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Episodes
Conrad and Dan review forgotten fantastical films
Episodes
Monday May 15, 2023
Monday May 15, 2023
Conrad and Dan discover the 1995 sci-fi fantasy drama Powder cowering away in the oubliette basement and drag it whimpering into the sunlight to see if it's the sort of baby you want to immediately disown in the maternity ward, or a misunderstood marvel that's "too beautiful for this world". The tale of a mysterious young man with a whiter-than-white complexion who seems to have supernatural powers, Powder could be a religious allegory or a heartwarming fable. But given that its writer/director is Victor Salva and the narrative keeps having to take a backseat to unjustifiable flashes of male nudity, the film could have a wholly different agenda. It stars Sean Patrick Flanery, Lance Henrikson, Mary Steenburgen and none other than Jeff Goldblum... which is quite a cast... and features a sumptuous score from Jerry Goldsmith. But, crucially, is it any good? And can we separate the art from the artist? Find out!
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Tuesday May 02, 2023
Tuesday May 02, 2023
Dan and Conrad explore the late George A. Romero's personal favourite and, until now, most elusive film, Martin (1977), courtesy of Second Sight Films, whose stunning 4K remastered edition of the available to order in the UK now. It bears some narrative similarity with Vampire's Kiss (1988), the topic of our previous episode, in that its central character believes they are a vampire... but might not be. But whereas Robert Bierman's film is a meme-worthy black comedy phenomenon with an outrageous central performance from Nicolas Cage set in 80s corporate New York, Romero's film is an understated character study of a troubled young man, played with alluring yet disturbing innocence by John Amplas, set against the post-industrial decay of a small Pennsylvania town in the late 70s. But is this rarely seen and often-overlooked entry in Romero's filmography a hidden gem or a forgettable oddity? Find out!
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Tuesday Apr 18, 2023
Tuesday Apr 18, 2023
Writer, director and actor Lars Henriks returns to help us through another odd 80s film featuring fangs and eccentric performances: Vampire's Kiss (1988). That's right! Long before Nicolas Cage portrayed the most famous vampire of them all in this year's horror comedy Renfield, he played Peter Loew – a yuppie literary agent who becomes convinced he's a bloodsucking creature of the night after a terrifying one-night stand with the alluring Rachel (Jennifer Beals). But is it real, or is he an American psycho who's a dick to his secretary (Mario Conchito Alonso)? And will every single scene of Cage's unhinged performance become an internet meme?! Find out as we delve into the film behind so many memorable gifs to find out if there's black comedy gold to be mined or if it's a $3.99 set of plastic novelty teeth.
Follow Lars on Instagram and find out about anti kyno, the new independent local film and children's theater for adults he's opening in Hamburg!
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Tuesday Apr 04, 2023
Tuesday Apr 04, 2023
One of our Patreons nominated Eddie Murphy's notorious 2003 sci-fi action 'comedy' The Adventures of Pluto Nash for this episode, which on paper should have been promising. Its star was coming off a string of family-friendly comedies like The Nutty Professor, Dr. Dolittle and Shrek. Its supporting cast includes Randy Quaid, Rosario Dawson, Joe Pantoliano, Jay Mohr, Pam Grier and John Cleese. It's directed by quirky action/comedy wunderkind Ron Underwood of Tremors fame and has a budget north of $100 million. What could possibly go wrong?! A lot, it turns out. Quite a lot. But despite being the biggest box office flop of all time when it was released, it hasn't emerged as either a reclaimed cult classic or a so-bad-it's-good guilty pleasure... it's been largely forgotten. So, let's take a look at this curio and decide whether we're over the moon with it... or hitting the abort button before it causes collateral damage!
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Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
A new Dungeons and Dragons movie arrives in theatres this month, so we thought we'd take a look back at the very first attempt to bring the beloved role-playing phenomenon to the screen. As two first-level novices, Dan and Conrad needed an expert Dungeon Master to guide them through this early 2000s CGI-fest, so the sage-like Michael French of RetroBlasting joins them. At least, he does until his Internet took pity and set him free from the spectacle of PlayStation 1 cut-screen establishing shots, Jeremy Irons devouring the scenery and spitting it venomously back out, and evil henchmen in frosty blue lipstick. The fantasy extravaganza directed by first-time helmer Courtney Solomon, featuring Justin Whalin, Marlon Wayans, Thora Birch, Zoe McLellan and Kristen Wilson is a much-maligned box office disaster, but is it a powerful gem just waiting to be rediscovered? Find out!
Check out RetroBlasting on YouTube!
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Tuesday Mar 07, 2023
Tuesday Mar 07, 2023
Conrad and Dan are down under again, celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Spierig Brothers first feature film, Undead, a chucklesome zombie-and-alien-visitation action extravaganza made on a shoestring budget with a "she'll be right" attitude. This 50s B-movie made in 2003 has wit and inventiveness galore, a vivacious ensemble cast and a score so cheesy it should come with a lactose-intolerance warning, but, crucially, does it stand the test of time or is it better left buried alongside a triple-double-barrell shotgun? Find out!
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Tuesday Feb 21, 2023
Tuesday Feb 21, 2023
Conrad and Dan find themselves in the Arizona wilderness, watching the genre-defying, fast-and-furious road racing, sci-fi fantasy horror revenge thriller The Wraith (1986). It features Charlie Sheen as new boy in town Jake, who just may or may not be the reincarnation of murdered local hero Jamie and may or may not be the alter ego of a mysterious black-clad racing driver who's picking off the members of the gang who killed him while driving his super futuristic concept car. Is anyone following this? No? Neither are we, frankly, but luckily we have Sherilyn Fenn, Randy Quaid, Clint Howard, Nick Cassavetes and a killer 80s soundtrack to distract us!
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Tuesday Feb 07, 2023
Tuesday Feb 07, 2023
Dan and Conrad venture into the Forbidden Zone in stunning 80s 3D for this episode, with only a 14-year-old Molly Ringwald as their guide,Peter Strauss as their store-brand Han Solo hero and Ernie Hudson as... I dunno... someone who is also there? It's 80s b-movie sci-fi at its finest, as the world-weary bounty hunter Wolff (with two 'f's) drives across a desert planet to rescue three supermodels from the clutches of the mutant dictator, Overdog, played by Michael Ironside, whose attempts to chew scenery are frustrated by his being strapped to a camera crane throughout the movie. It's an obvious cashgrab aping both Star Wars and Mad Max, but does it deserve to linger in the Oubliette forever? Find out!
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Tuesday Jan 24, 2023
Tuesday Jan 24, 2023
We're back! For our first episode of 2023, we're joined by our good friend Isaac Sutton, who invites us to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Guillermo del Toro's first feature film: the Christmas/New Year steampunk vampire tale, Cronos. As the great man explained, a director's first feature sets out their cinematic universe – and this is never more true than in this case. We have a mute central character, a child and a grandfatherly figure, a mystical insect, and the humans are the real monsters. Oh, and Ron Perlman. You gotta have Ron Perlman! But should it be granted eternal life or should it be locked away in an angelic statue and forgotten by all except GdT aficionados? Find out!
Follow Isaac Sutton on Twitter and check out his new Melee Mythos YouTube channel!
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Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Simon Barber, co-host of the Sodajerker on Songwriting podcast, joins us for our festive finale to 2022: and it's a doozy! The producing team behind the original Superman: The Movie (1978), its first two sequels and the spin-off Supergirl (1984) turned their attention to another origin story for a much-loved supernatural hero in 1985, and brought us Santa Claus: The Movie. Featuring Dudley Moore as a cheery elf determined to modernise the North Pole, David Huddlestone as the titular jolly gift-giver and scenery-munching John Lithgow as the nefarious business tycoon B.Z., the film has everything you could ever want in seasonal family adventure. Highlights include abducting homeless children to take them on flying reindeer joyrides with dangerous manoeuvres near the Twin Towers in Manhattan, John Lithgow screaming "FOR FREE?!!" and turning beetroot red when Dudley Moore attempts to explain the act of giving a gift, and Aled Jones singing on a glorious soundtrack by Henry Mancini. But is it the gift that keeps on giving, or is it failed super-dooper looper? Find out!
Follow Simon Barber on Twitter, if it still exists, and visit the Sodajerker website.
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