Watch.Read.Listen.

In this epic-length episode of Watch.Read.Listen. (the first in our Fantasy Month), we discuss Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films, both in their own right and as adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's novel. This episode can be seen as the first of a two-parter on Jackson's adaptations of Tolkien's works as next week we will discuss The Hobbit films. What makes a good adaptation? What effects do the changes made have on the stories?

In our This Week segment:

David focused on rewatching The Lord of the Rings, although he did watch some of the DC animated movies, including Justice League: The Flash Paradox.

Duane read Martian Comics#1-3 (check out the Martian Lit Kickstarter for the next issue, The Canals of Earth); listened to Alice Isn't Dead, the new podcast from the creators of Welcome to Night Vale; and watched Grace Randolph on Beyond the Trailer attempt to explain away the negativity around Batman v Superman. Both he and his wife watched Deadpool (read Duane's article "Deadpool v Batman v Superman") and The Path (new Hulu series with Aaron Paul and Hugh Dancy).

In this episode of Watch.Read.Listen., we discuss the works of one of our favorite authors, William Browning Spencer. Spencer's work is fairly obscure, but he gives real insight into how we deal with monsters -- both inside and out -- while balancing on the line between tragedy and comedy (both present in good measure). His work is also to credit for our further enjoyment of the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

In our discussion, we try to keep it relatively spoiler-free. We know a lot of people haven't read these works, and we want to encourage you to go check them out for yourself. Our discussion sticks primarily with: The Return of Count Electric and Other Stories, Resume With Monsters, Zod Wallop, and Irrational Fears. Neither of us has yet read Spencer's first novel, Maybe I'll Call Anna, or his most recent collection of short stories, The Ocean and All Its Devices.

Our This Week section is fairly sparse. Duane mostly just read, but he did see two casually racist and sexist Jerry Lewis movies, The Big Mouth and 3 On the Couch. David watch all of Daredevil Season 2, which we will need to discuss once Duane gets his act together.

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Links to the books above are through our Amazon Associates link, and we get a small portion of anything you buy through those. It's not a lot (and doesn't cost you anything extra), but it will go toward covering the small costs of the podcast. Thanks for listening!

In this special edition of the Watch.Read.Listen. podcast, we discuss Batman v Superman. Note: the first half is spoiler-free; spoilers start 30 minutes in. In a nutshell, we both feel that the movie has major problems but that it is still worth seeing in the theater. In two smaller nutshells, Duane thinks the movie needed to be Man of Steel 2, and David thinks the movie doesn't earn its emotional beats. Basically, DC / Warner Bros. is still just chasing Marvel, and many of the movie's issues can be traced to this.

P.S. We aren't Marvel shills, seeing as we haven't received any money from Marvel, but if they want to send any our way...

P.S.S.

Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and at watchreadlisten.net

No new episode this week, but next week we are going to discuss William Browning Spencer. He's a bit obscure, but some of his work is now available in ebook form from Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This link will take you to Amazon, and if you buy through that link, we'll get a little bit of sale without costing you anything. Thanks for listening and don't forget to follow/like us at:

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In this week's Watch.Read.Listen., we discuss the films of director and producer Sam Raimi. Spoiler Warning for: The Evil Dead (1981), Crimewave, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, Darkman, Army of Darkness, The Quick and the Dead (minor), A Simple Plan (minor), Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, and Drag Me to Hell, with brief mentions of The Gift and Oz the Great and Powerful.

In our This Week segment:

Duane: Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane (physical book) and Trigger Warning (audiobook)

David: As the Story Grows podcast and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

On this week's episode, we continue our Creator's Month with Neil Gaiman, discussing his various works of fiction with a focus on Gaiman's short stories and novels as we quickly realized that The Sandman will require an episode all on its own. There are potential spoilers for everything prose except for The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Trigger Warning - including Neverwhere, Smoke and Mirrors, Fragile Things, Coraline, Stardust, Miracleman #17-24, Mirromask, American Gods, Anansi Boys, The Graveyard Book, and Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader.

We're playing the promo for the Outside the Cinema podcast, so check them out, especially their music special airing March 26, 6 pm EST at http://www.tv.outsidethecinema.com.

This Week:

Duane: Scriptnotes Podcast Episode 239, Neil Simon's Plaza Suite (1971) starring Walter Matthau, Studio One (TV show, 1948-58) - especially the Nineteen Eighty-Four episode (available on Hulu), John Oliver's This Week Tonight on Donald Drumpf

David: Mark Salomon's Never Was podcast (especially episode with Randy Torres), Billy Power's Urban Achiever podcast, Mike Lewis's Giving is Believing podcast, Outside the Cinema podcast

For this week's Watch.Read.Listen., we discuss movies based on comic books, especially those featuring super heroes (super-heroes? superheroes?). In our mostly-chronological conversation, we chart the evolution of the comic book movie from 1978's Superman through the current Marvel and DC movies, no doubt fogetting some along the way. In our "This Week" segment, we discuss: Duane: Showbread's Cancer film (2016), The Bad Christian Podcast, George R.R. Martin's Dreamsongs Volumes 1 & 2, The Star Wars Oxygen Podcast, and The Force Awakens soundtrack. David: Exorcist 2: The Heretic (1977), Damien: Omen II (1978), American Graffiti (1973), Michael Kaminsky's The Secret History of Star Wars (audiobook and print), Jadorowsky's Dune (2013) - Documentary on an unmade movie.

March is Creator's Month at Watch.Read.Listen., and our first creator is director, animator, and Python Terry Gilliam. Gilliam's films have been a huge influence on us since we were kids, and we explore how his exploration of the fantastical has affected us. Note: This episode contains spoilers for Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Jabberwocky, Time Bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Brothers Grimm, and Tideland, with minor discussion of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus and Zero Theorem.

This Week:

Duane: Live theatre, Bad Lip Reading (YouTube), The Liturgists Podcast, Scriptnotes Podcast

David: Marriage (to Shoe), The Art of Neil Gaiman: the Story of a Writer by Haley Campbell, Dark Knights and Holy Fools by Bob McCabe, The Projection Booth's episode on Pump Up the Volume (which Duane realizes he's actually seen and liked, despite not remembering during the conversation)

Terry Gilliam Biblography for More Info:

Dark Knights and Holy Fools (link above)

Gilliam on Gilliam, edited by Ian Christie (book)

Getting Gilliam (documentary)

The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of the 12 Monkeys (documentary)

Inside the Head of Terry Gilliam (interview)

The Battle for Brazil (documentary)

Our next Creators are: Neil Gaiman, Sam Raimi, and William Browning Spencer

In this week's episode of Watch.Read.Listen., we continue our discussion with Shoe on the effect of media on the criminal justice system. We compare The Jinx and Making a Murderer, how class affects justice, the effect of coercion on finding the truth, and the sad irony of pleading guilty but not guilty (i.e. the Alford Plea). In the end, we wrestle with the question "Does any of this matter, or is it just entertainment?" and maybe come up with an answer.

In the This Week segment:

Shoe: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, Better Call Saul, How to Get Away With Murder, Weezer, and My Chemical Romance.

Duane: The Game of Owns Podcast, Radio Free Tatooine Podcast, Neil Gaiman's interview with Michael Chabon, and The Shaping of Middle-earth seminar from Mythgard Academy

David: Better Call Saul, The Final Girls (movie), The Gift (movie), Southbound (anthology horror film), and the Orbit Magazine anthology by Rob St. Mary.

Next month (March) will be Creator's Month, in which we explore the works of some of our favorite creators, starting with director, animator, and Python Terry Gilliam.

In this episode of Watch.Read.Listen., we are joined by Shoe to discuss (for lack of a better term) True Crime. For part 1 of this discussion we give our experiences with the genre (also for lack of a better term) and give our recommendations for things to watch, read, and listen to related to True Crime.

This Week:

Shoe: new X-Files, Christopher Moore's Secondhand Souls , Harry Potter (illustrated editions), Stuff You Missed in History Class, Criminal, Welcome to Night Vale, The Suffers (local Houston band)

Duane: Note to Self (podcast), Zod Wallop by William Brownwing Spencer

David: O Brother Where Art Thou!, Turbo Kid, Face Off (Syfy show).

Our recommendations for True Crime things to watch, read, and listen:

Kristina: Watch - Central Park Five, The Jinx, Lost for Life, Shenandoah, Making a Murderer, Read - (If) I Did It, Body in Question, Listen - Criminal, Serial, Sword and Scale

Duane: Watch - Making a Murderer, Listen - Criminal, Serial, Undisclosed, Truth and Justice

David: Read - Devil's Knot, Watch - Paradise Lost 1, 2, and 3, West of Memphis, The Thin Blue Line, Into the Abyss, Listen - Rise Above (Henry Rollins)