KnockBack: The Retro and Nostalgia Podcast

The great American author Cormac McCarthy recently passed away at the age of 89. In his decades as a writer, he penned a dozen novels, and we've actually covered a couple of them on this show in the past: The Road (Episode #78) and No Country For Old Men (Episode #233). In ode of such an inspirational and talented creator, we thought we'd thumb through what many consider his finest work, Blood Mer...

Sports flicks are beloved the world over for their relatable characters, uplifting stories, and remarkable endings. Disney's 1992 live-action hockey movie The Mighty Ducks is certainly no exception, though -- more than 30 years later -- there are a few bits that may not have gotten through the goalie (pardon the pun). The reality is this: The Mighty Ducks is arguably the greatest hockey movie ever...

Our meandering through the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters continues with Final Fantasy II, widely considered the 'black sheep' of the traditional series. But a lot of that hinges on perception, or lack thereof. See, Final Fantasy II took forever to come to the west -- it came to Famicom in 1988 but never migrated outside of Japan until it launched on PSone in 2003 -- so the reality is, a lot of peo...

Few gaming franchises have had the staying power of Square's (and later Square Enix's) Final Fantasy. Launched in the waning weeks of 1987 in Japan, it took some two and a half years for the original title to migrate to western NES consoles, and while it sold fairly well, it still represented only a small spark that would set off a slow burn. Ultimately, that burn would turn into a raging fire --...

In the summer of 2005, a comedy hit theaters that surprised audiences: The 40 Year Old Virgin. The feature directorial debut of Judd Apatow -- previously best-known as a director, producer, and writer on TV projects like Freaks and Geeks and The Critic -- the film's title doesn't exactly belie its silly nature. But that's what's so fun and endearing about it. It's far from being the perfect comedy...

It's time for us to talk about a bona fide classic! Super Mario Bros. 3 -- launched in 1988 on Japanese Famicoms and in 1990 on the NES -- is widely considered one of the greatest games of all-time. And it's true: SMB3 is a masterclass in gameplay, design, and intent. But above all else, it's fun. Really, really fun, just as fun today as it was decades ago. We're excited to gush about one of our f...

If you wanted to ask your friend to play in 1990, you had to call his house phone and hope for the best. Was anyone there? Who would answer? Would your friend be available? Maybe you'll leave a message... It was a weird tradition we repeated ad nauseam, one of many peculiar and lost customs we were subjected to in our analog childhoods. And it's those traditions that are the subject of this episod...

Let it go?! No. Embrace it! Frozen turns 10 this year, and in ode, Dagan thought it'd be a good idea to give the film the KnockBack treatment. And so we did just that. The tale of sisters Elsa and Anna is surprisingly emotional, and the film itself is chock-full of a small-but-solid cast of surrounding characters. Over the last decade, Frozen has turned into a phenomenon, and -- for little girls,...

It's time for we, The Brothers Moriarty, to continue our slow trek through the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thus, we've come to the third film in the seemingly never-ending run of new Marvel movies: Iron Man 2. Released in 2010, Iron Man 2 was actually in-production when Disney acquired Marvel, and while it's not the literal start of the MCU, you could call it the figurative beginning, one with a ma...

KnockBack is technically about anything, and we've naturally focused a great deal of our energy on video games. But there are other technologies vital to our childhoods that have nothing to do with our beloved consoles or handhelds. This episode of KnockBack is dedicated to that tech. What TVs did we grow up with? VCRs? What were our first stereo setups, and when did we finally get a Walkman? Did...

PlayStation 3's Uncharted trilogy is inarguably a vital stepping stone in the history of Sony. These three titles helped breathe life into a once-struggling console, and gave the brand amazing momentum running into the following generation. But Naughty Dog's series about a globetrotting adventurer hit a bit of a snag when PS3 turned to PS4. Partially through development, Uncharted 4 would lose its...

Over the five years we've been recording KnockBack, we've intentionally gone out of our way not to talk about A New Hope. It's an especially peculiar decision, considering the first-ever episode of KnockBack is about The Empire Strikes Back, the film that would follow it. But we wanted to get 2023 into gear with something positive and fun, a topic we can bring a lot of energy to, and we've finally...

