A Little Snack

They did it again. Enjoy, folks! Discussed: A Bear Trap-flavored episode of the Never Heard of It podcast and why it (and the whole podcast, really) is worth checking out, the rolling Trump terror-show, Bear Trap's Nostradamus-level prediction comes true, what happens after election day 2016 regardless of the outcome, how the GOP can move away from being, as David Brooks puts it, an "all-white party", the odds of the House impeaching Hillary in Jan 2017, Apple News and the possible update of the famed Mac "tower", Apple-made chips, Apple-made cars, self-driving cars, Monolith's contacts in government, Stranger Things and why it's good (Monolith) and why it's great (Bear Trap), a new and excellent Word of the Week with an atypical outcome, a note about our esteemed Little Snack filmmaking members, Monolith revisits The Fly, a brief word about Suicide Squad, a Monolith Moment about a classic film from the 80s returning briefly to the theaters, and many many other things. (Runtime: it's a long one.) Show #106

Happy New Year, loyal and long-suffering listeners! On Tuesday night, Monolith and Bear Trap recorded a new episode and, apparently, the only things that happened in 2015 worthy of comment were the release of Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens and Marvel's Jessica Jones on Netflix. So for almost two hours, that's what they talk about. The Star Wars chit-chat is the first hour and a half, the rest is Jessica Jones. Be aware, SPOILERS abound, so if you haven't seen these but plan to in the near future, you might want to save this one for after. Enjoy! Discussed: Monolith ranks Mad Max: Fury Road among the best films of the year (find out what rank he gives it!), the aesthetic difference between 'Mad Max' and 'The Force Awakens', Jedi Priests versus Jedi Knights, why in hell Kylo Ren wore the mask, Bear Trap rants about the criminal incompetence of the Alliance in 'The Force Awakens', Monolith takes us on a weirdly fascinating journey through the Star Wars saga to track the whereabouts of the characters' various light sabers, the pitiable fate of Han Solo, the relative worth of David Tennant as an actor, Jessica Jones' likability, and the horror of Kilgrave's diabolical abilities. Hope you like it! Show #105

If the late-summer doldrums have got you down, intensify your depression and listen to the latest episode of 'A Little Snack!' Enjoy! Discussed: Monolith and Bear Trap catch everyone up on the latest baby news, Apple News!, new iPad Pro, '3D touch' and what it might mean for the olds, the movies Paul Rudd was good in, a very learned Word of the Week, Netflix's 'Wet Hot American Summer' and a slow person's understanding of the show's "central joke", thoughts on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert', the prospect of a Trump presidency brings out the alarmist in Bear Trap and the fatalist in Monolith, why 'Downton Abbey' is so enjoyable, a moving and memorably maternal Monolith Moment, 'Black Mirror', and a shout-out to 'A Little Snack's' sister podcast, 'Never Heard of It'. Its praises are sung. And a bunch of other listen-y stuff. Show #104

What?! They're still doing this? Unfortunately for you, the answer is yes. Yes they are. Monolith and the Trap usher in the new year with a brand new podcast after a long baby-induced hiatus. (Thanks, Beatrice!) In this episode your trusty Snackers talk exclusively about recent films. Well, almost exclusively. Enjoy it. EDITOR'S NOTE: Just to ensure no one listens to this, all 5 movies discussed deal in SPOILERS. Except Planet of the Apes. I think they got through that one without ruining anything. But if you've seen all of these, you're golden! Discussed: Interstellar, Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Gone Girl, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the importance of likability in movies, a brand new Word of the Week, and then Monolith's favorite movie of 2014. Show 103

Too much happened in the world last week for these two intellectual heavyweights to sit idly by and say nothing. This episode is a chronicling of their discussion. These two hours are their gift to you. Discussed: Apple's big 2014 announcement, iPhone6+, the Apple Watch, the iOS 8 download to watch for, Scotland's possible break with the UK, thoughts on the new Batmobile, CW's 'The Arrow' and its scandalous non-appearance on Netflix, a Word of the Week you'd enjoy if you were more cultured, the Ebola epidemic in Liberia and how it's really nothing to worry about, ISIS, beheadings and two dumb guys' understanding of Islam, the second season of Showtime's 'Masters of Sex', and an in-depth, spoileriffic discussion of Darren Aronofsky's 'Noah'. Show #102

