The Occasionalists Podcast

Beyond Borders: Signals Of The World

We are back to wrap up Beyond Borders month with a deep dive into international television. We talk about the earliest smattering of British shows that were available to us as kids, all the way to the visual feast of entertainment from all corners of the globe that we enjoy now.
We answer some important questions along the way:
Why is everyone so hot?
Have they been using the same cameras for 30 years?
How many people get murdered in England every year? Millions?
Seriously, why is everyone so hot!?
We also delve into the real issues as we talk about a pair of world leaders, President Vasily Petrovich Goloborodko and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That's right, we watched Servant of the People to compare a fictional reformer with a real one who just so happens to be fighting for his country's existence. Similarities, differences and eerie coincidences (or circumstances?) abound.
Join us!
 
 

Beyond Borders: Scenes Of The World

Our second episode of Beyond Borders month finds us talking about movies from abroad. From our early favorites to recent discoveries, foreign film has been a massive influence on our lives. 
We give everyone, especially those newer to international movies, a starting point for some accessible films as well as a few essential, landmark films to watch. 
And maybe the biggest news from this episode: PC Culture Studios is reopening! We got our COVID bailout and we were able to assemble 8 (actually 9) great foreign filmmakers to helm the studio's first anthology movie series. Title not yet determined.
We also dish on a few foreign short films and lay out a few people to watch for in the coming years. 

Beyond Borders: Sounds Of The World

The Occasionalists are back baby! Summer break is over and we are kicking off Season 8 with a road trip.
This month, we are talking international media as we go Beyond Borders. We kick off this world tour with a dive into the music of the world.
We talk about our neighbors in Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico, and explore the cutesy weirdness of Kawaii Metal.
And did you ask for an international playlist? Oh buddy, you got one!

Best Of (?) Month: Embrace The Reboot 3-30-2018

We are wrapping up our Best Of (?) Month with an oldie but a topic we love talking about, good or bad, Embrace The Reboot!
As the title would suggest, we give up criticising Hollywood for not having any original ideas and instead, join in on the remaking, rebooting, prequeling, sequeling and adapting fun the major studios are having without us.
Let's do it! Again!

Best Of (?) Month: 1997 - The Lost Year In Music 11-28-2018

Best Of (?) Month rolls along with our deep dive into one of the strangest years in our pop culture lifetimes, 1997.
In particular, we look at music and how the post-grunge, pre-modern pop era was a complete, jumbled mess that the music companies and consumers alike could not fully figure out.
Bland yet unforgettable earworms, the best year ever(!?) for movie soundtracks, the mainstreaming of hip hop and the women briefly taking over the alt rock scene.
There's a lot to work through here, join us!
 

Best Of (?) Month: The Villains Part 1 2-25-2020

This week's episode was one of the handful we did before the coronavirus pandemic forced the US into a nationwide lockdown. And guess what!? WE PREDICTED EVERYTHING!
Just kidding, in fact, we don't make mention of the pandemic at all. Which was refreshing since all of our episodes for awhile after would be tainted with talk of the ongoing outbreak.
In this episode we focus on the bad guys of film, television and literature. The Villains! 
We get into what makes villains so compelling, how to deploy them in a story and we give a breakdown of classic villain archetypes and introduce a few that are newer to the entertainment world.
Give it a listen and SAY GOODNIGHT TO THE BAD GUY!

Best Of (?) Month: RoboCop 7-30-2018

Welcome to July everyone! Like most people out there, The Occasionalists also like to get out and enjoy their summer vacation. To that end, we are taking the month of July off but we are not leaving you high and dry. No sir!
Every week this month we will be dialing up the way back machine to give everyone a second look at some of our favorite episodes. We reintroduce each episode, give a little detail on what was going on with us at that point in time, and lay out a few other things we noticed or perhaps had forgotten prior to the relisten.
First up, from July 30th 2018, our Cinema Dissection on Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi action classic RoboCop.
And a quick message from Clarence Boddicker: Bitches, enjoy.

The Occasionalists Book Club Month: A Red & Blue Character Deep Dive

Our final episode for our book club month is here and this time we turn our focus to the main (and really only) characters of This Is How You Lose The Time War, Red and Blue themselves.
We dissect their motivations, places in their respective factions, their relationship to one another and so much more. We also answer a few speculative questions about each character that were never totally filled in and ask a few of our own.
We then wrap up with something we love to do on this podcast: we pitch our own adaptations of the book!
Chemma handles the movie and Pags is all over the tv series.