This week saw the much anticipated release of Captain Marvel, the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first to feature a female lead. It’s a very fun film that opens lots of exciting new doors for Marvel, and we spend a good chunk of time reviewing and breaking it down in full spoiler detail. Before that, Jonathan talks about catching up on Supergirl and the latest DC crossover special on the CW, and we go over some strange news, such as Sonic the Hedgehog’s horrifying new live-...
Mar 11, 2019•2 hr 8 min•Ep. 293
This week, by popular demand (and because we really wanted to do it), we finally begin our trip down Middle Earth Memory Lane, with our in-depth retrospective discussion of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. So much has changed since this film’s release in 2001, its unlikely success helping to transform Tolkien’s work from a literary classic to one of the most dominant transnational brands on the planet. We try to strip all that back to look at the film itself, discussing our mem...
Mar 04, 2019•3 hr 53 min•Ep. 292
Sean couldn’t record this week, so instead, Jonathan watched and live-tweeted the 91st Academy Awards, following it up with a solo podcast discussing overall reactions to the show, the winners, and what we should take away from a night that had a horrible ending – Green Book, aka 2 Driving 2 Daisy, winning Best Picture – but a lot of things worth celebrating along the way. Jonathan delivers a monologue about the good and the bad of this year’s Oscars, and what lessons we might learn from them, b...
Feb 25, 2019•59 min•Ep. 291
This week saw Nintendo’s first Direct in months, featuring announcements ranging from Super Mario Maker 2 to a Link’s Awakening remake, plus more details on Fire Emblem: Three Houses and a cavalcade of surprise eShop releases. We talk about all of that and more, go over the latest in a seemingly endless stream of Academy Award dumpster fires, share our horror over Will Smith’s uncanny valley Genie in Aladdin, talk more Destiny 2, and Jonathan relates his experience buying Starlink: Battle for At...
Feb 18, 2019•2 hr 40 min•Ep. 290
This week, we got our first hands-on look at Bioware’s Anthem, and the results were…not pretty. We break down all the ways this uninspired Destiny clone has us worried after a few hours with the public demo, while also talking about Destiny itself and the Forsaken expansion we’ve both recently caught up with. We gush over the new combatants introduced to Dragon Ball FighterZ, Jiren and Videl, while expressing both excitement and horror about Piranha Plant’s debut in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. A...
Feb 04, 2019•2 hr 44 min•Ep. 289
This week, we look ahead to the year that is now upon us, 2019, and preview all the upcoming films and video games we know about that are either exciting, baffling, dread-inducing, or a mixture of all three. We also make a competitive draft of which seemingly far-off video games are most likely to actually see the light of day in 2019, while Jonathan predicts just what obscene amounts of money Disney will make on their cavalcade of remakes and sequels this year. We also discuss this week’s big M...
Jan 28, 2019•3 hr 4 min•Ep. 288
Dragon Ball Super is in theatres and dominating the box-office, and we are absolutely in love with Broly, an amazing film that represents an amazing milestone in the history of this beloved series. We break down the movie in full detail, discussing its bold new animation style and action sequences, surprisingly rich narrative and themes, and how it rehabilitates one of the series’ most one-dimensional characters into a complicated figure we can’t wait to see more of. Jonathan also recounts his a...
Jan 21, 2019•3 hr 47 min•Ep. 287
With Dragon Ball Super: Broly arriving in American theatres this week, we look back on the original three Broly films from the initial run of Dragon Ball Z films (DBZ Movies 8, 10, and 11). The original Dragon Ball movies are a strange beast to begin with – they can be a lot of fun for fans, but they’re also heavily formulaic and mostly plotless – but the Broly films are the strangest of all, creating an infamous antagonist and leaving a huge mark on the franchise without being particularly good...
Jan 14, 2019•2 hr 18 min•Ep. 286
We kick off a new year of podcasting by finally dedicating an episode to one of our favorite franchises of all time: Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball! With the new film Dragon Ball Super: Broly hitting theatres later this month, we take a look back at the most recent TV series, discussing why it worked so well where other attempts to extend the story beyond the manga have not, and discussing each of the major arcs in detail. We also review the Doctor Who New Year’s Day special, “Resolution,” and com...
Jan 07, 2019•3 hr 29 min•Ep. 285
In our final episode of 2018, we reflect on another amazing year in gaming with countdowns of our Top 10 Video Games of the Year. This was a rich, varied, and incredibly surprising year for video games, with some expected hits and out-of-left-field delights making both of our lists. There’s more crossover this time between our two countdowns than in recent years, but also some big points of departure, which makes for a really great conversation as we reminisce upon the year’s great games. 2018 h...
