Disenfranchised

@Disenfranchpod on Bluesky , Facebook , Instagram , Letterboxd , and YouTube . Email us your thoughts or requests to disenfranchpod@gmail.com Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify ! Wish Stephen a very happy birthday today! You can find him at @ChewyWalrus on Bluesky , Instagram , and Letterboxd . Check out Stephen’s first novel - Check In, Check Out - on Amazon, now available in paperb...

“Do not misunderstand me: danger is very real, but fear is a choice.” This week, or Gettin’ Jiggy in July theme month continues as we take a look at Will Smith's attempt to make his son Jaden into the next big thing with this 2013 M. Night Shyamalan bomb! Two big names in need of a hit and the child caught in the balance! Join us as we talk this movie's overt influences and world-building and how...

“This is Ground Zero. This is my site. I can fix… I can fix this.” Well, friends, we’ve had a doozy of a week! This week, life, uh, finds a way once again as we move forward with our Gettin’ Jiggy in July theme month by looking back at our third-ever Spooky-thon to Will Smith’s foray into action-horror during a downward trajectory in his career! Together, we discuss how well this movie holds up in...

“Let’s break down the word ‘redneck.’ First word, ‘red’: color of power, fire, passion. Second word, ‘neck’... hey, I can’t think of nothing for ‘neck’ right now, but without that, you still got red and that’s something to be proud of.” We’re kicking off a brand new actor-centric theme month taking a look at the failed franchise starters of Big Willie Style himself, Mr. Will Smith, starting with w...

“Charlie, there are two kinds of thieves in this world: those who steal to enrich their lives and this week steal to define their lives. Don't be the latter. Makes you miss out on what's really important in this life.” This week, we celebrate the life of legendary Hollywood actor Donald Sutherland as we look back to one of our earliest episodes from way back in February 2021 (seriously, listen to...

“Never trust spiritual leader who does not dance.” This week, we’re celebrating 40 years of Mr. Miyagi by going back 30 years to the great Pat Morita’s final foray as the wizened karate teacher with this 1994 spin-off. As Stephen and Tucker try desperately to avoid talking this movie, topics include why certain Muppets don’t show up anymore, potential forthcoming theme months, the early careers of...

“Whoever said size doesn’t matter never played a third-person shooter.” This week, we’re absolutely thrilled to welcome back friend of the show, the Internet’s 2000s Horror Queen, and author of the forthcoming book Millennial Nasties, Ariel Powers-Schaub to discuss the necessary-if-not-inconsistently-executed cinematic confluence of horror and video games! Listen NOW as we dissect such vital topic...

“You want the scent? Smell yourself…” This week, we're diving into the Lecter-verse as we dig into the first film adapted from one of Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter novels! We're talking Michael Mann and William Petersen, debating the best Lecter (Lecktor?), and determining whether or not this franchise qualifies as horror. PLUS, Stephen ranks the entire Lecter franchise! You don't have to travel...

“What are we??” We’re breaking formats the way that Johnny Kovak breaks down corporate corruption in the latest episode of Straight Up, the show where we basically let Tucker do whatever he wants! And this quarter, he’s chosen this 1978 Norman Jewison film featuring Sly as an upstart union leader who may or may not be Jimmy Hoffa! And we’re joined by musician and union organizer Evan Tuohy to talk...

“Oh, it’s over already? I was just about to make my move!” There’s a new Planet of the Apes film in theaters so we can finally discuss a film that Stephen has been anxiously anticipating since the podcast began! We talk our personal histories with the Apes franchise, discuss the decade-long development hell of this film and the versions that could have been, Mark Wahlberg’s best performances, and...

“In the land of the infected, the immune man is king.” This week, with Furiosa making its way into theaters later this month, we’re talking about another badass female protagonist with a missing body part trapped between two feuding warlords in a harsh, post-apocalyptic wasteland! Listen as we talk “Star Trek,” our past experiences with Neil Marshall films, and how well this movie spotlights its r...

“Some dogs are meant to be champions. Some dogs are meant to be… dogs.” We’re back with another installment of our unofficial ‘Coming Attractions’ theme month! There are three - count ‘em, THREE - new movies opening on Memorial Day weekend and we couldn’t decide which to discuss, so we’re covering all three! First up, the new animated Garfield movie promises an animated movie based on a comic stri...

“...almost all of us self-destruct.” It’s an unofficial ‘Coming Attractions’ theme month where we’re talking about movies kinda-sorta related to current or upcoming theatrical releases! To start things off, we’re talking about Alex Garland’s sophomore effort on the heels of his most recent film Civil War making the divisive rounds! And we’re joined by actor, musician, and self-proclaimed Garland a...

