147 episodes

Ignorant Bliss podcast is podcast where I (Julian Lytle) talk about things in popular culture that interests me. The podcast cover comics, film, television, music and video games.

Ignorant Bliss Julian Lytle

    • Society & Culture

Ignorant Bliss podcast is podcast where I (Julian Lytle) talk about things in popular culture that interests me. The podcast cover comics, film, television, music and video games.

    Ignorant Bliss: Polite Society, Carmen, and Peter Pan & Wendy review

    Ignorant Bliss: Polite Society, Carmen, and Peter Pan & Wendy review

    Polite Society is a fun and playful homage to 70s martial arts film that also mixes in Jane Austin-style romance and early 2000s teen comedies. The core sister relationship of Ria and Lena ties this fun remix of styles together to make a great theater experience.







    Grade: B







    Carmen feels like an interpolation of the classic Opera. While it’s not wholly successful in everything it does, this new modern American Carmen does succeed in making an engaging film-watching experience.







    Grade: C+







    Peter Pan and Wendy is purposefully crafted with care and thoughtfulness, and while it succeeds in expanding the ideas of Wendy, Hook, and Tiger Lily, it’s at the cost of the character of Peter Pan.







    Grade: B-















    THANK YOU TO ALL THE SUPPORTERS ON PATREON!







    Early access & more on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/julianlytle







    email the show at ignorantblisspodcast at gmail dot com







    Get at me @julianlytle on Twitter, IG, Snapchat, Tumblr, Soundcloud







    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ignorant-bliss-podcast-feed/id415595194?mt=2 also please leave a review if you can!







    On Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/3No8E3EpindiqvYUkMeNAr?si=DcIONPLAR5uHEVOHQ-32gQ







    Also on Stitcher – http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ignorant-bliss







    Also on Soundcloud – https://soundcloud.com/julianlytle







    Also on Google Podcasts – https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9pZ25vcmFudC1ibGlzcy5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0Lw?sa=X&ved=0CAcQrrcFahcKEwi4_r7Vsdr9AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA

    • 30 min
    Ignorant Bliss: Super Mario Bros. Review

    Ignorant Bliss: Super Mario Bros. Review

    Alright, let me tell everyone from the jump I’m biased on this. Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. are some of the earliest memories in my life. Playing games with these characters are dearer to me than superhero comics, so after suffering in middle school with the old 1993 movie, I just expected that there would never be another Mario Bros. movie again, and from Nintendo’s perspective, I could understand why. Hollywood messed it up back then, and I was perfectly happy with it never happening. Once I heard that Universal made a deal with Nintendo for a movie and that they made theme parks, I didn’t make much of it since I thought Nintendo would be too picky and we’ll never get another Nintendo property-based film. Yet all that changed once I heard Illumination was the animation studio chosen to do it. I had some hope since the Minions had some good movies, and Secret Life of Pets is also good. There’s a history of French animation studios respecting Japanese pop culture, especially aesthetically. Now from here, I can confidently say that they crafted a fantastic film. For me, it’s completely perfect, the Super Mario movie I have dreamed of since I was young.







    So I guess I can give a quick setup of what this movie is about if you’ve somehow never ever in your life played a Mario game. Mario and Luigi are two brothers who live in Brooklyn, New York, and they are starting their plumbing business. One day when trying to help Brooklyn with a major plumbing issue in the sewers, the two brothers get sucked into a pipe that transports them to a new world where Bowser, the King of the Koopas (also a dragon turtle), is ravaging the many kingdoms of the realm as he tries to get to Princess Peach with his Super Star to conquer everything. With Mario and Luigi split up, Mario must team up with Toad and Peach to help her stop Bowser and find Luigi. Much Jumping ensues.







    The film is wonderful and beautiful with all the colors and the textures in the film to not bring it to life as this is a game series, so it has that covered but a new look to it all. In a way, right now, this is the like a first look at what a PS4 Pro/Xbox One X era Mario game could’ve looked like. The animation is so fluid, and the there’s a lot of good emotion in the animation to add the depth and stakes to the story. It moves quickly, and you won’t be bored, and kids won’t either. It’s also hitting you with some many easter eggs. It’s probably worth watching this slow-motion film to catch them all (no pun intended). All the voice actors did a fantastic job, even Chris Pratt, who people dislike now, but he’s already been proven as a good voice actor for animation, and he does so here. (Note I’m not a fan of Charles Martinet of Mario and Luigi since he was brought in with Mario 64. I’m a fan of the US voices from the Super Mario Super Show – Capt. Lou Albano and Danny Wells because they actually sounded like Italian Americans from NYC). As expected, Jack Black steals the show as Bowser, but honestly, all the actors do so well with these characters that I wouldn’t mind if I heard them in a game too. Seth Rogan is going to be great as DK from this, and I’m ready for the Donkey Kong Country movie now.







    I could go on and on, but I think this movie does well by making a fun and coherent story with heart and feels like a celebration of the franchise by tying as much of the many facets of the franchise all together in a banger of the animated film.







    Rating: A















    THANK YOU TO ALL THE SUPPORTERS ON PATREON!







    Early access & more on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/julianlytle

    • 11 min
    Ignorant Bliss: Spinning Gold Review

    Ignorant Bliss: Spinning Gold Review

    D







    Spinning Gold is not good folks. This film that is sold as the story of Casablanca Records is about Neil Bogart, one of the founders, and from the way, the film tells it the driving force behind this label and the artists on it and somehow their music. I sat in the theater, mostly confused with what I was watching. I wondered if this was a musical play that was on Broadway or Off-Broadway for a short run? I wondered because the film starts with Jeremy Jordan as Neil bursting into a Black Church as a choir sings Oh, Happy Day with him joining them. Yet I think I would’ve heard about a musical with a songbook that includes the work of Gladys Knight and the Pips, KISS, The Isley Brothers, The Village People, and more. So no, it’s not that. Hmmm, I thought – are they trying to do a movie that then leads to a musical play? Maybe the sets in the film aren’t that great, and the hair isn’t that good, and the characters are quite broad but not in a good way, like when you’re watching some musical theater, and it needs to reach the back of the house. Well, it’s not good at that either. So what is this movie, and how did I end up in the seat watching this movie?















