Remember Shuffle

This is a bonus episode. We will be returning with a regular episode 1 week from nowWe are joined by filmmaker Christopher James Bell (@UpdateTheGrids) to discuss the George W Bush presidency as well as Chris’ documentary on Means TV, “Miss Me Yet.”. We go a little rapid-fire, scatter-shot of the major events, wars, and crimes of the GeorgE W. Bush administration before asking Chris some questions about what it was like to make his excellent documentary about politics, war, finance, consumerism, marketing, and culture.  You can find Chris on Twitter/X at https://twitter.com/UpdateTheGrids, as well as his link tree here with links to all his projects, https://linktr.ee/christopherjasonbellLink to Chris’s doc on Means TV: https://means.tv/programs/missmeyet?cid=3337806&permalink=miss-me-yet-ep1

Get it now before the episode is inevitably taken down out of cowardice. A movie episode (in name only!) in which we use Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” as a springboard to discuss the Bush administration’s torture program during the global War on Terror, the attempt to use both girl-bossing and identity politics to whitewash the crimes of empire, and the rise of the contemptible and irritating “bearded operator” subculture.  While this movie might not be as popular or well-remembered as some of the other films we have done, it perfectly encapsulates the brain-melting feeling you got when you first saw the woke CIA ad. Follow ⁠@RememberShufflePod on Instagram:⁠ https://tr.ee/cHmJbidwJ1

To make someone a martyr is to strip them of their humanity. Yet sometimes Pat Tillman is more than human, and becomes the greatest personification of the Global War on Terror. In Remember Shuffle’s first “very special episode” we cover “The Odyssey of Pat Tillman,” in biographer John Krakauer’s words. We trace his life from his childhood in California, through his enlistment, to his eventual death in a friendly fire incident and the ensuing cover-up. En route, we discuss the conflict between cynicism and idealism, the U.S. military as Kafkaesque bureaucracy run by Armando Ianucci-style incompetents, and the parallels between Pat’s value system and those of another group of warriors in Afghanistan.   Trigger Warning: this episode will make you sad and make your tummy hurt.

Celebrate the holiday spirit as the hosts dive into the cultural trends of Christmas in the 2000s. They humorously debate iconic films like 'Elf' and 'Love Actually,' exploring themes of love and friendship. The discussion reveals contrasting perspectives on the season, reflecting on the complexities of joy amidst societal changes. Their critique of holiday classics includes behind-the-scenes anecdotes while examining deeper themes of community and faith. A heartfelt, nostalgic analysis of how Christmas movies shape our traditions and emotions awaits!

Hello there! Welcome to The Shuffle Galaxy and our exploration of one of the worst franchise trilogies from the 2000s. Forget everything you know about storytelling fundamentals: characters, acts, arcs, emotions, and nuance—throw it right in the trash compactor– because in the child-like mind of George Lucas, what makes a movie great is an over-the-top third act CGI battle scene on whatever backdrop most resembles your childhood living room floor. George Lucas’s nine-hour monstrosity has so much wrong with it and we do our best to add to the  immense collection of existing criticism. En route, we discuss the trilogy’s lack of real characters, the films’ idiosyncratic style, and the total lack of any interesting themes. We also discuss the trilogy’s Pandora’s Box-like effect on movie making for the next twenty years and the toy and video-game tie-in products that were, honestly, pretty sick.

As a follow up the 2008 election, we return to late 2000s, early 2010s political culture to discuss the 2008 financial crisis, the government’s intervention in the economy, and the mass movement against it: The Tea Party Movement. A Mass Movement of Free Market ideologue’s who believe that the financial crash didn’t happen because of deregulation–but because we actually didn’t do the free market enough. A reading series of Glenn Beck explores their monstrous, dogmatic worldview, followed by the real world impacts of this mass movement. Shout out to Thomas Frank’s ‘Pity the Billionaire’ as it was used often as a source. Alternate titles for this episode included: ‘Spend it like Beck-am’, ‘A Promised Rand’, and ‘Ayn’t Life Rand’

Welcome to the program, we got a great show for you today, Isaac Eger (@gluten_daddy) is joining us to discuss The Daily Show with Jon Stewart! Remember Shuffle takes a look at one of the most influential TV shows from the 2000s, responsible (for good and ill) for the current state of desk comedy. The Shuffle Bois break down the four distinct eras of the daily show: the leather jacket, 90s alt-comic era, the righteous anger era, the lecture series era, and everyone’s favourite: the dogshit era. En route, they discuss the historical moments in which the show aired - the late 90s, Gen X end of history; the right wing war fervor cancel culture of the Bush years; the smarmy lib media navel gazing atmosphere of the Obama years; and the Trump Derangement Syndrome era. They close with discussions on satire, civility, and class politics. Isaac's podcast, COEXIST INC. (as well as our follow up once Jon Stewart returned) can be found here : https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coexistinc/episodes/Ep--67--The-Daily-Show-Is-a-Flat-Circle-w-Remember-Shuffle-e2g2p97

Remember Shuffle goes indie this week for its obligatory “Spooky Season” episode and takes a look at 2001’s Donnie Darko. This indie film became a cult classic, spawning countless hours of internet sleuthing analysis, and is probably the biggest “cult” film of the decade. We break down the incredibly straightforward and simple plot of the film, discuss its themes of teen angst, alienation, fate vs predeterminism, madness, and creative destruction, and finally close with a discussion of the place of the 80s in 2000s cultural memory. 

Bryan Quinby of Street Fight Radio and Guys joins to cover one of the ultimate types of 'Guy': Guy Ritchie--and specifically his 2000s masterpieces Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. We cover the type of guy who loves this movie, petty criminals, and how none of the crimes in these movies are even illegal anymore. check out more Bryan at patreon.com/murderxbryan Jason Statham's wig: https://remembershufflepod.wordpress.com/2023/10/17/lock-stock-and-snatch-e34-guys-ritchie-with-bryan-quinby/

We turn, finally, to the greatest pop-cultural artefact of the 2000s—77 minutes of laying out exactly why Googling “what is the greatest show of all time” will return “The Sopranos”. We go over the Sopranos' greatest features, including the internal continuity that each episode has with its small details and imagery, like Curb Your Enthusiasm’s interweaving plots, but for drama. The episode is a first pass at explaining why the Sopranos is a 6 tool player at: plot, setting, characters, style, technique and themes–specifically of American decline, generational divide, toxic masculinity and class in The Sopranos.