Berri's Couch
192 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 16 hours ago -Two best friends who happen to be an Autistic and an English major sit down and discuss media, film and whatever they need to to justify a degree. So come along and waste some time with us or at the very least an hour a week.
Updates weekly unless life impedes us. All episodes can be found at https://www.patreon.com/berricouch
New episodes should be up once a week unless life proceeds to stop us.
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Episodes
Ep 091 - Who's the Real Villain
August 14, 2022 13:30 - 1 hour - 89.5 MB*TW* Talks of child abuse, child soldiers, war and murder/torture This is a very long breakdown of 2 moments where deeper reading beyond the propaganda of the main protagonist that we found where either the villains are nought but victims of the heroes and the society that they hold up as the "true way. Or the person once viewed as the heroic mentor is nothing but a power abusing narcist who wants children to die in their stead. My Hero Academia spoilers start at - 50:15
Ep 090 - Why We Love Villains
August 07, 2022 13:30 - 1 hour - 61.6 MBLook we as individuals and society love villains why is that? Well we will attempt to discuss why we personally think a villain can be loved, loathed and can carry a piece of media on their own.
Ep 089 - Villain v Antagonist
July 31, 2022 13:30 - 1 hour - 65.3 MBThese two concepts are not mutually exclusive and we will break this down and with various examples of how one character can be a villain but not antagonistic to the protagonist, the villain who is the antagonist and the antagonist who isn't a villain. Multiple tangents and uses of Avatar the Last Airbender and Harry Potter as examples for all conceptual breakdowns.
Ep 088 - Lee-quorice Allsorts
July 24, 2022 12:55 - 1 hour - 61 MBLook I have one good joke and I'm gonna tell it constantly. We now take a look at some of the other works Christopher Lee has been in. His voice acting, bit parts and even his music career will wrap up a month overlooking this incredible man's career and reminding ourselves that the world isn't so bad as he has yet to return in our darkest hour.
Ep 087 - Saruman Duh!
July 17, 2022 12:28 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBWe got to the iconic role that defined the man's career going forward and cemented him in the pop culture zeitgeist. Look we couldn't talk about Christopher Lee and not bring this performance up, now come with us and ponder the orb that is this role and if there is more to it then a major blockbuster movie and an iconic voice.
Ep 086 - Cult Leader Lee
July 10, 2022 13:30 - 1 hour - 57.5 MBToday we discuss the growing flavour of Christopher Lee's acting career as we discuss the cult leader flavoured variety in 1973's The Wicker man. We try to stay on the path but much like Sergeant Howie we kinda get nowhere and go around a lot of places with the overall perception being that Christopher Lee is mayhaps in control the entire time.
Ep 085 - Dracula Lee
July 03, 2022 13:30 - 57 minutes - 52.3 MBWhy is everyone so smooth? The least important question this movie raises but overall worth answering. This movie is psychic damage given form but still necessary to visit as we catalogue the career of this fantastic and memorable man. *splatters description in bright red obviously fake blood*
Ep 084 - Magical Girls Forward March
June 26, 2022 13:30 - 1 hour - 55.3 MBThis is the hot springs/beach episode, emotional break throughs from preceding episodes are unnecessary and will anything discussed here may have impact in the future? Probably not. Look we're discussing what we want from a genre so this is more light hearted then anything else. It's filler and we know it, and we're justifying it with it being a deliberate play to genre expectations.
Ep 083 - Why the Magical Girl is Important
June 19, 2022 15:34 - 1 hour - 66.8 MBA genre based on girls changing outfits at the speed of light and fighting monsters is important in ways that we cannot stress enough. We get a bit personal in this and even address some bad faith criticisms that are levied at the genre.
Ep 082 - Subverting Magical Girls
June 12, 2022 12:37 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBIf we don't talk about magical girls after saying we are are we subverting the podcast or you? HA! It doesn't matter because we are actually talking about 2 magical girl shows, one that has been deemed the "subversive" magical girl show and one that does not get talked about enough but is certainly the more numerically subversive take. At least in our opinion, so listen in and if you think we're wrong. Subvert expectations and disagree with us with an informed opinion.
