FilmDrunk Frotcast

This week on the Frotcast, we’re discussing the classic 1986 blackface comedy, Soul Man, starring C. Thomas Howell. Did this film “predict Obama’s rise,” as Armond White believes? Comedians Matt Lieb and Allison Mick join Brendan and me (Vince Mancini) in the studio. Soul Man’s assertion that the 80s were “the Cosby decade” also lead us into a discussion of Cosby and 80s movies. We finish off with NPR corner and “The Royalty Freestyle,” in which we force Matt Lieb to improvise lyrics to royalty-free music. This week’s offerings include a song about SIDS. Enjoy, and Frot on. Intro – Soul Man, and Armond White’s assertion that it predicted Obama 45:42 – Tales From NPR 57:00 – Matt Lieb imagines Hailee Steinfeld’s slap bass album, leading to this week’s Brendan Uncontrollably Laughing segment. 1:08:00 – Soul Man’s assertion that the 80s are “the Cosby decade” leads to a Cosby discussion. 1:15:20 – The Royalty Freestyle, including a very special song about SIDS, and “I’m Gonna Bring A Gun To School” 1:33:08 – Matt Lieb is angry about California’s marijuana-legalization proposition.

This week on the Frotcast, we decided to talk about Ken Bone. His story seems emblematic of some of the worst of the internet, where we decide you’re a certain thing one day and celebrate you for it, and then the next day try to destroy for not being that thing we decided you were good enough. This leads us into So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, Justine Sacco, and Melissa Villaseñor. After that we talk some Westworld, diverge into “grab that pussy”-gate, and finish off discussing the Amanda Knox documentary on Netflix. This week’s Frotcrew includes Brendan, Flophouse comedian Matt Lieb, and Joe Sinclitico from Adam Devine’s House Party. Enjoy, and Frot responsibly.  Intro – Be warned, Matt brought his slide guitar this week.  23:00 – Talking Jon Ronson’s ‘So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed’ and Justine Sacco. 41:40 – Justine Sacco gets us to talking about Melissa Villaseñor’s “problematic tweets” controversy. 54:50 – Brendan has some fire takes about Westworld  1:10:21 – Talking “Grab That Pussy”-gate and whether we have some kind of grab that pussy moment.  1:29:00 – Discussing the Amanda Knox Netflix doc and wanting to punch Nick Pisa.

Comedians Joey Avery and Jane Harrison join Vince Mancini in the Frotquarters with Flophouse’s LA Matt (Matt Lieb) blooping in through Skype. This week, we’re talking the season premiere of Westworld on HBO. Yeah or nah? What’s up with Ed Harris’s character? Is Anthony Hopkins a great actor or is he just great at playing Anthony Hopkins? Also, the big Salesforce circle jerk, Dreamforce is in San Francisco this week, and Joey even had a comedy gig during an afterparty. So we rip on Salesforce and tech for a while. We also get into the VP debate, introduce a brand new segment of Crystal Corner, and answer your emails. Enjoy! Patreon.com/Frotcast

Comedians Matt Lieb and Joey Avery are in the Frotquarters this week, to talk about the first presidential debate between Trump and Hillary, the saga of Matt Lieb’s possibly Anti-Semitic Bumble girlfriend, and this week’s homoerotic job postings (as well as a discussion of homoeroticism in general, which we’re all, not shockingly, in favor of). Oh, and how the South is apparently in the midst of a clown epidemic. Enjoy! 3:05 – The job listing of the week: for a “dude focused” #content editor, written so that it sounds like a Manswers segment.  11:20 – In praise of homoeroticism 17:10 – Matt Lieb’s story of his “worst-ever dating experience.” 46:30 – Thoughts on the first presidential debate between Trump and Hillary 1:29:15 – Pepe the Frog Meme, and how it relates to previous discussions about trying to “poison pill” your #content 1:37:21 – The Clown Epidemic 

This week on the Frotcast, LA Matt aka Matt Lieb returns from his ban to join Vince, returning from TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival) to talk Adrien Grenier’s NY Mag profile, Snowden and Oliver Stone, Nate Parker and Birth of a Nation, and of course perform a few segments of the “Royalty Freestyle.”  Brendan joins about 30 minutes in. We’re sorry. 

This week, we discuss Shane Black’s recently-released-on-DVD stooge noir, The Nice Guys, starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. Is it an action movie? A comedy? Does believability matter? Is Ryan Gosling playing Wile E. Coyote? We ponder all those questions as well as our recent news obsessions, like the cinematic rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, Apple headphones, and The Night Of. Panel includes comedian Joe Sinclitico from Adam Devine’s House Party, and Joey Avery, fresh off his one-episode arc on Fox’s Coupled.  4:45 – Elizabeth Holmes and the incredible story of her $9 billion fake tech company 10:00 – Elizabeth Holmes’ insane voice 18:50 – Joe tries to show Joey his future in comedy 28:47 – In praise of Brooklyn, and arthouse movies that are more than what you’d imagine 36:00 – The Nice Guys 42:41 – A digression into The Night Of 50:30 – Are we bored of “big action sequences” because we’re getting old or because they’re less novel now?  58:30 – News story of the week, the USA Freedom Girls getting stiffed by the Trump campaign 1:10:35 – Abbreviated emails and Crystal Corner, including The Ballad Of Big Dick Pierre 

Is the original Point Break a classic? Is it a good-good movie, a good-bad movie, or a bad-bad movie? And what does that say for the remake? Critics didn’t like the original that much when it came out, but by the time the remake came they were calling it a masterpiece. What does that say for the remake? Will it eventually be respected? We ponder all these questions and more, with the help of guest Francesca Fiorentini from AJ+. Comedian Joey Avery is sitting in for Bret this week, with Brendan and Vince returning. We also talk the hottest Colin Kaepernick takes, Crystal Corner, and your emails. 

With Werner Herzog’s new internet documentary, Lo And Behold: Reveries Of The Connected World expanding this week, the Frotcast is all about the internet. We discuss the actual documentary as well tangents from it. The internet is one the most scalable technologies ever created, but did our humanity scale with it? In Don’t Woke Daddy, we discuss “the satire paradox,” and Malcolm Gladwell’s recent critique of SNL’s Sarah Palin sketches and Steven Colbert. Are we actually trying to change anyone’s mind or just make people laugh? After that, Crystal Corner. Apparently “mysticore” is the new normcore. Hooray for CHAOS MAGICK. Comedian Jane Harrison guests, with Irregular Regular Matt Lieb joining Vince, Bret, and Brendan via Skype. 

This week on the Frotcast, Matt Lieb, Bret, and Brendan are all back in the studio for a discussion of William Friedkin’s The French Connection (1971). Are the cops supposed to be heroic? Is this the best car chase in cinema? What is about a hyper-focused narrative that’s so compelling? All that and more, but first, we talk about Ryan Lochte and his Brazilian robbery (“hobbery”) story and Matt’s in-character appearance (as “LA Matt”) on North Carolina local news. We’ve also got Matt Lieb Improvises Lyrics To Royalty-Free Songs (aka “Royalty Freestyle”), Tales From NPR, Crystal Corner, and a second week in a row where I spend five minutes trying to explain to one of my co-hosts who Miles Teller is. Enjoy. 

We all saw David Ayer’s Suicide Squad this week, which wasn’t great, but is strangely fun to dissect. We discuss the strange development of Suicide Squad, then Justin Halpern comes on to tell us his own strange development stories, from Sh-t My Dad Says to present, along with a great story about John Slattery from Mad Men. We finish things off with Crystal Corner, and “Fill My Hole,” in which we name things to watch, read, and listen to, to fill the emptiness inside. Enjoy!  6:15 – My defense of my mild positive Suicide Squad review 15:00 – How Suicide Squad is bad, and yet the typical nerd criticisms of it are all wrong. 19:35 – Talking Jared Leto’s performance, the explanation of the Joker’s dumb grill, and how happy Jared Leto makes us.  22:40 – Movies that are Suicide Squad but better 25:00 – The list of Jared Leto’s favorite books 34:00 – Justin Halpern comes on, interrupting our musical segment 43:00 – Arguing over who has the weirder mouth, Michael Phelps or Andrew Luck 46:30 – The idea of having to sell a creative project after you’ve stopped believing in it. 48:00 – Justin’s wonderful John Slattery story.  52:15 – The insane development story behind Nine Lives 1:18:00 – Crystal Corner