Podcasts

In this episode of So Many Sequels, Josh Gammon, Garrett Powders, and David Prock dig into Disney's 1997 Hercules for week three of Mythology Month — the extremely American, gospel-choir version of the Greek myth that somehow still works.In this episode:-The wild casting history behind Hades-Why the Muses might be the best storytelling device in any Disney movie-Disney's Americanization of Greek mythology, and why the backlash from Greece makes sense-Ranking "Go the Distance," "Zero to Hero," an...

Troy made nearly $500 million worldwide, cast half of Lord of the Rings as extras, and turned Brad Pitt into a Greek demigod for two hours and forty-three minutes. It also cut every god out of Homer's Iliad and left Achilles as a straight-up atheist. Josh, Garrett, and David dig into what David Benioff's screenplay kept, what it invented, and why removing the mythology from a mythology movie might be the reason nobody in it feels worth rooting for. Plus: the Letterboxd guessing game, a Peter O'...

O Brother, Where Art Thou? opened in five theaters on December 22, 2000, went on to make $71.9 million worldwide on a $26 million budget, and somehow got outdone by its own soundtrack — which sold over 8 million copies and beat out Bob Dylan and U2 for the Grammy for Album of the Year, only the third movie soundtrack ever to do it. Josh, Garrett, and David kick off Mythology Month with the Coens' loose, sun-bleached riff on the Odyssey. David's watched it since he was eleven and it's in his Let...

Disclosure Day is Steven Spielberg's first alien movie in over two decades, and he's calling it the conclusion to a spiritual trilogy that started with Close Encounters and E.T. That's a big swing. We went to see if he pulled it off. Josh, Garrett, and David caught the film together at Circle Cinema in Tulsa — packed house, no assigned seats, the whole thing — and then recorded this. They talk about why the final act works harder than the first two, Emily Blunt's shot at awards season, what the...

Josh, Garrett, and David close out Spielberg in Space month with War of the Worlds — the one where the aliens finally turn hostile, Tom Cruise plays peak divorce-dad energy, and the hosts argue about whether the most unlikable protagonist in the Spielberg canon actually makes the movie work. Follow So Many Sequels at somanysequels.com and @somanysequelspod on Instagram.

Part two of our Spielberg in Space series leading up to Disclosure Day — this week it's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. We dig into E.T.'s insane box office run (28 straight weeks in the top 5, nearly a year in theaters, $2.2 billion worldwide adjusted for inflation — second only to Jaws in Spielberg's career), then connect it back to Close Encounters of the Third Kind as a kind of spiritual sequel. We talk about how Spielberg shot the film almost entirely from a child's-eye view, why his parents' ...

Close Encounters of the Third Kind came out in December 1977, made $116 million in the US alone, and lost the box office crown for that year to exactly one movie: Star Wars. Not a bad second place. Josh, Garrett, and David kick off Spielberg in Space Month with Spielberg's pre-E.T. love letter to alien optimism. They get into why Richard Dreyfus was the right guy for a role Steve McQueen, Al Pacino, and Gene Hackman all passed on, why the mashed potatoes scene is actually the emotional center o...

Summer movie season is officially kicking off, and the box office is already throwing curveballs. This week, we dive into the numbers for The Mandalorian & Grogu, which defied early tracking worries to pull in a solid $81.9 million over the weekend. But the real story might be the horror-thriller Obsession, which pulled off a rare 30% weekend-to-weekend jump thanks to an intense viral billboard campaign and massive word-of-mouth. Before the box office breakdown, we catch up on everything we've ...

The guys wrap up their Golden Oldies theme with a divisive debate over Alfred Hitchcock’s voyeuristic classic, Rear Window. -Listen to more episodes: somanysequels.com-Follow on Instagram: @somanysequelspod So Many Sequels is a movie podcast where Josh Gammon, Garrett Powders, and David Prock talk about new releases, old favorites, and everything in between like a book club for movies.

By His Hand is a cult thriller road movie shot in Utah on a bootstrapped budget by three brothers who grew up in the LDS faith — and left it. Josh and David sat down with director Taylor Paur, co-writer Ethan Paur, and producer Connor Paur to talk about how the movie got made and what it's actually about. They get into why Fowler — the film's cult leader — is most dangerous when he's making people feel loved, the Mad Max: Fury Road obsession that quietly shaped the film's structure and maybe ev...

This week on So Many Sequels, Golden Oldies Month continues with John Ford’s 1940 adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath. Josh, Garrett and David dig into the film’s Dust Bowl-era Oklahoma roots, its connection to John Steinbeck’s landmark novel, and why a movie released more than 80 years ago still feels uncomfortably current in 2026. We talk Henry Fonda’s Tom Joad, Jane Darwell’s Oscar-winning performance as Ma Joad, the film’s depiction of poverty and displacement, and the way its story exposes s...

The Odd Couple debuted in 1968, making $44 million on a tiny $1.2 million budget and eventually spawning a five-season TV show. But watching it today, the most shocking part might be the opening scene: our introduction to a comedy about mismatched roommates is Felix wandering the streets, genuinely trying to figure out how to kill himself.Kicking off our "Golden Oldies" month with pre-1970s films on So Many Sequels, David, Josh, and Garrett break down the undeniable chemistry between Jack Lemmon...

Three of us saw Project Hail Mary separately. Different theaters, different formats, different weeks. Same reaction: this is the one. We talk about what makes Ryan Gosling's performance land, why Rocky might be the best new alien character in years, and whether a film that made $80M opening weekend and barely dropped the following week has a real shot at next year's Oscars. Also: Stephen Colbert is making a Lord of the Rings movie. We have thoughts. somanysequels.com

This month we're deep in our Best Writing series at the Oscars, and Do the Right Thing is Exhibit A that the Academy has always gotten some of this wrong. We dig into why the film's lack of a traditional protagonist might be exactly what got it snubbed, what Spike Lee has actually said about why Mookie threw the trash can (and who keeps asking the wrong questions), and how Radio Raheem's love-and-hate monologue does more thematic work than most screenplays manage in two hours. The conversation t...

Josh, Garrett, and David sit down to digest the massive wins for Sinners and One Battle After Another. They unpack Ryan Coogler's masterful genre-blending, the jaw-dropping musical sequences in Sinners, and why waiting for the vampires to actually show up is the smartest thing the movie did. Then, they shift gears to PTA's chaotic, cross-country epic starring a buffoonish Leonardo DiCaprio, debating the film's wild pacing, stacked cast, and underlying themes. From glowing red eyes to hilarious c...

In this episode of So Many Sequels, we react to the 2026 Academy Awards and everything that made the night feel just a little off. From the Sinners vs. One Battle After Another showdown to major wins like Michael B. Jordan, we unpack the biggest moments, snubs, and surprises. We also dive into Conan O’Brien’s hosting, pacing issues, and what the overall vibe says about the future of movies, streaming, and the Oscars themselves.

In 12 Angry Men, the entire story unfolds in a single jury room—but somehow it becomes one of the most gripping films ever written. This week, the So Many Sequels crew dives into Sidney Lumet’s 1957 courtroom classic and asks why this film continues to top “greatest movies ever” lists. Josh, Garrett, and David break down the brilliance of its minimalist storytelling, from Henry Fonda’s calm but stubborn Juror #8 to the film’s exploration of bias, prejudice, and mob mentality. They also discus...

How did two unknown actors from Boston write one of the most beloved screenplays in Hollywood history? This week on So Many Sequels, Josh, Garrett, and David kick off their Best Screenplay Oscar Month with Good Will Hunting (1997)—the film that launched Matt Damon and Ben Affleck from aspiring writers to Academy Award winners. The guys break down the screenplay that shocked Hollywood, the legendary performances from Matt Damon and Robin Williams, and the moments that turned this indie drama int...

Two beloved franchises drop new trailers — but does the magic still hold, or is nostalgia running on fumes? somanysequels.com

Why does Rob Reiner's Stand By Me still hit so hard after all these years? We break down the 1986 Stephen King adaptation that redefined coming-of-age movies.Josh, Garrett, and David wrap up Rob Reiner month by journeying down the train tracks to discuss Stand By Me. From River Phoenix’s undeniable star power and Corey Feldman's explosive timing to the brutal realities of growing apart from your childhood best friends, we're unpacking why this film is a total gut punch. We also dive into Reiner'...

Are Netflix's script notes ruining modern movies? We review The Rip, Sam Raimi's Send Help, The Moment, and Peacock's The 'Burbs! We are catching up on what we've been watching this week! Josh, Garrett, and David break down why Send Help brings back the classic Sam Raimi gore , and why Charli XCX's The Moment takes a fascinating meta-approach to the A24 music documentary. We also get heated over the pacing of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's The Rip, debate Peacock's new adaptation of The 'Burbs , a...

Did This is Spinal Tap invent the mockumentary as we know it, or just perfect it on the first try? This week on So Many Sequels, we're continuing Rob Reiner Month by traveling back to 1984 to follow England's loudest band. Josh, Garrett, and David break down how Reiner's directorial debut abandoned a traditional script for genius-level world-building and cast improvisation. We talk iconic cameos (like Fran Drescher and Paul Shaffer) , the truth behind "turning it up to 11," and why this film fe...

Is "You can't handle the truth!" the most iconic line of the 1990s, or is it just the most parodied?. This week, the squad dives into the high-stakes courtroom of Rob Reiner’s 1992 classic, A Few Good Men, to find out if the movie holds up as well as Jack Nicholson’s terrifying performance. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro & Rob Reiner Month Update 01:43 - What Is A Few Good Men About? 02:23 - Box Office Breakdown: $243M Worldwide 05:04 - First Watch for the Whole Squad 05:43 - "You Can't Handle t...

Welcome to Season Nine of So Many Sequels! We are kicking off the new year—and "Rob Reiner Month"—with a look at one of the most beloved films of all time: The Princess Bride (1987). In this episode, we admit where we were wrong ("I was dumb") and break down why this movie’s initial box office struggle didn't stop it from becoming a cult phenomenon. Join us as we analyze Rob Reiner’s authentic direction, the "perfect" sword fight between Westley and Inigo Montoya, and how the film’s framing dev...