Talking Tropes Podcast

There's nothing about Luca that we dislike! Let's look at this simple yet powerful story of young love and being yourself...in the context of a censorship regime focused on producing inoffensive films with global appeal while at the same time appealing to progressive, queer-friendly audiences. Watch the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/sF1hu3s-a9A Tweet at us @talkingtropes if you have a diffe...

In a special 4th of July episode, we compare two notable examples of Aliens invading America in the immediate aftermath of the cold war. How do these stories compare to the cold war-era films they draw from? Tweet at us @TalkingTropes to share your favorite alien invasion story

We continue to watch every Stanley Tucci IMDb credit. This week, Tucci plays a mobster in a neo-noir character drama starring Joe Pesci. Is this the hidden gem of the 90s mob movies you NEED to see? Also, we read a review of Tucci's food tourism show by a true Tucci stan from The Guardian, Stuart Heritage (@stuheritage) https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jun/21/stanley-tucci-the-flirty-...

Cast reunions became a ubiquitous cultural form during the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of the shutdown of in-person production, actors had even more free time and fewer resources than during writers’ strikes. Zoom became a popular way to organize charity events and look back fondly on the network era of television. HBO Max released two elaborately produced and highly publicized cast reunion special...

Tucci the dognapper? It's a timely follow-up to our Cruella review, where we talk about how much we love Stanley Tucci in Beethoven, starring a St. Bernard and Charles Grodin as they butt heads to see who is the alpha of the Newton household! The audio quality might be a bit lower because we had to use the backup recording. Oops! Watch the video podcast here https://youtu.be/-KTs6dzkiXk Tweet at u...

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...

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! Tw...

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 Tu...

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 Mc...

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 gend...

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...

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 t...

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/KWgfVbrb...

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 Burges...

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 Awa...

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 her...

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

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

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...

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

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...

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

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

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

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 wa...