Never in my life have I ever related to a pro-baseball team more than the Chicago Cubs this season. Over the weekend, leading up to the series finale of one of TV’s greatest shows (don’t @ me) Succession, the Cubs were swept by the previously last-place Cincinnati Reds. The sweep ultimately sent the Cubs to the cellar of the NL Central. But then Succession aired, and the Cubs trotted out on Memorial Day against the best team in the majors, the Tampa Bay Rays, and shut them out.

Was it the greatest win in the history of regular season baseball? People are asking.

The Rays came in fresh off a weekend series win over the NL’s best team, Los Angeles Dodgers, and having just hit their 100th and 101st home run of the season. The next best team in baseball has 90. And the Cubs proceeded to blank the hell out of them like **MAJOR SPOILER** Shiv did to “THE ELDEST BOY” Kendall.

Now sure, the Cubs only won 1-0, but it was as dominant of a 1-0 game you’d ever see. Some are saying the greatest 1-0 game in the history of baseball. Trust me, I was there. Were you? Didn’t think so. So you have to take my word for it.

Now these recent developments make me wonder: were the Cubs distracted by the final season of Succession? Personally, I and many other people were. So it’s easy to believe the Cubs were as well. Frankly, I was extremely productive on Monday as well. Having walked over 22,000 steps (not to brag) and doing a load of laundry. Well, at least putting it in the wash. I still need to move it to the dryer. But it’s all been since Succession ended. Coincidence? There are no coincidences.

Now you’re probably thinking: “It’s one game. So what?” First off, you can’t put together a winning streak without wining the first one. And that’s exactly what the Cubs did. Against MLB’s best team. Look, Succession is over, which means we’re looking for the next great show on TV. Will it be the Cubs? People are asking.

The post The Cubs Were Just Waiting For ‘Succession’ To End Before Turning It On This Summer appeared first on Korked Bats.

As all of us at the CineBoiz are pretty big fans of the show (by all we mean Kenny & Mob; Kev & Tom will get around to it) we decided to take Buzzfeed’s Succession Character Quiz and our results were interesting to say the least.

Kenny is Logan Roy

Much like Logan, you could say I’m the grumpy, out-of-touch, patriarch of The CineBoiz Podcast. My saavy business background has built our podcast into the empire it is today, but perhaps a younger/fresher perspective could take the CineBoiz into the 21st century.

Okay, that probably doesn’t line-up with reality, but you can’t dispute the fact that Logan Roy is clearly the “Head-Boi” at Waystar-Royco.

Tom is Marcia Roy

So I can’t necessarily call Tom my wife (as much as I would like to XOXO), but he is certainly has been loyal companion to us here at the CineBoiz through all of our ups-and-downs. Like Marcia, Tom understands his assignment and even though he may not be up to date on the latest shows & movies, he brings us trivia & movie anniversaries every week.

Unless of course he “doesn’t feel inspired” as he would say lol. Let’s be honest though, nobody wants “uninspired” Tommy Trivia.

Kevin is Roman Roy

Ok, so you had to see this one coming from a mile away. Kevin is the youngest, sassiest, and most seemingly aloof of the group, but could also possibly be the most talented (he’s made all of our art & logos) and fun to watch on the podcast.

He, like Tom, also understands his assignment every week. Just don’t expect him to join our community Discord any time soon.

MOB is Tom Wambsgans

MOB like Tom W. is somewhat of a calming presence on the podcast. Kev, Tom and Myself bring the chaotic/high-energy takes while Mob is much more calculated and reserved. There are some episodes of the CineBoiz you can go back and listen to where you dont even realize MOB is there until about 3-5 minutes in.

Not to mention, MOB has a very Tom W./Cousin Greg-like relationship with his dog Theo.

What do you think of these character results? Spot-on, right? Be sure to check out The CineBoiz wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on Twitter/Instagram @thecineboiz. You can also check out a snippet below from this week’s episode where we went over the results of the quiz with our friend Billy Rock from “Do You Like Apples?”.

The post The CineBoiz Took A ‘Succession’ Character Quiz and The Results Were Spot-On (Kind of…) appeared first on Korked Bats.

