Afterthoughts

Meet us on Main Street when the sun reaches its highest point to discuss the controversial 1952 western High Noon , starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. Hated by John Wayne, revered by US presidents, and acclaimed as one of the greatest American westerns of all time, does High Noon resonate with the Afterthoughts crew? It's a bit of a mixed bag.

On this two-person episode of Afterthoughts, John and Dixon record an extended discussion of Kinds of Kindness (2024) . Originally it was planned to be a Recommend or Refute entry, but with the amount of thoughts we had after seeing the film merited something more. Love it or hate it, join John and Dixon for a recap and discussion on the latest film from writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos.  If you h...

On this episode of Recommend or Refute, Ryan sneaks in a twofer with his tribute watches of the River Phoenix vehicles Explorers (1985) and Stand By Me (1986) , John tells us all about The Invention of Lying (2009) but will he tell the truth when it comes to recommending or refuting it? Finally, Dixon closes out the discussion by talking about Nothing But a Man (1964).

I hate every ape I see from Chimpan-A to Chimpan-Z. No, you'll never make a monkey out of me. Oh, my God! I was wrong! It was earth all along. You finally made a monkey (yes, we finally made a monkey). Yes, you finally made a monkey out of meeeeeee! I love you, Dr. Zaius!

On our 100th episode of Afterthoughts, Ryan and John celebrate by bringing a bunch of questions and complaints to the table regarding Netflix's top 2 films of May: Madame Web (2024) and Atlas (2024). But do the two trash fiends bring recommendations with them? Is Dixon the only hope to bring classy and cultured content with Sidney Poitier's directorial debut Buck and The Preacher (1972) ? Is that...

Strap in as we bring the backbreaking tragedy of The Iron Claw to you!!! Ryan has finally watched it, and he adds his encyclopedic knowledge of wrestling to our discussion of this beautiful film.

This episode isn't a hoax or a prank, it's just a regular Recommend or Refute episode. Why would we open with that? Well, when John brings Thank You Very Much (2023) , a biographical documentary about Andy Kaufman, we feel obligated to emphasize that we aren't trying to fool anyone with the rest of our picks. Sure, Ryan did bring something called  Spy x Family: Code White (2024) , and  that reads...

The great Al Pacino and his luscious head of hair star in this gritty biopic about one honest cop who stood up against the corrupt structures of the NYPD. Join us as we discuss Sidney Lumet's impressive film and Frank Serpico's real world impact on modern policing.

On this episode of Recommend or Refute, Dixon brings up All The President's Men (1976) and we lament the devolution of journalistic integrity. John talks pseudo-70s aesthetic with the David Dastmalchian led horror movie Late Night With The Devil (2023) . And Ryan talks about his time sitting in a Sunday School of alternative biblical perspective with Satan's Guide to The Bible (2023). Could this e...

John continues to force us to revisit the movies he loved as a teenager that may or may not have aged well since then. This week we're talking about the horny British coming-of-age dramedy Cashback (2006).

This is a Recommend or Refute with plenty of tangents. Prepare yourself to wade through the quagmire of mixed feelings as Ryan whips up a special chocolate covered condemnation of the latest Charlie & The Chocolate Factory film companion with Wonka (2023). Dixon talks about Civil War (2024) , not actual Civil War though. John leads the crew on an expedition to secure the hottest takes and anti...

Did y'all hear that Stalin died? They made a movie about it starring Steve Buscemi and Jeffrey Tambor.

Dixon and John have returned --with special guest Parker-- to serve up some fresh picks for the dwindling watchlists out there. Prohibition may be over, but the legends it spawned live on in The Roaring Twenties (1939) , and Dixon is going to dish on all of it while somehow managing to never work in references to the Simpsons episode we're all thinking about. Parker talks about Sofia Coppola's Pri...

We're finally doing Dixon's favorite movie, the profoundly transformative  Silence (2016) by the great Martin Scorsese. Join John, Dixon, and special guest Parker as we discuss our backgrounds in the church and how the film has impacted our personal beliefs. Check out Dixon's article on his journey with the film below. https://medium.com/the-outtake/revisiting-a-forgotten-masterpiece-how-silence-c...

On this episode of Recommend or Refute, Ryan brings us a feature length dose of Andrew Callaghan's gonzo journalism with the Max exclusive documentary This Place Rules (2022), John takes the Dune Part 2's success as motivation to snort a rail of spice from the studio-interfered, audience-panned interpretation  Dune (1984) , and Dixon rounds everything out with some choice picks from the recent fil...

Thank you for listening to this episode.  There's no proof that podcasting causes cancer.  Yet.

Join the usual Afterthoughts crew as they share another sampling of drastically different films. Dixon takes us for a hike into The Eight Mountains (2022) , giving just enough of a glimpse into why its one of his recent favorite films. Ryan tells us about his recent attempt to dumpster dive in the Netflix backlog and the resulting discovery of Maburoshi (2023). And John harkens back to his high sc...

Just a very chill movie about a few Nazi housewives having a small get-together to talk about Nazi shit.

Another RoR is here and we're proud to serve up another set of eclectic offerings spanning sci-fi, horror, and something that's labeled "comedy". Dixon tells us why size does matter with his review of The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) , John shakes hands with horror trope refreshed for a new generation as he talks to us about Talk to Me (2022) , and Ryan regrets letting his family decide his fil...

This is by far our drunkest episode. You're welcome.

On this episode of Recommend or Refute, Ryan pays tribute to the late Carl Weathers by bringing Action Jackson (1985) to the episode. John finally follows up that Black Dynamite episode we posted by talking about his experience with Michael Jai White's latest homage to Black Cinema: Outlaw Johnny Black (2023) . And Dixon takes a film trip to Argentina to see how they do heist films with the The De...

John picked the movie this week, so you know it's gonna be a fuckin' doozy.  We're talking about Richard Rush's batshit crazy passion project The Stunt Man (1980) .  It's full of wild stunts, zany characters, and Peter O'Toole chewing the scenery like his life depends on it.  We've never seen anything quite like this.

It's time for the roundtable roundup known as Recommend or Refute. Jump back to the 1930s as Dixon talks about the impressively risqué, precode film Baby Face (1933) . Get carried away in a signature rant about The Infinity Saga (2008-2019) with Ryan. And to cap it all off, take a toke of foggy thoughts from John's recent viewing of Inherent Vice (2014) . Tune to find out what John's Owen Wilson i...

Podcaaaaastin' in the rain, podcaaaaastin' in the rain! What a glooooorious feeeeelin! I'm haaaaaapy agaaaain!

On this very 2023  edition of Recommend or Refute, Ryan rags on the overblown Y2K crisis with Timebomb Y2K (2023), John shifts into drive and off-roads his way through the new Twisted Metal (2023) series, and Dixon talks about the 4 hours of life he and John spent sitting in the corner of the 3-Star Michelin restaurant of Frederick Wiseman's Menus-Plaisirs - Les Troisgros (2023).