Movie Meltdown

Movie Meltdown - Episode 381 (For our Patreon supporters.)   This week we gather at the Bastion to peer into the grim future that is: Death Race 2050. And as we play a rousing round of guess the celebrity's age, we also mention... Crazyhead, I impressed a small child, Chad Radwell, Sherlock, a nuclear blast, Resident Evil out of order, Eddie Steeples, a Tuesday at Malcolm's house, Nothing in the Dark, The Selection, still no flying cars, quarter-assed, corn ninjas, Black Mirror, Lewis Reeves, Home Alone-ish, having nothing to say, the Bechdel test, molotov cocktails, Emma Roberts, Watson got hot, they might have been State Fair quality, oh my god... I am cool to a nine year old, bonus points for Yancy Butler?, the mask is itchy, I should be buried with it, Malcolm McDowell's Farm of Miniature Ponies, having an existential crisis, non-safety compliant, flashy gun, DIY Photoshop, Billie Lourd, when she's off her meds... she can see the demons, you're just throwing out a hot topic... and then leaving it sit the

Movie Meltdown - Episode 380 This week we discuss the 2016 film Blair Witch directed by Adam Wingard. Is it a true sequel? Is it a reboot? And just how does it compare to the original project? And what changes have happened in both the real world and on the horror scene since the first Blair Witch film left it's mark? And while we hear a stick break in the distance, we also bring up... Trevante Rhodes, Dog Eat Dog, Naomi Watts, Shin Godzilla, Skull Island, voo doo doll, LaLa Land, true POV, high end sci fi, jump scares, Jack Black, Creep, the underground railroad, retelling those stories, The Force Awakens, Rings, you got that many castles to pay off your gonna make a lot of wizard movies along the way, Moonlight, Willem Dafoe selling candy and getting a massage, King Kong, screw it... monsters, hitting all the points, time missing, Ryan is old news, Paul Schrader, Peter forgot how to edit, cowboy Adrien Brody, hell dimension, a bunch of gangsters doing gangster shit, running away from monsters, Book of Shad

Movie Meltdown - Episode 379 This week we return to our annual segment People Who Died... Died, as we discuss just some of the performers we lost in 2016. And as we are smacked in the face with our own mortality, we also mention... Alec Guinness in drag, in Warsaw when the blitzkrieg occurred, Mitch Miller, Brazil, Good Burger, Scrooge McDuck, The Phil Silvers Show, South Park, fireside chats, Volgograd, in a Santa Claus suit, using anamorphic, what is this land... why are we paying so much, Dick Tracy, buys a horse and cart, unscrupulous... yes, buckets of blood... in vivid color, spend three years in prison, living for nostalgia, The Time Machine, everyone feels like everything personally affects them now, a pioneer in his own right, Sam Peckinpah, it's like we were in a trench in World War I together, perpetual media cover of every horrendous event, dying for 40 years, every time I go to the flea market... I feel like a Coen Brothers casting agent, Paul Bartel, him dying is just... all part of the show, a

Movie Meltdown - Episode 378 This week we hang out at the Bastion and watch William Castle's I Saw What You Did. Plus we recap some recent movies, reminisce about ridiculous things we did as kids and enjoy some gifted DIY Fiddle Faddle. And while we realize how hard it is being mysterious and sexy, we also discuss... Joan Crawford, Scream Queens, Penn and Teller, L.A. Confidential, Warriors of the Rainbow, Gary the dog, evening attire, glass made out of sugar, Tuesday Weld, that Dean Cain show, that's going to lead to mildew and mold, sad and historical, the burying drive, ratted out to Krampus, semi-bee-hivey, she's the craziest little bitch who's ever bitched, Billie Lourd, the house that created fog, the hand of a serial killer, Fear Street, this lady was going commando, mom yelling at the screen, and I think part of that was due to the underwear, the way kids operated back in the day, back when we were ninjas, key parties, old school bootylicious, having a peanut butter sandwich, are you a demon?, it was

Movie Meltdown - Episode 377 This week we are joined by our special guest co-host - author Brian Jay Jones. Brian is a New York Times bestselling biographer who's written Washington Irving: An American Original, Jim Henson: The Biography and most recently George Lucas: A Life. So join us as we discuss the process of researching his subjects as well as a good, old fashioned geek-out session where we talk about George's early days, creating Star Wars and Lucas' impact on the film world as well as the legacy he leaves behind. And as we address the finer points of having your heart ripped out, we also mention... Saturday morning cartoons, a brain in a jar, the Special Editions, Red Tails, Kirk Thatcher, Raiders of the Lost Ark, American Graffiti, Michael Eisner, Powaqqatsi, fungible until that last moment, John Milius, Body Heat, being totally dead, used car salesman, advancing the cause of the filmmaker, getting Prince to play at your wedding, the voice of the executive producer, it's really like Camelot for th

