The two cows are joined this week by special guest Molly Perkins; together, they embark on an interstellar journey into the bureaucratic maze of academic funding. Join us for a discussion of aliens (where are they?), McConaughey vs. Fichtner (who best?), scrunchies (what do they signify?), our favorite first contact movies, and whether this is Robert Zemeckis's masterpiece!

[0:02:08] Overview

[0:25:31] McConaughey: good/bad?

[0:44:57] Aliens!!

[0:51:40] Laura's scrunchie breakdown

[1:13:32] Talking Zemeckis

[1:19:23] Favorite first contact movies

The two cows go running with Tom Cruise and discuss the future as it was projected in 2002, the nature of middle knowledge, themes of blindness/control/justice, and give their top five Spielberg movies.

10.44: Future talk

28.34: Justin's philosophy corner

41.31: Theme and variation

67.22: Spielberg ranked

The two cows recommend five double features, all streaming on either Netflix or Amazon Prime. The themes are: High and Low, Paranoia, Families Falling Apart, The Rules of the Universe, How to Win Friends and Influence People.

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Movies recommended:

High and Low (0:59 Bringing out the Dead // 5:00 Inside Llewyn Davis)

Paranoia (9:27 Clue // 12:53 The Conversation)

Families Falling Apart (15:52 Suspiria [2018] // 20:03 The Squid and the Whale)

The Rules of the Universe (25:13 Killing of a Sacred Deer // 29:34 Highlander)

How to Win Friends and Influence People (33:14 Aguirre, Wrath of God // 37:16 Mitt)

++ Two bonus recs (44:22 // 51:04)!

The two cows go back to high school to revisit this classic 90s teen comedy and discuss house parties, a real life Trip McNeely story,  and Siskel & Ebert's rating scale.

The two cows take a road trip to discuss how a decade of bored contentment in America gave rise to both the gen-X slacker and prank culture, laying the seeds for a generational conflict that takes center stage in this highly rewatchable 2001 John Dahl thriller.

The two cows discuss time travel, religious themes, and the nature of sequels in this action-packed episode.

The two cows go to confession with Martin Scorsese's Boston crime drama.