Unramblings

Charlyn and Fyx are back after a spring/early summer of gardening, isolation, and depression! We apologize for having such a long gap since our last podcast, and we hope you can bear with us as we try to get back on track. In this episode, we discuss the fun and cheeky Knives Out, its relationship to the mystery stories that have gone before, and the pointed conversations about class and racism the film definitely throws right at t...

This week we watched and discussed Alice Wu’s acclaimed film The Half of It. We think you should watch it, too! We discuss the elegant way Wu has woven together some very relatable and sometimes uncomfortable lessons about growing up. Enjoy our discussion on the critical dividends of discomfort and taking risks, the intersectionality of characters, and why we were, ironically, originally not sure we wanted to willingly subject ours...

We’re taking a break with this pre-recorded episode. In October 2020, we indulged in a re-watch and discussion of the comforting, but also emotionally complex Pixar film. Charlyn, in particular, loves this movie. We hope you enjoy our (mostly Charlyn’s) appreciative acknowledgement of the many references to real-life brain anatomy, neural processes, and childhood development, and reminiscences from our childhoods relevant to Inside...

We just can't wait for Season 3! For this episode, we explore the bizarre yet realistic family dynamics of The Umbrella Academy, dig into the opportunities seized by setting season two in the 1960s, and speculate on what might be coming next.  

Music is by Mike Bassington. You can find more of his work here:  https://www.facebook.com/Mikebassingtonmusic and on SoundCloud, here: https://rb.gy/gskbce  

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This was originally a Patreon-exclusive episode, but we're now making it available to everyone as a sampling of what we do on our Patreon, and because we really loved this conversation! Get more content like this right now by signing up here!

Before delving into our conversation on Warm Bodies, we took some time to discuss the movie Solo. We touch on how it was received by the fandom, how it fits into the over all Han Solo narrativ...

This week, Faefyx and Charlyn revisit The Mandalorian after watching Season 2. We discuss the different ways the identity of 'Mandalorian' is claimed and attributed in this season, as well as implications of those identities on what it means to be Mandalorian. We also delve into the relationship between this story and the larger Star Wars Universe and the ways that other narratives in the shared universe affect the way this story i...

It’s another seasonal episode! This time we delve into a holiday classic: the slapstick-heavy, and yet surprisingly sad Macaulay Culkin vehicle, Home Alone. This one bears revisiting as an adult; we get into why this film hits us completely differently as grown-ups with its effective representation of what a child believes it’s like to be an adult.

Music is by Mike Bassington. You can find more of his work here: https://www.faceb...

We’re getting into the holiday spirit with the record-breaking, LGBTQ-centered holiday rom-com Happiest Season! Enjoy an exploration of the nuanced depiction of the sometimes-messy coming-out process, our thoughts on some of the story elements used to bring this story to life, and what we think about this as a holiday romantic comedy. 

Music is by Mike Bassington. You can find more of his work here: https://www.facebook.com/Mikeb...

In a follow-up to our episode on Avatar: The Last Airbender, we discuss Korra as a protagonist, the show’s relationship with the status quo, and the use of the spirit world as a storytelling medium. We also question whether some arcs really earn the emotional payoff they’re going for.  

Music is by Mike Bassington. You can find more of his work here: https://www.facebook.com/Mikebassingtonmusic and on SoundCloud, here: https://rb...

It's been one year since the very first episode of Unramblings, where we embarked on our journey to The Overlook Hotel with Stephen King's The Shining. For this anniversary episode, we're visiting with Dan Torrance again with Stephen King's Doctor Sleep, the sequel to his classic novel. 

We discuss intergenerational patterns, the role of alcohol in the story, and the final message of the book. We also take a look at the 2019 movie ...

Before we release our anniversary episode on Doctor Sleep, we wanted to move our first episode, The Shining, back up in the queue with a fresh intro for those who might have missed our debut. If you have the time, it's relevant for the Doctor Sleep episode, and it's a nice reminder of how far we've come, especially as far as audio quality. 

In the first episode of Unramblings, Charlyn and Faefyx discuss Stephen King's novel "The Sh...

Just in time for Halloween, we’ve made an Addams Family episode! We discuss the overarching Addams Family conceit and how it's been adapted for different decades and mediums, and get into why we think this kooky family continues to capture our imaginations after 90 years. Plus, our thoughts on which iterations are the best and why! 

Music is by Mike Bassington. You can find more of his work here: https://www.facebook.com/Mikebassin...

It’s spooky season, so we’re immersing ourselves in appropriately weird and dark media, like the 2013 dark comedy/teen rom-com/zombie movie – yes, you read all those categories correctly – Warm Bodies! We delve into the messages of this film – but not too far, because this movie is not shy with what it wants to say. Enjoy our breakdown of how the movie conveys some of the subtler nuances of its super on-the-surface ideas about comm...

This week, Charlyn and Fyx delve into the mind-bending TV series Legion. We examine what the narrative and the storytelling have to say about our perceptions of reality, whether “good” and “bad” are too simplistic when looking at character growth here, and speculate on whether the plot was devised merely to justify including the songs they wanted to use. 

Music is by Mike Bassington. You can find more of his work here: https://ww...

This is a nice light episode that just deals with trauma, isolation, and issues of institutional indoctrination and conformity! Okay, so it isn’t light at all, but we throw a couple of jokes in there, and the source material makes the heaviness sort of unavoidable. Ultimately, we thought that talking about fascism and feeling isolated from everyone was important at the moment… for reasons. Join us as we make our way through Pink Fl...

We get to a ‘Big Question’ in each episode, but we’re really tackling the *BIG questions* with A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. this week. This one’s heavy, folks. Even for us. Expect conversation on whether humans are doomed to bring about their own suffering, whether knowledge always leads to our destruction, and if there is a case for forgiving, and thus blaming, God for making people suck. But also, you know, w...

Since every day is exactly the same these days, we’re leaning in and talking about time loops! This episode is mostly about Palm Springs, a Lonely Island Production, but also somewhat about Groundhog Day and Russian Doll. We talk about why it feels like Palm Springs is responding to Groundhog Day in particular, and why time loops are such a thing in the first (and second, and third…) place. For extra fun, check out our live-tweetin...

Charlyn and Faefyx take on the first book in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series, “The Final Empire” (originally published as “Mistborn”), in the first of an ongoing series. Tune in for discussions on classism tied to racism, the use of religions and an intriguing magic system in storytelling, and hear Faefyx make probably incorrect predictions for book 2 (they haven’t read it yet). 

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