Part of being a Dad is facing - and even embracing - loss. All states are transitional, but you hope that you leave behind something that your kids (and maybe even their kids) can hold onto, something that says: "This is who I was, and this is what I believe." 

Tim Curry was notably (and justifiably) slippery in his life; he didn't loop us in on all the details, as was his right. What he does leave us (and I guess we're all his metaphorical kids in this exercise) is an astounding guide to finding joy at the physical, verbal, and psychological extremes of performance. You might not always remember the project (although I still quote CONGO some 31 years after its release), but you will always remember the performer. RIP Tim Curry, container of multitudes: Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Pennywise, Mozart, King Arthur, the nervous Russian doctor in THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, the nervous Romanian philanthropist in CONGO (Seriously, TC had a phenomenal time doing nervous accent work in 1995!), and, of course, Wadsworth the butler in Jonathan Lynn's 1985 farce CLUE. 

We usually stay away from movies still showing in theaters, but we had to make an exception for the movie event of the summer, which dares to ask the question: What if beloved Dad filmmaker Christopher Nolan made the world's biggest, longest, most discussed Dad Movie (tm) of all time?

He loves his kid! He loves his wife! He refuses to ask for directions! Odysseus is truly the Daddest of all Dads. Join Dads Tooky, Dave, & Mike as we dig into the film of 2026: THE ODESSEY

Guys, the Dads are all over the country taking some much-deserved vacations with their biological and hand-selected families. It's that time in the summer when the good movies have all come out (see you, THE ODYSSEY) and it's time to start taking out the trash (we see you, THE END OF OAK STREET), so we thought we'd revisit one of the absolute trashiest summer movies in the Dad canon. Enjoy this January 2025 episode about what might be the sweatiest movie ever: 1997's CON AIR. 

Are you taking your dad to see THE ODYSSEY? Trick question: OF COURSE YOU ARE. That's because Christopher Nolan is your Dad's favorite director. He checks all the boxes for a Dad Movie Experience (tm):

Emotional distance (obvi);

Cool fights;

Chance of Batman; 

Multiple timelines (Dads wear watches so we love occasional time dislocation);

Sad Dad as hero;

NO SEX.

This summer, we celebrate YDFD Christopher Nolan by digging into 2010's INCEPTION, which ticks off 5 of the 6 above boxes (THE ODYSSEY is 6 for 6, btw).

Listen: I don't want to tell you how to live your life, but if your Dad doesn't want to be Steve McQueen, GET YOURSELF A NEW DAD.

And if you're a Dad and you don't secretly want to be Steve McQueen, GET YOUR KIDS A NEW DAD. 

Peter Yates directs. Lalo Schifrin jazzes. Robert Vaughn smarms. And Steve McQueen looks baller in a turtleneck. It's 1968's BULLITT.

Before Charlie Sheen was...you know, "Charlie [makes cuckoo gestures with hands] Sheen" he was a serious actor. Your mileage may vary, but he was for sure out there trying.  And as one of Hollywood's most famous sons (acting across from his real-life Dad Martin), he alone makes this flick Dad-worthy.

But wait - this movie also features one of the OG nepo babies: Michael Douglas (Kirk's boy), delivering an Oscar-winning performance.

And it turns out this whole movie is (at least in part) a tribute to the filmmaker's (Oliver Stone) Dad, who had a long career in the financial sector. 

Holy crap this movie is Peak Dad! Enjoy our Father's Day gift to you: a spirited investigation of Oliver Stone's 1987 cautionary tale WALL STREET.

This conversation takes more twists and turns than the film does, and that's saying something, friend-o. Flip a coin to see how Dad Tooky feels about the Coen brothers' 2007 Best Picture winner NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. 

The second half of this docuseries is marked as much by the absence of fathers as by their presence; we barely hear from MJ's kids (and when we do, we get no insight into MJ the Dad). The surrogate Dads (Phil Jackson, Dean Smith) fall away; most notably, we follow the story of the tragic loss of James Jordan, MJ's dad. His loss (and the resulting media reaction, which was marked by some truly repellent speculation) seems to put the final touches on the MJ persona we see to this day:  motivated by slights (perceived and real), utterly in control, and utterly remote. It's fascinating, compelling, and ultimately a little sad. JUST LIKE YOUR DAD! Enjoy the Dads' discussion of 2020's THE LAST DANCE (Episodes 6-10), directed by Jason Hehir. 

What if we built a whole docuseries out of Dads?

MJ = the demanding Dad

Phil = the cool Dad

Scottie = the young Dad who's still figuring it out

Bill Cartwright = the Dad who the whole neighborhood respects

Jerry Reinsdorf = the absentee Dad

Dennis Rodman = the stepDad who throws your whole life into chaos

Journey with us back to 2020 and beyond for Jason Hehir's sanity-saving (for NBA sickos anyway) weekly documentary series about Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls quest for a second three-peat THE LAST DANCE.!

You may find yourself asking the question: "Wither Wrestlemania 17?" Or even: "Wither Wrestlemania at all? These be not movies; gaze upon ye podcast title and weep!" Listem, I could explain how Dad Tooky wanted to revisit the WWF of her childhood and experience it through adult eyes; I could go on and on about the fascinating cultural bubble of the brief pre-9/11 moment of this century; or I could point out that this event helped launch one of Hollywood's most unlikely supermegastars. I could do all that... or I could kick you off a ladder into a bunch of folding chairs. BAM!

Welcome to the Dad-itude Era. Welcome to 2001. Welcome to WRESTLEMANIA X7.