Ep. 68 - Top Gun

This week, in the hopes of finding some light in the current darkness, Ben had the bright idea for us to watch a movie about a previous crisis, because I guess that would make us... feel better? Something about "things have been bad and we made it through before" or some nonsense like that. Anyways, this led to us watching "The Big Short," the 2015 film starring Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt that chronicles the housing market bubble of the mid-2000s and its subsequent devastating crash in 2008. I feel like we learned a lot about how some of the shadier stuff in economics works, but feeling better? Yeah, that was very much not the result. Join us anyways though!

This week we covered The Mark of Zorro, not to be confused with The Mask of Zorro, not to be confused with The Sign of Zorro, not to be confused with Zorro, The Gay Blade, not to be confused with 1975's Zorro, not to be... well, you get the idea. This version, out of 1940, and arguably the original (at least the original with spoken dialogue), is a fantastic and straightforward swashbuckling good time starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, and Basil Rathbone. And could a film from 1940 have themes that feel startlingly relevant in today's modern world? I guess you'll just have to listen to find out...

As shameless nerds and tabletop gaming enthusiasts ourselves, this weeks movie - "Game Night" (2018) - felt like an almost must-watch as we continue to look for ways to distract ourselves from the outside world with a bit of goofiness. Starring Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Jesse Plemons, and Kyle Chandler, this under-the-radar comedy is a thrilling good time from start to finish, and will keep you on your toes with twists right to the very end. Special Thanks to our new Assistant Editor, Oliver Wessels, for his contributions on this one.

What can really be said about the 2002 co-winner of the "Stinkers Bad Movie Awards" prize for Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy other than it - 2002's "Kung Pow: Enter The Fist" - is exactly the movie that you think it is and is yet somehow still a seemingly essential part of a certain generation's zeitgeist. We won't lie to you about what you're getting into with this one, but hopefully our companionship will be enough to make the journey a little bit less "painfully unfunny." :') Join us!

This week we covered an all-time classic, and one of Meryl Streep's most iconic performances, "The Devil Wears Prada." Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, and others all give excellent performances as well, but as we all know, Meryl is the showstopper. In the social media era, it's almost impossible to have completely avoided references to this movie, so if you haven't seen it, come join us to find out what all is going on around that cerulean monologue or Chanel boots meme you've seen so many times.

Hark! A new episode drops! We apologize, friends, we've been navigating some work/life balance adjustments lately and it's been a little tougher than expected to keep up with the editing for the show. In any case, this week we covered 1994's "Stargate." A film that launched several long-running television spinoffs and that honestly surprised both of us with how casually fun it was in the face of horrible, low-budget scifi expectations. Join us!

Come for the Val Kilmer tribute, stay for us railing against this suprisingly bad film that I think we may have all remembered being way better than it is. I guess that's what a 35-years-later sequel can do for image rehab. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Join us!

Dogma. A wonderful movie about angels, demons, humans, and lots of other bible-y things in between that stars Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Salma Hayek, George Carlin, and Jay & Silent Bob (among others). We're still working on actually making our episodes shorter than the films themselves, but in lieu of that, testing out a somewhat briefer episode description. Maybe it's just the burn out. Maybe I'll update this later. Who's to say? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As we all know, the true meaning of Christmas is that it's important to keep the spirit of spooky season alive in your heart all the long year round. To that end, this week we're covering one of the most intriguing horror/thrillers from 2024: "Heretic." Starring Hugh Grant, Chloe East, and Sophie Thatcher, this delightful continuation of Hugh Grant's descent into more nefarious characters had been on both of our lists since it came out last year and provided many devilish twists and questions to keep us on the edge of our seats from start to finish. We may not make it all the way to episode 666 (we'll see), but it seemed appropriate to do something a little darker for episode 66 all the same. ^_~ A fun one indeed, dear listeners, join us!

They can't all be winners, right folks? Just as not every movie should take itself so seriously, so must every movie podcast also leave space for self amusement and having some fun with it. To that end, this week we covered Joel Schumacher's immortal-for-all-the-wrong-reasons superhero entry: BatNips! Erm, I mean... Batman and Robin. Starring George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, Chris O'Donnell, and Alicia Silverstone, this oft-bizarre, occasionally poignant, and consistently amusing one-liner-hunting romp through the iciest, neon-est Gotham you've ever seen certainly kept us entertained from start to finish. And, despite our criticisms, still felt like a film that demanded to be crossed off of our host's Need To See list. Join us!