The Picture Show with Austin and Phil Rood

Austin and Phil step into the Halloween season with the 2017 suspense-horror movie Get Out .  They talk about the great cast, Jordan Peele as a filmmaker, and discuss the many layers of horror and social commentary that make this movie work so well.  Plus, the guys break down their feelings on horror in general, Blumhouse, and Blumhouse's portrayals of rich, white liberals. Austin's Shou...

Austin and Phil square off for a fistfight of epic proportions over whether or not Steven Soderbergh's 2011 film Haywire is a great spy movie or not.  They dispute acting styles, characterizations, and blue filters before throwing themselves way off track to talk about the AFI Top 100 list and what that list may look like in coming years.  This one is all over the map and still, somehow,...

Amy Rood is a library nerd, a smart person, Phil's sister, and Austin's aunt, and she joins us today to talk about Banned Books Week.  They talk about specific books that are frequently challenged, the motivations for them, and institutions that deal with these challenges. Links mentioned in this episode: American Library Association Chicago Books to Women in Prison Comic Book Legal Defense F...

Austin and Phil look at fascism, redemption, and a million points in between as they take a look at the 2019 Taika Waititi film Jojo Rabbit.  The Roods talk about what they liked and what fell short with the movie, the important topics it discusses, assumed insensitivity, and fascist imaginary friends.  It's a big discussion about a very interesting movie that manages to be sweet, sad, t...

This week, Austin and Phil talk about the 2019 Amazon Original film The Vast of Night .  They become champions for this movie with a small budget, large ideas, as they talk about compelling mysteries and their affect on small town America, the nature of belief and skepticism, and the power of well-written dialogue and so much more as they break down what really works in this movie. Austin's S...

Phil and Aus follow up their Avatar fandom by diving into the first season of The Legend of Korra .  Find out who the big fan is and who's being a curmudgeon about it ( spoiler: it's exactly who you think ).  The guys get into bad comic relief, expanded universe, and the tech of the world the show presents. Austin's Shout Out: The Anthropocene Reviewed Phil's Shout Out: Movies With Mikey

Austin and Phil look at the 1968 philosophical sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey .  It's a wild ride through a complex look at humanity, so the guys gave themselves an extra long episode to help untangle all of the questions of life, art, and the moon that are presented in this film.  Questions such as: Is Kubrick being pretentious or challenging?  Is the moon sequence accurate enou...

Austin and Phil take a look at the 2020 Netflix original movie The Old Guard this week and one of them is not very happy about it (guess which one).  They discuss what was right and what was wrong about this movie, comic vs movie storytelling styles, and whether or not this is a shameless ploy to give Netflix their very own comic movie franchise. Austin's Shout Out: Joshua A Hayes Phil's Shout Out...

What is real? What is simulated? Why does Nathan so fixated on robot genitalia?  Austin and Phil set out to answer these and other existential questions that are posed by the 2014 film Ex Machina .  The guys break down the careers of Alex Garland and Oscar Isaac, which of the guys enjoys downer endings, and Biblical themes of robot movies.  All this and insane dancing on this episod...

Austin and Phil hit the trail this week.  They encounter thieves, an old man in a bear skin, and animal abusing kids at a store, all while discussing the Coen Brothers 2010 western True Grit .  The guys get into westerns old and new, the complicated nature of ethically questionable heroes, and the deep character studies that this film brings us... and also comic book movie connections. &...

Austin and Phil take a look at the comedic heist film Logan Lucky this week in an attempt to figure out if robbing a major sporting arena could end their money woes.  They also look at Daniel Craig as a comedic actor, heist movies, and they sing the praises of Adam Driver. Austin's Shout Out: T.X. Watson Phil's Shout Out: Achewillow

It's a special TV edition of the show this week.  Austin and Phil jump on their flying bison and fly to the studio at the Northern Air Temple to talk about one of the great fantasy stories of all time: Avatar the Last Airbender.   They talk about their favorite episodes and characters, the show's sophisticated art style, and Phil does some dream casting for the upcoming live action show....

Austin and Phil get political on this one... or do they...?  Just kidding, they do... kind of.  Basically, they are the movie they're discussing, which is 2020's The Hunt starring Betty Gilpin and Hilary Swank.  The guys try to decide whether this is a commentary on specific politics or specific classes and how their own worldviews influence their thoughts on this movie.  They...

Austin and Phil get stoked for this movie... until they realize it's more relevant than ever.  They break down stylistic choices, fawn over the cast, sing the praises of the Wachowskis no matter how they're credited, and hope for better days in the future. Austin on tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@austin.n.rood Phil's new ebook: tinyurl.com/1day9lives

Phil introduces Austin to a new kind of support group that helps him regain control of their lives by not talking about what they're doing also beating the crap out of every other person in the group.  They discuss their different views on the movie's takes on toxic masculinity, karma (or lack thereof) for characters, and what that house probably smells like.  I am Jack's Inaugural Podca...