Podcast appearances and mentions of Tim Burton

Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠Join The Normandy For Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here: ⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠Dive into the bold return of A$AP Rocky with Analytic Dreamz on Notorious Mass Effect. In this segment, Analytic Dreamz delivers a full review and commercial roundup of Don't Be Dumb, the rapper's fourth studio album released January 16, 2026, via AWGE, A$AP Worldwide, and RCA.After an eight-year gap since Testing, Rakim Athelaston Mayers—born in Harlem and a key figure in A$AP Mob—drops a 17-track project featuring guests like Tyler, The Creator, Doechii, Gorillaz, Thundercat, Danny Elfman, Playboi Carti, will.i.am, and Westside Gunn. The Tim Burton-designed cover art sets the tone for themes of braggadocio, restlessness, artistic independence, and multi-genre experimentation.Critics give it a Metacritic score of 71/100 for generally favorable reviews, praising sharp lyricism, charisma, inventive energy, and renewed confidence, though some note uneven sequencing and lack of cohesion. Rolling Stone called it "overstuffed but a lot of fun," while others highlight its curatorial vision.Commercially, Don't Be Dumb exploded with 35.43 million global Spotify streams on day one—Rocky's biggest album debut ever on the platform and the largest of 2026 so far. Vinyl pre-sales topped 130,000 units, fueling strong physical demand. First-week projections initially eyed 200K+ units and a No. 1 Billboard 200 debut, though updated estimates suggest around 119K units amid massive streaming and sales splits. It positions as potentially his biggest opening, surpassing prior #1s from Long.Live.A$AP and At.Long.Last.A$AP.The rollout includes standout visuals like "Punk Rocky" starring Winona Ryder and "Helicopter," plus a high-energy SNL performance on January 18 with Danny Elfman on drums. The upcoming Don't Be Dumb World Tour, with UK/Ireland dates in August/September 2026, promises to extend momentum.Join Analytic Dreamz for unfiltered breakdowns of the tracks, cultural impact, and why Don't Be Dumb solidifies A$AP Rocky's status as a dominant force in 2026 hip-hop.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/analytic-dreamz-notorious-mass-effect/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Linktree: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠⁠Join The Normandy For Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here: ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠⁠ Dive into the bold return of A$AP Rocky with Analytic Dreamz on Notorious Mass Effect. In this segment, Analytic Dreamz delivers a full review and commercial roundup of Don't Be Dumb, the rapper's fourth studio album released January 16, 2026, via AWGE, A$AP Worldwide, and RCA.After an eight-year gap since Testing, Rakim Athelaston Mayers—born in Harlem and a key figure in A$AP Mob—drops a 17-track project featuring guests like Tyler, The Creator, Doechii, Gorillaz, Thundercat, Danny Elfman, Playboi Carti, will.i.am, and Westside Gunn. The Tim Burton-designed cover art sets the tone for themes of braggadocio, restlessness, artistic independence, and multi-genre experimentation.Critics give it a Metacritic score of 71/100 for generally favorable reviews, praising sharp lyricism, charisma, inventive energy, and renewed confidence, though some note uneven sequencing and lack of cohesion. Rolling Stone called it "overstuffed but a lot of fun," while others highlight its curatorial vision.Commercially, Don't Be Dumb exploded with 35.43 million global Spotify streams on day one—Rocky's biggest album debut ever on the platform and the largest of 2026 so far. Vinyl pre-sales topped 130,000 units, fueling strong physical demand. First-week projections initially eyed 200K+ units and a No. 1 Billboard 200 debut, though updated estimates suggest around 119K units amid massive streaming and sales splits. It positions as potentially his biggest opening, surpassing prior #1s from Long.Live.A$AP and At.Long.Last.A$AP.The rollout includes standout visuals like "Punk Rocky" starring Winona Ryder and "Helicopter," plus a high-energy SNL performance on January 18 with Danny Elfman on drums. The upcoming Don't Be Dumb World Tour, with UK/Ireland dates in August/September 2026, promises to extend momentum.Join Analytic Dreamz for unfiltered breakdowns of the tracks, cultural impact, and why Don't Be Dumb solidifies A$AP Rocky's status as a dominant force in 2026 hip-hop.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/analytic-dreamz-notorious-mass-effect/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tim Burton from Piragis Outfitters in Ely, Minnesota goes over the "Go Live" basics in preparation for the launch of the 2026 Boundary Waters Permit season on January 28th. For more information about reserving BWCAW permits, visit the Superior National Forest Boundary Waters Permit page: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/superior/passes/boundary-waters-canoe-area-wilderness-permits

Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠Join The Normandy For Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here: ⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠The latest Notorious Mass Effect segment dives deep into A$AP Rocky's explosive return with his fourth studio album, Don't Be Dumb, released January 16, 2026, via A$AP Worldwide/RCA—ending an eight-year gap since Testing (2018). Hosted by Analytic Dreamz, this breakdown explores the project's experimental edge, playful production, and bold themes of fatherhood, fame, industry clones, and unresolved rivalries.At the center is the standout track "Stole Ya Flow" (track 4), featuring Danny Elfman production, where Rocky delivers sharp bars widely interpreted as targeting Drake—accusing style theft with the chorus "First you stole my flow, so I stole yo' bitch," while referencing Rihanna, fatherhood, and alleged cosmetic procedures ("N****s gettin' BBLs, lucky we don't body-shame" / "My baby mama Rihanna, so we unbothered"). Rocky addressed the implied diss on The New York Times' Popcast, saying "I think we all know" and showing no interest in reconciliation: "It don't even need to be."The 15-track album (runtime ~1 hour) boasts a Tim Burton-designed cover and eclectic features/production from Brent Faiyaz, Doechii, Tyler the Creator, Gorillaz, Westside Gunn, will.i.am, Thundercat, and more. Highlights include innovative sampling on "Stay Here" (Brent Faiyaz), melodic vibes on "Punk Rocky," and high-concept cuts like "Robbery" and "Whiskey (Release Me)." Critics call it stronger and less self-serious than Testing, channeling "what 2011 Rocky would be making in 2026," though some experiments feel overdone.Amid family life with Rihanna (sharing three children: RZA, Riot, and Rocki Irish born September 2025) and no tour announced, Don't Be Dumb cements Rocky's status as a style icon and hip-hop force—personally unbothered and musically victorious in ongoing narratives.Join Analytic Dreamz for this no-holds-barred analysis of the beef timeline, track-by-track insights, and why this comeback matters in 2026 rap culture.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/analytic-dreamz-notorious-mass-effect/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Linktree: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠⁠Join The Normandy For Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here: ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠⁠The latest Notorious Mass Effect segment dives deep into A$AP Rocky's explosive return with his fourth studio album, Don't Be Dumb, released January 16, 2026, via A$AP Worldwide/RCA—ending an eight-year gap since Testing (2018). Hosted by Analytic Dreamz, this breakdown explores the project's experimental edge, playful production, and bold themes of fatherhood, fame, industry clones, and unresolved rivalries.At the center is the standout track "Stole Ya Flow" (track 4), featuring Danny Elfman production, where Rocky delivers sharp bars widely interpreted as targeting Drake—accusing style theft with the chorus "First you stole my flow, so I stole yo' bitch," while referencing Rihanna, fatherhood, and alleged cosmetic procedures ("N****s gettin' BBLs, lucky we don't body-shame" / "My baby mama Rihanna, so we unbothered"). Rocky addressed the implied diss on The New York Times' Popcast, saying "I think we all know" and showing no interest in reconciliation: "It don't even need to be."The 15-track album (runtime ~1 hour) boasts a Tim Burton-designed cover and eclectic features/production from Brent Faiyaz, Doechii, Tyler the Creator, Gorillaz, Westside Gunn, will.i.am, Thundercat, and more. Highlights include innovative sampling on "Stay Here" (Brent Faiyaz), melodic vibes on "Punk Rocky," and high-concept cuts like "Robbery" and "Whiskey (Release Me)." Critics call it stronger and less self-serious than Testing, channeling "what 2011 Rocky would be making in 2026," though some experiments feel overdone.Amid family life with Rihanna (sharing three children: RZA, Riot, and Rocki Irish born September 2025) and no tour announced, Don't Be Dumb cements Rocky's status as a style icon and hip-hop force—personally unbothered and musically victorious in ongoing narratives.Join Analytic Dreamz for this no-holds-barred analysis of the beef timeline, track-by-track insights, and why this comeback matters in 2026 rap culture.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/analytic-dreamz-notorious-mass-effect/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Cass and Kylee

Hunter Doohan (Wednesday, Your Honor) joins us this week for a grounded and revealing conversation about the long road before his breakout, the pressure of joining a Tim Burton series, and the unexpected reality of becoming part of a global phenomenon. Hunter opens up about growing up closeted in Arkansas, losing his father to ALS, and the way grief shaped his early adulthood. He also shares stories from the set of Wednesday, learning from Bryan Cranston, surviving horror shoots like Evil Dead, and discovering confidence after years of doubt. A thoughtful look at talent, timing, and resilience. Thank you to our sponsors:

Hang out with Shawn (The Butcher) and Vertebrae33 as they dive deep into iconic Batman form 1989.Another incredible Tim Burton film! Listen as Shawn takes us through the "Joker Cu"t, Where is Vicki Vale?? Not here. Check out our AMAZON Storefront! Get the goods, support the show!https://www.amazon.com/shop/vertebrae33?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsfshop_KG6FVG5MFX63RJN46YSMBuy our shirts at: https://inmadness.com/Check out our Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71IoaCGS364P7ecmfnmcys?si=85fd524664784e3dFollow us on Instagram & Twitter at @inmadnesspod. Email us at: inmadnesspod@gmail.com - On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@inmadnesspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello classmates!James Cameron joins the 3 comma club one more time, Tim Burton is a Koreaboo, and Pete brings a new game to the show Visit the YouTube channel Saturdays @ 12:30 PM Pacific to get in on the live stream, or just watch this episode rather than just listen!Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@middleclassfilmclassThis Episode:https://youtu.be/pqUnNEu9OIAhttp://www.MCFCpodcast.comhttps://www.twitch.tv/MCFCpodcasthttp://www.facebook.com/MCFCpodcasthttp://www.twitter.com/podcastMCFChttp://www.tiktok.com/middleclassfilmclasshttp://www.instagram.com/middleclassfilmclassEmail: MCFCpodcast@gmail.comLeave us a voicemail at (209) 283-1716Merch store - https://middle-class-film-class.creator-spring.com/Join the Patreon:www.patreon.con/middleclassfilmclassPatrons:JavierJoel ShinnemanLinda McCalisterHeather Sachs https://twitter.com/DorkOfAllDorksChris GeigerDylanMitch Burns Robert Stewart JasonAndrew Martin Dallas Terry Jack Fitzpatrick Mackenzie MinerBinge Daddy DanAngry Otter (Michael)Trip AffleckJoseph Navarro     Pete Abeytaand Tyler NoeStreaming Picks:Robot Dreams - HuluNight Call - HuluMickey 17 - HBO Max, Prime VideoFinal Destination Bloodlines - HBO Max, Prime VideoDangerous Animals - Shudder, Philo, AMCTogether - Hulu

