We Love the Love

We're kicking off our summer of superheroes with one of the first theatrical superhero movies: the 1966 Batman movie starring Adam West and Burt Ward! Join in as we discuss the development of the TV show, the film's relationship to camp, Batman's detective work, and the state of modern superhero cinema. Plus: Why is this Batman movie set entirely during daylight hours? Why did Burt Ward do almost all of his own stunts? Does Batman work for the government? Can Marc name the Thunderbolts? And, most importantly, who is the most dateable Batman? Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe! Next week: My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) --------------------------------------------- Key sources and links for this episode: * The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise ofNerd Culture by Glen Weldon (2016) * The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America by David Hadju (2009) * "Batman [https://web.archive.org/web/20020620023932/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/batman/batman.htm]" (Museum of Broadcast Communications) * "Adam West: Behind the Mask [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/adam-west-behind-the-mask-305457.html]" (The Independent) * "Batman [https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22825-BATMAN?sid=7dcd061f-865a-4d8d-8782-2e8595c497cb&sr=10.692742&cp=1&pos=1]" (AFI Catalog) * "Original Design for the Leader in Captain America: Brave New World Revealed [https://www.ign.com/articles/original-design-for-the-leader-in-captain-america-brave-new-world-revealed-inspired-by-the-original-comic-book-art]" (IGN) * "Captain America: Brave New World Leader Merchandise Looks Nothing Like the Character in the Movie [https://screencrush.com/leader-brave-new-world-merchandise/]" (ScreenCrush)\ * "The Comic Artists Who Inspired Roy Lichtenstein Aren't Too Thrilled About It [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/comics-behind-roy-lichtenstein-180966994/]" (Smithsonian Magazine)

We're closing out our D.C. Onscreen series with a look at the interwoven affairs of the 2008 Coen brothers comedy Burn After Reading! Join in as we discuss our favorite Coen Brothers movies, the perplexed reception the film got from critics, and possibly the worst street in all of D.C. Plus: What's the best blind date spot in D.C.? Is anyone in this movie not an idiot? Does 2008 comedy sensation Tropic Thunder hold up? And, most importantly, what's the worst picture book in the current market? Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe! Next week: Batman (1966) ------------------------------------------------ Key sources and links for this episode: * 2008 interview with Joel and Ethan Coen at TIFF [https://web.archive.org/web/20080913202320/http://blog.spout.com/2008/09/11/the-coen-brothers-interview-burn-after-reading-toronto-2008/] (SpoutBlog) * Composer Carter Burwell's notes on the Burn After Reading score [https://www.carterburwell.com/projects/Burn_After_Reading.html] * "Coens Dumb it Down with Burn" [https://web.archive.org/web/20230415233708/https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-08-28-coen-brothers_N.htm] (USA Today) * "Venice Opens with Pitt and Clooney in Madcap Comedy" [https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKEN68026620080827/] (Reuters) * "Movie Preview: Burn After Reading" [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828033710/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20218867,00.html] (EW) * "Jeremy Renner Turned Down Hawkeye Season 2 Because He Was Offered 'Half' His Season 1 Salary: 'Did You Think I'm Half the Jeremy Renner Because I Got Run Over?'" [https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/jeremy-renner-turned-down-hawkeye-season-2-half-salary-offer-1236384199/] (Variety) * "Tropic Thunder R-Word Use Draws Ire" [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tropic-thunder-r-word-use-draws-ire/] (CBS News)

