Which Movie Franchise Should We Cover This Summer?

Summary

No Dunks – “Which Movie Franchise Should We Cover This Summer?”

Episode Date: July 17, 2026

Hosts: J. Skeets, Tas Melis, Trey Kirby, JD
Podcast: No Dunks (iHeartPodcasts)

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Episode Overview

The No Dunks crew launches their annual off-season movie rewatch/recap series, but with a twist: for the first time, listeners get to choose which movie franchise they’ll break down, review, and “joyfully roast” all summer. Each host pitches one franchise—Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Superman, and Transformers—highlighting pros, cons, and why theirs would make for the best No Dunks summer companion. The episode’s spirit is equal parts comedic film nerdery and group therapy for summer sports downtime.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Summer Movie Series Tradition

• In previous summers, the crew reviewed every Jurassic Park film ("Jurassic Pals") and all Fast & Furious entries ("Fast Friends"). This year, they turn the franchise decision over to fan vote via Substack.
• “It’s time to run another summer series back, with a brand new movie franchise. But for the first time ever, we are gonna let the fans vote.” — J. Skeets (03:03)

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2. Franchise Pitches

A. Indiana Jones – Trey Kirby’s Pitch (04:00)

Pros:

• Five films = manageable summer lift. Most are under 2 hours, except the 5th.
• The first three are “guaranteed classics.” Iconic cast (Ford, Connery, Spielberg, Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Phoebe Waller-Bridge).
• Self-contained stories—easy to follow, action-packed, and funny. “Classic fedora” costume potential.
• “These are beloved films, especially the first three... guaranteed classics.” — Trey (05:05)

Cons:

• Rewatch value questionable (“Do we even have new takes?”), risk of treading old ground.
• First three are “almost too good” for joyful roasting; #4 and #5 (“Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “Dial of Destiny”) are “hilariously bad.”
• Might feel dated; no new releases imminent.
• “Sometimes I feel bad for making fun of people’s favorite movies. And surely at least Raiders... but look, I love Fast and Furious and we destroyed them for an entire summer.” — Trey (06:26)

Memorable Moments:

• JD: “Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favorite movies of all time. So it'll be a lot of me going, this was awesome... worries me because, you know me, I like to shit on things.” (08:21)
• Summer spinoff title brainstorming: “Indiana Basketball Jones and the Podcast of Classics” (10:10)

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B. Pirates of the Caribbean – Tas Melis’ Pitch (12:03)

Pros:

• Five films, with a sixth in development (but not this summer).
• Immense pop culture impact. Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow is “an icon,” still referenced/imitated (13:22).
• “True trilogy” structure for the original three: “It’s a true trilogy, you know, to an epic conclusion at the end of the third one.” — Tas (14:05)
• Oscar-winning visual effects, massive box office buys-in.
• Costume & mood possibilities (pirate hats, blouses, eyeliner).
• “He’s a rockstar and he’s a buffoon, but he’s still got cultural impact now.” — Tas (13:05)

Cons:

• Most hosts haven’t seen the full series; even fewer beyond the first.
• Depp’s reputation: worth discussing but “separate art from artist.”
• Silly and over-the-top, maybe less fodder for serious critique.

Memorable Moments:

• J.D. jokes about his love for period sea dramas & “barnacled guys” (17:03).
• “Podcast of the Caribbean” and “Pirate Pod” floated as spinoff names (21:07).

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C. Superman – JD’s Pitch (22:40)

Pros:

• Nearly 50 years of film history; nine or ten films chart the genre’s evolution.
• Opportunity to analyze different tones and eras: earnest camp, romantic (“Reeves”), corporate blockbusters, grim “Snyderverse.”
• Iconic composers: John Williams vs. Hans Zimmer (“almost blows him out of the water” – JD, 23:25).
• Multiple Supermans, Loises, Luthors: “comparisons a la James Bond.”
• Filled with both genuine highlights and “laughably bad” lows.
• “It’s a 50 year case study in Hollywood trying to answer one question: what the hell do we do with Superman?” — JD (22:40)

Cons:

• Lots of movies (at least 10), including both “Justice League” cuts.
• Formulaic; “same story over and over, just new suits, new actors.”
• Heavy runtime commitment (“fills the nights... heavy-lift to bed,” Tas, 31:07).
• “This is our heaviest lift, guys, but this is what we do.” — JD (25:46)

Memorable Moments:

• JD on the franchise’s cyclical reboot drama: “It’s like the NBA redrafting the same generational prospect every decade and somehow building a completely different team around him every time. Sometimes you get a dynasty. Sometimes you get Superman 4.” (30:10)
• Super spinoff name: “Super Friends” (33:33)

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D. Transformers – J. Skeets’ Pitch (35:42)

Pros:

• 7 live-action movies—“perfect summer size.”
• Spectacle: “alien robots at war on Earth,” endless CGI boom-boom.
• “Let’s not overthink it, guys: alien robots. That’s cool.” — Skeets (35:56)
• Deep childhood nostalgia factor (80s toys, cartoon).
• Some films are truly “craptastic”—perfect for comedic roast and dunking.
• Evolution: “First it was cars (F&F), then beasts (Jurassic Park), now vehicles that turn into giant beasts. Transformers is the logical next step.” — Skeets (41:16)

Cons:

• Several are “absolute dog shit,” but that’s half the fun.
• Critically panned; low on substance, high on noise (“I can’t tell what’s going on... it’s so loud. Can we turn it down a bit?” — Skeets, 44:09).
• None of the hosts are big fans; JD admits, “I walked out of the first one” (45:02).
• Chunky runtimes (many around 2.5 hours).

Memorable Moments:

• Everyone remembers failing to reassemble Transformer toys as kids and breaking them (38:49).
• Hosts ponder cardboard “transforming” costumes as potential bit (43:34).
• “The AllSpark is in his glasses... those glasses get passed down to Sam Le Buff and they’re chasing it.” — Skeets on transformers lore (45:19)

---

3. Comparing Options & Group Banter

• Consensus: Each franchise brings something different—nostalgia, cultural memes, opportunity for jokes, a spectrum of movie quality.
• Core group criteria: manageable episode count, potential for “fun dumb” roast energy, accessibility (all on streaming), weaving in supplement content (props, costumes, theme parks).
• All hosts agree on their willingness to watch even the worst entries: “If you want to torture me, vote for Indiana Jones.” — JD (09:07)

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4. Voting Process & Engagement

• Voting is on their Substack; fans are encouraged to comment not just their pick, but why.
• Show notes link/QR provided for easy access.
• Call for suggestions on series naming and extra segments/costume ideas.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “These are beloved films, especially the first three... guaranteed classics.”
  – Trey Kirby on Indiana Jones (05:05)

• “It’s time to run another summer series back, with a brand new movie franchise. But for the first time ever, we are gonna let the fans vote.”
  – J. Skeets (03:03)

• “Jack Sparrow is a rockstar and a buffoon, but he’s still got cultural impact now.”
  – Tas Melis (13:05)

• “It’s a 50 year case study in Hollywood trying to answer one question: what the hell do we do with Superman?”
  – JD (22:40)

• “Let’s not overthink it, guys: alien robots. That’s cool.”
  – J. Skeets (35:56)

• “I walked out of the first one.” (Transformers)
  – JD (45:02)

• Costume brainstorming:
  – “Indiana Basketball Jones and the Podcast of Classics.” — J. Skeets (10:10)
  – “Podcast of the Caribbean.” — JD (21:07)
  – “Super Friends.” — JD (33:33)
  – “Pirate Pod.” — JD (21:41)

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Important Timestamps

• Franchise Pitches Begin: 04:00
• Indiana Jones Pitch: 04:00–11:58
• Pirates of the Caribbean Pitch: 12:03–21:22
• Superman Pitch: 22:40–34:25
• Transformers Pitch: 35:42–47:46
• Wrap-up and Voting Instructions: 47:46–49:59

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Tone & Style

The hosts riff with their trademark blend of affectionately scathing humor and deep pop-nerd insight. They balance nostalgia with sarcasm and make each pitch a performance—highlighting how much fun (and pain) a communal rewatch can be. The episode is light, self-aware, and ultra-engaging for listeners who want to vote or just love film chat.

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For Listeners

• Vote: Head to the No Dunks Substack (link in show notes) and cast your ballot for Indiana Jones, Pirates, Superman, or Transformers.
• Weigh In: Suggest a spinoff name, costumes, or extras.
• Join the Ride: The winning franchise will be the subject of the summer’s weekly deep-dives, with plenty of dunking, roasting, and nostalgia.

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Summary Verdict

All four franchises offer distinct entertainment value and roast potential—classic adventure, pirate shenanigans, superhero earnestness, and bombastic CGI. Whether you want “good bad” movies, epic facepalms, or pure nostalgia, No Dunks guarantees an offbeat, hilarious summer watch-along fueled by fan participation. Vote your heart (or your inner troll) and help shape the summer pod!

Transcript

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[J. Skeets]

Good morning sweet world and welcome to the no Dunks podcast presented by FanDuel. It's Friday, July 17, 2026. Well, it is for you at least. For us it's last week. This is pre recorded. I'm J. Skeets here in the classic factory and alongside me as always, Tas Melis.

[Tas Melis]

Supporters of other things. This is for you.

[J. Skeets]

Next to him is my top shot hot boy, Trey Kirby. And over yonder making the magic happen, super producer jd.

[Tas Melis]

Hello.

[J. Skeets]

There he is. Here we are. Something a little different today in the no Dunks world. We're planning our off season content and you're going to help us do that. Last summer we watched and reviewed every movie from the Jurassic park franchise. We called it Jurassic Pals. And we broke down all seven movies in hilarious detail.

[Trey Kirby]

Seven movies, huh?

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[JD]

Nice.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

They started Hot.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

And they got a little rough. A couple years prior to that, we did the very same thing for the Fast and the Furious franchise. We called this one Fast Friends. I think we're up to 11 movies reviewed at this point. Because we did Hobbs and Shaw.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, we did. You gotta do the spinoff content. Of course.

[J. Skeets]

So it's time to run another summer series back with a brand new movie franchise. But for the first time ever, we are gonna let the fans vote. You'll have a say in what movie franchise we tackle this summer. So on today's show, we're each going to pitch a different movie franchise that we think we should cover. Our four franchises are Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Superman, and Transformers. Those are the four we're voting on.

[Trey Kirby]

High octane.

[J. Skeets]

Yes. At the end of this all, we're going to post a poll on our substack page and we'll have that link in the show notes for everyone. You'll have to jump over to our substack page and make your vote. We'll have the poll there. Okay, so let's get into it again. Each guy pitching their case for their movie franchise. And Trey, you're gonna get us started here today with the Indiana Jones franchise.

[Trey Kirby]

That's exactly right. The Indiana Jones franchise, of course. A five movie franchise starring Harrison Ford.

[J. Skeets]

I know, I know.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm in five movies made it into my pros list and my cons list. You know, a shorter series for sure, but five, that's easy to do it. These are pretty short movies. I think the longest is number five. The reboot slash capstone. The Dial of Destiny is like two and a half hours long. Everything else we're talking about. Nice 120 minutes.

[J. Skeets]

Whoa.

[Trey Kirby]

Not bad, not bad, not bad, not bad.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm literally just giving you this will be easy to do, but it goes Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, the Last Crusade, the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and most recently, the Dial of Destiny. The pros as one of the cons, too. Like, these are beloved films, especially the first three. Notable names. Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, Sean Connery, Shia LaBeouf is taking some hits since Crystal Skull. Cate Blanchett, what's her name? Phoebe Waller Bridge, I believe is in Dial of Destiny as well. You got a good mix of quality, like the first three. Guaranteed classics.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Similar to our Jurassic park franchise, though I think maybe the first three Indiana Jones are probably better collectively.

[J. Skeets]

Yes.

[Trey Kirby]

Than the first three Jurassic Parks. The second one is pretty dark, pretty weird. So we could get in some Fun stuff with that. There's also some horrible movies in this franchise which I think is important. Number four, I just watched Kingdom of the Crystal Skull because Disclosure day came out recently. So I was trying to get all my Spielberg alien movies in.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

This thing sucks. Oh my goodness.

[J. Skeets]

I don't think I've ever seen.

[Trey Kirby]

I hadn't seen it either.

[JD]

I've never finished it.

[Trey Kirby]

Well, started it a couple times, it doesn't get better. But that one funny. So that would be a fun one to talk about. The reboot. Number five. I saw it in the theaters, not since. And I think it was bad too. Or at least weird. So that's good and that's bad. They're all on Disney plus, easy to get to.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

They're exciting, they're funny, they got big stunts, they got dated parts. They're just like self contained stories. You don't really got to worry about the lore all that much. It'd be fun to like show up wearing a fedora someday, you know.

[J. Skeets]

I thought you might show up today in a fedora. Yeah, I thought about it. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

But I don't have a good enough indie fedora. But like think of the supplemental content.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

Content.

[Trey Kirby]

We could do Cracking whips outside of JD's house. Going down to Orlando to go to Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. We definitely do that.

[J. Skeets]

I like those ideas.

[Trey Kirby]

One of the cons. Pretty much everything's ever been said about these movies. They've been out for 40 plus years. The originals at least. They're the subject of like great books, documentaries. So I don't know if we're going to be treading new ground. Sometimes I feel bad for making fun of people's favorite movies. And surely these, at least Raiders I think will be some people's favorite movie. But look, I love Fast and Furious and we destroyed them for an entire summer.

[JD]

Oh yeah, you can take it.

[J. Skeets]

It's part of the fun.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, yeah, take it. And my last con is that at least the first three, maybe the last two, they might not be bad enough movies to have fun because there is a bit of joy you take in. Just like talking about how dumb something is. Yeah.

