A married couple's quest to rectify the wrongs of their partner never seeing culturally relevant movies. (Mostly 1980s, but we dabble in other decades.)
This episode was scheduled for recording at the ASC (The American Society of Criminology) Annual Conference in November 2022. However, due to unavoidable circumstances, it was rescheduled as a Zoom recording on August 30, 2023. Our very special guests are: Caroline Comerford, M.S. - Founder, CVC Consulting Adam Stern, Ph.D - Associate Professor, Curry College
“Brooklyn Central High School has just one more chance to sing their heart out.” Parry - "SING!" Joelle "Nanananananananananaaaaaaaaa"
This episode was recorded LIVE at the ASC (The American Society of Criminology) 76th Annual Conference in Chicago, IL on November 1th, 2021. Our very special guests are: Caroline Comerford, M.S. - Founder, CVC Consulting Adam Stern, Ph.D - Associate Professor, Curry College
A boy receives a a surprisingly good Christmas gift, in the form of a living creature no one has seen before, from his usually disappointing Dad. However, when the little monster's spawn destroy the town and ruin Christmas, the gift turns out to be as disappointing as his Dad and his lousy inventions. Joelle - "The Gremlins scare me more than serial killers." Parry - "(In Ralph Parker voice) I don't think Gremlins make a very good Christmas gift."
They Like Corn! Parry: "Outlander! I have your vaccine!" Joelle - "You need a weapon. You need something to 'juk' people in the eye cause your man done left you!"
Lane Meyer's attempts to mend a broken heart by unsuccessfully attempting to kill himself. Joelle - "Cracker Jack prizes suck. At least they could give us a temporary tattoo." Parry - "A lower back temporary tattoo?"
Godfrey Reggio, director of the Qatsi Trilogy (Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqatsi, Naqoyqatsi), Anima Mundi, Evidence, Visitors, and many others, joins us to speak about his life and journey as a filmmaker. Also, Parry completely geeks out speaking with someone who changed his perceptions of film, society, and Twinkies*. *A deep cut Koyaanisqatsi reference not actually mentioned in this interview. But if you know, you know.
Visuals and music are seamlessly blended into a pure cinema (or non-narrative) event that presents the familiar as unfamiliar and creates the conditions through which a local can see the world like a tourist. Parry - "Bikes are really hard to come by during a pandemic." Joelle - "Polyester is good for no one."
Jaws spawn seeks revenge on the surviving Brody family members. Joelle - "Find your fucking holiday joy, Grinch!" Parry - "Brody the Shark Slayer"
Death, divorce, and desertion leaves three friends desperate for love, attention, and sex...and then the Devil appears. Joelle - "I was not able to eat cherries for a long time after watching this." Parry - "The Devil came down to Eastwick."
Witches, some kids, a talking cat, lots of screaming, and a virgin. Parry - "Test audiences have ruined better films" Joelle - "This film is so white it hurts"
A 15 year-old college freshman genius is mentored by a brilliant but flippant senior who teaches him that all work and no play can make Mitch a dull – or insane – boy (like Lazlo Hollyfeld), but they both learn that sometimes the price of success is betraying your own morals….and the price of revenge is whatever 140 tons of popcorn costs. Joelle - "I would never buy astronaut ice cream." Parry - "Didn’t these guys go on to found Ask Jeves?"
The Cessna siblings make money out of manure. Parry - "I was not the Alex P. Keaton of Poop." Joelle - "You are killing my light and fluffy!"
Parry: Do Werther's taste better if they come from a cardigan pocket? Joelle: Werther's is my jam.
This is the second part of our discussion about The Silence of the Lambs (not LIVE) where we talk soundtrack smashes, production notes, and real world law enforcement in the context of privacy vs safety. Parry: Are you saying that Tom Petty is the patron saint of white guys? Joelle: A married couples quest to rectify the wrong of their partner being an asshole.
Various animals are exposed to man's inhumanity to man. This episode was recorded LIVE at the ASC (The American Society of Criminology) 75th Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA on November 13th, 2019. Our very special guests are (in no specific order): Jessica Herbert, Ph.D - President, IDEA Analytics Caroline Comerford, M.S. - Founder, CVC Consulting Adam Stern, Ph.D - Associate Professor, Curry College
Parry - We're staying together for my Father. Joelle: Yes, Drummer Cat.
They send you to Shawshank for life, and that's exactly what they take. Joelle: "You wanna bring your wine the the theater? Great! Put that shit in a sippy cup ahead of time!" Parry: "What is Shawshank's area code?"
Truth, justice, and the American way in Runaway Jury includes buying a verdict by buying a jury.
Six strangers are summoned to a mansion by their blackmailer. People start dying and shenanigans ensue. Parry: "When someone done it, but you don't know WHO done it..." Joelle: "This is like every Nancy Drew novel in my head come to life."
Have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN with this special minisode where we revisit April Fool's Day and Joelle reveals her deathly fear of Gizmo the Mogwai...and piranhas!
This is is our very first bonus minisode (and stop gap for Joelle's dissertation) where we delve deeper into Top Gun and find out who Joelle and Parry would Bed, Wed, and want Dead!
Fighter pilot Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell has a chip on his shoulder and that chip might just make him the most brilliant or the most reckless fighter pilot in Miramar.” (not Miramar, FL) Parry: "Even if you’re not trying to stare at Tom Cruise’s ass, there it is right there in front of you in the tighty whiteys." Joelle: "Do you have something to tell me? Is there a reason we shouldn’t be married any longer?"
The cyclical nature of John and Elizabeth's relationship of fighting and sex brings BDSM out of the dark and into the mainstream. Joelle - "I'm not having sex in street water." Parry - "Honey is a friction killer."
A young girl has her heart broken when her vampire boyfriend falls for a blazing hot recent arrival and watches helplessly as they fight their burgeoning but forbidden lust for one another. Joelle - Your budget shouldn’t be that budget. Parry - This is my holy water and I’m takin’ it back, I’m takin’ it all back! Melissa - Thank you, Chris for that very woke moment. Now continuing on with production notes. Chris - Unlike the Lost Boys, I wanted to sex with zero people in Twilight!
In the wake of her divorce, Lucy Emerson packs up her sons and moves home to sunny Santa Carla. However, the boys soon learn that there’s a dark side lurking under sun, surf, and carny games. Parry - What are Jamaican Vampires like? Joelle - Fuckin' Awesome! Boom, Boom Lick Shot with that shit, okay! Chris - It’s the most physically evocative sax song since El Bimbo. Melissa - Grandpa is bae!
Mixing traditional forms of dancing with the new phenomenon of street dancing called breakdancing, Turbo, Kelly, and Ozone (TKO) break down barriers with their sick moves. Parry - "Electro Rock remind me of the Misfits from Jem and the Holograms. 'We are Electro Rock, our songs are better!'" Joelle - "I’m so glad you were able to make a joke. Thank you for carrying some of the weight!"
A sweet cat, forced to make journey through space, gets woken up from a great nap, only to watch humans eat lousy food...and get what they deserve. Joelle - "If they had just listened to the woman in the control room following protocol…" Parry - "Putting white surfaces in the Nostromo is like putting nice upholstery in a dump truck."
What happens when you accidentally poison your sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical, bigoted boss? Sweet revenge! Joelle - "Marie Kumkari" Parry - "Please send all hate mail to DerekJeterFanClub@gmail.com."
Baseball is a game about winning and losing...love is very similar. Parry - "Albuquerque Isotopes?!" Joelle - "Once again, I am saving your ass."
Paradise...or is it? Parry - "(Quoting Groucho Marx) Did you ever notice that Peter O'Toole has a double-phallic name?" Joelle - "I felt the need to do some serious research and soul-searching so that you can understand my country (Jamaica)."
As Al himself describes it, "UHF is a cross between 'Sophie's Choice,' 'Son of Flubber' and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Parry - "As a Weird Al completist, you should own it. You just don't really need to watch it." Joelle - "If I sound bitter, it's because I didn't have any warning..."
Just when you thought one person can't make a difference, along comes Gandhi. Parry: "Surprisingly NOT about the world's largest distributor of T-Shirts and bumper stickers with inspirational sayings." Joelle: "#MuteRKelly"
A young girl with a desire to escape her reality must embark on a dangerous journey through the Labyrinth to rescue her baby brother when he is kidnapped...at her request. Parry: "We can't talk about Labyrinth without discussing Bowie's 'Underground Kingdom.'" Joelle: "How is this a kids movie?"
A dancer's career is short. Will this be their final hope or the start of something grand? (17 words!) Parry: "Comparison Kills!" Joelle: "I can't do coquito math."
Killer car might not choose its owners, but it certainly chooses its victims. Parry: "Does Christine end up as the dancing Pepsi can from The Golden Child?" Joelle: #FanFiction (in reference to Christine's wedding on Christinemoviecar.com)
When a favorite toy gets insecure about being replaced by a fancy new model, he resorts to fighting dirty to protect his place in his owner's heart. (And toys are sentient, BTW.) Parry: "How do you react when someone tries to Big Toy you?" Joelle: "I did not have a close relationship with my toys."
Eddie Murphy, AKA The Chosen One, searches for The Golden Child while navigating through Eastern mysticism and Western gangs. Parry: "Surprisingly, this is NOT a Golden Girls prequel." Joelle: "No one got to the movies on time the '80s."
Jerry Mitchell is having one of those days. Buddy Revell is always having a bad day. Buddy wants Jerry to fight him after school and Jerry will do ANYTHING to get out of it! Parry: "What is going on in Buddy Revell's home life?" Joelle: "That's shady as fuck, Speilberg."
What do you do when your grandpa returns from the dead and wants to spend $687,000 on you? You ask no questions and welcome him back with open arms...right? Parry: "Donald Sutherland makes me really want to drink orange juice." Joelle: "I don't understand the (acting) transition from having sexual relations with somebody and then pretending that they're your sibling."
Often looking for the bigger, better deal, Rob Gordon traverses through relationships, one autobiographical record at a time. Parry: "I have a medical condition. It's called premature exposition." Joelle: "I married Rob Gordon."
Dirty Dancing is a story about finding out who you are, when you thought you knew exactly who you were and then falling in love in the most unexpected places (oh, and classism, sexism, and abortion). Parry: "broccoli wrapped in bacon" Joelle: "There's no basement in the goddamn Alamo!"
Another world, another time, in the age of wonder. A thousand years ago, this land was green and good - until the Crystal cracked. A single shard was lost. Then strife began and two new races appeared, the cruel Skeksis and the gentle Mystics. Now, once more, the world must undergo a time of testing. Now the Crystal must be healed, or pass forever into the rule of evil. What was sundered and undone shall be whole - the two made one. Parry - "Skeksis sounds like an STD" Joelle - "The Crystal" (ad infinitum)
The King of Spandex Miniskirts wants to bump off his annoying wife, but she is kidnapped before he has the chance. His mistress and her lover plan to blackmail him for the crime, but their "evidence" is compelling for the wrong reasons. The clueless kidnappers keep lowering the ransom in the hope that they can finally get their basement back. Only the Memphis furniture is more colorful than this cast of characters. Parry: "Ruthless People might just be the nexus of the 1980s!" Joelle: "Eat your potatoes!"
When an 80's "Pack 'O Villans" vandalize a boy's beloved Honda Elite scooter, his sister goes straight to the main bully's father for restitution. But when his Douchey Dad forcibly attempts a sexual layaway plan and is accidentally shot by her brother, Billie Jean and her friends are forced to run. Along the road to redemption, Bille Jean becomes a modern day Joan of Arc as she leads a grassroots teen rebellion against narrow-minded adults in an attempt to prove that "Fair is Fair!" Parry: Is it really so surprising that I thought there was some connection between Billie Jean and Billy Idol? Joelle: #FairIsFairBillieJeanSoundtrack
Ep 6: Midnight Madness (1980) - "You've gotta stand up and face life! Go for the GUSTO!" Leon, the Game Master, coerces several groups of college students into participating in "The Great All-Nighter," a clue-based scavenger hunt-style race through Los Angeles. Parry: I personally believe that "Leon" (if that is indeed his real name) now works for the Russians. Joelle: Pabst Blue Ribbon, OHoooOoOoOH!
Ep 5: The Princess Bride (1987) -"I do not think it means what you think it means." A farcical fairy tale about a woman who agrees to marry a prince when she believes her true love has been killed by pirates. Before the wedding can take place, she is kidnapped, but quickly rescued by her long-lost love, now a pirate himself. Before they can live happily ever after, they must escape the prince, who plans to kill them all. Oh, and there is a six-fingered man who just has to die by the end... Parry: How much of Game of Thrones was "borrowed" from The Princess Bride? Joelle: Why do the eels have to look like Jaws?
Ep 4: Electric Dreams (1984) - "Moles, that does not compute." A disorganized architect named Miles manages to bring his computer to life through a combination of data overload and champagne. Although it lacks an understanding of what love is, the computer develops an obsession with the same woman Miles is already pursuing, leading to a love triangle unlike any other. Parry: Can it really be just a coincidence that Electric Dreams and The Terminator were released in the same year? Joelle: Steve Jobs and Bill Gates stole all their best ideas from this movie.
Ep 3: April Fool's Day (1986) - "Nice? It's gotta be better than nice, it's gotta be bloody unforgettable!" A horror version of The Big Chill except it doesn't revolve around a dead person; it is six dead people. Parry: Tom Wilson...enough said. (And yes, I know that his actual line From Back To The Future is "Make like a tree and get outta here!") Joelle: Go Fuck Yourself, Michael Myers! Programming Note: Although Parry incorrectly states that this episode will be available on April 1st, it was actually released on the 32nd Anniversary of the film premiering in theaters.
Ep 2: Flashdance (1983) - "If you give up your dream, you die." Welder by day, dancer by night; Alexs Owen goes for her dreams and falls in love along the way! Parry: Who cleans up all that water? Joelle: Zanzibar!
Ep 1: Blade Runner - ('82/'07) "More Human Than Human" (Original cinematic release: 1982) An ex-detective or "Blade Runner" returns for one last case when several artificial human Replicants arrive in 2019 Los Angeles searching for answers about the nature of their existence. Parry: Are the walls in Deckard's apartment really hard to clean? Joelle: Who would actually use a bubble hair dryer?