Bottle Episodes

C.J. and guest Brandon Will slip on their headphones and listen at their own peril as they podcast about a movie about a podcast, UNDERTONE (2026). This audio-driven A24 horror movie centers around a young woman acting as the primary caregiver to her ailing mother, and Brandon brings his personal experiences as his mother's caregiver to the discussion.

C.J. Arellano is an NYC-based writer/filmmaker who plays in the sandboxes of horror, comedy, and fantasy. His films have been featured at international fests including Tribeca, NewFest, Overlook, and Chicago International Film Festival, winning a handful of awards along the way. He is fueled by hope, spreadsheets, ube ice cream, his trusty asthma inhaler, and posting stupid bullshit on Instagram stories. Check out his work at CJarellano.com. Find him on IG: @cjlgva

Brandon Will is a writer and filmmaker. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. For ten years he’s been primary caregiver for his mother, Janice, who lives with Parkinson’s. He’s completing a memoir, WILL MEN CARE, about the struggle in his thirties to comprehend what that asked of and offered him. He’s co-authoring a non-fiction book with Janice, and they’ve completed a screenplay—a rock and roll musical dance romance about the complexities of forming caregiving communities. They host Collective Will, an Open Mic centering disability/illness/aging/caregiving in Berwyn, IL and online. Their advocacy has appeared in books like Rainesford Stauffer’s “All the Gold Stars” and Jennifer Levin’s “Generation Care,” national media such as a Wall Street Journal profile, and as featured subjects of the ABC News Live Special "America's Care Crises," recently nominated for an Emmy. Find their work at our-will-power.com.

Brandon's Letterboxd list of caregiver-related horror movies: https://boxd.it/Tgugw

C.J. and guest Julian Doan trap themselves in a glass case of emotion as they dissect the real-time techno thriller and morality play, PHONE BOOTH (2003), starring Colin Farrell and directed by Joel Schumacher.

C.J. Arellano is an NYC-based writer/filmmaker who plays in the sandboxes of horror, comedy, and fantasy. His films have played at fests internationally and have won a handful of awards along the way. He is fueled by hope, spreadsheets, ube ice cream, his trusty asthma inhaler, and posting stupid bullshit on Instagram stories. Check out his work at CJarellano.com. Find him on IG: @cjlgva

Julian Doan is a writer and director preoccupied with the mundane, ironic, and absurd. His short films "Raspberry" (Sundance 2021) and "Long's Long Lost & Mini Mart" (Tribeca 2025), are the first 2 of his "dead dad trilogy", to be completed with his 1st feature HALF SWEET (Gotham Project Market 2021) - a Tati-esque satirical tragicomedy about a family keeping a dying father alive against his will. Together, these films all explore the commodification of grief. He's also an editor and assistant editor with credits such as THE SYMPATHIZER, IN TREATMENT, MAINSTREAM, and WILD WILD COUNTRY. He’s a recently converted cat daddy. Find him on IG: @heyitsjulian

C.J. and guest Nikita Imafidon go ghostbusting on Christmas Eve as they psychoanalyze intrepid paranormal investigators Mulder and Scully in the very special holiday episode of THE X-FILES, "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas."

C.J. Arellano is an NYC-based writer/filmmaker who plays in the sandboxes of horror, comedy, and fantasy. His films have played at fests internationally and have won a handful of awards along the way. He is fueled by hope, spreadsheets, ube ice cream, his trusty asthma inhaler, and posting stupid bullshit on Instagram stories. Check out his work at CJarellano.com. Find him on IG: @cjlgva

Nikita is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and full-time jester. Her work revolves around identity and media with a tendency towards the strange. She's a little too into everything. She runs an X-Files meme account on Instagram (@sculder.and.mully) and writes about The X-Files on Substack (sculderandmully.substack.com).

C.J. and Erin Sindewald board a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet (what could go wrong?) as they dissect the terrifying DOCTOR WHO Series 4 episode, "Midnight."

C.J. Arellano is an NYC-based writer/filmmaker who plays in the sandboxes of horror, comedy, and fantasy. His films have played at fests internationally and have won a bunch of awards or whatever. He is fueled by hope, spreadsheets, ube ice cream, his trusty asthma inhaler, and posting stupid bullshit on Instagram stories. Check out his work at CJarellano.com. Find him on IG: @cjlgva

Erin enjoys running, comics, being outside, and eating snacks on her couch when she is not outside. She lives in Chicago with her plants and books.

Holy hot mamas! C.J. and guest Tia Hanke-Hills are staying late at 30 ROCK to watch the season finale of "MILF Island" and ponder the line between art and trash.

C.J. Arellano is an NYC-based writer/filmmaker who plays in the sandboxes of horror, comedy, and fantasy. His films have played at fests internationally and have won a bunch of awards or whatever. He is fueled by hope, spreadsheets, ube ice cream, his trusty asthma inhaler, and posting stupid bullshit on Instagram stories. Check out his work at CJarellano.com. Find him on IG: @cjlgva

Tia Hanke-Hills is a New York-based writer who's been working in advertising for over ten years. She is also an all-around TV enthusiast with a deep appreciation for prestige, trash, and lots of things in-between. Check her out at tiahankehills.com . IG: @altheahh

C.J. and Adam Murray go on a date and encounter threatening memes, terrifying assassination plots, and - eek - aspiring improvisers in Christopher Landon's adorable thriller, DROP.

C.J. Arellano is an NYC-based writer/filmmaker who plays in the sandboxes of horror, comedy, and fantasy. His films have played at fests internationally and have won a bunch of awards or whatever. He is fueled by hope, spreadsheets, ube ice cream, his trusty asthma inhaler, and posting stupid bullshit on Instagram stories. Check out his work at CJarellano.com. Find him on IG: @cjlgva

Adam is the creator and writer of reallytallguy.com, where he reviews movies, theater, and everything in between. You can find him at the movies, in a Broadway theater, and on TikTok/instagram @really.tall.guy. Whenever you’re looking for Adam, just look up and he’s probably there.

C.J. and Courtney wait for a table at "The Chinese Restaurant," SEINFELD's real-time outing rife with innovation and impatience.  

Courtney and C.J. explore their dual natures as they check into BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE, Drew Goddard's curious neo-noir from 2018.

C.J. and Courtney wake up in a coffin and find themselves BURIED in this 2010 low-budget thriller starring Ryan Reynolds. 

Courtney and C.J. fight to survive a home invasion as they lock themselves in David Fincher's PANIC ROOM.