Mixed Bag

Happy Pride (June pride is the only element of American cultural imperialism recognised by the Mixed Bag crew). We're celebrating by watching... a movie that was widely protested by the gay community when it was released? That film is Cruising, a William Friedkin joint where Al Pacino goes undercover in the Meatpacking District to catch a gay serial killer. Or is he the gay serial killer himself?...

The final episode of Demisexual is here! And for the first time in the miniseries, Demi isn't the main character. But where does this performance fit in our Demisexual Rankings? You'll have to wait until the end of the episode to see. "The Angels are charged with finding a pair of missing rings that are encoded with the personal information of members of the Witness Protection Program. As informan...

We're still Demi-sexual here on Mixed Bag, and this time we look at the film infamous for inadvertently leading to the 2022 Oscars Slap: G. I. Jane. "In response to political pressure from Senator Lillian DeHaven, the U.S. Navy begins a program that would allow for the eventual integration of women into its combat services. The program begins with a single trial candidate, Lieutenant Jordan O’Neil...

We continue the Demi Moore miniseries with a movie that made many viewers question their values, and made Cass question where she could get a cool backpack/vest/saddlebag combo. As Letterboxd says: "John Gage offers a down-on-his-luck yuppie husband $1 million for the opportunity to spend the night with the man’s wife." Would you take the money? We also talk about the Rise of the Golden Idol video...

OOOoooooOOOoooOOH! Is it spooky season!? No, it's just time for the second instalment in our Demi Moore series, Demisexual. "After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic" (Letterboxd). We clearly have a lot to say about Sam Wheat and his otherworldly antics. Apologies for the occasional loud storm sounds -- the n...

It's the first instalment of our latest miniseries: DEMISEXUAL. That's right, we're celebrating the life and career of Ms. Demi Moore, starting right here at her first feature film appearance St Elmo's Fire. Letterboxd has a very long summary for this one, so we'll just say that it's about seven friends in their post-university era, trying to get their lives and love lives together. Also, most of...

"Oh... they're the IRA." – Matt Loveranes, 2026 It's a Cass pick, which means you know it'll either be animated, a musical, or an obscure period piece (shout out Dean Spanley). Today's film is definitely in the third category and comes straight from Year 11 history class. "Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those...

It's Matt's personal pick, and in honour of the upcoming Oscars he's decided to go back to where it all began... "it" being Amy Adams' long unfinished road toward Oscar glory. On the way to meet with an independent artist in the South, newlywed art dealer Madeleine is convinced by her husband, George, that they should stop to meet his family in North Carolina. Madeleine’s affluent lifestyle clashe...

It's a totemic film for Jamie, who has been working on her Katharine Hepburn impression since childhood. But truly, how many times can someone say "You old poop!" with a straight face? We (attempt) to keep a tally. For Norman and Ethel Thayer, this summer on golden pond is filled with conflict and resolution. When their daughter Chelsea arrives, the family is forced to renew the bonds of love and...

Saltburn — it's the dumb person's idea of a smart movie. Luckily we're all dummies and we are ready to LICK this salt. Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten. (Sourced from Letterb...

We're back for our first real episode of 2026! We saw the Big Blue Boys again and let me tell you those returns are diminishing. In the wake of the devastating war against the RDA and the loss of their eldest son, Jake Sully and Neytiri face a new threat on Pandora: the Ash People, a violent and power-hungry Na’vi tribe led by the ruthless Varang. Jake’s family must fight for their survival and th...

We bid farewell to the year gone by with a round up of our favourite films of 2025. From arthouse to blockbusters, international cinema to Aotearoa-grown, the Mixed Bag trio have a lot to say about a bunch of films that will never feature on this podcast because they are too good. We'll be back soon with our first real episode of the year discussing Avatar: Fire and Ash!

"You there, boy, what day is it?" "Why, it's Mixedmas, sir!" Celebrate the festive season with the most of Mixed of all Mixed films, Mixed Nuts! We're joined, as is tradition, by the Ghost of Christmas Pod, Lucas Neal. Letterboxd describes this simply as "The events of a crisis hotline business on one crazy night during the Christmas holidays." It's a French farce with a lot more suicide jokes tha...

His mind... Our final movie from this round of personal picks as we look forward to the holiday season. We discover that one of the hosts has her own cognitive malfunctions to deal with (Paul Bettany face blindness). We reminisce about Jamie's close personal connection to Jennifer Connelly. We forgive Matt for his bad takes about Anomalisa (Cass writes the blurbs). From the heights of notoriety to...

Cass worked a full 16-hour day the day before recording this pod so she worried she would fall asleep on mic. Instead, she decided to let herself be fuelled by hatred as she brings one of her least favourite movies to the pod for her personal pick. Matt's a fan, Cass is a foe, but at least all three hosts can agree that the film looks good. Anomalisa is a stop-motion animated film written by Charl...

It's time for Jamie's Personal Pick, and you know she's gonna choose a big ol' Dyke Drama. Some Sapphic Cinema. A Movie for Muff-Divers. So she's chosen a movie about one of the world's gayest sports, roller derby, featuring a pre-transition Elliot Page and bi-con Alia Shawkat and... NO LESBIAN CHARACTERS!?!? 😱😱😱 Can it be true?!?!? In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of d...

It's spooooooky season so it's time for the Foe of the Podcast, Mike Bryant, to arise from his crypt once again and bless the pod with another scary feature that is mixed in quality. This time around, we're travelling just a decade ago to Goosebumps (2015) starring Jack Black, based on R. L. Stine's children's horror novel series of the same name. After moving to a small town, Zach Cooper finds a...

We cap off Tissue Box Office with a film where the tragic death is of not a long-haired brunette, but a short-haired blond! And also, he's a dog. A newly married couple, in the process of starting a family, learn many of life’s important lessons from their trouble-loving retriever, Marley. Packed with plenty of laughs to lighten the load, the film explores the highs and lows of marriage, maturity...

We are Jamie-obsessed on this next installation of Tissue Box Office, to the extent where everyone keeps accidentally renaming Ryan Gosling's character after our beloved cohost. While it's clear the whole Mixed Bag trio are bona fide Gos-heads, what do they think about the film that launched a million teen girl crushes? An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman wit...

We continue on our journey through the wonderful world of weepies with 2002's A Walk to Remember, the sleepover classic beloved by every teen girl who ever said "I can fix him." When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town’s minister. Jamie has a “to-do” list for her life, as well as...

Let's go to the beach, beach, let's go get away with Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey! Next on our Tissue Box Office list is a classic platonic weepie that somehow has little to no cultural footprint in Aotearoa New Zealand. A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years. (Sourced from Letterboxd). But before we di...

Hankies at the ready, Baguettes, it's time for our new miniseries, TISSUE BOX OFFICE! Today, we discuss the concept of the term 'weepie', what qualifies as a weepie and a classic of the genre, 1970's Love Story. Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV and music student Jennifer Cavilleri share a chemistry they cannot deny - and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young...

Okay, maybe this one really is episode 150 after all. Regardless, you've been listening to Mixed Bag for 150 years. Feel old yet? Blending lively music and brilliant animation, this sequel to the original ‘Fantasia’ restores ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ and adds seven new shorts. (Sourced from Letterboxd). If you don't love the Rhapsody in Blue sequence, you are probably a philistine and hate cinem...

So at one point in this episode we say that we should do something special for our 150th episode, which is next... well, actually we miscounted and this is our 150th episode. If you've been with us for all 150, thank you for sticking with us! Today we talk Crash, the infamous race relations film that beat out Brokeback Mountain at the Oscars (a film which will not be featured on Mixed Bag because...

We're joined by Museum Enthusiast and Night at the Museum superfan Renée Iosefa to discuss the second (and best) Night at the Museum film. We've been trying to get Renée on the pod for ages but this woman is always booked and busy, so we're excited to find a time to talk "the greatest film trilogy of all time". Hapless museum night watchman Larry Daley must help his living, breathing exhibit frien...