Taking off from an almost clique 80's launchpad, Vamp (1986) lead us down several garden paths, keeping us on our toes with its tongue in its cheek. the whole time.
(Did i just put my foot in my mouth?)
Oh and Grace fucking Jones dances and plays a vampire in it.
WARNING: this episode is lousy with Keiths

+++++
Outro: Grace Jones performing Seduction Surrender
Theme by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp

For our second Nosvember entry we revisit a film we watched together for the first time during pandi lockdown times.
Also we discuss horrible facial injuries (cw), Stephen's Dorff-ness, and Kris K's legacy.
+++++
Outro: Kris Kristofferson performing Duvalier's Dream
Theme by Prof Ping available on Bandcamp

We're kicking off a month of scifi with Sam Raimi's 1990 homage to 1930's serials and Universal monsters. With solid performances all around, impressive FX and action, it does not disappoint.
+++++
Outro: Disturbed performing The Sound of Silence
Theme by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp

in which we do some math and once and for all settle:
Barney Miller = Serenity

We also welcome back for our second annual xmas episode, the one AND only RW!
Join us as we discuss this film's lack of director, its continuity errors, wild ass performance choices, and yet relative charm. Plus: the Q vs G series and more bank talk.   

Many dancing sugar plums to you!  

Jon Lovitz 2010 interview with AV Club
Hats Off Entertainment - Almost Cult Classics

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp

Seasons Greetings!
Dysfunctional December may be at its peak with this 1998 ~quirky~ indie coming of age story written and directed by Tod Williams.
With Adrian Grenier as the titular twit, co-starring Clark Gregg and with notable appearances by Merritt Weaver, Famke Jensen and Levon Helm, this film has trouble finding its direction, not unlike Sebastian.
Wait a minute...

Along the way we revisit the Heaven's Gate docu-series, review the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act, and Z reminisces about their time at Victoria's Secret.   

Good tidings to all!

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: The Band performing Life is a Carnival

What a doozy!
We very much enjoyed this one.
You've got Jessica Lange, Arliss Howard, Carlie Korsmo, Kathy Bates, Chis O"Donnell in is big screen debut and of course, the charming enigma, the legend, the inimitable: Joan Cusack.
When the patriarch of this painfully average, white, middle-class nuclear family suddenly dies, mom and sons have to cobble together a new life for themselves in the city.
Oh, yeah, it's Men Don't Leave (1990).
And it rules.

Get some.

++++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Sabrina performing La Vie Continue

Welcome to the home stretch of 2022, dear listeners  

With good tidings, we bring you one of the most successful print-to-screen adaptations known to our kind.  
The second highest grossing film behind Jurassic Park for the year 1993.  
The movie that made Anne Fine a household name.  
Chris Colombus' favorite documentary.  
The celluloid fable that taught us "never buy gribenes from a Mohel." 

Mrs. Doubtfire  

You know it, we love to hate it, Keith had never seen it.  
So don your ambiguous British accents, order up some jambalaya hold the pepper, and strap in for hot takes that are nearly 30 years old.  
Pobody's nerfect.

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Scorpions performing He's A Woman - She's A Man

...in which learn in real time some details about the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee and the Dawes Act/Dawes Rolls. 

We're talking the film that fictionalizes (for some reason) real events on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the 1970s, Thunderheart (1992).
Plus we wrap up our Native November viewing with some good ol contrasts and comparisons.

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: John Trudell performing Rockin' the Rez

In our 3rd entry in our look at films that deal with Indigeneity, we bring you probably the most well known (to US audiences at least) Native production: 1998's Smoke Signals.  

Written by Sherman Alexie, directed by Chris Eyre and co-produced by the two, it *allegedly* holds the title of being the first film to have Native Americans in all three roles.  

Anyhoo it's about fathers and trauma and generational stuff. And we get on to talkin' about white supremacy and the like, so: the usual.
Another kinda heavy episode.  
Go fig.   

Thanks for listening
Be kind to yourself/s
xo

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Ulali performing All My Relations

Greetings!
In this, our first ever review of a non-English language film, we bring also maybe our first Canadian production? If you can call it that... Anyway, it's 2001's Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner. Based on an Inuit legend, this epic comes in at just under 3 hours. So strap in. It is as unique as it is worth your time.    

