August 13th, 2018
Inspired by the news that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is recasting a major character for thematic and artistic reasons - rather than because the original actor was a nightmare, as is so often the case - Ed and guest host Emily Benita discuss other examples of TV shows taking big risks, and whether the current glut of content has encouraged or lessened experimentation. They also try to make sense of the logic behind the forthcoming changes to the Oscars, and whether the idea of an Oscar for popular movies is self-defeating.
00:00:00 - 00:17:46 - Intro & News
00:17:47 - 01:04:13 - Ed & Emily talk about TV shows taking risks
01:04:14 - 01:10:46 - SRS Recommends & Outro
August 6th, 2018
Ed and guest-host Emily Benita talk about rewatching movies (and TV shows) in this week's episode. Which movies do they return to for comfort and/or catharsis? How have their rewatching habits changed over the years? What do they get out of watching a movie multiple times? They discuss all of these questions, as well as the death of Barry Chuckle, the return of Jean-Luc Picard, and YouTube mistakes.
00:00:00 - 00:16:03 - Intro & News
00:16:04 - 00:46:23 - Ed & Emily talk about rewatching movies and TV shows
00:46:24 - 00:56:18 - SRS Recommends & Outro
July 30th, 2018
Ed is joined by returning guest Emily Benita to talk about horror movies in the 21st century, with a specific focus on movies released during the last four or five years, and whether the genre is currently going through a golden age. They also talk about the latest developments in the Chris Hardwick scandal, the potential damage that could be caused by the Disney/Fox merger, and the Buffy reboot.
00:00:00 - 00:27:17 - Intro & News
00:27:18 - 00:59:22 - Ed & Emily talk about 21st century horror movies
00:59:23 - 01:05:28 - SRS Recommends & Outro
July 22nd, 2018
It's been ten years since the release of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, a film which achieved tremendous commercial and critical success, and for many seemed to legitimise the superhero story as a cinematic genre. It also inspired a lot of people to act terribly on the Internet. Matt and Ed look back at the movie and try to decide how well it holds up, and to make sense of its complicated legacy. They also discuss some of the news coming out of Comic-Con, and try to untangle the messy situation surrounding James Gunn's firing by Disney.
00:00:00 - 00:24:25 - Intro & News
00:24:26 - 00:56:59 - Matt & Ed discuss The Dark Knight
00:57:00 - 01:02:32 - SRS Recommends & Outro
July 15th, 2018
Inspired by the upcoming MLB All-Star game, Matt and Ed talk about baseball in movies and TV (though through a mixture of tiredness and lack of time they didn't get to A League of Their Own, which is unforgivable since it's the best), with digressions about Soundcloud rappers, the Toronto Raptors, and The Wine Show.
00:00:00 - 00:35:54 - Intro & News
00:35:55 - 01:07:56 - Matt & Ed discuss baseball in movies and TV
01:07:57 - 01:12:48 - SRS Recommends & Outro
July 8th, 2018
Inspired by a tweet from Mark Kermode, this episode is all about the changing face of cinema, and how we experience films in an age where the traditional cinematic experience is being replaced with something very different. Matt speaks to Jaq Chell and Abi Standish from Cinema for All, an organization which helps communities set up their own cinematic experiences outside of traditional theatrical exhibition. Ed and Matt also talk about the ways in which digital filming and distribution shape film culture, Scarlett Johansson's decision to play a trans character in an upcoming movie, and, of course, WORLD CUP FEVER.
00:00:00 - 00:30:08 - Intro & News
00:30:09 - 00:52:10 - Matt interviews Jaq Chell and Abi Standish
00:52:11 - 01:09:31 - Matt and Ed discuss Cinema in 2018
01:09:32 - 01:17:52 - SRS Recommends & Outro
July 1st, 2018
Inspired by the release of another lackluster Jurassic Park/World movie, Matt and Ed talk about film series that ran too long, wearing out their welcomes with audiences and critics. They also talk about the abuse accusations against Chris Hardwick and the notable silence coming from the comedy and podcast communities, the weird, dumb saga of David Lynch's weird, dumb comments about Donald Trump, and WORLD CUP FEVER.
