The “What We’ve Been Watching” segment kicks off with Devindra’s viewing of Swingers, which he says doesn’t really hold up over time.  It does bring to mind how the last decade has been so formative for both Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, but the film is ultimately unexciting at this point.  The guys also talk about Whiteout, the latest to hit the screens from Dominic Sena.  Adam thinks that the film is really horrible and that the trailer misleads the viewers into thinking there’s far more intrigue than the movie produces.  Since Sena’s best work was “an explosion in the first five minutes of Swordfish”, though, Whiteout’s 7% Rotten Tomatoes ranking is somewhat unsurprising.

The news is unsurprisingly dominated by the death of Patrick Swayze.  His role in Point Break and on Saturday Night Live during the Chippendales skit are some of his most memorable performances and he naturally garners a lot of praise from this group of movie nerds.  Also in the news is Christoph Waltz’s casting as the villain in the upcoming Green Hornet movie, which leaves the guys cautiously optimistic due to his fantastic acting as Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds.

Shane Acker’s 9 seems to be plagued by a lot of problems that the guys bring up.  The marketing clearly suggests that this is a great family film though it most certainly isn’t.  This episode’s guest, Christopher Stipp, brings up how the viewers are just thrown into the plot at the very beginning and are forced to ride it out to an unsatisfying conclusion.  Chris goes further to say that 9 is based on a short film and yet simply doesn’t have the complexity to logically extend it from ten minutes to one-hundred thirty, which District 9 recently managed to do.  Ultimately, the guys agree that the visual style and great animation foreshadow a great career for Acker, but this film doesn’t have the story chops to hold it together.

Covered films and topics: Christopher Stipp from Quick Stop Entertainment, Avatar, Swingers, Triumph of the Will, Kids in the Hall, Wilco, Whiteout, Patrick Swayze Passes Away, Pirates of the Caribbean 4 gets a subtitle: On Stranger Tides, Up in the Air Teaser Trailer, Charlize Theron, Will Smith confirmed for Hancock 2, Christoph Waltz Cast as Green Hornet Villain, Trick R Treat Movie Trailer, Park Chan Wook’s Next Film is The Ax?, 9

In this week’s /Filmcast, Dave Chen, Devindra Hardawar and Adam Quigley, get blown away by the trailer for Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air, reflect on the creative bankruptcy of the first Hancock, and share a few remembrances of the great Patrick Swayze.

Runtime – 1:35:39

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