Episodes
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And now for the REAL story of Watergate.
This movie offers a bit of a lighter take on the scandal, as well as a guess at the identity of Woodward and Bernstein's infamous source, Deep Throat. Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams pay a pair of teenagers who couldn't be less interested in politics or world events - until they stumble into the middle of the biggest story of the century, befriend Richard "Dick" Nixon, and learn that you can't let Dick run your life.
You can rent or buy the movie from all the usual places: Amazon, iTunes, and Vudu.
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Tomorrow will be the 46th anniversary of one of the most important political events of the 20th century: The break-in and attempted bugging of the Democratic national headquarters in Washington, D.C., at the Watergate office complex.
That break-in and its historic aftermath have been rendered many times on film, most recently as a cameo in 2017's "The Post." But today, we're watching the best-known cinematic rendition of Watergate, "All the President's Men," a 1976 adaptation of journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's 1974 book of the same name. Written by William Goldman, it stars Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman was Bernstein, with outstanding supporting performances from Hal Holbrook, Jane Alexander and — Eric's personal favorite — Jason Robards as the executive editor of the Washington Post, Ben Bradlee.
If you, like Emily, have never seen "All the President's Men," you can rent it on Amazon, Vudu or iTunes, or you can stream it on Filmstruck if you have a subscription there. Go watch the movie and then listen to our discussion!
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Missing episodes?
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Hey, Upper East Siders (and, you know, all listeners). I've got the biggest episode EVER.
Ok, maybe not. But it is the second episode stemming from the Golden Globes bet we both lost. Today, it's time to torture Eric. And what better way than with the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite?
For the uninitiated, Gossip Girl is an anonymous blogger who chronicles (and tortures) a bunch of extremely wealthy high school students. With tipsters all over the city - especially in the fancy private schools the kids all attend - no person or secret is safe from her gaze for long.
The real question, of course, is whether Eric could possibly hate this delicious show as much as I hated watching GTA V videos. It's doubtful.
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Way back in January, Emily and I made a bet: Whoever could predict the winners of the Golden Globes more accurately would subject the other to a Geek vs. n00b pick that they would definitely hate. And I'm just gonna say it up front: If watching a bunch of dudes play Grand Theft Auto V for two hours is not your idea of a good time, then this episode may not be for you.
Emily, however, had no choice.
We both lost the bet (because we tied), so this weekend we're both torturing each other, no ifs ands or buts. My pick for her: Three YouTube videos made by a group called Achievement Hunter, in which they pull off a series of robbery heists inside of GTA V. As longtime listeners know, Emily doesn't play video games so this should be especially bad for her ... unless maybe it backfires and she loves it???
... OK, there's no point in being coy. She hated it.
For easy reference, here are the three videos we watched, in order. If, unlike Emily, you enjoy these, you can find more on YouTube:
#1 - Heist
#2 - Gavin’s Heist
#3 - Jack’s Heist
We'll have another new episode of Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b tomorrow, in which Emily makes me watch something that she had promised I would never have to watch, the TV show "Gossip Girl." In the meantime, tell someone you know about the podcast, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
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Surprise again! Although if you listened to yesterday's bonus episode, then this will not be surprising:
On this show, we talked about the new movie adaptation of "A Wrinkle in Time," directed by Ava DuVernay and starring Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling and Reese Witherspoon. Technically this is not an episode with a "geek" and a "n00b" like usual, but we still had plenty to say about it.
At the time of this episode's publication, you can probably still find "A Wrinkle in Time" at your local movie theater! So go watch it first, and then join us for this fun deep dive into how it compares to the book and whether it worked for us.
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Surprise! We're back with a bonus episode.
In honor of the movie coming out (more on that later), we're rereading A Wrinkle in Time. The book follows Meg Murry, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin on a trip through time and space to save the Murrys' missing father.
Be sure to read it, as we're about to spoil everything that happens!
Tomorrow, we'll be back with a follow-up episode on the new movie. Keep an eye on your favorite podcast place.
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We're closing out the season with a pick that's somewhat surprising for a show with this premise: The Sound of Music. Yes, there is (or was until recently) someone who'd never seen this movie before.
As you likely know, The Sound of Music is the Oscar-winning film adaptation of the Tony-winning Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, starring Julie Andrews as a wayward nun-in-training and Christopher Plummer as the father whose kids she's sent to care for as governess. Set in Salzburg, Austria before and during the Nazi occupation, it's both a personal love story and a dangerous resistance adventure, both told through classic music.
Be sure to watch before listening because, as always, we spoil the whole plot. You can do that in the usual places - Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play - or check your TV listings as this one pops up not infrequently on the small screen.
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- OK, so It's a movie about vampires.
- Oh I love it! And they're terrorizing Los Angeles?
- No, they just hang out in Wellington, New Zealand.
- You've lost me.
- They argue about household chores and have to deal with how to get dressed for a night on the town when you can't see yourself in the mirror.
- ...
- They also befriend a boring, pudgy man who works at a tech company.
- ...
- ... Thanks for your time.
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"What We Do in the Shadows" isn't for everyone. But if you're the sort of person intrigued by the concept of a supremely goofy mockumentary starring vampires, werewolves and other violent demons of the night, then it is probably for you! And wouldn't you know it, it's the subject of today's podcast!
One of Eric's favorite theater-going experiences of all time, it's also the movie that put "Thor: Ragnarok" director Taika Waititi on the map. It stars Waititi, Jemaine Clement and Jonny Brugh as the three main vampires, but really the whole cast is amazing. Go watch the movie right now and then listen to our discussion!
You can find "What We Do in the Shadows" on Amazon (it's currently free to stream if you have a Prime account), as well as all the other usual places: iTunes, Vudu, Google Play, etc.
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Life in a sleepy small town is turned upside down when a teen girl - pretty, blonde, a good student, the prom queen - is found, brutally murdered. Before long, the secrets start tumbling out, and we learn she's not as innocent nor is the the town as quiet as it seemed.
It's the premise of, rough estimate here, seven million movies, books and TV series? Just a ballpark figure. And any of them made since the early 90s (and plenty of other TV shows besides) owe a TON to a defining classic of the oeuvre: Twin Peaks.
But we've never seen David Lynch's cult classic show, so we've enlisted help from Christopher McCammon, our Twin Peaks dream/spirit guide.
Before listening, be sure to watch season one, episodes one and three and season two, episode seven. You can find them on Netflix, Hulu, or CBS All Access, or rent from the usual places: Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play.
And since Christopher is a college professor, he's got some supplemental homework for us all. The assignments, should you choose to accept them: a video on the iconic music and an essay on the dead-girl trope.
Oh and if you really dig that essay? There's going to be a whole book soon.
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"The Court Jester" has everything: Medieval palace drama! Implausible hypnotism! Acrobatic dwarves!
... Oh, I'm being told that "The Court Jester" is not New York's hottest nightclub, but rather a 1955 musical comedy starring Danny Kaye. It's also the subject of this week's Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b, featuring guest geek Yoichi Shiga.
Loyal listeners may remember Yoichi from our Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone episode, where he was one of our Potter n00bs ... but what did we think of this movie, which he said was hugely influential on him as a child? Listen and find out!
You can rent or buy "The Court Jester" from all the usual places — Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and Google Play.
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This week, we're traveling back to the 90s, when the internet was relatively new and very slow and weird, for a dated thriller that feels oddly relevant today: The Net.
In it, Sandra Bullock plays an isolated computer programmer and Jeremy Northam a leader of the evil hacking syndicate that's out to get her, via some particularly vicious and invasive identity theft. And since neither of us has seen it, we've brought in Emily Cureton to be our guide.
Be sure to watch before listening, since as always, spoilers abound. You can watch free with ads on Crackle, or rent or buy from the usual suspects: Vudu, iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play.
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With the exception of that one episode about the Tour de France, we haven't done a lot of sports here on Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b. But a TV show about a SportsCenter-like show, written by "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin? Sign us up!
But wait, there's more: Joining us for our introduction to "Sports Night" is Sorkin superfan Walt Mossberg — although he may be better known as the former Personal Technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal who co-founded AllThingsD and Recode, where Eric now works.
For the purposes of this discussion, we watched five episodes of "Sports Night," chosen from across its two-year run on ABC. They are: S1E7, “Dear Louise”; S1E15, “Dana and the Deep Blue Sea”; S1E19, “Eli’s Coming”; S2E3, “Cliff Gardener”; and S2E11 “And the Cutman Cometh."
When we recorded this podcast, those were all available on Hulu, but unfortunately they seem to have been taken off! To watch those five episodes, you can rent them for $1-2 apiece from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and Google Play.
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And now, it's time for round two of Star Trek: a foray into The Next Generation.
Set long after the original show, this popular series returns to the Trek universe for another set of adventures aboard a later iteration of the Enterprise. Its crew of beloved characters include Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard, LeVar Burton's Geordi Laforge, and Brent Spiner's android Data. But since we've never actually watched it, dedicated TNG fangirl Sarah Weitman (who you might recall from our 30 Rock episode) is here as our navigator.
She's asked us to watch three episodes in a specific order: Data's Day from season four, The Chase from season six, and finally I, Borg from season five. Be sure to watch before listening, as the podcast has lots of spoilers.
Just like with the original series, you can find all of this on Netflix and CBS All Access, or you can rent episodes from the usual services - Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu.
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"Hurtling metal, meat and rubber through the concrete jungle at dangerous velocities." That's how, in 1998, Ken Li described New York's underground street racing scene.
