Imitating Art with Don & Chuck

After a run of superhero movies with mixed reviews and mixed-er (?) success, the DC Extended Universe takes a gamble with The Suicide Squad, a soft reboot of their previous move in the series, Suicide Squad. It's all very confusing, but you don't have to watch the first movie (and we recommend you don't) to enjoy this one. Don and Chuck have different opinions on the movie, but they both have fun dissecting its ridiculously violent comic book antics, over-the-top characters and raucous, infantile humor. Unexpectedly, this silly action film helps them discuss such important topics as separating the government from its country, the way governments treat their military, and the lasting effects of trauma. 

Music by Nathan Terry

This week, singer-songwriter Jonah Matranga helps Don and Chuck tackle their first truly art-house film with Lars von Trier's The Idiots. An engaging though often uncomfortable film, the Idiots tells the story of a commune of mostly young, emotionally lost, well-to-do people who expose society's true feelings for those they feel are below them. How do they do this? By pretending to be differently-abled. Jonah helps guide Don and Chuck through the film's themes of rebelliousness, the damage wealth and privilege can bring, and personal freedom. 

Follow Jonah on Instagram at instagram.com/aonelinedrawingis

Music by Nathan Terry

This month, Don and Chuck battle it out to decide which is better: low-budget independent films or high-budget, high-concept Hollywood hits. Flip the coin, pick a side, and see if you agree with Don or Chuck!

Music by Nathan Terry

This week, Don and Chuck are joined by Lauren to talk about Greta Gerwig's 2019 rendition of Little Women. The film tells the story of the four March sisters as they grow to adulthood in 1800s America. Through love and loss, they learn a great deal about life. Which is great for a podcast about life lessons in movies. Don, Chuck, and Lauren discuss the importance of apologizing, the fear of change, and how everyone needs a little help sometimes.

Follow Lauren on instagram: @bucklephotos

Music by Nathan Terry

This week, Don and Chuck are joined by singer/songwriter/all-around-awesome-person Sarah Saturday to discuss one of Sarah's favorite movies, Stranger Than Fiction. Will Ferrell takes one of his first serious roles in the 2006 comedy/drama about Harold Crick, an ordinary man who suddenly hears someone narrating his life. Once he grows accustomed to it, his life takes an existential turn when the narrator mentions Harold will soon die. Harold's journey to escape his fate and add meaning to his soon-to-be-shortened life helps Don, Chuck, and Sarah discuss topics such as the importance of being kind, paying attention to the little things in life, and how, sometimes, you just have to sit back and eat a cookie.

Visit Sarah Saturday on instagram: @sarahsaturdaygram and @gardeningnotarchitecture

Music by Nathan Terry

Chuck and Don celebrate the 90s with Jim Carrey, Capri Sun, and a movie that asks you to believe in magic just long enough to get the story rolling. In Liar Liar, Carrey plays Fletcher Reed, a lawyer who puts his job before his son, Max. When Max wishes that his father can't lie for one day, Fletcher must navigate his work and personal lives with nothing but the truth. Hilarity ensues. And, best yet, this movie only requires 87 minutes of your time! After the review, Don and Chuck discuss lying to others and ourselves, how everyone needs to lie occasionally, and how the movie dropped the ball regarding Fletcher getting a comeuppance. 

Music by Nathan Terry

Guns in books, assassins with useless arms, an eight-year-old driving in a car chase*. With a name like Gunpowder Milkshake, it has to be ridiculous. And it is. It's also ridiculously entertaining. Karen Gillan stars in this colorful, violent, all-out action romp. The setpieces are inventive, the sets are interesting, and the dialogue exists. And, believe it or not, there's a few lessons crammed in there. Don and Chuck discuss them, of course (Down with the patriarchy!). But, ultimately, this is the definition of a popcorn movie: Pure entertainment. Enjoy.

*Eight and three quarters. Sorry, Emily.

Music by Nathan Terry

The episode the universe didn't want to happen! After some technical difficulties, a lost recording and a glitchy connection, we laughed in the universe's face -- And the resulting episode turned out... pretty okay. Decent-ish. It gets the job done.

This week, Don and Chuck discuss Luca. Rather, they recap their lost recording, so, they talk about discussing Luca previously. With Luca, Pixar tells the tale of a sea monster who discovers he can take a human form. After immediately falling in love with being human, Luca runs away from his life under the sea to hide away in a human village. And do a race. To win enough money to buy a Vespa. It really does make sense when you watch it. It also lets Don and Chuck talk about intimate same-sex friendships, how society scares people into hiding who they are, and how important separating from the ones you love you can be. 

Music by Nathan Terry

This week, Don and Chuck are joined by Kristin Lajeunesse to talk about Moon. Starring Sam Rockwell (and almost no one else), Moon tells the story of a solitary man named Sam who works on the moon, mining helium that creates power for those back on Earth. With three weeks left of his three year stint on the job, Sam is ready to return home when he encounters the only other human on the moon - himself. The indie sci-fi drama (or is it horror? Or action? I don't know; ask Don) gives Don, Chuck, and Kristin the chance to talk about memories, being your own best company, and how, sometimes, hope is the only thing that can sustain us,

Check out Kristin on instagram at @kristinlaj and @wtfveganfood.

Music by Nathan Terry

Dear White People brilliantly satirizes life at an Ivy League school that promotes itself as inclusive and diverse - but turns a blind eye to the truth of its inherent racism. Tightly written and well directed with wonderful performances, the film is equally laugh-out-loud funny and horribly depressing in its depiction of everyday atrocities performed by tone deaf and outright racist students and faculty. Its setup helps Don and Chuck talk about how society forces everyone into pigeon holes, structures of power, and how it's about time white people start feeling uncomfortable with the truth of their world.

Music by Nathan Terry