After Lunch

Michael May, Rob Graham, and Friends discuss TV, movies, comics, games, and anything else they happen to think of.

276 | Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) 04/19/2024

276 | Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) Michael and Rob catch up with kaiju fans writer Corinna Bechko (currently of The Space Between) and David May about the new entry in Legendary's MonsterVerse series, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Godzilla vs. Kong's Adam Wingard returns to direct and brings along his The Guest star Dan Stevens to join returning MonsterVerse actors Kaylee Hottle, Rebecca Hall, and Brian Tyree Henry. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30818508

275 | Movie Villains Sour 16 04/14/2024

275 | Movie Villains Sour 16 Michael and Rob welcome Shawn Robare and Jacob Bean-Watson to nominate 16 legendary movie villains, then match them against each other in a tournament to determine the greatest movie villain of all time. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30811268

274 | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) 04/08/2024

274 | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) Michael, Rob, and Pax discuss director Matt Reeves' arrival on the Planet of the Apes with Dawn. The second movie in the reboot trilogy is set 10 years after Rise and stars Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell, Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Gary Oldman. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30711408

273 | After Midnight – Universal's Invisible Man, Part 2 04/05/2024

273 | After Midnight – Universal's Invisible Man, Part 2 Michael and Jess finish Universal's Invisible Man series with Invisible Agent (1942), The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944), and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951). And Jess discusses the merits of Butterfly Kisses (2018). /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30613783

272 | Never Say Never Again (1983) 04/01/2024

272 | Never Say Never Again (1983) Michael, Rob, and Karen talk about the Johnny English prequel that also happens to feature Sean Connery's last performance as James Bond. It's Irvin Kershner's alternate reality 007 film, Never Say Never Again, also starring Kim Basinger, Barbara Carrera, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Bernie Casey, and Max von Sydow. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30607893

271 | After Dinner Lounge – Batman's Speed Force 03/29/2024

271 | After Dinner Lounge – Batman's Speed Force Michael, Rob, and Pax wrap up this month's Lounge talking about Bodyguard, The Brothers Sun, Poker Face, The Bear, Michael Caine's Harry Palmer movies, Mannix, Red Hood comics, the Disney Villains books by Serena Valentino, brand loyalty, Drive-Away Dolls, Death and Other Details, and 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30591843

270 | After Dinner Lounge – Three-Hour Downer 03/25/2024

270 | After Dinner Lounge – Three-Hour Downer Michael, Rob, and Pax meet in the Lounge to talk about hot towels, plastic cups, Dune 2, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Marvel's Midnight Suns video game, King Kong and Godzilla movies, Thin Man movies, The Beekeeper, Wonka, Napoleon, The Artful Dodger, the live-action Last Airbender series, the first Perry Mason novel, Kitty Pryde comics, and much more. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30524483

269 | After Midnight – Universal Monster Mash 03/22/2024

269 | After Midnight – Universal Monster Mash Michael and Jess watch House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), the movies where Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, and the Wolfman all share the story together. But first, we catch up on other horror movies we've been watching like Burnt Offerings (1976), Strangler of the Swamp (1945), and Lisa Frankenstein (2024). /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30409483

268 | Top 10 Years Later: 2014 03/18/2024

268 | Top 10 Years Later: 2014 Michael, Pax, Evan, and Noel reconvene the Top 10 Years Later panel to look back at their favorite movies from 2014. And, in some cases, re-evaluate if those films are still favorites. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30402068

267 | Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) 03/11/2024

267 | Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) Continuing our Planet of the Apes series and moving into the modern prequels, Michael, Rob, and Pax discuss Rupert Wyatt's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and Andy Serkis as Caesar. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30303113

266 | Octopussy (1983) 03/04/2024

266 | Octopussy (1983) The villain is a cliché, Bond is a clown, and the name of the movie is just embarrassing. Michael, Rob, and Karen talk about whether or not those factors affect the enjoyability of Roger Moore's penultimate Bond film. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30210958

265 | After Dinner Lounge – This Could Have Been an Email 03/01/2024

265 | After Dinner Lounge – This Could Have Been an Email Michael, Rob, and Pax finish this month's Lounge talking about the first book in Seanan McGuire's October Daye series, Gargoyles comics, Greek mythology novels, The Wind in the Willows meets Agatha Christie, more Narnia, Gray Man, and Dresden Files, the hardest foods to give up from each food group, Argylle, Lisa Frankenstein, Dune movies, Madame Webb, Hilda, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Pax's bad day. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30101728

264 | After Dinner Lounge – I'm Not the Dinner Guest I Thought I Was 02/26/2024

264 | After Dinner Lounge – I'm Not the Dinner Guest I Thought I Was Michael, Rob, Pax, and Evan talk about important topics like backing into parking spaces, automatic windshield wipers and headlights, imaginary friends, The Holdovers, The Artful Dodger, jazz, Three Musketeers movies, Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition by David Nirenberg, Moriarty: The Devil's Game, making time to write, and podcasts about JFK and Jack the Ripper. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/30093513

263 | Comics Villains Sour 16 02/19/2024

263 | Comics Villains Sour 16 Michael and Rob are joined by Adam Pope and William Bruce West from the to discuss and vote on comics' greatest villains, ultimately arriving at the Greatest Comics Villain of All Time. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29997498

262 | After Midnight – Universal's Dracula Family 02/16/2024

262 | After Midnight – Universal's Dracula Family Michael and Jess talk about Bela Lugosi as Dracula in Tod Browning's 1931 classic, but also the famous vampire's children: Gloria Holden as Dracula's Daughter and Lon Chaney Jr as Son of Dracula. But first, discussion of other horror (or horror-connected) movies: Gretel & Hansel (2020), The Midnight Meat Train (2008), The Sadness (2021), The Belko Experiment (2016), The Mean One (2022), and Poor Things (2023). /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29897063

261 | For Your Eyes Only (1981) 02/12/2024

261 | For Your Eyes Only (1981) Having experienced the extravagance of Moonraker, Michael, Rob, and Karen are not upset at all when the Bond series goes back to basics in For Your Eyes Only. John Glen makes his directorial debut, Roger Moore returns as an age-appropriate Bond, and there are plenty of twists and turns with Carole Bouquet (sigh), Julian Glover, Topol, and... is that Charles Dance? /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29889153

260 | Planet of the Apes (2001) 02/09/2024

260 | Planet of the Apes (2001) Michael, Rob, and Pax revisit Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes reboot to see if it's as bad as conventional wisdom and our panel's own memories say that it is. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29870008

259 | Return to the Planet of the Apes (1975) 02/05/2024

259 | Return to the Planet of the Apes (1975) Michael and Jacob Bean-Watson talk about Fox's final effort to get a Planet of the Apes TV series going, this time with a Saturday morning cartoon on NBC. (Michael probably says CBS in the discussion, but that was the live-action show. Fox partnered with a different network for the cartoon.) Return to the Planet of the Apes featured animation by Jonny Quest creator Doug Wildey and the voices of Austin Stoker (MacDonald in Battle for the Planet of the Apes) and Fred Flintstone himself, Henry Corden. There are plenty of problems with the cartoon, but also lots of fun. Especially when Jacob and Michael spontaneously create their own Planet of the Apes sitcom. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29783543

258 | After Dinner Lounge – Ken Burns' Hercules 02/02/2024

258 | After Dinner Lounge – Ken Burns' Hercules Michael, Rob, Pax, and Evan wrap up this month's Lounge with talk about Red Dead Redemption 2, revisiting Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Gran Turismo, Meg 2, the Scream movies, more Elvis flicks, The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story, Season 2 of Reacher, Lupin, The Gilded Age, retirement plans, old technology, finishing the Philip Marlowe novels, Middlegame by Seanan McGuire, Star Trek: Memory Prime by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Christmas heist movies, Noelle, The Mean One, Poor Things, manufactured backstories in movie series, May December, Knock at the Cabin, Apostle, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and the Legendary MonsterVerse, Echo, Columbo villains, Hercules movies, the DC Cinematic Universe, and adaptations of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29766793

257 | After Dinner Lounge – Jean-Claude Van Dammes of the Poker World 01/29/2024

257 | After Dinner Lounge – Jean-Claude Van Dammes of the Poker World Michael, Rob, Pax, and Evan - yes, Evan! - sit around talking about neckties, JFK, the Script Apart podcast on Midnight Mass and Mission: Impossible, the Planet of the Apes, Rob’s new car, ice cream, salad dressing, vampire hairstyles, an oral history of Nickelodeon, Meddling Kids, variations on A Christmas Carol, Godzilla Minus One, Little House on the Prairie, American Nightmare, Mickey7, The Dresden Files, Changing the Way We See Native America, Brambly Hedge, Miss Marple, and The Chronicles of Narnia. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29677888

256 | Planet of the Apes TV series (1974) 01/26/2024

256 | Planet of the Apes TV series (1974) Michael and Jacob Bean-Watson watch the short-lived, but (let's just spoil it) excellent live action Planet of the Apes TV series starring Roddy McDowall, Ron Harper, James Naughton, and Star Trek's Mark Lenard. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29656943

255 | Nerdstradamus 2024 01/22/2024

255 | Nerdstradamus 2024 Michael, Rob, Kay, and Robert Zerbe look back at their favorite movies, shows, and books of 2023, check in on their pop culture predictions and resolutions from the year, and make new ones for 2024. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29577033

254 | Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) 01/15/2024

254 | Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) Michael, Rob, and Pax finish their exploration of the classic Planet of the Apes series with the fifth and final entry, Battle for the Planet of the Apes. There are budget issues and a confusing timeline to talk about, but also some great characters and cool dilemmas. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29472578

253 | Moonraker (1979) 01/08/2024

253 | Moonraker (1979) Michael, Rob, and Karen Flieger kick off the new year with one of the most infamous Bond movies. James Bond goes to space and pigeons do double-takes in the over-the-top, Star Wars-inspired Moonraker. Is it fun? Is it garbage? Or is it both? /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29379003

252 | Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) 01/01/2024

252 | Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) Happy New Year! We took a little break from our Apesathon during the holidays, but we're back with the penultimate entry in the original series: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. It's a bold, challenging movie with some things to say about power and the civil rights movement. It also has a couple of endings and some continuity issues. Which all means that there's plenty to talk about. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29279713

251 | After Midnight – Universal's Invisible Man, Part 1 12/29/2023

251 | After Midnight – Universal's Invisible Man, Part 1 Michael and Jess talk about the first three movies in Universal's Invisible "Man" series: The Invisible Man (1933), The Invisible Man Returns (1940), and The Invisible Woman (1940). Including that last one turned out to be a controversial decision, so we talked about that, too. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29234598

250 | Movie & TV Santas Sweet 16 12/25/2023

250 | Movie & TV Santas Sweet 16 Merry Christmas! On this 25th day of December, we're sharing our 250th episode of After Lunch and it's a jolly one. Michael and Rob are joined by Pop Culture Retrofitters Michael DiGiovanni and Christian Nielsen to nominate and vote on their favorite movie and TV Santas. We've made our lists and checked them twice; it's time to decide who is the best representation of Santa Claus. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29214893

249 | Love Actually (2003) 12/22/2023

249 | Love Actually (2003) Wrapping up this season's series of Sleigh Bell Cinema reruns, Michael and Rob talk about one of their favorite Christmas movies, Love Actually. The movie's celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, so we're ending these reruns by showing it some love (while also talking about its faults). /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29192448

248 | White Christmas (1954) 12/20/2023

248 | White Christmas (1954) We’re down to our last two Sleigh Bell Cinema re-runs for this season and these are biggies. Today it’s one of Michael's family’s absolute favorites: a movie that they cannot safely get through the holiday season without watching. We’re talking about Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen in White Christmas. And since it’s such a tradition with Michael's family, it’s appropriate that he talked about it with his wife Diane. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29161718

247 | A Christmas Story (1983) 12/18/2023

247 | A Christmas Story (1983) It's a clinker! This last week before Christmas we have three final Christmas Spirit movies to discuss and they’re all biggies. This first one is the cable classic A Christmas Story from 1983 and talking with Michael about it is the one and only Paxton Holley. /episode/index/show/nerdlunch/id/29119183

After Lunch

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