00:00:00 - 00:10:16 - Intro & World Cup chatter
00:10:17 - 00:23:49 - News
00:23:50 - 00:43:05 - Matt & Ed discuss Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and the Jurassic franchise in general
00:43:06 - 01:14:03 - Matt & Ed discuss other franchises overstayed their welcome
01:14:04 - 01:22:51 - SRS Recommends & Outro
June 24th, 2018
With Matt out due to hay fever-related illness, Ed is joined by returning guest Emily Benita to talk about long movies. Why does it feel like movies are getting longer? Is there a certain kind of story that best suits a longer runtime, or is it all in the way a story is told? Which of the two movies about Abraham Lincoln released in 2012 is better? There's only way to find out: LISTEN TO THE EPISODE.
00:00:00 - 00:06:15 - Intro
00:06:16 - 01:00:31 - Ed & Emily discuss long movies
01:00:32 - 01:06:15 - SRS Recommends & Outro
June 11th, 2018
In one of the loopier episodes in recent memory, Matt and Ed discuss heist movies by way of World War II propaganda films, Birch/Hird confusion, and ill-fated BBC sitcoms of the '90s. They also talk about missing out on Doc/Fest, memories of bad Q&As, and toxic Star Wars fans.
00:00:00 - 00:13:40 - Intro
00:13:41 - 00:41:41 - News
00:41:42 - 01:24:30 - Matt & Ed discuss heist movies
01:24:31 - 01:31:12 - SRS Recommends & Outro
June 3rd, 2018
Matt and Ed check in on the Bluth family and the goings in - get this - Beverly Hills in the fifth season of Arrested Development, the first half of which debuted on Netflix this week. Has the shift back to a more traditional format after the more experimental fourth season helped the show regain some of its pizazz? How does splitting the season in half affect the dense storytelling for which the series has always been known? Did the now-infamous New York Times interview cast a pall over the new season? They tackle all of these questions, and also find time to discuss the only slightly surprising cancellation of Roseanne.
00:00:00 - 00:27:04 - Intro & News
00:27:05 - 01:18:46 - Matt & Ed discuss Arrested Development Season 5
01:18:47 - 01:25:28 - SRS Recommends & Outro
May 27th, 2018
A Star Wars movie? In May? It's more likely than you think.
Matt and Ed check in on the LucasFilm saga, a whole five months after the last time, to discuss the totally fine Solo: A Star Wars Story. Which actors rise to the occasion and who lets the side down? What's up with those dice? How could it have been more like MacGruber? These are just some of the questions they address in their comprehensive, spoiler-filled rundown of the perfectly coherent product of a chaotic production.
00:00:00 - 00:16:34 - Intro & News
00:16:35 - 01:22:17 - Matt & Ed talk about Solo: A Star Wars Story
01:22:18 - 01:28:30 - SRS Recommends & Outro
May 20th, 2018
Inspired by the recently released remixed version of Arrested Development's fourth season, Matt and Ed discuss instances where creators re-edited their own work, and the at times noble, at times crassly commercial, reasons behind them. They also talk about the brief, terrible cancellation of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and sift through some of the news stories that came out of Cannes over the past two weeks.
00:00:00 - 00:22:41 - Intro & News
00:22:42 - 01:00:20 - Matt & Ed discuss Directors Cuts and Arrested Development: Fateful Consequences
01:00:21 - 01:06:26 - SRS Recommends & Outro
May 14th, 2018
Returning guest Jack Rhoden joins Ed this week to talk about The League of Gentlemen, the much beloved and macabre comedy group who recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of their Perrier award win with three Christmas specials. Those episodes saw the cast return to the horrible, yet charming, then even more horrible town of Royston Vasey in order to reprise their vast array of terrifying and funny characters. Jack and Ed discuss their respective histories with the show, the work that the team has produced in the years since, and which elements of the series feel problematic in 2018 and which feel oddly timely.
