Remember When

A displacement of geographic proportions left our podcast in an unintended hiatus.  Now that Jay's moved across the country and settled into his new digs, we're back behind the mics and getting into our old routine. Episode 54 drops us at the end of our Star Wars series, where we sit and take a look at 1983's Return of the Jedi.  The final installment of the Original Trilogy is a controversial piece to say the least, but a renewed look at the movie brings a few surprises.  We talk about the Return of the Jedi that might have been (Han dies before the first half of the movie?) and the Return of the Jedi that will never be again (Hayden Christensen's Ghost... need we say more?).  You don't even have to be an Ewok lover to find something to agree with us with in this show... we run the gamut of opinions and have a lot to talk about. And the timing of our episode couldn't have come at a better time!  Between the news of the Disney buyout of LucasFilm and the announcement of Episodes VII through IX, there's a who

Our tangents escape us as we start off Episode 53, the latest and greatest episode in your Remember When podcast. Before the show even starts, we kick off with some crazy hijinx as Siri delivers some bad news to Parris, leaving him flummoxed as Florida State is down at the half.   And then we jump into this week's episode of "Great" Movies Jay Has Never Seen.  We're using "Great" in the loosest sense of the word, because our latest movie from the Wayback Machine is The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension.  If you've never seen this movie before, our advice before watching it is.... don't.  If you have seen the movie before, then sit back and relax as we look at one of those nostalgic 80's movies that has been absolutely decimated by the passage of time.  Seriously, what were we thinking?   After a spoiler-laden discussion, we jump into our thoughts on some of the upcoming movies for 2012 and how the last three months of the year may be infinitely better than the first nine combined.

We're back in the saddle right out of the gate with episode 52. Want us to prove it?  Here's the scoop:  We tangent RIGHT AWAY.  Before we start talking about movies, before we jump into any of our planned topics, we get ourselves sidetracked.  And with real life news, to boot!  We talk about some of the successes in our personal lives, what's been driving us lately... and even hint strongly at a video game podcast in the near-ish future? After ten minutes, we hop into the Wayback Machine and jump back in time to 1993.  America was still recoiling from the horrific news that Crystal Pepsi was being pulled off the market, and we needed something to heal ourselves with.  Along comes Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg's popcorn flick based on the Michael Crichton novel.    We talk about what it was like to sit wide-eyed under a giant screen with the new DTS sound systems when the movie came out on opening weekend.... and then give the movie a fresh look.  Can a two decade old movie that's special effect heavy hold

When you take a man and turn him into an idea, he becomes a legend.  When you take a movie franchise and turn it into a legend, it ends up generating one of the most epic podcasts of all time.  And after much anticipation on everyone's parts (including our own!), we're pleased to present our dedicated podcast for The Dark Knight Rises. Recorded on the same day we both saw Christopher Nolan's cap on the Batman trilogy, we sit down with fresh memories of the movie and talk about what we loved, how so many of the ideas and concepts in the movie were beautiful constructed over the course of the three movies, and how The Dark Knight Rises managed to provide some serious pay-off.   We look back at our original skepticism on Anne Hathaway's casting as Selina Kyle and laugh at how foolish we were.  Then we look back at Joseph Gordon Levitt's casting and find ourselves a little puzzled.  Jay admits to having some problems with the ending, we look at some of the parts that don't add up... But through it all, we cap off

Got any bubble gum? OBEY!  CONSUME!  And most of all, kick a**.  The leading themes in "They Live", John Carpenter's cult film from the 80's, bring us back into a new episode of Remember When.  Parris has never seen this little gem of cinema before, and takes time to sit down and watch Rowdy Roddy Piper in one of his greatest performances of all time.  We talk about how the movie holds up over the past 25 years, and how some of its themes have become far more relevant in modern times than they were when the movie first released. Parris comes back from his viewing of Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter with an admission of his own, and Jay talks about how a second viewing of Prometheus helped to alleviate his ambivalence towards the movie.  Both of us have had second helpings of The Avengers as well, and we spend some time talking about the state of Superhero movies in the industry. Then we progress into a series of fun, wild tangents through the state of TV as we get caught up on the ending of Mad Men, the sad progres

