Movie Meltdown

Movie Meltdown: Episode 522 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") We’re back!! The Meltdown Horror Club rises from the quarantine crypt! And we kick things off with a recent horror outing... as we discuss the 2020 release of "The Turning" directed by Floria Sigismondi.  And as we settle into our own creepy vibe, we also address…  the spider, a very repressed upbringing, tighten my doorknobs, the reset, The Shining, CG effects, Mackenzie Davis, tension, grunge, let your theories run wild, casual mannequins, a weird twist, child therapy mode, Finn Wolfhard, a blank canvas, the hand, old-timey outfits, being real, being pulled underwater, so frustrating, Brooklynn Prince, let’s explore this relationship you had with this creepy grown man, Joely Richardson, cut scenes, gaslighting, Hammer Films and being insane.  Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for "The Turning", so watch the movie before you listen.  “I think I would… be stuck there - and become a ghost probably.” Thank you to all our supporters! If you would like to joi

Movie Meltdown - Episode 521 The geek activities check-in continues as we virtually visit with Sam Drog and see what he's been up to and what he's been watching in these unusual times.  And as we realize most of what we say qualifies as a headline for Weekly World News, we also mention… The Black Hole, Train to Busan, The Lost Boys, The Girl with All the Gifts, Goonies Kool-Aid, Scandalous: The Untold Story of the National Enquirer, Crank, bubble gum, Waking Sleeping Beauty, Joel Schumacher, Titan A.E., Minecraft, Bo Welch, Late Phases, the same obsession, Jim Mickle, this requiem for disaster that's going on throughout the entire movie, the unspoken demon that haunts every project, young Tim Burton, over-hyperly art directed, organic in the storytelling, name your parasites, they don't make people like that in kid movies anymore, baroque, punk, biological possession, some families hold together… because they never see each other, it doesn’t all have to be Russian novels, Lance Guest, tabloid journalism, it’s

Movie Meltdown - Episode 520 This episode we continue our running check-in series as we visit with Dick Starr for a discussion about the world around us, life choices and the movies we watch along the way.  And as we peek out of our compound through our periscope, we also cover… The Fanatic, Cursed Films, conspiracy theories, Rambo: Last Blood, Kung Fury, Against the Dark, Killer Couch, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, you coulda put Gilbert Gottfried in there, Jaws, E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, Piranha 3D, The Movies that Made Us, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, Mallrats, High Tension, Tusk, Red State, Madness in the Method, Jersey Girl, trying to breach your compound, reference images, with all your hidden gadgets and booby traps, Stand By Me, killing it at parents, laser raptors, I made the devil, man it was such a baffling role, Thought Crimes, nothing but killing random people, humane and delicious, creating your own religion, The Omen, not having

Movie Meltdown - Episode 519 We're back to check in with some different Meltdown regulars... to see what they've been up to during the quarantine. And as we have candy for dinner (since there are no rules when no one is around to see), we also bring up… Tom Hardy, Mel Gibson, Knives Out, Rambo: Last Blood, Ozark, Wild Wild Country, Jojo Rabbit, Midsommar, Mirage Men, Cheers, Never Surrender, Battle of the Planets, Independence Day: Resurgence, Thundarr the Barbarian, Dracula, The Wicker Man, Signs, Tom Bombadil, you have a place to burn them in, incredible anxiety, avoiding Tiger King, The Hobbit, reality television, an avid social distancer, fantastically creepy, the aesthetic choices that they make are different, threequel Babe action, Joaquin Phoenix, Linda Moulton Howe and Stanton Friedman, Princess gets eaten by this giant flower that looks like a magnolia, George Wendt, The Transporter, Melkor has never left us, Rotoscoping, all the Hemsworths, filled with dread, have ya seen what the kids are doing, He

Movie Meltdown - Episode 518 Since everyone is trapped at home, we decide to stay in touch during these weird times with a new quarantine edition of one of our old favorite discussions... geek activities.  While we return to our standard operating procedure of ramble and say bad words, in the process we also address… Daybreak, The Witcher, Felicia Day, Locke & Key, October Faction, John Wick 3, American Horror Story: 1984, Futureman, The Strain, he doesn’t really fit into any group, Peter Weller, monster huntin', Ultraman, tiny portions, crazy people in suits kicking at each other, ghosts that are reanimating bodies, Animaniacs, death people shows, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Mark Dacascos, everybody had nice teeth, Emma Roberts, I don’t think she knows how dogs work, NewsRadio, it’s like Mad Max meets The Breakfast Club, virtual London, Hackers, Dylan Dog, big vampire weird-ass worms… with things that shoot out of our mouths, she’s not worth the effort, Jeffrey Dahmer met

Movie Meltdown - Episode 517 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") This episode the Horror Club attempts to reconvene in our new, semi-post-apocalyptic world. What is left in this new existence? What horrors will we discover? And will there still be cookies?! All this and more will be answered as we sit down to discuss the 2017 adaptation of Stephen King's story Gerald's Game. So remember to play responsibly in your own quarantine chamber as we mention… Carla Gugino, sweat pants, flashbacks, utilitarian makeup, Hush, they all have to shoot flames, Star Trek Into Darkness, so uncomfortable, things are weird, Moonlight Man, The Haunting of Hill House, Bruce Greenwood, furniture geek, childhood trauma, mohawks, useful feminine hygiene products, Oculus, The Shining, reading by candlelight, Mike Flanagan, pricey steak, Henry Thomas, the dog, Kate Siegel, streaming issues and the hand scene. Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for Gerald's Game, so go watch the movie before you listen. You have been warned!  “Still kind of on-t

Movie Meltdown - Episode 516 Settle in for an extensive discussion of the sci-fi "classic" - Battle Beyond the Stars. And this is a film that definitely gives us a lot to dig into, considering the movie is produced by Roger Corman, written by John Sayles, featuring music composed by James Horner, art direction and visual effects by James Cameron… just to name a few of it's notable crew. Plus a star-studded cast including Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, John Saxon, George Peppard, Julia Duffy and of course Sybil Danning. And while we come to realize we are vaguely humanoid in the wrong kind of ways, we also cover… Last Woman on Earth, electric kaleidoscope, Enter the Dragon, Harlan Ellison, Vincent Price, glitter is cool, a disgraced conquistador, a back alley that also just happens to be a space ship, George Lucas, Starcrash, Hephaestus, lots of dome shapes, The Wasp Woman, Eloi, sassy consciousness, protecting the village of the innocent, analog electronic toys, stealing from Kurosawa, he's an old prospector

Movie Meltdown - Episode 515 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") This Horror Club episode we discuss "Polaroid", the 2019 film directed by Lars Klevberg. And as we run through the weird urban legends of Polaroids, we also bring up… Locke & Key, Horse Girl, Eerie, Indiana, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Madelaine Petsch, throuples are all the rage, walking around with a kerosene lantern, there’s a lot of loose ends to this movie, Mitch Pileggi, predicts the future, there's a lot of homicidal kids, the whole scarf thing, Beta-test from the 40’s, ping pong, given my experience with photography and fire, lamp placement, there’s a deeper level to this that I never picked up on before, a lot of things in this movie that come up - that there's no payoff for, conspiracy theory, Tupperware, Instax, Goosebumps, fetchin' collarbones, somebody in this scenario needs to be creeped out by this - ‘cause I am, CGI, that noise, Joe Hill, a brandable name, surely it's not meant to be this dark, a movie so underdeveloped that you

Movie Meltdown - Episode 514 It’s time to announce the winners of this year’s Meltdown Awards! Join us as we discuss all the nominees and then reveal the winners from the 2019 films and performances voted on by our listeners.  So load up on hors d'oeuvres with frilly toothpicks, for this fancy event as we also address… that Grammy scandal, this one junkyard set, limited edition Chucks, Child’s Play, envelopes, Florence Pugh, Jim Jarmusch’s werewolf movie, that performance is amazing, Robert Downey Jr., Terminator, just let monsters fight, Cats, Alita: Battle Angel, at least they had a plot and a story-structure, It: Chapter 2, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Park So-dam, 1917, some sort of magical thing, Knives Out, Disney, they are trying to work some sort of plot in there, Ready or Not, Hobbs and Shaw, La La Land, diverse and interesting, Avengers: Endgame, Sam Mendes, distressed, Billie Lourd, The Fanatic, David Attenborough’s The Lion King, Lil Nas X, old people lanyard, Cold Pursuit, Doctor Doolittle,

Movie Meltdown - Episode 513 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") The Meltdown Horror Club is back to discuss In the Tall Grass. This 2019 film is directed by Vincenzo Natali and is based on a Stephen King story. So listen as we delve into this visually interesting and seemingly disorienting movie - plus we continually address just how well King’s writing transfers to the screen.  And as we delve into King-style, very self-indulgent, tangent side stories, we also mention… Patrick Wilson, if I'm in the middle of nowhere on a road trip, IT, hazy and dreamlike, deadbeat musician, fear and terror… or boredom, Mr. Rochester also got his head smooshed in, the bowling alley, Joe Hill, Harrison Gilbertson, grass church, werewolves, random teenagers, the Black Rock of the Redeemer, ugly writing, random child, Escape to Witch Mountain, Malevolent, Laysla De Oliveira, Revenge, enough with this field man can we go in a building or something, ending problems, giving an explanation, slowly taking over the whole world, foreshado

Attack of the Killer Soundtrack 60 This episode we're joined by composers Erich Stem and David Neville to play and discuss all the 2019 Oscar nominees for both Best Original Song and Best Original Score.  And while we kindle our memories of the intellectual components of some of our favorite films, we also cover… Beyoncé, Cats, The Oath, a classically trained cellist from Iceland, Call of Duty, that kind of exaggerated sound, Andrew Lloyd Webber, nostalgia and suicide, sounds versus themes, The Lion King, taiko drum score, various knobs, unfortunate and sad romantic, Billy Joel, Thom Yorke, pulsating synthesizers, minor third was heavily used, sophisticated electronic sounds, Hans Zimmer, classically-trained flautist, it’s an interesting parallel between him and Beethoven, the culture of myth-making, Stewart Copeland, this composer really broke out and did something quite new… with a movie, Taylor Swift, obsessed with sound, Madonna, a very dry recording, foreshadowing versus callbacks, adding some flavor to

Movie Meltdown - Episode 512 This outing we crawl our way into the disaster movie genre, as we spend a good portion of the episode trying to decide - just what makes a disaster movie. Plus we discuss our Sofa Theater feature - Crawl starring Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper and directed by Alexandre Aja. And while we all work on our horrendous Michael Caine impressions, we also bring up… Irwin Allen, The Swarm, The Towering Inferno, The Core, a hyper drama, technical advancements, Maximum Overdrive, go into the realm of the absurd, The Quiet Earth, toxic waste, Saving Private Ryan, being stuck in an 80’s mall, San Andres, Tropic Thunder, the old dudes… blowin’ up the thing, William Girdler, I'm like that way but with hawks, Knowing, Night of the Living Dead, this is the reception at your movie wedding, post-apocalyptic, ratchet up the tension, Hard Boiled or Hard Target, it’s boats in streets, The Road Warrior, a supplement to our Cold War fear, rabid wombats, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, you don't even know what i

Movie Meltdown - Episode 511 This episode we celebrate Life Day and the final chapter in the Skywalker saga... The Rise of Skywalker. Join us as we discuss the finer points of this latest movie. How effective it is as the last movie in this most recent trilogy. And how well it wraps up this huge story arc that has meant so much to so many people - for generations.  And as we try to recollect just which stories are canon and which ones are legends, we also address… The Mandalorian, The Good Place, Kevin Feige, inching into evil, force powers, Maz Kanata, Warwick Davis, are there raisins in here, influenced by the fanbase, D-0, luck your way into awesomeness, Lucas’ plan, murderbot, skimming off the top, It’s like… high energy and high concept, that's why chaotic evil always fails, Samuel L Jackson, why not Chewie, J.J. Abrams, old sitcoms and burritos, five-minute morality, gentrifying Tatooine, is it okay to be massacring those people, cruisin’ the clubs, the big reveals, Asimov's laws of robotics, setting up

Attack of the Killer Soundtrack 59 As the world is about to be reintroduced to Lando Calrissian on the big screen, we thought what better time than to talk with Billy Dee Williams about his crossovers into the music industry. And of course, along the way we build a soundtrack from his different films and music tie-ins.  “...they were sort of gearing me up to become a sheik eastside nightclub singer.”  

Movie Meltdown - Episode 510 This episode we talk with Jonah Ray about art, friendship, movies, comedy, music and Mystery Science Theater 3000. And while we try to convert people to our pop culture religion, we also mention… Joel Hodgson, Mel Brooks, Weird Al Yankovic, Paul Myers, refusing the call to action, Defending your Life, Kids in the Hall, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, Hawaii, Anthony Bourdain, Ed Wood, Chris Farley, Felicia Day,Harmontown, Wayne White, Brendon Small, Jonah Raydio, The Groundlings, it’s a dream come true, Entertainment Tonight, Hampton Yount and Baron Vaughn, The Inbetweeners, Home Movies, BJ Novak, The Bruce Lee Band, you can drop a sandbag on some bullies, Mitchell, Dolemite Is My Name, Zach Galifianakis, Netflix, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Westerns and Alfred Hitchcock, Alan Yang, if you don't let that out it destroys you, Mr. Show, John Candy, you gotta self-generate, BBC, Jeff Garlin, G4, Comedy Bang! Bang!, MST3K t-shirts, Crispin Glover, Rebecca Hanson, a certificate of live bir

Movie Meltdown - Episode 509 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") Welcome to the Horror Club exclusive... Meltdown dysfunctional family Thanksgiving celebration! Featuring not only dinner of mostly traditional foods, but also a full discussion of the minorly Thanksgiving-related movie Kristy. And while we try to decide just what we think of the plant-based imitation turkey slices, we also cover… Castle Rock, The Irishman, baby Yoda, Song of the South, giant dinnerware, heartbreaking and gorgeous, Sissy Spacek, fire safety, why is that the expression of ultimate aloneness and freedom, and it's usually in her pants, a larger universe, puts his cigarette out in the mashed potatoes, a bar full of cops paramedics and firefighters, watching my uncle make my grandma cry every year, The Purge, having bunk beds, Disney Plus, sports equipment, but she’s got the hat, Bill Skarsgård, Legend, I think they’re taking pills, racism in movies, zooming vines of the internet, hot beverages, the premise is the star, let's try some th

Movie Meltdown - Episode 508 This episode we’re joined by special guest Tony Moore. Now you probably know Tony as the co-creator of The Walking Dead comic series. Or if you are more of a comic fan, you also may know his titles like Battle Pope, Fear Agent and The Exterminators. And of course, in recent years, you’ve seen his work as part of several huge series for some of Marvel’s biggest characters.  But as usual, in our on-going series with artists, we’re going to start at the beginning and find out where Tony’s inspiration started, how it led to his success, and of course along the way… we’ll see just how the movies tie into his journey.  And as we work as hard as we can to put the toys back in the box before we’re done, we also bring up… Saturday-morning cartoons, detail-oriented, the thrill of being legitimately disturbed by something I've watched, 28 Days Later, Image Comics, Batman Returns, this infinity of drawing space, Mad Magazine, we got a literal death threats over that book, instant access, Lobo

Movie Meltdown - Episode 507 This episode we welcome back previous guests and terrific artists in their own right - Ryan Case and Dick Starr. And as usual... once we're hanging out together, almost immediately we'll be... talkin’ ‘bout nerdy stuff.  And while we try to decide if we were inspired by or traumatized by the up-close shots of Ren and Stimpy (it’s both), we also address… The Fanatic, Searching, Puppet Master, that devil was everything for me, wait a minute… those are puppets, I'm going to go get me a funnel cake, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, Fred Durst, the rise of Netflix movies, Kevin Sorbo, skateboard clothes, Columbia Record & Tape Club, old school movie geek T-shirts, how do you not let their money ruin your movie, Rob Zombie, you can't shut down the system, Guardians, making lattes in a haunted dilapidated house, going to the church and bob for apples, Xena, Paul Rudd, you totally just stole a bunch of other stuff and repurpose it and put your own spin on it - and that's art, comi

Movie Meltdown - Episode 506 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") This episode our Halloween party continues as we discuss the 2018 horror anthology Nightmare Cinema. Directed by Joe Dante, Mick Garris, David Slade, Ryuhei Kitamura, Alejandro Brugués and hosted by Mickey Rourke as "The Projectionist"… so what do we think of this mixture of genre entries?  Plus as we run down some of the more inappropriate things once aimed at children, we definitely mention… Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Courage the Cowardly Dog, EC Comics, Peanuts, Diff'rent Strokes, peanut butter kisses, Legends of the Hidden Temple, The Church, the next thing you know he's on the floor with Elvis's foot on his throat, severe meth psychosis, Doug Jones, yeah lots of questions - none of which were answered, Kit Kat, a bitchin’ rockabilly act, Philip Glass, Keith Emerson, Goblin, The Omen, creepy hallways with the blinky lights, Entertainment Tonight, The ABCs of Death, The Cryptkeeper, as a kid it scared the hell out of me as an adult it just conf

Movie Meltdown - Episode 505 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") This episode, our Halloween party becomes a murder party - as we discuss Jeremy Saulnier's 2007 film of the same name Murder Party. And as we kick-off our own pagan celebration that centers around candy and Charlie Brown, we also cover… death by pumpkin bread, all these animals staring at us, independent film, Chris Sharp, free cheese, I guess that would get you in the mood to murder somebody, World War I flashbacks, New York City, The Warriors, Puff Snooty, four finger holes, the entire parade is coming towards us, Halloween costumes, over kids heads and surprisingly dark, loose candy corn, an art collective, Genie is eating a small child, Skei Saulnier, looking for an outlet, so much coke, Terry Zwigoff, toothbrushes, Sampson Saulnier, the front yard is just full of skeletons and ghosts and zombies, Macon Blair, layered for horror geeks, the thing about Rerun is, the screeching noise and the Halloween walk of shame.  “...yeah, that bothered me mor