Hard Out

Hard Out RETURNS, with more sacred cow barbecuing than ever! Join R. Michael Gull and Jay Thornton as they napalm any and everyone (and probably their careers in the process).

Host Jay Thornton—himself a survivor of Stage 3 colon cancer—and multi-hyphenate artist Joe Wilson (who has been battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer for well over a year, and has valiantly outlived his docs' estimates) chop it up over their experiences fighting the good fight both artistically and in the cancer ward, and how vital humor is to both.

Horror film aficionado Al Lucard is a friend of the show, an a fan of our sicko mockumentary CACTUS JACK (can find it on Vudu and Amazon)—he stopped by back in June (I know, I know, been busy as hell lately) to talk horror films, filmmaking, movie nostalgia, the tragic and touching story of why he started his youtube movie review channel, and his all-time favorite flick, the original 1990 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. Check it out!

Title of this one kinda says it all. Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton (no relation—unfortunately, given the power of nepotism in Hollywood)!) broke in with a million dollar spec sale of their epic Santa origin story Winter's Knight to Sony and have since written such high profile projects as TV adapts of Old Man's War and Final Fantasy, but their first produced feature—Hulu/Disney+'s THE PRINCESS—was tragically part of the Mouse House' recent avaricious and unceremonious 50+ project dump to catch a tax break. PS - Going audio-only for the foreseeable future and most of our previous viewership was on youtube, so do us a solid and like/follow/review on your favorite podcast apps (and please share), if you appreciate the conversation, helps tremendously!

We're baaaaa-aaaack. Well, Jay is (though Chris or even R. Michael Gull may pop in from time to time to co-host), after a six-month hiatus. The title of this one says it all. For hellcat Larissa's previous appearance, check out the animated discussion Jay & Chris had with her and The Mutual Aberration Society's Ryan Jackson on Sam Levinson's MALCOLM & MARIE. Meant to discuss the film more, to include the amazing story of director Stacy Title's interactions with Bob Weinstein and her tragic battle with ALS and attempts to make one final film while enduring the fatal disease before it took her life, but as Larissa and Jay are prone to do this one pretty much went off the rails and the film was hardly discussed! Enjoy! 🤣 

Screenwriter and filmmaker Rob Hagans, aka "The Bespectacled Mofo," drops by to talk making movies on a true nano (or even "pico") budget. We're talkin' $1k films, people!! Give a listen and hell—grab your smartphones and join the movement! Gull and Jay are already noodling ideas in the $1k space. To hear our swapcast where we were guests on his show to discuss making CACTUS JACK go to Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-microbudget-series-episode-three/id1588864867?i=1000580779853 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Wj7IhI60S4hVYwoaGLYF2?si=4BAulfQEQmiVy0x4KbA9Pg Or find it on any platform you use to get podcasts. Follow Rob on Twitter: @BspectacledMofo IG: @bspectacledmofo YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT_RHkfWrgQ63R_-HiXG_dg You can even watch his $1k feature films BARBARA and AROUND THE WORLD (over 1.4 million views) we discuss in this episode on his channel: BARBARA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uXG9sczPPg AROUND THE WORLD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2oSMwrCZv0 Speaking of films, go to www.cactusjackfilm.com to rent or purchase our own CACTUS JACK on Prime Video or Hulu, or to buy it on Blu Ray through Amazon and other vendors.

This week Jay and R. Michael Gull sit down to chop it up with writer-director Chris Rucinski and actor Jesse Gavin, the star of Chris' super solid, character-driven directorial debut indie thriller NORTHERN SHADE.

Whew! This one is *WILD*, folks! Full disclosure: we were trying to use R. Michael Gull's relationship with friend Jeanne Marie Spicuzza (writer, star, and co-director of The Scarapist) to help book Tommy Wiseau on the show. That was a no-go, as Tommy understandably doesn't like doing podcasts. So it was then supposed to be his partner-in-crime and co-author of The Disaster Artist Greg Sestero and Jeanne Marie. What it ended up being was just multi-hyphenate Jeanne Marie... which was more than enough! What ensued was a whirlwind of chanting with monks, nonchalant accusations of creative theft by Hollywood hotshots, anecdotes of Harvey Weinstein fuckery, the abject surreality of finding herself a part of Tommy Wiseau's inner circle, and more! This one is truly a fantastic voyage, so to quote the recently and dearly departed Coolio: "Come on y'all let's take a ride, don't say shit just get inside."

Don't call it a comeback! After two-timing it on another podcast, Jay is back home where he belongs at Hard Out—with none other than his muse R. Michael Gull as co-host moving forward (fans of Chris, don't fret, he'll pop in once in a while). Don't expect book reports on movies, we're here to just engage in the art of conversation on random topics. And we do mean random, as we're incorporating the Wheel of Random Topics to keep it poppin'!

Weeeeee're Baaaaaaaack. No movie reviews this time, just Jay sitting down for a good ole fashioned shit-shooting with Cactus Jack himself, R. Michael Gull. We're coming back hard! Toss us a buck (or more!) on Patreon for all Overtime content and more! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/themthorntons Twitter: @themthorntons  

After a long hiatus, we're back with an episode we recorded on July 24, 2021 with none other than Alvaro Rodriguez—screenwriter of MACHETE, FROM DUSK 'TIL DAWN 3: The Hangman's Daughter, Netflix "Mexanime" SEIS MANOS, indie film THE LAST RAMPAGE, El Rey's FROM DUSK TIL DAWN TV adapt, Showtime's upcoming AMERICAN RUST and more! He also talks Sam Fuller's amazing noir classic PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET, his uber-talented family (Robert Rodriguez is his cousin), and running for the Board of Directors of the WGAw (Writers Guild of America, West). Dude's a great storyteller and more importantly a *great* guy... Alvaro, you've got our vote (once we pay those dues in arrears 🤣)!

Our love of Mel Gibson and Braveheart has finally been matched!! Writers of the Superman-starring, Tarsem Singh-directed IMMORTALS, creators of the Netflix/Powerhouse original anime Greek mythology bloodbath BLOOD OF ZEUS, adapters of cherished anime DEATH NOTE.... Vlas and Charley Parlapanides are two of the nicest, hardworking fucking guys you'll ever meet. Seriously. Just watch and see for yourself! The best!

Dalan Musson! A true mensch of a man, he's a talented-as-hell writer, a former amateur wrestler, a staff writer on showrunner/creator Malcolm Spellman's *incredible* Marvel miniseries THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDER (currently streaming on Disney+, in case you live under a rock), rumored to be Malc's co-writer on CAP 4* and a true superhero in his own right as a compulsive rescuer of dogs in peril... it's an honor to have him on the show as he talks all things nostalgic Bronze Age Marvel, old school vs modern pro wrestling, the importance and game of networking in Hollywood, and his love of not only his all-time favorite film THE KARATE KID but the show it spawned decades later, COBRA KAI. *Disney has not and will not confirm future phase news... but they did have a rep silently listening in on this episode to make sure our amazing guest Dalan Musson didn't spill any Marvel beans! Make of that what you will!

As they close in on the end of their fully-funded Kickstarter for Karl Slominski's *truly breathtaking" graphic novel EVERMORE FALLS, Karl and his partner-in-crime Jenna Wright stop by to talk Gilliam and Carpenter flicks, all things comics, art vs commerce, and taking control of your own creative destiny. Good shit, killer, uber-talented folks. Check it out! Chip in on the Kickstarter for EVERMORE FALLS!! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kidreverie/evermore-falls We were gonna splice some into this video, but fuck it! GO TO THE SOURCE and check out Karl's fucking *killer* art on his site and IG, and follow him and Jenna on Twitter: http://www.slomotionart.com/ https://www.instagram.com/karlslominski/ https://twitter.com/KarlSlominski https://twitter.com/JennaLynWright Check out Jenna's film AMBITION! https://www.schemers-ent.com/ambition As always: ***SPOILER WARNING***, as we routinely reveal and discuss details of films in this podcast.

Milwaukee Morning Radio stalwart FM 102.1's Jon Adler stops by to shoot the shit on morning drive radio life, stalker listeners and death threats, interviewing rock stars and famous comedians, music, soundtracks, and his love of revenge films like 1971's Mike Hodges' stone cold classic GET CARTER starring Michael Caine (and we of course dip into the far inferior, superfluous Sly Stallone remake).

