Peak Viewing

Bride of Frankenstein is a solid contender for the most unhinged sequel of all time. It’s a marvelous blend of humor, horror, whimsy, and sadness that keeps you on your toes every minute. There’s little lab-grown people in jars, interesting reinterpretations of scenes from the novel, a picnic in a tomb, and almost five minutes of screen time for the titular character! We get into it all, including James Whale’s terrific imagination, the censor’s terrible buffoonery, Elsa Lanchester’s towering hairdo, and much more.

Monsters are back on the menu! After we had a grand time covering Dracula and Nosferatu films last year, this year we’re talking about Frankenstein to coincide with Guillermo Del Toro’s new spin on the old classic. We’re starting with 1931’s Frankenstein, the James Whale film that arguably set the standard for what Frankenstein would mean more so than the original novel. You better believe we’ve got everything in this jam-packed episode. Simpsons references! Quotes from passages in the novel! Stories about little girls and hard-boiled eggs! Listen for our hour-long “speed run” recap of Mary Shelley’s...

Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World might be the most underseen movie we’ve covered on this show (well, maybe the most underseen this century). Part of that obscurity is due to the Islamophobic times in which it was created, and part of it is that it’s simply just okay at best. Some of the questions we do our best to answer this week include: Could we write a 500-page report? How well did this movie perform in Romania? Why do we keep bringing up so many Coen brothers movies? Is Tiger Woods the Michael Jordan of golf...

Is Albert Brooks losing his edge? It’s the question posited by 1999’s The Muse, in which Brooks plays a screenwriter who feels left behind in a frustrating and absurd Hollywood. As he tells a story that would seem to be inspired by his own life, we find ourselves more disinterested than in previous films. Naturally, we take that feeling and channel it into several off-topic tangents! Mobile games that no one has ever played! Debates over covering Avatar: Fire and Ash! Something about a comedian named James Carr! And also, quite possibly the most diabolical Would You Rather scen...

Brooks follow-up to Defending Your Life is a smaller, simpler movie about what gets passed on from mother to son. As two sons of two mothers, we have some takes! While this is ultimately perhaps the least-relatable to us of this miniseries, we still discuss Albert Brooks and Debbie Reynolds’ chemistry, the multiple references to movies we’ve covered on this show, off-brand Snickers, document storage, calling your mother, and of course, all the mediocre songs in Mary Poppins.

As Ari Aster put it, Defending Your Life is “the feel-good movie for people who identify as feeling routinely bad.” Albert Brooks vision of the afterlife may be fully realized and wondrous, but it’s what it has to say about our own plane of existence that is really profound. We discuss everything about it, along with what clips would play at our own trials, the one or two poorly aged jokes, and how Henry almost died this week.

This week we talk about Lost in America, the mid-life crisis movie to end all mid-life crisis movies. Albert Brooks is skewering baby boomers who watched Easy Rider one too many times, and we’re asking the big questions. What age do you have to be to consider it a “mid-life” crisis? How much is the nest egg in 2025 dollars? What’s the deal with New York, New York? Could you live in a Winnebago long-term? And what’s the right age to watch Airplane?

Picture a man. Now give him all of the worst, most awful (non-violent) possessive traits you can imagine. Now picture a movie all about this man, and you might have something approximating Albert Brooks’ sophomore feature, Modern Romance. This damning indictment of the modern dating man was written decades before terms like “toxic masculinity” entered our everyday vocabulary, and for that reason it has an almost timeless quality to its satire. In between groaning over this man, we also discuss the fun meta filmmaking scenes, the terrible DVD cover, and how much Henry’s couch looks like the one in the m...

Today we embark on a journey through the comedies of Albert Brooks. His first film, 1979’s Real Life, is a wonderful send up of reality TV, a genre of entertainment that effectively didn’t even exist yet! We discuss the myriad of ways this movie was ahead of it’s time, the interconnected web of alt comedians in this time period, a few embarrassing film blinds spots we still have, and of course, the Jumbotron CEO.

We’re taking one last dip into the Coens filmography with Ethan and Tricia’s new film Honey Don’t! This may not exactly be a "great" movie, but it’s enough of a step-up from Drive-Away Dolls that we both walked away somewhat impressed. We share our observations on audience reactions, IMDb plot keyword sickos, the hottest new addictive mobile game, and how we can no longer trust our own moviegoing opinions.

Tony Scott’s 2009 remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 is unfortunately the kind of remake that has all the edges sanded off. What was once a story about corruption and scorn in the hearts of all men has been retooled into a tale of just two men, one on a righteous path and the other tumbling down the crime-ridden ravine. Are they different? Are they the same? What was Henry’s secret agenda from last week? Why did Bill Clinton endorse Cuomo? And what the hell is MovieIQ?!

Our shortest miniseries to date focuses on two films, the original from the 1970s and the remake in the late aughts. This week we’re talking about 1974’s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, the original story of criminals hijacking a New York subway car. Samuel read the book, and he’s disturbed! Henry heard the dialogue, and he’s delighted! We discuss the flavorful style of this movie, from the performances to the music, and tease a secret agenda behind this miniseries…

Now that we’re done with the movies Joel and Ethan Coen made together, we move on to the “solo” projects. We already covered The Tragedy of Macbeth last year as part of our Denzel Washington miniseries, so it’s on to Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls, a lesbian road comedy made with his wife Tricia Cooke. This movie (which we both found to be equal parts strange, funny, and bad) has its fair share of topic starters, so please enjoy our unhinged discussion on character actor cameos, southern accents, lesbian bars, and, of course, dildos. Way more dildo discussion...

This week we discuss the final (?) film Joel and Ethan Coen made together, a western anthology that is tonally all over the place. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs may not be our favorite movie from the two brothers, but there is something remarkable about seeing all their styles and themes blended into six particular stories. In this tangent-filled episode we also discuss Detroit: Become Human, the origins of Samuel’s caffeine addictions, if Kevin Costner and James Cameron will ever get to finish their passion projects, an update to our Coens Tonal Alignment Chart, and our final rankings of th...

As far as Hollywood send-ups go, Hail, Caesar! is pretty good. As far as Coen brothers movies go, Hail, Caesar! is… well, it’s near the bottom of our rankings. That’s not to say that this star-studded satire isn’t worth your time, it’s just, eh… we haven’t an opinion. On this episode we also get into Henry’s secret undercover job, Spielberg’s forgotten WWII film, and Hobie’s failure to keep it so simple.

This week we need no carpet on our floor. Come along and follow us as we talk about Inside Llewyn Davis, a love letter to the early 60s folk scene that is also one of the Coens most well-crafted stories. So don’t miss the train we’re on, don’t know that we’re gone, listen on as we discuss the film and go on tangents about what the best desserts are, Samuel’s hot (or not hot!) takes on leftovers, the eternal battle of Beyonce vs. Taylor Swift, and of course, Shachtmanism.

It’s time to go back to the Wild West and discuss the western masterpiece True Grit. The Coen brothers’ second film based on a novel is another grounded no-nonsense work of adaptation, but they still find plenty of avenues to insert their own unique voice. In between comparing this to the (great) Charles Portis novel, we also discuss Hailee Steinfeld’s wonderful performance, Carter Burwell’s effective score, leaf blowers, the unconditional affection of snakes, and how much you have to drink before you can call yourself an alcoholic.

Today’s Coen brothers film is perhaps their most idiosyncratic, an enigmatic and existential nightmare with more questions than answers. And while A Serious Man grapples with the hard-hitting questions as to the nature of our universe, we’re asking the really stupid ones! What’s the optimal office cubicle setup? Why are TV antennas not a solved problem? And what’s that movie where a character is a secretary but they actually call it something else and that’s part of it?

This week we’re getting in a run and talking about the raw intelligence with Burn After Reading, Joel and Ethan's zany follow-up to No Country for Old Men that remains a somewhat under-seen gem. Between the dancing gifs, wacky performances, and memorable lines, this is a very iconic movie that’s near and dear to both Henry and Samuel. So buckle up, keep an eye on everyone, and report back to us when it makes sense. After all, we’re not set up to mold hard rubber.

Bust out your air guns and lucky quarters, it’s finally time to talk about arguably the most celebrated and beloved Coen brothers film, No Country for Old Men. Based off of the 2005 Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, this film is a wonderful example of how adaptation can be an additive process instead of simply reductive. We get into the comparisons between the two works of art, along with plenty of tangents about why 2007 was an amazing year for film, the peak ways of viewing this movie, our own semi-forgettable first-time watching experiences, Ed’s grandiose soliloquies, Kell...

No film has been more forgotten in the Coens filmography than The Ladykillers, their stab at a 1955 British comedy set in the 21st-century American South. Like many movies we cover on this show, it falls into the realm of peaks and valleys. Everything Tom Hanks is doing? A peak! Joel and Ethan trying to write Black characters? A valley! As we try to untangle our feelings about this macabre and surreal film we also discuss Roderick Jaynes’ disdain for it, Irma P. Hall making Cannes Film Festival history, and exciting new theories about body odor. Plus: we mispronounce Apichatpong We...

We are returning to the Coen brothers to finish off the second half of their career after covering the first half last year. Starting off this week is Intolerable Cruelty, the forgotten romcom that came right in the middle of their less-appreciated early 00s run. Despite it’s lackluster central romance, we still find plenty to talk about relating to George Clooney’s teeth, asses getting nailed, why you shouldn’t do your taxes before watching this film, and of course, the legal ramifications of physically destroying a prenuptial agreement.

It’s time to trust Tom Cruise one last time in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. This final (?) chapter in cinema’s most consistent action franchise has some of the greatest stunts put to screen. It also has some of the most confusing storytelling choices, and is tonally kind of a disaster. We do our best to untangle this web and answer the most top-of-mind questions. Questions like should we allow Tom Cruise to die for our entertainment? Is The Entity fun anymore? Was Bill Clinton president in this universe? And why is Tom Cruise in his underwear for...

The end is here! Season 2 of Andor is officially in the books, and we’ve got one last batch of episodes to go over. Come for the incredible Kleya/Luthen backstory and cozy Yavin IV vibes, stay for the endless tangents about Jabba the Hutt’s son, morbid physical media thoughts, folding laundry movies, and our existential uncertainty towards the future of Star Wars.

The third batch of episodes is here, and it is the best of season two of Andor. Despite that, this week we have (mostly) come to terms with the fact that this will never quite be the same as season 1. Even though we still really really enjoy it! After that we get into several tangents about the immaculate production design, the introduction of the Force into this show, the prevalence of Jedi knowledge, and far and away the greatest death sequence in this show. But perhaps most importantly: what’s the correct umbrella term for spies/assassins/conmen? Liars? De...

Spy stuff is happening! Syril is given a job to do! Wilmon is huffing gasoline! The Ghorman spiders are… well, actually we didn’t see as much of the Ghorman spiders as we had hoped, but this second batch of episodes in season two of Andor is still a decidedly fun time. Your co-hosts both had bad weeks in the Real World and were a bit distracted watching their weekly space opera, so please enjoy this exceedingly unhinged episode from two people who desperately need to turn out the light and sleep.

(CW: Discussion of the sexual assault scene occurs at 1:26:00 - 1:31:00.)

Andor season 2 is finally here, and we’re here to say: it seems good? Between the myriad of harvests, weddings, and WWII-esque meetings, the first three episodes of season two seem to be a drastic shift in terms of the storytelling structure, so this week we unpack all of our thoughts on that. We also find lots to say about the galaxy’s biggest hit, 25,000 year old artifacts, space rock paper scissors, Imperial Kinderblocks, and a peak viewing theory that we are simply too lazy to edit ours...

Jason Bourne marks the end of the Jason Bourne franchise for now (or maybe forever?), and what a bummer to go out on. Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon return to completely annex The Bourne Legacy, and give you everything you already know and love about Bourne. It seems like every time we find something to like about this film, we take two steps back and find another thing that doesn’t work at all. We also discuss the future of spy movies, the future of James Bond, and what is truly the most deranged Moby fact of all time.

The legacy of The Bourne Legacy is that it’s not so good, and oh no, those rumors are mostly true! Tony Gilroy’s return to the franchise was a clear attempt by the studio to expand this into its own cinematic universe, and as a result the movie we got is bogged down by a lot of setup that goes nowhere. But that doesn’t mean we can’t ask the hard hitting questions: Why wasn’t Oscar Isaac the lead in this? How long after The Bourne Identity does this take place? What on earth is Edward Norton’s j...

