Tag Archives: movies

The Toy Department – Episode 255

  By toyAdmin | April 7, 2021 - 10:54 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 255, Madden and Kolsky discuss potential audio issues resulting from Kolsky’s excitable 2-year-old and the zoom-related behavior of certain dogs before getting into:

  • A basketball check-in (2:35) mostly focused on the NCAA tournament, with a little NBA detour to start…
  • Netflix’s new Sherlock Holmes-adjacent series The Irregulars (17:15) and how it’s somewhat confounding — and not Madden’s shit — but also kind of interesting, engaging and ultimately watchable… with some discussion about the colorblind casting…
  • Netflix’s road trip/prank show movie Bad Trip (32:25) and how Eric Andre, Lil Rel and Tiffany Haddish pull some hilarious pranks (if you’re into that sort of thing)…
  • The season premiere of Top Chef (40:10) and all the machinations therein, including the elimination of a potential show favorite and some early favorites and villains…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (1:11:15), including: another episode of Top Chef in Portland, the Netflix movie Thunder Force with Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer and the new HBO Max show Made for Love starring Cristin Milioti… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents AND the first season of The Challenge All Stars on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 254

  By toyAdmin | March 30, 2021 - 12:00 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 254, Madden and Kolsky do a little pandemic life check-in before getting into:

  • HBO Max’s Swedish series Beartown (1:25) and how it is both gripping and also somewhat difficult to watch…
  • HBO’s Tina Turner documentary Tina (10:10) and the extraordinary woman whose life story it tells…
  • Nate Bargatze’s Netflix stand-up special The Greatest Average American (30:50) and how it’s a nice, fun time with comedy…
  • Netflix’s documentary The Last Blockbuster (38:20) and how it does a great job of capturing a specific feeling from a specific time, as well as telling an interesting story…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (1:00:50), including: the new season of Top Chef in Portland, the Netflix movie Bad Trip with Eric Andre and Lil Rel and the new Netflix show The Irregulars… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents AND the first season of The Challenge All Stars on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 253

  By toyAdmin | March 23, 2021 - 10:51 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 253, Madden and Kolsky hit the ground running with a short show in mind, covering:

  • The new Marvel show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (1:45) and how it is essentially exactly what you would expect it to be, however far that gets you…
  • Netflix’s Operation Varsity Blues documentary (6:10) and some of the interesting choices they made to tell the story of the country’s biggest college admissions scandal…
  • The Steven Yeun-starring Minari (21:50) and how it’s a quiet family drama but a very good one, despite both hosts finding Yeun’s Oscar nomination a little curious…
  • The also Oscar-nominated Another Round (28:35) and the fascinating ride it takes the viewer on…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (36:25), including: the HBO Max show Beartown out of Sweden, Nate Bargatze special The Greatest Average American, the new Tina Turner documentary on HBO and the Netflix documentary The Last Blockbuster… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 252

  By toyAdmin | March 16, 2021 - 10:58 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 252, Madden tries to waylay Kolsky with a “fuck Woody Allen” message to open the show, but they quickly move on to:

  • The new season of Last Chance U (3:00) covering the East LA College basketball team, what moving to basketball does for the series and some of the best characters from the first couple episodes…
  • The new Netflix film Moxie! (22:05), how original and uniquely delightful it turned out to be, and the impending superstardom of Alycia Pascua-Peña…
  • Apple TV+’s signature series The Morning Show (33:40) and how — while certainly imperfect — it’s a very watchable show with a lot of good acting…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (45:20), including: Marvel’s new TV series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+, Netflix’s new documentary Operation Varsity Blues about Hollywood’s college admissions scandal, the Oscar-nominated Mads Mikkelsen movie Another Round and the Oscar-nominated Steven Yeun film Minari… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 251

  By toyAdmin | March 9, 2021 - 11:19 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 251, Madden and Kolsky’s show-opening distraction turned into such a big conversation that it gets its own bullet point below, along with:

  • A contentious conversation about WandaVision (1:20) and the broader contents and implications of the Marvel Cinematic Universe…
  • Disney’s new animated film Raya and the Last Dragon (22:10) and how it’s great, but will probably be equally great in a few months when it’s not an extra $30…
  • The Eddie Murphy sequel Coming 2 America (31:15) and just how far enjoyable nostalgia will get you…
  • Netflix’s Notorious B.I.G. documentary Biggie: I Got A Story to Tell (44:25) and some of its more interesting and enlightening moments…
  • Paramount+’s big new Real World Reunion show (54:55) and how it hit differently for our two hosts based on their age and memories…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (1:08:20), including: the new high school flick Moxie! on Netflix, finishing up The Morning Show on Apple TV+ and the new season of Last Chance U on Netflix (covering a basketball team for the first time)… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 250

  By toyAdmin | March 2, 2021 - 10:45 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 250, Madden and Kolsky briefly discuss Chris Harrison’s departure from The Bachelor franchise and the younger Kolsky’s new belly-centric hobby before moving on to:

  • Kolsky’s experience with the Patrice O’Neal documentary Killin’ Is Easy (6:30), despite Derek’s failure to find it…
  • The new Hulu movie The United States vs. Billie Holiday (9:55), Andra Day’s Golden Globes win and how a strong lead performance is not enough to save a messy film…
  • The instant cult classic comedy Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (23:55) and some of the things that make it so wonderfully enjoyable…
  • Netflix’s Pelé documentary (31:40) and the interesting picture it paints of the man who was in many ways the world’s first sports celebrity…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (43:55), including: starting watching Apple TV+’s The Morning Show for discussion in two weeks, the Eddie Murphy sequel Coming 2 America, Raya and the Last Dragon on Disney+, the Real World Reunion on Paramount+ and Netflix’s new Notorious B.I.G. documentary Biggie: I Got A Story to Tell… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 243

  By toyAdmin | January 12, 2021 - 11:03 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 243, Madden and Kolsky are (unsuccessfully, again) aiming for a short episode, so they dive right into:

  • The new Tiger Woods documentary on HBO (2:40) and how it spins a fascinating story around a rather uninteresting personality…
  • The too-widely-acclaimed How To with John Wilson (20:05) and how the odd but unexceptional HBO Max show fails to live up to its billing…
  • The Apple TV+ original Mythic Quest (27:00), where Kolsky stopped watching and why Madden thinks it’s worth sticking with it…
  • The Netflix docu-series History of Swear Words (33:25) and the enjoyable comedy of filthy language…
  • Some quick sports thoughts — on the NBA’s COVID issues (39:50) and the NFL’s first Super Wild Card Weekend (49:25)…
  • Homework for of next Tuesday (1:02:45), including: the second part of HBO’s Tiger documentary, the new film Promising Young Woman (available on VOD), the Amazon Prime film One Night in Miami (directed by Regina King) and the third film in the Small Axe Series — Red, White and Blue; plus MORE NFL playoffs and NBA basketball… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 242

  By toyAdmin | January 5, 2021 - 11:09 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 242, Madden and Kolsky welcome in the new year with clear eyes and full hearts (and talk a teensy bit of The Challenge) before bidding 2020 adieu with discussions about:

  • The Charlie Brooker dark comedy pseudo-documentary special Death to 2020 (3:45) and the experience of laughing at the horrible events of last year, while trying not to wallow in them…
  • The third season of Netflix’s Cobra Kai (11:35) and the problems that this still-enjoyable show is going to have to work through moving forward…
  • The Steve McQueen film Lovers Rock (21:50), the second in his Small Axe series on Amazon, the director’s impressive execution and the wonderful mood created by a simple and relatively short movie…
  • The new Pixar joint Soul (29:25) and the greatness of Pixar animation in general…
  • The new love story drama Sylvie’s Love (39:35) and the impressive work of lead actors Nnamdi Asomugha and Tessa Thompson in a relatively straightforward dramatic film…
  • A few thoughts on the NFL Playoffs (51:50) with an extra special 6-game Wild Card Weekend on deck…
  • Homework for of next Tuesday (1:06:10), including: the HBO Max show How To with John Wilson, the Apple TV+ show Mythic Quest, the new TIger Woods documentary on HBO and the new Netflix film History of Swear Words (narrated by Nic Cage!!!) not to mention NFL playoffs and NBA basketball… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 241

  By toyAdmin | December 29, 2020 - 2:08 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 241, Madden and Kolsky wish 2020 a very good riddance and discuss the odd new 2020 movie experience before jumping into:

  • The new superhero blockbuster Wonder Woman 1984 (4:30) and all the many and varied disappointments within…
  • The first film in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe collection (17:50) — called Mangrove — and what a high-quality, artful production it is despite being a very tough hang…
  • The new Netflix movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (28:40) and how it feels very specifically like a play but also features tremendous performances from Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis, among others…
  • Hulu’s holiday lesbian rom-com Happiest Season (38:45) and how it’s a perfectly good, if relatively standard-issue, romantic comedy…
  • Homework for of next Tuesday (43:35), including: the second of the five films in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe collection (called Lovers Rock), the new season of Cobra Kai on Netflix, the Charlie Brooker (of Black Mirror fame) mockumentary special Death to 2020 and the new film Sylvie’s Love, starring Tessa Thompson and former All-Pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 240

  By toyAdmin | December 23, 2020 - 9:39 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 240, Madden and Kolsky do a bit of show production on air before diving into:

  • The listener-recommended show Wayne (2:05) and just how remarkably well our listener Brandon has pegged our taste…
  • The BEST OF 2020 Extravaganza (7:40) wherein our two hosts intimately detail all the movies, music and television that they loved… settle in for a nice, long ride…
  • Homework for of next Tuesday (1:21:45), including: the first of the five films in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe collection (called Mangrove), the new movie Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max and the new Netflix film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!

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