Think about the histories of your family or memories from your past. What if you recounted them with a dash of magic? What happens when we infuse our stories on film with some magical realism? Tonight's edition of APEX Express features three filmmakers who created magical realism short films centering AAPI women. Listen to directors Cami Kwan, Dorothy Xiao, and Rachel Leyco discuss their films and experiences behind the scenes with host Isabel Li. Cami Kwan: Website | Instagram | Seed & Spark Dorothy Xiao: Website | Instagram  Rachel Leyco: Website | Instagram   Transcript 00:01 [INTRO] Isabel: You're tuned into Apex Express on KPFA. Tonight's edition is all about stories. Think about the histories of your family or memories from your past. Now, what if you recounted them with a dash of magic? What happens when we infuse our stories on film with some magical realism? I'm your host, Isabel Li, and today we have three very special guests, Cami Kwan, Dorothy Chow, and Rachel Leyco. All of them are AAPI filmmakers who received the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge grant from the Coalition of Asian Pacifics and Entertainment and have created short films featuring AAPI stories with magical realism. My first guest of the night is Cami Kwan, a Chinese-American director specializing in stop-motion animation who directed the short film Paper Daughter.  Hi Cami, welcome to APEX Express!  Cami: Hello, thank you so much for having me. Isabel: How do you identify and what communities do you consider yourself a part of?  Cami: So I identify as a queer Asian American woman um and I am a descendant of immigrants, of Chinese immigrants. um Then the communities that I am part of, part of the queer community, part of the Los Angeles community, part of the Chinese American and Asian American community, part of the mixed race community and part of the stop-motion animation and independent artist community.  Isabel: I'm so excited to talk to you about your upcoming short film, Paper Daughter, a gothic stop-motion animated Chinese-American fairy tale about a young woman grappling with the guilt of using the identity of a deceased girl to immigrate to the US via Angel Island in 1926, which is such a fascinating concept. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about how you came up with this story and the historical specificity behind it?  Cami: Absolutely, yeah. So like I mentioned, I'm the child of immigrants, descendants of immigrants rather. So my great grandparents immigrated to the US from China. My great grandfather came over in 1916 and my great grandma came over in 1926. And so I've always grown up knowing the story of Angel Island and knowing the story about the paper sons and paper daughters who had to find any way into the United States that they could. And so they were forced to, you know, take on the identities of other people. And those stories have always stuck with me, you know, like it's very personal. Angel Island means a lot to me and my family. And just the extreme measures that people have always had to take just for the chance at a better life have always been really meaningful to learn about. just the like, I'll use romances in like the art movement, like romantic. It's very romantic and kind of fairy tale-ish, the idea of having to take on a new identity and pretend to be somebody that you're not. And often those identities would be people who had passed away, and then those families had then sold those identities or given those identities to new people. And so it's so interesting the idea of being like the last person to know somebody so deeply, but you'll never get to meet them and you'll never be able to thank them or repay what they sacrificed for your future. And that's kind of how I feel as a descendant of immigrants. The sacrifice that my family made for me was made so long ago that there's no way for me to ever pay it back. And I didn't really get a say in whether I received that sacrifice or not. And I think a lot of descendants of immigrants kind of have to struggle with this. What does it mean for us to be given this new chance at the cost of somebody who came before us? And so that's all of that kind of rolled up into this 14-minute film. Isabel: You describe your film as being in a gothic style? Can you describe what this looks like and why gothic?  Cami: The subject matter is just so naturally gothic. It's dealing a lot with death and a lot with guilt and those big capital R romantic subjects and stuff. My day job, my day-to-day job is working in stop-motion animation directing mostly like children's series and mostly toy related stuff. And so I spent so much of my time in the happy brighter like birthday party storyline kind of like space. But what really made me want to be a filmmaker in the first place were all these like heavier themes, these bigger themes, films by Guillermo del Toro and like Tim Burton and Henry Selig and Hayao Miyazaki and all of those kind of have this like gothic edge to them. And so that's like a story that I've been a type of story I've been wanting to tell for about a decade now.  Isabel: Stylistically, how does this show up in your film? So I imagine darker colors or do you have a visual like preview for us?  Cami: it is a little bit in the darker color space, but it's still very colorful despite all that. It's moody more so than dark, I would say. um We have a lot of like light and dark themes, a lot of like shadow. stuff and um a lot of magical realism, which is where that fairy tale aspect kind of comes in, because you're dealing with things that are so abstract, like guilt and sacrifice and wearing the identity of somebody else, that there's no literal way to convey that. Well, there are literal ways to convey that, but none of those literal ways I feel fully convey the emotional weight of everything. And so we've gone in this very magical realism space where people are tearing information out of these booklets that contain information about the person they're supposed to be and creating these paper masks out of them. And so yeah, there's this whole like magical aspect that tends to be kind of darker. There's imagery of just like being consumed by the identity that you're just supposed to temporarily wear. And there's a lot of like, yeah, there's a lot of darkness in those themes, I think.  Isabel: Wow, that's so interesting. I'd love to learn more about stop motion. What does stop motion make possible that isn't as easily accomplished through other forms of filmmaking? Cami: Yeah, I think the reason why I'm drawn to stop motion, what I stop motion makes possible is like a universality of just like a human experience because with other kinds of animation and other kinds of filmmaking, like there is kind of like an opacity to like how it's made. There's this this veneer, this magic to it, and there's that magic to stop motion too. But the difference between all of those and stop motion is made out of like everyday materials. It's made out of fabric. using paper. We're using clay. We're using materials that people have encountered in their day-to-day lives. And like, that's the one thing that we are all guaranteed to have in common is that we live in a material world and we encounter these textures and materials around us. so by like taking such a specific story and trying to convey such universal themes, it really like behooves us to be using like um a medium that is as universal as stop motion is. So I think that's like the big thing that stop motion unlocks for us. Plus also story-wise, like it's very paper centered, paper daughter, they're tearing paper strips, they're making paper masks. So like physically using these paper textures adds a lot to our world. um And I think working in stop motion gives you a degree of control that live action doesn't give you because we're creating. all of our characters, all of our sets by hand, which gives us so much of a say over what they look like and what they convey based on how they're constructed and stuff. And that's just a degree of communication that nothing else brings.  Isabel: I love that this is a magical realism film and you mentioned Guillermo del Toro. I know that in your campaign trailer, you featured Pan's Labyrinth, which is my all-time favorite movie.  Cami: Me too! Isabel: Yeah! How exactly did you come up with this specific blend of history and fantasy for your film?  Cami: I think that it's almost a natural human instinct to kind of have history and fantasy. Like, that's all that histories are, just stories told to us. And it's just being less literal about it and really leaning into the metaphors that we might use to convey the emotional realities of those histories, right? And so I feel like Del Toro does that a lot with his work. And Miyazaki as well does a lot of that with his work. So much of it deals with unpacking like World War II and things like that. And that's something that I've always just personally been drawn to. Even as a kid, my dream jobs were archaeologist or animator. And so here I kind of get to like do a little bit of both of those, know, like using the magic of animation to make history feel a lot more present and tangible and like emotionally relevant, which is It's really quite poetic to be able to be telling this story right now because it's going to mark the 100 year anniversary of my great grandmother's immigration to the US. I think we are due for an examination of immigration in our country. And I'm very interested to see how people respond to the questions that this raises of how different is the immigrant experience 100 years later. Have we gotten better? Have we gotten worse? Like I would posit it's perhaps worse now than it was then, but I'm really hoping to like, yeah, bring that reality into a more approachable space. And I feel like having that blend of magic and history just makes it a little bit more approachable than telling it in a literal way, you know? Isabel: Those are some great questions to ask. And on that same note, I'm interested in the specificity of Angel Island as well. What types of research did you do to produce your film?  Cami: Oh, gosh, I read every book I could find about it. have… How many books were those? Oh, my gosh, I want to say, like, not as many as I want there to be, you know? Like, Angel Island is not as well covered in history as places like Ellis Island, and there's a lot. to unpack as to why that may be, especially like the racial aspect of it. But I probably read about a dozen different books to prepare for this film. One of the most concrete and useful books that I read is a book called Island, and it's a collection of the poems that are carved into the walls of the men's barracks that remain on Angel Island. And those poems are a huge part, perhaps, the reason why Angel Island has even been preserved as a historical landmark. And so um the three authors went to great pains to replicate these poems, translate them into English, and provide a lot of historical context for the different topics of the poems. And there's a lot of like first-hand testimony from people who immigrated through Angel Island that they interviewed and included in this book. And so I do think that that book, Island, is like the primary source of most of my research for it. Everything else is more like quantitative history and quantitative data. Oh, also The Chinese in America by, I believe it's Iris Chang, that it's not just about Angel Island, but I read that and that gave me a much better understanding about like the place that Chinese immigrants have in American history. Because when I was a kid, like I really only ever learned about great grandma came over through Angel Island and now we're American and we live in America. But our history, as far as I was ever taught, begins and ends with us entering the United States. And so reading um the Chinese in America gave me a much broader understanding about, like, why did we leave China in the first place? And like, what has it meant for us to be in America as Chinese people since then? Yeah, all that came out of like in 2020 and 2021 when the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes were kind of coming about. I personally had to have a huge reckoning with like my racial identity and like how that has impacted like my experience growing up as a mixed-race person who's pretty perceivably Asian and all that stuff. So it was a really whole circle broad situation. Oh, I want to do a quick shout out to the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. They were very generous with their time and they answered a lot of my questions and sent me a lot of archival images from Angel Island. So I want to thank them so much for their help in the research process of this.  Isabel: Oh, wow. How fascinating. Did you have any expectations on how the production process was going to go? And now that you're on the other side of it, what are your reflections?  Cami: I had no expectations as to whether we were going to get outside funding or not. Like I, I'm not an experienced or adept grant applicant. Like, it was really just because this was the right kind of project to fit with those kinds of grants. So I had no expectations there. So I am beyond thrilled to have received the support from Cape and Janet Yang and Julia S. Gouw and Shorescripts that we've received, like beyond thrilled for that. So that exceeded all of my expectations. um But as far as how the actual production has gone, the fabrication and the animation and the post-production, that's all stuff that I'm extremely familiar with. Again, that is my day-to-day life, that is my job, that is like what I have done for the last eight years at my studio, Apartment D.  So that all went pretty much as I hoped and expected that it would, but here on the other side, the one thing that has surprised me about it was how much love all of the artists put in this project because like we've said so much in this conversation, there's so much specificity to this. This is about my great grandma. This is about my family and my feelings about being a descendant of immigrants. It's so specific that I wasn't sure how emotionally it would resonate with anybody else that wasn't me or wasn't part of the AAPI community, you know?  But every single person — doesn't really even matter if they were Asian, doesn't really even matter if they have a specific connection to immigration — every artist that I asked to join me on this project, I immediately understood what it meant and understood what we were trying to say. And they put so much love into it. And like, we all put a lot of love into everything we do. It's stop motion. It's like, you don't do this unless you love it, you know, because you certainly are not doing it for the money or anything. um everyone was just so…I'm gonna say careful, but I don't mean careful like cautious. I mean careful like full of care. And I did not expect that and I am so grateful for it. Yeah, looking back, it's just so precious and so tender and like I'm so fortunate to have had the crew with me that I had to make this film.  Isabel: That's so lovely. What are you most excited about upon completing your film?  Cami: I'm just excited to share it with the world. I'm so proud of it. It is truly, and I'm not just saying this because it's my baby, but it is very beautiful and it is very special. For a lot of us, one of the first times that we've been able to be in charge of our own departments or to make the decisions that we wanna make and tell things, do things, show things the way that we think they should be done. And so it's kind of significant for many of us to have this film come out and to be received. What I want people to take away from it is an appreciation and a gratitude for everything that has had to happen for us to be where we are now. And I also really want people to take away the unconditional love that has occurred for us to be in the country that we have and to be the people that we are. Every single person is where they are. doesn't matter if you're in America or anywhere else, like we are all here because of the sacrifices that were made by the people who came before us. And those were all made out of unconditional love. And that's like, I want people to come away from this film remembering that our country is built on the unconditional love and sacrifice from people who came before us. And then wanting to give that unconditional love and sacrifice to everybody who's gonna come after us. Isabel: Such an amazing message. And I know that there's still lots to do and you still have a lot to celebrate with your upcoming film and with the festival circuit with Paper Daughter. But looking ahead, do you have any plans of what you want to do after the short film?  Cami: Yeah, I would love to bring it into a feature. There was so much that we had to cut out to make this film. On one hand, I'm glad that we cut out what we did because I think the film as it is, is like so tight and so like airtight and good and perfect and sparse in a really nice way, but we don't even get to delve into life before Angel Island. It begins and ends on the island, and I would love to explore the stories that brought this all about and the stories that come after. So bringing this up into a feature version and getting that in front of people would be amazing. And I have a couple other short film and feature film and script ideas that I would like to start working on as well. I've kind of really, I'm really grooving on the like Asian early Chinese American history. um So most of them are going to be set in California and focus on like Chinese immigrants and their role in the founding of America. um I'm really excited for the like, after all the film festivals, I really want this film to end up in classrooms. And I even just the other day like I have a friend who's a third and fourth grade teacher and she showed it to her class and then the students asked me questions about Angel Island and about animation. if this can play any part in helping to spread the story of Angel Island and the people that immigrated through there, like that's all that I could ever want from this. So I'm really excited for that.  Isabel: That's wonderful. I'll put your website, social media and seed and spark page for Paper Daughter up on kpfa.org so our listeners can learn more about this stop motion film and get updates for how they can watch it. I can't wait to see it when it comes out. And Cami, thank you so much for joining me on Apex Express today.  Cami: Of course, thank you so much for having me. It was a great, great time talking with you.  Isabel: You just heard Cami Kwan talk about her film Paper Daughter. On Apex Express tonight, we have two more special guests who made magical realism short films. Next up is Dorothy Xiao, who made the film Only in This World. She's a Los Angeles-based award-winning filmmaker who likes to create grounded family dramas with a hint of fantasy.  Hi, Dorothy. Welcome to APEX Express.  Dorothy: Hi. Thanks for having me!  Isabel: Of course! Thank you for coming here. My first question for you is actually quite broad. How do you identify and what communities are you a part of?  Dorothy: Oh, that is a good question. I think in a broader sense. I would say, obviously, I identify as an Asian American. um But I think, like, for me, because I grew up in the 626 or the San Gabriel Valley, I grew up with a lot of people who looked like me. So I think I didn't truly identify as being Asian or had awareness of my identity until later on when I went to college. And then I took Asian American Studies classes and I was like, oh, wow, I'm Asian. Or like, what does it mean to be Asian? You know, like, I think I, at that time, prior to recognizing and understanding what it meant, and also even to be a minority, because at that, like I said, growing up in 626, even going to UCLA, where I'm surrounded by a lot of Asians, I never really felt like a minority. But I think it was really after graduating where I, depending on the spaces that I would enter into, especially in the film industry, I was learning like, oh, yeah, I am a minority and this is what it feels like. And prior to that, I think I just identified as being a daughter of immigrants. And that still is very strongly the case just because I grew up listening to so many stories that my parents would tell me, like coming from China, growing up like they grew up in China during a completely different time. I can't even imagine what it would be like living in the way that they did, you know, during the Cultural Revolution, under communism, in an intense way where they were starving, all this political stuff. But yeah, a second gen or for a lot of people, first generation, daughter of immigrants, of parents who decided that they wanted to make a better life for their kids out here in the States. I think that I want to stand by me saying that I don't feel like I am, I don't really want to identify as only just single categories all the time, just because within each community, could be, you could have nuances, right? Because I am a woman, but I'm also like a woman who doesn't want children, you know, and there was just so many different things of how I identify. So hard for me to categorize myself like that. But they are, there are tidbits of different communities. Like I still identify, identify as Asian American. I identify as a daughter of immigrants. I identify as a female filmmaker and yeah. And a business owner, I guess. Yeah.  Isabel: Right. Yes. Thank you for that nuanced answer. You know, it's so fascinating because I was reading about your work and you have worked in animal research administration and an afterschool program and even web development for nonprofits. How did you get into writing and directing?  Dorothy: Yeah. So after graduating college, I was definitely in a place where many, I'm sure, fresh grads understand what we call the quarter life crisis, where we don't know what we wanna do with our lives. And I was working at UCLA because that was the only job that I could get out of college for an animal research administration office. And really, I worked for them as a student. So I was like, well, it makes sense to have that be my full-time job, because you're in a place where you don't have skills. So how do you get a job if you don't have skills? That weird silly catch-22 situation. So I studied psychology in undergrad because my goal was to become a therapist. I wanted to work with Asian and Asian immigrant communities to help them with mental health because there's such a stigma attached to it. And being somebody who found mental health really important and also found that it was a really great way to understand myself. I wanted to work with, I guess, the people of my community. But at that time, I realized that there's still a stigma attached to mental health and it's really hard to get people to even go to therapy. Like living with my parents, it's really difficult. I cannot ever convince them to go. um And so I had pivoted into, or at least I discovered this filmmaking competition and ended up just like making a film for fun with a couple of friends, random people that um were not in film at all. And I had a lot of fun and I realized that we could actually create stories talking about things that are very similar to mental health or could provide that catharsis and validation that you could probably get in a session, in a therapy session. And it's not clinical at all. It's not as clinical. So, you know, on all those different jobs that you mentioned, they're all day jobs, know, animal research administration and then working for an after school program. That was me still trying to figure out how to be a filmmaker on my weekends. I still needed a day job. I didn't have the luxury of going to film school. So I would work at different places that gave me the flexibility of having a day job. But then also I had free time during the weekend to just make films with my friends, make friends films with people like my mom, who was one of my first actors earlier on. Love my mom. She did not do the greatest in my film, but I love her for being there for me. But yeah, like the different organizations or just jobs that I worked for were all really good in terms of providing me management skills and also communication skills because I worked in different industries, you know, and so at the end of the day, it all culminated in me at my current place. Like I am a freelance filmmaker and I also run my own video production company. So um becoming a writer, I mean, being a writer director is my main identity as a filmmaker. However, I don't think you could be a good writer-director if you don't have life experience. And having all those different jobs that I've had provided me with a lot of varied life experience and I interacted with a lot of different people, many different personalities.  Isabel: Yeah, no, I love that. So you grew up in Alhambra, which I'm familiar with because I too grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. How would you say that growing up in Alhambra has shaped you as an artist?  Dorothy: Alhambra is really special, I feel like, because in the San Gabriel Valley, there are many cities like this. You have Chinese people who can actually get by without ever having to learn English. And the same goes for Latin communities as well. And, you know, I have aunts and uncles who lived in Alhambra for years and never learned how to speak English. So I think it's like, what's so special about it, it feels like a safe space for a lot of immigrant communities. And then my parents being immigrants from China. living in Alhambra was a place where they could feel safe and feel connected to the people that they left behind in another country. And so being a child of immigrants, a daughter of like an Asian American, like a Chinese American growing up in Alhambra, I definitely felt like I grew up with a lot of people who were similar to me. know, we were like a lot of times the first American born children of our families even, and it was, we had to essentially understand what it meant to be Asian versus American and all of that.  But I think like being in Alhambra, I never felt like I wasn't seen, or at least I never felt like I was a minority. I think I mentioned this earlier, in that growing up in Alhambra, you do see a lot of people who look like you. And I have a lot of friends in the film industry who have moved out to California because they grew up in towns where they were like one, the only person, the only Asian person in their school or whatever. And I didn't have that experience. So for me, it was really special just being able to have a whole group of friends where there's a bunch of Asians. And we all spoke different languages. Like I had a lot of friends who were Cantonese speakers, but I'm a Mandarin speaker, but it was just really cool. It was like going to your friends' places and then you have aunties. So it's almost like having more family. You could feel like you have more aunts and uncles that will feed you all the time because that is the way they show love, right?  Isabel: Oh, certainly. I think there's so many stories in multicultural places like Alhambra. And speaking of which, you did in your film Only in This World. It's about an empty nester who has to face her ex-husband's mistress in order to summon her daughter back from the afterlife, which is featured in the 2025 Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival in Sunnyvale. Congratulations on such a beautiful film. I will say that I am a huge fan of magical realism, and Only in This World has some magical elements to it. So I'd love to get to know, how did you come up with this specific plot and characters that make up this film? Dorothy: Yeah, and thank you for wanting to talk about this one. It's a special story to me just because it is, I think it's the first film that I've made where I just decided to incorporate elements of where I grew up. And so Only in This World is inspired by my mom and her Tai Chi group at our local park, so Alhambra Park. My mom would go to do Tai Chi every morning for years. And in Alhambra, actually, as I mentioned, because there are so many immigrant communities, many of the immigrant communities tend to stay together with the people who speak their language. So Chinese people usually stick together with the Chinese speakers, Spanish speakers stick together with the Spanish speakers. You don't see a lot of mingling or intersectionality. But one of the special things that I saw with my mom's Tai Chi group was that they were not just Chinese people or Asian people, but there were Latino people in their group as well. And so even though they couldn't speak the same language, they would show up and still do Tai Chi every morning because it was a matter of doing something together. And so I love that a lot. And I wanted to tell a story about just older women who are finding friendship because I think that's really important in older age and in these groups because you see that a lot of the people in these Tai Chi groups are even the ones, not just Tai Chi groups, but there are dancers in the park, you know, like you'll see them in the mornings, not just in Alhambra, but in Monterey Park, all the different parks, open spaces, they'll have little dance groups.  A lot of the people who are part of those groups happen to be seniors, and I think it's just because they don't have work, they don't have children, they're lonely. And so…I think it's really important to be aware that where friendship or loneliness is actually an epidemic in the senior community. And it's really important to providing good quality of life is to just have them have that connection with other people. And seeing that in my mom, because my mom is getting older, having her be part of that community was what kept her happier. And so, yeah, and also my mother-in-law is Colombian. And she's done Tai Chi before as well with her group in Rosemead. And so I just was like, well, I'm part of a multicultural family. I want to tell a multicultural family story. Yeah, in terms of the magical realism element, I thought a lot about just how my family, if our house has ever burned down, the things that they would take out are our photos, the print four by six, like, you know, just the print photos because they're just so precious to them. There's something about hard copy pictures that is so special that digital photos just can't take over. Like there is an actual energy to how a photo is made or even like back then when we used to use film, there's energy that's required to actually create photos. And so, you know, I wanted that to be the power that powers this magical scanner where energy is taken from the picture and then you have the ability to bring someone you love back from the afterlife. And I really love grounded magical realism because I think it just makes difficult things a lot easier to understand when you add a little bit of magic to it, a little bit of fantasy.  Isabel: Yeah, magical realism is such a special genre. What part of the production process that you find the most profound?  Dorothy: I think it was just really my gratitude in how much my family came together for me and also just like the people of this team, know, like there were, I think one major situation that I can think of that I always think is really funny was, um so we filmed at my mother-in-law's house and my husband, Diego, was also working on set with me. He is not in the film industry. He's a software engineer manager. He's like in tech, but he is one of my biggest supporters. And so…when we were like, yeah, can we film at your mom's house? He was like, okay. But he had to end up being the, quote unquote, location manager, right? Because the house was his responsibility. And then, and he was also my PA and he was also DIT. Like he would be the one dumping footage. He did everything. He was amazing. And then ah one day we found out that his neighbor was actually doing construction and they were hammering. It was like drilling stuff and making new windows. They were doing new windows. And we were just like, oh, like, how do we get them to, like, not make noise? And so, and they don't speak English. And so we were like, oh crap, you know. So like, unfortunately, my producers and I don't speak Spanish, like we're all just English speaking. And then I did have Latinos working on my set, but they, you know, they had other jobs. I wasn't going to make them translate and do all that other stuff. So then Diego so kindly went over and talked to them and was like, essentially we set up. They were totally cool about it. They were like, yeah, okay, you're making a film. then whenever you're rolling sound, we'll just like prevent, like not hammer. And then so Diego is sitting outside with a walkie and talking to the first AD and other people inside the house, because we're all filming inside. don't know what's going outside. And then so like, we would be rolling, rolling. And then um the workers, I think his name was Armando, are like…whenever we cut, Diego would hear it through the walkie and he'd be like, Armando, okay, you're good to go. You can drill. Armando would drill. And then when we're going, and we'd be like, I'm going for another take. And then Diego would be like, Armando, please stop. So it was so nice of them to be willing to accommodate to us. Because you hear a lot of horror stories of LA productions where neighbors see you're filming something and they'll purposely turn on the radio to make it really loud and you have to pay them off and whatever. And in this case, it wasn't it was more like, hey, like, you know, we're making a movie and they were so supportive and they're like, yeah, totally. This is so cool. We will definitely pause our work, our actual work and let you roll down during the brief period. So we're really grateful. We definitely brought them donuts the next day to thank them. But that was just something that I was like, oh yeah, like I don't think I could have pulled that off if I didn't have Diego or if the fact, if it wasn't for the fact that these were the neighbors, know, that we were filming at someone's house and the neighbors already had a relationship with the people who lived here.  Isabel: Wow, that's really adaptable. And I'm so glad that went well for you. Dorothy, you've directed 13 films by now. Have you ever seen one of your films resonate with an audience member that you've interacted with in the past?  Dorothy: So there was this one short I had done a couple years ago called Tarot and it came at a time when I was struggling with the idea of whether or not I wanted to have kids and many of my friends are off having their first or second kids, you know, and so I never really wanted to be a mom, but then I have a partner who I can see being a great father, so I'm more open to the idea of being a mother, but it was still something I was conflicted about. And so I put this all into a short film, just my feelings of how my identity would change if I were to become a mom, because I've read so much about that. I found a Reddit thread one day where people were just talking about how being a mother is hard. And they openly stated how much they hated it. And it's okay to feel that way. And I wanted to put those feelings into this film to just put it out there like, hey, like if you don't like being a mom, even though you love your kid, you could still hate having that identity and be lost about, and it's okay to be lost or not sure about who you are. And so it was a really short film and it ended kind of open ended. It was like five minute film, so it didn't have like a full ending, but it was an open ended ending. And then afterwards I had a bunch of people come up. I had people who were parents, not just mothers, like even, or like fathers who had just had their first kid who were coming up and telling me like, oh, I totally identify. I understand that struggle of learning about who your new identity is after you've had a kid. And then I had people who were child free who were coming to me and saying like, yeah, this is a similar feeling that I've had about whether or not I should have any kids. Because, you know, as women, we have a biological clock that ticks. And that's something I feel frustrated about sometimes where it's really because of my body that I feel pressured to have a kid versus wanting to have one because I want one. And so that was a story I wanted to, or just something I wanted to put into a film. Yeah, and I also had another person come up and tell me that they were like, this was something I felt, but I never really openly talked about. And so I resonated a lot with this and it just helped basically articulate or helped me identify like, oh, I totally feel this way. And so that was really validating to me as a filmmaker because my goal is to reach others who don't feel comfortable talking about certain things that they tend to hide because I have a lot of those types of thoughts that I might feel ashamed or embarrassed to share. But then I put it into a story and then it makes it more digestible and it's like, or it's more, it's entertaining. But then like the core message is still there. And so people watch it and if they feel that they can connect to it, then I've done my job because I have resonated with somebody and I've made them feel seen. And that's ultimately what I wanted to do when I wanted to be a therapist was I just wanted to make people feel seen. I wanted to make them feel connected to other people and less lonely because that's something that I also have struggled with. Yeah, so filmmaking is my way of putting something small out there that I feel and then finding other people who feel the same way as me. And then we can feel validated together. Isabel: Ah yes, that is the power of film, and Dorothy's work can be viewed on her website, which I'll be linking on kpfa.org, as well as her social media, so you can get new updates on what she is working on. Dorothy, thank you so much for joining me on APEX Express today!  Dorothy: Thank you! Thank you for having me, it was so great to meet you!  Isabel: That was Dorothy Xiao, our second guest for tonight's edition of Apex Express, featuring magical realism AAPI filmmakers. Now time for our final guest of the night, Rachel Leyco, who is a queer, award-winning Filipina-American filmmaker, writer, actress, and activist. We'll be talking about her upcoming short film, Milk & Honey.  Hi Rachel, it's such an honor to have you here on APEX Express. Rachel: Hi, thank you so much for having me.  Isabel: How do you identify and what communities do you consider yourself a part of?  Rachel: Yeah, I identify as a queer Filipina-American. Isabel: So we're here to talk about your short film, Milk & Honey, which is about an ambitious Filipina nurse who leaves her family behind in the Philippines to chase the American dream in the 1990s and facing conflicts and hardships along the way. How did you come up with this specific 90s immigration story?  Rachel: Yeah. So Milk and Honey is inspired by my mom's immigrant story. you know, that's really her true story of coming to America in the early 1990s as a very young Filipina nurse while, and also a young mother and leaving behind her daughter, which was me at the time. um you know, following her journey in the film though fictionalized, a lot of the moments are true and there's a lot of exploration of assimilation, cultural barriers, loneliness and the emotional cost of pursuing the American dream.  Isabel: Yeah, when I read that synopsis, I immediately thought of this short film could totally be something that's feature length. How did you sort of this story to something that is like under 15 minutes long?  Rachel: Yeah, so I wrote the short film script first. And actually, you know, this is a proof of concept short film for the feature film. I actually wrote the feature film script after I wrote the short because there was just so much more I wanted to explore with the characters and the story. It definitely couldn't fit into a short film, though I have that short film version. But there was just so much richness to my mom's story that I wanted to explore, so I expanded into a feature. So I do have that feature film version, which I hope to make one day. Isabel: And you mentioned that this film is inspired by your mom's story. Is there any other sort of research that you did into this story that really helped you write? Rachel: Yeah, one of the main reasons I wanted to write the story, I mean, there's many reasons, but one is because there, if you ask the average American or the general public, they won't really know why there are so many Filipino nurses in the healthcare system. Because if you walk into any hospital, you'll see a Filipino nurse, more than one for sure. ah so I was really curious about the history. ah Having my mom as a nurse, my sister's also a nurse, I have a lot of healthcare workers around me. I grew up with that. I, you know, growing up, I also didn't really know or learn Filipino American history because it's not taught in schools. And I, you know, I took AP US history and didn't learn anything about, you know, my culture and our history. It's, not in the books at all. And it wasn't until like my early twenties that I was really curious about my roots and my upbringing and what it means to be Filipino-American specifically. And so um I really went into like a deep dive of just researching Filipino-American history. And specifically last year, I had been wanting to tell a story about a Filipino nurse because of my proximity to it with my mother. And you know, myself being an artist, being a filmmaker in the industry, there's so many medical shows out there, like, know, Grey's Anatomy, that's been long running, but very, very few, and rarely do we see Filipino nurses at the forefront and at the center of those stories. um You know, rarely are they series regulars. You know, sometimes they'll feature a Filipino nurse for like one episode or two and, you know, a recurring or a side character, but Filipino nurses are never the main character, never the series regular. And so that was another big driving force for why I wanted to make this story. And, you know, really making my mom's character the center of it. And so as far as like research, too, I definitely interviewed my mom and I asked her to just tell me her her entire story and specifically why she even wanted to move to the United States because she could have stayed in the Philippines or she could have moved somewhere else. um she saw a newspaper or her friend actually at the time when she was in a nursing school, a friend of hers saw an ad in the newspaper that America was sponsoring nurses. And so she had it in her mind already like, oh, yeah, I've heard of America. I've heard of the United States that it's, you know, there's better opportunities for me there. And at the time she had just had me. And so she had, you she's a young mother. She's trying to take care of her baby, her newborn. And so, you know, she had her eyes set on moving to the United States and that's kind of how her journey happened. And on top of that, I also did my own research on you know, our history, I watched this really amazing documentary um by Vox. It's on YouTube. It's all about why there are so many Filipino nurses in America. And it really just ties back to U.S. colonization. And after World War II, was so many, there was big nursing shortage in the United States. you know, white Americans did not want to, you know, fill that role. So they turn to Filipino women to fill the gap.  Isabel: Yeah, was there something special about the production process that looking back, you would want to replicate in the future or that really speaks to you?  Rachel: Absolutely. um Yeah, mean, definitely this experience and a lot of the people that I brought on to this project, I want to continue to make films with them and continue to make art with them because um I'm just so proud of the team that we put together. Everyone was so passionate and they knew how important the story was. They also had their own special connection to the material that they brought so much heart and passion into the film. that really comes through in the project. so like a lot of the people I brought onto this film, I want to continue to make art with them forever. That's one thing that I'm really, really grateful for, because I got to work with some really awesome people that I had never worked before or I had been wanting to work with. And so it was such a great opportunity that was given to me to be able to connect with such amazing and talented AAPI creatives in my circle.  Isabel: Yeah, I saw on your Instagram page for the film that you shot this film in both Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. Have you ever done a production where you had to sort juggle two different sets in two very different locations? And how was that entire process?  Rachel: Yeah, that was really, it was really fun. It was my first time being able to film in two different cities, let alone like two different states, really. A lot of my past projects have just been, you know, shooting it with the resources that I had that were available to me. You know, usually like my past short film, Thank You for Breaking My Heart, that I did last year, we shot all of it in one location, which was of course like, know, that is something that's really impressive in and of itself, of course. But, you know, because of the bigger budget that we had for Milk and Honey, I really wanted to challenge myself with this. And I really advocated for filming a part of the film in Texas because it is set in Texas. I was raised there. That's where my mom was placed when she, because how the process goes is, you know, she applied for the nursing sponsorship and then they placed them in certain areas. And so she was placed in El Paso, Texas at the time. And so that's where I also grew up. So I set the film there and I really advocated for filming in Texas because I wanted the film to have that feeling of the environment and atmosphere of Texas. um And so we shot some exteriors there for like this really fun Texas montage where you can really like feel that the character is there in, you know, in that heat, the Texas heat. So that was really, that was really fun. And I, you know, we shot, we shot two days in LA and we shot half a day in Austin, Texas. And we hired a second unit in Texas, because, you know, again, like, even though we had a really good budget, was still, you know, it was still pretty small. So I wasn't able to, you know, fly my LA crew over there. um So what we did was we just hired a second unit crew in Austin, Texas, and they were amazing. And most of them were queer, non-binary filmmakers. And it was just such a fun, intimate crew that you know, we just breezed by and had such a great time shooting that.  Isabel: That's wonderful. As a director, what inspires you and what are some of your filmmaking influences?  Rachel: Yeah, I mean, I'm constantly inspired by, you know, new films, filmmakers that I've seen, em particularly for Milk and Honey. I um so the film is, you know, this grounded drama, but there are a lot of moments of magical realism that I mix into it. love magical realism. love one of my favorite movies is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It's such a beautiful film, also very grounded, but it's filled with all of this, you know, magical realism, surrealism. And so I infused that into, you know, Milk and Honey, which was really fun and a challenge to execute. But yeah, and some other filmmakers and creatives that I'm inspired by are Ava Duvernay. think her work is just incredible and also just an incredible artist overall. I love the kind of work that she does because it comes from such a deep place. And I love that she can combine art with politics and social justice as well. Isabel: I also love that you said in your one of your project funding descriptions that you use your art as your act of revolution, which is so relevant given that, you know, in our current state of, you know, our administration is silencing and suppressing voices of our immigrant communities. And how do we as filmmakers, as artists, what does that revolution and representation mean to you as a filmmaker and artist?  Rachel: I truly believe that that art is our act of revolution and just merely creating the art is that act in and of itself. We don't have to do more than that as from, in my opinion, as an artist, because the mere fact of us existing as artists, existing, myself existing and creating the work and having the work exists out there and putting it out. The most powerful thing that an artist can do is to make their art and share it with the world. And after that, just let it go, you know, forget about how it's going to be received. Forget about like, you know, the critics and, and, and the, you know, self doubt you may have and all of those things, because yeah, it's going to come. I think especially in the landscape of, like you said, of where we're at right now with our current administration and you know, just who knows what's going to happen in the next few years, but also in the face of like AI and technology and all of that, I think all we can really do as artists is to, in order for us to change the system is we have to be the change, right? And in order for us to be that change is just to continue to tell our stories and stay authentic to ourselves. Because I think that's also what a lot of people out there are really craving right now. People are craving authentic, real stories by people that we really don't get to see or hear their stories very often. And so um that for me is something that fuels me and my artistry every day.  Isabel: Very well said and a great reminder to all of us artists out there to keep making our art. What do you hope for audiences to take away when they watch your film?  Rachel: What I hope for audiences to get out of watching the film, well, one, at the core of it is a mother-daughter story. And I also did it to honor my mother and her sacrifices and her story. So I hope that, one, audiences will, you know, maybe reflect on their relationship with their mother and… um think of ways to honor their mother and their family and their ancestry as well. And another thing is to really think about what the American dream means to you, because that was another driving force for me with the film is it's called Milk & Honey because a lot of immigrants coined Milk & Honey as America's milk and honey as this like land of abundance, land of opportunity and you know, this is a, this is a place for creating a better life for ourselves. But I, for me, as I've grown up and as an adult now, really looking at like, well, what does the American dream mean to me? Is that still true to me? Do I still think the U S is a place where I can, where I can build a better life? Is it a place of abundance and something in the film, a big theme in the film is where Cherry's character scrutinizes that dream and thinks for herself, like, is the American dream worth it? And what does the American dream actually mean to me? What is the definition of that? So I think that's a big thing I would love audiences to also take away from it, you know, asking themselves that question. Isabel: That's a great thought to end on. I'll be including Rachel's social media and website on kpfa.org as usual so you can see if Milk and Honey will be screening in a film festival near your city during its festival run. Well, Rachel, thank you so much for joining me on APEX Express today. Thanks so much for having me. I really enjoyed it. Please check our website kpfa.org to find out more about magical realism in AAPI stories and the guests we spoke to. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting. Keep organizing. Keep creating and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important. APEX Express is produced by Miko Lee, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar, Anuj Vaidya, Swati Rayasam, Cheryl Truong, and Isabel Li. Tonight's show was produced by me, Isabel Li. Thanks to the team at KPFA for their support. Have a great night. The post APEX Express – 1.08.26 – Magical Realism and AAPI Short Films appeared first on KPFA.

