Podcast appearances and mentions of Kelli Maroney

Hello and welcome back to another episode of B Bin Horror! On this week's episode we talk about the 1986 Horror/Sci Fi film, Chopping Mall. Chopping Mall was co-written by Jim Wynorski and Steve Mitchell and was directed by Jim Wynorski. The film stars Kelli Maroney, Tony O'Dell, John Terlesky, Russell Todd, Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov and Barbara Crampton. On this week's episode the guys talk about the film, the deleted horse scene idea and they create their own Kill Bots! If you like what you hear please follow us on Instagram and Facebook @bbinhorror. You can also send us emails at bbinhorror@gmail.com and please don't forget to subscribe to B Bin Horror on whatever podcast platform you listen on! *B Bin Horror theme music - "Uprising" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio*

In this episode the guys tackle yet another Top Dawg Patreon pick! This time around though the pick and name of the Patron are a little suspicious and we wonder if there may have been some greased palms in getting this movie chosen. Afterall the movie in question is "Night Of The Comet" from 1984, which some of you may know is one of Josh's faves. However the guys are excited to chat about this often underappreciated 80's horror/sci-fi gem. So kick back, stay hydrated so you don't turn into red dust or a teenage comet zombie and enjoy the episode! 

Continuing on with our month of spooky movies for Halloween, joining us this week is Violent Vinyl Radio's Dave and Lisa to help us review 1984's zomedy, Night of the Comet!! Starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, and Robert Beltran. Written and directed by Thom Eberhardt.

"Tonight Park Plaza Mall switches on the world's toughest security force. Absolutely nothing can go wrong..." As we continue our "Splatter Cinema Month," we are discussing the techno horror movie 'Chopping Mall.' Originally titled 'Killbots.' this movie stars Kelli Maroney, Tony O'Dell and Barbara Crampton. It was co-written and directed by Jim Wynorski. Chopping Mall - IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090837/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_4_nm_4_in_0_q_chopping%2520 Chopping Mall - Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chopping_mall Bill's Letterboxd Ratings: https://letterboxd.com/bill_b/list/bills-all-80s-movies-podcast-ratings/ Jason's Letterboxd Ratings: https://letterboxd.com/jasonmasek/list/jasons-all-80s-movies-podcast-ratings/ Website: http://www.all80smoviespodcast.com X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/podcastAll80s Facebook (META): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100030791216864 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@all80smoviespodcast Over 25,000 podcasters use Podpage! Create your own podcast website that looks great, runs smoothly, and is optimized for search engines. Get started today! Click Here to learn More Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Thrust is back with his dumb pick! Content Warning: we discuss outdated themes in the film that would not be acceptable by today's standards. Click here to see Thor's Drum of Dumb randomly select the last topic of Septdumber.   Check out the various projects of our pantheon members: Mr. Monopoly cohosts Bad For Me, Chibi hosts Unidentified Flying Obsession, and Ballarina Suzy is one of the panelists on Cinemondo.

In this conversation, Greg and Meredith discuss the movie 'Night of the Comet' and explores the topic of spooky season movies. They mention other Halloween-themed movies that could be covered and discusses the slasher film genre. The conversation also touches on Italian horror movies, the concept of 'making it,' and the effects of the comet in the movie. The conversation concludes with a discussion of the movie's ending and the future of the characters. They touch on the comedic timing, the low budget and impressive production value, the love of movies evident in the film, and the rejection of gender norms. They also discuss the impact of restrictions and limitations on filmmaking in different eras and the role of cinema in shaping culture. Overall, they find the movie to be a fun and nostalgic experience. 00:00 - Spooky Season Movies 09:03 - The Effects of the Comet 19:06 - The Concept of 'Making It' 22:20 - Shopping Mall Scene 26:22 - Abduction and Underground Bunker 31:27 - Happy Ending and Rebuilding Civilization 33:18 - Kelli Maroney's standout performance 37:36 - A love letter to movies 40:25 - Nods and references to other movies 41:20 - The choice to not choose 44:10 - Making the most of a limited budget 48:04 - The influence of past cinema on filmmakers 53:27 - Encouraging viewers to watch Night of the Comet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we're kicking off the Spooky season a little early with the 1986 techno horror film Chopping Mall. Co-written and directed by Jim Wynorski and produced by Julie Corman, it focuses on three high-tech security robots turning maniacal and killing teenage employees inside a shopping mall after dark. The film stars Kelli Maroney, Tony O'Dell, John Terlesky, Russell Todd, Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, and Barbara Crampton. Come join us!!! Website : http://tortelliniatnoon.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tortelliniatnoonpodcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TortelliniAtNoon Twitter: https://twitter.com/PastaMoviePod                            

WoHos!We had a blast talking to our new friend, Chrissy Champagne from Residue: A True Crime Podcast (go subscribe!) She brought a banger of a film that Means the World of Horror™ to her!We discussed the very strange and very 80's SciFi Mall Slasher (Yes, we're classing it as a slasher! Fight us!) Horny Comedy: CHOPPING MALL.If you haven't watched it or havn't watched it for awhile, then what are you even doing?Go watch it and then go download all of Chrissy's eps and subscribe to her on InstagramNext Bonus Episode will feature the one and only Quinn McLaughlin talking with me about THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.Next on the main show Mac and I will be discussing Squishy Body Horror with SOCIETY from the US and eXistenZ from Canada, Support the Show.Interstitial Music Works is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/Theme by Charles Michel "Aqui"Interstitial MusicKumiko (edited)Coma-MediaSubscribe to the Podcast for a Special shout-out!World of Horror's InstagramMom's InstagramMac's InstagramDonate to Translifeline

Join Jeff and Kev as they explore the 80s once again. We are up for a trip to the mall in Night of the Comet! Is it a classic? Is it a cult classic? Is it as amazing as some think? Is it entertaining? Is it a good film? All these hard hitting questions and more... ones you definitely weren't looking to ask in this digestible movie review! We don't stop till the screamin' starts! Amazon Link to  @ScreamFactoryTV  release of Night of the Comet (4K / UHD): https://amzn.to/46xOiCg Catherine Mary Stewart - https://www.catherinemarystewart.com/ Kelli Maroney - https://kellimaroney.com You can find the podcast at SunsAndShadows.com or your podcast app of choice! Follow us on all platforms, we have frequent giveaways and always discussing something fun! Facebook: @sunsandshadows Twitter: @sunsandshadows Instagram: @sunsandshadowscast Letterbox'd: SunsAndShadows Buy us a coffee : https://www.buymeacoffee.com/sunsandshao We are a review channel, we love to chat movies and more

Without Your Head Horror Podcast with Kelli Maroney!!! - Night of the Comet - popularity growth of the film - the upcoming Eclipse - possible sequel ideas - Chopping Mall - Mary Woronov - Portland Horror Film Festival - The Deep Ones and the Old Ones with Chad Ferrin - producing - Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama 2 - Brinke Stevens - Staycation - the upcoming Slashercise and more!!! Music of the Month L[u]Myia Dark supplying the tunes! #KelliMaroney #NightOfTheComet #Choppingmall #WomenInHorror #HorrorIcon #LumYiaDark #WithoutYourHead --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/withoutyourhead/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/withoutyourhead/support

I can't believe I have never released an episode based on “Night of the Comet" in all of my years podcast. I found evidence that I attempted an episode way back in 2012, but I must have not been happy with it. Well, some people have been talking about it and I thought I would release it for Halloween 2023. That came and went, but I didn't give up, and here we are. In the realm of cult classics, 'Night of the Comet' stands out as a unique blend of horror, sci-fi, and dark comedy. Released in 1984, this film captured the essence of the era while projecting a post-apocalyptic world that resonates with audiences even today. What makes it so memorable? Perhaps it's the blend of humor with a sense of doom, or maybe it's the strong, relatable characters who navigate a world turned upside down. Whatever the reason, ‘Night of the Comet' exceeds its B-movie classification by blending sharp writing with well-developed characters, transcending typical genre constraints. Its clever mix of horror, sci-fi, and comedy, coupled with a self-aware tone, elevates it from mere 80s kitsch to a cult classic, resonating with audiences beyond its expected scope. In this episode, I dive deep into the heart of this cult phenomenon. Beyond my personal recollections and the path it set for me and my friends, we explore the layers that make 'Night of the Comet' a film worth revisiting. I'll look at the innovative vision of writer-director Thom Eberhardt, how he and the cast brought this story to life, and the distinctive 80s soundtrack that still echoes in the minds of its fans. The cast of 'Night of the Comet' brought a dynamic energy and charm that significantly contributed to the film's lasting appeal. Anchored by the talents of Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney, who played the lead sisters Regina and Samantha Belmont, the film captured the spirit of resilience and determination of youth in the face of catastrophe. Stewart's portrayal of Regina combined strength and vulnerability, making her a relatable and compelling protagonist, while Maroney's Samantha offered a blend of youthful exuberance and wit. The chemistry between the two sisters provided a heartfelt and engaging core to the story. Supporting roles, including Robert Beltran as Hector, added depth and humor to the narrative. Each cast member delivered performances that resonated authenticity and charisma, ensuring that 'Night of the Comet' wasn't just a display of 80s sci-fi tropes, but a movie with characters that viewers could genuinely care about and root for. So, whether you're a long-time fan or new to this gem, this episode promises to offer fresh insights and reignite your appreciation for this quirky, end-of-the-world adventure. Tune in and join us on this retrospective journey.

CRAGG Live from December 23rd, 2023CRAGGmas 2023 Special (With Added Celeb Greetings)Join us this week for our CRAGGmas Christmas Special, featuring our hand picked favorite holiday songs from the world of pop culture, holiday standards, comedy/parody, and celebrity singing merriment.  Plus, past CRAGG Live celebrity guests call in to share their holiday/new year's wishes with you, our listeners! Hear celebrity greetings from past CRAGG Live guests including: Arch Hall Jr., Catherine Mary Stewart, Dave Thomas, Dee Wallace, Anne Serling (daughter of Rod Serling), Ann Moses, Brett Eidman, Calico Cooper, Caroline Boyce (Boyce & Hart), Diane Franklin, Don Dannemann (The Cyrkle), Fred Olen Ray, Gloria Loring, Jackie Joseph, Janus Blythe, Kathy Garver, Kelli Maroney, Kimmy Robertson, Lloyd Kaufman, Melanie Chartoff, Mitzi Kapture, Nancy Naglin, Raphael Engel, Ron Thompson, Scott Mensching (The Moon Rays), Sean Whalen, Ted A Bohus, Tom Holland and Wesley Eure!Listen to the show HERE.What is CRAGG Live Anyways?!  The flagship radio show of Cult Radio A-Go-Go!'s, CRAGG Live is a lively 2-3 hour talk radio show hosted by Terry and Tiffany DuFoe LIVE from an old abandoned Drive-In Movie theater with Wicked Kitty, Fritz, Imhotep and Hermey the studio cats and CRAGG The Gargoyle. We play retro pop culture, Drive-In movie, classic TV and old radio audio along with LIVE on the air celebrity interviews from the world of movies, TV, music, print, internet and a few odd balls thrown in for good measure. We air Saturdays at 5:00 pacific.We air on www.cultradioagogo.com which is a 24/7 free internet radio network of old time radio, music, movie trailers, old nostalgic commercials, snack bar audio, AND much more!  This show is copyright 2023 DuFoe Entertainment and the live interviews contained in this show may not be reproduced, transcribed or posted to a blog, social network or website without written permission from DuFoe Entertainment.NOTE* There is a brief leader before & after the show which was recorded "LIVE" off the air.

