Drat Pack

Look out! In lieu of our more normal subjects, we're doing this first mini episode in a new mini episode series that we're calling Why Do I Like This for lack of a better name. In this, we'll discuss something we like that has a lot of negative connotations of any kind and explain why we like it and offer a defense of it. Join us for the first of however many we end up doing mini episodes as out v...

You loved Julia Roberts, John Cusack, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Billy Crystal in, uh, all the stuff they've been in that you might have liked them in. Now see them as you've never seen them before- horribly unlikable, bitchy, and barely two-dimensional! Join America's REAL sweethearts Leigh, Brendan, and Chris as we kick back with a fruit cocktail and popcorn and snipe about the questionable satir...

With February on the way, that once-fabled dumping ground of crappy movies that studios don't care about, Leigh, Brendan, and Chris turn their attention to an all-too-relevant topic: what was the worst experience we ever had in a movie theater? The discussion covers both horrible movies and horrible environments, and touches on such diverse topics as trees that jizz, appalling YA rip-off movies, a...

Your third-or-fourth-favorite movie-related podcast is back for 2018, baby! The Why Watch crew welcomes in the new year with a pretty crappy Terry Gilliam jaunt, 2005's The Brothers Grimm starring Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, and a whole bunch of wasted talent. There's a whole magical forest's worth of problems to dissect in this film, from the rambling plot to the sketchy characters to the ill-defin...

The holiday season has wrapped up but we're recording this while still in the thick of it all, so the Why Watch crew just decided to recap our year in terms of the best and the worst for both movies and cocktails. We also throw the first movie of 2018 out there along with a drink recipe and some of what to expect for the next twelve months. Rest assured that no matter how bleak and miserable thing...

Whenever we get gloomy with the state of movies, it's usually because we're bombarded with half-baked concepts, threadbare plots, and shoddy characterization. General opinion makes out that one movie that manages to include all these concepts, 2003's Love Actually, is a cherished Christmas classic, but we don't see that. When we made two wintery cocktails and sat down to watch this very long antho...

The holliest jolliest time of year is upon us, and what better way to get yourself into the holiday spirit than by settling in a hot drink and a beloved Christmas movie? Well, maybe by also watching a movie you really like but still have a few problems with and then coming up with an idea on how to remake it! Leigh, Brendan, and Chris mull some wine and settle our brains for a viewing of the charm...

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, and the Why Watch crew is not very thankful for one of their dumber duller movies, 2005's looser-than-your-holiday-dinner-pants adaptation of the DC property Constantine starring Keanu Reeves. Why are Tilda Swinton and Peter Stormare the only magnetic presences? What's a half-breed angel or demon, and how could they exist in the first place if angels or demons can't...

No, it's not about adaptations. What a premature call THAT one was! Instead, we're talking about weaknesses. Be it a guilty pleasure or a kick to the crotch, we all have our weak spots, and movies are no exception. In this mini episode, the Why Watch crew gathers to talk about what one thing will make them interested in a movie despite all other warning flags. As usual, there's also the reveal of...

Our annual Halloween spooktacular is back, and this time it's featuring Dark Shadows! Ha ha, no, not the sequel to last month's The Shadow,  but a 2012 Tim Burton movie based off a gothic 60s soap opera you probably don't have much reason to remember. There's a whole bunch of Burton's usual gimmicks on display here, be they the washed-out colors, the Danny Elfman score, or the very talented and ve...

This mini, the crew imprisons a spirit they found lurking in their apartment, magically binds it to the table of their game room, and uses the latest scientific techniques to determine what, in fact, makes it tick. Or something like that. Actually, it's a lot of talk about what makes a movie scary to them, but really, it's the same basic idea. As always, there's plenty of drat chat about jump scar...

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! And who remembers that weird time in the '90s when a bunch of studios made unsuccessful movies based on old-time pulp heroes? The Shadow remembers! And who can take this weirdly incoherent character sketch of a movie and reshape it into something worth watching? Well, hopefully Leigh, Brendan, Chris and returning guest Michael Messi...

For this mini, your pals at Why Watch decide to do something a little different. Each of them chooses a movie they wish had a sequel but never got one and pitches an idea for a sequel to it. Brendan tackles a dark animated movie from his childhood, Leigh continues an 80s sci-fi romance, and Chris of course posits a sequel to an over-the-top martial arts / historical drama / horror movie mess. All...

