Modern Technology Watches

Gila gives Rob's cinematic education a Beverly Hills makeover with Amy Heckerling's 1995 teen classic "Clueless." Will Rob find the film to be a total Betty, or a full-on Monet? Wikipedia link for the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clueless Another fine chunk of audio from the Modern Technology Podcast Network https://modern.technology Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We'd love to hear from...

Gila and Rob visit Gila's mother Susie, who shows them the 1952 film "Limelight" by one Charles "Charlie" Chaplin. Will one of the classic filmmaker's most personal works strike a chord for our regulars, or will they long for simpler (and more silent) times? Wikipedia link for the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limelight_(1952_film) Another fine chunk of audio from the Modern Technology Podca...

Rob takes Gila to a theatrical screening of 1990's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," the groundbreaking first film in the franchise by that name and the first attempt to bring the pizza-eating reptiles into live action. Will Gila join Rob's underground dojo, or will she flush it down a New York City sewer? Wikipedia link for the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_(1990_...

Gila shows her fellow 1990s "Saturday Night Live" fan Rob 1995's Chris Farley/David Spade vehicle "Tommy Boy." Will Rob buy what they're selling, or will this episode be the downfall of the beloved family business? CONTENT WARNINGS: the film being discussed features adult humor including some poorly-aged 1990s attitudes, and our podcast discussion does not shy away from these topics. Wikipedia lin...

In our fourth season premiere Rob shows Gila the cult 1987 British dark comedy "Withnail and I." Will Gila have a good time in the country cottage, or will she have watched a movie by mistake? CONTENT WARNINGS: the film being discussed contains heavy drug and alcohol use, extreme homophobia, and particularly sweary language and our podcast discussion does not shy away from these topics. Wikipedia...

In the long-awaited season finale Gila shows Rob the 2000 ballet school drama "Center Stage." Will the film pass the audition, or will it sprain a cinematic foot? Wikipedia link for the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_Stage_(2000_film) Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We'd love to hear from you! Contact us via email, social media, or voice: https://modern.technology/contact/ Subscribe...

Rob shows Gila the 1983 Cold War hacker thriller "WarGames." Will Gila be game, or will the movie trigger an offensive response? Wikipedia link for the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We'd love to hear from you! Contact us via email, social media, or voice: https://modern.technology/contact/ Subscribe to our email newsletter! https://modern.technology...

Gila shows Rob "The Baxter," the 2005 trope-deconstructing rom-com spoof by and featuring members of sketch group The State. Will the movie find love, or will Rob leave this DVD at the altar? Wikipedia link for the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baxter Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We'd love to hear from you! Contact us via email, social media, or voice: https://modern.technology/cont...

Rob shows Gila 1953's groundbreaking alien-invasion scifi thriller "The War of the Worlds." Will Gila be able to survive the Technicolor onslaught, or will Gila be defeated by the littlest things which George Pal, in his wisdom, put upon the screen? Wikipedia link for the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(1953_film) Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We'd love to hear from...

Gila shows Rob 2011's "Bridesmaids," a zany adult comedy starring Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph and directed by Paul Feig. Will Rob enjoy the wacky wedding hijinks, or will the film leave him with embarassing digestive symptoms? Wikipedia link for the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridesmaids_(2011_film) Please note the R-rated film being discussed in this episode is very heavy on explicit a...

Rob shows Gila the 2016 monster movie "Colossal," an independent film about a troubled woman struggling through life, a giant creature from South Korea, and the mysterious link between them. Will Gila appreciate a truly unique entry in the kaiju genre, or will movie night implode like a smashed helicopter? Wikipedia link for the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_(film) Please note the f...

Gila and Rob go to the theater to see 2023's "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret," the long-awaited film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Judy Blume about which Rob knows nothing but which means a great deal to Gila. Will the adaptation pass muster for Gila, will Rob be put off by the "girl stuff," or will there be enlightenment all around? Wikipedia link for the film: https://en.wiki...

Gila takes Rob out dancing with 1985's "A Chorus Line," the film adaptation of the iconic Broadway show about the lives, hopes, and dreams of an often-overlooked class of performers. Will this film make the final cut, or will Rob send it packing its leotards? Wikipedia link for the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Chorus_Line_(film) Wikipedia link for the original show: https://en.wikipedia.o...

Rob shows Gila the 1986 scifi adventure "Flight of the Navigator" in which a kid finds himself stranded out of time and away from the world he knows, with his only hope of assistance coming from a mysterious robot-controlled spaceship. Will Gila enjoy the ride? It may not take a NASA-style brain scan to find the answer. Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Navigator Question...

Gila introduces Rob to "Bernie," Richard Linklater's 2011 black comedy dramatization of the events surrounding a murder in East Texas, as Modern Technology makes a triumphant return to podcasting after an extended break. Will Rob tolerate the twisted Texan tale, or will it load him with microaggressions until he snaps? Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_%282011_film%29 Experience...

Prompted by current events, Gila and Rob use the 1996 film "Citizen Ruth" as a starting point to talk about the current state of bodily autonomy and reproductive rights in the United States. This is not a standard fun episode of "Modern Technology Watches," but it's the episode we needed to make this particular week. We appreciate your understanding. Content warnings: US politics, reproductive hea...

Rob continues Gila's hacker-movie education with the 1992 film "Sneakers," a techno-classic in which an all-star cast engages in text-mode and heist-mode battles over a magic box of HAX. Will this be more fun for Gila than her previous forays into cyberpunk standards, or will it prove as incomprehensible as a pile of random Scrabble tiles? Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneakers_%28...

Gila christens the third season of "Modern Technology Watches" by showing Rob "Keeping the Faith," a quirky 2000 romantic comedy about a rabbi, a priest, and the woman they love. Will the joined forces of Ben Stiller, Edward Norton, and Jenna Elfman count Rob as a new believer? How well does the experience of watching Abrahamic clergy fight over Dharma hold up for Gila? Wikipedia link: https://en....

Hack the planet! For the second-season finale of "Modern Technology Watches" Rob finally shows Gila 1995's "Hackers," a film with a firmly argued-about place in the history of the real-life hacker community as well as a firewall-protected place in Rob's hacker head. Will the movie win Gila's heart through cyberspace hijinks, or will she send it to the pool on the roof? Wikipedia link: https://en.w...

High school is a real-life game show as Gila shows Rob 2000's "Cheaters," a made-for-cable dramatization of the 1995 Steinmetz academic-decathlon cheating scandal. Will Rob accept the results and award medals accordingly, or will Gila get caught reading the answers to the podcast off her shoe? Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheaters_%282000_film%29 Questions? Comments? Suggestions?...

In the mood for a quiet night in, Rob introduces Gila to Fritz Lang's 1927 silent scifi drama "Metropolis." How will Gila take to such a large dose of iconic German expressionism from between the World Wars? How much delicate explaining will Rob have to do? What's with all that floppy hair? Listen along as we break some new ground of our own. Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropoli...

Gila takes Rob on a trip down the dark side of high-school fake politics with the 1999 Alexander Payne dark-comedy "Election." Will this movie get Rob's vote, or will he rebel against it and get expelled from the audience? Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_%281999_film%29 Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We'd love to hear from you! Contact us via email or voice: https://moder...

Major "Doctor Who" fan Rob shows not-very-fannish Gila the 2013 TV docudrama "An Adventure in Space and Time," a celebratory look at the creation and early years of "Doctor Who" and the people involved. Will Gila dig the looks at 1960s TV production and creative-human drama to be found among the scifi-flavored fanservice, or will Rob need anti-radiation gloves to protect him from the fallout? Join...

Gila shows Rob the 1995 TV-movie version of the musical "Bye Bye Birdie." Catchy songs! Intense choreography! Sanitized nostalgia! Tyne Daly! No Paul Lynde! Listen along as we find out how it all comes together. Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bye_Bye_Birdie_(1995_film) Questions? Comments? Contact us via email or voice: https://modern.technology/contact/ Another fine chunk of audio...

Rob shows Gila the 1975 spoof "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother." How does writer/director/star Gene Wilder and his band of Mel Brooks irregulars fare without Mel Brooks? Does this fit within Sherlockian canon? What's with the Kangaroo Hop? Listen and find out! Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_Sherlock_Holmes%27_Smarter_Brother As mentioned in this ep...