BFG Podcast #055: ‘Dr. Strange,’ ‘Avatar,’ and ‘Pachinko’

What a week it’s been in the culture, and we at BFG are always down to cover developments. Editor-in-chief Neal Pollack welcomes in Stephen Garrett to talk about ‘Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,’ the only movie. Neal liked it more than Stephen did. But they both agree that the Sam Raimi kitsch horror elements raise this somewhat above the usual superhero movie fare. However, neither of them liked The Scarlet Witch’s search for her children “Billy and Tommy,” the lamest 10-year-olds in movie history. “They sit around all day watching ‘Snow White’?” Stephen says. “What’s up with that?”

Resident Koreaologist William Schwartz stops by the BFG studios to talk about his problems with the Apple+TV series ‘Pachinko,’ based on the popular novel. Schwartz has many specific complains about the show. But most prominently, he says that Pachinko misrepresents Koreans who have emigrated to Japan, many of whom consider themselves Japanese, not Korean. He and Neal get deep in the semantic weeds, and it’s all very interesting.

Then Stephen Garrett returns to trash the ‘Avatar‘ trailer, which he saw at a 3D press screening and Neal saw at a regular old 2D movie. “How are they going to milk five movies out of the world of Pandora?” Stephen wonders. But then he remembers: Never count out James Cameron when it comes to sequels. We all hate Avatar, but we’re all going to see it.

Enjoy the show!

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