I'm A Sophisticate and So Can You!

Did you miss us? We're back just in time to completely miss spooky season with our first dip into the well of media that is in the canon not because it's good, but because it's really, really bad. And we're starting with the "mother" of them all: Mommie Dearest! See Faye Dunaway screaming at her daughter while slathered in cold cream! Or Faye Dunaway chopping down a tree while slathered in cold cr...

We've been taking a little bit of a break here at I'm A Sophisticate and So Can You, but in honor of Banned Books Week, we wanted to rewind time to our first book episode, in which we discussed one of the most frequently challenged and banned books in the United States: "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou. This episode contains explicit language, as well as discussions of sexual viol...

Hi, Barbie! It's Barbenheimer, and we're here celebrating the first billion-dollar female-directed blockbuster: Barbie! Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie continue their streak of creating excellent entertainment while also challenging the Kendom that is our current hellscape reality. We discuss the exquisite needle drops, the brilliant acting, paddle hands, and the fact that, at the end of the day, w...

On this, our fortieth episode, we bring back our first returning guest, friend of the pod (and Anthony's wife) Arie Levine, to discuss one of the most unabashedly bizarre movies of the 1990s: The Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino comedy "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion." It's the story of two women being ashamed that they're living lives that any millennial would kill for! But also high school b...

We took a couple of weeks off, but we've come roaring back with a breakdown of one of the wildest, darkest, and most compelling seasons of television (not just reality television) that we've seen in a long time: Season 10 of "Vanderpump Rules"! You know we're here to talk all about the Scandoval of it all. Or as Anthony calls it, Mad Madix: Fury Road. Or as they also call it, Mister Ariana and the...

After our lengthy deep dive into Dolly Parton, we decided to give ourselves a well-deserved break by watching *checks notes* the two loudest movies on the face of the Earth, both of which--spoiler alert--were written by Chris Columbus, the director of Home Alone, which was good, and the first two "Harry Potter" movies, which were...less so. First up, we have the unexpected Christmas family/black c...

We return with a vengeance for the second part of our first (intentional) two-parter as we cover the last twenty-five years of Dolly Parton's oeuvre. Topics of discussion include the Kenny G-ification of '90s music, Dolly's changing relationship with the divine, and the weird right-wing 2003 time capsule that is "For God And Country." Strap in, folks: this Backwoods Barbie is about to get weird wi...

On our first planned two-part series, we do "the Full Waits" on an icon, legend, and one of our favorite people who we know very little about: Dolly Parton! With over forty studio albums released over the last forty-five years, we simply could not cover the entire scope of Dolly's career in one episode. In our first part, we cover Dolly's debut, her rise to fame with Porter Wagoner, and of course,...

For most of the month of March, Sydney was on a cruise ship in Norway. To celebrate, we have another installment of our recurring segment, "Why Are You Like This?" to cover a different disastrous cruise: the Titanic! This movie is for Sydney what the Star Wars trilogy is for Anthony--that is to say, a true core text. Was there actually room on the door? Is it okay to just watch this movie for the...

Brush off your endoskeletons and spin up those time machines, because we're doing a double-feature of classic Arnold Schwarzenegger/James Cameron sci-fi action movies: 1984's "The Terminator" and 1991's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day"! Eight-year-old Anthony is dying of happiness. As it turns out, these two movies are much more different than we expected. One has also stood the test of time to be one...

Sometimes, the art of the past should stay in the past. This week, we listened to the band without whom the best music of the Nineties would not exist: Pixies! Does a groundbreaking band still feel fresh and new 35 years later? We certainly aim to find out. Then, we sit down for a viewing of the movie that made Paul Thomas Anderson a household name, that paen to the adult film industry of the 1970...

Having fixed their part one whoopsie-doodle, Anthony and Sydney return for the second part of their two-part discussion of "Star Wars" Episodes IV through VI. This episode contains graphic language, as well as discussions of violence. Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony Pinggera Theme music by Dana Wilentz. If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a rating, review, and/or subscribe wherever...

Cue John Williams and start the opening title crawl, because this week, Sydney cops to a BIG hole in her knowledge: the original "Star Wars" trilogy! Anthony, as a lifelong Star Wars nerd, is scandalized. So scandalized, in fact, that they accidentally didn't record the last half of the podcast episode and now this has to be a two-parter! Whoopsie-doodle. This episode contains graphic language, as...