[JD]

During a movie.

[Trey Kirby]

And definitely four and five get that way, but who knows? So that's my pitch for Indiana Jones. Do I think I'm going to win? No.

[J. Skeets]

You don't think so? Really do you think?

[Trey Kirby]

Because it's, I think the fourth most votes.

[J. Skeets]

Well, I don't know.

[Trey Kirby]

People are fans. Yeah, people do love indie.

[Tas Melis]

What's the negative? Why wouldn't people vote it's just old.

[J. Skeets]

That's what I thought.

[Trey Kirby]

I thought it might be most dated. There's not like a current release. You know, they did Dial of Destiny a couple of years back, so there's nothing necessarily to tie it to. And like, these are. These movies were on like, you know, TNT, USA networks all the time circa the 1990s. So people are really loving these movies. Maybe that gets them some more votes. Or maybe people want to hear us, you know, talk trash about Captain Jack Sparrow. I think.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

I don't know.

[J. Skeets]

That's tough. I'm. I'm most intrigued by this series because I've watched the classics, but it's been so long and like I said, I haven't even watched the new versions or the more later versions. So it's like, I'm like, oh yeah, these are good movies.

[Trey Kirby]

They are good.

[J. Skeets]

I would like to watch them. You were selling me on the 90 minute runtime. Oh, yeah. Because, geez. Some of these are quite lengthy. Yeah. Any questions for TK and your thoughts at least? JD On Indiana Jones?

[JD]

I mean, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favorite movies of all time. So it'll be a lot of me going, this was awesome. That was so cool. I remember being in the theater.

[J. Skeets]

I was going to say you were in theaters.

[JD]

I think I saw it like four or five times in the theater.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

Wow.

It.

[JD]

I mean, it is a stone cold classic, top five film of all time. So, you know, that worries me because you know me, I like to shit on things, so. But you know, it does. There is a decline there. And I haven't seen Dial of Destiny specifically because I've heard so much bad about it that I don't want it to taint what I love about Indiana Jones. So I. I literally just don't want to watch it. I will, of course, if it's pick.

[Trey Kirby]

Only if it's picked.

[JD]

Only if it's picked. Only if it's picked. So if you want to torture me, which you probably do, right, vote for Indiana Jones.

[J. Skeets]

Any thoughts on Indy? Are you an Indiana Jones fan?

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, the early ones for sure. You know, he stopped watching as JD Said towards the end, but it's been so long, I don't mind recalling doing it again. That was definitely a series. I was thinking about pitching too, just because, you know, you can't miss off the top. But it is really similar to the one I'm gonna pitch too. So they're. They're not that far off in a weird way.

[J. Skeets]

Well, but yeah, first you said first movies, like early 80s, right?

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

81.

[Trey Kirby]

81, yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, that's different. That's way different. That's old.

[Trey Kirby]

45 years.

[J. Skeets]

That's amazing.

[JD]

Oh, hold my beer when we come to me.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, you got some great points.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, great point.

[J. Skeets]

Okay, we got the running the game here. Now I like with all of these. I don't know how much thought you put into it. What would we name our summer podcast series for said movie franchise? Like would we go Indiana Basketball Jones.

[Trey Kirby]

That's pretty good.

[J. Skeets]

I mean, it's stupid. It doesn't make a ton of sense.

[Trey Kirby]

The Indiana Basketball Jones and the podcast of classics.

[Tas Melis]

Maybe.

[J. Skeets]

I mean, maybe we can, while we talk these through, people can comment away on YouTube or obviously on Spotify, what we would call the actual spin off name. Like I said, we had Fast friends and then Jurassic Pals. We gotta have something.

[Trey Kirby]

Yes.

[J. Skeets]

So funny.

[JD]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

All right.

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[J. Skeets]

Oh, my goodness. He got it.

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Or your live local news, traffic and

[JD]

weather implications from coast to coast.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

Yep, there's an app for all that too.

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[J. Skeets]

Everyone wants to be here.

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[Trey Kirby]

IHeartradio.

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[J. Skeets]

Okay, Indiana Jones, our first one down. Tas, you're up. You're up with our pirates here.

[Tas Melis]

The Pirates of the Caribbean series. I'm already producing it in my head. J.D. you're lucky in that the theme song is so similar to what you've used as the intro for Survivor.

[JD]

No Buffs.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[JD]

Very swashbuckling.

[Tas Melis]

Yes.

[JD]

Galloping.

[J. Skeets]

I love that intro that we use on no Buffs.

[Tas Melis]

You literally can use it. Just run it back because you can start them all with it. You put them side by side. They're just like exactly the same. The way you pitch. This is meeting Jack Sparrow. I think Jack Sparrow is just an icon. The way he's introduced at the beginning when he's on the mast of that boat. You've got a low anger, low angle camera angle tilting up to this glamorous man. He looks strong, he looks prideful. And then he's scooping out water out of the bottom of his boat. Because that's what makes Jack Sparrow so good. He does. All at the same time. He's. He's an icon. He's brilliant, but he's also cowardly and brave and he's always running. I mean, he's a rock star and he's a buffoon, but he's. He's still got cultural. Cultural impact. Now. I was watching a Savannah Bananas game. I just happened to have it on tv. It wasn't the Savannah Bananas playing. It was someone in their dumb league versus the Loco Beach Coconuts. I.

[Trey Kirby]

You're watching Mana Ball League Path.

[J. Skeets]

That's crazy.

[Tas Melis]

It's just one of those things that's like on a channel and they just need to put sports. Oh, yeah. And they had the fans running across the field like they were Jack Sparrow. Like they've got rum in their hand. And that was an in between inning thing that they did because that's how good he was. That's how good. Johnny Depp was an Academy Award nominator for nomination for best actor in that first movie. And the first three movies all tied together. Similar to what you were just saying about Indiana Jones. It's a true trilogy, you know, to an epic conclusion at the end of the third one. Like, it's like it's aan Barksdale killing Stringer Bell. You know, something happens.

[J. Skeets]

Guess we won't be doing the Wire.

[Tas Melis]

And very similar time frame in that when they came out early, early 2000s.

[Trey Kirby]

You think they were inspiring each other two works of art in conversation.

[Tas Melis]

Well, this guy. These movies definitely inspired by the Disney theme park as well.

[Trey Kirby]

So straight up inspired by a ride.

[Tas Melis]

That's awesome. It is pretty hilarious, but it's totally true.

[J. Skeets]

That's true.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

I know very little about this series. I. I mean, I maybe watched one of them. I'm not even sure I've watched a full one. So this Is all a new world to me.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, I have. I've literally. I haven't watched a full one either, but I can. I can sell it.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

I mean, like Trey.

[Trey Kirby]

It makes it exciting, though.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, it does make it exciting for me for sure. You know, I. I was in the mood to bring. Wear a pirate hat today, potentially some eyeliner, because I don't think I've ever worn an eyeliner before. But, you know, for the.

[JD]

You don't need a Tassie. You don't need it.

[J. Skeets]

Hold on. I feel like once.

[Tas Melis]

That's why I. I. Wearing eyeliner is fun. We could all wear eyeliner if we do this series.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. Now. Yeah, that's fun.

[Tas Melis]

Okay, Pro.

[J. Skeets]

So, yeah, dress in costume like pirates the entire time.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah. Just all you have to do is a pirate hat. Some. Some weird on your head and some. Some sort of blouse, I guess.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. How many, how many are there?

[Tas Melis]

They're five.

[J. Skeets]

Okay, so just like Indiana Jones.

[Tas Melis]

A sixth one is in production apparently right now, but good thing. Here's a pitch. It won't be done by the time we start doing this. It'll be done next year.

[JD]

Yeah. But we'll have to do it when it comes out.

[J. Skeets]

Once. Once we've established the series, we have to do it for the rest of our lives.

[JD]

That's right.

[J. Skeets]

That's fine.

[Trey Kirby]

Yep.

[Tas Melis]

But a ton of great visual effects that won the Oscar for visual effects. And for the second one, the third one got nominations as well. That first trilogy raked in 2.7 billion. I was surprised by that when I saw that.

[J. Skeets]

Jesus. Some of these numbers I'm looking at are nuts.

[Tas Melis]

It was the.

[J. Skeets]

A lot of money.

[Tas Melis]

This is the first series to produce two or more films that grossed over a billion dollars. That seems weird, but, yeah, they just raking in lots of money to start those first three. And then, you know, Turkey takes a bit of a turn. What were you going to say?

[J. Skeets]

I was going to ask and maybe. Maybe you're not the one to answer this. So maybe it's Trey or J.D. like, is this a funny series?

[Tas Melis]

Yes.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

It's really stupid and silly.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. No, I'm just asking.

[Trey Kirby]

I for sure seen the first two. My guess is I've probably seen the first three, but I definitely don't remember the third one. Second one is probably like a Davy Jones's Locker with like. Yes, like octopus beard man.

[JD]

Jeffrey Rush.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, I've seen that. Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Beard man. Yeah, he's in the second one. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Octopus beard man.

[Trey Kirby]

A lot of barnacles. In that one, I feel like quite

[Tas Melis]

a lot of barnacles, which is, you know, wild.

[Trey Kirby]

Like seeing a guy with barnacles on his face.

[J. Skeets]

Well, J.D.

[Tas Melis]

you must be pumped. That's why I want visual effects. Barnacles.

[J. Skeets]

That's right.

[JD]

Right.

[J. Skeets]

You love. I've heard you talk about House of the Dragon and you love the. You love the open sea.

[JD]

I love the open battles.

[J. Skeets]

I mean, I assume it's a lot of that.

[JD]

Yeah, I love. I love a period piece. I love stuff on the water. I've seen. I've definitely seen the first two. Like you, Trey Gore Verbinski, I believe, is the director. Is that right, Gore? I think you're right.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[JD]

It's good, fun stuff. Depp is great. You got Bloom in there.

[Tas Melis]

He's a beautiful bloom.

[Trey Kirby]

Knightley.

[JD]

Keira Knightley. Yeah, she's great. Yeah. I wouldn't be mad to do this. And I don't think I've seen the last one. Like the last two or three.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah. That's when Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem come on in. Okay.

[JD]

I love both.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

You know Vicky Christina Tortuga. Interesting.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah. Comes out of nowhere. We just saw her at the World Cup. She was at the World cup, right?

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

Wow.

[J. Skeets]

Both of them are great.

[JD]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[J. Skeets]

He's been in a lot of cases.

[Trey Kirby]

They weren't there together or.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, they were the one time they were.

[Trey Kirby]

Or Denver together. Is that a thing?

[J. Skeets]

Oh, I don't know about that.

[JD]

Yeah, I don't.

[Tas Melis]

I don't know either. But now, after some research, they did. They did the fourth together, they did the fifth together there. They weren't on Stranger Tides. I was trying to make a stranger joke. Anyways, that's the fourth. That's the name of the fourth one.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay. This is hilarious. Penelope Cruz has been married to Javier Bardem for 16 years.

[JD]

Oh.

[Tas Melis]

Oh, okay.

[J. Skeets]

Why are they keeping it a secret?

[Trey Kirby]

Literally, who knew? They got mad on Pirates of the Caribbean.

[Tas Melis]

It sounds like 2011 was On Stranger Tides. Yes. That's 15 years ago.

[J. Skeets]

They met on the water.

[Tas Melis]

Wow. That's where they met.

[Trey Kirby]

The story behind it.

[Tas Melis]

Huge, huge love story.

[J. Skeets]

We could really unpack that when we watched the movie. You know, we could see the chemistry.

[Trey Kirby]

When did it happen?

[J. Skeets]

That's amazing.

[Tas Melis]

That's pretty crazy. That is.

[J. Skeets]

Well, okay, let me ask the question, though. The Johnny Depp of it all, you know, does this sour this series? Him as the man, not Jack Sparrow? You know, it's worth asking, but I feel like in all of our Movies. There's a problematic actor. Yeah, I got Shia. Yeah, don't worry. Also cancel.

[Trey Kirby]

Double canceled.

[J. Skeets]

What do you think?

[JD]

Hey, man, I got Marlon Brando, so whatever.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[JD]

I think we just have to separate the art from the artist and focus on the art. Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah. Similar to Trey's. All five are on Disney plus, you know, the. The score is. Is the great part. The Hans Zimmer sweeps on in.

[J. Skeets]

Zimmer is in the mix.

[Tas Melis]

He sweeps in on the second ones, two through five. The first one, he was like. Like consulting or something. He was busy. He literally was busy. I can't do it. And.

[J. Skeets]

And then he saw it make a billion dollars. He's like, yeah, I guess I can

[Tas Melis]

make that for this. No, he raked it in for the second. The first one was only 654. That was the low of the. And then he came in with the top movie of 2006 with a 1.1 bill.

[JD]

Wow.

[Tas Melis]

For Dead man's chest or Dead man's Chest. Dead Mans. Anyways.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[Tas Melis]

The man, the Johnny Depp. No, we're not going away from Johnny. He's too good in this movie. He's too good in these. I mean, the. The cruel, vicious, demented pirates that cannot be killed. He does the little jazz hands. That always stands out in my head. He's hilarious. So that's it, basically, is the movie. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Like, is that safe to say? Yeah, yeah.

[Tas Melis]

I. Jack Sparrow is. Is the icon of it all.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[JD]

Yep.

[J. Skeets]

Well, there you go.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm definitely. I. I want to hear the rest of them.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, sure, sure. This is high on your coming in.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm like, oh, this would be interesting. I want to see what happened in those fourth and fifth ones and what's it happened in the third, just to make sure.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, right.

