StorySmack

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StorySmack is a podcast produced by Empty Set Entertainment about stories and storytellers in the world of pop culture. It is hosted by Scott Sigler and A Sigler and often features reviews and discussion about films, but occasionally ventures into discussions of books, television, combat sports and the craft of storytelling. Episode 52 was live-streamed and eventually released in the podcast feed.

With episode 58, Empty Set's Movie Maven, Rob Otto, joined A and Scott to round out a third perspective on the viewing topic.

In July of 2020, as part of the effort to provide regular entertainment to fans impacted by the stay-at-home orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Empty Set Entertainment started hosting live-stream story smacks, similar to the ones recorded at SiglerFest.

Hosts

  • StorySmacks 1-52: Scott Sigler and A Kovacs
  • StorySmacks 53-57: Scott Sigler and A Sigler
  • StorySmacks 58- : Scott Sigler, A Sigler and Rob Otto

Episodes

StorySmacks 1-51 were pre-recorded and dropped into the normal podcast feed. At a few SiglerFests, StorySmack was audio-recorded live and then released in the podcast feed. During the 2020 Pandemic, Empty Set live-streamed StorySmack (starting with episode 52) with both video and audio. The audio was released into the podcast feed, and the video is available on multiple platforms. The links below for live-stream are provided to YouTube only, since no account is required to view them.

Episode Podcast Date Podcast Link (Audio) Live-Stream Date Live-Stream Link (Video) Description
1 December 7, 2016 Doctor Strange Scott & ARealGirl get all mystical and chat about Doctor Strange.
2 December 16, 2016 NEW HOPE & FORCE AWAKENS the same flick? We’re off to see ROGUE ONE, and to celebrate, let’s talk Star Wars Smack! Many, many nerds have waxed endlessly how Episode IV: A New Hope (the original 1976 Star Wars flick), and Episode VI, The Force Awakens, are the exact same movie. Professor Sigler and the learned Doctor Kovacs delve deep into this comparison to give you a StorySmack diagnoses.
3 December 23, 2016 The DIE HARD Christmas Special In this episode, we get into the muck of one of the world’s greatest, most enduring philosophical questions: is DIE HARD a Christmas movie?

We also cover a shit-ton of tidbits, trivia and facts about this enduring classic, including:

  • Who was supposed to play John Mclane?
  • Is this a sequel to a Sinatra flick?
  • The book (yes, book this movie is based on).
  • Which member of this cast served hard time?
  • Which famous lion tamers were cast as bad guys?
  • Does anyone in this flick actually sprechen Deutsch?
4 December 30, 2016 FOUR ROOMS & New Year’s Eve! Happy New Year from the Future Dark Øverlord and the Director of Døøm! And, yes, the Dog of Døøm as well. To celebrate the incoming wonders that 2017 brings, we review the quirky New Year’s Eve anthology comedy known as FOUR ROOMS. Join us for a discussion of Tim Roth‘s masterful physical performance that ties together a shit-show of short films by Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Allison Anders and Alexandre Rockwell.
5 January 7, 2017 Galaxy Quest! If you haven’t seen Galaxy Quest in all this time since 1999, let’s just say you’re missing out. Or, more correctly, if you’re a fan of this ‘cast, or scifi, or nerdom and you haven’t seen Galaxy Quest … you’re totally missing out. Just trust us, see it.
6 January 13, 2017 Friday the 13th (the original!) It’s Friday the 13th, so what else would we cover but FRIDAY THE 13th? The original, people, not a remake, not a reboot, not a sequel, but the carnage-fest that started a billion-dollar franchise. A first-generation slasher film that created many copies, this horror classic is slathered with the blood of horror movie history.
7 January 20, 2017 Hollywood lessons learned from 2016 box office Yes, 2016 generated an all-time high in box office revenue, but when you adjust for inflation how successful was it, really? Is Hollywood heading for major crash, a-la the music business of the 90s and the publishing biz of the oughts?

We cover that in this episode, as well as:

  • What were the Top-10 highest-grossing films of 2016?
  • The influence of Chinese investors and the Chinese government on Hollywood.
  • What year set the record for attendance, not for revenue?
  • Why it’s better to root for the Dark Side.
  • The evil that is Herbie the Love Bug.
8 January 27, 2017 RESIDENT EVIL is worth one beeelion dollars. This week Scott and A discuss the Resident Evil franchise. We talk about all five movies current available for at-home viewing, and our experience marathoning them this month. It’s been a wild ride, and we’re excited to go see Resident Evil: The Final Chapter this weekend!

Even if you’re not into these games or these movies, the success of these films can’t be ignored. And, honestly, they’re better than you might think at first.

9 February 3, 2017 2016’s Most Expensive Movies Yes, 2016 saw some serious coinage being tossed about Hollywood in a festive manner. But which of those obscenely bloated budgets was the biggest and girthiest? And did those huge expenditures result in equally huge profits? Your FDØ and ARealGirl get into the numbers game on this week’s StorySmack.
10 February 11, 2017 JOHN WICK & the danger of killing random dogs We’ve got some of our own storytelling afoot, with a few things in the works that ate up every spare moment of this week — so here’s a shorter StorySmack to talk about the fantastic flick JOHN WICK. And hopefully, soon we can tell y’all what’s got us so busy.
11 February 17, 2017 WAYNE’S WORLD 25th Anniversary Can you believe it? Twenty-five years since WAYNE’S WORLD landed its most-excellent ass in theaters. If that shocks you, you are old!
12 March 7, 2017 LETHAL WEAPON 30th Anniversary This week’s Story Smack has us going back in time to a weird, wonderful Los Angeles, and a sterling example of the buddy cop movie. Lethal Weapon turns 30 this month, and we revisited the original to see how it stands the test of time. And to see Mel Gibson’s enormous hair. Give us a listen and let us know what you think!
13 March 11, 2017 GLADIATOR 17th Anniversary Why are we celebrating the random 17th anniversary of GLADIATOR? Because we’re idiots and somehow got it in our head it was 25 years old (a “thank you” to Junkie Shane who pointed out that maybe we need to lay off the sauce for a bit …).

Nonetheless, this is a movie that holds up better than most. It’s a lovely, fragile, hard-as-nails movie. Full of anger and grace and humanity and morality. It’s an essential movie for anyone who likes fight movies, historical movies, love stories and even interpersonal dramas. If you’re looking for parody, this isn’t that, but otherwise, I think you’d really dig it.

14 March 27, 2017 European Tour & how travel impacts storytelling The European Tour of 2017 rolls along. We took a few minutes to talk about our feels and impressions from some of the amazing, life-changing things we’ve seen. We also discuss how seeing such things can affect a storyteller’s views, and impact (or create whole cloth) future stories.
15 April 7, 2017 Murder 1-2-3: courtroom definitions in storytelling This week we’re taking a break from movie breakdowns as we recover from our European jet lag.

Everyone’s seen plenty of courtroom dramas, cop stories, and forensic investigation on television and in the movies. So much that our sense of justice and the law is surely informed by what we’ve seen on the screen. And what’s on the screen isn’t always real-world accurate, surrendering dry legal wrangling for entertaining fiction. Scott and I breakdown the degrees of murder as they’re written in California so we can see where reality and fiction diverge. If you’re a storyteller or just a big fan of true-crime stories, these are things you should know. We’re here to help!

16 April 20, 2017 HALF-BAKED: 4/20 Special Episode It’s 4/20, the favorite day of every stoner on the planet. At StorySmack, we decided to do a little medical experimentation — why not do an episode about a stoner movie, on 4/20, while on 4/20 ourselves?
17 April 28, 2017 ALIENS: Scott’s favorite movie of all time This week we were going to do an ALIENS watch-along. We didn’t get that off the ground. We’ll tell you all about it in the episode. Instead, we’re doing a traditional movie review Story Smack, but for Sigler’s favorite movie of all time. ALL TIME!

The thing is … ALIENS is Scott’s favorite, but it’s also a hugely important and influential movie in general. Sigourney Weaver is luminescent in every sense of the word, all the while being a difficult, ornery character, in unfathomable circumstance. It’s a performance of a lifetime, and it’s only one part of the movie. If you have never seen it, do watch it before listening.

18 May 6, 2017 The Fifth Element • 20th Anniversary Review You may be shocked to know that THE FIFTH ELEMENT is 20 years old. That’s two decades of multipass, folks. We break down the storytelling elements (see what I did there) in the Luc Besson-directed classic.
19 May 13, 2017 SNATCH (with special guests: the FDØ’s nephews) We sat down to watch SNATCH this week while Scott’s nephews were in town. They’d never seen this awesome crime flick from 2000, and it was pretty interesting to chat with them about it afterward. Listen in to hear the next generation Sigler men share their opinions on shakey-cam fights with their decidedly anti-shakey-cam uncle.
20 June 23, 2017 PREDATOR 30th Anniversary Hey you mandible-toothed ugly motherfuckers, can you believe it’s been three frickin’ decades since PREDATOR opened up a can of painless on movie audiences? Well, it has, and your erstwhile journalist tag-team champs have jumped straight off the top rope and dropped the elbow on this bad boy. Come groove with us as we rock out with Ah-Nold and his amazing cast.
21 July 10, 2017 MAD MEN First Episode 10th Anniversary The first episode of this ground-breaking series aired on July 19, 2007. A decade later, the FDØ and the Director of Døøm sit down to discuss the cultural impact it had on television and on long-form storytelling.
22 August 1, 2017 Shallow Grave & guest, author Rob Reid This week we have a guest! Author Rob Reid joins us on the release day of his new book After On, to discuss one of his favorite movies — Shallow Grave.
23 August 4, 2017 LAST OF THE MOHICANS: 25th Anniversary So we’re a few weeks early on this celebration. Sue us. Keep in mind that I’m just a small-town pizza lawyer, but I know how to defend against egregious lawsuits.

This movie stars three-time oscar winner Daniel Day Lewis and Madeleine Stowe, but the show is completely stolen by Wes Studi. Studi’s portrayal of Magwa is one of my favorite roles of all-time — positively bad-ass. And this flick? Yeah, it’s got lots (and lots) of violence.

24 September 8, 2017 Magic & Mullets: WARLOCK Straight outta the 80s, ladies & gents. This schloctastic smörgåsbord of a flick sends us in the wayback machine to bad FX, worse hair, even worse plot holes, and pounds and pounds of glorious, tasty cheese.
25 September 15, 2017 SUPERBAD came out a decade ago (yes, feel old) An episode about high school awkwardness, losing virginity, fake IDs, the cops we all wish were real, and drawing dicks.
26 September 22, 2017 Upcoming movies & other hilarity With 25 episodes under our belt, we dive into the listener mail bag (awwwww yeah) to look at y’all’s suggestions for future installments. We also talk about the difficulty of reviewing books, TV series, why movies are the low-hanging grapes (awwwww yeah) and why Hollywood keeps remaking the same schlock over and over again.
27 September 29, 2017 Jerry Before Seinfeld Jerry Before Seinfeld is a look back by one of the most successful comedians in the world. We starting watching thinking it would be an hour of comedy, only to find an origin story instead. Scott and A discuss this surprising and charming special.
28 October 13, 2017 The Big Lebowski, recorded live at SiglerFest2k17 We recorded our coverage of this cult classic live at SiglerFest2k17 in Las Vegas. Junkies (the fans of Scott Sigler’s books) got to ask us questions. Also, there were many White Russians, so don’t count on Scott or ARealGirl to be all that sharp in their responses. Drunken StorySmack is the 300 game of podcasting!
29 October 27, 2017 Chinatown — the perfect screenplay? In this week’s episode Scott and I discuss the storied screenplay for Chinatown. The movie came out in 1974, and the screenplay has been heralded as near-perfect since then. There is a lot to unpack and discuss about the movie, the script, the crew and the era of American filmmaking, so jump right in!
30 November 17, 2017 STARSHIP TROOPERS 20th Anniversary Scifi classic, or classic trash? You have your opinion, we have ours, which we share in this lovely recap of an extremely fun and slightly polarizing movie that came out twenty years ago.
31 December 12, 2017 Good Will Hunting 20th Anniversary Hard to believe it’s been twenty years since Good Will Hunting was released! Hard to remember a time when Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were small time enough to be caught in development hell trying to get this movie made. Back before they were Oscar winners.

Thankfully they got through all of that, and Good Will Hunting stands the test of time! Join us while we discuss the good, the bad and the legend that is Good Will Hunting.

32 December 29, 2017 John Williams Story Smack is a podcast about storytelling, but I must admit we talk quite a bit about movies. Today, however, we’re going to talk about a movie maker. In fact, the most Oscar-nominated movie maker on Earth. Actor? Director? Nope — orchestrator and conductor John Williams.

I know you love John Williams’ work. I know I love the Star Wars score, and the Indiana Jones score. Those are both his. But so many others you know and love are also John Williams’ work. You’ll be amazed at how much of the score to your own life is lifted from work he’s done.

33 January 17, 2018 Pierce Brown live interview for IRON GOLD Scott interviews #1 New York Times bestseller Pierce Brown as Pierce kicked off his world tour for IRON GOLD, volume IV in the Red Rising saga. Recorded live at Mysterious Galaxy Books in San Diego, the exact site of Pierce’s very first appearance as an unknown author in 2014. Pierce talks about his new work, his struggles to get published, and the intense pressure that comes with following up a literary juggernaut.
34 March 10, 2018 Han’s rescue — what, exactly, was the plan? THE LAST JEDI has come under fire for nonsensical plot elements and characters making LOST-esque idiotic decisions, but if we jump in the WayBack Machine™ and take a look at RETURN OF THE JEDI, we find that nonsensical might be endemic to all STAR WARS movies — read also, if there was a “plan” to rescue Han, what the hell was it, and how did it go so wrong?
35 April 27, 2018 SiglerFest2k18 — the ins and outs of a fan festival An episode about the ins and outs of putting on a fan appreciation weekend. We talk through the evolution of SiglerFest and what’s coming this year!
36 May 18, 2018 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK On this episode, Scott and A revisit Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Spoiler alert: it totally holds up.)
37 June 22, 2018 Evan Diamond Today we have an guest! Evan Diamond, band leader for Scott’s band Evan Diamond & The Library, joins us at Empty Set Studios to talk about the new EP Intersections, along with a host of other things. We talk songwriting as storytelling, what it’s like to play live and see folks react to your personal moments made musical, and listen to each song from Intersections.
38 September 27, 2018 RUSH HOUR Twentieth Anniversary In these trying political days, sometimes you want some good old-fashioned fun. StorySmack aim’s to please, which is why were talking about the 20th anniversary of the Chris Tucker/Jackie Chan buddy-cop flick RUSH HOUR. Can you read the words coming out of this screen?
39 October 1, 2018 BLUE BALLS, a Very Special Episode … If you’ve read my novel NOCTURNAL, you may recall the character Pookie Chang’s idea for a cop show. Like HILL STREET BLUES, BLUE BLOODS, NYPD BLUE, ROOKIE BLUE, SHADES OF BLUE, etc., Pooks decided his show should have that color as a titular part of the title. Hence, BLUE BALLS.
40 October 17, 2018 TREMORS, A Horror/Comedy Classic Recorded live at SiglerFest2k18 in Las Vegas: Diseased Penis Teeth Monsters. The Bacon Number. A script that took five people to write. Fred Ward. A well-armed Mr. Keaton from FAMILY TIES. Reba. Egg from BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. Land Sharks. The glory of this flick goes on and on. Join AB Kovacs and Scott Sigler for a delightful review of this campy classic.
41 October 23, 2018 Fan festivals for creators – a SiglerFest2k18 recap Our big party is over. The FDØ and ARealGirl recap SiglerFest2k18, the biggest SiglerFest yet.

Fan appreciation is a major part of the business for some creators. This episode provides insight as to what goes into a fan appreciation event, and how creators can manage such events when growth drives attendance far beyond expectations.

42 November 9, 2018 BODIED Hollywood Premier Scott and A were invited to attend the Hollywood premier of BODIED, a film by Joseph Kahn. They discuss the movie, as well as the red-carpet and post-party experience.
43 January 23, 2019 SpiderMan: Into the Spiderverse Scott and A take a look at the Golden Globe-winning film that could have long-term ramifications on superhero storytelling. When a film so successfully brings a comic to life as a comic, what does that mean for big-budget live-action superhero films? Are the days of live flicks doomed?
44 February 6, 2019 The Storytelling Drama of Combat Sports “But fights aren’t stories,” you say? WRONG-O, FISH-BREATH! Companies like the UFC are exceptional storytellers, creating tales with live performers and unwritten endings. A discusses her initial dismissal and disdain for combat sports, and how she’s come to change her mind. Scott talks about how getting punch in the mouth can lead one to discovering proper, civilized behavior. They both use UFC Fight Night 143 to discuss how these real-life storylines play out, with all the drama, violence, sacrifice and the built-in “Hero’s Journey” path.
45 February 2, 2019 Groundhog Day Groundhog Day on Groundhog Day? Are we in a time loop? Scott and A become gods (but not the god) as they discuss this 1993 classic, and the hordes of rodent-like movies “inspired” by it.
46 February 14, 2019 My Bloody Valentine Scott & A sat down this week to watch this 1981 horror … classic. It comes out pretty early on in the 80s slasher heyday, and it’s full of all that goodness: goofy plot devices, loads of teenagers sinnin’, plenty of gore and lots and lots of violence. All with great set design, some solid bloody prop work, and the world’s best dog actor.
47 March 22, 2019 GFL VI pre-order info! This ‘cast has all kinds of info for you so you can prepare. This podcast will answer most of your question. Yes, you! These are the most common questions we get with regard to the GFL pre-order.
48 April 17, 2020 Pulp Fiction 25th Anniversary It’s (almost) the 25th anniversary of Quentin Tarantino’s classic movie. We break the film down and talk about its many iconic elements. Joining us this episode is long-time Sigler fan Aaron Singerman, the CEO of RedCon1, and fitness blogger Arielle Singerman. Aaron talks about his own struggles with addiction, and how Scott’s podcast was one element of his recovery.
49 March 24, 2020 2012 – A Disaster(ous) Movie Solar flares! Super neutrinos! Mega volcanoes! Fault lines chasing John Cusack! The core of the planet getting all hot and bothered! We take a deep-dive into the disaster(ous) movie “2012.” Joining Scott and ARealGirl is none other than Dr. Phil Plait, a.k.a. “The Bad Astronomer.”
50 April 8, 2020 ALIEN Director’s Cut Clearly, we took too long getting this episode out, but enjoy! In space, no one can hear you scream — but good thing we’ve got this nice pressurized starship, so we can hear you scream all dang day long! Scott & A discuss the documentary “Memory: The Origins of ALIEN” as well as the bizzaro ALIEN Director’s Cut.
51 May 6, 2020 THE PLATFORM Scott and A break down this wild Spanish scifi/horror flick directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia. It’s a brutal flick, with a concept that makes the small budget look much bigger. It’s on Netflix, so watch it before you listen!
52 December 9, 2020 THE GAMERS: DORKNESS RISING July 26, 2020 THE GAMERS: DORKNESS RISING Scott and A dive into this wonderful indie comedy. It’s about nerds and roleplaying games — it us! The feature-length flick alternates between roleplayers and their characters within the game’s setting. If you ever D’ed the D, you might dig it.
53 August 12, 2020 THE VAST OF NIGHT August 8, 2020 THE VAST OF NIGHT Scott and A chat about this killer indie flick directed by Andrew Patterson. It's available on Amazon Prime.
54 November 13, 2020 SPACEBALLS August 29, 2020 SPACEBALLS Scott and A discuss this 1987 parody/comedy/classic. Join us and get your Schwarz on!
55 December 5, 2020 42 September 12, 2020 42 Scott and A discuss the Chadwick Boseman / Harrison Ford movie “42,” the story of Jackie Robinson, the first black player in the modern era of the Major Leagues. Robinson’s accomplishments were a huge influence on Scott’s scifi series, the Galactic Football League.
56 September 26, 2020 THE GAMERS: HANDS OF FATE
57 December 16, 2020 THE FRENCH CONNECTION October 17, 2020 THE FRENCH CONNECTION Scott & ARealGirl break down this tour de force from legend Gene Hackman, who won an Oscar for Best Actor in this 1972 classic. The movie won five Oscars in total and reinvented the cinematic car chase.
58 December 28, 2020 THE SHINING October 31, 2020 The Shining At Halloween, on the 40th anniversary of this legendary horror film, Scott, ARealGirl, and Rob Otto break down THE SHINING.

Iconic, enduring, and still influencing pop culture to this day, Stanley Kubrick’s interpretation of the Stephen King bestseller features the amazing cast of Shelly Duvall, Scatman Crothers, and Jack Nicholson. Four decades on, how does this flick hold up? Join this erstwhile trio of vacationers as we visit the Overlook and find out.

59 April 8, 2021 CADDYSHACK November 14, 2020 Caddyshack Scott, A, and PGA tour pro, Rob Otto, go in-depth about this comedy classic that stars Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Ted Knight, and Rodney Dangerfield.
60 February 25, 2021 THE KARATE KID November 28, 2020 The Karate Kid (1984) That’s right, wax it on, wax it off. Scott & A do a deep dive into this sports movie classic, along with the help of Rob Otto, Empty Set Movie Maven, and 16th-place runner-up at the 1991 All Valley Karate Tournament.
61 March 4, 2021 A CHRISTMAS STORY December 12, 2020 A Christmas Story Join ARealGirl, Scott, and Empty Set Movie Maven & Midwest BB Gun Champ Rob Otto as we break down the cast and the story behind one of the greatest holiday movies of all time. We’ll talk your ear out. SONSABITCHIN BUMPUSES!!!
62 March 11, 2021 POINT BREAK January 9, 2021 Point Break Can you believe it’s been 30 years since this beast of a flick came out? Join Scott, ARealGirl, and Empty Set Movie Maven Rob Otto as we cover this Bigelow/Reeves/Swayze classic.
63 March 18, 2021 EXECUTIVE DECISION January 23, 2021 Executive Decision We take a deep dive into this schlock-tastic 90s action flick, starring Kurt Russel, Steven Segal, and Halle Berry. Did you know the on-set feud between Russel and Segal forced a rewrite of the script? We will cover that and more!
64 March 24, 2021 SWINGERS February 6, 2021 Swingers Scott, ARealGirl, and Empty Set Movie Maven Rob Otto break down this game-changing indie flick that helped launch the careers of Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, and Ron Livingston. Come on, beautiful babies, and join us for a drink.
65 April 1, 2021 BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA February 20, 2021 Big Trouble in Little China Scott, ARealGirl, and Empty Set Movie Maven Rob Otto break down this 1986 cult favorite, directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russel and Kim Cattrall.
66 April 15, 2021 FROM DUSK TILL DAWN March 6, 2021 From Dusk Till Dawn On the 25th anniversary of this bizarro horror/action flick, we take a bite of the film that anchored George Clooney’s leap from TV heartthrob to box office superstar. Starring Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Kietel, Juliette Lewis and directed by Robert Rodriguez.
67 April 22, 2021 BOONDOCK SAINTS March 20, 2021 Boondock Saints We take aim at this 1999 cult classic starring Norman Reedus, Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, and Billy Connolly. If you haven’t heard the story behind this Troy Duffy film, it’s the ultimate indie filmmaker rags to riches to rags story.
68 May 6, 2021 COMING TO AMERICA April 10, 2021 Coming to America We give this 1988 comedy classic a royal washing, exploring the cast, the box office impact, the on-set clashes, and the crazy cameos. Eddie Murphy was at the prime of his young comedy career. This movie has more catchphrases than McDowell’s has fries.
69 May 13, 2021 BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE April 17, 2021 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure Scott, ARealGirl, and San Dimas High valedictorian Rob Otto dive into this enduring 1988 classic, which is full of joy, silliness, and history (maybe not so much with history).
70 May 20, 2021 ROGUE ONE May 1, 2021 Rogue One We scramble the TIE fighters and get after those rebel terrorists as we look at this love letter to fans of the original trilogy. We start with the writers because they made this puppy a wonderful part of the original lore.
71 June 10, 2021 JOHN WICK 2 May 15, 2021 John Wick 2 Your FDØ, ArealGirl, and manager of the Detroit Continental Hotel Rob Otto trade shots over the follow-up to the Keanu Reeves classic that saved our souls from shaky-cam.
72 July 9, 2021 TOP GUN June 12, 2021 Top Gun It’s a chat about TOP GUN on the movie’s 35th anniversary. The FDØ and ARealGirl are joined by Rob Otto, 2nd place finisher of the 1987 Top Gun class (the trophy is in the restroom), to discuss this cheesalicious classic that entrenched Tom Cruise as a box office powerhouse.
73 August 5, 2021 THE AVENGERS July 10, 2021 The Avengers To celebrate the release of BLACK WIDOW, we dive into one of the best superhero movies of all time. The movie marks Natasha Romanov’s second movie appearance (the first being IRON MAN 2). ARealGirl, the FDØ and leader of the Detroit branch of the Avengers, Rob “Doc Rock” Otto, grab some shawarma and have a chat.
74 September 2, 2021 ANY GIVEN SUNDAY August 14, 2021 Any Given Sunday Wow, what a cast! To celebrate the launch of the 2021 NFL season, we get in the trenches with Jamie Foxx, Oliver Stone, Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor, Charlton Heston, Mathew Modine, and Ann-Margaret. Oscars galore for this cast, and they deliver the star power.
75 November 29, 2021 GHOSTBUSTERS October 9, 2021 Ghostbusters With GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE hitting theaters, the Empty Set crossed the streams with the originals: Ray, Egon, Peter, and Winston.
76 December 6, 2021 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE November 13, 2021 Mission: Impossible Scott, A, and Empty Set Movie Maven Rob Otto chew a little red+green gum, put on high-tech masks to pretend to be each other, and break down the success of this Tom Cruise movie that eventually built up into a billion-dollar franchise.
77 January 11, 2022 THE MATRIX December 11, 2021 The Matrix We take all the pills for 1999’s THE MATRIX. With MATRIX RESURRECTIONS coming out at month’s end, it’s time to Smack this bitch up. Empty Set Movie Maven Rob Otto, AB Sigler, and the Future Dark Øverlord himself go down the rabbit hole of groundbreaking this Wachowski work.
78 January 25, 2022 SCREAM January 8, 2022 Scream With SCREAM 5 out Jan 14, we follow the rules and cut up Kevin Williamson’s SCREAM 1. Does this movie hold up? Join us and find out. We’ll be right back…
79 February 22, 2022 SPINAL TAP February 12, 2022 This Is Spinal Tap A shark sandwich of awesomeness as we go backstage with THIS IS SPINAL TAP. How did this flick come to be? What are the stories from on the set? Why has it endured so long? With Dave Grohl's new movie STUDIO 666 coming out in two weeks, we felt it was the right time to pay homage to this all-time classic rockumentary.
80 (Postponed to July 2022) Batman Begins