It's the superhero movie of the century (until the next one!) and Anthony and Andrew and dusting off the mics to tackle Marvel's The Avengers's: Infinity War! Can anything stop the Grimace (from winning a best actor Oscar?) Would this all be better as a high-end tv show on some kind of exclusive Marvel app? How does E.T. smell? How awesome is that Hawkeye was jettisoned from this movie!? Spoilers galore! But it's been out for like a month now, so y'know. We're back, moving to an intermittent schedule, for Infinity War!  

No Time For Heroics

Episode 101 - Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

We've not been around for a while. Here's why! We talk about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the good, the bad, and the fan reaction that killed Andrew's interest in having a fan reaction. And as such, we take a crack at it too. Is Last Jedi an deep cut into Star Wars lore that elevates the series? Is it a victim of conservative conspiracy? Or is it just an okay movie with some structural problems?

ONE SHOT: Last Jedi and the Death of Fan Criticism

Holy centennial, Birdman! I mean, holy centennial. Birdman! For our 100th episode, we take on the only superhero movie ever to win Best Picture, 2014's Birdman, or (The Unexpected Virtue Ignorance). Is there anything objectively more important about "high-art" theatre compared to "low-art" blockbusters? What is the relationship between love and truth? Is Michael Keaton actually just a real superhero pretending to be an actor this whole time? Join us for our 100th episode special edition two-fisted, power-packed, knock down, drag out, cosmic collection of critical theory engaging with the metatext of the film as both mimesis and self-justified cultural artifact. With a Birdman in it.

Episode 100 - Birdman (2014)

Just by way of a trigger warning, we have a pretty frank discussion of rape in movies for a bit here. Which is basically what this dark, dark movie was about, so you probably knew that going in, but just to be aware. It's Halloween, and we finally get to do the halloweeniest request we've ever got, and do the 1994iest superhero movie of all, The Crow! How does this movie avoid the Hellboy pit with judicious use of a creepy sister? Is the crow The Crow, or is it the guy? Why is Devil's Night getting so commercial? ISN'T THERE ANY ONE... WHO KNOWS WHAT DEVIL'S NIGHT IS ALL ABOUT? Also, how many Critters make up a Ghoulie? We'll find out today?

Episode 99 - The Crow (1994)

Awesome! Bodacious! Podcastic! We watched the most underrated comic book movie of all time, 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Is April actually a terrible reporter? Why the hell are they throwing their bloodied, comatose brother head first into a half-filled bathtub? How does Splinter both teach his family mindfulness and love, and then WEAPONIZE this to crush their enemies? BONUS! Andrew reveals possibly the most embarrassing secret of his childhood. Classic pod!

Episode 98 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

WHO ARE/IS MIGHTY ORBOTS!? Andrew has no idea, he's never heard of this. But one of our listeners requested it, so we're diving into this extremely frenetic, bizarre, but immaculately rendered 80s cartoon. Does putting on a change of clothes actually transform you into their purpose? What are the grammatical logistics behind plural names used for singular beings? Is this cartoon just a secret backdoor Scientology tract? PLUS! Is this even a superhero thing, and if so are we opening a door to basically every 80s cartoon ever? We'll find out today!

Episode 97 - Mighty Orbots (1984)

We're rocking it old (pre)school and talking about a celebrated trio of Sesame Street superheroes! Does the vigilantism of Super Grover do more harm to the fabric of society than good? Is Captain Vegetable secretly in the pocket of Big Veg? Does Teeny Little Super Guy have a secret superpower in his killer soundtrack? Why the hell doesn't Anthony like Pigs in Space!? Captain Vegetable has suggested a more streamlined test to see if someone is a superhero: will they eat a carrot? Man, this has seriously streamlined our process going forward.

Episode 96 - Sesame Street Superheroes (1974- 1989)

By listener request, this week we take on the neo-pulp serial/cg proof of concept picture Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow! Is this a backdoor Crimson Skies movie? What does this movie have in common with Nancy comic strips in terms of using archetypal symbols to communicate? Why is Jude Law so immaculately, tortuously handsome? If Hollywood accepts cool pitches like this on their face, will we be able to get a producer on our new Sky-Captain-Inspired blaxploitation flick 'Grainy and Brown"? All this, and some crash-course knowledge bombs about Ancient Hebrew and plate tectonics! Watch how fast this goes off the rails as we get deeply distracted talking about Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow!

Episode 95 - Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

Enough of these dreary, grimdark Supermen! Let's go back to the carefree days of 1975 to a sprightly supermusical, featuring singing gangsters, colour(less) sets, and... Superman committing suicide? How close is Perry White's musical newsroom to Andrew's actual newroom? (pretty close) Why doesn't anyone like Robert Altman's Popeye? Is this musical setting Superman up as an opposing force to "the American way"? What the hell is the difference between tights and leggings? Does the phenomenological study of Superman as a concept make for compelling podcasting? We'll find out today, in the musical brought to you by the guys that wrote the second draft for the Christopher Reeve Superman! PS: That's not that draft they went with.

Episode 94 - It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman: The Musical (1975)

Well, you should just call us a bunch of little Brian Setzer Orchestras cause it looks like we're bringing back swing! Eh, that was a pretty belaboured metaphor. But not as belaboured as whatever's going on in the much-loathed Sam Raimi-headed goulash of a movie: Spider-Man 3. How much of Sandman's sand can you replace and have him still be Sandman? Why the hell do we have an alien conveniently crashing right next to the only superhero in New York instead of using the previously established astronaut to go and get it? What is the secret of notable polymath James Franco? Are Manhattan subway tracks really built like the Temple of Doom minecarts? What does everyone in New York assume that this new evil dude who's showed up is also Spider-man, but Venom isn't? There might be a good movie hidden under here! No really, like deep under here. And you've got to change a bunch. Also some light recasting. Look, we're trying to be on the bright side here, okay?

Episode 93 - Spider-Man 3 (2007)

With the Hawthorns MIA, Anthony has staged a coup and taken the throne for himself! Awesome! Machinatious! Nathan Murphy comes on the show to help pick apart Game of Thrones through the No Time for Heroics lens. Is there a hero in this show? What does the concept of heroism mean in a show with so many villains and shades of grey?  Download this show, stick it in you podcasting program, but be careful when you his play, because have it on good authority that when you play, you win or you die. So you're all winner in our books! Maaaaybeeee.

ONE SHOT: Game of Thrones - Heroism in a World with No Heroes

It's Jack Kirby's 100th birthday, and despite being one of the most prolific and influential artists of the 20th century,  there are very few movies based on his work. Unless you count Abraxas, Star Wars, the upcoming Justice League and the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.  So we took a look at a movie that was a secret adaptation of one of his most beloved and obtuse creations, the Fourth World, in the 1987 oddly un-he-man-ish He-Man movie, Masters of the Universe! What to people eat on Eternia? Where are all the people in this town they're in? Why isn't Frank Langella getting an Oscar for this Skeletor performance? C'mon, can you imagine "And the Oscar goes to Skeletor?" The WORLD would change. Also, check out the Hall of Great Justice for some Jack Kirby centennial reading!

Episode 92 - Masters of the Universe (1987)

Everyday we're out there making podcasts (woo hoo) and this particular one is about one of the most awkward-to-pretend-to-be-at-recess superheroes of them all, Gizmoduck! He of the popular 80s cartoon Ducktales (woo hoo). What is the ethnic history of a quasi-multicultural society in a city called Duckberg ruled by a duck ethnic elite? What exactly is the purpose of money in this universe of swimming, skiing and sunbathing in cash? What's a blatherskite? Does Ducktales (woo hoo) have the greatest television theme song of all time? What else is in the running? We'll find out today in this turducken of cartoon super-powered adventurrrrrrrre!

Episode 91 - Ducktales: The Gizmoduck Saga (1989)

Superheroes are often reporters, or at least giving themselves a position to receive signals of distress. So why not an advice column? Enter Poochie! No, not that Poochie. 80s Poochie! Is there any technical difference between Poochie and Batman or Iron Man? Where does Poochie's C-3PO droid get its human suit? How many other superheroes have their own advice column anyway? Someone out there was presented with a stuffed toy of a pink and white cartoon dog and thought "Doc Savage". And I want to hug this person. It's Poochie time!

Episode 90 - Poochie (1984)

Once upon a time in the '60s, two cult properties arose that would command huge, obsessive fanbases for decades to come. Turn that 6 upside down, and they finally meet, at the height of the '90s speculator comics market, in 1996's highly improbable crossover Star Trek/X-Men! What is Andrew's dark and extremely embarrassing history as a Trekie? Is it possible that the conceit of this crossover actually makes a certain amount of storytelling sense? How close did Ainsley come to having Worf for a dad? PLUS! X-Men in July concludes as Anthony rebuilds X-Men: Apocalypse from the ground up, and Andrew announces who you the listeners picked to be his favorite X-Man!

Episode 89 - Star Trek/X-Men (1996)

A podcast about superhero movies, and some not-so-super hero movies. A funny, critical look at heroic fiction on screen from Republic serials to Imax blockbusters. If tights, capes, and close reads of pop culture are your thing, you're in the right place.

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No Time For Heroics

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