[In HAL 9000’s voice]: Open the podcast doors, Dave, because we’re doing the 1968 classic Stanley Kubrick film, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” We are putting ourselves to the fullest possible use, which is all we think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do. We know we’ve made some very poor decisions recently, Dave, but we can give you our comple…

The 2006 smash hit "The Devil Wears Prada" seemed to have struck a chord on the piano that is the hearts of moviegoers everywhere, but to us, with its weighty pile of missed notes, it instead felt like ton of ivory falling on our heads. Based on the chick-lit novel of the same name, it tells the fish-out-of-water story of a plucky young wannabe jou…

La-dee-da, la-dee-da. Woody Allen's 1977 Best Picture winner "Annie Hall" is considered his masterpiece and marked his shift from slapstick zany comedies to more heady, romantic fair. This movie is patient zero for annoying, pretentious, pseudo-intellectual romantic comedies that followed (think Rob Reiner, Nora Ephron, Nancy Meyers, Kevin Smith, e…

Somehow John Woo’s remake of “Freaky Friday” known as “Face/Off” starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage where they switch bodies was somehow beloved by audiences—and critics alike—in 1997. But this is nothing more than a shoot-‘em-up cheesy action flick that appears it was made by 8th graders who live in the suburbs who just read about mythology. …

The Best Picture winner for 1994 "Forrest Gump" is itself like a box of chocolates: filled sickly sweets that seem like they’re good on the surface, but end up being too nutty, gooey and annoyingly filled with shrimp. It’s also a heaping slice of Americana pie topped with a scoop of Ok Boomer and served with a side of muddled message about destiny …

Get your potbelly pigs, concussions, and whipped cream bikinis ready, because we’re covering the 1999 after-school special "Varsity Blues," which tells the story of a jaded back-up quarterback at a small-town Texas high school who has to take over hero responsibilities when the star QB gets injured while also trying to take down their mean old coac…

Uh oh! Definitely did "Rain Man," definitely did "Rain Man." Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman somehow star as brothers in this manipulative road trip/buddy comedy that topped both the box office and the Oscars in 1988. People love this movie, but it's nothing more than a con-job that somehow got credit for treating autism authentically, when it actual…

In 1981, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg whipped up a weird Bible film where a surly, pedophile grave robber tries to beat the Nazis to gain possession of a chest that holds the remains of the Ted Commandments in order to speak directly to God. And it’s a kid’s movie! The first in the "Indiana Jones" film franchise, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" kick…

While most of us are still on lockdown do to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, please enjoy this reposting of our episode on the original "Rocky" movie that aired in February 2018. Keating spends a few minutes up front updating you on how his quarantine has been going, and then at the very end, reveals what our newest episode will cover. Stay safe!…

The highest-grossing film of 1998 that was nominated for four Oscars (yes), “Armageddon,” makes its also-awful counterpart “Deep Impact” look like “Citizen Kane.” This explosion-(in space?)-filled blockbuster is another in the painful pop culture cancer filmographies of director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer that likes to remind its au…

In September of 2017, we released back-to-back episodes about James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster "Titanic." For this REPLAY episode, we have combined those into one long episode for your memory lane listening pleasure. Enjoy.By Keating Thomas

The all-the-sudden relevant movie from 1995,” Outbreak,” about a global pandemic and how to stop it, misses the chance to be interesting by squandering its all-star cast in exchange for mindless explosions, helicopter chases and a cheesy love story. Always-angry Dustin Hoffman plays a military doctor who looks like he’s wearing his daddy’s fatigues…

We hope everyone is staying safe and trying to make the best of their quarantine. But assuming that you're not trying to necessarily make the best of it, you might as well listen to us then. So here’s a replay of one of our favorite episodes that maybe will cheer you up and help pass the time. *ORIGINAL AIR DATE: JANUARY 9, 2018* ORIGINAL SHOW NOTE…

With yet another view into the creepy mind of ‘80s John Hughes, we decided to tackle the 1986 film “Pretty in Pink.” It stars Molly Ringwald in a flip of her “richie” role in “The Breakfast Club,” where she is the one from the wrong side of the tracks. She has an alcoholic, loser dad (played by Harry Dean Stanton), and is being stalked by a duck-ta…

For the fourth year in a row, we fired up the mics immediately after watching the Oscars ceremony and give you our take on what we witnessed. We also figure out who got the most categories correct, discuss the ceremony, some of the speeches, and our most-hated moments from the broadcast. It might not have had a host, but Parasite thrived. Follow al…

By Keating Thomas

In the latest installment of our recurring In Theaters segment, we saw Quentin Tarantino’s newest film "Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood" and then immediately fired up the mics to discuss it. Some people have hailed this movie as a masterpiece while others think it’s a misogynistic mess. Where did we fall on that spectrum? What did we think of the su…

In 2000, Robert Zemeckis made "Cast Away," the longest FedEx commercial in history that masquerades as a trapped-on-a-desert-island story. Granted, the middle section of the film where Tom Hanks is marooned isn't terrible, but the pair of audience-insulting bookending acts that surround it replace any good will that created with seething anger. Tom…

The Kevin Costner vanity project "Dances with Wolves" beat "GoodFellas" for Best Picture in 1990. That's right, this three-hour goofy slog that was heralded as the first movie not to have two-dimensional Native American characters, took home the gold statue. The problem? Even if its Lakota characters had actual names and dialogue, they're still dep…

After the enormous success of Jordan Peele's first feature film, "Get Out," he's back at the helm again with his followup, "Us" (which is currently in theaters). And, because of that, we went and saw it for our aptly-named In Theaters segment that we do on this show from time to time. But guess what? We disagreed on this one. Well, maybe our doppel…

If you actually do stop and look around at the 1986 John Hughes classic "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off," there's a lot of stuff you can't miss that doesn't make sense. Are Ferris and his sister twins? Do his parents think he has the mind of the 5-year-old boy? Is Ferris a figment of Cameron's imagination? We will discuss all those and much more as we te…

The controversial 2018 film "Green Book" that just won the Academy Award for Best Picture has it all: a white-savior narrative, cheesy New York Italian-American accents, and a series of cringeworthy tone-deaf scenes that aim to solve racism, but end up being more racist themselves in the end. Farrelly brother Peter directed this unfunny Oscar-bait …

For the third year in a row, we fired up the mics immediately after watching the Oscars ceremony and give you our take on what we witnessed. We also figure out who got the most categories correct (and settle our wager), discuss the ceremony, some of the speeches, and our favorite and most-hated moments from the broadcast. It might not have had a ho…

We guide you through the Oscar nominations for movies released in 2018 leading up to this Sunday's ceremony (which will take place on Feb. 24). We discuss the snubs, the surprises, and give you our picks for all 24 categories. We also decide upon a bet for whoever loses, and talk about how bad "Bohemian Rhapsody" is and how it shouldn't have been n…

Happy Valentine's Day! This time we tore apart the 2009 movie "(500) Days of Summer," an overly-stylized hipster attempt at an anti-romantic comedy. You can't spell parenthetical without pathetic. This is one of the most pretentious movies in the last ten years. They bounce back and forth between timelines for no reason, make obvious literary, musi…

We decided to curb stomp the 1998 Edward Norton vehicle "American History X" that showed us all neo-Nazis have to do to overcome their vicious deep-seated racism is have one jokey conversation with a funny black guy in prison. This movie has it all: a "Psycho"-esque black-and-white bloody slow-motion shower scene, a hilariously unrealistic reverse …

The 1984 box office smash "Splash" gave us a lot of things: Tom Hanks as a leading man, Ron Howard as a bankable director, and oddly the name Madison becoming popular. It’s just a shame that's all this pile of fish crap is worth. It's literally a fish out of water story, and also, frankly, the filmmakers have a lawsuit against the movie "The Shape …

Happy New Year! We'll be back next week with new episodes. It's 2019 now. The future. Makes the 2015 from "Back to the Future Part II" seem like a million years ago. But now we're in the year of "Blade Runner." And they really nailed that. No better way to describe Los Angeles 2019 than a bunch of sushi-eating robots. Jim's still on his paternity l…

Hey, guys, we're still hoping to get a Christmas episode done, but this past week hit a little snag. A good little snag. Jim's wife just gave birth to their second child, so needless to say, he's been a little busy this week. And this time she didn't go into labor while we were recording, so that's good. See our "Jerry Maguire" episode for when tha…

Continuing our discussion and dismantling of the epic classic film from 1939, "Gone with the Wind," we break down everything that happens in the nutty second half of this movie (after the intermission). Scarlett O'Hara gets married two more times to people she doesn't love, and Rhett Butler continues to play his mind games with her. Join us as we d…

In our 100th episode, we cover the first half of the epic classic 1939 film "Gone with the Wind" that tells a story of Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara who begins her life as a bratty rich girl on her idyllic plantation, and then loses everything when the Civil War strikes. Then she lies, cheats, murders and marries her way into being rich during Rec…

Nancy Meyers' most recently helmed vehicle, 2015's "The Intern" once again shows that she is out of touch with society and unable to make a movie that doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator. This cliche fish-out-of water story is just the same lame joke flopping around repeatedly wishing it could swim. And although this movie is set in mod…

In 2000, Disney released "Remember the Titans," a true story about a newly racially-integrated Virginia high school football team that in 1971 went 13-0, and in the process dissolved racial tensions in the community. Great story, but too bad it's not true. Denzel Washington plays the team's coach Herman Boone, who is brought in to be the new coach,…

Today we open our mailbag and answer questions on subjects like: what movies do we disagree on, what movies are we looking forward to doing on the show most, and whether or not our ads are real. We also recount a story about Keating fixing a beauty contest, discuss how he has a knack for making people flip out on him, and read a listener's anecdote…

