Tag Archives: franchises

Fun Size Episode 69 – Two Degrees From Luke Skywalker

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This month, we’re back with Sam Mulvey to get nerdier than we have for a while.

Mike takes the rough draft of his new “Bechdel Test”-esque thought experiment about media worldbuilding for a spin and tries to punch holes in it.  Are our large shared universe worlds really as large and expansive as they appear to be, or is that just an illusion to hide something much smaller and more insular?

And in probably more depth and exhaustive detail than necessary, Mike talks about his love and fascination with J.R.R. Tolkien and his Middle-earth legendarium, and Sam gets the opportunity to talk more about Frank Herbert’s Dune than he’s ever done before on the show.

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Fun Size Episode 58 – A Human Soup of Band-Aids and Pee

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We continue our chat with Michael Warbington, as we look at the trajectory of big-budget franchises and the knee-jerk fan anger that Martin Scorsese’s criticisms of “theme park” movies vs. “cinema”….and maybe he has a good point?

And maybe we should really stop complaining about the apparent theatrical monopoly of blockbusters and start championing smaller independent films, like The Paper Tigers instead.

And finally, has toxic fandom finally drifted into a form of self-harm for some people, as one Disney fan on social media starts drinking water out of Walt Disney World’s public fountains and rating its taste?

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Episode 45 – Willow

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Adventure doesn’t come any bigger than this.

We’re back in the studio and ready to cross swords with Tobiah Panshin, the author of The Game Master: A Guide to the Art and Theory of Roleplaying, and dive into George Lucas and Ron Howard’s high fantasy tale of magic and child endangerment: Willow!

When a diminutive farmer, Willow Ufgood, finds a baby princess prophesied to destroy the evil Queen Bavmorda, he is recruited by magical forces to be the child’s guardian. Now, aided by a roguish swordsman, a wise sorceress, and an annoying pair of impish brownies, Willow must overcome his fears and save the entire realm from evil.

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Black Ops Episode 19 – Whoa: Keanu Reeves in Theory and Practice [DECLASSIFIED!]

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[As we continue our show hiatus, it has been decided by the fine people who support us on Patreon that we are going to make public — or ‘declassify’ — one of our Patreon-exclusive Black Ops episodes every month. This month, our patrons have personally selected this episode to help fill the gap! Consider it a look back at the ‘Before Times’]

Original Patreon release date: December 28, 2019

In a discussion recorded back in November 2019, we try to decide in real-time if Terminator: Dark Fate warrants being covered on Podcasta la Vista, Baby! or not.

We talk a bit about our coming post-Arnold future and drop a couple hints at a replacement series. And we mention at least one shelved podcast series idea that we decided to not do.

Is it time for Star Wars, among other franchises, to go away for a while? We talk a bit how major media companies keep trying to recreate the success of lightning-in-a-bottle books and movies to diminishing results.

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Black Ops Episode 19 – Whoa: Keanu Reeves in Theory and Practice

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In a discussion recorded back in November, we try to decide in real-time if Terminator: Dark Fate warrants being covered on Podcasta la Vista, Baby! or not.

We talk a bit about our coming post-Arnold future and drop a couple hints at a replacement series. And we mention at least one shelved podcast series idea that we decided to not do.

Is it time for Star Wars, among other franchises, to go away for a while? We talk a bit how major media companies keep trying to recreate the success of lightning-in-a-bottle books and movies to diminishing results.

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Fun Size Episode 38 – The H.H. Holmes of Minecraft

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We sit back down with Sam Mulvey to learn that Keanu Reeves is now in a video game, and that he remains the best human. And we ponder…

Are there places on the internet, and in online gaming, where people are actually nice to each other? Are we doomed to transform into digital sociopaths when we’re given both anonymity and the means to kill strangers with lasers — and no consequences?

Plus, we’re approaching the upcoming reimagining of Frank Herbert’s Dune by Denis Villeneuve with optimistic apprehension. Deep breaths, everyone.

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Fun Size Episode 19 – This Human Centipede of Cinematic Nonsense

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We’re back in the studio for a continued conversations with our friend Kit Laika, to dig into why Dwayne Johnson may be the most likeable human being in the world.

And then we tempt fate by taking a critical look at the first DC superhero movie to get universal critical acclaim in nearly a decade!

Kit has an unpopular opinion about the new Wonder Woman film. What are the reasonable expectations we can have for a blockbuster superhero film? We talk about how we can unfairly pile our hopes and dreams onto a piece of entertainment, and how it can often be difficult to be honest about something that we really, really want to love.

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Mike is Back on the Fire and Water Podcast!

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Mike recently sat down and recorded a guest appearance on the Fire and Water Podcast with its co-host Rob Kelly – the graphic designer behind our cool panelist Bio pictures!

Their topic: the Aliens franchise — for a start. From there, they bled into a discussion about all sorts of things pop culture-y and nerdy.

Enjoy!