Movie Meltdown - Episode 376 (For our Patreon supporters.)   This week is a multitude of things. First off... it's our anniversary. So as we celebrate crossing over into our 9th year of Movie Meltdown... we also return to our semi-annual tradition of getting together to celebrate - Life Day. And coincidentally, it also happens to mark the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. So what better time to kick-off our new, exclusive Patreon episodes then by gathering the gang together to eat Wookie cookies and discuss the latest Star Wars release. It sounds like a pretty great way to spend this holiday season. And as we realize we all want to live in a Ralph McQuarrie castle, we also mention... Tarkin, stealing the Hammerhead ships, creepy skin, as an insurgency, sliced and diced, General Dodonna, everything has to be displayed in a two-dimensional space, Wookie hairballs, it was baked in, the final act, two-fifths of me is here, a suicide mission, hot Vader action, super secret super weapon, moof-milker, settin

Movie Meltdown - Episode 375 This week we welcome back one of our favorite special guest co-hosts - Hal Sparks. We discuss everything from the basics of coordinating a busy and multifaceted career to spending years working with the Disney company, to one of his favorite movies... this week's Sofa Theater feature: Conan the Barbarian. From the Robert E. Howard pulp beginnings to the black and white Marvel comics to Arnold Schwarzenegger's interpretation in the film world... we discuss a multitude of themes and aspects of Conan. And as we realize we are effectively just beloved, we also mention... James Earl Jones, The Princess Bride, Talk Soup, First Blood, it takes a couple of whacks, a modern studio system, Braveheart, directing the show, it's always been about the hustle, wolf pelts, manipulation of the gods, such a firewall between the organizations, homogenized network television, going down through the red light district knocking on doors, a great Wayne Newton-style villain, Andy Lau, Bill Burr, the big

Movie Meltdown - Episode 374 This week we welcome our special guest co-host comedian Yedoye Travis to discuss stand up, movies and the "magic" involved in our movie choice - The Prestige. And while we adamantly get on Team Tesla, we also address... relocating to L.A. and New York, Nickelodeon, tone painting, Batman v Wolverine, the power comedy clubs have, Toonami, David Bowie, Mystery Science Theater 3000, writing poetry, it's almost like Hollywood is a very limited workplace, Adult Swim, why am I an accessory to murder, Rachel McAdams, I'm a big fan of... not spoon-feeding things, Pee Wee's Playhouse, hit me up Scarlett, a 3D printer, a bitter battle for supremacy, Memento, 146 time jump cuts, Reggie Watts, doing theatre, Cartoon Network, Terrence Malick, worst stagehands ever, where were you when Chris needed you?, Interstellar, I do a few things, Jonah Ray, choir, boxing robots, Wes Van Horn, not making concessions, every Nigerian has been to London, Scrooge McDuck, sitting out on the back deck, no patro

Attack of the Killer Soundtrack - Episode 41 This week we delve into the by-gone era that was - the 90's. And all the weird bands that came with it. And while we flip though our stack of Young and Modern magazines, we also discuss... a million spiders, Eating Raoul, Lydia Hearst, a cabin in the woods, Warner Brothers throwing money into the machine, don't like staying in the house all the time, Ben Stiller, Switzerland, in your face Gilmores, fighting neo-Nazis, you don't know the band, was on every soundtrack basically, indie movies were just a bad comedy, Joel Schumacher, Salem, Metropolis, I just remember she was crazy and unstable and I thought that was so cool, bad puns, girl rocks, Imogen Poots, the whole album's pretty good, being obsessed with one movie, Jim Carrey, half the songs on there became singles, dorky Brian Warner, Black Moth Cottage, preaching anarchy, sex comedies, you've gotta go back to high school, fighting Heidi Klum, music/CD/video stores closing, Katie Holmes, they only had the one

Movie Meltdown - Episode 373 This episode we discuss The Rules of the Game the 1939 French film directed by Jean Renoir. According to many, including The Criterion Collection, it's considered one of the greatest films ever made. So The Meltdown Gang decides to watch it and see if it lives up to it's hype and reputation. And while we admit that the awful thing about life is... everyone has their reasons, we also come to new realizations about... Brian De Palma, is this a parody of the genre or is it just that bad, experimental theater, Hack-O-Lantern, pouty, the 80's porn scene, Hi, Mom!, The Forbidden Room, Tolstoy, it feels like you're apologizing for reading, Chuck E. Cheese, mimicking farce, a lot of it is successfully bleak, that was the eleventh herb and spice, Pre-Columbian art, Akira Kurosawa's Ran, Howard Dean meets Charles Laughton, Friends with Benefits, more movies in the VHS world, well it seemed like the floor was very slippery, Dinner at Eight, Robert De Niro, Wake in Fright, a square married gu

