Mixed Bag

Whether you're wrapping up your Halloween and emerging from your candy slumber or set to celebrate it tonight, Halloween reaches far and wide and the spooky season has got to Mixed Bag. That's why we've popped on the 1993 children's classic Hocus Pocus, directed by Kenny Ortega, who joined the third-timers for directors on Mixed Bag. Not a great accomplishment but we love having you here, Kenny! A...

Folks, we have reached our final night... with Knightley. The film that spawned this miniseries, the feature presentation that makes most use of Keira Knightley's... advantages. Namely, one. Her chin. David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method. You may have seen the infamous clip featuring body horror levels of chin acting (link here if you haven't) but how does the film stack up? Seduced by the challe...

Hello Boys! It's time to get Sugar Plum Sweet and dive into the magical world of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018). Our penultimate night with Knightley and our most recent Keira flick, Nutcracker4Realms is adapted from the 1892 two-act ballet which has some of the sickest classical earworms you've ever come across. Will the trio find Keira's Sugar Plum Fairy sumptuous or sickly sweet and...

Announcing the return of Mixed Bag! It's been quite some time since we last spoke but fear not listener, we are resuming our Five Nights with Knightley with our third entry, the epitome of Keira's period films, The Duchess! What's it about? A duchess of course! But other than that? God we had no clue. But little did we know that they film is covertly part of the glorious gay agenda! That's right,...

ARRR!! You liver lilies didn't think we'd cover the canon of Keira without investigating her most famous franchise did you? This week we're joined by esteemed cat lover and fellow podcaster Patrick Barnes who, until now, has never seen a Pirates of the Caribbean film. Did we want to spend seven minutes in Heaven in Davy Jones' locker or is this just one terrible beastie as bad as the dreaded krake...

Our latest season 'Five Nights of Knightley' commences with the third and final Joe Wright and Keira Knightley reunion, Anna Karenina (2012). It's cold in Wellington but it's nothing compared to Russia, let's hope that Anna wraps up warm, dodges scandal and avoids those trains! But when handsome Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) stares at her from across the room, who can resist? He's certainly far m...

Mike Bryant brings his new discovered classic, Clue back from 1985 for us all to revel in its exceeding foolishness. Based on the board game of the same name or Cluedo depending on where you're from, Clue follows a star studded cast who try to determine who killed Mr. Boddy and why. We have a tiny recorded issue with this episode with it being accidentally recorded from a laptop instead of a micro...

The hosts make a startling discovery. One of their own has a deep connection the titular equine and knows the Bryan Adams songs by heart. But is this 2002 tale too simplistic and boring or is it a little seen masterpiece? Join us for the iconic episode of Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron.

It's our 50th episode of Mixed Bag! And for our 50th we thought, what the hell! Let's do another film that's been on our list for a while. Jennifer's Body (2009). Directed by Karyn Kusama, written by Diablo Cody and starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried, this horror comedy was slammed on released and has since been reappraised. Is it the lesbian text we've all been craving or is this body dead on...

We're doing it. One of the OG Mixed Bags when the podcast was created, this is a big one folks. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont. The #1 hit of 2005, beating out the juggernaut Snakes on a Plane! (A different time, a simpler time) Dame Joan Plowright returns after her brief appearance in 101 Dalmatians and introducing Rupert Friend as Ludo. These two charmers may be divided by age but they're united b...

It's time to Get'cha Head in the Game, because we're Breaking Free. That's right, this is no time to Stick to the Status Quo, it's the Start of Something New and We're All In This Together. It certainly felt that way in 2006 where we were bound the collective passion for High School Musical. Chief among them was guest Ed Blunden who not only experienced the joy of High School Musical but played Tr...

It's the 90s, dog movies are all the craze and remaking Disney properties isn't yet an exercise in torture. But it needs a dash of something else, a rogue element, a little splash of GLENN. The iconic performance from beloved Mixed Bag star Glenn Close. Here she gets to revel in the cruelty and chaos of Cruella De Vil. But how well does the performance truly stack up and is the film around her up...

Matt and James check in while Cass is away for a 2 hour long Pop Corner spectacular to chat Oscars, Grammys, Globes and sliding down a pole to see your Top, Satan.