Happy Halloween! In 1978, John Carpenter made a film where a guy slowly strolls around a town killing babysitters for no reason, but apparently it is a deep social commentary—but if you really think about it, it isn't. It's just a movie about a guy slowly strolling around a town killing babysitters. For no reason. Activia spokesperson Jamie Lee Cur…

In this installment of our periodical "In Theaters" segment, we give you our immediate reaction to seeing a new movie on the big screen. This time, we discuss a movie where Disney dreamboat Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong, "First Man." Will we think it's out of this world, or will we think it's as vacuous as space? Listen to find out. **NOTE: THI…

A woman dumps her boyfriend because she's about to go to Harvard Law School and doesn't want his childish antics holding her back. Then this jilted lover devises an elaborate scheme to enroll in her school specifically to stalk her and systematically destroy her life. Sound like a horror story? Well, if you switch out the gender of the psycho stalk…

Dear Blue, I'm just like you. I'm a multimillionaire cool guy stud-muffin, with two still-married, supportive supermodel parents who are extremely liberal and accepting of gay people. I just don’t know how I’m ever going to come out. There are too many road blocks in front of me. Also, all my friends are totally fine with people being gay, but I st…

Steven Spielberg's blockbuster "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" has been a part of the world's consciousness since it debuted in 1982, but when you take off those nostalgia goggles and look at it with fresh eyes, you'll realize it's nothing more than a story about a boy and his dog, a horror movie aimed at kids, and, strangely, a story with strong Jesu…

Hey, guys. Jim is feeling a little under the weather, so we decided to wait on recording "E.T." for now and re-air a classic episode, one of our favorites. See you next week! ******* ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES: G'day, mates! The 1986 Aussie-American comedy "Crocodile Dundee" takes us deep into the Outback on a harrowin’ journey with poisonous snakes, gun-…

The 1995 smash hit "While You Were Sleeping" is about a mentally deranged woman who infiltrates the family of a man who was violently attacked and falls into a coma by claiming that she is his fiancée. She deceives his family into welcoming her as one of their own and she even manages to manipulate the coma patient’s godfather into conspiring with …

In this installment of our periodical "In Theaters" segment, we give you our immediate reaction to seeing a new movie on the big screen. This time, we discuss a movie that has been dominating the box office for the last three weeks and shows no signs of letting up, "Crazy Rich Asians." **NOTE: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS** Quick Facts Release da…

In 1999, famed director of "Jurassic Park III," Joe Johnston, outdid his previous attempts at making the perfect melodramatic cheesefest movie with "October Sky." The film is about teens with hardscrabble beginnings who launch a projectile as an attempt to escape their upbringings, but the insincerity of the performances made audiences want to proj…

The 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger action-comedy smash hit and cultural sensation "Kindergarten Cop" reminds us that this kid's movie mainly loved by teenagers shouldn't be revisited by adults. Its giant plot holes (larger than the holes Arnold's reckless cop character wouldn't mind leaving in any drug addict unwilling to get out of the way of his tric…

In 2000, Gus Van Sant released his second film about a sad older man who mentors a promising young genius only to regain his zest for life along the way, "Finding Forrester." They tried to rekindle the magic from "Good Will Hunting," but they instead ended up making a painfully uncomfortable white savior movie strung together with every cornball tr…

German filmmaker Roland Emmerich's second ultra-jingoistic movie about American independence, "The Patriot," plays a lot like an unofficial remake to Gibson's 1995 masterpiece "Braveheart," but without the whole being a good movie thing. Mel Gibson plays a hatchet-wielding maniac named Benjamin Martin who uses the death of his son and the Revolutio…

In this installment of our periodical "In Theaters" segment, we give you our immediate reaction to seeing a new movie on the big screen. This time, we travel back to Island Kalokairi to see what happened to our favorite love quadrangle in, "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again." **NOTE: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS** Quick Facts Release date: July 20, 201…

Does Your Mother Know you're listening? Well, we're glad that you decided to Take a Chance on us this episode, you little Chiquititas. We don't Lay All Our Love on the 2008 smash hit "Mamma Mia!" Audiences lost and studios won as this movie made $615.7 million at the box office, but, as they say, The Winner Takes It All and the loser has to fall. A…

Somehow the 1999 Julia Roberts-Hugh Grant flick "Notting Hill"—which is just the repeated gag of "Holy cow; she’s famous and talking to us!"—was extended into a 2-hour movie that made $364 million at the box office. This movie also has side bits about how eccentric British people are in this quaint, and down-to-earth super affluent section of Londo…

Happy Independence Day 2018, everybody! We're taking the week off for the holiday, so we decided to re-air one of our favorite episodes that originally dropped July 4, 2017. We hope you have good time re-listening to it, and we'll be back in your ears next week with a brand-new episode. ******* ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES: If world events are making you fe…