Hate Watching with Dan and Tony

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Shaq in a DC Comics superhero suit should be an automatic good time, but Steel (1997) somehow lands in the uncanny valley between Saturday afternoon fun and “please take this seriously.” We rewatch it scene by scene and call out the exact moments where the movie could have leaned into camp, tightened the story, or just admitted the premise is ridiculous. Instead, we get tanks creeping through the LA hills, a sonic weapon demo that goes sideways, and cops who treat chasing a seven-foot armored vigilante like a casual commute. 

We dig into what works (the self-aware free throw jokes, a few surprisingly solid sonic effects, the magnet hammer chaos) and what doesn’t (plot jumps, over-explained police work, and character dynamics that never pick a lane). Judd Nelson’s villain energy is a highlight, mostly because watching him posture up at Shaq will never not be funny. And yes, we talk about the moment the movie goes fully off the rails: reverse psychology saves the day, and Sparks’ wheelchair turns into an action-movie arsenal in a finale that’s equal parts confusing and unforgettable. 

After we close the Steel case file, we shift to what we’re watching lately, including new TV picks, plus a detour into a comedy podcast interview that left us with questions about Paul Walter Hauser. We also tee up next week’s plan to hit the new Naked Gun. Subscribe for more movie breakdowns, share this with a friend who loves a lovable mess, and leave us a review with your pick for the most baffling superhero movie.

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Dan: @shakybacon
Tony: @tonydczech

And follow the podcast on IG: @hatewatchingDAT

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A guy wakes up alone on a colony ship, stares at a sleeping stranger for a year, and then makes a choice the movie wants to frame as romance. That’s the moment Passengers (2016) loses us, and we can’t stop talking about why.

We walk through the film’s best ingredients: a slick sci-fi setting, a genuinely scary isolation setup, a talented Jennifer Lawrence, and a premise that could have powered a tense space thriller. Then we dig into the uncomfortable stuff the screenplay keeps sanding down, from consent and confinement to how quickly the story tries to move past the damage. Along the way we roast the ship’s “rules” (food tiers, crew access, the one medical pod for thousands) and call out how the stakes keep evaporating right when they should spike.

The most fun part is the fix: we pitch a version of Passengers that starts with Aurora waking up and lets the truth unravel slowly, turning the movie into the horror story it keeps accidentally teasing. We also hit the Laurence Fishburne section, the rushed malfunction plot, and the ending that asks you to feel warm and fuzzy after everything that came before.

If you’re into movie review podcasts, sci-fi movie critiques, and conversations about narrative structure, character accountability, and why some “romance” plots age terribly, queue this one up. Subscribe, share it with a friend who hates this movie too, and leave us a review with your verdict: horror, romance, or both?

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Dan: @shakybacon
Tony: @tonydczech

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Tron: Ares made us do something we almost never do: we hit play, heard the soundtrack kick in, and immediately wished we could keep the speakers on while turning the screen off. Dan and Tony break down the new Tron sequel with a very specific question in mind: how can a movie look this polished and still feel like nothing is happening? We get into Jared Leto’s Ares, why the “program becomes human” arc never shows up on screen, and how the movie leans on dialogue to claim growth instead of building it through choices.

From there, we pull on the threads that keep snapping: the permanence code timer that should create tension but rarely changes anyone’s strategy, the laser printing tech that can seemingly create anything without limits, and the corporate world details that make the characters feel smaller than the story says they are. We also talk through the chase beats, the ENCOM tower moment, and the strange action editing choices that keep fights from reading clearly. Along the way, we compare key moments to Tron: Legacy and why that film’s locked-in camera language and game structure still land.

We close with the finale, Athena’s wasted potential, the post-credit Sark tease, and a quick detour into shows we are actually enjoying right now, including Alien Earth, Widow’s Bay, and The Pitt. Next week we are watching Passengers, and we strongly recommend going in cold.

Subscribe for more movie talk, share the episode with a Tron fan, and leave a review so more listeners can find us. What is the one thing you would fix first in Tron: Ares?

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Dan: @shakybacon
Tony: @tonydczech

And follow the podcast on IG: @hatewatchingDAT

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Marty Supreme looks like a prestige movie, sounds like three different movies at once, and plays like a sports film that refuses to give you the one thing you came for: a reason to care who wins. We walk through the plot beat by beat, then stop and argue about why it feels so strange when the directing and performances seem competent, yet the story keeps slipping out of our hands.

We get into the loud, anachronistic soundtrack choices (80s and 90s thriller cues crashing into a 1950s table tennis world), the missing “training and redemption” architecture that most sports movies rely on, and the core issue that never goes away: Marty is written as a guy who charms everyone, but the movie rarely shows the charm on screen. Along the way we hit the money logic that never adds up, the Globetrotters detour, the dog hustle spiral, and the moments that should create consequences but get brushed past.

Then we land on the ending, including a reported early draft twist that could explain a lot: a cut vampire ending tied to the 80s music. Whether that’s real or just Hollywood legend, it gives us one more angle to test what Marty Supreme is trying to say about ambition, ego, and exploitation.

If you’ve seen Marty Supreme, listen and come argue with us. Subscribe, share the show with a fellow movie hater, and leave a review. Did the movie work for you as a character study, or did it fall apart the moment it asked you to root for Marty?
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Dan: @shakybacon
Tony: @tonydczech

And follow the podcast on IG: @hatewatchingDAT

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A movie about condoms, cocaine, and the World Cup should be a layup for a wild studio comedy. Balls Up somehow turns that setup into a string of half-formed bits, missing reactions, and scenes that refuse to escalate. So we did what we do best: hate watched it closely and pulled it apart like a broken engine.

We talk through why the central buddy comedy dynamic never locks in, how Mark Wahlberg looks stranded without a co-star who can elevate the rhythm, and why “straight man” only works when the straight man is still funny. We dig into the biggest script problems: characters who change traits scene to scene, stakes that get introduced then ignored, and jokes that explain themselves instead of landing. Along the way we call out the few moments that actually spark, like the dialysis callback, the Larry David translator voice, the karaoke choice, and the one truly committed set piece involving a vampire fish and a very unlucky pee break.

After the movie autopsy, we pivot to what we’ve been enjoying lately, including long-form YouTube essays that dissect the MrBeast machine, plus Tony’s current comfort watch with the American Gladiators reboot. We also tease our next watch, Marty Supreme, and briefly vent about how modern reboots like Frasier can still have great actors but fail on writing.

If you laughed, cringed, or disagreed with our takes, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review, then tell us the one change you’d make to fix Balls Up.

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Dan: @shakybacon
Tony: @tonydczech

And follow the podcast on IG: @hatewatchingDAT