CFC: She’d Be HOT Without the Glasses and Ponytail!

Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis (center) in The Princess Diaries From Mav: A few weeks ago, we did an episode about the Princess Diaries 1&2 films. Ever since then, something has been getting at me. In the first film, there’s the requisite teen movie makeover scene…. Mia Thermopolis is an “ugly duckling”, but it turns…

e256. Oscars, Oscars, All at Once!

It’s Oscar season. Every year Hollywood gets all aflutter to have a night where they celebrate… themselves. Nothing screams pop culture like a room full of millionaires giving each other awards in recognition of how culturally relevant they are. In many ways, it is magical in its ridiculousness. And yet we love it. Or at…

e255. The Mystery of the Disappearing Media!

If you’re the kind of person that listens to our show, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard about the whole fiasco where Warner Brothers-Discovery cancelled and vaulted an essentially completed Batgirl movie so that it would never see the light of day. You’re probably also aware that in their cost-cutting measures they’ve yanked a…

e253. So… Is Princess Diaries 2 a Bad Movie?

In 2001, Disney released the film adaptation of the YA novel The Princess Diaries, starring Ann Hathaway and launching her career on a trajectory that would eventually earn her an Oscar. However, before she got there, she’d make a sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, a film with… somewhat less acclaim. However, the second…

e252. Velma and Pouring Some Edgy on It!

Everyone is talking about Velma. It’s not exactly clear why. Most people don’t seem to like it that much. But if you don’t pay attention to what anyone is saying, and you just judge sheerly based on attention that they By sheer numbers of think pieces you might think that Velma is the most popular…

Call for Comments: Disappearing Media

From Hannah: This summer, the cancelled Batgirl movie caused a lot of people on Twitter (and other places) to not only criticize the decision but talk about why it’s so depressing when films go unreleased. (Particularly, if you believe one of the dominant narratives, that it was solely thrown in the trash for accounting magic…

GroundPod Day 2023! Happy Groundhog’s Day!

Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don’t forget your booties ’cause it’s cooooold out there today! It’s Groundhog Day, and you know what that means! It’s the return of your favorite annual podcast, GroundPod Day! Just like every year, Joe, Andrew, Nicole and Mav return to do a deep dive analysis of a fan favorite…

e251. Eating the Rich! (on film)

A curious set of movies have been racking up nominations on the film circuit this awards season. Glass Onion, the Menu, and Triangle of Sadness. Each of these films has a peculiar thing in common… they’re basically about eating the rich… ok if not eating them than at least killing rich people… largely just because…

Call For Comments: Pouring some “edgy” on it

From Mav: Last year, we did an episode that I called “pour some gritty on it” which was all about the recent trend of doing gritty reboots of classic media IP. The obvious example there was shows on the CW like Riverdale and Nancy Drew. Shows where the idea is that it takes place in…

Call for Comments: Eating the Rich… Cinematically!

From Hannah: In 2019 — when I still went to the theater every week — I noticed a pattern with a release every few months. Starting with Us, then the horror-comedy film Ready or Not, and then with Knives Out I was struck by how class conscious these films were. How unrelentingly they worked to…