Second Breakfast with Cam & Maggie

Discussion of The Lady of the Lake, Ch. 4   This chapter of the final Witcher novel is the perfect complement to its predecessor. We continue through a messy, empathetic, nuanced interlude of fantasy, illusion, sexual politics, and self-awareness. We dig deep into Geralt's subconscious here – Maggie wonders whether his growth has brought him to a place of healthy emotional intelligence, while Cam...

At the halfway point of Diablo IV, we reach a crossroads. The narrative work here can be incredible, but more and more the game seems to be prioritizing the uneven gear grind and endgame. This episode explores some of the major tensions at the heart of the game. Maggie advances our ongoing discussion of power fantasies, difficulty scaling, and monotony in light of the tidal wave of boss fights pep...

Discussion of  Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2,  and  Insidious: The Red Door James Wan and Leigh Whannell made the best haunted house horror movie of all time in 2010. Three years later, they made the best horror sequel of all time. And now, ten years later, with Insidious: The Red Door, we have a satisfying, startling, gorgeous finale to what might be the greatest franchise in the genre. This ep...

Never let it be said that we here at Second Breakfast refuse to admit our mistakes. They've finally gone and done it: they made a great multiverse superhero movie. Not only is the story here thoughtful and refreshingly self-aware, but the art style – or should we say the 1,000 art styles – are deliriously delightful. This is probably the best cinematic experience of 2023. Get bonus episodes on Sub...

Discussion of The Lady of the Lake, Ch. 3   At first, this chapter seems like back-to-basics victory lap for our beloved Geralt of Rivia. But as we all know, onions have layers. Sapkowski peels, dices, and pickles this onion/chapter into a slowly unraveling pattern of bad habits and outgrown dynamics. Sexual politics are explored and challenged, Dandelion takes a stand, and Cam gets to drop a Die...

The second act of Diablo IV is full-on heavy metal. We've got three-headed beasts, a blood swamp, and a gigantic talking wolf. There are also startling, quiet moments of humanity exploring the Fat Goose Inn and the tragic remains of the Bear Tribe. After working through the story details and surprises, we check in on the progression of our four classes as we start to establish final builds. Ghost...

For this second Summerween episode, we're looking at one of Maggie's most formative horror movies. Black Swan is a movie we've been thinking about for thirteen years - the symbolism is so rich, the performances are so incredibly strong, and its insights into the desperation of the creative process are both profound and ever-evolving. As we return to the movie now, older and wiser(?), we have total...

Discussion of The Lady of the Lake, Ch. 2 The thing about curveballs is that you can never get used to them. Every time we think we've got the reigns of Sapkowski's story, he does something like this - introducing a second new framing device, making a colossal time jump, spoiling the end of the story, and spending fifty pages discussing bad endings / Arthurian legend. We've got commentary, we've g...

Diablo IV is finally here! As we play through the game, we're going to do a series of diary-style reflections where we reflect on story, gameplay, and progression. In this first act, we adjust to the revamped skill and inventory systems. Cam's got good news and bad news about the Barbarian and Sorcerer classes, Maggie's juggling minions with her Necromancer, and Tristan is pirouetting his way thro...

Flip open your Motorola Razrs and grab an Izze; we're heading back to 2008 and the "epic fail" that was the Cloverfield apocalypse in Manhattan. Summerween 2023 begins with this 85-minute panic attack that we were lucky enough to see recently on the big screen. We start with a discussion of the horror genre's association with jump scares, to try to figure out how this film sustains such agonizing...

Discussion of The Lady of the Lake, Ch. 1   Here we are – the beginning of the end. Sapkowski kicks off the final Witcher novel with his greatest curveball yet: a crossover into Monty Python. Maggie's got the essential context for all of the Arthurian legend littered throughout the chapter, and Cam has more than one hunch about the sudden turn into multiversal storytelling. Where are we, and where...

Diablo III is one of the most successful works of fantasy ever made, having sold more than 65 million copies worldwide. Between the three of us — Cam, Maggie, and Tristan — we have spent a startling amount of time in the world of Sanctuary battling demons and tinkering with our skill trees. It's been eleven years since the game released, and with this somehow being our 250th (!) episode, it felt l...

Discussion of The Tower of Swallows, Ch. 11 The Tower of Swallows goes out with a bang this week. For one thing, we actually find the tower, but there also unicorns, ghosts, dead people talking, and homicidal figure skaters. Sapkowski's writing has never been more fantastical, and parsing these pages brought us back to our Tolkien days. There's an incredible amount of resolution in this chapter, a...

From The Social Network to The Wolf of Wall Street to Vice, the 2010s was a golden age of dramatized, real-life catastrophes. 2023's Blackberry is a ruthless, fantastic addition to that lineage (which might be one of our favorite subgenres). In this episode we track the evolution of these films and explore the innovations and triumphs of this newest Dorian Gray portrait of late-stage capitalism. ...

This is by far the weirdest movie of the year – so we went to see it twice, and Cam built up one humdinger of a theory. This whole episode is him frantically working through the idea that Beau Is Afraid is the best adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein ever made. Heavy spoilers for both stories, obviously. We have domineering creators; a mildly incestuous bride of Frankenstein; echoes, bookend...

Discussion of The Tower of Swallows, Ch. 10 Wave your red flags in the air like you just don't care. Ciri's about to torch King's Landing or become The Punisher – either way, she's not turning out to be a traditional "Chosen One". Our discussion here is an investigation into Ciri's latest worrying evolution as Death, destroyer of worlds. Maggie dives into Ciri's possible futures and competing pers...

Sisu is the best action movie of the year, and we had to come back for a Tuesday bonus episode and talk about it. This whole episode is a full-throated endorsement, a shining bat-signal to all of you - go check out this fantastic film! It's in theaters right now. Our spoiler-free discussion runs through all of the beloved action movies that this film evokes and builds upon - from the first John Wi...

It's a really hard time to be a creative. Ever shrinking wages, vanishing royalties, exploitative contracts. Three days ago, the Writers Guild of America officially went on strike, and in this desperate, precarious moment, there's no work of art we'd rather the talking about than Ben Affleck's Air. It's the first release from his revolutionary new production company that prioritizes creative freed...

Surprise! We've got  two  bonus episodes about Succession out today! Cam rewatched the whole show totally out of order and it gave him some unexpected, funky insights that we wanted to share!  This first episode, Succession: The Many Deaths of Logan Roy, is an eight-echo theory about the bookending of Succession 's first and last seasons. Basically, the first two episodes of the first season are a...

Discussion of The Tower of Swallows, Ch. 9 Buckle up, buttercup. This is probably the most intricate, complex chapter we've ever covered – and how fitting that it focuses on his most elaborate and enigmatic creation: Yennefer of Vengerberg. Cam dives deep into symmetry, both within this chapter and the series as a whole. Maggie returns to Bird Corner (with good reason!). In light of certain revela...

We've been waiting for Diablo IV for over a decade. It's the ultimate Second Breakfast topic – the perfect marriage of fantasy and horror. Cam and Tristan played the bajeezus out of the beta, and we've got thoughts! Join us for a breakdown of the game's character classes, abilities, gear, and skill trees. We also explore the graphical evolutions from Diablo III to Diablo IV, along with this game's...

Welcome back to Second Breakfast! Today's episode is a pre-written column in the style of our recent Substack-exclusive bonus episodes discussing Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre , 65 , and the scourge that is the multiverse . This time, Cam's written up his complicated thoughts on Vasilis Katsoupis'  Inside, starring Willem Dafoe. It's a celebration of challenging art and black box theater! Subs...

Discussion of The Tower of Swallows, Ch. 8 Welcome back to Curveball Corner with Cam and Maggie! This is by far the least traditional, least linear chapter of this series – a marathon of surprises in structure, plot, and character that reveals a growing trend in Sapkowski's writing about neutrality and self-interest. We develop a working theory of the tension at the center of his fantasy world, an...

What's more surprising: a great new fantasy action-comedy, or Maggie getting to see Taylor Swift? What about both of those in the same episode?! This movie was a huge surprise for us. It's got confidence and charisma for days, the kind of urgency that turns genre films into classics, and a quiet course correction of everything that tanks modern mainstream movies. This was so much fun! Subscribe to...

There's a murkiness running through this chapter's adventure; a nervous, questioning fear that digs at the very heart of Geralt's character. Cam argues that our beloved witcher is reaching the end of his long decline, and tries to chart the devolution of Geralt's core ideals and abilities. We also dive into our new friend Avallac'h, who teases and torments Geralt with a discussion of prophecy that...