Why Wasn't It Better?

Don Bluth’s Anastasia brought lush animation, catchy songs, and a not-so-historically-accurate fairy tale to the late 90s — and for many, it was the non-Disney princess movie. Producer Eric Taylor and his wife Catelyn join the pod to explore this fan favorite to explore its strange blend of royal tragedy, undead villains, and Broadway ambition. Was it a worthy competitor to Disney, or a beautifully animated mess with an identity crisis? Together, we journey once upon a December to find out.

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It’s peace in our time… or is it? The original Enterprise crew faces their final frontier with political intrigue, Shakespeare-quoting villains, and a surprisingly topical Cold War allegory. Guest and casual Trek fan Ben Hill returns to the podcast to talk about Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

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It’s morphin’ time! This week we dive into the mid-90s explosion of spandex, sparks, and nostalgia with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. From Angel Grove to the planet Phaedos, the Rangers face their biggest threat yet in the wise-cracking villain Ivan Ooze. Guest Ivan Calixto joins to talk about the film’s place in the Power Rangers phenomenon, how it stacks up against the hit TV show, and why it felt both bigger and cheesier on the big screen.

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Presumed Innocent had all the makings of a gripping legal thriller: a best-selling novel, Harrison Ford at his dramatic peak, and a twisty murder mystery. This 1990 courtroom drama was a major box office hit but somehow left a surprisingly faint cultural footprint. Was it too slow, too serious, or just overshadowed by slicker thrillers that followed? We dig into the performances, the plotting, and why this prestige drama feels more forgotten than it should. Patrick and Anton are joined by special guest Jay Skipworth, one of the hosts of The Film Strip Podcast!

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A House of Dynamite turns seventeen minutes of nuclear uncertainty into a Netflix thriller. Kathryn Bigelow delivers a fractured, overlapping narrative where a single anonymous missile forces the American government into a race against time—and against its own instincts. This episode digs into the film’s structure, its unsettling realism, and why it may or may not be a pointless pyramid scheme.

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Peter Jackson's follow up to his Lord of the Rings triumph was his most personal project, a remake of his favorite film. King Kong was an enormously expensive, massively hyped monster movie that performed well but has a mixed legacy twenty years later. Should it have been better? Guest Peter Baldeo returns to talk Kong.

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Pixar's latest entry has unfortunately turned out to be its biggest loser at the box office. Whether it was the delay in production, controversy around its content, or a lack of marketing, audiences flatly ignored Elio when it was released a few months ago. It's doing better on Disney+ but how does it stack up in the totality of Pixar's filmography?

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He's baaaaack! After the poorly-received bizarre third film, the studio decided to bring back Michael Myers. The fact that he died in the second film didn't matter. In what is now a yearly tradition for this podcast, guest Sean O'Connor returns to discuss Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.

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Edgar Wright’s stylish dive into psychological horror had fans buzzing — but Last Night in Soho left audiences split. Was it a bold genre experiment or a beautiful mess? Patrick and Anton unpack the film’s aesthetic highs, narrative lows, and whether it actually delivers on the scares. Guest Zion Parker returns to discuss Giallo vibes, ghost girls, and one very confused third act.

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It's gothic, it's moody, and it's kind of a mess. We sink our teeth into Neil Jordan’s adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire. Tom Cruise goes full glam rock as Lestat, Brad Pitt pouts for two hours, and Kirsten Dunst steals the whole movie. We talk tonal whiplash, tragic wigs, and why this movie is equal parts fascinating and frustrating with return guest Jake Valkusky.

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