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Episode 306. We watched the 2018 limited series Escape at Dannemora, from director Ben Stiller. In this drama based on true events, two inmates start affairs with a civilian prison employee, and manipulate her to get them the tools they need to break out. We discuss how everything falls apart after the escape, the diegetic soundtrack of 2015 radio pop hits, tiny doll pants, and how a reference to Happy Gilmore has actual thematic resonance to the story.
Click here to watch a video of this episode.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(02:08) - Non-spoiler thoughts on Escape at Dannemora(16:42) - Housekeeping(22:41) - Spoilers for Escape at Dannemora(01:18:15) - Review Show Bingo(01:21:28) - Recommendations(01:30:59) - What we are discussing next episode(01:32:23) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 305. They should've sent a poet... instead they got podcasters. We connect with Contact, the 1997 sci-fi drama from director Robert Zemekis, based on a novel from Carl Sagan. Dr. Ellie Arroway has spent her life listening to the stars, and the stars finally have a message for her. Humanity scrambles to decode an alien transmission and determine what to do with this new knowledge, and what it means for their very concept of facts vs. faith. We discuss the story's approachable and universal take on "lowercase f" faith, the eccentric billionaire who lives in a plane, that legendary mirror shot, and the rare sci-fi story that's comforting more than it is cautionary.
Click here to watch a video of this episode.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(03:18) - Non-spoiler thoughts on Contact(20:45) - Housekeeping(26:18) - Spoilers for Contact(01:12:32) - Review Show Bingo(01:17:37) - Recommendations(01:31:13) - What we are discussing next episode(01:35:44) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
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Episode 304. We watched Ti West's horror trilogy of X, Pearl, and Maxxxine. These movies take us from a 1970s adult film shoot turned deadly to a farmgirl's suffocating small town life in 1918 to the neon sleeze of 1980s LA. We discuss the sense of history in each of the films, repeated patterns of aging and feeling trapped and becoming the person you swore you wouldn't become, dual roles and special effects makeup, if character actor Toby Huss has become too well known to just be used for a couple minutes, and screaming at a scarecrow.
Click here to watch a video of this episode.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(04:46) - Non-spoiler thoughts on The X trilogy(19:32) - Housekeeping(24:25) - Spoilers for The X trilogy(01:18:53) - Review Show Bingo(01:20:34) - Recommendations(01:29:49) - What we are discussing next episode(01:32:00) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 303. We kick off October with a look into DC Comics' dark magic side, reading Paul Dini's run on Zatanna. Our heroine is both a working stage magician and one of the most powerful magical beings in the universe, as she juggles solving supernatural crimes with maintaining her performance schedule. We discuss how Zatanna is more iconic than any actual real world female magicians, the story's sense of place in San Francisco, killer puppets, Brother Night, and the "please, just let me sleep" genre of heroes.
Watch the video version of this episode.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(03:13) - Non-spoiler thoughts on Zatanna(18:52) - Housekeeping(24:00) - Spoilers for Zatanna(01:15:56) - Review Show Bingo(01:19:49) - Recommendations(01:32:13) - What we are discussing next episode(01:34:59) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 302. How has Kyle never seen Zodiac? That's the real mystery. Shametember corrects this error as we discuss David Fincher's 2007 true crime thriller. This movie follows the investigation into the Zodiac killer across decades through the perspective of detectives, journalists, and the few survivors of his attacks, all based on real accounts. We discuss the unnerving atmosphere and bizarre side-stories that are just as haunting as the main mystery, the atypical plot structure and pacing, Jake Gyllenhaal looking like a human Muppet, and how we see Fincher continue these themes in his show Mindhunter.
