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This week, we're pairing two films that might seem worlds apart but share more in common than you'd expect: Selma (2014) and The Karate Kid Part II (1986).
✊ Selma — Ava DuVernay's powerful historical drama takes us to the heart of the 1965 voting-rights campaign led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We discuss the film's performances, its depiction of the fight for equality, and how courage and perseverance drive a movement in the face of violence and overwhelming opposition.
🥋 The Karate Kid Part II — Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi leave California behind for Okinawa, where Miyagi must confront his past and Daniel discovers that karate means much more than winning a tournament. We break down the sequel's deeper focus on Miyagi, Daniel and Kumiko's relationship, Chozen's rivalry, and how the change of setting gives the franchise a very different kind of story.
Two completely different movies. Two very different battles. One shared message about having the courage to stand your ground.
Creators and Guests
What is Press Play Action?
Press Play Action is a movie review podcast produced by Jersey Nerds Productions and hosted by Jersey Nerd Mitchell Lea! Mitchell and his cohort of die hard movie nerds take a look at cinema in all forms, from cult classics, guilty pleasure films, whats currently on in theatres and everything in between. If you are a movie fan than this is where you need to be!
The Karate Kid Part II & Selma 1
Welcome back to what is it called again? Oh, yeah. Press play. Action. That two, uh, Jersey nurse productions, Mitchell Lee, Tommy Grant, Brandon to all that jazz. And, uh, we're back to the randomness, guys. We're back to the randomness. Uh, Karate Kid part two and Selma. Now, before we get into our first movie, that being the, uh, sequel to The Karate Kid, uh, aptly titled The Karate Kid Part two. Tommy, when we do movies at random, you have a job where I guess once a month and your job is to find connection between the two movies. So I guess I guess the connection because you thought I didn't find one. Last week or last time we had the, uh, the Jersey connection, which. Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, you didn't necessarily too hard for that, but it was there. What's what's it this go around? Can I can I guess I have one of the, one of them has to be people doing evil stuff. It has to be like evil. It is. So that could be a lot of movies was what was your was your thing going to be that they were both movies? That is super out of the gate. Okay, you better guess. Uh, it would be like both were shot in America, or so I think. I have no idea. Let's just get to you. Let's just. God, that is a terrible connection. I mean, I thought this movie was shot in Hawaii, so I didn't know that was in Japan. I'm not even going to dignify that. Um, it was shot in Hawaii. It wasn't shot in Japan. That's all I'm saying. Uh, no, I actually don't know. Um, Oprah involved in the Karate Kid doing anyway. Yes. She was. You're getting a trip to Japan. You're going to get trip to Japan. Ralph Macchio was, uh, was secretly involved. So there are two connections. Not not as, you know, kind of slap in the face is the Jersey connection. Uh, this one's a little bit more philosophical. Uh, both stories are ultimately about refusing to answer violence with violence. Very different situations of violence. But you know what? I can see that, you know. No, no, I like it. But what is is all about, you know, the march and basically being, you know, demonstrating up against your oppressors and up against, you know, the racist white people of Alabama saying, hey, we have the right to vote. Right. And they nonviolent, they're very adamant about not doing violence. And Mr. Miyagi, throughout this entire movie, is constantly getting poked and poked, saying, you need to fight and you need to fight. And he's very, as we know, and violence is everything. So it's not a very obvious one. But in terms of kind of the beginning of the movie, I actually like that very strongly. I think my evilness is just as good. But what's stopping this? The second one is not as deep as that. Um, but the music for the movies, both, um, original songs for these movies. Uh, glory of love for karate, part two and glory. Great, great song, by the way, for two great songs. Both have glory in the name. Okay. And and and they were both nominated for Best Original Song, as they should have been. Story of love was nominated and glory won Best Original Song. No, no, that's even better. I actually should have put that together because I was listening to, uh, glory, like when I was watching film, and I was like, man, the other one's glory of love. Like, maybe that's the connection that I've. I totally fucked it out. I was like, all right. Yeah. So. So part two, the score was, uh, done by Bill Toth, who also did Rocky, and the soundtrack was produced by Peter Cetera, who made Glory of Love, and it became a successful, you know, big hit when this came out. And same thing with Lori, I believe, uh, John Legend in common, I believe, was the other artist who made the song and same thing. It was just instant hit. And obviously that won Best Original Song for the year, so it was very successful. I will go ahead. I will go ahead and put my cards on the table here. Paul Tatara might be the winner of Peter. Peter. Peter Cetera might be the winner of Karate Kid. I mean, for a movie that didn't have much going for it. Yes, I think that would be a very thing. Well, I'll go ahead and just say fantastic job as far as that is concerned. I'm really looking forward to seeing whatever movie we end up doing with Karate Kid Part three, which we will find out in the next few weeks. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the similarities are. Job well done Tom, I will. I will be the first to come down on you if I think that your connection is any. Anytime I get a movie. Those are good connections. It's a good one, too. Yeah. All right. Two for two. Two for two. With three. With two. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Um. All right, so let's start off with The Karate Kid, part two. Again, this, uh, John G. Avildsen. Uh, returning to direct this one starring, uh, you could have fooled Morita. You could have told me that it was the same director and and honestly, the same people. $12.5 million budget that's made $130 million. So again, another wild success. Released June 20th, 1986. However, this 148% on Rotten Tomatoes. But it's gotten a minus CinemaScore. So the, uh, the audience seems to like it just fine. This was the fourth highest grossing movie in 1986, and it had the third highest grossing opening weekend. Would you guys care to try to guess what movies beat it on the opening weekend? I have zero guesses on the opening weekend. Yeah. What? It was the third highest opening weekend of 1986. Alien? No. There's only a handful of movies that I know that came out in 86. Top gun is one of them and aliens is the other. I'll tell you that. None of the movies. There's way more movies than you think. The three movies that outgrow it, the. Yeah, the three movies that outgrowth it for the year were Top Gun, Crocodile Dundee, and Platoon. Okay, it's not the two movies that outgrow it on opening weekend were Star Trek four, The Voyage Home. Okay, that makes sense. And Cobra, which was a Stallone movie that I heard of. It was the second highest grossing opening weekend, but number 15 overall. So that movie didn't really take the way that that people thought it would. That's the fact that we haven't. Both Tommy and I haven't heard of a Stallone movie. I feel like, uh, 19 Stallone myself, that. Yeah, I feel like that's buried for being honest. Yeah. But the good year for movies? Uh, generally speaking. Stand by me. Aliens. Ferris Bueller? Yep. Uh, Stand by me is a classic. Of course. Uh, I haven't seen the fly, but I've heard lots of really good things. Have you seen my. My wife loves Little Shop of Horrors. I have not. I've heard mixed things about that one. Yeah, I do. Uh, you won't be watching Howard the Duck in a few weeks. So we'll be right back in 1986. Okay. Well, I think that could have been the case. That's, uh. That's it. I don't know if that's a good one, but, uh. Platoon. Of course. Uh, color of money. So, uh. Yeah, lots of lots of people really like Karate Kid part two. Not one that I think will be joining those ranks. This one seemed to me like a movie that just got. I mean, of course it got made because the first one was beloved and made money was made ten days after the first one is is what it feels like. I don't know if that's accurate. This one just kind of felt like. Hey, everybody. You want to make some money? We have no idea what this movie's going to be about, but for some reason, these two knuckleheads are going to go to Japan and, well, not for some reason it is off of, uh, Brandon. But why does he have to go? No, no, I, I think about like, oh, we'll get we'll we'll get to that. We'll get to that. No, no, that's where we start to move. Well actually no, we start the movie. We start that. So as soon as the first movie ends, we're there in the parking lot. They're walking out of the point when you would. You would think. And I thought for the longest time that they just, like, shot this as an extra scene, like they're like, oh, let's just use it for far too, like this was supposed to be the ending of Karate Kid. But no, they brought everyone back and shot this scene. So like, imagine scrambling around. Well, yeah, well, we could also get into that as well. They didn't bring everyone. Yeah, they bring everyone back. And there's some people that are turned away from the camera. Uh, you can't really see them. And so I'm wondering if they're also. There's a there's a few fun facts there. Uh, one comment before this movie, actually production began ten days after Karate Kid opened. That's what I'm. Yeah. Really? It felt like that. It felt like they were like, we've got to capitalize this. This had to have had a phenomenal opening weekend where, like, we need a sequel right now. And then to that effect, we literally have sensei douchebag actually hurt his hands. So the scene where he punches the car windows and there's blood, actual blood, like actual blood. I call, I call a liar. I don't know that that's that's what I've read, but he just keeps punching windows. But also we we have a we have a sensei. Just joking out. Johnny in the parking lot in the 80s were a wild time, you know. You know, child assault. We're just letting our kids go to Japan with essentially a complete stranger with no questions asked. We're letting. That's the weirdest part. About six hours. If we look at this in the the overall arc of the two movies, the mom has been with Mr. Miyagi for all of maybe a couple hours, essentially. And then she's like, hey, no, no, no, no. They jump ahead. It's six months later. It's six months later. I didn't want to kill a complete stranger. And you're just gonna let your kid go to another country with this guy for the summer? Oh, no. No, no. Why not? It was also awesome. This mom is so about dragging Danny LaRusso out to California for the new job, and then she gets another job, and she just disappears, and someone explain it to me. I have not seen the third movie, so I'm curious to see where she gets the job next. Potholes. Potholes everywhere into Mitchell's biggest pothole. Danny LaRusso. Oh, yes. You've known this man for seven months. And while at the entrance of the plane. You basically say to him. You're everything to me. College kid. Wait. I've got your head in this. This guy's probably like my dad dying in Okinawa. Like, why do I need this kid to follow me? Kid that I've