[Trey Kirby]

And yeah, I mean, literally the only thing holding me back from it is the Johnny Depp factor. But look, it is 20 years ago. He was. He was on top back then.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. What would we call said series? Did you put any thoughts that. Yeah, this is a tough one with the longer name.

[Trey Kirby]

Very long.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Anything?

[JD]

Great question. Podcast of the Caribbean.

[J. Skeets]

Not bad. Honestly, not bad. I don't mind it. Okay, again, something to think about when we move forward here. All right. Two down, two still to go. Anything else?

[Tas Melis]

No, no. I'm just thinking of a pun. I care. Being doing this for a while.

[Trey Kirby]

I don't know.

[Tas Melis]

There's a bean. Something in the Caribbean. Don't. Don't have one.

[J. Skeets]

Have to involve said title either. You know, it's about it's obviously about pirates, but about the water and treasure and, you know, pirate pod.

[JD]

That's it.

[Trey Kirby]

You know, pirate pod.

[JD]

Cole Ram's gonna be thrilled.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, yeah, he's a wrestler. We could wear eye patches and stuff. There's a lot of fun with the costume. Yeah. Okay.

[JD]

True.

[J. Skeets]

All right, two down, two still to go. Let's take a quick break to hear from a sponsor.

[Trey Kirby]

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[J. Skeets]

All right, two more movie franchises to be pitched to each other and to everybody watching and listening for everybody to vote On Substack. J.D. you're up next. And you have the length Superman series and you've got your. The S on your chest.

[JD]

That's right. I'm repping the S. I'm repping Clark Kent, Kal El. Guys, I think we should do the Superman movies, okay? It's a 50 year case study in Hollywood. Try and answer one question. What the hell do we do with Superman? Let's start at the beginning. 1977. Richard Donner's Superman the movie. The granddaddy of all the Superman movies. No, the granddaddy of all modern superhero movies. You got Christopher Reeve. You got Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman. John Williams composed the score. Okay, Very good. And I'll tell you this. Hans Zimmer comes in decades later, almost. Almost blows John Williams score out of the water. That's a hot take right there.

[Tas Melis]

Wow.

[J. Skeets]

Two titans.

[JD]

Two titans. This is a very troubled production. They actually shot Superman 1 and 2 simultaneously. They ran out of money. Then come Superman 2. So they basically cut it in half, release Superman, and then come Superman 2, which was already half shot. Director gets fired in the middle of it. What I'm saying is there's drama here. There's drama. But we have two classic films. These are good films. They have their problems. They're a little cheesy. It is Superman. That's going to be a running theme through all of this. Then we hit the 80s, and then we hit Superman 3. Takes a bit of a turn. This is Superman versus a super computer and himself.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, no.

[J. Skeets]

Oh. What?

[JD]

That's right. We get a great shot of Superman literally getting drinking A drunk in a bar. He's got, like, five o' clock shadow. It's hilarious. Richard Pryor is in it. Not a good movie.

[Tas Melis]

Not a good movie.

[JD]

No. I would say, as I remember, then, canon takes over Superman 4, the quest for peace. This is Superman trying to end nuclear war. You know, it's kind of got the production value of a high school anti nuke psa, you know?

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[JD]

So I'm surprised they didn't try to recast Chuck Norris as Superman because it's canon films and he was their guy. You know, all the missing in action franchise, Delta Force, all that was Chuck. They stuck with Christopher Reeve. Thankfully, this is the low point of our rewatch for guaranteed. I mean, this, like, killed Superman Basically for 20 years.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, I know, I know.

[JD]

Then Bryan Singer tries to make a literal sequel to the first two movies, right? So it's. They're calling. They call it a spiritual sequel, but he tries, literally, to try to make a. A new movie with Brandon Routh as Superman.

[J. Skeets]

Right.

[JD]

And it's not great. We got. Speaking of canceled, people, Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, baby.

[JD]

Parker Posey's in it. It's.

[J. Skeets]

This is Superman Returns.

[JD]

Superman Returns.

[J. Skeets]

Right.

[Tas Melis]

Okay. Okay.

[JD]

Then we have man of Steel. Now, listen, I know what you're saying here. A lot of films here. There's a lot of movies. Indeed there are. This is our heaviest lift, guys, but this is what we do.

[J. Skeets]

Wow. It's a lot. I'm looking at this.

[JD]

The Fast and Furious is 11 movies. Yeah, this is less. Just. Just. This is less. Okay, we got man of Steel, Zack Snyder. This is getting. We're getting serious. Yeah. What if. What if Superman was Jesus? But also 9.

[Tas Melis]

11.

[JD]

But also disclosure, Dave. Disclosure day was good. He's an alien, man. What's.

[J. Skeets]

What.

[JD]

How is the world gonna react to an alien who can do anything and is invincible?

[J. Skeets]

Right?

[JD]

It's actually pretty good movie. I really like this movie. And this is where Zimmer comes into the. Into the fold, then.

[J. Skeets]

And our Superman is.

[JD]

Superman is Henry Cavill.

[J. Skeets]

Yes.

[Trey Kirby]

This is man of Steel.

[JD]

Man of Steel. Sorry, what did I say?

[Trey Kirby]

No, you're.

[JD]

No, you're right. Sorry.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, a soft spot for me. Filmed in my hometown.

[JD]

Oh, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

My hometown is like, literally a Smallville.

[J. Skeets]

So we could be like, look at this. This spot I went here. Yeah, that's Heads and tails. Yeah.

[JD]

Okay, well, that's a pro right there. Then we have Batman versus Superman. A goddamn mess of a movie, and the whole plot hinges on literally the name of one woman Of Two Women. It's pretty funny. It's pretty bad. We got Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne,

[Trey Kirby]

still Cavill as Superman for this.

[JD]

Cavill as Superman for this trilogy. Then we. Then, then we get into the muck, guys, because we have Justice League.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, I was.

[JD]

Okay, so that's the Joss Whedon took over from Zack Snyder. And then. I hate to say it, but we have to go back and also watch Zack Snyder's version.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, my God. We're talking the same thing.

[JD]

26 hours for both movies. 4 movies, 4 hours for Zach. And then. Yeah, because he has to fix the. He has to fix it. The fans demanded it. We have to watch them all. Is it the same episode or is it two separate episodes? I don't know.

[J. Skeets]

God. So you're just. Just to get this right, we would. We would watch Justice League. Yes, that's the Josh Whedon one.

[JD]

Yes.

[J. Skeets]

And then we would have to watch the Snyder cut, like you said. Which is the same movie.

[JD]

Well, it's the same movie, but it's basically four acts. It's in four by three aspect ratio for some reason, because it was. Why it's released for home viewing only. But he didn't want to fill our TV screens for some reason.

[J. Skeets]

Okay, wow.

[JD]

But anyway, it's there. The people will want it. Right. And then after that, we have James Gunn, Superman, which came out last year.

[J. Skeets]

Right.

