Serious Series of Utmost Importance: The Series
By Tom Serious, Chris Series, Neil Ofutmostimportancetheseries
Serious Series of Utmost Importance: The SeriesAug 25, 2019
MOVIES/TV: The Monsterverse (Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Skull Island, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters)
A deep dive on the second longest running cinematic universe. Can you believe this outlasted the DCEU and Dark Universe? We can because it's amazing.
EVERYTHING | The Best of 2023
Tom Chris and Neil go through the best everything of 2023
MOVIES | The Best Christmas Movies Ever
The definitive ranking by Tom (Sandy Claws), Neil (The Grinch), and Chris (An Elf Named Rudolph) of the top 15 Christmas movies of all time
MUSIC: The Best Albums of the 1980s
Tom Serious and Neil Ofutmostimportancetheseries, sans Chris Series, continue the trip down the best albums of each decade. Up now: The 1980s, the absolute worst decade for music since the dawn of the invention of the technology to record albums.
MUSIC: The Best Country Music Artists of All Time (Live)
Tom, Chris and Neil - none of whom listen to or particularly enjoy most country music but Chris saw Hannah Montana in a Best Buy once - have some bourbon in Nashville and rank the top country music artists of all time, recorded live in person for the first time! Are most of the entries Nelly? Listen and find out.
MOVIES: Requiem for the DCEU
Chris and Neil go through all the films and the one TV show of the DCEU (Man of Steel through The Flash) and talk about the highs, the many lows, and what, if anything, can we remember from the last 10+ years of DC movies. If you retweet or rethread this at James Gunn, there's a 50% chance he has nothing better to do than listen to it.
BOOKS: Mistborn Era 1 (The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages)
We dive into the world of BrandoSando's Mistborn Era 1, the fantasy trilogy that introduced readers to the MCU of the literary world, the Cosmere. No spoilers for Era 2 in this episode, but spoiler - it's great too, and you should read it.
MUSIC: Talking Heads
MUSIC: The Best Albums of the 1990s
VIDEO GAMES: Pokemon Sword/Shield, Legends: Arceus, and Scarlet/Violet
EVERYTHING: The Top Everything of 2022
MUSIC: The Best Albums of the 2000s
MUSIC: The Best Albums of the 2010s (Part 2)
MUSIC: The Best Albums of the 2010s (Part 1)
MUSIC: The Best Albums of the 2020s (So Far)
MOVIES/TV: Live Action Batmen
Batfleck v Baleman: Dawn of Pattinson
We go through the live action Batmen, and some of the Jokers, to determine who was the best, who was the worst, and if Batman is inherently immoral for refusing to kill the Joker and beating up the mentally ill. Conclusion - Giancarlo Esposito would be a great Professor X.
MOVIES: The Films of Edgar Wright
MUSIC: The Strokes, The Voidz, and Julian Casablancas
Join us as we explore the work of Julian Casablancas, one of the foundational modern rock personalities. We talk about The Strokes, The Voidz, his solo work, and naturally, the breakup of Daft Punk and the legacy of MySpace.
TECHNOLOGY: The Streaming Wars Part Two - Music Streaming Boogaloo
We finish off our discussion on video streaming platforms, dive into the pros/cons of movie theaters vs streaming, and talk about the players in the music streaming space in Part Two of our 2 part series on streaming. Also, The Irishman wasn't a great movie.
TECHNOLOGY: The Streaming Wars Part One
EVERYTHING: The Best Movies/TV/Games/Music/Podcasts/Books/Life Events of 2021
MUSIC/HOLIDAY CHEER: Christmas Songs
Mr Series
You did an episode on Songs
That are played round Christmas
This time every year
Mr Seeeries
MUSIC: The White Stripes (The Black Keys vs. The White Stripes – Dawn of Ruckus Part 2)
In Part 2 of our 2 part series on the feud between Jack White and The Black Keys, we talk about one of the greatest rock bands of all time (The White Stripes), as well as one of the other greatest rock bands of all time (The Raconteurs), one of the pretty good rock bands of all time (The Dead Weather) and one of the pretty good solo careers of all time (Jack White).
MUSIC/YOGURT: Glass Animals and Glass Danimals
We explore the discography and sound of the band Glass Animals. Of course, we also go through the natural accompaniment to the band by drinking several Danimals flavors out of glasses.
MUSIC/YOGURT: Glass Animals and Glass Danimals (Spotify Only Version)
We explore the discography and sound of the band Glass Animals. Of course, we also go through the natural accompaniment to the band by drinking several Danimals flavors out of glasses.
GAMES: The Rise and Decline of Activision-Blizzard and the Games That Define Them
Our Season 4 Premiere! Chris and Neil journey through the beginnings of Activision and Blizzard, their merger, and the 2021 scandals that now define the company. We talk the games that people identify with Activision-Blizzard (the Warcraft franchise and Call of Duty primarily), as well as how Chris loves the Destiny franchise. He just goes on and on about his love for Destiny. He has good taste.
MUSIC: The Black Keys (The Black Keys vs. The White Stripes - Dawn of Ruckus Part 1)
Movies/Cultural Icons: The Keanussaince (The Decline and Rise of Keanu Reeves)
Like a cool ocean breeze over the Hawaiian mountains, the triumvirate of Serious Series returns with an exploration of the man, the myth, the meme: Keanu Reeves. We go through his early movies (the Bill & Ted movies and others), his decline (Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions... probably some others) to his triumphant return (John Wick, John Wick 2... hopefully some others). Along the way, we'll discover the difference between Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock, whether the meme version of Keanu is close to the real one, and speculate about when the Keanusaince will end. None of us have been able to play Cyberpunk without it crashing, so we literally cannot talk about that one though.
SCIENCE/MUSIC: Vaccines (Medical Vaccines and the band "The Vaccines")
Vaccines have had a long course through history, starting in their formation in the 2010s and going through their upcoming 5th studio album. But we talk a lot more about medical vaccines in this episode - Join us for a tour through the history of vaccines, from ancient Chinese approaches to inoculation against smallpox to the current crop of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. None of this is medical or musical advice, but its sure a fun ride. As The Vaccines lead singer might say, it's gonna be a nitroglycerin fueled romp. If you feel like understanding that reference, listen to the episode!
ELECTRONICS/GAMES: The Eighth Console Generation (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U/Switch)
Chris and Neil do a retrospective on this current console generation from the weird misfires of the early Xbox One and the Wii U to the later misfires of the Google Stadia and the memory of the Wii U. Along the way there were some successes, like the PS4 & Switch, and some great decisions like getting rid of the Kinect & the Wii U. We talk about some of the best console exclusives this gen and speculate about what Generation 9 will hold. Smart moneys on the Wii U 2: Stadia Boogaloo.
MOVIES: The Star Wars Prequels
Steve, Neil, and whiskey talk about Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III, as well as a little bit about The Clone Wars and Rogue One. Consensus? Pretty good stuff, but rough in parts like sand. And goddamn do they makes some great memes.
FOOD: Cereals (AKA Serious Cereals of Utmost Importance)
Milk and Cereal? Milk and Cereal. Milk and Cereal? Cereal and Milk! Tom and Neil talk about the history of cereal, from its invention as an anti masturbatory aid to its evolution as an anytime pick me up. Also expect important, serious conversations about why Tom hates leprechauns and what the best spin off cereal is.
MUSIC: Tame Impala
Tom and Neil dive into the discography of everyone's second to third favorite Australian band and everyone's first to second favorite Kevin Parker project, Tame Impala! From the highs of Innerspeaker, Lonerism, Currents, and the Slow Rush to the lows of the period before they were making music, we tackle it all and answer the question on everyone's mind - are Impalas native to Australia? The answer may surprise you! It's no.
DISEASES/BOARD GAMES: Pandemics of History
Tom and Neil explore past pandemics in the midst of the current one, including The Plague, The Spanish Flu, SARS, MERS, and Pandemic (the board game)!
TV/COMICS: The Boys
Chris and Neil dive into the Amazon Prime series "The Boys" and the comic series it's based on. And a lovely discussion of different slang meaning of the boys too.
MUSIC/MOVIES: Late Daft Punk (Human After All, Electroma, Alive 2007, Tron: Legacy Soundtrack, Random Access Memories, collaborations with Kanye & The Weeknd)
We explore the back half of Daft Punk's career. Will there be a Tron 3 and will they score it? Will that Will.i.am collaboration ever be released? Is Jay-Z the worst? We don't answer any of these questions, we just talk about Daft Punk's music, man. Some great albums in the back half. And Alive 2007 is amazing. In fact, don't even listen to this episode. Just listen to Alive 2007 on repeat. Great stuff. But also listen to this episode!
MUSIC/MOVIES: Early Daft Punk (Darlin, Homework, D.A.F.T.: A Story About Dogs, Androids, Firemen, and Tomatoes, Discovery, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem)
MOVIES/TV: Marvel Cinematic Universe Post-Endgame & Phase 4 Thoughts (Avengers Endgame, Spider Man Far From Home, Phase 4 Announcements, Sony Sucking)
Why even bring Spider Man back from the dead in Endgame if they were just gonna kill him again a couple months later. You know who really killed spider man? Late stage capitalism man. Chris and Neil chat about Endgame, Far From Home, the news about Spider Man leaving the MCU (Spidexit?), and all of the Phase 4 and beyond announcements so far: Black Widow, Falcon and Winter Soldier, The Eternals, WandaVision, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Loki, Hawkeye, Thor Love and Thunder, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and Blade. Naturally, because we're professionals, we stay on topic the whole time.
Movies/Games: Pokemon Detective Pikachu and Pre-release thoughts on Sword/Shield
C-man (our co-host Chris!) is back and mad as hell. Why is he so angry? Because Boris Johnson lied and now we can't have a full National Dex in the Galar region because of Dexit. Also we talk about Detective Pikachu and reminisce about the early Pokemon movies.
Art: The Paintings of Jim Carrey/The Electric Jesus Jim Carrey
You know Jim Carrey the actor, but do you know Jim Carrey the actor who also paints sometimes? We take a dive into the artwork, from the actually pretty good modern paintings to the stranger political cartoons that he's become known for, and ask some questions along the why. Like why? Who is this for? Does anyone monitor Jim Carrey's Twitter use? And again, why?
Music: Vampire Weekend LP4 "Father of the Bride"
Tom and Neil tackle Vampire Weekend LP4, "Father of the Bride," and its thematic links to the Steve Martin movie. Do we really? No, we just talk about the album. But now you're intrigued. What do we really talk about? Do we discuss the evolution of Vampire Weekend from Modern Vampires of the City to now? Do we talk about how this album was developed and why it seems different than other Vampire Weekend work? Do we talk about Spider Man Into the Spider-Verse? Maybe we do, maybe we don't. Only way to find out is to listen!
Movies/TV (But Pretty Much Just Movies): Marvel's The Avengers and the Marvel Cinematic Universe
We take a look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with a focus on The Avengers movies! For the ten of you who have not yet seen Avengers: Endgame, we definitely spoil it, and talk about its implications and what the MCU could look like going forward (Endgame discussion starts at 53:45). For you die hard Avengers fans out there, we have a quick segment about the original Avengers team right at the front of the episode. And for you people who don't like the Avengers or the MCU or who think Iron Man is just a triathlon or a kick ass Black Sabbath song and should have stayed that way, who hurt you?
Books/TV: Game of Thrones & A Song of Ice and Fire
TV/Movie: Westworld (The HBO Show and the 1973 Original Movie)
Neil and Steve discuss if Marilyn Manson looks like a fat Nicolas Cage (spoiler - he does!). We also talk about what the hell was going on in the first two seasons of Westworld, the differences between the show and the movie, and whether it's worth getting into a show that requires diagrams and youtube videos to understand.
Music: Late Radiohead + Solo and Side Projects (Thom Yorke albums/Suspiria score, Atoms for Peace, Jonny Greenwood Bodysong/Film Scores/Junun, In Rainbows, King of Limbs, Moon Shaped Pool)
Like Thom Yorke dancing in spastic rhythms, we're just continuing to do our thing. Here's Part 2 of our exploration of Radiohead's music! In this episode, we talk about the many, many solo projects of the individual Radiohead band members (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Philip Selway, and Ed O'Brien) as well as the later works in Radiohead's discography.
Music: Early Radiohead (Pablo Honey, The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief)
This is Part 1 of our 2 episode series on the music of Radiohead, the solo work of the members, and an exploration of whether or not Thom Yorke needs a hug. In this episode we talk about the first six Radiohead albums and in episode 2 we'll talk about all the cool stuff they got up to after that. Buckle your earbelts; its gonna be a sometimes guitar heavy, sometimes atmospheric and hauntingly depressing ride, and sometimes it'll be an electronic influenced seizure dance and we're gonna sing it to you in a manly falsetto.
Movies/Theme Park Ride: The Fast and The Furious Franchise
Games/Movie: Assassin's Creed (AC 1 through Odyssey, Movie)
Neil and Chris discuss Assassin's Creed, a franchise so old it can probably play it's own games now. It still might need parental permission to watch the movie adaptation, but honestly, it doesn't need to. No one needs to. We touch on AC 1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, Black Flag, Rogue, Unity, Syndicate, Origins, and Odyssey, and speculate on where the games could go from here. We tried to untangle the modern day storyline, but like Desmond, our efforts came to an abrupt pointless end.