Today’s Flop Story!

Max fun drive 2026 is over and WE HIT OUR FIRST STRETCH GOAL. That’s right, we made it to 1600 new, upgrading, or boosting members, so we’ll be adding TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN and TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON to this year’s bonus content! We didn’t make the furthest goal of 2000 n/u/b members, so our Transformers journey ends there (at least for now), but — honestly — 2000 was a number based on previous performance, which may not apply in the scary, weird times we’re living in. We came pretty damn close, so I think we’ll try to add SOME form of additional bonus material to the pot.

We mentioned it before, but because of subscribers falling off, “adding” 1600 members really just means that we’re back to where we were at this time last year. But in such turbulent times (see above) sustaining steady levels counts as a win! We’re so grateful that so many of you showed up for us as new or boosting members, and we’re also eternally grateful to those of you who have been steady supporters for years. So if we haven’t said it enough already: THANK YOU.

May the Fourth Pass Without Comment

Let’s face it. “Star Wars Day” is tired. It was some cute little wordplay, but Star Wars got overexposed and the Internet took the idea of “May the fourth be with you,” and ran it into the ground, in the way the Internet ruins everything that’s mildly amusing (exception: The Flop House).

So let’s invent some NEW movie-related days to celebrate!

MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR — Every odd numbered day in May is now a celebration of The Hunger Games! Seems like a lot of days, but there are a lot of movies (five now, with a sixth coming in November) so we can spread the fun around! Celebrate by finding a teen and making them fight another teen!

MARCH FORTH - On March the 4th it’s time to March forth, by watching the 2002 Nick Cannon marching band dramedy Drumline, while parading energetically around your living room!

JANUARY JONES (celebrated in August) — Deep in the dog days of summer, you might long for warmer weather — have a “January jones” as it were. So it’s time to celebrate with all of January Jones’ finest movies. Like X-Men: First Class; Love, Actually and… um… American Wedding. Or maybe… Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights?

TOO AUGUST - On August 2 we take a brief break from January Jones to honor Ben Kingsley, an actor who’s often “too august” (in the adjective sense of august: “marked by majestic dignity or grandeur”) for the movies he appears in! Enjoy a marathon of Self/Less, A Sound of Thunder, The Love Guru, Thunderbirds, and Suspect Zero, and wonder to yourself “Did he have gambling debts or something?”

JULY WON - On July 1, we celebrate the fact that Miranda July won the Camera d’Or for Me and You and Everyone We Know by watching that movie, back and forth, forever!

I’m tired of writing this! So let’s stop!

Next on the Podcast

5/16 - We welcome a comics hero of ours, Evan Dorkin (who just released an omnibus volume of all of his Dork, Milk and Cheese, and Eltingville Club work under the name Nerd Inferno) to discuss his bad movie pick, the legendary 2003 mega-flop DREAMCATCHER. Did we find a guest even chattier than Elliott? Mayhaps!

5/23 - The minis are back, and Stu’s in charge of this one! It’s about Stephen King! He’s one of our most prolific and successful writers, and thus there are a ton of movies based on his work, but a lot (most?) of them aren’t very good (see: Dreamcatcher, above). We separate the King wheat from the King chaff!

Plugging Away

NEW PLUG!

If you live in NYC, Stuart wanted to announce a big weekend for JIGGLE STUDIO, his Sharlene’s size-inclusive, all-bodies, movement-based fitness studio.

This Friday the 15th (spooooky) they've got the monthly PRIDE SALSA POP-UP. Part dance class, part dance party, great for all skill levels with or without partners! 

Saturday’s the first ever KITTEN YOGA! Ever thought that your yoga session was missing a certain something? Maybe adoptable kittens running around during class?!? Tickets are going fast, but they’ll likely have another session soon! Part of your entry fee goes to the local cat rescue providing the 'yoga experts.’

Finally, Sunday is the 5TH AVENUE STREET FAIR in Park Slope, Brooklyn and it runs right past COMMONWEALTH BAR! They’ll have drinks, a DJ and fun all day long. AND in collaboration with Jiggle — a free "STEP AEROBICS IN THE STREETS" class!

CLASSIC PLUGS:

Check out Elliott’s book, Joke Farming: How to Write Comedy and Other Nonsense, his current run on DC Comics’ Harley Quinn, and his original comic series, Barbarian Behind Bars!

Dan’s just chilling, y’know?

You Made it to the End!

Here’s a gag from a livestream we did during Max Fun Drive. If you want to watch the whole thing, it’s available here!