Ticket Stubs

Best of 2025

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 04:00:00 +0000

The Oscars may have come and gone, the speeches have been made, and the dust has (mostly) settled—but here at Ticket Stubs, we’re not quite finished with 2025 just yet. A little late, perhaps, but right on time where it counts, we’re officially closing the book on the cinematic year that was with our 3rd Annual Harry Dean Awards—the true final word on awards season. Join us as we take one last affectionate look back at the highs, lows, and, above all else, the most memorable moments in film from the past year. From defining performances and standout directorial efforts to our favorite oddball distinctions, returning legends, and everything in between, we sort through a wide array of categories both heartfelt and slightly irreverent. As always, it all builds toward our ultimate honors: Filmmaker of the Year and Film of the Year. Awards season may have crowned its winners—but now it’s our turn to have the final say. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever else you listen! Got thoughts or questions? Email us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com

Bunny Lake is Missing & The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Belated but better late than never: Ticket Stubs officially kicks off 2026 with a double feature of icy, unnerving thrillers. This time around, we pair Otto Preminger’s paranoid vanishing act Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) with David Fincher’s bleak, meticulous adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). Across decades and continents, both films ask the same quietly terrifying question: what happens when no one believes you? Join us as we unravel questions of identity, credibility, obsession, and the cold machinery of institutions that would rather look away than look closer. Before the mystery deepens, our Blue Plate Special returns with the usual cinematic smorgasbord. We share thoughts on new releases Send Help and Crime 101, take time to remember the lives and careers of Catherine O’Hara and Bud Cort, and hear Levi’s early-stage reflections on diving into David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. We also offer what are almost certainly already-outdated predictions for Super Bowl 60—because what’s a new year without at least one confidently incorrect take? Whether you’re here for missing children, hackers with dragons tattooed on their backs, or just the comfortable chaos of our opening chatter, we’re glad to be starting 2026 with you. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever else you listen! Got thoughts or questions? Email us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com.

One Battle After Another, Shadow Ticket, and the Year of the Ruggles (A Thomas Pynchon Appreciation)

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 05:00:00 +0000

As the year winds down and the calendar flips over, we’re ringing in the New Year with a special bonus episode dedicated to one of our favorite—and most elusive—writers: Thomas Pynchon. In this New Year’s Eve edition of Ticket Stubs, we gather to talk about what Pynchon’s work has meant to us over the years, why his voice remains so singular in modern literature, and how his obsessions with paranoia, the past, and slapstick continue to resonate. From there, we dive into One Battle After Another, the recent adaptation of Vineland from director Paul Thomas Anderson, another favorite of ours. Then, we share our thoughts on Pynchon’s long-awaited new novel, Shadow Ticket, before closing things out by putting our cards on the table with our own personal rankings of his novels. Whether you’re a longtime Pynchon devotee, a curious newcomer, or just looking to close out the year with a little chaos and conspiratorial joy, we hope you’ll spend what's left of 2025, or perhaps even the earliest part of 2026...or actually anytime in the foreseeable (or not?) future...with us. Any and all digressions are welcome when it comes to discussing this artist and his work. And believe me, we take digressions aplenty! As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever else you listen. Got thoughts or questions? Email us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com.

Eyes Wide Shut & Catch Me If You Can

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 05:00:00 +0000

It’s that time of year again—when we gather by the fire, sip something warm, and queue up… movies that *technically* take place at Christmas. This week, we’re unwrapping two not-quite-but-definitely-set-during-the-holidays classics: Stanley Kubrick’s eerie yuletide odyssey Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Steven Spielberg’s breezy cat-and-mouse charmer Catch Me If You Can (2002). While neither film is exactly “festive,” both use the holiday season to cast their stories in a glow equal parts melancholic and mischievous. Before diving into our gift-wrap-adjacent double feature, our Blue Plate Special is packed with plenty of cinematic goodies waiting under the tree. We break down the eyebrow-raising possibility of Warner Bros. being sold to either Netflix or Paramount/Skydance—and what such a shake-up could mean for the future of the film industry. We also share our thoughts on several recent releases we’ve caught (Sentimental Value, The History of Sound, Jay Kelly, and Pavements), react to Quentin Tarantino’s recent comments about Paul Dano and 21st-century cinema, relive our theatrical experience seeing Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, and pay tribute to the recent losses of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Jim Ward, Jeff Garcia, Peter Greene, and the legendary Rob Reiner. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever else you listen! Got thoughts or questions? Email us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com.

Point Blank & Widows

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 05:00:00 +0000

New name, same show! Overlapping Dialogue is now Ticket Stubs—your go-to stop for double features, deep dives, and all things cinema. This week, we’re celebrating Noirvember in style with a pairing that bridges the past and present of the crime genre: John Boorman’s cold-blooded, acid-tinged revenge saga Point Blank (1967) and Steve McQueen’s taut, politically charged heist thriller Widows (2018). Listen as we dissect their hardboiled aesthetics, fractured moral codes, and the surprisingly emotional depths lurking beneath their genre trappings. But first, on this week’s Blue Plate Special, we take a moment to review the brand-new reimagining of The Running Man and share a rundown of upcoming fall releases we're most excited to catch—just in time for awards season. To all our listeners: we’re thankful for your continued support and wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving! As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever else you listen! Got thoughts or questions? Email us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri & Eddington

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 05:00:00 +0000

After a year-long hiatus, Overlapping Dialogue is officially back—ringing in the triple digits with our 101st episode! We ease back into the swing of things with a double feature that pits small-town rage against cosmic emotional reckoning: Martin McDonagh’s bruising Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) and Ari Aster’s latest descent into existential dread, the enigmatic and horrific satire of modern life, Eddington (2025). But first, our Blue Plate Special returns with a fresh batch of chatter on the latest film news and releases: we unpack the teaser trailer for Michael, the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic; lament the canceled Ben Solo Star Wars project that might’ve been directed by Steven Soderbergh; and offer capsule reviews of recent releases Roofman, Blue Moon, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, and Bugonia. Whether you’ve been with us from the beginning or just now found your way back into the booth, we’re thrilled to be talking movies with you once again. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever else you listen! Got thoughts or questions? Email us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com

Best of 2024

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 05:00:00 +0000

On the eve of yet another Academy Awards ceremony, the team here at Overlapping Dialogue is officially closing the book on 2024 with an affectionate look back at the highs, lows, and, above all else, the most memorable moments of the past year in cinema with our second annual Harry Dean Awards! Listen as we break down the defining "Cracker Barrel" performance of the past twelve months, roll our eyes- semi-affectionately, for what it's worth- at the latest work from Robert Zemeckis, decide on the year's best use of Willem Dafoe, crown our Comeback Player of the Year, and celebrate a host of other categories and distinctions, culminating in our picks for Filmmaker(s) and Film of the Year. Who needs the Oscars when you have the only film awards that truly matter? As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever else you listen! Got thoughts or questions? Email us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2025/01/25/visions-the-brutalist-is-an-unwieldy-epic-no-actually-it-really-is/

Batman and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0000

To mark the monumental occasion of our (can you believe it???) 100th episode, we turn the Bat-Signal toward one of the most iconic figures in all of pop culture—Batman. In true caped crusader fashion, we’re combining the best of what our podcast has offered with a one-time-only double feature commentary of two films that capture the darkness, complexity, and heroic resolve of Gotham’s protector: Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and the animated classic Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993). These films hold a special place in our hearts, making this deep dive into the world of the Dark Knight a personal indulgence as we celebrate this milestone. But this episode also marks a turning point for us. While it’s not goodbye, it’s more like an ellipsis—a break before we return with something new and exciting. Stick around until the end for a very important announcement about an entirely new podcast project on the horizon. We can’t wait to see you there! As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Magnolia

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Get ready for a whirlwind of emotions as we dive deep into Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 San Fernando Valley epic Magnolia with a full audio commentary! Join us as we explore the interconnected lives, chance encounters, and fateful events that shape this self-consciously indulgent narrative. But before we loose ourselves to frogs and familial strife, we kick off the episode with our Blue Plate Special segment, stirring up the latest updates on the ongoing Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Haynes drama- the story that *won't* go away- and dishing out our thoughts on the newly released Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. After revisiting the dark humor of Tim Burton’s world, we turn our attention to Anderson’s own symphony of chaos and emotion, breaking down how Magnolia blends melodrama and fate into one unforgettable cinematic experience. In addition to digging into Anderson’s masterpiece, this is a milestone for us—our 99th episode! Stick around until the end for a special announcement about our exciting plans for the big Episode 100 celebration. Feel free to skip to 1:58:12 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2024/09/10/someone-left-the-cake-out-in-the-rain-the-comeback-story-of-beetlejuice-beetlejuice/

Tampopo & The Trip

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Prepare your palate as we serve up a delectable two-courser, diving fork-first into the sumptuous delights of Juzo Itami’s Tampopo and Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip, two films that explore the art of food and the joy of eating in very different yet equally savory ways. But before we get to the main course, we’re sampling a few appetizers with our Blue Plate Special: we stir the pot with the latest update on the Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Haynes behind-the-scenes drama, review new releases Alien: Romulus and Blink Twice, and offer a heartfelt toast in memory of screen legend Gena Rowlands. Finally, we load up our plate and then some with our double feature, exploring how Tampopo’s ramen western blends humor with heart, and how The Trip serves up sharp wit alongside mouth-watering culinary-adjacent tours. Bon appétit! As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Bicentennial Man & A.I. Artificial Intelligence

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Join us on a journey through the synthetic dreamscape of artificial intelligence, where we delve into how robots not just mimic life but seek to understand the human heart with our double feature: Bicentennial Man and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Before exploring these narratives of manufactured souls and their quests for earned humanity, we’re munching on a jar of digital cookies with our Blue Plate Special, chatting about Joaquin Phoenix's surprising departure from what sounded like a promising Todd Haynes project, reviewing new releases Trap and Cuckoo, and dissecting the trailer for the upcoming fall release Saturday Night. After logging out of these side discussions, we finally access the core of our episode, diving into Chris Columbus's messy yet heartwarming narrative alongside Spielberg's ethereal realization of a science fiction epic originally drafted by the late great Stanley Kubrick. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Streets of Fire & The Crow

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 2 Aug 2024 04:00:00 +0000

When the night's quiet and you don't care anymore, come on in and stay awhile with a double feature dedicated to antiheroes looking to settle scores and perhaps stoically save their cities: Streets of Fire and The Crow. But before we get there, we work our way through a Blue Plate Special playlist of topics that has us questioning what exactly the collision between Michael Bay and Skibidi Toilet threaten to inflict upon audiences and talk about two new releases, Longlegs and Twisters. Upon finally arriving to our double feature, we find a lot to love in both films' excellent yet divergent exercises in style: listen as we discuss how Walter Hill's 1984 rock and roll fable fits into his larger cinematic oeuvre while celebrating and memorializing the late great star turn of Brandon Lee in Alex Proyas's 1994 gothic epic. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood & Babylon

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Tinseltown beckons as we delight in two modern classics poised to define for audiences the breadth of America's cinematic history: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Babylon. But before we pontificate on these recent epics, we enjoy a light Blue Plate Special sampling discussing new releases Kinds of Kindness, Horizon: An American Saga- Chapter 1, and MaXXXine, as well as paying tribute to the late screen legend Shelley Duvall. We eventually shuffle in to see the two splashy films located atop our glittering marquee: listen as we situate Quentin Tarantino's look at TV cowboys squaring off against hippies in 1969 Hollywood towards the top of his filmography, puzzle over where Damien Chazelle's boozy Jazz Age saga leaves him at this stage of his still young career, and generally revel in both films' literal and figurative rages against the dying of the light. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2024/06/28/isnt-it-wonderful-kinds-of-kindness-the-wide-release-miracle/ https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2024/07/03/the-last-great-open-spaces-applying-the-fat-in-horizon-an-american-saga-chapter-1/ https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2024/07/07/a-lost-ball-in-tall-weeds-some-thoughts-on-ti-wests-x-pearl-and-maxxxine/

Jaws

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Wed, 3 Jul 2024 04:00:00 +0000

