Berri's Couch: Recent Episodes
Berri
Two best friends who happen to be an Autistic and an English major sit down and discuss media, film and whatever they need to to justify a degree. So come along and waste some time with us or at the very least an hour a week.
Updates weekly unless life impedes us. All episodes can be found at https://www.patreon.com/berricouch
New episodes should be up once a week unless life proceeds to stop us.
So in a not at all surprising dive we compare Avatar the Last Airbender to Raya and the Last Dragon in how they show and care for the cultures they drew influence from. One came and went like a brief gust of wind but the other is still being talked about to this day, does the world building have anything to do with that?
Yes but still go for a listen cuz why not?
And finally we come to the last 3 of the children of Roderick Usher. They have more limited screen time but the depth of writing gives each a lasting impact and a showing of relationships that speak to a history that, while not shown to us, is rich and worth thinking about.
We finally get to look at the adult children in this family. Starting with the self identified (mostly by Victorine) "bigs". Tamerlane, Victorine and Frederick get the arm chair look at and attempted breakdown's on how they are the victims and perpetrators of generational and new types of trauma.
The matriarch and decision maker of the Ushers, or is she? An almost case study of how different people react to the same traumas with Madeleine Usher and the questions on why she makes the decisions she does. Her hypocrisy and inability to see things clearly make her an intriguing study that can effect us more due to nothing more than lived bias.
The storyteller and first domino that lead to the fall of an entire familial line, a man who is as defined by his trauma as he is ignorant of it. What makes the man who lead to a fictional opioid crisis? We sift through the lies and decisions that lead to deals with birds, many children and an inevitable fall.
Back on our bollocks to discuss the characters from a piece of media we've already discussed. Verna just flies into the narrative and haunts us so we must attempt to grasp at what she is or at least what we can interpret of her. Insert obligatory Poe reference here
We are finally unearthing the problem with depicting beauty standards through a historical lens. We have discussions of Shakespeare, the Tudors, Borgias and the great poet of the times Sir Mix-a-lot.
Get in loser we're talking about makeovers and how they are secretly a trope that enforces classism, unjust beauty standards and the idea that changing yourself for male validation is a good thing. Sounds fun right!
All right we are back on track, with a discussion about visual media and it's reliance using forced physical differences to denote morality and the problems it has run into doing that. We cover such franchises as Bond, Batman, The Witches, and even Fury Road.
All right nice easy, non controversial topic change. Beauty standards throughout various media and we start with the classic of classics. Literature and oral stories. With a nice sprinkling of Grimm slander we try and track the narrative creation of many beauty standards, why it exists and the problems they have started.Apologies for the rain sounds we had no control over that.
Now we wrap this up with a final check on the list of subtypes of chosen one's. Chosen by foe, peers, and the meta at large thus the committee meets to determine importance. We even have Ferris Bueller on the agenda.
The bloodline has chosen someone to do something, when? We don't know. Who? We don't know. Is it ever really clear or is it just vague nonsense to justify propaganda of incumbent royals? Well yes and no.
All right a higher power as demanded we cover this subset first, and not just because it's arguably the oldest rendition. A higher power commands the narrative and what comes from it biblical stories, Berserk, A Song of Ice and Fire, Fear and Hunger, and many many more. How do they all hold up to their interpretations and story structure of perhaps the oldest part of human stories?
All right let's try doing this from the top. A chosen one is an old trope but the intricacies are worth a brief exploration, before we dive deeper into the very particular types of chosen one's.
And now to end the month we actually get into the weeds of definitions and why we chose to focus on the media we focussed on. The heavily venn-diagramed (no I don't care that that's not a proper adjective) world of animal based fiction gets an attempt to untangle the sub genres and their benefits and negatives when telling stories.
We're re-visitng the Watership Down warren as they are next on the graph of critters to human nature. There is a bigger focus on why these decisions were used and why some of the choices end up reflecting humanity in a way that only animals can.
Now to get more critter-y as we look into Burrow's End as it's tale of fascism, rebellion, family trauma and survival. An actual play story that continues the weaving of human morality vs critters and their behaviours into a fun watch that we happily delve into.
Now in a more eclectic discussion about critter media we look at an actual play dnd campaign and why it works that the characters are critters, why we enjoyed these characters and their adventures, and most importantly why reskinning spells can be some of the greatest bits of comedy in a players arsenal.
The classic tale of siege warfare amongst various rodents in the English countryside that launched many copycats and got some children into reading. What is it about the first book in a massive series that captured the imagination of so many so quickly? And can it hold up without the fuzzy feelings of nostalgia.
Well this the end, the show stopping number to cap off the Hatchetfield series as a whole. A satirical take on weak gender swaps, a small town murder, and the continued trend of characters getting proved right in their world view that ends in much more blood than it probably should. We discuss the work itself, a type of story being utilised and it's pitfalls therein, and finally theories based on lore.
The final of the main trilogy of musicals about this weird little island town and it's multiple timeline goings on. We're going back to school where they may be a god of some sort, there are definitely nerdy prudes and there's murder singing. Who doesn't love a throwback with modern twists?
We return to Hatchetfield, in a different time, but with some familiar faces. However they aren't the focus of this musical (not sure they know what should be but eh) rather the loss of sense to capitalistic desires to fill the emptiness we feel inside with a dash of Lovecraftian elder one's seeking the end of days.
An indie theatre production company doing a horror-comedy musical set in the tropes and character styling's of the body snatcher sub-genre, leads to a trilogy of genre bending musicals? Yes it does. We're starting our look at Starkid's Hatchetfield series with the one that started it all, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals.
The Crow defined so much of the Goth subculture and their presentation to the wider world, we have a look at the movie, it's effect on pop culture and all of it's little hatchlings that came forward after this hit the public.
Okay so know we have the lasting horror icon of a small boy in a silly hat. No seriously this movie has effected things in ways we were both prepared and unprepared for. The tracking of understanding of certain biblical passages and misunderstanding/misattributions all trace back to here.
It's a classic, it's referenced everywhere, you know it but you don't. It's Casablanca. We start to look at film's that altered the pop culture landscape with one that both gets it's flowers but also doesn't. So let's look at THE classic and see what's going on and how it shaped us even now.
All right so the long awaited (?) continuation of the saga that started with Caesar and now comes to Noa. A film that divided fans in that is either a great evolution of what was started before or a complete betrayal. But where do we land? Listen and find out.
We made it to the end of the trilogy no one expected to succeed but did and captured the hearts and minds of many but can it end on a good note? How does Matt Reeves intend on closing out a story people don't want to end? LIKE A FUCKING CHAMP IS HOW! It's another long one but we can't not talk about the meta textual readings and the characters while keeping it brief.
These movie titles get wordy so shall we. We got A LOT to say on the unexpected sequel movie, including a new criteria for directors going forward, new characters, and how on a metatextual analysis Caesar continues his journey through the Moses/King Arthur mythos as both character points and how society has added to the character archetype.
We going back to 2011 for the hit film Rise of the Planet of the Apes. How does a film balance being a restart, a prequel and technically midquel, an origin for some and more importantly a film that washes the taste of a terrible film away? Pretty well with these damn dirty apes, it's deeper than one would expect and took us places some of us didn't expect at all.
Well we finish the month with not only a sequel but a mid point for Jason Statham player of autistic hyper fixation (violence) men and their adventures of water and revenge. In reflection we have the best and worst of this month wrapped up in a movie that should have gone through at least one rewrite and would have been made infinitely more tolerable with one minor change.
Well that's a film that we certainly watched. The 2006 film that was clearly liked well enough that it got a sequel but in all honesty, what the hell did we watch? A film of it's day that sparks comparisons to Boondock Saints, and talks of Jonah Hex and RIPD (derogatory).
Welp we got a classic vintage Statham doing Statham action directed by the director of Fifth Element. It has everything, oily action, visible night shots and Statham on a beach. what else could we ask for?
All right time to shake off the coffin dust and get into beekeeping. By kicking the hornets nest that is a David Ayer directed movie staring the iconic action man, Jason Statham. A revenge film about taking down internet scammers who prey on the elderly, what could we possibly have to complain about? Please refer tot he director if you want the TLDR.
We got a season 2 of the world's messiest divorce drama, strap in for the emotional weight of reuniting with a partner you lost a kid with. The pain of reliving trauma to uncover the true events and how staying in the warped memories while comforting may not be the healthiest for everyone. We're back baby for round 2 of the most emotionally resonant vampires and their trauma births ruining everyone's lives .
And we're not touching the movie at all on this well trodden path (outside of comparisons because duh) as we discuss one of the most well known metaphors and allegories in vampire stories. What does the TV series bring to a decades old reading while staying truthful to the vision and changing so many details? Grief and it's memory are all on the table to discuss, so let's take a bite of it.
Most recent vampire movie gives us the most relevant and up to date interpretation of a vampire and their place in the world. We try our best not to just sit there and gush over the movie but rather stay focussed on vampiric interpretation and the art that can only exist from lived culture.
TW - Talks of addiction throughout
A child abducted is secretly a vampire and has chosen to play with her food. No symbolism or metaphor here right? Wrong! A little ballerina is in fact an exploration of the parasite that is addiction and how it effects each of the characters with a little dash of parenthood thrown in for good measure.
Vampires can mean different things in different stories and we start by looking at a modern take on a classic film and reading. Robert Egger's Nosferatu reinforced the fear of plagues, men in medical fields, and the effect of repression. Or at least that's what we are willing to explain.
And we can finally put a wrap on this month that really dragged us through the emotional ringer with a review of the importance of support networks through the character of Fizzarolli. The only one in this month so far to actually break free of his toxic mentor, performance perfectionism and not have to be drugged and cut off his own limbs to do it.
Well we're seated and ready to savour the flavour of the final dish in one's man pursuit of perfection in food. All while we discuss the relationship between the creative and audience, the nature of requiring external validation to get your art seen, and the futility of it all.
Oh boy you thought Black Swan was a mess just wait. A Netflix release that made ripples (at best) upon its release that clearly had aspirations of being important and talked about by viewers. Which in a way it did achieve, but was it worth it?
Ooooooooooooooooh boy the notorious confusing ballet movie I'm sure that there was no issues with the scenes and capacity to follow along with at least one of our hosts. Jokes aside we try to sift through the many ideas to discuss how well Black Swan dances on the stage of showing the dangers of perfection.
Look we willing dug up trauma during this movie and we're gonna talk about it. The movie that is, and a bit of the trauma for context. The first of many trips we're gonna do into the idea and destruction of seeking perfection in an art form, figured we'd best start with some thing jazz-y and a tad more approachable.
So this franchise happened and we must discuss how and why it happened. Why of all franchises to buck the trend of getting worse with each sequel was it this? Come let's look back on this hecking thing and try to explain this phenomenon in the Dreamworks canon.
At the end of the road we finally finish out this trilogy of films with as boyband reunion. A film tied into a nostalgia that the market group would not have and mixed with songs that technically exist. Join us as we escape this brightly coloured felt world and all its new and horrifying additions to its own lore.
So this was unexpected in sop many ways, an actual good, enjoyable and dare we say rewatchable. Trust us we were just as shocked but this film actually has something you just need to trust us and go on this road trip with us.
So in a scientific way we try to understand what the hell went on to make these movies a franchise and whether or not they are a subject of bad marketing, bad film making or just being for a much younger crowd than the regular movie going audience.
Well this one wasn't at all an odd jump in for us. I mean a sequel show to something that ended when we were only 2, how were we not meant to just be able to understand everything happening immediately upon starting. So in the rare moment of us being much closer to the everyman we sat down and watched the most recent X-men animated show.
If one must have an introduction to the X-men let it be this classic from the early 2000's, bias is strong and determined but can the show hold up to modern eyes? How does X-men Evolution hold up to it's own internal changes? Does it suffer the way the films do? All that and more...but mostly that.
Please forgive the dead air from 58:33 - 58:50 apologists for these movies killed the device for fear of the truth. That these two movies do not hold up. While they achieved their goal of removing one of the worst films from canon their multitude of sin both their own and from their predecessors cannot be overlooked anymore.
The films that laid foundational blocks in pop culture, particularly comic book movies of the post 2000's are getting dragged up and re-examined. The line of sins and virtues starts here for most people so let's take a trip to the "not so distant future" as seen by the past.
IT'S FIGHT NIGHT!!!! In literary theory we (Jerri) breakdown how due to Twilight becoming a series instead of single novel became an allegory for the idea of Catholics vs Mormons who wins. Guilt squares off with perpetually smiling victim complex, robes and opulence vs beige shirt and sensible pants. The essay that never was is now given form and without the terror of possible gradings.
Strap in spider monkey's we're finally delving into the great topic that could have been university essays. Twilight the grand origin of the young adult genre and its use as propaganda for the Mormon faith. Whoohoo!
Well this isn't going to lead anywhere possibly dangerous for opinions. As we run through how images of faith became the accepted norm, and in many ways deemed the correct interpretation of words from an old ass book with multiple translations. Yet as society moves on what explorations have been brought forth and how accurate is our common understanding of said words and images from the book?
From castles and a working literary relationship with faith to an often combative literary relationship with faith with lasers. Jerri takes the wheel as we talk about the relationship the Sci-Fi genre has with faith as a concept, a practice and how they tricked themselves into thinking edgy atheism (for a while) made them different.
Okay a not at all loaded topic just how the fantasy genre handles depiction of religion. Totally chill.........this is just the first chapter for this month so hold onto your butts stuffs about to get prologue heavy in the vibes.
And despite what the flub would have you believe we are discussing independent animation. What defines it? Why does it have such a.........unique reputation? And of course what does it look like in the age of streaming?
Now doesn't that title feel ominous but don't worry we're not talking about chemical in water turning frogs non binary, we're talking about needless nit-picking of details in video games and the community that jumps in head first with immense gusto.
So digital content requires a parasocial element but what if that's the secret to a company's success? How does it work? Can it work long term? Why do it this way? We try to answer these and other questions, emphasis on try.
Can the human experience be retold to us in under 3 minutes skits that eventually gain enough popularity that they were given old media recreations from the creators of said stories exist and are good? You see the length of this buddy so sit back and find out.
I'll come up with something more creative once the headache this show gave me fades; we watched Centaurworld, we have thoughts, talking happens and despite flaws we have positive experiences but wish death on a giraffe.
We're strolling through the home stretch, the last piece of the travelled road we understand as weird cartoons. The comforting warmth of orange hues and chaos gods will soon give way to frigid blues of unknown futures coming to light. Ciphers, cursed birds, mashed potato and molasses, are all we have left.
Defining subcultures, humour and providing power fantasies for young girls. These shows had it all, in what is a seemingly once in a lifetime event these shows were in the centre of a nexus that may have never happened before and seemingly hasn't happened since.
Well it's finally time to get weird and what better place to start than the moment we felt we were getting too old for the programs being shown on TV? Anywhere else? Probably. But that's not how we're rolling, we're talking about Adventure Time and Amazing World of Gumball.
Well we're at the end of the road and we must look back on all that this one story has given us.....and it's not great. After spending weeks discussing various attempts to bring this story to visual media we must now look at the dominoes that have fallen in its wake.
Well the 80's called they want their romance series back and they are NOT GETTING IT!! This is ours now (screeches like a startled marsupial), we have the glorious urban fantasy rewrite of Beauty and the Beast starring Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton.
Well it's their story but how do the French films hold up in comparison to both each other and the more popularised American attempts? Is there even a difference in stories or presentation? And most importantly what is truly scary the beast or those that serve him?
Well may as well get the most recognisable adaptations out of the way. Disney and their grand machine had two hits at this tale, how do they both stand as art and more importantly how do they stand against each other?
Finally Bee fulfilled the self imposed requirements to get to ramble on about Beauty and the Beast. We start with it's origin point, whether it holds up and why it perhaps stands out amongst the list of other fairy tales that made it into the pop culture.
Well we danced around the issue enough, time to break the glass and discuss the conventions on a narrative and what happens when you break them? If they should be broken? And can they even be broken and still be good narratives in their own right?
So we finally reach the episode about wrestling, Bee tries to verbalise why that form of entertainment is important and a legitimate form of storytelling. Jerri is along for the ride and even comes to a new appreciation for the live stunt shows and the way they uniquely tell stories.
What is this? A short prompt and no clear line where a story is going can tell a narrative? Well thank god we're here to make some noise as we question who's line is it anyway and if these small moments that break walls count as narratives or are they just ways to entertain the smallest of us?
Stories told over a table with others while battling not only interpersonal dramas but also the whims of statistical chance, completely ridiculous right? Right. But the math rock stories are so much fun and unique so let's see why that is.
It's the showcase of the immortals, if said immortals were giant kaiju with generational beef. Kong and Godzilla are now separated but there is a challenger for top ape and he has a tag partner, can Kong find him an unlikely tag partner or will he lose everything? Does this film mark a pinfall for this series or will Bee run out wrestling references before she can finish this blurb?
It's at least the latter
After so many years finally we see the big ape fight the radioactive lizard. Does the story telling around the grudge match hold up to our fervor however? And with a new director at the helm can the change in finalised visions lead these films astray from where we started in favour of a Fast and Radioactive franchise?
The King, a usurper, and a flip flopping Dr who needed to figure out what she is actually doing in the plot. All present and mostly visible in this film exploration of the consequences from the last film, building on the foundations the past film set but can it stand up to it's predecessor or is it just lost in the shadows?
After an........... attempt in the 90's we finally got a Godzilla film from a studio outside of Japan and it's good. So good it started a universe of films and juggled themes of fatherhood and trauma. But how does it hold up now or were we just happy it wasn't a lot of fish?
We made it. The ring has been cast into the fire and into the West we travel but before the ship finishes it's journey we look back onto the journey and ponder upon why this journey has stayed with everyone in a way the other's contemparies didn't. Why has Tolkien defined the genre and what are the ramifications of that? Legacy is complicated so let's attempt to talk through some of it.
Smaug Bezo's massively funded project to explore the Second Age in the history of Middle Earth that was destined for responses. Does it deserve the responses it got or was there a darker force in the army of outrage baiters aiming to destroy a light before it could truly shine? Kinda, yeah but also no.
The world's longest movie derived from a much less long children's book. Well known amongst fans and non fans alike for being the weirdest decision made in a long while adaptationally. Is there anything worth saving? Are the takes correct? Or is this an Arkenstone of a trilogy and if we dig deep enough we will be rewarded with greatness (and a bit of madness but hey nothing's truly free)?
Now we travel back to some of the earliest film adaptations of Lord of the Rings that we have access to. Both animated in the 70's and one is a musical. Can either hold up without nostalgia? Or are these relegated to the bin of outdated references that only serve as important because they lead to better films?
What better way to honour one of the most iconic and influential pieces of (relatively) modern writing then by looking at the movies that captured generations of imagination and heavily lined the pockets of movie executives and the tourism board Aotearoa (New Zealand).
The iconic babies switch out the urban jungles for a jungle island and yet, somehow, BRUCE WILLIS is still here and the weirdest thing to happen. For at least one of us that is. Yet despite Jerri getting the name of one of the films he was in wrong (it is Tears of the Sun not Pursuit of the Sun) we still get more out of the surprise Willis and the crossover film he happens to be in.
Look they said it best when they said there would only ever be one Blade and after watching two movies you can understand why. Memorable raves, action that borders on goofy at points and a line that STILL befuddles Bee to this day.
Vents, biceps, aliens, action and an absolutely HEINOUS wig. Jerri delivers flowers to the sci-fi classic The Fifth Element, a noticeable history point in the genre that has had many highs and intense lows.
An iconic 90's classic that got a sequel that expanded upon the characters and their relationships while also being just as memorable, yet so rarely are they held in high regard. One sitting in the shadow of the glorious light from the first but these films should no longer be kept separate but rather enjoyed in their truest form....As a longform story of family and it's ever shifting dynamics.
The finale of the Netflix Flanagan productions, is it a bang or whimper? With a massive cast and drawing from one of the most prolific gothic poets of the pop culture can Flanagan and his team nail the haunting fantasy of the downfall of a family who started a health crisis all for profit while dealing with their own internal drama?
