Movie Memory Machine
Movie Memory Machine is your guide to the forgotten films of the ’80s, ’90s, 2000s, and beyond. Every week, our rogue time machine drops us into a different year to revisit wide-release movies that history left behind—cult favorites, forgotten flops, and everything in between. Along the way, we uncover behind-the-scenes trivia, oddball production choices, and the cultural baggage these movies left behind. Then we decide: does this movie deserve to return to modern memory—or stay lost in time?
Episodes
How many tracking shots does it take to find a lost love? In this high-style, low-logic thriller-romance from the early 2000s, Matthew is consumed by a single question: what happened to Lisa? And we’re consumed by a different one: wait, who is Lisa again?
Before Gone Girl, before You, there was Wicker Park — a 2004 psychological romance thriller where Josh Hartnett broods, stalks, and slowly unravels ove...
Rom-coms, rules, and red flags. In this “5 For,” Truman and Landen pick five films that helped shape the cinematic dating game — from charming classics to early-2000s cultural crimes.
Highlights
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Why When Harry Met Sally set the rom-com template for behavioral science in dating
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Hitch vs. Justin Long: Who’s more believable as a love expert?
Who smoked the cigarettes at Bradley Cooper’s house? In this Mini-Transmission, Truman and Landen investigate the greatest mystery in He’s Just Not That Into You — and uncover a conspiracy that involves yoga instructors, real estate agents, and possibly Gigi.
Topics
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The full trial of Bradley Cooper, with Luis Guzman as character witness
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How He’s Just No...
In 2009’s He's Just Not That Into You, a romantic ensemble built on a bestselling advice book somehow wound up being about emotionally stunted men, red flag relationships, and one very confused Scarlett Johansson.
Truman and Landen dig through the all-star cast and pop feminism of this late-2000s relic to find out how a dating guide turned into two hours of mixed messages and bare-minimum boyfriends.
A glossy rom-com about mixed si...
The Machine served up The Road to Wellville, and now it’s time to cleanse the palate.
WHAT YOU’LL HEAR– Five films that turn food into ritual, punishment, or power – A Bolognese orgy, a cult in Pasadena, and one very worried draftsman – The Decameron defense: “It’s not all butts” – When Joaquin Phoenix becomes a human vessel (again)
Want more weird cinema and Machine-fueled chaos? Follow us here: – Support the show on Patreon: h...
Enemas, cornflakes, and the unholy gospel of wellness. This Mini-Transmission digs through the baffling remains of The Road to Wellville (1994) — a film that dares to ask what happens when you make Anthony Hopkins do that with his voice.
What You’ll Hear:
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The perils of turning cereal into cinema
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Roy Brocksmith: The Greatest Character Actor?
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The Trailer Game: predicting which bowel moments made the cut
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The Next Movie R...
What if Amadeus and There’s Something About Mary had a baby—and fed it nothing but yogurt enemas? In this episode of Movie Memory Machine, Landen and Truman dive headfirst into The Road to Wellville (1994), a baffling, big-budget health spa satire starring Anthony Hopkins as cereal tycoon Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in a performance that must be heard to be believed.
Directed by Alan Parker (Evita, Pink Floy...
How many ways can one girl discover she has terrifying powers? In this Movie Memory Machine Five For episode, Landen and Truman explore five thematically connected films to Carrie (2013)—ranging from Brian De Palma’s original adaptation to Cronenberg’s scanners, to telekinetic kids with lighter (or stranger) fates.
We cover:
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Carrie (1976): Sissy Spacek sets the gold st...
In this mini-episode, Landen and Truman revisit Carrie (2013) to play The Trailer Game and score how many moments they accurately predicted would appear in the movie’s trailer — from blood buckets to telekinetic locker room footage. But along the way, the conversation detours into:
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How do you explain to your kid that their dad died… from a falling bucket?
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Would Carrie 3: Ennui be a ...
Nearly 40 years after Brian De Palma drenched prom night in pig’s blood and psychic rage, Carrie returned in 2013 with Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. But did this remake modernize Stephen King’s story—or just repackage it?
In this episode, we trace the journey of Carrie (2013) from concept to release, explore how it compares to the 1976 classic, and ask whether it’s fair to call this version “for...
The Playmobil movie may not have left much of a legacy, but it sparks a lot of conversation about how other films have approached fantasy, world-building, and childhood imagination — sometimes successfully, sometimes not.
In this 5 For episode, Landen and Truman pull five films that echo the structure, themes, or ambition of Playmobil: The Movie — and in most cases, improve on them. From modern animated ...
What happens when a toy company tries to copy The LEGO Movie—and completely misunderstands why it worked? That’s Playmobil: The Movie (2019), one of the strangest animated flops of the decade.
In this special mini-episode, we break down the Playmobil: The Movie trailer, play The Trailer Game, and dig into how the film’s marketing sealed its fate before it even hit theaters. We look at the bizarre choices...
What happens when you chase The LEGO Movie with none of the charm, none of the budget, and none of the jokes? You get Playmobil: The Movie—a box office catastrophe that tried to turn plastic figurines into profit.
This week, we’re joined by Josh Boerman of The Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast to dissect one of the strangest failures in modern animation. We break down the movie’s bizarre tone, its baf...
Join Landen and Truman for this week’s “5 For” as they uncover five films that thematically link to The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. From WWII misfit squads to Italian exploitation knockoffs, this list digs into the cinematic lineage of violent brotherhood, historical nonsense, and the thin line between patriotism and pulp.
Whether you’re looking for a sweaty desert siege, a Steve McQueen leather j...
In this chaotic kickoff to Season 2’s mini-episodes, Landen and Truman unravel some final (and occasionally ridiculous) thoughts about The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. From unexpected sound effects in the score to Guy Ritchie’s obsession with luxury, this half-hour ep has everything: a “boing” noise autopsy, speculative casting shade, and an appropriately unhinged round of The Trailer Game.
Welcome to Season Two of Movie Memory Machine! Landen and Truman dive into Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare—a WWII action-comedy that’s part true story, part Call of Duty cutscene. They unpack the film’s tone (or lack thereof), its reluctance to engage with its own politics, and how Ritchie’s late-era filmmaking style might be sabotaging otherwise promising material. Also, a eulogy for the movie sta...
In this special preview episode, Landen and Truman fire up the Movie Memory Machine for one last diagnostic test before Season Two begins. What follows is a chaotic preview of what’s to come: clips, clues, tone shifts, and a few… surprises. No titles are revealed, but the breadcrumbs are there if you’re ready to start guessing. This isn’t a recap—it’s a glitchy look forward, and the Machine is in rare form.
It’s the end of the beginning. In the Season One finale of Movie Memory Machine, Landen and Truman take a whirlwind tour through all 25 movies they’ve covered so far—from animated cows and memory-swapping sci-fi to cowboys with mime sidekicks. We revisit verdicts, call out the biggest surprises, and peel back the curtain on what it’s like to run a podcast built on forgotten cinema and emotional chaos.
Topics Covered:
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The bes...
In the season finale of Movie Memory Machine, Landen and Truman descend into the dark fantasy depths of Damsel(2024), Netflix’s Millie Bobby Brown-led twist on the fairy tale formula. We talk sacrificial princesses, cave horror, feminist inversions, and whether this dragon flick earns its roar—or just bellows at walls. Along the way, we dig into fantasy aesthetics, the Netflix Original paradox, and the shifting image of the Final G...
In this special crossover episode, the Movie Memory Machine smashes headfirst into the Grunt Work feed for a tag-team takedown of Redbelt (2008), the only dramatic performance in Tim Allen’s catalog that doesn't involve a dog costume or a Santa suit. Join Landon and Truman as they dive into David Mamet's mixed martial arts noir drama starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, grapple with Mamet's obsession with honor, and ask the big question: how...
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