The Flop House

Scott Meslow, author of the soon-to-be-released (Feb 1st!) book "From Hollywood With Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy," joins us to explain the surprising interconnectedness of Netflix's holiday romcom offerings.Praise for Scott's book:“From Hollywood With Love gives rom-coms the analysis and respect they finally deserve, especially since part of the snobbery around them is rooted in misogyny.”-Rachel Bloom, comedian, actress, and writer

Up until now, Audrey has been like one of those sitcom characters who's oft-referenced, but remains unseen, but now it's time for her to take the spotlight! Did we mention that Dan married her in November? Mazel tov, etc. And for such a joyous occasion the boys have given themselves a break by watching a movie that many people have goofed on, but they were all pretty sure they'd actually enjoy -- Lady Gaga's accent extravaganza, House of Gucci!Wikipedia entry for House of GucciMovies recommended in this episode:The French DispatchI'm Not ScaredThe Power of the Dog 

Author and host of Max Fun's very own Feeling Seen podcast, Jordan Crucchiola, joins us to talk about Georgia Rule, the film she claims has the largest discrepancy between what the viewer expects the movie to be and what it actually is.CONTENT WARNING: includes references to sexual assault, a surprising element in the film's plot that certainly took us off guard, so we don't want you to have to experience the same surprise, if you're not up for it.

In what has become a mini-tradition, we kick off the new year with an examination of last year's biggest musical flop. Unfortunately this one has a lot fewer cats and a lot more lying to a grieving family, and it's called Dear Evan Hansen. Joining us for the discussion is noted bar owner, Stuart wife, and DEH-on-Broadway-hater, Sharlene Wellington!Wikipedia entry for Dear Evan HansenMovies recommended in this episode:Nightmare AlleyHouse of GucciThe Worst Person in the WorldThe Year of the Sex Olympics

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Here's our gift to you -- a mini recorded LIVE from another special occasion: Elliott's birthday weekend!Before Omicron showed up to shut things down again, Dan and Stu and fam flew out to Los Angeles, to a beautiful house Elliott's wife had rented for the occasion, to celebrate four decades of that talkative special guy, Elliott Charles Kalan! We talk about growing older and being adults, but with jokes. With cameos from whomever happened to be around for his birthday! 

Is it Cagemas already? Seems like it comes earlier every year. At any rate, Saint Nicolas Cage has left us something awfully spicy beneath the tree this year. It's a giant slice of deep-fried southern ham, with big performances from Cage, KaDee Strickland, and Money Plane's Kelsey Grammer. Dare you join us for a visit to Grand Isle?Wikipedia entry for Grand IsleMovies recommended in this episode:CopshopThe FableThe Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't KillMalcolm X

When last we left our doggie heroes, they had made their way inside the house, and thus far managed to protect the adorable kitten, Cutiepie -- but they STILL haven't scored any of that delicious chili, and their antics continue to threaten the farmer's daughter's wedding day. What will happen?!? Give a listen and see!(If you want to listen to the previous FlopTales RPG adventures, consider becoming a MaxFun member, and checking out the bonus feed!)

The jolly bearded man himself, Alonso Duralde, writer of Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas and co-host of Max Fun's own Maximum Film, as well as many, many other things, joins us to talk about the LEGENDARILY strange 1985 would-be Christmas blockbuster Santa Claus: The Movie, along with the usual shenanigans.Wikipedia entry for Santa Claus: The MovieMovies recommended in this episode:Licorice PizzaBlade of the ImmortalClimate of the HunterOriginal Cast Album: CompanyThe Last of Sheila

Stuart leads Dan, Elliott, and friend of flop Zhubin Parang in part one (of two) of a short role-playing game. Listeners may already be familiar with the Hogsbottom Three from our appearance on The Adventure Zone, or from bonus episodes only available on the Maximum Fun member feed. (If you want to listen to the latter, consider becoming a MaxFun member!) This adventure is kind of like those, except what if our characters were cartoon dogs?

