Party by Gaslight

     This week- a missing child might never have existed and a deadly game that could destroy the global economy.

     Ann and her daughter have just moved from New York to London to be close to the only family they have, Ann's brother Steven. Tragedy strikes when Ann goes to pick the child up from her first day at pre-school but her child is nowhere to be seen. To make things worse, it seems no one but the family claims to have ever even seen the girl. Soon a tangled web of mental illness and jealousy will ensnare the Lakes. A mystery from a master- Bunny Lake is Missing.
     Shelly Kornpett is a dentist in Manhattan. He leads a nice calm existence and is happily looking forward to his daughter's wedding with a fine young man. All that changes when, only days before the young lovers exchange vows, he meets Vince Ricardo, father of the groom and teller of ridiculous tales. After being urged by his wife and daughter to be more open to this odd man he will soon be related to, Shelly happily obliges when Vince asks a favor the very next day. A favor that will lead him thousands of miles from home and on the run from a parade of gunmen. A classic double team comedy- The In-Laws.
     All that and Kevin watches from a bush, Tyler gets marked, and Dave gets wet. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 322- Party by Gaslight

Daddy's Back

     This week- two movies about people trapped in places they are unable to leave. Some metaphorically, others literally.

     Sascha drifts through her days, getting by as well as she can at work and with occasional visits to her young son. Maria is a dreamer who wants to be a performer and poet. When sparks fly between them, both women embrace their blooming romance but can't see how it could be threatened by their individual outlooks. The second feature by Henrika Kull, Bliss.
     Carlin just wants to keep to himself after he is transferred to a new borstal. Archer is doing his best to inconvenience the staff as peacefully as possible until his sentence is over. Alan Clarke's scathing and unflenching look at the brutality of the old UK borstal sytem, Scum.
     All that and Tyler self soothes, Craig ends his hibernation, Dave feels the ennui, and Kevin's plan for world domination begins to germinate. Join us, won't you?
    Episode 306- Daddy's Back

Rural Bags of Dirt

     This week- two unreported sexual assaults, six rapists, and two male leads who make everything about themselves... 

     When Paul, a greasy kid from a small Midwest town, is accepted to NYU on an academic scholarship. The university rooms him with 3 roofie slinging serial rapists from the city who resent his polite and hardworking ways. Soon Paul finds himself sleeping in the back of a strangely always empty veterinarian's office. When, for more reasons that are impossible to discern, his former roommates talk him into letting them throw a party at the vet's while he's out at a concert. Coming home he finds a classmate, hardworking and studious Dora, overdosed and abandoned on his toilet. Romance ensues? Some people have a lot of nostalgia and love for Amy Heckerling's Loser. 

     An American applied mathematician, David, and his English wife, Amy, move to the small Cornish moorland town she grew up in. Taking residence in the isolated and dilapidated Trechers Farm, David hires a few local men to fix the garage and take care of the rat problem. Soon tensions with the locals grow over David's aloofness and cracks in his marriage spread. When David takes in an injured man and refuses to give him over to vigilantes, it all boils over in a rush of violence. Is a civilized man pushed too far, is this the inevitable beast inside a man all along, or is this an inadvertent criticism of the toxic masculinity the filmmaker thought he was celebrating? There are no easy answers in Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs.

     All that and Dave sees a doc, Kevin finally turns on a light, and Tyler ate a lot of pie. Join us, won't you?

  Episode 286- Rural Bags of Dirt

Penultimate Guitarfighter

     This week- a pair of disputes that range from the domestic to the pangalactic. Both of which were turned into off-Broadway musicals for the 2004 theater season. 

      Saloonkeeper Vienna's volatile relationship with the local yokels is quickly approaching critical. As a defensive measure she hires on a former lover and multiple discipline virtuoso, Johnny. Will this be enough to calm the waters, kept at a rolling boil by unable to deal with her feelings local rancher Emma Small? Or will this be the last duet for Vienna and Johnny Guitar?
     Alex dreams of life after the Starlite Starbrite trailer park he has spent his life in. Alex's only escapes are his dreams of college and the arcade game outside the local convenience store. When he breaks the high score, he soon learns it is all true and the Ko-Dan Armada is threatening all peaceful planets of the Rylan Star League. With only his navigator, Grig, can Alex save The Frontier and stop the power mad Xur? What hope can there possibly be when you are The Last Starfighter?
     All that and Craig almost achieves enlightenment, Kevin fills in some gaps, Dave looks down on their life choices, and Tyler feels the force flow through him- it isn't as fun as expected. Join us, won't you?

