The latest round of reboots, remakes, and retellings have taken on a new trend of villain origin stories or "villagins." What can we learn from the popularity of this trope in just the last five years? Does it say something about the role of trauma in media, the joys of cruelty and revenge, our sense of justice and happy endings? Let us know your thoughts Tweet at us @talkingTropes to let us know what you thought of Cruella or what trope we should talk about next. Special thanks to our editor Lo...
Jun 10, 2021•1 hr 7 min
It's another recap of an obscure Stanley Tucci IMDB credit! Here we continue the chronicles of Tucci's long time collaboration with Steve Buscemi in one of Steve's first starring roles. This Sundance-winning art film depicts the absurdist vision of a filmmaker named Adolfo and his con-man "producer" Joe. Tucci plays Gregoire, a wacky French neighbor. Does any of it hold up? Listen and find out! Tweet at us if you want to be a guest Stan on a future episode @TalkingTropes Watch our Video podcast ...
Jun 03, 2021•31 min
We continue to watch every Stan Tucci credit on IMDB. This week its a bizarre body-swapping romantic drama, Prelude to a Kiss starring Meg Ryan and a young Alec Baldwin who played the same role in the stage production. Tucci plays "Tay," Baldwin's best man and confidant, who perhaps has some subtextual romantic attraction to his BFF? If you'd like to be a guest stan on a future Stanning Stanley Tucci, tweet at us @talkingtropes You can also watch our video podcast here: https://youtu.be/J23b6Hqx...
May 27, 2021•28 min
We don't have a full episode this week. As a continuation of our conversation about Netflix Rom-coms, Hannah and I talk about the two Cyrano De Bergerac teen romantic comedy adaptations that are on Netflix right now. Why is Sierra Burgess seen as a trashy story about catfishing where The Half of it is seen as a prestige, award-winning auteurist work from Alice Wu? Special thanks to Editor Logan McBride Tweet @TalkingTropes to give us your opinions on Cyrano, Sierra, and Ellie
May 20, 2021•47 min
Behind Her Eyes is a 2021 Netflix series starring Simona Brown, Eve Hewson and Tom Bateman. It's a romantic thriller that ends with a twist, Adele (Hewson) turns out to be a body swapper and DOUBLE-TWIST, her real name is Rob and she's a MAN! With special guest Talia Paone (@thepizzataco), we break down how transphobic twists like this are baked into so many body-switching, body-swapping, and gender-bending media. We also take a look at some nostalgic examples of Freaky Friday stories from our c...
May 13, 2021•1 hr 14 min
We continue to Stan our favorite Tucci and watch every movie listed on his IMDB page. This week it's Billy Bathgate starring Dustin Hoffman and Nicole Kidman. Based on the historical fiction novel by E.L. Doctorow, Tucci doesn't even show up until an hour in! But could his role as "Lucky" Luciano be his most powerful mobster role yet? As a bonus, in Tucci News, we take a look at the Vogue article "Stanley Tucci's Best Roles Ranked." Tweet at us if you want to be a "Guest Stan" on a future podcas...
May 06, 2021•35 min
What happens when a Sidekick is all grown up? The Superhero passes the torch, or some kind of baton or stick and the Sidekick becomes the new Superhero. On another Talking Tropes podcast, we discuss Marvel's reckoning with Captain America's legacy as they pass the Sidekick Graduations Stick from *SPOILER ALERT* Steve Rogers to Sam Wilson The Falcon. What other superhero sidekicks get a chance to take on the role of their crime-fighting partners? How do the themes of race and nationalism intersec...
Apr 29, 2021•48 min
In our continuing series, we continue to watch every Stanley Tucci IMDB credit in order. This week, it's Macbeth but with Italian mobsters! With an all-star cast of underrated character actors including Dennis Farina, Peter Boyle, and John Turturro, what could go wrong? If you want to be a guest stan on our podcast, tweet at us @talkingTropes Watch our video podcast here: https://youtu.be/KWgfVbrbHMM Special Thanks to our Editor, Logan McBride
Apr 22, 2021•32 min
Tropes and clichés abound in this particular Netflix genre. What started the trend of releasing these Teen romantic comedies exclusively on Netflix? What marketing and development strategies led to the recent success of The Kissing Booth and To All the Boys as franchise films? Besides Noah Centineo and Jacob Elordi's abs. Also, what do we do with all the low-self-esteem rom coms like Sierra Burgess, Tall Girl, and Dumplin'? Let us know if you want us to do a deep dive into the TV Tropes for any ...