Dec 31, 2018•3 hr 38 min•Ep. 284
Since Monday fell on Christmas Eve this year, we thought we’d put together a special Holiday-themed episode this week, complete with gift-giving, Jonathan’s impromptu list of the best (and worst) Christmas movies, a shared rant about people who care too much about Die Hard being a Christmas movie, and more! We also chat a bit more about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Hitman 2, before arriving at our main holiday topic: A live reaction/review of the worst Christmas album ever recorded. I won’t sp...
Dec 24, 2018•2 hr 4 min•Ep. 283
Spider-Man’s incredible year continued this week with the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the web-head’s first animated movie and the first to star Miles Morales. It’s also one of the best superhero movies ever made, not to mention maybe the single most innovative and imaginative use of CGI animation since Toy Story pioneered the format in 1995. This is a truly special movie, one with tons of heart, a lot of laughs, and a big dose of eye candy, and we dive deep with all of it. Jona...
Dec 17, 2018•2 hr 21 min•Ep. 282
It’s another packed episode this week, as we give impressions on one of the year’s biggest game releases and dive into the depths of depression with the worst Doctor Who season ever. But before that, Sean and Jonathan go over all the news out of this week’s Game Awards event – including the most surprising DLC announcement in years – and give continuing thoughts on a variety of recent games, including Hitman 2 and the Persona 3 and Persona 5 dancing games, now available in English. Jonathan give...
Dec 10, 2018•3 hr 35 min•Ep. 280
This is a clip from this week's full podcast, in which we covered a lot of topics, including this season of Doctor Who and its many creative failings. I wanted to clip out one part of that discussion and share it separately, however, because I think it's the most important part of our comments, and I think it speaks to something few critics are genuinely trying to grapple with this season: Have Chris Chibnall and the Doctor Who creative team done right by the character and the responsibilities o...
Dec 10, 2018•20 min•Ep. 281
On this week’s wide-ranging episode, we come back from Thanksgiving break to discuss two weeks’ worth of news, including the announcement that Neon Genesis Evangelion is headed to Netflix, while more Marvel shows like Daredevil most certainly are not, before giving continued impressions on a bunch of recent video games like Hitman 2. Jonathan talks about finally nearing the finish line in Dragon Ball Super, and finally discovering what insanely cool thing Goku did in Episode 116 that Sean lost h...
Dec 03, 2018•3 hr 4 min•Ep. 279
In this pre-recorded post-Thanksgiving episode, we finally sit down to talk about one of our favorite games of the year, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age. After 100 hours apiece and many happy memories, we have both completed this epic JRPG experience, and have a lot to say about what is easily one of the genre’s greatest accomplishments. We’ve talked about the game without spoilers a few times before, but for this episode, we go into full spoiler detail about the game’s story, characte...
Nov 26, 2018•2 hr 17 min•Ep. 278
In one of the single busiest episodes we’ve ever recorded, we pay tribute to the amazing life of Stan Lee, the face and voice of Marvel comics and one of the most dominant figures in modern pop culture, review Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, give first impressions of Hitman 2 and Pokemon Let’s Go, go over several pieces of news including Sony’s decision to skip E3 2019, and review the latest episode of Doctor Who, “Kerblam,” which may well be the worst – or, at the very least, most ...
Nov 19, 2018•4 hr•Ep. 277
It’s another grab-bag style week, as Sean and Jonathan give updates on their progress in Red Dead Redemption 2, Jonathan reviews the outstanding Tetris Effect for PS4, and we go over some recent weird news about Final Fantasy XV. Jonathan tells the story of his nearly-doomed trip to Illinois to see a concert, and Sean gives us a mini-lecture on the (surprisingly gay) delights of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. And finally, we at last have a good episode of Doctor Who to talk about this season, as V...
Nov 12, 2018•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 276
This week brought us another disappointing episode of Doctor Who, a lot more time with Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption II, and the final Nintendo Direct for next month’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. We talk about all of this and more, going through all the announcements from Masahiro Sakurai in Nintendo’s event, continuing to be depressed about Chris Chibnall’s Doctor Who writing, and discussing how wildly different our experiences with the vast, weird world of Red Dead Redemption II have been (on...
Nov 05, 2018•3 hr 13 min•Ep. 275
The biggest game of 2018 has arrived in Rockstar’s long-awaited Red Dead Redemption 2, and after a solid weekend of play, we give our initial, spoiler-free impressions of this massive, wildly ambitious sequel. It’s an amazing game so far, almost mind-bogglingly vast in scope yet surprisingly intimate in tone and story. We break down what we’ve seen so far, while also grappling with the latest news about Rockstar’s problematic culture of crunch during development. And after that, we review this w...
