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Cobra Kai (2018)

Our Karate Kid series comes to an end with us discussing (MEGA SPOILERS) the first 3 season of the sequel series.

 

We follow the story of Johnny Lawrence, who was once the big guy on campus in High School, and ended up falling on hard times due in part to his alcoholism and also his loss to Daniel LaRusso in the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament. Johnny finds renewed purpose to help a bunch of social misfits defend themselves by bringing back Cobra Kai Karate thanks to the help of his neighbor Miguel Diaz. This causes many misunderstandings between Johnny, Daniel, and their kids. Having gone through all the movies that preceded it we describe our experience with this show and break down the storylines, characters, and seasons that we like.

The Karate Kid (2010)

This week we review The 2010 remake to The Karate(?) Kid. In this re-telling of the 1986 film, we follow Dre (Jaden Smith), a kid who is moving from Detroit with his mother to China. He is constantly bullied by the local kids, and with the help of his building's maintenance man/ Kung Foo teacher, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), he trains to fight them at a local tournament so that they may leave him alone. It's shocking how much of a REMAKE this movie is, but does it stack up to the original?

The Next Karate Kid (1994)

A sequel so obscure that unless you watched it every week on the Disney Channel in the early 00s like Angel, you wouldn't even know it existed. Pat Morita's swan song in the Karate Kid franchise has him traveling to Boston, to visit the wife of his commander General from the 442nd.

While there he is introduced to her granddaughter Julie Pierce (played by a very young Hillary Swank). Julie is having a hard time dealing with the grief of losing her parents, and is starting to find herself in trouble at school. Mr. Miyagi takes her as his new ward to whom he teaches Karate to in hopes that it will both teach her discipline, and help keep her out of trouble with her school's Jr. ROTC group, the Alpha Elites.

The Karate Kid III (1989)

It's like the first movie again, but worse..... Much worse. This week we are treated to the John Krease revenge movie featuring Daniel and Miyagi... Special appearance by a guy who looks like the world's most evil Porn director, Terry Silver.

The New Cobra Kai led by Terry Silver recruits Karate's Bad Boy, Mike Barns who can't stop, won't stop (*Harlem Shakes*) bullying Daniel LaRusso and threatening his life until he agrees to defend his All Valley Karate Tournament Championship. This features all the stuff you didn't want, a rapidly aging Ralph Macchio, Daniel/Miyagi relationship problems, an uninteresting love interest, and mustache twirling douchebags as the villains. Join us as we discuss 1989's The Karate Kid Part III

The Karate Kid Part II (1986)

Last week we watched Mr. Miyagi help Daniel rid himself of the Cobra Kai by winning the All Valley Karate Tournament. This week, Daniel returns the favor to his sensei, by traveling with him to Okinawa where Mr. Miyagi must go see his father, but also runs into his old archrival Sato, and his equally villainous nephew Chozen who begins to feud with Daniel.

The Karate Kid (1984)

Part 1 of our Karate Kid review series! This week we take it back to 1984 where Daniel LaRusso, who has just moved to the Valley in LA fron New Jersey is learning to adjust to his new surrondings. He starts a romance with Ali Mills, but there is just one big problem.. Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny and his gang of Karate practicing bullies from the Cobra Kai dojo start attacking and bullying Daniel. His apartment building's maintenance man, Mr. Miyagi agrees to help Daniel by teaching him Karate so that he can defend himself, and ultimately defeat the Cobra Kais at the All Valley Karate Tournament. 

Get Out (2017)

We finally discuss Jordan Peele's 2017 horror masterpiece. A film that Peele spend nearly a decade preparing to bring to the screen, his directorial debut brought Black Horror movies to the mainstream. A movie that feels as much as snapshot of the Black Lives Matter era as an homage to horror movies like Halloween, The Stepford Wives, and Rosemary's Baby. We follow our protagonist Chris as he goes to to an East Coast suburb to visit his girlfriend Rose's family. During this trip we quickly discover the disturbing secret of Rose, her family, and the other white people in this neighborhood.

The Stepford Wives (1975)

We return to the world of famed novelist Ira Levine (Rosemary's Baby) to review the 1975 adaptation of his novel The Stepford Wives. This film follows New York City photographer Joanna Eberhart as she and her family relocate (at the behest of her husband Walter) to the suburb of Stepford. Idealized as a throwback to the bygone era of the 1950s before the Women's liberation movement, Joanna quickly discovers that the women in this town are not what they seem.

Parasite (2019)

This week we finally review the Academy Award winner for Best Picture in 2019. As the most unusual 2020 Oscars are now approaching we wanted to review the most recent winner, which was directed by Bong Joon-ho. This dark comedy, became a world-wide phenomenon and it is likely due to the themes explored. Few films have so perfectly illustrated the ever-widening wealth gap in capitalist countries. This may be one of the best conversations we have ever had on the show.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

The 2018 sequel to Jurassic World takes a wild left turn as it recast's Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire Dearing as a Dinosaur Activist who is trying to rescue the Dinosaurs on Isla Nublar from an erupting volcano that threatens to destroy the island. She is doing this with the help of Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), and the original partner of John Hammond. Directed by J.A. Bayona who's best known for 2007's The Orphanage, this is perhaps the more horror-mood movie in this series. Join us this week and we visit the Fallen Kingdom.