Everything is Gay (Even the Straight Stuff‪)‬ John McDonald

What's one of the first movies that made you think about film and about your life? What's one of the first films that is intensely intimate for you?

For John, there was no greater film for his birthday month and for a conversation about star-crossed lovers quite like 94/95's Sum of Us. It's a seminal film with young Russell Crowe playing a gay rugby plumber at that age in life where libido is still enough but soon there's so much more.

It's a film that's still prescient and adds a lot to the conversation about both how things are adapted from stage to screen and also what happens when good representation happens. It's a movie about family dynamics and love. It's probably one of the best lgbt films ever made, at least in John's opinion.

And it's the sum of us.

It's a funny thing what streaming services give and take away. And this coming of age story from the 1993 wouldn't have been a success nor had its longevity without living in a pre-streaming world where syndication made it a household favorite. Do you think Sister Act 2 would've survived making less money than its predecessor with less accolades from the critics?

Truth be told, and you can't lie to nuns, Sister Act 2 is a movie about legacy (on and off the screen), about community, and about what happens when nuns stop being pious and start getting real. Or something like that.

Join in for a celebration about the movie that launched a thousand careers, a lot of choirs in Japan, and that is probably Whoopi Goldberg's most consistently asked about film.

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, lah.

This episode goes places. Like, scary places. That's what raatmas when Raatma raatmas.

But it might not be the 90s you expect. What show would you say focuses on two long lost lovers meeting again after years and lifetimes apart? What if John and Magnus told you it was on the BBC? What if John and Magnus told you it was in the top 30 of Britain's Best Sitcoms?

As Time Goes By is an exquisite sitcom. It has a vintage feel and its filled with loveliness and conversation. Even the misunderstandings are talked about. And truly as a platform to introduce Judi Dench to the nation did it succeed. If you haven't seen it, it'll be on Britbox. And you are welcome for nine series of fun and warmth (the tenth series isn't really a full final season).

And in thanks for you being a loyal listener, John and Magnus have something special planned for after the wrap-up in thanks for you being so patient in delivery of this episode. So please do stick around.

Music is "Fill the Beat Chilled Wave" from Pixabay, royalty free music.

It may seem improbable that one of the most influential ill-fated queer love stories of generations happened in Wyoming. But the vistas, the silence, the things unsaid - made it the perfect place for Brokeback Mountain.

Not just at the height of Ang Lee's directorial power (though John enjoys another of his movie's quite a bit more), with a cast of many actors still going strong - Brokeback Mountain is the sort of movie to redefine several genres while making sense in the compendium of American pop culture history (especially westerns).

We didn't know how to quit it, so we had to make an episode about it. Be warned though, the movie itself is harrowing and brutal in spots, so whatever trigger warning you need - the movie is real and honest and violent at points.

You've probably lived your whole life seeing It's A Wonderful Life during the winter holidays. It's a schmaltzy movie about a man who a town rallies around with some edges of a raw psyche where Jimmy Stewart really does explore the darker side of post-war America (this episode is explicit because of the darker themes).

But it's not about the movie. It's about how it wormed its way into pop culture and especially tv pop culture. In this season finale, John and Magnus examine three episodes heavily influenced by It's A Wonderful Life

Season 5 of Boy Meets World's "A Very Topanga Christmas"

Season 8 of Family Matters "Father Time"

and Season 2 of Growing Pains "The Kid"

to examine how sitcoms use both the holidays and familiar film tropes as shorthand to tell moral tales with no wiggle rooms that sometimes miss the mark of their own message.

So grab your favorite holiday beverage, tune in, and try not to cringe too hard when John means to say It's a Wonderful Life and starts to say It's A Small World instead. There was a lot of eggnog imbibed during the recording of this episode- so thank you for your patience.