His article for Vibe Magazine, "Racer X," inspired the incredibly successful "Fast and Furious" movie franchise. And today, we bring it all full circle. Li, now the executive editor at Newsweek, joined us on the latest episode of Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b to talk about the first "Fast and the Furious" movie, which neither Emily nor I had seen!
If you've also not seen the Fast and the Furious, don't worry: It's very easy to find! It's available to rent or buy in all the usual places — Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Vudu — and at least at the time of this writing it's also available to stream on HBO Go if you have an HBO subscription.
However you choose to see it, go watch (or rewatch) the "Fast and the Furious" and then listen in on our very fun chat with the journalist whose article started it all!
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As we explained last week, this season we're shaking this up by bringing in guests to help fill in some gaps in our shared pop cultural knowledge.
This week's is a big gap: Star Trek.
Created by Gene Rodenberry and premiering in 1966, the seminal sci-fi series is famous for both its extensive cultural impact and its extremely dedicated fan base. We're lucky to have two of those fans with us to guide our voyage, Zach Powers and Josh Powers.
For this introduction, we're watching season one's Space Seed and season two's Amok Time and The Trouble with Tribbles.
You can watch these with a subscription to CBS All Access, Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu, or rent the episodes from the usual spots - iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play. Be sure to watch before listening to our discussion!
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You've been waiting patiently for it for months, and now it's finally here: Season 6 of Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b.
This season, we're shaking things up by bringing in friends and colleagues to school us on the pop culture that Emily and I have both missed. And first out of the gate are the Kill Bill movies, brought to the podcast by my former schoolmate David Ruiz.
Directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Uma Thurman as "The Bride," Kill Bill is the story of a "roaring rampage of revenge." But did it make us roar with enjoyment? Listen to the new show to find out!
Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 are both available to rent in all the usual places: Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Vudu, for $2 to $4 each depending on your platform. And make sure to watch both movies before you listen past the spoiler warning in this episode. Enjoy!
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And now for the second part of our after-Christmas discussion of movies that are not exactly about Christmas. Much of this one, fittingly, takes place in the time between Christmas and New Year's Eve.
The movie is The Thin Man (1934), based on the Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name and starring William Powell and Myrna Loy in one of their many on-screen collaborations. It launched a whole series of Thin Man films, all focused on Powell and Loy as the delightful Nick and Nora Charles. Give it a watch or re-watch before you listen!
You can rent or buy the movie in the usual places: Amazon, YouTube, iTunes, Vudu, and Google Play. As it happens, Turner Classic Movies is running a New Year's Eve marathon as well.
Speaking of, if you dig this movie, it's worth checking out its first sequel, After the Thin Man (1936). It picks up right where this one leaves off, on New Year's Eve.
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After a slightly longer-than-expected break (several months instead of several weeks), we're back!
Last year — when we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas and Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town — we pitted two Christmas movies against each other. This year, we're doing the same thing.
Well, sort of.
This weekend, we're watching two not-quite-Christmas movies, the first of which is "Gremlins" (1984), which was directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus and stars Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates and Howie Mandel. Whether you're a total n00b who's never seen it, or the sort of geek who watches "Gremlins" every Christmas without fail, go watch it now and then listen to our discussion!
Gremlins is available to stream on Netflix, or you can rent it from all the usual places: iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and Vudu.
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It's no secret that we both love 30 Rock. A lot. Tina Fey's seven-season comedy for NBC is, in our opinion, one of the best ever, and we've both watched it countless times.
But that's no fun for this podcast! So we've brought in a guest n00b to the world of TGS, night cheese, and Dr. Spaceman: Georgia's own Sarah Weitman, who's only seen a handful of random episodes.
For our purposes, we're starting from the beginning and watching season one, episodes 1-3 and 5-7. Will Sarah like them? Will we manage to contain our unbridled enthusiasm for this show? Listen to find out!
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We're nearly at the end of the fifth season of Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b, but there's still a lot we haven't done (just you wait). This week, we talked about the super-zeitgeisty new TV show "This Is Us," and — unlike most weeks, when the n00b enters with very little knowledge — that zeitgeistiness put Emily and myself at odds from minute one.
In case you've missed the polarizing cultural discussion, "This Is Us" is a dramedy about the intersecting lives and families of four people with the same birthday. And that's all I'll say about it because, in my opinion, you should not read anything being written about the show. Just go watch it and decide for yourself!
For this episode, we watched the first three episodes of "This Is Us," which are called "Pilot," "The Big Three," and "Kyle." You can stream them from Hulu or buy them for $2 each from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and Google Play. Or, at least at the time of this writing, you can also stream those episodes for free with advertisements from the NBC website.
If you like this, give Emily and me a follow on Twitter. Or, if Facebook is more your thing, like our FB page here! And if you haven’t already, make sure to subscribe to Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b on iTunes or Google Play Music.
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