All posts by Jesse

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Jesse is a cofounder of SportsAlcohol.com even though he doesn't care for sports or alcohol. His favorite movie is Ron Howard's The Paper. I think. This is what happens when you don't write your own bio. I know for sure likes pie.

The SportsAlcohol.com Podcast: Top Movies of Summer 2000

July 3, 2020 Jesse Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again: Time for us at SportsAlcohol.com to get together and go on a long, wild, fast-paced trip down memory lane to look at the highest-grossing movies at the U.S. domestic box office from twenty years ago. This year, that brings us up to the year 2000, and we may be feeling especially nostalgic given that the summer 2020 movie season is more or less canceled. But not to worry! You can re-experience summer movies past with our own longest-running franchise! From the studio that brought you 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, and 1994 comes our take on the blockbusters of 2000, including:

- Star vehicles for Cage, Murphy, and Crowe!
- Nathaniel’s quest to see his most anticipated movie of the summer!
- A weird schoolyard story about one of the stars of The Perfect Storm!
- One of our most-discussed movies ever, back for another relitigation!
- Chickens!!!!
- AND MORE!!!

We are now up to SEVEN (7) different ways to listen to a SportsAlcohol podcast:

- You can subscribe to our podcast using the rss feed.
- I’m not sure why they allowed it, but we are on iTunes! If you enjoy what you hear, a positive comment and a rating would be great.
- I don’t really know what Stitcher is, but we are also on Stitcher.
- SportsAlcohol.com is a proud member of the Aha Radio Network. What is Aha? It’s kind of like Stitcher, but for your car.
- You can download the mp3 of this episode directly here.
- Our most recent episode or two will often be available on our Soundcloud.
- You can listen in the player below.

Podcast, TV

The SportsAlcohol.com Podcast: SNL at Home (and Season 45), Reviewed

May 16, 2020 Jesse Leave a comment

Several SportsAlcohol.com friends & fam are regular reviewers of the NBC late-night comedy-variety series Saturday Night Live, and we make it our business to check in with the show every season to see how it’s progressing. We did this in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015, and 2014. The 2020 check-in for SNL was a particularly strange one, as the show switched to non-live, socially-distanced compilation specials for its final three episodes of an abbreviated 18-episode run. Nathaniel, Michael, Marisa, and Jesse got together (virtually) to talk about how these episodes switch up the SNL dynamic, and other highs and lows of Season 45.

We are now up to SEVEN (7) different ways to listen to a SportsAlcohol podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast using the rss feed.
I’m not sure why they allowed it, but we are on iTunes! If you enjoy what you hear, a positive comment and a rating would be great.
I don’t really know what Stitcher is, but we are also on Stitcher.
SportsAlcohol.com is a proud member of the Aha Radio Network. What is Aha? It’s kind of like Stitcher, but for your car.
You can download the mp3 of this episode directly here.
Our most recent episode or two will sometimes be available on our Soundcloud
You can listen in the player below.

Movies, Podcast, TV

The SportsAlcohol.com Podcast: Streaming Recommendations for Quarantine

May 14, 2020 Jesse Leave a comment

Well, it’s been a few months and many of us are still at home in some manner of quarantine, which means we’re all looking for shows and movies for our boredom-and-anxiety-alleviating streaming regimen. In this multi-part special, a SportsAlcohol.com all-star crew goes around and recommends a whole bunch of #content for you to enjoy while stuck at home. Marisa, Sara, Nathaniel, Jeremy, Ben, Jon, and Jesse all weigh in on all different kind of stuff on all different kinds of streaming services, whether you’re rocking Netflix, Amazon Prime, Criterion Channel, Hulu, Disney Plus, HBO, or even, yes, Apple. The first installment covers Netflix, Amazon, and some feature films; the second focuses on Hulu, Disney Plus, and Apple!

We are now up to SEVEN (7) different ways to listen to a SportsAlcohol podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast using the rss feed.
I’m not sure why they allowed it, but we are on iTunes! If you enjoy what you hear, a positive comment and a rating would be great.
I don’t really know what Stitcher is, but we are also on Stitcher.
SportsAlcohol.com is a proud member of the Aha Radio Network. What is Aha? It’s kind of like Stitcher, but for your car.
You can download the mp3 of this episode directly here (part 1) and here (part 2).
Our most recent episode or two will sometimes be available on our Soundcloud
You can listen in the player below.