HO HO HOLY CRAP! It's a killer comet! The boys kick off this holiday season with an 80s cult classic. In between shopping trips to the mall, they discuss Castlevania safe words, butt shaking Santas, the gimp of the apocalypse, and sauerkraut. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F13mpUTYS3EIMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087799/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1Leave us a 30 second voicemail and if we like it we'll play it on the show: (949) 4-STABBY (949-478-2229)Like a book club but for dissecting obscure thriller, exploitation, and horror movies. Next movie announced every Wednesday. New episodes every Monday. Follow us on the things:Linktree: https://www.linktr.ee/stabbystabbyInstagram:  @stabbypod  https://www.instagram.com/stabbypod/Letterboxd:   https://boxd.it/dp1ACGet the shirt: https://www.big-other.com/shop/p/stabby-stabby-podcast-tee

It's the end of the world as we know it, Chatterers, so time to (red) dust off your cheer squad uniforms and hit the mall one last time as we boogie down with the 1984 cult classic NIGHT OF THE COMET, starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Robert Beltran, and Kelli Maroney.

A group of amorous couples decide to stay overnight at the local mall, at the same time that the mall's new robot security force is on duty. Things... don't go well. Sean joins us again to talk about Chopping Mall, in our penultimate episode of the 2023 edition of our 13 Days of Halloween series.

This episode Doc and GQ celebrate the 1986 killer robot classic, Chopping Mall! This is one of those absolute classic 80's horror films that both hosts go back to time and time again. Directed by longtime genre staple, Jim Wynorski, and starring Kelli Maroney, Barbara Crampton, Suzee Slater, and Tony O'Dell. Featuring cameos by Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, and the legendary Dick Miller. Two Good Scares: Hide and Go Shriek (Doc) and Westworld (GQ) email@soundsscarypodcast.com www.soundsscarypodcast.com Sounds Scary Instagram

We finally complete our mini-series on the 1980s movies released by Miramax Films in 1989, a year that included sex, lies, and videotape, and My Left Foot. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT   From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today.   On this episode, we complete our look back at the 1980s theatrical releases for Miramax Films. And, for the final time, a reminder that we are not celebrating Bob and Harvey Weinstein, but reminiscing about the movies they had no involvement in making. We cannot talk about cinema in the 1980s without talking about Miramax, and I really wanted to get it out of the way, once and for all.   As we left Part 4, Miramax was on its way to winning its first Academy Award, Billie August's Pelle the Conquerer, the Scandinavian film that would be second film in a row from Denmark that would win for Best Foreign Language Film.   In fact, the first two films Miramax would release in 1989, the Australian film Warm Night on a Slow Moving Train and the Anthony Perkins slasher film Edge of Sanity, would not arrive in theatres until the Friday after the Academy Awards ceremony that year, which was being held on the last Wednesday in March.   Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train stars Wendy Hughes, the talented Australian actress who, sadly, is best remembered today as Lt. Commander Nella Daren, one of Captain Jean-Luc Picard's few love interests, on a 1993 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, as Jenny, a prostitute working a weekend train to Sydney, who is seduced by a man on the train, unaware that he plans on tricking her to kill someone for him. Colin Friels, another great Aussie actor who unfortunately is best known for playing the corrupt head of Strack Industries in Sam Raimi's Darkman, plays the unnamed man who will do anything to get what he wants.   Director Bob Ellis and his co-screenwriter Denny Lawrence came up with the idea for the film while they themselves were traveling on a weekend train to Sydney, with the idea that each client the call girl met on the train would represent some part of the Australian male.   Funding the $2.5m film was really simple… provided they cast Hughes in the lead role. Ellis and Lawrence weren't against Hughes as an actress. Any film would be lucky to have her in the lead. They just felt she she didn't have the right kind of sex appeal for this specific character.   Miramax would open the film in six theatres, including the Cineplex Beverly Center in Los Angeles and the Fashion Village 8 in Orlando, on March 31st. There were two versions of the movie prepared, one that ran 130 minutes and the other just 91. Miramax would go with the 91 minute version of the film for the American release, and most of the critics would note how clunky and confusing the film felt, although one critic for the Village Voice would have some kind words for Ms. Hughes' performance.   Whether it was because moviegoers were too busy seeing the winners of the just announced Academy Awards, including Best Picture winner Rain Man, or because this weekend was also the opening weekend of the new Major League Baseball season, or just turned off by the reviews, attendance at the theatres playing Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train was as empty as a train dining car at three in the morning. The Beverly Center alone would account for a third of the movie's opening weekend gross of $19,268. After a second weekend at the same six theatres pocketing just $14,382, this train stalled out, never to arrive at another station.   Their other March 31st release, Edge of Sanity, is notable for two things and only two things: it would be the first film Miramax would release under their genre specialty label, Millimeter Films, which would eventually evolve into Dimension Films in the next decade, and it would be the final feature film to star Anthony Perkins before his passing in 1992.   The film is yet another retelling of the classic 1886 Robert Louis Stevenson story The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, with the bonus story twist that Hyde was actually Jack the Ripper. As Jekyll, Perkins looks exactly as you'd expect a mid-fifties Norman Bates to look. As Hyde, Perkins is made to look like he's a backup keyboardist for the first Nine Inch Nails tour. Head Like a Hole would have been an appropriate song for the end credits, had the song or Pretty Hate Machine been released by that time, with its lyrics about bowing down before the one you serve and getting what you deserve.   Edge of Sanity would open in Atlanta and Indianapolis on March 31st. And like so many other Miramax releases in the 1980s, they did not initially announce any grosses for the film. That is, until its fourth weekend of release, when the film's theatre count had fallen to just six, down from the previous week's previously unannounced 35, grossing just $9,832. Miramax would not release grosses for the film again, with a final total of just $102,219.   Now when I started this series, I said that none of the films Miramax released in the 1980s were made by Miramax, but this next film would become the closest they would get during the decade.   In July 1961, John Profumo was the Secretary of State for War in the conservative government of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, when the married Profumo began a sexual relationship with a nineteen-year-old model named Christine Keeler. The affair was very short-lived, either ending, depending on the source, in August 1961 or December 1961. Unbeknownst to Profumo, Keeler was also having an affair with Yevgeny Ivanov, a senior naval attache at the Soviet Embassy at the same time.   No one was the wiser on any of this until December 1962, when a shooting incident involving two other men Keeler had been involved with led the press to start looking into Keeler's life. While it was never proven that his affair with Keeler was responsible for any breaches of national security, John Profumo was forced to resign from his position in June 1963, and the scandal would take down most of the Torie government with him. Prime Minister Macmillan would resign due to “health reasons” in October 1963, and the Labour Party would take control of the British government when the next elections were held in October 1964.   Scandal was originally planned in the mid-1980s as a three-part, five-hour miniseries by Australian screenwriter Michael Thomas and American music producer turned movie producer Joe Boyd. The BBC would commit to finance a two-part, three-hour miniseries,  until someone at the network found an old memo from the time of the Profumo scandal that forbade them from making any productions about it. Channel 4, which had been producing quality shows and movies for several years since their start in 1982, was approached, but rejected the series on the grounds of taste.   Palace Pictures, a British production company who had already produced three films for Neil Jordan including Mona Lisa, was willing to finance the script, provided it could be whittled down to a two hour movie. Originally budgeted at 3.2m British pounds, the costs would rise as they started the casting process.  John Hurt, twice Oscar-nominated for his roles in Midnight Express and The Elephant Man, would sign on to play Stephen Ward, a British osteopath who acted as Christine Keeler's… well… pimp, for lack of a better word. Ian McKellen, a respected actor on British stages and screens but still years away from finding mainstream global success in the X-Men movies, would sign on to play John Profumo. Joanne Whaley, who had filmed the yet to be released at that time Willow with her soon to be husband Val Kilmer, would get her first starring role as Keeler, and Bridget Fonda, who was quickly making a name for herself in the film world after being featured in Aria, would play Mandy Rice-Davies, the best friend and co-worker of Keeler's.   To save money, Palace Pictures would sign thirty-year-old Scottish filmmaker Michael Caton-Jones to direct, after seeing a short film he had made called The Riveter. But even with the neophyte feature filmmaker, Palace still needed about $2.35m to be able to fully finance the film. And they knew exactly who to go to.   Stephen Woolley, the co-founder of Palace Pictures and the main producer on the film, would fly from London to New York City to personally pitch Harvey and Bob Weinstein. Woolley felt that of all the independent distributors in America, they would be the ones most attracted to the sexual and controversial nature of the story. A day later, Woolley was back on a plane to London. The Weinsteins had agreed to purchase the American distribution rights to Scandal for $2.35m.   The film would spend two months shooting in the London area through the summer of 1988. Christine Keeler had no interest in the film, and refused to meet the now Joanne Whaley-Kilmer to talk about the affair, but Mandy Rice-Davies was more than happy to Bridget Fonda about her life, although the meetings between the two women were so secret, they would not come out until Woolley eulogized Rice-Davies after her 2014 death.   Although Harvey and Bob would be given co-executive producers on the film, Miramax was not a production company on the film. This, however, did not stop Harvey from flying to London multiple times, usually when he was made aware of some sexy scene that was going to shoot the following day, and try to insinuate himself into the film's making. At one point, Woolley decided to take a weekend off from the production, and actually did put Harvey in charge. That weekend's shoot would include a skinny-dipping scene featuring the Christine Keeler character, but when Whaley-Kilmer learned Harvey was going to be there, she told the director that she could not do the nudity in the scene. Her new husband was objecting to it, she told them. Harvey, not skipping a beat, found a lookalike for the actress who would be willing to bare all as a body double, and the scene would begin shooting a few hours later. Whaley-Kilmer watched the shoot from just behind the camera, and stopped the shoot a few minutes later. She was not happy that the body double's posterior was notably larger than her own, and didn't want audiences to think she had that much junk in her trunk. The body double was paid for her day, and Whaley-Kilmer finished the rest of the scene herself.   Caton-Jones and his editing team worked on shaping the film through the fall, and would screen his first edit of the film for Palace Pictures and the Weinsteins in November 1988. And while Harvey was very happy with the cut, he still asked the production team for a different edit for American audiences, noting that most Americans had no idea who Profumo or Keeler or Rice-Davies were, and that Americans would need to understand the story more right out of the first frame. Caton-Jones didn't want to cut a single frame, but he would work with Harvey to build an American-friendly cut.   While he was in London in November 1988, he would meet with the producers of another British film that was in pre-production at the time that would become another important film to the growth of the company, but we're not quite at that part of the story yet. We'll circle around to that film soon.   One of the things Harvey was most looking forward to going in to 1989 was the expected battle with the MPAA ratings board over Scandal. Ever since he had seen the brouhaha over Angel Heart's X rating two years earlier, he had been looking for a similar battle. He thought he had it with Aria in 1988, but he knew he definitely had it now.   And he'd be right.   In early March, just a few weeks before the film's planned April 21st opening day, the MPAA slapped an X rating on Scandal. The MPAA usually does not tell filmmakers or distributors what needs to be cut, in order to avoid accusations of actual censorship, but according to Harvey, they told him exactly what needed to be cut to get an R: a two second shot during an orgy scene, where it appears two background characters are having unsimulated sex.   So what did Harvey do?   He spent weeks complaining to the press about MPAA censorship, generating millions in free publicity for the film, all the while already having a close-up shot of Joanne Whaley-Kilmer's Christine Keeler watching the orgy but not participating in it, ready to replace the objectionable shot.   A few weeks later, Miramax screened the “edited” film to the MPAA and secured the R rating, and the film would open on 94 screens, including 28 each in the New York City and Los Angeles metro regions, on April 28th.   And while the reviews for the film were mostly great, audiences were drawn to the film for the Miramax-manufactured controversy as well as the key art for the film, a picture of a potentially naked Joanne Whaley-Kilmer sitting backwards in a chair, a mimic of a very famous photo Christine Keeler herself took to promote a movie about the Profumo affair she appeared in a few years after the events. I'll have a picture of both the Scandal poster and the Christine Keeler photo on this episode's page at The80sMoviePodcast.com   Five other movies would open that weekend, including the James Belushi comedy K-9 and the Kevin Bacon drama Criminal Law, and Scandal, with $658k worth of ticket sales, would have the second best per screen average of the five new openers, just a few hundred dollars below the new Holly Hunter movie Miss Firecracker, which only opened on six screens.   In its second weekend, Scandal would expand its run to 214 playdates, and make its debut in the national top ten, coming in tenth place with $981k. That would be more than the second week of the Patrick Dempsey rom-com Loverboy, even though Loverboy was playing on 5x as many screens.   In weekend number three, Scandal would have its best overall gross and top ten placement, coming in seventh with $1.22m from 346 screens. Scandal would start to slowly fade after that, falling back out of the top ten in its sixth week, but Miramax would wisely keep the screen count under 375, because Scandal wasn't going to play well in all areas of the country. After nearly five months in theatres, Miramax would have its biggest film to date. Scandal would gross $8.8m.   The second release from Millimeter Films was The Return of the Swamp Thing. And if you needed a reason why the 1980s was not a good time for comic book movies, here you are. The Return of the Swamp Thing took most of what made the character interesting in his comic series, and most of what was good from the 1982 Wes Craven adaptation, and decided “Hey, you know what would bring the kids in? Camp! Camp unseen in a comic book adaptation since the 1960s Batman series. They loved it then, they'll love it now!”   They did not love it now.   Heather Locklear, between her stints on T.J. Hooker and Melrose Place, plays the step-daughter of Louis Jourdan's evil Dr. Arcane from the first film, who heads down to the Florida swaps to confront dear old once presumed dead stepdad. He in turns kidnaps his stepdaughter and decides to do some of his genetic experiments on her, until she is rescued by Swamp Thing, one of Dr. Arcane's former co-workers who got turned into the gooey anti-hero in the first movie.   The film co-stars Sarah Douglas from Superman 1 and 2 as Dr. Arcane's assistant, Dick Durock reprising his role as Swamp Thing from the first film, and 1980s B-movie goddess Monique Gabrielle as Miss Poinsettia.   For director Jim Wynorski, this was his sixth movie as a director, and at $3m, one of the highest budgeted movies he would ever make. He's directed 107 movies since 1984, most of them low budget direct to video movies with titles like The Bare Wench Project and Alabama Jones and the Busty Crusade, although he does have one genuine horror classic under his belt, the 1986 sci-fi tinged Chopping Maul with Kelli Maroney and Barbara Crampton.   Wynorski suggested in a late 1990s DVD commentary for the film that he didn't particularly enjoy making the film, and had a difficult time directing Louis Jourdan, to the point that outside of calling “action” and “cut,” the two didn't speak to each other by the end of the shoot.   The Return of Swamp Thing would open in 123 theatres in the United States on May 12th, including 28 in the New York City metro region, 26 in the Los Angeles area, 15 in Detroit, and a handful of theatres in Phoenix, San Francisco. And, strangely, the newspaper ads would include an actual positive quote from none other than Roger Ebert, who said on Siskel & Ebert that he enjoyed himself, and that it was good to have Swamp Thing back. Siskel would not reciprocate his balcony partner's thumb up. But Siskel was about the only person who was positive on the return of Swamp Thing, and that box office would suffer. In its first three days, the film would gross just $119,200. After a couple more dismal weeks in theatres, The Return of Swamp Thing would be pulled from distribution, with a final gross of just $275k.   Fun fact: The Return of Swamp Thing was produced by Michael E. Uslan, whose next production, another adaptation of a DC Comics character, would arrive in theatres not six weeks later and become the biggest film of the summer. In fact, Uslan has been a producer or executive producer on every Batman-related movie and television show since 1989, from Tim Burton to Christopher Nolan to Zack Snyder to Matt Reeves, and from LEGO movies to Joker. He also, because of his ownership of the movie rights to Swamp Thing, got the movie screen rights, but not the television screen rights, to John Constantine.   Miramax didn't have too much time to worry about The Return of Swamp Thing's release, as it was happening while the Brothers Weinstein were at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. They had two primary goals at Cannes that year:   To buy American distribution rights to any movie that would increase their standing in the cinematic worldview, which they would achieve by picking up an Italian dramedy called, at the time, New Paradise Cinema, which was competing for the Palme D'Or with a Miramax pickup from Sundance back in January. Promote that very film, which did end up winning the Palme D'Or.   Ever since he was a kid, Steven Soderbergh wanted to be a filmmaker. Growing up in Baton Rouge, LA in the late 1970s, he would enroll in the LSU film animation class, even though he was only 15 and not yet a high school graduate. After graduating high school, he decided to move to Hollywood to break into the film industry, renting an above-garage room from Stephen Gyllenhaal, the filmmaker best known as the father of Jake and Maggie, but after a few freelance editing jobs, Soderbergh packed up his things and headed home to Baton Rouge.   Someone at Atco Records saw one of Soderbergh's short films, and hired him to direct a concert movie for one of their biggest bands at the time, Yes, who was enjoying a major comeback thanks to their 1983 triple platinum selling album, 90125. The concert film, called 9012Live, would premiere on MTV in late 1985, and it would be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video.   Soderbergh would use the money he earned from that project, $7,500, to make Winston, a 12 minute black and white short about sexual deception that he would, over the course of an eight day driving trip from Baton Rouge to Los Angeles, expand to a full length screen that he would call sex, lies and videotape. In later years, Soderbergh would admit that part of the story is autobiographical, but not the part you might think. Instead of the lead, Graham, an impotent but still sexually perverse late twentysomething who likes to tape women talking about their sexual fantasies for his own pleasure later, Soderbergh based the husband John, the unsophisticated lawyer who cheats on his wife with her sister, on himself, although there would be a bit of Graham that borrows from the filmmaker. Like his lead character, Soderbergh did sell off most of his possessions and hit the road to live a different life.   When he finished the script, he sent it out into the wilds of Hollywood. Morgan Mason, the son of actor James Mason and husband of Go-Go's lead singer Belinda Carlisle, would read it and sign on as an executive producer. Soderbergh had wanted to shoot the film in black and white, like he had with the Winston short that lead to the creation of this screenplay, but he and Mason had trouble getting anyone to commit to the project, even with only a projected budget of $200,000. For a hot moment, it looked like Universal might sign on to make the film, but they would eventually pass.   Robert Newmyer, who had left his job as a vice president of production and acquisitions at Columbia Pictures to start his own production company, signed on as a producer, and helped to convince Soderbergh to shoot the film in color, and cast some name actors in the leading roles. Once he acquiesced, Richard Branson's Virgin Vision agreed to put up $540k of the newly budgeted $1.2m film, while RCA/Columbia Home Video would put up the remaining $660k.   Soderbergh and his casting director, Deborah Aquila, would begin their casting search in New York, where they would meet with, amongst others, Andie MacDowell, who had already starred in two major Hollywood pictures, 1984's Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, and 1985's St. Elmo's Fire, but was still considered more of a top model than an actress, and Laura San Giacomo, who had recently graduated from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in Pittsburgh and would be making her feature debut. Moving on to Los Angeles, Soderbergh and Aquila would cast James Spader, who had made a name for himself as a mostly bad guy in 80s teen movies like Pretty in Pink and Less Than Zero, but had never been the lead in a drama like this. At Spader's suggestion, the pair met with Peter Gallagher, who was supposed to become a star nearly a decade earlier from his starring role in Taylor Hackford's The Idolmaker, but had mostly been playing supporting roles in television shows and movies for most of the decade.   