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PODCAST

Let"s Finally Watch This

Derailed Trains of Thought

A podcast for casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies. Hosts Nick Hayden and Timothy Deal guide you through film history as they highlight one movie from each decade for the last century, exploring how each film sits in its time period, why it"s well-known, and whether it"s actually worth your time. We"re finally getting around to movies we"ve always heard about. Why don"t you join us?

tv & film film history

All Episodes

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Episode 43 – Cocoon (1985)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2025/10/31

It's 1985. The culture is saturated with youth-targeted science fiction and fantasy films. And then there's Cocoon, directed by Ron Howard, a quirky movie featuring three elderly men as protagonists. Aliens disguised as humans are recovering cocoons from the ocean and storing them in the pool of a rented house when the old men discover that the water of the pool rejuvenates them. It's a fountain of youth, but will they share it? And will the aliens let them continue using it?What Cocoon offers

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Episode 42 – Jaws (1975)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2025/10/24

It's 1975. No one knows it yet, but this is when the Blockbuster Age begins. It starts with a movie called Jaws, directed by an up-and-coming director named Steven Spielberg. If you don't know, Jaws is about a killer shark. It's the reason an entire generation feared going into the water. At the time of its release, it became the highest-grossing film of all time--and also the blueprint for a revolution in the filmmaking business.What Jaws offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch

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Episode 41 – Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2025/10/17

It's 1965. Three years previous, director David Lean released his masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia. Now, he returns with another historical epic, exchanging desert vistas for the mountains of Russia and the society of Soviet Revolution-era Moscow. Based on the Nobel Prize-winning novel, Doctor Zhivago follows the titular doctor (and poet) as his life and loves intersect with the violence and utopian dreams of the Bolshevik Revolution.What Doctor Zhivago offers casual movie fans who have always

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Episode 40 – Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2025/10/10

It's 1955. It's a time we look back at with nostalgia, thinking it a simpler, more peaceful time. But in one of first important "juvenile delinquent" films, Rebel Without a Cause, director Nicholas Ray and actor James Dean explore teen culture and find that the kids are not all right.Following a little over 24 hours of the lives of Dean's Jim Stark, the disturbed "Plato," and Judy, the bully's girlfriend, the movie shows the search for meaning and mentors that seem to plague a generation of

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Episode 39 – Anchors Aweigh (1945)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2025/10/03

It's 1945. VE Day was May 8, but the war continues in the Pacific. Meanwhile, MGM entertains Americans back home with musicals such as Anchors Aweigh, starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra as two navy sailors on a four-day shore leave near Hollywood. Hoping to spend time picking up girls, they find themselves involved in the life of aspiring singer "Aunt Susie." An eager boy and a lie are excuse enough to provide plenty of opportunities for romance, spectacle, and a happy ending.What Anchors

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Episode 38 – Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2025/09/26

It's 1935. One source of escapism during the Great Depression was the big budget spectacle--and Mutiny on the Bounty was one of the most expensive of its time. Based on the books which were inspired by true events, it follows the voyage of the HMS Bounty to Tahiti under the draconian command of Captain Bligh, as the crew, especially executive commander Christian Fletcher, weigh whether such harsh treatment is worthy of mutiny.Filled with drama, danger, moral dilemmas, and island romance, Mutiny

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Episode 37 – Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2025/09/19

It's 1925. The Russian Revolution is over. Vladimir Lenin believes that “the cinema is for us the most important of the arts," leading the Soviet Union to create the world's first professional film school. With a genius for editing that is still discussed today, director Sergei Eisenstein creates a movie that was once considered the greatest movie ever made.Battleship Potemkin tells the inspired-by-a-true-story tale of the sailors of the titular battleship and their struggle against their

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Episode 36 – The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2025/09/12

It's 1915. Film is innovating, but some companies don't believe that longer features are viable. Enter director D.W. Griffith, who with The Birth of a Nation, pushed the medium forward with a three-plus-hour historical drama that is often considered the first film masterpiece.Featuring white Southerners as the heroes against uneducated, just-freed slaves, it is also undeniably racist and one of the most controversial films of all time. What The Birth of a Nation offers casual movie fans who

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Episode 35 – The Misadventure of a French Gentleman...

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2025/09/05

Welcome to Season 4 of Let's Finally Watch This.It's 1905. Movies are in their infancy, including Dutch film. This silent Dutch comedy, directed by Willy Mullens, begins with a man napping in a beach chair until he is surrounded by the incoming tide. And then he removes his pants to keep them dry. And then...well, the movie is less than 6 minutes long, so I don't want to spoil it. What The Misadventure of a French Gentleman Without Pants at the Zandvoort Beach offers casual movie fans who

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The Consensus Movie Podcast Crossover

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2025/01/03

Here's a surprise mega-length bonus episode for you! We join forces with Kordell Cabe and Justin Warfle, hosts of The Consensus Movie podcast, to journey through the last century of cinema history and share our favorite movies from each decade. Join us for a wide-ranging discussion of the movies that have impacted us from the 1920s on.

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00:35:18

Season 3 Wrap-up & Epilogue

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2024/12/06

It's time to wrap up our third season of Let's Finally Watch This. We start by making a few observation about this season as a whole before diving into the heart of the episode--our Ranking of Essentialness for this season's movies! We also share our personal favorites from the season.Thanks for joining us for yet another journey through the decades of film! Show Notes

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00:41:30

Episode 34 – The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2024/11/22

It's 2014. Franchise movies abound, and American blockbusters are making bank around the world. But some directors, like Wes Anderson, are making movies that defy blockbuster conventions and that experiment with film style. The Grand Budapest Hotel, considered by many to be Anderson's magnum opus, follows concierge Monsieur Gustave and his Lobby Boy protege Zero as Gustave inherits a famous painting, is accused of murder, breaks out of jail, and escapes from fascist Zubrowkan troops (among other

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00:34:43

Episode 33 – Mean Girls (2004)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2024/11/15

It's 2004. Teen movies exploded as a genre in the 1980s and have continued largely unabated since. With Mean Girls, comedian Tina Fey helps bring forth a teen movie that resonates with its viewers, both reflecting high school girl culture and critiquing it. The plot follows previously homeschooled Cady Heron's involvement in the popular girl clique "The Plastics," her slow transformation into a Plastic herself, and the fallout that follows.What Mean Girls offers casual movie fans who have always

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00:37:16

Episode 32 – Forrest Gump (1994)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2024/11/08

It's 1994. The top-grossing film is The Lion King, but right after that is Forrest Gump. Gump, played by Tom Hanks, wins audiences with his memorable phrases ("Life is like a box of chocolates"), his optimistic outlook, and his "right place, right time" escapades through American history. It's a comedy, a drama, and a movie that left its mark on culture.What Forrest Gump offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: a singular, iconic character perfectly played by Tom

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00:32:42

Episode 31 – The Terminator (1984)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2024/11/01

It's 1984. A glance at the year's top ten grossing movies shows we're deep into the blockbuster era. Director James Cameron makes his mark on science fiction with The Terminator, an action-thriller that combines the relentless threat of a horror movie with a time travel backstory--and it captured the culture's imagination. It's a film that even if you haven't seen it, you know about Skynet, the Terminator robots, and Sarah Connor.What The Terminator offers casual movie fans who have always meant

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00:34:45

Episode 30 – Chinatown (1974)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2024/10/25

It's 1974. It's the height of New Hollywood, and Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski, is a quintessential example of the darker subject matter and bleak outlook often associated with the movement. Considered one of the greatest movies of all time, this neo-noir crime drama follows private investigator J. J. Gittes, played by Jack Nicholson, as he digs into a world of government corruption, murder, and tangled family relationships amidst a Los Angeles drought. What Chinatown offers casual movie

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00:30:34

Episode 29 – A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2024/10/18

It's 1964. The Golden Age of Hollywood is over, and New Hollywood is about to begin, an era known for anti-heroes, changing morality, and less traditional plots. At the same time, the spaghetti western emerges, ushered in with A Fistful of Dollars, starring Clint Eastwood as the "man with no name" and directed by Sergio Leone. This is a different type of western, a grittier, less black-and-white western, that takes place in a town where rival gangs rule and the coffin-maker is kept busy.What A

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00:32:36

Episode 28 – Seven Samurai (1954)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2024/10/11

It's 1954. The American occupation of Japan had ended a few years before, and Japanese cinema is beginning to make an impression on the world scene. Released the same year as the original Godzilla, Seven Samurai is an essential classic from director Akira Kurosawa. Poverty-stricken farmers threatened with bandits decide to hire samurai to protect their village. This seemingly simple plot begins a massively influential film and an undisputed classic of cinema.What Seven Samurai offers casual

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00:31:39

Episode 27 – Double Indemnity (1944)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2024/10/04

It's 1944. The Second World War is still raging, and the two top grossing films are musicals. However, Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder, is a different sort of film, a seminal example of film noir. It begins with insurance salesman Henry Neff confessing to a murder, and it follows his involvement with unhappy wife Phyllis Dietrichson and their plan to kill her husband and collect the insurance money without being caught...if they can. What Double Indemnity offers casual movie fans who

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00:26:53

Episode 26 – It Happened One Night (1934)

Let"s Finally Watch This ·

2024/09/27

It's 1934. It Happened One Night, a film nobody thought would do particularly well, sneaks in just before the Hays Code is enforced. The movie, directed by Frank Capra, follows pampered heiress Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) as she tries to escape her controlling father and join her fiancé. She meets with ex-reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable) on the bus to New York. Hijinks ensue, and love blossoms. It's a romantic comedy that influenced many, many afterward, and one of three movies to win all

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