Sorta Sorcery

#24 The Lord of the Rings (1978)

This week the boys continue their Bakshi marathon and cover his fantastical magnum opus: The Lord of the Rings (1978).  It's rotoscope and rings baby, what's not to love?! 

#23 Wizards

Bakshi is back on the menu! This week the boys cover, Wizards (1977), director Ralph Bakshi's first foray into fantasy. What happens when wizards, elves, and rotoscope animation meet a thinly veiled WW2 allegory? Listen and find out!

#22 Kull the Conqueror

This week the boys get ready for election season by watching the political rise of Kevin Sorbo as King Kull. We know he's a hairy hunk, but what are his policies? Join Will and Chase for an action-packed '90s romp through the Hyborian Age, ushering in the Sorbonator's laughable second term on the Sorta Sorcery podcast. 

#21 The Rings of Power

A lot of people have a lot of opinions on this show, and we agree with all of them. Join the boys for this complex and nuanced discussion of Amazon Prime's most expensive fantasy series, The Rings of Power (Season 2). There's lots of laughs, gaffs and goo on this episode of Sorta Sorcery.

#20 Conan the Barbarian (1982)

It's the big fish, Will and Chase's white whale. It's Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Earl Jones (in a wig). It's the definitive cinematic adaptation of Robert E. Howard's genre-defining literary world. It's the one that started it all and it's all right here, on the Sorta Sorcery podcast. 

#19 Hawk the Slayer

When evil legions stalk the land, a hero must wield a mighty sword and battle against the... is all of this starting to sound familiar? It was probably less played out in 1980 when this film was released. Join the boys for incensed discussion of bus routes, The Wheel of Time and the effects of misogyny on heroic fantasy. There is also occasional discussion of this week's film, Hawk the Slayer.

#18 Ator 4: Quest for the Mighty Sword

This week the boys just couldn't help themselves and skipped to Ator 4, the conclusion of the Ator series. This film answers the question: what if the dad from "Good Luck Charlie," (Eric Allan Kramer) played a version of Ator who is raised by a hobgoblin after his father (also named Ator and played by Eric Allen Kramer), who was the prince of a race of said hobgoblins, is promptly killed by a goblin god. What if indeed. This love letter to the sword and sorcery genre contains frequent homages to "Die Nibelungen" and is our last foray into the catalog of Italian fantasy and erotic film director Joe D'Amato. 

#17 Beowulf

With the direction of Robert Zemeckis (of "The Polar Express" fame) and screenplay courtesy of Neil Gaiman (of "American Gods" fame), Beowulf (2007) is a modern retelling of the ancient English poem, wherein, a motion-capture CGI Beowulf gets it on with....a mocap CGI Angelina Jolie?! That's literally what happens, but don't take our word for it, listen now!

#16 Troy (2004)

A thousand years before the birth of Christ we had the Iliad. And three thousand years after that, we got "Troy" (2004). This movie has it all, love and hatred, honor and deceit, courage and cowardice, Orlando Bloom and Diane Kruger, Brad Pitt and Sean Bean, who could ask for more! It's a Sorta Sorcery story of epic proportions and production value. In sum, the boys finally watch another good movie.  
 
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#15 Hercules (2014)

Hercules Hercules Hercules!! Can you smell what Will and Chase are cookin! After 8 months of intense preparation and monastic living Dwyane 'The Rock' Johnson delivers his most stunningly uninspired performance since "The Scorpion King" as the titular star of 2014's "Hercules." Is it a new cult classic or just bad? Find out now!