Second Breakfast with Cam & Maggie

Are you looking for a fun, scary, packs-a-punch home invasion horror movie?! You've come to the wrong place. This movie is not fun, and it is not entertaining. But boy, does it pack a punch. It is DEEPLY UPSETTING. Michael Haneke knows exactly what he's doing – he takes the horror genre, flips it on its head, and exposes the true horrors of reality and of our own expectations. We are not entertained; instead, we are disturbed by our own desire for entertainment. We've been wanting to watch this movie for years, and it was not what we expected, but it absolutely blew us away. Spoilers ahead, ye be warned. Funny Games was a masterpiece, in the strangest and most unsettling ways.

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Discussion of The Witcher, Season 1, Episode 7: "Before a Fall"

This episode felt different than the others in this season: there's no monster of the week, the plot stalled for about 45 minutes, and we're taking a lot of time to circle back to moments we've seen before. Oddly, much of the material in this episode did not originate from the books, and those bits were actually okay. This show succeeds when it's not trying to "fix" Sapkowski's source material. Unfortunately, Geralt is at best a side character this time around, and Yennefer continues to baffle us. But on the plus side, there's a cute scene where Ciri talks to a horse (Alexa, how do you spell "character echoes"?), and it really seems like Geralt and Ciri will finally meet in the next episode. Plus, only one more week until we dive into Blood of Elves. Good things to come!

Comics By Perch's video on social commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMBjMriv9QM

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For our second episode of Summerween, we wanted to tackle a classic horror film. Hellraiser has been a big part of the horror zeitgeist for decades, and we were absolutely delighted to experience it. Part psycho-sexual thriller, part camp horror masterpiece, this film was Rocky Horror meets Evil Dead. Julia was a special kind of protagonist, and the fantastic practical effects made for a stunning visual language on the screen. Cam also managed to once again make this a Faustus story, but it really works this time. This film is especially interesting when considered in its historical context of the 80s: Satanic panic, the AIDS epidemic, and the simultaneous sexual revolution / criticism of sexual deviancy all create a fun ecosystem for this film to thrive in. Our discussion is relatively spoiler-free – we hope you enjoy!

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Discussion of The Witcher, Season 1, Episode 6: "Rare Species"

This episode brought more disappointment, so to structure our discussion we're breaking down the changes made from original story to TV episode and why those matter. Changes themselves aren't bad (see the definition for the word "adaptation"), but the specific changes here make for a clunky misunderstanding of Sapkowski's story and characters. Plot changes upend important relationships and genre commentary, overwritten dialogue dehumanizes our favorite characters, and poor pacing removes any sense of tension or investment in our side plots. But don't despair, dear reader; there are good moments too. Geralt is allowed a great moment of complexity, and his relationship with Dandelion (we don't accept a "Jaskier" in this household) continues to shine. We want this show to be good, by gosh by golly we really do.

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To kick off our first installment of Summerween (a whole month of horror to manifest the superior vibes of autumn), Cam and Maggie dive into a spoiler-free discussion of David Bruckner's 2017 horror masterpiece, The Ritual. Four friends go into the woods and then…bad things happen. This folklore-filled movie is surprisingly grounded and delightfully eerie. The naturalistic dialogue and fantastically terrifying creature design (not to mention an A+ forest that rivals The VVitch), make for a wonderfully spooky good time. Get a group of friends together and pull this baby up on Netflix. You won't regret it.

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We so desperately want this show to be good, and this episode is definitely better than the last one, but they just can't seem to get Yennefer right. Most of our discussion centers around this one fundamental problem, as we work through the many, many things we love about the character from the books and all of the deeply strange changes that they've made for this adaptation. There's a domino effect occurring through this season as Yennefer's introduction, origin story, and principle relationships are all botched, and therefore all of her subsequent decisions and declarations become nearly incomprehensible.

At least Henry Cavill is still spot-on, and this version of "The Last Wish" is probably the most structurally sound translation of one of Sapkowski's short stories that we've seen thus far. Well, except for the ending and the setting and the relationship chemistry. Look, we're trying here. Once again, we want this show to go be good!

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Grab your shine box and join us for a discussion of Goodfellas, which has become to Cam what Pride and Prejudice (2005) is to Maggie. It's got echoes, callbacks, punchlines, timelines, world class music cues, masterful performances all around, and maybe the funniest script ever written. Topics include: "perfect" works of art, the anatomy of great film narration, the importance of Karen's role, self-awareness in art, and the balancing of ensemble casts with all consuming protagonists.

Rest in peace Ray Liotta, you will be extraordinarily missed.

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Well dear listeners, we have good news and bad news. The bad news is that this episode was a world class disaster. Calanthe was girl-bossed into oblivion, Sapkowski's wonderfully crafted characters and ideas were abbreviated beyond belief, and the dialogue continued to give us "the ick". The good news is that we get the ranting off our chests at the top, and then spend some time on the few things that were done well, followed by a big ol' stack of feedback from PBS viewers like you! We ended up finding more things to praise about the show than we originally thought, and your thoughts and messages were delightful springboards for a variety of tangents and small discussions. Thank you as always for being such an enthusiastic audience. We love this community dearly ♥️

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Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man is bombastic, brutal, over-the-top popcorn entertainment - but it's also a remarkable story about poverty and puberty and how much we love our dogs. Cam takes a deep dive into this 96-chapter manga to discuss the series' roots in Doctor Faustus and the classic Universal monster movies, the importance of a consistent creative team and affordability in comics, and the refreshing feeling of fun in an art world poisoned by ironic detachment.

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Discussion of The Witcher, Season 1, Episode 3: "Betrayer Moon"

After two rounds of disappointment, this episode turned out to be an absolute treat. Geralt is finally the lead of his own show, and he gets to put on his deerstalker hat and Aragorn pants and actually – get this – solve a crime. The striga is truly terrifying, and the atmosphere in that castle is A+. Yennefer continues to be a fascinating character, and her gritty transformation had us hooked and locked in. Ciri got "demoted" to Daenerys status, and we weren't mad about it. This episode felt like a proper adaptation, and it got us nice and hyped for the next one!

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