Podcast appearances and mentions of Justin Halpern

Craig, Chris, and Raphie are joined by ABBOTT ELEMENTARY, HARLEY QUINN, and San Diego's own Justin Halpern to talk about the Padres finally bringing some new players into the mix with the signings of Connor Joe and Jason Heyward. Plus, Gavin Sheets is a Chihuahua, and how does this all impact a potential trade?Watch the show on YouTube! youtube.com/@padreshottub Want to get the show early, ad-free, with access to multiple bonus podcasts and our treasured Padres Hot Tub discord? Become a patron! patreon.com/padreshottub

Executive producer of Harley Quinn and Abbott Elementary Justin Halpern returns to Drew and Roth to talk about the Dodgers making baseball into capitalism-shaped-like-a-baseball! In the wake of even more free agent signings, they explain how the Dodgers are running their team like a company with McKinsey consultants and they're blowing everyone else outta the water. In the second half, our group decides which two teams they want to see in the Super Bowl, regardless of how possible that scenario can be. And as always, they dive into the Funbag, answering real questions from real listeners.Do you want to hear your question answered on the pod? Well, give us a call at 909-726-3720. That is 909-PANERA-0!Sponsors- LiveGood, where you can get 10% off your first order at livegood.com/distraction- Hims, where you can start your free online visit today at hims.com/distraction- Betterhelp, where you can get 10% off your first month at https://betterhelp.com/distractionCredits- Hosts: Drew Magary & David Roth- Producer: Eric Silver- Editor: Brandon Grugle- Production Services & Ads: Multitude Podcasts- Subscribe to Defector!About The ShowThe Distraction is Defector's flagship podcast about sports (and movies, and art, and sandwiches, and certain coastal states) from longtime writers Drew Magary and David Roth. Every week, Drew and Roth tackle subjects, both serious and impossibly stupid, with a parade of guests from around the world of sports and media joining in the fun! Roth and Drew also field Funbag questions from Defector readers, answer listener voicemails, and get upset about the number of people who use speakerphone while in a public bathroom stall. This is a show where everything matters, because everyone could use a Distraction. Head to defector.com for more info.

This week on Good One, we bring you back to 2024's Vulture Festival, at which Vulture awarded the writing staff of Abbott Elementary the first ever Roomie Award. The Roomie Award is an award for writers' rooms who exhibit the special art of writing collectively. Joining the show's creator and star Quinta Brunson was Kate Peterman, Justin Tan, Riley Dufurrena, Lizzy Darrell, Brittani Nichols, Brian Rubenstein, Joya McCrory, Patrick Schumacker, Ava Coleman, Justin Halpern, and Jordan Temple. Vulture TV Critic Roxanne Hadadi moderated the panel. Order Jesse's book (out now!), Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture–and the Magic That Makes It Work here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374604714/comedybook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Diane chats with ABBOTT ELEMENTARY EPs Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacher about Season 4 and helping to craft the hit comedy. Andy and Diane talk about the smashing INDUSTRY season finale, the lowkey gem PENELOPE from Mark Duplass and Mel Eslyn, and we look at the newest turn in the Menendez Brothers case. Andy talks spooky viewing options GROTESQUERIE and SALEM'S LOT. Andy also talks about why WILL & HARPER is a Must Watch on Netflix. Diane previews the new HBO comedy THE FRANCHISE.

“I've had a single-minded focus on it,” says Alex Saks, about her love for movies. She attended Wake Forest to study history but then quickly moved to Los Angeles and found an unpaid internship. “Then I just went from there.” She's known for projects like Thoroughbreds, The Florida Project, Book Club, Poms, No Hard Feelings, Summer Camp, and most recently, the Blake Likely film, It Ends With Us. In this interview, she talks about the point of being a producer is to “not be noticed,” working with Mark Gordon (Saving Private Ryan), how amazing voices can come from anywhere, the secret of “easily sellable elements,” living with characters, making it impossible for studios to say “no,” and making great emotional movies in 2024. We also reference the Twitter account Shit My Dad Says, from Justin Halpern, Episode 409. Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we're giving away 100,000 copies this year. It's based on hundreds of interviews here at Creative Principles.

Executive producer of Harley Quinn and Abbott Elementary Justin Halpern returns to Drew and Roth now that baseball season has started and we know the Padres and Mets are already blowing it. In the first half, they discuss how betting isn't just ruining the lives of folks risking all their money on over-unders, it's ruining sports media as a whole. And in the second half, Justin recalls his college baseball experience to figure out why are all these pitchers are blowing out their arms. And as always, they dive into the Funbag, answering real questions from real listeners.Do you want to hear your question answered on the pod? Well, give us a call at 909-726-3720. That is 909-PANERA-0!Sponsors- Raycon, where you can get 20% off your order and free shipping at https://raycon.com/distractionCredits- Hosts: Drew Magary & David Roth- Producer: Eric Silver- Editor: Brandon Grugle- Production Services & Ads: Multitude- Subscribe to Defector!About The ShowThe Distraction is Defector's flagship podcast about sports (and movies, and art, and sandwiches, and certain coastal states) from longtime writers Drew Magary and David Roth. Every week, Drew and Roth tackle subjects, both serious and impossibly stupid, with a parade of guests from around the world of sports and media joining in the fun! Roth and Drew also field Funbag questions from Defector readers, answer listener voicemails, and get upset about the number of people who use speakerphone while in a public bathroom stall. This is a show where everything matters, because everyone could use a Distraction. Head to defector.com for more info.

Comic Reviews: DC Batman Off-World 1 by Jason Aaron, Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza, David Baron Harley Quinn: Black, White, and Redder 5 by Mat Lopes, Bilquis Evely, Justin Halpern, Katherine Lobo, Speremint Marvel Carnage 1 by Torunn Gronbekk, Pere Perez, Erick Arciniega Daredevil: Black Armor 1 by D.G. Chichester, Netho Diaz, JP Mayer, Andrew Dalhouse Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars Battleworld 1 by Tom DeFalco, Pat Olliffe, John Kalisz Marvel Unlimited It's Jeff 30 by Kelly Thompson, Nao Fuji Image Holy Roller 1 by Rick Remender, Andy Samberg, Joe Trohman, Roland Boschi, Moreno Dinisio Dark Horse Lunar Lodge 1 by Tyler Marceca, Mirko Colak, Bryan Valenza Mortal Terror 1 by Christopher Golden, Tim Lebbon, Peter Bergting, Chris O'Halloran Mad Cave Edenfrost 1 by Amit Tishler, Bruno Frenda, Taylor Esposito Archie Darkling 1 by Sarah Kuhn, Carola Borelli, Ellie Wright Oni Faceless and the Family 1 by Matt Lesniewski Titan Forgotten Runes: Wizard's Cult 1 by Joe Rechthman, Reilly Brown OGNs Ink Girls by Marieke Nijkamp, Sylvia Bi Planeta Blu Rise of Agoo by Tem Blessed, Mike Lariccia Chunky by Yehudi Mercado Chunky Goes To Camp by Yehudi Mercado Additional Reviews: Wish, Leo, Scott Pilgrim, Blood Cruise, Tales from the Tardis, Doctor Who, Daphne Byrne, Tellos Saga News: Jimmy Olsen cast, Scream 7 shakeup, Guillem March reviving Penthouse Comics, second seasons on the way for Ms. Marvel/She-Hulk/Moon Knight, Avengers Inc ending with #5 Comics Countdown (21 Nov 2023): 1.     Bone Orchard Mythos: Tenement 6 by Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart 2.     Batman Off-World 1 by by Jason Aaron, Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza, David Baron 3.     Wonder Woman 3 by Tom King, Daniel Sampere, Tomeu Morey, Belen Ortega, Alejandro Sanchez 4.     Ink Girls GN by Marieke Nijkamp, Sylvia Bi 5.     Jay Garrick: Flash 2 by Jeremy Adams, Diego Olortegui, Luis Guerrero 6.     Universal Monsters: Dracula 2 by James Tynion IV, Martin Simmonds 7.     Black Hammer: The End 4 by Jeff Lemire, Malachi Ward 8.     Holy Roller 1 by by Rick Remender, Andy Samberg, Joe Trohman, Roland Boschi, Moreno Dinisio 9.     Superman 8 by Joshua Williamson, David Baldeon, Gleb Melnikov, Jamal Campbell, Norm Rapmund, Alejandro Sanchez 10.  Justice Society of America 7 by Geoff Johns, Marco Santucci, Ivan Plascencia  

Justin Halpern joins to celebrate the end of the writer's strike.

Joe and Mike are joined by television writer and executive producer Justin Halpern to talk about what the heck happened with the San Diego Padres in 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here is a taste of this weeks frotcast. If ever there was an episode that you should subscribe to the patreon in order to listen to it's this one.

Joe and Mike are joined by television writer and executive producer Justin Halpern to talk about what the heck happened with the San Diego Padres in 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Executive producer of Harley Quinn and Abbott Elementary Justin Halpern joins Drew and Roth for the saddest event in baseball: The Pathetic-Off! Justin, demoralized by the Padres, challenges Roth, terrorized by the Mets, to decide who has the most upsetting experience rooting for their home team. And at the top, Justin gives us an update on the current state of the WGA strike. And as always, we Remember and Guy and dive into the Funbag! The Distraction Live Show in NYC!!October 4th! Littlefield! New York City! See Drew and Roth live and in person! Sponsors- Ravensburger CreArt, a new paint-by-numbers experience! Shop on Amazon, their website, or your local art supply store. Credits- Hosts: Drew Magary & David Roth- Producer: Eric Silver- Editor: Brandon Grugle- Production Services & Ads: Multitude- Subscribe to Defector! About The ShowFrom Defector Media: Former Deadspin writers Drew Magary and David Roth should really stick to sports. Sure, their new indie sports podcast will break down the week in sports: the Mets grounding into quadruple plays, NBA players getting testy on the court and horny on Instagram, Bill Belichick cutting 80% of his roster just to keep himself interested, horrifying takes from sports talk radio that need to be broken down, etc. But these two men and their guests will have their fair share of off-the-field issues they'll also have to address: stupid Funbag questions, bad tweets from bad people, pointless food arguments, and even less. Every week is a VERY long week these days. We could all use a little Distraction. Head to defector.com for more info.

Bathroom boxes, ballroom boxes, all of Trump's beautiful mind documents that he wanted to keep from his former job have finally caught up with him and fast. Francesca looks at the best parts of the 38-count indictment. Then writer, showrunner and WGA board of directors member Justin Halpern joins to talk about the second month of the writer's strike. What are the writers of our favorite shows demanding of the massive greedy corporations that run Hollywood studios? Finally, a former intelligence whistleblower says the U.S. has alien aircraft. Nato and Francesca have some questions.Featuring:Featuring: Nato Green, https://twitter.com/natogreen Justin Halpern, https://twitter.com/justin_halpernThe Bitchuation Room Streams LIVE every TUESDAY and FRIDAY at 1/4pmEST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/franifio and Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/franifioSupport The Bitchuation Room by becoming a Patron: www.patreon.com/bitchationroom to get special perks and watch-back privilegesTip the show via Venmo: @TBR-LIVE Cash-App: @TBRLIVEMusic by Nick StarguFollow The Bitchuation Room on Twitter @BitchuationPodGet your TBR merch: www.bitchuationroom.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bathroom boxes, ballroom boxes, all of Trump's beautiful mind documents that he wanted to keep from his former job have finally caught up with him and fast. Francesca looks at the best parts of the 38-count indictment. Then writer, showrunner and WGA board of directors member Justin Halpern joins to talk about the second month of the writer's strike. What are the writers of our favorite shows demanding of the massive greedy corporations that run Hollywood studios? Finally, a former intelligence whistleblower says the U.S. has alien aircraft. Nato and Francesca have some questions.Featuring:Featuring: Nato Green, https://twitter.com/natogreen Justin Halpern, https://twitter.com/justin_halpernThe Bitchuation Room Streams LIVE every TUESDAY and FRIDAY at 1/4pmEST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/franifio and Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/franifioSupport The Bitchuation Room by becoming a Patron: www.patreon.com/bitchationroom to get special perks and watch-back privilegesTip the show via Venmo: @TBR-LIVE Cash-App: @TBRLIVEMusic by Nick StarguFollow The Bitchuation Room on Twitter @BitchuationPodGet your TBR merch: www.bitchuationroom.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NOTE: This episode was recorded prior to the WGA going on strike. From their unusual start from a Twitter feed that became “S**t my dad says,” show runners Patrick Schumacker and Justin Halpern are celebrating the success of their shows “Abbott Elementary” and “Harley Quinn.” We discuss their unique start, juggling show running duties on two shows and what the future holds. SHOW NOTES: Justin Halpern on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3824767 Patrick Schumacker on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3824575 Justin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justin_halpern Patrick on Twitter (https://twitter.com/PMSchumacker) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/PMSchumacker/) Abbott Elementary: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14218830 Harley Quinn: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7658402 Bios Justin Halpern & Patrick Schumacker are Emmy-nominated creators, showrunners and executive producers through their company Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions whose overall deal is at Warner Bros. Television. Series include HBO Max's animated hit HARLEY QUINN for WBTV and DC Entertainment which is now in its 4th season and its spin-off NOONAN'S which was recently ordered to series for HBO MAX. Justin and Patrick's newest series, ABBOTT ELEMENTARY with Quinta Brunson, is a hit series that garnered multiple Emmy wins and nominations including a nomination for best comedy series where they serve as executive producers and showrunners. Previously, Halpern and Schumacker were the showrunners and Executive Producers of NBC's POWERLESS for WBTV and DC Entertainment. Prior to that, Halpern and Schumacker co-created Fox's SURVIVING JACK as well as CBS's S#*! MY DAD SAYS. S#*! MY DAD SAYS was adapted for television based on Halpern's New York Times bestselling book, Shit My Dad Says. Justin and Patrick have also been involved with such popular series as iZOMBIE, COUGAR TOWN, and HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN.  Justin & Patrick recently finished writing the feature BIRTHRIGHT based on the graphic novel by Joshua Williamson for Universal Pictures with Ruben Fleischer and Skybound producing. 

This Justin! WGA board member Justin Halpern comes by to talk about Shit My Dad Says, Abbott Elementary, and the writers strike. Goldy begins his journey to the Senior PGA Tour.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“We were interns together at A Band Apart Productions, which was Quentin Tarantino's production company,” says Justin Halpern, about his partnership with Patrick Schumacker. “We worked in commercials and music videos…we never say Quentin, ever. Ever.” Back then, Halpern wanted to be a screenwriter and Schumacker wanted to be a commercial and music video director. “I always enjoyed writing, but I think I was more passionate about communicating through visuals, or words being secondary. That's perhaps too reductive, but I think that's why we make a good pairing.” As writing partners, the duo have credits for $#*! My Dad Says, Cougar Town, iZombie, Harley Quinn, and Abbott Elementary. “I come at ideas from a visual or aesthetic place and Justin comes at it from more of a character or psychological place. It works for us.” “We started out feeling like we both had to do the exact same job. We wrote stuff together. We directed together, on the side, when we still had day jobs. But when we got our own show on the air, we felt like we needed to be this two-headed entity performing the same tasks. But now, we've developed a system to divide and conquer.” Halpern spends the bulk of his time in the Writer's Room focusing on story breaking. Schumacker floats between the Writer's Room and set to oversee the filming process. Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we're giving away 100,000 copies this year. It's based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Welcome back to the Harley Quinn Podcast on DC on HBO Max Podcast! In this special episode of season three, Vanessa is joined by Mimi (Batwoman Podcast) and Keenon (Justice League Dark Podcast)! The "Very Problematic Valentine's Day Special" (streaming started Thursday, Feb. 9) is a ridiculously NSFW, not-for-kids affair with Harley going the distance to give Ivy the BEST VALENTINE'S DAY EVER. Chaos ensues when Bane *spoiler*. Check out the episode to see our thoughts! As Harley goes to obsessive lengths to ensure that her first Valentine's Day with Ivy is the best ever, Bane's efforts to impress an unexpected date go horribly awry. Meanwhile, after an unfortunate online dating encounter, Clayface engages in some self-love. Cast: The voice cast of HARLEY QUINN: A VERY PROBLEMATIC VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIAL includes Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk, Matt Oberg, James Wolk , Natalie Morales, Chris Diamantopoulos, James Adomian, Jim Rash, Vanessa Marshall , Janet Varney, Rachel Dratch, Leila Birch, Tyler James Williams, Josh Helman, Casey Wilson, Michael Ironside, and others. Credits: Based on characters from DC, the special is produced by Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions and Yes, Norman Productions in association with Warner Bros. Animation. Executive Producers are Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, Dean Lorey, Jennifer Coyle, Kaley Cuoco, Sam Register. All episodes of Harley Quinn season 3 are currently streaming on HBO Max. Find DC On HBO Max Podcast on: Social Media: Facebook – @DCHBOMaxPodcast – Instagram Subscribe: Apple Podcasts – Stitcher Radio – YouTube – DC TV Podcasts– Google Podcasts – iHeartRadio – Spotify –Amazon Music – Podchaser – TuneIn – Podcast Index Contact: DCStudiosPodcast@gmail.com Support: TeePublic Store

Scott Carson's dad was his best friend, a servant community leader, and where he got his work ethic from!  His dad taught him to be compassionate with people and to always keep getting up! Scott Carson takes a marketing first approach to real estate, podcasting, and business!  He's the host of The Note Closers Show podcast!  He has over 700 episodes and has been doing live virtual events for years!  He's a master at repurposing content and understands kickbacks from affiliates!  He says, “Deliver equals rich and perfection equals broke!” Better Call Daddy: The Safe Space For Controversy! Shout out to Tracy and Tom Hazzard for the introduction.   Connect with Scott Carson https://www.linkedin.com/in/1scottcarson https://weclosenotes.com/   Book mentioned in episode Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern (2011-04-01) https://a.co/d/dzEmX8X Book a call with Scott: talkwithscottcarson.com   Connect with Reena https://youtube.com/c/BetterCallDaddy twitter.com/reenareena instagram.com/reenafriedmanwatts instagram.com/bettercalldaddypodcast bettercalldaddy.com   Me and my daddy would love to hear from you subscribe and let us know what topics you want to hear podchaser.com/bettercalldaddy ratethispodcast.com/bettercalldaddy    

Jomi and Steve are back to celebrate a fantastic third season of ‘Harley Quinn' by highlighting some of their favorite moments, characters, storylines, and more (02:40). Later, they are joined by showrunners  Patrick Schumacker, Justin Halpern, and Sarah Peters to discuss developing Season 3 of the show, what to expect from Season 4, the future of Harley and Poison Ivy's relationship, and more (26:00) Hosts: Jomi Adeniran and Steve Ahlman  Guests: Patrick Schumacker, Justin Halpern, and Sarah Peters Associate Producer: Jonathan Kermah Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The one and only Sheryl Lee Ralph gives me a behind scenes look into the ABC comedy series Abbott Elementary. From her first audition to working with Quinta Brunson, we dive into the hilarious characters, and the impact this show is having across the country. The series follows a group of teachers in a Philadelphia public school in this workplace comedy. “Abbott Elementary” stars Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues, Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie, Janelle James as Ava Coleman, Chris Perfetti as Jacob Hill, Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti and Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard. Quinta Brunson serves as writer and executive producer alongside Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker of Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions.Support the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The one and only Sheryl Lee Ralph gives me a behind scenes look into the ABC comedy series Abbott Elementary. From her first audition to working with Quinta Brunson, we dive into the hilarious characters, and the impact this show is having across the country. The series follows a group of teachers in a Philadelphia public school in this workplace comedy. “Abbott Elementary” stars Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues, Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie, Janelle James as Ava Coleman, Chris Perfetti as Jacob Hill, Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti and Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard. Quinta Brunson serves as writer and executive producer alongside Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker of Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome back to the Harley Quinn Podcast on DC on HBO Max Podcast! The squad is back from hiatus! In this episode, Vanessa is joined by Rachel (Batwoman Podcast), Mimi (Batwoman Podcast), and Keenon (Justice League Dark Podcast) covering episodes 5-8 of Harley Quinn season 3! The real-life Cobb Squad tackles each episode covering everything from man-bun Swamp Thing, the Constantine cameo, Joker's socialist agenda as mayor, Batgirl and Harley's friendship and Bruce Wayne's innermost trauma! We also discuss our wishes for the last two episodes as we head into the end of the season. Also discussed was an awesome piece of news: Harley Quinn has been renewed for season 4 with with a new showrunner. Sarah Peters will take over from co-creators Patrick Schumacker and Justin Halpern in the next season. Find DC On HBO Max Podcast on: Social Media: Facebook – @DCHBOMaxPodcast – Instagram Subscribe: Apple Podcasts – Stitcher Radio – YouTube – DC TV Podcasts– Google Podcasts – iHeartRadio – Spotify –Amazon Music – Podchaser – TuneIn – Podcast Index Contact: DCHBOMaxPodcast@gmail.com Support: TeePublic Store

Send all House of the Dragon inquiries to askthemaester@gmail.com & don't forget to rate five stars and review the show with your weirdest, strangest, funniest take and we might read your review in the episode.On this episode of X-Ray Vision, Jason Concepcion and Rosie Knight take a bath with Groot! First in Previously On (2:15), Jason and Rosie continue to break down the breakdown in the Warner Bros Discovery merger. In the Airlock (24:07) they dive deep (deeep) into both the delightful I Am Groot short animated series streaming now on Disney+ and the quiet, subversive thrills of Prey – the latest in the predator franchise – now streaming on Hulu in both English and Comanche. Then, in the Hive Mind (39:02) Jason and Rosie are joined by Harley Quinn c0-creator Justin Halpern to discuss the inspiration behind the series, working with writing partner Patrick Schumacker, how the two of them almost ruined Harlivy, how they squeeze so many jokes into every minute, and the incredible voice work and cast.Tune in every Friday and don't forget to Hulk Smash the Follow button!Nerd Out Submission Instructions!Send a short pitch and 2-3 minute voice memo recording to xray@crooked.com that answers the following questions: 1) How did you get into/discover your ‘Nerd Out?' (2) Why should we get into it too? (3) What's coming soon in this world that we can look forward to or where can we find it? Follow Jason: twitter.com/netw3rkFollow Crooked: twitter.com/crookedmediaCheck out the unofficial X-Ray Vision DiscordPLUGS:Rosie's IG, website, author archive, & Letterboxd.The Listener's Guide for all things X-Ray Vision!Silly Symphonies - the Skeleton Dance is a classic 1929 Walt Disney Animation that uses non post-sync sound. It can be found here.In Rosie's article, she commemorates Fry's electronics and its Hollywood preservation in the movie Nope. Found here. The Mary Tyler Moore show is an American sitcom airing on CBS from 1970-77, depicting an independent woman focused on her career during the second wave of feminism. Watch here.

TV Writer and Producer Justin Halpern joins Drew and Roth to discuss the San Diego Comic-Con, the first half of the 2022 MLB season, how MLB should market their stars and Abbott Elementary. Plus, Guy of the Week and the Funbag! Visit Defector.com.

Welcome, lovely listeners, to Tongue in Queer! Where a bi guy and his straight ally share their unsolicited opinions on all things gay. We're rounding off Pride month with our review of Harley Quinn: The Animated Series, developed by Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Dean Lorey. Featuring Erika and our new guest Shadoe! Spoilers ahead! Topics of discussion: throw it in the wrench, the Kite Man dilemma, positive messages through bad people, and much more! Music Credit: Wagon Wheel (Electronic) - Kevin MacLeod

This week, we're talking Superheroes! Why is it so rare to see a great romance in a superhero story? Is there really no room for love and capes? Do heroes eat? (spoiler: obviously) — We're joined by author Barry Lyga, a comics and superhero expert, to discuss all this and more…and to chat about the new YA Superhero anthology, Generation Wonder, in which Sarah has a short story (it's a romance). We also recommend some great superhero romances and comics, because of course we do. Do yourself a favor — be sure to check out show notes this week. The visuals are a delight.Fated Mates Live, in person, is happening!!! We'll be in Alexandria, VA on July 30th — join us there! We'll be joined by a ton of our favorites…find more information about the event and get tickets through Old Town Books! Thanks to Penguin Random House, publisher of Andie J. Christopher's Thank You, Next, for sponsoring the episode. Thanks, also, to Lumi Labs, creators of Microdose Gummies. Visit microdose.com and use code FATEDMATES to get free shipping & 30% off your first order.Our next read along is Virginia Henley's The Dragon and the Jewel, a deep cut from Sarah's childhood. Check your content warnings and remember this one is from 1991, so we don't even know, honestly. We're flying without a net here. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo or your local indie.Show NotesThanks to Old Town Books, we are going to have a real Fated Mates Live event at Apollycon at the end of July. It will be Saturday evening July 30th in Alexandria. Stay tuned for details. Welcome Barry Lyga, comics author and editor of the YA superhero anthology Generation Wonder. Sarah has a story in the anthology, and we'll hope you'll buy one for the young reader in your life. There was no kissing in Doctor Strange, but we've been promised there will be in Thor: Love and Thunder. In fact, Taika Waititi said Mills & Boon, so...that's official.Back in the day, romance comics were just as popular as superhero comics. Check out the site Sequential Crush to see the history of romance comics. If after this episode you think you might want to check out more comics, Suzanne's site Love in Panels is the best place to start. Comics writer Mark Waid wrote about manhood and comics in an essay that is no longer available online, but Mark is also the author of Irredeemable, a comic about Superman turning villainous. Another essay about how modern superhero movies are romance and sex-free is called Everyone is Beautiful and No One is Horny.If you have little kids, check out the Mia Mayhem series of graphic novels. Jen was on Heaving Bosoms to discuss Cinnamon Blade.The TV Show about the superheroes going to work is called The Boys.Exactly one year ago (well, one year ago yesterday), Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker, co-creators of the DC Entertainment-HBO Max adult animated series “Harley Quinn,” told Variety that DC Comics removed a scene from the show of Batman "dining feline" (h/t bleedingcool for this delightful euphemism), saying "Heroes don't do that." As is right and just, the internet disagreed and #HeroesWhoEat and #BatmanGoesDown were born. It was a great day.For what it's worth, it wasn't just the internet that disagreed. Zach Snyder confirmed that Batman in fact does eat, with one of the greatest tweets of all time. At least, we think so. DC apparently did not care for it. While we like Snyder's version very much, here are some other NSFW images we like almost as much (eye headphones in): From artist @Mrs_Van_Damn; commentary from @realAgdtwinkie; from artist (with excellent commentary) @ArtKhobra; and this one, from artist @rpace, with special love for the pegging crew.

It's A-me, A-DHL-a As we close in on the end of the only podcast about the GOATest show of all time, we welcome an old friend back to the pod to help us say goodbye to another one of Jersey's finest pork store associates. Writer, frequent Frot guest, and Executive Producer for Abbot Elementary and Harley Quinn, Justin Halpern rejoins Matt and Vince to talk about the penultimate episode of The Sopranos, season 6b episode 8, “The Blue Comet.” Pay your last respects to a loving father, good earner, dutiful husband, and model train enthusiast, Bobby Bacala. From Junior's driver, to redundant upper management, Bobby lives in our hearts, and in the ziti he left in his freezer. Other notable dust-biters in this episode: Bert Gervasi, two poor Ukrainian suckers who answered the door for the wrong Italian DHL driver, and a guy riding his motorcycle past the Bada Bing at the wrong time (probably). Through it all, AJ makes everything about himself and his depression, like a natural-born podcaster. Tell us how you would fix upper management redundancy in a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe to Pod Yourself A Gun on Apple Podcasts. Email us at frotcast@gmail.com; leave us a voicemail at 415-275-0030 Support the Pod: become a patron at patreon.com/Frotcast and get more bonus content than you could ever want, AND if you sign up for the Pod Yourself a Shoutout tier, Vince will give you a mob name on the show. Like last week's newest members: The Funny, KK, The Perv, Will Call, & Titanic. Description by Brent Flyberg. (twitter.com/brentflyberg)

The program all about TV. Our guests; Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker, executive producers on Abbott Elementary, ABC's new school workplace comedy series that begins December 7.

Justin Halpern joins Drew and Roth to discuss Red Sox fans, World Series worst-case scenarios, and why everyone should root against the Dodgers in a Hater's Guide to the MLB Playoffs. Plus, questions from the Funbag! And the guys remember a Padre of the Week. Visit Defector.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bisexual DC supervillain Harley Quinn finally got the gay romance fans had been dying to see on HBO Max. And, surprisingly, two straight guys--Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker-- made it happen. Get the behind-the scenes details about how J&P pulled it off, plus some very juicy details about season 3!!!

Freeze, creep! This week, we're checking out the 1995 and 2012 attempts to bring Judge Dredd to American movie audiences. Spoiler alert: It didn't work out like the studios hoped.  ----more---- [00:00:00] Mike: That's a little too thirsty, I think. Welcome to Tencent takes the podcast where we violate Mega City One's judicial codes, one issue at a time. Coming at you live from the hot box of my closet; I have not showered in 24-hours, and I smell fantastic. I'm Mike Thompson and I am joined by my co-host, the princess of pain, Jessika Frazer. Jessika: Yaar! I'm also - Mike: How are you smelling? Jessika: God, I'm in a hotbox of pain at the very least, I had to go to work like physically into the office today. So I actually, you know, had to be decent enough to be around people that are masked, so the deodorant had to at least be applied, but. Mike: No hard pass. I work out of my bedroom now, you're lucky if you get pants. Jessika: Well, that's nice. [00:01:00] Mike: Would you like to explain why we are here? Jessika: You know, we're here because we love comics. Mike, Mike: True. Jessika: We love comics. We want to talk about all the comics. We want to do deep dives about our favorite comics and their heroes, and where they came from. And wild little stories that we find out about them and bringing in nefarious characters like Eric Estrada. He's not a nefarious. Mike: He's a little nefarious. He was involved in a really weird kind of scammy land sale thing. He did also endorse Trump on Twitter. Remember that where he was like - Jessika: Oh God. He is nefarious. Gosh, darn I, why do I always want to give Eric Estrada so much credit? I'm like way too nice to the guy. I don't even know him. I do follow him on Twitter now, but. Mike: No. He literally told Donald Trump on Twitter that he should run for president because he tells it like it is. So thanks, Eric. Thanks. Appreciate that. Jessika: No. That was a bad idea. Like, for [00:02:00] the record, I don't know if anyone else knows that. Everyone else knows that, every other country knows that. Mike: They do now. Jessika: Oh man, we're going to get into some hot topics today, too. This is already a good start. Mike: Yeah. So before I interrupted you, is there anything else that we'd like to cover or talk about or look at? Jessika: Oh, their video games, all the related media movies. Everything, everything comics related, we want to talk about it. Mike: Fair. Jessika: Yeah. Mike: Well, today we are going to hop on our Law Masters and cruise the Cursed Earth as we check out both the cinematic adaptations of Judge Dredd. But, before we do that, before we dive into this episode, we'd like to acknowledge a small milestone because this is our 10th episode and we've received over 500 downloads. So, you know, that may not sound like anything major compared to a lot of podcasts out there, but we're incredibly proud of what we've been able to achieve and how far we've gotten so far. And if you're listening to us, we're super [00:03:00] grateful that you've just given us your time. We really appreciate it. So to celebrate, we're going to do a giveaway. If you go to our page on Apple Podcast and leave a rating, and then email us a screenshot of said rating and a review, but that's only if you're inclined, really, we just care about the rating. We'll enter you to win a $25 gift card from NewKadia. NewKadia actually offers international shipping too. So, even listeners outside of the continental us are eligible. Jessika: That's super exciting! Mike: Yeah. Jessika: So Yeah. Rate us, review us. We appreciate you all. Mike: Even you. Yeah. So I'm talking to you right through your car stereo right now. Jessika: We're there with you driving along. Hey, watch the road. Mike: All right. We're at the point of the episode where we like to start off with one cool thing that we've read or watched lately, do you want to start off? Jessika: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So I needed a little bit of a palate cleanser after watching the [00:04:00] 2012 dread film so much gore. So I ended up watching Guardians of the Galaxy 2, which I hadn't seen before, and it was super fun. Loved the music as always characters had a really good chance to further develop. Okay. But I have to say, dude, I like still Stalloned myself. I did not know he was in that movie. And then he just shows up and I was like, what the fuck? Cause I literally had just watched them both in a row. And so I literally had just seen Stallone like the movie before that. And then he shows up again and I was like, good lord. Mike: Well, and you know that his crew is like the original Guardians of the Galaxy from the comic books. Jessika: I do. Yeah.I do. Now. I know I looked that up afterwards and I was like, oh, okay. All right. Mike: Yeah. And it was like Michael Rosenbalm, who did the voice of Superman and was Lex Luther in Smallville and the Michelle Yeoh and Ving Rhames. I was totally here for that cameo. That was great. [00:05:00] Jessika: Yeah. It was, once I looked that up, I was like, oh, that makes more sense. Cause I wasn't aware of that. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: it was super fun, but then I Stalloned myself again because I today a guest hosting of trivia for North Bay Trivia in Santa Rosa, at Shady Oak Barrel. And they have like a little arcade game. That's Stallone on the front. And I can't remember, I sent it to you, I think, cause I frickin' Stalloned myself again, secondary Stallone. Mike: I feel like you did. And I can't remember what it was. Jessika: I'd have to look it up, but I'm too lazy to look through my phone. So we'll just leave it. Anyone knows I don't, I don't care anymore. Mike: Fair. Jessika: So, back to the Guardians of the Galaxy after that Stallone detour, I really, really liked the evolution of Gomorrah, Nebula's relationship. Mike: I love that. I thought it was fantastic. Like I thought honestly, Almost all the characters had really nice [00:06:00] development, except really, I mean, I don't know. I feel like Peter didn't actually develop that much as an actual character. Jessika: No, he was just taken on some Shamaylan twists and turns. Mike: Yeah. But yeah, the whole bit where, Yondu is yelling at Rocket about, you say that I don't know you, but like you're me. And it was oh, oh. Jessika: Gosh. I definitely cried during that movie. I'm not going to lie, but I'm a crier. Mike: There's a lot of feels. There's a lot of feels in that movie. Jessika: Yeah. Oh, it was so good. So overall two thumbs up. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: What about you? What have you been reading? Watching? Mike: Yeah. So, Sarah and I started watching Loki because that just began airing last week, and ahead of that I wound up reading a couple of old issues of Thor, specifically Thor 371 and 372, which are the issues that actually introduced the Time Variance Authority. And the funny thing is that these issues also introduced a character who [00:07:00] may look a little familiar to you, especially as we've been prepping a bit for this particular episode. So check out the cover and tell me if he reminds you of anyone Jessika: Okay. That looks like a, that's so funny. That looks like Captain America, but it also looks like one of those those Doctor Who, like, what are those things called? Mike: The Daleks. So if you take a closer look at that guy that is so his character, his name is Justice Peace. And if you look at the shape of his helmet and he's actually on a sky cycle. Jessika: Oh shit. Mike: But, yeah, it's a pastiche of Judge Dredd. Jessika: He does look like Judge Dredd. You know what threw me was the bright colors, because Judge Dredd has darker tones. So I kinda got drawn more to that kind of vibe, but you're right. He's got the helmet across his face. You can see one of his eyes and the other one looks like it's probably bionic. And it's kind of like a samurai helmet, it looks like. It's, I think it's supposed to be shaped like more of a samurai style. If I'm not mistaken. Mike: Kind [00:08:00] of which - Jessika: It's big. Mike: Like actually the, Jessika: I don't. Mike: The old school Judge Dredd helmets, actually, like some of them have actually taken on that look too. Like they've kind of played with the shapes, but anyway, I thought it was just kind of a funny, a funny, a full circle moment. Jessika: He's got some arm bandoliers too. Mike: Yeah, man. Those were big in the eighties. Jessika: I guess. So, dang dude, I'm loving this. Mike: Yeah. It's a lot of fun. We are going to be talking about Judge Dredd in general. We're not going to do a deep dive on the comics, but we're going to talk a bit about the background. And so before we actually do that, I felt like we should take a minute and talk about how of us have grown up with pretty close connections to law enforcement. Do you want to go first? Jessika: No. Sure, sure, sure, sure. So my dad was a police officer for, I think, close to 30 years. And for a lot of it he worked in public safety, which is really like policing and [00:09:00] firefighting and they rotate duties. So you have to know both, you go through both academies. It's supposed to be that you're a little bit more well-rounded and involved, and I don't know, it was. At the time the community was a lot smaller and it probably made more sense, but it's getting bigger. And, I don't know how much sense it makes, but I'm also not an expert. And I haven't lived there for a while, so I don't know what the politics there are these days surrounding that as much as I used to. As far as police officers go, I do know a few really decent people who are police officers and, you know, growing up, I had mostly good experiences. However, that hasn't been the case for everyone. And my privilege of being raised white and a child of a law enforcement officer has absolutely shielded me from so many of the issues and policing that plagues our country. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: And I have to say like, unironically, my dad was a decent cop. He's still alive. But when he was still in law enforcement, he was a decent cop and [00:10:00] he definitely let his ethics guide him, and he left positions based on his moral compass. And I'm really proud of him for leaving organizations that were more on the corrupt side or that weren't doing things that he thought they should be doing and abiding by their own rules. However, he's also the one who taught me about profiling, which is a conversation I remember having with him around 9 or 10 years old, maybe earlier than that. And that's just such a racist tactic that has never really sat right with me. And that I adamantly oppose now that I'm older and I have a better understanding of how we as a society, villainize people of color just for existing. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: So without getting too far into what is a really, really massive conversation and discussion, the judicial system in this country is absolutely broken, and we statistically arrest convict and give longer incarceration timeframes to people of color. Mike: Yeah. I mean, there's, [00:11:00] that's just a fact. Jessika: It's a fact. There, there are numbers, you can look it up, you know, it's yeah. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: So, I know, on that fun note, whatever, I'm such a downer. Mike: That's okay. I should have known better than to start us off on this, you know, really positive note for the episode. Jessika: I already got fired up. I'm already going to have to edit out my mumbling. Mike: That's all right. You know, it's funny because I have to wonder if my uncle actually knew your dad because my uncle was in the same area and works in public safety as well. So, he always did the firefighting and police work as well. My uncle is the guy that I grew up idolizing when I was a kid. He was the cool uncle to me. He taught me the basics of photography. And I worked as a freelance photographer for awhile. He was a forensic specialist dealing with fingerprinting. So you and I [00:12:00] grew up in the 90's in the Bay Area. So Polly Klaas is a name that any, anyone who was here during that time knows, and she was a girl who was kidnapped out of her home, basically just taken while she was having a sleep over with some friends out of her home in Petaluma. And the FBI apparently came in and did a Palm print, but they use some fluorescent powder that the local PD couldn't read, but my uncle had the training and I guess the equipment, I don't quite know all the details, but so he worked the Polly Klaas case. He and my aunt are both retired police and they were both so incredibly cool to me when I was growing up. And I've since had to reckon with the fact that, you know, not all cops are good, and I'd hope that they were great. I hope that they were the bar that other cops were measured against, but who can say it, this. Jessika: Yeah. Mike: So we, we both have connections to law enforcement, and I think it's safe [00:13:00] to say that we're approaching Judge Dredd from a perspective that is influenced both by our backgrounds, as well as the current environment that's going on because we're recording this in June of 2021 when things are still real bad in a lot of ways. Jessika: Yeah. Mike: So now that we've got that highlight out of the way. I'm curious, what was your awareness of Judge Dredd prior to this. Jessika: You know, besides name recognition, I didn't know much about the plot line, other than some vague notion that it was futuristic or post-apocalyptic. So, I came into this super fresh, and I'm super excited to learn more now. Mike: Yeah. So, I definitely have a lot more familiarity with the character. I read some of his stuff in the 90's and 2000's. I would just kind of randomly find things and I thought he was pretty cool. When I was in roller derby, my roller derby name actually wound up being Judge Dreadful. [00:14:00] And so I've since then bought a number of collections. I've read most of the big storylines that they did from the 70's up until the mid-90's. And then I also read one of the more recent American series as well. I've seen all the movies. Dred is still one of my favorite movies of all time, even though we'll talk about that later on, it's got its own issues through today's lens. I guess the best way I can describe myself is: I'm more than a casual fan, but I'm not a diehard fan. Part of it is just because there's so much lore at this point. So, I have an unfair advantage in terms of familiarity, I guess. Sorry. Jessika: No, that's okay. That's why you're hosting this episode. Not me. Mike: Yeah. So, we're going to do some basic background. Dredd was originally created in 1977 for this newly launched comics anthology called 2000 AD. There was this guy, he was an editor named Pat Mills and he brought on a writer that he'd worked with named John Wagner to create new content for this magazine. [00:15:00] And, basically comics, anthology magazines, they were printed on like newspaper stock. They were magazine format. And what it was very kind of, you know, old school pulp magazine, like where it was serial stories usually, or a little one-offs. So it'd be four to five pages, usually of content per story. And then a lot of times they would end on a cliffhanger so that, you know, the readers would come back the next week. And that's generally how British comics have worked. At least that's my understanding of it. That's how a lot of them are. And actually when they were trying to do US style sized comics, supposedly they didn't do as well because they would get covered up basically and overshadowed by the sheer size of these magazines, which were much bigger and flashier. So Wagner came into 2000 AD. He'd had a lot of success writing this Dirty Harry kind of character called One-Eyed Jack for another anthology series called Valiant, and both he and Mills realized that 2000 AD needed [00:16:00] a quote unquote, a hardcore cop character as part of the magazine's content. So, Wagner has since then described, dread as a psycho cop with no feelings. And then he worked with this artist named Carlos Escuera to create the character and then Escuera wound up designing a character who reflected that kind of hardcore, no feelings ideal. He actually died a couple of years ago and the Guardian ran a really, it was really nice ,tribute talking about his accomplishments and his style, but there's this really great quote, which I think you should actually read out. And it gives us a lot of background in a nutshell of Dredd and who he is. Jessika: Escuera started his career drawing war comics in Barcelona before moving to the UK and working for the anthology 2000 AD and others, He brought the iconography of fascist Spain to Dredd's extremely weird and [00:17:00] vivid design and combined it with his experiences of living in Croydon through the 70's and 80's, the punk movement on his doorstep and TV images of policemen, charging striking miners. The Eagle motif and helmet were drawn from fascism, the permanently drawn truncheon from police on the picket line. The zips chains and knee pads from punk. I was living in Franco, Spain, he told an interviewer last year, but also I was living in Mrs. Thatcher's England. Mike: I think that kinda tells us all we need to know about what they're going for with the vibe of Judge Dredd. Jessika: Yeah. No, that, that definitely showed. I was thinking that about the Eagle. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: When they were showing the big building and it was super, everything was just cement and. Mike: Yeah. It's got that brutalist kind of architecture. Yeah. Jessika: Yes. Mike: Yeah. So Dred exists in this world. That's left standing after World War III, and [00:18:00] most of the planet's just been devastated. America is largely uninhabitable, say for a couple of what are called Mega Cities, which are these autonomous city states that housed hundreds of millions of people. At one point in the comics, I think it's up to 800 million and they've had different events where they've kind of knocked it down repeatedly, Jessika: Yikes. Mike: And at one point it got as low as like 120 million or so I think that was kind of after I stopped reading though. But anyway, mega city one was originally going to be a future version of New York City. But that was quickly retconned to that specific part, being some sort of capital area for this urban sprawl that covers most of the Eastern seaboard. And from the get-go, Dredd stories were kind of this extreme form of satire. It was presenting the society where democracy basically failed, and the office of the president of the United States has been retired, and society now runs under this, to be honest, terrifying gaze of the Judges. How would you sum up the [00:19:00] Judges based on what we saw in the movies? Jessika: As a whole, they were pretty robotic and unfeeling. They were doling out the letter of the law as it happened and per their protocol, and their justice is swift and immediate, which is really terrifying. Like you said to imagine. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: And what's even scarier is that all crimes were treated the same. You are either sent to a prison called an isopod, or killed right then and there. There was, there were no middle grounds between those points. It was like, you're hauled off then, you serve a sentence, or you're just killed. Mike: Yeah. I mean, that's really not that different from the comics. Jessika: And then, as far as their appearance, as with most uniforms, they dress the same with helmets and body armor and they are just armed to the gills and they look just as scary as they act. Mike: Yeah. And, I think a safe way to describe the system of Mega City [00:20:00] one is to call it authoritarian, but it's just a little bit different than what we normally associate with that term. Jessika: Yeah. I wonder if there's some sort of like a law-tarian like judiciatarion. I don't know, somebody is going to @ me and tell me how stupid I am, but that's fine. I already know. Mike: I like, I like, I liked judicialtarion. I think that's, uh, if that's not a word we should make it one. Jessika: Here we are, TM TM. Mike: Yeah, we're just going to sit back and let the royalties roll in after this. Yeah, but in spite of all this, there's this very weird, dry, British humor that kind of makes the whole narrative a little more palatable. So like one of the early stories is focusing on how robots were doing most of society's work and that's resulted in rampant, unemployment and boredom, so citizens of the mega blocks start engaging in what they call block wars, where neighboring blocks basically just start opening fire on each other because they want something to do. There's another story where the Dark Judges, who [00:21:00] are, they're effectively movie monster versions of the Judges as we know them crossover into Dredd's reality. And then they start slaughtering people, indiscriminately, because all crime is committed by the living. And, thus the sentence for life is death. Jessika: Yikes. Mike: Or, there's also the idea that recycled food is, what they call it, is how they eat these days. But recycled food is actually made from people you know, it's Soylent Green Jessika: Oh, How Soylent Green. Yeah. Mike: Yeah. The Dredd comics always have this kind of underlying tone of absurdity. It's that slight bit of levity that makes this really brutal comic actually pretty enjoyable because it becomes ridiculous. It's a comic of extremes. Over time, the comics gone on to deal with things like Dredd having to resolve how the system that he represents is actually problematic, and it needs some kind of reform. The ramifications of how the push to move back to democracy fails and, [00:22:00] you know, actually fleshing him out as a character who occasionally has feelings, not all the time, but just sometimes. He goes from being kind of a lawful neutral character to a lawful kind of good alignment, like sort of good, kind of, some of the time. There's only so long that you can have a character be a robot for justice, if nothing else before, you know, people are going to sour on them. Jessika: You mean a veritable killing machine? Mike: Yeah. The other thing is that the core Dredd stories haven't really been reset. They're still going from 2000 AD, so at this point we have nearly 50 years of stories that are all canon. And the other thing is that they keep on aging Dredd in realtime. So, at this point he's absurdly old and they hand wave it away by he spends time in the Rejuva-pods or whatever they are. But as a result, he's the same guy who has seen everything that has gone on in the comics. [00:23:00] And as a result, he's matured and changed a bit. And it's kinda neat. So in the UK Dredd's a pretty big deal, but his presence in America isn't quite the same. Like UK comic magazines back then were very different from comics here in the states. So, when they decided to bring them over here across the pond, 2000 AD wound up working with this guy named Nick Landau, who a couple of years earlier had created tightened books to publish comic collections of Judge Dredd in the UK, and then was publishing more collections of other things. Landau had just created Eagle Comics to collect and publish Dredd stories and other 2000 AD stuff. Uh, here in the States in 1983, the Eagle series lasted for about three-ish-is years, and then it moved on to another publisher. And this is pretty much how Dredd existed in the states in the 80's and 90's; a publisher would pick up the rights, and then try to make them click with American readers, and then the [00:24:00] series would get canceled, and then someone else would pick them up and try to do it again. And arguably his most quote unquote mainstream moment was when DC comics published an 18 issue series from 94 to 96. I've only gotten through a couple of these issues and they don't quite bite like the originals. They feel more like an action sci-fi series. Some weird kind of sarcastic humor, but it doesn't quite translate the same way. It feels like a knockoff product, to be honest. I mean, honestly the best American adaptation I've seen is from the 2012 series that IDW did. And that condensed several of the iconic Dredd storylines from the original British run. So they were a little bit more palatable for American audiences, but basically American awareness of the characters generally stayed that level of, oh yeah, that sounds kind of familiar. And then he's never really been a household name, which was what the 1995 movie was trying to change. [00:25:00] Jessika: Yeah, well, it didn't change it for me, but I was also, you know, I was also nine in 1995. So. Mike: *Sigh* I was 14. Jessika: You're only a few years older - you say that like you're 90 now, by the way, every one for the record, Mike is 90. Mike: I am. Jessika: Since he's making a huge deal out of it. Mike: I'm waiting on my Rascal. Scooter Just gonna, just gonna drive through downtown Petaluma with my dogs in my side car. We're all gonna be wearing goggles and flight helmets. And you'll see me go by and just gol “RASCAL!” Jessika: My dude, you can do that now. Mike: Sarah has told me I can't do that yet. We've had this discussion. Jessika: Oh, that's too bad. Mike: Now that we've got the background out of the way, why don't we actually talk about what we're here to talk about? Which is the 1995 Judge Dredd movie. [00:26:00] Jessika: Here we are. Mike: Yeah. Do you remember those TV schedules that used to be in the back of the newspaper, they would show you like A) what was on the air that night and B) provide one sentence summaries of what the movies were? Do you remember those? Jessika: I do because I loved reading those. Mike: I know I did too. How would you summarize Stallone's Judge Dredd, if you were writing it up in that format? Jessika: Oh, need a throat clear for that. In a world where chaos reigns, one man stands between justice and lawlessness. But what happens when the Judge becomes the judged? Find out this Wednesday at 6:00 PM Pacific standard time, 9:00 PM Eastern on Spike TV. I just assume Spike TV would play that. Mike: Spike TV would be all over this. Are you kidding? Jessika: Yeah, no, exactly. That was the first television channel that I thought of that was like, yeah, they would [00:27:00] absolutely have this on like they'd have a Dredd marathon. Mike: God, what an absolute time capsule of a TV channel - is, Spike TV isn't around still, is it? I don't know. Jessika: I have no idea. I was my, my 90's brain just woke up and was like, this is what you say. Mike: God. I remember that was such a mid to late aughts TV channel. It was basically toxic masculinity, the TV channel. Jessika: Yeah. It was, it was either super masculine movies like this, or it was just a game show about people falling all over each other and just laughing at people. Mike: Oh yeah. Was it Most Extreme Challenge? Jessika: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge Yep. As I sit here and I know exactly what it, cause I didn't watch a million episodes of that. Mike: No I'm, that was the only reason that I would turn that fucking channel on. Jessika: Yeah. It's true. My brother and I would roll. Mike: No, so, okay. I just looked it up and we don't need to [00:28:00] actually record the sorry, uh, Paramount Network, formerly Spike, which is still used for the Dutch in Australian feed as an American, but you know, whatever, fuck Jessika: The Australians don't even listen to us. I'm leaving all of this in, and the Australians don't listen to us, yet. Oh God. They're going to listen to us now. And they're going to be like, oy yes we do. I can't, I'm not even going to try, not even to try to do some like, incredibly offensive Australian accent. Mike: No, no, don't do it. Jessika: No, no, I know about it. Mike: Okay. Let's go for an actual movie summary now. Jessika: Sure set in a, oh, sorry. Regular voice, Jessika. Set in a dystopian future complete with a densely populated metropolis and flying cars, order is dictated and carried out by people called Judges, whose job is to convict, judge, and punish those moving outside of the law. The punishments [00:29:00] are severe, being jailed or even killed for their transgressions. Stallone, who plays Judge Joseph dread is seemingly one of the most feared and respected judges until he is framed by a maniacal and presumed to be dead ex-judge Rico. Dredd has to prove his innocence in order to continue providing his particular brand of justice. Oh, and how can I forget about Rob Schneider? Whose main role in this film was to say Dredd's named really loudly. So they would get caught when they were trying to be covert. I mean, at least that's how it felt. Mike: Yeah, whenever I talk about this movie, I always sit there and reference how Robert Schneider is the worst choice to provide, you know, it's not even comic relief. It's like air quotes, comic relief. Schneider was really big at that time. Like, he had just come out of SNL and I never found them really to be all that funny. But, this was like at the [00:30:00] start of his whole 90's. I don't know. What would you call that movement? Jessika: God, it was like the stupid humor movement. Mike: Yeah, it was that Adam Sandler. Jessika: I talk like I'm a baby. Adam Sandler. I can deal with, to a certain extent. There are some movies, I'm just like, whatever, but I've liked him in some things even, but I feel like Will Ferrell is a result of Adam Sandler. I feel like Adam Sandler, birthed will Ferrell and I'm not happy about it. I do not like Will Farrell Mike: Man, I. Jessika: @ me Will Ferrell. I do not like you. Mike: Just watch, he's going to like angrily tweet and then we're going to get a bunch of, you know, I guess, angry gen X-ers I'll all up in our DMS. Jessika: OPress? Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that bad press wasn't just good press also, because it is. Mike: Yeah. And I mean, this was before Schneider was given starring [00:31:00] roles in movies like Deuce Bigalow, which I have yet to see a Rob Schneider movie that I don't find absolutely abhorrent for a number of reasons. Yeah. Jessika: Especially in retrospect. Mike: Yeah. I mean, he's not offensive in this movie, he's just not very funny and kind of useless, even though he's supposed to be the plucky comic sidekick, which, I mean, this was part of that era of buddy action cop movies, except just in a different setting. Jessika: Yeah. I don't know. It was just very grating. The humor Mike: Yeah. , Jessika: And forced. Mike: Yeah. So, your summary is spot on. There's also detours into the Cursed Earth where Dredd is wrongfully convicted. And then, this is something where they diverged from the comic lore, but they're traveling to the penal colony in Aspen, when actually the penal colonies are all off-world. So it's, you basically get sent there for hard labor, off-planet and it's not exactly described what, and then he has to come back from the Cursed Earth, after dealing with the [00:32:00] cannibalistic Angel Gang. And then there's the reveal that he's a clone, which at this point in time is not really a big deal. Like, everybody knows it in the lore and yeah, we get a climactic battle at the statue of Liberty. Also, Joan Chen shows up for no real reason other than to be a woman for Diane Lane to fight. Jessika: Yeah, exactly. Mike: But yeah, it's not a great movie. Jessika: No, no. Mike: But there are parts of it that I still really enjoy. Sarah and I wound up watching it together and all of the practical, special effects that they did are still so good and they look so good. And, and honestly the action scenes are pretty decent for, you know, a mid 90's movie, even where there's that bit with the flying motorcycles, where they're being chased and they knock off one of the Judges chasing them that bit, where he's falling into the bottomless abyss of Mega City looked [00:33:00] really good and I couldn't help, but think of Ninja Turtles 3, where on the other hand, the bad guy getting knocked off into the ocean looks like garbage. Jessika: Yeah, no, that, I was really impressed by that. Especially considering the timeframe it was in. Mike: Yeah. So this movie really tried to smash together a lot of those classic Dredd moments from the comic book. And it was trying to basically create something new while giving fans a lot of nods that they would appreciate. The funny thing is that it was really focusing on the story of Rico Dredd after he comes back from serving his prison time, but in the comic, he only shows up for a one-shot serial story. If I remember right where he comes back from serving prison time in a colony on Saturn's moon of Titan. So if I remember this, right, he's just this kind of one-off character who shows up pretty early in the Dredd stories. Like, I, [00:34:00] I don't think the Dredd stories had even been published for a year by that point. It's like the 30th issue or so, and then he's shot down by Dredd in a duel and the whole, the logic behind it is that he tries to get the drop on Dredd, but his reactions are slower because he's been operating in lower gravity for a while. Jessika: Interesting, but he's still supposed to be a clone, right? Mike: Yeah, he's he, it's originally noted that he's Dredd's brother. And then there's the whole club thing that, that shows up later on and all that, but he also looks way different from Armand Assante in the movie, I'm sending you an image, you can take a quick look and see what Rico Dredd looks like after his prison time in the comic. Jessika: Oh, you would not get those two confused. Mike: Yeah. It's um. Jessika: This guy's got this, guy's like a metal face. Now he's got a nice little head band with probably a laser coming out the top. And then he's got like, no nose any longer. He's just got metal over his nose. There's metal stuff going into his mouth. And like [00:35:00] half of his face just doesn't have skin anymore. And you can tell one of his eyes is blind. It's pretty wild. His hair is all crazy. He's not having a good hair day. It's a look. Mike: It's a look. Yeah. So the whole idea is that when you get shipped off to these colonies, you are basically surgically modified to survive in the environment. Jessika: Oh. Mike: Yeah. So, definitely not what we got in the movie. Jessika: No. You had a guy that actually looked a lot like Stallone. They did a pretty good job of that, if they were going for lookalikes. Mike: Yeah. They were both very fit dudes who had those very strong chin lines. And then they also gave them cosmetic contact lenses so that they would actually have blue eyes, which is why. Jessika: That's what I thought. Mike: When you look at Stallone, you're like, mm, pretty sure God didn't make those eyes. That color. Jessika: Yeah. It's not so bad from certain angles, but other ones you're like, wow, Snowpiercer what's up. Mike: Yeah, it looks [00:36:00] very weird when you're, especially when you're watching it in high-def these days, it looks unnatural. I'm not sure how it would look on a TV or in a movie theater in 1995. I'm a little curious because I didn't get to see it. I was too young to go see an R-rated movie back then, womp womp. But yeah, so likewise, the character of Hershey, who is Diane Lane's character, she first appeared in a 1980 story called the Judge Child, which is this it's this cool thing where it starts off as a road trip across the Cursed Earth, and the Angel Gang who we see in the movie shows up, and then it becomes this weird space opera as Dredd winds up chasing after the Angel Gang and the kidnapped Judge Child across multiple star systems, which again, talking about the weird absurdity of Judge Dredd. So, it's weird to see her in this movie because I always associate Diane Lane with Under the Tuscan Sun. I mean, I've never even seen that movie, but that's just always what I [00:37:00] think of when I see her. Jessika: Oh, same. I definitely see her in an Italian villa and I have not seen that either. Mike: Yeah. Although she did play Superman's mom in the DCEU. Jessika: Oh yeah. Mike: So there was that, her finest role, you know, when she gets sad about Superman with Lois Lane, and then it turns out to be a Martian green dude. Jessika: We're going to have so many movie stars, not happy with us. Mike: I know. Jessika: They'll just be crying in all of their money. It's fine. Mike: Oh, no two lame nerds on the internet were mean to me. I just, uh. Jessika: My nightmare. Mike: They made vaguely negative remarks about me. All right. Jessika: Oh, let me use this 50 to dry my tears. Mike: Anyway. Yeah, so [00:38:00] Diane Lane shows up in Judge Dredd, and she's like way more of a damsel in distress and then weirdly a romantic interest for Dredd than anything else. And that was really bizarre to see, because with the hindsight of the comics, that character in Dredd A) Hershey is like a bad-ass cop. She is a hardcore street Judge. But she and Dredd actually have often had kind of an antagonistic relationship based on differing perspectives about how the justice system should operate. Jessika: Oh, interesting. Mike: Yeah. And eventually, she goes on to be the Chief Judge. Jessika: Oh, good for her. Mike: Yeah, you know, she busted through that glass ceiling. Jessika: Man. It just took, you know, going through a third world war, ladies, this is what we have to look forward to. Just wait for the flying motorcycles. We'll be there. Mike: Well, you know, you don't have to cook because we're just recycling people at that point. So, you know, frees up a lot of time. [00:39:00] Jessika: Oh, perfect. Mike: You don't have to, don't have to stand in the kitchen and make all of us men folk roasts all day. Jessika: Oh, perfect. Well, dang. What will I do? Mike: Okay. overthrow the patriarchy, I guess. Jessika: Let's do it. Mike: Yeah. And then additionally, you know, Dredd himself was pretty different from what we had in the comics. The movie violated this key component of the character by spending a lot of time focused on Dredd out of uniform, which means that we got to see his face. And it's such a known thing that this is not something that Dredd does, but it's actually one of the first points in Dreads, Wikipedia article, if you would be so kind. Jessika: Sure. Dredd's entire face is never shown in the strip. This began and is an unofficial guideline, but soon became a rule. As John Wagner explained, it sums up the facelessness of justice. [00:40:00] Justice has no soul, so it isn't necessary for readers to see Dredd's face. And I don't want you to. Mike: Which I mean, I think that's actually a really cool defining aspect of the character. Jessika: And it's always scarier if you can't see what you're fighting. Mike: Yeah. Agreed. Jessika: I mean, that's basic horror film rule, you know, it's always scarier if you can't see what's chasing you. Mike: Yeah. I kind of equate it to the recent Alien movie that they did. Alien Isolation, where they explained the origin for the alien species. And I was sitting there and going, there is nothing that you could tell me that would be worse than what I come up with in my mind when you've got a really nebulous origin. Jessika: Exactly. Mike: And then I watched the movie and I was like, that's dumb. I'm going back to my original design. I like that better. Jessika: Yeah. It's like Signs was really scary until they brought that stupid alien life being in. And then I was like, well, there it goes. Mike: Yeah. [00:41:00] Curse you, Shamaylan! Judge Dredd is one of those movies where when you watch it, it feels like the people that were involved with making it really had a lot of fun, and were really passionate about what they were doing. Like I've got the making-of book, and you can actually see the set that they built basically on a patch of farmland that became the street for Mega City One. And it's crazy. It wound up having hundreds of neon signs after they built it. It looked like a living, breathing street from this strange city in the future. It was really cool. And likewise, there's that ABC warrior robot that we get to see a couple of times who looks absolutely incredible. And the costume designs are really cool. They don't quite work because you know, it's spandex, but it's very faithful to the comic. And, even the final scenes in the Statue of Liberty where you're in the lab and you've got all those clones being grown, I don't quite understand why the clones are [00:42:00] mostly grown, but we can still see their intestines, but they look really cool. Jessika: I agree. Yeah. Mike: That said, the movie had a lot of production problems. And in fact, it actually had to get re-cut and submitted to the NPAA five times in order to get just an R rating down from an NC 17. Jessika: Dang. Mike: And by the way, we need to talk about the fact that this movie is rated R and if you watch it, it does not feel like an R rated movie. It feels like maybe a PG 13 movie at this point, maybe. Jessika: Maybe, I mean, and that would just be for the violence, Mike: I mean, yeah, but, compared to what gets rated PG 13 these days? Jessika: Yes. Mike: I think if I remember right, one of the Aliens vs Predator movies, maybe both of them are rated PG 13 and they're way more violent and gory. Jessika: Really? Wow. Mike: I mean, I could be completely wrong. Jessika: Who rates these movies? I mean, not a real question. We don't need to get into that, but that's wild to me. Mike: We'll go on a very tiny side tangent, but. Highly recommend you watch the movie. This [00:43:00] film is not yet rated, which talks about the NPAA and the ratings board and how weird and secretive it is. And just a how dumb and arbitrary their system is. Jessika: I might watch that tonight. Mike: It's great. I highly recommend it. So there was an interview with Steven D'Souza, who was the guy who actually wrote the script for Judge Dredd. e was talking to Den of Geek, he shed some light on how the movies, problematic production wound up leading to this mess that we wound up receiving, if you would be so kind. Jessika: Why sure. Judge Dredd was actually supposed to be a PG 13 movie, the production company at the time, Synergy, they were having some financial troubles, so they didn't have any UK executives on location in England. And in their absence, the director, Danny Cannon, wanting to make it true to the comic book, was making everything more and more and [00:44:00] more violent. So when the movie was delivered to be cut, it was rated X and it was rated X four times. They say you can't appeal after four, four is all you get. Somehow the producer, Ed Pressman, managed one more time to get it rated R which actually wasn't a victory because this was supposed to be PG 13. They had made a deal with Burger King, oop. I think, and a toy company. And you can't advertise toys for an R-rated movie and no hamburger plays, wants toys for an R-rated movie. So they hamburger people and the toy people turned around and sued Disney, the distributor whoop. Mike: Hmm. Oops. Jessika: Well, Disney then said, we'll take this out of the director's hide because he signed a piece of paper saying he would deliver a PG 13, but Synergy who was releasing it through Disney at that point had never done [00:45:00] anything, but an R-rated movie, nobody in the entire company had ever had the experience of putting that piece of paper in front of a director. So they had to pay him. They couldn't withhold his salary for violating a legal promise they never asked him to make. Mike: I kind of love that. Jessika: Blunders. Mike: Yeah. That interview also notes that the scene where the reporter gets killed by Rico and he's framing Dredd. It was way more violent and gory, and it looked like something out of Robocop. And then additionally, there was the bit where Rico tells his robot to tear off the arms and legs of the council of five Judge that he's been working with. And he says, rip off his arms and legs and then save his head for last. And so it was originally supposed to be a scene where basically it cuts away to Rico walking away or something like that or shadows or something, and then you just hear the screams and that's it. But [00:46:00] apparently they made a full animatronic robot that had the arms and legs actually getting ripped off and like spewing blood. Jessika: Yikes, no. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: Guys. Mike: Yeah. So this was clearly one of those things desires were not clearly communicated. So Stallone gave an interview to Uncut Magazine in 2008. And he talked about a bunch of the things that, that went wrong with that movie, including this weird story about Danny Cannon, where he said, I knew we were in for a long shoot when for no explainable reason, Danny Cannon, who's rather diminutive, jumped down from his director's chair and yelled to everyone within earshot. Fear me, everyone should fear me. Then jumped back up to his chair as if nothing happened. The British crew was taking bets on his life expectancy. Jessika: Yikes. Yeah, the guy's going to give himself a coronary. Holy moly. Mike: It reminds [00:47:00] me a little bit of the stories that were coming out of the Suicide Squad set. Jessika: Oh. Yeah, I'm hearing more and more stories of just things that actors are being put through on set, and it's just, I don't care who you are, you shouldn't have to deal with this bullshit while you're working. Mike: I don't envy them. Jessika: Yeah, I don't either. I mean, there has to be ways that doesn't hurt people to entertain us. Mike: Yeah. Back onto this topic of Judge Dredd itself, it was this movie that costs $95 million and that's in 1995. So adjusting for inflation, that's roughly $190 million in 2021 dollars. Jessika: Whew. Mike: For reference there's a bunch of MCU flicks that when adjusting for that inflation costs less than Judge Dredd did. The R rating in turn, and kind of the lackluster end product, resulted in $113 million at the box office worldwide. And that was a lot less than Stallone, and really everyone else, was hoping for, [00:48:00] they were legit hoping that this was going to be just a blowout success story, and they could make a franchise out of it. So we've already talked about how they were trying to make this into something that they can market to kids. And we still got some products that show that was the plan. There were a couple of associated products, like a junior novelization, and a comic adaptation of the movie from DC comics itself. And then a video game that's actually, it's not bad. It's like a side scroller and the movie story ends about, I think, halfway through. And then you go on to a bunch of different worlds and end up fighting those Dark Judges that I was talking about earlier, which is kinda cool. Yeah. It's fine. But anyway, none of these tie-in products really seemed to land. How did you feel about this film overall? I'm curious. Jessika: Is it bad to say a came across as a little cheesy? Mike: No, not at all. [00:49:00] Jessika: Like a nice wholly Swiss cheese. There were some mega plot holes that were very apparent. That kind of took me out of the experience saying that a lot this episode, but way to go guys. And it made me really overthink aspects of the storyline. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: Like the whole, how did you not know where were clones? Did you not accidentally ever pick up the other person's gone and we're like, why can't I use this? If you have the DNA testing, it just, it didn't make a lot of sense. And how can you sequence two different guns if you only have one sequence of DNA? I don't get that either. Mike: Yeah. Part of that is just because it was 1995. DNA was still like a really hot topic for plots. It was new science. It was really exciting. I mean. Jessika: That's fair. Mike: We were in the throws of the OJ Simpson trial, and so DNA evidence was a really big thing there, but yeah. Jessika: Hot button item. You're right, I think, buzzword. Mike: And so that kind of goes into the whole [00:50:00] idea of clones as well, but that's an established plot line of Dredd itself. But I mean, like I remember, there's a bit where they focus on the flying Law Master motorcycle and they say, well, if you can ever get it to work, it will be yours. And they bust out and then there's several other flying Law Masters chasing after them. Jessika: Well, when they're talking about those motorcycles, I think they're trying to liken them to really bad quality, government issue, like these things are a piece of shit, but you can probably get em into the air, and have the worst model sitting there for the newbies to fuck around with. But I don't know, that's that was my takeaway from it just because I also remember, not that the cars are bad necessarily, the police cars, but it's like, they're stripped down to nothing, they're just like a car. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: None of the fancy shit. Mike: Yeah. Those, those good old Crown Vics. Jessika: Oh Yeah. And I think that part of it for me was the serious scenes, like the courtroom scene, especially mix in Rob Schneider in any of [00:51:00] those situations. And it was just a little much. Mike: Yeah, absolutely. Stallone played it really straight and really intense and it doesn't quite work. It feels almost like a high school drama production where you're watching those kids onstage, they're acting too hard. They've turned their acting dials up to 11 and you're like, okay buddy, we needed it like a seven. Jessika: I'm just imagining a man, like a child on stage, shaking. His arm is shaky. He's got a skull in his head and he was just screaming out lines from Hamlet. You're like, ooh, buddy, calm down. Mike: Yeah. Yurick can't hear you Hamlet. He's already dead. I think it's okay. Jessika: Womp womp. Mike: Yeah. My take on it, aside from the fact that it's a little bit too faithful and too earnest is that this reminds me of that situation where you take a bunch of different ingredients that you think are going to taste amazing and you've slapped them together into a sandwich. And then you realize the combination doesn't work, but yet you end up eating it anyway. [00:52:00] Jessika: Been there. Mike: Like, we talked about the sets, the makeup, the costumes, even the special effects, those are all great, but the script and then Stallone's performance really kind of do it a disservice, and even Sly has acknowledged that the movie missed the mark. So that earlier interview that I mentioned with Uncut Magazine, he had a really great point where he talks about how it didn't work. Jessika: I loved that property when I read it, because it took a genre that I love what you could term the action morality film, and made it a bit more sophisticated. It had political overtones. It showed how, if we don't curb the way we run our judicial system, the police may end up running our lives. It dealt with archaic governments. It dealt with cloning and all kinds of things that could happen in the future. It was also bigger than any film I've done in its physical stature and the way it was designed, all the people were dwarfed by the system and the architecture. It shows how insignificant [00:53:00] human beings could be in the future. There's a lot of action in the movie and some great acting, too. It just wasn't balls to the wall. But I do look back on Judge Dredd as a real missed opportunity. It seemed that lots of fans had a problem with Dredd removing his helmet because he never does in the comic books. But for me, it is more about wasting such great potential there was in that idea, just think of all the opportunities there were to do interesting stuff with the Cursed Earth scenes. It didn't live up to what it could have been. It probably should have been much more comic, really humorous and fun. What I learned out of that experience was that we shouldn't have tried to make it Hamlet. It's more Hamlet and eggs. That's so funny that I brought up Hamlet! I didn't read ahead. Mike: I was laughing about that actually. Yeah. And I mean, he's not wrong. I think he played it too straight and too serious. And they also tried to make it an action buddy comedy [00:54:00] movie, which it just, it doesn't quite work. Like the, the tone with Dredd is you have to walk a really fine line. They didn't stick to it this time. Yeah. I feel like it was trying to be extremely faithful to the source material, which always walked this very fine line tonally, and then it blew past it to create something that's just it's way too earnest. And over the top, it kind of reminded me of Jupiter Ascending. If you remember that movie. Jessika: I do. Mike: Yeah. It's this movie that has crazy high production values, a pretty great cast actually, and a really big story. And then it all combines into something that's honestly kind of underwhelming. Jessika: And forgettable, cause I kind of forget what that whole plot line of that movie is. And I think I've seen it twice cause I was like, I don't think I've seen this before. And I sat through the whole thing again. It's one of those movies. Mike: I just remember a lot of shirtless Channing Tatum and. Jessika: Oh, yeah, he wasn't at sea. I don't even know. Mike: Yeah. Do you have any more thoughts before we move on to [00:55:00] the 2012 remake kind of, it's not really a remake. It's just the 2012 movie. Jessika: No let's Rob Schneider, our way out of this. Mike: I'm not sure I liked that verb. Jessika: I was using it as: do something really stupid to get out of a situation. And I think I did it just by saying that. Mike: All right. How would you describe this movie? Give it, give another quick summary. Jessika: Mega City One. The future. There are still flying cars, but less of them. In a packed city rife with violence, Judge Joseph Dredd is assessing a new potential recruit to the force. This recruit isn't like the others. However, she is psychic; a mutant! In answering their first call, they inadvertently get themselves involved in a large scale drug operation and have to kill or be killed in order to survive. This film has no sympathy for innocent bystanders, who are killed by the dozens each [00:56:00] scene. And the Judges are swift to kill any who might oppose them. They finally escape using their wits and these psychic's ability, all while taking down a drug ring. Ta-da, all in a day's work. Mike: Dread came out right around the same time, I think a little bit after, as this movie out of, I think Thailand called The Raid. Which it's about a police force. That's basically working their way up through a skyscraper. And it's another really intense action movie. It's got really kick-ass action scenes. It's really good. And the sad thing is it's just that and Dredd have a similar plot based on that, but it's also very different. So there were a lot of unfair comparisons to that at the time. Jessika: I see. Mike: How do you feel this movie compares with the Stallone one? Jessika: It was definitely more serious and more bloody, for sure. It really leaned into the death and carnage aspect [00:57:00] becoming more and more creative and destructive as the film progressed. Like was it strictly necessary to aim towards and blow up an entire floor of a densely inhabited building? I dunno. It was kind of hard to watch some times, it was pretty graphic. I did like that it took on a more serious tone though. And I think the reason that it's so hard to watch for me is more for the social implications. Like, when the film made it clear that vagrancy could carry a similar sentence to other more serious crimes. Mike: Right? Jessika: Which was really wild. Mike: Yeah, it's interesting because I feel like it did a lot more subtle world-building with moments like that, or when they're describing the Mega Block that they're investigating and it's noted that there's only a 3% employment rate. It's weird because it's such a violent movie and don't get me wrong, I think the action scenes are just incredible. They look great. But at the same time, it's a more [00:58:00] subtle movie in a lot of ways than the Stallone one was. Jessika: Yeah. Definitely it's scarier. Like the idea of it is more, it seems more real and in your face, and for me, it definitely put a spotlight on how scary policing can be to targeted groups. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: And this might be an extreme example, but how extreme is it really? Mike: Yeah. And it's interesting because you and I talked about this before, this is a movie that is very, it's very binary with its morals. Like there's only the good guys and the bad guys. This isn't this, isn't one of those movies where you sit there and you watch it and are really given a lot of moral things to consider. There's not a lot of philosophy here, but it doesn't sit there and say that Dredd and the Judges themselves are in the right. It's basically showing that there is a force who is basically the gang that is running the apartment block that they are in, which is headed up by a fucking terrifying Lena Headey and A), [00:59:00] they really uglied her up. Which, I was actually really impressed. I didn't recognize her because this came out right after game of Thrones had just had its first season. I think maybe its second season had hit, but I mean what a stark contrast between her in the mama role and then Cersei Lannister. Jessika: Stark. I like what you did there. Mike: Hey, was totally intentional. Or that was totally, that was totally intentional. I totally did that on purpose. Jessika: Okay. Mike: Like I said, there is no wiggle room. They sit there and they basically say no, this woman is a monster, and she does need to be taken down. You know, to the movies credit, the judges, don't really mow down innocent bystanders, it's all the thing of, no, they're going up against bad guys who have guns and are trying to kill them. But at the same time, it does also acknowledge how they aren't completely in the right either. Like there's a scene where they take shelter in an apartment. And Olivia Thirlby's character reads the mind of this woman who they're basically holding up to give them shelter for a few minutes. [01:00:00] And she realizes that, oh, this woman's baby daddy is one of the gang members that they just killed a few minutes ago. Jessika: She herself had killed that guy. Mike: Yeah. And I appreciated that. There are those moments where it takes a more mature look at, maybe everything that's going on isn't great. And then there's that moment at the end where Anderson sits there and talks about how, when she lets the hacker character go, because she realizes that he is just as much of a victim as a lot of the other people in the block are, even though he's been aiding Ma Ma. Jessika: Yeah. And then I like how Dread tries to call her on it. She's like, I've made the judgment. He's a victim. Mike: Yeah. And I thought that was great. Also, that actor is the guy who played General Hux in the Star Wars movies that we got recently. Jessika: I thought I recognized him and I could not place him, and I was too lazy to go on IMDB. Mike: But yeah, thought it was a much more, it's weird to call that movie subtle, but I felt like there were a lot of nice little subtle moments in it. [01:01:00] And I really liked how A) Ma Ma was a genuinely frightening villain, especially because you never see her flying off the handle or being over the top or anything like that. She delivers everything with this really kind of scary, calm, in which we see in the first few minutes, when she tells her officer to skin, some guys who were selling drugs on her territory without her permission. Jessika: Yeah. Mike: And then the order is given after they've been skinned, to be given hits of slow-mo, which is the drug throughout the movie that slows down perceptions of time. So they were thrown off the top story of this apartment block. And basically they have this long, awful, painful plummet into the courtyard below. Jessika: God, that's gotta be so terrifying. Mike: And that really set the tone for who we were dealing with, which I thought was incredibly effective. Jessika: I thought they did such a nice job on the cinematography on that, by the way, when they did those scenes with the slow-mo and they [01:02:00] had it kind of shimmery and they put you in the mindset of the person having used the slow-mo, and I thought that was such a good technique. Mike: So yeah, and the whole thing was that they released this movie in 3D. So, you can tell that those scenes were filmed specifically for 3D cinematography. Jessika: That makes so much sense. Mike: I actually saw this movie opening night in the theaters and A) I remember tweeting about it and saying that movie was way too good for the theater to be that empty on a Friday night. But I remember that was the first, and really that's the only time, I've ever enjoyed a movie in 3D because I felt the 3d actually added something as opposed to just being a cheap gimmick to ring an extra couple of bucks out of my wallet. Jessika: That's usually how I feel about it. Mike: Yeah. But I liked how Olivia Thirlby's character Judge Anderson was actually way less of a damsel in distress than Diane Lane's character Judge Hersey. And then on top of that, a lot of the [01:03:00] superhero movies rely on that whole female heroes have to fight female villains trope that it always feels like they don't get to participate in the end boss battle. And I thought it was really cool how Anderson wound up using her powers to A) escape, her captors, B) actually rescue Dredd, and then C) really be a giant aid to him throughout the movie. She felt like a viable, real character as opposed to just kind of, window trim. Jessika: Yeah. Agreed. I was nodding vigorously when you were talking about that, because I am an absolute agreement. I was a little worried when she first got captured, cause I was like, oh, here we go, so fucking typical. But then when she was actually using her powers and she was getting out of the situation herself, it was like, okay, fine. You got this. You're fine. Mike: Yeah. On top of that, the intro to the movie we get is so tight and efficient. And aside from the intro where we get a chase scene, where we see slow-mo and effect, we see how brutal Dredd is himself. We also get [01:04:00] the intro to Anderson, where she's demonstrating her powers by basically reading the mind of Dredd from behind a two way mirror. And there's that great line about like, oh, well, you know, there's another Judge with you. He's male. I sense control and anger and then something, something more something. And then the judge cuts her off just like, that's enough, that's fine. And I'm like, cool. So we've got a really good summary of who Dredd himself is. Okay. We get it now. This is all we need. Jessika: Yeah. It was a really good narrative tool. I did like that. Mike: Yeah. And then, in the comics, Anderson actually won is a pretty big ally of dread himself. And she's also never romantic interest, but she winds up being key to defeat those monster movie versions of the Judges. And actually, it's been a little while since I read this, but if I remember right when she first confronts Judge Death, who is the leader of the Dark Judges, she winds up, trapping him inside her own mind because he's this psychic entity. And so I was really happy that they took a strong character and [01:05:00] kept her really strong. Jessika: It's good to hear that she also had a really strong role within the comics. Mike: And then the other thing is that I kind of liked how they had Dredd himself be a little bit more subtle. Like, Hey, we never haven't take off his helmet, which I thought was great. And I thought Karl urban, I mean, how did you feel about Karl Urban as Dredd compared to him? Jessika: I thought he was great. And I think I, it would've made less sense if he had taken off his helmet just as far as the character goes. And honestly, I think in this situation, there wasn't much room for him as a character to have his helmet off because they were pretty in a battle mode. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: The whole movie, truly, except for the introductory first few minutes. Mike: Yeah. And I liked the bit where, so Anderson loses her helmet pretty early on and Dredd actually calls her out on it. And he says, you're not wearing your helmet. And she goes, oh, well, the helmet interferes with my psychic abilities and you just go solo bullet and then that's it. That's Jessika: Yup. Mike: I thought that was great. Jessika: Yup. He'll give her the advice he will give, but he's not going to [01:06:00] tell her to do it, which I thought was good. Mike: Yeah. I'm curious. We're going to get to this in a minute about like how it is through the 2021 line. But did you enjoy the movie? Jessika: I think for me, because I'm such an empath, it was a little bit too much innocent blood death. Mike: Okay. Jessika: Even just like, they didn't need to kill the vagrant, it, that was a very like, oh, the gates closed. And the Vagrant just happened to be sitting there and he got squashed and they both kind of looked at it like, well, guess we don't have to deal with that. And I was like, well, fucking hell guys, come on. Mike: Yeah. And I mean, at the same time, from my perspective, and I understand where you were coming from with this, but from my perspective, it was kind of the embodiment of that weird absurdist, gallows humor that is often prese

Batman pode fazer sexo oral? Depois do showrunner da série da Arlequina na HBO Max, Justin Halpern, dizer que uma cena da terceira temporada onde o Batman fazia sexo oral na Mulher gato foi cortada pela DC, a comunidade de fãs se organizou para ajudar o Batman a transar! #letthebateatthecat. Ainda nesse programa, parece que Cyberpunk 2077 está de volta para o ps4 mesmo a Sony dizendo que o ideal é jogar no Ps5! Será que os nossos cibernéticos jovens adultos Affonso Solano, Didi Braguinha e Beto Estrada vão dar uma chance ao jogo? Ouça o podcast, compartilhe e bata um papo conosco nas nossas redes sociais – incluindo o Twitter do MRG! ! Que tal sua paródia musical na entrada do MRG? Envie-nos a sua: Envie-nos a sua: matandorobosgigantes@matandorobosgigantes.com Contato comercial : comercial@matandorobosgigantes.com

Matt, David and Dan talk about the elite-level film noir Out of the Past with comedy writer Justin Halpern (creator of HBO Max's Harley Quinn). Topics include Robert Mitchum's hobo past, that tasty, spicy dialogue courtesy of James M. Cain, and all the beautiful cigarette smoking.Matt recommends: The Petrified Forest (1936), available for rent or purchase on all major digital platforms.Dan recommends: Night of the Hunter (1955), available to stream on Amazon Prime, available for rent or purchase on all major digital platforms; and Laura (1944) available for rent or purchase on all major digital platforms.David recommends: The Big Story  (1994), available to stream on YouTube and Vimeo; Richard Stark's Parker, a graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke; and You Are Here, a graphic novel by Kyle BakerJustin recommends: Le Samouraï (1967), available to stream on Criterion Channel, HBO Max and Kanopy, and available for rent or purchase on all major digital platforms; and The Sympathizer, a novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Hey all, On this week's frotcast (which you can get on the Filmdrunk Frotcast free feed or on the Patreon feed), we had Francesca Fiorentini (MSNBC, National Geographic, TYT) on the pod to talk Min Manuel Miranda's In The Heights and other things. This teaser is less about the musical, and more about Justin Halpern's recent story in Variety about Batman's sex life. ------- Full ep description: Yo what up bitch? This is LA Matt! Flap Flap Flap, In The Heights with dat HBOMAX. This week, we got Frotcast Lin Manuel correspondent Francesca Fiorentini in the home studio podding right next to her future husband. We talk about a lot of things in this one, like Halpern's variety interview where he reveals that he was told "batman doesn't eat pussy," as well as Vince's oral history of Tom Green's bizarre 2001 movie Freddie Got Fingered. We also discuss Hilaria and Alec Baldwin's brand new podcast about mental health. Finally, we do our official Frotcast review of In The Heights, a musical that makes Westside Story look authentic. It's a fun one.

This week The TV Boys sit down to discuss Kaley Cuoco. Of course we talk about The Big Bang Theory along with many of her other roles as well as showcase our skills of reading on air.

Things take a turn when we talk Harley Quinn season one, but we'll see it through. We also review Alien #1, SWORD #4, Dragon Age: Dark Fortress #1, and Dune: House of Atreides #4. PLUS! Secret Invasion is coming! Show your thanks to Major Spoilers for this episode by becoming a Major Spoilers Patron at http://patreon.com/MajorSpoilers. It will help ensure the Major Spoilers Podcast continues far into the future! Join our Discord server and chat with fellow Spoilerites! (https://discord.gg/jWF9BbF) NEWS https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/secret-invasion-marvel-disney-plus-kingsley-ben-adir-samuel-l-jackson-ben-mendelsohn-1234930011/ http://majorspoilers.com/2021/03/23/brzrkr-getting-a-movie-adaptation-at-netflix/ https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/hawkeye-disney-plus-echo-spinoff-1234934667/ https://variety.com/2021/film/news/emerald-fennell-zatanna-movie-1234931976/ REVIEWS STEPHEN ALIEN #1 Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson Artist: Salvador Larroca Publisher: Marvel Comics Cover Price: $4.99 Release Date: March 24, 2021 Gabriel Cruz gave his life to Weyland-Yutani--In the case of an alien attack he barely survived, almost literally! Recently retired, Cruz is trying to patch things up with his abandoned son with the help of his friend, a Bishop-model android, but his re-entry into civilian life is not going smoothly...and his encounters with the deadly Xenomorph are far from over. Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca team up to tell an all-new tale of the titan of horror and science fiction that has scared audiences for decades. No one is safe. No one is innocent. And no one can hear you scream. Parental Advisory [rating:3.5/5] You can purchase this issue via the comiXology affiliate link comixology.sjv.io/NKK3GP MATTHEW S.W.O.R.D. #4 Writer: Al Ewing Artist: Valerio Schiti Publisher: Marvel Comics Cover Price: $3.99 Release Date: March 17, 2021 The mutants are dying. Their island is dying. Earth itself is dying. All hope for humanity as a species lies in Protocol V. Protocol V isn't going to work. [rating:3/5] You can purchase this issue via the comiXology affiliate link comixology.sjv.io/6bbNZN RODRIGO DRAGON AGE: DARK FORTRESS #1 Writer: Nunzio Defilippis, Christina Weir Artist: Fernando Heinz Furukawa Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Cover Price: $3.99 Release Date: March 31, 2021 The next chapter in the world of BioWare's award-winning dark fantasy RPG begins here! Deep within enemy territory, the warrior-legend Fenris and a fearless team of Inquisition agents prepare to assault a fortress said to be unbreakable in a bid to prevent the unthinkable from being unleashed. The continuation of Dragon Age: Blue Wraith! [rating: 4/5] You can purchase this issue via the comiXology affiliate link comixology.sjv.io/2rrNmD ASHLEY DUNE HOUSE OF ATREIDES #4 Writer: Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson Artist: Dev Pramanik Publisher: BOOM! Studios Cover Price: $4.99 Release Date: March 24, 2021 Leto brings news of the revolt brewing on Ix, but the city's leaders make a decision that may threaten everyone.... while Crown Prince Shaddam plots to overtake it. Meanwhile, Pardot Kynes begins spreading his edenic vision to terraform the desert planet of Dune into an oasis even as the native Fremen raise suspicions about his motives...and if he can truly accomplish his goals. [rating: 4/5] You can purchase this issue via the comiXology affiliate link comixology.sjv.io/3PPN1v MAJOR SPOILERS POLL OF THE WEEK DISCUSSION HARLEY QUINN Harley Quinn is an American adult animated television series based on the DC Comics character of the same name created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. The series is written and executive produced by Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Dean Lorey and follows the misadventures of Harley Quinn and her girlfriend Poison Ivy after leaving her boyfriend, the Joker. The show premiered on November 29, 2019 on DC Universe to critical success, with critics praising its animation, humor, dark tone and voice acting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley_Quinn_(TV_series) CLOSE Contact us at podcast@majorspoilers.com Call the Major Spoilers Hotline at (785) 727-1939. A big Thank You goes out to everyone who downloads, subscribes, listens, and supports this show. We really appreciate you taking the time to listen to our ramblings each week. Tell your friends!

This week on Total Movie Recall, Steve and Ryan offend approximately 1/7th of the world's population, which has historically gone very well. Ryan's love of fairy tale settings don't truck with Steve, who favors Disney's gritty, street-level crime drama Aladdin. Ryan gets vulnerable about the deterioration of his mental health in this dumpster fire world we have, and Steve, ever a good man and a good friend, reaches out. We encourage you to reach out too. Because everything sucks right now, and you need to connect with your fellow humans to survive. Also, this is the worst Disney princess ever. Aladdin (1992) - Disney d. Ron Clements, John Musker Starring: Scott Weinger Robin Williams Linda Larkin Jonathan Freeman Gilbert Gottfried When street rat Aladdin frees a genie from a lamp, he finds his wishes granted. However, he soon finds that the evil has other plans for the lamp -- and for Princess Jasmine. But can Aladdin save Princess Jasmine and his love for her after she sees that he isn't quite what he appears to be? Things discussed in the show: Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan (Vice documentary) 1,001 Arabian Nights (book) Freund, Yung and The Godhead The Kenosha shooting Crawl (Alexandre Aja, Michael Rasmussen, Shawn Rasmussen, Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Morfydd Clark, Sam Raimi) The Hills Have Eyes - 2006 (Alexandre Aja, Wes Craven, Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan, Dan Byrd) The Hills Have Eyes - 1977 (Wes Craven, Suze Lanier-Bramlett, Robert Houston, Martin Speer) High Tension (Alexandre Aja, Grégory Levasseur, Cécile de France, Maïwenn, Philippe Nahon) Jaws (Steven Spielberg, Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb, Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss) What is genius? The Founder (McDonald's, John Lee Hancock, Robert Siegel, Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch) The Social Network (David Fincher, Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), Ben Mezrich (book), Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake) The Last Dance (The Chicago Bulls, Jason Hehir, Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, David Aldridge, Scottie Pippen, John Paxson, Bill Wennington, B.J. Armstrong, Dennis Rodman, Bill Cartwright, Horace Grant, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Barack Obama, Carmen Electra) The Sandlot Steve Jobs (Danny Boyle, Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), Walter Isaacson (book), Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels) Silicon Valley (John Altschuler, Mike Judge, Dave Krinsky, Thomas Middleditch, T.J. Miller, Josh Brener, Martin Starr, Kumail Nanjiani, Amanda Crew, Zach Woods) Babylon Berlin (Henk Handloegten, Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries, Volker Bruch, Liv Lisa Fries, Leonie Benesch) Cabaret (Bob Fosse, Joe Masteroff, Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem) The Devil and Daniel Johnston Wesley Willis - "Rock n Roll McDonald's Slapshot (George Roy Hill, Nancy Dowd, Paul Newman, Michael Ontkean, Strother Martin) Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball (video game, Super Nintendo, Super NES) Harley Quinn (DC Comics, The Joker, Poison Ivy, Arkham Asylum, Bane, Legion of Doom, Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Robin, Clayface, King Shark, Justin Halpern, Dean Lorey, Patrick Schumacker, Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk) Birds of Prey (Cathy Yan, Christina Hodson, Paul Dini, Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett, Ewan McGregor, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong) The Tick - 1994 (Ben Edlund, Townsend Coleman, Micky Dolenz, Rob Paulsen) The Venture Bros. (Christopher McCulloch, James Urbaniak, Doc Hammer) Batman: the Animated Series (Bob Kane, Eric Radomski, Bruce Timm, Kevin Conroy, Loren Lester, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements, John Musker, Jodi Benson, Samuel E. Wright, Rene Auberjonois) Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise, Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Jesse Corti) The Lion King (Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff, Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones) The Fox and the Hound (Ted Berman, Richard Rich, Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Pearl Bailey) The Rescuers (John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, Geraldine Page) The Jungle Book (Wolfgang Reitherman, James Algar, Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, Louis Prima) Bluebeard's Wives Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (William Cottrell, David Hand, Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne) Ratatouille (Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt) Peter Pan (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried) Toy Story (John Lasseter, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Genie impressions (Ed Sullivan, Arsenio Hall, Peter Lorre, Groucho Marx, Robert De Niro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rodney Dangerfield, Jack Nicholson) Next week: The Willies

Everyone loves a good underdog story, and in this episode of The Greatest, Justin Halpern (Writer/Executive Producer Harley Quinn, Sh*t My Dad Says) joins Megan and C.J. to discuss their picks. Listen and revisit the stories of the greatest dark horses of all time. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we've got Matt Lieb and Bret coming at you live (I think. Not sure what “live” actually means) from the Frotquarters in San Francisco. We talk about Bret's ghost and how Matt lives in a paradox of being an atheist who's scared of ghosts.Later, we're joined by Justin Halpern (Shit My Dad Says, Surviving Jack, future awesome things) and we discuss David Wain's romantic comedy spoof “We Came Together” starring Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler. I'd like to preemptively apologize for Halpern's shitty internet connect, as we do end up disconnecting with him about five thousand times throughout the podcast. We go on to talk about the ludicrous amount of money that some of our podcasting peers have been making and we then spend the remainder of the podcast just begging (into our brand new dildo-microphones) for our listeners to spread the good word of the Frotcast to all of their friends and family so that Matt Lieb can finally quit his job as a handyman and just watch quicksand porn full time. Speaking of which, PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THE FROTCAST! I DONT NORMALLY TYPE IN CAPITAL LETTERS AND I WONT STOP UNTIL YOU TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

This week, the Frotcast welcomes Shit My Dad Says author Justin Halpern, creator of Surviving Jack, which has its second episode this Thursday at 9:30 on Fox. Comedian Matt Lieb also joins. Lieb, Ben, and Justin discuss Jewish stereotypes, including Pat Robertson's comment that Jews "don't work on their cars or mow their lawns because they're too busy polishing their diamonds." Justin tells us absurd stories about dealing with network TV's standards and practices, including instances in which you can and can't say "blumpkin." We discuss Noah for a bit (potential spoilers from one hour to one hour seven minutes), as well as Wolf of Wall Street, which Ben just saw. We finish things off with a discussion of whether satire is possible in an internet this stupid, and the saga of Marine Todd, plus your voicemails and emails. Frot on!

This week on the Frotcast, our guests include Patrick Schumacker, Cougar Town writer and Justin Halpern's writing partner, and SF comedian Matt Louv, the museum of comedy. We talk about Tarantino girlfriend/plagiarist Lianne Spiderbaby and whether she's actually a human spambot. We discuss Pacific Rim, the Dzhokar Tsarnaev Rolling Stone cover, and Pat introduces a new topic, asinine movie arguments we've had with people. Most importantly, we coin the phrase "Sharknados are a fishious cyclone." Enjoy. For more, check out FilmDrunk.com.

This week on the Frotcast, we had a ton of fun. Seriously, you should listen to this one. Filling in for Brendan and Ben, SF comedians Juan Medina and Matt Lieb join us in the Frotquarters for a 'cast that runs the gamut from silly to serious, as we discuss Juan's second life as a cab driver, the hypocrisy of the Paula Deen controversy, Stephan Jenkins, the pitfalls of self-congratulatory comedy, Matt Lieb's lonely lonely single life, and Upstream Color. Justin Halpern bloops in for a segment called 'Tweets from My Sick Ride,' involving satisfied tweets from Lexus and Porsche owners, which is quickly interrupted by hilarious dog and crying baby. Later on, Bret has some pretty serious feelings about Upstream Color. Good times, good times. For more movie news you can make fun of, check out FilmDrunk.com.

This week we bring on Frotcast favorite Justin Halpern who shares stories from his days as a PA for Quentin Tarantino's A Band Apart. We also talk about Killer Joe, read listener emails, compare Brian De Palma to Oliver Stone, Brendan reads an email from his mom, and so much more. Frot on! For movie news you can make fun of, go to www.filmdrunk.com.

This week we bring on professional sitcom writer Justin Halpern to tell us the recurring sitcom jokes on every show. We also read emails, hear from David Lee Roth, Vince plays some news clips, and other jackassery ensues. Drunk on! 00:02:00 - Things start off with CNN's front page poop transplant story. Vince reads some listener emails involving Jews in Australia and poop stories. The guys also talk about the classic SNL Schmitts Gay bit, and their generation's Stairway to Heaven. 00:13:30 - Recurring guest Justin Halpern joins the Frotcast. He is currently writing for Cougar Town, and is working on a pilot for Fox based on his book I Suck at Girls. Vince reads another listener email detailing a grating experience. Spending time in sitcom writing rooms, Justin goes over some of well worn tropes and jokes that can be found in every single sitcom. There's some talk about The Master, which leads to dog farts and the time Justin farted on Jennifer Love Hewitt. 00:46:12 - Vince reads a story about the replacement ref who blew the call from Monday's game. The guys discuss the effect Twitter has on jokes, and they get a kick out of Nancy Grace's Twitter hashtags.  The guys go off on sports screaming heads, Bret pitches a show idea, and Interrupting David Lee Roth returns. 01:02:51 - Plenty of clips are played. There's a story about butt chugging, the bully dialogue from the Stoker trailer, Lil Wayne's deposition, and local news story involving a squirrel. Brendan talks about some of the owners at his dog's obedience class. Vince dreams about the possibility of Wee Man water skiing just from the speed and force of Usain Bolt. Somebody wants to fight Vince about a joke he never actually told. For movie news you can make fun of, go to www.filmdrunk.com.

Joe sits down with Justin Halpern.

It is a 100th Frotcast Extravaganza! We bring on Frotcast favorites Matt Ufford, Justin Halpern, Burnsy and Laremy. Matt talks about working for SB Nation, Justin just released a book so he talks about his book tour, Burnsy answers our questions, and we roast Laremy with his own morning news appearance. 00:02:02 - This special episode kicks off with listener voicemails where the Frotcast crew gets reviewed, and The Dictator receives some porn parody titles. Vince plays Peter Berg's interview with the Israeli reporter. The guys talk about the "one line" fix in movies, and Vince shares his thoughts about Rihanna. 00:12:55 - Matt Ufford is the first guest to talk about SB Nation and some of his highlights so far. He also answers Vince's questions about movies and what male celebrity he would marry. Everyone shares stories about Vince's dad. Vince reveals that one of his reviews is going to be published, and we find out from MANswers how to get drunk on grandpa. 00:30:41 - Up next is Justin Halpern, who is on tour for his book I Suck at Girls. An excerpt from his about the time he found a porn cache can be found at Grantland. Justin talks about what a book tour entails. The guys talk about Bum Combine, Olivia Munn's book, and Wes Anderson's new film, Moonrise Kingdom. And Vince wants to own a plantation. 00:56:06 - Burnsy is back to answer Vince's questions, and can't decide if The Avengers or The Vow is his favorite film of the year. This leads to the genesis of Hipster C-Tates. The guys find out what babes are best in the sack from MANswers. As always, Burnsy brings some Hott Goss news. 01:16:47 - Laremy closes the episode with a breakdown of Battleship with spoilers, because no one cares. The guys have some fun with a morning show clip featuring Laremy. With news that MTV bought Film.com, Laremy reads a list of possible job opportunities. A man's best friend's worst enemy seems like the popular choice. There's some talk about sponsorships, Rudyard Kipling gets the conversation off topic, and the episode ends with a Kate Bosworth poop story. Drunk on, and thanks for listening! For movie news you can make fun of, go to www.filmdrunk.com.

This week, Brendan and Vince saw American Reunion, we get Justin Halpern blooped in to talk about TV, Hollywood, and his new book I Suck at Girls, we play some Manswers Roulette, listen to the drunk guy sing Bohemian Rhapsody, and discuss the latest poop transplant news story. 00:03:45 - Listen to Vince's stand-up routine from St. Patrick's Day in LA. 00:16:46 - Vince plays the clip of the drunk guy singing Bohemian Rhapsody in the back a cop car. Manswers Roulette gets introduced where we find what's so special about an ingredient in beer. The guys imagine their version of Adam Sandler's remake of Summer School. 00:28:55 - Justin Halpern joins the Frotcast to share a halfway house story, talk about pilot season, his new book, I Suck at Girls, how the Shit My _____ Says has become a meme, and angry emails. The story about Tucker Max donating to Planned Parenthood is brought up, which leads to a discussion about birth control. 00:54:14 - Brendan and Vince review American Reunion where Stifler is still funny and there is a blitzkrieg of 90's songs. Justin has a story about having dinner with Jason Biggs, and the guys talk about the cautionary tale of Chris Klein. 01:07:00 - Vince describes his new depressing neighborhood with a junky park, and the guys talk about transvestite prostitutes. Justin is working on a new Martin Lawrence pilot so the talk revolves around actors' phobias. The Chevy Chase/Dan Harmon feud gets some air time. 01:31:04 - A man takes matters into his own hands and gives himself a poop transplant. A harmonica cover of the Jurassic Park them song plays out the podcast. Justin's new book, I Suck at Girls, will be available on May 15th, and can be pre-ordered on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Vince this Saturday (04/07) at the Comedy Cellar in SF at 7:30pm. Drunk On! - Adam For movie news you can make fun of, go to www.filmdrunk.com.

This week we have the museum of comedy Matt Louv live in the Frotquarters to discuss comedy, movies, Marky Mark preventing 9/11, Brendan's impersonations, listener calls, listener emails, other jackassery, and Bret's bag o' bones. 00:02:02 - Flashback to the incident during Vince's stand-up where Brendan confronted a guy, and Matt was there to witness it. 00:05:15 - We take a listen to some voicemails: one fan with a pulse on the humanity vents about Fake Bret, the real Bret receives a backhanded compliment, Ben gets called a c*nt, and the Mighty Feklhr sends in a koi call. 00:17:44 - We have a brief talk about the exciting Niners' win from this past weekend. Vince had an interesting viewing of the Maggie Thatcher biopic, Iron Lady. Matt and Vince discuss Carnage, Roman Polanski's newest film, and we play a fun little guessing game dealing with the film. Vince plays a new clip from MANswers that leads us to Robert Palmer's Simply Irresistible, Matt shares some stories about running a theater, and Brendan adds some more impersonations to his repertoire. 01:02:13 - We talk about Marky Mark hypothetically stopping 9/11 (never forget), his wicked childhood, and him no longer needing to wank it. 01:11:14 - Justin Halpern sent in an email to follow up from episode 81, we answer a relationship question, and the issue of Vince losing his virginity comes up. Drunk On! For movie news you can make fun of, go to www.filmdrunk.com.

This was meant to be a 2 part Frot-tacular, but unfortunately technology did not cooperate and the 2nd half vanished into Frotcast lore. We talk with Burnsy, Justin Halpern and Patrick and they each give us a random top 10 from 2011. Condolences to Laremy, Lindy and Joe King, as their audio will never be heard. Pour out some 4Loko for them. Drunk on! For movie news you can make fun of, go to www.filmdrunk.com.