Time to go back through my playlist and take stock of the entertainment-related podcasts that I've been listening to. Below are a couple of new and new-to-me offerings that I've started following this year.
This Had Oscar Buzz - This is one that kept getting referenced by the other podcasts I was listening to, and I'm glad I checked it out. The subject matter is narrow, but I feel like this podcast is targeted right at me. I'm one of those people who loves following the Oscar race every year, and always winds up watching a bunch of mediocre films that may start out with a lot of buzz, but ultimately go nowhere. Hosts Joe Reid and Chris Feil dissect what went wrong, the careers of the primary creators involved, and whether the unfortunate film in question deserves to be forgotten or not. They're also very good at dissecting the drama going on during various campaigns that I wasn't aware existed. I've been having a ball being reminded of the existence of so many movies that have fallen by the wayside - "Pay it Forward," "Battle of the Sexes," "When a Man Loves a Woman" - many of them made by very talented people. It's a nice break from so many shows that only focus on the best of the best.
Still Watching - So, this is the closest thing I've found so far to a regular television discussion podcast. Joanna Robinson, Richard Lawson, and Anthony Breznican host this Vanity Fair produced series, which serves as an unofficial after-show for currently airing programs like "WandaVision," "Mare of Easttown," and really whatever buzzy piece of expensive, serialized entertainment is getting a lot of attention at the moment. Lately these have mostly been HBO or Disney Plus shows, but they've covered things like "American Crime Story" and "The Crown" in the past. There's not much critical discussion for obvious reasons, but "Still Watching" offers a ton of behind-the-scenes information and conjecture about future developments for fans. Because there's so much theorizing and dissection of minutiae, I've been saving episodes for after a series or season has finished, to avoid stumbling over spoilers. Vanity Fair's clout means that they can land big guests with regularity - writers, directors, stars, and more. My favorite episode so far was when Alan Sepinwall dropped by to discuss the ending of "Loki." Er, more on Sepinwall in a minute.
Mousterpiece Cinema - This one ended a few years ago, racking up 435 episodes covering Disney movies - not just the movies that we commonly think of as Disney movies, but everything that the studio had a hand in over the years - PIXAR movies, Marvel movies, the Touchstone films, the Hollywood Pictures films, and even 20th Century Fox films after the acquisition. It's "Mary Poppins" one week, and Jonathan Demme's "Beloved" the next. Hosts Josh Spiegel and Scott Renshaw are entertainment writers who clearly have long histories with Disney, as most of us have, and there's simply no end to the titles that they cover. I'll be digging my way through their archives for a long time to come.
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend - Yeah, everyone's already listening to this one, but I was late to the party. I was under the misconception that the podcast was an extension of Conan's talk show. Instead, the interviews are much more in-depth, more personal, and the guests so far have been fantastic. Even if I'm not much of a fan of a particular interviewee, the discussions are always fascinating because these are so often people that Conan has some history with. The Adam Sandler episode is a particular favorite because it offers such a lovely glimpse into both his and O'Brien's lives when they're not performing. I still don't enjoy Adam Sandler, but now I respect him quite a bit more.
Finally, I want to add a brief rant about the loss of the "Firewall and Iceberg" podcast, which has totally disappeared from the internet. I went looking for it after finishing my "Parks & Recreation" binge, only to find all the files had been purged when Hitflix went south. All the links to the show are still there - episode descriptions, timestamps and all - but alas, no actual audio files.
Now I'm resisting the urge to go and back up ten years of the /Filmcast since it's recently become The Filmcast. I'm going to turn into one of those data hoarders, aren't I?
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