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Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather (temporarily regaining the throne as the host of the program!) undertake the annual tradition of interpreting the commercials and halftime show of the Super Bowl. This year, they find a strange landscape of dislocation and confusion: no one is where they are supposed to be. Either you look up and see a strange face—replaced, as with David Beckham and Matt Damon, or aged, as with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan—or else you realize that you are the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time, like the inimitable Walton Goggins. The theme continues through the halftime show, with Kendrick Lamar playing the game of America while Uncle Sam keeps insisting he’s doing it wrong. But there is one social dislocation that is defiantly celebrated, in a trio celebrating the physical and economic strength of women.

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Episode 867: You’re Not Supposed to Be Here originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Some of the most fascinating movies are the big hits that somehow faded from our collective memories. Matthew Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather revisit Disney’s fascinating Dick Tracy, a 1990 kids movie that was heavily promoted at McDonalds and features dozens of people getting mowed down by Tommy guns and the line, “You don’t know if you want to hit me or kiss me. I get a lot of that.”

This movie has an astonishing array of talent behind it. Warren Beatty’s previous directorial effort, Reds, won him an Oscar for Best Director and nominations for Best Actor and Best Screenplay. He’s joined here by Al Pacino (who would be nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his scenery-chewing and self-mocking villain), and Madonna at the height of her fame (she produced an entire concept album to promote the film). Mandy Patinkin, Paul Sorvino, Dick Van Dyke, Dustin Hoffman, and even Kathy Bates show up, most nearly unrecognizable.

But maybe the real stars are Stephen Sondheim, who contributed several delightful songs and picked up an Oscar for “Sooner or Later,” and above all cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, a legend who does astonishing work with matte paintings, giant sets, and ingenious trick photography. This movie is truly one-of-a-kind, and even if it doesn’t entirely succeed, it’s hard not to be nostalgic for a time when Hollywood could take big risks on creative people trying something new.

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Episode 866: A Great Sodium Vapor Process Movie originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Matt Belinkie, and Pete Fenzel, and Matthew Wrather rummage through the sci-fi spare parts that comprise Section 31, the Emperor Philippa Georgiou spin-off movie that you never knew you wanted, because you never wanted it. Assembled under the aegis of Star Trek, this up-tempo outing hacks together the remnants of a possible streaming series shortened by Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar win and mutually agreed upon better things to do into what can only be described as “A Paramount Plus Original Movie.” The jaunty action comedy that starts with the protagonist killing her own family and a 90s video game cutscene narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis beams to and fro among a stinging slam on traditional Trek institutional optimism, a potpourri of borrowings from other more successful movies and shows across genres, and a pastiche of wild guesses at what “the kids are into these days.” The Matts, and Pete track influences, predecessors, ways to approach considering what this movie is or might be for those who watched it or liked it, and how different works balance the eclectic and the shared in the construction of fictional teams of misfits.

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Episode 865: Yo Momma IV originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Matt Belinkie (Good Matt), Matt Wrather (Evil Matt), Mark Lee (Good and Evil Mark at the Same Time), and Pete Fenzel (Fenzel, Walk With Me) honor the passing of the cinematic visionary David Lynch by watching and talking about Blue Velvet, his 1986 neo noir art cinema comeback in the wake of That Dune With Sting. We overthink the parallel and sometimes unrelated questions of how we find Lynch’s work compelling and if we enjoy our time watching it. We dive into psychological schools, genre influence, mastery of two worlds, how Laura Dern Is Queen, and symbolic dualities of light and color, seeking to ensconce our brains in the film’s language to “crack its code.” But Lynch was not a filmmaker seeking to be understood, and sometimes there’s just a dark-bearded man in an orange coat holding a giant empty frappuccino on the train in the winter who may or may not kill you. It’s a strange world, after all.

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Episode 864: A World of Bugs with a Thin Layer of Grass originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Fenzel and Belinkie are lapsed wrestling fans, at least partially because we no longer have cable. But with Monday Night RAW moving to Netflix, this gives us the perfect opportunity to revisit one of America’s most unique artforms. The WWE (née F) has been a pop culture force to be reckoned with from the days of Hulk Hogan, through the TV-14 Attitude Era of The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, and beyond (a generation of John Cena haters seems to have been replaced with a new generation of Cena worshippers). But it’s only in the last year that the company finally ousted Vince McMahon, a true visionary and scumbag who finally Me Too’ed himself into a corner he couldn’t suplex himself out of (the same week as the Netflix debut, the SEC filed more charges against him for massive hush money payments). Pete and Matt go over this history and then admire some wrestling skills like promo work, controlling the tempo of the match, and the multifaceted role of the announcers. Important to remember: Edge and The Edge are two very different people and only one has a manbun.

