Nostalgium Arcanum

After Nevermind permanently altered the musical landscape in 1991, the following year continued music's fractured attempt to catch up with rapidly changing styles. We wish-a-you joy and happiness in revisiting our personal favorites from 1992's jukebox with guest creeps and weirdos comedian Rich Baker, and our co-hosts from "Playing By Ear", Ami Lief and Kyle Lieberman. If you want to take an onli...

Though dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, on this episode we celebrate 40 years of the babe with the power, as Jennifer Connelly braves her way through Jim Henson's "Labyrinth". Full of astounding designs, puppetry, humor, and iconic songs from a mesmerising David Bowie, while Labyrinth was not an immediate financial success, the film's undeniable awesomeness has proven it still has power ov...

For the 35th anniversary of The Rocketeer, we don a jetpack and blast off for derring-do with test pilot-turned-hero Cliff Secord. The film's patriotic spirit, beautiful art deco design, and sparkling performances from leads Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Paul Sorvino, and Timothy Dalton take what could have been an ordinary movie into the stratosphere. Guest Tarik Davis (@tarikrda...

Much like its subject, when "The Manhattan Project" premiered 40 years ago it did not go off with a bang, but this film remains a hidden gem of classic '80s kids-can-do cold war paranoia. When teenage genius Paul Stephens sets out to build his own nuclear bomb, his weird science quickly turns into some war games with spreading fallout. Returning guest B.T. Moorer joins us for a look back at a wond...

For our 200th podcast, we're covering "The Simpsons", a superlative satirical juggernaut that, for over 35 years, has held a yellow mirror up to our absurd world. Filled with endlessly quotable moments, pitch-perfect vocal performances, and expertly incisive comedy, Matt Groening's brainchild may arguably be the single greatest television show ever made, and easily one of the most important artist...

We're going back to Back to the Future, or more accurately, going to the future and back. The second chapter of Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale's time-travelling comedy trilogy finds Doc and Marty battling causality and the horrors that might ensue were power to fall into the wrong hands. Returning guest improviser and lifelong BTTF fan Darren Lanning ( www.darrenlanning.com ) hops into the time mach...

When Nirvana ended, music held its breath wondering what would come next. Dave Grohl answered that question with Foo Fighters' resounding birth cry. Combinig winning pop melodies with thunderous screams and guitars that left no uncertainty as to why this band learned to live again. Guest podcasters Matt Storm a.k.a. Stormageddon ("Fun" and Games, Reignite - djstormageddon.com) and Dave Jackson (Ta...

Far from, leaving us flat, Paper Mario injected whimsy and dimensionally creative play into the standard turn-based RPG formula for an unforgettable romp through the Mushroom Kingdom. We're joined by Emily Merritt (@aspecificegg) of the No Small Games podcast ( https://nosmallgames.com/ ) to unfold why this highly unusual game is so special. Be sure to also check out our monthy musical podcast, "P...

Steve Martin revolutionized comedy, not with vitriol, but with a seemingly impossible blend of banjos, balloon animals, dad jokes, tapdancing, and philosophy. From stand-up, to movies, to TV, and more, few performers have challenged and delighted audiences with such hilarious precision. We're joined by comedian Rich Baker ( www.daretofailimprov.com ) for a retrospective on Steve Martin's lifetime...

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, specifically in 1977, audiences flocked to a blockbuster that would become the largest IP in history. While George Lucas' brainchild has become a sprawling multimedia franchise, the original film still stands as a testament to adventure and craftsmanship. We're joined by guest filmmaker Alex Sosin ("The Canyon") to celebrate why the Force of this film sti...

A rumination on fairy tales that firmly embraces the "grim" in Grimm, Guillermo Del Toro's haunting masterpiece "El Laberinto Del Fauno" (or as it is known in the English-speaking world "Pan's Labyrinth") confronts us with horrors real and fantastical, the ones that force us to grow up all too soon. We're joined by guests Jala Prendes (host of Jala-Chan' Place, and co-host of Monster, Dear Monster...

By 1997 SquareSoft had honed its turn-based JRPG engine and operatic story to a fine point. Although Final Fantasy VII followed on its exquisite predecessor, no one could have predicted what a groundbreaking phenomenon the series' first 3D entry would be. The fusion of cyberpunk and medieval motifs, its melancholy but striving world, emotional soundtrack, and unforgettable characters have stood th...

While the year 2001 has passed, Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece set in that year looms as large as its imposing monolith, and casts as long a shadow. A spectacular artistic achievement, the film is about nothing less than the entirety of the human experience, the exultation and terror of first contact, evolution, and Lovecraftian ideas of unfathomable cosmic power and insignificance. Few films have...

For Easter we look on the bright side of life with Monty Python's satirical masterpiece, "Life of Brian". Controversial and hilarious, the film uses Python's trademark silliness as a scalpel to slice open dogma and the perils of fame. We're joined by improviser Rich Baker, podcaster and magician Ned Record, and Reverend Sarah Heath (the "RevCovery" podcast, @revsarahheath) to worship at the Church...

There are few films as powerfully inspirational as "Rocky". For 50 years the Italian Stallion's tale of yearning, striving, and going the distance has truly made us feel that it is always sunny in Philadelphia. We're joined by podcasters Dave Jackson ("Tales From The Backlog") and Alan Nichols ("A Top 3 Podcast") to celebrate a film that truly punches above its weight class. You can support Dave a...

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. So begins Jane Austen's beloved novel about marriage, manners, and stifling social mores. This episode we're joined by Josh Sarnecky and Amanda Rivas of the Anime Pop podcast to take high tea with the exceptional 2005 adaptation of this immortal classic. Anchored by incandescent pe...

You've seen the ad. You've seen the movie. Now listen to the podcast! Few films can boast the comedic batting average of Leslie Neilsen, and the Zucker/Abrams/Zucker team. With jokes flying so fast and furious you'd likely not catch them all on your fifth or sixth viewing, "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!" still delivers belly laughs simultaneously smart and stupid. Guest podcaster...

One of most successful television events of all time, 1997's version of Rogers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella" put a glass slipper on Brandy with an assist from Fairy Godmother Whitney Houston, and a cast of Broadway veterans including Jason Alexander, Victor Garber, Bernadette Peters, and Oscar-winner Whoopi Goldberg. We're joined by Kate Hunter of the No Small Games podcast ( https://nosmallgam...

Firmly in the epicenter of classic rock, 1971 featured thundering rock from bands like Led Zeppelin and The Who, but equally poignant softer songs from John Denver, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and more. We're joined by our co-hosts from the Playing By Ear podcast, Ami Lief and Kyle Lieberman, as well as comedian Rich Baker, to list our favorite songs from one of the most stacked years in music his...

He's here to save the nation, so stay tuned to this station. Freakazoid! was unlike any cartoon before or since. Superficially a superhero parody, Paul Rugg and company used their cache and platform to create this satirical fever dream populated with outdated impressions, inexplicable bits, unforgettable characters, and writing wholly untethered to reailty and the rules of comedy. Guest super-dude...

Quid pro quo. For 35 years The Silence of the Lambs has been a profoundly troubling (and controversial) film. Like its singularly memorable antagonist Hannibal Lecter, the film forces us to stare down the horrors that haunt us, both external violent threats, and more importantly, internal traumatic scars we'd rather not revisit. Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster's Academy Award winning career-best...

He will never eat. He will never sleep. He will never stop. We unearth the unrelentingly fun 1999 iteration of "The Mummy". Whatever faults may lay in the script or its charmingly outdated CGI are sanded down like a magic Saharan whirlwind by spectacularly charming performances by future Oscar winners Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. Jacob Price of the Pre-Order Bonus podcast joins our expedition...

Well its Groundhog Day... again... Part comedy, part horror, part romcom, part existential crisis, and part philosophical religious experience, Harold Ramis and Bill Murray deliver a monumental filmmaking achievement in the form of weatherman Phil Connors' unexplained incarceration on February 2. This inventive and influential film casts a shadow worthy of its prognosticating namesake rodent. We'r...

Ridley Scott's seminal sci-fi horror masterpiece remains a "perfect organism". Alien is equal parts atmospheric, paranoid, and just plain disgusting. With a career-making performance from Sigourney Weaver and unparalleled visuals from the deep recesses of H. R. Giger's psyche, the film latches on and implants itself, not unlike its extraterrestrial antagonist. Guest podcaster and lucky star Case A...

No light without darkness. Legend is a film about duality and yet, the story of the dual cuts of the film is just as captivating as Ridley Scott's spectacular visuals, performances from a young Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, and a make-up consumed Tim Curry. Indeed, this is truly a unicorn as the theatrical and director's cut versions of the film are radically different movies, with different tones, themes...