The Guest Room Podcast

In honor of Star Trek's 50th Anniversary, Larry is presenting a Trek-tacular episode! First, he gets into what he's doing to celebrate the 50th, including seeing movies, playing Star Trek Catan, and more! He then presents a list of his favorite episodes of The Original Series (and one from The Animated Series). This is not a ranking, it's merely a presentation of all the episodes that he loves! Li...

This week Larry welcomes Brian Mendelssohn, owner of Row House Cinema, to talk about the theater he owns in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. They get into the genesis of the theater, what goes into selecting movies, negotiating with studios, movies they watched growing up, and Star Trek 50th Anniversary week starting September 2. Go to rowhousecinema.com for ticket info.

In this Quickie episode Larry briefly discusses his experience playing games at Grant's house. First he talks about Jackbox Party Pack for Xbox, and then goes into his experience with Samsung VR, first talking the creepy film Sisters, the less creepy (but still creepy) Jurassic World, and the absolutely awesome game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes.

Larry, Dr. Jess, and Ashley went to see Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, a band on the rise who didn't disappoint. Not much else to say. Performances include S.O.B., Trying So Hard Not to Know, and Thank You. 

It's finally here: The Guest Room Podcast is reviewing new Star Trek! After a brief discussion of the upcoming series Star Trek Discovery (what a week!) Larry and Dr. Jess review Star Trek Beyond which they saw on opening night, getting into the good (all) and the bad (none). They also compare Beyond to previous installments and debate how Anton Yelchin's passing should be handled in the next inst...

Paul from McSoss.com and Brian aka Spud are back again and it's (mostly) about music this week. Spud's current favorite artist is the New Zealand singer Gin Wigmore, so the trio get into what it is that Spud loves so much, how Elle King rips her off, and how her sound has evolved, or devolved, over the course of four releases. They also get into talk about Foo Fighters, Candlebox, Guns N' Roses, A...

This week Larry is joined by his old pals Paul from McSoss.com and Brian aka Spud and they get into a smorgasbord of topics: summer movies, music, and lots and lots of TV including (but not limited to) CHiPs, Bosom Buddies, Quantum Leap, the list goes on. They also touch on vampires and zombies and Paul is blown away at the revelation that Chris Pine's father was the Sergeant on CHiPs. 

Larry kicks things off this with a vocal performance of Gene Chandler's Duke of Earl followed by some talk about the state of NYPD Blue in the streaming world, with special acknowledgement to the folks at Save NYPD Blue (Twitter handle: @SaveSipowicz). Then the discussion that began last week resumes, with Larry and Dr. Jess picking up with the departure of Jimmy Smits and taking it all the way to...

Larry and Dr. Jess have spent the past year re-watching the stellar police drama NYPD Blue and they have much to say. So much, in fact, that this discussion is presented in two parts! Come back next week for the Part II! First, they spend some time talking about other procedural dramas like Columbo, Murder, She Wrote, and NCIS and its spin-offs. Then they discuss their experience watching the show...

Dr. Jess counts Dixie Chicks as one of her top three favorite artists of all time. Last week she and Larry took in their show at First Niagara Pavilion. The pair kick things off with some talk about favorite songs, albums, etc. After a musical performance of Goodbye Earl by Larry, the happy couple review the show. (Hint: it was really good) After that they get into some discussion about the behavi...

Larry talks about the Star Trek Beyond Fan Event held at Paramount Studios which featured appearances by cast and crew, a special street naming in honor of Leonard Nimoy, and (FINALLY!) the debut of the new trailer for Star Trek Beyond. Larry gives his thoughts on the trailer including visuals, potential plot points, Idris Elba, and what his anticipation level is now.

Listen while Larry, Cadwell, and Anju gush about the greatness of Captain America: Civil War. They were so stoked that they couldn't wait to get home to talk about it. When they did they were joined by Autumn and Dr. Jess. The group inevitably compares it to Batman v Superman as well as the other films in the MCU. This week's Drum & Vocal is, wait for it, Civil War by Guns 'N' Roses, and features...

