The Occasionalists Podcast

Wait of Thrones

We've been sick over here at The Occasionalists lately: headache, fever, crawling skin, night sweats and the constant need to remind everyone when it's about to winter.
That's right, we're suffering from Thrones withdrawal. 
In order to stem these symptoms and satisfy our cravings, Chemma and I embark on a loooong journey through Westeros. We make a few predictions, discuss some of the rumors and facts from production of the final season.
We wrap up with some offbeat guesses about the future of Thrones, where the cast might end up and decide if there's an 'Heir to the Throne', or a worthy successor to one of TVs greatest shows of all time. 

Part Two: Greetings from...The Motor City!

In part two of this episode we share a few lesser known tales about Detroit's past and dive into our favorite part of the discussion: the rich music scene from punk, to house, to Motown.
We also discuss why Detroit is a great place to set a movie or tv show, share some of our favorite Motor City-centric pieces of entertainment and give you a few suggestions for how to best enjoy a quick trip in the city.

Part One: Greetings from...The Motor City!

For this edition of our city series Chemma and I take a quick trip up I-75 to explore the modern ruin and one time beating heart of the midwest, Detroit. 
In the first part we talk about Detroit's reputation, how it fell so far and so fast and why we love the automotive relic anyway.
We also share a few of the better known stories of Detroit and why they matter.

Summer in the City

The Cavs have dropped another Finals to the Warriors so you know what that means...
IT'S SUMMER TIME, BABY!
After a quick byeweek, Chemma and I return to discuss the future of the Cavs, Warriors, LeBron and the NBA landscape over the next few seasons. 
We finish off with a discussion about what to do now that you don't have to occupy your nights and weekends with basketball, specifically how to go out and enjoy the summer in Cleveland but also expand to the great state of Ohio and some of our regional neighbors.
We dig up some old summer memories and throw out our contenders for the best summer time song.

'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Review

We’ve reached the end of Movie May and due to the complete incompetence of my ISP which shall remain nameless (though it does rhyme with RECTUM) that ending will naturally come several days into June.
It’s been a fun month covering a big blockbuster, cult classic and a questionable streaming original.
There’s no better way to wrap up Movie May than by sinking our teeth into what can be described as the Star Wars movie franchise’s first true –albeit small– steps into the SW Expanded Universe territory.
Will Solo live up to the lofty standards of some of its predecessors? Will we think of this as a turning point in the direction of Star Wars? Will Lando fuck that robot? Needless to say, spoilers abound!

Bad Movie Review: Mute

Question: What do two rogue military doctors, cloned slave laborers from the Moon, a disabled Amish man, a Syrian cocktail waitress, English arms dealers and a black Russian gangster all have in common?
Answer: Not much!
We watched ‘Mute’, another Netflix original film written and directed by Duncan Jones (you might know his late father) and boy howdy! do we have some things to say about this film.
Is it worth watching despite some serious problems with the most fundamental aspects of filmmaking? Listen and find out!

Occasionalists Assemble! The Infinity War Review

Movie month continues here at The Occasionalists as Chemma and I take on a little known independent film called ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’
You may have missed out on this one as it’s a small movie with a limited marketing budget so it’s totally understandable if aren’t up to speed on this one.
Good thing for you, we both saw it! We discuss the movie’s overall place in the MCU, hit on some of our favorite parts and debate if there should have been a drastic shift in who should have been the focus of the movie.

Cinema Dissection: Tremors

We’re unleashing a new wave of movie episodes for the remainder of the month starting with a new series called Cinema Dissection.
In this series, we go back and take a look at certain movies that standout as memorable and endlessly enjoyable but for reasons that are hard to explain. Of course, we put our heads together and try to explain what is so appealing.
For our first subject we take on the horror-comedy cult classic Tremors. A movie that, after invading theaters in 1990, was seemingly on EVERY. SINGLE. WEEKEND. in our youth. Despite the amount of times this movie was on cable and the number of sequels of varying quality, the original is a perfect movie.
Yes. Tremors is a perfect movie. Want to know why? Press play and find out!