Reel Deep Dive: Recent Episodes
Ryan Valentine
Does the world really need yet another movie podcast?
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This is the second film adaptation of Sheila Burnford's classic children's novel, but the first where the trio of animal protagonists have their thoughts conveyed to us through celebrity voice actors (Michael J. Fox, Sally Field, and Don Ameche). Like in the book and in the 1963 movie, we center on two dogs and a cat going on a perilous quest through the mountains in order to return to their home. A bear, a mountain lion, a porcupine, and an agitated turkey are among their obstacles.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for a close reading of one of their childhood viewing staples. Discussion topics include the film's treatment of non-nuclear family, the history of animal handling in Hollywood cinema, and why extremely young children connect to animal stories so readily.
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Filmed on a shoestring budget and released with modest expectations for box office success, A Hard Day's Night is a fluffy, goofy, and deeply unserious film that happened to capture one of the 20th century's most beloved cultural institutions at the apex of their popularity. The movie's approachable charm left a lasting influence on the marketing of pop musicians going forward; a very prominent example is Spice World, a spiritual successor that was produced when the Spice Girls were at the height of their own hitmaking run.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sarah for a compare and contrast of these two musical comedies. Discussion topics include the artistic merits of frivolity, the flattening of historical figures as time passes, and how gender politics influenced the public perception of both movies.
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Originally intended as a light, comedic riff on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball soon outgrew that modest ambition and became one of the most popular action-adventure serials in modern storytelling. Soon expanding into a multimedia franchise, the Dragon Ball saga was spun off into at least twenty theatrically-released anime films; Ryan and Latisha discuss one of these movies in this recording.
The topics in this episode's dialogue include Dragon Ball's roots in Asian folklore, how the storytelling in Dragon Ball emphasizes delayed gratification, how the character arc of Vegeta is (for many) substantially more relatable and satisfying than Goku's, and how Dragon Ball's subtextual points about interracial relationships and mixed race children conflicts with common assumptions about the franchise's ties to fascist ideology.
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Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation earns the esoteric distinction of being the first original animated movie to be released direct to video in the United States. That sounds like a minor fact (and it is), but the movie's commercial success paved the way for a cottage industry of similar projects to flood department stores and video rental establishments for decades to come. It's also an entertaining and enjoyable snapshot of the time and place where it was created, showing its audience a glimpse of how the Looney Tunes were perceived by the world at large in the early 1990's.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a discussion of this meaningful pillar of millennial nostalgia. Talking points include the labored creation of Tiny Toons, why the home video market was considered an ideal platform for the characters, and how the very existence of Tiny Toons functions as an interrogation of Golden Age Bugs Bunny shorts and why their appeal has lasted as long as it has.
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The smash success of Universal's 1931 Frankenstein adaptation made a sequel practically mandatory. Director James Whale felt that it'd be impossible to top the first film and was therefore reluctant to return, but the studio eventually lured him back with a juicy paycheck, a promise to greenlight one of Whale's passion projects, and nigh-total creative control over what eventually became Bride of Frankenstein.
Still assuming that the gothic atmosphere and graphic scares of Frankenstein couldn't be replicated, Whale chose to go in a more campy, theatrical, and melodramatic direction with the follow-up. While the production did run overbudget, Bride did strong box office and is now considered one of the few movie sequels to surpass the quality of its predecessor.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for a close read of this beloved sci-fi horror comedy. Talking points include the story's approach to scientific advancement, the movie's very self-aware use of Christian allegory, and whether Bride's heavy application of queercoding was a conscious filmmaking choice by Whale (and whether or not that matters).
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Taking place in a world where the United States and the Soviet Union are engaged in an arms race over shrink ray technology, Fantastic Voyage has the premise of a low budget B movie. 20th Century Fox, however, cast the film with prominent movie stars, spent lavishly on special effects, and promoted the film with an aggressive marketing campaign. While it didn't quite make it to profitability during its initial box office run, Fantastic Voyage easily made up for that shortfall when it came to television broadcasts and theatrical rereleases. Its basic plot, where a crew of scientists are reduced in size so they can enter the body of an injured man and perform delicate brain surgery from within, has been imitated and lampooned in countless films and TV programs.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl, Pete, and Sylvan for a roundtable deconstruction of this interesting time capsule of mid-60's Hollywood. Discussion topics include the general history of size changing in fiction, the film's reliance on Cold War paranoia, the historical context that informs the narrative of Fantastic Voyage, and why shrinking stories appeal to audiences across a wide array of historical eras and cultural dispositions.
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Produced for an unusually high budget in the nascent years of the character, the seventeen animated shorts starring Superman marked a significant high water mark in the Golden Age of Animation. Crafted with care and using tech that was on the bleeding edge of film animation, the shorts were highly successful and made a significant impact on both the cartoon medium and the development of Superman as a pop culture institution.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan, Sarah, and Carlos for a long discussion about six of these colorful, intense, and expertly-stylized films. Talking points include war propaganda, Great Man Theory, objectivism, 1930's pulp tropes, the concept of the Übermensch, and how Superman gradually shifted from being a quasi-socialist champion of the oppressed to an arbiter of the status quo.
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Produced on a whim by a bunch of art students in between their proper assignments, the first Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared Short went viral on YouTube. Centering on some hapless puppets experiencing existential horror through vividly graphic musical numbers, Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared struck a chord with an online audience receptive to its ambiguity and strangeness. The unexpected success of the initial video led to a crowdfunding campaign for additional shorts and, after a failed pilot, a television program.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a closer look at the first run of Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared. Talking points include the deliberate uncertainty of the narrative, how the medium of online video affected perception of Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared, and what these shorts have to say about neoliberalism, individuality, and absurdism.
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Riffing on Hans Christian Anderson's "The Little Mermaid", Ponyo centers upon a young sea creature who bonds with a little boy on the surface world. Their budding relationship, however, is put to the test when the fundamental balance of nature is placed in jeopardy by both magical interference and humanity's poor stewardship of the oceans.
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki with care and studious attention to detail, Ponyo connected deeply with audiences and grossed more than any other Studio Ghibli production to date.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for a close look at this beloved film. Talking points include ecology, the revisions made to the source material, and ham.
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One of the most popular authors to ever write anything, Agatha Christie would inevitably find Hollywood eager to adapt her work to the silver screen. As per usual, the quality of their many attempts has been uneven at best, but the enduring appeal of the murder mystery means that it's hard to imagine that we won't keep seeing new takes.
Murder on the Orient Express, arguably Christie's most iconic work, has gotten a number of high profile interpretations in cinema. Ryan, along with Cheryl and Sarah, examine the versions from 1974 and 2017 in this recording. Naturally, they compare the two films against each other in terms of acting, directing, and fidelity to the source novel, but thematic discussion also turns to class consciousness and the ethics of vigilante revenge killing.
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Following the disappointing reception of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men Origins Wolverine (2009), Fox decided that a soft reboot of their superhero franchise was in order. Set in the 1960's, X-Men: First Class juxtaposes the formation of the team alongside the Cuban Missile Crisis and the usual metaphors regarding civil rights. A profitable film interpreted as a badly-needed course correction, X-Men: First Class resulted in three direct sequels and is still frequently cited as one of the better entries in the franchise.
Gigantic X-nerd Ryan is joined by Sylvan, Sarah, and Nicole for a discussion about this sleek, polished, nostalgic, and interesting film. Talking points include assimilationism, respectability politics, Kennedy-era optimism, and whether it's appropriate to use the Holocaust as a plot point in a superhero movie.
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Largely greenlit because The Beatles felt that an animated feature would settle their three picture deal with United Artists without requiring much effort on their part, the cast and crew of Yellow Submarine were given a shoestring budget and a mere 11 months to crank out a completed movie. Somehow, the team supervised by director George Dunning and character designer Heinz Edelmann overcame these hurdles, delivering a cheeky, fantastical, and imaginatively surreal fairy tale that was quickly embraced by both Beatles fanatics and animation nerds.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a conversation about this psychedelic work of pop art fancy. Discussion topics include the ever-shifting aesthetics of the film, the influence that Yellow Submarine had on later works, and the shadow that the Fab Four cast on the wider landscape.
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Aside from Gone With The Wind, Meet Me in St. Louis is the most popular film released by MGM during the Golden Age of Hollywood. A lush, sentimental, and deeply nostalgic musical centered on a middle class family going through personal changes during the 1904 World's Fair, this film charmed critics, wowed audiences, got a heap of Oscar nods, established Vincente Minnelli as a director, and furthered Judy Garland's status as a romantic lead.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan for a closer inspection of this seasonal perennial. The behind-the-scenes drama of the film gets a fair bit of attention, but time is also taken to examine Meet Me in St. Louis as a holiday staple, a work of auteur filmmaking, and as a paean to a glorious past that never quite existed.
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Originally written as a vehicle for Bill Murray, The Santa Claus was rebuilt around the comedic persona of sitcom actor Tim Allen and thrust into theaters shortly before the onset of the 1994 holiday season. While greeted with lukewarm reviews that damned it with faint praise, The Santa Claus was still a sizable hit that (briefly) established Allen as a movie star. This film also had legs; after several periods of dormancy, The Santa Claus was spun off into an enduring franchise.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sarah for a closer look at this yuletide snapshot of 90's pop culture. Talking points include the film's approach to psychoanalysis, the shifting cultural attitudes towards divorce, auteur theory, and how Allen's brusquely "masculine" style of comedy plays into hegemony, the cult of tradition, and male insecurity
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Due to their penchant for solving problems by punching things, superheroes aren't inherently conducive to Christmas stories. They can, however, function as handy counterprogramming in the same way as semi-ironic seasonal fare like Die Hard, Gremlins, or Silent Night, Deadly Night. As such, most popular superheroes have been featured in yuletide-themed fare over the years.
Ryan, Cheryl, and Jacinta are all dorky millennials, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that they feel that the pinnacle of superhero Christmas can be found in the DC Animated Universe, a series of cartoon programs beginning in 1992 with Batman: The Animated Series. For this recording, the three of them examine two holiday episodes of Batman in addition to an episode of the Justice League show that followed it.
In addition to elucidating upon the talents of producer Bruce Timm, writer Paul Dini, and the multitude of animators, directors, and voice actors who made these cartoons special, Ryan, Cheryl, and Jacinta delve into the evolution of the DCAU's art direction, how network censorship affected DCAU content, and what makes for a good TV Christmas special overall.
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One of the most noteworthy slashers of its period, Candyman centers upon a Chicago semiotics student (Virginia Madsen) who blunders into the wrath of a supernatural folklore spirit (Tony Todd). Based on a Clive Barker short story that uses ghosts to symbolize income inequality in Liverpool, writer/director Bernard Rose moved the setting to Chicago and gave the narrative a subtext that comments on American racism.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a lengthy discussion about this atmospheric, moody, and complicated film. While citing a handful of the extensive academic commentary done on Candyman, Ryan and Rachel remark upon how Candyman was made, the contemporary reactions to the film, and how its storytelling reflects America's relationship with urban decay, affordable housing, policing, superstition, symbolism, segregation, stereotype, and the white savior trope.
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Loosely adapted from the metafictional children's novel written by Michael Ende, The Neverending Story centers upon a young boy (Barret Oliver) who gets immersed into a fantasy book whose plot seems to be magically affected by how it is read. The most expensive film produced outside of America or the Soviet Union at the time, The Neverending Story failed to catch on in an especially competitive 1984 film market in the United States. It did, however, sell lots of tickets overseas and, thanks to TV broadcasts and home video, attract a significant cult audience of fantasy nerds all over the world.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl, Toby, Pete, Sarah, and Jacinta for an intimate chat about this colorful and layered touchstone of 1980's pop culture. Discussion points include fatalism, post-modernism, and how the audience is the final collaborator in all works of art.
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Centered upon the vivid imaginations of a family of anthropomorphic blue heelers, Bluey is an animated children's television show that has taken the world by storm thanks to its endearing characters, playful sense of humor, and emphasis on gentle parenting and unstructured play. In many ways, Bluey has captivated parents more than its target demo of toddlers; Sylvan is a big fan and their choice of Bluey as a podcast subject was pretty much inevitable.
Ryan and Cheryl are also present for a discussion centering on Bluey episodes featuring Muffin, a fan favorite character. Talking points include childhood development, friction between siblings, what it means for a kid to be "special", the reasons why millennials in particular connect with Bluey, and how Ben Shapiro's Bluey knockoff fails to understand the appeal of Bandit, Chilli, Bingo, and the gang.
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Derived from Erica Schmidt's musical retelling of Edmond Rostand's oft-staged play, Cyrano stars Peter Dinklage as the titular protagonist. Caught in romantic intrigue alongside him is Haley Bennett as Roxanne and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Christian. The basic plot of this version isn't too different from most of the traditional renditions, but several key alterations are present in both the text and the subtext of Cyrano; this is apparent both in the dialogue and in the songs composed by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a discussion about this striking (if uneven) film. Talking points naturally include unrequited love, the pitfalls of escalating lies, and Sylvan's pet peeve about casting Hollywood musicals with actors who don't have professional singing ability.
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Released when the Pokémon multimedia franchise was at the zenith of its initial mania, Pokémon: The First Movie received critical scorn but easily became an unqualified smash due to its passionate international fanbase of 6-11 year olds. Very much in this demographic is Latisha, who joins Ryan for an in depth talk about this interesting time capsule of late-90's pop culture.
Ryan and Latisha do go into Pokémon's origins in gaming and how it was quickly spun off into manga, anime, trading cards, and lots of other mediums, but much of the thematic conversation touches upon the film's commentary about animal cruelty, the then-recent advent of cloning, and existentialist philosophy. There's also discussion about what the central appeal of Pokémon could be, why it endured past its fledgling years as a fad, and what its influence on the wider world may be.
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Looking to take on a more commercial project after the lackluster box office of the critically acclaimed The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), writer/director Carl Theodore Dreyer decided that a horror movie was the way to go. Loosely adapted from Sheridan Le Fanu's story collection 'In a Glass Darkly', Vampyr was filmed on location in the French countryside with a cast primarily composed of non-actors. Its shoestring budget forced the filmmakers to rely on symbolic imagery and allusive atmospherics rather than spectacular effects work.
Vampyr was released to a severe critical drubbing and an actively hostile audience (a riot broke out in Vienna when dissatisfied theater patrons were denied a refund). However, Vampyr was reappraised decades later and is now considered an intriguing example of how artists of the silent era approached the advent of talkies.
Ryan is joined by Sarah and Cheryl for a close look at this evocative cult film. Discussion points include Vampyr's debt to German Expressionism, its key place in the evolution of the cinematic vampire, and the religious subtext of its storytelling.
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Writer/director Nicholas Meyer is best known for his contributions to the better Star Trek films of the 1980's, but he was noticed by the Federation due to Time After Time, a quirky romcom in which a time traveling H.G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper across 1970's San Francisco. Anchored by a cast that includes Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, and Mary Steenburgen, Time After Time charmed audiences and has been spun off in a multitude of ways.
Ryan, Cheryl, and (especially) Sylvan were far less charmed by Time After Time; the general consensus among them is that this movie is dated, clumsily edited, and oddly reactionary about the subjects that it claims to be progressive about. Discussion topics for this recording include the fetishization of serial killers, how H.G. Wells' socialist beliefs are addressed in Time After Time's stated text, the storytelling's ambivalent approach to feminism, the sexual tension between the protagonist and the antagonist, and the reason why everyone in this film runs like a Muppet.
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Based on Koji Suzuki's 1991 novel and loosely remade from Hideo Nakata's 1998 film adaptation, the 2002 Hollywood take on The Ring was a sleeper hit that shrewdly played off a number of prevalent trends found at the turn of the millennium (it lifted its color palette from The Matrix, it featured a precocious child character like the one found in The Sixth Sense, and it engaged in a guerilla marketing campaign like The Blair Witch Project). The Ring also set off a few trends of its own; among other things, a whole bunch of American remakes of Japanese horror movies were produced in its wake.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan for a chat about this popular and well-remembered horror movie. Discussion topics center upon the cultural ubiquity of ghost stories, how The Ring crafts inversions of collective hopes about the afterlife, the reasons for the surprisingly long cultural reach of the movie's score, and the story's subtext when it comes to free speech and journalism.
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The fifth installment in the Child's Play/Chucky franchise, Seed of Chucky involves the titular killer doll starting a family. While noted upon its release for leaning into the campier elements of the slasher genre, Seed of Chucky might be distinguished more by its focus on transgender themes, an uncommon practice in Hollywood during the turn of the millennium.
Ryan is joined by Pete, Cheryl, Sylvan, Toby, and Mordecai for an examination of this interesting cinematic time capsule. There is some discussion about this franchise's discomforting use of the voodoo religion as a plot contrivance, but most of the dialogue is focused upon interpreting Seed of Chucky through a queer lens. What parts of Seed of Chucky feel oddly prescient today? Which parts feel dated?
If you want our take, you're going to have to listen to the episode.
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Bigger, bolder, more ambitious, and more character-driven than its predecessor, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 also got better reviews and took in a heftier box office. It is often cited as one of the few MCU movies that possesses a distinct visual character and a unique directorial voice.
Ryan is joined by Toby, Cheryl, and Sarah for a conversation about this rousing, emotive crowd pleaser. Talking points largely center on the movie's embrace of humor, needle drops, and found family narrative dynamics; Rocket's penchant for self-sabotage, Nebula's resentment of Gamora, and Star-Lord's daddy issues are prominent motifs throughout the dialogue. Space is also given to how Guardians plays things fast and loose with its source material; the dynamic reinterpretation of Mantis being a primary focus.
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Among the most successful and beloved films in the expansive Marvel Studios catalog, Guardians of the Galaxy was initially seen as a bit of a risk due to its offbeat character designs and obscure source material. However, because of strong performances, a fun array of needle drops, and storytelling that judiciously balances humor and heart, a sci-fi movie about a sentient tree and a talking space raccoon made over $700 million at the international box office and was soon spun off into a multimedia franchise.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Toby for a close look at this rollicking, humanistic crowd pleaser. Talking points include the film's emphasis on character over plot, the weird indifference that the MCU has for action scenes that are supposedly the main selling point for movies like this, and how Guardians of the Galaxy is a uniquely personal mutation of special effects-driven popcorn spectacles of past decades.
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Featuring lavish sets, elaborate makeup effects, numerous references to European folklore, and ascending new superstar Tom Cruise as the main protagonist, Legend was director Ridley Scott's attempt to transfer the appeal of the fantasy genre from the printed page to the silver screen. It failed to attract much of an audience while in theaters, but Legend gradually acquired a following through home video and frequent broadcasts on basic cable. As such, the film has enjoyed a long cultural afterlife (with Tim Curry's memorably hammy performance as the villain playing no small part in this fact).
Ryan is joined by Cheryl, Pete, and Sarah for an in-depth discussion about the original American theatrical cut of Legend. Naturally, since this is one of those movies where multiple versions have gotten an official release, there's some talk about how each one differs in terms of length, tone, editorial direction, and soundtrack. There's also a conversation about how Scott's willingness to water down his storytelling and hack the movie to pieces betrays a lack of trust in his audience.
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The most popular, visible, and imitated member of The Three Stooges by a significant margin, Curly Howard's manic physical comedy, childlike comedic persona, and arsenal of catch phrases were often perceived as the core of the comedy team's popular appeal. Often seen as a tragic figure beyond the camera, Curly Howard's various addictions and excesses would torpedo his private life and ultimately lead to an early grave.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a discussion of four short films that aptly represent Curly Howard's influence on both The Three Stooges in particular and comedic filmmaking in general. The sharp dichotomy between the public and private life of Curly Howard is talked about in depth, but time is also taken to touch upon the ambivalent legacy of Curly, how academic scholars undervalue physical humor, and whether Curly Howard might even be a bit underrated in the idiom of American comedy.
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Spaceballs yielded mediocre box office returns and was widely criticized as a creative misfire for director/co-writer/supporting actor Mel Brooks, but it quickly found an audience through home video and constant broadcasts on basic cable. By lampooning the culturally-omnipresent Star Wars franchise, Spaceballs served as an accessible entrypoint for younger people looking to get into Mel Brooks' filmography; for many born well after Brooks' heyday in the 1970's, Spaceballs is often the first Brooks film they see and form a connection with.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl, Sylvan, and Toby for a closer look at this surprisingly durable little spoof movie. The first topic of discussion is whether Spaceballs' blend of lightly risquehumor and mild satire makes it ideal for 12 year olds in the same manner that Saturday Night Live, National Lampoon, Mad Magazine, and Weird Al have connected with tween audiences in the past (Toby, an actual 12 year old, was brought in watch Spaceballs for the first time in order to serve as a test case).
Other conversational points include Spaceballs' connection to screwball comedies of the Golden Age of Hollywood, whether or not Brooks watered down his incisive edge throughout his 80's work, how Spaceballs plays into the blockbuster trends of the era it came out in, and how Spaceballs is unique in the Brooks catalog since he's poking fun at a younger colleague rather than the work of a contemporary or a predecessor.
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Shortly after Bad Taste (1987) and well before The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Peter Jackson directed a lowbrow Muppets parody entitled Meet the Feebles. Taking place on a puppet-run variety show comparable to what Kermit and the gang typically do, the anthropomorphic animals in this film spend a bit more time doing drugs, shooting porn, having Viet Nam flashbacks, and plotting against each other. Released to mixed reviews and indifferent box office, Meet the Feebles crawled its way to cult status after wizards and hobbits made its director a household name.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for an examination of this cheap, wayward cousin of Jim Henson's oeuvre. Discussion topics include the limitations of shock humor, the purpose of satire, and which Muppet lampoons work the best.
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The success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) demonstrated that splashy cartoon crossovers would grab a great deal of attention. One of the more odd and timely results of this fact was Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, an anti-drug PSA where Bugs Bunny, Papa Smurf, Garfield, Alf, Winnie the Pooh, and Michelangelo team up to stop an adolescent boy from getting addicted to crack.
Spurred through production by Roy Disney and financed by McDonald's, Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue was broadcast on every major TV network in numerous countries and, as such, was very widely seen (75% of American televisions tuned in to the special). It got a VHS release in 1990, but the complex licensing issues have kept it from reissue on physical media or streaming in the decades since. It is, however, pretty easy to find on unofficial channels; Ryan, Sylvan, and Cheryl had no trouble locating a watchable upload.
As one can readily surmise, Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue is loaded to the brim with subtext. Discussion topics for this one include the shortcomings of the Reagan-era "Just Say No" initiative, how the War on Drugs accomplishes the opposite of its stated agenda, the ways that the prison industrial complex perpetuates unjust persecution of drug use, and why provably effective means of harm reduction are still struggling to attain mainstream acceptance in the United States.
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Session 9 is a mediocre horror movie released to a collective shrug at the turn of the last century. It is, however, notable to Ryan, Sylvan, and Cheryl since it was filmed in their hometown and set at Danvers State Hospital, a reputably haunted mental institution that inspired H.P. Lovecraft's Arkham Asylum and therefore sits in the core of local legend.
In particular, this film gives Sylvan, who holds a degree in public history, a reason to delve into the complex and interesting backstory of Danvers State; the discussion ties the rise and fall of the hospital to how the United States has approached mental health over the course of the past 150 years. Other talking points include the evolution of ghost stories, the effects of deregulation, and how religious tradition affects every other topic that comes up in the conversation.
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Infamous exploitation film producer Thomas Fries, hoping to kick start a slasher movie franchise comparable to Halloween or Friday the 13th, greenlit Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge, a project that retold Phantom of the Opera in a suburban mall with superfluous nudity, splatter effects, and several kung fu fight sequences. Quickly churned out with little care and even less in the way of budget, this film was soundly rejected by both critics and audiences; even fans of campy horror cheese tend to have ambivalent feelings about this one.
So, why is Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge being covered by this podcast? Well, this mostly happened because it was Cheryl's turn to pick the movie and she was curious about this one. Ryan strains a bit to come up with subtextual issues to discuss, but he ultimately settles upon themes of patriarchy and entitlement that are present in the 1910 source novel (he also compares the film to Batman Returns and Venus in Furs). Sylvan and Pete are along for the ride.
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Following the commercial disappointment of artistically ambitious films like Citizen Kane (1941) and the Magnificent Ambersons (1942), RKO began shifting its priorities towards workmanlike crowd pleasing instead of chasing Oscars. Among other things, this meant restructuring its B-movie division. Producer Val Lewton was brought in to oversee a series of films intended to compete against Universal's Monster line; this meant that each movie would be made with a tight budget, run for less than 75 minutes, and be built around a lowbrow, attention-grabbing title provided by executives.
Lewton, an experienced pulp writer and talented filmmaker, turned these restrictions into strengths and produced a series of surprisingly artful horror movies renowned for their evocative atmosphere and bold characterization. His first effort for RKO, Cat People, used its shapeshifting werecat premise to tell a dynamic story about feminism, sexual repression, and the immigrant experience.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Rachel for an in-depth conversation about this moody, revealing film. Talking points include the value of the jump scare, how the storytelling plays into traditional folklore, and how Cat People can be read as emblematic of the queer experience.
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Shamelessly churned out to capitalize on the success of Shirley Jackson's megahit horror novel The Haunting of Hill House, this low budget thriller was given the legally distinct title of House on Haunted Hill in the hopes of tricking audiences into thinking it was an official adaptation. That should give one an indication of what to expect from the film, a gimmicky cavalcade of lowbrow cheese held down by the hammy charisma of Vincent Price and the workmanlike proficiency of director William Castle.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a conversation about this scruffy, corny, and likable work of cheapo schlock. Talking points include the appeal of cheeseball marketing stunts, the distinction between horror and terror, Friedrich Nietzsche's theories on art criticism, and Hollywood's ongoing struggle to put butts into seats.
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Released during a period with increased competition from rival studios, Meet the Robinsons marks a transitional period in Disney's approach to animated feature films. The company had just bought Pixar and appointed John Lasseter as chief creative officer. Meet the Robinsons was already nearing completion when this occurred, but Lasseter had at least 60% of the film redone before it debuted in theaters to mild critical response and disappointing box office.
While frequently written off as a minor entry in the Disney catalog, the massive size and reach of the Mouse ensured that Meet the Robinsons was nonetheless seen by thousands of people. It would unavoidably become the beloved childhood favorite of a plurality of Gen Z people, one of whom joins Ryan and Rachel to talk about how and why. Kate, making her debut here, waxes nostalgic about how Meet the Robinsons affected her collegiate career and her time working at Disney parks as a young adult.
Ryan talks about how Meet the Robinsons could potentially play into the sweeping long term plans of the Disney oligarchy. Disney, after all, has a long history of flops gradually attaining cult status and eventually getting reappraised into classic status.
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Originally developed as a dramedy for Clark Gable, the success of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! compelled MGM to retool Harvey Girls as a musical romcom for Judy Garland. Boasting massive sets, lavish costumes, a saturated technicolor palette, and several elaborate song and dance numbers, Harvey Girls used all that frippery to tell a story about the wild west being tamed by the waitresses of a fast food restaurant. It was received with moderate critical praise, a healthy box office, and an Academy Award for its hit song "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe".
The text of Harvey Girls is featherweight by design, but its premise inevitably gives the movie a great deal of weighty subtext. Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a discussion of this oddly-constructed ode of nostalgic Western mythmaking. The thematic topics brought up in the conversation include Manifest Destiny, what brought about the commercial decline of Western filmmaking, what Harvey Girls says about the role of women in "proper society", and the arbitrary double standards applied to leading actors in Golden Age Hollywood.
One thing that kept popping up in the dialogue is how Harvey Girls blew many opportunities and missed a number of easy lay-ups (how do you bring Judy Garland and Ray Bolger onto a set together and then choose to have them NEVER interact in the final cut of the movie?) Also, Sylvan and Cheryl repeatedly express discomfort at Angela Lansbury being cast as the hardened administrator of the local bordello.
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The leader of The Three Stooges both on and off the screen, Moe Howard's comedic role in the troupe usually boiled down to driving the plot and handing out slapsticky abuse to his subordinates. The trappings of vaudeville all but demanded that at least one of the performers take on such a role; Moe might be the epitome of such a thing.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a close look at four Three Stooges shorts that prominently showcase Moe's abilities (this includes 1940's "You Nazty Spy!", often cited by Moe Howard as his personal favorite). Moe is Rachel's favorite Stooge, so she has a lot to say about his contributions to the act. Talking points for this one include Hollywood's approach to spoofing fascism, how perceptions of The Three Stooges changed with the advent of television, and why the Stooges are routinely overlooked by cultural tastemakers even today.
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A TV miniseries created by animator Patrick McHale for Cartoon Network, Over the Garden Wall focuses upon two siblings who are lost within a strange, mystical, and existentially-threatening forest. Its emphasis on dark fantasy and 1890's pop culture provided stark contrast to the other fare being produced for children's television at the time, something that many found to be refreshing. Over the Garden Wall was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, strong ratings, and a bevy of awards. It has lingered in the popular imagination ever since.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a closer look at this gem from the mid-2010's. Discussion topics this time include Gilded Age nostalgia, the appeal of Old, Weird America, the atomization of mass media, and the show's thematic ties to death acceptance.
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Often perceived as the first Hollywood blockbuster, King Kong casts an undeniably long shadow upon movie history. Its special effects, soundtrack, and emphasis on larger-than-life spectacle established precedents that big tentpole movie releases still follow to the modern day. A number of its images rival Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Singing in the Rain, and The Wizard of Oz when it comes to Golden Age Hollywood iconography. Kong has never gone away, as evidenced by the barrage of sequels, reboots, remakes, rip-offs, and parodies that have proliferated in the decades since its 1933 release.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for an analysis of this towering figure in celluloid. Conversational topics include the movie's thorny relationship with colonialism, the story's perceived parallels with the history of American chattel slavery, how the franchise reflects notions of masculine exceptionalism, and why Kong gradually transitioned from villainous beast to monstrous hero.
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While originally conceived as greeting card mascots with an accompanying toy line, the Care Bears debuted in a market where children's media was freshly-deregulated and immersed in shameless commercialism. It was perhaps inevitable that these characters would be spun off into an animated toy commercial that was barely masquerading as an entertainment property, but the success of the IP was far from certain. Still, despite its limited budget and rushed production schedule, the first Care Bears movie made a killing at the box office in 1985, outgrossing the much more expensive Disney effort The Black Cauldron. A theatrical continuation then become compulsory, resulting in The Care Bears II: A New Generation less than 12 months later. While it too was a cheap-looking cash grab, it made a healthy profit and encouraged the further development of a franchise that is still pushed to nostalgic millennials (and their kids) to this day.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a talk about this deeply cynical yet highly affecting franchise. Sylvan is the big Care Bears fan of the group and goes into detail about how the franchise explores emotional intelligence in ways reminiscent of kids TV icons like Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Ryan, lacking too much to say about the Care Bears, makes strained comparisons to The Get Along Gang, Faust, the philosophy of Thích Nhất Hạnh.
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Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, Titane is about a serial killer (Agathe Rousselle) who goes on the run after she kills her parents and gets impregnated by a car. She winds up impersonating the long-lost son of a firefighter (Vincent London) and the two ultimately form a symbiotic bond that's based upon their respective emotional needs. Titane goes to some grim places, touching upon the work of David Cronenberg and John McNaughton.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a discussion about this acclaimed work of modern horror. Thematic talking points include writer/director Julia Ducournau's comments on gender, Titane's boundary-pushing victories on the awards circuit, the movie's focus on interpersonal intimacy, and why the body horror subgenre has such a visceral effect on so many viewers.
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This may be difficult to consider in an era where Disney is arguably the world's most powerful entertainment conglomerate, but there was a period where the company was in a precarious state (multiple periods actually, but we're talking about the postwar era). Disney was in massive debt in the late 40's and the company could've very easily gone under. The world might've become a very different place had the considerable investment in Cinderella had yielded a flop, but the 1950 film turned out to be the studio's biggest hit in decades. Cinderella's success put Disney back in the black, ensured the continuation of the studio's animated features, and gave Walt Disney enough capital to begin pursuing his goal of building a theme park in California.
The movie itself also set a number of noteworthy precedents for Disney fare. It's the first Disney movie to have its soundtrack get a commercial release, it's the first film to feature every member of the venerable animation crew known as "The Nine Old Men", it's possibly the first movie to feature multitracked vocal effects, and it solidified many of the tropes associated with the Disney Princess archetype. This one might be even a bigger deal to the Disney canon than you may assume; Cinderella's castle is in the official Disney logo for a reason.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a conversation about this impacting feature. Discussion topics include the history of the Cinderella story, the character's connections to the struggles of those working service jobs, whether Cinderella is too passive a figure in her own film, why Prince Charming is such a cipher in the movie, and why the mice steal every scene they're in.
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Centering on two teens in the then-modern 1990's getting transported to the world of an idyllic (yet vaguely unsettling) 1950's sitcom, Pleasantville uses broad symbolic imagery to paint a picture about personal growth, the pressures of conformity, and the ever-lingering threat of authoritarianism. Gary Ross, the film's writer and director, was the son of a Hollywood screenwriter who was blacklisted by McCarthyism; that background infiltrates much of the movie's text and subtext. Pleasantville overtly uses visual metaphors lifted from both the Bible and fascist iconography. It makes pointed, unambiguous statements about everything from sexual repression to artistic modernism to conservative anti-intellectualism.
Ryan first saw Pleasantville at a formative age and it has remained with him ever since. He is joined by Rachel, who hadn't seen it before. Discussion topics include the movie's thematic connections to the work of David Lynch, the groundbreaking special effects used to manipulate the film's color palette, the historical memory of the 1950's in America, and what Pleasantville has to say about the notions of propriety and civility in public discourse.
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A riff on the "supernatural board game" subgenre that was shot on a microbudget during the Covid-19 pandemic, Gatlopp focuses on four estranged friends who briefly reunite when one of them starts going through a tough divorce. Their awkward attempt to reconnect ultimately leads to them trying out the titular game, an experience that forces each of them to confront aspects of their lives they'd prefer not to acknowledge. Unfortunately for the players, Gatlopp promises damnation to anyone who can't (or won't) follow its rules.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for an in-depth conversation about this deceptively introspective horror comedy. Thematic talking points this time include the strain of maintaining adult friendships, the parallels between this film's subtext and the pandemic that informed many of its creative decisions, and the inevitable comparisons to Jumanji and Zathura.
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Spongebob Squarepants was far from a sure thing when animator Stephen Hillenburg pitched him to Nickelodeon executives, but the program quickly became a gigantic hit that transformed the network, the children's television landscape, and the millions of kids who watched the show religiously. Combining well-defined characters with absurdist humor, vaudevillian gags, and a surreal reality, Spongebob inspired and enchanted a legion of children and adults.
Ryan was never really swept up in the Spongebob fandom, so he brought on Rachel and Riley to discuss how the show impacted them so deeply. Several core stories from Spongebob's first three seasons are discussed alongside an overview of the program's development and creative process. Discussion topics include Spongebob's connection to early Nicktoon Rocko's Modern Life, its spiritual debts to the Golden Age of Theatrical Animation, how perceptions of characters like Squidward and Patrick can change as one grows older, and why the first three seasons of Spongebob are far more revered than what came afterwards.
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One of the most infamous celluloid turkeys of its time, the 1993 film adaptation of the Super Mario video game franchise suffered from a disinterested IP holder, thousands of rewrites, an annoyed and confused cast, and a disastrous shoot supervised by an inexperienced directorial team. The film bombed hard with both critics and the few people who willingly paid for a ticket, but the movie did clog up video rental shelves and basic cable timeslots, so it's not without its apologists. When compared to the sleek, polished, and heavily-focus grouped blockbusters of the modern day, Super Mario Bros feels like an oddly-unique failure; box office flops are not typically produced at this level of scale all that often.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Toby for a detailed analysis of this bizarre train wreck of a film. Discussion points include a brief overview of Mario's evolution as a character, the film's rampant imitation of cinematic trends of the day, and how the early internet preserved interest in this movie's existence.
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Derived from the popular (and controversial) stage musical composed by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Norman Jewison's 1973 version of Jesus Christ Superstar is a deeply timely reflection of the spiritual and socio-political issues gripping the environment that produced it. While a box office success that garnered attention from prestigious award committees, Jesus Christ Superstar got ambivalent notices from both film critics and the men who wrote the songs used in the film itself. It also got some harsh attention from religious groups that accused it of blasphemy, historical revisionism, and antisemitism.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan, Cheryl, and Melanie for a thorough discussion of this intriguing and influential time capsule of a movie. Talking points include how movie musicals were perceived in the New Hollywood movement, how Jesus Christ Superstar played into how the film industry approached religious material in its era, the movie's attempts to humanize its divine subject matter, how the then-burgeoning evangelical movement affected perceptions of Jesus Christ Superstar, and the ways that the film approaches longstanding Jewish stereotypes in its subtext.
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Based on the idiosyncratic comic series by Sam Kieth and William Messner-Loebs, The Maxx centers on a vagrant with delusions that he's a mighty superhero. While ineffective in the real world, The Maxx is powerful and important in the world of The Outback, a fantasy version of Australia that appears to be bleeding into reality. The Maxx's supporting cast includes "freelance social worker" Julie, a jaded rape survivor who helps/enables The Maxx. The main antagonist is Mr. Gone, a serial rapist who seems to have secret knowledge about Maxx, Julie, and The Outback itself.
Roughly a third of a comic series was adapted into 13 animated shorts that appeared on the anthology program MTV Oddities. The show was met with low ratings and critical confusion before it was quickly canceled, but the property itself has endured to some degree in nerd culture ever since. VHS and DVD releases were coupled with a role playing game and an audiobook. The comic itself got collected into paperback in 2003 with a remastered version following ten years later. A feature film has been in development hell since 2019.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for an extensive discussion about this complex, singular, and surreal work of art. Talking points include the deconstructionist trend in 90's comics, how the feminine perspective is expressed in The Maxx, and what the show (and comic) have to say about rape culture. The philosophies of Camille Paglia, which are espoused by Julie in The Maxx, are given an examination as well.
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While his screen persona is arguably the least defined of the Three Stooges, Larry Fine is frequently argued as the glue that holds the act together. While not as driven as Moe, as wild as Curly, or as physical as Shemp, Larry's role as the relative voice of reason (and his penchant for bizarre ad-libs) adds ballast to many a Stooges short. That, combined with his almost musically-acute sense of timing, means that studious viewers will easily find many ways in which Larry Fine's performance elevates the humor in most anything he appeared in.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a close reading of four Three Stooges shorts, ranging from the very first one to Larry's personal favorite. A brief overview of Larry Fine's life, career, and legacy is also presented. Thematic talking points center on the philosophical possibilities inherent to comedy, a winding discourse that touches upon points made by Aristotle, Lenny Bruce, Kant, and Dave Attell. Naturally, Ryan and Rachel also discuss how the impact of the Three Stooges compares to the contributions made by the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Mr. Bean, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and Dave Chappelle.
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Arguably the most ambitious and accomplished of the many, many outside media adaptations of Louisa May Alcott's 1868 coming-of-age novel, Greta Gerwig's 2019 take on Little Women scored rave reviews and high box office returns. Its studio, knowing that period dramas with lots of actorly moments tend to do well at the Oscars, campaigned hard for it during awards season (it got lots of major award nominations, but it won only a few fancy trophies).
Little Women is one of Sylvan's favorite things ever, so they suggested it to Ryan as a podcast subject. Little Women is a massive tome, so every film adaptation emphasizes different elements of the source material in their respective takes; there's lots of conversation about the choices that Gerwig made and how they contrasted against prior versions. Most notably, Gerwig chose a nonchronological structure for the film and inserts dialogue about the limited options most women faced in 19th century America. Ryan, Sylvan, and Cheryl touch upon that, but attention is also paid to Gerwig's more subtle directorial touches, the nuanced performances by all the major actors, and the movie's clever use of color grading as a storytelling device.
Plus, since this is compulsory for any and all discussions of Little Women, there's a brief dialogue about Jo's proper placement in the queer spectrum.
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One of the most acclaimed films of 2022, Everything Everywhere All At Once follows a struggling laundromat owner (Michelle Yeoh) as she navigates dealings with a stern IRS agent (Jamie Lee Curtis), her disapproving father (James Hong), her disappointed husband (Ke Huy Quan), and her distant child (Stephanie Hsu). Things take a turn when she gets roped into a wider struggle centered upon various alternate versions of herself from many parallel worlds. All of these realities involve figures making choices that led to radically different lifestyles, leading our protagonist to intense introspection, significant personal growth, and more than a little kung fu.
Made with a relatively small budget and crew, Everything Everywhere All At Once charmed critics and audiences with its abundant creativity, embrace of absurdist humor, and thoughtful exploration of both familial relationships and the Asian-American experience. Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a discussion about this game-changing feature. Cheryl chose this film as a subject because the mother/daughter interactions resonated with her on a personal level, so the dialogue touches upon that element of the film numerous times. Other talking points include nihilism, absurdism, Dadaism, how Everything Everywhere All At Once compares to other multiversal films, and the (dubious) scientific plausibility of the multiverse existing in real life.
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While Toy Story holds the distinctions of being the first computer animated feature film and the IP that established Pixar's brand identity, its endurance in pop culture goes far beyond its groundbreaking elements. Toy Story is a deeply emotive and humanizing film that also possesses great story structure, a deep bench of likable characters, and a warmly relatable sense of humor. Toy Story becomes all the more remarkable when one looks into the behind the scenes drama; there were hundreds of ways this project almost fell of the rails, but somehow everything came together exactly when it needed to.
Toy Story was the first movie that Rachel saw in theaters and it remains one of her personal favorites. She joins Ryan to discuss how this film comments on mortality, capitalism, existentialism, disillusionment, and the nature of purpose.
Ryan and Rachel also have a discussion about whether The Santa Claus or the Ernest movies are any good.
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Founded shortly after unionization struggles at Disney resulted in a talent exodus, United Productions of America (UPA) specialized in wartime propaganda cartoons before subcontracting for Columbia Pictures. Their output, heavily indebted to abstracted modern art and limited animation, pushed the boundaries of what an animated short film could be. This recording focuses on four groundbreaking cartoons supervised by director John Hubley; their embrace of wry humor, experimental aesthetics, and unconventional story structure won loud accolades, won many awards, and sent ripples throughout the animation community in ways that are still being felt today.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for a discussion about this pioneering filmmaker. Thematic topics include McCarthyism, the universality of abstracted artistry, the tensions between commerce and expression in show business, and how limitation can breed creativity.
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Film distributor Miramax spent the 80's and 90's cannily marketing its products with great success to critics, audiences, and film award committees. One of the biggest beneficiaries of Miramax gamesmanship was Good Will Hunting, a coming-of-age drama surrounding a troubled Bostonian math prodigy. Good Will Hunting only had one famous actor in its cast and its story could not be easily boiled down into an elevator pitch, but it ultimately became a big hit that won breathless accolades, collected numerous award statues, and launched the careers of Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Minnie Driver.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Sarah for an in depth dialogue about this quiet, memorable movie. Discussion topics include Good Will Hunting's approach to class tension, its relationship to child abuse as a narrative device, and how its simplified lessons about emotional vulnerability reveal how we can shape masculine-coded values such as honor, strength, and stoicism.
And yeah, this is one of those recordings where we inevitably have to talk about Harvey Weinstein.
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Made at the height of World World II, Casablanca centers on a group of drunks, gamblers, criminals, refugees, cops, and Nazis contending for a valuable set of papers that can ensure one safe transit out of the reach of the Third Reich. These documents wind up in the hands of saloon owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), meaning that everyone from corrupt police Captain Renault (Claude Rains) to Rick's old flame Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) suddenly take a serious interest in his actions and motives.
While a moderate success with critics and audiences upon release, Casablanca cleaned up at the Oscars and became a popular screening favorite at independent cinemas for decades to come. This has caused Casablanca to rise to esteem until it's routinely argued as one of the finest Hollywood films ever made. It's a personal favorite of Ryan; he's joined by Cheryl for an in-depth discussion about Casablanca's impact and longevity. Thematic topics include Casablanca's effect as a propaganda film, how its production defies auteur theory, and why nobody has had the means or ability to produce a direct sequel or remake in the nine decades since Casablanca's release.
Ryan and Cheryl do touch upon the numerous forms of media that either homage or parody Casablanca, including that time Bugs Bunny did it.
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Centering on a group of jewel thieves bickering with increasing severity after a heist goes horribly wrong, Reservoir Dogs broke several molds, inspired numerous imitators, and immediately turned writer/director Quentin Tarantino into an adjective. Its brisk pace, unconventional structure, fondness for pastiche, cavalier approach to violence, and rambling dialogue became hallmarks of independent cinema for the remainder of the decade (and beyond). It would be difficult to fully assess the shadow that Reservoir Dogs left on pop culture in the years since its debut.
Of course, Ryan and Rachel try to make an assessment anyways. Discussion topics for this recording include how Reservoir Dogs approaches masculinity, how postmodern philosophy colors the film, and Tarantino's debt to the French New Wave and New Hollywood movements.
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Troop Beverly Hills is a late 1980's comedy centering on a privileged housewife (Shelley Long) taking a position as the leader of her daughter's Wilderness Girls group. This is initially so she can demonstrate her resolve to her estranged husband (Craig T. Nelson), but she gradually bonds with her child (Jenny Lewis), forms connections with the other girls, and develops a rivalry with the Culver City troop run by the conniving Velda Plendor (Betty Thomas).
Troop Beverly Hills received a critical drubbing and it bombed in theaters, but it built an appreciative cult audience among millennial girls due to constant broadcasts on basic cable throughout the 1990's. It is now often seen as a fun, campy time capsule of 80's fashion and unapologetic girliness.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan, Cheryl, and Pete for an examination of this kitschy gem. Discussion topics include the film's approach to feminism, class struggle, and story structure. Ryan, ever the killjoy, points out the sobering parallels between the movie's references to the Marcos dictatorship and the recent (as of the recording) election of Bongbong Marcos.
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Arguably the most fantastical (and sexy) of the Bard's comedies, A Midsummer Night's Dream was first adapted into a movie in 1925 and has received numerous treatments since. This podcast episode delves into a 1999 Hollywood treatment directed by Michael Hoffman and starring Kevin Kline, Anna Friel, Stanley Tucci, Christian Bale, Rupert Everett, Michelle Pfeiffer, Calista Flockhart, Dominic West, and a whole lot of bicycles. This take on the story received lukewarm reviews and tepid box office, but Ryan has a soft spot for this one and he really wanted to talk about it on record. He's joined by Sylvan and Cheryl.
Discussion topics include the play's approach to sexuality, the story's historical blind spots to patriarchy, how the film tries to expand the depth of Bottom without altering the source material's text, and what A Midsummer Night's Dream has to say about the tragical farce of the failed artist.
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Defying the ascent of talkies, Charlie Chaplin conceived and filmed City Lights as a romantic comedy in pantomime and released it well after the silent era was dead. Despite this, City Lights was an acclaimed success and is routinely argued as Chaplin's masterpiece. It's also Ryan's favorite Chaplin film, meaning that he was eager to drag Sylvan and Cheryl in for a discussion about its merits, impact, and legacy.
Discussion topics for this one include the film's troubled production, Chaplin's contentious relationship with co-star Virginia Cherrill, the movie's progressive (for its time) depictions of physical disability, Chaplin's influence on Looney Tunes, Chaplin's portrayal of class struggle, and how one approaches art made by gross, shitty, and sometimes evil artists (Ryan brings up how the ending of City Lights "inspired" the finale of Woody Allen's Manhattan).
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The titular character of Steven Universe is a young boy whose heritage stems from both the human race and a species of alien gem people rebelling against an intergalactic colonial state. Caught in the middle of this centuries-long conflict, Steven is forced to grow up very quickly over the course of the series. This leads him to take a very idiosyncratic approach to concepts like kindness, empathy, understanding, and self-actualization. Naturally, the program's in depth explorations of emotional intelligence have had a pronounced effect on its target audience of young people (and also Steven Universe's many adult fans).
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a dialogue that traces Steven's character evolution over the course of the show's run. Discussion topics include Steven's gradual progression into a leadership position, the way the show tackles the importance of confronting negative emotions honestly, how Steven Universe approaches queer identity, and how Steven reflects millennial creators aging into a role where they can tell their own stories on a mass media platform.
Ryan also takes a few moments to compare Steven (a millennial interpretation of Gen Z) to Daria (a Gen X interpretation of millennials).
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While its Halloween episodes tend to get far more attention, The Simpsons has inevitably aired a number of yuletide episodes. In fact, the very first episode of the program takes place at Christmas (although that wasn't part of the original plan). It's possible to track the growth, evolution, and decline of The Simpsons through the way it has approached the 25th of December throughout its lengthy run. And yes, that's what Ryan, Cheryl, and Sylvan do during this recording.
Discussion topics this time include the basic genesis of The Simpsons itself, Bart's relationship with Marge, how The Simpsons was perceived as radically countercultural in its early years, when The Simpsons began degrading in quality, and whether The Simpsons has actually has degraded in quality.
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Perhaps interested in creating a seasonal perennial that would yield residual checks for years to come, Emma Thompson spent eight years trying to make a movie based on the popular Wham! song "Last Christmas". The resulting film, starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding, was released shortly after the death of former Wham! frontman George Michael. It received a critical drubbing, but still made a healthy profit at the box office.
It's still too soon to tell if Last Christmas will have a long shelf life among the slew of other Christmas romcoms, but it's a meaningful film for Cheryl and she picked it for the podcast because of this. Ryan and Sylvan were far, far less charmed by Last Christmas and dunk on it for most of this recording. Discussion topics include the movie's shallow depiction of the unhoused, its wishy-washy message about xenophobia, the satisfaction one can yield from lightweight entertainment, and why the Christmas Carol formula is so popular in mass media.
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One of the most profitable films of a year that had no shortage of memorable blockbusters, Gremlins is a horror comedy centering on a family besieged by folkloric monsters during the holiday season. Made with a relatively modest budget and cast with no major stars, Gremlins succeeded largely due to Joe Dante's idiosyncratic direction, Chris Columbus's novel script, and the ingenuity demonstrated by the team operating the film's inventive puppets.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a detailed examination of this enduring holiday staple. Discussion topics include classism, racial stereotypes, seasonal depression, the movie's relationship with the work of Frank Capra, how Gremlins stands in the wider filmography of Steven Spielberg, and whether Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) is superior to the original installment.
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The Killer Shrews is a cheaply-made horror movie about a guy who finds himself on an island filled with genetically-altered monsters (who look an awful lot like hand puppets). Nobody involved in the production felt that they were making high art or even something that would be fun to watch. The Killer Shrews exists because a dude who owned a regional theater chain needed something to fill a scheduling block and absolutely anything would do. It would be very easy to dissect The Killer Shrews as an example of commerce interfering with artistic expression.
And yes, Ryan takes a moment to argue that The Killer Shrews is a case study in how commerce interferes with artistic expression. He's joined by Cheryl, who's mostly along for the ride (they watched the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode on The Killer Shrews, mostly so the experience would go down easier). Other topics in their dialogue here include the threadbare production of The Killer Shrews, the surprisingly long shelf life of this very minor film, what goes into cinematic schlock, and the business of regional theater (and how that mirrors modern streaming services).
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The TV sitcom is arguably the most widespread artistic representation of ordinary, quotidian life and, as such, many sitcoms tackle popular holidays on their episodes. It is Ryan's opinion that Bob's Burgers handles Thanksgiving with better craft and thematic focus than just about any other program of its kind. He brings on Sarah for a discussion about three of these episodes, all of which were scripted by Wendy and Lizzie Molyneux.
Conversational topics for this recording include Linda's Thanksgiving song, patriarchal neediness, and how Bob distinguishes himself from just about every other TV sitcom dad. Ryan and Sarah also go into detail about the show's embrace of groaner puns and how that might be uniquely appealing to the nerdy millennials who seem to make up most of the Bob's Burgers fandom.
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Spinning off from the long-running animated TV sitcom, The Bob's Burgers Movie finds the Belchers struggling to keep financially afloat after a massive sinkhole opens up right in front of the family restaurant. A slim beacon of hope exists in the possibility of their landlord being lenient with the rent until things are sorted, but even that option is jeopardized when a skeleton found in the sinkhole results in a murder investigation. Ultimately, it falls upon the Belcher children to solve the mystery while their parents try to think of a way to save the family business.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a thorough dialogue about this silly, tuneful, and surprisingly layered film. Discussion topics include how production of The Bob's Burgers Movie was affected by both the Covid-19 pandemic and Disney's purchase of the 20th Century Fox film studio, how class conflict is a constant subtextual theme in Bob's Burgers, and why the character of Tina Belcher is important to depictions of adolescent sexuality in mass media.
There's also a surprisingly lively debate over the quality of this movie's villain song.
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The script for Splash, a romantic comedy where a jaded New Yorker falls in love with a mermaid, had been kicking around Hollywood for a while before Disney became interested. Ultimately, it became the first project released by Touchstone Pictures, a brand that Disney created in order to produce movies that fell outside the carefully-cultivated Disney identity. Starring relatively unknown actors Tom Hanks and Darryl Hannah, Splash defied expectations to become a critical and commercial success. It also has a weirdly extensive reach into our wider culture; Disneyland's new log flume was named Splash Mountain in order to promote the film, Ariel was made a redhead in 1989's The Little Mermaid in order to distinguish her from Daryl Hannah, and Splash was arguably the thing that popularized Madison as a girl's name.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for an extensive look at this high concept 80's movie. Talking points include the natural charisma of Tom Hanks, the movie's descent into chaos in its third act, Daryl Hannah's affinity for mermaids and vegetarianism, Ron Howard's workmanlike direction, how John Candy makes his character endurable, and why Splash got an Oscar nod for its screenplay.
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Several decades after narrowly avoiding the appetites of the supernatural monster who manifests as their darkest fears, the band of lovable misfits from the prior movie are now adults struggling to live their lives and deal with a trauma that they only vaguely remember. Unfortunately for them, the creature survived their fateful encounter and has emerged from hibernation to prey on the vulnerable once again.
Since Ryan covered the first movie with Cheryl and Sylvan, they both return for a discussion about the concluding installment. Topics for this dialogue include the second movie's relative storytelling weaknesses when contrasted against its predecessor, why they second movie is still more narratively satisfying than its source material, the film's approach to remarking upon homophobic violence, and how abuse can carry over from generation to generation.
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Centering on a group of outcast kids who are being terrorized by a hungry supernatural entity that knows their deepest fears, It was a bestselling Stephen King novel before it was adapted into a 1990 TV movie. Horror buffs do have fond memories of that film because of a memorable performance by Tim Curry as the villain, but many were still excited by the prospect of the story getting a big screen treatment from a major Hollywood studio. Split into two films (the novel is massive), this recording will be centering upon the first installment.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a discussion about this popular and affecting scary movie. Discussion topics include the excellent performances from the child actors, the decision to nix any mention of a cosmic turtle deity, the source novel's infamous sex orgy scene, and how horror movies like to explore the dark, nasty secrets hiding behind the artificial placidity of small town America.
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Often credited with kicking off the Universal Monsters series that gave us Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), and The Wolf Man (1941), The Phantom of the Opera was created at great expense and with numerous production woes. Intended from the onset to be a vehicle for superstar actor Lon Chaney, his scene-stealing performance and memorably gruesome makeup job still manages to engage audiences almost a hundred years after the movie's 1925 debut. While Phantom of the Opera has been adapted to the screen many times (Reel Deep Dive has covered two other Phantom films on prior episodes), this version remains a unique experience.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a detailed chat about this moody and influential film. Talking points include the movie's numerous revisions, how music affects perception of the story, the difficulties connected to preserving films made in the silent era, and how the Phantom symbolizes patriarchal entitlement.
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Eager to repeat the success of 1965's A Charlie Brown Christmas, CBS instructed director Bill Melendez, producer Lee Mendelson, and writer/creator Charles M. Schulz to craft another Peanuts holiday special that they could rebroadcast year after year indefinitely. Mendelson pushed Halloween as the next logical step and, after bringing back most of the original voice cast and musician Vince Guaraldi, the team produced another seasonal perennial. Freely adapted from one of Schulz's storylines in the Peanuts newspaper comic, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was a ratings smash that quickly attained a stature in pop culture comparable to its yuletide predecessor.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a deconstruction of this beloved icon of spooky season. Discussion topics include the relatability of disappointment, why Schulz refused to ever resolve the longstanding conflicts in the Peanuts universe, the history behind Halloween's gradual ascension in the public eye (and how Charlie Brown helped shape that), why Snoopy gradually became more and more anthropomorphic as Peanuts evolved, and how The Great Pumpkin serves as a metaphor for both belief in Santa and also God.
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Easily the most popular entry in the "killer car" microgenre, Christine centers upon an awkward, dweeby teenage boy who is gradually corrupted by an evil spirit found inside the vintage automobile that gives the film its name. Directed by John Carpenter as the Stephen King source novel was being prepared for publication, Christine received mixed reviews, earned modest success at the box office, and quickly became a perennial on late night cable and at video rental stores. Few would proclaim Christine to be a peerless classic or even the best thing produced by its creative team, but it has nonetheless hung around in the public consciousness in the decades since its release and, as it goes with any reasonably successful horror movie, it has a remake and/or sequel in development as of this writing.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a discussion of this ode to hot cars, greased-back hair, classic rock n' roll, and vehicular slaughter. Discussion topics include status symbols, icons of Americana, boomer nostalgia, how the rules don't apply to Stephen King, and (naturally) how car culture is tied to concepts of masculinity.
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The result of an infamously prolonged and troubled shoot, Jaws was greeted with critical acclaim and record-breaking box office from the moment of its release. Not every hit movie maintains a good reputation and a looming presence in pop culture as it ages, but Jaws has arguably grown in esteem in the six decades since it was released. Jaws has "inspired" scores of knockoffs, director Steven Spielberg would soon become a dominant figure in Hollywood, film studios would use Jaws as a case study in how to produce, release, and market big movies, and people spooked by Jaws would hunt the great white shark to the brink of extinction.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a talk about this uniquely successful and influential movie. Discussion topics include the movie's approach to 1970's cynicism, parallels between Jaws and the Covid-19 pandemic, generational tension, the storytelling appeal of mystery, how Jaws contributed to the death of the New Hollywood movement, and the multiple competing versions of Jaws as a stage musical.
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Looking to reinvent her image after starring in a string of lowbrow erotic thrillers throughout the 1990's, Drew Barrymore grew passionate about a script that reframed the Cinderella story through the lenses of historical fiction and third wave feminism. The resulting Ever After was a commercial hit that charmed millions of millennial girls and led to Barrymore starring in a series of warm, bubbly romcoms like The Wedding Singer (1998), Never Been Kissed (1999), and 50 First Dates (2004).
Ryan is joined by Kat for a lengthy discussion about this underrated gem. Subjects in the dialogue include how the film stock gives Ever After a certain look, why Anjelica Huston's performance underlies the struggles of women under patriarchy, Megan Dodds' status as Ever After's secret weapon, how Ever After compares to other prominent Cinderella films, the weird relationship this movie has to Thomas More's Utopia, and the allure of a Cinderella story where the main character rescues herself.
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This recording is intended to be the first of a series of podcast episodes focusing on X-Men: The Animated Series. Instead of framing things on key episodes or writers integral to the series, this particular facet of Reel Deep Dive will instead take a character from the program and break things down from their perspective. Since Jubilee served as the audience POV figure for much of X-Men: The Animated Series, Ryan is starting things off with her. We'll do episodes focusing on Storm, Rogue, Wolverine, Beast, and other fan favorites if this one gets enough clicks to justify such a thing.
A young, plucky, and frequently-overwhelmed teenage girl with the ability to shoot fireworks out of her hands, Jubilee has an interesting position in X-Men fandom. While she's widely derided as being annoying and useless to the team, others embrace Jubilee as a relatable figure who largely served as their introduction to the Marvel Universe as a whole. Jubilee is also one of the few Asian-American cartoon characters of her era, which lends wider significance to her presence on Saturday mornings.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a thorough dialogue about four Jubilee-centric episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series. Discussion topics include the history of Asian-American depictions in Western media, the wider context of characters like Morph and Longshot, how the X-Men are interpreted by those with conservative viewpoints, the pitfall of respectability politics, and why the X-Men (and superheroes in general) feel the need to have a child engage in highly dangerous fights against evil.
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9 to 5 centers on the vicarious charge yielded from three working women overthrowing their company's corrupt, misogynistic, and bigoted boss. Initially pitched as a dramatic vehicle for Jane Fonda, 9 to 5 struck gold once it was retooled as a wacky office comedy with its feminist subtext framed in a satirical vein. While very much an ensemble story that gives just as much screen time to Fonda and Lily Tomlin, 9 to 5 is often remembered primarily for a hit theme song and breakout acting performance from Dolly Parton. That, coupled with sharp dialogue, memorable antics, canny one-liners, and a number of boldly-filmed fantasy sequences, made 9 to 5 one of the most profitable films of its day; a long-running TV sitcom and a Broadway musical adaptation are among the things spun off from it.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a discussion about this madcap crowd-pleaser. Discussion topics include sexism in the workplace, income inequality, rape culture, and why 9 to 5 made Ronald Reagan very, very upset.
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One of the cornerstones of the period that animation geeks refer to as The Disney Renaissance, Beauty and the Beast loosely adapts the classic French fairytale into a 90 minute musical extravaganza containing equal parts humor and pathos. Pleased with the success of The Little Mermaid (1989), Disney executives instructed the filmmakers to take an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to the follow-up. Beauty and the Beast had its share of creative issues and tragedy; the first director was fired a year into production and songwriter Howard Ashman sadly died while the movie was still in animatics. Despite this, Beauty and the Beast was a smash hit that collected critical accolades and award statues. Its stature has only grown in the decades following its release, especially among millennials who grew up watching a battered VHS tape of it over and over again.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan for a lengthy discussion about this beloved film. There's some comparison between this film and both its source material and the Beauty and the Beast films that precede it (the 1946 Jean Cocteau film inevitably comes up). The direct-to-video sequels, video game tie-ins, and 2017 "live action" remake also come up in the discussion. Other talking points include how Belle's character was developed at least partially in response to criticisms of Ariel in The Little Mermaid, whether it's fair to frame Beauty and the Beast's themes around Stockholm Syndrome, how Belle and Beast appeal to those on the spectrum, the frightening charisma of Gaston, and how the movie's climax is reflective of the queer experience during the AIDS crisis.
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Suspiria, whether we're talking about Dario Argento's original film or the remake directed by Luca Guadagnino, centers upon a young American woman attending a prestigious dance academy run by a coven of witches. That being said, the two films differ greatly when it comes to length, storytelling, music, acting, editing, color sense, and thematic subtext. Rachel really wanted to put both movies side by side and deconstruct what made each of them tick. Ryan was a little wary of the added research needed and he (correctly) guessed that he'd inevitably butcher the pronunciation of so many Italian and German names, but he went along with things.
Talking points for this ambitious episode include patriarchal interpretations of feminine power, generational guilt, expressionism, modern dance, and why unconventional story structure and a flair for memorable imagery became hallmarks of European exploitation cinema.
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We're checking off a big one here. Arguably the most celebrated film produced during Hollywood's golden era, The Wizard of Oz takes L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's novel and throws an unprecedented amount of money, care, talent, and hammy performances at it. The result is a miasma of iconic visuals, memorable songs, and iconic one-liners that still retains its ability to overwhelm the senses decades later.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan for a dialogue about this oft-discussed film. It's pretty much impossible to dissect The Wizard of Oz in a way that hasn't been done countless times already, but an attempt is made to keep things lively during the recording. Talking points include prior film versions of the story, debunking of various myths that have sprung up about the movie over the years, how The Wizard of Oz approaches its nostalgic and supernatural subtexts, the movie's status as a horror film, and whether The Wizard of Oz will continue to be relevant for later generations.
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Following the smash success of Double Dare, children's cable network Nickelodeon produced a flurry of game shows over the course of the next decade and a half. Legends of the Hidden Temple, like most of these programs, imitated Double Dare's blend of trivia questions and obstacle course challenges. However, as one would likely infer based on the title of the program, Legends of the Hidden Temple framed itself in the aesthetic of "lost world" adventure romances like King Solomon's Mines, The Man Who Would Be King, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Included among the show's elaborate set pieces were a complex temple maze, terrifying hidden guards, and a lovable talking stone head named Olmec.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a discussion of this idiosyncratic example of early-90's children's programming. Thematic talking points touch upon the endurance of game shows across the history of television, the cultural subtext and questionable historicity inherent in the genre that Legends of the Hidden Temple lifts its general vibe from, why the physical challenges on the show were so difficult, which teams on Legends of the Hidden Temple performed the best, and how frustrating it is to watch children struggle with The Shrine of the Silver Monkey.
Naturally, Ryan, Sylvan, and Cheryl also talk about their favorite teams (Ryan is partial to the Green Monkeys).
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Shortly after his ascent to pop superstardom and teen idol status, Elvis Presley ventured into filmmaking with Love Me Tender (1956). The strong profits of that feature led to lightweight musical comedies becoming the central focus of Presley's career. He appeared in over 30 movies between 1956 and 1969, most of which are forgettable trash made to promote mediocre, hastily-written songs that Presley was openly disinterested in performing. Elvis' movies are frequently blamed for the career decline that Presley endured in the 1960's, but just about every film turned a profit and some of them are presently embraced as campy pleasures.
This episode focuses on the relatively early entry Viva Las Vegas, often argued as one of the better Elvis movies. Ryan is joined by Rachel, who isn't a huge Elvis fan and had no idea that Elvis even made movies until very recently. Discussion topics for this one include the assembly line production for Viva Las Vegas, how Ann-Margaret's charisma props up the movie's goofball atmosphere and barely-there story, the unambiguous trend-chasing in the movie, and Elvis Presley's curious stature as a cultural icon in the present day.
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Spinning off from Beavis and Butthead, Daria is a coming-of-age animated sitcom centered upon its titular protagonist, an intelligent, disaffected, and cynical teenage girl making her way through a school and home environment that doesn't understand her. One of the more popular and well-reviewed programs of its particular era on MTV, the show has had a lasting impact on an audience of American millennials who entered their young adulthood while watching it.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl as he deconstructs three key episodes that chart how Daria evolved as a character from the beginning of the program to its conclusion. Discussion topics include how "gifted" children are treated by the system, how the 1990's was cited as "the end of history" at the time, how Daria's circumstances were treated as universal even though they very much weren't, and how Daria's disposition functions as a defense mechanism.
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While releasing the long-delayed final season of Samurai Jack, animator Genndy Tartakovsky was surprised by how much viewers loved the lengthy stretches that presented action and/or contemplation without any dialogue. This energized him to dust off an old idea and refurbish it as Primal, an adult animated fantasy series centering upon the unlikely partnership between a Neanderthal and a Tyrannosaurus. The duo (named Spear and Fang in the show's scripts) were united by mutual loss and most of their stories hinge upon a desperate bid to survive in a deeply hostile world.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for a look at four episodes from the first season of this intense and kinetic program. Thematic topics include fridging, adolescent fantasy, found family, survivor's guilt, what Primal borrows from the silent film era, the lack of storytelling diversity in North American animation, and all the ways that the universe wants to kill us.
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Slaxx, a 2020 Canadian horror comedy, is about a clothing outlet being terrorized by a pair of jeans possessed by the vengeful ghost of a slain sweatshop worker. As that brief description implies, Slaxx is both deeply absurd and highly didactic. It crams a lot of indictments of fast fashion, the retail mindset, and capitalism into its lean 77 minute running time, but also tosses in plenty of slapstick murder gags and broadly awful caricatures getting what's coming to them.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a breakdown of this low budget sleeper hit. Discussion topics naturally include the socio-political issues that the film is directly addressing in its storytelling, but there's also conversation about how Slaxx chooses to get its message across and whether this is effective. In addition to that, Cheryl and Ryan delve into how Slaxx fits into the framework of horror filmmaking and the traditions it has decided to continue.
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Felix the Cat has taken quite a few strange turns since the character's debut in 1919, but the absolute oddest take is arguably the feature film co-produced by a Hungarian and American partnership. Development dragged from 1985 to 1987 and the resulting movie, which inexplicably dropped the character into a high fantasy setting reminiscent of He-Man or Heavy Metal, was released to critical dismissal and tepid box office several years later. This effort was part of an unsuccessful campaign to turn Felix into a heavily-merchandised multimedia sensation like Garfield, Alf, My Little Pony, The Smurfs, or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a dialogue about this fever dream of a feature, something that was a modest yet persistent source of childhood weirdness for all parties. Talking points include the various permutations that Felix went through before the film and since, the deceptively fun platform game released to Nintendo several years after the movie flopped, and why Felix hasn't completely fallen into the public domain despite being created over a hundred years ago.
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Loosely adapted from John W. Campbell Jr.'s novella by Howard Hawks' production company, The Thing From Another World was a moderately profitable sci-fi thriller with a surprisingly lengthy reach across pop culture. Its plot points quickly became common tropes in genre filmmaking, its most memorable scenes were widely imitated, and it has gotten several remakes over the course of the past seven decades.
Ryan is joined by Rachel, who considers John Carpenter's 1982 remake among her personal favorites. Discussion inevitably leads to a bit of comparison between the Carpenter film and the original, but other topics in the conversation include the movie's ethical skepticism of science, the story's connections to HP Lovecraft, whether or not the movie was shadow-directed by Howard Hawks, and how The Thing From Another World plays into Cold War politics.
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Adapted from the French comics series by Jean-Claude Forest and produced by Italian film kingpin Dino De Laurentiis, Barbarella shared cast and crew with Danger: Diabolik and went through a slew of writers (including Terry Southern) before reaching its final form. It's odd to remember that Jane Fonda was far from the first choice for the starring role when one considers how strongly the part looms over her public persona, but even a cursory glance at her vivid, dizzying, salacious, and humorous performance will provide ample evidence as to how Barbarella became an enduring camp classic.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a thorough examination of this cheesy, sexy, loopy, and unique time capsule of a very specific era in pop culture history. Discussion topics for Barbarella include the nature of consent, Jane Fonda's complex relationship with socio-political issues, how Barbarella reflects attitudes apparent in second wave feminism, Barbarella's thorny interpretation through the lens of sex positivity, and how a modern version of Barbarella might play out.
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Developed during the troubled production of The Black Cauldron (1985) and released when Disney was at a very low period, The Great Mouse Detective was a modest success that convinced new CEO Michael Eisner and new chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg that animated features were still a relevant facet of Disney's business strategy. Based upon Eve Titus and Paul Galdone's Basil of Baker Street, The Great Mouse Detective marked the the first major contributions of many figures who'd become instrumental to the Disney Renaissance, not the least of whom would be directors John Musker and Ron Clements; they would pitch The Little Mermaid to Katzenberg shortly after The Great Mouse Detective turned a profit.
Ryan is joined by Rachel, Sylvan, and Cheryl for a lively discussion for this product of Disney's most tumultuous rebuilding phase. Topics for this episode include the film's novel embrace of CGI, its roots in the traditions of animation, Disney's rivalry with Don Bluth during this period, and how The Great Mouse Detective fits in with how Sherlock Holmes has been depicted in film and television over the years.
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Judy Garland suffered a significant blow to her reputation when, plagued by addiction problems, she was fired from 1950's Annie Get Your Gun and then spent three months in a Boston rehab facility. Summer Stock was conceived by MGM as a comeback vehicle for Garland since it harkened back to the backyard musicals that served as reliable moneymakers for the star throughout the 1940's. Director Charles Walters and romantic lead Gene Kelly considered the goofy and simplistic story to be beneath their ambitious talents, but they both signed on since they admired Garland and wished to help her get her career back on track. MGM's pressure to get Garland to lose weight and jump back into filmmaking so soon after her rehab stint contributed to a nasty relapse, which caused both delays and logistical problems in the making of Summer Stock. The resulting movie was still a modest earner, but Garland was unable to make a commitment to 1951's Royal Wedding and her contract with MGM was soon cancelled.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a closer look at this slight, silly, and endearing feature (it's a bit surprising that so little of Garland's many personal issues are apparent in the finished movie). Talking points for this one include the exploitation of labor, how culture clashes are depicted in Hollywood storytelling, and which part of America is "the real America".
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Generally speaking, vintage comedy fans consider the golden era of The Three Stooges to be the shorts made between 1934-1946 with Curly Howard as the third player. However, all things must pass and the group was forced to soldier on after Curly suffered a massive stroke and was rendered unable to perform. His brother Shemp Howard, who was part of the act in its earliest days, was brought in as a temporary pinch hitter and was persuaded to stay when it became clear that Curly was not going to recover. Shemp contributed to dozens of shorts until he died a little under ten years he rejoined the troupe.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for this examination of four representational shorts from the Shemp era. Discussion topics include Shemp's days with the Stooges under Ted Healy, his lengthy career as a character actor outside of Stooge films, the differences between Shemp's persona and Curly's, the legacy of the "fake Shemp", the etymology of slapstick, and the impact of Jewish comedy on American cinema.
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Based upon Winsor McKay's pioneering comic strip and animated short, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland was a joint production between Japanese and American animation studios that went through almost fifteen years of development hell before it was released to dismissive reviews and indifferent ticket sales in 1989. The roll call of those who worked on the film in some capacity can feel like a list of people who guided children's film for the next thirty years; notable names include Brad Bird, Jerry W. Rees, Brian Froud, Chris Columbus, Osamu Dezaki, Hayao Miyazaki, Andy Gaskill, Roger Allers, Isao Takahata, and many others. While the movie was a flop, it did attract a modest cult audience on home video (a decent pair of video games for the arcade and the NES console didn't hurt either).
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a breakdown of this interesting crossroad in the history of animated film. Discussion topics include the incomplete characterization of the main character, how the visual splendor of McKay's art nouveau-inflected style was translated to the screen, and the general grumpiness of Mickey Rooney.
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Envisioned as an unofficial sequel to the completely unrelated 1986 horror comedy Troll, this infamous turkey was shot in Utah by an Italian schlock factory and was cast with locals with no acting experience. Troll 2 suffered from a variety of technical issues over the course of its production, including (but not limited to) cheap props, little attention paid to continuity, and a crew that didn't speak English and refused to let the actors correct the multitude of grammar and syntax errors in the script. The resulting film was quickly consigned to the dregs of late night cable broadcasts where it was assumed that it'd be quickly forgotten, but Troll 2's bizarre aesthetics and campy performances began to attract a fervent cult audience in the early 2000's. It has since become a staple of ironic midnight screenings alongside other trash cinema "classics" such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003). In 2009, former child actor Michael Stephenson directed Best Worst Movie, a documentary about his experiences on the set of Troll 2.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a conversation about this oddly memorable artistic failure. Discussion topics include the story's weird approach to vegetarianism, the financial motivations for making films like Troll 2, how the earliest iterations of social media helped Troll 2 become well known, and why, out of all the bad movies put out every year, only a few contain the necessary factors to become cult favorites.
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A remake of the 1925 film that was first greenlit after the success of Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931), Universal's second adaptation of the Gaston Leroux potboiler tries to mix the gothic horror of its monster franchises with the pomp and opulence of a Hollywood musical. While financially and critically successful in its day (it's the only classic-era Universal horror movie to get any Oscar attention), movie nerds often consider this film to be one of the lesser cinematic renditions of the story; common complaints include tonal inconsistency, a lack of spookiness, an overemphasis on the musical set pieces, and a muddled screenplay that doesn't quite understand what its priorities are. Infamously, early versions of the story had the Phantom (Claude Rains) be the estranged father of Christine (Susanna Foster), but this plotline was dropped without any writers fleshing out another reason for the Phantom to be so fixated on this one random chorus girl.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a discussion of this colorful, grandiose, and peculiar time capsule. Topics brought up over the course of this episode include the movie's lengthy journey through development hell, the curious decision to compose arias from nonexistent operas for the movie, the chemistry between Nelson Eddy and Edgar Barrier, and why movie versions of Phantom of the Opera are so radically different from both each other and the source material.
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Spinning off from the TV show of the same name (itself a spin-off of the 1982 film Creepshow), Tales From The Darkside: The Movie is a horror anthology movie produced by George Romero, directed by John Harrison, and featuring performances by Steve Buscemi, Christian Slater, Deborah Harry, William Hickey, David Johansen, Rae Dawn Chong, James Remar, and (in her movie debut) Julianne Moore. Moderately successful at the box office, Tales From The Darkside: The Movie enjoyed a lengthy afterlife as a perennial on basic cable broadcasts and, alongside the TV program, has attracted a decently-sized fanbase among horror movie nerds.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for a discussion about this campy, enjoyable feature. Thematic topics in the discourse include the "mixed flavors" approach that's inherent to the anthology format, the movie's indirect roots in Japanese folklore, Tales From The Darkside's knack for giving talented actors their first big break, why puppets are better than CGI every time, and why this movie would've been better if Patrick Swayze was in it.
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Following the success of the Incredible Hulk television show that began airing in 1977, American networks tried to find another Marvel superhero who could captivate the viewers at home. Among their selected candidates was Doctor Strange, a heroic wizard whose comics had attracted a cult audience of children, fantasy nerds, and collegiate stoners ever since he was created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee in 1963. CBS commissioned Philip DeGuere to direct a film that would serve as a pilot for a potential series; exploitation film regular Peter Hooten was cast as Doctor Strange while Jessica Walter, who'd later attain wider fame for her performances in Arrested Development and Archer, played the vampy antagonist. Alas, the TV movie was greeted with nasty reviews and miserable ratings (it was set up against the miniseries Roots, which did not help its chances).
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a closer look at this campy relic of a very specific time and place. Discussion topics include the film's minor innovations, its curious decision to remove Doctor Strange's core character arc, and how it approached the source material's appropriative roots. Because he couldn't help himself, Ryan also delves into the various other attempts to make a Doctor Strange film until Marvel Studios finally managed to produce one in 2016.
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A heavily-rotoscoped sword and sorcery adventure film produced by iconoclastic animator Ralph Bakshi and beloved fantasy artist Frank Frazetta, Fire and Ice's crew featured such notables as Peter Chung (Æon Flux*), James Gurney (Dinotopia), Maggie Roswell (The Simpsons), Roy Thomas (Conan), Gerry Conway (Spider-Man), and Thomas Kinkade (a bunch of ugly paintings at your local Hallmark dealer). Greenlit because of the recent success of Conan The Barbarian (1982) and The Beastmaster (1982), Fire and Ice was quickly churned out under a miniscule budget. It was greeted with miserable reviews and underwhelming ticket sales, but it gradually grew a modest cult audience on home video and there are occasional threats from Hollywood to do a remake.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a close look at this odd little movie. Discussion topics include Frank Frazetta's artistry, how Fire and Ice compares to Bakshi's prior film Wizards (1977), male power fantasies, queercoding, and how the movie's discomforting racial subtext is rooted in the fantasy genre as a whole.*
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A virtual band descended from the precedents set by the likes of Alvin & The Chipmunks and The Archies, Jem & The Holograms were launched in 1985 by the toy company Hasbro. Hoping to capitalize upon the smash success of the music video format popularized by MTV, Jem would lace pop songs alongside a formula set by syndicated animated programs like He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe, Transformers, My Little Pony, and GI Joe: A Real American hero. Like those cartoons, Jem exploited the deregulated programming standards of the Reagan era to essentially become a extended commercial for a line of dolls, each packaged with a cassette tape containing one of the cartoon's musical numbers.
While a ratings success upon its first season, Jem burned out fairly quickly (a trajectory not helped by Mattel's efforts to stifle Jem's space on toy shelves by releasing a musically-themed Barbie line). Revivals have been somewhat muted when contrasted against most of Jem's 80's peers, but the property has maintained a loyal cult audience of younger Gen-Xers and older millennials who have nostalgic attachment to its pastel palette, new wave aesthetic, goofy demeanor, and catchy theme song.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan for an examination of three episodes from Jem's first two seasons. Thematic points under discussion include the exploitive practices of the recording industry, queercoding in the era of Saturday morning cartoons, and Paul Dini's longstanding crush on Zatanna.
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This recording is the third in a series that breaks down The Twilight Zone through its writing staff. If you'd like to visit (or revisit) the prior installments centering upon Jerry Sohl and Charles Beaumont, feel free to scroll down. You will not, however, miss out on any important context if you just dive in here.
Probably the most esteemed Twilight Zone writer who isn't Rod Serling, winnowing down Richard Matheson's episodes to a representational trio is a mental challenge to anyone who is even a little nerdy. As such, Ryan conscripted Rachel and Sylvan to select their personal favorites while he went with the obligatory "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet".
Talking points for this session include nostalgia, perceptions of reality, the fear of oblivion, and (unsurprisingly) the fear of flying. Rachel, oddly enough, restrains herself from doing a William Shatner impression, but Ryan does a (pretty terrible) approximation instead.
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Osamu Tezuka's popular manga Dororo got adapted into two beloved anime series, once in 1969 and again in 2019. We're not talking about either of those here. The subject for today's episode is the 2007 live action Dororo film; it was intended to launch a trilogy, but that plan was scrapped after indifferent box office returns. Despite the film's disappointing gross, its connection to Tezuka's legacy and its weird imagery did endear it to a modest cult audience, particularly in the United States.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for a chat about Dororo's convoluted plotting, awful CGI, and intriguing subtext. Thematic discussions fall along a few minor lines such as sibling rivalry and the difference between puppet monsters and digital monsters, but the main gist is Dororo's striking commentary on gender roles and trans issues. The personal life experience of the hosts comes up a few times, but the dialogue also comes to a point where Dororo is compared to Princess Knight, another Tezuka story where a character assigned female at birth takes on a masculine identity.
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One of the defining cultural touchstones of the decade it came out in, Flashdance is a sloppy, tonally-inconsistent, and amateurishly-crafted film that happens to have an exhilaratingly charismatic lead actress, some instantly-memorable dance sequences, and a soundtrack filled with absolute bangers. While Flashdance got miserable reviews and its studio expected it to be an utter failure, that soundtrack album sold millions of copies and it gradually turned the movie into a word-of-mouth sleeper hit.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for a conversation about this lumpy, ridiculous, and weirdly-compelling movie. Discussion topics include how the movie's central romantic plot points are corrupted by the wide age difference and power levels of the two characters, why Flashdance was smart to prioritize certain elements of itself over others, and how Flashdance is a (probably accidental) indictment of how the neoliberal philosophical ideals popularized by F.A. Hayek affected the arts.
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Originally envisioned as a trashy, lowbrow exploitation thriller, Rebel Without A Cause got a massive boost to its budget when the success of East Of Eden (1955) convinced Warner Brothers that James Dean was a rising star worth more of an investment. Alongside director Nicholas Ray, Dean carefully molded the coming-of-age story into a tragic, Shakespearean melodrama. Released just after Dean's sudden death, Rebel Without A Cause struck a nerve in the American psyche and has remained a pop culture fixture to the present day.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for an in-depth breakdown of this Hollywood classic. Discussion topics include how Rebel Without A Cause marked a shift in how mainstream America perceived masculinity, why the term "teenager" became a part of common parlance in the mid-20th century, how Rebel Without A Cause uses queercoding to define one of its main characters, and why Hollywood often embraces tragedy porn whenever they tell queer stories.
There's also a segment where Ryan discusses how the concept of the literary canon differs from a corresponding film canon. Rebel Without A Cause is used as a case study for this point since, while it is almost inarguably included in the film canon, it is not nearly as widely-seen as Casablanca, The Wizard Of Oz, or The Godfather.
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This episode features a frank discussion about the multiple scenes of sexual assault that occur in the film. If that doesn't sound like the sort of thing you'd like to sit through, we'd advise you to sit this installment out.
After some poor business decisions from founder Osamu Tezuka, animation studio Mushi Production was in dire financial straits. Thinking that a shift in creative direction would be prudent, Mushi put out a series of animated features with the then bold decision of targeting an adult audience instead of a juvenile one. Belladonna Of Sadness was the third and final attempt in this failed initiative; it sank like a rock at the box office, but gradually grew an appreciative cult audience due to its painterly animation, daring subject matter, and a pristine restoration in the 21st century.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for an extensive look at this parable about witchcraft, class struggle, and religious hypocrisy. Thematic subjects under discussion include historical revisionism, whether Belladonna Of Sadness can be argued as a feminist film, and the subterfuge of patriarchal figures using countercultural posturing in order to sneak into progressive spaces (this episode was recorded shortly after sexual harassment and workplace abuse allegations were made against writer/director Joss Whedon).
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One of the most popular, acclaimed, and widely-seen Hollywood films ever made, The Godfather contains a multitude of thematic subtext and its behind-the-scenes drama is about as thoroughly documented as humanly possible. As such, while all art is subjective, The Godfather is especially emblematic of this since there's absolutely no way that Ryan and Rachel can cover absolutely everything over the course of a single podcast episode. So, while this is true of every installment of Reel Deep Dive, it is particularly apparent that the hosts will be revealing more about themselves than anything else based on what elements of The Godfather tapestry that they choose to talk about.
Among those elements include the movie's approach to masculinity, how The Godfather reflects perceptions of immigrants in the United States, what informed director Francis Ford Coppola's creative decisions, and how this movie influenced how we all interpret the people and iconography depicted within.
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Spinning off from the popular and acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series, Mask Of The Phantasm was initially intended for a direct-to-video release. However, Warner Brothers quickly decided to give the film a theatrical release and, after a rush to convert the animation to this format, Mask Of The Phantasm was released to little fanfare and indifferent box office. Despite this, Mask Of The Phantasm performed well on home video and its reputation has grown steadily as the years have gone on. These days, it is not uncommon for Mask Of The Phantasm to be argued as the finest Batman movie ever produced.
That's the opinion of Ryan and his cohosts Sylvan and Cheryl. Mask Of The Phantasm was a childhood staple for all three of them and there's plenty of wistful nostalgic musing on this recording. Other discussion topics include how the personal trauma of writer Paul Dini affected the movie, how producer Bruce Timm can't stand to watch the movie, why the impossibility of Batman doesn't seem to cloud a mass audience from identifying with the character, and how Mask Of The Phantasm is the rare Batman movie that's actually about Batman.
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Loosely adapted from Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura's manga series, Lady Snowblood is a chanbara film centering on a young lady (Meiko Kaji) striving to enact vengeance for the murder of her father and rape of her mother. Filled with stylized melodrama, bold storytelling choices, and gallons of cartoonish gore, Lady Snowblood struck enough of a chord to result in a sequel, at least two remakes, a slot in the Criterion Collection, and a loving homage in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for a closer look at this mesmerizing action movie. Discussion topics include Meiko Kaji's thousand yard stare, the story's interpretation of the Meiji period, how Lady Snowblood reflects the 1970's more often than its period setting, and how the story's use of Buddhist principles stand in contrast to the dictates of the chanbara genre.
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One of the bedrock pop cultural institutions of its time, The Simpsons is unsurprisingly a formative TV experience for many of the commentators on Reel Deep Dive. Like with The Twilight Zone, Ryan has decided to tackle the program by doing a series of recordings where he and his guests break down the program by focusing on the most influential members of its writing staff.
First up is Conan O'Brien, whose long career as a talk show host makes him the only Simpsons writer who's a celebrity outside of nerd circles. We're taking a look at the three full episodes of The Simpsons O'Brien wrote before he got an opportunity to replace David Letterman on NBC. His tenure may not have been lengthy, but O'Brien was a big presence on The Simpsons as it transitioned away from its relatively grounded early period and began infusing more of the absurdism and satire that it would become beloved for. O'Brien's Simpsons reputation is also bolstered by the fact that one of his episodes, "Marge And The Monorail", is frequently argued as an all-timer in TV history.
Ryan is joined by Rachel and Sylvan for this one. Discussion topics include corporate malfeasance, how mass media can warp public opinion, and the relatability of a kid crushing on a cool older girl.
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Partially a romantic comedy and partially a coming-of-age drama about Catholic teen angst, Mermaids centers upon Rachel Flax (Cher), a flighty single mother who suddenly relocates to a small Massachusetts town on a whim. Most of the dramatic tension comes from the conflict between Mrs. Flax and her daughter Charlotte (Winona Ryder), a neurotic teen who's embraced Catholicism at least partially to rebel against her mother's libertine inclinations. However, things are complicated further when Mrs. Flax is courted by warm-hearted shoe salesman Louis (Bob Hoskins) and Charlotte's raging hormones put her in the path of twentysomething bus driver Joe (Michael Schoeffling). Christina Ricci, making her screen debut, fleshes out the cast as the younger Flax daughter Kate.
Alternatively sweet and emotive, Mermaids pulls off the risky gambit of accurately recreating the awkwardness of teenage life without making audiences so uncomfortable that they have to stop watching. Mermaids wasn't profitable upon its release, but its soundtrack was a surprise hit and the endearing performances eventually won the movie an appreciative audience in the years ahead.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for an in-depth deconstruction of this well-regarded sleeper. Discussion topics include religious identity, the inability of one to escape their roots, and how sexual politics have evolved since the movie's period setting.
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Based on a goofy, satirical comic book published by Marvel in the 1970's, Howard The Duck was produced by George Lucas when he was considered the man with the Midas touch. One of the most infamous box office failures of all time, the movie lost money, ruined careers, and flooded the world with duck puns. However, because of its omnipresence on basic cable and video rental store shelves, this film gradually became a cult favorite among Gen X and millennial audiences.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a close reading of this weird mess. Those of you looking for Ryan and Cheryl to either mercilessly dunk on this film or proclaim it to be a secret masterpiece are in for disappointment; neither of the voices on this episode will tell you that Howard The Duck is a great film, but it is argued that Howard The Duck is an interesting project that reflects a great deal of what Hollywood was prioritizing in a time when the status quo was shifting rapidly. Discussion points for this one include how Howard The Duck diverges from its source material, how the story comments on a uniquely adolescent sense of alienation, and whether Howard has a future now that Marvel is one of the most profitable brands in mass media.
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Duck Soup (1933) is currently seen as one of the best comedic films ever made, but its reception was a bit lukewarm in its time and The Marx Brothers were soon looking for a new studio for their antics. They ultimately found a juicy contract with MGM, at that point the biggest filmmaker in Hollywood. In an effort to make the Marx Brothers more marketable to audiences, MGM insisted that the comedians sand down the rough edges of their routines, alter their personas to become more likable, and commit to a crowd-pleasing formula. This would result in lesser-regarded product down the line, but A Night At The Opera was a big hit that revived the Marx Brothers brand and is looked upon by posterity as one of their finest.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a breakdown of this historic comedy, a dialogue that delves into its anarchic production and an exploration of how A Night At The Opera was a key influence on Mel Brooks, Queen, Looney Tunes, Cyndi Lauper, and much more. Discussion points also include how the film panders to its Depression-era audience, the storytelling's odd relationship with Italian fascism, how the Marx Brothers contrasted their vaudevillian background with the reputation of "high art", and why Hollywood remains an inherently conservative institution despite its reliance upon appropriating countercultural themes for its content.
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This is the second of an ongoing series where Reel Deep Dive examines clusters of Twilight Zone episodes by writer. The prior installment focused on the three episodes ghostwritten by Jerry Sohl on behalf of the dying Charles Beaumont, so it felt appropriate for the follow-up to focus on the stuff Beaumont wrote himself (or, in the case of "Number 12 Looks Just Like You", an episode based on a Beaumont-penned short story that was adapted by John Tomerlin).
Ryan is once again joined by Rachel and Sylvan for a discussion about this enduring sci-fi anthology program. In addition to "Number 12 Looks Just Like You", the dialogue touches upon "The Howling Man" and "The Jungle". Talking points for the thematic portion of the chat include colonialism, conformity, nature vs. nurture, the convenience of Satan, and whether art is lessened when it is overtly didactic.
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The network execs who greenlit The Tick as a Saturday morning cartoon were baldly trying to replicate the smash success of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This is a bit more obvious upon examination; like the Ninja Turtles, The Tick was based on an indie comics series by an eccentric artist from New England, the show features many toyetic character designs, and much of the TMNT cast was hired to voice various characters (including the titular protagonist). However, while The Tick was popular enough to get renewed for two additional seasons and the IP remained in the public imagination long enough for several attempted reboots, The Tick was never able to sell as many action figures, video games, or breakfast cereal as Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, or Raphael.
There are likely a number of factors behind this aside from the actual creative direction of the show itself, but The Tick's embrace of absurdity (and its eagerness to tailor jokes to the adults in the audience) might've torpedoed its chances of becoming a massive, commercial kiddie franchise. However, in the opinion of Ryan and his co-hosts Sylvan and Cheryl, these creative choices made The Tick a delightful program that has held up a whole lot better than most of the stuff running alongside it. This recording centers upon three core episodes for The Tick's first season, including "The Tick Vs. The Tick", "The Tick Vs. The Uncommon Cold", and "The Tick Vs. Arthur's Bank Account".
In addition to running over how these episodes highlight The Tick's perspective, tone, and construction, Ryan, Sylvan, and Cheryl discuss how The Tick approaches itself as a parody of superhero genre tropes, how The Tick has roots in the tragic farce of Don Quixote, and how The Tick and Arthur work as a symbiotic partnership.
Bad is good! Down with government!
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George Lucas' Star Wars prequels were received with widespread scorn by the geek community upon their release and, while their reputations have been somewhat rehabilitated by endearing memes and the passionate, nostalgic support of those who loved the movies as children, much of the eventual goodwill surrounding these films was likely engendered by the higher quality of their animated spinoffs. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which began in 2008 and concluded in 2020, is one of the most beloved products of the sprawling Star Wars franchise overall. Somewhat overshadowed is the preceding (and similarly-named) Star Wars: Clone Wars, a series of loosely connected vignettes overseen by director Genndy Tartakovsky and released between Attack Of The Clones (2002) and Revenge Of The Sith (2005). This episode is about the Tartakovsky program.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a lively and extended dive into this unique wing of the Star Wars saga. Discussion points include how Tartakovsky's keen, judicious eye for pacing influenced the show's stunning action sequences, how the storytelling's penchant for minimal dialogue distinguishes Star Wars: Clone Wars from its brethren, how perception of tangential spinoffs has changed in the almost twenty years since the show's production, and how Kit Fisto never got his proper due. Naturally, there is also some chatter about how Star Wars: Clone Wars fits in with Tartakovsky projects like Dexter's Laboratory (1996-2003), Samurai Jack (2001-2017), Hotel Transylvania (2012), and Primal (2019-).
To the surprise of no one, there's also a short rant about how most of the stuff that people hate about the Star Wars prequels (awkward pacing, clumsy dialogue, wooden acting, myopic political metaphors, thinly-veiled racial stereotypes, etc.) is also present in the original trilogy.
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A loosely autobiographical account of Prince's rise in the Minneapolis music scene, the Purple Rain film is a wild, messy, silly, uneven, and idiosyncratic time capsule. While one could argue that Purple Rain is a bit slight as a movie, its soundtrack was a juggernaut that sold millions of copies, was played endlessly on Top 40 radio, captured the essence of an era, and even spurred congressional hearings due to horny song lyrics. As such, Purple Rain has become a generational touchstone like few other hit movies of the 1980's.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for an in depth look at this singular movie. Discussion topics include the movie's lightning-in-a-bottle appeal, how the filmmakers emphasized the mystique of Prince as a pop star, and the story's subtextual gestures towards perpetuating abuse and finding solace in art. Ryan, in a rare bit of restraint, waits until the last third of the episode to compare Purple Rain to A Hard Day's Night (1964).
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The third (and most beloved) installment in the long-running Vacation franchise, this film centers upon suburban patriarch Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and his vain efforts to recreate the fun, old fashioned Christmas celebrations of his youth. As ever, slapstick, property destruction, cutting remarks, kidnapping, and other assorted forms of mayhem ensue.
Ryan is joined by Rachel and Sylvan for an in depth look at this seasonal perennial. Talking points for this outing include soured nostalgia, class struggle, how the Vacation movies reflected the perception of the Reagan administration, and the uneven legacy of Chevy Chase as a comedic leading man (there's also some chatter about Randy Quaid's legacy, but that's dropped fairly quickly because it's sad).
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For most of its history, the horned, anthropomorphic figure known as The Krampus was a seasonal folk icon that was pretty obscure outside of Austria and southern Bavaria. However, soon after the turn of the millennium, The Krampus became increasingly more popular as a folkloric curio and as a fixture in snarky internet culture. By 2013, he was well-known enough for filmmakers to use him as the antagonist in Christmas-themed horror movies. There were a whole slew of them made in the 2010's; this episode is focused upon Michael Dougherty's 2015 effort, which is arguably the most successful and visible example.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Sylvan for a discussion about an "anti-Santa" who punishes those who forsake the Christmas spirit. Thematic topics include the political polarization unsubtly built into the film's subtext, the appeal of transgressing the "innocent" fixtures of one's childhood, and how Christmas horror movies exist to provide counterprogramming to the nostalgic and often saccharine tone of what film and television usually presents to audiences in December.
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Shot and released during a troubled period where Hollywood was losing audiences to both television and the "white flight" to the suburbs, White Christmas used vibrant technicolor, an expanded aspect ratio, playfully light acting, and lots of expensive spectacle in the hopes of giving people a reason to go out of their way to buy a ticket to the movies. It was an impressive success, taking in far more money than any other American film released that year. Its seasonal dressing also turned it into a festive perennial; above all else, White Christmas is a nostalgic favorite that's reliably revisited by millions of people every December.
A carefully cultivated sense of nostalgia is a trademark of both the film and Bing Crosby, its leading man. Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for a discussion about White Christmas' rose-tinted look at a revisionist past, but other thematic topics include the movie's propagandistic undertones, its perceptions of feminine body types, and how White Christmas serves as an awkward chapter in how American musical theater approaches its history with minstrel shows.
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Released with little fanfare and modest box office, The Nightmare Before Christmas gradually attained a significant audience of millennial children through home video and, by the early years of the 21st century, was widely seen as a seasonal favorite of the same stature as A Christmas Story (1983) or Miracle On 34th Street (1947). These days, the film is a holiday staple whose merchandise clogs department store and pharmacy shelves right alongside comparable items featuring Snoopy or The Grinch.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Toby for a discussion of this yuletide perennial. Thematic topics for this one include the movie's oft-debated metaphors regarding cultural appropriation, the NAACP's complaints about Oogie Boogie being a minstrel show stereotype, Jack Skellington's ties to both Disney princesses and the midlife crisis, and how the socio-political hierarchy in Halloween Town is supposed to function (Cheryl argues that pumpkins are an invasive species in this universe).
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After writing, directing, and producing a number of coming-of-age comedies that have since become generational touchstones for Gen X and millennials, John Hughes shifted his focus to adult characters for this feature. Centering upon two strangers with little in common besides their painstaking quest to reach Chicago in time for Thanksgiving, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles uses gross-out gags, cringe humor, slapstick, and a string of profanity to gradually tease out a meditative story centering upon found family, overcoming societal assumptions, and finding humanity in the depths of grief.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a conversation about the dynamics of this Steve Martin/John Candy buddy movie. Thematic topics for this episode include American class struggle, how humor ages over time, and the Aristotelean divide between comedy and tragedy.
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Ostensibly a remake of the low budget 1932 horror movie, writer/director Stephen Sommers' take on The Mummy borrows more heavily from Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) than German Expressionism. A rollicking, high octane adventure story with scenic vistas, elaborate special effects, and a bombastic score from Jerry Goldsmith, The Mummy received mixed reviews and bountiful box office. While it was pretty shameless about being a disposable throwback to the popcorn entertainments of yore, The Mummy has had sturdier legs than what many had assumed in 1999. In addition to two direct sequels and a mess of spinoffs, The Mummy supercharged the career of leading man Brendan Fraser and has been periodically reappraised as an underrated gem multiple times since it debuted.
Ryan is joined by Kat for a discussion of this millennial viewing staple. Topics of conversation include Fraser's recent renaissance as an internet darling and how The Mummy's ridiculously attractive cast proved to be a bisexual awakening for many born in the 1980's. In addition to that, the talk also touches upon the film's themes of colonialism, historical revisionism, and its many callbacks to the history of action cinema.
Among other things, Kat mentions that The Mummy plays into the appealing female fantasy of a handsome, masculine dude who readily defers to a lady when a situation is more in line with her personal realm of expertise. Kat is also kind enough to not tease Ryan too badly about his struggles to pronounce "Anck-su-namun".
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A dazzlingly unique cult film directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, House follows seven teenage girls as they unwittingly enter a realm haunted by the bitter (and voracious) ghost of a woman waiting in vain for her long dead fiancé. That's a fairly basic premise for a haunted house feature, but Obayashi's avant garde instincts collide in kaleidoscopic ways with the movie's homemade special effects, amateur performances, odd musical score, and the studio's insistence that there be nudity. The result is an expressionistic and madcap film that stands alone in the cinematic landscape; it's certainly very different from Jaws (1975), which producers asked Obayashi to imitate when House was in its developmental phase.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and (in his debut episode) Jesse. Ryan's been wanting to record a podcast about House for ages, but he really wanted to do it with someone who'd never seen it before and had no idea what they were in for. Jesse is a big theater geek, so they were very much into the film and they contribute a great deal to the ensuing dialogue.
Talking points for this one include House's abrupt tonal shifts, its subtextual cues to World War II, the storytelling's byzantine approach to feminine exploitation, and how Obayashi's background in filming commercials influenced his creative choices for the film.
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The first and only feature film by producer/director Herk Harvey, Carnival Of Souls was made under a quick timetable and with little money; like the German Expressionist films it borrows from, this movie relies heavily upon inexpensive atmospheric elements that are supposed to showcase the psychological interiority of its characters. It made little impact upon its initial release, but Carnival Of Souls instantly fell into the public domain due to a clerical error and it gradually grew a cult audience due to its prevalence in late night TV broadcasts, cut rate home video releases, and frequent screenings at horror movie festivals in independent theaters during October.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for this dialogue. Discussion topics include Candace Hilligoss' anchoring performance, interpreting Carnival Of Souls through feminist film theory, and how the struggles of the movie's protagonist have parallels to living as a neurodivergent person.
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Slapped together under a shoestring budget and released directly to video by schlock movie mogul Charles Band, Puppet Master was an instant cult hit that launched the longest running franchise of the infamous Full Moon Features content farm. As of this date, there are over a dozen sequels when you factor in crossovers, reboots, and spinoffs. None of these movies are particularly good by most standards of taste, but they've clearly made some kind of impression on the movie watching public. At the insistence of Cheryl and Pete, Ryan has recorded a discussion about how Puppet Master was made, who made it, and what he thinks the creative team was trying to say.
Subtextual matters that factor into the dialogue include the popularity of killer dolls in low budget horror movies, the role that direct-to-video plays in the bottom lines of both video rental outlets and the streaming services that replaced them, and Puppet Master's decision to (sort of) use Nazis as bad guys in its opening scene.
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Adapted from his own novella, Clive Barker's directorial efforts on Hellraiser are often lambasted for their amateurish touch and brusque storytelling (and few critics were harsher about it than Barker himself). Still, Hellraiser struck a chord with audiences for its bold ambition, its uncompromising commitment to the grotesque, and its unapologetic exploration of sadomasochism. This film led to nine direct sequels, an upcoming reboot, and a barrage of merchandise and brand extensions. The film's principle monster, nicknamed Pinhead by the crew, also become an unlikely October kitsch mascot in the same vein of Dracula, Freddy Krueger, and The Crypt Keeper; Ryan finds is extremely odd that this cosmic leather pervert can be frequently seen on paper plates at children's Halloween parties.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a dialogue about this movie, which is something of an outlier when contrasted against Halloween (1978), Friday The 13th (1980), A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) and other horror franchises that began in this period. Talking points include Edmund Burke's theories about sublimity, Friedrich Nietzsche's interpretation of Apollo and Dionysus, Camille Paglia's reinterpretation of Apollo and Dionysus, and why Rachel has a crush on Pinhead.
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Pitched shortly after the success of Dracula (1931), but not put into development until after Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man outgrossed most of its predecessors in the Universal Monsters megafranchise and is probably one the main reasons why the studio kept cranking these things out for the next twenty-five years. Reasonably faithful to its source novel (H.G. Wells had veto power over the script), The Invisible Man is fondly remembered for its groundbreaking visual effects; the film predates the widespread adoption of green screen technology by decades and treated audiences to something that nobody had ever seen before. This movie also benefits greatly by a manic, over-the-top performance by Claude Rains, making his sound debut.
Ryan is joined by Sylvan and Cheryl for this discussion. Talking points mostly center upon the film's use of queercoding. Among other things, the dialogue delves into Hollywood's fondness for portraying antagonists as foppish, effeminate, and sassy dandies, the ways that director James Whale expressed his queerness in his art, the complex relationship between gay culture and camp, and gay culture's ambivalent relationships with villainous characters with obvious queer subtext.
Ryan does, however, go on a tirade about the trope regarding "man meddling in things best left to God".
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
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Rock & Rule was the first animated feature produced by Nelvana, a Canadian studio that created a great deal of content that younger Gen X and older millennials have substantial regard for. While it was first pitched as a children's movie, three years of development resulted in Rock & Rule becoming an adult-skewing, post-apocalyptic parable centering on a rock band using their harmonies to prevent a demonic summoning. It boasts vivid multi-plane camera effects, surprisingly smooth animation, oddly memorable character designs, and a soundtrack featuring Blondie, Cheap Trick, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, and Earth, Wind, And Fire.
Rock & Roll was a box office disaster and its never been easy to find on physical media or streaming, but it gradually grew a cult audience through persistent bootlegging. Keeping to tradition, Ryan and Cheryl watched a pirated version of Rock & Rule since the official channels wanted twenty goddamned dollars to rent the thing. Their conversation about the film delves into thematic points such as the story's interpretation of femininity, the role of punk and new wave in the narrative, how animation gets pigeonholed in the North American entertainment market, and how the cyberpunk aesthetic plays into the movie's presentation.
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This episode centers upon a film about the seedy underbelly of children's entertainment. A scummy kid's TV host (Robin Williams) loses his gig after getting caught up in a bribery scandal. His replacement (Edward Norton) is a wholesome, guileless entertainer who has to contend with the sabotage attempts made by his predecessor, but his true test comes when his well-defined ethical code is tested by the widespread corruption and late stage capitalistic excesses of the modern media landscape. Catherine Keener, Harvey Fierstein, Jon Stewart, Pam Ferris, Michael Rispoli, Vincent Schiavelli, and Danny Woodburn give supporting performances.
Death To Smoochy was a critical and commercial bellyflop upon its 2002 release, but a teenage Ryan caught it on home video and fell in love with the movie. He subjected his siblings and a good chunk of his friend circle to the feature and it took with them as well. Because of this, Ryan was convinced that, at some point, Death To Smoochy would be reappraised and ultimately become a cult favorite a la Office Space or Clue. That never really happened, resulting in Ryan's social circle containing yet another assortment of pop culture reference jokes that nobody else had any recognition of.
So yes, the stakes are low and they're getting even lower as Ryan and Rachel discuss this mostly-forgotten dark comedy by director Danny DeVito (we're not expecting too many clicks for this one). Thematic undercurrents under discussion include the principles of stoicism, generational divides, the rampant commercialism in children's media, and several questions about how this movie has never really been able to connect with a wide audience.
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It's often said that movies are magic, but that's another way of saying that movies are a trick. Movies are made when a director stages and/or captures an assortment of scenarios and then, through careful editing, a pile of raw footage is pared down and spliced together to form a narrative. This process is filled with deliberate artifice and its goal is to manipulate its audience in some way. The master craftsmen of filmmaking are able to use the stories they create to slyly influence the people who watch them in ways that have sent innumerable reverberations throughout modern society.
Cinema as a medium for misdirection is the stated agenda of F For Fake, the last completed film directed by Orson Welles. This movie began as a straightforward documentary about the life of infamous art forger Elmyr de Hory, but Welles ultimately seized control of the production from original director François Reichenbach and took things in a radically new direction. This happened after it was discovered that Elmyr's biographer Clifford Irving had fabricated a celebrated interview with reclusive aviator/film producer Howard Hughes; tickled by this revelation, Welles wanted to explore the intricacies of charlatanism through the various tricks and gimmicks that populate the filmmaker's arsenal. Among other things, this includes fake news broadcasts, misleading edits, and a few bits of performance art by Welles' mistress Oja Kodar.
Largely rejected upon its original release, F For Fake eventually gained an appreciative cult audience and it's occasionally argued as an interesting precursor to the mockumentary and the video essay. Ryan is joined by Cheryl for the discussion about this one; talking points include the movie's stated premise, the important context that F For Fake omits from its narrative, the shadow that Orson Welles casts over pop culture, and the antics of Pablo Picasso.
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One of the defining films of the screwball comedy genre, His Girl Friday was released to an indifferent audience in 1940. However, because Columbia failed to renew its copyright, the film lapsed into the public domain and steadily grew an appreciative cult audience due to constant broadcasts on TV stations in need of cheap timeslot filler. It's now considered one of the strongest films produced during the Golden Age of Hollywood and is a core entry in the filmographies of director Howard Hawks and co-leads Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a discussion about how His Girl Friday plays into the history and evolution of romcoms. One talking point is how the movie's cheeky, rapid-fire badinage has influenced everything from Quentin Tarantino to Aaron Sorkin to the Marvel movies. Other things brought up include Cary Grant's ad-libs, how the script dances around the restrictions of the Hays Code, the story's approach to political corruption, how Hildy's gender altered (and didn't alter) the movie's plot, the film's oddly-buried racial subtext, and how His Girl Friday playfully nods to its thematic roots in Shakespeare and Austen.
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Shot by Richard Linklater and meticulously rotoscoped under a tight budget, Waking Life centers upon an unnamed protagonist who gradually realizes that he's roving through a seemingly-endless dream world. When not subjecting the viewer to surreal and psychedelic imagery, Waking Life spends most of its running time on a series of conversations and monologues about existentialism, Buddhism, the nature of dreams, death, desire, Philip K. Dick, and metaphysics. Depending upon your perspective and your tolerance for cinematic naval gazing, Waking Life can be profound, pretentious, or a little bit of both.
Weird animation and babbling on about abstract philosophical theories is catnip to Ryan, so it was likely only a matter of time before he used Waking Life as a subject for this podcast. He's subjecting Cheryl to this one as cohost (she lands firmly on "a little of both" in the question of whether the film is profound or pretentious). Talking points for this one include several of the film's stated themes, but also the movie's tango-inflected score, the unfortunate Alex Jones cameo, the connection between this movie and better-known Linklater projects like Dazed & Confused, Slacker, and the Before Trilogy, and the qualities of rotoscoped animation (Cheryl, coming from an animation background, often finds the process to be lazy and jarring).
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Following the conclusion of long-running X-Men and Spider-Man programs that dominated Saturday morning TV ratings during the early-to-mid 1990's, the Fox network commissioned Saban to adapt other Marvel properties to replace them. Among them was The Silver Surfer, starring a spacefaring wanderer with a psychedelic aesthetic, thematic ties to medieval folklore, and an enduring cult audience. The show, which earned solid ratings but was still canceled after one season due to Saban's financial struggles and Marvel's bankruptcy issues, drew heavily from the style of comics artist Jack Kirby and the ponderous melodrama of comics writer/editor Stan Lee. It also borrowed many concepts and characters from writer/artist Jim Starlin, including Gamora, Drax, Thanos, and other figures that are now household names due to the Marvel movies.
While Rachel isn't really all that into superhero comics, her Star Trek fandom spurred Ryan to tap her for this recording since The Silver Surfer had episodes written by Trek luminaries like Harlan Ellison and D.C. Fontana. The main discussion point for this one centers upon how the cartoon approaches The Silver Surfer's grief, guilt, and attempts at penance for serving the world-devouring Galactus; the hero for this show is, no matter how you slice it, complicit in the deaths of trillions of sentient beings and that has been handled in a variety of ways by the Silver Surfer's creative teams over the past seven decades.
Other thematic topics include Christian allegory, Lovecraftian cosmic horror, the Silver Surfer's philosophical parallels to Star Trek, and whether the Silver Surfer has a functioning penis under all that chrome (Ryan feels compelled to mention that Rachel is the one who brings that up).
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Ryan picked a still image of Cesare for Reel Deep Dive's thumbnail, so it was only a matter of time before The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari was the subject of an episode. The first German Expressionist film and one of the most influential works in the history of cinema, The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari is noteworthy for the psychological allegories in its set dressing, the story's antiauthoritarian bent, and for (possibly) being the first movie to have a twist ending.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Pete for this one. Discussion points include Tim Burton's debt to this film, Rob Zombie's music video for Living Dead Girl, how the Expressionist movement influenced how yogurt commercials are produced, and Ryan's struggle to pronounce German names.
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Megamind was a moderately successful film, but it was buried during an especially competitive year for family-friendly animated films. Tangled, Toy Story 3, How To Train Your Dragon, Shrek Forever After, The Secret World Of Arriety, and Despicable Me also came out in 2010; so yeah, Megamind isn't even the only family-friendly animated film of 2010 to feature a supervillain as its protagonist. Even among cartoon nerds, this movie is frequently overlooked.
So, why are we covering it on this show? Well, it's a sentimental childhood favorite of Rachel, who really wanted to talk about it. Ryan is less enthusiastic (he's not a big fan of the Dreamworks formula), but he tries to give Megamind a fair appraisal. Thematic motifs that are discussed during this episode include the entitlement complex of incels, nature vs. nurture, and how even the most advanced CGI effects can look a bit dated after ten years. Ryan, not able to help himself, spends some time bitching about how big-budget animated films frequently indulge in celebrity stunt casting, lazy needle drops, asinine pop culture references in lieu of actual jokes, and dance party ending montages.
There's also an extended bit where Ryan and Rachel discuss the various permutations of the "evil Superman" trope; The Boys, Squadron Supreme, Brightburn, Watchmen, Irredeemable, Edison Rex, and Miracleman are brought up here.
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Fed up with the studio executives at Disney, Don Bluth struck out on his own with this 1982 feature, a loose adaptation of Robert C. O'Brien's 1971 children's book 'Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH'. While a financial disappointment upon its initial release, The Secret Of NIMH found a growing cult audience on home video and is now considered one of the finest animated films of its period. It is noteworthy for its ambitious storytelling, mature tone, maternal subtext, supernatural underpinnings, and the jaw-dropping quality of its animation. It is also frequently argued that The Secret Of NIMH, as well as follow-up projects like An American Tale (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988), spurred Disney out of its complacency and led to its Renaissance period in the 90's.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a dialogue about this film, a pivotal artifact of Cheryl's own childhood. Thematic discussion topics include how The Secret Of NIMH subverts the Disney formula, how the film's plot is affected by having a widow as the central protagonist, and why this movie upped the ante in terms of feature-length animation in American cinema.
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One of the quintessential romantic comedies, When Harry Met Sally follows its titular characters through a twelve year period where their prickly acquaintance gradually evolves into a close friendship and ultimately a marriage. This film either established or popularized a great number of tropes that are associated with romcoms; it's not an overstatement to label When Harry Met Sally as one of the most imitated American films ever made.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for this episode. Talking points include the film's quaint (and heteronormative) question about whether men and women can be friends without sexual tension spoiling everything. There's also a dialogue about When Harry Met Sally's connection to the 1970's romantic comedies of Woody Allen, something that has dogged the film ever since it came out (and yes, Ryan acknowledges the difficulties in discussing Allen's artistic efforts in light of the director being a sexual predator). Rachel brings up how When Harry Met Sally connects with her on a personal level and Ryan talks about how the storytelling attempts to straddle the line between the naturalistic approach of the French New Wave and the heightened artifice of Hollywood-styled crowd pleasing.
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Widely considered one of the worst movies ever made, Robot Monster is a post-apocalyptic science fiction film that centers upon a small family straining to evade an alien invader driven to exterminate the last vestiges of the human race. Shot over a few days with a shoestring budget, Robot Monster is notable for its hacky editing, sloppy use of dinosaur stock footage, amateurish acting, an "alien communication device" that's merely a bubble machine, and a villain whose costume is a homemade gorilla suit coupled with a Halloween store space helmet.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a dialogue about this icon of the "so bad it's good" cinematic landscape. Talking points include the movie's blunt allegories for nuclear paranoia, Cold War politics, and how several members of the cast and crew were reduced to working on Robot Monster because of McCarthyism.
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Following the success of 1979's The Muppet Movie (and the final season of the television show), Jim Henson and his team dialed up their ambitions for the next installment in the franchise. Just about every aspect of The Muppet Movie that people liked was brought back, except bigger and bolder. Did you enjoy the numerous celebrity cameos? Well, here are even more of those. Did you like all the running gags and groaner puns? There's an endless barrage of that sort of thing in this movie. Were you impressed with how they got Kermit to ride a bike in that first movie? Well, take a look at a whole bunch of puppets riding bikes for an elaborate musical number in this movie.
Ryan brings in Rachel to chat about The Great Muppet Caper, which in retrospect is a transitional moment between Jim Henson's past efforts and his later drive to stage fantasy epics like The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). Thematic talking points for this episode include The Muppets' ties to vaudeville, the trappings of nostalgia, and the "quiet virtuosity" that underlies puppeteering.
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Reel Deep Dive returns to the world of Batman with the character's first feature film (if you don't count the awful 1940's serials, which get a passing mention). Ryan is joined by Cheryl as they discuss the Dynamic Duo's efforts to foil a wicked plot by Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman to dehydrate ambassadors of the (not quite) United Nations into colorful powder and then ransom them for a billion dollars. Shark repellent, ball-point bananas, cartoonish Russian accents, and the inability to dispose of explosives are touched upon along the way.
Ryan and Cheryl are both Batman nerds who are prone to digression, so they occasionally wander off into topics like the Dark Knight's 1970's Hostess Fruit Pie ads and Billy Zane's performance in 1996's The Phantom. Talking points that are more relevant to the episode's subject include the movie's odd relationship with Cold War politics, the storytelling's reflection of Kennedy-era optimism, Batman's connection to both camp and the Pop art movement, and Adam West's lengthy, occasionally-troubled interactions with the role that defined him in the public imagination.
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Often considered one of the few bright spots during a particularly inauspicious creative rut in Disney's history, The Rescuers marked a key transitional phase of the company's evolution. The Rescuers is the last Disney animated film to feature significant contributions from any of the Nine Old Men, the core animators from the studio's golden era. The Rescuers is also the first Disney animated film to feature significant contributions from animators who'd be important to the Disney Renaissance period that'd begin with 1989's The Little Mermaid. The Rescuers is also the only Disney animated film to have Don Bluth as a credited animation director; his decision to acrimoniously split from Disney and start a competing animation studio was reached while working on this movie.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a breakdown of this often-underrated feature. Talking points include how the plot deviated from its source material over the course of the the movie's lengthy development period, the characterization (and body movements) of main villain Madame Medusa, the storytelling's focus on action/adventure, and the prevalence of orphans in children's fiction.
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Reel Deep Dive returns to the filmography of John Carpenter and Debra Hill with this supernatural horror film. Set in a sleepy coastal city in the midst of its centennial festivities, The Fog's action centers upon a group of vengeful ghosts who sweep into the community under the cover of a glowing fog and exact vengeance for the deliberate shipwreck that killed them upon the city's founding. It features an ensemble cast headlined by Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Janet Leigh, and Hal Holbrook.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl and Pete as they deconstruct the narrative, pacing, performances, music, and behind the scenes drama of this film. Thematic talking points include historical revisionism, religious hypocrisy, and how Carpenter uses inside baseball to get his fans more invested in his storytelling.
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Reel Deep Dive makes its first foray into the world of short films by doing a study of the first three Wallace & Gromit outings. 1989's A Grand Day Out began life as a student film by animator Nick Park and, after a laborious six year creative process, became an unexpected smash hit. Its two follow-ups, 1993's The Wrong Trousers and 1995's A Close Shave, solidified the starring duo's status as British pop culture icons while winning awards, generating lucrative spinoff characters, and driving cheese sales.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for this deconstruction of a widely-beloved comedic institution. Talking points include the handmade charm inherent to stop motion animation, Wallace & Gromit's contrasts with American animated characters, the parallels between animated comedy and silent film comedy, and how the big chase scene at the climax of The Wrong Trousers may be one of the best action sequences in film history.
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Winchester, alternatively known as Winchester: The House That Ghosts Built, is a 2018 horror film that had been in some form of development since 2009. It's an anachronistic take on the infamous Winchester Mystery House, a building erected by the wealthy rifle heiress Sarah Winchester. This woman was convinced that she was being haunted by the vindictive ghosts of those killed by the Winchester repeating rifle, so the house was under perpetual renovation during her lifetime and it bears many architectural curiosities that were supposed to trap, confuse, and misdirect vengeful spirits.
Cheryl picked this film because it reminded her of many early-2000's horror movies that she has nostalgic fondness for (she's also a bit of a nerd for haunted house lore, which is covered during the thematic portion of the episode). Ryan considers Winchester to be a pretty mediocre film and focuses more on how the history surrounding the Winchester Mystery House influenced the production of the movie. There is, however, some talk about the delightfully hammy performance from a totally slumming Helen Mirren and how she very much didn't deserve her Razzie nod.
The discussion points for this episode include the film's shallow subtext surrounding gun control, the movie's commentary upon the spiritualism fad that swept Western Europe and America during the late-19th/early-20th centuries, and how haunted houses are interpreted in various cultures and time periods.
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Closely adapted from the classic manga series, Lone Wolf And Cub: Sword of Vengeance is the first of a film series that ran for six installments between 1972 and 1974. It stars Tomisaburo Wakayama as Ogami Itto, a disgraced former executioner to the shogun. He is forced to travel the Japanese countryside with his young son in a heavily-armed baby carriage. Together, the two take on dirty jobs in the hopes of one day exacting vengeance against the wicked clan who framed Itto for the crimes that caused his fall from grace.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for this deconstruction of this foundational chambara film. Discussion points include the film's episodic narrative structure, the movie's juxtaposition of quiet moments with blood-gushing violence, the repressed soulfulness hiding behind Itto's stoicism, and Lone Wolf And Cub's influence upon products like Usagi Yojimbo, Sin City, Road To Perdition, and The Mandalorian.
Ryan and Rachel also have a discussion about this movie's frank (and arguably cavalier) approach to its depictions of sexual assault. So, if that isn't something you feel comfortable listening to, maybe skip this episode.
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Godzilla Vs. Kong is a deliberately silly movie that accidentally got swept up in a number of larger forces. It's the first major studio film to make a big splash in American theaters during the pandemic, meaning that cultural historians of later generations may examine it as a signpost of how society reacted to the specter of Covid-19. Did audiences show up to Godzilla Vs. Kong for its promises of escapism? Did they buy tickets because this was simply the first massive studio release to come out after much of the population decided that it was officially safe to see movies in theaters? Or, is there something else afoot?
That being said, Godzilla Vs. Kong subject was chosen by Toby, Ryan's ten year old nephew. He picked it because he thought that giant gorillas punching robot dinosaurs is pretty sick.
Ryan, Cheryl, and Toby do spend a decent chunk of this episode talking about how cool it is to see giant gorillas punch robot dinosaurs, but other discussion points include Godzilla Vs. Kong's lack of direct allegory, a comparison between this film and the Kong/Godzilla battle in 1963, the superfluous use of the human characters in this movie, Godzilla Vs. Kong's bold use of color, and why Kong is often more sympathetic than his saurian opponent.
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In order to boost their engagement, many film podcasts will schedule episodes relevant to the current discourse in the cinema landscape. Reel Deep Dive is hesitant to chase after trending topics, but Ryan just happened to record a discussion about this direct-to-DVD Mortal Kombat animated film. So, he's scheduling it a week before a new Mortal Kombat film is debuting in theaters and HBO Max. Maybe we'll get a few extra clicks out of it...
Regardless, Ryan's had a bee in his bonnet about this movie ever since he stumbled across it. Cheryl has been dragged in to help him exorcise it from his mind through close reading, nostalgic reminiscence, and some light-hearted ribbing. Talking points for this one include the appeal of campy self-awareness, the lumpiness of Sonya Blade's quasi-feminist backstory, how the film improves Johnny Cage as a character, and how Scorpion served as a young Ryan's introduction to the concept of an antihero.
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Blood Quantum is a Canadian zombie film written, produced, directed, and starring First Nations people. It centers on an Indigenous Reservation that becomes a refuge during an archetypical zombie apocalypse. In this film's universe, indigenous people are immune to infection from zombie bites. This puts them in a precarious position when white refugees arrive at their compound and beg for sanctuary. The metaphors in the subtext of this plot are about as obvious as zombies wandering around a shopping mall, but Blood Quantum is very much an exploitation film whose focus lies upon gore and mayhem.
Ryan is joined by Rachel as they delve into striking horror film. Talking points include the historical origins of the film's title, its roots in the work of director George A. Romero, the Canadian government's role in funding this film, and Blood Quantum's commentary upon colonialism, Manifest Destiny, smallpox blankets, and the music of Waylon Jennings.
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Reel Deep Dive continues its breakdown of the Fast & The Furious franchise with its second installment, often argued as the worst installment in the series. Vin Diesel declined to participate, meaning that Paul Walker's street racing foil is now played by Tyreese Gibson. They've been conscripted to infiltrate a Floridian drug cartel and take down its kingpin by being really, really good at stunt driving. Hijinks, high speed chases, and half-assed ad-libbed dialogue ensues.
Ryan is joined by Sarah and Pete as they dissect this mediocre action movie. Discussion topics include the problems inherent in going back to the well, how later installments of the series improved matters by putting effort into making the audience like its characters, and how 2 Fast 2 Furious marked a significant change in the career trajectory of director John Singleton.
Bruh
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The plot of Loving Vincent takes place a year after the death of its titular character and centers upon a young man obsessively seeking the truth behind the artist's suspicious suicide. That being said, the core appeal of the film lies not in its story but rather in its storytelling. Loving Vincent was famously animated through hundreds of oil paintings that were painstakingly retouched by hand before each frame was shot. This process is a laborious, unprecedented approach whose result is an utter wonder to behold.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a discussion about this singular film. Talking points include the film's overwhelming beauty, society's penchant to romanticize "the tortured artist", the inherent charm in hand-crafted art, and the dichotomy between using art to replicate reality and using art to transcend reality.
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Reel Deep Dive hasn't really covered an old fashioned "dad movie" yet, so Rachel suggested that we talk about director David Lean's first foray into epic cinematic storytelling. Set during World War II, Bridge On The River Kwai concerns a group of British POWs tasked with building a strategically-valuable bridge on a path between Rangoon and Siam. Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) is initially uncooperative with his Japanese captors, but ultimately grows obsessed with completing the project, often to the detriment of his men. This conflict comes to a head when a team of commandos attempt to destroy the bridge at the film's climax.
Bridge On The River Kwai is a lengthy, layered movie that made tons of money and swept the Oscars. It has also hung on in public consciousness, getting referenced and/or spoofed in major media up to the present day. As such, there's a lot to unpack and the thematic segment of Ryan and Rachel's dialogue goes on a bit longer than usual. Talking points include the film's arduous shoot, how the movie's success affected the career path of its director, the many deviations the plot takes from historical fact, the subtext of cultural clashes that are laced throughout the movie (both in terms of its story and its behind-the-scenes drama), and what could motivate a guy like Col. Nicholson to betray his country like he does.
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We're wrapping up our coverage of WandaVision with this episode. Ryan is joined by Sarah and Nicole to discuss Wanda processing her trauma, reckoning with inflicting her grief upon the citizens of Westview, coping with the loss of her family, confronting the story's main antagonists, and (since this is an MCU product) providing some teasers about what's coming next.
Discussion topics for this segment centers upon how art meditates upon loss, how the structure of network sitcoms intersects with the storytelling in serialized superhero comics (and how both can be a balm for the messiness of real life), and how Wanda's power levels have influenced interpretation of the character throughout the years.
Sarah brings up The Office, Nicole brings up Titanic, and Ryan brings up how Marvel's main werewolf hero is named Jack Russell.
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Zardoz lingers in the public imagination as an unintentionally hilarious creative misfire. It was written, directed, and produced by a supremely confident John Boorman, fresh off a succession of creative and commercial triumphs. It features Sean Connery skulking about in both a red diaper and a wedding dress. This first ten minutes of the film showcases a floating stone head that lectures people about how the penis is evil before it vomits rifles at them. For some, Zardoz is a cautionary tale about artistic hubris. For others, it ranks alongside Troll 2, The Room, Plan 9 From Outer Space, and Birdemic as a perennial for their bad movie night.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for an in depth deconstruction of this widely ridiculed dystopian sci-fi feature. The film's muddled cinematography, bizarre storytelling decisions, superfluous nudity, and goofy attempts to pontificate upon the human condition are among their discussion points. Zardoz is compared to Planet of the Apes (1968), Barbarella (1968), Logan's Run (1976), and Time Bandits (1981), each of which are much better films that can execute their outré concepts and aesthetics much more effectively than Zardoz is capable of. Ryan spends a good deal of time ruminating upon the thematic motifs that Zardoz struggles to say something about; this includes civilizational decadence, the wealth gap, overpopulation, environmental collapse, and using religious beliefs to manipulate the masses.
A big fan of Sean Connery's screen presence, Cheryl was eager to finally get around to watching Zardoz for the first time. She is still overwhelmed by the movie's clumsy weirdness while the recording for this episode is underway.
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This is the second of three Reel Deep Dive episodes covering WandaVision. Feel free to scroll down and click on the preceding installment if you'd like to listen to us cover episodes 1-3.
For this installment, Ryan is joined by Sarah and Nicole as he deconstructs the middle segment of Wanda and Vision's story-arc. This covers the period where Wanda's sitcom reality warp are being monitored by government agencies in the outside world. Certain elements of Wanda's trauma are explored more deeply, the Vision's suspicions of his wife are agitated, and "special guest stars" complicate matters further.
Thematic subtext discussed in this episode includes how the creators use music throughout the program, the show's curious decision to avoid direct references to Full House, and WandaVision's parallels to pandemic quarantine. There's also a brief explanation of the comics origins of the two main characters and how that contrasts with how they're depicted in the MCU.
Sylvan also makes a brief cameo to tease Sarah about her Green Lantern fandom.
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Plenty of fun things on the internet lose their appeal once their creators begin tracing trends. A sense of joy is lost when one stops writing about what they care about and focus instead upon what they think will drive clicks.
Conversely, anyone who produces a podcast, video essay, or blog post is doing so for an audience. Even the most iconoclastic maverick has to be at least a little bit conscientious of what people actually want to watch or listen to.
This is a roundabout way to explain why this episode of Reel Deep Dive is covering The Karate Kid, a popular film that's, as of this writing, experiencing a fresh wave of attention due to a popular sequel series on Netflix. Ryan is joined by Cheryl for this one. Discussion points include the movie's many connections to Rocky (1976), the story's meditation on the fragility of the male ego, the narrative's commentary on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, and the thematic motif on the importance of conducting oneself with honor and dignity, win or lose.
Cheryl also brings up her theory as to why Lucille LaRusso would pick up everything and move to the other side of the country just to pick up a job as a restaurant manager.
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This episode kicks off a series of features centering on The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling's classic anthology show of sci-fi, twist endings, and socio-political allegories. We're going to be dividing them up based on writers. Ryan had too much trepidation about tackling Serling or Richard Matheson for the initial outing, so we're talking about the three episodes that Jerry Sohl ghostwrote on behalf of Charles Beaumont. They include "Queen of the Nile", "The New Exhibit", and the iconic "Living Doll" episodes.
Ryan is joined by Rachel and Sylvan for a dialogue about the background, narrative construction, and thematic undercurrent of each episode. Talking points include the uncanny valley, the "vamp" trope, a woman's subordinate place in marriage during the mid-20th century, the wide-ranging career of June Foray, the music of Bernard Herrmann, and the long shadow that The Twilight Zone extends into both The Simpsons and The Conjuring franchise.
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It's fairly common knowledge that the first Godzilla film was a thinly-veiled allegory for nuclear devastation. However, while parables about ecological ruin and government fallibility never quite left the series, Godzilla's growing appeal among small children meant that his sequels would get progressively more colorful and silly as the years went on. Terror of Mechagodzilla, the subject for this episode, came out when its star was depicted as an unambiguous superhero; it wound up being the final installment in the franchise's Shōwa Period (iterations of Godzilla are named after whoever happened to be emperor of Japan at the time).
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for an analysis of this deeply goofy movie. Talking points include the construction of the movie's subplot regarding forbidden cyborg love, the narrative's mild subtext of eco-horror, the use of mechs in Japanese pop culture, and what the appeal of the kaiju genre is to begin with (Ryan's opening monologue delves into how he turns to ridiculous monster movies whenever the weight of the world feels overwhelming).
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A common complaint about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that its films often come off as the homogenous product of an anonymous assembly line. The superhero comics that they're derived from are often the formulaic result of journeymen frantically scrambling to meet deadlines for an audience of undiscerning eight year olds, but the longevity of certain characters have meant that creative teams have interpreted them through many different perspectives. Superheroes are a mash-up of a number of 1930's pulp adventure tropes and many other aspects of genre fiction have been applied to them over the decades. For instance, over the course of a month's worth of stories, Batman can solve a locked room mystery, fight a vampire, search for lost treasure in the Amazon, and topple an alien dictator with his buddy Superman. The superhero story can often be run-of-the-mill, but it can also be this weird sponge that absorbs and adapts to a striking variety of narrative formats.
WandaVision is the MCU's attempt to reclaim that weird sponge energy by placing a couple of second string Avengers into a pastiche of American TV sitcoms. Ryan is joined by Sarah as they deconstruct the first three episodes of this ambitious miniseries. Talking points include the show's comics origins, the charming rapport between stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, the careful attention to detail used by the creative team when they evince I Love Lucy or The Dick Van Dyke show, how the relationship between Wanda and Vision was shortchanged in the MCU films, how WandaVision approaches its main character's trauma, and the parallels between WandaVision and things like Pleasantville, The Truman Show, Too Many Cooks, Blue Velvet, and Twin Peaks.
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The Fast And The Furious was a successful movie, but it's unlikely that anyone in 2001 could predict that it would be the starting point for a massively-successful and influential franchise that's beloved the world over, has begrudgingly won critical accolades, and is still going strong after two decades. A teenaged Ryan certainly didn't think so when a high school friend dragged him in to see the first movie in theaters; he was unimpressed and skipped all the sequels despite the fact that all the cool kids started getting on board when the fifth one came out.
At the behest of Sarah, Reel Deep Dive is going to do a series of episodes covering every single installment in this silly, over-the-top series. They are joined on the inaugural installment by Pete and Sylvan. Discussion points include how the first movie hasn't quite figured out what the series' strengths are, the movie's intrusive, dated soundtrack, the strained efforts at characterization, the importance of the outdoor barbecue scene, Vin Diesel's talent for saying ridiculous aphorisms with a straight face, and how The Fast And The Furious compares with Michael Bay's Transformers films.
Family
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Ryan definitely wouldn't have picked this topic if left to his own devices; he's not a big Selena listener and he's not usually fond of biopics for iconic musicians (he later had to cut a lot of ranting on the latter subject out of the episode because it veered too far away from relevancy). Sylvan, on the other hand, had an adolescent obsession with the charismatic Tejano vocalist profiled in this film.
Shot less than two years after the death of its subject, Selena helped make Jennifer Lopez a star while providing a salve for mourning fans. Ryan was far from this movie's target demo, but he's been assured that Selena is a beloved institution within a certain subset of Latina women in particular and millennial women in general.
Topics under discussion include Jennifer Lopez' performance, the easygoing camaraderie of the cast in general, the understated storytelling touches of writer/director Gregory Nava, the tropes found in biopics of iconic musicians (Ryan didn't trim out all of his diatribe), and Selena's commentary upon what it was like to be a performing artist at the crossroads of disparate cultures.
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Stagecoach is a film that revived the Western as a film genre, solidified John Ford as one of the iconic Western directors, and made John Wayne into a star. It's also a strong ensemble feature that boasts gripping action scenes, gorgeous shots of Monument Valley, tight editing, layered characterization, and defining performances from Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, and Thomas Mitchell.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for this look at one of the defining gems of Golden Age Hollywood. This is the first Western covered by Reel Deep Dive, so there's some dialogue about how Western cinema helped craft an American mythology (and how those myths clash with actual history). Other points of discussion include Stagecoach's depictions of sex workers, Civil War veterans, bankers, and alcoholics. Since this is the movie that made John Wayne famous, Rachel and Ryan also talk about Wayne's complex legacy as an idol of traditional American masculinity, ranging from the development of his screen persona to his infamous Playboy interview.
Rachel, being Rachel, also contributes a godawful John Wayne impression and a comparison between Stagecoach and Gilligan's Island.
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This adaptation of Dante Alighieri's narrative poem, one of the earliest feature-length films, finds the poet braving the terrors of hell with Virgil as a guide. Drawing from Gustave Doré's famed engravings and employing many of the trick photography techniques pioneered by Georges Méliès, The Inferno caused an instant sensation upon its 1911 debut and has yet to lose its ability to strike audiences. Only about a third of the film's three hours have survived to the present day, but The Inferno remains a bold, unique, and captivating example of cinema's formative era.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a deconstruction of this work. Discussion points include Dante's use of Greco-Roman mythological iconography in a Christian parable, the struggles inherent in transposing a work of epic verbiage to the medium of silent film, the ramifications of depicting the prophet Muhammad, and how The Inferno influenced Hollywood's penchant for slipping violence and nudity past censors by basing their stories on religious sources.
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The 1989 Batman film was one of the most successful films ever released up to that point, so director Tim Burton was given a staggering budget and a great deal of creative autonomy when he was lured back in to direct its sequel. The resulting film remains one of the most idiosyncratic blockbusters ever released by a major American studio. Batman Returns was a major tentpole release that was consciously marketed to small children, but also featured a homicidal protagonist, plenty of kink play, a rapey sewer mutant as the principle bad guy, and a convoluted plot involving a disgraced carnival troupe, a cynical mayoral candidacy, and a shady power plant construction deal.
In short, Batman Returns is a weird mess. However, it's a weird mess that features memorable performances, beautiful set design, gorgeous costumes, and a gripping musical score. Those elements, coupled with the fact that its titular hero is one of the most famous fictional characters of the 20th century, means that a lot of people care about Batman Returns. Ryan breaks down this lumpy celluloid oddity with his baby sister Sarah, who hadn't seen the movie since she was seven and had very little memory of it. They talk about Michelle Pfeiffer's scene-stealing performance, the undercurrent of German Expressionism laced throughout the background, the story's strained attempt to inject a feminist subtext, the pitfalls of sticking your action hero in a rubber bodysuit he can barely move in, and the film's overall tenuous grasp on its own elastic reality.
Ryan and Sarah also contrast Batman Returns with its immediate follow-ups, noting that the differences between Schumacher Batman and Burton Batman are perhaps a bit more superficial than the Schumacher detractors would prefer to admit.
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The surprise success of A Charlie Brown Christmas has led to a deluge of sequels, spin-offs, imitations, parodies, and merchandising tie-ins over the course of the seven decades since its premiere. Despite that, this film remains unique among holiday specials for its sincere, forthright, and unpretentious approach to the seasonal depression, social anxiety, and endless commodification that bears down on us every December.
Ryan is joined by his ten year old nephew Toby for this episode. Toby struggled to sit through this one, hiding under his chair or finding an excuse to leave the room whenever the other kids were mean to Charlie Brown. Ryan asks Toby why he thinks he reacted that way, but they also touch upon the program's limited animation, its bold decision to cast actual children as the Peanuts gang, the understated melancholy of Vince Guaraldi's jazz score, and how the show has been altered over the years. Thematic talking points include the history of yuletide commercialism, learning how to accept failure, and how Christmas can often feel like a letdown.
Toby also takes a moment to wonder what life was like before the doorknob was invented.
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There are numerous screen versions of Charles Dickens' 1843 holiday fable 'A Christmas Carol', but to many millennials (Ryan included) the definitive take is the 1992 Brian Henson film. The first major Muppet project to be undertaken after the untimely death of Jim Henson, Muppet Christmas Carol stars Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge with Kermit, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, and various other Muppets filling out the bulk of the supporting players.
Ryan is joined by his brother Sylvan as they deconstruct this perennial nostalgic favorite. They touch upon the various creative choices made by the filmmakers that distinguish this movie from other Christmas Carol adaptations (Gonzo's omniscient narration and Rizzo's counterpoints are given particular praise here). There's a detailed foray into the movie's costuming, which is far more historically accurate than it probably needed to be. Naturally, Caine's excellent performance gets a great deal of focus; Sylvan discusses how the film thoughtfully frames Scrooge's emotional arc in a way that's accessible to small children without condescending to them. Ryan insists on bringing up how Dickens comments on the philosophies of Thomas Malthus in the text and how this has colored the discourse among cryptofascists and American libertarians.
Of course, a discussion of the film's wonderful music takes up a good chunk of the conversation. Among other things, Ryan and Sylvan talk about the questionable choice of excising "When Love Is Gone" from the movie's theatrical release and why its presence in later editions is scattershot (this episode was recorded a day or two before Brian Henson announced that Disney recovered the negatives for this scene and will include them in the next restoration of the film).
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One of the formative slasher movies, Black Christmas concerns a sorority house accosted by an unknown killer who slaughters young college students from his base in the building's attic. It features an eerie score from Carl Zittrer, grounded direction from Bob Clark, and strong performances from Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder. While only a modest success in its day, Black Christmas gained an enduring cult rep and its stylistic innovations were imitated by many subsequent horror movies, most notably Halloween (1978).
Ryan is joined by Rachel as he describes and deconstructs this film. Talking points for this episode include Black Christmas' subtext regarding feminine agency, its frank abortion subplot, its origins in urban folklore and true crime murder, and whether one can make a case for Black Christmas being a feminist film. They also touch upon the remakes of Black Christmas produced in 2006 and 2019, opining upon how those interpretations reflect the times they were made in.
Ryan goes on a tangent comparing Black Christmas to Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) and insists that this is a natural juxtaposition for one to make. Rachel, naturally, shoehorns in a terrible Bing Crosby impression.
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Reel Deep Dive has previously held discussions about how adolescent male power fantasies are transferred to celluloid, but Heavy Metal ranks among the most transparent and shameless attempts to graft a 14-year-old-boy's desires to a feature film. An animated sci-fi/fantasy anthology film based on the popular comics magazine, Heavy Metal is crammed to the gills with superfluous nudity, buckets of gore, psychedelic visuals, and late 70's dad rock.
Ryan is joined by Rachel, who hadn't seen the film or even heard of it prior to watching it for this episode. She's a bit shaken by the experience when the recording begins, but there's still plenty of back and forth when it's time to discuss the movie's rushed production, sophomoric depiction of sexuality, inconsistent approach to its framing device, and strained efforts to borrow the visual aesthetics of Moebius without directly crediting his influence. Ryan and Rachel also take a moment to talk about how the film has a gorgeous score that it probably doesn't deserve (Elmer Bernstein's lovely use of the ondes Martenot is given special notice).
While noting the film's ample use of large, gravity-defying boobs, Rachel points out that this film needed lots more floppy penises and also touches upon robot horniness. Ryan is too ashamed of himself to reveal any of his own fetishes, but he mangles plenty of French words in his overlong summary of how French comics influenced the creation of Heavy Metal.
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Some of the episodes for this podcast center on big milestones that are significant to the history of cinema. Others, such as this episode, focus on films that Ryan watched an awful lot as a child. Addams Family Values was one of those movies that Ryan put on at least a couple times a year. His family still plays it on every Thanksgiving, hence the decision to post this episode a few days before the holiday.
Ryan is joined by his brother Sylvan; they were molded by this film even moreso than Ryan (particularly by Christina Ricci's performance as Wednesday). Talking points for this one include Gomez & Morticia's appraisal as #relationshipgoals, the LGBTQ community's embrace of the Addams Family as relatable icons, Wednesday Addams' status as an aspirational figure, the film's cheeky commentary on historical revisionism and conservative moralizing, the superiority of Joan Cusack's screen persona to that of her brother, and the film's skewering of codependent romantic fantasies.
There is also a (mercifully brief) description of Tag Team's Addams-themed remix of "Whoomp! (There It Is)".
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A sleepy English village is beset by a strange, alien phenomenon that impregnates every person with a functioning uterus. The resulting children are cold, distant brood parasites with a collective hive mind and terrifying psychic abilities. They soon begin terrorizing the community while British intelligence studies other areas of the world suffering from comparable situations. Many, including the film's main protagonist, conclude that the human race is being invaded by extraterrestrial conquerors.
That's the basic gist of Village of the Damned, a tightly-paced supernatural thriller released during the height of the Cold War. Ryan is joined by Cheryl as they discuss the wider gestures being made by this movie. Talking points include the children's hair and sartorial choices, the parallels between the film and its source novel, the interesting fact that the direct sequel makes a thesis statement that directly challenges the themes of this movie, the dubious quality of John Carpenter's 1992 remake, the film's relationship to xenophobia, and its comments regarding adult resentment of the younger generation,
Cheryl strains to reference both Phantom of the Paradise and the Air Bud franchise while Ryan sneaks in references to Iron Maiden, The Simpsons, and the Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely run on New X-Men.
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When a person in the modern day is asked to picture the aesthetic of retro sci-fi, they'll probably conjure imagery rooted in 1956's Forbidden Planet. Loosely based upon Shakespeare's The Tempest, Forbidden Planet was a bold and ambitious attempt to apply MGM's penchant for colorful spectacle to science fiction. Its success affected much of what followed in the genre, including Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Star Wars, and Futurama. Its music is also noteworthy for being the first Hollywood film score composed exclusively with electronic instruments.
Ryan and Rachel discuss all those points, but they also carve out time to wax upon the beautiful matte paintings, the elaborate sets, the cool-looking animated space phantom, Robby the Robot's nifty design, and the performance given by a young, pre-comedic Leslie Nielsen. The thematic motifs touched upon include the poisonous allure of ambition, the dated sexual mores of 1950's sci-fi, and how every sci-fi film made during The Cold War is reflective of nuclear paranoia.
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Ryan hosts a movie dork podcast in his spare time. Also, he's the type of guy who writes about himself in the third person while composing its episode descriptions. With those things in mind, it's not shocking to state that he can be an insufferable geek on occasion. However, the apex of his insufferable geekiness lies with the X-Men, a franchise he's been obsessed with since the age of six. Once he gets started, it becomes very difficult for Ryan to shut up about his very important opinions about these very important characters.
As such, Ryan's been a bit reluctant to tackle any X-media on his movie dork podcast. For his opening foray, he's decided to go low-stakes and cover Pryde of the X-Men, a 1989 pilot for an X-Men cartoon that never got picked up. He also drafted Sylvan, Cheryl, and Sarah to provide the color commentary (and hopefully rein him in). Together, they provide a short overview of X-Men animation up to that point and briefly touch upon how Pryde's failure ultimately led to a much more successful X-Men cartoon in 1992. Along the way, they discuss the X-Men's imperfect metaphor for civil rights, its awkward metaphor for puberty, its thematic similarities to Harry Potter, Nightcrawler's creepiness towards Kitty Pryde in this episode, Magneto's general fabulousness in this episode, and why 1980's Wolverine had a terrible Australian accent.
Pryde of the X-Men is 22 minutes long while this podcast episode tape out at 47 minutes. Clearly, Ryan shouldn't expect his siblings to taper his X-rants.
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There must have been a time when the very existence of Little Shop of Horrors seemed like an oddity. It is, after all, a campy musical about a killer plant whose songbook cribs liberally from mid-20th century R&B music. However, after several decades worth of amateur productions and a steady presence on both cable TV and streaming services, Little Shop of Horrors has established itself as a persistent mainstay in the popular consciousness.
Both Ryan and Rachel participated in school productions of Little Shop and they talk about their experiences as they deconstruct the 1986 film adaptation. Other points of discussion include the movie's ridiculously loaded cast, its Roger Corman-directed source material, the infamous original ending, the film's odd stature as a cultural ambassador, and its subtextual nods to white flight and moral compromise.
Rachel takes a crack at impersonating Ellen Greene's affect for Audrey, but she didn't have the temerity to attempt Levi Stubbs' vocalizations for Audrey II.
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One could plausibly argue that Halloween is one of the most imitated movies ever made. It was hardly the first horror film whose plot points drive it to what is now known as the slasher subgenre, but it created or calcified most of the tropes that define the idiom. Its impressive feat of reaping massive returns on its tiny investment guaranteed an onslaught of sequels, reboots, remakes, rip-offs, and parodies. Halloween's shadow extends to the present day and it's unlikely to dissipate anytime soon.
Ryan is joined on this episode by Sylvan, who had never seen the film prior to getting invited to cohost this episode. In addition to Sylvan's hot take on what all the fuss is about, this episode features discussion about Halloween's development, its scrappy production, and its subtextual themes regarding suburban repression, sex shaming, and stigmatization of the mentally ill. There's also a short conversation over how the "final girl" trope can be interpreted through the lenses of second and third wave feminism.
This show ends with a brief round-up of Halloween's numerous web of follow-ups, but there's also some compare/contrast with rival franchises launched by Friday The 13th (1980) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).
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Found footage is a film genre where some (or all) of the work is presented as if it were discovered film or video recordings. The events on the screen are shown through the perspective of one of the characters, often with commentary presented in real time. This approach is often used in horror movies. Rachel is a big fan of found footage; Ryan considers it a storytelling crutch frequently used by lazy filmmakers on cheap productions.
Ghostwatch is a staged "report" of a haunted English home. It was, in the hopes of attaining a veneer of plausibility, presented by BBC reporters playing themselves. Like Orson Welles' infamous 1938 War of the Worlds radio drama, a number of people were apparently convinced that Ghostwatch was a genuine news broadcast and there was something of a panic. Rachel and Ryan discuss the widespread backlash that Ghostwatch received in the wake of its airing. They also delve into the movie's enduring cult status and its influence on later productions like The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Paranormal Activity (2007).
Talking points for this episode include the techniques of cinéma vérité, the distinction between found footage and mockumentary, and the questionable efficacy of trigger warnings. Rachel also rattles off her recommendations for other horror movies in the found footage idiom.
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Being an aficionado of schlocky horror movies from the 80's, Cheryl picked Waxwork when it was her turn to select the subject for an installment of Reel Deep Dive. While digging up background info on the film for his notes, Ryan stumbled across the fact that Waxwork is supposedly a remake of Waxworks, a German Expressionist film from 1924. He asked Cheryl if it'd be cool if they compared and contrasted the two movies for the episode. Cheryl was keen on the idea, setting up a dilemma over the fact that, aside from the title, these two movies don't actually have all that much in common.
Ryan and Cheryl attempt to make the best of it anyways. Talking points include the interesting career paths of David Warner and Conrad Veidt, the necessity of making creative cinematography and set design choices when the budget is laughably small, the struggles of writing a believable romantic subplot into a horror movie, and why the tuxedo became an iconic sartorial choice for lesbians...
Yes, most of those topics are (at least sort of) relevant to the two films being dissected in this episode.
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At the apex of 1980's action excess, Jean-Claude Van Damme carved out a niche for himself in this low budget martial arts film. Bloodsport was a moderate success at the box office, but grew a much bigger following through home video and basic cable broadcasts. Its most prominent features include amateurishly hammy acting, choppy cinematography, and Van Damme's penchant for silly gesticulations, humorously odd facial contortions, and finding any pretext he can to do a split. Ryan and Rachel touch upon each of these points in their deconstruction of Bloodsport, but they also discuss its drawn-out production, gloriously cheesy soundtrack, surprising level of (intentional) humor, and the chemistry-free "romance" scenes with Van Damme's token love interest.
Naturally, one can't examine Bloodsport without noting the wild, unverified claims of Frank Dux, the fight choreographer who supplied the "based on a true story" elements of the movie's plot. Ryan spends a decent chunk of time detailing all the claims that Dux made about rescuing orphans, infiltrating the Chinese mafia, and single-handedly killing hundreds of Viet Cong soldiers in super-classified covert ops missions (being an army brat, Rachel has strong opinions about stolen valor).
Ryan also delves into the theory that Bloodsport is Donald Trump's favorite movie; this leads to a rundown of the favorite films of various presidents.
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The titular character of Matilda is a precocious little girl who contends against corrupt, neglectful parents and a tyrannical school principal. Directed by Danny DeVito and based on the 1988 book by beloved children's author Roald Dahl, Matilda was a box office disappointment that gradually became a cult classic through home video and TV broadcasts (a popular subject for this podcast). Ryan is joined by Sarah and Toby for this episode. They talk about why Matilda connected so deeply with Sarah when she was the same age as the protagonist. They go into detail about the movie's infamous chocolate cake scene. The post-child star career of lead actress Mara Wilson is talked about, as is the directorial approach of DeVito. The discussion then turns to how Matilda is an adolescent wish-fulfillment fantasy for young girls; parallels are drawn between Matilda Wormwood and comparable figures such as Lisa Simpson and Daria Morgendorffer.
Toby also gives a pitch for Matilda II, a sequel that will set up a Roald Dahl cinematic universe.
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Run Lola Run has a pretty straightforward premise: The titular character needs to acquire 100,000 Deutschmarks in twenty minutes in order to keep her boyfriend from getting killed by the mob. She seems to be stuck in a Groundhog Day-styled time loop until she can manage to accomplish this feat. The film itself is as lean, propulsive, and tightly-edited as that premise implies.
That being said, Run Lola Run manages to cram many layers into its 80 minute runtime. Ryan and Rachel compare Run Lola Run to other time loop movies, but they also touch upon the film's thematic ties to chaos theory, the butterfly effect, the human perception of time, free will vs. determinism, and director Tom Tykwer's fixations upon Alfred Hitchcock and ancient Greek tragedy.
Rachel doesn't try to do a German accent in this episode, but she will pontificate upon how Manni doesn't deserve to have Lola as a girlfriend.
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Being a movie nerd podcast where movie nerds talk about movie nerd stuff, it was probably inevitable for Reel Deep Dive to do an episode about the Star Wars saga at some point. On the other hand, it's a bit less expected for this program to go with a minor, disposable TV movie centering on the cosmic teddy bears for its maiden outing in this particular franchise.
Ryan is joined on this episode by Peter Cronan, host of the Fearless Films Podcast. They go over the plot of Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. They also delve into the film's production history, its thematic motifs, its episodic story structure, its penchant for spoon-feeding every plot point to a presumed audience of small children, and the movie's wider impact on Star Wars in general. However, since there isn't actually all that much substance to Caravan of Courage, they also talk about the conception of Ewoks as characters, the Ewoks' roots in silent film comedy and 1930's animation, and whether or not their presence "ruined" Return of the Jedi (1983).
There's also a big ol' tangent about the career of Burl Ives, the folksinger and character actor who serves as the omniscient narrator of this movie.
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One of the landmarks of cinema, Fritz Lang's Metropolis is a 1927 German Expressionist science fiction drama about a huge, futuristic city where the wealthy live a life of decadent privilege on top of the backs of the struggling masses. Freder, its main protagonist, is shaken from his complacency by the ethereally-beautiful labor organizer Maria and her revelations about the cruelty found in the lower levels of Metropolis. Things go sideways when Freder's wicked father disguises a killer robot as Maria and sends her to infiltrate a group of workers attempting to unionize.
As that paragraph strongly suggests, Metropolis has a pretty strong undercurrent of Marxism. Rachel joins Ryan to discuss that element of Metropolis, but they also talk about the movie's groundbreaking special effects, the numerous attempts to censor and/or alter the story's message, the story's simplistic moralizing, the decades-long effort to find and restore the movie's lost footage, the director's difficult relationship to ascending Nazism, the hallmarks of German Expressionism in the film's structure, and Metropolis' influence on films like Frankenstein (1931), Modern Times (1936), Star Wars (1977), Blade Runner (1982), The Terminator (1984), Batman (1989), and many others.
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Producer/director Roger Corman is arguably the biggest name in the wide, varied landscape of cinematic schlock. His massive catalog, including 55 films he directed and at least 385 he produced, ranges from Little Shop of Horrors (1960) to Sharktopus (2010). Corman was also something of a cinematic kingmaker; James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson, Ron Howard, Sylvester Stallone, Martin Scorsese, and William Shatner are among those who paid their dues on Corman movies before moving on to bigger and better things.
For this episode of Reel Deep Dive, Ryan and Cheryl take a look at Chopping Mall, the cheesy horror movie where a group of horny teens are trapped in a mall with three homicidal security robots. Thematic motifs in the ensuing discussion include the film's frequent indulgence in superfluous nudity, the reckless nature of the shoot, director Jim Wynorski's fixation on nubile young women (and how that contributed to his later career as a softcore porn director), the scattered structure of the script, and the movie's fondness for 80's blue lightning effects. The ultimate question however, is whether Ryan and Cheryl believe that Chopping Mall is "fun bad" or merely "bad bad".
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Writer and television producer Rod Serling attained his status as a 20th century pop culture icon due to The Twilight Zone, the sci-fi anthology program that he created, oversaw, narrated, and frequently scripted from 1959-1964. That show has made Serling an impressively enduring figure in the ever-shifting landscape of American media, but it's not the only anthology show that he curated. We're going to be talking about the other one on this episode.
Rachel spent her adolescence watching The Night Gallery and credits it with spurring her interest in horror fiction. For Reel Deep Dive, she's selected a few of the Night Gallery segments that she considers to be representative of the program's vibe and quality. She and Ryan break down the plots of each vignette, commenting on how the show is constructed and how it's reflective of the times and landscape it existed in. Talking points for this episode include the dangers of nostalgia, the complicated legacy of H.P. Lovecraft, Vincent Price's facial hair, the early work of Steven Spielberg, the curious form of modern Satanism, and why The Night Gallery has never managed to escape the shadow of its far more popular forebear.
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In the interest of keeping his guests engaged (and broadening his horizons beyond the stuff he's already interested in), Ryan likes to alternate the choosing of Reel Deep Dive's subjects. The consequence of this policy is that Toby, Ryan's nine year old nephew, chose the 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog film as the focus of this week's episode. Ryan had little interest in deconstructing this film (or even watching it), but it was Toby's turn to pick the movie and fair's fair.
Most of the chatter surrounding the promotion and release of this video game adaptation centered upon the internet's severely negative response to the title character's initial design (and the studio's scramble to replace it with a more palatable figure at the last minute). Ryan and Toby are almost obligated to touch upon that, but time is also given to the character's origins, the film's cookie-cutter plot, Jim Carrey's attempt to recapture the manic performances that made him a star in the 1990's, the movie's attempt to throw some fanservice at nostalgic millennial parents, and the dialogue's awkward attempts to shoehorn in some product placement.
Ryan was about as unimpressed with Sonic the Hedgehog as he suspected he was going to be, but Toby greatly approves of this movie and takes some pains to defend it. Ryan half-expected Toby to flip-flop in an attempt to impress him, so Ryan was pleasantly surprised to see Toby stick to his principles.
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One of the most beloved comedies of the silent era, Sherlock Jr. is a brisk, economically-edited film whose layers belie its short running time. Over the course of 45 minutes, Sherlock Jr. functions as a platform for madcap slapstick, a showcase for ludicrously-dangerous stunts, an opportunity to show off trick photography, a conduit for relatable physical acting, and plenty more.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for a chat about this enduring movie; discussion topics include how the loose plot is structured around the gags, the movie's connection to the still-notorious Fatty Arbuckle scandal, how Sherlock Jr. is referenced by James Bond of all things, and how Buster Keaton blazed a trail for every other actor who markets their films around how they almost killed themselves in a dangerous stunt for our amusement.
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Change is constant, but Hollywood was in an especially volatile position of flux in the late 60's and early 70's. The prestige musical, one of the most reliable moneymaking formats in filmmaking from the Depression onward, had crashed and burned with the failures of Doctor Dolittle (1967) and Hello Dolly (1969). Suddenly, the dependable formulas weren't working anymore.
This period saw film studios take moderate gambles on young, artful directors who grew up watching movies, internalized lots of theoretical ideas in film school, and wanted to do self-serious takes on the pop culture trash they loved as children. This resulted in the "New Hollywood" era, where maverick filmmakers made a slew of daring, gritty, unconventional, grounded, and moody films like Easy Rider (1969), The Godfather (1972), and Taxi Driver (1976). Naturally, a few of these directors had ideas about how to modernize the stodgy, played-out genre of the Hollywood musical.
Brian De Palma's 1974 rock opera, a mash-up of Phantom of the Opera, Faust, and The Picture of Dorian Gray, is one of the most idiosyncratic movies ever distributed by a major Hollywood studio. Ryan is joined by Cheryl, an outspoken fan of the film. Together, they discuss Phantom of the Paradise as a criticism of art as commerce, they delve into how Paul Williams' songs reflect pop music history, they touch upon De Palma's distinctive quirks as a visual storyteller, and they bring up how #beefdidnothingwrong.
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So far, every conversational topic in an episode of Reel Deep Dive has centered on a single film. In the hopes of shaking things up, Ryan and Rachel are breaking down two cinematic spins on the Bard's famous romantic comedy. The first one is Kenneth Branagh's 1993 effort starring Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Michael Keaton, Kate Beckinsale, Denzel Washington, and Robert Sean Leonard. The other subject is Joss Whedon's 2012 film starring Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Fran Kranz, Nathan Fillion, Jillian Morgese, Clark Gregg, and Sean Maher.
There's naturally going to be some comparing and contrasting when it comes to how each actor tackled their respective parts, but Ryan and Rachel also talk about how the two films differ in terms of set design, cinematography, musical choices, and thematic emphasis (Beatrice's "If I Were A Man" monologue gets a lot of attention). There's also plenty of talk about how Shakespeare has been interpreted by various people throughout the ages.
In addition to all that, Ryan takes a moment to explain why Claudio is an "Aristotle Fuckboy".
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The interconnected web of Marvel Studios films is easily the most successful movie franchise of the 21st century. Naturally, it's impossible for something this massive to get along without drawing some detractors. 2017's Thor: Ragnarok is one of the earliest Marvel films to conscientiously reflect some of the common criticisms leveled against its predecessors (bland color grading, boring musical score, unremarkable villain, cookie-cutter direction, homogeneous tone, etc). Also, the film has an interesting dichotomy between its lighthearted approach and the heavy themes present in the story's subtext.
Ryan is joined by his sister Sarah and his 9 year old nephew Toby; they discuss Thor: Ragnarok's use of humor, its departures from prior films in the series, its approach to anti-colonialism, its playful take on sibling dynamics, and its roots in the drama of classical antiquity. Toby also recites an essay he wrote about his favorite fictional character; Ryan and Sarah definitely intend to play this episode to Toby when he's a teenager in order to embarrass him in front of whoever he's dating.
Ryan, Sarah, and Toby conclude by weighing in on the film's most important question: Who would really win in a fair fight between Thor and The Hulk?
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Reel Deep Dive starts commenting on television with this episode, a discussion about an MTV cartoon that built up a significant cult audience after its cancellation. While the program did launch the careers of noted directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, it's still best-known for its intriguing concept involving a high school filled with teenage clones of historical figures.
Ryan and Rachel focus upon four episodes in Clone High's brief run. Throughout their breakdown, they chat about the program's lampooning of family sitcoms and teen movies, its deluge of history nerd jokes, its talent for stretching its limited budget to suit its storytelling, and the controversy surrounding how the show depicted Mahatma Gandhi. Ryan also teases Rachel about her terrible Kennedy impersonation despite the fact that his take is even worse.
This episode was recording several months before a Clone High revival was announced; this means that the section where Ryan and Rachel talk about the slim likelihood of a Clone High reboot has already become dated.
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Most box office duds fade to obscurity once their underperforming theatrical runs have concluded, but a lucky handful stumble into positive reappraisal and a lengthy post-release afterlife. The most prominent example is arguably Frank Capra's 1946 Christmas perennial It's A Wonderful Life, but a number of other films earned enduring cult status once the advent of cable television spurred numerous stations to pad their programming blocks with then-unpopular films whose broadcast rights were cheap to acquire. This phenomenon was especially generous to 1980's cheese like Beastmaster (1982), Dragnet (1987), and several films directed by John Carpenter.
The subject for this episode is 1985's Clue, a broad spoof of the locked-room murder mystery modeled after the board game of the same name. Ryan is joined by McKenzie as they talk about Clue's talented ensemble cast, its scene-stealing performances from Tim Curry and Madeline Kahn, its fancy costumes, and its lush mise-en-scène. Thematic motifs under discussion include the film's references to the communist witch hunts of Joseph McCarthy, its subtextual digs at mid-20th century sexual stigmas, and its playful riffs upon the tropes of Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr.
Ryan and McKenzie also compare Clue to the much more successful Knives Out (2019).
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Any podcast devoted to movie nerd minutiae is obligated to talk about Alfred Hitchcock at some point. In addition to that, a podcast devoted to movie nerd minutiae is probably also required to touch upon auteur theory during its existence.
Reel Deep Dive has decided to kill two birds with one stone by focusing on Rope, arguably the Hitchcock film with the most precise, distinct, and meticulous scene-blocking. Yes, that's a bold claim to make, but we stand behind it.
Rachel and Ryan chat about Rope's "single take" gimmick, but they also delve into the nature of suspense, the real-life murder that Rope is based upon, the scientific accuracy of the film's "real time" presentation, and Rope's significant amount of queer subtext. Rachel also decided to subject the listener to her Jimmy Stewart impression.
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Parody lies at the bedrock of human expression. People have been poking fun at genre tropes ever since the first genre trope calcified into being.
With that in mind, it's useful to mention that parody will still be a novel concept to the next generation. For many, Teen Titans Go! has served as their introduction to the burlesque, winking lampoon. In fact, Teen Titans Go! was many a child's first foray into the superhero genre, lampoon or otherwise.
Ryan is joined by Sarah and Toby for this discussion of the feature film extension of Teen Titans Go! This was the first movie that Toby was able to sit through in the theater, a fact that Ryan credits to the film's barrage of toilet humor. Fart and poop jokes are parsed through, but the dialogue also delves into the movie's songs, the talent of its voice cast, the weirdly-hateful backlash that Teen Titans Go! receives from self-serious comic nerds, and how Teen Titans Go! To The Movies can be interpreted as "Baby's First Deadpool".
And yes, there is some chatter about Michael Bolton's role as an upbeat (UPBEAT!) Sibertian tiger.
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There aren't many films that can be credited with creating an entire subgenre, but Airplane! certainly qualifies. It's difficult to imagine what the past four decades of parody films would've been like if this weird little lampoon hadn't been as big of a hit as it was. Airplane! turned the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker team into a cottage industry and it completely changed the career trajectory of character actor Leslie Nielsen, but its impact left even more ripples. Airplane! defied the assumptions of what kind of comedic film could make money. Airplane! redefined how a comedy film could be structured. Hell, it isn't even that much of a stretch to argue that the rapid fire, 13-gags-per-second pace of Airplane! influenced everything from The Simpsons to 30 Rock.
Ryan is joined by Rachel for an episode where they defy conventional wisdom and examine why they think certain jokes are funny. Talking points include Leslie Nielsen's status as an American treasure, the complexities behind this film's casting of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and how Airplane! was a minor miracle that nobody could quite recreate in many, many subsequent attempts.
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While it feels impossible to imagine this in a world where Disney is currently a cultural monopoly, the House of Mouse was once in such dire straits that it was seriously considering the prospect of permanently shutting down production of its animated films. Instead, the studio put out The Little Mermaid (1989), a lower-budgeted and story-focused effort whose success put Disney back on the map. This led to a streak of lucrative, fondly-remembered movies during a period that is now referred to as "The Disney Renaissance".
This episode zeroes in on The Lion King, the commercial peak of this era. Ryan and Sarah were right in the target demo of The Lion King when it first hit theaters, so they speak from experience when they delve into its streamlined script, memorable music, and cultural ubiquity. Other topics of discussion include the storytelling parallels to Hamlet, the accusations of cultural appropriation leveled against the film, the criticism surrounding the 2019 remake, and whether or not The Lion King plagiarized its story from Osamu Tezuka's Kimba The White Lion.
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Star Trek is one of Rachel's core fandoms, so it was really only a matter of time before Reel Deep Dive handled a film in this long-running franchise. Rachel chose Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, a film often seen as one of the weaker entries in the saga. Both Rachel and Ryan think that it's actually a pretty solid movie, so one of the discussion points is why Search For Spock is dismissed as frequently as it is.
Other topics include the film's actor-centric direction, the dicey gambit of using death and resurrection as a plot point, the lo-fi charm of 80's lightning effects, the "Odd-Numbered Star Trek Curse", and how episodic film franchises had to structure themselves in the days before streaming took hold. Rachel and Ryan also speak about the difference between watching a long-awaited sequel in theaters and stumbling across it decades later on home video.
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At some point, American media decided that there was only two idioms for the field of animation...
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Family-friendly product derived from the Disney formula.
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Raunchy, sophomoric material that serves as a counterpoint to Disney formula.
Fantastic Planet, produced in France and Czechoslovakia, doesn't fit into either of those idioms. Instead, it's a thoughtful, meditative, and psychedelic parable regarding animal rights, racism, and Cold War politics. It's definitely not a kid's cartoon, but it isn't nearly as self-consciously "naughty" as an episode of Family Guy.
Ryan is joined by Becki for an episode devoted to studying this very singular accomplishment in animated filmmaking.
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It's Rachel's turn to pick the subject and she went with Baz Luhrmann's gaudy take on the big-budget musical. Moulin Rouge was a big favorite of Rachel's during her adolescence and it remains a solid "comfort movie" that she puts on whenever she's bored or tired or just wants to have something familiar playing in the background.
Join Ryan and Rachel as they probe this film, a product that audiences seem to love and/or loathe. Discussion topics include Luhrmann's distinctly grandiose style, how the movie plays off its historical setting, the plot's adhesion to tropes prevalent in 19th century Italian theater, how an actor performs in a melodrama, Moulin Rouge's playful take on musical anachronism, and how the film's storytelling reflects societal impressions of sex work.
You will also get to hear a kitten sneeze.
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Hollywood has been consistently producing James Bond movies for almost sixty years at this point. And, while the early installments were a bold new voice in the filmmaking landscape, the franchise stopped innovating after 1964 and has been appropriating whatever happened to be popular in contemporary action cinema since 1973. While every movie is a reflection of the world that created it, the 007 films are a particularly interesting time capsule of what was going on in pop culture throughout its existence.
For this episode, Ryan and Sarah frame their discussion around Casino Royale, a self-serious reboot of the series that falls in line with a trend that affected Batman, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and a number of other cinematic sagas. Talking points include a comparison to the film's source novel, the creative choices that place this story firmly in 2006, the problems inherent to making a "realistic" James Bond film, this movie's place in the Bond mythos as a whole, and how Casino Royale is the only Bond installment to have an affecting love story.
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Ronald Reagan's ascension to the American presidency led to a wave of deregulatory practices that remains lauded (and imitated) by conservatives to the present day. Among these practices was the repeal of FCC protocols that prevented children's programming from engaging in direct marketing. This led to a slew of cartoons that were thinly-veiled toy commercials for the impressionable youth of the 80's.
This episode of Reel Deep Dive focuses on My Little Pony, one of the most financially successful examples of this idiom. Together, Ryan and Sylvan will examine this franchise's 1986 theatrical feature. Themes under discussion will include the psychological effects of marketing to toddlers, the ramifications of gendering mass media, and how 80's cartoons have since been reinterpreted by adults who grew up watching them. They also take a few minutes to take cheap, unproductive cracks at the film's lackluster budget and numerous continuity errors.
Ryan and Sylvan were in the targeted age demographic for this program when it first aired, so they speak about this subject with the mark of grim personal experience.
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So far, Ryan's been running things on Reel Deep Dive. He picks the subject, writes up the talking points for the episode, guides the structure of the discussion, and even writes the descriptive captions for this page (he feels weird while writing about himself in the third person). This episode, centered upon Satoshi Kon's psychological horror anime Perfect Blue, changes that dynamic. Rachel picked the subject, drafted the discussion template, and directs the trajectory of the conversation.
Join Rachel and Ryan as they take a good, long look at this influential character study. Thematic motifs include Perfect Blue's prescient exploration of celebrity branding, how the internet has eroded the barriers between content creators and their audience, the film's use of the unreliable narrator, the movie's feminist subtext, and whether or not Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan (2010) is a total rip-off of this movie.
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On occasion, it's impossible to definitively state why a certain film has clung to our collective memory. This is not the case with The X From Outer Space; people remember this movie because its titular kaiju is a cosmic chicken monster. That being conceded, The X From Outer Space still has a curious legacy that's worth exploring.
What motivated the venerated Shochiku Studios to try its hand at making a low-budget Godzilla knock-off? Why does this silly, silly movie have a subplot about the evils of interracial romance? What's going on with the 2008 sequel where the chicken monster infuriates George W. Bush with its messy poop? Join Ryan as he explores a wacky kaiju "classic" that's somehow in the Criterion Collection.
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Our last episode focused on The Broadway Melody, the film that established MGM as the foremost producer of movie musicals. This episode centers upon Easter Parade, a film created in the midst of numerous box-office juggernauts from MGM's song-and-dance crew. At this point, the shaky, uncertain structure of The Broadway Melody had long since been polished into a slick, consistent, and crowd-pleasing formula.
Sylvan and Ryan delve into this popular icon of The Golden Age of Hollywood and discuss the pitfalls of crafting blockbusters through a safe, conservative assembly line (there are comparisons to the Marvel Studios productions of the modern day). Also touched upon is Judy Garland's screen persona, how Fred Astaire's approach contrasts with Gene Kelly's, the artistic legacy of Irving Berlin, the strangeness of online fandom, the merits of examining the media we consume, and how the plot of Easter Parade reinforces a sense of male entitlement in pop culture. Sylvan and Ryan then take a few moments to comment upon how The Easter Parade has influenced their family in a personal way.
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The Broadway Melody is arguably the first movie musical; its success kicked off decades of ever-more-elaborate musicals from MGM. The Broadway Melody was also the first sound movie to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It spawned four (sorta) sequels and a remake. One of its songs ("You Were Meant For Me") has been performed by everyone from Bing Crosby to Gene Kelly to Sting.
So, considering that The Broadway Melody broke so many barriers and achieved every quantifiable measure of a successful film, why has it been consigned to the dustbin of cinema history? Ryan explores this forgotten relic and presents a theory regarding its faded luster.
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One of the most prominent subgenres in action cinema is the "tournament movie": this is a film where the protagonist enters a fighting contest where they battle a series of incrementally more powerful opponents before facing off against the main villain at the climax. While effective in popular movies like Enter the Dragon (1973) and Bloodsport (1988), this structure might be even more suitable to the medium of video games. Mega-popular game franchises like Street Fighter (1987) and Mortal Kombat (1992) make strong use of the tournament movie template.
This episode of Reel Deep Dive explores the 1995 attempt to take Mortal Kombat, a video game spawned from an attempt to tie into a Jean Claude Van Damme movie, and reverse engineer it into its own tournament movie. Joining Ryan is Peter Cronan, host of the Fearless Films podcast. Together, they'll discuss Mortal Kombat's threadbare plot, cheeseball special effects, clunky acting, appropriation of Eastern philosophy, use of techno music, and (admittedly pretty cool) fight choreography. The themes of this dialogue include the history of video game censorship (and how it parallels movie censorship), the issue of adapting a gory, exploitative, and trashy game franchise into a PG-13 movie that parents could take a 10-year-old to, and Mortal Kombat's curious legacy as a 90's camp "classic".
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For this episode, we're taking the 2018 animated superhero hit and using it to examine the techniques of animation, the limits of heroic narrative, and how the monomyth template of Joseph Campbell is used by Hollywood screenwriters.
And, since this is a kid's movie, Ryan is joined by his nine year old nephew Toby (who struggles with the audio equipment somewhat). Ryan's a cynical old nerd who overanalyzes everything (hence this show's existence), but Toby's smack dab in the midst of the demo that this type of film is marketed to; grabbing a bit of his perspective is something this program believes to be worthwhile.
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Not every fictional character has the longevity of Sherlock Holmes, Hercules, or Dracula. Some popular figures fade to the position where most people seem to vaguely know who they are without anyone seeming to give a damn about them. Such is the fate of Zorro, the proto-superhero who fights for justice in colonial-era California.
For this episode, Ryan digs into the 1920 silent action film that put Zorro on the map while cementing star Douglas Fairbanks as the archetypal costumed swashbuckler. Talking points include the movie's cinematography, its pioneering stunts, the nature of its source material, and why Zorro got supplanted in the popular imagination by imitators like Batman.
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The first episode of a podcast usually involves people struggling with the audio equipment (and there's some of that here). So, with that in mind, it's probably unfair to expect the maiden voyage of a movie podcast to have a firm sense of identity in place.
Knowing that we're still figuring things out, we thought that we'd start things off with the simple topic of what's allegedly the greatest film of all time (insert sarcasm gif here).
Join Ryan Valentine and Rachel Bolton as they deconstruct Orson Welles' 1941 magnum opus. Talking points will include Citizen Kane's many technical innovations, the most prominent thematic motifs of the story, the debatable utility of labels like "greatest of all time", and how President Donald Trump claims to love this movie while missing the central irony of a guy like him doing so.
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