Had to take a break and pace myself for this month’s movie preview. If you read part 1, you’re probably asking yourself “How can there be more movies to talk about?!?!” We went over four upcoming movies that would typically be enough for any other month, but now we have another three to get through. Prepare yourselves and stay hydrated. We’ve got a lot to get through to round out the month of October. (Again, random shoutout to Alamo Drafthouse for no reason other than being the best movie theater and us wanting them to sponsor us here at Korked Bats.)

DUNE–In Theaters and HBO MAX on October 22nd

This s–t is going to be EPIC. If you listen/subscribe/watch the CineBoiz Podcast on a regular basis then you know how G.D. excited we are for this movie. If you’re not familiar with the source material (Frank Herbert’s novel Dune) or the original film adaptation (David Lynch’s 1984 dumpster fire) then let us make it simple for you. Imagine Game of Thrones and Star Wars had a baby, and then that baby was directed by Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049, Sicario, Arrival) and stared pretty much every solid actor on the planet (Timmy Cham-Chams; Kahl Drago; Poe Dameron; Zendaya).

It’s got battles. It’s got explosions. It’s got big ol’ sandworms. What more could you possibly want? Denis Villeneuve has come out and said that this movie was specifically made for a theater experience so we HIGHLY RECOMMEND not viewing this on HBO Max at home–you’ll be missing out!

This movie also comes with a directive. In order for there to be a sequel, it must have a strong showing at the box office. That puts the responsibility squarely on our shoulders as movie-goers. We have seen a steady increase in positive reviews over the past few months so we know this movie will be good, but we need to go see it and bring all of our friends and loved ones. If we don’t this could be a one-and-done with no sequel to continue the story–similar to the fate of Fincher’s GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO.

THE FRENCH DISPATCH–In Theaters October 22nd

Unlike DUNE, we’re pretty sure this one won’t be in IMAX, but like every other Wes Anderson movie it will still be very visually intersting. Also like DUNE, it stars pretty much everyone who has ever been in a movie PLUS Timothee Chalamet. Ol’ Timmy Cham-Chams is going to have a pretty busy weekend on his hands. Liev Schrieber will also be featured in this film, so given their ongoing beef, Kevin from CineBoiz might skip this one.

This is an anthology film featuring several different stories. Original reports had it clocking in at a 4-hour runtime, but since then it seems to have been trimmed down to under 2 hours. That’s probably a lot of symmetrically pleasing shots lost on the cutting room floor.

Given Wes Anderson’s style and the time of year this is being released, we feel it would pair well with a nice soup and comfy sweater. Maybe check your local theater’s policy on bringing in your own tomato bisque.

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO–In Theaters October 29th

We really aren’t quite sure yet what this movie is about. However, it is directed by Edgar Wright (BABY DRIVER, SCOTT PILGRIM) who always brings a very creative/fun style to his movies. From what we understand though, this film will be more of a serious thriller which is a bit of a departure for Wright. The film also features an all-star billing (Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin Mackenzie, Matt Smith) to help carry the film.

When we originally previewed this film on The CineBoiz Podcast a few weeks ago, we were initially very high on it, but some Twitter reviews coming in aren’t entirely positive.

This honestly has us a bit surprised, but I think we’re all in the boat where we would like to still see it for ourselves. Edgar Wright is typically a director who is so creative that even his worst movies are still very enjoyable.

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So that pretty much wraps up all of the major theatrical releases for October. Which movies are you excited for and are there any you think we missed?

Be sure to let us know and join us live for the next live recording of The CineBoiz Podcast on YouTube.com/KorkedBats.

Also, be sure to follow @thecineboiz on Twitter & Instagram–we’re a great companion follow to Korked Bats on Social Media.

The post October Movie Preview (PART 2) appeared first on Korked Bats.

You have got to be kidding me. THIS is the fountain of youth??? THIS is how you live long enough to see your football team win a couple of Super Bowls and then live through 26 years of misery after??? THIS is how you overpay players like Tony Romo and Dak Prescott??

If Jerry Jones is doing it, then it must work, because Jerry is death’s white whale. Cockroaches are impressed with Jerry’s inability to die.