Apr 15, 2021•1 hr 7 min
It's like Mad Men but in the 90s, check out Stanley Tucci playing his first non-criminal non-cop TV character. Tucci plays ad agency middle-manager Karl Draconis who hectors Michael Steadman on his terrible advertising ideas. Who will win in this battle of corporate acuity and marketing savvy? We watched Thirtysomething, Season 3 Episode 10 "Michael's Campaign" and Season 3 Episode 11 "Pulling Away" For Tucci news this week, please check out Helen Rosner's fantastic article: https://www.newyorke...
Apr 08, 2021•30 min
Finally Tom and Jerry can be watched in its four-hour hyper-violent glory! Can Jerry resurrect Superman before Tom gathers the infinity stone/allspark/motherboxes and destroys the world? We recap all the differences between the Joss Whedon cut and the Snyder Cut of the HBO Max tent-pole blockbuster, TOM and JERRY!!!! Lots of controversial opinions in this one, folks! Watch to the video podcast here https://youtu.be/NpwWCsY_W-E Tweet at us @talkingTropes to let us know what TV Tropes you want us ...
Apr 01, 2021•2 hr 18 min
Three Whovians (does anyone still use that term?) take a nuanced look at the new Doctor Who New Year's Special of 2021, Revolution of the Daleks, written by the inconsistently terrible Chris Chibnall. Is this his best episode yet? Watch the Video Podcast here https://youtu.be/JEWY4MqI06Q Tweet us your Chibnall opinions @talkingtropes
Jan 08, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Three friends rank all the Doctor Who Christmas Specials and grade them on Christmas-ness and Englishness. Watch to the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/VDa4xgjjTmw Tweet us your least favorite Doctor Who specials @talkingtropes
Dec 31, 2020•1 hr 36 min
Two cousins continue to watch every Stanley Tucci IMDB credit. In Wiseguy (1989), a CBS crime drama, Tucci plays Ricky Pinzolo, a crime boss in the Garment district on 7th Ave. NYC. He tries to defraud and acquire the business of one Eli Sternberg, a Jewish businessman played by none other than Jerry Lewis. An undercover cop named Raglin, with the help of his boss McPike (played by Breaking Bad's Jonathan Banks) try to take him down from the inside. Watch the video podcast here: https://youtu.be...
Dec 23, 2020•46 min
We watch all the Hanukkah or Chanukah episodes and specials we could find. Let's talk about why these token Jewish episodes feel so empty and why they have been crushed by the overwhelming volume of Hallmark Christmas Specials. Watch to the Video Podcast at https://youtu.be/t3qD3mpLM70 Tweet us your favorite Chanukah episode @talkingtropes
Dec 17, 2020•1 hr 7 min
We're still watching every Stanley Tucci IMDB credit, and this time we have special guests Mac and Max from YouTube's "Under the Influence" Podcast to discuss one of their favorite filmmakers, Todd Solondz's first film and Tucci's biggest film role at the time: Fear, Anxiety, and Depression. This one is very much in keeping with the trend of starving artists in NYC, but this time with much more of a Woody Allen vibe. Check it out! Also check out our guests here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/U...
Dec 09, 2020•51 min
Why so serious? Why not listen to us recap a comedy clown bank robbery movie featuring Stanley Tucci, who continues to be typecast as the most interesting mafioso in the room. Sure, Quick Change is forgettable trash, but this is Tucci's first interaction with Tony Shalhoub! Watch the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/zhfIE1H0hxs Tweet us your favorite Tucci IMDB credit @talkingTropes
Dec 02, 2020•31 min
Let's finish up our festive Thanksgiving special episode by recapping the two NCIS: New Orleans Thanksgiving episodes. Is New Orleans the superior NCIS show? Well if nothing else, it has Scott Bakula and CCH Pounder. Let's talk Turkey, Tropes, and COINTELPRO. Check out our video podcast here: https://youtu.be/6-LfyF8Iggg Tweet us your favorite FBI coverup @talkingtropes
Nov 26, 2020•29 min
What's the most American holiday? Thanksgiving! And what's the most American TV show? NCIS of course. We return to our most beloved(?) crime procedural and all of their bizarre and tangentially Thanksgiving-related specials. Watch here for the video podcast: https://youtu.be/TOL6Rz1puX4 Or tweet us your favorite Thanksgiving episode @TalkingTropes
Nov 24, 2020•48 min
As we continue to watch everything on Stanley Tucci's IMDB page in order, we stumble upon a clear example of late 80s white feminism with the obliviously titled Slaves of New York. Taking place in the pretentious and exploitative art world, Tucci is cast as Darryl, perhaps the only honorable man in NYC. Watch the Video Podcast here: https://youtu.be/MvnOMMztjAU Tweet at us @TalkingTropes if you want us to do The Witches next
Nov 17, 2020•35 min
All of our interactions at work, with friends, and with our education are now done through Zoom video chat. Why shouldn't our TV be the same? We take a look at all the fictional TV shows integrating Zoom interfaces into their TV specials and new series.
