But Why Tho? The Podcast

This week jump into the franchise that just keeps coming back. From Arnold, a franchise defining sequel, and Linda Hamilton to why we think no one showed up to Dark Fate, we're talking the Terminator franchise. Hit play as we take a deep dive into the franchise's history, T2's groundbreaking special effects from Industrial Light & Magic, the importance of Sarah Conner and how she defined a generation of heroines, and of course, we talk horrible, terrible, no good sequels and retcons. 

It's morphin' time! This week the crew is talking about the long history of the Power Rangers franchise. From toys, comics, movies, Mighty Morphin' and Mystic Force? We're covering it all, getting really nostalgic, and continuing the eternal debate: Was Rocky or Tommy the leader? And why was Tommy's suit so extra compared to everyone else?  

I got the chance to talk with Ting about Warrior, Bolo Yeung, and the world of martial arts. We even get into the inspiration Ting found in Bruce Lee's work, which not only influenced his acting career but also his life in sports and pursuing his black belt when he was 13. We get into how Ting connected to the role of Bolo immediately and how he and the series honored Bolo Yeung in his character. We even get into the physically taxing final fight scene between his character and Ah Sahm played by Andrew Koji.

This week is all about the lasting love of Turtle Power as we cover Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - and if you didn't read that name to the tune of the song,  who are you? Adrian brings us through the early beginnings as an adult comic, to the toy marketing,  animated television show, and of course all three rounds of live-action. We get into the memories the turtles gave us and talk about why they're still here all these years later. 

I got the chance to speak with Barajas and Gonzo about this groundbreaking work, published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics. We spoke about the importance of telling our histories as people of color who have been erased and more importantly the pressure of bringing those stories to life. Barajas details his choice to improve the negative moments in Tata Rambo's life as well as the heroic activist ones. Gonzo dives into the influences on his art and recreating the time period in clothing and furnishings. But most importantly, they explain the importance the project means to them. So click play on the audio above and take a listen. To keep up with their work you can follow Barajas at @HenryBarajas on Twitter and you can follow Gonzo at @jGonzoArt on Twitter or visit his website jgonzodesigns.com. For Gonzo's other work, El Mano del Destino, you can head here.

** Spoiler Warning: We discuss key plot points and themes in the book series that the TV series of the same name is based on** With the new HBO/BBC series out, we figured it's time to grab our daemons and head into the world of Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials. In this episode with the help of Aaron from the Nerds Social Club Podcast, we dig into the lore, history and controversy around on of the UK's most beloved fantasy series. 

I got the chance to speak with Ultramechatron Team Go! creator and star Mike Trapp about the creation of the series, his inspiration, and the work that goes into the comedy of show. Additionally, he talks about his role in the show as the useless torso helps him let loose and have some fun. Ultramechatron Team Go! from CollegeHumor’s DROPOUT is an original kaiju comedy, will premiere on their subscription-based streaming service on every Thursday. A parody of the kaiju and mecha genre, the series uses influences from properties like the Power Rangers and even Pacific Rim. A team of four incompetent and incompatible mech pilots defend their city as the Ultramechatron. Each episode of this 12-episode series presents a team of four heroes who are capable of saving the world, if only they can survive each other.

This week we're diving into the long history of Scooby-Doo. Find out how this Hanna-Barbera cartoon became a childhood staple for generations and why it continues to delight young fans. This episode we track its creation, it's longevity, and of course talk about how at the end of the day it's always just a rich old man in a mask trying to get us.   

New York City Comic-Con may have happened last month, but our contributor has the inside scoop on round tables with the cast of ABC's Emergence, Hulu's Castle Rock,  NBC's Lincoln, and even Samantha Bee's new mobile game that aims to get people involved in their local elections. This episode is a little different than what we normally do, but it's filled to the brim with NYCC 2019 content. Plus, Matt arrives at the decision that Castle Rock and Fringe are the same show, while Kristen attempts to explain the plot of the former to him. Join in for a fun conversation. 

It's that time of the year and after a month of checking out the horrifying, the macabre, and the things we remember from our childhood we're turning to Halloween and talking about all the things we love watching during the spookiest of holidays. With recommendations from Halloweentown, Trick 'r Treat, and Hocus Pocus to the many "Treehouse of Horrors" and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Halloween episodes, we're excited to share all of our spooky favorites for you to add to your watchlist tomorrow. And of course we cover all the parts of Halloween from children's films, hard horror, and television shows with the help of Alex from Frightday.com. 

Netflix Original Rattlesnake is closing out the month of October for the platform with solid psychological horror uses the supernatural and morality in the best ways. At the Austin Film Festival, I got a chance to speak with the film's writer-director Zak Hilditch about storytelling, subverting expectations, and how the spirit of Stephen King horror runs through the character driven film.  The film, which debuted at the Austin Film Festival was a blast to watch and from a storytelling perspective, Hilditch gives and in depth explanation about what exactly goes into making a film where audiences will be trying to guess the ending. For him, audiences like to be detectives, they like to call out the ending and in Rattlesnake it was his job to make sure he was throwing them off at every turn. Additionally, it was important that the horror in the film came from an emotional place, from the moral struggle that Katrina is put through. While the story's supernatural elements crafted a lore and world well beyond what

