Episode 020 - Free Form #1

There wasn't a particular topic this week. Instead, we had Free Form #1.

• Feedback on Episode 019 from Dev.
  • Send your email feedback to flickabrac @gmail .com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that.
  • Alternately, you can call the voice mail line at (206) 350-2310. Line open 24/7. Standard calling rates apply. Calls will be inserted into the show in post-production.
• New in Theaters on January 4, 2008.
• Mini-review of Alvin and the Chipmunks.
• Free-form means just that: No specified topic. There was a bit of discussion of various movies seen recently and eagerly anticipated, including Transformers and The Dark Knight. That's all I'm prpared to disclose at this time.
• Links to pictures discussed:
  • Bat-Cycle from The Dark Knight
  • Joker teaser poster for The Dark Knight
• Special thanks to JohnB from Memphis and Rachel for their voice participation!
  
• Thanks also to Wendiigo, Kim, Jim Goodrich, and Dev for playing with us in the text chat!
• Music used in this episode:
  • Bumper music composed by StudioMig
    • Intro and Outro: Robot
    • New in Theaters: The Sword of Fire
    • Movie Review: Sherlock
    • Main Event: Transformers
  • (With appreciation to the Podsafe Music Network)

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January 5:
The Breakfast Club!

Episode 019 - Stupid Kid Flicks

The Genre of the Month was Kids' Movies.

• No listener feedback.
  • Send your email feedback to flickabrac @gmail .com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that.
  • Alternately, you can call the voice mail line at (206) 350-2310. Line open 24/7. Standard calling rates apply. Calls will be inserted into the show in post-production.
• In Theaters the weeks of December 28.
• Mini-review of National Treasure - Book of Secrets.
• Discussion of Top 25 Children and Family rentals at Netflix. (Link not provided due to the ever-changing nature of the list. List was current at the time of recording.)
• Discussion of Disney animated films as well as kids' movies in the host's personal DVD collection.
• (Thanks to Dev for pseudo-co-hosting and hanging out in the text chat.)
• Music used in this episode
  • Intro and Outro: Robot by StudioMig
  • (With appreciation to the Podsafe Music Network)

Correction/Addition:
While Cheaper By the Dozen was originally made in 1950 (within the span mentioned by the host), the original Yours, Mine, and Ours was done in 1968.

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December 29, 2007:
Free Form #1

January 5, 2008:
SMT #5: The Breakfast Club

Episode 018.1 - Super Special Show!

I was still recording the call even after the Holiday Movie episode. One visitor after the show was so entertaining that I asked him if I could use our talk to do another show. He agreed. And here it is. This added episode was completely unplanned and unscripted.

• Spoiler-laden discussion of Spider-Man 3, among other things.
• (Special thanks to SquidLord for his voice participation and permission to use our conversation in a special episode.)
• Music used in this episode
  • Intro, Spoiler, and Outro: Robot by StudioMig
  • (With appreciation to the Podsafe Music Network)

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December 22, 2007:
Genre of the Month: Children & Family

January 5, 2008:
SMT #5: The Breakfast Club

Episode 018 - Happy Hollandaise!

The Movie Topic was Holiday-themed Movies.

• No listener feedback.
  • Send your email feedback to flickabrac @gmail .com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that.
  • Alternately, you can call the voice mail line at (206) 350-2310. Line open 24/7. Standard calling rates apply. Calls will be inserted into the show in post-production.
• In Theaters the weeks of December 21.
• Mini-review of August Rush.
• Discussion of Christmas/Holiday movies, broken up into four categories: Drama, Kids, Comedy, and Horror.
• Discussion of movies (horror and not) based around other holidays.
• (Thanks to Wendiigo for his voice participation and to Kyohtee, esquared, and devd3 for hanging out in the text chat.)
• Links mentioned in the podcast:
  • Four-Minute horror movie by esquared. (Viewer Discretion Advised!)
  • Santa Claws at IMDb.com -- mentioned for the cover art. Also, click through on actress Debbie Rochon for some pun-filled movie titles.
• Music used in this episode:
  • Bumper music composed by StudioMig
    • Intro and Outro: Robot
    • New in Theaters: The Sword of Fire
    • Movie Review: Sherlock
    • Main Event: Transformers
  • We Three Kings by Jim Goodrich - Check out his podcast, With a Voice Like This!
  • Carol of the Bells and Deck the World by The Three Not So Wise Men
  • (With appreciation to the Podsafe Music Network)

Correction/Addition:
During the August Rush review, Lyla's name is Novacek and not Novak. (Pronounced NO-vuh-check.) I spelled it right in my script -- I just failed to pronounce it.

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December 22, 2007:
Genre of the Month: Children & Family

January 5, 2008:
SMT #5: The Breakfast Club

Episode 017 - SMT #4: The Santa Clause

The Specific Movie Talk was The Santa Clause.

• No listener feedback.
  • Send your email feedback to flickabrac @gmail .com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that.
  • Alternately, you can call the voice mail line at (206) 350-2310. Line open 24/7. Standard calling rates apply. Calls will be inserted into the show in post-production.
• In Theaters the weeks of December 7 and December 14.
• Mini-review of The Santa Clause 3
• Spoiler-laden discussion of The Santa Clause. Brief discussion of The Santa Clause 2. (Thanks to Wendiigo and Kim for their voice participation and to Kyohtee for hanging out in the text chat.)
• Music used in this episode
  • Intro, Spoiler, and Outro: Robot by StudioMig
  • (With appreciation to the Podsafe Music Network)

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December 15, 2007:
Holiday-Themed Movies

January 5, 2008:
SMT #5: The Breakfast Club

Episode 016 - NaNoWriMo: The End!

The Non-movie topic was the NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up.

• No listener mail. ( Send some of your own to flickabrac @gmail .com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that. Alternately, you can call the voice mail line at (206) 350-2310. Line open 24/7. Standard calling rates apply. Calls will be inserted into the show in post-production.)
• In Theaters the week of November 30.
• Mini-review of Hitman
• Word Count Update for National Novel Writing Month.
• Free-Roaming Discussion of how NaNoWriMo has gone for participants.
• Selected excerpts read from 2007 (in one case, 2006) novels. (Special thanks to Brent and Wendiigo for reading!)
• Extra Super Kudos to Kim from the Girls Night In podcast for her help getting Wendiigo patched in.
• Music used in this episode
  • Intro and Outro: Robot by StudioMig
  • (With appreciation to the Podsafe Music Network)

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December 1:
SMT #4: The Santa Clause

Episode 015 - By the Book

The Genre of the Month was Comedy.

• Preamble included current NaNoWriMo stats and recent activities.
• No listener mail. ( Send some of your own to flickabrac @gmail .com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that. )
• NEW LISTENER VOICE MAIL LINE - (206) 350-2310. Line open 24/7. Standard calling rates apply. Calls will be inserted into the show in post-production.
• In Theaters the week of November 23.
• Mini-review of Beowulf
• Introduction and examples of movie characters who are authors.
• Introduction and examples of movies where books are a major element.
• Free-roaming discussion of these and other topics.

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November 24
NaNoWriMo: The End

December 1:
SMT #4: The Santa Clause

Episode 014 - SMT #3: Stranger Than Fiction

This week's Specific Movie Talk was Stranger Than Fiction.

• No Listener Mail this week! ( Send some, if you dare, to flickabrac @gmail .com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that. )
• In Theaters November 9.
• Mini-review of Stranger Than Fiction
• Lots of back-and-forth on the good elements and not-so-good of the topic movie. FLICK-A-BRAC SPOILER WARNING IS IN EFFECT!
• Free-roaming discussion of Stranger Than Fiction and other subjects. (Thanks to Rachel for joining in and being my counterpoint to the movie!)

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November 17:
Books and Writers in the movies

December 1:
SMT #4: The Santa Clause

Episode 013 - NaNoWriters... Start Your Processors!

This week's non-movie topic was National Novel Writing Month.

• No Listener Mail this week! ( Send some, if you dare, to flickabrac @gmail .com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that. )
• In Theaters November 2.
• Mini-review of Gone Baby Gone
• Background and some statistics on National Novel Writing Month, also referred to as NaNoWriMo.
• Lots of yammery, stammery goodness about Novembers past and plans for the present, including kick-off and TGIO (Thank Goodness It's Over) parties.
• Special thanks to Kyohtee, who joined us on the phone for the first time! She was absolutely amazing.
• Free-roaming discussion of NaNoWriMo. (Thanks to Kyohtee and wendiigo for joining in and making it fun!)
• Some other links mentioned in the episode:
  • flickguy's Novel Sponsorship Page, to benefit NaNoWriMo
  • Wendiigo's 2005 NaNoWriMo attempt (Content Warning in effect)

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November 3:
Stranger than Fiction
Kicking off a month of NaNoWriMo-related episodes!

Episode 012 - What? No Laugh Track?

The Genre of the Month was Comedy.

• No listener mail again... ( Send some of your own to flickabrac @gmail .com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that. )
• In Theaters October 26.
• Mini-review of Michael Clayton
• What I like and dislike about Comedy movies.
• Free-flowing discussion of Comedy movies and stars, with a plethora of examples. (Thanks to Kim and wendiigo for joining in!)
• A podcast host who was so flustered it took a second recording session to get enough usable material to put out this episode.

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October 27
NaNoWriMo

November 3:
Stranger than Fiction
Kicking off a month of NaNoWriMo-related episodes!

Episode 011 - From Print to Screen and Back Again

The topic was Adaptations.

• No feedback this week. ( Send some in, if you dare, to flickabrac @gmail .com - spaces added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that. )
• In Theaters October 19.
• Mini-review of The Seeker - The Dark is Rising
• Pro and Con arguments on Adaptations.
• Free-flowing discussion of adaptations, with a ton of examples (thanks to wendiigo for joining in!)
• Thanks to Brent Irwin for firsthand information on an upcoming adaptation project: Robert R. McCammon's Blue World, in production now!

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October 20:
Genre of the month: Comedy

November 3:
Stranger Than Fiction
Kicking off a month of NaNoWriMo-related episodes!

Episode 010 - SMT #2: Bright Light! Gizmo Ca-Ca!

This week's specific movie topic was Gremlins.

• Listener Mail this week from Jaime of the Girls Night In podcast! ( Send your own, if you dare, to flickabrac @gmail.com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that. )
• In Theaters October 12.
• Mini-review of The Game Plan
• What I like and dislike about the movie Gremlins.
• As in-depth a discussion of Gremlins and its sequel as one can get, considering what these movie are -- nothing more than ordered chaos. (With thanks, as always, to Kim and Wendiigo, as well as Other Kim, for their participation in the discussion.)

Corrections / Additions, etc.

11:42 - Host refers to Gremlin leader as "Spike", when it is Stripe in the first movie. Spike is the leader of the second movie's crowd of gremlins. We apologize for the host getting his gremlins confused.

14:04 - Host says Steven Spielberg directed... not sure why. Host knew better, as he had said at the beginning of the movie chat (even though he got it wrong then, too) that Spielberg merely Executive Produced. There is no excuse. The host is stupid. In truth, Joe Dante directed both Gremlins movies.

During the portion of the program where the host mentioned the various references he spotted in Gremlins 2, the two references he completely omitted -- and which were the most fun -- were the Leonard Maltin review of the first Gremlins film (and the criticism such a review subsequently garnered) and the "breaking" of the film, which admittedly is more amusing when viewed in a theater. (As I recall, actually, they had done a video-specific sequence for the VHS release... I wonder if they included that in the special features I didn't bother to watch.)

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October 13:
Adaptations

November 3:
Stranger Than Fiction

Episode 009 - Heroes and Villans and Capes -- Oh, my!

This week's non-movie topic was City of Heroes. The idea was provided by Wendiigo, who -- ironically enough -- was unable to attend the live event. I hope he managed to enjoy the recorded show.

• No Listener Mail this week! ( Send some, if you dare, to flickabrac @gmail.com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that. )
  
• In Theaters October 5.
• Mini-review of The Brave One
• What I like and dislike about City of Heroes, the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) by NCsoft.
• Lots of yammery, stammery goodness (or, more accurately, badness) as the host discussed the ins, outs, and arounds of CoH, including the ten expansions (issues). [NOTE: Issue 11 has been announced! Use the dropdown menu to access the information.]
• A podcast host alone and (mostly) unedited. Beware!
• Special thanks/nod to Kim, who was able to put up with the host completely unedited. (As in LIVE.)

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October 6:
Gremlins!

Episode 008 - Fights... Car Chase... ACTION!

The Genre of the Month was Action.

• Listener Mail! ( Send some of your own to flickabrac @gmail.com - space added to protect against spambots. If you don't want it read on the show, please make a note of that. )
• In Theaters September 28.
• Mini-review of Dragon Wars
• What I like and dislike about Action movies.
• Free-flowing discussion of Action movies, with lots of examples. (Thanks to Kim and wendiigo for joining in!)
• A podcast host who was on crack. Good times!

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September 29
City of Heroes

October 6:
Gremlins!

Episode 007 - It's the same, only.... different

The topic was Remakes.

• New in Theaters
• Mini-review of Hairspray
• Pro and Con arguments on Remakes. (Brief debate as well.)
• Free-flowing discussion of remakes, with lots of examples (thanks to wendiigo for joining in!)

Download the episode!

September 22:
Genre of the month: Action Movies

October 6:
Gremlins!

Episode 006 - SMT #1: Animated Chatter

This week, the topic was Pixar Movies.

