Pile of Mates

About Pile of Mates

Three Aussie mates rewatch a movie every week, rate it out of five and rarely agree. It's a book club for movies, with worse manners. One of us picks the film, we all watch it (our partners don't always make it to the end), then we sit down and argue about it. Old favourites, new releases, and things that probably should have stayed in the early 2000s. Everyone logs a score on Letterboxd, half stars included, and the gap between the highest and lowest is usually the best part of the episode. Sam spent 12 years in the cinema industry and was never allowed a public opinion on a movie. Corey shoots weddings for a living, so he'll notice the lighting before the plot. Pacco came here, in his words, "to talk shit and talk movies." Every episode stands on its own, so start with a film you've seen. New episodes every week.

Publisher

Samuel De Lorenzo

Category

tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

3 Oct 2026

Latest episode

4 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

8 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   4 Nov 2026

   Con Air — Let Con Air Fly Again

   One of us rented Con Air from Video Easy about fifteen times as a kid. Another went in so blind he wasn’t sure there’d be a plane. Pacco picked this one, recording from Thailand. Nicolas Cage is Cameron Poe, an ex-Army Ranger finally out on parole, who catches the worst possible flight home: a prison transport full of the worst of the worst, about to be hijacked by John Malkovich’s Cyrus the Virus. It’s 1997, the hair is flowing, and the script changes direction every ten minutes. Along the way: whether Poe is legally a deadly weapon, a no-guns-on-the-plane rule nobody respects, Steve Buscemi as a very polite cannibal, how many people definitely died when they crash-landed on the Vegas Strip, and the bunny. Always the bunny. We also get into Sam accidentally hitting a cinema panic button with his foot and having the police turn up, the Sweet Home Alabama needle drop, GTA borrowing the donut scene, and who turned down the lead before Cage got it. Two of us had a bloody great time. One of us reckons it’s the generic action flick every film since has copied. Next week: Corey’s pick, Conspiracy Theory (1997), with Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts. Sam had never heard of it. Chapters: 00:00 Cold Open 00:11 Introduction to Con Air and Cast 01:24 Let’s Get Into Con Air 04:40 The Plot: Poe’s Setup and Prison 12:43 Takeoff and the Hijacking 18:11 Panic Button Story 21:14 Landing and the Sandstorm Swap 27:48 Lerner Airfield 34:45 National Guard and the Kill Box 43:38 Vegas Crash Landing 50:51 What We Liked 55:10 GTA Tangent 01:00:21 Behind-the-Scenes Trivia 01:03:57 Favourite Scenes 01:06:03 Ratings 01:08:38 Next Week’s Pick: Conspiracy Theory Follow us on Letterboxd to see what else we’re watching: Sam: https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/ (https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/) Corey: https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/ (https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/) Pacco: https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/ (https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pileofmates/ (https://www.instagram.com/pileofmates/)

2. 