They say that in space, no one can hear you scream.  But if you're like either of us, you were probably ecstatic to hear that Ridley Scott would be coming back to his beloved outer space franchise and directing a semi-prequel to Alien.  And now that it's been released, we're sitting down behind our respective microphones to talk about 2012's Prometheus. With a high profile director like Ridley Scott, and a cast that includes such notables as Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, and that girl with the tattoo, you'd probably expect this to be another slam dunk in the roster of Summer Movies, akin to The Avengers in pedigree, scope, and the "Wow" factor. This podcast takes a look at both Alien (which is now 33 years old... holy cow, we're old!) and Prometheus.  We spoil them both as we talk about how the two tie into each other, what's missing from the new movie, what opportunities were left untouched, and how certain actors in this movie are just kick-ass beyond belief.  When Prometheu

Parris and Jay, Assemble!  The summer movie season has kicked off with a bang and it's time to jump in feet first. Our latest episode focuses exclusively on The Avengers, the Joss Whedon extravaganza that unites the recent Marvel movie stars into a single adventure.  With a budget that's estimated at nearly a quarter of a billion dollars, a marketing machine that's been unstoppable over the past few months, and a huge wave of expectations in the hearts of the fans, The Avengers has a high bar to meet. We sit down and talk about why Joss Whedon was the absolute perfect person to direct this ensemble film and how the movie is one of the perfect examples of how to treat a cast filled with high profile names.  We each talk about who our favorite character in the movie was (we agreed) and who we liked least.   Then we pick through the movie piece by piece, finding some of the narrative elements that didn't serve the movie and almost seemed cheap compared to the better parts of Avengers, or even the other Marvel fi

Remember When is pleased to present a seminal moment in our show roster.  After many episodes of hinting and an unintentional delay of a few months, Parris and Jay are pleased to bring you their unabashed and honest conversation about The Empire Strikes Back. This entire episode is dedicated to our discussion of Irvin Kershner's masterpiece film, and we take a look back at how this movie impacted us in the 80's, how the storyline has changed with us over time, and the new and interesting ways we've viewed the movie at different points in our respective lives.  We give an honest look at the perceived 'perfection' of Empire Strikes Back amongst Star Wars fans and how, in some ways, Episode V is still setting a bar for other Science Fiction films in our modern time.   We go into our separate beliefs on the Special Edition-ization of Empire and, believe it or not, there are actually updates in the SE that we found both worthy and enjoyable! There's chat about 'the big twist' at the end of the movie, how it was or

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you.  We're back with a brand new, fresh episode of Remember When... less than two weeks since the last one!  It may seem like an April Fools Joke but trust us, there's nothing to laugh at here... Well, not unless you count The Hunger Games.  After watching the hit movie, we have some pretty strong opinions we want to voice about how underwhelming of an experience The Hunger Games was, and how we wish there had been a better chance to emotionally connect with the movie and its characters.  This section is filled with spoilers, but if you listen and have the movie ruined for you... we might be doing you a favor. Then we progress into some continued discussions on the upcoming summer movies as we talk about the new trailer for the Total Recall remake, the new Prometheus trailer and our excitement for this new Ridley Scott endeavor (as well as our concerns about it) and Parris' love for Charlize Theron in both Prometheus and the new Snow White Movie We end the show with a discussio

Six months ago, a podcast faded into a quiet slumber, hibernating its way through the slow winter crawl.  Now, two show hosts emerge, bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to talk about the shows and movies they love.  Remember When is back! We return with a brand new, unscripted show that's recorded on-the-fly as we sit down and catch up on the things we've missed over the past half year.  We discuss the lengthy gap between shows (we're very sorry) and talk about the things in our lives that have kept us focused elsewhere.  But then we dust off our microphones and jump right into the swing of things. And boy, is there a lot to discuss! Walking Dead is coming off its best season ever, Breaking Bad rang our bell (if you know what I mean), Mad Men's about to return... cable TV is on FIRE right now!  And with the summer roster of movies featuring titles like The Amazing Spider-man, The Dark Knight Rises, and Prometheus, 2012 is on track to be one of the best years for pop culture hounds.   Parris has a confession

Welcome to Episode 44B, a special bonus download offered exclusively to our subscribers! This episode includes a spoiler-laden discussion of the "newer" media in our lives, as we talk about Jay's adventures through the first few seasons of Breaking Bad, the closure of True Blood's fourth season, Transformers 3, Torchwood: Miracle Day, and much more.   This podcast is part of our way of saying Thank You to our fans who have patiently (and impatiently-but-politely) waited for our hiatus to pass.  Thank you to everyone for your support of Remember When!

Pew Pew.... Gotcha! A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... two young, wide-eyed children came across a science-fiction piece that would forever change their lives.  It was called Star Wars: A New Hope. Those two boys, Jay and Parris, would have no idea what wonders this movie might have in store for them, but little did they know that it would also change their lives. This podcast takes an exclusive focus on Episode IV.  We start by talking about how we each were introduced to the series, the ways it shaped our childhood, and how it turned us into die-hard fans.  Our conversation rolls through the entire progression of the movie, with each of us talking about our favorite scene from the original, and how the movie has held up over time. Towards the end of the podcast, we talk about the "evolution" of A New Hope (and we use the term as loosely as possible) as it has been through wave after wave of changes.  We look at the Special Edition update and how it actually manages to serve a good purpose for A Ne

Fresh from the archives of Cardiff, Remember When dusts itself off for a brand new episode.  We're returning to the Doctor Who-niverse for one more round, with Episode 43 focusing on Torchwood.  Parris and Jay talk about how they were introduced to the show, their impressions of the show's content during their first viewing, and how the show has held up in our respective opinions since then.  We talk about the good fortune that led us through the muck of Series 1, why we like Series 2 despite its failings, and go into a deep dive on which characters and storylines we enjoyed.  You might be surprised to find that one of us actually even enjoyed Tosh by the end of the show! We also hold a very deep dive into Children of Earth, the miniseries that served as our last look into the Special Forces branch.  This five episode series came about after a series of budget cuts, casting issues, and story problems, and we each offer commentary on how Children of Earth changed our ever-shaping opinions of Torchwood... for b

It's the TARDIS' fault.  She kept us from recording a podcast earlier by trapping us in an alternate dimension.  Thanks to a little Time Lord ingenuity and a paper clip, Remember When is back on course with our long awaited, often discussed Doctor Who episode. Dedicated entirely to the Man From Gallifrey, Episode 42 talks about Doctor Who as it's existed in the past 7 years.  We look back at the eras of Eccleston and Tennant and talk about their respective runs, why we love Tennant, and why Eccleston pales in comparison.  Jay and Parris both discuss their respective introductions to the show, and how they came to regard it as they binged on some of the better sci-fi from across the pond. Covering Series 1 through 4 and the final specials of David Tennant, this podcast is spoiler-laden and covers a wide range of topics.  We look back at the definitive moments when we loved the Doctor, rank the companions in terms of most awesome to least awesome (and hottest to Rose), give each season a score, and talk about w

After a long winter's night, Remember When is back again for more retro-style goodness.   Since our hiatus lasted a little longer than we would have liked, we're temporarily tabling the Doctor Who / Torchwood episodes to get back into some of the original Remember When formula.  We start off with a look back at TRON.  The original 1982 Disney film is a cult classic, and serves as the latest "Great Movie Jay Has Never Seen".  With fresh eyes and an open mind, Jay sits down and talks about what he liked about the movie, why he thinks TRON sucks, and his thoughts behind what a 7 year old version of himself would have thought about TRON. Then we jump into our discussion on TRON: Legacy.  As the big budget follow-up approaches the 300 million dollar mark at the box office, Parris and Jay sit down at their microphones and roll up their sleeves as they go head-to-head with their opinions on the sequel.  Can a huge marketing budget and crazy special effects work save this movie?  We talk about what works, what fails,

