It's Your Pic
177 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsFather and son take turns picking movies to watch and review.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Episode 75-The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
April 19, 2017 23:45 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MBIt's the last episode of our Lord of the Rings review. I think the experience has taxed Collin's patience, and his final grade of this Oscar winner shows. Gollum in particular is a point of contention. Also on the table: the survivability of a volcanic explosion, selective earthquakes, and heads on laps.
Episode 74 – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
April 11, 2017 01:45 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBPart 2 of our 3 part Lord of the Rings series. We come to the conclusion that the extended version of The Two Towers may be too much of a good thing. Also, lack of ethnic diversity in Middle Earth, Trump approves of Helm's Deep, and Gollum does Annie.
Episode 73 – Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
April 02, 2017 15:53 - 42 minutes - 39 MBSo apropos of nothing except simple whimsy we've decided to dedicate the next 3 episodes to the Lord of the Rings series, beginning with 2001s Fellowship of the Ring. This will be Collin's first time watching the series and my umpteenth. And since the only versions I own are the extended editions, we'll see if 12 hours+ of Frodo and Co. will be too much, because, despite being pretty well received critically, there are those who have described the films and 12 hours of walking. I obviously...
Episode 72 – Pinocchio (1940)
March 24, 2017 12:40 - 38 minutes - 35 MBNope, not the reviled Roberto Benigni version, we watched the classis 1940's Disney version: a rated-G movie that features smoking and drinking by minors, and a preoccupation with butts. In typical Disney fashion, it's a movie based on some pretty dark source material that's been given a lighter touch. Still, there's some pretty dark moments (and some even darker behind-the-scenes revelations) to talk about.
Episode 71 – Jaws
March 13, 2017 20:45 - 48 minutes - 44.5 MBJaws is often credited with ushering in the blockbuster era of film. It preceded Star Wars by 2 years and was the first to hit the coveted $100 million box office take. I didn't catch up with it until I was in my late teens, and I found it not just thrilling but riveting in its story telling. Now the movie is 42, and has spawned sequels and copycats galore. So the question for this show is how does it hold up for jaded, 14 year-old Collin? It's a question that he pretty much spoils in the...
Episode 70 – Treasure Planet (2002)
March 02, 2017 21:51 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBSometime between the Disney renaissance and Disney owning the world was a period of time, particularly in the animation department, when things were looking pretty grim. Offerings like Fantasia 2000 and Home on the Range were showing pretty poorly against the likes of Toy Story 2 and Shrek. In that stretch was this hugely expensive take on Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. It ended up being a big financial loser for Disney to the tune of about $70 million. But now, through the mag...
Episode 69 – Monty Python and the Holy Grail
February 24, 2017 21:37 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MBFunniest. Movie. Ever. But does Collin agree? When we started the podcast this was one of the movies I knew I was going to show Collin. The question was when would he be ready? There's only one way to find out if my timing was correct: listen to the show!
Episode 68- The Amazing World of Gumball
February 17, 2017 16:28 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MBThis week Collin picked the Cartoon Network animated series The Amazing World of Gumball. We discuss the shows unique animated goulash aesthetic, and Collin tries to answer some of my questions. We also have a brief discussion about the Lego Batman movie.
Episode 67 – It’s Your Pic: The Musical
February 06, 2017 19:57 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBIt seemed like, cinematically speaking, 2016 was a good year for the musical. La La Land, Moana, and Sing Street were all well received releases. We are never ones to shy away from a bandwagon, so we present our first (and most likely last) musical edition of the podcast. If you just haven't had your quota of off key vocals for the week, we've got you covered.
Episode 66 – Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
January 20, 2017 17:11 - 47 minutes - 43.4 MBIt seems Netflix is churning out a new show every few days, some more palatable than others. Their newest (at least of this writing) is based on the super popular book series of the same name. The show's kid friendliness will depend on your kid, but the it's definitely being marketed at children, given that it show's up in the number one spot on the Netflix kids channel. So, the ultimate question would be, "Is it worth my time?" Well, it would be pretty counterproductive (counterproductive ...
Episode 65 – Transformers Prime
January 14, 2017 01:11 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MBWhen I first asked Collin if he wanted to do a podcast with me in which we took turns picking movies for the other to watch, this is the type of thing that I was expecting to have to watch on a pretty regular basis: something that, were I his age, I would find amazingly entertaining. The Transformers franchise has been cranking along now for over 30 years, and there are more of the excruciating films in the works, but there's something here that has an appeal to some people or it wouldn't h...
Episode 64 – Spirited Away
January 06, 2017 11:55 - 48 minutes - 44.8 MBLast week we watched Ghostbusters; this week it's a very different kind of ghost story. Hayao Miyazaki doesn't make conventional animated stories. Those used to the Disney/Pixar way of doing things may be thrown off by the odd characters and seemingly meandering story-telling style. But his movies are always personal, heartfelt, and beautifully rendered. To me, Spirited Away is the best of the bunch. Collin and I discuss. Mental Floss: 15 Fascinating Facts about Spirited Away
Episode 63 – Ghostbusters (1984)
December 31, 2016 02:06 - 54 minutes - 50 MBCollin once again steals my thunder and picks an '80s flick. I take this as evidence that my experiment is working. This week: the jerkiness of Bill Murray characters, an awkward discussion about feminist movie remakes, an even more awkward discussion about whether or not Venkman is cool for resisting possessed Sigourney Weaver, and how uncool it was for Collin to see Rouge One without me.
Episode 62 – Gremlins
December 16, 2016 13:05 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBWe had a small window to cram in one more show before Christmas, and so we powered up the Zoom recorder and did the show with very little prep, which is pretty typical of how we do the show anyway. This week I picked Gremlins: the movie where Phoebe Cates goes dowdy, mothers kick butt, and mayhem ensues because one kid can't obey three pretty simple rules. Plus, Hoyt Axton! Enjoy.
Episode 61 – Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (by way of MST3K)
December 10, 2016 14:25 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MBHow do you review an empirically bad movie that is simultaneously being lambasted by a TV show? Do you review the movie? The TV show? We take a shot splitting the difference as we discuss the Mystery Science Theater 3000 takedown of the 1964 comedy (?), Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. It's a perennial classic in our household. If you want to see just the movie (sans the MST quips) it's in the public domain and available in its entirety (in glorious HD, no less) on YouTube: Santa Claus Co...
Episode 60 – Planes, Trains and Automobiles
November 22, 2016 14:21 - 41 minutes - 37.6 MBThanksgiving movies are few and far between, but John Hughes managed to make a classic based around the holiday. Oddly enough, this is the first rated R movie we've done on the podcast, which we discuss. Also, from the same year this movie was released (1987), U2 released The Joshua Tree. We briefly discuss that album as well.
Episode 59 – Aladdin (1992)
November 15, 2016 13:36 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MBRight in the middle of the Disney renaissance came this retelling of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. It's been duly Disneyfied (there's no beheading at the end, for instance). Collin knew of Robin Williams but had never seen one of his movies. This was probably the perfect introduction to his more manic, stream-of-consciousness side. I think he's definitely a fan. Per usual we've got five questions, one good thing and one bad thing and the 60 second out-of-context table read. Also, at the...
Episode 58 – The Twilight Zone (TV Series)
November 06, 2016 21:42 - 59 minutes - 40.8 MBSeeing The Twilight Zone series as a kid was a seminal experience. The Brady Bunch and Diff'rent Strokes did not prepare me for the more bizarre and morally challenging episodes that the series offered. Trying to pare down that experience into 4 episodes was nearly impossible, but I took a stab at it with some of the more famous offerings from the mind of Rod Serling. From the first 2 seasons I chose Walking Distance, Time Enough at Last, The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, and It's a Go...
