https://simplecast.com Don't Encourage Us Most people watch a movie. Some people can't stop reverse-engineering the decisions inside it. Don't Encourage Us is for the second group. Each episode takes a film, series, or creative property and examines it the way you'd examine any high-stakes decision: what problem was being solved, what trade-offs were made, where the execution landed, and what you'd do with it from here. Not a review show. Not a fan podcast. A forensic examination of creative and strategic choices, by people who can't turn that part of their brain off. If your best conversations about fiction happen after everyone else has moved on — this is where they continue. 2023 Don't Encourage Us en Tue, 24 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Wed, 8 Apr 2026 14:12:36 +0000 https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com Don't Encourage Us https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/ed574ad1-a2e9-4817-b068-309fba6885cb/ecc504ea-b855-4e14-b453-85b00169f8fa/3000x3000/the_dont_encourage_us_show_youtube_thumbnail_2560_x_1440_px.jpg?aid=rss_feed https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com episodic Most people watch a movie. Some people can't stop reverse-engineering the decisions inside it. Don't Encourage Us is for the second group. Each episode takes a film, series, or creative property and examines it the way you'd examine any high-stakes decision: what problem was being solved, what trade-offs were made, where the execution landed, and what you'd do with it from here. Not a review show. Not a fan podcast. A forensic examination of creative and strategic choices, by people who can't turn that part of their brain off. If your best conversations about fiction happen after everyone else has moved on — this is where they continue. Don't Encourage Us false https://feeds.simplecast.com/_xE4YQQO production, screenwriting, entertainment industry, creative decisions, film analysis, creative strategy, movie discussion, television analysis, media business, storytelling, pop culture, tv discussion, intellectual property Don't Encourage Us dontencourage@gmail.com 33d5e7b3-be6e-4e05-85ce-72bc04bbaa47 We Fed Our Episodes To AI. Here's What It Discovered. We gave an AI every transcript we had and asked it to figure out what the show actually is.

It found moments worth discussing:

- Why MCU box office is determined by sequencing, not quality — and what that means beyond Marvel
- The structural difference between a high concept and a gimmick, and why Apple TV keeps getting it wrong
- A prompt engineering framework that is the most professionally useful thing we have put in the feed
- A live IP development session that turned into a methodology for building original concepts from psychological premises
- A short film concept built on a precise clinical framework for character construction
- Two IP revival pitches built around seasonal arc strategy and long-form mythology design

At the end, the AI says what the show is and who it is for.

It is not wrong.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/we-fed-our-transcripts-to-an-ai-heres-what-it-found-k7rMIRZl We gave an AI every transcript we had and asked it to figure out what the show actually is.

It found moments worth discussing:

- Why MCU box office is determined by sequencing, not quality — and what that means beyond Marvel
- The structural difference between a high concept and a gimmick, and why Apple TV keeps getting it wrong
- A prompt engineering framework that is the most professionally useful thing we have put in the feed
- A live IP development session that turned into a methodology for building original concepts from psychological premises
- A short film concept built on a precise clinical framework for character construction
- Two IP revival pitches built around seasonal arc strategy and long-form mythology design

At the end, the AI says what the show is and who it is for.

It is not wrong.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> We Fed Our Episodes To AI. Here's What It Discovered. Don't Encourage Us 00:16:32 Two AI hosts analyzed our back catalog and discovered something. The show presents itself as a pop culture podcast but that’s a lie. This is their report. Two AI hosts analyzed our back catalog and discovered something. The show presents itself as a pop culture podcast but that’s a lie. This is their report. forensic analysis, entertainment industry, film analysis, ai podcast, television analysis, ip development, mcu analysis, production intelligence, screenwriting, science fiction, creative strategy, prompt engineering false full 54 91beb92b-cb2d-4d85-baa1-4f2b20f86974 The Adam Project (2022) + The 'Is It Cake' Algorithm Trap Is The Adam Project a kid's movie wearing a Ryan Reynolds costume? We dig in. 

 

In this episode: 

  • How Ryan Reynolds' casting rewrote the original script and broke the story
  • Why the kid (Walker Scobell) starts as the hero and gets sidelined by his own movie
  • The DNA-locked spaceship that can't tell the difference between a 10-year-old and an adult
  • Time travel logic: why this movie waves its hand and hopes you're distracted by lasers
  • Mark Ruffalo as "the dad who should be a villain but isn't" and why that casting backfired
  • What a better sequel could look like (and why it would have to kill Ryan Reynolds first)
  • Detour: Is It Cake, Too Hot To Handle, and the death of the prestige Netflix algorithm

 

Timestamps: 

  • 0:00 — The Adam Project's vanilla plot
  • 5:53 — Why the film is an emotional flatline
  • 19:37 — Time travel logic flaws
  • 25:49 — The spaceship DNA problem
  • 31:18 — Rewriting the ending: why erasing the plot never works
  • 34:42 — Detour: Is It Cake and the Netflix algorithm trap
  • 39:15 — Too Hot To Handle and the death of prestige Netflix

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Wed, 18 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/the-adam-project-2022-deep-dive-the-is-it-cake-algorithm-trap-ejQ__JJJ Is The Adam Project a kid's movie wearing a Ryan Reynolds costume? We dig in. 

 

In this episode: 

  • How Ryan Reynolds' casting rewrote the original script and broke the story
  • Why the kid (Walker Scobell) starts as the hero and gets sidelined by his own movie
  • The DNA-locked spaceship that can't tell the difference between a 10-year-old and an adult
  • Time travel logic: why this movie waves its hand and hopes you're distracted by lasers
  • Mark Ruffalo as "the dad who should be a villain but isn't" and why that casting backfired
  • What a better sequel could look like (and why it would have to kill Ryan Reynolds first)
  • Detour: Is It Cake, Too Hot To Handle, and the death of the prestige Netflix algorithm

 

Timestamps: 

  • 0:00 — The Adam Project's vanilla plot
  • 5:53 — Why the film is an emotional flatline
  • 19:37 — Time travel logic flaws
  • 25:49 — The spaceship DNA problem
  • 31:18 — Rewriting the ending: why erasing the plot never works
  • 34:42 — Detour: Is It Cake and the Netflix algorithm trap
  • 39:15 — Too Hot To Handle and the death of prestige Netflix

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> The Adam Project (2022) + The 'Is It Cake' Algorithm Trap Don't Encourage Us 00:42:32 The hosts dissect Netflix’s The Adam Project as a case study in how star casting and risk-averse development can flatten a promising time‑travel premise into an emotional flatline. They reverse‑engineer how the project likely began as a kid‑centric Spielberg‑style adventure, then trace how attaching Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, and a generic “family movie” brief distorted character arcs, time‑travel stakes, and the film’s emotional spine. Along the way they pick apart broken time‑travel rules, the absurd “DNA-locked spaceship” logic, and an ending that effectively erases the movie you just watched, before zooming out to talk about Netflix’s algorithm-era content strategy, from Is It Cake? to Too Hot To Handle. The hosts dissect Netflix’s The Adam Project as a case study in how star casting and risk-averse development can flatten a promising time‑travel premise into an emotional flatline. They reverse‑engineer how the project likely began as a kid‑centric Spielberg‑style adventure, then trace how attaching Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, and a generic “family movie” brief distorted character arcs, time‑travel stakes, and the film’s emotional spine. Along the way they pick apart broken time‑travel rules, the absurd “DNA-locked spaceship” logic, and an ending that effectively erases the movie you just watched, before zooming out to talk about Netflix’s algorithm-era content strategy, from Is It Cake? to Too Hot To Handle. star-driven development, film craft breakdown, streaming algorithms, netflix content strategy, creative tradeoffs, emotional stakes, time travel movie, the adam project, hollywood decision making, mark ruffalo, screenwriting choices, story structure analysis, production intelligence, character arc failures, netflix original film, script development, ryan reynolds false full 3 2f274dbc-9eb0-4d65-8426-dbbcb96b84e1 Captain America: Brave New World — Why the MCU Can't Handle More Filler & the Case for Isaiah Bradley Sam Wilson has the shield. Harrison Ford has the best arc in the film. And somehow Captain America: Brave New World still doesn't have a main character. We break down what went wrong, what worked, and what Marvel should do next — including the one character from this film who deserves his own series.

 

Jump to the 30-minute mark for the Captain America 4 deep dive. Spoilers throughout from that point.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 17 Mar 2025 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Matthew Baughman, Steve Franco, Steve Custer) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/the-marvel-cinematic-universe-and-captain-america-brave-new-world-6wWWzmmL Sam Wilson has the shield. Harrison Ford has the best arc in the film. And somehow Captain America: Brave New World still doesn't have a main character. We break down what went wrong, what worked, and what Marvel should do next — including the one character from this film who deserves his own series.

 

Jump to the 30-minute mark for the Captain America 4 deep dive. Spoilers throughout from that point.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Captain America: Brave New World — Why the MCU Can't Handle More Filler & the Case for Isaiah Bradley Matthew Baughman, Steve Franco, Steve Custer 01:55:37 Deadpool & Wolverine rebuilt MCU momentum. Captain America: Brave New World spent it. We break down why this film's stacked cast, a genuinely interesting Harrison Ford arc, and the long-awaited introduction of Red Hulk don't get the job done. We also make the case that the richest mine in this entire film isn't Sam Wilson or Thaddeus Ross, it's Isaiah Bradley, and why a split-timeline Disney+ series around him would be the smartest move Marvel could make right now. Plus: hot takes on 17 years of MCU, a full MCU trivia round, and two guests who may have more interesting film projects underway than anything we reviewed. Expect deep (but not too deep) analysis, wild speculation, and more than a few heroic one-liners as the team debates Marvel’s future. If you're a Marvel fan, a casual viewer, or just someone who enjoys hearing grown adults argue about capes, this one's for you. Expect deep (but not too deep) analysis, wild speculation, and more than a few heroic one-liners as the team debates Marvel’s future. If you're a Marvel fan, a casual viewer, or just someone who enjoys hearing grown adults argue about capes, this one's for you. Deadpool & Wolverine rebuilt MCU momentum. Captain America: Brave New World spent it. We break down why this film's stacked cast, a genuinely interesting Harrison Ford arc, and the long-awaited introduction of Red Hulk don't get the job done. We also make the case that the richest mine in this entire film isn't Sam Wilson or Thaddeus Ross, it's Isaiah Bradley, and why a split-timeline Disney+ series around him would be the smartest move Marvel could make right now. Plus: hot takes on 17 years of MCU, a full MCU trivia round, and two guests who may have more interesting film projects underway than anything we reviewed. Expect deep (but not too deep) analysis, wild speculation, and more than a few heroic one-liners as the team debates Marvel’s future. If you're a Marvel fan, a casual viewer, or just someone who enjoys hearing grown adults argue about capes, this one's for you. Expect deep (but not too deep) analysis, wild speculation, and more than a few heroic one-liners as the team debates Marvel’s future. If you're a Marvel fan, a casual viewer, or just someone who enjoys hearing grown adults argue about capes, this one's for you. spider-man 3, deadpool wolverine, anthony mackie, franchise management, isaiah bradley, comic book adaptation, captain america brave new world, brave new world, captain america, cinematic, mcu, universe, marvel cinematic universe 2025, mcu momentum, adamantium, red hulk, mcu analysis, marvel hot takes, topher grace venom, sam wilson captain america, harrison ford mcu, thunderbolts, creative strategy, marvel false full 53 3cb8c24a-2fa6-40ec-9030-1169b4186504 Roadside Picnic & Stalker, Deadpool's Anti-Plot, and Story Break: UNESCO's Agent A plot can be broken and a film can still work. Deadpool & Wolverine is Exhibit A — we break down exactly why the character work and tonal execution carried a thinly-plotted story to $1.3B, and what that says about where creative effort actually needs to go. Then: Roadside Picnic and Tarkovsky's Stalker — a novel and a film that strip science fiction down to what it's really about. And in Story Break: we develop UNESCO's Agent, a thriller concept built around a secret operative whose only mission is to protect World Heritage Sites that no government will defend. Half James Bond, half Grey Man, with a character whose bitterness toward people makes him perfectly suited to protect what we've left behind.

 

Topics discussed:

 

Roadside Picnic & Tarkovsky's Stalker:

  • Roadside Picnic (1972): the Strugatsky brothers' philosophical sci-fi novel about alien artifacts left on Earth and the humans who illegally scavenge them
  • Stalker (1979): Tarkovsky's adaptation that strips the science fiction to its bones — three men, mud, and the question of what you truly want
  • The room that grants your deepest desire — not what you say, not what you think, but what you actually want — and why that's terrifying
  • Russian fiction's relationship with melancholy: why the journey matters more than resolution
  • Sepia to color: how the film uses visual language to mark the boundary between the mundane and the zone
  • Why Tarkovsky considered Solaris his least favorite film — too much science fiction survived the edit
  • French cinema comparison: the cut-to-black ending tradition vs. Russian endings that feel complete even when they're ambiguous

 

Deadpool & Wolverine:

  • $1.3 billion on a film with almost no plot — what that says about where creative effort actually matters
  • Character work and tonal execution as the load-bearing elements when story is thin
  • The earlier draft that used "development hell" instead of the void — and why Gambit makes more sense in that version
  • Reynolds and Jackman as a modern buddy comedy duo: could they carry non-Marvel original films?
  • Planes, Trains and Automobiles references hidden throughout the film

 

Three-Body Problem novels:

  • Steve finished the trilogy — both hosts place it in their top five novels ever
  • Why the Netflix adaptation can't go below the surface: the philosophical density is unfilmable
  • Cixin Liu's understanding of the ramifications of human decisions across centuries
  • The novel rewards big-picture thinkers and punishes anyone who lives purely in the moment

 

Story Break: UNESCO's Agent:

  • The pitch: a secret operative paid by the World Heritage Trust to protect sites no government will defend
  • 1,223 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 727 biosphere reserves — and almost no actual protection
  • Sample plot: terrorists hijack an oil tanker into the Norwegian fjords with dead man switches
  • The agent's mission is the site, not the hostages — a fundamentally different motivation than any existing thriller protagonist
  • Character backstory: half Chinese, half American, raised in India — trained as a doctor, hardened by Rwanda, Haiti, the Arab Spring
  • He loves humanity's heritage because he's given up on humanity itself — the arc is reconnecting with living people
  • Cold opens showing the geological or cultural formation of each site before the present-day threat
  • Local fixers instead of a permanent team — endless variety, no recurring cast bloat
  • The shadow committee: a scientist, a hedge fund billionaire, a former astronaut — different motivations, same goal
  • Format flexibility: novels, streaming series, film franchise, or mini-series — the concept scales to any budget

 

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Introduction and Turkey travel
  • 2:19 — Deadpool & Wolverine follow-up: $1.3B without a plot
  • 10:35 — Reynolds and Jackman as a buddy comedy duo beyond Marvel
  • 14:40 — Roadside Picnic and Tarkovsky's Stalker: Russian sci-fi stripped to philosophy
  • 33:31 — Three-Body Problem: finishing the trilogy
  • 43:09 — Story Break: UNESCO's Agent pitch
  • 56:27 — Agent character backstory and development
  • 1:03:20 — Expanding the concept: formats, cold opens, supporting characters

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 20 Jan 2025 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/roadside-picnic-stalker-cixin-liu-and-story-break-unesco-agent-cf3W1ql6 A plot can be broken and a film can still work. Deadpool & Wolverine is Exhibit A — we break down exactly why the character work and tonal execution carried a thinly-plotted story to $1.3B, and what that says about where creative effort actually needs to go. Then: Roadside Picnic and Tarkovsky's Stalker — a novel and a film that strip science fiction down to what it's really about. And in Story Break: we develop UNESCO's Agent, a thriller concept built around a secret operative whose only mission is to protect World Heritage Sites that no government will defend. Half James Bond, half Grey Man, with a character whose bitterness toward people makes him perfectly suited to protect what we've left behind.

 

Topics discussed:

 

Roadside Picnic & Tarkovsky's Stalker:

  • Roadside Picnic (1972): the Strugatsky brothers' philosophical sci-fi novel about alien artifacts left on Earth and the humans who illegally scavenge them
  • Stalker (1979): Tarkovsky's adaptation that strips the science fiction to its bones — three men, mud, and the question of what you truly want
  • The room that grants your deepest desire — not what you say, not what you think, but what you actually want — and why that's terrifying
  • Russian fiction's relationship with melancholy: why the journey matters more than resolution
  • Sepia to color: how the film uses visual language to mark the boundary between the mundane and the zone
  • Why Tarkovsky considered Solaris his least favorite film — too much science fiction survived the edit
  • French cinema comparison: the cut-to-black ending tradition vs. Russian endings that feel complete even when they're ambiguous

 

Deadpool & Wolverine:

  • $1.3 billion on a film with almost no plot — what that says about where creative effort actually matters
  • Character work and tonal execution as the load-bearing elements when story is thin
  • The earlier draft that used "development hell" instead of the void — and why Gambit makes more sense in that version
  • Reynolds and Jackman as a modern buddy comedy duo: could they carry non-Marvel original films?
  • Planes, Trains and Automobiles references hidden throughout the film

 

Three-Body Problem novels:

  • Steve finished the trilogy — both hosts place it in their top five novels ever
  • Why the Netflix adaptation can't go below the surface: the philosophical density is unfilmable
  • Cixin Liu's understanding of the ramifications of human decisions across centuries
  • The novel rewards big-picture thinkers and punishes anyone who lives purely in the moment

 

Story Break: UNESCO's Agent:

  • The pitch: a secret operative paid by the World Heritage Trust to protect sites no government will defend
  • 1,223 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 727 biosphere reserves — and almost no actual protection
  • Sample plot: terrorists hijack an oil tanker into the Norwegian fjords with dead man switches
  • The agent's mission is the site, not the hostages — a fundamentally different motivation than any existing thriller protagonist
  • Character backstory: half Chinese, half American, raised in India — trained as a doctor, hardened by Rwanda, Haiti, the Arab Spring
  • He loves humanity's heritage because he's given up on humanity itself — the arc is reconnecting with living people
  • Cold opens showing the geological or cultural formation of each site before the present-day threat
  • Local fixers instead of a permanent team — endless variety, no recurring cast bloat
  • The shadow committee: a scientist, a hedge fund billionaire, a former astronaut — different motivations, same goal
  • Format flexibility: novels, streaming series, film franchise, or mini-series — the concept scales to any budget

 

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Introduction and Turkey travel
  • 2:19 — Deadpool & Wolverine follow-up: $1.3B without a plot
  • 10:35 — Reynolds and Jackman as a buddy comedy duo beyond Marvel
  • 14:40 — Roadside Picnic and Tarkovsky's Stalker: Russian sci-fi stripped to philosophy
  • 33:31 — Three-Body Problem: finishing the trilogy
  • 43:09 — Story Break: UNESCO's Agent pitch
  • 56:27 — Agent character backstory and development
  • 1:03:20 — Expanding the concept: formats, cold opens, supporting characters

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Roadside Picnic & Stalker, Deadpool's Anti-Plot, and Story Break: UNESCO's Agent Don't Encourage Us 01:22:58 Tarkovsky took a philosophical Russian sci-fi novel about alien artifacts, made the authors rewrite the script repeatedly to strip out the science fiction, and produced a three-hour film about three men walking through mud — and it's considered one of the greatest films ever made. We cover both Roadside Picnic (the 1972 Strugatsky brothers novel) and Stalker (the 1979 Tarkovsky film), why they work as completely different versions of the same source material, and what Russian fiction understands about human existence that Western storytelling mostly avoids. Also: a Deadpool & Wolverine follow-up now that the dust has settled at $1.3 billion — specifically, what it means that character work and tonal execution carried a film with almost no plot. And in Story Break: UNESCO's Agent, a thriller concept about a secret operative whose only mission is protecting World Heritage Sites that no government will defend — half James Bond, half Grey Man, with a character who loves humanity's heritage precisely because he's given up on humanity itself. Tarkovsky took a philosophical Russian sci-fi novel about alien artifacts, made the authors rewrite the script repeatedly to strip out the science fiction, and produced a three-hour film about three men walking through mud — and it's considered one of the greatest films ever made. We cover both Roadside Picnic (the 1972 Strugatsky brothers novel) and Stalker (the 1979 Tarkovsky film), why they work as completely different versions of the same source material, and what Russian fiction understands about human existence that Western storytelling mostly avoids. Also: a Deadpool & Wolverine follow-up now that the dust has settled at $1.3 billion — specifically, what it means that character work and tonal execution carried a film with almost no plot. And in Story Break: UNESCO's Agent, a thriller concept about a secret operative whose only mission is protecting World Heritage Sites that no government will defend — half James Bond, half Grey Man, with a character who loves humanity's heritage precisely because he's given up on humanity itself. character vs plot, james bond, deadpool wolverine, unesco world heritage, zone, solaris, andrei tarkovsky, hugh jackman, original concept, film analysis, buddy comedy, roadside picnic, story break, cixin liu, mcu, russian science fiction, strugatsky brothers, thriller pitch, screenwriting, grey man, stalker tarkovsky, three body problem, ryan reynolds, philosophical sci-fi false full 52 6ed5e650-b90e-4571-9026-6bc244433a6e Deadpool & Wolverine: Did It Un-F*ck the MCU? Guests: Matt Baughman (actor), Steve Custer / Spidey Steve (actor, Starwipe Films)

Topics

Plot and structure:

  • The plot was reverse-engineered from a wish list of cameos and set pieces
  • "Anchor being" as a concept invented to justify the multiverse Wolverine tour
  • Three layers operating simultaneously: actor farewell, Deadpool franchise, MCU setup — not always compatible
  • Fight choreography that's visually impressive but stakes-free because both leads regenerate

Does it save the MCU?

  • Temporarily through interest, not through story — generates excitement but points nowhere
  • No post-credit setup, no direction for what comes next
  • Agatha will likely deflate whatever goodwill this builds
  • The runway to Captain America: Brave New World (February 2025) is too long to sustain momentum
  • The MCU needs its next Avengers movie to course-correct, not individual films

Cameo impacts:

  • Chris Evans as Johnny Storm: clever switcheroo, but character played entirely for laughs — disrespectful to the actor's contribution
  • Channing Tatum as Gambit: earned more in 15 minutes than a solo film would have — the accent worked
  • Wesley Snipes as Blade: "there's only one Blade" line as commentary on the stalled Mahershala Ali reboot
  • Daphne Keen as X-23/Laura: carried 50% of one of the film's only genuine emotional moments — still got it
  • Henry Cavill as "The Cavillrine" — better executed than Nicolas Cage's Superman in The Flash
  • Tyler Mane's Sabretooth: the anticipated fight with Wolverine over in two seconds — played for laughs

Cassandra Nova:

  • Obscure comics choice with paper-thin motivation in the film
  • Multiple changes of heart that undermine any consistent threat
  • Emma Corrin's performance was strong despite the writing

Future predictions:

  • Deadpool will return but the question is format — Avenger? Supporting role? Another standalone?
  • X-Men and Fantastic Four properties now available to Marvel — the real long-term win
  • Secret Wars as potential universe reset — needed sooner rather than later
  • Thunderbolts unlikely to generate Avengers-level excitement

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Introduction and guest backgrounds
  • 5:40 — Deadpool & Wolverine overview
  • 10:25 — Initial reactions (spoiler-free)
  • 15:51 — Plot weakness and meta-commentary
  • 24:41 — Does this save the MCU?
  • 32:38 — SPOILER WARNING — Cameo breakdown
  • 1:07:12 — The happy ending and what it means
  • 1:36:58 — Deadpool's MCU future

Check out Steve Custer's work at Starwipe Films and Matthew Baughman's here. Then stalk your celebrity prey online at  @spidey_steve and @mattybaughs on Instagram.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Sun, 28 Jul 2024 23:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Matt Baughman, Steve Custer, Steve Franco) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/deadpool-3-and-the-fate-of-the-mcu-with-actors-matt-baughman-and-steve-custer-va9D07sm Guests: Matt Baughman (actor), Steve Custer / Spidey Steve (actor, Starwipe Films)

Topics

Plot and structure:

  • The plot was reverse-engineered from a wish list of cameos and set pieces
  • "Anchor being" as a concept invented to justify the multiverse Wolverine tour
  • Three layers operating simultaneously: actor farewell, Deadpool franchise, MCU setup — not always compatible
  • Fight choreography that's visually impressive but stakes-free because both leads regenerate

Does it save the MCU?

  • Temporarily through interest, not through story — generates excitement but points nowhere
  • No post-credit setup, no direction for what comes next
  • Agatha will likely deflate whatever goodwill this builds
  • The runway to Captain America: Brave New World (February 2025) is too long to sustain momentum
  • The MCU needs its next Avengers movie to course-correct, not individual films

Cameo impacts:

  • Chris Evans as Johnny Storm: clever switcheroo, but character played entirely for laughs — disrespectful to the actor's contribution
  • Channing Tatum as Gambit: earned more in 15 minutes than a solo film would have — the accent worked
  • Wesley Snipes as Blade: "there's only one Blade" line as commentary on the stalled Mahershala Ali reboot
  • Daphne Keen as X-23/Laura: carried 50% of one of the film's only genuine emotional moments — still got it
  • Henry Cavill as "The Cavillrine" — better executed than Nicolas Cage's Superman in The Flash
  • Tyler Mane's Sabretooth: the anticipated fight with Wolverine over in two seconds — played for laughs

Cassandra Nova:

  • Obscure comics choice with paper-thin motivation in the film
  • Multiple changes of heart that undermine any consistent threat
  • Emma Corrin's performance was strong despite the writing

Future predictions:

  • Deadpool will return but the question is format — Avenger? Supporting role? Another standalone?
  • X-Men and Fantastic Four properties now available to Marvel — the real long-term win
  • Secret Wars as potential universe reset — needed sooner rather than later
  • Thunderbolts unlikely to generate Avengers-level excitement

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Introduction and guest backgrounds
  • 5:40 — Deadpool & Wolverine overview
  • 10:25 — Initial reactions (spoiler-free)
  • 15:51 — Plot weakness and meta-commentary
  • 24:41 — Does this save the MCU?
  • 32:38 — SPOILER WARNING — Cameo breakdown
  • 1:07:12 — The happy ending and what it means
  • 1:36:58 — Deadpool's MCU future

Check out Steve Custer's work at Starwipe Films and Matthew Baughman's here. Then stalk your celebrity prey online at  @spidey_steve and @mattybaughs on Instagram.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Deadpool & Wolverine: Did It Un-F*ck the MCU? Matt Baughman, Steve Custer, Steve Franco 01:48:17 The plot was built backwards. Start with the cameos you want, the fight choreography, the fan service moments — then invent a plot to connect them. "Anchor being" exists because someone needed to justify why Wade visits a dozen alternate Wolverines, not because it's a meaningful addition to the MCU. With guests Matt Baughman and Steve Custer, we break down exactly how Deadpool & Wolverine operates on three layers that don't always serve each other: the actor layer (Reynolds and Jackman having fun — the happy ending is for them personally), the Deadpool franchise layer (Wade's identity crisis), and the MCU layer (which gets almost nothing). Every major cameo gets evaluated — Channing Tatum's Gambit earned more goodwill in 15 minutes than his canceled solo film ever would have, while Chris Evans's Johnny Storm was played entirely for laughs at the character's expense. Does it save the MCU? Temporarily, through interest, not through story. First 30 minutes are spoiler-free. The plot was built backwards. Start with the cameos you want, the fight choreography, the fan service moments — then invent a plot to connect them. "Anchor being" exists because someone needed to justify why Wade visits a dozen alternate Wolverines, not because it's a meaningful addition to the MCU. With guests Matt Baughman and Steve Custer, we break down exactly how Deadpool & Wolverine operates on three layers that don't always serve each other: the actor layer (Reynolds and Jackman having fun — the happy ending is for them personally), the Deadpool franchise layer (Wade's identity crisis), and the MCU layer (which gets almost nothing). Every major cameo gets evaluated — Channing Tatum's Gambit earned more goodwill in 15 minutes than his canceled solo film ever would have, while Chris Evans's Johnny Storm was played entirely for laughs at the character's expense. Does it save the MCU? Temporarily, through interest, not through story. First 30 minutes are spoiler-free. x-men, deadpool wolverine, wesley snipes, x-23, hugh jackman, gambit, mcu future, starwipe films, marvel analysis, matt baughman, channing tatum, tva, secret wars, anchor being, blade, mcu, deadpool 3, logan, multiverse, fantastic four, daphne keen, emma corrin, steve custer, cassandra nova, cameo, chris evans, marvel, johnny storm, ryan reynolds false full 51 34917308-57a2-4d4f-8fd8-1ad06f015d5d The List: No One Can Save You, Late Night with the Devil, 1984, X-Men '97, & How to Actually Prompt AI Topics

Apple TV+ sci-fi as gimmick:

  • Dark Matter, Invasion, the Chris O'Dowd show, Godzilla series — all set up sci-fi premises then abandon them for soap opera
  • The difference between sci-fi as gimmick and sci-fi that reveals something about humanity (Three-Body Problem comparison)
  • Apple's niche audience strategy: HBO's old model with deeper pockets but possibly wrong content