Discussed: Monolith and the fam's visit to Disneyland and the possibility that Monolith and the fam may not have actually gone to Disneyland, an accidental home invasion at Mickey Mouse's house, the death of Robin Williams, George Takei, 'A Most Wanted Man's odd lack of incident, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bear Trap's discovery of Tom Waits, 'Noah', 'Captain America 2: Winter Soldier', a very special tweet from Bryan Fuller in which two worlds collide (Bear Trap's fanboy mind explodes), differences between the podcasters about Emmy-winner 'Breaking Bad's final season, a Game of Thrones-themed Word of the Week, a thought on George RR Martin's feelings about the show advancing beyond his books, the 30th anniversary re-release of 'Ghostbusters', and the thing they just don't talk about. A bit more than an hour. They thought you deserved a reprieve after the last epic-sized episode. Enjoy! Show #101

The milestone has been reached. Monolith and Bear Trap have now officially stolen more than 100 hours of your precious lives with their uninformed talky talk. So to commemorate this occasion, they have 1) recorded the episode just ONE WEEK after the previous one, and 2) invited long-time listener and friend of the show Heath to join in and contribute his own blatherings for this episode of a Little Snack. It's a long one, but at this point what's another 2 and a half hours going to hurt? Enjoy! And thanks for listening! These dopes do this for you! Discussed: 'Wolf of Wall Street', Margot Robbie, the new Spider-Man films, best U.S. presidents of the last 50 years, NSA spying, HBO's 'Silicon Valley', Weird Al's new album, Bear Trap's doomed late-80s foray into the private detective business, Monolith's rapid aging and its effect on his with-it-ness (hint: it's been detrimental), statists, auto bailouts, demagoguery, banking coups, inflation, 'Better Call Saul', Ubisoft's 'Watch Dogs' for the PS4, 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes', intermittent episodes of fake snoring, a brief and unexpected cameo by yet another listener, a Word of the Week segment of questionable value brought to you by none other than Heath, and then there's what Heath's been working on these days. And other stuff. There's a lot of podcast here. Should probably get started. Show #100

This is a monthly show now, right? It seems like it's a monthly show. Anyway, welcome back, long suffering fans of the Snack! A lot of stuff has gone down since the 'Lith and the Trap did their last show on June 4th, and do they ever discuss the hell out of it on this podcast. More than two hours! I might even skip this one myself, EXCEPT! for an earth-shaking announcement you will only hear in this episode of a Little Snack. It happens right in the middle of the episode and you know these guys do not do chapter marks, so you're just going to have to sit through it. And there's a lot of in-podcast Googling in this one, too. (Really though, it's long but it's not bad.) Enjoy! Discussed: 'The Wolf of Wall Street', 'Edge of Tomorrow', the new 'Gone Girl' trailer, cinematographers and David Fincher, the Medea-sized twist we can expect at the end of that film based on Tyler Perry's participation, 'Starship Troopers' the book versus the movie, 'Stranger in a Strange Land', what it means to 'grok', 'The Leftovers' episode 1 is reviewed, 'Fargo' the TV series, what's happened to our summer movies, big announcement, a Word of the Week that's kinda fugazi, Siri's new "capability", 'House of Cards' season 2 (spoilers), and season 4 of 'Game of Thrones' (many a spoiler). Show #99

In this the most current installment of the podcast entitled 'A Little Snack', the one known as Monolith and the other known as Bear Trap share their thoughts and opinions on cultural ephemera. Discussed: Richard Dawkins, the religion most hostile to the theory of evolution, a brief review of the companion novel to 'Ender's Game' entitled 'Ender's Shadow', the long-awaited return of Apple News, Apple's $3B purchase of Beats, Beats' shady origins and poor reputation, new Apple OSs announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference, Monolith revisits Netflix's 'Derek' and takes Mrs. Monolith along for the ride, Bear Trap talks about his recent plunge into low-budget avant garde filmmaking with reviews of 'Godzilla' and 'X-Men: Days of Future Past', the prospects for 'Edge of Tomorrow' based on its latest TV spots, one way Bear Trap thinks he can sell this Tom Cruise movie to his Tom Cruise-hating wife, thoughts on Damon Lindelof, HBO's upcoming new show "The Leftovers', the next book Monolith plans to listen to, a Word of the Week that can be exchanged for goods or services, a business-y Monolith Moment that ends with a quote from an unexpected source, and a whole lot of Thrones-chat. With a running time close to two hours, you should probably get comfortable for this one. Click play and have fun, you guys. Show #98

In the pre-show discussion, or the "topic roundup" as Monolith always calls it, was not going well. Bear Trap was sure number 97 was going to be a bum episode: lots of ums and ahs and dead air and stone-faced listeners reaching for the pause button. But Monolith disagreed. He thought the chattin' would, like Ian Malcolm says about life in 'Jurassic Park", "find a way". As it turned out, Monolith was right. Click the play button on this episode of A Little Snack and feast your earholes on a wide-ranging talky-talk about many a thing some listeners may find diverting. Some may still reach for those pause buttons. Enjoy, friends! Discussed: Hollywood's creative bankruptcy, China's new primacy in studio decision-making, the recently announced reboots of 'The Flintstones' and 'Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers' and what these errors mean for the film industry, Stephen Colbert's move to CBS, Craig Ferguson's next move and the reasons behind it, the art of beatbox and its best practitioner, Pharrell and Cee-Lo's versions of "Happy" and how that part of the business works (hint: the podcasters have no idea), a discussion on comedy referencing Louis CK, Jim Gaffigan, Steven Wright, Mitch Hedberg, and Ellen Degeneres, whose material only "technically" qualifies as comedy, the correctOR becomes the correctED in a lovely bit of turnabout, a triply surprising Word of the Week segment which Monolith crushes, a crazy thing happens to Monolith on the subject of Star Wars in the Monolith Moment thanks to Bear Trap, and a discussion of episode 5 of Game of Thrones to close out the episode. Show #97

It was supposed to be a short one. Less than an hour. There was even talk of breaking their record for shortest episode ever. The worry was the energy was too low to sustain an entire Little Snack-length podcast so they actually added a disclaimer to say this was going to be a "short one". But the energy went up, and the time went on, and it went on, and it went on some more. So prepare yourselves for two hours of the usual mumblecore podcasting. Discussed: Sheryl Sandburg attempts to remove a word from the English language, Ivan Reitman gives up the director's chair for a new 'Ghostbusters' movie, a WoW you're going to start seeing everywhere, a WoW pop quiz, the missing Malaysian Air flight and why we care, Monolith's Village/Island theory, atheism vs "post-atheism", what's good about religion, how Bible stories stack up against the stories told in the annals of astrophysics, a detailed discussion about the new "Common Core" education standards for English and History, the various levels of Batman-fandom, and a bunch of other stuff in a wide-ranging and, at times, fairly unstructured podcast. Enjoy, friends! Show #95

Even though the Little Snack is only available via a kind of Dropbox purgatory at the moment, (thanks iTunes!) MonoTrap (BearLith?) recorded another episode anyway. This is that episode. Discussed: Two wildly differing (and SPOILER-filled) opinions on the Oscar non-contender from last year, 'Finding Mr. Banks', some comments regarding a forgotten Jared Leto film entitled 'Mr. Nobody', the 'TMNT' reboot and some thoughts on the original film, the latest 'Captain America' movie, a frightening Word of the Week from an unexpected source, and a mind-blowing Monolith Moment that's also not a Monolith Moment. And, finally, the episode closes out with a discussion of Game of Thrones Season Four premiere. Spoilers abound so this section is only for those who've watched. Enjoy!  Show #96

In this week's episode of A Little Snack, Monolith and Bear Trap get real and rap about the meaning of life and our place in the universe. Is there a purpose to this existence? They ask and answer that question, and others even more consequential, definitively. And they also laugh at that fat joke Obama made about Zach Galifianakis. Discussed: The Seth MacFarlane-produced "Cosmos", Monolith's religion, memories of Carl Sagan, a momentous meeting in Santa Fe between the author of 'Song of Ice and Fire' and the men adapting his work for television, a second chance for Mel Gibson, a simple WoW, the president's important moment spent between two ferns, a re-watching of the second installment of the Adventures of Katniss, a ratings decline for Bryan Fuller's evolving network television masterpiece, a Monolith Moment, and a discussion of 'True Detective' with SPOILERS (but it comes at the end, so most of the podcast can be "enjoyed" by those who have not yet witnessed the splendor of that show's first season). Enjoy, friends! Show #94

