Second Breakfast with Cam & Maggie

Let's start with the good news —Tristan is back to chat with us about the next act of Diablo IV. The undercurrent of this episode is the volatility of a game that is so reliant on updates and patches that can wildly alter the gameplay experience. We happened to play this act during the reviled 1.1 patch, which made boss fights and combat feel like - as Cam says during the episode - swimming through peanut butter. Our discussion covers the subsequent patch that fixed things (and actually made the game better than ever), the truly lousy experience we had playing Act Four during the bad times, and the core instability at the heart of Diablo IV. Other topics include: narrative balance and world building, fractal damage modifiers, the tension between world tiers & fun factor, and the tremendous power of legendary drop rates.

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For this week's Summerween, we're looking at an all-time classic. Jaws is the ultimate summer horror film, but after rewatching it, we also think it takes a quiet tour through some of our favorite horror subgenres. There's a horror sensibility running through everything here, from the crafty script that overwhelms you with doomed mentors, to the legendary score and paranoid editing. And at the center of it all lies Chief Brody, who strikes us now as an updated George Bailey from It's A Wonderful Life, and a shortcut into this film's similarly glorious anti-capitalist messaging. Last but not least, the shark is terrifying. [As mentioned in the episode] The word "summerween" is not our invention, but one we've seen used across the internet for various Halloween/autumnal/horror content in the summer months. Maggie first heard the term from allisonpaiges on YouTube, who participates in the Summwerween read-a-thon hosted by gabbyreads and and oliviareadsalatte on YouTube. Credit where credit is due! Get bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SecondBreakfastPodcast LINKS: YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's stories Send us your feedback & theories: [email protected]

Greta Gerwig's Barbie is fantastic for so many reasons, but there was one idea that struck us particularly hard, and we couldn't let it go. Enjoy this solo column-style episode from Cam, wherein he passionately argues that in making this film, Gerwig has delivered us perhaps the best modern adaptation of John Milton's Paradise Lost in decades. Ryan Gosling's Ken is the perfect Satan for 2023, and probably not for the reasons you think.

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An exciting development has arrived, years in the making. The show is about to change forever, but also – not at all.

JOIN THE FUN HERE

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Discussion of The Lady of the Lake, Ch. 5 We're barreling towards the end of The Witcher saga, and in this chapter we finally get some answers. After we break down revelations about elves, unicorns, the Wild Hunt, and time travel, Cam launches into one of his patented Big Boy Theories – namely, that this chapter is a microcosm and restaging of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, full of telling echoes to Oberon, Titania, Nick Bottom, and a whole bunch of other, pointed references and reversals that keep the runaway surrealism grounded in Sapkowski's beloved European folklore. Maggie spirits us away into a deep philosophical discussion about determinism, elven kings, and infinite universes. Cam argues passionately for and against free will and determinism.

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Hey, remember a couple months ago when we were whining that they didn't make any good comedy movies anymore?? Well, they must have heard us. This episode runs through five fantastic comedies we've seen in the last few months. There's so much variety and talent here, from ensemble horror comedies, to classic New York rom-coms, action comedies, 2000s sex comedies, and nihilistic COVID-era farces. This one's a discussion and a celebration. We've never been happier to be wrong.

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This year's Summerween is bringing the pain. As Above, So Below is once again the scariest movie we've ever seen, but it's also been designed in a lab to perfectly appeal to Maggie's medieval art history background and Cam's undying fascination with Faustus, Dante, and literary demons. This discussion runs through the uniquely varied style of found footage employed here, which deftly balances the objective and the subjective. We also work through the film's commitment to interpreting Dante's vision of the afterlife – and that's before we get to the catacombs or the creature design. Did we mention this film is terrifying?

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Discussion of The Lady of the Lake, Ch. 4 This chapter of the final Witcher novel is the perfect complement to its predecessor. We continue through a messy, empathetic, nuanced interlude of fantasy, illusion, sexual politics, and self-awareness. We dig deep into Geralt's subconscious here – Maggie wonders whether his growth has brought him to a place of healthy emotional intelligence, while Cam observes a rather pointed monster metaphor that critiques Geralt's current and true state. We discuss the complicated relationship between our Witcher and Fringilla, and try to unpack our characters' many ruminations on destiny.

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At the halfway point of Diablo IV, we reach a crossroads. The narrative work here can be incredible, but more and more the game seems to be prioritizing the uneven gear grind and endgame. This episode explores some of the major tensions at the heart of the game. Maggie advances our ongoing discussion of power fantasies, difficulty scaling, and monotony in light of the tidal wave of boss fights peppered through this act. Some of our class builds have become completely nonfunctional, and in that defeat, we learn a humbling, Dark-Souls-esque lesson about dark fantasy. Tristan questions our new villain, Elias, and makes the case that he is neither narratively compelling nor — by the rules of this world — even in the wrong. This opens us up to a larger conversation about simplistic moral binaries and the lack of ethical complexity in Sanctuary. Cam goes full Faustus fanboy when the giant bloody wolf turns into Mephisto.

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Discussion of Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2, and Insidious: The Red Door

James Wan and Leigh Whannell made the best haunted house horror movie of all time in 2010. Three years later, they made the best horror sequel of all time. And now, ten years later, with Insidious: The Red Door, we have a satisfying, startling, gorgeous finale to what might be the greatest franchise in the genre. This episode discusses the films in turn, and the millions of beautiful ways in which they build upon, complement, challenge, and accent each other. At every turn, these movies feel like passion projects. They've got the best creature design of all time, and that's not even what makes us love them. This is a discussion of three movies. This is a discussion of one movie. This three episodes. This is one episode. This is a celebration of Insidious: The Lambert Family trilogy.

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