Click here to watch a video of this episode.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(05:14) - Non-spoiler thoughts on Zodiac(26:14) - Housekeeping(31:18) - Spoilers for Zodiac(01:30:16) - Review Show Bingo(01:35:48) - Recommendations(01:46:20) - What we are discussing next episode(01:49:03) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 301. Shametember kicks off this year with a movie that Melissa has somehow never seen -- 2003's Looney Tunes: Back in Action, from Joe Dante, the director of the Gremlins films. In this live-action and animation hybrid, Bugs and Daffy join a globe-trotting adventure with an aspiring stuntman who needs to save his action star father from the villainous chairman of Acme. We discuss the frantic plot and non-stop visual gags, celebrity cameos, product placement, Steve Martin's confounding performance, and our desire for a new version of Looney Tunes that's a surreal psychological drama starring Jesse Plemons as Porky Pig.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(05:22) - Non-spoiler thoughts on Looney Tunes: Back In Action(16:24) - Housekeeping(21:08) - Spoilers for Looney Tunes: Back In Action(01:15:38) - Review Show Bingo(01:21:07) - Recommendations(01:37:23) - What we are discussing next episode(01:39:36) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 300! To celebrate our 300th episode, we're breaking our usual episode format to imagine a theme park based on the movies, shows, comics, and audio fiction we've covered in the past 299 episodes. Ideas include: High School Land, a Speed Racer roller coaster, a Mission:Impossible stunt spectacular, a carnival booth that will tell you if you're going to hell or not, a secret chicken restaurant that you can only find if you bribe a newsie, a town of endless parades, and a walkaround Michael Clayton breaking up fights between other characters
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Let the party begin!(47:58) - Housekeeping(52:10) - Back to building our park(01:37:57) - What we are discussing next episode(01:40:47) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 299. We are not numbers! We are free podcasters!! Our topic this episode is the 1967 British sci-fi mystery show The Prisoner. After suddenly resigning from his intelligence bureau, a spy known only as Number 6 is kidnapped and imprisoned in the eerily idyllic Village, where he's challenged with bizarre mind games until he gives up whatever terrible secret made him resign. We discuss the rotating cast of actors playing the Village's leader Number 2, the killer bubble, the mod coastal fashion aesthetic, a truly strange series finale for the ages, the show's place in TV history and its continuing influence, and who we would want to see in the oft-rumored Christopher Nolan adaptation.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(05:22) - Non-spoiler thoughts on The Prisoner(17:51) - Housekeeping(23:38) - Spoilers!! The Prisoner(01:42:06) - Review Show Bingo(01:48:10) - Recommendations(01:55:16) - What we are discussing next episode(01:59:57) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 298. French cinema month concludes with the 1964 musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. It's the 1950s in a quaint French town, and young Genvieve is despondent over her boyfriend being sent off to war, and coming to terms with marrying a more sensible man whom she should love but doesn't. We talk about how the movie is sung through in its entirety and defies common musical structure, the vibrant color palette, why Genvieve's mom doesn't just marry the suitor herself if she adores him so much, and how we wish the movie was more about the industry specifics of umbrella design.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(03:03) - Non-spoiler thoughts on The Umbrellas of Cherbourg(14:44) - Housekeeping(19:43) - Spoilers!! The Umbrellas of Cherbourg(01:12:59) - Review Show Bingo(01:14:45) - Recommendations(01:25:15) - What we are discussing next episode(01:32:15) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 297. In honor of the Paris Olympics, we're covering French cinema this July, starting with Titane. This is a 2021 horror movie about a woman who has sex with a car and becomes pregnant with a car baby. We discuss how strange the movie is beyond just this initial premise, the murder spree, the dance sequences, and a firefighting brigade made entirely of orphan boys.