Discussed in these episodes
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730 Tight Five on Gibbons
Our Ape Club returns to cover 2024’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.” Yes, it’s apes and humans again, but this is a new era with a lot to consider about how history is distorted to serve present-day politics, the value of saving or destroying past knowledge, and the best way to protect an eagle egg.
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725 Most Valuable Ape
Our Summer of the Planet of the Apes reaches its exciting conclusion with “War for the Planet of the Apes,” which starts out as a war movie but continues mutating into different genres as it goes. We really enjoyed our walk through this underrated trilogy of 2010s action movies, and we hope you did too!
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724 Treacherous Bonobo
The Summer of the Planet of the Apes continues with 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” It’s a sequel that’s superior in almost every way, but somehow seems a little less fun, since we can no longer root for the apes. Now there are bad guys on both sides, as Gary Oldman and a chimpanzee named Caesar act out a tragedy of Shakespearean levels.
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723 We Bought an Ape Prison
You did it, you blew it all up! And now it’s… the Summer of the Planet of the Apes! Our own troop of hairless apes tackles the well-regarded modern “Apes” trilogy this month, beginning with 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” James Franco is a scientist? Brian Cox runs a sketchy ape facility? Tom Felton thinks his dates want to see caged primates? Just when you think this movie has it all backward, that’s when you realize: we’re actually all rooting for the apes.
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436 Most Important Chimpanzee
Consult the lawgiver’s scrolls and watch out for talking dolls! It’s a madhouse! A madhouse! And also, the 50th anniversary of “Planet of the Apes.” Join us as we explore the world of spaceman Taylor (Charlton Heston) and his long journey through an empty desert into a land populated by officious orangutans, plucky chimpanzee scientists, and wry yet violent gorillas. Does it hold up? Why did such a dark vision generate kids’ lunch boxes and multiple sequels and spinoffs? And what are the intricacies of Ape Law?