    So Spinning Gold, as I said, is focused on the life of Neil Bogart, written, directed, and produced by Timothy Scott Bogart, Neil’s son, and after seeing this, you can see a person’s child made it as it lionizes them to an almost demigod like degree. The film covers Neil’s life and career in music while it also makes his friends and colleagues into sidekicks visually, even if the words say otherwise. It also glazes over the man’s gambling problems and hardcore drug use. It turns his infidelity into some romantic conflict in this man’s heart, as his true love is his music ambition to bring these artists’ music into the world. It’s not really fair to all the people involved and the actors in the film because you can see that they were trying with a script that doesn’t work and directing along with a budget that made me feel like I was watching a Hallmark or Lifetime film in the theater. I know they this movie had more money than any of those companies’ TV movies. The casting in this film for the legendary artists visually doesn’t work, but all these folks, actual recording artists, can sing and perform, but they just don’t really fit who they are playing.







    I sat and wondered why he made a story that wasn’t about the label’s creation or the business stuff as a whole but more about the romantic elements of this man’s life. Why were Ronald Isley and Gladys Knight just story props to show that he was somehow better at Black music than the people who made Black music? KISS is barely more than a prop since they have a bit more agency and a plotline with Neil and the rest of the company, but only the two most famous members have that. It’s disheartening, and I think they should’ve done more by all closer to something like what Cadillac Records did in mixing the personal, the group, and the music business together better than this did. And I’m not saying that the film was high-level cinema, but it was very much better made than this movie. Everyone deserved better, even Neil Bogart.















    A very poorly done biopic of a music executive that was sold as film about a historic record label and it’s artists.







    THANK YOU TO ALL THE SUPPORTERS ON PATREON!







    Early access & more on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/julianlytle







    email the show at ignorantblisspodcast at gmail dot com

    • 14 min
    Ignorant Bliss: A thousand and One review

    Ignorant Bliss: A thousand and One review

    A fantastic performance from Teyana Taylor anchors this film about a mother and son that goes in ways you wouldn’t expect that also captures the spirit of mid-’90s through early 2000s New York City perfectly. 







    A























    THANK YOU TO ALL THE SUPPORTERS ON PATREON!







    Early access & more on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/julianlytle







    email the show at ignorantblisspodcast at gmail dot com







    Get at me @julianlytle on Twitter, IG, Snapchat, Tumblr, Soundcloud







    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ignorant-bliss-podcast-feed/id415595194?mt=2 also please leave a review if you can!







    On Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/3No8E3EpindiqvYUkMeNAr?si=DcIONPLAR5uHEVOHQ-32gQ







    Also on Stitcher – http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ignorant-bliss







    Also on Soundcloud – https://soundcloud.com/julianlytle







    Also on Google Podcasts – https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9pZ25vcmFudC1ibGlzcy5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0Lw?sa=X&ved=0CAcQrrcFahcKEwi4_r7Vsdr9AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA

    • 9 min
    Ignorant Bliss: Dungeons and Dragons – Honor Among Thieves review

    Ignorant Bliss: Dungeons and Dragons – Honor Among Thieves review

    They finally have made a good adaptation of this game to film. The film has the right amount of humor and respect for the source that works for those who know it and those who have no idea but want a good time. 







    B























    THANK YOU TO ALL THE SUPPORTERS ON PATREON!







    Early access & more on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/julianlytle







    email the show at ignorantblisspodcast at gmail dot com







    Get at me @julianlytle on Twitter, IG, Snapchat, Tumblr, Soundcloud







    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ignorant-bliss-podcast-feed/id415595194?mt=2 also please leave a review if you can!







    On Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/3No8E3EpindiqvYUkMeNAr?si=DcIONPLAR5uHEVOHQ-32gQ







    Also on Stitcher – http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ignorant-bliss







    Also on Soundcloud – https://soundcloud.com/julianlytle







    Also on Google Podcasts – https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9pZ25vcmFudC1ibGlzcy5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0Lw?sa=X&ved=0CAcQrrcFahcKEwi4_r7Vsdr9AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA

    • 8 min
    Ignorant Bliss: Tetris review

    Ignorant Bliss: Tetris review

    This film goes from plucky tech success stories into an international business and political thriller and back again. It’s nothing as you’d expect from a video game film and is just as engaging as the game is. 







    B+























    THANK YOU TO ALL THE SUPPORTERS ON PATREON!







    Early access & more on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/julianlytle







    email the show at ignorantblisspodcast at gmail dot com







    Get at me @julianlytle on Twitter, IG, Snapchat, Tumblr, Soundcloud







    Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ignorant-bliss-podcast-feed/id415595194?mt=2 also please leave a review if you can!







    On Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/3No8E3EpindiqvYUkMeNAr?si=DcIONPLAR5uHEVOHQ-32gQ







    Also on Stitcher – http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ignorant-bliss







    Also on Soundcloud – https://soundcloud.com/julianlytle







    Also on Google Podcasts – https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9pZ25vcmFudC1ibGlzcy5jb20vZmVlZC9wb2RjYXN0Lw?sa=X&ved=0CAcQrrcFahcKEwi4_r7Vsdr9AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA

    • 9 min

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