Episodes
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Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Avengers: Endgame. Casually Critical: Season 4. What do they all have in common, aside from colons? You'll have to press "play" on your device to find out. I know, it's a lot of effort, but today is the present day of the year and people are the way they are, so if it's mercy you're looking for I ain't gonna give it to you. Sorry. Life's a rough friend sometimes. You can always not press play, but then you'll never satisfy the curiosity that has been building inside of you the entire time you've been reading this description. And no, I've got nothing better to do.
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We'd love to keep you updated on our upcoming creative endeavors and tomfoolery.
Stay in touch with us on Instagram:
@james.fignewton and @danielcarpenterfilms
We have websites, too:
jamesnewtonart.com and danielcarpenterfilms.com
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton -
Help us shape our fourth season!
Take the short survey here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdStOaxvzkxaxlzwG_iBMGMGHCKkMI2zuoc6cml1x9_7DcAIA/viewform?usp=sf_link
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Casually Critical: Season Four will premiere on June 9, 2023. Until then...
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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Missing episodes?
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Daniel and James wrap up season three by bringing back the Entertainment Awards, followed by a forecast for 2023's new releases.
Don't worry, you can rest easy: the entire episode is spoiler-free!
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Season Three's Entertainment Awards:
The Casually Critical Fan Club Award - 3:49 The One-Man Hype Train Award - 4:54 Franchise Killer Award - 6:40 "Good on Paper" Award - 7:35 Marketing Team Creative Influence Award - 9:35 Lemonade Award - 12:33 Participation Award - 14:10 Achievement in Acting - 16:00 Host's Personal Favorite Season Three Episode - 19:09 Achievement in Storytelling - 21:37 Creative Dumpster Fire Reigning Champion - 26:37• • • • •
2023 Movie Forecast:
John Wick: Chapter 4 - 32:35 Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - 35:07 Dune: Part Two - 38:34 Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 - 40:52 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - 42.57 The Super Mario Bros. Movie- 45:23 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania - 48:50 Coyote vs. Acme - 52:40 The Flash - 56:17 Strays - 59:33 Haunted Mansion - 1:04:09 Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse - 1:07:26Off-the-Air Movie Recommendations - 1:14:38
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Stay tuned for Casually Critical: Season Four, premiering June 9, 2023. Until then...
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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The two reviewers revisit a childhood classic, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), and measure it up against their nostalgia. James reveals one of his favorite animal side characters of all time and Daniel uses the end battle as a case study for setting up an epic moment.
Spoiler Review begins at 11:05.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
[email protected]
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton -
You taunted us. You cajoled us. So we finally did it: we watched the entire season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022). Was it worth the eight-hour investment? Did we have any regrets, or did our viewing experience cause us to do a heel turn on our initial thoughts? Let's face it, you wouldn't be reading this description unless you were a mite bit curious. Go on, then: give this episode a listen.
The review begins at 10:00.
Spoiler Review begins at 18:57.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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Here's a mysterious inquiry: how could Rian Johnson top what he did in his previous whodunit, Knives Out? Is it possible for a sequel to be bigger AND better? And can you objectively appreciate a well-crafted story even when you subjectively disagree with the themes it conveys? Daniel and James grab their cigars, tie their ascots, and polish their spectacles as they seek those confounding answers in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022).
Spoiler Review begins at 24:21.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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Daniel and James take a break, relax, and answer questions from listeners of the podcast.
What's your favorite movie soundtrack? Is music essential to telling a story in film? (3:54)
What's a fan theory you wish was true or would improve the property it's about? (14:56)
What are the most consistent themes that stick out to you in a film? (23:52)
Have you noticed any thematic patterns in the top-grossing box office films of the past decade? (28:45)
Is film the best form of storytelling in our generation? (45:17)
Should film be the main tool for telling stories in less technologically-advanced cultures? (53:52)
Is there a literary/cinematic trope that is necessary for a good story? (1:02:41)
What makes a scene truly emotional? (1:12:08)
Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? (1:22:03)
Daniel's question for James (1:32:48)
James's question for Daniel (1:35:49)
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
• • • • •
Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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Featuring Abbey Frisco as this episode's guest!
The two critics step back into the murky, money-dense waters of Marvel Studios as a corporate filmmaker joins them in discussing the first season of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). Is the show a milestone in female representation, or the latest example of poor, hot-button writing? What if it's both? What if it's neither? Abbey shares her experience as a filmmaker, a marketing professional, and a woman. James unpacks the oversaturation of Marvel's franchise and Daniel keeps confusing She-Hulk for a movie instead of a streaming series.
Spoiler Review begins at 47:30.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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Is smoking actually bad for you? It is. But this movie isn't (at least in terms of lung cancer)! Daniel and James shed some light onto the inner workings of this dark comedy. What does a tastefully edgy movie look like? How can you trust your audience with your movie's message without blatantly giving it away? Tune in to this episode and find out.
Spoiler Review begins at 20:05.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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Look, up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a Boeing F/A - 18/F Super Hornet piloted by Oscar-nominee Tom Cruise?! Is it coming right for me? Am I going to live? When will the questions end? Why is Top Gun: Maverick (2022) so good and yet so worrisome? When will Daniel and James finally turn their brains off and realize that fighter jets go VROOM, end of story?
Spoiler Review begins at 19:30.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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Featuring Pastor Dan Chapin as the show's first-ever guest!
Daniel and James find themselves in a new level of appalling creativity as they attempt to wade through the treacherous waters of God's Not Dead: We the People (2021) alongside a real-life pastor. God may not be dead, but this franchise should be.
Spoilers last for the entire episode so you don't have to bother watching the movie. You're welcome.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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What makes you think of Halloween? Local costume parties? Trick-or-treating through the neighborhood with family? How about outer space? James and Daniel take spooky season into the stars as they dissect the legendary sci-fi horror film Alien (1979). Daniel rants about holograms. James compares the movie with the original Star Wars.
Spoiler Review begins at 18:02.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
• • • • •
Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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Amazon's new show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022) is the most expensive show in television history. But how much good story can money really buy? Why didn't Daniel and James finish watching it? More importantly, why didn't Amazon simply give Daniel and James some of the money they spent on this production? The two hosts certainly need it: hosting a podcast does not guarantee opulence, as it turns out. Also included in the beginning is banter about the new Super Mario Bros. movie teaser from Illumination Entertainment. God help us all.
The review begins at 9:55.
Spoiler Review begins at 34:05.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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James attempts to put aside both his childhood and his nostalgia blindness as he joins Daniel in trying to properly analyze Hoodwinked (2005). The critics unlock James's mind and dive deep into his origins, Daniel finds himself in an internal debate over art vs. heart, and the two men dissect the role of cute side characters in animated films.
Spoiler Review begins at 28:03.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
• • • • •
Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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The two reviewers dive into the dark and sometimes strangely comedic world of Severance, Season 1 (2022). The review makes Casually Critical history, Daniel gets the green-eyed monster from the show's writing, and James unpacks his love-hate relationship with the more suspenseful moments. If you've read this far and haven't seen the show, drop everything (unless you're holding a baby, gently set it down) and watch this show stat.
The episode remains spoilers-and-plot-details free until 10:18.
Spoiler Review begins at 22:35.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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Daniel and James put on their batting hats and hit the baseball diamond in their review of Moneyball (2011). Or, in this case, they hit the baseball...offices? The world of baseball clashes with a Nolanesque story as America's pastime is analyzed through the lens of its managers, who are in turn analyzed by our two critics...are you confused yet? Good.
Spoiler Review begins at 18:10.
Shout out to Troy L. for recommending this movie for us to review!
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
• • • • •
Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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What things do you typically discuss while around the dinner table? Is it lighthearted discourse about the recent sports game? Some merry conversation regarding hilarious work escapades? Well, in this episode, Daniel and James sit back and relax with some banter about heavy societal issues and crippling cinematic cultural hyperanalysis with Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). James questions monologues, Daniel brings about a second round of roastings directed at Gone with the Wind, and the two explore the difference between collectivism and individualistic expression in media.
Spoiler Review begins at 22:15.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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Dreamworks Animation flexes its franchise-building chops with Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016). The two reviewers gush over scale-shrinking trilogies, James geeks out over toon shading, and Daniel confesses that he doesn't cook. Daniel and James enter the Build-A-Better-Villain workshop together and also concoct a surprisingly intriguing pitch for Kung Fu Panda 4.
Spoiler Review begins at 25:54.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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Did you have a great day today? Well, if you haven't yet watched Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) then the answer to that question is a "no". The two critics pull no punches with this film review, analyzing everything from the stop-motion techniques to the overall narrative structure, discussing representation in the film industry, and Daniel forgets what year it is and what movie they are reviewing.
Spoiler Review begins at 21:00.
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
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Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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The two critics find themselves caught between fairy tales and divorce lawyers in Enchanted (2007), an interesting movie made within an interesting era in Disney's history. Daniel recalls the podcast's traumatic past with movie musicals, James expresses a shocking desire to cut the movie's animation budget, and the two reviewers put Patrick Dempsey's performance on trial.
Spoiler Review begins at 19:12.
Shout out to Milan H. for recommending this movie for us to review!
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Want to join in the conversation? We'd love to answer some of your burning questions or hear your feedback about the show. Who knows? Your questions could be featured on one of our episodes!
Check us out on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/casuallycriticalpodcast/
We have a Facebook, too:
https://www.facebook.com/CasuallyCriticalPodcast/
Maybe email is more your thing:
• • • • •
Executive Producers and Hosts: Daniel Carpenter, James Newton
Sound Design and Audio Mixing: Daniel Carpenter
Social Media: James Newton
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