Black Ops Episode 21 – Hunter Biden and the Holy Grail [CLIP]

We’re back with a new Black Ops podcast, exclusive to our Patreon supporters! This month, we’re back with Kit Laika to continue the conversation into the cinematic!

Movie theaters are back! And in a dystopian world ravaged by doomsday viruses, we have been inside of them! For the first time in almost two years, we are going into public buildings with giant screens, big sound systems and comfy chairs for the explicit purpose of watching movies. How does the return to cinemas change the movie-going experience after 18 months of exclusively streaming movies on our computers, phones and televisions?

We reaffirm the joy of going to the movies cold — avoiding even teaser trailers, if possible and just letting the movie reveal itself to you without any prior expectation of the story.

We (briefly) touch on movies we’ve recently seen for the first time like Pig, The Green Knight, The Night House, The Suicide Squad, Personal Shopper, Paper Tigers, and Deep Blue Sea.

To unlock this episode in its entirety — and many episodes more! — just support us on Patreon with at least one measly dollar a month!

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Episode 22.5 – A Loud, Brown Blur

callofdutybrown

On the tail of our BioShock panel, Mike and Casey continue our conversation with Patrick Johnson and Carlos Rodela, to delve deeper into the strengths and weaknesses of this game series in particular and gaming in general.

How big and dense can — or should — a video game’s world be? How much should the player be directing the story, as opposed to the game’s designer? How often should video game franchises release sequels, especially when new installments have only small incremental changes?

Plus, random musings on Star Wars and M. Night Shyamalan.

Episode 21 – Twin Peaks

Log Lady

“That gum you like is going to come back in style.”

Mike and Casey are consulting our logs and getting a booth at the Double R Diner to share some damned good coffee and pie with returning panelists Roz Townsend and Pól Rua. Our topic: David Lynch’s surrealistic supernatural thriller/soap opera: Twin Peaks.

We get into the show’s weird and often contradictory tone, and its widely panned theatrical follow-up movie Fire Walk with Me.  We discuss its massive influence on shows like Lost and the X-Files, and try to figure out if Lynch was creating fantastical, challenging art, or just being pointlessly weird for its own sake.

Music: 
“Falling” from Twin Peaks by Angelo Badalamenti

Previously titled: “Happening v. Fargo”

Episode 19.5 – Are You a Bad Enough Dude to Beat Up Uwe Boll?

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We’re back with more B-roll goodness! Mike and Casey are joined in the studio with Sam Mulvey of Ask an Atheist and his brother, Mike Mulvey for a wide-ranging bullshit session.

We dig into contests with pop culture prizes that never materialized, like guests spots on Star Trek: the Next Generation, and the Captain America Broadway musical that never was. We chat about film director/walking human garbage Uwe Boll’s challenges to literally fight his critics and perceived rivals.

We discuss the recent reboot of Archie Comics, as well as the character’s past and current encounters with the Punisher and the zombie apocalypse. We get into why we all dig Netflix’s Daredevil series, even if a lot of the current comic book TV shows aren’t setting our worlds on fire.

Episode 14 – M. Night Shyamalan

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What if there are no coincidences?

Mike and Casey count their sick days, stock up on hotdogs, and run from gently swaying trees with returning panelist and artist, Roslyn Townsend and Ask an Atheist‘s Rebecca Friedman! This month, we’re diving into the meteoric rise, and precipitious fall of a promising filmmaker whose career trajectory still confuses us, M. Night Shyamalan.

We discuss his brief absolute dominance of both Hollywood and the box office with the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. We explore his current status as the cinematic butt of many jokes with the Happening and After Earth. And we look at how the writer-director’s legacy remains a subject of debate, speculation, schadenfreude and commiseration.

Music: 
Mr. Glass” from Unbreakable by James Newton Howard

Previously titled: “Swing Away, M. Night”