Audio

Vermin Supreme on the Big Issues


Presidential candidate, Vermin Supreme, called the show and we’re asking him all the tough questions. He talks all about his controversial “Free Pony For Every American” plan as well as Gorilla safety. Check out the clip above to hear more of what Vermin has to say. Then, check him out at verminsupreme2016.wordpress.com.

Jaime Goes to Comic Con


Jaime the Tattoo Guy has never been to a comic con before…so we geared him up and sent him out to the Dallas Fan Expo. Jaime was blown away by some of the costumes…mostly the lady in a blow-up dinosaur costume from Party City. Check out the clip above to see who he met.

Jaime the Tattoo Guy with "Shoobacca"

Jaime with “Shoobacca”

 

Jaime the Tattoo Guy with Donnie

Jaime the Tattoo Guy with Donnie

Drew Reviews: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows


For the first time ever, Drew is reviewing a movie before it goes cold! This time he’s seeing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

Drew’s Rating: Ehh

Opened: 6/2
Tomatometer: 36% (and rising)
Rating: PG-13
Box Office for 2014 Original: $191M Domestic / $493M Worldwide

The Premise:

Four turtle dudes from the NYC sewer drive pimped-out trash truck, save world.

The Lowdown

Some of the benefits of seeing a sequel are being spared from back story, character development and unpredictability and OOTS delivers in these areas magically. Moviegoers everywhere have the rare opportunity to see a film that is so unapologetically mediocre in all the areas that traditionally constitute a good film, yet somehow less mediocre than the other films in its genre, that it jells into a perfectly mindless 97minutes of entertainment. Viewing this film is the equivalent of being released into a weightless ether where you don’t care about characters, story or outcomes. At any point during the film, you will have total indifference to whether the film ends in 5 or 50 minutes, who lives/dies, who mutates (or doesn’t mutate) and the inevitable ineptitude of the next line of dialogue. OOTS puts you in a state of where you’re “just there”, engaged enough to be entertained but totally detached from everything occurring in the film.

While owning the bare minimum in terms of acting, humor and the quality of the dialogue (the film actually includes the line “Time to take out the trash.”) the film aims ridiculously high with the premise that the world is in imminent danger and only the TMNT can save it. The complete implausibility of all the circumstances of the film will cause you to be spooked. You will not know which way is up, right from wrong, black from white, the past from the future. You will have entered the all-consuming black hole of just-barely-enough-to-be-satisfying that is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

The Good Guys

LEONARDO – The self-proclaimed “leader” of the Ninja Turtles, he reminds you of the distant brother you wished you never had, but unfortunately do. When not being an all-around jackass, Lame Leo focuses on reducing the confidence of the other brothers in themselves and each other. Each paper-thin line delivered by his character is the equivalent of turning a bathroom light on and seeing it spark for a brief second before it completely burns out.

MICHELANGELO – Dimwittingly referred to as “Mikey” throughout the picture, his character manages to take a film that aims very low to begin with and dims it down a shade further. He’s dumb, he likes pizza – OK, OK, we get it.

RAPHAEL – The token “meathead” of the amphibian posse, he brims with misguided rage and boneheaded angst. His performance caused so much eye rolling on behalf of the audience that two people in my theater aisle had to pop their glass eyes back in. My personal advice to Raphael, join a frat and mellow out, dude.

DONATELLO – Even more dimwittingly referred to as “Donnie” in the film, a second token character reveals his four-eyed face in the form of the token Brainiac. If there is a most ludicrous aspect of this picture it has to be that he is able to reverse-engineer the most complicated technical scenarios in a sub-nanosecond. He is the only of the four who tries, and horribly, horribly fails, to be a character the moviegoer remotely cares about.

MEGAN FOX – Let’s be clear here – if there is one great reason to go see this film it is for the simple pleasure of seeing every second she is on film (beyond those not spent rolling your eyes due to “Raph’s” meaty dialogue). Any male moviegoer who doesn’t find themselves completely blueballed by the time the credits roll needs a prescription for Viagra. If there had been a kiosk located on the concourse outside the theater where I could have signed the deed to my house away to Ms. Fox, I would have been at least forced to stop and give it serious consideration.

Hats off to you Ms. Fox, for making OOTS worthy of the outrageous price and inconvenience of seeing a film in the theater.

The Bad Guys

BEBOP & ROCKSTEADY – As part of the crazed tokenization of the cast, this duo of dingbattery double as the token “other mutants” and the token comic relief. One of the most colossal mistakes in the film was trying to do anything with these characters and trying to make them funny. They’re not – they suck. However, there is an incredible CGI moment in the film of the two in a boat at the top of a waterfall. Can one 10 second shot make up for the blither that is their rest-of-the-film? In the thoughtless abyss that is OOTS, that is a resounding yes.

BAXTER STOCKMAN – Alleged hotshot scientist and all-around wet blanket Baxter Stockman is a character who is so neutral and unstimulating that you are sure to have no reaction to him whatsoever. He drifts through this film like a fart passing in the night, where you don’t really know what happened, but you can sense that something was left faintly behind.

KRANG – Let’s be clear again – Krang is the straight-up no-two-ways-about-it Don. With a hideous appearance and a penchant for destroying Planet Earth, yet vaguely cuddly on the inside, Krang nails it as a perfect villain. When the inevitable does occur, and aliens come to blast earth into a quintillion pieces, I hope it’s a legit bro like Krang who shows up to drop the hammer.

KARAI – Not to be outdone in number of total token characters, the film manages to pull one more rabbit out of its hat on this one. Token female second-fiddle version of one of the other villain characters? Where could this go wrong? The answer? Everywhere. However, with the “Kitchen Sink” strategy that characterizes the film, how can you deny the moviegoers an additional pointless, unneeded character like this one? Bravo OOST, you have outdone yourself again.

SHREDDER – Last, and most very certainly least, is the other “villain” of the film. I’m sorry but there is more to creating a villain than: make him Asian, give him a pseudo-ninja hair/beard cut and force-feed him minimal dialogue. This performance is the masterful combination of trudging and sleepwalking that fuses all the other half-hearted aspects of the film into its critical mass of vacuousness.

The Verdict

Despite a truly awe inspiring list of shortcomings, OOTS delivers a showpiece of mind-numbing entertainment that you will like far more than you will hate. The viewing experience is one that provides the opportunity to completely tune out and let your mind go blank. The bad guys are just as likeable as the good guys and the good guys are just as hate-able as the bad guys. No one character is funnier or more amusing than any of the others. No scene is better than any of the other scenes and none of the lines stand out. And if the veritable buffet of just barely adequate doesn’t do it for you, you have the fact that Megan Fox is superhot to fall back on.

Seeing the film is the equivalent of eating a hot dog. Can I get a much, much better meal than a hot dog just as easy as I can get a hot dog? Of course, but I still like hot dogs.

In fact, the film is good enough that it transcends hot dog to the likes of bratwurst and/or Polish sausage.

A big Two and Three-Quarters Stars (out of 4) for this masterpiece of mindlessness.

Click here to listen to the full show.

Michael’s DVR Graduation


What shows will Michael keep on his DVR for their next season? Michael puts on a DVR Graduation for the shows that will continue to be on his DVR for the 2016-2017 TV season. Also, find out what shows didn’t make the cut.

Does Jaime Know That Name?


We all know Jaime the tattoo guys is terrible with names. So we decided to see if Jaime can name at least SOME of the main characters from Game of Thrones. In fact, we made it into a game. All you have to do is guess if Jaimes knows the name or not. Believe it or not, he does know at least a couple. However, the show is pretty complicated so we can’t blame him for not knowing every name…can you do any better? Listen to the clip to find out.

MZNOW Exclusive: Ozzy Osbourne


The one and only, Ozzy Osbourne, tells all about his relationship with Sharon in our exclusive interview with the Prince of Darkness. Michael gets right down to heart of the issues in this, emotional but surprisingly short, “interview.” You don’t want to miss a moment. Listen to the clip in the player above.

MZ in LA


What happens when you put Chris Sapphire, Eric Star, and Michael Zavala in Hollywood for a few days? Madness, that’s what. Eric and Michael recount their adventures and play clips from their audio journal. Listen to what happens in the player above. Next stop: Vegas.

Is This Not The Greatest Interview Ever?


Could this mystery guest be THE greatest interview we’ve ever had? After weeks of successful interviews, it was only a matter of time before something like THIS would happen. We’ll go ahead and spoil the mystery for you. The guest is Dexter actor, James Remar. If this is not the greatest interview, it’s certainly the shortest. Listen for yourself to find out what happened.

Bobby’s Epic Vacation


Master storyteller, Bobby Hickey, recounts the events of his epic vacation. It’s almost as if you were right there with him as you listen to his beautifully crafted tale. Using his amazing ability with the English language, Bobby paints a mental image better than anyone in spoken word history. You’ve never heard a vacation adventure quite like this. You’re sure to be entertained by the clip above and someday, you might even pass this story down to your own children.

We cannot guarantee that you can listen to this story with a dry eye. You have been warned.

Review: Batman V Superman


Here it is! Your official MZNOW Batman V Superman review is here! Three weeks after the movie has been released of course, but as they say, better late than never…right? Also, there are no SPOILERS. So check out the review above, watch the movie, and tell us what you think. We give it a 6 out of 10. What about you?

Scroll to top