Dirty Sons of Pitches

The "Dirty Sons of Pitches" are picking up the pieces in the wake of some stunning news from Disney, namely the firing of writer/director James Gunn from the billion-dollar franchise he helped bring to their door. The guys discuss new Comicon trailers making their debut and briefly pitch where Gunn and his franchise may go next. Along the way there is also discussion over Gene Shalit's bathroom habits, the moon's response to man leaving behind astronaut excrement, the danger of right-wing trolls being rewarded, a fine year for ketchup, how far is too far with satire, French ignorance, and just how reliably wonderful Tom Cruise is when he's going all-out in an action vehicle.

Available on iTunes.

Episode 216 includes:

-James Gunn fired by Disney for tweets he already apologized for and they knew about two movies ago.

-The guys respond to new trailers revealed at Comicon, including "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," "Aquaman," "Shazam!," "Fantastic Beasts 2," and "Battle Angel Alita."

-"Skyscraper" doesn't quite reach its intended heights; "Sorry to Bother You" goes a little too far in its final act"; "Three Identical Strangers" deserves to be seen.

-"Mission: Impossible 6' is the best in the series and a pure adrenaline rush of action glory.

-This Week's Pitch -- What's Next for James Gunn/Guardians of the Galaxy?

-The guys discuss what projects James Gunn might be well suited for and who might be a replacement director for "Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3."

Direct download: pitch_216.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:53pm EDT
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The "Dirty Sons of Pitches" are once again looking at failed TV pilots of old, this time with all Frankenstein-related pilots. It's another fascinating look at an alternate universe of TV that might have been. Remarkably, most of the shows are actually pretty acceptable and in some cases present promise that would never be fulfilled. Stick around indeed.

Available on iTunes.

Episode 215 includes:

-The 1958 "Tales of Frankenstein" was meant to be an anthology horror series by Hammer.

-Writer/director Roger Avary's "Mr. Stitch" 1995 Sci-Fi Channel pilot has just enough intriguing elements that Ben and Nate openly wish they could write it how it should be.

-Dean Koontz's modern 2004 "Frankenstein" with Parker Posey... could be good but we'll never know (it's probably not).

-Instead, the guys watch Andy Kaufman's 1977 pre-"Taxi" pilot "Stick Around" where he's a robot butler in the future and... and it's kinda great.

Direct download: pitch_215.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:29am EDT
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The "Dirty Sons of Pitches" have been beset by bugs, both in real life and at the movies. They're back and in honor of "Ant-Man and the Wasp" the guys are pitching movies related to bugs and insects. Along the way they talk about some very specific masculine fears, the nature of film commerce as a Lovecraftian monster, the surge of social significance the "Purge" movies have undergone, the appeal of mob movies, and whether all actors will be replaced with de-aged versions of themselves in the future.

Available on iTunes

Episode 214 includes:

-R.I.P. Steve Ditko, Harlan Ellison, Ed Schultz

-Is ScarJo in another "-washing" casting controversy?

-Has "The Purge" gotten more political and more relevant in the age of Trump? You bet your ass it has.

-Nate has seen the 0% on RT film "Gotti," and the worst thing, by far, is Pitbull's musical score.

-"Ant-Man and the Wasp" is light-hearted comic fun and about what you'd want from it.

-This Week's Pitch -- Buuuuuuuugs!

-Ben pitches a Poe-styled thriller with a killer villainous worm, and an invading plague of bugs and the soldiers designed to eliminate them.

-Nate pitches robot honey bees taking over and a home invasion thriller where one family must face off against a swarm of highly intelligent bugs.

Direct download: pitch_214_A.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:09pm EDT
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The "Dirty Sons of Pitches" are holding onto their butts for the newest dinosaur adventure, the mega sequel "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom." The guys pitch Disney sequels to recent films in honor of their newest Pixar release, the long-awaited "Incredibles 2." The guys chat about the Mt. Rushmore of celebrity gropers, the appeal of the "Maury Povich" talk show, the virtue of not wearing pants, a Disney conspiracy to get "A Wrinkle in Time' over the $100 million mark, what makes a good sequel, and an important announcement at the end of the show how things will never be the same for the podcast going forward.

Available on iTunes.

Episode 213 includes:

-Groper of the Week: Nerd magnate and host of everything on AMC, Chris Hardwicke.

-The end of an era: Jerry Springer going off TV after 30 years of chair hurling action.

-"Incredibles 2" isn't up to the standard of the original, but it's still plenty great.

-Jeremy Renner actually steals the show in "Tag," and marvel at his lifelike CGI arms.

-Ben gushes about his favorite movie of 2018: "The Jurassic Games." It's "The Hunger Games" with dinosaurs!

-The new "Jurassic World" is pretty dumb.

-This Week's Pitch -- Modern Disney Sequels!

-The guys pitch sequels on the spot to "Frozen," "Moana," "Zootopia," "Inside Out," and, "Brave," among others.

Direct download: pitch_213.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:40pm EDT
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The "Dirty Sons of Pitches" are scratching their heads over the buzz-worthy indie horror film "Hereditary" and trying to make sense of the movie and what critics are raving about. In honor of that film, this week they're pitching stories about family tragedies. Along the way they also talk about a variety of topics such as racist mascots, a 1980 movie with black face, sexual side effects of Ambien, a Supreme Court filled with child justices, a "Bad Boys 11" spinoff 15 years later, Ben's ability to be manipulated by his own writing, James Franco purposely playing a sexual predator, and Ben's edict on how certain people are "liking movies wrong."

Available on iTunes.

Episode 212 includes:

-Roseanne might go into porn... now scrub your brain. Also, a trip down memory lane of Skinemax and the virtues of soft core eroticism.

-What are the lessons and effects of "Solo" for Kathleen Kennedy and the "Star Wars" franchise?

-Go see "Upgrade," a fun genre movie, while able.

-"The Strangers: Prey at Night" is apparently a lot dumber than you would even believe.

-"Hereditary" is a horror movie for people that like movies wrong, says Ben.

-This Week's Pitch -- Family Tragedies!

-Ben pitches a woman raised by cannibal parents trying to start her own life, two brothers running a haunted graveyard, and a makeshift team hunting sexual predators from their youth.

-Nate pitches a younger German generation trying to square their idea of their parents going along with the Holocaust.

Direct download: pitch_212.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:04pm EDT
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The "Dirty Sons of Pitches" are taking their cues from the latest "Star Wars" movie and looking for characters deserving of spinoff prequels. The guys chat about whether Bryan Fuller deserves another TV series to abandon, lawsuits with crude puppets, Morgan Freeman possibly being the next Groper of the Week, Zack Snyder as a Randian, and what makes a good "Star Wars" movie.

Available on iTunes.

Episode 211 includes:

-Talking dog flick "Show Dogs" grooming children for sexual predators? Wait, what now?

-The new "Roseanne" is cancelled because... of Roseanne being Roseanne.

-"Geo Storm" and "Hurricane Heist" are not bad enough to be enjoyable and not good enough to be good.

-Clint Eastwood's "15:17 to Paris" is a boring ride.

-Ben surprisingly loves "Solo" and calls it the best "Star Wars" film since 1983. Nate finds it so-so.

-This Week's Pitch -- Prequel Spinoffs!

-Ben pitches vehicles for Khan, Doc Brown, Power Rangers, Ron Perlman's "Pacific Rim" character, the Vega brothers, the original Joker, and the best little cantina on Tattooine.

Direct download: pitch_211.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:01pm EDT
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The "Dirty Sons of Pitches" are squeezing time between writing assignments and have a mother of a show to deliver for their listeners. They've got "Deadpool 2" to dissect, a trio of Mother's Day movies ("Tully," "Life of the Party," "Breaking In") and wrap it all up with another edition of everyone's favorite pun-heavy game that goes off the deep end, So Shalit Be.

Available on iTunes.

Episode 210 includes:

-R.I.P. "Superman" actress Margot Kidder, and R.I.P. out good taste when it comes to these things.

-TV cancellations (farewell Alex Inc.) and a surprise 70-episode renewal for "Rick and Morty."

-"Tully" shows motherhood as incarceration, and it's a strong, observant character piece for Charlize Theron.

-"Deadpool 2" is more of the same, which is fine.

-This Week's Pitch -- None!

-This Week's Game -- So Shalit Be!

-The guys imitate their favorite pun-heavy TV critic Gene Shalit and conjure blurbs he would provide for a batch of randomly selected movie titles.

Direct download: pitch_210.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:43pm EDT
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The "Dirty Sons of Pitches" are welcoming back Alex Knerem, super fan of geek culture, for this all-out geeky podcast about the ten-years-in-the-making cinematic event, Marvel's "Avengers: Infinity Wars." There a lot to unpack and there will be spoilers after 24:00 minutes in, so beware. In honor of this major event, the guys, with Alex's help, are pitching what's to come in the larger MCU and the many movies yet to come, including the inclusion of the Fox properties, the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Prepared for the overload on geek culture with this episode, folks.

Available on iTunes.

Episode 209 includes:

-Bill Cosby is going away for a long, long time and a place with lots of Jello.

-Anyone else underwhelmed by the latest "Venom" trailer? Anyone?

-"Super Troopers 2" is a decent comedy for fans of the original though not much for anyone else.

-The guys go deep into "Infinity War" with SPOILERS and try and chart all of the major developments.

-This Week's Pitch -- Phase 4 of the MCU!

-Alex pitches the inclusion of a new lineup of X-Men and their focus on social issues.

-Ben pitches a life after "Infinity War" and how to bring in the Fantastic Four and X-Men.

Direct download: pitch_209.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:07pm EDT
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While the "Dirty Sons of Pitches" are wrapping up and revising another writing project for a producer, give a listen to Ben's other podcast he records regularly with his brother George -- "Saturday Night Jive." In honor of Ben Affleck's five-timers club hosting Saturday Night Live, the guys watch the notorious bomb from 2003, "Gigli." It's just as bad as you've heard and maybe worse, accompanied by a tonally awful piano score. Come for the embarrassing monologues about J.Lo's vagina, stay for the anaysis of every wrong-headed decision in this flick.

Available on iTunes.

Direct download: snj_gigli.mp3
Category:Saturday Night Jive -- posted at: 2:32pm EDT
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The "Dirty Sons of Pitches" are back and extra restful from the time off. There's a lot of news items to cover and several good to great movies as well, making this a bountiful and thankful podcast. The guys record after dark and get a little punchy, a little more absurd, and a little more provocative. If you've ever wondered more about the difference between Allison Mack and Alex Mack and the usefulness of turning into a puddle of liquid metal, then your day has come.

Available on iTunes.

Episode 208 includes:

-Groomers of the Week: Channel Awesome, Allison Mack, and Jon K.

-Stan Lee's blood stolen, which leads to a bizarre KISS anecdote that Ben thinks is the most amazingly metal thing ever.

-R.I.P. Isao Takahata, Milos Forman, Art Bell.

-John Krasinski's horror hit "A Quiet Place" is a simple idea brilliantly executed.

-The sex comedy "Blockers" is charmingly progressive and quite funny.

-"Rampage" is a big, dumb monster movie that works well at being a big, dumb monster movie.

-This Week's Pitch -- None!

Direct download: pitch_208.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:41pm EDT
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