203. 'Hackers' (1995)

Public Enemy's churning, propulsive 'Fight The Power" was like a Batman logo swirling in the air across America in 1989 as Spike Lee's 3rd feature 'Do The Right Thing' hit theaters to the kind of fearful white fright and tut tutting from "thinkers" and reviewers too hidebound in their own bubble to receive this transmission from a filmmaker perfectly formed to speak in his films in a way no mainstream writer and director had to date.  Hugely popular, controversial, conversation-starting 'Do The Right Thing' is a landmark American movie.  But it's also hilariously funny, remarkably even-handed and without conclusive answers in a way that still feels incredibly brave and realistic.  Pitched in a heightened color-scape and with indelible performances from a fantastic cast, 'Do The Right Thing' more than holds up today; it reminds us just how far we haven't come as a Nation in subsequent years.

27 Juni 20191h 28min

1987's 'Robocop' is a brilliantly dark and funny social satire about a far-off time when powerful corporations have undue influence over society and overly-militarized police forces terrorize innocent civilians.  GOOD THING THAT NEVER HAPPENED!  We dive into Paul Verhoeven before Joe Ezsterhas got his hooks in him and 'Showgirls' became synonymous with 'career-ending bomb', and not in a good way.

20 Juni 20191h 17min

2004's 'Mean Girls' was a 'Heathers' for a new generation and was directed by the brother of the guy who wrote 'Heathers' which is so weird, right?  Featuring a star performance by LiLo, SNL alum Tim Meadows' best film work, and Tina Fey's brilliant script, 'Mean Girls' redefined the High School Movie and we give it its due with return Friend Of The Pod Alex Potter, who comes back for her 2nd LiLo film (catch her on our The Parent Trap episode) and also gives us her Latch Key TV takes and much more.

13 Juni 20191h 16min

Jonathan Demme's 1991 'Silence Of The Lambs' is one of only three films to ever win "The Big Five" Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay.  It was an unconventional film in so many interesting and unique ways: female protagonist navigating two violently dangerous serial killers but also the male-populated world that looks down on and is dismissive of her even as it dangles her as bait.  Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter is iconic, maybe the most beloved film villain of all time.  Ted Levin's performance as Buffalo Bill was criminally overlooked for a Best Supporting Actor nod in one of the most egregious snubs in Oscar history. On the pod this week, we're joined by Friend Of The Pod Amanda Charlton, who was present for the filming of some of the jail scenes between Hopkins and Jodi Foster and tells us some fascinating anecdotes about the vibe on the set and some unexpected realities of filming movies that the average person might not know.

6 Juni 20191h 21min

Jack Finney's 1955 science-fiction novel 'The Body Snatchers' is maybe the only underlying intellectual property (aside from, like, the Bible or Shakespeare) to inspire FOUR feature film versions across 6 decades.  So we start at the beginning with the fantastic Don Siegel (Escape From Alcatraz, Dirty Harry, Charlie Varrick) directed 1956 version, morph into uncanny likenesses of ourselves as we go deep 70's with Sutherland, Leonard Nimoy, Brooke Adams, and Jeff Goldblum, with appreciative asides for Abel Ferarra's 1990's version starring Gabrielle Anwar and less appreciative asides for a 2000's debacle starring Nicole Kidman and Jeremy Northam.  ALSO: the least-believable nosebleed in movie history, the great Meg Tilly, and we're joined by Friend Of The Pod Paul Kaup to hear his amazing story of a diffident childhood cat and to dive into Tati v. James Charles, speaking of pod people. And In Defense Of Keanu might have to become a thing, b/c Paul and Jason are suitably moved by Keanu's excellent answer on Colbert while Chris remains stone-hearted.

30 Maj 20191h 31min

It's been called "a perfect movie. I can't think of literally one thing that could be changed or improved".  OK, our guest Frank DeRuggiero said that, but he has only one tattoo and its a Jaws tattoo so he knows from whence he speaks.  Not only do we get into all the great moments from THE iconic scare-movie of all time, but we also discuss the waterlogged giant paperback of Jaws every family on vacation in the 70's had, we play the ENTIRETY of Quint's USS Indianapolis  because you simply have to, we take a visit to the Columbo Cinematic Universe, do latch-key TV picks from the 80's AND MORE on the fascinatingly complicated, over-schedule and over-budget Martha's Vineyard location shoot of Jaws.  You're gonna need a bigger set of headphones for this one.

23 Maj 20191h 27min

Well now we got bad blood, cause CHRIS, see...he's one of those people who LOVES 'Ishtar' and thinks it's a misunderstood classic of epic comedic proportions, and Jason is one of those rational, thinking humans who understands intuitively (ok after watching only 45 minutes of it) that it's a colossal failure.  Also, Chris quotes Hamlet in defense of the also-maligned 1970's failed musical '1776' on the occasion of its cynical rising-from-the-dead in forthcoming new production, we debut our awesome new Columbo Cinematic Universe sound effect, rave about how Slackers are back, and hear all about how Chris was able to attend a once-in-a-lifetime screening and discussion of 'Apocalypse Now: The I-Can't-Stop-Messing-With-This-Film-Edition' with Steven Soderbergh and Francis Ford Coppola while Jason went to a penguins movie with his daughter.  ALSO: The return of '1776: The Musical', the childhood tv magic of '3-2-1 Contact' and more.

16 Maj 20191h 16min

When a movie pitch contains the words "Based on the popular board game" you KNOW you're either in for a debacle of 'Battleship' (sorry, Peter Berg) proportions OR for the brilliantly subversive 1985 film that has become a cult classic and features the brilliant comedy performances of Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Martin Mull, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Brennan, Michael McKean, and Lesley Ann Warren.  The Brits called it 'Cluedo' just because they gotta be Brits.  ALSO: Rants N Raves, This Week In 1980's TV Guide, Headlines and how Marcus Welby, M.D. is like floating away on a sweet cloud of nitrous oxide in the dentists chair.

9 Maj 20191h 15min