KnockBack: Wave IV Topics Revealed (Get Your Questions/Comments/Memories In!)

Damn. Just came up with a great question for the Guilty Pleasure Movies, topic. Shit! Oh well.

Nate McKinney

Hi guyyss! For LOTR- How would you rank the books and the movies? Nolan trilogy- Dagan is “Rises” numero uno for you as well; Colin, why is TDKR superior to TDK? Saturday mornings- Where you guys fans of Batman TAS?

Cory Fowler

I have to say for me Lord of the Rings has such great memories I still remember seeing the Fellowship in theatre and truly being amazed at the special effects which at the time were industry changing especially in the case of Gollum. I also am a huge collector of Weta figures from LOTR they really make some great stuff and Richard Taylor from Weta is one of the nicest guys you can meet. Also the special features on the extended edition discs are truly extensive.

Eric S

Hope I'm not too late! The Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy - This trilogy has one of the best endings ever. The way Batman lets everyone close to him know that he made it out alive (especially Gordon, in the case that he fixed the bat symbol) is incredible and a great way to close the series. SNES - TMNT: Turtles in Time is an all time classic and one of my favorite 2 player games. What other simultaneous 2 player games were good at the time? Do any compare to TMNT? Return of the Jedi: This movie might have the best opening 30 minutes of all of Star Wars between the Rancor and Desert Skiff scenes. Do you guys think the movie would have been better with the original plans to set it on a planet with Wookiees instead of Ewoks?

Matt Kuryloski

It really is making it easy. Thanks, all!

Colin Moriarty

We're not prepared to do it. Wave V.

Colin Moriarty

Ahh, a change in plans. Favorite Calvin and Hobbes strip, first strip read (if you remember), and most profound advice from Watterson according to you two?

Jason Bolla

Super Nintendo: Best Christmas Present Ever. Full Stop. Also, memories of spending hours playing it in the electronics section of target when we couldn’t afford one. I’m sure my mom appreciated the free babysitting.

Isaac Cynova

Guilty Pleasure Movies: I feel this means that you enjoy movies that you know are objectively terrible. I have several of these, and it usually involves either movies of the Kung-Fu or Horror genres, or movies where characters I love are finally brought to life, such as the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat live action movies. I love seeing those characters finally acted out, and not just in my imagination. In a similar vein, I have seen the Suicide Squad movie multiple times, for that same reason. Margot Robbie is really fun to watch as Harley Quinn. I know, there must be something wrong with me.

Isaac Cynova

Return of the Jedi: Growing up I distinctly remember Jedi being my favorite of the Star Wars movies. As a young kid it had both the “mechs” of the second Star Wars movie (the AT-STs) and the epic space battle of the first, plus an epic good vs. evil clash in the Emperor’s throne room. I know now in geek culture that this movie is ranked as the least of the original Star Wars movies, but even years later I still hold it as being the most entertaining of the three throughout my formative years. Do you both follow the common geek ranking of the three original trilogy movies - V, IV, VI, or do you have your own personal ranking?

Isaac Cynova

Original comment disappeared, trying this one again, gents! Favorite Child Memories: My dad was the one who introduced me to video games, and many weekends were spent tackling whatever 8-bit challenge lay ahead of us. During one play session of TMNT on NES, I had fallen asleep on the couch. I awoke a short while later to my dad alternating between calling the underwater stage a "son of a bitch" , a "dickhead", and the timeless classic - "asshole". He went full Tarantino for a good three minutes before realizing I was awake again. Super Nintendo: If the NES introduced me to gaming and won my affection, the SNES was the console that solidified my love for the medium. It is still my favorite to this day, and is home to my all-time top three (Kirby's Dream Course, A Link To The Past, and Super Mario World). My question for you dudes is: what are your Five "Desert Island" games for the Super Nintendo? Christopher Nolan Trilogy: Nolan's Trilogy is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of comic book movies, and the Dark Knight Rises is an awesome film in its own right that had a Herculean task ahead of it in terms of following up the Dark Knight. My question for you guys: what members of Batman's Rogues Gallery would you have liked to see adapted in Nolan's grounded universe? Personally, I would have loved to see Guy Pearce take on The Riddler, and Stephen Graham (Al Capone from Boardwalk Empire) bring the cockney mob boss version of The Penguin to life.

Justin Matkowski

The Lord of the rings. What would you do with the one ring to rule them all? You guys are amazing and thankyou all for what you do, keep doing it, please.

Tyler

Return of the Jedi: I always remember watching return of the Jedi & getting a little sad at the end when all the characters gather for the final shot thinking I'm not ready to be done with them & starting the trilogy over again.

Joey Melone

Mad Men: In regard to the popular "anti-hero" character type in tv shows, where do you guys rank Don Draper? My top 5 are: 1. Tony Soprano (The Sopranos) 2. Jax Teller (Sons of Anarchy) 3. Don Draper (Mad Men) 4. Walter White (Breaking Bad) 5. Dexter Morgan (Dexter)

Ron Chastain

Gonna throw my other question here. SNES: What are some of the more obscure SNES games you love? I’ll always have fun memories of Lost Vikings, Super Batter Up, and the Super Star Wars games.

Adam Niksch

Lord of the Rings: I was the perfect age (14) to be introduced to LOTR when Fellowship was released in theaters in 2001, so no other series of films holds as much nostalgia for me as this trilogy. However, after not watching the trilogy for several years, I was pleasantly surprised to discover in a recent re-watch that it holds up amazingly well! Also, the last hour of ROTK might be the most emotional I've ever gotten while watching a movie, even though I had seen that movie countless times before!

Cole Bulas

Calvin and Hobbes: I grew up reading my older siblings collections and instantly fell in love with C&H, with no idea the larger lessons included by Watterson. Looking back on these comics, I'm always fascinated about the insights, observations and nuggets of wisdom he included in stories about a 6 year old and his Tiger best friend (Tigers will do anything for Tuna Sandwiche!).

John Ceccarelli

Saturday Mornings: A large part of my childhood saturday mornings was obviously watching cartoons on my living room wooden console tv. I grew up in the 90s, so basically anything on Fox Kids was my jam: shows like Batman TAS, animaniacs, Spider-man, tiny toons, X-men, gargoyles, and even those lost to time like Street Sharks, The Mighty Ducks, histeria etc. While the death of Saturday morning cartoons was inevitable with the eventual popularity of cable cartoon channels as well as the government mandate for educational programming, it is a shame as I feel like there was something special about only being able to see cartoons at certain times.

Favorite Childhood Memories: Although it was considered dangerous and technically trespassing, one of my favorite memories as a kid was walking on the train tracks in the woods by my house. It was so serene back there and it was a fun place to walk around with with my buddies. I always laugh when I see the Always Sunny episode where they throw rocks at trains cause we would do that all the time. Wondering if you guys had any places where you would go that you probably shouldn’t have been.

MeatSpin11

Return of the Jedi: The Emperor’s palace scenes are hands down my favorite in Star Wars. Here you have the last living Jedi Knight going against the two most evil beings in the galaxy. Such an iconic setting, would love to hear your guy’s take on it.

MeatSpin11

The Dark Knight - I can't think of another superhero movie that felt as "real" as Dark Knight. The setting, politics, characters, etc. definitely stuck with me after seeing it in the theater. I'd like to hear what your guys' thoughts are on this. Thanks.

Omar Rosa

The Dark Knight - What do you guys think about the theory that the Joker in The Dark Knight was an iraq war veteran or according to Patton Oswalt more specifically ex-military intelligence. Given his knowledge of explosives, firearms, strategy and interrogation techniques. There are no concrete facts coming from Chris Nolan to support this theory but it does make sense and it’s pretty damn interesting. I’m curious to know how Nolan feels about this.

Eric Wilson

Saturday Mornings: My brothers and I stumbled upon the Sci Fi channel anime on Saturday mornings and it blew our mind. Even edited, shows like Wicked City and Project A-Ko were like nothing else on TV. Did you experience anything like that, not knowing about a show or line of programming and just stumbling upon it one Saturday morning?

Isaac Cynova

Akira: I love art that makes me uncomfortable, like heavy metal music, and horror games like Bloodbourne, so when I saw Akira it was a perfect fit for me. Do either of you seek out art or experiences that make you uncomfortable? Was the first time seeing Akira an experience like that for either of you?

Isaac Cynova

Calvin and Hobbes: Easily the best comic strip in the history of comic strips and is truly a treasure

Tyson Williams

SNES/Super Famicom (Coz I'm from the Philippines and my mother bought it for me when she's still working in Japan) Heyyyyy guysssssss Let me start with the fact that Pokemon Yellow was my first JRPG. But I wasn't aware of that, I consider my first JRPG experience was a game called Silva Saga II (Yep, it's in Japanese). It was fascinating. I'm in pure joy whenever I managed to get a new party member and I can see his/her chibi sprite walking behind me. I was addicted to the gameplay, it's like Dragon Quest. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish it because I was stuck. I don't know where to go because it's in japanese. My question is, do you have any obscure game that you played on SNES? Do you have any experience playing a jrpg in a different language and how was it? Did you beat it?

Jhazterine Tayag

Guilty Pleasure Movie/Childhood Memories: Growing up my family owned a copy of The Dark Crystal on VHS. Despite being freaked out by the creepy animatronics, my sister and I would always watch this. I’ll never forget the nightmares I would have after watching it.

Sean Mason

SNES- Despite being born at the end of the console’s life cycle (1995) the Super Nintendo is my favorite console of all-time and home to some of my favorite games of all time. If you guys were to pick 5 essential SNES Games that every gamer had to play what would you pick and why? My five Super Mario World, A Link To The Past, FF III, Street Fighter 2 Turbo, and Super Metroid. With these games you get a game from the each essential genre of the console’s life.

Sean Mason

Lord of the Rings: While maybe it's just me and my circle of acquaintances, but I've always subscribed to the theory that "the book is better than the movie." I'm an English teacher, after all. However, when pressed to identify a film that tops its literary source material, The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the first that comes to mind, particularly true with The Two Towers. I enjoyed Fellowship as a novel very much, but once we get to Towers, I find Jackson's work to be much tighter than Tolkien's tomes without sacrificing character development, key details, or important themes. So I ask: How do you feel about the movies versus the novels? Thank you so much, Colin and Dagan, for a continually fantastic podcast, and I hope to see Symphony of the Night make it to a wave of KnockBacks in the future.

Zach Brown

These are are some great topics. Akira - I'd love to hear Dagan dive into how the animation/design of the movie influenced and others working in the industry today. Few films can compete with it on a visual level.

GentleFan

Re: Nolan Batman - how did you feel about Bane as the villain in the 3rd movie? Did you like the connection to the first part or would you have preferred a different bat-villain such as the Riddler? Lastly Keaton or Bale?

Mike Tse

MAD MEN- how do you feel about the way the show handled alcohol and how freely the men drank at work constantly?

Pedro Escobar

My guilty pleasure movie is Harriet The Spy. I am not sure why I like it but whenever I see it on I cannot help but watch it. The movie that introduced the world to Michelle Trachtenberg

Benjamin

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of my all time favourite trilogy of films. The Return of the King has a scene that always make me tear up and that is the "my friends, you bow to no one" scene and everyone bows to the hobbits. Even when I prepare myself for the scene I cannot help but tear up.

Benjamin

Guilty Pleasures: Why do you think we have to be made to feel guilty for enjoying the things we enjoy? Did these exist much prior to the internet giving us all a place to express our opinions?

Tyler

PLEASE NOTE! There has been an edit to the list. We're gonna punt on Castlevania: SotN for the time being, and instead throw into the mix Calvin & Hobbes. Thank you!

Colin Moriarty

The lord of the rings- these films stand out as my personal favorite films of all time ( with the two towers being my favorite of the three). Though I never grew up loving Star Wars, TLOTR trilogy came at a time I was looking for something to attach to. I was young at the time and had never considered myself a ‘fan’ of any particular entertainment property until these movies came out. It really helped me discover interest in different things especially what many would consider nerd culture and really helped me find myself. For many from my generation it is considered the ‘Star wars’ Of our generation. It even follows a similar trajectory with an underwhelming prequel series to go with it ( though I actually do quite enjoy the hobbit trilogy warts and all). I suppose my question is do you think it’s important in today’s world for younger folks to have an entertainment property to hold on to or rather ‘ something to call your own’ to help with identity as you get older?

Will Ellis

Mad Men: Mad Men's run was mainly while I was in grad school getting my MBA, and I always felt the show was really about the revolution of human resources as the workforce moved from just men - and military men more specifically - to a much different world. Fascinating show. SNES: Similar to Colin's love for the underrated Azure Dreams, any games that you loved that you just NEVER hear about anymore? For me, the niche one would be Lufia 2, and the wtf answer would be Aerobiz, which was a Sim where you ran your own airline. Castlevania: SOTN - Amazing game that didn't even hit my radar until I saw the PS Magazine where it was on the cover and reviewed (which I think was issue #2 of its run). Go back and look at that cover - it still mystifies me to this day why the artist drew Alucard to look like Elvis.

