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Do you and your friends speak in movie quotes? Do you trade Spongebob memes back and forth with your loved ones? Do you have to rely on the ”Are You Still Watching?” message to let you know it’s time to bathe and stop procrastinating? If you answered yes to any (or all) of these questions, come hang out with us every other week! Media can play a huge role in shaping who we are. Sometimes it makes us idolize Jeff Goldblum as a sex symbol. Sometimes a lack of representation makes you feel invisible. As hosts, siblings Carie and Ross will analyze this phenomenon by breaking down a favorite movie or television show and how the sights, sounds, and messages of media have followed our generation throughout our lives. So pour your favorite beverage, relax, and explore how our shared experiences with movies and television messed us up as a generation. There will be laughter, there will be sadness, and THERE WILL BE discussions about homosexual subtext in children’s animation. Theme Song by Tune Tank: https://tunetank.com/tracks/5611-vacation
There's no ifs ands or buts about it this week, lil onions. James Wan just really wanted to do the Amityville Horror and didn't care very much if it would be clocked by viewers like you. But more importantly, James Wan's spectacular fan service for Ed and Lorraine Warren are on full display this week as we cover The Conjuring (2013). Carie is entirely caught up in Ed Warren's crimes against women, Ross is predictably in love with the music, and the siblings are forever living in the moment when they went to see this in the theater with MOM
Claustrophobics need not apply this week, lil onions! We're breaking down one of Carie's all-time favorite horror films, The Descent (2005). We follow the journey of a group of female spelunkers as the traverse an unknown cave system and disturb the ancient horrors within. Carie is overwhelmed by the physical display of badassitude on behalf of the all-female cast, Ross is on the Juno For Death 2005 campaign for the entire film, and the siblings discuss how the film's two different endings impact the overall narrative.
Better late than never, right lil onions? This week, we're breaking down Johnathan Demme's thriller classic, The Silence of the Lambs (1991). We follow junior FBI agent in training, Clarice Starling, through her journey to become one of the "big boys" in capturing one of the most notorious fictional serial killers, Buffalo Bill. Ross has all the feelings about Jodie Foster's performance as Clarice Starling, as well as the production team for doing this subject justice. Carie is super overwhelmed by the aggressive close-up shots and the narrative dynamic between Clarice and Hannibal the Cannibal. There is also some light discourse on the transphobia of this movie, but please visit the sources in the related media, bc the siblings are for sure not qualified to discuss them in depth.
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This is a long one, lil onions, but we could just not do a two-parter. We cannot be prolonging this!!! Because this week, we are unpacking Emerald Fennel's extremely disturbing, one of a kind thriller, Saltburn (2023). The siblings ride the roller coaster of the film following protagonist, Oliver Quick, from Oxford University to the mysterious summer estate of Saltburn to spend the summer with his new friend, Felix. Moment to moment, you can't be sure what happens next, and it's disconcerting. Ross can't get over the levels of depravity characters will abide, Carie is caught up in the ridiculous depth of the bathshit narrative, and the siblings are once again requesting emotional damages from the film's production team.
Ross' barn door is off its hinges this week as we break down one of his top ten favorite films, Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan (2010). Black Swan follows the journey of Nina Sayers who has lofty aspirations of dancing both the Black and White Swans in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, but the part may turn out to be more than she can handle. Ross goes gaga for all the symbolism baked into the crust of the film, Carie is big icked by all of the disgusting body horror as Nina makes her transformation, and the siblings are in awe of the Oscar-winning performance that gave Natalie Portman a seat at the big kids' table.
Continuing with our theme of thrillers for Ross' birthday month, we cover one of his favorites, Flightplan (2005), the movie about how it is in fact possible to lose your child on an airplane. Jodie Foster stars as engine propulsion engineer, Kyle Pratt, who is distraught to awaken to find her daughter missing while on a double decker airplane. Prepare to be gaslit, both on Kyle's behalf and as an audience. Ross fawns over the tone the movie sets up from the jump, Carie gets super jazzed by the fim's catharsis, and the siblings are in collective awe at the amount of airplane specs there are.
What do you get when you combine Nicholas Cage, solar flares, and a meticulous tabulation of every major disaster over the past 50 years? Alex Proyas' Knowing (2009). What starts off as an interesting tale about a little girl who could see the future slowly but surely descends into a otherworldly mess when Nicholas Cage and his Macaulay of a Culkin child team up with Rose Byrne to solve the mystery of a list of numbers left in a time capsule by her mother. Ross defends the movie until he can't, Carie is actually surprised to be feeling things for Nick Cage, and the siblings are once again poised to consider the concept of what the afterlife may actually mean.
SUPPORT US ON PATREON! We're already into our West Wing MS scandal arc coverage, and it's honestly worth it just to hear Ross be mad.
HI LIL ONIONS! No new episode this week, but we are rerunning an old episode on the pilot of Aaron Sorkin and NBC's The West Wing ahead of our PATREON coverage of the multiple sclerosis scandal arc of the show. Revisiting this episode four years later has left us with one refrain: My how the tables turn...The optimism we feel in this episode has by now turned to disillusionment and despair. But we hope you enjoy this rebroadcast and encourage you to check out our coverage of the MS West Wing arc over on Patreon. We'd love to see more of you over there. Please support us at the link below!
Original description:
This week we take a long-winded stab at covering television. Our resident West Wing scholar, Ross, is here to tell us how this show came to be, how it stands up to history, and the craft of Aaron Sorkin. Carie is mostly here to fawn over Robe Lowe.
Related Media: The West Wing Weekly;
**Let's try this again, with the CORRECT export file...
This week, Carie is offending Ross' OCD by choosing a Disney film, Aladdin (1992) despite previous intentions of grouping them together. Carie defends this choice by lauding the amazing performance of her fave, Robin Williams, as the genie. Ross gets frustrated with multiple plot elements that make less than perfect sense, even for a children's film. The siblings get back to the root cause of why the film traumatized Ross in the first place, and then of course the bonus treat of Ross' unsolicited rant about Disney remakes.
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WHO'S READY TO SOB? Seriously, like more than once. This week, in a very trigger-heavy episode, the siblings unpack one of Robin Williams' more devastating films, What Dreams May Come (1998). Carie puts Ross through the emotional woodchipper that is the story of Chris Nielsen and his family's arduous journey from life to death to ACTUAL Hell. Carie has some reading from the book the movie is based upon, Ross completely derails the recording over a Family Guy bit, and the siblings consider what they might look like in the afterlife.
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Amanda is a wife. A mother. A blogger. A Christian.
A charming, beautiful, bubbly, young woman who lives life to the fullest.
But Amanda is dying, with a secret she doesn’t want anyone to know.
She starts a blog detailing her cancer journey, and becomes an inspiration, touching and
captivating her local community as well as followers all over the world.
Until one day investigative producer Nancy gets an anonymous tip telling her to look at Amanda’s
blog, setting Nancy on an unimaginable road to uncover Amanda’s secret.
Award winning journalist Charlie Webster explores this unbelievable and bizarre, but
all-too-real tale, of a woman from San Jose, California whose secret ripped a family apart and
left a community in shock.
Scamanda is the true story of a woman whose own words held the key to her secret.
New episodes every Monday.
Follow Scamanda on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Amanda’s blog posts are read by actor Kendall Horn.
