It’s the 2025 Paid in Puke Oscars Special with our Academy Award Pukette, Denise Rodriguez! We all saw and loved a TON of movies this year, and most of them didn’t get nominated for anything! Regardless, we talk about the films we loved and why they didn’t get any Academy props, the Emilia Pérez mess, films about the trans experience that were actually good, the ethics of using AI in films, and why we come to Nicole Kidman for magic.
Films covered include: A Different Man, Anora, A Real Pain, Babygirl, Between the Temples, Bird, Challengers, Emelia Pérez, Flow, Ghostlight, I Saw the TV Glow, Love Lies Bleeding, Maria, Nightbitch, Nosferatu, Queer, Sing Sing, The Apprentice, The Brutalist, The Last Showgirl, The Substance, The Wild Robot, Will & Harper.
But now Davy Jones has died. He is the first Monkee to go. To me, that feels significant (other than the obvious, “a man is dead” significance). The Monkees are definitely the first manufactured boy band. But they are also, in many ways, an alternative to the Beatles. I’m not saying they are BETTER than the Beatles, or even as good. But to me, they are more important. If I had to choose to listen to one over the other, I would choose the Monkees. Maybe it’s because I like a little whimsy in my psychedelic 60’s pop. Maybe it’s because it’s like listening to several great artists at once. Neil Diamond and Carol King each wrote some of the group’s biggest hits. Mike Nesmith eventually convinced the Powers That Be to let him write some songs, and what he came up with was some of their best work. 
When I was a little girl, I went with my family to see David Copperfield perform live at the Richmond Colosseum. During the show, he called on several volunteers from the audience to help with his little tricks (That’s right, I called them “tricks”). The audience was full of kids who eagerly waved their arms, hoping to be chosen. However, he only chose young, blonde women and flirted with them ferociously throughout their time on stage. I called bullshit on him at that moment. I was officially creeped out. And thus, my lifelong distrust of and objection to magicians began.
Effed by the Wind 