Premium
Welcome to another First Rum Christmas! There’s a chill in the air and a chill in the heart of Ebenezer Scrooge. “Everything is Muppets and it’s glorious”, says A.Ron. Jim premieres his Muppet voice and A.Ron fancies one of the Muppets even before much whisky is consumed. It’s a heartbreaking and heartwarming story, and thanks to the drinks it’s also hilarious.
Premium
Ralphie is back! Peter Billingsley has been peppered across some of your favorite movies throughout the years (look it up!) and now he’s back in Hohman, Indiana. If you enjoyed A Christmas Story (1983), this follow up will have you falling in love with Ralphie and Christmastime all over again. It’s as sweet as a cookie and glows with the warmth of embers in the fireplace.
Premium
Lindsay Lohan returns to the screen in a shiny new Christmas movie with all of your favorite cliches. Watch a trust fund adult go from trope to trope in a delightful addition to the vault of Hallmark movies that you’ve watched already, don’t deny it. Grab your fuzziest blanket and a mug of hot chocolate and settle in for the latest reincarnation of your favorite Christmas movies.
Premium
All December long Jim and A.Ron will be bringing you First Rum Christmas! Settle in because your favorite hosts have an advent calendar of rum and some great Christmas movies to discuss. First up is David Harbour’s action/Xmas flick, Violent Night. With John Wick levels of violence and surprises up every chimney, this movie deserves a way better score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson comes a movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, a troubled ex-soldier, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, a cult leader. Anderson denies that that the cult in question is Scientology, but you watch the movie and try to tell us it isn’t. Amy Adams and Laura Dern also star in Anderson’s favorite movie out of his own catalog. And we wonder, did Tom Cruise ever have to go through this auditing process?
It’s not just a philosophy teacher’s fever dream. Brazil, directed and co-written by Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam, has a lot to say about technology, bureaucracy, and loss of individual freedom between scenes of intestinal air ducts and suits full of sewage. There’s stuff we did and didn’t like, but I think we can all appreciate seeing Jonathan Pryce in one of his few leading roles. Grab your annotated copy of 1984 and settle in for this light sci-fi, absurdist criticism of society.
Join us as we add another Daniel Day Lewis movie to our podcast, Lincoln directed by Steven Spielberg. Lewis’s Oscar-winning performance was surrounded by a killer cast and historical accuracy. Yes, you read that right. Unlike the beloved Gladiator, Lincoln’s true to life portrayal takes a look at the titular character without the false bravado and vampires of other movies. Listen in as we dissect this masterclass in playing hate-able and lovable characters, creating authenticity in tone, and what it means to closely adhere to realism.
This movie checks off the 80s cinema boxes; it has video games and a broken home. The cast is a blast from the past in this feature length advertisement for Nintendo. Take a stroll down nostalgia road with Jim and A.Ron as they discuss a truly powerful message about the power of video games. If you enjoyed The Wizard, there is a 2.5 hour-long cut you can check out!
Thank you to Josh H. for commissioning this episode!
We’re rereleasing our episode on The Lost Boys (1987) in honor of the movie’s 35th anniversary!
Special thanks to Saylor from Santa Cruz, the latest Bald Move Fantasy Football champ to claim their prize for winning the league. Emerging from the pile victorious, he has selected the 1997 vampire flick, The Lost Boys. Helmed by Joel Schumacher and chocked equally full of cool and hilarious moments and extremely questionable decisions, the film manages to confound and delight. Why is 16 year old Corey Haim taking baths and being tucked into bed by his mother? Why is there a shirtless oiled up, muscle bound sax player? Why is Rob Lowe gazing seductively from Haim’s bedroom closet, and more importantly, why is Jim completely oblivious to his siren’s call? Is the grandpa a vampire or what? All these questions and more are explored in the depth to which they deserve.
Wow, this is a bad movie. There’s almost nothing redeeming about it. It’s not even one of those “so bad it’s good” movies. It’s not badass, it’s just ass. Join us for an hour-long discussion of why this movie doesn’t work and whether Dolph Lundgren has what it takes to crack the upper echelons of our badass rankings.