Extended Cut

In This Episode

What do you think happened to spoon boy?

Remembering the ‘What is the Matrix?’ ad campaign

Working at Blockbuster Video in 1999

What is The Matrix? (The film)

Exploring the mysteries of the Matrix

Why this movie is J.J. Abrams’ wet dream

Philosophy and The Matrix

How The Matrix nailed the chosen “One” narrative

The two problems with the movie

Link Potpourri

Dune is the Only 'Chosen One' Prophecy that Makes Any Kind of Sense (paid read, but a membership is super reasonable!)

1999: When Gen X Disillusionment Had its Moment on the Big Screen (free read!)

Neo is a Gen X Icon (free read!)

The Matrix: Revisited — 5 Thoughts On the Old Films as a New One Debuts (free read!)

In This Episode

The story behind the “Duel of the Fates” theme.

My 5 favorite lightsaber fights. (Number 4 will shock you! I’m dead serious. I expect to lose some subscribers over it. And possibly some friends.)

The dark times: The post Return of the Jedi years.

A new hope: The Phantom Menace was the most anticipated movie of all-time.

May 19, 1999: Seeing The Phantom Menace the first time.

My favorite things from The Phantom Menace.

My top 5 The Phantom Menace one-hit wonders.

Unanswered questions raised by this movie.

The enduring legacy of The Phantom Menace.

Link Potpourri

25 Years Later, The Phantom Menace Remains an Uneven Yet Thrilling Nostalgia Trip (free read)

The 7 Most Baffling Things in Star Wars (free read)

In This Episode

The top 10 MCU films according to Rotten Tomatoes

Does The Winter Soldier have the MCU’s best cold open?

Breaking down Steve’s notebook

4 reasons this is the best MCU film

Hailing Hydra

The top 10 MCU films according to me1

Plus a brief cameo by my cat and my neighbor’s lawnmower

Marvel Link Potpourri

How the Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes Bromance Defined the MCU (paid post)

Not Every Hero Wears Mother's Drapes: Celebrating the Unsung Heroes of the MCU (free!)

Marvel's Fall From Grace Continues With No End In Sight (free!)

Watching ‘Avengers: Endgame’ in the Theater Absolutely Blew Me Away (free!)

Why Thor Is the Greatest Avenger (free!)

Disney & Marvel Studios have been Mishandling Black Widow for Years (free!)

I’m Conflicted About My Feelings For a Supervillain (free!)

All the Fanfare is an irreverent celebration of pop culture. Covering movies, TV, and video games. Publishing long form articles, quick reads, and a podcast.

This Episode Covers

* Where does D&D fall on the scale of nerdy activities?

* A super brief and probably slightly inaccurate history of D&D.

* How the Game Is Played.

* What a Dungeon Master does (hint: it doesn’t involve whips or gimp suits).

* What the other players do (hint: it typically involves derailing whatever the Dungeon Master’s plan is).

* Dungeons & Dragons & Me

* My favorite classes.

* How I started during the era in which D&D got you beat up.

* The Legacy of D&D.

* The 4 Types of D&D Players.

Further Reading & Related Stories

I have written about D&D. Like, a lot. Here’s a cornucopia of nerdish delights.

Paid Reads

The Absolutely True Story of How Dungeons & Dragons Saved My Life

This is a companion article to the podcast, going into a lot of detail about how and why I got into D&D. It’s deeply personal, and though I try to keep it light, the subject matter gets a bit heavy.

Free Reads

* The Delayed, Exquisite Pain of Growing Up Too Soon

* Playing Dungeons & Dragons Will Make You a Better Writer

* Dungeons & Dragons Has Given Me a Childhood I Never Had

* How a New Player and ‘Macho Man’ Rekindled my Love of D&D

* The 10 Best Celebrity ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Players

* 5 Things I Learned Running a Hex Crawl in Dungeons & Dragons

* These 5 Takeaways From ‘The Hobbit’ Films Will Improve Your Dungeons & Dragons Game

I finally watched the first season of The Wire and now I understand all the fuss. Sharing my thoughts and observations.

What's in this episode:

- Guessing the favorite TV shows of recent US Presidents.

- Familiar faces who got their start on The Wire.

- How and why the very first scene haunted me the entire season.

- My favorite characters and scenes.

- Hopes for season 2.

- Audio footnotes.

All the Fanfare is a new podcast born out of my love for all things pop culture, namely movies, TV, and video games. It combines irreverent takes and funny asides with probably overly serious analysis. Mainly focusing on stuff from the 1980s - 2010s. New episodes every week.