Episodes

Welcome back! This week concludes our miniseries looking at comfort movies. For this installment, we discuss a personal favorite, Galaxy Quest! This 90s comedy classic gently pokes fun at the Star Trek franchise, and features sharp writing and spot-on casting. It's a wonderful movie, and a must for Trek fans. Never give up, never surrender! Next week, we'll go heavy into the Christmas spirit with an expected and underrated action classic. Check out all my reviews here: https://toddwoffordmovie...

And we're back! After last week's brief break, we're doing a mini-series of comedies to close out November. In light of recent events, all of us here could use some cinematic comfort food. Nothing provides that like The Big Lebowski, a 90s classic with quotable dialogue, an all-star cast, and one of the more eccentric plots in all of movie history. What's your favorite Lebowski quote? ("This aggression will not stand, man!") Who's your favorite character? (Phillip Seymour Hoffman damn near stea...

Welcome back! For this week’s episode, we’ll take a special look back at an episode from 2 1/2 years ago, Rounders! It’s an episode you may have missed, so enjoy! After that, we’ll close out November with 2 classic comedies, and then a few Christmas moves that might surprise you!

Welcome the finale of our Halloween Series! For this episode, you get a double feature--Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof and Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror. Both flicks pay homage to exploitation genre of 70s horror. That means you'll see deliberately damaged film stock, missing reels, and cheesy dialogue. It's a fine line between clever and indulgent. Where do these movies fall? Are they scary, or just goofy? How does an all-star cast handle the film? Tune in to this special bonus episode an...

Hey! Our Halloween Series is nearly done, and we're wrapping things up with an all-time classic--The Exorcist! It's an iconic experience--disturbing, violent, and brilliantly acted and filmed. Does this film have any basis in real-life events? Is it still creepy? Find out all the answers on this week's episode! #TheExorcist #halloween #scary #exorcism #demons #horror

Welcome back! Our Halloween Series continues in high gear with an 80s cult classic--An American Werewolf in London! This horror flick has a lot going for it: Elements of comedy, a fast-moving pace, and Rick Baker's stunning monster effects. In fact, the top question you'll probably have from this movie is, "How did they do that?!" You can find out in this week's Cinemavino! Plus, this werewolf epic was directed by John Landis, a filmmaker known for his comedies. Is it still funny? Is it still s...

Hey! It's a day late, but never a dollar short... Our Halloween Series continues with a new release--the latest remake of Salem's Lot, based on the classic novel by Stephen King. Filmed in 2021, this movie has languished in post-production hell for three years. In fact, Warner Bros. considered writing this version off and never releasing it. They did the same for Batgirl a couple years ago, a $90m loss for the studio. Why did Warner Bros. hold on to this movie for so long? Is it that bad? We h...

Our Halloween Series continues with a early 2000s classic--Final Destination! This flick did surprising box office and inspired a series of sequels, with uneven results. We have very different opinions of this movie. Is it still scary? How do the performances and script hold up? Find out the answers and more on this week's Cinemavino! To pair, we sample a delicious bourbon from Kentucky! #2000s #horror #FinalDestination #halloween #bourbon

Welcome to our Halloween Series! This month, each host will pick an essential Halloween flick for us to screen, and we'll start with a 90s classic: The Faculty! This teen scream epic stars a who's who of future talent (plus a goateed Jon Stewart). Plus, it's written by Kevin Williamson (Scream) and directed by Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn), so its 90s resume couldn't be stronger. Will its scares still jolt you? Do all the pop culture riffs still land? We'll talk about how this movie ho...

Our Presidential Series wraps up with The American President, a fluffy, charming rom-com from Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) and Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men)! It has an all-star cast, led by Michael Douglas and Annette Bening. The plot can be summed up in a simple logline: Can the President of the United States fall in love and build a relationship? This is a fun, snappy movie, and it was a hit in its time. But how does it hold up? Has the ugliness of modern politics ruined our view of the subject...

In this series, we've seen fictional and non-fictional presidents. None of them can match the nobility, brilliance, and complexity of our greatest president. With Lincoln, Steven Spielberg doesn't offer a comprehensive look at the great man--that would be impossible within the space of one movie. Instead, he shows us the final months of Lincoln's life, in which the president must grapple with Reconstruction and passage of the 13th Amendment. Daniel Day-Lewis, in an Oscar-winning performance, lea...

Welcome! Our Presidential series continues with a 90s action classic--Harrison Ford's Air Force One. It's the only action flick in our series, and we have a fun discussion. How does it hold up? How has 9/11 changed our opinion of its content? How does Harrison Ford's President James Marshall stack up to the other presidents in our series? Find out the answers and more on this episode! To pair, we enjoy an iconic Oregon Pinot Noir. #AirForceOne #HarrisonFord #90s #actionmovies

For this week's presidential film, we look at one of the great films of the 1970s: All the President's Men. This is an intelligent, authentic, and--sadly--still relevant film that details the investigative journalism that brought down the Nixon White House. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman headline as Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, respectively. They embark on a story that will take them all the way from a minor burglary at the Watergate Hotel, all the way to the Ova...

