PhillipMedoc

Howard asking Kulap if her sister is single, jeez. That man. I love that Mary Elizabeth didn't know who Lorde was, and then was like "I don't shop at those kind of grocery stores". Also, it took me a couple of weeks to figure out, but Kulap is going for a Kremer kind of inflection during the sponsor ads, correct? The whole drawing out syllables and raising pitch at the end of words thing. It's cute. I hope April Richardson makes a return appearance as a guest host. I've become a big fan of her podcast since she filled in on that live VPN Whooch a while back. I felt like she kind of got a bum rap for that; filling in for Kulap is one thing, but doing it live on Youtube must be a bit more strenuous. In any case, it's always fun to hear other people attempt to navigate Howard's particular brand of logic.

I am really enjoying these interview/retrospective episodes. This show really needs to be on Comedy Central or something like Funny or Die at the least. Seriously. I'll give Chris Hardwick a handjob if need be. Sledgehammer! I've never met anyone else who watched the show; it wasn't on for very long (two seasons?) and I never saw it in syndication. I was maybe around 9 years old when it aired and my dad wouldn't let us watch it; he was a cop with no sense of humor, and thought the show was making fun of police (duh). Having recently seen the dvds, it's amazing how well it holds up. The writing is really good and the lead actor pulls that role off like no one's business. Good satire is incredibly rare on tv, especially in the 1980s on the networks. And that bit about Marty Feldman was really sweet. Hat's off to you, Jake.

...says the guy complaining about a free podcast. [insert eyeroll gif here] Come on, man. The so-called "talking over each other" has really been part of the show since the beginning. The more bonkers the movie is, the more active the discussion is. One of the best episodes is Sleepaway Camp, with everyone trying to figure out what the hell is going on in the beginning of the film. The collective "WHAT IS HAPPENING" just wouldn't happen with a moderator or whatever it is you're suggesting. This isn't Doug Loves Movies. I'm glad you feel comfortable sharing your opinion here, but I believe you're in the minority with that. Keep listening and enjoying the show, though.

Black Dynamite is the best parody and homage to Blaxploitation films that one could ever hope for. It's a fantastic movie. It wasn't made to be bad/good at all, it's just poking fun at tropes and cliches -- quite successfully. And it manages to stand on its own as a hilarious picture, even if you're not familiar with the genre it's riffing on. There is nothing bad about it at all. Even if you don't find the jokes funny, that's the problem with comedy, it's subjective. I think Paul mentioned a long time ago that they were going to stay away from comedies for the most part, because there's just not much to discuss other than "this wasn't funny".

So does anyone want to talk No Holds Barred briefly? I watched it over the weekend. It's crazy how it's barely even a movie, the story is so threadbare. Basically Ripp is an awesome dude who wrestles for unspecified children's charities, but he's also an total perv who can't stop creeping on the female love interest. She has no personality and only exists to get slapped around and almost raped. A good half of the film is just Zeus yelling and grimacing. Other observations: This was an era where "evil television executive" was still a totally legit movie villian. The bar where they find Zeus is straight out of Roadhouse. Zeus' eyebrows, er, monobrow. Interesting choice. "Battle Of The Tough Guys" is possibly the least badass name for a fighting competition ever. Zeus should actually be in jail for multiple accounts of assault and attempted manslaughter. Weird hotel scene where you're supposed to think Ripp is masturbating in bed (right?) The actual wrestling in the finale is pretty fucking boring and way too drawn out. Evil network guy is so upset during the Ripp/Zeus fight that he starts ruining studio equipment. He does it in the most completely half-assed manner, just sort of unplugging stuff and hitting monitors. Ripp apparently kills Zeus. The evil tv guy is electrocuted to death. AND THE CROWD ERUPTS INTO APPLAUSE. This was a doozy.

