Michael and Us

The new documentary ALEX'S WAR (2022) seeks to "look past the caricature" of the Infowars gadfly Alex Jones. Your hosts find themselves disagreeing on the usefulness of this nonjudgmental profile of the notorious conspiracy theorist. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week: https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/posts/358-arc-of-70689387 A wonk who believed in incremental reform and parliamentary process, the Canadian NDP politician Stanley Knowles was a genuine socialist who earnestly embodies many of the qualities that we distrust in liberals. We watched STANLEY KNOWLES: IN WORD AND DEED (1987), and...

Our Superdelegate patron tier was mad as hell that we hadn't yet discussed Sidney Lumet and Paddy Chayefsky's NETWORK (1976) and wasn't going to take it anymore. We watched an American classic and discovered that Howard Beale's famous speech isn't even the most important speech in the movie. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/70295935 We do our customary check-in on the Wetmovie1 gang, move on to the Canadian pundit class's response to the rise of Pierre Poilievre, before finally addressing the big question: what role to Tom Cruise and Jay Leno play in a post-9/11 world? Luckily, the great men have a few ideas of their own in two vintage speeches.

Many movies in the 1980s depicted American urban landscapes as lawless hellholes, but Paul Verhoeven's ROBOCOP (1987) was unique for locating the source of the problem in the corporate world. The Superdelegate patron tier has voted for us to watch one of the most beloved screen satires of all time, and we were happy to oblige. See cohost Will introduce a screening of Don't Let the Riverbeast Get Y...

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/70079242 COUNTER-STRIKE became a video game phenomenon. It also served as a laboratory for the exploitation of video game labor and the commodification trends that dominate the games industry and the broader internet today. On this episode, Luke is joined by beloved guest Alex Ross for a wide-ranging discussion of labour and the gaming industry. "How...

In 1984, Godzilla rose from Tokyo Bay for the first time in nine years for THE RETURN OF GODZILLA. In 1985, an American distributor dramatically recut the movie into GODZILLA 1985. We're joined at long last by Important Cinema Club cohost Justin Decloux to discuss the many structural and ideological changes that were imposed upon Godzilla's big comeback. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode eve...

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/352-return-of-us-69623420 In the thrilling conclusion to our two-part mailbag episode, the listeners pummel us with a dizzying array of questions, leading us to discussions on subjects ranging from the current "multiverse" trend to whether or not podcasts count as activism (spoiler: they don't).

Alexandra Pelosi strikes again! In her documentary SAN FRANCISCO 2.0 (2015), the political scion turns her attention to her home city, gazing with awe upon the tech industry's sudden takeover while registering some tepid notes of ambivalence about the gentrification that has priced many longtime residents out. We discuss why, despite being Nancy Pelosi's daughter who regularly makes films for HBO,...

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/69344608 You had questions, we have answers. The hosts expound on a wide range of topics - everything from Stephen Harper to A24 to pornography to baked potatoes - in this, the first of a two-part mailbag episode.

Many people threatened to move to Canada when George W. Bush was re-elected in 2004, but the dramedy BLUE STATE (2007) imagines a character who actually did it. Many references to 2004-era liberal ephemera ensue, and the hosts of the Michael & Us podcast are sharply divided on this milquetoast indie starring Breckin Meyer and Anna Paquin.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/69021053 As a culture and politics podcast, we take seriously our responsibility to cover culture and politics. On this episode, we synthesize these two worlds powerfully, with discussion of... ✓ The Biden administration: what's going wrong? ✓ Kevin Smith and Clerks III ✓ Politico offers a new savior for the Democratic Party (hint: it's Jon Stewart)

Before he was an archconservative, David Mamet wrote a great play and movie about a group of salesmen grinding in a system where morality does not exist. Our Superdelegate patron tier has voted for us to discuss GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (1992). Fuck you - THAT'S our name. PLUS: We say goodbye to Boris.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/346-bad-take-68662564 In these difficult times, the bad takes are flying fast and furious. To deal with the problem, we've staged a Bad Takes Olympics, where we discuss recent earth-shattering ideas from such heavyweights as Rob Reiner, Paul Mason, and Hans Zimmer. PLUS: the boys reminisce about a lost Toronto.

It's an extremely discouraging political moment for our neighbors in the United States, so we decided the time was right to finally examine one of the quintessential cinematic articulations of American exceptionalism, FORREST GUMP (1994). Is life, in fact, like a box of chocolates? We investigate. "The Man Who Loved Presidents: On John Meacham" by Thomas Frank - https://harpers.org/archive/2021/07...

The Buzz Lightyear origin movie LIGHTYEAR (2022) has become a cultural lightning-rod in the right-wing moral panic over "grooming." We discuss this controversy (which is ridiculous, by the way), and then discuss the movie, in which we can learn a little bit about how the Disney Company views itself. Support the National Network of Abortion Funds - https://abortionfunds.org/ Abortion Funds in Every...

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/68234387 In 1930, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí set out to make a barbed attack on bourgeois society and its institutions. The result, L'AGE D'OR (1930), nearly got its financiers excommunicated from the Catholic Church. We discuss a classic of surrealist cinema. PLUS: We discuss the U.S. Supreme Court's repeal of Roe v. Wade. Donate to abortion fund...

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/342-black-friday-68045387 In 1970, the October Crisis in Quebec led to the first government-mandated suspension of civil liberties in Canada during peacetime. The documentary ACTION: THE OCTOBER CRISIS OF 1970 (1974) gives us opportunity discuss the conditions of French/English Canadian tensions that led to the kidnapping of two politicians by a mili...

Long before the "metaverse" loomed over us, David Cronenberg's EXISTENZ (1999) imagined a completely immersive virtual environment that is even less cozy than our own. We discuss the film's porous boundary between reality and unreality, and explain why Cronenberg is one of the few Canadian filmmakers who really "gets" Canada. PLUS: Looking back at a moral panic over right-wing art from the early '...

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/67682775 With the beloved Canadian comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall currently in the midst of a comeback, we took a look at their sole feature-film spin-off. KIDS IN THE HALL: BRAIN CANDY (1996) is a satire of big-business and '90s wellness culture that, seen today, shows how wellness culture has evolved. PLUS: Jimmy Savile, Joe Biden, and the new...

Our Superdelegate patron tier has voted for us to discuss Mike Judge's workplace satire OFFICE SPACE (1999), and it leads us down a long rabbit hole of remembering bad work experiences. PLUS: We take a fond look back on the all-time classic Man of the Year (2006)

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/67404387 We recap the recent provincial election in our home of Ontario, Canada (long story short: more bad news), discuss movie-of-the-moment TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022), and pay our respects to Chuck Schumer's imaginary friends.

What is a quickly-made, low-effort documentary like ONE NATION UNDER TRUMP (2016) good for? Not a lot. But one thing that this ridiculous pro-Trump hagiography provided us with was a chance to marinate for long, unbroken stretches of time in the 45th president's rhetorical style. We made some unexpected discoveries about how his distinctive way of speaking led him to the presidency.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/66990683 The new Netflix special RICKY GERVAIS: SUPERNATURE (2022) affirms what we already knew: that the formerly very funny Ricky Gervais is funny no more. Where did his trajectory go wrong? We come up with some theories.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/335-songs-of-66874909 U2 (and specifically Bono) are the uncontested world leaders in "fusion philanthropy," and the hagiographic documentary U2: A ROCK CRUSADE (2009) celebrates this legacy uncritically. So it falls upon us, as usual, to provide the criticism. PLUS: our institutions are failing us, and the institution of comedy is no exception.