https://bbvproductions.co.uk/products/Faction-Paradox-The-Confession-of-Brother-Signet-AUDIO-DOWNLOAD-p389922366 The first season of the American science fiction horror drama television series Stranger Things premiered worldwide on the streaming service Netflix on July 15, 2016. The series was created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. This season stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, and Matthew Modine, with Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, and Shannon Purser in recurring roles. The first season of Stranger Things received critical acclaim, in particular for its originality, homages to the 1980s, characterization, tone, visuals, and performances (particularly those of Ryder, Harbour, Wolfhard, Brown, Heaton and Modine). Premise The first season begins on November 6, 1983, in a small town called Hawkins. Researchers at Hawkins National Laboratory open a rift to the "Upside Down," an alternate dimension that reflects the real world. A monstrous humanoid creature escapes and abducts a boy named Will Byers and a teenage girl. Will's mother, Joyce, and the town's police chief, Jim Hopper, search for Will. At the same time, a young psychokinetic girl who goes by the name "Eleven" escapes from the laboratory and assists Will's friends, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair, in their efforts to find Will.[1] Cast and characters See also: List of Stranger Things characters Main cast Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers[2] David Harbour as Jim Hopper[2] Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler[3] Millie Bobby Brown[3] as Eleven ("El") Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson[3] Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair[3] Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler[3] Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers[3][4][5] Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler[6] Matthew Modine as Martin Brenner[7] Recurring Noah Schnapp as Will Byers Joe Keery as Steve Harrington Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland[8] Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers[9] Rob Morgan as Officer Powell John Paul Reynolds as Officer Callahan Randy Havens as Scott Clarke Catherine Dyer as Connie Frazier Aimee Mullins as Terry Ives[10] Amy Seimetz as Becky Ives Peyton Wich as Troy[11] Tony Vaughn as Principal Coleman Charles Lawlor as Mr. Melvald Tinsley and Anniston Price as Holly Wheeler Cade Jones as James Chester Rushing as Tommy H. Chelsea Talmadge as Carol Glennellen Anderson as Nicole Cynthia Barrett as Marsha Holland Jerri Tubbs as Diane Hopper Elle Graham as Sara Hopper Chris Sullivan as Benny Hammond Tobias Jelinek as lead agent Robert Walker-Branchaud as repairman agent Susan Shalhoub Larkin as Florence ("Flo") Episodes See also: List of Stranger Things episodes No. overall No. in season Title Directed by Written by Original release date 1 1 "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers" The Duffer Brothers The Duffer Brothers July 15, 2016 On November 6, 1983, in Hawkins, Indiana, a scientist is attacked by an unseen creature at a U.S. government laboratory. 12-year-old Will Byers encounters the creature and mysteriously vanishes while cycling home from a Dungeons & Dragons session with his friends Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair. The following day, Will's single mother Joyce Byers reports his disappearance to the police chief Jim Hopper, who starts a search but assures Joyce that almost all missing children are quickly found. The lab's director, Dr. Martin Brenner, investigates an organic substance oozing from the lab's basement, claiming that "the girl" cannot have gone far. A nervous young girl wearing a hospital gown wanders into a local diner. The owner, Benny, finds a tattoo of "011" on her arm and learns that her name is Eleven. Brenner, monitoring the phone lines, sends agents to the diner after Benny calls social services. The agents kill Benny, but Eleven manages to escape using telekinetic abilities. Joyce's phone short circuits after receiving a mysterious phone call that she believes is from Will. While searching for Will in the woods, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas come across Eleven. 2 2 "Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street" The Duffer Brothers The Duffer Brothers July 15, 2016 The boys bring Eleven to Mike's house, where they disagree on what to do. Mike formulates a plan for Eleven to pretend to be a runaway and seek help from his mother, Karen. Eleven refuses, however, revealing that "bad men" are after her. Will's brother Jonathan visits his estranged father Lonnie in Indianapolis to search for Will, but Lonnie rebuffs him. Hopper's search party discovers a scrap of hospital gown near the lab. After recognizing Will in a photograph and demonstrating her telekinesis, Eleven convinces the boys to trust her, as they believe she can find Will. Using the Dungeons & Dragons board, Eleven indicates that Will is on the "Upside Down" side of the board and is being hunted by the "Demogorgon" (the creature). Mike's sister Nancy and her friend Barbara 'Barb' Holland go to a party with Nancy's boyfriend Steve Harrington. Searching for Will near Steve's house, Jonathan secretly photographs the party. Joyce receives another call from Will, hears music playing from his stereo, and sees a creature coming through the wall. Left alone by the swimming pool, Barb is attacked by the Demogorgon and vanishes. 3 3 "Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly" Shawn Levy Jessica Mecklenburg July 15, 2016 Barb awakens in the Upside Down: a decaying, overgrown alternate dimension. She attempts to escape but is attacked by the Demogorgon. Joyce believes Will is communicating through pulses in light bulbs. Hopper visits Hawkins Lab, and the staff permits him to view doctored security footage from the night Will vanished, leading Hopper to investigate Brenner and discover his involvement with Project MKUltra and that a woman named Terry Ives alleged years earlier that Brenner took her daughter. Eleven recalls Brenner, whom she calls "Papa," punishing her for refusing to hurt a cat telekinetically. Steve destroys Jonathan's camera after discovering the photos from the party. Nancy later recovers a photo of Barb, simultaneously realizing that Barb is missing. Returning to Steve's house to investigate, Nancy finds Barb's untouched Volkswagen and encounters the Demogorgon but manages to escape. Joyce paints an alphabetic board on her wall with Christmas lights, allowing Will to sign to her that he is "RIGHT HERE" and that she needs to "RUN" as the Demogorgon comes through the wall. Believing Eleven knows where Will is, the boys ask her to lead them to him. Eleven leads them, to their frustration, to Will's house. From there they follow emergency vehicles to a nearby quarry just as Will's body is recovered from the water. 4 4 "Chapter Four: The Body" Shawn Levy Justin Doble July 15, 2016 Joyce refuses to believe that the body found at the quarry is Will's. Mike feels betrayed by Eleven until she proves that Will is still alive, channeling his voice through Mike's walkie-talkie. The boys theorize that Eleven could use a ham radio at their school to communicate with Will. Nancy notices a figure behind Barb in Jonathan's photo, which Jonathan realizes matches his mother's description of the Demogorgon. Nancy tells the police about Barb's disappearance. She later fights with Steve, who only cares about not getting in trouble with his father. Hopper has suspicions regarding the authenticity of the body found in the quarry when he learns that the usual coroner was sent home. Hopper confronts the state trooper who found it and beats him until he admits he was ordered to lie. The boys sneak Eleven into their school to use the radio, while Joyce hears Will's voice through her living room wall. Tearing away the wallpaper, she sees him. Eleven uses the radio to channel Will talking to his mother. Hopper goes to the morgue and finds that the body is a fake, and, suspecting that Brenner is responsible, breaks into the lab. 5 5 "Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat" The Duffer Brothers Alison Tatlock July 15, 2016 Hopper searches the lab before being knocked out by the lab's guards. The boys ask their science teacher, Mr. Clarke, if it would be possible to travel between alternate dimensions, to which he answers that there could be a theoretical "gate" between dimensions. Hopper awakens at his house and finds a hidden microphone, realizing that Joyce was right the whole time. The boys follow their compasses, searching for a gate that could disrupt the Earth's electromagnetic field. Eleven recalls memories of being placed in a sensory-deprivation tank to telepathically eavesdrop on a man speaking Russian; while listening, she came across the Demogorgon. Fearing another encounter with the Demogorgon, Eleven redirects the compasses. Lucas misinterprets this as an act of betrayal, leading Mike and Lucas to fight and Eleven to telekinetically fling Lucas away from Mike. While Dustin and Mike tend to the unconscious Lucas, Eleven runs off. Nancy and Jonathan formulate a plan to kill the Demogorgon. While searching in the woods, they come across a small gate to the Upside Down. Nancy crawls through it but inadvertently draws the Demogorgon's attention. Jonathan unsuccessfully tries to look for Nancy, as the gate to the Upside Down begins to close. 6 6 "Chapter Six: The Monster" The Duffer Brothers Jessie Nickson-Lopez July 15, 2016 Jonathan pulls Nancy back through the gate. That night, Nancy is afraid to be alone and asks Jonathan to stay in her bedroom. Steve, attempting to reconcile with Nancy, sees them together through her bedroom window and assumes they are dating. Joyce and Hopper track down Terry Ives, who is catatonic and tended by her sister Becky. Becky explains that Terry was a Project MKUltra participant while unknowingly pregnant and that Terry believes Brenner kidnapped her daughter Jane at birth due to her supposed telekinetic and telepathic abilities. Nancy and Jonathan stockpile weapons to kill the Demogorgon, theorizing that it is attracted by blood. Steve is brutally beaten up in a fistfight with Jonathan after he insults Will and calls Nancy a slut. Jonathan is arrested and held at the police station for beating up Steve and inadvertently punching one of the responding officers in the face. Eleven walks into a grocery store and shoplifts several boxes of Eggo waffles. Searching for Eleven, Mike and Dustin are ambushed by two bullies but are rescued by her, as she uses her powers to break one bully's arm after he attempts to kill Mike. Eleven collapses and recalls being asked by Brenner to contact the Demogorgon and, in her terror, inadvertently opening the gate. She tearfully admits to Mike that she is responsible for allowing the Demogorgon to enter this dimension. Lucas sees agents, who have tracked down Eleven, preparing to ambush Mike's house. 7 7 "Chapter Seven: The Bathtub" The Duffer Brothers Justin Doble July 15, 2016 Lucas warns Mike that agents are searching for Eleven. Mike, Dustin, and Eleven flee the house. Eleven telekinetically flips one of the vans that block their path as the kids escape. Lucas reconciles with Mike and Eleven, and the kids hide in the junkyard. Nancy and Jonathan reveal their knowledge of the Demogorgon to Joyce and Hopper. Hopper also learns that Eleven is with the kids. The group contacts the kids, and everyone meets at the Byers' house. Joyce and Hopper realize that Eleven is Jane Ives. The group asks Eleven to search for Will and Barb telepathically, but her earlier feats have weakened her. They break into the middle school and build a makeshift sensory deprivation tank to amplify Eleven's powers. After telepathically entering the Upside Down again, Eleven finds Barb dead and Will alive, hiding in the Upside Down version of his backyard fort. Realizing that the gate is in the basement of the lab, Hopper and Joyce break into the lab and are apprehended by security guards. Nancy and Jonathan sneak into the police station to retrieve the weapons they purchased previously, planning to lure and kill the Demogorgon. In the Upside Down, the Demogorgon breaks into Will's fort. 8 8 "Chapter Eight: The Upside Down" The Duffer Brothers Story by : Paul Dichter Teleplay by : The Duffer Brothers July 15, 2016 Hopper, haunted by the death of his daughter Sara from cancer years earlier, gives up Eleven's location to Brenner, who in exchange allows Hopper and Joyce to enter the Upside Down to rescue Will. Nancy and Jonathan cut their hands to attract the Demogorgon at the Byers' house. Steve, intending to apologize to Jonathan about their fight, arrives just as the Demogorgon appears. Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan fight the Demogorgon and light it on fire, forcing it to retreat to the Upside Down. Meanwhile, Eleven and the boys hide in the middle school when Brenner and his agents arrive to kidnap Eleven; she kills most of them before collapsing from exhaustion. As Brenner and his remaining agents pin Eleven and the boys down, the Demogorgon appears, attracted by the dead agents' blood, and attacks Brenner and the remaining agents as the boys escape with Eleven. Hopper and Joyce enter the Upside Down's version of the Hawkins library, where they encounter several corpses of the Demogorgon's victims, including Barb, and find Will unconscious with a tendril down his throat. Hopper revives him using CPR after removing the tendril. The Demogorgon corners the kids, but Eleven recovers from her exhaustion and disintegrates it, causing them both to disappear. Will recovers in the hospital, reuniting with his family and friends. One month later, it is Christmas and Nancy is back together with Steve, and both are friends with Jonathan. Will coughs up a slug-like creature and has a vision of the Upside Down, but hides this from his family. Production Development Ross (left) and Matt Duffer, the creators of the series Stranger Things was created by Matt and Ross Duffer, known professionally as the Duffer Brothers.[12] The two had completed writing and producing their 2015 film Hidden, which they had tried to emulate the style of M. Night Shyamalan, however, due to changes at Warner Bros., its distributor, the film did not see a wide release and the Duffers were unsure of their future.[13] To their surprise, television producer Donald De Line approached them, impressed with Hidden's script, and offered them the opportunity to work on episodes of Wayward Pines alongside Shyamalan. The brothers were mentored by Shyamalan during the episode's production so that when they finished, they felt they were ready to produce their own television series.[14] The Duffer Brothers prepared a script that would essentially be similar to the series' actual pilot episode, along with a 20-page pitch book to help shop the series around for a network.[15] They pitched the story to a number of cable networks, all of which rejected the script on the basis that they felt a plot centered around children as leading characters would not work, asking them to make it a children's show or to drop the children and focus on Hopper's investigation in the paranormal.[14] In early 2015, Dan Cohen, the VP of 21 Laps Entertainment, brought the script to his colleague Shawn Levy. They subsequently invited The Duffer Brothers to their office and purchased the rights for the series, giving full authorship of it to the brothers. After reading the pilot, the streaming service Netflix purchased the whole season for an undisclosed amount;[16] the show was subsequently announced for a planned 2016 release by Netflix in early April 2015.[17] The Duffer Brothers stated that at the time they had pitched to Netflix, the service had already been recognized for its original programming, such as House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, with well-recognized producers behind them, and were ready to start giving upcoming producers like them a chance.[15] The brothers started to write out the series and brought Levy and Cohen in as executive producers to start casting and filming.[18] The series was originally known as Montauk, as the setting of the script was in Montauk, New York and nearby Long Beach locations.[17][19] The brothers had chosen Montauk as it had further Spielberg ties with the film Jaws, where Montauk was used for the fictional setting of Amity Island.[20] After deciding to change the narrative of the series to take place in the fictional town of Hawkins instead, the brothers felt they could now do things to the town, such as placing it under quarantine, that they really could not envision with a real location.[20] With the change in location, they had to come up with a new title for the series under the direction from Netflix's Ted Sarandos so that they could start marketing it to the public. The brothers started by using a copy of Stephen King's Firestarter novel to consider the title's font and appearance and came up with a long list of potential alternatives. Stranger Things came about as it sounded similar to another King novel, Needful Things, though Matt noted they still had a "lot of heated arguments" over this final title.[21] Writing The idea of Stranger Things started with how the brothers felt they could take the concept of the 2013 film Prisoners, detailing the moral struggles a father goes through when his daughter is kidnapped, and expand it out over eight or so hours in a serialized television approach. As they focused on the missing child aspect of the story, they wanted to introduce the idea of "childlike sensibilities" they could offer and toyed around with the idea of a monster that could consume humans. The brothers thought the combination of these things "was the best thing ever". To introduce this monster into the narrative, they considered "bizarre experiments we had read about taking place in the Cold War" such as Project MKUltra, which gave a way to ground the monster's existence in science rather than something spiritual. This also helped them to decide on using 1983 as the time period, as it was a year before the film Red Dawn came out, which focused on Cold War paranoia.[14] Subsequently, they were able to use all their own personal inspirations from the 1980s, the decade they were born, as elements of the series,[14][22] crafting it in the realm of science fiction and horror.[23] The Duffer Brothers have cited as influence for the show (among others): Stephen King novels; films produced by Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Robert Zemeckis, George Lucas and Guillermo del Toro; films such as Alien and Stand by Me; Japanese anime such as Akira and Elfen Lied; and video games such as Silent Hill and The Last of Us.[21][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] With Netflix as the platform, The Duffer Brothers were not limited to a typical 22-episode format, opting for the eight-episode approach. They had been concerned that a 22-episode season on broadcast television would be difficult to "tell a cinematic story" with that many episodes. Eight episodes allowed them to give time to characterization in addition to narrative development; if they had less time available, they would have had to remain committed to telling a horror film as soon as the monster was introduced and abandon the characterization.[15] Within the eight episodes, the brothers aimed to make the first season "feel like a big movie" with all the major plot lines completed so that "the audience feels satisfied", but left enough unresolved to indicate "there's a bigger mythology, and there's a lot of dangling threads at the end", something that could be explored in further seasons if Netflix opted to create more.[32] While explaining their intentions for the show, the Duffers adamantly stated their intentions to not explain the mythology in the show so they could leave a mystery and lot for the audience to speculate over their lack of understanding by the season finale, which they accepted but asked to be explained about at the very least, which they found like a really good exercise as they spent quite a bit of time with their writers' room figuring out exactly what the Upside Down would actually consist for, writing a 20-page mythology document whose details wouldn't be clarified for the audience until the show's fifth and final season.[33] Regarding writing for the children characters of the series, The Duffer Brothers considered themselves as outcasts from other students while in high school and thus found it easy to write for Mike Wheeler and his friends, and particularly for Barbara "Barb" Holland.[21] Joyce Byers was fashioned after Richard Dreyfuss's character Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as she appears "absolutely bonkers" to everyone else as she tries to find her son Will Byers.[34] Other characters, such as Billy in the second season, have more villainous attributes that are not necessarily obvious from the onset; Matt explained that they took further inspiration from Stephen King for these characters, as King "always has really great human villains" that may be more malicious than the supernatural evil.[35] Casting The Duffers cast David Harbour as Sheriff Hopper believing this was his opportunity to play a lead character in a work. In June 2015, it was announced that Winona Ryder and David Harbour had joined the series as Joyce and as the unnamed chief of police, respectively.[2] The brothers' casting director Carmen Cuba had suggested Ryder for the role of Joyce, which the two were immediately drawn to because of her prominence in 1980s films.[14] Levy believed Ryder could "wretch up the emotional urgency and yet find layers and nuance and different sides of [Joyce]". Ryder praised that the show's multiple storylines required her to act for Joyce as "she's out of her mind, but she's actually kind of onto something", and that the producers had faith she could pull off the difficult role.[36] Upon being offered the role, Ryder felt intrigued at being given the pilot's script due to know knowing what streaming was and finding it "terrifying", with her sole condition to the Duffers for accepting the role being that, if a Beetlejuice sequel ever materialized as she and Tim Burton had been discussing since 2000, they had to let her take a break to shoot it, a condition the Duffers agreed and ultimately proved to work out when Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was greenlighted years later.[37] The Duffer Brothers had been interested in Harbour before, who until Stranger Things primarily had smaller roles as villainous characters, and they felt that he had been "waiting too long for this opportunity" to play a lead, while Harbour himself was thrilled by the script and the chance to play "a broken, flawed, anti-hero character".[21][38] Additional casting followed two months later with Finn Wolfhard as Mike, Millie Bobby Brown in an undisclosed role, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, and Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers]].[3] In September 2015, Cara Buono joined the cast as Karen Wheeler,[6] followed by Matthew Modine as Martin Brenner a month later.[7] Additional cast who recur for the first season include Noah Schnapp as Will,[3][5] Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland,[8] Joe Keery as Steve Harrington,[39][5] and Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers,[9] among others. Actors auditioning for the children's roles read lines from Stand By Me.[14] The Duffer Brothers estimated they went through about a thousand different child actors for the roles. They noted that Wolfhard was already "a movie buff" of the films from the 1980s period and easily filled the role, while they found Matarazzo's audition to be much more authentic than most of the other audition tapes, and selected him after a single viewing of his audition tape.[15] As casting was started immediately after Netflix greenlit the show, and prior to the scripts being fully completed, this allowed some of the actors' takes on the roles to reflect into the script. The casting of the young actors for Will and his friends had been done just after the first script was completed, and subsequent scripts incorporated aspects from these actors.[32] The brothers said Modine provided significant input on the character of Dr. Brenner, whom they had not really fleshed out before as they considered him the hardest character to write for given his limited appearances within the narrative.[34] Filming The brothers had desired to film the series around the Long Island area to match the initial Montauk concept. However, with filming scheduled to take place in November 2015, it was difficult to shoot in Long Island in the cold weather, and the production started scouting locations in and around the Atlanta, Georgia area. The brothers, who grew up in North Carolina, found many places that reminded them of their own childhoods in that area, and felt the area would work well with the narrative shift to the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.[20] The filming of the first season began on September 25, 2015, and was extensively done in Atlanta, Georgia, with The Duffer Brothers and Levy handling the direction of individual episodes.[40] Jackson served as the basis of the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.[41][42] Other shooting locations included the Georgia Mental Health Institute as the Hawkins National Laboratory site, Bellwood Quarry, Patrick Henry High School in Stockbridge, Georgia, for the middle and high school scenes,[43] Emory University's Continuing Education Department, the former city hall in Douglasville, Georgia, Georgia International Horse Park, the probate court in Butts County, Georgia, Old East Point Library and East Point First Baptist Church in East Point, Georgia, Fayetteville, Georgia, Stone Mountain Park, Palmetto, Georgia, and Winston, Georgia.[44] Set work was done at Screen Gem Studios in Atlanta.[44] The series was filmed with a Red Dragon digital camera.[34] Filming for the first season concluded in early 2016.[41] While filming, the brothers tried to capture shots that could be seen as homages to many of the 1980s references they recalled. Their goal was not necessarily to fill the work with these references, but instead to make the series seem to the viewer like a 1980s film.[21] They spent little time reviewing those works and instead went by memory. Matt further recognized that some of their filming homages were not purposely done but were found to be very comparable, as highlighted by a fan-made video comparing the show to several 1980s works side by side.[14][45] Matt commented on the video that "Some were deliberate and some were subconscious."[14] The brothers recognized that many of the iconic scenes from these 1980s films, such as with Poltergeist, was about "taking a very ordinary object that people deal with every day, their television set, and imbuing it with something otherworldly", leading to the idea of using the Christmas light strings for Will to communicate with Joyce.[21] The brothers attributed much of the 1980s feel to set and costume designers and the soundtrack composers that helped to recreate the era for them.[14] Lynda Reiss, the head of props, had about a $220,000 budget, similar to most films, to acquire artifacts of the 1980s, using eBay and searching through flea markets and estate sales around the Atlanta area. The bulk of the props were original items from the 1980s with only a few pieces, such as the Dungeons & Dragons books made as replicas.[46] Visual effects To create the aged effect for the series, a film grain was added over the footage, which was captured by scanning in film stock from the 1980s.[34] The Duffers wanted to scare the audience, but not to necessarily make the show violent or gory, following in line with how the 1980s Amblin Entertainment films drove the creation of the PG-13 movie rating. It was "much more about mood and atmosphere and suspense and dread than they are about gore", though they were not afraid to push into more scary elements, particularly towards the end of the first season.[34] The brothers had wanted to avoid any computer-generated effects for the monster and other parts of the series and stay with practical effects. However, the six-month filming time left them little time to plan out and test practical effects rigs for some of the shots. They went with a middle ground of using constructed props including one for the monster whenever they could, but for other shots, such as when the monster bursts through a wall, they opted to use digital effects. Post-production on the first season was completed the week before it was released on Netflix.[14] The title sequence uses closeups of the letters in the Stranger Things title with a red tint against a black background as they slide into place within the title. The sequence was created by the studio Imaginary Forces, formerly part of R/GA, led by creative director Michelle Doughtey.[47] Levy introduced the studio to The Duffer Brothers, who explained their vision of the 1980s-inspired show, which helped the studio to fix the concept the producers wanted. Later, but prior to filming, the producers sent Imaginary Forces the pilot script, the synth-heavy background music for the titles, as well as the various book covers from King and other authors that they had used to establish the title and imagery, and were looking for a similar approach for the show's titles, primarily using a typographical sequence. They took inspiration from several title sequences of works from the 1980s that were previously designed by Richard Greenberg under R/GA, such as Altered States and The Dead Zone. They also got input from Dan Perri, who worked on the title credits of several 1980s films. Various iterations included having letters vanish, to reflect the "missing" theme of the show, and having letters cast shadows on others, alluding to the mysteries, before settling into the sliding letters. The studio began working on the title sequence before filming and took about a month off during the filming process to let the producers get immersed in the show and come back with more input. Initially, they had been working with various fonts for the title and used close-ups of the best features of these fonts, but near the end the producers wanted to work with ITC Benguiat, requiring them to rework those shots. The final sequence is fully computer-generated, but they took inspiration from testing some practical effects, such as using Kodalith masks as would have been done in the 1980s, to develop the appropriate filters for the rendering software. The individual episode title cards used a "fly-through" approach, similar to the film Bullitt, which the producers had suggested to the studio.[48] Music Main articles: Music of Stranger Things and Stranger Things (soundtrack) The Stranger Things original soundtrack was composed by Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon of the electronic band Survive.[49] It makes extensive use of synthesizers in homage to 1980s artists and film composers including Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Goblin, John Carpenter, Giorgio Moroder, and Fabio Frizzi.[50] According to Stein and Dixon, The Duffer Brothers had been fans of Survive's music, and used their song "Dirge" for the mock trailer that was used to sell the show to Netflix.[49][51] Once the show was green-lit, the Duffers contacted Survive around July 2015 to ask if they were still doing music; the two provided the production team with dozens of songs from their band's past to gain their interest, helping to land them the role.[49] Once aboard, the two worked with producers to select some of their older music to rework for the show, while developing new music, principally with character motifs.[51] The two had been hired before the casting process, so their motif demos were used and played over the actors' audition tapes, aiding in the casting selection.[51][52] The show's theme is based on an unused work Stein composed much earlier that ended up in the library of work they shared with the production staff, who thought that with some reworking would be good for the opening credits.[49] The first season's original soundtrack, consisting of 75 songs from Dixon and Stein split across two volumes, was released by Lakeshore Records. Digital release and streaming options were released on August 10 and 19, 2016 for the two volumes, respectively, while retail versions were available on September 16 and 23, 2016.[53][54] In addition to original music, Stranger Things features period music from artists including The Clash, Toto, New Order, The Bangles, Foreigner, Echo and the Bunnymen, Peter Gabriel and Corey Hart, as well as excerpts from Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter and Vangelis.[54][55] In particular, The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" was specifically picked to play at pivotal moments of the story, such as when Will is trying to communicate with Joyce from the Upside Down.[54] Music supervisor Nora Felder felt the song "furthered the story" and called it an additional, unseen, main character of the season.[56]

