I Have Some Notes

Another round of summer recommendations with a twist! This episode includes recs for a cult classic, a TV series and a an inspiring book for difficult times.

Would you be shocked to learn this is the first time we've tackled a proper Nicolas Cage movie? Well, BE SHOCKED, armchair screenwriters! Because it's true. Listen in as we explore the long trail of riddles and clues that are key to unlocking a better version of National Treasure.

It's a bonus summer show! We talk about three movies we think you should watch RIGHT NOW. Well, not now now. You have to listen to the episode first to find out which movies. And then now!

We all know that the experience of watching a movie has degraded in the 21st century. Theatres have been abandoned, both by audiences and those who manage them. Streaming services offer convenience at a steep cost and at great sacrifice in quality.  Normally our hubris is saved for fixing movies, but why not aim higher? Why not try to repair the entire modern viewing experience as we know it? Yeah, now that's what I call unearned white-guy-podcast confidence. LFG!

It's the season 10 finale! How in the name of the Q Continuum have we managed to do this for almost ten years? Largely thanks to you, honestly. Without your support, whether its been generously donating your own hard-earned cash or furiously working to submit your movie fixes every two weeks, this show wouldn't exist without you. So, as always, thank you so much! Now, sit back and enjoy us needlessly picking apart your childhood's favourite gang of puppets. Remember, you support this nonsense.

In the wake of the Andor series finale – arguably the best prequel to anything ever – we decided to go back and revisit our episode on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. With Andor's re-contextualization of the story, and the benefit of 8 years of hindsight, we wanted to find our if our fixes still hold up and if the film lands any different now. One thing we can say for sure, Saw Gerrera's appears makes way more sense. Tune in to us I Have Some Note-ing and episode of I Have Some Notes! Links: Our Original Rogue One episode Andor: Anti-f*scist Art (Just Write video Liam recommends) Discord Server Link Tree Patreon

Lately Marvel movies have been making for easy podcast fodder. Their blandness has only been outdone by their mediocrity. Unfortunately for us, as we were screening Thunderbolts*, we had to admit it was pretty sick. So sick, in fact, than even Gregg gave it 4 1/2 stars on Letterboxd. Gregg! That makes our job a bit of a challenge. But, to paraphrase the old maxim, a movie is never finished, merely abandoned. To that end we throw a bunch of spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks like the Brylcreem'd mane of a golden god and what falls into the void below.

A team of scientists unearth an ancient gate in the Egyptian desert that opens the doorway for humans to travel across the known universe in the blink of an eye. What marvellous wonders will they bear witness to, what awesome sights will they glimpse that no other human has glimpsed? Sand…mostly. Yes, as good as the premise is, Stargate is a cinematic snooze-fest that needs fixing. We sprinkle a little exposition dust to lift this story off the ground and get it running through the gate instead of walking.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is beloved by those bold enough to embrace a fantastical new reality, and abhorred by those aghast at this bizarre spectacle of unknown providence. It’s a film as divisive as it is confusing as it is gonzo, but we've assembled a massive crew of colourful weirdos to help make sense of it all; just like Buckaroo would have wanted! I Have Some Notes welcomes David Rae and Laena Anderson from Quantum Kickflip. QK is an actual-play podcast about teen hoverboarders traveling to strange new dimensions to explore, get into trouble, and look cool doing it. Dave and Laena have two seasons worth of multiverse adventure storytelling experience, so they might be the only ones clever or crazy enough to handle the wild trip that is Buckaroo Banzai. Listen to Quantum Kickflip, including the upcoming Season 3 dropping June 4, at www.quantumkickflip.com. Follow them on Bluesky at quantumkickflip.bsky.social. The I Have Some Notes Discord Server is a great place to keep

Old John Wick is warn out, friends. He's been on a revenge tour for three movies, and now he's going to have to drag his Freedom 55 ass through another two and a half hour gun-fu marathon. But not to worry, the schtick is only as derivative as the needle-drops.  Liam, Scott and Gregg fight through the urge to relentlessly critique and eventually find a solid new big picture direction for a better Chapter 4.  After you listen be sure to drop by our Discord Server and let us know what you thought of our pitch!

There are two forms of novel adaptations: thoughtful interpretations of the book and its themes and hack scripts stapled to a recognizable book title. Now which route do you think Netflix took for The Electric State? If you guessed the former, you must be new here. Hi! Welcome to I Have Some Notes!  No guest this week, so it’s up to the classic threesome to find some kind of fix for the Russo brothers’s latest streaming “blockbuster” that doesn’t amount to just “do it like the book.” We get there…eventually.

With Canada/US relations at their lowest point since we burned down their White House, we felt we should try generating some cross-border goodwill. We invited good friend of the show Josh Skaar (TalkSMAC podcast) to share in a bit of Canadiana as we take on Sean William Scott’s GOON. Surprisingly our first hockey centered movie, GOON is largely a fun, competent comedy that we all liked. Of course, because we’re a bunch of movie snobs, that doesn’t stop us from beating up on this one a bunch. For our non-Canadian friends, here is a link to the Halifax Explosion we mentioned at the end of the episode. Once you’re done listening, keep the conversation going on our Discord channel!

