Episode 141: On the Basis of Sex (2018)

Get your minds out of the gutter, you stunningly good-looking and flawlessly dressed listeners! This isn’t the week we talk about porn; this is another entry in our series “Semi-Real People” and while our other biopics have focused on legendary musicians, this week our subject is a different kind of rock star. Yes, this is the story of the early days of the N.O.T.O.R.I.O.U.S. R.B.G., Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. She may not have been a musical legend but she’s a rock star in the world of jurisprudence! Yeah! Tort reform! Constitutional challenges! Rock on! We see Felicity Jones playing the vertically-challenged Bader Ginsberg alongside the towering Armie Hammer as Marty Ginsberg (Mr. Hammer has recently become a bit notorious himself, but we’ll leave that to the tabloids and TMZ) as she deals with blatant sexism in the legal profession and her first major legal challenge: Charles E. Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Woo! Tax law challenges! We know how to keep the party going here at Max, Mike; Movies! So, is this movie as dry as a reading of the municipal tax code? Do we get some idea of what made R.B.G. so notorious? Well, I’m certainly not going to tell you here! Listen to the podcast and find out. Court is adjourned.

Poll question: is there any movie you really wish DIDN’T have a sequel? Please reply in the comment section below.

George Floyd Memorial Fund:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/

Black Lives Matter: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

Southern Poverty Law Center: https://donate.splcenter.org/

4 thoughts on “Episode 141: On the Basis of Sex (2018)”

  1. Overall I don’t think any film should have a sequel and the vast majority that do are terrible. There are, of course, some that are as good or surpass the original but that is rare. What I really hate is when the first film is great and there is no opening for the story to go on, yet they do it anyway. Jaws came to mind right away. Well, Jaws and StarCrash 2 because it didn’t even have Caroline Monroe in it. The Exorcist, Highlander… the stories were told but Jaws seemed to set that trend that a sequel must be made at any cost if the first film is a hit.

    1. I think it’s fair to say that, up until giant franchises like the MCU, sequels weren’t considered until the tally from the movie was counted. That was the deciding factor, not any storytelling reason. “The Godfather” was apparently an outlier in this case. Most movies really don’t seem to have room for more and get caught up in weird storytelling issues later on that don’t bear scrutiny (Star Wars). That being said, I have enjoyed some sequels. Thanks, Vince!

  2. Wow. Most of them? So often the sequels are awful. Jaws comes to mind, Smokey and The Bandit, Caddyshack, Speed…Episodes 4 through 6 of Star Wars (really hate 1-3, could do without 7-9 too, but I don’t hate them as much)…Look Who’s Talking…Terminator 2…

    1. I tend to agree, though you’ll find us in the minority when it comes to Star Wars. And while I haven’t seen any of the other sequels you mention, I haven’t wanted to, either. Thanks for the answer, Val! And take 10 BumpyBux out of petty cash!

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