Least Important Things
A podcast about movies, friendship, and finding meaning in the most important of the least important things in our lives.
Episodes
110 episodes
The Smell of August
Dank humidity, fresh-cut grass, sweat-soaked shirts, and hot rubber. Ask any former gridiron athlete, and they’ll recognize the chemical memory of August football—a potent mix of nostalgia, excitement, and dread. In this essay episo...
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
“Here’s to Imoteph. May the bugger actually come back for this movie, please.”We’re dividing and conquering as we complete the trilogy to talk about the oft-forgotten third installment of The Mummy franchise for our special rewatch serie...
The Dude Always Abides
“The Dude abides.”We’re pouring a White Russian and heading back to 1990s Los Angeles to break down the Coen Brothers’ iconic cult classic, The Big Lebowski. In this essay episode, host Luke Ferris takes a solo dive...
The Summer I Got Into The Doors
Take a trip back to the hazy, sun-drenched Midwestern heat of July 2014. Host Luke Ferris takes the solo mic for a deeply personal essay episode reflecting on a formative, vagabond summer spent house-crashing, working menial internships, and dr...
The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns…again?Zach Hall and Mike Wynne join Luke Ferris for the second installment of The Mummycast, our franchise rewatch series on The Mummy. This time, the boys return to the dessert for the often deride...
Watching National Treasure Every 4th of July
Every year on the 4th of July, Luke Ferris and his friends watch 2004’s National Treasure starring Nicolas Cage. But why?In this essay episode, you’ll uncover the treasure map of how this tradition started, including:&n...
Nolan
“The cinema substitutes for our gaze a world more in harmony with our desires.” - Andre BazinWe are strapping into our theater seats and preparing our senses for the overwhelming, practical-effects-driven world of cinema's premiere moder...
Why the World Cup Creates Moments of Joy
In this rewind episode, Luke Ferris reflects on why the World Cup is so popular, how it generates moments of human joy, and why you should tune in this year. ---Catch new episodes of Least Important Things every Tuesday w...
The Mummy (1999)
Press play if you'd rather be watching the 1999 cinematic masterpiece The Mummy (and its sequels) starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. Host Luke Ferris is joined by Mike Wynne and Zach Hall to kick off the inaugural "...
Best Summer Movies
It’s the time for beaches, bonfires, basking in the afternoon sunshine, going on roadtrips, and it’s also one of the most exciting seasons for movies.But here’s the challenge when picking a summertime flick: choosing a movie.The l...
Jurassic Park III
In honor of the 25th anniversary of Jurassic Park III, we're bringing back an episode from the vault via the podcast that started it all–Jurassic Pod. In this...
70s Cinema
Did JAWS and Star Wars ruin cinema? In this essay episode, Luke Ferris dives into why the 1970s were a critical decade in film history because of the two trajectories of its young, creative talent. One path, like S...
Novelizations
There’s a forgotten form of writing, often ostracized by the publishing world, that deserves a reclamation–the novelization, In this essay episode, Luke Ferris dives into the "pulpy" and often misunderstood world of novelizations. F...
A Case for Ocean's Twelve
What happens when you give an auteur director and the biggest movie stars in the world an all-expenses-paid trip to Europe to create a bombastic sequel? The often misunderstood Ocean’s Twelve. In this essay epis...
Ocean's Eleven
“Do you think we need one more? Do you think we need one more… Okay, we’ll get one more.” We’re assembling the crew and heading to America’s playground to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Steven Soderbergh’s effortlessly cool heist...
The Comfort of Movie Soundtracks
In this essay episode, Luke Ferris explores the evocative power of film scores and why we find such deep resonance in the music that follows us long after the credits roll. Luke will examine how soundtracks allow us to rewatch movies in our min...
Spring Break at the Movies
For those of us in northern climates, spring break is a strange American pastime—a desperate search for vitamin D to escape the "sprinter" (spring-winter) slush. But for the "holdovers" who stay behind, the empty streets and gray skies offer a ...
Sorting Records
After five moves in five years, Luke Ferris is finally unpacking the last of his boxes—the ones that contain his most precious cargo: his record collection. In this essay episode, we explore the strange power of things that finally make us feel...
Waiting for Guffman
Pack your bags and grab your "Remains of the Day" lunchbox. This week on Least Important Things, we are traveling to the "Stool Capital of the World"—Blaine, Missouri—to rewatch the 1997 mockumentary masterpiece, Waiting for Guffman.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (25th Anniversary Rewatch)
We are journeying back to Middle-earth to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film that changed cinema forever: Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. In this special rewatch, Luke Ferris is joined by his two older...
A St. Patrick's Day Tale
In a special St. Patrick’s Day episode, Luke Ferris reads “A Legend of Knockmany” from the Irish Fairy Book. So curl up in a wool blanket, grab a cup of tea or a pint, and settle in for a folk tale that goes deep into the l...
The Oscars Are My Super Bowl
The Academy Awards is a dramatic cocktail of pop culture obsession and a rare "monoculture" experience. In this episode, Luke Ferris explores why we still tune in 70 years later, even as the "magic" of movie-star mystery has been replaced by so...
Does It Hold Up?
It's time to crank up the pop culture oven in the kitchen of nostalgia because this week, Luke Ferris is joined by Zach Hall to deconstruct the "Secret Recipe" for media that stands the test of time—and the ingredients that cause others to sour...
All the President's Men Is Still Teaching Me
Fifty years after its release, All the President’s Men still feels as relevant as ever. In this essay episode, Luke Ferris explores how a 1970s procedural about two reporters in a newsroom managed to capture the soul of a 13-year-old i...
