The 5th Wall Podcast

Jim Carrey, Ron Howard, Christine Baranski... Deep ROY?? Talk about a cast and crew at the peak of their game. In the Year 2000, Jim Carrey was fresh off his Golden Globe wins for Truman Show and Man on the Moon. Ron Howard was a year away from A Beautiful Mind sweeping every awards show! Christine Baranski had been killing it on Cybill. There was a huge amount of attention on this movie, and with a budget over $120m Imagine Entertainment studio was determined to make it a hit. Did they succeed?

We keep our “holiday movie released in the summer” trend going this episode as we review the 1993 Thanksgiving movie Son in Law.  Son in Law stars Pauley Shore during his years of fame and box office success.  The story revolves around a trip with Becca and Crawl (Shore) from college in LA to a farm in South Dakota.  The two say that they are engaged to prevent Becca's high school boyfriend from proposing.  Hijinks ensue and everyone learns some life lessons along the way in the fast paced film. 

Go figure that an Australian director would be able to create one of the most underrated "holiday" movies we've covered so far!  Dutch was written by John Hughes and directed by Peter Faiman (who? The director of Crocodile Dundee!). Featuring Ed O'Neil at the height of his Married... with Children popularity, it was actually more of a vehicle to introduce Ethan Embry (Empire Records, Can't Hardly Wait, etc). The movie flopped critically and commercially, but that's never stopped us!

Sequels always have a hard time carrying the torch; it's even harder when the first movie is as well-regarded as Halloween (1978). In 2018, Halloween returned to screens thanks to David Gordon Green, who very early on announced his intention to make a trilogy which would ignore the Rob Zombie reboot timeline. Fast forwarding, Halloween Kills premiered this year to love-it-or-hate-it reception. If you're a long-time listener, you know the 5th Wall are fans! We cover a this movie in a lot of detail so be warned: spoilers ahead!

This is a rare treat for the 5th Wall - Jarod has picked a movie that neither Mike or Clay has ever seen before! Bone Tomahawk premiered at Fantastic Fest in 2015 and had a very (VERY) limited release. As you can imagine, it has garnered cult status for those who have seen it. Bone Tomahawk is a western first and foremost, but it shares the "wilderness horror" genre with  another podcast favorite (The Witch). Bone Tomahawk was directed by S Craig Zahler and stars Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox and Richard Jenkins.

Somehow we've unconciously connected to a theme of "consumerism commentary" in these first 2 episodes and frankly, I'm lovin' it! If you're asking "Where's the beef?" then you're on the right track, Jack. Tune in tonight for a special one-on-one episode with Mike and Clay as they talk about the seminal 1985 "killer junk food" cult classic THE STUFF!

We are back for Horror movie month once again! Today's episode is a cult classic which may surprise some with how good it actually was! Night of the Comet was an ambitious project, and even more so due to the shoestring budget. However, this "Valley Girls meets Zombies" sci-fi/horror was a little ahead of its time when it came to  commentary on the consumerism and vanity of the 80s.

Ahh, the annual tradition of last minute Christmas shopping! It's not only a rite of passage for every parent, but it's also a juicy setting for Arnold's mid-90s "father figure" roles! Jingle All The Way is iconic for a number of reasons (not all of them good) - it cashed in on the action figure "hot toy" crazes of the late 80s/early 90s and paired a huge action star with one of the biggest "clean comedians" of the decade.

Let's be honest: it's just better when stuff is in the public domain! A Christmas Carol has been done so many times by so many respected actors and ensemble casts. What better way to pay tribute to a classic Christmas story than by doing it with Muppets? A Muppet Christmas Carol was the first feature film from the son of Jim Henson and it was, frankly, incredible. It is a staple of many family holiday celebrations and beloved by children and adults alike. We hope you enjoy this somewhere warm, without needing an extra shovel of coal for the fire!

Every year, Hallmark floods our TV with Chrismas movies, and every year the plots are always the same. Big city business lady comes home to meet smalltown hearthrob's parents. However, they always come off feeling just a bit forced and kitschy. Not so with The Family Stone, which weaves an immense amount of family drama in between the scenes.  Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Claire Danes, Luke Wilson, Craig T Nelson, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, am I still typing yes I am, wow. Despite this stellar cast, the movie flew under the radar back in 2005, but we're talking about it now because today we kick off our something-ish annual Holiday month!

In a special edition of our intermittent "Late Night on the 5th Wall" Mike and Jarod sit down to discuss a truly great schlock film that went under *literally everyone's* radar: Microwave Massacre! Fun fact, this episode originally featured our dear friend Cody Nesbitt, but unfortunately due to technical difficulties, he was unable to provide his share of the audio. Rest assured, through the magic of editing (and really, prodigious amounts of talent), we were able to stitch this bad boy together better than Frankenstein's monster.

The amount of times we've lavished (well-deserved) praise on Rutger Hauer is, well, frankly unacceptable. This movie isn't his first rodeo in Hollywood but man does he bring the big guns (...or, knives, or explosives)! Starring opposite is C Thomas Howell, fresh off success from The Outsiders and Red Dawn, and likely nursing a sore ego from losing out on Marty McFly to both Eric Stoltz and Michael J Fox. Sit back, relax, and don't pick up that guy on the side of the road while you listen to our newest episode of the 5th Wall Podcast!

Most horror comedies switch modes noticeably - one second you're tense and expecting something scary, the next you're laughing at Marlon Wayans and clown rape. Creepshow is one of our favorite genre splitting movies - the stories are based on simple scares that cut deep: zombies, aliens, drowning, monsters, and bugs. Stephen King features prominently (note: not intended to be a scare, but he scares many people). The film is an homage to the EC horror comics of the 1950s, such as Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror and The Haunt of Fear. Take a load off in your favorite coffin, it's Horror Movie Month!

This week we're back with a guest host to discuss one of the most successful sequels ever! James Cameron writes, directs, but surprisingly he *doesn't* star in this coming-of-age tale of illegal immigration and corporate eugenics. Thanks to the strong female lead played by Sigourney Weaver, an excellent score and tight editing, this is also responsible for serious consideration of hard sci-fi on the awards circuit. We hope you enjoy the episode (and the record breaking plot synoposis!)

Home Alone is one of the best John Hughes movies ever. Chris Columbus directs this excellent script by one of the best screenwriters the 1980s ever saw, featuring an up-and-coming Macaulay Culkin, Daniel Stern, and Joe f#$&'n Pesci!

Jimmy Stewart stars in this perennial Christmas classic about the meaning of Christmas and the promise of a New Year Premiering in 1946, this film was not immediately successful at the box office - despite this, it's considered one of the all-time greatest films! This is by far the oldest movie we've covered on the podcast, so gather round the phonograph while we put on our kerchiefs!

It's weird to think about this but without Elf, we might not have Iron Man. Thanks to Jon Favreau and an incredible Will Ferrell, this movie takes the traditional Christmas subject matter and successfully spins a new take on the classic legend!

It seems like every year, we get another interpretation of Charles Dickens' classic Christmas tale. There are some which are book-to-screen adaptations, some which adapt plays, and then there are those like Scrooged which modernize and reframe the tale. However, none in this category have done it *quite* as well as this! Bill Murray is joined by Karen Allen in this excellent 1988 classic directed by Dick Donner - join us to find out if what we saw was just a hallucination brought on by alcohol!

A Christmas Story is one of those special, truly cherished holiday traditions. The movie has to be seen at least once, whether or not by accident. Maybe you're in the waiting room of a hospital (because you were dared to stick your tongue to a metal pole in sub zero weather) or maybe you're passing the time at home (while cleaning your mouth out with soap). Either way, it's the best movie we could think of to kick off a round of holiday movie episodes this season!

Late Night Edition

We are bending the definition of horror movie tonight as we release our take on what is arguably one of the cultiest classics ever to horrify audiences! Jason Lively and Steve Marshall are a couple of fraternity pledges who unwittingly release a plague of ... space leeches? Featuring a brilliant performance by the legendary Tom Atkins, this is by far one of the most unique movies to grace our Horror Movie Month!

