Discerning Geeks Portal

Welcome to the Halloween 2024 Edition of Todd & Preston's Drive-Time Chats. This episode starts with Preston's review of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice."

Preston then continues with reviews of the following streaming movies:

- A recent remake of "Salem's Lot"

- "VHS Beyond"

- "I Watched the TV Glow"

Todd then talks about movies he's recently seen in abridged form, via reaction videos on YouTube:

- "Alien vs. Predator"

- "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem"

- "Alien Romulus"

- "Army of Darkness" (which the Geeks did a full review of in episode #167)

- "Blade"

And, the talk of vampires in "Blade" let to a tangent about the very short-lived 1990s vampire TV show "Kindred: The Embraced" and how it was loosely based on the "Vampire: The Masquerade" role playing game, which Preston has played.

The Geeks then did reviews of the following TV shows:

- "Agatha All Along" on Disney+

- "Grotesquerie" on FX

And, while not related to Halloween, the Geeks went on tangents about the movie "Children of Men," the Mariah Carey song "All I Want For Christmas Is You," election season, and political related movies.

Steering back to Halloween, the Geeks talked about candy and the recent paranormal investigation videos from the Red Letter Media YouTube channel.

Listen now for these topics and all the other little side streets driven down along the way.

You can contact us or request a link to our Discord server at [email protected]. Please rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts. You can write comments directly on our episodes, via Spotify and the Goodpods app.

Royalty free / CC0 songs used in this episode come from Pixabay (list of artists forthcoming in an update to this draft episode summary).

This week, we take a deep dive into the importance we place on entertainment, whether we're being too picky about movies & TV shows, why some of them fail, and how much writing is responsible for successes or failures.

Note: Please excuse this brief description when first being published. I had an extensive description all typed out, and when I clicked one link on the screen, Spotify blanked out my summary!?!?! Check back later and refresh the episode for when I have the patience to re-type the summary all over again (from a text editor this time; I've learned my lesson that I should copy & paste it from there into Spotify's episode page), but for now, I'm releasing the episode as is.

E-mail: [email protected]

Please rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts.

This week, we review the sci-fi film, "Valerian and the city of a Thousand Planets," a passion project of "The Fifth Element" director Luc Besson.

- What record does this movie hold among independent films and European films?

- What did the Geeks think about the story structure and pacing? Did the movie flow well, or were there too many distracting tangents along the way?

- With Luc Besson directing both visually vivid movies, which had better visuals, this movie or "The Fifth Element"?

- What did the Geeks think about the characters? Was there chemistry between the two leads?

- How much did the Geeks like the diversity of the alien races?

- How did this review inspire comparisons to "Rogue One," "Sleepy Hollow," the European division of Africa, Jerry Lewis, "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Alien," and, of course, "Babylon 5"?

- This was a pick of our fallen comrade, Dave Teague (his items still remaining on the list & available for being picked). For what reasons did we guess he put this on the list?

- Was the alien market scene near the beginning helpful for world-building or overly complicated?

- And, what 1990s sci-fi epic did we roll to review sometime in the near-ish future? It's a modern classic, despite a far-fetched final resolution & a massively misguided & forgettable sequel.

Listen now for the answers to these and a thousand other questions, as we explore, "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets."

You can contact us at [email protected]. Send us an invite request to join our Discord server. And, please rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts.

Public domain / cc0 music used in this episode include the following from Pixabay.com.

- Intro/outro: "hybrid-trailer-epic-12954" by Alex_MakeMusic

- Rundown: "deep-space-8141" by unknown

- Joanna voiceover: "quotsupervillainquot-cinematic-score-156281" by u_5gcdffq7mb

- Dave Teague story: "blues-rock-energetic-203364" by Emmraan

- Lightning round: "sci-fi-action-trailer-music-246208" by NiKneT_Art

We continue with Part 2 of our Drive-Time Chat #07, covering the following topics...

- "Late Night With The Devil" movie

- "Arcadian" movie

- "Deadpool & Wolverine" trailers (recorded before the movie itself came out)

- The "X-Men" franchise, in general

- "Batman: Caped Crusader" TV show

- "Agatha All Along" trailer

- "Spider-Man" comics

Listen now for these topics & more.

You can contact us at [email protected] or by joining our Discord server.