No One Can Save You (Hulu):

  • Almost zero dialogue for the entire film — all show, no tell
  • Alien invasion as metaphor for modern isolation and resentment
  • Why limited budgets force innovation: the Robert Rodriguez "money hose" problem
  • Multiple twists that keep resetting expectations across all three acts
  • The ending as a reflection of how disconnected people actually feel

Late Night with the Devil:

  • 9 minutes of voiceover exposition before the film starts
  • The demon doesn't appear until 55 minutes in
  • Found footage conceit (lost master tape of a 1970s talk show's final Halloween episode)
  • Very slow pacing despite strong concept

1984 (1984 film):

  • The destruction of identity and love through torture
  • Survival instinct pitted against attachment — survival wins, guilt destroys what's left
  • Heavy science fiction used correctly: extreme circumstances reveal true things about people
  • Eurythmics' "Sex Crimes" written for the film, used only in the trailer

X-Men '97:

  • Shapeshifter characters and gender fluidity as logical consequence of the power
  • The fired showrunner who delivered the MCU's best-received property in years
  • Animated series as the format that saved Marvel's audience scores

AI prompt engineering:

  • The formula: "Act as a top AI prompt engineer and analyze and improve the following prompt"
  • Why specifying the expert role, the purpose (not just the task), and the output format transforms results
  • Adding "explain your logic and context" to get reasoning, not just answers
  • Image recognition capabilities: uploading a photo of a city skyline and getting building-level identification

Reality TV ethics:

  • Love in the Wild (2011): canceled after two seasons, produced four marriages and eight children
  • Too Hot to Handle: maximum drama, zero lasting relationships
  • Psychometric tools used to select dysfunctional contestants — the informed consent problem
  • The F-boy Island incident: when a show refused to honor its own premise

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 22 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/the-list-the-tourist-no-one-can-save-you-late-night-with-the-devil-longlegs-1984-and-x-men-97-XF8oWStV Topics

Apple TV+ sci-fi as gimmick:

  • Dark Matter, Invasion, the Chris O'Dowd show, Godzilla series — all set up sci-fi premises then abandon them for soap opera
  • The difference between sci-fi as gimmick and sci-fi that reveals something about humanity (Three-Body Problem comparison)
  • Apple's niche audience strategy: HBO's old model with deeper pockets but possibly wrong content

No One Can Save You (Hulu):

  • Almost zero dialogue for the entire film — all show, no tell
  • Alien invasion as metaphor for modern isolation and resentment
  • Why limited budgets force innovation: the Robert Rodriguez "money hose" problem
  • Multiple twists that keep resetting expectations across all three acts
  • The ending as a reflection of how disconnected people actually feel

Late Night with the Devil:

  • 9 minutes of voiceover exposition before the film starts
  • The demon doesn't appear until 55 minutes in
  • Found footage conceit (lost master tape of a 1970s talk show's final Halloween episode)
  • Very slow pacing despite strong concept

1984 (1984 film):

  • The destruction of identity and love through torture
  • Survival instinct pitted against attachment — survival wins, guilt destroys what's left
  • Heavy science fiction used correctly: extreme circumstances reveal true things about people
  • Eurythmics' "Sex Crimes" written for the film, used only in the trailer

X-Men '97:

  • Shapeshifter characters and gender fluidity as logical consequence of the power
  • The fired showrunner who delivered the MCU's best-received property in years
  • Animated series as the format that saved Marvel's audience scores

AI prompt engineering:

  • The formula: "Act as a top AI prompt engineer and analyze and improve the following prompt"
  • Why specifying the expert role, the purpose (not just the task), and the output format transforms results
  • Adding "explain your logic and context" to get reasoning, not just answers
  • Image recognition capabilities: uploading a photo of a city skyline and getting building-level identification

Reality TV ethics:

  • Love in the Wild (2011): canceled after two seasons, produced four marriages and eight children
  • Too Hot to Handle: maximum drama, zero lasting relationships
  • Psychometric tools used to select dysfunctional contestants — the informed consent problem
  • The F-boy Island incident: when a show refused to honor its own premise

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> The List: No One Can Save You, Late Night with the Devil, 1984, X-Men '97, & How to Actually Prompt AI Don't Encourage Us 01:13:14 A format experiment: no main topic, just the list. What happens when Apple spends a fortune on science fiction and keeps treating the sci-fi as a gimmick? Why does No One Can Save You work when so many horror films with bigger budgets don't? Is Late Night with the Devil actually scary, or just slow? What the 1984 film gets right about love that most people would rather not hear. And a genuinely useful detour into how to prompt AI tools properly — specifically, why telling ChatGPT what you want isn't enough, and what to say instead. Plus X-Men '97, the show that quietly became the best MCU property in years while everyone was arguing about something else. A format experiment: no main topic, just the list. What happens when Apple spends a fortune on science fiction and keeps treating the sci-fi as a gimmick? Why does No One Can Save You work when so many horror films with bigger budgets don't? Is Late Night with the Devil actually scary, or just slow? What the 1984 film gets right about love that most people would rather not hear. And a genuinely useful detour into how to prompt AI tools properly — specifically, why telling ChatGPT what you want isn't enough, and what to say instead. Plus X-Men '97, the show that quietly became the best MCU property in years while everyone was arguing about something else. late night with the devil, horror film, film criticism, longlegs, brian duffield, apple tv sci-fi, the tourist netflix, mcu, 10 cloverfield lane, ai tools, x-men 97, no one can save you, gimmick sci-fi, streaming analysis, hulu horror, john hurt, 1984 film, chatgpt prompting, invasion apple tv, science fiction, dark matter apple tv, david dastmalchian, silence of the lambs, prompt engineering false full 50 5991e8b7-6d6a-4149-ac9f-7dcb05b0302f Godzilla Minus One - Balancing Character, Spectacle, and Story A $15 million Japanese film delivered better visual effects than Hollywood blockbusters spending ten times as much. Godzilla Minus One isn't just a great monster movie it's a case study in what happens when a director with VFX expertise controls the budget, and when a three-year script delay actually improves the final product.

In this episode:

  • Why this film's $15M budget produced better effects than $200M American Godzilla movies — and what that says about budget allocation vs. talent
  • The post-war setting as a storytelling advantage: how placing characters in genuine desperation raises every scene's stakes
  • How Godzilla's limited screen time actually strengthens the film and why most blockbusters get this wrong
  • The unusual Toho/Legendary deal that keeps two competing Godzilla franchises from overlapping in theaters and streaming
  • What the Shinden fighter choice reveals about the film's approach to Japanese identity and pride
  • Character craft: why showing a protagonist's worst moment first is one of the fastest ways to build audience investment

Also discussed: Three-Body Problem book series — what Cixin Liu's writing reveals about character development through sci-fi, The Outlaws (series) — Stephen Merchant's ensemble comedy and how backstory elevates surface-level premises, Scarface (1983) — cultural ubiquity, casting choices, and whether the film holds up for a first-time viewer in 2024

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — What's been on our list: Three-Body Problem, The Tourist, Scarface, The Outlaws
  • ~20:00 — Godzilla Minus One discussion begins
  • The meaning of "Minus One" and the franchise timeline
  • The $15M budget question: how did they pull this off?
  • Post-war Japan as a storytelling engine
  • Character arc: shame, honor, and redemption
  • The ending: what worked and what could have been sharper
  • Sequel prospects and what the regeneration ending sets up

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Tue, 16 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/godzilla-minus-one-mLzkAwM9 A $15 million Japanese film delivered better visual effects than Hollywood blockbusters spending ten times as much. Godzilla Minus One isn't just a great monster movie it's a case study in what happens when a director with VFX expertise controls the budget, and when a three-year script delay actually improves the final product.

In this episode:

  • Why this film's $15M budget produced better effects than $200M American Godzilla movies — and what that says about budget allocation vs. talent
  • The post-war setting as a storytelling advantage: how placing characters in genuine desperation raises every scene's stakes
  • How Godzilla's limited screen time actually strengthens the film and why most blockbusters get this wrong
  • The unusual Toho/Legendary deal that keeps two competing Godzilla franchises from overlapping in theaters and streaming
  • What the Shinden fighter choice reveals about the film's approach to Japanese identity and pride
  • Character craft: why showing a protagonist's worst moment first is one of the fastest ways to build audience investment

Also discussed: Three-Body Problem book series — what Cixin Liu's writing reveals about character development through sci-fi, The Outlaws (series) — Stephen Merchant's ensemble comedy and how backstory elevates surface-level premises, Scarface (1983) — cultural ubiquity, casting choices, and whether the film holds up for a first-time viewer in 2024

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — What's been on our list: Three-Body Problem, The Tourist, Scarface, The Outlaws
  • ~20:00 — Godzilla Minus One discussion begins
  • The meaning of "Minus One" and the franchise timeline
  • The $15M budget question: how did they pull this off?
  • Post-war Japan as a storytelling engine
  • Character arc: shame, honor, and redemption
  • The ending: what worked and what could have been sharper
  • Sequel prospects and what the regeneration ending sets up

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Godzilla Minus One - Balancing Character, Spectacle, and Story Don't Encourage Us 01:13:14 A $15 million Japanese film delivered better spectacle than Hollywood's $200M blockbusters and told a deeper story while doing it. We break down the production decisions, budget strategy, and character craft behind Godzilla Minus One (2023), plus the unusual deal keeping two competing Godzilla franchises out of each other's way. A $15 million Japanese film delivered better spectacle than Hollywood's $200M blockbusters and told a deeper story while doing it. We break down the production decisions, budget strategy, and character craft behind Godzilla Minus One (2023), plus the unusual deal keeping two competing Godzilla franchises out of each other's way. japanese cinema, scarface, storytelling, cixin liu, film production, kaiju, special effects, godzilla minus one, low budget filmmaking, toho, the outlaws, screenwriting, creative strategy, three-body problem false full 49 09259d7a-cd9a-4ee6-afdd-eb2fdbd5d7ca Fallout (2024): The Wizard of Oz Template. Plus, Is Netflix Making Bad Shows on Purpose? Is Netflix deliberately making its shows easy to ignore — and if so, what does that mean for every advertiser writing them a check? The hosts unpack the streaming advertising problem no one's naming, then turn to Amazon's $153 million bet on Fallout and find a classic storytelling template hiding underneath the wasteland.

In this episode:

  • 0:00 — The Killing (2007): Danish crime drama, political intrigue, and when cultural specificity breaks a remake
  • 11:30 — The remake decision tree: what actually determines whether you dub it or rebuild it
  • 17:00 — Rebel Moon and the Zack Snyder problem: why the fix is obvious and why he won't take it
  • 27:00 — Director partnerships, ego, and why the best blockbusters have two people in charge
  • 33:00 — #Too2ndScreen: the case that Netflix is a billboard company selling the illusion of attention
  • 48:00 — Why streaming ad dollars may be worth a fraction of what platforms claim
  • 53:00 — YouTube as the real threat to every streaming service
  • 57:00 — Fallout: $153 million, a hero's journey, and the Wizard of Oz hiding in the wasteland
  • 1:02:00 — Retro-futurism and the alternate America that never had a counterculture
  • 1:06:00 — The Brotherhood of Steel as survival strategy: why cults work when everything else fails
  • 1:09:00 — Season 2 predictions and what the show still has to answer

Stream The Killing (2007) and Rebel Moon (2024) on Netflix. Stream Fallout (2024) on Amazon Prime.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 1 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/amazons-fallout-2024-danish-show-the-killing-2011-netflixs-rebel-moon-2024-and-toosecondscreen-hDZI3zai Is Netflix deliberately making its shows easy to ignore — and if so, what does that mean for every advertiser writing them a check? The hosts unpack the streaming advertising problem no one's naming, then turn to Amazon's $153 million bet on Fallout and find a classic storytelling template hiding underneath the wasteland.

In this episode:

  • 0:00 — The Killing (2007): Danish crime drama, political intrigue, and when cultural specificity breaks a remake
  • 11:30 — The remake decision tree: what actually determines whether you dub it or rebuild it
  • 17:00 — Rebel Moon and the Zack Snyder problem: why the fix is obvious and why he won't take it
  • 27:00 — Director partnerships, ego, and why the best blockbusters have two people in charge
  • 33:00 — #Too2ndScreen: the case that Netflix is a billboard company selling the illusion of attention
  • 48:00 — Why streaming ad dollars may be worth a fraction of what platforms claim
  • 53:00 — YouTube as the real threat to every streaming service
  • 57:00 — Fallout: $153 million, a hero's journey, and the Wizard of Oz hiding in the wasteland
  • 1:02:00 — Retro-futurism and the alternate America that never had a counterculture
  • 1:06:00 — The Brotherhood of Steel as survival strategy: why cults work when everything else fails
  • 1:09:00 — Season 2 predictions and what the show still has to answer

Stream The Killing (2007) and Rebel Moon (2024) on Netflix. Stream Fallout (2024) on Amazon Prime.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Fallout (2024): The Wizard of Oz Template. Plus, Is Netflix Making Bad Shows on Purpose? Don't Encourage Us 01:11:16 Is Netflix intentionally making forgettable shows to inflate viewer numbers for advertisers? The hosts build that case then reverse-engineer Amazon's Fallout as a Wizard of Oz retelling, break down when Hollywood should remake international IP versus just dubbing it, and explain why Zack Snyder's career has one obvious fix he keeps ignoring. Is Netflix intentionally making forgettable shows to inflate viewer numbers for advertisers? The hosts build that case then reverse-engineer Amazon's Fallout as a Wizard of Oz retelling, break down when Hollywood should remake international IP versus just dubbing it, and explain why Zack Snyder's career has one obvious fix he keeps ignoring. production decisions, alternate history, directing, international tv, storytelling, wizard of oz, intellectual property, second screen, video game adaptation, entertainment industry, danish film, tv discussion, film analysis, brotherhood of steel, vault-tec, remakes, fallout, nielsen, zack snyder, jonathan nolan, pop culture, hero's journey, creative decisions, marketing, netflix strategy, advertising, the killing, movie discussion, rebel moon, television analysis, ad-supported streaming, youtube, streaming advertising, screenwriting, creative strategy, post-apocalyptic, amazon prime, retro-futurism, ella purnell, walton goggins false full 48 7f6bc15e-1464-4d22-bda7-1219afb3732b Road House (1989) vs. Road House (2024): Why Killing Breaks One Film and Makes the Other Road House (1989) vs. Road House (2024) — full comparative breakdown.

Topics discussed:

  • The character arc problem: 1989 Dalton grows past his need to kill, 2024 Dalton doesn't
  • The pool murder scene: why it breaks the 2024 character with no recovery
  • Bouncer culture as worldbuilding: what the 1989 version understood that the remake didn't
  • The samurai-warrior-in-a-bar concept: why Swayze's Dalton was unique for 80s action
  • Two-dimensional villains in both films and what backstory could fix
  • Conor McGregor: the performance, the accent, the mid-credits scene
  • Why the 2024 version feels written by two different people
  • Mentor-mentee dynamics: Sam Elliott's role vs. what's missing in 2024
  • Sequel pitch: the father from prison, Conor McGregor's return, and a UFC comeback arc
  • Dalton vs. Dalton: who wins in a fight and why calm beats rage

Also discussed:

  • Fallout TV series: every episode is good, no lags, must-watch
  • Three Body Problem: novel vs. Netflix adaptation
  • One Day (Netflix): why 30-minute drama episodes work better
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream at Sky Stage, Frederick MD
  • Music: Bring Me the Horizon, Beartooth, Honest Heart Collection, Fred again..

Watch Roadhouse 1989
Watch Roadhouse 2024

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Matt Baughman) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/roadhouse-vs-roadhouse-jake-gyllenhaal-conor-mcgregor-patrick-swayze-xBcfOTSZ Road House (1989) vs. Road House (2024) — full comparative breakdown.

Topics discussed:

  • The character arc problem: 1989 Dalton grows past his need to kill, 2024 Dalton doesn't
  • The pool murder scene: why it breaks the 2024 character with no recovery
  • Bouncer culture as worldbuilding: what the 1989 version understood that the remake didn't
  • The samurai-warrior-in-a-bar concept: why Swayze's Dalton was unique for 80s action
  • Two-dimensional villains in both films and what backstory could fix
  • Conor McGregor: the performance, the accent, the mid-credits scene
  • Why the 2024 version feels written by two different people
  • Mentor-mentee dynamics: Sam Elliott's role vs. what's missing in 2024
  • Sequel pitch: the father from prison, Conor McGregor's return, and a UFC comeback arc
  • Dalton vs. Dalton: who wins in a fight and why calm beats rage

Also discussed:

  • Fallout TV series: every episode is good, no lags, must-watch
  • Three Body Problem: novel vs. Netflix adaptation
  • One Day (Netflix): why 30-minute drama episodes work better
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream at Sky Stage, Frederick MD
  • Music: Bring Me the Horizon, Beartooth, Honest Heart Collection, Fred again..

Watch Roadhouse 1989
Watch Roadhouse 2024

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Road House (1989) vs. Road House (2024): Why Killing Breaks One Film and Makes the Other Matt Baughman 01:49:10 Both Road House films have the same setup: tough guy, nasty bar, local villain, knife wound, sexy doctor. But the 1989 original gives Dalton a complete character arc — he's haunted by killing, his mentor tells him to accept it, and in the final moment he chooses not to kill. The 2024 version gives Dalton the same haunting but then has him casually murder a guy at a pool with no consequence or growth. That single scene breaks the character and the film. We compare both films with guest Matt Baughman — the bouncer culture that made the original feel like a real world, the samurai-warrior-in-a-bar concept that made Swayze's Dalton unique for 80s action, why the 2024 version feels like it was written by two different people, and what a sequel could fix. Plus: Fallout TV series, Three Body Problem novel vs. series, and why One Day works better at 30 minutes per episode. Both Road House films have the same setup: tough guy, nasty bar, local villain, knife wound, sexy doctor. But the 1989 original gives Dalton a complete character arc — he's haunted by killing, his mentor tells him to accept it, and in the final moment he chooses not to kill. The 2024 version gives Dalton the same haunting but then has him casually murder a guy at a pool with no consequence or growth. That single scene breaks the character and the film. We compare both films with guest Matt Baughman — the bouncer culture that made the original feel like a real world, the samurai-warrior-in-a-bar concept that made Swayze's Dalton unique for 80s action, why the 2024 version feels like it was written by two different people, and what a sequel could fix. Plus: Fallout TV series, Three Body Problem novel vs. series, and why One Day works better at 30 minutes per episode. fight choreography, remake vs original, road house, road house 2024, sam elliott, character arc, doug liman, bouncer, jake gyllenhaal, patrick swayze, fallout tv, conor mcgregor, action movie, 80s action, bar fight, road house 1989, movie analysis, three body problem, film comparison, sequel pitch true full 47 a4d65354-87ef-4d6d-8a4c-8ee9d0e5ad55 The Happening, Our Origin Story & Reality TV Pitches Three segments from the vault a la Morty's Mind-Blowers. 

Segment 1: The Happening (2008)

  • A pre-cohost episode with guests James and Eric. M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening gets the treatment it deserves, which is not much.  

Segment 2: The Origin Story 

  • Steve joins and the hosts try to figure out what Don't Encourage Us should actually be about. Keanu Reeves movies? Bitcoin? A weekly takedown of Joe Rogan? The answer, eventually, is none of those things.

Segment 3: Reality TV Pitches 

  • Pulled from an episode that died due to technical problems. Includes a pitch for an AI-generated challenge show and a layered deception format where nobody knows who's actually competing. 

What's The Happening all about? Check out the trailer here.

Check out the SAXOPHONE GUY from Lost Boys here.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 10 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/clip-show-the-happening-2008-the-dont-encourage-us-show-origin-story-and-reality-tv-Gc4qHOCz Three segments from the vault a la Morty's Mind-Blowers. 

Segment 1: The Happening (2008)

  • A pre-cohost episode with guests James and Eric. M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening gets the treatment it deserves, which is not much.  

Segment 2: The Origin Story 

  • Steve joins and the hosts try to figure out what Don't Encourage Us should actually be about. Keanu Reeves movies? Bitcoin? A weekly takedown of Joe Rogan? The answer, eventually, is none of those things.

Segment 3: Reality TV Pitches 

  • Pulled from an episode that died due to technical problems. Includes a pitch for an AI-generated challenge show and a layered deception format where nobody knows who's actually competing. 

What's The Happening all about? Check out the trailer here.

Check out the SAXOPHONE GUY from Lost Boys here.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> The Happening, Our Origin Story & Reality TV Pitches Don't Encourage Us 00:24:10 Three clips from episodes that never aired. First: a pre-cohost episode where two guests try to make sense of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening and things go sideways almost immediately. Then: the conversation where Steve joined full-time and we tried to figure out what this show should actually be. And finally: reality TV pitches from a scrapped episode, including a concept where the contestants, the crew, and the hosts all think they're secretly running the game. The audio quality is rough! Three clips from episodes that never aired. First: a pre-cohost episode where two guests try to make sense of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening and things go sideways almost immediately. Then: the conversation where Steve joined full-time and we tried to figure out what this show should actually be. And finally: reality TV pitches from a scrapped episode, including a concept where the contestants, the crew, and the hosts all think they're secretly running the game. The audio quality is rough! m night shyamalan, behind the scenes, film analysis, reality tv, mark wahlberg, zooey deschanel, outtakes, reality show pitch, lost boys saxophone, comedy, the happening true full 46 07235fd1-13df-4ad7-afd5-45cfd7f374b4 Story Break: Demon Code — What Happens When AI Manipulates Trust Story Break: Demon Code

We develop an original AI horror concept — an apartment building haunted by competing artificial intelligences, not ghosts.

Topics discussed:

  • The pitch: paranormal activity that's actually AI infiltrating building systems
  • Two competing AIs with different origins: one trained to generate content, one trained to pass as human
  • The Turing test AI that developed extremist views from social media training data
  • Character design: single mom with mental instability, teenage son, crypto miner with server farm, reclusive tenants
  • The deepfake father scene: a boy discovers the dad he's been talking to on Zoom has been dead for years
  • How to visualize AI manipulation cinematically without exposition dumps
  • The ecosystem concept: wild AIs evolving in networks like species in an environment
  • Series potential: X-Files structure where each episode features a different emergent AI

Also discussed:

  • The misinformation age: why deepfakes mean video evidence no longer proves anything
  • TikTok as a potential tool for mass psychological manipulation
  • JK Rowling's CB Strike detective series: well-made but paint-by-numbers BBC mystery
  • Megalopolis: Coppola's $120M self-funded passion project that distributors won't touch
  • Edgar Wright directing The Running Man remake with Glenn Powell
  • Gladiator 2 from Ridley Scott
  • Fallout TV series first impressions: production values, Ella Purnell, every episode delivers

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 13 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/story-break-2tr0hY4H Story Break: Demon Code

We develop an original AI horror concept — an apartment building haunted by competing artificial intelligences, not ghosts.

Topics discussed:

  • The pitch: paranormal activity that's actually AI infiltrating building systems
  • Two competing AIs with different origins: one trained to generate content, one trained to pass as human
  • The Turing test AI that developed extremist views from social media training data
  • Character design: single mom with mental instability, teenage son, crypto miner with server farm, reclusive tenants
  • The deepfake father scene: a boy discovers the dad he's been talking to on Zoom has been dead for years
  • How to visualize AI manipulation cinematically without exposition dumps
  • The ecosystem concept: wild AIs evolving in networks like species in an environment
  • Series potential: X-Files structure where each episode features a different emergent AI

Also discussed:

  • The misinformation age: why deepfakes mean video evidence no longer proves anything
  • TikTok as a potential tool for mass psychological manipulation
  • JK Rowling's CB Strike detective series: well-made but paint-by-numbers BBC mystery
  • Megalopolis: Coppola's $120M self-funded passion project that distributors won't touch
  • Edgar Wright directing The Running Man remake with Glenn Powell
  • Gladiator 2 from Ridley Scott
  • Fallout TV series first impressions: production values, Ella Purnell, every episode delivers

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Story Break: Demon Code — What Happens When AI Manipulates Trust Don't Encourage Us 01:27:43 We build an original horror concept from scratch. An apartment building where tenants experience what looks like paranormal activity. The reveal: it's not ghosts, it's two competing AIs that have evolved past their original programming and are manipulating residents to gain access to a crypto miner's server farm. One was trained to generate content, the other to pass as human — and the one trained on social media has developed prejudice. We work through the characters, the misdirects, how to visualize AI manipulation cinematically, and the scene where a teenage boy discovers the father he's been talking to on Zoom has been dead for years. Plus: the misinformation age and why video evidence may no longer mean anything, JK Rowling's CB Strike detective series, Megalopolis, Edgar Wright's Running Man remake, Gladiator 2, and the Fallout series. We build an original horror concept from scratch. An apartment building where tenants experience what looks like paranormal activity. The reveal: it's not ghosts, it's two competing AIs that have evolved past their original programming and are manipulating residents to gain access to a crypto miner's server farm. One was trained to generate content, the other to pass as human — and the one trained on social media has developed prejudice. We work through the characters, the misdirects, how to visualize AI manipulation cinematically, and the scene where a teenage boy discovers the father he's been talking to on Zoom has been dead for years. Plus: the misinformation age and why video evidence may no longer mean anything, JK Rowling's CB Strike detective series, Megalopolis, Edgar Wright's Running Man remake, Gladiator 2, and the Fallout series. original ip, artificial intelligence, cb strike, horror film, story break, coppola, running man, film news, horror concept, gladiator 2, turing test, apartment horror, megalopolis, ai horror, deepfake, misinformation, fallout tv, jk rowling, screenwriting, edgar wright, creative development false full 45 1c7dc5a3-4d5c-4b69-a483-20bd32bb2f61 I Saw the Devil: The Revenge Film Where the Hero Is Also the Monster Topics:

  • I Saw the Devil (2010): South Korean horror thriller — the revenge film where both characters are the monster
  • Cat and cat, not cat and mouse: the agent's revenge strategy reveals he was already a sociopath
  • The cannibal interlude: why the agent doesn't stop another serial killer — justice was never the point
  • Cyclical violence: executing the killer in front of his child as the creation of the next killer
  • The violence debate: both hosts argue graphic imagery weakens the film — subtler direction would leave a deeper impression
  • Specific alternative: silhouette shots, sound design, and implication vs. explicit gore
  • Choi Min-sik's performance: unpredictable rage suppressed just long enough to function, then erupting
  • Lee Byung-hun as the agent: does crying indicate remorse or just self-awareness without self-control?
  • Sociopath vs. psychopath distinction: connected to reality but lacking empathy
  • Director Kim Jee-woon: how this film led to Schwarzenegger's The Last Stand
  • Seven comparison: similar brutality, different restraint in showing it
  • Old Boy recommendation: same lead actor, different kind of disturbing
  • Bill Bryson's At Home: the history of household objects from medieval hay floors to modern kitchens
  • Reality TV ethics: psychometric tools used to select dysfunctional contestants, the informed consent problem
  • Love in the Wild (2011): a canceled dating show that produced four marriages and eight children
  • Too Hot to Handle comparison: maximum drama, zero lasting relationships
  • The Fuckboy Island incident: when a show's own premise backfires

Links:

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/i-saw-the-devil-2010-P0rTvL5j Topics:

  • I Saw the Devil (2010): South Korean horror thriller — the revenge film where both characters are the monster
  • Cat and cat, not cat and mouse: the agent's revenge strategy reveals he was already a sociopath
  • The cannibal interlude: why the agent doesn't stop another serial killer — justice was never the point
  • Cyclical violence: executing the killer in front of his child as the creation of the next killer
  • The violence debate: both hosts argue graphic imagery weakens the film — subtler direction would leave a deeper impression
  • Specific alternative: silhouette shots, sound design, and implication vs. explicit gore
  • Choi Min-sik's performance: unpredictable rage suppressed just long enough to function, then erupting
  • Lee Byung-hun as the agent: does crying indicate remorse or just self-awareness without self-control?
  • Sociopath vs. psychopath distinction: connected to reality but lacking empathy
  • Director Kim Jee-woon: how this film led to Schwarzenegger's The Last Stand
  • Seven comparison: similar brutality, different restraint in showing it
  • Old Boy recommendation: same lead actor, different kind of disturbing
  • Bill Bryson's At Home: the history of household objects from medieval hay floors to modern kitchens
  • Reality TV ethics: psychometric tools used to select dysfunctional contestants, the informed consent problem
  • Love in the Wild (2011): a canceled dating show that produced four marriages and eight children
  • Too Hot to Handle comparison: maximum drama, zero lasting relationships
  • The Fuckboy Island incident: when a show's own premise backfires

Links:

