July 20, 2015
EP. 80 — Horrifying Things Implied By Famous Movies
Think about every time a movie villain asks the hero something like, “you and what army?” You know what happens next: a door opens, a roof explodes, or the camera pushes out the window to show, you guessed it, our hero’s army. Maybe it’s the rest of the Avengers, maybe an actual army, or maybe just our hero’s muscle.
It’s a clever reveal in the moment, but think about it realistically. Does that mean if Tony Stark is chatting with Loki and that moment is about to happen, are the rest of the Avengers just hiding in a lobby somewhere waiting for their cue? Maybe they’re in a broom closet, ears pressed to the door. What if no one asks, “you and what army?” Is there a contingency plan for dramatically revealing yourself?
Every movie is full of logic gaps like these where, for the sake of time or dramatic tension or comedy, the audience is spared the mundane or absurd reality of a situation. This week on the podcast, Jack O’Brien is joined by Cracked editors Jason Pargin (aka David Wong) and Tom Reimann to discuss 6 observational pet peeves that will change how you watch all movies.
Recent Episodes
January 26, 2020
Freedom sucks…and that is why we have to defend it. Because our democracy involves doing a lot of stuff that takes energy, takes time, and lacks that Michael Bay Quality that only a surprise missile launch can provide. So on this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt and special guest Jason Pargin (who writes for Cracked as David Wong) are exploring the ways being afraid of everything (an easy action) can stop us from being free. Discover the decades-long tradition of some Americans wanting to give up everything in exchange for not needing to think, the centuries-long tradition of people inciting fake panics, and the reasonable ways you can help change things for the better.
Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/why-fear-based-democracies-arenE28099t-free-with-jason-pargin/
January 19, 2020
How’s your local shopping mall doing? Have you checked on it lately? Swing by sometime, because its department store might’ve turned into a call center or a hospital or a go-kart track. On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by the one and only Kai Ryssdal (Marketplace, Make Me Smart) for a look at surprising, strange, and shocking stories from all over the U.S. economy. Discover an international pig flu, a 26-word statement that built the modern Internet, and more amazing ways cash is ruling everything around you. By the way, if you’re an American listener, you spent the past few years funding an astonishingly huge bailout. Surprise! Listen for details!
Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/5-parts-u.s.-economy-that-are-stranger-than-you-think
January 12, 2020
Movies, TV, gaming: three things that are theoretically a waste of time. Oh sure, they deliver value in the art sense, and comfort in the goofing-off sense. But what if they’re more valuable than that? What if consuming shows and playing video games (accidentally) turns people into real-life heroes? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedians/writers Caitlin Gill and Alex Watt for a look at the surprising number of times that exact thing happened. They’ll explore stories of regular people who saved a life thanks to skills gained randomly from cartoons, sitcoms, ‘World Of Warcraft’, and more silly entertainment.
Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/9-times-pop-culture-accidentally-taught-people-to-save-lives/