Recovered

The much referenced saga begins, as Dan and Keith dig into Gojira, Godzilla to his western friends, by visiting each of the five eras of Toho Studios' Godzilla franchise. From the original classic, through to his Avengers-style team-up flick Ghidora the Three Headed Monster, to the back-to-basics revivals of Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla 2000, to the more serious reboot of Shin Godzilla and the first Oscar winner, Godzilla Minus One. There's monster fights, civic destruction, and even some human characters worth caring about in this flyover of seven decades of Godzilla history. Strap in and fly along!

A day at the circus gets very noir as Dan and Keith walk down two different Nightmare Alleys. Carnie Stanton Carlisle has dreams of making the big time with a mentalist act, one he must purloin from his employers in the carnival, and that dream goes very well until it very doesn't. In 1946, swashbuckling actor Tyrone Power tried to break out of his usual type as the con man Stan, in a version that does well but perhaps strains against 1940s film regulations. Over seven decades later, spooky visionary Guillermo Del Toro takes another swing at the story, with Bradley Cooper leading an all-star cast, that has more freedom in its content but maybe it too relaxed in its pacing. Dan and Keith pull both apart to figure out a favourite, so come join.

It's way back to the Golden Age of Hollywood and the early days of Dreamworks animation, and Dan and Keith take on two movies about con artist pals and the woman they meet along the way getting into shenanigans in exotic locales. Back in the 1940s, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour kicked off a hugely popular seven film series of road movie hijinks in Road to Singapore, which helps prove that millions of people can be wrong about something. Flash forward all the way to the year 2000, and Dreamworks concocts an animated adventure in the same vein with Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh taking The Road to El Dorado. We dig into what the 40s considered comedy, and the movie behind the "Both is good" meme, and have exactly one movie's worth of  a good time. Plus Mayan facts from two white guys on the internet! How can you go wrong? 

While schedules align and kaiju rampages are absorbed, Recovered brings back an old favourite with April Fool's Day, the episode that made our hosts reconsider some life choices. Ask if you can you remake a movie whose signature is a twist ending, re-experience Keith learning about the glories of G Vs E, and dig into what might be our least favourite remake to date. And some bonus content from Dan to kick us off! 

Get ready for some Nights of Frights as Recovered digs up the 1980s camp creepshow classic and the 2010s remake. In 1985, suburban teen Charlie Brewster suspects his new neighbour Jerry Dandrige is a vampire, a claim his girlfriend Amy as associate "Evil" Ed find dubious. He must convince faded horror actor Peter Vincent, host of Fright Night, to help him take up arms against The Vampire Jerry. Cut forward to 2011, and a spookier, darker, unfortunately CG'd-for-3D Fright Night finds a different Charlie taking on a more vicious Dark Lord Jerry with the help of Vegas magician Peter Vincent. Who did which better? Dan and Keith have some disagreements. Listen now!

The X-Men film franchise was weird. Highs and lows and continuity just all over the place, and rather than sum it all up, Dan and Keith and special guest/X-Men enthusiast Munsi Parker-Munroe dig into its weirdest chapter: that time they took two tries at making a movie out of the Dark Phoenix saga, and hired the same writer both times. In 2006, Brett Ratner replaced Bryan Singer to wrap up the X-Men trilogy while also not doing that, then 13 years later writer Simon Kinberg managed to talk himself into a promotion to write and direct Dark Phoenix, in which the MacAvoy/Fassbender X-Men are dragged into a second attempt that half of them very clearly hate doing. Which did the Dark Phoenix dirtiest? Laugh and learn with Recovered and Munsi!

Get ready for a lot of punching and a little plot as Recovered takes on Road House! In 1989, Patrick Swayze is a legendary bouncer (something we're assured exists) out to save a struggling Kansas bar from the local tyrant rich man through calm, Zen, and if needed some fisticuffs. Jump forward to about a month ago, and Jake Gyllenhaal plays a very different Dalton out to save a somewhat different Florida Keys saloon from a mostly different blend of spoiled rich jerk through fisticuffs and if needed, some calm and Zen. Who pulls off more cool, better banter, and a more believable world? And which supporting character is the best character in either movie? Dan and Keith have takes a-plenty, listen and learn!

Back in early 2023, Dan and Keith did a special two-part episode looking at franchises speeding towards a reboot, and reboot/remakes hitting screens in 2023. Now they return for updates: which franchises are getting closer to hitting the screen? Which are farther away somehow and why? Plus Dan gives brief reviews of Wonka, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Evil Dead Rise, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, plus if you pay attention, there's an accidental sneak peek of our next episode. Tune in!

Recovered is taking a brief break to process some unfortunate real-world issues, and while we do that, we're pleased to bring back one of our favourites, Crimes and Punishers. Get ready for pizza parties, pity parties, and an attempt to make "Yummy in my tummy" feel threatening as Dolph Lundgren, Thomas Jane, and the late, great Ray Stevenson bring three very different takes on Frank Castle's war on crime. Enjoy this Recovered Re-Release, and we'll be back soon.

Dan and Keith are back in the old west as a young girl, a grizzled marshal, and a cocky (and creepy) Texas ranger seek justice-slash-revenge in two takes on True Grit. In 1969, an aging John Wayne plays slightly against type as Rooster Cogburn, while still basically being John Wayne. It's considered an all-time classic western, so who would remake it? Joel and Ethan Coen, that's who. Three years off their first Oscar win, the Coens remake True Grit with 80% of the same dialogue but a spectacular cast. Two takes on the same story: how much of an improvement did the Coens manage? We discuss, listen in!