Remember Shuffle

Remember the Iraq War? It’s back, in prestige cable miniseries form. To discuss Generation Kill, Ben and Jordano are joined by two experts in the David Simon cinematic universe: Matt Lieb and Vince Mancini from Pod Yourself a Gun. They review the show’s realism, its “fuck the bosses” ideology, its ability to emphasize the total asymmetry of the Iraq War, and the general lack of Iraq War media in the years since 2003.

Check out Vince Mancini’s substack page here: https://substack.com/@vincemancini.

Eleanor Janega and Luke Waters join us (!) for a review of 2010's Robin Hood in our favorite guest episode.

A day in the life of a true Folkloric Geezer. 

Wake up and meet the wife Marian. isn't she beau’iful?

Time to take Much to stoolball.

Rev up the Marrymen, ye!

Quick stop at the Hostelry and load up that plate.

Get a pint.

Forest lookin' lovely today lads.

Just a bit of banter.

The Fair makes a 38-nil loss be’’er.

Pop down local pride,

Good ol' pie! Look at that!

Marian made dinner, lovely!

Pop down have a couple pints with the lads,

And finish up in the fortress of dreams.

See the Truth…Behind the Legend…We chat about this movie’s egregious class politics, its place in the trend of sword-and-sandals films and origin stories, and how making a gritty reboot of a folk tale is a dumb idea. 

6:15 for discussion on Robin Hood (2010) start. Check out We’re Not So Different at https://www.patreon.com/wnsdpod , and Eleanor's book at

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61089456-the-once-and-future-sex.

Since we are now living in the era of the Sonic and Super Mario Bros movie, not to mention HBO’s The Last of Us, Remember Shuffle is taking a look at how the big-budget video game adaptation all began back in the 2000s. They review three films that, even if profitable, have been totally memory-holed by society: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Max Payne (2008), and The Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time (2010). They also do some quick rapid-fire reviews of Resident Evil (2001), Doom (2005), and Hitman (2007).

En route, they analyze how movie studios fundamentally misunderstand videogame source material in every respect, from character, to visual style, to gaming’s generally lowbrow nature. They also discuss Hollywood’s neverending search for IP that began in the decade, the obsession with the War on Terror in the 2000s, and how we are heading towards a singularity of popular culture.

Remember Shuffle returns to the world of videogames and discusses one of the best-selling PC games of all time and a pillar of 2000s video gaming, The Sims franchise. They describe the most iconic features of The Sims (simlish, woo hoo, pool accidents), analyze what drew people to this consumerist capitalist dollhouse simulator, and debate the best and worst ways to play this game.

There is no Spoonfeeding in this absolutely flawless, perfect film from outside the purview of the dumb decade the Shuffle bois do a podcast about, The Matrix (1999). Sadly, they cannot say the same for the film's 2000s era sequels - movies so bad, they retroactively ruined a great movie. Ben and Jordano look at how The Matrix, an End of History era sci-fi action, hacker thriller, kung fu movie changed the game in so many ways both then and now: from parodies, to memes, to legacy sequels, to the disconcerting number of people who truly believe we are living in a simulation.

Themes discussion starts at 1:04:30

It’s the second entry in Remember Shuffle’s “type of guy” series, and in this episode we are turning away from the meatspace hipster culture we discussed in the first entry and looking to the online world of atheism, bacon, and, of course, posting. The Shuffle Bois look at a particular kind of posting culture, the Epic Bacon Reddit Guy, a culture that flourished on Reddit (naturally).

They break down the Epic Bacon Reddit Guy’s sense of humour, analyze and trace their love of bacon, and deconstruct their political views and collective political actions, such as they were. They also discuss 2000s-era New Atheism, the pre-gamergate gender ideologies of Reddit, and realize that one of the last Epic Bacon Guy’s left on this earth is none other than the Poster in Chief of Twitter himself, Elon Musk.

Cold Open used is from College Humor.

Baconator: https://remembershufflepod.wordpress.com/2023/04/22/epic-bacon-reddit-guy-e23-tips-fedora-mlistners/

Remember Shuffle is going international. On this episode, the Shuffle Bois and a couple cosmopolitan guests take a look at the 21st century’s Most American Book and Film™: Eat, Pray, Love. They analyze Elizabeth Gilbert’s autobiographical memoir about a Karen finding herself in Italy, India, and Indonesia, and en route discuss the author’s selfishness and narcissism, her hilarious orientalizing portrayal of Italy, and her specific version of American protestantism in which you get to become God.

This week, the Remember Shuffle returns to the world of the sitcom to discuss everyone’s favo[u]rite show about a mid-level paper company, The Office. They discuss the show’s unforgettable characters including Michael Scott, the well-intentioned moron with a heart of gold, Dwight, the “white trash bushido” paper salesman, and Andy, the downwardly mobile failson.

En route, they discuss the changing setting of the sitcom from the domestic space to the workplace, the phenomenon of the Bullshit Job and how The Office identified it before it was common knowledge, and how small victories can turn even a boring office into a kind of utopian pastoral arcadia. They also discuss the decline of the show from one critical of meaningless work and office culture to one that embraced finding meaning in the workplace.

Our guest this week, Del Maticic, can be found on Twitter @maticiceronian. He’s the co-editor of a forthcoming book on work called “Working Lives in Ancient Rome,” co-edited with Jordan Rogers.

I only like Remember Shuffle’s earlier stuff. On this episode, the Remember Shuffle crew put on their armchair sociologist hats and do a new kind of episode. Rather than discussing a movie, book, or album, they cover a countercultural figure that rebelled against the mainstream in the 2000s, The Hipster. The first entry in our “type of guy” series, the Shuffle Bois discuss why The Hipster emerged in the 2000s, their philosophies of irony, nostalgia, and a priorism. Also, What are the 3 types of hipster? How brands tried to use hipster culture to wallpaper over their unethical business practices, mainstream culture’s appropriation of hipster culture, and why countercultures as whole are dead.

Pictures:

The Shuffle bois are joined by two of their favo[u]rite podcasters, whom you may know from Chapo Trap House, Hell of Presidents, or the recently-released Hell on Earth podcast, Matt Christman and Chris Wade. They discuss one of the candidates for G.O.A.T. 2000s sitcom, Arrested Development. They discuss its portrayal of both the “failson” and the media-career desperate American, walk through the show’s commentary on everything from the Iraq War to Southern California land development fraud, and ask the question, “why can’t streaming services seem to make sitcoms anymore?” They close out by discussing the historical rhyming between certain Arrested Development characters and certain historical figures from the 30-years war.

Special thanks to our guests, Matt Christman and Chris Wade. You can listen to their excellent Hell on Earth podcast here:

https://www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse