This week on The Watchers, Andrea and Jodie are snowed in with Stephen King’s Misery, Rob Reiner’s chilling two-hander adaptation that won Kathy Bates her Oscar and taught us to fear typewriters, sledgehammers, and devoted fans bearing soup. We talk about King’s real-life inspiration for the story, the long and winding road to casting Paul Sheldon, and why this movie manages to be terrifying, funny, and oddly cozy all at once.

Next week, we’re moving from one devoted nurse with a questionable bedside manner to another, trading Annie Wilkes for Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

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Recommended Reading:

"Retrospective: 30 years later, ‘Misery’ still loves company" - Eddie Mouradian

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Thanks to Kitzy (@heykitzy) for the use of our theme song, "No Book Club."

This week on The Watchers, Andrea and Jodie revisit Stand by Me, a beloved film that, nearly four decades later, still lands with kids and adults. We talk about why the nostalgia feels real instead of cheap, the oft-discussed ways the actors’ real lives mirrored the roles they played, and whether or not we can make the case that it counts as a Jersey movie.

Next week, you cockadoodie listeners better not go anywhere because we’re coming back for Reiner’s second entry in the King Cinematic Universe, Misery.

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Thanks to Kitzy (@heykitzy) for the use of our theme song, "No Book Club."

This week on The Watchers, Andrea and Jodie hop on their bikes and pedal straight into the summer of 1970 with the coming-of-age classic Now and Then. Often called Stand by Me for girls, we talk about where that comparison lands, where it misses, how the film captures girlhood friendships, our draw toward the nostalgic, and which parts still work on rewatch. We also cover how Now and Then handles grief, first crushes, and the awkward limbo between kid and teen.

Next week, we’re heading down the tracks for the only natural follow-up to Now and Then, Rob Reiner’s Stand by Me, a darker, sharper coming-of-age story about friendship, mortality, and that one summer that changes everything.

Recommended Reading:

“​What White Girl Coming-of-Age Movies Don’t Do For a Black Girl” - Zoé Samudzi

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Thanks to Kitzy (@heykitzy) for the use of our theme song, "No Book Club."

This week on The Watchers, Andrea and Jodie bundle up for a double dose of March family goodness with Little Women, starting with the beloved 1994 version and bringing in Greta Gerwig’s more meta 2019 adaptation. We talk about what makes this story so enduring, why every generation gets the Jo it needs, and how both films handle what's really at the heart of Louisa May Alcott’s classic. We also get into 1994’s all-star 90s cast, the importance of women-led movie sets, and what Alcott really thought about the men in her novel. Plus, significant haircuts, compulsory heterosexuality, Freudian analysis, and other Watchers classics.

Next week, we’re sticking with girlhood, nostalgia, and formative trauma but trading bonnets for bikes with 1995’s coming-of-age drama, Now and Then.

Recommended Viewing:

“Why The Costumes of Little Women did NOT deserve an Oscar” - Micarah Tewers

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Thanks to Kitzy (@heykitzy) for the use of our theme song, "No Book Club."

This week on The Watchers, Andrea and Jodie are heading to 1960s Massachusetts with Mermaids, the coming-of-age dramedy that gave us Big Hair Cher, yet another Winona Ryder voiceover, and Christina Ricci's first major role. We talk about the movie’s unique (somewhat perplexing) tone, how it captures the confusion of girlhood, and the enduring charm of Bob Hoskins.

Next week, we're traveling back a century or so for another movie about a family of girls enduring New England winters, 1994's star-studded and heartbreaking earnest Little Women.

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Thanks to Kitzy (@heykitzy) for the use of our theme song, "No Book Club."

This week on The Watchers, join Jodie and Andrea under the moon in Brooklyn Heights for our review of Moonstruck, the romantic comedy that won Cher her Oscar, gave us Nicolas Cage at full Nicolas Cage, and explored the power of a good makeover. We dive into the various non-Italian actors tasked with populating Cher's Italian family, the iconic Castorini home, and the film's surprisingly tender treatment of its flawed but lovable cast of characters.

Next week, we’re sticking with Cher, but trading moonlight for mermaid tails. We’re watching Mermaids. Get ready for unconventional parenting in the form of marshmallow kebabs, teenage rebellion in the form of Catholic piety, and 1990's most desirable bachelor in the form of the late, great Bob Hoskins.

If you're reading this, that means you've probably got your podcatcher of choice open right now. It would be SO helpful if you gave our little show a follow. If you like what you hear, you could even leave us a review.

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Thanks to Kitzy (@heykitzy) for the use of our theme song, "No Book Club."

Andrea and Jodie are stopping by Truvy's beauty shop to revisit the southern tearjerker Steel Magnolias. We talk about the film’s deeply personal backstory, the stacked cast, and how Steel Magnolias made space for older women in a way that still resonates. We reflect on how this movie landed differently on rewatch, especially for those of us who are starting to feel more like Ouiser than Shelby. Plus: our favorite quotes, behind-the-scenes gossip, and, of course, that scene from Yellowjackets.

Next week we’re headed north to Brooklyn Heights for big hair, big feelings, and that big pizza pie in the sky. We’re watching Moonstruck. Get ready for Cher at her Oscar-winning best, Nicolas Cage in all his unhinged glory, and another standout performance from Montclair theater queen, Olympia Dukakis.

Recommended in this episode:

"An Inside Look at Steel Magnolias from Robert Harling" Gun and Garden, April 2018

The Right Match: A Short Documentary

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Thanks to Kitzy (@heykitzy) for the use of our theme song, "No Book Club."

This week on The Watchers, Jodie and Andrea are back in the kitchen for our full Season 4 recap of The Bear. From standout episodes to side character gold, we’re breaking down what worked, what wobbled, and what we’re still thinking about. Plus, we hand out our Season 4 Superlatives, including Best Richie Line, Best Fak Moment, Biggest Cry, and more. And of course, we share our hopes, dreams, and predictions for Season 5.

Don’t forget, we’re covering Steel Magnolias on Monday as part of our Yellowjackets side quest. See you then!

If you're reading this, that means you've probably got your podcatcher of choice open right now. It would be SO helpful if you gave our little show a follow. If you like what you hear, you could even leave us a review.

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Thanks to Kitzy (@heykitzy) for the use of our theme song, "No Book Club."

This week on The Watchers, Jodie and Andrea are talking about Harold and Maude, Hal Ashby’s unconventional romance that’s become a cult classic, an aesthetic touchstone, and (maybe?) the origin story of the manic pixie dream girl. We get into: why Maude might be the blueprint for the trope, and why she also transcends it. Why Harold is relatable to those of us who might delight in our melancholy, even if Maude is really who we should be putting on our vision board, the movie’s deep influence on today’s filmmakers (looking at you, Wes Anderson), and how Ashby originally had a very different vision for the film's soundtrack, including plans for another musician to both score the film and star in it.

Recommended Reading:

"A Boy of Twenty and a Woman of Eighty" By Leticia Kent

"The Greatest Comedic Tragedy: How Harold and Maude Redefined Holocaust Humor" - Film Cred

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Thanks to Kitzy (@heykitzy) for the use of our theme song, "No Book Club."

A show where two from Jersey’s distant ends

watch goonies, girls, class presidents unglued.

From clueless cliques to matricidal friends,

now 90s Romeo comes neon-hued.

We trace the plot through fish tank, fire, and storm,

sing praises for our queen, Mercutio,

who dances on the screen in perfect form.

No man more grave than Harold Perrineau.

Our tragic teens, Danes and DiCaprio,

a letter meant to save Claire, left unsent,

breaks the heart of blonde and brooding Romeo

and ends the so-called Life of Juliet

Next week? A dour boy who drives a hearse.

Now? Say Harold and Maude to end this verse.

If you're reading this, that means you've probably got your podcatcher of choice open right now. It would be SO helpful if you gave our little show a follow. If you like what you hear, you could even leave us a review.

Follow:

The Watchers on Instagram (@WatchersPodNJ)

Andrea on Instagram (@AQAndreaQ)

Jodie on Instagram (@jodie_mim)

Thanks to Kitzy (@heykitzy) for the use of our theme song, "No Book Club."