[JD]

This is a completely new take on Superman. It's a fresh look at the DC universe in general. I saw it and I did like it, as I remember. And then of course, we will have to watch man of Tomorrow, which is coming out next year, but we won't have to deal deal with that this summer and that. And who is new Superman is David Corenswet.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. I am not familiar with your game.

[JD]

He is very good. He's good.

[J. Skeets]

Okay, I'm happy to hear that.

[JD]

Yeah, he's basically. He's like Christopher Reeve was. He's basically unknown. And then.

[J. Skeets]

I like that.

[JD]

And then he came onto the scene and he's very good. So the pros are obvious. We get almost a 50 year history of movies. Right?

[Trey Kirby]

Right.

[J. Skeets]

Yes.

[JD]

We get huge swings in tone. It's earnest, it's campy, it's romantic, it's stupid, it's grim, it's operatic, it's corporate, it's hopeful. We get all the different Supermans. We get Reeves, we get Routh, we get Cavill, we get Corenswet. And by the way, we get all the same amount of Clarks. Because those are different characters.

[Trey Kirby]

That's a great point.

[JD]

We get different Lois Lanes, we get Lex Luthors, we get different dads, different costumes.

[J. Skeets]

So we'll be comparing a lot, you know, a lot of comparison.

[JD]

Because that's the main con of this. It's the same fucking movie over and over again, Right?

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, when you put it that way, you're right.

[JD]

You know, baby from Krypton lands on Kansas. There's a Daily Planet. Oh, who's Lois? That's Lois. There's Lex. Oh, look at the costume. It's pretty cool. But hey, man, that's the burden of being good.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[JD]

Anyway, it's kind of like watching the NBA redraft the same generational prospect every decade and somehow build a completely different team around him every time. Sometimes you get a dynasty, and sometimes you get Superman 4. That's it. That's my.

[J. Skeets]

You did not include. I noticed. Super Girl.

[JD]

I did.

[J. Skeets]

From the 80s or the more recent one.

[JD]

Well, I just watched it. It's a. Awful. Okay. A. And I just did a show about it. But we can. If. If you really want to.

[J. Skeets]

No, I don't think.

[JD]

If you want to do 11 movies, that's fine. I mean, if the people want us to see us work a lot and have a lot of episodes, this is the one to choose.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

True heavy content plan.

[JD]

It's heavy. It's heavy, but, you know, it fills the weeks that we're not.

[J. Skeets]

That's right.

[Trey Kirby]

Definitely.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Good summer programming.

[J. Skeets]

Thoughts on thoughts on tackling Superman.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, when you drop that right at the end, it fills the weeks. It also fills the nights. You know, quite a heavy, heavy lift. Heavy lift to bed. Heavy lift to wink. You know.

[JD]

That's right, Tassie.

[J. Skeets]

But it's like we have to become super men to watch Superman.

[JD]

So what do.

[Tas Melis]

We said? We said nine movies. I think it's.

[JD]

He's actually 10 if we're watching both versions of Zack Snyder's the Justice League and the Joss Whedon.

[Tas Melis]

I mean, otherwise.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, okay.

[Tas Melis]

Otherwise. Yeah. The 50 year pitch. I mean, I admired that part. I. It was sort of into that.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, you got me. When you're right. Same story told over and over again. Don't love that part, but I'm intrigued about the tonal changes and obviously the different supermen themselves and like that. I. From what I remember, I haven't watched all of them, but like. Yeah, they're very different.

[JD]

Totally.

[J. Skeets]

And so that's fun.

[Tas Melis]

Nine, eleven. An alien. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, I think.

[JD]

I think, like, Some of them are good and some of them are laughably bad. Which is good for the show.

[Trey Kirby]

Definitely.

[JD]

You know, and they all have things in them that we can, that we can easily criticize. There's lots to talk about is what I'm saying.

[J. Skeets]

And how much. Are you familiar with the comic book?

[JD]

Not. Not a ton. Not a ton.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. Just curious. Any thoughts, TK On Superman?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I thought it was a great pitch and I really. I'm with you, Skeets. I love the idea of, like, some of these are good and some of these are so, so bad. The comparisons between which Superman do we like? Which Lois Lane do we like? It's very James Bondi to me.

[JD]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Yep.

[Trey Kirby]

One con, I will Say is the 242 minute runtime of the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League. That's crazy. Four hours.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, Four hour.

[J. Skeets]

Superman.

[JD]

I've watched it. Obviously, I quite enjoyed it in the sense of comparing it to the Joss Whedon cut because there are different needle drops, there are different. Just, just. It's sort of an exercise in looking at editing and seeing how things, the tone of things can shift basically by just moving things a couple of frames around in some cases. So I find it interesting, but it might be a little bit too much of a deep dive for us. And the name of the show, I would say, is the Super Friends. You know, it's pretty soon.

[J. Skeets]

Super Friends. Good. Super Friends. Yeah. Yeah, that's. That's good. Super Super Men. We could just go in.

[Trey Kirby]

I rewatched the original one when the new one was coming out last year. Do you consider it a pro or a con that the entire first movie Marlon Brando calls Krypton. Krypton.

[JD]

Krypton.

[J. Skeets]

He's just saying it wrong the whole time.

[Trey Kirby]

Well, we're not going to say anything to him, Krypton.

[J. Skeets]

Nobody will notice.

[Trey Kirby]

Pro action.

[JD]

It's Marlin, Brad.

[Lele Pons]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Exact call, whatever I call it. All right, look, look, it'll be a great. As Canadians, you guys would be honoring Joe Shuster.

[Tas Melis]

That's yours.

[J. Skeets]

The creator.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Well, and then like you said, the tie to your, your actual, your, your hometown there in one of them. So. Yeah, okay. Some, some, some roots to it. Yeah, for sure.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

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[Lele Pons]

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[J. Skeets]

All right, I have the final movie franchise here to pitch. I have Transformers. And I have seven reasons why we should do Transformers. First reason, alien robots. Let's not overthink it, guys.

[Lele Pons]

Say no more.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. The Transformers, from what I can remember, is about an ongoing war between two alien functions or factions of sentient living robots that are from. Here's how you say it, Marlon Brando. Cybertron. We got the heroic Autobots. That's team Optimus Prime. And we've got the villainous Decepticons. That's led by Megatron. They're just giant robots. Alien robots. That's cool.

[Trey Kirby]

That turn into Earth cars.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, yeah. And I remember the tagline for one of them. It's like their war.

[Botox Advertisement Voice]

Our world.

[J. Skeets]

Isn't that pop. I like that. What are you doing here? They're just fighting on our planet, man. What are you doing? Okay, that's number one. Number two, Michael Bay goes boom. All right. Cambridge English dictionary defines a popcorn movie as a highly popular production that. That lacks heavy dramatic weight, deep intellectual themes or artistic importance. It's designed purely for mass audience entertainment and escapism. Escapism. We can turn our brains off, guys. These movies are stupid.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, yeah, right.

