Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b

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The Court Jester (1955) Feb 25, 2018

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"The Court Jester" has everything: Medieval palace drama! Implausible hypnotism! Acrobatic dwarves!

... Oh, I'm being told that "The Court Jester" is not New York's hottest nightclub, but rather a 1955 musical comedy starring Danny Kaye. It's also the subject of this week's Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b, featuring guest geek Yoichi Shiga.

Loyal listeners may remember Yoichi from our Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone episode, where he was one of our Potter n00bs ... but what did we think of this movie, which he said was hugely influential on him as a child? Listen and find out!

You can rent or buy "The Court Jester" from all the usual places — Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and Google Play.

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The Net (1995) Feb 12, 2018

Show notes

This week, we're traveling back to the 90s, when the internet was relatively new and very slow and weird, for a dated thriller that feels oddly relevant today: The Net.

In it, Sandra Bullock plays an isolated computer programmer and Jeremy Northam a leader of the evil hacking syndicate that's out to get her, via some particularly vicious and invasive identity theft. And since neither of us has seen it, we've brought in Emily Cureton to be our guide.

Be sure to watch before listening, since as always, spoilers abound. You can watch free with ads on Crackle, or rent or buy from the usual suspects: Vudu, iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play.

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Sports Night (1998) Feb 04, 2018

Show notes

With the exception of that one episode about the Tour de France, we haven't done a lot of sports here on Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b. But a TV show about a SportsCenter-like show, written by "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin? Sign us up!

But wait, there's more: Joining us for our introduction to "Sports Night" is Sorkin superfan Walt Mossberg — although he may be better known as the former Personal Technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal who co-founded AllThingsD and Recode, where Eric now works.

For the purposes of this discussion, we watched five episodes of "Sports Night," chosen from across its two-year run on ABC. They are: S1E7, “Dear Louise”; S1E15, “Dana and the Deep Blue Sea”; S1E19, “Eli’s Coming”; S2E3, “Cliff Gardener”; and S2E11 “And the Cutman Cometh."

When we recorded this podcast, those were all available on Hulu, but unfortunately they seem to have been taken off! To watch those five episodes, you can rent them for $1-2 apiece from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and Google Play.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation Jan 28, 2018

Show notes

And now, it's time for round two of Star Trek: a foray into The Next Generation.

Set long after the original show, this popular series returns to the Trek universe for another set of adventures aboard a later iteration of the Enterprise. Its crew of beloved characters include Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard, LeVar Burton's Geordi Laforge, and Brent Spiner's android Data. But since we've never actually watched it, dedicated TNG fangirl Sarah Weitman (who you might recall from our 30 Rock episode) is here as our navigator.

She's asked us to watch three episodes in a specific order: Data's Day from season four, The Chase from season six, and finally I, Borg from season five. Be sure to watch before listening, as the podcast has lots of spoilers.

Just like with the original series, you can find all of this on Netflix and CBS All Access, or you can rent episodes from the usual services - Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu.

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The Fast and the Furious (2001) Jan 21, 2018

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"Hurtling metal, meat and rubber through the concrete jungle at dangerous velocities." That's how, in 1998, Ken Li described New York's underground street racing scene.

His article for Vibe Magazine, "Racer X," inspired the incredibly successful "Fast and Furious" movie franchise. And today, we bring it all full circle. Li, now the executive editor at Newsweek, joined us on the latest episode of Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b to talk about the first "Fast and the Furious" movie, which neither Emily nor I had seen!

If you've also not seen the Fast and the Furious, don't worry: It's very easy to find! It's available to rent or buy in all the usual places — Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Vudu — and at least at the time of this writing it's also available to stream on HBO Go if you have an HBO subscription.

However you choose to see it, go watch (or rewatch) the "Fast and the Furious" and then listen in on our very fun chat with the journalist whose article started it all!

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Star Trek Jan 15, 2018

Show notes

As we explained last week, this season we're shaking this up by bringing in guests to help fill in some gaps in our shared pop cultural knowledge.

This week's is a big gap: Star Trek.

Created by Gene Rodenberry and premiering in 1966, the seminal sci-fi series is famous for both its extensive cultural impact and its extremely dedicated fan base. We're lucky to have two of those fans with us to guide our voyage, Zach Powers and Josh Powers.

For this introduction, we're watching season one's Space Seed and season two's Amok Time and The Trouble with Tribbles.

You can watch these with a subscription to CBS All Access, Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu, or rent the episodes from the usual spots - iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play. Be sure to watch before listening to our discussion!

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Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) Jan 07, 2018

Show notes

You've been waiting patiently for it for months, and now it's finally here: Season 6 of Giant Geek vs. Mega n00b.

This season, we're shaking things up by bringing in friends and colleagues to school us on the pop culture that Emily and I have both missed. And first out of the gate are the Kill Bill movies, brought to the podcast by my former schoolmate David Ruiz.

Directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Uma Thurman as "The Bride," Kill Bill is the story of a "roaring rampage of revenge." But did it make us roar with enjoyment? Listen to the new show to find out!

Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 are both available to rent in all the usual places: Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Vudu, for $2 to $4 each depending on your platform. And make sure to watch both movies before you listen past the spoiler warning in this episode. Enjoy!

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The Thin Man (1934) Dec 31, 2017

Show notes

And now for the second part of our after-Christmas discussion of movies that are not exactly about Christmas. Much of this one, fittingly, takes place in the time between Christmas and New Year's Eve.

The movie is The Thin Man (1934), based on the Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name and starring William Powell and Myrna Loy in one of their many on-screen collaborations. It launched a whole series of Thin Man films, all focused on Powell and Loy as the delightful Nick and Nora Charles. Give it a watch or re-watch before you listen!

You can rent or buy the movie in the usual places: Amazon, YouTube, iTunes, Vudu, and Google Play. As it happens, Turner Classic Movies is running a New Year's Eve marathon as well.

Speaking of, if you dig this movie, it's worth checking out its first sequel, After the Thin Man (1936). It picks up right where this one leaves off, on New Year's Eve.

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Gremlins (1984) Dec 30, 2017

Show notes

After a slightly longer-than-expected break (several months instead of several weeks), we're back!

Last year — when we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas and Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town — we pitted two Christmas movies against each other. This year, we're doing the same thing.

Well, sort of.

This weekend, we're watching two not-quite-Christmas movies, the first of which is "Gremlins" (1984), which was directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus and stars Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates and Howie Mandel. Whether you're a total n00b who's never seen it, or the sort of geek who watches "Gremlins" every Christmas without fail, go watch it now and then listen to our discussion!

Gremlins is available to stream on Netflix, or you can rent it from all the usual places: iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and Vudu.

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30 Rock (2006) May 18, 2017

Show notes

It's no secret that we both love 30 Rock. A lot. Tina Fey's seven-season comedy for NBC is, in our opinion, one of the best ever, and we've both watched it countless times.

But that's no fun for this podcast! So we've brought in a guest n00b to the world of TGS, night cheese, and Dr. Spaceman: Georgia's own Sarah Weitman, who's only seen a handful of random episodes.

For our purposes, we're starting from the beginning and watching season one, episodes 1-3 and 5-7. Will Sarah like them? Will we manage to contain our unbridled enthusiasm for this show? Listen to find out!

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