Directed By Zach Lamplugh and co-written by Lamplugh & Brian Emond, The Vice Guide to Bigfoot is a paranormal comedy follows a millennial reporter, Brian (Emond) on the most important assignment of his career: Bigfoot. As the Austin Film Festival was gearing up to begin, I got the chance to sit down with Lamplugh and discuss the film and how it captures the spirit of "Popstar and Creep." In this interview, we discuss how Lampulgh and Edmond designed the comedy in the script and ultimately how much was improvised. Additionally, we discussed what parodying Vice was like, whether or not they worked with them, and ultimately how ridiculous the premise of Vice videos usually are. We also discuss Lampulgh's background making short films and how this naturally progressed into a feature film with The Vice Guide to Bigfoot. The Vice Guide to Bigfoot celebrates its World Premiere at the Austin Film Festival on Friday, October 25 at 9pm at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Village. The film will have a second screening on Oc

We're continuing out spooky streak for October with the Wes Craven classic: Nightmare on Elm Street. With the help of Alex, assignment editor at Frightday.com, we take a look back at the 9 films, the cultural impact they had, how absolutely absurd they are, and of course fo in-depth on the first one. We also break down the importance of practical effects throughout the films and the grand scale on which they were executed. Plus, we also discuss Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street and how the documentary chronicles the rise of NOES 2 as a staple of queer horror cinema.

This week, we're continuing the spooky season with an episode dedicated to Clive Barker's Hellraiser. Initially, a novella from Barker named the Hellbound Heart, we talk about Hellraiser's production, story, and how it rocked the horror world. Plus, we get into the weirdness of cenobites, the commentary on pleasure and pain, plus we find out about the Hellraiser Christmas special comic, because of course. And yes, we talk about some of the other 10 films in the franchise.

At Fantastic Fest 2019 I got the opportunity to see The Mortuary Collection, an anthology film by director Ryan Spindell that gave me the same feelings I got when I saw Michael Dougherty's Trick 'r Treat for the first time. Set in a funeral home the film follows a young girl as she requests to be trained as an assistant to the home's mortician Montgomery Dark, played by the iconic Clancy Brown. As he shows her around he recounts 4 tales of terrifying and unique deaths in an attempt to shock her, but not all is what it seems.  As I left my screening for The Mortuary Collection I knew I had found one of my top films of the festival and one of my favorite anthologies in horror. I was lucky enough to sit down with Spindell and discuss the film, practical effects work, and how storytelling is the most important part of horror. Hit play and listen as Spindell explains the film's journey from his short the The Baby Sitter Murders, shot as a proof of concept, to it's final form. Plus, learn how the crew brought th

There are more superhero stories in the public consciousness than ever before. However, they tend to focus on extremely similar characters to one another. Fortunately, as the superhero world becomes more diverse, ever so slowly Dennis Lui is pushing it forward. Lui is the creator of Raising Dion, a comic-turned-Netflix Original series focused on a young boy discovering his power after the death of his father and his mother's struggle to raise him and protect him from those who will hurt him. Liu, with the help of his wife Marie Iida, has turned his creative eye to LING. LING is a new comic book and short film centered on an Asian-American teenage girl who, after meeting a three-legged fox name Kitsy, is more than what she seems. Hit play and learn more about how LING came to be,  why Liu and Iida chose the magical girl genre to situate the story in, and how important it is for creators to support others in their community as they come up. To watch LING, the short, see the video below. To order a physical cop

Memory: The Origins of Alien premiered at Fantastic Fest 2019 from director Alexandre Philippe, known for 78/52. In Memory, Philippe explores the origins of one science fiction's most iconic films, Ridley Scott's Alien. But, this isn't just a production history, instead he discusses the myths and culture that formed the story of the film and how it could have only happened with the trio of Dan O'Bannon, H.R. Giger, and Ridley Scott. Beyond this, Philipped maps the history of the iconic "chestburster" scene, where it came from and how it was made. I was lucky enough to get to speak with Philippe at the festival and discuss why he chose the "Chestburster" scene, the role that myth plays in film, what sparked him to include some of the more emotional moments with his interviewees, and why making the film accessible to non-fans was important. 

It's October, so we're getting creepy, cooky, and all together ooky in our first spooky month episode topic: The Addams Family. With the new animated film hitting theaters this weekend, we thought it was time to visit America's favorite family and break down their long history from 1930s cartoon strips to 1990s cult classics, and that MC Hammer song for good measure. We also go into how the Addamses subvert familial expectations while also being one of the most loving and connected families on the screen. And we do this all with the help of Spooky Month guest, Alex Paterno.

While at Fantastic Fest, I got the chance to sit down with the director of The Cleansing Hour Damien LeVeck. In this conversation, we dove discussed creature design and the use of practical effects for the vast majority of the film's most shocking moments. When explaining the choice to embrace practical, LeVeck explained that he wanted to avoid the trappings of other possession films, leaning on the acting and physicality of Angelis as Lane. As LeVeck went into details on how he prepped effects, he explained that even the voice of possessed Lane worked differently than the lowered voices we're used to hearing from possessed characters by layering Tara Karsian's voice with Angelis' to showcase different levels of possession. 

Seis Manos marks the first major adult animation centered on a Latinx story, specifically a Mexican story. Set in 1970s Mexico, Seis Manos revolves around three orphans trained in Chinese martial arts, Isabela (Aislinn Derbez), Jesus (Jonny Cruz), and Silencio. When their mentor is killed, they join forces with an American DEA agent, played by Mike Colter and a Mexican police officer (Angélica Vale) to avenge their master's murder. Coming next week on October 3rd, I have been excited for this series since it was announced. This week, I got a chance to speak with series co-creator, executive producer, and writer Alvaro Rodriguez to discuss the series and get ready for its release.  Here, Rodriguez dives into the influences from exploitation cinema and how it allows writers and creators to "smuggle" larger themes into their work under the guise of action and comedy. We also get a chance to talk about the important step that Seis Manos and Cannon Busters serves, and how these stories would probably not be gettin