PODCAST · tv
The Hold Up
by John and John
Each month two old nerds both named John watch a movie they remember being good but haven't seen in years to determine whether or not it... holds up.
Episodes
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136 - Nightwatch
It's Halloween time and we are, once again, joined by filmmaker Alison Star Locke. She has chosen the Late 90s Ewan McGregor thriller: Nightwatch. Will we make it through an entire shift unscathed or fester like a rotting corpse? Listen and find out!
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135 - Captains Courageous
This month The Johns dive into a 1937 classic: Captains Courageous. Will this Spencer Tracy fishing adventure haul in a whopper or perish at sea? Listen and find out!
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134 - Run Lola Run
Welcome to the 11th Anniversary of The Hold Up Podcast! This month The Johns return to the realm of foreign language films to watch the 1998 German adrenaline rush, Run Lola Run. Will Lola make it to the finish line? Or will she fall on her face? Listen and find out!
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133 - War Games
It's been several years waiting in the wings, but at long last one of our most requested movies is here. Long time listener, Robin, joins The Johns to watch the 1983 tech thriller starring Matthew Broderick: War Games. Will it win the battle? Or will the only way to win be not to (press) play?...
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132 - Ants
No. Not the Woody Allen one. Mixing it up this month, Nelson brings out a bizarre made for TV movie from his childhood: Ants aka It Happened At Lakewood Manor. Will The Johns survive the ant onslaught? Or will they be buried alive? Listen and find out!
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131 - Dark City
The Johns catch up on some emails before diving into the trippy, thriller, sci fi, noir, fever dream: Dark City. Will they find Shell Beach? Or will they be put to sleep? Listen and find out!
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130 - Hair
John has never seen the movie musical, Hair. Other John has also never seen the movie musical, Hair. Author and film historian, Ray Morton, has seen and adores the movie musical, Hair. Hair hair hair hair hair hair hair hair hair!!! Come join us as we watch Hair. Will it twinkle above us? Listen...
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129 - Rhinestone
It's been a busy month for The Johns. In fact, it's been so busy that they damn near forgot to publish March's episode, Rhinestone. D'oh! Apologies for the delay. Will this NYC meets country romp with Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton be worthy of the Grand Ole Opry? Or will it boot scootin'...
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128 - The Gate
What do you get when you combine 80s Satanic Panic with a low budget, crazy mood lighting and child actors, not to mention some wild stuff with a dog? You get The Gate. This month The Johns delve deep into a big hole in the backyard. Will it fill them with wonder or leave an empty pit in their...
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127 - Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead
Happy New... well, let's move on. For the first flick of 2026, the Johns are wandering into chatty 90s indie film territory with "Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead!" Will a stacked cast and witty banter give this film an edge? Or will it fall prey to Tarantino Imposter Syndrome? Listen and...
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126 - The Ref
Happy holidays! To ring in the spirit of cheer, The Johns watch the 1994 holiday dark comedy, The Ref. Will this Denis Leary, Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis movie escape from the cops? Or will it end up behind bars? Listen and find out!
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125 - Greed
It's time to class up the joint. This month The Johns are joined by two very special guests: Producer/Editor Glenn Morgan and Screenwriter/Film Historian Ray Morton. The Holdup continues its dive into the silent film era with a viewing of the 1924 infamous work of filmmaker Erich von Stroheim:...
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124 - The Last Man On Earth
MORGAN! Happy October, Morgan! The annual tradition continues as The Johns are joined by writer/director Alison Star Locke to watch the 60s horror classic, The Last Man On Earth, starring Vincent Price. Will the film endure the nightmare future it now finds itself in? Or will it suck worse than a...
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123 - Run Fatboy Run
This month The Johns take a trip down Lover's Lane to watch a formative film in Longino's relationship, Run Fatboy Run. And we take some time to discuss listener feedback to our episode on Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush. Will Run Fatboy Run win the race? Or will it gasp for air? Listen and find...
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122 - The Gold Rush
Happy 10 Year Anniversary to The Hold Up Podcast! That's right. The Johns have been hosting this show for a decade. To celebrate, Nelson decided to watch a 100 year old film: Carlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush. Will The Johns be silent with awe? Or silent with disgust? Listen and find out!
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121 - Mr Nice Guy
For July, Longino brings forth the Jackie Chan kung fu comedy classic, Mr. Nice Guy. Having never seen it, will Nelson give a thumbs up (after surviving a death defying stunt) or will he simply die in agony? Listen and find out!
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120 - The Wraith
This month The Johns are joined by Editor Josh Lentz and filmmaker Alison Star Locke to watch an artifact from the 80s: The Wraith. Will this Charlie Sheen ghost car chase film of murder and revenge win the race or will it crash and burn? Listen and find out!
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119 - Sister Act 2
He listened, he emailed, and now he's here! Following our episode on Sister Act last month, Tyler now joins us to watch Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit. Will getting the band back together knock our rosaries off? Or will we enter the confessional of regret? Listen and find out!
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118 - Sister Act
After a bit of a delay, our April episode is here! Enjoy as The Johns watch the Whoopi Goldberg 90s comedy, Sister Act. Will it shine like heaven or will The Johns be having nun of it? Listen and find out!
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The Catch Up 08 - John Wick Chapter 4
Our April episode is running a little behind and will release later this month. But thankfully we had this special Catch Up episode waiting in the wings, so please enjoy! For the long awaited return of The Catch Up, we celebrate Nelson's birthday and watch John Wick Chapter. And we hit a guest...
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117 - Bad Lieutenant Port Of Call New Orleans
Bad Lieutenant fever continues for the month of March as The Johns watch Bad Lieutenant Port Of Call New Orleans. Will we go to iguana heaven or overdose on the absurdity? Listen and find out!
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116 - Bad Lieutenant
This month The Johns forsake decorum, dignity and even Jesus Christ, himself, to watch the 90s Abel Ferrara directed Harvey Keitel bender: Bad Lieutenant. Will the madness live up to Nelson's memory? And will Longino inject this movie directly into his veins? Listen and and out! And stay tuned…
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115 - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Happy New Year! The Johns ring in 2025 with Hedwig and the Angry Inch! Will this early 2000's tale of gender fluidity prove a story for all time, or does it belong in the past? Listen and find out!
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Special 08 - Trancers
Happy holidays! As a nice bonus we are pleased to present a special episode and longtime listener request where we watch Trancers. Enjoy!
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114 - The Secret Of Nimh
Happy December! We're taking it (mostly) easy this month, but stay tuned for a special episode coming soon. Meanwhile, The Johns take in as much December cheer as they can with Don Bluth's The Secret Of Nimh. Will we find shelter or die from sickness? Listen and find out!
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113 - Primary Colors
Hey hey hey! Happy Election Month! isn't everyone EXCITED?!? Uuuuggggggghhhhhhh. As is Hold Up Podcast tradition during presidential election season, we watched a political film. This time it's Primary Colors, the late 90s dramedy from Mike Nichols that's definitely not about the Clintons, wink...
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112 - Wolf Creek
Happy halloween! This month, as is Halloween tradition, we are joined by writer/director Alison Star Locke to watch the 2005 Australian horror slasher: Wolf Creek. Will we bite it in the outback, or survive to tell our tale? Listen and find out!
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111 - Gladiator
The Johns have but one question for you this September. ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!? This month, in anticipation of a sequel dropping very soon, we're watching the year 2000 Ridley Scott swords and sandals epic: Gladiator. Will it, quite literally, get a thumbs up or thumbs down? Listen and find out!
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110 - The Breakfast Club
This month a nerd, a nerd and... another nerd get together to watch the John Hughes classic: The Breakfast Club. The Johns are joined by comedian, writer, and longtime Hold Up fan, Dirk Voetberg, to dive deep in our longest episode to date. Will the gen X-ers still worship at the altar of Hughes?...
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109 - Coal Miner's Daughter
This month The Hold Up welcomes special guest, Glenn Morgan. Glenn has an editing career than includes working on several Madonna music videos, MTV's The Real World as well as many feature films. As a college radio DJ, he had a fateful encounter and interview with Loretta Lynn, who's children…
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108 - Go
This month the Johns are joined by Josh Lentz to watch the 1999 party epic, Go. Will this time capsule of the late 90s keep us rolling all night or crash like a bad overdose? Listen and find out!
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107 - Race With The Devil
This month The Johns hop into their RV and go on a road trip to watch Race With The Devil. Will this 70s craziness rock out? Or will it send us directly to hell? Listen and find out!
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106 - Drop Dead Fred
A few months ago Nelson brought The Nutty Professor to the podcast. So in a petty act of shameless vengeance, Longino is unleashing Drop Dead Fred for the month of April. Will this bizarre imaginary friend story be the hilarious romp Longino remembers from childhood or the unwatchable nightmare...
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105 - Capricorn One
This month Nelson brings to the table a film Longino has nether seen nor heard of: the 70s conspiracy theory thriller, Capricorn One. Inspired by the theory that the moon landing was staged, this fictional adventure depicts a government conspiracy to fake a landing on Mars. Will this viewing take...
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104 - Tron: Legacy
Happy February and early happy Valentine's Day. What better way to say love than a viewing of... Tron: Legacy? When Longino found out that Nelson had never seen this cyberpunk sequel to the 80s cult classic, he abandoned this month's plans for a hard pivot. Will Tron: Legacy get the accolades...
