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Jack, Robert and Mike hit the NOS at the final sprint of Quarter Mile at a Time, just in time to catch up to the new installment pulling into the driveway, and find themselves looking back on the franchise - and what it's gained and lost. #Newsletter #Podcasts #QMAAT #QuarterMileataTime #Furious7 #JackKolodziejski #RobertAnderson #MikeBurdge

Jack, Robert and Mike go double the speed limit for this one, but not before making sure there's plenty of antifreeze, because shit is about to get cool. #Newsletter #Podcasts #QuarterMileataTime #QMAAT #Furious6 #TheFastandtheFuriousTokyoDrift #JackKolodziejski #RobertAnderson #MikeBurdge #Corona

Robert and Jack got around to visiting Skull Island and neither of them were prepared. But would they recommend the trip? #Newsletter #Podcasts #KongSkullIsland #HotTakes #JackKolodziejski #RobertAnderson #KingKong #Kaiju

The story of love in modernity is one of growth and decay. Derek Cianfrance captures this sentiment beautifully in Blue Valentine. Through a series of flashbacks interspersed with present day, we are given glimpses of how love persists between Dean, (played by Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) – two people who no longer understand each other, nor are they able to provide for each other’s emotional needs. How do you not stand by the person who stood by you? How do you turn away when you have made a vow stating, “for better or for worse,” in a society that views the dissolution of relationships as a personal failure? From the film’s opening scene, we are confronted with rural isolation and domestic misery. Dean and Cindy’s young daughter, Frankie, calling out for her dog Megan who is no longer there, echoes Dean’s pleas for Cindy to love him again. When Dean tells Frankie that Megan is not dead, just off becoming a Hollywood star, it is clear how his belief in Cindy’s love keeps him from seeing the truth of its death. The lies we tell children about missing dogs are the same lies we tell ourselves when love has faded; the memory of love persists long after its deterioration. This is obvious in the way Cindy tries to comfort Dean over the loss of Megan, in the way he does not listen to what she says, and how she allows him to push her into going to a cheesy sex hotel with the hope of reinvigorating their marriage. The kismet of their meeting – by chance in a nursing home and then, again, on a bus – fits the mold of an idealistic fairy tale romance. The best dialogue in the film is between Cindy and her grandmother: You ought to be careful that the person you fall in love [with] – that they’re worth it to you. How do you trust your feelings when they can just disappear like that? The film jumps to the past in sharp relief to the grief of its present. There are bright spots – as there always are – in the beginning. Dean charms Cindy with music, but only her. He is not some Lothario out for quick action. He is a romantic, in love with the idea of finding the one girl he wants to marry. Cindy is a young woman looking for authenticity of feeling – to believe in the true and undying nature of love despite its seeming lack of existence in her parents’ marriage. She hides in the safety of Dean’s love from her abusive father and ex-boyfriend. When Dean stands by Cindy in her unplanned pregnancy, they create a bond forged in fire and blood. Cindy’s discomfort in the clinic where she plans to have an abortion is so subtly portrayed that any person who has been in a similar position empathizes with her. “Let’s be a family” is a seductive offer when the only other option is single motherhood. Obvious incompatibilities seem surmountable through the lens of young love. The clinic is the turning point of the film – when everything becomes clear. This is the point where the audience realizes that Cindy has traded one abuser for another. The framing of Cianfrance’s film is so powerful that it delivers like a punch to the gut. Cindy and Dean are brought together, while simultaneously being torn apart. Underscoring the unraveling of their marriage in the present are The Platters’, “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” – a classic song about how love blinds us from seeing the truth. The young woman who fell in love with Dean no longer exists – his alcoholism and emotional abuse have destroyed Cindy’s image of him – the sensitive artist and her personal champion. This is most obvious when Dean attempts to arouse Cindy with the idea of making a baby together while on their sex retreat. Any woman who has experienced an abusive relationship knows the fear of being tied down by a child and effectively stuck with their abuser forever. The film begs an answer to the question: what constitutes love? It challenges the notion that love and abuse are mutually exclusive. How can you leave someone who loves your child? Who fights for you when your boss makes inappropriate advances? Who provides escape from an abusive home? The decay of love does not diminish its depth, veracity, intensity, nor does it make its experience any less real. It does not make leaving easier. In the words of Junot Díaz, “The half-life of love is forever.” Liz Velez Liz has a background in film & television production and has worked with NBC, Comedy Central, VH1, and Spotify. Her interests include diversity/representation in media, gender & sexuality politics, social justice and the impact of pop culture in shaping popular opinion. She also slays at drunken karaoke. You can follow her on Twitter @telitlikeitliz #Newsletter #Review #LizVelez #BlueValentine

Mike is joined by Bernadette and Stamper to go over some of their favorite women of film, specifically focusing on three characters: Sarah Connor from The Terminator, Leeloo from The Fifth Element and Beatrix Kiddo AKA The Bride from Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2. #Newsletter #Podcasts #Overdrinkers #StrongWomeninFilm #MikeBurdge #BernadetteGorman #KatelynStamper #TheTerminator #TheFifthElement #KillBillVol1 #KillBillVol2 #BloodyMarys

Is there truly a Ranger within all of us? What does it mean to "Morph" and when exactly is it the right "Time?" Are we simply all a collection of stardust endlessly spiraling into an oblivion we can neither fathom nor experience? Does Ivan Ooze show up? These questions, and more, are mostly answered by Jack and Robert, two of the bravest souls of movie-watching we've ever witnessed. May their sacrifice not go unnoticed. #Newsletter #Podcasts #HotTakes #PowerRangers #JackKolodziejski #RobertAnderson

Jack, Robert and Mike pull into the gas station that is Fast Five and fill her up five times over in the latest Quarter Mile at a Time. They also run inside real quick to grab some Gatorade and chips. They take too long. #Newsletter #Podcasts #QMAAT #QuarterMileataTime #FastFive #JackKolodziejski #RobertAnderson #MikeBurdge

Robert, along with guest Jeremy, takes a look at the new horror film from writer James Gunn and director Greg McLean and starring teen heart-throb Michael Rooker. #Newsletter #Podcasts #HotTakes #TheBelkoExperiment #RobertAnderson #JeremyKolodziejski

Human being Mike Burdge is joined by all around not-a-robot Robert "Robot" Anderson to discuss one of Mike's favorite films, Paul Verhoeven's 1987 masterpiece, RoboCop. #Newsletter #Podcasts #March #Overdrinkers #MikeBurdge #RobertAnderson #RoboCop

Robert, Jack and Mike take a look at the turning-of-the-tide installment, the return to form, the getting-the-gang-back-together-part-one, the bombastic joy-mobile that is Fast and Furious. #Newsletter #Podcasts #QMAAT #QuarterMileataTime #FastandFurious #RobertAnderson #JackKolodziejski #MikeBurdge

In the absence of Jack, Robert ventures into the great unknown with Bernadette and Mike to relive the tale that's as old as time in Disney's latest live-action adaptation, Beauty and the Beast. #Newsletter #Podcasts #HotTakes #RobertAnderson #BernadetteGorman #MikeBurdge #BeautyandtheBeast

Three Queens, who can only be described as statuesque, embark on a cross-country journey to Hollywood, California, where they will compete in the Drag Queen of America contest in Beeban Kidron’s To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. The 1995 comedy stars Patrick Swayze as lead Queen Vida, Wesley Snipes as the fierce Noxeema, and John Leguizamo as Queen-in-training Chi-Chi, three actors famously known for not playing Drag Queens. To Wong Foo is a fun twist on your typical “fish out of water” story, wherein our three fabulous heroines become trapped in the small, backwater town of Snydersville, after their chariot, a 1967 Cadillac Deville convertible, breaks down. The majority of the film takes place in Snydersville. While we easily could have had a film about Drag Queens going on a road trip culminating in the ferocious competition of the Drag Queen of America crown, we instead have a story of how Drag Queens make a small town a little queerer. So, what is To Wong Foo trying to say about the power of Drag? Drag is all about becoming a character. Noxeema’s definition of a Drag Queen is, “A gay man who has too much fashion sense for one gender.” It’s a fun explanation for why men decide to do drag, but in a way it’s flawed, we know that straight men also perform drag. The thing about drag is, it’s less about becoming a gender and more about becoming a character. Patrick Swayze’s character in the film doesn’t become a woman when he puts on a dress and FIERCE make up; he becomes Miss Vida, a character who happens to be a woman. Drag is a hyperbole of the “Male Gaze,” a term coined by British film theorist Laura Mulvey. In Mark Fortier’s “Theory/Theatre, an introduction,” he explains the Male Gaze as: “Patriarchal cultural visions often reducing woman to stereotypes (virgin, whore, Madonna, bitch) and fetishizing body parts (breasts, vagina, face).” Drag uses this same concept but in a way that makes it satirical. Though the Male Gaze is a representation of women that dehumanizes them, Drag uses it as empowerment. The performance nature of Drag serves to have people look at you, to gaze upon you, using the stereotypes described above, and hyperbolizing the body parts (described above); Drag Queens create a character that is so larger than life, you have to watch them. At many points in To Wong Foo, we see our heroines face adversity, from getting accosted on the streets of New York City, to actually being hunted by sexist, homophobic, rapist, all around bad dude Sheriff Dollard (Chris Penn). This may be relevant to the lives of many men who decide to perform in drag, (except for the being hunted by Chris Penn part, but who knows), whether they identify as gay or not. Having a stage, having a character to transform into, gives these people strength. This same strength is given to Snydersville, whose townsfolk are the audience to a very crazy Drag performance. The town starts off as a place where the women are underpowered, and the men are all kinda pieces of shit, from the physically/verbally abusive husband of Carol Ann, to the group of young boys who are also constantly trying to trap Chi-Chi. The Queens arrive and change the entire way the town functions by transforming the town’s Strawberry Social event into a Drag Queen show. The Queens objective seems to be to empower all those who are not empowered, from the women of the town, to even the young boy who works at the antique shop. The film’s climax is when Sheriff Dollard comes to town to arrest (or kill?) the Queens, but the town’s folk protect them by saying how they’re all Drag Queens. Drag Performances are a ton of fun. Drag Queens are a ton of fun. It’s an expression of an individual but also of Queer culture itself. Audiences to these shows are almost always mixed. People come from all walks of life to be entertained by these larger than life characters. Like the people of Snydersville, we all leave these shows, and this film, a little queerer than when we started. Robert Anderson Robert has a degree in Screenwriting and Playwriting and works in multiple genres. He's just your typical man-child who enjoys most things nerd culture. You can follow him on Twitter @RoBaeBae #Newsletter #Review #ToWongFoo #RobertAnderson #March