Ep 081 - Superhero vs Magical Girl
June 05, 2022 14:39 - 1 hour - 55.8 MBAt the foundational level these are the same product and yet there is such a difference in how these are presented and accepted by various communities. Why do the muscled up men in skin tight spandex not be adopted by the gay community yet the girls in fluffy skirts with cute animal companions are almost universally embraced with willingness? Yes we all know target demographics but it does go slightly deeper than that and we are ready to guide you through our readings on this.
Ep 080 - Magical Girls are Gay
May 29, 2022 14:10 - 58 minutes - 53.8 MBTrust on this, the hyper-feminine, butt kicking teams of all girls are inherently gay. In that the genre rings true to a large portion of the queer community and can oft ring truer to experiences then most media. Time to tastefully change our outfits via silhouettes and flashing lights for us to figure this out.
Ep 079 - What Adaptation
May 22, 2022 13:02 - 1 hour - 56.4 MBWhy did they even try? In effort to be like these adaptations we are kinda phoning this in and just having minor breakdowns at the various times works we enjoyed got thrown into the studio paper shredder and then pieced together in "adaptations". Along with discretion we go off about adaptational changes that just grind our gears because we aren't going to make you listen to us just say "This sucks" for about an hour.
Ep 078 - Direct? Adaptations
May 15, 2022 11:04 - 1 hour - 59.3 MBFinally the contentious category of direct adaptations. Does adding a character for flow of the new medium still make it direct? Is a completely direct adaptation even possible? Will Bee one day reign in her tangents about superheroes? Maybe to all.
Ep 077 - Only the Greatest Hits
May 08, 2022 16:12 - 49 minutes - 45 MBJust like bands even books can have their equivalent of a greatest hits album and these adaptations are examples of that. There are lions, rabbits and continual praise of The Princess Bride movie and brief aside about the adaptation that is like ordering a gluten free, vegan pizza just for comparison.
Ep 076 - The Adaptation of Vibes
May 01, 2022 16:24 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBWhen an adaptation of a book keeps some aspects but removes others leaving a non-direct adaptation but not one that kept only the best qualities the question then comes up. Did it keep the vibe of the story? We go over 3.5 times that this was done and why we feel that this is a legitimate type of adaptation.
Ep 075 - Autistic Allsorts
April 24, 2022 12:48 - 54 minutes - 50.3 MBNow the rest of the creative field we were too lazy to put in their own episodes. Here are a variety of other creative Autistics who may or may not be known to you. This is a wrap on Autism month here and Bee will sit consumed with rage that she couldn't get all the episodes to be AA titles.
Ep 074 - Autistic Authors
April 17, 2022 15:51 - 1 hour - 80.2 MBFrom The Little Mermaid to modern adult fiction, join us as we explore three authors that use their autistic traits and views to create amazing fictional novels. We look into the truly nonsensical with Lewis Caroll, the loneliness of societal isolation with Hans Christian Anderson, and a new perspective on dating and relationships with Helen Hoang. Also, the moon is not cheese.
Ep 073 - Autistic Comedians
April 10, 2022 13:18 - 1 hour - 68.5 MBComedy is not just for allistics. Stand up comedy is often immediately written off for autistic individuals but now we highlight 2 stand up comics who are successful and can act as proof that we autisitcs are funny people and not just buzzkills.
Episode 72 - Autistic Actors
April 03, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 74.7 MBA look into 3 individuals who have graced the silver screen and have officially been diagnosed with autism. All were officially diagnosed but at different points in their lives and some have even left the acting gig all together. What do we think about them and their career paths along with theoretical questions we'd ask.