Hollywood couldn't figure out how to sell a historical fiction political comedy about teenagers set twenty-five years in the past, but we're big fans of Andrew Fleming's 1999 film Dick and we're here to talk about it! Join in as we discuss teenage celebrity crushes, child stardom, an odd choice for weed storage, and a deep cast of sketch performers. Plus: Why does Nixon White House Counsel John Dean have a "special thanks" in the credits? Why is the New York Times review so fixated on connecting this movie to Monica Lewinsky? And, most importantly, why does this dog look nothing like Checkers?? Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe! Next week: Burn After Reading (2008) ---------------------------------------------- Key sources and links for this episode: * Stephen Holden's review in the New York Times [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/04/movies/film-review-that-gap-in-the-nixon-tapes-maybe-a-teen-age-cry-of-love.html] * Michael O'Sullivan's review in the Washington Post [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/08/06/dick-the-lighter-side-of-watergate/3547dfbd-8002-4870-ab53-a99c383efde3/] * "Generation X's Tricky Dick" [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1999/08/01/generation-xs-tricky-dick/b5b70d4d-b50d-453d-b9ef-ea3af28dacac/] (Washington Post) * "Dick Director on the Challenges of Making a Watergate Comedy and Whether it Could be Done Today" [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/dick-film-director-watergate-comedy-annivesary-1235167156/] (The Hollywood Reporter) * "9 Things You Never Really Knew about Dick" [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dick-andrew-fleming_n_5698264] (Huffington Post) * "Dick at 25: The Watergate Satire's Writer and Director on Putting Michelle Williams and Kirsten Dunst in Nixon's White House" [https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/dick-25th-anniversary-director-writer-watergate-satire-1235032568/] (IndieWire) * "Michelle Williams Bares All for Her Art" [https://ew.com/article/1999/07/29/michelle-williams-bares-all-her-art/] (Entertainment Weekly) * "Michelle Williams, Naked Angel" [https://web.archive.org/web/20170726072945/https://www.papermag.com/michelle-williams-naked-angel-1425143536.html] (Paper Magazine) * "Some Like Her Hot" [https://www.gq.com/story/michelle-williams-gq-february-2012-cover-story-article] (2012 GQ cover story on Michelle Williams) * "How Did Two Elite Students Fall for the Zizians Cult?" [https://www.thecut.com/article/milo-youngblut-max-snyder-zivians-cult-murders.html?utm_source=nymag_app_article_share] (The Cut) * "Stalkers, Disease, and Doubt: A Gymnast's Hard Road Back to the Games" [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/29/world/olympics/suni-lee-gymnastics-kidney-disease.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-00.wDyI.KbtoRG146NQB&smid=url-share] (New York Times piece on Suni Lee's adjustment to fame and adult life) * Dear Hollywood [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dear-hollywood/id1699053001] - Alyson Stoner's podcast on child acting * "Jason Bateman" [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jason-bateman/id1438054347?i=1000689049261] (Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend) * "The Reveal of Emo Kylo Ren's Parentage is Tearing Twitter Apart" [https://www.avclub.com/the-reveal-of-emo-kylo-rens-parentage-is-tearing-twitte-1822454330] (AV Club) * "The Story of the Really Weird Night Richard Nixon Hung out with Hippies at the Lincoln Memorial" [https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/05/17/richard-nixon-kent-state-protests-white-house-lincoln-memorial/] (Washingtonian Magazine)

Our D.C. Onscreen series takes us to Georgetown as we look at the reincarnation romance of Emile Ardolino's 1989 film Chances Are! Join in as we discuss our favorite afterlife bureaucracies, Yale's draconian library fees, and the performances by Cybill Shepherd, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan O'Neal, and Mary Stuart Masterson. Plus: Why didn't the mobster just kill Louie (Christopher Macdonald)? Has Alex (Downey) ever been to a doctor? How long does Corinne (Shepherd) leave out food for her dead husband? And, most importantly, what should you do with baby teeth? Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe! Next episode: Dick (1999) -------------------------------------------- Key sources and links for this episode: * Desson Howe's review in the Washington Post [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/03/10/chances-are-youve-seen-it/e18cfd55-9371-4504-ba64-88045674c66c/] * Rita Kempley's review in the Washington Post [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/chancesarepgkempley_a09fac.htm] * Roger Ebert's 3.5-star review [https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/chances-are-1989] * Janet Maslin's review in the New York Times [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/10/movies/review-film-keeping-love-alive-indefinitely.html] * "Movie Motors: Four-Wheeled Actors Set the Scene in these D.C. Films" [https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/movie-motors-four-wheeled-actors-set-the-scene-in-these-dc-films/2020/08/30/598aa30a-e975-11ea-bc79-834454439a44_story.html] (Washington Post) * "Inside Anthony Michael Hall's Relationship with Robert Downey Jr." [https://www.thelist.com/645747/inside-anthony-michael-halls-relationship-with-robert-downey-jr/](The List)

Goldie Hawn grew up in the D.C. area, so it's only right for our D.C. Onscreen series to look at her starring role in 1984's Protocol! Join in as we discuss theme restaurants, a weirdly deep cast, Reagan assassination parody, and the death of Skype. Plus: Who thought any of this Ohtar stuff worked? How did Sunny Davis get shot in the butt? Why does Chris Sarandon totally disappear from the movie? And, most importantly, which quadrant of D.C. does Sunny live in? Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe! Next week: Chances Are (1989) --------------------------------------------------- Key sources and links for this episode: * Roger Ebert's 2.5-star review [https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/protocol-1984] * "Making of Protocol is a Hit on the Streets" [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/04/24/making-of-protocol-is-a-hit-on-the-streets/f5a5b734-79f3-47f7-9a47-dbde6f8bb776/] (Washington Post) * "Goldie Hawn Surprised by Arab Protests" [https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/04/20/Goldie-Hawn-surprised-by-Arab-protests/6066451285200/] (UPI) * "Goldie Hawn, Wacky Like a Fox" [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1984/12/21/goldie-hawn-wacky-like-a-fox/fc4f83a3-5914-4e05-a086-c7d61ae555c7/] (Washington Post) * Read about Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg's failed theme restaurant [https://www.seeing-stars.com/Dine/Dive.shtml]