[J. Skeets]

In the best way. The popcorn movie. This is why they do big numbers too, at the box office. People just want to go and. Yeah, just blow things up, man.

[Trey Kirby]

Exactly. These movies are dumb.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

But.

[Trey Kirby]

But since like the first one has come out, like computer graphics have changed so much that people are like looking Back fondly on. Like Michael Bay. Nobody does it like Michael Bay. Nobody does bombastic like the Bay man does.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

That's right.

[J. Skeets]

My third reason. Nostalgia. Now, this plays a part in a lot of the movie franchises we've been pitching, but this whole franchise starts in 1984, right? With the Transformers toy line. We're basically all 80s babies. I mean, it was. You were GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That was sort of at the later part of the decade. He man. Or Transformers. I mean, those for. For boys, for kids. Like, that's what we usually played with my next door neighbor, Dwayne Kelly, he had the Optimus prime action figure. Man, it was awesome. I remember it being pretty expensive at the time, and it was, you know, sort of a bigger one, and then there was always the smaller ones. But it was so cool. The cartoon was awesome. I liked the cartoon. I was. I don't know about you. I was more team Transformers than I ever was. GI Joe. Between the two, I was more the robots than the army men.

[Tas Melis]

I wasn't neither. I was neither. I was a he man.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Tmnt.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

That was definitely a little later. I was. I love the Turtles as well, but maybe we'll do that.

[Trey Kirby]

Another franchise.

[J. Skeets]

Nostalgia. Now, J.D. you're a little older, like, so you were actually in the wheelhouse, I would say, for training.

[JD]

Well, I guess in 84, I was sort of starting to. I think that's when the cartoon came out. So I was. I was getting. I was 13 going on 14.

[J. Skeets]

Then you. You're aged out.

[JD]

Not. Not super into it. I did get Transformers for the kids. My kids. Very, very frustrating toy because I could never put them back into.

[J. Skeets]

And you end up breaking them, basically.

[JD]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[JD]

They're very hard to do, but, you know, that's my clumsy old fingers, I guess. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

My fourth reason for Transformers. The perfect number of films because it sets up perfectly, me going last five movies in a franchise. I gotta be honest. Not enough.

[Trey Kirby]

A little light.

[J. Skeets]

Not enough. Ten.

[Tas Melis]

Too late.

[J. Skeets]

Ten movies. Too many, man.

[JD]

Too many.

[J. Skeets]

Too many. Seven live action movies in Transformers. That's the sweet spot.

[JD]

Is that including Bumblebee?

[J. Skeets]

Yes.

[JD]

Okay.

[J. Skeets]

It's not including 2024's Transformers 1. That would get us to 8. That's an animated movie. So it's up to us whether we would include it. Probably not. But yes. Bumblebee included. We're dropping one every week. That's taking up August and September right there.

[Trey Kirby]

That's a great point.

[J. Skeets]

We're right back into October. We're doing NBA stuff again. So I'm telling you, I think seven's the right number. We got great names for these. Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon. These are just cool.

[JD]

They sound good.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, cool. So that's point number four. Number five. Sort of alluded to this already. They're just craptastic, you know, they're crap. They're also fantastic. From what I remember, four of these are absolute dog shit. Like, half of them are basically garbage. The other ones are okay. But it's way more fun to clown on crappy movies, I think, when we get to these series. Despite its critical reception, the Transformers film series has generally been successful, though at the box office, two of these things grossed over $1 billion. Wild. Roger Ebert, he liked the original one. He said it's goofy fun with a lot of stuff that blows up real good. But he says it has the grace not only to realize how preposterous it is, but to make it into an asset. So even he's like, yeah, it knows it's dumb, but it's a fun dumb and a goofy dumb. So I think that's a. A good selling point. Final two thoughts. The story continues. Sort of what you were saying with yours. Tas. Transformers 8 is officially confirmed by Paramount Pictures. They got a good writer apparently on board too. Jesse Fuchs.

[JD]

Fuchs dog.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, Fuchs dog.

[JD]

I don't know who that's.

[J. Skeets]

I think he sounds familiar. I think he did. Wonder Woman.

[Tas Melis]

Jesse Fuchs. He's done so on. On camera at sportsnet.

[J. Skeets]

That same guy.

[JD]

Canada.

[Tas Melis]

Sportsnet.

[J. Skeets]

Jesse Fuchs. But the UPCO film is set to follow the events of Transformers Rise of the Beast, the last one, and will be part of a new trilogy. Apparently that might be a GI Joe crossover. Oh, finally. Yeah, Yeah, I know. I was like, intriguing, okay. But my final. And this is my real selling point on why we should do it. Evolution. Hear me out here. Our first movie series, Fast and Furious, it was all about, yes, family, but. But it was also about cars and vehicles. Okay, hold that thought. Our second movie series, Jurassic park, it was all about dinosaurs. Giant beasts. It only makes sense that our third series would incorporate the best of both worlds. Vehicles that turn into giant beasts. Hell, there's Dinobots. There's even Dinobots. For real?

[JD]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

So there's actual robotic dinosaurs. Yeah, we. We take the. We take the vehicles and the giant beasts, we put them together, and that's how we get Transformers.

[Trey Kirby]

Simple.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. So that's why I think we should do this dumb series.

[JD]

One quick correction. It's Jason Fuchs, I think you said.

[J. Skeets]

I said Jesse. Yes, yes.

[Tas Melis]

You must be influenced by that broadcast.

[J. Skeets]

I think. Jason Fuchs. Thank you.

[Tas Melis]

Okay.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. Yeah, we'll see what the people say. How many of you seen of these?

[Tas Melis]

Good question. It's seen parts of two, I think.

[J. Skeets]

Yep.

[Trey Kirby]

Mark Wahlberg, he's. He's in the first one.

[JD]

No, no, that's.

[Trey Kirby]

Shia's in the first.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, for sure. A couple. Megan Fox, obviously her big. Josh. What's his name? Josh Dumel. Dumel. I think he's okay.

[JD]

Okay.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, there's some names, but the, but you know, the, the robots are the real star. Of course they are.

[JD]

Prime, man.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

I would love to see these names again. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, Ironhide, Ratchet. Like, these are some.

[J. Skeets]

Some of our favorite guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tas Melis]

What about the costume? Costumes are fun. Have you ever seen somebody like a busker on the street, they put on the, you know.

[J. Skeets]

Yes.

[Tas Melis]

Like the cardboard car and they're able to get into car mode and able, Able to transform.

[J. Skeets]

Well then. And there are ones like on like. Yeah. Boardwalks or whatever. Vegas. That like, they're just Optimus. Straight up. Optimus prime or Bumblebee. They don't think they transform, but they look wicked.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, they're huge looking.

[J. Skeets]

They must be on stilts in those things or something. I just remember watching some of these movies in theaters going, I can't tell what's going on.

[JD]

It's too big. That's what you want.

[J. Skeets]

The scale is too big.

[Trey Kirby]

The scale is too big.

