Nerd Lunch

Michael, Rob, and Pax do a flyby (a very long, in depth flyby) on the 1986 icon, Top Gun, as well as its 2022 sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.

Erik asks Michael, Dave, and David to guess the secret connection between the James Bond classic From Russia with Love, "Space Seed" sequel Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Pixar's Monsters, Inc.  If you haven't seen one or more of the movies, feel free to skip to the discussions of your choice:   00:01:49 - Review of From Russia with Love (1963) 00:21:55 - Review of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) 00:42:40 - Review of Monsters, Inc. (2001) 01:05:59 - Guessing the Connection

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax convene for one last (with this configuration, for now) conversation about what they've been watching and thinking about. Topics include Moon Knight, the Jurassic Park series, fatherhood, and a special announcement from Evan. 

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax gather in the lounge for another rambling conversation about what they've been listening to and reading. This time, the discussion touches on (among many other things) Henry David Thoreau's Walden, the history of Nerd Lunch, Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury, and Paper Girls by Brian K Vaughan and Cliff Chiang.

Michael and Rob welcome back old friends Carlin Trammel and William Bruce West to discover who the Ultimate Fictional Musician is. Each panelist nominates four bands or solo musicians to face off against each other Sweet 16 tournament-style. There can be only one champion, but the real fun is in the discussion and laughter along the way.

Michael and Rob welcome new friend Jacob Bean-Watson of the Movie Connection podcast to start a series of conversations about high school movies. They talk a little about high school movies in general before digging into the characters and themes of their first pick: Dead Poets Society starring Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, and Ethan Hawke. If it's been a while since you've seen the movie, it's time to rewatch it and listen to this great discussion.

Michael continues his solo exploration of Fleming's Bond novels with On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Written after the release of the Dr No film, OHMSS references the movie is some interesting ways while also continuing the Blofeld saga begun in the novel Thunderball. And then there's Tracy Draco, who may or may not be as cool in the book as she is in the later film adaptation.  Featuring music by Hugo Montenegro, as well as David Arnold and Iggy Pop.

Michael, Rob, and Evan welcome Michael's long-time friend DeAndre to the podcast to create the ultimate team of science fiction characters. Plucking favorite characters from various sci-fi subgenres, the panel not only creates an amazing all-star team, but also an adventure worthy of them. 

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax continue this month's Lounge discussion with topics like live music, changing attitudes with age, and of course... multiverses. They talk about their own personal multiverses, but also lots of spoilery conversation about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.   If you haven't seen Doc Strange 2 and would like to be unspoiled, it's best if you see the movie before listening to this episode. But if you'd like to listen to the rest of the podcast and skip the bulk of the Doctor Strange discussion, the biggest spoilers are between 00:32:35 and 00:51:07, and then again from 01:13:31 to 01:32:10. Though we can't promise that something didn't sneak in outside those time frames. 

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax chat about what they've been listening to and reading lately with special attention given to old comic strips, Star Trek novels, Percy Jackson vs The Kane Chronicles, and Michael's audio quality (for which we apologize). This week's musical guest is Death Cab for Cutie. No Infringement is Intended.

Michael and Rob are joined by Michael's son, David May, to talk about the first season of the Avengers Assemble cartoon, how it compares to the MCU, and whether or not they'll ever speak of this again.

Michael, Rob, and Karen Flieger discuss the first James Bond feature film: how it compares to the Fleming novel while setting the stage for the 60-year (and running) series of movies about the world's favorite super spy. 

Evan asks Dave, David, Erik, and Michael to find the hidden connection (other than the fact that none of them are English-language films) between Solaris (1972), Le Dîner de Cons (1998), and Force Majeure (2014).   If you haven't seen one or more of the movies, feel free to skip to the discussions of your choice:   00:02:10 - Review of Solaris (1972) 00:16:12 - Review of Le Dîner de Cons (1998) 00:30:57 - Review of Force Majeure (2014) 00:51:24 - Guessing the Connection

Michael and Rob welcome back Corinna Bechko and Ben Graham to adapt books and movies into Star Trek holonovels. Each panelist picks a character from the source material that they want to play and then invites Star Trek characters to take on other roles. But in true Star Trek fashion, everything does not go smoothly on the holodeck and strange glitches occur to complicate and change the stories.   Opening and closing music by Andrew Allen.

Evan, Michael, Pax, and Rob ramble about the Hardy Boys, Batman, kids, surprising personality traits, and how to watch TV. Among many other things.

Evan, Michael, Pax, and Rob enjoy a rambling conversation about The Sandman, Ringu (and The Ring), Cyclops’ heat vision, Black Panther comics, and ever so much more.

Michael and Rob gather in the study to talk about an odd Sherlock Holmes movie. Michael Caine plays Holmes and Ben Kingsley is Watson in this parody where Watson is the brilliant detective and Holmes just a fictional character portrayed by a failed actor.

To commemorate the hundredth episode of AfterLunch, Evan, Michael, Pax, and Rob discuss the evolution of the show over the last couple of years and think about where it might possibly go from here. But it's not all just looking at belly buttons and they finish the episode talking about the 100th installments of Alpha Flight, Batman ('66), Bob's Burgers, and Marvel Team-Up.

Hail Hydra.

Michael, Rob, and Evan welcome Christian Nielsen (Pop Culture Retrofit) and new guest Siskoid (The Fire and Water Podcast Network) to guess movie titles based on one-sentence descriptions of the plot. It's kind of hard, fairly chaotic, and completely fun.