The return of HBO’s Hard Knocks is always an exciting time of year because you know football season is close. I can’t say I was overly excited when they selected Cowboys for this year’s featured team, but I figured anything would be better than the Chargers/Rams set up they had for last year. At the very least, I figured we would get some unforgettable Jerry Jones content and, to be brutally honest, who knows how many more years Jerry has left. I say this because the first episode featured Jerry making a very questionable decision and it had nothing to do with football.

JERRY JONES PUTS SALT ON HIS MCGRIDDLE

Let me set the stage for you: Jerry sits behind a relatively modest desk for a man with so much money. He has a water, glass of milk, black coffee, an unopened McGriddle, a note pad with scribbles, a pen, and a salt shaker in front of him. All these things seemingly normal. (Note: typically there is a pepper shaker to accompany the salt but Jerry doesn’t waste his time with pepper, he knows what he wants.) Jerry pretends to jot some notes down about Dak’s new injury and then hangs up the phone and begins to enjoy his breakfast. He opens up the McGriddle and does the unthinkable: reaches for the salt shaker.

Jerry proceeds to DUMP salt on his McGriddle like he’s trying to get ice off his driveway in the winter.

After I was done feeling sick to my stomach, it got me curious. Curious to know what Jerry’s salt intake was after enjoying his McGriddle. I took the liberty to scour the McDonald’s website (they make it really hard to find) to locate the nutritional information of a McGriddle.

Those stats are enough to not make you never want to eat a McGriddle ever again, let alone put EXTRA salt on it. 1290 mg of sodium just wasn’t enough for Jerry. He needed to add the extra salt to get that extra 44% of sodium to ensure he is consuming 100% of his daily sodium intake with 1 McGriddle. But hey, at this point we should just come to expect Jerry Jones to ruin anything he touches.

Move over Juan Ponce De Leon, Jerry Jones found what you never could: the fountain of youth.

Austin (dressed as a hot dog) and myself talked about what we thought would be on Hard Knocks this year on this week’s Junk Drawer, but never could have imagined what we witnessed Tuesday night. Listen to this week’s Junk Drawer as we discuss Hard Knocks, Dave Matthews Band Tour Bus Poop Story, O.J. Simpson, a SPECIAL Grit Knox appearance, and is Patrick Mahomes a communist? Join us every Monday at 5pm EST LIVE and comment along, who knows, Austin could be in a hot dog suit.

WATCH/LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S EPISODE BELOW:

The post Jerry Jones Puts Salt On His McGriddle The Way You’d Expect A 78-Year-Old Overbearing Billionaire Owner To appeared first on Korked Bats.

HBO wrapped up it’s 2-part Tiger Woods documentary with the second episode this week, which means. Kenny from The Cineboiz and I got back together to discuss.

In this episode, give an update to the FIST PUMP COUNTER, a recap of Episode 2’s greatest names, talk Tiger’s NAVY Seals training, and a ton more. Plus, we give a power ranking of the tabloid headlines throughout the episode.

Other topics we hit on:

Is Rocco Mediate the craziest man alive?

Do we need to bring back Taiwanese News Animation videos?

What did this documentary not cover that you wanted more of?

If you’d prefer to listen… Check it out on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And be sure to SUBSCRIBE to The Cineboiz.

The post Let’s Talk ‘TIGER’: A Recap of HBO’s Tiger Woods Documentary – Episode 2 appeared first on Korked Bats.

The first of HBO’s new two-episode documentary TIGER dropped on Sunday night and man, did you guys know Tiger Woods is good at golf?

Kenny from The Cineboiz and myself broke it down in this podcast. Everything from the cast of characters with all-time names, to Dina Parr and Tiger’s young love, to what the hell was it like inside Earl Woods’ Winnebago?

Other topics we hit on:

Was Tita Woods the most terrifying woman alive?

What was Tiger’s obsession with scuba diving?

How did Tiger get the name Eldrick?

And, of course, we have an official FIST PUMP counter.

If you’d prefer to listen… Check it out on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And be sure to SUBSCRIBE to The Cineboiz.

The post Let’s Talk ‘TIGER’: A Recap Of HBO’s Tiger Woods Documentary – Episode 1 appeared first on Korked Bats.

For the first time, “Hard Knocks” is planning to supersize and feature two teams in the same summer: the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers, league sources told ESPN — if there are training camps.

I like how Schefty tried sneaking that last line past the goalie as if we wouldn’t notice: “if there are training camps.” Look, Schefty, we don’t need any of that negative talk right now. We’re grasping at hope straws right now. So don’t even hint at football not starting up on time. Especially in a disappointing article about two boring teams being featured in one of the best football shows on TV.

Also, this feels like a fancy way to announce that HBO is putting a spending limit on the Secret Santa this year.

Being stationed in Los Angeles will give NFL Films the ability to embed itself with two NFL teams, a concept the show has not tried in the past.

They’re covering the only two teams in their backyard, but making it sound like this special “supersized” event that gives you not one, but TWO teams you have no interest in.

Now I know how Los Angelinos feel because I don’t feel like watching either of these teams.

Especially now. The Rams are without Todd Gurley and Clay Matthews, and the Chargers are without Melvin Gordon and Philip Rivers. Had they still had #17, I’d be more open to the idea. I’d love to get a behind-the-scenes look at how he manages that day care he calls a family. Plus, a “dagnabbit” drinking game could’ve added a nice touch to the show.

But most of all, the Rams are without their most electric star… Jeff Fisher.

He’s right. He didn’t go 7-9. They went 4-12.

That was Fish when the Rams were featured on Hard Knocks a couple years ago during the summer of Pokemon GO – which I’m sure was great for HBO’s ratings that year, because like right now, none of us wanted to leave our house.

Unfortunately, now we’ve got Rams head coach Sean McVay, aka Sean McHairGel, who looks like he stepped right off the set of a Nickelodeon TV show. Don’t get me wrong. This guy is an incredible coach with a brilliant football mind, but the only thing impressive about him on camera is the fact that he can remember every play from every game, but that schtick is only entertaining for so long.

Will I watch? Of course. Will I want to? Meh. This might be the first Hard Knocks in a while where the slow motion shots of sprinklers watering the practice fields are the most enticing part of the show.

The post Rams and Chargers Will Be On HBO’s Hard Knocks And I Couldn’t Be Any More… Indifferent appeared first on Korked Bats.

Prettay, prettay good.

Leave it to Larry David to give us the best coronavirus PSA on the market right now. It’s so perfect in so many Larry David ways. It drives home the point. It’s literal. It’s to the point. It brings levity, while also giving a verbal smack on the back of the head of all the idiots who are still not adhering to social distancing. This video cares while not caring at all.

I mean, the video starts with Larry saying, “Obviously somebody put me up to this ’cause it’s generally not the kind of thing I do…” And he’s right! This isn’t generally the kind of thing he does.

Then Larry hits us with a two-by-four of reality by saying, “You’re hurting old people like me.” Then he pauses before adding, “Well, not like me, I have nothing to do with you. I’ll never meet you.” He’s right. I can’t imagine a moment in my life where I will meet Larry David.

And the entire minute and thirty second long video all builds up to one of the most satisfying Larry David “ok’s” in Larry’s 72 years on this Earth.

I think many of us are Larry David in this instance. We’re so fed up with the people who still are – somehow – not practicing social distancing, self-quarantining, or stay-at-home mandates, that we’re just beyond caring by now. If those people can’t be selfless enough for a couple of weeks for the doctors and nurses and old people out there, then there’s nothing we can do. We owe them just one giant Larry David “ok.”

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The post No Surprise, Larry David Made The Best Coronavirus PSA appeared first on Korked Bats.

In fact, I haven’t even technically finished Season 1 yet.

Don’t get me wrong, I want to. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the show. It’s just you know, life gets in the way. I just haven’t had the time through my incessant scrolling on three different social media timelines, getting caught down down wormholes of Where Is The Cast of Home Improvement Today videos on YouTube, taking naps, not reading books I promised I would read this year, replacing the water filter in my fridge, taking more naps, and online shopping for “fun” socks. I mean, I wish I had the time, but I just haven’t.

Plus, season two just ended in 2018. So do you really think that’s enough time for me to get caught up?!

I started watching Westworld when it first hit HBO in 2016. I loved it. The show matched the worlds of technology and westerns better than Cowboys and Aliens ever could’ve dreamed. Oh, and it starred the chick from Across The Universe, which is always a plus.

Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it wasn’t, but the deeper the show got, the more busy I found myself getting, and just never finished the last two episodes of season 1. Other shows have come and gone, and I’ve yet to get back into Westworld, but now that they’ve dropped the season 3 trailer, now I have to catch up.

If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, check it here:

When I first saw it drop, I told myself I wouldn’t watch, because it will probably include spoilers as to what happened in the last 12 episodes I’ve missed. But telling me not to watch a trailer on the Internet would be like telling Antonio Brown NOT to live stream on the Internet. It’s just not going to happen.

So I watched. And boy am I confused as hell!

I will say that I’m glad to see Across The Universe girl is still in it. She always seemed cool. Plus, I like her as an actress. I like her enough to call her by one of the only other movies I’ve seen her in.

Also, Ed Harris, a.k.a. Christof – the man responsible for putting Truman Burbank on television, is still in it and looks more worn than a leather couch in a frat house. Maybe that’s explained in season 2? Or maybe it’s just Ed Harris is really old and I’m just a massive douchebag?

Also, it appears that instead of spending the whole season in a made-up set for Back To The Future III, we’ll be spending this season in the future that the humans of Westworld live in, which is cool, because I preferred Back to the Future II anyway. It appears this is in a futuristic city, one that resembles New York City, Sydney, Australia, or Dover, Delaware. I’ve never been to Dover, Delaware, so that’s just an assumption.

Ok, this shot – which I don’t think is the same city – is clearly a futuristic Los Angeles. You can tell from the U.S. Bank building. Although, this is incredibly unrealistic. Not for the influx of new skyscrapers, but for the lack of smog which I can only assume will get worse in the future.

This is a pretty dope plane. Why don’t we make planes like this now?!

Also, that wasn’t your cue to come at me with realistic and technical answers as to why we don’t build planes like this now, nerdy plane engineers.

Oh snap. Aaron Paul.

This actually makes sense, because I’m sure A.P. is still living that Breaking Bad money life while no longer getting that Breaking Bad paycheck. And from what I heard, the Breaking Bad movie wasn’t that great, and I watched a season or two of The Path on HULU, and it was good, but it was also on HULU. A.P. needed to get back to the breadmaker of TV. Actually, sorry, it’s not TV. It’s HBO.

Damn, HBO got The Night Fox from Ocean’s Twelve? They’re pulling out all the stops this season. You know how some people were just born to do things? Ken Griffey Jr. was born to hit a baseball. John Lennon was born to write songs. Jimmy Fallon was born to be a youth pastor. Well, Vincent Cassel was born to play bad guys in movies and TV shows. You ever see him in the movie Derailed? Freaking brilliant.

Also, I shoul– hold up. Is that Marshawn Lynch? What the?! Aaron Paul. Vincent Cassel. And BEAST MODE?! HBO, now you’re just flexing.

Did this guy shoot Season 3 of Westworld before joining the Seahawks? What a freaking boss. In case you didn’t know, I LOVE Marshawn Lynch. So you know I LOVE this casting decision.

“I’m just about that acting, boss.”

This was when Across The Universe said “I kill everyone,” before flashing this smirk. Jeeze. Sounds like my ex.

Look, I don’t know how the hell we got from playing fantasy in a futuristic Frontierland to starting a war in the streets of futuristic downtown Los Angeles (and/or Dover – again, I’ve never been there, so I can’t rule it out), but no matter how it all comes together, it still makes more sense than the Fast & Furious saga. Street racers to Department of Homeland Security trying to save the world? Ok. Sure.

The post A Look Into HBO’s Westworld Season 3 Trailer From A Guy Who Hasn’t Seen Season 2 Yet appeared first on Korked Bats.

Season 10 of Curb Your Enthusiasm isn’t just a thing we all want. It’s something we all need.

America is past the point of kindness and love. So why not give us more Larry David to drop a nuke of disdain and annoyance onto this country?

I present to you, the trailer for Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 10.

Oh, and a Jon Hamm cameo too? Damn, HBO.

They say “it’s not TV, it’s HBO,” but I’m starting to think it’s not TV, it’s bleeping genius.

The new season begins on January 19, 2020.

The post Newton’s Law Of Sweats: The Season 10 Trailer for Curb Your Enthusiasm Is Here appeared first on Korked Bats.