We can all agree that Annette Bening is one of the classiest and most talented actresses working today. Well, everybody but the Academy Awards apparently. Over the course of her 30 plus years dominating the screen with her dynamic presence, the Academy has passed over Bening 4 times, twice for the new Karate Kid. It’s a travesty of celebrity justic…

Hollywood is always looking for that next big idea or franchise. The practice of borrowing stories from other media is so ingrained in the history of filmmaking, that there’s even an Adapted Screenplay Oscar given out every year. Even though writers and producers try to adapt anything they can get their hands on, stories still slip through the crac…

Our journey through the history of SFX makeup concludes in this third and final installment, but not before telling the tale of one of the most impactful and influential artist to wield a makeup brush. From his early days working for WNBC TV in NY to his peak cinematic work in films like The Exorcist, Dick Smith would cinnovate his way in to the an…

Welcome to another edition of Switch the Envelope presents History of Fiction. On this installment, Jeff and Cory explore the real history behind the legend of Robin Hood as depicted in the Kevin Costner film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. Turns out the Robin Hood story that we all know and love is wrought with historical inaccuracies including, but…

Not every character in a horror film makes it out alive. If they did, the film probably wouldn’t be a very good horror film. Nevertheless, as an audience we’re always rooting for the survivors. Those few that make it to Saturday the 14th. The small group that wake from their nightmares on Elm St.. They are what makes all the jumps cares and gore wo…

Jeff and Cory venture out of the shadows of black and white film into the merry ole land of color, where makeup practices open the door to the future. The new invention of foam rubber becomes a real game changer for those willing to adapt to new techniques, while those who carved paths with the films of the previous era found themselves working on …

Makeup has played an important role in moviemaking since the earliest days of the film industry. It can transform actors into wild characters or grotesque monsters. On this episode, Jeff and Cory explore those early days of film where a world on screen without color, meant actors on set done up in makeup that looked rather odd. Until color film bec…

On this episode Jeff and Cory get to the bottom of the question: Did M. Night Shyamalan write She’s All That? The answer to the question is one that has lurked on forgotten webpages and cryptic comment sections for nearly a decade. One brave twitter user dared to uncover the controversy, and so our fearless host fell deep into an internet rabbit ho…

In 1999, many moviegoers were wowed by the time-stopping fx shots in the Matrix. The success of the film’s stunning visual shots branded the technique with the moniker Bullet Time. The origins of this Cinnovation, however, take its roots from some unlikely sources that predate motion pictures. Join Jeff and Cory as they uncover the history of a sen…

On this episode our hosts find out just how intimately they know each other (cinematically speaking) with a movie themed revamp of the Newlywed Game. Jeff and Cory go back and forth answering the important question for each other, like “which Star Wars film should you show first to someone who’s never seen a Star War?” or “top comfort binge watch t…

Only 1 out of every 5 Oscar nominated actors actually gets to enjoy the ceremony with a win. The remaining 80% of the audience then become very talented Seat Fillers. Join Jeff and Cory on this inaugural StE Presents series, as they take you through the many Oscar misses of the King of Seat Fillers, Peter O’Toole. His career was heralded, his chara…

Hollywood loves to pull stories from the history books. They also feel the need to alter that history to be more entertaining, even when the real history is sometime better than the movies. In this StE Presents series Jeff and Cory are traveling through time, going after Hollywood’s historically fictional history of reframing actual history. Stop o…

On this episode we’re all about film trilogies. The standard marker of a successful film used to be defined by the achievement of a trilogy. The success of that third film typically determines if that set of films will become a franchise gold mine. Jeff and Cory take a journey through some thirds that worked, thirds that saved a franchise, and some…

Nothing quite moves an audience of filmgoers quite like camera movement. Suppose that’s more literal movement than being moved emotionally, but go with us on this. This episode of Cinnovations explores Garrett Brown and his Steadicam, a marvel of modern cinema technology that combined the movements of larger camera moving devices into a single oper…

Jeff and Cory take some lessons from master film meddler, George Lucas, and apply them to other blockbusters and beloved films. From retconned pothole fixes in Citizen Kane to an abundance of lasers in Top Gun, they’re answering the important question of what would George Lucas do? Will the tinkering be expensive? Sure. Are the changes completely u…

On this episode, Jeff and Cory air their grievances over being lured into watching some bad movies on the star power of their casts. In Hollywood when a movie stacks the deck with acting talent, box office draw, and director bona fides you sometimes strike gold, but often movies with that much promise turn out to be turd sandwiches. Whether it’s an…

This week Jeff and Cory put on their writer’s caps and dream up some sequels to some classic one-off movies. From Galaxy Quest to Pulp Fiction to Stand By Me, our fearless hosts dare to concoct winning formulas to extend their favorite movieverses. All you writers out there looking for the next million dollar script idea, you’ll probably have to ke…

On this episode Jeff and Cory dip into the bag of dad jokes that hangs on the wall of StE HQ and has been collecting puns for the later part of a year. Oh yeah, they also get into all the kicks and punches from their favorite fight sequences on film. From Keanu to Van Damme, these fight sequences are so good they justify a Stunt Coordinator Oscar C…

Just when you thought it was safe to go to a kids movie, Jeff and Cory take a look at some Children’s films that might have some explaining to do. Whether it’s torture, drug use, child murder, parent murder, the murder of innocence, (man…there’s a lot of murder) or all of the above, some movies made safe for general audiences tow the line with them…

On this episode, Jeff and Cory find themselves once again with the burden of answering some Celebrity Mail. Those celebrities are far too busy to answer your nonsense, but the internet is in luck because Jeff and Cory have nothing but free time on their hands. You’re welcome. After helping some celebrities manage their fan’s tomfoolery, our hosts t…

To many movie fans the term ‘Remake” is a four letter word. Nearly every time a movie studio announces a remake is going into production, the world pauses spinning for a moment as the cinephiles collectively roll their eyes. But what if a remake was good? So good that it matches, or dare we say it, surpasses the original, and stakes its own claim a…

There’s a common gripe about Hollywood that movie studios don’t have any new ideas. Even worse then the constant rehashing of plot ideas is the cinematic phenomenon of movie twins. Sometimes a new idea does float through tinsel town that’s so shiny multiple studios scramble to make the same film, at the same time. From disaster films about asteroid…

A winter break that turned into a hiatus turned into a long awaited return of Switch the Envelope. So lets get back to it, Switches with our first show of 2022. Don’t call it a comeback, lets just go with a welcome back to the Season 3 world premier. This week Jeff and Cory catch up on some important nerd news, then dive head first into a pop cultu…

Happy Holidays, Switches! Jeff and Cory are setting up for the Switch the Envelope Christmas party, and you’re invited! The eggnog is flowing and the Combos are warming up. For us here at StE, nothing says Christmas time quite like a variety style holiday show full of camp, what some might consider light comedy, a whole lot of forced merriment, and…

This week Jeff & Cory get themselves in to the holiday mood, movie lover style, with a slew of movies to watch during the Holidays that aren’t necessarily holiday films. Before jumping in with some listener submitted non-holiday films, Jeff introduces a new game where Cory has to guess the film based off of the moral of its story. Al gives us some …

We made it to 100! To celebrate hitting our 100th episode we invited some of our favorite podcasting friends on to play a super sized game of Switch the Envelope: The Game. On this episode we welcome Chris from Measuring the Score, Joe from Digital Dissection: A Nerd Podcast, and Sean and Max from Better Than Most Things as our guests. We had a lot…

Best of Switch the Envelope guest interviews. As the show inches ever closer to episode 100, this week Jeff & Cory take a trip down memory lane through some of their favorite memories from the show so far. There are no better memories then those conversations they’ve had with all the friends they’ve met along the way. Join our hosts as they revisit…

Not everyone is cut out for heaps of gore and extremely violent monster slashers, but sometimes, when the moon is right, you might be in the mood for a film with a little bit of fright. Join Jeff and Cory on a journey through some not so scary scary movies that are perfect for those moviegoers who scare easily or are looking to pace their transitio…

In this episode Jeff and Cory try to wrap their heads around the many timelines and continuity shifts of the Halloween franchise. The iconic film series that started the slasher horror genre has stopped and restarted quite a few time in its storied 40+ year run. Our hosts try to make sense of it all so you don’t end up lost in the woods trying to f…

On this episode Jeff and Cory clear the air on some movies that people habitually lie about seeing. Whether you’re trying to fit in with a new crowd or you just don’t want to hear another person befuddlingly retort, “You haven’t seen that movie?”, there’s a good chance you’ve lied about seeing a cinematic classic. Switch the Envelope is here to tel…

On this episode we’re taking our TPS reports across the 8th Dimension as Jeff and Cory welcome Actor/Writer/Producers Curtis Andersen (Pearl Harbor) and Rene Bordelon (Fun Sized Horror: Volume One). They discuss their journeys as indie creators on the stage and screen both big and small, as well as what inspires them to be their most creative selve…

On this episode Jeff and Cory share some of the worst life advice they’ve learned from some of their favorite films. Sure anyone can see the well intentioned moral of a story, but sometimes it is the unintentional bad life tips that really stick with you. Join our hosts as they find the terrible life lessons buried in The Karate Kid, The Goonies, D…

On this episode Jeff and Cory help out some busy celebrities by answering fan comments on social media. After a dip into the Celebrity Mail Bag, Cory turns the tables on our resident game master, Jeff, and challenges him to a new game he calls Wait! That Won An Oscar? Jeff puts on his game face as he tries to answer questions about movies you would…

Best Underrated Actors Worry not Switches, Mr. Goldblum is fine and well, but like the other actors on our list of Best Underrated Actors, sometimes they meet the editing room floor. This is the case this week as there were so many truly underrated actors to celebrate that we just couldn’t fit them all in! Join us with Jeff, Cory, and even some of …

