So there’s a weird thing that happens when you get older. You start to realize that the things that seem indelibly important to you simply don’t matter to younger generations. Usually on our show, when we talk about the past we’re talking about movies, TV, comics, or music. But what about real events. What about…
Category: Movies and Film
e432. The Odyssey and Greek Myth: The Enduring Legacy of Ancient Classics
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that the biggest movie in the world for the last week has been Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Despite a concerted right-wing campaign to pretend that no one is interested in the film, it appears to be wildly successful. This is hardly a surprise; Nolan is…
e431. Henchmen, Heavies, Minions & Muscle: Narrative Dynamics of the Hired Goon
Behind every great villain is… frankly, well, often there’s another bigger villain pulling the strings. But the truth is, while we often celebrate “the big bad” some of the most interesting villainy comes from the lieutenants that the hero meets along the way to facing the big bad. Sometimes, these henchmen might even eclipse the…
e428. The Supergirl Legacy: The Evolution of the Maid of Might
If you pay attention to the weekly pop-culture media landscape you might be aware that a new Supergirl movie released the weekend before this episode. It performed… somewhat underwhelmingly at the box office. It also had mixed reviews. But is that fair? On this episode Mav, Wayne and Hannah welcome returning guest, comics scholar Anna…
e426. Narrative & Technology (& Narrative) Syllabus Special
A few weeks ago, Mav was talking with friend of the show Joe Darowski about a new class Joe is teaching at Bringham Young University called “Technology & Narrative”. Joe asked if Mav had any suggestions for the course since it seemed up his alley. Well, as it turns out, Mav regularly teaches a course…
e425. Chrises vs Women Over 60! Media Literacy and Aging in Hollywood
Entertainment Weekly recently published an article by Derek Lawrence that made the somewhat shocking claim that “movies are more likely to star an actor named Chris than women over 60.” Well, that seemed like exactly the kind of thing we should investigate on this shows. So we looked into it a little deeper and. Well,…
e423. Father Knows Less: Unpacking Bad Dad Stereotypes in Film
There’s a movie coming out next weekend starring comedian Nate Bargatze called The Breadwinner. Curiously, even though we were aware of it, not one of the five co-hosts on the show chose it in the box office game. It just didn’t seem interesting. Recently we’ve gotten a chance to see the trailer and just. Well,…
e422. Anatomy of a Heist: More Than Just Stealing
The Heist may be one of the popular pop culture tropes of all time. And yet, we’ve never talked about it before. So you know what that means. It’s time to change that. On this episode, assemble a ragtag group of experts… to pull off one last job… figuring out what makes a heist movie…
e420. 2026 Summer Movie Preview
It’s summer! Ok, maybe it’s not quite summer summer, but it is summer movie season as the U.S box office. There’s a lot of movies coming out this summer, but honestly not that many franchises. So, how do you decide what to see? On this episode, Mav, Hannah, and Maybe are joined by returning guests…