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PODCAST

The Juiciest Bits

Mandy Elliott and Charlie Barber

In this biweekly podcast, Mandy Elliott and Charlie Barber choose a movie to watch, discuss, make fun of, and fight about. They talk a lot about issues of race, gender, and sexuality and their conversations are intellectual, yet refreshingly irreverent.

tv & film film reviews

All Episodes

01:20:02

Faith, Family, Friends (did we mention family?): Fast...

The Juiciest Bits ·

2024/03/23

In this, our final heist movie episode, we are talking about Fast Five, the fifth in the masterpiece franchise that is The Fast and the Furious. In this romp, Dom (Vin Diesel) and the gang find themselves in Brazil, where they drive right through a wall and hijack a bad guy's safe in a scientifically impossible (but cinematically awesome) way. In this episode, we talk about morality and the film's Catholic imagery, friendship, and, of course, family. So grab a Corona and enjoy as we talk

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01:29:32

One Million Dollars!: The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974)

The Juiciest Bits ·

2024/03/09

Hello! This week, we're talking about a traditional heist movie: The Taking of Pelham 123, starring our king Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw (not to be confused with the 1998 made-for-tv movie starring Vincent D'Onofrio, Donnie Wahlberg, and Edward James Olmos, which is INCREDIBLY '90s; or the 2009 version with Denzel Washington and John Travolta, which I haven't seen). In this movie we see the impossible: somebody deigning to steal an NYC subway car. How do they do it? Where will

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01:09:38

Putting the Bunny Back in the Box: Con Air (Simon...

The Juiciest Bits ·

2024/02/24

And we're back! We've decided to begin 2024 with a series of good ol' fashioned (and perhaps some new-fashioned) heist movies, beginning of course with perhaps the silliest romp ever made, Con Air. Con Air stars Nicholas Cage as an Alabama soldier who is too powerful for regular laws and must be subjected to super laws when he nobly and selflessly* beats a man to death for flirting with his poor helpless wife and is sent to prison. Once released he becomes a passenger on "Con

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01:34:19

She's an Upper Ho Ho Ho: Tangerine (Baker, 2015)

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/12/23

Happy holidays, everyone! To finish up our Christmas series, we're talking about Tangerine, a film about Alexandra (Mya Taylor) and Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez), two friends trying to navigate LA, sex work, and transphobia, and Razmik, an Armenian cab driver trying to escape his family. Oh, and it's all happening at Christmastime!This is our last episode before we take a much-needed break. But feel free to contact us by email (thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com) if you need

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01:29:04

Weird Victorian Humbugs: The Muppet Christmas Carol...

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/12/09

In this second week of TJB Christmas episodes, we're lightening up the mood a bit and bringing you a conversation about The Muppet Christmas Carol, starring Michael Caine as Scrooge and the Muppets as almost everyone else. We talk about capitalism, ghosts, Christmas (obviously), and we both try to say "Moycal Kaiyne" as best we can (listener, it's not great, but we try our best). Don't forget that you can email us with opinions or requests for transcripts at

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01:18:23

We Wish you a Merry Man Bun: Violent Night (Wirkola,...

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/11/25

Well, it's that time of year again, when we get cozy and reflect on the love of family and friends. This Christmas time, we'd like to kick off the season right by talking about Violent Night, which features David Harbour as a very curmudgeonly Santa who happens to be great at making a candy cane into a shiv. We talk about violence, capitalism, and man buns, so we hope you enjoy this first instalment of our Christmas triptych! And don't forget to email us at

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01:13:55

Stink Spirits & Capitalist Pigs: Spirited Away...

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/11/11

In this episode we discuss our first animated feature! Spirited Away is a beautiful film about a child who must save her greedy parents from the clutches of a witch who runs a spa for spirits. And really, who among us hasn't had to parent our parents? If you'd like a transcript of this episode, or if you'd just like to say hi, email us at thejuiciestbitspodcast@gmail.com. And don't forget to rate and review us if you have good things (or even non-bad things) to say!

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01:27:39

Grand Canyon or Bust: Thelma & Louise (Scott 1991)

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/10/28

In this second episode of our road trip series, we're talking about Thelma & Louise (Scott 1991), an uproarious comedy if the trailer has anything to say about it, but a drama to those of us who have watched it. This movie has been pivotal for many feminists, people who like watching protagonists who are not men, and those who enjoy a good mom jean (these are not mutually exclusive), and our conversation talks about all these things. A word of warning: the movie depicts an attempted sexual

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01:30:07

Mother's Special Boy Takes a Trip: The Green Knight...

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/10/14

This episode marks the beginning of our latest theme: road movies! And, to kick off this new theme, we're talking about The Green Knight, a surreal take on the 14th-Century chivalric romance poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," which you probably read in an intro lit course (and if you didn't, you were robbed). It follows Gawain (Dev Patel) as he makes a series of bad choices while trying to become a knight in King Arthur's court (Camelot, the Round Table, the whole bit)

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01:16:20

Wuxia Be My Neighbour?: House of Flying Daggers...

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/09/30

This week, we're rounding out our series on "House" movies with House of Flying Daggers (Yimou 2004), a very sexy wuxia film that combines gorgeous aesthetics with sleeve agility and fighting in trees. It is at its core a period drama, starring Ziyi Zhang, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and Andy Lau, but it also involves love, deception, loyalty, and conflict, which we talk a lot about, obviously. We still have an email address and also transcripts available! Get in touch or get a transcript at

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01:33:03

Spilling Our Beans: The Lighthouse (Eggers 2019)

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/09/16

In this episode we get "cerebral" (whatever that means) and talk about Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse (2019), starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. It's a complicated movie that has steered us toward a complicated (yet ridiculous) discussion. We talk about gender, the monstrous-feminine, the abject, and eco-criticism, as well as our crushes on Willem Dafoe and our delight in his character's dialogue. Oh, and Charlie can't let go of thinking this is a pirate movie. It

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01:31:04

Not Being Not Nice: Road House (Herrington 1989)

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/09/02

And we're back! Welcome to season two of The Juiciest Bits, in which we endeavour to become more organized. This season, we've decided to group our movie selections by theme (and hopefully take some requests!), so expect* scholarly through-lines and hilarious callbacks. Our first theme of the season is "house movies," and to kick things off, we're talking about Road House, that sexy Swayze movie from 1989. It has everything: mullets! inappropriate clothing! unbridled violence

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01:22:24

Bring it On (Reed 2000): Take a Big Whiff

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/06/03

In this, our season one finale, we discuss millennial classic Bring it On (Reed, 2000) and come face to face with the hard reminder that the culture in which we went to high school was rough, especially for the queer, trans, disabled, and P.O.C. crowds. BUT we talk about all of this and the acrobatic miracle that is cheerleading and how cool Gabrielle Union is, so there's that.

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01:11:54

John Wick-ipeg: Nobody (Naishuller 2021)

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/05/20

Hello! This week, we're talking about Nobody (Ilya Naishuller, 2021), in which Bob Odenkirk takes a break from playing our favourite smarmy lawyer and is instead a repressed and very swole dad who has a real yen for beating up bad guys in incredibly violent ways (think John Wick, but with a house in the suburbs). The movie also features Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, and RZA, which makes for a very badass cast. Perhaps most important to us, though, is how familiar the setting is. While many

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01:04:40

Deep Throats, Full Hearts, Can't Lose: Dick (Fleming...

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/05/06

In this episode we explore the lighter side of government corruption with Andrew Fleming's 1999 masterpiece, Dick, starring Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams as the teenagey-est of teenage girls who inadvertently become Deep Throat during the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s. The movie is funny on its own, but it's even funnier after watching All the President's Men (Pakula, 1976) and noticing the very intentional send-ups of that far more serious film. Also, Dick features Dan

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01:10:26

Tricky Dick Goes Down: All the President's Men...

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/04/22

This week we're talking about All the President's Men (Pakula, 1976), a political thriller about the American Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon. It stars Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman (both of whom rock feathered hair and the tightest tight pants), who play the journalists responsible for breaking the story. It's a famous and well-regarded movie that we have fun talking about/dunking on, so enjoy!

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01:23:41

Lay Ladies Lay: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Sciamma...

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/04/08

Hi folks! This week, we're delving into the art of the LPD (Lesbian Period Drama) and talking about Céline Sciamma's absolutely gorgeous film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel. Not only does this movie give us a spicy and heartbreaking love story, it give us a story about friendship, longing, and also French women entrepreneurs. We also discuss and recommend other LPDs, and we'd love to hear your recommendations. Enjoy!

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01:27:51

What Not to Wear: Face/Off (Woo 1997)

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/03/25

Okay, folks. Much like you, we get tired. We get busy. We yearn to discuss subject matter that tends toward the ridiculous. And that's what we're giving you in our discussion of Face/Off (Woo 1997), an exceedingly silly action movie in which G-man Sean Archer (John Travolta) TRADES FACES (and bodies) with introvert's nightmare Castor Troy (Nicholas Cage) in order to go undercover in prison and trick Castor's brother, Pollux (Alessandro Nivola), into telling him the whereabouts of a

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01:36:13

2 Mildreds 2 Furious: 3 Women (Altman 1977)

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/03/11

Hello! In this episode we're discussing 3 Women, a 1977 film by Robert Altman starring Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek, and Janice Rule as the aforementioned women. This movie is full of very awkward interactions that we relished talking about. Enjoy as we attempt to parse this fever dream of a movie and sort through Altman's attempt to define women by making them seem scary and weird (only some of us may claim that honour). CW: There is a scene in the film depicting a suicide/self-harm attempt that we

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01:32:02

Basement Mommy Dearest: Barbarian (Cregger 2022)

The Juiciest Bits ·

2023/02/25

In this episode we talk about Zach Cregger's 2022 horror film Barbarian and talk about why it's best to stay away from creepy basements and maybe book a hotel instead. This movie stars Georgina Campbell as a tired woman (relatable) who finds herself having to clean up all kinds of man-messes just to get a moment's peace. Bill Skarsgård shows up as someone who may or may not be a murderer, so that's fun, and Justin Long plays a toxic and sometimes literal man-baby. Besides serving up general

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