Sidebar Forever

"You're gonna need a good supply of body bags" for this playback review of the 1982 action classic First Blood. On the pod, we discuss the ten years this film spent in Development Hell, why Sylvester Stallone was against releasing it, casting alternatives including Steve McQueen as Rambo and Kirk Douglas as Trautman, and where does First Blood fall among other Vietnam vet movies like The Deer Hunter and Born on the 4th of July. 

With the holidays here and nostalgia in the air, the last episode of the year is on the topic of why we collect things. Do we do it because of perceived value or investment purposes? Are we holding on to a memory from the past? Is there a difference between collecting and hoarding? Items covered on the pod are comics, toys, G.I. Joe figures, baseball cards, Archie digests, discs, photos, convention badges, life lessons, and more.

Grab your popcorn and take a seat as we pay tribute to the greatest director in the history of Hollywood. Steven Spielberg's filmography is undeniable: Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan... Hell, even Catch Me If You Can and Munich are pretty entertaining in their own way. Plus his newest film, The Fabelmans, is in theaters now.

Doesn't matter if you're talking Justice League, Avengers, or X-Men, superhero teams are one of the cornerstones of comics. Our conversation covers why teams form in the first place, classic team tropes, and which headquarters would make the coolest hangout spot. We also discuss comic creators like Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Joe Madureira who all made their superstar reputations telling stories about superhero teams.

We celebrate The Bourne Identity's 20th anniversary by discussing its loose adaptation of Robert Ludlum's 1980 novel, the film's influence on the spy subgenre especially Daniel Craig's Bond, and how this movie and eventual franchise turned Matt Damon into a bankable action star. We also discuss other films like Bourne such as Three Days of the Condor, La Femme Nikita, The Recruit, Atomic Blonde, and Red Sparrow. 

Remember when you had to go over to a friend's house in order to play video games with them? What about shipping physical artwork via FedEx? Today's pod is all about technology and practices that have gone the way of the dodo bird. They are extinct. Also discussed are pagers, typewriters, malls, cashing checks at the bank, and movies with a runtime of under two hours. 

A spoiler-filled review of the sequel to Marvel Studios' 2018 blockbuster Black Panther; starring Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong'o, and Tenoch Huerta.

Your three hosts have fun playing a Jeopardy-style trivia game that we made up. Each player gets a category and they have 30 seconds to come up with their answers. Categories like: "Name three comic book characters who gained their powers via radiation" or "Name five armored characters in the Iron Man universe who are not Iron Man."

We start off with a list of over 40 and break it down to a solid 10. Our one rule: It only counts as a sequel if it's the second film. Up for discussion are The Godfather Part II, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Aliens, The Empire Strikes Back, Evil Dead 2, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The Raid 2, Top Gun: Maverick and more!

What are your favorite sequels?

"Someone's in my fruit cellar! Someone with a fresh sooouuul!"

And that someone is Bruce Campbell as we do a short playback of writer-director Sam Raimi's stylized, blood-soaked sequel to the original Evil Dead (1981).

Groovy, right?