No one ever wanted to attend summer school, but maybe this topic might make you reconsider that! Professor Spencer is back, and the topic of this lecture is very appropriate for the time of year: Summer Blockbusters! We discuss where the phrase came from, the origins of the Summer blockbuster, a history of classic movies that qualify for the term, the trends we see in these films as time goes on, and a top 10 list to wrap it up of the highest grossing summer blockbusters of all time (1 per year). No scantrons necessary, and no textbook required for this class; just sit down, listen up, and enjoy!

It's summertime on the pod, and we are celebrating one of our most frequent and favorite guest's birthdays by reviewing the film that created the summer blockbuster: Jaws! Liz wanted to cover ANOTHER Spielberg classic on her birthday, and she chose wisely. The perfect summer terror flick, Jaws first swam to our local cinema in 1975, and changed movies forever. Launching the career of one of Hollywood's biggest directors, debuting one of the most terrifying movie antagonists ever, and creating a theme hummed in pools and lakes across the globe, Jaws truly changed movies, and we thought it would be fitting to deep dive (pun intended) into this Classic with a capital C for this monumental episode. Happy Birthday Liz, just don't go in the water for awhile. 

You are on the clock! Steven & Mike are back, and they join Host Spencer for the third Great Movie Scenario Draft. This time, they draft 2 completely different scenarios from movie history: A football team made up of famous sports movie players (a QB, a RB, a WR, a defender, a coach, and a wildcard), and the Avengers Initiative (Loki is back for New York, draft 6 heroes to stop him... except one is taken over by the mind stone for the whole fight!). Are there some strange picks in this one? Yep. Is there a far too long argument about someone's superpowers? Of Course. Does Mike worry too much about each football player's pro-football experience? So much so we had to edit 20 minutes out. 

Season Five is so big it gets two big episodes to start off! Theresa is back alongside new guest Sloan to work with Host Spencer on deciding the Best Animated Disney Movie of all time! 64 movies in 4 regions: 1937-1977, 1981-2001, 2002-2022, and the Pixar Region. Each region is seeded from the number 1 seed to number 16 based on their average review score in that bracket, and some of the matchups bring heavy discussion. Luckily, we were given the task to do this, and if you disagree, take it up with Walt. The House of Mouse needs a movie to get the master bedroom, and we are here to decide it... does that make sense? 

Welcome to Season Five! As one of the movie characters from this bracket said: I'll be back, and boy did we mean it! Host Spencer, longtime friend of the Pod Max, and first time guest Shane are here to go back in time and do a bracket to determine what is the best/ most 80s movie of all time! 64 movies, plus an honorable mentions list longer than Beetlejuice's Waitlist number, are discussed: from the Brat Pack classics (Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles), the horror masterpieces no one dared to rent on VHS (The Thing, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist), the icons from the summer of '84 (Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Beverly Hills Cop), to the Corey Feldman collection (The Goonies, The Lost Boys, Stand By Me), we get into everything! So take out your Peter Gabriel cassette and Do the Right Thing by listening to this long, in depth episode (the perfect length for your family vacation to Walley World). We may have not lived through the decade, but you know once this podcast starts going about the 80s, you're gonna hear some serious s**t!

As the tag on him states, "PLEASE LOOK AFTER THIS BEAR THANK YOU." So, this podcast did the honorable thing and watched both Paddington movies to make sure he was okay, and by goodness were these more than okay! Host Spencer's rootin' tootin' partner Theresa comes back on the pod, and they discuss the Paddington movies! (No joke, 2 of the best movies both have ever seen). Starting off with a brief review of why they loved the film, the pod dives into each movie and discusses all these movies have to offer: Comedy, cute bear shenanigans, the hard stare, all the marmalade you could ask for, a plethora of Harry Potter actors, and enough heart warming moments to last you the rest of your life. These two movies were an absolute delight, a thought most critics shared as the second film holds a Rotten Tomatoes record for it's 100% score! Grab the marmalade sandwich from under your hat (watch out for those pesky pigeons), and enjoy the Season 4 finale!

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! Lock your cabin doors and light a nice fire, because it's time for a fireside discussion. Jamie & Morgan are back on the pod for a new style of podcast episode, where we discuss a classic movie or movie series with people who have just watched it for the first time! Host Spencer is one of the biggest Friday the 13th fans there is, and Jamie & Morgan have never seen a single one, so it was time for a discussion episode where we re-live what it was like to see the iconic hockey mask and machete on the screen for the first time. We discuss their thoughts on the ideal slasher movie, their favorite and least favorite moments of the franchise, and how, unlike many counselors and horny people who visit Crystal Lake, they survived watching 11 run ins with the Voorhees family (they did not watch Freddy V Jason for reasons discussed in the episode...). 

Things just got out of hand. We have our newest addition to the MCU, and it definitely emphasizes the U part of that abbreviation. Doctor Strange is back, and this time he has some new friends, and foes, to go on one of the most insane and horrific tales the MCU has seen so far. Listen as Host Spencer discusses this new release, with his spoiler free 10 minute opening, and then dives deep into the Madness with 20 minutes of spoiler discussions. And yes, everything gets discussed: The good, the Bad, and of course, the Strange.

Happy May the 4th! This podcast unashamedly celebrates this holiday, and for this year we decided to go big: A 64 character bracket filled up with all the people, creatures, droids, and random side characters you know and love from a galaxy far, far away. Host Spencer, alongside guests Steven and Liz, pull random matchups for each bracket to try to decide who is the best Star Wars character from all 11 movies in the Skywalker saga. We did not include the TV shows or the random other movies this series has, as this is a movie podcast... and also those other movies aren't great. There are some easy matchups, some really difficult matchups, and some egregious choices that are made over the entirety of the episode. It's a long one, perfect for flying casual and relaxing. No need for hyper space here.

With the first and second pick for the 2022 Movie Scenario Draft, Host Spencer selects new guests Gavin and Courtney! All 3 of them have done their scouting, watched a lot of tape, and studied on how to make the 2 best teams for this year's first movie scenario draft. Each team will fantasy draft movie characters to fit the 2 given scenarios: Draft a 5 player basketball team with 1 coach to defeat the Mon-Stars in a classic Looney Tunes space showdown; and draft 5 Villains to form some sort of Suicide Squad and 1 hero to lead your team into battle to go extract a person of interest from a military compound... that happens to have a large monster guarding them. Similar to last year's draft there are rules, and similar to last year's draft there are some off the wall character picks for all teams involved. So fill out your mock drafts, and see how right you are, as these 3 general managers are officially on the clock!