Mixed Bag

"Suck a toe, get your piggies licked" - Matt Loveranes, 2026

Hey, are you one of those people who only listens to Mixed Bag for Pop Corner and skips the feature presentation? Then you're going to love this one where we talk about The Odyssey in Pop Corner for about as long as we talk about The Fountain. Sometimes the Baguettes have to record a podcast on Saturday night and things get pretty hazy, okay?

The Fountain is Darren Aronofsky's Extremely Deep film all about this guy who's searching for the secret to everlasting life (or more like everlasting WIFE, since his impetus is saving his dying wife). We see the same basic story play out over three different yet intertwined timelines. It's definitely the kind of movie a seventeen year old thinks is very cool and profound, which is why Jamie brought it as her personal pick for the episode.

Pop Corner chat includes (but is not limited to:) The Odyssey, Madonna's new album and her place as a cultural figure ("Me and Madonna? We're the same," says Matt) and a tribute to New Zealand's own dear departed Sam Neill.

That's IT! I've had it with these motherf*ckin' SNAKES on this motherf*ckin' PODCAST!

Our ongoing surprise series JetBag: Emergency Landing continues with another instalment, and this one is a real first class episode if I do say so myself. Featuring yet another Evil Flight Attendant theory, reflections on the band Cobra Starship, and a pitch for a brand new Obra Dinn-alike video game (TM TM TM).

Over in the Pop Corner we talked about so many things I've divided them into categories:

New Release Movies

The Invite, Toy Story 5, Couture

Old Movies

Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982), Orpheus (1950), The Doom Generation (1995), Crooked House (2017), O Brother Where Art Thou (2000), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

TV

The Traitors NZ Season 3, Widow's Bay

Video Games

Alice: Madness Returns (2011), The Seance of Blake Manor (2025), Ratline (2026), Utter a Name (2025)

Music

CMAT's Euro-Country (2025)

RIP

Bonnie Tyler, your rasp will live on forever.

Happy Pride (June pride is the only element of American cultural imperialism recognised by the Mixed Bag crew). We're celebrating by watching... a movie that was widely protested by the gay community when it was released?

That film is Cruising, a William Friedkin joint where Al Pacino goes undercover in the Meatpacking District to catch a gay serial killer. Or is he the gay serial killer himself?

The essay Cass finds at the end of the episode is also worth a read, and can be found here.

Over in the Pop Corner, we talk The Boys in the Band (1970), Disclosure Day, the mobile game Cats & Soup: Magic Recipe [please help I am addicted], The Christophers, ""sport"" including ""the Hurricanes"", Kissing Jessica Stein (2001), the short documentary "He Won't Stop Building a Map to an Imaginary Place" by People Make Games, and reaction videos of people listening to Olivia Rodrigo's you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love.

The final episode of Demisexual is here! And for the first time in the miniseries, Demi isn't the main character. But where does this performance fit in our Demisexual Rankings? You'll have to wait until the end of the episode to see.

"The Angels are charged with finding a pair of missing rings that are encoded with the personal information of members of the Witness Protection Program. As informants are killed, the ladies target a rogue agent who might be responsible." (Sourced from Letterboxd). 

Over in the Pop Corner, we talk Tiny Bookshop, Battlestar Galactica (2004-09), Mother Mary, Backrooms, The Christophers, the recent Wellington Film Society mini-festival, and Olivia Rodrigo's new album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (which Cass can confirm she has also listened to now and also thinks is great, especially the first part).

We're still Demi-sexual here on Mixed Bag, and this time we look at the film infamous for inadvertently leading to the 2022 Oscars Slap: G. I. Jane.

"In response to political pressure from Senator Lillian DeHaven, the U.S. Navy begins a program that would allow for the eventual integration of women into its combat services. The program begins with a single trial candidate, Lieutenant Jordan O’Neil, who is chosen specifically for her femininity. O’Neil enters the grueling Navy SEAL training program under the command of Master Chief John James Urgayle, who unfairly pushes O’Neil until her determination wins his respect." (Sourced from Letterboxd). We talk about whether this film really goes into the true horrors faced by women in the military, what G. I. even means and why all three of us thought that the final scene of this film was implying a surprise gay twist.

Plus, we talk through some of our recent watches: short discussions of The Sheep Detectives, Caterpillar, Cover Up, Magellan, My Cousin Rachel (2017), Battle of the Sexes (2017), Misericordia (2024), True Grit (2010) and Obsession. Jamie and Matt offer their defence of Peter Hujar's Day, while Cass still thinks it is exquisitely boring. In the TV world, we talk Wie is de Mol?, Survivor and Ready Gamer Mum. And Jamie grants Rita Bullwinkel honorary trans status in admiration of her short story series Belly Up.

We continue the Demi Moore miniseries with a movie that made many viewers question their values, and made Cass question where she could get a cool backpack/vest/saddlebag combo. As Letterboxd says: "John Gage offers a down-on-his-luck yuppie husband $1 million for the opportunity to spend the night with the man’s wife." Would you take the money?

We also talk about the Rise of the Golden Idol video game series, music documentaries Little Richard: I Am Everything, It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley and Luther: Never Too Much, Ball of Fire (1941), Julio Torres' Color Theories, Chris Fleming: Live at the Palace, Kimberly Bellflower's John Proctor is the Villain, Saraid de Silva's Amma, Resident Evil 4 and its upcoming movie adaptation. Plus for some reason Jamie delivers a full beat-by-beat recap of Species (1995).

OOOoooooOOOoooOOH! Is it spooky season!? No, it's just time for the second instalment in our Demi Moore series, Demisexual.

"After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic" (Letterboxd). We clearly have a lot to say about Sam Wheat and his otherworldly antics. Apologies for the occasional loud storm sounds -- the night after we recorded this, a massive flood came and ruined several of Jamie & Cass's neighbours' homes. We're fine though!

Over in the Pop Corner, we chat The Pitt, James Whale's Universal Monster movies (specifically The Old Dark House (1932) and the iconic queen Ernest Thesiger), In the Mood for Love (2000), The Cell (2000), The Cranes Are Flying (1957), this year's Snapshot Shorts, The Old Cold Hearts Club, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, and new albums from Robyn, Raye, Hilary Duff and Slater.

 

It's the first instalment of our latest miniseries: DEMISEXUAL. That's right, we're celebrating the life and career of Ms. Demi Moore, starting right here at her first feature film appearance St Elmo's Fire.

Letterboxd has a very long summary for this one, so we'll just say that it's about seven friends in their post-university era, trying to get their lives and love lives together. Also, most of the men should be in jail!!!!!!!

In the Pop Corner, we chat Green Snake (1993), Project Hail Mary, After the Hunt (2025), Stick It (2006), I Swear (2025), the pro-shot of Merrily We Roll Along, a recent concert from the Mountain Goats, and a prolonged discussion of The Drama. We do get into spoiler territory for The Drama at a certain point, so feel free to skip ahead to 32:19 if you want to go in fresh!

"Oh... they're the IRA." – Matt Loveranes, 2026

It's a Cass pick, which means you know it'll either be animated, a musical, or an obscure period piece (shout out Dean Spanley). Today's film is definitely in the third category and comes straight from Year 11 history class.

"Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those hoping to create a completely independent Irish republic," says Letterboxd. Not a word on the smouldering sexual tension between Michael and his bestie Harry Boland? Say it ain't so!

Over in the Pop Corner, we chat Oscars, the book Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, Two People Exchanging Saliva, the game Book of Hours, Song Sung Blue, Arrival (2016), Woodenhead (2003), Pillion and the graphic novels Witch's Egg (Donya Todd) and Kill Six Billion Demons (Tom Bloom). We also return to our discussions of The Bride and The Testament of Ann Lee, now that more hosts have seen the films. Also, Cass presents some strong evidence to prove that Christopher Luxon is a huge F1 fan (derogatory, on both sides).

It's Matt's personal pick, and in honour of the upcoming Oscars he's decided to go back to where it all began... "it" being Amy Adams' long unfinished road toward Oscar glory.

On the way to meet with an independent artist in the South, newlywed art dealer Madeleine is convinced by her husband, George, that they should stop to meet his family in North Carolina. Madeleine’s affluent lifestyle clashes with the family, but she befriends George’s wide-eyed and pregnant sister-in-law, Ashley, who is nearing her due date. Through the family, Madeleine gains greater insight into George’s character. (Sourced from Letterboxd).

Turns out a lot of people over on Letterboxd think this movie is really boring? Not so our three hosts, who are all in for a movie about complex family dynamics that doesn't make the same mistakes certain other films made (*cough* The Family Stone *cough*).

Over in the Pop Corner we talk recent gigs (The Beths and Laneway festival), Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, the video game TR-49, The Bride (brain attack!), Sirāt, the Wellington Central Library reopening, No Other Choice, The Testament of Ann Lee, The Moment and a long discussion of the Khia Asylum. Matt and Cass also discover their mutual love of Minute Cryptic. Download that app, Baguettes, it's free!