The Nextlander Watchcast

186: 186: Star Trek: The Paradise Syndrome and And the Children Shall Lead

Star Trek Summer is officially back on the menu, folks! We're once again joined by our compatriot Brad Shoemaker to continue our journey through the original series' third season soldiers on. And this week that journey meets one of its toughest challenges yet in the execrable episodes The Paradise Syndrome, and And the Children Shall Lead.CHAPTERS:(00:00:00) - The Nextlander Watchcast Episode 186: Star Trek: The Paradise Syndrome and And the Children Shall Lead(00:00:23) - Intro.(00:06:12) - Launching straight into The Paradise Syndrome.(00:12:33) - ANOTHER planet full of random humans?(00:20:02) - Kirk gets zapped with the head empty beam.(00:25:53) - You're a handsome devil, you're our god now.(00:30:25) - Burning out your engines to move an asteroid like a centimeter.(00:34:31) - Kirk's so happy.(00:38:51) - Moonwalking back to the planet and discovering alien music.(00:40:35) - It's god time.(00:44:08) - Mind melding your way out of your bad life choices.(00:51:23) - Break!(00:51:46) - We're back, And the Children Shall Lead...us to this very bad episode.(00:55:10) - The somewhat, uh, unconventional casting choices.(01:03:36) - We're not dunking on this because it's a kid episode. It sucks well beyond the kid stuff.(01:08:54) - Wasting a perfectly creepy intro set-up.(01:18:07) - Them kids ain't right.(01:30:43) - The final confrontation with the pirate ghost.(01:37:27) - Final thoughts.(01:39:49) - Next week's episodes, and outro.

185: 185: The Night of the Hunter (1955) w/ Scott Benson

For this week's special guest Watchcast animator and game developer Scott Benson takes us on a tour of the creeper corners of Depression-era West Virginia in Charles Laughton's singularly strange thriller, The Night of the Hunter!CHAPTERS:(00:00:00) - The Nextlander Watchcast Episode 185: The Night of the Hunter (1955) w/ Scott Benson(00:00:21) - Intro.(00:12:39) - How we came to this movie initially.(00:19:47) - Some history of the film.(00:36:23) - Some talk about the cast.(00:44:14) - The film's initial lackluster reception, and subsequent reappraisal.(00:48:08) - Break!(00:48:51) - We're back, and it's time to get into the film proper.(01:00:51) - I'm Peter Graves, and this is a felony.(01:25:46) - Meeting the other townsfolk, and the preacher comes a callin'.(01:41:14) - A consequential picnic, and Willa makes some bad choices.(01:46:03) - An all-timer of a bad honeymoon.(01:52:53) - Good night, Willa.(02:07:00) - The trouble with Harry.(02:13:22) - A long, lazy trip down the river.(02:23:44) - The introduction of Rachel Cooper.(02:29:15) - Everything's going great until a teen girl gets a crush.(02:46:53) - Harry's approach is less viable under these circumstances.(02:52:29) - Do not mess with Whistler's mother.(03:05:14) - The strange epilogue to it all.(03:16:36) - Final thoughts.(03:23:59) - We might return to Star Trek next week (check the Patreon this week for more info).(03:26:38) - Outro.

184: Ghost in the Shell (1995) w/ Austin Walker

For this week's Special Guest Watchcast we've got none other than Austin Walker joining the show to tell us all about a seminal work of cyberpunk anime (that just happens to coincide with a new revival hitting the airwaves very recently) in the 1995 adaptation of Ghost in the Shell!CHAPTERS:(00:00:00) - The Nextlander Watchcast Episode 184: Ghost in the Shell (1995) w/ Austin Walker(00:00:26) - Intro.(00:03:32) - Talking about this week's movie, the manga and other adaptations, and how it feels to watch this in 2026.(00:25:53) - Do we understand what happened in this movie? We think so!(00:32:49) - Some talk about the animation techniques used, and then rampant cyberbrain chat.(00:39:48) - Break!(00:40:17) - We're back, and tackling some lingering questions before we launch into the plot.(00:45:40) - Setting the stage.(00:51:58) - Sorting the sections, and setting up the Puppet Master.(01:06:07) - The Major's cop buddies.(01:11:16) - The garbage men.(01:23:35) - I wanna sink to the bottom with you.(01:37:21) - The Puppet Master has demands.(01:52:57) - Ishikawa.(01:58:58) - The decoy, and the run-up to Old Town.(02:08:21) - The Puppet Master's pitch.(02:17:55) - Well, everyone's dead. Guess we'll just wrap this one up.(02:24:55) - Sequel talk, and final thoughts.(02:36:50) - Housekeeping for next week's movie: Night of the Hunter with Scott Benson!(02:38:48) - Austin's plugs, and outro.

183: Twilight (2008) w/ Abby Russell

The Watchcast rises from hiatus to sparkle for all of you once again, and while our friend Brad is out on leave, we've got a few guests lined up to take us through some of their favorite films. First up is Abby Russell with the movie she's been determined to make us watch for months now. the equally baffling and entertaining YA vampire romance, Twilight!CHAPTERS:(00:00:00) - The Nextlander Watchcast Episode 183: Twilight (2008) w/ Abby Russell(00:00:22) - Intro.(00:04:12) - Why does Abby love Twilight ever so much?(00:14:25) - On Stephenie Meyer and the folks who made this movie.(00:25:21) - MAN was this a big franchise (and more about how teens responded to the material). (00:34:39) - Break!(00:35:01) - We're back, and it's time to talk about this damn movie.(00:46:25) - This is quite the efficient intro, and then high school happens.(00:53:09) - The Cullens make their entrance.(01:10:42) - Edward saves Bella for the first time (of many).(01:21:55) - Things meander a bit before the big vampire reveal.(01:34:24) - A big, sparkly unveiling.(01:43:47) - Meeting The Family.(01:54:23) - Edward + Bella 4 Eva(02:01:34) - Wanna play baseball?(02:05:52) - Enter: the sleazy vampires.(02:14:41) - By the time I get to Arizona.(02:27:29) - Waking up in the hospital with the worst cover story ever concocted.(02:29:21) - Casino prom? Casino prom!(02:35:46) - Final thoughts.(02:44:11) - Housekeeping for the next couple of weeks, and outro.

182: Star Trek: Spock's Brain and The Enterprise Incident

One season is all that stands between us and our years-long goal of completing Star Trek: The Original Series. Yes, that season might be uniquely bad by series standards, but we are determined to push through any deep hurting that may result in order to achieve our goal. First up, an all-timer dumb-dumb episode in Spock's Brain, and the surprisingly solid The Enterprise Incident.CHAPTERS:(00:00:00) - The Nextlander Watchcast Episode 182: Star Trek: Spock's Brain and The Enterprise Incident(00:00:17) - Intro.(00:03:45) - Why season 3 is Like This.(00:16:24) - Launching into this season of hell with Spock's Brain.(00:22:40) - Who made this episode, and why is it in this state.(00:27:52) - Pressing the "make everyone fall down" button so you can steal a brain.(00:37:27) - The horrors of the caveman planet.(00:41:37) - RoboSpock.(00:51:27) - I...KNOW...EVERYTHIIIIIING!(00:58:30) - They saved Spock's brain.(01:03:05) - Break!(01:03:32) - We're back, and it's onto The Enterprise Incident.(01:15:16) - The creatives involved in this episode, and the real life naval event that inspired theepisode.(01:23:00) - Veering into the Neutral Zone like a road rage incident.(01:30:11) - What is the Romulans' interest in Spock?(01:40:35) - It was all an elaborate, if confusing, ruse.(01:42:23) - Can love bloom on the battlefield, specifically between a Vulcan and a Romulan?(01:50:54) - Keystone Romulans, and Spock's filibuster.(01:58:16) - Try every USB adapter you've got, Scotty!(02:05:37) - Final thoughts.(02:09:34) - Outro.