The Franchise Forum Podcast

The Coen Brothers Director Series continues with Fargo (1996)! Greg assesses the accuracy of this Minnesota showcase, while getting into the nuances of the writing and composition. Might murder, prostitutes, wood chippers, and the Gophers enter the conversation about this Academy Award-winning classic? You betcha. As always, this episode can be experienced in two parts: listen to the first half, watch the film, then come back for the second half as everything you just saw gets broken down. Darn tootin'!

The Director Series kicks off a new set with the Coen Brothers and Miller's Crossing (1990)!   What's the rumpus? Greg starts his deep dive on the most prominent directing duo of all time, investigating how their work is impacted by their Jewish upbringing in his own home state of Minnesota. Ross is along for the ride on this episode to help provide some context to the brilliant elements of the film. The two share their hot takes about the writing, acting, and symbolism as they debate both sides of a critically polarizing movie. And they talk about hats... lots of hats.    As always, this episode is designed to be experienced in two parts: listen to the first half, watch the film, then come back for the second half as everything you just saw gets broken down. Look into your heart and let's dangle!

Grab your mop, find the marble in the oatmeal, and tell the kids we’re going to Spatula City... The Franchise Forum is heading to U62! After winning trivia twice in a row, Ross abuses his newfound power to select 1989’s gloriously unhinged UHF for our Third Frantasy episode: a movie that never became a franchise…but absolutely should have. The guys revisit a childhood favorite built from satire stacked upon satire, where every 30 seconds brings another parody, sight gag, fake commercial, cultural reference, or blind man attempting a Rubik’s Cube. We rank the station’s unforgettable weirdos, celebrate Stanley Spadowski and Wheel of Fish, unpack the astonishing “Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies” sequence, trade favorite scenes and quotes, and ask whether UHF was simply too strange or just decades ahead of our doom-scrolling brains. Then we build the franchise Hollywood denied us: corporate-network sellouts, alien transmissions, a Spatula City origin story, and the inevitable trilogy of UHF, VHF, and UFO. SUPPLIES!

The Quentin Tarantino Director Series wraps up with Inglourious Basterds (2009). From the unforgettable opening farmhouse scene to the legendary performances from Christoph Waltz and Brad Pitt, Greg breaks down the film’s wild alternate-history take on World War II, its unforgettable characters, razor-sharp dialogue, dark humor, and explosive moments.   We'll explore what makes the movie so compelling, why Hans Landa is one of cinema’s most memorable villains, and how Tarantino turns history into a stylish, unpredictable revenge fantasy. Listen to the first half, watch the movie, and come back for the breakdown - there’s plenty to discuss with this one. This might just be a masterpiece...

Franchise Forum closes out the original Evil Dead trilogy with Army of Darkness, the point where Sam Raimi more or less abandons horror and turns the whole thing into a medieval fantasy-action comedy. Greg, Adam, Ross and Erik break down Bruce Campbell’s full evolution into Ash, Raimi’s wildly inventive filmmaking, skeleton armies, practical effects, Three Stooges energy, endless one-liners, and one very dependable boomstick. Then it’s time for the Franchise Forum Awards, followed by a razor-close round of trivia that decides who picks the next franchise. Three movies. One chainsaw. Hail to the king, baby...