Considering the Cinema Ep. 091: The Weekly Watchlist – Venus Infers Something

In Episode 091 of Considering the Cinema, your hosts Jason Pyles, Mack Robins, and Dave Becker return for another installment of The Weekly Watchlist, where the agenda is simple: Watch whatever strikes your fancy and report back. Jason kicks things off with exciting news for Alien fans, discussing the animated Alien: Isolation digital series and the upcoming Alien: Earth television series. (Note: This episode was initially recorded way back on January 14, 2025.) He also offers a strong recommendation for Taylor Sheridan’s television work, particularly Landman.

Meanwhile, Mack takes listeners on a fascinating journey through childhood nostalgia, literary adaptations, and indie Horror. He revisits the animated fantasy Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland and shares his surprisingly positive experience with Keeping the Promise (also known as The Sign of the Beaver), a historical drama his son’s class is watching in school. Mack also reviews the micro-budget Horror film, Migraine (2024), praising its passion and style despite some obvious budgetary limitations.

Dave brings a pair of television-centric recommendations this week, spotlighting the landmark documentary series, The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011), and his annual revisit of the acclaimed BBC historical miniseries I, Claudius (1976). Along the way, the hosts discuss film history, ancient Rome, movie marathons, James Taylor, Titanic sequels, and whether Venus is inferring anything at all. Join us!

THE WEEKLY WATCHLIST is the type of episode where we simply talk about whatever we’ve been watching lately from our own, personal watchlists. Here’s how it works: Jay, Mack and Dave have zero “movie-watching homework.” We are completely free each week to watch whatever we want from any era, year, genre, country, etc! We can finally go through our own personal watchlists and catch up with the films we’ve been meaning to see. So, every week will be vastly different. Let us know what you think of this format.

Jay of the Dead also hosts a WEEKLY HORROR MOVIE PODCAST with Mister Watson at Horror Movie Weekly.com. And of course, every Horror fan should check out Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies, The Gold Standard of Horror Movie Podcasts.

Thanks for listening to Considering the Cinema Podcast and Considering Horror Cinema, The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of Movie Podcasting… Don’t forget: You can email Jay, Mack and even Dr. Shock at [e-mail] or post a comment in the show notes for this episode.

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SHOW NOTES: Considering the Cinema

Introduction
-Jason welcomes Mack and Dave
-Technical difficulties and recording delays
-Mack teases a movie involving “Slumberland”
-Dave’s patented title as “The Leonard Maltin of the Internet”
-Discussion of Dave’s DVD Infatuation blog and movie-watching endurance

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Jason’s Weekly Watchlist:

Alien: Isolation (2019)– Digital Animated Series
-Seven-episode animated web series based on the 2014 video game
-Focuses on Amanda Ripley and events connected to the Alien universe
-Discussion of the series’ visual style and relationship to the game’s cut-scenes
-Jason plans to watch the series after his son plays the game

Alien: Earth (2025)– Upcoming Television Series
-Upcoming live-action series set in the Alien franchise
-Discussion about xenomorphs finally reaching Earth
-Debate about Hulu’s track record and cautious optimism

Landman (2024)– Season 1
Jason = 8 ( Strong Rental )
-Created by Taylor Sheridan
-Stars Billy Bob Thornton
-Set in the West Texas oil industry
-Features cartel elements, family drama, romance, and action
-Jason praises Sheridan’s writing and recommends exploring his broader body of work, including: Sicario (2015), Wind River (2017), Yellowstone (2018-2024), 1883 (2021), 1923 (2022), Lioness (2023),Tulsa King (2022)

Mack’s Weekly Watchlist:

Listener Request
-Mack seeks recommendations for great Ukrainian films
-Inspired by a reference in an episode of Friends (1994–2004)

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)
Mack = 82 out of 100 ( Rental )
-Childhood favorite animated fantasy film
-Based on the classic comic strip
-Praised for imaginative animation and adventurous spirit
-Discussion of hand-drawn animation versus modern CGI

Keeping the Promise (1997) (aka The Sign of the Beaver)
Mack = 78 out of 100 ( Rental )
-Historical drama based on the novel The Sign of the Beaver
-Watched in preparation for his son’s school movie day
-Set in early American frontier life
-Features a friendship between a young settler and a member of the Penobscot tribe
-Mack was pleasantly surprised by the film’s quality and sincerity

Migraine (2024)
Mack = 63 out of 100 ( Low-Priority Stream )
-Independent micro-budget horror film
-Styled after late-1970s horror cinema
-Praised for passion, atmosphere, practical effects, and visual presentation
-Criticized for some budget limitations and uneven execution
-Available to watch on YouTube

Dave’s Weekly Watchlist:

The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)
Dave = 10 ( Buy It! )
-Documentary miniseries created and narrated by Mark Cousins
-Explores film history from around the world
-Highlights influential filmmakers beyond Hollywood
-Recommended for anyone serious about cinema history

I, Claudius (1976)
Dave = 10 ( Buy It! )
-BBC historical miniseries set during the Julio-Claudian era of Ancient Rome
-Stars Derek Jacobi as Claudius
-Features performances by Brian Blessed, John Hurt, Patrick Stewart, and Siân Phillips
-Dave’s annual viewing tradition since college
-Strong recommendation to watch all 13 episodes in sequence

Miscellaneous Discussions
-Taylor Sheridan’s directorial debut controversy involving Vile (2011)
-Mike Tyson Mysteries (2014–2020)
-Richard Paul Evans and a game of Risk
-Dave’s 28-hour movie marathon
-The concept of a cinematic equivalent to a marathon
-Titanic II (2010)
-Jess Franco’s Venus in Furs (1969)
-James Taylor songs
-“Cats in the Cradle” and parental guilt

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Wrap-Up
-Mack proposes the idea of a true movie marathon
-Dave reflects on past movie-viewing endurance experiments
-Final thoughts on film discovery and recommendations

Thanks for listening to Considering the Cinema, the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of Movie Podcasting!

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Links for this episode:

Catch up with Mack here:
– Horror podcast: Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies
— IMDb.com Page: Mack Robins

Catch up with Dr. Shock here:
– Horror podcast: Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies
— Blog: DVD Infatuation.com
— Podcast: The DVD Infatuation Podcast
— Horror podcast: Land of the Creeps
— Podcast: The Illustrated Fan

— Movie Podcast Weekly has returned for MONTHLY releases

— Listen to Jay of the Dead’s Horror Movie Weekly with Mister Watson every Sunday!

Jay recommends Nate Johnivan’s music:
— Spotify Playlist
— Quarantine Dream iii

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Film Blog / Audio Podcast: ConsideringTheCinema.com
HORROR-Only Content: ConsideringHorrorCinema.com
Email: [e-mail]
Voicemail: [phone]
Letterboxd: Letterboxd.com/ConsiderCinema
Don’t forget to check out Considering the Cinema’s new Episode Archive