The Green Knight and Jungle Cruise

 Very loosely based on a 14th-century poem, "The Green Knight" is an example of pop cultural medievalism. In this podcast episode, HCC film professors Marie Westhaver and Mike Giuliano discuss a visually and thematically murky movie that suffers from a slow pace. Although Marie and Mike had plenty of quibbles about "The Green Knight," this quest narrative did hold their interest. They agree that what really kept them watching was the convincing performance by Dev Patel as Gawain, whose lowly status at King Arthur's Round Table is made even more tenuous by his confrontation with a walking tree known as the Green Knight. Marie and Mike also talk about a very different quest narrative in "Jungle Cruise." Based on a theme park ride, this busy adventure stars Dwayne Johnson as a river boat captain whose passengers include Emily Blunt as a botanist seeking a rare flower with curative powers. Mike thought that the non-stop thrills and constant pop cultural references became tedious after awhile, but he agreed with Marie that "Jungle Cruise" does have the entertainment value of, well, a theme park ride.