PODCAST · tv
Not Playing with Lex and Dan
by Lex Friedman and Dan Moren
A podcast where two guys fill the gaps in their pop-culture knowledge by watching classic movies that they haven't seen before.
Episodes
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10.7: The Rookie
We move into the eighth inning of our baseball season. This time, Dan and Lex follow a coulda-been-a-contender pitcher in 2002’s The Rookie. Hot topics include Disney movie formulas, offscreen plot developments, and how this is basically two movies in one. Programming Note: In addition to this...
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10.6: Everybody Wants Some!!
Back from our checks scores fifth-inning stretch, our baseball season continues! This time, rookie freshman Lex Friedman is taken under the wing of (very!) veteran Dan Moren in 2016’s Everybody Wants Some!! Hot topics include repercussions (or the lack thereof), how this differs from our college...
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10.5: Fever Pitch
As we hit the middle of our tenth season, Lex journeys to Dan’s hometown for a momentous historical baseball event with a so-so love story in 2005’s Fever Pitch. Hot topics include an unlikeable lead, when the sport overshadows the story, and missing comedy. Programming Note: In addition to this...
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10.4: Major League
It’s the top of the fourth, and grizzled veteran catcher Dan Moren is trying to corral wild pitcher Lex “Wild Thing” Friedman as they watch 1989’s Major League. Hot topics include a terrible romance based on stalking, a surprising lack of comedy, and how exactly a team this offensive lasted so...
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10.3: Eight Men Out
We return for the third inning of our baseball season, where intrepid reporters Dan Moren and Lex Friedman try to get to the bottom of a cheating scandal in John Sayles’s 1988 film, Eight Men Out. Hot topics include ticker-tape simulcasting, playing good baseball badly, and so many character...
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10.2: The Natural
For the second inning of our baseball season, newcomer (?) phenom Lex Friedman joins the down-and-out team of grumpy manager Dan Moren in 1984’s The Natural. Hot topics include allegories, villainous villains, and whether the main character is a ghost. Programming Note: In addition to this…
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10.1: Bull Durham
We lead off the tenth(!) season of our podcast with a fastball right up the middle as veteran minor leaguer Dan Moren takes prodigal but wild talent Lex Friedman under his wing in 1984’s Bull Durham. Hot topics include what to get a couple for a wedding gift, why it’s called Bull Durham, and...
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9.8: Gattaca
As season 9 draws to a close, naturally born Dan Moren and genetically superior Lex Friedman must work together to overcome a discriminatory society in 1997’s Gattaca. Hot topics include: when is a metaphor just a metaphor, so many surprise actors, and whether Uma Thurman is a superhero....
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9.7: Little Shop of Horrors
Finally, a movie musical that tells the truth: dentists are jerks. Lex Friedman sits down Dan Moren to watch 1986’s Little Shop of Horrors, a movie based on a musical based on a movie (that wasn’t a musical). Hot topics include: Can a puppet be both impressive and unsettling? Has Rick Moranis…
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9.6: The Rocketeer
The Rock-a-who? Crotchety old inventor Dan Moren and handsome flying ace Lex Friedman team up to watch 1991’s Disney adventure flick, The Rocketeer. Hot topics include what makes a superhero, the joys of central casting, and why no one can twirl a mustache like Timothy Dalton. Programming Note…
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9.5: Pretty Woman
Not listening to this is a big mistake—huge. Dan Moren and Lex Friedman sit down to watch Julia Roberts’s star-making turn in 1990’s Pretty Woman. Hot topics include surprising agency, corporate raiders with a heart of gold, and Jason Alexander’s affinity for playing jerks. Programming Note: In...
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9.4: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Who are these guys? Why, they’re wily outlaw Dan Moren and taciturn gunslinger Lex Friedman, who are fleeing their relentless pursuers while watching the 1969 classic, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Hot topics include a dynamite rapport, the death of the West, and so much smoldering....
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9.3: GoodFellas
Damn, it doesn’t always feel good to be a gangster. Mobster Lex Friedman takes young up-and-comer Dan Moren under his wing as they watch the 1990 classic GoodFellas. Hot topics include cameras that won’t stay still, the way you get whacked, and so many drugs. Programming Note: In addition to this...
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9.2: All the President's Men
Follow the podcasts! Intrepid journalists Dan Moren and Lex Friedman unravel a ripped-from-the-headlines presidential conspiracy with 1976’s All the President’s Men. Hot topics include which reporter is which, barging into people’s houses, and eerie resonances. Programming Note: In addition to…
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9.1: Clueless
It’s time to embark upon a brand new season of Not Playing! This time, popular high schoolers try to make Lex Friedman and Dan Moren cool by showing them 1995’s Clueless. Hot topics include cellphone size, family religion, and Jane Austen. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode,...
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8.4: 12 Monkeys
To bring this mini-season of Not Playing to a close, we have to go back to the beginning. Time traveler Lex Friedman encounters asylum inmate Dan Moren as they attempt to unravel the mysteries of 12 Monkeys. Hot topics include timey-wimey logic, Brad Pitt’s disturbing eye prosthetic, and all the...
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8.3: Tron
We’re past the halfway point in our abbreviated season and this time hotshot programmer Lex Friedman has been sucked into a computer where he meets heroic program Dan Moren and they watch 1982’s Tron. Hot topics include glossaries of computer terms, frisbee playing, and the power of metaphors....
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8.2: Teen Wolf
In our second episode of this abbreviated season, high school basketball coach Lex Friedman is on a winning streak with star player (and werewolf) Dan Moren as they watch 1985’s Teen Wolf. Hot topics include terrible parties, dangerous stunts, and is this all a metaphor? Programming Note: In...
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8.1: Total Recall
It’s a brand new (mini) season of Not Playing as we take on a quartet of otherworldly movies starting with the letter ‘T’. We kick it all of with amnesiac Lex Friedman facing off against diabolical politician Dan Moren as they watch the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger classic Total Recall. Hot topics...
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7.9: Point Break
To close out season 7 of Not Playing, we check in on Keanu Reeves once again, as surfer/bank robber Dan Moren and undercover FBI agent Lex Friedman sit down to watch the 1991 film Point Break. Hot topics include bad FBI agents, not enough heists, and why you always remember your first time…
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7.8: Speed
In the first installment of Keanu Reeves duology, mad bomber Lex Friedman forces SWAT officer Dan Moren to watch 1994’s Speed, or risk being blown up. Hot topics include other actors floated for Reeves’s role, Dennis Hopper taking it to 11, and whether or not a bus really could jump a 50-foot...
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7.7: Patriot Games
Rounding out our Harrison Ford trilogy, former CIA analyst Lex Friedman is beset by vengeful Irish terrorist Dan Moren as they watch 1992’s Patriot Games. Hot topics include dense plotting, similarities with other Ford characters, and the complexities of the Ryanverse. Programming Note: In…
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7.6: Air Force One
We’re flying the friendly skies once again this week, as President Dan Moren’s plane is hijacked by Russian terrorist Lex Friedman, who forces him to watch 1997’s Air Force One. Hot topics include the evolution of the Die Hard genre, casual deaths of innocents, and Harrison Ford’s vetting...
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7.5: Witness
We’re going Dutch this week—Pennsylvania Dutch, that is, as Philadelphia cop Lex Friedman and Amish kid Dan Moren watch 1985’s Witness. Hot topics include Harrison Ford’s star power, Amish representation, and a lot of fake blood. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which…
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7.4: Trading Places
Is it nature or nurture? We attempt to find out this week when a couple of old rich white guys swaps the lives of successful executive Dan Moren and down-on-his-luck Lex Friedman in 1983’s Trading Places. (As a note: please be aware that the movie itself contains more than a few extremely...
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7.3: A Few Good Men
There’s nothing we can’t handle this week, as cocky military lawyer Lex Friedman and his assistant (with no responsibilities whatsoever) Dan Moren go to court with 1992’s A Few Good Men. Hot topics include Sorkinisms, the conflict over the military, verisimilitude, and a murderer’s row of…
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7.2: Top Gun
Come fly the not so friendly skies with Lieutenant Dan “Gambit” Moren and his wingman Lieutenant Lex “Snuggie” Friedman as they watch 1986’s seminal fighter jet treatise, Top Gun. Hot topics include surprising comedy, solidly workmanlike craft, and whether or not Tom Cruise will ever sing on film...
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7.1: Risky Business
We’re back for season seven, and a whole host of popular movies that one or both of us haven’t seen. To kick things off, innocent teens Lex Friedman and Dan Moren are left home alone, and naturally start a burgeoning-if-illicit enterprise while watching 1983’s Risky Business. Hot topics include…
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6.9: Heaven Can Wait
We’ve reached the Super Bowl of Football Season, but can we win it all? Heavenly administrator Lex Friedman takes reincarnated quarterback Dan Moren under his wing (eh? ehh?) as they watch 1978’s Heaven Can Wait. Hot topics include Warren Beatty’s storied career, whether this is really a football...
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6.8: We Are Marshall
In our penultimate Football Season movie, unconventional coach Lex Friedman partners up with devastated assistant coach Dan Moren to revitalize a college football program as they watch 2006’s We Are Marshall. Hot topics include the tricky balancing act of a movie about a tragedy and a movie about...
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6.7: The Blind Side
As we continue our Football Season, forceful parent Lex Friedman embraces adopted son Dan Moren as they watch the 2009 film, The Blind Side. Hot topics include the shift in culture, truth being stranger than fiction, and whose viewpoint we’re really seeing the story from. Programming Note: In...
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6.6: Varsity Blues
Do we want your life? That’s what second-string high school quarterback Dan Moren is trying to figure out with the help of his buddy, offensive linebacker Lex Friedman in 1999’s Varsity Blues. Hot topics include muddled plot lines, more mustache-twirling than you can twirl a mustache at, and when…
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6.5: Necessary Roughness
It’s play by the rules, lose by the rules as straight arrow coach Lex Friedman tries to teach mid-thirties freshman quarterback Dan Moren while they watch 1991’s Necessary Roughness. Hot topics include a surprisingly respectful shower scene, comedy whiplash, and the inevitable tropes of sports...
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6.4: Any Given Sunday
They say anything can happen, and that’s what strident coach Lex Friedman tries to drill into brash young quarterback Dan Moren as they watch the 1999 film Any Given Sunday. Hot topics include making a capital ‘m’ Movie, how combining four scripts into one film doesn’t necessarily go well, and…
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6.3: Rudy
They said he was too small to ever make it, but Dan Moren gets encouragement from kindly old janitor Lex Friedman as they sit down to watch 1993’s Rudy. Hot topics include why Rudy would make a good superhero, young appearances by two well-known actors, and a football movie that’s only sort of...
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6.2: Friday Night Lights
Get your mojo on with tough but fair coach Lex Friedman as he encourages serious quarterback Dan Moren to watch the 2004 film Friday Night Lights, but not the following TV show of the same name. Hot topics include the heavy weight of Texas high school football, why winning isn’t everything, and…
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6.1: Invincible
It’s a brand new season of Not Playing: Football Season. Join veteran Lex Friedman as he clears the way for rookie Dan Moren while they watch 2006’s Invincible, which is merely coincidentally about Lex’s favorite football team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Hot topics include the uplifting nature of...
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3.11: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
It all comes down to this. We return with a special bonus episode that sees the embodiment of all Jedi, Dan Moren, and the collection of all Sith, Lex Friedman, cover 2019’s Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, thus wrapping up their coverage of the storied franchise. Hot topics include...
