The Incinerator Podcast

Season 2 of The Incinerator is here, and stepping into the flames for the first time as competitors - from the Screen Drafts podcast, it's CLAY KELLER and RYAN MARKER. In the first shake up to our initial formula, they'll be tackling "Songs from Coen Brothers Films" (a definition which shifts throughout). Producer of the pod, Ryan Verrill, also joins as proxy for The Engineer, who gets their hands on some insane new landmines. It's a weird and wild way to kick off the new season! To vote for the winners, visit us at www.incineratorpod.com. 

CLAY KELLER (Screen Drafts podcast) helps us close out our inaugural CUT AS YOU GO series with a celebration of the 1996 blockbuster that changed the way disaster epics are made - Roland Emmerich's INDEPENDENCE DAY. Fourteen titles entered The Incinerator Thunderdome and only one remains and it co-stars Judd Hirsch.

When deciding the best films of 2022 (and who better qualified than The Incinerator Podcast), we felt it only fitting to invite three of the raddest cats around to lend their cinematic goods to a rowdy roundtable discussion: MITCHELL BEAUPRE (Letterboxd, The Film Stage), DAVID FEAR (Rolling Stone), and WYNTER MITCHELL-ROHRBAUGH ("Waiting 2 X-Hale" podcast).  Buckle up and brace yourselves - WE GO LONG.

J.D. DURAN (In Session Film podcast) wraps himself in a. blanket of freedom as he joins us to say 'farewell' to Roland Emmerich's pitting of Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx against the greatest threat against our Democracy...James Woods - that's right, it's WHITE HOUSE DOWN. And, CHRIS THOMAS DEVLIN (screenwriter, Texas Chainsaw Massacre) helps us dissect the pomp, circumstance, and inaccuracies of Roland Emmerich's most entertaining attempt at respectability, so get ready to say goodbye to Heath Ledger's dreamy eyes and Donal Logue's insane racism as we toast THE PATRIOT. And, yes, we go into the "Mel" of it all.

With most major awards associations having distributed nominations or awards at this point, it's time to hear from the experts on performances...or the folks who were available when we needed them: CLAY KELLER (Screen Drafts podcast), DANE MCDONALD (Chasing Chalamet), and SCOUT TAFOYA (RogerEbert.com). Which films will make the cut, and which ones will end the year languishing in obscurity? In three hours, you'll know the answers.

MITCHELL BEAUPRE (The Film Stage, Paste) joins us to discuss that moon...that just keeps on falling. Boy, does it fall. All over the damned place. Crazy old moon. MOONFALL might be one of the biggest box office disasters in history, but it definitely lives up to its title. And, THOMAS GRABINSKI (Watching Movies at the Bar podcast) joins us to answer the important question: does burning books in a library make Jake Gyllenhaal and Emmy Rossum Republicans? That's right - it's not yesterday...it's not today...it's not tomorrow...it's THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW. 

We're putting one of the four finals nails in the coffin that was 2022 with a roundtable devoted to the wide world of documentaries. Joining us are: DREA CLARK (Maximum Film! podcast), MARYA E. GATES (RogertEbert.com), and JENN WILSON (Film Independent). Which films will make the cut, and which ones will end the year languishing in obscurity? In three hours, you'll know the answers.

HARMONY COLANGELO (This Ends at Prom podcast) joins us for an apocalyptic dive into the surprise smash hit that proved the Mayans right, and turned John Cusack into the limo-driving action hero of our dreams - that's right, it's 2012. Because who better to continue the human race than a bunch of white billionaires and Thandiwe Newton?!

DAVE SCHILLING (The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times) joins us for a colorful discussion of Roland Emmerich's original IP that spawned a franchise and the androgynous crush of our dreams in Jaye Davidson - that's right, meeting the incinerator well ahead of its time, it's STARGATE. Let's dive into action hero James Spader!

LESLIE BYRON PITT (Fatal Attractions podcast) joins us for...a RoboCop rip-off? A zombie movie? Soft core Van Damme porn? You got it, it's Roland Emmerich's cannonball into the pool that is American cinema - it's UNIVERSAL SOLDIER. How does a film we loved as kids stack up against today's big budget action pictures? Is Van Damme the next Charlie Chaplin? There's so much to unpack here...

ALEXEI TOLIOPOULOS (Finding Desperado, Total Reboot podcast) joins us for a trip back in time as we discuss (for better or worse) Roland Emmerich's baffling caveman flick, 10,000 BC, which also has aliens. Did Alexei love it, hate it, can't quite decide? You'll have to find out. One thing's for sure - NOTHING is for sure.

JASON SHAWHAN (Nashville Scene) salutes the stars and stripes with us as we tackle the bombastic, jingoistic dad movie to end all dad movies, the 2019 movie you probably didn't even know was a Roland Emmerich movie, MIDWAY. It's a lot of bland white dudes (including Nick Jonas with a mustache) exercising their patriotism, and Mandy Moore just sort of 'there'. It's, surprisingly, more successful than you'd imagine.

MAUREEN LEE LENKER (Entertainment Weekly) joins us for a Bard-tastic lambast of Roland Emmerich's conspiracy-theory laden 2011 romp, ANONYMOUS, that surely had Shakespeare spinning in his grave. This is one of those rare Emmerich efforts where we don't have much positivity to heap on the picture, save for some of the performances.

DARREN FRANICH (Entertainment Weekly) joins us for an intergalactic eulogy to Roland Emmerich's epic sequel to the 1996 blockbuster, INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE. Though there's a lot to love about the bombastic silliness of this overstuffed gem, the incinerator called and RESURGENCE answered. 

It's here - The Incinerator finals - where we decide, once and for all, who has the highest tolerance for nonsense. Our cinematic gladiators? MITCHELL BEAUPRE (Letterboxd), WILLIAM BIBBIANI (Critically Acclaimed network), DREA CLARK (Maximum Film! podcast), and BRYAN COGMAN (Game of Thrones). The winner receives the title of FIRE PROOF and $500 towards the charity of their choosing. And YOU do the voting!

GRAHAM SKIPPER (host of the NIGHT SCHOOL podcast and Zilla megafan) joins us for a haunting eulogy to Roland Emmerich's first and only attempt at a pre-existing cinematic property that wasn't his own, the film that introduced Graham to Led Zeppelin - 1998's blockbuster, GODZILLA. Though there's a lot of goofy charm in this overstuffed ode to American military excellence, it didn't quite have what it takes to avoid the incinerator. Mourn with us.

DANE MCDONALD from the CHASING CHALAMET podcast joins us for an in-depth discussion of Roland Emmerich's well-intentioned but problematic 2015 drama, STONEWALL, based on the 1969 riots that kickstarted the gay liberation movement. Even though it's the first title in Emmerich's oeuvre to fall victim to the incinerator, our eulogy will live forever.

The TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS presents its penultimate round of chaos as Drea Clark ("Maximum Film" podcast), Jordan Courtney ("Filmshake" podcast), Dan Mecca (The Film Stage), and Eric Peacock ("Soundtracker" podcast) hatch an elaborate scheme to incinerate HEIST FILMS. The producer of the pod, Ryan Verrill, serves as Engineer for this descent into madness. Only one competitor will emerge victorious and head to our Finals - which one will it be? You do the voting, remember?

The TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS continues with Round 3 of madness and shenanigans as Mitchell Beaupre (Letterboxd), Chris Thomas Devlin (screenwriter, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"), Clay Keller ("Screen Drafts" podcast), and Clarke Wolfe (Fear HQ) explore the deep, dark recesses of America's sweetheart, SANDRA BULLOCK. The producer of the pod, Ryan Verrill, serves as Engineer for this descent into madness. Only one competitor will emerge victorious and head to our Finals - which one will it be? You do the voting, remember?

Our inaugural TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS continues as William Bibbiani ("Critically Acclaimed" podcast network), Ross Bratin (the patron's champion), Sam Inglis ("Hawke Talk" podcast) and Devaughn Taylor ("Specter Cinema Club" podcast) dive deep into the soon-to-be incinerate oeuvre of ALFRED HITCHCOCK. The producer of the pod, Ryan Verrill, serves as Engineer for this descent into madness. Only one competitor will emerge victorious and head to our Finals - which one will it be? You do the voting, remember?

It's here - our inaugural TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS. Round 1 finds Bryan Cogman ("Game of Thrones"), Jason Kleeberg ("Force Five" podcast), Kenny Neibart ("Podcast Like It's 1999" podcast) and Oriana Nudo ("Hollywood-ography" podcast) doing battle over DEAD, DEATH, DEADLY, DEATHLY (films with one or more of those words in the title). The producer of the pod, Ryan Verrill, serves as Engineer for this two hours of madness. Only one competitor will emerge victorious and head to our Finals - which one will it be? You do the voting, remember?

We're closing out the first season of The Incinerator with one of our most flammable topics yet - HORROR SEQUELS. And our combatants are up for the challenge - genre audiobook narrator SEAN DUREGGER, and DOUG MCCAMBRIDGE from the GOOD TIMES GREAT MOVIES podcast. They'll be guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done.

We're joined by two dudes who understand and love the 90's as much as anyone, and JORDAN COURTNEY and NICHOLAS LOUP from FILMSHAKE do, indeed, engage in epic 'hanging from a helicopter' battle over 90'S ACTION FILMS. They'll be guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done.

Over the course of a month, we posted numerous TWITTER POLLS all relating to the stars of the Grown-Ups films. The films that won those polls are battled about by patrons ROSS BRATIN and NICK RUDOW until only one remains. They'll be guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done. Co-hosted by Mitchell Beaupre.

We're getting ready to rumble, incinerator style, as wrestling buffs BJ and HARMONY COLANGELO (This Ends at Prom podcast) step into a no holds barred cage match to determine, once and for all, the greatest wrestlers to grace the silver screen. They'll be guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done.

Known for her burning intensity as an actress, JENNIFER JASON LEIGH feels like a proper 'first' for The Incinerator, seeing as how we've never inflicted this kind of damage on an individual before. Doing just that are SAM INGLIS (Hawke Talk Podcast) and JASON SHAWHAN (Nashville Scene), the two biggest JJL fans to ever JJL. They'll be guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done.

Pride Month is hot, hot, hot as we dive into the illustrious, awards-laden legacy of FOCUS FEATURES with two queers who know their way around awards, CHRIS FEIL and JOE REID from the "This Had Oscar Buzz" podcast. They'll be guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done.

They say "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen", but our competitors this episode are battle-tested Michelin star cinematic chefs, as we welcome WILLIAM BIBBIANI and WITNEY SEIBOLD (The Critically Acclaimed Network) into the incinerator to turn a topic like SPOOFS into 'no laughing matter'. They'll be guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done.

We're diving into the flaming hot underground cesspool that is 90'S HORROR with two combatants who know their stuff - CHRIS THOMAS DEVLIN (writer, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022) and BREA GRANT (Lucky, Torn Hearts). Will the stone cold classics we all know and love make it through the perils of the incinerator? They'll be guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done.

There were very few studios as 'hot' as Miramax Films in the 90's and 00's, but after the "Harvey Weinstein" of it all, we can't wait to toss some beloved classics into The Incinerator, with the help of JASON KLEEBERG (Force Five podcast) and ERIC PEACOCK (Soundtracker podcast). Will the two friends stay that way after duking it out in the fires and coals of cinema's most vicious regulator? They'll be guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done.

We know the daylight can get a little 'hot' for vamps, but the incinerator burns brighter than any crucifix as GARRETT MCDOWELL and DEVAUGHN TAYLOR (Bloody Blunts Cinema Club podcast) sink their fangs into a broad and divisive topic - VAMPIRE MOVIES - guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done. Which film (and which players) will survive the ravages of the incinerator? Find out...

Is the globe warming? Cuz it's awfully hot in here as MITCHELL BEAUPRE (Letterboxd, The Film Stage) and DAN MECCA (The Film Stage) fan the flames of competition over ROAD MOVIES, guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done. Which film (and which players) will survive the ravages of the incinerator? Find out...

The Incinerator isn't the only hottie in the room as ANDRE HYLAND (Guilty Party, The Death of Dick Long) and CALEB WARD (Highland Film Group) do epic battle over EROTIC THRILLERS (i.e. a coupla cis straight white dudes sittin' around talking), guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done. Which film (and which players) will survive the ravages of the incinerator? Find out...

The Incinerator is smokin' hot as MAUREEN LEE LENKER and ORIANA NUDO from the HOLLYWOOD-OGRAPHY podcast do epic battle over STAGE MUSICAL ADAPTATIONS, guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done. Which film (and which players) will survive the ravages of the incinerator? Find out...

The Incinerator gets hot, hot, hot as PHILLIP ISCOVE and KENNY NEIBART from PODCAST LIKE IT'S 1999 do epic battle over THE FILMS OF 1999, guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done. Which film (and which players) will survive the ravages of the incinerator? Find out...

The Incinerator smolders as DREA CLARK and DARREN FRANICH do epic battle over CLASSIC NOIR films, guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by a super secret guest known only as "The Engineer". The players won't know who's causing them so much grief, and neither will you, till everything is said and done. Which film (and which players) will survive the ravages of the incinerator? Find out...

The Incinerator ignites as GRAHAM SKIPPER and CLARKE WOLFE do epic battle over SLASHER FILMS, guided, rewarded, and penalized the entire way by our special guest Engineer, DREW MCWEENY. Graham and Clarke had no idea who was causing them such chaotic stress, so you'll be one step ahead of them the entire way! Which single film will survive the ravages of the incinerator? Find out...

This is the episode where we break down the rules of the game and explain the origins of all the chaos. Listening to this explainer before the first episode will hopefully help you navigate the twists and turns of THE INCINERATOR, and maybe even get you amped?