What? The queers found it somewhat triggering to watch a show about religious fanaticism and the fall into violence okayed by those who seek to benefit selfishly from said twisting of scripture to suit themselves? Never!!In seriousness we reflect on why this series run feels so different from the others and if it worked or should have been different.
And now we sit and discuss the second ghost story in this anthology of hauntings. What made this one so different from the other that it alienated some but truly terrified others? Does the change of location do more than supply different accents and architecture? Is that ending happy? Sit and listen, this story is not short but we shall try to make it so for you.
Well we're here in a house with some haunted siblings talking about what has been talked to death, life and unlife about. Why do we like this tale of trauma and how it haunts the now adult children? Do we like any of the siblings and why?
Well as we have finished this journey it is time to look back on where we've been, and speculate on where we should go. Which is just a fancy way of saying now that we've discussed movies that have come and gone we start to elevator pitch stories of yore that we want to see given a media treatment and the vibes we want it to come with.
If the best thing about your film is the trees you may want to go back and rewrite your script. Two films both based on the same story, both intent on reinvention but one is iconic and left a lasting impact on it's medium and the other is whatever the opposite of iconic is.
Awkward sibling movies. Well one is an awkward movie and the other definitely has sibling characters in it. Which form tells the tale better an artsy pseudo horror or dumb action fun witch hunting? Are they even telling the same tale? Let's find out who if anyone is willing to deal with wet sugar and ants.
The first epic poem in English and yet it has a storied history of hot garbage adaptations. Despite the veritable feast we have brought it down to two different adaptations that do share a single thread of similarity. A surprising gem is found and an over textured pile of slop is also here.
This labour of getting explanations and love is something else. The tale of Hercules (Heracles for all you pedantic Greek mythos kids) and his labours has codified itself for a long time in our myths and histories if media but when things change how does he fare. How does the story of the demigod and his labours hold up against the Hydra that is......cinematic re-telling's.
A cute title for a long running problem that instead of going away seems to have just reinvented itself and tried to hide away. The handling of sexuality and sex in media aimed at, and featuring character who are meant to be, teens. Hiding away under the guise of non explicitness we try to unravel the preoccupation media seems to have with teens and their bodies.
The eternal struggle when just writing a teenager let alone a piece of media that revolves around them and their struggles. As the world around the teen changes in both expectations and responsibilities how well does our media reflect this? Spoiler alert! Not that well.
Last time on the podcast we discussed the titular teenager and now we discuss Canadian teens forced to entertain a slowly devolving war criminal on fake reality TV, while another set of teens act as mallrats even though the concept was already outdated by the early 2000's.
Icon of the 90's, low energy monarch, and definer of teenage experiences. We begin this month of teen media with the one who began our understanding of what growing up could be. How does it hold up? Does she still ring true with her words? Or does this just sit on the shelf as a relic of bygone times?
We found out we have not been seeing Matthew at his full power when he acts. As a businessman and player at table top games he is unleashed to mayhaps not even his full power, sit back and get ready to hear us discuss his latest ventures.
Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit! Okay now getting serious, a movie based on a simple video game with a lore more twisted than contortionists playing twister and yet it still is watchable and arguably good. Yes it exists! Provided you're willing to deal with child death, endings that are rushed and the world's worst office fan.
A situationship of movie that spawned a repeated hiring job for one actor? More likely than you think. Or at least it happened here with a film that is inconsistent in tone and quality but at least nailed a single character so well the actor in question transitioned into becoming the voice of a character that has existed since the 60's.
Iconic, history writing, and industry defining. These words describe both the movie and performances in the often replicated never duplicated Scream. But while there will be many discussions of how this film works on its own but we are willing to argue how this film's twist only works thanks to 1 actor's performance in particular.
We're starting another month of actor appreciation with this ........ iconic? For lack of a better word cult classic film from the mid 90's. The film that the 90's made, forgot and then thrifted to different audiences but it's greatest achievement other than somehow becoming more watchable with age, is that it's the earliest film credit of (That I can easily get a copy of), the man of the month, Matthew Lillard.
Now how does a show manage to have us care about side characters we've never heard of like Shining Knight and his code of honour and make us a laugh out loud because of them turning adults into children. Both ends of the super hero spectrum are presented in this show but did they really manage to make both work?
This is the best Batman and we will not be taking questions at this time. But what exactly makes this rendition voiced by the incomparable Kevin Conroy the best? We break it down beat by shining character beat and delve into the greatest bat themed detective put to screen.
For a character that is seemingly easy to present to the masses why does the ball get dropped so frequently? Especially when the best example is drawn, written and crafted out that all you have to do is follow the example set forth by this series. We will be showing exactly how well done this outing of the character is and why it is free of most sins that plague Wonder Woman adaptations.
Longer than average episode but we have opinions and Superman deserves to be talked about and given proper representation. So using the best Superman (animated Justice League and Unlimited) we will through and show who this character is and why this show was, and is, the best DC outing for all of its heroes.
Birds, emotions, things that are not human reducing us to emotional messes. Pixar shorts are BACK! We're out of the weakest shorts and back to prime Pixar but these one's are less known is that due to not being as memorable or something else?
Another batch of shorts with stories of justified revenge, the pains of creative endeavours when you can't work the same as your peers, propaganda for a rival company, and the terrors of living inanimate objects in an otherwise regular city. Now we see how Pixar continues as a company with a well established reputation and if they can continue moving upwards or if there is a downturn at any point.
The next set of shorts are up for discussion we see through the release that take us form Bug's Life to Ratatouille. We see old men engaging in illegal gambling, children extorting creatives and the truest horrors of all....nakedness and driving tests.
An episode dedicated to the shorts before the main features? No only the first of a series of episodes cataloguing the rise of the Pixar shorts and the highs, lows and terrors they inflicted upon people. These have left their marks for better and in one particular case worse.
Laika's first foray into production as themselves. This film defined them in the popular consciousness for better or worse, how does it stand up after all this time? Could they have done better? What fingerprints that later come to define the company can be found here? All this and a serious discussion about fictional houses in this episode.
So how does Laika do on a contract job for a auteur that can at times forget that film needs a story and can't coast by on visuals alone. Is this a good merging of creators or is it better that death parts this union quickly.
The magnum opus of Laika productions but is it without flaws? Is stop motion a viable medium for samurai stories? Is origami a valid form of ques marker? All the questions asked and answered as we look at Kubo.
The oft maligned and deemed lesser of Laika's productions is now getting a good look in through our eyes and like a judge of fine cheese (I assume there are cheese judges and competitions) we shall pour over all of the details and find deeper meaning than others maybe thought was there.
Stop motion, horror and a moral about acting out in fear. Just a small portion that makes this Laika film what it is and we are digging it up, casting a spell and seeing if their is magic in this film or if we should just leave it alone to its visions.
