The Complete Works Podcast

We're not getting to return to Middle-Earth quite yet, but Elijah Wood did pop up in another fantasy epic in 2002 that we're sure is just as good as The Two Towers - it's time to discuss the direct-to-video animated film THE ADVENTURES OF TOM THUMB AND THUMBELINA! Also featuring a cast that includes Jennifer Love Hewitt, Peter Gallagher, Jon Stewart, and more, this relic of mid-2000s home video entertainment has nostalgia for some... and not much else. Come join us in the Mole King's Lair to talk about it!

Thanks to a Ko-Fi donation, this week Mike and Mike are celebrating spooky season with the final film directed by Mel Brooks, DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT! Is it as good as the best Mel Brooks comedies? Absolutely not - but there's fun to be had here! Leslie Nielsen plays Dracula, Mel Brooks plays Van Helsing, and Peter Scolari plays Renfield in this send-up of the classic Bram Stoker tale.

It's time for a monumental moment in the career of Elijah Wood, as the Mikes begin their journey through Middle-Earth with the epic fantasy film THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved book, FELLOWSHIP was a huge hit, the second-highest-grossing movie of 2001, and nominated for 13 Oscars. LOTR fan Nick Wermuth returns to the podcast to discuss the beginning of one of the greatest blockbuster trilogies of all time!

The Montana Film Festival is here once again! Mike Emmons, Artistic Director of MTFF and Programming Director of The Roxy Theater, returns to the podcast to run down everything playing at this year's fest!

MTFF runs from October 22nd through 25th. Tickets and information can be found at montanafilmfestival.org.

It's time for a first here on the Complete Works - we're covering a movie we've done on a previous season! And this one's about a cast of characters who've seen Better Days: we're revisiting CHAIN OF FOOLS! Elijah Wood pops up alongside an ensemble cast that includes Steve Zahn, David Cross, Salma Hayek, David Hyde Pierce, Tom Wilkinson, and of course, Jeff Goldblum in this little-seen crime comedy/Tarantino knockoff that we can't help but be a little bit charmed by.

It's time for another Ko-Fi donation episode! Thanks to a $50 donation from Dave, Mike and Mike are watching the 1985 adventure film REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS starring Fred Ward. The studio was trying to set up an American James Bond - and even brought in a director and screenwriter who made many Bond films! But something didn't click with audiences. Was it the white actor playing an Asian man? It's possible that had something to do with it.

This week, Elijah Wood appears in BLACK AND WHITE, a documentary-style film from director James Toback that explores white suburban teens obsessed with black culture. The movie's got an insane cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Brooke Shields, Gaby Hoffman, Mike Tyson, several members of the Wu-Tang Clan playing themselves, Ben Stiller, Brett Ratner, Jared Leto, and it's the film debut of Michael B. Jordan! Boy, do we wish this one was better!

It's time for another Mike Makes Mike Watch! This week, Smith is making Mike D catch up with the classic John Frankenheimer thriller THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE; meanwhile, Mike D is making Smith fill a '90s action blind spot with the Sylvester Stallone vehicle DAYLIGHT!

This week, Elijah Wood is paired up with Rachel Leigh Cook in the little-seen hospital drama THE BUMBLEBEE FLIES ANYWAY! Mike and Mike are asking the important questions in this one like, "Is this actually a stealth sequel to RADIO FLYER?"

We got a Ko-Fi donation this week to finish out a (sort of) trilogy from our listener David. At the beginning of this year, he laid out three actors for him to select movies for us to watch, and we've reached the last one: Stanley Tucci in UNDERCOVER BLUES! The 1993 comedy from the director of FOOTLOOSE which stars Kathleen Turner, Dennis Quaid, and Tucci as Muerte... or is it Morty?