2017 Interview with Zacharias Kunuk and Natar Ungalaaq

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Tanya Tagaq performing In Me

Welcome to our month of focusing on Native creators and stories.
It promises to be a somber one!
A riff of the classic road movie, 1989's Powwow Highway has an undeniable charm.  While not sugarcoating reservation life and the particular struggles of post VietNam War Natives, it avoids the pitfalls of hopelessness and poverty porn. There is sly humor and complex depictions of implicit racisms.  
A high recommend from us!
Plus Z dives into some of their lived experiences as an Indigenous person.   

Powwow Highway on the Criterion Channel 

Int'l Leonard Peltier Defense Committee 

American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council   

+++++

Intro by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp

Outro: Sweet Fire of Love performed by Robbie Robertson & U2

THE HORROR-- This is the final entry in  
Z & Keith's
Second Annual
Doc-Oc-Shock-Rocktober
Hollerween
Scream-a-long
Spook-a-thon! 

It's been a wild and befuddling journey, and this film is no exception.
TV's William Katt stars as a horror novelist haunted by his experiences in the war on Viet Nam. A premise with potential that reminded us of Jacob's Ladder but in the end, this movie can't decide if it's a comedy or not.  
Plus we give you our cheers & jeers for this month's holiday viewing. 

Thanks for joining us on this haunted hay ride! 

Stay safe out there!

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Our House (DJ FunkyBeat Remix) - Madness

Holy Hell, it's already the penultimate episode of  

Z & Keith's
Second Annual
Doc-Oc-Shock-Rocktober
Hollerween
Scream-a-long
Spook-a-thon!

In which we casually breeze through such topics as: 

morals vs ethics,  consent, the unbearable straightness of Hellraiser (1987), and Keith's inability to cope with the ambiguities therein.

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available onBandcamp
Outro: Tom Waits performing Frank's Wild Years

Jane Campion, hot off the critical success of The Piano (1993), helms this adaptation of Henry James' 1881 novel. Two and a half hours of ultra-rich people problems. Neither the cast -full of some of our favorites- nor Campion's willingness to experiment with unconventional techniques could save this one for us.

Keywords: Pube stache, Vag pics, status

Plus we give our ratings for the month

+++++
Outro: Seatrain performing Portrait of the Lady as a Young Artist
Theme by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp

The Shining meets Dracula meets Frankensteinmeets The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Castle Freak (1995) evokes the lineage of gothic and atmospheric horror classics but failed to capture our fancy. 

Find out how in the 3rd installment of...

Z & Keith's
Second Annual
Doc-Oc-Shock-Rocktober
Hollerween
Scream-a-long
Spook-a-thon!

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Jonathan Young performing A Thousand Miles

It's the year 2022 and HOLLERWEEN 2's second episode is here to terrify you with a blunt, yet effective metaphor about how upper classes stay top in 1989's Society!
Directed by pod favorite Brian Yuzna and featuring (extremely) wet puppet design by Screaming Mad George, the only thing this film is missing is solid performances.

Also in this issue:
Z's meemaw's baller lifestyle
Trailers vs. Mobile Homes
And we play "guess the character's name"

+++++  
Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Krokus performing Eat The Rich

wElComE to
Z & Keith's
Second Annual
Doc-Oc-Shock-Rocktober
Hollerween
Scream-a-long
Spook-a-thon!

Ohhhhh boi, do we have a doozie for you to kick off the spooky season!
Shot in West Berlin, this reflection on relationships, identity, jealousy, oh gosh--so many things, brought to us by Polish filmmaker Andrzej Zulawski, Possession (1981) may be a new favorite.
There is so much going on in this movie!
Watch it before listening!

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Bobby Tinsley performing What About Bob?

Howdy, y'all!  

We wrap our month of workin' it w/Dolly with the 1980 classic 9 to 5. 

One part revenge fantasy, one part slapstick comedy, a healthy dose of "women's lib"  and at least a few pinches of WTF, this mélange of mayhem only works as well as it does because of it's amazing cast.   

Next stop--HOLLERWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!

Dolly Parton Explains The Evolution of Her Look | Allure
exotic.cancer on IG

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: 9 to 5 (Butch le Butch remix)

Surprise!

In this EXTRA FREE VALUE-ADDED episode we're talking about two documentaries related to our other viewing this month.

We watched Chicken Ranch (1983) and Keith watched 9to5: The Story of A Movement (2020).
The first goes inside a notorious legalized brothel in Nevada which claims a lineage with the house of the same name that was the basis for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
The other, as you probably guessed, is the true story that inspired Straight Talk.
jk
9to5 details the history of a movement of women organizing around discrimination is the workplace. Beginning with clerical workers at Harvard, it eventually became a nationwide organization. Along the way there were scandals, unions and even a Jane Fonda here and there.

links:
ERA
Chicken Ranch trailer
9to5 site

No punny subtitle this week--this one speaks for itself!

