Tag Archives: movies

The Toy Department – Episode 371

  By toyAdmin | January 4, 2024 - 12:35 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 371, Madden and Kolsky totally forget to wish each other (or you) a Happy New Year and instead discuss the elastic nature of time before getting into:

  • A more eventful episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (3:10) that nevertheless failed to improve the entertainment value of an increasingly frustrating season…
  • The new Dave Chappelle special The Dreamer (23:20), his addiction to touching the third rail and enjoying a comedian without loving all of his jokes…
  • The utterly confounding film Saltburn (31:30) and the very specific (and wildly bizarre) visionn of Emerald Fennell…
  • The new Alexander Payne film The Holdovers (41:15) and how it’s just a really damn good movie and you should all watch it…
  • Season two of Dr. Death (44:50) and how one of our hosts is just a hard out on this type of show…
  • Homework for next week (55:20), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, finishing the Hulu series Murder at the End of the World, and two Netflix properties — the Zack Snyder movie Rebel Moon and the new Michelle Yeoh series The Brothers Sun…

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The Toy Department – Episode 370

  By toyAdmin | December 28, 2023 - 12:49 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 370, Madden and Kolsky have an in-depth discussion of sinus procedures and overall nasal health before ending their year with:

  • ALLLLLL the action from the last THREE episodes of The. Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (5:30) including the (questionable?) toppling of some all-time greats and a collection of some of the most stupefying game moves that 25 years of The Challenge Universe has seen…
  • The new season of Apple TV+’s Slow Horses (27:35) and the continuing brilliance of lead actors Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden…
  • Netflix’s much-ballyhooed Bradley Cooper vehicle Maestro (32:05) and how it wasn’t as much of a Leonard Bernstein biopic as our hosts would have liked…
  • The new Eddie Murphy Christmas movie Candy Cane Lane (42:10) and whether it’s good enough to slide into a regular holiday viewing rotation…
  • A fresh season of Amazon Prime Video’s Reacher (48:25) and how a new cast of characters stacks up around the mountain of Alan Ritchson…
  • Homework for next week (55:20), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, the Emerald Fenell movie Saltburn, the Alexander Payne movie The Holdovers (available on Peacock), Dave Chappelle’s new Netflix special The Dreamer and Peacock’s new season of Dr. Death…

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The Toy Department – Episode 369

  By toyAdmin | December 7, 2023 - 12:05 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 369, Madden and Kolsky spend a few minutes on Derek’s immediate future, including a rock concert and programming a Christmas music station, before launching into:

  • A relatively lackluster week on The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (7:25) and how the loss of one of our hosts’ favorite characters doesn’t necessarily project particularly well for the second half of the season (but there’s hope!)…
  • The Netflix series Obliterated (32:15) and how its lack of particular ambition or excellence does not stop it from being watchable…
  • The film May December (42:05) and how Netflix’s Oscar bait probably falls a little short despite some excellent acting performances…
  • The entirely adorable Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too? (52:30) and the joys of watching nerds talk about stuff…
  • Homework for TWO weeks from now (59:50), including: two episodes of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, the film Maestro (available on Netflix), the new season of Slow Horses on Apple TV+ and Eddie Murphy’s new Christmas movie Candy Cane Lane…

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The Toy Department – Episode 368

  By toyAdmin | November 30, 2023 - 3:41 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 368, Madden and Kolsky lament the existence of Daylight Savings Time and the depressing 4:30pm sundown in the Midwest before turning to:

  • The Peacock film Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain (2:50) and whether Derek owes Kolsky an apology for bringing it to his attention…
  • The Netflix documentary Beckham (12:10) and Fisher Stevens’ interesting directorial choices, plus the hitherto untold peculiarities of one of soccer’s greatest superstars…
  • The latest from The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (28:40), where another champ showed up to embrace the chaos and break up a couple…
  • Homework for next week (59:15), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, the new Netflix show Obliterated, the film May December (also on Netflix) and the Paramount+ show Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?…

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The Toy Department – Episode 367

  By toyAdmin | November 24, 2023 - 2:51 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 367, Madden and Kolsky discuss the arrival of really cold weather in the Midwest and lament their life choices before diving in to:

  • This week on The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (2:50), a victorious Big T and the dangling mystery of the third pole in the draw…
  • Hulu’s Nathan Fielder/Emma Stone HGTV spoof The Curse (36:45) and whether it’s more than just an awkward parody…
  • The return of FX/Hulu’s Fargo for its fifth and final season (45:10) and the excitement brewing in both of our hosts after two great episodes to start things off…
  • The Brit Marling-created A Murder at the End of the World (50:45) and whether our hosts are on board for its Gen Z-amateur-sleuth vibe…
  • The biopic Rustin (57:00) and the incredible performance from leading man Colman Domingo that makes it go…
  • Homework for next week (1:02:00), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, the Fisher Stevens-directed Netflix documentary Beckham, and the movie Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain from SNL’s video short team…

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The Toy Department – Episode 365

  By toyAdmin | November 10, 2023 - 3:43 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 365, Madden and Kolsky discuss Derek’s rock-and-roll travels before getting to today’s pod business:

  • The latest from a double-episode week of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (3:20), including the impending chaos portion of the game and thoughts on the exciting crop of developing you lady contestants…
  • The Hulu movie Quiz Lady (43:05) and how it doesn’t make good enough use of its two leading ladies or its big-name guest star…
  • The new Apple TV+ film Fingernails (48:50) and yet another project that tragically fails to add up to the appropriate sum of its parts…
  • Netflix’s new Shea Serrano-created series Neon (57:15) and how he once again delivers a joyful series with clever writing and a deeply endearing heart…
  • Homework for next week (1:05:20), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, the new David Fincher movie The Killer on Netflix, the new Nathan Fielder/Emma Stone show The Curse on Showtime/Paramount+ and the Australian show Colin from Accounts on Paramount+…

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The Toy Department – Episode 364

  By toyAdmin | November 2, 2023 - 9:16 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 364, Madden and Kolsky exchange only brief pleasantries before diving into the week’s homework:

  • A head-spinning week of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (1:20) and another remarkably terrible deliberation speech from the ultimately eliminated competitor…
  • Netflix’s new British thriller Bodies (30:45) and its unique time-jumping framework…
  • The Jennifer Lawrence-led Netflix comedy No Hard Feelings (41:45) and the charm of its leading lady…
  • Homework for next week (49:25), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, the movie Quiz Lady on Hulu, the Apple TV+ movie Fingernails and the new Netflix series Neon…

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The Toy Department – Episode 362

  By toyAdmin | October 20, 2023 - 8:29 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 362, Madden and Kolsky lament the sickness passing through the Kolsky household (and the overall joys of parenthood) before diving in on:

  • TJ’s Final on The Challenge: USA Season 2 (2:40) and a wrap-up discussion on a truly excellent Challenge season that featured arguably the greatest rookie season in the franchise’s history…
  • Netflix’s new thriller Fair Play (48:40), about which our hosts have rather disparate opinions…
  • The unremarkable and in fact largely unpleasant return of Frasier (1:01:40) and how it’s essentially and empty suit of a throwback sitcom…
  • The Brie Larson vehicle Lessons in Chemistry on Apple TV+ (1:07:25) and how it’s relatively hollow and predictable despite reasonably good acting and directing…
  • Homework for next week’s THURSDAY episode (1:18:25), including: the start of the new season of the flagship Challenge — Battle for a New Champion, and actually getting to The Fall of the House of Usher…

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The Toy Department – Episode 360

  By toyAdmin | October 6, 2023 - 11:13 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 360, Madden and Kolsky talk a little bit of Chicago Bears football and Wrexham soccer before getting down to business with last week’s homework:

  • This week’s episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2 (8:25), including the antics of Michaela and the Michele-tdown that ended with elimination…
  • The incredibly disappointing film Heist 88 (28:05) and how seemingly every choice made by the producers and director fell flat…
  • Wes Anderson’s new Roald Dahl adaptation The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (34:10) and how Anderson’s signature nonsense has officially pushed one of our hosts over the edge…
  • The wildly enjoyable Gen V (39:40) and all the things that make it a welcome addition to The Boys’ universe…
  • Homework for next week’s short show (46:20), including: another episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2, and … … THAT’S IT, THAT’S THE HOMEWORK…

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The Toy Department – Episode 359

  By toyAdmin | September 29, 2023 - 10:58 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 358, Madden and Kolsky celebrate a (relatively) problem-free recording environment before getting right into:

  • Kolsky’s misadventures with the National (1:25) and the development of an understanding of why he struggles so much to listen to them…
  • The high school comedy Bottoms (7:05) and why one of our hosts HATED it and the other really quite enjoyed it…
  • The underwhelming film Cassandro (21:45) and how both hosts were left feeling unsatisfied and wishing they knew more about the movie’s subject…
  • The crown jewel of this week’s culture, Apple TV+’s British rom-com Still Up (27:25) and the undeniable charm of the relationship at its center…
  • Another week of action from The Challenge USA: Season 2 (32:00) which continues to deliver excellent daily and elimination challenges and has no shortage of drama as we careen towards the TJ’s Final…
  • Homework for next week (58:35), including: another episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2, the new show Gen V (a spinoff of The Boys) on Amazon Prime Video, the Paramount+/Showtime movie Heist 88 and the Wes Anderson-directed Roald Dahl adaptation The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar on Netflix…

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