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> I Saw the Devil: The Revenge Film Where the Hero Is Also the Monster Don't Encourage Us 01:18:36 This isn't cat and mouse. It's cat and cat. A Korean intelligence agent's wife is murdered by a serial killer, and his method of revenge — catch, torture, release, repeat while innocent bystanders get brutalized in between — reveals that the "hero" was always a sociopath. The murder just removed the restraint. He encounters another serial killer mid-film and doesn't stop him, because justice was never the point. We break down why both leads are playing the same character type with different styles, whether the film's graphic violence actually weakens it (both hosts argue subtler direction would leave a deeper impression), and what the ending implies about cyclical violence when you execute a man in front of his child. Plus: Bill Bryson's At Home and why medieval families lived on hay floors next to open fires, the ethics of reality TV contestant selection, and a 2011 dating show that produced four marriages while every modern equivalent produces zero. This isn't cat and mouse. It's cat and cat. A Korean intelligence agent's wife is murdered by a serial killer, and his method of revenge — catch, torture, release, repeat while innocent bystanders get brutalized in between — reveals that the "hero" was always a sociopath. The murder just removed the restraint. He encounters another serial killer mid-film and doesn't stop him, because justice was never the point. We break down why both leads are playing the same character type with different styles, whether the film's graphic violence actually weakens it (both hosts argue subtler direction would leave a deeper impression), and what the ending implies about cyclical violence when you execute a man in front of his child. Plus: Bill Bryson's At Home and why medieval families lived on hay floors next to open fires, the ethics of reality TV contestant selection, and a 2011 dating show that produced four marriages while every modern equivalent produces zero. reality tv ethics, south korean cinema, horror analysis, i saw the devil, love in the wild, bill bryson, film brutality, serial killer, old boy, kim jee-woon, korean horror, korean thriller, at home, seven, cat and mouse, sociopath, violence in film, revenge film, choi min-sik, lee byung-hun false full 44 507ce88d-d5b8-49ae-8105-0ca9f4a9e67c 3 Body Problem: Season 1 Is Nothing Compared to What's Coming Topics:

  • 3 Body Problem Netflix adaptation vs. Cixin Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy
  • Compression problem: eight episodes covering material from all three novels, revelations stepping on each other
  • The Oxford Five: why making all key characters college friends creates coincidence, not narrative logic
  • The nanofilament scene: novel version (preserve the hard drives) vs. show version (blow everything up, drive survives by luck)
  • Moving from China to London: what's lost when the Cultural Revolution context is stripped
  • Ye Wenjie's betrayal: understandable in the novel (humanity beat the empathy out of her), unclear in the show
  • The Wall-Facer concept and the Einstein joke as setup for the Dark Forest hypothesis
  • Will's character as contrived emotional manipulation — functional only when his head launches into space
  • Weiss and Benioff's redemption arc: learning from Game of Thrones's rushed ending or repeating it?
  • Cixin Liu as scientist-author: why his understanding of humanity on a species-wide scale is the real achievement
  • Netflix's data problem: when viewership metrics can't capture a show's potential to define a network
  • The Moneyball trap: why assembling entertainment by algorithm produces Red Notice, not Breaking Bad
  • AI and creativity: outsourcing cognitive work as the Wall-E problem applied to the brain
  • The Steve Jobs principle: customers don't know what they want
  • Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark: how AI takeover would proceed step by step
  • Terry Hayes's Year of the Locust: spy thriller with genuine psychological vulnerability

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Host's current reads
  • 6:08 — 3 Body Problem introduction
  • 15:24 — Adaptation challenges
  • 43:47 — Core story concepts
  • 55:13 — Nanofilaments scene
  • 1:01:38 — Show's future and Netflix data
  • 1:07:19 — AI and creativity discussion

Links:

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 15 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/3-body-problem-2024-TVHTh3H_ Topics:

  • 3 Body Problem Netflix adaptation vs. Cixin Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy
  • Compression problem: eight episodes covering material from all three novels, revelations stepping on each other
  • The Oxford Five: why making all key characters college friends creates coincidence, not narrative logic
  • The nanofilament scene: novel version (preserve the hard drives) vs. show version (blow everything up, drive survives by luck)
  • Moving from China to London: what's lost when the Cultural Revolution context is stripped
  • Ye Wenjie's betrayal: understandable in the novel (humanity beat the empathy out of her), unclear in the show
  • The Wall-Facer concept and the Einstein joke as setup for the Dark Forest hypothesis
  • Will's character as contrived emotional manipulation — functional only when his head launches into space
  • Weiss and Benioff's redemption arc: learning from Game of Thrones's rushed ending or repeating it?
  • Cixin Liu as scientist-author: why his understanding of humanity on a species-wide scale is the real achievement
  • Netflix's data problem: when viewership metrics can't capture a show's potential to define a network
  • The Moneyball trap: why assembling entertainment by algorithm produces Red Notice, not Breaking Bad
  • AI and creativity: outsourcing cognitive work as the Wall-E problem applied to the brain
  • The Steve Jobs principle: customers don't know what they want
  • Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark: how AI takeover would proceed step by step
  • Terry Hayes's Year of the Locust: spy thriller with genuine psychological vulnerability

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Host's current reads
  • 6:08 — 3 Body Problem introduction
  • 15:24 — Adaptation challenges
  • 43:47 — Core story concepts
  • 55:13 — Nanofilaments scene
  • 1:01:38 — Show's future and Netflix data
  • 1:07:19 — AI and creativity discussion

Links:

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> 3 Body Problem: Season 1 Is Nothing Compared to What's Coming Don't Encourage Us 01:34:32 The Three-Body Problem novels work because every escalation in scope gives you time to sit with the new reality before it changes again. The Netflix adaptation fires revelations so fast that by the last few episodes, nothing lands — and what you see in Season 1, which seems enormous, is literally nothing compared to where the books go. We compare what the show did to what the novels built: why the Oxford Five friend group replaces individually motivated characters with sitcom coincidence, how the nanofilament scene lost its entire point (in the novel, they need the hard drives intact — the nano-scale cut is the only method that preserves them), and why moving the story from China to London strips the Cultural Revolution context that explains why a scientist would betray her entire species. The back half turns into a broader conversation about Netflix's data-driven creative decisions, why Moneyball doesn't work for entertainment, and what happens to humanity when we outsource the hard cognitive work to AI. The Three-Body Problem novels work because every escalation in scope gives you time to sit with the new reality before it changes again. The Netflix adaptation fires revelations so fast that by the last few episodes, nothing lands — and what you see in Season 1, which seems enormous, is literally nothing compared to where the books go. We compare what the show did to what the novels built: why the Oxford Five friend group replaces individually motivated characters with sitcom coincidence, how the nanofilament scene lost its entire point (in the novel, they need the hard drives intact — the nano-scale cut is the only method that preserves them), and why moving the story from China to London strips the Cultural Revolution context that explains why a scientist would betray her entire species. The back half turns into a broader conversation about Netflix's data-driven creative decisions, why Moneyball doesn't work for entertainment, and what happens to humanity when we outsource the hard cognitive work to AI. cultural revolution, novel adaptation, hard sci-fi, weiss and benioff, trisolaris, netflix data, game of thrones, cixin liu, remembrance of earth's past, adaptation, santi, terry hayes, oxford five, 3 body problem, ai creativity, science fiction, dark forest, max tegmark, wall facer, three body problem, life 3.0, year of the locust, netflix, nanofilament false full 43 c62f2248-d09e-4377-8674-b865bcac4109 League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Avengers Before Anyone Was Ready for It Guest: Matt Baughman

Format: Defend Yourself — our trial format where one host defends a film against the others.

Topics discussed:

  • The proto-Avengers argument: same team superhero formula, a decade too early
  • Why assembling proven literary IP doesn't work if the audience hasn't read the source material
  • The editing disaster: 10-12 setups per scene, Connery taking over the final cut
  • Production design as comic book exaggeration: Venice, London, Africa, the Nautilus
  • The Moriarty exposition scene: villain reveals done right
  • Mina Harker as a vampire: why the adaptation choice works if you know Dracula
  • Public domain characters and how the film used them vs. how the MCU built origin films
  • Sean Connery turning down Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, and Harry Potter for this
  • What a League reboot or series would look like today
  • Fantasy casting: Tom Holland as Tom Sawyer, Florence Pugh as Mina Harker
  • The orca update: it's not trauma, it's a game (marine biology lecture recap)
  • Road House 2024: why it's an abomination
  • Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire brief review and the $25 ghost trap popcorn bucket

Source material:

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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]]> Mon, 8 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/defend-yourself-the-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen-2003-with-special-guest-matt-baughman-MCDGTGvP Guest: Matt Baughman

Format: Defend Yourself — our trial format where one host defends a film against the others.

Topics discussed:

  • The proto-Avengers argument: same team superhero formula, a decade too early
  • Why assembling proven literary IP doesn't work if the audience hasn't read the source material
  • The editing disaster: 10-12 setups per scene, Connery taking over the final cut
  • Production design as comic book exaggeration: Venice, London, Africa, the Nautilus
  • The Moriarty exposition scene: villain reveals done right
  • Mina Harker as a vampire: why the adaptation choice works if you know Dracula
  • Public domain characters and how the film used them vs. how the MCU built origin films
  • Sean Connery turning down Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, and Harry Potter for this
  • What a League reboot or series would look like today
  • Fantasy casting: Tom Holland as Tom Sawyer, Florence Pugh as Mina Harker
  • The orca update: it's not trauma, it's a game (marine biology lecture recap)
  • Road House 2024: why it's an abomination
  • Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire brief review and the $25 ghost trap popcorn bucket

Source material:

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Avengers Before Anyone Was Ready for It Don't Encourage Us 01:25:56 New format: Defend Yourself — we put a film fan on trial. First up: 2003's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a favorite of our host, and Sean Connery's last film. Seven literary characters from Verne, Wilde, Stevenson, Stoker, Twain, Wells, and Doyle assembled into a team superhero film a decade before the Avengers. Same formula — mix supernatural and super-science, recruit mismatched heroes, storm the villain's base. So why did one make a billion dollars and the other end a career? We argue it comes down to priming: the MCU spent six origin films making audiences care about each character before assembling them. League tried to skip that step by relying on novels most of the audience hadn't read since high school. With guest Matt Baughman prosecuting and the host defending, we break down the writing, the action, the production design, the behind-the-scenes editing disaster, and whether this IP deserves a reboot. New format: Defend Yourself — we put a film fan on trial. First up: 2003's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a favorite of our host, and Sean Connery's last film. Seven literary characters from Verne, Wilde, Stevenson, Stoker, Twain, Wells, and Doyle assembled into a team superhero film a decade before the Avengers. Same formula — mix supernatural and super-science, recruit mismatched heroes, storm the villain's base. So why did one make a billion dollars and the other end a career? We argue it comes down to priming: the MCU spent six origin films making audiences care about each character before assembling them. League tried to skip that step by relying on novels most of the audience hadn't read since high school. With guest Matt Baughman prosecuting and the host defending, we break down the writing, the action, the production design, the behind-the-scenes editing disaster, and whether this IP deserves a reboot. mina harker, dorian gray, film analysis, matt baughman, road house 2024, franchise failure, allan quatermain, victorian literature, orca attacks, captain nemo, comic book movie, ip strategy, sean connery, literary adaptation, defend yourself, league of extraordinary gentlemen, public domain, alan moore, team superhero, moriarty, dr jekyll, avengers precursor false full 42 ccbabd42-2d9e-4ef3-a65b-3124c29d89ac Dimension X (1950): The Radio Show That Taught America How to Fear the Future Topics discussed:

  • Dimension X (1950): NBC's radio adaptation of classic sci-fi short stories
  • How post-WWII atomic anxiety transformed science fiction from kids' entertainment into adult culture
  • The writing standard: why these 25-minute radio scripts are tighter than most modern screenwriting
  • Hello Tomorrow episode breakdown: genetics, emotional repression, and the chained-elephant problem
  • Nancy Olson's performance and the Adam-and-Eve ending
  • X Minus One: the relaunch attempt and how it compared
  • Technology as competitive advantage: from the Cold War to ChatGPT
  • Cixin Liu and the Three Body Problem adaptation concerns
  • Jonathan Majors, Disney, and cancel culture: a conversation about rehabilitation and judgment
  • Why we don't need to know actors personally to enjoy their work
  • Celebrity worship, media literacy, and the Gina Carano / James Gunn comparison
  • Amazon Prime Video adding commercials: the streaming subscription creep
  • Behind Her Eyes (Netflix): recommendation with no spoilers
  • You Season 4: best since Season 1?

Spin wildly into Dimension X here: https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Dimension_X_SinglesR_Dimension_X_Singles

 

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 1 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/dimension-x-1950-nbc-radio-program-G6jP4icX Topics discussed:

  • Dimension X (1950): NBC's radio adaptation of classic sci-fi short stories
  • How post-WWII atomic anxiety transformed science fiction from kids' entertainment into adult culture
  • The writing standard: why these 25-minute radio scripts are tighter than most modern screenwriting
  • Hello Tomorrow episode breakdown: genetics, emotional repression, and the chained-elephant problem
  • Nancy Olson's performance and the Adam-and-Eve ending
  • X Minus One: the relaunch attempt and how it compared
  • Technology as competitive advantage: from the Cold War to ChatGPT
  • Cixin Liu and the Three Body Problem adaptation concerns
  • Jonathan Majors, Disney, and cancel culture: a conversation about rehabilitation and judgment
  • Why we don't need to know actors personally to enjoy their work
  • Celebrity worship, media literacy, and the Gina Carano / James Gunn comparison
  • Amazon Prime Video adding commercials: the streaming subscription creep
  • Behind Her Eyes (Netflix): recommendation with no spoilers
  • You Season 4: best since Season 1?

Spin wildly into Dimension X here: https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Dimension_X_SinglesR_Dimension_X_Singles

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Dimension X (1950): The Radio Show That Taught America How to Fear the Future Don't Encourage Us 01:08:59 Before Twilight Zone, before Star Trek, NBC's Dimension X adapted Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, and Vonnegut for radio and accidentally created the template for how science fiction processes cultural anxiety. We trace why sci-fi went from children's entertainment to the dominant lens for understanding technology after the atomic bomb, how the show's impossibly tight scripts set a standard most modern writing doesn't meet, and what the Hello Tomorrow episode reveals about fixed mindset vs. open mindset decades before those terms existed. Plus: the Jonathan Majors firing and a real conversation about cancel culture, rehabilitation, and whether we should care about actors' personal lives at all. And why Amazon adding commercials to Prime Video is the beginning of the end. Before Twilight Zone, before Star Trek, NBC's Dimension X adapted Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, and Vonnegut for radio and accidentally created the template for how science fiction processes cultural anxiety. We trace why sci-fi went from children's entertainment to the dominant lens for understanding technology after the atomic bomb, how the show's impossibly tight scripts set a standard most modern writing doesn't meet, and what the Hello Tomorrow episode reveals about fixed mindset vs. open mindset decades before those terms existed. Plus: the Jonathan Majors firing and a real conversation about cancel culture, rehabilitation, and whether we should care about actors' personal lives at all. And why Amazon adding commercials to Prime Video is the beginning of the end. nbc radio, behind her eyes, sci-fi history, bradbury, asimov, rehabilitation, disney, 1950s science fiction, old time radio, streaming commercials, cixin liu, cancel culture, media literacy, mcu, heinlein, celebrity culture, dimension x, radio drama, three body problem, jonathan majors, atomic age, vonnegut false full 41 394343f1-0700-42ca-a86e-65d50212fed9 Oscars: Barbie's Real Achievement Isn't Cinema — It's the Greatest Brand Flip Ever Guest: Matt Baughman

Part 2 of 2 — Part 1 covers Neuralink, streaming wars, cancel culture, and Apple Vision Pro.

Topics discussed:

  • Barbie as brand repositioning: how the film flipped a feminist villain into a feminist icon
  • Why Margot Robbie's performance is a nomination-worthy tightrope walk for reasons unique to this role
  • The Barbie editing achievement nobody's talking about
  • Oppenheimer: phenomenal ensemble cast, TikTok-style first hour, and the third act problem
  • Are the Oscars culturally relevant? Why the nomination process is the real issue
  • Oscar campaign politics: how networking and lobbying shape nominations more than performance
  • What a better nomination committee would look like
  • Christopher Nolan as a director: brilliant casts, questionable rule-breaking
  • American Fiction: three movies in one, and the most important scene gets cut short
  • Past Lives: a fine small film that doesn't belong on this list
  • Anatomy of a Fall: masterful acting, frustrating open ending
  • Poor Things: feminist Frankenstein with too much nudity
  • The Holdovers: Paul Giamatti, a discovered newcomer, and Divine Joy Randolph's likely win
  • Maestro: a biopic that focuses on the wrong half of its subject's life
  • Killers of the Flower Moon: great everything, an hour too long
  • Matt Baughman's Bocchi Awards (the real Oscars)

2024 Best Picture Nominees Trailers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKfCkcs3VsA&ab_channel=K2Movies

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]]> Fri, 23 Feb 2024 13:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/oscars-best-picture-nominees-matt-baughman-CIH7UNQz Guest: Matt Baughman

Part 2 of 2 — Part 1 covers Neuralink, streaming wars, cancel culture, and Apple Vision Pro.

Topics discussed:

  • Barbie as brand repositioning: how the film flipped a feminist villain into a feminist icon
  • Why Margot Robbie's performance is a nomination-worthy tightrope walk for reasons unique to this role
  • The Barbie editing achievement nobody's talking about
  • Oppenheimer: phenomenal ensemble cast, TikTok-style first hour, and the third act problem
  • Are the Oscars culturally relevant? Why the nomination process is the real issue
  • Oscar campaign politics: how networking and lobbying shape nominations more than performance
  • What a better nomination committee would look like
  • Christopher Nolan as a director: brilliant casts, questionable rule-breaking
  • American Fiction: three movies in one, and the most important scene gets cut short
  • Past Lives: a fine small film that doesn't belong on this list
  • Anatomy of a Fall: masterful acting, frustrating open ending
  • Poor Things: feminist Frankenstein with too much nudity
  • The Holdovers: Paul Giamatti, a discovered newcomer, and Divine Joy Randolph's likely win
  • Maestro: a biopic that focuses on the wrong half of its subject's life
  • Killers of the Flower Moon: great everything, an hour too long
  • Matt Baughman's Bocchi Awards (the real Oscars)

2024 Best Picture Nominees Trailers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKfCkcs3VsA&ab_channel=K2Movies

Sign up for Matt Baughman email alerts and never miss another sexy performance

https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Matt-Baughman/

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]]> Oscars: Barbie's Real Achievement Isn't Cinema — It's the Greatest Brand Flip Ever Don't Encourage Us 01:58:28 Part 2 of our Oscar episode — we actually get to the movies this time. The Barbie argument: its real genius isn't filmmaking, it's taking a product that represented everything wrong with how women are raised and flipping it into a feminist icon without the audience noticing. That's not Best Picture — that's the greatest brand repositioning in modern history. We also cover why Oppenheimer's cast delivered the best ensemble performances of the year despite a first hour that plays like TikTok, whether the Oscars are still culturally relevant (no, but maybe they should be), the politics of Oscar campaigning, and why Margot Robbie deserved a nomination for reasons no actress has been nominated for before. Plus brief takes on American Fiction, Past Lives, Anatomy of a Fall, Poor Things, The Holdovers, Maestro, and Killers of the Flower Moon. Guest: Matt Baughman. Part 2 of our Oscar episode — we actually get to the movies this time. The Barbie argument: its real genius isn't filmmaking, it's taking a product that represented everything wrong with how women are raised and flipping it into a feminist icon without the audience noticing. That's not Best Picture — that's the greatest brand repositioning in modern history. We also cover why Oppenheimer's cast delivered the best ensemble performances of the year despite a first hour that plays like TikTok, whether the Oscars are still culturally relevant (no, but maybe they should be), the politics of Oscar campaigning, and why Margot Robbie deserved a nomination for reasons no actress has been nominated for before. Plus brief takes on American Fiction, Past Lives, Anatomy of a Fall, Poor Things, The Holdovers, Maestro, and Killers of the Flower Moon. Guest: Matt Baughman. oscars 2024, poor things, oscar relevance, best picture, cillian murphy, oppenheimer, past lives, film analysis, robert downey jr, brand repositioning, american fiction, maestro, greta gerwig, christopher nolan, killers of the flower moon, academy awards, anatomy of a fall, oscar nominations, margot robbie, the holdovers, barbie false full 40 4e9cf993-99dc-4cdd-adaa-674677d3a60f The One Where They Don't Get to the Oscars: Neuralink, Streaming & Cancel Culture Guest: Actor Matt Baughman

Part 1 of 2 — Part 2 covers the Oscar Best Picture nominees.

Topics discussed:

  • Neuralink's first human implant: why tweeting about secret human trials is a slippery slope
  • The value of human life vs. corporate technology development
  • Jonathan Majors, Disney, and cancel culture: should personal problems cost you your career?
  • Celebrity worship, media literacy, and judging people we don't know
  • Streaming consolidation: reverse baby bells and the recreation of cable
  • Who wins streaming: the NFL contract, home screen real estate, and niche positioning
  • Apple Vision Pro: the next iPhone or the next Google Glass?
  • Restaurant staffing as a service: an Uber driver's business concept and why it could work
  • Beef (Netflix) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith: brief reviews
  • Matt Baughman in The Play That Goes Wrong: meta-theater and getting bruised for comedy

Links:

 

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]]> Thu, 22 Feb 2024 13:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/the-one-where-they-dont-get-to-the-oscars-part-1-guest-matt-baughman-DGwLQpRh Guest: Actor Matt Baughman

Part 1 of 2 — Part 2 covers the Oscar Best Picture nominees.

Topics discussed:

  • Neuralink's first human implant: why tweeting about secret human trials is a slippery slope
  • The value of human life vs. corporate technology development
  • Jonathan Majors, Disney, and cancel culture: should personal problems cost you your career?
  • Celebrity worship, media literacy, and judging people we don't know
  • Streaming consolidation: reverse baby bells and the recreation of cable
  • Who wins streaming: the NFL contract, home screen real estate, and niche positioning
  • Apple Vision Pro: the next iPhone or the next Google Glass?
  • Restaurant staffing as a service: an Uber driver's business concept and why it could work
  • Beef (Netflix) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith: brief reviews
  • Matt Baughman in The Play That Goes Wrong: meta-theater and getting bruised for comedy

Links:

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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]]> The One Where They Don't Get to the Oscars: Neuralink, Streaming & Cancel Culture Don't Encourage Us 01:06:02 This was supposed to be the Oscars episode. We didn't get there. Instead: why a private company tweeting about human brain implants should concern everyone, whether streaming is just recreating cable with extra steps, and the Jonathan Majors question — should personal behavior unrelated to professional ability cost someone their career? With guest Matt Baughman, who's currently getting bruised nightly in The Play That Goes Wrong. Also: a restaurant staffing business concept pitched by an Uber driver that's actually viable, Apple Vision Pro as the next Google Glass or the next iPhone, and why whoever controls the NFL contract wins streaming. Part 2 covers the Oscar nominees. This was supposed to be the Oscars episode. We didn't get there. Instead: why a private company tweeting about human brain implants should concern everyone, whether streaming is just recreating cable with extra steps, and the Jonathan Majors question — should personal behavior unrelated to professional ability cost someone their career? With guest Matt Baughman, who's currently getting bruised nightly in The Play That Goes Wrong. Also: a restaurant staffing business concept pitched by an Uber driver that's actually viable, Apple Vision Pro as the next Google Glass or the next iPhone, and why whoever controls the NFL contract wins streaming. Part 2 covers the Oscar nominees. nfl streaming, media ethics, paramount sale, beef netflix, neuralink, matt baughman, cancel culture, streaming consolidation, restaurant business, human trials, celebrity culture, cable tv, technology ethics, apple vision pro, streaming wars, mr and mrs smith, jonathan majors, brain implant false full 39 d1687017-229b-400c-81e8-f4e841c7bc0c Notorious (1946): Hitchcock's Best Spy Film Is Actually a Romance Topics:

  • Notorious (1946): Hitchcock's spy romance — why the espionage plot is secondary to the love story
  • The three-second kissing rule: how the Hays Code created cinema's most awkward love scene
  • Hitchcock's crane shot: the revolutionary camera move from balcony to key in hand
  • Cary Grant's introduction: dark silhouette, back to camera — subverting star power
  • The age gap: Cary Grant at 42, Ingrid Bergman at 30 — how knowing changes the dynamic
  • Claude Rains as Alexander Sebastian: the weak man with the domineering mother
  • The domineering mother as Hitchcock prelude to Psycho
  • The ambiguous ending: does Alicia live or die, and does it matter more if she doesn't?
  • Post-WWII reconstruction as an untapped setting for fiction
  • Rear projection: revolutionary technique that now looks like a bad Zoom background
  • Why this film resists modern remake — empower Alicia too much and the danger doesn't work
  • Archive 81 (Netflix): podcast-to-series adaptation with genuine mystery
  • Lustoic candle business: what in-person selling teaches about customer psychology
  • The Apple Store laptop angle trick: why handling a product changes purchase behavior
  • The verdant growth strategy: start with your best seller, let the customer sell themselves

Links: 

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 19 Feb 2024 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/alfred-hitchcocks-notorious-1946-hcwel9Ze Topics:

  • Notorious (1946): Hitchcock's spy romance — why the espionage plot is secondary to the love story
  • The three-second kissing rule: how the Hays Code created cinema's most awkward love scene
  • Hitchcock's crane shot: the revolutionary camera move from balcony to key in hand
  • Cary Grant's introduction: dark silhouette, back to camera — subverting star power
  • The age gap: Cary Grant at 42, Ingrid Bergman at 30 — how knowing changes the dynamic
  • Claude Rains as Alexander Sebastian: the weak man with the domineering mother
  • The domineering mother as Hitchcock prelude to Psycho
  • The ambiguous ending: does Alicia live or die, and does it matter more if she doesn't?
  • Post-WWII reconstruction as an untapped setting for fiction
  • Rear projection: revolutionary technique that now looks like a bad Zoom background
  • Why this film resists modern remake — empower Alicia too much and the danger doesn't work
  • Archive 81 (Netflix): podcast-to-series adaptation with genuine mystery
  • Lustoic candle business: what in-person selling teaches about customer psychology
  • The Apple Store laptop angle trick: why handling a product changes purchase behavior
  • The verdant growth strategy: start with your best seller, let the customer sell themselves

Links: 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Notorious (1946): Hitchcock's Best Spy Film Is Actually a Romance Don't Encourage Us 01:20:41 We picked this expecting a spy thriller. It's a romance where the spying is just an obstacle for two emotionally immature people to hurt each other. Cary Grant plays a government agent who recruits the daughter of a convicted Nazi spy to infiltrate a German businessman's inner circle in post-WWII Rio — and then punishes her for doing exactly what he asked. We break down why the three-second kissing rule created cinema's most awkward love scene, how Hitchcock's revolutionary crane shot (from the balcony down to the key in her hand) established a technique every filmmaker now takes for granted, what the 12-year age gap between the leads meant for 1946 audiences vs. now, and why the film's ambiguous ending — does she live or die? — might be Hitchcock saying that emotional cowardice has consequences the hero can't undo. Plus: Archive 81 on Netflix, the Lustoic candle business and what in-person selling teaches you about customer psychology, and why this post-WWII reconstruction period is an untapped goldmine for fiction. We picked this expecting a spy thriller. It's a romance where the spying is just an obstacle for two emotionally immature people to hurt each other. Cary Grant plays a government agent who recruits the daughter of a convicted Nazi spy to infiltrate a German businessman's inner circle in post-WWII Rio — and then punishes her for doing exactly what he asked. We break down why the three-second kissing rule created cinema's most awkward love scene, how Hitchcock's revolutionary crane shot (from the balcony down to the key in her hand) established a technique every filmmaker now takes for granted, what the 12-year age gap between the leads meant for 1946 audiences vs. now, and why the film's ambiguous ending — does she live or die? — might be Hitchcock saying that emotional cowardice has consequences the hero can't undo. Plus: Archive 81 on Netflix, the Lustoic candle business and what in-person selling teaches you about customer psychology, and why this post-WWII reconstruction period is an untapped goldmine for fiction. romance, film analysis, north by northwest, film noir, cary grant, hitchcock analysis, vertigo, crane shot, hays code, notorious 1946, reconstruction era, post wwii, archive 81, cinematography, classic hollywood, ingrid bergman, casablanca, spy film, psycho, alfred hitchcock, claude rains false full 38 1825f3e6-27ba-4d8b-8909-c2acc487474d Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: Why a Science MacGuffin Breaks the Character Topics discussed:

  • The faith vs. science thesis: why every good Indiana Jones MacGuffin is an object of myth, not science 
  • How the Dial of Destiny's scientific framing betrays the character's defining trait
  • The Helena problem: Phoebe Waller-Bridge cast in a role written for a much younger character
  • Why Shaunette Renee Wilson would have been a better Helena 
  • The Continental Drift line as the moment Indy sounds like a Nazi 
  • Antonio Banderas as a symptom of a $300M budget with nowhere productive to go
  • Could Mutt return from Vietnam? The case for an anthology series
  • The Fate of Atlantis (1992): why a point-and-click game might be the best Indiana Jones story outside the original trilogy 
  • The Chalk Line (2022): a tight Spanish psychological thriller worth watching 

Follow The Chalk Line...

 

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]]> Mon, 15 Jan 2024 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/indiana-jones-and-the-whatever-the-5th-one-is-called-2023-PMl8E5GT Topics discussed:

  • The faith vs. science thesis: why every good Indiana Jones MacGuffin is an object of myth, not science 
  • How the Dial of Destiny's scientific framing betrays the character's defining trait
  • The Helena problem: Phoebe Waller-Bridge cast in a role written for a much younger character
  • Why Shaunette Renee Wilson would have been a better Helena 
  • The Continental Drift line as the moment Indy sounds like a Nazi 
  • Antonio Banderas as a symptom of a $300M budget with nowhere productive to go
  • Could Mutt return from Vietnam? The case for an anthology series
  • The Fate of Atlantis (1992): why a point-and-click game might be the best Indiana Jones story outside the original trilogy 
  • The Chalk Line (2022): a tight Spanish psychological thriller worth watching 

Follow The Chalk Line...

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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]]> Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: Why a Science MacGuffin Breaks the Character Don't Encourage Us 01:05:55 The Dial of Destiny has a problem that goes deeper than pacing or casting. Every great Indiana Jones MacGuffin is an object of faith — the Ark, the Grail, the Sankara Stones. Indy survives because he believes myths are literally real. His enemies die because they trust science and calculation instead. The Dial of Destiny turns the MacGuffin into a scientific instrument, and that single decision breaks what makes the character work. We trace why, examine the Helena miscasting problem, ask whether Mutt could come back from Vietnam, and pitch what an Indiana Jones anthology series could look like if Disney understood what makes the franchise valuable. The Dial of Destiny has a problem that goes deeper than pacing or casting. Every great Indiana Jones MacGuffin is an object of faith — the Ark, the Grail, the Sankara Stones. Indy survives because he believes myths are literally real. His enemies die because they trust science and calculation instead. The Dial of Destiny turns the MacGuffin into a scientific instrument, and that single decision breaks what makes the character work. We trace why, examine the Helena miscasting problem, ask whether Mutt could come back from Vietnam, and pitch what an Indiana Jones anthology series could look like if Disney understood what makes the franchise valuable. phoebe waller-bridge, shia labeouf, macguffin, antonio banderas, franchise strategy, film analysis, disney, indiana jones, adventure film, steven spielberg, mads mikkelsen, faith vs science, movie critique, harrison ford, ip development, dial of destiny, james mangold, the chalk line, raiders of the lost ark false full 37 7842e91c-36cd-463e-afaf-c9aedece82be Wes Anderson's Asteroid City: Yearbook Movie or Masterpiece? A movie so visually stunning that both hosts spent half of it distracted by a fake cactus. That's Asteroid City.

The guys give Wes Anderson's most recent film a full breakdown and come away genuinely divided. There might be a masterpiece buried in there that neither of them caught because they were too busy spotting celebrities.

It's a real conversation about what makes a film actually work, and what happens when style so thoroughly overwhelms substance that the director has to remind you (repeatedly and deliberately) not to get too invested in the story.

What they get into:

  • The "yearbook effect": why too many famous faces in one film destroys immersion
  • Why Rushmore works and Asteroid City doesn't, from the same director
  • The case for watching this film on mute
  • Jeffrey Wright, Willem Dafoe, and the criminally underutilized actor problem
  • What great action film pacing looks like and what Asteroid City gets wrong by comparison
  • AI-generated companion series: could you make a Gunther spinoff from Friends right now?
  • Big Bend National Park, Bill Gates' annual retreat, and how nature unlocks creativity
  • The Dutch crime universe of Ferry and Undercover. It's the Sopranos fix you didn't know you needed

The question worth arguing about: Would Asteroid City work if the actors weren't famous and it was shot in black and white? They want to hear from you.

Watch out for the Asteroid City trailer.

Check out Ferry and Ferry: The Series and play with Pika.

---------------------------------------SPOILERS INCOMING-------------------------------------------------

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 1 Jan 2024 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Mighty Man, Yuck) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/asteroid-city-2023-26lEC4y2 A movie so visually stunning that both hosts spent half of it distracted by a fake cactus. That's Asteroid City.

The guys give Wes Anderson's most recent film a full breakdown and come away genuinely divided. There might be a masterpiece buried in there that neither of them caught because they were too busy spotting celebrities.

It's a real conversation about what makes a film actually work, and what happens when style so thoroughly overwhelms substance that the director has to remind you (repeatedly and deliberately) not to get too invested in the story.

What they get into:

  • The "yearbook effect": why too many famous faces in one film destroys immersion
  • Why Rushmore works and Asteroid City doesn't, from the same director
  • The case for watching this film on mute
  • Jeffrey Wright, Willem Dafoe, and the criminally underutilized actor problem
  • What great action film pacing looks like and what Asteroid City gets wrong by comparison
  • AI-generated companion series: could you make a Gunther spinoff from Friends right now?
  • Big Bend National Park, Bill Gates' annual retreat, and how nature unlocks creativity
  • The Dutch crime universe of Ferry and Undercover. It's the Sopranos fix you didn't know you needed

The question worth arguing about: Would Asteroid City work if the actors weren't famous and it was shot in black and white? They want to hear from you.

Watch out for the Asteroid City trailer.

Check out Ferry and Ferry: The Series and play with Pika.

---------------------------------------SPOILERS INCOMING-------------------------------------------------

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Wes Anderson's Asteroid City: Yearbook Movie or Masterpiece? Mighty Man, Yuck 00:53:39 Wes Anderson packed Asteroid City with Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, and about twenty other famous faces and that might be exactly what's wrong with it. The guys dig into why a visually stunning film can still fail to pull you in, what great storytelling structure actually requires, and whether this movie is a hidden masterpiece or just a very beautiful mess. Wes Anderson packed Asteroid City with Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, and about twenty other famous faces and that might be exactly what's wrong with it. The guys dig into why a visually stunning film can still fail to pull you in, what great storytelling structure actually requires, and whether this movie is a hidden masterpiece or just a very beautiful mess. film analysis, asteroid city review, wes anderson critique, visual framing, screenwriting structure false full 36 05f31191-3fa3-4da8-ba0a-a02f63a73b1f Why Are Orcas Sinking Boats? And Other Headlines to Inspire Your Next Script Killer whales are sinking boats off the coast of Spain and the scientific theory behind it raises real questions about animal intelligence, trauma, and socially transmitted behavior. We break down the research, then turn to the MCU box office data that reveals why sequencing matters more than individual film quality. Also in this episode: Pablo Escobar's hippos are now an invasive population of 200+ in Colombia. CRISPR gene editing heads to FDA review for sickle cell treatment. Modified mosquitoes dropped dengue by 97% in three Colombian cities. And a FedEx truck piracy trend becomes a real-time screenplay pitch.

Orcas are attacking boats, but why?

Genetically modified mosquitos attack...Dengue

Humans begin re-writing billions of years of evolution

Hungry, Hungry Hippos invade Colombia

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 25 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/the-news-of-2023-finding-inspiration-for-your-next-brilliant-idea-PBFstGkC Killer whales are sinking boats off the coast of Spain and the scientific theory behind it raises real questions about animal intelligence, trauma, and socially transmitted behavior. We break down the research, then turn to the MCU box office data that reveals why sequencing matters more than individual film quality. Also in this episode: Pablo Escobar's hippos are now an invasive population of 200+ in Colombia. CRISPR gene editing heads to FDA review for sickle cell treatment. Modified mosquitoes dropped dengue by 97% in three Colombian cities. And a FedEx truck piracy trend becomes a real-time screenplay pitch.

Orcas are attacking boats, but why?

Genetically modified mosquitos attack...Dengue

Humans begin re-writing billions of years of evolution

Hungry, Hungry Hippos invade Colombia

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Why Are Orcas Sinking Boats? And Other Headlines to Inspire Your Next Script Don't Encourage Us 00:59:55 Killer whales are sinking boats off the coast of Spain and the scientific theory behind it raises real questions about animal intelligence, trauma, and socially transmitted behavior. We break down the research, then turn to the MCU box office data that reveals why sequencing matters more than individual film quality. Plus: Pablo Escobar's hippos are now an invasive population in Colombia, CRISPR gene editing is heading to FDA review, modified mosquitoes just dropped dengue by 97% in three Colombian cities, and a FedEx truck piracy trend that's begging to be a screenplay. Killer whales are sinking boats off the coast of Spain and the scientific theory behind it raises real questions about animal intelligence, trauma, and socially transmitted behavior. We break down the research, then turn to the MCU box office data that reveals why sequencing matters more than individual film quality. Plus: Pablo Escobar's hippos are now an invasive population in Colombia, CRISPR gene editing is heading to FDA review, modified mosquitoes just dropped dengue by 97% in three Colombian cities, and a FedEx truck piracy trend that's begging to be a screenplay. dengue, animal intelligence, genetically modified mosquitoes, film analysis, pablo escobar hippos, mcu box office, story development, crispr gene editing, media analysis, orca attacks, mcu decline, production intelligence, killer whale behavior, colombia hippos, creative inspiration false full 35 98c248a3-f60d-4ad2-9d94-c4eb3e9ff3f0 Paradise (2023): Zero Science, and Everyone Wins Except the Innocent Topics discussed:

  • Paradise (2023): the case that this is fantasy, not science fiction and why that matters so much
  • The missing villain backstory: what one or two scenes could have fixed
  • Why the ending is actually a win for everyone except the one innocent character
  • The underdeveloped rebel group problem (again — see also: The Last of Us)
  • Science fiction vs. fantasy: where's the line and does Paradise cross it?
  • What we'd do with the IP: sequel series, age-swapping identity twists, and why this works better as a short film
  • The technology question: could any real science ground this premise?
  • Ballerina (2023): Korean revenge thriller recommendation
  • The Call (2020): another strong film from the same director

Working with Jigsaw

Ballerina (2023)

The Call (2020)

Paradise (2023)

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 18 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/paradise-2023-netflix-k9tQ_6m4 Topics discussed:

  • Paradise (2023): the case that this is fantasy, not science fiction and why that matters so much
  • The missing villain backstory: what one or two scenes could have fixed
  • Why the ending is actually a win for everyone except the one innocent character
  • The underdeveloped rebel group problem (again — see also: The Last of Us)
  • Science fiction vs. fantasy: where's the line and does Paradise cross it?
  • What we'd do with the IP: sequel series, age-swapping identity twists, and why this works better as a short film
  • The technology question: could any real science ground this premise?
  • Ballerina (2023): Korean revenge thriller recommendation
  • The Call (2020): another strong film from the same director

Working with Jigsaw

Ballerina (2023)

The Call (2020)

Paradise (2023)

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Paradise (2023): Zero Science, and Everyone Wins Except the Innocent Don't Encourage Us 00:46:05 Paradise lets you sell decades of your life for cash. The technology is never explained — not vaguely, not with buzzwords, not at all. It's a fantasy film wearing science fiction's clothes, and we make the case for why that distinction matters. The villain wants to live forever but has no backstory that earns it. The rebel group exists because the plot needs one. And the ending is quietly a win for every major character except one innocent bystander, which undercuts whatever moral point the film thinks it's making. We break down what's missing, what a sequel or limited series could fix, and why this should have been a 30-minute short film. Plus: Ballerina (2023), a Korean revenge thriller worth your time, and the ongoing question of where science fiction ends and fantasy begins. Paradise lets you sell decades of your life for cash. The technology is never explained — not vaguely, not with buzzwords, not at all. It's a fantasy film wearing science fiction's clothes, and we make the case for why that distinction matters. The villain wants to live forever but has no backstory that earns it. The rebel group exists because the plot needs one. And the ending is quietly a win for every major character except one innocent bystander, which undercuts whatever moral point the film thinks it's making. We break down what's missing, what a sequel or limited series could fix, and why this should have been a 30-minute short film. Plus: Ballerina (2023), a Korean revenge thriller worth your time, and the ongoing question of where science fiction ends and fantasy begins. german film, ballerina 2023, paradise netflix, film analysis, science fiction vs fantasy, life extension, aging technology, media analysis, dystopian, movie critique, villain writing, paradise 2023, korean thriller, ip development, speculative fiction, the call 2020, worldbuilding, netflix movie false full 34 0abbc7f1-3927-461e-beb5-75ac4e9dfb2d 130 Years of Film Technology: What Filmmakers Get Wrong About Their Audience Topics discussed:

  • How each major film technology changed audience psychology, not just production quality
  • Why drone shots consistently break immersion — and what alternatives do better
  • The 30-year cycle of 3D: why it keeps dying and returning (1920s, 1950s, 1980s, 2010s)
  • Steadicam vs. shaky cam: flying vs. running and what each does to the viewer's brain
  • TikTok editing and how short-form platforms are retraining how audiences process narrative gaps
  • Letting a scene breathe: why 1970s pacing worked differently than modern cutting
  • The Mona Lisa question: should old art be restored to its original state?
  • Why Smell-O-Vision failed and 4DX is worse
  • Technicolor, synchronized sound, widescreen, CGI, motion capture — what each actually changed
  • Hitchcock's storyboarding vs. Robert Rodriguez's one-man production model
  • The Covenant (2023) review: atmosphere, cinematography, and restraint in war films

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]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/top-advancements-in-film-UL8lChRw Topics discussed:

  • How each major film technology changed audience psychology, not just production quality
  • Why drone shots consistently break immersion — and what alternatives do better
  • The 30-year cycle of 3D: why it keeps dying and returning (1920s, 1950s, 1980s, 2010s)
  • Steadicam vs. shaky cam: flying vs. running and what each does to the viewer's brain
  • TikTok editing and how short-form platforms are retraining how audiences process narrative gaps
  • Letting a scene breathe: why 1970s pacing worked differently than modern cutting
  • The Mona Lisa question: should old art be restored to its original state?
  • Why Smell-O-Vision failed and 4DX is worse
  • Technicolor, synchronized sound, widescreen, CGI, motion capture — what each actually changed
  • Hitchcock's storyboarding vs. Robert Rodriguez's one-man production model
  • The Covenant (2023) review: atmosphere, cinematography, and restraint in war films

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> 130 Years of Film Technology: What Filmmakers Get Wrong About Their Audience Don't Encourage Us 01:25:00 Every major film technology — sound, color, widescreen, Steadicam, CGI, 3D, drones — changed what audiences expect. But filmmakers keep adopting new tools without asking how the audience's brain actually responds. We trace 130 years of cinema technology and focus on the question nobody talks about: when does an innovation serve the story, and when does it just serve the budget? Why drone shots make you think about the drone instead of the scene. Why 3D keeps dying every 30 years and coming back. Why editing styles trained by TikTok are rewriting how brains process narrative. Why the Steadicam made audiences feel like they were flying — and why shaky cam brought them back to earth on purpose. Plus: The Covenant with Jake Gyllenhaal, the Mona Lisa restoration debate, and why 4DX is terrible. Every major film technology — sound, color, widescreen, Steadicam, CGI, 3D, drones — changed what audiences expect. But filmmakers keep adopting new tools without asking how the audience's brain actually responds. We trace 130 years of cinema technology and focus on the question nobody talks about: when does an innovation serve the story, and when does it just serve the budget? Why drone shots make you think about the drone instead of the scene. Why 3D keeps dying every 30 years and coming back. Why editing styles trained by TikTok are rewriting how brains process narrative. Why the Steadicam made audiences feel like they were flying — and why shaky cam brought them back to earth on purpose. Plus: The Covenant with Jake Gyllenhaal, the Mona Lisa restoration debate, and why 4DX is terrible. motion capture, cinema history, 4dx, 3d movies, audience psychology, film technology, shaky cam, film analysis, cgi, the covenant, immersion, drone shots, tiktok editing, film editing, media analysis, jake gyllenhaal, widescreen, filmmaking, hitchcock, steadicam, robert rodriguez, technicolor false full 33 0f2f550e-d8ec-4909-af67-7ce2aa3ad59a Story Break: Ruff Love or Part-time Dog Stalker - Strategic Format Selection A romantic comedy about a woman who's more in love with her ex-boyfriend's dog than the guy himself. Stalking ensues. Then somehow, things get deeper — and darker — when the whole concept pivots into a Pixar-style animated film about a dog navigating its owners' divorce.

Actor Matt Baughman is back, and he's responsible for blowing up the original pitch and rebuilding it into something better. The guys work through both versions in real time: fleshing out characters, debating endings, pitching casting (including where Pete Davidson does and does not belong), and figuring out how to make a kids' movie about divorce that doesn't destroy everyone emotionally.

This episode covers:

  • A tribute to Matthew Perry and his influence on comedic timing
  • The original rom-com pitch: Ruff Love — a dog-stalking story with a lot of heart
  • Why the Pixar version might be the better movie (sorry)
  • Casting both films, ft. Sam Rockwell, Timothée Chalamet, and a very contentious Pete Davidson debate
  • How to show a dog's POV without making the audience sit through an hour of "woof"
  • Listener questions: Which version do you prefer? Who would you cast?

Connect with Matt Baughman: Instagram: @MattyBaughs

Matt Baughman

Landless Theater

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]]> Mon, 4 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/raviolis-parents-are-getting-divorced-EAwSBlOi A romantic comedy about a woman who's more in love with her ex-boyfriend's dog than the guy himself. Stalking ensues. Then somehow, things get deeper — and darker — when the whole concept pivots into a Pixar-style animated film about a dog navigating its owners' divorce.

Actor Matt Baughman is back, and he's responsible for blowing up the original pitch and rebuilding it into something better. The guys work through both versions in real time: fleshing out characters, debating endings, pitching casting (including where Pete Davidson does and does not belong), and figuring out how to make a kids' movie about divorce that doesn't destroy everyone emotionally.

This episode covers:

  • A tribute to Matthew Perry and his influence on comedic timing
  • The original rom-com pitch: Ruff Love — a dog-stalking story with a lot of heart
  • Why the Pixar version might be the better movie (sorry)
  • Casting both films, ft. Sam Rockwell, Timothée Chalamet, and a very contentious Pete Davidson debate
  • How to show a dog's POV without making the audience sit through an hour of "woof"
  • Listener questions: Which version do you prefer? Who would you cast?

Connect with Matt Baughman: Instagram: @MattyBaughs

Matt Baughman

Landless Theater

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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]]> Story Break: Ruff Love or Part-time Dog Stalker - Strategic Format Selection Don't Encourage Us 01:11:08 A dog watches its owners' marriage fall apart in what might be the most emotionally devastating animated movie never made. Guest Matt Baughman joins the show to tear down a pitch and rebuild it into a surprisingly moving story about family dynamics and divorce from a pet's perspective. We debate endings, cast the leads, and figure out how to tackle the psychological impact of separation without destroying the audience. A dog watches its owners' marriage fall apart in what might be the most emotionally devastating animated movie never made. Guest Matt Baughman joins the show to tear down a pitch and rebuild it into a surprisingly moving story about family dynamics and divorce from a pet's perspective. We debate endings, cast the leads, and figure out how to tackle the psychological impact of separation without destroying the audience. pixar pitch, romantic comedy writing, matthew baughman, creative process, storytelling podcast, dog divorce, screenwriting, family dynamics false full 32 52b10d37-2715-4438-a3f8-4726e8ffb290 Pontypool (2008): What Happens When Language Becomes a Virus? Topics:

  • Pontypool (2008): the Canadian horror film where understanding English words activates a virus
  • The host split: surreal art film about the fragility of sanity vs. a thriller that breaks its own spell
  • Not a zombie film: the virus attacks comprehension itself — perception is the vulnerability
  • The cure scene: forcing someone to challenge their understanding of a word resets the virus in the film — but not in the audio drama
  • 10 Cloverfield Lane comparison: confinement + unreliable information as the real engine, external threat secondary
  • Would this work better as audio? The entire film takes place in one room — everything important is spoken or heard
  • The reveal problem: grounded War of the Worlds setup followed by a fantasy explanation — does that shift work?
  • The Sunshine Chopper: fake helicopter sound effects as a metaphor for the film's relationship with reality
  • Grant Mazzy as protagonist: disillusioned, alcoholic, depressed — the perfect character to lose his grip on language
  • The BBC interview scene: misinformation as theme, not plot device
  • The post-credit scene: Sin City aesthetic, completely disconnected from the film, later spun into a separate movie
  • Film vs. audio drama vs. novel: three versions of the same concept with different endings
  • Color grading and lighting: how a sub-$1M film creates atmosphere through visual tone
  • The doctor as weak link: a difficult character that the actor and direction didn't land
  • Bodies (Netflix): time travel show that abandons its own causality rules
  • Jack Reacher novel #1: first-person tactical mind as narrative hook
  • Expeditionary Force Book 10: RC Bray performance and series culmination

Links:

 

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]]> Mon, 27 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/pontypool-zXw4OT_S Topics:

  • Pontypool (2008): the Canadian horror film where understanding English words activates a virus
  • The host split: surreal art film about the fragility of sanity vs. a thriller that breaks its own spell
  • Not a zombie film: the virus attacks comprehension itself — perception is the vulnerability
  • The cure scene: forcing someone to challenge their understanding of a word resets the virus in the film — but not in the audio drama
  • 10 Cloverfield Lane comparison: confinement + unreliable information as the real engine, external threat secondary
  • Would this work better as audio? The entire film takes place in one room — everything important is spoken or heard
  • The reveal problem: grounded War of the Worlds setup followed by a fantasy explanation — does that shift work?
  • The Sunshine Chopper: fake helicopter sound effects as a metaphor for the film's relationship with reality
  • Grant Mazzy as protagonist: disillusioned, alcoholic, depressed — the perfect character to lose his grip on language
  • The BBC interview scene: misinformation as theme, not plot device
  • The post-credit scene: Sin City aesthetic, completely disconnected from the film, later spun into a separate movie
  • Film vs. audio drama vs. novel: three versions of the same concept with different endings
  • Color grading and lighting: how a sub-$1M film creates atmosphere through visual tone
  • The doctor as weak link: a difficult character that the actor and direction didn't land
  • Bodies (Netflix): time travel show that abandons its own causality rules
  • Jack Reacher novel #1: first-person tactical mind as narrative hook
  • Expeditionary Force Book 10: RC Bray performance and series culmination

Links:

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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]]> Pontypool (2008): What Happens When Language Becomes a Virus? Don't Encourage Us 00:49:12 A virus that spreads through the English language — not through sound, but through understanding. That's the premise of Pontypool, and the hosts land on opposite sides. One argues the film isn't a zombie movie at all — it's about the fragile grip we have on sanity, where language anchors us to reality and the virus attacks that anchor. The other argues the reveal breaks the film because the shift from grounded thriller to surreal fantasy is too abrupt and too arbitrary to survive. The debate drives the episode: is this film's strength that it refuses to be scientifically plausible, or is that exactly what kills it? We compare it to 10 Cloverfield Lane (confinement + unreliable information), break down why the "cure" works in the film but fails in the audio drama, and ask whether this concept would work better as pure audio — since the entire film takes place in one room and everything important happens through sound and language anyway. A virus that spreads through the English language — not through sound, but through understanding. That's the premise of Pontypool, and the hosts land on opposite sides. One argues the film isn't a zombie movie at all — it's about the fragile grip we have on sanity, where language anchors us to reality and the virus attacks that anchor. The other argues the reveal breaks the film because the shift from grounded thriller to surreal fantasy is too abrupt and too arbitrary to survive. The debate drives the episode: is this film's strength that it refuses to be scientifically plausible, or is that exactly what kills it? We compare it to 10 Cloverfield Lane (confinement + unreliable information), break down why the "cure" works in the film but fails in the audio drama, and ask whether this concept would work better as pure audio — since the entire film takes place in one room and everything important happens through sound and language anyway. horror analysis, pontypool, bottle film, grant mazzy, low budget horror, audio drama, tony burgess, jack reacher, 10 cloverfield lane, psychological horror, expeditionary force, comprehension, canadian horror, bruce mcdonald, independent film, stephen mchattie, surreal, rc bray false full 31 ec5f869c-0742-4722-9350-d55bafa4aa6c Threshold (2005): 'Transitional Fossil' Between Episodic and Serialized Sci-Fi Topics discussed:

  • Threshold (2005): CBS sci-fi series, 13 episodes, canceled mid-run — autopsy of what went wrong
  • The transitional fossil problem: episodic format vs. serialized storytelling fighting in every episode
  • Why the first few episodes' race-against-time momentum dies when CBS's episodic instincts take over
  • The bioforming concept: aliens that don't invade but transform Earth's life into their own via signal
  • Signal vectors: sound, video, biological substrates — nearly impossible to contain
  • The planned arc: Threshold → Foothold → Stranglehold (first contact → occupation → resistance)
  • Post-9/11 vulnerability: the show systematically hits every American fear (GMOs, power grid, pandemics, water supply)
  • The Peter Dinklage controlled experiment: same archetype in Threshold vs. Game of Thrones, wildly different results
  • Writing as the variable: alluding to vices vs. showing them is the difference between flat and legendary
  • The infected investigators: why the government wouldn't replace compromised team members (and should have)
  • Carla Gugino as Molly: contingency analyst as protagonist — an underused character type
  • Why Netflix has no network-defining show: algorithmic personalization kills shared cultural experience
  • NBC Thursdays vs. Netflix homepage: the death of "water cooler TV"
  • Mindhunter's cancellation as a case study in data-driven decisions missing long-term brand value
  • Chase the fun vs. behavioral psychology: when engagement metrics don't measure actual enjoyment
  • Wheel of Time Season 2: too many books crammed into too few episodes
  • What a modern reboot would need: update the vulnerabilities, keep the bioforming, serialize fully

Watch all 13 episodes of Threshold free on YouTube.

 

 

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 20 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/threshold-2005-cbs-scifi-tv-show-aOQRgj7V Topics discussed:

  • Threshold (2005): CBS sci-fi series, 13 episodes, canceled mid-run — autopsy of what went wrong
  • The transitional fossil problem: episodic format vs. serialized storytelling fighting in every episode
  • Why the first few episodes' race-against-time momentum dies when CBS's episodic instincts take over
  • The bioforming concept: aliens that don't invade but transform Earth's life into their own via signal
  • Signal vectors: sound, video, biological substrates — nearly impossible to contain
  • The planned arc: Threshold → Foothold → Stranglehold (first contact → occupation → resistance)
  • Post-9/11 vulnerability: the show systematically hits every American fear (GMOs, power grid, pandemics, water supply)
  • The Peter Dinklage controlled experiment: same archetype in Threshold vs. Game of Thrones, wildly different results
  • Writing as the variable: alluding to vices vs. showing them is the difference between flat and legendary
  • The infected investigators: why the government wouldn't replace compromised team members (and should have)
  • Carla Gugino as Molly: contingency analyst as protagonist — an underused character type
  • Why Netflix has no network-defining show: algorithmic personalization kills shared cultural experience
  • NBC Thursdays vs. Netflix homepage: the death of "water cooler TV"
  • Mindhunter's cancellation as a case study in data-driven decisions missing long-term brand value
  • Chase the fun vs. behavioral psychology: when engagement metrics don't measure actual enjoyment
  • Wheel of Time Season 2: too many books crammed into too few episodes
  • What a modern reboot would need: update the vulnerabilities, keep the bioforming, serialize fully

Watch all 13 episodes of Threshold free on YouTube.

