The choice of podcasts to subscribe to these days is truly phenomenal. Naturally, you already listen to STARBURST’s own output (right?), but what other audio pleasures await your ears? May we recommend…
HOW DID THIS GET MADE?
Ever seen a movie so bad that it’s awesome? How Did This Get Made? is the question that even the most forgiving defender of cinema has asked themselves at least once, and this hilarious podcast from comedians Paul Scheer (The League), Jason Mantzoukas (The Good Place), and June Diane Raphael (Grace and Frankie) aims to answer just that.
The series launched in 2011 and like any long-running show it doesn’t take many listens for the hosts to start feeling like old friends. The banter is razor-sharp and filled with in-jokes (Scheer and Raphael have been married since 2009), with episodes being a mixture of studio-sessions and live shows. HDTGM usually includes guest comedian co-hosts to great effect, and the weekly releases of either a full show or 45-minute preview episode means fans never have to wait too long to get their fix of witty and topical insight into the world of very, very bad films.
Five Essential Episodes:
CATWOMAN
December 2011
“I knew we were in trouble from the beginning when faux-Enya music played over the credits”, Paul Scheer laments within the first minute of this standout episode dedicated to Halle Berry’s infamous box office flop. Mantzouka doesn’t miss a beat. “I knew we were in trouble when the director only had one name.” The earlier episodes were shorter in duration (this one clocks in at 45 minutes) but no less enjoyable. A perfect introduction to the series for new listeners.
SPIDER-MAN 3
July 2012
It doesn’t take long for our hosts to deduce the problem with Sam Raimi’s 2007 blockbuster: there are more dance sequences than fight scenes. The team launch a staunch defence of Mary-Jane’s failed Broadway career and ponder Harry Osborn’s very plot-hole specific amnesia. Even sympathetic fans of the movie will enjoy this light-hearted dissection.
SPICE WORLD
April 2013
June Diane takes the screenwriters to task for not providing the five gifted actresses material suitable to their capability, while the guys ponder the meta-ness of it all. The team debate whether the Spice-Bus is actually a Tardis, if Meatloaf may have died off-screen, and whether the film earns the right to call itself Spice World when 99% of the scenes take place in London. Standout line goes to a bewildered Scheer – “This movie looks like it cost nothing”.
BEASTLY – Live
Episode 197
HDTGM is never better than when one of the hosts takes it upon themselves to defend a genuinely terrible film, and in this episode, June Diane takes up the mantle while outing herself as an admirer of the much-maligned movie. Scheer questions why Alex Pettyfer would antagonise a school rival who is clearly a witch to begin with, and the gang review a highlight reel of all the best insults (“it feels like an eight-year-old wrote this”) the movie has to offer.
SERENITY – Live
Episode 216
When an episode opens with a tailor-made reading of the Serenity Prayer, you know the hosts aren’t going to hold back. Scheer kicks off by describing the movie as “Moby Dick with Sims”, Mantzoukas declares that “Jumanji did it better”, while June Diane recalls the trauma of watching the film without headphones on an aeroplane during a scene of an adult nature. Nick Kroll guest hosts.
How Did This Get Made? is available on your usual podcast platforms. Find more information on their official page on earwolf.com