Nov 10, 2020•1 hr 15 min
We continue to watch everything Stanley Tucci has ever done with his 1980s TV guest spots on The Equalizer and Crime Story. We also take a look at what we could find of the forgotten syndicated show The Street, where Tucci stars on a real "show about nothing" but with cops. Follow us on twitter @TalkingTropes
Nov 03, 2020•39 min
What's the spookiest Halloween tradition of all? Critical theory! We take a look at Jack Halberstam's The Queer Art of Failure and his queer reading of stop-motion animation. We try to apply this reading to the creepiest, spookiest stop-motion filmmaking team of all time: Tim Burton and Henry Selick. That's right, Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Coraline, Frankenweenie and more! Happy Halloween! Check us out on Twitter @talkingtropes
Oct 27, 2020•51 min
A follow-up on our last mini trope recap. Let's discuss our hottest takes on a slightly disappointing but still charming final season of Netflix's animated show from Radford Sechrist: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts! Spoilers ahead! Tweet at us @TalkingTropes to let us know what we should do a mini pod on next!
Oct 22, 2020•47 min
Shocks, surprises, twists of all sizes. We're talking about a director who was pigeon-holed by critics and scholars like us into always being measured by how "satisfying" his twists are. Let's talk about M. Night Shyamalan's best and worst twists. Major spoilers for 6th Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, Lady in the Water, The Happening, Devil, The Visit, Split, and Glass. Some of the audio is a little messed up but most of it is fine. Check out our video podcast at https://youtu.be/BByjFA1...
Oct 19, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Finally, a meaty film role (and by meaty we mean BEEFY) for the Tooch in George Romero's cult classic Monkey Shines which is The Shining meets Rear Window meets Monkey! By far, Romero's strangest film, check out our fun, Tucci-focused recap. Follow us on twitter here for more Tucci content @TalkingTropes Or check out our video podcast here: https://youtu.be/3ltMLgNiN2A
Oct 12, 2020•45 min
Plenty of furries love Disney, but does Disney love furries? With special guest, filmmaker and documentarian, Dominic Rodriguez, we explore the history of Disney and anthropomorphic animals and how the furry fandom got started. Check out Dominic's film Fursonas (2016) and follow him on twitter @videothewolf Follow us on twitter for more tropes and content @TalkingTropes Listen to our audio podcast at https://soundcloud.com/talkingtropes
Oct 06, 2020•1 hr 3 min
We continue our binge of the entire IMDB page of actor/director/writer/producer Stanley Tucci. Today, we watch his three appearances in the 1980's iconic cop show: MIAMI VICE!!! Tucci plays a scared witness named Steven Demarco and a NJ mob boss named Frank Mosca as he completely steals the show (as well as stealing a lot of laundered pasta/drug money). You can follow us on twitter for more Tucci content @TalkingTropes Watch the video podcast at https://youtu.be/KEU5_hCbEag
Sep 28, 2020•41 min
Two Jews run down the list of comedic interpretations of history's purest evil dictator. From Mel Brooks to Taika Waititi, there's a long, proud history of making fun of Hitler. But what is the actual joke? And how has that joke changed over time? Here's a link to the article I referenced: https://abcnews.go.com/US/head-naacp-branch-fire-anti-semitic-facebook-post/story?id=72101481 Here's the Lindsay Ellis video that partially inspired this discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62cPPSyoQkE...
Sep 21, 2020•45 min
The first episode of a new podcast where we watch everything on Stanley Tucci's IMDB page in order. We start with some introductions, then jump right in to Tucci's first film roles: Prizzi's Honor, Kojak: The Price of Justice, and Who's that Girl starring Madonna. You can watch the video podcast here https://youtu.be/-LvNUi8jbjs Or tweet at us @talkingTropes
Sep 14, 2020•24 min
