Middle of the Row

Today's episode features Ben and Nick of A Place for Owls. A Place for Owls are a Denver emo band that play quote “music that makes you feel sad, but in a good way”. Following their breakout self-titled album from 2022, they have gone on to play shows with rock heavyweights Switchfoot and Mae. We discussed those shows and their DIY approach to promotion, as well as how they went about writing and creating their upcoming second full length album, "How We Dig in the Earth", which will be self-released on November 1st. We also had our second pet appearance on the podcast with an appearance of Nick's cat, Tilly!

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About Knock at the Cabin... With some new M. Night out with Trap, I'm putting out our episode of his last film that's been sitting around in the unreleased archives. I think we are on the high end of appreciation for this one (I also think I was sick?), but we talk about greater meaning, great performances and how Night's strengths and weaknesses come through in another good entry from him. I'm (Your Name Here) and I want to talk about The ________ thing about.... Download. Listen. Enjoy! Show Notes: (Time:Stamp) Talking M. Night, Bautista, & General Thoughts, Star Ratings... (0:01:00) Star Ratings & Start of Spoilers, Real or Not?… (0:22:00) Diving Deeper Into Deeper Meaning… (0:30:00) Finding Tension In The Truth... (0:43:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Dipping back into the MCU one more time this week, for the film that feels closest to Deadpool & Wolverine, Spider-Man: No Way Home. This 2021 film was the first big dip into the multi-verse in the MCU and stands as the best version of it still, I think. We are all pretty big fans of this one and I was the highest on it when we recorded (probably still as well?). Anyways, it was fun to revisit our excitement around this time and wondering where all of this was going to take us, and us being somewhat right and way wrong! Peter 3 forever! Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (0:00:00) Spoiler Specifics and Diving In Deep (0:15:50) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (0:33:30) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (0:57:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About The Marvels... The most recent MCU entry, all the reworking of The Marvels might make even more sense to the MCU as it was probably re-jiggered along with the plans for Deadpool & Wolverine. We are all much bigger fans of The Marvels than its reputation that quickly set in at its release; that I think you can safely say was carried out by some bad faith actors. So consider this the beginning of the reclamation of The Marvels! Let's go! Download. Listen. Enjoy! General Thoughts And Context For The Marvels... (0:00:00) Diving Deeper Into What's Missing... (0:17:30) Star Ratings and MCU Rankings (0:22:00) Spoilers for The Marvels, Diving Into The Ending (0:26:15) The Refreshing Thing About The Marvels and Future Talk... (0:31:30) @middleofrow #nothe

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About Logan... We are back again and we are getting hyped for Deadpool & Wolverine by digging into the unreleased archives (a lot of those) to bring out the episodes related to this film. Logan is the last proper appearance of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, in what was supposed to be his send off with the character, and the fact that he's coming back gives me some hope for that movie! We have a wide range of opinions on this one, so tune in to see who likes it and who doesn't (spoiler, I bet you'd be right if you guess). Download. Listen. Enjoy! General Thoughts... (0:00:00) Digging Into Our Disagreements... (0:17:30) Talking About X-Men (0:30:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About Mad Max: Fury Road.... As we get ready for Furiosa this week, we decided to go back to the film it's a prequel to! Two of us think this is a 5 star classic, but that doesn't mean we spend the whole time gushing and raving about the incredible filmmaking. We discuss some shortcomings, how it feels like it could have gone deeper and I compare George Miller to Wes Anderson. Come and listen to find out why. Download. Listen. Enjoy! Show Notes: (Time:Stamp) General Thoughts... (0:01:00) Favorite Bits... (0:13:30) Some Frustrations?... (0:32:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About We're All Going to the World's Fair.... We recorded this awhile ago, but with director Jane Schoenbrun's latest I Saw the TV Glow just going wide this weekend, now seemed like the time to release it in this catch up phase! We have a really lively discussion on this film, a movie none of liked above it being OK, but we do talk about a lot of really good and interesting things going on in this movie and it made me want to re-watch it! It was nice to hear my prediction that Schoenbrun would level up nicely with her next film has panned out (I Saw the TV Glow is pretty damn good!). Download. Listen. Enjoy! Show Notes: (Time:Stamp) General Thoughts... (0:01:00) Star Ratings & Spoilers (0:16:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About Poor Things… The podcast might be coming back? IDK, we have tons of backlog, and hopefully this is the first of many more episodes to start rolling back onto this feed. We are back with Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things, his latest film and one of the better films of 2023 from where I'm sitting. We discuss Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo greatness, the ethics of brain transplants and all things Willem Dafoe. Download. Listen. Enjoy! Show Notes: (Time:Stamp) General Thoughts… (0:01:00) Star Ratings/Spoilers (0:20:00) @middleofrow #nothe Support us on Patreon! Subscribe on iTunes, find us on Spotify, Amazon, Luminary, Stitcher, Google, Tune In, iHeartRadio, maybe elsewhere. Want some more Middle of the Row in your life? Follow the site @MiddleofRow, Zac @ZacOldenburg, Lauren @BewareOfTrees, & Ben @WeirdestWizard.