Phil Crone

Lord of the Rings: Is physical set and costume design in films a lost art? Even Peter Jackson’s own follow ups to the LOTR films gave in to dependence on CGI. Will we ever see something as visually stunning as the Lord of the Rings films again?

Joe Lawson

Return of the Jedi - I understand the goal was continuity between the prequels and the OT, but Hayden Christensen really has no business glowing blue and smiling alongside Alec Guinness and Yoda at the end of the film. Also, I miss Yub Nub. Wanted to share those thoughts and hear yours.

Paul Waltz

Mad Men - remember when they ride the John Deere around the office and the inevitable disaster that ensued? Roger Sterlings reaction to the aftermath made the entire episode gold. Or when Ida Blankenship died. So many small memorable moments in Mad Men akin to Sopranos (some of the same writing staff I believe).

ScKeptiC17

Favorite Childhood Memories - This question is for Dagan. As an older brother, what are some of your favorite memories specific to your younger siblings' childhoods? It might be something you directly participated in or something they shared with you.

Paul Waltz

Guilty Pleasure Movies: E.T., Amazing Spider-Man 2, Big Trouble in Little China, I Robot, Jingle All the Way, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine are ones that come to mind

Tyson Williams

Mad Men - Colin frequently mentions his visceral nostalgia for eras and time periods that he never lived, but feels a deep connection to regardless. My question for Colin: Does the show cause that same sense of longing to experience the late '60s and early '70s in New York (or to a lesser extent, California)?

Paul Waltz

I kinda disagree I’m 16 and I know exactly what you are talking about, sleepovers, N64, and pizza are staples when I was younger. Granted my experience is only anecdotal

Tyson Williams

Mad Men - how much was it real? How was the adv industry really during that time? Was the ending appropriate?

Piyush Athawale

Mad Men_

Piyush Athawale

Mad Men!!!!!!

Piyush Athawale

Too easy. Who can resist that cute blond girl Legolas

Return of the Jedi Question- After seeing the final installment did you believe there would be another? Also, what was the biggest question you had that wasn’t addressed in movie, and was it ever answered in the Expanded Universe?

Alex Ball

Childhood Memories: The freedom of summer adventures. Riding the bicycle, meeting friends, getting into trouble, exploring. All done without constant check ins with parents. It’s probably impossible to experience now.

Dan Kolber

Mad Men: Do you think Don Draper ended up positively changing his life after the existential crisis at the end of the series. Or do you think he inevitably fell into the same mindset/trappings ala Tony Soprano? I’d also love to hear your thoughts on the Lane Pryce suicide. For me it’s the story arch that’s stuck with me after all these years

Dan Kolber

Mad Men: One thing that always stuck with me while watching Mad Men was that it was like watching a slow moving train wreck. Don has everything to lose to start the show, a nice suburban house with two children and a beautiful wife. All while working on Madison Avenue. The American Dream. He is one of the best written characters in television history and brought to life perfectly by Jon Hamm. I am very curious about what you guys think about Don in particular.

Michael Lepre

I want to say I love that nearly everyone is typing the subject before the question, that has got to make it way easier when Colin scrolls through and grabs the ones they're going to use. This isn't a bad little group, huh?

Ian (616Entertainment)

Return Of The Jedi: Like many others, I was one of those who were disappointed in the direction they took Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi. I wanted to see a Force user who realized he needed a balance of the force, and that it wasn’t as simple as a good side and a bad side. And I based this off of the throne room scene in ROTJ. Luke only beat Vader because he gave into his feelings, and his anger made him powerful. I felt like this was super important, and set up such great potential for what else we could learn about the Force. Do you guys agree? What do you think about the Force now, since Disney took over? How would you retcon the things you didn’t like about Luke in The Last Jedi. Can the character be saved?

David Mann

Childhood memories - Did either of you have a friend that was the designated sleepover spot? I feel like every kid or group of friends had one...sleepovers were awesome. Pizza, 4 player Nintendo 64, and horror movie marathons...man kids today will never know. Our generation had it the best....

Jeremy Cochran

Favorite childhood memory was just anytime I got to do things with my dad. He coached me in little league, we played video games together, he would take me to the video store most weekends so I could rent NES games. He worked a ton, and as a father now I know how hard it was for him to make that time for everything he did, so those memories mean even more in hindsight

Bryan Finck

The Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy is probably the most solid Superhero Trilogy ever, if not the best Movie trilogy. This year is the 10th anniversary of The Dark Knight, and my family rented out a movie theater to watch it in that experience again for it's anniversary. Obviously Colin's favorite villain is Bane, and his favorite movie in the trilogy is The Dark Knight Rises, but what about Dagan?

Jon Barnett

Now I’m going to binge Madmen. This gives me a reason to finally buckle down and give it a chance.

Brett Medlock

Return of the Jedi: If you had to construct your own lightsaber what model and color would you choose?

Richard Hernandez

Favorite Childhood Memories: I was young when Mortal Kombat came and the big controversy around it only made me more interested. Scorpion was my favorite character so I would take kitchen rags that were yellow and have my mom tie it around my face and I’d act like the iconic ninja. Do you guys ever imitate your favorite game characters as a kid?

Tyler

Madmen: what was your favourite season of madmen? And why?

domenic squadrito

Madmen ❤️❤️

domenic squadrito

Favourite childhood memories: what fictional universes did you pretend was in your backyard? LOTR and Star Wars definitely comes to mind

Daniel Schiffer

LOTR: Whats your stance on the "why didn't Gandalf just get the eagles to drop the rings in to start with?" supposed plot hole. Though a fully garrisoned orc army with bows....

Daniel Schiffer

Favorite Childhood Memories: I remember loving Halloween the most b/c of the weather with the wind blowing the differing shades of leaves off the trees, and all the excitement of pretending to be a superhero while getting more candy than u could ever attempt to eat. The Halloween theme was everywhere too - in tv shows, classrooms, stores. It just felt like everybody was more connected than today. What experience made u feel like u were part of a bigger family/connected to a nicer world?

Not Sure

I studied archaeology and history while in college. For me, GUILTY PLEASURE FILMS generally refer to films that I adore, despite their historical and cultural inaccuracies... stuff like Shanghai Noon and even Dances With Wolves. Do either of you two have films you appreciate in a similar way?

Everyday Patrick

SNES: I remember me and my buddies blowing into the end of game cartridges when they didn't work 😂 come to think of it this also applied to PlayStation memory cards too 🤣 I'm not sure if doing this actually done anything other than possibly blow nice bits of spit into the cartridge (most likely it was the re-seating of the contact pads done the trick) 🙄 Have you guys ever heard of or performed this gamer magic??

Tony Colton

On the Dark Knight Trilogy: How do you guys think the DC film universe looks right now if Nolan never stepped away? Do you think he could’ve introduced a more tame, slightly more believably version of Superman?

Ian (616Entertainment)

Super Nintendo- It could be argued that the Super Nintendo has the greatest lineup of RPGs on any console. Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy II(IV), Final Fantasy III(VI), Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, etc, are a few of the most famous games. Do you guys think it has the best lineup? It's really close for me but PS1 is also a very strong contender.

strawhatninja

Return of the Jedi: Does the inclusion of the ewoks keep return of the jedi from being the best Star Wars film? Personally I think the first half of Return of the Jedi would make it the best movie in the series, however I didn't enjoy the second half as much partly because I don't really like the ewoks and this leads to me saying I think the Empire Strikes back is the best movie in the series.

strawhatninja

Saturday Mornings: What were some of your favorite cartoons to watch on Saturday morning? I enjoyed blocks like 4kids and One Saturday Morning.

strawhatninja

Favorite Childhood Memories: What are some things that you experienced as a child that kids today will never understand?

strawhatninja

Lord of the Rings- Who is your favorite and least favorite member of the fellowship?

strawhatninja

Who is the more memorable villain? Tom Hardy’s Bane or Heath Ledger’s Joker?

Akira and Blade Runner are two films have a lot in common for me. Both are “futuristic” in terms of setting and having stunning artwork/visuals. In my opinion, they both have rambling/convoluted/overly drawn out stories as well. For both movies, my adoration almost completely comes from the worlds they depict rather than the stories they tell. Do you guys feel similarly, or is it just me?

Everyday Patrick

Is my young age (23 yo) the reason I did not find Akira to be very good/enjoyable? The art and world-building were fun, but ultimately, the characters were mostly unlikeable and the plot felt incoherent (obviously my opinion). Sorry for shitting on anyone's fondness of the film

Alec Budge

what about Back to the Future?

Morten Madsen

I still enjoy the occasional bowl of Lucky Charms!

Alex Castellanos

You, Ian, are my spirit animal!

Alex Castellanos

Childhood memories: I’m only 16, been following Colin, his ventures and his colleagues since maybe 2013. Although I’m still technically a child I do have fond memories of when I was much younger. A lot of the ones I look back on are me and my older brother and me and my older sister. My brother at some point in high school became like a recluse from us and he has some very bad anxiety and depression issues, which I can relate but I don’t have it as bad as him. So since I was in sixth grade he would spend all day in his room playing on his super gaming pc. Before that we would have our bickering and stuff but we would still play games together, do everything together pretty much. I remember specifically I would wake him up at 6:00am so that I could watch him play Ocarina of Time and I’d ask him about all kinds of stuff and what he was doing or the lore. We would play Pikmin, smash bros, mariokart, animal crossing, crash bandicoot, Spyro, Super MonkeyBall, Mario 64, any and all Legend of Zeldas. He ordered a Gameboy Advance on EBay once and so we both walked to the mailbox I didn’t know what he had gotten yet but he was excited so I was intrigued, so he opened it and I thought the GBA was so cool especially because it was the translucent white version. Most of my fondest memories with my brother were my fondest memories of playing games as a kid, and he still is into games but now he has a PC gamer superiority complex, he seriously won’t touch or think about PlayStation and he plays like four games and I have a more eclectic taste and he doesn’t like talking to me so we don’t really connect like that anymore.

Tyson Williams

Hi Guys, what are your thoughts on the upcoming Lord of the Rings series that has been announced for Amazon Prime?

Brandon Hardman

Jedi - Do you think the movie could have been better than even Empire if they’d gone with more of the ideas from the original script? Namely, having an even more epic space battle without a 2nd Death Star, going to Kashyyyk instead of Endor, and Han dying at the end of this movie rather than TFA. I’ve always been curious about how we’d feel if they’d gone this route instead. Still a great movie though.

Adam Niksch

Saturday Mornings: Were definitely for cartoons, but also chores. Summer it was yard work, winter inside cleaning. The deal was we couldn’t go out or play until we cleaned 2 rooms(other than our bedrooms). I would try get up early and pick the 2 smallest rooms; the downstairs bathroom and my dads office. Then I would listen as my brothers and sisters complained about cleaning the kitchen or living room.

Anton Kaye

Castlevania: I managed to pick this up unopened at a Blockbuster years ago for $5 when the PS2 was taking over. I honestly didn't know much about it but loved the Castlevania series and was blown away by everything in it. What was your guys' reaction to the twist for the first time? I feel like I beat the game without it flipping, then watched my brother beat it and it blew my mind.

Jason Bolla

SuperNintendo: I never could get into rpgs before the SNES. Super Mario RPG cracked the door open, then Chrono Trigger kicked the damn door down. From then I was hooked, Secret of Mana, FF3, Illusion of Gaia. Is the SNES responsible for your love of any genre or series?

Anton Kaye

Symphony of the Night... awwwww yeeeeeah 😏

Marc Boggio

My favorite childhood memory is every summer riding bikes, meeting up with our friends playing baseball, football, etc. My mom and dad would whistle when it was time to come home for dinner. It was super loud; he put his two fingers in his mouth to get it audible 4 blocks away.. Heaven help us if we didn’t hear the whistle, we would be grounded to our own yard for 2 days(but that didn’t matter because our friends would just come over and play in our yard).

Anton Kaye

This is a great set. Akira: what's Dagan's favorite part of the film, and what is his favorite portion of animation within it? Batman: It's time to go mobile. Favorite quotes from each of the trilogy?

Jason Bolla

Childhood- I remember in the 80's, Nintendo had set up demo kiosks in all our malls. The kiosks had around 10 tvs, all connected to different NES' where you could sample and even buy any game. They were manned by some poor college kid who was there to switch out any game you wanted to demo. But they inevitably ended up being glorified childcare care stations with kids complaining other kids were taking to long lol. Did you guys have these?

Jeshua Anderson

Akira: Were there ever talks to do a series or prequel to the movie? After watching the movie, I was all over the manga, I loved it. I always wanted to see the entire story animated.

Anton Kaye

Jedi- Did noone catch that the ewoks almost assuradly ate the storm troopers whoms helmets they used for drums ate the end of the movie?

