Reserved Recommendations

Escape Rooms are a kind of real world puzzle game based around (oddly enough) escaping a locked room. They have a lineage that goes back to computer adventure games, and are a fascinating case study in puzzle design and the joys and perils of group work. Matthew Jenkin (whose day job involves teaching computer science students problem solving through puzzles) joins the pod to talk about his experience with escape rooms and join me in going deep in the weeds talking about game and puzzle design more generally.

Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of NZ On Air.

"The 100" is a show that ran on the CW from 2014 to 2020. It featured a near future (about 90 years away) in which Earth has been ravaged by nuclear war, and the survivors live in orbit on a space station. With resources running out, they send 100 conventionally-attractive teenagers to the surface to find out if it's habitable. The result is 7 seasons of variably good, but always compulsively consumable sci-fi drama, and Fraser Greig joins the podcast to talk about its various ups, downs, and culdesacs.

Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of NZ On Air.

This week I talk to Ben Caldwell (DIY Comedy) about the colourful, ludicrous, dangerous, and weirdly compelling world of pro wrestling. We end up spending a surprising amount of time talking about labour relations.

DIY Comedy is at: www.facebook.com/diycomedynz or www.diycomedynz.com/

Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of NZ On Air.

The Neon Demon is a beautiful, strange, slow-burning horror movie from Nicolas Winding Refn. On this episode, I talk to Derrick Sims about The Neon Demon, the rest of Refn's similarly gorgeous, slow-moving, and kind of opaque filmography in a discussion that also expands to include Dylan, Tom Waits, Jodorowsky, and Thomas Ligotti.

Find Derrick's filmography at http://fabledmotionpictures.com/

Find the Tararua Cinematheque at https://www.facebook.com/TararuaCinema

Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of NZ On Air.

"Jupiter Ascending" is a 2015 movie from the Wachowski Sisters. It's a maniacally over the top space opera with a stellar cast and a fascinatingly weird setting. It's also widely regarded as one of if not the worst of the Wachowskis' films, and was the last one they made together. Jay Dragon (@jdragsky) joins me to talk about the movie, and why it's so much fun while never quite getting it together enough to become actually good.

Find Jay's work at https://www.possumcreekgames.com/

Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of NZ On Air.

If you were to pick a property to turn into a hard-R (much violent, very swears, wow) anime-adjacent TV series, a Nintendo game from a series which started in 1986 (i.e. the peak bleep blopp video games era) might not be your first port of call. And yet, Netflix's adaptation of Castlevania is one of its best-regarded original creations, especially with horror and adult animation fans. It's surprisingly heartfelt amid all the gore and has some absolutely killer vocal performances from people like Richard Armitage, James Callis, Graham McTavish, and Bill Nighy.

I talk to Rob Mildon, first ever guest and returning champion, about what makes Castlevania so great and the tough call about whether to keep watching in light of allegations against the lead writer Warren Ellis which emerged in 2020.

Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of NZ On Air.

One Punch Man, by the pseudonymous mangaka "ONE" is many things. It's a pisstake of shonen and seinen manga/anime tropes, which gleefully embraces an aesthetic best described as "anime bullshit". It's also a surprisingly deep look at disillusionment with modern Japanese cultural ideals, despite taking on the challenge of parodying over the top power fantasy action by doing it harder than anyone else. Heinz joins the pod to talk about all the reasons OPM is great, while also discussing whether you can ever parody something through imitation without picking up some of the problems you want to poke fun at (and a whole bunch of other stuff as well).

Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of NZ On Air.

Alejandro Jodorowsky is a Chilean film maker who aims to speak in symbolic language, and make films that replicate the full force of the psychedelic experience. In 1973, bolstered by the success of his "acid Western" El Topo, Jodorowsky made The Holy Mountain - his first project with major financial backing and near-total creative freedom. The result is a deeply strange and allegorical movie that can be transcendental if you get on its level (or might just lose you entirely).

This episode I talk to May, host of the Youtube channel Nyx Fears, about the power, magic, and symbolism of The Holy Mountain, and the vision (and problems) of Jodorowsky as a very 70s guy with very 70s guy problems.

Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of NZ On Air.

May is @NyxFears on Twitter. Nyx Fears on Youtube is at: https://www.youtube.com/user/BrutalMovieReview

Being a dude (particularly a white dude) puts one in an odd position. You simultaneously enjoy as much systemic privilege as is possible (disregarding financial class, at least), and find that that comes at the cost of any sort of cultural marker that you could feasibly use to identify yourself. You also find much of the world fairly (justifiably) unsympathetic to any problems you might be having - a situation that grifters and fascists find particularly fertile ground.

Angus Dingwall rejoins the podcast to talk about this strange position, its many dangers and seductions, and some root causes of the problem (if not yet too many solutions) in what might be part one of a longer series?

The Magnetic Fields are an odd band. Formed around singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Stephin Merrit, they exist as a showcase for his songs, without necessarily being a showcase for his performance. The songs themselves are wildly diverse in genre, production, and instrumentation, while sharing a sardonic sense of humour wed to a deep emotional sincerity. Additionally, Magnetic Fields albums are often produced to a strict creative limit such as "everything is distorted" or "all the songs start with the definite article". Stef Animal (@stef_animal) joins the podcast to talk about her love of The Magnetic Fields, and the value of giving yourself creative limits.

Find Stef's music at:

https://stef-animal.bandcamp.com/

https://thegoldenawesome.bandcamp.com/

https://mestar.bandcamp.com/