Episodes

This week, for our third pink-themed film, we revisited the 1997 film Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, starring Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow. We talk female friendship, the power of tapping into your own uniqueness, the near-universal need to transform yourself for a reunion, and the lies we tell--both to ourselves and others--to feel impressive.

For our second pink-themed film, we beelined straight for the pinkest film of all time, Pretty in Pink, the 1986 brat pack classic starring Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, Jon Cryer, and, of course, MR JAMES SPADER. We also welcome our wonderful friend and special guest Heather MacKenzie to dive deep into topics like the effects of capitalism on love and its impact on depression, whether Duckie is able to overcome his sense of entitlement to Andi, and how Spader's villainous Steff is like a bea...

This week for episode 35, we welcome special guest and awesome friend Etta Goodridge to discuss the 2001 chick flick extraordinaire, Legally Blonde. We talk female empowerment, using your privilege for good, and how being true to yourself is the best way to get what you want out of life. This is our first of a month of pink-themed movies, so dress up in your own signature color (John's is orange and Georgia's is green) and give it a listen!

We wrap up our sword and sorcery month with episode 34, Willow, which was coincidentally released 34 years ago this month! In another bit of serendipity, the trailer for the new Willow TV show (that we were completely unaware of) came out this week, and it looks so fantastic that we're thrilled to hop on the hype train. We talk about the absolute perfection that is Warwick Davis, the birth of digital effects, and the many connections Willow has with other genre greats like Star Wars and Lord of ...

Week 3 of sword & sorcery movies is here, and this time we're traveling all the way back to ancient Greece for 1981's Clash of the Titans. We talk about petty god squabbles, Star Wars connections, adventure genre conventions, and Ray Harryhausen's wonderfully creative special effects.

For our second week of sword & sorcery films, we went with our vote for one of the best of all time, Conan the Barbarian! This John Milius classic was released 40 years (and one day) ago, and it put Arnold Schwarzenegger on the path to becoming one of the biggest action stars of all time. We discuss lots of behind-the-scenes trivia, the theme of freedom, and for our second week in a row, how James Earl Jones makes a near perfect villain, in spite of seeming like a pretty nice guy in real life.

This week, we're starting a series on sword and sorcery movies, one of our favorite genres, and for the first episode, we decided to get creative with our interpretation and finally take a bite out of the Star Wars franchise, exploring A New Hope as a classic sword and sorcery fantasy film with a sci-fi twist. Come with us to a galaxy far, far away to discuss knights (of the Jedi variety), a princess (who is no damsel in distress), and a dark wizard who wields the force and his red lightsaber wi...

This week we welcome a special guest, Kate Duffy, one of our dearest friends, to discuss her favorite comfort film, Moonstruck. It's totally serendipitous, since The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, a meta-film starring Nicolas Cage as a version of himself, came out this week as well, and we all love him awful, like Cher's wonderful Loretta in Moonstruck. We talk magical realism, Shanley screenplays, love as strong as a pizza pie to the face, and how much we all want to be a fantastic old gr...

This week for episode 29, we celebrate the 15th anniversary of Georgia's #1 favorite movie of all time, Edgar Wright's 2007 buddy cop/folk horror mashup masterpiece Hot Fuzz, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. We discuss Wright and Pegg's perfectly crafted screenplay and mastery of genre conventions, Frost's channeling of Chris Farley's comedy style, and Wright's detailed directing style, all of which make this a tremendously successful film.

This week, we're closing out our month-long series on musicals with an episode on Jesus Christ Superstar. We explore the film as the passion story from Judas's perspective beginning to end, the perfection of Carl Anderson, the career-defining performance of Ted Neeley, who has played Jesus for decades, and the relative merits of both the film soundtrack and the concept album. Note: this is definitely still a podcast episode about a fictional movie, not a theological/religious discussion. So you...

It's universally acclaimed as one of the best movie musicals of all time, and now it's a Comfort Films episode - #27, Singin' in the Rain! We talk about Gene Kelly's athleticism, Old Hollywood, and the transition from silent film to talkies. Put on your dancing shoes and join us!

In honor of John's birthday week, we discuss Streets of Fire, the 1984 Walter Hill film taglined "A rock & roll fable." This is our second in a series of four music-forward films, and we examine whether Streets of Fire can properly be called a musical, why it doesn't have a broader audience (and why it should), and the many reasons why John counts this film, which he estimates he's seen over a hundred times, as his #1 movie overall.

We're celebrating one of our all time favorite musician's birthdays this week with an episode on Rocketman, the 2019 Elton John musical biopic. We talk music, trauma, costumes, more trauma, and soulmate friendships. (Note that we did a lot more cursing than usual this time, so it's a headphones episode; we blame Elton John's parents.) This will be the first in a four-week series of music-forward movies, which allow us to combine our two top interests into one great conversation. Hope you'll joi...

Hey, are we a Shakespeare podcast now? Don't tempt Georgia!! We're back with a discussion of one of our favorite Shakespeare adaptations, Kenneth Branagh's 1993 Much Ado About Nothing. Tune in to hear our thoughts on how Shakespeare should be taught (irreverently, aloud, and in whatever accent you choose), Branagh's many smart choices, Shakespeare's infinite adaptability, and meaningfulness that transcends time and place.

Join us this week to talk about The Fisher King, a wonderful modern take on the Arthurian myth by director Terry Gilliam, a former member of Monty Python who knows his way around a holy grail tale. It's a beautiful, underrated movie about love, madness, grief, redemption, and friendship, with unforgettable performances from Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges.

Put on your utility belt and get ready for a new episode of Comfort Films! In anticipation of next week's release of The Batman, we went back to 1989 to revisit the genre-defining Tim Burton Batman, starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Join us for 93 minutes of comics, clowns, and camp as we discuss the movie that took Batman into the dark.

In this episode, we dip our toe into comic book movies and talk about our two favorites from the Marvel universe so far, Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2. We discuss the amazing soundtrack and visuals of the movies, as well as the important themes around family (which you knew Vin Diesel had to get in on, even if it's just by saying "I am Groot" in 783 different ways). We also talk about James Gunn's fantastic writing and direction and how he paddles around the same pool quite successfully in the...

This week for Valentine's Day, we celebrate the great and horrible things about love, with a conversation about one of our favorite movies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Join us for a chat about life's big questions, the psychology and persistence of memory, and why Elijah Wood went through a scumbag character period in the mid-aughts. You'll laugh, you'll cry, it's better than Cats.

In this episode, John and Georgia fully nerd out on Star Trek, discussing the Original Series episode "Space Seed," which introduced superhuman Khan Noonien Singh, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. They talk utopian futures, technological advances in space travel (and lack thereof), and no-win scenarios.

Join John and Georgia for episode 18 as they dive in to a rewatch of Daniel Craig's first outing as James Bond and discuss the evolution of his character over all five movies from Casino Royale to No Time to Die. Note: if you haven't seen No Time to Die, major spoilers abound, so please come back after you've watched it! Also, be sure to mosey on over to Instagram to vote in our James Bond Bracket polls to determine which movie out of the full list of 26 is the very best!

This one may be our favorite episode yet. For our final Rob Reiner ride we discuss the classic coming of age movie Stand By Me, gun-toting chain-smoking preteens, learning to process grief and loss, and those small moments that you don't realize changed your life until later. It's a good one, full of laughter, nostalgia, and feels, much like this great movie!

It's episode 3 of the Rob Reiner Run (now the Rob Reiner Rampage, since it feels more metal), and John & Georgia are discussing the movie that put mockumentaries on the map, This Is Spinal Tap, a fake rockumentary so real it fooled Ozzy Osbourne. Set up a tiny Stonehenge, find some normal-sized bread, and turn this one up to 11.

For Georgia's birthday, we discuss her number one comfort film of all time, The Princess Bride. (Eventually. After 15 minutes of digression into Macho Man Randy Savage, He-Man toy, and somehow, Samuel Beckett. But William Goldman, the author of both the book and screenplay of The Princess Bride is a master of digression, and we figured he'd be proud of our behavior mirroring.)

Happy New Year, comfort fans! John and Georgia ring in 2022 talking about arguably the best romantic comedy of all time, When Harry Met Sally..., starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. This is the first of a 5-movie Rob Reiner Run, AKA the Meathead Marathon. We talk about New Year's Day (Georgia's favorite holiday), whether men and women can be friends, and we absolutely DO NOT F*CK with Mr. Zero, under any circumstances.