Elementary wins goodnight. There are reasons we list out and we try to not devolve into just listing the bungling of one of the most popular detectives in known fiction but we don't need to be Sherlock to figure out it's just Elementary our dear Watsons.
Finally we hit the mid point of any character story to archetype pipeline, when we start making our own stories with characters that are only vaguely reminiscent of the book characters. Who handled this changed better Guy Ritchie with RDJ playing the well known detective or Disney with their small rodents in a hidden world that looks like ours?
The clues are being uncovered in the murder of the Sherlock Holmes character and his stories. We found the first set here with Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett's filmed adaptations. How will this connect to the larger picture if at all? Let's begin to unravel this mystery.
Now in a trend we accidentally started last year we look at another character archetype borne from a popular English literature character. Using deductive methods we will find out how this character was murdered in public knowledge and those who are responsible. But before we find the guilty parties we must start at the beginning....with Arthur Conan Doyle's books.
TW: Talk of dead animals from 34:34 - 36:00
The final offer of reality TV and it focuses on the home and whether or not it is acceptable. From home improvement to hoarders, from purchasing a fixer upper to getting the dream home over a wedding the home is something we all have but not always own for yourselves.
Sometimes we need help improving ourselves physically and mentally, and sometimes people make shows about beating all the individuality out of you for the approval of rando's on the street who you have never met nor care about. We look at the reality phenomenon that may have lead to an uptick in social anxiety for fear of being told you are wrong and should feel bad despite harming no one and being happy.
One of the eternal issues we all face at some point that has now been monetised and exploited by networks while claiming possible educational purposes. Some walk this tightrope better than others and some are just cruel, but can any show in this genre be slightly redeemable?
Quick correction it's Filmrise Television who are the producers who have the show on YouTube and Fuji Television were a producer as well
Iconic, often replicated never duplicated and game changing, all these are just the beginning of describing Iron Chef. we try to surmise not only the appeal of this cooking show but how it changed the landscape of cooking shows and all the children it spawned.
Now the avatar for girlhood and the other icon sacrificed on the alter of pop feminism. Her legacy is long and many have come for her crown but still she stands as a beacon of high femme power. We try to brief and run through all of her histories and relevance to both us and pop culture at large.
TW: Talks of SA, non-consensual sex relations and sexual violence from 45:46 - 51:55
A nice easy, breezy, beautiful, Covergirl style topic, that in no way is a mine field of a Gordian knot topic can lead to tripping on words as we try to empathetically explain the complicated relationship real life women have with sexuality and how media's exploitation and then demonization of it, is confusing and leads to complicated feelings about said expressions.
One of the most rapidly changing forms of storytelling and capacity for telling stories gets a look at how it handles feminine presenting characters. Does the young one of media forms do better or is it following in the well worn footsteps of those that came before?
Changing social norms, expectations from our stories and the surprise entry of a disguised villain, all the ingredients that went into making the marketable ideas of femininity presented in the renaissance era princesses of Disney. There is a tangent none saw coming but the discussion of complexity when creating the new heroines must be had as we will not be just brushing over them like some pop culture commentators before us.
Allrighty people we begin our defence of the feminine with the classic trinity of bad faith criticism princess. These poor girls are dragged enough and we stand tall and defend them and their narratives, they do have value and aren't bad role models despite what pop feminism says.
The ending of a legacy and we wish it was with more of a bang. Discovering the past through the journey of Strife while a world and lore building wonder how does the story itself hold up? How do we feel about the final horseman and O.G influencer Strife? Why does this feel unsatisfying as a Darsider game? All of these questions answered and more.
So we finally talk about the only female horseman and her girl fail journey through dealing with the deadly sins of man. In true human fashion we do mostly focus on the presentation of the often treaded, duplicated and revisited personifications of mankind's sins.
We're getting into the lore now, Bee is tethering herself down to try and stay on focus as we delve into the follow-up and expansion to the small breadcrumbs set up in the first game. Did the sequel hold up as far as story or should this have been a DLC to the first game?
In a change of pace we start to look at the video game Darksiders and the story it's telling through it's medium. Bee tries to stay focused on just this first game, Jerri looks into the uniqueness of storytelling through interactive media, and why this particular game stayed in our minds and quickly won us over.
How does a stylised Irish animation studio handle short films and shorter content? Really well as it turns out. We close off the discussion of Cartoon Saloon with a look at their short films and easily accessible behind the scenes content.
We finally watch a timely (and hard to find) film that stands out amongst the Cartoon Saloon filmography, The Breadwinner. A story set in Afghanistan during the beginning of the war on terror and how a family through bravery makes it despite their circumstances. Beauty, horror and a reminder that people are not the regimes they live in all balanced in this film and we discuss it to hopefully get you to watch it.
Despite the roughness in a voice we look at the finale in the Irish mythology trilogy produced by Cartoon Saloon and how it holds up amongst the others of its pack.
Selkies, sea, parallel story beats, Bee spewing ideas out at record speeds, family drama. We have everything in this episode that we dive deep into the themes and symbolism used in Song of the Sea. No seriously this film is deeper than one may think once you start paddling out into ocean of interpretation.
Okay I'm out of swimming and ocean bits now.
An animated movie about the debated history of a book of prayers from the 9th century is certainly a description that could put off some viewers, but not us! Enter the forest of animation with us and see if there is an act of higher power or if all that lays there be wolves of mediocrity.
It is totally thematic for us to be all over this place for this eyes move shiftily totally thematic. We take a look back at the music video program that weirdly became a huge part of Oz kids lives because we needed something to watch before Saturday cartoons started. So what was Rage and why do we remember it?
Two children's entertainers both alike in possibilities, in fair Australian lounge rooms we lay our scene. In one corner a long running formerly 4 man troupe that became a global phenomenon and in the other 3 dags on an obvious soundstage. Who shall reign victorious The Wiggles or The Hooley Dooleys?
SOMEONE LET THIS BE SHOWN TO CHILDREN! AND THEY ENCOURAGED IT! So we go to the other end of Australian kid's programming spectrum this time with the mentally scarring Round the Twist. We try to explain this mess but I believe it would be easier to describe an intense trip to a sober friend then summarise this gestures disgustedly mess.
It finally happened we are now talking about the blue heeler who took over the world of kids media and made adults cry. In a quite abridged form (we are not joking this could have been hours longer) we discuss a selection of episodes that we feel explain why this show took the world by storm.
Finally a movie that's theme is so obvious we can are forced to discuss how something a small as a change in voice actor can dramatically change a character and their reception.
We are gong al the way back to the beginning. Wind, bugs, and war define this early Ghibli film but does it come in like a hurricane or should it be lost in the breeze? Let's get on the gliders and find out.
A little story about how saving a cat can backfire quickly while also being about finding yourself as a person, and it's the only made for TV Ghibli movie. Come lay in the grass in the bright sun with us as we rest pleasantly through this nice film.
If we had a nickel for every time a piece of childhood media involved people being turned into pigs we'd have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird it's happened twice.
We end the month wrapping up with the emotion of love in media it was just too big to fit into one episode so here ya go, the vivisection of true love. The limitations of elevating only romantic love under the false belief that your romantic partner will just get you with no work.
So we're all supposed to want to seek love but then why does media make out long term partnerships as a burden and war? Why are there so few loving couples once they tie the knot? Let's walk down the aisle and try to find out.
It's not bad but, its not necessarily good It feels sudden but, it's not. It's a simple emotion until, it isn't. Anger is so personal but so easy to misinterpret so how does visual media handle this problem child? With simplified over easy boxes that everyone gets shoved in, listen in as we explain further.
Sometimes media leads to unhealthy views being continued and made worse in society more often than not unintentionally. Join us as we discuss how this family film address the harmful idea of toxic positivity or at least starts to begin the dismantling process.
We unearth the "legally distinct and totes not Dracula" vampire film that has secured itself in pop culture but yet somehow remains almost entirely untouched by the ghoulish hands of soulless studio executive husks. Truly a marvel for this uncanny valley-esque film even if it perhaps does not elicit the feelings it once did in a modern audience.
Notorious. The most notorious rendition of Dracula to date, trashed in its time but was it earned? Yes, but now it's campy and retro funny. We look back on this and discern what could work about it and why it should be revisited in correct company.
Now for the most told untold story since Coppola introduced the worst addition to Dracula. How does the more modern take on a badly written and re-enacted faux history based on true history hold up in the line of the undead? Badly but lets view a sad, broody Dracula that absolutely no one wanted or asked for.
Time to take the kids out for some blood Go-gurt. We take two sequels to 1931's Dracula to school and look at them to find out who excels in their studies of vampirism and who really doesn't test well.
A hidden gem buried in the late 70's has been unearthed and unleashed upon us. A movie that neither of us expected to be good but instead quickly grabbed us by the ghoulies and put us under its spell, a true great return to discussing Dracula's and their derivatives.
Why does a TTRPG garner attention from a genre that otherwise is against one of the hosts? Now that we've taken a turn around the promenade of the regency genre we shall share partake in the salaciousness discussion about it, the titles there in and why adding modernity to it is at best a fun deviation and at worst pain inducing.
Well this was the dullest of affairs. We look Sense and Sensibility or rather we report back the ennui that is watching the BBC miniseries of Sense and Sensibility. What is good, what is bad and why did Regency stay around into the modern age?
It's sad girl hours as we dive into one of the other pillars of this genre Jane Eyre and weigh in on the classic debate Darcy vs Rochester (one of the original Team Edward vs Team Jacob). Specifically the 2006 miniseries adaptation, what we liked, what we found funny despite the intended tone, and whether or not this has undone some Regency trauma in Bee.
Behold the most well known regency long form essay that could be ended if anyone had actually had a succinct conversation. Bee begins to visit her trauma relating to this era of writing and Jerri explains the fundamentals of this literature and why it can be difficult to absorb if you are not its intended audience.
marywasrobbed
We reach the end of Arthurian film adaptation with Guy Ritchie's.......attempt(?) at starting a new wave of Arthurian movies. Does it work? How do we feel about this as a film vs adaptation of Arthur? What are the rankings of this month's media? And finally which hurt us more Robin Hood adaptations or Arthur? It's a long one so put your feet up, get a drink and maybe a pillow to scream into.
It is here, the most Arthur movie to ever Arthur, while feeling like it was made on a bunch of cocaine. This movie is sufficiently 80's but how does it stand as an adaptation and what did we like? And why is that man wearing only gold?
From fanfic AU takes on Arthurian canon, some downright bad changes that should have just been its own I.P, to the right out of left field bug nutty decisions, we do a quick look at Arthur as he appears in episodic content. If you are a fan of Cursed you may want to sit this one out.
How does kids media handle the lofty burden of the Arthur and his adventures. We don't know but we found they accidentally reinforce a subtext across multiple forms and use not the original canon but books based on canon. And why does Bee call physics a philosophy?
While Bee suffers through her Victorian Lady Illness (sick symptoms but not infectious) we delve into the complicated mess that is what is that actual canon of the Arthur mythos and the problems changing it to screen, along with historical additions/removals to the stories.
We are finally at the end of this long descent into mediocrity and disrespect. I could be as lazy as this movie and just put buzzwords that don't connect but I can't manage that level of H&M clothes in scenes that don't belong. We drag this movie through this mud, rank the movies seen and a brief look into the process of what this month has done to us as viewers.
We're in the bad place people, we finally hit the beginning of the descend into "gritty realism" Robins. The accents are missing, the film gratuitous and the plot a mangled mess wishing for death. Why does this fail so bad as a Robin Hood join us through the prolonged torture and why this style does not suit this story at all.
Now we visit what is most people's first Robin Hood, what did Disney keep? What did they change? How does it compare to Errol Flynn? We continue how look through the pop culture Robin Hood to see how he went from random dude in the woods to what he is now.
To begin our walk through Sherwood forest we start at the beginning with the movie that codified our modern perception of Robin Hood. The swashbuckling rogue portrayed by Errol Flynn and by extension the stories that begat the movie.
Bee starting wistfully out the window This is my Eragon, my Artemis Fowl, my Last Airbender by Shyamalan* Look this isn't the worst Tekken movie ever but if the best one can describe it as, as predictable, ugly and at best an unfun 4kids adaptation of a video game should we settle? Hear us out and listen to the rage as we enter the final round of this month with Tekken: Bloodlines.
Bee: #NotmyTekken
Get ready. Fight! cheesy 90's techno starts In an event that was foretold by the bullshit tacked on prophecy we are looking at the Mortal Kombat movies (only the first ones because Annihilation is well.... terrible) both of their might will be tested. Will one have a flawless victory? Or will they both suffer fatalities?
We now wash our mouths of the disgusting toothpaste and orange juice feeling of Assassin's Creed and our palate cleanser is the 2001 hit(?) Lara Croft. Surprise it's fun, campy goodness that should be appreciated by everyone.
Please beware of Bee yelling and she refuses to change this title. Now we try and discuss the multitude of bad decision making that lead to the 2016 Assassin's Creed movie, and whether or not it succeeds as an adaptation.
We finally end the month of opinions and takes by taking on the behemoth in a CGI riddled fight that you can barely see. Did we say we were going to talk about gay stuff. Yes. Did we? Nope. If you're desperate we do have other episodes about that explicitly but for now other things about movies.
Television gets its turn in our now technically serialised content about our takes on media. There is no construction here, we aren't tradies and all criticism is just that.