Happy 2023, y'all! We're back from our holiday break with our thirtieth episode. This time, we're sitting down to watch our third Keanu Reeves movie: John Wick! Then, we spin up the prodigies of pop punk, Paramore! This episode contains graphic language, as well as discussions of violence, including violence against animals. Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony Pinggera Theme music by Dana Wilentz...

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life, and we're feeling good. This week, we talk about Nina Simone, a woman whose work is so influential and so singular that even though she's beloved, she's still underrated! Then, we sit down to discuss the wild, Hitchcockian mistaken-identity caper "North By Northwest"! This episode contains explicit language and brief discussions of violence, includ...

November 29th. 9 am. Pacific Standard Time. From here on in, we talk all about our first musical, a show that Sydney knows like the back of her hand but that Anthony has studiously avoided for their entire life: Rent! To help us out, we bring on resident musical theatre nerd, Anthony's wife and everyone's landlord, Arie Levine! From the independent production that the three of us all saw to the or...

On October 21st, 2022, Taylor Swift released her newest album, "Midnights." But did you know that Carly Rae Jepsen released her newest album on the EXACT SAME DAY?! Two titans face off for control of our hearts, minds, and our Spotify playlists. This is Girl Pop Thunderdome, and we are merely here to bear witness. This episode contains explicit language and brief discussions of disordered eating a...

How better to celebrate Halloween than by releasing an episode on (the day after) Halloween about the archetypical slasher movie, Halloween? If you think of anything, don't tell us, because this is what we've got. To give us horror newbs a hand, we called in friend of the pod and horror movie aficionado Anthony Bellantoni to help us place this classic film in the cosmic canon. This episode contain...

From Ridley Scott to Alfred Hitchcock, we're continuing our celebration of Spooky Season with our first two-movies episode! First, we watched the film that started the slasher genre (and one of Anthony's favorite movies) and made the Bates Motel a household name, "Psycho." Then, we head for the farthest reaches of deep space for the science fiction masterpiece, "Alien." Toilets! Facehuggers! Plot-...

On our second episode of our recurring segment, "Why Are You Like This?", Anthony and Sydney gush about an artist who they've both been obsessed with for nigh on fifteen years: Lady Gaga! They discuss the origins of their love, how Mother Monster has changed the game and pushed the envelope, and of course, their experience at the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle that was the Chromatica Ball. Paws up,...

From the streets of nineties Berlin to the biggest heavy metal band in the world, we're bringing the intensity! This week, we cover the titans of thrash metal and bestselling band of the 1990s, Metallica! Then we dive into time loops and money heists with the relentlessly German "Run Lola Run". This episode contains explicit language and brief discussions of violence. Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and...

Ooh, baby, do we have a special episode for all of you! We're sitting down with ADHD advocate/sex educator/TTRPG player/fellow queer millennial Cate Osborn to discuss the 1999 cinematic movie masterpiece, The Mummy. Cate might just be the internet's foremost expert on The Mummy franchise, so hold on to your butts; just like Imhotep, this episode is real juicy! This episode contains explicit langua...

Some art is so of-the-moment that looking back on it even a few years later can be confusing and disappointing. Some art ascends the era of its making to become timeless. On this episode, we deal with both. First, it's the indie comedy that made Jon Heder a star and made every teenage boy in 2004 ask: does the chicken have large talons? It's "Napoleon Dynamite"! Then, we spin up the records of one...

After our last foray into the world of literature, we were looking for a book that would really kick us in the proverbial face. Enter the mad genius Virginia Woolf and her modernist classic, "Mrs. Dalloway." If you've ever wondered how a hundred-year-old piece of art could still feel relevant, the answer is right here. Was it easy? No. Was it worth it? Every step of the way. And as a bonus, we als...

Weird wedding dances? Waterboarding? A queercoded mirror? This episode has everything! This week, we cover the musical genius that Stranger Things brought back into the cultural zeitgeist: Kate Bush! Then, we go way, way back in film history to the very first Walt Disney Animated Feature: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves! This episode contains explicit language and brief mentions of violence, incl...