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Episode 863: World Wildlife Federation originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Clint Eastwood has been one of America’s most iconic actors and directors for several generations now, and he’s kept busy well into his 90s. But with no projects currently in development, it seems like Juror #2 might be his swan song. Like many of his directorial efforts, this movie is about normal people who become swallowed up by our nation’s institutions, in this case the legal system. Pete, Mark, and Matt delve into this odd beast: part legal thriller, part morality tale, part negative Yelp review of a roadhouse called “Rowdy’s Hideaway.”

The panelists are at first skeptical about the ending, and maybe the entire second half. After introducing a genuinely interesting setup, does the movie know what to DO with it? Everyone has their own ideas of where the story COULD have gone. But the more they talk, the more they understand the story CLINT wanted to tell, one in which nobody wants to do the hard thing so ultimately we don’t get the Hollywood ending we’ve been trained to expect. If you’re looking for heroism, you’re going to have to consult Clint’s work pre-Unforgiven. The only hope for the future he’ll leave us with is a cryptic look from Toni Collette, but maybe that’s a start.

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Episode 862: Your Bias Isn’t Going to Defeat My Bias originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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For years, Jimmy Carter was seen as a symbol of humiliating failure. (Back in 1993, The Simpsons did a joke where the town couldn’t afford a Lincoln statue and had to settle for a Carter one.) But Carter spent his post-presidency tirelessly working for Habitat for Humanity and winning Nobel Prizes, and by the time he passed away at age 100 his reputation had been transformed. Ben Adams, Matt Belinkie, Mark Lee, and Pete Fenzel use him as a jumping off point to talk second acts. Mark Hamill was a has-been in the 90s (also mercilessly mocked by The Simpsons) but his decades of work voicing the animated Joker gave him a whole new legacy. Mike Tyson went from disgraced fighter to quirky Cartoon Network star. And Joe Rogan was a c-list actor and reality tv host before he was the biggest podcaster in the world. What’s the secret to reinventing yourself? Do we all have a second act within us?

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Episode 861: How Did Freddie Krueger and Luke Skywalker Become Friends? originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Matt Belinkie, Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather celebrate the last podcast of the year with the themes that made 2024 what it was. Lee defies gravity, Wrather buys reading glasses, Belinkie revs up his chainsaw sword, and Fenzel steps back for a logo 3. It’s not a year in review, because who could review it all, and it’s not a look forward to 2025, because who wants to spoil the surprise? We talk synchronic vs. diachronic framing of virtuosity and ask what Wicked has in common with the South Korean political crisis and what Warhammer 40k has to do with the Babysitters’ Club. It may be more than you think!

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Episode 860: Babysitters 40k originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Mark Lee, Matt Wrather, Peter Fenzel, and Matt Belinkie, Hannukah preparations notwithstanding, triangulate and ascertain the True Reason for the Season with the freshest of holiday treats: 2024 Christmas movies. It’s a ginger-spiced promenade from the Rock to the Lohan and Hallmark to Hell and back, through approval, myth, family, heroism, and the worst kinds of miracles. Emotions run high, hopes rise and collapse, and we haven’t even cracked open the egg nog yet!

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Episode 859: There’s a Right Christmas and a Wrong Christmas originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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Hot on the heels of our discussion about Sequel Culture, Matt Belinkie, Mark Lee and Pete Fenzel re-enter the arena to discuss Gladiator 2. In the halcyon summer of 2000, it seemed to some people that liberal democracy had won a final enduring victory, and the original Gladiator’s framing of tyranny versus republican virtue didn’t seem like biting social commentary. Twenty four years later this sequel gives us essentially the same plot, but its endless speechifying about the lost dream of democracy and rule of law feels painfully on the nose. But what are the different strategies the movie presents for countering that tyranny? Meeting violence with violence? Organizing political resistance? Or the Denzel Washington option: chewing the scenery while seizing control of the rickety institutions of state from the inside? We don’t learn very much about real Roman history from this movie, but we might learn something about our future.

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Episode 858: We Want To See the Gladiators. It’s a Movie Called Gladiator. originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]