Socially Distanced

The Last of Us Episode 4 brought Joel and Ellie into a new world of danger, and the Socially Distanced team is here to talk about it all. Al Mannarino, Amanda Rivas and Bill Bodkin are joined by Pop Break staff writer Sam Niles (who writes The Last of Us reviews for the site, and hosted the Marshall's Movies Podcast) to discuss everything that went down in "Please Hold to My Hand." They discuss the deviations from the game (which Sam believes is for the better), the addition of Melanie Lynskey to the cast, the evolving relationship between Joel and Ellie, what is in the basement, and was this episode an emotional and narrative letdown after last week's amazing third episode.

In the pre-game segment the group discusses Pedro Pascal's hosting gig on Saturday Night Live and if his Super Mario digital short is an all-timer, plus they predict who wins the big game this weekend and what trailers they're most hyped for.

The Last of Us Episode 3, 'Long, Long Time' may just be one of the best episodes of television ever, and Socially Distanced is talking about. Amanda Rivas, Al Mannarino and Bill Bodkin are joined by Alisha Weinberger to discuss this landmark episode of the fledgling series. In the episode they discuss the performances of Nick Offerman as Bill (shockingly no the original actor cast in the role) and Murray Bartlett as Frank. They discuss how the episode diverges from the main arc but yet does so much for the narrative and the series as a whole, how the episode brought everyone to tears multiple times, and how the deviation from the game was the absolute right call.

Please be warned there are spoilers for The Last of Us Part II and Last of Us DLC content throughout the podcast. 

In the pre-game segment the group discusses James Gunn's announcements for the DCU and which they're most excited for as well as their picks for what they're digging on in the world of pop culture this week.

It's time to talk about the first undeniable runaway hit TV series of 2023 -- HBO's The Last of Us. Al Mannarino, Amanda Rivas and Bill Bodkin are joined by their favorite "geriatric millennial daddy" Alisha Weinberger to discuss the small screen adaptation of Naughty Dog's classic video game series.

They discuss video game adaptations, Pedro Pascal's performance as Joel and how it differs from Mando, Bella Ramsey's foul mouth, the differences between the game and the series, the horrific reality of the premise, how having the team behind Chernobyl involved the series was the best thing to happen to the adaptation and why the series has seen an exponential jump in viewership. Alisha discusses the "bread theory" a wildly logical reason how the fungus spread throughout the world, plus her excitement over the series' second episode taking place in Indonesia complete with Indonesian performers. Scarlett Mannarino makes her podcast debut as well, and we hear Amanda melt in audio form.

In the pre-game segment the group discusses Justin Roiland being removed from Rick & Morty and what that means for the future and legacy of the hit Adult Swim series.

Join us on The Golden Mile as we discuss the final film in the Cornetto Trilogy -- The World's End! Released in 2013, the film was the final time Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have worked as trio and the film remains one of their most underrated to date. Pop Break senior writer Ryan DeMarco and his cadre of cats joins Al Mannarino, Amanda Rivas and Bill Bodkin to discuss the ultimate bar crawl movie. They discuss why The World's End is not beloved as much as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the serious issues the film tackles, and Bill discusses how the film will always be a film that marks a major positive turning point for ThePopBreak.com at a time where its future was definitely in question.

Here comes the fuzz!  The Cornetto Trilogy (aka The Three Flavours Cornetto) rewatch continues with Hot Fuzz the 2007 action comedy starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (and directed by Edgar Wright). 

Al Mannarino, Amanda Rivas and Bill Bodkin are joined by comedian Melissa Jouben who helped inspire the rewatch series during our Spaced episode from last year. On the episode they discuss the immense amount of quotable lines from the film, the staggering amount of references and running gags, the love between Nicholas Angel & Danny Butterman, Point Break, and so much more.

Yeaaaa boooiiiii ... welcome to the Season 4 premiere of The Socially Distanced Podcast! The podcast kicks off 2023 with its first-ever rewatch series as for the next three weeks we're watching the films of The Cornetto Trilogy. This episode kicks things off with the greatest rom-zom-com of all-time, Shaun of the Dead.

Bill Bodkin, Al Mannarino and Amanda Rivas are joined by Tyler McCarthy and Allie Nelson of the Not Couple Goals Podcast to talk about a movie that the not only loved in their younger days for being hilarious and gory, but has taught them a few lessons about growing up. 

