The Monkees were a prefabricated pop band who didn't play their own instruments and didn't get much respect. But in 1968, they teamed with director Bob Rafelson and a young writer named Jack Nicholson to take charge of their image with HEAD (1968), a corrosive satire that asks: what do the Monkees have in common with the Vietnam War?

Donate to an abortion fund: https://www.thecut.com/article/donate-abortion-fund-roe-v-wade-how-to-help.html

PATREOON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/328-terminally-65881035

Three of Louis Theroux's most recent documentaries (SHOOTING JOE EXOTIC, PORN'S ME TOO, EXTREME AND ONLINE) give us ample opportunity to discuss some of the key issues of our time: the online right, the changing world of porn, and our old friend the Tiger King. PLUS: Did you know that Netflix had its own news website???

Australian land and British institutions mix uncomfortably in Peter Weir's PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (1975). We speculate from our Canadian vantage points why this story has become one of the iconic documents of Australia's national identity. PLUS: the boys cannot stop talking about Bob Dylan!

"Picnic at Hanging Rock: What We See and What We Seem" by Megan Abbott - https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3202-picnic-at-hanging-rock-what-we-see-and-what-we-seem

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/65549860

In the new comedy special BILL MAHER: #ADULTING (2022), the Real Time host offers his usual state-of-the-union address on society's ills, but focuses mainly on cancel culture. Folks, this ranks as one of the most unpleasant things we've watched for the podcast, so please enjoy. PLUS: checking the temperature on Bernie 2024, and sordid thoughts on the Johnny Depp trial.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/65315324

Akira Kurosawa's HIGH AND LOW (1963) begins as a kidnapping thriller, turns into a police procedural, and evolves into a survey of Japan circa 1963 from high to low. We discuss one of the greatest director's greatest films. PLUS: We answer the question that has been tearing Twitter apart: is David Lynch a conservative filmmaker???

The 1969 documentary WHAT'S LEFT? captures the Canadian left (and more specifically, Canada's New Democratic Party) being pulled in two directions: by an emerging, student-led generation of radical activists, and an older political class that has either grown pragmatic or complacent depending on who you ask. We discuss the history of the Canadian left, and what has both changed and remained the same in the 50+ years since the film. PLUS: We catch an acute case of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them fever!!!

Watch the documentary What's Left?- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRzNoaEw3xM&ab_channel=tcn1915

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/65062325

Will, a longtime Star Wars skeptic, revisits THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) in a version that recaptures what it looked like in 1980. Luke, a longtime Star Wars fan, joins him for a discussion on the role that context, texture, and technology play in making a beloved movie beloved. PLUS: a reading from the Al Goldstein archives!

A state-of-the-art Russian submarine has gone rogue. Is it about to launch an unprovoked nuclear attack on the United States? We finally delve into the world of right-wing legend Tom Clancy and his signature character Jack Ryan with the blockbuster film adaptation of THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990). PLUS: Winston Churchill predicts the future!

The Superdelegate patron tier has voted for us to discuss AKIRA (1988), the groundbreaking anime classic. We hash over the film's vision of a future-dystopia, finding elements both unique to 1988 and applicable to all times. PLUS: the new Amazon union in Staten Island, and checking the pulse of right-wing politics on Canada.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/64687009

Being a geriatric man who has joyless, bureaucratized sex with an army of women who hate you: is this the American dream? For Hugh Hefner, it apparently was. We discuss the new documentary series SECRETS OF PLAYBOY, the Playboy phenomenon more generally, and the ugliness behind Hefner's tackiness. PLUS: Nintendo 64 memories, and an inevitable discussion of the Will Smith thing.