The Toy Department – Episode 461

In Episode 461, Madden and Kolsky begin by acknowledging a first-time occurrence in pod history as they get into:

  • Steven Soderbergh’s Full Circle (2:05) which as it turns out, our hosts watched several years ago when it was released and simply forgot about…
  • Apple TV+’s new action show Lucky (8:05) and how it has a lot of good qualities—Anya Taylor-Joy, an interesting story, some good characters—but in light of the Full Circle experience it’s hard to say whether it will be memorable…
  • The film Project Hail Mary (13:25) and how it is an absolute home run of a summer blockbuster, with an incredible acting performance from Ryan Gosling and pitch-perfect storytelling that left both our hosts in tears…
  • Some sports talk (20:25) with Derek’s disgust for the Argentine National Team and a look forward to an exciting World Cup final and Kolsky’s excitement about the Caleb Era in Chicago sports…
  • Homework for THREE WEEKS FROM TODAY (8/7), after a well deserved break (39:50), including: the newest season of The Challenge with a return to the Cuthroat format, the new Christopher Nolan film The Odyssey, the returns of beloved TV shows Ted Lasso and Special Ops: Lioness, and the new Amazon Prime show Ride or Die… Enjoy the rest of July!!

The Toy Department – Episode 321

In Episode 321, Madden and Kolsky are fighting the clock again, this time thanks to Kolsky’s mediocre parental planning, so it’s straight to the important business of the day:

  • The latest from The Challenge: Ride or Dies (2:55) after a Laurel-heavy episode filled with embarrassingly bad strategy from many of the less-experienced players…
  • The new Apple TV+ movie Causeway (31:40) and whether Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry’s performances are enough to carry a very quiet, rather simple film…
  • Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (36:35) and how Daniel Radcliffe’s incredible commitment to the Weird Al role combined with a wildly silly but quite clever script makes for a heck of a fun time…
  • The new Netflix sitcom Blockbuster (43:40) and whether it’s even possible to make a sitcom that’s creative and original…
  • A few thoughts on the World Cup (47:25) with the tournament less than two weeks away and the US roster recently announced…
  • Homework for next Friday (53:35), including: the new Hulu/FX show Fleishman Is In Trouble, HBO Max’s new Sam Rockwell vehicle See How They Run, the new Sylvester Stallone show Tulsa King on Paramount+, the movie Don’t Worry Darling (now available on HBO Max) and OF COURSE the next episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies…