Small Beans

The bruvs take some time to chat about the film that launched John Boyega’s career, the 2011 sci-fi adventure film, Attack The Block. Abe argues there’s more political symbology at play than most assume. Adam and Michael determine for themselves if this is a sneakily smart cult film or just a slightly updated, more adult version of Goonies. Make your own mind up, beans! Features: Adam Ganser: http...

So, there's a litmus test and we've probably all manufactured it as a test or have been unwittingly tested by someone at some point. There's a handful of films specific to you that you put on that really throws the romantic gauntlet down. Adam and Maggie wax poetic about their "Is This A Date?" movies. How'd they do? Will you date us? Please? I'm just going to spoil right now that Maggie's pick is...

Take a moment, theater kids, and breathe. This one is going to hit home for most schoolchildren who witnessed the problematic school plays we all had sit through. And for those of you who were in said plays, here's a tale that will make everyone feel uncomfortable from the one and only Colin McLaughlin. Bridgett and Sarah do as they always do: staring unblinkingly into the abyss that is self-tortu...

The 2014 film Under The Skin is not for everyone. It's dark, meditative, brutal, and terrifying. There are some shocking shots, but it's not your typical horror film. Michael and Abe sit down with Brooks Brown to discuss how Jonathan Glazer and Scarlett Johansson pulled off this art film that's really about consent, celebrity, and the male gaze. This episode was produced by Martin, our monthly Fli...

Abe presents the case that while 1995's Clueless has flaws, its insistence on inclusive art forms and mundane art is actually a fantastic message for teens in the 1990's and the film displays a more diverse culture snapshot than most genre films of the era. Adam and Abe debate its value and merit as a satire. Features: Adam Ganser: https://twitter.com/therealganz Abe Epperson: https://twitter.com/...

Michael and Abe discuss what's going on with this movie. Why did it flop so hard? Does it deserve the hate? Who said yes to Morgan Freeman's eyebrows? Like so many horrifying ass worms, there's plenty of unpack in this episode. Features: Michael Swaim: https://twitter.com/SWAIM_CORP Abe Epperson: https://twitter.com/AbeTheMighty Support Small Beans and access Additional Content: https://www.patreo...

Sarah and Bridgett review the fourth installment of the FFF (Fast and Furious Franchise). Sarah starts by nailing the play-by-play of the series up to this point. This film makes two things clear. The series is now about superheroes and sexy ladies. Our hosts talk about the nature of the Feds in this series and an initial misstep of pivoting to gratuitous licking of toes in your car movie. Join th...

The Show You's start off with a pretty thorough discussion of coffee but things take a turn when Maggie chooses House of Wax. I mean, that is utterly ridiculous and Maggie's the only person we know who could pull this answer off. Listen to the whole episode to hear Adam's choice along with some news about the future of this show and how you, the beans, can get involved! Adam Ganser: https://twitte...

Adam tells Abe to pull over because he's taking the wheel for an examination of the 2005 British adventure horror thriller movie, The Descent, written and directed by Neil Marshall. In this episode, Adam examines the production hurdles that a film of its budget must overcome and how Marshall expertly navigated tough creative decisions for the benefit of the movie as a whole. From lighting, creatur...

We don't even summarize the film this time. It's just three dudes talking about what it means to be human for about an hour. Tom Reimann from Gamefully Unemployed stops by to drop some knowledge. What does it mean to be sentient? What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be a bean? This episode is all thanks to our Pick the Flick patron Zac Schwartz! Thank you Zac! We'd lock you in an im...

BOLD is a podcast about race and justice in America, and a collaboration between Small Beans and Showing Up For Racial Justice, produced by White People 4 Black Lives. In the first of our three live interviews, our co-hosts Dahlia Ferlito and Ivette Alé talk with Eunisses Hernandez about her activism as a member of Just Leadership USA, which focuses on issues of drug criminalization and the inters...

Alright, cockadoodies! The kings catalog their third entry of their deep dive into the Kingiverse. So get ready to get smothered and sedated like so many Paul Sheldons as they discuss fiddely-foof and its impact on the entire rooty-patootie genre. How does Misery hold up? How does Annie Wilkes stack up in the rare sub-genre of female horror villains? What academic approach does Abe take this time...