I'm not super into wrestling (except for mid-to-late 80s, early Wrestlemania era) so I haven't listened to it, but Nerdist does have the Wrestling Compadres Slamcast. Andy Sidaris movies are a guilty pleasure of mine. He was the 1990s answer to Russ Meyers (although Meyers could actually work a camera and write entertaining dialogue). It's kind of fun when a filmmaker understands what kind of movie they're making without any pretense -- "This needs guns. More guns. And explosions. Boobs. Some more boobs. And that's all."

In other Dan Harmon-related media, Zardoz made an appearance in this week's episode of Rick & Morty (which is a great little show, incidentally).

"The second one" is cute, but the tagline should really be "CHOMPA CHOMPA CHOMPA".

I don't know if it was intentional or not, but when discussing June's absence for Winter's Tale, Paul said they had a baby coming and they didn't want to subject him to the movie. Is the baby a boy? Either way, the name is going to be Angela, right? (I can't remember who originally said that on the forum, but props to you.) Like people above have said, I'm just happy that HDTGM was able to keep such a consistent schedule for so long -- a truly impressive feat given everyone's outside commitments that actually pay them real money. I like Paul's idea of getting the gang together to just shoot the shit and talk movies or whatever; maybe just watch trailers and review them? Record a handful at a time, once a month, release them weekly? It's really great to see people at Earwolf growing more successful. Between Comedy Big Bang Theory on IFC, Andy Daly's new show on Comedy Central, Paul F Tompkins getting a pilot, Paul and June on NSTF:SD:SUV::, The League, Kroll Show, etc etc. We're in a new golden age of comedy. I just read it somewhere else yesterday, can't remember, but someone compared the state of comedy today to what punk/alternative/etc music was like in the early 1990s -- just a ton of exciting things happening everywhere, and anyone can start something if they want to.

The whining and pleading on the Analyze Phish forum was amusing and at times irritating, but I feel like U2 just doesn't have that kind of fan base. Not that they don't have passionate listeners (as evidenced by this very podcast) but Phish is more of a lifestyle choice than anything else. That's why their followers feel the need to defend the music, it's an intrinsic part of their person. Now this is quality graphic design.

What the hell is up with Jeff Bridges? He's a hell of an actor given the right script and direction (see: True Grit, better than the original, PROVE ME WRONG). Did he lose all his money from Bernie Madoff like Al Pacino did?

I have to say, as a bono bona fide U2 haterade drinker since ACHTUNG! Baby, this episode really made me reconsider my stance. It's been so long since I've heard the high quality rock & roll back catalog of the Liverpool Lads that I honestly had forgotten it ever existed. Bono's voice is still anathema to me, all moaning and caterwauling (which was an apt comparison to Siouxsie & The Banshees, really), but musically a lot of the songs played on this episode were pretty good. If I could get the vocals out of the mix, they'd go great on a playlist with Wire, Gang of Four, or lots of other decent early 1980s "post-punk". I have just skimmed the thread, but I'd like to ask if anyone else here is familiar with The Virgin Prunes? The Edge's brother was actually the guitarist for that band, and they're supposedly the ones who bestowed the Bono de plume upon a young Paul Hewson. The Prunes' music is darker and more theatrical (one could say "goth", perhaps), like mid-period Tuxedomoon or maybe Bauhaus. Worth checking out.

I didn't watch the Oscars, but I'm assuming he began his acceptance speech with "alright alright alright"?

It's a bit of a long con, you have to commit to the conceit of it. I think the energy level is what perhaps throws some listeners off? It's very measured. NEXT LEVEL TROLLING.

Yeah, I think we got sidetracked in one of the Southland Tales threads and it was mentioned in passing. But for sure, Southland Tales is still top of the list for me.

It's not exactly highbrow laughs but they took a single concept and executed it pretty competently. I'd rather watch this again than ~75% of any other comedies released in the last twenty years. "My nipples are Milk Duds!" really cracks me up, it's just so stupid. And the scene in the beginning with the child repeatedly falling down, that's pretty solid. Might have to revisit this soon.

