In our second Fun Sized episode this month, Mike and Casey continue their talk with Rebecca Friedman, and get into their feelings about the new Star Wars movie, the Force Awakens.
Also, we say goodbye to the recently departed Alan Rickman and David Bowie.
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In the first of two Fun Size discussions this month, we sit down with Rebecca Friedman and debate the merits and popularity of post-apocalyptic fiction and video games, and why absent panelist (and spouse) Sam Mulvey will probably never discuss it on the show.
Is the genre inevitably juvenile, and does its recent popularity speak ill of us as a society? Disagreement follows.
[NOTE: Some Fallout 4 spoilers]
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Go ahead, you tell him you didn’t do your homework.
In our second podcast, Mike and Casey are joined by actual, real life teacher Rebecca Friedman for a very educational episode that highlights one of Schwarzenegger’s most successful comedies: 1990’s Kindergarten Cop!
Detective John Kimble is the meanest cop around. He really likes pushing people through glass coffee tables and blasting their couches with shotguns. So when Kimble needs to catch a vicious drug lord, he’s forced to go undercover. As a substitute kindergarten teacher.
He does know he’s not allowed to kill people, right?
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In the shadow of our Batman discussion, Mike and Casey continue their discussion with Joe Preti and Pól Rua. We dig into the weapons-grade weirdness of comic book writer Grant Morrison, and why his work probably shouldn’t be your introduction to the medium.
We get into the contrast of revolutionary artistic experimentation vs. conventional competence that doesn’t reinvent the wheel.
We dive into the stick and meta-textual question of comic book continuity, and whether it’s better to hold a Crisis on Infinite Earths-style event to get rid of story elements you don’t want to keep, or whether it’s better to simply ignore them without explanation.
And finally, how exactly did the Ewoks perceive the Battle of Endor at the end of the Return of the Jedi?
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“It’s an omen. I shall become a bat!”
Criminals are superstitious and cowardly lot, so Mike and Casey are joined in the Batcave to compare case notes with our friend Pól Rua, and first-time panelist, Joe Preti of the View from the Gutters podcast. Our topic, DC Comics’ Caped Crusader, Batman.
We dig into the character’s ridiculous versatility and unique ability to upend the normal rules for the suspension of disbelief. From the campy do-goodery of Adam West to Frank Miller’s dark avenger of the night, we discuss the wide range of tone and genre that the character has had in his seven decades of publication.
This is the podcast you deserve, but maybe not the one you need right now.
Previously titled: “Batman, Motherfucker!”
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In the afterglow of our Star Trek: the Next Generation panel, Mike and Casey continue their chat with Ryan Chaddock and Greg Hatcher for some off-topic conversation.
We dig into why Mike totally doesn’t have pink eye, the use (or non-use) of secondary Star Trek characters, our hopes and fears for Star Wars: the Force Awakens, the Blade Runner and Mad Max sequels, inter-fandom schadenfreude, and 1980s slasher movies.
And we ponder: why don’t we get any hate mail?
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Casey makes his first appearance on Rob Kelly‘s Film and Water Podcast, to talk about his favorite movie of all time: Blade Runner.
They get into the film’s slow burn noir-ish take on science fiction, its lush and timeless world-building, and how its status as a landmark of motion pictures overcame the numerous issues that went into its production.
Casey makes a second appearance on our friend Carlos Rodela‘s Video Game Break Podcast! This time, to discuss Bethesda’s newest installment in their signature post-apocalyptic open world RPG series, Fallout 4!
They swap their stories of their Fallout 4 experiences, the self-directed open world game experience, and sheer massive scale of the game’s Commonwealth Wasteland setting. So, grab a Nuka-Cola and start blowing the legs off of some feral ghouls!
Space…the final frontier…
Mike and Casey reserve a table in Ten Forward and share a pot of “tea, early grey, hot” with Greg Hatcher of Comic Book Resources’ Comics Should Be Good! blog and game designer Ryan Chaddock. Our continuing mission: to launch a class-5 probe into the Neutral Zone, and to discuss the classic science fiction series, Star Trek: the Next Generation.
We discuss how it added to the Trek mythos, the tug of war over the show’s themes and writing, and how the classic series stands the test of times as a piece of optimistic science fiction in a current age of popular dystopias and the “grim and gritty” storytelling in genre film and television.
Make it so!
Previously titled: “Oh, God. Not Another Troi Episode!”
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Mike makes a third appearance on Rob Kelly‘s Film and Water Podcast, to talk about the 1978 George A. Romero horror classic largely credited with the creation of the zombie apocalypse genre: Dawn of the Dead.
We get into the film’s graphic violence, scathing humor, timely social commentary, and often incredibly downbeat tone. And why this movie has stood the test of time as the quintessential zombie movie.
Mike makes a guest appearance on Ryan Daly‘s Secret Origins Podcast, highlighting DC Comics’ classic anthology series from the 1980s.
In this episode, he joins Ryan and fellow guest Tim Wallace to talk about Mike’s favorite DC character, western anti-hero Jonah Hex! We dig into the character’s publication history, his botched 2011 film adaptation, and his lasting appeal as the nastiest son of a bitch in the world.
From his classic status quo as an Old West bounty hunter to his brief sojourn into a Mad Max-style post apocalypse, Jonah Hex continues to be the most successful Western comic book character of all time.
“A game nobody survives. But Schwarzenegger has yet to play.”
It’s the premiere episode of Podcasta la Vista, Baby!
Mike and Casey are proud to be joined by Greg Hatcher of Comic Book Resources’ Comics Should Be Good! blog, to talk about a 1987 science fiction classic from the height of Arnold’s cinematic career: The Running Man.
The year is 2019. American is governed by a fascist dictatorship that uses television to keep the populace docile. The most popular game show is “the Running Man,” where criminals and dissidents are forced to flee from murderous, costumed gladiators to win their freedom — and their lives. Its newest contestant is a certain Austrian man-mountain, framed for a crime he didn’t commit.
These guys are totally fucked.
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In new podcast’s prologue, Mike and Casey dig into their mutual love of the cinematic works of 1980s action icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
We discuss the origin of this new project, and how we’re going to be joined by a guest, four times a year, for a movie by movie dissection of why this Austrian bodybuilder-turned-actor took Hollywood by storm with a combination of charisma, bulging biceps, and yes… absurd macho bullshit.
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We’re coming back to Tacoma’s Jet City Comic Show on the weekend of Saturday, October 31, and Sunday November 1st — our first two-day convention appearance!
Feel free to drop by our booth, and chat us up about all things pop culture-y! We’ll have plenty of Halloween candy and show sampler CDs, to spread the podcast love!
We’re at Exhibitor Booth #314, which you can find here on the show floor map! Just look for our banners!
Hope to see you there!
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.
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