Mixed Bag

156 - Goosebumps w Mike Bryant 👻🎃☠️

It's spooooooky season so it's time for the Foe of the Podcast, Mike Bryant, to arise from his crypt once again and bless the pod with another scary feature that is mixed in quality. This time around, we're travelling just a decade ago to Goosebumps (2015) starring Jack Black, based on R. L. Stine's children's horror novel series of the same name. After moving to a small town, Zach Cooper finds a silver lining when he meets next door neighbor Hannah, the daughter of bestselling Goosebumps series author R.L. Stine. When Zach unintentionally unleashes real monsters from their manuscripts and they begin to terrorize the town, it’s suddenly up to Stine, Zach and Hannah to get all of them back in the books where they belong. (Sourced from Letterboxd) Will this Jumanji imitator be more Jumanji (1995) than Jumanji (2017)? Will Zach, Hannah and Champ ever find meaningful character development and most important of all, what is YOUR favourite Goosebumps book? All this and more with the terrific Mike and a bumper Pop Corner as we haven't caught up in ages. Happy Halloween Baghags and may your treats be well mixed with all sorts of sweets!

155 - Marley and Me 🐕

We cap off Tissue Box Office with a film where the tragic death is of not a long-haired brunette, but a short-haired blond! And also, he's a dog. A newly married couple, in the process of starting a family, learn many of life’s important lessons from their trouble-loving retriever, Marley. Packed with plenty of laughs to lighten the load, the film explores the highs and lows of marriage, maturity and confronting one’s own mortality, as seen through the lens of family life with a dog. (Sourced from Letterboxd) Over in the Pop Corner, we talk about One Battle After Another, Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, Prime Minister, Spettacolo! (2017), Marwencol (2010), Pavements, When We Were Trans by Kit Heyam, Corpses, Fools and Monsters by Willow Maclay and Caden Gardner and this new album by some lady called "Tailor Swiffed" that people are listening to for some reason (Cass wrote this).

154 - The Notebook 📓

We are Jamie-obsessed on this next installation of Tissue Box Office, to the extent where everyone keeps accidentally renaming Ryan Gosling's character after our beloved cohost. While it's clear the whole Mixed Bag trio are bona fide Gos-heads, what do they think about the film that launched a million teen girl crushes? An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer’s. From a faded notebook, the old man’s words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths. (Sourced from Letterboxd). Plus, in Pop Corner we talk Gloria (1980), A Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett, Dear Zachary (2008), Survivor: Australia vs. the World, Splitsville and the 2025 Emmy Awards.

153 - A Walk to Remember

We continue on our journey through the wonderful world of weepies with 2002's A Walk to Remember, the sleepover classic beloved by every teen girl who ever said "I can fix him." When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town’s minister. Jamie has a “to-do” list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon. (Sourced from Letterboxd). This episode we put forth our theory of straight-haired brunette death and the dead sister phenomenon. Plus, pop corner discussion of Baldur's Gate 3, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Detroit: Become Human, Man's Best Friend (Sabrina Carpenter), The Straight Line Was A Lie (The Beths), Jaws (1970) and The Naked Gun.

152 - Beaches 🏖️

Let's go to the beach, beach, let's go get away with Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey! Next on our Tissue Box Office list is a classic platonic weepie that somehow has little to no cultural footprint in Aotearoa New Zealand. A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years. (Sourced from Letterboxd). But before we dive into the beachy waves, we unpack the 2025 NZ International Film Festival in a bumper Pop Corner. Hear our thoughts on Sirât, The Mastermind, Resurrection, Sorry, Baby, A Useful Ghost, Dreams (Sex Love), Blue Moon, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Weed Eaters, Twinless, Little Trouble Girls, Sentimental Value and The Shrouds. Also, hear Matt and Jamie almost come to blows over Freakier Friday, and witness Matt's incessant bullying of The Life of Chuck.