Episode 119 - CON AIR

The high concept of Con Air plays like a perfect card of Bruckheimer bingo: an unassailable tragic hero, oodles of massive explosions, and a preternaturally calm Nicolas Cage. But there's a lot more going on in this orchestrated mayhem, thanks to a deep bench of character actors and an infinitely quotable script that's dripping with sarcasm.

Jake Beal makes a garrulous WWWW debut that touches on everything from sound design to criminal psychology to dueling country music sirens. Don't miss this episode, because we're going to show you that God does exist.

Be sure to check out more of Jake's cinematic deep dives on his blog, The Mentaculus!

Con Air (1997)
Directed by Simon West
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
Written by Scott Rosenberg
Starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Ving Rhames, Colm Meaney, Danny Trejo, M.C. Gainey, Dave Chappelle, Mykelti Williamson, Rachel Ticotin, Monica Potter, and Steve Buscemi

Episode 96 - SCREAM

What's your favorite serio-comic deconstruction of the horror genre? For many, there is no better answer than the prescient Scream series, which combined trendy self-awareness with old-school storytelling chops. The instantly iconic (and oddly bumbling) Ghostface villain not only breathed life back into slasher movies, but also inspired the trick-or-treating costumes of countless lazy teenagers for decades to come.

Daren Sprawls joins us in celebration of the Halloween season as we soak in the details of the classic bloody whodunit, and indulge in listing our favorite scary movies.

Scream (1996)
Directed by Wes Craven
Produced by Cathy Conrad and Cary Woods
Written by Kevin Williamson
Starring Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Jaime Kennedy, and Henry Winkler