1990's Edward Scissorhands. This week, we cut through Tim Burton's fever dream Edward Scissorhands, where a sensitive, mysterious guy with (spoiler) scissors for hands enters our lives, feels magical at first, and then slowly becomes… a lot. Do we unapologetically keep this beloved oddball in our hearts? Do we insist he just needs time, and mommy we can change him? Or do we finally cut him loose—even if it means losing Vincent Price as well? Vinny... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Batman Returns brings audiences back to Tim Burton's dark, expressionistic version of Gotham City—only this time, the tone veers even further into gothic fairy-tale territory. The story centers on three broken souls colliding: Batman (Michael Keaton), still wrestling with dual identity; Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer), a timid secretary who transforms into the fiercely confident Catwoman; and Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (Danny DeVito), an abandoned child raised in the sewers who rises to the city's surface seeking revenge and twisted legitimacy. Meanwhile, corrupt businessman Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) lurks behind the scenes pulling strings and fueling chaos. The film blends superhero action with horror-tinged fantasy and emotional tragedy, creating one of the most visually unique comic book movies ever made.If you are new to the podcast then please consider following us on the platform that you love, we can be found most anywhere that you listen to your favorite podcasts. Please leave us a rating and review if you listen on iTunes and a 5 star rating if you listen on Spotify. If you like what you hear then please share the show with your friends and family. If you would like to help support the podcast by donating a small amount or any custom amount you choose then please visit the following link:https://retrolife4u.com/supportThis is not a membership or anything just a way for you to help support us without paying a reoccurring monthly fee when you feel like you are able to help.If you have any questions, comments, suggestions for shows or you have a question you would like us to read on air then email us at retrolife4you@gmail.comYou can find us on social media at the following places:FacebookInstagramTik TokYouTubeRetro Life 4 You Website

"HEAD and HANDS need a mediator. THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN HEAD AND HANDS MUST BE THE HEART!"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Holmes Movies Podcast team. Here's to a more prosperous and great 2026.Welcome to the ninth episode of our ongoing series: Fascism On Film. Each episode of this series, the Holmes Brothers look and review a film that has to do with fascism. During the episodes, the brothers look and see how the aspects and portrayal of fascism shown in the film relate to current and/or past events.On this Fascism on Film episode, the Holmes Brothers look at Fritz Lang's colossally influential science fiction epic, Metropolis. Released in 1927, Metropolis is a masterpiece of German Expressionist cinema that has inspired every sci fi movie from Star Wars to Blade Runner to even Tim Burton's Batman films. The film has even inspired music videos like Queen's Radio Ga-Ga and Madonna's Express Yourself, the music video for this song was directed by David Fincher. The film is set in a futuristic world. A sprawling concrete jungle that is reminiscent of Manhattan. The working class work below in the bowels of the city keeping it running while the wealthy upper class live up in decadence. Freder (played by Gustav Fröhlich), the son of a wealthy city master, falls in love with Maria a saintly and beautiful girl. She is kidnapped and she is used to bring the robot designed and built by Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge). Using Maria's likeness, the Machine causes chaos and Maria and Freder try to help save and bridge the divide between the people.We hope you enjoy this episode and stay tuned for more episodes of this Fascism On Film series.Be sure to check out our Monument Valley Film on our YouTube Channel.Anders's screenwriter work can also be seen at work in the horror, car chase thriller Delivery Run, co-written with & directed by Joey Palmroos. The film has been released digitally and also in select cinemas in the US. In Finland, it will be released in cinemas on November 5th. You can read a review about it here on the Fangoria website.Follow us on our Instagram page. For obvious reasons, we are no longer on Twitter. You won't find us there. Perhaps we will make a BlueSky account, so keep an eye out for that.Follow our Letterboxd page where you can see what we were recommending to each other over the course of the Covid-19 Pandemic.Check out our blog and read Anders's recent review on The Hitcher, starring Rutger Hauer.Also check us out on Letterboxd too!AndersAdam Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textAir Date:  December 22, 2025 on 91.3FM WVKR-Slow release week, but Max B drops Public Domain 7: The Purge and finally sounds like the Wave we've been waiting on. Rapz connects some very suspicious dots and asks, could EsDeeKid secretly be Timothée Chalamet? Snoop Dogg levels up to Team USA's first-ever Honorary Coach for the 2026 Winter Olympics. A$AP Rocky links with Tim Burton for the Don't Be Dumb artwork, and Hot 97 keeps flipping the script with three new Atlanta-based cohosts.Unfiltered & Unqualified gets extra messy as the duo breaks down emotional unavailability, post-breakup confusion, and whether some relationships are really fixable, or is it just familiar? No industry fluff. No safe takes. Straight from the field. Press play

