Middle of the Row

Today’s episode features Ben and Nick of A Place for Owls. A Place for Owls are a Denver emo band that play quote “music that makes you feel sad, but in a good way”. Following their breakout self-titled album from 2022, they have gone on to play shows with rock heavyweights Switchfoot and Mae. We discussed those shows and their DIY approach to promotion, as well as how they went about writing and creating their upcoming second full length album, "How We Dig in the Earth", which will be self-released on November 1st. We also had our second pet appearance on the podcast with an appearance of Nick's cat, Tilly!

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About Knock at the Cabin... With some new M. Night out with Trap, I’m putting out our episode of his last film that’s been sitting around in the unreleased archives. I think we are on the high end of appreciation for this one (I also think I was sick?), but we talk about greater meaning, great performances and how Night’s strengths and weaknesses come through in another good entry from him. I’m (Your Name Here) and I want to talk about The ________ thing about.... Download. Listen. Enjoy! Show Notes: (Time:Stamp) Talking M. Night, Bautista, & General Thoughts, Star Ratings... (0:01:00) Star Ratings & Start of Spoilers, Real or Not?… (0:22:00) Diving Deeper Into Deeper Meaning… (0:30:00) Finding Tension In The Truth... (0:43:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Dipping back into the MCU one more time this week, for the film that feels closest to Deadpool & Wolverine, Spider-Man: No Way Home. This 2021 film was the first big dip into the multi-verse in the MCU and stands as the best version of it still, I think. We are all pretty big fans of this one and I was the highest on it when we recorded (probably still as well?). Anyways, it was fun to revisit our excitement around this time and wondering where all of this was going to take us, and us being somewhat right and way wrong! Peter 3 forever! Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (0:00:00) Spoiler Specifics and Diving In Deep (0:15:50) You Gotta See This, Let’s Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (0:33:30) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (0:57:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About The Marvels... The most recent MCU entry, all the reworking of The Marvels might make even more sense to the MCU as it was probably re-jiggered along with the plans for Deadpool & Wolverine. We are all much bigger fans of The Marvels than its reputation that quickly set in at its release; that I think you can safely say was carried out by some bad faith actors. So consider this the beginning of the reclamation of The Marvels! Let’s go! Download. Listen. Enjoy! General Thoughts And Context For The Marvels... (0:00:00) Diving Deeper Into What’s Missing... (0:17:30) Star Ratings and MCU Rankings (0:22:00) Spoilers for The Marvels, Diving Into The Ending (0:26:15) The Refreshing Thing About The Marvels and Future Talk... (0:31:30) @middleofrow #nothe

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About Logan... We are back again and we are getting hyped for Deadpool & Wolverine by digging into the unreleased archives (a lot of those) to bring out the episodes related to this film. Logan is the last proper appearance of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, in what was supposed to be his send off with the character, and the fact that he’s coming back gives me some hope for that movie! We have a wide range of opinions on this one, so tune in to see who likes it and who doesn’t (spoiler, I bet you’d be right if you guess). Download. Listen. Enjoy! General Thoughts... (0:00:00) Digging Into Our Disagreements... (0:17:30) Talking About X-Men (0:30:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About Mad Max: Fury Road.... As we get ready for Furiosa this week, we decided to go back to the film it’s a prequel to! Two of us think this is a 5 star classic, but that doesn’t mean we spend the whole time gushing and raving about the incredible filmmaking. We discuss some shortcomings, how it feels like it could have gone deeper and I compare George Miller to Wes Anderson. Come and listen to find out why. Download. Listen. Enjoy! Show Notes: (Time:Stamp) General Thoughts... (0:01:00) Favorite Bits... (0:13:30) Some Frustrations?... (0:32:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.... We recorded this awhile ago, but with director Jane Schoenbrun’s latest I Saw the TV Glow just going wide this weekend, now seemed like the time to release it in this catch up phase! We have a really lively discussion on this film, a movie none of liked above it being OK, but we do talk about a lot of really good and interesting things going on in this movie and it made me want to re-watch it! It was nice to hear my prediction that Schoenbrun would level up nicely with her next film has panned out (I Saw the TV Glow is pretty damn good!). Download. Listen. Enjoy! Show Notes: (Time:Stamp) General Thoughts... (0:01:00) Star Ratings & Spoilers (0:16:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Hello everyone and welcome to The Greatest Thing About Poor Things… The podcast might be coming back? IDK, we have tons of backlog, and hopefully this is the first of many more episodes to start rolling back onto this feed. We are back with Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, his latest film and one of the better films of 2023 from where I’m sitting. We discuss Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo greatness, the ethics of brain transplants and all things Willem Dafoe. Download. Listen. Enjoy! Show Notes: (Time:Stamp) General Thoughts… (0:01:00) Star Ratings/Spoilers (0:20:00) @middleofrow #nothe Support us on Patreon! Subscribe on iTunes, find us on Spotify, Amazon, Luminary, Stitcher, Google, Tune In, iHeartRadio, maybe elsewhere. Want some more Middle of the Row in your life? Follow the site @MiddleofRow, Zac @ZacOldenburg, Lauren @BewareOfTrees, & Ben @WeirdestWizard.

