The Gen X Files

In this episode, we wrap up our McNerdy tribute to the early films of Patrick Dempsey, along with discussing a couple of movies, TV shows, and how it's a great time for the Gen Xer to get back into gaming!

For our third entry into McNerdy month, Patrick Dempsey must go on the run when he accidentally kills a mob boss's son. It's a thrill ride that made the director quit the movie business! Co-starring Kelly Preston.

For our second entry into McNerdy month, we bring you Loverboy, quite possibly the worst movie we've covered on the show. It's a weird, vapid mess. Starring Patrick Dempsey, Carrie Fisher, and Kirstie Alley.

We'll give you all we've got to give because we don't care too much for money, cuz money Can't Buy Me Love. It's the beginning of McNerdy month, as we dive into the early films of Patrick Dempsey, Dr. McDreamy (or McSteamy, or whatever he was called). First up is Can't Buy Me Love, co-starring the amazing Amanda Peterson and underutilized Courtney Gains. It's a high school tale of be careful what you wish for.

Join your ol' stepdads as we discuss Steve's Hot Carl, have a spirited debate about a movie we both watched (channeling the spirits of Siskel & Ebert), how replaying video games can be better than playing new games, and Jim's love of a show that NO ONE saw coming.

For our last foray into Steve's Hot Carl, we're presenting perhaps the best of the bunch: All of Me. Directed by Carl Reiner, written by Phil Alden Robinson and Henry Olek, and starring Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Richard Libertini, and Victoria Tennant. It's the last time that Martin and Reiner worked together, but is just possibly their best effot.

Steve Martin and Carl Reiner team up again for the third time in their spoof of classic sci-fi movies. Starring Martin, Kathleen Turner (in only her second feature film!), and David Warner (with an uncredited cameo from Sissy Spacek). It's everything you want from Steve's Hot Carl.

Take 1 Steve Martin, 1 Carl Reiner, add in a ton of old film noir stars in clips from some of their most famous movies, blend it up, and what do you get? Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, a fun experiment of a film from Martin and Reiner to see if they could come up with a new story by inserting Martin into old clips. It not only works, it's funny as hell. Co-starring Rachel Ward, Reni Santoni, and Carl Reiner (in a hysterical send-up of stupid Nazis).

Join your ol' Stepdads as we discuss one of our greatest heroes, John Candy, what we've been watching and what we've been playing over the course of a short February month.

We finish out our Sweet Candy month with one of the best, most down-to-earth romantic comedies: Only the Lonely, written and directed by Chris Columbus. Starring John Candy, Maureen O'Hara as his overbearing mother, and Ally Sheedy as Candy's love interest, Only the Lonely shows just how good John Candy could be and what his amazing acting career could've been, if he hadn't been robbed from us at such a young age.

It's time to take a trip to The Great Outdoors! Written by John Hughes, directed by Howard Deutch, starring John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Stephanie Faracy, Annette Bening, and Bart the Bear. It's a fun, down-to-earth comedy about dealing with family.

We kick off February in style, with the start of our Sweet Candy month, focusing on the softer, more down-to-earth side of the late, great John Candy. First up is Summer Rental, directed by Carl Reiner. It's a fun movie pitting Candy against a wonderfully mean Richard Crenna. There's boats and beaches and it's a fun summer!

Pull up a stool and listen to your ol' Stepdads ramble on about the crazy adventures they've been on, the movies and TV shows they've been watching, and what video games they've been playing.

It's time to open your mind and let your imagination run wild, as we cover The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, the near-perfect film from Terry Gilliam, starring John Neville, Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Winston Dennis, Charles McKeown, Jack Purvis, Jonathan Pryce, Uma Thurman, and the incredible Oliver Reed! (Oh, and a rather weird cameo from Robin Williams.)

Adventure month continues as we delve into the mundane world of babysitting... unless you're Elizabeth Shue and have a crazy friend Brenda who tries to unsuccessfully run away from home. That's right, it's Adventures in Babysitting, the feature film debut of Chris Columbus, co-starring Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, Maia Brewton, Ron Canada, George Newbern, and Vincent D'Onofrio.

Orion Pictures wanted a 'red, white, and blue-collar Bond' in Remo Williams, but budget cuts didn't allow the movie to truly bloom. It's still a rollicking good time, even if you don't think it's as good as it was when you first saw it. Starring Fred Ward, Joel Grey, Wilford Brimley, J. A. Preston, and Kate Mulgrew.

Welcome to Adventure month! First up the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension! Written by Earl Mac Rauch, directed by W. D. Richter, and starring Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, Lewis Smith, Christopher Lloyd, Clancy Brown, Vincent Schiavelli, Dan Hedaya, Robert Ito, Pepe Serna, and Carl Lumbly. It's a weird movie that deserved to be seen by so many more people when it debuted.

Pull up a piece of carpet and take a secret sip of beer with your ol' stepdads as we discuss the Christmas movies we've covered this month, along with new TV, movies, and video games we've been playing. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

While this is definitely a Christmas movie, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York should not have been made. It's a remake of Home Alone that came out 2 years before, but with worse pacing and less stakes. Written by John Hughes, directed by Chris Columbus, and starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Tim Curry, Brenda Fricker, and Catherine O'Hara. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Well, look at that, it's our 200th episode! We're celebrating by having a Christmas Vacation, courtesy of National Lampoon, John Hughes, and Chevy Chase! Also starring Beverly D'Angelo, Johnny Galecki, Juliette Lewis, Brian Doyle-Murray, Randy Quaid, William Hickey, Mae Questal, Miriam Flynn, Diane Ladd, John Randolph, E.G. Marshall, and Doris Roberts! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Is it a Christmas movie? Not in the conventional sense, but yes, it takes place over Christmas and culminates with a bunch of New Yorkers singing on New Year's Eve: it's the return of the Ghostbusters in the underrated Ghostbusters II! Starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, and Peter MacNicol. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

These four epic comedies range from the most amazing comedy ever made (It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World) to a fantastic British historical comedy (Those Fantastic Men in their Flying Machines) to a waste of talent (Scavenger Hunt) to the best modern epic comedy, which is saying a lot, since it came out 43 years ago (The Cannonball Run). We'll also discuss movies and tv and video games! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

We close out our epic comedies month with the most successful epic comedy (after the perfection of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, of course): The Cannonball Run. Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Farrah Fawcett, Roger Moore, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr, Adrienne Barbeau, Mel Tillis, Terry Bradshaw, Jack Elam, Jackie Chan, and Jamie Farr having a ton of fun on screen. Written by Brock Yates, who created the actual race the movie is based on and directed by Hal Needham, a stuntman-turned-director. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Today, we cover and overlooked gem that had the best cast of actors, doing their best with a pretty dreadful script. It's Scavenger Hunt, a wannabe It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, from 1979! Starring Richard Benjamin, James Coco, Scatman Crothers, Ruth Gordon, Cloris Leachman, Cleavon Little, Roddy McDowall, Robert Morley, Richard Mulligan, Tony Randall, Dirk Benedict, Willie Aames, Stephanie Faracy, Stephen Furst, Richard Masur and cameos from Meat Loaf, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Vincent Price! Directed by Michael Schultz, who also directed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Last Dragon! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

-or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes (for the completists). For our second epic comedy, we have this fantastic period comedy about the early days of men trying to fly. Starring Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, James Fox, Alberto Sordi, Robert Morley, Gert Frobe, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Irina Demick, Eric Sykes, Terry-Thomas, Red Skelton, Benny Hill, and Yujiro Ishihara. Written and directed by Ken Annakin. Produced by Daryl F. Zanuck. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Join us as we delve into the greatest, most epic comedy of all time: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, from Stanley Kramer, starring dozens of the greatest comedians of all time: Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Terry-Thomas, Jonathan Winters, Edie Adams, and Dorothy Provine. Including an insane amount of cameos and guest stars in the epic 197-minute run time. It's 60 years old, but is still one of the funniest movies ever made. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Pull up a spot on the floor on listen to your old stepdads talk about body horror, the movies and tv shows we've been watching this month, what video games we've been playing, and a special guest (for real this time)! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

This isn't your mama's werewolf movie... in fact, it isn't a werewolf movie at all! It's Wolfen, based on the Whitley Streiber novel, directed by Michael Wadleigh, in his only feature film directing foray. Starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Edward James Olmos, Gregory Hines, Tom Noonan, and Dick O'Neill. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Strap yourself in for a trippy mindbender from the one and only intensely insane director, Ken Russell. Featuring psychedelic drugs and sensory deprivation tanks, it's the feature film debut of William Hurt and also stars Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, and Charles Haid. The production was so intense, it might have just killed Paddy Chayefsky. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

While appearing to be a 'remake' of a beloved 1956 thriller, based on a 1955 novel, but much like the Pod People, there's way more to the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers than what appears on the surface. Starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, and Veronica Cartwright and Directed by Philip Kaufman. It's one of the best movies we've ever covered and deserves to be watched in the Halloween season. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

In this episode, we wrap up Bill Pullman Month by talking to Bill Pullman! But really, we discuss his early movies, how much he means to us, and what movies, TV shows, and video games caught our attention during the month. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

For our third Bill Pullman movie, we're covering one of his best performances in one of the weirdest movies we've ever seen: Brain Dead. Also starring Bill Paxton, Bud Cort, Nicholas Pryor, and Patricia Charbonneau. Written by Charles Beaumont 27 years prior and directed by Adam Simon. It's a wild and wacky movie that you have to see to believe. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Today, we celebrate Friday the 13th by exploring our second Bill Pullman film, and his first leading role: The Serpent and the Rainbow, directed by Wes Craven. It's a weird fever dream of drugs and zombies and voodoo and the political turmoil of Haiti in the mid-'80s. It's a hell of a journey. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

With this episode, we start our most unexpected month, honoring the early movies of one of our favorite actors: Bill Pullman. He's a brilliant comedic talent, and our first Bill Pullman movie proves it. It's Ruthless People, from ZAZ (Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker), the guys who brought you Airplane!, Top Secret!, and The Kentucky Fried Movie. Co-starring Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, and Helen Slater. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Join us as we close out another Dog Days of Summer! We reminisce about Oh! Heavenly Dog, K-9, Turner & Hooch, and Top Dog (which we wish we hadn't watched). We also discuss games, movies, and TV shows we've been watching this past month. It's been a great, hot, month, and it officially ended with a cat randomly showing up on the studio's balcony. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Our last Dog Days of August film is also perhaps the worst film we've ever covered: Top Dog. It was so bad, it killed Chuck Norris's theatrical career. A mish-mash of genres with a tone that jumps around more than a kid in a bouncy castle, it's mostly noted because it came out 9 days after the Oklahoma City bombing... and features a terrorist group attempting to bomb a Unity rally. It's just bad. But the dog is good! Reno is a good boy! And a Briard, which is a breed of dog we didn't know existed. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Now for perhaps the best dog movie of the month (let's not discuss the ending): Turner & Hooch, starring Tom Hanks, Craig T. Nelson, Reginald VelJohnson, Mare Winningham, and John McIntire. Almost directed by Henry Winkler, but actually directed by Roger Spottiswoode. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Take the younger brother of a famous comedian trying to make his own name and a police dog that doesn't play by the rules, and you get K-9, the 1989 film starring James Belushi and Rando the German Shepherd as Jerry Lee. It's a mystery that James Belushi needs to solve, and only Jerry Lee can help. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

What happens when you ask Chevy Chase to make a dog movie? You make him a P.I. and kill him off, only to be reborn as BENJI! It's Oh! Heavenly Dog, the weirdest Benji movie ever made. Starring Chevy Chase, Jane Seymour, Omar Sharif, and Benji! Written and directed by Joe Camp. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Gather round the campfire with your ol' Stepdads, as we discuss the Blockbuster Bombs, Howard the Duck, Hudson Hawk, and Last Action Hero. We also discuss some great movies we've watched, TV shows we're into, and Video Games we just can't put down. Oh, and Jim has a rant about some words that he LOATHES. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Regarded as one of the biggest bombs of the '90s, we dive into Last Action Hero, Arnie's first real disappointment in Hollywood. (Yes, we know Red Sonya was a flop, but he was a Hollywood baby at that point.) From John McTiernan and Shane Black, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austin O'Brien, Anthony Quinn, Charles Dance, F. Murray Abraham, Tom Noonan, Frank McRae, Bridgette Wilson, Mercedes Ruehl, Art Carney, and a ton of cameos. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

What happens when an actor gains too much celebrity? You get Hudson Hawk, a Bruce Willis vehicle that had just a little too much Bruce Willis in control. It's a perfect example of how not saying no to someone can make a movie so so so much worse. It's our second Blockbuster Bomb: Hudson Hawk! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Howard the Duck was a pet project for George Lucas, who, upon realizing that doing a live-action adaptation with a CGI lead wasn't going to work, lost interest and handed it over to Will Huyck and Gloria Katz, who wrote American Graffiti with Lucas. This was just the beginning of a long mess of a production, leading to one of the biggest Blockbuster Bombs of all time. Starring Lea Thompson, Ed Gale, Chip Zien, Tim Robbins, Jeffrey Jones (ugh), Liz Sagal, Dominique Davalos, Holly Robinson, David Paymer, and the voice of Richard Kiley. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Grab a stool and sit next to your ol' Stepdads, as we wrap up June Doom III by discussing Independence Day, Mars Attacks, and Armageddon, our '90s apocalypse movies featuring loads of cities being destroyed. We also discuss our movie picks of the month, which TV shows we'd been watching, and the video games we've been playing. The Gen X Files, for all things Gen X! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

It's Armageddon, the popcorniest doom flick ever filmed. Written by 9 different writers, directed by Michael Bay, and starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Owen Wilson, Will Patton, William Fichtner, Michael Clarke Duncan, Steve Buscemi, Keith David, and soo soo many more! Grab that bucket and turn off your brain as we dive deep into Armageddon! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

What better way to experience the end of the world than through the eyes of Time Burton? It's Mars Attacks! the sci-fi throwback starring Jack Nicholson, Jim Brown, Danny DeVito, Lukas Haas, Natalie Portman, Annette Bening, Glenn Close, Rod Steiger, Pierce Brosnan, Michael J. Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker and so many more! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

Today is our Independence Day! And it's the start of June Doom III: Revenge of the Doom, where we dive into apocalyptic movies. First order of destruction: alien invasion! From Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, Randy Quaid, Robert Loggia, Brent Spiner, Adam Baldwin, and about a billion other people. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

We wrap up Classic Connery month by discussing just how fabulous Sean Connery is, the movies and tv shows we've been watching, and the video games we've been playing. Join us for a rollicking good time! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

For our last entry into Classic Connery month, we present The Untouchables, a change in direction for Sean Connery's career. Directed by Brian De Palma, written by David Mamet, and starring Kevin Costner, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, Sean Connery, and Robert De Niro. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

It's a monastic murder mystery for our third entry into Classic Connery month. This one, too, is a historical drama. A tale that sounds kind of boring on paper but is phenomenal on screen: The Name of the Rose. Starring Sean Connery, Christian Slater, and F. Murray Abraham. Based on the novel from Umberto Eco. Directed Jean-Jacques Annaud. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support

For our second entry into our Classic Connery month, we get another crime thriller: Outland, written and directed by Peter Hyams, starring Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, Frances Sternhagen, James B. Sikking, and Clarke Peters. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegenxfiles/support