Song Trader, Episode 2 featuring: Caleb, Lindsay, and Meg Follow Caleb on Twitter: @CKPNW Follow Lindsay on Twitter: @lindsayfickas Follow Meg on Twitter: @megannnkoontz Follow me on Twitter: @anotherRahulJ @middleofrow #nothe

Hello. We are still a podcast. And this is yet another attempt to get these things out of the pipeline again. We have Middle of the Row & The Greatest Thing About... for days, and I hope this fall to get more to you all. This release is for The Mitchells vs. The Machines, which I'm timing with TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, as they share a director/writer in this film's co-director/writer Jeff Rowe. Let's call it a good excuse. The Middle of the Row: The Podcast will still have counting numbers, but won't be in order, fyi. Anyways, cross those figures. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, (1:00) Spoiler! You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (20:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch..., Star Ratings (34:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Another Flashback episode from the time when we still did those on the OG feed. Catching up with Fright Night from 2011, a movie I soured on since I last saw it, but the rest of the pod is standing up for it! Is Charlie a shitty lead character, is Colin Farrell the dreamiest vampire ever, where is the justice for Poots? Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (0:00:30) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (0:15:40) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (0:25:00) @middleofrow #nothe

One of many from the archives, essentially, even though this is the first release of the podcast! The Black Phone, I thought was a bad movie, and I think I brought Lauren and Ben down with me along the way? Take a listen for yourself, as we ask a lot of questions about this quite weird, silly and not that scary movie! General Thoughts, Star Ratings, crapping on Peacock (it's gotten better) (0:01:00) Spoilers for The Black Phone (0:18:00) The Categories: The Confounding Thing About… (0:19:00) The Ridiculous Thing About... (0:23:00) The Confusing Thing About... (0:27:45) The Uncomfortable Thing About... (0:32:00) @middleofrow #nothe

What's this, it's our podcast! Starting off 2023 (shut up, it's still January!) Trying to make this a regular thing again (we have been recording), and I'm trying to find the time to get these out. But, as we say goodbye to 2022, it's time for our Time Capsule episode! Let's throw some stuff into the dirt for the future... Our Picks! Ben: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (3:30) Lauren: A Plague Tale: Requiem (13:40) Zac: Station Eleven (26:00) Random Discussion and Predictions (32:00) Predictions for 23! Game: Ben: Dead Space (Remake) Zac: Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Lauren: Assassin's Creed Mirage Movie: Ben: Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Zac: Asteroid City Lauren: Barbie TV: Ben: The Last of Us Zac: The Last of Us Lauren: The Last of Us Random: Ben: Trigun Stampede Lauren: Alecto: The Ninth Zac: Killers of the Flower Moon

Today I am talking with Aisha Sultan. Aisha is a syndicated columnist based at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where they've been writing for more than 20 years. Her work focusing on education and parenting has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, CNN, and The Washington Post. "Education, Interrupted" is her second documentary, and follows the experience of a mother of three young children navigating virtual school during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. It premieres at the Saint Louis International Film Festival on Saturday, November 3rd. Film Synopsis: Witness the devastating disruption of schooling through the eyes of an unforgettable family. Tyra Johnson is a devoted and determined mother fighting to maintain her children's education in one of the country's most poverty-stricken ZIP codes, which was hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Find more from Aisha Sultan on her website, Twitter, Instagram, or STLToday. Find more about the St. Louis International Film Festival including the schedule of films here. Follow me on Twitter@anotherRahulJ.

We head back to Netflix to review Jamie Foxx's latest, Day Shift! No one is terribly bowled over by this vampire flick/John Wick mashup, but we had quite a bit of fun picking it apart. Come for the praise of the fight choreography, stay longer as we try and figure out if this movie makes any damn sense. Download. Listen. Enjoy! The General Thoughts (01:00) Categories: The Draining Thing About... (11:30) Star Ratings/Spoilers (17:30) Back to Categories: The Impressive Thing About... & The Confounding Thing About... (19:45) Anything we missed? @middleofrow #nothe

The week we are discussing The Greatest Thing About... Prey! This Predator prequel has nothing to do with previous films outside a couple nods and a Predator showing up, but it's a fresh take on the format that is overcoming the stink of its previous entry. Taking the film back to the 18th century and giving the film a female lead are a great start, while director Dan Trachtenberg gets to show off his action chops outside of a bunker. Amber Midthunder is going to be a star and Predators are little B's. We all agree on that. Download. Listen. Enjoy! General Thoughts (0:01:00) Star Ratings/Spoilers (0:26:00) Categories: The Uncomfortable Thing About... (0:26:30) The Satisfying Thing About... (0:34:00) The Weirdest Thing About... (0:40:20) Ben Comes Up With Predator Sequels (0:47:00) @middleofrow #nothe

It's episode 2 of The Greatest Thing About Podcast... and we are showing off the flexibility of the concept by reviewing a video game; Stray. Stray is an indie release on Playstation and Steam and is a short, but fun, adventure into the mind of a cat. Well, sort of. You definitely get to be a cat, and do many cat things (napping, please), but the game itself is a mystery platformer that has some pretty distinct level design across it's post-apocalyptic robotic setting. All of us enjoyed the game to varying degrees, which leads to some good discussion about what makes this game work as well as it does. Download. Listen. Enjoy! General Thoughts... (0:01:00) Star Ratings Spoilers for Stray (0:09:30) Categories: The Impressive Thing About… (0:09:30) The Frustrating Thing About... (0:19:00) The Weirdest Thing About... (0:22:20) @middleofrow #nothe

Welcome to a new version of our podcast at Middle of the Row; The Greatest Thing About... podcast! We are still going to talk about movies, but also hope to talk more games, tv, while also being able to pick whatever movie we damn well please. We will also be releasing our backlog (it's big) of Middle of the Row: The Podcast as well, but the plan is for a new The Greatest Thing About... to come out weekly. We start with the highest rated movie we've ever done here on the pod (for us) with Everything Everywhere All at Once. It's amazing, you should watch it, then listen to us talking about why it is so great! Download. Listen. Enjoy! An Introduction...(0:00:30) General Thoughts... (0:02:00) Star Ratings & The Letterboxd Top 10 (0:18:00) Spoilers for Everything Everywhere All at Once (0:22:30) Categories: The Greatest Thing About… (0:23:00) The Funniest Thing About... (0:29:00) The Upsetting Thing About... (0:42:00) #nothe @middleofrow

Goon was a flashback pick from late last year, but it was actually a 2012 release so now it is an actual flashback for the correct year! This was picked by Jon, but he didn't make this episode, but Ben, Lauren and Zac all really enjoyed chatting about this hockey cult classic. Though, none of us have seen the sequel, so we don't know if we can recommend that, but Scott and Schreiber are excellent here, so more of them is probably making it worth a watch. Also, maybe the most intense E.T. Watch in podcast history... Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (13:30) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (28:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Malignant came out and set the internet on fire for a couple weeks last year, but it didn't really work for most of our crew...until it did. Zac was on board throughout, but everyone agrees the final act is worth sticking around for. But, we debate a lot! Is the acting good? How intentional is Wan's vision? Is it scary? Is it a comedy? Watch/listen/find out! Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) Spoilers, You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (17:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (33:30) @middleofrow #nothe

We are back with a flashback from last year, so it flashes back to 2001. Lauren picked Amélie, another Jean-Pierre Jeunet film from her, and its charms seemed to have won newcomer Ben over. Zac and Lauren continued to be big champions of the film, even if he thinks Amélie might be an emotional terrorist. Still, a fun chat and a lot of positive love for a movie that's lost none of its charm all these year's laters. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (8:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (17:30) @middleofrow #nothe

We are back, again, and digging deep into the backlog to hopefully start getting us back to the present. I plan on continuing to jump around in the releases, so bear with us as things might seem super random or super old! This week, we have a fun episode for a bad movie, Reminiscence. You probably forgot about this movie by now, so jump in the memory machine with us and revisit a film that was gone as soon as it arrived. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:30) Spoilers, You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (17:30) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (33:00) @middleofrow #nothe

The MCU's third entry in 2021 was Eternals and we reviewed it when it hit Disney+. Now you can buy it anywhere and wonder what the hell is Zac thinking or just take some enjoyment agreeing with Ben and Lauren on this whole endeavor. We found a lot of common ground on both sides of this coin, but came out liking it and not on quite opposite spectrums. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (21:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (56:50) @middleofrow #nothe

Just in time for some Oscars nominations, we are releasing our episode on Denis Villeneuve's Dune! We all love his last film on this podcast, Blade Runner 2049, but we aren't quite as unanimously positive on his latest. That's not to say we aren't positive, but maybe expectations were a little too high? Need to rewatch it? Anyways, lots of praise, lots to discuss, and everyone wants to see Part 2! Yay! Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (27:15) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (48:43) @middleofrow #nothe

This week we flashback to the 2001 comedy classic, Wet Hot American Summer. A lot of familiar faces got their start here, the most successful of which is probably the smallest role of the main cast. Who knew! Everyone but Zac hadn't seen this and I think he has slowly started to convert two more to the cult of Wet Hot! Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (14:20) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions (24:30) The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (32:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Welcome to our Time Capsule 2021 Episode. This is where we pick our pop culture object to be stored and to be discovered by later generations, while also previewing the year ahead! Let's get to it! Zac's Pick: Marvel's What If... (3:00) Lauren's Pick: Arcane (12:45) Ben's Pick: To Your Eternity (18:50) Favorite Predictions for 2022 (24:00) Game Predictions: Ben: Tiny Tina's Wonderland Lauren: God of War: Ragnarok Zac: BOTW 2 Movie: Ben: The Batman Lauren: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-verse Zac: Disappointment Blvd. TV: Ben: Stranger Things Lauren: The Legend of Ox Machina Zac: Station Eleven Book: Lauren: Nona the Ninth Anime: Ben: Uzumaki

Just in time for The Peacemaker, our review of The Suicide Squad! Ben's since named this his best movie of 21 (bold), while the rest of the crew definitely think it is good! Gunn is having fun and we have fun talking about this latest entry in the DC catalog. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (27:30) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (44:00) @middleofrow #nothe

We take a look back at Studio Ghibli's most prestigious entry in their filmography, Spirited Away! This was a Ben pick and let's just say we aren't aligned as a group here. We appreciate the animation, the whimsy and some of us wonder what the hell is going on! Come shake your head at Zac is what we are ultimately saying. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (17:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions (34:30) The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (47:00) @middleofrow #nothe