These are things we feel can be skipped in the playlist of music these days. Some are kinder than others, Bee awoke and chose violence prior to this recording and she will not be stopped.
We've been doing this long enough that it's time to empty our tanks of opinions. We dive into literature from both an audience and creator perspective and what we feel needs to be said about reading.
At the end of the day musical movies are at best vastly different from the stage show that they are based on. So through many reasons we visit some stage musicals that don't have movies and why we hope they NEVER get one. Before eventually trailing off to chase why musical movies are still being done when a cheaper more profitable option is available.
Yes we of course are talking about the quintessential musical and why it is IMPOSSIBLE to actually adapt it to film. We base our knowledge on the 1998 film (?) and what we have found from filmed live performances comparing it to the Hooperian nightmare that was allowed to be released in cinema.
NICHE!!! The word of the day regarding the few times a musical movie gets made with o stage adaptation prior or even made into one. We discuss the 2 major camps that this happens to and why perhaps this has occurred at all.
A movie that is not a musical to a musical stage show and now to musical movie, a story as old as.......at least 2 decades. The pitfalls of this form to create musical movies, using a couple of failure and successes, and the most recent venture with Matilda.
The adaptation of a beloved stage musical to screen more often than not is a barbaric butchering of source material. Why is that? Surely having another live medium makes an easy transfer? NOPE. The mediums are different and we're going to map it out where and why they fail or succeed adaptationally.
TW Talks of S.A to children and adults, fire, the Victorian mental health plan.
Finally we address the rare (and arguably) only well done adult adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. We delve into American McGee's Alice: Madness Returns and what makes it a stand out visually and as an adaptation.
There be a lot of rambling in this one, it's very hard to discuss a ballet interpretation of a classic children's story that then became movies and tv shows and is now a ballet. We do our best to surmise why one should see this and why audience etiquette must be taught.
Please forgive audio we've gotten a new device and are trying to make it work.
It's a Disney fight off between Victorian women and their adaptational choices. We have angry stimming, a series of decisions that shouldn't have been made and an almost good movie hidden in some grim yoghurt-y garbage.
Look the books exist and we have YET to see an actually accurate adaptation of either. We discuss what actually gets from the book to media adaptations, why there has never/will never be a wholly accurate adaptation, and what the benefits of the book to a child audience.
Australians like goon and that surprises no one. To finalise the month we look at the last and by far oddest addition to the Don Bluth collection. The sci-fi movie Titan A.E along with all it's warts and where we feel it should have expanded itself.
These are not just seemingly cheap knock-offs, they are expensive not knock-offs. We look at two of Don Bluth movies that are oft unfairly compared to their Disney contemporaries and why we feel that is an unfair comparison.
Thank you for using levitating penguins, mate or death. No there is no explanation on that you will have to listen to us to get. We look at The Pebble and Penguin and discuss this and Troll, as to why we can't say these are bad movies and where they sit in the Bluth collection of films.
Don Bluth's worst movie... probably, a banger villain who deserved a better movie... ABSOLUTELY. After subjecting Jerri to their first watch of A Troll in Central Park and alcohol imbibed during the process we discuss the infamous movie and why it failed/succeeds in areas that it mayhaps shouldn't.
This is a thought piece on our feelings towards King as a writer. We discuss why we can't get into his books or enjoy them as much as we want and the realisation of all his books just being a giant source material for a D&D campaign.
P.S. We know that Pet Cemetery is 3rd person limited but our issues are present in that one most clearly.
Look sometimes a budget can't save a bad concept and sometimes a low budget can break any level of fear you're supposed to feel. We look at some other mini series and Netflix originals that have adapted King's works. Bee loses her mind over the continued existence of the langoliers and forced to gaze upon the vampires from Sleepwalkers.
Clowns, trauma and the world's lamest bullies. To celebrate 100 episodes of doing this we look at the miniseries and movie forms of IT. What we liked about each and what we felt was lacking, beware talk of clowns and nostalgia not being as good as you remember.
TW - Talks of suicide and child death.
We unearth the piece of work that even the author wishes didn't make it to publication and we are going to rebury it. The ground may be sour but Bee is salty, both film adaptations of the book get to be looked at and compared.
Toxic fan's in one corner, creators in another let's get ready to rumble!!!!! We begin a look into the so called master of horror's creative works by starting with what is probably the easiest entry point. A story about toxic fandom and the dangers of parasocial relationships.
Rambling about bits of music that please out ears is what this is about. We cover a range from magical etherealness to mind bending anxiety pieces. Come for something light to end the month before we dive into horror next time.
We move on from the father of film composition to the mother of Casio keyboards. Yes we are serious and that is a threat, we also talk about the unique sound that helped create the atmosphere of Joker and Chernobyl and the woman responsible for it.
While often a thankless job we highlight 2 of the most iconic composers in film composition. The father of film scoring and the man that made the most iconic spaghetti western sound in the known pop universe.
Composers are some of the most often overlooked parts of media. So we are looking at TV show composers and enjoying the hard work they put into their works. Bee doesn't actually know technical terms so enjoy her very clear poor attempts at remembering the terms and making it up when she doesn't know.
Link to composer discussing Arcane compositions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eezS5KCsDCE&t=235s&ab_channel=Cel-ShadedMusicTheory
Dust off those pipes and prepare the lower registers we're talking about villain songs. What makes a real villain song, why we use the minor key to signify villains and how to quickly identify the traditionally key components that mark a villain song.
Look this is hard to do. Villains that are an allegory for something bigger/a topic the author wishes to discuss are not easy to do and real easy to fuck up.
TW Talks of child abuse, child soldiers, war and murder/torture
This is a very long breakdown of 2 moments where deeper reading beyond the propaganda of the main protagonist that we found where either the villains are nought but victims of the heroes and the society that they hold up as the "true way. Or the person once viewed as the heroic mentor is nothing but a power abusing narcist who wants children to die in their stead.
My Hero Academia spoilers start at - 50:15
Look we as individuals and society love villains why is that? Well we will attempt to discuss why we personally think a villain can be loved, loathed and can carry a piece of media on their own.
These two concepts are not mutually exclusive and we will break this down and with various examples of how one character can be a villain but not antagonistic to the protagonist, the villain who is the antagonist and the antagonist who isn't a villain.
Multiple tangents and uses of Avatar the Last Airbender and Harry Potter as examples for all conceptual breakdowns.
Look I have one good joke and I'm gonna tell it constantly. We now take a look at some of the other works Christopher Lee has been in. His voice acting, bit parts and even his music career will wrap up a month overlooking this incredible man's career and reminding ourselves that the world isn't so bad as he has yet to return in our darkest hour.
We got to the iconic role that defined the man's career going forward and cemented him in the pop culture zeitgeist. Look we couldn't talk about Christopher Lee and not bring this performance up, now come with us and ponder the orb that is this role and if there is more to it then a major blockbuster movie and an iconic voice.
