Verity

How do you make a sequel to a perfect movie? Godzilla Minus Zero argues that the answer is ambition. This is an incredibly challenging and brutal movie that forcibly and constantly reminded us of Frank Herbert's equally thorny sequel: Dune Messiah. In this episode, we explore that comparison as a way of celebrating this remarkably daring film. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Difficult Sequels 05:12 Creative Risks 07:20 Ghidorah = Horror + Fantasy 13:53 Sequel or Companion? 16:04 Dune Messiah Comparison 18:14 The Professor & The Ghola 20:46 The Golden Path 22:54 Heroic Sacrifice 25:41 Fairness & Finales 27:23 The Horror of Consequence 30:44 Closing Thoughts

These chapters had us rattling the bars of our literary cages. Arya and Catelyn are being put through the wringer, again, and we are made to feel endlessly frustrated and helpless as we read through their stories. This reaction leads us to look closer at the text, and ultimately uncover what might be the true ghostly point of view of this book, while also revealing an absolutely nightmarish conception of the afterlife. Maggie tracks GRRM's strange and sudden interest in alliteration to analyze the role that fate in this brutal fairy tale. Cam revisits our power rankings of the most evil characters in Westeros to consider what it really means to be considered "evil" when playing the game of thrones — and how useful that appearance might be. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Introduction 01:22 Recap of Chapters 15:02 Power Ranking Evil 22:44 Mythological Alliteration 29:46 Endless Identity Crises 34:18 A Couplet of Cruelty 37:34 Afterlife Nightmare 40:33 The Soul of Ned Stark 44:19 Chorus of the Dead 48:19 Closing Thoughts

To celebrate Halloween, we're revisiting our favorite movie of all time through the fascinating (and often horrifying) lens of female sexuality. Maggie is studying the relationship between witch mythology and the concept of liberation, which leads her to question our understanding of the movie's ending. Cam tracks the implosion of this family through the various appearances of the witch herself, as she seems to embody mocking, almost scarecrow-like exaggerations of both Thomasin and Katherine. We reflect on the transformative experience of finally seeing this film in IMAX, and Cam dramatically reinterprets the Faustian framing of the story. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Introduction 02:29 The Horror of Female Sexuality 05:52 Mother vs. Daughter 12:42 The Young Witch 20:17 The Old Witch 28:47 Liberation Mythology 30:32 Odd Woman Out 35:27 Misreading the Ending 39:47 Faustus Inverted 44:47 The IMAX Experience 47:52 Closing Thoughts

Clayface is a genuinely great body horror movie. No caveats, no qualifiers, no "for a superhero movie" — this is just two hours of gnarly, urgent, neon-drenched filmmaking. In this episode, we're exploring all the disparate influences from across the horror and superhero genres that combine to form this marvelous monstrosity. Comparisons include: Frankenstein, Doctor Faustus, Hellraiser, John Wick, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Joker, The Dark Knight, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Frankenstein 01:08 Doctor Faustus 05:54 Hellraiser 10:39 John Wick 11:27 Brand New Day 11:57 Joker 12:48 The Dark Knight 13:44 Texas Chainsaw Massacre 15:44 Impressions 19:48 Closing Thoughts

Nothing is ever as it seems in Westeros. In this episode, we're taking a magnifying glass to two apparently 'simple' chapters to uncover a viper pit of overlapping plots and allusions. Maggie tracks the most understated and dangerous power player in the Seven Kingdoms. Cam identifies three incredibly provocative Tolkien echoes and reversals. We reckon with the tragic dualities of Theon Greyjoy and the terrifying sincerity of Cersei Lannister. Finally, one of your intrepid hosts panics when they can't remember who the Elbow of the King is — spoilers: it isn't Maggie. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 The Cold Weather Genre 02:10 Recap of Chapters 13:39 Deceptive Simplicity 15:16 Theon's Tragic Duality 20:33 On Failure & Flattery 24:05 The Cautious Hand 27:07 Three Tolkien Teases 29:29 The Scouring of Winterfell 35:42 Littlefinger as Wormtongue 37:13 The Greyjoys in Gondor 40:20 Unexpected Empathy 41:51 Five Kings, One Kingmaker 50:13 The Cornered Queen 55:31 Closing Thoughts

The most controversial and censored movie of 1971 has finally been restored to its full glory — and it might just be the greatest Faust fable of all time. Vanessa Rengrave's Sister Jeanne is easily the best Mephistopheles ever put to screen, and Oliver Reed's Grandier is an operatic, literally mustache-twirling Faustus. In this episode, we're breaking out the Marlowe to do a full-bodied analysis of Ken Russell's The Devils through a Faustian lens. Topics include: offscreen contracts, implied terms, the effect that a hundred Mephistopheles have on one Faustus, Ken Russell's brutal interpretation of Faustus' final exclamation, the titular pluralism that defines this reading of Marlowe, and, more broadly, the unrivaled cultural staying power of the Faust mythology. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 The Faustian Lens 03:56 Many Mephistopheles 06:00 Offscreen Contract 10:06 Debating the Marriage 16:04 Dragged Down to Hell 17:07 Faustus' Final Line 20:06 The Mock Crucifixion  21:21 Parade(s) of the Seven Deadly Sins 23:31 Looking for Lucifer 25:06 Sister Jeanne Analysis 28:16 Populist Plurality  30:19 Slight of Hand Tragedy 31:36 Why Faustus Matters t33:16 Closing Thoughts

Maggie did the math and concluded that we see about 200 movies a year. In this conceptual episode, we're trying to figure out how that ridiculous fact has changed us, how we think about movies, and how we talk about works of art on this show. The answers are a kaleidoscope of good, bad, personal, and academic. And yes, before you ask, we do at one point passionately reflect upon Jason Statham's The Beekeeper. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Introduction 01:20 Burnout 05:56 Fandom 11:13 Mediocrity 14:28 Curiosity 20:31 Ritual 24:35 Reflection 30:37 Context 39:09 Appreciation 43:14 Closing Thoughts

Digger is far and away the most thought provoking movie of the year. Ignore the critics and the box office, find the biggest screen you can, and make up your own mind. In this episode, we're focusing in on the film's incredibly complex and compelling navigation of satire — which has at least five distinct angles. We examine the film's central 'misdirection monologue' to disentangle these critiques, before working through our own interpretations of the moment. Then we engage with some of the (misguided) reaction to the film, including the absurd idea that this movie is just "satire about satire". Cam spirals through half a dozen works of satire that this film seems to be in open conversation with, and then we ask some essential / unanswerable questions: What is the point of satire? What makes a work of satire a 'success'? And what might that ending mean? There is so much to talk about with this one, so grab a shovel and dig in! LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Introduction 02:23 Five Layers of Satire 05:23 The Misdirection Monologue 16:04 Our Interpretations 22:46 "Satire About Satire" 24:47 What is the Point? 28:56 Wag the Dog 31:03 Eddington 32:13 The Death of Stalin 33:11 I Love Boosters 34:03 Vice 35:14 Bugonia 35:46 Debating the Ending 38:00 Metrics of Success 43:47 The Danger of Parody 45:12 Cast & Crew 48:40 Top Gun 49:50 Birdman 50:57 Anna Karenina 52:37 Oppenheimer / The Odyssey 53:24 Megalopolis 54:02 Closing Thoughts

The Reeds have returned to terrorize Bran with dire, vague prophecies — and in this episode, we're going to follow their lead and explore all the horror, fantasy, and philosophical dread we can find. Maggie charts prophecy and prayer through the sudden resurgence of the supernatural. Cam rediscovers our old Macbeth theory, but through a brand new lens. GRRM's Macbeth isn't Ned Stark, or the Starks in general, but the castle itself. Winterfell seems to have come alive in the aftermath of Renly's death, and we work together to craft a theory about ghosts, gods, dreams that makes sense of all the reawakened magic that is crackling through Westeros. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 A Milestone Episode 02:01 Recap of Chapters 21:25 Supernatural Couplet 27:44 Prophecy & Prayer 34:53 Direwolf Dilemma 40:59 Macbeth Returns 43:33 A Haunted House 51:25 Refining the Theory 55:36 Reawakened Magic 01:00:10 The New Binary 01:04:50 Closing Thoughts

Verity has a fantastic premise and some jaw-dropping twists. We both devoured the book. But then we read the ending, which backpedals and defangs everything that's interesting about the story's most interesting character. And then there's the brand new epilogue, which unwids the central drama even further. And THEN there's the movie, which doubles down on all of these problems until there are no fun wrinkles left. No texture, no intrigue, no unlikable characters. In this episode, we're tracing this strange, compounding "nesting dolls" problem across multiple editions of the book and the recent film adaptation. How does a promising erotic thriller premise end up as a movie that is neither erotic nor thrilling?  LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Impressions 04:46 The Ending 11:21 The Epilogue 15:47 The Movie 18:56 The Actors 19:28 The Setting 22:05 Overall Theory  23:21 Alternate Endings 24:26 Ambiguity 27:25 Closing Thoughts