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(03:27) - Non-spoiler thoughts on Titane(09:44) - Housekeeping(13:35) - Spoilers!! Titane(01:09:18) - Review Show Bingo(01:13:09) - Recommendations(01:22:12) - What we are discussing next episode(01:24:20) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 296. We continue our tradition of watching a Nic Cage movie every 4th of July weekend, and it's Christmas in July with the 2000 magic realism holiday rom-com The Family Man. Jack Campbell is a successful businessman living a solo jetsetter lifestyle when he's transported to an alternate world where he stayed with his college sweetheart and settled down in the suburbs. We discuss how the story fails to stand out in the catalogue of Christmas movies, the lack of compromise in the family vs. career struggle, the inexplicable and underutilized cowboy father-in-law, actual angel Don Cheadle, and whether or not this was the movie that Kyle vaguely remembers watching someone else watch on an airplane once when he was a kid.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(00:55) - Non-spoiler thoughts on The Family Man(17:30) - Housekeeping(18:25) - Spoilers!! The Family Man(49:23) - Review Show Bingo(50:24) - Recommendations(56:40) - What we are discussing next episode(59:48) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 295. We donned our aprons to talk about the first two seasons of the culinary dark comedy The Bear, in preparation for season three later this month. When a world class chef has to return home to Chicago and take over his late brother's failing sandwich shop, the whole staff struggles to adapt to their personal loss and new professional goals as they work to revamp the restaurant under a punishing deadline. We discuss the show's mix of dread and coziness, the well-rounded peripheral characters, the frenetic editing, a car full of discarded Arby's cups, and how the "Seven Fishes" episode will be studied for decades to come.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(02:03) - Non-spoiler thoughts on The Bear s1-2(15:10) - Housekeeping(19:53) - Spoilers!! The Bear s1-2(01:40:04) - Review Show Bingo(01:43:46) - Recommendations(02:05:41) - What we are discussing next episode(02:11:36) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 294. We chow down on the first two volumes of Chew, the 2009 comic from John Layman and Rob Guillory. Whenever Tony Chu eats something, he gets a psychic impression of its history. He can see where produce was grown or how meat was slaughtered, or if he bites a dead body, he can see that person's last moments. He uses this power as an agent for the FDA, solving bizarre food-related crimes in a world where where chicken has been outlawed and is now treated as an illicit substance. We discuss the nonstop antics, scribbled-in background jokes, the narrative's slow release of info on the deadly bird flu that led to the chicken ban, and character designs modeled after actors from Lost.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(01:20) - Non-spoiler thoughts on Chew vol. 1-2(10:37) - Housekeeping(14:50) - Spoilers!! Chew vol. 1-2(01:01:43) - Review Show Bingo(01:05:13) - Recommendations(01:14:58) - What we are discussing next episode(01:16:05) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 293. We run from a bi-plane right into a discussion on Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 thriller North by Northwest! Roger Thornhill is caught up in a web of espionage and danger after he's mistaken for a secret agent, and this humdrum advertising exec has to play the action hero to get out of this conspiracy alive. We share our experiences going to the Fathom Events theatrical screening for this movie's 65th anniversary, its influence on spy stories, the surprising amount of humor, unconvincing makeout scenes, and Kyle's galaxy brain theory about how the main characters are dead at the end of the movie.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(02:49) - Non-spoiler thoughts on North By Northwest(15:51) - Housekeeping(20:32) - Spoilers!! North By Northwest(01:14:34) - Review Show Bingo(01:18:41) - Recommendations(01:27:09) - What we are discussing next episode(01:30:49) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 292. In preparation for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, we caught up on the trilogy of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). These films act as a prequel to the original 1968 movie, showing how apes gained human intelligence and eventually drove humans out of their civilization. We discuss the sub-genres in each movie, from prison break to political thriller, the impressive mo-cap performances and thoughtful world-building, if a gorilla could really ride a horse, and the "Old Spice" aesthetic of epicness from the late 2000s.