Afterthoughts

Dixon, Ryan, and John

167 episodes listed below

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Movie talk after the credits get weird.

The gist

Afterthoughts treats movie talk like the walk out of a screening: funny, tangential, opinionated, and sharper than it first sounds. The crew moves from jokes and impressions into plot, cultural context, and the strange emotional weather a film leaves behind.

PRESS PLAY

Find your next episode

All episodes

About Afterthoughts

Afterthoughts is a conversational film show built around the pleasure of talking after the screen goes dark. Ryan King, John Garcia, and Michael Dixon do not treat movies as objects to be neatly ranked and filed away. They circle them. They joke first, compare constantly, recap when it helps, and then land on the question that actually matters: what did this thing do, and why did it linger? The show has a lived-in panel rhythm, with rotating hosts, quick corrections, long bits, and sudden shifts from silly to sincere. A discussion of The Seventh Seal can begin with jokes about what game to play against death. A conversation about True Stories can move from oddball small-town texture into technology, capitalism, colonization, and the weird optimism of a corporate fantasy. Recommend or Refute episodes make the format especially easy to sample. Each person brings something watched separately, lays out the case, and either recommends it or pushes back on it, with room for everyone else to prod the argument. That structure lets Practical Magic, L'avventura, Conan the Barbarian, Zootopia 2, Il Sorpasso, Iron Lung, Winter Light, and Predator Wastelands sit in the same feed without feeling like a stunt. The show is strongest when its taste range is visible. Dixon might arrive with Bergman. John can openly revel in schlock and trash. Ryan often holds the conversation together while still chasing the bit when the bit has legs. Year-end episodes and Pour Over follow-ups give the crew space to return to movies that were crowded out of bigger conversations. The tone is informal, sometimes messy, and openly irreverent. It is also consistently movie-literate. The hosts care about plot, mood, genre expectations, cultural aftershocks, and the difference between an interesting film and a satisfying one. They are not trying to sound definitive. That is the charm. Afterthoughts feels like a table where cult classics, European art cinema, animated studio sequels, bad-movie relapses, and personal favorites can all start an argument worth hearing.

Made for: For film fans who like casual, reference-heavy conversation more than polished review monologues. It suits listeners who enjoy art films, cult favorites, genre oddities, and blunt disagreement in the same queue.

What sets it apart: Afterthoughts mixes loose panel banter with surprisingly sturdy film analysis, so the show can wander without losing the movie. Its Recommend or Refute format also keeps broad taste in play, from Bergman picks to proudly trashy detours.

In their own words

A casual movie and tv discussion series. Join the Afterthoughts crew --Dixon, John, and Ryan-- and their guests, as they share their afterthoughts on things they've recently watched. Old or new, doesn't matter.

As heard by us

Based on 4 episodes we listened to · September 2026

Loose, funny conversations sharpen into specific arguments about a film's images, ideas, moral conflicts, and worth recommending.

Afterthoughts turns post-screen conversation into a lively argument among John Garcia, Ryan King, and Michael Dixon. The jokes arrive quickly, yet the crew gives each film's choices room to breathe.

Read our full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Caesar's dilemma or a lobster on an asparagus street: your movie debrief has room for both.

Press play if you want

Koba's distrust of humans taken seriously, even while you're laughing with the room
someone to share your alarm about that moving bag in Audition

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Recommend or Refute picksclassic and international cinemacult movies and schlockyear-end movie leftoversplot and theme discussionfilm comparisonspersonal viewing contextmovie tone

Talks about

TV & Film Film Reviews

Best episodes of Afterthoughts

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

True Stories (1986)Apr 14, 2026

A loose, funny pass through Byrne's Texas dream of civic weirdness.

Ryan King, John Garcia, and Michael Dixon spend the hour on David Byrne's True Stories, a movie set in Virgil, Texas, and built around the town's 150th anniversary celebration.

Recommend or Refute | Practical Magic (1998), L'avventura (1960), Conan the Barbarian (1982)Apr 7, 2026

A loose, funny hang that turns into a sharp case for Antonioni.

The episode treats Recommend or Refute as a loose hangout, with jokes and first impressions leading into a tighter conversation about L'avventura and what the film is doing.

Audition (1999)Oct 20, 2024

A loose, mood-first horror discussion that fixes on Audition's unease.

After Thoughts reads Audition as a romance that curdles into horror, and that framing suits the conversation. Ryan King and John Garcia stay close to the setup: a lonely Japanese businessman, an audition for a new girlfriend, and that nagging sense that something is wrong long…

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)Jul 1, 2024

A COVID-era Apes conversation that turns survival politics into a sharp, funny moral debate.

Afterthoughts uses Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as a way into virus fear, mistrust, and the odd habit movies have of changing shape once real life catches up.

Recommend or Refute | All The President's Men (1976), Late Night With The Devil (2023), Satan's Guide to The Bible (2023)May 25, 2024

A Watergate rewatch that lands squarely in the present.

Recommend or Refute uses All the President's Men as a springboard for a lively, present-tense conversation about scandal, evidence, and how coverups look different when almost nothing stays hidden for long.

Podcasts like Afterthoughts

The RewatchablesThe Ringer
Bill Simmons and a rotating panel rewatch one classic movie per episode.
The Evolution of HorrorMike Muncer
Mike Muncer and a different guest dissect two horror films per episode, by subgenre.
Micheaux MissionBleav, Micheaux Mission
Black film history, argued with love.
/Film WeeklySlashFilm.com
Movie news with teeth and context.
Depraved and DebaucherousKing of Podcasts
Messy desire, judged out loud.
Horror Movie TalkHorror Movie Talk
Sharp horror takes, messy room energy.

Find your next episode

About Afterthoughts

In their own words

As heard by us

Why you'd press play

Talks about

Best episodes of Afterthoughts

Podcasts like Afterthoughts

Episodes

Recommend or Refute | Terrifier (2016), Buddy (2026), Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

Recommend or Refute: Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026), Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express (2026), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)

Network (1976)

Recommend or Refute | Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), Person to Person (2017), The Truman Show (1998)

Carolina Caroline (2026)

Cars (2006)

Recommend or Refute | Event Horizon (1997), Resolution (2012), The Odyssey (2026)

Starship Troopers (1997)

Recommend or Refute | The Master (2012), The Toy (1982), & Citizen Kane (1941)

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Recommend or Refute | A Different Man (2024), The Toy Story Saga, I Love Booster (2026), & Spider-Noir (2026)

Disclosure Day (2026)

Recommend or Refute | Anaconda (2025), Backrooms (2026), The Death of Robin Hood (2026)

The Trial (1962)

Recommend or Refute | Titan A.E. (2000), The Dress Up Gang (2019), The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

Harold and Maude (1971)

Recommend or Refute | World of Tomorrow (2015), Boys Go to Jupiter (2024), The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)

The Tragedy of Man (2011)

Recommend and/or Refute | A Shot In The Dark (1964), Constantine (2005), One, Two, Three (1961), and Playtime (1967)

This Episode is Not About Shrek!

Recommend or Refute | Don't Look Now (1973), Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025), Coyote Ugly (2000) & Miami Vice (1984)

Bugonia (2025)

Recommend or Refute | Body of Evidence (1993), Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (2025), The White Sheik (1952)

True Stories (1986)

Recommend or Refute | Practical Magic (1998), L'avventura (1960), Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Zack Snyder's Watchmen: Ultimate Cut (2009)

Recommend or Refute | Wuthering Heights (2026), Man in the Mirror (2004), The Trip to Italy (2014), EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2026)

The Seventh Seal (1957)

Pour Over | Additional Recs from 2025 Retrospectacular

Recommend or Refute | Zootopia 2 (2025), Il Sorpasso (1962), Iron Lung (2026)

Withnail & I (1987)

Recommend or Refute | Winter Light (1963), The Colors Within (2024), Predator Wastelands (2025)

Ikiru (1952)

2025 - Retrospectacular

Late Spring (1949)

Recommend or Refute | The Boy and the Heron (2023), Eraserhead (1977), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Warfare (2025)

Hyperreal Short Film Festival (2024)

Bonus Episode | Here (2024)

2024 Year End Retrospectacular!!!

Nosferatu the Vampyr (1979)

Recommend or Refute | Holiday Inn (1942), Hallmark Christmas Movies, and The Silent Partner (1978)

Black Christmas (1974)

Recommend or Refute | Liar Liar (1997), I Confess (1953), John's 2024 Schlocktober Extravaganza

Arcane (2021-2024) | Season 1

Recommend or Refute | Riddle of Fire (2024), Take Care of Maya (2023), and Strange Darling (2024)

Gladiator (2000)

Recommend or Refute | Puppet Master (1989), Megalopolis (2024), and Kneecap (2024)

The Primevals (2023)

Spooky Season Discussion

Audition (1999)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Recommend or Refute | The School for Good and Evil (2022), The Hateful Eight: Black & White Edition (2015), Sphere (1998)

Hundreds of Beavers (2024)

Recommend or Refute | Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (2024), Blood Cult (1985), and Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

JFK (1991)

Recommend or Refute | Comin' At Ya! (1985), Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (2024), Fancy Dance (2024)

Quantum Cowboys (2024)

Recommend or Refute | Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), Mandabi (1968), Freddy Got Fingered (2001)

Hedwig and The Angry Inch (2001)

Encanto (2021)

Recommend or Refute | Dangerous Game (1993), Seconds (1966), Inside Out 2 (2024)

High Noon (1952)

Kinds of Kindness (2024)

Recommend or Refute | Explorers (1985), Stand By Me (1986), The Invention of Lying (2000), and Nothing But a Man (1964)

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Recommend or Refute | Buck and The Preacher (1972), Madame Web (2024), Atlas (2024)

The Iron Claw (2023)

Recommend or Refute | Thank You Very Much (2023), Spy x Family: Code White (2024), Kuroneko (1968)

Serpico (1973)

Recommend or Refute | Mobile Suit Gundam, MAS*H, and Crayon Shin Shan