Ourtwocents Podcast

And so the OurTwoCents Podcast has arrived at Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on their journey through the Wizarding World. The duo discuss the film's shakey start, how it meanders with its portrayals of teenage relationships and its underuse of the new professor - Horace Slughorn. Nonetheleas, the second half of the film is superb, hitting new heights in the franchise in terms of its cinematography, direction and acting. It ultimately is a flawed film, but one that manages to land the important, emotional moments required to set up the grand finale that is to come.

Politics start to get involved in Harry Potter and the boyz head over to investigate. The bros discuss the involvement of the ministry of magic and how it adds a refreshing atmosphere to the series, how the film suffers from a skewed usage of time in building its narrative structure and how certain plotholes hurt the film's final act and overall impact.

The journey through the world of Harry Potter continues as the duo dive into the Goblet Fire. The hosts discuss how the film expertly merges the story of the Triwizard Tournament and Harry's personal pain to deliver an emphatic ending that signals a major turning point in the lives of the young wizards. And although the film widens the scope of the magical world in an interesting way, it unfortunately does so at the cost of some lazy stereotyping of its new characters. Still, Year 4 stands out as one of the best in the series.

It's almost like this quarantine is making us feel like a PRISONER.Haha...The bros head onto the third installment of the Harry Potter franchise and big changes have occurred. The boyz discuss the tonal shift in the film compared to the previous two, the complexity of the time aspect that's incorporated and how the changes in various elements positively impacted the series as a whole.

The boyz are on to the next one as Ron Weasley scoops them up with the flying car and head on over to the Chamber of Secrets. The bros discuss the somewhat darker tone the film incorporated, how it added more versatility to some of its characters by adding more backstories and the failure to make the film standout by itself and not seem like an extension of the first movie.

With enough time on their hands to finally read a book, the OTC duo decide to not do that and instead walk down memory lane with one of the biggest franchises of the 21 century: Harry Potter. Admir and Chris start the journey with the Sorcerer's Stone - the film that laid a strong foundation with its incredible world building and casting. Not without it's flaws, the film leaned on the genetic hero's journey a bit too much and left its viewers with a hero that was too passive at times. Nonetheless, it was a great first at-bat for the series as great things were sure to follow.

The bros are under quarantine so they decided to scout Netflix land and long behold, had a GOOD TIME doing so. The boyz review the Safdie Brothers' 2017 crime thriller, in which they discuss Robert Pattinson's standout performance, the synthwave aesthetic that elevated the film visually and how the movie's style differentiates it from other crime thrillers.

The bros have heard the noise and decided to check out The Invisible Man. The boyz discuss the film's originality, its uniqueness in prioritizing intelligence over entertainment and how the ending seemed out of place from the rest of the movie.

The duo celebrate the winner of the Oscar's Pool (fan of the show, Khubie) by reviewing a mystery classic - Se7en. Key elemtents of the film are discussed including the dynamic between Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, the religious and literature richness of the story and how well the iconic ending holds up all these years later.

The bros take a look at a low-key gem, Honey Boy. The boyz discuss the home-run acting performances, how the movie does a good job of balancing scenes of a young and old Otis without ruining the pacing of the film and how viewing the film has created a new found respect for Shia from doubters.

The Oscars have come and gone, which means it's time for the boyz to review and react to the winners. The two discuss surprises, personal favorites and the overall positive reaction to the entire show in general.

The bros decide to visit Uncle Taika and review his new film, Jojo Rabbit. The boyz discuss the film's incredible acting, on-point comedy, Taika's vision and the inconsistent tones throughout that might cause a mixed reception. 

The bros review the movie with the most momentum heading to the Oscars, 1917. The boyz discuss the film's identity stemming from the one-shot style it decided to go for, its emotional depth and the high level of conveniences as well as inconsistent pace that effects the movie's impact from time to time.

In Part II of their review of the 2010s, Admir and Chris share their top 10 lists and explore why those films were special. Some surprises, both new and old, make their way into the conversation as the duo wind down a historic decade of film.

With the 2010s coming to an end, the OurTwoCents crew decided it was worth looking back with your help. In this episode, Admir and Chris delve into the results of the "Top Films of the Decade" submissions before reviewing 5 unique lists from the listeners."

Chris and Admir review and give their thoughts on the 2020 Oscar nominations. The bros talk about personal favorites, clear snubs and who should win versus who will win.

Chris and Admir analyze the results of the survey they sent out, which reveals everyone's top 10 films of 2019. The bros take a look at what movies made most lists as well as their own.

Admir and Fahad welcome newcomer Osama to the show as the trio delve into the incredibly popular mystery thriller “Knives Out”. The film perplexes and defies expectations, dares to reinvigorate genre clichés and raises critical questions about the treatment of sensitive topics in films - a true contender for the title of “Cleverest Film of the Year”.

The bros review the movie that was based on their own lives, Marriage Story. The boyz discuss the film's masterclass in acting, how the movie balances perspective from both characters and how the dynamic of Charlie and Nicole carries the film's message.

The boyz enter some uncharted territories as they review the latest Star Wars film. The bros discuss the film's inconsistent narrative, how it deviates from the other two movies in the trilogy and why the finality of the story isn't as impactful as the two hoped it would be.