Welcome to another edition of The Playlist Podcast, a discussion about film, television, and any other pertinent items. We do like to keep things equal, after all…
On this bonus episode of The Playlist Podcast (recorded last week to drop this week while I’m on a brief vacation), I’m joined by Oktay Ege Kozak to discuss a myriad of films that we have caught up with recently, though the bulk of the episode is dedicated to one of our most anticipated films of the summer: Antoine Fuqua‘s “The Equalizer 2.”
If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering why on God’s green Earth we were anticipating “The Equalizer 2?” Truth be told, its 2014 predecessor is a favorite of ours (as well as our fellow Playlist podcaster Erik McClanahan), mainly for its misguided, stone-faced seriousness while being as hilariously simplistic and uncomplicated as one of these kinds of films can be. It’s not a good movie, but it’s a highly enjoyable one, and good or bad, that’s still a valuable experience.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the sequel, which trades in the first film’s over-the-top action sequences for more ponderous scenes about the toll that violence takes (even though it’s completely unfounded and at-odds with the grisly deaths in the film’s third act). We have a great time taking it to task, but we get into ***SPOILERS*** from the very beginning. If you have plans to see “The Equalizer 2” (your funeral), turn away now and come back after you’ve seen it.
Though it’s not all Denzel Washington kicking ass and taking names. We find some time to discuss some of the films we’ve been catching up with, including an actually great film with a violent, bruised vigilante (Lynne Ramsay‘s “You Were Never Really Here“), as well as Bo Burnham’s much-buzzed-about “Eighth Grade.” And, since the topic is evergreen and MoviePass seems to be on its way out, we also discuss AMC Theatre‘s answer to the subscription game, AMC Stubs A-List (which I have recently subscribed to and made “The Equalizer 2” the first film I used for it. Money well spent, right?).
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As always, thanks for listening!