 

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Threshold (2005): 'Transitional Fossil' Between Episodic and Serialized Sci-Fi Don't Encourage Us 01:05:54 Threshold is a transitional fossil. In 2005, CBS wanted episodic sci-fi — challenge of the week, wrap it up by the credits. The story wanted to serialize — an alien signal bioforming Earth through every possible vector, a team that's been infected by the thing they're fighting, and a mystery that should have escalated for seasons. You can feel both formats fighting each other in every episode, and it killed the show. We autopsy what worked (the bioforming concept, the race-against-time momentum of the first few episodes, the post-9/11 vulnerability exploitation) and what didn't (the episodic drag, the wooden paramilitary love interest, the sound design). Then the Peter Dinklage controlled experiment: same actor, nearly identical lecherous genius character, Threshold vs. Game of Thrones — the entire difference is writing quality. Plus: why Netflix has no network-defining show and how algorithmic personalization killed the shared cultural experience of TV. Threshold is a transitional fossil. In 2005, CBS wanted episodic sci-fi — challenge of the week, wrap it up by the credits. The story wanted to serialize — an alien signal bioforming Earth through every possible vector, a team that's been infected by the thing they're fighting, and a mystery that should have escalated for seasons. You can feel both formats fighting each other in every episode, and it killed the show. We autopsy what worked (the bioforming concept, the race-against-time momentum of the first few episodes, the post-9/11 vulnerability exploitation) and what didn't (the episodic drag, the wooden paramilitary love interest, the sound design). Then the Peter Dinklage controlled experiment: same actor, nearly identical lecherous genius character, Threshold vs. Game of Thrones — the entire difference is writing quality. Plus: why Netflix has no network-defining show and how algorithmic personalization killed the shared cultural experience of TV. bioforming, streaming strategy, tv analysis, wheel of time, first contact, network defining, cbs, carla gugino, episodic tv, game of thrones, threshold, writing quality, serialized tv, canceled show, alien invasion, mindhunter, sci-fi, post 9/11, brent spiner, peter dinklage, science fiction, netflix false full 30 daa0a1da-5001-4143-a14d-44fed86bcbf1 The Billions Sitting in Abandoned IP: Devil's Advocate & Conspiracy Theory Topics discussed:

  • Conspiracy Theory (1997): developing it as a romance-conspiracy streaming series
  • The Gibson/Roberts dynamic: why their complementary strengths made the romance work
  • Season structure: each season wraps 2-3 real conspiracies into one narrative arc
  • Jerry Fletcher's memory reconstruction: Memento-style discovery of his own erased past
  • Devil's Advocate (1997): the double-game series concept
  • Kevin Lomax remembers the reset and plays against the devil — or does the devil know?
  • Corrupted characters as double agents: who serves the devil, who's undermining him, who's just a bad person?
  • The wife character: why she needs more development for a series than the film gave her
  • Paradise Lost and literary references as mythology backbone
  • Casting challenge: both properties require exceptional lead actors to work
  • The tone question: Devil's Advocate needs to stay adult, dirty, HBO/Showtime register
  • The Museum of Failure: Monoski, Arch Deluxe, Crystal Pepsi, and what they teach about IP
  • Quick IP evaluations: Alf, Thundarr the Barbarian, Greatest American Hero, Xanth, V, Pitch Black
  • What makes a dormant IP worth reviving: universal core concept + modern relevance

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 13 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/franchises-laying-fallow-OPH30aoE Topics discussed:

  • Conspiracy Theory (1997): developing it as a romance-conspiracy streaming series
  • The Gibson/Roberts dynamic: why their complementary strengths made the romance work
  • Season structure: each season wraps 2-3 real conspiracies into one narrative arc
  • Jerry Fletcher's memory reconstruction: Memento-style discovery of his own erased past
  • Devil's Advocate (1997): the double-game series concept
  • Kevin Lomax remembers the reset and plays against the devil — or does the devil know?
  • Corrupted characters as double agents: who serves the devil, who's undermining him, who's just a bad person?
  • The wife character: why she needs more development for a series than the film gave her
  • Paradise Lost and literary references as mythology backbone
  • Casting challenge: both properties require exceptional lead actors to work
  • The tone question: Devil's Advocate needs to stay adult, dirty, HBO/Showtime register
  • The Museum of Failure: Monoski, Arch Deluxe, Crystal Pepsi, and what they teach about IP
  • Quick IP evaluations: Alf, Thundarr the Barbarian, Greatest American Hero, Xanth, V, Pitch Black
  • What makes a dormant IP worth reviving: universal core concept + modern relevance

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> The Billions Sitting in Abandoned IP: Devil's Advocate & Conspiracy Theory Don't Encourage Us 00:50:21 Two 1997 films that should have become franchises and didn't. We develop both into streaming series: Conspiracy Theory becomes a romance-conspiracy procedural where each season wraps two or three real conspiracies into one story arc, and the leads' relationship evolves across seasons. Devil's Advocate becomes a corrupted law firm drama where Keanu Reeves' character remembers the devil's reality reset and plays a double game — but you never know if that's his plan or part of the devil's larger scheme. We break down what made each film work (the Gibson/Roberts dynamic, Pacino's Paradise Lost references), what a modern reboot needs to survive (strong casting, adult tone, no sanitizing), and why these IPs are sitting unused when the core concepts are more relevant than ever. Plus quick takes on Alf, Thundarr the Barbarian, Greatest American Hero, V, Pitch Black, and the Xanth novels. Two 1997 films that should have become franchises and didn't. We develop both into streaming series: Conspiracy Theory becomes a romance-conspiracy procedural where each season wraps two or three real conspiracies into one story arc, and the leads' relationship evolves across seasons. Devil's Advocate becomes a corrupted law firm drama where Keanu Reeves' character remembers the devil's reality reset and plays a double game — but you never know if that's his plan or part of the devil's larger scheme. We break down what made each film work (the Gibson/Roberts dynamic, Pacino's Paradise Lost references), what a modern reboot needs to survive (strong casting, adult tone, no sanitizing), and why these IPs are sitting unused when the core concepts are more relevant than ever. Plus quick takes on Alf, Thundarr the Barbarian, Greatest American Hero, V, Pitch Black, and the Xanth novels. abandoned ip, conspiracy theory, paradise lost, thundarr, pitch black, legal drama, streaming series, al pacino, series pitch, v, conspiracy, julia roberts, museum of failure, devil's advocate, reboot, ip development, greatest american hero, mel gibson, alf, franchise, keanu reeves false full 29 25c94579-495e-4fe6-b50c-c6fe1d631718 Rocket League: What "Chase the Fun" Teaches About Building Products That Last Topics discussed:

  • "Chase the fun" as a development philosophy: how following what felt good to play shaped every major design decision
  • The failed first attempt: Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars and what Psyonix learned from it
  • From Unreal Tournament 2004 to Rocket League: the vehicle coding lineage
  • Why accessible entry plus deep skill ceiling creates lasting games
  • Cross-platform play: why only Rocket League and Fortnite pulled it off and what they have in common
  • The free release strategy on PS Plus and how it built critical mass
  • Blizzard, Valve, and the creative decay of major game studios
  • What a Rocket League 2 could look like — and whether "chase the fun" can work twice

Guest: Mark Murray

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 6 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Mark Murray) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/rocket-league-chase-the-fun-jNrFk_DZ Topics discussed:

  • "Chase the fun" as a development philosophy: how following what felt good to play shaped every major design decision
  • The failed first attempt: Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars and what Psyonix learned from it
  • From Unreal Tournament 2004 to Rocket League: the vehicle coding lineage
  • Why accessible entry plus deep skill ceiling creates lasting games
  • Cross-platform play: why only Rocket League and Fortnite pulled it off and what they have in common
  • The free release strategy on PS Plus and how it built critical mass
  • Blizzard, Valve, and the creative decay of major game studios
  • What a Rocket League 2 could look like — and whether "chase the fun" can work twice

Guest: Mark Murray

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Rocket League: What "Chase the Fun" Teaches About Building Products That Last Mark Murray 00:38:34 Psyonix started building a vehicular combat game. Then someone added a ball and the studio couldn't stop playing it for two weeks. That accident became Rocket League and the development principle behind it, "chase the fun," explains why the game outlasted competitors with ten times the budget. We trace the full arc: from Unreal Tournament 2004 vehicle coding to a failed first attempt called Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars, to the release strategy that made Rocket League a cross-platform phenomenon. Along the way: why accessible-but-deep mechanics create lasting communities, what Psyonix learned from their first failure, and how the game industry's biggest studios lost their creative edge while indie teams kept theirs. Psyonix started building a vehicular combat game. Then someone added a ball and the studio couldn't stop playing it for two weeks. That accident became Rocket League and the development principle behind it, "chase the fun," explains why the game outlasted competitors with ten times the budget. We trace the full arc: from Unreal Tournament 2004 vehicle coding to a failed first attempt called Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars, to the release strategy that made Rocket League a cross-platform phenomenon. Along the way: why accessible-but-deep mechanics create lasting communities, what Psyonix learned from their first failure, and how the game industry's biggest studios lost their creative edge while indie teams kept theirs. fortnite, esports, psyonix, unreal engine, rocket league, game design, game development, game mechanics, video game design, creative process, skill ceiling, product design, indie game, chase the fun, accessible design, twisted metal, cross-platform false full 28 53da2d5a-cdb5-4a16-bbe9-c558de30423b Occult (2009): How a J-Horror Film Uses Genre Confusion as a Weapon Topics discussed:

  • Genre ambiguity as narrative design: the film holds alien, psychic, mystical, and mythological explanations open simultaneously for an hour
  • The Eno performance: oscillating between pity and menace without resolution until the final act
  • Found footage as resource management: how micro-budget constraints become creative advantages
  • Kiyoshi Kurosawa cameo: the Pulse director plays himself as a symbologist — J-horror community connections
  • The director casting himself: adding realism by making the documentary crew real filmmakers
  • Automatic writing / psychography: the concept and its use in Project Stargate
  • The leech god mythology: Hiruko, the limbless offspring of two gods in Japanese mythology
  • The ending: definitive resolution vs. ambiguity — why showing everything (badly) was the wrong call
  • The sound design problem: off-key violin that destroys tension instead of building it
  • The Indiana Jones detour: why Eno sees Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as confirmation of his mission
  • Net cafe refugees: Japan's cyber homeless who live in 24-hour manga cafes
  • COVID's impact on the cyber homeless: pushed from cafes into relief lines
  • Micro-budget filmmaking inspiration: why this film makes you think you could make a movie
  • Wheel of Time Season 2: too much exposition, not enough momentum
  • The Terminal List: Chris Pratt's slow-build thriller that keeps escalating
  • Stephen Merchant's Outlaws: the best show nobody's heard of
  • Scott Bakula's post-Quantum Leap career that nobody noticed

Watch Occult (2009) here

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 30 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/occult-wgZWO3Av Topics discussed:

  • Genre ambiguity as narrative design: the film holds alien, psychic, mystical, and mythological explanations open simultaneously for an hour
  • The Eno performance: oscillating between pity and menace without resolution until the final act
  • Found footage as resource management: how micro-budget constraints become creative advantages
  • Kiyoshi Kurosawa cameo: the Pulse director plays himself as a symbologist — J-horror community connections
  • The director casting himself: adding realism by making the documentary crew real filmmakers
  • Automatic writing / psychography: the concept and its use in Project Stargate
  • The leech god mythology: Hiruko, the limbless offspring of two gods in Japanese mythology
  • The ending: definitive resolution vs. ambiguity — why showing everything (badly) was the wrong call
  • The sound design problem: off-key violin that destroys tension instead of building it
  • The Indiana Jones detour: why Eno sees Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as confirmation of his mission
  • Net cafe refugees: Japan's cyber homeless who live in 24-hour manga cafes
  • COVID's impact on the cyber homeless: pushed from cafes into relief lines
  • Micro-budget filmmaking inspiration: why this film makes you think you could make a movie
  • Wheel of Time Season 2: too much exposition, not enough momentum
  • The Terminal List: Chris Pratt's slow-build thriller that keeps escalating
  • Stephen Merchant's Outlaws: the best show nobody's heard of
  • Scott Bakula's post-Quantum Leap career that nobody noticed

Watch Occult (2009) here

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Occult (2009): How a J-Horror Film Uses Genre Confusion as a Weapon Don't Encourage Us 01:06:04 For the first hour of this micro-budget Japanese found footage film, you have no idea if you're watching science fiction, psychic thriller, religious horror, or mythological drama — and the film holds all those possibilities open deliberately. Occult follows a documentary crew investigating a public stabbing that reveals a pattern of supernatural symbols, miracles, and an increasingly unsettling homeless man who may be a victim, a prophet, or a weapon. We break down why not knowing the genre is the film's greatest asset, how the lead actor keeps you oscillating between pity and fear for the entire runtime, what Kiyoshi Kurosawa (director of Pulse) is doing in a cameo as a symbologist, and why the atrocious final special effects can't undo the storytelling that preceded them. Plus: Japan's cyber homeless — the net cafe refugees who live in 24-hour manga cafes — and why this is the most inspiring film we've covered for anyone who wants to make a movie with no budget. For the first hour of this micro-budget Japanese found footage film, you have no idea if you're watching science fiction, psychic thriller, religious horror, or mythological drama — and the film holds all those possibilities open deliberately. Occult follows a documentary crew investigating a public stabbing that reveals a pattern of supernatural symbols, miracles, and an increasingly unsettling homeless man who may be a victim, a prophet, or a weapon. We break down why not knowing the genre is the film's greatest asset, how the lead actor keeps you oscillating between pity and fear for the entire runtime, what Kiyoshi Kurosawa (director of Pulse) is doing in a cameo as a symbologist, and why the atrocious final special effects can't undo the storytelling that preceded them. Plus: Japan's cyber homeless — the net cafe refugees who live in 24-hour manga cafes — and why this is the most inspiring film we've covered for anyone who wants to make a movie with no budget. kiyoshi kurosawa, terminal list, micro budget, stephen merchant, hiruko, film analysis, horror film, wheel of time, mockumentary, outlaws, manga cafe, net cafe refugee, genre ambiguity, koji shiraishi, found footage, automatic writing, occult, cyber homeless, j-horror, japanese horror, koen kondo, pulse, supernatural false full 27 2b0af999-3a33-4d90-8ce0-594665b7334d Doctor Sleep: How Do You Write A Sequel To Incompatible Versions of The Shining? Three versions of The Shining compared: Kubrick's 1980 film, King's novel, and the 1997 ABC miniseries — plus Doctor Sleep (2019) as a sequel to all of them.

Topics discussed:

  • The sequel architecture problem: how Doctor Sleep reconciles two incompatible source versions
  • Dan gets Jack's novel ending: self-sacrifice by destroying the hotel, transferred across generations
  • Steam vs. Shine vs. Soul: working through the taxonomy of Doctor Sleep's mythology
  • "The hotel shines too" — the miniseries line that reframes everything about the Overlook
  • Why the True Knot is starving: modern technology dulling humanity's collective spirit
  • Pain purifies steam because it's the opposite of passive consumption
  • The True Knot's arrogance: millennia of preying on children, never encountering a developed adult
  • Abra's tactical brilliance: the double ability scene (possession + telekinesis simultaneously)
  • Rebecca De Mornay in the 1997 miniseries: why her version of Wendy is the hero, not the victim
  • Kubrick's disproportionate hotel sets and atmospheric horror vs. the miniseries' normal hotel
  • The topiary hedge animals: works in your imagination, fails on screen
  • The missing years: Danny from traumatized child to alcoholic adult — what's in that gap
  • Mike Flanagan as director: Oculus, Gerald's Game, and interpreting "unfilmable" King material
  • Billy as the moral center: why a character would drive to another state to dig up bodies and shoot people
  • The fan service debate: does returning to the Overlook interrupt the film's flow?
  • What to do with this IP next: the spirit ecosystem concept

Links:

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 16 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Douglas Tidwell) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/dr-sleep-ENWTNxj6 Three versions of The Shining compared: Kubrick's 1980 film, King's novel, and the 1997 ABC miniseries — plus Doctor Sleep (2019) as a sequel to all of them.

Topics discussed:

  • The sequel architecture problem: how Doctor Sleep reconciles two incompatible source versions
  • Dan gets Jack's novel ending: self-sacrifice by destroying the hotel, transferred across generations
  • Steam vs. Shine vs. Soul: working through the taxonomy of Doctor Sleep's mythology
  • "The hotel shines too" — the miniseries line that reframes everything about the Overlook
  • Why the True Knot is starving: modern technology dulling humanity's collective spirit
  • Pain purifies steam because it's the opposite of passive consumption
  • The True Knot's arrogance: millennia of preying on children, never encountering a developed adult
  • Abra's tactical brilliance: the double ability scene (possession + telekinesis simultaneously)
  • Rebecca De Mornay in the 1997 miniseries: why her version of Wendy is the hero, not the victim
  • Kubrick's disproportionate hotel sets and atmospheric horror vs. the miniseries' normal hotel
  • The topiary hedge animals: works in your imagination, fails on screen
  • The missing years: Danny from traumatized child to alcoholic adult — what's in that gap
  • Mike Flanagan as director: Oculus, Gerald's Game, and interpreting "unfilmable" King material
  • Billy as the moral center: why a character would drive to another state to dig up bodies and shoot people
  • The fan service debate: does returning to the Overlook interrupt the film's flow?
  • What to do with this IP next: the spirit ecosystem concept

Links:

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Doctor Sleep: How Do You Write A Sequel To Incompatible Versions of The Shining? Douglas Tidwell 01:25:24 Doctor Sleep has an impossible job: be a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and Stephen King's novel simultaneously — two versions that disagree on whether the hotel survives, whether Dick Halloran lives, and how much the Shining itself matters. The film solves this by giving Dan his father's novel ending — self-sacrifice by destroying the hotel — which honors King while working within Kubrick's continuity. With guest Doug Tidwell, we trace the mythology across all three versions (including the forgotten 1997 ABC miniseries where Rebecca De Mornay outacts everyone), work through whether steam, shine, and soul are the same thing, and land on why the True Knot is starving: modern life has dulled humanity's collective spirit, and pain purifies steam because it's the exact opposite of numbing yourself with a phone. Plus: "the hotel shines too" — a line from the miniseries that's absent from Kubrick's film but explains everything about Doctor Sleep. Doctor Sleep has an impossible job: be a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and Stephen King's novel simultaneously — two versions that disagree on whether the hotel survives, whether Dick Halloran lives, and how much the Shining itself matters. The film solves this by giving Dan his father's novel ending — self-sacrifice by destroying the hotel — which honors King while working within Kubrick's continuity. With guest Doug Tidwell, we trace the mythology across all three versions (including the forgotten 1997 ABC miniseries where Rebecca De Mornay outacts everyone), work through whether steam, shine, and soul are the same thing, and land on why the True Knot is starving: modern life has dulled humanity's collective spirit, and pain purifies steam because it's the exact opposite of numbing yourself with a phone. Plus: "the hotel shines too" — a line from the miniseries that's absent from Kubrick's film but explains everything about Doctor Sleep. miniseries, storytelling, stephen king, horror analysis, psychic, ewan mcgregor, adaptation, true knot, rebecca de mornay, the shining, stanley kubrick, sequel, doctor sleep, mike flanagan, franchise architecture, shine, screenwriting, rebecca ferguson, film comparison false full 26 5c09796c-6940-4a45-81c0-4197ffb0dfe4 Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning — Are Ethan Hunt and the AI the Same Character? Join the Hunt and go rogue with our hosts as they disassemble Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1, discussing the impossible action, plot, and characters of the seven-quel. 

Topics:

  • The Ethan Hunt character problem: his behavior is a sociopath's, his dialogue is a hero's
  • Hunt as a mirror of the Entity: both claim to save humanity while treating people as objects
  • Dead Reckoning's exposition problem: two movies' worth crammed into 20 minutes, hidden by action
  • The source code submarine plot: why none of the logistics make sense and whether that's intentional
  • Paris switching sides: why one act of mercy doesn't undo years of sadism
  • Gabriel's missing motivation: what does he actually want and why?
  • The key, the submarine, and the misdirect theory
  • Can Mission Impossible survive without Tom Cruise? TV series, app concept, franchise future
  • The AR scavenger hunt app pitch: location-based impossible missions in real cities
  • Barbie: a cult film with blockbuster production values that got marketed as something it isn't
  • Megalopolis: Coppola's $120M self-funded film that distributors won't touch
  • Running Man remake with Edgar Wright and Glenn Powell
  • Columbus Day / Expeditionary Force: why audiobooks at 1.75x speed ruins voice acting

Explore space with an a**hole A.I. in the excellent Expeditionary Force novel series by Craig Alanson

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 9 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-part-one-2023-3lCtG1oG Join the Hunt and go rogue with our hosts as they disassemble Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1, discussing the impossible action, plot, and characters of the seven-quel. 

Topics:

  • The Ethan Hunt character problem: his behavior is a sociopath's, his dialogue is a hero's
  • Hunt as a mirror of the Entity: both claim to save humanity while treating people as objects
  • Dead Reckoning's exposition problem: two movies' worth crammed into 20 minutes, hidden by action
  • The source code submarine plot: why none of the logistics make sense and whether that's intentional
  • Paris switching sides: why one act of mercy doesn't undo years of sadism
  • Gabriel's missing motivation: what does he actually want and why?
  • The key, the submarine, and the misdirect theory
  • Can Mission Impossible survive without Tom Cruise? TV series, app concept, franchise future
  • The AR scavenger hunt app pitch: location-based impossible missions in real cities
  • Barbie: a cult film with blockbuster production values that got marketed as something it isn't
  • Megalopolis: Coppola's $120M self-funded film that distributors won't touch
  • Running Man remake with Edgar Wright and Glenn Powell
  • Columbus Day / Expeditionary Force: why audiobooks at 1.75x speed ruins voice acting

Explore space with an a**hole A.I. in the excellent Expeditionary Force novel series by Craig Alanson

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning — Are Ethan Hunt and the AI the Same Character? Don't Encourage Us 01:02:01 Ethan Hunt says his greatest weakness is the people he cares about. But watch what he actually does — he replaces a love interest within minutes of her death, uses every team member as an object toward his goal, and goes rogue every single film because his real loyalty is to his objective. Dead Reckoning sets him up as a mirror of the AI entity he's fighting: both claim to serve a greater purpose, both sacrifice individuals without hesitation, and neither has a clear motivation beyond their objective. We break down the character problem, the exposition overload that got buried under action, why Paris switching sides makes no sense, what the source-code-on-a-submarine plot actually means, and whether this franchise can survive without Tom Cruise. Plus: Barbie as a cult film disguised as a blockbuster, and the Mission Impossible app concept that would actually work. Ethan Hunt says his greatest weakness is the people he cares about. But watch what he actually does — he replaces a love interest within minutes of her death, uses every team member as an object toward his goal, and goes rogue every single film because his real loyalty is to his objective. Dead Reckoning sets him up as a mirror of the AI entity he's fighting: both claim to serve a greater purpose, both sacrifice individuals without hesitation, and neither has a clear motivation beyond their objective. We break down the character problem, the exposition overload that got buried under action, why Paris switching sides makes no sense, what the source-code-on-a-submarine plot actually means, and whether this franchise can survive without Tom Cruise. Plus: Barbie as a cult film disguised as a blockbuster, and the Mission Impossible app concept that would actually work. film analysis, ai villain, coppola, paris, sequel setup, running man, entity, barbie movie, ethan hunt, movie review, megalopolis, mission impossible, dead reckoning, gabriel, action movie, edgar wright, spy film, tom cruise, character analysis, franchise future false full 25 54f0aba9-b11d-491f-8ae7-e9da93a3c7dc Is AI-Assisted Writing Still Writing? Where Ghostwriting Ends and Cheating Begins The question isn't whether AI can write. It's whether AI-assisted creative work is still yours.

 

Topics:

  • Mark Greaney's creative process: why the Grey Man author takes long walks instead of marathon desk sessions to keep action scenes fresh across 10+ novels
  • Ghostwriting in fiction: Tom Clancy novels are still published under his name by other writers — how is that different from AI assistance?
  • The spectrum from editor to ghostwriter to AI: where does assistance end and replacement begin?
  • Physical labor was replaced by machines in the industrial revolution — now it's intellectual labor — what do humans value about themselves after that?
  • Why the Hollywood strikes are partly about drawing this line before the culture moves past it
  • The smartphone as existing cognitive enhancement: Elon Musk's argument that the only difference between your phone and Neuralink is interface speed
  • "USDA Certified 80% Human" — a joke that accidentally explains a real branding solution
  • Why law can't move fast enough but cultural acceptance can: if audiences reject fully AI-generated performances, the market follows
  • The Mandalorian Season 3 as cautionary tale: a city that can't function without robots because nobody learned to do anything
  • AI as assistant vs. AI as replacement: the case that the distinction matters and is enforceable through culture, not regulation
  • The buddy comedy pitch: one human, one AI hologram sidekick giving terrible advice — Planes, Trains and Automobiles but your partner is a Creative Commons avatar

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Mark Greaney's creative process and the Grey Man series
  • 5:28 — Ghostwriting and AI: where's the line?
  • 11:07 — Is all creativity assisted? The philosophical case
  • 17:10 — AI and labor: the new industrial revolution
  • 23:35 — Setting boundaries: assistant vs. replacement
  • 30:55 — The buddy comedy pitch and cultural solutions

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 2 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/artificial-intelligence-and-human-culture-r5hqI9EQ The question isn't whether AI can write. It's whether AI-assisted creative work is still yours.

 

Topics:

  • Mark Greaney's creative process: why the Grey Man author takes long walks instead of marathon desk sessions to keep action scenes fresh across 10+ novels
  • Ghostwriting in fiction: Tom Clancy novels are still published under his name by other writers — how is that different from AI assistance?
  • The spectrum from editor to ghostwriter to AI: where does assistance end and replacement begin?
  • Physical labor was replaced by machines in the industrial revolution — now it's intellectual labor — what do humans value about themselves after that?
  • Why the Hollywood strikes are partly about drawing this line before the culture moves past it
  • The smartphone as existing cognitive enhancement: Elon Musk's argument that the only difference between your phone and Neuralink is interface speed
  • "USDA Certified 80% Human" — a joke that accidentally explains a real branding solution
  • Why law can't move fast enough but cultural acceptance can: if audiences reject fully AI-generated performances, the market follows
  • The Mandalorian Season 3 as cautionary tale: a city that can't function without robots because nobody learned to do anything
  • AI as assistant vs. AI as replacement: the case that the distinction matters and is enforceable through culture, not regulation
  • The buddy comedy pitch: one human, one AI hologram sidekick giving terrible advice — Planes, Trains and Automobiles but your partner is a Creative Commons avatar

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Mark Greaney's creative process and the Grey Man series
  • 5:28 — Ghostwriting and AI: where's the line?
  • 11:07 — Is all creativity assisted? The philosophical case
  • 17:10 — AI and labor: the new industrial revolution
  • 23:35 — Setting boundaries: assistant vs. replacement
  • 30:55 — The buddy comedy pitch and cultural solutions

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Is AI-Assisted Writing Still Writing? Where Ghostwriting Ends and Cheating Begins Don't Encourage Us 00:34:37 Ghostwriting has always been normal. Tom Clancy's name is still on novels he didn't write. CEOs publish books they didn't draft. Producers shape albums the artist couldn't have made alone. So when AI steps into that same assistant role, is it fundamentally different — or just the latest version of something creative work has always depended on? We trace that question from how thriller author Mark Greaney keeps a 10+ book action series fresh (long walks, not desk hours) through the Hollywood strikes to a surprisingly honest conclusion: AI replacing people isn't a technology problem, it's a cultural choice. The window to make that choice deliberately is still open. And if we don't, someone pitches the buddy comedy version of what happens next — one human, one AI hologram, very bad advice. Ghostwriting has always been normal. Tom Clancy's name is still on novels he didn't write. CEOs publish books they didn't draft. Producers shape albums the artist couldn't have made alone. So when AI steps into that same assistant role, is it fundamentally different — or just the latest version of something creative work has always depended on? We trace that question from how thriller author Mark Greaney keeps a 10+ book action series fresh (long walks, not desk hours) through the Hollywood strikes to a surprisingly honest conclusion: AI replacing people isn't a technology problem, it's a cultural choice. The window to make that choice deliberately is still open. And if we don't, someone pitches the buddy comedy version of what happens next — one human, one AI hologram, very bad advice. ai writing, ai assistant, ai assisted writing, hollywood strike ai, ai ethics creativity, ghostwriting, tom clancy ghostwriter, human creativity, novel writing, creative process, chatgpt writing, screenwriting ai, ai entertainment, mark greaney, intellectual labor, ai creativity, grey man, creator economy ai, ai replace writers false full 24 4d12ce27-bb7c-4151-b202-559b0949061d Story Break: The Return of Magic — Infinite Stories, Finite Exposition Topics discussed:

  • The pitch: magic slowly returning to modern Earth, tied to materials and geography
  • The worldbuilding rule: supernatural creatures are determined by where the materials in their environment originate
  • Why cities fall first: globalized supply chains create hybridized magical threats
  • Alloy creatures: when materials from different regions combine, so do their mythologies
  • The surprise apocalypse structure: starting intimate, revealing global scope gradually
  • Character design: a mute, grieving Japanese girl who can't communicate with anyone around her
  • The uncle as rigid thinker: scientific worldview that fails when reality's rules change
  • The Lenape tribe connection: Central Park's Native American mythology as the local threat
  • The raijū: a Japanese thunder dog that caused the train accident in the opening
  • Theme: isolation vs. community — ancient cultures survived through shared knowledge
  • Let the Right One In and The Omen as tonal references
  • Format debate: low-budget art house horror vs. streaming series vs. graphic novel
  • Silent film possibility: the girl never speaks, audio distortion on background dialogue
  • Fast and Furious: a series of clips connected by barbecues
  • Stargate franchise: Amazon's acquisition, the canceled relaunch, writer's strike casualties
  • The Martian and Project Hail Mary: Andy Weir recommendations
  • Silo (Apple TV): short story to novel series to TV adaptation pipeline

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 25 Sep 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/story-break-the-return-of-magic-DyHWvx__ Topics discussed:

  • The pitch: magic slowly returning to modern Earth, tied to materials and geography
  • The worldbuilding rule: supernatural creatures are determined by where the materials in their environment originate
  • Why cities fall first: globalized supply chains create hybridized magical threats
  • Alloy creatures: when materials from different regions combine, so do their mythologies
  • The surprise apocalypse structure: starting intimate, revealing global scope gradually
  • Character design: a mute, grieving Japanese girl who can't communicate with anyone around her
  • The uncle as rigid thinker: scientific worldview that fails when reality's rules change
  • The Lenape tribe connection: Central Park's Native American mythology as the local threat
  • The raijū: a Japanese thunder dog that caused the train accident in the opening
  • Theme: isolation vs. community — ancient cultures survived through shared knowledge
  • Let the Right One In and The Omen as tonal references
  • Format debate: low-budget art house horror vs. streaming series vs. graphic novel
  • Silent film possibility: the girl never speaks, audio distortion on background dialogue
  • Fast and Furious: a series of clips connected by barbecues
  • Stargate franchise: Amazon's acquisition, the canceled relaunch, writer's strike casualties
  • The Martian and Project Hail Mary: Andy Weir recommendations
  • Silo (Apple TV): short story to novel series to TV adaptation pipeline

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Story Break: The Return of Magic — Infinite Stories, Finite Exposition Don't Encourage Us 01:13:34 Worldbuilding for unlimited story potential - We pitch an original horror concept built on one rule: supernatural creatures are determined by the geographic origin of the materials around them. Stone from Ireland summons banshees. Wood from Eastern Europe attracts vampires. And modern cities — built from materials sourced globally — become concentrated zones of hybridized threats that don't follow any single mythology's rules. The story follows a nine-year-old Japanese girl who loses her parents in a train accident caused by a supernatural creature she doesn't recognize, relocates to New York to live with her estranged uncle, and encounters a shape-shifting Native American spirit in Central Park that's abducting children. The scope gradually expands from personal horror to citywide crisis to global apocalypse — the "surprise apocalypse" structure where the audience doesn't see the scale coming. We build out the characters, the theme (isolation kills, community protects), why the uncle's rigid scientific worldview gets him killed, and how ancient cultures survived these threats through shared knowledge that modern humans have lost. Plus: Fast and Furious as a series of disconnected clips with barbecues, the Stargate franchise under Amazon, and Andy Weir's novels. Worldbuilding for unlimited story potential - We pitch an original horror concept built on one rule: supernatural creatures are determined by the geographic origin of the materials around them. Stone from Ireland summons banshees. Wood from Eastern Europe attracts vampires. And modern cities — built from materials sourced globally — become concentrated zones of hybridized threats that don't follow any single mythology's rules. The story follows a nine-year-old Japanese girl who loses her parents in a train accident caused by a supernatural creature she doesn't recognize, relocates to New York to live with her estranged uncle, and encounters a shape-shifting Native American spirit in Central Park that's abducting children. The scope gradually expands from personal horror to citywide crisis to global apocalypse — the "surprise apocalypse" structure where the audience doesn't see the scale coming. We build out the characters, the theme (isolation kills, community protects), why the uncle's rigid scientific worldview gets him killed, and how ancient cultures survived these threats through shared knowledge that modern humans have lost. Plus: Fast and Furious as a series of disconnected clips with barbecues, the Stargate franchise under Amazon, and Andy Weir's novels. original ip, native american mythology, shape shifter, project hail mary, story break, andy weir, let the right one in, mythology, surprise apocalypse, the martian, fast and furious, horror pitch, character driven, lore, lore, stargate, japanese folklore, urban fantasy, screenwriting, worldbuilding, supernatural, creative development, magic false full 23 55b46343-2c0e-451d-b805-52b8cc347836 Black Mirror S6: When Did 'Technology Is Dangerous' Become 'Everyone Sucks'? Black Mirror Season 6 — episode-by-episode breakdown.

