I Have Some Notes

UNLOCKED! Side Notes: What Makes a Bad Movie?

What makes a movie bad? What are the confluences of unfortunate events and decisions that cause a film not to work? Liam, Scott, and Gregg share their theories and experiences on the wide world of putrid cinema.

The Best (and most disappointing) Movies of 2023

We have an absolutely MASSIVE year-end wrap-up show for you, but I promise we didn't plan it that way. The intention was for the first section of the episode to be a rapid-fire list of movies we loved and wanted to mention, but we just couldn't help but discuss each of them at length.

Hey, give us a break. This is the one episode of the year we get to talk about actual good movies, we're understandably a little over-eager.

Below are the timecodes if you'd like to jump around to the movies you really want to hear us talk about:

"Rapid Fire" 2023 Movies:

• 00:04:56 – Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse
• 00:07:25 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
• 00:08:47 – Super Mario Bros.
• 00:11:03 – The Creator
• 00:13:04 – Dream Scenario
• 00:15:18 – Leo
• 00:17:32 – Talk to Me
• 00:19:50 – Reality
• 00:21:25 – Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3
• 00:23:31 – No One Will Save You
• 00:25:12 – Barbie
• 00:28:43 – Asteroid City
• 00:33:06 – Lebanese Burger Mafia
• 00:36:08 – Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark
• 00:37:32 – The Holdovers

Most Disappointing of 2023

• 00:40:28 – Fool's Paradise
• 00:42:25 – Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• 00:44:08 – Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning
• 00:47:12 – The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart
• 00:49:35 – Shin Kamen Rider
• 00:51:04 – John Wick: Chapter 4
• 00:54:11 – Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
• 00:54:46 – Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire
• 00:56:20 – Totally Killer

Best of 2023

• 00:59:44 – They Cloned Tyrone
• 01:02:57 – Leave the World Behind
• 01:09:05 – Blackberry
• 01:13:53 – Oppenheimer
• 01:19:36 – Anatomy of a Fall
• 01:22:32 – Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
• 01:28:11 – Godzilla Minus One
• 01:32:04 – Poor Things
• 01:41:25 – I Like Movies

Listner Comments – 01:52:41

Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire

Zack Snyder may be this podcast's most prolific source of content. Whenever a Snyder joint drops we know it will be ripe for pitching rewrites.

While Rebel Moon kicks off with surprising promise, the saga quickly develops into empty action and even emptier characters. Scott and Gregg try their best to restructure the plot and add more intrigue to the large cast of characters, while Liam takes a big swing at making this a much more challenging artistic affair.

00:08:08 – Plot Summary
00:09:23 – Movie Discussion
00:29:45 – Rewrites
00:48:43 – Listener Comments

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

The legend of Indiana Jones ends in an unfortunate snoozefest that fails to live up to the vaunted films of the 80s. Fortunately, that leaves us all kinds of relics to rearrange in the museum of Indy.

Scott, Liam, and Gregg look to bring Indiana Jones to a close by interrogating the nature of the character and his history of looting. In addition, we add a fan-favourite character while conversely trying to make the audience feel as uncomfortable as possible.

• 06:42 - Plot Summary
• 08:27 - Movie Discussion
• 30:10 - Punch-up
• 01:02:17 - Listener Comments

The Flash

The Flash is another in a long line of troubled DC movies. Although the core is simple and smart, director Andy Muschietti loses the handle to blockbuster bloat.

Fortunately, Scott has a simple, yet brilliant change that takes the drama to a whole new level and opens up the opportunity to keep the scope smaller and more focused.

• 00:14:43 - Plot Summary
• 00:17:06 - Movie Discussion
• 00:41:00 - Movie Punch-up
• 00:58:35 - Listener Comments

 

Mute (2018)

Ducan Jones' follow-up to Moon dropped, it barely made a sound. It remains one of the many Netflix original misses that have been scarcely seen – must less heard – by anyone. But hey, we were looking for a noir cyberpunk movie, and this one fits the bill!

Laena Anderson of Quantum Kickflip fame joins us to give a stronger voice to Mute. They deftly adjust the challenges the protagonist's disability would present in an ableist future, while Scott looks to change the film's protagonist altogether. Gregg tweaks a single scene, again, and Liam…well Liam may not have even watched this one.

• 15:57 – Plot Summary
• 18:07 – Movie Discussion
• 41:44 – Rewrites
• 01:06:44 – Listner Comments

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

This week we pitch modern remakes for the O.G. horror flick: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. A classic of the Weimar Germany era of expressionist films, Dr. Caligari left an indelible mark on the horror genre with its haunting score, trippy hand-painted lettering and sets, and unique film tinting. I can say with confidence I've never seen a movie like it. You can watch it for free here.

Liam and Gregg propose remakes that are essentially artistic love letters to a classic, while Scott zags in the other direction creating a techno horror/thriller that pays homage to the original.

If you are interested in checking out the short films that inspired Liam's remake, here is a list of links:

• The Periwig Maker – Stop motion short from 1999, based on Daniel Defoe's novel A Journal of the Plague Year (1722), narrated by Kenneth Branagh.
  • https://vimeo.com/94166448
    
    
• Flying Sailor – Canadian short by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis
  • https://www.nfb.ca/film/flying-sailor-the/
• Behind Closed Doors
  • https://youtu.be/H9InaUJm0A8?si=YYRPkdorPUKxiCNp
• Tall Grass
  • Love Death and Robots - Season 2 Episode 5
• Mad God – Directed by Phill Tippet
  • Available on AppleTV+

X (2022)

Ti West's X is honestly a pretty great horror/slasher movie, but would we let a quality film from A24 get in the way of our Monday morning screenwriting? Hell no!

The question for us was whether X took its themes all the way to the finish line. We propose a couple of character moments for Maxime that might done just that, while also making the deaths of certain members of the film crew more tragic.

• 10:46 - Film Discussion
• 37:34 - Rewrites for X
• 1:00:16 - Listner Comments

UNLOCKED! Side Notes: How to Watch Movie Good

Originally a Patreon exclusive, we've unlocked this special Side Notes episode for all to enjoy: How to Watch Movie Good.

Making I Have Some Notes over the last eight years has really pushed us to become better cinephiles and media critics. Punching up movies week after week isn't easy, particularly if we hope to create interesting pitches that meaningfully move these screenplays in a better direction.

So we thought it would be good to share with you our individual journeys from average moviegoers to seasoned cinephiles. The result was a great conversation that traces our roots from working at video stores, to writing about movies, to developing a love for film theory and artistic philosophy.

Shin Kamen Rider

As mentioned in our last episode, we intend to ride out the Hollywood strikes in solidarity with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, so we may not be punching up American superhero movies for a while. Fortunately, this presents a perfect excuse to hit the road and explore imaginative superhero movies abroad, like Shin Kamen Rider.

Kamen Rider is a storied Japanese hero who is as much a cultural touchstone in Japan as Superman is in North America. The franchise spans hundreds of hours of television and a dizzying number of feature films. It is also responsible for the popularization of the "transformation" scene that became of hallmark of anime shows like Sailor Moon.

We try work rework the break-neck speed of Shin Kamen Rider to something that is admittedly more accessible to us Canadians who have yet to ride with the masked grasshopper hero before.

• 09:00 - Plot Summary
• 11:08 - Film Discussion
• 25:04 - Punch Up
• 58:03 - Listener Comments