Mission Creep

Jan 18 2025 52 ep. 77 mins
Mission Creep Podcast artwork

A movies podcast that wanders

  TV & Film
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53. Groundhog Day Redux, with Jay Plasman, Winston Thompson, and Andy Karlson

Jan 18 2025 92 mins  
If time travel gives the traveler God-like knowledge, what does that mean for the status of their relations to others in the world? Is it even possible for non-coercive relationality to exist in such a state? Andie MacDowell's slap montage wants to have it both ways. In this essay, I will...

52. Joyride (2001), with Annie Schultz and Susan Haarman

Dec 12 2024 62 mins  
Paul Walker, Steve Zahn, Leelee Sobieski, a cross-country road trip, and a CB-radio prank. What could go wrong? This movie attempts to answer that question. Or perhaps, this movie IS an answer to that question. I guess it depends on whether we know what a movie is.

51. Back to the Future, Part III (1990), with Winston Thompson and Andy Karlson

Nov 27 2024 76 mins  
On third thought, do we even like Robert Zemeckis movies?

50. Back to the Future, Part II (1989), with Winston Thompson and Andy Karlson

Nov 01 2024 85 mins  
Get in, loser. We're going to the future, and then the past, and then the nightmare bizarro present, and then the past again, and then -- if all goes well -- the present we can truly desire.

49. Back to the Future (1985), with Andy Karlson and Winston Thompson

Oct 16 2024 77 mins  
What does it mean to be tardy when you've got a time machine? What does it say about the nature of time and human life that the unfolding of future events really only seems to depend on a couple key moments? What kind of recursive weirdness is involved in Marty parenting his own parents?

48. The Craft (1996), with Annie Schultz and Susan Haarman

Oct 04 2024 62 mins  
It is a whole different kind of nostalgia at work here, and no one says it better than Annie: "1996: when racism is casual and suicide attempts are punk rock." Do we accidentally deviate for a moment and discuss Catholic high schools, nuns-as-teachers, underpaid and unrecognized women's labor, and school vouchers? We sure do!

47. Top Gun (1986) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022), with Stephen Dyson and Jeff Dudas

Aug 27 2024 71 mins  
Stephen Dyson and Jeff Dudas, hosts of the UConn Popcast, join us to talk about whether there is any redemption (in all the senses) for Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, whether Glen Powell's "Hangman" is supposed to be a reincarnation of Iceman or of Maverick, what Jennifer Connolly's Penny Benjamin has to teach Maverick, and -- ultimately -- whether it's p

46. Hit Man (2024), with Andy Karlson and Winston Thompson

Aug 02 2024 90 mins  
When a new Linklater comes out, we obviously have to drop everything and talk about it. The question that really kicks off this conversation comes from Andy: Is this a Richard Linklater movie?

45. Rocky (1976) and Rambo (1982), with Andy Smarick

Jul 13 2024 100 mins  
In the first installment of a short miniseries within the pod, Andy Smarick helps us think through what the original Rocky and Rambo have in common as future icons of 80s American cinema (and beyond). Both of the titular characters are symbolic of lives irresponsibly wasted -- but by different forces, and in different ways, and with different possibilities for redemption.

44. Edge of Tomorrow (2014), with Winston Thompson and Andy Karlson

Jun 10 2024 100 mins  
Winston and Andy are back, back again, to talk about the Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt vehicle "Edge of Tomorrow." What are the ethics of consent in a time-loop situation? What does "resetting the day" mean for the one who carries the memories with them? What does it mean to be self-interested rather than selfish? Is this movie simply satisfying an audience desire