VFX badass Clint Jones—if you're one of his over *half a million* YouTube subscribers, you might know him as "PWNISHER"—stops by to not only talk his unabashed love of Stephen Chow's mindbogglingly killer mash-up of everything from Chaplin/Keaton to Classic Kung Fu Theater to Astaire/Rogers dance films to classic Loony Tunes tomfoolery KUNG FU HUSTLE but also lays out the newfangled digital crypto-craze NFT landscape for us laymen (he's already had a couple of lucrative art sales with more to come, as he was turned onto the space by none other than Beeple himself).

You may know him as Animal House's Doug Neidermeyer, Seinfeld's Maestro, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "The Master," authoritarians in iconic Twisted Sister videos, or from one of the hundreds (if not thousands) of other times he's graced not only screens big and small but the stage in countless theater productions—it's our honor to welcome to the show the one and only Mark Metcalf to not only discuss the profound effect Marcel Carné's epic love letter to the stage and Love itself LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS (Children of Paradise) had on him as a young actor, but McCarthyism, Classism in Theater, the function of the actor as artist, acting for stage vs. screen, and our own film CACTUS JACK. *Also counts as our Cinephiliacs CRITERION QUEST Episode #141

Calling in from Berlin where he's been busy co-directing THE MATRIX 4 with Lana Wachowski, director James McTeigue (V FOR VENDETTA) joins the show to talk not only Francis Ford Coppola's self-financed, sanity-risking *masterpiece* APOCALYPSE NOW, but directing films like the much-loved dystopian surveillance state action screed V FOR VENDETTA and a gang of dope TV episodes for shows such as Sense8 and MESSIAH, working as a 1st AD on everything from the Matrix flicks to Dark City to Star Wars prequels, and more!

Writer-Director-Producer-Fashionista-Martial-Artist-Election-Pundit multi-hyphenate extraordinaire Kevin Arbouet stopped by to talk Bong Joon-ho's 2009 South Korean *masterpiece* MOTHER—and a whole hell of a lot more. Need to have him back on to talk Aronofsky's MOTHER! next!

We tricked our mom Elizabeth Wiley into coming on the podcast to talk about not only Douglas Sirk's seminal 1959 "melodrama" IMITATION OF LIFE, but motherhood, raising us, her own mother's trials and tribulations, and more—on Mother's Day, no less! Also included in this episode is our sister Sarah, and a special Cameo™ appearance by American Idol alum and Tony Nominated Rock of Ages star Constantine Maroulis!

Digging through our files and realized this gem went unpublished! Recording back in mid-February, it's Danny Devito's tonal misfire DEATH TO SMOOCHY and the heinous found footage cautionary tale MEGAN IS MISSING in yet another Hard Out: Cinephiliacs Double Feature throwdown! Oh, and we discuss body hair and the timely (at the time) cancellation of Gina Carano. 

The second leg of John Carpenter's unofficial "Apocalypse Trilogy" PRINCE OF DARKNESS is Chris' pick for this episode of Hard Out: Cinephiliacs, along with Jay's selection of Antoine Bardou-Jacquet's Ron Perlman and Rupert Grint-starring MOONWALKERS, a fun, subversive, psychedelic conspiracy-fueled absurdist caper flick that seems destined for cult status. If you wanna watch before consuming this, Moonwalkers is streaming at no additional charge on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Tubi, and Pluto TV and Prince of Darkness can be rented from pretty much anywhere you rent digital films.

Believe it or not, the fantastical BABE: PIG IN THE CITY is the "favorite" movie of screenwriter, director, creative producer and former VP of the sadly now-defunct, sensational viral video factory Super Deluxe Scott Keiner (like many, Scott has a hell of a time choosing a "favorite" flick, but counts this George Miller gem among his favorites). Thanks so much to turning us onto this one, Scott... it truly is, as advertised, "criminally underrated!"

Young Leonardo DiCaprio scorched the screen in THE BASKETBALL DIARIES, the harrowing, drug-fueled 1995 biopic of famed New York poet, musician, author, and artist Jim Carroll directed by Scott Kalvert—which just so happens to be the favorite movie of our buddy and fan of the show Alex Sterling, who had a couple cocktails and hit Jay up about doing this episode... which we were stoked to do because we *LOVE* this film (and the fact that it gave us a chance to tell our "Marky Mark" story, which we forgot to get to in our episode covering The Departed with Dan Benamor)!

Featuring a towering performance by icon Marlon Brando, Bernardo Bertolucci's unfortunately rapey masterpiece LAST TANGO IN PARIS (poor Maria Schneider 😢) is up for discussion in this episode of Hard Out: Cinephiliacs, alongside John Boorman's WTF-inducing sci-fi tripfest ZARDOZ (poor Sean Connery's speedo). It's an early-70's extravaganza!

