On the 32nd episode of Piecing It Together, returning co-host Brian Garth joins me to discuss First Man. Will Neil Armstrong overcome grief and make it to the moon? Will Damien Chazelle make three Oscar nominated, highly acclaimed films in a row with his first three features? Well yes, of course… but that doesn’t mean we loved it. Puzzle pieces include Dunkirk, Melancholia, The Right Stuff and Interstellar.
On the 31st episode of Piecing It Together, we are joined for a second time in a row by co-host Jacob Tiranno to talk about A Simple Favor, a mystery that comes to us from “the darker side of Paul Feig,” the comedy director best known for Bridesmaids and the Ghostbusters reboot. It’s a solid mystery that still manages to squeeze in plenty of Feig’s style of comedy and some great performances from Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. Puzzle pieces include Gone Girl, Big Little Lies, Lifetime movies and The Talented Mr. Ripley.
On the 30th episode of Piecing It Together, we are joined by first-time co-host Jacob Tiranno of ChasingCinema.com to talk about Searching, the newest in a unique style of movie that unfolds completely on computer screens. While normally a gimmick like this would seem like something that would get old quick, a great story and top notch performances by John Cho and Debra Messing keep it interesting and exciting. Puzzle pieces include The Social Network, Gone Girl, Memento and Up.
On the 29th episode of Piecing It Together, returning co-host David Quinones and I discuss Mandy… A movie that promises the craziest Nicolas Cage performance you’ve ever seen, and actually pretty much delivers (well to be fair he’s got a TON of crazy performances to choose from so lets just say it lives up to his legacy). At its core it’s a revenge film about a man who goes after a religious cult after they murder his wife, but it’s much more than that and one of the most unique films to come along in a while. Puzzle pieces include Army of Darkness, The Wall, Tommy and Heavy Metal album covers.
On the 28th episode of Piecing It Together, returning co-host Ryan Daugherty and I discuss Shane Black’s continuation of the classic alien hunter sci-fi horror action series Predator with… The Predator! It’s a straight up sequel and not a reboot or something so I wonder why the didn’t just call it Predator 3… I just thought of that… Anyway it’s a mess of a movie but a fun mess and we had a blast talking about it. Puzzle pieces include Aliens Vs Predator 2 (because if you’re going to emulate a movie from the franchise why not aim low?), Alien Covenant, Independence Day and Con Air.
On this special Mini-Episode series that we’re going to call Piecing Dave Together, host David Rosen fills you in on what’s happening in his life, his music, his projects, and everything else he’s been up to. These occasional mini-episodes will serve to fill in the blanks so that he doesn’t have to ramble too much about stuff during the regular episodes.
On the 27th episode of Piecing It Together, returning co-host Chad Clinton Freeman and I discuss The Nun, the newest entry in the ever expanding Conjuring Universe. The horrifying character who made her debut in The Conjuring 2 and Annabelle 2 finally gets her own movie, diving deep back into how this evil Nun character got her start and set off the events that would build the Conjuring universe and a world of unspeakable evil… It’s also absolutely ridiculous, hokey and hilarious and a great fun time at the movies! Puzzle pieces include Indiana Jones, Evil Dead, the Universal Classic Monsters and Scooby Doo.
On the 26th episode of Piecing It Together, co-host Josh Bell and I discuss The Beast, a local feature from Las Vegas-based filmmakers Ryan & Cody LeBoeuf. The Beast originally screened at film festivals under the name Rabbit Days before picking up distribution and getting the name change. It’s a crazy, mind-trip of a movie about a play director who lures some guests to his home with the promise of great opportunity, but what they find when they arrive goes from weird to bad to much worse. Puzzle pieces include The House on Haunted Hill, The Invitation, Mullholand Drive and Waiting For Guffman.
On the 2nd episode of the special episode series called Breaking It Apart, co-host Kris Krainock and I take a look NOT at a new movie and what movies inspired it, but at a classic movie and what movies were inspired BY it… And this time we’re looking at the classic Stanley Kubrick feature 2001: A Space Odyssey. Somehow depicting outer space before we even made it out there, and with some of the most breathtaking visuals ever put to film, 2001 recently had an IMAX re-release which really let the amazingly unique and trippy views of outer space and wormholes shine. Narrowing down the influences on this one were especially difficult as the film clearly laid the groundwork for all of sci-fi from when it was released in 1968 to today. Puzzle pieces include Star Wars, The Tree of Life, Adaptation and The Simpsons.
On the 25th episode of Piecing It Together, first time co-host Jason Harris and I discuss Eighth Grade, the sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart-felt new film from A24. The film from comedian and first time writer/director Bo Burnham follows 13 year old Kayla as she deals with Eighth Grade, growing up in today’s world and the always scary onset of High School, all while continuing to grow her YouTube video series. Puzzle pieces include Welcome to the Dollhouse, American Pie, Ingrid Goes West and The Squid & The Whale.