About Us, Music, Podcast

The SportsAlcohol.com Podcast: Mixtapes of Yore

May 1, 2020 Jesse Leave a comment

Inspired by a recent A.V. Club Q&A, Sara suggested that one of our quarantine-recorded podcast episodes might involve looking back on the (lost?) art of the mix. The painstaking process of committing various songs to cassette tape may be all but dead in most of the world, but it lives on in our otherwise chilly little SportsAlcohol.com hearts, so Sara, Ben, Marisa, and Jesse got together (virtually) to discuss mix-making and all of its attendant rules and emotional landmining. Nostalgia rules on this episode that offers a peak into our various high school, college, and adult-nerd experiences! As a bonus, Marisa and I have included the full picture of our first mixtapes to each other after the jump!

We are now up to SEVEN (7) different ways to listen to a SportsAlcohol podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast using the rss feed.
I’m not sure why they allowed it, but we are on iTunes! If you enjoy what you hear, a positive comment and a rating would be great.
I don’t really know what Stitcher is, but we are also on Stitcher.
SportsAlcohol.com is a proud member of the Aha Radio Network. What is Aha? It’s kind of like Stitcher, but for your car.
You can download the mp3 of this episode directly here.
Our most recent episode or two will sometimes be available on our Soundcloud
You can listen in the player below.

Continue reading The SportsAlcohol.com Podcast: Mixtapes of Yore →

Music, Podcast

The SportsAlcohol.com Podcast: Albums of 1999 – THE HOT ROCK by Sleater-Kinney

March 24, 2020 Jesse Leave a comment

Our belated 20th-anniversary tour of notable 1999 records marches on as Rob, Jesse, and Sara discuss Sleater-Kinney’s change-of-pace record The Hot Rock, in the context of the band’s career and their 2019 change-of-pace record The Center Won’t Hold! What does it mean for Sleater-Kinney to change pace, turn down the guitars, or possibly sell out? LISTEN IN AND FIND OUT!

We are now up to SEVEN (7) different ways to listen to a SportsAlcohol podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast using the rss feed.
I’m not sure why they allowed it, but we are on iTunes! If you enjoy what you hear, a positive comment and a rating would be great.
I don’t really know what Stitcher is, but we are also on Stitcher.
SportsAlcohol.com is a proud member of the Aha Radio Network. What is Aha? It’s kind of like Stitcher, but for your car.
You can download the mp3 of this episode directly here.
Our most recent episode or two will sometimes be available on our Soundcloud
You can listen in the player below.

Music, Podcast

The SportsAlcohol.com Podcast: 1999 Albums – Keep It Like a Secret by Built to Spill

March 21, 2020 Jesse Leave a comment

You thought we were done just because 1999 is no longer 20 years ago? NOPE! Our miniseries on notable albums from the blessed year of 1999 continues into 2020, because you know what, we’re all kind of on pause right now anyway, and wouldn’t it make you feel good to think back to what you were doing 21 years ago? Built to Spill (the original BTS) was touring behind Keep It Like a Secret, which turned 21 this past January, and was the subject of its own nostalgia tour just last year. So (back in the fall) Marisa, Sara, Randy, Rob, and Jesse got together to discuss how it’s weathered the years since then, because the plan keeps coming up again.

We are now up to SEVEN (7) different ways to listen to a SportsAlcohol podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast using the rss feed.
I’m not sure why they allowed it, but we are on iTunes! If you enjoy what you hear, a positive comment and a rating would be great.
I don’t really know what Stitcher is, but we are also on Stitcher.
SportsAlcohol.com is a proud member of the Aha Radio Network. What is Aha? It’s kind of like Stitcher, but for your car.
You can download the mp3 of this episode directly here.
Our most recent episode or two will sometimes be available on our Soundcloud
You can listen in the player below.

