The Guest Room Podcast

The set-up: a group of six (including Larry, Jess, Cadwell, Anju, Ashley, and Therese) take turns leaving the room while the others talk about all the things they love about him/her and decide who that person would be as a superhero. Laughs and the occasional sentimental tear are shared. What is clear is that members of the GuestRoom are lucky to have each other. It's a purposefully touchy-feely w...

Larry and Cadwell went to see the new Will Smith drama Concussion. The pair touch on Smith's career before getting into their thoughts on the film, which inevitably leads to a sociopolitical discussion on how we don't properly care for each other or the world we live in (with proper focus being paid to the corruption of the NFL). Afterward they touch briefly on the anthology series Black Mirror an...

Larry, Jess, Anju, and Cadwell come to you live on the scene in Raleigh, NC to talk about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. After a brief into before seeing the film, the quartet get into the nuts and bolts of this thing and break it down. After that Larry gives a brief wrap-up in his best jazz radio voice. 

Larry and Jess talk a little about Adele's new album, 25, before watching the new teaser for Star Trek Beyond. They give their immediate reaction, watch it again, and react again. Their reaction is somewhat mixed. 

Greg O. was ten years old in 1977. You know what that means? He was the perfect age to have seen Star Wars when it was new. Greg joins Larry and Jess as they discuss their memories seeing all the films in the franchise (even the bad ones) and debate which film they think is best. The trio also gets into some predictions for The Force Awakens, talking about their varying levels of excitement and wh...

Larry took his old man to see Creed, the new Rocky sequel/spinoff. In spite of a recorder malfunction, Larry managed to capture some of Big Lar's thoughts on the film, touching on its many strengths and getting personal with some of the themes of mortality, loss, love, and the like. Drum Groove of the Week is On the Turning Away by Pink Floyd. 

After a musical cameo by fan favorite Greg O., Larry welcomes new guest Josh (father of Autumn, brother of Jess) to talk Rocky. Both are big fans of the franchise and have had many discussions pertaining to it in the past, so Larry thought it would be a good idea, with the upcoming release of Creed, to rank the Rocky films from worst to first. The pair go off on some interesting tangents as well,...

Larry wraps up three weeks of James Bond coverage with another conversation about Spectre, and this time he is joined by Jess, Ashley, and Therese. The quartet saw the film and shared their thoughts, with Larry making his final determination about its quality. Daniel Craig will return. Hopefully.

More Star Trek talk this week as Larry discusses the franchise's return to television (albeit on a streaming platform) and his expectations for it creatively. Larry also goes into some thoughts on the upcoming feature film Star Trek Beyond and why he thinks its messy preproduction process (kicked off by the departure of JJ Abrams) has tempered his excitement for the return of Star Wars. 

Larry's old man Big Lar makes his return to the podcast this week to talk about Spectre, the 24th (or 25th, or 26th, or 27th, depending on what you're counting) film in the James Bond franchise. The two gush about the film's action set pieces, cast, cars, you name it. After that Larry gets into some more thoughts on the film, specifically what he thinks DIDN'T work and whether or not he needs to l...

With the upcoming release of Spectre, Larry decided to look back at the music of the James Bond franchise, and he's joined in this adventure by Jess, Ashley, and Therese. They discuss their favorites, least favorites, and have a sidebar discussion about what it is that makes a good James Bond. (Hint: Roger Moore has none of it.) Drum/Vocal Groove of the Week is, naturally, Live and Let Die by Paul...

Larry finally got out of the house (three weeks late) to go see The Martian, a movie he was very excited about, and he talks it up quite a bit. Is it worthy of the recent run of terrific science fiction? Short answer: yes. Long answer: listen to the show! After that Larry invited long time listener and ardent GuestRoom supporter Jen onto the show to talk Interstellar, which they disagree about. In...