“Everything’s changed… and we can stop Judgment Day!” And, just like that, our second-ever Arnold Schwarzeneggar theme month - Arnie April 2: Austrian Boogaloo - is at its end… but will it go out with a bang or a whimper? We’re talking Arnie’s return to his most famous franchise and, along the way, we stop to chat about theme park 4-D attractions, Tucker’s bizarre nostalgia for Windows phones, the...

“You are what you do. A man is defined by his actions, not his memory.” We may be starting to wind down Arnie April 2: Austrian Boogaloo, but we’re still managing to come in HOT on this episode! And what luck - we’re joined by Stephen’s college roommate and all-around good guy Phil Smith to talk about Arnie’s last straight-up ‘80s action role! Along the way, we cast a Philip K. Dick biopic, espous...

“All theory, no practice. The story of my life.” We’re back with week two of Arnie April 2: Austrian Boogaloo with a movie we really wanted to cover the last time we did a Schwarzeneggar theme month… but we’re making up for it now! We talk about the directing style of Ivan Reitman, the long history of how this movie came to screen, the now-canceled sequel, and do a career retrospective on Robert R...

For the first time ever , we’re doing a sequel to one of our favorite theme months! Behold, ARNIE APRIL 2: AUSTRIAN BOOGALOO! And who better to help us kick the whole thing off than our friends Brian Keiper and Michele Eggen from the Movies for Life podcast! Join us for a conversation covering everything from modern Arnie analogies to the crystallization of Arnie‘s action persona to… [checks notes...

Sorority Row (2009) w/ Ariel Powers-Schaub This week, in honor of the approaching release of her book Millennial Nasties: Analyzing a Decade of Brutal Horror Film Violence, our friend Ariel Powers-Schaub is back to talk about this late aughts horror remake! And while we’re at it, we discuss the origins and examples of ‘millennial nasties,’ the meanness of our main characters, the tragedy of Chugs,...

“There is ALWAYS time for lubricant!” With Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire coming to theaters this week, we’re looking at yet another Ivan Reitman-directed movie about a team of working-class misfits… but this time, they’re fighting aliens ! Break out the Head & Shoulders and join us as we talk through the careers of Seann William Scott, Orlando Jones, and Ivan Reitman, speculate wildly on this mo...

Oblivion (2013) w/ Andrew ‘Greetings’ “Are you an effective team?” It’s another Listener Request episode and, this time, we brought the listener along with us! We’re joined by Stephen’s college buddy Andrew to talk about Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, and the 2013 sci-fi movie they made together! Over the course of the conversation, we get into the Oblivion Goodreads page, alternate castings for Morg...

“You let me know when it gets dangerous..” With Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two in theaters, we’re taking a look at another story where a savior comes to a desert world and befriends a native tribe who give him a unique new name… and we’ve brought our friend and Edgar Rice Burroughs enthusiast Samuel Dumas along to help us out! Along with the deep development hell of a ‘Princess of Mars’ adaptat...

Parents (1989) “You really like the dark, don’t you, Michael? You can be yourself in the dark. But, you know? There’s one dark place that we have to be very careful in…” It’s yet another fifth Thursday (in February?? REALLY?? ) and you know what that means! That’s right, it’s the second-ever episode of Straight Up, the show-within-a-show where we let Tucker fly in the face of God and the format to...

“No plan. Just bigger guns.” In what happens to be a rather bizarre follow-up to last year’s episode on Cemetery Man , the boys tackle this big screen adaptation of Tiziano Sclavi’s perhaps better-known work (in Europe, anyway), Dylan Dog! (When our fans ask for an episode, we try to deliver!) We talk about the absence of fan-favorite character Groucho, compare this film to Brett’s beloved Dresden...

“You have this nickname. What is it? Excitement? Enthusiasm? Esprit de corps?” This week, we’re paying homage to one of the greats as we honor the great Carl Weathers with one of his earliest starring roles that never got a sequel - 1988’s Action Jackson ! We talk about how this movie perfectly melds mid-’70s blaxploitation with late-’80s action, the state of action cinema in the late 1980s, our f...

"This is not the end of my story. This is only the beginning.” …or is it ?? In accordance with our annual Valentine’s Day tradition, we’ve invited our buddy Mike Snoonian from The Pod and the Pendulum to talk about a Valentine’s Day movie in name only! We talk about the origins of the titular superhero, debate the artistic merits of this big screen adaptation, talk about the rocky production histo...