Mixed Bag

140 - Maria

Welcome to the hallowed land of Joliewood! That's right, it's the Age of Ange for the next few weeks as we profile bisexual queen and one of the biggest movie stars of her day, Angelina Jolie!

Kicking us off is Jolie's high profile and bid for an Oscar, Maria! Directed by Pablo Larraín and third in the tragic white woman trilogy after Jackie and Spencer.

Maria Callas, the world’s greatest opera singer, lives the last days of her life in 1970s Paris, as she confronts her identity and life.

Will Jolie be able to live up to the Maria Callas gays (of which she has many stans) expectations? How will Pablo tie the trilogy together? And just how thick are those humongous glasses Ange has got on? Walk the streets of Paris with Jolie, Kodi Smit-McPhee and we as dive into Joliewood and uncover the woman behind the star.

139 - The Help

Hey y'all! Butter my biscuit, we're just three country gals committing to a bit. Thanks Virginia for the Ko-Fi donation, apologies to anyone who isn't yee-ing and haw-ing to hear our wonderful accent performances.

This episode we're taking on The Help (2011), a film about Black maids in the segregated South and the white lady who saved them all apparently. Grab a bowl of grits and fry up some chicken, time to dig in.

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138 - 2024 Top Ten Films

Welcome to the New Year, Baghags!

To start the year with a new tradition, we've split our 2024 Top Ten Films into a completely seperate episode! Last year, we tacked this onto our Wonka episode but because this year was bursting to the brim with episodes (and we didn't want to do a three hour episode) you can hear Matt, Cass and Jamie count down their favourites of 2024.

Catch us next time as we tackle our very first Ko-Fi challenge!

137 - Mothers' Instinct w Adam Goodall

For our final episode of 2024, we're rounding out the year with the legendary Adam Goodall who shares the good work on Mothers' Instinct (2024) starring Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain. 

Housewives Alice and Celine are best friends and neighbours who seem to have it all. However, when a tragic accident shatters the harmony of their lives, guilt, suspicion and paranoia begin to unravel their sisterly bond.

Available now on Prime Video, these mothers and their instincts must be seen to be believed so wee woo wee woo spoiler alert if you're listening without watching first cause this story GOES places. Will these two recent Oscar winners be able to build on their success or is this a misstep for Fantine and Tammy Faye? Who of the two child actors is serving and who is merely sulking and why couldn't Alice make it through that hedge in time? All this and more in our final ep for 2024! Look out for a full recap of the year of films and pop culture coming shortly. 

Finally, huge thanks to Adam for being such a delightful and insightful guest! You can follow Adam on Twitch and don't forget to keep on eye out for him on January 24th on The Macaroni Prince's stream for Dunkmaster, their version of Taskmaster.

Ka kite and see you in the new year!

136 - Fred Claus w Ben Wilson

Ho ho ho said the Santa Claus baby!

That's right, there's another gift under your tree, a BONUS Christmas episode with a new guest Ben Wilson! Playwright, actor and cinephile, Ben is a mega-fan of 2007's Fred Claus starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti! He loves it so much, he even learned how to play the soundtrack on piano.

Fred Claus and Santa Claus have been estranged brothers for many years. Now Fred must reconcile his differences with his brother whom he believes overshadows him. When an efficiency expert assesses the workings at the North Pole and threatens to shut Santa down, Fred must help his brother to save Christmas. (Sourced from Letterboxd)

Will Fred and Santa be able to resolve their differences? Can we stomach the appearance of a cursed actor or will it all fall apart like a House of Cards? And why IS there a Naughty List, Santa? Kind of a fucked up thing to create in the first place. All this and more in our bonus holiday episode!

135 - Red One w Lucas Neal

Meri Kirihimete ya filthy animals!

It's the holiday season so it's time to invite the Ghost of Christmas Pod, Lucas Neal!

We're always down to catch a new release so we thought a recent Christmas movie, Red One (2024) would be the ticket, starring Chris Evans, J. K. Simmons and frequent Mixed Bag offender Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

After Santa Claus (codename: Red One) is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security must team up with the world’s most infamous tracker in a globe-trotting, action-packed mission to save Christmas. (Sourced from Letterboxd).

Will the Fast & Furious-ification of the Christmas mythos be the trick for Lucas and the MB trio? Are you bold enough to call Head of Security an Elf instead of E.L.F? And where did Chris Evans go so wrong? Once again, huge thanks to Lucas for bringing the Christmas cheer to the pod!

134 - Bee Movie

Cass here filling in as the description writer. It would be so very Gen Z of me to just copy and paste the entire script of Bee Movie here in the description field, but I fear we may fuck up the podcast hosting website somehow by doing that. So, here it is, the Renee-sance (or is it Renee-zance?) coming to a close just before we hit our Christmas specials.

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133 - Cold Mountain

We're kicking off the Renee-ssaince in earnest after our lost episode last time, it's time to visit COLD MOUNTAIN. Directed by Anthony Minghella (The Talented Mr. Ripley, The English Patient) and starring Jude Law, Nicole and our focus of this mini series, Renee Zellweger, will this be a stirring epic or a significant snooze?

In this classic story of love and devotion set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman deserts his unit and travels across the South, aiming to return to his young wife, Ada, who he left behind to tend their farm. As Inman makes his perilous journey home, Ada struggles to keep their home intact with the assistance of Ruby, a mysterious drifter sent to help her by a kindly neighbor.

Also featuring a murderer's row of supporting actors, will the trio be warmed by the mountain or left cold by its charms?

 

In Memoriam (Down with Love)

An update.

131 - Sleepy Hollow w Mike Bryant

OooOOOoooooOO! It's that time of year ghouls and gals! It's spooky season and it's time to bring on our foe of the podcast, Mike, to select his next horrific mix, this year it's Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Skeptical young detective Ichabod Crane gets transferred to the hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, New York, where he is tasked with investigating the decapitations of three people – murders the townsfolk attribute to a legendary specter, The Headless Horseman. (Sourced from Letterboxd)

Will this second time dipping into the Burton/Depp be as fruitful as the surprisingly OK Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? How many British thespians can you count in the sleepy town of Sleepy Hollow? And Tim Burton sure does love to cast his girlfriend/partners in like every single movie, huh? All this and more as well as plenty of juicy pop corner chats in our Halloween ep of Mixed Bag! 🎃 👻