Tom and Greg talk about the Hollywood Writers Strike with their guest Ron Barbagallo who lives a stone's throw away from Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank

We did not write this episode in solidarity to the writers on strike:
That's why our podcast is not as professional as it should be, because it has not been written,  That's true. We, I think that anybody listening to this podcast would know very well that it's either not written or scripted in such a way that somebody has the word ahh and Ummm into our dialogue over and over again.

Podcast music:
Intro music Kamihamiha! - Alien Warfare Stems by Kamihamiha (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Kamihamiha/60882

Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense is a King Dyro Production

Greg and Tom discuss some recent streaming TV shows and the awards season.

• We discuss Tim Russ and his appearance on "Star Trek Picard" as well as our friend Ron Barbagallo. 
• Joel Silver somehow enters our discussion about Dead as a Door Nail.  
• Oh and Tom gets into the new "Perry Mason".  
• A bit of Everything Everywhere all at Once. 
• An awards show update. Our discussion of the Oscar show and Greg attending the Publicists Awards at the Beverly Hilton.
•  Oh and what about those "Banshees of Inisherin".  did we like it? listen to find out.  
• Tom and Greg meander about finally to get to talking about the "Mandalorian"
• A bit of James Bond rant from Tom.  
• More Star Wars  "Andor" Diego Luna and other  Sci Fi films.

Have fun with the podcast.


Podcast music:
Intro music Kamihamiha! - Alien Warfare Stems by Kamihamiha (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Kamihamiha/60882

Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense is a King Dyro Production

Today Greg and Tom will  be talking about some under appreciated gems that we've recently watched. We talk about poker face, which is on Peacock and the Reluctant Traveler, which is on Apple tv and the Bear, which is on Hulu.

 We've been absent for a few months. We apologize for that, or we don't apologize if you didn't care that we were absent.

 Greg says: We should be more regular.

Tom says: Yes, We should, We should be more regular.

The shows we talk about in this episode

Poker Face
Poker Face is a 10-episode mystery-of-the-week series following Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.

The Reluctant Traveler
The eight-episode series follows Eugene Levy as he visits some of the world’s most beautiful and intriguing destinations in Costa Rica, Finland, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Portugal, South Africa and the United States, exploring remarkable hotels and the places and cultures surrounding them.

The Bear

Carmy, a young fine-dining chef, comes home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop. As he fights to transform the shop and himself, he works alongside a rough-around-the-edges crew that ultimately reveal themselves as his chosen family.

Podcast music:
Intro music Kamihamiha! - Alien Warfare Stems by Kamihamiha (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Kamihamiha/60882

Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense is a King Dyro Production

In this episode Greg and Tom talk with the multi talented John Stanisci and discuss the film Top Gun: Maverick and the possibility that Tom Cruise is the greatest action movie star of all time. John helps us break down the script and we discuss the perfect 5 act structure of the film and how the film Maverick is really a Father and Son redemption film. Listen for more insights to this perfect Tom Cruise film and hear John's arguments as to why Tom Cruise is the greatest action film star working today.



About John Stanisci

 
John Stanisci is New York Times best-selling artist and writer for DC, Marvel and IDW Comics having worked on characters such as Spider-Man, Batman, Constantine, Justice League Dark, Judge Dredd, X Files and many more. In 2011, John's book for DC Comics, Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond, premiered at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for graphic novels. Just this year, John had a story in Superman: Red and Blue which received an Eisner Nomination for Best Anthology. As a NYC playwright, John’s work has been named as a finalist for the prestigious Woodward/Newman award for drama as well as the Eugene O’neil Playwrights Conference and others. John’s plays have starred such well-known actors such as Tony Award  nominee David Morse, Oscar winner Kathleen Turner, SAG nominee Sarita Choudhary, and Obie Award winner Tamara Tunie just to name a few. On the Film/TV side, John is currently writing a screenplay for Mark Williams of Zero Gravity Management, who is the Emmy nominated producer/co creator of the hit Netflix series Ozark. Lifedeath is John’s debut novel and is represented by Mark Gottlieb of Trident Media. www.johnstanisci.com

Podcast music:
Intro music Kamihamiha! - Alien Warfare Stems by Kamihamiha (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Kamihamiha/60882

Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense is a King Dyro Production

Greg and Tom interview Steve Bingen Studio Archivist and Hollywood Historian about his two new books.  (available on Amazon)
The MGM Effect: How a Hollywood Studio Changed the World
50 MGM Films That Transformed Hollywood: Triumphs, Blockbusters, and Fiascos

We talk to Steve about the latest book The MGM Effect

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s emblem, which has opened thousands of movies since 1924, is the most recognized corporate symbol in the world. Not just in the entertainment industry, it should be noted, but of any industry, anywhere, in the history of human civilization.

And  we talk to him about his next MGM book  50 MGM Films that Transformed Hollywood (available for purchase on November 1st.

Movies don’t exist in a vacuum. Each MGM movie is a tiny piece of a large, colorful (although often black & white) quilt, with threads tying it into all of the rest of that studio’s product, going forward, yes, but also backwards, and horizontally and three dimensionally across its entire landscape. Not necessarily a “best of” compilation, this book discusses the films that for one reason or another (and not all of them good ones) changed the trajectory of MGM and the film industry in general, from the revolutionary use of “Cinerama” in 1962’s How the West Was Won to Director Alfred Hitchcock’s near extortion of the profits from the 1959 hit thriller North by Northwest.


Podcast music:
Intro music Kamihamiha! - Alien Warfare Stems by Kamihamiha (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Kamihamiha/60882

Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense is a King Dyro Production

Tom and Greg talk about what they are watching or what they have in their Que on streaming TV right now. 
Along with a new "AI" intro to the show.  (the robot apocalypse will have its own podcast)

Here are a few of the streaming shows we thing are worthy of checking out:

On Apple + 

• FOR ALL MANKIND
• SLOW HORSES 
• THE MORNING SHOW

Amazon Prime

• THE EXPANSE

on Hulu FX

• THE OLD MAN

on Netflix

• THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

As promised in the intro the drink Tom was making

Tom makes a Whiskey Sour
Using piggyback rye.
That's whistle, pigs, piggyback rye.
 Maple syrup and a lemon. And honestly,
Tom says he should probably put some bitters in there also.

The actual recipe:
1 ½ oz PiggyBack 100% Rye
1 oz Lemon juice
¼ oz WhistlePig Barrel Aged Maple Syrup
3 Dashes Maple Bitters
Fresh Orange Peel for Garnish

Podcast music:
Intro music Kamihamiha! - Alien Warfare Stems by Kamihamiha (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Kamihamiha/60882

Podcast ©2022 King Dyro Productions

Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense is a King Dyro Production

Obi Wan Kenobi (the series)

Greg and Tom talk about the first 5 episodes of the Disney Obi Wan Kenobi series on Disney+

Spoiler warning: If you have not watched the series we do reveal things so please watch the series before listening.

Talking about the series Obi Wan and how it relates to the rest of Star Wars and our impressions of the writing and visuals crafted to tell this compelling story of the years between episode 3 and episode 4 in the Skywalker saga.

Enjoy the show


Podcast music:
Intro music Kamihamiha! - Alien Warfare Stems by Kamihamiha (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Kamihamiha/60882



Obi-Wan Kenobi and Star Wars photos ©Lucas Films and ©Disney

Unit Still Photographer Matt Kennedy      https://www.kennedystills.net/

Podcast ©2022 King Dyro Productions

Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense is a King Dyro Production

Greg and Tom interview Justin T. Lee from Gazelle Automations. Justin is the creator of the Star Trek The Next Generation animated sequence in the style of the Star Trek the Animated Series that we discussed in our last episode.  We also talk to Justin about his work on new Thunderbirds  episodes in the original style using SUPERMARIONATION. Listen in on our lively discussion about Animation Puppetry and film making in general.

THUNDERBIRDS

Gazelle Automations’ Lindsay and Justin Lee wore many hats on this production (as did everyone on the crew), including leading the puppetry on these 50th anniversary episodes of the British sci-fi series Thunderbirds for ITV, created with classic Supermarionation techniques used in the 1960s.

For their job as puppetry supervisors, they painted, wigged, strung and led the performance of the marionettes, which had to look and move like those from the original 1960s series. For certain characters, work was done many times over to get the squint of an eye or hairline to match the original puppet as closely as possible.

The episodes premiered at the British Film Institute in August 2016 and are now streaming on BritBox in the UK. A nationwide Japanese cinema, streaming and Blu-ray release in January 2022 marked the original show’s 55th anniversary.

For more information about the company continuing to specialize in Supermarionation, visit www.century21films.co.uk.

About Gazelle Automations
Producer/puppeteer Lindsay Lee and VFX artist/puppeteer Justin T. Lee formed Gazelle Automations to create entertainment through the magic of puppetry, model miniatures and animation. From cramped beginnings in the tiny back room of a pizza shop (where pizza deliveries were literally passing through shots), Gazelle Automations now sees projects through from concept and fabrication to production, VFX and finishing.

The company’s clients and production partners include Anderson Entertainment, the BBC, CBC Kids, Century 21 Films, ITV, Shaftesbury, and TVOKids.


Podcast music:
Intro music Kamihamiha! - Alien Warfare Stems by Kamihamiha (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Kamihamiha/60882

Thunderbirds are Go music  Barry Gray
Star Trek: The Animated Series Filmation

Thunderbirds Creators Gerry & Sylvia Anderson

Podcast ©2022 King Dyro Productions

Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense is a King Dyro Production

In this episode Greg and Tom talk about Star Trek: The Animated Series

Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS), originally airing as Star Trek and as The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek

We saw an animated video making the rounds on the internet that was an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation done in the style of the original Animated Star Trek from the early 1970's  So we decided lets talk about the Animated Series and some of the things happening early on with Star Trek. Of course we get taking off course and talk some about Star Wars The Mandalorian and Ralph Bakshi Fritz the Cat and of course Wizards as well as  Jean “Moebius” Giraud and Heavy Metal.
Listen in as we swing back to the 70's 


Podcast music:
Intro and ending music Kamihamiha! - Alien Warfare Stems by Kamihamiha (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Kamihamiha/60882

Star Trek: The Animated Series Music  Clips   Filmation 

extra music
https://pixabay.com/
per Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license.

Podcast ©2022 King Dyro Productions

Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense is a King Dyro Production

Tom and Greg interview Donnie Norden and we let him talk about his new book "Hole in the Fence" All about his true adventure diary- growing up on the MGM and Desilu backlots. We also attempt to ask a few questions along the way. Buckle up for a great Hollywood back lot story.

Hole in the Fence

By: Donnie Norden

All of the stories in this book were written and lived by me, Donnie Norden. I was lucky enough to grow up in the "Heart of Screenland", which is how Culver City identifies itself. My plan is to chronicle and share my stories from this magical time. My true adventure diary- growing up on the MGM and Desilu backlots. Come trespass with me if you dare, through these enchanting, iconic landscapes. Go where cameras don’t show you. It’s dangerous for sure. You’ll need to climb – very rapidly. You could get chased by Security or Guard dogs or arrested or hurt. Still want to come? Once inside you will never want to leave.

My pals and I were soldiers in WWII villages, cowboys on the dusty streets of Tombstone, and pirates on the Bounty. On the rare occasions when it rained, we danced in Gene Kelly’s footsteps in Singin’ in the Rain. From that first time I poked my 10-year-old head through a hole in the tall fence surrounding the MGM backlot near my house in Culver City, I became intrigued, maybe obsessed. I began a coming-of-age journey through the studio backlots and through movies and TV shows past and present – the history, the romance, the fantasy, and how it all looked real, because it was real.

I’ll take you from sidewalks used in Singing in the Rain to Atlanta, where Gone With the Wind was filmed. We will hang out in Andy Griffith’s house, the Walton’s house and Andy Hardy’s house. We’ll watch as filming takes place on films and TV shows of the 70's from our staked out hidden birds-eye view locations. I’ll even take you inside the tree stump used in Hogan’s Heroes. We’ll visit other studios as well like Warner’s and Disney.

During this decade-long period of trespassing, my success at eluding the guards caused MGM Studios to hire additional guards, known as “Studio Police”, to catch me… “The Phantom,” as I came to be known!

A link to purchase Donnie's book on Amazon

Podcast music:
Intro and ending music Kamihamiha! - Alien Warfare Stems by Kamihamiha (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Kamihamiha/60882

extra music
https://pixabay.com/
per Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial  (3.0) license.

Podcast ©2022 King Dyro Productions

Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense is a King Dyro Production