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The boys see green with Ridley Scott’s foray onto the red planet with “The Martian”. They also ponder whether there’s too much damned TV!
- After “Prometheus” rose from the dead and immediately turned to dust, Ridley Scott is back on track with “The Martian”.
- Does “The Martian” bring back the science procedural? We make a call-back to a previous episode where we ponder whether a science procedural could be commercially viable entertainment.
- Sean thought “The Martian” got the story structure right compared to its cousin, “Cast Away”.
- PJ gives a tip-o-the-hat to the Jeff Daniels’ character for playing a version of a villain but rooted in a person with complex decisions that must be made.
- PJ and Efram point out and discuss a mixed-bag using comedic actors (Wiig and Glover) in serious rolls.
- PJ wonders if “The Martian” will inspire future scientists like Star Trek?
- Potatoes.
- Hands together all-around for the visual effects of “The Martian”.
- The centripetal “gravity” spaceship. It’s good. But like any law of attraction, it’s complicated. Nonetheless, the guys liked the interplay of the crew on the spaceship’s gravity wheel.
- PJ’s unnerved when a character jumps outside the spaceship without a tether. Which then sparks Sean’s “fake drama” rant: He has a problem with unnecessary drama thrown in over the top of an already dramatic situation. Efram thinks Sean’s being overly dramatic.
- The boys talk about sterescopic 3D movies. All agree James Cameron owns this game.
- PJ and Sean teach Efram about the witchcraft that is turning a 2D movie into 3D on the fly.
- Riffing off of “The Business”’s interview by Kim Masterson with FX Network’s John Landgraf, the guys discuss Landgraf’s “Too Much Television” theory.
- The Gatekeeper Theory: Gatekeepers artificially limit content output thereby potentially protecting its value. Gone, now, with cheaper production costs and unlimited broadcast bandwith via streaming video.
- Efram doesn’t buy what Landgraf is selling.
- Sean thinks Landgraf’s theory suffers from Big Tent Theory in the age of the Long Tail.
- The role of the curated watch list is brought up.
- PJ needs the opposite: He needs a curation drill sergeant. Someone who’ll help him winnow down from the things he has on his watch list. (Is PJ secretly agreeing with Landgraf?!)
- The boys pontificate on a “smarter” curated media website.
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