Jamie's Cinema Classics
Sunday, February 7, 2021
PODCAST: "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) - A Signal Watch Canon episode w/ Jamie and Ryan
Jamie's Cinema Classics
Monday, February 1, 2021
PODCAST: "Soul" (2020) - a Pixar Watch featuring Pixar Lighting Lead Ryan Michero! (and NathanC and me)
Sunday, January 24, 2021
PODCAST: "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982) - A Signal Watch Canon Episode w/ SimonUK and Ryan
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
PodCast now (also) on YouTube - Entrusting the Archive to Corporate Overlords
For a long time I've been somewhat nervous about the hosting of the Signal Watch PodCast solely at SoundCloud. Look, SoundCloud is a good, easy-to-use service, but it's also a company, and those go under, get bought out, change strategies, etc...
I've used RSS to push the content to other podcasting platforms, and that's been nice - but I genuinely don't know what happens if the SoundCloud goes away. Will those go away? What if Stitcher dries up?
Right now those kids at "Google" seems like they know what they're doing. But, YouTube wants to be about video, and so moving the podcast there had challenges. When I looked a while back, all the recommendations were about manually transforming each episode into a video - which, individually, not a huge deal. But multiply that by 135 episodes and a handful of extras, and I'd be hand-converting episodes til next Christmas.
I changed how I phrased my search parameters for how to get the podcast to YouTube, and up came a service called "Repurpose.io". They seem legit. The service is super, super simple to use, and while it costs money, it also works really well. As of this posting I believe all episodes have made their way to the YouTubes.
Check out our YouTube here. It's also where we've posted some sketches, taste tests, etc... So, all your Signal Watch needs.
Look, I used to work in digital audio and video preservation, and it's a bear of a field. And I don't have any memory institutions like a museum, archive or library clamoring for episodes of The Signal Watch. But right now, I expect that YouTube, which lets me host there for free, will outlast either me or my ability to care about whether these episodes continue to exist. I mean, maybe when I'm 90 I'll be like "what DID I have to say about Streets of Fire?" But probably not. I'll be too busy seeking out water in the wasteland deserts of Trumpland Sector 35 (brought to you by: Confederate Burger).
It's the same reason I'm like, sure, Blogger. They're still here. And owned by spooky ol' Google that's using this blog to mine data and sell ads, but, look. You people didn't want to join my Patreon, so here we are.
Anyway - I need to do some curation inside of YouTube, so bear with me as I get all that straightened out. But I do plan to do some curation there and not just dump episodes.
Oh, and, hey, Repurpose.io lets me use the images I already had tagged to the episode, so it's surprisingly easy to navigate on the YouTube menu.
So - YouTube also does this amazing thing where - when you upload audio at least - it checks for copyright claims. About 85-90% of the videos have some copyright claim due to my use of the music involved. So, even if the videos went wildly viral, I won't make a red cent. And, hey, the song owners might! Good for them.
The only claim that totally blocked the video from release was "Hungry Like the Wolf" from Duran Duran, which is hilarious. Fortunately, YouTube just lets me cut out the song. So - easy, squeezy. No more Duran Duran. I can deal with that minor hiccup.
We'll see what other pitfalls await me, but so far, so good.
Monday, January 11, 2021
PODCAST: Aliens (1986) - a Signal Watch Canon episode w/ SimonUK and Ryan
Music:
SimonUK Cinema Series
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
PODCAST: "Wonder Woman 1984" - a Kryptonian Thought Beast Episode w/ Stuart, Jamie and Ryan
spoiler: the movie was not released in October |
Our elite team of nerds comes together to discuss the hottest ticket on HBOmax and at the cinema. Is she a wonder? Has the world been waiting for her? We try to step inside the characters as we ponder what the film did and why, and, does it work? If you WISH someone could get to the bottom of this film - look no further! We're in our satin tights fighting for the right answers!
Music:
Monday, December 21, 2020
PODCAST: "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (2005) - a Xmas Genre Xrossover w/ Jamie and Ryan
Jamie and Ryan talk the 2005 neo-noir by Shane Black and starring RDJ jr. and Val Kilmer. We hadn't seen it and were heartily surprised by the film - a noir murder mystery sort of thing with a lot of classic detective pulpy roots as both text and plot.
Music
Sunday, December 20, 2020
Monday, December 14, 2020
PODCAST: "A Muppet Christmas Carol" (1992) - a Xmas Genre Xrossover w/ Stuart & Ryan
Music - Muppet Christmas Carol OST
Playlist - Xmas Genre Xrossover 2020
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
PODCAST: "Anna and the Apocalypse" (2017) - a Xmas Genre Xrossover 2020 episode w/ SimonUK and Ryan
Xmas Genre Xrossover Playlist
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
PODCAST: "Shazam!" (2019) - Xmas Genre Xrossover 2020 w/ AmyC and Ryan
Watched: 11/13/2020
Format: HBO
AmyC and Ryan say the word and find themselves checking out the heroic adventures of one of comics longest-lasting heroes who finally found his way to the big screen. And, it's a Christmas movie! We discuss the comics, the movie and what makes for holiday cinematic magic!
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
HOLIDAY PODCAST: "3615 code Père Noël"/"Deadly Games"/"Game Over" or even "Dial Code: Santa Claus" (1989) - A Xmas Genre Xrossover 2020 episode w/ JAL & Ryan
Music:
Sunday, November 22, 2020
PODCAST: "Robin and Marian" (1976) - a Connery Tribute PodCast w/ SimonUK and Ryan
Watched: 11/01/2020
Format: Amazon Streaming
The Signal Watch is sad we've lost a film icon in Sean Connery, so SimonUK and yours truly check out one of Connery's less discussed but curiously interesting films - where he plays a middle-aged Robin Hood returning to Sherwood Forest after 20 years away. A meditation on legends, aging, love, what drives us and what we hang onto.
Music
Thursday, November 19, 2020
PODCAST: "Krampus" (2015) - a XMas Genre Xrossover 2020 Special w/ Marshall and Ryan
Watched: 11/04/2020
Friday, November 6, 2020
PODCAST: "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017) Avengers Countdown #16 w/ Jamie and Ryan
It's round three for film adaptations of Spider-Man, and this time they made Aunt May a stone cold fox. After Disney and Sony sorted out their differences, Spidey finally became part of the MCU and - despite not following origin movie rules - manages to turn in a fun movie with a weirdly sympathetic super-villain (it's BATMAN).
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
PODCAST: "Van Helsing" (2004) - our Halloween 2020 Finale! w/ SimonUK and Ryan
Saturday, October 17, 2020
PODCAST: "Phantom of the Opera" (1925) and (1962) - Universal and Hammer Studios! - Halloween 2020 w/ SimonUK and Ryan
Music:
Monday, October 12, 2020
PODCAST: "The Wolfman" (1941) and "Curse of the Werewolf" (1961) - Universal/ Hammer Halloween 2020 w/ SimonUK and Ryan
Watched: Wolf Man 09/26/2020 Curse of 09/27/2020
Format: BluRay/ Amazon Streaming
Viewing: Unknown/ Second
Decade: 1940's/ 1960's
Director: George Waggner / Terence Fisher
Sunday, October 4, 2020
PODCAST: "Frankenstein" (1931) "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) and "Curse of Frankenstein" (1957) - Halloween 2020 w/ SimonUK and Ryan
Format: Amazon Streaming, BluRay
Viewing: Third, Unknown, Unknown
Decade: 1950's, 1930's
Director: Terence Fisher, James Whale
Halloween and Horror
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
PODCAST! "Dracula" (1931) and "Horror of Dracula" (1958) - Halloween 2020 w/ SimonUK and Ryan
Watched: 09/11/2020 and 09/12/2020
It's Halloween! This year SimonUK and Ryan are taking on the classics of horror from not just one - but two studios! We're starting with a monster that really sucks - our dear old pal, The Count! Join us as we talk two great takes on Dracula - from Universal and Hammer Studios, respectively - that cemented the character in the collective imagination and which still continue to thrill! Let's talk creepy castles, alluring monsters and rubber bats!
Music:
Horror of Dracula Main Theme - James Bernard
Halloween 2020 Playlist
All the Halloween and Horror