For a good duration of the average childhood, you're dressed by your parents. You have very little choice or input, and certainly no financial means to make different decisions. But then, you start to care and exercise some agency: First a little bit, then a lot more. Before you know it, the way you present yourself to the world becomes a key component of your persona, something within your contro...

Wait, what?! KnockBack is about the past! Well, that's typically true, but today we wanted to do something a little bit different. Why? Because beginning in 2023, KnockBack is going to change. And it begins with a month hiatus, while we retool. We wanted to explain where our heads are at with KnockBack, what the coming years hold, and deploy a new schedule that'll move the show to every-other-week...

Red Hot Chili Peppers were cruising along for nearly a decade by the time their most famous record, 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik, came to store shelves, the radio waves, and MTV. But it was a particular fusion of time, place, talent, and execution that propelled it to the stratosphere. Here in the US, it's a seven-times Platinum album teeming with earworm singles that explore the whole gamut of ge...

1973's Pink Floyd record The Dark Side of the Moon is easily one of the most famous albums of all-time, toting what is perhaps the most recognizable cover art ever concocted. Its 10 tracks (or 9, if you're old-school) tell a deeply human tale, celebrating the ups and downs of life with some of the most vivid and emotional rock lyrics ever constructed, all within a progressive rock framework that s...

In the history of rock, there are seminal records... and then there are the true cream of the crop. The Beatles' 1967 classic Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is very much in the latter camp, a record so mind-bending and fresh that, 55 years later, it remains one of the most-revered albums ever recorded. And when we say recorded, we mean it in the old-fashion way: Using tape reels and decks w...

Truth be told, we (The Brothers Moriarty) went into The Cabin in the Woods totally blind. Unlike our other romps through horror fare this October, we've both never seen this film... at least until preparing to record this episode. While controversial in nature -- it is, after all, a Joss Whedon joint -- The Cabin in the Woods happens to be a well-respected horror film for one specific reason: It's...

1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the prototype for the teen-and-20-something slasher films that would fill up theater marquees and video store shelves for the next 40 years. All the hallmarks are there: A set of bold and clueless antagonists, a mysterious, abandoned, and rural locale, a series of situational justifications, a mask-wearing killer, and an iconic weapon. With a brisk runtime, an...

Beginning in the 1960s, a string of psychological-driven horror movies were released to great fanfare. A seminal film that perfectly fits the mold is none other than 1976's The Omen, starring the beloved Gregory Peck. The Omen is unique, even amongst psychological thriller and horror fare, in that it's also political. Not deeply so; it's certainly not partisan in nature. Rather, it focuses on how...

There's something about the time The Exorcist came to theaters, in that it almost certainly made the experience a hell of a lot more frightening than it would be today. When this film launched in December of 1973, one can imagine going to see it, being completely horrified, and then sitting at home. No internet, no cable TV, no phone to keep you busy. Just whatever's over the air and your landline...

While 1977's Stephen King novel The Shining preempts (and obviously inspired) the film that would come three years later in 1980, it's the movie and not the book that's most well-regarded. That's primarily due to auteur Stanley Kubrick, who delivered a film adaptation of King's horror story for the ages, one readily celebrated and obsessed over to this day. Drawing from a unique, one-of-a-kind aes...

Learning the value of a dollar is a fundamental lesson for all fully-functioning young people. While some parents choose the allowance route (with chores mandatory or not), many teens are eager to score a part-time gig as soon as they're legally allowed (and often before they're not). Today's episode of KnockBack is dedicated to our earliest forays into the world of gainful employment. Dagan worke...

1989's Lethal Weapon 2 is one of the most beloved buddy-cop (and action) movies of all-time, and for good reason. A trio of excellent performances from the likes of Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, and Joe Pesci set the stage for two hours well-spent, another ride through 1980s Los Angeles full of crime, violence, and of course a never-ending stream of jokes. From straightjackets to nailguns, from tow tr...

Hey yourself. The reality on the other side of 'The Hatch' has finally been revealed, but really, such an answer only multiplied the mystery. Lost's second season, which first aired on ABC in 2005 and 2006, is widely considered the strongest run of episodes in its six season arc. In all actuality, it's hard to even explain much more without spoiling the show, what with its riddles upon riddles and...