Gremlins - Summer of '84

The Last Starfighter is... dead? Alive? Any good as a movie? These are the questions that bedevil Paul, Javi, and the ever gung-ho Producer Brad as they discuss the endearing curio that is Nick Castle's The Last Starfighter. Not as well-directed as Return of the Jedi, not as handsomely produced as Gremlins or Poltergeist, and not nearly as well-written as ET, The Last Starfighter nevertheless works its humble charms on the Overthruster Gang, even as they cannot help but munch on such morsels as Robert Preston's insanely jolly performance, which appears to have been lifted from a 1960s Broadway musical, the inherent contradiction of naming a weapon "the Death Blossom", and VFX that were way ahead of their time back then, rapidly fell behind their time soon thereafter, and now seem to belong to no time at all. Folks, look, this was an okay movie, and you are going to have a great time listening to us liking it with a little bit of an attitude, but there really is one thing about this movie that lifts it to our love and admiration and that is how it showcases some of the great rental warehouse props of the 80s. This movie was made for about a buck fiddy, and they rented everything they possibly could to avoid building from scratch. As a result The Last Starfighter is a prop-spotter’s goldmine - and the vein leads straight to THE GREATEST GENRE PROP OF ALL TIME. So yeah, come for the feelgood saga of a trailer park kid who becomes a galactic hero - we're here for it - but stay for the props! Oh the beautiful props!SHOW NOTES:US Theatrical Release Date: July 13, 1984Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for July 13, 19841984 Top-Grossing Movies - The NumbersThe Last Starfighter (1984) AFI CatalogThe Last Starfighter movie review - Roger EbertMORE WARS IN 'LAST STARFIGHTER' - The New York TimesThe Last Starfighter's Lance Guest explains how he got the role ...Interview With Catherine Mary Stewart - Last Movie OutpostNick Castle — Director of 'The Last Starfighter' — Talks Being a Horror Icon and a Writer/Director - Script MagazineHow 'The Last Starfighter' Became a Cult Classic — and Why a Sequel May Finally Take FlightThe Last Starfighter (1984) - Modern Trailer [Fan Edit]Mad Cave Comic Book Sequel to The Last StarfighterWorld Premiere of Last Starfighter Musical Opens Storm Theatre's Off-Bway Season Oct. 15-30 | PlaybillTHE LAST STARFIGHTERS concept reelTheme music by Mike McGuillAdditional voicework by Russell BentleySummer of '84 voiced by Colby ElliottFollow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The cinema of the 1980s brought us many great showdowns: Kirk vs. Khan, Rocky Balboa vs. Clubber Lang, Tom Cody vs. Raven Shattick… and now PAUL VS. JAVI! And what brought these two to go toe to toe? None other than Joe Dante’s beloved Amblin classic Gremlins! Join us as Paul and Javi - refereed by the ever equitable Producer Brad - clash over this timeless phantasmagoria of small town Americana, par-for-the-course ’80s orientalism, and unhinged looney tunes puppet mayhem and ultra-violence. Find out what happens when Javi buys unreservedly into the insanity while Paul insists on even the slightest semblance of verisimilitude. It’s Phoebe Cates at her most lovable… right up until she spoils it for the world that THERE’S NO SANTA CLAUS! It’s Zach Gallligan and Corey Feldman as breathtakingly age-inappropriate best friends! It’s Dick Miller as the living manifestation of Reagan era malaise and xenophobia! It’s peak puppetry as a bunch of adorable fuzzy little critters turn into reptilian incarnations of rapacious late capitalism with a love of classic Disney cartoons! It’s wild, it’s crazy, it’s a grand guignol of puppet violence disguised as a Christmas movie… it’s GREMLINS!Show Notes:US Theatrical Release Date: June 8, 1984Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for June 8, 1984Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for July 6, 19841984 Top-Grossing Movies - The NumbersGremlins (1984) - AFI Catalog EntryGremlins movie review & film summary - Roger Ebert‘Gremlins’ (1984) Review - The New York TimesJoe Dante Reflects on 35 Years of GREMLINS - NerdistHow ‘The Temple of Doom’ Changed the MPAA Ratings System'Gremlins 3' Delayed to 2028 by Warner Bros.The Gremlins MuseumHIGHLIGHTS OF STRUGGLE FOR DISNEY - The New York TimesKey & Peele - "Gremlins 2" Brainstorm - UncensoredTheme music by Mike McGuillAdditional voicework by Russell BentleySummer of '84 voiced by Colby ElliottFollow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All too often, nostalgia seduces us into remembering things better than they actually were. But every once in awhile, the opposite occurs, and we get to re-experience something that turns out to be far better than our memory somehow maligned. Listen as Javi, Paul, and the ever mystical Producer Brad return to the days of high adventure as their dread is transmuted into delight by the startling revelation that the Conan sequel does not actually suck, but is kind of awesome! Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as Conan (with more lines!) to embark on a perilous quest with the promise of the ultimate reward. Joining the fray alongside the returning fountain of wizarding wonder that is Mako are iconic Grace Jones, imperious Sarah Douglas, impish Tracey Walter (cosmically transported from Repo Man), impetuous Olivia D’Abo, and imposing Wilt Chamberlain. And while the absence of Milius and Stone is certainly felt, we get rollicking D&D campaign scored by Basil Poledouris (if with less robust orchestra) elevated by an unexpected feminist twist, alongside more impalements than one would ever expect for a PG rating, not to mention one of the gnarliest monster killings ever committed to celluloid (thanks to a fantastic creature design by the great Carlo Rambaldi). Glory to Crom! And bring on King Conan!Show Notes: US Theatrical Release Date: July 29, 1984Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for June 29, 19841984 Top-Grossing Movies - The NumbersAFI|Catalog - Conan the DestroyerRoger Ebert's "Conan the Destroyer" movie reviewFILM:SCHWARZENEGGER IN NEW 'CONAN' - The New York TimesTheme music by Mike McGuillAdditional voicework by Russell BentleySummer of '84 voiced by Colby ElliottFollow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Between the blockbuster successes of Airplane! and The Naked Gun!, Jim Abrahams and the Zucker Bros. took a more scattershot satirical turn with Top Secret!, which parodies everything from Cold War spy thrillers to Elvis rock and roll musicals to WWII espionage dramas to ’60s beach party movies to an entire flashback remake of The Blue Lagoon. Skillfully surfing these crashing waves of colliding genres is none other than an impossibly young, beautiful, and charming Val Kilmer in his film debut, deftly demonstrating he can do pretty much anything with dazzling aplomb, including a show-stopping oner shot backwards. Kilmer plays Nick Rivers, an anachronistic American rock star on a cultural exchange to East Germany who gets caught up with an inexplicably still-active French Resistance to rescue an imprisoned scientist forced to build a diabolical doomsday weapon. Join Javi, Paul, and the cunningly clandestine Producer Brad as they go skeet surfing through this tsunami of sight gags that includes a giant pooping pigeon, an underwater saloon fight, and the greatest on-screen performance ever by a cow wearing boots. Show Notes: US Theatrical Release Date: June 22, 1984Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for June 22, 19841984 Top-Grossing Movies (Inflation-Adjusted) - The NumbersAFI|Catalog - Top Secret!Roger Ebert's Top Secret! movie review & film summaryFILM: 'TOP SECRET!', PARODY OF SPY MOVIES - The New York Times1984 Sears Christmas Wish Book (with Fred Savage modeling)The First Giant Restaurant Chain: Howard Johnson's: Rise and FallThe Most Unsung Leading Man of His Generation: Val Kilmer (1959-2025)Pinto Madness – Mother JonesTheme music by Mike McGuillAdditional voicework by Russell BentleySummer of '84 voiced by Colby ElliottFollow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

They say the third time’s the charm, and if you’re Star Trek, the third time is all about the charm. The studio may have cut the budget and schedule to cash in on the success of "Star Trek II,", but when you have a cast that has worked together for decades - and a director who is part of that cast - the characters can’t help but come through, especially when they are all on a mission of friendship. Spock may have died in "Star Trek II," but the gods of retconning were having none of it, and so the crew of the Enterprise had to suit up in their civvies, steal their old ship in a sequence that stands among the best of the franchise, and go on a search… for Spock! Of course, with Christopher Lloyd and John Larroquette as Klingons, they might as well have called it “the search for sitcom actors on hiatus”… and yet, weirdly, it works. There’s this accepted wisdom that the odd numbered treks are the worst, but revisiting this movie after many years, Paul, Javi, and the always-logical Producer Brad found it to be an absolute delight, a feast of wonderful character moments, awesome new ships (lookin’ good, Excelsior, and how you doin’ you sexy Bird of Prey?) and long-awaited franchise payoffs wrapped in a TV-movie like execution that strains to match the humor and emotion on display. Star Trek III may be known to many as the movie where Paramount’s cost-cutting led to the recasting of Kirstie Alley, but to the Multiplex Overthruster gang, it is a warm and comforting bowl of Fal-tor-pan, served up with a hefty dose of humor and the indefatigable camaraderie of a cast so tight that, together, they can overcome any obstacle… even when that obstacle is the search for more profit!Show Notes:US Theatrical release date: June 1, 1984US Weekend Box Office June 1, 1984US Weekend Box Office June 15, 1984US 1984 Top Grossing MoviesAFI Catalog Entry for "Star Trek III"Roger Ebert's "Star Trek III" reviewNYT "Star Trek III" reviewVonda N. McIntyreAlan Dean FosterTheme music by Mike McGuillAdditional voicework by Russell BentleySummer of '84 voiced by Colby ElliottFollow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To this day - twenty-two years later - you can still walk into a room anywhere in the civilized world and shout “Who ya gonna call?” and get an emphatic hollaback of “GHOSTBUSTERS!” Is there more that needs to be said? Yes, there is. About three hours worth if you’re Paul, Javi, and the preternatural Producer Brad! For a franchise that has been rehashed, rebooted, re-animated, and spun-off so many times, the original still holds the power to provoke laughter, surprise, wonder, and, occasionally, a low grumble of “dude, that Venkman’s kind of a lech." It was the eighties, and if you were an alum of SNL, times were good, especially for Dan Aykroyd, who, along with Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman turned his longtime obsession with the the paranormal into a humongously budgeted comedic spectacle on the scale of the epic blockbusters of Lucas and Spielberg. Anchored by a master class in snark presented by Bill Murray, with Ramis, Aykroyd, and everyman extraordinaire Ernie Hudson rounding out the titular team, the supernaturally amazing cast includes Sigourney “The Most Exhalted Queen of the Universe” Weaver, Annie “the unsung MVP of the Ghostbusters” Potts, and the ever lovable Rick Moranis as the world’s most indefatigable accountant. Let’s face it folks, there’s two epochs in history, before “he slimed me” and after “he slimed me," and the Multiplex Overthruster crew has seen them both. So dust off your Tobin’s Spirit Guide, power up your PK meter, and bust out the neutrona wands, because many Zuuls and Shubs are about to find out what it’s like to be roasted on the depths of the Sloar, and there’s only one call to make - GHOSTBUSTERS!Show Notes:US Theatrical release date: June 8, 1984US Weekend Box Office June 8, 1984US 1984 Top Grossing MoviesAFI Catalog Entry for GhostbustersRoger Ebert's Ghostbusters ReviewNYT/Janet Maslin Ghostbuster ReviewA look at Dan Akroyd’s original script for ‘Ghostbusters’Dan Aykroyd Explains Spooky Way He Came Up With Original 'Ghostbusters' IdeaTeenage Sigourney Weaver Seen Enjoying Beatles’ Hollywood Bowl Concert in ‘Eight Days a Week’ DocCasper's creators aren't so friendly - UPI ArchivesPatrick NagelTheme music by Mike McGuillAdditional voicework by Russell BentleySummer of '84 voiced by Colby ElliottFollow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this gritty, neon-soaked, leather-wearin’, motor oil-stinkin’, rockabilly-singin’, pole-dancin’, pickaxe-swingin’ installment, Paul, Javi, and the tough-talkin’ Producer Brad travel to another place, another time to bear witness to a “rock’n’roll fable”. It’s Streets of Fire, one of the oddest mainstream summer movies of the eighties; a feature-length music video that is equal parts western, Road Warrior dystopia, Blade Runner quasi future noir, and Berlin sex club fashion show! It’s Diane Lane, Michael Paré, Rick Moranis, and Willem Dafoe at his palest and most consumptive in Walter Hill’s confounding valentine to toxic masculinity! So rev your engines, fire up your neon, and crank up that eighties soundtrack - because these streets are not gonna burn themselves!Show Notes:**This episode has been updated to correct for missing audio. Please redownload if your version has dead air in the first 5 minutes. Thanks!**US Theatrical Release Date: June 1, 1984Streets of Fire AFI Catalog EntryWalter Hill Treated Screenplays Like Literature and Inspired a Generation of FilmmakersHow Did This Get Made: A Conversation With 'Streets Of Fire' Co-Writer Larry Gross - SlashFilm40th Anniversary Interview with Michael PareRoger Ebert's Streets of Fire reviewNew York Times' Streets of Fire reviewTheme music by Mike McGuillAdditional voicework by Russell BentleySummer of '84 voiced by Colby ElliottFollow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s Memorial Day weekend and the Multiplex Overthruster crew roars back to the movies for the Summer of ’84 with their old pal Indiana Jones! On his second outing, Indy stares down the many perils of the Temple of Doom… only it’s more like the “Temple of Holy Crap This Movie is Terrifying!” Look, over the years, Javi has followed Paul and the archaeological Producer Brad on many adventures, but into the Great Unknown Mystery… oh the hell with it, the Great Unknown Mystery here is how did all of the goodness of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” metastasize into this haltingly entertaining but mostly really weird and uncharacteristically dark story of child torture, monkey brains, a lava pit of wildly varying temperature, bloodless but nevertheless childhood-scarring heart ripping, and eyeball soup. It’s Indiana Jones as you have never seen him before… in an immaculate white dinner jacket, then strikingly shirtless and, uh, hypnotized into slapping his nine-year-old sidekick? Could Paul be right in his theory that the true hero of this film is Short Round and that we were robbed of an entire saga of Short Round Adventures? (Spoilers, he is right.) So dim your glowing stones, chill your monkey brains, and take a nice warm seat near the lava pit, because the Summer of ’84 is about to begin - in the bowels of The Temple of Doom!Show Notes:US Theatrical Release Date: May 23, 1984Weekend Domestic Box Office May 25, 1984Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom Box OfficeAFI Catalog Entry'INDIANA JONES' STIRS RATINGS DEBATE - The New York TimesHow ‘The Temple of Doom’ Changed the MPAA Ratings SystemCorliss, RIchard. (1984, May 21). Keeping the Customer Satisfied. TimeTheme music by Mike McGuillAdditional voicework by Russell BentleySummer of '84 voiced by Colby ElliottFollow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While “When did Michael Douglas Get So Young” may not have been the sole burning question of our rewatch of Romancing The Stone, it certainly was among the many prompted by Paul, Javi, and the always Trustworthy Producer Brad’s journey into the wilds of this 1980’s gem. Though Paul may - occasionally, pointedly - disagree, Javi brilliantly lays out the many arguments for why this film remains an underrated hidden classic. Whether they are settling their differences or finding common ground, Paul and Javi - and yes, Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas, we guess - have one of their most spirited debates as they ponder the veritable mudslide of latino stereotypes on display and many other topics of interest while marveling, as if anew, by the explosive chemistry between Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner… and Danny Devito and Zack Norman and some crocodiles… and Alfonso Arau and “Pepe”… and Holland Taylor and pretty much anything with a pulse. It’s a union of Hollywood Titans - Zemeckis, Douglas, Turner, Devito, and Thomas - yes, Thomas - as they rock to some of the most eighties saxophone riffs ever: it’s Romancing the Stone!Show Notes:Romancing the Stone US Theatrical Release Date: March 30, 1984Weekend Domestic Box Office March 30, 1984Romancing the Stone Box OfficeAFI Catalog Entry: Romancing the StoneRoger Ebert's ReviewNew York Times' ReviewTheme music by Mike McGuillAdditional voicework by Russell BentleySummer of '84 voiced by Colby ElliottFollow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine a dystopian America where authority is malignant, the profit motive rules all, everyone is on the grift, all goods and services have been devalued to the least of their utility and value, and the infrastructure has crumbled into a depressing echo of its former self… this morning’s New York Times? No! It’s Alex Cox’s punk rock masterpiece Repo Man! Made in that special time before John Hughes and the Brat Pack got their hooks in him, Emilio Estevez embodies youth in revolt as he teams up with Harry Dean Stanton at his scuzziest, most viciously nicotine-stained best to get into some tense situations. Step into the 1980s Ronnie Reagan did NOT want you to know about: where aliens are real, televangelists occasionally moonlight as government agents, television holds a hypnotic sway over your parents, and, most importantly, the threat of the Rodriguez Brothers looms around every corner! Politically biting, socially trenchant, and as fucking hilarious as a can of generic beer and poke to the eye with a lit cigarette, Repo Man may just be the angriest and most prophetic mainstream film of its time - and even more surprisingly, it’s one of Paul’s formative favorites! So join Javi and the ever-so-rebellious Producer Brad as they wonder just what Paul’s youth was reallyShow Notes:Theatrical Release Date: March 2, 1984Weekend Box Office for March 2-4, 1984AFI Catalog EntryRoger Ebert's ReviewNYT ReviewTheme music by Mike McGuillAdditional voicework by Russell BentleySummer of '84 voiced by Colby ElliottFollow us!InstagramBlueskyemail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.