Pshht Themes

Buckle your seatbelts, strap on your sideburns, and join us on the back of our flying bison: Craig. Erin and Brennan dive deep into the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA). Let us begin by reigniting (HA!) their deep love for Dante Basco/Zuko (insert firebending pun, oh wait...). In a show jam packed with lovely characters and beloved voice actors, our hosts are in love with Iroh (Mako), Admiral Zhao (Jason Isaacs), and The Warden (George Takei). Wait a moment, do we just love firebenders? Nah, Brennan loves Sokka. Erin gets down with some feminism with Katara, Brennan clarifies what constitutes an anime, and we all are afraid of Koh, the Face Stealer. Go get ready for some Big Sideburn Energy (BSB Energy) and Mark Hamill.

NOO, MY CABBAGES!!!! 

Birthday number 4 is here for our hosts and their family. This time, it's all about the patriarch, the padre, the pater familias, the Dad. We are watching the film "My Favorite Year", a film that everyone should know about, but for some reason no one does. Does it have explosions? No. Does it have race cars? No. Does it have a suave tuxedo-clad alcoholic? Yes, but it's not James Bond. However, does it have a live comedy TV show in the 1950's? Yes. Peter O'Toole is back in our podcast, this time he's basically playing himself as the charismatic film star Alan Swann, a man who can get away with anything. Overseeing his show prep is the young writer  Benji Stone, AKA Mel Brooks, AKA Alan Swann's biggest fan. Erin and Brennan spend most of the podcast reciting lines verbatim, recreating scenes, and all around having a very fun time. 

Happy Birthday Dad

Love, Niblik (Your Sherpa Guide from the Himalayas)

Erin and Brennan go back to their very green Irish roots. With names like Erin and Brennan, it's easy to do 'cause... they're Irish! With this week's film being the Secret of Kells, our hosts don their shamrock-buckled river-dancing shoes and let the Guinness flow, the fiddle play, and the tapping begin! They discuss cats, fairy rings, human sacrifice, Brendan Gleason being hella mean, and shoddy wall construction. 'Cause following our conversation from last week, Europeans in the Dark Ages are hella dumb. Basically, Vikings come to Ireland and scare the pants off of monks. The End. 

Also, the Book of Kells. It's dope.

Happy St. Padraig's Week (That spells Patrick by the way. . .)

Slainte!

Lo there do I see my sister
Lo there do I see Antonio and Omar
Lo there do I see Vikings, many of whom I don't know their names
Back to the beginning
Lo do I watch their film
They bid me remember my place in my college history classes
In the Halls of Mackenzie and Stevenson
Where the Nerds may Live Forever

Erin and Brennan are back from a week hiatus and what's better to help them get back into the groove than with a super nerdy movie? The 13th Warrior is a film about Ahamd ibn Fahdlan (Antonio Banderas), joining a group of Vikings and writing about them so that we in the present can all look back and say, "holy potatoes these people are weird!" Our Viking cast is led by Buliwyf, followed by Herger, Face Tattoo Dude, Ginger, Sneaky Man, Breastplate, Old Mountain Dude, and four more whose names are best left to the academics. The film's highlights? Antonio Banderas and Omar Sharif looking beautiful, cannibals, Brennan ranting about how dumb Europeans were, Erin screaming once again about wearing skins, and turd goddesses.  But let's be honest, Erin and Brennan agree that this is a poorly rated film that deserves a second chance. Not only is this film better quality than people think, but it's also a very historically accurate film.

Erin, Brennan, and Matt reunite to tackle the most highly anticipated review, Mandalorian Season 2. What are they, who are they, why are they, and so much more! We learn that Star Wars needs to focus group some new names: Grogu or Goku, Death Troopers, Dark Troopers, Dark Sabers, Dark Wizards, we get it! It's Dark! You need to pay your energy bills! We meet up again with Mando a.k.a Din Jaris a.k.a. Brown Eyes, in his quest to reunite The Child (Grogu) with a Jedi Master. Along the way Brennan has a serious "hot damn!" Boba Fett reaction, while Erin gets a little hot and flustered with Fennec Shand back from the dead. From "Hero of China" to "Best Sharpshooter in the Outer Rim", it's clear that this series has some dope characters in its arsenal. With additional appearances from Starbuck, #MarkHamillListenToOurPodcast, Chief Tui from Moana, and Rosario Dawson, season 2 has a higher impact than the first. 



WHY WON'T CRAIG LEAVE!!!

Ou est le Chocolat? (Mon Dieu! ~en Français) [This is still French, Brennan]. We are so cultured. This podcast is about the differences between kangaroos and wallabies! Just kidding, it's about French people in France making French chocolate, doing French things for French God, and all while in France. But of course the movie is in English (HA! WE STILL WIN!!). Erin and Brennan dust off their French language skills from high school so that the Void has proof of how much they have forgotten. We are talking Johnny Depp with a dumb Irish accent, Alfred Molina being a bad man, a very bad man, and Juliette Binoche, the only French person in this film playing the role of a cultural outsider.
DAME JUDY DENCH!
If you haven't guessed, we're discussing the film Chocolat.

Happy Birthday Mom, we love you so much!

Love is in the air, and our two hosts are ready to get giddy with wholesome goodness. This year they review Always Be My Maybe, a charming love story of two Asian-Americans who rekindle their love in the City by the Bay. (Hey! We finally mentioned the film title in our description!) Except, Erin and Brennan really just recount their childhood sex education, mistaken police encounters in steamy cars, and albino alligators. Erin thinks the celebrity cameo in this film is the greatest ever, Brennan is unnaturally well informed about the chemical similarities between bile and parmesan cheese, and both are confused why a small band would shy away from trying to find gigs in DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO, ONLY 5 BLOCKS AWAY!!!!! Regardless, our two Bay Area natives are smitten with a lovely and well told love story. 

*Queue "Blow the Whistle" by Too $hort*

Brennan forces his sister to watch the greatest terrible movie movie in the world. Plot? Giant robots punching giant monsters IN THE FACE WITH ROCKET ELBOS!!! Mind melds that make no sense,  IDRIS ELBA, questionable technological advances/choices, CHARLIE DAY, and did I mention that there are giant monsters that rise from the deep sea? Erin goes full sociopath for flesh cloaks and brains, Brennan is head over heels for shipping ships being used as shipping ship swords, and MONSTERS GETTING PUNCHED IN THE FACE!!! There are a great many faults in this movie, most of them summed up perfectly by a certain Youtube video, but the most important question you need to ask yourself is this: DO YOU LIKE ROBOTS PUNCHING MONSTERS IN THE FACE???

Billy Crystal is a talking fireplace. Need we say more? Well, I mean, yes. Batman (Christian Bale) is an ostentatious Quetzalcoatl/wizard-with-a-cute-butt/prima donna, Lauren Bacall is a woman with many necks, and Jean Simmons (not THAT Gene Simmons) is an old lady. So what are we talking about? We're talkin' Howl's Moving Castle, baby! Erin and Brennan laugh for a solid five minutes about the castle's unmentionables, only proving that they have not matured AT ALL. Brennan relates to Sophie, Erin can't put Batman aside, and let's be honest, life isn't worth living if we can't be beautiful. *queue spirits of darkness*

What happens when you get three Star Wars nerds into one chatroom? A 3 hour podcast, or a quorum of intelligent minds. Erin thinks Donnie Yen is the best person in the world, a fact she insists goes first, followed by yet another character she loves who wears amazing goggles. Matt appreciates being an only child after listening to Erin and Brennan bickering. Also, special guest Matt! The team discuss uncanny valleys, is Darth Vader a wuss, and how did giant Jedi monuments get made? Erin proposes that ancient Jedi used the force to cement sand together and then carved faces with lightsabers. The point is, this movie is amazing and manages to do something no other Star Wars has done: have no sequel and give us a new hope. 

Franchises are built on hope. And money. Lots and lots of money. 
Thanks, George.