Larry starts things off with a review of Green Room, the VERY intense thriller starring Sir Patrick Stewart. Afterward, he gets into some things he's recently watched, including The Hunger Games- Mockingjay: Part 2, Spotlight, Spy, and Sicario. Larry then closes the show with a eulogy to the great entrepreneur, innovator, and humanitarian Remo Belli. This week's Drum & Vocal is Sinister Purpose by...

Larry and Jess pay tribute to a true one-of-a-kind artist, Prince. They talk about Purple Rain (the album and the movie), discuss his talent, his influence, and pick their favorite Prince songs. Musical performances include Manic Monday and Purple Rain. Closing remarks by Greg O. 

Larry is way behind on current TV, so Cadwell gave him a list of shows to catch up on. This week the pair are joined by Elliot to discuss two of those shows, The Leftovers and Mr. Robot. The trio get into the nuts and bolts of both shows, strengths and weaknesses, and they agree on some things and disagree on some others. It's a fun, funny, lively, and occasionally dirty conversation. This week's...

Larry was a week late seeing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but he decided to do a podcast anyway, bringing along Big Lar, Anthony, and Mia, making her podcast debut! The quartet get into the nuts and bolts of the film and discuss its strengths and weaknesses. Afterward Larry ranks the films in both superhero franchises and decided where this new one fits in.

It's Episode 75 of The Guest Room Podcast and Larry is paying tribute to Sir George Martin, the legendary producer of The Beatles, among others. Some thoughts are shared, but Larry thought that the best way to pay tribute to Sir George was with music. Performances include Live and Let Die, Sister Golden Hair, and a medley of Yesterday, Strawberry Fields Forever, and You Never Give Me Your Money. I...

After briefly touching on recent Star Trek and Indiana Jones news, Larry runs through the list of all the podcasts he listens to, because if you're listening to this, you should be listening to all these other ones, which are better. :)

Larry and Greg O. went to Row House Cinema in Pittsburgh to check out John Carpenter's The Thing. It was Larry's first time seeing it and he reacted strongly. The pair talk about that film in detail as well as Carpenter's career overall, his collaborations with Kurt Russell, his coupling with Adrienne Barbeau, and more. They even touch a little on Jean-Claude Van Damme, for some reason. This episo...

Larry and Jess had the privilege to take a backstage tour of the Benedum Center performance of Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage, the symphonic concert tour celebrating the franchise's 50th anniversary. Larry was also granted an interview with the show's Conductor, Nicholas Buc, which is heard on this episode. It's Larry's first interview and he's very excited. Afterward he and Jess get into their th...

After Larry saw Mad Max: Fury Road, it occurred to him that there isn't an Oscar for stunts. Well, there should be, and Larry being Larry, he did an awful lot of research (including determining which crew members were eligible) to compile a list of movies that would have won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Stunts throughout history. Honorable mentions are also, um, mentioned. 

Larry and Grant from The Confabulated Podcast have being trying for about a month to get together to preview the 2016 movie slate. A lot of rescheduling had to take place but they finally got together and invited Greg O. to join them. That's the good news. The bad news is that this episode is full of technical difficulty. It's explained at the top of the show. It's still a lot of fun, regardless. 

This week Larry pays tribute to singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and Eagles founder Glenn Frey, touching on the impact the band had on his early musical development. Larry also talks about his first date with Jess and how the Eagles' music played a role in breaking the ice. Performances include The Heat Is On and One of These Nights.

After a rant about cancer and how it hasn't been cured, Larry pays proper tribute to Alan Rickman, going through his credits and talking about his favorites, what holds up, what doesn't (not Rickman's performances as they ALWAYS hold up but sometimes the movies don't) and his experience watching this great actor. 

Larry pays musical tribute to a great artist with drum and vocal performances of The Man Who Sold the World and Space Oddity with his personal thoughts in between.