Welcome to a new version of our podcast at Middle of the Row; The Greatest Thing About... podcast! We are still going to talk about movies, but also hope to talk more games, tv, while also being able to pick whatever movie we damn well please. 

We will also be releasing our backlog (it’s big) of Middle of the Row: The Podcast as well, but the plan is for a new The Greatest Thing About... to come out weekly. 

We start with the highest rated movie we’ve ever done here on the pod (for us) with Everything Everywhere All at Once. It’s amazing, you should watch it, then listen to us talking about why it is so great!

Download. Listen. Enjoy!

An Introduction...(0:00:30)
General Thoughts... (0:02:00)
Star Ratings & The Letterboxd Top 10 (0:18:00)
Spoilers for Everything Everywhere All at Once (0:22:30)

Categories:
The Greatest Thing About… (0:23:00)
The Funniest Thing About... (0:29:00)
The Upsetting Thing About... (0:42:00)

#nothe @middleofrow

The Greatest Thing About...

The Greatest Thing About... Everything Everywhere All At Once

It’s episode 2 of The Greatest Thing About Podcast... and we are showing off the flexibility of the concept by reviewing a video game; Stray. Stray is an indie release on Playstation and Steam and is a short, but fun, adventure into the mind of a cat. Well, sort of. You definitely get to be a cat, and do many cat things (napping, please), but the game itself is a mystery platformer that has some pretty distinct level design across it’s post-apocalyptic robotic setting. All of us enjoyed the game to varying degrees, which leads to some good discussion about what makes this game work as well as it does.

Download. Listen. Enjoy!

General Thoughts... (0:01:00)
Star Ratings
Spoilers for Stray (0:09:30)

Categories:
The Impressive Thing About… (0:09:30)
The Frustrating Thing About... (0:19:00)
The Weirdest Thing About... (0:22:20)

@middleofrow #nothe

The Greatest Thing About... Stray

The week we are discussing The Greatest Thing About... Prey! This Predator prequel has nothing to do with previous films outside a couple nods and a Predator showing up, but it’s a fresh take on the format that is overcoming the stink of its previous entry. Taking the film back to the 18th century and giving the film a female lead are a great start, while director Dan Trachtenberg gets to show off his action chops outside of a bunker. Amber Midthunder is going to be a star and Predators are little B’s. We all agree on that.

Download. Listen. Enjoy!

General Thoughts (0:01:00)
Star Ratings/Spoilers (0:26:00)

Categories:
The Uncomfortable Thing About... (0:26:30)
The Satisfying Thing About... (0:34:00)
The Weirdest Thing About... (0:40:20)
Ben Comes Up With Predator Sequels (0:47:00)

@middleofrow #nothe

The Greatest Thing About... Prey

We head back to Netflix to review Jamie Foxx’s latest, Day Shift! No one is terribly bowled over by this vampire flick/John Wick mashup, but we had quite a bit of fun picking it apart. Come for the praise of the fight choreography, stay longer as we try and figure out if this movie makes any damn sense.

Download. Listen. Enjoy!

The General Thoughts (01:00)

Categories:
The Draining Thing About... (11:30)

Star Ratings/Spoilers (17:30)

Back to Categories:
The Impressive Thing About... & The Confounding Thing About... (19:45)

Anything we missed?

@middleofrow #nothe

The Greatest Thing About... Day Shift

Today I am talking with Aisha Sultan. Aisha is a syndicated columnist based at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where they’ve been writing for more than 20 years. Her work focusing on education and parenting has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, CNN, and The Washington Post.

"Education, Interrupted" is her second documentary, and follows the experience of a mother of three young children navigating virtual school during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. It premieres at the Saint Louis International Film Festival on Saturday, November 3rd.

Film Synopsis: Witness the devastating disruption of schooling through the eyes of an unforgettable family. Tyra Johnson is a devoted and determined mother fighting to maintain her children's education in one of the country's most poverty-stricken ZIP codes, which was hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Find more from Aisha Sultan on her website, Twitter, Instagram, or STLToday.
Find more about the St. Louis International Film Festival including the schedule of films here.
Follow me on Twitter@anotherRahulJ.

Middle of the Dial

Middle of the Dial: Episode 12 - Aisha Sultan (Education Interrupted)

What’s this, it’s our podcast! Starting off 2023 (shut up, it’s still January!) Trying to make this a regular thing again (we have been recording), and I’m trying to find the time to get these out. But, as we say goodbye to 2022, it’s time for our Time Capsule episode! Let’s throw some stuff into the dirt for the future...