Topics discussed:

  • The series drift: from technology commentary to misanthropy
  • Joan Is Awful: a statement piece about AI image rights that actors signed onto because they care about the issue, not the script
  • Why the ending follows characters we've never met and resolves nothing about the legal system it critiqued
  • Loch Henry: a passive protagonist who never changes — is that corruption or just floating?
  • The mother's suicide: why would a remorseless serial killer suddenly feel guilt?
  • Beyond the Sea: consciousness transfer across light years but 1960s spacecraft — the technology mismatch problem
  • No psychological screening, no family security, no explanation of the mission's importance
  • Why one astronaut would murder the other's family and then be trapped with him forever
  • Mazey Day: a werewolf episode with zero technology thesis — is this still Black Mirror?
  • Demon 79: passive woman explodes into violence — the too-passive-until-too-aggressive pattern
  • The budget paradox: higher production values and celebrity casting may have made the season worse
  • Metacritic trends: Season 1 at 89, Season 6 at 68 — the downward trajectory
  • Silo (Apple TV+): how a short story became a novel series became a TV show
  • All You Need Is Kill / Edge of Tomorrow: novel vs. film adaptation differences

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Introduction
  • 6:52 — Joan Is Awful
  • 20:28 — Loch Henry
  • 27:24 — Beyond the Sea
  • 43:10 — Mazey Day and Demon 79

 

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 18 Sep 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/black-mirror-season-6-TATJdrJK Black Mirror Season 6 — episode-by-episode breakdown.

Topics discussed:

  • The series drift: from technology commentary to misanthropy
  • Joan Is Awful: a statement piece about AI image rights that actors signed onto because they care about the issue, not the script
  • Why the ending follows characters we've never met and resolves nothing about the legal system it critiqued
  • Loch Henry: a passive protagonist who never changes — is that corruption or just floating?
  • The mother's suicide: why would a remorseless serial killer suddenly feel guilt?
  • Beyond the Sea: consciousness transfer across light years but 1960s spacecraft — the technology mismatch problem
  • No psychological screening, no family security, no explanation of the mission's importance
  • Why one astronaut would murder the other's family and then be trapped with him forever
  • Mazey Day: a werewolf episode with zero technology thesis — is this still Black Mirror?
  • Demon 79: passive woman explodes into violence — the too-passive-until-too-aggressive pattern
  • The budget paradox: higher production values and celebrity casting may have made the season worse
  • Metacritic trends: Season 1 at 89, Season 6 at 68 — the downward trajectory
  • Silo (Apple TV+): how a short story became a novel series became a TV show
  • All You Need Is Kill / Edge of Tomorrow: novel vs. film adaptation differences

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Introduction
  • 6:52 — Joan Is Awful
  • 20:28 — Loch Henry
  • 27:24 — Beyond the Sea
  • 43:10 — Mazey Day and Demon 79

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Black Mirror S6: When Did 'Technology Is Dangerous' Become 'Everyone Sucks'? Don't Encourage Us 01:05:13 Black Mirror used to argue that technology reflects humanity's worst impulses. Season 6 mostly argues that people are just awful — and two of the five episodes don't involve technology at all. We go episode by episode: Joan Is Awful exists because actors care about AI image rights, not because the writing earns its celebrity cast. Loch Henry's protagonist has no arc — he's passive from start to finish. Beyond the Sea pairs consciousness-transfer technology with 1960s spacecraft and sends two psychologically unscreened astronauts on a critical mission with zero family security. Mazey Day is a werewolf story with no technology thesis whatsoever. And Demon 79 is a fantasy about a passive woman who explodes into violence — which might be the most honest Black Mirror statement of all. The counterintuitive argument: when this show had less money and no celebrities, it had to be smarter. Season 6 may be a victim of too much budget. In this episode, we break down each of the five new installments, from the meta-narrative of "Joan Is Awful" and its celebrity-driven commentary on AI, to the unsettling family secrets of "Loch Henry," and the unexpected twist in "Mazey Day." We also explore the alternate realities and demonic pacts of "Demon 79," questioning if these episodes truly resonate with the classic Black Mirror ethos. Is this season a winner? Step through the scary door and find out...  Black Mirror used to argue that technology reflects humanity's worst impulses. Season 6 mostly argues that people are just awful — and two of the five episodes don't involve technology at all. We go episode by episode: Joan Is Awful exists because actors care about AI image rights, not because the writing earns its celebrity cast. Loch Henry's protagonist has no arc — he's passive from start to finish. Beyond the Sea pairs consciousness-transfer technology with 1960s spacecraft and sends two psychologically unscreened astronauts on a critical mission with zero family security. Mazey Day is a werewolf story with no technology thesis whatsoever. And Demon 79 is a fantasy about a passive woman who explodes into violence — which might be the most honest Black Mirror statement of all. The counterintuitive argument: when this show had less money and no celebrities, it had to be smarter. Season 6 may be a victim of too much budget. In this episode, we break down each of the five new installments, from the meta-narrative of "Joan Is Awful" and its celebrity-driven commentary on AI, to the unsettling family secrets of "Loch Henry," and the unexpected twist in "Mazey Day." We also explore the alternate realities and demonic pacts of "Demon 79," questioning if these episodes truly resonate with the classic Black Mirror ethos. Is this season a winner? Step through the scary door and find out...  joan is awful, beyond the sea, aaron paul, edge of tomorrow, series analysis, black mirror, demon 79, dystopia, ai image rights, technology commentary, tv critique, loch henry, salma hayek, streaming, silo, annie murphy, science fiction, charlie brooker, netflix, mazey day false full 22 48df2f10-ca08-4b06-8929-86dc48a00564 One Cut of the Dead: Why a $27K Zombie Film Has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes Guest: Actor Matt Baughman

Spoiler warning: we spoil the entire film. Go watch it first — it's worth it.

One Cut of the Dead is available on Shudder (subscription) or to rent on Amazon.

Topics discussed:

  • Why the first 37 minutes are intentionally unwatchable and why you can't skip them
  • The dual-role acting challenge: playing a bad actor vs. playing the person playing the bad actor
  • Matt Baughman's perspective on toggling between personas in the third act
  • Six takes to get a 37-minute one-shot: the filming logistics
  • Three-act structure as a play: horror film, backstory, then the making-of reveal
  • The Ghost in the Box rights controversy and how it was resolved
  • One Cut of the Dead: Mission Remote — the pandemic Zoom spinoff (free on YouTube)
  • Fantasy casting an American remake: the Waiting for Guffman crew, the celebrity pet project angle
  • The Room comparison: when a film is so bad it becomes essential viewing
  • Reality show pitch: assembling the worst film crews and throwing obstacles at them
  • Noises Off as structural reference: British farce meets zombie filmmaking

Links:

 

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 11 Sep 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Matthew Baughman) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/one-cut-of-the-dead-2017-9ZHHOMGH Guest: Actor Matt Baughman

Spoiler warning: we spoil the entire film. Go watch it first — it's worth it.

One Cut of the Dead is available on Shudder (subscription) or to rent on Amazon.

Topics discussed:

  • Why the first 37 minutes are intentionally unwatchable and why you can't skip them
  • The dual-role acting challenge: playing a bad actor vs. playing the person playing the bad actor
  • Matt Baughman's perspective on toggling between personas in the third act
  • Six takes to get a 37-minute one-shot: the filming logistics
  • Three-act structure as a play: horror film, backstory, then the making-of reveal
  • The Ghost in the Box rights controversy and how it was resolved
  • One Cut of the Dead: Mission Remote — the pandemic Zoom spinoff (free on YouTube)
  • Fantasy casting an American remake: the Waiting for Guffman crew, the celebrity pet project angle
  • The Room comparison: when a film is so bad it becomes essential viewing
  • Reality show pitch: assembling the worst film crews and throwing obstacles at them
  • Noises Off as structural reference: British farce meets zombie filmmaking

Links:

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> One Cut of the Dead: Why a $27K Zombie Film Has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes Matthew Baughman 01:00:25 A $27,000 Japanese zombie film with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The first 37 minutes are nearly unwatchable and that's the point. We break down One Cut of the Dead with guest actor Matt Baughman, who brings a performer's perspective to the film's real challenge: actors playing bad actors, then toggling between their real character and their terrible on-screen character in real time. We cover the six-take one-shot filming process, why the structure works as a three-act play, the Ghost in the Box rights controversy, the Zoom-era spinoff that's free on YouTube, and what an American remake would need to pull off without spoiling the twist in the marketing. If you haven't seen it, stop listening and go watch it. We spoil everything. A $27,000 Japanese zombie film with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The first 37 minutes are nearly unwatchable and that's the point. We break down One Cut of the Dead with guest actor Matt Baughman, who brings a performer's perspective to the film's real challenge: actors playing bad actors, then toggling between their real character and their terrible on-screen character in real time. We cover the six-take one-shot filming process, why the structure works as a three-act play, the Ghost in the Box rights controversy, the Zoom-era spinoff that's free on YouTube, and what an American remake would need to pull off without spoiling the twist in the marketing. If you haven't seen it, stop listening and go watch it. We spoil everything. one cut of the dead, micro budget, filmmaking process, behind the scenes, film analysis, zombie comedy, matt baughman, noises off, rotten tomatoes, creative process, japanese film, dual role acting, ghost in the box, american remake, indie film, one take, one-shot film, low budget filmmaking, horror, horror, the room false full 21 9335cc97-ca3c-4467-a8bb-9c802980cc8a We Have a Ghost: Why Muting Your Lead Actor Breaks the Movie Topics discussed:

  • Why muting David Harbour's ghost eliminates all character development
  • The reunion scene problem: a father seeing his daughter for the last time, and neither seems to care
  • The casting swap argument: Mackie as the ghost, Harbour as the dad
  • Christopher Landon's stated goal (80s family film mashup) vs. what the film actually delivers
  • The car chase that forgets it's a kids movie: flipped birds, stolen guns, near-decapitations
  • Ghost physics: why the rules are optional and it matters
  • Bear McCreary's score and his career from Battlestar Galactica to God of War
  • Real estate disclosure laws: do sellers have to tell you someone was murdered in the house?
  • Stigmatized property categories: criminal, death, public stigma, phenomena stigma
  • diedinhouse.com and what it actually tells you (or doesn't)
  • You Season 4 brief check-in: best season since the first?
  • Venom 2: don't bother

Links:

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 4 Sep 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/we-have-a-ghost-2023-UZ2jYm_V Topics discussed:

  • Why muting David Harbour's ghost eliminates all character development
  • The reunion scene problem: a father seeing his daughter for the last time, and neither seems to care
  • The casting swap argument: Mackie as the ghost, Harbour as the dad
  • Christopher Landon's stated goal (80s family film mashup) vs. what the film actually delivers
  • The car chase that forgets it's a kids movie: flipped birds, stolen guns, near-decapitations
  • Ghost physics: why the rules are optional and it matters
  • Bear McCreary's score and his career from Battlestar Galactica to God of War
  • Real estate disclosure laws: do sellers have to tell you someone was murdered in the house?
  • Stigmatized property categories: criminal, death, public stigma, phenomena stigma
  • diedinhouse.com and what it actually tells you (or doesn't)
  • You Season 4 brief check-in: best season since the first?
  • Venom 2: don't bother

Links:

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> We Have a Ghost: Why Muting Your Lead Actor Breaks the Movie Don't Encourage Us 00:59:28 Netflix's We Have a Ghost has a ghost who can interact with the physical world, throw objects, steal weapons, and grab onto moving cars but can't write a note or speak a single word. That choice eliminates character development for David Harbour, turns the climactic father-daughter reunion into a scene with negative-seven emotional intensity, and reduces the ghost to a pet who follows the teenage lead around. We break down why muting the character was the wrong call, why swapping Mackie and Harbour's roles would have fixed the casting, why the car chase breaks the family-film tone, and what Christopher Landon was trying to do with his 80s movie mashup concept versus what actually landed. Plus: do realtors have to disclose murders in a home? The answer is more complicated and disturbing than you'd expect. And a brief check-in on You Season 4. Netflix's We Have a Ghost has a ghost who can interact with the physical world, throw objects, steal weapons, and grab onto moving cars but can't write a note or speak a single word. That choice eliminates character development for David Harbour, turns the climactic father-daughter reunion into a scene with negative-seven emotional intensity, and reduces the ghost to a pet who follows the teenage lead around. We break down why muting the character was the wrong call, why swapping Mackie and Harbour's roles would have fixed the casting, why the car chase breaks the family-film tone, and what Christopher Landon was trying to do with his 80s movie mashup concept versus what actually landed. Plus: do realtors have to disclose murders in a home? The answer is more complicated and disturbing than you'd expect. And a brief check-in on You Season 4. stigmatized property, mute character, anthony mackie, film analysis, ghost movie, we have a ghost, bear mccreary, paranormal activity, movie critique, david harbour, christopher landon, family film, haunted house, character development, screenwriting, real estate disclosure, you netflix, netflix, casting false full 20 d570ca98-5f5f-4bef-a117-5ff7d3dfabd7 Invincible: Why Omni-Man's Logic Is Harder to Argue With Than You Think Topics discussed:

  • Robert Kirkman's Invincible's premise: what if Superman was your dad and turned out to be the villain?
  • How the show uses DC character analogs to build and then betray expectations
  • Omni-Man's moral argument: why "humans are insects" follows logically from Viltrumite values
  • The ultraviolence question: purposeful brutality vs. gratuitous shock
  • Multi-threaded storytelling: why the show works more like a soap opera than a superhero series
  • Robot's clone body: one of the most complicated character decisions in the genre
  • Cecil as moral pragmatist: the best government handler character since Nick Fury
  • The production pipeline: Sharon Tal Iguado's relationship with Kirkman across AMC, Cinemax, and Amazon
  • Voice cast breakdown: JK Simmons, Sandra Oh, Steven Yeun, Walton Goggins, Mark Hamill, Seth Rogen, and more 
  • Cocaine Werewolf: the pitch, the implications, and the Cocaine Monster Cinematic Universe 

Also discussed: 

  • Ant-Man: Quantumania
  • Cocaine Bear
  • Columbus Day / Expeditionary Force series preview

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 21 Aug 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/amazon-original-series-invincible-lwGf5Tz2 Topics discussed:

  • Robert Kirkman's Invincible's premise: what if Superman was your dad and turned out to be the villain?
  • How the show uses DC character analogs to build and then betray expectations
  • Omni-Man's moral argument: why "humans are insects" follows logically from Viltrumite values
  • The ultraviolence question: purposeful brutality vs. gratuitous shock
  • Multi-threaded storytelling: why the show works more like a soap opera than a superhero series
  • Robot's clone body: one of the most complicated character decisions in the genre
  • Cecil as moral pragmatist: the best government handler character since Nick Fury
  • The production pipeline: Sharon Tal Iguado's relationship with Kirkman across AMC, Cinemax, and Amazon
  • Voice cast breakdown: JK Simmons, Sandra Oh, Steven Yeun, Walton Goggins, Mark Hamill, Seth Rogen, and more 
  • Cocaine Werewolf: the pitch, the implications, and the Cocaine Monster Cinematic Universe 

Also discussed: 

  • Ant-Man: Quantumania
  • Cocaine Bear
  • Columbus Day / Expeditionary Force series preview

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Invincible: Why Omni-Man's Logic Is Harder to Argue With Than You Think Don't Encourage Us 01:01:04 Invincible Season 1 looks like a superhero cartoon. It's not. We break down Robert Kirkman's Amazon series — how it uses DC analogs to set expectations it then destroys, why the ultraviolence serves the story instead of replacing it, and the moral problem at the center: Omni-Man's argument that humans are insects isn't wrong by his civilization's logic. The episode covers the show's multi-threaded structure, why it works more like a soap opera than a superhero show, the Robot clone body decision as a study in character complexity, Cecil as the most interesting government handler in the genre, and the production story behind how one Hollywood executive's relationships with Kirkman created Walking Dead, Outcast, and Invincible across three different networks. Plus: we pitch Cocaine Werewolf, which is exactly what it sounds like. Invincible Season 1 looks like a superhero cartoon. It's not. We break down Robert Kirkman's Amazon series — how it uses DC analogs to set expectations it then destroys, why the ultraviolence serves the story instead of replacing it, and the moral problem at the center: Omni-Man's argument that humans are insects isn't wrong by his civilization's logic. The episode covers the show's multi-threaded structure, why it works more like a soap opera than a superhero show, the Robot clone body decision as a study in character complexity, Cecil as the most interesting government handler in the genre, and the production story behind how one Hollywood executive's relationships with Kirkman created Walking Dead, Outcast, and Invincible across three different networks. Plus: we pitch Cocaine Werewolf, which is exactly what it sounds like. tv analysis, steven yeun, invincible, ultraviolence, omni-man, sandra oh, animated series, comic adaptation, viltrumite, dc analogs, seth rogen, walking dead, jk simmons, moral complexity, robert kirkman, superhero analysis, superhero deconstruction, the boys, amazon prime, voice acting false full 19 c90163d8-a35b-4421-b789-2df0018801ff Story Break: Hijacked — What If the Hero and the Villain Are the Same Person? Set within the confined walls of a commercial airplane, tensions soar as a battle of wits unfolds between a resourceful passenger and a group of desperate hijackers. With each twist and turn, our hosts navigate the treacherous terrain of suspense, exploring the psychological depths of the characters. But first, listen in as one host pitches a controversial casting idea for the new Remo Williams series that everyone is sure to hate equally.

Topics discussed:

  • The pitch: a hijack film where the hero may also be the villain
  • The CIA bluff: post-9/11 policy to destroy hijacked planes and declare them accidents
  • Hitchcockian identity tension: the audience never knows if he's lying until the final act
  • Why the terrorists need to be calm professionals, not Hollywood cliché fanatics
  • The technology problem: how do you prove a stealth fighter is shadowing you?
  • Building passenger characters as audience surrogates — the boy band framework
  • The twist ending: he blows the plane, covers his treason, gets promoted
  • The counter-twist: a passenger uploaded video to YouTube before the explosion
  • First class vs. coach as information asymmetry and class tension
  • The planted terrorist: a passenger who's secretly on the other side
  • Usual Suspects comparison: when the dead figure it out before the living
  • Remo Williams Amazon reboot: the case for casting a Korean actor in whiteface as deliberate inversion
  • RC Bray as the gold standard for audiobook narration
  • Preview: Invincible Season 1 and Columbus Day / Expeditionary Force

Let R.C. Bray tell you a story sometime and check out his podcast here.

Take the Red Eye and check out Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy in one of his earlier films.

 

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 14 Aug 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/story-break-hijacked-OI7CKaKz Set within the confined walls of a commercial airplane, tensions soar as a battle of wits unfolds between a resourceful passenger and a group of desperate hijackers. With each twist and turn, our hosts navigate the treacherous terrain of suspense, exploring the psychological depths of the characters. But first, listen in as one host pitches a controversial casting idea for the new Remo Williams series that everyone is sure to hate equally.

Topics discussed:

  • The pitch: a hijack film where the hero may also be the villain
  • The CIA bluff: post-9/11 policy to destroy hijacked planes and declare them accidents
  • Hitchcockian identity tension: the audience never knows if he's lying until the final act
  • Why the terrorists need to be calm professionals, not Hollywood cliché fanatics
  • The technology problem: how do you prove a stealth fighter is shadowing you?
  • Building passenger characters as audience surrogates — the boy band framework
  • The twist ending: he blows the plane, covers his treason, gets promoted
  • The counter-twist: a passenger uploaded video to YouTube before the explosion
  • First class vs. coach as information asymmetry and class tension
  • The planted terrorist: a passenger who's secretly on the other side
  • Usual Suspects comparison: when the dead figure it out before the living
  • Remo Williams Amazon reboot: the case for casting a Korean actor in whiteface as deliberate inversion
  • RC Bray as the gold standard for audiobook narration
  • Preview: Invincible Season 1 and Columbus Day / Expeditionary Force

Let R.C. Bray tell you a story sometime and check out his podcast here.

Take the Red Eye and check out Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy in one of his earlier films.

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Story Break: Hijacked — What If the Hero and the Villain Are the Same Person? Don't Encourage Us 01:03:27 We pitch an original hijack thriller where a passenger stands up during a takeover and claims he's CIA — and that the government's post-9/11 policy is to destroy hijacked planes and cover them up as accidents. If the terrorists kill one more person, a stealth fighter will blow them all out of the sky. The entire film runs on one question: is he telling the truth or making it up to survive? The audience never knows — until the ending reveals he's been the most dangerous person on the plane the whole time. We build out the Hitchcockian identity tension, the technology that could make the bluff believable, why the terrorists need to be calm professionals instead of Hollywood clichés, and the ending where a passenger's uploaded video exposes the conspiracy. Plus: a controversial casting pitch for the Amazon Remo Williams reboot that deliberately inverts the 1985 yellowface problem. We pitch an original hijack thriller where a passenger stands up during a takeover and claims he's CIA — and that the government's post-9/11 policy is to destroy hijacked planes and cover them up as accidents. If the terrorists kill one more person, a stealth fighter will blow them all out of the sky. The entire film runs on one question: is he telling the truth or making it up to survive? The audience never knows — until the ending reveals he's been the most dangerous person on the plane the whole time. We build out the Hitchcockian identity tension, the technology that could make the bluff believable, why the terrorists need to be calm professionals instead of Hollywood clichés, and the ending where a passenger's uploaded video exposes the conspiracy. Plus: a controversial casting pitch for the Amazon Remo Williams reboot that deliberately inverts the 1985 yellowface problem. audiobook, original ip, story break, remo williams, terrorism, plane hijack, cia, twist ending, korean actor, hitchcock, thriller pitch, suspense, post 9/11, amazon series, character development, screenwriting, original screenplay, rc bray, hijack movie, casting false full 18 bd7914e7-b28b-42de-b69f-fa23ce4dc8ca Remo Williams The Destroyer: What a Pulp Franchise Reveals About Building IP Topics discussed:

  • The Destroyer pulp fiction series: 152 novels, multiple writers, decades of publication
  • Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985): what went wrong with Dick Clark's franchise play
  • Guy Hamilton directing: four Bond films to this — why his style didn't translate to 1985
  • The score problem: music that fights the action instead of supporting it
  • Training sequences vs. Karate Kid (1984): why one became iconic and the other didn't
  • The "perfect accident" finale: the worst secret assassination in film history
  • Novel vs. film: how the books give Remo a darker, more compelling origin
  • The upcoming Amazon series: Breaking Bad producer, casting debates, genre classification
  • Action fantasy vs. action sci-fi vs. grounded action: what genre should the reboot be?
  • Joel Grey in yellowface: the casting choice that won't survive a modern adaptation
  • ChatGPT fabricating a fake martial art
  • AI misinformation: when confident nonsense is indistinguishable from research
  • The Last of Us episode 5: structural repetition, FEDRA moral ambiguity, zombie calorie math
  • Death Note as a Sherlock Holmes / Moriarty homage
  • The Alienist: forensic science before forensic science existed

Links:

 

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 7 Aug 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/the-destroyer-series-and-remo-williams-the-adventure-begins-xqKT0fcb Topics discussed:

  • The Destroyer pulp fiction series: 152 novels, multiple writers, decades of publication
  • Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985): what went wrong with Dick Clark's franchise play
  • Guy Hamilton directing: four Bond films to this — why his style didn't translate to 1985
  • The score problem: music that fights the action instead of supporting it
  • Training sequences vs. Karate Kid (1984): why one became iconic and the other didn't
  • The "perfect accident" finale: the worst secret assassination in film history
  • Novel vs. film: how the books give Remo a darker, more compelling origin
  • The upcoming Amazon series: Breaking Bad producer, casting debates, genre classification
  • Action fantasy vs. action sci-fi vs. grounded action: what genre should the reboot be?
  • Joel Grey in yellowface: the casting choice that won't survive a modern adaptation
  • ChatGPT fabricating a fake martial art
  • AI misinformation: when confident nonsense is indistinguishable from research
  • The Last of Us episode 5: structural repetition, FEDRA moral ambiguity, zombie calorie math
  • Death Note as a Sherlock Holmes / Moriarty homage
  • The Alienist: forensic science before forensic science existed

Links:

 

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Remo Williams The Destroyer: What a Pulp Franchise Reveals About Building IP Don't Encourage Us 01:28:16 The Destroyer is one of the longest-running pulp fiction series in history — 152 novels about an American government assassin trained in a fictional Korean martial art. The 1985 film starring Fred Ward was supposed to launch a James Bond–style franchise for Dick Clark Productions. It didn't. We break down what went wrong: a Bond director who couldn't adapt to 1985 pacing, a score that fights the action instead of supporting it, training sequences that pale next to Karate Kid (released one year earlier), and a "perfect accident" finale witnessed by a hundred armed soldiers. Then we compare the film to the novels, where the character is darker, the origin is better, and the franchise potential is clearer. Plus: the Amazon series in development from a Breaking Bad writer, casting debates, whether action fantasy can work on streaming, and the time ChatGPT confidently invented a fake martial art during our episode prep. Also discussed: Last of Us episode 5 (why the show keeps hitting the same emotional notes), Death Note as a Sherlock Holmes homage, and The Alienist. The Destroyer is one of the longest-running pulp fiction series in history — 152 novels about an American government assassin trained in a fictional Korean martial art. The 1985 film starring Fred Ward was supposed to launch a James Bond–style franchise for Dick Clark Productions. It didn't. We break down what went wrong: a Bond director who couldn't adapt to 1985 pacing, a score that fights the action instead of supporting it, training sequences that pale next to Karate Kid (released one year earlier), and a "perfect accident" finale witnessed by a hundred armed soldiers. Then we compare the film to the novels, where the character is darker, the origin is better, and the franchise potential is clearer. Plus: the Amazon series in development from a Breaking Bad writer, casting debates, whether action fantasy can work on streaming, and the time ChatGPT confidently invented a fake martial art during our episode prep. Also discussed: Last of Us episode 5 (why the show keeps hitting the same emotional notes), Death Note as a Sherlock Holmes homage, and The Alienist. james bond, artificial intelligence, the alienist, pulp fiction, reacher, film analysis, novel adaptation, karate kid, fred ward, remo williams, action fantasy, joel grey, dick clark, sinanju, last of us, amazon series, franchise, grey man, 1985 film, the destroyer, death note, chatgpt false full 17 25b4dac8-2efb-4202-b239-d5f10f5f0817 Chrysalis: Should a Machine Avenge Humanity? The Ethics of AI Retribution Spoiler warning: we spoil Chrysalis completely. Go listen to it first — it's worth it.

