Sharktoberfest!

Here's one final farewell episode! This was originally recorded back in the summer of 2023 and it just got lost in the shuffle of edits and different miniseries we were doing, but it's such a fun episode that we wanted to put it out and it's one of our favorite movies of all time!Luke Nielsen returns to the show to discuss Army of Darkness, the third film in the Evil Dead franchise that pivots the genre from hard horror to fantasy/action/comedy and fully develops Ash into the delightfully smug blowhard he has been ever since. We spend a lot of this episode wondering how Bruce Campbell never became an A-list star and we psychoanalyze Sam Raimi as a filmmaker. But like the film itself, this episode is delightfully disjointed and full of fun side quests!Hail to the king, baby! Long live QHE!

We're continuing our celebration of the holiday season with the 2005 comedy Just Friends, a movie about the dreaded "Friend Zone" and how women just aren't allowed to have male best friends and go about their business...also it takes place during Christmas. Also also, it is our last episode. Weird one to go out on but this movie's come up a few times throughout the show and it's interesting to track Ryan Reynolds' career. We also read about a movie called Spring Break Lawyer because the early 2000s were a special time. If you've listened to any of this silly show, we appreciate you more than you know. Thanks for hanging with us as we talked about sharks, tried to make sense of bad movies, and drank way too much beer. We'll see you down the line! -Logan Nielsen & Dustin Pixley

You know Frosty the Snowman? What if he had abs? That's it. That's the whole pitch for the new Netflix original movie, Hot Frosty, the latest in Netflix's "what if we did Hallmark movies but made them a look a little less cheap" series of films. We're splitting a Shiner Home For the Holiday variety pack and breaking down this holiday romance film about an anthropomorphic snow hunk that takes place in a town that's definitely cursed.

It's a feast of Thanksgiving-themed media as we watch Eli Roth's 2023 slasher, Thanksgiving, and then follow it up with Thanks, a 1999 CBS sitcom about Puritan Pilgrims living in 17th-century America. A most logical double-feature. We dive into how Thanksgiving pays homage to the history of slasher movies, how sitcoms changed going into the 2000s, and we talk about what makes a great movie to watch on a plane. Happy Holidays from your silly boys at QHE!

HBO's Max's DC's The Penguin: A The Batman Story just wrapped up its first season and, boy howdy, was it some bonafide QHE! We sample some of Schell's Peanut Butter Chocolate Porter and talk about why the Penguin cuts through the fog of big-budget, shared-universe, comic book television series. Don't worry, we sound the Gremlins alarm before we reveal any spoilers. And Logan does some voices.

A Halloween episode released two weeks after Halloween? Yeah, that sounds like us. We watched, 'Salem's Lot, the newest Stephen King adaptation that was unceremoniously released on Max after sitting on the shelf for two years! We dig into King's take on vampires and what successful King adaptations have in common. We also dig into producer James Wan's filmography, sample Leinenkugel's Northwoods Amber, and ask, "what if Jaws was a Hallmark movie?"

To bring the holiday of Sharktoberfest to a close, Dustin and Logan are taking it upon themselves to rank every shark movie they have watched for this podcast. It's a tall order, especially since they both have bad memories and seem to be bad at counting. But they do it, gosh darn it! Join them for one final dip into shark infested waters to determine what are the quintessential films of Sharktoberfest!

We're wrapping up Sharktoberfest with the appropriately titled, the Last Shark. And it's an interesting experience because we've basically already seen it, since Cruel Jaws repurposes a lot of Last Shark's plot and actual footage! It's one of the more fascinating case studies we've covered in shark cinema. We also sample the Oktoberfest from Limestone Brewers and dip into a perennial favorite brew!

Finally a film that answers the question, "what if the Hallmark Channel made a shark movie?" We watched Shark Warning!, an oddly serious Asylum production that has shark revenge, an evil mayor, AND an exclamation point in the title. We also re-envision the movie with our dream cast of actors that we believe the Asylum could get and sample the Oktoberfest from Lakefront Brewery.

Got a little bit of everything going on in this installment of Sharktoberfest. Dustin and Logan are reaching back into the digital video days of early aughts with the indie hit, Open Water, a film that is more mumblecore than survival thriller. They also sample (and spill) the Oktoberfest from Sixpoint Brewery while Dustin tries his best to conjure up some fest facts. Then, they finish out the show with an extended chat about some of the other things they're been watching to get into the Halloween spirit!

A group of friends explore a sunken World War II battleship and get trapped inside with a shark in 2024's the Last Breath. Are these friends the absolute worst? Oh yeah. Is the shark a mindless killing machine? You betcha. Is the movie a waste of Dustin and Logan's time? Absolutely. Listen to them crap all over it while they sample the Oktober Fest-Marzen from Ayinger Privatbrauerei.

Against all odds, it's back. That season of German-style beers and horrible shark movies. It's...SHARKTOBERFEST!!! Somehow Logan and Dustin have found their way back to the beginning and must endure another festive fish fiasco! For this first episode, they tackle Cruel Jaws, a movie that rips off the Jaws franchise so hard that it actually includes unauthorized footage from all four Jaws films and tried to be released under the title "Jaws 5". Paired with this cinematic heist, is Big Grove Brewery's Oktoberfest Marzen-Style Lager. Let kick things off right!

We're wrapping up the summer with what will most-likely be the year's biggest hit in Deadpool & Wolverine! The now highest grossing rated-R film of all time is the latest attempt to make the Marvel multiverse fun. Did it succeed? Did it make us laugh? Were there children at our screening that were way too young to be there? Well, you'll just have to hang out with us for our freewheeling chat about this movie starring some guys in colorful suits. We also have a little bonus chat about Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Killer monkey + Dungeons and Dragons + Blue Lagoon - Brooke Shields = Shakma! Christopher Atkins and Roddy McDowell face off with an evil baboon in Shakma, the 1990 horror film about med students getting picked off one-by-one whilst playing the worst role playing game of all time. Luckily, we're here to sip on some banana beer and guide you through a confusing night locked in with some truly off-putting characters.

Seth Green, Carlton, and a Bosom Buddy go out to the woods and square off with genetically altered super bugs AND evil hillbilly marijuana farmers. Also, Clint Howard is there. That's the plot to Ticks, the 1993 straight-to-video creature feature that we decided to watch for some reason. We break the whole thing down while sipping on some Peach Wheat from Boulevard Brewing Co., and have a spoiler-free chat about the Fall of the House of Usher.

The Hallmark Channel is having its annual Christmas in July celebration where they premiere brand new holiday movies right in the middle of the summer, so we watched the world premiere of A Very Vermont Christmas! This one checks a few boxes for us; it's full of Hallmark tropes, no one can speak clearly, and it takes place in a brewery! It's like it was made for us! Join us for a somewhat freeform chat about this piece of festive fluff and stay to the end for our new game in which we turn Hallmark movies into Lifetime movies. Happy Holidays!

Oh what a wicked web we weave as continue breaking down the confusing slice of comic book pie that is Madame Web. We discover how our "hero" will avenge Mike Epps and explain kidnapping these three young women. We also discuss the best table dancing song of 2003 and talk a little bit about Heroes. Thankfully, we're still sipping on refreshing Pepsi Cola, the real hero of this film.

Well, here we are digging into one of the biggest superhero flops and boy are our brains tired. We watched Marvel's Sony's Pepsi Cola's Madame Web, starring a bored Dakota Johnson, bad wigs, and worse ADR. Frankly, we have too much to say about it but luckily we have the refreshing taste of Pepsi and rum to keep us company. (It's the taste of a new generation, after all!) So come back with us to either 2003 or 1993 (we're not sure) as we work our way through a Spider-Man movie that's not about Spider-Man but is also definitely about Spider-Man but shouldn't be about Spider-Man.

There's new shark movie heating up the charts on Netflix so you know we had to check it out! Plus, a bunch of people messaged us pretty much demanding it, so our hands were kind of tied. Under Paris is a new, French-produced shark movie that does what very few shark movies do: it actually looks and feels like a movie. It's also a shark movie with a negligent mayor so what's not to love?!

Sooo...we saw a meme where someone mixed Guinness with Monster Energy Drink. We decided to not only try that, but paired it with a movie about an Irish monster. There never really was a plot to this show, but, oh boy, have we lost it now. We watched 1993's Leprechaun starring Warwick Davis and Jennifer Aniston and drank a hell potion created by the internet. Also, we talk about Statham again.

Somehow it happened. Somehow, there's a shark on a dang plane. There's no Sam Jackson to save us so we'll have to count on Colm Meaney to get us out of this one, even though there's No Way Up. (That's the title of the movie we cover in this episode. You get it.) And with this new shark movie we sample a new shark beer in Exile Brewing's Shark Wrangler. We also chat about Fallout, Blackberry, Abigail, and the general greatness of Jason Statham, because why not?

It's time to get punchy and talk about some meat slapping as Dustin and Logan dig into the 2024 remake of Road House. It's a reboot that takes the wildly simple story of the source material and decides to jazz it up with too many characters, bad pacing, and UFC fighter acting. At least the movie features one of Logan's good friends. The boys also have hot takes Barbie and Star Trek: Voyager, because this is a timely and relevant show.

In anticipation of the Road House reboot starring Jake Gyllenhaal, we're watching the original Patrick Swayze punchfest and we want you to watch along with us! Grab a drink and enjoy this very sweaty film as we ponder what it means to be a famous bouncer, drool over Sam Elliott, and explore how the 80s liked to take very specific jobs and make them cool. *to sync with the film, press play on this commentary when the United Artists logo fades completely to black*

Well...we're finally wrapping up Sharktoberfest IV. This was the revenge of the old show and, boy, what a revenge it was. Took up three whole months! But anyway, we're putting it away with one last movie and putting away one last beer. And both are imports! (kind of). We watched the Chinese King Kong ripoff, Snow Monster (aka Snow Monster vs. Ice Shark) and drinking Yuengling's Oktoberfest (Yuengling isn't sold in Iowa so it's sort of an import). We also conclude this whole Sharktoberfest ordeal by deciding the best and worst of it all. There's also a little bit of shark research. And as always, we barely stay on topic. See you in 2024 for something a little more regular! (wink)

Yes. We're still finishing Sharktoberfest. In December. And now that the Oktoberfest season is long over, we sample a fantastic Marzen-style brew in Paulaner's Oktoberfest Bier and pair it with Blind Waters; a Tubi original produced by the Asylum and written and directed by the creator of Sharknado (It's like a Legion of Doom of shark movies). It's a movie about a couple that gets stranded and has to deal with the most powerful shark in cinema. Oh, and one of them gets blinded but also isn't really blind at all. And there's a murderer. We also talk about the Red Green Show. There's a lot going on in this episode.

Jason Statham is back to fight some more big sharks! This episode was recorded back in August after Dustin and Logan saw Meg 2: The Trench in theaters. That's right, they paid money to see this. Now, listen to them break it down as they sample the Oktoberfest Lager by Topling Goliath.

Dustin and Logan are diving into another Sharktoberfest with a new movie that combines mythology, corporate espionage, family drama, oil rigs and, of course, sharks! They watched 2023's the Black Demon, a movie that allegedly had a theatrical run and was a surprise hit on Amazon Prime. Josh Lucas stars in this fantasy/environmentalist thriller as an oil man that finds himself fighting a prehistoric shark summoned by an Aztec god. To choke down this mish-mash of ideas, Logan and Dustin sample Bell's Brewery's Octoberfest Beer. Sharktoberfest is back for revenge! And it won't stop until a sacrifice has been made...

Sharktoberfest is back! And this time, it's personal. That's why we're revisiting the 4th installment in the Jaws franchise, 1987's Jaws: The Revenge! A film that introduces shark revenge, telepathic links to said vengeful shark, and everyone's favorite aviator, Hoagie! Join Dustin and Logan as they watch the film (currently streaming on Netflix) and sample Great Lakes Brewing Co.'s Oktoberfest. *to sync with the film, press play on this commentary as the original "Universal Studios, an MCA Company" logo fades completely to black*

An excerpt from our Eight Legged Freaks episode teasing what's coming next for the QHE boys...

Logan and Dustin are wrapping up their Summer to Remember (in October) with the 2002 David Arquette vehicle, Eight Legged Freaks. A film that dares to ask what if Dewey from Scream had to fight giant spiders that act kinda like the gremlins from Gremlins? Dustin and Logan seem to try their hardest to not actually talk about the movie while also thinking way too hard about how to fix it. Have our hosts finally lost their minds? Why do they love creating themes and structures and then fight against them so hard? Hopefully nothing from the past comes back to haunt them...

Dustin and Logan are finally getting around to the next installment of their Evil Dead series by covering the 1987 gonzo-horror-comedy masterpiece, Evil Dead II aka Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn. It's probably the most important film in the Evil Dead canon. It kinda remakes the first one, sets up the tone for the future, and fully forms the character of Ash Williams. Logan and Dustin get into all of it. They go through the film's madness, cover the stories behind the scenes, and attempt to clarify the rules of the Deadites. They also pitch their own Evil Dead films so be sure to stay to the end to hear about Evil Dead in Space and Good Dead.

As Logan and Dustin's "Summer to Remember" winds down, they look at one of their favorite comedies from their youth. Saving Silverman is a goofball comedy about kidnapping, toxic romances, and Neil Diamond. Does it hold up? You'll have to listen to hear these two old friends analyze a silly movie and delve into the state of comedy films in the early 2000s.

Lost Episode #2 - Remember back in 2021 when Dustin and Logan were going to change the name of the show from Sharktoberfest the first time but then had to abort the whole thing because a show with that same name popped up right before they launched? No? Well, that's basically the gist of it. Anyway, this is the first episode of that cancelled podcast. This is episode #1 of Nielsen & Pixley's Film Pub! This episode is also a bit of an experiment. Dustin and Logan decided to watch the first theatrically released films of 3 of the most renowned big-budget filmmakers in the game and talk about how they influenced their careers. They watched Steven Spielberg's the Sugarland Express, James Cameron's Piranha II: The Spawning aka Flying Killers, and Christopher Nolan's Following. The also drink some Leinenkugel's Chocolate Dunkel because...yum. We hope you enjoy this strange experiment from the QHE/Sharktoberfest/Film Pub vault!

Part 2 of our Throwback Throwdown on movies about doing a Die Hard in the White House. We've seen how Chananning Tatum does a Die Hard, now it's time to watch Gerard Butler do a Die Hard. We take a dip into the Aaron Eckhart Abyss™ to break down Olympus Has Fallen. And we do it while sipping on Lark Brewing's American AF Ale because we are patriots! Antoine Fuqua assembled a team of true B-List all-stars (and Morgan Freeman) to shoot at each other in Louisiana standing in for Washington D.C. Does it have what it takes to defeat White House Down? Does Gerard Butler's accent get away from him sometimes? Does this movie also have really bad CGI? You'll have to listen to find out who wins this edition of THROWBACK THROWDOWN!!!

It's that time again...time for another THROWBACK THROWDOWN!!! It's where we have two very similar movies that were released in the same year face off in a head-to-head cinematic battle. This time around we are reaching back to 2013 when, for some reason, Hollywood made two different movies Die Hard ripoffs set in Washington D.C. - White House Down vs. Olympus Has Fallen! For this first installment, we're sipping on Busch Lite Peach (yes, that's a thing that exists) and discussing the Channing Tatum/Jamie Foxx quasi-buddy action movie directed by Roland Emmerich, a man that has blown up the White House before (Indpendence Day). Does the action deliver? Did Roland Emmerich put too many characters in this one? Is the movie leaning too hard on Channing Tatum's charm? Put your Throwback Throwdown headband on and find out!

We're kicking off our "Summer to Remember" theme which is all about movies that make you go, "oh yeah, that did exist." To start it off we're going with the 1993 bomb Freaked, co-written, co-directed, and starring Alex Winter of Bill & Ted fame. It's an over-the-top comedy about an actor turned into a mutant and trapped in freak show and it's a gosh darn delight! The movie is no longer available on home media but it is on Youtube in it's entirety and in HD! Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbFfhcDmFJY&t=181s

Lost Episode #1 - This summer we'll be releasing all of our "lost episodes" aka "long recordings that we never took the time to edit". This first one was recorded in 2021 when the show was still called Sharktoberfest. Not only do we tackle the 1985 smash hit, capital-c Classic, Back to the Future, but we also attempt to create our own signature drink that pays homage to the 1950s and 1980s. And, oh boy, does it not go as planned. We also discuss the general issues of time travel in movies and cover the tumultuous life of John DeLorean. Does it all make sense? Not really. But where we're going, we don't need to make sense.

We told you in our Evil Dead Rise review that we wanted to revisit earlier Evil Dead films and here we are making good on our threat! This is a freewheeling chat about the original 1981 classic as well as the 2013 "reimagining". We compare and contrast the two and talk about what makes an Evil Dead film work. We also sip on some Surly Darkness, Logan fulfills a promise from a previous episode, and Dustin has some illuminating thoughts on Men in Black.

We're back and trying something a little different! We watched several shark movie trailers and decided to talk about them. "Visionary" "director" of The Room, Tommy Wisseau has decided to dip his toes into the shark infested water for his next "film". We do a deep dive into the trailer/underwear commercial for Big Shark! Then, we do a fresh watch of a movie we are personally excited for, The Meg 2: The Trench! We also check out the trailer for an oily shark in Black Demon, an opportunistic cash grab called Cocaine Shark, and, for some reason, Wes Anderson's Asteroid City (shrug emoji). It's a big goofy time. Join us! And check out all the trailers below. Big Shark Trailer #1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeuSLaKHZSo Big Shark Trailer #2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PkpUEHiefM The Meg 2: The Trench - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG91B3hHyY4&t=6s The Black Demon - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1xJAyVKAPY Asteroid City - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GTA4PLAkbg Cocaine Shark - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rW6aVE00to

Dustin and Logan actually left the safety of their homes and ventured into a movie theater to see the latest entry into the Evil Dead franchise. Evil Dead Rise is Evil Dead but in an apartment building. That's the elevator pitch. Oh and there's an elevator in it! This episode is already coming together nicely. Groovy. Spoilers start around 33:20 Skip to 1:20:50 to avoid spoilers but hear other Evil Dead chit chat.

We've seeded the bracket. We've held the competition. Now, it's time to see who is the winner of our Jurassic March Madness bracket and get to pick a movie for us to watch for the pod. But the twists are still coming, because there's been a tie! So Dustin and Logan must determine the winner...and talk about some other bullsh*t because this is QHE after all. Strap in for the exciting(ish) conclusion to Jurassic March Madness!!!

All the brackets have been submitted and now it's time to reveal how the actual competition will play out! Which dinosaur will grab the top spot and how will they do it! Logan and Dustin talk out all the competitions which also includes and element of random luck that can affect the outcome! It's a wacky bloodbath here on QHE! Bracket winner revealed by the end of the week!

It's time for another bracket tournament as a 16 prehistoric competitors face off in battles to the death! It's...JURASSIC MARCH MADNESS!!! Logan Nielsen and Dustin Pixley are in the booth to introduce you to the group of movie/tv dinosaurs that will be facing off in this bloody battle of teeth, claws, and even a train. Which dinosaur do you think has what it takes to be king of the thunder lizards? Submit your bracket today! The most accurate bracket gets to pick a movie for Dustin and Logan to watch, no questions asked! (Unless it's like pornographic or exploitative. We do hold veto power). Bracket submissions close at midnight on April 7th. Go to the link below and click "Vote now". Just enter a name and an email, and then let the bloodbath commence! https://www.commoninja.com/brackets/lp/c628a2f6-ab54-4b13-a4a5-2fad80fdf9af

Here it is. The last of this. We've gone on a journey and ended up here at the season 1 finale of the hit, record-breaking HBO program, the Last of Us. Dustin and Logan review the episode and discuss if the show stuck the landing in their eyes. They also do a short retrospective of the show to pick their favorite episodes and predict what might be coming in season 2. Timecodes 4:20 - Episode 9 review 34:50 - Season retrospective 42:30 - Predictions for season 2 47:30 - More predictions involving MAJOR SPOILERS for The Last of Us, Part II 1:02:28 - Wrap up/Jess loves Top Gun: Maverick

Ahead of the season one finale, we are covering two semi-standalone episodes. One is primarily a flashback and one is maybe the darkest chapter yet. Both reveal a lot about our main characters. And things get even darker on the show as Logan shares more of his Last of Us/John Mellencamp song parody. Harrowing. Timecodes: Episode 7 - 8:50 Episode 8 - 31:50 Follow us on Instagram @qhepod or send us an email at nielsenandpixley@gmail.com Opening and closing music - "Groovy Guitar" by joshuaempyre - https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/ License - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beast is the 2022 film in which Idris Elba fights a lion. That's really all we have to say. We break down this film that splits its time between South Africa and the uncanny valley. We also do a proper special features section where we get into research on lions vs. tigers, the Tsavo man-eater lions (The Ghost in the Darkness), and the infamous nature snuff film, Roar. We also debate which big cats we think think we could beat in a fight and have some spoiler-free chats about Poker Face, Your Honor, and Magic Mike XXL. Follow us on Instagram @qhepod

Joel and his brother Tommy are reunited in an emotional episode of the Last of Us that now has Logan fully on board with the series. Full disclosure, we had just recorded a silly episode right before this (coming next week!) so we are pretty cranked up throughout the episode. But what can we say? We were psyched. Psyched on the emotional core of the episode, psyched on what they changed and what they did accurately to the game, and you know we're psyched about some Graham Greene! Get psyched with us!

We're taking a dark and bloody tour of Kansas City as we talk about the 4th and 5th episodes of HBO's the Last of Us! As Joel and Ellie make their way through Cowtown, they encounter new enemies and some friends. Will they survive their detour through the City of Fountains or will they perish in the Paris of the Plains? Did I google these nicknames for KC? Yes. Yes I did. Follow us on Instagram @qhepod or send us an email at nielsenandpixley@gmail.com Opening and closing music - "Groovy Guitar" by joshuaempyre - https://freesound.org/people/joshuaempyre/ License - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The boys are riding out the end of winter by sipping on some scotch and snuggling up with a comfy film about a paranoid group of fellas that discover a flesh absorbing, human mimicking alien that just might end all of humanity. It's John Carpenter's the Thing! A film that underperformed at the box office and was critically panned by critics upon its 1982 release but has since gone on to be considered an American classic and one of Logan and Dustin's favorite films. So watch along and enjoy a cozy, paranoid night in! *To sync with the film, press play on this commentary when the title "A Universal Picture" fades completely to black*

The third episode of the Last of Us is getting a lot of talk, both for its story and for being the first major deviation from the video game. Dustin and Logan break down the episode title "Long, Long Time" and talk about how it changed the the story of game character Bill. Also, Logan has a little surprise for Dustin...

It's part two of our Throwback Throwdown of Deep Impact vs. Armageddon! While Deep Impact was a pensive meditation on how the world would react to a meteor heading toward Earth to wipeout humanity, Armageddon is a nonstop, breakneck Aerosmith music video that leaves no breathing room for the viewer and needs to blow something up every ten minutes just to calm the shakes. It's Michael Bay's most Michael Bay-ish movie and was the highest grossing film of 1998, but is it the best meteor-based picture of 1998? We examine the film thoroughly to find the method to the madness and the brilliance in the Bayhem. We also talk about Keith David, That Thing You Do, Holly McClane Syndrome, and the Mystery of Noonan. Listen closely and don't fall asleep because you don't want to miss a thing!