The Incomparable Superfeed

Shot in the postwar ruins of occupied Tokyo, Akira Kurosawa’s early buddy-cop thriller will make you feel every drop of sweat in its sweltering summer heat wave. A rookie cop (Toshiro Mifune) loses his gun to a pickpocket; the gun ends up in the hands of a desperate ex-soldier with nothing to lose. As his weapon gets used in a series of escalating, awful crimes, the young detective and his savvy mentor (Takashi Shimura) must race through the underworld to track down the shooter and get it back. Stray Dog is a top-notch police procedural, but it’s also a surprisingly kind, humane, and empathetic look at a city emerging from wartime.

Stray Dog

Nathan Alderman with Shelly Brisbin, Micheline Maynard and Randy Dotinga

Get in touch with the show at [email protected] or on the socials.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

Next time, we’ll watch

This vampire party isn’t over! The epic final battle remains epic as we ask questions like Do vampires poop? What is the sound of one invisible vampire missing? What is the curse of Strahd? And most importantly, Will this fight ever end?

Dog & Pony Show VII, Part 10

Tony Sindelar with Aleen Simms, Dan Moren, Erika Ensign, Jane Ritt and Mikah Sargent

Edited by Erika Ensign.

Are Hawaiian shirts just fun to wear, or are they cultural appropriation?

John Siracusa and Jason Snell

Two roads diverged in a corpse-ridden wood. This week, your Star Wars pals Dan, Kat, and Tony follow a return to the split narrative and discuss parallel pacing, the compulsion of soup, and what exactly a mischievous space otter’s plan is.

Dan Moren, Tony Sindelar and K Benesh

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We return for the third inning of our baseball season, where intrepid reporters Dan Moren and Lex Friedman try to get to the bottom of a cheating scandal in John Sayles’s 1988 film, Eight Men Out. Hot topics include ticker-tape simulcasting, playing good baseball badly, and so many character actors.

Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks!

Lex Friedman and Dan Moren

You did it, you blew it all up! And now it’s… the Summer of the Planet of the Apes! Our own troop of hairless apes tackles the well-regarded modern “Apes” trilogy this month, beginning with 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” James Franco is a scientist? Brian Cox runs a sketchy ape facility? Tom Felton thinks his dates want to see caged primates? Just when you think this movie has it all backward, that’s when you realize: we’re actually all rooting for the apes.

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

Jason Snell with Annette Wierstra, Brian Warren, John Moltz and David J. Loehr

We begin our International Summer Vacation season with a prime example of the French New Wave. Breathless is directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg. The film is notable for its visual style, and the impact it had on the careers of its leading actors. Belmondo plays a criminal who wants to be Humphrey Bogart. He spends much of the film on the run, and with his American girlfriend. Problems ensue.

Breathless

Shelly Brisbin with Dr. Drang and Nathan Alderman

Get in touch with the show at [email protected] or on the socials.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

Next time, we’ll watch

You wait around for years for another Trivial Retreat, and then two come along pretty much at once! See how our players adapt this time to coming up with questions to Trivial Pursuit answers, and whether or not they’ll fall prey to a Ponzi scheme.

Trivial Retreat 4

Jason Snell with Monty Ashley, Erika Ensign, Glenn Fleishman, Tony Sindelar and Kelly Guimont

The final battle continues because violence is the only language the undead understand

Dog & Pony Show VII, Part 9

Tony Sindelar with Aleen Simms, Dan Moren, Erika Ensign, Jane Ritt and Mikah Sargent

Edited by Erika Ensign.

Erika and Steven start another story that is new to Erika. Not new to Erika? Daleks.

XXX (1)

Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky