The Juiciest Bits

And we're back! Thanks for your patience as we slogged through April. End of term is no joke, you guys.We have decided to move on from PSH (always in our hearts) and jump into summer blockbuster season. Specifically, we're gonna talk about the Terminator franchise! Charlie is ever so eager to talk about Mackenzie Davis's arms, but first, we need to talk about The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984). This movie is OBSESSED with baby-having and tech vs. analog and, weirdly, male virginity, and we talk about all of it!We'd love it if you would rate our little ol' pod and comment, and we'd also love to hear from you at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com if you feel like writing us some electronic mail.Also, you may have noticed our beautiful new art! We're pleased as punch with this design from our pal Tim Dyck. Thanks, Tim!

Hi folks! We can't stop/won't stop talking about Philip Seymour Hoffman movies just yet, so settle in for our chat about PSH's terrifying (yet jolly?) role in Mission: Impossible III (Abrams, 2006)! We talk about how unsettling PSH is as a villain, the movie's weird relationship with intimacy, and how PSH seamlessly switches from playing his character, Owen Davian, to playing Tom Cruise playing Davian. He climbs on things! He dangles out of a plane! He's persnickety about a li'l spill on his bespoke shirt! He really does it all in this movie, and we loved talking about it as much as we hope you'll enjoy listening to us talk about it (a lot).Don't forget to rate and review us, and reach out and say hello at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com!

Hello everyone! Because we just couldn't say away from our beloved PSH, our episode this week is about the second instalment of the Hunger Games franchise, Catching Fire (Lawrence, 2013). Hoffman plays Plutarch Heavensbee (a true gift of a name), the newest game maker and apparent crony of President Snow. We talk about the movie, teams Peeta and Gale respectively, and how Panem is, like many dystopian narratives, eerily similar to our own context in the West. Charlie also mentions a blog post from Mark Fisher about Catching Fire called "Remember Who the Enemy Is," which you can find here: https://k-punk.org/remember-who-the-enemy-is/Don't forget to rate and review us, and definitely don't forget to reach out and say hello! You can find us at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com.

Hello! This week, we're continuing our deep dive into Philip Seymour Hoffman's oeuvre (we're fancy) and looking at John Patrick Shanley's Doubt (2008), a very different movie than Wild Mountain Thyme, which he made in 2020, and which we have also done an episode about. In Doubt, we see PSH navigate the role of a 1964 priest whom head nun Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) accuses of abusing a child. This movie makes us so angry, but also impresses the dickens out of us, and we're happy to share our thoughts about it with you.In case you missed it, this is a movie about a priest accused of child sexual abuse, so please take care of yourselves and skip this one if you need to. Otherwise, we'd love to hear your thoughts, so send us an email at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com or leave a comment on Spotify, and PLEASE don't forget to rate and review us!

Hello! Welcome to the second instalment of our series on Philip Seymour Hoffman and his diverse oeuvre. Today we're talking aboutCapote (Miller, 2005), which is about as far fromAlong Came Polly (Hamburg, 2004) as you can get. We fan out over Hoffman's ability to exhibit several emotions at once and we discuss how Truman, and not the murders, is the movie's biggest mystery.Hoffman won an Oscar for this one, and we think his performance is worth a look, so join us!Also, we had a couple of whoopsies with the sound in the first half, so we (well, I) apologize. But also, I'm not a professional sound technician, so you get what you get. :)

We're finally back! And we're very excited to share our new format with you. This season, we're focusing on individual actors, directors, cinematographers, etc., and we're also tightening up our episodes (or we'll try to). First up this season is a look at Philip Seymour Hoffman, an actor who played many, many different characters that we love to watch. In this episode we're talking specifically about his performance in Along Came Polly (Hamburg, 2004). We do not recommend the movie, but we recommend his performance in it, which, I get, is weird. We hope you enjoy it!

Hi everyone! For this final episode of our detective series (and the season), we're talking about Devil in a Blue Dress (Carl Franklin, 1995), starring Denzel Washington, Jennifer Beals, Tom Sizemore, and baby Don Cheadle. It's a hard-boiled neo-noir with a twist! That twist is that it's not about white people. Surprise! Also, full disclosure (which you'll also hear on the ep), we had some sound issues in this recording, which means that Charlie's audio is quite a bit louder and clearer, which is, I'm sure, what you all want anyway. Enjoy, and see you after the summer!

This week, you're in for a treat: we're talking about The Thin Man (Van Dyke, 1934), a murder mystery starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, who for our money make the sexiest movie couple of the 20th Century, or maybe of all time. They're pretty sexy. They also have an adorable pup named Asta, which makes them even cooler. Anyway, in addition to being a murder mystery, this movie is also a hilarious romp full of fast-talking quips, raucous parties, and names like "Face" Peppler. It would also make for one doozy of a hangover if one were to go drink for drink with the characters. Enjoy!

And we're back! We were on a slight hiatus for reasons, and now we're back slingin' eps and saying the occasional smart thing. Our latest theme is the detective film, and this week, we're talking about The Nice Guys (Shane Black, 2016), starring Russell Crowe and pre-Ken Ryan Gosling. This is one of the funniest movies of recent memory and we have a great little discussion about it. We hope you like it! Also, if you feel so inclined, please leave us a great review! It would make us ever so happy.

This week we're wrapping up our series on office movies with Corner Office (Joachim Back, 2022), a surreal dark comedy starring Jon Hamm and Danny Pudi. We talk about all manner of things, including Jon Hamm's excellent moustache and bangs and how interchangeable they are, and we compare this movie to the others in the series as well as to Apple TV series Severance, which is an excellent show that does much of what Corner Office tries to do, only better. Please enjoy this episode as we laugh at our own jokes (someone has to).

Well, folks, we did it. We made an episode about 9 to 5 (Higgins, 1980), one of the greatest movies of [just before] our time. Ever heard of Dolly Parton? She's in this movie! Jane Fonda? She's in it, too! And, of course, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman round out the cast magnificently. This movie makes fun of office work by depicting very realistic office conditions, rife with misogyny, sexism, and bureaucracy. But, it's also hilarious and very relatable if you're a non-cis man who has ever worked in an office (we can't speak to the other). Oh, it also demonstrates the value of female allyship. Get into it! Oh, and please rate, review, and subscribe. Nothing like a little shameless self promotion.

Just in time for spring, the time of year when hope abounds, we present to you our next theme: movies about soul-sucking office jobs (we would never do this to you if spring were not imminent). As such, this episode is about Office Space (Mike Judge, 1999), a movie that child Mandy thought was hilarious and that adult Mandy realizes is problematic (but also so quotable). But still, there is a TON to talk about, including white fragility, ableism, fatphobia, and, of course, the exploitation of workers. So put aside your Jump to Conclusions Mat, celebrate Michael Bolton's entire catalog, and join us!

In this, our final heist movie episode, we are talking about Fast Five, the fifth in the masterpiece franchise that is The Fast and the Furious. In this romp, Dom (Vin Diesel) and the gang find themselves in Brazil, where they drive right through a wall and hijack a bad guy's safe in a scientifically impossible (but cinematically awesome) way. In this episode, we talk about morality and the film's Catholic imagery, friendship, and, of course, family. So grab a Corona and enjoy as we talk about these things, and digress about Dwayne Johnson's t-shirts and his propensity to sweat.

Hello! This week, we're talking about a traditional heist movie: The Taking of Pelham 123, starring our king Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw (not to be confused with the 1998 made-for-tv movie starring Vincent D'Onofrio, Donnie Wahlberg, and Edward James Olmos, which is INCREDIBLY '90s; or the 2009 version with Denzel Washington and John Travolta, which I haven't seen). In this movie we see the impossible: somebody deigning to steal an NYC subway car. How do they do it? Where will they put it? There's really no way to know, except by listening to this episode. And by watching the movie. But mostly listening to this episode. We also talk about things like class, policing, and NYC as an integral part of the plot. Enjoy!

And we're back! We've decided to begin 2024 with a series of good ol' fashioned (and perhaps some new-fashioned) heist movies, beginning of course with perhaps the silliest romp ever made, Con Air. Con Air stars Nicholas Cage as an Alabama soldier who is too powerful for regular laws and must be subjected to super laws when he nobly and selflessly* beats a man to death for flirting with his poor helpless wife and is sent to prison. Once released he becomes a passenger on "Con Air," a prison transport plane where we meet all sorts of attitudes toward prison and criminality (and Steve Buscemi is there!). We can't say this movie is intentionally commenting on the prison industrial complex, but we can say that it is ridiculous and that we're mostly here for Nic Cage's accent. Don't forget to email us for transcripts (thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com) or just to say hello! Also, don't forget to subscribe and comment! *this beating is neither noble nor selfless, and we tend to think he should have used his words/driven away in his car, which was RIGHT THERE.

Happy holidays, everyone! To finish up our Christmas series, we're talking about Tangerine, a film about Alexandra (Mya Taylor) and Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez), two friends trying to navigate LA, sex work, and transphobia, and Razmik, an Armenian cab driver trying to escape his family. Oh, and it's all happening at Christmastime! This is our last episode before we take a much-needed break. But feel free to contact us by email (thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com) if you need anything! Happy holidays and thanks for listening. We appreciate you so much, and we look forward to putting out new episodes for you soon.

In this second week of TJB Christmas episodes, we're lightening up the mood a bit and bringing you a conversation about The Muppet Christmas Carol, starring Michael Caine as Scrooge and the Muppets as almost everyone else. We talk about capitalism, ghosts, Christmas (obviously), and we both try to say "Moycal Kaiyne" as best we can (listener, it's not great, but we try our best). Don't forget that you can email us with opinions or requests for transcripts at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com!

Well, it's that time of year again, when we get cozy and reflect on the love of family and friends. This Christmas time, we'd like to kick off the season right by talking about Violent Night, which features David Harbour as a very curmudgeonly Santa who happens to be great at making a candy cane into a shiv. We talk about violence, capitalism, and man buns, so we hope you enjoy this first instalment of our Christmas triptych! And don't forget to email us at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com to chat and/or to request transcripts! Also, please rate, review, and subscribe to our show. Consider it an early Christmas present.

In this episode we discuss our first animated feature! Spirited Away is a beautiful film about a child who must save her greedy parents from the clutches of a witch who runs a spa for spirits. And really, who among us hasn't had to parent our parents? If you'd like a transcript of this episode, or if you'd just like to say hi, email us at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com. And don't forget to rate and review us if you have good things (or even non-bad things) to say!

In this second episode of our road trip series, we're talking about Thelma & Louise (Scott 1991), an uproarious comedy if the trailer has anything to say about it, but a drama to those of us who have watched it. This movie has been pivotal for many feminists, people who like watching protagonists who are not men, and those who enjoy a good mom jean (these are not mutually exclusive), and our conversation talks about all these things. A word of warning: the movie depicts an attempted sexual assault, and we mention it (the movie's mostly about what happens after the assault is thwarted). As always, we have a great conversation, and we'd love to hear your opinions, too! Feel free to email us at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com to share an opinion or to request a transcript. Also, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts so that we can reach more people who want to hear us be silly (surely someone does)!

This episode marks the beginning of our latest theme: road movies! And, to kick off this new theme, we're talking about The Green Knight, a surreal take on the 14th-Century chivalric romance poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," which you probably read in an intro lit course (and if you didn't, you were robbed). It follows Gawain (Dev Patel) as he makes a series of bad choices while trying to become a knight in King Arthur's court (Camelot, the Round Table, the whole bit). Also, his mom helps him out in some very weird ways and possibly/probably oversteps, hence the title of this episode. It's a very strange, very aesthetically beautiful movie, and we can't recommend it highly enough. Remember that we have an email address: thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com. Use it to ask for transcripts or just to chat with us! Also, pretty please give us a good review and subscribe!

This week, we're rounding out our series on "House" movies with House of Flying Daggers (Yimou 2004), a very sexy wuxia film that combines gorgeous aesthetics with sleeve agility and fighting in trees. It is at its core a period drama, starring Ziyi Zhang, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and Andy Lau, but it also involves love, deception, loyalty, and conflict, which we talk a lot about, obviously. We still have an email address and also transcripts available! Get in touch or get a transcript at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com. Also, don't forget to give us even more attention by rating, reviewing, and subscribing to this pod. We appreciate it!

In this episode we get "cerebral" (whatever that means) and talk about Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse (2019), starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. It's a complicated movie that has steered us toward a complicated (yet ridiculous) discussion. We talk about gender, the monstrous-feminine, the abject, and eco-criticism, as well as our crushes on Willem Dafoe and our delight in his character's dialogue. Oh, and Charlie can't let go of thinking this is a pirate movie. It isn't. Also, big news: We have an email address AND transcripts! Feel free to get in touch and/or get a transcript at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com. Also, we'd love for you to rate, review, and subscribe to our little show because we love attention.

And we're back! Welcome to season two of The Juiciest Bits, in which we endeavour to become more organized. This season, we've decided to group our movie selections by theme (and hopefully take some requests!), so expect* scholarly through-lines and hilarious callbacks. Our first theme of the season is "house movies," and to kick things off, we're talking about Road House, that sexy Swayze movie from 1989. It has everything: mullets! inappropriate clothing! unbridled violence! a song written and performed by P. Sways himself! This episode makes us feel like we never left (in a good way), and we hope you like it too. Thanks for joining us! *Neither is guaranteed. Also, you can email us now! Drop us a line at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com! Also, we have transcripts now! Email us for your very own copy!

In this, our season one finale, we discuss millennial classic Bring it On (Reed, 2000) and come face to face with the hard reminder that the culture in which we went to high school was rough, especially for the queer, trans, disabled, and P.O.C. crowds. BUT we talk about all of this and the acrobatic miracle that is cheerleading and how cool Gabrielle Union is, so there's that.

Hello! This week, we're talking about Nobody (Ilya Naishuller, 2021), in which Bob Odenkirk takes a break from playing our favourite smarmy lawyer and is instead a repressed and very swole dad who has a real yen for beating up bad guys in incredibly violent ways (think John Wick, but with a house in the suburbs). The movie also features Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, and RZA, which makes for a very badass cast. Perhaps most important to us, though, is how familiar the setting is. While many movies are filmed in Winnipeg, this one actually forgoes the Hallmark-style fake snow and holiday themes in favour of showing what our city actually looks like! Anyway, we were excited. Enjoy! P.s. Please don't forget to subscribe to our darling little podcast and also rate and review us. We crave validation.

In this episode we explore the lighter side of government corruption with Andrew Fleming's 1999 masterpiece, Dick, starring Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams as the teenagey-est of teenage girls who inadvertently become Deep Throat during the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s. The movie is funny on its own, but it's even funnier after watching All the President's Men (Pakula, 1976) and noticing the very intentional send-ups of that far more serious film. Also, Dick features Dan Hedaya (aka Cher's dad in Clueless) as Richard Nixon (aka Dick), so the movie is worth watching just for him. But also, there are many SNL and Kids in the Hall references, too, so there's something for everybody who has ever enjoyed laughing even a little bit.

This week we're talking about All the President's Men (Pakula, 1976), a political thriller about the American Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon. It stars Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman (both of whom rock feathered hair and the tightest tight pants), who play the journalists responsible for breaking the story. It's a famous and well-regarded movie that we have fun talking about/dunking on, so enjoy!

Hi folks! This week, we're delving into the art of the LPD (Lesbian Period Drama) and talking about Céline Sciamma's absolutely gorgeous film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel. Not only does this movie give us a spicy and heartbreaking love story, it give us a story about friendship, longing, and also French women entrepreneurs. We also discuss and recommend other LPDs, and we'd love to hear your recommendations. Enjoy!

Okay, folks. Much like you, we get tired. We get busy. We yearn to discuss subject matter that tends toward the ridiculous. And that's what we're giving you in our discussion of Face/Off (Woo 1997), an exceedingly silly action movie in which G-man Sean Archer (John Travolta) TRADES FACES (and bodies) with introvert's nightmare Castor Troy (Nicholas Cage) in order to go undercover in prison and trick Castor's brother, Pollux (Alessandro Nivola), into telling him the whereabouts of a bomb Castor planted before Sean incapacitated him and stole his face. It's a wild ride and watching this movie was exactly as soul-rejuvenating as we hoped it would be. Please enjoy this nonsense with us.

Hello! In this episode we're discussing 3 Women, a 1977 film by Robert Altman starring Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek, and Janice Rule as the aforementioned women. This movie is full of very awkward interactions that we relished talking about. Enjoy as we attempt to parse this fever dream of a movie and sort through Altman's attempt to define women by making them seem scary and weird (only some of us may claim that honour). CW: There is a scene in the film depicting a suicide/self-harm attempt that we mention here.

In this episode we talk about Zach Cregger's 2022 horror film Barbarian and talk about why it's best to stay away from creepy basements and maybe book a hotel instead. This movie stars Georgina Campbell as a tired woman (relatable) who finds herself having to clean up all kinds of man-messes just to get a moment's peace. Bill Skarsgård shows up as someone who may or may not be a murderer, so that's fun, and Justin Long plays a toxic and sometimes literal man-baby. Besides serving up general creepiness, this movie addresses race, toxic masculinity, greed, and generational trauma, and more. Anyway, it's a real romp and we hope you like our discussion about it!

In this episode we talk about a movie we both love and also find problematic in many ways. The Apartment (Wilder 1960) stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine and follows Lemmon's C.C. Baxter up the corporate ladder, which he climbs in exchange for reluctantly letting his higher-ups use his apartment for sexual dalliances. But, of course, we're more interested in how this affects MacLaine's Fran Kubelik, who has to deal with patriarchy and misappropriated power at her workplace (sound familiar, anyone?). Take a listen! CW: This movie depicts suicidal ideation and attempted suicide, so look after yourselves.

Hi everyone! This week, we dig into Minority Report (Spielberg 2002) and talk about problematic policing (is there another kind?), the film's weird elision of policing and religion, and how silly and boring depictions of futuristic cars are. Also, full disclosure: because Mandy's computer betrayed us, this is our second time recording this episode and we are both in a mood. Enjoy!

This week, we're fanning out about a movie beloved to both of us: His Girl Friday (Hawks 1940). Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant star in this fast-talking screwball comedy that is close to our hearts and that we discover something new from every time we watch it. It's smart, it's funny, and it's full of Cary Grant being handsome and Rosalind Russell wearing amazing hats (as well as more critical things, which we also talk about). It also features Ralph Bellamy as a soggy cherub and mother's special boy, which is always welcome.

In this episode we discuss In Bruges (McDonagh 2008), starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Clémence Poésy, and Ralph Fiennes. It's a violent and incredibly offensive movie about honour, goodness, and a generally non-toxic friendship between two Irish assassins (I know, we're really selling it), but it's also tender and brings up some important stuff about what it means to be a decent human. It's also a holiday movie! Huge content warning here: there are depictions of child death, suicide, and suicidal ideation in this film, which we discuss, along with the movie's homophobic, fatphobic, ableist, and sizeist rhetoric, so please do what you need to do to take care of yourself. Otherwise, enjoy!

Happy Holidays, everyone! In this episode, Charlie and Mandy talk about Scrooge (Hurst, 1951), the adaptation of A Christmas Carol that was probably on in the background at your grandparents' house. It stars Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge, absolute cherub of a man Mervyn Johns as Bob Cratchit, and Hermione Baddeley as Mrs. Cratchit (apart from being a dutiful wife, she also has a first name not mentioned in the movie, and it's Emily). Join us as we talk about issues of morality, poverty, capitalism, GHOSTS, and other fun holiday and holiday-adjacent topics!

In this episode, we talk about Cat People (Tourneur, 1942) and its depiction of women, sexual hangups, immigrants, and, of course, cats. The film follows Oliver (Kent Smith) and Irena (Simone Simon) as they navigate sex (or rather, no sex), marriage, and the fallout of war-induced witchcraft. It's a delightful example of a classical Hollywood B-movie, and we hope you enjoy it!

Hey folks! Today we're talking about Matt Reeves' 2022 iteration of the dark knight, The Batman. Starring Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, and Paul Dano (who plays The "more-than-sufficiently-creepy" Riddler, this version of Batman brings darkness and ennui, but, like, a different kind of darkness and ennui than the other movies about a wealthy white man who dresses up as a bat to stop crimes and brood about how difficult his life is. Enjoy!

In this episode, we discuss Elia Kazan's Panic in the Streets (1950), starring Richard Widmark, Jack Palance, and Barbara Bel Geddes. Big surprise, we talk about gender issues, but we also talk about other things, like race and immigration! While probably more of you have seen Kazan's more famous banger, On the Waterfront (1954), Kazan really liked this one, and so do we. It's also Jack Palance's first feature film, which is wild because it seems like he has just always been a rugged and creepy old man. But, in this, he's a rugged and creepy young man! Enjoy!

Today we're talking about Bong Joon Ho's Parasite (2019) and how much we love it. With a cast featuring Song Kang-ho, Choi Woo-sik, Park So-dam, Jang Hye-jin, and Cho Yeo-jeong, the movie is a dramatic thriller about class and choice and a master class in con artistry. Listen as we talk about the film's depictions of class, family, performance, and enjoy Charlie shaming Mandy for never having seen Spy Kids (Rodriguez, 2001). P.s. This episode doesn't cut immediately when it's over, and there's about half an hour of nothing at the end of it. We weren't trying to do anything arty; Mandy just messed up the audio.

Robots! Explosive violence! Problematic policing! Today we're talking about RoboCop (Verhoeven, 1987), starring Peter Weller and Nancy Allen. We meander into conversations about satire, queerness, discomfort with cop culture and police violence, and we also spend way too much time talking about phallic substitutes (as if that's even possible)!

In this second (or is it first) episode of TJB, we gab about Wild Mountain Thyme (2020), a John Patrick Shanley film starring Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, and Jon Hamm, and Christopher Walken's attempt at an Irish accent (it's worth watching for that alone)!