KnockBack: The Retro and Nostalgia Podcast

Writer and director Quentin Tarantino has long been a divisive and controversial filmmaker, primarily because of his seeming, unapologetic glorification of gore. But something deeper typically rests beneath his portrayal of human brutality. This is perhaps most true in his 2012 picture Django Unchained, a movie that takes place in the Southern United States on the brink of the Civil War...

There are times when an older movie feels like it could have been made yesterday. 1989's Do the Right Thing -- one of Spike Lee's very first films -- is just such an offering...

We've been recording KnockBack week-in and week-out for more than two years, and while we tell lots of stories about our time with video games, TV shows, movies, toys, and much more, we also include mentions of some very important people: Our childhood friends. These folks aren't just random characters from our past; they're people who helped shape who we were then, and still are today...

Nintendo is undoubtedly best-known for its long-running, ubiquitous franchises: Mario, Zelda, and the like. But sprinkled in the mega-selling mixture are games that sold far less, but have earned their own level of reverence. EarthBound -- launched in 1994 in Japan and 1995 in the US -- is one such adventure...

Did Disney's Star Wars trilogy end with a loud bang or a resounding thud? It depends on who you ask, of course. But just late last year (in 2019), the new galactic journey that began with Episode VII ended with Episode IX, and the results were about as divisive as you'd probably imagine...

Do you know the definition of insanity? After playing 2012's Far Cry 3, you just might. While this open world FPS series began inauspiciously enough under the direction of none other than Crytek, it's when Ubisoft brought the shooter franchise in-house that it truly began to shine...

For Americans, the year 1776 is sacred. It isn't the year the American Revolution started (that's 1775), nor is it the year it ended in victory (that's 1783). Instead, '76 represents the year the US declared its independence from England, changing the course of domestic and global history alike forever...

This week's episode of KnockBack is a special one, not only because of its subject matter -- the 1982 Steven Spielberg smash-hit film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial -- but because our guest host this week is none other than Dagan's wife, Helene. E.T. was, is, and will likely always be one of the most seminal movies ever created, and it's because it has what so many other pictures all-too-often lack: Heart and imagination...

The Powerpuff Girls might seem like an unassuming piece of animation... yet it's anything but. Nestled within the soul of Cartoon Network's hit show is a surprising amount of depth, an amalgamation of influences ranging from anime to gaming to old superhero TV shows. The result is one of the most charming cartoons of the last 30 years...

Comedian and actor Mike Myers has always been a bit of an enigma. The hilarious Canadian made his bones on Saturday Night Live and drew international acclaim for his Wayne's World skits and films, but it was 1997's James Bond spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery that might be his most famous and most beloved work. Playing both the movie's protagonist (the titular Austin Powers) and antagonist (the amazing Dr. Evil), Myers put in work...