In honor of this Sunday's Academy Awards it's time for some Top Ten Films of 2013 lists! It's almost March, what better time to discuss the films of the previous year? So Bear Trap shares his Top Ten in this episode of A Little Snack; Monolith abstains. Kind of like how the dude abides. Hope you enjoy this one. We're hopeful all the sound issues have been fixed so you might be able to listen to this one without riding the volume dial. Discussed: Oscar picks for Best Picture, Bear Trap's pick for Worst Movie of 2013, Monolith surprises himself with how many of the top ten he's actually seen.. in a theater!, the Stay-Pufts remember the comedy writer and film director Harold Ramis, the life of paranormal investigator and particle accelerator system (or proton pack) inventor Egon Spengler is also discussed, David Mitchell's novel "Cloud Atlas" is compared with the Twyker/Wachowski adaptation and found to be superior, Bear Trap offers up a programming note for season two of a great show starting this Friday (hint: it's about a doctor who eats people), completely NON-SPOILER-Y discussions of both 'True Detective' and season 2 of 'House of Cards' that are okay to listen to for those who haven't yet but plan to watch, how "Ender's Game" is like 'Breaking Bad', the state of the digital effects industry in southern California, how (and perhaps why) filmmaker interviews like the ones that follow 'True Detective' have become unbearable, the Word of the Week is a smoking gun, the camera operator who died on a film set in South Georgia and how she's being honored by film professionals all over the world, and a Monolith Moment Darwin himself might have appreciated. Show #93

They did one last week, and here they've gone and done another one this week. Either you're being spoiled or punished, it's not clear which. Okay, yes, it's obvious you're being punished. Now here's a detailed rundown of how this week's punishment will be administered. Discussed: Last week's sup-par Word of the Week segment, season one of Netflix's 'House of Cards' and expectations for tomorrow's release of season two [SPOILERS!], the most recent manifestations of Stephen King's two big problems (graphomania and foot-in-mouth disease) are described, why the Olympics just aren't as interesting this go-round, Schwarzenegger's 'Escape Plan' and what happens at the end of that movie [SPOILERS!], Richard Curtis's 'About Time', a Word of the Week that could (should?) be the title of this podcast, a long overdue Apple News segment, and a sweet Monolith Moment that features an undertone of existential dread, and then a bunch of discursive chatting here and there. You know, like a podcast. Enjoy! Show #92

Join Monolith and Bear Trap for their apparently now bi-annual podcast, A Little Snack! There's no better cure for the Winter Doldrums and no, I don't know what those are. Please listen and enjoy. Discussed: what Monolith's been up to, the new Facebook videos everyone's been posting, Bear Trap's pathological overuse of the word 'dumb', Jesse Eisenberg as Luthor and Jeremy Irons as Alfred in the new Batman v Superman film, thoughts on the number of villains in the new Spider Man movie, Paul Verhoeven's insightful thoughts on the modern remakes of his films including the impending Robocop, Tom Shadyac's epiphany and, unrelated, inability to make good movies, Arnold's Super Bowl commercial wig, Philip Seymour Hoffman's legacy, Veronica Mars' appeal, the bad things that Verizon is doing now that Net Neutrality is over, Bear Trap's second attempt to make Monolith worried about the NSA, a Monolith Moment that will have you running out to your cars, and a Word of the Week that's really going to let you know what time it is! Hope you like it. Show #91

The 'Lith and the Trap felt bad about their extended hiatus so, to make up for it, they've recorded a podcast that probably three of you will be interested in. Okay, two. But for those two listeners, super-sized show# 90 is going to be so awesome as Little Snack welcomes honest-to-God video game industry insider Paul Z to the podcast for a wide-ranging discussion about the current state of video games. Discussed: An inside account of the tragedy and triumph of "Superman Returns" (the game), XBox One versus PS4, "franchise fatigue", "Assassin's Creed", Sony's elite "Ice" team and which upcoming PS4 title will benefit from their ninja ways, Paul's favorite game of 2013 and of the last five years, the different stages of a pissing contest, a lightning round rundown of notable titles from the last few years including GTA 5, some big titles to look for in 2014, mobile gaming as a possible threat to Sony and Microsoft, long-term trends, and then Bear Trap takes a moment to spread some misinformation. Show# 90

If on the off-chance you've already made it out to theaters this past weekend to see 'Ender's Game', you need to get into this spoiler-tastic podcast right away. If you happen to not care about 'Ender's Game' but just like to listen to the 'Lith and the Trap opine about movies generally, then yeah, push play. No harm, no foul. BUT! If you have not yet seen the new Gavin Hood adaptation of Orson Scott Card's classic novel 'Ender's Game' but plan to, it would be a good idea to do four things in the order listed. One, do not listen to this podcast. Two, high-five yourself because you're about to see 'Ender's Game'. Three, go see 'Ender's Game'. Four, you go on ahead and listen to this 'Ender's Game'-centric episode of A Little Snack. I think we're all sorted. Enjoy, friend! Show #88

In this episode of A Little Snack, Monolith takes in screenings of 'Man of Steel' and 'Thor 2: The Dark World', and speaks with a certain Mr. Bear Trap about their various flaws and strengths. A proper show. Discussed: spoiler-free discussion of the Metropolis-smashing ending of 'Man of Steel', a spoiler-heavy discussion of the tornado scene in 'Man of Steel', a fresh appraisal of Zach Snyder's filmography as a director, how a headlock can stop a man with laser eyes from, say, looking to the right, why Natalie Portman does not fit in the Marvel universe and why, conversely, Scarlett Johansonn fits in quite well, the scene in Thor 2 that made the film briefly exciting for Monolith, a cool scene in a very special 'Captain America 2' trailer, and a 3-part Word of the Week that may or may not be gibberish. Please enjoy this one. Show #89

In this episode of A Little Snack, a cloud of space debris wreaks havoc on cogent thought and complete sentences, resulting in poorly articulated points and not a little tedious nitpicking. You'll be lucky to escape without losing a few IQ points. Discussed: The new Alfonso Cuaron film "Gravity" and the relative enjoyment experienced by both podcasters while watching said film, whether Sandra Bullock is "cute" anymore, tether protocol, the handling of sound in 'Gravity', the most emotional moment in the film for both podcasters, how the film's artistic success can be summed up by a comparison to a certain early twentieth century author's fiction, the necessity of Sandra's backstory, and a WoW clarification from the last episode, a WoW pop quiz with past WoWs, and then a WoW that happens to describe some topical current events quite well. Also, regarding that title: no themes are analyzed in this podcast. The title's willfully misleading. Enjoy, folks! Show #87

On this episode of A Little Snack, Monolith talks about how, while flying, he endured the obscenity that is 'Star Trek: Into Darkness' and Bear Trap reminisces about the dearly departed author of techno-thriller airport fiction, Tom Clancy. And at the END of the podcast, (like good podcasters do), the meth-heads talk about the end of AMC's 'Breaking Bad'. Surprisingly, they manage to hold back the tears. Discussed: the best and worst Star Trek movies, at what point 'Into Darkness' stops being good and starts being the worst thing to happen to the franchise, Tom Clancy's lasting contribution to culture, his unusual connection to 9/11, Key and Peele's return and when to look for the return of Mousecop, a Word of the Week that isn't exactly what you would call fully baked, a Monolith moment that puts Bear Trap on the spot, what the podcasters understand about ABC's new show 'Agents of SHIELD' without either of them actually having seen it, thoughts on a few moments Monolith saw of one episode of the new NBC actioner 'Blacklist', and then spoiler-iffic 'Breaking Bad' talk in which the Trap and the 'Lith talk about the final 75-minute episode and the entire series as a whole and where one might reasonably rank it among all TV shows. It's good and you will enjoy it. Show #86

Discussed: The imminent arrival of the sequel to 'The Shining', Monolith has an idea on how to torture himself and his podcasting colleague with bad movies, the 'How Did This Get Made' podcast gets a mention, Monolith flips the script on the Word of the Week, a dramatic reading of the Shelley poem 'Ozymandias' by none other than Monolith, and then a whole lot of 'Breaking Bad' talk about the gut-kick of an episode that was 'Ozymandias'. Enjoy this one because next week it's all iOS7 talk! Show #85