You'll Only Listen Twice

Your angel of death awaits, fellow listeners. This week Jake, Troy, Jan, and good ol’ Producer Paul are talking about the spawn of “Batman The Animated Series” loins, “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.” This animated film for babies might be one of the greatest character studies of the titular hero, but we’re not here for that. We’re here for the big Jonkster, played by Luke Skywalker himself, who’s there to live in a physical manifestation of your failures and broken unfulfilled dreams (and to f*** a robot too). Is this the greatest Joker trick? Is the Joker Top Cat? Tune in to find out!

You ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? That’s right fellow listeners, Jake, Troy, Jan, and good ol’ Producer Paul are talking about  Jack Nicholson’s iconic performance as our favorite A-1 nut boy, the Joker in the highly influential Batman (1989). Ah the 80s, the days when a young comics nerd named Michael E. Uslan could gain the film rights to Batman. When Tim Burton was still a visionary young filmmaker. And movies didn’t need a script, just cocaine. BUT, do these qualities make it the most Jokery Joker movie to ever exist? Tune in and find out.

The boys are back in town, my fellow listeners. This time, Jake, Troy, Jan, and good ol’ Producer Paul  are taking a look at everyone’s favorite film series, Joker! Move over Batman, Mr. J is the true star of the show. This is a society, after all. In this first episode, our heroes take a look at the origins of the Clown Prince of Crime as well as his cinematic debut, 1966’s Batman: The Movie, where he is played by Cesar Romero. How does his Joker stack up? Is he Beta because he is often second (or fourth) banana opposite Lee Meriwether’s Catwoman, Burgess Meredith’s Penguin, and Frank Gorshin’s Riddler? Or is he Alpha because he refused to shave his mustache? Tune in to find out!

We’ve reached the end of the line, fellow listeners. On this special season finale of You’ll Only Listen Twice,”Jake, Troy, Jan, and good ol’ producer Paul say goodbye to the James Bond series by speculating on the franchise’s future. Will the next movie be serious or stupid? Who will be the next Bond actor? Aaron Taylor-Johnson? Danny DeVito? Who will direct it? Danny DeVito? Should the series continue or should they just let it die? Your guess is as good (or bad) as mine. 

Here it is fellow listeners, Jake, Troy, Jan, and good ol’ producer Paul reveal their top 10 favorite James Bond films. This list is objective. Anything different is wrong. Sorry snowflakes! But wait, there’s more! Our heroes also list their favorite Bond gadgets, theme songs, and last, but not least, their favorite Bond actors! I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even horrify you. So if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now is your chance to, uh... well, we've warned you!

Let me tell you a story about a podcast called Twice, You’ll Only Listen Twice. Finally, after 28 episodes, numerous delays, a trip to the psych ward, and thousands of dollars in therapy bills, Jake, Troy, Jan, and good ol’ producer Paul are here to talk about Daniel Craig’s final James Bond movie, and possibly the last Bond movie that will ever be made, No Time To Die. A film plagued with numerous delays, due in part to a literal plague, this film naturally involves… you guessed it, a plague. But not just any plague, a plague of nanobots, to be unleashed onto the world by a guy named Lyutsifer Safin (how original). Finally, a Bond movie that’s stupid again, but it’s also the one where he dies. That’s right, James Bond dies in the most Bondian way possible, by getting poisoned with robots, shot, and blown up to save his lover and daughter, because that’s who James Bond is, a heroic family man. Wait, what? There’s no time like now to die while talking about No Time To Die. Actually, at nearly 3 and a half hours, you can say we have all the time in the world. You get it? Because reference.

The dead are alive (whatever the f*** that means). This week, Jake, Troy, Jan, and good ol’ producer Paul are taking a look at Sam Mendes’ follow up to the widely successful Skyfall, 2015’s less successful Spectre. Is it the best James Bond film, or the worst? You are kites dancing in a hurricane, fellow listeners because there is some disagreement amongst our hosts over the quality of the film, so the discussion gets pretty nasty. Get ready for 2 and half hours of debating the film’s script, central romance (featuring two cranky, monotoned, blue eyed blondes), and  Christoph Waltz’s understated performance as Franz Oberhauser (who is definitely not Blofeld). Did we mention there’s a tribute to Sam Smith’s Oscar winning, mope-fest, theme song? That’s right, this is a musical. This episode will be the author of all your pain!

This is it, fellow listeners. The big one. Jake, Troy, Jan, and good ol’ producer Paul are talking about the critically acclaimed and most financially successful Bond film, Skyfall. Daniel Craig returns in yet his third consecutive Bond origin film, but this time he’s… old? Grab yourself a Heineken and listen to our heroes decipher what exactly made this movie so successful. Was it Sam Mendes’ direction? Was it the cinematography by Roger “the Deak” Deakins? Was it Joker Javier Bardem? Was it the Adele song? Was it Kincade? Tune in to find out… but the answer is Kincade.