KnockBack: The Retro and Nostalgia Podcast

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#139: Halloween Oct 15, 2020

Show notes

There are a few holidays each year that attract near-ubiquitous participation -- think New Years Eve and the like -- but there's one such day that's especially strange: Halloween. The last day of each October is 24 hours dedicated to monsters, ghosts, and other scares... and lots of candy and peculiar costumes, too. As children, of course, Halloween takes on an extra-special dimension, but as we get older, so too does the holiday change around us. One minute you're shoving Reese's Pieces into your pillowcase; the next minute you're hunting down your neighbor's kids with eggs and shaving cream. Such is the case in western societies around the world as autumn begins to set in. So let's recollect our fondest memories of this bizarre holiday that's one part pagan, one part modern. Just make sure to check your apples for razor blades before you take a bite...

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#138: Kramer vs. Kramer Oct 08, 2020

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Divorce is a horrific experience for everyone involved. Spouses falling out of love is brutal, and children -- especially young kids -- end up as collateral damage. Such is the story of the 1979 film Kramer vs. Kramer, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep as a couple on the outs, with a young son caught in the middle. Kramer vs. Kramer is a notable picture because, in 1980, it won the Academy Award for Best Picture... and Best Director... and Best Screenplay... and Dustin Hofmann won Best Actor... and Meryl Streep won Best Supporting Actress... and on and on. So it's a critically-acclaimed movie unlike many others. But it's also an important look into the world of divorce, especially from the point-of-view of a man who's assumed not to be able to love his child like his ex-wife could, that they couldn't form a special bond on their own... and also of a woman who makes a major mistake, tries to find herself, and realizes the error of her own ways. Kramer vs. Kramer is one of the great dramas of all-time, so why not put an episode of KnockBack all about it on the docket?

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#137: Our Childhood Inspirations Oct 01, 2020

Show notes

When you're a child (or even a teenager), your mind is malleable, like a piece of clay. This is where the nature versus nurture argument often comes into play, because it's really those around us, those who help mold and form us, that make us who we are. Once we're jettisoned into the world as an adult, it's those formidable encounters, relationships, and even instances of hero worship that truly stand the test of time. As such, we want to take the time today to talk about the people who inspired us as kids. Colin (that's me!) takes a sentimental tact; Dagan a more pop-culture one. Together, let's cobble together a list that explains everything. You'll see.

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#136: Into the Spider-Verse Sep 24, 2020

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There's something special about Spider-Man. Is it his New York roots? Possibly. His intelligence and diligence? Maybe. His sense of family, community, and justice? Certainly. But in the realm of comics, Spider-Man happens to be different characters at different times, something the Academy Award-winning 2018 animated film Into the Spider-Verse so successfully celebrates. By melding Peter Parker(s), Miles Morales, and even more obscure spin-offs like Spider-Ham, Into the Spider-Verse travels decades of Spidey fandom in two brisk hours. The results are so strong that many not only consider it the best Spider-Man movie ever, but possibly one of the best animated features of all-time. In many ways, we can't help but concur with the consensus.

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#135: Red Dawn Sep 17, 2020

Show notes

By the time the '80s rolled around, the Cold War was just about over. The Soviet Union was slowly-but-surely crumbling, and the threat posed by Mutually Assured Destruction was waning by the year. That's what makes movies like 1984's American action classic Red Dawn so interesting. In its alternate history tale, the USSR expands its sphere of power through Central and South America, while NATO dissolves, the US becomes isolated, and its only allies are a downtrodden England and a nearly-annihilated China. The result, as it turns out, is World War III, and Red Dawn shows one rather peculiar theater of that conflict: A guerrilla campaign conducted by some high school students in rural Colorado. So stock up on supplies, raid your gun cabinet, and run for the hills, Wolverines: The communists are here, and a political reckoning is brewing.

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#134 | Breaking Bad (Season 5 + El Camino) Sep 10, 2020

Show notes

It's time to wrap up our three-episode run of Breaking Bad analysis with a deep dive into the beloved series' final season, as well as its surprise epilogue movie that came some six years later. The culmination of Walt's journey dominates Season 5, yet in El Camino, we finally get to see what happened with Jesse, too. There's much to discuss here: Madrigal, Todd, the Aryan Brotherhood, the fate of Hank and Gomez, and much, much more. But at the heart of it all lies Walt and Jesse, on a bullet train toward disaster. Obviously, we can't look away.

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#133: Dreams and Nightmares Sep 03, 2020

Show notes

The ethereal world of dreams has long fascinated humans (and our human-like ancestors) going back many millennia. In fact, when you really think about it, we kinda collectively take dreams for granted, as scholars and academics try to get to the bottom of why we (and seemingly all mammals, at the very least) dream while asleep. This episode of KnockBack isn't about the science, though. Instead, it's about experience. As kids, we all had dreams and nightmares that left indelible prints on us, and that's what we're going to discuss today. Really, though, we focus heavily on the nightmare aspect of dreaming, the uncontrollable horror that happens on the other side of closed eyes. So beware! The Tickley Monster approaches.

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#133 | Breaking Bad (Seasons 3 + 4) Aug 27, 2020

Show notes

While Episode 130 of KnockBack was dedicated to the first two seasons of AMC's crime drama Breaking Bad, this episode of our podcast is in ode to the show's third and fourth seasons, when things really start to get hairy. In these seasons, we have The Cousins. A ratcheting up of the danger surrounding working with Gus and the Mexican cartels. The car wash. Tons of contextual flashbacks. A whole lot of Saul Goodman. Ted and the IRS (and his "Act of God"). Jesse's relapse. The return of Badger and Skinny Pete. Hank's near-murder and redemption. I mean... there's a ton to cover. And we take about three hours or so going over it all, with plenty of your inquiries interspersed. After all, we are the ones that Knock...Back.

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#131: Inception Aug 20, 2020

Show notes

When Christopher Nolan's Inception came to theaters a decade ago, it impressed moviegoers with a bizarre sci-fi story that -- in true Nolan fashion -- felt grounded and believable. In fact, it's one of the best-received films of 2010, an Academy Award-winning mind-melter all about entering people's dreams in order to acquire restricted, secretive, and sensitive information. But what if you could plant entire ideas in people's heads, too, setting in motion an unstoppable butterfly effect? As voted on by Colin's Last Stand's Patrons, this episode of KnockBack is all about this notable and unusual flick, the remarkable performances throughout it, and a story so complex that it sometimes borders on convoluted. So close your eyes and grab your totem. It's go-time.

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#130 | Breaking Bad (Seasons 1 + 2) Aug 13, 2020

Show notes

Breaking Bad is widely considered one of the greatest television dramas of the 21st century (and possibly ever). Released in the same era as Mad Men and The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad didn't only help put AMC back on the map as a respected TV channel, but gave us insight into an increasingly sinister world with a simple premise: A high school chemistry teacher and his burnout ex-student teaming up to cook meth. The story that unfolds is dramatic, sad, tragic, and ultimately irresistible to watch, and to do this topic extra justice -- one voted on by our Patrons -- we've decided to split our Breaking Bad coverage into three episodes. This is the first one, focusing on Seasons One and Two, the origins of Walt's and Jesse's partnership, Walt's battle with cancer, the beginnings of their fledgling criminal enterprise, and the ratcheting up of the personal stakes. So hit play: It's tight, tight, tight!

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