Ep 071 - Muppet Adjacent Stuff (MAS)
March 27, 2022 14:43 - 1 hour - 70.2 MBTo wrap up our month of Muppety goodness, join us as we talk about extra franchise accessories to the Muppet empire. We cover some of our favourite episodes of the original Muppet Show, discuss modern interpretations of the characters and re-adaptations of well-loved spinoffs, and have a quick therapy session about the nightmare that is Bobby Benson's Baby Band. You might even catch a glimpse of Gonzo's non-canon space adventure!
Ep 070 - The Muppets Again
March 20, 2022 14:08 - 1 hour - 59.9 MBAfter watching the Muppets Most Wanted we breakdown why that film is the best made muppet movie and why that is and why we are forgiving of flaws when it comes to the Muppets but we don't allow it when it involves any other franchise. There is also a gig economy industry looks after extended (forced) time away from your fanbase to explain why we (Jerri) vibe hard with Kermit in the beginning of this movie.
Ep 069 - Muppet Treasure Island
March 13, 2022 15:27 - 56 minutes - 51.8 MBMuppets + Tim Curry + pirates = A hit right. Wrong! What we ended up getting was the death throws of the movies that became a world wide thought experiment. Join us on the ship as we sail the seas of a movie that has made one of us fall asleep by the end of it. TWICE!
Ep 068 - The Muppet Movie
March 07, 2022 02:07 - 53 minutes - 49 MBWe go back to the turn of a decade to look at the first foray of the Muppets into feature length movies. From cameos to jokes, to even the vaguest of looks at the weirdly deep song lyrics and even brief discussions of what this started that other movies the studio has done polished perfectly.
Ep 067 - Hellboy vs Hellboy
February 27, 2022 13:36 - 1 hour - 87.6 MB*Let them fight meme* It's Who's Hellboy is it Anyway where the points don't matter and our opinions are our own. After revisiting the decisions made over 3 films categories have been made up and we try and decide which film is better overall.
Ep 066 - Rebooted Hellboy
February 20, 2022 11:26 - 1 hour - 67.2 MBIt happened so we must discuss it. The rebooted Hellboy that dared to release alongside Endgame (clear view how the studio felt) is it worthy of stand alongside the previous two cinematic releases or does it reek of studio cash grab now that the market seems to favour hero movies.
Ep 065 - Hellboy Again (2008)
February 14, 2022 09:41 - 1 hour - 72 MBFrom weirdly hot Rasputin to Abe Sapien in love; we're back at it again with Hellboy: The Golden Army. The second and final instalment of Guillermo del Toro's unfinished Hellboy Trilogy, the Golden Army sees us return to our old favourites, new players, and twice the romance! Join us as we explore character growth, miscommunication, Doug Jones, balance, wars, eggs and poetry.
Ep 064 - Hellboy (2004)
February 11, 2022 15:07 - 1 hour - 55.7 MB*Apologies: apparently some audio clipped out while exporting/recording, and there was some issues with our internet so we thought this was published on time!!* This time round we break away from explicit romances about fishmen to a wooden romance with a big, red monkey. We travel back to the early years of comic movies in this lesser talked about flick that stars Ron Pearlman, Doug Jones and some other people, 3 guesses who directed and the first 2 don't count.
Ep 063 - Fish Sticks, Jello and the American Dream
January 30, 2022 15:25 - 1 hour - 85.2 MBJoin us as we wrap up Guillermo del Toro month with a deep dive into one of his most recent films: The Shape of Water. We explore some of our favourite stylistic choices and themes that wind their way through del Toro's work, and how he utilises them - and switches them up on us! Featuring at least one more butt than you're expecting.
Ep 062 - Crimson Peak and Colour Theory
January 23, 2022 15:38 - 1 hour - 63.1 MBThis week on Berri's Couch: Jerri talks for over an hour about colours and how cool they are. In week three of our deep dive into all things Guillermo del Toro we take a look at the film Crimson Peak, and explore some of our favourite stylistic choices in the film. In particular, the use of colour to represent a multitude of themes and background information. Join us as we talk about romance, horror, set design, costuming, and three different flavours of ghost!
Ep 061 - A Trilogy in Two Parts; del Toro's Nearly Complete Magmum Opus
January 16, 2022 15:49 - 1 hour - 74.3 MBTrilogy normally applies to a set of 3 but as the third is still in development we are discussing the available 2 movies in what will eventually be a trilogy discussing the Spanish civil war and the rise of Francoism as translated through del Toro's whimsical dark fantasy that shows the world through the eyes of children stuck in the conflict. *TW* The word foetus juice is said quite a bit if this is squicky for you join us on a different episode.
Ep 060 - Jaegers, Kaiju and Expensive Dogs
January 09, 2022 14:26 - 1 hour - 59.1 MBHow do these three things connect? Through one highly talented director of course, we take an introductory, fangirl-y look at Pacific Rim easily one of director Guillermo del Toro's most accessible pieces of art.
Ep 059.5 - Beauty and the Book
January 03, 2022 03:01 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MBUnfortunately due to illness we weren't able to record the next episode so please enjoy this bonus episode that has been recovered and edited (by the non-sick member who normally doesn't edit) for your enjoyment. Bee has a breakdown over the original book rendition of Beauty and the Beast written by Madame De Villeneuve and you get to strap in for the ride. There's incest, baby swapping and "nice girl" attitudes abound.
Ep 059 - American Tail, a Chanukah Classic
December 27, 2021 13:05 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBWell there might be a questionable number of cats in America but there is certainly no Christmas in this movie. We look at the Don Bluth classic An American Tail with the very faint justification that there holiday of Chanukah is shown making it one of the few movies about the holiday. This is of course using the same level of "holiday" that Christmas movies can get away with.
Ep 058 - Christmas Movies That Aren't Christmassy At All
December 19, 2021 14:25 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MBSurprise holiday movies that have no clear measure of anything related to the season whatsoever. We both discuss movies that we associate with the season but don't have any clear connection to the holiday whatsoever. There is also discussions of other visual media we associate with the season some having no measure and some with measures to the season.
Ep 057 - It's the Most Mentally and Emotionally Exhausting Time of the Year
December 12, 2021 16:40 - 54 minutes - 50 MBLook we get it good will to man, bless everyone yadda yadda, but really we all become grouchy, grinchy pains around this time so let's remove the layer of artifice and take a good, hard, uncomfortable look at why we become the actual worst the moment Mariah Carey and Michael Bublé finish defrosting.
Ep 056 - Carols and Songs of the Christmas Variety
December 05, 2021 18:04 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MBIt's that time of the year again, folks! The time when we come together and complain about shopping centres playing the same four Christmas-related hits from the 80s. But worry not! - for here at Berri's couch we are exploring some other alternatives to Jingle Bells and Silent Night. Join us as we look at the difference between Christmas Carols and Christmas Songs, discuss some of our personal favourites, and maybe even find out just who this Carol Singers person is anyway.
Ep 055 - Makeover time!
November 28, 2021 08:48 - 1 hour - 63.3 MBThis trope makes you look like a moose. Not even a cute moose, doesn't make any boy moose go WHAH! We discuss the issues with the cavalcade of "making over the nerdy outcast and now she's a knockout" tropes from teen movies from the 90's to early 2000's. The only 3 good uses of this cliché get a look in and we even do a brief look at how this cliché ended up having actual real world consequences.
Ep 054 - The One and Their Chosen-ness
November 21, 2021 15:05 - 57 minutes - 52.8 MBt's Chosen one. The One who was Chosen. The One Chosen by a higher power to be Chosen. Join us as we talk about one of the most common tropes of fiction: that of the Chosen One. Together we look into what makes one Chosen, and discuss some of the most well-known examples in (mostly recent) media; From Harry Potter and Anakin Skywalker, to Clary Fray and even Jesus! So join us! You have been chosen . . .
Ep 053 - Everybody Likes an Underdog
November 14, 2021 11:12 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBShort and sweet this episode be (well short for us), as we break down the uniqueness of a cliché that has become ubiquitous with a singular type of movie. Look we try our best but we don't watch sport movies like at all so this was a bit harder for us and given the mashing of it into the everyman thrust into greatest it makes this hard to talk about as just the singular cliché.
Ep 052 - Beauty and Beast Cliches
November 07, 2021 10:20 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBTale as old as time, blah, blah, blah. You know this dance one uggo man must be loved by pretty woman to become an ex-uggo. We discuss the use of what was once a story about becoming a courting story to explain to young women how to navigate their new life married to a man they have never met to the "He's troubled and I can fix him". Along with removal of external ugliness to personality problems that wasn't the point of the entire story.
Ep 051 - Once And Future King
October 31, 2021 15:19 - 51 minutes - 46.7 MBIn a month covering various clichés we start with the "whoops accidental racism" cliché The Once and Future King. At 7:20 there is discussion on the Culhwch and Olwen whomst Jerri forgot only remembering upon editing and shouted the name so loud she scared herself. And we apologise for mispronouncing Ken Brandon's name.
Ep 050 - In Defence Of Horror Franchises
October 24, 2021 15:10 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBWe're delving into some of our favourite Horror Franchises; what's yours? Join us as we choose a famous horror franchise or two to explore and defend, and visit a few others along the way. From the Jigsaw Killer to the Deadites, and maybe even a xenomorph or two!
Ep 049 - What Makes A Horror Antagonist a Favourite?
October 17, 2021 13:15 - 1 hour - 68.4 MBThe classic question about all antagonists gets a look regarding the genre of Horror. What makes the antagonist so memorable that they get a "legally not X" costume in discount stores that would never pay for licensing. Mystery? Sympathy? Annoyance? Why do these individuals stick in out brains and become cultural icons?
Ep 048 - Elevated Horror Is A Myth And Here's Why
October 10, 2021 10:57 - 42 minutes - 39 MBHow are movies such as Parasite or Silence of the Lambs able to receive awards and acclaim, while films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Halloween are left to collect critical dust? Join us as we discuss possible answers to this question and explore the genre of Horror and its subgenres. Which horror films have "deep" meanings, and which are just aesthetically pleasing? Listen and find out!
Ep 047 - Children's Horror
October 03, 2021 10:46 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBParental Guidance Warning: Themes We start this spooky month by doing a quick dive into horror aimed at children, the reasons why horror aimed at children can be more terrifying, and the many issues with the rating system just passing anything that has vague notions of not being for 2 year olds getting a PG warning.
Ep 046 - Reboots and How Not To Do Them
September 26, 2021 10:31 - 54 minutes - 49.7 MBAnd now onto the actual problem that people are complaining about regarding media's constant regurgitating of things from your childhood. There is much denial of films that exist and their place in their own franchises canon, also much discussions of TMNT as Bee was left unchecked while Jerri got distracted trying to find something.
Ep 045 - Remakes and How They Aren't Reboots
September 19, 2021 15:36 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBGet ready to have a needlessly nit-picky definition about a word that is being used interchangeably regarding modern media. In a short (for us) breakdown of the difference between remakes and reboots focusing on remakes specifically. Discussions of Psycho, The Omen, The Birdcage and few other actual remakes along with a discussion about bread and cheese.
Ep 044 - Sequels, Franchises, and Expansions
September 12, 2021 14:58 - 1 hour - 56 MBWhat makes a good sequel, and how does that differ from a franchise, a spin-off, or simply expanding the story's universe? Join us as we explore exactly what goes into creating an ideal sequel, as well as touching on a few of our favourite (and least favourite) examples. You may even find out about the US military's space-bidet!
Ep 043 - Why Cinderella III is the Best Direct to DVD Disney Sequel
September 05, 2021 11:15 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBYou can't boo us we're right. This direct to DVD sequel to surprisingly the best sequel (threequel?) in the line-up and does what modern adaptations attempt, most poorly, to do with making Cinderella a physically active protagonist in her story with added problems and a prince with a personality.