Song Trader, Episode 2 featuring: Caleb, Lindsay, and Meg Follow Caleb on Twitter: @CKPNW Follow Lindsay on Twitter: @lindsayfickas Follow Meg on Twitter: @megannnkoontz Follow me on Twitter: @anotherRahulJ @middleofrow #nothe

Hello. We are still a podcast. And this is yet another attempt to get these things out of the pipeline again. We have Middle of the Row & The Greatest Thing About... for days, and I hope this fall to get more to you all. This release is for The Mitchells vs. The Machines, which I’m timing with TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, as they share a director/writer in this film’s co-director/writer Jeff Rowe. Let’s call it a good excuse. The Middle of the Row: The Podcast will still have counting numbers, but won’t be in order, fyi. Anyways, cross those figures. Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, (1:00) Spoiler! You Gotta See This, Let’s Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (20:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch..., Star Ratings (34:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Another Flashback episode from the time when we still did those on the OG feed. Catching up with Fright Night from 2011, a movie I soured on since I last saw it, but the rest of the pod is standing up for it! Is Charlie a shitty lead character, is Colin Farrell the dreamiest vampire ever, where is the justice for Poots? Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (0:00:30) You Gotta See This, Let’s Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (0:15:40) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (0:25:00) @middleofrow #nothe

One of many from the archives, essentially, even though this is the first release of the podcast! The Black Phone, I thought was a bad movie, and I think I brought Lauren and Ben down with me along the way? Take a listen for yourself, as we ask a lot of questions about this quite weird, silly and not that scary movie! General Thoughts, Star Ratings, crapping on Peacock (it’s gotten better) (0:01:00) Spoilers for The Black Phone (0:18:00) The Categories: The Confounding Thing About… (0:19:00) The Ridiculous Thing About... (0:23:00) The Confusing Thing About... (0:27:45) The Uncomfortable Thing About... (0:32:00) @middleofrow #nothe

What’s this, it’s our podcast! Starting off 2023 (shut up, it’s still January!) Trying to make this a regular thing again (we have been recording), and I’m trying to find the time to get these out. But, as we say goodbye to 2022, it’s time for our Time Capsule episode! Let’s throw some stuff into the dirt for the future... Our Picks! Ben: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (3:30) Lauren: A Plague Tale: Requiem (13:40) Zac: Station Eleven (26:00) Random Discussion and Predictions (32:00) Predictions for 23! Game: Ben: Dead Space (Remake) Zac: Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Lauren: Assassin’s Creed Mirage Movie: Ben: Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Zac: Asteroid City Lauren: Barbie TV: Ben: The Last of Us Zac: The Last of Us Lauren: The Last of Us Random: Ben: Trigun Stampede Lauren: Alecto: The Ninth Zac: Killers of the Flower Moon

Today I am talking with Aisha Sultan. Aisha is a syndicated columnist based at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where they’ve been writing for more than 20 years. Her work focusing on education and parenting has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, CNN, and The Washington Post. "Education, Interrupted" is her second documentary, and follows the experience of a mother of three young children navigating virtual school during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. It premieres at the Saint Louis International Film Festival on Saturday, November 3rd. Film Synopsis: Witness the devastating disruption of schooling through the eyes of an unforgettable family. Tyra Johnson is a devoted and determined mother fighting to maintain her children's education in one of the country's most poverty-stricken ZIP codes, which was hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Find more from Aisha Sultan on her website, Twitter, Instagram, or STLToday. Find more about the St. Louis International Film Festival including the schedule of films here. Follow me on Twitter@anotherRahulJ.

We head back to Netflix to review Jamie Foxx’s latest, Day Shift! No one is terribly bowled over by this vampire flick/John Wick mashup, but we had quite a bit of fun picking it apart. Come for the praise of the fight choreography, stay longer as we try and figure out if this movie makes any damn sense. Download. Listen. Enjoy! The General Thoughts (01:00) Categories: The Draining Thing About... (11:30) Star Ratings/Spoilers (17:30) Back to Categories: The Impressive Thing About... & The Confounding Thing About... (19:45) Anything we missed? @middleofrow #nothe

The week we are discussing The Greatest Thing About... Prey! This Predator prequel has nothing to do with previous films outside a couple nods and a Predator showing up, but it’s a fresh take on the format that is overcoming the stink of its previous entry. Taking the film back to the 18th century and giving the film a female lead are a great start, while director Dan Trachtenberg gets to show off his action chops outside of a bunker. Amber Midthunder is going to be a star and Predators are little B’s. We all agree on that. Download. Listen. Enjoy! General Thoughts (0:01:00) Star Ratings/Spoilers (0:26:00) Categories: The Uncomfortable Thing About... (0:26:30) The Satisfying Thing About... (0:34:00) The Weirdest Thing About... (0:40:20) Ben Comes Up With Predator Sequels (0:47:00) @middleofrow #nothe

It’s episode 2 of The Greatest Thing About Podcast... and we are showing off the flexibility of the concept by reviewing a video game; Stray. Stray is an indie release on Playstation and Steam and is a short, but fun, adventure into the mind of a cat. Well, sort of. You definitely get to be a cat, and do many cat things (napping, please), but the game itself is a mystery platformer that has some pretty distinct level design across it’s post-apocalyptic robotic setting. All of us enjoyed the game to varying degrees, which leads to some good discussion about what makes this game work as well as it does. Download. Listen. Enjoy! General Thoughts... (0:01:00) Star Ratings Spoilers for Stray (0:09:30) Categories: The Impressive Thing About… (0:09:30) The Frustrating Thing About... (0:19:00) The Weirdest Thing About... (0:22:20) @middleofrow #nothe

Welcome to a new version of our podcast at Middle of the Row; The Greatest Thing About... podcast! We are still going to talk about movies, but also hope to talk more games, tv, while also being able to pick whatever movie we damn well please. We will also be releasing our backlog (it’s big) of Middle of the Row: The Podcast as well, but the plan is for a new The Greatest Thing About... to come out weekly. We start with the highest rated movie we’ve ever done here on the pod (for us) with Everything Everywhere All at Once. It’s amazing, you should watch it, then listen to us talking about why it is so great! Download. Listen. Enjoy! An Introduction...(0:00:30) General Thoughts... (0:02:00) Star Ratings & The Letterboxd Top 10 (0:18:00) Spoilers for Everything Everywhere All at Once (0:22:30) Categories: The Greatest Thing About… (0:23:00) The Funniest Thing About... (0:29:00) The Upsetting Thing About... (0:42:00) #nothe @middleofrow

Goon was a flashback pick from late last year, but it was actually a 2012 release so now it is an actual flashback for the correct year! This was picked by Jon, but he didn’t make this episode, but Ben, Lauren and Zac all really enjoyed chatting about this hockey cult classic. Though, none of us have seen the sequel, so we don’t know if we can recommend that, but Scott and Schreiber are excellent here, so more of them is probably making it worth a watch. Also, maybe the most intense E.T. Watch in podcast history... Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) You Gotta See This, Let’s Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (13:30) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (28:00) @middleofrow #nothe

Malignant came out and set the internet on fire for a couple weeks last year, but it didn’t really work for most of our crew...until it did. Zac was on board throughout, but everyone agrees the final act is worth sticking around for. But, we debate a lot! Is the acting good? How intentional is Wan’s vision? Is it scary? Is it a comedy? Watch/listen/find out! Download. Listen. Enjoy. The Categories: (Time:Stamp) 8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (1:00) Spoilers, You Gotta See This, Let’s Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (17:00) Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (33:30) @middleofrow #nothe