161 - Avatar: Fire and Ash 🔥

Chat, are we chopped and unc? We are three millennials and as such we have never seen Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Here to change all that is Gen Z correspondent LC, of The Silver Fox Office fame. Greg Heffley is headed for big things, but first he has to survive the scariest, most humiliating experience of any kid’s life – middle school! That won’t be easy, considering he’s surrounded by hairy-freckled morons, wedgie-loving bullies and a moldy slice of cheese with nuclear cooties! (Sourced from Letterboxd). In the Pop Corner, conversation includes discussion of the musical Cabaret, Wings of Desire (1987), Roman J. Israel Esq. (2017) and several pop girlies that Matt thinks are about to break out of the Khia asylum (listen to the ep for more details!).

It's finally here! Ever since 2023 we have been at the forefront of all Coyote vs. ACME related news and today we bring you a massive scoop: the film is in cinemas, and it's good. After Acme products fail him one too many times in his dogged pursuit of the Roadrunner, Wile E. Coyote decides to hire a billboard lawyer to sue the Acme Corporation. (Sourced from Letterboxd). Your hosts laughed and laughed, and even admit to getting a little teary at times due to the beautiful portrayal of Wile E. and Road Runner's eternal friendship (seriously). But can they forgive this film for not including their favourite lil queer icon Marvin the Martian? Over in the Pop Corner, we talk Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, Tony, Phoebe Bridgers' Lost Weekend, PlayTime (1967), Resident Evil (2026) and The End of Oak Street.

"Dipping sauces are at the core of American culture." "If I have a kid... what if I name her Cinema?" Such insights as these can only be brought to you by the Mixed Bag trio. Did you miss us? Are you on the edge of your seats to find out what we thought of 2005's Cursed, a werewolf movie that was re-shot more times than its central monster was by the LAPD? Well, too bad, because first you'll have to listen to an hour of takes about Whānau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival and the films wherein. We talk about the GOOD (Whistle, Elephants in the Fog, La Bola Negra, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, All of a Sudden, La Gradiva, Blue Heron, Everytime, Flesh and Fuel, Big Girls Don't Cry), the BAD (Hope, The Chronology of Water) and the MIXED (Fjord, Coward) of the Fest, before moving on to talk about Wes Craven's hopelessly muddled werewolf flick that at least provided some good "Jesse Eisenberg at a computer" clips for future Social Network fan edits.

Cass here, flying solo, checking in. Gonna go back to playing Dolly's greatest hits now.

Bag Hags, I got really sick the morning after we recorded this (causation? correlation?) so you're getting a half-assed caption today. "A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. She rises to be the land’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal – an act that begins to turn her heart into stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading King’s successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom – and to Maleficent’s true happiness as well." (Sourced from Letterboxd). Over in the Pop Corner, we talk cinema etiquette, Disney flops, She's A Killer and what our fave pop girlies are up to.