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5.9: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
Two tough guys who don’t always see eye-to-eye team up this week, which also happens to be the plot of the final (to date) installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, 2019’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Hot topics include the evolution of the franchise’s female characters (and...
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5.8: The Fate of the Furious
Family never gives up on you, and neither do Lex and Dan as they embark upon the final main sequence film of The Fast and the Furious franchise, 2017’s The Fate of the Furious. Hot topics include exactly how you program your military base’s gates to act in case of an emergency, bringing up baby,...
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5.7: Furious 7
We’re back, tracking down a techie McGuffin in the seventh installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, the concisely named Furious 7. Hot topics include the rat-a-tat nature of stunt sequences, whether this series would be better with supernatural elements, how far we can push miraculous...
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5.6: Fast & Furious 6
To London we go in this, the sixth installment of The Fast and the Furious series, 2013’s Fast & Furious 6. Hot topics include when a twist is not a twist, the increasingly comic book superhero nature of these films, too long runways, and why some characters just have to die. Programming Note: In...
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5.5: Fast Five
We’re back, and it’s off to Brazil we go as we go from car racing to out-and-out robbery in the fifth installment of The Fast and Furious franchise, 2011’s Fast Five. Hot topics include whether The Rock can redeem this franchise, the trouble with rooting for bad guys, giving as good as you get in…
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5.4: Fast & Furious
We may not be fast, but we’re definitely a little angry as we slog through the desert on the way to the fourth installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, Fast & Furious. Hot topics include twists that nobody cared about, an ever-so-marginally better treatment of women, bizarre chronology...
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5.3: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Hop the plane to Japan, because we’re drifting right into the third installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Hot topics include the inexcusable objectification of women right off the bat, unfortunate accents, why everybody inexplicably wants to…
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5.2: 2 Fast 2 Furious
Hit the NOS and jump that bridge! We’re back with the second installment of our trip through The Fast and the Furious franchise, 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious. Hot topics include going all-in on sequel names right away, cookie-cutter villains, literally removing the voice of female characters, and are…
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5.1: The Fast and the Furious
We’re kicking off Season 5 of Not Playing by getting all speed and irascible with the first installment of the the storied automotive action franchise, 2001’s The Fast and the Furious. Hot topics include how bad a cop Brian O’Conner is, the disappointing treatment of female characters circa 2001,...
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3.10: Solo: A Star Wars Story
We’ve got a good feeling about this. It’s member season around these parts, and Lex and Dan are back to their old Star Wars tricks, especially for you. Join daredevil pilot Dan Moren and charming gambler Lex Friedman as they steal away with 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. Hot topics include…
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4.7: Skyfall
Season 4 of Not Playing draws to a close with a dealer’s choice: 2012’s Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig, and released on the 50th anniversary of the franchise. A fitting end. Hot topics include salt and pepper beards, Bond age, throwbacks to the beginning of the franchise, and what might be in…
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4.6: Casino Royale
James Bond is a hard man to catch up to, but Dan and Lex have done just that as they sit down to watch the role’s current (as of this recording) portrayer, Daniel Craig, in his debut outing: 2006’s Casino Royale. Hot topics include why blondes have more fun, Lex’s infuriation about onscreen poker...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Not Playing with Lex and Dan have?
Not Playing with Lex and Dan currently has 88 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Not Playing with Lex and Dan about?
A podcast where two guys fill the gaps in their pop-culture knowledge by watching classic movies that they haven't seen before.
How often does Not Playing with Lex and Dan release new episodes?
Not Playing with Lex and Dan has 88 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Not Playing with Lex and Dan?
You can listen to Not Playing with Lex and Dan on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Not Playing with Lex and Dan?
Not Playing with Lex and Dan is created and hosted by Lex Friedman and Dan Moren.
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