Mixed Bag

The final episode of Demisexual is here! And for the first time in the miniseries, Demi isn't the main character. But where does this performance fit in our Demisexual Rankings? You'll have to wait until the end of the episode to see. "The Angels are charged with finding a pair of missing rings that are encoded with the personal information of members of the Witness Protection Program. As informants are killed, the ladies target a rogue agent who might be responsible." (Sourced from Letterboxd). Over in the Pop Corner, we talk Tiny Bookshop, Battlestar Galactica (2004-09), Mother Mary, Backrooms, The Christophers, the recent Wellington Film Society mini-festival, and Olivia Rodrigo's new album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (which Cass can confirm she has also listened to now and also thinks is great, especially the first part).

His mind... Our final movie from this round of personal picks as we look forward to the holiday season. We discover that one of the hosts has her own cognitive malfunctions to deal with (Paul Bettany face blindness). We reminisce about Jamie's close personal connection to Jennifer Connelly. We forgive Matt for his bad takes about Anomalisa (Cass writes the blurbs). From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash Jr. experiences it all. As a brilliant but socially awkward mathematician, he made a groundbreaking discovery early in his career and stands on the brink of international acclaim. But as the handsome and arrogant Nash accepts secret work in cryptography, he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy. His life takes a nightmarish turn and he soon finds himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery. (Sourced from Letterboxd). Pop Corner covers The Red Shoes (1948), Amelie the Musical, Gretchen Felker-Martin's Black Flag, Ivy Wolk's episode of StraightioLab, the Pixies and our upcoming Fringe show, Once Upon A Time in Homowood. If you listen to this podcast you are the direct target audience for the show, so come along!

It's time for Jamie's Personal Pick, and you know she's gonna choose a big ol' Dyke Drama. Some Sapphic Cinema. A Movie for Muff-Divers. So she's chosen a movie about one of the world's gayest sports, roller derby, featuring a pre-transition Elliot Page and bi-con Alia Shawkat and... NO LESBIAN CHARACTERS!?!? 😱😱😱 Can it be true?!?!? In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin. (Sourced from Letterboxd). Join the team as they grapple with this egregious display of lez erasure. In Pop Corner they also discuss Hamnet (Maggie O'Farrell), Over The Garden Wall, Lily Allen's West End Girl and Elliot Page's own Pageboy.

We cap off Tissue Box Office with a film where the tragic death is of not a long-haired brunette, but a short-haired blond! And also, he's a dog. A newly married couple, in the process of starting a family, learn many of life’s important lessons from their trouble-loving retriever, Marley. Packed with plenty of laughs to lighten the load, the film explores the highs and lows of marriage, maturity and confronting one’s own mortality, as seen through the lens of family life with a dog. (Sourced from Letterboxd) Over in the Pop Corner, we talk about One Battle After Another, Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, Prime Minister, Spettacolo! (2017), Marwencol (2010), Pavements, When We Were Trans by Kit Heyam, Corpses, Fools and Monsters by Willow Maclay and Caden Gardner and this new album by some lady called "Tailor Swiffed" that people are listening to for some reason (Cass wrote this).

We continue on our journey through the wonderful world of weepies with 2002's A Walk to Remember, the sleepover classic beloved by every teen girl who ever said "I can fix him." When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town’s minister. Jamie has a “to-do” list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon. (Sourced from Letterboxd). This episode we put forth our theory of straight-haired brunette death and the dead sister phenomenon. Plus, pop corner discussion of Baldur's Gate 3, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Detroit: Become Human, Man's Best Friend (Sabrina Carpenter), The Straight Line Was A Lie (The Beths), Jaws (1970) and The Naked Gun.

Hankies at the ready, Baguettes, it's time for our new miniseries, TISSUE BOX OFFICE! Today, we discuss the concept of the term 'weepie', what qualifies as a weepie and a classic of the genre, 1970's Love Story. Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV and music student Jennifer Cavilleri share a chemistry they cannot deny - and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young couple put their hearts on the line for each other. When they marry, Oliver’s wealthy father threatens to disown him. Jenny tries to reconcile the Barrett men, but to no avail. (Sourced from Letterboxd). Is Love Story an absolute cheesefest? Will we weep? And is there any film out there that couldn't be re-titled to 'Til Death?? Pop corner kernels this episode include Sketchbook Coffee on Taranaki St, Downie Express, Wytchwood, Weapons (2025), 20th Century Women (2016), Ethel Cain's Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You and Renee Rapp's Bite Me.

So at one point in this episode we say that we should do something special for our 150th episode, which is next... well, actually we miscounted and this is our 150th episode. If you've been with us for all 150, thank you for sticking with us! Today we talk Crash, the infamous race relations film that beat out Brokeback Mountain at the Oscars (a film which will not be featured on Mixed Bag because it is straightforwardly good). We keep accidentally referring to it as Trash in this episode, for good reason. In post-Sept. 11 Los Angeles, tensions erupt when the lives of a Brentwood housewife, her district attorney husband, a Persian shopkeeper, two cops, a pair of carjackers and a Korean couple converge during a 36-hour period. (Sourced from Letterboxd). If you want to support us into our next 150 episodes and beyond, check out our Ko-Fi page where we are ever-fundraising toward Good Microphones. Find us on https://ko-fi.com/mixedbag/

Yes, Baguettes, it's the long-awaited NOBBSISODE. You know him, you love(?) him, it's Albert Nobbs. We're not using the official film synopsis for this one because it's <i>problematic</i> so here's our summary: Albert Nobbs is a trans man who works at a swanky hotel in late 19th century Ireland. He meets another trans man who is out there thriving with a wife he loves and decides to acquire a wife of his own. Things go badly. Pop corner kernels this week include the Tony Awards, Devil's Plan season 2, The Count of Monte Cristo, ~gay cinema~ including Princess Cyd, Coyote Ugly and Water Lilies, Sabrina Carpenter's Manchild and its music video, the new cast of Traitors US, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and Overcompensating. Dang we watch a lot of stuff.