I'm A Sophisticate and So Can You!

We've been taking a little bit of a break here at I'm A Sophisticate and So Can You, but in honor of Banned Books Week, we wanted to rewind time to our first book episode, in which we discussed one of the most frequently challenged and banned books in the United States: "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou.

This episode contains explicit language, as well as discussions of sexual violence.

Co-Hosts: Sydney Painte...

Hi, Barbie! It's Barbenheimer, and we're here celebrating the first billion-dollar female-directed blockbuster: Barbie! Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie continue their streak of creating excellent entertainment while also challenging the Kendom that is our current hellscape reality. We discuss the exquisite needle drops, the brilliant acting, paddle hands, and the fact that, at the end of the day, we're both just Weird Barbie.

Thi...

On this, our fortieth episode, we bring back our first returning guest, friend of the pod (and Anthony's wife) Arie Levine, to discuss one of the most unabashedly bizarre movies of the 1990s: The Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino comedy "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion." It's the story of two women being ashamed that they're living lives that any millennial would kill for! But also high school bullying trauma? With a dream ballet...

We took a couple of weeks off, but we've come roaring back with a breakdown of one of the wildest, darkest, and most compelling seasons of television (not just reality television) that we've seen in a long time: Season 10 of "Vanderpump Rules"! You know we're here to talk all about the Scandoval of it all. Or as Anthony calls it, Mad Madix: Fury Road. Or as they also call it, Mister Ariana and the Bambi-Eyed B*tch. If you've watche...

After our lengthy deep dive into Dolly Parton, we decided to give ourselves a well-deserved break by watching *checks notes* the two loudest movies on the face of the Earth, both of which--spoiler alert--were written by Chris Columbus, the director of Home Alone, which was good, and the first two "Harry Potter" movies, which were...less so. First up, we have the unexpected Christmas family/black comedy/horror/wet puppet romp Gremli...

We return with a vengeance for the second part of our first (intentional) two-parter as we cover the last twenty-five years of Dolly Parton's oeuvre. Topics of discussion include the Kenny G-ification of '90s music, Dolly's changing relationship with the divine, and the weird right-wing 2003 time capsule that is "For God And Country." Strap in, folks: this Backwoods Barbie is about to get weird with it.

This episode contains exp...

On our first planned two-part series, we do "the Full Waits" on an icon, legend, and one of our favorite people who we know very little about: Dolly Parton! With over forty studio albums released over the last forty-five years, we simply could not cover the entire scope of Dolly's career in one episode. In our first part, we cover Dolly's debut, her rise to fame with Porter Wagoner, and of course, the day that she wrote both "Jolen...

For most of the month of March, Sydney was on a cruise ship in Norway. To celebrate, we have another installment of our recurring segment, "Why Are You Like This?" to cover a different disastrous cruise: the Titanic! This movie is for Sydney what the Star Wars trilogy is for Anthony--that is to say, a true core text. Was there actually room on the door? Is it okay to just watch this movie for the ship content? How much does true lo...

Brush off your endoskeletons and spin up those time machines, because we're doing a double-feature of classic Arnold Schwarzenegger/James Cameron sci-fi action movies: 1984's "The Terminator" and 1991's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day"! Eight-year-old Anthony is dying of happiness. As it turns out, these two movies are much more different than we expected. One has also stood the test of time to be one of the most influential and belove...

Sometimes, the art of the past should stay in the past. This week, we listened to the band without whom the best music of the Nineties would not exist: Pixies! Does a groundbreaking band still feel fresh and new 35 years later? We certainly aim to find out. Then, we sit down for a viewing of the movie that made Paul Thomas Anderson a household name, that paen to the adult film industry of the 1970s, Boogie Nights! Is it possible to...

Having fixed their part one whoopsie-doodle, Anthony and Sydney return for the second part of their two-part discussion of "Star Wars" Episodes IV through VI.

This episode contains graphic language, as well as discussions of violence.

Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony Pinggera

Theme music by Dana Wilentz.

If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a rating, review, and/or subscribe wherever you catch your pods! I...

Cue John Williams and start the opening title crawl, because this week, Sydney cops to a BIG hole in her knowledge: the original "Star Wars" trilogy! Anthony, as a lifelong Star Wars nerd, is scandalized. So scandalized, in fact, that they accidentally didn't record the last half of the podcast episode and now this has to be a two-parter! Whoopsie-doodle.

This episode contains graphic language, as well as discussions of violenc...

Happy 2023, y'all! We're back from our holiday break with our thirtieth episode. This time, we're sitting down to watch our third Keanu Reeves movie: John Wick! Then, we spin up the prodigies of pop punk, Paramore!

This episode contains graphic language, as well as discussions of violence, including violence against animals.

Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony Pinggera

Theme music by Dana Wilentz.

If you enjoyed the sh...

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life, and we're feeling good. This week, we talk about Nina Simone, a woman whose work is so influential and so singular that even though she's beloved, she's still underrated! Then, we sit down to discuss the wild, Hitchcockian mistaken-identity caper "North By Northwest"!

This episode contains explicit language and brief discussions of violence, including violence against women.

T...

November 29th. 9 am. Pacific Standard Time. From here on in, we talk all about our first musical, a show that Sydney knows like the back of her hand but that Anthony has studiously avoided for their entire life: Rent! To help us out, we bring on resident musical theatre nerd, Anthony's wife and everyone's landlord, Arie Levine! From the independent production that the three of us all saw to the original Broadway cast, we discuss a ...

On October 21st, 2022, Taylor Swift released her newest album, "Midnights." But did you know that Carly Rae Jepsen released her newest album on the EXACT SAME DAY?! Two titans face off for control of our hearts, minds, and our Spotify playlists. This is Girl Pop Thunderdome, and we are merely here to bear witness.

This episode contains explicit language and brief discussions of disordered eating and drinking.

Co-Hosts: Sydney...

How better to celebrate Halloween than by releasing an episode on (the day after) Halloween about the archetypical slasher movie, Halloween? If you think of anything, don't tell us, because this is what we've got. To give us horror newbs a hand, we called in friend of the pod and horror movie aficionado Anthony Bellantoni to help us place this classic film in the cosmic canon.

This episode contains explicit language and discussi...

From Ridley Scott to Alfred Hitchcock, we're continuing our celebration of Spooky Season with our first two-movies episode! First, we watched the film that started the slasher genre (and one of Anthony's favorite movies) and made the Bates Motel a household name, "Psycho." Then, we head for the farthest reaches of deep space for the science fiction masterpiece, "Alien." Toilets! Facehuggers! Plot-armored cats?! This episode has eve...

On our second episode of our recurring segment, "Why Are You Like This?", Anthony and Sydney gush about an artist who they've both been obsessed with for nigh on fifteen years: Lady Gaga! They discuss the origins of their love, how Mother Monster has changed the game and pushed the envelope, and of course, their experience at the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle that was the Chromatica Ball. Paws up, little monsters!

This episode co...