known for two minutes. Like, let me go mourn. Dude, I didn't help you with enough already. Danny might be the most annoying character. Top five in the history of cinnamon. Like, he has good intentions, but, like, at the same time. Annoying. It's all annoying, dude. But also, I just love. Look, I'm sure that it is a lot easier for, uh, you know, Mr. Miyagi to come and go, but. Danny. Danny getting not just a plane ticket, but a passport in the span of, like, two seconds. He follows him to the passport, uh, like place, and he's like, oh, you you need to go. Your passport. Passport? Can I tag along? Like Danny has nothing to do on it. Like, I know everything is needlessly difficult over the course of the last 40 years for some reason, but you can't tell me that that is something that he could have just done. And also, a flight to Japan is not cheap. Well, no. So. But he tells him, oh, I dipped into my college savings fund. It's okay. And it's like what you did to your college fund to get this ticket to go to Japan. Just incredible. I mean, come on. He knew he had a karate scholarship. Incredible, dude. Well, he's gonna go to, like, some, like, San Marcos Community College or something so he can stay close to this. Like, he's not going to like UCLA or USC. There's no chance. Also, do you want to talk about it now? Mitchell. What about what? What are we talking about? There is no there is no alley in this movie. Yeah, yeah, she's she's missing. She's gone. Apparently, she broke up with Danny for the UCLA quarterback. Which if you watched the the reason we watched the Bulls that Bill Simmons incorporated called branding for you. Yeah. She dumped him for the bachelor. Light up. Yeah, I promise that. Like, we had plans to do this, and then I just. They happened to do it around the same time. We're not doing it. We're not doing it. That was a strange thing to see. But, um. So I gotta be. So this is what do you believe in the Troy Aikman UCLA quarterback? That that is actually the UCLA quarterback that Ali jumped in in like the timeline, which is kind of wild when you look at the the whole plot of the series so far is the fact that Daniel LaRusso meets this girl, falls in love with his girl, fights in a fucking karate tournament basically because of this girl destroys his knee for this girl who leaves him for somebody else. She leaves him for the for a quarterback, this is the same qualities as Johnny. I think this is an origin story, because then he goes to Japan and steals another girl, right? All the all to basically leave her. Probably. I was joking earlier because like the TV show Cobra Kai leans into it like Danny being the villain a little bit. Um, I think he's actually the villain in this movie in some aspects like this. Man, this man just hops on a plane, annoys Mr. Miyagi to no end. Is like trying to steal this other guy's girl. I'm like, Danny, you're just doing everything, dude. But psychologically, he he's attention starved because his dad's not in the picture. I'm assuming he's dead. I don't know, he is dead. No, no, he his mom is constantly working. He's constantly moving to new places, so he doesn't know anybody. So he just latches on to whoever bats an eye towards him and just. Clings to or whatever old man just like, takes him under his wing. And I guess, I mean, again, very awkward relationship between those two. I'm just going to call it out. I'm going to call it out. It's awkward, you know, like the movie is. Did you know the great spot when this is the most interesting thing we have? Did you notice this movie boring. Did you notice there were three places it was LaRusso window and Mr. Miyagi. Uh, I feel like, uh, like middle seat. And there was an aisle seat that no one was sitting in, and they were just sitting next to each other like they were couple. And I was like, you can't like, face it. I just feel like I don't sit here like you have to sit in the middle seat. I'm like, what is what's going on? I'm like, I'm like, this is like a, what, 14 hour flight from California to Japan? I want to say eight hour flight at least. Like the only the only thing that would have made the plane seem better is if someone started ripping a dart. They just like, they just like, lit a cigarette in 1986, like a dart in the middle of the plane. That would be the only thing that made it better. Oh man. Yeah, I, I made a comment about this before we recorded, but I think that there was more screen time for random people smashing plants. Yeah. Then there was an actual karate. Yeah, the Karate Kid. There was more typhoon action footage than there was karate. But yes, in Karate Kid Part two. Like there was no typhoon footage. Any scene in this movie that was meant to feel dramatic just felt comical. And I felt like that really took away from any message they were trying to push out in this movie. Like the villains, when they're basically destroying Miyagi's house and beating up all the plants. It just looks so stupid. I'm like, this really has no lesson. My lesson? Yeah. It just it felt lame. It felt poorly. I thought they were going to kill him. I mean, the women, the children, everything. Yeah. Sato. Sato is probably the second biggest winner of this movie. He was the most powerful over overacting villain in the world because it was funny. Show Chozen with a Z. They were both just, like, insane. To me, it was so. It was so goofy and bad. I couldn't take any of it seriously at all. And I feel like they want you to. I don't think it was definitely shot for it to be a serious theme. I think they did not land. Yeah, I did. But Brandon, bring up your other plot hole that you mentioned earlier. Oh. Oh, this man has so much money. I mean, okay. I mean, let's lay out how many business ventures this guy had. He has an escort service. He has, like some restaurant that he owns in the town. Uh, I'm pretty sure he owns the construction company. Um, he