The Franchise Forum Podcast

This week, we dig into Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult classic, a movie that none of us fully knew how to process but all of us had to respect. Is it enjoyable? Not exactly. Is it inventive, relentless, gross, weirdly charming, and somehow one of the most impressive student-film-feeling debuts ever made? Absolutely. We talk micro-budget filmmaking, stop-motion gore, suspiciously smooth tree branches, demoni...

The Die Hard franchise comes to an end as the Franchise Forum crew heads to Moscow for A Good Day to Die Hard—the most criticized and controversial entry in the series. This week, we break down the father-son story between John and Jack McClane, debate whether the franchise lost what made it special, and ask if this movie really deserves its infamous reputation. Along the way, we discuss the franc...

        The Franchise Forum crew is back… and John McClane has officially entered the digital age. This week, we tackle Live Free or Die Hard, the cyber-terrorism-fueled fourth entry that trades grimy ’80s grit for exploding helicopters, collapsing freeways, and Justin Long explaining the internet to Bruce Willis. We break down the franchise’s controversial shift from hard-R to PG-13, debate Bruce...

Franchise Forum: Director Series continues with Christopher Nolan and Memento.   Greg jumps into Nolan's backward (and forward) story of revenge through the lens of anterograde amnesia, digging into the Academy Award-nominated editing and screenplay, the importance of mirrors, and the 2000 film that put Nolan on every film aficionado's radar.   Episode 3 of the Christopher Nolan Director Series.

We’re back with John McClane… and this time, the whole city’s in play. In Episode 9, Greg, Erik, Adam, and Ross head to New York for Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) the sequel that ditches the building, turns everything into a puzzle, and somehow never slows down. From Central Park to Wall Street, Simon Gruber is pulling the strings and McClane is just trying to keep up. We get into what works, w...

Franchise Forum: Director Series continues with Christopher Nolan and Oppenheimer.   Nolan's most decorated film to date, Greg dissects how Oppenheimer blends genres, creatively tackles special effects, and uses symbolism in every way imaginable to take home seven Academy Awards including Best Picture.   Episode 2 of the Christopher Nolan Director Series.

Franchise Forum: Director Series begins with Christopher Nolan and Dunkirk .   One of the most celebrated directors of this century, Nolan becomes the focus as Greg breaks down how Dunkirk strays from the traditional war film mold and how Nolan’s signature style shapes the experience of this 2017 Best Picture–nominated film.   Episode 1 of the Christopher Nolan Director Series starts now!

In this Frantasy Episode, the Franchise Forum crew takes to the skies to revisit The Rocketeer, Disney’s 1991 love letter to pulp adventure, Art Deco design, and the golden age of aviation. Along the way we talk about why this film made such a strong impression on so many of us as kids, even if the pacing feels a little different through modern eyes. From the retro-futuristic world and James Horne...

We’re back with John McClane… and this time, it’s snowing. In Episode 8, the Franchise Forum crew heads to Dulles Airport to break down Die Hard 2 (1990), the sequel that tries to go bigger, louder, and somehow colder. Spoiler alert: none of us were exactly thrilled with the layover. We dive into what doesn’t work, what almost works, and whether repeating the formula makes for comfort food or crea...

What if The Big Lebowski wasn’t just a cult comedy but the first chapter in a crooked, smoke-filled noir franchise that never was? In the debut episode of Frantasy, we pour ourselves a caucasian, lower the lights, and follow The Dude as a hard-luck private eye stumbling through a mystery he never asked to solve. We break down how The Big Lebowski borrows from classic detective fiction, where it zi...

This week the crew heads to Nakatomi Plaza for a holiday party gone very, very wrong. We unpack John McTiernan’s Die Hard (1988) — the film that redefined the modern action hero, made Bruce Willis a movie star, and somehow became the most debated Christmas movie of all time. From “shoot the glass” to “Yippee-ki-yay,” we dig into the film’s perfect pacing and connective tissue, Alan Rickman’s suave...

The guys actually liked this one... though Erik was a little timid to admit it. In this episode, the crew returns to Isla Sorna for a wild ride through Jurassic Park III (2001), Joe Johnston’s leaner, meaner follow-up to Spielberg’s dino duology. From talking raptors to Spinosaurus supremacy, we dig into what works, what doesn’t, and why this stripped-down sequel somehow delivers more fun than exp...

We take The Lost World: Jurassic Park on a three-hour safari and, well… no one makes it out unscathed. What starts as a sequel about dinosaurs turns into a deep dive on awkward champagne pours, gymnastic raptor kicks, and one very confused T. Rex on a boat. We pick apart every questionable choice and cinematic oddity until the island and our sanity, are both in ruins. 

On this episode we dig into Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, the blockbuster that redefined summer movies. From groundbreaking CGI and unforgettable sound design to the perfect blend of awe and terror, we break down why the T. rex attack, the raptors in the kitchen, and John Williams’ iconic score still hold up as some of the greatest moments in cinema.

Jetpacks, PG-13, and the Death of Officer Lewis | Franchise Forum Ep. 3 The trilogy limps to the finish line with RoboCop 3. We break down the PG-13 tone shift, the bizarre child-hacker subplot, and RoboCop’s sudden upgrade to jetpack mode. From corporate villains to the mishandled death of Officer Lewis, we dive into how the franchise traded its biting satire for kid-friendly chaos — and why it a...

RoboCop 2 (1990) – Nuke, Corruption, and a Sequel on Overdrive | Franchise Forum Ep. 2  

RoboCop (1987) – Corporate Greed, Satire, and the Ultimate Cyborg Cop | Franchise Forum Ep. 1