Action! Adventure! Red lines gliding across maps! These are the three essential hallmarks of an Indiana Jones flick, yet if there’s one thing the franchise has taught us, it’s that everyone’s favorite Bond alternative is more than the sum of his parts, or at least that just tossing the aforementioned ingredients into a mixing bowl and stirring vigorously won’t always yield cinematic magic. That was the lesson learned by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the 1984 Spielberg-directed sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark that was (until 2008) widely held to be the low point of the adventuring archeologist. While hardly trashed upon release, Temple of Doom still failed to achieve the critical adulation of its predecessor, largely thanks to its darker tone and, uh, let’s say inauthentic depiction of Indian cuisine. What, however, does this movie look like in a post Crystal Skull (and Dial of Destiny) world? Has time, distance, and a few rough sequels boosted its prospects, or does it remain among the black sheep? Crack your whips and guard your hearts, let’s find out!

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This is all Nathan’s fault.

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Where would we be without scientists? Why, without those brave men and women in labcoats, we’d still be in the center of the solar system, treating low spirits with leeches, and knocking back shots of radium to improve the sheen of our hair or whatever. Clearly, then, your worst high school subject has done plenty of good for humankind, but what about when science goes too far? What about when chemistry is put to (gasp) evil ends? That’s how you end up disinterring and chopping up corpses to mix and match parts for a new body like you were replacing your Captain America action figure’s arm with one from an old power ranger toy. I’m talking, of course, about Mary Shelly’s 1818 novel Frankenstein and its countless film adaptations, one of the most beloved being The Curse of Frankenstein, a 1957 horror movie directed by Terrence Fisher. Frankenstein, The Curse of was well reviewed at the time, and has continued to receive favorable retrospectives thanks to its adept performances, dark Gothic tone, and (for the time) shocking violence, but will the Magellans at the Movies review it with similar warmth? It’s alive! It’s a-live podcast, so get listening! (This podcast is not actually live, it was prerecorded in a Midwestern American basement)

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Ah, to be alive in the 70s. The age that saw the countercultural movement reach the height of its powers, the first bombardment of Star Wars’ conquest of human culture, and a series of shiny new leaders with shiny new ideas rise to the top in the east and west. Yes, the 70s was a tumultuous time, but if Vietnam had you down or Brezhnev was on your back, at least you could always unwind with a cigarette and a film, and there was no shortage of films (or cigarettes, for that matter), to choose from. As the politics and society of humankind continued to evolve, so too did movies, leaving the modern film buff with a frankly overwhelming catalogue in which to search for gems. If that volume seems insurmountable, let Magellans at the Movies do the work for you with their latest expedition into the history of film, this time focusing on the best of the 70s! I am not a crook, I’m just an unpaid intern telling you to stop reading and start the episode!

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Dads. I sure wish I had one. I’ve heard that they can be good for quite a lot, such as mowing the lawn, bringing home bacon, and ensuring televisions don’t go to waste. Of course, not everyone has the kind of relationship with their father that any of the above uses can make up for the strain their old man puts on their lives. Take, for example, the troubled father-son dynamic at the heart of Big Fish, a 2003 Tim Burton directed dramedy based on the book by Daniel Wallace. William Bloom struggles to relate to Edward, his father, thanks to the senior Bloom’s penchant for telling fantastical, almost certainly exaggerated stories about his life, stories that just so happen to be the perfect vignettes for a Burton movie. Big Fish reviewed and sold well, and now, thanks to a listener request, has been submitted for evaluation by the keen eyes of Magellans at the Movies. Pick some daffodils and chamber a silver bullet in your revolver, let’s get started!

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When aliens show up in movies, it’s usually either en masse, as part of a hostile invasion force, or, if they’re alone, as essentially a lost puppy that can teach some young child an important and heartwarming lesson. Not so for the Yautja, a solo hunter who’s as much like a puppy as a shark is like a goldfish. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re probably more familiar with the Yautja’s more common sobriquet: predators! That’s right, today Magellans at the Movies is reviewing the 1987 science fiction horror action classic Predator directed by John McTiernan. Predator is a big, burly legend of 80s action movies thanks to a novel plot, an awesome antagonist, and all of your dad’s favorite one-liners. Will it be able to impress non-dads Nathan and Elliot Magalhães? Go! Get to the episode and find out!

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Gadgets: improbable. Villain’s plans: impractical. Mission: impossible. For the past two decades the Mission: Impossible franchise has been a frequent installment in the summer movie schedule, bringing action, humor, and increasingly ambitious stunts to the screen and delighting audiences worldwide. As the stakes got higher and the odds of Tom Cruise dying in bed got lower, the popularity of the franchise only accelerated, culminating in the series finale(?) of the Final Reckoning, released just a few weeks ago. Now that the brave men and women of the IMF are retiring, or at least on sabbatical, the equally brave team at Magellans at the Movies were prompted by an audience member to take a step back and evaluate Mission Impossible on a series level. Having chosen to accept this mission, you now have thirty seconds to start the episode or else the world will explode or something, good luck!

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Marriage. You can tell it’s a critical foundation of Western Civilization because of all the endearing names we use to refer to our spouses: the ball and chain, the old trouble and strife, and babe. I hate the word “babe”. Everyone knows that marriage can be difficult, how much more so when you’re a pair of high level officers in the vast intelligence apparatus of the United Kingdom? That is the question answered by Black Bag, a 2025 spy drama directed by Steven Soderbergh, and if you’re not a spy, uh, I don’t know, maybe watch Scenes from a Marriage. Black Bag got rave reviews, but a disappointing box office result, meaning that its fortunes are in dire need of a lift thanks to the immediate surge in notoriety that attends a review by Magellans at the Movies. Dress your snappiest and maybe find a way to surreptitiously move the steak knife out of your partner’s reach if you’ve been misbehaving, let’s get going!

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