Middlebrow Madness

Sorry for the radio silence, sports fans! Derek and Isabelle are here to bring you to up to speed with the goings-on in their lives, the ongoing pandemic, and gauge interest in a potential fan Discord (among other things). – See the bracket [SPOILERS AHEAD] Drop us a line: middlebrowmadness@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter: @middlebrowpod […]

Sports fans, I’m not going to lie to you: thins get real blue and real weird real fast in this on. If this pod had a rating, it’d be a hard R. It’s also an episode that swings wildly between the twin poles of “tangential bullshit” (left-of-centre fetishes and 90s rom-coms where one of the […]

We’re back, sports fans, and we’re ringing in the new year! Only we don’t make reference to this fact at all, since we recorded this some time ago. Our intrepid hosts experience both sides of the quality coin in this one, from baffling slogs to baffling successes. There’s also talk of Baz Luhrmann and chili […]

Our march towards the championship match chugs on, sports fans! Our intrepid hosts cover everything you’ve come to expect from the show: Sex! Metagaming! Personality quizzes! They also go deep on three of the funnest films they’ve covered so far on the pod, and, uh… one that is decidedly less fun. We’ll let you figure […]

Hard swerve! Isabelle takes the reins in this solo minisode where she elaborates on the concept of normative statements and how they apply in our criticism of the 2005 feature film V for Vendetta. NOTE: AT 4:39, Isabelle says “descriptive” when she meant “prescriptive.” – Motherfuckin’ show notes! 83: The Unchecked Conservative Ideology of US […]

It’s time to get into the spirit of giving, sports fans! Isabelle gives Derek a gift! The Middlebrow Madness will give you a bonus episode! We give some searing hot takes on some beloved classics! And best of all question mark?, we give you CWs for racism, CSA, and transphobia. It’s another classic episode of […]

Break time is over, sports fans! We actually talk a lot about music at the top of this one. (Tangents? On a podcast?! My word!) But fear not, we resume our dizzying climb to the top of the bracket in short order. This time around, we talk about the limitations of charm, the value of […]

Sports fans! We are 25% of the way up the bracket, and so we’re planting a marker and taking stock of how far we’ve come. We talk about out picks, mourn the fallen, pick some superlatives, and we answer some 100% genuine grain-fed grade-A viewer mail. Stray topics include the films of S. Craig Zahler, […]

We’re back (a dinosaur’s story), and we come bearing the gifts of CWs for sexual assault, rape, and CSA! But also, we’re talking about some great movies, including one of those slippery, queasy Awesome Movies Directed By a Reprehensible Person, and one movie that’s kind of a dud. Also, now we’re 25% of the way […]

We’re back on the bracket beat, sports fans, and we’re asking the tough questions! Does The Dark Knight Rises have a coherent ideology? What is the “normie” Andrei Tarkovsky movie? What’s the deep ecology read on WALL-E? Why were the 90s such a fecund period for stories about the falseness of reality? We answer all […]

A little late but no less great! That’s right, sports fans, we’re back with another classic episode of the pod, where we reaffirm our positions as heads of the Newman/Redford Booster Club, fawn over a certain pair of directorial brothers, and marvel at a film that smiles in the face of a cruel, uncaring world. […]

Three heavy hitters in this one, and a fourth one that’s… okay? Well, I guess it depends on who you ask. One of these movies is definitely not like the others. Also, this episode isn’t as blue as the last few, but there’s plenty of Boner Content to go around for the faithful. We also […]

Sports fans, I’ve got to to come clean: we are a couple of dirty, dirty birdies at the top of this one. Like real filthy. There’s also some mental health talk. But we do talk about movies, specifically about the influence of classical Hollywood film, mental illness in film, “middlebrow” as a qualifier, and navel-gazing […]

Holy cannoli, sports fans, did this one ever get away from us. Get a load of that runtime! 76 god damn minutes! Well, if you’re into weird tangents, you’re in luck: this has one stuff ranging from late-period classic rock to everyone’s least-favourite Canadian lobster man. But crucially, we get to talk about some movies! […]

This episode features three celebrated auteurs from three different countries, and a fourth guy who thought making The Godfather twice as long and ten time more impenetrable was a good idea. And also some digressive NSFW goofiness off the top because Isabelle will make “melt Derek’s brain at the top of the show” a bit […]

That’s right, sports fans, it’s time to **checks index card** blaze ya dead homie?! Wait, hold on, I got my cards mixed up. It’s actually for **checks new index card** a crash course in how to properly pronounce the name of a French-Canadian auteur??? I thought this was a movie podcast! I mean, Isabelle and […]

We’re back after a short hiatus, and let me tell you, this episode has everything. Dramatic readings! Our first wild card movie! Ill-advised usage of internet slang by a man in his thirties! Oh, and thoughtful considerations regarding trauma, faith, and the moving image. CW: some saucy shit in the front, and Nazi shit in […]

Derek and Michelle are back in town and ready to send two more movies to the second round. This time around, our intrepid hosts consider two of the best close-up movies of all time, a no-frills war picture from the 50s, and a movie that, frankly, shouldn’t even be on this list. Also, Michelle keeps […]

Who’s ready to get deeply uncomfortable? What do the Bracket Gods have in store for us this time. Well, uh, cringe-inducing drama, the spectre of the Confederacy, and 21st century terror! Yeah, baby! But the movies are pretty good, and the breakdowns are too. Also Derek forgets the word “harbour,” so that’s pretty funny. One […]

This one is weirdly suicide-heavy, so maybe know that going in? Another podcast means another four contenders step up to the plate! Our long march to the finals continues as we take our first trip to India (and it is a doozy), talk about how cool Bogey is, and take sides in the eternal Keaton/Chaplin […]