Middlebrow Madness

Sports fans, we nominally talk movies about on the show, but you know what else crops up a lot in this, our landmark 30th episode and our first missive of 2021? Racism in Hollywood, and piss. Lots of it. Not necessarily in that order. We go short on some masterpieces and long on what Derek loves to call "rich texts." There's even a little metagaming going on. All in all, another classic episode on the road to crowning The Greatest Movie of All Time*. This week's matchups: The Kid v. Gone With the Wind Diabolique v. The Green Mile A…

Sports fans, you are getting four podcasts for the price of one this week! In addition to the usual movie bracket-based shenanigans, we have a QAnon-skewering politics podcast at the top, a short true-crime missive in the middle, and a full-on miniature games podcast to close the whole thing out. Digressive? Us? Perish the thought. The march towards crowning the Greatest Movie of All Time* continues! This week's matchups: To Kill a Mockingbird v. Gran Torino Psycho v. La La Land Isabelle's favourite murder (Hinterkaifeck murders | Wikipeda) See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD] Drop us a line: middlebrowmadness@gmail.com Follow the…

Running parallel to our intrepid hosts' quest for the Greatest Movie of All Time* is their quest to make each episode of the show longer and more digressive than the previous one. And sports fans? Both quests are humming along quite nicely. So what treasures does this episode contain? The residual evils of pandemic capitalism! An NBC fantasy miniseries no one remembers! A song lyric open mic! And oh yeah, two of the greatest masterpieces of world cinema going head-to-head in a first-round matchup better befitting the Sweet Sixteen. Plus, of course, takes, takes, and more takes. In short, another…

A little bit of inside baseball for you, sports fans: when Isabelle sent Derek the edited version of the show, she titled it "The One Where It Goes Off the Rails." What could possibly have made the longest episode of the show to date disintegrate in such a way? Could it have something to with the giant detours (Sasha Grey: Cinephile, the tragedy of Kelsey Grammer, the "Reverse Roger Deakins," a class project gone horribly wrong, the legacy of Current TV) that our intrepid duo take while talking about a rock-solid quartet of participants? Listen to what is shaping up…

It's been a long, long six months, sports fans, but the show is in fact back from the dead! We pick up right where we left off, which is to say we have a long X-rated digression right at the top and then remember that there are movies to talk about. Four movies to be precise. Four flicks enter, two flicks leave! It's like every other episode, but with different discursive tangents about pop culture ephemera! We're back, baby! This week's matchups: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade v. Room The Matrix v. The Help - An Open Letter to…

We’re a little late, but no worse for wear, sports fans! This time around, our intrepid hosts ponder whether the crew of Sunrise actually got a pig drunk, the concept of audience manipulation in cinema, and contend with Derek’s wild, earth-shattering take about Ridley Scott. Plus, a new chapter in the Untitled Isabelle Arf Fan Fiction Project (that I swear Derek didn’t sandbag; there were some recording shenanigans at play, I promise). In short, another classic episode!This week’s matchups: Amadeus v. Sunrise Gladiator v. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale–Join the Middlebrow Madness Discord!–See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD] Drop us a line:…

Sports fans, this one’s got everything you can ask for: weird bits, charlatanry, amphibian Messiahs, v i b e s, nostalgia, smart stuff, dumb stuff, and what is probably the single most shocking scene in any film we’ve covered so far. Here’s a hint: it has something to do with the movie with the word “Nuremberg” in the title. in the bracket. In short, another classic episode!This week’s matchups: Heat vs. Judgment at Nuremberg The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King vs. Dog Day Afternoon–See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD] Drop us a line: middlebrowmadness@gmail.com Follow us on…

Sports fans, Derek knows he fucked up the number of the show in the intro, don’t worry about it. But despite that rocky start, our intrepid hosts navigate between the twin poles of Wild Digressions (conspiracy theories! the recorded output of the Decemberists!) and Hard-Hitting Film Criticism (the lingering effects of propaganda! agreeing in bad faith! the Cable Hall of Fame career of Wolfgang Petersen!). Plus, chapter 2 of the Untitled Isabelle Arf Fan Fiction Project. In short, another classic episode!This week’s matchups: Das Boot v. Platoon The Lives of Others v. The Wages of Fear–See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD]…

We’re back with a vengeance, sports fans! We talk about the why of the dudebro canon, director market correction, the funny side of Ingmar Bergman, and the motion picture with the credits that have perhaps aged the worst of all the movies we’ve covered so far. Plus, Isabelle introduces a new node in her increasingly elaborate web of bits. In short, another classic episode!This week’s matchups: Snatch v. Wild Strawberries The Usual Suspects v. La haine–See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD] Drop us a line: middlebrowmadness@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter: @middlebrowpod Follow Isabelle on Twitter: @spacejamfan Follow Derek on Twitter: @derek_g