House of R(ecommends) 2023 Year-End Special | House of R
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Hi, I'm Joanna Robinson. Join us every week on the Prestige TV podcast feed as your favorite ringer hosts like Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, Mally Rubin, Sean Fennessy, Chris Ryan, Julia Lippman, and many more cover the latest episodes of your favorite TV obsessions.

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This episode is brought to you by Alien Romulus, the scariest movie of the summer. Alien Romulus is now playing in theaters everywhere, including IMAX. This movie looks terrifying, and I cannot wait to see it. Alien Romulus comes from Fede Alvarez, the director of intense horror movies like Evil Dead and Don't Breathe, and it is produced by the legendary Ridley Scott, the mastermind behind iconic films like Blade Runner and the original Alien, which is a

Can't wait for this one. Alien Romulus, rated R, now playing only in theaters. Get your tickets now. From boardrooms to throne rooms to courtside and through the mushroom apocalypse, we'll be here throughout the week breaking it all down. Subscribe to the Prestige TV podcast feed on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm a gangster. I got my puff and my Timbs. I need my bacon, egg, and cheese, too. You got the good soup?

Yeah, I don't think this is gonna help people like you just being honest Greetings and welcome

House of R, a Ringerverse podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network. I'm Mallory Rubin, and it is my absolute pleasure to invite you not only back to Barbie land, back to the TVA, back to Paridia, back to, back to, back to, we'll see, but also to our newish House of R podcast feed. Joining me today to make sure I'm all right now that I've learned the patriarchy isn't about horses.

It's my house of our permanent title. Co-host, New York Times bestselling author of MCU, The Reign of Marvel Studios, Joanna Robinson. What's up, bad babies? Wow. It's December. It's new year. I'm so excited. December 1st. Wild times. We are mere days away from Hanukkah, weeks away from Christmas.

And then the New Year's, this is my favorite time of year. We're hunkering down. We're reading things. We're watching things. We're cozying up. And I'm so excited for today's episode because this is like the best, one of the best episodes we do all year. Genuinely. It's a fun one. It's a fun one. It is a fun time to gather and celebrate and share. But on the subject of sharing, we can't begin the pod without some programming reminders. Great point.

Gotta share those ear holes with our pals across the network. First of all, if you're just like, I want to spend more time with you guys, what are you guys doing next? Thanks for asking. We'll be back with you on Monday for the highly anticipated

Wild Blue Yonder chat, Joe. The second 60th anniversary Doctor Who special. Anything you'd like to tease on this front? We haven't seen the episode yet. We haven't seen the episode. We don't know anything about it as we outlined last week. I just think, A, Wild Blue Yonder is just such a great title full of so much promise.

B, I'm so excited for my new Saturday late morning tradition of I get to watch a new Doctor Who late Saturday morning while I'm doing chores around the house. It's so exciting. It's a wonderful time of the week for a new drop. Yeah. 10.30 a.m. Pacific on a Saturday. 10.30 a.m. Pacific on a Saturday, and then I have a couple days to think about all my thoughts, get them all in order, and then get to talk about it with you. I mean, what a time, honestly. Can't wait. Can't wait. We'll have...

Some more stuff cooking on the house of our next week. Stay tuned. Over on the ringer verse Monday, junior mints gather up because the mid-dition crew is handing out their animation awards for the year. As you're noticing with this episode today with that tease, it's year end content time. We're looking back. We're looking ahead. It's going to be great on Wednesday. The midnight boys. Dipping into.

Blue-Eyed Samurai, without spoiling anything for today's pod, will just say, you'll hear a little bit more about that later. Sure will. Joanna, how can everyone follow along? Oh my gosh, what a fantastic question. If you want to share ear holes, as Mallory put it, and I'm still processing that. Eye balls and ear holes. No, I think ear holes is great. I just don't know if I want to share them, but...

You can follow us on social. I think that's a really good idea. So like follow us on Instagram, on TikTok, on Twitter, on Facebook, all around. We're there putting out great content by we, I mean, Jomie. And then if you want to subscribe to the podcast,

I think that's a great idea. Yeah. I would really, really love if you did that to this podcast, to Ringiverse, to Trial by Content, to Prestige TV, to all of it. Thank you all for your Spotify-wrapped tagging us. It was like,

It was stunning to see House of Thor on anyone's list, given that we just launched a couple months ago. I know. Imagine what those minutes streamed totals will be next year. Exactly. The full year. I don't know.

It is so... I shudder to think, but I'm so honored. It delights me to think. I know. I am truly like... We are so deeply touched that you all have chosen to spend so much of your time with us. It's amazing. Thank you for sharing. It's very beautiful. And on a personal note, when I see like Trial by Content and Prestige and Ring Reverse and House of R all in someone's top five, I'm like, cheers, let's get coffee. A little Storm action? Yeah. A little Storm action? Oh, yeah. Storm was showing up at the Lost Rewatch podcast. Let's hang out, guys. I love it. Anyway... It's the best.

If you want to get in contact with us, share your Apple thoughts. A friend of mine texted. Sign it with your pickle? Yes. On that note, a friend of mine texted me just a photo of a bunch of juicy Granny Smith apples with the text, you up, last night. So thanks for that, Jenny. But yeah, Apple thoughts, pickle thoughts, Doctor Who thoughts.

Percy Jackson is coming up. Get your Greek mythology thoughts in order. Hobbitsanddragons at gmail.com. Back to you, Mallory Rubin. The last programming reminder is always the friendly neighborhood spoiler warning. It's a tough one for today because we're going to be chatting about a lot of things. So here is basically how House of Recommends is going to work today. If you missed last December's episode and you're new, here's the drill. This is becoming a year end staple.

We're going to be offering our recommendations for other shows, films, books, maybe just moods. Who can say that you should try that? You might want to check out if you enjoyed five of the stories that we most enjoyed covering this year. So it's a big, if you loved X, try Y. Now, two years ago on the heels of Loki season one,

Zach Cram joined a Ringerverse episode and did a little If You Love Loki season one, check out these multiverse and time travel stories segment. And it was so much fun that last year we made it a whole Friends of the Pod experience. And we're running it back this year. So here are the guests and here are the If You Loved X prompts. Dumb up! Get ready! Because I'm mad!

Dobbins is making her house of our debut today. You never thought you'd see it. Yet here we are. It's astonishing stuff. Thrill of my lifetime. Barbie. Rob Mahoney. Avionim Lads. We'll be here.

to chat about The Last of Us. Ben Lindbergh will, of course, be with us for our Ahsoka segment. Dave Gonzalez is once again joining this time to chat about what you should check out if you loved Across the Spider-Verse. And then it truly would not be a House of Recommends if Cram didn't join us to talk about what you should check out if you love Loki, the origin of this very idea here in our universe. It's a time loop. The way it works. Looping it all the way back. It is a time loop, Jo. It sure is.

You might be saying, like, how close is the comp? Everyone can do whatever they want. So each of us...

For each of those segments is going to give a recommendation based on something that felt essential to them about the story. It could be anything. It could be the genre. Yeah. A vibe, an idea, an archetype. A relationship. A streamer. Last year I used this was set in an ocean as a prompt and a connection. Like, really? Who knows? It could be anything. I'm so sorry you don't get to talk about your beloved Aquaman yet, you know? I know. I'm...

I'm sad too. Yeah, I'm sad too. But just more to look forward to in the coming weeks. Who can say what we will recommend? That's why you got to listen. It's time to find out together. It is, I think, the thrill of our shared lives. An honor. To now welcome Amanda Dobbins into the House of R. Is this... This is certainly my first House of R appearance. And I think...

I understand that House of R is now its own world, but it's under the Ringiverse umbrella. Yeah. And I do think this might be my first Ringiverse- Yes. Related appearance as well, which is very exciting for me. My husband actually appeared on the House of R before I did. Fairly honored. I'm thrilled. Thank you so much for asking me. Of course. Thank you for joining us. Delighted to have an excuse to draw you in. Yeah. Dobmob. Yeah.

Yeah. Let's bring the dot mob. Let's do it. Okay. So we're doing House of Recommends and you are here to help us share recommendations with the bad babies who loved Barbie. We're each going to offer up a recommendation. Amanda, get us started. If you love Barbie, what should you check out? Well, I want to say right now, I'm really nervous because this is my first, you know, because the...

House of R listeners, bad babies, and House of R hosts as well do their homework, and they know a lot. And so I, you know, I wanted to be prepared. I wanted to bring something that I thought would, you know, enhance everyone's lives. And I didn't want to let anyone down. There's also just a lot of ways to go on this, right? Like, obviously, Barbie, right?

written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, directed by Greta Gerwig. So if you liked Barbie, you'll probably like all of Greta Gerwig's films, right? I would start with Lady Bird, you know, but that's like an obvious one. But I think there were a lot of people who saw Barbie who didn't see Lady Bird. So check that out. There are obviously a lot of references within Barbie that, you know, from like...

Singing in the Rain, to Jacques Tati, to the BBC Pride and Prejudice, if you remember Depression Barbie. Not to mention, you know, since it doesn't have to be a movie, Indigo Girls, Matchbox 20. You know, it's a rich text. But I ultimately, like Barbie, like Greta Gerwig, chose something from the heart. I did choose another film from a different era.

But another story about a young blonde woman, possibly with some doll-like qualities, a certain naivete, who dreams of a bigger world, who encounters setbacks along the way in the forms of, you know, vaguely corporate sexism and judgment based on her appearance. But she keeps going. She travels to another world.

And a journey that is like almost as difficult as the journey from Barbie Land to the real world. And she also does that to a spectacular musical number. I am, of course, talking about the 1998 film Working Girl, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Melanie Griffith. And I will basically take any excuse to talk about Working Girl, but I think that there is something...

in the fairytale quality of Working Girl, which is most closely associated with a Cinderella story, slightly updated. But I feel knowingly updated. There is a winking nature to all of the beats of the story and to what Melanie Griffith does and to the journey that her character takes and even, not to spoil the ending if people haven't seen this, but the way that the movie ends is with...

sincerity, but a little dose of not quite cynicism, but just there's a little, there's a twist on it in the same way that there's the last word of Barbie of, you know, like our heroine has figured most of it out and is, you know, charging towards a new world. But, you know, what lies ahead in that world, whether it's the gynecologist or anything else. So, yeah.

You know, I think also, I know a lot of people know Working Girl. I mean, it like-

Carly Simon won an Oscar for Let the River Run, which is just really up there with I'm Just Ken, in my opinion. A couple of bangers. Yeah, definitely. I mean, it was nominated for a tremendous number of Oscars, as I think Barbie will be as well. So it's not like a slept on choice, but, you know, it's 35 years old. Maybe people haven't checked it out. Maybe you just need, you know, the incentive to watch it again. Yeah.

I love this. I mean, I think you probably already know that Mallory and I love this movie, but we literally talked about it at length on a Harrison Ford podcast. We did recently. And it's just like, it is for me personally, the hottest that Harrison Ford has ever been. Um,

Molly will disagree, but I might agree with you. It's a top five for me and certainly the changing in the office, turning around and seeing everybody clapping. It's historic. It's just also a little bit of context. I would prefer to spend time with Harrison Ford drinking tequila at a Wall Street adjacent party as opposed to in a snake pit, but

you know mileage maybe or an Amish settlement you know whatever it is let's build a barn together and drink some lemonade I did forget about that I think I still would go with tequila let's take a sponge bath or fix a car in a barn over Sam Cooke but that's tough and I think it's just because Sam Cooke is like that scene is like too intimate and I Amanda we need to remain aligned on the shared quest to get Bill to let us do witness on Rewatchables come on of course we need to do a Rewatchables

We also need to do Working Girl Rewatchables, by the way. Please call me for the Working Girl Rewatchables. I know. You know, it's also one of Van Lathan's favorite movies. That's on brand. That's so on brand for Van. Yeah. Van and I share, like, and I'm sure you do, this, like, late 80s. One time in a bar, Van and I just talked about the Diane Keaton film Baby Boom for a really long time. This is just, like, this runs deep for Van. Absolutely amazing.

Someone should do like a PhD on Baby Boom and then The Intern, which is Nancy Meyers' 2015, maybe somewhere around there, film that is like the response to Baby Boom. Nancy Meyers wrote Baby Boom with her then husband, Charles Shire.

Yeah, no, a very rich text. That whole era was a very rich text. But yeah, Working Girl. Okay, those are my, that's my recommendation. Also, you may be making your House of R debut, but you're already a pro, you're already a vet because you got like 15 smuggles in. And that's the true sign. Smuggle galore. That's the true sign that you know how House of R episode works. I did know who I was, you know, coming to work for. You were prepared. You were prepared. I tried. It's amazing. Joanna. Joanna.

What do you got? I also have a twofer. The first is, this is going to sound self-serving because I'm covering it on Prestige TV, but I really do think it correlates. This current season of Fargo, which Noah Hawley has called the quote-unquote the wife season, and the premise for this season of Fargo is he was like... I mean, okay, all right. I know, I know. Just stick with me. Just stick with me. He's like, what if the wife in the film Fargo, Bill Macy's wife, what if instead of getting kidnapped, she like

fought back and fucked up her kidnappers and like what happens then. And so we get Juno Temple playing this meek, mild-mannered, seemingly Minnesotan wife, except she has this past and she can...

Like, booby-trapping. Like, she's like, it's like Home Alone. She's like booby-trapping her house. It's like, honestly, amazing. And she's really, really good in it. If you thought you understood what she could do just by seeing Ted Lasso, you're incorrect. She can do so many other things. And then there's these other female characters in there. Jennifer Jason Leigh is playing a character. And Risha Muriani, who was in Never Have I Ever, is also playing a character. And all of, through the lens of all of those...

Noah Hawley is maybe not the person who's number one on your list you want examining the idea of what makes a wife, Amanda. But I honestly think this series has a lot on its mind that's really interesting to me. And then the other smuggle that I'm going to put in here, also just to remind you all that it was on my hype list for the fall, is Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things. Because in that, Emma Stone plays...

a creation, a doll-like creation who like takes control of her life and in much of the way that Margot Robbie's Barbie is like, I don't want to be the creation. I want to be a creator sort of thing. That is very much on the mind of, I think, both what

What Fargo is trying to examine with like the Midwestern nice and the wife trope and poor things is trying to do very much very different flavors of that. But they're sort of of a piece in that in that way. So it is the season of the wife movie that we also have Priscilla. Yes. And yeah, Maestro is not out yet. No spoilers. The wife is a big part of that biopic sort of of Leonard Bernstein.

And Glenn Close is like, literally, what do I have to do to win an Oscar? I was literally in a movie called The Wife. Making me think back to the running big pic bit. Oh my God. You know what? We did do a whole episode on Priscilla and then wife movies as a joke, and I purposely did not pick the wife. That's great. You know. That's the big pic version of time travel. Yeah.

Glenn Close deserves her Oscar, but not for that one. Joe, can I ask you? I know you've addressed this on Twitter, but for people who are wondering right now, listening to the Fargo recommendation, if you lapsed in your Fargo viewing, if you missed season four, say. You don't need anything. Yeah.

You can watch. If you've never seen a season of Fargo at all, you can watch season five. It's like a loosely, loosely, loosely linked anthology series. But season one and season two, I think, are masterpieces. But if you just want to skip to season five and then loop back, you can. So dive right in. Love it. Mallory, what's your recco? I am picking. Joanna, you mentioned dolls. That's where I went with this, too.

I am picking something that is tonally, I acknowledge, quite distinct from Barbie, but I think thematically there's a lot of apt connective tissue. I am picking one of my favorite books that I have read in the past couple of years from one of my favorite authors, Ishiguro's Clara and the Sun. I'm going to try to avoid as many specifics from the plot as possible because I don't want to spoil anything. I'll just try to stick to the thematic resonance.

The idea of consciousness and sentience and examining the root of your thoughts and the idea of your programming, what or whom shaped your perspective. And then once you start to think about that and interrogate it, what might change?

alter it. The question more broadly of identity and what does the society around you think that you're made for and intend to use you for? How do other people try to control you? And once you understand that, what shifts for you? Largely that question of seeking to understand something and then I think with the idea of purpose, seeking to understand your purpose and then perhaps

reshaping your purpose, considering the role that free will plays in our lives, asking if your choices are your own and then asking if they can be. And then the way that

and the search for meaning in yourself, but also like the bonds that you forge with others around you shape your experience. I think these are all central elements of Clara and the Sun and of Barbie. And I'm reluctant to say why, though I would encourage people to read this beautiful, deeply moving and like supremely upsetting. Very upsetting. Yeah.

Really wonderful. Really wonderful book. And also just like they both have, even though the worlds are different in tone and feel, such specific feels and fully realized worlds. So that's my pick. Check it out. It's beautiful. And then if you want to read more Ishiguro, go read Never Let Me Go, one of my 10 favorite books of all time. Here's my smuggle. It is a book that I still...

I'm just going to say it's not a pick-me-up. Neither of them are. These are not cheerful recommendations. I'm sorry. You might want to cue up Barbie or actually Working Girl after you read Clara and the Sun. And you just want to like bump up the Carly Simon, let the good vibes flow, you know, feel better.

I love it. My Smuggle is something that I started reading quite literally last night before bed. And I was like, wow, this might have been my pick if I had finished it. This already seems like the candidate for my pick and I'm only a few pages in. Joe, I know this is an author that you love as well. This is a novella, A Spindle Splintered from the Fractured Fables series by Alex E. Harrow. This came out in 2021. It is a...

modern feminist spin on updating of retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale and an interrogation of the idea of how fairy tales move through time. And like the...

spin on a classic, right? This retrograde, potentially retrograde idea like Sleeping Beauty or Barbie and what might it look like if we repositioned it. Only like a little bit in, but already the parallels seem clear. Alex Harrow is sensational. Doesn't miss. Doesn't miss. Once a future witch is, we've mentioned it on the pods many times before, just that was my introduction to Alex E. Harrow. Thanks to Zach Cram for the recommendation on that one way back when. And everything I've read from her since is just

Just wonderful. So this is no exception. It seems like a great one for Barbie fans. Amanda, which of our recommendations are you going to try first? I know you've already seen Poor Things. So I've seen Poor Things. And I think it's a great pairing and is also a fun...

you know, award season and movie pairing. You know, Poor Things debuted at festivals a few months after Barbie. And so it was just kind of like there for the taking, but in a way that allows poor, I think will give Poor Things a boost just in terms of attention. And that's great. I like that. I like it when people see movies. Emma Stone is just like out there in that movie. And I think that's awesome. And she's allowed to campaign now officially. So that's exciting. Did you see that she's hosting SNL?

I did. That's my favorite step on the path to Oscar move that people make is hosting a smile. I think, I mean, that's a very, very tight category. But she's great in it. I...

I'm not up on Fargo. I know you said that I didn't totally have to be. I mean, I've seen the original Fargo, the film. It's great. And I would love great things for that wife. But I'm a big A Sugar Row fan and I haven't read Clara in the Sun. So I think that's probably what I'll do. Yeah. You'll love it. When I'm ready to be emotionally shattered. Yes. Perfect end note. Dot Bob. Thanks, Amanda. Thank you. What a delight. What an honor. What a joy.

This episode is brought to you by Peloton. You know, for me, fitness has always been about finding that groove, whether it's hitting the pavement outside, which I've done a lot of, or dialing up a sweat session indoors.

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or the Peloton app. It's like having your own personal coach with you or right at home in your living room. Call yourself a runner with Peloton at onepeloton.com slash running. It's the New York Times. Joanna gets mad at me every time I do this, but I can't help it. I have to do it. Joining New York Times bestselling author, Joanna Robinson. We are delighted to welcome

New York Times bestselling author, Dave Gonzalez, co-author of MCU and the Raid of Marvel Studios. What's up, dude? Thanks for joining us. I am thrilled, as always, to come on and talk to both of you at the same time. It is forever a joy. Oh, the best. This is your second December House of Recommends episode. I mean, you've been on more House of Ours than that, but you're a fixture in the House of Recommends experience. Yeah.

I love still being a friend. As long as I'm a friend of a pod, I will show up for such friendship duties. All right. Here's what we're talking about with you. It's a little movie that has inspired a number of excellent sneakers.

It's Across the Spider-Verse. Dave, what is your recommendation for House of Our Listeners who loved Across the Spider-Verse? Well, I have two because the first one is very enjoyable, but a very basic answer, which is you guys should be playing PS5 Spider-Man 2, the Insomniac release. It is an absolute joy for a lot of reasons. But before you're like...

Dave, if I'm a video game person, I already have Spider-Man 2.

I'm reaching out to the non-video game people out there. There's a lot of things about Spider-Man 2 that make it incredibly fun. And one of those things is so many accessibility options that you could use as difficulty sort of cheats. And I think this is a game that they would like everybody to platinum. Once again, if you're not a video game person, PlayStation has these achievements you could unlock and

by playing the game. And if you unlock all of the special trophy achievements, you get a platinum trophy, which is the most you could complete the game in its entirety. It involves cool things like, you know, visiting certain spots on the map that you don't necessarily have to visit unless you're doing a full explore option. And then the cool thing about

Spider-Man 2's game mechanics is not only is the swinging excellent feeling, if you've never played a Spider-Man game, this is the best Spider-Man swinging mechanics ever. But Spider-Man 2 allows you, both as Peter and Miles, to use web wings, which allows you to sort of fly. And so one of my favorite achievements was flying from downtown Manhattan all the way to Queens without using my webs or touching the ground. And that's

That's not even talking about the excellent story that brings in so many different Spider-Man characters. So Spider-Man 2, I think, is an excellent entry into any sort of gaming, but especially superhero action games, because it has a great story. It can be completed in a reasonable amount of time. You don't have to dedicate an entire year to doing it. And they want you to finish it in terms of

There's even a really cool mechanic where you can slow down the game to 30% speed just sort of whenever you feel like it's getting too overwhelming. I didn't use that myself, but I have seen people use it to pull off some amazing spider combos. Wonderful. Where does this rank among your games of the year?

Oh, it's really close to my actual game of the year, which would be Baldur's Gate 3 as a D&D sort of fool. But like there's so much narratively involved in that that you sort of get to become your own Baldur's Gate character. But Spider-Man 2 is ultimately a great game for the characters of Peter and Miles. And since you've seen across the Spider-Verse, you know where Miles is coming from. And you probably know Peter Parker just by being alive and Spider-Man being an IPA.

What's your other pick, Dave Gonzalez?

My other pick is if you love Across the Spider-Verse, you probably love beautiful animation. And I think Across the Spider-Verse is the best, most beautifully animated movie of the year. But it is over two and a half hours long. So maybe it's not something you want to rewatch or maybe it's something you have to sort of coax people into reengaging with. The other most beautiful animated movie of the year was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem from director Jeff Rowe, who... Love this.

Wrote on things like Gravity Falls and co-directed Mitchell's Verse of the Machines. And here is able to bring a lot of the things that the first Spider-Verse and across the Spider-Verse brought to animation to the turtles. So not only are the turtles acting like teenagers, which they don't always do in the

adaptations. But it has this cool look that looks like a teenager actually helped draw it. So I sort of described it as it looks sort of like it's a

sort of a clay based stop motion that somebody scribbled all over with a highlighter. Um, and I absolutely love it. I love it to the degree that the, uh, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross soundtrack was on my Spotify and raps this year because I kept wanting to relive, uh, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mutant Mayhem. I love that. That's an incredible pick. I want to know more about your Spotify rap, Dave. I'll, I'll grill you about that later. Um, uh,

Yeah, Dave has been making the drum on this movie all year. I still haven't seen it, but I really, really want to. I will. It's streaming. It's streaming, even. I'll do it this week for you. I'll do it this weekend. That's the whole point of this podcast, you know? This is the inspiration that we need. When I was a kid and I would watch the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, I...

the obsession that I had with the way the pizza looked was like my biggest fear when the movie came out. Yeah. Like when they capture the particular melt and droop strand of pizza cheese.

But perhaps other people had other things on their mind with this film. Can't say for sure. Dave, would you rather I watch the Super Mario Brothers film first or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles colon Mutant Mayhem first? I mean, you don't need to give Super Mario Brothers any money. It's definitely where it is at with its audience already. I would say Mutant Mayhem because it is, yes, a fantastic looking and the animators did a great job in being it's something that's just fun to watch.

All right. Sold. Beautiful. I'll do it. Maybe I'll do it today. You don't know me. Yeah. Mallory, do you want to go next? Sure. Speaking of a beautiful animation, vibrant, inventive, innovative, visual splendor, I'm going with Scott Pilgrim takes off, which Joanna and I just had the pleasure of chatting about together right here on the house of our follow along on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Once again, I find myself making a recommendation that is difficult for me to talk about in any level of detail, which is a strategy I'll have to reassess next year. I did this to myself. Let me pick a bunch of things I can't talk about at all. I'll speak broadly. In addition to the animated wonders, young people...

On a journey of discovery, young people, Miles and Gwen, Scott and Ramona, navigating some sort of fantastical experience and their feelings for each other. Friends, perhaps lovers, maybe, who knows? We'll see. Who need to make their way back to each other in some capacity as they undergo a test, a trial.

This is the one I'll dance around the most carefully here. Miguel, I will say, reminds me of a character from Scott Pilgrim Takes Off who I will not describe, but feels like a parallel in a comp to a spider person across the spider burst, kind of like a

bucking archetype, right? Maybe defying our expectations of how a certain character, someone from the Spider Society, say, should maybe behave. And also literally Jason Schwartzman, right? Here's Spot. Here's Gideon. I think there are a lot of parallels and a lot to...

in Scott Pilgrim if you loved Spider-Verse and I will not explain anything more specific beyond that about Scott Pilgrim. But they're both very surprising tales and wondrous to behold. Check it out. I mean, I think we're honoring the wish of the creators that we not like talk more about the premise of Scott Pilgrim, but I think at a certain point

It is only going to help people who haven't checked it out yet. Yeah. Who think it's just a rehash. And I think we can just say, if you think it's just a rehash of a story you've already seen, it's absolutely not. Right. Dave, do you have any vague, non-spoilery things to say about Scott Pilgrim? I will say this is Scott Pilgrim as a IP person.

fixture is every time it's adapted to be it in the original comics, the Edgar Wright movie, the side-scrolling fighting game, and now Scott Pilgrim takes off, it makes the absolute most of the medium that it's in to tell the story that it wants to tell. So they all are able to coexist and

as sort of a multiverse examination of Scott Pilgrim and his Canadian friends. And I love that for the property because every time Scott Pilgrim resurfaces, it feels as essential as any other entry in the Scott Pilgrim verse. Yes.

Absolutely. You know, Miles says he's going to do his own thing and Scott Pilgrim takes off, did its own thing. I also just really want to see Spot and Vegan Todd in a bodega together. Yes. That's like my new dream. Iconic. Joe, what do you have for this one? I'm happy to announce that it is the return of Brandon Sanderson, corner on House of R, Brando Sandoz, who listened to this podcast.

Podcast all year? No. I read my first Brandon Sanderson book earlier this year, Tress of the Emerald Sea, when we did sort of like a mid-year check-in. Tress of the Emerald Sea was one of Brandon Sanderson's secret projects that he put out this year via, I think, partially to do with a Patreon or Kickstarter or something like that. Another one that he put out this year is called You, Me, and the Nightmare Painter. And a lot of our listeners were like, hey, if you like Tress, you might want to check out You, Me, and the Nightmare Painter.

Both of these books, unlike a lot of other Brandon Sanderson's works, are like standalone sort of slim stories versus like the massive doorstoppers that are part of like a five book series that he usually puts out. So if you want like a low commitment, is this for me sort of idea, you meet a nightmare painter. Absolutely delightful. And this is why I would associate with Across the Spider-Verse. Similar to what Mallory was saying,

A lot of drilling down on like relationships. This is if, if this is the premise of you mean the nightmare painter. So it's not a spoiler to say that these are two characters who live in very different places. Are they different worlds? Are there different spots on the same planet? Like we're not really sure, but Yumi is a character who lives in a village that seems more like

Kind of ancient feudal Japan. And she communicates with these spirits. Yumi lives in a village that seems sort of like feudal Japan. She wears like silken robes and like has like, you know, wood clogged shoes sort of things that you communicate with spirits. The nightmare painter, Nakara or other character lives in a very technique, technical world, like almost like sci-fi versus fantasy kind of two different worlds. He's what's called a nightmare painter, which are these painters who go around the city, um,

And these nightmare creatures emerge from this thing called the Shroud. And it's the nightmare painter's job to paint that nightmare into a shape. Like they get out a little canvas and ink and paint a shape and that nightmare turns into the shape. And then they sort of neutralize the threat of the nightmare. That's just the premise of this world. And this is something that Brandon Sanderson does so well in terms of just like establishing like really cool, inventive, magical worlds.

that's the premise of the world. The premise of the story is that Nicaro and Yumi are two main characters swap bodies constantly throughout, uh, the book. And so similar to, uh,

the film Your Name, which Dave and I talked about recently on a Trial by Content episode, a tremendous, perfect film. This is a love story involving body swapping at two very different locations. The difference is when

let's say Nicaro goes into Yumi's body. Yumi is there as sort of this like disembodied, but like they're, they're together. It's not like they're there's they swap and they're in different places. It's like he inhabits her body. And then she's also there as a sort of like ghost, like sort of pushed out of her own body, observing what he's doing. So they're like together throughout the adventure. It's just one is in one's body versus the other. And I just, a love the world that he builds. B we love a body swap story. Uh,

listen to our trial by content episode about body swap stories. Great times. Um, and see, I just like, I love a love story. Um, and like star cross most, I don't multiversal lovers. It's not quite exactly what we're talking about here, but I just was thinking a lot about miles and Gwen when I was thinking about, uh, these characters. So yeah, I had a great time with you and me. It's really, really cool. Because you indicated that it's not 1200 pages for all the other reasons too. Yeah.

Yeah, and if you get certain versions of it, like the digital copy I got, but also like you get the, you know, it has gorgeous art, just like Tress of the Emerald Sea did. Like Brandon Sanderson is putting out these like

Very like jewel boxy sort of, you know, books that come with incredible illustrations in addition to these wildly fanciful, beautiful little stories that he's creating. So where would I get a good copy of this? Do you think your local booksellers?

Because I'm looking at like I could online wise, I could grab like a Macmillan vanilla version from the publisher. But there's also a Dragonsteel book that has this amazing hardcover and gives me a digital copy when I download it. That sounds perfect. Do that. Awesome. Added to cart. Awesome. Thanks, Dave. This is truly service journalism here. Yeah. Wow.

The most precise recommendations here on House of Recommends. Dave literally just ordered my recommendation. Dave, but before the end of day, I will have watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He's locking you into some reciprocity, right? That's true. I put my chips on the table, Joanna. This was wonderful. Dave. Delightful. Thank you, Dave. Always a pleasure. See you next year, assuming the Earth is still around. Okay.

Thanks, Dave. Thanks, buddy. You're the best. This episode is brought to you by Vitamin Water. Food, entertainment, sports teams. New York City is one of those places that oozes choice. It's got something for every taste. So it's fitting that Vitamin Water was born there. It's a product of its environment. Colorful,

Vitamin water is a registered trademark of Glasso.

When you bring your own phone and switch at a San Francisco Verizon, you get three lines for the price of two, which is perfect if, like, you're a couple with a daughter who's ready for her own phone. Or maybe you have a son who wants to be able to text you and definitely not his girlfriend. Or a brother who wants in on the deal. Or your uncle could really use a line. Or your wife has a sweet but clingy twin sister. Or your best friend from college relies on you.

Give them a free line. Or you guys have a roommate who's kind of a mooch. Or your dog walker needs a solid. Or your wife's ex-boss's dermatologist's attorney's best friend could also use a line. Anyway, you get the idea. Bring your phone and get three lines for the price of two and pay less than $29 a line. Visit a San Francisco Verizon store now and save.

Joining us once again, you've heard him on the house of R. You can listen to him right now on the Prestige TV podcast, over on group chat, on Ringer NBA. He's everywhere.

Including right here, right now. Rob Mahoney, here to chat about The Last of Us. What is your recommendation, Rob, for bad babies who loved The Last of Us? My recommendation is a little obvious, I will admit. But I had two thoughts. One, this movie is now 17 years old that I'm about to recommend to you. Is that true? That hurt my feelings. Unfortunately true.

And maybe old enough that, you know, wide swaths of House of R listeners may just be too young to have encountered this movie or just have missed it entirely. This is...

You've sent us into an absolute existential tailspin at the top here. We didn't blink when Amanda said that Working Girl was 35 years old. We were like, sure, that sounds right. But this being 17-year-old... This is throwing me. Oh my God. It doesn't feel good. But the second thought I had was, I personally need to ensure that every listener of this podcast has seen the movie Children of Men. So that is my recommendation for you today. Children of Men, the Alfonso Cuaron masterpiece.

One of the best movies of the 21st century. I'm here to talk about it. I'm here to get into it. I'm here to feel a lot of existential dread with you both. Beautiful. This is an absolutely sublime movie. Tell us why it reminds you of The Last of Us.

Well, for one, the creators are on record, right? Like Neil Druckmann has talked a lot about Children of Men not just being an influence on the gameplay and the story and the characters of The Last of Us, but him wanting to make the game in the first place. This was one of the texts that kind of opened his mind to the possibilities. But I think it's even easier when you get into the synopsis of the story to understand where the similarities might be. Children of Men is not about a fungal zombie crisis, but...

It is about a world on the brink, a world in the near future where all of humanity has gone completely infertile without warning, without explanation. And the reality of being a species without a future has just led to the complete collapse of society as we know it. And so we have Theo, our lead character played by Clive Owen, very Joel adjacent, a lot of similarity living in a version of London. That's very much like the Boston QZ that we see in the last of us.

And he's approached out of the blue by his ex-wife, who's played by Julianne Moore, wonderfully by Julianne Moore.

And stop me if you've heard this before, but she wants him to escort a young woman across the dangerous post-apocalyptic countryside. Yeah. A little familiar. A little familiar. And we come to learn that that woman, whose name is Key, is pregnant. The only woman in the entire world who is pregnant. The only woman in the entire world who's been pregnant for the last 20 or so years. The Ellie of our story, effectively. And so I think it's impossible not to see the similarities between these two things.

What I think they really have in common, though, is that these are two stories that are going to sit with you. So if you like the feeling you were left with at the end of The Last of Us Season 1 or the end of playing the game, I think you're going to be after something pretty similar watching Children of Men. Wow, another bid for existential dread here on the House of Recommends. There's a theme today. That's what it's all about. There is a definitive vibe here.

And it's wife movies and existential dread. Great. Love that for us. What about like, what can you tell me, Rob, about the visuals of Children of Men? Good Lord. Yeah. Talk to me about it. There are visuals in this movie in terms of the way scenes and sequences are staged and shot that I'm going to be honest with you. And I'm not like,

deep, deep in the weeds of shot Twitter, of film nerddom. I appreciate the artistry of it, but there are scenes in this that literally bring me to tears with the way they are staged. The power and the majesty of these moments, and in particular, the way they augment the idea of how do you process a world with no future? When you get these threads of humanity at the end of the world, is it a hopeful thing or is it a heartbreaking thing?

And the way that the film is shot leads you into those moments so organically. And they literally are walking you through the bleakness of a world that is tearing itself apart, right? This is not a zombie apocalypse. This is a world where humanity is devouring itself. And the slow reveals of hope in that world, of something to look forward to in that world, are incredibly powerful. Just like in The Last of Us. Are we spoiling The Last of Us? Is that okay? Are we assuming people have seen it? The first...

season yes we don't talk about the second game because we haven't played it so understandably although anything from season one is yeah season one's on the table yeah for what it's worth there are visuals in children and men that I think will prime you

for the story told in the second game, for what it's worth. So I think this is a great time to come to this movie. But the little moments in The Last of Us that always jump out to me are their encounter with the giraffe, right? Things like that, these little moments of humanity. And I will say Children of Men is very sparing with those moments. This is a very emotionally trying movie. But the fewer of them you get, the more powerful they are, in a sense.

I love that. And I think also, like, having watched Last of Us or Seasons of the Walking Dead or a number of other of these, like, road apocalyptic movies, it lends itself so well to the kind of video game vignette storytelling. Like, there's, you know, like, when you encounter, say, Michael Caine's character in Children of Men, like, that definitely feels like a step that Ellie and Joel could take on their journey somewhere. You encounter these...

intriguing characters in intriguing settings. Maybe they have back history with your main characters, maybe not. But, you know, all these different scenes almost that you stumble upon is, yeah, interesting.

Feels very much of a piece. It's a great rec, Rob. Brilliant choice. And that Michael Caine character who, I mean, look, love Michael Caine in anything. In Children of Men, he basically plays like a free-thinking stoner living out in the woods. And he is amazing. It's also probably the closest the movie gets to like the warmth and magic of Long, Long Time in the series, right? Like a moment of genuine human connection out in nature, out in the seclusion, away from...

Look, this is not a world that has zombies, but it's incredibly dangerous as soon as you venture outside of London city walls or the gates and the boundaries that are keeping it secure, if not safe. And so a little bit of respite in this cold and bleak world goes really a long way. I love that. Great riffle. Joe, what do you have for this one?

I have another story that has also been directly cited by the creators of The Last of Us as inspiration for their work. And it is David Benioff's 2008 novel City of Thieves. Before he was the showrunner of Game of Thrones, he was the guy who wrote X-Men Origins Wolverine and also the guy who wrote the novel City of Thieves. City of Thieves was...

rules. This is one of the best books all the time. And when I was working in the bookstore, I could recommend this book to anyone and it would hit. It is under 300 pages, like 280 something pages. So really I'm doing a lot of slim, slim volume recs on this pod. This is a quick read. And it is set in the frame narrative is an author, David Benioff, essentially goes to talk to his grandfather and,

about his experience in Russia during World War II and then tells his story, a fictionalized version of his story. So his grandfather is a 17-year-old boy named Lev, and he's been arrested for looting, and he is locked up with an older man named Kolya who has been arrested for deserting, though Kolya swears he did not desert. And they're brought before this general who says, Go, go.

into the war-torn, ravaged Leningrad and find me a dozen eggs to make a cake for my daughter's wedding. That is their goal, is they have to go collect a dozen eggs in Leningrad, which is surrounded by the Germans. And the Germans are bombing Leningrad and all sorts of stuff like that, and find me something for this cake. So that idea of like... That's such like a... It's a...

It's a terrible thing to do to starving prisoners under your control. Something as like sort of indulgent and, you know, luxurious as a cake. On the other hand, it's so human. Like, this is such a human thing. Find me eggs for a cake for my, it's my daughter's wedding. Like, we need a cake.

And so Lev and Kolya go out into the city and sort of similar to what we were talking about with Children of Men and The Last of Us is they encounter a number of scenarios like women who are being, you know, exploited by men.

you know, people in control of them or, you know, an old friend or all these other things. It is very sort of video game-like in that way, even though I don't think that was necessarily on Benioff's mind at all when he wrote it. And it's just sort of just like beautiful and spare and like a wonderful, full of like... And then for 17-year-old Lev, just a real...

confrontation with the brutal realities of war and this world that they're in, but it's also light and comical at the same time. And it's just like a quick and breezy read. And I believe, though I have not played or watched the playthrough of the second game, there's like a City of Thieves Easter egg in the second game. There is, yeah. Where it shows up in the second game. So that is my...

Oh, Rob, have you read City of Thieves? I have not. Admittedly, I am overwhelmingly a nonfiction reader. So this sounds like an interesting bridge for me in that it's

Maybe a slightly fictionalized version of maybe something that is actually like not autobiographical within Benioff's family or that kind of thing. But this sounds like the book I can get into. And honestly, it sounds like a great Christmas gift guide kind of pick. This sounds like a perfect, as you're saying, something you could recommend to a lot of different people. I might have to pick it up from my dad. I hope my dad is not listening to this podcast, but it sounds like something he might be into. Spoiler alert for Benioff.

The Mahoney holidays. No, it's like a good dad book for like your World War II dad or grandpa. And by that I mean more like they like reading books about World War II, not necessarily they're in it, or maybe if they're in it, but also for like young people because you have this 17-year-old protagonist who's like,

discovering feelings about girls so the first there's just like a bunch of that stuff in there too but it doesn't read as like immature it just reads as very human and again it's just like very short and like a quality read end to end so I also saw that the audio book is done by Ron Perlman which is he's great look exactly the gravelly voice I want taking my trip into the abyss he's a great narrator he's very good yeah yeah it's wonderful

Amazing. Great one. Mallory, what do you want to recommend? I have a book here as well. I'm going perhaps unsurprisingly with Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, which I read this February in parallel with watching and covering The Last of Us. And it is one of my sincerely favorite dual track consumption experiences in recent memory. It's just like sublime. Sublime! Sublime!

Sorry, Rob. We just can't believe it. I know what I'm getting into around here. We can't help. Sorry. So there are a couple reasons. I think it's interesting. You both have wonderful recommendations of texts that influenced The Last of Us. The Last of Us is a clear influence on Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. There's the video game.

aspect of this, of course. Now, when Joe and I covered The Last of Us, and if you're listening to this and you're like, you did? We did. It's over on the Prestige TV podcast. Who knew? Check it out. It's just waiting for you. It's an Easter egg over on a completely different podcast feed waiting for you. We had such a good time listening to

Maison and Druckmann's conversations, not only on the little after the episode featurettes, but on the official pod and just in general, like parsing their insights because they were just so generous in talking about how they adapted this tale and talking about how central. I mean, obviously, this is, of course, true for Druckmann, but it seemed equally true for Maison.

The idea of a video game is a sacred and central thing in their lives, right? And there was so much coverage and discussion at the time about The Last of Us as, including a wonderful ringer piece, what a great website by Ben Lindbergh that you should check out, about what this did for the idea of video game adaptations as prestige, right? Prestige culture. And...

One of the things that I love about the way that they adapted the story and about Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow as an examination of about a lot of things, but among them, a group of friends who make video games together, that it can always be prestige, that it doesn't ever need to be anything but, but also that if it is, that's okay. Like one of the fictional games in Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is actually a very apparent example

Last of Us comp, which is a really fun little thing to come across as you go. But the way that this story embraces like the nobility of building a world for other people to inhabit was just wonderful to experience. Like I when I was just jotting down a few of my bullet points for this one.

I could not help. Like it was like reflexive. I just had to grab like all of these quotes that I remembered moving me. And there were so many, I was like, I couldn't, it was astonishing. I just had all these like Kindle highlights. It was really fun to read through them. But to design a game is to imagine the person who will eventually play it. It captures that spirit so beautifully to me. A programmer is a diviner of possible outcomes, a seer of unseen worlds. There is an embrace of, of,

Not only what Maison and Druckmann and everybody who made The Last of Us embraced when Night Dog made it as a game, when HBO made it as a show, but what so many people who love about those worlds that they choose to spend their time in enjoy about being there. And I think that's one of the other things that's beautifully captured in the book, like that aspect of sharing something.

To allow yourself to play with another person is no small risk. It means allowing yourself to be open, to be exposed, to be hurt. It is the human equivalent of the dog rolling on its back. I know you won't hurt me even though you can. And then that gets to the other parallel, the other thing that these stories have in common, which is that idea of unexpected life-altering connection. Joel and Ellie.

Sam, Sadie, Marks, these unique, unpredictable bonds inside of unique and unpredictable circumstances that define the rest of your life. And sometimes that can be in a really affirming way.

They had the rare kind of friendship. Every time I change my voice weirdly like that, I'm quoting the book just to be clear. They had the rare kind of friendship that allowed for a great deal of privacy within it. That's from tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. But that just sums up Joel and Ellie to me. Like you wait until you're ready to tell me something crucial about who you are. But then also like when you have a bond like this and it's the central thing,

and there's no separation between the spheres of your life, everything you do and care about connects to this person. Everything that is essential in your life connects to this person. There can be a lot of challenges. Like there could be a lot of hardship and it can become this very insular and sometimes dangerous thing. You know, when we covered Last of Us, we talked so much about the two sides of the coin of save who you can save.

And there's a lot of that in Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow 2. Like when somebody becomes your group, what does it mean for everyone who's outside of that? There's a quote in the book that I think subs that up interestingly. It was never worth worrying about someone you didn't love. And it wasn't love if you didn't worry. And there's a part of that that's beautiful and a part of that that's like,

Pretty scary. Unhealthy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's just a tremendous book. I really loved it. I was so consumed by it when I was reading it and I've thought about it like very regularly since. So that's my pick. My smuggle for something that's a little more of a lone wolf and cub apocalyptic comp is The Passage by Justin Cronin, which I just adore those books. And speaking of adaptations, that was not one that did well.

The source text justice. So please check out the books. It also has, I think, really a close like horror and horror. Who knew Fox wasn't the TV station to take on the passage? Who knew? Shocker. I love the way that all these stories, though, like they're all locating the personal in the apocalypse.

the apocalypse, in a war zone, in the trying creative process. And I always find that to be really resonant in storytelling. And in particular, if you look close enough, every drama is about the end of the world. It's just a matter of how small the world is. And the fact that we're getting all of these interplays on big stages, small stages, interpersonal stages, that shit works for me. I don't know about y'all. That reminds me of... I mean, again, I know that you...

And your lovely wife are like Doctor Who fans. That reminds me what we were talking about in the Doctor Who special where it's like when that episode starts, this last week's episode, and Donna's whole world is her daughter. And then like that world broadens. But it's end of the world if her daughter's being bullied and it's end of the world if London is being torn apart by rivers of lava. Like those are both end of the world scenarios depending on how big you want to make your world.

So yeah, that, that, and that idea of like an unlikely connection. It's funny. Cause when I was, I was really struggling with this category because of an unofficial rule I made for myself was like, I wasn't going to let myself do station 11, even though all three of us are obsessed with station 11. Yeah.

and could talk about it all day. I was like, we're not going to do Station Eleven. And then my next thought was like all the unlikely road duos in Game of Thrones, like, you know, the Hound and Arya or, you know, like all these like unlikely connections that happen on the road. And I just love thinking about Jaime and Bran, et cetera, et cetera. And I love thinking about how like David Benioff was already thinking about that.

idea when he wrote City of Thieves before he like really took his time and emphasized that as a thread to pull through his adaptation of Game of Thrones. Because yeah, those connections are just a joy to read about. And like I love the relationship at the centers of Children of Men. It is such a

It's such an interesting dynamic and the evolution, especially that comp between Clive Owen's character and Joel and the evolution you see inside of a man who has given up hope to a certain degree and how you relocate that hope. It's a really good one. For sure. And I would say if anything where they diverge is...

the Ellie equivalent character in Key is not as fully realized as Ellie is. Isn't given as much of a backstory, in part on purpose. Like it's meant to be a more mysterious character. But yeah, it's a Joel-centric version of that custodian story. But it's one that'll hit you right in the chest. I can guarantee you that.

Rob, thank you so much. Excellent rec, as always. You're the best, Rob. Thank you both. Look, I've podcasted with you each individually, with Steve. This is the first meeting of us all in one place. All it took was like several apocalypses and a major world war.

You know, let's find occasion to do it again sometime. Wait, quickly. We have two seconds with you before you go. How do you feel about me recommending Fargo Season 5 for people who like Barbie? How do you feel about that, Cobb? What's the Barbie pitch? Well, it's like...

Juno Temple is like this doll-like sort of wife figure, but what else is going on and what else can you be in this world? Do you know what I mean? Absolutely. I would recommend Fargo for literally everyone, but in particular, I like that hook. I like the expansion of what may seem like a limited character on the surface, one who's locked into a certain kind of world and existence, and all of a sudden, the door busts open and anything is possible. Yeah.

Rob and I are covering, not Barbie, but Fargo over on the Press TV podcast. Look, we can cover Barbie too if you want. Sure, anytime. Oscar special, Barbie pod, let's do it. Love it. Thanks, Rob. Thanks, guys. He's back. He helped us get this started way back when talking about time travel stories that you should check out if you loved Loki season one. Guess what? He's back to talk about what you should watch.

Explore if you liked Loki season two. It's Zach Kram. Hello. What's up? Zach? I'm ready to make some smuggles, I think. I'm so excited. I've got my pen out. I'm ready to make a reading list for myself based on your recommendations.

So I know you often talk about bringing smuggles to this sort of pod and gave me clearance to do so here. So call me Davos Seaworth, I guess, because I'm just going to come right out and start with the smuggle today. I have actually two novellas to recommend to start. But, you know, novellas are shorter and they happen to pair perfectly together, I think. So it really just counts as one full book recommendation, right? There we go. Yes. That's fair. Yes. Love the logic. Love it.

So first up is... Can't. Yeah. First up is This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal Al-Muhtar and Max Gladstone. You might know this book already, long-time listeners will, because I talked about this novella on a book recommendation podcast I did with Mal after the first season of Loki. I know Joanna has podcasted about this novella as well. And I thought, oh...

Like, maybe I've done this one before. I shouldn't do it again. And then I read a couple of chapters yesterday and thought, nope, I got to do Time War again. It's a romance between two agents from opposing factions in a time traveling war. And it's just filled with the most gorgeous, achingly beautiful prose. I know both of you agree. It's sensational.

Absolutely wonderful. Had to do it to him. How did you feel, Zach, as an early recommender of this book when it had its weird viral moment this year? Like when it went super viral on Twitter and everyone was buying it? Yeah, I felt like kind of a Time War hipster, right? Yeah. That's what it means. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

So because it went kind of viral, right? It's fairly well known at this point. And I know you brought me on here for at least one deeper cut. So I'm going to oblige with another novella. And this recommendation is called One Day All This Will Be Yours. One Day All This Will Be Yours. It's by the prolific British author, Adrian Tchaikovsky.

And while Time War hits the emotional beats associated with a story like Loki, I think One Day All This Will Be Yours gets much more at the timey-wimey angle, but in a way that I think holds together a lot better than Loki season two perhaps did with the timey-wimey stuff.

And this book basically asks the question, what is life like day to day for He Who Remains? Because it follows a narrator who fancies himself as the last survivor of what is called the Causality War. And it's very quick, like 120 pages. Again, it's a novella. But I'll read a snippet from the back summary because I think it captures the setup well. Quote, I was the one who ended it, ended the fighting, tidied up the damage as much as I could. Then I came here to the end of it all and gave myself a mission.

to never let it happen again, end quote. So that's basically what He Who Remains is doing, right? And I think that this novella works really well, both from a setting and plot angle, but also the real draw, like in Time War, is the author's voice. This one has a first-person narrator who's really sarcastic and funny and irreverent, and therefore approaches the

of a Time War much differently than This Is How You Lose the Time War. That's why I think they'd pair nicely back to back. You know, read Time War first and get all the emotion and all the quotes about love and then read this one and get all the quotes about like going back in time and

and bringing a dinosaur to the future to eat your enemies, which is something that happens in this novella. So it's really quick and delightful. So that is my first recommendation. I guess my first deep cut recommendation, and then I will pass on to you two. That sounds great. That sounds awesome. Also, if you look at the cover, there's like a

and or feathered dinosaur on the cover, which has me. Because it's, it's biologically accurate. Yes. Feathers. Exactly. Love it. Suck it, Michael Crichton. Um, all right. Um,

I'm going to go really quickly and just say, because I've talked about this on the pod before, but it's the first thing that jumped to my mind. And I think a lot of people missed it this year, and I would like more people to watch it, which is Nimona, which is an animated film that is on Netflix based on the great graphic novel by Andy Stevenson. And the thing that – it's not a timey-wimey story or anything like that, but that –

What it made me think of when it comes to Loki is this idea of like, what if all the world is pegged to as a monster? What if all the world is telling you you're a monster? What if all the world has put you in a box and told you exactly who you are and who you have to be? Can you still find a way to be a hero under those conditions? And that is...

you know, sort of the central conflict for our main character in Nimona. And then there's like beautiful friendships and also that idea of like feeling, seeing yourself reflected back by someone else who sees you differently than the monster the rest of the world has painted you as. And as you know, that's something that I like connected to very emotionally in Loki and I think is really beautifully done in Nimona, which is just like, you know, it's like a quick,

kid friendly but has adult themes to it fun funny you know fantastical adventure story with knights and monsters and maidens and kingdoms and all of that but just like a real interesting twist on who's the who's the to the monsters were the monsters who's the real monster here in the in this story and you got station 11 in there after I did I made it work I made it work

But yeah, this idea of do you have to be what they tell you you are? Can you be something else? Yeah. Nimona. Great. Great story. Mallory. I am going with a short story. The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang. This was originally published in 2007. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette.

This is something that you can find in a 2019 collection of Ted Chiang's short stories called Exhalation, a fantastic, unsurprisingly, a fantastic collection.

Zach and I were talking yesterday and I asked if it was okay if I picked this because it's something that Zach and I have talked about in a very similar context on a ringer pod before. And he pointed out rightly that that meant that we were in a time loop, which only made it a more apt selection. I love it. And so here we are. As is, you know, often the case with

Stories like this reluctant to get into too many of the plot particulars and the character specifics, but I will say that it is a time travel story. It is a time loop story that feels, I think, even more germane for Loki fans after season two than it would have after season one, given the structure of the end of season two. And it is just gorgeous, wrenching,

and profound. It is so beautiful and so deeply thought-provoking, particularly in how it assesses something that the three of us think about a lot when we're covering these stories and love to talk about. Choice, destiny, what room do you have to make consequential decisions in your own life if circumstances are in some capacity set? And so to give you a sense of how this story unfolds,

It assesses and embraces the beauty inside of something that can really unbore us often when we think about it. I will read a couple quotes. This is one paragraph. I am not reading the middle part because the middle part contains plot specifics that I do not want to spoil for people. I will read the first sentence and the last sentence. Past and future are the same, and we cannot change either. Only know them more fully. Dot, dot, dot. Mm-hmm.

If our lives are tales that Allah tells, then we are the audience as well as the players. And it is by living these tales that we receive their lessons. More than any other story that I've read or seen, that captures an ability to embrace agency inside of a circumstance that might otherwise make you feel a little bit helpless. And I love thinking about the message in this story, and it is just absolutely beautifully structured and told. There are tales within tales, right?

It's a masterpiece. Cram is an enthusiast. Anything else you want to add, Joe? Anything you want to add? I've not read it. I just purchased the collection. It's from Exhalation from bookshop.org. So it shall be here for me in a few days. You will love this. It's lovely. You will love this.

What else? Cram, we know you have something else you want to say. Any other smuggles you got for us, Cram? I would just say kind of like how Joanna's suggestion was, okay, what's another theme of, especially season two of Loki beyond just the time travel aspects. I think season two of Loki made me think a lot about the invisible life of Addie LaRue, which is a very popular book by V.E. Schwab.

And listeners might know this one too, but I thought of in connection to Loki specifically because first of all, it has really fun time travel wrinkles. It starts hundreds of years in the past and then follows one character who makes a deal with the devil that allows her to live basically forever alone.

So she, you know, we get kind of time jumps from era to era as she lives and adjusts to these new powers and a new life over the course of centuries, kind of like Loki does once he gains his new powers at the end of season two. But in particular, Addie LaRue kind of builds up to a crescendo where she has to make a big decision at the end of the book.

And that's similar. I don't want to give away any more, but that reminded me a lot of the decision that Loki made at the end of season two, a decision like for friends. And I think that just made me think a lot about Addy and folks listening to this might've read this already.

because this was very popular online as well. I know Joanna's read it, but like Mal and everyone else should definitely read this book. Also beautiful prose in this book. And I think it just, you know, a gorgeous piece of writing. This is on the Syracuse Zoom book club.

impending read list. Oh, is it? Oh, great. It's been, it's on one of the members' lists and when that person's turn comes around, I think it'll be the selection. Oh, yeah. This was such a great read for me. It's a great, this is a great, brilliant rec, Zach. And shout out to Kristen, who is Vishwav's

and is also a loyal Bad Baby listener. This is not... Zach didn't know that, so there was no influence on his pick or any time I've ever talked about V. Schwab on here. I found this out later. But Kristen is a listener, so shout out to Kristen, who's amazing. And V. Schwab, Victoria, is, like, a really interesting fantasy writer. And I think this is my favorite thing that she's ever done, though, because she has these, like, series that she's done. This is a standalone. And this is just, like...

I don't know. Like, what does it mean to be truly seen for the first time in your life is sort of a lot of what's the heart of that book. Great rec. Really good. It's really great. I think Vicious is a really fun superhero novel twist. And the Shades of Magic series is probably her most popular. But yeah, Addie LaRue is also my favorite. My fave. Yeah.

Excellent pick, Zach, as always. I also wanted to say before I left, I peeked ahead at the doc and saw what Lindbergh is recommending for his session and even more than the books I recommended. Just pay attention to Lindbergh's recommendation because it's the best sci-fi world building I've seen in years. So listen to Ben, not me. Listen to both of them. Listen to all of them. Why not both? The old one or both, Zach? Yeah. Love it. Thank you. Thanks, buddy.

Folks, it wouldn't be a House of Recommends without Ben Lindbergh, but it wouldn't be a Star Wars chat on House of Art without Ben Lindbergh either. And so, of course, to join us, to share recommendations for what the bad baby should check out if they enjoyed Ahsoka, if they were intrigued by Ahsoka, perhaps if they loved Ahsoka, it is...

Old Ben Limbergi. Ben! Ben's back. Ben! Hello, friends. Hi, Ben! Do I get the intro clip or not on House of Recommends? Just on lore segments. Steve might put it in post. Maybe a little post work for Steve. Post pro for Steve, yeah. Okay. Well, happy to be here to talk about Ahsoka once again. I thought those days were over. Never.

Never. What's your recommendation, though, Ben? If people like Ahsoka, what should they check out? Well, I'm going to blow people's minds here, but if you liked Ezra, Hera, Ahsoka, and Sabine, I've got great news because this wasn't the first series they starred in. Let me tell you about a TV show called Star Wars Rebels. Have you heard of it? It's not my actual pick. I assume that House of R listeners. I just had a panic attack. I was like, that's not what's in the notes, Ben. I'm going off script.

No, House of R listeners are well aware of the collected works of Dave Filoni and all of the many stories that star Ahsoka. So I am going out of the Star Wars galaxy, out of both of the Star Wars galaxies, in fact, and I'm going to recommend...

Scavenger's Reign, one of the highlights of 2023 in media for me. And I will admit that instead of starting from the question, what's most similar to Ahsoka, I started from the position of wanting to recommend Scavenger's Reign and then try to find ways to back into comparing it to Ahsoka. That's completely valid. You know what? I think it works, actually. I think I have made it work in my mind, at least, because...

These are both series that take place in exotic lands, in distant worlds, unfamiliar settings, and in some ways, unfriendly settings where our heroes or our antiheroes have to adjust to their new surroundings. They're often hostile surroundings. And

Scavenger's Reign is about a group of explorers or settlers, colonists that have to crash land on a planet. Things go wrong and then they have to escape that planet. This is a 12 episode series on Max that aired earlier this year, just half hour ish episodes that kind of came out of nowhere and surprised me. It wasn't really on my radar. And then it turned out to be, I think, one of the best series of the year. Sci-fi series, certainly.

So it has that Ahsoka element of the unfamiliar world, also of trying to escape that unfamiliar world because you don't want to be marooned there forever. It has exotic creatures. It has uneasy alliances formed among the people who are trying to band together to get off of that world. So I think there is actually a lot of connective tissue here, although the main difference is that

The exotic creatures in Scavenger's Reign are unfailingly trying to kill you. They're not friendly. The nodie would never. No. They're not friendly star whales that carry you from galaxy to galaxy. They are just death in every form. So it has a lot to do with...

Alien more so than Ahsoka. So maybe it's a little bit adult oriented compared to a Disney series, but there's a lot to love about it. And I think the highlights of Ahsoka for me were definitely the exploration and the sense of discovery and wonder and what's over the next horizon. And that you're going to get just a lot of from Scavenger's Reign.

Beautiful. Excellent. There is not a person I know who has watched this who doesn't say it's one of the best things they've seen this year. It's on my December holiday window. Can't wait to catch up on this. I'm so excited. It's pretty incredible. Yeah. It's an animated series, by the way. I should mention it's very pretty animation. I was going to say, all the art I've seen has been incredible from this. Yeah. Just watching the trailer, I was like...

Right. Yeah. It's probably the best depiction I've seen or that I can remember in recent memory of just...

We kind of overuse that term maybe, but this actually feels like just a completely alien ecosystem in a really thrilling way. And you know how it's kind of a trope in sci-fi stories, like you'll have human-looking aliens or humanoid or Earth-like, but then they'll have green blood or something. And that's how you know that, oh, they're not like us. This is not Earth's species. Yeah.

these aliens and animals on this planet actually have red blood. If you prick them, they bleed. It looks just like us, but in every other possible way, they are completely different from earth life. So it's like they, they did away with that, that crutch, that trope. And they just got incredibly creative about what would another world with life that evolved independently of ours actually look like. Awesome. Beautiful. Cannot wait. Uh,

Can I go next in the vein of adult animation that is on Mallory's to watch over the holidays list? It is sweeping the ringer staff. It is Blue Eye Samurai. Not that it needs a ton of help from me because I think it's currently sitting towards the top of the Netflix rankings right now. But this is an animated series on Netflix that just dropped and took a lot of people by surprise. It wasn't on a lot of hype lists.

People didn't really see this coming. This is from... The creative team is Michael Green and his wife, Amber Nozumi. Michael Green is the screenwriter who I absolutely adore, and anytime his name shows up on something, I'm going to be interested in it. He wrote all the Kenneth Branagh Poirot movies, but don't let that stop you. He also co-wrote Logan, Blade Runner 2049, and...

you know, it was just like a very interesting writer with a strong idea, strong sense of like franchise storytelling, et cetera. Um, and blue samurai is a classic revenge story. Um,

Our main character is Mizu, an expert swordsperson on a mission of revenge against potentially their father. We shall find out what's going on there when we watch the show. But this is a...

You were just immediately drawn into masterful storytelling. There's flashbacks. There's flashing over to other mysterious characters that we don't know a lot about yet to keep you intrigued as to what's going on in this world. This is a very adult animation, as in there's like full-blown sex scenes in the first episode just to be like...

Which is fine. Your kids can watch this if they want to, but just letting you know. It's not like, oh, are they discreetly fucking behind that screen? No, they are just like absolutely fucking right in front of you. It is happening in this show. Can confirm. Yeah. Yeah. Great cast. Brenda Song, George Takei, Maya Erskine, Masioka, Randall Park,

Um, Kenneth Brown, Kenny Brown is here, uh, to do Michael Green a favor, I suppose. Um, it's, it's, it's just like a great, just adventure story with a compelling stoic character in Mizu and a very delightful sidekick in Ringo. And, um, that sort of like Mando Grogu dynamic that you want of the stoic meets the effervescent. And, um,

I just had a great time with it. Ben, I know you almost picked this as your pick. Yes. Second, this strong endorsement of this recommendation. And the sidekick is a great point, too, because I forgot to mention Scavenger's Reign got a great robot sidekick, too, if that was one of the highlights of Ahsoka for you, as it was for us. Yeah.

Just another connection. But yes, Blue-Eyed Samurai is excellent. And we need the house of our bump for both of these shows. We need everyone to stream these things so we can get second seasons.

There you go. Um, and then a quick, quick, fast, fast smuggle, which is a book called the will of the many. Uh, it's the first book in the hierarchies, new hierarchy series just came out this year. It's by James, um, Islington, who's done an Australian writer. I really like who's done a number of interesting, uh, stories, but this is set in a world where just like a really interesting, it reminded me a lot of, um,

in the name of the wind, actually, there's like a magical academy. We're plunged into a world where it's like, oh boy. We're not going to give Mal any shit for not having read it. Why did you mention this with Thanos? I couldn't think of a better comp, but like you're plunged into a world of magic that has like an intricate political structure. But basically there's this like hierarchy where everyone in the world has something called the will.

Does it remind you of the force? Maybe. Everyone has it. And depending on where you are in the social strata, you seed, you give some of your will to the people above you on the social strata. So they bleed you of your life force, essentially. And so if you're at the top, you get bled the will of all the people below you. Not entirely, but like half of their will goes to the person above them on the social strata. So the higher you climb, the more powerful you become. Anyway, this young woman

who is quite talented in every way. Stop me if you've ever heard that in a Star Wars story. Has to infiltrate this magical academy in order to figure out some corruption that's going on in the hierarchy. It is a great, great book. Really well written. Really complicated, thought out, world building. The will of the many. One of the best sci-fi fantasy books I read this year for sure. That is my speckle. I love a magical academy. Yeah.

Do you though? Because I'm still waiting for you to read those books, as I recall. There's a new Patrick Rothfuss novella out. Yes. Perfect time to hop on board the Kingkiller Chronicles train. Is it? Any update on concluding Kingkiller? Moving on. Fresh out reading the updates on George's word count. What's your record?

I don't know why, but the Ahsoka recommendation was the hardest for me of everything on the pod today. I think perhaps Lindbergh, your Rebels opening bit was maybe part of what made this so hard for me. I was like, of course, drawn to suggesting so many of the things we've talked about a million times already before. And everybody should go and check out all of those wonderful things if they haven't yet. But

I'm going with something ultimately that is admittedly extremely distinct tonally from Ahsoka, but has a lot of other things in common. I am going with Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, which I loved. This is a fantastic sci-fi book. A...

shadowy threat that not everyone understands or believes. A quest to save civilization from some looming peril. There's a line in Project Hail Mary that I really love that gets at that idea. What's the point of even having a world if you're not going to pass it on to the next generation? A journey to a mysterious unknown far, far away. And on that journey,

Some lonely figures driven by a desire to protect, ready to make a sacrifice that would be unthinkable for most people. And in terms of like the structure of this Ahsoka season and Project Hail Mary, I'm

The character decisions are fueled by crucial backstory and motivations that reveal themselves to us over time. We are like learning in these little bursts of dispensed information as we go what has led to certain choices, certain decisions, or readiness to maybe do certain things. And then...

You know, the idea of partnership, I think, is very central to both of these stories, like a shared quest, a shared mission, the necessity of opening your mind to what somebody else can teach you. I'm reluctant to get into too many of the specifics of the form that partnership takes in Project Hail Mary because discovering it in real time is one of the great delights of reading the book. But I will just say, Rocky, me.

Meet the noti and leave it at that. Love it. Rocky is one of my favorite characters in recent years. Just like. Yes. Yes. Instant pantheon figure. Classic. Sort of the opposite of the non-human life that the cargo ship is.

Occupants encounter in Scavenger's Reign. But it's a great book. I have read the works of Weir as well. And after enjoying The Martian, I struggled with his second novel, Artemis. But this was, I thought, a return to form. I really enjoyed this one. You're just like plunged in and in such an intriguing space. And you're sort of like running to catch up from the beginning. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Not always the prose artist, if that's what you're looking for exactly. But in terms of, you know, sciencing shit and describing how things are done and coming up with clever, ingenious plot developments. And in this one, character development, too. Some great character development. And I also found this book to be like in a truly hard sci-fi story, like truly funny. Yeah.

Yeah. I thought this book was a riot. Yeah. Well, these are great recommendations. I don't know if these comparisons are kind to Ahsoka because we had such great picks here, but this was fun because when you had me on last year, as I recall, I recommended The Last Kingdom. We must have been talking about House of the Dragon. We were. And I remember denigrating your recommendations and trying to establish that my recommendation was superior to yours. I don't know why I turned it into a competitive exercise. Yeah.

I'm just conditioned by doing drafts with you, Mallory. Maybe. House of Recommends is all about the love, you know? Yeah. But this time, I approve of all of your picks. I second all of them. This is wonderful. And I second yours having not seen it, but the vibes alone. Same. I'm sorry. You'll love it. Thanks, Ben. Thanks, Ben. My pleasure. Always a treat, bud. All right, friends. Our glorious purpose is fulfilled. That's a wrap on another House of Recommends. What a joy. What a thrill. What a blast. Thank you. It's a wrap.

to Zach, to Ben, to Dave, to Amanda for joining us today. And thank you as always. I can't believe it. Wild stuff. I love it. Shocking.

Thank you as always to Steve Allman for producing this episode. Arjuna Ramgopal for his additional production work on this episode. And Jomia Deneron for his work on the social for this episode. We will see you on Monday for our next House of Who on Wild Blue Yonder, the second 60th anniversary Doctor Who special. Over on the Ringiverse, Myth Edition will be with you on Monday for the Animation Awards. And the Midnight Boys, pew, pew, will be with you on Wednesday for Blue Eye Samurai.

Till then, save who you can save.