What do you get when you take a horny stupid jock boy and have him switch bodies with an uptight anal-retentive nerd girl? Did you guess It's a Boy Girl Thing, a "hilarious" take on gender roles that felt already years out of date by the time it was released that also featured Sharon Osbourne as an American mom, an endless series of sex jokes, and the song Candle in the Wind on endless repeat? No....

Are you adequately prepared for some sizzlin' hot takes??? Hey, wait, where are you going? Look, we went through the trouble of defining the parameters and writing things down so please listen. This mini episode sees the Drat Pack tackling critically-acclaimed movies that they just don't care about- not that they're BAD or anything, but they just don't do anything for us! We also do a brief thing...

What do you get when you take a studio desperate to reclaim its place at the top of the animated movie food chain and sell it on a pitch for a more grown-up action movie? Well, you get The Black Cauldron, or maybe Treasure Planet, or also possibly parts of Dinosaur, but in this specific case you end up with Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Join two-thirds of the Why Watch crew and their special auxiliar...

The crew is, for a brief time, all together this week, and we decide to spend the time chatting about our favorite sequences from film and TV alike. Join us as Leigh remembers how to podcast again and Chris and Brendan threaten to derail the entire discussion with talk of sexuality research and favored San Francisco haunts, then prepare for a DEEP DIVE into Disney when we reveal our next movie. As...

Let us tell you about our day so far. A themed cocktail in Boston, sat through the 2008 Doug Liman movie Jumper, took a little nap about thirty minutes in because it was a real snooze. Oh, yeah, we got our special guest Meghan Coyne to join us from Portland. And then we jumped back to discuss the poorly-realized universe and rules of the movie, the stunning lack of chemistry between the two leads,...

No, but not the movie Home Alone. Look, life comes at you fast, and sometimes you end up having to record a mini episode where no one is actually available. So really, there's nothing much to this one. It's summer! We were all very excited and had a lot of difficulty scheduling! So anyway, here's just Brendan letting you all know what the next movie and drink is. It's like two minutes long, so the...

Long ago, in the early year of 1978, the animator Ralph Bakshi forged a questionable adaptation of maybe 50% of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The fellowship of the Why Watch join forces with special guest Faith Johnson to analyze the problems of this dull and poorly-conceived semi-animated misfire. Is there actually a way someone could condense Tolkien's three dense volumes into two movi...

Look, it's an entire episode of Brendan's favorite segment, Looking to Score! Leigh, Brendan, and Chris gather together to discuss their favorite film scores, composers, the use of themes and leitmotifs, and sometimes even video game music because when YOU have your own podcast, you can discuss what YOU want. Also there's a drink recipe for our next movie, a feature about a certain ring and the lo...

HEADS UP: Apologies in advance for the audio problems due to our remote recording- we’ll explain in the episode, but enjoy a belated Star Wars Day (or The Force Aw8ens or whatever) with our Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones discussion! Leigh, Brendan, Chris, and Brendan sit down with a bloody sandy drink to discuss what specifically makes Anakin a bad character, what is Count Dooku’s pu...

What's this jazz? A mini episode that's effectively just a regular episode? Sure, why not! The movie may have come out a few months ago, but the two Brendans and Chris have still been mulling over La La Land a lot. What precisely was it that had the three of them leaving the theater thinking "Meh?" Sit down with the guys of the Why Watch crew as they discuss the characters, the songs, and how the...

We're gonna watch a bad James Bond / We're gonna drink some cocktails / We're gonna fix this movie / We're gonna discuss this film now / I guess it's Die Another Day? That's right, podcast listeners, our movie this month is the 23rd James Bond movie, the woefully incoherent Die Another Day. Leigh, Brendan, Chris and other Brendan kick back with some drinks and talk about the glaring issues at hand...

Heeya! Pow! Hi-keeba! These are just some of the noises that someone might make in an action movie. To hear the others, please listen to our discussion minisode on the subject! There's a whole bunch of conversation starters at play here, including acting, story, and what flavors of action make your pectorals flex with excitement. We'll announce the upcoming movie we'll be punching up along with TW...