The Variant Cast

Welcome back to The Variant Cast for our Second Annual Oscar Preview! 🏆🎥 We are diving deep into the Best Picture nominees for this year’s Academy Awards, ranking all ten films and giving our brutally honest takes. From Wicked to The Brutalist, from Dune: Part Two to A Complete Unknown, we discuss what deserves the gold and what left us disappointed. Is this year's lineup stronger than last year's? Does star power beat consistency? And did anyone actually enjoy The Brutalist? 😂 Tune in as we break it all down, share our rankings, and discuss the biggest Oscar snubs, surprises, and controversies! Let us know in the comments—what’s YOUR pick for Best Picture? 🎬👇

This episode of The Variant Cast kicks off 2025 with our annual bingo card predictions. Trent and each filled out half of the card, covering everything from industry controversies to box office surprises. Will Superman break records? Will Thunderbolts get critical acclaim? And what bizarre headline will The Rock give us this year? Tune in as we make our boldest calls for the year ahead.

In this episode of Trent's Rec Tent, I revisit National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, a beloved holiday classic, and dive into its unexpected sequel, Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventure. From family traditions to a deep critique of the sequel’s chaotic storytelling, join me as I explore what makes the original timeless and why the sequel fell flat. Listen to new episodes every week. Have you ever heard about this movie or watched it? Let me know in the comments!

Dive into the Mystic Arts and Dark Magic as Ty and Trent explore the Spooky, supernatural side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and discuss where it can go next.

Join Ty and Trent as they give their reviews of the first half of both Agatha all Along and The Penguin. We also discuss new updates around Avengers: Doomsday, and Trent gives reviews of Amber Alert, and Blink Twice.

Join Trent and Ty and preview the upcoming movies that are coming out in October 2024! Ty and Trent share their thoughts on which films will shine and which might flop. Leave a comment below or you can call us and leave a voicemail at (551)299-7525 0:00 Intro 04:19 Venom: The Last Dance 10:33 Piece by Piece 13:35 Brothers 16:50 Saturday Night 20:27 Joker: Folie à Deux 30:08 Rings of Power Season 2

In this episode of The Variant Cast, Ty and Trent tackle the news about the new Spider-Man 4 director, Destin Daniel Cretton, and what that could mean for the future of the MCU. From rumors about Venom 3 to Marvel’s potential plans for the Sinister Six, Ty and Trent break it all down with their signature wit. They also cover the latest in Marvel TV news, including Agatha, and drop hints about some upcoming reality TV coverage for The Challenge and Traitors. It’s an action-packed episode filled with laughs, opinions, and all things geeky! Tune in and join the conversation.

Welcome to a special edition of The Variant Cast, where Ty and Trent tackle the monumental task of ranking all the MCU trilogies! From Iron Man to Guardians of the Galaxy, we dive deep into each series, discussing their highs and lows and where they stand in our ultimate MCU trilogy ranking. Check us out on YouTube for the video episodes!

Join Trent and Ty and preview the upcoming movies that are coming out in August 2024! Ty and Trent share their thoughts on which films will shine and which might flop. 0:00 Intro 3:54 Borderlands 9:35 The Crow 12:57 Cuckoo 16:55 You Gotta Believe 22:18 Blink Twice 26:21 Trap 30:54 Avengers: Kang Dynasty Leaked Script 37:59 Deadpool & Wolverine Review

Welcome back to another episode of The Variant Cast! In this episode, Ty and Trent dive deep into the latest superhero projects from both the MCU and DCU. We also break down the Captain America: A Brave New World Trailer.

Join Trent and Ty and preview the movies that are coming out in July 2024! Ty and Trent share their thoughts on which films will shine and which might flop. Don't miss their trailer reactions and predictions, including some unexpected picks and a few laughs! Stick around until the end to hear our thoughts about The Bear Season 3. 0:00 Intro 3:06 Twisters 8:18 Space Cadet 10:54 Boneyard 14:39 Deadpool & Wolverine 18:36 My Spy: The Eternal City 22:21 Longlegs 25:33 Fly Me to The Moon 28:13 Despicable Me 4 33:35 The Bear Season 3

Join Ty and Trent as they talk about the first 3 episodes of The Boys season 3. They talk about Homelander, Sister Sage, The Deep and more in this look ahead to season 3. Ty and Trent also breakdown a Variety article detailing the long and winded production history of the MCU Blade movie.

Join Trent and Ty and preview the movies that are coming out in June 2024! Stick around until the end to hear our thoughts about A24's Civil War movie and Ryan Gosling's The Fall Guy. 0:00 Intro 2:49 Inside Out 2 6:58 A Quiet Place: Day One 10:41 Horizon: An American Saga 15:54 The Bikeriders 20:07 Bad Boys: Ride or Die 24:19 Kinds of Sadness 28:46 Civil War Review 43:54 The Fall Guy Review 57:35 Watch The Bear Season 3

Ty and Trent go back to the 2010's and revisit a trilogy of movies that is one of Trent's favorite. Ty gives his first reactions to the Planet of the Apes trilogy ahead of the newest installment in theaters. Also listen to is talk about the new Jerry Seinfeld movie Unfrosted. 00:00 Intro 01:05 Planet of the Apes Retrospective 32:56 News 47:23 Unfrosted is bad

Join Trent and Ty and preview the movies that are coming out this month! 00:00 Intro 01:10 Rot or Tot 02:06 Kingdom of Planet of the Apes 06:23 Unfrosted 10:33 If 14:13 I Saw the TV Glow 17:25 Tarot 21:04 Furiosa 24:15 The Fall Guy 27:47 Back to Black 32:56 Rumors & News 49:56 Trent Finishes The Sopranos

Listen to our review of the Fallout series on Prime Video. We take a look back at the games that the show is based off of. We also review the Joker 2 Trailer and give a recap of the things that dropped at CinemaCon last week. 00:00 Fallout Season 1 Review 55:37 Joker 2 Trailer Review 01:04:45 CinemaCon Recap

"This guy looks like if Jake Gyllenhaal was a YouTuber" 00:00 Intro 01:58 Rot or Tot 07:05 Monkey Man 11:51 A24's Civil War 15:05 Rebel Moon pt 2 19:35 Sweet Dreams 22:34 Sasquatch Sunset 24:44 Model House 26:52 Parachute 28:42 Damaged 32:58 Bag of Lies 36:28 The Long Game 38:39 Strictly Confidential 42:59 Abigail 46:23 Draft Recap 48:18 Rumors & News

"I'm just going to tell you, we're going to Cottage Grove" 00:00 Intro 01:35 The Iron Claw 10:37 Ricky Stanicky 31:30 Rumors & News 38:22 Fresh (2022) Review 44:04 Vice Review

"I think you had a fever dream Trent" 00:00 Intro 01:35 Oppenheimer 07:50 Poor Things 11:33 American Fiction 14:00 Anatomy of a fall 17:10 Zone of Interest 20:20 The Holdovers 22:50 Killers of the Flower Moon 26:10 Barbie 29:39 Maestro 35:25 Past Lives 38:27 Rot or Tot March Results 40:43 News & Rumors

"We've been Duned" 0:00 Intro 1:00 R.I.P. Nicole Kidman AMC Ad 2:10 Dune Part Two Review 21:45 Avatar The Last Airbender Review 36:20 Rumors & News 49:15 No Negotiation Recommendation

"There were two Wolverine movies while Obama was in office"

"S.J. Clarkson really had no shot" 0:00 Fantastic Four Casting is Official 11:55 Deadpool Trailer Breakdown 30:58 Bullet Train 40:40 Madame Web Reactions 50:20 Rumors & News 1:03:50 Rot or Tot March Predictions 1:16:15 No Negotiation Recomomendation 1:18:28 Eighth Grade Review