Movies

BIRDS OF PREY and the DC Movie Visual Aesthetic

February 13, 2020 Jesse Leave a comment

There is a scene around halfway through Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) where One Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), bon vivant, high-spirited thief, and ex-girlfriend of the Joker, enters a police station and fights her way through multiple officers, on her way to abduct a young pickpocket. Rather than leaving all-out carnage in her wake, Harley employs a serious of non-lethal methods: a beanbag gun, confetti bombs, and brightly colored smoke. (She also beats the shit out of a few of them, but no one appears to die.)

Normally, this would seem like another superhero movie hedging its bets, indulging violence while avoiding any real consequences—and to some degree, it probably is that. But Birds of Prey has an emphatic R rating (albeit seemingly more for the convenience of saying “fuck” as often as it wants than for its occasional gore), so these nontraditional weapons serve a purpose beyond appeasing the MPAA. The color-coordinated smokebombs and glitter explosions aren’t calling cards Harley Quinn leaves behind so much as the character art-directing her own music video as she goes along.
Continue reading BIRDS OF PREY and the DC Movie Visual Aesthetic →

Movies, Podcast

The SportsAlcohol.com Gala Bonus MiniPodcast: Oscars 2020!

February 4, 2020 Jesse Leave a comment

One of my pet peeves about the Oscars is the lack of clarity when people talk about the Oscars from a certain year; the “2020” Oscars will be airing in 2020 but they’re about the movies from 2019. If you say “the 2019 Oscars” and you’re talking about the year Green Book won, it is confusing. Because Green Book is not a 2019 film. Do not put that on 2019, guys.

Anyway, after the SportsAlcohol.com crew talked> about the actual best movies of the year, we went on to talk about the Oscars’ version of the best movies of the year. The two have some overlap but, as ever, they are pretty different things. In this fast and loose episode, we, uh, air some grievances, discuss SNUBS, and talk about popes.

We are now up to SEVEN (7) different ways to listen to a SportsAlcohol podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast using the rss feed.
I’m not sure why they allowed it, but we are on iTunes! If you enjoy what you hear, a positive comment and a rating would be great.
I don’t really know what Stitcher is, but we are also on Stitcher.
SportsAlcohol.com is a proud member of the Aha Radio Network. What is Aha? It’s kind of like Stitcher, but for your car.
You can download the mp3 of this episode directly here.
Our most recent episode or two will sometimes be available on our Soundcloud
You can listen in the player below.

Lists, Movies, Podcast

The SportsAlcohol.com Podcast: The Best Movies of 2019

February 4, 2020 Jesse Leave a comment

I admit, this is a long episode. But look, Marisa, Sara, Jeremy, Nathaniel, and Jesse saw a lot of damn good movies in 2019, and we wanted to talk about them. So yes, this podcast is feature length, but I promise, we get into it right away, and we don’t stop until we’ve covered a whole lot of movies — our collective favorites, our divisive picks, our total outliers — as seen on our recent list of the best movies of 2019. Listen up and treat yourself! If you find yourself feeling attacked by our glorious opinions, just remember: It didn’t apply to you!

We are now up to SEVEN (7) different ways to listen to a SportsAlcohol podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast using the rss feed.
I’m not sure why they allowed it, but we are on iTunes! If you enjoy what you hear, a positive comment and a rating would be great.
I don’t really know what Stitcher is, but we are also on Stitcher.
SportsAlcohol.com is a proud member of the Aha Radio Network. What is Aha? It’s kind of like Stitcher, but for your car.
You can download the mp3 of this episode directly here.
Our most recent episode or two will sometimes be available on our Soundcloud
You can listen in the player below.

Lists, Movies

The 20 Best Movies of 2019

January 31, 2020 Jesse Leave a comment

There are other lists that came out faster, but are any more accurate than this one? SportsAlcohol.com stands by its years–long track record of delivering not the first best-of-the-year list, but the best one. No other list aggregates the sometimes-disparate, sometimes alarmingly-in-sync opinions of Marisa LaScala, Nathaniel Wharton, Sara Batkie, Jesse Hassenger, and Jeremy Beck. So I won’t take up a lot of time with a fancy intro. You want to see how right we are about everything, and who am I to hold you up? Let’s do it!
Continue reading The 20 Best Movies of 2019 →