Today, we celebrate the father of all modern slasher films, responsible for one of the most successful and terrifying horror franchises ever. He's been to space, he's been to hell, and when he went to New York, he came back with more than just a T-Shirt! That's right fans, we're talking about: Friday the 13th!

Halloween is an institution. We've talked about the first, we've talked about the remake, now it's time to talk about the newest installment: 2018's Halloween! This picks up the story with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) as she goes full prepper, waiting for the day Michael Myers escapes and returns to Haddonfield to finish what he started so long ago. Buckle up, everyone - it's gonna get bloody!

In the top 5 break-up movies of all time, High Fidelity must rank in either the first or second spot. This film (based on an excellently adapted Nick Hornby novel) captures nearly every stage of grief as Rob (John Cusack) attempts to cope with relationship issues, especially as he seeks closure with his previous "Top 5 All Time" most painful breakups. In addition to a killer soundtrack, the cast features a totally manic Jack Black, an utterly tranquilized Todd Luiso, and an epic appearance by Tim Robbins!

This movie divides people. Either you liked it, or you didn't. Either you "get it" or you don't. That's fair to say about *most* films but this one is special. Nicolas Winding Refn is becoming more well-known now, but when Drive was released late in 2011, he was completely unknown in the states. Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan star alongside Bryan Cranston and Oscar Isaac in this visually stunning adaptation of a novel by James Sallis. Join us as we talk about Drive, the Driver, what drives us, what we like to drive, driver's ed, driving... okay, okay, enough

Continuing our epic restart in traditional 5th Wall style, we're rolling out with one of the most successful toy-inspired movie franchises of all time! The Eighties were a magical time for disappointing plastic toys - the Transformers were the top of the line and made everything else seem like a knock-off. Due to this impressive build quality and successful supporting cartoon series, Hasbro had a hit and quickly capitalized on this with a high stakes movie featuring some very surprising names (Orson Welles and Judd Nelson in the same movie??) Download this episode, recline, rotate, invert, and recombine - but most importantly, ROLL OUT!

We started with Ghostbusters, what better movie to pick for getting back into the swing of things! This film landed in 1989 and showed off the many technological advancements that were possible when the studio has a hot hot hit on their hands and wants a bigger slice of the pie! Luckily for us, GB2 had the right mix of heart, soul, (and funk) to survive the sequel cash-grab stigma. Plug in, sit back, relax as we discuss the best (and worst) things about sequels - featuring a throwback guest, Cody Nesbitt!

Two. Deux. Dos. Duece. This is the re-beginning! The re-birth! We have missed this so much, and after many tries, much coordination and cajoling, we finally sat down and started the much anticipated season 2! This episode is full of catch-up and conversation as we try to recapture the magic of what we had. We had a great time doing this and we hope you enjoy coming back to us!

Happy Halloween!  What better way to get in the spirit of festivities than with some good old fashioned transformation horror!  Only in this case, the costume is permanent :) John Landis has done some amazing work over the years, and even so, this film can stand with them all - it has aged incredibly well, thanks to the quality visual effects and cinematography. If you have not seen this before, do yourself a favor and rent or buy it TODAY!

Sometimes, you should stop while you're still ahead, and other times, you should just start over. It's rare that a filmmaker does both simultaneously - in this instance, it led to one of Clay's favorite "... of the Dead" zombie flicks: Diary of the Dead! George A Romero's handheld approach to this fresh look at his classic world of blood and gore was pretty well received by fans and critics alike. With some clever editing and some very key real-world footage from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and 9/11, Romero again proves himself a very capable storyteller with his 2007 release.

As far as sophomore efforts go, The Devil's Rejects is a great example of learning from past mistakes. It's also a great example of how great a well-timed gamble can pay off when studios bet on new talent. Rob Zombie follows up House of 1000 Corpses with this brilliant homage to road-terror / grindhouse films, starring Sid Haig, Sheri Moon-Zombie, and Bill Moseley.  Most people ignored this film when it came out (to their detriment), so we talk about all the reasons they were wrong!

We've lost a lot of great talent in the recent years. Blondes, brunettes, redheads, Gunnar Hansen sliced and diced without discrimination. Thanks to Tobe Hooper's excellent work behind the camera and the extremely convincing work of the actors (especially Marylin Burns!), the Texas Chain Saw Massacre has persisted as one of the most terrifying and excellent standards of horror! That's right everyone: HORROR MOVIE MONTH IS BACK!

We think it's safe to say that if SOMEONE had to say "the Zed word" (Why not?  Because it's ridiculous!) it had to be George A Romero.  Thanks to this 1978 classic (and it's offspring!), there is a huge zombie craze.  We have parodies, we have satire, we have social commentary, and we have one of the most successful and intense dramas on television (and not to mention, marathons of zombies lurching towards the screen). Who would have thought that this beloved "indie" film would blow the doors off (literally)?

This week, we ask the question: if you believe something enough, can it become real?  Then we ask "How can mirrors be real if our eyes aren't real?" John Carpenter has done some great work over the years, and according to Brandon, this movie was one of them!  Starring Sam Neill and Jurgen Prochnow, In the Mouth of Madness will make us question our own reality!

You might think Fright Night is one of those films that you had to be there to appreciate at the time, but it holds up well enough to qualify for a major remake starring an A-list actor!  We keep things classy, and for the first hour, blood-free! This movie served as the launchpad for the writer/director Tom Holland, who would go on to create one of the most memorable horror franchises: Child's Play!"

We are back!  It's October and that means it's time for our 3rd annual Horror Movie Month!  We aren't cool enough for a treehouse, and we can't do a FearFest like AMC, so let's split the difference and start it off with The Shining! Released in May 1980, this had all the hallmarks of a summer movie tentpole: elevators full of blood, a drunk who falls off the wagon, and of course, twins! Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's 1977 novel is one of the most popular King adaptations to date, and even though there are differences to be found, it's a fantastic example of what can go right when creative (and spiritual) forces collide!

We forgot to turn in our homework and had to pull a few extra late-night janitorial shifts but we are BACK with our second installment of higher education! In 1998, two young actors won their first Academy Award for a screenplay that was started 6 years earlier.  Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are super stars now, but this film is a great example of just how talented these two actors are.  Supported by a cast featuring heavyweights Robin Williams, Stellan Skarsgard, and even Minnie Driver, Good Will Hunting inspires, and it connects on a deep, emotional level, and if the stars not aligned, this film might have gone a very different direction!

With Animal House, we're kicking off College week!  It's summer!  Seniors are out of school and some are heading to a university.  Juniors just became seniors, then realized they should have done better in 11th grade!  That divide is at the heart of Animal House - a truly classic film about the rigors, regrets, and recompense one might expect during their golden years of schooling!

Hard to believe it took us 72 episodes to get to such a classic, but honestly, it's one of those movies that you don't want to ruin with an amateur mistake, like letting Mike do the trivia. Ooops...

And we're back!  After a long hiatus due to various life events, we're back and on schedule, and what better way than to start with some solid comedy out of a little-known group called "Broken Lizard" ? Super Troopers became a sleeper home rental hit after it was released in 2001.  With a virtually unknown cast, the movie about a bunch of stoner cops on the Vermont highway has become a cult phenomenon and single-handedly propelled the careers of it's improv troupe through the past 15 years, producing a number of movies along the way (such as Beerfest and Slammin' Salmon).

Howard Stern is the controversial "shock jock" at the center of this biopic, and who better to portray Howard Stern than... Howard Stern!  This movie actually sparked some pretty interesting discussion between our hosts and I think we all learned something important from this movie: how to properly say the call sign for WNBC in New York. Say it with me: "Double yoooo ENNNNNNNNNNNNNN BEE SEE" Perfect, and thank you for that memorable role, Paul Giamatti!

Larry Flynt - love him or hate him, you have to admit the guy has a point.  We thought this film was especially important considering the recent publication change made by Playboy (now you HAVE to read it for the articles!) Woody Harrelson was nominated for an Oscar after this performance, and surprisingly, his castmate Courtney Love was the only one to win for this film.  We talk about this and more in this week's episode!

Episode 69 could only go to one of the king of irreverant one-liners (and waistbands, ho ho!) ever to grace to silver screen: Rodney Dangerfield!  His 1986 comedy "Back to School" was one of the best examples of prolonged higher procrastination (heyyy!) we've ever seen.  The supporting cast featured Sam Kinnison (included in the clip at the beginning) and Billy Zabka, not to mention a number of minor supporting roles filled by notable faces (hey I'd like to fill that role!). Ok, I'm done with the terrible Dangerfield gags, just download and enjoy!

Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider are two detectives in the NYC narcotics department, and the streets are dry - nothings moving.  In William Friedkin's 1971 classic cat-and-mouse, we're dropped into the middle of a seedy metropolis that looks cold and feels even colder. This movie was almost never made, if not for the iconic car chase scene that it's known for!

Al Pacino experienced one of the most pronounced career growths during the 1990's, and many would credit this to his continued success to his early roles, in such classic films as Dog Day Afternoon and Scarface.  In fact, just a year before, we see he is more than capable of working alongside talented young breakouts (Scent of a Woman), and he continues to show that here, opposite Sean Penn (himself nominated for a Golden Globe). Welcome to Paradise!

Ladies and Gents, we proudly present to you one of the finest comedies of the 1980s!  Arriving just 3 years under the 1990 deadline, Coming to America solidified Eddie Murphy's reign on a whitewashed Hollywood.  Thanks to him, we were introduced to all the various stereotypes that feature so predominantly in his later films, including playing multiple roles in the same scene!

Welcome to 2016 everybody!  We're kicking this new year off with a bang (courtesy of the enhanced blanks used in today's film)! Die Hard is a classic action movie, and in the spirit of Christmas, we thought there's no better way to celebrate the holidays than giving this film the attention it deserves! Bruce Willis stars as NYPD Officer John McClane, coming to visit his estranged wife Holly (played by Bonnie Bedelia).  What they didn't count on was an unexpected visit from Alan Rickman's fantastic Hans Gruber.  Good thing he left the stuffed bear in the limo!

This has been a great year for movies, and we want to thank everyone for listening with us all year long! 1995 was ALSO a huge year in movies, as we've mentioned this before.  Did you know it was the year that Michael Bay made his major motion picture debut?  That was 20 years ago, and it was also the film debut of Will Smith, in an attempt to revive the buddy-cop shoot'em-up genre. Thankfully, Bad Boys launched an even better sequel, and Michael Bay was able to go on making ridiculous movies with even bigger budgets!

Robert De Niro, Al Pacino.  It was touted as the matchup of the century, two icons, finally going head to head in a Michael Mann heist film.  It should have broken box office records, except for the fact that the marketing screwed it up, really shafting a great film from earning the praise it deserved in its day. 1995 was a spectacular year for film, and this movie is one of the reasons why!  Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo, Ashley Judd, William Fichtner, Henry Rollins, Al Pacino, even Natalie Portman!

It's Turkey time, and if you're like us, you've got a favorite movie you put on the TV instead of football! Well, with that in mind, we wanted to record a special Thanksgiving episode this year to celebrate the crazy travel problems we all seem to have on days like this! John Candy and Steve Martin play a hapless traveling duo who are stuck in the endless feedback loop of the 1980's travel system.  We think this is John Hughes best directorial feature to date, and hope you enjoy our episode!

Sometimes, when you're really sexually repressed, you will do depraved things in order to express your frustrations.  Things like, oh I don't know, summoning a demon hell-spawn using a Barbie Doll, the combined computing power of the military industrial complex, and a freak lightning storm. Seriously, Frankenstein would be proud.  Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchel-Smith star in this classic coming-of-age story about two teens who create their very own Kelly LeBrock.  We get Bill Paxton and Robert Downey Jr in some not insignificant parts, as well as some classic John Hughes gags.  Give it a listen while I look at the camera >.>