Mystery Movie Night

It was 5 years ago this month that the first episode of Mystery Movie Night came out. 50 episodes later, Michael, Dave, David, Erik, and Evan are still making connections between movies: this time about pirates, privates, and puddle-booted primates. And there's a special announcement about the future of the show. 00:02:15 - Review of Treasure Island (1950) 00:15:40 - Review of Kelly's Heroes (1970) 00:32:46 - Review of Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019) 00:50:22 - Guessing the Connection

David, Erik, Evan, Michael, and Dave talk about feelings, firearms, and fleet feet and the secret that connects them. 00:01:33 - Review of Inside Out (2015) 00:14:14 - Review of The Magnificent Seven (2016) 00:37:06 - Review of Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) 00:55:49 - Guessing the Connection

Dave, David, Erik, Evan, and Michael converse about cavemen, claw hands, and Cliffjumper and the cryptic component that connects them. 00:01:47 - Review of Trog (1970) 00:17:23 - Review of Enter the Dragon (1973) 00:29:22 - Review of The Transformers: The Movie (1986) 00:49:37 - Guessing the Connection

Erik, Evan, Michael, and Dave start the holiday season with movies about babysitters, bureaucracy, and Bacon-racing. And some other secret connection that we're going to try to guess. 00:02:09 - Review of Halloween (1978) 00:16:29 - Review of Brazil (1985) 00:29:26 - Review of Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) 00:52:33 - Guessing the Connection

Evan picked the movies; Michael, Dave, David, and Erik tried to guess the secret connection. See if you can too in this episode about tipis, tap dance, and towels.

It'll take the detective skills of Batman, the persistence of RoboCop, and the endurance of a Terminator to figure out the connection in this episode. Join David, Erik, Evan, Michael, and Dave for sensational repartee about sinister riddles, savage robots, and sassy ragamuffins. 00:01:28 - Review of Batman (1966) 00:15:34 - Review of RoboCop (1987) 00:26:09 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 00:46:38 - Guessing the Connection

Dave, David, Erik, Evan, and Michael muse about metal, machines, and metahumans and the mysterious matter that melds them together. 00:02:12 - Review of This Is Spinal Tap  00:19:28 - Review of Maximum Overdrive  00:31:01 - Review of Mystery Men 00:45:59 - Guessing the Connection

Erik picks some creepy house movies that also have another, mysterious connection. We got clowns, cul-de-sacs, and cameos in this episode. 00:01:45 - Review of Poltergeist (1982) 00:21:28 - Review of The 'Burbs (1989) 00:33:20 - Review of Casper (1995) 00:53:03 - Guessing the Connection

Michael, Dave, David, Erik, and Evan muse about manipulation, money, and manuscripts, but mostly... murder! 00:02:01 - Review of Gaslight (1944) 00:15:24 - Review of Dial M for Murder (1954) 00:32:22 - Review of Deathtrap (1982) 00:48:33 - Guessing the Connection

Evan, Dave, David, Michael, and Erik are joined by blogger and podcaster extraordinaire Siskoid to pontificate on paper cuts, police detectives, postage stamps, and what could possibly connect them. 00:02:56 - Review of 36 Hours (1964) 00:19:36 - Review of Dark City (1998) 00:36:01 - Review of Paycheck (2003) 00:54:46 - Guessing the Connection

Things get spooky... for the vampires when they're hunted by Blade. But what does that have to do with Billy the Kid and Rex O'Herlihan the Singing Cowboy? David knows the answer, but Dave, Evan, Michael, and guest Paxton Holley have to guess.  00:01:15 - Review of Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985) 00:10:49 - Review of Young Guns (1988) 00:20:29 - Review of Blade (1998) 00:37:13 - Guessing the Connection

Dave, David, Evan, and Michael are joined by Christian Nielsen (The Atomic Geeks, Pop Culture Retrofit) to talk about gangsters, greasers, and group therapy. If you haven't seen one or more of the movies we discuss and prefer not to listen to that review (we do talk freely about spoilers), please use the time stamps below to jump to the part of the discussion that interests you. 00:01:30 - Review of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) 00:16:22 - Review of Grease (1978) 00:41:54 - Review of Johnny Dangerously (1984) 00:57:12 - Guessing the Connection

Ron Ankeny joins Michael, Dave, David, and Evan to discuss sharks of the marine, legal, and double-crossing varieties. Which would be a cool connection, come to think of it, but there's another one, too. 00:02:28 - Review of Jaws (1975) 00:15:44 - Review of The Star Chamber (1983) 00:32:25 - Review of The Three Musketeers (2011) 00:52:00 - Guessing the Connection

Paxton Holley doesn't just join Dave, David, Evan, and Michael on the panel, he also picks the movies in this special episode about rogues, reruns, and rock monsters. 00:03:20 - Review of Robin Hood (1973) 00:16:17 - Review of Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island (1983) 00:30:08 - Review of Return to Oz (1985) 00:50:54 - Guessing the Connection

Erik, Michael, Dave, and David muse about Marilyn, man-children, and method acting.   00:02:05 - Review of Some Like It Hot (1959) 00:19:16 - Review of Tommy Boy (1995)39:08 00:39:18 - Review of Tropic Thunder (2008) 01:04:09 - Guessing the Connection

Evan, Erik, Dave, David, and Michael gab about girl gumshoes, the government, and the Globe. 00:02:00 - Review of Nancy Drew... Reporter (1939) 00:16:57 - Review of All the President's Men (1976) 00:31:52 - Review of Spotlight (2015) 00:44:48 - Guessing the Connection

David leads Erik, Evan, Michael, and Dave in a discussion of billiards, Baby Ruths, and Blockbuster Video. 00:01:34 - Review of The Hustler 00:13:53 - Review of Caddyshack 00:32:41 - Review of The Lost World: Jurassic Park 00:57:15 - Guessing the Connection

Erik, Evan, Michael, Dave, and David discuss destructive imps, dumb aliens, and demonic angels. And since this is the first episode of the new year, they also look back on their favorite and least-favorite Mystery Movie Night picks of 2018.

Dave, David, Erik, Evan, and Michael celebrate the holidays with a trio of Christmas flicks. It's ghosts, guns, and grandmas on this episode of Mystery Movie Night.

It's appropriate that our 31st episode releases on the 31st and to celebrate Halloween, we've invited special guest Siskoid (Siskoid's Blog of Geekery, The Fire and Water Podcast Network) to help us talk about a trio of spooky movies by auteur directors with passion for art direction. But that isn't the connection. 00:05:08 - Review of Beetlejuice 00:22:43 - Review of The Crow 00:45:24 - Review of Hellboy II: The Golden Army 01:11:01 - Guessing the Connection  

Special guest Carlin Trammel (Nerd Lunch, Dragonfly Ripple) joins Evan, Michael, Dave, and David in pondering the point of politics, planes, and plastic surgery. 00:02:40 - Review of The Candidate 00:21:44 - Review of Die Hard 2 00:35:40 - Review of Burn After Reading 00:55:53 - Guessing the Connection

Michael catches up with Erik to get his thoughts on The Cocoanuts, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Moana.

Come and see the violence inherent in the system as David, Evan, Michael, and Dave are joined by Nerd Lunch's Jeeg to talk about rotten real estate, rabid rabbits, and ridiculous roosters. 00:01:25 - Review of The Cocoanuts 00:21:09 - Review of Monty Python and the Holy Grail 00:33:27 - Review of Moana 00:55:58 - Guessing the Connection

Evan wasn't able to join us for the previous episode, so he and Michael caught up to get Evan's thoughts on Red Dawn, White Nights, and Devil in a Blue Dress.

Michael, Dave, and David are joined by special guest Shawn Robare (Branded in the 80s, Cult Film Club) to discuss death, dancing, and detectives. 00:04:10 - Review of Red Dawn 00:29:53 - Review of White Nights 00:49:56 - Review of Devil in a Blue Dress 01:06:44 - Guessing the Connection

Dave, David, Evan, and Michael are joined by the one and only Jeff Somogyi (Down the Rabbit Hole, Talkin' Chopp) to talk about time travel, killer robots, and what could possibly connect those things to Samuel L Jackson's torturing Michael Sheen. It's very funny. 00:02:15 - Review of The Terminator 00:32:24 - Review of Austin Powers 00:52:34 - Review of Unthinkable 01:18:46 - Guessing the Connection

Evan takes the hosting chair and picks his first set of movies. Can you figure out what a trainload of zombies has to do with Hawaii and Elvis before Dave, David, Michael, and special guest Paxton Holley do?

Mystery Movie Night celebrates its 25th episode with a discussion of angels, authority figures, and Albuquerque. After a brand new, custom-made theme song (written and performed by Michael's brother Matt May), Erik leads the gang through wacky space opera, high school hijinks, and cartoon superspies. Are these movies any good? What's the secret that connects them? Tune in and find out! 00:02:55 - Review of Barbarella 00:23:55 - Review of Ferris Bueller's Day Off 00:55:22 - Review of Looney Tunes: Back in Action 01:23:23 - Guessing the Connection

We're all about baseball, brigs, and Buster Keaton on this episode. Michael, Dave, David, Erik, and Evan discuss a trio of '90s movies and what it is that connects them all. 00:01:44 - Review of Major League 00:26:45 - Review of A Few Good Men 00:44:35 - Review of Benny & Joon 01:08:00 - Guessing the Connection  

David, Erik, Evan, Michael, and Dave discuss princesses, pyramids, and pecs. 00:01:15 - Review of Atlantis: The Lost Empire 00:19:47 - Review of 10,000 BC 00:36:18 - Review of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 00:56:13 - Guessing the Connection

Dave, David, Erik, and Michael are joined by our brand-new, regular co-host Evan Hanson (who was a guest on Episode 20, if you're keeping track). Lots of diverse opinions as we talk about James Bond, Joey Ramone, and Almond Joy. 00:01:33 - Review of Operation Kid Brother 00:14:23 - Review of Rock 'n' Roll High School 00:35:26 - Review of Hudson Hawk 00:57:03 - Guessing the Connection

Erik, Michael, Dave, and David wrap up the year talking about sewers, Sweetums, and sweaters. 00:01:39 - Review of The Third Man 00:18:09 - Review of The Muppet Movie 00:50:56 - Review of Ed Wood 01:12:15 - Guessing the Connection      

Yipee-Ki-Yay, Melon Farmers! Dave, David, Erik (he's back!), and Mike are joined by special guest Evan Hanson to talk robots, Russians, and Roy Rogers. Additional discussions include favorite Jack Ryans and "Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?" 00:00:45 - Review of AI: Artificial Intelligence 00:23:17 - Review of The Hunt for Red October 00:43:00 - Review of Die Hard 01:10:03 - Guessing the Connection

David, Michael, and Dave are joined by special guest Rob Graham to talk about Gales, Goblins, and Goro. And after learning what connects them all, we reveal our favorite '80s fantasy movies. 00:00:56 - Review of The Wizard of Oz 00:17:56 - Review of Labyrinth 00:42:26 - Review of Mortal Kombat 01:16:25 - Guessing the Connection

Michael, Dave, and David are joined by Kay (Hyperspace Theories, Fangirlblog.com) to talk over a trio of Alfred Hitchcock movies with a second connection. 00:02:00 - Review of Jamaica Inn 00:12:52 - Review of Rebecca 00:32:22 - Review of The Birds 00:55:19 - Guessing the Connection

Lots of cool guests on this one as Dan Taylor and Ron Ankeny (Starmageddon, N3rd World) and Paxton Holley (Nerd Lunch, Cult Film Club, Hellbent for Letterbox) join Dave, David, and Michael to talk grunge, guns, and gigawatts.

David, Dave, and Michael are joined by their mother, sister, and wife (respectively) Diane, who also happens to be the creator of the Mystery Movie Night concept. Together, the gang reconsiders a couple of maligned superhero movies and a family classic. 00:04:21 - Review of Batman and Robin 00:27:10 - Review of Shrek 00:40:07 - Review of The Amazing Spider-Man 01:12:33 - Guessing the Connection

Michael, Dave, and David are joined by very special guest Jeff Somogyi (Nerd Lunch Presents Down the Rabbit Hole) to talk about some divisive movies. We question Lee Marvin's murder skills, M Night Shyamalan's storytelling skills, and Billy Zane's... Okay, we don't question anything about Billy Zane, but there may be another element or two in The Phantom that make us wonder. Check out the great discussion and see if you can guess the secret connection between the movies before it's revealed.   00:02:19 - Review of Point Blank  00:34:54 - Review of The Phantom 01:03:20 - Review of The Village 01:47:00 - Guessing the Connection

Erik, David, Dave, and Michael discuss Robert Preston's cons, Barry Sonnenfeld's creatures, and where Mulan fits into the Disney canon. And of course, the top secret connection that ties them all together. 00:00:49 - Review of The Music Man 00:30:45 - Review of Men in Black 00:54:28 - Review of Mulan 01:11:00 - Guessing the Connection

Dave, David, Erik, and Michael are back for another Burt Reynolds car chase movie, teenage beach shenanigans, and the death of Jean Grey. What did we think? What's the secret that connects them all? Tune in to find out! 00:01:12 - Review of Muscle Beach Party (1964) 00:21:29 - Review of Smokey and the Bandit (1977) 00:41:18 - Review of X-Men 2 (2003) 01:15:12 - Guessing the connection

Mystery Movie Night turns one year old this month as David, Dave, Erik, and Michael talk about the original Ghostbusters flick, Peter Jackson's King Kong remake, and the surprise hit of 2014: The Lego Movie. We loved one of them and were evenly divided on the other two. Ghostbusters discussion starts at 00:02:00 King Kong discussion starts at 00:31:00 The Lego Movie discussion starts at 01:02:30

Michael, Dave, David, and Erik cover the Howard Hawks science fiction classic The Thing from Another World (1951), the Sidney Poitier/Tom Berenger thriller Shoot to Kill (1988). and the much maligned second X-Files movie The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). And since it's the first episode of 2017, we also talk about our most anticipated movies for the year.

Erik, David, Dave, and Michael discuss Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981), Damon Wayans in Blankman (1994), and Laika's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline (2001). Even more surprising than the movies' secret connection is which one we liked the best.

Mark, Erik (returning from his summer hiatus), Dave, David, and Michael discuss Midnight Run starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, Primal Fear starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton, and The Bone Collector starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. 

Dave, Michael, David, Mark, and special guest Jeeg from Nerd Lunch discuss a trio of '80s movies: Flash Gordon, Highlander, and Revenge of the Nerds. Do they live up to the nostalgia? What's the secret connection that ties them together? Listen and find out!

It's a big episode but we had a lot to say. Michael, David, and Dave are joined by special guest Noel from the Masters of Carpentry podcast to discuss Hyung-rae Shim's Dragon Wars, M Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, and the third entry in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Two of those are usually maligned, but our thoughts on them may surprise you. As will the secret connection that ties all three films together. 

This month we're joined by special guest Paxton Holley (Nerd Lunch, Cult Film Club) to discuss some older films: The Uninvited (1944) starring Ray Milland, Konga (1961) with Michael Gough, and Michael Caine in Get Carter (1971). Hear what we thought and see if you can guess the secret connection between the three films!

In the second episode of our sadly Erikless summer, we're joined by special guest Siskoid of Siskoid's Blog of Geekery. Mark May leads the discussion of brachiosaurs, brownies, and broken fingers. Have a listen as we go over Jurassic Park, Notting Hill,and Big Trouble, then see if you can guess the secret connection between all three.

While Erik's away for the summer, CT from Nerd Lunch sits in with the gang as the first of several guests for the upcoming months. We're also down a Mark, but Dave leads the rest of us in a discussion of hobbits, hackers, and highways. Tis was a tough connection to guess, so sit down with some pipeweed or a cookie and see if you can figure it out. Just don't touch that cigarette lighter.

There's no guessing the connection this time. Michael, Mark, Dave, and David get together for an impromptu look at Prince's three movies.

David the Younger takes the reins this episode to fly us through Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive, Hiccup and Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon, and Rocket and Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy. But no, the secret connection isn't that they're buddy movies. Take a listen and see if you can guess what it is before David reveals it at the end.