Stephen C. James (The Sunday Social) and Scott Narver (Curtain Jerks) return to discuss another thing Jen was way behind the curve on: Back to the Future. Having watched the first and second movies in the franchise for the first time this week, Jen dug the way the movies use time travel, wasn't as enthralled with the DeLorean as Stephen and Scott are, and noticed a particular (and slightly disturbing) similarity between these movies and Star Wars. Plus, Scott does an impression that's one of the best things that's ever happened on the podcast.

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Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Wow, six months of the podcast? Crazy! In this episode, Jen gives some updates on previous topics, shares clips that got cut out of other episodes for time, and tells you where to find some excellent liveblogging of the show. It felt super awkward doing an episode without a guest, so don't expect another solo show for a long time.

If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it in iTunes and Like it on Facebook! And since this episode was recorded a week before it was posted, iTunes reviewers who posted after 11/16 will be thanked in episode 27!

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Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

This week, Sarah Claspell and returning guest Dickie Copeland join Jen to chat about National Novel Writing Month. They're all trying to write 50,000 words over the month of November and (spoiler alert) they're all super behind. But that's okay! They commiserate over the challenges of churning out an entire novel in 30 days, share their writing routines/rituals and the ways they developed their concepts, plus Dickie is able to give some insight about how to just get through it since she's a veteran to NaNoWriMo unlike first timers Sarah and Jen. Plus if you like Game of Thrones references and/or people calling themselves monsters, this episode is going to keep you entertained through and through.

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Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Guest Danny Masterangelo (Silhouette Games; Been There, Played That) returns to discuss the video games he and Jen love but find casual gamers are usually unaware of. From visual novels to shooters to 8 bit and more, these games stand out because they're exceptionally immersive, addictive, creepy, or just plain crazy. Actually, most of them fall into more than one of these descriptors. And one might even help get you through a breakup.

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Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Guest James Ross (Tournament of Nerds) returns to discuss the many failures and disappointments that have been created as a result of Hollywood having run out of original ideas. Whether adapting literature, real life stories, comics, toys, or board games, the sad truth is that though once in a blue moon the result is something as amazing as Clue, more often than not you end up with Battleship.

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Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License

This week, Dickie Copeland joins Jen for a Halloween episode about two novels by John Connolly, The Gates, and its sequel, The Infernals. The books kick off with 11 year old Samuel Johnson discovering a portal between Earth and Hell through which a demonic horde intends to invade on Halloween, and chronicle Samuel's adventures battling the evil invasion with the help of his dachshund Boswell and a not-so-demonic demon named Nurd, among others. Naturally, this leads to Jen relating a traumatic childhood experience of her own, and Dickie revealing another novel she's reading that is disturbing and far less appropriate for young adults. Spooooky!

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Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License

This week, Jon Mackey (Winslow) joins Jen to discuss two movies by filmmaker Dylan Kidd, Roger Dodger and P.S. Both have a lot to do with relationships and sex, so there are some uncomfortable moments to be had. In the movies, that is. Not the podcast. Also, Jon forgot to mention while they were recording that he really likes the scene in Roger Dodger on the street near the beginning of the movie that was shot with a telephoto lens because it's one long take and impressively choreographed, so Jen said she'd put that in the episode description. And now she has.

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Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

Guest Mark David Christenson (One Photo Reviews) returns to talk more comics! From an alternate reality Superman who grew up under Communist Russian rule to two more series that hit Jen's literary sweet spot by employing characters from fables and great novels, there was nary a complaint to be had this time around. Plus, Dave inadvertently reveals who his dream woman is, and her identity surprises even him.

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Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License

Joel Jensen (Room 101) joins Jen to discuss movies from childhood they loved but think are underappreciated, whether because they were forgotten over time or just not that big in the first place. They realize that anthropomorphized fighting animals and catchy songs were selling points for them, respectively. They also discover they were both gluttons for punishment, as many of their most loved movies also had parts that really freaked them out. If you don't remember the Jabberwock from the 1985 Alice in Wonderland 2 part TV movie, just trust them. It's terrifying.

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This week, John Ford (Tournament of Nerds) joins Jen to discuss ARGs: alternate/augmented reality games. Whether existing as a self-sustaining enterprise or being used to promote a movie, show, or product, a good ARG will have players immersed in a fictional world that they can actually interact with through multiple media platforms as well as real-world components. These games often ask players to solve a mystery, and John and Jen have both fallen down rabbit holes trying to do just that.

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Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License