Colin's Last Stand: Knockback

No matter who you are (unless you were born on February 29th!), your birthday rolls around once a year, every year, without fail. That's how calendars work, after all. What you do with that most sacred of days is, of course, entirely up to you and yours, but in our younger years, birthdays tended to mean a whole lot. There were presents, cake, family, friends, and a ton of attention. (Possibly too much attention.) And so we thought we'd spend an entire episode of KnockBack reminiscing about all things birthday-related from the days of yore, from the parties, to the gifts, to the rituals, and of course the cursed Happy Birthday song, arguably the worst piece of music ever written. So put on your party hats, grab a fork or spoon (for your dessert, doofus!), and gather 'round so we can blow out these damn candles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The infamous Prequel Trilogy of Star Wars films left a bad taste in many enthusiasts' mouths, particularly those who have been fans of the space opera franchise going back to the '70s and '80s. That's why it was so amazingly exciting when -- in 2015 -- Star Wars appeared primed to return to form with a JJ Abrams-led movie that had the entire galaxy eager to see what happens next. The result was something safe, but solid, with a returning cast of familiar faces joined by a new generation of rebels, imperials, pilots, scoundrels, and would-be Jedi. Join us for a discussion (nearly twice as long as the movie itself!) about the ins and outs of the plot, characters, worlds, and more than make The Force Awakens tick... and why it's perhaps the greatest shame of all that such a promising start to something new was quickly squandered only a couple of short years later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Brothers Moriarty ended up with pretty awesome jobs, one of us in the gaming industry, the other in animation. But it's also true that, in our younger years, we aspired to some other professions. We ultimately found our way towards what makes us happy, but there were deviations along the way, and this week's episode of KnockBack is dedicated to the what-ifs that could have had us doing something totally different with our lives. Colin was nearly a historian; Dagan thought about law enforcement. Colin wanted to go to the stars; Dagan wanted to skate firmly on the ground. Let's chat about what we wanted to be when we grew up, and hear from the audience on the subject, too. Shall we? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York City has long been one of the world's most important and renown cities... it just wasn't a very nice place to be for a few decades in between World War II and the 21st century. The seminal 1979 picture The Warriors captures NYC's decay and despair through a unique lens of youth and camp, and it does so with great visual flair, solid acting, and a surprising story that actually asks an interesting question: Could street gangs take America's most populated metropolis over if they put aside their differences and fought the law as a single unified army? Based on an obscure mid-'60s novel, The Warriors is a must-see film about betrayal and survival, and we're thrilled to talk about it. So come out and play for a few hours, won't you? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With thousands upon thousands (upon thousands!) of video games released since the 1970s, it's easy for some (well... many) to fall through the cracks. Very few are seminal titles that helped to define their era, genre, or hardware. Yet, 1997's Final Fantasy VII is undoubtedly one of the most important games ever released. It brought JRPGs from niche to mainstream, put Squaresoft on the map for millions of new customers around the world, helped solidify the original PlayStation's place in a competitive and changing market, and spawned a globally-viable franchise that only saw limited western releases in the years prior. Beyond that, though, Final Fantasy VII is deep. Like, really deep. It's a story about eco-terrorism, environmentalism, capitalism-run-amok, power, fear, and more. It also has a wonderful cast of characters -- from the evolving Cloud to the dangerous Sephiroth -- buttressed by what was at the time world-class 3D graphics and a still-amazing soundtrack. There's so much to say, really, and while w

They say that nothing's better than mom's home cooking (and in the Moriarty's case, that's very true). But when we're young, we seem to have an insatiable appetite for fast food. McDonald's. Burger King. Taco Bell. Whatever junk we could shove in our fat faces, we wanted. And the worst thing that could happen is hearing our parents say, "but we have food at home!" What a deathblow that was. A deathblow, indeed! So let's fondly remember the days of Happy Meals, paper crowns, ball pits, and burger patties with so much salt in them that you could have mistaken them for cured meats from Magellan's trip around the world. For as much as we loved a meal at the table with our family, we loved McDonald's inevitably crack-doused fries even more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 1999 sci-fi film The Matrix was released at an interesting inflection point in the history of nerd culture. It launched at a time when -- with the help of Star Wars' resurgence, the soon-to-be-released Lord of the Rings movies, and others -- dorkiness went mainstream, and The Matrix might have been the straw that broke the camel's back, in this regard. The story of Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity, and their battle to break out from a computer simulation and into a horrifying reality, is considered a genre classic, and with good reason. More than two decades later, it holds up shockingly well, with deep philosophical, technological, and even religious messaging that seems to uncannily predict at least one permutation of our actual future. So let's chat about The Wachowski Brothers' (now Sisters') stylish tour de force, and maybe learn some kung-fu along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It seems like only yesterday that we launched our retro and nostalgia podcast KnockBack, and yet it's been nearly two years since our maiden voyage. A hundred weeks on, we've naturally arrived at our 100th episode, and to celebrate, we thought we'd talk about our greatest shared love: Video games. More specifically, we thought we'd talk about 100 games we absolutely adore, 100 games any aficionado of the medium should check out. Enjoy our longest episode of KnockBack to date (four hours!), and thank you so much for supporting our show, and making it the hit it has become. As usual, we simply couldn't do it without you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2017, EA shuttered its fully-owned studio Visceral, which bummed a lot of people out, since they were developing a Star Wars game. But back in 2008, before they were called Visceral -- when the team was known by the more quaint moniker EA Redwood Shores -- the talented NorCal developer launched Dead Space, one of the most beloved survival horror adventures ever created. Taking place in the 26th century and loaded with a mixture of sci-fi and religion, Dead Space tells the tale of Isaac Clarke, a mechanic who finds himself in a harrowing situation light years from home and without any sort of practical arsenal. So let's chat about the USG Ishimura, the planet known as Aegis VII, and a mysterious artifact known as the Red Marker. For it's that artifact that transforms humans into Necromorphs, and turns everything on its head, zero gravity be damned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nothing pleases grandma and grandpa more than spoiling their grandchildren. Indeed, it's the key rule of Grandparenting (made up word!). The most blessed among us get four of these mystical beings from which to learn from, be fed by, and circumvent the rules with, and the rest of us make do with perhaps one, two, or three. For the sometimes lengthy and other times brief periods we're lucky enough to be with these people -- the parents of our parents, the patriarchs and matriarchs of our brood, the seers of previous years long since gone -- we're indelibly molded by them, sometimes for the worse, but usually for the better. So let's dedicate an episode of KnockBack to the mighty grandmas and grandpas that helped make us who we are today, and all of the poignant, important, and hysterical moments that come along with remembering them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1897, a most unusual British novel was written by an at-the-time unknown author named Bram Stoker. It was simply called Dracula, and for most western readers, it was their introduction into the centuries-long mythology, mysticism, and straight-up horror stories coming from Eastern Europe and surrounding environs, tales of men and women who would feast on the blood of others, and who may even be immortal. Stoker's novel isn't only important in the history of western fiction, but especially vital in the development of nerd culture, video games, and more. Even if you've not read it (and you should!), understanding just how much hails from this book is important for any dork. So press play freely, and of your own will, and away to the Carpathians we'll go... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Carpenter hit a bit of a home run with The Thing back in 1982, though contemporary critics didn't give him or his movie any shine. In fact, his film's reception was so bleak that it kinda-sorta destroyed Carpenter's career... at least for a while. But hindsight is 20/20, as they say, and with nearly four decades to marinate on it, many people have come around to The Thing's seminal place in horror and sci-fi history. Its hopeless tale of a stranded Antarctic research base grappling with something from quite literally out-of-this-world is only bested by its amazing practical effects, which are considered some of the goriest ever seen in a major motion picture into the '80s. So gas-up your chopper, strap-in, and get ready. Those wily Norwegians really screwed up, and now we're all gonna pay the price. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For many of us, going to church (or temple, or mosque, or whatever) was a part of childhood. And while some of us got something useful out of our often-weekly visits, the most lingering memories tend to revolve around everything but what we were actually supposed to be there for. The parental bribery. The coercion. The distractions. Time moving so slowly that it's as if you're stuck in one of those futuristic computers in the Black Mirror episode White Christmas. Join us, if you will, for a very festive (and we use that term lightly) KnockBack adventure, as we regale you with religious stories of our youth... and hear plenty of yours, too. (Can you guys please stop having sex on hallowed ground? Thanks.) Please don't judge us too harshly, God! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For thousands of years, humans have been smoking, eating, and enjoying the fruits (well, buds) of the marijuana plant, also known as cannabis. Once associated with deviant behavior and long mislabeled as a gateway drug, marijuana -- like virtually any other substance, legal or illegal -- has different effects on different people, and while certainly not a positive for some, many others the world 'round enjoy smoking a joint, blunt, bowl, or bong. Some among us even prefer it over alcohol and other common libations. Fresh off of the late 20th century's War on Drugs, grass has found greater and greater acceptance (and even outright legality) in parts of US, all of Canada, and elsewhere, and a majority of people (particularly in western countries) have at least one experience with The Devil's Weed. So let's talk about it from two perspectives: The occasional dabbler (Dagan) and the chronic user (Colin), the ups and downs it provides, and the funny and memorable stories that accompany its use, acquisition, and mo

Pawnee, Indiana doesn't actually exist, but after watching Parks & Rec on NBC, many of us wish that it did. That's because Pawnee is full of some of the most hilarious, charming, and ridiculous characters in modern TV history, and their antics offered more accessible and often kind-hearted takes when compared to its far more vulgar and out-of-control sister show The Office. What resulted is something truly memorable, a series full of both character and characters. So let's talk about the sometimes hard-working and often incompetent Pawnee government, all that surrounds it, and have a few laughs along the way. Just don't get Jammed in the process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In what will undoubtedly be an ongoing, years-and-episodes-long saga, we've decided to talk about some of our very favorite songs, a nice complement to Episodes 39 and 56 of KnockBack, which were all about our most beloved albums and concert experiences. Narrowing songs down is a lot harder, of course, but we did our absolute best, coming up with two lists of 10 tracks each that best represent our tastes, our stories, and our respective life journeys. And, to make it as awkward as possible, we introduce all 20 songs by trying to sing parts of them in order to see if the other person can guess what it is. So listen, laugh, and cringe as we regale you with the songs that we just can't shake (and wouldn't want to if we could). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The original PlayStation completely dominated its generation. So did PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 4. PlayStation 3, on the other hand, fought tooth-and-nail for every single unit its pushed, and its particular battle -- waged against Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii -- ended up being Sony's most perilous corporate period in decades. In fact, PlayStation 3 ended up costing Sony nearly $2 billion in its first year on the market alone. Yet, through its horrendous start, bad PR, and staunch competition, PS3 ended up becoming the fifth best-selling home video game console of all-time, and at nearly 90 million sold, it ultimately ended up surpassing its arch-nemesis Xbox 360 in total sales. So let's take some time to celebrate Sony's little engine-that-could, from an era that could have easily spelled doom for the PlayStation brand completely, yet didn't. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In middle school and high school, the house party -- or your local equivalent -- was a rite of passage. It's when you got away from the doldrums of secondary academia, socialized with your peers away from the prying ears and curious eyes of teachers and parents, and perhaps even indulged in some age-inappropriate pastimes. Indeed, it's all a tale as old as growing up itself. Today's episode of KnockBack is dedicated to cracking open the now-dusty party time memories of our youth, the good and bad, the funny and harrowing, the hilarious and cringey. From the mid-'80s through the early-aughts: Let's party, dude. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki brings a fantastical flair to all of his work, but out of Studio Ghibli's entire roster of films, 2001's Spirited Away might be the weirdest and more extraordinary of all. Steeped in Shinto symbolism and vague in its message, Chihiro's misadventure is enchanting in its imagery and sometimes even sudden in its harshness, and it -- like all Ghibli flicks -- is more than deserving of a little KnockBack-style attention. So grab a handful of bath tokens and come along with us as we discuss the beautiful and eerie world of the spirits beyond, and the little girl who one day finds herself in their midst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's nothing quite like a good mob movie, and when it comes to 1990's Goodfellas, there are few better. Based on a authoritative, journalist-written book drawing from historic experiences and events, and played by a series of actors mimicking their real-world counterparts perfectly, Goodfellas is one of the most quotable and beloved films of any kind in the last few decades. DeNiro. Pesci. Liotta. Sorvino. Brocco. These are powerful names in film and television, particularly when it comes to this type of fare. So go home, get your shinebox, and come on back and listen to a two-plus hour long conversation about one of Martin Scorcese's very best flicks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices