Better late than never! In this episode, Jon Carnegie (@jon_carnegie on Twitter) joins me on the podcast to discuss all the great television in 2014. Man, people really liked this one show called True Detective.

Reminder: All episodes are available on iTunes.

Image via Serial

All it took was one little girl to mispronounce the word chimp and suddenly podcasts were all anybody can talk about.

Honestly, I live in a such a bubble that I forgot that most people don’t listen to podcasts, let alone have even heard of one. Then, Serial rolled around and it became the new form of small talk. Thanks to that, people were now going and listening to other podcasts. Finally, I could talk a lot of my friends about Marc Maron! All was well in podcast land.

This is the first year I will be sharing a list of podcasts. This is not the first year that I have listened to enough podcasts to compile a best of list, but it is the first year where I actually think I understand podcasts and have gotten a taste of the wide variety out there. Before this year, I mainly listened to comedy podcasts. In 2014, I opened my heart to a single one about business. What a world.

Without much further adieu, here is my list of the five best podcasts of 2014, not including my own because I’m not that much of an ass:

5. Doug Loves Movies

It would be flat out wrong if I didn’t include at least one film related podcast on here. Doug Loves Movies is by far the most fun podcast that I stream through my earbuds. With another great year, Doug proved that sometimes, the more disorganized the games got, the more entertaining they ultimately were.

Best Episode: TJ Miller, Rory Scovel, and Matt Braunger

4. You Made It Weird

Here is one of Hollywood’s best kept secrets: besides being an amazing comedian, Pete Holmes is one of the best interviewers out there. He is less interested in your career achievements (though he loves talking about comedy) than he is on your thoughts about everything from sex to God. This year, Pete expanded beyond his comedian friends and had on musicians, philosophers, and scientists. It will make you absolutely giddy to hear how personal Ray Romano and Bill Nye are willing to get. Earlier this year, Pete Holmes had his own show on TBS. It was somewhat brilliant and sadly, short-lived. Holmes might not be in your living room four nights a week anymore, but allow him to be with you on your daily commute to work.

Best Episode: Patton Oswalt

3. Serial

If you haven’t heard of Serial at this point, then the chances are that you live under a noise canceling rock. Serial is not the first popular podcast, but it has attracted an audience well beyond the people who typically listen to podcasts on a daily basis. There was an inevitable backlash, and the backlash to the backlash, but I am just happy that a podcast has finally become a water cooler topic. If you did listen to Serial, you will understand why. The story of a possibly unsolved murder and a man who might have been wrongly imprisoned is mesmerizing. The story of Hae Min Lee’s murder and Adnan Syed’s imprisonment spouted endless theories and jokes (we get it, she says Mail Chimp funny). Serial doesn’t offer any easy, conclusive answers. That is what I like about it: it forces the viewer to be a detective. Consider this the first interactive true crime story ever made.

Best Episode: The Best Defense Is A Good Defense

2. StartUp

On paper, a podcast about a startup business sounds like the kind of thing that might put me to sleep. But in the hands of somebody from This American Life, which is proving to be the Saturday Night Live of podcasts, it proves to be much more than a handful of business tips. StartUp is an overarching story about the birth of a company, how ideas are born, and how our ambitions can impact those around us, sometimes not for the better.

Best Episode: We Made A Mistake

1. WTF with Marc Maron

If Sarah Koenig is Queen of the Podcasts, then Marc Maron is king. While this year had a lot of people saying that Serial made the medium mainstream, you get extra cool points for being a longtime listener of WTF. After half a decade of podcasting, Maron is still at the top of his game, and he’s one of the best interviewers out there not holding a journalism degree. Maron got some great stuff out of a wide range of guests from Anna Kendrick to Mike Myers. Along the way, we get to learn about Marc’s love of everything from music to Jewish culture to Lorne Michaels (well, that’s more of an obsession). WTF is a long, strange trip through Maron’s neuroses. It’s an interview show where interviewer is just as important as interviewee. Call it egotistical if you want, but Maron has taught us more about his guests than an objective interviewer ever would.

Best Episode: Nicholas Stoller

Happy Hanukkah! Here’s an episode I recorded back in November that never made it to air until now. I discuss why we should stop talking about Golden Ages, check in with the cast of Happy Endings, and review Zach Braff’s very Jewish, very irritating, Wish I Was Here.

In this week’s episode, Tom Hanks Expert Ryan Little joins me to talk about the trailers for The Force Awakens and Jurassic World, amongst many other things. Plus, we try and figure out who should write and perform the next James Bond theme song.

Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes. You can download all older episodes there as well. Keep it reel.

In this episode of the podcast, I explore Hollywood’s new love of artificial intelligence. Plus, what The Comeback tells us about the year 2005, and what Rosewater tells us about the state of political satire.

In this episode of the podcast, I rejoice the new world order. Plus, why Pulp Fiction still matters 20 years on. Check out the article I wrote about Pulp Fiction here.

In this episode of the podcast, I remain hopeful about the future of Mulaney, praise Gone Girl, and defend Lena Dunham. Still not sponsored by Stamps.com

Note: I accidentally attached the wrong episode before. It’s been fixed.

The Reel Deal Podcast is back. I give a little life update followed by a talk about the future of film (hyperbolic, I know), and why, as a storyteller, authenticity is more important than originality.

Help! I’m stuck in a bad Kevin Smith movie! Image via Bloody Disgusting

Oh Kevin Smith, why hath thou foresaken us?

Tusk, the latest Kevin Smith joint, has received a lot of hype both for its weird premise and the weird way in which the story was first conceived. Like the scientific experiment seen onscreen, Tusk is equal parts bizarre and inexplicable. But most of all, it never justifies its reason for existence.

The idea for Tusk was spurred by an episode of Smith’s podcast. So of course, Tusk centers around a pair of podcasters who host a podcast called the Not-See Podcast. Say it out loud. That’s the only running joke this film is able to provide. What nobody told Kevin Smith is that if you have a running joke, you have to vary it a little bit. Yeah, Not-See sounds like Nazi. I didn’t get it the first ten times.

Anyway, Justin Long and Haley Joel Osmont play a pair of mismatched podcasters named Wallace Bryton and Teddy Craft. They host what I presume is the morning drive equivalent of podcasts. The two of them mainly enjoy making fun of people who make fools of themselves on the Internet. One of them is a Canadian boy who accidentally cuts his own leg off while trying to reenact Kill Bill. Wallace makes a trip up to Manitoba to interview him.

Here is Tusk‘s first big red flag: this movie tries to crate a despicable lead character. That is fine, as movies that have a-holes as main characters can be great. However, Tusk keeps telling us that Wallace is a big meanie, yet it never really convinces us as to why. Making fun of people on YouTube is what Daniel Tosh gets paid millions for. And we all know that if you’re rich, then you’re automatically a good person.

A lot of bad things happen to Wallace in Tusk, and it seems like Kevin Smith wants you to believe that he had this coming. But where is the build up. One second, Wallace is in cushy LA recording studio. And the next, he is deep in the Canadian woods with a deranged mad man (Michael Parks) who wants to turn him into a walrus. But the movie never takes anytime to explore his Los Angeles relationships. Sure, a few flashbacks are clumsily incorporated. However, those moments could have been strung together to make a solid first act that would have served as the film’s emotional backbone.

Changes like that could have been made if there had been a rewrite. Now, I have no proof that Kevin Smith didn’t rewrite Tusk, but I have a strong suspicion that he didn’t even bother. Tusk started off as a story Smith and his co-host made up in a podcast episode. I wish it stayed that way. I feel like a lot of the story might have actually worked if it just remained in podcast form. Once you see the actual walrus creation, it is hard to know if you should be frightened or amused. Tusk lingers between horror and comedy. It can never quite decide which one it wants to be. It could have been both, but it doesn’t even want to do that, either. Hey man, whatever will get you that paycheck fastest.

Being so harsh on Kevin Smith, because I am a huge fan. Well, at least I am a huge fan of the Kevin Smith who made Clerks, Mallrats, and Dogma. Being a cinephile at age 12 and then getting to see Clerks is like a revelation. But everything that made him so cool in the 90s seems to have vanished. I hate to say that he’s gone too mainstream, but he has gone from writing politically charged monologues about the Death Star to actually getting to visit the set of Star Wars. In Tusk, Johnny Depp (oh yeah, he’s in it) mentions The Big Lebowski one time and we are all expected to magically applaud. Oh cool, you’ve heard of a movie that we have also heard of! How relatable! With a few Degrassi references to boot, Tusk is a parody of a Kevin Smith film written by somebody who also has a thing for walrus erotica.

While others seem to be rooting for its downfall, I really wanted to like Tusk. I was hoping a guy who helped pave the way for podcasts everywhere might have something insightful to say about it. Instead, Tusk is lost miles up Kevin Smith’s own self-referential ass, in search of an editor.

Brain Farts From The Edge

• When Waterworld came out, many people referred to it as “Kevin’s Gate” and “Fishtar,” as a way to mock what a big flop it was. Both those nicknames could apply to Tusk. For now, let’s just assume that a walrus is a type of fish.
• Kevin Smith is one of those directors who draws a lot of strong feelings out of people, whether positive or negative. He’s like Wes Anderson in jorts!
• Tusk could be used as propaganda for anti-Marijuana legalization.
• Canada jokes were always a big part of the View Askewniverse. But like I said, this is a parody of a Kevin Smith film. We get it, they like maple syrup and hockey. Smith seems like he’s ten years behind; How I Met Your Mother owns the market on Canada jokes. And it’s not even on the air anymore.
• Haley Joel Osment. He’s still alive.
• Michael Parks. Let’s give him some credit here. An amazing actor who deserves mainstream recognition.
• Part of me just the film stayed in LA and was just a meandering look at the lives of podcasters. As somebody who has forayed into that world, I would have found that much more relatable. If somebody pitched to me “Mallrats but with podcasters,” I would buy it on the spot.
• “BM in the PM’s coffee.” Okay, that line got me.
• I can’t knock Kevin Smith for his ambition. There is an interesting idea in here. “What makes man? What makes walrus?” Maybe Smith should have thought a little more before asking everyone on Twitter if he should make a movie. #WalrusNo

Episode 16: Ian and Cassie talk about the return on “Community” to Yahoo!, the pilot for HBO’s “The Leftovers” and David Wain’s “They Came Together.”