Colin Wessman

I love those oldies and hoagies, give me some beefcakes and cheesesteaks

Letters For Two

Bruce Springsteen – Letter To You

It’s hard to say why my first instinct last Thursday night, when the vote counts started to turn in Joe Biden’s favor, was to put on my headphones and go for a walk while listening to Bruce Springsteen. Though I have a few theories. For one, his latest album Letter To You had just been released, so The Boss has been at the forefront of my mind lately. Also, Bruce and Biden are both seasoned veterans of their trades from the tri-state area that have very storied and successful careers, and yet still somehow manage to retain their working-class roots. But most of all, Bruce is just one of those artists that brings me some level of comfort in times of uncertainty. Yet most of his songs, no matter how anthemic, always seem to have a level of overcoming darkness, which has not only been on the edge of town the past 4 years, but has threatened to swallow it up completely. Continue reading →

The Pick: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Well, we’ve just about reached the end of Shocktober, which also means we’ve reached the end of our string of Halloween-themed picks. With Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, we go out with a movie that’s… memorable, at the very least. Much like last week’s look at Bram Stoker’s Dracula, we dive a bit into the fact that this is thought to be one of the more faithful adaptations of a highly influential horror novel, and yet still manages to have a lot of weird stuff in it. Also, John manages to plug Steakout, a movie we were all involved with and you might as well check out on Amazon Prime. It’s not like you’ve got any elaborate Halloween plans this year. Continue reading →

Shocktober Day 28: The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special

The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special

Airdate: October 28, 2017

Whoops. I did not realize I was supposed to post this yesterday, but can you blame me? Days don’t matter, though I suppose it was nice to have something this month that imposed on the three of us what day it was. Which is a sentence that would make zero sense in a year that wasn’t 2020. Anyways, perhaps I’m stalling because it’s just hard to feel any particularly strong feelings about The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special, a full-length special centered around the perplexing character that was featured in a pretty solid SNL sketch from 2016. It says something that David S. Pumpkins is a character that doesn’t quite have enough legs to fill 21-minutes, but that’s what happens when you have a character where nobody ever really knows what his deal is.

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The Pick: Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Good evening! Or morning or afternoon or whenever you choose to read this. This week we dive into the sensual exploration of imagination that is Bram Stoker’s Dracula. John also gives us a bit of background on Bram Stoker, author of the vampire novel that’s inspired countless films and books about history’s favorite bloodsuckers. We also get an unexpected look back at another ’90s resurrection of the Universal Monsters, and who knows, we might just get another one coming up. Continue reading →

Shocktober Day 22: “The One With The Halloween Party”

Friends – “The One With The Halloween Party”

Season 8, Episode 6
Airdate: November 1, 2001

It’s surprising that it took Friends until its 8th season to put out a Halloween episode, but maybe that’s just because it was always more of a Thanksgiving show. Still, Halloween is one of the best times to hang out with your friends and get into hijinks, though I suppose this episode sees The Friends in a bit more mature place in their lives. Monica and Chandler are engaged, Rachel’s pregnant, and Joey’s still… just kinda doing his thing. Still, the episode makes plenty of room for goofy costumes, amusing scenes involving children, and a welcome appearance by Phoebe’s sister Ursula that serves as a reminder that Lisa Kudrow was always the show’s secret weapon. Continue reading →

Shocktober Day 20: “Halloween”

Frasier – “Halloween”

Season 5, Episode 3
Airdate: October 28, 1997

For the most part, during this TV-centric Shocktober, we’ve strayed from watching shows that we’re super familiar with. This is not the case with today’s entry, since I have seen all 11 seasons of Frasier as well as forerunner Cheers. Despite that, I chose this episode since in my memory it was one of the better holiday-themed Frasier episodes (of which there were many) and it was also one of the better examples of Frasier delving into farce. Upon revisiting this show that I haven’t watched a ton in recent years, I was happy to see that these are both still true while it’s also just a lot of fun to watch these characters dress up in goofy outfits. Continue reading →

The Pick: Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?

You may have been stuck inside the past 8 months with your roommate, family, or significant other, but chances are that it hasn’t been as bad as being stuck in a house with Baby Jane Hudson. This week we tackle the 1962 psycho-biddy classic Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? while delving into the famous feud between its two co-stars, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. Sean also makes a shocking discovery about the origins of Pepsi in an episode that’s sadistic fun for the whole family. Continue reading →