The Harvey and Bob Weinstein-directed 80's hodgepodge disaster PLAYING FOR KEEPS and Steve James' touching documentary tribute to Roger Ebert LIFE ITSELF are up to bat in this installment of Hard Out: Cinephiliacs, which inspired us to wax philosophical over not only Harvey's inhumanity but counterpoint Ebert's humanity.

Ridley Scott's sci-fi masterpiece BLADE RUNNER is the all-time favorite film of bestselling novelist Zoje Stage, author of acclaimed books Baby Teeth, Wonderland, and the upcoming (Aug 17th!) Getaway! We chop it up over her love of this film but also jump into her past as a filmmaker and screenwriter, the transition to prose, publishing triumphs and pitfalls, #metoo and the Patriarchy, cancel culture and more. Amazing conversation with an amazing storyteller.

Martin Scorsese's Best Picture Academy Award-winning THE DEPARTED is the all-time favorite flick of Hollywood development exec-turned-screenwriter and host of the *fantastic* kindred spirit podcast "Movies I Love That No One Talks About" Dan Benamor. Featuring an amazing all-in, paranoia-fueled performance by Leonardo DiCaprio and stellar work by Matt Damon, Vera Farmiga, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Ray Winstone, and of course the incomparable Jack Nicholson chewing up a killer Oscar-winning script by Bill Monahan, this flick gets better and better with each viewing!

In what might constitute our most absurd, "what-in-the-everloving-FUCK WERE THEY THINKING??" double feature mash-up review yet, it's the Hulk Hogan holiday hot mess SANTA WITH MUSCLES paired with the deeply involving, understated, incredible A WAR by Danish master filmmaker Tobias Lindholm (see also his startlingly good A Hijacking if you want a tale like Captain Phillips without all the Hollywood bullshit).

We weren't planning to drop this for a couple more days but since we just found out TODAY is the **36th anniversary of THE LAST DRAGON** we had no choice but to release it! Screenwriter Michael J. Kospiah (of The Suicide Theory and the newly released RAGE—which is getting very good reviews and is currently available to rent or buy on all major digital platforms) stopped by to talk about this 80's-as-fuck gem, his all-time favorite flick... but he ran into an on-their-way-to-being-shitfaced Chris and Jay (we'd just finished recording with Kristy Lowrey, where the bourbon and beer were flowing). Apologies Mike, haven't listened back but hopefully we let you get some words in edgewise! Think it was the 2 hours you hung around after the buzzer where we really deteriorated though, hahaha! Come back any time!

David Mackenzie kept it real in directing the Taylor Sheridan-scripted HELL OR HIGH WATER (starring a world-weary Chris Pine, tragic bad seed Ben Foster, and nobody-better Jeff Bridges)—and in doing so crafted the favorite movie of super cool veteran TV Writer Kristy Lowrey (Into the Badlands, 12 Monkeys, 911: Lonestar, Absentia, and now CBS' FBI). She stopped by to talk about it and the biz.

Nicolas Winding Refn's violent, stylish, Ryan Gosling-starring ode-to-electric-nights getaway driver *neon*-noir DRIVE is up to bat in this episode as we highlight the favorite flick of our buddy, the uber-talented artist and writer Mike Morin (creator of the viral webgame classic ALICE IS DEAD). Originally aired on YouTube on March 18, 2020.

The homie Adam Barker—a kindred spirit Black List screenwriter whose film WASH ME IN THE RIVER (starring Jack Huston, John Malkovich and Robert fucking De Niro!!) just wrapped production—stops by to talk his favorite film, Jeremy Saulnier's crowdfunded hail mary indie darling neo-noir revenge thriller BLUE RUIN starring Macon Blair. Originally aired on YouTube on March 16, 2021.

In an episode you could almost call RYAN & LARISSA, we forgo our usual in-house freakazoid double feature dives for a one-off discussion with powerhouses Larissa Thomas and Ryan Jackson on the subjective merits—and demerits—of Netflix's Sam Levinson-scripted and directed MALCOLM & MARIE (starring his fellow producers Zendaya and John David Washington). Check it out and share your thoughts on this pandemic production that was made for $2.5 million but sold to Netflix for a record $30,000,000 at Sundance. Originally aired on YouTube on March 10, 2021.

Another WTF mash-up on this episode of Hard Out: Cinephiliacs! This time we're taking a look at Bobcat Goldthwait's bloodlusting satire supreme GOD BLESS AMERICA and Brandon Cronenberg's bravura body horror debut POSSESSOR. Look for more fucked up Cinephiliacs double features to come, along with retrospectives on filmmakers and their films, one-off reviews with guests—and of course subscribe to get all that, our general bullshitting episodes, the "My Favorite Movie" subseries (including a Dead Poets Society mini-reunuion with partial cast and Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Schulman), our Alien Smackdown Tournament, and more! Originally aired on YouTube on March 8, 2021.

The truly fantastic, satirical, smart, funny, and bold as hell 1990 Sundance Grand Jury winner CHAMELEON STREET—by criminally underrated (and lost to the annals of time for who knows what reason) auteur Wendell B. Harris Jr—is the "Favorite Movie" of screenwriter and friend of the show Ryan Jackson. As always, indebted to him for turning us on to another fucking GEM of a movie—even if we seemed to talk about damn near everything but it! Originally aired on YouTube on February 28, 2021.

DEAD POETS SOCIETY—arguably our own favorite film, most definitely our "sentimental" choice if under the gun—is the pick of our dear old friend Sean Hansen, who stopped by to discuss his love of the film... and had his MIND BLOWN about 12 minutes in when we revealed to him that we'd somehow managed to get three key members of the beloved cast (in the form of Gale Hansen, Allelon Ruggiero, and Dylan Kussman—Charlie "Nuwanda" Dalton, Stephen Meeks, and Richard Cameron respectively, LEGENDS in our minds) to pop in and surprise him. Then we hit him with a haymaker suckerpunch in the last 15 minutes of regulation when none other than the man from whose brain this beautiful film was wrought joined the fray: Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Schulman! As much as we like to think of ourselves as men of integrity, in the spirit of Mr. Keating's message of non-conformity and questioning authority we blew right past the buzzer for an EPIC 2+ hours of Dead Poets Society Mini-Reunion! Secrets will be revealed, myths will be busted, the marrow will be sucked from life! Originally aired on YouTube on February 22, 2021.

The unlikely pairing of Fenton Bailey's and Randy Barbato's lo-fi 2003 club kid murder movie PARTY MONSTER and Roland Joffe's epic 1986 period piece THE MISSION are the focus of this episode of Hard Out: Cinephiliacs! Look for more fucked up Cinephiliacs double features to come, along with retrospectives on filmmakers and their films, one-off reviews with guests— and of course subscribe to get all that, our general bullshitting episodes, "My Favorite Movie" subseries, Alien Smackdown Tournament, and more! Originally aired on YouTube on February 22, 2021.

John Carpenter's slasher classic HALLOWEEN is the all-time favorite film of podcaster, filmmaker, and festival panel moderator extraordinaire Michael Viers (of the Shame List Picture Show podcast), so he stopped by to "chop it up," so to speak (thought Michael Myers might dig that turn of phrase) and unleash a mountain of knowledge on this film—indisputably so, since we put him on the spot with an impromptu Halloween Trivia Quiz! Originally aired on YouTube on February 19, 2021.

Welcome to Them Thorntons' Hard Out: Cinephiliacs! In this episode Chris and Jay discuss Armando Iannucci's THE DEATH OF STALIN, starring Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Michael Palin, Andrea Riseborough, Paul Whitehouse, and Jeffrey Tambor. You can check out this wickedly funny, subversive film currently streaming on Netflix—and we suggest you do! Originally aired on YouTube on February 16, 2021.

Jeff "The Loose Cannon of Comedy" Lampton stops by the podcast via remote live feed from his hotel room in Horse Cave, Kentucky and proceeds to conduct our entire geek-out of Netflix's Mötley Crüe biopic THE DIRT from his jacuzzi tub while chain smoking and swilling longnecks!! How do you not love this animal?! Originally aired on YouTube on February 12, 2021.

Welcome back to the HARD OUT "ALIEN SMACKDOWN," a massive serialized shittalking tournament in which we—along with recurring friends of the show Ian MacDonald and Juan "Johnny" Ortiz—draft, seed, and hash out which alien from the silver and small screen alike will be the last extra-terrestrial left standing. In this second episode we complete the bracket, finalize some ground rules, and brainstorm fight locations. Originally aired on YouTube on February 11, 2021.  

Actor, producer, director, hypnotist, mentalist, motivational speaker, podcaster, professor... there's not much Rex Sikes don't do. And he lists "dad" first and foremost among his occupations—what's not to love?! Rex was supposed to stop by to talk about his favorite film THE NITWITS, but thanks to the holidays our copy was stuck in the mail so we just did a general shit-shooting session. Keep your eyes peeled for that NITWITS episode coming soon though! Originally aired on YouTube on February 9, 2021.

Welcome to the HARD OUT "ALIEN SMACKDOWN," a massive serialized shittalking tournament in which we—along with recurring friends of the show Ian MacDonald and Juan "Johnny" Ortiz—draft, seed, and hash out which alien from the silver and small screen alike will be the last extra-terrestrial left standing. In this first episode we try (and fail) to fill out the bracket and set some ground rules before the buzzer hits. Originally aired on YouTube on February 3, 2021.

Former Editor-in-Chief of Script Magazine and current empress of Pipeline Artists and #scriptchat Jeanne Veillette Bowerman—and her jangling jewelry—stopped by the podcast to talk about their all-time favorite film SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR starring Alan Alda and the incomparable Ellen Burstyn. We *love* left field picks like this, and Jeanne is literally one of our favorite people so this shit was a joy to do! Originally aired on YouTube on February 2, 2021.

We're back after the release of our film CACTUS JACK (info below) to talk one of the best films of all-time—Milos Forman's Jack Nicholson-starring ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST—with Jay's old US Air Force partner-in-crime Butch Walker (who also made an appearance on our Covid Roundtable Episode). Hijinks ensue, Ken Kesey would be proud. Originally aired on YouTube on January 25, 2021.

He's a screenwriter, producer (on our own CACTUS JACK even), youtuber (check out his series RE-ENTRY, where he interviews pro screenwriters and publicly chronicles his process of trying to break back in as a Hollywood screenwriter after years away from the racket), and all around great gut: It's our good friend Nate Davis—who, like us, cannot nail down a "favorite movie."   So in addition to touching on some of his favorite flicks, we talk about all kinds of real life shit from roleplaying games to abandoning your religion. Check it out, and check out Re-Entry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdIbDjZkces     *Originally aired on YouTube on January 16, 2021.

Film critic, Variety contributor, script consultant, producer, and consummate cinephile Nick Clement stops by to talk Martin Scorsese's mob masterpiece GOODFELLAS in this episode of the HARD OUT subseries "My Favorite Movie," a 60-minute ticking time bomb of a podcast in which we have one or more guests on to geek out on their all-time favorite flick. Originally aired on YouTube on January 3, 2021.

COVID and the COVID VACCINE are the subject of this roundtable discussion, which includes scientists Julio Gagne and Brett Saladino to shed some light on not only the Covid vaccines hitting the market but how vaccines work in general in order to dispel some of the myths surrounding them, our sister Sarah Wiley (who is a nurse and has been working in Covid hotspots from NYC near the beginning of the pandemic to Houston during their eruption and most recently South Carolina) to give us some insight on what the actual battlefield looks like and the toll it has taken on frontline workers, and Jay's old USAF buddy Butch Walker—who not only recently had the virus but has watched as it has torn through his family. Originally aired on YouTube on December 27, 2020. *******MEDICAL DISCLAIMER******: While some of the participants in this discussion are experts in their respective fields, always of course consult with your physician before taking any medications!!! That said, in our humble opinions: WEAR A MASK!!! SOCIALLY DISTANCE!!! PLEASE CONSIDER GETTING VACCINATED!!!! And, if you've had Covid and recovered: DONATE PLASMA!!!

David Fincher's macho-masochistic masterpiece FIGHT CLUB is the focus of this episode of the HARD OUT subseries "My Favorite Movie," a 60-minute ticking time bomb of a podcast in which we have one or more guests on to geek out on their all-time favorite movie. Famed filmmaker Dylan Avery (LOOSE CHANGE and BLACK & BLUE documentaries, the upcoming narrative feature ASTEROID) makes a Pitt-stop to chop it up over not only his all-time favorite flick, but a few of his favorite "bad" movies, documentary vs fiction filmmaking, his previous work, and more. Originally aired on YouTube on December 26, 2020.