Podcast
Biopic: A Podcast Story
Hosted by biopicapodcaststory · EN
In a world where mimicking the gestures of a historical figure is awards bait, Biopic: A Podcast Story examines the good, the bad, the unspeakable, and the hilarious about this category of film that frequently dominates the Oscars but just as often offends our sensibilities. Biopic: A Podcast Story looks at the casting, the acting, the quality of the script, and the endless tropes that dominate these movies. Hosted by Rena and Sara. We have watched a lot of biopics. Biopic: A Podcast Story sits at the meeting point between movie, comedy, and history podcasts. New episodes drop every Tuesday.
23episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Episode 22: The Duchess
Sep 24, 202401:10:18Tap to summarizeFinally, a proper costume drama! We are surprised that it took this long. In the 2008 film The Duchess, we travel to the days where it really sucked to be a woman (as opposed to every other time in history) and meet the captivating, delightful, ahead-of-her-time Duchess of Devonshire, her dull-as-dishwater, dog-obsessed husband, and her “he looks like a member of Oasis” partner in cuckolding. Despite the hangovers of Cleopatra and Gandhi, Rena and Sara actually want this tidy, 1 hour, 50 minute film to be longer as they discuss the positives and negatives of gambling addiction, rotten boroughs as a metaphor for the electoral college and vice versa, giant skirts, giant hair, and whether children should be used for blackmail. It’s WAY more fun than it sounds. Tragically left on the cutting room floor: Your two moms arguing for 30 minutes about the Royal Family. The Duchess stars Keira Knightley as Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, Ralph Fiennes as The Duke, Dominic Cooper as Charles Grey, Charlotte Rampling as Lady Spencer, Hayley Atwell as Bess Foster, and Simon McBurney as Charles James Fox. Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com
Transcribe →Episode 21: Gandhi
Sep 17, 202401:12:18Tap to summarizeRemember that time we pretended that Blade Runner, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The King of Comedy, ET, and Rocky III were inferior to the movie Gandhi? The 1980s were fun. Rena and Sara take a journey back to their teen years to re-watch this beloved teaching aid for high school history instructors and it was … not fun. Gandhi remains a bloodless but well-executed hagiography that also happens to be beautifully shot and eighty-nine hours long. So many train rides and speeches and marches and beatific jailings, so much clothing-weaving and platitude sharing. Oh, and dust. Plentiful dust. Between analyzing whether this movie is rightfully putting on airs, Rena and Sara also take pity on Gandhi’s wife—who definitely didn’t sign up for this, discuss the issues that come up when one speed-walks in a diaper and sandals, and speculate on the wild array of white actors who were ALMOST cast as Gandhi. Gandhi stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi, Rohini Hattangadi as Kasturba Gandhi, Rosha Seth as Nehru, Candice Bergen as Margaret Bourke-White, Edward Fox as Reginald Dyer, Biopic threepete-r John Gielgud, and Martin Sheen as Vince Walker. Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com
Transcribe →Episode 20: Reagan
Sep 3, 202401:08:57Tap to summarizeWE CALLED AN AUDIBLE FOR THE GIPPER. The things you do for love: Because Rena and Sara care and do not want anyone to spend money to see this movie, they went to see it. While Reagan is a soul-crushing journey through a propagandistic vision of the life and times of one simple mofo who was either blindly optimistic or the root of all modern evil, it’s also (mostly) objectively bad filmmaking: Everything looks hideous and coated in putty, scenes often contain only 3 to 4 lines of dialogue, and Reagan’s only human flaw is loving America a little too much. Crack open that industrial-size container of jelly beans and treacle to enjoy this tale of triumph, recounted through a logic-defying framing device of a broken KGB agent (played by noted accent disaster artist Jon Voight) sharing his slideshow of “The Crusader” single-handedly destroying communism with his sunshine-y grin and passion for God. Hear about Dutch’s baptism by Kevin Sorbo (he is in the movie), how Reagan shrugged at the AIDS crisis and got off on union-busting, and how the only likable character in the movie ended up being a Russian asset (‘sup, Dana!). Witness the horror of evil monsters Dalton Trumbo and Jimmy Carter advocating for healthcare. And for God’s sake, do not see this movie. Reagan stars Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan, Mena Suvari as Jane Wyman, Penelope Ann Miller as Nancy Reagan, Dan Lauria as Tip O’Neill, Jon Voight as a man named Viktor, Robert Davi as Leonid Breshnev, Kevin Dillon as Jack Warner, and Scott Stapp as Frank Sinatra. Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com
Transcribe →