Michael May's Blog, page 7

After Lunch | OK Connery (1967)

Rob, Karen Flieger, and I take a detour from the main James Bond series to watch Italy's OK Connery (aka Operation: Kid Brother) starring Sean Connery's younger brother as a famous secret agent's younger brother who's pulled into a spy caper. Thanks to the super popularity of Goldfinger and Thunderball, lots of Bond spoofs and rip-offs came out around this time, but OK Connery is unique for including iconic actors from the actual Bond movies, including Lois Maxwell, Bernard Lee, Daniela Bianchi, Adolfo Celi, and Anthony Dawson. But is it any good? Our panel may not all agree.

After Lunch | After Dinner Lounge – The Elgin Marbles

Rob, Evan, Pax, and I talk about what we've been watching and thinking about. Topics include The Last of Us, Quantumania, Marlowe, Adam Driver vs dinosaurs, Bono and the Edge talking to Dave Letterman, Pumping Iron, Party Down, Creed 3, behind the scenes making a major Disney animated movie, villains as main characters, buying cars, engaging with ridiculous ideas, and the difference between openness and vulnerability.

After Lunch | Lost (with Annaliese and Carlin Trammel)

A couple of episodes ago on After Lunch, Rob and I talked about JJ Abrams' Mission Impossible III and the TV show Lost came up. I mentioned an episode of the old Dragonfly Ripple podcast where Annaliese Trammel shared her thoughts on the first two seasons with her dad, Carlin. It was a wonderful bit of podcast history, but it's not easily available anymore, so we're rerunning it. Please enjoy.

After Lunch | After Dinner Lounge – Do My Doodie

Rob, Evan, Pax, and I talk about what we've been listening to and reading. Topics include teenage stupidity, pocket symphonies, which Enterprise we'd want to serve on, De La Soul and music licensing, annotated books, Barry Allen goes to Marvel, Batman: White Knight, The Big Sleep, and Nothing.

After Lunch | Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Rob and I talk about JJ Abrams' contribution to the Mission: Impossible series, starring Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Crudup, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q, Simon Pegg, Laurence Fishburne, and Keri Russell.

Hellbent for Letterbox | The Mark of Zorro (1920)

Pax, Evan Hanson, and I wrap up our Zorro double-feature with the movie that started it all, the silent classic The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks.

After Lunch | Thunderball (1965)

Rob, Karen Flieger, and I talk about Sean Connery's fourth adventure as James Bond in Thunderball. Lots of music discussion in this one, praise for Paula Caplan and Fiona Volpe, and awe at Largo's impressive sense of fashion.

166 | Top 10 Years Later (2013)

Pax, guest Noel Thingvall, and I (with input from Evan as well) recall our favorite films of 2013 and how we feel about them now. And we might get into some of the big stinkers of 2013 as well.

Hellbent for Letterbox | The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Pax and I welcome back Evan Hanson to talk about the first movie of a Zorro double-feature on Hellbent. It's Martin Campbell's The Mask of Zorro, starring Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Anthony Hopkins.

After Lunch | Marvel's Year Without Superheroes

Rob, Evan, guest Jody Collins, and I imagine a reality in which Marvel Comics takes a year off from publishing superhero comics to focus on other genres. What genres should they pick? What stories should they tell? And what creators should write and draw them?