Nerd Lunch

Michael, Rob, and Pax talk about more Harry Palmer, Matt Helm, and Mannix, The Marvels and the state of the MCU, lots of podcasts, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, the Mr and Mrs Smith TV series, Doctor Strange comics, John Byrne’s Superman, the Sherlock Holmes Expanded Universe, Predator Vs Wolverine, Jason Copland's Full Tilt, and ever so much more.

Michael, Rob, and Pax are back in the Lounge to talk about generational differences, local pro wrestling events, Darth Vader, the Godzilla x Kong novelization, Van Halen, Cinderella (2015), Bottoms (2023), the '70s Amazing Spider-Man TV series, MacGruber, Renegade Nell, Wilkie Collins, Road House (2024), Silo, Argylle (2024), and real estate.

Michael and Rob catch up with kaiju fans writer Corinna Bechko (currently of The Space Between) and David May about the new entry in Legendary's MonsterVerse series, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Godzilla vs. Kong's Adam Wingard returns to direct and brings along his The Guest star Dan Stevens to join returning MonsterVerse actors Kaylee Hottle, Rebecca Hall, and Brian Tyree Henry.

Michael and Rob welcome Shawn Robare and Jacob Bean-Watson to nominate 16 legendary movie villains, then match them against each other in a tournament to determine the greatest movie villain of all time. 

Michael, Rob, and Pax discuss director Matt Reeves' arrival on the Planet of the Apes with Dawn. The second movie in the reboot trilogy is set 10 years after Rise and stars Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell, Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Gary Oldman.

Michael and Jess finish Universal's Invisible Man series with Invisible Agent (1942), The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944), and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951). And Jess discusses the merits of Butterfly Kisses (2018).

Michael, Rob, and Karen talk about the Johnny English prequel that also happens to feature Sean Connery's last performance as James Bond. It's Irvin Kershner's alternate reality 007 film, Never Say Never Again, also starring Kim Basinger, Barbara Carrera, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Bernie Casey, and Max von Sydow.

Michael, Rob, and Pax wrap up this month's Lounge talking about Bodyguard, The Brothers Sun, Poker Face, The Bear, Michael Caine's Harry Palmer movies, Mannix, Red Hood comics, the Disney Villains books by Serena Valentino, brand loyalty, Drive-Away Dolls, Death and Other Details, and 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Michael, Rob, and Pax meet in the Lounge to talk about hot towels, plastic cups, Dune 2, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Marvel's Midnight Suns video game, King Kong and Godzilla movies, Thin Man movies, The Beekeeper, Wonka, Napoleon, The Artful Dodger, the live-action Last Airbender series, the first Perry Mason novel, Kitty Pryde comics, and much more.

Michael and Jess watch House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), the movies where Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, and the Wolfman all share the story together. But first, we catch up on other horror movies we've been watching like Burnt Offerings (1976), Strangler of the Swamp (1945), and Lisa Frankenstein (2024).

Michael, Pax, Evan, and Noel reconvene the Top 10 Years Later panel to look back at their favorite movies from 2014. And, in some cases, re-evaluate if those films are still favorites.

Continuing our Planet of the Apes series and moving into the modern prequels, Michael, Rob, and Pax discuss Rupert Wyatt's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and Andy Serkis as Caesar.

The villain is a cliché, Bond is a clown, and the name of the movie is just embarrassing. Michael, Rob, and Karen talk about whether or not those factors affect the enjoyability of Roger Moore's penultimate Bond film. 

Michael, Rob, and Pax finish this month's Lounge talking about the first book in Seanan McGuire's October Daye series, Gargoyles comics, Greek mythology novels, The Wind in the Willows meets Agatha Christie, more Narnia, Gray Man, and Dresden Files, the hardest foods to give up from each food group, Argylle, Lisa Frankenstein, Dune movies, Madame Webb, Hilda, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Pax's bad day.

Michael, Rob, Pax, and Evan talk about important topics like backing into parking spaces, automatic windshield wipers and headlights, imaginary friends, The Holdovers, The Artful Dodger, jazz, Three Musketeers movies, Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition by David Nirenberg, Moriarty: The Devil's Game, making time to write, and podcasts about JFK and Jack the Ripper.

Michael and Rob are joined by Adam Pope and William Bruce West from the Remember That Show? podcast to discuss and vote on comics' greatest villains, ultimately arriving at the Greatest Comics Villain of All Time. 

Michael and Jess talk about Bela Lugosi as Dracula in Tod Browning's 1931 classic, but also the famous vampire's children: Gloria Holden as Dracula's Daughter and Lon Chaney Jr as Son of Dracula.  But first, discussion of other horror (or horror-connected) movies: Gretel & Hansel (2020), The Midnight Meat Train (2008), The Sadness (2021), The Belko Experiment (2016), The Mean One (2022), and Poor Things (2023).

Having experienced the extravagance of Moonraker, Michael, Rob, and Karen are not upset at all when the Bond series goes back to basics in For Your Eyes Only. John Glen makes his directorial debut, Roger Moore returns as an age-appropriate Bond, and there are plenty of twists and turns with Carole Bouquet (sigh), Julian Glover, Topol, and... is that Charles Dance?

Michael, Rob, and Pax revisit Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes reboot to see if it's as bad as conventional wisdom and our panel's own memories say that it is.

Michael and Jacob Bean-Watson talk about Fox's final effort to get a Planet of the Apes TV series going, this time with a Saturday morning cartoon on NBC. (Michael probably says CBS in the discussion, but that was the live-action show. Fox partnered with a different network for the cartoon.) Return to the Planet of the Apes featured animation by Jonny Quest creator Doug Wildey and the voices of Austin Stoker (MacDonald in Battle for the Planet of the Apes) and Fred Flintstone himself, Henry Corden. There are plenty of problems with the cartoon, but also lots of fun. Especially when Jacob and Michael spontaneously create their own Planet of the Apes sitcom.