S04/ E04 The Architect

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When you are in a lonely relationship and all that matters to you is money and how you look to other people then the next logical step is to build your dream house so you can keep up with your “friends”…if this is you then you are the main characters of The Architect.

This vapid couple then teams up with a pretentious architect who feels he can build them a house they want but never asked for.

Jesus Christ everyone in this movie is pathetic BUT oddly enough, you find a level headed construction manager and another architect that would have completed this dream house on time and under budget. They use the level head construction manager but even he gets consumed by the tidal wave that is a hopeless architect and insipid couple.

We watched the Architect!

S03/ E05 Jungle Fever

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And we’re off to the races! In this episode we dive deep into the shallow world that is Spike Lee and the outdated film that had so much talent on camera but so little behind it.

Grab some cheap Chinese take-out, go to your office, and bang on a drafting table because tonight is the night! Minus the Dura Flame log. Sam Jackson gives a performance that can only be called the major influence in Dave Chapelle’s famous crack-head character, and Tim Robbins tries so hard to make something out of nothing.

You get Jungle Fever, she gets Jungle Fever, he gets Jungle Fever, we get Jungle Fever. Everybody gets Jungle Fever! You win! And oh yeah…..Charlie Murphy! Charlie Murphy! Charlie Murphy!

Let’s get it on!

starchitect: Aly Pierce

S03/ E04 Sleepless in Seattle

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A dead wife forces an architect to move across the country and live on a houseboat where he is stalked by a crazy lady who likes to peel apples with a switchblade.

This is not a pitch for a horror movie but the basic idea of the romantic comedy starring, America’s sweetheart, Tom Hanks and, Dennis Quaid’s ex-wife, Meg Ryan. If you have a hard time wrapping your head around this or you are already bored to death with the vanilla idea of Hanks and Ryan, then just watch an Affair to Remember. That’s exactly what Nora Ephron did and renamed it Sleepless in Seattle.

This is a moment in time just before Hanks won two Oscars, Ryan hooked up with Russell Crowe, no internet and you could walk up to an airplane gate without going through security. There is nothing else to say about this movie except it was made in 1993 and we watched it.

Thanks for nothing America!

starchitect: Francis Dardis

S03/ E03 TV A&D: Trading Spaces

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Forgotten about until just recently, when this “reality show” made a comeback in 2018. Roberta, Vince, Jeff and our guest Joelle Wolinski reminisce about the early 2000s and the design, style and trends it had to offer.

We get into three very different episodes—-One episode has the popular host Paige Davis, one doesn’t have a host at all and the other has a host that isn’t Paige Davis but one Alex McLeod who left the show to pursue…..well, we’re not sure. Anyways, these episodes take us on a journey from horrible South Carolina, to despicable Philadelphia all the way to the beautiful Pacific Northwest’s Seattle, WA….well, Everett, WA. Coffee!

Lets dig into some great interior design (decorating) and watch a show only the likes of what you would see on the Great White Way of Broadway!!!!!……Wait a second. Hold it. Paige Davis get out of here!

As Vern Yip says, “Architect’s get all the girls!”

starchitect: Joelle Wolinski

S02/ E11 The Cable Guy

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In a $20 million dollar coup, the King of Dick and Fart movies, Jim Carrey, broke a salary record for his betrayal of “Chip Douglas,” cable installer and stalker. Matthew Broderick, the center of Chip's attention, lumbers along reacting (?) to Carrey's antics in what appears to be a narcotic haze.

Ben Stiller (aka Derrick Zoolander) directs this comedy, which between you, me, and the lamp post, isn’t that funny nor is it that exciting watch. Anna Winn joins the team in the basement as we try to figure out if Carrey is spooky or trying his damnedest to people please. The team is split; you decide.

starchitect: Anna Winn

S02/ E09 Two for the Road

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 “Two for the Road” saw Albert Finney as the protagonist and love interest to the setting sun of Audrey Hepburn as flirty ingenue. He mumbles his way through all dialogue about… life? art? architecture? We couldn’t make it out… then he eats an apple. Double that with Hepburn’s scarecrow thin body and you have the recipe for the most BORING ten-year journey of a pair’s relationship.

Think of this movie like a fender-bender on I-84…. I mean no one really dies, and it’s kind of interesting to see how the cars are wrecked but… meh.

starchitect(s): Jeff Wolinski, Vince Galea, Roberta Pennington

S02/ E08 Housesitter

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“Housesitter” is as rom-com-y as it gets: jilted lover meets drastically, mismatched, kookie gal our protagonist is destined to love…. but are they?! Will they?! One giant bag of Chinese food and awkward boob touch later, Goldie Hawn’s Gwen is instantly engaged to Steve Martin’s Davis.

If we walked away with one life lesson from this fluffy piece of super fluff, it’s okay to lie. You’ll get the girl, the house, and the promotion. Go on now, lie. Frank Oz said it’s okay. Frank Oz, the voice of Super Grover, tells us it’s okay to lie.

starchitect: Alex Sklar

S02/ E07 My Architect

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PT Barnum is noted as saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Could it be an entire generation of architects were swindled by noted starchitect, Louis Kahn? He sure fit the bill of a con artist: self-assured, self-serving all while supporting secret families, mistresses, and skyrocketing personal and business debt.

Nathaniel Kahn, Louis’s youngest of his illegitimate brood, explores his father’s life through the lens of the architect’s work. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? Are we all just a bunch of suckers trying to hear what that mother f***ing brick is saying?!

starchitect: Joelle Wolinski

S02/ E02 Dream Lover

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2016 saw the 30th anniversary of “Pretty in Pink” where James Spader plays a rich teenager who seems kind of rape-y. In “Dream Lover,” Spade takes an acting leap in a tour-de-force performance playing a rich architect who seems kind of rape-y.

The starchitects team and guest Jessie Lenhardt recommends paying the $2.99 to watch the 1-hour 43-minute full version versus the edited option available for free on YouTube. From what I’m told, the nudity makes up for the clown scenes. Yep; there’s clowns. Read it again: clowns.

starchitect: Jessie Lenhardt

S01/ E04 TV A&D: The Brady Bunch

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The starchitects team go into the Way-Back Machine to visit the family who made a day wearing bell bottoms a sunshine day, “The Brady Bunch.” Did you remember Mike was an architect? In the episodes we watch ("A Clubhouse is Not a Home," "Mike's Horror-scope," and "Call Me Irresponsible"), Mike's life as an architect at home and at the office are revealed. Pull on your plaid shirt and pour yourself a tall glass of lemonade, we're getting some work done.

Holy shmoly....

starchitect: Joelle Wolinski

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S01/ E01 Indecent Proposal

In 1993, Billionaire John Gage (Robert Redford) asked a would-be architect (Woody Harrelson) to “have one night” with his wife, played by Demi Moore, for $1,000,000. The pretense of this movie sparked conversations all over America where one significant other asked the other, “Would you take the money?”

The starchitects team was mystified how a thirty year old architect could have an AIA award so young, the affable nature of Robert Redford’s portrayal of a man who has asked a man to pimp his wife “just cos,” and Demi Moore’s purse/ backpack/ vest/ chocolate hoarding apparatus.

Jeff, Roberta, and Vince are joined this episode by Eric Li, a self-proclaimed seven-layer nerd with geek sauce on top, licensed architect, and all around nice guy for this insane ride through PURE RELATIONSHIP FICTION.

starchitect: Eric Li.