Brainwaves

Tom Cruise just had the lowest-grossing opening weekend of his entire career with his bizarre new movie Digger, so naturally, Barry loved it. While critics and audiences stayed away, Barry is convinced it's a secretly brilliant, two-twist masterpiece (and so is Guillermo del Toro, apparently). Jason is pretty sure Barry just talked himself into it.

Then the real debate: the two of them count down their all-time favorite Tom Cruise movies. Minority Report, A Few Good Men, Magnolia, Jerry Maguire, Top Gun: Maverick, Collateral, Rain Man, and the great Mission: Impossible question, which entry reigns supreme? From Risky Business to the latest death-defying stunt, they go deep on the most bankable movie star alive, Scientology couch-jumping and all.

What's your number one Tom Cruise movie?

Brainwaves with Jason and Barry. Two guys figuring out midlife one pointless debate at a time. New episodes weekly.

Two GenX guys go down concert memory lane, the legendary shows, the epic letdowns, and the bands that defined a generation.

Jason relives seeing Guns N' Roses in 1992 at the absolute height of their fame, with Metallica as the opening act and Faith No More, right after the infamous Montreal riot. Barry recounts the underwhelming "karaoke" Sex Pistols reunion (surviving members, a fill-in singer, they left early), the electric energy of The Offspring playing Ixnay on the Hombre front to back, and an unforgettable R.E.M. show with Michael Stipe as the ultimate showman.

Plus Bon Jovi in the snow, Mötley Crüe, Madonna, Bad Religion, and the great R.E.M. debate: Jason has never liked them, and Barry is determined to change that.

The shows we'll never forget, and a couple we'd like to.

What's the best concert you ever saw?

Brainwaves with Jason and Barry. Two guys figuring out midlife one pointless debate at a time. New episodes weekly.

Last week it was regrets. This week, the opposite: the purchases Barry and Jason treasure most and would never, ever sell.

Barry shows off his ultra-rare Ghostbusters "ghost trap" trilogy set and his out-of-print Conan Chronicles. Jason makes the case for the Batman four-film collection that looks and sounds stunning even when the movie is near unwatchable, the Mad Max set built around the masterpiece that is Fury Road, and a decade-old Real Ghostbusters cartoon set that somehow survived a stint in his backyard shed.

Two collectors who buy to keep, not to flip, and the stories behind the discs that matter most.

Which one would you save from a fire?

Brainwaves with Jason and Barry. Two guys figuring out midlife one pointless debate at a time. New episodes weekly.

Ever bought a Blu-ray you instantly regretted? Barry and Jason come clean about their worst physical media purchases, the 4K discs, steelbooks, and Arrow releases they should have left on the shelf.

Jason confesses to the Spawn Arrow release (a near-unwatchable movie with no disc swag), the Last of Us steelbook he'll never rewatch, and $750 worth of giant collectible Marvel comic reprints too big to even fit on a shelf. Barry owns up to the Welcome to Derry steelbook, Shin Godzilla (all shin, no Godzilla), an $18 clam chowder gone wrong, and a bottle of Johnnie Walker Double Black that smelled like a burning campfire.

Plus the golden rule they're swearing by: never buy a TV series in 4K (with two Star Trek exceptions), and never, ever buy anything sight unseen.

What's the purchase you regret most?

Brainwaves with Jason and Barry. Two guys figuring out midlife one pointless debate at a time. New episodes weekly.

Star Trek turns 60, and two lifelong Trekkies celebrate the only way they know how: ranking the series, defending their favorites, and arguing about where it all went wrong.

Barry and Jason go deep on The Next Generation (their shared number one), Deep Space Nine and the Dominion War, and why Strange New Worlds lost the plot with the Muppet and musical episodes. Plus the deep cuts only real fans remember, Wrath of Khan vs Star Trek VI, Christopher Plummer's all-time great villain, why there's still no Next Generation in 4K, the Enterprise theme song debate, and a Star Trek comics rabbit hole.

From Spock to Picard to Captain Pike, 60 years of Trek in one very nerdy conversation.

What's your favorite Star Trek series?

Brainwaves with Jason and Barry. Two guys figuring out midlife one pointless debate at a time. New episodes weekly.

Two improv guys talk comedy, the shows that shaped them, and the one terrifying night Jason tried stand-up. Barry and Jason break down what makes a perfect Seinfeld episode, the comics they've seen live (Tim Dillon, Shane Gillis, Jerry Seinfeld), and the foul-mouthed Dr. Phil act from Adam Ray that Barry's about to see in person.

Then Jason tells the story of his one and only open mic in the 90s: calling a voicemail to find out if he made the lineup, hearing his name, and the five terrifying minutes that sent him running to improv instead, which is where these two eventually met.

Plus the dream comics they'd still pay to see: Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Chris Rock, and a Dane Cook arena story for the ages.

Who's the best comedian you've ever seen live?

Brainwaves with Jason and Barry. Two guys figuring out midlife one pointless debate at a time. New episodes weekly.

Are carnival games actually rigged? Barry and Jason take apart the whole midway: the basketball hoop that's a hair too small, the balloons nobody can pop, and Barry's one secret for actually winning (hint: don't play the house).

Along the way, Jason's genius trick for scoring free eclipse glasses, the endless hunt for the elusive "freaky food," why every ride feels one bolt away from disaster, and a surprise He-Man Blu-ray unboxing that kicks the whole thing off. Plus, Greg the Hammer Valentine is wrestling at 70.

Two GenX guys closing out summer at the CNE, one pointless debate at a time.

Brainwaves with Jason and Barry. New episodes weekly.

Jason has a fashion problem. Barry does not.

When these two hung out last weekend, Barry showed up looking like the father of the bride while Jason looked, by his own admission, like he came to fix the dishwasher. Then a coworker told him, kindly, that she hates his shirt. Something broke.

So Jason submits to a full fashion intervention. Barry's rules, Jason's baffling new plan to match his shirt to his chair, and a conversation that somehow ends up at what you'd want to be buried in.

Are you a Barry or a Jason?

Brainwaves with Jason and Barry. Two guys figuring out midlife one pointless debate at a time. New episodes weekly.

West Coast or East Coast, which one actually wins? Jason makes his case for the West: Vancouver, the mountains, and those Pacific sunsets that drop right into the ocean. Barry rides recency bias straight to the East after a lobster-fueled trip to Halifax.

Along the way: the laid-back coastal state of mind, the Rocky Mountaineer, the hotel that may have inspired The Shining, Jason's surprising love affair with edamame, and a lobster roll debate that gets far more heated than two grown men should allow.

East or West, where do you land?

Brainwaves with Jason and Barry. Two GenX guys figuring out midlife one pointless debate at a time. New episodes weekly.

We put every franchise we love on trial. Which ones deserve to die, which ones need saving, and which will we defend forever even when they don't deserve it?

It starts with the new Masters of the Universe (Barry's one-word review: betrayal) and spirals out into Mission Impossible, Batman, Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the one Jason's secretly tired of that might surprise you. We even try to guess each other's all-time favorite along the way.

Nobody wins. Everybody has opinions. You'll leave with a hot take you didn't have before.

Brainwaves is two GenX guys figuring out midlife one pointless debate at a time. New episodes weekly.