We start this week’s show with news of the long-awaited and poignantly triumphant return of the funniest bit of genre-bending sci-fi hilarity stored on the interwebs (or Adult Swim for cable fans). That’s right, we are talking about the premiere date and corresponding teaser trailer for Rick and Morty, season 3.
The riotous series from executive producer and parody wizard Dan Harmon (Community) left on a cliffhanger in season 2’s finale in October 2015 — a simpler time that almost seems like a different era here in the Twitter-pocalypse present — operates on a shoestring budget and, honestly, left viewers wondering if it really would make it back to the small screen. Luckily, we have Comic-Con, and our interviews with the Rick and Morty cast promised a prescient new season on the way that is darker, deeper, and richer in character development. Suffice it to say, we are pretty excited.
But we digress, there is plenty of content outside of Rick and Morty to chat about today, including our Weekend Box Office Preview. That said, the film in pole position this week actually has something in common with Harmon’s creation — they both have deceivingly dumb names. The Edgar Wright (Sean of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) film Baby Driver is not, as some have suggested, a follow-up to Alec Baldwin’s animated film Boss Baby, but a hip heist flick driven by a killer soundtrack that DT’s review called “the best car chase crime musical ever created.” Weird titles and descriptions aside, this critic darling is lighting up review sites, scoring a 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes for its stylish, action-packed narrative and excellent performances from stars Ansel Elghort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm, and Jamie Foxx. If there’s a must-see movie this weekend, this is it.
Of course, if heist musicals aren’t your bag, you can take the kids to one of two family adventures, including Netflix’s eccentric hippo-pig movie Okja (which you can probably find much more easily on the streaming site itself), and of course, Despicable Me 7 — er, 3 — which is getting respectable, if not stellar, reviews.
There is plenty of other news to discuss this week, too, including new insight into Ben Affleck’s Batman movie from off-again-on-again director Matt Reeves. Reeves, who briefly bowed out of the film, is very much in the driver’s seat now, it seems, telling New Trailer Buzz this week that the film will explore Batman’s reputation as a first-rate detective, set with a Hitchcockian tone. We have to admit after Affleck dropped out as director, we wondered if this film would ever see the light of day, but the latest news has us intrigued.
And, of course, we cannot forget the latest from the seemingly troubled young Han Solo movie, which lost its director after Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy had apparently had enough of directing duo Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s zany antics. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the two clashed with Kennedy and Star Wars uber-veteran Lawrence Kasdan pretty much from day one. That said, the change of director’s chairs just a month before the film was set to wrap shooting, along with other details like a late-order acting coach for young star (and new Han Solo) Alden Ehrenreich puts this already-borderline film even further on the edge. Can new director Ron Howard salvage Disney’s big bet and make an audience care about a film with the words “Han Solo” that doesn’t include Harrison Ford? We’ve got until May of 2018 to find out, but the suspense is killing us.
Other hot topics this week include AMC’s strange new streaming service, Sense8’s crowd-pleasing two-hour finale courtesy of Netflix, Tommy Lee Jones as Brad Pitt’s dad, the surprisingly hilarious trailer for the Jumanji reboot, and more.
So tune in at 2 p.m. (PT), or take our podcast on the road via the links above!