Based on the hit Broadway production, we're talking the celluloid adaptation of a story based on real events, 1982's Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Z breaks down some of the problems with FOSTA/SESTA and we relay some of our early encounters with pornography.

Sex work is work!


Referenced materials:

The laws that sex workers really want | Juno Mac

When Gomer Pyle Married Rock Hudson: The Secret Life Jim Nabors

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: La Grange performed by Luna Lee

Hey yo forget about it- 

This week we bring you Rhinestone (1984) starring the Italian Stallion himself and a lil filly name of Dolly Parton.
Plus there's Ron "friggin' epic" Leibman and Tim "Meleager" Thomerson to boot!  

We did not know what to expect going into this film and boy were we right!

~sparkles~ courtesy of Freesound.org users komit.com and opticaillusions

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Sean Keller performing Drinkenstein
Sean Keller on Bandcamp

Arkansasian bumpkin Shirlee Kenyan stumbles into the top of the talk radio charts with her homespun country wisdom. Along the way, the most undesirable man in the world berates her, digs into her past and then--you guessed it--falls for and wins her over.
And there's a lot of car horns.   

We had some recording foul-ups while making this episode (don't read into it!) so pardon our dust.   

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Zach and Maggie performing Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs
Zach and Maggie on IG

As we wrap up Fraser Fest, we talk Pauly Shore, Patch Adams and uh, flatulence....buuuuuddy

Pop Culture Detective - Born Sexy Yesterday

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Encino by Demon Widow

Hun-tee, did we have a lot to say about this one.
Religious trauma, visual filmmaking, the passion of Philip Ridley... strap in!

This film is available on Blu-Ray (with oodles of extras!) at Arrow Video
[not a paid endorsement]

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Peter Gabriel performing Blood of Eden (Until the End of the World mix)

Finally a movie this month that we liked this month!
Spoilers for The Nun 2 (2023) and why walking backwards is the way to ruin a movie.
+++++
Outro: Juliette Lewis performing Rid of Me
Theme by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp

Oh hey there!  

Here we bring you the second installment of Fraser Fest. This time we're talking 1994's Airheads. Fraser, Buscemi, McKean, Hudson, Farley, Mantenga... so much potential. Along the way we also discuss Showgirls, cuz obvs.  

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp

Outro: Melodicka Bros performing Hammer Smashed Face

In this very special episode, we both cry.  

We're talking Gods and Monsters (1998). Based on the novel Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram which gives a speculative account of the last days of Frankenstein (1931) director James Whale.  
Oddly enough--in talking about this movie about movies, images, bodies--we talk about impossible body standards in media, the abuse of bodies by The Industry and warmongers, the enforcement of heteronormativity... which inevitably leads to tears.  

Welcome to Fraser Fest!

Rob McElhenney on having the perfect body

"Whatever Happened to Brendan Fraser?" by Zach Baron in GQ, Feb, 2018

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Viktoriya Yermolyeva performing Gods and Monsters

https://vkgoeswild.com/

Salutations! To finish off July, we bring you the final installment of Keith's bday month curations: C.H.U.D. (1984). Something fishy is happening under the streets of Manhattan. The wife of the chief of the 9th precinct has gone missing, homeless folks are not showing up at their regular soup kitchen, the Nuclear Regulator Commission is leaving behind ankle boots.  This movie has a lot of familiar faces, and is entrenched in the pop culture zeitgeist, but how many people have actually watched it? Along the way, we discuss John Goodman and Z enters the matrix and talks about l'algorithm Thanks for tuning in! Stay unirradiated!  +++++ Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp Outro: KMFDM performing Mysterious Ways

Hello, young lovers!
We bring you a tale as old as time: a young Lothario catches feelings for the first conquest of his that he respects. Meanwhile her dad is a gambler indebted to a mafioso who attempts to leverage the situation to pimp her out to a South American drug lord with whom he's trying to secure a deal. Naturally, they all end up in Atlantic City, one of them with a shirt that never dries.  

Shakespearean, really. 

It's The Pick Up Artist (1987) starring brat pack alum Molly Ringwald and Robert Downey, Jr. and a host of (now) familiar faces.  
And surprise, surprise-- we get into the politics of casual sex.  Considered yourself warned: we talk about non/consent, BDSM, and pornography, among other busty substances.

Pop Culture Detective's vid on "stalking for love"

Thanks for being here!
+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp

Welcome to the second installment of Keith's birthday selections!
This time we bring you the 1982 animated classic The Secret of NIMH.
Z discusses projector technologies and Keith reads from Wikipedia.   

Stay safe, we need you!

Great vid on John B Calhoun's experiments

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Paul Williams performing Flying Dreams

Greetings Citizens!

Welcome to a month of movies picked by Keith. Number one = I Shot Andy Warhol (1996).
This biopic about Valerie Solanas features a stand out performance by pod favorite Lily Taylor, plus Stephen Dorff as Candy Darling and Jared Harris as Warhol. You also get some Martha Plimpton and a soupcon of Justin Theroux. 

Unlike usual, we talk a lot about gender politics in this one.

Thanks for listening!
You're the best.

Reference/d materials: 

https://www.wynnegreenwood.com/
A Brief Convoluted History of the Word "Intersectionality" by Kory Stamp
Sandy Stone on Living Among Lesbian Separatists as a Trans Woman in the 70s 

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Hymn to Valerie Solanas by Linda Hoyle

Hell to the king, Hell to the chief! 

To open July, we bring you a world of Spice!
Not to be confused with the documentary of the same name about the desert planet Arakis, from which all Spice flows, this film chronicles the hijinks of the mid/late 90's pop phenomenon, The Spice Girls.  
We also talk mispronouncing words we've only seen in print, words people around us unknowingly made up and the impact the Girls and this movie had on a young Zed.   

All power to the people! 

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Wannabe My Sickness by DADS MAYO

Hey gurl-
This week we bring you a lil pot of gold at the end of the rainbow which is our month of Pride viewing: But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)
Z talks about relating to the self-denial and fear of being gay depicted in the film and Keith recalls some work history.

Thanks for celebrating with us!
xoxoxoxo

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp
Outro: Wanda Jackson performing Funnel of Love

Pride continues! 

Gender continues--to be... complex.  
We bring the story of three drag queens crossing the US, getting stuck in Smalltown, America, and learning a thing or two about appearances and acceptance. But who is the teacher???
It's 1995's To Wong Foo!

wikipedia article on The Gay and Trans Panic Defense
(CW for descriptions of violence against LBGTQ+ human beings. This article is not an easy read.)

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp
Outro: Eartha Kitt performing C'est Si Bon

In this, our second Pride month offering, we bring you 1988 film version of Harvey Fierstein's tour de force Torch Song Trilogy.  
Fierstein plays Arnold, a young homosexual living and performing in 1970's NYC.  Presented in three chapters, we see Arnold struggle and grow in his relationships and along the way learn a thing or two about when and where we find 'family'.  

Featuring the always-masterful Anne Bancroft as Ma, with Matthew Broderick and Brian Kerwin as Arnold's long term relationships, and the under utilized Ken Page and Charles Pierce playing fellow drag performers.  This definitely deserves it's place in the queer canon.   

Stay safe, stay fierce.

++++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp
Outro: AFI performing Torch Song

Why is it called that?!
We winge about Chris Nolan, Jake Busey's teeth and Huarache's vegetarian options.
+++++
Outro: Willie Bobo performing Fried Neck Bone and Some Home Fries
Theme by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp

Happy Pride!

We launch our month of LGBTQIA cinematic offerings with 1995's Jeffrey.
Steven Weber plays the titular actor/caterer who swears off the complications of sex in the time of AIDS. As fate would have it though, the moment he declares his chastity, he meets the dreamy (and HIV positive) Steve played by Michael T Weiss. The consumate Patrick Stewart and Bryan Batt are there to bring some realness to Jeffrey's cartoonish version of gay 90's NYC, but IS IT ENOUGH???

We also talk email composition, how we think vaginoplasty works, our post-mortem wishes, plus, surprise: Nathan Lane is good.

Be safe!
We luv u.

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp
Outro: Joey Dee & The Starliters performing The Peppermint Twist, Part 1

Heya! And welcome to the fourth and final of Z's birthday selections for 2022!
To close out the festivities, we bring you the disco-infused teen slasher Prom Night (1980) featuring Jamie Lee Curtis and, somehow, Leslie Nielsen.
See you on the dance floor!

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp
Outro: Sticky Patch performing Disco Murder

Z's Birthday Special!
This week we feel touched by an angel and that angel is our special guest Bunny!

We are talking 1996's mall goth anthem--The Craft.
You lWelcome to oved it at the time, but how does it fair? Is it in the Cluelessverse? Is it a prequel to Scream? Is Kelsey Grammer ok?
These and many may other questions are raised. We give you no warrantees though.

The referenced interview with Rachel True

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp
Outro: Coven performing Wicked Woman

Halloo!
Welcome to Z's second birthday selection: 1999's (hidden?) gem Mystery Men!  
We also touch upon dog breeds, the unfortunateness of Craig Kilborn, the Blair Witch Project & more!

[Editor's note: Mike Myers parents were from Liverpool, England. Neither were from Scotland]

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp
Outro: Neil Cicierega performing Full Mouth

Welcome to the first of Z's Birthday Day Picks! 

In this Very Special Episode we talk about the legacy of sexual predators in the entertainment industry. And a little about the film Great Balls of Fire (1989).
So heavy content warnings for discussions relating to said topics. 

We also touch on Phoenix Rising (2022) 

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp
Outro: Flying Lizards performing Whole Lotta Shakin'

Hey there!
This week we bring you Stanley Tucci's The Impostors from 1998.
Whoops, Woody Allen is in this movie for a second. Sorry about that!
To lighten the mood we talk the 3 C's:  Climate Change, COVID, Capitalism.
Shout out to Grape Nuts

++++++
Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp
Outro: Sidney Gish performing Impostor Syndrome

Hiya! Here's our review of L.A. Story as well as takes on enemas, starbux fukkery, mouth moisture, and con-doms. Thanks for listening! Keith's contribution to IMDB trivia  +++++  Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp Outro: Cher & Sonny Bono performing It Never Rains In Southern California

Helloo! For this season of rebirth, this week we bring you 1999's Resurrection Also we learn about pears of anguish, Z's hatred of "Dutch angles" and the effect of acetaminophen on their taste buds. And of course, a bajina update. Video by Paper Will on entertainment made by cults (cued to the section dedicated to Sedevacantism) +++++ Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp Outro: BabySaster performing BWV 147

This week we bring you the highest grossing film featuring gay lead characters* -- The Birdcage! A story that started as a play in early 1970's France, made it's way to the silver screen in Italy, became a hit on Broadway, and finally got the Hollywood treatment in 1996. We discuss Hank Azaria's hotness,  straights performing queers performing straightness, and the sadly contemporary feel of the film's politics. *prior to Bruno +++++ Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp Outro: Nikkipedia performing Bird Set Free

Hi and welcome to April! Heavy spoiler waring for this one! The film will be ruined for you if you listen to this before seeing the film.   Also content warning for lots of talk of body parts, bodily functions, surgery, etc.    This week we bring you April Fool's Day (1986).   Z debriefs about their surgery and we talk about the movie for a few minutes at the end. +++++ Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp Outro: Dionne Warwick performing April Fools in 2021

In which we talk Sarah Palin, Morgan Spurlock and Dick Warlock.
Pop Culture Detective | Patriarchy According to The Barbie Movie

+++++

Outro: Kenonyx performing Urban Commando
Theme by Professor Ping available on Bandcamp

Oh hai! This week we’re wrapping March Hysterical Madness by discussing the 1980 film Altered States, starring William Hurt, Bob Balaban & Blair Brown. This episode was recorded the day before the passing of William Hurt & two days before we learned he was a pretty shitty asshole, so that topic is not discussed in this episode and we’re sorry about that! We do however discuss the ways that this film approaches white academia, relationship dynamics, and Z says goodbye to their uterus as it no longer exists (though it was still kicking & screaming during the recording of this episode), plus we drop a new TikTok challenge! 2017 Daily Beast article on accusations against William Hurt from partners (CW, obvs) +++++ Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp Outro: Sepultura performing Altered States

Lordy, how have we not seen this before now?!
Holy schnikies this week, to celebrate Z's "basket" getting "cased", we bring you 1982's Basket Case!
In the process of trying to give you our impression of this film, you'll also be treated to such topics as: "NYC ding dong running", automated restroom air fresheners, and how Krasinski sux.  

We luv u
Stay cool
C U next week

Scaredy Cats video on Malignant

Z's Recovery Fund

+++++

Intro by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp
Outro: Audiofeels performing Canon in D/Basket Case

Cheers and Happy St Paddy's day!
This week we bring you 1993's Leprechaun.
Please enjoy responsibly!

xo, Z & K

+++++

Intro: by Professor Ping available on Spotify and Bandcamp
Outro: Brad Neely performing Bring the Gold