Swords and Satire

Hi everyone! We are making some changes to the show and we recorded an announcement for you all, so you can stay informed about what we are going to be doing going forward. Thank you for listening and supporting the show!

We satirists can’t resist a good quirky romance story, so we decided to cover the film Only Lovers Left Alive this week, a movie about bohemian vegan vampires in love. And since they’re vampires they’ve been in love for hundreds of years. How do they keep the spark alive you ask? Why by living apart for a lifetime or two until they get bored of being alone and begrudgingly getting back together in Detroit. We told you they were madly in love right? Also things in the world around them are falling apart and microplastics are destroying their food supply. How romantic!

We have a discussion about a classic love story for you this week to start off the month all about love, and in the case of our show it’s all about supernatural love beyond the grave. This is just your classic rom-com about a girl and her zombie, and how they defy the odds about who’s living and who’s dead, and how they get their haters to leave them alone. So cuddle up to your headphones with your favorite brain food and listen in to hear us banter about undead puppy love.

We have finally taken the plunge and decided to start covering this franchise, because even though everyone and their siblings have analyzed this series, we haven’t done it yet, so here it goes. If you want to hear us talk about a movie in which Hitler battles against baby Jesus, the gross negligence of people in the wizarding world, and how J. K. is most probably trans like us, then strap on your headphones and settle in for this auditory treat!

Listen in this week to hear us try to coherently discuss a movie about your wacky, perhaps irredeemable grandpa, who won’t shut up about his past adventures that seem really cringe from a modern lens. He also keeps threatening to die if no one will pay attention to him, but you unfortunately really need his help to distract your problematic uncle that tries to take over every family gathering. That’s the general vibe of this incoherent and problematic film, but one that is whimsical and hopeful at the same time. We end up with feelings that are just as ambivalent as the messaging of this film is inconsistent! So please do join us for this listening journey!

Join us this week as we discuss this fun, fantastical romp about a family feud that feeds on the needs of marginalized Narnians, exploiting their desire for sovereignty and autonomy to fuel the neverending battle for control of Narnia. Also, there’s a magical cat that is the local god, but also maybe the god of Earth, but is almost certainly not a Jellicle cat, maybe.

This week we continue our new year tradition of covering a film of the Tolkein universe, and as it turns out, this movie also fits with our meta theme for the year (that we started with the Cats film) of films that have ruined lives. Long-time listeners will know that every good fantasy film is about class struggle, at least in part, and this one is no exception to the rule, except this time the class struggle was covered in real life! You’ll just have to tune in to hear us dish about the controversy surrounding this film, and the fashion trends of dwarven culture!

For our new year special this time around we decided to cover a film that has broken every human law and has us seeking the sweet, sweet release of the Heaviside Layer. That’s right, it’s Cats (2019). If you ever wondered what Jellicle cat means, or why one of them must be Chosen each year, then you’ve come to the wrong place, because we are just as clueless as you. But, if you do want to hear us break down the entire fabric of this narrative with our signature silly, serious style, then you’re in for a treat!

(music obtained from freemusicarchive.com, and cat sounds from Zapsplat.com)

While this is something of a funny, anti-holiday-cheer choice for our show this season, it is oddly more representative than other comedies of its era, even while the humor is painfully outdated (we seriously took psychic damage from some scenes). The Santa lore is also incredibly unique, completely unlike anything else you have ever heard about, which we can pretty much guarantee. We were so inspired by this in fact, that we came up with a silly, serious mash-up between Santa and Elden Ring lore for our intro skit. Enjoy!

(intro skit music by Dark Fantasy Studio)

We are covering a holiday classic this week, and after watching it this time around we realized this movie connects almost everything we watched into one universe through the Kingdom Hearts games! You have to be a gaming and Disney nerd to get it so hopefully we still have some of you along for the ride with us! We also realized that this movie is more about class struggle and a scathing indictment of billionaire CEO’s than we ever could see before.