280: We Like TV - GAME OF THRONES Wrap-Up
It’s been a long time since we’ve dipped our cinematically-inclined toes into the television pool. But what better reason to do so than the conclusion of the most cinematic show ever to grace the small screen?
Join us for a break-down, wrap-up, and maybe even a defense of the wildly divisive final season of HBO’s beloved and reviled 73 episode experiment in long form storytelling.
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
279: Retrospectating 1999 - STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE
On the third Wednesday of May in the year 1999, an unprecedented cinematic event took place in movie theaters around the world. Twenty years later, we’re still trying to answer two questions about the most anticipated / most disappointing film of the 20th Century:
“What the hell happened?”
and
“What does it all mean?”
Join us for another edition of our ongoing series “Retrospectating 1999” in which we masochistically revisit THE PHANTOM MENACE in an effort to uncover the truth behind the infamous fiasco at the center of a legitimate cultural phenomenon.
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
Grain of Salt - The Midnight Ride of the Monoculture: Excavating the Confluence of Avengers: EndGame of Thrones Weekend
Dear Mr. Fantasy play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy
You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that you break out in tears
Please don't be sad if it was a straight mind you had
We wouldn't have known you all these years
Something remarkable happened last weekend. Something that is unprecedented in the history of popular culture. Something that may never happen again. Something that quite likely signposts the end of an epoch or more likely signals the beginning of another. The confluence of events occurring between Wednesday, April 24th, 2019 when Avengers: Endgame opened in most countries around the world (interestingly enough, the United States was one of the last countries to open the film–two days later–perhaps inadvertently acting as reminder that it’s no longer the dominant global box office force) and Sunday, April 28th, 2019 when HBO aired the Game of Thrones episode “The Long Night” (in which the much-heralded Battle of Winterfell finally played out over the course of an epic 82-minute “telefeature”), may someday be remembered by historians as the last time that a true “monocultural” media event took place. And one in which the two dominant forms of mass entertainment–cinema and television–reached the maximum number of viewers and achieved the apex of their own cultural relevance in the same watershed weekend. Movies and TV may never again be this individually impactful–co-existing simultaneously and autonomously–as they were over the five day stretch in question.
278: Present Tense - Podcasters Assemble for an Epic AVENGERS: ENDGAME Roundtable
Marvel superfans and friends of the podcast, Anders Dahl and Ryan Julio join us this week as we lightning-round the 21 previous installments in the MCU’s Infinity Saga before digging deep into the franchise’s victory lap- the three hour emotional rollercoaster known as AVENGERS: ENGAME. A lot of personal growth, unexpected revelations, and soul-searching goes on in this episode so be forewarned- there will be SPOILERS not just about the film in question but also about your hosts. We could do this all day…
Skål Beer Hall (Anders’ Norwegian gastropub)
The Greyhound Bar and Grill (Ryan’s sports bar)
ETA (Ryan’s cocktail bar)
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
277: Oeuvre - Wrapping and Ranking the Films of STEVEN SPIELBERG - 1971 - 2018
What a long, strange trip it’s been. We began our journey through Steven Spielberg’s 32-film oeuvre in August of 2017.
20 months later we’ve finally arrived at our 8th and final podcast in the series- a thorough and passionate reflection and ranking episode.
Join us as we curate our personal hierarchies of the man’s filmography, break down his budgets and box office receipts, rank performances, scores, scenes, shots, and finally reveal which director will be covered in our next Oeuvre series (premiering May 14th)!
Thanks for following us on this epic campaign through Steven Spielberg’s 47-year feature filmmaking odyssey. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster and now it’s time for a new mission.
Viva la Oeuvre!
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
276: Oeuvre - The 7th Age of STEVEN SPIELBERG - 2015 - 2018
This installment is affectionately titled "Playing with House Money” and covers one film per year over four years, spanning 2015-2018:
-Bridge of Spies (2015)
-The BFG (2016)
-The Post (2017)
-Ready Player One (2018)
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
275: Retrospectating 1999 - GO / ELECTION
Twenty years ago today a film was released that caught director Doug Liman, writer John August, and a cast of hot young upstarts at a moment of perfect aesthetic and artistic unanimity. Go wasn’t a big hit at the time and was even dismissed by Leonard Maltin as a “junior Pulp Fiction.” But the film has aged in a lot of fascinating ways over the last two decades and on this week’s episode we engage in a rare disagreement about many of them.
We also dig deep into an analysis of Alexander Payne’s second (and best?) film Election and its significance in the context of Reese Witherspoon’s unique oeuvre.
Viva la ‘99!
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
274: Present Tense - Nominating Our Favorite Baseball Movies, Overthinking US, and Legitimizing THE BEACH BUM
We’re catching it up and breaking it down this week with a veritable smorgasbord of scintillating topics:
-Celebrating the beginning of the season with our favorite baseball movies (00:03:00)
-A SPOILER HEAVY litigation of the various interpretations of Jordan Peele’s US (00:14:20)
-A preemptive defense of Harmony Korine’s latest ode to hedonism, THE BEACH BUM (00:26:56)
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
273: Retrospectating 1999 - THE MATRIX
Twenty years ago this week a film came along that not only changed the way that we looked at science fiction, visual effects, and Keanu Reeve’s capacity for star power. It also legitimatized the fetishization of mirrored sunglasses, duster jackets, and leather pants. So pop your red pill, crank up the Rammstein, and dog-ear your copy of “Simulacra and Simulation.” We’re heading down the rabbit hole and back to March of 1999 for our definitive reevaluation of The Matrix. Never forget, there is no spoon!
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
272: Present Tense - TRIPLE FRONTIER and the Utter Inevitability of Netflix Ubiquity
Here at We Like Movies we’ve been extremely vocal about our love for filmmaker J.C. Chandor and have always self-identified as loud and proud “Chandorks.” But our dedication to the man’s body of work experienced some strain this past week on the occasion of his newest film premiering on Netflix.
Let’s just say that we have complicated feelings about Triple Frontier that we attempt to work out in a SPOILER heavy breakdown of the film, which develops—as these conversations often do—into a lot of hand-wringing and kvetching about the big red streaming giant that you’re probably watching out of the corner of your eye as you read this.
Zip up your windbreaker, bump the Metallica, and set fire to a stack of Benjamins. We’re heading to South America with J.C. Chandor and Ben Affleck and there may be some casualties along the way…
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
Grain of Salt: Ranking the 2018 Oscar Nominees
Watched ‘em all. Judged ‘em all. Ranked ‘em all. So there.
Read More270: Our Annual Oscar Postmortem (2019 Edition)
The Oscars came out of the gates with a bang and ended with a whimper. The night’s big winner was vexing but there were some legitimate highlights that we’ll likely be talking about for years to come.
Oscars. We watched ‘em. We’re talkin’ about ‘em. So there.
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
269: Retrospectating 1999 - OFFICE SPACE
20 years ago today, a 10 million dollar workplace comedy directed by the 37 year old creator of Beavis and Butthead was released by a major Hollywood studio and audiences ignored it EN MASSE. Today it occupies rarefied air as one of the most beloved cult texts of the 1990s. On the occasion of Office Space‘s 20th anniversary we travel back to 1999 to talk Liquid Television, Cornholio, Generation X, and the enduring legacy of Gary Cole’s matching tie and suspender set. If you don’t listen to this episode expect a strongly-worded memo about TPS reports to land on your desk first thing tomorrow morning.
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
268: Retrospectating 1999 - VARSITY BLUES / SHE'S ALL THAT
In honor of the 20th anniversary of one of the all time great movie years, we’re debuting a new feature in which we deep-dive into the most important films of the last year of the 20th century: “Retrospectating 1999!”
Join us for our inaugural episode in which we excavate the “year of the teenager” phenomenon when films like Varsity Blues and She’s All That inadvertently emerged as flagship texts for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it paradigmatic shift.
For a moment in 1999, everyone wanted to be 16. Luckily, your devoted podcast hosts actually were that age at the time. Finally it pays off!
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS
Media Management: Matt's 2018 Watchlist
I got detailed this year. I decided to keep track of EVERYTHING so I ended up with a particularly robust list, aided in no small part by the fact that I hit my goal of watching 365 films in 365 days. Hooray for goals!
Read More265: Oeuvre - The 6th Age of STEVEN SPIELBERG - 2008 - 2012
This installment is affectionately titled "The Struggle for Artistic Identity” (AKA “Who Am I?”) and spans 2008-2012:
-Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
-The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
-War Horse (2011)
-Lincoln (2012)
Email: wlmpodcast@gmail.com
Donate: Thanks!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Overcast / RSS