Mixed Bag

It's 1989. A dingo has eaten Meryl's baby. She's made a choice, she's out of Africa and silk is now wood. So what's her next move? An adaptation of The Life and Loves of A She-Devil alongside Roseanne Barr who just started her hit TV show the year before.

A black comedy, She-Devil tells the story of Ruth Patchett (Roseanne Barr), a dumpy, overweight housewife, who exacts devilish revenge after her philandering husband leaves her and their children for glamorous, best-selling romance novelist Mary Fisher (Meryl Streep).

Listen in if this is a devious watch or if it's the devil in disguise.

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There's no Mixed Bag this week but instead, we're treating you to an audio drama that Cassandra and James have been working on:

The five episode series follows a local radio station reporter Amy Louise Chen (Cassandra Tse) investigating the tapes of Clara Wilson (Catherine Gavigan-Binnie), an obscure 1960s musician whose cryptic lyrics seem to have predicted the future. Amy joins forces with Clara’s great-nephew Josh (Dryw McArthur) to investigate the mystery of Clara’s “Apocalypse Songs”.

Directed by James Cain and written by Cassandra Tse, this is the first of five episodes. Be sure to subscribe to Apocalypse Songs on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We'll be back with some more Meryl Streep Mixed Bags next week. x

Meryl Streep

Killer combo right? But things were a bit Ricki-ety for Ricki and the Flash (2015) when it first opened and the years haven't been kind. Despite a stacked cast of Meryl, Kevin Kline and Audra McDonald, it's certainly in the mixed area of Meryl oeuvre. The Mixed Bag team sought it out to see if it's the star Ricki always dreams of being of it's just a Flash in the pan.

Make sure to check out Apocalypse Songs on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. The episodes air on July 5th on our feed but it's available to subscribe right now.

Oh and don't forget to rate and write a review on Apple Podcasts and follow us on Twitter (@MixedBagPod), Facebook (MixedBagPod) and Instagram (@MixedBagPodcast) or email us at [email protected] if you have a request.

It's the first of our Meryl Streep Season and we're kicking it off with a bang with Mamma Mia (2008)

Please consider signing petitions and donating to the Black Lives Matter movement:

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#

And please visit ArmsDown.NZ so they can provide you with useful scripts to let the NZ Police and your local MP know that Aotearoa doesn't want Armed Police Patrols:

https://armsdown.nz/

Pacific people are 3x more likely than Pākehā to be the victims of police violence. Māori are almost 8x more likely. More police with guns in brown neighbourhoods will lead to more police bullets in brown people.

Welcome to The Village. There are some rules for you to follow:

1. Let Kevin Karn on the podcast for he is good.

2. Do not get too mad at the twists though they annoy.

3. Bag it or biff it. There is no in-between.

Misunderstood masterpiece or infuriating twaddle? M. Night Shyamalan's 2004 'period piece' is counted by some as the beginning of his 'bad patch'. But is The Village something to be avoided? Or can you walk freely through it without fear of monsterous storytelling?

We're joined by our very first international guest Kevin Karn this episode! You might've seen him in 2018's Summer Shakespeare 'The Comedy of Errors' and today he's digging into the movie that left him intrigued and disappointed when he first watched it. Is the same true now?

Don't forget to rate and write a review on Apple Podcasts and follow us on Twitter (@MixedBagPod), Facebook (MixedBagPod) and Instagram (@MixedBagPodcast) or email us at [email protected] if you have a request.

Don't forget to rate and write a review on Apple Podcasts and follow us on Twitter (@MixedBagPod), Facebook (MixedBagPod) and Instagram (@MixedBagPodcast) or email us at [email protected] if you have a request.

"Your teacher says take off your robes"

It's the final episode of our 1993 mini season and we're going out with a belt! That's right, it's Sister Act 2, Back in the Habit, starring Whoopi Goldberg and icon of the 90s Lauryn Hill.

Despised by the critics on its release (7% on Rotten Tomatoes), dismissed by some fans and cherished by others, the debate on Sister Act 2 is well and truly mixed. Was Delores donning the robes and inspiring the students of St Francis the right move? Or did the public just want more of Sister Roberts, Sister Mary Patrick, Sister Lazarus and Revered Mother and not these damn kids?

Don't forget to rate and write a review on Apple Podcasts and follow us on Twitter (@MixedBagPod), Facebook (MixedBagPod) and Instagram (@MixedBagPodcast) or email us at [email protected] if you have a request.

Ahhh clubs. We've all been in one, but have you ever heard of one with such joy? Or luck?

No, never.

Welcome to The Joy Luck Club by returning director Wayne Wang (Maid in Manhattan) the second in our 1993 mini season. Starring the voice of Mulan herself, Ming-Na Wen, and Adapted from a bestseller by author Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club explores the relationship between Chinese-American women and their Chinese immigrant mothers. There's a lot of stories, there's a lot of trauma. Content warning for this episode.

Grab a chair and join the table for a round of mahjong and let's see how joyful and lucky this club really is.

Don't forget to rate and write a review on Apple Podcasts and follow us on Twitter (@MixedBagPod), Facebook (MixedBagPod) and Instagram (@MixedBagPodcast) or email us at [email protected] if you have a request.

All this lockdown making you feel a little grumpy? Let your anxiety and frustration be expressed by two of the best grumps around, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau!

The very first of our '93 picks, Grumpy Old Men was a childhood pick from host James, where John Gustovson (Lemmon) and Max Goldman's (Matthau) whole life is three actions: bicker, argue and fish. That is until a mysterious and zany new neighbour moves in, she zooms around on a snowmobile and has nude busts, it's the Manic Pixie Dream Woman Ariel Traux! (Ann-Margret)

Will the hosts be charmed by the pranks of these twwo geezers as they feud for the love of a woman they barely even bother to know?

NOTE: We repeatedly say the 48 Hour Film Festival screening will be the 9th. It'll be on the 8th at 9:30pm.

Don't forget to rate and write a review on Apple Podcasts and follow us on Twitter (@MixedBagPod), Facebook (MixedBagPod) and Instagram (@MixedBagPodcast) or email us at [email protected] if you have a request.