AlmostAGhost

Yea, if we want to share links, joke around, share what we're watching, be like 'hey good morning friends!', post a meme, etc. Discord is pretty fun! And very bonding. I'm in one for another pod and the channels are always having great conversation. We've also started helping each other with fitness, and there's book clubs, fantasy sports leagues, and all sorts of community things rising out of it. I haven't tried the streaming watchalong things on there yet. (To note, I have not once posted in Paul's, but I have glanced around it. Maybe it will get there. I believe it requires heavy moderation.) That's why I test-started one for Musical Mondays, just so maybe we can keep in touch better (and on wider topics). (I'm fine with it not catching on though lol.) Anyway, I don't think the two things should be at odds. In fact, they should and could work together.

Right, yea, and it ties into what Amy noted about the way the kids find little bits of life to grasp on to. Because we're trapped in without any external explanations, it makes those moments stronger (both for the kids and for us watching).

I do find Discord and boards quite different; mainly one of being able to easier use Discord on a phone and the quick, direct conversation style of it. In some ways since I started using it, I use Twitter less; it feels more analogous to that to me. But I would think a podcast like Paul's where he talks about our written-out theories and stuff would need the message board where people can put lasting posts. So it's all very odd he said that.

yea there's a lot of camerons on there, cannot tell which one is yours. (don't see Val Kilmer's pic on any of them) [EDIT] n/m found it

is someone hosting that i need to friend on Kast or how does it work?

I think text is fine, Paul has written me back a few times. He uses it more sparingly nowadays though, I think. Honestly, and ironically, the best place to hit him up is probably his Discord.

Yea c'mon Paul. I generally agree that boards are passe and whatnot, but this one is constantly nice people just having a fun time talking about trash movies.

I'm fine with this, because I just generally took the parents as 'evil.' Paul & Amy never really brought up this side of it, just how evil the parents are, which I find interesting. They kept saying it was universal and relatable, but I'm not sure that's the way to look at it? I get that there's all sorts of different metaphors you can take from the movie, but let's not miss that this is about two evil people doing horrendous things to their kids.

I have no idea how highly I think of this or what. I liked it, for sure. I haven't listened to the ep yet, though, so maybe they'll convince me one way or the other. I do think we found a winner for most fucked up family in the Fucked Up Family series!

ROPED!

I'm going to be disappointed if that actual intersection isn't in the movie

I moved in October and now I'm like blocks away from... PICO AND SEPULVEDA

I love Deep Sea Diver, I have all their vinyl and their early EP on cd. There's some great songs and I love her voice. I met Jessica a time or two years back when she was touring with Beck. She was very nice and it's been a blast to follow her band from early on. Back in around 2009 or 2010, they did this one show in Hermosa Beach I went to, which was crazy because it's not a place bands play and it was right near where I lived at the time. Turned out it was a charity benefit in the local auditorium and not many people were there and I watched them jam out up close too.

I'd start with them then over the solo project, it's good but might as well try the main stuff first. High Violet was the National album that really made me a fan for life. I was basically full-on obsessed with it for like a year once, it hit me haaard. Try that and Boxer and see if they click for you; if so they have a few other recent ones worth exploring too.

I'll pick out a few to note then! Not sure if you're a National fan, but if those were the records you liked this year, check out the Matt Berninger album (he's the lead singer of The National). You might like him. The Phoebe album was far-and-away my favorite, I think it's stunning. There's a few of these young women songwriters who I think are going to be running music for years to come, like her and Maggie Rogers, and I'm excited to see what they continue to do. I consider Laura Marling one of the all-time greats and she keeps putting out beautiful, smart, cool records. She talked a little about how this song on her new album was influenced by her new-found love of solo McCartney (though it is a bit atypical of her sound):

I feel like without theaters this year, I didn't keep up well on 2020 films. All my choices would be on Netflix/Hulu/etc. Even when new stuff was streaming, I wasn't drawn to watch it really. But my favorites were Tigertail and Palm Springs with some stuff like The Invisible Man, American Utopia, The Half Of It, and The Princess Switch: Switched Again not far behind. On the other hand, music-wise, I have a LONG list, but here's my top 15 1. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher 2. Bonny Light Horseman - Bonny Light Horseman 3. Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter 4. Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas 5. Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud 6. Thurston Moore - By The Fire 7. Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure? 8. Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison 9. Jess Williamson - Sorceress 10. Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways 11. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters 12. This Is The Kit - Off Off On 13. Honey Harper - Starmaker 14. Adrianne Lenker - songs 15. JFDR - New Dreams

Oh one thing I was thinking could be fun, if we rotated as Kast hosts and surprised people with our Bad Movie-Choice-of-the-Month. Could be an HDTGM Classic, could be something random, but we wouldn't know until we show up to watch it together on Kast. Just an idea, and maybe there aren't enough people to participate, but it would be fun to see how bad our choices can be haha

Yea. A few of us watched California Christmas and found it (I think) entertainingly bad and fun to rip on. Turns out the team behind it has another movie on there called Roped. Both star the same married couple (and the woman is also the writer of these movies). Since this is our Bad Movie Watchalong Party, seems like a good fit!

Oh I didn't know that! I was just about to hit play on Dogtooth but now I'll wait a bit.

Initially, I wasn't super into the narration. I'm not a big fan of voiceover, it has to really fit perfectly, and I didn't really think it was needed here at first. But Gonzo and Rizzo won me over pretty fast. They quickly feel both necessary and not at all in the way of the story, which is a good trick of writing. And of course this

I watched 5 of them on the 24th and 25th this year. This is certainly the best, because of course The Muppets are fun and they fill out the cloying drama so the story isn't quite so preachy. Caine is easily the best Scrooge. Other Scrooges sort of get one side of him right, either are super hard evil boss or sort of light-hearted and are not a good enough balance. I do highly recommend the musical Scrooge from the '70s, though maybe we should save it for next December. I thought the songs were also terrific and the whole thing is super creative.

Guess what we get next Christmas!

Next week's Listeners' Choice winner: Dogtooth

yea that's how i felt. i enjoyed it much more than i expected to, but i'm not about to consider it an all-time great.

if people want to prep for Roped, watch A California Christmas before then!