Paid in Puke Podcast!

Paid in Puke S5E4: Blue Valentine

On today's belated Valentine's Day episode, we're getting dark with Derek Cianfrance's 2010 anti-romantic drama, Blue Valentine, starring Michelle Williams. Cianfrance wrote this film as a way to process his parents' divorce when he was twenty years old. As bleak as it is, this film promotes two healthy things that are rife with stigma: abortions and divorce. We also touch on the very real emotions Williams brought to the role, the difficulties of changing tax brackets for the better, and how Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" is actually a rose-colored abusive relationship. The tree was NOT happy.

PS: Get your "The tree was not happy" merch here!

Paid in Puke S5E3: Bridesmaids

On today's episode, we're bonding over Paul Feig's 2011 comedy, Bridesmaids, starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, and Wendi McLendon-Covey. For a hard-R comedy, it sure has a lot of layers and nuance regarding the feminine experience. For us, it brings up everything from the pressure of wedding culture to pushy boyfriends with a stopover at body grooming stigma. We also pay tribute to our favorite Wiig SNL characters, and call bull on the notion of sacred orifices.

On the Lunchtime Poll, we talk about men we dated who wouldn't be named in the credits of our lives.

Paid in Puke S5E2: Showgirls

On this episode, we're keeping it sleazy with Paul Verhoeven's 1995 accidental camp classic, Showgirls, starring Elizabeth Berkeley and Gina Gershon. This movie is quite figuratively one long Hot Prob with one or two Not Probs of note, contributed by the talented cast.

To get to the bottom of things, we're joined by a very special guest: the oft-referenced Baxter BFF, Faye Hoerauf!

You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll flail! You'll puke!

On the Lunchtime Poll, we discuss possible interpretations of the Doggy Chow scene and reveal weird things we ate as a kid.

Paid in Puke S5E1: Promising Young Woman

On our Series 5 premiere, we're gaga for Emerald Fennell's 2020 debut feature, Promising Young Woman, starring Carey Mulligan, Laverne Cox, Alison Brie, and Jennifer Coolidge.

This film blew us away with it's stylized look, DEEP subtext, and pitch-perfect performance. So much so, that the episode is a little longer than usual, but we hope you'll find it's worth it. If you haven't seen the film, please rectify that immediately and then come back and listen to this episode.

In Keggers with Kids, 13-year-old Logan joins us to give their youthful insight, and on the Lunchtime Poll, we reveal silly songs that are meaningful to us.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode discussed sexual assault and rape culture at length.

Paid in Puke S4E10.1 Happiest Season Holiday Special

On our (slightly late) Holiday Special, we're talking about the controversial 2020 film Happiest Season, directed by Clea Duvall and written by Duvall and Mary Holland. It marks our 3rd Mackenzie Davis film. It also stars Kristen Stewart, Holland, Allison Brie, Mary Steenburgen, and Aubrey Plaza. We talk about how Abby should have left Harper for Riley (2/3 of us are Team Riley, and Baxter is a Harper apologist), the very unnecessary and perplexing shoplifting plot, Dan Levy's pitch-perfect performance, and our complex personal relationships to the holiday season.

Happy Holidays to our beloved Paid in Puke listeners. We will return in Feb-ish with Series 5!

Paid in Puke S4E10: Beatriz at Dinner

On today's episode, we're (mostly) delighting in Miguel Arteta's 2017 dramedy, Beatriz at Dinner, starring Salma Hayek, Connie Britton, Chloë Sevigny, and Amy Landecker. Beatriz (Hayek) is a holistic massage therapist and Mexican immigrant circumstantially trapped in a palatial estate with her wealthy client and her husband's business partners.

In Hot Probs, we discuss how normally, a Mike White script doesn't mess around, but this one does a little bit. Still, White does a commendable job depicting racist/classist micro-aggressions through the natural conversational flow of a Boomer dinner party.

On the Lunchtime Poll, we reveal the bridge-too-far in dinner conversation that would prompt us to take a stand and ruin the night for everyone else.

This is the last episode of Series 4, but we'll be back next week with a late holiday special!

Paid in Puke S4E9: Jackie Brown

On today's episode, we're talking about Quentin Tarantino's first female-driven film, 1997's Jackie Brown, starring Pam Grier and Bridget Fonda. Based on the novel, Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard, it's not without the usual Tarantino trappings (feet, rampant use of the n-word, built-in misogyny), but there's a lot to love in this most underrated of Quentin joints.

On the Lunchtime Poll, we reveal our hypothetical filmmaker signatures and discover something surprising about Mario Cantone.

Paid in Puke S4E8: Okja

On today's episode, we're falling in love with Bong Joon Ho's 2017 adventure drama, Okja, starring An Seo Hyun and Tilda Swinton. It's an anti-capitalist fairy tale, a touching story of chosen families, an exciting action movie, and a remarkable achievement in CGI.

This is our first title with ZERO Hot Probs, and it's in stark contrast to our lengthy Meaningful Passages segment. This movie simply rules.

It also inspires us to tell stories of children being traumatized at petting zoos. On the Lunchtime Poll, we reveal our favorite animal tear-jerker films.

Paid in Puke S4E7: Girlfight

On today's episode, we step into the ring with Karyn Kusama's 2000 debut drama, Girlfight, starring Michelle Rodriguez in her breakout role. Does Adrienne have a point about not wanting to fight a woman in the big match? Does the romance get in the way of the story? What is the point of boxing, anyway? Does Michelle Rodriguez have the greatest frown in cinematic history?

All this, plus a long tangent about dangerous sports, and on the Lunchtime Poll, we reveal our surprise hobby obsessions.

Paid in Puke S4E6: Girls Trip

On this episode, we embark on a Girls Trip with Malcolm D. Lee's 2017 smash, written by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver. Girls Trip stars Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, but for us, it's the Tiffany Haddish* show all the way. The woman positively owns the Meaningful Passages segment today. There are some Hot Probs (that's not at all how absinthe works), but it's mostly a riotous good time following the Flossy Posse on their New Orleans adventure. 

On the Lunchtime Poll, we talk about memorial girls trips from our pasts. 

 

*This episode was recorded before Haddish’s abuse allegations surfaced. We do not condone her actions.