Remember When returns with another Special Edition episode that's aimed squarely at your brain... your plump, delicious brain.   Episode 40 is a one-off release that we're doing to discuss the latest in AMC's original programming.  The Walking Dead premieres on Halloween night this year, and AMC was gracious enough to provide us with screener copies of the first two episodes before they aired.  So we're here with a special release to talk about this series, what it means, and why you should watch it. Because The Walking Dead hasn't aired yet, we've divided the show into three separate segments.  First, we give you a spoiler-free look at the initial pair of episodes, giving you a detailed look at why we love the first two hours of The Walking Dead without ruining any of the story details for you.   After that, we jump into a spoiler-filled discussion on Days Gone By, the pilot episode of The Walking Dead.  We talk about our reactions to the initial offering, what we think worked well, and what could have impro

After an unintentional hiatus due to real life, we're pleased to bring you the glorious return of the Remember When podcast! Although we promised you a Doctor Who & Torchwood episode, we're pushing that off slightly.  At the top of the show, we explain why we're postponing our venture into the realm of British sci-fi, and why the delay means better things for our listeners. We spend the rest of Episode 39 talking about our views on other TV shows, both spectacular and spectacularly bad.  First up, we cover the third season of True Blood.  With the series finale airing last month, we look back at the season overall and discuss the elements we loved, the pieces that failed miserably, and what we think needs to be fixed before Alan Ball and the cast and crew start working on the fourth season. Then we take a long awaited dive into the deep end of Mad Men.  Jay's finally caught up with the show, and as AMC puts the fourth season to bed, we take a comprehensive look into the first few years of the show, talk a

Prepare yourself for a battle royale.  Remember When is back with a new podcast, and this time, it's a battle of opinions!   We sit down this week for a quick episode, as we look back on our respective experiences with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.  Jay loved it passionately, Parris hated it to the point of nearly walking out.  With two diametrically opposed opinions, it's going to be a fun discussion. Jay talks about his experiences with the movie, why he was pleased he DIDN'T read the comics ahead of time, and how he appreciates the love letter effect in the film.  Parris explains The Wife Effect, his feelings on why the romantic storyline deflated the overall film, and why Michael Cera might not have been the best choice for the role. Two people enter the ring.  Where will it end?  Listen in and find out. Then we wrap up the show with some talk about True Blood, Mad Men, why AMC is one of the greatest cable networks available, and our hopes and fears for the Fall TV season.  Believe it or not, we even manag

You've been living in a dream world Put on your pajamas and grab a cup of warm milk, because Episode 37 of Remember When is about to take you into the world of dreams.   We kick off our show with our latest "Great Movie Jay Has Never Seen", discussing the 1980's camp film "Dreamscape".  It's been a quarter of a century since the movie was released in theaters, and Dennis Quaid's hair has certainly improved since then.  But whether or not Jay's going to be able to appreciate this piece of nostalgia after all this time is questionable.  Listen in as he talks about the bad decision he made with the movie, as well as why he's not kicking himself over it. Then we dive into the Dream Within A Dream, talking about Christopher Nolan's latest cinematic release, "Inception".  Written and directed from the muse behind The Dark Knight and Memento, this film has critics raving and audiences walking out of their theaters in wonder.  We sit and offer our opinions on the film, offer our opinion on the ending (and why its va

Remember When is back, and shinier than ever!   In our latest episode, we talk about Joss Whedon's Firefly and the feature film follow-up, Serenity.  A cult phenomenon that lasted a mere 14 episodes (3 of which weren't aired in the original run), this show holds a special place in the hearts of Jay and Parris. We kick off by discussing how the two of us were introduced to this legendary series, and talk about how a simple TV show turned us from enthusiastic fans into Browncoats (and what it means to be a Browncoat).  And after a fresh viewing of the entire TV run, we take a look at which episodes are our favorite, which ones will end up crumbling over time, and remark at how extraordinary it is that so many of the episodes hold up over time.  We even give you our selections for favorite and least favorite episodes. Then we jump into the Serenity feature film.  Both of us followed this piece of cinema joy as it progressed through creation, seeing it several times in pre-release fashion before it even hit the m