The Goods: A Film Podcast

Gargus returns to The Goods with a curio: A freaky Czech stop-motion adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Join as Dan, Brian, and Gargus discuss Lewis Carroll and the many Alice adaptations, Švankmajer's eye-popping stop-mo style, the pros and cons of the story's episodic rhythm, and some of the most memorable, viscerally uncomfortable moments any of us have seen. Find Gargus online: Le...

The Goods completes its pubescent merman cryptid diptych with a review of The Thirteenth Year, a Disney Channel Original Movie, following last week's Luca discussion. Join as Brian and Dan discuss the perplexing physiognomy of these mermaids, the appeal of Uncle Joey's booze cruise, the potential queer themes, and star Chez Starbuck's place in the pantheon of low-charisma TV movie stars. Subscribe...

Join as The Goods tries a new format: a pairing of a movie discussion and a Top 5 list. First, they discuss Pixar's 24th feature, Luca, from 2021, including its distinctive animation style, striking coming-of-age themes, and its implication for the future of Pixar. Then (starting 1:11:25) they rank their Top 5 (and Bottom 1) Pixar movies in the celebrated studio's nearly-thirty years. Subscribe, j...

The Goods continues its tradition of bringing not-quite-films to share with listeners to celebrate April Fools Day. First, Brian helps Dan become a super duper pooper as they watch the potty training VHS special from the early 1990s. There's a clown and a foot-tall gremlin named Mr. Penders, too. Then, Dan walks Brian through a college basketball highlight he discovered when he was in college. The...

The Goods goes international once more with their first Indian film: The Tamil sci-fi epic about the ethics of AI sentience (and also not letting your robot creation date your girlfriend). Join as Dan and Brian discuss their experience with Indian cinema, the jaw-dropping musical numbers, and the gonzo-bananas action sequences. Dan shares his take on the bird radiation-themed, horror-tinged sequel...

Another six months gone and three quarters of their way to a centennial, Dan and Brian take an episode to pause, look back and forward, and hold the third yet-to-be-named Goods award show. To celebrate, they do something special -- meet up and record in-person for that special host-on-host chemistry. Here's to 25 more! Subscribe, join the Discord, and find us on Letterboxd: http://thegoodsfilmpodc...

Young Adult Month wraps with a incandescent glow as Dan and Brian review the apocalyptic adaptation City of Ember. Join as they discuss some young adult works they missed this month, some important fads of YA lit, the highs and lows of the movie's cast, the amazing production values, and the proper pronunciation of various names. We hope you've enjoyed going YAM on The Goods! Music credits: RetroF...

In that moment, I swear Young Adult Month was infinite. Join as Dan and Brian continue their exploration of adaptations of books aimed at teens. They discuss some of the YA books and movies that have had the biggest impact on them, then dive deep into the 2012 film based off of the 1999 coming-of-age book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. They discuss Emma Watson's accent, the beautification of th...

"Young Adult Month" continues on The Goods as Dan and Brian investigate the roots and influential novels of YA lit, starting with the pioneering 1967 SE Hinton novel and its Francis Ford Coppola-helmed adaptation. Dan compares the theatrical cut with the book-faithful Complete Novel Edition released in 2005. Meanwhile, Brian breaks down some of the more implausible plot twists and considers the in...

It's "Young Adult Month" on The Goods, and we have a double whammy this week: an adaptation of a YA novel about writing a YA novel. Join as Brian shares his award-winning history as a writer and Dan discusses his abandoned novel drafts. The week's movie, meanwhile, is a cheesy Disney Channel Original Movie about an accidental author with a very bizarre Tyler Durden-esque twist. Dan revels in the p...

Welcome to the first week of Young Adult Month on The Goods, in which Dan and Brian review adaptations of young adult books both iconic and minor. First up is the book and movie that provided a gateway to coming-of-age stories for Dan, It's Kind of a Funny Story. Join as Dan shares his connection to the mental health-themed story, his reflections on passed away author Ned Vizzini, and the film's f...

Dan's brother Will phones in from Japan to discuss Wong Kar-wai's acclaimed romantic drama. Join as they and Brian have a freewheeling conversation including the virtues of smoking, attending a magnet school, peanut advertising slogans, and Eastern cinematic language. Find Will's first novel The Soul of the Wind at https://www.wwstalcup.com/ Music credits: RetroFuture Clean by Kevin MacLeod Link:...

Brian's jumbo-sized birthday review of the Spy Kids trilogy continues as he, Dan, and his brother Andrew investigate Spy Kids 3 and the extended Spy Kids universe. Join as they consider Robert Rodriguez's love of old-school cinematic spectacle, the dark mirror of The Toymaker,  the goofy ugliness of The Adventures of Sharkboy, and unexpectedly poignancy of the series' soft reboot in 2011. Finally,...

It's Brian's birthday, so his brother Andrew phones in for a mega-episode discussing the Spy Kids trilogy. In part 1, they discuss the series formative role in sibling bonding and break down Spy Kids and Spy Kids 2. Join as they ponder the viability of relying upon creative weirdos to create doomsday devices, Robert Rodriguez's Ray Harryhausen influences, the groundbreaking digital video filmmakin...

Snooooooow! Join Dan and Brian as they visit one of Dan's nostalgia touchstones, the 2000 Nickelodeon production about a coveted day off from school. Dan shares his personal connection to the film and insights from the director's commentary, while Brian finds connections to multiple past Goods picks. Is this a piece of of our youth that holds up? Or is the fart foley a bit too much? Music credits:...

Dan and Brian revisit the almost-Best Picture musical capturing the travails of struggling Hollwood entertainers. Brian shares why he considers it a great New Years movie, while Dan reflects on his Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling first impressions. Join as they discuss Seb's quest for save jazz, Dan's intense reaction to an unexpected cameo, the divisive ending, Party Down comparisons, and the variety...

A new year is upon us, time to look back and forward. For the 66th episode of The Goods, Dan shares movie #66 from a Top 100 Movies list he made in 2009, the trippy, emo Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Join as Dan walks through the history of his movie fandom that led him to this moment at the start of 2022. Brian ponders whether he'd get a Lacuna treatment while Dan savors the film's wintr...

After being subjected to Turkey Hollow for Thanksgiving, Brian decided to share with Dan a proper Jim Henson special, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. Join as they discuss Henson's too-short career, his long tail of holiday specials, the weirdness of Muppet legs, Paul Williams' memorable songwriting, and the Emmet Otter's earnest tone. (Also the fat grandma song.) Music credits: RetroFuture Clean...

Dan has a fondness for movies in the "mumblecore" style. What better way to introduce Brian than a holiday-themed outing? Join as Dan and Brian discuss the style and its influences, the movie's depiction of drugs and booze, and Brian's big-tent approach to Christmas movies. They also engage in a spirited debate about how unlikable Anna Kendrick's character is and how much that impacts the movie. M...

For the second year in a row, Dan and Brian sat down to review four adaptations of A Christmas Carol, with the 1951 Scrooge the selected feature. This year, they caught up with three fairly faithful adaptations and one... well, something different. They also both visited Dicken's source novella, Dan for the first time. Join as the pair dig deep into the text and its different cinematic spins, and...

To celebrate Thanksgiving, Dan and Brian watched a seasonal TV family-fantasy movie about a family visiting a strange great aunt in the Pacific Northwest. Join as Brian discusses his fondness of Jim Henson, while Dan gets a lot of fun out of the character names Squonk, Zorp, Burble, and Thring. Does Turkey Hollow live up to Henson's venerable name? Is it a worthwhile addition to the limited Thanks...

This week on the goods, Dan and Brian consider the work of stop motion wizard Ray Harryhausen by watching and discussing his last movie, The Clash of the Titans. Join as they walk through his corpus and inspirations, break down the movie's fetch-quest plot, ponder the legendary beauty of Maggie Smith's Thetis, and find much amusement in "R2D2 with wings." Music credits: RetroFuture Clean by Kevin...

Brian and Dan welcome friend of the pod Gargus to discuss the gender-challenging musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Join as they discuss the John Cameron Mitchell's electric turn as Hedwig and work in the director's chair, the themes of gender and duality, and their takes on the reality-shattering ending. Find Gargus: On Letterboxd - https://letterboxd.com/gargusscp/ On Medium ("Registering the Re...

Dan and Brian are ordinary fucking people, but they still had a blast with this weird '80s cult hit. Join as they discuss the hilarious postmodern LA consumertopia setting, the memorable monologues, the balls-to-the-wall ending, the excellent cityscape cinematography, and every other weird angle on this instant favorite. Music credits: RetroFuture Clean by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.f...

To round out Spooktober, Dan and Brian watch and discuss the Disney Channel Original Movie musical Z-O-M-B-I-E-S -- plus its monster sequel, because why not? Join as they ponder the logical limits of paranormal romance, the movie's aggressive color palette and choreography, its heavy-handed themes, and "hacking your Z-band." Meanwhile, they consider the sequel's knock-off Twilight vibes with chees...