Afterthoughts

This RoR is the most layered of our recent roundtable reviews. Join Ryan as he talks through Adam Sandler's filmography and highlights his first and worst feature Going Overboard (1989), Dixon dissects the differences between a century of reimagined War of the Worlds adaptations, and John brings a mystery title and his most recent regrets to the discussion.

We did it, folks. Dixon finally got us to talk about the inimitable Robert Bresson. Join the Afterthoughts crew as we discuss his biggest commercial success, the thrilling prison break masterpiece A Man Escaped (1956). We dive into Bresson's one-of-a-kind filmmaking style, his technical mastery, and his ability to build tension like no director before or since.

On this episode of Recommend or Refute, John wants to talk about some weird stuff he saw in the The Stuff (1985), Ryan moseys on through the retro-future dystopian western of Trigun Stampede (2023), and Dixon throws us a curveball as he talks about the home run television comedy that is Brockmire (2017-2020).

This week Ryan, Dixon, and John are talking about Steve Martin's 1979 breakout hit The Jerk. Join them for their afterthoughts on how the film holds up today both comedically and culturally, as well as its influence on the comedy genre over the past four decades.

Another week means another round of Recommend or Refute! Dixon is gonna tell us all about Spider-Man: Across The Spider-verse (2023), Ryan's spilling the tea on his time with Milk (2008) and, Don't Panic, John is... talking about some 1987 proto-Malignant horror mystery movie he made his friends watch. Ready your watchlists for additional entries!

Dive deep into the shit with John, Dixon, and Ryan as we break down Ben Stiller's biting Hollywood satire Tropic Thunder (2008). It's packed with industry commentary, controversial choices, and a solid ensemble cast, but how does it all hold up? Is it a cult classic if it was successful at launch? Does it have the best performance Tom Cruise has ever given? You want some [answers], get some in this episode's discussion.

Dixon and John are running the show on this episode of Recommend or Refute! John talks about the Swedish thriller Knocking (2021), drawing comparisons to Invisible Man (2020), but will he ultimately knock it? Dixon opens his film bible to a new chapter and verse with The Starling Girl (2023) and its story of finding agency in a devout Christian community. After all is recommended and refuted, the guys offer thanks and praise to First Reformed (2017) and reflect briefly on the work of Paul Schrader.

Fast-ten your seatbelts (get it?), crack open an ice cold Corona, and join the Afterthoughts family for a breakdown of the latest installment in Hollywood's most absurd action franchise. Does Fast X live up to the batshit insanity of the previous 9 movies, or is this series starting to slip away from Vin Diesel like a giant spherical bomb careening through the streets of Rome?

Dixon's off galavanting through the Scottish highlands, so Ryan and John are holding down the fort without him this week. Ryan breaks down Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (2023) with a brief flashback to the previous entries, John discusses the absurdist Soviet cultural satire Zerograd (1988), and --with bureaucratic commentary fresh on the mind-- the two take some time to discuss the biting workplace comedy Office Space (1999).

In our first official Afterthoughts discussion episode around a television show, we decide to tackle a near impossible to describe cult anime Serial Experiments Lain (1998). Join John, Ryan, and returning guest Mathew (aka Ginohino), as they talk about this psychedelic trip into the metaphysical and philosophical quandaries of budding internet culture in the late '90s.