Fix This Flick!

After months of hard lobbying and veiled death threats, guest host Emmy finally convinced Fix This Flick! to revisit one of the biggest (and most bizarre) pop culture phenomena of the 2000s: vampire romance Twilight. 

As Emmy provides host Ali with mostly unsolicited backstory on the world of Twilight, the duo discuss the not-so-subtle racism and Mormon propaganda of Twilight creator Stephenie Meyer, and dare to suggest improvements that could be made to the "greatest love story ever told".

For the premiere of the second season of Fix This Flick!, Ali and guest host Conor look back on Skyfall, the most successful and overrated James Bond film of all time. As they debate whether or not the plot of a Bond movie even matters, the duo parse through the most outrageously improbable villain master plan since the Joker’s infamously farcical plot in the Dark Knight, and muse on whether or not Skyfall’s screenwriters stole all their ideas from Macaulay Culkin movies.

Recommendations this episode:

Ali: Footloose (1984)

Conor: Casino Royale (2006)

To cap off the Fix This Flick! social justice movie series, host Ali is joined once more by guest Shannon to fix the Julia Roberts-starring movie Erin Brockovich, a legal drama lacking much in the way of drama.

Shannon, a fellow redhead, overcomes her auburn hair club loyalties to criticize the simplistic character arc of Roberts' Brockovich, and Ali suggests a daring rewrite that entails changing the movie title from Erin Brockovich to the much catchier title of Marg Helgenberger. 

The Fix This Flick! social justice movie series continues with 2016's Hidden Figures, a feel-good movie that explores both sexism and racism in a disappointingly neutered way. Host Ali and guest host Dan (returning for his third appearance on the pod!) discuss the problems with "flawless" protagonists, how to make a movie about mathematicians without showing any math, and whether they have to like a movie just because it has a positive message.

In the second review of Fix This Flick!'s social justice movie series, hosts Ali and Anis revisit one of their favourite childhood movies: American History X. The duo discuss if the groundbreaking classic on racism in America still holds up 23 years later, as well as excessive slow-mo scenes, ill-advised Terrence Malick homages and one of the most emotionally manipulative twist endings of all time.

In the first of Fix This Flick!'s series of social justice movie reviews, hosts Ali and Shannon break down the hits and misses of the Oscar-winning dark comedy, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

As they figure out ways to add nuance and depth to a movie that's utterly lacking in them, the duo also discuss ill-advised sitcom moments, tokenist anti-racism messages and failed attempts to blend traumatic sexual assault with crotch-kicking humour.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, the romance edition of Fix This Flick! features the greatest (which also makes it the worst) chick flick of all time: The Notebook. Join host Ali and his SO Shannon as they attempt to fix The Notebook's lack of character development, tepid love triangles and letter-withholding malarkey, all while solving the mystifying secret behind The Notebook's enduring popularity. 

Host Ali and guests Dan and Conor take on the 148-minute slog that is 2019's Midsommar, an indie horror about a wacky Swedish cannibal cult that's far less interesting than it sounds.

In attempting to fix Midsommar, the trio marvel at how director Ari Aster manages to succumb to every horror movie cliché...while also somehow failing to do the bare minimum most horror movies get right. Debate topics also include the merits of ceremonial mallets vs. nursing homes, tedious Master's thesis arguments, and whether or not Midsommar's "hero" might secretly be the villain.

Recommendations this episode: The Cabin in the Woods (Conor), The Mandalorian (Dan), The Venture Bros. (Ali). 

Ali and guest host Dan go back in time to fix Casablanca, a World War II classic that promises adventure in an exotic locale and yet takes place almost entirely inside a bar. As they attempt to salvage Casablanca's tepid romance and tensionless plot, Ali and Dan discuss recasting Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca's unflattering similarities to the Star Wars sequels (no movie-related discussion with Dan can go too far without a mention of the Star Wars prequels), and some of the worst "romance" dialogue ever written.

Guest host Rob returns once more to join Ali in figuring out exactly why sci-fi modern classic Interstellar is such a hollow experience. The duo also discuss Christopher Nolan's propensity for bad exposition and poorly written female characters, undeserved comparisons to 2001: A Space Odyssey, and whether or not love transcends space and time (gag).