Episode 50, ‘This Meta Episode’, on The Style Guide
This week, Dave and Steve decide that they need to go deeper and do an entire episode on themselves. That’s right folks, episode 50 is dedicated to exploring the prior 49 episodes of The Style Guide. Follow along as they tell you all about how the (tofu) sausage is made. Listen to just how Dave and Steve prepare. Find out well kept secrets like “who edits the podcast?” and “what genius writes the shownotes?”.
We promise, it isn’t as boring as it sounds. Or your money back.
Episode 49, ‘RoboCop is a great film’, on Starship Troopers
This week, following both the American election and Remembrance Day, Dave and Steve stumble into a topic that is oddly fitting: the novel and film Starship Troopers. Come for the discussion of a classic sci-fi book, stay for Steve’s attempt to defend a bad movie.
Which is the better adaptation of Starship Troopers: Ridley Scott’s Aliens or Hasbro’s Power Rangers?
Steve thinks Starship Troopers comes from a long line of satirical films with an important message; Dave thinks Starship Troopers comes from a long line of bad movies.
Steve is not the only person to think this. See: Scott Tobias for A.V. Club; or John Perich for Overthinking It. Just because he’s cribbing from smart people doesn’t mean he’s right though.
Dave and Steve really dig into Denise Richards and Casper Van Dien. Guess we won’t be seeing an actor profile about either of them.
Dave describes the premise of RoboCop and it sounds ridiculous.
Episode 48, ‘Look at me. I exist.’, on Political Advertising
This week, Dave and Steve say farewell — and good riddance — to the American presidential election by talking about the last couple years of political advertising. Spoiler alert: there are no spoilers in this episode. Expect maybe existential spoilers.
Depending on when you start counting — and including today — the American election campaign has been going for 614 days. That is when the first candidate formally announced his candidacy to run for the presidential nomination. No, nobody knows who Mark Everson is. Not even Steve, even if he pretends that he does.
Dave and Steve insist that they’re going to focus on the form and style of campaign ads — and not about politics. Guess how well that goes?
Steve struggles to name a brand of truck.
Steve says “watch the game” as if he understands anything at all about sports.
This entire episode should probably be understood in relation to the fact that Dave and Steve have clearly never seen Mad Men. That being said, Dave is such a Miranda.
As we’ve all come to expect, Dave goes on an extended rant about the death of truth.
Steve makes up an ad where Barack Obama plays basketball. It’s unclear why.
Shoutout to Patrick Baynham, best known for his roles in Elf and White Chicks.
Steve struggles to name a brand of alcohol.
Much to the chagrin of third-party candidates, Dave and Steve talk about American elections as being a two-sided debate.
Steve feels bad for Kentucky celebrity physician, Rand Paul.
Dave spoils who he’s going to vote for in the American election.
Dave lays a trap, but Steve spent too many years playing Pitfall! to fall for it.
Bill Burr is not “just a comedian”, Dave. He’s a national treasure.
Dave’s favorite political ad of the season is a joke; and Steve’s favorite ad involves football.
Steve mistakenly suggests that Marco Rubio is a human being when he is, in fact, a robot.
Episode 47, ‘I watch Saw for the articles’, on the Halloween series
Naturally following upon their pre-Halloween Spooktacular, this week Dave and Steve do an on-Halloween Spooktacular. This time they explore John Carpenter’s Halloween franchise and the twists the series takes before finally arriving at the two recent Rob Zombie remakes. Keep in mind that Dave feels the need to vividly describe some of the scenes, in case you wanted to be horrified without ever seeing the films. It’s fun for the whole family absolutely no families whatsoever.
There are times when Steve is good at thinking on the spot and coming up with creative and clever things to say. The start of this episode is not one of those times.
Mike Myers was 15 years old when Halloween came out.
You ever think this podcast is just Dave and Steve angling for membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences?
At one point, Dave whispers “have sex” — and Steve suggests that nobody was having sex in 1978. It is about as weird as it sounds.
Steve suggests that Donald Pleasence, who was nominated for four Tony Awards, was a failed actor. Four Tonys, Steve. FOUR.
Steve unfairly questions the parenting decisions of the Doyles.
For more on the mastery of Carpenter’s use of music, check out Mark’s thoughts on the matter. Unlike Dave and Steve, who are terrified neophytes to the genre, Mark has been at this for quite a few years and it shows.
Dave pants heavily.
Dean Cundey was the director of photography for Halloween II and the cinematographer for Back to the Future Part II.
Dave misremembers something and Steve feels superior.
Then, as it turns out, Steven immediately misremembers the significance of Michael Myers’ mask in the later films.
The editor would like to take a moment to sincerely thank Steve for including a quote that has three swears in three seconds. Nothing like trying to edit that out to keep the podcast family friendly.
Then Dave and Steve go on to make that comment necessary for understanding the next ten minutes of discussion, making it impossible to outright cut. Thanks team.
Episode 46, ‘It’s good when it works’, on Edgar Allan Poe
Once upon a Monday mellow, as I podcast, young and yellow
About an author and his life’s work fine and fair
While I Skyped, tamely talking, saying nothing that was shocking
I found myself gently rocking, rocking in my office chair
“Tis my way,” I tweeted, “talking in my office chair–
The Style Guide, with all its flair!”
Episode 45, ‘There’s no Iron Man for Jodie Foster’, on Jodie Foster
This week, follow along with the hard to identify noises of construction happening as if it were just down the street from you. Wonder if you’re going crazy or if there is a rhythmic metal thumping (?) of some sort that is almost impossible to pinpoint, but is definitely in the background of Steve’s audio. Also: Dave and Steve talk about Jodie Foster.
This week, Dave and Steve take a journey through their awkward pre-teen and teenage years which is known more widely as “the 1990s”. While they don’t cover everything that went on in the decade, they do cover some of its more important films. Like Biodome with Pauly Shore.
Episode 42, ‘Tatooine doesn’t have any beaches’, on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
In this episode, which was recorded and released in late June and anyone who says otherwise a liar, Dave and Steve go pretty far down the rabbit hole of nerdy analyses. Abandon all hope ye who enter here, because Dave and Steve chat about Rogue One and the teaser trailer.
Just be clear, this episode is about the Rogue One Teaser Trailer released in April and not the Rogue One Trailer Trailer released in August. Dave and Steve have no idea what happens in the latter. Because this episode came out on June 27th and not September 26th.
Are they going to de-age Carrie Fischer for this film? If so, which of the Michaels will be: Caine, Douglas, or Downey Jr.?
Steven proves, yet again, that he is racist towards English people with his Downton Abbey assumptions.
Yeah, sure guys. As if anyone believes that you know Primetime Emmy Award winning actor, Tatiana Maslany.
Caroline Blakiston portrayed Mon Mothma in Return of the Jedi; Genevieve O’Reilly portrayed the same character in both Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One; and Kath Soucie voiced that character in Clone Wars.
Dave says “less” when he means “fewer”.
Dave describes an axe fight as intimate.
Steve, normally a “can do” person, doesn’t really believe himself able to make a Death Star.
Dave does the accents for everyone from the trailer.
Darth Vader is the Kylo Ren of the Star Wars universe.
Why do Dave and Steve refer to Forest Whitaker as “our man”? Is this another Tatiana Maslany thing?
Steve does the accent thing too. Then Dave and Steve talk over each other, doing the accent thing.
Steve puts his single semester of Engineering to good use and explains the nature of fluid dynamics to Dave.
It’s Kathleen Kennedy whose job it is to Make Star Wars Great Again.
Dave and Steve promise to give this treatment to the trailer trailer, whenever it eventually comes out. They are lying liars though, so that probably won’t happen.
This will be the last episode of The Style Guide for the summer, but worry not faithful listener, Dave and Steve will be back soon enough. See you in a few months!
Episode 41, ‘Everyone in France seems pretty terrible’, on Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
This week, Dave and Steve take on the rough and tumble world of fragrant essential oils, aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents. That’s right, they watched and read Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind. You’ll pay for the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge. While ths episode never goes into territory that would require an “explicit” tag, if there was the option of adding “mildly uncomfortable”, that would certainly be on here.
Dave and Steve agree not to change something that’s working.
Dave and Steve change something that’s working.
Steve doesn’t like anyone.
Dave doesn’t approve of Steve as a sexual creature.
Dave rubs his knowledge of French in Steve’s ignorant face.
Steve is grossed out by concept of birth.
“Pitiable” means deserving or arousing pity. “Pitbull” is a type (not breed) of dog. “Pit Bull” a rapper best known for his role in the hit videogame Scarface: The World Is Yours. But “pitable” doesn’t mean anything Steve.
Steve spends a lot of time talking about how attractive Ben Whishaw is. Dave seems to agree just to get Steve to stop talking about it.
Standing offer: $20 to anyone who guesses Dave’s favorite smell before he says it.
Maybe “pitable” is commonly used in the fruit world to describe drupes?
“How did you like the murder?” is a sentence that will come back to haunt both Dave and Steve at some point in their lives.
Especially when Dave starts describing it as “beautiful”.
Steve’s key insight this week is that scent is different than sight.
The editor had the ability to remove the noise of Dave stretching, but deliberately chose not to. For those that want to skip right to it, check out the 32 minute 26 second mark. You’re welcome.
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