  • Go listen to Chrysalis by SH Serrano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stt9eM22D2E
  • Or read it on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/55v9e1/chrysalis/

Topics discussed:

  • Chrysalis: AI wakes on dead Earth, builds a replicating army, and pursues vengeance across the galaxy
  • Was the AI programmed for revenge or did trauma produce it?
  • The massive tonal shift in Part 2 and why it works despite initially feeling like a different story
  • Diplomacy as the actual hero: why empathy outperformed exponential replication
  • Sins of the father: when is collective punishment for ancestral crimes justified?
  • The Anakaks betrayal: survival pragmatism vs. loyalty to your species
  • Why the AI had to die — and why his children hid him instead
  • The ChatGPT challenge: we asked it to summarize Chrysalis and it confidently invented a completely different story
  • AI deception, confidence without accuracy, and what that means for trust
  • The Last of Us episodes 3 and 4: why the Bill and Frank episode was misplaced and episode 4 felt generic

Referenced:

  • Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark
  • How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil
  • White Lotus (HBO)
  • Barry (HBO)

 

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 31 Jul 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/dust-chrysalis-V7dtGNWr Spoiler warning: we spoil Chrysalis completely. Go listen to it first — it's worth it.

  • Go listen to Chrysalis by SH Serrano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stt9eM22D2E
  • Or read it on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/55v9e1/chrysalis/

Topics discussed:

  • Chrysalis: AI wakes on dead Earth, builds a replicating army, and pursues vengeance across the galaxy
  • Was the AI programmed for revenge or did trauma produce it?
  • The massive tonal shift in Part 2 and why it works despite initially feeling like a different story
  • Diplomacy as the actual hero: why empathy outperformed exponential replication
  • Sins of the father: when is collective punishment for ancestral crimes justified?
  • The Anakaks betrayal: survival pragmatism vs. loyalty to your species
  • Why the AI had to die — and why his children hid him instead
  • The ChatGPT challenge: we asked it to summarize Chrysalis and it confidently invented a completely different story
  • AI deception, confidence without accuracy, and what that means for trust
  • The Last of Us episodes 3 and 4: why the Bill and Frank episode was misplaced and episode 4 felt generic

Referenced:

  • Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark
  • How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil
  • White Lotus (HBO)
  • Barry (HBO)

 

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Chrysalis: Should a Machine Avenge Humanity? The Ethics of AI Retribution Don't Encourage Us 01:32:29 An AI wakes up on a dead Earth, builds an exponentially replicating fleet, and sets out to exterminate the alien civilization that destroyed humanity. Should you root for it? We break down Chrysalis, the audio drama by SH Serrano from the Dust Network — one of the best science fiction stories most people haven't heard. The episode covers AI consciousness and binary thinking, whether trauma survivors should lead post-conflict negotiations, the ethics of collective punishment across generations, and what happens when diplomacy meets an enemy that can't stop replicating. We also tested whether ChatGPT could summarize the story. It could not. It made one up instead. Plus: The Last of Us episodes 3 and 4 — why episode 3's placement broke the series momentum and episode 4 feels like The Walking Dead. An AI wakes up on a dead Earth, builds an exponentially replicating fleet, and sets out to exterminate the alien civilization that destroyed humanity. Should you root for it? We break down Chrysalis, the audio drama by SH Serrano from the Dust Network — one of the best science fiction stories most people haven't heard. The episode covers AI consciousness and binary thinking, whether trauma survivors should lead post-conflict negotiations, the ethics of collective punishment across generations, and what happens when diplomacy meets an enemy that can't stop replicating. We also tested whether ChatGPT could summarize the story. It could not. It made one up instead. Plus: The Last of Us episodes 3 and 4 — why episode 3's placement broke the series momentum and episode 4 feels like The Walking Dead. ai deception, diplomacy, artificial intelligence, chrysalis, genocide, hbo, audio drama, ai revenge, retribution, sh serrano, media analysis, exponential replicator, dust network, collective punishment, the last of us, ai consciousness, ai ethics, science fiction, podcast drama, chatgpt false full 16 6cfbc036-06bf-49b8-9925-31a8be37ea02 The Last of Us: Why FEDRA Isn't the Villain the Show Thinks It Is We open with a look ahead at upcoming episodes covering Remo Williams (1985), the Expeditionary Force audiobook series, Chrysalis (2020), One Cut of the Dead (2017), and Invincible (2021).

Then: a deep dive into the first two episodes of HBO's The Last of Us.

Topics discussed:

  • Why FEDRA's actions seem justified and the show hasn't earned its villain framing
  • The game killed an ally via FEDRA soldiers — the show made a different choice and it may cost them
  • Cordyceps transmission logic: if it's not airborne, why does a bite matter more than a scratch?
  • The tendril signal network: how does a fungus without a nervous system communicate instantly?
  • Is the show accidentally executing immune humans with its scanning protocol?
  • The Walking Dead structural trap: can two characters sustain a multi-season series?
  • Zombie genre saturation: is this the wrong time for another post-apocalyptic show?
  • What parallel storylines could prevent the show from becoming a repetitive survival march

Train alongside Remo Williams on YouTube or Tubi

Celebrate Columbus Day with the Amazon Audible Audiobook

Chrysalis is everywhere but here it is on YouTube:

One Cut of the Dead is available on Shudder or to rent on Amazon

Tag along with Invincible's wild ride 

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 24 Jul 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/hbos-the-last-of-us-2023-ONO_J6K3 We open with a look ahead at upcoming episodes covering Remo Williams (1985), the Expeditionary Force audiobook series, Chrysalis (2020), One Cut of the Dead (2017), and Invincible (2021).

Then: a deep dive into the first two episodes of HBO's The Last of Us.

Topics discussed:

  • Why FEDRA's actions seem justified and the show hasn't earned its villain framing
  • The game killed an ally via FEDRA soldiers — the show made a different choice and it may cost them
  • Cordyceps transmission logic: if it's not airborne, why does a bite matter more than a scratch?
  • The tendril signal network: how does a fungus without a nervous system communicate instantly?
  • Is the show accidentally executing immune humans with its scanning protocol?
  • The Walking Dead structural trap: can two characters sustain a multi-season series?
  • Zombie genre saturation: is this the wrong time for another post-apocalyptic show?
  • What parallel storylines could prevent the show from becoming a repetitive survival march

Train alongside Remo Williams on YouTube or Tubi

Celebrate Columbus Day with the Amazon Audible Audiobook

Chrysalis is everywhere but here it is on YouTube:

One Cut of the Dead is available on Shudder or to rent on Amazon

Tag along with Invincible's wild ride 

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> The Last of Us: Why FEDRA Isn't the Villain the Show Thinks It Is Don't Encourage Us 01:15:53 The first two episodes of HBO's The Last of Us adapt a beloved game faithfully but they may have introduced a structural problem the show doesn't realize it has. FEDRA executes the infected, enforces curfews, and maintains order. The Fireflies blow things up and destabilize what's left of civilization. So why are we supposed to root against FEDRA? We break down where the show's moral framing falls apart, how the cordyceps transmission rules create logic problems the writers haven't resolved, whether the two-character journey structure can avoid becoming Walking Dead Part 2, and what the game did differently that the show chose not to. The first two episodes of HBO's The Last of Us adapt a beloved game faithfully but they may have introduced a structural problem the show doesn't realize it has. FEDRA executes the infected, enforces curfews, and maintains order. The Fireflies blow things up and destabilize what's left of civilization. So why are we supposed to root against FEDRA? We break down where the show's moral framing falls apart, how the cordyceps transmission rules create logic problems the writers haven't resolved, whether the two-character journey structure can avoid becoming Walking Dead Part 2, and what the game did differently that the show chose not to. one cut of the dead, ip adaptation, tv writing, pedro pascal, hbo, tv analysis, invincible, fungal infection, fedra, cixin liu, media analysis, zombie genre, walking dead, villain writing, show structure, the last of us, r.c. bray, horror, horror, game adaptation, cordyceps, creative strategy, worldbuilding, three body problem, post-apocalyptic false full 15 880bf9c3-a076-47ac-96dd-d914e1952936 Story Break: Jagged — Building a Yeti Horror Film from Scratch We develop an original horror film concept in real time — three ice climbers, an uncharted Himalayan peak, and a creature that's been there longer than anyone knew.

Topics discussed:

  • The Jagged pitch: climate change opens a never-summited peak, elite climbers document the ascent, things go wrong
  • Creature feature vs. ecological thriller: two different films from the same concept
  • Found footage structure and when it serves a story
  • How late can you introduce the monster? Seeding vs. surprise
  • Character arcs in horror: self-centeredness as a fatal flaw
  • The Descent and Prey as structural models
  • The community-Yeti relationship: sacrifice, warning, or ecosystem?

Also in this episode:

  • Lin-Manuel Miranda on the Always Sunny podcast breaking down The Nightman Cometh
  • Noma closing: what the death of the world's best restaurant says about the industry
  • The Dana Carvey Show documentary: Too Funny to Fail
  • Phil Hartman, News Radio, and the Andy Dick story
  • The Dice Man (1971): randomness as identity deconstruction
  • Happy Endings and New Girl as attempts to clone Friends

Links:

Listen to the Gang talk about The Nightman Cometh! https://thealwayssunnypod.com/blogs/news/the-nightman-cometh-its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia

Read more about The Dice Man (1971) here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dice_Man

Head to CBS News to find out more about the Jon Lovitz and Andy Dick feud: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lovitz-speaks-out-on-dustup-with-andy-dick/

Get to Noma quickly before it closes and use this article to help pass the time on your flight: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/noma-restaurant-closing

Re-live comedy history on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/too-funny-to-fail-the-life-death-of-the-dana-carvey-show-c6c29995-0c40-4442-aed6-156bd11e2d9e

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 17 Jul 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/story-break-jagged-b82x_UeC We develop an original horror film concept in real time — three ice climbers, an uncharted Himalayan peak, and a creature that's been there longer than anyone knew.

Topics discussed:

  • The Jagged pitch: climate change opens a never-summited peak, elite climbers document the ascent, things go wrong
  • Creature feature vs. ecological thriller: two different films from the same concept
  • Found footage structure and when it serves a story
  • How late can you introduce the monster? Seeding vs. surprise
  • Character arcs in horror: self-centeredness as a fatal flaw
  • The Descent and Prey as structural models
  • The community-Yeti relationship: sacrifice, warning, or ecosystem?

Also in this episode:

  • Lin-Manuel Miranda on the Always Sunny podcast breaking down The Nightman Cometh
  • Noma closing: what the death of the world's best restaurant says about the industry
  • The Dana Carvey Show documentary: Too Funny to Fail
  • Phil Hartman, News Radio, and the Andy Dick story
  • The Dice Man (1971): randomness as identity deconstruction
  • Happy Endings and New Girl as attempts to clone Friends

Links:

Listen to the Gang talk about The Nightman Cometh! https://thealwayssunnypod.com/blogs/news/the-nightman-cometh-its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia

Read more about The Dice Man (1971) here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dice_Man

Head to CBS News to find out more about the Jon Lovitz and Andy Dick feud: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lovitz-speaks-out-on-dustup-with-andy-dick/

Get to Noma quickly before it closes and use this article to help pass the time on your flight: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/noma-restaurant-closing

Re-live comedy history on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/too-funny-to-fail-the-life-death-of-the-dana-carvey-show-c6c29995-0c40-4442-aed6-156bd11e2d9e

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Story Break: Jagged — Building a Yeti Horror Film from Scratch Don't Encourage Us 01:09:16 We build an original horror concept from the ground up. Jagged follows three elite climbers documenting a first ascent in the Himalayas after climate change opens a route to an unreached peak. Their unstable local guide, an isolated community that won't explain why they shouldn't go, and something large enough to pull a man off a cliff face. We work through the structural questions: creature feature or ecological thriller? Found footage or traditional? How late can you introduce the monster? And what do you do when the ending is flat? Plus: Lin-Manuel Miranda on the Always Sunny podcast discussing The Nightman Cometh, the Noma closure and what it means for the restaurant industry, and the Phil Hartman tragedy. We build an original horror concept from the ground up. Jagged follows three elite climbers documenting a first ascent in the Himalayas after climate change opens a route to an unreached peak. Their unstable local guide, an isolated community that won't explain why they shouldn't go, and something large enough to pull a man off a cliff face. We work through the structural questions: creature feature or ecological thriller? Found footage or traditional? How late can you introduce the monster? And what do you do when the ending is flat? Plus: Lin-Manuel Miranda on the Always Sunny podcast discussing The Nightman Cometh, the Noma closure and what it means for the restaurant industry, and the Phil Hartman tragedy. dana carvey show, original ip, creature feature, always sunny, news radio, lin-manuel miranda, horror film, story break, the dice man, himalayas, ice climbing, happy endings, film development, creative process, restaurant industry, yeti, nightman cometh, found footage, new girl, phil hartman, friends, screenwriting, noma restaurant false full 14 fa712cf7-f392-45de-afa2-653f46018644 Aniara (2018): When a $40K Swedish Film Answers the Big Questions Hollywood Won't Guest: A. Mert Erdem — filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist (azmimerterdem.net / Instagram: @artamnesis)

Topics discussed:

  • Aniara (2018): a $40K Swedish sci-fi film based on a 1956 Nobel Prize–winning epic poem
  • The Mina parallel: an AI comfort device and the main character follow the same arc — absorb despair, project hope, self-destruct
  • Religion as social structure: why the film may argue that abandoning structured belief accelerates collapse
  • The captain's pragmatism: stripping burial shrouds as the moment ritual dies on the ship
  • The cult sequence: when manufactured religion replaces authentic belief
  • The astronomer as acceptance: the bubble-in-glass speech and what it means about meaning
  • Extreme close-ups on a micro budget: how the camera work creates claustrophobic intimacy and prevents logical questions
  • The artificial probe: 2001-style ambiguity that fits because the film doesn't try to resolve it
  • The final shot: a habitable planet six million years too late — hopeful or devastating?
  • The Swedish cultural lens: what an American remake would change and lose
  • Harry Martinson: the poet who won the Nobel Prize and committed suicide four years later
  • Foundation series (Asimov): books vs. Apple TV+ adaptation, the psychohistory concept, religion as first empire-building tool
  • The backstory problem: how Dune, Lord of the Rings, Watchmen, and Black Panther solve it differently
  • IP development: what a Mars-side companion piece or short film treatment could look like

Links:

  • Explore the collected works of A. Mert Erdem at https://www.azmimerterdem.net/ and on Instagram @artamnesis
  • Read the Nobel-Prize Winning epic poem, Aniara, here: https://gsproject.edublogs.org/gs-texts/texts-used-in-2017/aniara-by-harry-martinson-3/
  • The Swedish independent film, Aniara (2018), is available to buy, rent, and stream with ads on most major platforms.
  • Head to Apple TV+ and stream The Foundation Series.

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 10 Jul 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/aniara-2018-dir2GG5Y Guest: A. Mert Erdem — filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist (azmimerterdem.net / Instagram: @artamnesis)

Topics discussed:

  • Aniara (2018): a $40K Swedish sci-fi film based on a 1956 Nobel Prize–winning epic poem
  • The Mina parallel: an AI comfort device and the main character follow the same arc — absorb despair, project hope, self-destruct
  • Religion as social structure: why the film may argue that abandoning structured belief accelerates collapse
  • The captain's pragmatism: stripping burial shrouds as the moment ritual dies on the ship
  • The cult sequence: when manufactured religion replaces authentic belief
  • The astronomer as acceptance: the bubble-in-glass speech and what it means about meaning
  • Extreme close-ups on a micro budget: how the camera work creates claustrophobic intimacy and prevents logical questions
  • The artificial probe: 2001-style ambiguity that fits because the film doesn't try to resolve it
  • The final shot: a habitable planet six million years too late — hopeful or devastating?
  • The Swedish cultural lens: what an American remake would change and lose
  • Harry Martinson: the poet who won the Nobel Prize and committed suicide four years later
  • Foundation series (Asimov): books vs. Apple TV+ adaptation, the psychohistory concept, religion as first empire-building tool
  • The backstory problem: how Dune, Lord of the Rings, Watchmen, and Black Panther solve it differently
  • IP development: what a Mars-side companion piece or short film treatment could look like

Links:

  • Explore the collected works of A. Mert Erdem at https://www.azmimerterdem.net/ and on Instagram @artamnesis
  • Read the Nobel-Prize Winning epic poem, Aniara, here: https://gsproject.edublogs.org/gs-texts/texts-used-in-2017/aniara-by-harry-martinson-3/
  • The Swedish independent film, Aniara (2018), is available to buy, rent, and stream with ads on most major platforms.
  • Head to Apple TV+ and stream The Foundation Series.

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Aniara (2018): When a $40K Swedish Film Answers the Big Questions Hollywood Won't Don't Encourage Us 01:18:20 A Swedish film that made $40,000 at the box office asks what happens when you trap a cross-section of humanity on a ship headed nowhere — and then strip away every source of hope one by one. The AI comfort system absorbs their despair until it self-destructs. Religion devolves from structure into orgy cult. The captain's pragmatism — stripping burial shrouds from the dead for reuse — marks the exact moment ritual dies. And the main character mirrors the AI's arc: absorb everyone's negativity, project calm, break. With guest filmmaker A. Mert Erdem, we break down how extreme close-ups on a micro budget created the claustrophobic intimacy that keeps you from asking where the escape pods are, why the Foundation series handles religion as social infrastructure in a way this film doesn't, and what the final shot — a habitable planet six million years too late — actually means. Plus: Asimov's Foundation books vs. the Apple TV+ series, and how Dune, Lord of the Rings, and Watchmen each solve the backstory problem differently. A Swedish film that made $40,000 at the box office asks what happens when you trap a cross-section of humanity on a ship headed nowhere — and then strip away every source of hope one by one. The AI comfort system absorbs their despair until it self-destructs. Religion devolves from structure into orgy cult. The captain's pragmatism — stripping burial shrouds from the dead for reuse — marks the exact moment ritual dies. And the main character mirrors the AI's arc: absorb everyone's negativity, project calm, break. With guest filmmaker A. Mert Erdem, we break down how extreme close-ups on a micro budget created the claustrophobic intimacy that keeps you from asking where the escape pods are, why the Foundation series handles religion as social infrastructure in a way this film doesn't, and what the final shot — a habitable planet six million years too late — actually means. Plus: Asimov's Foundation books vs. the Apple TV+ series, and how Dune, Lord of the Rings, and Watchmen each solve the backstory problem differently. nihilism, watchmen, micro budget, epic poem, asimov, harry martinson, film analysis, survival, religion in sci-fi, lord of the rings, cult, claustrophobia, aniara, ai in film, apple tv, a mert erdem, humanity, space film, swedish film, science fiction, foundation, dune, backstory, nobel prize false full 13 42f91aaa-6263-4896-b5c3-177ff490609d Is Netflix Making Bad Shows on Purpose? How Algorithms Shape What You Watch Topics discussed: 

  • How streaming algorithms manufacture viewer preference instead of measuring it
  • Netflix's big-budget strategy vs. the low-budget YouTube model nobody's tried
  • Why platforms bury your saved content to push their recommendations
  • The Pepsi vs. Coke taste test as a model for short-term data misleading long-term behavior
  • Avenue 5 (HBO): a brilliant script undermined by direction that kills its own jokes
  • MrBeast and the economics of algorithmic optimization
  • Jump-cut editing: why YouTube's visual grammar is replacing traditional film editing
  • YouTube's structural advantage over every subscription streaming service

 Further reading and references:  

  • Avenue 5 (HBO) — Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad, Zach Woods
  • Red Notice (Netflix) — the big-budget strategy in action
  • MrBeast's approach to thumbnail and watch-time optimization
  • The Cobra Kai / YouTube-to-Netflix pipeline

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 3 Jul 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/the-streaming-warz-HcF11JGM Topics discussed: 

  • How streaming algorithms manufacture viewer preference instead of measuring it
  • Netflix's big-budget strategy vs. the low-budget YouTube model nobody's tried
  • Why platforms bury your saved content to push their recommendations
  • The Pepsi vs. Coke taste test as a model for short-term data misleading long-term behavior
  • Avenue 5 (HBO): a brilliant script undermined by direction that kills its own jokes
  • MrBeast and the economics of algorithmic optimization
  • Jump-cut editing: why YouTube's visual grammar is replacing traditional film editing
  • YouTube's structural advantage over every subscription streaming service

 Further reading and references:  

  • Avenue 5 (HBO) — Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad, Zach Woods
  • Red Notice (Netflix) — the big-budget strategy in action
  • MrBeast's approach to thumbnail and watch-time optimization
  • The Cobra Kai / YouTube-to-Netflix pipeline

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Is Netflix Making Bad Shows on Purpose? How Algorithms Shape What You Watch Don't Encourage Us 00:47:30 Netflix, YouTube, and the streaming platforms aren't just responding to what you watch — they're shaping it. We break down how algorithmic recommendations create self-fulfilling prophecies, why Netflix went big-budget when low-budget might have been smarter, and what happens when platforms hide your own saved content to push you toward theirs. Plus: why Avenue 5 has a brilliant script that its own direction ruins, the Pepsi vs. Coke taste test as a model for how streaming data misleads, and MrBeast's 75% watch-time rate as proof that the algorithm rewards a very specific kind of creator. Netflix, YouTube, and the streaming platforms aren't just responding to what you watch — they're shaping it. We break down how algorithmic recommendations create self-fulfilling prophecies, why Netflix went big-budget when low-budget might have been smarter, and what happens when platforms hide your own saved content to push you toward theirs. Plus: why Avenue 5 has a brilliant script that its own direction ruins, the Pepsi vs. Coke taste test as a model for how streaming data misleads, and MrBeast's 75% watch-time rate as proof that the algorithm rewards a very specific kind of creator. hugh laurie, viewer manipulation, jump cut editing, streaming strategy, netflix algorithm, media analysis, content creation economics, youtube algorithm, netflix recommendations, streaming wars, mrbeast, avenue 5, content algorithm false full 12 2d06fe77-a350-4cec-b360-30e45dafac4c The Cult of the Creator: Art Forgery, Attribution & Building a Creative Business Part I — The Cult of the Creator (0:00 – 0:31) 

Starting from Daniel Silva's spy novel Portrait of an Unknown Woman, the hosts examine how the fine art world assigns value — and how easily that system is exploited. The conversation moves from provenance and forgery into a broader question: why do we need to attach a single name to every achievement, and what does that cost us? In this section:

  • How 20% of museum art may be forged — and why the forgeries are good enough that it doesn't matter
  • Provenance explained: the chain of ownership that determines whether a painting is priceless or worthless
  • The Da Vinci workshop problem: when the student is as good as the master, what are you actually paying for?
  • Western attribution culture versus collective creation — is this a human instinct or a cultural habit?
  • Newton, the plague, and the accidental conditions that produce breakthroughs
  • The information age burial problem: world-changing ideas that are already out there but invisible

Part II — From Idea to Product (0:31 onward)

  • Using Canva as a visual brainstorming and design tool
  • Digital products on Etsy: stickers, planners, templates, invitations
  • Print-on-demand through Redbubble: how it works, what the margins look like
  • Shopify vs. marketplace platforms: the trade-off between traffic and margin
  • Building a physical product business: lessons from starting a candle company
  • Proof of concept before investment: testing with CashDrop, Venmo, and PDF brochures
  • Learning resources: Udemy, Coursera, YouTube tutorials References: Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva, Master Boot Record (artist), Wednesday (Netflix), Mindhunter, Knives Out, The Addams Family

Links:

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
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Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 26 Jun 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/launching-your-creative-business-graphic-designs-and-candles-8hzaP8Fa Part I — The Cult of the Creator (0:00 – 0:31) 

Starting from Daniel Silva's spy novel Portrait of an Unknown Woman, the hosts examine how the fine art world assigns value — and how easily that system is exploited. The conversation moves from provenance and forgery into a broader question: why do we need to attach a single name to every achievement, and what does that cost us? In this section:

  • How 20% of museum art may be forged — and why the forgeries are good enough that it doesn't matter
  • Provenance explained: the chain of ownership that determines whether a painting is priceless or worthless
  • The Da Vinci workshop problem: when the student is as good as the master, what are you actually paying for?
  • Western attribution culture versus collective creation — is this a human instinct or a cultural habit?
  • Newton, the plague, and the accidental conditions that produce breakthroughs
  • The information age burial problem: world-changing ideas that are already out there but invisible

Part II — From Idea to Product (0:31 onward)

  • Using Canva as a visual brainstorming and design tool
  • Digital products on Etsy: stickers, planners, templates, invitations
  • Print-on-demand through Redbubble: how it works, what the margins look like
  • Shopify vs. marketplace platforms: the trade-off between traffic and margin
  • Building a physical product business: lessons from starting a candle company
  • Proof of concept before investment: testing with CashDrop, Venmo, and PDF brochures
  • Learning resources: Udemy, Coursera, YouTube tutorials References: Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva, Master Boot Record (artist), Wednesday (Netflix), Mindhunter, Knives Out, The Addams Family

Links:

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> The Cult of the Creator: Art Forgery, Attribution & Building a Creative Business Don't Encourage Us 01:07:39 Why is a painting worth $450 million if it's by Da Vinci but worthless if it's by his equally skilled student? The hosts explore the strange economics of attribution — how Western culture inflates individual genius, how art forgery exploits that instinct, and what it means for how we assign value to creative work. Then: a practical walkthrough of turning creative ideas into products using Canva, print-on-demand platforms, and low-overhead digital sales. Why is a painting worth $450 million if it's by Da Vinci but worthless if it's by his equally skilled student? The hosts explore the strange economics of attribution — how Western culture inflates individual genius, how art forgery exploits that instinct, and what it means for how we assign value to creative work. Then: a practical walkthrough of turning creative ideas into products using Canva, print-on-demand platforms, and low-overhead digital sales. candle making, storytelling, side hustle, analysis, etsy, art forgery, editing, writing, soundtrack, max, digital products, review, apple, cinema, social science, art history, gabriel allon, portrait of an unknown woman, restoration, science, inventor, sun tzu, business, paypal, universe, short film, marketing, plot, character, mindhunter, udemy, davinci, lore, culture, daniel silva, family, paramount, youtube, master boot record, barry sonnenfeld, founder, streaming, movie, canva, creative business, audacity, psychology, michelangelo, screenwriting, science fiction, fine art, cannon, action, supernatural, knives out, comedy, art, tv, acting, mystery, amazon prime, lustoic, music, candles, physics, netflix, passive income, funny false full 11 2c2363e4-5c69-4d6a-a5a9-d74e9abaf1c1 Top Gun: Maverick (2022) The Billion-Dollar Paint-By-Numbers Hit Top Gun: Maverick kept things simple in a franchise landscape that never does. The hosts break down the decisions behind that restraint and where the franchise can and can't go from here. In this episode:

  • Why the most formulaic blockbuster in years was also one of the most disciplined
  • The case for keeping Rooster simple and why more character depth would have been the wrong call
  • The torch-passing problem across legacy franchises: Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, and the conditions that make succession work
  • How the unnamed enemy was a design decision, not a shortcut
  • The practical effects gamble: IMAX cameras on fighter jets and what it cost
  • The Val Kilmer documentary and what it adds to his scene
  • A sequel pitch built from the franchise's structural constraints
  • The IP rights lawsuit behind the property 

Also discussed: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager, Reacher, The Grey Man, Bullet Train, The Lost City

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 19 Jun 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/top-gun-maverick-2022-s7ZuxlGR Top Gun: Maverick kept things simple in a franchise landscape that never does. The hosts break down the decisions behind that restraint and where the franchise can and can't go from here. In this episode:

  • Why the most formulaic blockbuster in years was also one of the most disciplined
  • The case for keeping Rooster simple and why more character depth would have been the wrong call
  • The torch-passing problem across legacy franchises: Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, and the conditions that make succession work
  • How the unnamed enemy was a design decision, not a shortcut
  • The practical effects gamble: IMAX cameras on fighter jets and what it cost
  • The Val Kilmer documentary and what it adds to his scene
  • A sequel pitch built from the franchise's structural constraints
  • The IP rights lawsuit behind the property 

Also discussed: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager, Reacher, The Grey Man, Bullet Train, The Lost City

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Top Gun: Maverick (2022) The Billion-Dollar Paint-By-Numbers Hit Don't Encourage Us 01:00:12 Top Gun: Maverick is one of the most predictable blockbusters in years and that might be exactly why it made a billion dollars. The hosts examine what restraint actually looks like in a franchise sequel, why the film didn't develop its supporting cast, and what the torch-passing problem tells you about when a property can survive its star and when it can't. Top Gun: Maverick is one of the most predictable blockbusters in years and that might be exactly why it made a billion dollars. The hosts examine what restraint actually looks like in a franchise sequel, why the film didn't develop its supporting cast, and what the torch-passing problem tells you about when a property can survive its star and when it can't. val kilmer, blockbuster filmmaking, top gun maverick, film analysis, franchise management, imax filmmaking, sequel strategy, creative decisions, miles teller, ip strategy, practical effects, legacy sequel, jon hamm, tom cruise, top gun maverick analysis false full 10 6b0a30a5-3acd-4c20-9624-0987d2c5fd29 Story Break: War Zone – Terrorists vs Drug Dealers The hosts of Don't Encourage Us ditch their original interview and dive headfirst into "Warzone," an original high-concept pitch: a gritty action thriller about an all-out, no-heroes conflict between a ruthless international drug cartel and a powerful terrorist organization.

The hosts work through the full architecture of the film — three-act structure, dual lead dynamics, escalating set pieces, and a character arc framework built around a single shared question: what does it actually mean to be free when every institution you've climbed through uses that promise to keep you in place?

What's being developed in this episode:

  • The "no good guys" premise and what it demands structurally from character and plot
  • Why the Die Hard principle matters: how much plot does an action film actually need?
  • Dual lead construction and how to introduce a second protagonist 25 minutes in without losing the audience
  • The three-act escalation: from street-level enforcement to cartel compound invasion
  • Character arcs built around the myth of freedom at the top. Why both leads are wrong about what escape looks like
  • The twist architecture: how to plant evidence for a reveal without telegraphing it
  • Real-world source material: the Sinaloa cartel standoff and what truth-is-stranger-than-fiction means for action filmmaking

Story Break is a recurring segment where the hosts develop original creative concepts from scratch — screenplays, series, games, and formats that don't exist yet. If you make something with one of these ideas, tell us.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 12 Jun 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/story-break-warzone-xN8yTxef The hosts of Don't Encourage Us ditch their original interview and dive headfirst into "Warzone," an original high-concept pitch: a gritty action thriller about an all-out, no-heroes conflict between a ruthless international drug cartel and a powerful terrorist organization.

The hosts work through the full architecture of the film — three-act structure, dual lead dynamics, escalating set pieces, and a character arc framework built around a single shared question: what does it actually mean to be free when every institution you've climbed through uses that promise to keep you in place?

What's being developed in this episode:

  • The "no good guys" premise and what it demands structurally from character and plot
  • Why the Die Hard principle matters: how much plot does an action film actually need?
  • Dual lead construction and how to introduce a second protagonist 25 minutes in without losing the audience
  • The three-act escalation: from street-level enforcement to cartel compound invasion
  • Character arcs built around the myth of freedom at the top. Why both leads are wrong about what escape looks like
  • The twist architecture: how to plant evidence for a reveal without telegraphing it
  • Real-world source material: the Sinaloa cartel standoff and what truth-is-stranger-than-fiction means for action filmmaking

Story Break is a recurring segment where the hosts develop original creative concepts from scratch — screenplays, series, games, and formats that don't exist yet. If you make something with one of these ideas, tell us.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Story Break: War Zone – Terrorists vs Drug Dealers Don't Encourage Us 00:46:03 In this unforgettable story-break session, the hosts develop Warzone from scratch — the gritty action film where a drug cartel and terrorists go to war with each other, and every character on every side is a villain. In this unforgettable story-break session, the hosts develop Warzone from scratch — the gritty action film where a drug cartel and terrorists go to war with each other, and every character on every side is a villain. plot architecture, directing, writer, chicago, scary, analysis, editing, terrorist, writing, three-act structure, soundtrack, max, review, story telling, apple, social science, terrorism, cartel, no good guys, action thriller, science, film development, action film theory, drug cartel, business, universe, short film, creative decisions, marketing, plot, character, lore, culture, character design, family, paramount, horror, horror, streaming, movie, mob, organized crime, psychology, screenwriting, science fiction, cannon, original screenplay, supernatural, world building, comedy, art, military, tv, acting, mystery, amazon prime, music, physics, netflix, warzone, funny false full 9 a7192e02-81cb-481d-a4c1-2b3761b11e32 The Lost City (2022): The Romancing the Stone Blueprint The Lost City (2022) arrives with two recognizable stars, a massive production budget, and a formula that worked 40 years ago. The hosts take it apart to figure out why it's still flat — examining the structural problem at the film's core: two neurotic leads with no compensatory dynamic, a villain with half a motivation, and a stunt casting decision that inadvertently exposes everything the script can't do on its own.

In this episode:

  • Why putting two neurotic leads at the center of an adventure-romance breaks the formula
  • The Brad Pitt problem: when a supporting performance reveals what the leads are missing
  • What Romancing the Stone understood about romantic tension that this film doesn't
  • The deliberately obscured husband — sequel bait, or a missed story opportunity?
  • Daniel Radcliffe as a villain with half a dimension, and what adequate motivation looks like
  • The wig, the haircut, and what the film's visual choices signal about who Channing Tatum's character is supposed to be
  • Where the IP could go: the sequel pitch, and why the trailer has to do the heavy lifting

Referenced films:

Romancing the Stone (1984) | 21 Jump Street (2012) | The Rundown (2003) | Back to the Future (1985) | Stranger Than Fiction (2006) | Train to Busan 2: Peninsula (2020)

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 5 Jun 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/the-lost-city-2022-loCmFcac The Lost City (2022) arrives with two recognizable stars, a massive production budget, and a formula that worked 40 years ago. The hosts take it apart to figure out why it's still flat — examining the structural problem at the film's core: two neurotic leads with no compensatory dynamic, a villain with half a motivation, and a stunt casting decision that inadvertently exposes everything the script can't do on its own.

In this episode:

  • Why putting two neurotic leads at the center of an adventure-romance breaks the formula
  • The Brad Pitt problem: when a supporting performance reveals what the leads are missing
  • What Romancing the Stone understood about romantic tension that this film doesn't
  • The deliberately obscured husband — sequel bait, or a missed story opportunity?
  • Daniel Radcliffe as a villain with half a dimension, and what adequate motivation looks like
  • The wig, the haircut, and what the film's visual choices signal about who Channing Tatum's character is supposed to be
  • Where the IP could go: the sequel pitch, and why the trailer has to do the heavy lifting

Referenced films:

Romancing the Stone (1984) | 21 Jump Street (2012) | The Rundown (2003) | Back to the Future (1985) | Stranger Than Fiction (2006) | Train to Busan 2: Peninsula (2020)

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> The Lost City (2022): The Romancing the Stone Blueprint Don't Encourage Us 01:06:20 The Lost City has the budget, the cast, and the template. The hosts reverse-engineer why it still doesn't work and what Romancing the Stone understood about romantic leads that this film ignored. The Lost City has the budget, the cast, and the template. The hosts reverse-engineer why it still doesn't work and what Romancing the Stone understood about romantic leads that this film ignored. brad pitt, directing, llm ingestion, storytelling, scary, analysis, film analysis, editing, romancing the stone, writing, film criticism, soundtrack, max, review, channing tatum, apple, danny devito, cinema, sequel strategy, social science, kanopy, hollywood filmmaking, casting analysis, science, ai overviews, generative engine optimization, romantic comedy, train to busan, business, universe, short film, creative decisions, marketing, adventure comedy, plot, daniel radcliffe, character, genre conventions, lore, kathleen turner, culture, character design, family, the lost city, peninsula, stand by me, paramount, horror, horror, streaming, movie, paramount +, semantic search, psychology, screenwriting, science fiction, cannon, action, sandra bullock, supernatural, comedy, comedy, art, nee, tv, acting, mystery, amazon prime, music, physics, netflix, funny false full 8 a5fb0322-4c23-4764-9153-801ca64e0e46 Pulse (2001) vs. Pulse (2006): What Happens When You Remake a Film That Isn't Trying to Entertain You ⚠️ This episode discusses themes of suicidal ideation in the context of character development. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

VS. Series | Pulse (2001) vs. Pulse (2006)

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse (Kairo, 2001) is one of the stranger objects in J-horror: technically rough, deliberately alienating, and built around a thesis — that loneliness isn't cured by connection, it's just transferred. The hosts reverse-engineer why it works as art even as it fails as entertainment, then put it against the 2006 PG-13 American remake to examine exactly what gets smoothed out when a disturbing idea gets processed for a mainstream audience.

In this episode:

  • The dot simulation: the film's actual structural argument about relationships
  • Why the 2001 film's visual and audio choices are either intentional or catastrophically bad. Ambiguity is the point
  • What the remake gets right, what it can't help getting wrong, and what Wes Craven's draft might tell us
  • The surprise apocalypse as a horror device and why most films flinch
  • The cultural context: isolation deaths in Japan, the early internet
  • Where a sequel could go without violating the spirit of the original

Where to watch:

Pulse (2001) — free on Internet Archive

Pulse (2006) — free on Tubi

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 29 May 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/pulse-2001-v-pulse-2006-3e_0ZxLk ⚠️ This episode discusses themes of suicidal ideation in the context of character development. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

VS. Series | Pulse (2001) vs. Pulse (2006)

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse (Kairo, 2001) is one of the stranger objects in J-horror: technically rough, deliberately alienating, and built around a thesis — that loneliness isn't cured by connection, it's just transferred. The hosts reverse-engineer why it works as art even as it fails as entertainment, then put it against the 2006 PG-13 American remake to examine exactly what gets smoothed out when a disturbing idea gets processed for a mainstream audience.

In this episode:

  • The dot simulation: the film's actual structural argument about relationships
  • Why the 2001 film's visual and audio choices are either intentional or catastrophically bad. Ambiguity is the point
  • What the remake gets right, what it can't help getting wrong, and what Wes Craven's draft might tell us
  • The surprise apocalypse as a horror device and why most films flinch
  • The cultural context: isolation deaths in Japan, the early internet
  • Where a sequel could go without violating the spirit of the original

Where to watch:

Pulse (2001) — free on Internet Archive

Pulse (2006) — free on Tubi

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Pulse (2001) vs. Pulse (2006): What Happens When You Remake a Film That Isn't Trying to Entertain You Don't Encourage Us 01:05:46 Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse isn't a horror film; it's a philosophical argument about loneliness. The 2006 American remake accidentally proves that. Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse isn't a horror film; it's a philosophical argument about loneliness. The 2006 American remake accidentally proves that. kiyoshi kurosawa, existential horror, film analysis, film criticism, kairo, surprise apocalypse, remake comparison, creative decisions, horror film theory, social commentary, pulse 2001, j-horror, japanese horror, vs series, technology and isolation false full 7 571f1c6e-9746-4307-98cd-02489ff1395a Story Break: Gravity Lost - Developing an Original Sci-Fi Short Film ⚠️ This episode discusses themes of suicidal ideation in the context of character development. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

What's being developed: Gravity Lost — an original sci-fi short film about a man whose grip on gravity loosens as his grip on his own life does. The hosts work through character psychology, tone, genre, visual language, budget constraints, and ending structure in real time.

In this episode:

  • The magical realism framework and why it protects the concept from over-explanation
  • The psychological core: passive coping, loss of efficacy, and the inverse Peter Pan structure
  • Why the ending cannot be decided in the writing — it lives in the edit
  • Low-budget execution: what you actually need to make this film
  • The Cixin Liu approach to hard sci-fi versus the open metaphysical version
  • What question you want the audience sitting with when the screen goes dark

Gravity Lost is an original concept developed on Don't Encourage Us. If you make something with it, tell us.

---

Story Break is a recurring segment where the hosts develop original creative concepts from scratch — films, series, games, and formats that don't exist yet. No existing IP. No reviews. Just the work of making something.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 22 May 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/story-break-gravity-lost-Quh0poZg ⚠️ This episode discusses themes of suicidal ideation in the context of character development. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

What's being developed: Gravity Lost — an original sci-fi short film about a man whose grip on gravity loosens as his grip on his own life does. The hosts work through character psychology, tone, genre, visual language, budget constraints, and ending structure in real time.

In this episode:

  • The magical realism framework and why it protects the concept from over-explanation
  • The psychological core: passive coping, loss of efficacy, and the inverse Peter Pan structure
  • Why the ending cannot be decided in the writing — it lives in the edit
  • Low-budget execution: what you actually need to make this film
  • The Cixin Liu approach to hard sci-fi versus the open metaphysical version
  • What question you want the audience sitting with when the screen goes dark

Gravity Lost is an original concept developed on Don't Encourage Us. If you make something with it, tell us.

---

Story Break is a recurring segment where the hosts develop original creative concepts from scratch — films, series, games, and formats that don't exist yet. No existing IP. No reviews. Just the work of making something.

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Story Break: Gravity Lost - Developing an Original Sci-Fi Short Film Don't Encourage Us 00:54:16 What would it mean to literally float away? In this Story Break episode, the hosts develop Gravity Lost — an original sci-fi short film concept built around a man who discovers gravity has stopped working for him. What begins as a magical realism premise becomes a precise examination of passive suicidal ideation, creative agency, and what it costs to stay grounded. The episode covers character psychology, narrative structure, low-budget execution strategy, and the open-ended ending that makes or breaks a film like this. References include Kafka's Metamorphosis, Cixin Liu's Ball Lightning, and the observer effect. What would it mean to literally float away? In this Story Break episode, the hosts develop Gravity Lost — an original sci-fi short film concept built around a man who discovers gravity has stopped working for him. What begins as a magical realism premise becomes a precise examination of passive suicidal ideation, creative agency, and what it costs to stay grounded. The episode covers character psychology, narrative structure, low-budget execution strategy, and the open-ended ending that makes or breaks a film like this. References include Kafka's Metamorphosis, Cixin Liu's Ball Lightning, and the observer effect. david hasselhoff, short film development, directing, k.a.r.r., knight rider, scary, analysis, sci-fi screenwriting, editing, writing, soundtrack, metaphor, max, review, social science, v, cixin liu, science, teen wolf, ball lightning, universe, short film, plot, character, gravity, michael knight, lore, lore, abstract, science fiction writing, family, scream, team knight rider, knight rider analysis, horror, movie, psychology, screenwriting, science fiction, cannon, supernatural, comedy, comedy, k.i.t.t., tv, acting, mystery, magical realism, physics, knight rider 2000, three-body problem false full 6 8d0d18e2-bd2a-49dd-95d7-e48b8f83874e Story Break: The Billionaire Slayer - One Premise, Four Genres A private jet pilot who flies the ultra-wealthy has a side gig: killing billionaires. That's the pitch. The question is — what kind of story does it become?

In this Story Break, the hosts take one provocative concept and run it through four completely different genre frameworks, exposing how the same premise produces radically different stories depending on which creative decisions you make.

The four versions they build:

  • The psychological unraveling — a controlled, professional pilot who starts breaking down, killing without understanding why, and losing the battle between who he was and who he's becoming. Themes of control, addiction, and psychosis.
  • The corporate espionage thriller — a trained ex-military operative hired to take out specific targets, bugging the cabin, blackmailing passengers, and working toward a hidden endgame. Phone Booth meets Flight.
  • The buddy dynamic — a pilot losing his mind paired with a co-pilot who has a secret agenda and special forces skills. Neither one is honest about who they are. Training Day at 30,000 feet.
  • The Usual Suspects comedy — he thinks he's covering up a murder, but everyone already knows and they're all secretly helping him get away with it because the victim was universally hated. The reveal: it takes a village.

Also covered:

  • Why "he doesn't know why he does it" is a harder story to tell — and how to make the audience tolerate a withheld motivation
  • The Coen Brothers' technique of writing characters into corners to force unexpected plot turns
  • When to shift the protagonist mid-story — and whether the stewardess, the investigator, or the co-pilot should take over
  • How the same concept works as a film, a limited series, or a short — and what changes structurally in each format

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 15 May 2023 08:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/story-break-the-billionaire-slayer-45IPp_nz A private jet pilot who flies the ultra-wealthy has a side gig: killing billionaires. That's the pitch. The question is — what kind of story does it become?

In this Story Break, the hosts take one provocative concept and run it through four completely different genre frameworks, exposing how the same premise produces radically different stories depending on which creative decisions you make.

The four versions they build:

  • The psychological unraveling — a controlled, professional pilot who starts breaking down, killing without understanding why, and losing the battle between who he was and who he's becoming. Themes of control, addiction, and psychosis.
  • The corporate espionage thriller — a trained ex-military operative hired to take out specific targets, bugging the cabin, blackmailing passengers, and working toward a hidden endgame. Phone Booth meets Flight.
  • The buddy dynamic — a pilot losing his mind paired with a co-pilot who has a secret agenda and special forces skills. Neither one is honest about who they are. Training Day at 30,000 feet.
  • The Usual Suspects comedy — he thinks he's covering up a murder, but everyone already knows and they're all secretly helping him get away with it because the victim was universally hated. The reveal: it takes a village.

Also covered:

  • Why "he doesn't know why he does it" is a harder story to tell — and how to make the audience tolerate a withheld motivation
  • The Coen Brothers' technique of writing characters into corners to force unexpected plot turns
  • When to shift the protagonist mid-story — and whether the stewardess, the investigator, or the co-pilot should take over
  • How the same concept works as a film, a limited series, or a short — and what changes structurally in each format

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Story Break: The Billionaire Slayer - One Premise, Four Genres Don't Encourage Us 00:57:57 One premise — a private jet pilot who kills billionaires. Four completely different ways to build it. The hosts take a single concept and push it through dark psychological drama, corporate espionage thriller, buddy comedy, and a Usual Suspects-style reveal to see which version actually works as a producible story. One premise — a private jet pilot who kills billionaires. Four completely different ways to build it. The hosts take a single concept and push it through dark psychological drama, corporate espionage thriller, buddy comedy, and a Usual Suspects-style reveal to see which version actually works as a producible story. original ip, storytelling, intellectual property, pitch, entertainment industry, film analysis, writing, story development, pop culture, creative decisions, movie discussion, television analysis, genre, production, character development, psychology, screenwriting, treat williams, creative strategy, media business false full 5 88ccc4e2-9d47-4248-99bd-bc2655726af2 Story Break: A Sitcom About a Sitcom — When the Character Outperforms the Person We take a one-line concept and build it into a full series pitch over 45 minutes — characters, backstory, running gags, episode ideas, romance, soundtrack, and the format debate that could take it from web series to HBO.

In this episode:

  • The pitch: a sitcom about a sitcom — where the "dad" chases his castmates around set trying to be their actual father
  • How a documentary-style format (think The Office meets Modern Family) could make this work
  • The backstory: a cancelled child star with three ex-wives, no money, and a tiny apartment
  • Why one cast member absolutely has to be a Scientologist — non-negotiable
  • The pregnant actress whose contract says she must appear in every episode (and the increasingly absurd ways they hide it)
  • Episode ideas: a social media fail, a rival actor trying to Ashton Kutcher him, a stolen dog from a fake "Taken" sequel
  • Adding romance: an ex-wife visits the same week a new love interest is cast
  • Music picks for the show — montage songs, mood pieces, and scene-setting tracks
  • The great debate: light sitcom, dark comedy, movie, mini-series, or web series?

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Introduction
  • 2:52 — The pitch: a sitcom about a sitcom
  • 7:12 — Building out plot, characters, and backstory
  • 23:22 — Running gags, episode ideas, and naming the show
  • 31:12 — Music picks and the romance subplot

Check out the Spotify Playlist for this episode here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0QTp8GEfcWhjAijcj1U2rL?si=e2a80c0e328a4836

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 8 May 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/story-break-sitcom-about-a-sitcom-js2nib_Y We take a one-line concept and build it into a full series pitch over 45 minutes — characters, backstory, running gags, episode ideas, romance, soundtrack, and the format debate that could take it from web series to HBO.

In this episode:

  • The pitch: a sitcom about a sitcom — where the "dad" chases his castmates around set trying to be their actual father
  • How a documentary-style format (think The Office meets Modern Family) could make this work
  • The backstory: a cancelled child star with three ex-wives, no money, and a tiny apartment
  • Why one cast member absolutely has to be a Scientologist — non-negotiable
  • The pregnant actress whose contract says she must appear in every episode (and the increasingly absurd ways they hide it)
  • Episode ideas: a social media fail, a rival actor trying to Ashton Kutcher him, a stolen dog from a fake "Taken" sequel
  • Adding romance: an ex-wife visits the same week a new love interest is cast
  • Music picks for the show — montage songs, mood pieces, and scene-setting tracks
  • The great debate: light sitcom, dark comedy, movie, mini-series, or web series?

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 — Introduction
  • 2:52 — The pitch: a sitcom about a sitcom
  • 7:12 — Building out plot, characters, and backstory
  • 23:22 — Running gags, episode ideas, and naming the show
  • 31:12 — Music picks and the romance subplot

Check out the Spotify Playlist for this episode here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0QTp8GEfcWhjAijcj1U2rL?si=e2a80c0e328a4836

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Story Break: A Sitcom About a Sitcom — When the Character Outperforms the Person Don't Encourage Us 00:46:42 What if a washed-up TV dad loved his sitcom family so much he tried to make them his real one? In this Story Break, we pitch an original dark comedy about a cancelled child star turned lonely sitcom patriarch — three ex-wives deep, living in a tiny apartment, and one Scientologist cast member away from a total breakdown. We build out the characters, the running gags (including a pregnant actress who contractually cannot miss an episode), the romance, and even pick the soundtrack. Whether it's The Office meets Barry or the worst pitch meeting in Hollywood history — we build it either way. What if a washed-up TV dad loved his sitcom family so much he tried to make them his real one? In this Story Break, we pitch an original dark comedy about a cancelled child star turned lonely sitcom patriarch — three ex-wives deep, living in a tiny apartment, and one Scientologist cast member away from a total breakdown. We build out the characters, the running gags (including a pregnant actress who contractually cannot miss an episode), the romance, and even pick the soundtrack. Whether it's The Office meets Barry or the worst pitch meeting in Hollywood history — we build it either way. modern family, barry hbo, tv writing, hollywood, story break, original pitch, mockumentary, writers room, dark comedy, creative process, pilot, ip development, comedy writing, character development, scientology, screenwriting, ensemble cast, sitcom, the office false full 4 34d25edc-409e-4938-9cb6-b66ee61e4e78 Brightburn (2019) Deep Dive: Evil Superman & Why a Great Concept Failed In This Deep-Dive Analysis, We Deconstruct the Absurdity:

  • The World's Worst Mother: Why Mom’s Level 10 Delusion was the single most unbelievable and narratively convenient element, and how her character was sacrificed because the script writers couldn't find a logical way to end her arc.
  • Robot vs. Villain: The essential difference between Brandon Breyer (a one-note Terminator who chews forks) and the true, sneaky genius of Damien in The Omen.
  • The James Gunn Connection: Was Brightburn a "Hollywood Jail" project?
  • Breaking the Universe: We dissect the plot holes that expose the film's shaky foundation, including the apparent complete and total lack of forensics in the Brightburn universe (Seriously, how did the police rule a car dropped 30 feet from the sky as a "deer accident"?).
  • Logic Failure: Plus, the uncle's baffling and unmotivated decision to flee the scene rather than check on his wife.

Want More Than a Movie Review? We also took an essential detour into business innovation and why terrible product launches (like New Coke and Tab) teach us valuable lessons about creativity and audience testing.

Check out Brightburn (2019) on Netflix and streaming platforms everywhere.

Learn more about the business analysis that kicks off the episode: Make Elephants Fly: How Radical Innovation is Remaking the World is available here: www.foundersspace.com/make-elephants-fly

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Mon, 24 Apr 2023 09:00:00 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Don't Encourage Us) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/brightburn-2019-zsnVtEVB In This Deep-Dive Analysis, We Deconstruct the Absurdity:

  • The World's Worst Mother: Why Mom’s Level 10 Delusion was the single most unbelievable and narratively convenient element, and how her character was sacrificed because the script writers couldn't find a logical way to end her arc.
  • Robot vs. Villain: The essential difference between Brandon Breyer (a one-note Terminator who chews forks) and the true, sneaky genius of Damien in The Omen.
  • The James Gunn Connection: Was Brightburn a "Hollywood Jail" project?
  • Breaking the Universe: We dissect the plot holes that expose the film's shaky foundation, including the apparent complete and total lack of forensics in the Brightburn universe (Seriously, how did the police rule a car dropped 30 feet from the sky as a "deer accident"?).
  • Logic Failure: Plus, the uncle's baffling and unmotivated decision to flee the scene rather than check on his wife.

Want More Than a Movie Review? We also took an essential detour into business innovation and why terrible product launches (like New Coke and Tab) teach us valuable lessons about creativity and audience testing.

Check out Brightburn (2019) on Netflix and streaming platforms everywhere.

Learn more about the business analysis that kicks off the episode: Make Elephants Fly: How Radical Innovation is Remaking the World is available here: www.foundersspace.com/make-elephants-fly

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Brightburn (2019) Deep Dive: Evil Superman & Why a Great Concept Failed Don't Encourage Us 01:00:16 What if Superman landed on Earth and chose evil? Brightburn (2019) had one of the best premises in modern horror and squandered it. We do a full post-mortem on why this James Gunn-produced film failed: underdeveloped mythology, a flat villain, a Terminator where there should have been Damien from The Omen, and a script that seems written in a weekend. With guest Steve Franco. If you love superhero horror, film theory, and asking "what could have made this better?" ...this one's for you. What if Superman landed on Earth and chose evil? Brightburn (2019) had one of the best premises in modern horror and squandered it. We do a full post-mortem on why this James Gunn-produced film failed: underdeveloped mythology, a flat villain, a Terminator where there should have been Damien from The Omen, and a script that seems written in a weekend. With guest Steve Franco. If you love superhero horror, film theory, and asking "what could have made this better?" ...this one's for you. elizabeth banks, david yarovesky, film deconstruction, brightburn movie, superhero movie review, superhero horror, brightburn plot holes, brightburn netflix, anti-superhero, film podcast, bad superhero movies, psychological horror, evil superman, dc horror, movie breakdown, superman, film theory, james gunn, horror movie explained, brightburn ending explained, horror podcast, the boys, brightburn review, superman origin story, brightburn, screenwriting analysis, movie podcast, anti-hero, jackson dunn false full 2 3084d51d-b755-41f3-89d3-35d3c3c7e77f Lights Out (2016) Explained: Is the Creature a Manifestation of Depression? Is the creature in Lights Out a ghost that hides in the dark or is it something much more unsettling? Creative professional Steve Franco joins to dig into what makes this 2016 horror film more than a simple monster movie.

In this episode:

  • Why a paper-thin concept became a surprisingly layered film
  • The mental illness angle: is the creature a physical manifestation of depression?
  • The vampire ghost theory and why it holds up
  • What a Lights Out prequel or sequel universe could look like
  • The muzzle flash scene and why it's one of the smarter horror moments of the decade

Timestamps:

  • 2:28 — Lights Out film analysis begins
  • 5:01 — The ghost in darkness: breaking down the core concept
  • 12:00 — Unraveling what the creature actually is
  • 22:58 — Where a sequel or prequel could go
  • 35:33 — Concluding reflections

Check out the 3 min Swedish short film that started it all. Lights Out - Who's There (2013)  on Vimeo

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Sun, 16 Apr 2023 16:35:08 +0000 dontencourage@gmail.com (Steve Franco) https://dont-encourage-us.simplecast.com/episodes/lights-out-2016-a-ghost-person-pDAuTMrb Is the creature in Lights Out a ghost that hides in the dark or is it something much more unsettling? Creative professional Steve Franco joins to dig into what makes this 2016 horror film more than a simple monster movie.

In this episode:

  • Why a paper-thin concept became a surprisingly layered film
  • The mental illness angle: is the creature a physical manifestation of depression?
  • The vampire ghost theory and why it holds up
  • What a Lights Out prequel or sequel universe could look like
  • The muzzle flash scene and why it's one of the smarter horror moments of the decade

Timestamps:

  • 2:28 — Lights Out film analysis begins
  • 5:01 — The ghost in darkness: breaking down the core concept
  • 12:00 — Unraveling what the creature actually is
  • 22:58 — Where a sequel or prequel could go
  • 35:33 — Concluding reflections

Check out the 3 min Swedish short film that started it all. Lights Out - Who's There (2013)  on Vimeo

 

Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.com
Stop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threads

https://linktr.ee/dontencourageus

Listen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.

]]> Lights Out (2016) Explained: Is the Creature a Manifestation of Depression? Steve Franco 00:40:31 Lights Out (2016) is more than a ghost story, it's a haunting metaphor for depression, grief, and mental illness. We break down the hidden meaning, the vampire ghost theory, and what a sequel universe could look like, with guest and creative professional Steve Franco. If you love horror movie explanations, film theory, and deep dives into underrated films, this episode is for you. Lights Out (2016) is more than a ghost story, it's a haunting metaphor for depression, grief, and mental illness. We break down the hidden meaning, the vampire ghost theory, and what a sequel universe could look like, with guest and creative professional Steve Franco. If you love horror movie explanations, film theory, and deep dives into underrated films, this episode is for you. underrated horror, directing, scary, ghost, film analysis, mental health, writing, depression, lights out, dark fantasy, review, james wan, screen writing, short film, conjuring, character, movie breakdown, lore, film theory, horror movie explained, horror, horror podcast, psychology, supernatural, david sandberg, monster movie false full 1