The Pick: 27 Dresses

It’s wedding season at Mildly Pleased, so we took a look at one of the most wedding-fetishizing romantic comedies ever made. You won’t believe how many dresses Katherine Heigl wears! Or perhaps you will, because it’s right there in the title. Either way, the boys have fun discussing the rise and fall of Miss Heigl, the affable blandness of James Marsden, the annoying New York accent of Edward Burns, and Malin Akerman’s very brief run as a Hollywood It Girl. Yes, it’s not a great cast by any means, but it screams 2008 as much as this movie’s comfort food take on pre-recession wedding woes. Continue reading →

RIP Joey Molland

Earlier this week, I found myself perusing Todd Rundgren’s Wikipedia page, going down my usual rock ’n’ roll rabbit hole searching for half-useful trivia tidbits. For example: Did you know Rundgren used to play a psychedelic-painted Gibson SG called “The Fool,” which Eric Clapton used during his time in Cream? The more you know.

Scrolling through Rundgren’s long list of production credits, I was reminded of his work with one of my favorite ‘70s bands: Badfinger. The band behind such hits as “Come and Get It” [1969, #7 US], “No Matter What” [1970, #8 US], “Day After Day” [1971, #4 US], and “Baby Blue” [1972, #14 US], the latter immortalized as the closing song in the final episode of Breaking Bad.

Then I learned something shocking: on March 1st, 2025, Joey Molland, the last surviving member of Badfinger’s classic lineup, passed away due to complications from diabetes. He was 77, and died where he had lived for the last four decades in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. As a fan of classic rock, this hit me hard.

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The Pick: Barbarella

After talking about Flash Gordon two episodes ago, it seemed only fitting that we review Barbarella, producer Dino De Laurentiis’s first foray into sci-fi comic book adaptation. Of course, this one has a much dirtier mind, stemming from director Roger Vadim’s eagerness to bring campy eroticism into the far reaches of space with the help of then-wife Jane Fonda. We delve a bit into the film’s deeply ’60s vibes as well as how the charismatic Fonda salvaged such a bizarre amalgam of counter-culture influences into something watchable. We also test our knowledge by trying to guess the highest-grossing sci-fi films that were released in that wild west of sci-fidom that predated Star Wars. Continue reading →

The Pick: The Legend of Bagger Vance

Why did we choose to cover the 2000 flop, The Legend of Bagger Vance on this episode of The Pick? Well, you’ll just have to listen to find out. Mostly, we were just hoping that it was secretly a charming little magic-tinged film that transcended its problematic title character, but perhaps that was too tall of an order. Regardless, it still gave us plenty of reasons to use funny Southern accents and bask in the film’s folksiness. Also, we end up talking about the movie The Family Man far more than you’d expect. Continue reading →

Retrospecticus: Cheech and Chong at the Movies

Christmas has Santa Claus, the Fourth of July has Uncle Sam, and 420 has Cheech and Chong. Or at least it should. I can think of no better ambassadors of the almighty herb than comedy legends Cheech and Chong.

Formed in Vancouver, BC, in 1969 by Canadian comedian/musician Tommy Chong and L.A.-born Richard “Cheech” Marin (who had moved to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War draft), the duo began performing in clubs with their unique brand of free-love, counterculture, and cannabis-inspired comedy. Cheech often played the fast-talking, streetwise schemer, while Chong embodied the clueless, Zen-like hippie stoner.

Their self-titled album, released in 1971, peaked at #28 on the Billboard charts and was followed by six more successful albums throughout the ’70s and early ’80s. I’ve listened to a few of these, and while not everything holds up, their character-driven drug culture satire remains undeniably charming.

Some of their songs aren’t bad either. I mean, “Basketball Jones”? That’s as good as any earnest soul ballad from the 1970s. Which isn’t surprising, considering the song features musical backing from George Harrison, Carole King, Ronnie Spector, Billy Preston, Darlene Love, Michelle Phillips, Nicky Hopkins, Klaus Voormann, and Jim Keltner, to name a few. It was even good enough to be covered by Barry White and Chris Rock for the Space Jam soundtrack.

But I’ll always know Cheech and Chong best for their movies, even though, for years, the only ones I’d seen were Up in Smoke and a few scenes from Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie, pieced together from sporadic airings on Comedy Central. These laid-back, seemingly improvisational slapstick comedies are the ultimate stoner comfort food.

So what better way to celebrate 420 and over 50 years of Cheech and Chong than by revisiting their six theatrical releases from 1978 to 1984, along with their 1985 short-form video Get Out of My Room, their 2010 concert film Hey, Watch This!, and their 2013 straight-to-DVD animated film.

Cheech and Chong even have a new documentary, Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie, in limited release right now, which I’ll probably check out when it hits Peacock on April 25th.

So, without further ado, it’s time to turn on, tune in, and drop out into the list:

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The Pick: Flash Gordon

We’re not saviors of the universe, but we will save every one of us from subpar movie fandom. That’s right, The Pick is back with a look at the 1980 revival of the legendary comic book character, Flash Gordon. We get a bit into the history of this ancient franchise as well as the various attempts to bring him to the big screen, which ultimately resulted in this Dino De Laurentiis-backed production. However, we fail to get to the bottom of why Queen was involved with the film’s delicious soundtrack, but instead are content to merely appreciate this clash of theatrical rock music and over-the-top sci-fi. Continue reading →

The People’s Albums #8: No Fences

It seems the closer I get to concluding The People’s Albums — my journey through the 50 best-selling albums of all time — the farther away it feels. It’s pretty hilarious that in the intro to my last entry, the late ’90s flipside to this entry, Come On Over by Shania Twain, I expressed optimism over my then-current pace. Well, here we are a year-and-a-half later with no progress in between. But don’t worry! I’ll explain.

Album: No Fences
Artist: Garth Brooks
Release Date: August 27, 1990
Copies Sold in the U.S.: 18 million Continue reading →