Paid in Puke Podcast!

On today's episode, we step into the ring with Karyn Kusama's 2000 debut drama, Girlfight, starring Michelle Rodriguez in her breakout role. Does Adrienne have a point about not wanting to fight a woman in the big match? Does the romance get in the way of the story? What is the point of boxing, anyway? Does Michelle Rodriguez have the greatest frown in cinematic history? All this, plus a long tang...

On this episode, we embark on a Girls Trip with Malcolm D. Lee's 2017 smash, written by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver. Girls Trip stars Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, but for us, it's the Tiffany Haddish* show all the way. The woman positively owns the Meaningful Passages segment today. There are some Hot Probs (that's not at all how absinthe works), but it's mostly a riotous good...

On this episode, we're talking about Lulu Wang's 2019 film, The Farewell, which is "based on a real lie" and stars Awkwafina. What are the ethics of lying to your family? Is there any such thing as a "good" lie? What if it's a stranger you will never see again?  On the Lunchtime Poll, we reveal lies we have told our family.  Paid in Puke will take a brief, mid-season break and return on December 1...

On today's episode, we have a million theories about the allegorical nature of Jordan Peele's 2019 horror film, Us, starring Lupita Nyong'o.  Is it about classism? Capitalism? The failed American Dream? Performative activism? Yes. And so much more. Peele stuns with his super tight scripts and narrative mirroring. ALL of the performers absolutely destroy playing two parts EACH. This movie is so goo...

On today's episode, we're taking a deep dive into J.D. Dillard's Blumhouse Creature Feature, Sweetheart, starring Kiersey Clemons (Antebellum). Clemons destroys as a woman trapped on an island with a Shape of Water-adjacent monster who doesn't seem to want to make out at all.  In the spirit of the film, we recorded this episode in Cristina's back yard with plenty of ambient sound to set the scene,...

On this episode, we puzzle over the myriad negative critical response to this highly-anticipated social justice horror debut from writer/director team, Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz (Bush + Renz). 2020's Antebellum stars the singular force of nature that is Janelle Monáe, as well as a killer comedic turn from Gabourey Sidibe. (Baxter apologizes for repeatedly mispronouncing Gabby's surname, but...

On our Series 4 premiere, we discuss Numa Perrier's stunning 2019 debut, Jezebel, starring Tiffany Tenille and Numa herself! We have a lot of love for this semi-autobiographical tale of a young woman helping her struggling family pay the bills by taking a job in the burgeoning Cam Girl industry of the late nineteen-hundred-and-nineties. Tenille plays a young Numa-proxy coming of age under the tute...

On the Series 3 finale, we go on a journey with Christian Papierniak's 2017 indie stay-cation road movie, Izzy Gets the F Across Town, starring Mackenzie Davis and a buffet of character actors including Annie Potts, Alia Shawkat, and Carrie Coon. It's not without Hot Probs, but Papierniak's debut transcends the usual romantic comedy plot of a woman trying to get back with an ex by making Izzy an a...

On this episode of Paid in Puke, we pay tribute to the late Seattle film auteur, Lynn Shelton, who recently passed away unexpectedly at the age of 54. We celebrate her career with 2013's Touchy Feely, which Lynn also wrote, and 2014's Laggies, written by Andrea Seigel.  Touchy Feely stars Rosemarie Dewitt and Elliot Page*. Laggies stars Kiera Knightley and Chloe Grace Moretz. They share common the...

On today's episode, we pay a visit to the GenX saturated year 1994 with Ben Stiller's directorial debut, Reality Bites, starring pod fav Winona Ryder and Janeane Garofalo. It doesn't hold up quite as well as we'd hoped as we learn in what is perhaps our longest Hot Probs segment to date. Is Troy Dire the sh*ttiest love interest of all time? Just how bad is it that Helen Childress' script sidelined...

On today's episode, we relive Eighth Grade with Bo Burnham's 2018 dramedy, starring Elsie Fisher and Josh Hamilton. We discuss the horrors of co-ed pool parties, class superlatives, getting surprised by your crush, and that awful scene in the car...  There's a lot of dark territory here, so we lighten things up in the Lunchtime Poll with a little game of M.A.S.H., and Baxter's husband and kids pro...

In this episode of PiP, we discuss Mark Waters' (Mean Girls) 1997 indie black comedy, The House of Yes, starring Parker Posey and Tori Spelling.  Among our topics: Was there anything good about the Kennedys? Is it worse to do incest with your twin than a different member of your family? Is Parker Posey tired from running circles around her co-stars?  In our Lunchtime Poll, we reminisce about the e...

On this episode of Paid in Puke, we say "I love you," to Robert Aldrich's 1962 "Hag Horror" camp classic, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as two washed up performers cloistered together in their Hollywood dwelling. We discuss Davis' master class in committing to a role and Crawford's inability to elicit any sort of sympathy for her character.  The Probs are...

In today's episode, we put out for Lou Adler's 1982 Riot Grrrrl origin story, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains, starring Diane Lane and Laura Dern as baby punks. We talk about makeup and fashion goals, re-appropriating the attentions of patriarchal assholes, and we somehow tangent our way to St. Elsewhere snow globe endings.  Editor's note: We experienced many technical difficulties durin...

On today's episode, we're psychotic for Jason Reitman's 2018 motherhood dramedy, Tully, written by Diablo Cody, and starring Charlize Theron and Mackenzie Davis. We discuss how motherhood seems to turn women into public property in the eyes of others, and how what a woman really needs (besides a little help with the dishes) is for people to stop judging them for one second.  In our Lunchtime Poll,...

On today's episode, we get in touch with our inner Superstar with Bruce McCulloch's 1999 comedy staring Molly Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher! It's a celebration of horny misfits! It's also Tangent City as we get into what happened with the Switched at Birth families and try to explain Armageddon and Tom Green to modern audiences.  Our Lunchtime Poll is best expressed in a monologue from our f...

On the series three premiere, we celebrate Mother's Day with some choice words for James L. Brooks' 1983 drama, Terms of Endearment, starring Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine. It's chock full of Hot Probs, but there are also many, MANY hard relate moments for all of us.  We get also really person in the Lunchtime Poll when we reveal which TV/Film moms most closely resemble our own matriarchs.  Ed...

In our final episode of Series Two, we fan girl all over Terry Zwigoff's 2001 film, Ghost World, based on the graphic novel by Daniel Clowes. Amy shares some personal correspondence with Mr. Enid Coleslaw himself. We also have what may be the longest Eskimo segment since Heathers, and our Lunchtime Poll turns into a discussion about problematic favs , but we do our best to end on a high note.  Pai...

In this episode, we let the cats out of the bag with 2001's Josie and the Pussycats, written and directed by Deb Kaplan and Harry Elfont (Can't Hardly Wait) and starring Rachel Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson, and Tara Reid. This one's a bit tough on us oldsters, as it's targeting pre-teens and hits  you over the head with it's anti-consumerism message (whist occasionally shooting itself in the foot)....

In this episode, we're joined by the brilliant Erin Lavery to discuss one of her favorite films: Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi art house classic, Alien. This is the film that inspired the (Bechdel) test that inspired our podcast but it also contains a textbook example of the male gaze! Erin points out that Alien is basically a workplace drama and Ripley is long-suffering middle management.   We also...

On this episode, we get pagan AF, as we dig deep into Robert Eggers' 2015 film, The VVitch, and Ari Aster's 2019 film, Midsommar! Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? Of course thou wouldst! We have a little bit of trouble coming up with a Lunchtime Poll, but we get there eventually. Our discussion also spawns our first t-shirt! Get your #WitchLife merch in our new store! Black Phillip-approved!...

On this episode of Paid in Puke, we've got s-loads of spirit for Peyton Reed's ahead-of-its-time (a few Hot Probs aside) anti-appropriation film, Bring it On, starring Kirstin Dunst and Gabrielle Union. We also reveal the songs we would use for our floor routine and there's a lengthy plug for Baxter's band, No Refundz. 

On this episode of Paid in Puke, we discuss the myriad ways we were disappointed by Miguel Arteta's 2020 comedy, Like a Boss, despite the stellar cast. There are some redeeming qualities, including the Lunchtime Poll question it inspired: What small business would you start with your bestie? It wouldn't be a novelty product makeup boutique, that's for sure.  At least Tiffany Haddish* and Rose Byrn...

In this episode, we go through the looking glass to discuss Andrew Fleming's (The Craft) 1999 political teen comedy, Dick! This genre-inventing film exposed Kirstin Dunst and Michelle Williams as premiere talents but they have still been woefully underutilized all these years.  We might break a record with tangents on this episode, because we somehow manage to get all the way to The Wizard starrin...

In this episode, we defuse Jay Roach's perplexing 2019 sexual harassment drama, Bombshell, a film that attempts to explain the #metoo movement to white CIS men. Does it succeed? Not particularly! The Hot Probs never end.  Also: In Kent's Two Cents, Amy's dad spills some Hot Goss about Gretchen Carlson via their shared personal trainer.  Recorded on the day after Amy's Rockin' New Years' Eve party...