Public domain songs included in this episode are from Pixabay.com and FreePD.com.

Tune in to our Drive-Time Discussion #07 as Todd & Preston cover: X-Men '97, The Ark, House of the Dragon, The Acolyte, The Bear, Jules

- Preston is finally caught up on "X-Men '97," so we're finally able to talk about it, including some spoilers. What did the Geeks think about it?

- What reasons did the Geeks have for bringing up Surge energy drink, Putt-Putt Golf & Games, love triangles, and strong accents?

- What did Todd have to say about the return of the low-budget but intriguing series "The Ark" on Syfy?

- Why does Preston think "House of the Dragon" is so good, and why won't Todd give it a try?

- Where does Todd fall in the fandom or hatred of "Star Wars: The Acolyte"?

- What did Preston like so much about season 3 of "The Bear," and did Todd ever hear of it before this season?

- What is the heartwarming sci-fi comedy "Jules" about, and why did Todd find so charming & refreshing?

Listen now for the answers to these and other questions, and stay tuned for Part 2 of this Drive-Time Discussion #07.

You can contact us at [email protected] or join our Discord server. Please rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts.

Songs (public domain, CC0, or via Pixabay royalty free licence) used in this episode include:

- midnight-blues-21179 by lemonmusicstudio via Pixabay

- vlog-music-132239 by Onoychenkomusic via Pixabay

- blues-kind-of-day-112818 by solarmusic via Pixabay

It's another new member of the $1 billion club. We review the superhero blockbuster, "Deadpool & Wolverine."

- Plain & simple, which Geek is the grump this episode and how badly?

- What were the Geeks' opinions about performances in the movie?

- Which of the Geek(s) felt like one or more of the fights in the movie were a little over-the-top? Did they mean that in a good way or bad way?

- How good was the on-screen chemistry between Deadpool & Wolverine?

- Which types of humor in the movie did each Geek prefer?

- Were there any issues with character motivations in this movie?

- Which scene practically put one Geek in a bad mood?

- What did the Geeks think about the movie's soundtrack?

- This movie brings Deadpool into the MCU (sort of?), but did it feel more MCU or more Fox X-Men?

- Where do the Geeks rank this movie against various categories of movies, including the first two Deadpool movies?

- And, what details, compliments, and critiques, do the Geeks share in the spoiler section at the end?

Listen now for the answers to these and other timeline-altering questions as we avoid being stabbed repeatedly by..."Deadpool & Wolverine."

You can contact us via e-mail at [email protected] or by joining our Discord server. Please rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts.

May the odds be ever in your favor...for enjoying this week's review of "The Hunger Games," the first movie in the young adult political action-thriller franchise.

- Which Geek has read the Hunger Games book trilogy, which Geek didn't see any of the Hunger Games until now, which Geek is the only one to see all five movies including the prequel, and are any of these the same Geek?

- Which narrative & visual issues did one Geek have with Act 1 of the movie?

- Which Geek first pointed out how much of the movie was filmed in North Carolina and that he had been to many of those locations?

- Which location in the movie franchise was filmed in Atlanta's Marriott Marquis, the center host hotel of Dragon Con (of course pointed out by Todd)?

- How critical were the Geeks about the love triangle in this movie (and the sage as a whole)?

- Were the Geeks bothered by the target audience being teenage girls?

- Did the premise of the Hunger Games make sense, or was it too unrealistic?

- In what ways is the premise perverse & disturbing?

- What were the most likable things about main character Katniss & support character Rue?

- Which young adult characters in a recent Disney+ show were played by the actress that played pre-teen Rue in THG?

- Which Japanese horror novel contained a very similar plot first, possibly so similar that some criticized this movie for copying?

- Which two animated TV show episodes were randomly rolled to reviewed in the near future?

- In the special SPOILER section at the end, what were two Geeks' complaints about the saga's ending in "Mockingjay, Part 2"?

- And, why the #&][ did Todd go on such huge tangents about "Star Wars: The Acolyte" and...Taylor Swift concert videos on TikTok?

Listen now for the answers to these and other death-defying questions as we give tribute to..."The Hunger Games."

You can contact us at [email protected] or on our our Discord server. Please rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts.

In Part 2 of our discerning look into "The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror 01 to 04," we start with the two literary parodies and then delve into broader discussion about the general appeal of "The Simpsons."

- One of these stories makes a reference to the political primaries of 1992 that included Ross Perot. Don't the days of Ross Perot seem quaint now, in a good way? Could we get that kind of political season back please?

- Did Dave enjoy the monkey's paw parody, or is this another one in the bad category? What did Todd think about it?

- Being a literature fan, did Dave appreciate any aspects of the "Raven" parody? Being less of a literature fan, did that parody reach Todd at all?

- Were there any strong opinions about the wraparound segments, the framing devices that bind the separate stories together into full episodes?

- Which Grandpa moments did Preston enjoy? What is Todd's favorite Grandpa moment that comes from a totally separate episode?

- When trying to determine comedic tastes, was there consensus among the Geeks on Jeff Foxworthy or Jeff Dunham? Which Geek loves the Walter puppet, which Geek loves Jose the "jalapeno on a stick," and which Geek thinks Akhmed the Dead Terrorist is overrated?

- How did the movie "PCU" come up in conversation?

- Everybody has..."their own"...what, exactly?

- How many episodes of the "The Simpsons" has there been?

- Preston is the huge Simpsons fan. Just how high did he score these four "Treehouse of Horror" episodes?

- What is one of Dave's biggest problems with "The Simpsons"?

- Which two very different movies were randomly rolled to be reviewed in the near-ish future?

- And, since he couldn't join Preston & Todd during the full review a couple months ago, what were Dave's "quick & dirty" thoughts about "The Fall Guy" (one of this year's most underrated movies so far)?

Listen now for the answers to these and other questions as we finish up our deep dive of "The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror 01 to 04."

You can contact us by sending an e-mail to [email protected] or by joining our Discord server. Please rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts.

This week, we take a haunting look into the first four "Treehouse of Horror" episodes from "The Simpsons." In Part 1 of this super-sized two-parter, we review the movie parody and "Twilight Zone" parody stories from those first four annual Halloween-themed episodes.

Each "Treehouse of Horror" episode contains three stories and a framing device. Preston is the huge Simpsons fan, and he chose to structure our discussion by category.

First, we cover the "Twilight Zone" parodies regarding alien abduction, an all-powerful Bart, and a gremlin on a school bus instead of an airplane wing.

Next, we cover the movie-based parodies regarding a haunted house, a donut robot, a spooky clown doll, King Kong, zombies, a deal with the devil, and Dracula.

Were Dave & Todd's opinions of these "Treehouse of Horror" specials as strong as an oak or as sad as a willow? Was there a consensus to match Preston's love for these, or were opinions a mixed cauldron? Which episode was one Geek's S-tier? The three stories from the 2nd installment were all nightmares, but did one Geek find any of these episodes to be real-life nightmares? Listen now for the answers to these and other bewitching questions as we climb...the "Treehouse of Horror."

Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon, where we cover the two literature-based parodies regarding Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" and a wish-granting monkey's paw. In Part 2, we also discuss "The Simpsons" in general, including a debate about the show's comedic style.

You can contact us by sending a message to [email protected] or by joining our Discord channel. Please rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts.

This week, we join a time-traveling S-Mart employee named Ash against Deadite zombies as we fight with, "Army of Darkness."

- Did the Geeks agree whether this movie felt like a Looney Tunes cartoon brought to life?

- What did Dave feel was the target audience for "Army of Darkness," and did he consider himself part of that group?

- What did the Geeks feel about the special effects in the movie, and how much did it matter that many of the effects, especially the zombie skeletons, were practical?

- What excuse did Todd use to bring up the recent "The Fall Guy" movie yet again?

- How effective was Bruce Campbell in the lead role? Did he make or break the movie for any of the Geeks?

- Which Geek somehow missed who the famous noble lord was supposed to be in this movie?

- Which famous filming location stood in for medieval England -- despite not looking like England?

- What did the Geeks feel about this movie's depiction of magic, particularly the pivotal mirror scene?

- How did one Geek equate this movie to NASCAR?

- What did the Geeks think about the ending of the movie, especially after Preston shared one alternate ending that was originally considered?

- And, how did the rights to a Hannibal Lecter movie affect this movie and its ending?

Listen now for the answers to these and other undead questions as do combat with..."Army of Darkness."

You can e-mail us at [email protected] or join our Discord server. Please rate or review us wherever you listen to podcasts.