The Incomparable

We entered our viewing of 1978’s “Superman” with nostalgia and a sense of childlike wonder. We exited questioning everything about our fond memories of childhood. Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Shelly Brisbin, Steve Lutz and Chip Sudderth.

Our Book Club concludes its reading of the Hugo and Nebula shortlist novels with “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and “The Spare Man” by Mary Robinette Kowal. One’s an homage to H.G. Wells (sort of?) and the other plays like “The Thin Man” in space. Plus: We debate the meaning of star-rating systems, and what else are we reading? Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms and Scott McNulty.

Perhaps the best expression of the DC Animated Universe was its swan song: Justice League Unlimited, which improved upon its predecessor (Justice League Unadorned) with snappier pacing, a conspiracy story arc that anticipated today’s morally ambiguous super-teams, and a jumbo variety pack of DC characters. YES, we’re going to talk about Shining Knight, Bat Lash, and the Question. YES, we’re going to talk about the best-but-most-misplaced epilogue to the DCAU. YES, we’re going to talk about what happens when a super genius and a super genius gorilla tangle in the workplace. Chip Sudderth with Tony Sindelar, Cicero Holmes, Monty Ashley and Shannon Sudderth.

Arrange an assortment of home-cooked Vulcan appetizers and warm up your singing voices, because it’s time to discuss season two of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” This season took some big swings, and some of them didn’t quite connect—but a whole lot of them did. Jason Snell with Jean MacDonald, Erika Ensign, Dan Moren and Joe Rosensteel.

Is there a movie everyone else thinks is bad, which you secretly love? Maybe more than one? Then this is the episode for you! Antony resurrects his old podcast and asks a panel of guests to draft and talk about movies which are… unjustly maligned. Antony Johnston with Chip Sudderth, Jean MacDonald, Sarah Hendrica Bickerton and Monty Ashley.

We travel the highways and byways of space, from gross flesh space stations to the weird suburbs of Counter-Earth, all with one quest in mind: talk about Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3!” Jason Snell with Brian Warren, Kelly Guimont and Chip Sudderth.

Our book club reads two Hugo nominees, “Nona the Ninth” and “The Kaiju Preservation Society.” One’s the third book in a series that’s a real departure from what has came before, and whether that’s good or bad depends on how you were feeling about the series! The other is a standalone novel that’s perfectly fine, from an author who we think could be a better student if only he applied himself. And as usual, we also recommend many more books for you to read! Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign and Aleen Simms.

When a movie is this pink and this popular, we can’t ignore it. Our panel came in with high expectations for “Barbie,” and somehow not one of them was disappointed. What is it about Barbie and Ken that made this movie the hit of Summer 2023? Annette Wierstra with Shelly Brisbin, Heather Berberet, Kathy Campbell, Brian Hamilton and Moisés Chiullán.

How can “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” live up to its predecessor? It seems like a tough one, but somehow this 2023 sequel manages it. Just don’t expect an ending—it was originally called “Part One” for a reason. Jason Snell with John Siracusa, Lisa Schmeiser, Shannon Sudderth and Chip Sudderth.

Our Indy Summer concludes with the new release, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Ticking clocks! Antonio Banderas! Short Round II! We had a good time at the movie and we break it all down. Jason Snell with John McCoy, Annette Wierstra, Deborah Stanish, Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky.

Bad news for the haters: We watched “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and must inform you that our nerd rage of the 2000s has abated and we think it’s mostly okay now, actually. Even the refrigerator. Jason Snell with Steve Lutz, Annette Wierstra, Brian Warren and Erika Ensign.

Our revisiting of Indiana Jones movies continues with “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, a movie that may not achieve true greatness, but sure has a heck of a lot of fun, thanks to a solid job from Harrison Ford and everything Sean Connery says or does. Dan Moren with Aleen Simms, Kathy Campbell, Monty Ashley and Tony Sindelar.

As an adjunct to the Summer of Spielberg, we are revisiting the Indiana Jones movies we only glossed over the last time we covered them! We begin with “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” which gets credit for trying something different and demerit for failing at a lot of that. Jason Snell with Annette Wierstra, Steve Lutz, Moisés Chiullán and David J. Loehr.

“Barry” is the blackest of black comedies — if it’s even a comedy at all by season four. We knew Bill Hader was funny, but now we also know he’s an impressive actor and director, too. This spoiler-laden discussion of all four seasons dives deep into what’s real and not, what’s funny and not, and whether Barry was mostly a trippy homage to “Breaking Bad.” Lex Friedman with Brian Warren and Brian Hamilton.

From the sleeper hit that everyone clung to during the COVID lockdowns to a third season with Premier League-levels of hype and scrutiny, Ted Lasso was more than a breakout hit for Apple TV+. We dive into the Good, the Bad, and the Zava and make our picks (“It’s not a draft!”) for what spinoffs we want to see! Chip Sudderth with Aleen Simms, James Thomson, Kathy Campbell and Shannon Sudderth.

Our book club tackles two Nebula-nominated novels with ampersands in their titles! Is that all they have in common? It’s “Nettle & Bone” & “Legends & Lattes.” Plus: Is Scott the monster again this time? Maybe not! Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Aleen Simms, Erika Ensign and Kelly Guimont.

They made a better movie about Dungeons & Dragons! Can you really go wrong with Chris Pine and Hugh Grant? Two expert DMs and a roleplaying novice break it all down! Jason Snell with Tony Sindelar, Scott McNulty and Moisés Chiullán.

We go 20 minutes into the future and 36 years into the past to discuss ABC’s cyberpunk drama “Max Headroom.” For a show with an 80s pop-culture icon as its title character, it’s actually a prescient satire about where our culture was (and still is?) headed. Even more than three decades later, its discussions of data security, the right to privacy in a technological age, artificial intelligence, and even deepfakes are still state of the art. (Non-American viewers who thought this was the show where Max Headroom introduced various music videos… uh, no.) Catch the wave and join us, won’t you? Host Jason Snell with panelists Cicero Holmes, Moisés Chiullán, Monty Ashley, Warren Frey, and Austin Rich. Jason Snell with Cicero Holmes, Moisés Chiullán, Monty Ashley, Warren Frey and Austin Rich.

They said that “Star Trek: Picard” wasn’t just going to be a “Star Trek: The Next Generation” reunion show, and that turned out to be true, at least about the first two seasons. We review the show’s just-completed third season, which brought us the emotional and nostalgic moments we craved, introduced an assortment of new characters we liked (or didn’t), and introduced some plot elements that we puzzled over. Jason Snell with Joe Rosensteel, Moisés Chiullán, Cicero Holmes and David J. Loehr.

We gripe because we love! We break down the third season of “The Mandalorian.” Is burying part of the story in another show doing a disservice to this one? Why are there so may plot threads that seem to go nowhere, or get resolved in an anticlimactic fashion? And, despite all that, how did we all still have a good time? Dan Moren with Tony Sindelar, Houman Sadri, James Thomson and Kelly Guimont.