all roads lead to Lisbon, actually. in the 54th episode of shit talking, "gentrifying lisbon for love," pedro and marcy are joined by raquel to finally bid farewell to the After series – with "After Everything" largely taking place in Lisbon they've decided to examine the curious and growing phenomenon of romanticising (and gentrifying) the Portuguese capital by young Brits and Americans (and Hardin-hating Germans), also evident in a recent Hallmark movie, "Pinch of Portugal"
stuck in Bulgarian trenches. in the 53rd episode of shit talking, "tessah", pedro and marcy are joined by logan to discuss possibly the two worst films ever made, "After We Fell" and "After Ever Happy," their abysmal attempts at storytelling and pretending that very obviously Central European landscapes are the English countryside, the shift of the series' focus from Tessa to Hardin and what it entails and they try to understand how you can include every textbook example of domestic abuse behaviour and still sell it as romance
probably the most important franchise of the 2020s (we're being serious). in the 52nd episode of shit talking, "the sparknotes adaptation of wuthering heights," pedro and marcy take on the mammoth of bad filmmaking that is the After series – starting off with "After" and "After We Collided," they discuss the importance of the first film for mainstream media as a whole and its impact that we are only beginning to witness, marvel at the unexpected comedic genius of "After We Collided" and plead their case for why Josephine Langford has been done a little dirty in the post-After stage of her career. (no, the episode does not start in the middle of a conversation, it really just starts with marcy's rant on booktok).
the only thing messier than "The Idol" is the actual entertainment industry. in the 51st episode of shit talking, "potentially flagged for audio porn," pedro and marcy discuss the truly spectacular and ambitious failure that is "The Idol" – they discuss all the things that are wrong with the show (and the graphic sex scenes aren't really one of them) and the good things that got muddled by the discourse (like Lily-Rose Depp's layered performance) and try to make sense of what this rushed, childish, inconhesive mess is trying to say about power in the industry and in intimate relationships.
there ain't nothing scarier than periods and female lust. in the 50th episode of shit talking, "girlies going monster mode," pedro and marcy celebrate Halloween with two very similar yet very different films: "Ginger Snaps" and "Raw" – they discuss sisterhood and monsterhood, the divergent approaches to the aesthetics of gore, the dangers of female desire and desirability, and how the girlies and the queers have reclaimed horror (a genre that has been theirs to begin with) – happy halloween!! be a monster!! eat flesh!!
he's been making acting CHOICES from the beginning!!! in the 49th episode of shit talking, "nicolas 'loverboy' cage" pedro and marcy take a look at three movies whose energy, style, and panache succeed at a feat that feels almost unachieveable – namely, that our boy's performance feels perfectly in place and suitable to the aesthetic tone of the piece. they look at Francis Ford Coppola's "Peggy Sue Got Married" (that could've used the tiniest minute rewrite), David Lynch's "Wild at Heart" (no notes) and "Raising Arizona" by the Coen Brothers (the first 15 minutes of which Wes Anderson took many notes from) – there's also some psychoanalysing of Taylor Swift's recent dating choices.
Nicolas Cage is the only actor that has ever acted, actually. in the forty-eighth episode of shit talking, "good cage gone bad," pedro and marcy begin to consider the work of Nicolas Cage – the long-misunderstood virtuoso of acting; in this episode, they discuss "Vampire's Kiss" (the most depressing film to have ever been memed), "Face/Off" (the unexpected critical darling on the late 1990s) and "8mm" (the surprisingly critically panned exercise of restraint from perhaps the two most unhinged auteurs of cinema) as well as the fact that our boy Nic Cage might've never taken a holiday ever.
look out, it's a grown man in kinkwear fighting drag performers!!! in the fourty-seventh episode of shit talking, "batboy and daddy issues," pedro and marcy lovingly discuss joel schumacher's kinky as fuck take on Batman in "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin" – from the outlandish set design to otherworldly costume choices, these two are a true feast for the eyes and a masterclass in visual storytelling, with notable podcast heros Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman and Arnie Schwarzenegger giving it their absolute all – proving that the gayest of takes is better than chrissy nolan's brooding rendition of the man that was a little too much into bats.
when you are a 40 year old boyemployee and the teenage girl you have a crush on won't like you back. in the fourty-sixth episode of shit talking, "izabela łęcka you will always be famous," pedro and marcy are joined by their friend (and creator of their cover art), marcin to discuss two core works of the Polish literary canon – "Lalka" by Bolesław Prus and "Dziady" by Adam Mickiewicz, and how there's a surprisingly high level of overlap with "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and "Fleabag" repsectively (there is also some discussion who would best serve cunt as izabela in the alternative universe Greta Gerwig adaptation of the novel)
in this bonus episode, pedro and marcy discuss how the natural consequence of sparkles is female agency — and how chris nolan just doesn’t do it for pedro anymore
in the forty-fifth episode of shit talking, "a star is porn," pedro and marcy tackle the American pornography industry – its 70s heyday in "Boogie Nights," the contemporary scene and its many contradictions in "Pleasure," and the long-standing relationship between poverty and sex work in "Red Rocket". this one has everything: prosthetic dicks! the need for labour rights and good practices! grooming! a rags-to-riches-to-rags story! julianne moore!
back in the shitter (sponsored by wattpad). in the forty-fourth episode of shit talking, "rocky (wattpad's version)," pedro and marcy are back with their regularly scheduled programming, taking on one of the worst films ever made, "Perfect Addiction," and a 2-hour-long "After" commercial, "Beautiful Disaster," discussing the Sprouse twins lore and what makes a prototypical wattpad fanfiction so cringe and pondering why do they keep watching these films against their better judgement
we forced ourselves to watch good films this time! / in the forty-third episode of shittalking, "the may jigsaw episode," pedro and marcy present you a collection of their voicenotes on stuff they asked each other to read and watch throughout the busy month of May – what follows is pedro's review of "Sing Street," "Sweat," and J.M. Coetzee's "Disgrace," and marcy's review of "Sick of Myself," "Tár," and "Magnolia" (beware of the spoilers but at least no tangents this time!!)
in this bonus episode, pedro and marcy discuss the series finale of "Succession" and why it was such an important and extraordinary little show (also justice for roman)
make American cinema sexy again!!! / in the forty-second episode of shit talking, "pornonoir," pedro and marcy investigate the fascinating landscape of 1980s erotic thrillers with "Body Heat," "Dressed to Kill" and "Crimes of Passion"; they discuss the genre's origins and allure, argue against its perceived trashiness, and lament the prudishness and the insensuous character of contemporary American cinema (the erotic thriller selection is no longer on the criterion channel since pedro took longer than expected editing this and couldn't drop it in april but if you wanna watch any of them let us know)
in the forty-first episode of shit talking, "portuguese-american history hour (x3.5)," pedro and marcy are joined by their friend raquel (herself a portuguese-american legend) to discuss two films that claim to represent the portuguese-american minority: "A Date with Miss Fortune" and "Mystic Pizza" – however, one is so abysmally bad and the other so comically uninterested in the portuguese-american culture, that they mostly just dicuss raquel's childhood and quest for identity, with occasional interruptions from marcy on why americans don't get dostoyevsky
gotta love that "a Norwegian girl feels completely lost as she navigates a well-written love triangle" genre. in the fortieth episode of shit talking, "the realest person in the world," pedro and marcy discuss the peak naturalist masterpiece that is the first season of "Blank" (the lesser known sister show of the widely influential "Skam"); from Ella's arrested coming-of-age and the show's commentary on the crisis of adulthood to a perfectly executed love triangle, "Blank" has got it all, including the single perfect portrayal of attraction to be captured on film (also marcy bullied pedro into discussing "Succession" for the first 30 minutes of the episode)
dunking on showgirls is a red flag, prove us wrong in the thirty-ninth episode of shit talking, "magic nomi," pedro and marcy take on the best "worst" film ever made "Showgirls" and its trully bizarre crowd-funded sequel "Showgirls 2: Penny's from Heaven," trying to get to the bottom of why a film so daring with its artistic choices was received with such bad faith; they also indulge in early zoomers' nostalgia, quote Susan Sontag's "Notes on Camp" and exchange recommendations on Maggie Gyllenhaal films
espionage is for lesbians and terminally straight dudes. in the thirty-eighth episode of shit talking, "pussies & pistols," pedro and marcy investigate spycraft on film -- they talk about the chronically straight roger moore as 007 in "Octopussy" (a film that sounds a lot more fun than it actually is) as well as the forgotten masterpiece of the mid-2000s, "D.E.B.S." ("D.E.B.S." walked so "Killing Eve" could run, basically) -- so strap in for gadgets, puns and a quick review of "Poker Face".
scooby dooby doo where are you? for you're sure not in this episode. in the thirty-seventh episode of shit talking, "2022: a year," pedro and marcy are back from their unintended hiatus and break with the mold and list like a buzzfeed "article" all the best things they watched, read and listened to in the year of our lady immaculate taylor swift 2022 -- they also may or may not address the scooby doo-gate.