Michael and Us

With a high-profile mayoral election on the horizon in Da Big Apple, we're in a New York frame of mind on this episode. We were also in the mood for a good-ass movie, so we watched THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974), the subway-set New York heist classic where everyone is ugly and annoyed. PLUS: We check in on everyone's favourite disgraced Manhattan politician. Join us on Patreon for an ex...

Will and Luke hash out their differences w/r/t appreciating Aaron Sorkin as they tackle Season 2 Episode 3 of THE NEWSROOM ("Willie Pete"), which offers a surprisingly cogent critique of "the boys on the bus" as well as a lot more of Sorkin's peculiar gender politics. PLUS: We check in on our favourite Who's Line is it Anyway cast member. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/6...

A little over a decade ago, Spike Jonze's HER (2013) imagined a world where artificial intelligence had progressed to the point where a man might strike up a plausible romance with Siri. We check in on its dystopian (?) vision to see what about it has come true, and in what way. PLUS: Doing a vibe check on "the 51st state," and an upsetting update about our favourite band. Join us on Patreon for a...

At some point in the 15 years since its release, THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010) became a historical document. We're joined by our official Silicon Valley correspondent Wendy Liu to discuss why its complicated perspective on startup culture resonated so strongly, and what the passage of time has revealed about people like Zuckerberg. And of course, we get into the Aaron Sorkin of it all. PATREON-EXCLUSI...

When the Twin Towers fell on that September day, who was there to comfort us? In Season 2, Episode 2 of THE NEWSROOM ("The Genoa Tip"), we learn that it was - of course - Will McAvoy. We also learn a little more about his Republican politics in this complicated episode. PLUS: We pay tribute to a fallen superstar of the podcast, and Will explains to Luke what THE ROCK (Michael Bay, 1996) is. JOIN U...

We return to one of our favourite topics: John Cleese's baffling GB News chat show THE DINOSAUR HOUR. In this episode, John and a panel of cranks and reactionaries try to define "woke," and we find that we've entered exactly the right room for an argument. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/624-twilight-of-129612151

After a healthy break, we finally return to Aaron Sorkin's THE NEWSROOM. In the first episode of season two ("First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All the Lawyers"), we find Will McAvoy and his team learning of a movement to Occupy Wall Street and debating the ethics of predator drones. PLUS: A roundup of American politics news, including David Hogg, Joe Biden, and a Woodstock for centrists. Join us on P...

It's time to go dumpster diving in the wreckage of 2010s internet culture! Will is joined by Alex Ross to discuss THE CINEMA SNOB MOVIE (2012), a vehicle for infamous Channel Awesome contributor Brand Jones that takes a stand against highbrow cinephilia. We remember its unique strain of anti-intellectual faux-populism so you don't have to! PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/...

In the suburbs of Toronto in the 1960s, a group home for emotionally troubled youth specialized in a wildly experimental form to treatment. We discuss Allan King's cinéma vérité classic WARRENDALE (1967), in which the camera is nearly as intimate as the therapy. PLUS: Louis Theroux visits Israeli settlers, and why can't Pink Floyd just get along? PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com...

In last year's Oscar contender CONCLAVE (2024), the election of a new pope at Vatican City becomes a centrist parable for navigating an era of political extremes. PLUS: We recap the strangest Canadian election of the century so far. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus Check out Will's book Ed Wood: Made in Hollywood USA - https://orbooks.com/ca...

In the delightful TRUE STORIES (1986), David Byrne offered a whimsical view of the late Reagan era through the lens of a fictional Texas town. We consider the politics - or lack thereof - of Byrne's Warholian gaze on America and Her Problems. PLUS: Checking in Thomas Friedman. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus "David Byrne on True Stories" by...

A socially-conscious East Coast playwright gets a taste of Hollywood in BARTON FINK (1991). We discuss Barton, Madman Mundt, and "the common man." PLUS: One last check-in on the Canadian election. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/127528125

In this solo documentary episode, Will considers the events that led to Charlie Chaplin's political exile from the United States in 1952, and the lessons he offers for the current era of neo-McCarthyism. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/127261077

Sure, he's incredibly annoying now, but how funny was Ricky Gervais in his prime? We return to our old mandate of interrogating things we liked when we were teenagers by revisiting his acclaimed sitcom EXTRAS and its Christmas Special. PLUS: Did you know that Will wrote a book? Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus Pre-order Will's book ED WOOD:...

In LONDON HAS FALLEN (2016), Gerard Butler has to save both the American President AND Great Britain from Middle Eastern terrorists... and ends up killing a lot of people who may or may not be cops! PLUS: Damn, it's a great time to be a Columbia University alum! PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/126894013

Made in the rubble of postwar Japan, RECORD OF A TENEMENT GENTLEMAN (1947) finds Yasujirō Ozu exploring his familiar preoccupations of family and modernity through a different kind of setting. PLUS: Is the Canadian election a done deal? Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

In the summer of 2016, with a guaranteed Hillary Clinton presidency was on the horizon, the Obama Era enjoyed a premature victory-lap with SOUTHSIDE WITH YOU (2016). Seen nine years later, this Sundance drama about the Obamas' first date has, shall we say, aged poorly. PLUS: Did you know that Elon Musk's family has a (very racist) Canadian connection? PATREON-EXCLUSIV EPISODE - https://www.patreon...

In 2011, William Shatner directed a documentary where he interviewed all of his fellow Star Trek captains. But the resulting film, THE CAPTAINS (2011), accidentally became the beloved ham's hilarious, revealing, and occasionally moving self-portrait. PLUS: How the Trump tariffs upended Canadian politics. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus The...

In a moment when Canada is under existential threat, we look back on a great Canadian thinker who argued that Our Home and Native Land was already an American colony by the mid-20th century. In this special solo episode, Luke discusses George Grant, a self-described conservative who became an icon for the Canadian left, and his 1965 book "Lament for a Nation" PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://ww...

In the SEASON FINALE of our coverage of Aaron Sorkin's THE NEWSROOM, we find the show's many threads continuing, if not coalescing, in Episode 10 ("The Greater Fool"). We assess where the show has taken us so far, and assess the good (not much) and the bad (plenty). Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus "The End of Resistance History" by Charlott...

What if presidential candidates had to submit to a REAL debate with REAL questions? What if they had to face the most hectoring moderator of all tie? In episode 9 of THE NEWSROOM ("The Blackout Part II: Mock Debate"), Will McAvoy tests out that very idea. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/125384007

In THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR (1973), a black man hired as a "token" by the CIA uses his training to start a black nationalist uprising. It couldn't be a more apt time to revisit this classic of radical American cinema. PLUS: Who's excited for the Abundance Agenda? Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus "On the Legacy and Importance of The Spoo...

Episode 8 of THE NEWSROOM ("The Blackout, Part 1: Tragedy Porn") finds Aaron Sorkin considering media ethics through lens of three 2011-era scandals of varying magnitude: Anthony Weiner, Casey Anthony, and NSA surveillance. His conclusions find him returning to some pet grievances. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/124709344

From immigration anxieties to "enhanced interrogation" to globalism to elite sex trafficking, TAKEN (2008) is a virtual dictionary of right-wing grievances - including some that weren't even popular yet. We discuss the most entertaining reactionary action movie of its time. PLUS: Mark Carney, Mahmoud Khalil, Mel Gibson, and of course, Donald Trump. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every wee...

We finally arrive at the legendary Bin Laden episode of THE NEWSROOM ("5/11") and discover that surrounding that iconic clip on the airplane is Aaron Sorkin's most revealing meditation yet on what he thinks journalism should be. PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/124082719