In the episode they discuss the first time they caught the 2004 Edgar Written directed film starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Bill Nighy and Dylan Moran. They discuss their favorite kills, Shaun's one-true love, the best running gags, the most quotable lines and their own zombie escape plans. You'll be quite surprised just how prepared Allie and Tyler are for a zombie apocalypse.

It's the final episode of 2022 aka Season 3 of the podcast. Bill Bodkin, Al Mannarino, Amanda Rivas, Kat Manos, Cole Rothacker and Ben Murchison get together for the final part of the Socially Distanced Holiday Spectacular to present the first ever Socially Distanced Awards!

The Main Event: The First Annual Socially Distanced Awards

Category #1: The Bluey Award for The Best Television Series of 2022 Because No Show is Ever Going to Top Bluey…

Category #2: The Cole Rothacker Award of the Best Animated Film/Movie/Anime We Watched in 2022 Because We’re Super Proud of Cole’s Accomplishments in the World of Animation….

Category #3: The “Al, We Know You’re Going to Pick Phoenix Award” for the Best Album of the Year, Because It’s the Only Band Al Talks About….

Category #4: The “Ben Murchison Oh It’s a Banger” Award for Best Song of the Year…

Category #5: The “Disney+ Just Sponsor Us Award” for Best Thing You Watched on Disney+

Category #6: The “Book of Boba Fett The Wookie Rips An Arm Off Award” for Best Onscreen Death or Loss of Body Part

Category #7: The “Johnny Utah Award” for the Best Movie You Saw in Theaters (or was Released in 2022) Award

Category #8: The “Oh Man Am I Actually Out in the Real World?” Award for Best Live Event You Attended in 2022

Category #9: The “Podultery” Award for Best Podcast You Listen to That isn’t Socially Distanced

Category #10: The “Bill We’re Going to Bug You Until You Watch That” Award for the Piece of Pop Culture You Think Went Under Everyone’s Radar in 2022, but they need to watch.

Yipee Kay Yay! The second part of the Socially Distanced Podcast's Holiday Spectacular continues with a deep dive into the ultimate Christmas movie -- Die Hard!

The inspiration for this show came from Pop Break's podcast editor Alex Marcus, who despite seeing almost every movie known to man, has never seen Die Hard ... so what better time of year to do it than the Christmas season! Alex joins Bill Bodkin, Amanda Rivas and special guest Tyler McCarthy (of Pop Break's Not Couple Goals Podcast) as well as two very special cameos...from some very familiar voices.

In the episode those who've seen Die Hard discuss their origin stories with the film, if Hans Gruber is the ultimate action movie bad guy, the most creative kill, the most eye-rolling part of the film, and if Die Hard truly is a Christmas film to everyone. Before the Die Hard talk, they discuss their favorite traditional and not-so traditional holiday films.

Welcome to Part One of the first-ever Socially Distanced Holiday Special!

In this special, Bill Bodkin, Amanda Rivas and Ben Murchison "review" the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. The special which aired on November 17, 1978 starred Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Harvey Korman, Jefferson Starship and Diahann Carroll. It's one of the wildest and worst things ever produced for television and believe it or not this was the onscreen debut of Boba Fett! It also features Chewbacca's family, musical numbers, bizarre sketches and a lot of head-scratching, cringe matching.

In the episode, they also discuss the news that Henry Cavill, after a meeting with James Gunn and Peter Zafran, will no longer be Superman. Cavill's run, his replacement, and the future of DC are discussed.

It's the final review episode of 2022!  Hosts Amanda Rivas and Bill Bodkin are joined by "Socially Distanced Hall of Famer" Ben Murchison to dive into the new world of LucasFilm properties. They begin the episode discussing the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (aka Indiana Jones 5). They discuss their hopes and fears about the fifth (and probably final) Indy film.

Willow, the new Disney+ series, is the main subject of the podcast and the trio have a lot of feelings about the show -- and not all of them are positive. They talk about the tonal issues, the lack of engaging characters, and the directionlessness of the first three episodes. Yet, not all hope is lost as they discuss some of their favorite performances, the gorgeous cinematography and all the potential series.