I'm The Host

Kurt brings Dr. Emmett L. Brown to stand trial for his crimes against the space-time continuum. We try hold time travelers to our sense of justice here in Hypothetical Time Court. Can "Doc" Brown explain his involvement with Libyan terrorists, setting fire to public roads, and endangering minors?  Does time travel put the Doc beyond the reach of law and ethics? How much responsiblity does the inventor have over the misuse of their invention?  Great Scott, this is heavy! Links for this episode: Why Doc Brown is the real villain of Back to the Future. (Gizmodo) Doc Brown linked to 40 hit and runs over 500 year period (Reel News Network) Why Back to the Future is Secretly Horrifying (Cracked - After Hours) Time Travel: A History by James Gleick Epic Rap Battles of History: Doctor Who vs. Doc Brown

Ally promises us a fun look at objectivism when we watch to see if Brad Bird is trying to turn your kids on to Ayn Rand's philosophy. Ally also gives us a primer on the finer points of Objectivism so you can follow along.   We also look at other uncomfortable ideas in media. Is Wreck-It Ralph about the futility of unions? Is Totally Spies a show about negative body image? Is Firefly about presenting a nicer face for the Confederate States of America? These answers or fewer on this week's episode! Episode links: Objectivism - Wikipedia Ayn_Rand - Wikipedia Mr._A - Wikipedia Introduction to Ayn Rand's ideas - Atlas Society No,Brad Bird isn't a disiple of Ayn Rand. - Slate Is Totally Spies fetish fuel? Blake's Wreck-it Ralph review aka The Blood Soaked Hands of Capitalism.  

Blake's Halloween episode brings us horror from the dark side of pop culture. What do you get when culture is turned inside out? Things like Too Many Cooks and Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared. But are these pieces really trying to scare, or are they simply trying to warn us of something else? Something lurking just off-camera? Will you heed the call...before it's too late? Media for this episode: Don Hertzfeldt's Banned Commercials The Thing Under the Bed by Patrick Rothfuss and Nate Taylor Too Many Cooks Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared Links for this Episode: 30/20/10 - Alf Meets Matlock Sprite - "Sun Fizz" Commercial The Tommy Westphall Universe Funny Games trailer The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith E-Online - "Friends, Seinfeld, and Mad About You connected?" Grendel Grendel Grendel  

On this most haunted of episodes, we look at The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror I through V and ask spooky questions like:  * Is it bad to see the parody before the original? * Did The Simpsons do too good of a job a lampooning horror and sci-fi?  * Has Homer been in a coma since 1992? But mostly we just enjoy some slightly spooky parodies, and talk about old television, horror movies, and how Marge is the true M.V.P. We also sneak in some hot tips on hacking Ally's brother's bank account, and Kurt's grandma being a fan of "dat ass". It's all here in this newest episode...of the damned! Episode Links: Wikipedia - The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Reddit /r/fantheories - "Homer Simpson is a vegetable in a coma and has been for 20 years." Garfield Is Dead - Halloween Strips Crave Online - "Ten Cases of Family Guy ripping off The Simpsons"  Saturday Night Live - "Hardball" with Dick Army Wikipedia - The Simpsons - Clown Bed Episode ("Lisa's First Word") Duck Soup - Mirror scene Recut Movie Trailers:

We're kicking off October with a special guest! James from Rocket Punch Radio joins us to look at scary movies for kids, and Ally wants to know just how scary they should be? Is Gremlins really about neglected latchkey children? Is Coraline about your parents getting a divorce? Are all children horrible people? We also delve into scary movies from our childhood, scary sleepover stories, and why The Neverending Story must be German.  Episode links: This Film Is Not Yet Rated (IMDb) Trailer: Gremlins "It's Fun to Care For Gizmo" Gremlins Tie-in Toy Commercial Trailer: Frog Dreaming a.k.a The Go-Kids a.k.a. The Quest Donald Glover stand up: “Tiny Little Hitlers” Extra Life team (Arc Aid), Ally and Kurt's Extra life page.   

Snake Vaughn ("I thought he was dead!") stealthily infiltrates our recording studio to tell us all about the recent lawsuit that found the creators of Lockout (2012) guilty of infringing on the intellectual property of Escape from New York (1981).  We look at the copyright laws in the U.S. and France, ponder whether this is the best for the arts, and wonder why Lockout got hit with this when there are so many other properties which have aped Escape from New York's plot and style.   Kurt also calls Lockout by a couple different names. (It was that memorable.) Episode Links: Everything is a Remix   NPR - An Imaginary Town Becomes Real, Then Not. True Story French Court Rules that Lockout is Just Escape from New York in Space. - A.V. Club  Mystery Ben's trilogy of Mystery Skull videos (Money, Ghost, and Freaking Out) Yuramec's unrelated Mystery Skull Video: Magic Dragonball Abridged Friendship is Witchcraft   Extra Life team (Arc Aid), Ally and Kurt's Extra life page.

Cannibals and cops and zombies! (Oh my!) Our media this week is Chew from Image Comics and the CW TV show iZombie. This time we're exploring why we want to humanize our monsters and whatever was going on in early 2010 that made ghoulishness en vogue. We also discuss if the monster love story books are related to the "fix the bad boy" trope in teen lit.  Hopefully there's something here you can...sink your teeth into? ...I'll see myself out.  Links for this episode: Eddie Izzard on Horror Movies Treating Phantom Limb Pain with Mirror Therapy Albinism Symptoms Can Patients Keep their Excised Body Parts?    Extra Life team (Arc Aid), Ally and Kurt's Extra life page  

Ally has us look at The Time Traveler's Wife. What genre is this? Romance? Drama? Horror? Are these lovers destined by fate or merely codependent?  We continue our look at how time travel makes it impossible to have normal relationships (to say nothing of a normal life).  Come check out our most book-club-like episode and help us try to figure out who this mysterious "Harry" is that Ally seems to think was in the book.  Links for this episode: Extra Life team (Arc Aid), Ally and Kurt's Extra life page. Our theme music is Something Elated by Broke For Free. Our logo was made by Jay Garcia of Oddio Visual.

Come with us as we revive an old controversy: "Are video games art?" We look at Roger Ebert's original argument of why video games are not art and take our own spin. (Being three nerds of a certain age, our opinions are a bit different then Mr. Ebert.) We also talk about favorite video game artful moments and what we'd like to see from the genre in the future.  Links for this episode: Roger Ebert's article "Video Games Can Never Be Art" The following links are media we consumed before making this episode: Dys4ia Thank You For Playing You Have to Burn the Rope Don't Shit Your Pants Galatea The following are Bonus links: We Happy Few Velvet Sundown (play footage from Giant Bomb) Detroit: Become Human  

Seven episodes of The Simpsons to discuss whether the Simpsons changed the sitcom scene or were part of the larger change in getting dysfunctional families the representation they needed on network television.  We also have Ally sit through these episodes to see how someone who didn't watch the show growing up fares with it's cynical sensibilities and discuss great/horrible childhood toys, our childhoods, politics, and substitute teaching.  Links for this episode: Simpsons Wiki Patton Oswald - Talking for Clapping Grudge Match Talking Simpsons  Roast of William Shatner M.A.S.K.

Hot off...my computer, our episode about Ghostbusters (2016), with our fastest turn-around time yet from recording to publishing. We look into the controversy surrounding this movie and also talk about our likes and dislikes, so no matter how you feel about it, there's a host for you! Or perhaps this will be the episode where we piss off everyone. Editor's Note: We changed recording locations and so we are having to re configure our audio, not our sharpest sounding episode. I apologize for any inconvenience to your eardrums.  Links for this episode: Ghost - Mystery Skulls Ozark Ghostbusters - A couple members of this group showed up at our showing of the movie. And took a picture with "friend of the podcast" Jen.    

In this episode we look at the sci-fi rom-com Timer, but Blake sees dystopia in the edges of this movie. Is it robots? Aliens? Mind control? And to what end?   We also discuss what this means for friendships and all relationships in general. We also compare the "Timer" device and service to Grindr, Tindr, Ashley Madison, and E-Harmony as well as Google, Apple, and Facebook.   Does this device spell the end of free will, or is it fallible? Look upon the ruin of the single life that this so-called service has caused.   Show Notes/Moats: How technology is changing dating Why Selfies Matter Tech Romance Evolution Editors Note: We had problems with Blake's mic losing power for this episode which is why he gets faint twice in the episode. We have since fixed this problem. -Kurt-

Due to the holiday, and Kurt and Ally moving we were unable to have the next full episode ready for you, but we were able to get our first listener response episode up.  Jondar contacts us about our episode on the Lobster. And Ally promises Blake will do a voice for every listener question we answer.  We'll have our next episode out on Timer soon, in the mean time enjoy this short episode. See you soon. 

Blake suggests that two unrelated movies are the same movie: Clerks (1995) and Friday (1995). Different coasts, different cultures, surprisingly similar movies! Come with us to experience a day in the lives of Dante and Craig, hanging out with their best friend (Randal/Smokey), while they consider a new love interest (Caitlin/Debbie) at the expense of their current girlfriend (Veronica/Joi). Coincidence or independent invention? You decide!     Links for this episode:   Rolling Stone - Ice Cube talks Friday CPG Grey - The Law You Won't Be Told John Mulaney - Special Victims and Ice-T - Video Dailymotion    

Just in time for the Stanley Cup finals, Kurt invites us watch the 2011 movie Goon. We discuss how this movie contains almost every sports-movie trope known to man, and we compare/contrast how it handles them. We also drift off on various sports-themed topics, and Blake shows us that anime is the true source of all the world's inspirational quotes.      P.S.: We are now on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, and Google Play. So now it should be way easier for you to download the show. Any comments, ratings, and subscriptions are greatly welcomed, and will help us get to a once-a-week format faster.  -Kurt-      Things mentioned in this episode: The Finer Points of Hockey (from Slap Shot) Even Men with Steel Hearts (love to see a dog on the pitch)  

It's a battle for supremacy! It's Scott Pilgrim versus Scott Pilgrim as we compare his comic and film versions and discover how a few changes in casting and tone can totally alter the way a line, scene, or entire piece is received. We also take a look at how Brian Lee O'Malley and Edgar Wright influenced each other's versions of Scott--for better or for worse--and why almost no one in the movie blinks. Things referenced in this episode: Oni Press - Publisher of comic Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World - movie trailer Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World Game Trailer - video game version Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation - Animated web episode IMDB Trivia page for Scott Pilgrim 15 facts about Scott Pilgrim - Mental Floss Scott Pilgrim - Sex Bob-omb Vs Katayanagi Twins (A-BOMB Remix) - Cool remix we don't mention but should have.   

Our first episode without a host! We gave our two cents on Captain America: Civil War. Can Marvel juggle this many characters? Can the dialog and character interactions justify this argument between co-workers? Tune in to this off-week episode and find out, true believers. This episode was recorded on March 7, 2016 and sounds a lot better because of tweaks we made. Hopefully the problems that plagued us in early episodes will not bother us anymore. Also these off week episodes will become more regular as we find time to do them. -Kurt-     Things referenced in this episode: Cap's speech from the comic version of Civil War.(Kurt was totally wrong on where this is from) Civil War logic meme (I could not find the fake image spoiler that Kurt saw before, if anyone has a link we'll post it here.)  

On our sixth episode, we tackle The Lobster, a dystopic indie film in which society deems you must be in a relationship or be turned into a animal. What does this dark and cynical movie have to tell us about relationships and the societal pressures of the dating scene? Is being in a relationship worth taking a steak knife to the eye? The Lobster gets a wider theatrical release on May 13th, so go find out for yourself!   P.S.: Sorry for our audio problems on this episode. We record several weeks in advance and we don't hear the problems with the raw audio until it comes time to edit. Starting with episode seven, it should be fixed. Thanks for sticking with us while we I learn how to better troubleshoot and fix these problems. -Kurt-  Things referenced in this episode: Tim Minchin - If I Didn't Have You - YouTube Conan O'Brien - Stackenblocken - YouTube The High Price of Being Single in America - The Atlantic Why More Women Are Staying Single - Huffington Post 13 Things About Dating You Probably Did

For our fifth episode, we watched a Disney movie about a fox, a rabbit, and racism. No, not Song of the South: we're talking about Zootopia. Beyond the prejudicial offerings at hand, we explore the original plot of Zootopia, how Disney will never be able to please everyone, and how Alan Tudyk became the new John Ratzenberger.  Links for this episode: Imagining Zootopia - Tame Collars and Stereotypes How Disney’s Zootopia Gets Racism Wrong Zootopia's Message Came From Story & Character, Not Politics There She Is step 1 with (accurate) english translation - links to a playlist of all 5 videos.   

This week, Ally took us on a journey through time. We watched Groundhog's Day and About Time and asked if time travel will always make you a horrible person, or if you have a moral responsibility to help others? We also try to figure out what dark god of Punxsutawney trapped Phil Conners: Rita? Scooter the Groundhog? or Phil himself? And does being British give you the power to influence others without speaking? Answers to these questions and more in this week's episode! Links to articles mentioned in the episode:  How long was Phil Connors stuck in Punxsutawney?