Hiya Broose. I was out of commish for a while there. No way in hell was I watching this garbage, even a torrented cam version with Russian subtitles. From the episode, it sounds like a typical Hollywood fuckbotch of what I totally believe is a great novel -- it's not like that doesn't happen all the time. Like they got the rights to the book, realized it was impossible to film, handed it to a hack (the guy who wrote the Dan Brown movies and the shitty Schumacher Batman sequels, which actually Winter's Tale sounds like a terrible mash-up of) and he went "Sure thing, it's gonna be like Isabel Allende wrote Highlander." And the specific idea of adding in Will Smith (who I'm assuming was the only prominent person of color in this movie) as The Devil just sounds like some seriously lazy ass shit. EarBear and others did a pretty good explanation of the what and how of magic realism; if you'd like to see a classic example of that, check out the aforementioned Like Water For Chocolate or, even better, Crna Macka Beli Macor aka Black Cat, White Cat (which is also one of the greatest films you've never seen). It's a much more prevalent device (really it was a pretty specific movement) in literature than cinema and has a fairly rich history in that medium. There's certainly an argument to be made for some films being magic realist or having elements of such (like say, Wes Anderson), but I would attribute that more to the pervasiveness of irony and post-modernism in contemporary culture.

WieWie has been on fire this week -- that sober house thing must doing something good for him. Here's that 2 Dope Girls podcast Howard mentioned he had been on. You can't really blame anyone for giving up on that show; seasons 2 & 3 really killed the momentum. Though I will continue to rep for the incredible Walking Dead games Telltale has been making -- a new episode just came out. The writing on those is leagues ahead of the tv show. And one last thing: Stard & co -- thank you for the stereo mixes! It's really a huge deal for a show like this. I'm gonna have to throw some singles in the Earwolf tip jar.

Even though it strayed somewhat from the usual format, this was a fantastic ep. When Jake's enthusiasm is matched with a guest equally passionate and knowledgeable, great conversation results. I could have listen to another hour.

Delurking to just say that occasionally forgetting I've installed the Chrome "cloud-to-butt" extension amuses me to no end. Also +1 on the Zouks/Daly "we've never done a podcast together" bit; every CBB listener was probably trembling with excitement when they saw the guest for this week's HDTGM episode. One of the greatest moments in Earwolf history is Andy Daly's cavalcade of suicide on CBB #148: "He was my best friend... well, some of his characters were."

I like everything, seriously. I think I get the biggest kick out of a fully realized Shredstaurant ad, but I really like hearing nice stereo mixes of songs we hear so often on the podcast. Are you doing the mixing or is Howard? What software is he using for synth & drum tracks? Is everything being run through that Soundcraft board at the studio? Those are nice preamps (at least, the one I used was pretty decent).

Has this ever worked for any pop star? The only musician I can think of off the top of my head who has a halfway decent acting career is Kris Kristofferson. It's pretty much the same situation when the reverse occurs -- actors trying to be musicians or singers (see: Lindsey Lohan, Eddie Murphy, Scarlett Johnansson, etc etc). I guess the biggest contemporary pop singer/actor would be Jennifer Lopez, but she hasn't had a huge amount of success at the former (at least in this country, I believe) and she's not a great actress either.

Those films have nothing to do with your opinion of Hudson Hawk. Don't get personal.

I'm not a huge fan of filmed musicals, especially contemporary ones; I'll admit this is a blind spot on my pop culture radar (sorry, Baz). So this movie totally passed me by for very clear reasons. HDTGM does seem to love their musicals, though, so who knows. It's been a while since the last one -- did Spicegate change things forever? At any rate, the IMDB reviews for this are wonderful: I truly wonder what the inane crap music is that she refers to, because that's what the songs in this movie seem to be -- the worst of the 80s pop/metal junk.

I love that Howard's takeaway from The Shining was that he needed a Big Wheel. One of my favorite songs of all time: