Make the Case

...OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE POD!

Today, we make this pod short and sweet, as we talk Stanley Kubrick's nuclear panic satire, DR. STRANGELOVE!

Topics include: 1) What is the corollary today for fear of nuclear war in 1965; 2) Are we more  afraid of atom bombs or bodily fluid theft; 3) did we want Peter Sellers to play a fourth role? (Of course we did).

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THEY TRAINED THEM TO PODCAST FOR THEIR PLEASURE...  BUT THEY TRAINED THEM A LITTLE TOO WELL!! // HOW DID THEY EVER MAKE A PODCAST OF LOLITA?

In this episode, we continue our analysis of Kubrick's career with the "Least Kubrick" of Kubrick's films: Kirk Douglas' SPARTACUS and Vladimir Nabokov's LOLITA! 

Topics include: SPARTACUS' tangled web of inconsistent subtext; the historical...

IN ALL ITS FURY AND VIOLENCE… LIKE NO OTHER PODCAST SINCE “BLANK CHECK” AND “THE BIG PICTURE”!

This week, we kick off our most ambitious series yet: a retrospective on the films of Stanley Kubrick, one by one, from the very beginning, INCLUDING BARRY LYNDON (that sound you just heard was Shwin crying in anguish). We start with Kubrick’s first two studio pictures, THE KILLING and PATHS OF GLORY.

Topics include: the historica...

HE'S A PODCAST CO-HOST. HE WILL RISK HIS LIFE, THE LIVES OF HIS FAMILY, EVERYTHING HE HOLDS DEAR FOR THE ONE THING HE HOLDS SACRED... THE TRUTH.

This week, we finish off our Oliver Stone trilogy with his operatic paranoiac JFK. Released in 1991, this film tells you that if you think Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, you're just not asking the right questions. Who benefits from the most epic conspiracy theory propaga...

WHAT HAPPENS IF IT ACTUALLY PODS?

This week, we loop back to the 2004 cult classic time travel drama from Shane Carruth, PRIMER. Famously shot for $7000 (we have some thoughts about that) and supposedly containing enough information to articulate its own plot (we have some more thoughts about that), the film is a taut, psychological thriller about the deterioration of a friendship, and we go back to interrogate its existen...

EVERY POD HAS A PRICE.

This week, we continue our Oliver Stone series (to Conrad's chagrin) with Stone's 1987 opus on greed, which takes place on a very well-known street in downtown Manhattan.

Is greed good? Is Charlie Sheen okay? Should Martin Sheen have played Gordon Gekko? Should Oliver Stone have been a stockbroker instead of a filmmaker? Let's discuss.

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In this pod, we bring in special guest Lester Lee of Dead Seriousness dot com to help us tear down this wall: How is this movie an interesting intersection of Fury Road and John Wick? What makes Charlize Theron so compelling as an action star? And what the hell is the plot of this movie? (Spoiler: neither of us have any idea).

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SOMEONE YOU PASS ON THE STREET MAY ALREADY BE THE GUEST OF YOUR POD.

It's a special Valentine's Day episode of Make the Case, as special guest Rebecca Goldstein presents an argument for the Nora Ephron classic You've Got Mail!

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POD. OR BE PODDED.

In this pod, we tackle the big questions about football, and life: Does this movie have the greatest sports monologue ever? Is Jamie Foxx underrated? Why does "Bubble Pacino" work as a burnt out, old school football coach still clinging to his glory days? Does Oliver Stone suck? (Yes).

If you liked this podcast, please rate and review it (5 stars please), and click the subscribe button...

"AS FAR BACK AS I CAN REMEMBER, I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A PODCASTER." - HENRY HILL

Hot off the heels of our Sopranos duology, we're talking its foundational predecessor:  GOODFELLAS? Just what is the Martin Scorsese gangster epic really about? Conrad makes the case and you'll have to tune in to find out!

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HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE THE PODCAST!

It's the final part of our Sopranos Call-In extravaganza. In this episode, we have special guests David Futernick (@davidfuternick) and Kris Pursiainen (@krispursiainen)  call  to make the case for their personal favorite episode, but not before Shwin and Conrad discuss the episode they agree is the best: Whitecaps!! Be warned! There are spoilers!! 

Episodes discussed are:<...

IF ONE PODCAST DOESN'T KILL HIM... THE OTHER PODCAST WILL!

It's Part 1 of our Sopranos Call-In extravaganza. In this episode, we have special guests Jonathan Macri, Adam Feeney, and Jody Kava each call in to discuss their personal favorite episode and what really makes Tony Soprano tick. Be warned! We discuss everything and everything, no holds barred, so there will be spoilers if you haven't watched the sho...

Join Conrad, Shwin and special guests Simon Schiller and Dylan Visvikis as they break down their favorite films of the year. We laughed! We cried! We turned into rocks and bowed to the Everything Bagel.

Leave us a message with your takes, cases or just with general feedback at (818) 538-4966, and we may play it on the air!

Below is a list of films discussed, and where to currently (legally) stream them:

T...

IT STARTED LIKE ANY OTHER PODCAST.

In the conclusion of our Michael Mann triptych, we consider perhaps his most fun film (?!) -- the 2004 Tom Cruise vehicle COLLATERAL!

Topics include: 1) How does this movie compare to other great hitman movies? 2) A consideration of what-ifs such as Adam Sandler in the Jamie Foxx role;  3) Mark Ruffalo's "arc" in this film, and great stunt casting moments from othe...

THE PODCAST IS THE JUICE!!!

This week we continue our ongoing Michael Mann series, analyzing his LA bank robber masterpiece, HEAT! Hot off our examination of his first film, we talk about the ways Mann learned from the failures and successes of THIEF (and the ways he repeated certain successes and failures) for this much more ambitious second effort in the crime thriller genre.

 Topics include 1) where does this r...

TONIGHT OUR PODCAST PAY IS $410,000 ... TAX FREE!! 

Patrick McKeown joins the podcast again for the first part of our Michael Mann trilogy: this week, we're talking the 1981 crime thriller THIEF! Starring James Caan, Tuesday Weld, and a young Jim Belushi, THIEF is the crime thriller that started it all for Mann. Topics include: 1) Our favorite "One Last Job" movies; 2) Is Michael Mann a union guy?; 3) Do the...

THEIR DEADLY MISSION: TO POD ABOUT THE FORBIDDEN ISLAND OF HAN! Be like water, everyone.  In this pod, Conrad is joined by special guest Warren Lam, director of THE MASTER OF INFLUENCE WITH SI-FU BRUCE LEE, to celebrate Bruce Lee's legacy by discussing his final film, ENTER THE DRAGON!!  Discussion topics include 1) what does it mean to "fight without fighting?" 2) Conrad's undying love for Jackie Chan, Michael ...

A PODCAST OF BLOOD, GUTS AND TEARS THAT WILL LEAVE AN INDELIBLE MARK ON YOUR SOUL! This week, Conrad and Shwin tackle the grisly 2022 German-language Netflix film, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, adapted by Edward Berger from the 1928 novel  by Erich Maria Remarque, Im Westen nichts Neues. Topics include: 1) The messages of this film and how it differs from the novel; 2) Our favorite war movies including Steven Spielberg's SAV...

FREE YOUR POD. It's time to talk about the 1999 action/sci fi classic, The Matrix, directed by the Wachowski sisters and starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss! Conrad and Shwin begin by discussing the trans themes embedded in the Matrix, and go on to discuss everything from how the film relates to Jean-Pierre Melville's Army of Shadows to Leonardo DiCaprio's boneheaded decisions not to be in ...