why don't you tell our listeners where they can find you? Yes, you can find me on all the socials @willmpolk, W-I-L-L-M-P-O-L-K. And you can find me there, too, @sjbelmont, S-J-B-L-M-O-N-T. Please follow our crew on X, formerly known as Twitter @sceneanerd on Blue Sky, friends on Facebook, follows on Instagram and threads at scene_n_nerd, and visit our website, www.sceenannerdpodcast.com. But most importantly, rate, follow, and comment on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever your podcast. Goodnight, geek out. You're welcome.