There are many tools in a filmmaker’s cinematic arsenal that help them manipulate the emotions of an audience. Most of them are deliberate ploys meant to pull at the emotions of an audience. Every filmmaker conducts their manipulation in tandem with an audience who knows they are being deceived, but it is the filmmaker’s responsibility to cause the…

On this episode Jeff and Cory welcome actor Jack Seavor McDonald, who plays Eric Perkins on the hit Netflix hit show Never Have I Ever! They chat about Jacks time on the sets of various hit tv shows as well as how fun it has been to be apart of a great show on Netflix. After they pitch a great idea for an Eric focused spin-off Tik Tok series, Jack …

Summer is in full swing, Switches, so you know what that means? No, not sun and sand. Its the season of Summer Blockbusters! Since 1975, movie studios have been rolling out their marquee money-grabbing films into air conditioned theaters to get people to trade in their beach towels for theater seats. On this episode, Jeff and Cory go head to head w…

1940 Best Actor Part 2 Welcome to Part 2 of our episode with Classic film documentarian and Creator of The Secret History of Hollywood, Adam Roche. Jeff, Cory, & Adam work their way through grading the Best Actor performances from the 1940. Together, they grimace through some performances and champion others, while Adam adds his wonderfully encyclo…

1940 Best Actor Part 1 On this episode hosts Jeff and Cory welcome Adam Roche, creator of the podcasts The Secret History of Hollywood and Attaboy Clarence. In this part 1 installment, Adam graciously sits down with our hosts to chat about his journey from full time chef and part time podcaster to his new found roll as movie producer! He shares all…

On this episode Jeff & Cory welcome YouTuber and movie loving cartoon penguin, Pentex, to the show to discuss their latest viral video essay that definitively proves that Michael Bay’s The Rock is indeed a Bond film. They break down the fan theory, his process, and try to find even the smallest hole in an other wise water tight presentation. After …

1982 Best Original Score Part 2 Jeff and Cory are back for part 2 with our guests Chris and Leslie Lott from Measuring the Score. On this episode they all get to the business of rating each nominee with our “patented” rating metric that’s been adjusted for judging original scores. Together they tear into the category, speculate the unorthodox piano…

1982 Best Original Score – Part 1 On this episode Jeff and Cory welcome Chris and Leslie Lott, hosts of Measuring the Score, to the podcast. Jeff and Cory had such a great time chatting with these two that we had to break the episode up into two parts (just like old times, Switches). On part 1, they talk about the love for film scores that brought …

With all the new announcements of sequels floating around Hollywood, Jeff and Cory explore the world of terrible sequels that were thankfully never made. From human-dinosaur hybrids in Jurassic Park 4 to a time traveling Gladiator, these movies would have been franchise killers. Not to be outdone by actual Hollywood, our host also pitch some terrib…

This episode Jeff and Cory welcome the host of The Hollywood Dead, Vanessa McArdle, to the show. They chat a bit about her deep dive into tinsel town true crime and some of the lengths she went to research her first case. Then, in honor of the recent Friends reunion, the trio set Al to random and make up brand new show ideas from two real shows mas…

On this episode hosts Jeff and Cory, fed up with the unoriginal lazy Hollywood strategy of remaking old films, suggest an new approach: why remake one movie, when you can remake two simultaneously? Thats right, like peanut butter and jelly or hot pastrami and bologna, we’ve got pitches for perfectly paired movie mash-ups for a new generation! Want …

On this episode of Al’s Useless Hollywood Facts, our trusty time computer takes our hosts on a journey to a world that was all started with a mouse. The story behind the house that Walt built is more fiction than reality, and we learn about one unsung genius behind the genius that was really responsible for most of Disney’s success, signature style…

1989 Best Picture On this episode we’re back to our old switching ways, deciding the true Best Picture winner of 1989. Right on the heels of the 2021 Oscars that will go down as a bit of a train wreck (much like the year it was celebrating), Jeff and Cory dive deep into one of the most watched Oscars that was described as “an embarrassment to both …

On this episode we welcome Oy With the WB host Brittany Stanley. We discuss her childhood tv watching habits that inspired her new podcast all about 90s/2000s shows on the WB. After our trek from Dawson’s Creek to Stars Hollow, Jeff challenges Cory and Britany to the toughest game of Switch the Envelope yet. Seeing as Brittany is a bit of a TV pop …

On this edition of Because…Movies, Jeff and Cory cut deep into their childhood nostalgia when they try and explain the unexplainable in two of their favorite movies. Does the timey-wimey logic of Back to the Future fall apart in the last installment of the franchise? Does it make sense that a Division 1 college quarterback could go undercover? Find…

This week our host double down on some part 2s. Its all sequels on this show, as they discuss film franchises with second offerings that are better than the original. From T2 to Lethal Weapon 2, these sequels really have their sh*t together.By Switch The Envelope