Oct 29, 2018•3 hr 12 min•Ep. 274
It’s a calm before the storm kind of week, as we prepare for the biggest video game of the year next week in Red Dead Redemption 2, which is galloping into stores upon a trail of controversy after comments about Rockstar’s working conditions in an interview last week. We break down all that news, discuss Netflix’s move to start cancelling their Marvel shows, and do a good bit of Dragon Ball talk – including Jonathan ranking the Top 10 Characters he wants to see in the next round of DLC for Drago...
Oct 22, 2018•2 hr 35 min•Ep. 273
Doctor Who continues its new season this week with “The Ghost Monument,” an episode that improves on the premiere, but also reveals some real limitations in Chris Chibnall’s writing style. We discuss the episode in depth, including the new opening credits, TARDIS design, and more. But before that, we also chat more about Dragon Quest XI, Jonathan reviews Damien Chazelle’s First Man and talks about finally getting to the good stuff in Dragon Ball Super, and we go over the last week’s worth of new...
Oct 15, 2018•2 hr 26 min•Ep. 272
Our favorite TV show is back, as Doctor Who returns for its 11th modern season (37th overall!), with a new Doctor in Jodie Whittaker, a new showrunner in Chris Chibnall, plus new companions, a new composer, and an entirely new look. The entire show has effectively regenerated, and the first episode, “The Woman Who Fell to Earth,” in a promising if imperfect start. We give it the usual in-depth treatment we always employ for Doctor Who, along with an update on our progress in Dragon Quest XI, fir...
Oct 08, 2018•2 hr 44 min•Ep. 271
We really live up to the podcast’s name this week, covering a wide assortment of stuff, including a large grab bag of video game, TV, and movie news from the past week. From the sudden closure of Telltale Games to trailers and announcements from the Tokyo Game Show to the launch of Nintendo’s online service to Sony’s surprise unveiling of the PlayStation Classic, this week brought a lot of surprising news to parse through. Sean also recommends some Spider-Man comics from the 1980s, Jonathan revi...
Sep 24, 2018•3 hr 3 min•Ep. 270
This week, we dive deep with one of the best video games of the year: Insomniac’s Spider-Man for PS4. We break down the story, the gameplay, the open world, the characters, and much more, building on our spoiler-free discussion from last week to explore what makes this a new standard-bearer for the superhero genre in video games. This discussion has spoilers aplenty, but we give fair warning before those begin. We also go through all the news from this week’s Nintendo Direct, including a brillia...
Sep 17, 2018•3 hr 1 min•Ep. 269
As a special bonus episode this week, we wrap up our recent retrospective journey through Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man films with our in-depth discussion of the controversial Spider-Man 3. Though a record-breaking commercial hit, the film was widely considered a creative disappointment upon release, and its reputation has only soured more and more in the decade since. Is that reputation fully deserved? The answer is complicated, because while Spider-Man 3 almost certainly isn’t a ‘good’ movie...
Sep 12, 2018•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 268
It was an amazing week for video games, as Marvel’s Spider-Man and Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age both launched on the PS4, and after spending an unhealthy amount of time playing as much of them as possible, we’ve got spoiler-free impressions of both. Jonathan gives his thoughts on the early hours of Dragon Quest, Sean sings some more praise for Yakuza Kiwami 2, and we both gush over the incredible achievement that is Insomniac’s Spider-Man game. It may be the best use of a licensed c...
Sep 10, 2018•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 267
After years of incessantly mentioning this movie in top 10 lists and while reviewing other superhero films, it is finally time for a full, in-depth retrospective of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, the greatest superhero movie of all time. As we did last week with our look back at the original Raimi film, we’re preparing for the launch of Insomniac’s PS4 Spider-Man by revisiting some of our favorite Spider-Man media ever, and Spider-Man media doesn’t get any better than Raimi’s 2004 sequel, one of the ...
Sep 03, 2018•3 hr 24 min•Ep. 266
With Insomniac’s highly-anticipated Spider-Man game swinging onto the PS4 next month, we thought now would be the perfect time to revisit some of our favorite superhero films of all time: Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy from the early 2000s, starting this week with the original Spider-Man from 2002. In many ways, this film is the template for the superhero boom we’re living in right now, so thoroughly did Raimi embrace the character’s comic-book origins, but the film is also a product of a differ...
Aug 27, 2018•3 hr 7 min•Ep. 265
Last week, on our special 250th podcast, we began counting down our Top 10 Favorite Games of All Time. We did this once before, way back in 2013, but with 5 years and the better part of an entire console generation having passed, we thought now would be a great time to revisit this topics and remake our personal video game canons. We covered #10 through #6 on each of our lists last week, and this week, we finish the countdown with #5 through #1. It’s a great conversation, filled with more than a...
Aug 20, 2018•2 hr 42 min•Ep. 263
