Mixed Bag

155 - Marley and Me 🐕

We cap off Tissue Box Office with a film where the tragic death is of not a long-haired brunette, but a short-haired blond! And also, he's a dog.

A newly married couple, in the process of starting a family, learn many of life’s important lessons from their trouble-loving retriever, Marley. Packed with plenty of laughs to lighten the load, the film explores the highs and lows of marriage, maturity and confronting one’s own mortality, as seen through the lens of family life with a dog. (Sourced from Letterboxd)

Over in the Pop Corner, we talk about One Battle After Another, Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, Prime Minister, Spettacolo! (2017), Marwencol (2010), Pavements, When We Were Trans by Kit Heyam, Corpses, Fools and Monsters by Willow Maclay and Caden Gardner and this new album by some lady called "Tailor Swiffed" that people are listening to for some reason (Cass wrote this).

154 - The Notebook 📓

We are Jamie-obsessed on this next installation of Tissue Box Office, to the extent where everyone keeps accidentally renaming Ryan Gosling's character after our beloved cohost. While it's clear the whole Mixed Bag trio are bona fide Gos-heads, what do they think about the film that launched a million teen girl crushes?

An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer’s. From a faded notebook, the old man’s words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths. (Sourced from Letterboxd).

Plus, in Pop Corner we talk Gloria (1980), A Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett, Dear Zachary (2008), Survivor: Australia vs. the World, Splitsville and the 2025 Emmy Awards.

153 - A Walk to Remember

We continue on our journey through the wonderful world of weepies with 2002's A Walk to Remember, the sleepover classic beloved by every teen girl who ever said "I can fix him."

When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town’s minister. Jamie has a “to-do” list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon. (Sourced from Letterboxd).

This episode we put forth our theory of straight-haired brunette death and the dead sister phenomenon. Plus, pop corner discussion of Baldur's Gate 3, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Detroit: Become Human, Man's Best Friend (Sabrina Carpenter), The Straight Line Was A Lie (The Beths), Jaws (1970) and The Naked Gun.

152 - Beaches 🏖️

Let's go to the beach, beach, let's go get away with Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey! Next on our Tissue Box Office list is a classic platonic weepie that somehow has little to no cultural footprint in Aotearoa New Zealand.

A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years. (Sourced from Letterboxd).

But before we dive into the beachy waves, we unpack the 2025 NZ International Film Festival in a bumper Pop Corner. Hear our thoughts on Sirât, The Mastermind, Resurrection, Sorry, Baby, A Useful Ghost, Dreams (Sex Love), Blue Moon, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Weed Eaters, Twinless, Little Trouble Girls, Sentimental Value and The Shrouds. Also, hear Matt and Jamie almost come to blows over Freakier Friday, and witness Matt's incessant bullying of The Life of Chuck.

151 - Love Story

Hankies at the ready, Baguettes, it's time for our new miniseries, TISSUE BOX OFFICE! Today, we discuss the concept of the term 'weepie', what qualifies as a weepie and a classic of the genre, 1970's Love Story.

Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV and music student Jennifer Cavilleri share a chemistry they cannot deny - and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young couple put their hearts on the line for each other. When they marry, Oliver’s wealthy father threatens to disown him. Jenny tries to reconcile the Barrett men, but to no avail. (Sourced from Letterboxd).

Is Love Story an absolute cheesefest? Will we weep? And is there any film out there that couldn't be re-titled to 'Til Death??

Pop corner kernels this episode include Sketchbook Coffee on Taranaki St, Downie Express, Wytchwood, Weapons (2025), 20th Century Women (2016), Ethel Cain's Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You and Renee Rapp's Bite Me.

151 (or actually 150?) - Fantasia 2000

Okay, maybe this one really is episode 150 after all. Regardless, you've been listening to Mixed Bag for 150 years. Feel old yet?

Blending lively music and brilliant animation, this sequel to the original ‘Fantasia’ restores ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ and adds seven new shorts. (Sourced from Letterboxd). If you don't love the Rhapsody in Blue sequence, you are probably a philistine and hate cinema and music?? That's what Cass thinks, at least.

Pop corner kernels include: Girls and Too Much, Chappell Roan's "The Subway", Friendship (2025), Polyester (1981), Princess Chelsea's Midwinter Ball and Monster (2003). Donate to our Ko-Fi to help us buy nice mics!

150 - Crash

So at one point in this episode we say that we should do something special for our 150th episode, which is next... well, actually we miscounted and this is our 150th episode. If you've been with us for all 150, thank you for sticking with us!

Today we talk Crash, the infamous race relations film that beat out Brokeback Mountain at the Oscars (a film which will not be featured on Mixed Bag because it is straightforwardly good). We keep accidentally referring to it as Trash in this episode, for good reason.

In post-Sept. 11 Los Angeles, tensions erupt when the lives of a Brentwood housewife, her district attorney husband, a Persian shopkeeper, two cops, a pair of carjackers and a Korean couple converge during a 36-hour period. (Sourced from Letterboxd).

If you want to support us into our next 150 episodes and beyond, check out our Ko-Fi page where we are ever-fundraising toward Good Microphones. Find us on https://ko-fi.com/mixedbag/

149 - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian w Renée Iosefa

We're joined by Museum Enthusiast and Night at the Museum superfan Renée Iosefa to discuss the second (and best) Night at the Museum film. We've been trying to get Renée on the pod for ages but this woman is always booked and busy, so we're excited to find a time to talk "the greatest film trilogy of all time".

Hapless museum night watchman Larry Daley must help his living, breathing exhibit friends out of a pickle now that they’ve been transferred to the archives at the Smithsonian Institution. Larry’s (mis)adventures this time include close encounters with Amelia Earhart, Abe Lincoln and Ivan the Terrible. (Sourced from Letterboxd).

Pop corner kernels this ep include The Funeral Parade of Roses, The Company of Strangers, Expelled!, Adults, Lorde's new album Virgin, Heretic and the Handmaid's Tale. Honour Renée's presence by visiting your local museum today, and support us at ko-fi.com/mixedbag.

148 - Albert Nobbs

Yes, Baguettes, it's the long-awaited NOBBSISODE. You know him, you love(?) him, it's Albert Nobbs. We're not using the official film synopsis for this one because it's <i>problematic</i> so here's our summary:

Albert Nobbs is a trans man who works at a swanky hotel in late 19th century Ireland. He meets another trans man who is out there thriving with a wife he loves and decides to acquire a wife of his own. Things go badly.

Pop corner kernels this week include the Tony Awards, Devil's Plan season 2, The Count of Monte Cristo, ~gay cinema~ including Princess Cyd, Coyote Ugly and Water Lilies, Sabrina Carpenter's Manchild and its music video, the new cast of Traitors US, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and Overcompensating. Dang we watch a lot of stuff.

🧳 Carry-On

VRRRRRRRMMMMMPHHH! Do you hear that?! It's another JetBag: Emergency Landing! And this time, we're shifting from the plane to the plain because 90% of this film is set in an airport!

Carry-On (2024) was a surprise hit at the end of last year by our Mixed Bag king, Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop, Jungle Cruise) and starring Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman. But now that the hype has died down, is the movie any good?

An airport security officer races to outsmart a mysterious traveler forcing him to let a dangerous item slip onto a Christmas Eve flight. (Sourced from Letterboxd) 

When will Juno 2/Jupiter happen? Is Jason ever going to take off that dirty cap? And what was UP with that one car sequence with Danielle Deadwyler?!

All this and more in our latest plane movie episode ✈️