Internet Archives - chimesfreedom

Show Me the Meaning! (Podcast Review)

The podcast Show Me the Meaning! does a wonderful job of delving into philosophical questions behind some of our favorite films. The podcast’s enjoyable focus and the hosts’ humor help Show Me the Meaning! stand out in a crowded podcast field.

A group of comedians, academics, and filmmakers at Wisecrack come together for each episode. They include Jared Bauer, Austin Hayden Smidt, Claire Pickard, Helen Floersh, and Ryan Hailey.

Bauer helps keep things moving while allowing for the right balance of friendly banter and focused discussion. Like other most enjoyable group podcasts, the hosts make you feel a part of the discussion, not like you are an outsider listening to other people’s inside jokes. And the conversations welcome and inform you without talking down to you.

Each episode focuses on a recent or classic movie, delving into the story and the meaning and philosophical questions raised in the film. But it is not a dry academic exercise. The hosts take you on a fun journey, full of humor and insight. It is one of the rare movie podcasts where you finish actually knowing more than when you started.

Show Me the Meaning is available at Wisecrack’s website or wherever you get your podcasts, including iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play (which I use). If you watched the recent Netflix Black Mirror movie Bandersnatch and wonder if you worked through all of the endings and what the interactive movie meant, there’s a good episode about the movie on Show Me the Meaning. Some other episodes I have especially enjoyed including their examination of The Dark Knight, Starship Troopers, Idiocracy, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and each of the Matrix films.

Wisecrack has video recorded some of the episodes and posted them on YouTube. Below is their take on the Coen Brothers film Fargo.

Make sure to check out all their Show Me the Meaning! podcasts. Start out with the movies that most interest you and go from there.

What is your favorite movie podcast? Leave your two cents in the comments.

Top 10 Coen Brothers Movies

What Is the Murder Ballad That Holly Hunter Sings to Nathan Jr. in “Raising Arizona”?

When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (Short Review)

Trailer for Coen Brothers’ Film: “Hail, Caesar!”

How Does “Inside Llewyn Davis” Rank In the Coen Brothers Canon? (short review)

( Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Chimesfreedom Has a New Look!

If you are wondering why Chimesfreedom does not look like it used to appear, we have updated the website with a new design. Since the blog was launched more than five years ago, more and more people have turned to reading Chimesfreedom on devices besides computer screens. So, it became time to update the website to make it more friendly for reading on mobile devices.

Our overall goal remains to keep the layout simple so that our readers may easily focus on the content of the articles. In that spirit, we tried to keep much of the original layout for ease of reading (and the Statue of Liberty is still around in various forms), but we hope the redesign benefits all of our readers as we continue to strive to deliver interesting articles.

So, wherever you read Chimesfreedom, we hope you like the new look, but let us know if you encounter any problems with the new design.

10 Years of YouTube

Remember a decade ago when you used to get so much more work done than you do today? Then along came YouTube and your productivity sharply dropped. In February 2015, YouTube turns ten years old, and what better way to celebrate the last decade than to remember all those time-wasting viral videos.

So, The Daily Conversation has put together a YouTube supercut to remind us of those epic moments we watched on our computers. Some moments were world-changing, while others were just plain fun. Check it out.

What is your favorite YouTube viral video? Leave your two cents in the comments.

“Did You Ever Grow Anything in the Garden of Your Mind?”

Goth Meets Opera on America’s Got Talent

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

“Serial” Parodies from Funny or Die and SNL

I recently finished listening to the hit podcast series Serial. Like many I was entertained by the examination of the case involving the murder of Hae Min Lee and the prosecution of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed. Even while Serial host Sarah Koenig did an excellent job entertaining me, I eventually felt that without any big reveal that the case was not that unique and probably similar to many other cases that depend on the testimony of one prosecution witness. Still, I will be looking forward to season two.

Koenig’s presentation was gripping, as the listener went along on her journey struggling with the case. But her style also made the show ripe for parody. Funny or Die addressed the pressure on Koenig to come up with a resolution for her final episode. Check out the video starring Michaela Watkins as Koenig.

But my favorite parody of Serial, and one of the funniest bits from this season’s Saturday Night Live, was the SNL version of Serial starring Cecily Strong as Koenig. The segment captures what is both engrossing about Serial and somewhat annoying, as she investigates the case of a man who reportedly visits every house in the world in one night.

What did you think of “Serial”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

Saturday Night Live Performers Cracking Up

Act One: Fred Armisen as Ira Glass

Funny Video of the Week: The Sopranos Diaries

Paul McCartney Joins Springsteen for “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”

“I Am Chris Farley” Trailer

The Terminator Pranks Fans

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Harry Shearer’s New Series on Richard Nixon

Actor Harry Shearer, famous for his work in This Is Spinal Tap, Saturday Night Live, and The Simpsons, is tackling a new character with his YouTube mini-series, former president Richard M. Nixon. In the new series, entitled Nixon’s the One, Shearer portrays Nixon by following transcripts of actual audio recordings of Nixon. The results are both illuminating and funny.

Shearer and Nixon scholar and author Stanley Kutler listened to Nixon recordings to find segments that reveal Nixon’s everyday life. Shearer explained to CBS that he always felt that portrayals of Nixon missed something about the man. Shearer sees him as “this strange, self-torturing, self-destroying guy who was, in my point of view, darkly comic.” These new episodes attempt to capture that tragic and comic part of Nixon.

This segment of Nixon’s the One gives a hidden-camera view of Nixon talking to Henry Kissinger about John F. Kennedy.

One episode captures Nixon’s conversations as he prepares to give his speech to the nation announcing his resignation. As Nixon engages the reporters in small talk as he prepares to resign, the result is funny but also heartbreaking. Certainly, it captures the loneliness of Nixon at that moment. .

It should not be too surprising that the man who does the voice of Mr. Burns would help us see another side of President Nixon. Check out other segments of Nixon’s the One on YouTube. If you want to compare the resignation video to the real thing, see below.