Hey, remember Crocodile Dundee? Remember him? Croc? Ol' Mick Dundee? Remember? Crocodile? Crocky D? Anyone? Well, The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee is about how no one remembers Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan, and he's also somehow the most important star in Hollywood. Take this strange journey with us, and with our delightful guest Ben Harrison, of The Greatest Generation.Wikipedia entry for The Very Excellent Mr. DundeeMovies recommended in this episode:Last Night in SohoRiders of JusticeParallel MothersWorking GirlsSponsored by Lumi Labs - use FLOP for 30% off anything on microdosegummies.com

Elliott ACTUALLY explains Adam Warlock.

Here we are in No-vember, best known for having "no" theme. And we kick the month off with one of the most star-studded movies that absolutely made no cultural footprint whatsoever that you could hope to see -- Breaking News in Yuba County.Wikipedia entry for Breaking News in Yuba CountyMovies recommended in this episode:Primal RageTitaneNew York NinjaDear Comrades

Elliott talks to us about Adam Warlock.

We're joined for a second Shocktober by Edgar Award-winning bestselling author, screenwriter, and secret bad movie fan Gillian Flynn, to discuss The Unholy, a horror movie about a Three's Company-level name misunderstanding.Paste https://feeds.simplecast.com/EOAFriME into iTunes (or your favorite podcatching software) to have new episodes of The Flop House delivered to you directly, as they’re released.Wikipedia entry for The UnholyMovies recommended in this episode:Grizzly II: RevengeDead & BuriedPigMalignant

Those who woke up early this morning got the wrong episode -- due to a glitch, Dan ended up with a duplicate of an old file on his desktop, and that old episode is what he accidentally uploaded. This is just a note to let you know that if you delete the old file, and re-download today's episode, you will get the proper version of Episode #354 – The Unholy, with Gillian Flynn. It's a great episode that we're really excited about, so we'd hate for you to miss it! Thank you for bearing with us!

Stuart's most ostentatiously-named mini format makes a triumphant return, as he talks to us about the Emmys, and current TV in general.

The star of the show has returned, to answer all of our questions about ghost-sightings, but also to discuss the somehow both boring and wild adaptation of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, The Turning.Learn more about Max Fun's Block Party here!Wikipedia entry for The TurningMovies recommended in this episode:The FlyTo Live and Die in L.A.BreakdownWe Need to Talk About Kevin

The Super Mario Bros. live show had a thrilling, good-humored, and completely unexpected special guest in Parker Bennett, one of the film's (many) writers, who showed up in the chat purely to enjoy the show, but was happy to join us for a few minutes to talk about his experience making the movie.Time constraints prevented us from talking to him as long as we'd like, so we decided to have him on a minisode, where he could dish about the behind-the-scenes details at greater length.A NOTE: since we usually release all our podcast episodes on Saturdays, but access to the SMB live show was scheduled to end at midnight this Sunday, we decided to release this mini a little early, AND also extend the live show one more day (till midnight on Monday, 10/4), so that anyone listening who's curious for more Super Mario Bros. shenanigans could still get a chance to see the show. 

Smalltember concludes with a doozy: Black Easter (previously titled Assassin 33 AD, in a slightly different edit) -- the movie that dares ask "What if someone killed Jesus? ...But not like, the people who ORIGINALLY killed Jesus. What if they were TIME TRAVELING MUSLIMS?"Content warning for all sorts of islamophobic and religious stuff, but honestly, this movie is WAY too silly for much of it to land. Mostly it makes for some great Flop Housing.The streaming LIVE SHOW is TONIGHT!!! — Tune in to watch us discuss the “classic” 1993 flop Super Mario Bros., do a few presentations, take a few questions, and other assorted nonsense! Tickets $10!Wikipedia entry for Black Easter... does not exist!Movies recommended in this episode:Dr. CyclopsThe VoyeursMargaret

Dan the infernal gamemaster returns to quiz Elliott and Stu on big Hollywood movies that the world has mostly forgotten.