Blending pop culture with personal storytelling, Close Watch gives host Robert Yaniz Jr. the chance to get to know guests through the movies they love. From emotional favorites like Field of Dreams and The Crow to beloved cult hits like The Wicker Man, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and The Big Lebowski, each episode offers a thoughtful deep dive discussion into how films both shape who we are and reflect who we’ve become.
Close Watch completes its journey down the Yellow Brick Road with 2025's Wicked: For Good, the second half of director Jon M. Chu's adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical and the final chapter in our Oz-focused series. And this is perhaps the most politically and emotionally charged entry yet.
Rejoicifying with us are our wonderful guests Will Ashton (https://x.com/thewillofash) of Cinemaholics (https://cinemaholics.com/), Kevin Thomas (https://www.instagram.com/kevinthecritic/) aka Kevin the Critic (https://kevinthecritic.com/) and The Famous Ashley Grant (https://famousashleygrant.com/). During this Crooked Roundtable discussion, we'll dig into the film’s darker tone, expanded character stakes, and sharpened political allegory. We'll also explore Wicked as a story about choices and consequences, misinformation and influence, power versus morality, and the cost of being labeled “wicked.”
Along the way, we'll highlight the standout performances by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the evolution of their turns as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, which song had the biggest stage-to-screen glow-up, how those two original tunes by composer Stephen Schwartz affect the story, and whether splitting the musical into two films ultimately paid off.
So join as the witches of Oz bid farewell, changing each other and hopefully audiences the world over "for good." Throughout the big-screen history of L. Frank Baum's novels, it's all led to this. Thank goodness you've made it. Now here's Wicked: For Good.
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24 Dec 2025
'Oz the Great and Powerful' (feat. Kevin the Critic)
We’re heading back down the Yellow Brick Road. But this time, it’s all about how the Wizard became “great and powerful.”
On the latest Close Watch, Kevin Thomas aka Kevin the Critic joins us to revisit Sam Raimi’s big, bold, and sometimes bizarre 2013 film Oz the Great and Powerful. We'll discuss James Franco’s polarizing performance, how the film frames the witches of Oz, and whether Raimi’s signature style shines through.
From the film’s dazzling visuals to its themes of illusion and redemption, this episode asks how Disney’s second journey into the magical land of Oz compares to 1985's darkly fantastical Return to Oz as well as how it serves as a companion piece of sorts to Wicked. Misunderstood or ill-conceived?
From witches and wonders to movie magic and illusions of power, this one’s full of Raimi-fueled nostalgia.
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16 Dec 2025
'Return to Oz' (feat. Kai Yaniz)
As we continue our journey down the yellow brick road, Close Watch host Robert Yaniz Jr. is joined by his wife, Kai Yaniz, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of one of Disney’s strangest, darkest, and most fascinating cult classics: Return to Oz.
Released in 1985 as a sort-of sequel to The Wizard of Oz, this eerie fantasy took audiences by surprise, bringing electroshock therapy, a walking pumpkin, and some of the creepiest stop-motion movie villains into the magical land of Oz.
We dig into what makes Return to Oz so unsettling yet enduring, from Fairuza Balk’s haunting Dorothy to the wild imagination behind Tik-Tok and the Nome King. Along the way, they explore the film's misunderstood legacy, its surprising faithfulness to L. Frank Baum’s books, and why it might just be the ultimate Halloween hidden gem.
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Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
1,123,523
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
18 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 72 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
90
Social presence
0
YouTube
86
Engagement
51
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