   28 Oct 2026

   Sing Street — Stood Up for Pickles

   One of us gave Sing Street a perfect score. Another doesn't want to watch it again. Sam picked this one. John Carney's 2016 Irish musical is set in 1985 Dublin: Connor's parents are splitting up, he gets shipped to a rough Christian Brothers school, and he starts a band purely to impress the model standing on the steps across the road. Two of us went to a Catholic boys' school and started a band too, so this one hit a bit close to home. Along the way: the bass player who stood up our high school band to go buy pickles at IGA, Pacco filming Sam's bare feet instead of the guitar solo, a lunchtime blindfold game that ended in a school assembly, Connor going from can't-sing to full range in about half an hour, and Lucy Boynton's character apparently just standing on some steps all day. We also get into Jack Reynor as the big brother who quietly steals the film, the ending the director wishes he'd made, and whether that boat ever made it to London. Pacco dialled in from Thailand for this one, which is more commitment than he showed our band. Three hosts, three different ratings, and one of them surprised everyone. Next week: Con Air (1997). Pacco's pick. Nicolas Cage, a plane full of prisoners, and apparently a guitar solo over the action scenes. Chapters: 00:00 Cold Open: The Pickle Story 00:23 Welcome to Pile of Mates 01:38 About Sing Street 02:09 Relatable High School Moments 04:16 1985 Dublin & the Weinstein Logo 05:34 Christian Brothers School Flashbacks 11:10 Boys' School Stories 13:53 Back to the Movie: Black Shoes & Brother Baxter 16:18 Darren the Hustler 17:26 Ralphina & Lucy Boynton 19:29 Connor's Terrible First Song 20:31 Putting the Band Together 21:36 Inside Reality & the Pickle Story 24:45 Sing Street's Band Comes Together 28:06 The First Music Video 31:32 The Songs 33:45 Cosmo, New Looks & Evan 36:24 The Pier & Grandpa's Boat 39:35 Drive It Like You Stole It 44:13 Playing Gigs vs. Making Videos 45:51 Ralphina Leaves & Barry the Bully 49:06 The School Dance Show 53:53 Aftermath & Ralphina's Return 56:07 The Ending 56:51 Brendan's Story 01:00:05 The Director's Alternate Ending 01:01:34 Did They Make It? 01:03:05 First Impressions of the Film 01:05:13 Corey's Reservations 01:07:54 The Hot Teacher 01:09:38 Ratings 01:12:48 Next Film: Con Air Follow us on Letterboxd to see what else we're watching: Sam: https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/ (https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/) Corey: https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/ (https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/) Pacco: https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/ (https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pileofmates/ (https://www.instagram.com/pileofmates/)

3. 

   21 Oct 2026

   Snow Dogs — Rated G, Somehow?

   One of us reckons the finish-line siren is an air-raid warning. Another thought the film was called Blow Dogs. Corey picked this one, and says his wife told him to. Snow Dogs (2002) is the Disney sled-dog comedy where Cuba Gooding Jr. plays a Miami dentist who finds out he’s adopted, inherits a team of huskies and has to learn to mush or lose them to James Coburn’s Thunder Jack. Along the way: how much a G-rated film could get away with in the early 2000s, a beach dream sequence nobody asked for, the voice of Monsters, Inc.’s boss turning up in Alaska, and a man who gives out his phone number by telling a woman to look for it on a bus. A dentist pulls a tooth from a dog, which naturally leads to a confession about who in Sam’s house has bitten the cat. We also get into video store free weeklies and the real Alaskan town that’s had cats for mayors since 1997. The ratings are the closest we’ve come to agreeing on anything. Still not agreeing. Next week: Sam couldn’t decide, so he read us two synopses with the key words bleeped out and made us pick. We’re watching Sing Street. Chapters: 00:00 Cold open and introduction 01:05 Why Snow Dogs? First impressions 03:00 Video store memories 04:39 The plot kicks off: Miami, the dentist and that G rating 10:25 Meeting the dogs and Thunder Jack 17:55 The beach dream 20:12 Thunder Jack is Ted’s dad 21:40 The cave, going home and the Arctic Challenge 27:23 The ending 28:21 Thoughts and star ratings 35:53 Fun facts: the cat mayors of Talkeetna 39:45 Next pick: Sing Street Follow us on Letterboxd to see what else we’re watching: Sam: https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/ (https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/) Corey: https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/ (https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/) Pacco: https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/ (https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pileofmates/ (https://www.instagram.com/pileofmates/)

4. 

