Are You Movie Mad?

Oh mama is it getting messy in this drama, there’s couples breaking up, couples drinking hard, couples meeting up and daddy-daughter cycles to dirty up the waters too. Johnny runs through Season 2 Episode 9 of Nashville as Andrew considers the DMZ/TMZ gossip site feuds, Will Lexington’s hatless injury and the revenge of the shelving unit and Maddie Conrad.

Spoofing the crime and gangster cinema of the world is a tall order, but Johnny and Andrew are ready to make a podcast you cannot refuse. They go out of their way to not talk about the film by discussing at length the celebrity sightings and awkward interviews with the likes of Michael Shannon, Jason Isaacs, Billy Burke, Giancarlo Esposito, Tom Hanks, Jon Hamm and Jessica Chastain.

Luke ‘Hands Off The’ Wheeler is starting his stadium tour and Scarlett’s got a bit opener to go. Juliette’s kink-shaming a couple, Jeff’s counting beans, Gunnar’s writing a song, Rayna is spending time with men, and Teddy is the mayor of Nashville still. Andrew and Johnny spend time discussing the logistics of the ongoing Tampa-stadium-shows of it all, and prepare for another classic last-minute Rayna James Sorts Things Out With A Live Performance story beat.

Hey, we have never covered a film under the National Lampoon branding, so what a good time to look back at a Emilio Estevez/Samuel L. Jackson send-up from the early 90s, and also spend way too long looking at the imdb page for one Joe Estevez.

It’s tour season, and we’re in Houston, Texas, which is not in Nashville, for the Will Lexington/Layla Grant/Juliette Barnes concert opener, but also it’s Teddy’s wedding day, and Avery and Deacon’s open-mic show, oh and also Gunnar’s meeting with Jeff The Harvard Bean Counter. So much to get through, it’d be insane for Andrew and Johnny to pause recapping long enough to do any kind of comedic bits, right?

We’re ending the month with a SECOND music-movie, and this time it’s related to our weekly Nashville TV Show Recap podcast BACKSTAGE AT THE BLUEBIRD. Johnny loves the city of Nashville, and he’s excited to see the acclaimed Robert Altman ensemble drama. Andrew, meanwhile, is worried at the film’s length and Altman’s inherent unfocussed, improvised, overlapping-dialogue nature. Will things work out well? Will information regarding Disney’s cinema release plans of the year make the second half semi-engaging?

It’s the Invitational Polo Match in Nashville and it seems most people ARE invited! Deacon, Rayna, Juliette, Tandy, other characters, all together in a super-spreader event. Johnny talks through season 2 episode 6 of Nashville, detailing couple names, surprising relationship changes and all the big hat event fun, as Andrew becomes more and more averse to the relationships developing in the show.

It’s the sequel to Get Shorty and we’re in a post-Snyder Cut world, what could go wrong? We love music, we love cinema, one of us loves the last time Travolta and Thurman danced together, this should be a lay-up. Why does the return of Chili Palmer not work, and how much Aerosmith is allowed before things stop being cool? It’s a rough watch, and we try to make the most of it.

Rayna can’t sing and Deacon can’t play the guitar, but the magic of Nashville is that no matter what happens, Andrew and Johnny will always find the music in the soul of these characters. Maybe not so much Harvard Bean Counter Jeff, or Luke Whhhheeler and his big hats, but certainly the newly minted Bluebird Barback Bungalow Boys and Scarlett’s media training journey bring lots of mirth to this week’s episode.

From a comedy western to a western with comic elements, it’s time to get some Paul Newman Eyes in the mix, and the eternal charm of Robert Redford. Johnny has never much experienced either of them, and certainly not the palpable chemistry of the duo on screen, so what better time to pull this trigger? And since it’s the day before Zack Snyder’s Justice League drops, we make bold predictions all over the show as to what the 4 hours, 1 minute and 28 seconds contain.

Andrew is a day into first vaccination and settling in Backstage with bits for days, and Johnny has 3 whole pages of notes on this week’s Nashville episode to get through. A visit to the SNL reference dump and historical info on the landscape of lobster dishes and Andrew’s sibling rivalries bring the TV drama’s storylines into clearer view. Also, this week, we launch Bungalow Boys: The sitcom starring Gunnar Scott and Will Lexington.

We’re back in Mel Brooks territory for an acclaimed comic depiction of the wild west that nowadays comes with a disclaimer regarding its content. Will Johnny fall for the heady delights of Harvey Korman? (THAT’S HEDLEY DELIGHTS!) Will Andrew discover F9: The Fast Saga’s delay ON AIR? Will the saga of the Blazing Saddles TV show be explored in depth? Yes. Yes it will. So listen in.

Nashville, home of musicians, parents, sober companions, big shareholder parties, pretty much everything, except the rich mansion of a media company’s youngest and his betrothed. So Juliette’s off performing out-of-city whilst Andrew and Johnny try to recap an episode of the TV show Nashville that really spreads its wings far and wide.

VIN DIESEL, BABY! Andrew has watched this a bunch of times in lockdown because it’s the most recent Vin flick, Johnny never saw it. Will Guy Pearce’s ever-changing accents add to the experience, or the action scene definitely meant to be in London that looks nothing like anything ever? Will cinema ever matter again? What is pandemic brain cinema anyway?

It’s a relaxing day backstage at the Bluebird Cafe, a perfect time to catch up with the events in Nashville, like Deacon’s guitar playing future, Juliette’s Conan appearance and the arrival of Oliver Hudson to the show. Johnny has lots of show notes, but Andrew is more interested in declaring Scarlett the next Dolly Parton, and he has the receipts.

Life, oh life, oh life, doo doot doot doo. Johnny mentioned he also hadn’t seen the Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence movie ‘Life’ and since it is streaming, unlike a lot of films, Andrew has allowed an entire episode surrounding a film he once rented as a kid, expecting a wild comedy, and rewound and returned before the first hour was up. Will the last hour make up for Baby Andrew’s experiences?

Andrew and Johnny are still backstage in Nashville, starting the second season of the show, dealing with comas, pregnancies, proposals, break-ups and people who have been LEFTOVERED since they decided to hurt Scarlett. For some reason there’s plenty of Austin Powers references too, because that’s the show we make now. 11 months into lockdown.

Welcome to the podcast, Jim Carrey. Johnny mentioned he hasn’t seen the infamous mid-90s black comedy, and Andrew, the man that he is, loves The Cable Guy so much and wants to hold Johnny’s hand through his first time. We break down the career of Ben Stiller, Jim Carrey’s golden run and, of course, Matthew Broderick’s rap sheet.

Johnny compiles the multi-disc soundtrack releases for the TV show and the two go track-by-track discussing the songs, context in the show, and have a lot of fun in this break between seasons.

A week off and refreshed, it’s time to take a look at Jodie Foster’s Death Wish drama, with discussions on Jared Leto and Rami Malek in The Little Things, what your vigilante name would be and Foster’s Erica Bain and her best friend Gunny. This is a silly silly episode with some strong language.