I Just Don't See The Big Deal

Sooner than was originally expected, the boys decided to stage a reunion in which they discuss the Flat Earth phenomenon thanks to the phenomenal documentary on Netflix, Behind the Curve. Some thoughts on 2018 as a year for film are shared, Burgess takes a dump on Bohemian Rhapsody's revisionism, and both he and von Sternberg collectively cringe at the biggest friendzone ever captured on film (while pretentiously pontificating about the West's loss of faith in everything from experts to god himself, as always).Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, and "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod.

The hiatus probably wasn't worth it, but the boys wanted to make sure they closed out 2018 with a bang by covering what was probably 2018's most disturbing film, Lars Von Trier's The House That Jack Built. There's a little reconoitering involving a shared favorite film of 2018 and a few digressions involving Milton's Paradise Lost, but in the end, they just wanted to make sure you all could share in the revelry. Get into it and enjoy the discussion!Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, and "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod.

After a many-month hiatus thanks to von Sternberg's all-consuming obsession with the Balkans and other parts of disturbing World War II history, the boys took a bit to return to fine form discussing another member of the found footage sub-sub-genre of disturbing films. And when it came down to it, neither had high hopes for it until Last Podcast on the Left referenced it. But they get into it, along with Burgess opening the podcast with the edgiest of edgelord film criticism takes and von Sternberg being unable to shut up about warm blankets.Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, and "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod.

Many delays, cross-country trips, and lifestyle changes later, I Just Don't See the Big Deal is back! To kick off the next round of episodes, the boys decided to do an epic discussion involving the best and their favorite films of 2017. There's an inevitable conversation about the nature of Hollywood given how great von Sternberg thought Annihilation--the first big flop of the year--was for sci-fi cinema and even cinema itself. Burgess covers the Oscars and the boys hee and haw about the wins and snubs. There's a good conversation to be had here.Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, and "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod.

In the follow-up to their discussion on Raw, the boys finally take the dive into a discussion on, as Burgess calls it, the Grand Puba of the disturbing film canon, Cannibal Holocaust, which, along with Burgess' praise of the semi-recent It remake, neatly book-ends a discussion on the greatest gay love story ever told on film, Call Me By Your Name (and probably one of von Sternberg's favorite films of 2017). Come for the discussion, stay for Burgess' consistent use of eating puns. The discussion on the mockumentary aesthetic will also provide listeners with a fine preview of what is to come in the coming episodes of I Just Don't See the Big Deal.Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

After a busy holiday and month-long break, the boys are back, this time getting down and dirty with films devoted to CANNIBALISM. The ultimate taboo! And the best way to make von Sternberg sick to his stomach! Burgess takes a moment to sing high praises of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, they discuss cannibalism in general, and then they take a dive down the French-Belgian cannibalistic rabbit hole of 2017's Raw. Look at this first part as the appetizer to the main course that is the follow-up, Cannibal Holocaust!Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

In the second part of the boys' war criminals duology, they discuss the other half of their assignment, the 1988 Chinese exploitation--er, war drama classic, The Men Behind the Sun. Burgess needed a sidebar to yell at von Sternberg for a little while about why Andy Kaufman and thus Jim Carrey were (and are) geniuses, but after that, they dive right back into the muck of humanity. Give it a listen and stay tuned! Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

After a break for the Thanksgiving holidays and recuperation from von Sternberg's trip back to the frigid tundra that is Minnesota, the boys release their next in their quest to disturb themselves silly with the heavy hitters none of you want to watch. This time around they tackle war crimes--specifically those of World War II's Axis Powers--because what else could feel worse after tackling the darkness that is religion? This first segment, after revisiting the Weinstein Affair and its subsequent fallout, they go for the horrors of the Holocaust with Tim Blake Nelson's underseen 2002 drama, The Grey Zone. As Burgess said from the outset, "It was a tough watch." Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

In the second part of their religiously-charged pair of heavy hitting films, the boys give Darren Aronofsky's mother! the old college try (and that's not nearly as disgusting as it sounds). They give a lengthy but fun synopsis, since strangely that's required for the most obvious film of the year, and dive into the themes of environmental preservation, the nature of god, and Jennifer Lawrence's first great performance post-Winter's Bone. You know. The important stuff.Thanks againto Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

In this newest episode of the podcast, the fellas are beginning a rebranding process yet again as they pursue yet another pair of heavy hitters, one from eight years previous and the other from only a few months. This time religion, misogyny, misanthropy, and pure despair are on the table, so it shouldn't be a shock that the first part covers a film by misanthrope-extraordinaire Lars Von Trier, with his art-house horror masterpiece Antichrist! Burgess had experienced this, well, experience years ago and von Sternberg had made it a point to avoid it. How does it fare in their eyes in 2017? Is it really that big a deal? Start listening to find out! Thanks againto Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

In the second part of the boys' next major-slugger coverage, they cover Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, a notorious film from the mid-80s. Notorious why, though? It's really not that bad by TODAY'S post-Serbian Film standards, right? Well, we'll see! Burgess didn't have to do as much convincing to von Sternberg to watch this film as he did with the last travesty from Serbia they watched, mostly because Henry is pretty well-regarded. Before that, though, von Sternberg had to get something off his chest: how much he hated season 7 of Game of Thrones. Burgess has thoughts on the matter too and they're equally un-pretty. They even manage to have a discussion about the meaning of music in film.Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

The boys return to their own pale imitation of heavy hitters (major sluggers? Still working on it...) to follow up their Serbian Podcast with a two-parter. In this first part, after much ballyhoo about Burgess' new obsession with the hilarity that is MGTOWs and the at-first-legit-but-eventually-insufferable criticisms of Joss Whedon, they tackle James Franco's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's necrophiliac masterpiece, Child of God starring Scott Haze, loosely based on the deeds of several of our favorite serial killers. Next week, they'll be discussing another portrait of a serial killer, Henry........Portrait of a Serial Killer. Enjoy! Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

In the second part of the Social Justice Blockbusters special episode, the boys went after the Cinematic Feminist Achievement of the 21st Century Don't You Dare Criticize It Or You're Part Of The Problem, Wonder Woman. It's not all negative, but it manages to cultivate controversy, corporate conspiracy theories, and rampant insults to Suicide Squad. The boys manage to avoid distraction for the most part, but as always there are fun tangents to be had and howls of von Sternberg laughter in response to Burgess' dry wit. Enjoy!Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

In the newest episode of I Just Don't See The Big Deal Podcast, the boys land another two-parter on the two apparently "woke" or Social Justice Blockbusters of 2017, Get Out and Wonder Woman. This week, it's Jordan Peele's debut, Get Out, which of course is going to lead to a couple of pretentious white guys talking about racism (as if that delegitimizes it somehow?). The conversation is as eloquent as Jordan Peele's commentary on continental breakfasts and many laughs  and rants are had. Get into it! Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

In the second part of the newest saga of reviewing documentaries, the boys take on The Keepers, the Netflix pop-u-mentary series about the rape and abuse of students, the murder of two nuns, and the apparently settled case of recovered memory (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, but let's not let that get in the way of a successful documentary's narrative!). It's mostly a lot of ranting against the filmmaker by von Sternberg and attempts to make the analogy great again by Burgess (which is now the podcast's first catchphrase, apart from Serbian Film references), but it's an enjoyable lark! Give it a listen and remember to share and subscribe!Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

In this first part of the yet-again revamped podcast, von Sternberg takes a moment to describe the new format as having no intro (creating what his girlfriend affectionately and confusingly called an "Inceptro" and forced him to use in the title), the boys discuss the new PBS documentary Oklahoma City, as well as Timothy McVeigh and the nature of extremism and how its coursed its way through 20th century history. It's definitely a tangent episode, but that's just the way these guys are. Sit back and relax and enjoy the boys' two-part deep dive into two of the most popular political documentaries of the moment!Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.

It's been a month, but the boys are back with a bit of a palate-cleanser in the wake of the Serbian Podcast, in which they speak of their two "guilty pleasures" of recent years, Emilio Estevez's The Way and K-PAX starring pre-Underwood Kevin Spacey and post-Dude Jeff Bridges, as well as an in-depth discussion of one of von Sternberg's favorite 2016 films, Don't Think Twice (which apparently made Burgess weep like a small child) that leads them down the rabbit hole of discussion about the future of employment and the human species itself (yeah, a film about improv made by Mike Birbiglia can do that). Sit back and relax for what has now become known as "The Way-Pax!"Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra. 

It's been a long road, but the boys have finally reached the inevitable conclusion (and beginning): they have a discussion about A Serbian Film, now that Burgess has forced von Sternberg into watching it. There is not much else to say, but this is the beginning of the Major Sluggers (name subject to change) series of reviews of most disturbing films of all time. Get the dish on "newborn porn" and other awfulness this piece of garbage had in store. Was there merit? Possibly. Maybe. The boys discuss. Enjoy.Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra. 

After taking a nice month-long break (from posting, not recording), the boys return for their newest episode of I Just Don't See The Big Deal, in which they first tackle Marvel's pseudo-recent anti-corporate-minded diversity announcement of a return to just making regular money and then spend a good time covering Shane Black's The Nice Guys and Tom Ford's (semi?) triumphant return to the silver screen Nocturnal Animals. Burgess also opens with coverage of more recent events about a French parliament or something. In short, Burgess spends just over 10 minutes saluting a bunch of snooty, cheese-eating surrender monkeys who say "chowder" all funny-like.Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra. 

In the second part of Burgess and von Sternberg's recent filmic escapades, the boys dive into grimdark nastiness of The Mist and the portrayal of homosexuality in the black community in Moonlight (because what ELSE was it about?). Not much could go wrong, right? Actually very little. Give their takes a listen and prepare yourself for likely disagreeing with at least one of them. Thanks again to Creative Commons and the talents of these fine artists for allowing the use of their music: "Tainted Cloth" by Oelek, "The Cannery" by Kevin MacLeod, "Wagon Wheel" by Kevin MacLeod, and "The Troll of the Mountain Swing" by Underscore Orkestra.