Saturday Night Freak Show

This week, Brent places Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy (1997) on the block. Pre-Good Will Hunting/Bennifer/Argo-director, Ben Affleck, stars as a comic book writer who falls in love with a cute lesbian comic book author (Joey Lauren Adams), and the hilarious hijinks that ensue in this unconventional love story. We argue about the cinematic oeuvre of former filmmaker-turned-podcast-impresario-and-stand-up-comedian, Smith; trace character links through the View-Askewniverse; learn about the hitherto unknown "90's Stank"; and crush Brent's dreams of sending this podcast to Kevin Smith himself. NOTE: due to a technical problem, this week's podcast's audio is overmodulated. We've done everything we can to make salvage it. We promise to do better next time! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Brent sits the episode out while Tom brings us Sam Fuller's The Big Red One (1980), starring Lee Marvin (The Dirty Dozen), Mark Hamill (Sushi Girl), and Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds) as an Army squad during World War II. The film follows their exploits from the end of World War I through D-Day and beyond, and was based on writer/director Fuller's personal military experiences. Join us, won't you, as we compile a list of our favorite war movies, evalute the merits of Mark Hamill's acting ability, and challenge the revered status of legendary director Stanley Kubrick. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Travis chooses to watch Deathtrap, a 1982 adaptation of Ira (Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives) Levin's Broadway thriller, which stars Michael Caine as a failing playwright who plots to murder his protege (Christopher Reeve) and steal his sure-hit play while his nervous wife (Dyan Cannon) looks on. Things get twisty and we recommend you seek out the movie on iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, etc before we spoil it for you. As a bonus, this is also our Oscars podcast, in which we make our picks for the 2013 Academy Awards! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this episode, resident horror buff Colin subjects the group to The Beyond (1981, aka The Seven Doors of Death) from "the Godfather of Italian Gore", Lucio Fulci. No eyeball is safe as a woman inherits a New Orleans hotel that's been built on one of the Seven Gateways to Hell. Plus, there's face-eating tarantulas, exploding heads, and a full on surprise zombie apocalypse! Special guest Sean joins us for a post-film discussion as we talk about Italian horror cinema, and we find out how The Beyond connects to Sam Rami's Spider-Man! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, true-pirate afficionado Tom unleashes The Island (1980), which stars Michael Caine as a reporter who runs afoul of real-life pirates forgotten on an island in the Bermuda triangle for 300 years. Film was based on a novel by Peter Benchley (Jaws, The Deep, The Beast) and also stars David Warner. We talk about the long cinematic history of pirates, American ninjas, the long shadow of Bruce Lee, and then we take a detour into video games! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week: Brent picks Tony Scott's True Romance (1993), a movie that often gets lumped into Quentin Tarantino's filmography (he did write the original screenplay), but clearly exhibits the late director's sleek, neon-lit, sun-kissed visual style. Our usual co-conspirator, Tom, sits this episode out, so we bring in pitch-hitter Sean to talk about True Romance and the people who made it, plus those ripoff movies that show up at RedBox and Walmart's $7 bin, and even Cabin in the Woods gets a mention. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Travis chooses Idiots and Angels (2008), a film from animator Bill Plympton, known for his distinctive art style and early-year MTV interstitials. In Idiots and Angels, a curmudgeonly fellow awakens one day to find he's grown a pair of wings which prevent him from indulging himself in bad deeds. Plympton, an iconoclastic animator, undertakes the entire process of animating a feature film himself. Plus, find out how the Chexist Chainsaw Massacre ties in, and listen as we attempt to trace the lineage of adult animation, from Ralph Bakshi all the way through Adult Swim! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Colin chooses Jean-Pierre Jeunet's The City of Lost Children (1995), a visionary tale of a dystopian, steampunk-ish fantasy world filled with clever visual design reminiscent of the work of Terry Gilliam. We also talk about dark children's fairy tales, modern day cynicism in kids movies, and Tom commits a cardinal sin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Tom chose David Fincher's Fight Club (1999). In our most professional podcast yet, we analyze the film's messages, and discuss whether the film would be able to be made today. Plus, we talk about author Chuck Palahniuk, discuss David Fincher's oeuvre and opine about a select group of actors who lose themselves in a part. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On our first podcast of 2013 we revisit Joe Dante's dark version of suburban paranoia, The Burbs; Tom reveals why he hates the 1980's; and we discuss our favorite movies of 2012 and what we're looking forward to in 2013. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

New Year's is almost upon us as we take in Travis' pick of the Western horror comedy Cannibal! The Musical, with a pulled pork BBQ appetizer. This divisive title provokes a definitive discussion on what is funny and what is not. Eventually, as expected, this spills over into television and the merits of the career of Neil Patrick Harris. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The gang gathers to watch Sergio Corbucci's Django (1966) and eat spaghetti. Plus, there's talk about Italian Westerns, anti-heroes, subtitles, and an examination of the High Frame Rate version of The Hobbit (2012). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We watch Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin, discuss the return of 3D, contrast U.S. and Japanese animation styles, and have a lengthy discussion about the Rankin/Bass Hobbit. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future is analyzed for it's cultural significance; plus; there's impersonations and the attempt to define science fiction once and for all! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.