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Defending Your Life

“I always read that you had to be okay with yourself first before you could be okay with another person. Now, I feel okay with you, but I don’t know how okay I was before I met you, so maybe you’re making me okay." “You’re not that okay.” “Oh, okay.”

It’s time for another Listener’s Choice episode! For this round, listener Jeremy Wickett was chosen and gave us Albert Brooks’ 1991 film Defending Your Life to discuss. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we talk about Brooks’ movie. We talk with Wickett about why he likes the movie and what made him pick this film as the one he wanted to hear us cover on the show. We discuss our own opinions about the film, look at some of the problems it has, and, even though neither of us ended up loving it like Wickett does, look at what works. We chat about Brooks, the actor, and what he brings to the role, as well as a bit about his background in comedy and, more specifically, with SNL. And we look at the rest of the cast, including the brilliant Meryl Streep, Rip Torn, Buck Henry, Lee Grant and even Shirley MacLaine. It’s an interesting concept of a film that never completely worked for us, but one we have a great time discussing. Tune in!

Film Sundries

A show about movies and how they connect.

When the movie ends, our conversation begins. We love movies. We’ve been talking about them, one movie a week, since 2011. It’s a lot of movies, that’s true, but we’re passionate about origins and performance, directors and actors, themes and genres, and so much more. So join the community and let’s hear about your favorite movies, too.
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