Episode 5: Return to Oz, or Fairuza Balk to the Future

Swap on your witchiest head and take a long swig of nightmare juice, as we re-traumatize our tender psyches with Disney’s Return to Oz. Why were the 80s so messed up? How much of this movie have we all repressed? Where can we find our own sassy talking chicken? And who doesn’t like a nice mutton sleeve? This is a fittingly haunted—at least psychologically—episode to get you in an Octobery mood.

Episode 4: Labyrinth, or The Great Muppet Kidnapping

Photo by Jim Henson Productions/Kobal/Shutterstock

Pour on that glitter and stuff those jodhpurs, as we fall back into the Goblin Kingdom with Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. How much of our generation had their sexual awakening watching David Bowie? Where did Jennifer Connelly so effectively learn about stranger danger? Should we let go of childish things, or just up the production value? And what the f**k is an oubliette? This is the first episode we recorded, so cut us some slack. 

Episode 3: Empire Records, or the Perks of Being a Soundtrack

Share a special brownie with your favorite 90s boyfriend Ethan Embry because it’s time for us to celebrate Rex Manning Day, aka Allan Moyle’s Empire Records. Did you know there was an alternate universe edit of this movie that actually explains everyone’s motivations? Why were the 90s so lily white? What happened to the dog from the movie poster? And can we ever look at blue cheese the same way again? In this episode, we all agree Renée Zellweger is a better friend—and actor—than Liv Tyler. 

Episode 2: Lost in Translation, or Hakujin no Sōretsu (Funeral Parade for Caucasians)

Prepare for a heated face-off between the annoyed extroverts and the misunderstood introverts, as we tackle the rampant ennui and soulmate shenanigans of Sophia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. How can two people be so unhappy when their lives are so cushy? Who thought making fun of Japanese accents was still ok in 2003? And where can we find a karaoke lounge perched over the city like that? In this episode, the only thing we can all agree on is that Giovanni Ribisi is an awful husband. 

On Lost In Translation

THE YEAR IS 2003. 

Following the largest global anti-war protest in human history, The Dixie Chicks voice their anti-war stance, saying: “We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas” in front of a London audience. This results in horrific backlash, accusations of treason and death threats in America, the burning of their albums and their blacklisting from radio. (Ironically, their #1 single at the time they were booted off radio playlists was “Traveling Soldier” about a boy being shipped off to war and dying.)

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