Our Picks!
Ben: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (3:30)
Lauren: A Plague Tale: Requiem (13:40)
Zac: Station Eleven (26:00)
Random Discussion and Predictions (32:00)

Predictions for 23!
Game: 
Ben: Dead Space (Remake)
Zac: Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Lauren: Assassin’s Creed Mirage

Movie:
Ben: Guardians of the Galaxy 3
Zac: Asteroid City
Lauren: Barbie

TV: 
Ben: The Last of Us
Zac: The Last of Us
Lauren: The Last of Us

Random:
Ben: Trigun Stampede
Lauren: Alecto: The Ninth
Zac: Killers of the Flower Moon

Middle of the Row: The Podcast

Middle of the Row - The Podcast - Time Capsule 2022

One of many from the archives, essentially, even though this is the first release of the podcast! The Black Phone, I thought was a bad movie, and I think I brought Lauren and Ben down with me along the way? Take a listen for yourself, as we ask a lot of questions about this quite weird, silly and not that scary movie!

General Thoughts, Star Ratings, crapping on Peacock (it’s gotten better) (0:01:00)
Spoilers for The Black Phone (0:18:00)

The Categories:
The Confounding Thing About… (0:19:00)
The Ridiculous Thing About... (0:23:00)
The Confusing Thing About... (0:27:45)
The Uncomfortable Thing About... (0:32:00)

@middleofrow #nothe

The Greatest Thing About... The Black Phone

Another Flashback episode from the time when we still did those on the OG feed. Catching up with Fright Night from 2011, a movie I soured on since I last saw it, but the rest of the pod is standing up for it! Is Charlie a shitty lead character, is Colin Farrell the dreamiest vampire ever, where is the justice for Poots?

Download. Listen. Enjoy.

The Categories: (Time:Stamp)
8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, Star Ratings (0:00:30)
You Gotta See This, Let’s Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (0:15:40)
Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch... (0:25:00)

@middleofrow #nothe

Welcome To Fright Night

Hello. We are still a podcast. And this is yet another attempt to get these things out of the pipeline again. We have Middle of the Row & The Greatest Thing About... for days, and I hope this fall to get more to you all. This release is for The Mitchells vs. The Machines, which I’m timing with TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, as they share a director/writer in this film’s co-director/writer Jeff Rowe. Let’s call it a good excuse. The Middle of the Row: The Podcast will still have counting numbers, but won’t be in order, fyi. Anyways, cross those figures.

Download. Listen. Enjoy.

The Categories: (Time:Stamp)
8 Words or Less, The Elevator Pitch, Why So & So, General Thoughts, (1:00)
Spoiler! You Gotta See This, Let’s Talk About That Ending..., Performance Piece (20:00)
Repeat After Me, But, Why?, The Hot Take Theater, Expert Opinions, The Upgradeables, To Infinity & Beyond?, Bonus Rounds/Catch All, One Last Pitch..., Star Ratings (34:00)

@middleofrow #nothe

MOTR vs. The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Song Trader, Episode 2
featuring: Caleb, Lindsay, and Meg

Follow Caleb on Twitter: @CKPNW

Follow Lindsay on Twitter: @lindsayfickas

Follow Meg on Twitter: @megannnkoontz

Follow me on Twitter: @anotherRahulJ

@middleofrow #nothe

Middle of the Dial: Ep 12 - Song Trader 2024

We finally dip our toes into the Joker discourse, only there is none! This week we are checking out the latest DC Films entry, and all of us appreciate the experience. No one is rushing back to see Joker, but we haven’t had a consensus on something being this viable in awhile. Zac might be highest, everyone else bunched up under that, but Ben sticks his neck out for Phoenix as best performance of the decade? Right actor, wrong film, says I. Anyways, lots to discuss and praise this week, so if you can bare it, checkout Joker and then listen up.

Download. Listen. Enjoy!

0:01:00 Spoiler Free Joker Thoughts, Other Jokers & Tyler Durden
0:14:00 Jaquin Phoenix! 
0:20:00 Spoilers for Joker
0:21:00 Character Fates, Endings, Faux Controversy
0:31:00 Biggest Issues, Music Cues, and Endings
0:40:00 Sequel Speculation, De Niro, Batman Connections

@middleofrow #nothe

Joker Is No Joke

The Official Podcast of Middle of the Row - @middleofrow

Joker Is No Joke

Middle of the Row

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