We’ve been wanting to get Alonso Duralde on the show for a while — not only because he’s the senior film critic for The Wrap, and not only because he’s the host or co-host of a number of podcasts, including Max Fun’s own Who Shot Ya?, but because he literally wrote the book on Christmas movies. So, of course, this holiday season he picked a movie that barely sort of has Christmas stuff in it — the double-Moore weepie Six Weeks. THANKS FOR NOTHING, BUDDY! (jk – he’s a delight.)

We break out of our normal format a bit for this BONUS EPISODE! How so? Well, #1, we watched a movie that we were all pretty sure we’d like (and, spoiler alert, we did) — the body-swap horror-comedy “Freaky,” and #2, instead of doing letters and recommendations, we take a bit of extra time to talk to Barbara Crampton about her career.

Holiday hustle and bustle means it’s finally time to release the OTHER episode, taped at Boston’s CitySpace, about Godzilla: King of the Monsters. CAN YOU HANDLE THE THRILLS?

Elliott gives us a report from the field about the Douglas Trumbull directorial effort Brainstorm!

Greeting boils and ghouls and gender non-kill-forming! For the spooookiest holiday of the year, Thanksgiving, we discuss the very appropriate Happy Halloween, Scooby Doo! Why? Well, we ask our guest, the hilarious absolute sweetheart, Justin McElroy, that very question — you may know him as one of the hosts of Max Fun’s own My Brother My Brother and Me, The Adventure Zone, Sawbones, and many other podcasts you should probably be listening to instead of our nonsense.

Renowned author Stuart Wellington gives us a reading from his early work: a stirring epic about snakes.

And so we arrive at November, so named because it has no special theme. And, folks, we’ll admit… this MIB: International episode is a weird one. Why? Well, finding out is part of the fun. But our guest for this show is Annabelle Gurwitch, from Max Fun’s new Tiny Victories podcast, as well as TBS’s Dinner and a Movie, countless acting roles, and quite a few books. Enjoy.

A special treat from the archives to help calm your jangled nerves, and to balm your soul with brattitude.