Last year we checked out the 1961 classic Paul Newman film, “The Hustler”. This week we’re looking at the sequel, 1986’s the Color of Money. What has Fast Eddie Felson been up to for the last 25 years? This movie has all the answers. Directed by Martin Scorsese and featuring some early work by Tom Cruise, this is the film that finally won Newman an academy award for Best Actor.
It has been 35 years since Hoosiers became the definitive Indiana basketball movie, and possibly one of the all-time great inspirational sports movies. Though we both were born and raised in Indiana, we somehow managed to miss this movie entirely. Join us for the podcast as we talk our way through our feelings about this beloved classic.
For an 80’s sci-fi family movie, Flight of the Navigator holds up remarkably well. The child actor is great, the cutting-edge computer effects hardly show their age, and the plot is more well-considered than most movies of the era. That’s probably why we were both so taken with it as children and remain nostalgic about it to this day. Thanks to Kira for commissioning our coverage of this very literal Pee-Wee Herman vehicle.
We’re filling a huge gap in our nostalgic movie catalog with our 35th anniversary coverage of Stand By Me, the 1986 coming-of-age story about 4 young friends who hear rumor of the body of a boy in the woods and journey into the wilderness to find it. It stars someone both beloved and reviled by Star Trek fans around the globe, as well as River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and a very young, very chubby Jerry O’Connell. It’s considered a classic by many. Will it hold up 35 years later? Join us on the podcast to find out.
The Return of the Badasses series continues with 1986’s Cobra, Sylvester Stallone’s showcase of what makes a true badass. What are those things? Well, get yourself a pair of mirrored aviators and an automatic weapon with a laser scope, eat your pizza a quarter-slice at a time, store your gun cleaning kit at the back of your fridge inside an empty egg carton and you’ll be a good way toward understanding. Check out the podcast to find out what else Sylvester recommends.
What comes to mind when you think of the movie “Labyrinth”? If you were a young girl coming of age in the mid 80s, you probably remember the raw emo sexuality of David Bowie awakening something within you or the hero’s journey told from the female perspective. If you’re Jim you remember a ton of early internet memes centered on David Bowie’s bulge that eventually lead you to watching this bizarrely creative Jim Henson masterpiece. Either way, there’s something for everyone to love in this movie, and hopefully in the podcast we produced for Kevin and Courtney’s commission.
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Today we’re livewatching the classic-among-certain-podcast-hosts Flight of the Navigator from 1986.
Special thanks to our buddy Jason Shankel hailing from the Nattercast for commissioning this podcast for the 1986 sci-fi action fantasy film Highlander, directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert. Jason and his friends also did a deep dive on Highlander, so please check that out if you’re looking for a very affectionate and informed take from life-long fans of the franchise. As for us, we thought Highlander was cheesy fun. The film boasts an excellent soundtrack, exciting and varied sets for the extended sword fights, and some of the sturdiest and most interesting fantasy bones to hang a franchise on. We walk away wondering why hasn’t anyone rebooted this?
Multiple-commissioner Josh from Saxapahaw, NC is back with another goodie, James Cameron’s take on the Aliens franchise. One of the all time great sci-fi action movies, it supplies nearly non stop action with a sturdy heroine to build around, lots of colorful characters to die, implacable, terrifying antagonists, and impressive effect and design work. Plus, we eulogize the late, great, Bill “Tons of Peace” Paxton. Thanks again, Josh, this was a lot of fun!
Amee Miller commissioned Transformers the Movie as a Christmas present for her beloved husband Jason. Featuring the voice talents of Leonard Nimoy, Orsen Wells, Petter Cullen, and Scatman Crothers, the movie certainly lives up to it’s billing as “beyond your wildest imagination.” For example, I’d never imagine an underwater chase scene involving muscle cars, mentally challenged dinosaur robots leading a populist revolt against injustice, a microscope being used as a telescope, or Weird Al Yankovic’s “Dare to Be Stupid” being used in an all-robot dance number. Maybe my imagination is broken or something.