Pizza Toast - A YA Books and Media Podcast

02/10/2024

And so our saga comes to an end. Christy and Phil bid a fond(?) farewell to Forks with “Midnight Sun” an absolutely unnecessary retelling of “Twilight” from the perspective of the boy who was there for the entire story anyway, so there’s really nothing new to be gleaned from reading this 832(!!!) page book. We had fun, though!

https://withthewhatnow.wordpress.com/2024/02/10/midnight-sun-2020/

02/03/2024

When is “Twilight” not “Twilight?” When Stephenie Meyer switches up the genders! Move over Bella and Edward; make room for Beau and Edythe! It’s a whole new thing with “Life & Death – Twilight Reimagined”!

https://withthewhatnow.wordpress.com/2024/02/03/life-death-twilight-reimagined-2015/

01/27/2024

We’re at it again. And by “it” I mean “Twilight” and by “again” I mean “parodies.” This week, Christy and Phil take a look at “Vampires Suck” and “Breaking Wind” from 2010 and 2012. And… that’s all. It’s certainly something to talk about.

https://withthewhatnow.wordpress.com/2024/01/27/vampires-suck-2010-breaking-wind-2012/

01/21/2024

You ready to BREAK. SOME. DAWN… again? This week, we’re closing out the OG Twilight Saga with the back-half of “Breaking Dawn” the book and our review of “The Twilight Saga: Break Dawn, Part 2” the movie!

https://withthewhatnow.wordpress.com/2024/01/20/breaking-dawn-2008-the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-2-2012/

01/14/2024

Here is the video of this week's Pizza Toast. See all the Zoom freezing as it happened!

You ready to BREAK. SOME. DAWN? Hell yeah! It's our review of "Breaking Dawn" the first half of the novel and "The Twilight Saga: Break Dawn, Part 1" the mov...

01/13/2024

This week, are you ready to BREAK. SOME. DAWN? Hell yeah! It’s our review of “Breaking Dawn” the first half of the novel and “The Twilight Saga: Break Dawn, Part 1” the movie! That’s a mouthful… of b-b-b-blood!

https://withthewhatnow.wordpress.com/2024/01/12/breaking-dawn-2008-the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1-2011/

01/06/2024

This week Christy and I are gonna talk about them ding dang ol’ vampires and them ol’ wharwolves! Join us, won't you? It’s “Eclipse” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse!” Here on Pizza Toast!

https://withthewhatnow.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/eclipse-2007-the-twilight-sage-eclipse-2010/

12/09/2023

Y'all ready to talk about TWILIGHT?? Well, you're gonna have to wait, because Christy and I have to talk about OUAMPIRES and WAMPIRES and VAMPIRES first! It's the intro to our Twilight series!

https://withthewhatnow.wordpress.com/2023/12/09/the-twilight-series-an-introduction/

12/07/2023

This weekend! We got a whole new series starting and it'll leave you... drained.

11/22/2023

We're BAAAAAAACK! Did ya miss us? Yes, Pizza Toast is back and we're taking a long look at the newest Hunger Game! That's right, y'all; it's "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" up in here! So, kick back and listen. And! If you want? You can WATCH US DISCUSS THIS MOVIE over on YOUTUBE! Heck yeah, go to YouTube.com/ and check us out!

Hey everyone! We’re back! And we’re finally talking about The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the MOVIE!

05/03/2023

We did it! Christy and Phil made it all the way to the movie theater and saw a movie! "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret." is based on the novel "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret." by Judy Blume and after this episode I'm never going to have to type "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret." EVER AGAIN! Oh, and we liked the movie.

https://withthewhatnow.wordpress.com/2023/05/02/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret-2023/

04/23/2023

Is it weird that Christy and Phil don’t have a whole lot of strong feelings about “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.”? Also, this book title has punctuation, which just throws everything way off.

https://withthewhatnow.wordpress.com/2023/04/22/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret-by-judy-blume/

04/13/2023

A few years back, Suzanne Collins wrote a prequel to The Hunger Games and… no one seemed to care. Was it good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Will it answer a bunch of question we never thought to ask? The answers to all these questions and MORE, this week as Pizza Toast sings along to “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes!”

A few years back, Suzanne Collins wrote a prequel to The Hunger Games and… no one seemed to care. Was it good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Will it answer a bunch of question we never thought to ask?…

03/24/2023

So, it's come to this. Christy and Phil are covering "The Starving Games" "The Hungover Games" "The Hungry Games" "The Hunger Pains" and whatever else we feel like in this very special(?) episode about Hunger Games PARODIES. 😬😬😬

It would be remiss of us to not cover the two MAJOR MOTION PICTURES that came out – “The Starving Games” and “The Hungover Games” – mocking “The Hunger Gam…

03/17/2023

And so, all things come to an end. Christy and Phil bid a fond “adieu” to the Hunger Games series and- what? Oh, sorry, we’re not actually done talking about it. Next week, there’s more. This week, though? “Mockingjay, Part 2!”

https://withthewhatnow.wordpress.com/2023/03/17/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-2015/

03/10/2023

Bet you thought there'd be another Hunger Games movie! Not yet! This week, we're talking to Professor Harde from the University of Alberta about "The Hunger Games" about "Just War Theory" about adaptations, about... everything!

This week, we have a guest! Professor Roxanne Harde is the Professor of English and department chair at the University of Alberta’s Augustana Faculty. She’s on the show to talk about Th…

03/03/2023

How does Ben Folds fit into the Hunger Games universe? He doesn’t! But, we wish he did! Hey, guess what? “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1?” Good movie!

02/24/2023

And we’ve reached the end of the Hunger Games series. But, really, it’s not the end. Oh, no, we’ve got a LOT more in store after we discuss the melting and the murdering and the crying and the trauma. It’s “Mockingjay” on Pizza Toast!

And we’ve reached the end of the Hunger Games series. But, really, it’s not the end. Oh, no, we’ve got a LOT more in store after we discuss the melting and the murdering and the c…

02/24/2023

Christy Admiraal and I once spent several weeks discussing Jerry Spinelli's "Stargirl" series. At first, we doubted if it could even be successfully adapted!

02/23/2023

Christy and I discuss the Mockingjay song and how it haunts us.
From https://withthewhatnow.wordpress.com/2023/02/23/mockingjay-by-suzanne-collins-2010/

02/16/2023

The next movie in the series ups the budget, ups the visuals and ups the talent. It’s “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" and *you* should put it UP your ears!

The next movie in the “Hunger Games” series ups the budget, ups the visuals and ups the talent. It’s “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire!”

02/09/2023

Just when she thought she was OUT, they PULL HER BACK IN! Katniss can’t catch a break, but she sure can CATCH FIRE in “Catching Fire” the next book in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games series. It’s bleak, y’all!

Just when she thought she was OUT, they PULL HER BACK IN! Katniss can’t catch a break, but she sure can CATCH FIRE in “Catching Fire” the next book in Suzanne Collins’s The …

02/02/2023

This week, we volunteer as tribute to watch “The Hunger Games!” How does it stack up to the book? About 1/1? I’d say 1/1. It’s 2012’s “The Hunger Games!”

01/26/2023

Get your bows and arrows ready! We’re kicking off a new series this week with “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. Look out Katniss, this is no game! It's "The Hunger Games" so settle in for the next (checks notes) seven weeks? Eight?

We’re kicking off a new series this week with “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. It’s fairly obscure, so you probably haven’t heard of it. “The Hunger Games!…

01/10/2023

Let’s close out our “Bridge to Terabithia” coverage with 2007’s “Bridge to Terabithia” a Disney/Walden Media production that changes a few things, adds a bit more and averages out to a pretty decent little film.

Let’s close out our “Bridge to Terabithia” coverage with 2007’s “Bridge to Terabithia” a Disney/Walden Media production that changes a few things, adds a bit mor…

01/05/2023

Can you distill the glory that is down to its component parts and cram it into a 55 minute runtime? Katherine and David Paterson definitely say “no.” But, what do Christy and Phil think of the very Canadian 1985 TV adaptation? What's it all... aboot?

Can you distill the glory that is “Bridge to Terabithia” down to its component parts and cram it into a 55 minute runtime? Katherine and David Paterson definitely say “no.” …