If you're looking for a bigger podcast, you came to the right place. This Independence Day, Overlapping Dialogue commemorates with a special bonus audio commentary episode celebrating one of not only America's greatest contributions to cinema but one that will undoubtedly rank among the medium's finest works: Jaws! Join us as we dive into Steven Spielberg's seminal 1975 classic, which set in motion both a masterful directorial career and a re-conception of how popular movies themselves function with the emergence of the modern blockbuster. Feel free to skip to 1:20:25 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Four Feathers & The Forbidden Room

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Overlapping Dialogue, we take a look at two well-crafted antiques of cinematic yesteryear, one being a genuine article of the past and another as a vibrant reinvention of a dead artform, with 1939's The Four Feathers and 2015's The Forbidden Room. But before we dig into our double feature, we recognize there's no time like the present to indulge in a Blue Plate Special slate that celebrates the life and legacy of Donald Sutherland, speculates on what exactly the prospects of the "experiential attractions" Netflix House intends to offer, catches up on X and Pearl ahead of the trilogy-capping MaXXXine's release, warms up the half-baked yet edible tastes of Unfrosted, and takes comfort in the subtle pleasures of the newly released The Bikeriders. After ascending to hog heaven, we delight in our retro double feature: listen as we place Zoltan Korda's film into the larger canon of British adventure stories and marvel at Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson's truly transformational experiment in the lost craft, beauty, and perversity of silent cinema. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2024/06/22/talkin-bout-my-generation-the-bikeriders-is-passing-through-your-town/

Black Sunday & Twister

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Overlapping Dialogue, we eagerly head full speed into the danger zone with two thrilling disaster pictures intent on traumatizing their characters and relentlessly entertaining their audiences: Black Sunday and Twister! But before we masochistically chase storms of both the physical and emotional variety, we stock up on a Blue Plate Special selection focusing on some new releases (In a Violent Nature) and filmmakers (Jane Schoenbrun, director of We're All Going to the World's Fair and I Saw the TV Glow) that hopefully suggest that maybe the spirit of cinema isn't dead after all. Eventually, we abandon all decorum and good sense by embracing the chaos of our double feature: join us as we delight in the unabashed 70s-ness of John Frankenheimer's B-movie epic (we also take the opportunity to induct not one but *two* members into our Hall of Fame, the Immune) and celebrate Jan de Bont's fabulous piece of 90s nonsense, filled with more of its era's character actors than any act of nature could every whisk away. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2024/06/05/chapters-skipped-over-on-a-dvd-i-saw-the-tv-glow-review/

THX 1138 & Possessor

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 31 May 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Overlapping Dialogue, we dive into the overwhelming abyss of past, present, and future techno sci-fi horror with THX 1138 and Possessor. Listen as we assess the ability, or lack thereof, to judge George Lucas's brilliant 1971 debut feature on its own terms and the also weighty pedigree inherent to any discussion of Brandon Cronenberg's 2020 messy assassin thriller. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Memorial Day Blue Plate Special Buy One Pay Double Buffet Extravaganza

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Mon, 27 May 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Have no fear, we're back! Overlapping Dialogue returns after an extended spring break with a special Memorial Day Blue Plate Special Buy One Pay Double Buffet Extravaganza! Ahead of a proper episode with our usual format later this week, we kick back and relax with a survey of a great many things that have occupied our attention over the past month and a half. Topics range from thoughts on the bankruptcy of Red Lobster, the Mad Men cameos in Unfrosted, the buzz from this year's Cannes Film Festival, and Ryan Reynolds's disgraceful christening of our new Hall of Shame, the Enemies of the State. Then, we remember the lives of some noteworthy talents who our culture recently lost: Roger Corman, Dabney Coleman, Steve Albini, Paul Auster, and the notorious O.J. Simpson (don't worry, he's our second Enemy of the State). After that, we discuss some notable new releases with Civil War, Challengers, The Fall Guy, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Finally, we wrap things up with a preview of this year's summer movie season by highlighting some of the titles we're most excited about. In case you couldn't tell, it's a jam packed episode that we're so happy to share with you this holiday weekend! As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2024/04/14/acoustic-shadows-cacophony-and-carnage-in-civil-war/

RoboCop & Highway Patrolman

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 5 Apr 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Pull over and keep your hands where we can see 'em: this episode, we take a look at two films' explorations of the dehumanizing nature law enforcement has on both its practitioners and recipients with RoboCop and Highway Patrolman. But before we throw the book at ya, we take a little joy ride through a Blue Plate Special discussion on pair of new releases- both of which act as extended homages to past eras of genre cinema- with Love Lies Bleeding and Late Night with the Devil. We eventually get around to our spotlighted double feature: listen as we dissect the extent to which director Paul Verhoeven either glorifies or satirizes the real life and cinematic violence of 1980s America (likely both!) and situate Alex Cox's earnest Mexican cop drama into his wild, volatile filmography. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Hollywood Shuffle & Amazon Women on the Moon

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Don't touch that dial, dedicated listener! On this edition of Overlapping Dialogue, we take a look at a pair of zany explorations of the state of filmmaking and television circa 1987 with Hollywood Shuffle and Amazon Women on the Moon. Prior to that, we dine out on a Blue Plate Special discussion of Dune: Part Two, the follow-up to 2021's adaptation of Frank Herbert's expansive science fiction epic. Upon arriving to this week's double feature, we delight in both films' contemptuous obsessions with the daily programming which dominates our lives: join us as we find a lot to like about director and star Robert Townsend's satiric takedown of the industry's use of African American talents before we adjust the volume to a high pitched endeavor (from a whole host of 1980s genre filmmakers) to recreate the pleasurable, and in some cases downright bizarre, joys of late night channel surfing. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Mo' Better Blues & If Beale Street Could Talk

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 1 Mar 2024 05:00:00 +0000

In honor of Black History month, we decided to examine two disparate, albeit excellent, depictions of the African American experience with Mo' Better Blues and If Beale Street Could Talk. Ahead of our subjects, we sort through a premium selection of Blue Plate Special items, including our thoughts on the recently announced Sam Mendes' series of films on The Beatles, a pair of new releases in Bob Marley: One Love and Lisa Frankenstein, and the complicated legacy of departed country music superstar Toby Keith. We eventually turn the radio on over to the highest quality jazz station imaginable with our double feature: listen as we dive into the careers of auteurs Spike Lee and Barry Jenkins, discuss how their visions of blackness are translated into their respective films, situate the extent to which the former's 1990 work fit into his larger narrative and aesthetic interests, and question what the latter's future looks like in an age where personally expressive commercial cinema is harder and harder to come by. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Contempt & Pierrot le Fou

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 9 Feb 2024 05:00:00 +0000

As the world prepares to enter an ultra charged Super Bowl weekend, we kick off the festivities with the most special of appetizers, a pair of French New Wave classics from the late Jean-Luc Godard with Contempt and Pierrot le Fou! But before we explore the auteur's signature brand of cinematic nihilism, we preview the upcoming big game, try and make sense of the WWE's #WeWantCody phenomenon, get excited about the prospects of a contemporary-set Paul Thomas Anderson movie, and cautiously sort through our thought on the latest Jonathan Glazer film, The Zone of Interest. Have no fear though, we give Jean-Luc plenty of time and attention: listen as we celebrate his at once beautiful yet apocalyptic cinema, one that remains every but as vibrant as it did six decades ago. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Velvet Goldmine & I'm Not There

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Toss up the glitter and dust off that harmonica: that's right, we're celebrating two of Todd Haynes's most iconic films, a pair of musical dramas with Velvet Goldmine and I'm Not There. We do wade into the relatively shallow yet agreeable enough waters of the new horror flick Night Swim but primarily dedicate this episode to Haynes's explorations of fame, musicianship, fandom, the divergent yet similarly heavy legacies of glam rock and folk music, find joy in Velvet Goldmine's opaque approximation of David Bowie before puzzling over I'm Not There's narratively muddled yet aesthetically exceptional approach to adapting the Troubadour of Conscience. Come for some hot takes on the wildcard round of the NFL playoffs and predictions about the forthcoming Royal Rumble, stay for above average Bob Dylan impressions. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Best of 2023

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 5 Jan 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Another year gone, another year awaits...The team here at Overlapping Dialogue decided to ring in 2024 with an affectionate look back at the highs, lows, and above all else memorable moments of 2023 with our inaugural Harry Dean Awards! Listen as we discuss the many noteworthy performances of Oppenheimer, highlight our favorite aspects of Barbie, decide on the year's best use of Tilda Swinton, christen our Comeback Player of the Year, and dive into a great many more categories and distinctions, culminating in our recognizing of the Filmmaker and Film of the Year. The Academy "Awards" only grow all the more irrelevant with the arrival of the only film awards you'll ever have to pay attention to from here on out! As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Home Alone

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 05:00:00 +0000

This holiday season, cozy up to the fire, feast on some figgy pudding, and join Overlapping Dialogue as we deliver a special bonus audio commentary for one of our very favorite Christmas movies, Home Alone! Listen as we dissect the endless entertainment value inherent to Chris Columbus and John Hughes's family comedy without the family, complete with discussions of the McCallister's stately suburban Chicago estate, appreciations of the downright genius of pairing Joe Pesci with Daniel Stern, and a general agnosticism on the question of polka as a worthwhile art form. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/20/movies/home-alone-mccallisters-wealth.html

Heaven Can Wait & Friday Night Lights

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 05:00:00 +0000

As you sort through your Thanksgiving leftovers and start your Christmas shopping, let Overlapping Dialogue serve the role of comforting holiday companion. We ring in the series of occasions with a pair of football movies that tug on the heartstrings- albeit in wildly different ways- with Heaven Can Wait and Friday Night Lights. But before they settle their respective differences on the gridiron, we as humble color commentators devour a full fledged meal with a Blue Plate Special lineup: listen as we discuss the latest edition of the Call of Duty franchise (Modern Warfare 3...again) and ponder what the yet-to-be-released Coyote vs. Acme and its stalled fate means for the future of the motion picture industry, as well as find theatrical solace with an unlikely trio of satisfying new releases in Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, and Thanksgiving. Upon finally arriving to our pigskin-themed main event, we delight in the multi-hyphenate nature of the 1978 romantic comedy fantasy sports yarn and try and catch our breathes from the insistent, stifling DRAMA in all caps (no cap, fr fr) of the 2004 high school sports saga. Appropriately, we even enshrine one of this episode's subjects into our very own Hall of Fame, the Immune. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2023/11/19/update-makarov-goes-nuclear-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-iii-why-are-you/

The Stranger & The Lady from Shanghai

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 05:00:00 +0000

Light your cigs and scout the blotter: it's Noirvember, sugar bumps! This episode's pair of films, dedicated to one of classic Hollywood's richest legacies, celebrates the waning years of the legendary Orson Welles's time in the States with The Stranger and The Lady from Shanghai. But before we get lost in the shadows of postwar American ennui, our Blue Plate Special segment finds us diving ever so briefly back into the domain of bloody baboons with a discussion of the teaser trailer for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. We eventually trade in our computer generated fur for some proper money suits with a double feature of Welles noirs, one which subtly makes a case that fascism wasn't totally extinguished at the conclusion of the Second World War and another that stylishly crashes and burns with the intensity of a cinematic volcano. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Poltergeist & The Sixth Sense

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 04:00:00 +0000

As All Hallows' Eve approaches with a creeping intensity, Spooktober Spooktacular continues with two iconic cinematic ghost stories that have left an indelible impact with audiences of every subsequent generation: Poltergeist and The Sixth Sense. But before we exercise these spirits, we unpack and sort through our thoughts on the latest Martin Scorsese's historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon, look for answers in the satisfying labyrinth of The Blair Witch Project, and muse over the highs and lows of Hulu's small screen comedy-mystery Only Murders in the Building. Join us as we enter a pair of old dark houses that is our double feature: listen as we try to suss out the Spielbergian elements within Tobe Hooper's 1982 supernatural horror before taking stock of the innumerable hallmarks that at once put Shyamalan on the map in 1999 and established a formula he's yet to ever succeed outside of. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2023/10/21/our-blood-is-turning-white-killers-of-the-flower-moon-needed-more-and-less/

Vampyr & Isle of the Dead

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Bedazzle the cobwebs and yassify the cemetery: it's that time again, the third annual Overlapping Dialogue Spooktober Spooktacular! We dive into the Halloween spirit in with two black and white chillers from the 30s and 40s with Vampyr and Isle of the Dead. In addition to tangling with the undead, we get fat and happy with a Blue Plate Special bag of goodies, ranging from thoughts on the new Wes Anderson shorts adapting Roald Dahl on Netflix, predictions on what effects Swifties will have on theaters with the release of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, and puzzle our way through Rolling Stones Magazine's ranking of the "50 Worst Decisions in Movie History." It's a *scary* good episode that may or may not conclude with us chowing down on some General Mills monster cereal. But which one? You'll have to listen to the very end to find out. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Untouchables & Public Enemies

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 04:00:00 +0000

In this edition of Overlapping Dialogue, we make off with a load of fat greenbacks that turn out to be counterfeit junk with 1987's The Untouchables and 2009's Public Enemies. Though both films have generated healthy followings over the years, we take issue with their approaches to and executions of the crime genre, a medium we have particular passions for. Also, there's no Blue Plate Special this time but have no fear, we made a whole meal out of the cinematic dumpsters we're highlighting. Feel free to lock us up after this one and throw away the key: it's our story and we're sticking to it. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Marcel Proust once said, "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Thankfully, legendary journalist and maestro of the mustache Geraldo Rivera took such advice to heart in the conception of his iconic, some might say infamous, television special The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults. Join us as we provide our own commentary to Rivera's attempt to uncover secrets, loot, and- most importantly- anecdotes involving one of American gangland's most notorious figures. The ending may not exactly be what the Internal Revenue Service or sponsors of the special Budweiser and the Quaker Oats Company were hoping for. But hey, isn't it all about the friends and/or meaningless debris we found along the way? As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Election & American Beauty

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Y2K looms large as Overlapping Dialogue concludes our series on the cinema of the 1990s with two satires situated deep in the Clinton years: Election and American Beauty. But before we celebrate the end of an era, we dive into a Blue Plate Special discussion involving our thoughts on some recent theatrical re-releases (American Graffiti and They Live) in the midst of the ongoing Hollywood strikes, puzzle over the impact of the "critical metric" site Rotten Tomatoes, and generally wrestle with the larger legacies left by the films of 1999 while also debating how it stacks up to other heralded movie years. Upon dispensing with the pleasantries, we dive into the muck generated by both of our spotlighted films: listen as we appreciate Alexander Payne and Tom Perrotta's vision of Middle American angst while objecting to the smug aperture through which Sam Mendes and Alan Ball forcefully demand we "look closer." As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Last Days of Disco & American History X

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 1 Sep 2023 04:00:00 +0000

We don't know whether to dance or weep on this edition of Overlapping Dialogue, which once again continues our journey through the 90s with a pairing that would leave even the hardiest party animal crying in the club: The Last Days of Disco and American History X. But before we put on our dancing shoes, we dig into a Blue Plate Special slate celebrating the lives of Terry Funk, Bray Wyatt, and Bob Barker; mull over the status of the ongoing Hollywood strikes; and offer up some thoughts on the latest chiller from Universal Studios, The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Upon surviving the Count's subpar attempts to subdue us, we tackle two striking portraits of American whiteness while considering their traditions within the yuppie coming-of-age story and the trial-by-fire political drama respectively. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2023/08/13/bright-wall-bright-room-movie-theaters-are-in-disrepair-but-isnt-it-great/?fbclid=IwAR1NQvmm3qeXAMi6ti5vI4fgePamuQiN0S4OgHEj0lRtVQYq32P-WySREZo_aem_AZh6XfSOJTuUbATiXoRJSS6Lh8vLbnwT-9R5sfOO4lLZ0CSQ7tLPl9OXflqZG1znr2o

My Best Friend's Wedding & Face/Off

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Sometimes odd couples have the ability to go the long haul. In the spirit of labored cooperation, Overlapping Dialogue pairs two disparate 1997 darlings together for an episode you'll never forget: My Best Friend's Wedding and Face/Off! As always, we kick off the proceedings with a Blue Plate Special slate dedicated to celebrating the lives and legacies of William Friedkin and Robbie Robertson, burying once and for all the rote Airport franchise with The Concorde...Airport '79, praise the new release Past Lives, and attempt to assign coherence to a reluctant participant in Reflections of Evil. We eventually arrive to this episode's double feature, where we judge the extent to which John Travolta and Nicholas Cage's scorched earth tête-à-tête is as deranged and manic as Julia Roberts's sabotage of a lovely wedding of her dear friend and potential lover. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2023/07/29/take-your-sister-by-the-hand-the-unchecked-ambition-of-reflections-of-evil/

Hamlet & Lone Star

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 4 Aug 2023 04:00:00 +0000

After stepping out for a bit with a month-long hiatus, Overlapping Dialogue is back with our continued journey through 90s cinema, one that has us sorting out a pair of 1996 films riddled with daddy issues: Hamlet and Lone Star. But before we account for the sins of the father(s), we devour a Blue Plate Special slate sure to offer something for everyone as we assess some of this summer's most talked about releases with Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part 1, Oppenheimer, and Barbie. And yes, we do spend time unpacking the larger Barbenheimer phenomenon. Once the smoke clears and the glitter fades away, we dive into this edition's double feature: listen as we admire Kenneth Branagh's reverent adaptation of one of the Bard's most iconic works and marvel at the economical mastery present in John Sayles's small town neo-noir western. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Kids & GoldenEye

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 7 Jul 2023 04:00:00 +0000

As Overlapping Dialogue continues its quest through the cinema of the 1990s, we pair our most unlikely duo yet with the "edgy" coming-of-age drama Kids and the wildly popular entry in the James Bond franchise GoldenEye, both from 1995. But before we careen between the two widely disparate works, this edition's Blue Plate Special sees us tackling the reshuffling of Turner Classic Movies and pontificating on what it might mean for the future of the beloved institution; sorting through three recent releases in Asteroid City, No Hard Feelings, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; and celebrating the life and legacy of screen legend Alan Arkin. We eventually get around to trying to classify what exactly Kids is all about and marvel at how GoldenEye successfully retooled 007 for a new generation. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Independence Day

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Mon, 3 Jul 2023 04:00:00 +0000

What better way to honor not only our continued cruise through the cinema of the 1990s but of our nation's 247th birthday than with a surprise, holiday-edition commentary of Roland Emmerich's 1996 disaster epic, Independence Day?! Listen as we situate the film's place in the larger cinematic landscape of the decade, admire the unconventional "love" triangle conflict grounding the otherwise weightless action, question the general presence of Randy Quaid, and genuinely delight in Judd Hirsch's casual granting of fast-pass national security clearance through Area 51. Above all else, Overlapping Dialogue wishes you a happy July 4th vacation! Feel free to skip to 45:29 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The River Wild & Wolf

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Continuing our long, strange trip through the varied cinema of the 1990s, we do our best to enjoy the natural world and its inherent pitfalls, both real and imagined, with 1994's The River Wild and Wolf. Before we make like Chet Baker and get lost- in more ways than one- we dig into the much hyped Grimace Birthday Meal from the culinary geniuses at McDonald's, unpack the Walt Disney Company's recent censoring of New Hollywood classic The French Connection, and celebrate the lives and legacies of the Iron Sheik, Treat Williams, Cormac McCarthy, and Daniel Ellsberg. Upon saluting the departed, we depart ourselves from any semblance of civilization and good sense with this episode's double feature: listen as we enjoy the thoughtful escapism of Curtis Hanson, the wackadoodle divergence of Mike Nichols, and pine for the days when this sort of genre entertainment once dominated multiplexes and videostores. Even better, Overlapping Dialogue inducts a new member into its Hall of Fame, the Immune. Finally, stick around till the very end to hear us announce an exciting bonus commentary episode just in time for our nation's birthday. In short, it's a jam-packed episode that we're quite proud of! We hope you enjoy. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Fearless & Groundhog Day

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 9 Jun 2023 04:00:00 +0000

After last episode's sex and violence-fueled theatrics, we decided to take a much needed trip to the confessional booth to consider two of the 90s greatest explorations of faith and humanity with 1993's Fearless and Groundhog Day. But before we find religion, this edition's Blue Plate Special incites a good dose of outsized outrage over well substantiated rumors about the forthcoming comic book Tower of Babel known as The Flash, prompts an opportunity to reflect on the conclusion of Succession and its legacy within the larger landscape of contemporary television, and revel in the madness of Netflix's new show Beef. We eventually make an effort to account for our own past sins upon reaching this episode's spotlighted double feature: listen as we discuss the pop profundity expertly crafted by both films in their divergent yet shared missions to turn serious theological and philosophical questions into compelling, thoughtful entertainments. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Hard Boiled & Basic Instinct

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 26 May 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Fans of lewdness and vulgarity: look no further! This edition of Overlapping Dialogue, in continuing our journey through the loud and proud 1990s, spotlights two of the decade's most stylish entries with Hard Boiled and Basic Instinct. But before we dive face-first into the carnage, our Blue Plate Special sampling forces us to confront the passing of iconic (albeit fictional) TV and screen legend Rick Dalton, offer up some brief thoughts on new releases Hypnotic and Peter Pan & Wendy, and analyze from afar a host of headlines emanating from the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. After trashing Jonathan Debt (enemy of the pod) yet again for his latest spewing of excrement, we arrive to our pulpy double feature presentation: listen as we marvel at the gleeful insanity of John Woo's wild Hong Kong actioner and savor the paperback profundity intrinsic to Paul Verhoeven's direction of stars Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

A Brighter Summer Day & Until the End of the World

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 12 May 2023 04:00:00 +0000

2023 was the year that Overlapping Dialogue went out of control. No one knew where it might land. It soared above the ozone layer like a lethal bird of prey. The whole world was alarmed. Only Kyle & Levi couldn't care less... In our second episode celebrating the cinema of the 1990s, we hitch a ride in the way-back machine and head straight ahead into the year of 1991 with a double feature that would collectively captivate you for nearly 9 hours: A Brighter Summer Day & Until the End of the World! But before we travel through the weighty contexts surrounding both films, we dig into a Blue Plate Special that belatedly celebrates the 2008 HBO miniseries John Adams and finds a distressing degree of comfort in the two most recent entries in the Evil Dead franchise (2013's Evil Dead and the newly released Evil Dead Rise). We make quick work of the deadites and eventually arrive to this episode's marquee pairing: listen as we marvel at the revelatory slice of life cinema of Edward Yang, the reflective yet rollicking magnum opus of Wim Wenders, and ponder the ways in which both works reflect upon and conclude a 20th century reaching its uncertain conclusion. Stay till the at once sweet yet bitter end for a very special gift, Mr. Wenders himself! In his his second appearance on the pod (albeit his first as a communicatory android), the German New Wave auteur reflects on a whole host of topics, ranging from Sam Neill Pop Funko vinyls, his failed attempt to remake Fantasia in live action in the late 90s, and the unforeseen ways Gary Busey impacted his life forever. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Havana & Dick Tracy

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 04:00:00 +0000

After a two month hiatus, Overlapping Dialogue makes its triumphant return with our 71st edition, kicking off a 10 episode look at one of the most widely beloved periods in contemporary film history: the 1990s! But before we travel back in time to the era of Beanie Babies and horrific homegrown domestic terrorism, we sort through a Blue Plate Special gauntlet tacking a slew of new releases in Cocaine Bear, 65, Renfield, and the much anticipated Beau is Afraid. And don't worry, we even find some time to return to our semi-recurring segment on the Airport franchise of the 70s, this time with Airport '77. Upon sorting through wreckage literal and figurative, we finally arrive at this episode's subject features, both from 1990: Havana and Dick Tracy. Listen as we discuss the handsome yet unimaginative direction of Sydney Pollack, the cartoonish insanity that inherently comes along with adapting Chester Gould for the big screen, and the larger connection both films share of aging movie stars going about their fading relevance in decidedly different ways. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Heat & Max Keeble's Big Move

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 05:00:00 +0000

For us, the action is the juice with a double feature for the ages, the very sort of pairing that fights for freedom and lives for love (IYKYK): Heat & Max Keeble's Big Move! But before we explore these insane moves- large and small- this edition's Blue Plate Special digs into recent ticket price hikes at AMC Theatres, M. Night Shyamalan's latest thriller Knock at the Cabin, the 2000 hyperlink landmark Amores Perros, and an Amazon order mix-up (not once but twice!!) that's destined to forever live in infamy. But the men of the hour (Pacino, De Niro, and Linz) inevitably make their presence felt in an action-packed discussion that covers the innumerable ways in which Heat is a classic, Max Keeble's Big Move is not, Jon Voight's hair, Larry Miller's lack thereof, and how both films, in their own way, serve as generational touchstones to criminals and dreamers in equal measure. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Cabiria & Steamboat Bill, Jr.

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 3 Feb 2023 05:00:00 +0000

This episode, we decided to give voice to the voiceless by spotlighting two sizable monuments in the silent film canon: Cabiria and Steamboat Bill, Jr. First things first though...our Blue Plate Special broods over two moody genre flicks with 1994's The Crow and new release Infinity Pool. Upon inspecting cinema's earliest days, we discuss the strained theatrics of Cabiria, the slight hilarity of Steamboat Bill, Jr., and the clearly observable influence both movies had on not only their respective genres but on the development of cinema writ large. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Misfits & Dunston Checks In

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 05:00:00 +0000

In undoubtedly the most twisted double feature we've yet to conceive, this episode focuses on a pair of films centered on the vulgar, animalistic urges which threaten to undo not only our relations with those we thought we loved but even our own attainment of anything resembling contentment or peace. You guessed it, we're tackling The Misfits and Dunston Checks In! But before we get around to horse wrangling and monkey business, this edition's Blue Plate Special prompts a discussion of two flawed yet thrilling new releases in Gerard Butler's latest action flick Plane and the feature film debut of Kyle Edward Ball with Skinamarink, an experimental chiller certain to divide audiences. We have a bit of a divergence on the relative artistic worth of John Huston's 1961 neo-western starring Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable, a project weighed with perhaps too much pretext for its own good. But rest assured, we reconcile in firm agreement over the profane profundity of 1996's premier pongo pygmaeus. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Duck Soup & Big Fish

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 6 Jan 2023 05:00:00 +0000

Happy New Year! We decided to kick off 2023 right by focusing our attention on a pair of films that at once signal disastrous ends and new beginnings, all yoked with the tempered romance of yesteryears: Duck Soup and Big Fish. But before we double dip, we navigate a Blue Plate Special slate focused on three thought-provoking new releases, ranging from whodunit Glass Onion, the profane epic Babylon, and finally the long awaited adaptation of Don DeLillo's White Noise. In moving forward though, this episode's subject films send us scrambling for the old way-back machine: listen as we delight in the Depression-era hijinks of the Marx Brothers and celebrate the last excellent effort from Tim Burton before we preview perhaps the strangest, most downright shocking double feature in Overlapping Dialogue history. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Year Without a Santa Claus & It's a Wonderful Life

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 05:00:00 +0000

As the march to Christmas draws to its inevitable close, we put a bow on the festivities by discussing two very special gifts of any holiday season, The Year Without a Santa Claus and It's a Wonderful Life. But before we dig under the tree and paw away at the goodies, this week's Blue Plate Special prompts a conversation on two new releases- The Fabelmans and Avatar: The Way of Water (leading to two new entrants into our hall of fame, the Immune)- and a rash of new trailers for movies awaiting audiences in the summer of 2023. Nevertheless, our two films this episode transport us back to days of yore: listen as we consider each of their historical contexts, survey the highs and lows of the Rankin-Bass canon, marvel at the homespun wisdom of Frank Capra, and generally celebrate two merry, worthwhile entertainments. Apropos of nothing, the memory of the 15th President of the United States, James Buchanan, may have been slandered along the way. This will be the very last edition of Overlapping Dialogue in 2022, concluding two nearly full years of podcasting. From the whole team at Huffman Brothers Productions (Kyle and Levi), we sincerely wish you the happiest of holiday seasons and an even happier new year! As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Christmas with the Kranks & Deck the Halls

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 9 Dec 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Unpack the ornaments, adjust the tree, and hang the wreaths: this edition of Overlapping Dialogue has us unwrapping and failing to admire much about two bad holiday family comedies from the 2000s, Christmas with the Kranks and Deck the Halls. But before we untangle the holiday mayhem, we roast some chestnuts over an open fire with an extended Blue Plate Special discussion of the 2022 Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time Poll. Upon dispensing with the art, we dive headfirst into two films unlikely to ever be included in such canonized company. Listen as we surprisingly take little issue with the career of Tim Allen, scratch our heads at the arch of Matthew Broderick's screen persona, and try to make the most out of the seemingly never-ending dual parlor game from Hell that both movies needlessly thrust upon audiences. For all the mediocrity, we nonetheless had a lot of fun stripping apart the lamebrained DNA of Christmas movies like these. Rest assured, we'll actually be returning with quality holiday cinema next time! As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The 1st Annual Overlapping Dialogue Commentary of the 96th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Sans Al Roker, Featuring Mario Lopez and Family and Intermittent Discussions of the 2022 FIFA World Cup (Sponsored by Lockheed Martin)

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 05:00:00 +0000

The 1st Annual Overlapping Dialogue Commentary of the 96th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Sans Al Roker, Featuring Mario Lopez and Family and Intermittent Discussions of the 2022 FIFA World Cup (Sponsored by Lockheed Martin) It's all there in the title! Listen to our bonus episode commentary of this year's Thanksgiving spectacular.

Wedding Crashers & American Psycho

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 05:00:00 +0000

This holiday weekend, as the leaves of Thanksgiving transition into the tinsel of Christmas, we take some time to settle down, gather together, and needlessly subject ourselves to two overstuffed cinematic turduckens of toxic masculinity: Wedding Crashers and American Psycho. Listen as we grapple with the intermittent highs and frequent lows of both films, discuss how Wedding Crashers fits into the 2000s comedy landscape, scoff at the shallow profundity American Psycho attempts to achieve, and generally question why we went with this flawed yet apt pairing. No Blue Plate Special this week but here's to hoping you have plenty of leftovers to snack on. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Stranger Than Paradise & Dumb and Dumber

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Big Gulps, huh? Alright...well, why you're here, you might as well get comfy, settle down for a spell, and catch up with old friends. This edition of Overlapping Dialogue has us hitting the highway for two road classics, Stranger Than Paradise & Dumb and Dumber! But before we arrive there, we take a few detours with a Blue Plate Special discussion of the surprisingly adequate Halloween Ends, the wickedly talented (iykyk) The Devils, and the considered brilliance of Tár, Todd Field's long awaited return to filmmaking. This week's duo is just as offbeat and eclectic: listen as we discuss Jim Jarmusch's 1984 portrait of hipster malaise, the Farrelly Brother's 1994 idiotic odyssey, and the curious connections both films have in depicting the joys and pitfalls inherent to the open road. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Day of the Dead & Addams Family Reunion

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Overlapping Dialogue's 2nd Annual Spooktober Spooktacular marches on with a duo of films that will be sure to scare your socks off, either through genuine terror or the fact that they're genuinely terrible. Up first, George Romero's 1985 conclusion to his legendary zombie "trilogy," Day of the Dead. We dig into a discussion about why exactly this least celebrated entry of the three is perhaps the series' most narratively and thematically daring offering and find every opportunity to crack up at the ironically excessive performance of Joe Pilato as Captain Rhodes. Speaking of unhinged hilarity...our second film, Addams Family Reunion is most certainly the former in its unsuccessful attempt in achieving the latter. Listen as we puzzle over the appeal of the creepiest and cookiest family in all of pop culture, take stock of the 90s craze of TV to film adaptations, try deciphering the plot of this half-baked disaster, and take every ounce of solace we can in a far-too-good old geezer turn from the great Ray Walston. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Night of the Living Dead & Dawn of the Dead

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 7 Oct 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Calling all ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and goodhearted scaredy cats! Overlapping Dialogue's 2nd annual Spooktober Spooktacular kicks off with a horror duology as iconic as they come: Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, George Romero's prescient codas on the decaying state of human flesh and the, you know, larger state of humanity. But before we devour those, join us for a discussion of a twisted modern day pairing in Don't Worry Darling and Blonde, new releases that have generated a great deal of debate and controversy in their own right. Our inevitable breakdown of Romero's zombie classics prompts us to talk about the sociopolitical contexts in which these films were made, admire how their director found novel ways to continually resurrect all things undead, and just get giddy reflecting on the sights and sounds inherent to a rowdy biker gang running riot on a zombie horde in an abandoned suburban mall. This episode represents a new format and era for Overlapping Dialogue, sans audio commentary, with a focus on simply ruminating on and having fun communing over the latest double feature in question. We hope you have as much joy listening as we had recording it, whether it's your first time or first time in a long time. Who know, if you stick around till the very end, you might hear us offer up some takes on a certain monster-themed breakfast cereal... As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Dog Eat Dog

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 04:00:00 +0000

All great things must come to an end, so what better way to conclude our ten episode misadventure through crime cinema than with Dog Eat Dog, 2016's gloriously indulgent psycho romp from master of the form Paul Schrader? First though, this episode's Blue Plate Special raises its glass to salute the life and career of French trailblazer Jean-Luc Godard- we attempt to put into words his incalculable contribution to the entirety of cinema - before we briefly recommend the new horror film Barbarian. But have no fear, we eventually dive head first into Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe's disasterpiece: listen as we discuss how Dog Eat Dog improbably charted a career comeback for its director, how exactly this stylish potboiler taps into Schrader's reliable thematic goodie bag of tricks and treats, and generally puzzle with fascination over how the heck Christopher Matthew Cook and his brisk but memorable character, Diesel, fits into the proceedings. This episode of Overlapping Dialogue represents a sort of end of an era for the podcast...be sure to stay tuned for the very end to hear us unveil a new format and focus moving forward that has us very excited for what our future holds! Feel free to skip to 1:35:37 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/jean-luc-godard-was-cinemas-north-star

The Place Beyond the Pines

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 9 Sep 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Looking for your weekly dose of generational trauma, misdirective cinema, and grease stained Ben Mendelsohn? Luckily, The Place Beyond the Pines, 2013's crime-drama-tragedy-mini-epic, is here to save the day! Before we make our way down its dark and winding road, come with us as we make a quick pit-stop and chow down on a Blue Plate Special that leaps from a discussion of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial and its theatrical re-release in honor of the classic film's 40th anniversary to an ambivalent consideration of Three Thousand Years of Longing, the latest film from Mad Max maestro George Miller. In due course, all roads lead to Schenectady and its eclectic cast of angels and demons, prompting a wide-ranging deliberation including but not limited to the weighty yet delicate brilliance of director Derek Cianfrance, the distorted magic that inevitably sparks from pitting early 2010 stars Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper up against one another, the at once simple and tortuous structural framework at play, and a special observance for one particular line reading from Emory Cohen. Feel free to skip to 2:05:06 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Killing Them Softly

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Grab the cigarillos and hoist the balaclavas: we go us a score in the works! This episode's exploration of crime cinema guides us through the seedy underbellies of Boston...or New Orleans...or Sawmills...or wherever the heck Killing Them Softly, Andrew Dominik's 2012 political diatribe in hood's clothing, takes place. But before we revel in the muck, we partake in a Blue Plate Special selection that salvages something from John Waters's 1972 cult behemoth Pink Flamingos, find a lot to love with the new A24 slasher Bodies Bodies Bodies, and celebrate the bittersweet conclusion of Better Call Saul. We eventually get around to casing the goldmine of a genre movie that is the subject of this episode, one which prompts a discussion of all things Brad Pitt, a consideration of Dominik's updating of novelist George C. Higgins and his source material, and really just find every opportunity to heap love upon Sam Shepard's brief but legendary walk-on performance as Dillon, the man himself. Feel free to skip to 2:16:04 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://crimereads.com/killing-them-softly/ https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2022/08/20/storm-in-my-house-the-thrilling-formula-of-bodies-bodies-bodies/

Sexy Beast

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Have you ever wanted your carefree, blissful poolside tan interrupted by an assaultive collection of hateful bile? Then sit back in your lounge chair and apply the sun screen because we've got a show for you: this week's episode has us parsing 2000's witty and strange British crime flick Sexy Beast! But before we catapult face first off the diving board, we snack on an endlessly sumptuous Blue Plate Special, covering topics as varied as Dennis Hopper's unlikely 1980 punk masterpiece Out of the Blue, new release Bullet Train and a spirited post-screening reaction it inspired, and the outright cancelled release of Batgirl and the larger restructuring of Warner Brothers and HBO Max it foretells. We finally get around to executing this week's job, promoting a discussion of the British crime film and its narrative/aesthetic interests, how Jonathan Glazer's direction upsets them, and endlessly delight in Sir Ben Kingsley's immediately iconic performance as the villainous Don Logan. Feel free to skip to 2:19:55 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2022/08/01/out-of-pocket-8-just-for-one-day/?fbclid=IwAR3MXnLIPQgQWmm6e0BCQrRxsyZSB7CbticwNboOhdGEvfHB3B97aSnpWSQ

Bad Lieutenant

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Hop on into the squad car and bear witness to one of the most notorious cops in cinematic history with Bad Lieutenant, Abel Ferrara's controversial 1992 masterpiece. But before we scrutinize this grisly mugshot of a movie, this week's Blue Plate Special find us fielding 2022 thoughts on Steven Spielberg's 1979 disaster 1941 (with us so far?); glancing into the hall of mirrors psychological gauntlet Synecdoche, New York from none other than Charlie Kaufman; and find a lot to love in Nope, Jordan Peele's latest blockbuster chiller. The time finally arrives to merge onto this episode's degenerative off-ramp of a movie, forcing us to confront an outright daring Harvey Keitel performance while grappling with what sets Ferrara and his direction apart within the crime genre, not to mention a discussion of content that warranted the film its infamous NC-17 rating. It goes without saying this episode isn't for the faint of heart but perhaps you'll agree that the unlikely redemption makes the brutalist filmmaking all the more rewarding. Feel free to skip to 3:02:35 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2022/07/20/weve-all-been-through-a-lot-the-atonal-satire-of-1941/ https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2022/07/25/out-yonder-the-timeless-and-timely-nope/

The American Friend

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 04:00:00 +0000

One minute you're playing expert spoiler to would-be forgers at an art auction, the next minute you're saving one such forger before he falls to his death off a speeding bullet train. As disgraced British Prime Minister Boris Johnson would say, "...them's the breaks!" This week's episode, perhaps the most special in our history, has us palling alongside a delightful pack of miscreants with 1977's The American Friend! But before we get around to our latest entry in our series of crime films, this week's Blue Plate Special finds us contrasting the listless Airport 1975 with the eclectic brilliance of The Red Shoes, Menace II Society, and Moulin Rouge! before celebrating the lives of James Caan and Tony Sirico. Upon checking off all our boxes and stocking up on all the essentials, we finally hit the open road with none other than director of The American Friend himself, Wim Wenders- who joined us live and in person at the Huffman Brothers Productions Studios! Listen as the German New Wave icon dishes on the arduous production process with madman Dennis Hopper, his tempestuous collaboration with Patricia Highsmith, where his relationship with Francis Ford Coppola currently stands, and what he remembers about Caldwell County's own Willard Blevins from the early 1980s. We were incredibly honored to have Mr. Wenders on the pod and I think our conversation with him lived up to the hype! Feel free to skip to 2:33:35 for our conversation with Wim Wenders and 3:06:05 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 1 Jul 2022 04:00:00 +0000

It's your lucky day: you just secured a pair of highly sought after backstage passes to the show of a lifetime, brought to you by the many talented ladies and handful of gentleman at Crazy Horse West. That's right, you walked right into...The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, John Cassavetes's crime genre turn of the mid 70s? Well, why we clean up the unexpectedly bloody stage, treat yourself to an opening act Blue Plate Special discussion of Elvis (the man, the myth, and the latest maximalist spectacular from Baz Luhrmann), the new chiller The Black Phone (starring none other than Ethan Hawke), and the promising film project on the horizon (no pun intended) from Yellowstone star Kevin Costner. This week's featured attraction finds us ruminating on the intensely casual cinema of Cassavetes, finding a lot to love in the confident disaster that is Ben Gazzara's performance, and pleasurably surveying what happens when an artist of the highest order decides to take what would otherwise be a soulless "one for them" and turn it into the sort of explosive concoction only they could've made. Stick around for the curtain call to not only get a preview of what's ahead but also hear a little from a *very* special guest who will be joining us next episode! Feel free to skip to 2:28:24 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2022/06/26/breathing-fire-the-life-not-lived-in-elvis/?fbclid=IwAR3Fe3-GczP0bSLBUhaUPZz3gMILtZeDUnRmgANInMxPipPaKKVm9e6ZBu8 https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2022/06/28/well-call-you-the-moving-isolation-of-the-black-phone/

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Sit right here and have another beer in Mexico...it very well may be your last! Our latest look at crime cinema has us trudging through the muck of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, director Sam Peckinpah's unforgiving neo-western from 1974. But before we descend into oblivion, we load up a Blue Plate Special where we discuss Kathryn Bigelow's appropriately titled Strange Days, parse the latest David Cronenberg release Crimes of the future, and celebrate the dearly departed character acting legend Phillip Baker Hall. Upon eventually taking the off-ramp to Hell, we consider the game changing filmography of Peckinpah, the beauty of Warren Oates, and weigh what exactly today's film in question adds to the genre complexion of New Hollywood's cynicism. Feel free to skip to 2:12:05 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 3 Jun 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Hop in the getaway car as we fumble through an already ill-conceived score gone wrong with part 2 of our ongoing deep dive on crime cinema with 1973's The Friends of Eddie Coyle, the godfather of Boston crime yarns. But on the way to the heist, we first gorge ourselves with Blue Plate Special topics as varied as Alex Garland's latest assault on the modern subconscious (Men), the unexpected yet welcome brilliance of Top Gun: Maverick, the utterly rotten and dishonorable Paramount+ televisual product The Offer, and a mourning of the loss of star Ray Liotta. Upon arriving to the subject of today's episode, we tackle what this movie gains from the monumental star presence of Robert Mitchum and how this work effectively threads the needle as a gripping genre offering and simultaneous paranoid, Watergate-era New Hollywood statement. Whew, ok, we think we'd like our phone call now... Feel free to skip to 2:31:07 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2022/06/01/out-of-pocket-6-original-sin/?fbclid=IwAR3BPlW0vNqw_eTfiKwJ3TlE9cpsPHfvS2oTXTN6n4YGO17Iolxvx98n5RE

Each Dawn I Die

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 13 May 2022 04:00:00 +0000

We decided to finally spring ourselves out of hiatus jail and make a semi-triumphant return with Each Dawn I Die, an underrated 1939 gem from the hallowed Warner Brothers gangster film canon! But first...this week's full-fledged gruel of a Blue Plate Special involves discussions of a host of new releases, including The Batman, Ambulance, The Northman, and Memoria, as well as belated thoughts on the Will Smith-Chris Rock fiasco and the ongoing disaster that is the Jonathan Debt (Johnny Depp to some) and Amber Heard defamation trial. Finally, we bust out of this joint with a celebration of the classic Hollywood gangster film tradition, delight in all things Jimmy Cagney, and in general just have a blast getting back into the swing of things. Feel free to skip to 2:33:09 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Titanic

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 4 Mar 2022 05:00:00 +0000

All aboard as we celebrate one, two, three, four, scratch that, fifty episodes of Overlapping Dialogue with a movie so big that even this podcast couldn't sink it: Titanic! But before we rally to the lifeboats or slide hopelessly to our chilly doom, this week's Blue Plate Special finds us chowing down on a whole host of recent watches, including Smooth Talk, The Green Fog, Kameradschaft, Mud, and Far From Heaven. Once the appetizers are dispatched, we feast on James Cameron's gargantuan main course of a production, working our way through the various historical contexts the movie situates itself in, unpack the film's at once broad yet entirely effective characterizations of class, and answer the question of whether or not this really was the last great Hollywood movie made at this scale and execution. Spoiler alert: it was. It really was... Feel free to skip to 3:11:33 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Remember that gum you like? Well, it's going to come back in style...and leave you with plenty to chew on. This week's episode finds us cautiously shuffling through the enchanting, delicious nightmare known as Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, the prequel/marginal-sequel to the beloved cult classic TV show that fills in a few gaps while crafting whole new gulfs along the way. But before we traipse through the labyrinthian corridors of the Red Room, we discuss a recent profile of Francis Ford Coppola that acts as its own coda to our recent Godfather episodes, followed by a fully-loaded Blue Plate Special with topics as diverse as the most recent acts of cultural terrorism perpetrated by the Walt Disney Company with their Storyliving suburban experience, discussions of trailers for the forthcoming summer releases Elvis and Nope, and a bite-sized review of Netflix's The Power of the Dog. We eventually take in the wispy Douglas firs and Norma's signature cherry pie upon entering the city limits of Twin Peaks, with an introduction covering our own journeys with the show and director David Lynch generally, how its narrative and aesthetic concerns evolved not only over time but between iterations and mediums, interpret how exactly Fire Walk With Me simultaneously expanded the emotional and mythological scope of the series, talk about the ways in which The Return would go on to further enrich all that came before it, and what exactly the entire Twin Peaks phenomenon "means" to us. Don't worry, there are no clear-cut, easy answers to be found, only a profound sense of emotional catharsis. And we wouldn't have it any other way. Feel free to skip to 3:45:17 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Godfather Blowout Sale

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Just when we thought we were out, they pulled us back in...to keep talking about all things Godfather! This week's bonus episode has us exploring the larger Godfather-verse- or whatever- which includes but is not limited to the original 1969 source material from Mario Puzo, the much maligned conclusion of the cinematic trilogy, the ex post facto videogames (which especially hold a place in our collective hearts), and the forthcoming Paramount+ series The Offer that looks every bit as mediocre as most of the aforementioned iterations of the franchise. Nothing may ever touch the original two films but we had a lot of fun dissecting the countless ways in which the Corleone family forcefully assert themselves into the larger pop cultural landscape. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Godfather Part II

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 05:00:00 +0000

What better way to follow up last episode's discussion of the greatest film of all time than by subsequently tackling the greatest sequel of all time? The Godfather Part II's successes are myriad but its sheer force of will to act as both a prequel and a sequel to its hallowed predecessor with such taste and confidence make it one of the most unlikely triumphs in the history of cinema. Tune in as we talk through the ways in which the film's arc acts as a rendition if not muted rebuke of the original that forges a genuinely metatextual statement on the very premise of sequels generally, unpack the various historical contexts the film jumps between in exhaustively dramatizing the first half of America in the 20th century, and shriek with joy at each and every scene involving Michael Gazzo. Feel free to skip to 2:39:55 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. http://people.uncw.edu/berlinert/research/documents/Berliner.GII.pdf

The Godfather

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 4 Feb 2022 05:00:00 +0000

This week's episode, an offer we simply couldn't refuse, has us celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of quite literally the greatest film to ever grace the collective medium of cinema: The Godfather. We do our best to explore the endless number of facets that elevated Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 masterwork as the natural evolution of the gangster genre (one of America's purest artforms), situate its status within the New Hollywood canon, place each and every brilliant performance in their context of coexistence with one another, and weigh its various historical and political contexts to uncover what exactly about it continues to capture the attention of all who interact with it- past, present, and future. Above all else, this is just a podcast of two movie lovers giggling with joy talking about the work that made them fall in love with motion pictures in a deep and fundamental way. We hope it's but a fraction of a delight to listen to as it was for us to produce. Feel free to skip to 2:36:40 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Swordfish

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Are you searching for that special movie that openly invites you to log on, hack in, go anywhere, and steal everything? Then baby, you're in the right place because our latest episode has us gone in 60 mbps with Swordfish, the slick action thriller that once again challenged our assumptions on the lengths to which John Travolta would go to further embarrass himself. But before we jack into this wannabe Matrix...this week's Blue Plate Special finds us loving John Sayles's 1987 union masterpiece Matewan, waxing nostalgically at the 2000 Disney Channel original movie Phantom of the Megaplex, and taking issue with the very existence of the deeply stupid 2000 mob "comedy" The Crew. Speaking of questionable cinema from the early 00s, our discussion and commentary of Swordfish parses what exactly such a work is attempting to posit on a moral or ethical level, evaluates the extent to which this movie's premise and stylings ape a post-Tarantino cinematic philosophy, and assess the extent to which it's the least bit justifiable to fashion a movie about terrorism on the eve of 9/11 as smugly entertaining as this. Come for the pretentious monologues on the unreality of the opening moments of the 21st century, stay for the latest inductee of Overlapping Dialogue's Hall of Fame (the Immune) and a special announcement at the episode's conclusion about a very brief but special upcoming series of episodes we have in store... Feel free to skip to 1:58:22 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://blockbluster.wordpress.com/2017/03/28/gone-in-60-mbps-notes-on-swordfish-a-breathtaking-disasterpiece/

Casablanca

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 05:00:00 +0000

This may be the beginning of a beautiful podcast... We open up this week's podcast with some thoughts and observations on the NFL Wild Card Weekend before diving into a Blue Plate Special filled with WWII pictures The Longest Day (1962) and Kelly's Heroes (1970). Upon finally ducking into the exotic saloon known as Rick's Cafe, we discuss what exactly about Casablanca makes it among the most legendary creations in the history of cinema, why the movie's aged over the past eighty years like the finest of wines, how it fits into the evolution of Humphrey Bogart's iconic star persona, and delight in the deliciously arch performances of Claude Rains and Conrad Veidt (#FindOne hive unite). Feel free to skip to 2:18:17 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Into the Night

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 05:00:00 +0000

We worked overtime and then some, burning every ounce of midnight oil we had, when it came to bringing you our very first episode of 2022 on Into the Night, John Landis's 1985 nocturnal romp. But before we get there...we discussed, for likely far longer than necessary, why exactly Valkyrie, the laughable 2008 historical drama, is perhaps the "greatest middle school movie ever" before diving face first into a Blue Plate Special involving thoughts on last year's Annette, a new segment within a segment called Baggage Claim where we gradually traverse our way through the Airport franchise, and finish off with a celebration of the lives and careers of Hollywood legends Sidney Poitier and Peter Bogdanovich. This week's subject film is every bit as scattershot as the rest of that intro, as it includes but is not limited to an unexpected but terrific pairing of Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer, the thrilling comedic aesthetics of 80s Landis, a two scene villain turn from the legendary David Bowie, and more director cameos than a DGA sponsored picnic. Feel free to skip to 2:41:18 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Skidoo

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Anchors aweigh on 2021 as we deliver our very last episode of the year with Otto Preminger's colossal 1968 "comedic" misfire Skidoo! But before we steer directly into the iceberg, this week's Blue Plate Special has us parsing the Matrix sequels (Reloaded, Revolutions, and the latest Resurrections) for meaning and edification, followed by an outright celebration of Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film Licorice Pizza. Upon finally arriving to the Mad Magazine-esque pastiche that is Skidoo, we critique the ways in which television began altering the stylings and aesthetics of film comedy in the 1960s and beyond, question the decision making of dramatic filmmaker like Preminger endeavoring to direct a comedy as scattershot and misguided as this, and in general mourn the presence of stars (in this case from the 1930s) rapidly approaching their expiration dates. Feel free to skip to 2:43:21 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2021/12/24/hm-upgrades-the-matrix-resurrections-as-a-reflection-of-the-perils-of-the-legasequel/?fbclid=IwAR370jACqmDJ_-av6T2bU_UmKzXAaIHKufbGy6xfVuTKCbX2Jjv7dbEQOo4 https://thebigwblog.wordpress.com/2021/12/27/the-world-doesnt-revolve-around-gary-valentine-licorice-pizza-and-the-perfection-of-the-shaggy-dog-story/

Spider-Man

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 24 Dec 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Have yourself a very Spidey Christmas with everyone's friendly neighborhood webhead and his very first cinematic outing from Sam Raimi and company in 2002. But before we dig into the biggest present under the tree, we sort through the Blue Plate Special-themed stocking stuffers, ranging from discussions on the forgotten gem Where the Buffalo Roam and contemporary classic The Matrix, inspired in part by the latter film's recent sequel/reboot The Matrix Resurrections. We finally tear through the Tobey Maguire-adorned wrapping paper to parse the myriad ways in which the character of Peter Parker and his various iterations remains among the greatest creations of comic book storytelling, mull how superhero films have evolved (or arguably devolved) over the past two decades-plus, and in general take multiple trips down memory lane to gloriously relive a childhood favorite. 'Tis the season, right? Feel free to skip to 2:43:21 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Jingle All the Way

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 05:00:00 +0000

In honor of the approaching behemoth known as December 25th, we decided to load up the shopping cart and max out the charge card with one of the...Schwarzenegger-est movies in the Christmas canon: 1996's Jingle All the Way! Listen as we discuss the wildly idiosyncratic film career and public life of Ahnuld, delight in the ingeniously specific performance of Phil Hartman, parse the endlessly problematic material supplied to a very funny Sinbad, and in general guffaw at the litany of contradictions in the holiday season and its corrosive relationship to capitalism. We even get into the gutter a bit to discuss our top five favorite books we read in 2021 in this week's Blue Plate Special. Feel free to skip to 2:18:02 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Historical Filmmaking

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 05:00:00 +0000

We take a little break from the audio commentating to do a little bit of audio pontificating on a whole host of topics, starting with a Blue Plate Special concerned with re-litigating the holiday classic The Nightmare Before Christmas before finding a lot to love in Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg. This week's bonus episode finally gets around to the broad and nearly indefinable topic of what exactly happens when history and filmmaking collide. What does the art form of cinema "owe" the people, places, and ideas of the past and what do such interpretations have to tell us about the times in which they were produced? We follow up a parsing of the various modes, highs, lows, and all in the middle when it comes to notable examples of historical films and finally get around to pitching some of our own ideas of past peoples or events ripe for contemporary consideration. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://blockbluster.wordpress.com/2018/12/22/gods-good-humor-forrest-gump-titanic-and-the-historical-ethics-of-hollywood-filmmaking/

Carol

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 3 Dec 2021 05:00:00 +0000

What better way to follow up last week's episode on an elegant period piece drama about the mid-20th century (see Jackie) than yet another exploration of the immutable soft screams of love gained and lost with Carol, Todd Haynes's 2015 masterpiece? But before we get there...this week's Blue Plate Special has us talking some football and sharing some belated joy over the Las Vegas Raiders' remarkable Thanksgiving Day overtime victory against the Dallas Cowboys, taking issue with the general existence of the new Disney Plus release of the legacyquel Home Sweet Home Alone, and finally settling once and for all what exactly qualifies something as a "Christmas movie." Upon finally arriving on the firmly closed doorstep (real Harge Heads know) of the week, we dive into what makes Haynes one of the singular artists of his generation while discussing how the contrasting presences of stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara make for a most compelling duo. Feel free to skip to 2:23:52 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Jackie

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 05:00:00 +0000

We thought we'd follow up last week's lengthy labyrinth of an episode on the events of November 22, 1963 with a more quiet and graceful remembrance of the same day and its lasting after effects with 2016's Jackie. But before we take yet another stroll down the American Century's middle period...this week's Blue Plate Special finds us discussing our recent experience seeing legendary rock band Genesis early on their ongoing The Last Domino? tour before transitioning to some thoughts on Wes Anderson's latest The French Dispatch. The film of the week inevitably sparks a discussion on recent trends in biopics and period films over the past decade and how exactly Natalie Portman's brilliant performance and Larrain's icily precise direction at once subvert and compliment the very sort of myth making historical fictions have been forging for centuries. Feel free to skip to 1:46:18 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

JFK

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Was it Lee Harvey Oswald on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository with a Carcano Model 38 carbine rifle? Perhaps David Ferrie years before in a Floridian swamp owned by the CIA with a decaying Thompson submachine gun? Wait, what about a forever anonymous gunman, in effect a shadow indicative of forces far beyond our understanding (much less control) armed with the potent mysteries inherent to the ever evolving demands of the American Century? All we know for certain is that President John F. Kennedy died in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, a day that forever changed the nation. This week's subject film, 1991's JFK, attempts to make the abstract concrete in an exploration of American fault lines that would soon threaten to cripple the country in the decade(s?) to follow. Listen as we walk through our own reflections of the assassination and its enduring legacies before diving into the conspiratorial cinema of Oliver Stone. Does the movie's technical brilliance distract from its logical and ethical discrepancies? What relationship does this film hold to a citizenry ever more comfortable with tin-foil-hat philosophizing? Where can we find any additional scenes, alternate takes, blooper reels, etc. of John Candy's performance as Dean Andrews? Indeed, if any exists, #ReleaseTheDeanAndrewsCut. We don't intend to definitively answer any of the aforementioned questions but we promise you there's plenty to sort through in this jam packed, 6.5 hours long episode. Feel free to skip to 2:49:01 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Marnie

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 05:00:00 +0000

If you're looking to hear a slew of above average Sean Connery impressions...then we have the podcast for you! We take our first ever dive into the canon of Alfred Hitchcock with his late career masterpiece from 1964, Marnie. But first: this week's Blue Plate Special has us gobbling up the sumptuous new release Spencer before we take issue with both the meme-ification of film culture and the nonstop media coverage of and obsession with the Smith family. Upon eventually getting around to Marnie, we reflect on the place Hitchcock's filmography in not only the larger history of film but our own lives and how this film's leering brilliance plays into some of the director's most problematic aesthetic impulses. Feel free to skip to 2:04:21 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/marnie-is-the-cure-for-hitchcock-mania

A Clockwork Orange

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 5 Nov 2021 04:00:00 +0000

In honor of the film's forthcoming golden anniversary, this week's subject has us grappling with the celebrated auteurism of Stanley Kubrick and his iconoclastic vision of a dystopian future, 1971's A Clockwork Orange. But first...the Blue Plate Special forces us to confront an even more alarming cultural product: the forthcoming presence of a Buzz Lightyear origin story. Seriously, why??? Thankfully, a new segment-within-a-segment allows the two of us to fan the flames of some recent cinematic line-reading obsessions we have indeed deemed worthy of your undivided attention: i.e. things we've been burning on (shout out to friend of the pod Jim Rome), Upon finally journeying through the sickening path of destruction wrought by today's subject film, we situate A Clockwork Orange within the wider spectrum of all things Kubrick, attempt to engage with the deceptively facile binary of anarchism or fascism such a satire attempts to suggest, and compare the film to the many other cinematic acts of nihilism shockingly routine and welcome in the larger cultural moment of 1971. Feel free to skip to 1:38:22 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Carnival of Souls

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 04:00:00 +0000

In our final installment of the first annual edition of Spooktober Spooktacular, we get lost trying to catch our bearings within the shoestring labyrinth of Herk Harvey's single feature film, Carnival of Souls. But before we get there...this week's Blue Plate Special finds us digging through the sugar, *spice*, and everything nice associated with the recently released adaptation of one of science fiction literature's crown jewels, Dune. After digging our way out from under the sandworms, we gleefully plunge ourselves into the inviting abyss of our 1962 subject film, a haunting cult classic that should've been the beginning of a long and fruitful career for its director but instead slowly found its audience amongst late night channel surfers and the midnight movie faithful. As fate would have it, its haunting aura is one that's endured for six decades now: good luck exorcising its power anytime soon. Feel free to skip to 1:55:10 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Beetlejuice

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 04:00:00 +0000

The fourth edition of this year's Spooktober Spooktacular finds the hosts with the most conjuring the known universe's preeminent bio-exorcist: Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! Being our second discussion involving director Tim Burton (listen to an earlier episode where we mulled over his 2001 Planet of the Apes remake for the first), we find joy in exploring the filmmaker's breakthrough hit that help solidify his place as one of 80s Hollywood's brightest new talents. But first...this week's Blue Plate Special loads up on a host of new trailers- ranging from Home Sweet Home Alone to forthcoming spandex spectacles The Flash and The Batman- before we discuss the studied mediocrity of the most recent additions to the never-ending Michael Myers saga: 2018's Halloween and the recently released Halloween Kills. We miraculously escape the cold, dead clutches of The Shape to rightly celebrate our titular subject of the week, the 1988 cult classic which provided audiences with an iconic Michael Keaton performance, a signature blend of the macabre and the farcical, the rich musical combination of Danny Elfman and Harry Belafonte, and the culmination of a star's oeuvre that ends up landing them as the second inductee into the Overlapping Dialogue's Hall of Fame (aka The Immune). It's a jam packed episode honoring one of our very favorites so dig out your copy of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased and get to studying! Feel free to skip to 2:40:07 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Whoever said a little bit of traveling never hurt anybody's clearly never found themselves evading a certain family from Texas with a troubling dual interest in chainsaws and massacres. The latest edition of October's Spooktober Spectacular has us tackling Tobe Hooper's at once exploitative and memorable 1974 descent into the southern fried abyss. But first...this week's Blue Plate Special finds us discussing the unconventional theatrical distribution strategy of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's recent festival darling Memoria before we work through our feelings on No Time to Die, the latest in the never ending 007 franchise, and its place in the canon of all things James Bond. We finally get to the scorching and downright pungent BBQ shack that is our subject film, one of the very heights of the horror genre that has us masochistically coming back for seconds again and again. Feel free to skip to 2:01:00 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Funny Games

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 8 Oct 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Queue up the subtitles because we're tackling our very first foreign language film in Overlapping Dialogue's (admittedly short) history! This month's Spooktober Spooktacular takes an unexpected detour with an episode dedicated to Michael Haneke's psychological horror thriller Funny Games from 1997, a movie that's by no means for the faint of heart. But before arriving to the metatextual mayhem...this week's Blue Plate Special has us diving in headfirst with our takes on both the trailer for (spiritual) friend of the pod Paul Thomas Anderson's forthcoming film Licorice Pizza and the simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max release of The Many Saints of Newark, the highly anticipated prequel to the landmark television drama The Sopranos. Eventually, we get around to punishing ourselves with a discussion on the many ways in which our subject film produces maximum discomfort and where it falls in the pantheon of the gleeful nihilism of the 1990s, all while questioning the narrative and aesthetic impulses exercised by Haneke and company. Where such efforts successful, indulgent, or something in the middle? Spoiler alert: go ahead and place your bets on the final option... Feel free to skip to 2:18:00 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Creepshow

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 1 Oct 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Hope you brought a flashlight and ironclad will because things are about to get...spooky. This October, we'll be spending time with the wide-ranging spectrum of horror cinema, from the lightly-accented to the outright terrifying. Our first entry has us visiting the welcome 1982 collaboration between horror icons George Romero and Stephen King, Creepshow! But first, this week's Blue Plate Special finds us mourning the loss of independent film legend Melvin Van Peebles, questioning the announcement of a partnership between the Roald Dahl estate and Netflix, and finding delight in the Criterion Collection home video release of Deep Cover. Upon reaching the old dark house at the end of the abandoned driveway, we delve into the delights and pitfalls of the anthology horror genre, rank the various segments both ahead of time and throughout the movie, and in general have fun with the goofy and almost bygone chills such an enterprise works to inspire. Feel free to skip to 1:35:56 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

See Spot Run

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 04:00:00 +0000

After a protracted trek through the Planet of the Apes franchise, we finally make our long-awaited return to one-off episodes with See Spot Run, one of many entries into the rich tradition of animal-fueled children's movies! But first...this week's Blue Plate Special has us remembering the life and career of comedy legend Norm Macdonald before speculating on Christopher Nolan's announced J. Robert Oppenheimer film at Universal Pictures; we follow that up with some initial thoughts on the latest trailers for Nightmare Alley and The Matrix Resurrections and some fully formed musings on one of 2021's few unqualified cinematic successes, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Upon finally getting around to today's title subject, we pick from the low hanging fruit that is early 00s kids movies, wonder longingly what David Arquette's leading man career could've been, and applaud the testicular fortitude (see the movie and you'll know what we mean) offered up by screen mafioso legend Paul Sorvino. Feel free to skip to 2:04:13 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/see-spot-run-2001

9/11- 20 Years Later

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 04:00:00 +0000

In this week's very special episode, we take time to mourn, reflect, and work through our own feelings regarding the September 11 terrorist attacks. Twenty years removed from the tragedy, we discuss the ways in which it irrevocably informed our childhoods and adolescence, set the stage for our larger understanding of the world and the systems through which we view it, and parse what exactly a two decade anniversary "means" to us. Finally, we survey the numerous examples of film and television who themselves worked to place meaning on an event and its aftermath more infinitely inscrutable than easily digestible. Above all else, this episode is dedicated to the many brave men and women who not only lost their lives that day but for the living victims as well, whose scars are sometimes scarcely visible but no less traumatic or impactful. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/02/11/the-real-heroes-are-dead

War for the Planet of the Apes

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 3 Sep 2021 04:00:00 +0000

At long last, our apeathon reaches its end with War for the Planet of the Apes, the 2017 conclusion to the most recent reboot trilogy. But first...the Blue Plate Special has us loading up on some recent trailers for forthcoming releases (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spencer, and The Many Saints of Newark), followed by a discussion of the 1958 film noir classic Touch of Evil. Upon finally reaching the end of the franchise which- you guessed it- once asked us to go ape, we take one last look at what these most recent films added to the series as a whole and what the very existence of these nine entries on a larger level suggest about the sustainability of Hollywood's blockbuster franchise aesthetic. Feel free to skip to 1:30:09 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Our eighth consecutive trek through the Forbidden Zone finds us excavating, of all places, an overgrown San Francisco which is, you guessed it!, infested with murderous primates. (You'd think we'd have learned our lesson by now but...alas...) Listen to our introduction as we introduce a new recurrent segment of the show: the Blue Plate Special. In this initial offering, we load up on a trio of neo-noirs (Body Heat, Trouble in Mind, and Reminiscence) that has us pondering both past modes of the form and how it might exactly realize itself in the years to come. Upon finally arriving to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, yet another exploration of chimpanzee-on-human violence is had, this time in relation to how this new age of CGI at once adds to and subtracts from the potential of the series that refuses to go gentle into that good night. Feel free to skip to 2:04:34 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 04:00:00 +0000

For our seventh episode studying the film series which once asked us to go ape, we find ourselves in a state-of-the-art- circa 2011 anyways- digital playground with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the first of the most recent trilogy of reimagined primate action. Listen as we first discuss some recent films we've seen, including Robert Altman's 1979 uncharacteristic bore Quintet and the newly released Don't Breathe 2, which of course sparked a brief conversational revisit of the canny 2016 original. Upon finally getting around to the 2011 simian film, we weigh the various means through which this seventh entry retooled the franchise for yet another new generation, attempt to traverse across the tricky minefield that is James Franco as unscathed as we can, and do our best to come to terms with the likely permanent arrival of computer-generated apes. Feel free to skip to 1:56:16 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Planet of the Apes (2001 Remake)

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 13 Aug 2021 04:00:00 +0000

This week, we thought we'd go all out by delivering our longest episode yet (5 whole hours!) on a film that added next to nothing to the careers of everyone involved and the larger franchise that bears its name: 2001's Planet of the Apes! Listen to us lose our collective minds over the recent phenomenon of speed watching, listening, living, etc. before we turn our existential crises into sincere enlightenment. Thankfully, the recent trailers for Ridley Scott's forthcoming films The Last Duel and House of Gucci restored our spirits. Finally, we walk through the nine circles of developmental Hell it took to see our mediocre subject film make its way onto cinema screens. Join us as we express what Tim Burton's varied career has meant to us over the years, defame the toxic existence of one Mark Wahlberg, and find genuine appreciation in this film's iteration of ape makeup while ascertaining no real reason why this movie was made other than the continual questing of Hollywood to make a buck above all else. Toby Keith fans may even find themselves shocked to see a special surprise awaiting them...Trust us when we say it's *all* here in this very special episode, one way or another. Feel free to skip to 2:43:20 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://www.vulture.com/2021/08/speed-watching-netflix-tv-shows.html https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/kris-kristofferson-last-outlaw-poet-ethan-hawke-interview-714098/

Battle for the Planet of the Apes

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 6 Aug 2021 04:00:00 +0000

THE FINAL CHAPTER (not really but bear with us) of the Ape Saga brings us to Battle for the Planet of the Apes, an anticlimactic conclusion to the first five groundbreaking science fiction films that blinded us with promise before fading like a dying star. Listen as we pontificate upon two new releases (Jungle Cruise and The Green Knight) before diving into yet another discussion of the primate franchise's scattershot concoction of philosophy and monkey-fueled mayhem. Have no fear: as Bon Jovi once spewed with melodic mediocrity, we're half way there!! Feel free to skip to 1:38:48 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Our laborious trek through the Forbidden Zone continues with our fourth entry into the primate parables with Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, quite easily the greatest fourthquel (is that even a word?) ever made. Listen as we examine this franchise's unlikely stamina through its reflection of a contemporary culture jaded by the unfulfilling answers to the weighty promises of the past decade's Civil Rights Movement, some unfortunately subpar makeup from a series that once set industry standards, a litany of ape vs. human violence in the film's thrilling yet indecisive third act, and an appreciation of the great Don Murray. Feel free to skip to 1:08:17 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Hope you got your favorite monkey suit handy because we're going to a costume party you'll never forget with Escape from the Planet of the Apes, 1971's addition to the franchise that once bravely asked you to go ape. Listen as we walk through this third entry's attempt to put a silk hat on a chimpanzee by time traveling to the groovy early 1970s while inventing new ways to keep a series fresh in its unexpected charting of a dark and gloomy future. Feel free to skip to 1:14:17 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Got your pick axe and gorilla glue handy? Good, because you're gonna need it! We continue our multi-week trek through the Forbidden Zone with our second exploration of the Planet of the Apes franchise with its 1970 entry, Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Join us as we parse the glorious messiness of this film's simultaneous expansion upon and aping of (no pun intended) the themes and ideas introduced in the previous film, the apocalyptic overtones and shocking ending reflective of the fears and anxieties of the late 60s and early 70s, and the inherent problems of attempting to catch lightning in a bottle twice. Listen to the very end to hear a special tribute to the dearly departed filmmakers Robert Downey, Sr. and Richard Donner. Feel free to skip to 1:07:00 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Planet of the Apes

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 9 Jul 2021 04:00:00 +0000

This week's episode marks the beginning of a nine episode trek through the Forbidden Zone into one of the oddest, most influential franchises in the history of Hollywood with our look at 1968's opening entry, Planet of the Apes! We follow the breadcrumbs towards our own destruction by discussing a variety of topics, including the script's sizable pedigree with Michael Wilson and the one and only Rod Serling, the timely yet elusive themes this film and its successors came to represent, the timelessly ham-fisted choices of Charlton Heston, and the larger off-kilter brilliance that combines John Chambers's legendary makeup, Jerry Goldsmith's eerie score, and the panicked precision of Franklin J. Schaffner's direction into a piece of pop art brilliance which remains one for the ages. Feel free to skip to 1:29:34 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Remakes: What Are They Good For?

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 2 Jul 2021 04:00:00 +0000

In this week's bonus episode, we wade our way through the imminently rote but nonetheless fascinating cinematic spectrum of the remake: what nature do they play in recontextualizing or expanding upon past works and how do they function as art in of themselves? This discussion includes an examination of the modern strategies franchises employ in "updating" or "adapting" "intellectual property" in "fun and exciting" ways (that's a lot of quotes but hey, it feels entirely appropriate, right?). Which ones work and which ones don't? Tune in to find out! We even get around to pitching to one another some ideas we each have for remaking past films so yeah, we're just as creatively bankrupt as the most cynical studio executive, as it turns out. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Mummy

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 04:30:50 +0000

In honor of our 20th episode, we decided to trek back to our old stomping grounds, Hamunaptra (famed City of the Dead), with a thorough discussion of all things The Mummy, Stephen Sommer's 1999 action-horror romp for the ages. Listen as we celebrate the film's ascension from run of the mill blockbuster to generational touchstone, weigh its place in the career and stardom of Brendan Fraser, stan the possibilities of a Jonathan (John Hannah) and Beni (Kevin J. O'Connor) spinoff movie/franchise, and induct the very first member into the Overlapping Dialogue's Hall of Fame (aka The Immune). Feel free to skip to 1:44:04 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://www.gq.com/story/what-ever-happened-to-brendan-fraser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXCFea2669Y

Clue

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Was it Mrs. White with a lead pipe in the conservatory? What about Professor Plum with a revolver in the kitchen? Ooh, I know, it was Mrs. Peacock with a rope in the library, right?? In all actuality, it was Jonathan Lynn and (gasp, two killers!!) John Landis with a pair of scissors in the editing room, attempting to splice together a coherent and entertaining yarn out of a popular board game. Listen as we examine the scene of the crime with 1985's Clue, where we breakdown the joys and pitfalls of board game cinema, the cinematic ethics of creating multiple endings, the parameters for what exactly constitutes a cult movie, and the oddly influential footprint this film left on the landscape of popular storytelling. Feel free to skip to 1:30:53 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Country Bears

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Hop on the tour bus and make sure the banjos are tuned and ready to go, loser: we got a Bear Hall to save! Take a journey with us as we survey the many sights and sounds associated with The Country Bears, Disney's 2002 roadshow revue at once ahead of its time and forever out-of-touch. Listen as we struggle to place this cornball jamboree within the larger trend of theme park cinema while simultaneously puzzling over a great many larger questions: just what sort of alternate universe is taking place that allows bears to not only speak human languages and wear clothes but also desire to play country music to capacity crowds? Why has it taken our "hero" Beary Barrington *so* long to discover he is, indeed, not a human and why does he show absolute zero interest in tracking down his literal parentage, as he instead takes solace in a group of no account, mediocre musicians (though they are, admittedly, bears)? What manner of blackmail did Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner have on screen legend Christopher Walken to entice an appearance, all too briefly we might add, in this dreck? Though we in no way guarantee to provide any sort of conclusive answers to these or other questions, you have our word we do our best to meet them all head on. Feel free to skip to 1:37:54 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Five Easy Pieces

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 4 Jun 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Order up! Our seventeenth episode finds us sorting through the wreckage of love, loss, and abandoned potential with Five Easy Pieces, one of New Hollywood's crown jewels. Join us as we dissect the mighty contributions of cinematic supernova Jack Nicholson, the qualified brilliance of director Bob Rafelson, and the iconic diner scene cemented into the memories of all who've seen the movie and the many more who likely haven't. Feel free to skip to 1:35:08 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK7TiA9qmuU https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a26454547/bob-rafelson-interview/

Django Unchained

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 28 May 2021 04:00:00 +0000

For our not-so-sweet sixteenth episode, the decision was made that a trip to Candyland was in order. Unfortunately, we saw less Lord Licorice than we did loquacious slave owners in Django Unchained, the much heralded revisionist western from cinematic provocateur Quentin Tarantino. Listen in as we discuss our least favorite film from a director whose work we otherwise love and the problems inherent in white artists attempting to tell black stories without the slightest bit of grace. Feel free to skip to 1:48:00 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IbC1Ve5kBM

Brewster McCloud

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 21 May 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Inspired in part by a precocious youth of the early 1970s who quite possibly may have been avian-themed serial killer, we take our own bold leap of faith in discussing Brewster McCloud, New Hollywood icon Robert Altman's 1970 follow-up to M*A*S*H! We do our best to string together some thoughts on one of the era's most fruitful auteurs while exploring the particulars of what made the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s among America's most maddening socio-cultural moments. Feel free to skip to 1:29:27 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. http://mrpeelsardineliqueur.blogspot.com/2018/08/another-dream-would-be-lost.html

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 14 May 2021 04:00:00 +0000

After last week's traverse through Sin City, we thought we'd put up our feet and stay awhile before the check bounces with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Terry Gilliam's 1998 adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's groundbreaking gonzo classic! We take our spin at the proverbial roulette wheel by diving into the complicated nature of adapting Thompson's signature prose, assessing where this fits in the pantheon of one J̶o̶h̶n̶n̶y̶ ̶D̶e̶p̶p̶ Jonathan Debt, what made Gilliam an uncanny choice to finally realize a project which had long resided in developmental Hell, and marvel at the glorious paunch of the just as glorious Benicio del Toro. Feel free to skip to 1:29:10 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/the-trouble-with-johnny-depp-666010/

Casino

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 7 May 2021 04:00:00 +0000

We shut up and put our money where our mouth is: that's what we get for waking up in Vegas with Casino, Martin Scorsese's 1995 crime epic! Join the party as we delight in Marty's supersized take on Sin City, ponder where it fits into his legendary gangster canon, lovingly mock Joe Pesci's attempt at a Chicago accent, and take a stab at guessing what song on this episode's gonna get flagged by the fascists at YouTube. Let the chips fall where they may.

Feel free to skip to 1:22:40 for the beginning of our audio commentary.

As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

https://www.theringer.com/movies/2020/11/19/21574457/casino-25th-anniversary-retrospective

The Color of Money

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

We follow up last week's discussion of the beloved billiards classic The Hustler with its sequel, 1986's The Color of Money! Listen as we walk through our very first Martin Scorsese picture while admiring the aged wine that is Paul Newman, the burgeoning superstardom of Tom Cruise, the delights and dangers of life spent in smoke filled pool halls, and an appreciation of the reality that *all* roads eventually lead to Atlantic City. Feel free to skip to 55:59 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Hustler

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

We ride the cheese and settle all outstanding debts with our discussion of 1961's The Hustler! Listen as we gush over the inimitable Paul Newman, love to hate the steady villainy of George C. Scott, suppress our tears over Piper Laurie, deeply consider Murray Hamilton's Kentucky accent, and generally appreciate the very presence of Jackie Gleason. Actors: now more than ever! Feel free to skip to 49:54 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Our Favorite Books

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

We decided to take a brief break from the audio commentary racket to discuss some of our very favorite books, our own literary histories, and what literature means to us both as a means of escapism and as a larger art form. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Inherent Vice

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 9 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Calling all dopers, flower children, and undercover operatives for your friendly neighborhood vice squad...tune in and drop out with our tenth and most special episode yet on 2014's Inherent Vice! Listen to us ramble our way for just over five minutes short of five hours through a whole host of questions: To what extent was Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's 2009 novel a success? What does the well-worn and in many ways exhausted shaggy dog LA (that's Los Angeles, *not* the Lenoir-Area) detective story have to tell us at this point that hasn't been expressed before? What are our impromptu takes on the trailer for Space Jam: A New Legacy? All these and many more pressing issues are (kinda, sorta??) answered by the episode's end! Feel free to skip to 2:04:27 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://thepointmag.com/criticism/the-master-paul-thomas-anderson/

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman, Levi Huffman) — Fri, 2 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

For our ninth episode, we nearly drowned in 2004’s gloriously self-indulgent marine romp The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Listen as we consider the at once deep and narrow cinema of Wes Anderson, appreciate Bill Murray's transition from comedy superstar into indie drama darling, find joy in Seu Jorge's Portuguese renditions of David Bowie classics, and ever so briefly consider the presence of Dwayne Johnson in Anderson's oeuvre ("The Grand Smackdown Hotel?"). Feel free to skip to 58:30 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Seconds

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 04:00:00 +0000

What better way to celebrate our contemporary era of avatars, ghosting, and the crippling realization that we'll all die alone than with 1966's own portrait of prolonged emotional crisis?! Listen to our eighth episode for a discussion on John Frankenheimer and the place his trilogy of paranoid thrillers had in the opening and middle years of a tumultuous decade, the many symbols and precedents Seconds signaled for the forthcoming New Hollywood era, and the endlessly exquisite camera work of the great James Wong Howe.

Feel free to skip to 1:00:57 for the beginning of our audio commentary.

Sixteen Candles

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 04:00:00 +0000

In our lucky number sleventh episode, we decided to throw a lackluster surprise party with Sixteen Candles, 80s icon John Hughes's directorial debut. We discuss the highs and lows of Hughes here and elsewhere, touch on the experience of viewing older art with contemporary eyes, weigh what exactly mainstream 80s American cinema was aiming to accomplish, and generally suffer through the experience known as Long Duk Dong. Feel free to skip to 51:21 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/what-about-the-breakfast-club-molly-ringwald-metoo-john-hughes-pretty-in-pink

Syriana

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 05:00:00 +0000

For our sixth episode, we decided to dive right into perhaps the quintessential example of 2000s hyperlink cinema: 2005's Syriana. We explore the genre's function as both entertainment and journalism, puzzle over what the heck happened to the career of Stephen Gaghan, gaze longingly at the paunch of George Clooney, and take general delight in a cinematic work of profound, unrepentant cynicism! Feel free to skip to 1:02:20 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

Waves

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (kyle huffman, levi huffman) — Fri, 5 Mar 2021 05:00:00 +0000

We're back (not a dinosaur story) with our fifth and longest episode yet on 2019's Waves, the latest film from writer-director Trey Edwards Shults! Our conversation explores the ins and outs of one of the most exciting films of recent years, what exactly the presence and success of A24 says about the health of contemporary American cinema, parse the meaning of "the drama" in the context of an ever-shifting industry, and every so briefly address the artistry of one Kanye West.

Feel free to skip to 54:15 for the beginning of our audio commentary.

Snow Day

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (kyle huffman, levi huffman) — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Strap-on the longjohns and lace up your winter boots...we're fixing to have ourselves a Snow Day! Listen to two dumb blondes talk about 90s and 00s children's entertainment, the many joys of Chris Elliott, the even greater failures of Chevy Chase, and Iggy Pop's mysterious love of Al Martino, all while struggling to come up with a convincing enough reason for why they're revisiting a mediocre and largely forgettable kids comedy from the early 00s. Maybe one day we'll get around to Max Keeble's Big Move... Feel free to skip to 48:28 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests.

The Invisible Man

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (levi huffman, kyle huffman) — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 05:00:00 +0000

For our third episode, we decided to go full incognito (#fiendmode) with an audio commentary of The Invisible Man, James Whale's 1933 addition to the Universal Monsters movie canon. We explore Levi's love and passion for the studio's influential slate of horror films, take delight in the talkie debut of the great Claude Rains, and parse the relative worth of driving yourself and those around you mad thanks to your seemingly useless invisibility potion. (Dude was born to be a Twitter reply guy/thought leader, Lamborghini lurkin' in the shadows, but alas...) Feel free to skip to 49:17 for the beginning of our audio commentary. As always, please like, subscribe, rate, and review us on all of our channels, which include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube! Contact us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com with your questions, comments, and requests. Boo short film: https://youtu.be/7Ql2FNcJBqQ Finally, check out Levi's Letterboxd ranking of the Universal Monsters movie canon, as well as some insightful and hilarious musings regarding each. https://letterboxd.com/lhuff98/list/universal-monsters-films-ranked/

American Graffiti

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Levi Huffman, Kyle Huffman) — Fri, 5 Feb 2021 10:40:28 +0000

Jurassic Park

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (kyle huffman, levi huffman) — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 05:00:00 +0000

We spared no expense with our very first episode of Overlapping Dialogue. Up first is Steven Spielberg's 1993 adaptation of Michael Crichton's dinosaur epic, Jurassic Park! Feel free to skip to 24:47 to hear the beginning of our commentary track. Finally, like, subscribe, rate, leave a review, share, and tell everyone you know about our Apple Podcast, Spotify, and YouTube channels! Email us at huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com for any comments or requests.

Introduction

huffmanbrothersproductions@gmail.com (Kyle Huffman) — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 05:00:00 +0000

A little get-to-know-us with two brothers who love movies and talking about them! This is a show dedicated to the inelegant art of audio commentaries. We're just fans on the sidelines, minding our own business, hoping to add the smallest dose of entertainment we can while discussing an artform we adore.