"I just want to consult the big Avon handbook." It's Christmas at Movies That Made Us Gay, and we watched "Edward Scissorhands." We've been enchanted with this Tim Burton-directed gem for decades, and it feels like we've waited that long to cover it on the pod. Edward is a suburban goth Frankenstein, and our teen angst hearts were forever taken with his Clara Bow makeup, Robert Smith hair, and Johnny Depp's subtle performance. Gen X Queen Winona Ryder is giving ethereal "Tim Burton Blonde," but she's no damsel in distress. Winona and Johnny famously went on to become a '90s power couple, and we likely have this pairing to thank. We adore the rest of the women in Edward's orbit; Dianne Wiest charms us as Peg Boggs, his Avon Lady savior, and the gossipy neighbors played perfectly by the likes of Kathy Baker, Conchata Ferrell, and O-Lan Jones are hilarious as the neighborhood's Greek Chorus of busy bodies.  We watch this movie every year and listen to the soundtrack on repeat. The real ones know Danny Elfman's score is top tier— this movie deserves nothing less. Regardless of how you feel about Tim Burton's latest films, this movie stands out as a masterpiece, and a Christmas classic.  Thank you for listening, and don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts! www.patreon.com/moviesthatmadeusgay Facebook/Instagram: @moviesthatmadeusgay Bluesky: @MTMUGPod.bsky.social Scott Youngbauer: Twitter @oscarscott / Instagram @scottyoungballer Peter Lozano: Twitter/Instagram @peterlasagna

RU375: CARL ABRAHAMSSON & VANESSA SINCLAIR – RENDERING UNCONSCIOUS/ THE FENRIS WOLF CROSSOVER EPISODE https://renderingunconscious.substack.com/p/ru375-carl-abrahamsson-and-vanessa Rendering Unconscious episode 375. In this special crossover episode between Rendering Unconscious and The Fenris Wolf podcasts, Carl and I talk about all we had going on this year and what's to come in the new year. Enjoy! This is also Carl's 22nd episode of RU Podcast! I've created a list of all RU episodes in chronological order, as well as in alphabetical by guest HERE to make it easy to find all your favorite episodes and guests. https://renderingunconscious.substack.com/p/episodes Join us at Patreon where we post exclusive content about our magical and artistic practices every week! We also meet for live monthly workshops with everyone at level 23 & up. https://www.patreon.com/c/vanessa23carl Carl posts exclusive content weekly at his Substacks, An Art Apart: https://anartapart.substack.com and The Fenris Wolf: https://thefenriswolf.substack.com Be sure to check out The Fenris Wolf series of books. https://amzn.to/41yE4AU Vanessa runs Rendering Unconscious Podcast: https://renderingunconscious.substack.com and RU Center for Psychoanalysis: https://rucenterforpsychoanalysis.substack.com and has a personal Substack as well: https://vanessa23carl.substack.com Be sure to check out the Rendering Unconscious series of books. https://amzn.to/3N6XKIl This year we will be teaching the following classes with Morbid Anatomy Museum. All courses are online and recorded for all who register: Introduction to Occulture with author Carl Abrahamsson, Begins February 21: https://www.morbidanatomy.org/classes/p/introduction-to-occulture-with-author-carl-abrahamsson-begins-february-7 The Origins of the Nordic Magical Runes with Author and Occultist Carl Abrahamsson, Begins April 4: https://www.morbidanatomy.org/classes/p/the-origins-of-the-nordic-magical-runes-with-author-carl-abrahamsson-begins-april-4 Make Your Own Magical Artwork Using the Cut-up Technique of David Bowie and William Burroughs, with Dr. Vanessa Sinclair and Author Carl Abrahamsson, Begins May 10: https://www.morbidanatomy.org/classes/p/make-your-own-magical-artwork-using-the-cut-up-technique-of-david-bowie-and-william-burroughs-with-dr-vanessa-sinclair-and-author-carl-abrahamsson The Nightmare Before Christmas: Psychoanalyzing the films of Tim Burton with Dr. Vanessa Sinclair, Begins November 1: https://www.morbidanatomy.org/classes/p/the-magical-fims-of-tim-burton And more to come! If you're in London, Carl will be in-person at Viktor Wynd Museum Monday, February 23rd presenting Fabulous Freaks of Yesteryear https://thelasttuesdaysociety.org/exhibition/fabulous-freaks-of-yesteryear-by-carl-abrahamsson-live/ And then Carl and I will be at the Freud Museum in-person Wednesday, February 25th for Surreal Secrets of the Psyche: The Creative Zeitgeist of Psychoanalysis, Film and the Avant-Garde. Join us! https://www.freud.org.uk/event/surreal-secrets-of-the-psyche-the-creative-zeitgeist-of-psychoanalysis-film-and-the-avant-garde/ Coming up on January 20th (David Lynch's birthday), Mary will present Projections: Lynchian Women. This will be the first RU Center event for 2026! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lynchian-women-tickets-1968254153156 Our next meeting of An Introduction to Psychoanalysis will be Saturday, February 7th. Recordings of RU Center events are archived under CLASSES. https://rucenterforpsychoanalysis.substack.com/t/classes Wednesday, February 18th, we have Images from the Id: The Strange World of Psychic Photographer Ted Serios with Dr. Mikita Brottman. https://rucenterforpsychoanalysis.substack.com/p/images-from-the-id-the-strange-world Carl Abrahamsson linktree https://linktr.ee/CarlAbrahamsson Vanessa Sinclair linktree https://linktr.ee/renderingunconscious

Merry Christmas yah filthy animals!We're wrapping up our Christmas movies for the season and all of 2025 for that matter. Today's entry is an absolute classic with Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.Arguably Tim Burton's peak, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a timeless flick that created a new genre of film in the wake of it's success.Support the showCatch new episodes of the Where to Stick It Podcast every Tuesday and Thursday. If you like the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon where we upload exclusive content each month for only $3 a month.

"What's this!" It's our season finale Christmas Spectacular! Jack and Corey are joined by returning guest actor/comedian Anais Fairweather (Target Hot Santa Ads, DC Super Hero Girls, Drunk History) to talk Henry Selick's stop-motion holiday classic TIM BURTON'S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993)! The three talk Christmas vs Halloween movies, introducing your kids to scary things, fat Santa erasure, Danny Elfman's muscle tattoo glow up, Tim Burton's love of bugs, Henry Selick's incredible patience, Christmas Queen Catherine Ohara, good movie toys, shitting your pants, Trick r Trees, Burbank, Hot Topic, curly mountains, getting caught stealing, Letterboxd Top 4s, and Christmas itself.Support the pod by joining our Patreon at patreon.com/cinemapossessedpod and unlock the Cinema Possessed Bonus Materials, our bi-monthly bonus episodes where we talk about more than just what's in our collection.Instagram: instagram.com/cinemapossessedpodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cinemapossessedpodEmail: cinemapossessedpod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We continue our unorthodox holiday choices with this interesting tale from Tim Burton.

Batman Returns brings audiences back to Tim Burton's dark, expressionistic version of Gotham City—only this time, the tone veers even further into gothic fairy-tale territory. The story centers on three broken souls colliding: Batman (Michael Keaton), still wrestling with dual identity; Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer), a timid secretary who transforms into the fiercely confident Catwoman; and Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (Danny DeVito), an abandoned child raised in the sewers who rises to the city's surface seeking revenge and twisted legitimacy. Meanwhile, corrupt businessman Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) lurks behind the scenes pulling strings and fueling chaos. The film blends superhero action with horror-tinged fantasy and emotional tragedy, creating one of the most visually unique comic book movies ever made.If you are new to the podcast then please consider following us on the platform that you love, we can be found most anywhere that you listen to your favorite podcasts. Please leave us a rating and review if you listen on iTunes and a 5 star rating if you listen on Spotify. If you like what you hear then please share the show with your friends and family. If you would like to help support the podcast by donating a small amount or any custom amount you choose then please visit the following link:https://retrolife4u.com/supportThis is not a membership or anything just a way for you to help support us without paying a reoccurring monthly fee when you feel like you are able to help.If you have any questions, comments, suggestions for shows or you have a question you would like us to read on air then email us at retrolife4you@gmail.comYou can find us on social media at the following places:FacebookInstagramTik TokYouTubeRetro Life 4 You Website

Movies N Sh*t Returns with the latest commentary episode from your favorite podsmiths.  Just in time for the holiday season, it's the Christmastime commentary special of 1992's Batman Returns!  Join us in revisiting the Tim Burton-iest Batman movie Tim Burton could ever have gotten away with making.  It's all there - death, resurrection, real penguins, fake penguins, Danny Devito's disgusting man-penguin, that vacuum sealed Catwoman suit (

Movies N Sh*t Returns with the latest commentary episode from your favorite podsmiths.  Just in time for the holiday season, it's the Christmastime commentary special of 1992's Batman Returns!  Join us in revisiting the Tim Burton-iest Batman movie Tim Burton could ever have gotten away with making.  It's all there - death, resurrection, real penguins, fake penguins, Danny Devito's disgusting man-penguin, that vacuum sealed Catwoman suit (

This episode, Kalid and Joe are joined by close friend/family member, Lorrie Johnson, making her podcasting debut! The crew chat about Netflix's recent update to The Addams Family: Wednesday starring Jenna Ortega and created by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Tim Burton.​​*Thank you to Jim Hall for the music! Check out more of his music⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and if you like what you hear, please consider donating to support his work⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!*Thank you to Jim Tandberg for the Frankenstein's Podcast artwork!*Shoutout to our Patreon Producer(s), Luke Johnson, Andy Groth, Jake Kohl & Joe Mischo!⁠⁠⁠Support us on Patreon!⁠Featured Guest:Lorrie Johnson is a close friend and family member to the hosts! She loves fantasy worlds that center on friendship and digging deep into the world of cooking and baking as a foodie. This is her podcasting debut!References:How the “Wednesday” VFX Supervisor Created Thing, Nevermore, and More - The CreditsWednesday Reboots the Addams Family With a Biting Condemnation of Colonialism—Just in Time For Thanksgiving - TimeWednesday's Hunter Doohan talks his return as a hunky Hyde - OutFrom Dust Returned - Ray Bradbury / Charles AddamsAvatar: Fire and AshMonster Sanctuary Star Trek: The Last Starship - Collin Kelly and Jackson LanzingStar Wars: Tales from the Nightlands - Cavan ScottStar Wars: AhsokaStar Wars: The Clone WarsJane the Virgin

Tim Burton's 1992 sequel Batman Returns is one of our favorite Christmas movies and we're unwrapping the fantastic 4K UHD from Warner Brothers. Plus wishes, confessions, and more! Find us on Instagram.

Forrest, Conan Neutron, Kristina Oakes and Daniel House talk about Tim Burton's Ed Wood Written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski who would go on to write "The People vs. Larry Flynt" "Man on the Moon" and "Dolemite is my Name, at a time when they were tired of being seen as solely "family friendly screenwriters" and launching the sub-genre of "Anti-Biopics."Ed Wood is a biopic about the filmmaker Edward D. Wood, once voted "Worst Director of All Time," operating under massive constraints in the 1950s as he struggled to make films like "Glenn or Glenda", "Bride of the Monster", and "Plan 9 from Outer Space" Starring Johnny Depp as Ed Wood, Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, Lisa Marie, and Bill Murray #edwood #timburton #belalugosi #johnnydepp #lisamarie #patriciaarquette #disney #biopic #billmurray #depp #filmpodcast #moviepodcast #classichollywood #hollywood #1994 #martinlandau #billmurray #livestream #livestreaming #shortsfeed #shorts #filmmaking #touchstone #lisamarie #presley #sarahjessicaparker #nightmarebeforechristmas #filmdirector We are also streaming on @thisspacetv throw them a followJoin our discord: https://discord.gg/ZHU8W55pnhJoin our Patreon to get all our After Parties https://www.patreon.com/MovieNightExtraConan Neutron & the Secret Friends new noir inspired music video "A Villain of Circumstance" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXjmjKzbTSI

While we're nestled snug in our beds for the Christmas holiday this week, we didn't want to leave your podcast queue as empty as Santa's cookie plate. So we've joined our friends at one of our sister podcasts, Podcasters Assemble to stuff an episode of their show down your chimney — and trust us, it definitely works for this holly-jolly occasion!That's right, this week we're filling your stockings with a crossover delight and instead of debating, we're simply fa-la-la-la-falling in love with and discussing a true multi-holiday masterpiece: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. We are here to praise, celebrate, and geek out over the stop-motion classic that bridges the gap between Halloween chills and Christmas thrills.If you sleigh through this episode and want more, be sure to check out the archives from both Great Pop Culture Debate and Podcasters Assembled wherever you get your podcasts. 'Tis the season for binge-listening, after all! If you want to keep the GPCD cheer going all year, follow us on Bluesky @gpcd.bsky.social, Instagram @greatpopculturedebate, and subscribe to our YouTube channel @greatpopculturedebate.And be sure to show some love to our friends at Podcasters Assemble — find them on Bluesky @podcastersassemble.bsky.social and on Instagram at @castersassemble.Feeling extra jolly? Support us on Patreon @greatpopculturedebate — it helps keep the debates merry and bright! We'll be back soon with more debates, more delights, and plenty more pop-culture cheer. Until then, stay merry, stay bright, and may your days be filled with cookies, cozy vibes, and killer content. Happy holidays from all of us at GPCD!CREDITS:"Nightmare Before Christmas" episode courtesy Podcasters AssembleEditor: Bob ErlenbackIntro/Outro Music: "Dance to My Tune" by Marc TorchSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Get ready for some holiday cheer in a galaxy far, far away! In this episode of the Smugglers' Galaxy Podcast, we kick things off with our festive Christmas Movie Title Game. We're taking holiday classics and giving them a Star Wars twist. Can you guess the real movie title before our hosts do?Beyond the holiday fun, we dive deep into the latest gaming leaks and toy reveals, including:New Star Wars Video Games: We break down the reveals of Fate of the Galaxy and Star Wars Galactic Racers. What do these titles mean for the future of Lucasfilm Games?Star Wars in 2026: We look past the bingo cards and make our boldest "non-bingo" predictions for the franchise's future.The Black Series News: Is the new Mandalorian and Grogu Black Series figure a must-buy? We discuss the sculpt, accessories, and whether it belongs on your shelf.The Great Batman Debate: Are Batman Forever and Batman & Robin actually sequels to the Tim Burton films? We settle (or restart) the argument over the 90s DC movie timeline.Play along with us and let us know your scores in the comments!

Visit our Patreon page to see the various tiers you can sign up for today to get in on the ground floor of AIPT Patreon. We hope to see you chatting with us on our Discord soon! NEWSFull Marvel Solicits March 2026 (Tuesday!)Marvel reveals March 2025 covers and solicits as the Ultimate Universe heads toward its EndgameJessica Jones returns in Marvel's darkest, bloodiest 'Alias' story yetCarnage knows Spider-Man's secret, and Peter learns Mary Jane is Venom in the March 2026 solictsWonder Man heads back to Hollywood, and his past is ready for a comeback of its ownMarvel brings the Sentry home as creator Paul Jenkins returns for a high-stakes new seriesMarvel goes all-out for 2026 with Comics Giveaway Day, teasing 'Amazing Spider-Man' #1000, & moreMarvel turns ‘Daredevil' #1 into a Blind-Bag gamble with rare variants and secret sketch coversMarvel's most thunderous art gets the deluxe treatment in a massive new Thor bookDC solicits March 2026'DC K.O.' was just the warm-up: DC ALL IN goes NEXT LEVEL with Lobo, Batwoman, Deathstroke & MoreDC Next Level begins in March 2026 with Wonder War and Superboys RisingImage Comics announces 'Tigress Island' a pulp-fueled fever dreamArchie gets a radical relaunch as Oni Press reimagines Riverdale for a new eraTarzan swings back into comics, and he's older, wiser, and facing pirates who want immortalityOur Top Books of the Week:Dave:Star Trek: The Last Starship #3 (Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Adrin Bonilla)The Bat-Man: Second Knight #2 (Dan Jurgens, Mike Perkins)Alex:​​Die: Loaded #2 (Gillen, Hans)Power Fantasy #14 (Gillen, Wijngaard)Honorable Mentions: Author Immortal, 30 Days of Night: Falling Sun, Exquisite CorpsesStandout KAPOW moment of the week:Alex: Rogue Storm #3 (Murewa Ayodele, Roland Boschi)Dave: Alien vs. Captain America (2025) #2 (Frank Tieri, Stefano Raffaele)TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEKAlex: Absolute Wonder Woman #15 (Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman) & Event Horizon #4 (Christian Ward, Tristan Jones)Dave: The Will of Doom #1 (Chip Zdarsky, Cafu)JUDGING BY THE COVER JR.Dave: Hello Darkness #17 (1:10 Full Art Puebla Cover)Alex: DC K.O.: The Joker vs. Red Hood #1 (Dustin Nguyen Variant)Interview: Torunn Grønbekk - Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Shiver of Christmas Town - Out Jan 7, 20261. Expanding the WorldWhat's it like contributing to a Tim Burton universe project?What excited you most about the chance to tell a new story within The Nightmare Before Christmas universe, and how did you approach capturing that distinct mix of spooky and sweet?2. Character FocusSally takes center stage in this series. What aspects of her character did you want to explore or expand on that fans haven't seen before?3. The New CreationDr. Finkelstein's latest creation, Shiver, sounds like a charming new addition to Halloween Town. What inspired this character, and what role does Shiver play in the story's themes?4. Trick-or-Treat Trio TroubleLock, Shock, and Barrel are fan favorites for their chaotic energy. How was it writing for those three troublemakers, especially as they head off to Christmas Town?5. Visual CollaborationEdu Menna's art brings a lot of gothic personality to the book. How did you two work together to strike the balance between Burton-esque atmosphere and the fun of a family-friendly adventure?6. Tone and AudienceThe series is described as “perfect for all ages.” How did you balance writing something that works for longtime fans of the film and younger readers discovering Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time?7. Franchise LegacyThe Shiver of Christmas Town follows Long Live the Pumpkin Queen: The Graphic Novel. How does this story build on that ongoing relationship between Dynamite and Disney's Nightmare Before Christmas world?8. The Magic of Halloween (and Christmas)Without giving too much away, what do you hope readers take away from this story about the magic—or mischief—of the holiday spirit?9. Character and Tone Your work often blends grit and introspection—how are you approaching Selina Kyle's duality as both a thief and protector in your  Catwoman run, and what new sides of her character are you most excited to explore?

Junk Food Dinner returns for our annual holiday celebration and this year we're feeling particularly nostalgic! Up first, The Muppets gang crashes at Fozzy's mom's house for the holidays and they're bringing all their friends, even the Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock crew, in the 1987 TV special A Muppet Family Christmas. Then, we revisit one of Sean's favorite holiday traditions; we see what movies and electronics film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert were recommending folks pick up in the Siskel and Ebert's 1990 Holiday Video Gift Guide! And finally, in the summer of 1992, one of biggest films was the blockbuster sequel Batman Returns. Tim Burton and Michael Keaton returned but this time Batman squares off against The Penguin (played by Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (played by Michelle Pfeiffer). But is it a Christmas movie? You bet your Batmobile it is! All this plus holiday cheer from our buddy Peter, tributes to some fallen heroes, Sean's epic new video mix tape and much more!LISTEN NOW:MP3 Direct DonloydAlso, if you like the show, please take a minute and subscribe and/or comment on us on iTunes, Stitcher, Blubrry or Podfeed.net. Check us out on Facebook and Twitter! We'd love to see some of your love on Patreon - it's super easy and fun to sign up for the extra bonus content. We'll keep this podcast going with your love and support.

Welcome to Day 19 of the 24 Days of Dillos Disney Reviews! On this episode, we'll be talking about Time Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along during Jollywood Nights at Hollywood Studios.  ***

So the Doctor comes into Christmas Town and positions himself as its figurehead and gives the children gifts. How many more steps until Tim Burton gets to sue? Either way, stick around to the end of this episode for a little... surprise.

The return of Tim Burton's Batman and he decided to make it a Christmas movie.  Is Michelle Pfeiffer the best Catwoman ever?  Is Danny Devito absolutely revolting in his Penguin costume?  Why are there so many villains in this story?  Is it better than the original?  We tackle all of this and more on the first episode of  ‘A Very Merry Keaton Christmas'.  Please enjoy our review of 1992's Batman Returns.  •0:00:00 - Introductions •0:03:30 - Memories of first viewing •0:08:00  - Pertinent movie details  •0:15:00  -  Critical and fan reviews •0:23:00 - Scene by scene breakdown  •1:36:00 - Modern day ratings —————————————————————— SPONSORS-  **BIG GROVE- Check out our beers of the episode here- http://BigGrove.com  **UNCOMMON GOODS-  To get 15% off your next gift, go to http://uncommongoods.com/CONFUSED  **WARBY PARKER-  You can head over to http://WarbyParker.com/CONFUSED right now to try on any pair virtually! **RULA-  Take the first step towards better mental health today and go to http://Rula.com/confused  —————————————————————— **Support us at http://patreon.com/confusedbreakfast for bonus weekly episodes, voting on upcoming movies, giving your modern-day ratings on our movies and much more. **Mail us something   The Confused Breakfast PO Box 10016 Cedar Rapids, IA 52402-9802 Special thanks to our executive producers- Josh Miller, Starling, Michael Guiliano and NicMad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grab your Fallout Boy CD and ask your parents for a ride to Hot Topic because we're reviewing the Christmas film that reminds you of a time when Tim Burton was a genius - The Nightmare Before Christmas!

This week we're heading back to Tim Burton's beautifully dark and snow-covered Gotham City for the 1992 masterpiece, Batman Returns! We'll talk about Batman and the iconic villains, Catwoman and The Penguin. We'll discuss Danny DeVito's repulsive yet tragic characterization, Michelle Pfeiffer's electrifying transformation, and the Gothic, Christmas-time aesthetic that makes this sequel unforgettable.To honor the complexity and dark allure of the city and its feline anti-hero, we're mixing up The Gotham City Cat. This cocktail elevates the classic gin experience by featuring a rich, complex Barrel-Aged Gin. It's a smooth, dangerous, and surprisingly sophisticated drink—just like Selina Kyle herself.So, put on your cowl (or your best leather), pour a strong one, and get ready to raise a glass to Batman Returns!Cocktail comes from Barr Hill!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch Shop⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.drinkthemovies.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*Please Drink Responsibly*

In Episode 148, astrologers Kristina Martin and Tara Redfield close out 2025 by analyzing the famously spooky and artistic bond between Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton through the lens of astrology.   Delving into Helena's natal chart, they reveal a sharp Gemini Sun conjunct Mercury in the 8th House—a placement that drives a shadowed intelligence obsessed with the taboo and mysterious. Her Libra Ascendant explains her early "English Rose" public image, while a Leo Moon fuels a passionate, dramatic, and warmth-seeking heart.   Tim Burton's chart, meanwhile, features a Gemini Ascendant squared by a Sun-Pluto conjunction in meticulous Virgo, creating a core tension between scattered creativity and obsessive control. With Pluto in the 4th House, his signature dark family fantasy themes emerge clearly. A sextile from Mercury to Neptune elevates his otherworldly imagination, and a Venus-Uranus conjunction sparks his uniquely eccentric aesthetic.   Their synastry reveals compelling dynamics: their Sun stelliums square one another, suggesting intense mental battles and ego clashes. A Mars square Pluto adds a layer of ruthless power struggle. Yet, supportive Saturn-Moon aspects provide maturity and a solid foundation for both family and work. Together, their Leo placements amplify shared creativity and flair, while their Gemini synchronicity can make them feel like twins. But with no major Venus-Mars aspect, can their romantic compatibility score truly measure up? Tune in to this episode for a deep dive into the astrological secrets behind one of Hollywood's most intriguing creative partnerships.   Book a Reading with us! Connect with Kristina Martin Book a Reading www.klmastrology.com astrologyklm@gmail.com www.instagram.com/klmastrology   Connect with Tara Redfield Book a Reading www.anotherdaygreener.com anotherdaygreener@gmail.com www.instagram.com/anotherdaygreener/ www.tiktok.com/@anotherdaygreener

Welcome to the Video Store Podcast.It's Christmas movie season but not everyone wants peppermint sweetness and cozy small-town charm. Some of us want our holiday movies filled with explosions, heists and a whole lot of chaos.This week on the Video Store Podcast, I'm spotlighting four Christmas movies that trade twinkling lights for trouble. Reindeer Games (2000)Reindeer Games is a crime thriller set days before Christmas. When Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) is released from prison his only goal is to get home for Christmas. But when his cell-mate dies, Rudy steps into the man's shoes to meet his mysterious and beautiful pen pal, Ashley (Charlize Theron).One bad decision later and Rudy is trapped in a violent casino-robbery plot run by Ashley's unstable “brother,” Gabriel (Gary Sinise). With no options, Rudy is forced deeper into the operation and nothing is what it seems as alliances shift and lies are uncovered. Reindeer Games brings crime, plot twists and holiday mayhem together in one memorable movie.Batman Returns (1992)Tim Burton's Batman Returns is set against a dark, gothic backdrop of Gotham City during the Christmas season. Batman Returns introduces two iconic villains who become the city's newest threats. The first is Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin, a physically deformed man who was abandoned by his wealthy parents and raised in the city's sewers by penguins. The second is Selina Kyle, Catwoman, pushed to her limit by evil businessman Max Shreck.Michelle Pfeiffer is the definitive Catwoman, seductive, broken and electric in every frame. Danny DeVito's Penguin is a grotesque and disfigured man, a departure from the comics. Christopher Walken adds a sinister element as the businessman Max Shreck.Tim Burton's vision partnered with Danny Elfman's haunting score creates a mesmerizing Christmas classic set in Gotham City.The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) lives a quiet life as a schoolteacher until a car crash triggers memories of her past life as a deadly government assassin.Samantha hires private detective Mitch Hennessey (Samuel L. Jackson) to help her uncover her past and together they set out to find the truth. Their adventure is full of gunfights, treachery, and some of the best buddy-dynamic chemistry of the '90s. Davis transforms from warm suburban mom to hard-boiled operative with shocking believability and Jackson delivers one of his funniest, most charismatic roles.Written by Shane Black and directed by Renny Harlin, The Long Kiss Goodnight mixes holiday atmosphere with espionage to create one of the 90's most underrated action movies.Lethal Weapon (1987)Lethal Weapon redefined the buddy-cop genre and set the standard for all future buddy-cop movies. Set at Christmastime in Los Angeles, the movie pairs veteran detective Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) with newcomer Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson). Their investigation into a young woman's suspicious death spirals into a violent clash with drug traffickers and the psychotic Mr. Joshua (Gary Busey).Lethal Weapon is full of heart, which is what you want in a Christmas movie. Riggs who is spiraling out of control from grief and Murtaugh, a grounded family man, form a bond that is convincing from start to finish. Also written by Shane Black, Hollywood's king of Christmas action movies and directed by Richard Donner, Lethal Weapon blends holiday themes with explosive action, dark humor, and iconic one-liners. Lethal Weapon is on of my favorite Christmas action movies.If you're looking for Christmas movies that are filled with action, these four belong at the top of your December movie list.Thanks for visiting the Video Store. Have a great New Year!Thanks for reading Video Store Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.videostorepodcast.com

Episode Notes This week, we continue the holiday celebrations by reviewing Tim Burton's classic, Edward Scissorhands! Also in this episode, Todd begrudgingly reviews his fantasy football punishment film Hip Hop Locos, Joe ponders the tax implications of Edward's house in the main review and Steve makes a late push to regain his trivia title from Todd. All that and more! Music provided by www.purple-planet.com

This week on Mostly Horror, we are absolutely honored to be joined by the writer of Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Addams Family, Corpse Bride, Homeward Bound, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty and more... Caroline Thompson.Caroline is one of the quiet architects of our childhoods, a storyteller whose work shaped entire generations without ever being given or demanding the spotlight. In this conversation, she opens up about discovering her voice, meeting Tim Burton, crafting characters inspired by her animals, and the real Hollywood stories behind some of the most iconic films ever made.It's nostalgic, emotional, funny, and full of the kind of craft and career wisdom that only Caroline can give. If these movies meant anything to you growing up then this episode will feel like coming home...Sooo...COME HANG OUT!!! Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram & Threads: @mostlyhorrorpodTikTok & Twitter/X: @mostlyhorrorSteve: @stevenisaverage (all socials)Sean: @hypocrite.ink (IG/TikTok), @hypocriteink (Twitter/X)Enjoyed this episode? Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform to help us reach more horror fans like you! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Send us a textRemember Batman Returns starring Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Christopher Walken & Michelle Pfeiffer. Sure, you do. It ushered in a whole era of men wanting their girlfriends or wives to dress up as Catwoman, and it didn't even have to be Halloween. Well, this one takes place over the Christmas Holidays, so we're picking it as a Holiday Film. With an all-star cast, Tim Burton returning, we are signing up to watch '90s Batman fight the Penguin and Catwoman during the Holiday Season, and we'll see if this is a nostalgic gift under the tree or a lump of coal in the stocking. Do You Remember Liking This Movie?

In this encore mash-up, Alicia brings us the 90s-era heartbreaker split with the marriage and divorce of actors Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh. Then, Stacie continues the thread with actress Helena Bonham Carter, whose post-Branagh relationship, with director Tim Burton, began every bit as controversially as the one with Ken had.Want early, ad-free episodes, regular Dumpster Dives, bonus divorces, limited series, Zoom hangouts, and more? Join us at patreon.com/trashydivorces!SponsorsIncogni. Protect your personal information from scammers, spammers, and data brokers – with 60% off an annual plan at incogni.com/trashy.Acorns. Head to acorns.com/trashy or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future today!Aura Frames. Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code TRASHY at checkout at auraframes.com.Want a personalized message for someone in your life? Check us out on Cameo!To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack Skellington, The Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, attempts to take over Christmas this year. On this week's episode… Join the crew as we discuss stop motion animation, Danny Elfman's incredible music, and the movie that was not directed by Tim Burton, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).   Show Notes: Housekeeping (4:40) Back of the Box/Recommendations (11:21) Spoiler Warning/Full Review: (18:56) Rotten Tomatoes (1:08:15) Trivia (1:14:55) Cooter of the Week (1:27:00) Hotline Scream (1:32:55)   Connect with us: Support us on Patreon Website Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube Shop

Send us a textKatie and Bridget cheer on Mary Lou Retton doing backflips as Tiny Tim as they re-watch the WEIRD 80's movie: Scrooged! It's one of the strangest adaptations of A Christmas Carol and we blame BILL MURRAY JUST. CAUSE! Come along as we meet Frank - aka Scrooge, who is a jerk for about 90% of this movie, so much so that a grandma dies offscreen because of his horrible advertisement commercial that reminds us of A Manson Family Christmas. Aka, how television and media basically is today! When he gets visited by three ghosts to help teach him what it means to be kind (and to also kick him in the balls multiple times), he learns that Christmas isn't about television or making money... It's about reconnecting with your long lost girlfriend who really should have just ignored your missed call and/or replied to you with a "who dis?" message! We've got a movie that feels like it should have been directed by Tim Burton with lots of Bill Murray ad-libbing that you'll definitely want to take an edible for this holiday season! Released in 1988, it stars Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, Bobcat Goldthwait, David Johansen, Carol Kane, Alfre Woodard, and Robert Mitchum.

Writer, director, producer, and improvisor Alex Fernie (Children's Hospital, Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, Convoy) joins Matt and Tim to discuss the 1996 Tim Burton film, Mars Attacks!, starring Jack Nicholson and Glenn Close. Jack Nicholson plays President Dale. For the rest of this conversation, go to ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/secondincommand⁠⁠⁠ and become a patron! Matt Walsh ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/mrmattwalsh⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Timothy Simons ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/timothycsimons⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Alex Fernie https://instagram.com/ferniecommaalex Second In Command ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/secondincommandpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email questions to: ⁠secondincommandatc@gmail.com

Writer, director, producer, and improvisor Alex Fernie (Children's Hospital, Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, Convoy) joins Matt and Tim to discuss the 1996 Tim Burton film, Mars Attacks!, starring Jack Nicholson and Glenn Close. Jack Nicholson plays President Dale. For the rest of this conversation, go to ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/secondincommand⁠⁠⁠ and become a patron! Matt Walsh ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/mrmattwalsh⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Timothy Simons ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/timothycsimons⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Alex Fernie https://instagram.com/ferniecommaalex Second In Command ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/secondincommandpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email questions to: ⁠secondincommandatc@gmail.com

The Best of 2024 - Part OneWe continue our look into great moments of 108.9 The Hawk with the Best Of 2024 two-part collection. Part One contains:- Whisp Turlington (Jason Gore) introduces the “New” 108.9 The Hawk that he's paying for.- Don Valley (James Adomian) wraps up his overnight shift on 108.9 The Hawk. Hope you like “Peg” and “Aqualung!”- COMMERCIAL: Michael's McDonalds 2- COMMERCIAL: Ball Pit Warehouse- Here's how former Astronaut Charley “Clunk” Bottoms (John Hodgman) helped Stanley Kubrick fake the moon landing!- Whisp explains to James III and Geoff about how “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” is just Tim Burton's version of the law drama, “The Firm.”- Handsome “Gary” Tornado (DC Pierson) runs down all of the talent playing at Val Verde University's Quad Jam '24.- Mary Houlihan talks about her comedic formula and plays a game of “Celebrity Impressions.- COMMERCIAL: Weird Airport Burritos- COMMERCIAL: Eliminator Motors- Bobby Moynihan remembers his time on New York City morning radio with “Tommy And The Piss.”- Does Jimi Hendrix have to play with every dead musician in Heaven?- Frankie Giambatista (Chris Gethard) gives his predictions for the Val Verde University Assholes college basketball team while coming face to face with his now monstrous former board-op, Franklin.- Don Valley (James Adomian) explains what the overnight shift is all about, again and again.Do you want 108.9 The Hawk to do better in the ratings? Give ‘em a hand!Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube — or whatever app you use. Your choice!Join the Rock Battalion: sign up for our mailing list at 1089thehawk.com.Patreon keeps the lights on (and the Food Gulch ads rolling): patreon.com/1089thehawk.YouTube is where you'll find clips, video episodes and yelling: youtube.com/@1089thehawk.Follow us everywhere: Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, Facebook, Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Christmas time in Gotham as we check out Tim Burton's Batman Returns! We'll talk about our favorite Batman things, challenge each other to a gymnastics competition, and discuss how much this movie isn't for kids! This podcast isn't a man, it is an animal!Support "They're Coming to Get You" on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/TheyreComingtoGetYouGrab some TCTGY Merch!www.ComingtoGetYouMerch.com

Today's guest is Aimee France, the self-taught cake artist also known as yungkombucha420. Aimee is one of the most original cake artists and content creators working today. She's also one of the cover stars of our brand-new holiday issue of Cherry Bombe Magazine, The Cake Issue, which is especially fitting given how much she's influenced the cake world over the past few years.A native of New Hampshire and now based in Brooklyn, Aimee built an unexpected career out of flavor exploration, visual whimsy, and sheer work ethic—but as you'll hear, that path hasn't been without its challenges. Today, we talk about everything from her famously unique breakfasts and current nut-butter obsession to the injuries that forced her to step back from cake production and rethink her future. Aimee opens up about burnout, entrepreneurship, her changing relationship with baking, and the quarter-life reassessment (we won't call it a crisis), that she's navigating right now. We also get into her influences—Tim Burton, claymation films, old-school rap—and the fashion, art, and everyday city moments that fuel her creativity.If you love Aimee's work, or if you're in need of a little honesty and reinvention energy, this is the episode for you. Thank you to JW Marriott for supporting our show. Check out our Cyber Monday specialsSubscribe to our SubstackMore on Aimee: Instagram, Cherry Bombe's Cake Issue with Aimee on the coverMore on Kerry: Instagram

Tuddle and Kristin tackle the real issues—like whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie or just a festive hostage situation. They also try to figure out if The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween film, a Christmas film, or simply Tim Burton refusing to pick a lane. Plus, they reveal their go-to holiday treats, from cookies that actually turn out right to snacks that should probably be illegal.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.