Butter With That

Alyssa, Connor, and Dave return to Arlen, TX for another installment of our King Of The Hill spinoff, Podcast And Podcast Accessories! This week, Alyssa serves up some chopped chicken liver to go along with episode 18 of season 3, Love Hurts And So Does Art! We discuss the Hill family's neighbors, the Souphanousinphones, Bobby's love of New York deli style food, and Hank's unexpected art "opening"!

While the crew cools their heels, Dave, Connor, and Alyssa continue their exploration of the animated series King Of The Hill as Dave brings presents Hillennium (season 4, episode 10)! We discuss how the Y2K panic gripped Arlen, and the nation, how Dale both succeeds and fails to hoard resources, and togetherness that it sometimes takes a crisis or a holiday to foster. It's a damn find episode, I tell ya what!

As the Butter Crew takes a break following our Epic Movies series, Connor, Dave, and returning guest Alyssa are broadcasting from Arlen, Texas to present Podcast And Podcast Accessories, a sideshow dedicated to exploring the classic animated series King Of The Hill! Over the next several weeks, they'll each be selecting one of their favorite episodes of the show to bring to the group; this week, Connor kicks things off with Hank And The Great Glass Elevator (season 5, episode 11). Listen in as we break down the pathos and poignancy of Bill Dauterive, Hank's stick-in-the-mudness, and Peggy and Bobby's forbidden love of grilling with charcoal!

Concluding our Epic Movies series, Dave throws a curveball with the blockbuster fumble that was 1995's Congo! What do we think of Stan Winston & co.'s gorilla suits/animatronics? What does this movie have to say (or doesn't it say) about conservation, colonialism, and capitalism? Why is the film's "famous" climax so needlessly cruel to these apes?! Fire up the laser-powered podcast app of your choice this week to find out!

Our Epic Movies theme continues its voyage this week with Chrystine's selection, the existential space epic that is 2019's Ad Astra! What are our reads on the balance of sci-fi and deep character investigation? What do we make of the world-building and how it explores the colonization and monetization of the final frontier? And holy sh*t, space baboons?! Strap in and feel the Gs with the crew as we investigate these questions and more!

Our Epic Movies theme sails on, and this week Sam brings the gang aboard 1999's cinema/pop culture classic, Titanic! How accurate is Cameron's telling of the storied ship and disaster? What does the film have to say about expectation vs. reality, fate vs. choice, and heroism vs. cowardice? And what we do make of the wildly ambitious production history of this beloved epic movie? It's full steam ahead as we answer these questions and more, so listen in!

Butter is BACK!; the gang has reunited to launch a new and long awaited series/theme, Epic Movies! To kick off this new series, Connor has amassed an army of info about the classic swords-and-sandals spectacle, 1960's Spartacus! What do we make of the famed performances of this truly stacked Hollywood cast? What scenes and set pieces moved us the most? Does it live up to its Epic Movie reputation? And where does the gang stand on Kirk Douglas' chin, respectively? Grab a retiarius (trident, for gladiators in the know) and charge into conversation with us for answers to these questions and more!

As the gang regroups to bring you a new theme/series next week (!), we're still flooring it through director George Miller's wasteland in preparation for the upcoming Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga! This week, we return to our episode on 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road, Miller's incredible reentry into the fallen world of the Mad Max franchise. Listen in as we unpack the film's incredible practical stunt work, its expert show-don't-tell world building, and its refreshingly feminist undertones! And be sure to tune in next week when the gang reunites with a new theme answering the question posed by Chris Hemsworth's warlord Dementus (of the upcoming Furiosa): "Do you have it in you to make it epic?"

Welp, our unscheduled-but-unfortunately-mandatory hiatus continues this week (and next week - apologies) as the gang wraps some things up and preps for the upcoming theme/series! So, in honor of the upcoming Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (which Dave is positively losing his mind over), we're revisiting two of our previous episodes covering the films of Miller's beloved and storied franchise. This week, we kick it all the way back to May of 2022 when we discussed the seminal sequel and second in the series, 1981's The Road Warrior!

Since the crew wasn't able to meet up this week, we're spinning a Butter Classic: our past discussion of 1979's Alien! As its 45th anniversary is fast approaching, shake off that cryo-statis and tune in to see what our thoughts on this horror/sci-fi staple were during its 40th!

The gang has a lot on their plates these days, so we're holding off on our upcoming theme/series for a bit, but that can't keep Connor and Dave from revisiting Wesworld to discuss recent Oscar winning 2023 short film The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar! Listen in as we discuss Anderson's recent embrace of sets-as-setting, nesting doll narratives, and short form interpretations of Roald Dahl. Plus, we each rank the W. Anderson filmography!

Our journey through the Hanks But No Hanks (movies NOT starring Tom Hanks) theme comes to a close, Chrystine sees us out with her selection, 1989's When Harry Met Sally! Is this the mother of all modern rom-coms and, if so, does it actually break the mold of the typical, trope-y rom-com format? Does their getting together in the end confirm Harry's thesis that "men and women can't be friends", or slyly subvert it? And how about that dinner scene? If you're having what we're having, be sure to tune in this week to find out!

Thanks But No Hanks (our Tom Hank-less series) continues this week with Sam’s selection, 2009’s Twilight Saga: New Moon! As we return to Forks for another installment in this storied series, do we feel there is any character development to be had from the last movie to this one? Or even IN THIS ONE? Are there any healthy relationships to be found throughout this franchise? And when, oh when is Bella gonna get it together? Hope into the Volvo and pause that Muse CD, because we’re answering these questions and more in this week’s episode!

The gang wasn't able to meet this week, so we're putting Thanks But No Hanks on hold to bring you a special one-off episode: BLINK WITH THAT! Back in October and hot off the heals of its release, Connor, Dave, and Sam got together to review Blink 182's reunion record One More Time! What impact did this reunion album make on super-fans Dave and Sam? What did Connor make of the band as a relative newcomer? Tune in and crank it up to 182 as we provide a track-by-track rundown of this highly anticipated and long awaited album!

As our Thanks But No Hanks series rolls on, we celebrate another film that doesn't feature Tom Hanks: Connor's selection, 1987's Predator! What do we think about this cast of rugged beefcakes? Is it a love-letter to American machismo, or a condemnation of U.S. imperialism? How crazy and troubled was the production of the film? Does the Predator's cloaking device look rad on screen, or just plain silly? GET TO THE CHOPPER with us and find out!

Since we realized that we’ve been talking about Tom Hanks an awful lot in recent episodes, we’re going to steer clear of him as we tackle a new series: Thanks But No Hanks, movies that do NOT feature Tom Hanks! Kicking off this Hankless theme is Dave’s selection, 1994’s Dumb And Dumber, a movie that everyone but him evidently really disliked! As such, Connor, Chrystine, and Sam mount their case against the film, and Dave does his damndest to defend it! Listen in as we litigate this ‘90s comedy throwback and, as the jury of our listeners, be sure to let us know your verdict!

Concluding our Film On Film series, the crew hop the last train to Wes World for Dave's selection, 2023's Asteroid City! With two Anderson films under her belt, has Sam come around on his style and aesthetic? What do we make of the wheels-within-wheels structure of the film, and how do we interpret its mantra "You can't wake up if you don't fall asleep"? And, since we recorded this prior to the 2024 Oscars, did Connor psychically foresee a DeVito/Schwarzenegger Twins reunion? Listen in this week to find out!

It's that time of year again, and per tradition, the Butter Crew have cast their ballots for Awards Extravaganza VI! Listen in as we reflect on 2023's films and tv shows as we cover Best Performance, Best Sound/Soundtrack, Best Visual Effects/Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best New TV, Best Director, our salty-as-ever Worst Picture, and, of course, Best Picture! Did our awards fall prey to the Barbenheimer phenomenon of the past year? Will the infamous Oscar snubs be corrected? Tune in to find out!

Our Film On Film series continues this week as Sam returns to brings us 2013's Saving Mr. Banks! With all that we learned in presenting our previous episode on Mary Poppins, how do we feel about the fanciful retelling of its production? Is it an earnest portrayal of P.L. Travers and Walt Disney's collaboration? Is it transparent Disney brand propaganda? Both? Does it balance its real-time storyline and its contextual flashbacks? And how about these performances? Come "Fly A Kite" with us as we answer these questions and more!

Our Film On Film theme marches on, and if you thought Connor's pick, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, was a long movie, we've got Tarantino beat by twenty minutes! In the Butter Crew's deepest dive to date, we marvel over Tarantino's typical and atypical instincts in this, his ninth film, as well as covering the sad charm of DiCaprio's Rick Dalton, the underlying menace of Pitt's Cliff Booth, and the subtle brilliance of Robbie's spin on Sharon Tate! This one is a real doozy that you won't wanna miss, so join us as we cruise through late '60s Hollywood with Tarantino as our chauffeur!