• New in Theaters
• Mini-review of War
• Discussion on the Pixar films:
  • Toy Story
  • A Bug's Life
  • Toy Story 2
  • Monsters Inc.
  • Finding Nemo
  • The Incredibles
  • Cars
  • (In Theaters) Ratatouille
  • (Coming Soon) Wall-E
• Discussion on the Pixar short films:
  • Tin Toy
  • Geri's Game
  • Luxo, Jr.
  • For the Birds
  • Knick Knack
  • Boundin'
  • One Man Band
  • Lifted
• Favorites and least favorites of the Pixar films and shorts, with thanks to Kim, Rob, Wendiigo, Brent, and Jim Goodrich for their participation in the voice chat!

Download the episode!

September 15:
Remakes

October 6:
Gremlins!

Episode 005 - Free Form #0

There wasn't a particular topic this week. Instead, we had Free Form #0.

• New in Theaters
• Mini-review of Breach
• Brief run-down of what the Free Form will be. About four times a year, there will be an extra Saturday at the end of the month. If, for whatever reason (like vacations), I have missed any podcast episodes, these "Snow Days" will be used to reintegrate into the pattern I've established. Otherwise, you get a "Free Form" episode, where you get to decide the topic(s).
• Mini-review of Stardust, courtesy of wendiigo
• Mini-review of Disturbia, courtesy of Kim from the Girls Night In podcast
• The Adventures of Kyohtee, Chipmunk Slayer!
• Cow Plant Talk, at the request of FreshRob from Pod the Sims
• Special thanks to Wendiigo, Kim, Kyohtee, and Rob for their contributions to this episode!

Download the episode!

September 1:
PIXAR on DVD!

Episode 004 - Genuine Simulated Living

The topic was The Sims 2, with special guest Rachel from The Sims 2 Challenges podcast!

• New in Theaters, both last week and this week
• Mini-review of Rush Hour 3
• Brief run-down of Sims 2 game basics -- with apologies for shameless self-promotion.
• What I like and dislike about Sims 2, as well as a discussion of Expansion Packs, Stuff Packs, and Sims Stories.
• Rachel discusses Challenges!
• Free-flowing discussion of Sims 2. (Many thanks to my special guest Rachel, as well as to Wendiigo and Brent for their faboo participation in the voice chat!)

Links Discussed In The Show:

• The Official Sims 2 website
• The Official Sims Stories website
• Show Notes for Rachel's Podcast
• Sims 2 Challenges Yahoo Group
• Pod the Sims 2, podcast by MelonFresh aka FreshRob
• Simmacratix, podcast by Donut
• iSims, podcast by Brent (link to come)
• List of Townie Names (Scroll down to the June 14 entries)
• Pictures of the Pleasantview Townies

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August 25:
Free-Form #0 -- To see if my "Snow Day" episode idea will work.
September 1:
PIXAR on DVD!

Episode 003 - Scary, ain't I?

The topic was Horror movies (Genre of the Month).

• New in Theaters
• Mini-review of Urban Legends: Bloody Mary
• Discussion on Pixar movies will be September 1, 2007. Shout out to the Girls Night In podcast for letting me steal a page from their book. They have a great podcast, and you should go listen to them. Now. Seriously. Go.
• Brief discussion of Torture Porn article at MSN.
• What I like and dislike about horror
• Free-flowing discussion of horror(majority of the chat -- thanks to wendiigo for being my panel expert!)

Correction/Addition:
Poltergeist, according to IMDb.com, did originally get an R rating, though the PG it ended up with came after an appeal to the MPAA. And I can't believe that, during the horror comedy segment, I failed to mention that great zombie classic Shaun of the Dead starring Simon Pegg. I hope they don't revoke my flickguy license.

Also, I had forgotten that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are actually married. I should have said, "love of the week" or some such, instead of "boyfriend of the week". (You'll understand if/when you listen.) Semantics aside, I stand by the sentiment.

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August 18:
The Sims 2, with special guest Rachel from The Sims 2 Challenges podcast!

Episode 002 - The Sequel

The topic was Sequels.

• New in Theaters
• Mini-review of Ratatouille
• Lots of stuttering by the host, even though he was working with notes this time
• What I like and dislike about sequels
• Free-flowing discussion of sequels (majority of the chat -- thanks to lurawan, wendiigo, and Byrd Man for joining in!)

Correction:
During the discussion of the animated Lord of the Rings, I asserted that Rankin and Bass had done both that and Return of the King in addition to The Hobbit. As it turns out, R&B only did Hobbit and Return, and NOT Lord. Ralph Bakshi's production stands alone.

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August 4:
Genre of the month: Horror Movies (Torture Porn)

Episode 001 - Meeting of the Mindless

There wasn't much going on in this introductory show. It was just:

• A brief overview
• Minimal Harry Potter chat
• Lots of stuttering by the host, who was working without notes

Lots of fun, actually.

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