I'm A Sophisticate and So Can You!

Did you miss us? We're back just in time to completely miss spooky season with our first dip into the well of media that is in the canon not because it's good, but because it's really, really bad. And we're starting with the "mother" of them all: Mommie Dearest! See Faye Dunaway screaming at her daughter while slathered in cold cream! Or Faye Dunaway chopping down a tree while slathered in cold cream! Or abusing her maid while--listen, I don't know why, but Faye Dunaway spends a lot of this movie covered in cold cream. It's certainly a movie, and we certainly watched it, and now we have opinions!This episode contains strong language, as well as discussions of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse.Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony PinggeraTheme music by Dana Wilentz.If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a rating, review, and/or subscribe wherever you catch your pods! If you leave us a review, we'll be sure to read it on the air in a future episode. We truly appreciate all of you for listening.Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram (soon), and TikTok (soon) at @SophisticatePod. Sydney is on Tiktok at @trashanalysis. Anthony is at @AnxiousArchfey on both TikTok and Twitter.

We've been taking a little bit of a break here at I'm A Sophisticate and So Can You, but in honor of Banned Books Week, we wanted to rewind time to our first book episode, in which we discussed one of the most frequently challenged and banned books in the United States: "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou.This episode contains explicit language, as well as discussions of sexual violence.Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony PinggeraTheme music by Dana Wilentz.If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a rating, review, and/or subscribe wherever you catch your pods! If you leave us a review, we'll be sure to read it on the air in a future episode. We truly appreciate all of you for listening.Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram (soon), and TikTok (soon) at @SophisticatePod. Sydney is on Tiktok at @trashanalysis. Anthony is at @AnxiousArchfey on both TikTok and Twitter.

On this, our fortieth episode, we bring back our first returning guest, friend of the pod (and Anthony's wife) Arie Levine, to discuss one of the most unabashedly bizarre movies of the 1990s: The Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino comedy "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion." It's the story of two women being ashamed that they're living lives that any millennial would kill for! But also high school bullying trauma? With a dream ballet? We don't know, y'all; a lot happens in this Loose Ninety.This episode contains explicit language.Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony PinggeraTheme music by Dana Wilentz.If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a rating, review, and/or subscribe wherever you catch your pods! If you leave us a review, we'll be sure to read it on the air in a future episode. We truly appreciate all of you for listening.Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram (soon), and TikTok (soon) at @SophisticatePod. Sydney is on Tiktok at @trashanalysis. Anthony is at @AnxiousArchfey on both TikTok and Twitter. Arie doesn't want to be found or perceived, so don't ask.

We took a couple of weeks off, but we've come roaring back with a breakdown of one of the wildest, darkest, and most compelling seasons of television (not just reality television) that we've seen in a long time: Season 10 of "Vanderpump Rules"! You know we're here to talk all about the Scandoval of it all. Or as Anthony calls it, Mad Madix: Fury Road. Or as they also call it, Mister Ariana and the Bambi-Eyed B*tch. If you've watched the season, we're going to give you a deep-dish discussion with our thoughts and feelings and MANY opinions. If you haven't watched the season, or even watched the show at all, we're going to give you the full breakdown of why you NEED to watch this fifteen-hour real-life Shakespearean tragedy. It is brilliant. It is chilling. It is unhinged. It's Bravo time, baby!This episode contains explicit language and discussions of adultery and emotionally manipulative behavior.Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony PinggeraTheme music by Dana Wilentz.If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a rating, review, and/or subscribe wherever you catch your pods! If you leave us a review, we'll be sure to read it on the air in a future episode. We truly appreciate all of you for listening.Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram (soon), and TikTok (soon) at @SophisticatePod. Sydney is on Tiktok at @trashanalysis. Anthony is at @AnxiousArchfey on both TikTok and Twitter.

After our lengthy deep dive into Dolly Parton, we decided to give ourselves a well-deserved break by watching *checks notes* the two loudest movies on the face of the Earth, both of which--spoiler alert--were written by Chris Columbus, the director of Home Alone, which was good, and the first two "Harry Potter" movies, which were...less so. First up, we have the unexpected Christmas family/black comedy/horror/wet puppet romp Gremlins. Then, we watch the most star-studded cast of '80s tweens scream over each other while searching for pirate treasure in The Goonies! This episode contains explicit language, as well as discussions of violence, including the death of Santa Claus.Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony PinggeraTheme music by Dana Wilentz.If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a rating, review, and/or subscribe wherever you catch your pods! If you leave us a review, we'll be sure to read it on the air in a future episode. We truly appreciate all of you for listening.Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram (soon), and TikTok (soon) at @SophisticatePod. Sydney is on Tiktok at @trashanalysis. Anthony is at @AnxiousArchfey on both TikTok and Twitter.

We return with a vengeance for the second part of our first (intentional) two-parter as we cover the last twenty-five years of Dolly Parton's oeuvre. Topics of discussion include the Kenny G-ification of '90s music, Dolly's changing relationship with the divine, and the weird right-wing 2003 time capsule that is "For God And Country." Strap in, folks: this Backwoods Barbie is about to get weird with it.This episode contains explicit language, as well as brief discussions of violence, including the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony PinggeraTheme music by Dana Wilentz.If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a rating, review, and/or subscribe wherever you catch your pods! If you leave us a review, we'll be sure to read it on the air in a future episode. We truly appreciate all of you for listening.Follow the show on Twitter, Instagram (soon), and TikTok (soon) at @SophisticatePod. Sydney is on Tiktok at @trashanalysis. Anthony is at @AnxiousArchfey on both TikTok and Twitter.

On our first planned two-part series, we do "the Full Waits" on an icon, legend, and one of our favorite people who we know very little about: Dolly Parton! With over forty studio albums released over the last forty-five years, we simply could not cover the entire scope of Dolly's career in one episode. In our first part, we cover Dolly's debut, her rise to fame with Porter Wagoner, and of course, the day that she wrote both "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You."This episode contains explicit language, as well as brief discussions of violence, including violence against women.Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony PinggeraTheme music by Dana Wilentz.If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a rating, review, and/or subscribe wherever you catch your pods! If you leave us a review, we'll be sure to read it on the air in a future episode. We truly appreciate all of you for listening.Follow the show on Twitter at @SophisticatePod. Sydney is on Tiktok at @trashanalysis. Anthony is at @AnxiousArchfey on both TikTok and Twitter.

For most of the month of March, Sydney was on a cruise ship in Norway. To celebrate, we have another installment of our recurring segment, "Why Are You Like This?" to cover a different disastrous cruise: the Titanic! This movie is for Sydney what the Star Wars trilogy is for Anthony--that is to say, a true core text. Was there actually room on the door? Is it okay to just watch this movie for the ship content? How much does true love really matter at the end of the world? All of this and more is on the docket, so pull on your life preservers and get in the lifeboat, loser, we're taking to the sea!This episode contains explicit language as well as extensive discussions of maritime disasters.Co-Hosts: Sydney Painter and Anthony PinggeraTheme music by Dana Wilentz.If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a rating, review, and/or subscribe wherever you catch your pods! If you leave us a review, we'll be sure to read it on the air in a future episode. We truly appreciate all of you for listening.Follow the show on Twitter at @SophisticatePod. Sydney is on Tiktok at @trashanalysis. Anthony is at @AnxiousArchfey on both TikTok and Twitter.