Ruminations

One night not so long ago, Chris and Steve decided to talk about Disney villains. The goal was to simply prepare for a future episode on the topic, but the hourlong conversation was "too funny" so they stopped what they were doing, pressed record, and restarted their banter. Thus Ruminations Episode XXIII: An Impromptu Disney Villains Roundup.

Welcome to Year 6 of Ruminations! Chris and Steve begin 2025 with a discussion on Robert Eggers' acclaimed remake of Nosferatu, a look back at 2024, and what we're looking forward to in the new year.

Steve and Chris return to their roots: discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly of Disney. This time around, it's mostly the Disney theme parks and their controversial changes of recent years, with a sprinkling of TV and movie talk. Which Disney landmark, according to Chris, is no longer safe? Did Steve ever finish The Acolyte? How did Steve not die while drinking (and eating cheese) Around the World last summer?

Ruminations is back for the third and final episode of our Star Wars trilogy, and like the characters in Rogue One, we're going out with a bang!

Somehow, Ruminations returned… for a second Star Wars episode! This time around, Chris and Steve are joined by their old friend Frank for a look back at a trio of root canals put to celluloid: the ill-planned and ill-executed Disney sequel trilogy. Who hates the trilogy the most? Which of the three is the best […]

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one! In the first of (at least) three episodes focused on a certain long-running space opera franchise, Chris and Steven discuss the goofy, lovable Star Wars prequels with a very special guest star: Diana, Steve’s wife of 9 months. Why do they love these movies so much? […]

Ruminations is back for our seventeenth episode, this time to talk about the two prequels to juggernaut fantasy series that premiered in September, HBO's Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon and Amazon Prime's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

In an episode two months in the making, Chris and Steve delve into the heart of darkness to explore five of the most famous Vietnam War movies made in the aftermath of the war in the 1970s and 80s. Which version of Apocalypse Now is best? Why is The Deer Hunter so dull? Which of us grew up thinking Full Metal Jacket was a comedy? Why does Vietnam have such a visceral place in our pop culture and collective memory? Stay to the end for a game of "Would You Rather?" and a glimpse into the first time we recorded this episode--yes, we liked this topic so much, we talked about it twice! (But only Chris remembers that.) Episode 16 is messy, a bit overlong, and has a dubious history reminiscent of its subject matter, but what else do you expect from this duo?

Happy Halloween from Ruminations! For the first half of our 15th episode, we chat about the latest movies we’ve seen in theaters, from the ground-shaking sounds of Dune to the earth-shattering disappointment of The Many Saints of Newark. Then, for the main portion of the episode (28:00 on), we break down our experiences watching two […]

For Episode XIV, Chris and Steve discuss the ins and outs of the 59-year-old James Bond franchise, which just saw its 25th movie, and the fifth and last of Daniel Craig’s run as 007, No Time to Die,  premiere in theaters this month. Well, it’s less of a discussion and more of Steve talking about a […]

For Episode XIII, Chris and Steve discuss … not Star Wars for the 4th episode in a row! Instead, due to recent AMC 4K re-releases, they talk about their favorite piece of popular culture ever, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Peter Jackson’s seminal film adaptations, the first of which will be celebrating its […]

Chris and Steve discuss a range of topics relating to Christmas movies with Lou, Ruminations’ second-ever guest host. Questions like: Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Is Ron Howard’s Grinch movie worth its two-hour runtime? Why can’t Steve keep the Rankin/Bass movies straight? Will Mel Gibson’s Fatman become a perennial Christmas watch? How many times has Lou seen Jingle All the […]

Just in time for the strangest Halloween in memory, we're back to talk about three underrated horror movies we seem to revisit every year around this time: Wes Craven's Haiti-set The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), the '80s pastiche The House of the Devil (2009), and the Nicolas Cage mystery Pay the Ghost (2015). 

In a companion piece to our first-ever episode, we rank the best and worst of Pixar Animation Studios, once the baby of Apple's Steve Jobs and now an integral part of Disney's galactic empire.

Happy New Year from Ruminations! To celebrate the start of 2020 and the end of the 2010s, we talk* about 10 of our favorite movies from a decade that wasn’t all that great when it came to cinema. (At least in our opinions, but our opinions are Correct.) Stick around for some honorable mentions and […]

For our Halloween-themed episode, the Ruminations team talks about the Catholic Rite of Exorcism and the movies that have made it famous. Learn the differences between demonic infestation, oppression, and possession, what it’s like to talk to a 90-year-old exorcist IRL, and why even modern Hollywood can sometimes treat Catholicism respectfully! (In order to get […]

After what seems like an eternity, Rum-inations is back with our seventh episode! As promised at the end of Episode VI, this one is all about pirates and rum. To prepare for such an undertaking…we bought a whole bunch of rum and rewatched all 5 Pirates of the Caribbean movies with our friend Ruben, who […]

Ruminations is back with its most historical episode yet! In Episode VI, Chris and Steve recount their April trip to Rome, highlighting the history and splendor of St. Peter's Basilica, the glory witnessing the Capitoline Wolf and Augustus of Prima Porta statues in person, an unexpected visit to an actual medieval castle, and more.

Everything is Terrible in Episode V of Ruminations! Chris and Steve discuss the sorry state of pop culture in Spring 2019, particularly the ending of Game of Thrones, Aladdin, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, and Star Wars. (Only Avenger: Endgame managed not to disappoint.)

April 2019 saw the premiere of the final season of Game of Thrones and the culmination of 11 years' worth of MCU movies, Avengers: Endgame. Chris and Steve discuss both franchises and make predictions as the two behemoths draw to a conclusion.

Thinking outside the box on this one, Chris and Steve discuss three historical eras of Catholicism through the movies Quo Vadis and Kingdom of Heaven, and the TV show The Young Pope.

Just in time for the 2019 Oscars ceremony, Chris and Steve tackle the lackluster bunch of movies nominated for Best Picture at the 91st Academy Awards.

In the inaugural episode of a podcast 5 years in the making, co-hosts Chris and Steve discuss the 57 animated films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.