Top 9 Entertainment Podcasts According to Zack!
They’re like great radio shows of the Web. You can collect them and re-listen to them at any time! They’re podcasts, and today I’m going to list some of my personal favorites. These are all about my favorite subject: movies! I have the equivalent of a week total of the podcasts that are listed here on my iTunes. These aren’t in any particular order--not by popularity, not by year, not by hosts, not alphabetically. If you like these, please give them a listen. All of these are available for free on iTunes, but please visit their websites!
Podcast: The Hollywood Saloon
Location: TX/CA
Hosts: Andy Siems and John Jansen
Website: http://www.hollywoodsaloon.com
These two guys have an absolute out-and-out love of film. Shows ranging from “Apocalypse Hollywood” to “Never Happened” include serious discussions on film grammar, direction, and execution and also fun and loose topics on sci-fi, superhero, and action movies. Both subjects are dealt with in the same attitude and zest for cinema. Andy and John complement each other excellently--Andy tends to be the more wild and energetic fanboy (which is the deepest of compliments straight from my heart) whereas John is the more staid, informative voice of reason. They could easily slip into the shoes of film’s greatest duos--Marty and Doc, Kirk and Spock, Jules and Vincent, Oscar and Felix, etc. They’re like two halves of the same brain!
Favorite episodes: “Apocalypse Hollywood” (what is wrong with Hollywood and how they can save themselves), “McMovies--Fast Food Filmmaking” (the quickie movies that are made by low-rate directors), “Sold Out--The Decline of Movie Marketing” (the history of movie trailers), “Star Wars vs. Star Wars” (exploring the original and prequel trilogy of the Star Wars films), “Star Wars @ Home” (detailing the changes made to the Star Wars films), “The Temple of Jones” (chronicling the Indiana Jones films, including Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), “Face-Off: The Social Network” (examining David Fincher’s drama about Facebook), “Never Happened” (what movies got to the starting line and were never heard from again)
Podcast: Midnight Movie Cowboys
Location: Memphis, TN/Melbourne, Australia
Hosts: Hunter Duesing and Stuart Baulk
Website: http://www.midnightmoviecowboys.com
This podcast is truly international: one guy from the Southern-fried home of rock ‘n roll and the blues and the other from the outlands of the Down Under. But just because they’re from two different sides of the planet doesn’t mean they aren’t on the same wavelength. Hunter and Stu are fantastic hosts and play off of each other well. They’ve only made one episode where they are both in the same room (“Thor: Never Let Down Your Asgard”), but in the rest of their shows, you’d practically never notice. Each of their subjects are equally different and interesting, proving that with the Midnight Movie Cowboys entertainment is as mysterious as the midnight is dark.
Favorite episodes: “Who Do We Think We Are?” (the initial show and a sample of Hunter and Stu’s film tastes), “Disney On Ice/Warner Goes to Hell” (examples of popular controversial animation ranging from Bugs Bunny to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), “I Confess: The Guilty Pleasures” (the movies that Hunter and Stu are ashamed that they love), “The Intergalactic Laxative” (Star Wars is thoroughly examined), “Thor: Never Let Down Your Asgard” (Over beer and Memphis burgers, Stu and Hunter discuss Thor), “Elvis: From Tupelo to Tinseltown” (The ultimate hometown hero of Memphis, TN and his filmography), “Midnight Movie Madness” (the movies that are hidden from the light and some for good reason; listen to the end for a nice shout-out for yours truly), “From Hand to Mouth” (going through the filmography of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky), “The Apes of Wrath” (Hunter and Stu’s love of the Planet of the Apes films)
Podcast: Magical Definition Podcast
Location: FL/MA
Hosts: Nathan M. Rose/Jim Hill
Website: http://www.magicaldefinition.com (please also visit http://www.filmdirect.com and http://www.jimhillmedia.com)
Nowhere will you find a more honest podcast about the Walt Disney Company. Nathan and Jim discuss weekly subjects all about Disney--the theme parks, the cruise lines, the TV networks and shows, but they mostly talk movies. Jim is a veteran Disney insider with loads of secrets to share. You can really learn a lot from the both of them and appreciate the corporate decisions the Disney Company makes a lot more. Who would think that corporate stock information could be so entertaining?
Favorite episodes: “The Disney Company: The Marvel Years” (how Disney plans to use Marvel), “TRON: Legacy” (note: there are multiple episodes on this subject – all fantastic), “Phineas and Ferb 2nd Dimension” (details Disney’s upcoming live-action-animated adaptation), “Disney’s The Lone Ranger” (insights into its troubles), “Unwrapping Disney’s Christmas Carol” (how marketing affected Disney’s A Christmas Carol)
Podcast: How Did This Get Made?
Location: CA
Hosts: Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Jason Mantzoukas
Website: http://www.earwolf.com/show/how-did-this-get-made/
My last major post was on guilty pleasures. This podcast celebrates them by verbally beating them senseless. Paul and June are famous TV actors (most notably [adult swim]’s NTSF:SD:SUV::, which I think is hysterical; Paul and Jason are on The League together), which means that they often are joined by famous TV personalities including Patton Oswalt and Paul Rust. They laugh and joke about how bad these movies are but try to find some redeeming qualities about them (which is hard). Still, it’s clear Paul, June, and Jason have a love of bad cinema, and if you’re willing to let them talk you through it, it might give you reason to accept these bad films.
Favorite episodes: “The Last Airbender” (this film was a middle finger to anime fans everywhere), “Drive Angry” (just because Nicolas Cage gets even crazier doesn’t make it a great movie), “Mac & Me” (McDonald’s longest commercial is a shameless rip-off of E.T.), “Green Lantern” (a promising superhero movie quickly goes south), “The Smurfs” (the adults that see this children’s films will be horrified), “Superman III” (this is a live episode with guest-host Damon Lindelof as they dissect Superman’s comedic adventure with Richard Pryor)
Podcast: United States of Geekdom
Location: TX
Hosts: Rick Gutierrez, Cole Houston, Catherine Houston, Andrew Farmer
Websites: http://www.unitedstatesofgeekdom.com/ and http://www.jointheusg.podbean.com/
If you are looking for shameless geek love, this podcast has it in spades. Rick, Andrew, Cole, and Catherine are four genre film fans flying their geek flag high. However, unlike most of these podcasts where there is standard structure, USG is pure, lovable comedic chaos. Rick often acts as the voice of reason, while Andrew is the clear wiseass of the group, Cole is the Egon Spengler-like researcher, and Catherine has a bubbly girl-geek perspective. As an unadulterated celebration of all things geeky, this podcast will definitely leave you with a smile on your face.
Favorite episodes: “Homer Ain’t Got Nothing on George Lucas!” (answering the question "what made us geeky?"), “Rodan with Cheese!” (celebrating the Godzilla series), “Christmas Will Always End Badly!” (favorite Christmas films and TV specials)
Podcast: Nowhere in Mulberry
Location: TX
Hosts: Jason Walstrom/William Laughner
Website: http://www.nimpodcast.blogspot.com and http://www.nimchat.com
It’s a podcast with a weird and wacky name and hosted by two weird and wacky guys. Jason and Bill host a weekly show where they talk about both movies and TV shows; what makes them different from the others is that every other week, they host the show live and have a chat window where people in the chat can comment live on the stream and even get mentioned on the show!
Favorite episodes: “DQ’d” (talking “Star Wars: The Old Republic”, Footloose and Batman Year One), “Metal!!!” (talking John Carpenter, “Big Brother” and Damnation Alley)
Podcast: The Film Thugs
Location: TX
Hosts: Jim Dirkes, Clarkson Campbell
Website: http://www.thefilmthugs.com
How does one describe The Film Thugs? Rough and hard-hitting, but knowledgeable. They give you their opinion and if you don’t like it, tough. These guys can be stone-cold drunk and be able to talk coherently on film. Not your normal bar buddies. Each episode is different, focusing on different directors or simply different questions about cinema. Don’t forget to listen to the show’s sub-podcast, Home Videodrome, hosted by Jim and Midnight Movie Cowboys’ Hunter Duesing on the weekly releases on DVD/Blu-Ray.
Favorite episodes: “Pixar, Parts 1 and 2” (on the filmography of Pixar), “David Fincher is a Very Fine Filmmaker Indeed” (on the filmography of David Fincher), “We see things a little differently” (on conflicting theories on movie characters and plots), “The Lost Episode” (on the filmography of John Carpenter), “Will you please calm the EFF down!!!” (overrated movies, directors and actors)
Podcast: The Golden Briefcase
Location: Austin TX/Los Angeles, CA
Hosts: Jeremy Kirk/Tim Buel
Website: http://www.firstshowing.net/category/podcasts/goldenbriefcase
This is the only movie-news website podcast I listed. Jeremy and Tim are two good hosts who bring on fantastic critics with great opinions. Open up and enjoy the gold within.
Favorite episodes: “The Muppets” (discussing The Muppets with Scott E. Weinberg), “The Prequel to the Remake” (discussing The Thing and The Avengers trailer with Elizabeth Rappe)
Podcast: Mousterpiece Cinema
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Host: Josh Spiegel
Website: http://www.mousterpiececinema.blogspot.com/
This is the most recently-started podcast on this list. And it’s the only podcast on the list with one main host (who occasionally is joined by a co-host). Like “Magical Definition Podcast”, Josh only talks about Disney films – both live-action and animated. He’s not shy about his opinions – if he really, really hates a movie (cases in point: “A Christmas Carol” and “The Santa Clause”), he will be very vocal about it. With Mousterpiece Cinema, a love of Disney is always appreciated.
Favorite episodes: “The Rocketeer”, “Tron”, “Atlantis: The Lost Empire”, “Ratatouille”, “The Muppets”, “A Christmas Carol” and “The Santa Clause”
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