May 6th, 2018
Matt and Ed discuss Netflix's Love, the romantic comedy-drama starring Gillian Jacobs and Paul Rust. In addition to praising the show's command of tone and its sprawling, surprising cast, they explore how it compares to co-creator Judd Apatow's other work, highlight the ways in which it manages to capture the feel of modern dating and Los Angeles, and its abundant supply of funny theme songs for movies that don't actually have theme songs. They also wax poetic about Childish Gambino's "This is America".
00:00:00 - 00:10:13 - Intro & News
00:10:14 - 01:03:16 - Matt & Ed discuss Love
01:03:17 - 01:11:33 - SRS Recommends & Outro
April 29th, 2018
Matt and Ed have a very SPOILER-heavy conversation about Infinity War. That's pretty much it. For the love of all that is holy, don't listen if you don't want pretty much the entire film's plot revealed. Enjoy!
April 15th, 2018
That's right: Jurassic Park turns 25 years old this year and death will come for us all. Matt and Ed discuss the legacy of Steven Spielberg's groundbreaking blockbuster, the ways in which it changed how films are made and sold, and why it became a touchstone for an entire generation (even if they don't like it as much as a lot of people do). They also dig into the Netflix-Cannes feud, the Apu controversy surrounding The Simpsons, and pay tribute to Milos Forman.
00:00:00 - 00:36:30 - Intro & News
00:36:31 - 01:15:10 - Matt & Ed discuss Jurassic Park
01:15:11 - 01:21:08 - SRS Recommends & Outro
April 8th, 2018
When it was published in 2011, Ernest Cline's Ready Player One got a fairly warm reception as a diverting mashup of pop culture, gaming, and accessible quest narrative, wrapped up in a warm, comforting blanket of nostalgia for the ephemera of the 1970s and 80s. Over the past seven years, its reputation has proven much more divisive, in part because of Cline's subsequent work, but mostly because the kind of geek culture he celebrated has become much darker and more complicated. Matt and Ed talk about all that in regards to the film adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg, as well as Amazon's big-budget TV gambles and the dystopian potential of Birmingham.
00:00:00 - 00:25:48 - Intro & News
00:25:49 - 01:09:15 - Matt & Ed discuss Ready Player One
01:09:16 - 01:17:06 - SRS Recommends & Outro
March 26th, 2018
Inspired by the hand-wringing over the middling performance of Red Sparrow and this tweet by Zoe Kazan, this week's episode is all about movie stars. How has movie stardom changed since the star system first took shape in the early days of Hollywood? Are there any movie stars in the traditional sense now that Hollywood is so franchise focused? Is stardom ultimately more harmful than helpful? Matt and Ed consider all of the above, as well as which recurring characters from Sex and the City they wouldn't vote for.
00:00:00 - 00:16:36 - Intro & News
00:16:37 - 01:05:12 - Matt & Ed discover Movie Stars
01:05:13 - 01:15:25 - SRS Recommends & Outro
March 11th, 2018
For their 200th episode, Matt and Ed are joined by returning guest Emily Benita for a SPOILER-rich discussion about the third season of The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and why its depiction of mental illness (combined with amazing songs, a brilliant cast, and a remarkable tonal flexibility) make it one of the best shows on television. They also determine once and for all which way the characters from The Office would have voted in the Brexit referendum.
00:00:00 - 00:04:09 - Intro
00:04:10 - 00:39:50 - News
00:39:51 - 01:27:57 - Matt, Ed and Emily discuss Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
01:27:58 - 01:35:11 - SRS Recommends & Outro
March 4th, 2018
Following on from last year, when Ed picked the best Best Picture winners in Oscar history, Matt and Ed join forces to highlight the times when The Academy got Best Director right. Also, since the episode was recorded mere hours before this year's Oscars, they try to predict the major awards so that their foolishness can be preserved for all time.
