44 episodes
Middlebrow Madness Isabelle Arf and Derek Godin
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- TV & Film
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4.7 • 9 Ratings
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Isabelle Arf and Derek Godin use the tried and true method of the single-elimination bracket to find out which movie from the IMDb Top 250 is the best one.
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Tom Hanks Strikes Again
Recorded on 24 November 2023
Sports fans, Isabelle brought the thunder with her reading this week, which threatened to swallow this episode whole, so to speak. But as all episodes must, we eventually get to the matter at hand, which in this case includes one of the most whiplash-inducing matchups in the bracket thus far. We also have some metagaming, a lot of fawning over the classics, and a short discussion of what we mean when we call something "good." In short, another classic episode!
This week's matchups:
Toy Story v. The Deer Hunter
Casablanca v. Barry Lyndon
See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD]
Drop us a line: middlebrowmadness@gmail.com
Follow the show on Twitter: @middlebrowpod
Follow Isabelle on Bluesky: @lilieswithout
Check out Derek's stuff at derekgodin.com
Join the Middlebrow Madness Discord -
I Think We Go to Different Libraries
Recorded on 15 September 2023
Well that goofball Derek up and forgot to upload the new episode last week, so can chastise him via your medium of choice. Sorry about that! But here it is, one week late but no worse for wear.
Sports fans, we invite you to take a trip back in time with us, a trip back to the fall of 2023, where your intrepid hosts dusted off their microphones and open-source audio software and recorded an episode of this very podcast for the first time in over two years. This is worth noting because we make a few references that place it in that time span (I think Derek literally refers to "2023" as the present within the opening five minutes). It's an episode full of hot takes, celebrity investment regrets, and more skimming the plot of the movies we're covering that usual (we will get better at this, I promise). We also disparage a bunch of sacred cows and fawn over one of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching movies of all time. In short, another classic episode!
This week's matchups:
Some Like It Hot v. On the Waterfront
Forrest Gump v. Paris, Texas
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See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD]
Drop us a line: middlebrowmadness@gmail.com
Follow the show on Twitter: @middlebrowpod
Follow Isabelle on Bluesky: @lilieswithout
Check out Derek's stuff at derekgodin.com
Join the Middlebrow Madness Discord -
An Oasis Appears in the Desert; It's One of Isabelle's Fucking Things
tap tap Is this thing on?
Your eyes and ears do not deceive you, sports fans! We are back from our long hibernation, but instead of overwhelming you with takes so hot they break the Scoville scale, our intrepid hosts return with a super-sized life update spectacular, filling you in on the details of what exactly they've been doing with their lives since mid-2021. Spoiler alert: a lot of hobbies were indulged in and a lot of media was consumed. Derek and Isabelle tell stories, recommend art, and go off on tangents. It's like we never left!
The quest for the Greatest Movie of All Time* resumes March 12th.
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See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD]
Drop us a line: middlebrowmadness@gmail.com
Follow the show on Twitter: @middlebrowpod
Follow Isabelle on Bluesky: @lilieswithout
Check out Derek's stuff at derekgodin.com
Join the Middlebrow Madness Discord -
Randy Quaid Pride Flag
Now I'm not one for boasting, sports fans, but this one is a corker. We have an instant-classic opening bit, a huge upset (wink), and an all-time difficult opening round matchup pitting two masterpieces that have a surprising amount in common despite the 75 years that separate them. Also Isabelle makes her co-host laugh the hardest he ever laughs, and Derek does a dramatic reading of an old film review of his. In short, another classic episode!
This week's matchups:
Reservoir Dogs v. The Bandit
The Great Dictator v. Mad Max: Fury Road
NOTE: During our discussion on The Great Dictator, Isabelle says that in Nazi Germany "Jewish people were fine with the Nazis" when she meant to say "The Nazis were fine with Jewish people." As ever, the context of the episode clarifies this. We trust your intelligence, dear listener, but we thought we'd point it out anyways just so we're crystal clear.
Kick a few bucks Palestine's way:
iF Charity
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD]
Drop us a line: middlebrowmadness@gmail.com
Follow the show on Twitter: @middlebrowpod
Follow Isabelle on Twitter: @spacejamfan
Follow Derek on Twitter: @derek_g
Join the Middlebrow Madness Discord -
It Has Nutrients
NOTE: This episode contains discussions of suicide.
Sometimes the Universe gives you a gift, and sometimes that gift is a poisoned chalice. Sports fans, I have to tell you, our second matchup in this episode has no business happening in Round 1. But the Bracket Gods are capricious, and they will do as they please. In between discussing four very good-to-masterful movies, our intrepid hosts take the time to talk about Oddworld, arena football, #WhiteBoySummer, bar bands, and noted Isabelle reclamation project, Renny Harlin. There's even metagaming in this one.; In short, another classic episode!
This week's matchups:
The Apartment v. Mission: Impossible — Fallout
Star Wars v. Jaws
See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD]
Drop us a line: middlebrowmadness@gmail.com
Follow the show on Twitter: @middlebrowpod
Follow Isabelle on Twitter: @spacejamfan
Follow Derek on Twitter: @derek_g
Join the Middlebrow Madness Discord -
We're Gonna Cancel Abraham Lincoln
Sports fans, as we being a-tumblin' down towards the end of round one, we encounter in these matchups a couple of mirrored pairs. We have two movies that our intrepid hosts revisit for the first time in a long time, and two masterpieces of their form, each close to one host's heart. Who will gracefully bow out? Who will live another day to possibly become the Greatest Movie of All Time*? What the f**k is up with Cluck Klosterman? The answer to these questions, dear listener, is yes.
This week's matchups:
Amélie v. Shutter Island
Raiders of the Lost Ark vs. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Orson Welles vs. John Landis | @JFrankensteiner on Twitter
See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD]
Drop us a line: middlebrowmadness@gmail.com
Follow the show on Twitter: @middlebrowpod
Follow Isabelle on Twitter: @spacejamfan
Follow Derek on Twitter: @derek_g
Join the Middlebrow Madness Discord
Customer Reviews
Middlebrow madness, the series ( up to now)!
This is a discussion series which usually makes me watch deeper into movies than I ever have before. Typically movies are like art, I don’t know much but I know what I like.
I defer to these two for the in-depth minutiae that I have no energy to unearth. My digging time is spent with the political battle between humanity and Insanity.
This road has become a favorite trail for me to take but there are 3 points I need to make.
1) Derek, under no circumstances is “Two Lane Blacktop” to be referred to as a good movie even as it relates to engines. “Grand Prix” is what you should reference when comparing the F1 movie “RUSH” motor photography.
2) Isabelle, The Stargate sequence in 2001 a space “Oddity” is 4:57 of wasted film, Additionally, the first Star Trek movie has a scene where the Enterprise’s approach to V’ger’s core, lasts as long as one would think crossing 82 Astronomical Units (82x93million miles), in a Yugo might take. Finally I don’t understand how HAL didn’t even get a best actor nomination, he ruled!
Combine the 2 and you now understand why movies are now shot and stored digitally. there is a finite limit to how much celluloid exists and how much this population actually cares or is willing to waste.
3)Both of you! I liked “3 billboards...”. Yes it’s confused by its attempt to glean any moral messages however it is no more confused than “Machete Kills” which I accept is more fun to watch.
Isabelle, you often make my head hurt. I love you to death but if you’re gonna continue your sex life on air, please send me a powerful jar of medical marijuana. Derek, you hang around a bad crowd but you’re an adult!
Stay happy, watch movies!
Fun hosts, fun premise.
I began listening because I think the hosts are enjoyable people with interesting and informed perspectives, but I've also found this podcast to be genuinely useful as I've always avoided what actually makes up the Top 250 bro-list (from what I understand none are directed by women). This gives me a chance to analyze some of the gems that are buried within and build a deeper understanding of film history. And it's simply a fun premise.
now that’s a podcast!
i am going to destroy marc maron
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