More Sweets to the Sweet

    This week RotP hopes to catch a ride on the new release hypetrain with a look back at the original Candyman sequels.

     Four years after the first film, a New Orleans schoolteacher finds herself getting the attention of Candyman. Eventually a secret of her origin that connect her to Candyman will be revealed. Can the teacher stay alive through Ash Wednesday or will she agree to be his victim and say Farewell to the Flesh?
     Twenty-five years after his last appearance Candyman appears during The Day of the Dead in LA and targets a gallery owner who just happens to be a direct descendant of our hook-handed legend AND the reincarnation of his daughter... they could have thought up a better subtitle than Day of the Dead.
     All that and Tyler speaks more than he's ever spoken, Dave is hogtied and gagged in a closet somewhere, and Kevin likes to watch. Join us, won't you?

Episode 220- More Sweets to the Sweet

Electric Italian Outback Foosball

    This week a four pack of regular octane fueled post apocalyptic mayhem. 

     In the far flung future, Texas has succumbed to the wilds and only has the battle hardened Rangers to stand for justice. To be honest, this is a hard one to describe, a four film franchise plopped in a blender and spun until semi combined into one epic. There are Nazis with super science shields, questionable Native American depictions, at least on giant ginger goddess, side trips into a Michael Cimino classic, and a fistful of biker gangs... 2020 Texas Gladiators!

     In another far flung future, the Bronx will be declared an autonomous no man's land and left to the dominion of highly fashion forward gangs. One leader, Trash, will find purpose from a young blonde outsider who takes refuge in the crumbling streets and chaos. Will our star crossed lovers rise to the task at hand or will they be just another stain left behind the mean streets of 1990: The Bronx Warriors?

     In the farthest flung future, the world in divided into the hand to mouth living above and the wealthy opulence of the Nine Cities below. The only thing anyone has above to build a better future is The Game. If a travelling team is good enough, they can challenge the professionals of the League and hopefully win a place of luxury among the best of the best. Salute the Jugger and see The Blood of Heroes.

     Sit by the fire and hears the telling of how our world be as it is today. The tale of a wonderer and Aunty Entity's iron rule in Batertown. How the pigs make the lights. How we got to Tomorrow-morrow land and the failure of Captain Walker. But mostly, the telling of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. 
     All that and Dave preps for a walkabout, Anna teaches about Planet Erf, and Kevin's magic act rehearsal goes terribly terribly wrong. Join us, won't you?

Episode 219- Electric Italian Outback Foosball

Turtle Sweets

     This week... a steaming bowel of turtle soup and some old fashioned honey based junk food.

     Bernard Rose expands and reworks Clive Barker's "The Forbidden" into a new cinematic legend. When semiotics grad student Helen goes poking around Cabrini-Green, as part of her thesis on how urban legends can be used as a coping mechanism, she soon finds there is much more to her subject than she ever thought possible. A horror film about race and social class in inner-city and one of the greatest horror antagonist. Whatever you do, don't say his name five times... Candyman.
     A year has passed since the epic battles between Gamera and Gyaos left much of Japan in ruins. There had been no signs of more kaiju trouble since but you can never count space monsters out. On the night of a meteor shower, strange plants spring up all over the Sapporo and large insect creatures roam at night. What can be done to stop this invasion? Is all hope lost or will the Guardian of the Universe and friend to all children rise to save Japan again? The middle section of the Heisei trilogy, all of which are firmly rank among the best kaiju films ever made, Gamera 2: Attack of Legion.
     All that and Kevin learns the crushing feeling of disappointment, Tyler is elated beyond his wildest hopes, and Dave watches some TV. Join us, won't you?

Episode 218- Turtle Sweets

Ghostly Nookie

     Ah, 1980s nostalgia is still inescapable despite the usual cycle  of cultural nostalgia should have clicked over to the 90s years ago.

     A 1982 made for TV movie about a family looking to start fresh after the death of their oldest child. They move into a new home, take in granny, and dad goes so far as to start a new job. A complete reset for the family. It's too bad that the deceased daughter's ghost will soon be making beyond the grave calls to their middle child and with them the start of a new nightmare for them all. Whatever you do, Don't Go to Sleep.
     Three years ago Charlie watched Mick beat two kids severely. Unable to just stand by, he goes to the police to report what he has seen. Before the wheels of the system can chew up Mick, Charlie has a change of heart and withdraws his statement. The years go by and one day, Mick shows up in Charlie's dorm room with possibly less than above board reasons for deeply insinuating himself in the student's life. The directorial debut of nu-metal front man Fred Durst, The Education of Charlie Banks.
     All that and Tyler talks tats, Dave has a cookie removed from his butt at the hospital, and Kevin admits that he can't believe he could be deceived. Join us, won't you?

Episode 217- Ghostly Nookie

Lay Me Down... A Romance Special

     We bring July to a close with a celebration of romance. We find some heat in the heat. 

     Mike and Scott are young hustlers living on the streets of Portland. They embark on a search for Mike's mothers that will take them from there to Mike's childhood home and destinations far beyond. Meanwhile, Scott plots his future in Shakespearean detail which begins very soon. Ultimately, both just want to find Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho. 
     Based on the classic horror novel but infusing a mythology of love beyond time. One of the most gorgeously designed films in history with some of the worst accents to ever be captured by recording equipment. A highlight and lowlight of it's auteur's filmography. Ham never dies, it just gets stinkier like a Lugosi left in the sun.... Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula.
     Shanghai expatriates in 1960s Hong Kong. The other side of the most common romance trope. A noir styled look at emotions repressed and loneliness as the action happens elsewhere. A true masterpiece from one of the great artists, Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love.
     A woman returns to the strict Jewish Orthodox community she grew up in so she can bury her estranged father. Maybe she can find her own peace and embers of the love she ran away from still gently glowing under all the soot of tradition. Sometimes one must have (Sebastián Lelio's) Disobedience.
    All that and Tyler has a real life anime harem, Kevin finds a lady in each port, and Dave dies alone. Join us, won't you?
Episode 216- Lay Me Down in the Tall Grass and Let Me Do T Stuff: A Romance Special

Bette Davis Lies

     Double the slasher mayhem, double the final girl show down, double the meta commentary!

     Pendleton University has developed a bad case of the someone is killing a friend group in ways directly connected to one of the classes they are all in together. Could these be the work of the professor whose life's work inspires the murders or the desperate to avoid attention dean at all costs or the janitor who happens to be the sole survivor of another killing spree on university grounds? Nah. It's none of them but the killer is definitely knowledgeable on Urban Legend.
     Max's mother was an actress desperate to break out from the shadow of a slasher movie she starred in 25 years earlier. When she dies in a tragic accident, Max never properly resolved her feelings and, on the third anniversary of her mother's death, the movie they had tried desperately to escape will force her to come to terms with herself and her grief. A heartfelt view of grief and a sly homage to camp classics through a sharp modern eye. There's some heavy introspection for The Final Girls.
     All that and Dave will always know what you did last summer and it wasn't very fun, Tyler gets a membership at a nice new death spa with a good laps pool, and Kevin looks at property on Fear boulevard three blocks from Point Horror. Join us, won't you?

EPISODE 215- Bette Davie Lies

Mind Your Teas and Qs

      This week two girls with slight daddy issues and different ways of expressing their inner turmoil. 

     13- year old Rynn's father is a poet and far too secretive for their nosey landlady, Mrs. Hallet, who keeps finding reasons to bother them. Which, in turn, gives her son reason to suspect that his bothering Rynn won't have anyone to interfere. Part takedown of small town bigotry and isolationism, part children's rights parable, part  wrapped in a unique horror mystery... what happened to The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane?
     Cécile has her father's ashes in a Tupperware container. Her grief turns her into the embodiment of desire as she roams through a small French seaside city. There's a vague economic crisis and a group of connected but nameless and faceless pretty young people stumble around with her. Will Cécile and the rest find whatever it is they are looking for? Or is there nothing but Q (aka Desire)?
     All that and Dave gets senile, Kevin self harms, and Tyler rolls in something. Join us, won't you?

Episode 214- Mind Your Teas and Qs