The Flop House

We devote this mini entirely to the most obvious topic for a show being released the day after Christmas -- Big Johnson T-shirts.

We've been wanting to get Alonso Duralde on the show for a while -- not only because he's the senior film critic for The Wrap, and not only because he's the host or co-host of a number of podcasts, including Max Fun's own Who Shot Ya?, but because he literally wrote the book on Christmas movies. So, of course, this holiday season he picked a movie that barely sort of has Christmas stuff in it -- the double-Moore weepie Six Weeks. THANKS FOR NOTHING, BUDDY! (jk - he's a delight.)Wikipedia synopsis of Six Weeks.Movies recommended in this episode:The Country BearsMartial LawLadybug LadybugCollective

We break out of our normal format a bit for this BONUS EPISODE! How so? Well, #1, we watched a movie that we were all pretty sure we'd like (and, spoiler alert, we did) -- the body-swap horror-comedy "Freaky," and #2, instead of doing letters and recommendations, we take a bit of extra time to talk to our guest about her long career. Who is that guest? The wonderful Barbara Crampton, star of legendary horror movies Re-Animator, From Beyond, You're Next, and a little movie that doesn't get mentioned on our show a lot -- Castle Freak. And folks? Barbara is just an absolute ray of sunshine who was a delight to talk to (off-mic as well -- she spent a bunch of time just chatting with us and inquiring about our health and well-being). We hope you enjoy this as much as we did.Wikipedia synopsis of Freaky.

Holiday hustle and bustle means it's finally time to release the OTHER episode, taped at Boston’s CitySpace, about Godzilla: King of the Monsters. CAN YOU HANDLE THE THRILLS?

Elliott gives us a report from the field about the Douglas Trumbull directorial effort Brainstorm!

Greeting boils and ghouls and gender non-kill-forming! For the spooookiest holiday of the year, Thanksgiving, we discuss the very appropriate Happy Halloween, Scooby Doo! Why? Well, we ask our guest, the hilarious absolute sweetheart, Justin McElroy, that very question -- you may know him as one of the hosts of Max Fun's own My Brother My Brother and Me, The Adventure Zone, Sawbones, and many other podcasts you should probably be listening to instead of our nonsense. See all that he's up to at the McElroy family site.Scoobypedia synopsis of Happy Halloween, Scooby Doo.Movies recommended in this episode:The StupidsPossessorCinderella LibertyThe VelociPastor

Renowned author Stuart Wellington gives us a reading from his early work: a stirring epic about snakes.

And so we arrive at November, so named because it has no special theme. And, folks, we'll admit... this MIB: International episode is a weird one. Why? Well, finding out is part of the fun. But our guest for this show is Annabelle Gurwitch, from Max Fun's new Tiny Victories podcast, as well as TBS's Dinner and a Movie, countless acting roles, and quite a few books. Enjoy.Movies recommended in this episode:American UtopiaHis HouseWelcome to Sudden Death

Hi everyone. Was digging through the archives to see if there was anything we could release today, because it seems like maybe people could use a distraction right now.Anyway, found this old recording of the audio from one of our earliest live shows, way back in 2013, where we riffed over the movie Bratz, and decided to make it public (there are MP3s floating around, but we never put it on the main feed).In the past we were worried that you could hear the audio to the movie in the background, for copyright reasons (and also you'll have to sync this pretty well to the movie to hear us without getting a quiet echo). But you know what? It seems unlikely anyone cares, and if we get complaints, we'll take it down. For now, enjoy this surprise, and try to keep from torturing yourself with anxiety. The show was an early one, and riff shows are hard, so this might not be the absolute -best-, but Bratz is on Netflix right now if you wanna put us on and turn off your brain for a while.Be strong. Take care of yourselves

2020 may be miserable, but it's STILL HALLOWEEN DAMN IT. So we assembled a crack team of the Flop House gang, plus comedy writers Mike Reiss and Ken Keeler (who, between them, are responsible for much of the greatness of The Simpsons, The Critic, and Futurama) to discuss the most important and timely issue possible -- the 1962 novelty hit, The Monster Mash.Also, if you're reading this on the day of release, 10/31, you still have until midnight to donate to charity and be entered in our raffle to win exclusive Flop House merch! Full instructions beyond the link!

Our guest this week is Gillian Flynn, bestselling author of Gone Girl, Sharp Objects, and Dark Places, showrunner for Amazon's Utopia, screenwriter of Widows and adaptations of her own work, winner of the Edgar Award, and BAFTA nominee. We have no idea why she agreed to do this either.But we're happy she did, because for our second and final SHOCKTOBER 2020 movie, our horror-aficionado guest picked Uninvited, and it was amazing! (to be clear, this is not THE Uninvited from 2009, which The Flop House already covered, or, for that matter, The Uninvited from 1944, about ghosts and Ray Milland. This is the 1987 direct-to-video one about the mutant killer house cat).Also! If you're listening on the day of release TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT (6PDT/9EDT) for our YouTube livestream version of our touring show! We'll be doing presentations, talking Exorcist II, taking questions from Twitter, and raising money for charity! For full info, go here.Movies recommended in this episode:Hocus PocusPsycho GoremanDantonCloak & Dagg

Dan challenges Stu and Elliott to a Jackie Chan-related duel.

It's here! It's here! It's here! Did you get us any SHOCKTOBER presents? We got YOU something -- a discussion of this year's Fantasy Island, the goofy horror (?) movie based on the decidedly NOT horror 1970's light fantasy television anthology.

We couldn't get together for a mini this week, but our busy schedule is the listeners' gain, as we release this full-sized live show from the vault! It's a flashback to happier times, last July, when people could assemble to live comedy! Here's our live Hellboy (2019) show from The Parkway theater in Minneapolis, MN!Speaking of live shows -- mark your calendars for October 24, 6PT/9ET, when we'll be discussing Exorcist II: The Heretic over on our YouTube channel, in our socially-distanced livestream approximation of one of our normal touring shows. It's free to watch, but we'll be including charitable donations, including to a number of groups supporting voting rights!

If there's one thing we've learned in all our years of discussing bad movies, it's that vanity projects are often the creme de la creme of bizarre and terrible cinema. And hoo doggies, do we have something special for you. Made in 2006, then shelved for nearly a decade before getting quietly dumped to streaming in 2014, writer/director/star Stuart Paul's magnum opus, Deadly Lessons, is a fantasy self-help (?) thriller (?) that's impossible to describe, but lord, do we try.Movies recommended in this episode:Charlie's Angels (2019)Palm SpringsThe Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

The longtime anchor of the NBC Nightly News drops by to break down the new Dune trailer, and how he left his heart on Arrakis.

After a run of guests, we're celebrating Smalltember with just family. Because at a time like this, family is important, y'know? Almost as important as a movie where Kelsey Grammer menacingly smokes a cigar while telling a professional wrestler to rob a sky casino. That's right, we talked about Money Plane. You're welcome.Wikipedia summary of Money PlaneMovies recommended in this episode:We Need to Talk About KevinDa 5 BloodsMotherless Brooklyn

Dan asks his co-hosts: do they want to play a game...?

We finally invited the boss over for dinner, so we'd better hide all those staplers we stole! Noted dog lover and the head of Maximum Fun himself, Jesse Thorn, joins us to discuss The Call of the Wild, based on that one book you probably read in middle school.Wikipedia synopsis of The Call of the WildMovies recommended in this episode:Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire SagaHostAh Wilderness!A Thousand Clowns

Stuart explains Warhammer to Dan and Elliott, and everything is 100% cleared up forever and ever.