Saturday, April 17, 2021

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



Saturday, April 10, 2021

Rising Fall

     Two tales of walks through the darker sides of the street with twists and turns and twists.
     A trio of grad students find the most interesting subject for their final project- a slasher killer preparing to make his debut. As their subject leads them through a behind the scenes look at the world of Freddy, Jason, and Michael is there something more going on the crew haven't noticed yet? Will they lose their nerve and tell his target? Will they sell him out to his own personal Loomis? Will they get a real glimpse of what is Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon?
     1960s indie auteur Doris Wishman's transitional film to the full on sexploitation she would be best known for. A Boston housewife is attacked by the janitor and accidentally kills him in self defense. Seeing no option but to go on the run, she soon finds herself in a series of emotionally and physically traumatic situations while the dragnet gets ever tighter. Will she find safe harbor? Will the housewife end her days behind bars? A double twisted film where Bad Girls Go to Hell.
     All that and Kevin Shudders through the night, Chris mourns a devastating loss, Tyler bathes in the blood of kaiju, and Dave endures new levels of psychological torture. Join us, won't you?
Episode 200- Rising Fall

Saturday, April 3, 2021

Helmets Save Lives

     This week two movies with two wheeled action. Sorta. 

     Idiosyncratic Australian auteur Brian Trenchard-Smith gets deep into the heart of what all kids wanted in that mystical time between the Atari crash and the rise of Nintendo.... BMX bikes and walkie-talkies. A bank robbery crew loses their brand new walkie-talkies to a trio of young race maniacs two days before their biggest haul ever. The young race maniacs are desperately trying to find ways to raise the money to open Sydney's own BMX track facility. The police just want everyone to clear their emergency channel... which appears to be the only one used in Australia. Will the thieves get their hands on the kids before their deadline? Can the kids make enough money to bring BMX to the people? Can the police actually leave the station and do the smallest amount of actual policing? Can anyone stop the BMX Bandits?
     One of the greatest comic book adaptions based on the long running UK cult series that somehow tanked so painfully hard in the box office that some of us will never recover from this disappointment. On the streets of Mega-City One, he is the law. Until he finds himself locked in the 200 story Peach Trees high-rise completely controlled by the vicious gang behind a new drug called Slo-Mo. In Peach Trees, Ma-Ma believes she is the law. Which is right and how many rounds will be fired in the proving? Can anything, except the terrible lingering Stallone aftertaste, stop Dredd?
     All that and Tyler experiences a new warm fuzzy feeling, Dave monster mashes through Hong Kong, and Kevin likes to watch... through the window. Join us, won't you?

Episode 199- Helmets Save Lives


Saturday, March 27, 2021

Bacon, Bananas, Scrabble- A Talented Animals Tribute

    We bring March to a close with a salute to that most overlooked and mockingly abused of subgenres- the talented animal! Please note: RotP uses a VERY broad definition of both "talent" and "animals".

     When the dumbest man to ever slip his way into the space program flies into a wormhole, he ends up on a planet run by apekind. Quickly captured and sold to a human loving, aggressively so, chimp, the pair soon start a revolt against the establishment. Can the man barely able to tie his own shoes be able to out wit a whole Planet of the Apes?
     After a season dominating in professional hockey, Jack the chimpanzee is framed for biting a rival player. Unable to deal with this slander, Jack runs away to live with an orphan in an empty pool. Together they learn to laugh at love again... and do some wicked sick kickflips. Once a player, now he's MVP 2: Most Vertical Primate!
     You would be safe in assuming that after securing his place out of the oven, Babe would have a restful existence. Tragically, disaster strikes the Hoggett farm. Soon the bank is calling and the only way out is a well paid sheep herding demonstration. Unable to arrive at their destination, Esme and Babe face the cruel and uncaring city. Will they be able to stay on top long enough to return home? Will they be able to save the farm? Or will they adapt and never look back? What cruel fate awaits Babe: Pig in the City?
     When a research facility explodes, the only survivors are a super smart golden retriever and the vicious murdering mutant OXCOM, intent on eating the dog's eyes for a nice between meal snack. Fortunately, the dog meets a boy almost as painfully useless as the astronaut from Apes! Together they learn there's nothing a heavily plot armored boy and his dog can do. Even where there are Watchers about.
     All that and Kevin does his homework, Dave's memory gets fuzzy, and Tyler rolls in something. Join us, won't you?

Episode 198- Bacon, Bananas, Scrabble: A Tribute to Talented Animals


Saturday, March 20, 2021

Bronze Weasels and a Nice Chianti

      This week Lucas returns, summoned by the siren calls of Ted Levine and Donny Wahlberg. Did he see their glory or dash himself upon the rocks?

     Pulled from her new agent training, Clarice Starling is asked to have a nice sit down with an infamous cannibal named Hannibal. Meanwhile, a new killer has just taken victim #7, the daughter of a senator, and the countdown until she faces the same fate as all the others begins. Will the cannibal help or is he playing his own game? How did the FBI interviewers and background checkers not catch young Clarice's desperation for The Silence of the Lambs?
     The second most intense US-Canada sports rivalry. A test of skill, endurance, and speed. The US team reigned supreme from the birth of international play, only to finally fall to Canadians coached by a former teammate. With the 2004 Paralympic Games looming, can the US Team regain their supremacy for the gold or has the rest of the world begun to give them a taste of true competition? One of the best sports films ever made- Murderball.
     From the book by Stephen King filtered through the script and direction of Lawrence Kasdan comes the tale of five friends and the poop alien out to conquer the world. Somewhere between the realms of high concept, fun b-film, and Sia level of disabled people parody you can find Dreamcatcher.
     All that and Kevin's long term memory loss continues, Lucas and Tyler slathers themselves in preparation for the Snyder Cut, and Dave documents a century of pop culture. Join us, won't you?

Episode 197- Bronze Weasels and a Nice Chianti



Saturday, March 13, 2021

Bling in the Dark

      This week a bunch of young people struggling with darkness, I guess? Sure, why not? 

     What happens when a bunch of bored white kids in a rich area of California realize that famous people are just as bad at security as their grandma? What happens when they, fortunately, know a fence willing to deal with teens who can't keep their mouths shut? They got breaking in and taking stuff, duh-doy. What happens when they get so bold that they no longer fear being caught? What drives them to this? I don't know because I didn't read the article or book the movie is based on. The Bling Ring.
     Come and I will tell you a tale of a boy and girl and their love story. Sorry, wrong movie. A pseudo-hobbit finds a child... Wrong again. An oil fetishist who speaks to animals... no. The warrior who will be king... no. Jeez. There were a lot of fantasy movies in the mid-1980s. This one is Legend. You know, the one with Tim Curry being all sexy and awesome and you know that made you question things in ways you weren't ready to deal with.
     All that and Tyler gets his Vin on, Dave self-harms, and Kevin judges them like a Busey. Join us, won't you?


Saturday, March 6, 2021

Erotic Culinary Roller Therapy

      This week a pair of 2018 dramas directed, written, and starring women.

     Camille lives with her protective single mother. After an injury, she swears never to skateboard again. At least, never until a female skater collective she follows on Instagram has a meeting and she decides to go. Will she find what she's looking for with Skate Kitchen?
     Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival. A metafictional meditation on intimacy in all of its modes or a pseudo-intellectual prattling covering up pointing and laughing? A tender examination of the diversity of intimacy or fatuous and shallow reinforcement of Euro-hardcore clichés that rival the 50s Shades series? Yes. Touch Me Not.
     All that and Dave doesn't get an emerging trend, Kevin gets snobby with it, and Tyler subtly auditions for a job hyping HBOMax. Join us, won't you?