Today we discuss the growing flavour of Christopher Lee's acting career as we discuss the cult leader flavoured variety in 1973's The Wicker man. We try to stay on the path but much like Sergeant Howie we kinda get nowhere and go around a lot of places with the overall perception being that Christopher Lee is mayhaps in control the entire time.
Why is everyone so smooth? The least important question this movie raises but overall worth answering. This movie is psychic damage given form but still necessary to visit as we catalogue the career of this fantastic and memorable man. splatters description in bright red obviously fake blood
This is the hot springs/beach episode, emotional break throughs from preceding episodes are unnecessary and will anything discussed here may have impact in the future? Probably not.
Look we're discussing what we want from a genre so this is more light hearted then anything else. It's filler and we know it, and we're justifying it with it being a deliberate play to genre expectations.
A genre based on girls changing outfits at the speed of light and fighting monsters is important in ways that we cannot stress enough. We get a bit personal in this and even address some bad faith criticisms that are levied at the genre.
If we don't talk about magical girls after saying we are are we subverting the podcast or you? HA! It doesn't matter because we are actually talking about 2 magical girl shows, one that has been deemed the "subversive" magical girl show and one that does not get talked about enough but is certainly the more numerically subversive take. At least in our opinion, so listen in and if you think we're wrong. Subvert expectations and disagree with us with an informed opinion.
At the foundational level these are the same product and yet there is such a difference in how these are presented and accepted by various communities. Why do the muscled up men in skin tight spandex not be adopted by the gay community yet the girls in fluffy skirts with cute animal companions are almost universally embraced with willingness? Yes we all know target demographics but it does go slightly deeper than that and we are ready to guide you through our readings on this.
Trust on this, the hyper-feminine, butt kicking teams of all girls are inherently gay. In that the genre rings true to a large portion of the queer community and can oft ring truer to experiences then most media. Time to tastefully change our outfits via silhouettes and flashing lights for us to figure this out.
Why did they even try? In effort to be like these adaptations we are kinda phoning this in and just having minor breakdowns at the various times works we enjoyed got thrown into the studio paper shredder and then pieced together in "adaptations". Along with discretion we go off about adaptational changes that just grind our gears because we aren't going to make you listen to us just say "This sucks" for about an hour.
Finally the contentious category of direct adaptations. Does adding a character for flow of the new medium still make it direct? Is a completely direct adaptation even possible? Will Bee one day reign in her tangents about superheroes? Maybe to all.
Just like bands even books can have their equivalent of a greatest hits album and these adaptations are examples of that. There are lions, rabbits and continual praise of The Princess Bride movie and brief aside about the adaptation that is like ordering a gluten free, vegan pizza just for comparison.
When an adaptation of a book keeps some aspects but removes others leaving a non-direct adaptation but not one that kept only the best qualities the question then comes up. Did it keep the vibe of the story? We go over 3.5 times that this was done and why we feel that this is a legitimate type of adaptation.
Now the rest of the creative field we were too lazy to put in their own episodes. Here are a variety of other creative Autistics who may or may not be known to you. This is a wrap on Autism month here and Bee will sit consumed with rage that she couldn't get all the episodes to be AA titles.
From The Little Mermaid to modern adult fiction, join us as we explore three authors that use their autistic traits and views to create amazing fictional novels. We look into the truly nonsensical with Lewis Caroll, the loneliness of societal isolation with Hans Christian Anderson, and a new perspective on dating and relationships with Helen Hoang.
Also, the moon is not cheese.
Comedy is not just for allistics. Stand up comedy is often immediately written off for autistic individuals but now we highlight 2 stand up comics who are successful and can act as proof that we autisitcs are funny people and not just buzzkills.
A look into 3 individuals who have graced the silver screen and have officially been diagnosed with autism. All were officially diagnosed but at different points in their lives and some have even left the acting gig all together. What do we think about them and their career paths along with theoretical questions we'd ask.
To wrap up our month of Muppety goodness, join us as we talk about extra franchise accessories to the Muppet empire. We cover some of our favourite episodes of the original Muppet Show, discuss modern interpretations of the characters and re-adaptations of well-loved spinoffs, and have a quick therapy session about the nightmare that is Bobby Benson's Baby Band. You might even catch a glimpse of Gonzo's non-canon space adventure!
After watching the Muppets Most Wanted we breakdown why that film is the best made muppet movie and why that is and why we are forgiving of flaws when it comes to the Muppets but we don't allow it when it involves any other franchise. There is also a gig economy industry looks after extended (forced) time away from your fanbase to explain why we (Jerri) vibe hard with Kermit in the beginning of this movie.
Muppets + Tim Curry + pirates = A hit right. Wrong! What we ended up getting was the death throws of the movies that became a world wide thought experiment. Join us on the ship as we sail the seas of a movie that has made one of us fall asleep by the end of it. TWICE!
We go back to the turn of a decade to look at the first foray of the Muppets into feature length movies. From cameos to jokes, to even the vaguest of looks at the weirdly deep song lyrics and even brief discussions of what this started that other movies the studio has done polished perfectly.
Let them fight meme It's Who's Hellboy is it Anyway where the points don't matter and our opinions are our own. After revisiting the decisions made over 3 films categories have been made up and we try and decide which film is better overall.
It happened so we must discuss it. The rebooted Hellboy that dared to release alongside Endgame (clear view how the studio felt) is it worthy of stand alongside the previous two cinematic releases or does it reek of studio cash grab now that the market seems to favour hero movies.
From weirdly hot Rasputin to Abe Sapien in love; we're back at it again with Hellboy: The Golden Army.
The second and final instalment of Guillermo del Toro's unfinished Hellboy Trilogy, the Golden Army sees us return to our old favourites, new players, and twice the romance! Join us as we explore character growth, miscommunication, Doug Jones, balance, wars, eggs and poetry.
Apologies: apparently some audio clipped out while exporting/recording, and there was some issues with our internet so we thought this was published on time!!
This time round we break away from explicit romances about fishmen to a wooden romance with a big, red monkey. We travel back to the early years of comic movies in this lesser talked about flick that stars Ron Pearlman, Doug Jones and some other people, 3 guesses who directed and the first 2 don't count.
Join us as we wrap up Guillermo del Toro month with a deep dive into one of his most recent films: The Shape of Water. We explore some of our favourite stylistic choices and themes that wind their way through del Toro's work, and how he utilises them - and switches them up on us!
Featuring at least one more butt than you're expecting.
This week on Berri's Couch: Jerri talks for over an hour about colours and how cool they are.
In week three of our deep dive into all things Guillermo del Toro we take a look at the film Crimson Peak, and explore some of our favourite stylistic choices in the film. In particular, the use of colour to represent a multitude of themes and background information. Join us as we talk about romance, horror, set design, costuming, and three different flavours of ghost!