We are back, again, after another delay. We have a lot of backlog from 2021 and those start coming out now! This is a bit of a forgotten Netflix release last year that was actually one of the more interesting titles they have released in the last year or two. We like different things about this one, so I think we all think you should definitely be able to find something to appreciate in this film. We all agree, let Karen Gillan emote! Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (14:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (28:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Yes, we still have a podcast and we are finally back with this summer's Black Widow. Now free to all on Disney+, we timed this perfectly, right? We all love the MCU around here and we all really liked Black Widow. We argue over whom is the best in this film, discuss where we think all of the new characters might go from here as well as try and get to the bottom of the correct pronunciation of Budapest... I lively talk, as always, around the MCU content we've been missing on the movie front. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Marvel “Shop Talk” (28:00) Performance Piece, Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions (46:00) The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (1:04:00) @middleofrow #nothe

New Soderbergh with No Sudden Move! Zac's in, obviously, but the rest of the group is not so moved. Still, they find some common ground over the cast (occasionally), the one-liners (always) and that Matt Damon makes everything better. Soderbergh fans, enjoy; if not, avoid??? Listen and find out. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (10:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (23:45) @middleofrow #nothe

We got together to discuss the underseen A24/Hulu horror film, False Positive. Created and written by star Ilana Glazer and director John Lee, the film feels a little lost even if it's heart is in the right place. Should it have been more horror, more comedy, more horror comedy? Do only pregnant families find this funny? Or only more terrifying? Lots of questions for a film that is an interesting attempt at creating a genre movie out of the pregnancy experience. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (17:30) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (38:45) @middleofrow #nothe

Pixar's latest is another fine little gem and that film is Luca. Pixar seems to be moving things a bit out of their comfort zone and it all works out! The house style fades away a bit, the Pixar formula isn't as prevalent and the film's runtime is one of the studio's shortest in some time. It might feel a little slight on the surface, but it also still has a ton of heart and a message all of our youth who see this film need to adopt about otherism in our world. It's Pixar, it's good. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (14:30) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (27:30) @middleofrow #nothe

Lin-Manuel Miranda is back on the podcast, sort of, an adaptation of his musical In The Heights has made it to the big (and small) screen and we took a look at it for the podcast. Half of us were high on Hamilton, one of us liked this more, and one of us finally made it through one of his works with this film. And we aren't all on the same page on this one by any means. Well, sort of, we all thought it could be better, even if (most of us) found it highly watchable. Anyways, a lively chat about a film that maybe could have felt more alive. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) Spoilers, You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (20:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (42:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Lauren, Ben and Jon discuss The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and there is no need for any rituals or hexes upon one another. They look back at the series as a whole, even if one of them has seen none of them, discuss body contortions, and more or less enjoy themselves along the way. They also get into whether we need more of this series and have a number of But Why's... A good discussion of a solid movie, worth a listen if you caught this on HBOMax this summer. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (21:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions (35:00) The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (48:30) @middleofrow #nothe

A new release from Hulu this week, for Natalie Morales directorial debut, Plan B! This buddy/road trip/high school comedy was full of laughs (for me at least) and ended up helping us delivering my favorite episode in some time. Everyone is here and has varying takes, but we do go off the rails a few time thanks to a particular Prince in this film. Either way, I think you should give this smaller movie a chance and the podcast will be almost just as entertaining this week...I promise. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) Spoilers, You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (19:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions (34:00) The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch...(44:00) @middleofrow #nothe

It's a barrage of back and forths this week as half the podcast turns their backs on Zack Snyder as we discuss his latest, Army of the Dead! This Netflix film might be Snyder a bit too off the reins, or does the film just not stop to focus on anything, or is this film just too interested in setting up a giant cinematic universe of content for Netflix and Snyder to play in. Ben and Jon had fun though and are lining up for more, so, mission accomplished. Come to see where you land on this one, we are all over the place... Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) Spoilers, You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (16:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (40:00) @middleofrow #nothe

This week we review the indie female arm wrestling comedy, Golden Arm. Starring Happiest Season's Mary Holland and a strong ensemble, this one had a hard time winning over the crew beyond Zac. They argue whether we should be too hard on such a small movie, find common ground on some of the film's good bits, and go back and forth on whether this will find a second life (or first) depending if Mary Holland can make a name for herself. Still, a movie worth checking out and supporting if you can, let the crew's opinions let you know if you think you'll find something to like in this one. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) Spoilers, You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (17:31) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (27:50) @middleofrow #nothe

