The Middle of Culture #27 - Logan
Our winter of X-content is coming quickly to a close with the penultimate movie, 2017s Logan. Both Eden and I were a bit nervous to watch this one again. We have fond memories of it being very good, but that was 5+ years ago. Does it hold up to further scrutiny? Or should we have lived with our fond memories and left it at that? Take a listen with us and you'll find out.
The Middle of Culture #26 - Tabletop Role Playing Games
This week both Eden and I felt a bit low energy, so we went with a topic that didn't require too much energy or effort to prepare for. And, perhaps a little surprisingly, at least to me, it turned into a really fun and interesting discussion about tabletop role playing games. Join us as we discuss our journey with TTRPGs as well as our thoughts about some recent announcements about the, by far, biggest TTRPG out there.
The Middle of Culture #25 - X-Men: Apocalypse
Folks, this has been a real roller coaster. There have been highs, and there have been lows, but this week, I am pretty sure we have hit the very lowest low so far. Join Eden and I as we discuss X-Men: Apocalypse. Heads up, this movie is really, really bad. But the conversation was pretty dang good.
The Middle of Culture #24 - Year End Wrap Up
It should have been another entry in our Winter of Excontent. But alas, life just kicked me hard. In the balls. So, we are just sort of free wheeling it this week, with an extemporaneous discussion of some of our favorite media of the year, including music, books, movies and games.
The Middle of Culture #23 - NaNoWriMo 2022
This episode was a little different. Generally, we talk about the media and entertainment we have been consuming. However, today we wanted to talk about our efforts at creating media of our own. November is known as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and has been for about the last 25 years. Independently, turns out Eden and I both decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. We thought it would be worthwhile to spend some time talking about our experiences in trying to write a 50,000 word short novel in one month's time.
The Middle of Culture #22 - X-Men Days of Future Past
The Summer of X has become the Fall of X, or even the Winter, depending on where you live. This week we talk a bit about games, music and then dive into the latest X movie, Days of Future Past. We discuss its merits and Peter discusses that, despite those merits, he really, really doesn't like this movie. Or the holiday season. He has stress and needs to manage it better.
The Middle of Culture #21 - Mechathon
As children of the 80s, the entertainment of that time has always been highly influential for both myself and Eden. One of those influences is that of giant robots. Yes, that's right folks, this week we are ranking, reviewing, and discussing a handful of giant robots over the years. But not just any robots, these are all Mecha, robots controlled by humans. Join us as we walk down memory lane and rank these robots.
The Middle of Culture #20 - The Wolverine
The Summer of X is now the Fall of X officially as temperatures cool off and we follow The Wolverine to Japan. Eden and I discuss what we are in to these days, and then dive into James Mangold's first movie centered on good old Logan.
The Middle of Culture #19 - Elf Quest and the Art of Reading Comics
Over the course of our lives, we all have opportunities to develop certain skills. Eden and I have both spent many years honing some of those skills. Yet they have, in some cases, been in very different areas, as I so painfully discovered in trying to read over 700 pages of Elf Quest comics in a few weeks. Join us as we discuss the first half of volume 1 of the classic Elf Quest comic, and reflect on how reading comics is very different than much of the other reading we do in a day.
The Middle of Culture #18 - X-Men First Class
Everyone is a fan of something. Or often many things. But do we define ourselves and our personalities by our fandoms? If so, perhaps we should find meaning in something more real. Because that seems to be when fandom becomes toxic. This week we discuss toxic fandom, in the setting of the recent backlash of The Rings of Power. And then, we just may be grateful that Eden and I don't define ourselves by our X-Men fandom, because First Class left us both wanting.
The Middle of Culture #17 - Simulator Games
These days, you can find a video game for almost anything. A longstanding, but increasingly broad category of games are those that fall under the "simulation" genre. There are classics, like SimCity and The Sims, that almost everyone knows about. But what about more niche sim games? Euro Truck Simulator, Farming Simulator, Lawn Mower Simulator, and the game that kicked off today's topic, Power Wash Simulator, are all entries in an increasingly diverse genre. We take a look at sim games and our thoughts after spending some time washing the heck out of some things together in co-op.
The Middle of Culture #16 - X-Men Origins: Wolverine
This week the Summer of X returns with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. We remembered it wasn't a great movie. Critically it did worse than the previous installments in the series. So, we knew what we were getting into, didn't we? No. No, we did not. Nothing prepared us for the experience that was revisiting this movie. I won't say more though. Just listen and hopefully you will find yourself laughing along as we could barely contain our own laughter. We also briefly talk about our thoughts on episode 1 of She Hulk: Attorney At Law, and we reflect on the sad and sorry state that is the DC movie properties. This one was a trip.
The Middle of Culture #15 - Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
War. War never changes. And neither does the world after an apocalypse! Or at least that is how it appears in much of post-apocalyptic fiction. That's on the docket this week, after a (what was going to be) brief recap of some recent Marvel Studios topics. First, we talk about _Thor Love and Thunder_, some final thoughts on the recently wrapped up _Ms. Marvel_, and finish out our Marvel talk with reactions to the _Black Panther: Wakanda Forever_ trailer. Eden then takes us through the post-apocalypse, framed through the _Fallout_ games, as we discuss fiction after the end of the world.
The Middle of Culture - Summer Update
Life sometimes gets in the way. And that happened to us this week. Between travel and being away from home we weren't able to put together and episode that would meet the quality we expect from ourselves. But we will be back in 2 weeks with a great topic courtesy of Eden!
The Middle of Culture #14 - X-Men: the Last Stand
A wet fart. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. Those two comments pretty much sum up our thoughts about X-Men: The Last Stand. Bad, but not bad enough to be fun, this was a movie that just fell flat in so many ways. It messed with the mythos of the X-Men in incomprehensible and stupid ways, it treated many of its characters very poorly, and is just a dud all the way around. But, it was a lot of fun to talk about. Hopefully, it is fun to listen to us talk about it as well.
The Middle of Culture #13 - A Bride’s Story
Eden loves it, Peter had never even heard of it. Given Eden's love of the book, the siblings decided to read (or re-read) A Bride's Story. Come with us as we discuss this modern work of art and dive into our thoughts and emotions that this book took us on. But here is the most important part: this is a truly wonderful piece of art that everyone deserves to experience.
The Middle of Culture #12 - X2 X-Men United
Some have suggested X2 is the best of the X-Men movies. Braeden and Peter decide to discuss that and put that to the test, watching this hot on the heels of revisiting the original X-Men. And we both agree, higher highs, but trying to cram too much into its run time. Stop by as we discuss this next installment of The Summer of X.
The Middle of Culture #11 - Shall Machines Divide the Earth
Far flung humanity, a “winner-takes-all” battle with humans and AI teamed up, yet orchestrated by other AI, and lesbian sex all combine to make for a very interesting novella from Thai author Benjanun Sriduangkaew. Braeden is a fan, Peter was unfamiliar until now, and together they discuss this third installment in The Machine Mandate series.
The Middle of Culture #10 - X-MEN (2000)
Comic book movies have come a long way in the last few decades. Before the turn of the century, they were often not very good, nor taken seriously. There were exceptions, of course. But X-Men is often included in that group of comic book movies that made great strides to legitimize the genre. Does it hold up though? We decide to jump back in time and see if it does.
The Middle of Culture #9 - MCU Bracketology
There are over 30 entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We bracket them, stack them, let them duke it out, and end up with a singular victor. And the winner just might surprise you. I know it did me.