Author: Tony

Join the gang as they discuss the 1974 film The Longest Yard.

• Directed by Robert Aldrich
• Written by Keenan Wynn (screenplay) and Albert S. Ruddy (story)
• Starring Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Bernadette Peters

Let’s start this summary out with a warning. Do not, under any circumstances, confuse this film with the 2005 film of the same name starring Adam Sandler. The Sandler version stars Nelly and is miserably awful. Then again, The Burt Reynolds version ain’t exactly Citizen Kane but still has the effervescent charm and bushy moustache of Burt Reynolds. The Longest Yard tells the story of Paul “Wrecking” Crewe, an NFL player convicted of drinking and driving who begins a football team behind bars at the behest of the evil and football-obsessed warden. Hilarity ensues.

Worth noting:

• Sausagefest is still coming. Don’t forget to donate. Ask Siri for a reminder if you’re into that sort of thing.
• Part of the Recently Dead Guy series because of the recent death of Richard Kiel.
• Why are football players given a pass? This movie has modern parallels.
• You need an appropriate amount of gut hang over your pants. Listen to learn more.
• Let’s talk about how much the NFL sucks.
• The Longest Yard doesn’t hold up well and really shows its age.
• The possible Green Acres update in Seattle and possible jealousy over Seattle being the most awesome place ever.
• An alternate explanation for Lord of the Rings. Minds blown.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Darrell
• David

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Join the gang as they discuss the 1997 film Boogie Nights.

• Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
• Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
• Starring Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Heather Graham, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, William H. Macy, Luis Guzmán

Boogie Nights is the 1997 breakout success from Paul Thomas Anderson, famous for his long, dramatic movies about the human condition (Magnolia, The Master, and There Will Be Blood followed Boogie Nights in fulfilling PTA’s dream of bleak and strange worlds in a 2+ hour running time). Considered maybe one of PTA’s best movies, Boogie Nights tells the story of Dirk Diggler, based loosely on the real-life story of John Holmes, a busboy in L.A. who turns into a porn star in the ’70s, ends up with a drug habit, and turns to crime on some poor advice from “friends” who are energetic and sniffle a lot.

Worth noting:

• Sausagefest is still coming. Don’t forget to donate. Because bewbs.
• Starting off with football talk because it’s the most wonderful time of the year.
• The consensus is that the movie is well acted, technically brilliant, and receives bonus points for having Luis Guzmán.
• The upsides of global warming and global destruction!
• Neil Degrasse Tyson has a soothing mustache.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Darrell
• David

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Join the gang as they discuss the 1990 film Awakenings.

• Directed by Penny Marshall
• Written by Steven Zaillian
• Starring Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, John Heard, Julie Kavner

Awakenings is the tearjerking offering from Penny Marshall all about what it means to get your life back and then lose it again, plenty of sad stuff especially now that Robin Williams is gone. Awakenings tells the story of a doctor who uses a drug on catatonic patients to make them mobile again, only to find that the drug has a limited window of time to work and thus all the patients eventually go back to their previous state. Based on Oliver Sacks’s book of the same name, Awakenings was nominated for three Academy Awards and garnernered high praise among critics. Also tissues. Mountains and mountains of tissues. Because tears. Tears, I say!

Worth noting:

• Sausagefest is still coming. Don’t forget to donate. Because bewbs.
• Sadly, this is a Recently Dead Guy podcast with the tragic passing of Robin Williams.
• This one is a weepy movie. Brace yourself.
• Spielberg was at one time attached to this movie and the movie retains that feeling.
• Robin Williams and Robert De Niro are great actors. We’re just going to keep restating the obvious because it’s true.
• Do the ice ball challenge for a good cause!

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Darrell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Join the gang as they discuss the 2013 film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.

• Directed by Tom Tykwer
• Written by Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger, Tom Tykwer
• Starring Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is the highly stylized murder story from Tom Tykwer, German director who broke into international prominence with Run Lola Run and most recently co-directed Cloud Atlas. It’s slow, historical, and is a movie primarily about odor which is a trifecta of problems not dealt with by other movies. On this, we can give it credit for originality. On accounts of quality or watchability, reviews were mixed. Perfume tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an 18th century man born into poverty in Paris who learns he has an amazing sense of smell. Strange things happen but, eventually, he starts killing people. A lof of people. That’s where it gets weird.

Worth noting:

• Life finds a way. Dr. Malcolm was right, dammit. People bang in subzero temperatures.
• Jolie likes this movie because the ending pays off hardcore.
• Tony disagrees for some reason and has some crackpot theory that it’s a fairy tale. You know, where a lot of people get murdered.
• Find out, if you want to, what all the head butting talk is all about.
• “I’m pooping and I have no escape route.” The wasp is coming for you.
• If you’re not slutty for George Clooney, you’re slutty for Cheech Marin.
• I’m a dragon.
• Jolie talks all about the big move to Seattle.
• If you don’t like the show notes, blame the ghost of Kurt Cobain.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Darrell
• Jolie
• David

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Join the gang as they discuss the 2013 film Don Jon.

• Directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt
• Written by Joseph Gordon-Levitt
• Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Brie Larson

Don Jon is Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut and he also wrote the script. The kid sure has grown up since he keeps showing up in good movies, so much so I only sometimes think about Tommy Solomon from Third Rock from the Sun. He’s been crushing as an actor (Inception, Lincoln, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper), but this one sits more squarely on him as creator. He did well: good movie, surprisingly more depth than we expected, and interesting character developments. JGL plays Jon, a Jersey-fied gym rat with a porn addiction. Then he meets Barbara and he thinks things are really turning around. Then it gets complicated, as it always does.

Worth noting:

• Don Jon surprised us by bringing up interesting questions and being much deeper than we anticipated. Surprisingly, it got straight male relationships right. It also has some interesting things to say about the idea of perfection, how adult relationships work, honesty, and all topics widely relatable.
• Watch for the curtains scene. We had a lot to say about it.
• The difference between porn for men and porn for women.
• Tony Danza: the man’s still got it.
• Why New Jersey? Could this movie be set anywhere else?
• Also, Julianne Moore: what an actress.
• Bechdel test and women in movies. Again. Ladies are important, too.
• Google “age of consent.” Trust us. You won’t be disappointed.
• Stop making up dumb elemental materials. Just don’t.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Darrell
• Jolie
• Sam

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Join the gang as they discuss the 1957 film Attack of the Crab Monsters.

• Directed by Roger Corman
• Written by Charles B. Griffith
• Starring Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan, Russell Johnson

Attack of the Crab Monsters is the responsibility of Roger Corman, B movie producer extraordinaire and king of the paper mache monsters. This short 62 minute gem was made to be part of a double feature for the drive-in movie crowd and it’s obvious all expenses were spared. The story begins with a group of scientists traveling to a remote island which just happens to be populated with a mutated, giant crab monster. Just one, despite the title telling us otherwise. From there, details and plot are, shall we say thin, but ultimately we find that a few make it out to tell the tale of the crab monster with trash bags for eyelids. Still, a B movie can be a lot of fun which is why we didn’t criticize this movie nearly as much as, say Gigli.

Worth noting:

• Welcome back David! You were… missed???
• Tony’s walking and avoiding beef. David is doing none of those things.
• The story was weird but it was short. It got weird in the middle, too. These factors may appeal to you.
• Your weekly pop culture roundup: Ninja Warrior, Naked and Afraid, HBO Go is like a stalker ex-girlfriend now, The Wire as the Best Show Ever on Television, Oz, Game of Thrones.
• Stump stuff. Don’t ask.
• Let’s talk about the worst movies you’ve seen.
• Clone Wars TV show, lens flares, and Schrödinger’s Lightsaber.
• In which we crush the dreams of small children just watching How to Train Your Dragon II.
• What happens when crabs make well-reasoned arguments.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Darrell
• Jolie
• David

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Join the gang as they discuss the 1993 film Groundhog Day.

• Directed by Harold Ramis
• Written by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis
• Starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky, Brian Doyle-Murray

Groundhog Day is the pivotal 1993 comedy film from Harold Ramis, rest in peace, comedy writer and director extraordinaire and behind the likes of Ghostbusters, Meatballs, Caddyshack, and SCTV. Groundhog Day enjoys a comfortable place among the great comedies of all time, a comfortable 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s listed on AFI’s 100 Films, 100 Laughs. You know, the comedy list. It’s the story of Phil Conners, played by the perfectly mugging Bill Murray, a Pittsburgh weatherman who travels to Punxsutawney, PA on Groundhog Day to do some fluff reporting on the event. However, he finds he keep waking up on the same day over and over again in a time loop, beginning each day with the irritating sounds of Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe.”

Worth noting:

• Look who’s getting healthy?!?
• Rules and the time travel movie. Sometimes comedies do it better.
• Your obligatory Europe’s “The Final Countdown” mention. Ladies.
• Autograph’s “Turn up the Radio” shown below. You’ve been pre-warned about the hair metalness.
• Bill Murray is so punk rock.
• Obligatory Game of Thrones updates. Spoilers of Season 3, a year after the fact, ahead.
• What does the ending teach us and what are the rules? Serious discussion ensues with little to no penis jokes.
• Edge of Tomorrow shows up again because it’s sci-fi Groundhog Day.

Featured in this episode:

• Tony
• Darrell
• Jolie

And now, one for the ladies…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS