Tag Archives: Taika Waititi

The Toy Department – Episode 395

  By toyAdmin | August 8, 2024 - 9:12 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 395, Madden and Kolsky talk a little Lollapalooza before homing in on:

  • Apple TV+’s comedic entry Time Bandits (7:10) and Derek Madden’s distaste for the rather specific Monty Python vibe…
  • The new Apple TV+ drama Lady in the Lake (14:15) and whether it qualifies as a “gourmet cheeseburger…”
  • A few thoughts on the idea of the gourmet cheeseburger (22:10) and shows enjoying second life via the algorithm…
  • The Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black (24:40) and how and where it falls flat…
  • A brief Olympics discussion (31:50) as the games have dominated our hosts’ attention for the last couple weeks…
  • Homework for next week (40:25), including: the return of The Challenge for a (hopefully) epic Season 40, the Matt Damon/Casey Affleck movie The Instigators (on Apple TV+) and the Steph Curry mockumentary Mr. Throwback on Peacock…

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The Toy Department – Episode 353

  By toyAdmin | August 11, 2023 - 10:03 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 353, Madden and Kolsky discuss the Kolsky family’s bizarre living (and recording) arrangements before moving on to:

  • The return of The Challenge!! It’s the second season of The Challenge: USA (2:35) and it offers a lot of promise, despite a climax-less first episode and a questionable release schedule… The guys discuss some old favorites and some new blood…
  • Max’s Steven Soderbergh-directed kidnapping drama Full Circle (28:35) and how it asks its viewers to remain engaged with obvious puzzle pieces missing…
  • The Netflix docu-series Quarterback (34:50) and just how impressive those who play the position are (even Kirk Cousins)…
  • The return of pod favorite Reservation Dogs (45:40) and how the Hulu series continues to be utterly unique on television and wildly enjoyable…
  • The premiere of season two of Winning Time on HBO (52:15) and the Magic/Kareem relationship that appears to be at its core…
  • A few thoughts on the English Premier League (58:15) and Kolsky’s potentially heartbreaking hope surrounding Chelsea’s season…
  • Homework for next week (1:04:15), including: more of The Challenge: USA Season 2, the Netflix movie They Cloned Tyrone, the Wes Anderson film Asteroid City (now on Peacock) and Netflix’s Untold: Johnny Football doc…

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The Toy Department – Episode 302

  By toyAdmin | June 3, 2022 - 11:51 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 302, Madden and Kolsky discuss a new addition to the Kolsky family before switching over to their critical pop culture concerns:

  • The newest entry in the Star Wars canon, Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi (5:30) and how it just isn’t nearly as enjoyable (or original) as our hosts had hoped…
  • The insanely un-funny Rhys Darby standup special Mystic Time Bird (13:25) and both guys’ general confusion about what exactly happened here…
  • HBO Max’s Our Flag Means Death (17:40) and how Taika Waititi has once again produced a very funny television show that essentially harnesses the silliness of a workplace comedy into a ship full of (mediocre) pirates…
  • The absolutely spectacular finale of Top Chef: Houston (20:40), the beautiful dinners prepared by the three finalists and some thoughts on what was an elite season of the long-running reality series…
  • The latest from The Challenge: All-Stars 3 (31:05) and how Beth is an absolute piece of garbage who should never be invited back, plus strategy concerns for the high-level players that remain…
  • Reaction to Game 1 of the NBA Finals (1:01:25) and what it means for the rest of a series that will hopefully be long and entertaining…
  • Homework for next Friday (1:20:30), including: more of The Challenge: All-Stars 3, the new Danny Boyle-directed FX show Pistol (about the Sex Pistols), the new season of Amazon’s The Boys, Norm Macdonald’s posthumous-release stand-up special Nothing Special on Netflix and the new Adam Sandler film Hustle (also on Netflix)…

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The Toy Department – Episode 272

  By toyAdmin | August 26, 2021 - 1:22 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 272, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky are interrupting Kolsky’s family bonding leave to nitpick with each other about:

  • Netflix’s new Sandra Oh vehicle The Chair (1:45) which is entertaining and features a charming performance from the lead actress but also troubles one of our hosts from a thematic perspective…
  • The documentary Untold: Malice at the Palace (27:20) and how it does a great job of telling the story and addressing the may angles of a singular moment in sports history…
  • FX’s new triumph Reservation Dogs (37:20) and how quickly it sucks you in to a story about characters who feel extremely real…
  • The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies is through another week (41:40) and these rookies can’t get their heads out of their rears…
  • Homework for next Thursday (1:08:35), including: more of The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies, plus a bunch of things on Hulu — the new Lil Rel/John Cena movie Vacation Friends, the Nicole Kidman show Nine Perfect Strangers and the Steve Martin/Martin Short collab Only Murders in the Building…

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The Toy Department – Episode 267

  By toyAdmin | July 13, 2021 - 11:55 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 267, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky briefly debate who is responsible for their totally irrelevant delay in recording the episode before diving into:

  • The newly-available-on-the-CW show Wellington Paranormal (2:45) and whether or not the first two episodes are enough to warrant continued viewing…
  • The CW/HBO Max reboot of Gossip Girl (7:50), the pilot-y nature of the first episode and how it compares and contrasts to the original series…
  • Mike White’s new HBO show The White Lotus (29:10) and just how very much is going on in the first episode without necessarily giving you an idea of what’s going on, broadly speaking…
  • A handful of sports thoughts, from the NBA Finals (45:35) to ESPN’s mishandling of the Rachel Nichols/Maria Taylor debacle (52:30)…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (1:06:50), including: Season 2 of Never Have I Ever and the film Gunpowder Milkshake on Netflix, the new Hulu documentary McCartney 3, 2, 1 and LeBron’s Space Jam on HBO Max…

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The Toy Department – Episode 190

  By toyAdmin | November 14, 2019 - 11:39 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 190, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky are off to a late start, so waste no time getting into:

  • Kolsky’s investment in Disney+ (1:00) and how he feels about it, with plans to get Madden involved for next week…
  • The new Taika Waititi film Jojo Rabbit (5:35), how incredible the cast was and what an interesting, thoughtful movie it turned out to be…
  • The new cycle of Hasan Minhaj’s Patriot Act on Netflix (17:20) and the fundamental struggle for comedy/news programs in our bizarre and confusing times…
  • A deep dive on MTV’s The Challenge (25:55), the remarkable twists and turns of the War of the Worlds 2 season and some specific strategy points and player analysis…
  • Homework for next week (53:15), including: watching the first couple episodes of The Mandalorian on Disney+, back to the theaters for the movie Ford vs. Ferrari, the new Hulu show Dollface and the new Netflix film Earthquake Bird…

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The Toy Department – Episode 161

  By toyAdmin | April 3, 2019 - 11:17 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 161, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky literally make small talk about weather before getting serious on:

  • Derek’s viewing of Jordan Peele’s Us (3:25) and whether Kolsky is being a big ol’ wimp about seeing it…
  • The TV premiere of What We Do in the Shadows (17:05) on FX, and how it compares to the film it is based on…
  • The start of the seventh season of Veep on HBO (21:00) and how the show has changed over time…
  • The return of HBO’s Barry (26:25) in a somewhat pilot-y fashion, resetting the world we got to know in Season 1…
  • The end of Miracle Workers on TBS (29:05) and how it made an enjoyable little treat…
  • The end of Season 1 of Black Monday (33:55) and whether there’s enough on the bone to bring an effective satire back for a second season…
  • The end of HBO’s documentary series The Case Against Adnan Syed (38:50) and the ongoing injustices of the story we first heard through Serial…
  • Homework for next week (54:40), including: the return of several show favorites on TV — Killing Eve, Brockmire and The Chi — plus the series finale of You’re The Worst, the series premiere of Fosse/Verdon and a few movies for the back burner: The Inventor and Native Son (both on HBO) and The Highwaymen on Netflix…

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