We take a Zack Snyder inspired flashback to his only original film Sucker Punch! A bomb on multiple levels when it came out, this crew has always shared some appreciation for it, so we decided to revisit it and see how it has stood up over the last ten years. Jon's back and is a first time viewer, but he falls in line with the rest of the crew as we get into what we like and what we wish might have been handled better about this film. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending... (26:00) Performance Piece, Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater (52:00) Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (1:01:01) @middleofrow #nothe

Ben picks The Raid this week for our flashback to “2011” as he tries to convince Zac that he is wrong about this one. He might prove him wrong, but he also loves the film as an action masterpiece. Where does Lauren fall? You'll have to listen, but we also marvel at the fighting, argue The Raid vs. The Raid 2, and also talk about the very similar film Dredd released about the same time. Another great episode and a rare mea culpa on a film from me. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) The Raid 2: Berandal, You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (25:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions (37:45) The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (45:00) @middleofrow #nothe

A three person weave on Mortal Kombat leads to a delightful episode where we find things to appreciate (and not) about this film that we run the spectrum on enjoyment. Ben loves dumb fun, Lauren's happy it's not the original and Zac wishes the movie was called Kano. That said, come for some nostalgia for the gaming franchise, the first film (Ben at least) and we try to get to the bottom of why Raiden sucks so much... Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, A Brief Personal History With Mortal Kombat, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (20:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater (43:00) Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (48:00) @middleofrow #nothe

We flashback to 2001 to watch the David Lynch mind-fuck, Mulholland Dr. The film was nominated for Best Director, but this podcast can't find a lot to praise from 2/3 of the party. Zac is on watch number 3, Ben and Lauren are new to the film, and they spend a lot of time trying to wrap their heads around the film and their feelings. Are the actors bad, are they the best performances ever given, what the hell was that dude doing behind the restaurant. We might not have answers, but we certainly have thoughts. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let's Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (25:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions (32:40) The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (37:20) @middleofrow #nothe

Just in time for the anniversary, we flashback to 2001 for Moulin Rouge! Lauren picks Baz Luhrmann’s masterpiece (my words) which wins over two us by half and me from start to finish. We praise the beautiful cast, the fantastic music and the excellent filmmaking on display, all while dissecting a lot of other movie randomness around the film. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (01:00) You Gotta See This, Let’s Talk About That Ending..., Performance Prize (10:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions (28:00) The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (41:00) @middleofrow #nothe

We are back, again, after a bit of a delay, with a new release that isn’t new anymore, Godzilla vs. Kong! We are a bit all over the place on this one, and the franchise, while my audio sounds like shit throughout (apologies). The podcast is all over the place as well, as I was unable to wrangle this crew in, still, we find a lot to talk about and share a lot of thoughts on this series and the ups and downs it has been through. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch/General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) Spoilers!!!, Performance Prize, You Gotta See This, Let’s Talk About That Ending..., But, Why? (23:00) The Hot Take Theater, Repeat After Me, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch/Wrap Up to Next Week... (44:00) @middleofrow #nothe

We are back, sorry for the delay, but we have our first of our next run of flashbacks, this time to 2011’s Moneyball. The Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill staring feature is a deep dive into the Oakland Athletics revolution of the MLB through the persistence of their GM Billy Beane. It doesn’t sound like a romp, but the movie sings and is an all time great performance from Pitt. Bennett Miller deftly let’s the Sorkin/Zaillian script do its thing and the actors all the same. It’s quickly become a classic of the century, in my eyes at least... Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch/General Thoughts (1:00) Star Ratings, Performance Prize, Let’s Talk About That Ending..., But, Why? (19:30) The Hot Take Theater, You Gotta See This, Repeat After Me, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch/Wrap Up to Next Week... (35:05) @middleofrow #nothe

We review the infamous Zack Snyder’s Justice League and we like it. Actually, I’d say we really like it! Lauren isn’t here to be the party pooper (probably), but myself, Ben and Jon find lots of praise and some insane hyperbole to throw around at this movie. Batflek, Snyder, Leto, we are here for it and we aren’t douchebags about it! No toxic fandom here, just some genuine Snyder fans enjoy some Snyder stuff. If that sounds like your thing, take a listen, we think the Snyder Cut wait was worth it. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) The Elevator Pitch/General Thoughts (01:00) Star Ratings, So Spoilers..., Performance Prize, Let’s Talk About That Ending... (22:30) But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Repeat After Me (41:45) Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, One Last Pitch... (53:00) @middleofrow #nothe

We wrap up our GenreRama: Love Story series with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. This is Ben’s pick but I could have just as easily picked it too. Ben and Lauren are first timers this week, but we all find plenty to appreciate about the film, even if it begrudgingly won some over. High expectations going in, worried expectations going in, and confidence in its greatness collide into a fine discussion on a film that is easy to appreciate no matter where your feelings fall. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch/General Thoughts (1:00) Star Ratings, Performance Prize, Let’s Talk About That Ending..., But, Why? (14:00) The Hot Take Theater, Repeat After Me, Expert Opinions (28:30) The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All (38:00) One Last Pitch/Wrap Up to Next Week... (47:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Back with a numbered release of the show, this time for the new-ish release, Promising Young Woman. Emerald Fennell writes and directs a revenge tale starring Carey Mulligan and a bunch of bad men that will keep you talking and pondering the film’s themes long after the credits have rolled. This might be the highest average rating we’ve given a film among the four of us, so I think it is worth checking out and checking in on what we thought! Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch/General Thoughts, Star Ratings (2:00) So Spoilers... (16:00) Performance Prize, Let’s Talk About That Ending... (16:30) But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Repeat After Me, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond? (47:30) “Promising Young Men”, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch/Wrap Up to Next Week... (1:01:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Our third entry into GenreRama: Love Story, this time it’s Zac’s pick with Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain. This epic tale with period and sci-fi fare stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz in some of their best roles of their careers, while the film ranks up there with Aronofsky’s best, for me at least. Lauren was on a second watch since the theaters and Ben was coming in with first time trepidation as he always will with Aronofsky after mother! destroyed his soul, but we all range from love to appreciate the film! We talk about the meaning of the ending, whether that was a real monkey (or ape?), and appreciate the low-fi approach Aronofsky takes to this picture. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch/General Thoughts (1:00) Star Ratings, Performance Prize, Let’s Talk About That Ending... (16:00) But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Repeat After Me, Expert Opinions (29:00) The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All (36:00) One Last Pitch/Wrap Up to Next Week... (51:15) @middleofrow #nothe

We are taking a trip back to the MCU! With the release of WandaVision we have gotten our first MCU content since 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. It’s also the MCU’s first official foray into the television space, focusing on two of the Avengers most powerful members Wanda and Vision. Or is it? Well, it is, but it’s more complicated than that. We break down the show in three chunks of episodes before wondering where all of this might lead to. Download. Listen. Enjoy! 0:01:00 Intro to MCU TV 0:05:00 Episodes 1-3 0:19:00 Episodes 4-6 0:46:00 Episodes 7-9 1:08:55 Star Ratings/Performance Prize/Best Scenes/Wrap Up @middleofrow #nothe

We are off to France for our second episode of GenreRama: Love Story, for the film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, A Very Long Engagement. This is a follow up to Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, with that film’s star Audrey Tautou, set around a lost love to WWI. Like a series of vignettes, jumping back and forth through time, the film keeps things moving and fills the story with a ton of likable characters as Tautou searches for the story of her love. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less/The Elevator Pitch/Why This/General Thoughts (1:00) Star Ratings/Performance Prize/Let’s Talk About That Ending... (14:30) But, Why?/The Hot Take Theater/Repeat After Me/Expert Opinions/The Upgradeables/To Infinity & Beyond (26:00) Wrap Up to Next Week... (39:00) @middleofrow #nothe