On this episode of the Variant Cast Trent and Ty take a look ahead about what to expect from Dune: Part Two and take a look back the Creed trilogy, since Trent had never watched it. If you want to follow along with our No Negotiation Recommendations, here is a list of past films we've done: https://letterboxd.com/trenttent/list/the-variant-cast-watchlist/ 0:00 Intro 1:36 Dune 16:43 Creed 41:05 No Negotiation Recommendation 43:37 Sesame Street Conspiracy 46:50 Lisa Frankenstein 48:38 News 57:10 Pedro Pascal Mr Fantastic

On this episode of the Variant Cast Trent and Ty go into their spoiler thoughts on Wonka and take a look at the early reactions of Argylle. 0:00 Intro 1:14 Wonka 23:55 News 49:17 No Negotiation Recommendation 51:45 Argylle Reactions 54:40 Mr. & Mrs. Smith + Amazon Prime 58:00 Reality TV 52:40 What If Non spoiler

On this episode of the Variant Cast Trent and Ty talk about The Oscar Nominations, The Palworld/Pokemon Controversy, Dream Scenario, and Trent gives a spoiler free review of Self Reliance. 0:00 Intro 0:12 Oscars 19:25 Palworld Controversy 32:12 News 40:17 No Negotiation Recommendation 42:19 Knock at the Cabin 45:20 Self Reliance 48:05 Dream Scenario 52:40 What If Non spoiler

On this episode of the Variant Cast Trent and Ty talk about Echo, The Curse, and the top 5 currently acting WWE Stars. 0:00 Intro 0:51 Golden Globes Recap 20:19 News & Rumors 25:33 Percy Jackson Streaming Numbers 28:20 Top 5 WWE Wrestler Actors 34:35 Rot or Tot February 48:55 The Venom Rant 53:09 What We've Been Watching

On this episode of the Variant Cast Trent and Ty talk about Percy Jackson, Wonka, and the 2023 Golden Globes. Listen to hear Ty's review of The new Hunger Games. 0:00 Intro 0:40 Golden Globes Recap 18:20 The Variant Cast Awards 23:10 Percy Jackson Episodes 1-4 29:50 Echo Premiere Spoiler Free Review 34:08 Star Wars Fans are Sports Fans 35:15 Marvel TV 38:49 Rumors and News 51:00 What We're Watching 57:16 Looking Forward to 2024

On this episode of the Variant Cast Trent and Ty give out their best of awards to the Movies and Actors of 2023. Listen to hear Ty's review of Oppenheimer and who wins our actor of the year! (You can probably guess) 0:00 Intro 1:00 News 19:30 The Variant Cast Awards 55:40 Ty's Oppenheimer Review 58:40 Rot or Tot Predictions January 2024

This week on the Variant Cast Ty and Trent talk about what the MCU is going to do moving forward without Jonathan Majors & Kang, and talk about the crazy fanbase surrounding the Zack Snyder films. 00:00⁠ - Intro ⁠00:52⁠ - Jonathan Majors News ⁠14:48⁠ - The Final Resting State of the DCEU ⁠19:45⁠ - Rot or Tot Results December ⁠22:30⁠ - Zack Snyders Cult 37:48⁠ - Zachary Levi's comment 41:00⁠ - Movie Reviews 46:25⁠ - The Curse 49:09 - The Night Before with Miley Cyrus 52:47 - Reality TV Shows 59:02 - Holding Ty Accountable

Happy 6th anniversary to one of the most decisive Star Wars movie ever made, The Last Jedi. This week on the Variant Cast, Trent and Ty rewatch the Rian Johnson Star Wars movie and give their thoughts on how it has effected the public perception of the franchise. Listen until the end to listen to our review of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off! Timecodes: ⁠00:00⁠ - Intro ⁠03:00⁠ - The Last Jedi Discussion ⁠48:20⁠ - Scott Pilgrim Takes Off ⁠01:02:50⁠ - Headlines ⁠01:06:40⁠ - Should you watch Blue Beetle?

Ty and Trent are back to talk about Scott Pilgrim vs the World and more on this weeks episode! Timecodes: 00:00 - Intro 00:40 - Scott Pilgrim Vs The World Review 15:50 - MCU Phase 5 Directors 28:20 - Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump 30:18 - Oppenheimer Review 35:19 - Ty's Beef with Interstellar 39:40 - Zack Snyder News 47:02 - Star Wars 55:15 - The Holdovers Review 1:01:25 - The Menu

Ty and Trent are back to talk about the mid season finale of Invincible Season 2 and more on this weeks episode! Stick around for the end where we do predict which movies of December will have a good and bad. Timecodes: 00:00 - Intro 01:36 - Invincible Mid Season Finale 25:37 - Avengers 5 Writer Change 35:12 - Netflix Gaming?? 38:29 - Lady Ballers 44:17 - Rot or Tot Predictions December 2023

Ty and Trent are in person this time talking about Trents review of Nope and James Gunn's new DCU! Stick around until the end to Trent's thoughts on The Killer and Leo. Sorry for any pain you endured because of the issues with Trent's mic!! Timecodes: 00:00 - Audio Disclaimer 00:23 - Intro 03:45 - The Marvels 05:06 - Fantastic Four Casting Rumors 11:10 - Avengers 5 Shake Up 15:04 - The Marvels Pt 2 16:41 - Superman Legacy 26:40 - Steven Yuen in the MCU? 31:45 - The Killer Review 34:22 - Leo (2023) Review 28:21 - Trent's Nope Review 45:45 - Outro

Ty and Trent are back to talk about the Loki Finale and The Marvels! Hear our non spoiler and spoiler thoughts in this week's episode! Stick around until the end to hear the best headlines of the week and listen to Ty's review of No Hard Feelings. Timecodes: 00:00 - Intro 01:15 - Invincible Season 2 Episode 2 10:18 - Loki Series Discussion 21:17 - The Marvels Non-Spoiler Review 28:24 - The Marvels Spoiler Review 51:02 - Headlines 58:50 - Ty watches No Hard Feelings 1:04:30 - Outro

Ty and Trent are back to talk about the Gen V finale and the Invincible Season 2 Premiere. We also talk about Loki, Midsommar and more on this weeks episode! Stick around for the end where we do some more games of Who Am I? Timecodes: 00:00 - Intro 01:53 - Gen V Final Episodes spoilers 16:00 - Invincible Season 2 Premiere 22:40 - Loki Discussion 35:15 - Trent's Spontaneous Review 35:15 - Trent watches Midsommar 40:00 - Box Office Talk 43:40 - Who Am I?

This week on the Variant Cast Ty and Trent talk about Loki's new episode, Gen V, and Ty's Review of Annihilation. We also do a tier ranker of cinematic universes where we go through our favorite franchises. Do the tier ranker here: https://tiermaker.com/create/cinematic-universes-16288139 Timecodes: 00:00 - Start 01:39 - Gen V Episodes 4 and 5 10:19 - Loki S2 E3 19:57 - Cinematic Universes Tier Ranker 57:57 - Ty's Annihilation Review 01:02:54 - What Have We Been Watching

0:00 - Start 1:55 - Loki Season 2 Premiere 5:45 - Loki Season 2 Premiere Spoilers 15:55 - Marvel TV Production Change 24:15 - Tales of the Tabloids 28:58 - A24 News 38:24 - Actors from other mediums 56:00 - What we've been watching

In the second episode of The Variant Cast, Ty and Trent talk about the first 3 episodes of Amazon's Gen V, and give a recap of all of the MCU movies so far. Tune in also for Ty's Bottoms review, and at the end we play a few games of "Who Am I?". Timecodes: 01:00 Gen V No Spoilers 15:00 Gen V Spoilers Talk 22:51 MCU Address 1:16:55 Ty's Bottoms Review 1:21:45 "Who Am I?"

In the premiere episode of The Variant Cast, Ty and Trent talk about the writers strike ending, and give their review of the new Bethesda game Starfield. At the end, we play 60 second movie review roulette, a Letterboxd list game, and "Who Am I?". Timecodes: 01:20 Writers Strike 13:57 Starfield Review 24:00 IP Movies 32:20 Letterboxd List Quiz 36:35 60 Second Movie Reviews 42:00 Who Am I?