In our latest, we discuss the various ways in which we've engaged with media to escape the current political landscape. Some of us took to tabletop as our escape, while others found solace in the warm embrace of the Mighty Boosh. Satisfactory gets a mention, as does Doc Martin. Some good recommendations and discussions here you won't want to miss.…

Awhile back we recorded an episode where we recast the Fast Five film with the muppets, allowing for only one real actor. It was a hoot and a half coming up with our selections and revealing them to each other. Just know that no muppets were harmed in the recording of this episode.Av Bryan Dressel

Streamed this episode a few months back and it features a bit of a random assortment of media. We talk about Dune 2, how horrible Halo was, Yellowjackets, and Snufkin. And fun was had by all in the talking. Join us, won't you?Av Bryan Dressel

As part of our new format going into 2024 we opened the floor to other forms of entertainment that weren't just films. The result is this episode where we discuss the Robocop video game, Reacher Season 2, Slow Horses, and the Nier Automata orchestral soundtrack.Av Bryan Dressel

This was our 2023 Year in Review that we broadcast on youtube at the beginning of the year. We covered a lot of different types of media and it was a blast.Av Bryan Dressel

This week we've got quite the tearjerker for you...if you are into that sort of thing. Unfortunately we were not. That's right folks, we're reviewing Beaches as part of our Bette Midler retrospective. Apologies in advance if you loved or find close attachment to this particular piece of cinema, but we didn't connect on any level. Sure, Bette Midler…

After another delay (life, eh?) we're back with another exciting episode of Behind the Hype. We're moving on from our lackluster horror b-sides month to something completely different in the best way. This month it's all about Bette Midler. To kick off her awesome filmography we've got the film "Ruthless People," which was quite a blast but definit…

This week we wrap up our month of "Horror B-Sides" with John Carpenter's Ghost of Mars. Okay, cards on the table. When we first thought about doing a month of movies like this, we were hoping to find some hidden gems or uncover some inexplicable blind spots. That was not the case and it's clear to see why this film - and the others that came before…

Growing tired of our lackluster choices so far this month, we here at Behind the Hype decided to try out a different horror filmmaker's b-sides to see if we might be able to turn this ship around. We chose Sam Raimi's "The Gift," which unfortunately was nowhere near as good as we had hoped and featured almost nothing that we could recognize as a Ra…

A creature feature with human-sized bugs eating people in subways seems like it was tailor-made for the talents of Guillermo Del Toro, but alas, that is not what we got. Mimic should have been so much better than it was, but its parts did not work together to create a cohesive whole. We break down all the things that didn't work, and point out some…

After a bit of a forced hiatus, we're back and excited to take a deep dive into what we think will be an awesome month of films. The theme is Horror B-Sides, and what that means is we're discussing some of the most famous horror directors and their "not-so-popular" fare. This week it's Wes Craven and his Voodoo Zombie Horror Film "The Serpent and t…

This week on our show we brought in everyone's favorite "Zombie Dog" Matt Dykes to talk about the next film in our Richard Donner retrospective: "Lethal Weapon 2." We had a lot to talk about with this one, from the shoddy police work on display to the scene stealing/chewing Joe Pesci to the very nebulous villains hiding behind their diplomatic immu…

For many of the millennial persuasion, Richard Donner is the guy who directed Superman, which in turn introduced us to the great Christopher Reeve. Due to a lot of bullshit that is well-documented elsewhere, he was removed from the sequel and Richard Lester was brought in to take his place as director. That version of the film is the version we all…

Richard Donner had quite the film career in his lifetime and we wanted to honor that by spending a month reflecting on some of his best films (and one film he got to re-edit after it was cruelly taken away from him). We kick things off with his first critical and commercial breakthrough, "The Omen," starring Gregory Peck as a diplomat / ambassador …

Ending our month of Jackie Chan is the film "Rush Hour," which totally doesn't hold up after all these years and is a bit of a frustrating watch. Probably would have been better to go with something like "The Foreigner" or literally anything else in his filmography. That said, there were a few things that we liked and it brought about a great wrap …

Our Jackie Chan retrospective resumes with the absolutely goofball "Rumble in the Bronx," and we mean that in the most positive way possible. Sure, the plot is awful, but you're not watching one of these for the plot. You are? Really? Anyway, the action is top notch and thoroughly exciting and the third act is absolutely hilarious, if nonsensical. …

This week we continue our month on Jackie Chan with the film that fans consider to be one of his best: Police Story. Chan himself also considers it to be one of his best in terms of action and stunts, and the film itself launched many sequels. We have a bit more nuanced of a take on the film, finding some of the plotting to be ridiculous and a frus…

We're back from our hiatus and ready to jump into some serious discussion about a super serious actor who only makes super serious films. Just kidding. It's Jackie Chan month and we're kicking off perhaps our most fun month yet talking about the hilarious and wonderfully choreographed Drunken Master. What's perhaps the most impressive is how on poi…

We end our month of "Snyder Cuts" with THE Snyder Cut. That's right, we're talking about Zack Snyder's Justice League, which had the unfortunate task of building an entire league of superheroes in 4 hours and somehow did it better than anyone could have possibly imagined. Naturally, we had to have an extra-long podcast to discuss how this all happe…

It's a bird! It's a plane. No, it's our deep dive into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Ultimate Edition. BvS is the film that really kicked the anti-Snyder sentiment into high gear, and we try to grapple with why that is while pointing out that the movie in its extended form is actually quite good. The acting is top notch, and the re-inserted s…

This week on the show we're continuing our deep dive into the "Snyder Cuts" by looking at a film that could have really used a longer cut - Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole. As you watch the film you can see why Zack Snyder directed this. Beautiful landscapes, vivid characters, punchy pop songs - it's all there! The big problem is that…

This week we're taking a look at perhaps one of the most hated films in the Zack Snyder filmography: Sucker Punch. It's been dismissed as exploitative, and has been derided for its depiction of women. It also features more special effects, explosions, and those darn slow-mo shots people keep making fun of all the time online. So, what if we told yo…

Here at Behind the Hype we've decided that it's time to take a deep dive into one of the more divisive filmmakers out there today: Zack Snyder. People either love his work or hate it, and no matter where you fall on that spectrum you can't deny that he is a visionary filmmaker. We're going to be discussing his "Snyder Cuts" this month, starting thi…

While we're sad to bring our month of Showa Era Godzilla films to a close, we're glad we picked Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla as our last film to discuss. It's got ape-like aliens trying to conquer earth, interpol agents disguised as muckraking journalists, a musical number, and a monster named King Caesar who helps Godzilla kick the ever-loving ish o…

The next film in our month of Showa Era Godzilla films is Destroy All Monsters, which features all your favorite monsters and then some as they terrorize all the major cities of the world. But what has caused them to go on such a unified rampage? Aliens. That's right, an all-women race of aliens called the Kilaaks have bent all the monsters to thei…

We continue our delightful dive into the Showa Era Godzilla films this week with the energetic Son of Godzilla. It's a cheeseball film that delights in the silly antics of its titular character and only really manages to stumble when it comes to the human story. The costumes, props, puppets, and miniatures are in top form here and it's hard to not …

Godzilla is such a pop culture icon that we thought it would be a great idea to dive into some of his more iconic outings this month on Behind the Hype, starting with the third film in the series: King Kong vs. Godzilla. Apart from one problem spot, the film is quite a delight and features everything fun you would expect from a showdown of two pop …

We've reached the end of our month on Sion Sono and to wrap things up we've picked quite the heavy film: Guilty of Romance. There's a lot to unpack with this film, about the role of women in Japanese society and the lengths they will go to break free from said pressures, or in some cases become consumed by them. As we were short a woman on this epi…

Due to some version confusion we had to push our review of Guilty of Romance to next week. In its place we're going to talk about the movie that put Sion Sono on the map for western audiences: Suicide Club. It's difficult to summarize the movie and do the horrific imagery and biting commentary justice, but we do our best. Just the opening few minut…

Our Sion Sono retrospective continues with the rap opera Tokyo Tribe, a doozy of a film that starts out rough and then ends with one hell of a punchline. It features a cast of fascinating and colorful characters that sing their way through bouts of ultra-violence. It features perhaps one of the most fun and over-the-top villains we've seen yet on t…

We're back from our break and we thought it would be a great idea to kick things off with a retrospective on director Sion Sono. You might remember him from our episode on Why Don't You Play In Hell. Yeah, that guy. Anyway, we're starting with his 2015 film Tag, featuring perhaps one of the most surprising openings to be put to film. Seriously, you…

We close out our month of That Wasn't The F**king Plan with the best movie out of the four we talked about, although that's not saying much: The Emperor's New Groove. It's a strange film in the Disney archive, fraught with all kinds of production drama. We talk a bit about what the original plan was, and then try to figure out where things went wro…

You'd think that a movie about a filmmaker at war with himself that took ten years to make would be more interesting, but here we are. We're discussing Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote and let's just say that we had a lot of issues with it. Are we talking about an unwatchable dumpster fire of epic proportions? No. Not even close. It's…

This week in our month of "That Wasn't The Fking Plan" we're talking about the David Ayer film Suicide Squad. The David Ayer film Suicide Squad is what we're talking about this week as we deep dive into films that weren't part of the Fking Plan." As we dive into movies that didn't turn out the way they were planned, we thought it would be prope…

That wasn't the f**kin plan! This month is all about the screw ups, the garbage fires, the things that didn't turn out the way they were initially intended. We're kicking off this month with the garbage film Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker and diving into all the things that went wrong with it. Turns out there's a lot. Now, before you - a Rise of Skyw…

Happy Thanksgiving! We know it's a bit tough this year around the holidays so we decided to invite you into our homes figuratively to talk about the last film in our Hugo Weaving retrospective: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It's a great film filled with amazing performances. There's a lot to love here and we talk about it all. T…

We continue this roller coaster month of Hugo Weaving films with Last Ride, a father and son road trip movie that's as dour as it is excellent. Weaving gives a stellar performance here as Kev, an abusive father with almost no likeable or redeemable qualities. Almost. Somehow, despite an entire movie of being an absolute shit, you still feel bad for…

Unfortunately we've got a bit of a downgrade this week as we talk about Mortal Engines for our month of Hugo Weaving. There are things to like here, the setting being the chief among them. It's an interesting world with some equally interesting lore, and it all looks absolutely gorgeous. Where the film loses us is with everything else. The plot is …

Remember, remember! The Fifth of November...for it is the beginning of Hugo Weaving Month here at Behind the Hype. To kick things off we're starting with the flawed V For Vendetta, which boasts great performances from Weaving and others (see: Creedy), while not necessarily aging all that well. It's tough to root for a a character who gaslights and …

We decided to wrap up our Jamie Lee Curtis retrospective by reviewing the classic horror film Prom Night, the film that has inspired many horror movies since it was released and continues to inspire today. What did we think about it? Well, perhaps we should have watched Terror Train instead? There's some interesting stuff in Prom Night to be sure, …

We continue our Jamie Lee Curtis retrospective with Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, her celebrated return to both the horror genre and this franchise in particular. We have a lot to say about the film as it's quite flawed and makes some odd choices throughout. The body count is low, and the mask changes partway through the film into something you mi…

We're traveling back in time to 1994 to talk about True Lies, James Cameron's take on Bond starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and our lady of the month Jamie Lee Curtis. It's quite the adventure, filled to the brim with action, humor, and fun performances from everyone involved. The only weak link is Tom Arnold, but he manages to hold on to the harrier…

October has arrived, and we decided it would be a great idea to do a retrospective on the top scream queen herself - Jamie Lee Curtis. We start the month with her most recent turn in the Rian Johnson film Knives Out. It's a tightly-paced and well-written whodunnit with really fun performances. And even though Jamie Lee Curtis doesn't have as much s…

We made it to the end of our very enlightening Eve Stewart retrospective and to celebrate we're discussing the divisive Tom Hooper spectacle Cats. There's a lot to love in this film, and there's a lot to hate, and really it boils down to how easy it is for you to get past Rebel Wilson and James Corden's abysmal performances. Production design here …

Thank you for your patience! This week we're back to talk about De-Lovely, the next film in our Eve Stewart retrospective. It's about the musical icon Cole Porter, played with zest by Kevin Kline, as he re-lives the best and worst of his life at the behest of the angel Gabriel (Jonathan Pryce). The film features songs written by Cole Porter, all su…

The next film in our Eve Stewart retrospective is the Gore Verbinski horror thriller A Cure For Wellness, starring Dane DeHaan, Mia Goth, and Jason Isaacs. The film is a clunky mess, suffering from logic problems as well as a problematic third act. What saves it for us is Stewart's exceptional production design, which gives the film an atmosphere a…

A new month brings us a new filmmaker and for September we decided to breakdown the lively career of production designer Eve Stewart, starting with 2002's Nicholas Nickleby, starring Charlie Hunnam, Jamie Bell, and Christopher Plummer. It's a film that's exceptionally designed and looks absolutely gorgeous, but that has almost nothing else going fo…

So I guess this is hello and welcome to this week's episode of Behind the Hype, where we're talking about Superstar, starring the amazing and hilarious Molly Shannon. You want to do what? Now? Well, sure. We should warn you that what follows is a very quotable film that transcends its sketches on SNL and provides some genuine laughs. It may not be …

It's Wayne's World, Wayne's World! Party On! Excellent. Wew wew wew weewwwww! In a month of SNL films, it was only a matter of time before we discussed this cultural touchstone of a film and give it the effusive praise that it deserves. And a podcast about one of the best SNL films wouldn't be nearly as awesome without a special guest. We're joined…

Greetings Earthlings. We come to you from the planet Remulak to provide mass quantities of discourse around the film known as Coneheads, starring Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, and a myriad of fun SNL cameos. It's a movie that's held up remarkably well, and has in fact gotten better as the years have progressed. There's an earnestness to the absurdity t…