Honey, You Should Watch This.

Mean Girls

In this episode, Susan introduces Greg to 2004's Mean Girls: the teen comedy based on Rosalind Wiseman's parenting book, "Queen Bees and Wannabes," adapted by Tina Fey and starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, and Lizzy Kaplan. Do you want to talk about Mean Girls? You can sit with us even if you don't wear pink on Wednesdays.  

 

Greg and Susan talk about the real aspects of "Girl World" reported in Wiseman's book; the film's iconic and almost timeless status; and how Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Tim Meadows steal scenes in their featured roles. As always, the two also discuss trivia about the film and share their three favorite scenes from the movie.

 

Resources referenced in this episode:

 

Talbot, M. (2002, February 24). Girls Just Want to Be Mean. Retrieved December 15, 2020, from   https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/24/magazine/girls-just-want-to-be-mean.htmlMean Girls

Zombieland

Greg and Susan are back after an unexpected hiatus, and it's time to "Nut up or shut up!"  In this episode, they discuss Greg's pick"Zombieland."

This 2009 Zom-Com stars Jesse Isenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin and features a cartoon-like premise centered around a set of survival rules.  

Susan and Greg talk about what makes Zombieland different from other films within its genre and volley back and forth over an extensive list of trivia.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Zombieland: Deep or Dumb? Wisecrack Edition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5lKMiXt74k

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

It's spooky season, so it's time to dig into one of Susan's favorite genres: Horror!

For this episode, Susan picked the subversive horror mockumentary "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon." This 2006 black comedy stars Nathan Baesel and Angela Goethals with horror icons Robert Englund, Scott Wilson, and Zelda Rubenstein.

 

Susan and Greg talk about the ways in which this film flips the script on horror by pulling back the veil on how slashers like Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers do what they do. (Psst! One of the secrets is cardio!) The two also point out the film's Easter Eggs and writer theories about one of the film's most mysterious characters.

 

Resources referenced in this episode:

 

Squires, John, 2016, December 20, [Exclusive] The ‘Black Christmas’ Connection That Will Change the Way You Watch ‘Behind the Mask’. Bloody Disgusting. https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3418544/exclusive-black-christmas-connection-will-change-way-watch-behind-mask/

 

Newell, C.H., 2017, October 28, Meta Horror in Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, Fathers of Holy Gore, https://fathersonholygore.com/2017/10/28/meta-horror-in-behind-the-mask-the-rise-of-leslie-vernon/

 

Scream Factory TV, 2018, March 27, Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon (2006) - Bonus Clip: Angela Goethals On Robert Englund (Video), YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdY6n0vPV0EBehind the Mask

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

If you don't want hear spoilers about 1981's "The Road Warrior" -- aka: "Mad Max 2," JUST WALK AWAY (and watch the movie and then rejoin us)! In this episode, Susan and Greg discuss the iconic 80's film and Mel Gibson's breakout role.  

 

Resources referenced in the episode:

 

Winn, J. Emmett, Mad Max, Reaganism and The Road Warrior, KINEMA, Fall 1997

https://openjournals.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/kinema/article/view/839/768

 

Mad Max - A Character Study of the Road Warrior

The Road Warrior - An Apocalyptic Fairy Tale

The Road Warrior Explained: Quantities of Storytelling

Little Miss Sunshine

Are you a winner or a loser? Does it even matter? Greg and Susan explore these questions and more in their discussion about 2006's "Little Miss Sunshine."  

The film, which stars  Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, and Alan Arkin, was screenwriter Michael Arndt's first feature. The story follows a dysfunctional family's road from Albequerque, NM to Rodando Beach, CA, to get their youngest member, Olive, to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant.

Susan and Greg discuss the plot of this charming, quirky movie and its inspirations, cast, and other trivia about the film.  We hope you all feel "super freaky" after you listen to it.

The Peanut Butter Falcon

Greg and Susan take you on a spoiler-filled journey through "The Peanut Butter Falcon." The 2019 American comedy-drama film -- written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, in their feature film directorial debuts, and starring Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen, Dakota Johnson, John Hawkes, Bruce Dern, Jon Bernthal, and Thomas Haden Church -- pairs a run-a-way 22-year-old man named Zack with Downs Syndrome with a thief/fisherman named Tyler. While trying to escape to Florida to avoid arrest, Tyler latter reluctantly agrees to help Zack find a wrestling school run by "The Saltwater Redneck."

 

In this episode, the couple discusses the film's themes of family you choose for yourself and people's tendency to underestimate others. The two also talk about the film's inspirations (including Gottsagen himself), Shia Labouef's arrest and subsequent stint in rehab during the making the film, and Gottsagen's positive influence on Labeouf during recovery.

 

 

Resources referenced in this episode:

 

Shia LaBeouf says a costar with Down syndrome saved him after problems with alcohol resulted in his arrest, https://www.insider.com/shia-labeouf-zack-gottsagen-peanut-butter-falcon-arrest-2019-10

 

 

How 'Peanut Butter Falcon' Star Helped Changed Shia LaBeouf's Life, 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-a-peanut-butter-falcon-star-helped-changed-shia-labeoufs-life-1263308

 

Peanut Butter Falcon's Unlikely Road From Dream to Screen, https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/08/peanut-butter-falcon-shia-labeouf-movie

Attack of the Killer Donuts

Join Greg, Susan, their friend, Barb, and her son, Jacob, for a baker's dozen of terror as they dig into "Attack of the Killer Donuts."

 

"Attack of the Killer Donuts" is a B movie that deserves a much lower grade - especially from the health department. Chris De Christopher, Rafael Diaz-Wagner write the film, and Nathan Dalton, the masters who brought you "Piranhaconda" and "Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre," wrote the movie, which surprisingly features C. Thomas Howell in its cast.

 

This raucous discussion of this off the wall movie is sure to keep you entertained. We certainly had fun!

The Witch

Wouldst thou like to spoil a movie deliciously? In this episode, Susan introduces Greg to Robert Eggers' feature film directorial debut, "The Witch."

The film stars Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, and Kate Dicke as Puritan family members. Banished from their settlement over a theological disagreement, the family must try to survive the New England Wilderness while something supernatural appears to be setting its sights on the family.

While Susan points out the technical and artistic choices that make "The Witch" a beautifully haunting film, Greg feels that one of Egger's choices made the movie predictable.

The two also explore the different ways this film could be interpreted and share trivia about the movie.

Resources referenced in this episode:

How ‘The Witch’ Scored the Satanic Temple’s Endorsement - https://variety.com/2016/film/box-office/the-witch-satanic-temple-1201711408/


Robert Eggers on 'The Witch', Familial Trauma, and the Supernatural - https://youtu.be/LGNrHzCXpTM

Robert Eggers and Ralph Ineson On "The Witch" | AOL BUILD - https://youtu.be/xsYvZjFc4CM

Grosse Pointe Blank

In this episode, Greg has Susan watch "Grosse Pointe Blank," a dark comedy about a hitman who attends his 10-year high school reunion and attempts to reconnect with his former girlfriend, whom he stood up at prom.  "Grosse Pointe Blank" stars John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Akroyd, Alan Arkin, Joan Cusack, Hank Azaria, and K. Todd Freeman.

Susan and Greg discuss the premise and how it came about and comment on the principal cast's performance. They also explore Cusak and Driver's characters and speculate on their potential mental states.

As always, the couple shares trivia about the film, have a few questions and share their top three favorite moments.

Source referenced in the episode:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/80482/13-close-facts-about-grosse-pointe-blank

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Susan gifts Greg with a screening of the World's Worst Vegetable Film. No, it's not "Veggie Tales," it is 1978's "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes." The making is goofy, chaotic, B-movie on a tiny budget is just as chaotic as the film itself, and Susan and Greg dive into both stories in this episode.

 

Resources cited in this episode:

 

Dean, Sam, August 8, 2013. "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: An Oral History of the 1978 Film," Bon Appetit - https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/pop-culture/article/attack-of-the-killer-tomatoes-an-oral-history-of-the-1978-film

Mancini, Mark, July 5, 2016. '10 Saucy Facts about 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes,' Mental Floss - https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/82643/10-saucy-facts-about-attack-killer-tomatoes