Kia ora team! We're going on a mini hiatus because of supreme busyness so we thought we'd start up a fun little thing called Mixed Bag Minis and it can involve you! All you have to do is record an audio clip of you talking about a Mixed Bag you've seen or like and email it to mixedbagcontact@gmail.com and we'll likely air it on the show! To give you an example, here's Aimee Sullivan talking about...

Featuring recent Golden Globe winner Rosamund Pike, this new Amazon Video release, I Care A Lot (2020) features elder abuse, the Russian Mob and a surprise wig. But did we care? Did we care... a lot?

IT'S BURLESQUE It's the early 10's and Burlesque is having a moment. Pop culture sensations Cher and Christina Aguilera team up to bring this vital new story to the cinema. What could go wrong? Matt, Cass and James finally tackle Burlesque, one of the very first films considered when the concept of Mixed Bag was created. Will these air rights win out or is this show ready to shut up shop? Dig us?...

We're travelling to the generically European domain of Genovia with our guest and friend of the pod Aimée Sullivan! Appearing in a cameo in our Sister Act 2 episode, we've got 100% more Aimée with another sequel, this time the iconic Princess Diaries follow up starring superstars Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews! Also featuring Chris Pine at not peak hotness and way too much hair, Princess Mia has...

The Paper (1994) is a family classic of our guest Maxwell Apse and has a star-studded cast including Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Marissa Tomei, Randy Quaid, Robert Duvall, Jason Alexander and the one and only Catherine O'Hara! Following 24 hours in the life of a hectic newsroom, this little seen film by director Ron Howard follows the murder of a couple of visiting businessmen and reporters tryin...

We're starting off this year big and what's bigger than stealing the Declaration of Independence? As we've seen from this wild week, that may be easier than it looks. (Weirdly, we picked this film in Dec 2020!) It's time to get nerdy and solve some puzzles with the one, the only... Nicolas Cage. Dig us? Tell people on social media! It's the best way for people to discover the podcast. You can also...

"And the Oscar goes to..." The Best Picture Winner who wasn't, is this Oscar juggernaut the breezy refreshing romp through old Hollywood musicals that we were sold or have the lights of La La Los Angeles dimmed? Basically, the question is, is there any love in our heart for jazz bros? Directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, we ended 2019 with CATS and look how that tu...

Kristen Stewart and MacKenzie Davis star in this queer holiday new release which puts the closet in Christmas. To continue our Christmas tradition, we're joined by Lucas Neal to see if this is coal in our stocking or if it managed to make the Nice list.  

"Perch and Swivel!" "You might think algebra is jail. But it’s not!" "She wants my piss cause hers is dirty!" All these iconic lines from the film taking Netflix by storm. *Official viewing numbers unable to be released* Close Adams Howard That’s right it’s Hillbilly Elegy. Based on the J. D. Vance bestseller, this might not exactly be a mixed bag but it’s another special event like CATS (2019) ne...

"You're gunna need a bigger shark" -Movie Producer The arrival of the major new talent on the Hollywood scene, the movie that introduced us to the megalodon, the marvel, THE MEG. Can Jason Statham compete against the inherent star power of this indelible leading lady performance? Have we seen such soulful acting of the eyes since Garbo, since Hepburn? The movie that made her, we can't stop talking...

A remake of a Hitchcock's classic, will Ben Wheatley's separate the wheat from the chaff? Starring Armie Hammer and Lily James, check in and see if Matt, James and Cass are saying "damn Danvers!" for this flick. Follow us on socials, flick up a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser or just tweet about us to your friends! It really helps us get noticed.

Ladies and Gentlemen (and non-binary folk) this is the moment you've waited for. WOOO-AHHH-OOOH-OOUGH!! We finally did it. Cass, Matt and James had never seen The Greatest Showman. Until now. Don't forget to rate and write a review on Apple Podcasts and follow us on Twitter ( @MixedBagPod ), Facebook ( MixedBagPod ) and Instagram ( @MixedBagPodcast ) or email us at  mixedbagcontact@gmail.com  if y...