Hey, an Actor!

Hey, an Actor! kicks off a new themed year! Once more, The Brothers Wilson take on a comedic thespian for January, focusing their energy on Canadian and original Saturday Night Live cast member Dan Aykroyd. The silver screen adaptation of Dragnet throws up a frankly amazing rap partnership between Aykroyd and former HAA subject Tom Hanks. Whilst Grosse Point Blank has such a magnificent soundtrack that the hosts stop recording to settle a background music dispute. Capping everything off is a review of the seminal music-based comedy caper: The Blues Brothers. Along the way, Ian expresses irritation at the relentless memory-flogging of dead celebrities, Pandy blames two British Earth-2.net contributors for theoretically cock-blocking his brother, and the theme of 2018 HAA programming is spelled out in full. What is it? Listen in to find out!

"Davis Guggenheim who?" we hear you ask. Why, it's no less than the critically acclaimed documentary film-maker behind Al Gore's Oscar winning, carbon-based thriller An Inconvenient Truth and guitar-fetish piece It Might Get Loud. The brothers have great fun discussing their musical ability, their spin on American party politics, and the charisma of the former "next President of the United States of America." If that was not excitement enough, this Yuletide edition includes a customary seasonal triple whammy of delights: The Brothers dip into their outtake collection, the third annual Tomlinson awards, and it's a Pandy editing special! Merry Christmas one and all!

Harkening back to the podcast's Year of Grey, The Brothers Wilson profile one of Hollywood's biggest icons: Marilyn Monroe. First up is the oxymoronic Technicolor noir film Niagara, where the hosts consider mysterious shoes and the crossover between Dick Van Dyke and British satirist Chris Morris. After that There's No Business Like Show Business gives Pandy an excuse to explore his fascination with Ethel Merman and Ian an excuse to rail against Singin' in the Rain once again. But the featured presentation is the comedy classic Some Like It Hot, with numerous literal actor names. Our hosts also consider classic adverts about crisps, Hugh Hefner being a Horcrux, the city of Boston, and the mindsets of 1950s Hollywood producers. Surely, it's the perfect lead in to the final episode of the year and the next round of Tomlinson awards!

Redheads aplenty as Hey, an Actor! profiles one of modern cinema's more acclaimed actresses: Nicole Kidman. The Brothers Wilson chart her starring role in Baz Luhrmann's love-letter to his nation, Australia; her dark comedy career steppingstone, To Die For; and her Oscar-winning performance in The Hours, opposite previous HAA subjects Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore. Our hosts spend time reminiscing about a teacher's wall, and bracing themselves for the return of sound effects brought on by covering a film co-starring Joaquin Bottom. Plus: Pandy fails to immediately recognize actors who have had roles in Game of Thrones, David Wenham drops in for a chat, and one host embarrasses himself by concluding that a real-life author once had superpowers.

This month sees Hey, an Actor! profile one of Hollywood's topmost A-listers from the end of the 20th century: Mel Gibson. The Brothers Wilson combine to chart the rise, fall, and partial resurgence of one of their most controversial subjects to date, with a particularly lengthy discussion about career resurrection and redemption. And as this is also a movie podcast in part, the episode covers Gibson's American breakthrough hit Lethal Weapon, the baffling pinnacle of his career in Braveheart, and the almost perversely insightful career doldrums movie The Beaver. (No sniggering at the back!) There's also some drunken insight into Lethal Weapon from The Orgs, whilst Ian dusts off his history hat to rip Braveheart a new one in terms of historical accuracy and why it is emblematic of today's post-truth society.

What better way to celebrate the twin accomplishments of Ian's impending house ownership, and Burt Reynolds' entire film career than having a Pandy editing special? The Brother's Wilson investigate three films around the pinnacle of his popularity: the sexy rootin, tootin musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; the banjo and sodomy classic Deliverance; and the mothertruckin' Smokey and the Bandit. Listen in to hear some of Reynolds' amazing pithy one-liners, discover Pandy's deep history with one of the films, find out how Ian would use Emmett Brown to improve a film, and hear The Brothers saying they don't want to speak ill of the dead despite speaking ill of the dead.

Kate Winslet is one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation: fact. With that in mind, how will The Brothers Wilson screw up / trivialize their analysis of one of the most famous people to come out of Berkshire, England? The film choices certainly stack up: starting with Winslet's Oscar win for the post-World War II drama The Reader, proceeding on to her breakthrough role as Marianne Dashwood in Emma Thompson's 1995 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, and then as the female lead in a little film known as Titanic. The always razor-sharp analysis involves Alan Rickman impressions, a timely reference to Divine Brown, and a failure on both hosts to say the word "admirable". This episode also marks the debut appearances of Ralph Fiennes, Ioan Gruffudd, and Billy "Slam Evil" Zane, whilst the actor Greg Wise is mocked for being a minor celebrity. And if you think this episode is ending on a Celine Dion song, you're only partly correct.

It's Ian's birthday month and for Hey, an Actor! he has picked Kirsten Dunst as the featured star, even if he can't pronounce her first name properly. Making hay of her relatively long career for someone her age, The Brothers Wilson watch her grow from a child vampire in Interview with the Vampire to an assured teen performer in cheerleader / sports movie Bring It On, and finally as the adult lead in the overly serious Lars von Trier drama Melancholia. Along the way, they give everyone a dentistry update, Pandy reminisces about his wedding, and Ian turns heel on both Australians and the poor due to his potential homeowner status. And The Orgs drop feedback that is so entertaining that it gets remixed for the end theme!

The time has come for one of the most successful actors of his generation to come under the Hey, an Actor! spotlight in the form of Tom Hanks. The WWII epic Saving Private Ryan prompts nearly a full hour of discussion. Then a second collaboration with Steven Spielberg follows on with a review of The Terminal. And to cap things off, The Brothers Wilson explore the darker side of the hit 1980s fantasy / comedy Big. The episode also debuts a new feature of advertising breaks for when a Heather Graham Moment is not appropriate, as well as the retirement of Oscar quizzes due to how bad Ian is at them. The big questions are also answered, such as how many air hostesses do the brothers know, and just how distracting is it to see Robert Loggia in a film that isn't Independence Day?

The Brothers Wilson wind back the years with their very first face-to-face recording of Hey, an Actor! as though they were recording For Your Ears Only without Adham Fisher! Denzel Washington is the featured subject, and Ian and Pandy quip their way through urban crime drama Training Day, revenge film Man on Fire, and his titular role in Malcolm X. Along the way, our hosts dip their toes into Ebonics and some risqué impressions ranging from Bill Cosby and amateur actor Nelson Mandela to Bob Dylan, Al Pacino, and Strong Bad. Ian is also subjected to multiple Oscar quizzes by Pandy, whilst The Orgs and Donovan Morgan Grant raise the bar of HAA! feedback.