Aughtsterion

BONUS — I Know What You Did... in Episode 1

A quintessential millennium era horror title has been revived as a series, and Sam and Jordan have decided they have no choice but to cover it. I Know What You Did Last Summer is now streaming on Prime, and it's ignoring your nostalgia while screaming, "We are modern teens!" This show is a mess, but it's the kind of mess your co-hosts love, and it's also got hot queer characters making big impressions from the jump. Will this show turn supernatural? Is it a shadow sequel to Pretty Little Liars? Will we be mercifully freed from the character of Dylan, or must we suffer him throughout the entire season? Let the speculation and analysis begin.

Produced by: Jordan Crucchiola

Music by: Sam Wineman

Sorority Row (2009)

In some ways, this is a very special episode of Aughtsterion, because it revolves around a movie that is truly a mega-mix of the decade. Sorority Row is the melting pot of everything superficial and calloused about the 2000s, but executed in such a way as to make it deliciously addictive and a hell of a good time. It's cruel, in poor taste, hilarious, and has a soundtrack that hits as hard as the movie kills. It has the era's most preposterous weapon. It has the patriarchy as the enemy. It has Carrie Fisher toting a shotgun around, and it has a God tier Mean Girl performance courtesy of Leah Pipes. Row is a time capsule of the worst of us from the aughts, and yet its strange alchemy makes it some of the best that millennium era horror has to offer. Cheers, sluts. We're going to the foam party.

Produced by: Jordan Crucchiola

Music by: Sam Wineman 

Minisode — Blame It On The Pop

Do you ever just start talking about 2009 and realize you've been talking for far longer than one episode of a podcast should allow? As you might imagine, Sam and Jordan find themselves in that position often, which is how you end up with a minisode all about DJ Earworm mega-mixes, Britney Spears chart toppers, and the emergence of Grindr. Your hosts are in a house with 50 crazy bitches in useless belts, and they've got a lot to tell you.

Produced by: Jordan Crucchiola

Music by: Sam Wineman

Scream 3 (2000)

If you wondered when Sam and Jordan would start covering the Scream franchise, you must have always suspected — as a devout Aughtsterion listener — that the conversation would begin with the least loved entry in the series. Because what are Sam and Jordan about if not a passionate reclamation project? So here it is, horror fans: The Scream 3 episode, and your co-hosts are not shying away from the big topics. As always, they map out the pop culture context surrounding the film, and of course, they give Parker Posey her flowers for being the franchise's supporting player MVP. But they also make the case that this sequel cannot be evaluated properly unless it's put in conversation with the legacy of convicted sexual predator and disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein. And if you say one god damn disparaging word about Gale's bangs, go ahead and smash that unsubscribe button, because we don't want to hear a word about it.

Produced by: Jordan Crucchiola

Music by: Sam Wineman

Inside (2007)

This is the first episode of the Aughts pod to take the conversation international, and your hosts couldn't have a better guest for it. Shudder's Director of Programming, Sam Zimmerman, brings his vast genre knowledge to a discussion of Bustillo and Maury's New French Extremity touchstone: 2007's Inside. Jordan, Sam and Sam dig into the differences between French torture and American torture in the 2000s, the singular presence of Béatrice Dalle, the importance of baby POV, and — if you know you know — a little bit of Aly & AJ. Oh and also, there's a slight switch up to the talking format due to some unforeseen circumstances that have made this a, shall we say, high concept episode of Aughtsterion in its execution. Just listen and find out what that means.

Produced by: Jordan Crucchiola

Music by: Sam Wineman

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

Grab your best white tank top and get ready to go back in time, because we have a 2000s "period piece" to discuss on this episode of the Aughts pod. Joining your faithful co-hosts this time around are screenwriter Michael Kennedy and artist Nay Bever, which makes this a full scale Attack of the Queerwolf podcast reunion special as the group convenes to discuss The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The first movie in the new millennium to reboot the Chainsaw universe, TCM '03 was also the first remake to land from one of the decade's genre powerhouses: Platinum Dunes, the production company that is extremely notable for the fact that it belongs to Michael Bay. Starring Jessica Biel — the VP of the Tank Top Horror ticket alongside President Eliza Dushku — Eric Balfour, and the lowest riding bootcut jeans you can find, this is the chartreuse glazed originator of the post-9/11 reboot wave. Find out from our guests how this blockbuster put the nail in the coffin of 90s horror, and why titles from the 1970s were the best fit for horror's last days of wild excess.

Produced by: Jordan Crucchiola

Music by: Sam Wineman

Minisode — The Paris Hilton Top 10

Among Sam's many doctorates in 2000s history, one of them is a PhD in Paris Hilton. So, in this first minisode of season 2, he's doing a bit of public service and counting down the heiress of record's 10 best songs. Spanning nearly two decades, Sam is looking beyond her flagship hit "Stars Are Blind" — recently made re-famous by Promising Young Woman — and opening up a world of wonders to Aughtsterion fans. And of course, because this is a podcast about the historical significance of millennium era pop culture, your co-hosts also make the case for Paris as the standard bearer for the decade's discourse, with a life and career arc that moves nearly in lockstep to illustrate the cultural mores of the time. She was the most famous woman in the world. She was ubiquitous. She was reviled. She was a self-generating empire, and she was and is a pop star whose best tracks you haven't paid enough respect to. There's nothing in this world quite like Paris.

Produced by: Jordan Crucchiola

Music by: Sam Wineman

 

House of Wax (2005)

It's a big moment on the Aughts pod, because Sam and Jordan are tackling one of the crown jewels of the era: Jaume Collet-Serra's 2005 spectacular, House of Wax. This. Movie. Has. Everything. There's a premium-tier soundtrack, lost-to-time elaborate set pieces, audaciously gory kills, white tank tops, the absolute peak of 2000s horror stunt casting in Paris Hilton, and somehow even more. And as you know if you're a longtime Aughts listener, all of this comes courtesy of the decade soaring at its highest heights in 2005. It's the pride before the fall of 2007. It's the heart of the millennium era's genre maximalism, and it is an undeniable classic.

Produced by: Jordan Crucchiola

Music by: Sam Wineman

Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)

If you know Sam Wineman at all, you know he's long championed Urban Legends: Final Cut as the superior film in the one-two punch slasher property from the turn of the new millennium. And now, it will finally be entered into the hallowed Aughtsterion library. Higher on concept on the first film but less well know, Final Cut skewers film school, gives Loretta Divine's treasured Reese a little more room to stretch, takes us on a small tour of brutalist architecture, and of course, teaches us the meaning of working in a collaborative medium. And because this pod is all about examining movies within the pop culture context of their arrival, your hosts also talk about Y2K, the Real Slim Shady, and the nearing end of the 90s horror revival. So give us a loud fuck teaching! and settle in for a new episode.

Produced by: Jordan Crucchiola

Music by: Sam Wineman

Jennifer's Body (2009)

Sam and Jordan are just two episodes into the second season of the Aughts pod, but this one has already been a long time coming. In this installment, your devoted 2000s historians examine the great and power Jennifer's Body through the lens of the era's misogynist boy-run media climate. You might have heard Jordan discuss the movie before (a lot?) but you've never heard her talk about it with Sam while he uses Tucker Max and revenge porn blogs to elucidate why the culture was so primed to destroy Body immediately upon arrival. But with the reclamation project for this horror comedy classic having achieved Justice for Jennifer's Body, your hosts are here to talk about Megan Fox's virtuoso performance, the joys of deeply queer language, and friendship love affairs. Cheers to all you bi icons out there.

Produced by: Jordan

Music by: Sam