Episode Details
Back to Episodes
Talking Pondo: Judgment Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Description
In this episode, Marty gives Clif the film Judgment Night to watch and Clif gives Marty Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves to watch.
First up is Judgment Night, the 1993 thriller starring Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Denis Leary, Stephen Dorff and Jeremy Piven. Clif and Marty revisit a movie they actually encountered during their days working together at a movie theater and discover that nostalgia doesn't necessarily make a bad movie better. They dig into the movie's increasingly ridiculous chase sequences and characters who seem remarkably unfazed by nearly being killed.
But there is one thing about Judgment Night that Clif and Marty still absolutely love: the soundtrack. Featuring collaborations between rock, metal, hip-hop and alternative artists, the album gets considerably more love from the guys than the movie itself. Slayer and Ice-T, Helmet and House of Pain, Dinosaur Jr. and Del the Funky Homosapien: the soundtrack may have been the real star of Judgment Night all along.
Then it's time for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the 2023 fantasy adventure starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis and Hugh Grant. This one surprises both Clif and Marty by actually capturing the experience of playing D&D: the unlikely plans, the strange detours, the questionable decisions, the characters who shouldn't survive but somehow do and the feeling that the whole adventure has gone completely off the rails. They talk about the movie's ensemble cast, it's humor, it's practical and visual effects, the turn-based feeling of its fight scenes and the D&D cartoon cameo.
Along the way: trashing movie theaters, the difference between a great soundtrack and a great movie, Dungeon Masters who love screwing with their players and the dangers of poorly worded wishes.
#TalkingPondo #FilmPodcast #JudgmentNight #DungeonsAndDragons #HonorAmongThieves #EmilioEstevez #ChrisPine #MovieReview
Find our films here:
The Love Song of William H Shaw
Writing Fren-Zee
Making Pondo on Facebook
Bluesky
Instagram
Making Pondo on Letterboxd:
Season One
Theme Song "The Rain" by Russ Pace
Photos by Geoffrey Notkin