Dan's back! Everybody Dan's back! Go Crazy! Alright, calm down. It's murder most foul! A cacophony of crime! A Monty Python of ending retcons! The three guys talk about 1985's Clue and how(s) it holds up and hows it don't for an hour and a half. Abe tries to get them to dissect the jokes. They're all into Tim Curry and Martin Mull (spoilers). You'll have to listen to the episode to hear whether or...

The third installment of our Fast and Furious deep dive comes with many epiphanies, like Sarah learning what drifting is. Both the hosts are pretty confident in their scoring of how fast this film is, but less so in if it's truly furious. Not a lot of violence in this one, as the franchise is starting to understand what it's broad appeal is and starts using more green screen. Sarah pitches Vin Die...

Paranorman is a movie from 2012 that sneakily deconstructs American traditionalism, suburbia, and consumerism. Abe is a film nerd who believes that film school dissections of children's animated films are a good use of ninety of your minutes. Let's get real though. That Jon Brion score, Laika's beautifully grotesque animation style, and some superb voice acting keeps this movie afloat. I don't car...

Sometimes we talk about TV too! This one is the new FX miniseries starring Nick Offerman and Allison Pill, written and directed by Alex Garland. It's no secret that Michael and Abe have been smitten so far by Garland's work, but does his recent attempt to break into the world of the small screen work? Figured this would be a great companion podcast with our other Frame Rate about Predestination th...

Abe and Michael discuss the themes and relevancy of 2007's The Mist. In the last episode, Stephen King took issue with the movie version of his tale. In this episode, he seems to approve of it. While we're all confined to the indoors in 2020, we think you'll all find something in this episode that will grab your attention, like so many-tentacled dimensional monsters. Support Small Beans and access...

Vanessa's back to help Michael and Abe unpack the dense time travel timeline of 2014's Predestination (starring Ethan Hawke). The gang asks: are all paradoxes in all time travel stories the same paradox? Why are a lot of seminal sci-fi writers thirsty and extremely problematic? Which two of the three podcasters are sleeping with each other? The last one is a trick question. They're all fucking Eth...

So this is how it works. The title of the episode is the episode prompt. How Maggie and Adam define it will be determined by them. In this episode, Maggie defines it as "not your favorite necessarily, but if you could surround yourself with it as if it were tangible you could do it." Adam defines it as "will continue to mean something to you or express an aspect of yourself (you hope) forever." Li...

Like the lazy titular character, John Hughes kind of takes it easy after Act I of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Adam runs down the directorial bag of tricks he employs in the first 25 minutes of the movie that seem to be non-existent in the rest of the movie. Now, it's a fantastic first act, it's just that he took two acts off. Abe finally makes that big decision to tell off his dad! Support Small Bea...

Hot damn, a new podcast! It dawned on us that the most unlikely of pure friendships blossomed in the last few years between Big Beans Adam Ganser and Maggie Mae Fish. These two friendos are unexpectedly wholesome together and so we locked them in a room without only a few cans of food and told them to interview each other. Michael and I then broke into their houses and left stragetically placed mi...

Ah yes, we're here. The second installment of the series. Sarah learns that one of the tropes of this franchise is the obscene number of undercover agents each movie reveals. You choose which is more believable: felons freely bringing guns on planes or O'Conner's houseboat. Sarah gives her rundown of how fast and furious she's feeling after two films. Take Ludacris' advice and listen to the episod...

Free Will? More like free William Shakespeare! I'd say it's 50/50 whether you liked that joke. If you do flip a coin and it ends up heads: we're very sorry, you may be in a simulation. You have the Pick the Flick tier to thank for this one yet again. Big shout out to Jason B. This time around we delve into the abstract Tom Stoppard Hamlet spin-off starring Gary Oldman and Tim Roth. It's a fascinat...

Remember when Chris Evans told us that babies taste the best? Remember when that director/writer won an Oscar for Best Picture? In this episode, we stamp our approval like so many bug protein bars. Special thanks to Karl P for suggesting this one through the Pick the Flick patreon tier! Support Small Beans and access Additional Content: https://www.patreon.com/SmallBeans

Michael Swaim looked in the mirror for 7 hours, called Sarah and Bridgett and demanded a second appearance on Rough Stuff. This episode is wild guys. You might want to lock your door, get real alone and real comfortable because it's about to get weirdly sexual in your immediate space. Come on the journey of demystifying why theater kids are so horny and stay for the lickin' eyeballs story. Also, a...