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(03:40) - Non-spoiler thoughts on The Planet of the Apes Trilogy(16:22) - Housekeeping(20:23) - Spoilers!! The Planet of the Apes Trilogy(01:13:15) - Review Show Bingo(01:19:31) - Recommendations(01:27:36) - What we are discussing next episode(01:29:05) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 291. We conclude Apple April by watching season one of the Apple TV+ espionage drama, Slow Horses. MI5 agents who have notorious failures but who aren't incompetent enough to be fired are demoted to Slough House, an outpost where they do menial tasks under the command of the misanthropic Jackson Lamb. This team of misfits has a chance to prove themselves when they stumble upon a kidnapping conspiracy that may have been orchestrated by one of their own M15 bosses. We discuss how the show builds on its ensemble cast and knows exactly when to give you more time with a supporting character, the balance of dumb mistakes with genuine clever spycraft, and a scene where Gary Oldman farts that will make all dads stand up and clap.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(04:05) - Non-spoiler thoughts on Slow Horses s1(13:52) - Housekeeping(20:04) - Spoilers!! Slow Horses s1(01:00:49) - Review Show Bingo(01:07:32) - Recommendations(01:15:29) - What we are discussing next episode(01:19:35) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 290. It's Apple April, where we're exploring content from Apple TV+. This week is the first season of Hello Tomorrow!, a 2023 workplace dramedy set in a retro-futuristic world. Jack Billings left his family behind to become a traveling salesman for Brightside, a timeshare development on the moon. When his son unknowingly attends one of his sales seminars, he decides to take the boy under his wing as a new employee, waiting until the right moment to reveal that he's his long-absent father. This isn't Jack's only secret, and the moon might not be the ideal destination he promises. We discuss the show's themes of hard truths vs. gentle lies, what it means to believe in a dream and fake it until you make it, the impressive production design, and robot hands.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(04:03) - Non-spoiler thoughts on Hello Tomorrow!(15:40) - Housekeeping(19:05) - Spoilers!! Hello Tomorrow!(01:20:54) - Review Show Bingo(01:24:15) - Recommendations(01:37:11) - What we are discussing next episode(01:42:26) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 289. We're discussing Jordan Peele's 2019 horror film Us, about a family whose beach house is invaded by horrifying dopplegangers of themselves, after the mother survived an encounter with one of them when she was younger. We discuss the puzzling origin of these doubles and the unnerving abruptness of the movie's ending, dream logic, liminal spaces, and buff nerds.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(01:35) - Non-spoiler thoughts on Us(13:41) - Housekeeping(17:21) - Spoilers!! Us(01:05:04) - Review Show Bingo(01:13:16) - Recommendations(01:21:27) - What we are discussing next episode(01:24:37) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 288. Friend of the show and master of electricity Ignacio Rojas joins us to talk about Weathering With You, a 2019 anime movie from director Makoto Shinkai. 15-year-old Hodaka runs away from home to start a new life in Tokyo, where he meets Hina, another teenager working to support herself and her kid brother. Hina is secretly a "sunshine girl" who can summon the sun and banish clouds, which the two use to earn money during an intensely rainy season, but the power could cost Hina her life. We discuss how this compares to Shinkai's earlier film Your Name, the accurate Tokyo settings down to a real McDonald's, themes of finding your own happiness on an alternate path in life, and your "senpai" being a 10-year-old with two girlfriends.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(07:41) - Non-spoiler thoughts on Weathering With You(16:26) - Housekeeping(21:34) - Spoilers!! Weathering With You(01:08:09) - Review Show Bingo(01:12:30) - Recommendations(01:19:07) - What we are discussing next episode(01:22:00) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ -
Episode 287. We read the 12-issue DC limited series The Human Target, from writer Tom King and artist Greg Smallwood. Christopher Chance is the Human Target, a secret operative you can hire to masquerade as you and take the hits from your enemies. He drinks a poison meant for Lex Luthor and has only 12 days left to live. He's determined to use this time to solve who is behind this assassination attempt, and all signs point to a member of the Justice League International. We discuss how much DC knowledge you need before reading this story, the juxtaposition of classic noir tropes with a bright mid-century art style, and comparisons to the prolific poisoning-based story The Emperor's New Groove.
(00:00) - Intro(00:04) - Welcome and banter(03:01) - Non-spoiler thoughts on The Human Target(15:52) - Housekeeping(20:26) - Spoilers!! The Human Target(01:12:27) - Review Show Bingo(01:15:14) - Recommendations(01:24:35) - What we are covering next episode(01:26:48) - Outro ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ - Näytä enemmän
