Field of Screens

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit airbudz.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit airbudz.substack.com

The original file got weirdly quiet after a certain point - this one should be consistent. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit airbudz.substack.com

Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit airbudz.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit airbudz.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit airbudz.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit airbudz.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit airbudz.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit airbudz.substack.com

Our return to daytime recording is less unhinged, yet still leaves lingering concerns, most notably - what are the caveats and dimensions of Sinbad’s scholarship such that he can play football despite being a PhD student actively teaching undergrads? We are greeted almost immediately by a memorable - if not great - Bill Conti score. This is a 90s movie, and the tunes will not let you forget it. Fo...

Another entry in the Field of Screens After Dark sub-pod, this one goes off the rails pretty quickly, only because Varsity Blues rocks so hard that we barely have anything to critique. A movie that left an indelible mark on pop culture, not just in its own right but also through the parody of Not Another Teen Movie. Phil had never seen this one before despite being entrenched in its pop-cultural f...

Also known as “Olympic Terror” - which do you prefer? Colin and I are both absolute fiends for horror movies - a near-lifelong obsessions for both us - and the idea sprang to mind to do a special bonus episode. All we had to do was find a horror sports movie (that wasn’t one of the Teen Wolves). 1983’s Fatal Games left us with some unanswered questions, of course, but one thing we know for sure? T...

Is James Woods a good actor or not? Sure, he’s a total piece of shit - he seems to even take pride in it - but it’s an art vs artist high-wire we have both been balancing on for some time. With this episode, Colin and I finally confront the truth. And the truth is - I have never seen this movie from the very beginning! What a, uh, playful and bouyant prologue in prison we get to see, capped off by...

Somewhere between Twin Peaks and Home Alone. Colin and I both took notes but hardly referred to them, aside from some major questions we had top of the mind, so I wanted to share the raw notes below for a window into our fractured psyches. Psyches littered with stray characters from classics such as Twin Peaks and Home Alone. Colin’s: * Mark Wahlberg has definitely seen this movie * Dude is wearin...

We were not prepared for how good and how sad this movie is. This movie is so damn good, it nearly tarnishes the Rocky movies and, by extension, Sly’s already shaky reputation as a somewhat narcissistic opportunist. With a genuinely revelatory performance from Anthony Quinn at its center, Requiem feels incredibly relevent. The performance also demonstrates what separates the aforementioned movie s...

Pretty sure Fox was supposed to return and, uh, did not. So…. Even more discussion of Becker and Chicago Sons than you could ever imagine or want! Colin delights Phil with the anecdote about his lost summer of amateur boxing - and why it ended. We peel back the sports tape to unpack Chubby’s emotional triggers and why the fuck they recast the coach. We come away scratching our heads as to why John...

Not a horror movie! Or is it? Hear Colin’s incredible breakdown of the visual theme conveyed in the opening of this 80s movie that isn’t really an 80s movie! FInd out how many countdowns we can have in one episode! Try to follow Phil's tangents as he bursts with meaningless insight into one of his favorites. Finally, see how our basketball season shakes out, ranking-wise, and stick around for what...

The coziest opening, ever. Hackman. The Hack-Man. RIPD, first of all. He and Dennis are coaching heaven’s Hoosiers, now. In all seriousness, two of the rarest birds in their respective flocks, born within a decade of each other and yet they feel miles apart as actors and men. Not in a bad way, and certainly in ways we all benefited from as audiences over many decades of entertaining and compelling...

Why is this movie so bad? It feels a bit cursed. Perhaps the accusations that would plague Marv Albert - an extended cameo performer in this, for some reason - the year after this was released hang heavy in the cinematic air. Frank Langella himself, who began a romance with Whoopi amidst filming that ended their respective marraiges - I am serious - has more recently been cancelled for impropriety...

What could Air Bud possibly have in common with The Batman and The Shining? What if Bud tragically died at the beginning and this whole movie is a Jacob’s Ladder scenario? 1997’s Air Bud was, I thought, a canonical kids’ sports flick a la The Sandlot, The Big Green, Little Giants - par for the course with a dog thrown in. My oh my, how wrong Colin and I were, to our surprise and delight. Air Bud i...