With Chris and Jimmy

I have a pretty boring job. No need for details, just trust me on this one. Boring, boring, boring. Thankfully it's boring enough that I can sit at my desk and listen to whatever I want on my iPod while zoning out on the task at hand.

A few years ago my best friend May introduced me to the NPR program This American Life. Even though it was on the radio Saturday mornings, you could listen to all of their archived shows (for free) on their website. While it took me a few years, I finally listened to every single episode. The show has been one for over seven years which means I've heard a lot of episodes. I even have a spreadsheet of all my favorites. Really, I do.

Since I ran of out This American Life episodes to listen to, I needed something new to keep me occupied (and sane) at work. I began listening to the free podcasts offered through iTunes. I listened to podcasts on TV shows I liked. I listened to podcasts about TV shows in general. Unfortunately, those podcasts only come out once a week. And sometimes not even that regularly.

A few weeks ago I started to get desperate for something new to listen to. I tried just listening to my music, but that didn't keep me alert enough to stay awake at work. I tried listening to books on tape, but again, it just didn't seem to do the trick. I needed something that had a little more...umph!

I found a NPR podcast about movies and that seemed to do the trick....for a while. But still, that got boring after a while. Plus, I think I met my NPR quota for year by now. (NPR, I love you, but you can be very dry at times.) Again, I needed more umph!

And then I found it. The perfect podcast. The podcast that makes me laugh, makes me think, and makes me want to learn more about what they are even talking about.

So what are they talking about?

Movies.

Yes, the perfect podcast is all about movies.

The basic premise of the Scene Unseen podcast is that one hosts sees the movie and the other host doesn't. Then they talk about the movie based on what they know. It's hilarious. It's smart. It's clever.

And I love it.

The ironic thing is that I don't watch a lot of movie. Let's be honest here, I've only seen two movies in the theater in the last 18 months. (Which is even more pathetic since I live practically across the street from a movie theater.) I've maybe only seen a handful of movies at home either. I just don't watch a lot of movies these days. Another ironic aspect to this is that I wouldn't usually even be interested in the movies they review, especially since I've recently admitted to the interweb that I don't watch rated R movies. I've spent the last week or so listening to almost every one of their archived podcasts and I've only seen two of the movies they've reviewed.

What makes this a good podcast is the way that Chris and Jimmy, the hosts, talk with each other. It's obvious that they are good friends who both know a lot about movies and love movies. Plus, they are just hilarious.

Give this podcast a try. If you do, I recommend you start with either the review for The Simpsons Movie (which I would NEVER see) or the review for Transformers. When you get hooked on this, like I did, make sure to come back and thank me.
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UPDATED 11/22/07: At the end of each podcast, Chris and Jimmy ask the listeners to e-mail them a favorite movie pertaining to what they will be reviewing the following week. I got brave and sent Chris and Jimmy my movie pick last week. And guess what?! They totally said it on the "Michael Clayton" movie review. So um, go to their website and listen to my name.
(Yes, I said my name is "Isabel"!)