If you want to know if we're alone in the universe, who ya gonna call? We welcome back longtime friend of the show Chris Berube to discuss DAN AYKROYD UNPLUGGED ON UFOS (2005), a documentary that is, incredibly, not a bit.

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Check out the official Michael & Us website and episode guide - https://michael-and-us.com/

Mike Bullard's beer promo fail - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iXgbWVcXFs

Dan Aykroyd's insane Crystal Skull vodka commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwJmNaR_4hk

We catch up on the news - including the long-awaited ouster of Keir Starmer in the U.K., the slow death of the CBC in Canada, and the DSA victories in New York. Then, Will offers a report on the Cinema Shift Festival, an event ominously described as "Canada's First Curated AI Narrative Film Festival." So just how good (or bad) are AI-generated short films nowadays? Do real filmmakers have anything to fear? The answer may not surprise you.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus/posts/725-artificially-162311924

At the long-awaited behest of our Superdelegate patron tier, we look back one of the landmarks of 2000s-era Indie Twee, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (2006)... and find a film that embodies that Second-Term Bush Era like few others.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://patreon.com/michaelandus

Check out the new Michael & Us website and episode guide - https://michael-and-us.com/

Check out Will's new zine The Journal of Stoogeological Studies Vol. 2 - https://www.amazon.com/Journal-Stoogeological-Studies-Vol/dp/B0H3QDT32K/

TORONTO: Check out Will's Journal of Stoogeological Studies event at Eyesore Cinema on Tuesday, June 30 - https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-journal-of-stoogeological-studies-vol-2-zine-launch-party-registration-1991290645926

It's the late 1990s, and your kids are being terrorized by the greatest menace to ever hit the schoolyard... steroids. We welcome Adam Johnson (of the Citations Needed podcast) to walk us through THE SUBSTITUTE 3: WINNER TAKES ALL (1999), the third entry in the beloved direct-to-video action franchise about murdering teenagers.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus/posts/723-accept-no-w-161527620

Across this podcast's long existence, we have attempted to give you a magisterial study of the art and politics of the 2000s. And no comprehensive study of that time would be complete without Jerry Seinfeld's BEE MOVIE (2007). So here, friends, is what happens when the worker bees of the world unite.

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Check out the brand new Michael & Us online database and episode guide - https://michael-and-us.com/

After 25 years of conservative political dominance, the indie black comedy THE LAST SUPPER (1996) asked: should liberals just try killing their political opponents? We drive our DeLorean back to the '90s and analyze a very particular moment in Gen-X political comedy.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus/posts/721-tedious-slog-160912726

In the year 2000, Al Gore conceded a presidential election he won to George W. Bush in attempt to save the legitimacy of American institutions. Safe to say he succeeded in that goal. We discuss Jay Roach's RECOUNT (2008), a star-studded dramatization of the stolen election that kicked off the New American Century.

Introducing the Michael & Us website/database - https://michael-and-us.com/

Full episode guide - https://michael-and-us.com/episodes

In about 10 short years, Star Wars has gone from Hollywood's top franchise to a summer box office also-ran. We checked out STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU (2026) to try to understand the decline.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/160203437

Like all empires, the Hollywood studio system had its decadent stage. We discuss Joel and Ethan Coen's HAIL, CAESAR! (2016), which pits an idealogue for the Hollywood studio system against a cabal of communist writers. PLUS: We discuss The Fall of the House of Colbert, and a hot new Washington Post podcast that gets "biz-zay."

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

Listen to Luke discuss the future of the left with Jacobin founding editor Bhaskar Sunkara - https://www.lukewsavage.com/p/time-for-socialism-ft-bhaskar-sunkara

As a Toronto-based podcast, we are duty-bound to cover Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol's NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE (2025). We travel back to 2008 the discuss one of the most requested movies in our show's history.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/717-nirvanna-pod-159525773