Our Presidential Series continues with the sly, tense Frost/Nixon! Based on Peter Morgan's award-winning play, Ron Howard's film examines the real story of David Frost's landmark interview series with disgraced President Richard Nixon. Both men enter this story with something to prove: Frost seeks improve his reputation as a carousing, boozy entertainer, while Nixon wants to repair his legacy and come out looking more presidential. How much of this movie resembles reality? What was its lasting ...

Our Presidential Series kicks off with an Oscar-wining masterpiece, Oliver Stone’s JFK! This film is unique in the series, in that it doesn’t focus on the actual president, but the mystery and confusion surrounding his murder. The Kennedy assassination is the greatest whodunit in American history, and Stone approaches it like a true crime thriller. Kevin Costner plays New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, whose obsession with the killing led to the only criminal trial in the case. Around h...

Welcome! We're taking a break this week, getting ready for our big presidential series. That's 7 movies that run the gamut--from comedies to action to intense drama. It's going to be loads of fun. In the meantime, let's check out a quick look back at our legendary Summer of Chaos. In this episode, we had a lively discussion of Rambo III. It's a dippy, overblown, guilty pleasure action epic. Enjoy!

Welcome! This week, we conclude our Odds and Ends Series, looking at flicks we've wanted to cover, but haven't found the space. Taylor chose The Game, David Fincher's thriller from 1997. It stars Michael Douglas and Sean Penn, and features the sort of mind-screw theme that was popular during this era. (See also: The Matrix and Dark City) Still, The Game doesn't get the same love as Fincher's other works, such as Se7en and The Social Network. How does it hold up? Is it really the worst movie fro...

Hey! This week, we close out our series looking at classics we've always wanted to cover, and this one's a classic: Twister, from 1996. It's an awesome, cheesy, epic disaster flick, and it's still a lot of fun. We've got a top cast (including the late, great Bill Paxton and Phillip Seymour Hoffman), ground-breaking CGI (which looks a little quaint now, but...), and lots of corny dialogue. Get your popcorn ready! Did you know this movie was loaded with backstage drama? Find out all the juicy gos...

Welcome! This week, we continue our series looking at movies we've never gotten around to seeing. Each host picks a new movie each week. For this installment, it's Sean's pick--Edgar Wright's rom-com chase flick, Baby Driver! This movie has familiar elements, but presents them in a refreshing way. It's exciting, goofy, and totally fun. We have a lot of fun discussing it, and you don't want to miss out! #BabyDriver #CarChases #actionmovie #JamieFoxx #EdgarWright

Welcome! This week, we kick off a series of movies we've each wanted to cover, but never have. My pick is Stop Making Sense, Jonathan Demme's beautiful, epic documentary of Talking Heads. It's a visionary movie, and has influential countless others since its release. Obviously, I was very excited for this one, but what did everyone else think? Some of us had never seen it, and you won't want to miss their opinions. To pair with these movies, I'll pick some wines we've never tried, from places ...

We couldn't do a Summer Series without a baseball movie, could we? For this episode, we wrap things up with an 80s classic, The Natural. Barry Levinson's epic baseball fantasy is overlong and overblown, but it's also well-cast, beautifully shot, and loaded with iconic scenes. Predictably, our opinions of this film run the gamut. Some of us view it through the glowy haze of nostalgia, while one of us is watching for the first time. Tune in and see where we land on the scale! Our upcoming series...

Our Summer Series kicks into high gear with one of the biggest hits of the 90s: Independence Day! From a drunken Randy Quaid to a feisty Bill Pullman, from a young Will Smith to a mumbling Jeff Goldblum...this one has it all! Did you know this was one of the most legendary marketing campaigns in cinema history? Or that the idea for the story came from a random question asked by a reporter? Tune in, and find out tons more trivia! To pair, we enjoy a few refreshing Aperol Spritzers. This has bee...

Our Summer Series continues with an all-time 80s classic, Stand by Me! Rob Reiner directs, from a novella by Stephen King. An cast of future stars appears, including Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, and even cameos from babyfaced Kiefer Sutherland and John Cusack. On a side note: We experienced some technical difficulties--my mic wasn't working properly. As a result, I had to piece this episode together as much as I could. Still, there's some content here, and you can...

Our Summer Series continues with a refreshing indie dramedy, The Way Way Back! This flick has a top-notch cast (Oscar-winners and nominees are everywhere), moments of real cleverness, and a good message underneath it all. One of the most fun things about this podcast is introducing our audience to movies they may have missed, and this one certainly fits that bill. Young actor Liam James stars with Steve Carrell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, and a scene-stealing Sam Rockwell. Find out how this...