Episode 248- Penultimate Guitarfighter

Dial-a-Surf

    This week a master experiments with their art and a dude goes to the beach.

     When former professional tennis player Tony learns of his wife's affair with a crime fiction writer, he concocts a scheme that would make Agatha Christie herself take some notice. Leaning on a fellow Cambridge alumnus, he rolls his plan into motion. Unfortunately, events take a turn. Can Tony salvage his scheme? Will the incredibly disinterested police inspector solve his tangled puzzle? To find out- Dial M for Murder.
     Billy wants to be a kite surfer. To help him achieve this dream, all of Texas passes the hat and raises enough money to get him to a competition of questionable prestige. En route he picks up a pretty hitchhiker and sparks fail to ignite. Soon stakes happen and there's a mean Frenchmen and 2 Chainz and other people. Non of it matters as long as Billy can Send It!
     All that and Tyler reevaluates a superhero of biblical proportions, Kevin doesn't like a joke, Dave tried to silence a radio, and Craig finally begins his long gestating plan of global domination. Join us, won't you?

Episode 247- Dial-a-Surf

Riding the Starfish

      This week joyrides both across a country and the void of space.

     When Nanae comes back into Rei's life, it kicks off events that will change everything. Soon they are on the run with only each other and their complicated history as support. Based on the influential manga, Gunjō. Will they find some kind of peace with each other and their past? Will they be able to forge a new future? Will they Ride or Die?
     Japan's first science fiction film shot in color. A rogue planet is hurtling towards a blissfully unaware Earth while strange visions of  giant starfish begin terrifying fishermen. At the same time Dr. Matsuda has just made a huge breakthrough in his work on a new nuclear bomb and Professor Isobe takes in a woman his son found floating down stream. Will the waterlogged woman be able to deliver her urgent Warning from Space in time for humanity to survive?
     All that and Tyler has to adjust his list, Dave starts a new starfish cult, and Kevin spoils a party. Join us, won't you?

Episode 239- Riding the Starfish

Evilnauts

     This week a pair of effects heavy movies from the past. 

     Jason returns home to take back what was stolen in his infancy. In order to rally support for this, he decides to head out and steal the Golden Fleece. With some support from the goddess Hera, his crew set out to confront a whole bunch of stop motion monsters brought to life by the brilliant Ray Harryhausen. Will he succeed? Will any of his crew return home? Will they all meet grizzly ends and join the skeleton army? Who dares sail with Jason and the Argonauts?
     The second installment in Paul W.S. Anderson's wildly successful video game adaption series. When Umbrella finds they are unable to contain the infection from overtaking Raccoon City, they pull their assets and begin an operation to remove all evidence. Tragically, Dr. Ashford's daughter was misplaced in the rush. Now Ashford is reaching out to game protagonists Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera to support film protagonist Alice to save his daughter before nukes rain down and Tyrant rips them all in half. Who will pull themselves out of the wreckage of Resident Evil: Apocalypse?
     All that and Dave burns chrome, Kevin is filled with the Holiday Spirit, and Tyler learns that he bleeds T-virus. 

Join us, won't you?

Episode 236- Evilnauts

Dog the Bounty Blunter

      This week three tales of dogged determination. 

     Michael wants to be a professional skater. His father wants him to go to college. He sets about to follow his dream but it comes with consequences. Will he succeed? Will Michael's dreams crash and he will wake up on the job with his father mixing cement? Will he ever escape the confines of North Hollywood?
     A very good doggy in a town of very awful people. Found on the side of the road, Red Dog is brought to the Australian mining community of Dampier. From there he would become a legend and great unifier of the people. Years later, the men celebrate their doggy companion and his unswerving loyalty and endless sacrifices for their vanities... all while ignoring that one of them most definitely murdered him.
     Bounty Hunter Jack Walsh is hired to bring in an embezzling mob accountant known as "The Duke" before his bond defaults in five days. What should be an easy Midnight Run becomes a series of misadventures in one of the world's favorite buddy comedies. Will Jack make it in time? Will the mob catch up with them and make The Duke disappear? Is this secretly connected to The Score? Probably, possibly, I hope anyway.
     All that and Dave fears getting old, Tyler doesn't do much of anything, and Kevin once again rubs our noses in the mess we left on the carpet. Join us, won't you?

Episode 209- Dog the Bounty Blunter

Harold and Yuki

      This week Dave takes it upon himself to amend two grievous oversights. After learning about gaps in cohost viewings, and making some small sacrifices to Meiko Kaji for guidance, a vision was given unto Dave and he cheated the random pick pull to bring everyone to deliverance.

     Born to avenge her family, trained through her entire childhood, finally unleashed and hell bent on gory revenge. Yuki seeks out those who killed her father and brother and spent days raping and torturing her mother. Raising standard samurai exploitation to the highest of visual poetry, not even death can keep Lady Snowblood from her satisfaction.

     Harold is bored and the only thing that keeps him entertained is a light spot of dramatic suicide. His mother, uncle, and therapist don't understand him and he can't live the life they proscribe for him. Then one day, at another crashed funeral, Maude drifts into his life. A dark comedy about existential anxiety and what might be found when you embrace it. One of cinema's greatest love stories, Harold & Maude.
     All that and Kevin gets dirty in Cape Town, Tyler spirals in nostalgia, and Dave runs out of places to hide his sacrifices. 

Episode 205- Harold and Yuki

Willie Robbers

      Two movies that shed light on the difference between theft and larceny. 

     When their homes are targeted by the local country club as an idea spot for their new golf course, the Goon Dock's young residents won't take it lying down. A stolen map, bike, wish, and wallet all lead to a classic adventure with a small amount of grave robbing. The petty larceny never ends when you are hanging on the strings of green and blues with The Goonies.

     Down on his luck Zed arrives in Paris with the hope of reconnecting with an old friend who has a job waiting for him. After an afternoon with a lovely young woman and a night celebrating with his friend, Zed gets to work. The work just happens to be breaking into a vault while his friend runs hostage control. One of them happens to be really terrible at his job. Breaking into a bank vault is theft. I know, I didn't expect it either. Of course why does any of that matter when they are Killing Zoe?

     All that and Tyler makes Dave hurt himself while Kevin completes his Iron Throne of popsicle sticks. Join us, won't you?

Episode 202- Willie Robbers

Digital Chalk

     Two journeys into realms of imagination from the dark recesses of Disney. One a dark and twisted soot covered nightmare of the past, the other a glimpse at some not so far off electronic afterlife.

     When the wind changes on Cherry Tree Lane, a supernatural figure descends from the sky to teach a lesson to a pair of feral children. Also drawn in is a unemployed bystander just trying to scrape enough to not have to sleep on the street. The trio will be force marched through an episodic nightmarescape of delusion and class warfare. All for the twisted amusement of this child obsessed monster... Mary Poppins.
     Not learning the proper lessons from digital Rome, Kevin Flynn finds an easy way to monetize his experience and promises to lead the species into a golden dawn. Flynn promptly disappears. Two decades later his son, Sam, goes looking for him, only to fall into the same trap. Waking in the miraculous though slightly boring looking world of The Grid. A place where things can happen but only things that have happened before. Freed from the constraints of physics but designed by an unimaginative megalomaniac. Can Sam free Kevin and save both world? What is the Tron: Legacy?
     All that and Dave sings, Tyler gets his teens in trouble on, and Kevin feels a shudder. Join us, won't you?
Episode 201- Digital Chalk

Bye Demon

      A pair of comedy classics to chill with.

