62. Total Cinema, Baby: Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Mission Impossible

Welcome to Total Cinema, Baby, a Not Quite Great Books production! Danielle and John are BACK recounting their epic weekend partaking in the Barbenheimer cinema experience, and adding the latest Mission: Impossible to the mix for good measure. Join your hosts as they reunite to take in the cinema event of the summer. They set the scenes of their viewing experiences and the Big Picture-inspired origins of “Total Cinema, Baby” before diving into their takes on all three films. Keep in mind, this is a spoiler-filled podcast! First, they tackle Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (15:49), working through their takes, favorite jokes and scenes, and touching on what didn’t quite land. Then, they move on to the spectacle of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (52:59). They consider some of the film’s criticisms, offer analyses of the best performances, and talk about what scenes have stayed with each. John and Danielle then turn to the ridiculousness of Mission:Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 (1:18:08), taking in the stunts, being in on the joke, and mostly, Tom Cruise running montages. This is a wild ride of an episode that includes Danielle dragging John for his Marvel takes (on a non-MCU podcast!?), brainstorming which scenes would hit best in Barbie-form (and vice versa), and of course, ends a trip into the Cave. Enjoy!

This podcast was recorded during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn’t exist. 

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay