Afterthoughts

It's a new week and a new round of Recommend or Refute . Join Dixon as he discusses the Rocky formula's return to form in Creed (2015), Ryan's descent into Magic Stripper Madness with the Magic Mike trilogy, and John... well... uh... yeah. John's bringing something obscurely terrible to the table, and we're probably never going to let him do it again.

Call us Ishmael because we're talking about Darren Aronofsky's most recent film The Whale (2022), an adaptation of the Samuel D. Hunter stage play of the same name. Is it worthy of all the accolades and standing ovations? Did it merit its controversy? Where does it rank on the list of Aronofsky films? Join us for afterthoughts on these questions and more!

On this episode of Recommend or Refute, Dixon dishes the deets on the screwball comedy Ball of Fire (1941) , John talks about da famous Soady Family buck huntin' of Jeff Daniels's Upper (You-pper) comedy Escanaba in da Moonlight (2001) , and Ryan explains why Queen of Katwe (2016) puts Queen's Gambit (2020) in check (we know, we know --that's a mildly apples to oranges comparison).

In our inaugural episode, the Afterthoughts crew is diving nose first into Elizabeth Banks's 3rd directorial feature Cocaine Bear (2023) . Does this Horror Comedy deliver on cocaine-fueled, laugh-a-minute thrills? Or is its powdery white essence as bland and tasteless as a batch of flour? John, Dixon, and Ryan are here to cut up a fresh line of Afterthoughts, so let the party begin.