The 80s Movie Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

On this episode, we’re going to continue with our series on the 1980s movies of director Susan Seidelman, talking about her biggest hit film, 1985’s Desperately Seeking Susan.

We pause our retrospective on the 1980s movies of director Susan Seidelman to examine Andrew McCarthy new Hulu documentary about the Brat Pack and how a single article in 1985 may or may not have affect his career and the careers of many of his co-stars and friends.

This week, we look back at another three films for whom their releases would be the only theatrical release for their respective distributors.

It's Part 6 of our ongoing series, The Orphans.

Would you like to know more?

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This week's films are:

Heartbreaker (1983, Frank Zuniga, from Monarex) Hells Angels Forever (1983, Leon Gast and and Kevin Keating and Richard Chase, RKR Releasing) Mother Lode (1982, Charlton Heston, Agamemnon Films)

We begin our miniseries on British film producer David Puttnam and the films he would make or acquire during his brief run as the head of Columbia Pictures by taking a look at the man himself, and how he was able to build a career in filmmaking that would lead him to become the last major filmmaker to head a major studio.

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David Puttnam receives the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing Chariots of Fire from Hollywood legend Loretta Young, March 29, 1982

Producer David Puttnam with film cans listing some of the titles he produced during his career.

On this episode, we take a look back at the 1981 Kiss album that was supposed to launch a global entertainment juggernaut, with a movie, a soundtrack album, a tour to support the movie and soundtrack album, a sequel movie, a sequel soundtrack and a sequel tour to support the sequel movie and sequel soundtrack.

Music from "The Elder."

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The Cover of "Music from 'The Elder'"

Who is that unmasked man?

This was supposed to help listeners understand this nonsense better? 

Today's episode talks about the Management Company Entertainment Group, or MCEG, who would only release four films over the course of nineteen months, while also producing one of the biggest hits of 1989.

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The movies discussed during this episode: Boris and Natasha (1992, Charles Martin Smith) Breaking the Rules (1992, Neal Israel) Catch Me If You Can (1989, Stephen Sommers) Chains of Gold (1991, Rob Holcolm) The Chocolate War (1988, Keith Gordon) C.H.U.D. 2: Bud the Chud (1990, John Irving) Cold Heaven (1992, Nicolas Roeg) Convicts (1990, Peter Masterson) Fatal Charm (1992, Fritz Kiersch [as Alan Smithee]) The Fourth War (1990, John Frankenheimer) Getting It Right (1989, Randal Kleiser) Home Movies (1980, Brian De Palma) Limit Up (1990, Richard Martini) Look Who's Talking (1989, Amy Heckerling) Look Who's Talking Too (1990, Amy Heckerling) Slipping Into Darkness (1988, Eleanor Gaver) Without You, I'm Nothing (1990, John Boskovich)

On this third and final part of a three part series, host Edward Havens continues to discuss favorite 80s movies, the state of streaming services today, religion, books, movie theatres, wrestling and so much more with his brother-in-law, Ph. D. student Michael Hourigan.

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Man Facing Southeast (FilmDallas, 1988)

Amongst the movies discussed during this episode:

Birdy (1984, Alan Parker) The Breakfast Club (1985, John Hughes) The Chocolate War (1988, Keith Gordon) Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986, John Hughes) Home Alone (1990, Chris Columbus) Man Facing Southeast (1986, Eliseo Subiela) Out of Bounds (1986, Richard Tuggle) The Princess Bride (1987, Rob Reiner) Popeye (1980, Robert Altman) Saved! (2004, Brian Dannelly) Sixteen Candles (1984, John Hughes) Starman (1984, John Carpenter) Uncle Buck (1989, John Hughes) Used Cars (1980, Robert Zemeckis)

On this second part of a three part series, host Edward Havens continues to discuss favorite 80s movies, the state of streaming services today, religion, books, movie theatres, wrestling and so much more with his brother-in-law, Ph. D. student Michael Hourigan.

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Amongst the movies discussed during this episode:

Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott) Blade Runner 2049 (2017, Denis Villeneuve) The Breakfast Club (1985, John Hughes) Bull Durham (1988, Ron Shelton) The Color of Money (1986, Martin Scorsese) Diner (1982, Barry Levinson) The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Irvin Kershner) Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986, John Hughes) Garden State (2004, Zack Braff) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008, Steven Spielberg) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg) Mad Max: Fury Road (2015, George Miller) Mission: Impossible 2 (2000, John Woo) Pineapple Express (2008, David Gordon Green) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Steven Spielberg) St. Elmo's Fire (1985, Joel Schumacher) Star Wars (1977, George Lucas) Untitled Furiosa Prequel (2023, George Miller) Used Cars (1980, Robert Zemeckis)

On this first part of a three part series, host Edward Havens discusses favorite 80s movies, the state of streaming services today, religion, books, movie theatres and so much more with his brother-in-law, Ph. D. student Michael Hourigan.

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Amongst the movies discussed during this episodes are:

Aloha (2016, Cameron Crowe) Back to the Future (1985, Robert Zemeckis) Back to the Future 2 (1989, Robert Zemeckis) Back to the Future 3 (1990, Robert Zemeckis) The Blues Brothers (1980, John Landis) Brazil (1985, Terry Gilliam) Death Becomes Her (1992, Robert Zemeckis) Dune (1984, David Lynch) Field of Dreams (1989, Phil Alden Robinson) Forrest Gump (1994, Robert Zemeckis) Fury Road (2015, George Miller) The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009, Terry Gilliam) The Irishman (2019, Martin Scorsese) The Last Temptation of Christ (1988, Martin Scorsese) Local Hero (1983, Bill Forsyth) The Natural (1984, Barry Levinson) My Neighbor Totoro (1988, Hayao Miyazaki) Raider of the Lost Ark (1981, Steven Spielberg) Raging Bull (1980, Martin Scorsese) Romancing the Stone (1984, Robert Zemeckis) The Road Warrior (1982, George Miller) The Right Stuff (1983, Philip Kaufman) Say Anything... (1989, Cameron Crowe) Silence (2016, Martin Scorsese) TRON (1982, Steven Lisberger) The Untouchables (1987, Brian De Palma) Wings of Desire (1988, Wim Wenders)

This episode takes a look at creation, production and release of Phil Joanou's underrated 1987 teen comedy Three O'Clock High, produced (and then unproduced) by Steven Spielberg and his Amblin Entertainment.

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Original 1987 Theatrical One-Sheet for Three O'Clock High