Grumpy Nostalgia: Second Look Cinema

Send us Fan MailThe time has come to chuck the pumpkins into the neighbor's yard and get ready for Thanksgiving. A time for family, reflection, and awkward conversations.  That's where we come in.  We've decided after months of discussing horror and box office bombs, we would finish the year by talking about a better type of turkey.  It all starts this week by revisiting the only true Thanksgiving film we could find, John Hughes' Plains Trains & Automobiles.  Our two leads are at the top of their games as they trudge their way across the American Midwest to get home for the holidays. A journey riddled with its own versions cyclops, sirens, and other regional terrors.

Send us Fan MailWe mercifully put Halloween back in the grave with this special episode where we leave the theater and pretend to be social historians.  More accurately, we hash up some pretty entertaining, albeit cringy childhood trauma of our trick or treating era back in the 70s. Reflective safety tape? Get out of here! Razor blades in your candy?  Bring it!

Send us Fan MailThe Halloween overkill continues as the gang revisit this film from over 40 (wait, what?) years ago.  Groovy ghouls, slime, and a very sultry Sigourney are just a few of the iconic highlights from a beloved movie that deserves all of its generational love.  Our wonderful friend, and Ghostbusters superfan @aron_gagliardo jumps in the Ecto1 for this episode as well.  So what are you waiting for? Judgment Day?

Send us Fan MailOur sprint to the Halloween finish line will be fast and furious.  Three episodes and a guest spot on @lisaslounge1 this week will guarantee even our biggest fans will be barfing from overexposure.  First off, we revisit one of our favorite movies about bio-exorcism.  Young Winona broke all of our hearts as the primordial goth girl and Keaton's amped up jerky performance essentially was the blueprint for your host's personalities.

Send us Fan MailOne of the greatest movies ever filmed, but only of you get it.  Easily the worst if you don't. But we don't want to hang out with those people anyway.  In this odd continuation of the Evil Dead series, charismatic Ash is transported back to the 1300's to fight the nasty Deadites, gnarly pit witch hags, and Mr. Pitt's glued on beard.  The gruesome action violence is so fast and comical you barely realize what's happening in time for the movie to be over. A formula most horror films would be wise to remember. Hail to the king, Baby.

Send us Fan MailThe cool thing about 80s horror was...well, everything.  However some of these films made their mark in other ways.   This one included super cool pre-goth teen vampires wearing full length leather dusters on the beach.  Throw in an extremely oily saxophone player and a couple of Coreys and you got yourself and very iconic, yet ultimately cringey, horror classic.  Your hosts aren't entirely sure if they were scared by the content, or merely the calendar on this one.  WARNING: This episode features one of the most controversial takes on a beloved film in the podcast's history. That is to say, one of the hosts was shocked and depressed by his reaction to the rewatch of this movie.  We ask for your thoughts and prayers towards his recovery.

Send us Fan MailAfter a summer full of poopy movies, we decided to do the natural thing and explore the origins of cinematic feces and what better place to start than with Edward D. Wood's masterclass of manure, Plan 9 From Outer Space. But we slowly realize that this is easily more fun to watch than any 2026 summer blockbuster. Super bitchy male aliens, catatonic zombies, and a Swedish pro wrestler Tor Johnson all add to the fun. Not to mention a morphine-riddled Bela Lugosi who steals the show.  Especially impressive, given the fact that he was dead. Don't try to understand, just listen.

Send us Fan MailWith the depressing release of Netflix's Wonka-themed reality show member berry this week, we decided to perform a public service by releasing one of our favorite episodes ever. Listen to this instead of supporting this streaming service AI-generated abomination. Your Snozzberries will thank you.

Send us Fan MailWe're finally taking our audience's advice and going to Hell.  Turns out it's not as nice as advertised.  This movie is one we're betting most of you forgot about.  Congrats for that.  A horribly miscast Arnold heaves his way through this trope-heavy plot but somehow manages to beat the devil's face in a few times before saving the world.  A hundred million dollar film featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger fighting the devil to save the world never quite lives up to its potential but neither did we so its all works out.

Send us Fan MailThis movie is why your parents were laughing so hard in the other room.  Easily one of your hosts favorite comedies of all time.  This special revisit was a no-brainer (see what we did there?).  Nonstop jokes, ridiculous sight gags, and Wilder's performance all remind us that there was a time in American cinema where you could dare to cross a few lines to make people laugh. And we did. A lot. Take a shot every time there's a quotable line in this movie and you might end up telling your family what you really think of them.