The Incomparable

Drop the camcorder and whatever you do, don’t run toward the bridge! 2008’s “Cloverfield” mixes giant monsters, post-9/11 reactions to urban destruction, rom-com tropes, “Jaws” style monster hiding, and found footage shaky-cam into an incredibly intense movie experience. Does it matter that the main characters are generic, or does it actually help? Is this a slasher film or more of a smasher film? Why did it kick off a nonsensical franchise of unrelated movies? And if it was made today, how would it be different? (Hint: Less shaky-cam!) Find a quiet place to hide somewhere and join us!

We have reached the end (for now) of Miyazaki Club. So we gather back together to consider why we’re drawn to Hayao Miyazaki’s work, how we define the differences between films as different as “Ponyo” and “Spirited Away,” a list of the director’s favorite things, subs versus dubs, the music of Joe Hisaishi, and which of Miyazaki’s movies we all prefer.

After years of Monty telling us we should watch it, we’ve given in. It’s time to discuss 1981 South African karate movie “Kill and Kill Again,” a film featuring many middle-aged men kicking people, as well as a James Bond-style plot about a madman who wants to take over the world via an unusual application of potatoes. We cover strange ties to “CSI: Miami” and “The A-Team,” introduce you to the wonders of Hot Dog and his bag of tricks, weigh the movie’s knowing sexism against its unflinching racism, and contemplate Villanous Operations and how they are named. Also, Jason has a tight five about t-shirts.

In space, all warriors are cold warriors! An ecological disaster leads to the breakup of an enemy empire, but in “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” it’s the Klingon moon Praxis subbing in for the Soviet power station Chernobyl. Kirk and company struggle with their animosity toward the Klingons, but we are more concerned with what graduate school Gorkon’s daughter went to, the Klingon guard who carries a box, the one Klingon who laughed at McCoy’s joke, the importance of gaseous anomalies to Federation politics, and the lack of respect given to the Enterprise court reporter. Discussing this movie must’ve been our lifelong ambition.

Six episodes ago, Jason made Phil mad by suggesting that “Chariots of Fire” and “Amadeus” might not be worthy of their Academy Awards for Best Picture. This episode is Phil’s revenge, as we watch two acclaimed early-80s films and see how well they hold up. They’re both period pieces, but one is set to the electronic sounds of Vangelis and the other to the classical masterpieces of Mozart. Running in slow motion has never looked better, and there’s never been more braying laughter in a film!

Shakespeare Club returns! “The Taming of the Shrew” is a Shakespeare play that’s crying out to be adapted for modern audiences, which is why it keeps being adapted—with varying degrees of success. We discuss the play, the unpleasant Franco Zeffirelli 1967 film starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, the film and TV versions of Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me, Kate,” the teen rom-com “10 Things I Hate About You,” and even the 1980s TV adaptation on “Moonlighting,” which might be the best of the bunch? What we’re saying, Shakespeare, is that we’ve got some notes.

It’s a classic sitcom! It’s a Marvel movie! It’s both! It’s the first Disney+ MCU show, “WandaVision.” And it managed to be a walk through television history while simultaneously being an exploration of the stages of grief. Plus, an android in a turtleneck! We break it all down, from where Wanda and Vision go from here to what Monica Rambeau, Darcy Lewis, and Jimmy Woo should be doing next. Tune in, won’t you?

Is this the end of Miyazaki Club? Probably not, but we’ve reached the end of our survey of all the feature films he’s directed with “Porco Rosso,” the story of a pig man, the airplane he loves, the woman he doesn’t feel worthy to love, and the seaplane pirates who terrorize the Adriatic after World War I. There are lots of clouds and planes and boats, as you might expect.

The sixth season of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” features dark and unpleasant themes, a painful magic-as-heroin allegory, and creative decisions that manage to be cruel to both the show’s characters and its audience. But there’s also a musical!

We discuss the latest season of Amazon’s “The Expanse,” which separates its main characters for storylines all across the solar system. How well does that approach work? How do Amos and Peaches differ? Why should Alex never be a detective? And do we hate Marco Inaros the appropriate amount?

We’re using our powers over space and time to capriciously right wrongs throughout movie history. That’s right, it’s the Bad Best Picture Draft, in which our panelists will select a Best Picture Oscar winner, take its statuette away, and hand it to a more deserving winner.

Miyazaki Club gets weird with “Ponyo,” a story of a fish who gets the taste of human blood, lives in a bucket, can cure all diseases with a lick, and just wants to be human. Also there’s a plot for the sea to sweep away humanity, and the Moon comes perilously close to Earth. But cute!

After a long gap, our Book Club reconvenes, and if they can remember Micaiah Johnson’s “The Space Between Worlds,” they’ll recommend it to you. It’s a story about identity and society set across parallel worlds that are even more similar than they initially appear to be. Also, what else have we read lately? Curl up with a good book and keep an eye out for parallel-universe warlords!

From Canada comes “Letterkenny,” an unlikely comedy series about rural hicks, burnouts, and hockey players that’s hyper-verbal, charmingly prone to a donnybrook, and one of the funniest things we’ve watched recently.

Let’s fly! Our panel discusses the just-completed third season of “Star Trek: Discovery,” including new characters, future technologies, turbolifts that are bigger on the inside, and how Saru is very much like Poochie.

This week we’re discussing Pixar’s “Soul,” a film about the meaning of life, but also occasionally a wacky comedy about a talking cat or a dream pirate! But mostly the meaning of life. Watch out for the great Bug Zapper in the sky!

It’s time for our annual look back at the year gone by, and what a year it was! Still, we managed to watch, read, and listen to some great stuff this year. As is our custom, our panelists and listeners pick favorite Incomparable episodes and moments. This year, a panelist gets stuck inside a clip, and then Jason has to explain the Skeletor Clip Loop to a first-time Clip Show panelist who is not sure it really exists. It does—and 2021 is the year we fight back.

Is this the way? We break down the second season of “The Mandalorian,” which sees our title character struggling with his own identity as a Mandalorian as well as coming to grips with the important task of protecting the child that he’s been caring for. What’s the difference between good and bad fan service? How many different spin-off shows were being set up this season? And we workshop a Baby Yoda sitcom.

The Kilmas season reaches its peak with a fantasy film about a fellowship of people small and large who must journey far at the behest of a wizard, carrying something that may lead to the complete destruction of a kingdom. Except the thing isn’t a ring, it’s a baby. It’s 1988’s “Willow,” a charming movie with swords, sorcery, brownies (the bad kind), love potions, cartoonish snowballs, magic acorns, dangerous dragons, and even a magic trick or two. Merry Kilmas, one and all!

Kilmas rolls on with Val Kilmer’s first screen role, as the Elvis-like Nick Rivers—who is sent to East Germany and falls into a plot to destroy NATO submarines. But don’t sweat it, this is “Top Secret!”, from the same people who made “Airplane!” and “The Naked Gun,” so it’s really all about the jokes. So many jokes. We rave about some, and remain extremely perplexed about others. But you know who makes the whole thing work? Yep, Val Kilmer, that’s who.