Nerd Lunch

Kay, Robert Zerbe, Pax, and Michael look back at their favorite movies, shows, and books of 2024, check in on their pop culture predictions and resolutions from the year, and make new ones for 2025.

Michael and Jess talk about a couple more horror comics this month. First is Becky Cloonan's dark fantasy short story collection, By Chance or Providence. Then Witch for Hire, a high school mystery by Ted Naifeh.  And we also talk a little about the movies Nosferatu (2024) and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957).

Michael, Pax, and Rob wrap up this month's Lounge talking about Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection, Batman: Resurrection by John Jackson Miller, Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Sure I'll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford, what makes a good Sherlock Holmes pastiche, and more.

After a loungeless December, Michael, Pax, and Rob are back to talk about lots of things including the TV series Rome, stand-up comedy albums, Transformers One, Red One, Wicked, and another superhero TikTok game.

Michael, Rob, Pax, and special guest The Bald Tiger (who strangely disappears whenever Rob's around) talk about the 1940 serial The Shadow starring Victor Jory, Veda Ann Borg, and... Roger Moore?

Michael, Rob, and Karen Flieger begin the new year with a new era in the Bond series. We're finally watching Daniel Craig and talking about Martin Campbell's reboot, Casino Royale. Or is it a reboot? What about M? Continuity is on the agenda as well as action, character arcs, and ambiguity about who the heroes and villains are.

Michael and Jess start a series of episodes focusing on horror comics. In this one, we talk about Junji Ito's adaptation of Frankenstein and Emily Carroll's short story collection, Through the Woods.  We also discuss the movies Smile (2022), Talk to Me (2022), Eyes Without a Face (1960), and Kuroneko (1968).  

Merry Christmas! As our very special gift to you, Michael, Rob, Michael DiGiovanni, and Jody Collins don't just talk about our favorite Christmas songs. We put them into brackets and vote on them until we determine the Greatest Christmas Song of All Time!

Michael and Rob welcome Jeff Somogyi to talk about Les Mayfield's remake of Miracle on 24th Street, starring Mara Wilson, Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, and Dylan McDermott. We have differing opinions about its quality. How much does it makes sense? How does it compare to the original? And how well does it communicate its ideas about faith, truth, and capitalism? We get into all of it in this funny, thought-provoking conversation.

With this episode, all of the Sleigh Bell Cinema archives are now included in the After Lunch feed. Michael and his wife Diane talk about Jon Favreau's hilarious and heart-warming modern classic, Elf starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, and Zooey Deschanel.

In this penultimate rerun of old Sleigh Bell Cinema episodes, Michael talks with Jeff Somogyi about the hilarious and underrated Ernest Saves Christmas.

In the second of this week's Sleigh Bell Cinema reruns, Michael and Dan Taylor talk about killer robots, polar bears, and Martian uprisings in Nicholas Webster's notorious Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

In this rerun from Michael's old Sleigh Bell Cinema podcast, he talks with Mike Westfall about the 1947 classic Miracle on 34th Street starring Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, and Natalie Wood.

Michael and Rob welcome back Jacob Bean-Watson to discuss what's either a tangential Christmas movie or a Christmas ghost story, depending on your point of view. It's The Curse of the Cat People, Val Lewton's controversial follow-up to his noir horror film Cat People from a couple of years earlier. Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph, and Elizabeth Russell return from the earlier movie, joined this time by child actor Ann Carter, Lewton-favorite Sir Lancelot, and Julia Dean.

Michael and Rob welcome David May back to the show to discuss this year's Holiday Spirit movie. For us, Holiday Spirit films are undeniably about Christmas, but without any fantastical or magical elements. And this one is Office Christmas Party starring Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, TJ Miller, Jennifer Aniston, and Kate McKinnon, while also featuring Courtney B Vance, Rob Corddry, Randall Park, Sam Richardson, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Jillian Bell, Vanessa Bayer, Karan Soni, and Jamie Chung.

In accordance with tradition, Mike Westfall from the Advent Calendar House podcast returns to help Michael and Rob kick off the Christmas season right with another Christmas Carol adaptation. This year, we're watching the classic 1951 version (titled Scrooge in the original British) starring Alastair Sim.

Rob, Michael, and Pax finish up this month's lounge talking about Agatha All Along, Seasons 4 and 5 of Fargo, lots of podcasts, a game in which Rob has Pax and Michael create new MCU characters, Tears for Fears' new concert film, and much much more.

In the first half of this month's lounge, Rob, Michael, and Pax talk about movies for Native American Heritage Month, recent movies Heretic and Woman of the Hour, books like The Daughters of Block Island by Christa Carmen, What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher, The Devil You Know by KJ Parker, and ever so much more.

After a few episodes determining the best TV themes from various genres, Michael and Rob are joined by Jacob and KC from The Movie Connection podcast to discuss the top four from each category and decide which is the Ultimate TV Theme Song of All Time. 

Michael, Rob, and Pax watch the fourth Fast and Furious movie. It's a prequel to the third one, but it also starts putting the disparate first three movies together to move the series towards what it's going to become. It's crazy, it's exciting, but is it good? And what about its own prequel, Los Bandoleros, directed and co-written by Vin Diesel?