Between breaks for holidays and vacations, a brief return with notes on Patton Oswalt in ‘Big Fan’, ‘The State’ on DVD, Chan-wook Park’s ‘Thirst’, New Flaming Lips, and ‘Modern Warfare 2′ (with goggles?).

‘Daybreakers’ makes vampires badass again; ‘Bored to Death’ brings a new gumshoe to HBO; and ‘Trine’ brings beauty to puzzle-platforming while leaving story in the dark.

Even if you missed the LA Film Fest, both of these clever little films are worth tracking down when they arrive in a theater near you.

Brian and Spencer discuss Up and the pros and cons of 3D, InFamous on PS3, Punch Out! on Wii, albums by Grizzly Bear and The Rural Alberta Advantage, plus Friday Night Lights and the book House of Cards with bonus guest, James. And fart jokes.

Brian and Spencer discuss Animal Collective, The Decemberists, and The Thermals in concert, plus new albums by The Dirty Projectors and Coalesce. Also, the movies Drag Me to Hell, Dead Snow, Anvil: The Story of Anvil, Tyson, and Dreams with Sharp Teeth.

Rian Johnson’s follow-up to Brick works like a con itself: as long as there’s a part of us that’s willing to be taken on a ride, we’ll end up feeling like we came out ahead.

Brian and Spencer discuss Star Trek, Free Comic Book Day featuring Atomic Robo and Ex Machina, Richard Price’s novel, Lush Life, new music by Japandroids, digging out old music after a hard drive crash, and the application of Newton’s laws to celebrities. But not in that order.

The long-awaited follow-up to ‘Brick’ finally comes to theatres, fans rally to save a failing show, and good and bad tweets from famous people.

In our launch episode, we discuss new albums from The Thermals and Ihsahn, Observe & Report, the “Mockbusters” phenomenon, and disappointing new shows from talented people (e.g. Sit Down, Shut Up and Kings).

Jody Hill’s disturbing and dangerous new comedy, the ‘Arrested Development’ creator’s new cartoon, and Taibbi’s harsh look at what we should really be protesting.