Biopic: A Podcast Story

Episode 22: The Duchess, Starring Keira Knightley as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire

Finally, a proper costume drama! We are surprised that it took this long. In the 2008 film The Duchess, we travel to the days where it really sucked to be a woman (as opposed to every other time in history) and meet the captivating, delightful, ahead-of-her-time Duchess of Devonshire, her dull-as-dishwater, dog-obsessed husband, and her “he looks like a member of Oasis” partner in cuckolding.
Despite the hangovers of Cleopatra and Gandhi, Rena and Sara actually want this tidy, 1 hour, 50 minute film to be longer as they discuss the positives and negatives of gambling addiction, rotten boroughs as a metaphor for the electoral college and vice versa, giant skirts, giant hair, and whether children should be used for blackmail. It’s WAY more fun than it sounds. Tragically left on the cutting room floor: Your two moms arguing for 30 minutes about the Royal Family.
The Duchess stars Keira Knightley as Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, Ralph Fiennes as The Duke, Dominic Cooper as Charles Grey, Charlotte Rampling as Lady Spencer, Hayley Atwell as Bess Foster, and Simon McBurney as Charles James Fox. 
 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Episode 21: Gandhi, the Biopic that Won Best Picture Instead of E.T.

Remember that time we pretended that Blade Runner, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The King of Comedy, ET, and Rocky III were inferior to the movie Gandhi? The 1980s were fun.
Rena and Sara take a journey back to their teen years to re-watch this beloved teaching aid for high school history instructors and it was … not fun. Gandhi remains a bloodless but well-executed hagiography that also happens to be beautifully shot and eighty-nine hours long. So many train rides and speeches and marches and beatific jailings, so much clothing-weaving and platitude sharing. Oh, and dust. Plentiful dust.
Between analyzing whether this movie is rightfully putting on airs, Rena and Sara also take pity on Gandhi’s wife—who definitely didn’t sign up for this, discuss the issues that come up when one speed-walks in a diaper and sandals, and speculate on the wild array of white actors who were ALMOST cast as Gandhi.
Gandhi stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi, Rohini Hattangadi as Kasturba Gandhi, Rosha Seth as Nehru, Candice Bergen as Margaret Bourke-White, Edward Fox as Reginald Dyer, Biopic threepete-r John Gielgud, and Martin Sheen as Vince Walker. 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
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Bonus Episode! Irrelevant Host Banter 10: 50+ Minutes of Us Trashing Reagan

We recorded around three hours of material for “Episode 20: Reagan” back in August of 2024. That movie was torture to endure and we wound up cutting about half of what we recorded. We assert that the right to free assembly allows us, the much-loathed coastal media types, the right to seek hope, comfort, and the mutual salving of wounds among the like-minded. So, this bonus episode is not for everybody. If you are broken-hearted about the horrible thing that happened in Washington, DC on Monday, January 20 of 2025, and you would rather not be told “F— your feelings, pronoun person,” here is nearly 50 minutes of us hating on Ronald Reagan and the Reagan biopic that came out in 2024 and stars Dennis Quaid. We hope that you feel better. You are not alone.
Including:
Unwanted comeuppance for unrepentant libs via gender-neutral bathroom.
An ox with a cold.
How we narrowly escaped being owned by some finance bros who hollered, “Vote Trump!” at the end of the movie and appeared to actually enjoy this irredeemable tripe bucket of a movie.
Salacious, Kitty Kelly-imparted gossip about the oral talents of the former Nancy Davis, aside from her acting.
Trying to remember where our child selves were when the Berlin Wall fell.
Did we mention just how thoroughly we hated the Reagan biopic?
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Bonus Episode! Irrelevant Host Banter 9: And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our ninth edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time.
Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs. We jump around in a senseless, context-deprived manner, and you should definitely skip this episode and download any normal episode from “Episode 10: Cobb” onwards if this is your first time listening.
This bonus episode consists of material cut from Episode 19: And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself. Subjects include:
Non-lucrative possibilities for the publishing industry.
The Lost Cause sucks and we are not here for it.
Buster Keaton’s awful childhood.
Boring white dudebros.
Sara’s realization that she has D.W. Griffith confused with W.C. Fields.
A sarcastic discussion about how much we are not looking forward to seeing the Dennis Quaid-starring Reagan.
And, as always, much more.
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
Follow us!
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Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social
Threads: @biopicapodcaststory
Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Episode 19: And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, Starring Antonio Banderas as the Eponymous Mexican Revolutionary

The fascinating topic of Pancho Villa’s savvy engagement of the film industry to prop up the Mexican Revolution is made somewhat less fascinating with this sometimes jaunty and crackling, sometimes bummer-ific 2003 HBO film And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself. Why must we have two Blandy McBlanderson tubs of vanilla ice cream as our way into this story? Why does one of them have to be the condescending communist and future episode subject John Reed? Why can’t this movie have more Alan Arkin? Is it possible to make Antonio Banderas unattractive? 
And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself gives us the opportunity to delve into the dark world of showmances, snuff films, additional strange moments from Sara’s incredibly interesting personal history, and the incredibly American tradition of standing around and watching battles. 
As a bonus: Another segment of “CorpseTalk” as we find out about the grim journey of Pancho Villa’s head post-death. 
And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself stars Antonio Bandaras as Pancho Villa, Eion Bailey as Frank Thayer, Alan Arkin as Sam Drebbin, Jim Broadbent as Harry Aitken, Matt Day as John Reed, Michael McKean as William Christy Cabanne, Kyle Chandler as Roaul Walsh, Colm Feore as D.W. Griffith, and Alexas Davalos as Teddy Sampson.
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
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Bonus Episode! Irrelevant Host Banter 8: Get on Up! and Gotti

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our eighth edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time.
Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs. We jump around in a senseless, context-deprived manner, and you should definitely skip this episode and download any normal episode from “Episode 10: Cobb” onwards if this is your first time listening.
Includes material cut from:
Episode 17: Get on Up!
Episode 18: Gotti
Highlights include:
Sara is surprised to learn that Dan Ackyroyd’s eyes don’t match.
A discussion of what it means if you don’t notice people’s eye color.
Grieving for the decline of wedding gowns with a sleeve.
James Brown corpse capers that didn’t make it into Episode 17: Get on Up!, even though we normally never miss a corpse caper.
More deconstruction of bad Get On Up! Reviews from IMDB.
At least Gotti was free on one of the streaming services that we subscribe to.
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
Follow us!
Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory 
Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social
Threads: @biopicapodcaststory
Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Bonus Episode! Irrelevant Host Banter 7: Cleopatra and Get on Up!

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our seventh edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time. If this is your first time listening to us, we recommend that you listen to one of our regular episodes instead.
Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs.
Includes material cut from:
Episode 16: Cleopatra
Episode 17: Get on Up!
Highlights include:
Clarifying Carroll O’Connor’s age.
More revolting Ptolemaic incest talk.
Appreciation for Craig Robinson and the fine art of yelling at the screen during movies.
Numerous shout-outs to Andrew Hickey’s A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs.
Sara’s shrine to Jason Mantzoukas.
Rena mushing out at her foster cat, again.
And more, of course!
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
Follow us!
Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory 
Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social
Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Bonus Episode! Irrelevant Host Banter 6: Prefontaine, Respect, and The Conqueror

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our sixth edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time.
Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs.
Includes material cut from:
Episode 15: Prefontaine
Episode 4: Respect
Episode 5: The Conqueror 
Highlights include:
Rena and Sara debate what number constitutes “several.”
The "Second Opinion" for Prefontaine that didn't make it into the episode.
Sara’s reaction to an abbreviated Beauty and the Beast performance at Disney World.
And more, of course!
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
Follow us!
Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory 
Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com