PrePopCulture

PrePopCulture

Download on the App Store

PrePopCulture episodes

  • 27: Late to the Back to the Future party

    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.

    If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

    Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

    Show notes:

    • Check out Stephen's improv show The Sunday Social, plus his improv groups Tuskegee Experiment and Nerdvana at Second City LA's Toys 4 Tots benefit show on December 7, as well as Scott's podcast Curtain Jerks and YouTube show Scott Vs Box. You can also follow Stephen, Curtain Jerks, and Scott Vs Box on Twitter.
    • You surely don't need a link to find a place to watch Back to the Future, so instead you can check out the 25th anniversary edition of the trilogy on DVD
    • Back to the Future TV cartoon
    • Theme song:

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

      1 hr 19 min
    • 26: Six month anniversary!

      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!

      Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

      Show Links:

      • Do No Harm, the first article from Matter
      • Minutiae issue #9 is out now
      • The prequel and trailer for this year's Doctor Who Christmas special, Doctor Who: The Snowmen
      • Looper: Baldness Anxiety, Nick Wiger's inadvertently spoiler-y Funny or Die video
      • The Clubhouse, a new home for indie improv in LA
      • Farley's liveblogs for episode 16: Micro/internet publishing, episode 22: The Gates and The Infernals, and episode 25: NaNoWriMo
      • Theme Song:

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

        35 min
      • 25: NaNoWriMo

        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.

        If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes and Like it on Facebook!

        Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

        Show Links:

        • Follow Sarah and Dickie on Twitter, check out Dickie's website, and come vote for their improv team Bikini Tiger at The Manifesto Show's Three-Man Tournament this Friday!
        • National Novel Writing Month
        • Theme Song:

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

          1 hr 18 min
        • 24: Underappreciated video games

          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.

          If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes and like it on Facebook!

          Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

          Show links:

          • Follow Danny on Twitter and check out his video game development site Silhouette Games and forthcoming video game review site Been There, Played That
          • Animal Crossing
          • Bastion
          • Bit Trip Runner
          • Corpse Party
          • Double Fine Adventure
          • Eternal Darkness
          • Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
          • Journey
          • No More Heroes
          • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
          • Psychonauts
          • Shadow of the Colossus
          • Syphon Filter 2
          • TimeSplitters: Future Perfect
          • Wario's Woods
          • Zero Escape Series - 999: Nine Hours, Nines Persons, Nine Doors and Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
          • Theme Song:

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

            1 hr 18 min
          • 23: Doomed adaptations

            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.

            If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

            Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

            Show Links:

            • Follow James on Twitter, check out his indie improv show The 11th Hour Show, and see him in Tournament of Nerds
            • Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
            • Ender's Game
            • Fantastic 4 movies are never good even if they do make money
            • GI Joe: Retaliation just released a new trailer
            • Lost in La Mancha
            • Mockingbird Lane makes a mockery of The Munsters
            • Police Academy: The Animated Series
            • The Secret Life of Walter Mitty worked in 1947, but will it work in 2013?
            • Theme song:

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

              1 hr 20 min
            • 22: The Gates and The Infernals

              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!

              If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes and like it on Facebook!

              Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]

              Show Links:

              • Follow Dickie on Twitter and check out her group Styx Martin at Room 101 on Halloween
              • The Gates
              • The Infernals
              • Theme Song:

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

                1 hr 5 min
              • 21: Roger Dodger and P.S.

                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.

                If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes and like it on Facebook!

                Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

                Show Links:

                • Follow Jon on Twitter and check out his Harold team Winslow, plus Big Grande's Little Sketch Show on November 1 at Upright Citizen's Brigade in LA.
                • Roger Dodger
                • P.S.
                • Theme Song:

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

                  1 hr 6 min
                • 20: Comics, now with commies!

                  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.

                  If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

                  Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

                  Show Links:

                  • Follow Dave on Twitter and check out his podcast One Photo Reviews. And if you're in LA, come check out our indie improv show, The Manifesto Show.
                  • Fables
                  • The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
                  • Superman: Red Son
                  • Saga
                  • Theme Song:

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

                    1 hr 5 min
                  • 19: Underappreciated kids movies

                    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.

                    If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and Like it on Facebook!

                    Show Links:

                    • Follow Joel on Twitter and check out Room 101
                    • Adventures in Dinosaur City
                    • Alice in Wonderland (1985)
                    • The Brave Little Toaster
                    • Disney's Halloween Treat
                    • Ernest Scared Stupid
                    • Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme
                    • The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking
                    • Pete's Dragon
                    • Super Mario Brothers
                    • Surviving the Game
                    • You can get This is America, Charlie Brown from Netflix! Who knew?
                    • The Ugly Dachshund 
                    • The Warriors of Virtue
                    • And check out Transcendental Youth, the latest album from The Mountain Goats
                    • Theme Song:

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

                      1 hr 11 min
                    • 18: Alternate reality games

                      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.

                      If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

                      Relevant Links:

                      • John's not on Twitter, but you can see him in Tournament of Nerds
                      • The Beast (A.I. ARG)
                      • Cloverfield ARG
                      • The Dark Knight ARG
                      • Flynn Lives (TRON Legacy ARG)
                      • I Love Bees (Halo 2 ARG)
                      • Lost ARGs
                      • Perplex City and an album of Jen's Perplex City artifacts
                      • Weyland Industries (possible Prometheus ARG)
                      • Year Zero (Nine Inch Nails ARG)
                      • And if you're looking for a comprehensive hub for ARGs, check out Unfiction  
                      • Theme Song:

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

                        1 hr 8 min

                      About PrePopCulture

                      From the publisher's feed

                      PrePopCulture is a weekly one hour podcast in which my guests and I tackle all things pop culture. We'll chat about cool stuff that's under the radar, examine how things currently in pop culture got…