Podcast Portal Monthly: March 2016

Scene from Lady in the Water
Welcome to Podcast Portal Monthly, an offshoot of Podcast Portal which intends to highlight five lesser known podcasts that have shined in some significant way over the past month. There will be an attempt to highlight a few great up and coming shows that reflect the strengths of the podcasting medium and elevate them to new and effective heights. If you have a show that's worthy of checking out, please leaving the comments. Who knows. Maybe it will be featured in an upcoming entry. You'll just have to wait and see.


1. Blank Check with Griffin and David

Hosts: Griffin Newman, David Sims
Network: UCB Comedy
Episodes Considered:
1. "Episode Six - Lady in the Water" (with Richard Lawson)
2. "Episode Seven - The Happening"
3. "Episode Eight - The Last Airbender" (with Seaton Smith)
4. "Episode Nine - After Earth" (with James III)

Summary: If there's one podcast worthy of reboot of the year, it's likely this one. In some ways filling in the gaps for the sadly defunct The Auteurcast, the show that started out as a year-long Star Wars podcast has transformed into a show focusing on filmmakers with strange careers, such as M. Night Shyamalan. While the episodes tend to be lengthy (100+ minutes), the show manages to balance comedy with insight in ways that are endlessly fascinating and make for a worthwhile listen. While last month's entries featured Shyamalan's best work and 3/4 of the Fighting in the War Room hosts, this month sees them tackle his duds - with hilarious results. Here's hoping that their next directors (Lana and Lily Wachowski) can deliver on entertainment half as good as this show so far.

Best For People Who: Like in-depth analysis of directors' filmography as well as the marketing and history of the its release.

2. Reliable Sources:
Toobin Talking O.J.

Hosts: Brian Stetler, Jeffrey Toobin
Network: CNN
Episodes Considered:
1. "The Race Card"
2. "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia"
3. "Conspiracy Theories"
4. "A Jury in Jail"
5. "Manna From Heaven"

Summary: If you're like me, you're hooked on American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson. It's easily some of the best work that producer Ryan Murphy has been involved with and reflects a complicated and fascinating look at the justice system and racial politics of America in the mid-90's. However, what's more intriguing is that there's actually a show with an eye witness for fans to listen to if you want to learn more about the show. While serving as a consultant, Jeffrey Toobin also covered the trial in great detail during the time. With his dual knowledge, he provides both a look into the actual events as well as the making of the TV series and why the generality still interests audiences. If nothing else, it's worth listening to for the unique perspective.

Best For People Who: Love historically based TV dramas and enjoy learning both about how they were made as well as learn more about the actual events themselves.

3. Still Buffering

Hosts: Sydnee McElroy, Rileigh Smirl
Network: Maximum Fun
Episodes Considered: 
1. "How to Dress (Code)"
2. "Hot to Dating (Part 1)"
3. "How to Movie"
4. "How to Music"
5. "How (Not) to Party"

Summary: Never underestimate the value of The McElroy Family. Over the course of time, they have produced close to a dozen different shows that cover everything from advice to medicine to recently manners. However, one of the new and most exciting new shows comes from two sisters and a novelty premise. With almost two decades between them, the show focuses around the difference between the teenage experience in the 90's and now. As one can guess, the results are staggeringly different, and produce some of the more interesting conversations on a weekly basis. It may baffle the older crowd to hear some of the conversation, but it is inevitably insightful in ways that few podcasts covering contemporary youth would have you suggest. It's definitely a welcomed fit to The McElroy Brand, and will hopefully educate you on what the kids of today really like. If nothing else, "How to Movie" will teach you how well Mallrats has aged.

Best For People Who: Wonder what is going on with the kids today, whether it be fashion, technology, relationships, or even their thoughts on movies.

4. Franchise Shmanchise

Hosts: Jeff Bell, T.C. De Witt
Network: Ghost-Hat Media
Episodes Considered:
1. "The 'Die Hard' Franchise 4: Live Free or Die Hard"

Summary: Among the podcasts listed on here, this is the only holdover from the actual Podcast Portal write-ups. It's for good reason. While the show hit a bit of a recording snag this month, it did manage to produce a compelling episode that suggested that the fourth Die Hard sequel is actually warranted. The show's mission statement is to review movie franchises in their entirety to help determine if they deserved a sequel. Thankfully, the hosts are lively and provide great insight into the Die Hard movies. With the wrap-up episode coming this Saturday, one can only wonder what's next for them. Hopefully it will be just as good, if not better.

Best For People Who: Are obsessed with the idea of films existing in a franchise and have to share some narrative cohesion.

5. Musical Notation

Hosts: West Anthony
Network: Battleship Pretension
Episodes Considered: 
1. "Hello Newmans - The Newman Family Film Music Dynasty"
2. "Batman v. Superman, Part 1 - Batmusic!"
3. "Batman v. Superman, Part 2- Supermusic!"
4. "West Goes to Wondercon"

Summary: If there's one side of film discussion that doesn't have a largely recognized platform, it's soundtracks and scores. Thankfully, that is where West Anthony comes in. After a long hiatus from the sadly defunct The Auteurcast, Anthony returns with a show that reflects his very passion for scores. Don't worry. It's not just listening to old tracks. There's a lot of great background and information that Anthony also provides to better understand why he picked it. The show has plenty of humor mixed in as well, and it is very short (under 20 minutes) for those who have strict time schedules. Overall, it's a much welcomed entry into the podcasting world, and here's hoping it only continues to cover the depths of obscure film music.

Best For People Who: Love discussing soundtrack and scores for movies that are both obscure and very familiar, as well as have a campy sense of humor.

Comments