runs his own dojo. I mean, I mean, he clearly has money. If you. If Mr. Miyagi has destroyed your life, why are you going to stay in Okinawa and just, like, stew over it and be like, ah, I can't wait to kill this army. Go find him and try to kill him. What are we? You know he went to California. Go find him. What would have made this movie a match? What would make this a much better movie is if he goes to the valley and tries to kill him. Yeah. Oh, no. No. If he hired Yakuza to go put a hit on Mr. Miyagi in California, and they send a message and be like, hey, it's so-and-so. And Mr. Miyagi is like, oh, I need to go back for good. That would be good. That would have been a much better plot to this movie, wild Bill. Would it have been in this movie somehow as it comes in this movie? The way they shot this? Probably not. I think you've got to call this movie, and I agree with Bill Simmons on this. I think you got to call this movie Karate Kid Part two. Open house. I'm not really sure why. It's called Karate Kid Part two. Other than you just wanted to make a sequel, but you make the whole sequel about him being in his, like, hometown in Japan. And then there was like nothing going on. To your point, it is just boring. I actually looked at when there was like the first like scene of karate, like the actual first scene, not him splitting ice sheets in a random bar somewhere, which, by the way, that crazy plot, by the way, they just have ice sheets laying around this bar. Anyway, anyway, the first sign of karate is an hour and 28 minutes in. Like people fighting people hour and 28 minutes. Explain that. And then it quickly transitions. Because I'm not counting. I'm not counting when Chozen needs them in the guy and he's like, oh, you're a baby. It's just like it was like, oh, baby. But also also you spend all this time in this movie that you're like, oh, there's definitely going to be a big showdown between Miyagi and Soda at the very end of the movie with how crazy it's been. Yeah. And you never get a fight. Never. He doesn't. He does. The point of all the Yagi. Miyagi doesn't fight Sato. He doesn't fight. Uh, the other neighbors say that he doesn't believe in violence. The only people he fights is. I guess he fights Chozen in, like, the thugs at some point. I guess, like, the movies are over, and then you get a fight at the end, and then there's a big storm. You know, you get to fight after the storm. The storm is the conclusion. That's. Yeah. That's true. No, that's a good point. Everyone's at this. Everyone's having a good time. Uncle Sato is like, okay, I'm. I'm now forgiven. Miyagi. Somehow Miyagi's forgiven him. I mean, maybe he should have him. And he stole his girl. Arranged marriage. You know how he shouldn't be telling people what people's, uh, love's like that. Um, but then not to say anything about it, and then just leave and go to the US again. Very, uh, weird dynamic there going on. But the fight happens between Chozen and Danny and guys. I pose the question to you. Is Danny LaRusso actually good at karate? I want to say no. I know he beats all these people. He's getting his shit and he's like, oh, let me go to the crazy. Shut down. Get out to the store. By the way, I thought the kick in the first movie was stupid is that I got shut down in this movie. So this unstoppable move gets shut down. Um, I don't think he's actually good at karate. I think he just gets lucky. Also, the the the the drum punching thing. Worst thing. Uh, honestly worst, uh, mechanics in a fight scene. Never, ever. I mean, it's pretty bad. Josh is like, trying to punch him, and he's just like, yeah, it. It is so funny. Oh, I'm saying you ought to be the next Karate Kid after those guys. Yeah. Oh, my bro. Figure it out. Oh my God. We have a feature in voice acting. Oh. So bad. So bad either. Well, apparently I do. I don't really have much to say about your art. No, I've got all I've got. Everything I need to say out of my guest. Do you like it? Do you like to? Do you like the new girl? No. There was no point to it. Yeah, I. I mean, apparently, if no points to her. Not it. No, no, that's not what she said. He said I always say point. Oh, no point. Yeah. No. Yeah. But I will say I will say this standing up for women nationwide or I know we know that Karate Kid part three. I mean spoiler it's not entertaining. So they just leave. I know nothing about The Karate Kid. I haven't. I'm pretty sure it's not in Japan. Like, I'm pretty sure it's not what I wanted. Don't spoil it for me. I'm just saying it. If they don't explain what happened with this girl and Danny. Or is this Danny just like going to meet this girl, having her fall in love with him, and then she's going to be like, all right, I gotta leave. Well, I guess that happens. Do you. Do you? Do you want to know? No, I kind of want to know because I kind of. I kind of want to know because I don't want to get picked. Tommy. Close. Close your ears. Maybe. I guess I've never seen karate part three, but I'm telling you. Brandon. Brandon. Brandon. She's not in the movie at all. Oh! Oh my God. Unbelievable. Okay. Okay. About about. I don't know what happened, but yeah, I. I'm going. I'm going to believe that she went to a dance school somewhere in the U.S.. Going to be my my. Okay. It's fine. Again, just another plot hole in this trilogy that, you know, is Danny the villain? Exhibit five of eight. I don't know. Hey, I don't know if you were talking about the chemistry between him and Ali, and Ali is just not in the movie. Yeah, because it sounds like Ali was off being a, you know, a a, you know, chasing the bag, I guess. And I oh, but it was real. Yeah, exactly. I chased that Troy Aikman bag. Um, yeah, I this movie didn't really piss me off much. It more just poured. So I gave it a D+ 86.2 for the very least, you still have the chemistry between the two leads, but you don't really have too much more beyond. B+ 86.24. Uh, I do think, uh, Pat Morita is, um. Who? Morita. Yeah. Name? Pronunciation. I don't know why I couldn't say the teeth. Pat. Pat. Morticia. Yeah. Pat. No, I said Morita. And now it's like why you did. Why would I do such a Pat Morita? Um, I think he's actually, like, I. He's funny. Like he's good in this movie. I think Sato is funny. I think Chozen hilarious. I actually had a decent time with this movie, considering there wasn't any karate. That being said, I'm giving it. I'm giving it a C -42.3 for no other reason that I just found it hilarious. The villain is when when he's when he's like evil. Which is why I brought this up earlier about poking me when he's evil. He's like, I'm gonna bulldoze this town down for like no reason other than I don't like me. I like I think I use like, the worst person ever to bulldoze out. Kind of a kind of a sicko. And then. And then chosen. He's a he's a psychopath. So. And entertaining. Uh, c I give this a D plus 95. And I also forgot to mention that my favorite scene of this movie is when Mr. Miyagi took down sensei asshole and just knows him. Asshole. I said I got your nose and then walked away. Well, okay, but then they try to call it back and it's like the happiest scene ever done. Impossible. Yeah. Also, I'm gonna say it right now. Peter Cetera and Chicago stuff. So. Even that didn't really work. You don't like to tear up? No. Dude's voice. All right, let's move on to the second half of this one. Uh, let's go to the year. Let's go to a movie. That's an actual movie. Yeah. 2014. Uh, it's it's Selma, directed by, uh, Avon Ava DuVernay, who also did A Wrinkle in Time, which in 13 you want to talk about? Yeah, she's she's done some really good documentary work. Um, but as far as. Yeah, she's done Selma. She's done A Wrinkle in Time with a boy. You want to talk about different ends of the spectrum? Wrinkle in time. That is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Made money though? No, it didn't, did it? No, no, there's a reason why you don't see Ava DuVernay making big movies anymore. I was trying to give a bit of for the doubt. Yeah, well, you shouldn't do that. Uh, this one stars, uh, David Oyelowo. Uh, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen ejogo, Tim Roth. Uh, Oprah is in this one. Well, there's some heavy hitters. There's some heavy hitters. Uh, Stephan James, you got Wendell Pierce. Uh, I don't know why he's so far down on the cast list. Because he in the movie. Colman Domingo, Colman Domingo was in this thing. And I think this is the first. This isn't the first movie. I saw Colman Domingo in the first movie that I was like. That guy. Yeah. He's good. Um, and then it took a few years for Colman Domingo to become more of a household name. I'm glad we're there. Now. He's not this movie on the top of I'm CB, but, um, is it Lakeith? Lakeith Stanfield? Yeah. Lakeith Stanfield in this movie. This is heavy hitters. Yeah. Yeah. You do have a pretty strong lineup here. Um, Martin Sheen has a cameo in the thing. Tessa Thompson. I thought he was. I thought he was playing President Johnson for a second, and I was like, oh, he's just like, good Jeremy Strong in this movie for a little bit, too. So you've got a pretty a pretty stacked cast here. Uh, budget of $20 million made 67 million. So it did make money, but it wasn't, um, it wasn't a huge moneymaker, which was a little disappointing to me because this was really positioned to be a big Oscar contending. You know, everyone's gonna line up to see this one. And it only got two nominations, which was a surprise. That's a giant surprise. I'll, I'll I'll start off with this. Um, because 2014 was a stacked year, but Selma was supposed to be one of the the contenders, and it got a Best Picture nomination, and it got nominated for Best Original Song, which it won. Yeah. But can we all agree that song should have won? Yeah. No it was, it was a, it was a good one. Although I, I will I will not lie. Uh, everything is awesome. Would have been a fantastic win. Yeah. Uh, from the Lego movie. But, uh, Ava DuVernay was expected to get a Best director nomination. That did not happen. Uh, David Oyelowo was considered to be in contention to maybe win the Oscar, uh, for best actor. He was not nominated for this thing. Um, yeah. Uh, over time, I think that Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler is the one that everyone talked about being a big snub for this movie. I think that both Steve Carell for Foxcatcher and Bradley Cooper for American Sniper should have been booted out of Best Actor. You put in Gyllenhaal, you put in Oyelowo, and I think it's a much yeah, I will say this better nomination. I, I saw American Sniper recently. I do think Cooper's good, but yeah but it's not necessary. It's not. And I'm just like absolutely floored that I only got two knives. Yeah, I mean, wasn't content and based off how well the movie is executed, I am shocked. Yeah, I, uh I'm definitely surprised by that as well. And this was a movie that was overshadowed by a lot of the other Oscar players at the box office. I mean, this came out, um, it expanded on January 9th, and it was second at the box office behind Acon three, which is dog shit. Uh, and the following week, American Sniper, uh, expanded. And that movie made tons of money. Yeah. Um, but also, uh, The Imitation Game, which was a, a big Oscar player that that guy eight nominations that year, and that was a movie that was slowly building and getting more and more, uh, theaters each week. And that made nearly double what Selma did at the American box office. So Selma just kind of got, you know, it was, I don't want to say in one year out the other for general audiences because people that saw it did like the movie. Um, you know, they dropped January 2014. January 2015 was when it was a wide release. Okay. Gotcha. Um, I mean it. Hey. Stuck it in January. They stuck it in