Jeshua Anderson

SotN: “10s” are given to games with the caveat that they are not perfect. I truly believe that SotN is as close to “perfection” that has ever been released for a video game. Are there any glaring weaknesses or imperfections that stand out to you? Mine would be difficulty, as I don’t think it presents much of a challenge. I’ve heard others say voice acting, but I really think it adds to its charm.

Anton Kaye

ROTJ: How great is that final space battle and Death Star run, not to mention the score, Into the Trap etc.?(Plus another return for our boy Wedge Antilles) How difficult must it have been to compile the layered footage of all the ships and interactions for that scene and edit them into the (reasonably) fluid final sequence. I maintain this was the most impressive space battle on film, at least until Rogue One’s ending. What do you think? I also love how much different Luke is in body language, etc. It greatly illustrates Luke’s dynamic arc and Mark Hamill’s ability to play a cool, dark character.

Blair Sutton

On Saturday mornings I would set my VCR to record the morning cartoon line up. It was tricky because if I remember right, I could only record one channel at one time with the cable I had. I rolled the dice after each new season started. In looking back on what you and Dagan watched, in different decades, what do you remember as your perfect lineup of cartoons on Saturday mornings?

Saturday mornings. Hey guys, love knock back! What was your go to breakfast cereal? I was always after that leprechaun’s Lucky Charms.

Eric Clyde

Saturday- To this day, i don't think I have forgiven the networks for doing away with Saturday morning cartoons. I even remember the order in which they stopped; CBS, NBC, ABC and finally FOX. As a kid I blamed CBS for starting it (stupid old peoples channel) lol! But i really feel like all the kids that came after us have miseed out on something that was truly special. Can they even understand half of family guys jokes?

Jeshua Anderson

Lord of the Rings: Some of my favorite memories of middle school were Lord of the Rings marathons with my friends. We would start watching all the extended edition DVDs in the evening and see who would fall asleep first. They would be endlessly ridiculed the next morning

Hey Colin! Great list of topics, I'm really looking forward to this season. I have a few thoughts/questions for your consideration! For LOTR, something that I believe gets missed in discussion is Tolkien's life and specifically his time in France during The Great War. Tolkien wasn't sent over from England until late in the conflict, and at Somme he contracted Trench Fever, was invalided, and sent back to England. While he was in English hospitals, pretty much his entire battalion (and most of his closest friends) died. My first question is: do you think that his experiences in the war and his potential survivors guilt affected the Lord of the Rings? LOTR is the story of a war to end all wars, and the melancholy with which it is portrayed, I believe, mirrors his time in the war to end all wars. What are your and Dagan's thoughts? Also: what do you make of Tolkien's writing style? His inspiration for LOTR and the associated works were largely ancient texts and epics. The main trilogy is written in this style, and as a result I consider his prose to be somewhat stiff. When comparing him to other great novelists in modern time, do you think his prose stands up? Or is it the worldbuilding that truly shines in LOTR? Question number two is for the Akira episode. The movie is based on a manga series, and actually the author of the manga also served as the director of the movie. The movie is essentially the first half of the first volume, and the second half of the last volume, with a second act that tries to link the two together. The result for first time viewers unfamiliar with the manga is a convoluted third act that escalates extremely quickly and only touches on ideas that the manga expands on in great detail. Don't get me wrong, Akira is an incredible movie, but I watched the film before reading the manga and the ending confused the shit out of me. After reading the source material and many, many repeat viewings, I have grown to regard it as a masterpiece. My question is this: should an adaptation require so much investment on the part of the viewer for it to even make sense (multiple viewings and reading the source material), and is this a knock against the movie? Thank you guys so much for your work and for considering my questions for the show. You guys rule.

Favorite Childhood Memories Question- Because of the big age gap between you two and the rest of your siblings, did you ever have a giant family vacation with everyone when you guys were younger? When Colin was younger I should say since he’s youngest?

Alex Ball

Deep dive bonus question: Have either of you read The Silmarillion? Would love to hear your thoughts on it. The harrowing, hopeless story of Túrin Turambar is the most fascinating tale in Middle-earth, for me.

Keith Farrell

Return of the Jedi: Do you guys wish this movie kept the more “darker” tone that was in Empire? Or did you prefer the balance of fun (Ewoks) and grim (Luke’s journey)? I’ve always wanted Star Wars to be a bit more grim. So Return of the Jedi has great moments for me but isn’t my favorite outta the OG trilogy. Also, I think Rogue One came as close as Disney will let them, in terms of being “dark”. -Thanks!

Tyler

SNES- The SNES will always be a special console to me and i think to many Seattlites. At around the time of its realease The Mariners were at high risk of being moved to Tampa Bay. Nintendo, as a thank you to the Northwest for being so supportive of the company, bought the Mariners and kept them in Seattle. Not long after they came out with, to me, one of the best ever baseball games; Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball. Thank you all you've done for us here Nintendo. P.S. sorry for being such a terrible game tester years later. I was young.

Jeshua Anderson

LOTR Question- If you could be any of the characters, who would you choose and why?

Alex Ball

I will never forget going to the theater with my grandpa, and brother when I was 10 years old seeing Batman Begins. At that day and age I was privileged to be young at the dawn of what we're used to now in the Superhero genre. I will never forget the feeling I had seeing what would be the resurgence of Batman and one of the greatest trilogies of all time. It even peaked my grandpa's interests and he eye rolls everything.

Marcus Brown

Dark Knight Trilogy Question- If you could have picked any other villains to be in the movies, who would they be and who would you cast in the roles?

Alex Ball

Was the third film supposed to include The Joker? Never even thought about that possibility... damn. RIP

Keith Farrell

Alright shaggers, Super excited to see the lord of the rings topic. My mum was the one who turned me on to the books, though she thought they were too advanced for little old 8 year old me and confidently offered me £100 if I could read even the first chapter... I can’t recall what I spent that £100 on but I do remember it was more money that I could comprehend back then (circa 2001) LOL. Quick question. I am obviously biased but even acknowledging that, i honestly think the film trilogy sit among the great films of all time - is that just fanboy talk or is here some merit to it? Cheers lads, love your work!

Keith Farrell

Mad Men: why do people cheer for Draper and yet root against Campbell?

Quinn

Also, how absolutely disturbing are certain scenes in Akira? Seeing it for the first time, on late night TV at 11yrs, the biggest standouts were the violently disturbing depictions of how fragile humans are and how beautifully light was drawn and depicted.

Quinn

I believe that the Christopher Nolan Batman movies are the best super hero movies ever made. One of my favorite scenes is of course when Batman first rides the bat pod in The Dark Knight when the Tumbler explodes. That scene is absolutely badass and is one of the best action set pieces in any super hero movie (in my opinion, of course). What are some of your guys’ favorite moments, whether big or small, from the trilogy? Also, Colin, please do your Bane voice! It’s hilarious!

Will Hahn

Nolan Trilogy: Can we have an honest discussion on whether Bale or Keaton was the best Batman? And before you get all "Bale! Obviously!" on me, lemmie say *growl*"PRAY TO MEEEEEE!!!"*un-growl*

Jeshua Anderson

For the Mad Men episode: What are your guys thoughts on the infamous lawnmower scene?

Jon Cordeiro

On Super Nintendo: What is the worst way to audibly identify the console? Personally, “Sness” makes me want to kill someone, and “Super Ness” makes me want to kill myself. “Super Nintendo” and “Super NES” are fine, let’s keep it that way. Colin, run for office and make it a law. Enough of this.

Ian (616Entertainment)

Some good looking stuff there boys. In relation to Mad Men: it always shocks me how amazing of a job and actor Jon Hamm is in this show and I find it weird he's not a mega star in Hollywood. He's starting to appear in more stuff and was fantastic in Baby Driver what's your take on this? Was the role of Don Draper just perfect for him? I'd be remiss also not to mention the batman Trilogy as they're my favorite movies of all time (specifically the dark knight) so my question is if you could have a Nolan take on any villain what would it be? For me I always wanted to see what he could do with Mr.Freeze as I think he's a fascinating character. Thanks guys keep up the great work!

Addiholic

On Super Nintendo: I often find myself thinking abut how my life would be different if my brother and I had gotten a Super Nintendo rather than a Sega Genesis when we were kids. What if I’d played Final Fantasy VI and Castlevania IV over and over, rather than fucking Comix Zone and WWF Royal Rumble? Who would I be today? What paths would those different interests have lead me down? Do you guys ever think about this?

Ian (616Entertainment)

Batman Trilogy: before Heath Ledger's untimely passing, what was the best/possibly planned outcome for the Joker's arc going into the 3rd movie?

Quinn