      One of the most successful anthology series in television history makes the jump to features. Jeryline is just trying to get through work release when one day a drifter barges into her church turned flophouse with The Collector hot on his heels. Soon everyone there will be facing the forces of darkness and fighting for their souls, desperately trying to hold out until sunrise. Will anyone survive Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight?
     Craig Jones, recently fired on his day off, spends the day hanging around the neighborhood with his best friend and small-time herb salesman, Smokey. Before too long, the threat of death hangs over the pair by 10:00 PM if they can't pay off the money Smokey owes Big Worm. A modern classic that first showed that there is more to hood life than the violence and menace Hollywood was happily playing up in the flood of crime films at the time. Friday has become an enduring genre staple and one of the most important films of its decade.
     All that and Dave celebrates, Kevin wonders, and Tyler does whatever it is Tyler does. Join us, won't you?

Episode 193- Bye Demon

Necro Firearm Escape

      This week the last hand painted film, the most recent war blockbuster, and our third Asami film!

      A pair of assassins drive through the dessert. To cover the hours one tells the tale of a doctor who becomes a revenge focused mastermind when his wife is murdered. The doctor buys a woman, an addict sex worker, and molds her into the ultimate killing machine. An amazing physical lead performance drives this exploitation action fest. As the blood flies and the nipples expose, can anything stop Gun Woman?

     British and French forces are pushed to the northern beaches and surrounded in the town of Dunkirk. Looking at the evacuation from land, sea, and air, Christopher Nolan wrangles a large ensemble cast between epic war story of Dunkirk.

     Prestigious Ginei Studios has gone bankrupt and shut it's doors for the last time. In celebration of it's glorious past television interviewer Genya and his cameraman Kyoji have a life spanning interview with the studio's biggest star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, who disappeared from the spotlight thirty years earlier. A surreal work from one of Japan's undisputed masters of animation, Millennium Actress.

     All that and next week we bring Japanuary to a close with a look at the seminal J-horror series JU-ON. Join us, won't you?

Episode 189- Necro Firearm Escape

Criminal Activities

     This week multiple masterminds make mischievous misfortune for moral masses and mobbed moneylenders.

     Now that his son is getting to the point of fleeing the nest, widower Shigeharu looks to connect with a woman in hopes of wifing a nice younger woman. Instead of turning to the normal methods of bars and matchmakers and online profiles, he and his producer friend decide to hold a fake casting call. Because nothing says "I am looking for love" like a light Weinstein session. His eye is caught by Asami and he worms his way in.... unfortunately he doesn't notice the corpses strewn about. Takashi Miike's first international breakthrough film, which lead the early 2000s J-horror boom and inspired the Hostel style US body horror trend, based on a novel by Ryu Murakami... Audition.

     Underground black and white Japanese cyberpunk from cult filmmaker Shozin Fukui shows how much you can do with nothing but determination and stuff stolen from your neighbor's garage band. A pair of rogue scientists perform psychic drug experiments on people grabbed off the street. Subjecting them to brutal tortures that end in horrible deaths and failure... until their final project yields even more terrifying results. Sex, drugs, Speedos, and a whole lot of high concept insanity are crammed in Rubber's Lover.
     One of the best action film directors to ever command a set, one of the most unlikely romantic heroes of the 1970s, a bank robbery gone wrong, a hitman on their trail, and only one way out. Don Siegel delivers another tough and cynical film with a stellar cast, anchored by the great Walter Matthau, in the mostly overlooked gem that is Charley Varrick.
     All that and Kevin moves his command center to a new underground bunker, Dave knows that two actors in that movie were in popular ST roles but he wanted to go easy on them, and Tyler loves like only loving lovers love. Join us, won't you?

Episode 188- Criminal Activities 

Playground of Torturous Cartoon Sausage

      This week a classic, a brutal experiment, and a beloved by some art film.

     A bureaucrat ground down by three decades in the same monotonous position with a son who only appears to care about his pension and inheritance learns that his days are drawing to a close sooner than he expects. Setting out to find how to love life and find meaning in his own, he stumbles through the city. A master's achingly humanist meditation on what one can do when they find their passion and leave their mark, no matter how small or large, is the real way to live- Ikiru.
     Waking up in a claustrophobic nightmare, a man must find his way out before he bleeds to death. Can he make it out of his Haze?
     Tom Green- Canadian, comedian, TV host, film star, former lover of Gertie, Disney Princess. What happens when Fox gives him several million and lets him run wild? There was only one possible outcome... Freddy Got Fingered.
All that and we try very hard to no get political. Join us, won't you?

Episode 187- Playground of Tortuous Cartoon Sausage

Tank VS Sub

     This week we roll into 2021 and Japanuary with an action classic, a pinku classic, and a listener selected overlooked war movie from that long distant mythical time called the 1980s.

     What do you get when you unleash an escaped prisoner, a young woman, four yakuza, and a whole lot of zombies in the middle of a forest that doubles as a gateway to the otherside of this mortal coil? A lot of bloody fun in Versus.
     When she was a high school freshman Naoko was abducted and imprisoned by her neighbor. She went through a month of Hell. Now she lives a double life. By day she is one of Japan's top experts in fertility, by night she is a popular submissive at a high scale S&M club. Naoko has spent her life chasing a feeling she once had in captivity but what is it exactly? Is it the taste of a Sweet Whip (Amai Muchi)?
     A Russian tank is separated from the column. Meanwhile, Taj returns home to find it destroyed and his brother killed. With the tank lost and a group of revenge hungry mujahideen on their trail how long will the group of soldiers keep it together or will their interpersonal conflicts kill them all? Can Taj rise to fill his brother's shoes and lead this group and his village? Or is The Beast truly unstoppable?
     All that and Dave fights Skype, Kevin yearns for the old days of hot buttered crumpets, and Tyler wistfully dreams of Mitsu Dan. Join us, won't you?

Episode 186- Tank VS Sub

The Chickens, The Cats, Some T-Birds, and a Rat

     This week we bring 2020 to a close and embrace the warmth of the holidays with that genre that says togetherness like no other... Musicals. Four screeching pitchy nightmare visions of the hell that is 2021 awaiting us all... or not.

     Memories. Of a musical loved by children. A fun and high enery show that familes can love. Turned to creepy. With Dutch ang...les... Every cg face can be a terrifying vision. They don't stay on and Tom Hooper is crying. We saw Cats! It's so easy to flee screaming... 
Okay. Maybe that doesn't work to the tune of Memory.
     The first collaboration between the House of Mouse and the Studio Apartment of Mayhem. A script that blends a classic of English holiday literature with the merry mayhem only Henson can provide, with a strong script and songs that will stay with you for decades... Does it get much better than The Muppet Christmas Carol? 
     Dolly Parton. What else can anyone ask for? Okay, fine. There's also a little Burt Reynolds and a tiny bit of Jim Nabors and a fleeting glimpse of Charles Durning. All together in a Lone Star shaped romp of sex and football and fake news and politics and minor acts of gross use of force and intimidation. It's not some third rate flop, it's The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
     The Next Generation rises to take the reigns from the legends that came before. Supported by a gaggle of legends from the Golden Era. Does it sink or swim? Is there any gas left in Grease 2?

     All that and Anna drinks enough to make the others tolerable company, Kevin plans a heist the likes of which has only come from a Micklewhite, Dave goes full Santa, and Tyler puts lumps of coal in his underoos for maximum pleasure. Join us, won't you?

Episode 185- The Chickens, The Cats, Some T-Birds, and a Rat

Cowabunga-ed in Carbonite

     In the penultimate episode of 2020 we go to two happy places.

     Long long ago in a galaxy far far away, a group of people where chilling, literally, on an ice planet when the evil Empire found them and kicked off a whole bunch of problems for the second to last Jedi, his secret sister, her smuggler lover, his hairy life partner, and their sentient android slaves. Yeah, that's bad but it's The Empire Strikes Back. Hard to find new ways to describe it.
     Long long ago in a city on the East Coast, four teenage ninjas had just taken out the vicious leader of a criminal gang driving the worst petty crime wave in history. Unfortunately, their rest and celebration is cut short as their enemies return thirsty of mutated revenge shenanigans. Also Vanilla Ice is there... what will be revealed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze?
     All that and Kevin had higher highs and lower lows, Dave does Santa right, and Tyler loves like a loving lover who loves. Join us, won't you?

Episode 184- Cowabunga-ed in Carbonite