Jun 11 2015
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This week, dear listeners, we have rejoined with North Star Rollergirl Kate Cornish (aka She Coli) for an episode all about the films of Rian Johnson! So if you have never seen Brick, Brothers Bloom, or Looper, we hope to steer you to a better life.
If you would like to drink along, we recommend Bodega Tamari Reserva Malbec, because it’s Argentinian, and we like Argentinians.
Show notes behind the cut!
Apr 02 2015
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This week, dear listeners, we bring you our fourth Off Topic extravaganza!
If you are a new listener, here’s what’s going on: our episodes are heavily edited, mostly because we drink while we record. Most of the things we cut out are things nobody will miss, but sometimes we simply go off on an odd tangent. So, we save all the fun clips until we can just make a whole episode out of them. It’s like Voltron with less planning.
The audio bits you are about to here were recorded between November 2014 and February 2015. The audio quality will vary, the subject matter will wander, and our drunkenness… well, you know the drill. You will also hear the sonorous voices of:
Pat Harrigan
Kelvin Hatle
David Justin
Barb Lind
Meghan Murphy
Gordon Smuder
Sharon Stiteler
Noel Thingvall
Please enjoy our fourth Off Topic celebration. More show notes behind the cut!
Jan 19 2015
Every Monday, each of us will suggest a film that we feel too few people have seen.
Windy’s Pick of the Week: May
Unless you went to BNAT in 2001, you may have missed this delightful character-study/horror film. Lucky McKee directs Angela Bettis (who I wish popped up in more movies – she’s fantastic) as the titular May: an awkward girl who just wants to make a friend. Looking for a relationship, any relationship, May’s overtures are painfully realistic (we’ve all done or witnessed these scenarios), but May eventually overcomes in a truly creative fashion. Bettis anchors the film with her vulnerable and quirkily humorous performance – May is unabashedly optimistic and open to any path that looks promising. She’s joined by Jeremy Sisto and Anna Faris, so she has some solid and entertaining support.
Melissa adds: Whatever you do, don’t read the description on the back of the DVD box before watching this movie!
Melissa’s Pick of the Week: Trucker
Try this description on for size: the main character of Trucker is a semi-truck driver who finds himself forced into parenting an 11-year-old kid that he abandoned ten years previously. That sounds like it might be an okay 1970s-style melodrama, right? Well, try the real description instead: the driver in question is a woman. Played by Michelle Monaghan, Diane Ford is a unusual, deeply engaging, sometimes infuriating character. In her career of choice, she has become as battle-hardened as possible, and she is completely unthrilled at the prospect of being forced to be a mother again. It is Monaghan’s performance that turns this film from something ordinary to something extraordinary. Beyond that, director James Mottern manages to balance the melodrama so it never becomes saccharine. It’s a fine little film, and worth the work to track down. Also, bonus points for Nathan Fillion content. You want that, right? Sure you do!