They said it couldn’t be done, but here we are this week with not one, but two movies to talk about! We’re taking a quick detour away from Bourne to talk about the two films that Tony Gilroy directed before The Bourne Legacy, the quintessential legal masterpiece Michael Clayton and the regrettably befuddling Duplicity. Join us as we talk about too many loaves of bread, miracle hair creams, Realm and Conquest, frozen pizza, yard signs, and of course, the relationship both these films have to the manipulative and cruel corporate structure of America. Also, how did Michael Clay...

The Bourne Ultimatum was once the end of the franchise, and it is the epitome of going out on a high note. This action-packed thriller has got something to say, which is why we spend nearly two hours trying to figure out what exactly is it saying! Whether it’s mid-2000s American geopolitics, Bourne’s relationship to water, the perils of a multi-billion dollar entity operating with no oversight, or just how much Matt Damon seems to have hated Tony Gilroy’s first draft, we attempt to cover it all. Plus: a Moby fact bigger than any house.

Paul Greengrass has entered the Bourne franchise, which can mean only one thing: it’s time to activate the shaky cam! The Bourne Supremacy may not achieve the same highs as The Bourne Identity, but this follow-up gives us two instances of perhaps Bourne’s most iconic move: calling people on the phone while staring at them through a window! Come for the convoluted web of conspiracies that is the plot of this movie, stay for the exhaustive breakdown of the many tattoos of Moby.

In preparation for the second season of Andor, we’re diving headfirst into Bourne, the early-to-mid-2000s action franchise written for the screen (mostly) by Tony Gilroy. This efficient thriller holds up surprisingly well given the time period, and it’s making us ask lots of questions. Questions like: How much of Bourne’s amnesia is a parallel for the PTSD veterans experience? What does the color red have to do with this movie? Who is still checking out Ludlum’s original novels from the library? And can sleeper agents receive orders in the form of emoji? Shut it down. Duration: 02:03:05

After a release date that has changed damn near seventeen times, Mickey 17 is finally here! Bong Joon Ho’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning Parasite is a big-budget sci-fi romp that carries over several themes from his previous work. But we’re left wondering: why does it feel so unserious? Are we really in a good place to receive Mark Ruffalo’s performance? Why are there ten more Mickeys than the book? What else is different from the book? And what the hell was going on with pigeon man?

This week we are finally jumping on a bus bound for New York City to talk about the definitive film from the 7th Academy Awards: It Happened One Night. This wildly successful film became the template for practically all romcoms for the ensuing 90 years, but we’ve got some questions. Questions like: Have the Oscars ever been good about rewarding the best films? What should you eat with this movie, raw carrots or coffee and donuts? Why are hotel rooms in 1934 the same cost as sending a telegram? How the heck did Claudette pronounce Colbert? And why does smoking lo...

We cannot stress this enough: if you have not watched any of the movies in this miniseries, you owe it to yourself to check out Manhattan Melodrama. This crime drama about two brothers is easily the best written (it did win Best Original Story at the 7th Academy Awards, after all) of the bunch, and as a result it holds up remarkably well. We discuss some of our favorite shots from old “one take Woody”, how we plan to adapt this story to modern day (featuring New York’s hottest brother combo), and give a Peak Viewing recommendation that includ...

The third and final musical of this miniseries gets covered this week with One Night of Love. Is this the most forgettable one from the bunch? Maybe. However, by this point we come to some genuine insights around how prolific musicals were at this time in Hollywood, as well as how much the gender dynamics of these films has to say about the 1930s. Also we have a revolutionary idea for pizza boxes and we hate opera music.

Cleopatra is the last of the “unstreamables” in our miniseries on the 7th Academy Awards, and despite its costume designs it was actually released after the Code was being enforced. This historical epic from Cecil B DeMille might be historically inaccurate and say more about 1930s society than it does the fall of the Roman Republic, but at least it features an opulent seduction sequence on a barge and perhaps the most maximalist battle montage of all-time!

(CW: There are brief discussions of sexual assault from about 48:00 to 54:00. There is also discussion throughout of a wolf being killed with someone’s bare hands, a real thing that really happens in this movie. Maybe skip this week if you don’t want to hear about either of those topics!)

This week’s film walks a very fine line between racist caricature of Inuit people, and empathetic portrayal of their average every day lives. It’s a film full of peaks and valleys, with some incredible nature photography interspersed with the worst rear projection you have ever see...

Our second musical this miniseries is a raunchy adaptation of a raunchy operetta, it’s Ernst Lubitsch’s The Merry Widow. This one stands as a great example of a pre-Code film released post-Code, but even with the pre-Code changes restored it’s unfortunately not a very good film! Topics discussed include the lackluster soundtrack, a reoccurring poor son of a bitch, and our personal theories about how good Danilo must be in the sack. And what happened to the black dog?

Viva Villa! is a hard movie to find, any honestly, for good reason! This pretty racist biopic starring a white man as Pancho Villa is probably the most problematic movie we’ve covered, and as a result it’s not a very easy movie to appreciate. We walk through how this misguided Oscar-winning film came to be, discuss how it’s content is a good example of the pre-Code era, and read quotes from one of the greatest non-apologies in film history.

It’s time to go back! We’re starting the year off by going back 90 years and covering the winners at the 7th Academy Awards in 1935, beginning with The Gay Divorcee which won Best Song. This musical was the second of many collaborations between Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, but it also features a diverse cast of overbearing aunts, bumbling lawyers, and concertina-playing racist stereotypes! Listen along as we dance the Continental and try to recap a plot so bizarre it reduces us to befuddled single syllable noises on multiple occasions.

This week we’re carrying over an annual tradition from our previous podcast, and going over some of our favorite art that came out last year! Join us as we share our lists of favorite movies, books, TV shows, YouTube videos, poker games, 4X expansions, comedy shows, rap battles, board games, and much more.

The time has come to succumb to the darkness. Bunker down, because we are an appetite which will only be satiated by spending over two hours talking about the new Nosferatu film. In between discussing how this fits into both the Eggers filmography and the storied vampire canon, we also discuss the multitude of nightmarish sequences, the themes (or lack thereof), and the Count’s truly magnificent visual design. Plus: our personal choices for favorite Dracula characters in film, and the announcement of our next miniseries!

Who remembers Dracula 2000? Even having watched it this week, we struggle to recall this Weinstein-produced adaptation that features Dracula going where he’s never gone before: New Orleans! We also discuss the wonderful retail chain Virgin Megastores (#sponsored), the problems with modernizing this particular story, and the dubious science behind the cross-section of blood and DNA. Plus: what does our “dream Dracula” look like?

In many ways, Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the most faithful adaptation to the source novel. In many other ways, it is approximately ten times hornier. In between trying to make sense of those two contrasts, we also grapple with the American actors in this movie, the many physical transformations of Dracula himself, the barrage of unique stylistic visual effects, and our own personal feelings on a certain election that happened recently. (Look, we usually record a month in advance, sometimes we’re a bit late on breaking news.)

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (which was simply called Nosferatu the Vampyre in America) is perhaps the most “out there” movie in this series so far. It is slow, nihilistic, and cruel, but those are all things we really appreciate about it. (Or maybe not, Samuel might hate this movie by the end of the podcast!) Join us as we recap it and talk about what wet foods Jonathan reminds us of, the terrible true stories behind the rat infestation shots, and Henry goes on a long tangent about how this movie helped alleviate an anxiety we all probably felt in t...

Hang on a minute, is the Hammer Film version of Dracula the definitive Dracula movie? This adaptation from 1958 (which was called Horror of Dracula over here in the States) takes some intense tonal swings, while somehow staying the truest to the source novel. Topics discussed include what would happen if we drank a lot of blood, why this movie is so much better than the other Hammer productions we’ve seen, and saving Dracula sequels for prison.

Is there any vampire performance more iconic than Bela Lugosi as Dracula? Probably not, but boy do we wish the movie around him were a bit more compelling! Before recapping this frankly kind of dry movie, we also do a deep dive on the original 1897 novel, along with its themes and some theories about Bram Stoker. We also go on several tangents around confusing vampire lore, half-buried gigantic skeletons, and the Spanish language version of this movie.

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is by far the oldest movie we have ever covered. The 102-year-old German Expressionist film is perhaps one of the most beloved works of horror from the silent film era, and it was almost lost forever. We unpack the incredible behind the scenes story of this unauthorized Dracula adaptation, along with our thoughts on how this movie adapts (and changes!) the story from Bram Stoker’s iconic novel.

It should come as no surprise that a film adaptation of one of the greatest plays of all time directed by a visionary auteur starring some of the greatest actors of their generations is a wonderful time at the movies. But what no one could have predicted was simply how much this movie is for the sickos! Freaky witches, light from nowhere, Macbeth as a tragic pawn versus an inevitable tyrant, sparse landscapes, Shakespeare dialog that no one understands, it’s all here this week! Plus our closing thoughts on Denzel Washington and the announcement of our next miniseries!

This week we’re getting in the backyard (or maybe it’s a stage?) and covering the play-to-movie sensation that is 2016’s Fences. In addition to being a directorial effort from Denzel (the first we’ve covered in this miniseries), this also marks the start of his August Wilson adaptations, and his transition into more producing behind the scenes. We get into all that, plus Viola Davis’ astonishing monologues, how niche it can be to actually seek out and experience plays, and the difficulty of finding a new newborn baby.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Wait, specifically it’s a plane being flown upside down by a drunk Denzel Washington! That’s right, we’re covering Flight this week, a movie with incredible peaks and valleys. The peak of course being Denzel’s performance and the stunningly authentic portrayal of addiction, and the valleys being… kinda everything else? Other topics discussed include Robert Zemeckis’s shaky 2000s career, Don Cheadle’s scene-stealing performance, and our woeful ignorance of drugs in all forms.

A bank heist! A hostage situation! A man! Inside! 2006’s Inside Man marks the fourth collaboration between Spike Lee and Denzel Washington, and for the occasion they made an incredibly fun thriller. Is Clive Owen kind of a wet bag? Yes! Is Jodie Foster’s character really cool but ultimately kinda pointless? Also yes! We get into all that plus Spike’s distinctive dolly shots, his New York sensibilities, and the tagline this poster desperately needs.

Podcast listeners. Peak Viewing podcast listeners. Peak Viewing listeners. You want to turn on this episode and listen to Henry and Samuel discuss the forgotten 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate, starring Denzel Washington. You will listen to their tangents and anecdotes about the brilliant ’62 film, the messed up ’59 book, Pokemon that look like they’re wearing diapers, and their woeful miscalculations of who stars in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Of course, when it’s over you’ll have no memory of ever listening to it…

Have you ever had an awful first day on the job? Multiply that experience by a thousand, and you might have something resembling Training Day. This movie might not feature Denzel’s best performance, but is it the performance where he’s having the most fun? What movie has the most realistic portrayal of being high? What’s Henry’s ultimate theory on sleep? When did we stop dual-wielding pistols? What are glue balloons?

Remember the Titans? We saw them play this week, and even we barely can. Join us for the fourth episode in our Denzel Washington miniseries as we discuss several hot and controversial topics, including: high school football not being that good, treacly movies like this generally aging terribly, and the subpar naming of Kansas City’s two premier soccer teams. Also, can we solve racism by giving up all our awards?

We’re taking control back from Gene Hackman this week with 1995’s Crimson Tide! This tense thriller might be one of the most watchable films we’ve covered so far, but is it even the best submarine movie? Where do all the officers belong on the alignment chart? Should we cover Tony Scott?! All that, plus some shocking implications for our oldest president!

For the second film in our Denzel Washington miniseries, we’re heading to the streets of Philadelphia. This episode has everything: tangents about wine prices, punny Halloween costumes, where to sit while watching this movie, and our thorny feelings about this ostensibly being a movie made for straight people. Nothing we say is advice!

What better way to start our next miniseries than with maybe the greatest biopic ever made? Look, nobody needs our opinions on Malcolm X, both the film and the person, but we’re gonna give them to you anyway! Spike Lee is directing his ass off, Denzel Washington is disappearing into his role, and we’re patenting ideas on how to break up long movies (The Popcorn Pause™).

Listen up all you vault hunters, it’s time to travel to Pandora! No, not the moon with blue people, the desert hellscape where that forgettable 2024 movie Borderlands takes place! This might be the ultimate “dead dove do not eat” of bad movies, but Samuel’s here to provide us with all the Borderlands video game knowledge, including all the shocking ways this movie changes major aspects of characters. Plus: our video game movie rankings, and the announcement of our next miniseries!

It’s time for the third and final treasure hunting movie in our video game adaptations series, 2022’s Uncharted. This might be the ultimate forgettable Covid movie, but there’s enough charm here that Henry’s got a theory on the likability behind these actors. Other topics discussed include the optics of treasure hunting, the storytelling shortcuts in this film, and the “honor among thieves” stakes feeling about as serious as a game of Monopoly. This episode is brought to you by Papa John’s.

Get your Sherlock Holmes hat and about five cups of coffee, it’s time for Detective Pikachu! Are the visual effects remarkable in this thing or what? Is Ryan Reynolds shtick painfully bland? Do you have to be a Pokemon fan to enjoy this movie? Is Torchip a thing? All that, plus all the reasons why Henry did not have a peak viewing experience this week.

Here’s the video Samuel recommended at the end!

Two weeks ago Angelina Jolie was playing Lara Croft, and this week it’s Alicia Vikander’s turn! The 2018 adaptation of Tomb Raider might be the new barometer for a Just Fine Movie, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about how it relates to the 2013 game, British money sounding made up, proper procedure for stab wounds, and of course, color puzzles.

2007’s Hitman might be the worst video game adaptation we’ve covered so far, but it’s almost unfair to call it a video game adaptation when this film is clearly more inspired by *cough* Bourne *cough* something else. What’s the deal with these inconsistent city title cards? Is Nika the worst female character in cinema history? What makes the Hitman video games the perfect sandbox? All that, plus our recommendations on hitman movies that are actually good.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is probably not the worst video game movie, but it might be the silliest? While covering this semi-forgotten 2001 action movie, we’re counting frames, checking out packages, and discussing Lara Croft’s BBE (Big Batman Energy)! Where’s your head at?!

Can you make a movie out of a video game? We’re not fully certain this movie answers that question, but hopefully our miniseries can! At the very least this podcast about the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie (that is far better than the internet would have you think) answers several questions about when Princess Peach was named Peach, if the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs directly hit a dinosaur, and what the worst website on the internet is.

We’re ending part one of our Coen Brothers miniseries with the dour and depressing drama The Man Who Wasn’t There. The good news? Henry was in the mood for it and loved it! The bad news? Samuel was not in the mood for it and was crawling through the seconds! Join us as we talk about Ed Crane being the ultimate poor sonofabitch, the odds that any random piano player is playing Beethoven, and the Political Alignment Chart of the Coen Brothers. Plus: the announcement of our next miniseries!

This week we’re hiking through the Mississippi bayou on a hare-brained odyssey with O Brother, Where Art Thou? Henry may be constantly on the verge of losing his voice, but that doesn’t stop us from going through this delightful and surreal comedy! Topics covered include all the Odyssey references we can piece together, why the soundtrack here is so nostalgic, and watching this movie via TikTok.

Jeff Bridges in bowling-related dream sequences? John Goodman pointing guns at people and kicking them out of wheelchairs? That’s right, it’s White Russian time! The Big Lebowski is the topic this week, and this cult classic continues the Coen’s winning streak of critically successful movies that capture all of their stylistic elements that people love. Plus: our two counter examples of how to have a peak viewing experience!

Are we gonna be talking about Fargo this week? Oh yah, you betcha! What is it about this midwestern crime thriller that broke through into the mainstream? What makes it the Coen brother’s strongest overall film to date? How do you pronounce Buscemi? What are relations like between Minnesota and North Dakota? And most importantly: what kind of sick child is into The Accordion King?

The Hudsucker Proxy was considered a massive bomb at the time of its release, but is there more to it than that? Samuel thinks it’s the epitome of a three-star film, while Henry thinks it’s a few changes away from being a masterpiece. We discuss it and also provide an unhinged recap of the unhinged Hula Hoop montage, Deadpool DVD covers, and the hottest Big Ben-related conspiracy theories.

Barton Fink is a movie that leaves you with more questions than answers. Questions like: do we want to see the life of the mind? What is the movie actually trying to say? Why is John Goodman always such a welcome sight? How fun is Tony Shaloub? Who still uses wallpaper? What’s the difference between all the “arts that take place inside a ring”?

The Coen brothers continue their trend of doing something completely different each movie with their third outing Miller’s Crossing. This week we’re giving you plenty of rumpus, but don’t worry, there ain’t no hi-hat! (Unless you count Tom’s hat.) Topics covered include what that kid did with the toupee, why Henry relates to Steve Buscemi’s Mink character, and how the big guy was definitely Tic-Tac.

We’re coming in hot this week like a biker from hell, it’s 1987’s Raising Arizona! This podcast has everything you could possibly want to hear. We’ve got speculation about parenting from two guys who know nothing on the subject, theories about this and Blood Simple being the “templates” that shape the rest of the Coen brothers careers, and also: is Hi GOD?

It’s time for a new miniseries! We’re going through the first half of the Coen Brothers collaborative career and we’re starting things off HOT with the western-infused noir Blood Simple. Join us as we get into all the important context surrounding this confident and stylish debut, including what makes the Coens “American” filmmakers, the airtight writing of Chekov’s three bullets (no more, no less!), what animals can crawl around without their heads, and why Ethan Coen needed to be buried alive.

What a wonderful day! We’re entering the kingdom this week with Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the follow-up to the iconic prequel trilogy. We discuss how it stacks up to all the other Apes films, and how we might be too close to this franchise now to fully discern what is even good anymore. Plus: praise for the more adventurous tone of the film, questions about the pants-wearing humans, and the announcement of our next miniseries!

War for the Planet of the Apes marks the end of Caesar’s reboot prequel trilogy, and while Henry appreciates the Paul Dehn-esque nihilism, Samuel thinks it’s the worst of the trilogy. In between covering the plot of this bizarre movie we also coin a new term, discuss Woody Harrelson’s pretty mid performance, and learn about the depressing reality of gorillas riding horses.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes seems to be the most generally liked of the prequel trilogy, but how does it hold up? Turns out mostly pretty well, but we still don’t care about these dang dirty humans! Topics discussed include alternate titles (Armory of the Planet of the Apes?) and other “o” words Caesar could shout.

We’ve made it to the modern era of Ape films with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It may not be as punchy as those original films, but there’s still plenty of meat on this bone! We’ve got James Franco’s crazy room, Draco Malfoy’s sadistic tendencies, and at the center of it all, a brilliant ape named Caesar. Plus: Samuel’s insights into how accurate all the science-y stuff is!

We’re jumping through the electromagnetic storm this week and covering Tim Burton’s single attempt at reviving the Planet of the Apes franchise. Is it good? No! Is it bad? Kind of, but it’s mostly boring! In between tangents where we clearly avoid talking about this stinker of a movie, we get into Paul Giamatti’s committed performance, Mark Wahlberg’s complete lack of one, and marvel over how far ape makeup and prosthetics has come since the 1970s.

We’re finally closing the book on these Paul Dehn sequels with Battle for the Planet of the Apes, but we’re still asking the hard-hitting questions. Is this the worst of the sequels? When does this movie take place, let alone WHERE does it take place? Would the apes be better if they wrote down “ape should not kill ape self”? All this and more!

Conquest is crazy! Henry and Samuel are unpacking what is maybe the most overt and unsubtle Apes movie yet, but it’s actually still pretty damn good. We recap the plot and cover Caesar’s rise to power, the brilliant (if melodramatic) script, and all the real-world parallels in this science fiction spectacle.

By the time you get to Escape from the Planet of the Apes, the third entry in a franchise that you would think stopped after the entire planet blew up, you’re either doubling down on your investment, or you’re getting ready to cash out. Our co-hosts are divided on this point, but even with our different opinions there’s still plenty to talk about, including the chimps in human clothing, the subtext which is now simply text, and the ending of this movie that leaves you shocked and confused. In other words, it’s a Planet of the Apes...

If the first movie was a shocking twist ending, then Beneath the Planet of the Apes truly takes shocking twist endings to the next level! Henry and Samuel discuss everything that makes this second entry unique, including the introduction of a second astronaut, the gorilla brutality, and the telepathic mutants who pray to a nuke (yes, this is a real movie). But first: how incredible is the Simpsons parody of the first movie?

How good is the original 1968 film Planet of the Apes? Henry and Samuel were both shocked to found out: it’s pretty good! Join us as we recap what makes this a special science fiction film, why the themes and subtext are so rich, and how to get the most out of the moviegoing snacking experience.

It’s time to ride the sandworms! Dune: Part 2 has graced us with its presence and we’ve got some thoughts. Join us as we drink the water of life and go through everything we liked about the movie, the changes from the book that we have some questions about, and also come up with some fun alternative uses for the infamous popcorn bucket.

Coming March 4th...