[J. Skeets]

And it's so loud. Can we turn it down a little bit?

[Trey Kirby]

I do remember these being crazy, crazy loud.

[J. Skeets]

These are not very good. Bumblebee was good. I watched Bumblebee.

[Trey Kirby]

That one.

[J. Skeets]

That one had heart.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay.

[JD]

I've heard it's good. Is that Haley Stein Field in that?

[J. Skeets]

Maybe.

[JD]

Is that how you say.

[J. Skeets]

It's definitely not. It's not Michael Bay. So Travis Knight, former Laker.

[Trey Kirby]

Travis directed this. Amazing.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

So I, he. He switched it up.

[Trey Kirby]

Cuz John Cena's in it.

[J. Skeets]

John Cena's in it. What in the world?

[Trey Kirby]

The guy from Send Help. Haley Steinfeld. Like you said, jd, John Cena, Angela Bassett, Justin Thoreau. Like, that's a great cast. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

So there you go. Transformers. Any. Any other thoughts or questions?

[JD]

I mean, I, I hate this franchise. I. I walked out of the first one.

[J. Skeets]

The first one. That one was considered good.

[JD]

I know, I know.

[Botox Advertisement Voice]

Wow.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[JD]

That was when it just. As you say, it was loud and it was just Stupid. And Shia was an idiot.

[Trey Kirby]

And Sam.

[J. Skeets]

What's his name? Sam Wick.

[Trey Kirby]

Wickedy.

[J. Skeets]

It's something like that.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[JD]

I think you're right.

[J. Skeets]

The allspark. It's in his glasses is what I remember.

[JD]

And then Turo shows up, and

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

his

[J. Skeets]

grandfather was an explorer in the Arctic. I remember that's where Megatron, like, is crashed on Earth, I think.

[JD]

Yes.

[J. Skeets]

And Buddy's frozen or something. Right.

[JD]

Cool.

[J. Skeets]

And then the. All right. Something like that. The allspark gets put in his glasses, and then those glasses gets passed down to Sam Le Buff. And they're chasing it.

[Trey Kirby]

Glasses and they're passed down.

[JD]

Sure. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Makes sense.

[J. Skeets]

I really think that is what the story is.

[Tas Melis]

Well, you just got some votes for this series, JD by saying you hate.

[Botox Advertisement Voice]

Hate it. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

You could crap all over this.

[JD]

I know. But there's a certain point where it's just like.

[J. Skeets]

It's like. Yeah.

[JD]

Because the. The argument is like. I will try to say, well, this was dumb because it wasn't motivated by this or that. And the. The. The argument back is, it's a Transformers movie.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[JD]

Like, take it easy, dad.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[JD]

You know what I mean?

[Tas Melis]

So it's.

[JD]

It's kind of. Whatever. Maybe I'll get into it. Maybe I'll. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

I think.

[J. Skeets]

I think TAS with Pirates of the Caribbean and Mind. Transformers, they're like. Yeah. They're so dumb. They're just the popcorn movies, like we said. Like, they're just like. To dissect them. I don't know. Maybe is more difficult because you're like. Well, it's supposed to be silly, right? Stupid and loud and an obnoxious. Like, what more do you want? Whereas yours. That maybe has more depth. Superman in India.

[Tas Melis]

So are they. Are any of them connected?

[J. Skeets]

I think they are.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Quite a bit.

[Tas Melis]

Okay.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

I think Bumblebee is like. I feel like that one's, like set in the 80s or something. So maybe that one's because they're. I. I have read things about. You can watch them in chronological order. Timeline order. So it'd be bouncing all around. We would watch them in the release order.

[JD]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

But. Yeah.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

They are in 87.

[J. Skeets]

And there.

[JD]

There are beasts come into it too, right?

[J. Skeets]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[JD]

I think there's.

[J. Skeets]

I remember seeing like a. Like a gorilla. There's like a giant gorilla looking.

[JD]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Oh, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

That's. That's a. That's gotta be Rise of the Beast.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, yeah. I've never seen that.

[Trey Kirby]

These guys look beastly. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

How's that happen? Allspark falls in a zoo or something.

[Trey Kirby]

Probably a gorilla steps on grandpa's glasses.

[J. Skeets]

We can find out together with Transformers. All right, those are our four movie franchises. Everybody did a great job pitching their case. So we will leave it now up to the people, people. Be interesting to see why people make their decisions here. So comment away too.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. We'll make this available for everybody to vote on and let us know why you're putting in these votes.

[J. Skeets]

That's what I want to.

[Trey Kirby]

That'll be interesting to see.

[J. Skeets]

Like, was it because somebody. Because of their pitch or just because you want to see us punished or you like the movies? Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Volume.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. Look, it's your vote. Vote your say so. Get your votes in. Hit the substack link in the show notes. Vote on the movie franchise you want no dunks to tackle for the summer of 2026. And we'll let this one simmer for a little bit. We'll try and leave this poll up for at least a week or so and let you really think it over. Maybe you have time to watch all the movies and go, oh, I'd love to hear them talk about this one. So.

[Trey Kirby]

All right. Mine was five years. Was fives. Yours was seven.

[J. Skeets]

J.D.

[Trey Kirby]

you said 11.

[J. Skeets]

10.

[JD]

10.

[J. Skeets]

We're not doing Supergirl.

[JD]

No. Yeah, I think it's 10. Yes.

[Trey Kirby]

Could somebody watch 27 movies in a week? It's possible.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. Yeah, it's possible. Before voting on this, I will say a con. I was looking with Transformers. They're lengthy.

[Trey Kirby]

They're chunky, for sure.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, there's a lot of like two twenties, two thirties. You're like, oh, God, that's too long, man. But some of them are a little shorter anyway. Yeah, okay, you tell us. Get your votes in, and we will decide a little bit later, and then we'll start watching these movies and reviewing them. So hit the substack link in the show notes shows next week. Until then, Clipper Bros. You heard it here first. Have a great time.

[Trey Kirby]

Turn up.

[J. Skeets]

Love you guys.

[JD]

Awesome.

[Tas Melis]

Thanks for joining us. And remember, you put that vote in on substack, which is free.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, we'll open it up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just, you know, just become a subscriber to the no Dunk substack page and get your votes in. Brace the weekend people.

[Lele Pons]

This is Lele pons from suite 305 with Lele Pons. Game day at my house. It's chaos, but, like, in a fun way. The TV's ready, the remotes are ready, the kids doors are going off. And somehow everybody needs batteries at the exact same time. That's why I keep Duracell stocked and Duracell just released limited edition Duracell and Messi battery packs. The design is inspired by Messi's iconic left leg tattoo, so every battery feels like it comes with an extra kick from the TV remote to automatic corkscrew. Duracell keeps us game day ready to Durasal. Double and AAA batteries are the only ones built different with power boost ingredients for long lasting performance you can trust. Find the limited edition Duracell and Messi batteries in stores at Lowe's and Walmart or on Amazon.

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