Spineless: The Future Films of 4K

Visit beautiful Valkenvania, where Nothing But Trouble awaits! Dan Aykroyd loves two things: aliens and prosthetic makeup. In his 1991 directorial debut Nothing But Trouble , he's all out of aliens, but he makes up for it by casting himself as not one but TWO different characters in full-body makeup. On this episode of Spineless, Nick and Brennan dissect this bloated studio comedy, which serves as...

Put on your best sequined gown and enter the Moulin Rouge on this episode of Spineless! A showstopping performance by Nicole Kidman. A soundtrack of pop medleys. A love story for the ages. These are just some of the ingredients to Baz Luhrmann's extravagant musical Moulin Rouge!, the 2001 hit that revived the Hollywood musical. Nick and Brennan celebrate the film's 25th anniversary by welcoming Ro...

Computer, show me a gigolo named Joe. Beep boop beep boop! BrennanBot-9000 is here to bring you the show description for this episode on Steven Spielberg’s philosophical sci-fi epic A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001). Nick and Brennan talk about the long development of this collaboration between Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, the ethical concerns of AI, and Jude Law's iconic performance as Gigolo...

Reach into the grab bag on this special episode of Spineless! Nick and Brennan are joined by film programmer Will Morris (co-founder of Oscarbate Film Collective, print traffic manager at Music Box Theatre, programmer of Music Box of Horrors, executive producer of Castration Movie , I could go on) to talk about not just one, not two, but FOUR movies you've probably never heard of that are ripe for...

Set sail with Nick and Brennan as they travel to that wonderful anime world of Hayao Miyazaki, where’s there’s SpongeBob voice actors around every corner! No snakes on this plane but there is a dang PIG named Porco which is honestly a little bit rude! Things get a little bumpy on the ride as we sidebar about the Pantheon of Pig Cinema, the science of Fiona Shrek’s Curse and how it relates to Porco...

On this episode of Spineless, Nick and Brennan are joined by actress Sophia Talwalkar ( Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classess, now playing at Brennan's former workplace Audible's Minetta Lane Theatre) to discuss the lyrical family drama The Namesake. Sophia shares her personal connection to the 2006 film by Mira Nair as well as the source novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, a moving depiction of an Indian...

Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for visiting with us this evening. Now, we’ve traveled across half your podcast streaming service to be here and to see about these discs. We’re podcasters, ladies and gentlemen. We have numerous episodes streaming now throughout your podcast platforms. We have podcasts with as many as twenty streams per day. And as podcasters, I hope t...

4K distributors have failed John Keats. On this week's episode of Spineless, Nick and Brennan are joined by Chicago-based critic Marya E. Gates, author of Cinema Her Way, for a discussion of Jane Campion's 2009 film BRIGHT STAR. Your beloved TWO FRIENDS (plus Marya) are absolute SWEETIEs as they discuss THE POWER OF THE DOGgone film, a moving PORTRAIT OF A LADY and her relationship with famed poet...

Oscar Sunday is soon upon us, and we couldn't let awards season end without giving out our own! Welcome to the 2nd Annual Golden Spine Awards, honoring the best of 2025 in film according to your hosts, Nick and Brennan. Joining us with his own personal picks is Andy Germuga, co-host of Cannes I Kick It , who last year nominated Dakota Johnson in Best Actress for Madame Web so honestly who knows wh...

Pack your banjo, grab a paddle, and hop in the canoe: we're going downriver! On this episode of Spineless, Nick and Brennan revisit Brennan's favorite decade in film as they break down the taut 1972 thriller Deliverance , directed by John Boorman. It's somehow the second Jon Voight film we've covered in two months, and it's the film that introduced the world to the legendary Ned Beatty. We talk ab...

If anyone can save physical media, it’s the Bey Hive. In this week’s episode of SPINELESS, Nick and Brennan are joined by Chicago-based critic Cortlyn Kelly for a discussion of Beyoncé’s HOMECOMING, her 2019 concert film depicting the creation of her Coachella set the previous year. They talk concerts in general — including Cortlyn’s own Beyoncé experiences — and the continuing cultural legacy of...

On this week's episode of Spineless, Nick and Brennan get lost in the black goop that is Jonathan Glazer's UNDER THE SKIN (2013). We talk about the guerrilla-style approach to the production of the film, the differences between the film and the novel it's based on, and why the haunting visuals deserve a 4K upgrade. What would happen if you got crushed like a Danimals Crush Cup? Would we recognize...

It's time to play the music, light the lights, and meet the Muppets on this episode of Spineless! Nick and Brennan are joined by puppeteer Jordan Brownlee (The Muppets Mayhem, The Muppet Show) to talk about everyone's favorite felted friends the Muppets in their first theatrical appearance: The Muppet Movie (1979). Jordan regales us with stories of working with Paul Williams, his time on the upcom...

Go back to the cluuuuub with Nick, Brennan, and Wow Platinum for this episode of Spineless! We're kicking off 2026 with a bang by unpacking one of the most notorious flops of the modern era. That's right, folks--it's Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis (2024), and it's the first film we're covering in the new era of Spineless, which is now: The Future Films of 4K! We go into the reasons behind our...

The snow is falling, the carols are ringing, and J.K. Simmons is playing Santa Klaus. It must be Christmastime! On this episode of Spineless, Nick and Brennan return to Netflix's 2019 animation slate with the modern Christmas classic KLAUS (2019), a heartwarming film about the world's most annoying mailman. Of course, there's general talk about Christmas movies, animation, and Cowgirl Jesse. There...

Gobble gobble! On this episode of Spineless, Nick and Brennan get SEASONALLY APPROPRIATE as they discuss John Hughes’ best-aged (changes to air travel notwithstanding) film PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES (1987). They talk deleted scenes, bad 4k restorations, and the career of John Candy, the thought of which definitely does not make Brennan tear up whenever he thinks of it. Plus, Nick and Brennan...

Ah, my little… Y’know. Brennan finds himself in the now-familiar situation of being in a Kinney Sandwich where Kinneys are the bread and he is the meat as the Spineless Boys are joined by Macy Kinney, Nick’s newly-anointed sister-in-law, children’s librarian, and Little Women expert to discuss, well…. LITTLE WOMEN (2019). Curl up with a nice blanket as they dive in to the comfiest movie ever made...

You won’t believe what Patrick Star (doesn’t) say. This year's Spine-Chilling month of horror concludes with Karyn Kusama’s 2009 film JENNIFER’S BODY, which exists at the perfect intersection of horror and coming-of-age and accurately depicts the terror of being a teenage girl, the experience of adolescent girlhood (we think). We discuss the career-best performances of Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfrie...

It’s Halloween and we’re gonna discuss the scariest idea of all: age gap discourse. In the first episode of their second annual SPINE-CHILLING MONTH OF HORROR, Nick and Brennan get all Biblical and take on the Antichrist with Richard Donner's 1976 staple of religious horror: THE OMEN. They’ll ask and answer many important questions: Who is our modern Gregory Peck? What would happen if you got reje...

Harrison Ford. A one-armed man. Provasic. These are the ingredients for The Fugitive, Andrew Davis' iconic Chicago-based thriller which became a pillar of 90s cinema. Nick and Brennan welcome to the show Jeremy Marder (manager and programmer at the Music Box Theatre and co-host of Four Stars: A Chicago Film Podcast ) to break down Tommy Lee Jones' Oscar-winning performance, the authentic represent...

Nothing much, what's up with you?!!!!? On this episode of Spineless, Nick and Brennan take on one of the all-time great comedies: Peter Bogdanovich’s 1972 screwball WHAT’S UP, DOC?. It’s the film that introduced the world to Madeline Kahn. It’s a film that partially funded Barbra Streisand’s indoor mall. It’s a film featuring Austin Pendleton, a guy who once referred to Brennan as “a lot of fun”....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPINELESS!! It’s the Spineless Anniversary Spectacular and we’ve brought you the one thing you've always wanted — SEGMENTS!! First, Nick and Brennan look back on a year of movies and Maestros before capsule reviews of the newest films from Spineless legends Zach Cregger ( Weapons ) and Spike Lee ( Highest 2 Lowest ). Next, Resident Jock Sam Kaplan™️ takes a break from shoving us int...

🤼 ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE??🤼 In our MOST HEATED EPISODE YET, Nick’s older brother Jake ENTERS THE RING to discuss Cooper Raiff’s 2020 debut coming-of-age film SHITHOUSE. It’s two-against-one as Those Fabulous Kinney Boys™️ defend Raiff’s project as an achingly accurate and surprisingly profound depiction of early college life, while Brennan argues that it is bad actually. And as if one fight isn...

Wil Wheaton if you’re reading this please unblock me. On this week’s episode of Spineless, Nick and Brennan discuss Rob Reiner’s 1986 coming-of-age masterpiece STAND BY ME. It’s the kind of conversation that seems important until you discover girls — they run through their own personal histories with Stephen King’s work / Pez dispensers, cultural osmosis through Family Guy, and whether or not kids...

On this week’s episode of Spineless, Brennan finds himself in the center of a Nick Sandwich as the Boys welcome actor Nick Arceo to the pod to discuss CHILDREN OF MEN. It’s a cheerful conversation as we discuss dystopias, the ghoulish personal opinions of some key creatives, and the continued relevance of this film amidst America’s fascist crawl. Plus, we talk about whether or not you can spit a p...