   14 Oct 2026

   The Wild Robot — You Dead Fucking Robot

   One of us cried watching The Wild Robot on a plane. Another didn’t cry at all, and got a text from the next room calling him a dead fucking robot. Pacco picked this one. It’s Chris Sanders’ 2024 DreamWorks adaptation of Peter Brown’s book: a service robot called Roz washes up on an island full of animals, accidentally orphans a gosling, and has to work out how to raise him. Lupita Nyong’o voices Roz, and Pedro Pascal is the fox, which some of us only clocked when the credits rolled. Along the way there’s a possum mum who loses track of her own kids, the Australian animal that throws its young at predators to get away, Roz ticking “feed” off her list once and apparently never again, the Golden Gate Bridge sitting underwater, and a robot who decides she doesn’t need a vital part because she has love. Plug in the goose. We also get into what the film says about parenting when nobody knows what they’re doing, why it plays like chapters of a book, and how Chris Sanders still voices Stitch. Nobody hated it, but one of us never wants to watch it again. Next week: Snow Dogs, Corey’s pick. Cuba Gooding Jr, 2002, huskies. Get ready for mush hour. Chapters: 00:00 You dead fucking robot 00:55 Why Pacco picked it 02:49 First impressions and that art style 06:20 Pretty dark for a kids’ film 07:05 Which Aussie animal throws its kids? 08:31 A blended family and a big warm hug 10:11 Nobody knows what they’re doing as a parent 13:07 Fink, and guessing the voice 16:38 The feeding plot hole 18:16 Learning to fly 21:18 Pacco’s wife fell asleep 22:34 The Golden Gate Bridge is underwater 24:02 Winter on the island 26:55 The final battle 30:18 The ending 34:39 Can a robot have a soul? 35:48 Who cried and who didn’t 39:39 Chris Sanders, Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon 44:34 What didn’t work 46:53 Ratings 48:26 Sequels and trilogies 50:45 Next week’s pick Follow us on Letterboxd to see what else we’re watching Sam: https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/ (https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/) Corey: https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/ (https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/) Pacco: https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/ (https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/)

5. 

   7 Oct 2026

   Rat Race — More Nazis Than Expected

   One of us has rewatched Rat Race every year for three years. Another reckons he got oversold. Sam picked this one, a film his fiancée loved as a kid and he only discovered three years ago. Jerry Zucker's 2001 ensemble comedy is basically The Amazing Race with no rules: John Cleese plants six tokens in his Vegas slot machines, and whoever reaches a locker in Silver City, New Mexico first keeps $2 million. Along the way Rowan Atkinson falls asleep in the hotel lobby, Jon Lovitz drives Hitler's car through a WWII veterans' parade, a human heart ends up inside a dog, a cow ends up tied to a hot air balloon, Cuba Gooding Jr hijacks a bus full of I Love Lucy impersonators, and Smash Mouth play All Star with a little help from Hitler's harmonica. We also get into what you'd actually do if you lost a human heart, and how the airport scenes play now that you know the film came out a month before 9/11. The ratings aren't even close, and somehow Avengers: Endgame gets dragged into the argument. Next week: The Wild Robot, Pacco's pick. Bring tissues. It has ducks in it. Chapters: 00:00 Warm cola and a pyramid scheme 00:14 Rat Race, the annual rewatch 02:07 Who'd you bet on? 06:19 Those animated opening credits 10:53 Free buffet, no rules 12:58 Would you go to Darwin for $2 million? 15:42 Released one month before 9/11 19:43 Randy's family and the Nazi museum 23:13 Mr. Bean, a human heart and a dog 25:00 A drifter, let's kill him 28:40 The cow and the hot air balloon 31:15 The I Love Lucy bus 34:59 The billionaires' bets 37:59 Smash Mouth and Hitler's harmonica 40:06 What worked, what didn't 44:29 Ratings 47:04 Five stars, half stars and The Emoji Movie 51:50 Next week's pick, and bring tissues Follow us on Letterboxd to see what else we're watching Sam: https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/ (https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/) Corey: https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/ (https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/) Pacco: https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/ (https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/)

6. 

   3 Oct 2026

   The Onion Movie — Aged Like Milk

   One of us still thinks The Onion Movie is gold. Another needed three sittings to get through it. Corey picked this one, a high-school favourite he wanted to put to the test. Shot in 2003 and not released until 2008, The Onion Movie is a pile of fake news stories wrapped around Norm Archer, an anchor trying to keep his integrity while the network sells ads into the bulletin. Along the way there are neck belts, a woman who calls the news before she calls 911, a Steven Seagal film called Cock Puncher with its own PlayStation 2 game, country star Melissa Cherry's very wholesome love songs, a bloke with his penis stuck in a mailbox, and an armed gunman who negotiates his way into a full-time job with benefits. We also get into how much of it has aged like milk, and why the post-9/11 terrorism jokes land even worse now. The ratings end up further apart than they've ever been, and someone's wife has already recommended it to a work colleague. Next week: Rat Race, Sam's pick. Sam would also like you to watch Community. One episode. It's twenty minutes. Chapters: 00:00 Caught watching The Onion Movie 02:24 Pacco's been dreading this since high school 04:13 Shot in 2003, released in 2008 07:44 Melissa Cherry and a Britney Spears connection 09:02 Neck belts and bad CGI 09:55 Cock Puncher 11:45 We interrupt this program 14:20 What is this film even rated? 17:20 The socks 19:29 The ending 23:23 The armed gunman 25:42 What worked, what didn't 29:38 Ratings 32:07 Would it survive today? 35:11 Next week's pick, and please watch Community Follow us on Letterboxd to see what else we're watching Sam: https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/ (https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/) Corey: https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/ (https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/) Pacco: https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/ (https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/)

7. 

   3 Oct 2026

   Ready or Not — Nowhere on the Card Does It Say Murder

   One of us has seen Ready or Not four times. Another got genuinely angry about it. It's Pacco's pick this week, and the second Samara Weaving film in a row, which is starting to look like a pattern. In Ready or Not (2019) she marries into a rich board-game dynasty, then finds out on her wedding night that the family game is hide and seek, and they've brought crossbows. We get into the roadside assistance bloke who remotely shuts off her getaway car mid-escape, Sam's public safety advice for anyone caught in an active murder zone (keep running), the kid who shoots his new auntie before anyone's told him why, and the fact that nowhere on the card does it actually say murder. Also, one of us has seen it four times and still didn't clock who the auntie was. One of us enjoys it more than last week's film and still rates it lower. Another saw the poster and expected a different movie. A fiancée who doesn't do horror ends up liking it anyway. Next week: The Onion Movie. It's Corey's pick, and at least one of us already hates it. Follow us on Letterboxd to see what else we're watching Sam: https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/ (https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/) Corey: https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/ (https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/) Pacco: https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/ (https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/)

8. 

   3 Oct 2026

   Over Your Dead Body — Pacco Called It Torture

   One of us had a great time. Another called it torture. Episode one, and it's Sam's pick. He found it scrolling Amazon, liked that Jason Segel was tied to a chair in the thumbnail, and decided that was enough research. Over Your Dead Body (2026) stars Segel and Aussie treasure Samara Weaving as a miserable married couple who head to a remote cabin, each secretly planning to kill the other. Then escaped convicts come through the roof, Timothy Olyphant turns up, and the romantic weekend goes downhill from there. We get into Samara Weaving's accent (somewhere between American, Australian and, as the film puts it, the devil), a bloke who walks off a back full of stab wounds, Segel losing fingers and barely mentioning it, and the poor accomplice who just wanted to take everyone out on his boat. The ratings split three ways on our first go. One of us spends half the episode insisting Samara Weaving did this better in another film. One wife walks out, and another bails half an hour in and comes round two days later. Next week: Ready or Not, settled by a coin toss. Follow us on Letterboxd to see what else we're watching Sam: https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/ (https://letterboxd.com/Delorenzo6/) Corey: https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/ (https://letterboxd.com/coreymid/) Pacco: https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/ (https://letterboxd.com/paccothegoose/)

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Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.