KnockBack: The Retro and Nostalgia Podcast

By the time 2002 rolled around, people were already pretty disenchanted with what would become known as the Star Wars Prequels. 1999's Phantom Menace left much to be desired, but there was great hope Attack of the Clones would turn things around. After all, it's the Empire Strikes Back of this particular trilogy, but as we all know, it's nowhere near as good. Yet, there's no denying that, for us,...

Playing MGS2 some 20 years after its initial release on PlayStation 2 in 2001 is... well... it's an experience. In fact, it's completely and eerily prescient. What starts out innocently enough as a conspiracy theory-laden, Solid Snake-driven adventure ends up turning into a shockingly timely commentary on technology, war, government, and humanity itself. Snake's and Raiden's adventure through the...

Marvel's vaunted Cinematic Universe had a more inauspicious start than many may remember, and in fact, the first two MCU films came to theaters mere months apart in 2008. A few weeks ago, we covered Iron Man, the first of those two movies, and so this week we're on to the Edward Norton-led and surprisingly contentious standalone Incredible Hulk film. Its contentiousness is surprising because this...

Wes Craven's 1984 film A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the most beloved horror flicks ever made, a tale about a child murderer who dies, only to return to haunt the dreams of more could-be victims. Antagonist Freddy Kreuger, in particular, is iconic, but the question remains: Is this movie actually any good? Is it scary? Does it hold up? Or is it just a little too goofy and poorly-paced to be...

In 2004, journalist Evan Wright released a book called Generation Kill, all about his time attached to a Marine regiment during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It was a hit, and the basis for a 2008 HBO series by the same name. As its name suggests, the US Marines 1st Recon Battalion is meant to... well... perform reconnaissance. But 'Chaos' and 'Godfather' saw them more suited for a blitzkrieg to Bagh...

The summer is all fun and games, but 'back to school' always looms on the horizon. The further we get into the dog days, the closer we get to the next grade, and it's those weeks -- usually in August, but sometimes in July or stretching into September -- that are our focus during this episode. What was our routine? Were we excited to go clothes shopping? To get school supplies? To find out who our...

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is pretty much the biggest thing to ever hit cinemas, but it started innocently enough back in 2008 with Iron Man, the Jon Favreau-directed, Robert Downey Jr.-led superhero flick that's... well... pretty damn good, actually. Indeed, it only grossed half a billion dollars at the box office, pretty mild results for what would follow! The film may be missing a villain, b...

Some people have the need for speed. Among them are the US Navy fighter pilots as portrayed in the 1986 Jerry Bruckheimer-led smash-hit Top Gun. The film stars a young Tom Cruise as Maverick, an ace pilot with a mysterious past and his own way of doing things. But really, this flick is a visual feast for the eyes if you're into fighter jets, dogfighting, and more. Is it corny and campy? Absolutely...

The 1986 Jim Henson classic film Labyrinth is about a whole lot more than David Bowie's impressive codpiece. And yes: That in and of itself is amazing. But nestled underneath its fantasy, puppetry, and music is a movie about childhood, about growing up and finding your way and letting go. Few movies resonate from childhood resonate more than Labyrinth for Colin in particular, who considers this on...

For many fans of BSG, the second season of the reimagined run is the best 20 episodes the franchise has to offer. It's here that -- according to Dagan -- the show goes from good to very good, and truly finds itself with its fusion of dark, deep, philosophical, and religious themes tied to the trappings of grounded sci-fi. The result is truly special: One part political thriller and another part ho...

Some 20 years removed from the release of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, it's easy to get lost in the weeds. After all, we are absolutely inundated with superhero media today, particularly from Marvel, whether it's movies, TV shows, and even video games. But back in 2002, Spider-Man's 21st century film debut was both quaint and extraordinary. On one hand, it's wild to think about how important this parti...

Memories are structured. There's a place, an event, and perhaps even other people. And then there's the true setting: The year, the era, the month, or indeed the season itself. It's that latter notion that we want to explore in this episode of KnockBack, because the four seasons themselves -- Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter -- are absolutely teeming with nostalgic remembrance begging to be uncove...

Peter Jackson's epic film rendition of JRR Tolkein's equally-epic fantasy book series wraps up with 2003's Return of the King, a flick many (including us) consider to be the strongest of the three. As Middle-earth seeks balance and peace, the forces of evil remain very much in play. While Frodo and Sam make a beeline for Mount Doom, the Fellowship and their forces fight for survival. With amazing...

The 2006 stoner comedy Grandma's Boy is a classic for multiple reasons: It's a stoner romp with great characters, it's fun without being dramatically crude or inappropriate (with some notable exceptions, of course), and -- perhaps most understatedly -- it mercilessly lampoons the gaming industry. Since E3 2021 is now over, we thought we'd do a quick episode all about potentially our hobby's most f...

In the early aughts, a late '70s sci-fi show was reimagined for a whole new generation of viewers. It was called Battlestar Galactica, and -- unlike the original, cult-favorite run -- the reboot was a smash hit. It's simple enough to understand, in premise: Humanity creates robotic slaves who turn on them in a vicious war before disappearing for decades. But then, they come back and inflict a holo...

During episode #167 of KnockBack, we spent nearly three hours gushing about Peter Jackson's 2001 rendition of The Lord of the Rings' first book, Fellowship of the Ring. Naturally, we couldn't merely stop there. The following year -- in 2002 -- the second of three Lord of the Rings movies came out. It's called The Two Towers, and this is the flick and book alike that many people consider the best i...

It's all been leading to this! Our audience on Patreon voted to have us rework the new Star Wars Trilogy (Episodes VII, VIII, and IX), and... well... we got a little carried away and dedicated entire episodes to our visions on a film-by-film basis. Remember! You should listen to KnockBack Episodes #159 and #164 before jumping into this one, if you haven't done so already. You may be lost, otherwis...

This week's episode of KnockBack is a little different. Instead of covering a topic or some memories, we thought we'd talk a bit about our little retro and nostalgia podcast itself. How has the show grown and changed? How do we think we're doing? What topics do we think we covered best? Which do we think we could have done better with? What's the future hold? This is an episode for the thousands a...

As you know, we (The Brothers Moriarty) grew up on Long Island, nestled between the water and the woods. It's the latter that we thought we'd focus this particular episode on. We absolutely adore the woods. Playing, hiking, exploring. We basically lived amongst the trees as children! Thus, we thought it would be fun to regale you with some stories of our past being in the woods: Boy Scouts, mounta...

The important thing to remember about the 2001 film Training Day is the context in which it was filmed and released. The decade of the '90s were scattered with serious issues of police brutality, and the Los Angeles Police Department was at the center of the storm. Thus, Denzel Washington's and Ethan Hawke's foray into the Southern California underworld -- and the seriously crooked behavior by Was...

Every so often, a game comes along that helps define a genre. When it comes to 2005's God of War -- which launched that year on PlayStation 2 courtesy of Santa Monica Studio -- one can't help but see how important it was (and still is) to so many of the 3D action games we play today. Inspired by Greek mythology, a cinematic approach, a glorified sense of gore and sex, and... well... some Capcom ga...

South Park rages on even today, but it was during a more embryonic stage in the mega-franchise's history that we got its one and only film: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Released to theaters in the summer of '99, South Park's movie foray is basically the length of three regular 'ol episodes, but produced differently. For instance, it's a musical, and a damn good one! And there's a whole lot of cursing,...

Way back in 1954, JRR Tolkien released the first of three seminal books that are referred to colloquially as "the trilogy," but that is otherwise collectively known as The Lord of the Rings. And, believe it or not, it took decades for this wonderful fantasy franchise to see life on the silver screen. By way of the talented Peter Jackson and his extraordinary team, Fellowship of the Ring (and its t...

Some television shows come along that are way ahead of their time, and Freaks and Geeks -- which ran for a scant 18 episodes between 1999 and 2000 on NBC -- is one such program. That's especially ironic, of course, since it's actually about the past. Taking place in 1980 and 1981 in and around a Michigan high school, Freaks and Geeks is the brainchild of writers, directors, and producers Paul Feig...

Depending on who you are, who your parents are, when and where you grew up, and many other factors, your experience eating at home as a kid was... well... different. We Moriartys were quite lucky, indeed: Italian Long Islanders with an extended family of talented cooks constantly putting delectable treats in front of us (carbs, especially). But some of you out there... well... you may not have bee...