Captain ███████: Brave New World may be one of Marvel’s better cinematic efforts of late, but it’s also one of their better efforts of late. Disney’s former golden goose has become just a regular old goose, and if you know anything about geese, you know they suck. Still BNW isn’t completely devoid of fun. There are two monster action sequences that make this film worthy of some touch ups. Good friend of the show and walking cinematic encyclopedia, Robin Taylor, joins us to rip the script apart with all the ferociousness of an 80-year-old man in a CGI Hulk suit.

At this point the true trap for us is an M. Night Shyamalan movie. They're just bad in very, very interesting ways! TRAP is maybe less of a mess than some of his more recent efforts, but it still features wild decisions from strange cinematography choices to straight up playing the nepo-baby card with abandon. As always, we try to play script doctor, working to keep the trap in the movie TRAP as well and shuffling the character deck for some fun thematic changes. Enjoy!

If you can get past the Tom Cruise of it all the Mission Impossible series is generally quite good. Each new addition offers clever heists, death-defying stunts, and occasionally a man reloading his arms like some kind of sexy human shotgun. Also running. Lots of Tom running. Dead Reckoning: Part I, however, struggles to match the thrills of its predecessors. Its omniscient AI-run-amok plot is derivative enough to have been written by ChatGPT itself. If that weren’t bad enough, it’s interminably long and gets bogged down by the ego of its star. But where there’s mediocrity you’ll find the I Have Some Notes crew. We dive into the AI plot to make it more fun, while rearranging some of the main characters so there is less…fridging.

As a movie podcast, we are bound by law to collect our thoughts and broadcast our picks for the best films of the year. We may have no choice in the matter, but it's our favourite episode of the year all the same.  It's also, as is tradition, our longest episode of the season, so let's get to it! Hopefully, we'll inspire you to add some new movies to your watch list. If you prefer to jump around here's a breakdown of our discussion by timecode: 00:01:36 – 2024's Top Box Office Earners 00:04:56 – Super Hero Movie Reprieve 00:08:44 – The Year of *whispers* Musical 00:11:36 – The Year of AI 00:18:48 – Hundreds of Beavers 00:22:16 - The People's Joker 00:26:58 – Speak No Evil 00:31:42 – It's What's Inside 00:35:28 – I Saw the TV Glow 00:43:41 – Love Lies Bleeding 00:52:44 – Stand Up Solutions 00:58:28 – Heretic 01:02:03 – Conclave 01:06:29 – Challengers 01:13:30 – The Substance 01:20:31 – Megalopolis 01:27:55 – Nosferatu  01:35:41 – Civil War 01:50:16 – Listener Comments

Fresh off the heels of watching Robert Eggers' superbly grotesque Nosferatu, we decided to screen another, less well-regarded, Dracula film. THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER travelled swiftly through theatres, perhaps faster than warranted. It sets up the stakes and principal characters nicely and skillfully envelopes the audience in a creaky nautical atmosphere. Still, even though there was a lot to like about this Alien-Vampire mashup, it left us wanting in the way that makes it a perfect candidate for the show. Join us for a retelling of the retelling of The Last Voyage of the Demeter!

Every year, we float the idea of watching a Hallmark Christmas movie for our traditional holiday episode, and every year we chicken out. The trouble with Hallmark is that their formula is so streamlined that not one film stands out above the rest. So how do we tackle these movies in an interesting way? Then it occurred to us…if every Hallmark Christmas movie is the same, it shouldn't matter which movie we choose. In fact, we could all watch a different movie, and fix the Hallmark formula itself!  So that's what we did! Liam watched Jingle Around the Clock, Scott screened Every Christmas Has a Story and Gregg sat through Crown for Christmas. We then evaluate the Christmas movie mill and give the studio some notes on how to improve the product. Happy holidays, Armchair Screenwriters! Show Note Links: Liam's Sketch Group The Debutants

I Have Some Notes boldly goes to the one branch of the Star Trek franchise we’ve never gone before! Star Trek (2009) offers an exciting blockbuster reimagining of the classic Original Series, captained by the one and only J.J. Abrams (and thank goodness there is not more than one of him!).  Liam, Scott, and Gregg riff on ways to clean up the convoluted time travel plot, add some depth to the supporting cast, and try to put the third act back on trek…er…track.

Some weeks back our Discord channel erupted in a lively discussion over a recent article from Variety titled Toxic Fandom: How Hollywood Is Battling Fans Who Are ‘Just Out for Blood’. In it, journalist Adam B. Vary reports about the effects toxic fandom is having on the personal lives of actors and how studios are combating it from hiring security firms to focus grouping diehard fans. The article inspired us to explore the topic more deeply in a Side Notes episode. This was an inspiring and enlightening conversation, and I hope you all get as much out of it as we did. Back next week with another movie fix, see you then!