Binge Movies: Rankings and Reviews

A group of survivors of the rage virus live on a small island. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors.

INSTANT REACTION: Plagued by a recurring violent nightmare, a college student returns home to find the one person who can break the cycle and save her family from the horrific fate that inevitably awaits them.

INSTANT REACTION: A fading midwestern town in which Frendo the clown, a symbol of bygone success, reemerges as a terrifying scourge.

EP 196: 2008’s Box Office Countdown (5–1) – Jokers, Jones, and ABBA (ft. Phoenix Clouden) Episode Description: Jason is joined by the ever unpredictable Phoenix Clouden (The Film Canon) to finish the epic climb through 2008’s biggest box office hits! This is the top 5 where caped crusaders, crystal skulls, pandas, demigods, and dancing queens battled for cinematic dominance. It's a strange mix of gritty realism, nostalgic absurdity, and pop musical euphoria Films Discussed: * Mamma Mia! (5) – Meryl, ABBA, and summer dreams you can sorta almost sing along to. * Hancock (4) – A drunken antihero gets a redemption arc, and the movie continues. * Kung Fu Panda (3) – The animated surprise that kicks harder than anyone expects. * Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2) – Aliens? Fridges? And the first real internet backlash blockbuster. * The Dark Knight (1) – Ledger’s Joker, Nolan’s vision, and the box office juggernaut that changed the game. But is it...good? IN THIS EPISODE: * Phoenix defends Kung Fu Panda as top-tier animation with real heart and craft. * Jason revisits Hancock and some tone deaf creative choices. * Can Mamma Mia! actually work as a movie? * Was Crystal Skull ever really that bad, or just a victim of overhype? * And does The Dark Knight still hold up as the superhero movie to beat?

EPISODE 195: 2008’s Box Office Countdown (10–6) – Iron, Espionage, Penguins, and Robots (ft. Robert Yaniz Jr. & DW Lundberg) Episode Description: The countdown continues! Jason is joined by returning guests Robert Yaniz Jr. and DW Lundberg to tackle the back half of 2008’s top-grossing movies—where talking animals, malfunctioning robots, and emotionally exhausted spies battled it out for box office supremacy. This batch has it all: MCU beginnings, Pixar magic, Bond reboot blues, and a certain talking lion who just can't catch a break. Films Discussed: * Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (6) – The animals are back and... still trying to get home. * Quantum of Solace (7) – Bond is brooding, brutal, and possibly bored. * Iron Man (8) – The movie that launched a universe (and Robert Downey Jr. into legend). * WALL·E (9) – A near-silent ode to love, loneliness, and environmental collapse. * The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (10) – Slightly darker, slightly edgier, but did anyone notice? IN THIS EPISODE: * Was Quantum of Solace an artistic casualty of the 2008 writers' strike? * How Iron Man became a bigger gamble than anyone remembers. * Why WALL·E might be Pixar’s boldest and most bittersweet gamble. * Robert, DW, and Jason try to answer the eternal question: "Who actually watched Prince Caspian?" From Armored Avengers to existential robots, the back half of 2008’s top 10 is more influential than you might think.