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103 - The Nutty Professor
Happy 2024! This month The Johns grab a plate and chow down on the Eddie Murphy multi performed fat joke buffet, The Nutty Professor. Will it fart its way into our hearts, or fart its way into a... wet fart? Listen and find out!
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102 - Primer
Happy holidays! What better way to celebrate than a low budget high concept indie movie about time travel? This month The Johns take on Primer. Will this movie finally make complete and total sense? Or will be be as bewildered as the first time? Listen and find out!
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101 - The Last Starfighter
Is this a glitch? An error? No! The Johns realized that it's been 8 years since the first episode of The Hold Up, which means enough time has passed to revisit the first film we ever watched for the podcast: The Last Starfighter. Have we been replaced with Beta androids and lost our minds? Or…
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100 Pt 5 - All The Real Girls
At long last: the dramatic conclusion to the epic episode 100. For Part 5 we are once again joined by Ali to watch All The Real Girls. Will the return of a non action film finally win the day? Or will we break up like a sad romance? Listen and find out!
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100 Pt 4 - The Rock
Episode 100 continues with Part 4. This time we are joined by guests Alison Star Locke and Lizze Gordon to watch Michael Bay's The Rock. Will Ali survive the third action film to be pulled in a row? Will Longino come around on a movie he remembers despising? Will Nelson keep decorum and quell a...
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100 Pt 3 - True Lies
The glorious episode 100 continues with Part 3. This time we're joined by Alison Star Locke and returning guest, Rachel Levine, who you may remember from our Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode. Another random draw from the hat of action films and chick flicks lands us on the James Cameron directed,...
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100 Pt 2 - Timecop
Episode 100 continues! We're joined by guests Alison Star Locke and Julie Cohen to once again draw from the random bucket of movies, action films vs chick flicks. And this time we drew... Timecop! Will the JCVD sci-fi silliness be a timeless masterpiece of male cinema? Or will it drown in the…
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100 Pt 1 - Safe
At long last we have arrived. Welcome to the landmark 100th episode of The Hold Up Podcast. For this glorious occasion, we've decided to do something outside our norm: a special 5 part weekly odyssey though gender cinema with an episode every week for the month of October. 10 films have been...
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99 - Southland Tales
One episode shy of the landmark 100th episode, The Johns are not taking things easy. This month Longino decides to unearth the strange sophomore satire from Richard Kelly: Southland Tales. Is this infamously bizarre bomb a misunderstood gem on the level of Citizen Kane? Or is it an apocalyptic...
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98 - Insomnia
Nolan is in the air, so it's time for Nelson and Longino to revisit the catalog and dust off 2002's Insomnia. Will this Christopher Nolan remake with Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hillary Swank shine eternal like a 24 hour sun? Or will it pass out exhausted and broken? Listen and find out!
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97 - Ex Machina
This intro is written from ChatGPT with the following prompt: "Please write an introduction to a podcast called The Hold Up hosted by two men named John. In this podcast they watch movies they haven't seen in many years to see if they still hold up. This month they are watching Ex Machina from…
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96 - Return of the Killer Tomatoes
This month The Johns get wacky as they uncover the bizarre antics of Return of the Killer Tomatoes. Astonishingly featuring George Clooney, John Astin and rounded out with a bunch of people you've never heard of, this 80s relic will be inspected for freshness. Is it a brilliant meta satire or a...
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95 - Reign Of Fire
Beware. Here be DRAGONS! This month The Johns dust themselves off of soot and ash to take on the 2002 Matthew McConaughey/Christian Bale dragon apocalypse: Reign Of Fire. Will this movie be fit for a king or will it burn in hellfire? Listen and find out!
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94 - El Mariachi
This month The Johns are joined by friend and longtime listener, Tyler Wong, to watch 1992's Spanish language action classic from Robert Rodriguez: El Mariachi. Is this 90s indie film classic shot for $7K still bueno or is it muy mal? Listen and find out!
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93 - Soylent Green
The year was 1973 and John Nelson was born into this world. That's right! Nelson is turning 50! To celebrate, he's selected a film from the same year as his birth: Soylent Green. Will this infamous Charlton Heston sci fi parable taste stale or delicious? And does this film co-star Ernest Borgnine...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Hold Up have?
The Hold Up currently has 168 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Hold Up about?
Each month two old nerds both named John watch a movie they remember being good but haven't seen in years to determine whether or not it... holds up.
How often does The Hold Up release new episodes?
The Hold Up publishes regularly with 168 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Hold Up?
You can listen to The Hold Up 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 Hold Up?
The Hold Up is created and hosted by John and John.
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