34 - Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Boy oh boy, there's a lot to talk about, and the word of the day is denial. Specifically, Mike's unspoken, subcutaneous, existential denial that 1995's Jumanji is crucially meaningful to him, because how else can you explain the tension in the air as he grapples with the simple question, "Do you recommend the new Jumanji?" Ironic, really. The new Jumanji depicts characters who are forced to confront harsh truths about themselves, and in doing so forces Mike to confront the fact that he can talk about Jumanji for an hour with very little prompting. And that new Jumanji provides a surprising amount of food for thought. We discuss how the film uses and satirises videogames, how much it made us laugh, the Jonas Brothers, Mike being a sucker for a happy ending as usual and José rolling his eyes, the stereotypes from which the central characters are built, how the film has its sexist cake and eats it, the ways the stars play off each other and suit their roles, aspects of performance, the muddled nature of the world and fundamental change in the characters' relationship to it, how much harder it is to play videogames than it is to watch films, moviegoers' over-investment in films from decades past, and last year's Power Rangers movie. And it's a name-heavy edition of the podcast, with Jose getting names wrong left, right, and centre, and a final, authoritative correction of our pronunciation of Jia Zhangke's name. (Thanks to Sam and Jessy Stafford for their contributions.) Recorded on 16th January 2018.