Should We Keep This?

We’re wrapping up the aughts with a bet sandwich! We’ll look at the predictions we made for the media we consumed this decade, and make new predictions about the decade to come. For the first time ever, Gina wins something! But who will win the most tense trivia battle yet? You may be surprised. It’s all very Trans-Neptunian.

Roll up those sleeves (even though you’re not supposed to) and put on your best belly shirt, because this week we’re talking about Avatar (top grossing) and The Hurt Locker (Best Picture). Join Gina and Steven as we pick apart “unobtanium,” expound on the ridiculousness of cereal choices, and invent something called Manifest Underwear. This podcast is produced by Rock Rising.

We’re taking you to the big cities of Gotham and Mumbai this week with The Dark Knight (top grossing) and Slumdog Millionaire (Best Picture). Join Steven and Gina as we take a hard look at the morality of vigilante justice and whether or not a fairy tale ending negates a movie’s challenging themes. It’s not the podcast you need, but it’s the podcast you deserve. Or...is it the other way around?

We couldn’t get enough pirates last time, so this week we’re at it again with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (top grossing) and No Country for Old Men (Best Picture). Join us as we take a hard look at some very not-cool violence, discuss why getting married in the middle of a swordfight on a ship is not a great idea, and analyze Javier Bardem’s distinctive haircut. Oh, and everyone needs to stop kissing Keira Knightley. Seriously. This podcast is produced by Rock Rising.

Release the kraken! This week we’re talking about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (top grossing) and The Departed (Best Picture). We explore the speed and reliability of sea travel, the challenge of assembling a three-piece suit, and Steven’s very aggressive Boston accent. How many years of servitude would you wager for this podcast?

“Unthinking” is the word of the week, with Crash (best picture) and American Idol (top-rated TV show). Join Gina and Steven as we ask the tough questions: What would you do if you thought you were making “Do the Right Thing” but actually made “Driving Miss Daisy”? Was everyone a maxxinista in 2005? And who the #*$@ is Brian Dunkleman? Cingular Wireless customers can text “VOTE” to 1-866-SWKT. This podcast is produced by Rock Rising - check us out at rockrising.org & join our newsletter!

This week it’s all about characters who grew up in the swamps, with Shrek 2 (top grossing) and Million Dollar Baby (best picture). Join Steven and Gina as we interrogate basic Republican melodrama structure, rigidly enforced gender binaries, and ogre stereotypes. Are the Fairy Godmother’s elves an anti-capitalist statement? Does sex make you a murderer? Tune in to find out! This podcast is produced by Rock Rising, visit our website to join our newsletter! rockrising.org

It’s the year of terrible lighting design, male singers singing exclusively in their lower registers, and...consensual voluntary pederectomies?? This week we’re looking at CSI (top rated TV show) and the top ten hit songs of 2003. From the show that forever made jurors believe they were experts to a lawsuit about the phrase “it’s your birthday,” we think you’ll be Crazy in Love with this podcast!

It’s the year of the adaptation that may be better than the original, with Chicago (Best Picture) and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (top grossing). Join us because we know a whoopee spot - and Gina and Steven both obviously know what that phrase means, by the way. We’re bringing you jazz and liquor, hobbits and elves, women who kill and the biggest problems with the genre of fantasy. Plus, Gina’s Orlando Bloom obsession. rockrising.org/donate

If you have a subscription to Yankee Candle, then this episode’s for you. This week we’re talking about A Beautiful Mind (Best Picture) and Friends (top rated TV show). Join Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe, Steven, Gina, and all those memorable characters from A Beautiful Mind as we ask the tough questions: what the hell is Jennifer Connolly’s job? Does hanging out in coffee shops make you too hip?

We’re back! Did you miss us? Are you not entertained? Join Steven and Gina as we leap into the aughts on flying motorcycles with Mission Impossible II (top grossing) and Gladiator (Best Picture) bringing you historically inaccurate movies about dudes who are great at killing...but only when they have to. Plus Tiktok, Vermont fashion, and the fact that Steven doesn’t believe in love. rockrising.org/donate @shouldwekeepthis

Special: Fight Club & FargoFor our final 90s special episode, we’re taking a turn towards dark comedic violence with Fight Club and Fargo. Are we going to discuss the glorification of mental illness, pregnant police chiefs, and flushing condoms down the toilet? Oh gee, you betcha. Don’t cha think we’re good at Minnesota accents? And remember: the first rule of Gina’s social media is... well, you know the rest. We’re taking a summer break, but we’ll be back in your ears soon with the 2000s!

Special: Clueless & 10 Things I Hate About YouWe couldn’t get through the nineties without doing an episode about high school coming of age movies adapted from classic English literature, so this week we’re talking about Clueless & 10 Things I Hate About You. Join us for all the tropes: clique-splanations, drunk teens getting concussions, and daughters calling their dads “daddy.” This may be our very first episode in which both Steven and Gina change their minds about the movies. You won’t...

Okay listeners. We usually try to keep our thoughts on the movies out of the episode descriptions but this week we’re bringing you a PSA. If you have not seen Boyz N The Hood or Thelma & Louise, stop what you’re doing and Watch. Those. Movies. Seriously. Go. Do it. Did you do it? Good. Now tune in for a ‘90s take on gentrification and sexual assault. Plus, bitcoin metaphors.

We’re bringing you another special episode this week with Edward Scissorhands and Rushmore. Join Gina and Steven, aka Bookhands and Mughands, as we try to get to the bottom of some crucial questions: why is Miss Cross so overqualified for her job? Does Edward Scissorhands fit the born sexy yesterday trope? Where did all that ice come from?!? If you’ve ever had an intense crush on your teacher or artfully cut a dog’s hair, this episode is for you!

Special: The Matrix & The Fifth Element It’s time for some sci fi action adventure in our latest 90s special episode, with The Matrix and The Fifth Element. Join for the genre-bending innovation, and stay for the magic of true love’s kiss. Believe it or not, but these two movies are basically...the same movie. Well, aside from some different takes on what the future holds (a reliance on dial up internet? The objectification of every woman working in the service industry?). Tune in! Boring...

Special: Rush Hour & Space JamWe believe we can fly, because this week we’re talking about Space Jam and Rush Hour! Ever wondered what happens when you make a movie based on a series of commercials? What does Rush Hour have to do with the launching of Rotten Tomatoes? And most important of all... is Space Jam a documentary??? We’re answering those questions and more as we continue our series of special episodes dedicated to 90s movies. Tune in as we try to figure out what to do with the...

Special Episode: Pulp Fiction. Oh yeah! Gina and Steven are kicking off their 90s Bonus series with none other than Quenton Tarantino’s seminal film, Pulp Fiction. Do we keep it? Between the helpless female characters, homophobia, glorification of heroin, and—oh yeah—white people saying the N word (so many white people. So many N words) perhaps you can guess.

Decade Wrap: 1990sThis week we’re saying goodbye to the ‘90s: the decade of scrunchies and beanie babies, the decade of Disney’s resurgence and disaster movies, the decade of the ever-widening gap between top-grossing films and Oscar winning ones. Join us for trivia (a real close competition!), pitches on how we’d remake some ’90s movies (Star Wars Ep 1 without racism! Forrest Gump but it’s all about Jenny!) and our predictions as we look ahead toward the many franchise movies of the 2000s....

Join us for the last year of the 90s, also known as the year of the little blond boys. Listen as Gina and Steven discuss the bland menswear, racist stereotypes, the world’s longest rat tail, and the fact that Nabooians democratically elected a 14 year old. Progressive, but also... not a good idea. *Mobile Episode recorded while practicing social distancing during COVID-19. Stay safe!