PODCAST · tv
The Grand Gesture
by Michael Denniston and Derek Stewart
A podcast where a professional therapist and and unprofessional movie watcher apply everything they've learned from BATMAN (1989) to 89 other lesser films.
Episodes
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Batman 1989: Make Your Own Luck in JURASSIC PARK
"My friend, your luck is about to change." Steven Spielberg's classic film on dinosaurs allows us to explore the differences in white and black families facing attack from dinosaurs AS WELL as the sexual appeal of Jeff Goldblum as he moved from THE BIG CHILL to THE FLY to here. Stalking Laura…
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Setting Fire to Dating Again in WAITING TO EXHALE
"The truth is most men are deaf. They prefer to guess what you need but they don't guess worth shit." In a film that opens with Whitney Houston of all people lamenting the dating scene and ends with Wesley Snipes being a sad cad at the bar our two hosts are left with a lot of material in WAITING…
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Batman 1989: Trust and THE BODYGUARD
Trust is hard to come by in Gotham... ... and in movie podcast guests. This cold hard fact was reiterated to us when we invited on Jairo of SOBER CINEMA to talk about his favorite human in Mr. Kevin Costner. Our guest has absolute trust in the decency (and indecency) of Mr. Costner which is why…
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Rash Decisions with Winona Ryder in HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT
"Young lovers seek perfection. Old lovers learn the art of sewing shreds together and of seeing beauty in a multiplicity of patches." If one grew up in the 90s those defeated souls could not escape the pop culture wisdom that came out of Winona Ryder's dumb mouth. Thankfully a better cast of Maya...
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Batman 1989: Wild Life of Gotham and BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA
"I like bats." Kim Basinger finally enters this dorkfest that is Tim Burton's BATMAN and even though we didn't understand why as young men... we knew things were improving. Unfortunately we still have to survive another Bat-minute with HBO's Arliss as he proves himself an inadequate sidekick to…
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Scouting the Creeps in TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE
"What do you say now, jackass? That's known as... trouble with the curve." While one might not call this throwaway romcom late in Clint Eastwood's career as the ultimate title drop movie... it still manages to annoy one co-host enough to negate any charms Justin Timberlake brings to the table in...
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Batman 1989: A Parade of Fear and UNFORGIVEN
"People might be scared." We return for Batman Day! And since this is sometimes a minute by minute analysis of the defining film of our youth BATMAN (1989) we should know what Batman Day is. But we don't. In fact we are confused by when it is supposed to happen while getting that it ABSOLUTELY...
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Co-Parenting Isn't Cool Even with Clooney in ONE FINE DAY
"Men like you have made me the woman I am." "All the women I know like you have made me think all women are like you." Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney sure do a lot of complaining about romantic partners that look like George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer. Meanwhile both hosts, noted child...
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Batman 1989: The Future of Gotham and BATMAN RETURNS
"You ain't got no future, Jack!" Eckhardt makes a bold bet against Jack Nicholson having a promising career in Gotham and we lament the response to BATMAN RETURNS and what that meant for over a decade for the character in film. Don't worry... it was all worth it to get to Batfleck. But along the...
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Celebrating Mother's Day in JUNIOR
"Typical. I can't tell you how many times I've heard pregnant women complain: 'I just wish a man could go through this.' You finally do it, and what do you get? Attitude and insults." Tangible Teddy returns to praise his hero, Danny DeVito, who spoke those wise words after he impregnated Arnold...
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Batman 1989: The Fate of Sidekicks and TERMINATOR 2 JUDGMENT DAY
"Don't be writing this stuff in your newspaper, Knox. It'll ruin your already useless reputation." A minute-by-minute recap of the greatest blockbuster of all time would not be complete without mentioning... HBO's original series ARLISS. However as we will discover in this episode, the true fate…
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Day Drinking in THE UPSIDE OF ANGER
"Who should I sleep with, Terry? Women like you? Your age? My age? I don't. You know why? 'Cause younger women are nice." In a strange twist, or perhaps the power of Mike Binder's writing (which you can see in the quote above from THE UPSIDE OF ANGER) that we welcome Kevin Costner super-fan Jairo...
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Batman 1989: Decency in Vigilantism and ROBIN HOOD PRINCE OF THIEVES
"Decent people shouldn't live here." Jack Nicholson's Joker was an exclusionary sort and in this episode he forces Kevin Costner and friends to the woods as they plot against perhaps an even more insane villain as played by Alan Rickman. Though he remains far more likable than Costner. Of course....
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Do Your Job in THE REMAINS OF THE DAY
"We need not a new gadget, but, a revised staff plan, sir." In which we learn that Anthony Hopkins doesn't believe in toasters... or love before duty, even when he meets Emma Thompson in THE REMAINS OF THE DAY. Our guest is Dave Giannini of OFF SCREEN DEATH who differs from the butler Stevens...
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Batman 1989: Relaying a Message to Crime and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
"I'm Batman." Those iconic words are still being used by Michael Keaton (and why wouldn't they be) even at college graduations. If you aren't lucky enough to have Batman send you off into adulthood then thankfully you have this podcast as we cruise into the sixth minute of BATMAN '89 and our…
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Batman 1989: The Haunting of the Bat and GHOST
In BATMAN 1989 we see how the criminal underworld does most of the heavy lifting for our caped crusader (and the actor Michael Keaton) by treating him with the reverence we would later see in regards to Patrick Swayze as the GHOST. Though we aren't totally convinced by the rules of this…
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Batman 1989: Nostalgic Crime and DICK TRACY
As Batman watches and waits for trauma to inflict a new generation during the alley mugging in BATMAN 1989 we discuss exactly which generation Warren Beatty's DICK TRACY is for. Spoiler: not us. So listen in if you have a hatred of moles, the career of Al Pacino, and the disgusting overeating...
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Batman 1989: This Could Be Silly and TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
As we are introduced to Gotham City in The Greatest Film of All Time BATMAN, less than a year later we are introduced to another silly comic book based premise that makes an attempt to be taking seriously... and then a human-sized rat weeps in chains and loses your hosts of THE GRAND GESTURE....
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Batman 1989: Opening Credits and THE ABYSS
In which we send one previous host to the depths of the ocean in guest Dave Giannini of A PODCAST DIRECTED BY to come discuss the tragedy (maybe too strong of a word here) that is James Cameron's THE ABYSS not being available in a restored physical format. Speaking of restored, new co-host Derek...
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The Mystery of a Single Life in DEFINITELY, MAYBE
Two married guys reminisce about the single life in the only way that it would be seen as even remotely romantic... by watching a romcom with their respective partners. Our partner for this podcast is guest Tangible Teddy who as one of the world's foremost experts on the long-running sitcom HOW I...
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The Rightness of Origins in STORIES WE TELL
As if the stories we compare ourselves to in romcoms weren't stress inducing enough... how about the real origin of filmmaker Sarah Polley? STORIES WE TELL is a documentary about her mother, her father, her place in the family and the correctness of all of their conflicting versions of their...
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Mindful Homewrecking in THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY
To wrap up our month on mothers at the movies we have to do a bit of homewrecking. And there is no better person to do it than Clint Eastwood as he shows up at Meryl Streep's door with a camera in hand and many notches on his belt. And while so far these show notes have leaned into comfortable...
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Age is a Number of Annoyances in HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK
Now we are getting somewhere with our mommy porn month. Not only do we put Angela Bassett in The Meryl Category of acting... but also as an object of desire for short former Broadway musical stars with questionable Jamaican accents. And that's as close as we'll come to saying ANYTHING bad about…
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Food Porn Is Inspiring in JULIE & JULIA
We take a momentary break from our series on mommy porn (though our guest Jairo of MARK AS PLAYED and THE TRUE BROMANCE FILM PODCAST opens with a titillating anecdote on Kevin Costner's real life contribution to this art) to move on to the reason for Instagram: food porn. And since we…
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Contract Negotiation Kinks in FIFTY SHADES OF GREY
After last week's episode on BOOK CLUB we are contractually obligated to continue exploring the kinks of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY and your hosts find Dakota Johnson pretty, pretty, pretty charming. And that's about it. However we attempt to work through a polite approach to questioning a partner's...
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Education Through Erotica in BOOK CLUB
As two well-read men of a certain age we figured we'd take a break from any part of that to watch some well-read women of a certain age get back to the basics of boning. We really didn't need anything else but BOOK CLUB sweetens the pot by starring Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen and...
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Layabout Lovers in EMPIRE RECORDS
On the second part of our expose of love in 90s cinema we "welcome" back Jessi to settle once and all if Rex Manning Day is worth celebrating. Along the way Dave of A PODCAST DIRECTED BY continues to dig his co-host's early grave by basking in his shameful love of EMPIRE RECORDS while Mike would...
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Cutting the '90s Some Slack in REALITY BITES
With everyone hopefully laying on the couch at home we thought this was the perfect time to check in with our Gen X heroes of REALITY BITES. Jessi joins Dave and Mike to share her thanks that her glory days of dating the likes of Troys (defined here in iconic fashion by Ethan Hawke) are over…
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Boundaries for Best Friends in THE CABLE GUY
On this episode one host establishes some boundaries with another host (though supporting sex workers is deemed mostly acceptable) while our guest Amanda ‘HardCandiMandi’ Kosowiec of the CINEMA GEEKS podcast joins the show to explain her strategy for social distancing while still getting free…
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Everyone Hates an Expert in COPYCAT
On this episode celebrating the perhaps underrated COPYCAT from 1995 the topics range from the hatred of experts in the age of Trump, teaching your kid that not only will he not be the next Lebron James but he won't even be John Stockton, and the nostalgia for mid 90s screensavers. All of this…
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Undressing for Jane Fonda in BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
This episode was delayed for just the right season for one to take up Robert Redford's grand gesture to Jane Fonda found in the title. Unfortunately like most things in our world at the moment BAREFOOT IN THE PARK would not be looked upon kindly but your favorite podcast producer isn't really in...
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Free Handbags for Friends in GRETA
On this episode we welcome back old friend Derek Stewart to talk about old-ass friends in GRETA. In particular the handbag wielding character played by Isabelle Huppert who crosses many boundaries with Chloe Grace Moretz in this Neil Jordan film. Although your host still sees nothing wrong with...
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Chris Evans as a Jerk is Still Better Than You in SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
Web Bist returns for a little pre-AVENGERS: ENDGAME fawning over Brie Larson and Chris Evans in an earlier comic book adaptation... one with Michael Cera playing the overbearing collector as he fights seven evil exes in SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD. Being the gentlemen that we are we don't pick on...
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Talking Love to Death in PLAYING BY HEART
On this episode two grown men share their apparently exclusive love for the late 90s version of CRAZY STUPID LOVE in the Angelina Jolie starring PLAYING BY HEART. Since that might not be sexy enough for somewhat discerning but also very much degenerate podcast listeners we also touch on life…
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Top Knots are Signs of the Devil in HELLBOY
Not watching the 2019 HELLBOY? GOOD. That gives us a bigger demo to woo with our latest episode on the first film adaptation of the Mike Mignola comic book in the 2004 version by Guillermo del Toro. To do so we welcome our monster movie expert (in that he appeared on our KING KONG episode) Web…
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Witches Don't Shop at Kohl's in SUSPIRIA
This episode, like all the others, does NOT have a sponsor... but it might as well for as often as our guest Derek Stewart brings up shopping at Kohl's in our discussion on the 2018 remake of SUSPIRIA. That's probably better than two dudes debating on the merits on this film's feminism as well as...
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Sexy Surprises Make for a Sad Affleck in CHASING AMY
Everyone knows that January is the time when people make a list of their sexual goals for the upcoming year. And as much as our listeners would like to think otherwise (in fact they probably don't want to think about this AT ALL when it comes to the hosts of this podcast) we're no different. The...
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Best Laid Plans Are Better w/ Julianne Moore in MAGGIE'S PLAN
To kick off the new year we are making plans to better our position as one of the top three romcom podcasts in the world by bringing back returning guest Jess of THE GRAND GESTURE! The selected film involves the best laid plans of Greta Gerwig as she seeks to reunite her husband played by Ethan...
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Avoid the Family Holiday Podcast in FOUR CHRISTMASES
You are probably sick of Christmas (and also sick of THE GRAND GESTURE) but how about just one more? Or in our case it's FOUR CHRISTMASES as returning guest Web Bist from our KING KONG episode is in the full holiday spirit for this film from the auteur who previously brought you THE KING OF KONG…
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Christmas is for Collectors in ABOUT A BOY
For part one of our soon to be podcast Christmas classics, WEB BIST of... well many appearances on host Mike's podcasts is back on THE GRAND GESTURE to give his insight into the island living of Hugh Grant's character in ABOUT A BOY. This being a holiday episode and all we get into the the...
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Trapped in a Previously Good Idea in HOME AGAIN
The reigning guest champion for most THE GRAND GESTURE appearances, Natasha of THE RAD ASS BITCHES returns to be trapped with us, much as Reese Witherspoon finds herself in an extended and unrequited (at this host Mike rages) one night stand with a younger man in HOME AGAIN. This leads to a...
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Monsters Are Better in Their Castles in YOUNG ADULT
For what is possibly THE GREATEST FILM OF ALL TIME we present our longest episode of THE GRAND GESTURE for Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman's YOUNG ADULT. To discuss how Charlize Theron's character of Mavis is actually the heroic monster returning to her hometown to demolish boring lives is Allison…
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Sometimes Kink-Shaming is Just Good Common Sense in PERMISSION
We recorded a special Election Night episode where we decided (for the nation) to see other people. And if we can't manage the state of affairs for our country, your unloveable hosts Dave and Mike can at least change the movies we are watching. This episode features a can't miss film starring...
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Ep. 34 - What's Your Number?
On this episode we tackle the somewhat indelicate math of romantic partners with guest Natasha of THE RAD ASS BITCHES podcast. Considering that hosts Mike and Dave hate each other, that third voice is very important as one host hates the selected film WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER? and Mike hates Dave's…
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Ep. 33 - Trainwreck
Annnnnnnddddd we're back with a trainwreck of an episode on the Amy Schumer/Bill Hader romcom TRAINWRECK. We're not that creative, however our guest Jess, formerly of JOY SANDWICH and now cursed to forever promote our podcast, finds new ways to derail the best laid plans of our host Dave as he...
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Ep. 32 - King Kong
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is currently being seen by every set of eyes on the planet, but maybe your ears will give our episode a chance on one of the first big spectacle films, KING KONG. Guest WEB BIST of TRILOGY TALK joins the show to discuss approaching this 1933 classic with 2018 sensibilities,...
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Ep. 31 - Your Sister's Sister
On this episode we discuss awkward family moments as seen in the strange love(ish) triangle seen in YOUR SISTER'S SISTER. And to do so our guest Amanda from AMANDA'S PICTURE SHOW A-GO-GO and CULTURE POP A-GO-GO shares her side of family disputes, as they sometimes happen on her very own podcasts....
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Ep. 30 - The Terminal
Unlike Stanley Tucci in THE TERMINAL we have open arms to our guests, and in particular returning guest JASON MICHAEL of ATLANTIC SCREEN CONNECTION (and the upcoming TRILOGY TALK) to talk about a Steven Spielberg film that everyone hates. No, no READY PLAYER ONE (although that should provide a...
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Ep. 29 - Ex Machina
On this episode we celebrate/lament (so we have all of our Film Twitter bases covered) the release of Alex Garland's latest film ANNIHILATION as well as Alicia Vikander's latest film TOMB RAIDER by looking back to their collaboration in EX MACHINA. This very romantic film tells the story of a…
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Ep. 28 - Sweet Home Alabama
As promised (threatened?) we get around to SWEET HOME ALABAMA with the only reason to listen to this episode, returning guest ALLISON of the NOT YOUR LITTLE LADY podcast. In this wide-ranging conversation we discuss watching this 2002 romcom hit with outsiders, Hollywood's obsession with…
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Grand Gesture have?
The Grand Gesture currently has 77 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Grand Gesture about?
A podcast where a professional therapist and and unprofessional movie watcher apply everything they've learned from BATMAN (1989) to 89 other lesser films.
How often does The Grand Gesture release new episodes?
The Grand Gesture has 77 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Grand Gesture?
You can listen to The Grand Gesture 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 The Grand Gesture?
The Grand Gesture is created and hosted by Michael Denniston and Derek Stewart.
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