Episode 57 – The Invisible Man (1933)
October 28, 2016 13:34 - 40 minutes - 27.6 MBI asked Collin to pick something appropriate for Halloween, and he chose this 1933 James Whale joint based on the H.G. Wells book. In 5 questions we try to decide what kind of movie this is (horror? suspense? monster movie?), and discuss the differences in acting styles between then and now. Plus, Collin stays mostly on topic this week, which helped keep the show to a nice, tidy 40 minutes. Our guest shot on Movies, Music and More
Episode 56 – A.I. Artificial Intelligence
October 17, 2016 16:05 - 47 minutes - 32.6 MBThis week, as a companion piece with last week's Short Circuit, I picked Steven Spielberg's A.I. We discuss the movie, it's controversial ending, and whether humans should even be pursuing artificially intelligent machines at all. Plus, Collin asks 5 questions, we do one good thing and one bad thing about the film, and Greta joins us again for our out-of-context table read. AV Club article defending the ending of A.I.
Episode 55 – Short Circuit
October 09, 2016 19:45 - 49 minutes - 33.9 MBWe hit double nickels this week with the 1986 John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, War Games) directed Short Circuit. Usually it would be me dialing up the 80s for a movie pick, but this one was all Collin. It's a pretty silly movie that actually got us into some deep topics: A.I., racial stereotypes, gender identity, and the career of Steve Guttenberg. Whether or not we're equipped to tackle these topics is another matter all together.
Episode 54 – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
October 01, 2016 21:26 - 42 minutes - 38.7 MBThis week I answer Collin's pick of Night at the Museum with my own father/son, somewhat museum influenced (the word "museum" gets uttered a few times) selection, the third in the Indiana Jones cycle: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Collin asks 5 questions and we've got another 60-second-out-of-context table read. We also discuss Nazi book burning, goofy special effects, and rats.
Episode 53 – Night at the Museum
September 27, 2016 00:33 - 51 minutes - 46.7 MBSchool's back in session, so we're back to one movie a week. Collin picked this week and made me watch a movie that I had zero interest in seeing again: Night at the Museum. Was he able to convince me of its virtues? *Spoiler alert* probably not, but you should listen anyway. We've got 5 questions, one good thing, one bad thing and a new segment that I completely wrecked.
Episode 52 – Groundhog Day (1993) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
September 19, 2016 12:26 - 39 minutes - 36.1 MBEver had an embarrassing situation that you wish you could relive? Ever wanted to live a day unencumbered by fear of consequences or death? This week we watched two movies that propose just such a scenario, and the outcomes are not as free of worry or existential concerns as you would think. Apparently, immortality has its own drudgeries. We discuss the curious cases of Phil Conner and William Cage; two men reliving the same day over and over again. One repeats the mundanity of February 2 ...
Episode 51 – 1st Annual Meeting of the Atlanta Falcon’s Support Group
September 09, 2016 03:16 - 1 hour - 66.4 MBThis week might be a tough sell for what is primarily a movie podcast, but let me see if I can explain my reasoning: American Football, more so than other sport is mainly enjoyed via a television screen; each season, as with other television shows, has characters, story lines, emotional ups and downs; this is an extremely minor podcast, which allows me the freedom to choose whatever subject matter that strikes my whimsy. So, is being a Falcon's fan the most unrewarding of any NFL team? I ma...
Episode 50 – The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie(2004) and The Fugitive(1993)
September 03, 2016 20:25 - 42 minutes - 39 MBThis week on our 50th IYP episode we watched a couple of movies that, at first glance, have very little in common, but to my surprise tuned out to have a couple of similarities. Besides both being based off of TV shows, they also both involve wrongly accused characters and someone trying to clear their name. So, trim your beard (or grow one, if, unlike me, you're able), dye your hair, and join us for It's Your Pic number 50.
Episode 49 – Kubo and the Two Strings
August 28, 2016 18:03 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MBThis week we present the sad tale of Kubo and the Two Strings, a marvelous movie form Laika studios that simply no one is going to see. It's a movie with beautiful stop motion animation and a really strong story about the importance of memory and a child who must contend with his families past. So, give us 40 minutes and we'll try to convince you to check this one out before it leaves theaters, which will probably be all too soon. Links: Greta's Stop Motion Movie Making of Kubo and the T...
Episode 48 – April and the Extraordinary World / The Little Prince
August 20, 2016 01:18 - 45 minutes - 41.5 MBThis week, by patriarchal decree, we tackle a couple newish animated movies: the French-language feature April and the Extraordinary World, and the based-on-a-French-novella Netflix movie The Little Prince. If you're tired of minions, mammoths, and Madagascarian penguins, you could do worse than to sit the family down with one of these challenging but decidedly engrossing movies. Collin and I really struggle to pick a favorite. We're definitely thankful to have seen both. Give us a listen...
Episode 47 – The Iron Giant and Starman
August 08, 2016 12:13 - 58 minutes - 53.4 MBCollin's back this week, and we've picked two Stranded Alien movies to talk about: Brad Bird's The Iron Giant and John Carpenter's Starman. Common themes include confused but powerful titular characters, paranoid government toadies, and, inexplicably, dead deer. We talk about all this plus the unavoidable creepiness of watching love scenes with your parents. Throw in Five Questions and One Good Thing, One Bad Thing and you've got yourself nearly an hour of free podcast listening.
Episode 46 – Favorite Song and Scene Pairings
July 23, 2016 23:52 - 1 hour - 74.3 MBCollin is enjoying himself at summer camp for 2 weeks so in his stead I welcome Giffy from the Movies, Music and More podcast to talk about some of our favorite moments in movies that utilize a pop song to great effect. Giffy and I are long time friends so the conversation does go far afield occasionally: for instance why does Gif hate "Films" and why am I such a cry baby at certain movies. This turned out to be our longest episode yet, but hopefully it's not boring. And John Cusack's name...
Episode 45 – The Incredibles(2004) and Sky High(2005)
July 17, 2016 13:24 - 48 minutes - 44.7 MBIt's all relative (ugh, I know) this week on IYP as we compare two movies about super powered families: pre-Disney Pixar's The Incredibles and pre-hegemonic Disney's Sky High. I think I could have picked a better matchup. Other than the similar familial settings, the themes, tones and body counts of these movies are very different. Still we managed to blather on for 48 minutes about something. And at the end we decide which movie we keep and which we never watch again -- Collin chooses p...
Episode 44-Inside Out (2015) and Big (1988)
July 06, 2016 20:49 - 44 minutes - 40.3 MBWe tried a different format this week. We were a little late in getting out a new episode, so it afforded us the time to see two movies. We tried to pick movies that had somewhat similar themes. With that in mind, Collin picked Pixar's Inside Out from last year, and in response I chose for us to watch the 1988 Tom Hank's vehicle, Big. Two movies about a couple of 12 year-olds on the cusp of the transition to adulthood. We talk similarities, differences, likes, dislikes, and in the end we...
Episode 43 – Raiders of the Lost Ark
June 24, 2016 17:45 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MBJaws, Close Encounters, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T.: Four of Spielberg's first six studio releases are widely considered film classics. Eventually we'll get around to watching all of them. We reviewed E.T. on episode 11. This week we watched 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark. We tried to watch this one a few years ago, but Collin didn't make it past the fate of Alfred Molina's character. This time we made it through, and honestly I found his reaction to the climactic scene a little dist...
Episode 42 – Voltron: Legendary Defender
June 19, 2016 23:48 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBCollin and I are separated in age by 32 years. This is nearly the same difference in age between the original Voltron and the current DreamWorks/Netflix iteration. For a show that's entire mission statement is predicated on differing generational perspectives this seems like a subject right up our alley. We start the discussion talking about the original 1984 version (which Collin has seen) and build up to talking about the spanking new 11 episode Netflix version. Movies, Music and More P...
Episode 41 – A Town Called Panic
June 12, 2016 19:19 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MBThis week things take a turn for the surreal as we discuss this 2009 Belgian animated film. Descriptors are hard to come by for this one. We take several cracks at explaining the crazy aesthetics, and the seemingly random story telling style without giving away how the tale of Cowboy, Indian, and Horse unfolds. Most of the fun of the movie are the several times during the 77 minute run time when you find yourself saying, "Whhhhaaaattt?" Hopefully, when this episode is all said and done we...
Episode 40 – Galaxy Quest
May 31, 2016 15:08 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MBRemember when Tim Allen was a big time movie star? No lie. It was an actual occurrence in cinema history, and you know what: he was pretty good at what he did. In this week's movie pick, Allen leads a stellar cast through a pitch-perfect Star Trek spoof that manages to walk the line between parody and loving homage. For more on Galaxy Quest check out Jordan Hoffman's oral history: Galaxy Quest oral history
Episode 39 – Independence Day
May 25, 2016 01:11 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBIt's Your Pic takes to the road again for another episode. This week on a family trip to Washington D.C. we watched the 1996 Roland Emmerich film Independence Day (in the back of a Honda Odyssey on a 9" screen as I'm sure was the intention of the filmmaker). I still haven't worked the bugs out of recording on the road, but I'm sure to have more practice in the future as Collin and my conflicting schedules may dictate more of these "on the road" recordings. I hated this movie the first time...
Episode 38 – Civil War / Summer Movies
May 15, 2016 20:10 - 47 minutes - 43 MBYes, much like the rest of the planet, we too saw Captain America: Civil War, and since we do a movie podcast we're contractually obligated to discuss said movie. We try to keep it brief and non-spoilery. Most of the show, however, is our discussion of some summer movies we're excited (or not so excited) to see. We then grade our relative excitement on a 1-10 scale. Let us know what movies your looking forward to this summer by sending us an email at: [email protected].
Episode 37 – The Chronic-(What?)-cles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
May 08, 2016 12:59 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MBThis week It's Your Pic steps through the wardrobe and into the fabled land of Narnia with the first of Disney's adaptations of the C.S. Lewis books: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Does this 2 hour 20 minute, CGI-heavy film capture the magic of the source material? That's what we'll try to decide as we also talk Lewis the man, and I try to keep up with Collin's wandering mind. Seriously, I don't know what he was thinking about during the recording, but it certainly wasn't about this...
Episode 36 – The Goonies
May 01, 2016 09:27 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MBFor some The Goonies is THE quintessential 80's movie: a nostalgic trip of a movie about one perfectly adventurous day. A treasure map, childhood friends at your side, and the discovery that all the crazy, goofy dreams you hold in your pre-teen heart are actually true -- there is treasure to be had at the end of that map. It's all there. But is it packaged in a great movie? That's the question at hand on this week's It's Your Pic. Also, recorded in the back seat of a moving Honda Odyssey,...
Episode 35 – Goosebumps
April 19, 2016 23:09 - 47 minutes - 43.5 MBThis week Collin picked the 2015 Jack Black movie Goosebumps. The trailer for this movie gave me exactly zero in the way of anticipation or hope for this movie, but as I have vowed to watch whatever Collin picks, I soldiered on. You'll have to listen in to see if my brave sacrifice was worth it.
Episode 34: Battle of the Wonkas
April 13, 2016 00:30 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBSince Spielberg's BFG is looming in the near future I decided to revisit another Dahl adaptation: 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. And, being in a capricious mood, decide to add Tim Burton's 2005 adaptation Charlie and the Chocolate Factory into the mix as well. Very Wonka-ish of me, I believe. At any rate we do some good old fashioned compare and contrast with these two movies. Which did we prefer? Which made my daughter cry and gave Collin an upset stomach? Did we like Wild...
Episode 33-The Lego Movie
April 06, 2016 19:29 - 35 minutes - 32.8 MBI wish I could say that the release of the Lego Batman teaser trailer inspired us to revisit 2014's The Lego Movie, but in reality it was just a serendipitous choice by Collin. We'll take whatever synergy we can get though. The both of us have a ton of love for this movie, so if you don't want to hear two people just gush for 30 minutes you might want to skip this one. I mean download it for sure, but you've been fairly warned...lot's of gushing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvgHOAOiAu...
IYP Quick Pic – Batman v. Superman
March 30, 2016 19:56 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBThe new movie from the DC universe is currently getting hammered critically. Do we take our turns at the dead horse, bats (no pun) in hand? Listen in and find out in our first Quick Pic assessment. It has half the calories and thus is more digestible.
Episode 32 – Rear Window
March 21, 2016 21:51 - 37 minutes - 33.9 MBCollin had never seen an Alfred Hitchcock movie before, so I started him out with one of my favorites. I may have actually jumped the gun a little bit in starting with this one. He was pretty bored with the first 30 minutes of Jeff and Lisa's love life talk. But when the movie proper kicks in he was engaged. I don't think he's quite ready for Vertigo or Psycho however. Still, I think we have a pretty good discussion about the movie itself and about the ethics of what the main character i...
Episode 31 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
March 13, 2016 14:07 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBThis week Collin spent $5 of his own, hard-earned money to buy a copy of 2005's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which also tuned out to be his movie pick. The movie cost $50 million to make and only grossed $21 million domestically. I guess that's would explain why there has never been a sequel. Still, that doesn't mean it's not worth your time. The clever word play of the books is somewhat lost, but Sam Rockwell's performance alone is worth a watch. Give this week's show a listen ...
Episode 30 – The Sandlot
March 06, 2016 10:15 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBA lot of people have a fondness for this movie that I've never shared. But, since I've only seen it once before this viewing, I decided to give it another look. Listen in to see how Collin and I felt about this baseball/50's nostalgia/coming of age flick. I sigh and say, "but so uhhh..." a lot, and Collin, gamely fighting allergies but still unaware of microphone proximity, snorts into the mic a few times. I tried to cut most of them.
Episode 29 – Over the Garden Wall
February 21, 2016 21:34 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MBFor this episode of It's Your Pic, Collin selected the 2014 Cartoon Network miniseries Over the Garden Wall. It contains the typical CN weirdness with a good story and a lot of heart. One of Collin's most inspired picks. We start general and get into spoilers later in the discussion (with plenty of warning) We also have a short discussion about Don Hertzfeldt's animated short World of Tomorrow, which is currently showing on Netflix (not YouTube).
Episode 28 – Field of Dreams
February 14, 2016 19:05 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MBWhether or not you enjoy this 1989 movie depends on your tolerance for heavy handed nostalgia and sentimentality. If it's as lovely and heartfelt and had Kevin Costner at his most charming you can get away with an awful lot of schmaltz. There's plenty of corn to be had both in the literal and figurative sense in Field of Dreams, the question is can this movie still raise a lump in a modern cynic's throat? I'm not disposed to cynicism so I that's a question for someone else. All I know is t...
Episode 27 – Kung Fu Panda 3/Pixar v. DreamWorks Animation
February 08, 2016 14:24 - 51 minutes - 47 MBThis week we saw the latest from DreamWorks animation studios, Kung Fu Panda 3. We also saw, kind of randomly, the Pixar classic, Wall-e. Seeing these two movies back-to-back got me thinking about the respective movie oeuvres of each studio. So for this show, after a short review of Kung Fu Panda 3, we go over the movies from each studio and decide who has the stronger line up. Where we end up won't be a surprise, but the journey was fun.