Episode 125: TRUE ROMANCE (1993)

Get busy livin' or get busy dyin' as NostalgiaCast kicks off our four-part 1994 retrospective with a captivating look back at THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Hold tight to your rock chisels and Rita Hayworth posters as Jonny and Darin relive the movie's most memorable lines and performances, compare Darabont's adaptation to other Stephen King adaptations, and dig dig dig to the bottom of how the film has secured the #1 spot on the IMDb's Top 100 list for 17 years now. Salvation lies within!

NostalgiaCast searches every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse, and doghouse for THE FUGITIVE, directed by Andrew Davis and starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. Film critic Jaylan Salah of the Women InSession podcast joins Jonny and Darin on the hunt as they discuss the iconic performances and crackerjack set pieces of what might be the greatest action thriller of the '90s, plus all the fun little flourishes that put most of today's actioners to shame.

You ask us if we've got a god complex? Let me tell you something: we ain't gods, we're podcasters! NostalgiaCast sidles up to the surgical table with a look back at MALICE, directed by Harold Becker and starring Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, and Bill Pullman. Join Jonny and Darin as they sort through the twisty, turny, Aaron Sorkin-y stylings of this wannabe Hitchcock-ian thriller—maybe the first to include serial killers, child murder, and thick New Yawk accents purely as "flavor."   SPOILER WARNING! Please see the movie itself before listening to Jonny and Darin discuss its many jaw-dropping twists!

That's not gonna happen! NostalgiaCast continues its '90s Bucket List season with a look back at IN THE LINE OF FIRE, directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, and Rene Russo. Our buddy and actor/director extraordinaire Jeannette Miller returns to the 'Cast to help Jonny and Darin recap the pulse-pounding performances and cat-and-mouse thrills of Petersen's 1993 action classic, and also the unfortunate "window dressing" that hampers so many '90s films.

NostalgiaCast kicks off its roundup of films from 1993 with a Bucket List look back at TRUE ROMANCE, directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino. Jonny and Darin recount their first mind-boggling experience with QT's patented snap crackle dialogue, meta-movie references, and endless homaging of classic and not-so-classic cinema, and discuss their favorite performances and scenes in a film that still shocks and awes audiences today.

It's "Plaaaaaay ball!" as NostalgiaCast steps up to the plate for a home run discussion of A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna. Phoenix Clouden, good friend and co-host of the Curtain To Curtain podcast, helps Jonny and Darin wind back the clock to a time where men went off to war and women were tasked to keep America's favorite pasttime alive. Also batted around: a history of the AAGPBL and a roster of Phoenix-Jonny-Darin's favorite lines and performances in the film.  

Hickory dickory, Doc, Cain has picked his lock! NostalgiaCast goes a little mad with a De Mented, De Ranged, and De Lightful look back at Brian De Palma's RAISING CAIN, starring John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich, and Steven Bauer. Horror Movie Maven and friend of the 'Cast Lindsay Washburn joins Jonny and Darin to discuss the movie's breathtaking tracking shots, tour de force performance from Lithgow, and oversized decorative sundials. Also discussed: the director's cut of the film that came from the unlikeliest of places.

Someday I think you and I are going to have a serious disagreement... but not today! NostalgiaCast continues its '90s Bucket List season with an action-packed look back at THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Wes Studi, and Madeleine Stowe. Jonny and Darin welcome their dear childhood bff Jenny Young for a discussion of Michael Mann's romantic historical epic, and how its visceral filmmaking, authentic-to-the-period visual style, and embracing of Native American culture either does or does not stand up to scrutiny today. Grab your muskets, knives, and tomahawks and join us!

It's corkers and Blarney Stones as NostalgiaCast takes a transatlantic trip back in time to discuss Ron Howard's FAR AND AWAY, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Jonny and Darin kick off their 1992 retrospective by welcoming Ruth and Rae of the Paperback Flicks podcast to chat about the history of Irish immigrants and the American frontier, along with the sweeping panoramic vistas, overblown Oir-ish accents, and megawatt star chemistry that made this period romantic drama a minor classic.

NostalgiaCast turns up the heat as Paul of The Countdown Podcast joins our latest '90s Bucket List episode for a fiery discussion of BACKDRAFT, starring real-life stuntmen Kurt Russell and William Baldwin, plus Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Grab your boots, gloves, and Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus as Paul, Jonny, and Darin obsess over the pyrotechnics, melodramatics, and classic Hans Zimmer score that brand Ron Howard's 1991 firefighter thriller.