2 Cents Critic

Tune in as Rolo Tony (@PoorOldRoloTony, These Guys Got Juice, and Unsourced Wall Radio) rejoins 2CC to cover Vanilla Sky, the 2001 surrealist romantic drama/thriller film about a rich and vain playboy whose seemingly perfect life gets thrown down a strange and disorienting road in the wake of a car crash. When this movie is (and isn’t) effective at persuading the audience to feel bad for an incredibly privileged and self-centered prick, viewing this as a meta lens on Tom Cruise himself, Arthur getting shocked over discovering Jason Lee’s Scientology connection, and Cameron Crowe’s soundtrack mastery become a few of the topics for this episode.

Written and directed by Cameron Crowe, Vanilla Sky stars Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell, Jason Lee, Noah Taylor, Timothy Spall, Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon, Delaina Mitchell, and Johnny Galecki.

Spoilers start at 35:35

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Good Word:

• Rolo Tony: The Box
• Arthur: Furious

Reach out at email2centscritic@yahoo.com if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!
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Follow Arthur on Twitter, Goodpods, StoryGraph, Letterboxd, and TikTok: @arthur_ant18
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Tune in as Sydney (@sydsbooked) partners up with the podcast for a plunge into Compound Fracture, the 2024 queer YA thriller/horror novel by Andrew Joseph White about a trans teenage boy who’s trying to figure himself out and pursue his socialist politics while fighting back against the violent and cop-enforced bigotry of his West Virginian home. The socially awkward obstacles that come with neurodivergence, mutual aid being a crucial aspect of socialism and anarchism, the oh-so-radical idea that liberals and Democrats shouldn’t be condescendingly throwing away red states and the communities within them, and parents who are trying their clumsy best to accept their trans kid comprise quite a bit of the subject matter for this episode.

TW: death, murder, violence, transphobia, deadnaming, misgendering, gun violence, ableism, police brutality, drug use and abuse, parental death (in the past), car accident (in the past), animal death, child death, physical abuse, emotional abuse, outing, sexual assault, fire, fire injury, vomiting, and alcohol

Spoilers start at 23:35

Manifesto of the Communist Party (or more commonly known as The Communist Manifesto) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Intro to Anarchism-- Q & Anarchy Episode 0 | Thought Slime

My Journey To Anarchism | Anarcha Semiyah

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Good Word:

• Sydney: Wife Shaped Bodies by Laura Cranehill
• Arthur: Sterling Point

Reach out at email2centscritic@yahoo.com if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!
Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes or any of your preferred podcasting platforms!
Follow Arthur on Twitter, Goodpods, StoryGraph, Letterboxd, and TikTok: @arthur_ant18
Follow Arthur on Bluesky: @arthur-ant18
Follow the podcast on Twitter: @two_centscritic
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @twocentscriticpod
Follow Arthur on Goodreads
Follow Arthur’s Bookstagram: @arthurs.book.nook
Follow Arthur’s movie and TV Instagram: @arthurswatches
Check out 2 Cents Critic Linktree

Jumping onto the show today is Lila Riesen, who’s written her YA debut novel Free Radicals and then her YA coastal noir book Rainsong. Tolkien and Narnia fanfiction, Free Radicals being a personal representation of Lila’s Afghan ancestry, squeezing in time to write while being a full-time mom, the genre-bending and the lovable sisterhood that Rainsong offers up, and Jenny Han’s work stand out as some of the chatter for this episode.

Spoilers for Rainsong start at 22:35

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Lila’s Good Word: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison and Speculative Fiction Writing Made Simple

Reach out at email2centscritic@yahoo.com if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!
Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes or any of your preferred podcasting platforms!
Follow Arthur on Twitter, Goodpods, StoryGraph, Letterboxd, and TikTok: @arthur_ant18
Follow Arthur on Bluesky: @arthur-ant18
Follow the podcast on Twitter: @two_centscritic
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @twocentscriticpod
Follow Arthur on Goodreads
Follow Arthur’s Bookstagram: @arthurs.book.nook
Follow Arthur’s movie and TV Instagram: @arthurswatches
Check out 2 Cents Critic Linktree

Tune in as Paul (@trygraptor) hops onboard the program to discuss The Gorge, the 2025 sci-fi action thriller horror romance movie about the partnership that grows between two top-notch snipers who’ve been assigned the task of guarding a mysterious gorge. The eerie creature design, ziplining across an entire gorge and other cutesy moments in this genre-bending ride, the surprisingly varied questions that viewers could ask about the worldbuilding of this story, and arching an eyebrow at how this weaves in aspects of the military and J. Robert Oppenheimer emerge as a few of the talking points for this episode.

Directed by Scott Derrickson, The Gorge stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Miles Teller, Sigourney Weaver, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, William Houston, and Ruta Gedmintas.

Spoilers start at 26:00

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Here’s how you can learn more about Palestine and Israel

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Good Word:

• Paul: The Thief of Bagdad
• Arthur: Normal

Reach out at email2centscritic@yahoo.com if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!
Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes or any of your preferred podcasting platforms!
Follow Arthur on Twitter, Goodpods, StoryGraph, Letterboxd, and TikTok: @arthur_ant18
Follow Arthur on Bluesky: @arthur-ant18
Follow the podcast on Twitter: @two_centscritic
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @twocentscriticpod
Follow Arthur on Goodreads
Follow Arthur’s Bookstagram: @arthurs.book.nook
Follow Arthur’s movie and TV Instagram: @arthurswatches
Check out 2 Cents Critic Linktree

Tune in as Rolo Tony (@PoorOldRoloTony, These Guys Got Juice, and Unsourced Wall Radio) re-collaborates with the podcast for a breakdown of The Fly, the 1986 sci-fi body horror movie about a scientist whose brilliant intellect pushes him down a gruesome road while inventing a teleportation machine. The surprising amount of time that this film spends being a tragic love story, shining a spotlight on a baboon named Typhoon, those multiple epilogues and other scenes that got excised from the final product, and the operatic gorgeousness of Howard Shore’s score make up some of the discussion matter for this episode.

Directed by David Cronenberg, The Fly stars Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel, Leslie Carlson, George Chuvalo, Michael Copeman, and Cronenberg himself.

Spoilers start at 41:50

The Fly - Deleted Baboon Scene

The Fly (1986) The Crappy Alternate Endings

Fear of the Flesh! The Shocking Making of The Fly (1986) Revealed 😱 [abridged cut]

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Here’s how you can learn more about Palestine and Israel

Here’s how you can keep up-to-date on this genocide

Here’s how you can send eSIM cards to Palestinians in order to help them stay connected online

Good Word: 

• Rolo Tony: The Forbidden Room
• Arthur: Gattaca

Reach out at email2centscritic@yahoo.com if you want to recommend things to watch and read, share anecdotes, or just say hello!
Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review on iTunes or any of your preferred podcasting platforms!
Follow Arthur on Twitter, Goodpods, StoryGraph, Letterboxd, and TikTok: @arthur_ant18
Follow Arthur on Bluesky: @arthur-ant18
Follow the podcast on Twitter: @two_centscritic
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @twocentscriticpod
Follow Arthur on Goodreads
Follow Arthur’s Bookstagram: @arthurs.book.nook
Follow Arthur’s movie and TV Instagram: @arthurswatches
Check out 2 Cents Critic Linktree