January, thinking it was going to be an offer. I'm assuming that they did that. They also expected a bigger bump from MLK day, which they got, but not. It didn't. It didn't stick around very much. A+ CinemaScore. So the people that saw this movie loved this movie, and it has a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. So again, the people that came out saw it, loved it. Myself included in. Yeah. In that I mean, let's get it out of the way. We all like this movie. We all love this movie. Oh, it's a fantastic. Yeah, it's a fantastic movie. And I think that the biggest strength this movie has is you can talk about whatever doesn't look like whatever. David Oyelowo was incredible as Martin Luther King. Yeah, he he commands the screen. Every second that he is on, and he has a presence in this movie that if you did not have that, then it would feel like something was missing. But he he truly came to work each and every day for this. And I think that this was a movie star making performance to me. Um, now he's constantly been an actor that's been getting work, but I, I think he should have been an even bigger star after this because this is this is some good stuff right here. And him not getting an often on for this is just, I know, 2014 one of the better years of the decade. Top two or top three at worst. But man, he he should have been one of those five. I mean, this was the first movie kind of really centered around Martin Luther King. So stepping into that role is like the first person to play Martin. That's yeah, that's incredible. Because prior to this, all you ever had was documentaries with like, the real life footage like, this is your like the first person we stepping into the role of Martin Luther King and I think he stole the performance. Yeah. Or Denzel playing Malcolm X like yeah I don't need to watch that. Like yeah I haven't seen it either. Like you can't. To be able to do that performance in people like it, there has to be like some something special there. Like, not everyone can do what these two guys did with Denzel would play Malcolm Jackson and him playing Martin Luther King Jr. It's just you. Not everyone can do it. Not everyone can do it. And I just I think there's some special sauce there. And I think part of what made this movie really good and something I really appreciate, like, especially when making a historical movie, the fact that they filmed the majority of the scenes in the actual locations that these events took place. Yeah. That's powerful. Definitely, definitely hits home. And I know I read that the the bridge scenes where you have all the crowds of people they actually hired, they basically offered the townspeople saying, hey, if you want to take part in this movie and be like extras, just to kind of have more historical significance, you're welcome to be a part of it. And a lot of the townspeople actually came out to be part of the movie. And you know, where the people lined up on the sides of the road. And, you know, what's kind of crazy about that is probably a lot of their, like, grandfathers and their fathers were the people who were there. It's it's crazy to think about like, these things. Took place, really just, you know, in our parents lifetime, like, my dad would have been 4 or 5 at this point. Like, it wasn't that long ago. It's just crazy to think. Yeah, I think that they did a really good job. Also, it would have been really easy to make a you want to make a Martin Luther King Junior move and, you know, birth to death. And I really like a lot of these, uh, biopics that cover an event rather than it being in a whole lifetime. Like, for example, we talked about Lincoln last year and how that was a movie about passing the 13th amendment. This could have very easily been the Martin Luther King Jr and how he became who he was. But this also, you know, I didn't know about the the Selma marches. This this made me aware of that. Um, also, I think that it did a really good job. And again. So much of this is kind of showing my ignorance as far as I definitely need to see Malcolm X. Um, that that's a movie that everyone just praised on for spike Lee. Denzel. Um, but this movie did such a great job also in portraying the inner turmoil that you face doing something like this. Mhm. Um, like, for example, uh, I think Stephan James as John Lewis. Uh, he's an actor that whenever he's in something, if you haven't seen the movie race where he plays Jesse Owens, I would recommend checking that out. He is great in that. Um, and I like the scenes with him and the other, uh, uh, s.n., uh, SNCC member where they, they have a little bit of a back and forth there. They're butting heads about how they want to do this and kind of who's scene is getting credit? Is it being done for his benefit or for our benefit? And I just think that something like that did add a little bit more complexity to things. And it was nice to see that and, and see those areas of gray in how you go about doing something like it. They try something like, for example, they go out one day and MLK is just like something doesn't feel right. We're out that I think that's like, yeah, I, I really like I like seeing that. The well written. Job of writing the one Boston priest is like, hey man, like that, before they get jumped, they're having that combo. He's like, hey! Like he prayed to God and he listened. And I don't know if I would have the guts to do that, but I can't be mad at him for like, I think it at the end of the day, like it's a powerful scene because it's like I think they were going to get entrapped, they were going to get jumped on the bridge. Like once they let them through, they're just going to come around them and circle them. So I mean, yeah, he even like and then the one character says to him, I think it's Devin James character. He says, you gotta tell us why you did that. And he's like, well, I would rather people