Best Mike Dorval, Tooky Kavanagh, David Rabinow Podcasts (2025)

1
MIDNIGHT RUN (encore presentation) 55:13

24d ago55:13

55:13

Hey friends! The Dads have been wicked busy doing Dad Shit (tm); apologies for the delay and thank you for your patience. We're hoping to get some new eps up by next week; in the meantime, sit back and enjoy an encore presentation of our discussion of the movie that launched this particular endeavor. Tune in or I swear to God I'll shoot the other D…

1
WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP 57:17

1M ago57:17

57:17

IT'S NOT THE REMAKE! Do yourself a favor and read this essay before, after, or during your viewing of this movie and/or listening to this podcast: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2021/02/03/on-hustles/ Hanif Abdurraqib is the realest of deals, y'all. Buy all of his books and thank us later. Can you imagine an America pre-Rosie Perez? I'm glad I…

1
CON AIR 49:51

2M ago49:51

49:51

Look, if you want to know why Gen X is so f#$%ed up, just know that a major studio made this movie with the thought: "This is what they want." Cage. Malkovich. Cage's hair. Cusack. Cage's accent. Trejo. Chappelle. More Cage. Ving Rhames. The guy from Star Trek: The Next Generation (not that guy, the other one). Cage shirtless. Steve Buscemi. And - …

1
TRADING PLACES 51:48

2M ago51:48

51:48

If Reagan's America were a film, it'd probably be this one. Happy New Year from your favorite Dads! This movie launched or re-launched a bunch of careers, made a bajillion dollars and has a case for the definitive movie of the 80s (for a bunch of reasons discussed herein); and YET it's still a bit of a funky rewatch. Nonetheless, we dig into the 41…

1
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING 52:48

2M ago52:48

52:48

You know the best part of the holiday season? Hanging out with your family! OK, maybe sometimes that's not the BEST part; families are tricky little communities of biologically-linked individuals, each carrying a boatload of what NPR's Linda Holmes evocatively named "little weirdsies". Family can be a tough hang, at this or any time of year. But wh…

1
GOODFELLAS 1:00:57

2M ago1:00:57

1:00:57

Dads love order. We like routine, a hierarchy, knowing where we stand at all times. The Mob provides the illusion of order. This movie reveals what a life of organized crime really entails: chaos, anxiety, terror, and senseless violence. This movie is an anti-Dad instructional video, and should be required viewing for all Dads. They should have it …

1
ENTER THE DRAGON 54:15

2M ago54:15

54:15

Bruce Lee was - for a brief period - perhaps the most famous person in the world. He died in 1973 (at the far-too-young age of 32). Dads Mike and Dave were born in 1974, the first generation to live in a post-Bruce Lee world, and the last to have members who experienced Lee's fame and the kung fu mania that followed it firsthand. Someday-Dad Tooky …

1
THE LAST DRAGON 52:51

3M ago52:51

52:51

It's a TDM switcheroo - Mike & Tooky present Dad Dave with a movie that they have seen but he hasn't...until now! This movie has everything. Punching. Kicking. Chazz Palminteri punching and kicking. Vanity. William H. Macy for some reason. A knockoff Cyndi Lauper. And the only cinematic villain to approach Darth Vader in ultimate 80s badassery, Sho…

1
ANY GIVEN SUNDAY 1:00:57

3M ago1:00:57

1:00:57

Happy Thanksgiving! Dads love the Three Fs: family, feasting, and football. So we thought it might make for a nice opportunity to watch one of the most realistic and grounded sports films ever made. Just kidding. Calling this movie "batshit crazy" does a disservice to guano. Oliver Stone and an all-star cast go full cuckoo bananas in a movie that t…

1
DIRTY DANCING 53:55

3M ago53:55

53:55

What's that you say? DIRTY DANCING is a Mom Movie? We are here to tell you that not only is it a Dad Movie, it is the DADDEST MOVIE. And if you disagree, you can go jump in a lake. With Patrick Swayze. And Jennifer Grey. Which sounds cold. But hella sexy. This movie rules and if you have kids and don't cry watching Jerry Orbach do Jerry Orbach thin…

1
COMMANDO 1:01:57

3M ago1:01:57

1:01:57

Dads take a lot of heat, and deservedly so: Life in a patriarchy means that much of this society is a direct reflection of generations of Dads - we have FOUNDING FATHERS for chrissakes - so everything, good and bad (and let's face it, the scales are tipping the wrong way) must be laid at our feet. And yet: We will do anything for our kids. A-N-Y-T-…

1
MR. MOM 1:00:57

4M ago1:00:57

1:00:57

RIP to the magnificent Teri Garr, perhaps one of the patron (matron?) saints of Dad movies. No one was realer, funnier, or more fully and charmingly human. She and Michael Keaton make a pretty good meal out of these ingredients; it's pretty clear why the Oscar noms wait in the offing. Listen, Michael Keaton is having a moment, and deservedly so; bu…

1
PSYCHO 54:30

4M ago54:30

54:30

CUE THE VIOLINS! And Happy Halloween from the Dads; enjoy our long shower with Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 slashsterpiece PSYCHO.By Mike Dorval, Tooky Kavanagh, David Rabinow

1
ROXANNE 53:25

4M ago53:25

53:25

Elevator pitch: I'd like to take a 19th century French melodrama and update it, eliminating the graphic violence and changing the famously heartbreaking ending. Also, we should set it in a small town full of horny old ladies. Studio Executive: Ok, here's a ton of money. Only one person can land that pitch: Total Dad favorite and comic dilettante St…

1
THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER 55:50

4M ago55:50

55:50

Confession: at the grocery store with my family, I will often and without warning turn suddenly a full 360 degrees in either direction while exclaiming "Crazy Ivan!" Let no one say this movie doesn't have a lasting impact. Baldwin! Connery! Glenn! Neill! Curry! Vance! Skarsgard! and James Earl Jones (RIP)! Who doesn't love a submarine movie? NOT DA…

1
WORKING GIRL 52:57

5M ago52:57

52:57

LEEEEEEEEET THE RIVER RUUUUUUUUUUUUN... (NGL, that songs rips) A Dad Movie? About a lady? Yeah, dummy, it's 2024. (OK fine, Harrison Ford was probably our hook at the time, but now... well, he still kicks ass in this flick) ALSO: Sigourney Weaver! Melanie Griffith! Joan MFing Cusack! Olympia MFing Dukakis! Oliver Platt! (and yeah, Alec Baldwin and …

1
SWINGERS 55:10

5M ago55:10

55:10

Before Vince Vaughn was America's doughy best friend and Jon Favreau was launching Iron Man and the Mandalorian (that guy loves armor, huh?), these two babyfaces shot a shoestring comedy that captures the brief moment in America when chain wallets, indoor smoking, and swing dancing were not just tolerated but were emblematic of a lifestyle that can…

1
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION 45:22

5M ago45:22

45:22

Get busy Daddin', or get busy podcastin'. Carve your names into the eaves with the Dads as we attempt to break free from Frank Darabont's Steven King adaptation par excellence (featuring Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins, and the voice of Mr. Krabs), 1994's THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.By Mike Dorval, Tooky Kavanagh, David Rabinow

1
STIR CRAZY 51:47

5M ago51:47

51:47

Wait, Sidney Poitier directed this? Huh. Ok, then. Pryor. Wilder. Poitier. Every Dad is born having seen this movie. It combines everything Dads know about the criminal justice system with everything Dads know about the rodeo. It's why your Dad is neither a lawyer nor a cowboy. Get your chicken costumes out because we're watching the comedy smash o…

1
SAY ANYTHING 1:00:35

6M ago1:00:35

1:00:35

This movie features an all-time complicated Dad (John Mahoney), and is helmed by the wunderkind (Cameron Crowe) that launched a string of Dad movies, so you can- Hang on; just give me a second? (Goes to window; opens it) "It's after 2:00 am; goodnight, Lloyd." (Closes window) Sorry. That kid is out here every night blasting his Peter Gabriel. Which…

1
RAIN MAN 58:45

6M ago58:45

58:45

An odd companion piece to last week's episode (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) featuring another aspect of human existence (this week: ASD, last week: trans awareness) that in 2024 we have a vastly more informed cultural relationship to than we did at the time of these movies' respective releases. AND YET, I think it's fair to say that our deepened under…

1
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 56:12

6M ago56:12

56:12

Hannibal Lecter has been in the news recently for reasons both dumb and stupid. But Anthony Hopkins' performance is anything but - the only thing scarier than this film is the prospect of another four years of [REDACTED]. Speaking of presidential trauma, Jodie Foster is equally incredible in this flick. Dads love Jodie Foster, because her movies ar…

1
MEN IN BLACK 53:17

6M ago53:17

53:17

America has had a lot of Dads. The good (Michael Landon, Barack Obama), the bad (Bill Cosby, Alec Baldwin), and the confusingly discordant (RIP Bob Saget/Danny Tanner). But we submit here that America's greatest Dad is almost never pictured with an actual son or daughter, yet nonetheless appears in many films as a distant-yet-deeply-caring-dispense…

1
THREE MEN AND A BABY 55:55

6M ago55:55

55:55

Inside each of us is three Dads... (I've made this joke already, but c'mon) You've got a Guttenberg - sensitive and clueless. You've got a Danson - dashing and egomaniacal. You've got a Selleck - rugged and protective. These Dads are engaged in a relentless battle for dominance within you. When you suddenly have a baby (and I sincerely hope none of…

1
PREDATOR 52:06

7M ago52:06

52:06

GET TO THE CHOPPAH! (Dads love a good Arnold impression) The Dads turn on their thermal vision to dissect the film that launched the handshake that launched a thousand memes. Schwarzenegger. Weathers. Ventura. Van Damme (in absentia). And a bunch of vaguely problematic Dad stereotypes that somehow age like fine wine. It's John McTiernan's horror-ac…

1
HIDDEN FIGURES 53:09

7M ago53:09

53:09

Listen, the Dads make no secret of our political leanings: would we would prefer this country and its institutions be run by women of color? LIKELY. Is this a topical issue at the moment? PERHAPS. Are we feeling (cautiously) hopeful right now? MAYBE. Did we want to honor this unprecedented time in American history by talking about a film wherein Bl…

1
48 HOURS 1:00:33

7M ago1:00:33

1:00:33

Inside every one of us are two Dads, fighting for supremacy. One looks like Jack Cates. One looks like Reggie Hammond. Do I have to tell you which one to listen to? The Dads carefully dissect the not-at-all problematic and hugely influential "buddy" cop comedy from 1982 (featuring the breakout performance from Eddie Murphy), Walter Hill's 48 HOURS.…

1
MIDNIGHT RUN 55:13

7M ago55:13

55:13

Sometimes - maybe most of the time? - we don't fully appreciate our Dads until we've had a chance to reflect on them. Their tiny brilliances, their hidden diamond facets behind their seemingly-workaday veneer...these can sometimes go unremarked upon until one day you look up and realize OH SHIT MY DAD IS THE BEST COMEDY OF THE 80S. Am I conflating …

1
GOLDFINGER 1:01:21

8M ago1:01:21

1:01:21

True story: My Dad purchased a bunch of tvs from an electronics store. He was informed that he would receive a discount if he signed up for their in-house credit card. So he (of course) proceeded to do so under a fake name because everyone knows that LAWS DO NOT APPLY TO DADS. When asked for his name for the card he said: "Bond. Fenimore Bond." I t…

1
KRAMER VS. KRAMER 1:00:12

8M ago1:00:12

1:00:12

How rare is it for a movie to serve as a primer on how to both BE and NOT BE a Dad? This film is the "Scared Straight" of Dad movies. Also Ted Kramer is a lousy person who is capable of great things. Or a great person who does a lot of lousy things. Is it any wonder that Dustin Hoffman won an Oscar? Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, and Justin Henry al…

1
THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS 56:25

8M ago56:25

56:25

Perhaps we don't touch on the dark side of Dads often enough. But ask anyone who's even been, had, or known a Dad and they'll tell you it's there. The obsessiveness, the pettiness, the gatekeeping... it's all there. Perhaps (as this podcast occasionally posits) the real merit of a Dad comes from our ability to recognize and (hopefully) evolve into …

1
MAJOR LEAGUE 1:00:14

8M ago1:00:14

1:00:14

Forget the podcast, Ricky. Give 'em the heater. Lotsa Dad types in this one: Corbin Bernsen's asshole Dad, Chelcie Ross' Christian Dad (with a hidden stash of Hustlers), Tom Berenger's seemingly- cool-but-oh-wait-actually-kind-of-sad Dad, and James Gammon's tough love Dad. Plus you got a Sheen (Dads LOVE Sheens!) AND a Haysbert (the voice of Allsta…

1
SUPERMAN II (THE RICHARD DONNER CUT) 1:01:51

9M ago1:01:51

1:01:51

Happy Upcoming Father's Day! In honor of the holiday, and in the (very Dad) spirit of making amends for mistakes made years prior, we present this VERY Dad-centric original vision of the 1980 sequel to SUPERMAN: THE MOTION PICTURE. For reasons (see: capitalism), the original theatrical release was credited to Richard Lester after Richard Donner (or…

1
THE MALTESE FALCON 55:13

9M ago55:13

55:13

Dads love two things: MacGuffins and culturally irrelevant impressions. This film gives our Dads the chance to enjoy the ur-MacGuffin while dusting off our best Bogey (or even our Peter Lorre!) for the eyerolled "amusement" of our progeny. Also, it's one of the greatest movies ever mad yada yada yada. This week: John Huston's 1941 hard-boiled noir-…

1
BLOODSPORT 1:01:14

9M ago1:01:14

1:01:14

Every Dad knows: you gotta take out the trash. What every Dad comes to learn: done correctly, taking out the trash is a vacation. A brief respite from the demands of family interaction, a chance to ever-so-briefly immerse oneself in a larger world. Trash has value: spiritual and emotional value. BLOODSPORT is trash. It is eminently disposable and p…

1
BOOGIE NIGHTS 1:02:15

9M ago1:02:15

1:02:15

Discussion of this magnificent film inspired Dad Mike to say: "I'm going full Harrison Butker on The Girthmaster." I can't think of a stronger endorsement to listen to a deep Porn Dad discussion of Paul Thomas Anderson's 1997 masterpiece BOOGIE NIGHTS.

1
PLANET OF THE APES 47:19

9M ago47:19

47:19

This may no longer be your Dad's favorite movie, but it's definitely your Dad's favorite Simpsons joke. Take a peek up Charlton Heston's loincloth with us as we explore the whos, wheres, whys, and WHA?s of Franklin Schaffner's 1968 monkeypocalypse PLANET OF THE APES.By Mike Dorval, Tooky Kavanagh, David Rabinow

1
OCEAN'S ELEVEN 54:18

10M ago54:18

54:18

Perhaps the most Dad-spirational movie of all time, this movie features beautiful people doing cool stuff in a fantasy city. Every Dad sees himself in a cool suit talking the racket, or tugging on our bucket hats at the track, ready for one big score. But the truth is: most of us are Julia Roberts: blissfully unaware of the danger at the edges of o…

1
BULL DURHAM 1:05:38

10M ago1:05:38

1:05:38

Well, I believe in the small of a woman's back... The hanging curveball... high fiber... good scotch. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a Constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than C…

1
THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD 54:02

10M ago54:02

54:02

Leslie Neilsen is your dad's favorite actor, and probably his second favorite actor as well. Leslie Neilsen carried a handheld fart sound machine wherever he went. Leslie Neilsen's gravestone reads "Let 'er rip". Leslie Neilsen is the Chuck Norris of Dad humor, except he actually did all the stuff that we celebrate him for. THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE …

1
BATMAN 54:34

10M ago54:34

54:34

This movie needs a Dad! But I guess if it had one, it wouldn't really be a Batman, would it? Aren't most Tim Burton movies about missing grown ups in one way or another? He's got some stuff to work through, but then again, don't we all? Bruce Wayne certainly does; so does his counterpart Jack Napier/Joker in this astoundingly awkward mash-up of ide…

1
SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE 59:05

11M ago59:05

59:05

Look! Up in the sky! It's our childhood! If you read comics as a kid, you read some Superman. And, love him or hate him, you knew who Superman was, and, secretly, you probably wished the people around you could be a little more like him. Granted, it's easier to have an unbendable moral code if you don't need to eat and nothing can ever hurt you, bu…

1
GHOSTBUSTERS 57:35

11M ago57:35

57:35

When you're a dad/ And you want to watch/ A film/ GHOSTBUSTERS! As the Ghostbuniversters expands, we visit Ivan Reitman's ur-text, the 1984 classic that started the whole michegas.By Mike Dorval, Tooky Kavanagh, David Rabinow

1
THE MUPPET MOVIE 55:04

11M ago55:04

55:04

Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear are the yin/yang of Dad Energy. Kermit: Moral. Respected. The clear leader. Perhaps a tad dorky, but effective. If you saw Kermit wearing cargo pants, you would not be surprised. A collaborator, but with a vision. He is what all Dads aspire to be. Fozzie: Relentlessly mocked, justifiably so. His laughs come from pity…

1
WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT 55:50

11M ago55:50

55:50

Dads love cartoons. But you know what Dads really love? Horny cartoons that reference CHINATOWN. Also if you can get every classic Warner Brothers and Disney cartoon character in there as well...Dads eat that s*** up. That's why we're chowing down this week on (IMO) Robert Zemeckis' greatest achievement, 1988's WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT.…

1
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN 1:00:56

12M ago1:00:56

1:00:56

We talk a lot of Spielberg here at TDM, because Steven makes a lot of movies both for and about Dads. BRIDGE OF SPIES might be the ultimate "only Dads will watch this movie" movie. Every Dad remembers showing their kid RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK for the first time, probably a few years too soon because WATCH THIS PART WITH THE WHIP! JURASSIC PARK - in…

1
AIR FORCE ONE 51:58

12M ago51:58

51:58

We probably shouldn't ask more from our President than competence. Make some laws, keep the trains running on time, and be generally moral. I might be giving away too much, but I generally like the current guy. But you put him next to President Indiana Jones, and yeah, the achievements look a little thin. But to be fair, President Indiana Jones (I …

1
ELECTION 55:58

12M ago55:58

55:58

Been thinking a lot this week about MADAME WEB, which (spoiler alert!) isn't a good movie, but seems to double-suffer from the background radiation of institutional misogyny. MADAME WEB isn't your enemy, fellow nerds - it's the (male-dominated) studio that serves it to us, undercooked and leaking on the plate. You know what I didn't understand in 1…

1
GHOST 55:24

1y ago55:24

55:24

When your number's up, your number's up. Seems like a real Dad thing to say. But deep in our Dad Hearts, we fear the void. We fear the loss of control, the powerlessness, the inability to care for those we love. Sam Wheat - while not a Dad - is EveryDad. Cue the Righteous Brothers: it's time for Jerry Zucker's 1990 megahit GHOST.…

1
THE DEPARTED 1:09:28

1y ago1:09:28

1:09:28

It's hard to make a movie. It's even harder to make a movie that accurately depicts a specific place and set of characters. That said, if you DO make a movie in which you hope to portray a particular place and people, it's perhaps important to get actors who sound like they're from that particular place and time. That said - this movie is extremely…

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Mike Dorval, Tooky Kavanagh, David Rabinow Podcasts

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