Episodes
Friday Mar 10, 2023
The Last of Us (Video Game)
Friday Mar 10, 2023
Friday Mar 10, 2023
With the first season of HBO's The Last of Us coming to a close, I decided to turn my attention to the source material - the universally acclaimed 2013 PlayStation 3 video game. While this may get me torn apart quicker than a Clicker - I make the counterintuitive case that it's not actually a great game. The Last of Us lover James Battaglia returns to the show to counterbalance my infected rage as we discuss walking simulators, narrative innovation vs engaging gameplay, the importance of teaching kids how to swim, zombie Spidey-Sense, intentional vs unintentional difficulty, and other 2013 Game of the Year contenders. (We also talk about the game's fascinating ending, so maybe wait a few days to listen if you're geared up to watch the HBO show's S1 finale.)
Monday Mar 06, 2023
George of the Jungle (with Kevin Parker)
Monday Mar 06, 2023
Monday Mar 06, 2023
Watch out for that pod! Since it's Oscar week and Brendan Fraser looks poised to potentially take home Best Actor for The Whale, Kevin Parker has decided to swing on in to defend a different Fraser vehicle: 1997's family-friendly comedy George of the Jungle. We get into the sincere idiot charm of '90s Fraser, the expert-level meta jokes the narrator provides, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, modern comedy insistence to be snarky and cool, Top Gun Maverick's script, and more jungle escapades.
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Hackers (with Kate Meizner and Mike Falcone of Jobber)
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
*IF YOU'RE READING THIS YOU MAY ALREADY BE HACKED*
From the top rope, Kate Meizner and Mike Falcone of wrestling rock band Jobber look to infiltrate our firewalls in order to defend the 1995 teen cyber crime thriller, Hackers. We dive deep into the source code to talk about the style-forward cyberpunk chic, Angelina Jolie's manic hacker dream girl charisma (total nepo baby tho), ways to make typing look cool, electronica, how to visualize the early internet, The Matrix templating, and, of course, Penn Jillette's glasses.
Thursday Feb 09, 2023
The Counselor (with Will Baker)
Thursday Feb 09, 2023
Thursday Feb 09, 2023
Take a trip to the seedy world of the drug trade on the US/Mexican border... and then talk... and talk... and talk... That's what The Counselor, the 2013 star-studded Ridley Scott narco drama written by acclaimed novelist Cormac McCarthy does... and people hated it for that. Will Baker is not one of those people. Mirroring the film itself, we talk for a looooooooong time about the film's use of dialogue, its nihilistic outlook, its refusal to explain plot, McCarthy's prose, Scott's costuming choices, and being intimate with automobiles. Here's an entirely real list of tangent topics we dive down over the course of 2+ hours: Moby Dick, Emo Nites, My Dinner with Andre, Grand Theft Auto, crypto shills, Top Gun, Inception, Titane, and, of course, Carly Rae Jepsen vs. Taylor Swift. You know... The Counselor.
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
A Claymation Christmas Celebration (with Nic Sommerfeld)
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
It's the most wonderful time of the year! Why? Because you can now appropriately watch Will Vinton's A Claymation Christmas Celebration! Nic Sommerfeld comes a-wassailing onto the show the make the case that this forgotten '80s Christmas special is actually the GOAT Christmas special with its intelligent all-ages humor, dinosaur hosts, stunning visuals, and (most importantly?) penguins.
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Speed Racer (with Peter Richards of Dude York)
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
♫ Here he comes, here comes P. Richards, he's a demon on wheels! He's a demon and he's gonna be chasing after someone! ♫ The someone(s) Peter is chasing after are the people who panned the Wachowskis' 2008 sensory overload big screen adaptation of the classic anime series Speed Racer. We hop in the Mach 5 and discuss how this is maybe the most live-action cartoon ever created, car punches, superb monkey acting, and how this movie lays some of the groundwork for both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Fast and Furious franchise. Go speed listeners, go!
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
Good Charlotte (with Jess Abbott of Tancred)
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
Jess Abbott (Tancred) straps on her studded wristbands and throws down in a Warped Tour mosh pit to defend the honor of the maligned early 2000s pop punk hitmakers Good Charlotte. We deep dive into the band's hook-heavy scrappy appeal, the famous relationships of the Madden twins, and hit on topics ranging from a music video featuring members of NSYNC and Minutemen to a lot of Limp Bizkit chatter.
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Cars 2 (with Kevin Parker)
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
If you're gonna spy, you better spy hard. Before the release of Lightyear, Kevin Parker fires up his engine to defend the movie that is *by far* the worst-reviewed and received Pixar movie, 2011's Cars 2. While not defending it as a masterpiece, Kevin believes the Mater-driven car spy movie is easily the best entry in the much-maligned franchise. We go deep into the more creative world-building, the improved protagonist, the Cronenbergian body horror of these movies, their weirdly conservative undertones, and make fun of Lightning McQueen for just being a terrible character.
Tuesday Feb 22, 2022
Dune [1984] (with Erik Blood)
Tuesday Feb 22, 2022
Tuesday Feb 22, 2022
Take a hit of spice and travel to Arrakis, as ace musician/producer Erik Blood comes rushing over the horizon on the back of a sandworm to defend David Lynch's critically-panned box office flop, Dune. While the 2021 version may have garnered 10 Oscar nominations, Lynch's version took the biggest budget in film history at the time and delivered a story that was nearly impossible to follow with shoddy sci-fi special effects. But Blood is here to defend its honor as we discuss the film's production design, wild eyebrows, committed performances, Brian Eno, cat milking, and more (while also talking about Star Wars probably way too much).
Tuesday Jan 25, 2022
Alex Rodriguez (with Spike Friedman)
Tuesday Jan 25, 2022
Tuesday Jan 25, 2022
With a new Baseball Hall of Fame class arriving, it's time to discuss a player who won't make it on his first year of eligibility - A-Rod. The decorated MVP and All-Star shortstop and third basemen for the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees became one of the most reviled athletes in sports despite putting up astounding numbers. Spike Friedman returns to the pod to argue that Alex Rodriguez is underappreciated, anyone who hates him is an idiot, and that A-Rod is stealthily a working-class hero.