This Is My Son

This week we explore the concepts of musicals in film and Christopher Guest via Little Shop of Horrors and Waiting for Guffman. Major topics: Greek-ish tragedies, forgivingly easy-to-sing musicals, erotic vines, deliberate artificiality, depictions of gayness, anti-irony, and personal identification with community theatre awfulness.

This week we peer into our awful future and examine two grim, delightful movies about the future: Zardoz and Looper. We discuss red underpants, future tech, "mundanity," the consequences of Sean Connery capering, failed utopias, sonspaces, ingots, feet, Willis-impressions, The Eternal Bernie, "We're sorry, Paul Dano," and the Zardooperverse.

This week on This Is My Billy, we compare prominent Billies Corgan and Joel. Also covered: dog sounds, sad teens, feelings, the Nirvana-Dislike Society, one of the top proverbs in the Bible, maddening cassette tapes, Cinderella 5, floppy thumbs, speaking Billy Joel lyrics quietly to yourself, and real facts about Kris' workout.

Today we broach a new son variety called “book.” Kris Jacque brings her son You’re An Animal, Viskovitz! and Cathy brings her precious boy The Master and Margarita. Discussed: animals are aliens, sex and death, tweeting octopi, the origin of Buzzfeed, getting a Dr. Pepper blast downstairs, Everybody Loves Behemoth, displaying a complete lack of knowledge of Soviet history, and deciding that being a witch is pretty sick.

In a This Is My Son first, Cathy is joined by her good friend Nikita to talk about their shared son, Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit musical, Hamilton. Along the way, much attention and thought is given to the role of hustle in American history, founding father fandom, whether or not Alexander Hamilton could've had a three-way, and knee-jerk backlash.

This week Whitney returns with her venerable old son, Vampire Hunter D. Cathy picks her son from the same year, 1985, the Terry Gilliam film Brazil. Along the way, they discuss the emotional power of your gateway anime, cool teen goth phases, bad dubs, how to inspire people to ganbatte in a post-nuclear mutant-ridden hellpocalypse, snake lady tiddies, cookie-covered Bob Hoskins, and interrogating male privilege.

Max returns to the Son Zone with his grotesque boy, The Name of the Rose and a son for Cathy, Volcano. Also discussed: medieval garbage chutes, film major pedantry, seminal moments, Clavdivs, the sound of masculinity, melting physics, Disaster Man, and volcanoes fixing racism.

David stops by to present a concept album about Mega Man, The Protomen. Cathy responds with a concept album about drinking urine, Urinal Street Station. Also discussed: gun hands, fantasy worlds, the unique properties of the Midwestern mind, piss freaks, Get Filthy to Come Clean by The White Rapid Lads, fingerless gloves, and smoking film. The FBI is coming to arrest them as we speak.

In our first IRL live and in person episode, Cathy is joined by Aggie Traye and her precious boy, That Mitchell and Webb Look. Cathy presents her charming child The League of Gentlemen. Also discussed: British comedy pipelines, pandering, Native American ghost sex, and monster values.

Mouse returns as we continue our music streak, presenting heavy metal nerd band DragonForce. Cathy responds with apparently critically acclaimed prog/jazz/salsa/experimental group The Mars Volta. Also discussed: cool dragons, subcultures, furries, elitism, virtuosity, and many things in between.