Episode 2 - ‘Inception,’ Guns, Slices, And Wonder Woman
Title: ‘Inception,’ Guns, Slices, And Wonder Woman (July 23, 2010)
This episode begins with a discussion of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster Inception. They acknowledge the punishing amount of gunplay in the story, the deft delineation of the three different dream worlds, and the cinematic tropes that Nolan alludes to throughout the movie. They also discuss the knee-jerk pushback from Nolan fans as a reaction to critiques dismissing Inception’s popularity as “delusional hype.”
Regrettable Television *Pop* Quiz highlights choice moments from Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch, History Channel’s Top Shot, and Real Housewives of New Jersey.
What Is Making Them Happy
Glen - The Wonder Woman costume redesign is ostensibly what is making him happy, but the execution of said redesign (the stirrup pants and the jacket, specifically) is bothersome. DOWNLOAD THIS PODCAST IF ONLY FOR THIS.
Trey - Louis Oosthuizen winning the 2010 British Open.
Stephen - History Channel’s reality show Sliced. “Look. I could care less about safety. I just love to slice.”
Linda - Old Spice guy Isaiah Mustafa giving a video shoutout to Linda Holmes herself. 32 seconds of caramel-coated heaven. (Link to Youtube video)
Some Episode Highlights
- Trey Graham mentions the spoof trailer of Inception starring Dora the Explorer. (Link to Funny or Die video)
- Three of the panelists engage in attempts to out-pretentious the rest by invoking, by turns, John Gardner, Queen Atossa in Aeschylus’s The Persians, and poetry.
- Trey also mentions Bob Mondello’s piece for All Things Considered called “Originality In Dream Sequences A Challenge For Films.”
- Stephen cites Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as a more poetic visualization of what goes on in the mind.
- “The movie is a metaphor for the power of delusional hype—a metaphor for itself.” from David Edelstein’s piece for New York Magazine, alluded to by Glen Weldon.
- This episode makes a lot of references to other critics. Trey also mentions a Roger Ebert article called Whole lotta cantin’ going on. “Boone’s review fits my definition of usefulness. It doesn’t matter whether I agree with him. He helps me see things.”
- “If Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch is sort of a lighthearted romp, The T.O. Show is an incredibly depressing psychodrama.” - Stephen Thompson
- The first (and definitely not the last) reference to Poochie or The Simpsons in the show.
