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 95: Movie Advisory Fall 2018

In this episode, we talk about the 25 first-run movies we’ve seen since our last movie advisory session, Episode 86. Our extensive movie viewing has been brought to you by MoviePass (RIP) and Ladies in Suits.

Links

motorcycle slides under giant flying hello kitty pez

Ant-Man and the Wasp
Avengers: Infinity War
Book Club ANDY GARCIA: HEARTTHROB (v. 1)
Vanity Fair: Andy Garcia is Book Club‘s Handsome Secret Weapon

gabrielle union grimaces, wields knife

Breaking In
Crazy Rich Asians
Deadpool 2

rachel pushes off rachel’s wig as they kiss

Disobedience
The Equalizer 2
The Happytime Murders

cate delivers excellent sideeye, with fancy teacup

The House With a Clock in its Walls
Hotel Artemis
The Incredibles 2
Life of the Party
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again ANDY GARCIA: HEARTTHROB (v. 2)
The Meg (Episode 94)
The Miseducation of Cameron Post

cate strides purposefully, in glitter

Ocean’s 8
Sierra Burgess is a Loser

blake strides purposefully, in tuxedo

A Simple Favor
Skyscraper
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Sorry to Bother You
Tag

kate and mila stride purposefully, in sequins

The Spy Who Dumped Me
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

Looking forward to

Anna:
Aquaman

keira enters, in three piece suit

Colette
Halloween
The Hate U Give
If Beale Street Could Talk
Mary Poppins Returns
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Widows
Robin Hood

Alene:

claire looks tough, in leather

The Girl in the Spider’s Web
Suspiria
Creed II
The Favourite
Mary Queen of Scots
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Venom (tweet)

Obsession
Anna and Alene: Hamilton

Musical Obsessions
Anna: One Last Time
Alene: The Reynolds Pamphlet

Episode 90: Content Warning Part I–Anna’s Hard Pass

The first of two episodes exploring the things that we don’t like to encounter in our books, television, movies, and more. Content warning for discussion of various unpleasant topics, primarily cancer.

Links
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr
Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther
Spoilers, Sweetie!
A Monster Calls (book)
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (movie)

Terms of Endearment
Deadpool
Stepmom
Midnight Sun
I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura

Guardians of the Galaxy
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The Long Goodbye by Meghan O’Rourke
Our Gift of Love: Personal Stories of Breast Cancer Courage
Persevere: A Life With Cancer by Lisa Bonchek Adams
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Lurlene McDaniel
Mom’s Cancer by Brian Fies
Breaking Bad
Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
“Bad Day” by Daniel Powter
The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde

One Mississippi
I’m Just a Person by Tig Notaro
The Bold Type
Alexa and Katie

Musical Obsessions
Molto Allegro (Jupiter Symphony) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“Over My Head (Cable Car)” by The Fray

Obsession

Hannah Gadsby‘s Nanette

Episode 86: Movie Advisory Spring 2018

In this episode, we discuss the movies we have seen since our last movie advisory episode (Episode 77), skipping those we already discussed on other episodes (Episode 81: Oscar Thoughts). We subscribed to MoviePass and it increased our volume of movies seen, but not the overall quality of movies in general. Light spoilers and content warning for gore and vomit mentions.

Links
Already discussed: Black Panther, Call Me By Your Name, Coco, Ferdinand, The Greatest Showman, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post, Proud Mary, The Shape of Water

Annihilation
Blockers
Fifty Shades Freed

Game Night
Insidious: The Last Key
Love, Simon
Molly’s Game
Pacific Rim Uprising
The Party

A Quiet Place
Ready Player One
Thoroughbreds
Tomb Raider

Truth or Dare
Winchester
A Wrinkle in Time

What we’re looking forward to:

Ocean’s 8
Deadpool 2
Ant-Man and The Wasp
Skyscraper

Crazy Rich Asians
Sorry to Bother You
Breaking In
Life of the Party
RBG
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Disobedience

Book Club
The Wife
The Meg
Uncle Drew
The Spy Who Dumped Me
The Little Stranger

Obsessions
Alene: Pixel Art Color by Number (Android)
Anna: Song of Blood & Stone by L. Penelope

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee
Alene: “Almost Like Praying” by Lin-Manuel Miranda

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 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

Episode 59: Clonesplaining with @renatasnacks

 

 

Wolverine expert Renata returns to recap the first two (confusingly named) Wolverine movies featuring Hugh Jackman as an appetizer for our spoiler-filled discussion of the new movie Logan. You might not want to watch the movies when we’re through, but you’ll definitely want to watch movies with Renata. Apologies in advance for some sound quality issues during the episode.

Also: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was the winner of our episode 57 Bellwether Friends What to Watch Next Bracket Challenge! Thanks to everyone who voted. We will be recording an episode about the show in the near future!

Links
One Day at a Time
The Boyfriend of the Week

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The Wolverine
Logan

Sabretooth

Deadpool
FAA Flight Planning Information
Buzzfeed: “Logan” Will Change The Way You Think About Violence In Superhero Movies
Shane
Final moment
X-Men video game
Deadpool 2 teaser
The Worst Best Sellers (discussing All-New Wolverine!)

Obsessions
Renata: Laura Kinney! X-23: The Complete Collection, Volume 2, All New Wolverine Vol. 1: The Four Sisters
Alene: Murder, Magic, and What We Wore by Kelly Jones (Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer)
Anna: Rivers of London series (Midnight Riot) by Ben Aaronovitch read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith on audio (get the first three on Hoopla!)

Musical Obsessions
Renata: “Move Your Feet / D.A.N.C.E. / It’s A Sunshine Day” from the Trolls soundtrack
Anna: “Die Young” by Ke$ha
Alene: “The Sound” by The 1975

 

 

Episode 53: Movie Advisory and Best of 2016

 

In this episode, we talk about movies we’ve seen since our last movie advisory (episode 35), share our picks for best of 2016, and squeal over what we’re looking forward to in 2017.

Links

Movie Advisory
Love and Friendship
Finding Dory
From The Washington Post: How Finding Dory and Finding Nemo Deal Beautifully With Disabilities
The Secret Life of Pets
Trolls
Kubo and the Two Strings

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
From Slate: J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts Flirts With Gay Allegory. Its Sequels Should Go All the Way.
Witch, Please: Roaring Anachronisms and Where To Find Them

Moana
From Bustle: Moana Kicking The Love Interest Storyline To The Curb May Not Be Something To Celebrate

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children
Bridget Jones’s Baby
Queen of Katwe

Rogue One
Moonlight
From The Atlantic: Moonlight Is a Film of Uncommon Grace
Fences

Best of 2016

Movies
Deadpool, Finding Dory, Love and Friendship, Moana, Moonlight, Trolls, Ghostbusters

Books
#libfaves16
American Housewife by Helen Ellis
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Behind the Throne/After the Crown by KB Wagers
Hold Me by Courtney Milan
A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

Television
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, Conviction, The Crown, Steven Universe, Supergirl Pending: Stranger Things, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Music
Soundtracks: Moana, Trolls, Hamilton, Hamilton Mixtape
Love You To Death by Tegan and Sara
Musical Obsessions Playlist

Other
Tater Tot Casserole (or this recipe)
Sally Hansen Miracle Gel
Styling/Volumizing Powder

In Memoriam

Looking Forward to in 2017

Movies
Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Ghost in the Shell, Murder on the Orient Express, Hidden Figures, Fate of the Furious, Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Despicable Me 3, Pitch Perfect 3, Beauty and the Beast, It, Baywatch, Power Rangers, Wonder Woman, Fifty Shades Darker, Before I Fall, Annihilation, Star Wars Episode 8
From E!: Movie Preview 2017: 84 Films You Should Know About in the New Year

Music
Spirit from Depeche Mode
Katy Perry, Michelle Branch, Kelly Clarkson, Fergie, Icona Pop, Lorde, Taylor Swift
From Billboard: 2017 Music Preview: 40 Most Anticipated Albums

Books
Illuminae Files #3 by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Thorn of Emberlain by Scott Lynch
Buried Heart by Kate Elliott (Court of Fives #3)
Martians Abroad by Carrie Vaughn
#fridayreads
Gone to Dust by Matt Goldman
Avon romance authors: Sarah Maclean, Julia Quinn, Elizabeth Boyle, Tessa Dare
From The Millions: Most Anticipated: The Great 2017 Book Preview

Television
Star Trek Discovery, Emerald City, American Gods, Twin Peaks, Riverdale
From A.V. Club: The A.V. Club Tells You What to Watch in 2017

Musical Obsessions
Alene: Club Tropicana by Wham! UK (La Isla Bonita by Madonna)
Anna: Careless Whisper by Wham!, Freedom! ’90 by George Michael

Obsessions
Alene: Pusheen
Anna: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Episode 42: Firefly, Deadpool, and Arcade Games with Amy!

For this episode, we took advantage of a visit from Amy Diegelman (aka @amydieg aka half of #jointhegirlgang aka WTF is America aka Panels contributor) to watch Firefly and Deadpool, plus spend a morning at the local arcade. Firefly fans be warned: Anna doesn’t like it much. She looks forward to hearing from you on the topic.

Links

Firefly (note belt placement)

Serenity
Gilmore Girls la la las
Deadpool

Ms. Pac-Man
X-Men
Simpsons
Q*bert
Tetris
Arkanoid
Space Invaders

TBR Challenge
Anna for Alene: Vicky Bliss series by Elizabeth Peters
Street of the Five Moons
Amy for Alene and Anna: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
My Favorite Bride by Christina Dodd
Kieran Kramer‘s Impossible Bachelors and The House of Brady series

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Infinity” by Mariah Carey
Amy: “White Flag” by Joseph
Alene: Firefly theme song; Ms. Pac-Man theme song

Obsessions
Amy: The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera (Summer 2017)
Alene: The Victorian language of flowers, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Anna: We are on Tumblr! And, being on vacation.