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Message Dan and Mike Forty-five years after it hit theaters on October 30, 1981, we’re digging into Halloween II for the penultimate episode of Halloween Fest. The film picks up minutes after the original ends, and we both agree it plays less like a sequel and more like the second half of one long, bloody night in Haddonfield. Dan has always had a soft spot for it and says he may even like it more than the first one. We break down the behind-the-scenes story, including why John Carpenter didn’t direct, how he ended up writing it (and by his own account drinking his way through the script), and how he came back late to shoot additional scenes when the studio wanted more gore. We talk about first-time feature director Rick Rosenthal and why we think he doesn’t get enough credit for the POV shots, long tracking takes, and Alan Howarth’s creepy synth-and-organ layer on top of Carpenter’s score. Then there’s Dick Warlock, Kurt Russell’s longtime stunt double, who landed the role of Michael Myers by walking into the director’s office wearing the mask. We get into his slow, deliberate walk, the legendary firewalk stunt, and his kid’s famous boombox scene. We also cover Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, the great supporting cast, the infamous steam room scene, and the Shout Factory / Scream Factory 4K collector’s edition, which includes the TV cut. Along the way, Mike tells the story of his featured-extra role in Passenger 57, we debate a few franchise details (fact-checking each other live, as usual), and Dan shares that the Halloween II cast is headed to Spooky Empire. We close with our desert island Halloween picks. If you enjoy the episode, subscribe, leave us a rating and review, and check out the video version on our YouTube channel. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike Halloween Fest rolls on as we sink our teeth into Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, now 34 years old. Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, and Anthony Hopkins star in a film we both admire and both struggle to fully embrace. Dan lands at a B-minus, while Mike calls it the movie he has the most positive things to say about, even though it left him bored. We dig into what makes it so remarkable: the practical, in-camera effects, the forced perspective, the shadows that move on their own, and the decision to shoot like it’s the silent era. We talk about Eiko Ishioka’s Oscar-winning costume design, Oldman’s many makeup transformations, and the voice training behind his performance. We also get into how Winona Ryder brought Coppola the script right after The Godfather Part III, and how Roman Coppola’s team stepped in when Francis fired the visual effects crew. Then we ask the harder question: if the craft is this good, why does it drag? We compare it with Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, which kept us hooked, and with Renfield. We also run through the casting what-ifs, including the studio’s list of Dracula options, and a Jackass star who was Keanu’s stand-in. Plus the box office ($215 million worldwide on a budget of roughly $40 million), the Rotten Tomatoes split between critics and audiences, and a first look at Dan’s new studio setup. If you’ve seen it, tell us where you land. Is it a classic or a beautiful, slow bore? Subscribe, leave a review, and send us a text message from the link at the top of the description. We want to hear from you! Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike Halloween Fest rolls on, and this week we're taking on the zombie apocalypse with World War Z, the 2013 blockbuster starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster. After kicking things off with Curry Barker's Obsession, we're keeping the Halloween Fest tradition going with our yearly zombie pick, following Shaun of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead. We start by setting the record straight on the online reaction to our Obsession clip, then dive into a movie we both enjoyed far more than we expected. World War Z has one of the messiest production stories we've ever covered. Damon Lindelof was brought in to rewrite the third act, a planned Russian finale was reworked, and Matthew Fox's role was cut down to almost nothing. We also get into the reported tension between Forster and Pitt, and the bidding war that landed the film at Plan B. We talk about how little of Max Brooks' novel, the oral history of the zombie wars, made it to the screen, and what we make of the fact that Brooks ended up enjoying the film anyway. Then we get to the movie itself. We break down the nonstop action that kicks in just minutes after the opening, the practical stunts and car crashes, the contortionists behind the zombie movement, and that wall-climbing sequence in Jerusalem. We also talk about the Tenth Man doctrine, the camouflage idea that saves the day, and the creepy Peter Capaldi scene in the WHO lab. Watching it post-COVID, the pandemic parallels land very differently than they did in 2013. We also dig into the surprisingly low IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores, how the film grossed over $500 million, the sequel news, the theatrical cut versus the unrated cut, and where Brad Pitt sits among the great movie stars. Plus, Dan's recommendation if you want another intense zombie ride: Train to Busan. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a rating and review wherever you listen, and catch the full video on our YouTube channel. There's plenty more Halloween Fest to come. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike Halloween Fest kicks off with Obsession, the 2026 horror breakout that has grossed over $500 million worldwide on a budget under a million dollars. We dig into how Curry Barker went from YouTube shorts to one of the biggest horror hits of all time, and whether the movie lives up to the hype. Curry and his comedy partner Cooper Tomlinson built a huge audience with their YouTube channel, That's a Bad Idea. A short film called The Chair got a producer's attention, Curry pitched the script he was already writing, and the project went on to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Focus Features landed it in a bidding war. We talk about the marketing too, including the One Wish Willow, the prop at the center of the story that fans could actually buy. We also break down the film's unusual box-office run, which kept growing in weeks three and four instead of falling off. Then there's the movie itself, and we don't fully agree. I'm a slasher fan and wanted more jump scares, while Mike leans toward psychological thrillers and was hooked for the first hour. We get into the tension-without-payoff approach, the over-the-top performance of the obsessed love interest, the moments that got laughs in theaters, and the dark, all-indoors look. We also share what we picked up from the commentary and featurette, including the Unreal Engine storyboarding, the Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror II" inspiration, and the breakaway glass shot that nearly didn't happen. Along the way, Mike shares stories from his days as a haunted attraction actor in Orlando, we talk about Rocky and the value of taking risks, and we look at where Obsession ranks among the highest-grossing horror films ever. If you enjoy the show, follow us wherever you listen and leave a rating or review. It helps more people find us. You can also watch the video version on our YouTube channel. More horror is coming all through Halloween Fest. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike Dan finally crosses a massive blind spot off his list in this Classic Films Dan Hasn't Seen Yet deep dive: Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, seen here as The Whole Bloody Affair, the rare combined cut stitching Volumes One and Two into the single epic Tarantino always intended. We dig into why it took over two decades to get this version cleared for release, the rights battle that held it up, and the extended anime sequence and restored footage that separate it from the theatrical cuts. Mike breaks down the film's mountain of homages to 1970s kung fu and Japanese cinema, the casting history that almost gave us Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Kurt Russell, or Mickey Rourke as Bill (and why Kevin Costner turning it down worked out great for Open Range fans), and the wild behind-the-scenes trivia, including Uma Thurman's injured stunt double who hid it to avoid getting cut from the film, and the real sword-and-baseball stunt that wasn't a visual effect at all. We talk Robert Richardson's cinematography, the late Sally Menke's editing, the RZA and Robert Rodriguez score, and Sonny Chiba's legendary dual role. Dan and Mike also get into the writing itself, arguing Tarantino's screenwriting doesn't get enough credit next to his directing, and land on the same verdict: this is an epic on the level of The Godfather, and an absolute must-see. Plus, a shoutout to The Church of Tarantino podcast, and a first look at what's coming for Halloween Fest on the Oh Brother Podcast. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike We're back with another streaming deep dive, and this time we're tackling The Runner, the Amazon Prime thriller starring Gal Gadot that dropped to the top of the charts on September 2nd. The premise sounds promising on paper: a lawyer out for a jog gets a phone call informing her that her son is being held hostage, and the only way to save him is to carry out a series of increasingly dangerous tasks dictated by a mysterious caller, played by Damian Lewis. Unfortunately, a strong hook doesn't save this one from falling apart almost immediately. We dig into why this film never gets off the ground, what it says about the current state of direct-to-streaming releases, and why Rotten Tomatoes and the ratings back up every complaint we have. We also spend some time on Gal Gadot's career arc — from Fast & Furious to Batman v Superman to Wonder Woman superstardom, and how she ended up here less than a decade after commanding eight-figure paydays. We speculate on what happened with her DCU exit and whether that's connected to where she's landed today. Plus, we touch on last night's Emmy wins, tease our upcoming Halloween Fest lineup, and get into what's got us excited for the horror season ahead. As always, we're not here to sugarcoat it — if you've got Prime and you're tempted by the "#1 movie" banner, we're telling you to save your hour and twenty-five minutes. Like and subscribe on YouTube, follow us on Instagram, and let us know what you think. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike We're back in a brand new studio (still under construction, but functional) to talk about Mayday, the straight-to-Apple TV+ action comedy from Maximum Effort, Ryan Reynolds' production company. Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein set the film in 1987 during the Cold War, with Reynolds playing a Navy pilot shot down over enemy territory and rescued by an ex-KGB agent played by a nearly unrecognizable Kenneth Branagh. We dig into why this film sat on the shelf since wrapping in 2024, whether it was ever meant for theaters, and how it leans hard into its 80s setting, right down to a running Bruce Springsteen needle drop we'd never heard used in a movie before. We also break down where the film loses us. It opens strong with a genuinely dramatic Behind Enemy Lines-style setup, then pivots into familiar Ryan Reynolds/Deadpool-style comedy that never fully commits to being either an action movie or a buddy comedy. We talk about the missed opportunity in Reynolds' relationship with his father (played by David Morris), tied to a Navy asbestos storyline that hits close to home for us personally, and how Branagh's KGB agent turns into a surprisingly John Wick-coded action hero, beard, stunt doubles, and all. Plus, we catch up after missing a week for maybe the first time in six years, talk about our move into the new podcast space, and share what we're watching, including The Audacity on Netflix, a Tires rewatch, and The Pit. Is Mayday worth your time? We land somewhere between "if you're bored" and "cautionary recommendation." Listen to find out where we land and why. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube @ohbpodcast, and find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, and wherever you listen. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike Glengarry Glen Ross turns 34 this year, and we're finally giving David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play its due on the show. James Foley's 1992 film adaptation brings together an absolutely stacked cast — Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, and Alan Arkin — for the story of four desperate real estate salesmen pitted against each other in a brutal sales contest. We dig into how this film actually came together, including the fascinating parallel between Pacino championing this project the same way Sean Penn championed Foley's At Close Range, and how Pacino personally scouted Kevin Spacey on Broadway for the role of Williamson. We also talk through the casting history of Shelley "The Machine" Levene, a role that nearly went in a very different direction before Jack Lemmon delivered one of the great performances of his career. We get into why the film's most famous scene — the one everyone quotes — wasn't even in Mamet's original play, and why we think the "sales" angle is honestly the least interesting theme once you dig into what this movie is really about. We also trace the play's legacy through its Broadway revivals, from Joe Mantegna's original Tony-winning run as Ricky Roma, through the 2015 revival that brought Pacino back to the stage alongside Bobby Cannavale, all the way to 2025's star-studded cast. Before we get into the film, we open with a story about a very ill-fated car-buying negotiation involving a local salesman, and we close things out with a confession about how we got worked over by a couple of very skilled salesmen on the streets of San Diego during Comic-Con. Fair warning: this one earns its language warning, but we'd argue it's essential viewing regardless. If you take one recommendation from us all year, make it this one. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike We're reviewing Netflix's The Last House, the sci-fi horror thriller starring Greta Lee and Wagner Moura as parents whose family gets mysteriously sealed inside their home with no way out. The premise is strong and the first act hooks us immediately, but a jarring five-year time jump sends the story spiraling into some of the weakest, most unsatisfying territory we've covered on the show. We dig into the film's abandoned plot threads, its unconvincing CGI creatures, the convenient "everyone's an engineer" problem-solving, and why comparisons to A Quiet Place don't do it any favors. We also talk through the film's IMDb Metascore and its rough Rotten Tomatoes numbers, and explain exactly why we can't recommend spending your two hours on this one. From there we pivot to a rundown of what's actually worth streaming right now. On Netflix, we're raving about Beef, WWE: Unreal, Tires, and Everyone Is Doing Great. On Apple TV+, we cover Your Friends and Neighbors, Widow's Bay, and Sugar starring Colin Farrell. We also flag a couple of shows we'd steer you away from. Plus, a fun tangent on A Quiet Place, film noir influences, and more of our usual brotherly banter. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike We finally sit down to unpack Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the fourth installment in Tom Holland's run as Peter Parker and the first Spidey film from director Destin Daniel Cretton. Picking up four years after No Way Home's spell erased Peter from the world's memory, this is a noticeably darker, more isolated take on the character — Aunt May is gone, his friendships with MJ and Ned are gone, and the arachnid side of his DNA is starting to take over. We dig into how that trauma-driven tone works, and where it doesn't. One of us walks away calling this the weakest of the Tom Holland Spider-Man films, and we're honest about why: a story that feels overcrowded with characters, some shaky CGI work on the Scorpion, and a villain problem that never quite resolves who we're actually supposed to be rooting against. We also talk through the returning cast — Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Mark Ruffalo, Florence Pugh — plus the newer additions, including Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle, Tramell Tillman's William Mesker, Naomi Watts voicing E.D.I.T.H., and a genuinely strong turn from Sadie Sink as Jean Grey that surprised us both. Along the way we get into the film's stunt work and practical martial arts sequences, the choice to make Peter's webs organic again as a nod to Tobey Maguire's era, and what it means that this film is now closing in on two billion dollars worldwide and threatening box office records held by Avengers: Endgame and Titanic. We also share (in maybe too much detail) the theater experience that colored one of our first viewings, because full transparency matters around here. Whether you loved Brand New Day or walked out with the same reservations we did, we want to hear it. And with Avengers: Doomsday looming and a fifth Spider-Man almost certainly on the way, we start speculating about where this saga goes next. If you're not already following along, you can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere else podcasts live, and subscribing to the YouTube channel helps a lot more than you'd think. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike We're back with part two of our San Diego Comic-Con recap, picking up where we left off on day two and carrying through to our final thoughts on the whole experience. This time we get into the chaos of Hall H, including a wristband standoff that turned into a two-hour, half-mile trek around the building just to get denied entry — twice. We also break down the panels that delivered and the ones that didn't: Lanterns surprised us with how much footage HBO was willing to show, the Spaceballs panel gave us a genuinely fun hour with Josh Gad, Rick Moranis, and Daphne Zuniga, and Collider's Showrunners on Showrunning brought out heavy hitters like Greg Daniels and Damon Lindelof. On the flip side, the Simpsons panel turned out to be one of the biggest letdowns of the weekend, with no voice cast in sight — though the one clip they did show us, imagining a world where Homer and Marge never met, ended up being a genuine highlight. We also talk about a memorable, unplanned panel with Ashley Eckstein, our In-N-Out Burger verdict after years without a real hamburger, and the strange logistics failures that plagued the entire convention, from the trolley system to a parking garage that seemed built for a fraction of the actual crowd. Along the way we cover some of our favorite cosplay of the trip, a touching moment with Sergeant Slaughter in the autograph line, and the small personal wins that made the trip worth it, including meeting Judith O'Dea and catching wind of the Johnny Depp Ebenezer Scrooge reveal that had the internet buzzing all week. We close things out with an honest, no-holds-barred recommendation on whether Comic-Con is actually worth attending, plus a look ahead at the box office moment we're in right now, with the Odyssey and Spider-Man both performing well and Avengers on the horizon. It's a candid, occasionally chaotic wrap-up of a trip that gave us plenty to talk about. Follow us on Instagram, and catch us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you listen. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike We're back from our first San Diego Comic-Con with press credentials, and this episode kicks off a two-part recap of the entire experience. Part one covers our arrival, the scramble to find the convention center on San Diego's trolley system, and the reality check that comes with picking up press badges for the first time. We also take a detour to Seaport Village for tacos and a beer with a view of the harbor, then head north to UC San Diego for a surprise highlight of the trip: Shredding the Multiverse, a concert reimagining television and film scores from shows like Cobra Kai, Spider-Man, and The Penguin with a full orchestra and rock energy. From there we walk through preview night, our first real taste of the exhibit hall, complete with two-hour lines, an ocean of vendors, and a candid discussion about what press credentials do and don't actually get you at a con this size. We get into a few Comic-Con-brain moments (yes, we coin the term), some sibling bickering about San Diego weather, and a genuinely strange arcade cabinet encounter that turns into its own little subplot. The back half of the episode dives into two of our favorite panels from day one. First, a look at the upcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, opening in Los Angeles this September, and why it's a celebration of storytelling and visual art far beyond just Star Wars. Then we sit in on Brad Bird's career retrospective panel, tracing his path from The Iron Giant and The Incredibles to Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and his surprising, nearly two-hundred-episode history with The Simpsons. Bird also previews his new animated sci-fi noir series Ray Gun and drops a small but exciting update on the status of Incredibles 3. It's an exhausting, funny, occasionally chaotic first day, and we haven't even gotten to Hall H yet. That's coming in part two, along with days two and three of the convention. Thanks for riding along with us on our first Comic-Con as press, sore feet and all. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike We're reviewing John Cassavetes' Opening Night (1977), starring Gena Rowlands, as part of our dive into the Criterion box set of five Cassavetes films. This is a filmmaker some call the father of independent cinema, and we get into why he had to finance his own work, act in other people's movies to bankroll his next project, and watch this one bomb so badly on release that the studio pulled it from theaters. We talk through the film's play-within-a-play structure, the way Cassavetes shoots actors slipping in and out of character backstage, and the ambiguity at the center of the story: is the young fan who dies early in the film a real ghost haunting Rowlands' character, or a figment of her imagination as she confronts getting older? We land in different places on that question, and we get into why Cassavetes never spells it out for the audience. We also spend some time on Rowlands herself, tracing one brother's first exposure to her through Gloria back in 1980 without even realizing Cassavetes directed it, and talking about how she and Cassavetes never won a competitive Oscar despite being nominated multiple times between them. Ben Gazzara, Joan Blondell, and a scene-stealing cameo from Peter Falk all come up, along with a tangent on Cassavetes' work with Kubrick-adjacent actors and comparisons to other directors who financed their own films outside the studio system. Before we get into the review, we also talk about our upcoming trip to San Diego Comic-Con, where we'll have press credentials for the first time. We're already deep into schedule chaos trying to figure out how to cover a five-day, eighty-plus-page event as first-timers, so expect a recap episode when we're back. If you've been meaning to start exploring Cassavetes and don't know where to begin, we make the case for Opening Night as an entry point, and let you know the whole five-film Criterion box set is currently half off. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike Rocky turns 50 this December, and Sylvester Stallone just turned 80 — so we're marking both with our very first Stallone review. A broke, unknown actor with bit parts in mob films turned down nearly $400,000 from the studio, wrote the script in three days, and sold his own dog to make the one movie he refused to let anyone else star in. We get into the guerrilla filmmaking behind it: a budget under a million dollars, a 28-day shoot, no permits, tarps hauled in to fake the Philadelphia skyline in New York, and a training montage stitched together from footage grabbed wherever they could get it. We talk about the producers mortgaging their homes to finish the film, the choreographers who walked off over how the fights were staged, and Stallone ultimately taking the choreography credit himself. We also cover the film's two Godfather connections through Talia Shire and Joe Spinell, the legacy of Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers, and Burt Young, and how Rocky beat out a stacked 1976 Best Picture field that included Taxi Driver, Network, and All the President's Men. Whether you've seen Rocky fifty times or somehow never seen it, we make the case for why it still holds up as one of the most complete films ever made. Come for the trivia, stay for the argument about whether this is truly a perfect movie. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram

Message Dan and Mike We saw Supergirl opening weekend and couldn't disagree more. Dan's defending it. Mike thinks it's one of the worst films he's seen in years. No fence-sitting — just a real debate about whether Craig Gillespie's DCU origin story actually works. We break down Milly Alcock's performance as Kara Zor-El, the galactic revenge story adapted from Tom King's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Jason Momoa's Lobo and what his presence actually adds (or doesn't), villain Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) and whether he lands, the late arrival of the suit, the Krypton lore that's already dividing DC fans, and what David Corenswet's Superman cameo contributes. We also get into the box office disappointment, the mixed critical reception, and whether any of that should change how you feel walking into the theater. Did the DCU get its Supergirl right? Let us know where you stand. Support the show Oh Brother Podcast: Support the Show! (Be The First to Listen with Early Access)Listen on all podcast platformsSubscribe on YouTubeFollow us on Instagram