Movie Meltdown - Episode 372 This week we hang out at the Bastion, eat candy, discuss cereal... and watch the Full Moon feature Demonic Toys. And while we once again state how much we love crazy-ass Emma Roberts, we also mention... Salem and witches, Rod Serling, rotary phones, spooky clam chowder, dead demon baby, David S. Goyer, Jack-in-the-Box anticipation, you're always being jumped by rogue lettuce, so we just drove by took some stalker pictures and kept going, green in Skittles form, who gets/or wants all your stuff when you dead, for the past couple of years... Boo Berry has gone down in quality and flavor, Lady Gaga, she's either a cheese or a hot chick, the chunky chicken, her Guess britches, it's got a tentacle with a baby rattle on it, watching a huge cat video on a loop, baby Terminator, me and cabbage... that don't happen, hell yeah nachos rule, redneck cannibals who grow drugs out in the woods, wax figures, Late Phases, she was old lady in everything, gas mask tricycle girls, Martika is awesome

Movie Meltdown - Episode 371  This week we continue our Super Series with the latest Marvel Studios release - Doctor Strange. Plus we discuss how this version of the Doctor's story compares to the original comics as well as how it fits into the Marvel cinematic universe. And as we add Luke Cage into the ever expanding series of projects, we also mention... Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Guillermo del Toro, The Flash, Paul Reubens, his big pumkinhead looking self, that Joss Whedon feel, smart strong capable female characters, I just want everything on Netflix, Miss Congeniality, self-serving, Legends of Tomorrow, these villains are just as important as the heroes, Nightmare, M.C. Escher and Salvador Dalí, that good X-Men run, Fin Fang Foom, hyper-espionage, Stanley Kubrick, House of M, Misty Knight, Red Skull's daughter, hunting Strange, pivot toward Thanos, Iron Fist, Paul W.S. Anderson directed Event Horizon, Kevin Feige, Coke vs. Pepsi in the comics world, The Crow sequels and reboot, Rosario Dawson, they don't w

Movie Meltdown - Episode 370 This week we return to our hangout session during this year's WonderFest. There we recap Ben and Dave's attempt to qualify for The Guinness World Records during the festival two years before. And in honor of that anniversary we do what comes naturally - geek out about Star Wars. And as we retcon our own childhood, we also mention... your orange snake looks stupid, every time you pulled one out - you were surprised, just bury your feelings, the 20 timers club, send the ambassador to Idaho, we went for the shiny brass ring, help in logs, pro-Emperor/anti-Yoda, living in a shack, the yellow lightsaber, that third rail is right there, but the siren song of fame sung to us, Scotland, ghosts talking to me in the bathroom, Scott Baio, Mad Max, 36 hours and some odd minutes, that is a lot of plates spinning, it was three zombies going "Yea", it was a very polite apocalypse, he's the sad sad broken old man, we weren't on the website anymore, Braveheart, rebooting your R2, little children

Movie Meltdown - Episode 369 This week we are joined by our special guest co-host comedian Justin Golak, as we discuss one of his favorite movies - Rocky. We look at not just the movie itself, but also it's impact on pop culture - and just how much we actually remember based on how much Rocky has seeped into the public consciousness. Plus we also look at how this first installment fits into the long-running series that will continue over the next 40 years. And as we discuss Stallone-adjacent characters, we also mention... comedy or baseball, cable the way it used to be, arm wrestling is the thing, reading comprehension, Ghostbusters 2, organized crime, garblyness, it's very different going back and rewatching it now... having not seen it in years, how do you fight you, creating a rig for the scene, the sub-genre of boxing movies, Survivor, escaping Cleveland, music video culture, Cobra, drinking raw eggs, on VHS taped from TV, I want to be better, Thunderlips, being weird and awkward, Over the Top, three pag

Attack of the Killer Soundtrack - Episode 40 This October we decided to have a horror-themed listening party as we settle in with our pumpkin lattes and bust out some fun, spooky tunes from movie soundtracks! And while we decide which bands we know specifically from soundtracks, we also discuss... trying to bottle his own lightning, tied flannels, fan fervor, modern Edgar Allen Poe stuff, does he have any limbs left at this point, a little bit crazy, werewolves, gourde pie, Ready Player One, Dairy Queen, Becky from Full House, Wes Craven, Hanna-Barbera, look at all those dead kids waving at me, I saw that movie three times in the theater, Rodney Dangerfield, scoring the debate, seeing bands live back in the day, angsty-relationshipy, the flavor of Halloween, Jesse Eisenberg, had to have a twist, puffer vest, an R-rated Scooby-Doo, Jiffy-Pop, Back to the Future, they took bimbo to the Nth level, reboot hate, Laff-A-Lympics, are you even acting... or are you just like this all the time?, a 90's sound, more fo

Attack of the Killer Soundtrack - Episode 39 This week we are joined by our special guest co-host Rick Miller - singer/songwriter/guitarist for Southern Culture on the Skids. We talk to Rick about his music and movie influences, all while building our own soundtrack from SCOTS movie-related songs. And while we realize just how much all our pop culture references seep in, we also discuss... surfing, hot rods, dirt track racing, Mexican horror films very badly dubbed, swinging Swedish stewardesses, Smiley Lewis, punk rock, Val Lewton, drive-in movies, dirty magazines, Ken Cinema, Herschell Gordon Lewis, The Mummy's Hand, Aretha Franklin, Atragon, WRAL, double features, I Married a Monster from Outer Space, he's a bit of a hipster, older people doing folk songs, The Brainiac, too cold to be wearing bikinis, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dave Edmunds, Bucket of Blood, El Santo, if you're having fun... people will like it, AM/FM, I couldn't open my locker, Mike Judge, from North Carolina to Southern California,

Movie Meltdown - Episode 368 This week we are coming to you "live" from ScareFest as we meet up with our friend Amber to talk about our Sofa Theater feature - Lewis Teague's Cujo. Plus we recap our fun times at the fest as we interract with Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, John Kassir, Kelly Jo Minter and a classic story about Dee Wallace. And while we work on our sitcom about a wolf and a fox, we also mention... the monster under the bed, infidelity, being excited to kill people, a beverage run, shoulder pads, Scooby Snacks, safety glass, Funco mini mystery pop things, Kevin Nash, SLC Punk, two different shades of gold, knee nubs, wardrobe provided by CW, The NeverEnding Story, suspense, character-building, one surly bitch, animal attack movies, you're gonna get lockjaw kid, sitting on the floor, escaping from Nascar drivers, Cabin Fever, a CG dog, Traci Lords, he just touches her belly with his glowing finger, Critters 2, writing profanity, that head is not made for childbirth, multiple high fives, Wondermut

Movie Meltdown - Episode 367 This week we return to our segment The Caffeinated Movie Geek as actor Dean Cameron sits in to discuss life, conventions and the film Withnail and I. Plus we bring up the reunion of Summer School's Chainsaw and Dave! And while we debunk the romanticized mythology of King Curtis, we also mention... Dickens, this is really Uncle Monty, watching Dan play Minecraft, the chaos, King Lear, Doctor Who, Xander Berkeley, Ric Olié, I'll never play The Dane, Zeffirelli's auditions, Del Preston, the guy I've never heard of is cleaning up, there's some genuine love that gets put out there, the end of the 60's, a tone piece, performances in a vacuum, being Ted Neeley and breaking the rules, because of you guys - I make masks, Hell or High Water, Tweeting with Dustin Hoffman, the career you should have had, a perennial for actors, Rick Baker's assistants, building-up celebrities to tear them down, Jimi Hendrix, grows a head in his shoulder, turn of the century paupers, in it's own time and plac

Movie Meltdown - Episode 366 This week we welcome the return appearance of our special guest co-host Christine Elise as we discuss our Sofa Theater feature... Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter. Beautifully shot with memorable performances, the film is subtle and progressive in some ways... while being straight-forward and almost heavy-handed in others. And along the way we find a commentary on the lives of a certain part of society that maybe we hadn't noticed in past viewings. And while we discuss small animals and sexual repression, we also mention... being on 90210, Larry David's wife, Robert Mitchum, helicopter shots, totally thinking about canning peaches, being assigned homework, shameful conventions, hanging out at Spoons, running like a wild animal, social media today vs. the internet of old, Olan Mills, back-lit frogs, orphaned kids, masterminds who live in an abandoned slaughterhouse, The Waltons, if you wanted to find out if someone hated you, beating children, what is that 5000 people th

Movie Meltdown - Episode 365 This week we welcome our special guest co-host Nicholas Vince (The Chatterer in Hellraiser 1 & 2 as well as Kinski in Nightbreed) to discuss this week's Sofa Theater feature: The Mist. Directed by Frank Darabont and based on the novella by Stephen King, this 2007 film was released with seemingly little hype and promotion but still seemed to leave a staggering impact on it's viewers over the years. Listen as we discuss the acting, shooting style, casting choices, practical and CG effects and last but certainly not least - the memorable and controversial ending. And while we try to decide just what the siren means to us, we also mention... Andre Braugher, the story of Yugoslavia, Greg Nicotero, leaders and experts, Toby Jones, Drew Struzan, people cannot stand uncertainty, The Blob, eases it's way in, Marcia Gay Harden, The Dark Tower, an abrogation of responsibility, let's put every one in a hot box, we do not like uncertainty, prejudice, air raids in the second world war, Bud