hate me than more people be dead and like, and and you saw it a few scenes earlier with the Lakeith Stanfield scene. Yeah. And how tense that that whole endeavor, uh, was with, uh, that night, that crazy scene, by the way, it's a really bad his. I think it was his grandpa or something like that. It's really powerful. Yeah. This is great, father. Yeah. Yeah, just. I mean, I knew about this because I've taken, like, American history classes, and I. I was a history minor in college, so, I mean, I've, I've, I've, like, I know about this stuff, but when you see it on screen, like, portrayed in the way they portrayed it to it's it's some brutal stuff. It they don't shy away. Like maybe they don't show every person getting beaten in in in slaughtered in the brutality. This wasn't always 12 Years a Slave came out the year prior. This isn't that. It wasn't that. But it was still like brutal to watch where it's like, it's kind of important to watch art like this on these kind of topics, because a lot of times you'll hear you'll hear the story and you're like, oh, that sounds brutal. But to actually see it for trade and like, that's really intense. And I think that's the most this the opening scene of this movie with the church getting, you know, that was a crazy like opening day. Yeah. The swing you take as like a director, you're like. Make a scene like that, like it's a gun. So she's just walking down the stairs and she's like, stop. They're like laughing and playing. And then the bomb goes off and I'm like, okay. Like, I like, I knew it was gonna happen because I was like, well, it's Thelma. So they're obviously going to touch on this, but just it, it still just hits you in the face like it's like a, it's like a punch to the face. Yeah. I mean it's it's incredible writing, incredible direction. But a lot of people like to live in ignorance where they just, you know, they pretend like everything's okay just because they've never actually witnessed it. Right? But like to actually see it and have that burned in your brain, it's like, that's when it's like it's hard to ignore these kind of topics. But I think that's the most powerful thing about the marches is like, this was televised. Like, people actually saw images where they were like, that is actually happening in a Alabama, like a small Alabama town. Like, that's why people felt the need to go down there and march with, like, that's why that happened. Like, again, because, like, out of sight, out of mind though, like you don't see it like it's okay. Exactly. But it's like once you see it, it makes you it makes you feel uncomfortable. It makes you feel a certain way. I would have loved for this to have gotten a Best Original Screenplay nomination, because I think that there are like people, you got that? You've got the scene of them talking about kind of what's the thing that we need to go after the most? You got the guy kind of working through the poll tax and the vouchers and all that stuff. Think about it. And I, I just thought that this was a really well written movie and it feels almost like. Like a like a strategic war film in ways where you've got you're also checking in with Lyndon Johnson played, I think very well by Tom Wilkinson. I think he did a great job in that role. And the interactions that he had, uh, with his, uh, I think chief of staff, played by Giovanni Ribisi, but also with, uh, Martin Luther King Junior himself. And you've got the stuff with, uh, Carmen Ejogo as, uh, Coretta. Uh, Coretta Scott King. I thought that she was really good in this. Uh, you definitely feel the tension between her and MLK. They also touch on the infidelity, too, like they they don't shy away from it. Like, I think it's, like, really well written. You've got a little bit of, uh, who plays Nigel. Nigel that plays, uh, Malcolm X has a very small role in this, but his scene is, like, powerful because he comes in and and he's like, no, I'm going to come in and do a speech here. And then I'm like, he gets shot like two weeks later or like, yeah, like two weeks later he comes in, gives a speech, and he's telling Coretta he's like. I'm here to show people like this is what they could be dealing if I'm leading this charge. We need Martin to lead this charge for people not to die. It's crazy how that happened in this. And then also, uh, if you've seen the movie The Trial of the Chicago seven. Yeah, they're talking about Fred Hampton, and then Fred Hampton dies in, like, the middle of the events of that movie. And then the Fred Hampton movie came out like months later. Judas in the Black Messiah. So there's it's there's some really good. It's really sad just how much death is involved. Yeah. There's so much for the civil rights movement. Like. Like you were saying you didn't know about the soul marches. Like, I feel like a lot of people don't know about, like, they just don't know about, like, obviously in North Carolina, I think we all know about, like, the Greensboro sit ins and stuff like that. But it's like just so many towns, so many places in America, in the Deep South, we're doing things like this. And you, you would have never heard about. Like, I mean, it's just it's it's a really sad period in American history. It really is. We didn't you know, you're talking about we didn't know about it. Let's go back to that poll tax season. There are people that were in that conversation that were living in that moment, that didn't know all of the hoops that you had to jump through, right? Like, oh, I need someone to vouch for me. And and the only people that can vouch for me are white voters, like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it does a good job of kind of setting the scene with that, with that opening, uh, with, with the, the Oprah scene where she's trying to register to vote, she's being asked to name all the county judges. Incredibly racist. Absolutely wild tactic. Yeah. Just I just I want to give a shout out to, uh, it's it's not like, you know, Dune or, you know, the Odyssey or anything like that level, of course. But Bradford Young, with the cinematography on this movie, I think the movie looked really good. And do you know what movie he did right after this? What did he do? He did a rival, which is a beautiful looking Denis Villeneuve sci fi movie. Then he did solo A Star Wars Story. And you know what he's done since then? Yeah, nothing. His next movie is going to come out next year. It's going to be the Thomas Crown Affair with Michael B Jordan. I don't know if we're just not giving him work or if he took a break or something. I don't know. I don't want to immediately something happen. I don't want to immediately jump out and play. Like, why can't we give this man work? What the hell? But I sure would like to see him get some more work, because he's a damn good cinematographer and I like seeing what this guy does. So more Bradford Young behind the camera, please. Yeah. I agree, it looks. It looks really good from like it looks like your jeans. It looks like you just plopped right back into 1964. I think especially the the bridge scenes were very artistically well done. Like with, uh, I like the during the the horse charge, we have all the smoke and you can feel the chaos. I like the New York Times reporter calling back to like relay and it like goes with the images as like the narration. Yeah. Imagine if you're the person on the other line, like typing all that out. It's like like it's it's it's tough to listen to. And then you didn't like, hear it. It's just it's really, really good stuff. Really good writing. I will say this, I think everyone that portrayed like the governor of Alabama, Lyndon Johnson, Edgar Hoover, they all do such a great job in you and you hate them because of like, how racist and while they are. But you have to capture that too, because that's what we were living like. We were living people were actually having these debates in the white House like, oh, you can't just let them vote. And then, I mean, I think one of the most powerful quotes is Lyndon Johnson. Like Tom Wilkinson says to him, like, well, I don't want to be associated with the boss. Like, like, like my footnote in history is not going to be associated with the Alabama governor, who refused to like who did this level of evilness, which is wild, this thing, because it's like it's not even the fact that he disagreed with it. It was just, I don't want my name part of this. Right. Yeah. Like, I'm not even defending Lyndon Johnson because, I mean, yes, he did. He did okay things at the presidency. But like and yes, he signed the Civil Rights Act and all this stuff. But he also felt a certain way about black people and, and yet he still had these convos where he's like, I don't want to be you. Like out of all the things I can be, I don't want to be that. And yeah, I think those combos were like really important in a movie like this because it frames it as like, man, these people are bad, like bad people who just didn't like he says it in the speech, they're ignorant and and they're just bad, evil people. And living in darkness. I mean, it's yeah. It's like really? Really. Made me feel like. Uncomfortable. Which it should for being on. All right, uh, I'm going to give this thing an a 56.80. Not a movie that I expect to make my top ten for 2014. Whenever, when I eventually get to that. But I do think it's going to be definitely on the honorable mention. That's a stacked year, though, so nothing to be ashamed of at all. Yeah, uh, very strong movie if you haven't seen it. Of course. Uh, check it out. I think this leaks into the A+ chair for me. I'm going a plus 3.5. I mean, the cinematography, the writing, the lead performance, pulling off Martin Luther King Jr. Like that. Pulling off all the other characters. It's a loaded lineup of a loaded. They all are so great in the role and they pull off the tension so well. Just it's a movie that honestly, everyone should. Yeah. I gave it an A 79. And I fully agree that this is a movie that I would recommend to anybody. Even this is kind of like the staple piece of like cinema can be educational. It might not be completely 100% accurate, but these are movies that if you want to learn something and grow an appreciation for something, this is a movie. Yeah, this is definitely something that, uh, should be shown in in schools, but it's not one of those movies that you put on and. All right. Sweet. Now, you know, it's. Yeah, it's a good. This is like we're spending two classes. Oh, yeah. American history. Exactly. Um. All right, so that wraps things up for, uh, The Karate Kid part two and Selma. Next up, back to the superhero grind as. Hey, we're in bed with Superman. Superman two and Superman three. I know we weren't big fans of that first one. Will the franchise do more for us moving forward? Then we've got the Iron Giant and the Wild Robot, two movies that might be a little similar. Sure, there's lots of differences, and I'm sure that I'm going to enjoy both of them. Common theme robot robots. That won't be too. That won't be too tough to find. Uh, neither will the Superman two. Superman three. Uh, don't don't you dare pull that out for for that podcast. Um, how were the duck and Superman for the quest for peace? That'll surely be interesting. And then back to the Random Karate Kid part three, and a movie that we'll find out here in a couple of weeks. What it is. Once we get into the month of September, we will unveil what movie aired with Karate Kid Part three, which, by the way, just in case you guys wanted to know what you're in for. Uh, Karate Kid Part three was nominated for five Razzies and as an 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, sir. That's what you have to look forward to. Uh, yeah. So good times coming up. Um, yeah. That's it. Bye. See you later. Bye.