Episode 112: BF Movie Touchstones

Somewhat in the spirit of Extra Hot Great’s television Canon, your hosts each assembled a list of favorite movies and agreed to make a universal Bellwether Friends list out of intersecting titles. In this episode, we reveal our picks to one another. Click here for the joint list! *sounds of paper rustling*

Links
Alene’s List (revised)
10 Things I Hate About You
The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert
Amadeus
American Dreamer
Arsenic & Old Lace
Babe

Black Panther
Blockers
Booksmart
Cabin In The Woods
Charade
Clerks (Kevin Smith)
Coming To America
Cornetto Trilogy: Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End
Crazy Rich Asians
The Cutting Edge
D.E.B.S.
Deadpool, Deadpool 2

Desk Set
Desperately Seeking Susan
District 9
Easy A
Fargo (The Coen Brothers)

The Fasts And The Furiouses (all)
The Favourite
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (John Hughes)
French Kiss
Get Out

Ghostbusters (2016)
Grosse Pointe Blank
Guardians Of The Galaxy
Hidden Figures
The Holiday
The House Bunny
How To Train Your Dragon (all)
Howl’s Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki)
Legally Blonde
Let The Right One In
Love Actually
Magic Mike, Magic Mike XXL
Moana

Moonlight
The Nine Lives of Christmas
Ocean’s 8
Out Of Sight
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure
The Philadelphia Story
Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2, Pitch Perfect 3
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino)
Say Anything
The Silence Of The Lambs
Singles
Sleepless In Seattle
Sliding Doors

The Sound Of Music
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Spy
Step Up (all)
Stranger Than Fiction
The Sure Thing
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil
The Usual Suspects
The Vanishing (1988)
When Harry Met Sally
Wings Of Desire
Wonder Woman
Zombieland, Zombieland 2: Double Tap

Anna’s List (revised)
Beauty and the Beast
Best In Show
*Black Panther
Blades of Glory
The Blues Brothers
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Bring It On
*Charade
Clue
Clueless
Cold Comfort Farm
*Crazy Rich Asians
*The Cutting Edge
*D.E.B.S.
The Dead Don’t Die
Desert Hearts
Fire
*Get Out
*Grosse Pointe Blank
Halloween
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
It’s In The Water
Labyrinth
A League Of Their Own
*Legally Blonde
Logan’s Run
The Lord Of The Rings trilogy
Mean Girls
The Meg
Miss Congeniality
*Moana
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
*Moonlight
Much Ado About Nothing
Mulan
The Music Man
*Ocean’s 8
The Parent Trap (both)
Persuasion
Pirates Of The Caribbean
*Pitch Perfect series
Pride and Prejudice (BBC)
The Princess Bride
Robin Hood (Disney)
Robin Hood (1938)
Romancing The Stone
A Room With A View
Saving Face
Say Anything
Singin’ In The Rain
Sleepless In Seattle
So I Married An Axe Murderer
*The Sound Of Music
Spaceballs
*Spy
Star Wars (original trilogy)
Strictly Ballroom
*To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Wayne’s World
When Harry Met Sally

Anna’s Honorable Mentions
*10 Things I Hate About You
Adventures In Babysitting
*The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert
The African Queen
Aladdin
American Pie
Annie
*Arsenic And Old Lace
Austin Powers
Back To The Future
Bend It Like Beckham
Better Off Dead
Captain Marvel
*Coming To America
The Craft
Crocodile Dundee
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
*Deadpool
Deliver Us From Eva
*Desk Set
*Fast and Furious franchise
*Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
*French Kiss
*Ghostbusters (2016)
Gia
The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Goonies
*Guardians of the Galaxy
Highlander
Jumanji (2017)
The Karate Kid
The Little Mermaid
Love & Basketball
Mad Max: Fury Road
*Magic Mike XXL
Meet Me In St. Louis
Moonraker
*The Nine Lives Of Christmas
*The Philadelphia Story
Short Circuit
Shrek
*The Silence Of The Lambs
Speed
*Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Star Wars (new trilogy)
Tank Girl
Thor: Ragnarok
While You Were Sleeping
White Christmas
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Willow
*Wonder Woman

Other mentions:
The Thin Man
Sunset Boulevard
Wait Until Dark
Johnny Belinda
The Lady Eve
True Grit
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Blazing Saddles
The Harvey Girls
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Good Morning, Vietnam
Pearl Harbor
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
Top Gun

Musical Obsessions
Anna: Bad Blood by Taylor Swift
Alene: The Dead Don’t Die by Sturgill Simpson

Obsessions
Anna: To L and Back (podcast)
Alene: KissCon, Loretta Chase, Megan Frampton

Episode 102: And the Award Goes To…

In this episode, we talk about our favorite awards shows and what we like about them, then share our top Oscar picks.

 

Links
Golden Globe Awards (Cecil B. deMille Award)

Oscars
Grammys
Latin Grammys (Shakira)

Alene holding a real Emmy

Emmys/Daytime Emmys
Tonys
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Red Carpet Slideshow (not from an award show)
Go Fug Yourself
Academy of Country Music Awards
Country Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards

MTV Movie & TV Awards
The Hollywood Reporter: 10 Most-Watched Awards Shows (slideshow) (includes average viewer age)
Kids’ Choice Awards
People’s Choice Awards
Annie Awards
Gotham Independent Film Awards
Film Independent Spirit Awards
Razzie Awards

ESPY Awards
BAFTA Awards
Writers Guild Awards
Directors Guild Awards
Producers Guild Awards
Youth Media Awards
American Music Awards
Billboard Music Awards
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony


Harpers Bazaar: The 22 Moments That Defined the Oscars
Miss Golden Globe
Christian Siriano

Julia Roberts in Valentino (not Yves Saint Laurent)

Critics’ Choice Awards

Our Oscar Picks:

Best Picture: Black Panther
Best Director: Yorgos Lanthimos for The Favourite
Best Actor: Rami Malek
Best Actress: Olivia Coleman
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King
Original Screenplay: The Favourite
Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins

Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Documentary: RBG
Score: Black Panther
Song: Shallow by Lady Gaga from A Star is Born
Sound Editing: A Quiet Place

Musical Obsessions
Alene: “Shallow” by Lady Gaga from A Star is Born
Anna: “All the Stars” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA from Black Panther

Obsessions
Anna and Alene: Schitt’s Creek, White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, How to be Less Stupid About Race by Crystal Fleming

Episode 99: Best of 2018

In this episode, we look back over a year of movies, television, music, experiences, and books. We did the same for 2017 in Episode 77, 2016 in Episode 53, and 2015 in Episode 27.

Links

Movies

Black Panther
Crazy Rich Asians
Ocean’s 8
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
The Spy Who Dumped Me
Love, Simon
Insidious: The Last Key

A Simple Favor
The Meg (Episode 94)
Skyscraper
Looking forward to: Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Autostraddle review), The Favourite, The Wife, Mary Queen of Scots, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Mary Poppins Returns

Television

Killing Eve
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

One Day at at Time (Season 2)
The Good Place (Episode 85)

FBI
Black Lightning
A Very English Scandal
Doctor Who

Jesus Christ Superstar Live
Nanette
Looking forward to: Pose, Insecure, Vida, Howards End, Killing Eve, The Good Place, One Day at at Time, Trinkets

Music
“Party for One” by Carly Rae Jepsen
“Thank U, Next” by Ariana Grande

“Pynk” by Janelle Monae
“The Hamilton Polka” by Weird Al Yankovic
Crazy Rich Asians motion picture soundtrack
Looking forward to: “Fake Love” by BTS, “Make Me Feel” by Janelle Monae, “Curious” by Hayley Kiyoko, “I Like It” by Cardi B, “Love It If We Made It” by The 1975, Golden Hour (album) by Kacey Musgraves, Mitski, Christine and the Queens, boygenius, Carly Rae Jepsen

Experiences

Hamilton (and other live performances)
Royal Weddings
Seattle
Walker’s Shortbread

Books
#libfaves18
Broken Ice by Matt Goldman
Are You Ready to Hatch an Unusual Chicken? by Kelly Jones
My Life as a Goddess by Guy Branum
Looking forward to: The Shallows by Matt Goldman
Thundercluck by Paul Tillery IV and Meg Wittwer

The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
The Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao
Spellswept by Stephanie Burgis
The Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis
The Neighbor by Gerri Hill
Intercepted by Alexa Martin
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
Rosewater by Tade Thompson
Zero Sum Game by S. L. Huang
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
Treason of Hawks by Lila Bowen


Looking forward to: The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory, The Bride Test by Helen Hoang, Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole, The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi, Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee, Jade War by Fonda Lee, The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker, A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian, The Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chakraborty, The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey, Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
Book Riot: 51 New Romance Novels Scheduled for 2019

Musical Obsessions
Anna: Spotify 2018 playlist, “Whistle” by Flo Rida
Alene: “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John

Obsessions
Anna: Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Alene: Inclusivity

Episode 84: MCU and Bullet Journaling

Not at the same time! In preparation for Avengers: Infinity War, we’ve been catching up on all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies (that’s everything except the X-Men and Deadpool and most Spider-Mans, we think?) we missed because of our unwillingness to watch stories about dude superheroes in the theater. We need to watch in the comfort of our home, with our cats and the ability to snark at top volume. And we also have a bunch of stuff to say about bullet journaling, so pull up a seat for this new episode!

Links
Marvel Cinematic Universe

Phase one: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel’s The Avengers

Phase two: Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man

Phase three: Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,  Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther

Deadpool
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Ant-Man and The Wasp
Marvel: 15 Huge Problems No One Wants To Admit About The MCU
Why Marvel Movies Have Such Bland, Forgettable Music
Orientalism, Whitewashing, and the Failure of Imagination in Doctor Strange
From Iron Man to Black Panther — Ranking the Romances of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
What is the Funniest Marvel Movie?

Dot Journaling: A Practical Guide by Rachel Wilkerson Miller (who cowrote the article Alene is always suggesting!)
Episode 79: All About Pens with @skeskali
Anna’s book: Grids & Guides
Alene’s current book: Exacompta Club
35 Cool Lists To Start And Keep In 2018

Musical Obsessions
Anna & Alene: “My House” by Flo Rida

Obsessions
Anna: Flavored syrups
Alene: pistachios

Episode 81: What to Watch Next TV Bracket II and Oscar Thoughts

It’s time for March Madness and time for another What to Watch Next TV Bracket! We’re also going to tell you what we think about top Oscar categories. Vote in the poll at the bottom of this page to tell us what to watch next!

Our first TV bracket was covered Episode 57.

Links
Challonge! (our complete bracket)

BBC Bracket
The Crown
Wallander
Lark Rise to Candleford
The Night Manager
Vera
MI:5
Midsomer Murders
The Doctor Blake Mysteries

Last Tango in Halifax
The Bletchley Circle
Victoria
The Tudors/The White Queen
Scott and Bailey
Luther
The Hour
Alias Grace
Broadchurch

Comedy/Musical Bracket
Master of None
Grown-ish
Happy Endings
Trophy Wife
Galavant
Younger
One Mississippi
Faking It
Parks and Recreation
Catastrophe

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Lady Dynamite
Difficult People
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Jane the Virgin
Sports Night
Cougar Town
Black-ish

Crime
Counterpart
White Collar [The Boys in the Band]
The Fall S2
Mindhunter
Psych
The Killing
Leverage (Episode 21 discussion)

How to Get Away with Murder
Laws and Orders
The Alienist

Drama
Make it or Break It
Royal Pains
The Wire
The Good Place
Nashville
The Bold Type
Dear White People
The L-Word S2-6

GLOW
Homeland
The West Wing
Friday Night Lights
Atlanta
Still Star Crossed
Masters of Sex
Feud
The Americans
Being Mary Jane
ER

Science Fiction and Fantasy
Birds of Prey
She-Ra
The Librarians
American Gods
The Legend of Korra
Battlestar Galactica
Penny Dreadful
Orphan Black
Buffy
Lost Girl
Runaways
Jessica Jones
The Handmaid’s Tale
Twin Peaks
Black Lightning
Luke Cage
Stars Trek
The Dresden Files

Xena: Warrior Princess
Crazyhead
Cloak & Dagger
American Horror Story
Black Mirror
Warehouse 13
Stranger Things
Merlin
The Expanse
Agent Carter

Obsessions:

Anna and Alene: Black Panther
Anna: Phantom of the Opera

Musical Obsessions
Anna: Vibranium (sung to the tune of “Titanium” by David Guetta featuring Sia)
Alene: “Think of Me” from Phantom of the Opera

Episode 78: Holiday Romance Films with @helenstwin

We brought in holiday romance expert Cory (and her mom) to help us sift through the offerings from the 2017 season. We talked about diversity, Lifetime vs. Hallmark, nude nail polish, royalty, adorable moppets, and more, using our Holiday Romance Movie Checklist as a baseline. See our spreadsheet of the 38 movies the Bellwether Friends team watched this season here.

Links
Episode 41: We Love Historical Romance!
Episode 56: Romantic Christmas Movies
Episode 74: Horror Project Checkup and Holiday Romance Checklist
#BFHolidayRomance

Enchanted Christmas (the one with ballroom dancing)
Wrapped Up In Christmas (the one with Tatyana Ali)
The Nine Lives of Christmas (the one with cats)
Fametracker/previously.tv
The Christmas Cure (the one with Bobby from Dallas)
[The Librarians]
The Twelve Trees of Christmas (the one where she saves the library)
Sound of Christmas (the one where he is going to buy the music school)
Annie Claus is Coming to Town (the one with a third skinny redhead)
Looks Like Christmas (the one with Anne Heche)
Kristin’s Christmas Past (the one with Elizabeth Mitchell and time travel)
Sleigh Bells Ring (the one with the aunt’s antique shop)
My Christmas Love (the one with the guy Alene likes)

Sharing Christmas (the other one about a mall/with the guy Alene likes)
Snowed-Inn Christmas (the one with competing journalists)

The Mistletoe Inn (the one with romance writers)
My Christmas Prince (the one that isn’t A Christmas Prince)
The Perfect Christmas Present (Cory’s favorite)
[ASMR videos]
Fir Crazy (one of the ones with a Christmas tree farm)
Christmas Festival of Ice (one of the ice sculpture ones)
Farewell Mr. Kringle (the one with Christine Taylor and an early kiss)

Christmas Getaway (the one with a double booked cabin)
The Christmas Cottage (the one with a magic cabin)
Christmas List (the one with the earliest kiss)
12 Men of Christmas (the one with sex!)
A Boyfriend for Christmas (the one with Santa waiting twenty years to grant a wish)
A Christmas Kiss (the one that starts with a kiss)
A Gift to Remember (the one where the guy gets amnesia)
One Starry Christmas (the one with the cowboy)
Christmas Dance (the one with Andrew McCarthy)

Christmas Connection (the one with Tom Everett Scott)
Romance at Reindeer Lodge (the one with a Christmas themed ranch)
Candace Cameron Bure
Last Chance for Christmas (the one with the delicious reindeer farm)
Christmas Parade (the one with texting and driving)
A Rose for Christmas (the one with the Rose Parade)
All About Christmas Eve (the one with Haylie Duff)
Christmas Belle (the other one with Haylie Duff)
Christmas at Holly Lodge (the one with a developer trying to buy the inn)
Finding Father Christmas (the one with a secret missing dad)
Engaging Father Christmas (the sequel to Finding Father Christmas)
[Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel]

Christmas Miracle (the one with letters to god)
Finding Santa (the one with Jodie Sweetin)
Once Upon a Holiday (the one with a runaway princess)
The Mistletoe Promise (the one with Lemon from Hart of Dixie)
All I Want for Christmas (the one with a kid asking for his mom to get a new man)
The Flight Before Christmas (the one with Mayim Bialik)
Hitched for the Holidays (the one with Joey Lawrence)
[Harpers Bazaar: 20 Nude Polishes For Every Skintone]

Readalikes:
Debbie Macomber
Shannon Stacey
Bella Andre
Alice Clayton
Jill Shalvis
Belladonna Ink

Obsessions

Cory: Check, Please! Beards and Bondage series (Haven) by Rebekah Weatherspoon, Black Panther
Anna and Alene: Proud Mary

Musical Obsessions

Anna: “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner
Alene: “Proud Mary” by Leonard Nimoy
Cory: [What is Punk?, What is Hip-Hop?] “I’m the One” by The Descendents, “Wildflowers” by Dolly Parton

 

Episode 77: Movie Advisory 2017B, Best of 2017, and 2018 Preview

We give our takes on the theatrical releases we watched in the back half of 2017, then talk about our bests of the past year before plunging into what we’re looking forward to in the new year! There are some spoilers, but we rarely make much sense. Movie Advisory 2017A was episode 66!

Links

Movie Advisory 2017B

Battle of the Sexes
The Dark Tower

The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
It
The Mountain Between Us
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Murder on the Orient Express

Pitch Perfect 3
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Coming Soon
Black Panther
Deadpool 2
Ready Player One
Ocean’s 8
Proud Mary
A Wrinkle in Time

Pacific Rim: Uprising
Fifty Shades Freed
Crazy Rich Asians
Ant-Man and the Wasp
The House With a Clock in its Walls
Halloween
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Best of 2017
Movies: Get Out, Wonder Woman, The Last Jedi, Hidden Figures, Fate of the Furious, The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Books: #libfaves17, Gone to Dust by Matt Goldman, Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough, No One Can Pronounce My Name by Rakesh Satyal, Misfit City by Kiwi Smith, Kurt Lustgarten, and Naomi Franquiz, Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin

Television: Riverdale, One Day at a Time, Supergirl, Hallmark/Lifetime movies
Music: Rainbow by Kesha
Other: the power of twitter (Metro-North train rescue), phone battery replacement, eclipse, Women of NASA Lego set

Looking forward to in 2018
Midterm elections
She-Ra on Netflix
Lumberjanes Coloring Book
Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
New Becky Chambers book
Painting by Numbers (Shades of Grey 2) by Jasper Fforde
Black Lightning on the CW
Grown-ish on Freeform
The X-Files on Fox

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Seasons of Love” from Rent
Alene: “Santa Fe” from Rent

Obsessions
Anna: 221B Baker Street board game, Fandom Hearts series by Cathy Yardley, Bingo Love by Tee Franklin and Jenn St. Onge
Alene: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee