Super 8 (2011) Pre-Watch with Dylan Smith

We have returned from Ohio to discuss the alien that supposedly goes by “Coop.” Is Super 8 quietly proto-Disclosure Day? Does this movie fall apart in its third act? Why was Joe’s mom working at a steel mill? What if Sammy Fabelman was the one who filmed the train crash? All is discussed in our post-watch of Super 8!

With the release of David Robert Mitchell’s The End of Oak Street, we’re taking a slight detour in our Summer of Spielberg to dive deeper into Spielberg-adjacent cinema. We are covering one of the most overt Spielberg homages of this century, J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 (2011). What constitutes a successful Amblin homage? Is J.J. Abrams as much of a hack as Film Twitter would like you to believe? Did Stranger Things re-heat this movie's nachos? Is Chris Nolan the Special K Fruit & Yogurt of filmmakers? All is discussed as we prepare for our viewing of Super 8. 

We have returned from San Diego to share our post-watch thoughts on The Lost World. Did this movie end up being more akin to Temple of Doom or Crystal Skull? Is Roland Tembo the greatest movie name ever? What was the mysterious cut of the film Chris saw on a restaurant TV two months ago? How many times can Owen rage bait Mateo in a single ep? Listen and find out!

While still one of his highest-grossing films, The Lost World has become one of the most neglected films in Steven Spielberg’s filmography. One of the few sequels he ever made, Spielberg’s Jurassic Park follow-up is an odd entry in his catalog. The original was beloved and became the highest-grossing movie of all time upon release, and nearly the entire team returned for the sequel, so where did things go wrong? Chris and Mateo are joined by Jurassic Park 1 and 3 enthusiast Owen Ward to investigate. Does the general public remember Spielberg made another Jurassic Park movie? What do people who vouch for it have to say? What are the best Spielberg-inspired movies? Should the pod start covering food? Join us for our pre-watch of The Lost World!

Happy New Spielberg Month to those who celebrate! To usher in the release of Steven Spielberg's newest film, Disclosure Day, we will be covering some of his most controversial films from over the years. We are beginning with his 2005 alien invasion film, War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise. This would be their second and final collaboration together. Why was the response to this film less enthusiastic? What would Spielberg's and Cruise's careers have looked like if they kept working together? Is Dakota Fanning the Patrick Mahomes of child actors? Come and rewatch with us!

With Superman (2025) being one of the most widely seen and discussed films of last year and Man of Tomorrow (2027) production now underway, the boys revisit Zack Snyder's polarizing Man of Steel (2013). Over a decade later, how does movie stack up against James Gunn's Superman, and where does it sit in the zeitgeist alongside other Superman and superhero films? Is it really all that different from Gunn's take? Is it better? Will we be able to convince Mateo to do Snyder Month with us? Listen to find out!

The Summer of Postscript continues as the fellas journey to everyone's favorite honeymoon spot, The Grid. In honor of Joseph Kosinski's F1, we take another look at Kosinski's debut, Tron: Legacy. After discussing what we felt was an exemplary legacy sequel last week in T2 Trainspotting, we examine one of the first proper legacy sequels of the 2010s, coming over half a decade before the wave that later came. Was this movie far more influential that we've given it credit? Does this movie actually have juice, or is that our fifth grade nostalgia speaking? How do you appraise the value of aura and hype moments in the year 2025? Are Chris Pine fans being properly fed? Come get digitized with us.

The Summer of Postscript has begun! With the release of the audacious 28 Years Later in June, we are kicking off this miniseries by heading back to Edinburgh with the Rosilio brothers to examine Danny Boyle's T2 Trainspotting. How did a sequel to the first Trainspotting even come to be? How does this film fare as a legacy sequel? Why does this movie handle nostalgia better than almost all of contemporaries? Is Danny Boyle the best digital filmmaker alive? Come join us as we begin our farewell to summer.

To merely label this as a podcast episode about the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War would be both misrepresentative and deeply reductive of what these three and a half (3.5) hours hold. What once started as a bit to unethically force our dear friend Chance Freytag to rewatch Civil War and watch the newest MCU entry, Captain America: Brave New World, with us evolved into something much grander. From Moby Dick to Stalker (1979, dir. Tarkovsky) to what a movie actually is and the impact it can have on someone’s life, this episode is a sprawling piece of introspection and personal reckoning for Chris, Mateo, and Chance. This episode has more in common with an average telehealth appointment than a typical recorded MCU discussion. This release of this film was a pivotal moment in the moviegoing careers of all three of the fellas, and they reflect on everything that has transpired in the industry and their lives in film since. You don’t have to have even seen the film to listen to the pre watch to this ep (clocking in at ~1.5hr itself). Come join us.

To continue the trend of covering this year's Oscar-nominated directors' previous features, Mateo, Chris, and Seb take a trip with Mikey Saber down to Galveston, TX to watch Sean Baker's (surprisngly underseen) Red Rocket. How does this one compare to Anora, which has now emerged as the clear frontrunner in the race? Why did people latch onto Anora but not Red Rocket? Was Simon Rex snubbed? Join us!