Watchcast Schedule for November 2025: Action Turkeys

Greetings, Watchcasters! If you caught this past week's show, you probably already know that we've got some very stupid action movies on tap for our annual turkey month, but if you haven't had a chance to listen yet, guess what? We're doing some very stupid action movies for this year's turkey month.

Why stupid action movies? Because, to be frank, I'm not sure I have the mental capacity to deal with anything that requires meaningful critical thought right now. And I promise you, no amount of brain power need be used to decipher what's going on in these movies.

Here are the very stupid turkeys we're serving up this month.

Monday, November 3rd: John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (2001)

Brad wanted something to bridge our month of horror into this month of turkeys, and what better way to form that bridge than with the bones of John Carpenter's last big studio picture. This apparently almost won a vote like three years ago when we did Carpenter month for Halloween, and that can only lead me to conclude that you sickos have spent all this time jonesing for a taste of Ice Cube's iconic character, Desolation Williams.

DESOLATION WILLIAMS.

Alright, now that that's out of my system, I'll just say right now this is probably the outright worst movie of this month's bunch. Best to get it out of the way sooner, I say. It's not that there's nothing to like about this movie, but the pleasures are few and far between, and the rest is mostly a tragic misfire of what sounded on paper like a surefire concept. Carpenter doing an antiheroes-under-siege movie on goddamn Mars? How does that not work? Well, watch for yourself and you'll find out!

Where to Watch

Monday, November 10th: Doomsday (2008)

FINALLY, Vinny gets his ultimate wish, and we are doing the greatest movie ever made, according to Vinny, who has definitely said those exact words out loud before. Trust me.

Here's what I remember about this movie from my only time ever seeing it: it's basically a lower-rent Mad Max set in Scotland, after a future virus forces the entire country into permanent lockdown. Then they send special forces into Mad Max Scotland for some reason, and by "they" I mean "Bob Hoskins." Also, the main special forces lady is the ex-Lara Croft model Rhona Mitra, and the bad guy looks like Keith Flint from The Prodigy. Also, I remember the whole thing not being that bad? Like, stupid, absolutely, but surprisingly well made? That's all I've got, but I'm sure Vinny will have plenty to say about it, given that it's his favorite movie. Maybe I'll just let him host this episode.

Where to Watch

Monday, November 17th: The One (2001)

This movie came up when we did Final Destination, because somehow this is a James Wong and Glen Morgan joint. Yes, those same guys from the X-Files. This is a movie that they made, together. That's great, and the proximity of its mention on a previous Watchcast is all the excuse I need to include it here.

Also, multiverses are huge! So what better way to capitalize on the trend than by watching a multiverse movie that has a profoundly silly idea for how a multiverse would work. Specifically, in this multiverse, if you go kill a version of yourself in one of the other universes, you get stronger, and if you do this enough times, you basically become an X-Man. So Jet Li does this to a bunch of other Jet Lis, but there's a Jet Li that tries to stop the strong Jet Li, and also I think Jason Statham and Delroy Lindo are hanging out in the background. And there's that part where a cop gets sandwiched between two motorcycles by Jet Li, who is wielding them like folding chairs.

I haven't seen this movie probably since it came out, because, to be clear, it's terrible. But I also remember it being capital-D Dumb, and that's very much what I'm looking for this month.

Where to Watch

Monday, November 24th: Action Jackson (1988)

This was my personal pick for the month. Why this movie? No reason. It's just one of my favorite profoundly stupid action flicks, and I'm always happy to spend a little time with Carl Weathers and his glistening biceps.

Seemingly intended as a way to get Weathers into the same kind of action star category as Schwarzenegger and Stallone, Action Jackson features Weathers as a tough-as-nails cop who flexes and grenade launchers his way through a gang of killers led by a platinum blonde Craig T. Nelson. Former Prince protege Vanity plays the love interest (and reminds you why her acting career never really got going), Sharon Stone makes an early career appearance, and Bill Duke plays a pissed off police captain who does everything but ask for his badge and gun. Actually, he might do that, I don't remember.

This isn't a good movie by any means, and it's got an air of sleaziness that isn't unusual for this tier of '80s action flick, but the action is just big and stupid enough to make me think at least some of you will come away smiling from this one. Not all of you, but some of you. You know who you are.

Where to Watch

---

And that's our November schedule! As a quick programming note, I'm going to be traveling for Thanksgiving at the end of November, so there will likely be a one week break after the Action Jackson episode before the Watchcast resumes again. We will, however, announce what we're going to be doing in December at the end of that episode like usual, so you'll have ample time to prepare.

As always, thanks for listening and watching along with us, we'll see you at the movies!

--A