Larry is getting tired of all the reboot news that has come down the pipeline recently, and he's forcing all of you to listen to his rant on the subject. Franchises discussed include Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Ghostbusters, Jack Ryan, James Bond, Batman, Superman, Planet of the Apes and, of course, Star Trek. Because it wouldn't be The GuestRoom Podcast without some Star Trek discussion.

This week Larry vents his frustration about The Big Bang Theory, which, in his opinion, has gone in a bad direction. He also talks Fresh Off the Boat, Minority Report, Sonic Highways, Royal Blood, Pearl Jam, and follows up on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

This week Larry gets into some more serious late night TV discussion, focusing on the debut of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Larry also spends some time discussing Jon Stewart, James Corden, Seth Meyers, and the two Jimmys. Afterwards Larry gets into some of what he's been watching, including more on NYPD Blue, Sonic Highways, and American Ninja Warrior. 

Larry attended his first pop-culture convention in 24 years when he went to Wizard World Pittsburgh. The reason he attended? The presence of William Shatner, who was also present at Larry's last convention all those years ago. Larry came home and told Jess all about his experience, having his picture taken with Mr. Shatner, sitting in the Batmobile, seeing Ernie Hudson, and more. Drum/Vocal Groove...

It's episode 50 of The GuestRoom Podcast! It's also Star Trek Day! Can you handle this much excitement? Larry spends this episode doing what he does far too often: talking about Star Trek. Larry thought long and hard about this and here he presents his Star Trek feature film rankings, 1 through 12. After he finished, Jess came home, read Larry's list, and offered a rebuttal, which appears in this...

Last week on Larry's birthday the Foo Fighters were in town! Larry and Jess went to the show and recorded themselves gushing about the band and their greatness. Larry was so excited that he recorded not one but two Drum Grooves of the Week: I'll Stick Around and Big Me. Enjoy!

Larry discusses his taste in art, music, film and food and, using memories and experience, examines what it is that makes people gravitate toward certain types of content, whether it be complex, simple, or something in between. 

It's the one year anniversary of The GuestRoom Podcast! After some acknowledgements and Fun Facts with Numbers, Larry is joined by his dad for a Quickie review of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, during which the two also get into some James Bond talk. Oh, and Big Lar can't stop gushing about Crazy Tom. Larry then goes into his thoughts on the earlier films in the franchise before Drum Groove of...

Did you know Greg O. went to film school? You're about to learn all about it! After a rather somber edition of Fun Facts with Numbers, in which Larry and Greg discuss a number of topics including the 46 defense and the merits and political ramifications of euthanasia, the pair get into the nuts and bolts of the film school experience. Greg talks about his professors, his doomed senior project, and...

This week Larry discusses one of his favorite composers of film music, James Horner, looking at his career as a whole and talking about what the music means to him. There are also memories of the early days of buying compact discs and some inaccurate box office predictions. Larry really needs to do his research.

Larry and Jess were joined by Ashley and Therese for a night out to see Trainwreck. After returning to the GuestRoom Studios the quartet discusses the film while eating (and discussing) mac and cheese. Therese also chastises Larry for not watching How I Met Your Mother and Larry strongly recommends Fresh Off the Boat. Drum Groove of the Week, which is starting to become Drum/Vocal Groove of the We...

It's a series of GuestRoom Quickies this week as Larry reviews Marvel's latest, Ant-Man. He follows it up with some random theater memories, and then gushes about Blade Runner on Blu-ray before giving his thoughts on Kingsman: The Secret Service, which came highly recommended by frequent GuestRoom guests Grant and Elliot. Drum Groove of the Week is Free Bird. 

It's episode 42 of The GuestRoom Podcast, and while most podcasts celebrate episode 50, we here in The GuestRoom celebrate episode 42. Why? Because it is the answer to life, the universe and everything. At least according to Douglas Adams. Larry and Jess reminisce about their experiences reading Douglas Adams, its relevance, and break down the feature film adaptation, which is celebrating its tent...