In order to keep the budget down, Soderbergh, the producers, cinematographer Walt Lloyd and the four main cast members agreed to get paid their guild minimums in exchange for a 50/50 profit participation split with RCA/Columbia once the film recouped its costs.   The production would spend a week in rehearsals in Baton Rouge, before the thirty day shoot began on August 1st, 1988. On most days, the shoot was unbearable for many, as temperatures would reach as high as 110 degrees outside, but there were a couple days lost to what cinematographer Lloyd said was “biblical rains.” But the shoot completed as scheduled, and Soderbergh got to the task of editing right away. He knew he only had about eight weeks to get a cut ready if the film was going to be submitted to the 1989 U.S. Film Festival, now better known as Sundance. He did get a temporary cut of the film ready for submission, with a not quite final sound mix, and the film was accepted to the festival. It would make its world premiere on January 25th, 1989, in Park City UT, and as soon as the first screening was completed, the bids from distributors came rolling in. Larry Estes, the head of RCA/Columbia Home Video, would field more than a dozen submissions before the end of the night, but only one distributor was ready to make a deal right then and there.   Bob Weinstein wasn't totally sold on the film, but he loved the ending, and he loved that the word “sex” not only was in the title but lead the title. He knew that title alone would sell the movie. Harvey, who was still in New York the next morning, called Estes to make an appointment to meet in 24 hours. When he and Estes met, he brought with him three poster mockups the marketing department had prepared, and told Estes he wasn't going to go back to New York until he had a contract signed, and vowed to beat any other deal offered by $100,000. Island Pictures, who had made their name releasing movies like Stop Making Sense, Kiss of the Spider-Woman, The Trip to Bountiful and She's Gotta Have It, offered $1m for the distribution rights, plus a 30% distribution fee and a guaranteed $1m prints and advertising budget. Estes called Harvey up and told him what it would take to make the deal. $1.1m for the distribution rights, which needed to paid up front, a $1m P&A budget, to be put in escrow upon the signing of the contract until the film was released, a 30% distribution fee, no cutting of the film whatsoever once Soderbergh turns in his final cut, they would need to provide financial information for the films costs and returns once a month because of the profit participation contracts, and the Weinsteins would have to hire Ira Deutchman, who had spent nearly 15 years in the independent film world, doing marketing for Cinema 5, co-founding United Artists Classics, and co-founding Cinecom Pictures before opening his own company to act as a producers rep and marketer. And the Weinsteins would not only have to do exactly what Deutchman wanted, they'd have to pay for his services too.   The contract was signed a few weeks later.   The first move Miramax would make was to get Soderbergh's final cut of the film entered into the Cannes Film Festival, where it would be accepted to compete in the main competition. Which you kind of already know what happened, because that's what I lead with. The film would win the Palme D'Or, and Spader would be awarded the festival's award for Best Actor. It was very rare at the time, and really still is, for any film to be awarded more than one prize, so winning two was really a coup for the film and for Miramax, especially when many critics attending the festival felt Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing was the better film.   In March, Miramax expected the film to make around $5-10m, which would net the company a small profit on the film. After Cannes, they were hopeful for a $15m gross.   They never expected what would happen next.   On August 4th, sex, lies, and videotape would open on four screens, at the Cinema Studio in New York City, and at the AMC Century 14, the Cineplex Beverly Center 13 and the Mann Westwood 4 in Los Angeles. Three prime theatres and the best they could do in one of the then most competitive zones in all America. Remember, it's still the Summer 1989 movie season, filled with hits like Batman, Dead Poets Society, Ghostbusters 2, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Lethal Weapon 2, Parenthood, Turner & Hooch, and When Harry Met Sally. An independent distributor even getting one screen at the least attractive theatre in Westwood was a major get. And despite the fact that this movie wasn't really a summertime movie per se, the film would gross an incredible $156k in its first weekend from just these four theatres. Its nearly $40k per screen average would be 5x higher than the next closest film, Parenthood.   In its second weekend, the film would expand to 28 theatres, and would bring in over $600k in ticket sales, its per screen average of $21,527 nearly triple its closest competitor, Parenthood again. The company would keep spending small, as it slowly expanded the film each successive week. Forty theatres in its third week, and 101 in its fourth. The numbers held strong, and in its fifth week, Labor Day weekend, the film would have its first big expansion, playing in 347 theatres. The film would enter the top ten for the first time, despite playing in 500 to 1500 fewer theatres than the other films in the top ten. In its ninth weekend, the film would expand to its biggest screen count, 534, before slowly drawing down as the other major Oscar contenders started their theatrical runs. The film would continue to play through the Oscar season of 1989, and when it finally left theatres in May 1989, its final gross would be an astounding $24.7m.   Now, remember a few moments ago when I said that Miramax needed to provide financial statements every month for the profit participation contracts of Soderbergh, the producers, the cinematographer and the four lead actors? The film was so profitable for everyone so quickly that RCA/Columbia made its first profit participation payouts on October 17th, barely ten weeks after the film's opening.   That same week, Soderbergh also made what was at the time the largest deal with a book publisher for the writer/director's annotated version of the screenplay, which would also include his notes created during the creation of the film. That $75,000 deal would be more than he got paid to make the movie as the writer and the director and the editor, not counting the profit participation checks.   During the awards season, sex, lies, and videotape was considered to be one of the Oscars front runners for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and at least two acting nominations. The film would be nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress by the Golden Globes, and it would win the Spirit Awards for Best Picture, Soderbergh for Best Director, McDowell for Best Actress, and San Giacomo for Best Supporting Actress. But when the Academy Award nominations were announced, the film would only receive one nomination, for Best Original Screenplay. The same total and category as Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, which many people also felt had a chance for a Best Picture and Best Director nomination. Both films would lose out to Tom Shulman's screenplay for Dead Poet's Society.   The success of sex, lies, and videotape would launch Steven Soderbergh into one of the quirkiest Hollywood careers ever seen, including becoming the first and only director ever to be nominated twice for Best Director in the same year by the Motion Picture Academy, the Golden Globes and the Directors Guild of America, in 2001 for directing Erin Brockovich and Traffic. He would win the Oscar for directing Traffic.   Lost in the excitement of sex, lies, and videotape was The Little Thief, a French movie that had an unfortunate start as the screenplay François Truffaut was working on when he passed away in 1984 at the age of just 52.   Directed by Claude Miller, whose principal mentor was Truffaut, The Little Thief starred seventeen year old Charlotte Gainsbourg as Janine, a young woman in post-World War II France who commits a series of larcenies to support her dreams of becoming wealthy.   The film was a modest success in France when it opened in December 1988, but its American release date of August 25th, 1989, was set months in advance. So when it was obvious sex, lies, and videotape was going to be a bigger hit than they originally anticipated, it was too late for Miramax to pause the release of The Little Thief.   Opening at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in New York City, and buoyed by favorable reviews from every major critic in town, The Little Thief would see $39,931 worth of ticket sales in its first seven days, setting a new house record at the theatre for the year. In its second week, the gross would only drop $47. For the entire week. And when it opened at the Royal Theatre in West Los Angeles, its opening week gross of $30,654 would also set a new house record for the year.   The film would expand slowly but surely over the next several weeks, often in single screen playdates in major markets, but it would never play on more than twenty-four screens in any given week. And after four months in theatres, The Little Thief, the last movie created one of the greatest film writers the world had ever seen, would only gross $1.056m in the United States.   The next three releases from Miramax were all sent out under the Millimeter Films banner.   The first, a supernatural erotic drama called The Girl in a Swing, was about an English antiques dealer who travels to Copenhagen where he meets and falls in love with a mysterious German-born secretary, whom he marries, only to discover a darker side to his new bride. Rupert Frazer, who played Christian Bale's dad in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, plays the antique dealer, while Meg Tilly the mysterious new bride.   Filmed over a five week schedule in London and Copenhagen during May and June 1988, some online sources say the film first opened somewhere in California in December 1988, but I cannot find a single theatre not only in California but anywhere in the United States that played the film before its September 29th, 1989 opening date.   Roger Ebert didn't like the film, and wished Meg Tilly's “genuinely original performance” was in a better movie. Opening in 26 theatres, including six theatres each in New York City and Los Angeles, and spurred on by an intriguing key art for the film that featured a presumed naked Tilly on a swing looking seductively at the camera while a notice underneath her warns that No One Under 18 Will Be Admitted To The Theatre, The Girl in a Swing would gross $102k, good enough for 35th place nationally that week. And that's about the best it would do. The film would limp along, moving from market to market over the course of the next three months, and when its theatrical run was complete, it could only manage about $747k in ticket sales.   We'll quickly burn through the next two Millimeter Films releases, which came out a week apart from each other and didn't amount to much.   Animal Behavior was a rather unfunny comedy featuring some very good actors who probably signed on for a very different movie than the one that came to be. Karen Allen, Miss Marion Ravenwood herself, stars as Alex, a biologist who, like Dr. Jane Goodall, develops a “new” way to communicate with chimpanzees via sign language. Armand Assante plays a cellist who pursues the good doctor, and Holly Hunter plays the cellist's neighbor, who Alex mistakes for his wife.   Animal Behavior was filmed in 1984, and 1985, and 1987, and 1988. The initial production was directed by Jenny Bowen with the assistance of Robert Redford and The Sundance Institute, thanks to her debut film, 1981's Street Music featuring Elizabeth Daily. It's unknown why Bowen and her cinematographer husband Richard Bowen left the project, but when filming resumed again and again and again, those scenes were directed by the film's producer, Kjehl Rasmussen.   Because Bowen was not a member of the DGA at the time, she was not able to petition the guild for the use of the Alan Smithee pseudonym, a process that is automatically triggered whenever a director is let go of a project and filming continues with its producer taking the reigns as director. But she was able to get the production to use a pseudonym anyway for the director's credit, H. Anne Riley, while also giving Richard Bowen a pseudonym of his own for his work on the film, David Spellvin.   Opening on 24 screens on October 27th, Animal Behavior would come in 50th place in its opening weekend, grossing just $20,361. The New York film critics ripped the film apart, and there wouldn't be a second weekend for the film.   The following Friday, November 3rd, saw the release of The Stepfather II, a rushed together sequel to 1987's The Stepfather, which itself wasn't a big hit in theatres but found a very quick and receptive audience on cable.   Despite dying at the end of the first film, Terry O'Quinn's Jerry is somehow still alive, and institutionalized in Northern Washington state. He escapes and heads down to Los Angeles, where he assumes the identity of a recently deceased publisher, Gene Clifford, but instead passes himself off as a psychiatrist. Jerry, now Gene, begins to court his neighbor Carol, and the whole crazy story plays out again. Meg Foster plays the neighbor Carol, and Jonathan Brandis is her son.    Director Jeff Burr had made a name for himself with his 1987 horror anthology film From a Whisper to a Scream, featuring Vincent Price, Clu Gulager and Terry Kiser, and from all accounts, had a very smooth shooting process with this film. The trouble began when he turned in his cut to the producers. The producers were happy with the film, but when they sent it to Miramax, the American distributors, they were rather unhappy with the almost bloodless slasher film. They demanded reshoots, which Burr and O'Quinn refused to participate in. They brought in a new director, Doug Campbell, to handle the reshoots, which are easy to spot in the final film because they look and feel completely different from the scenes they're spliced into.   When it opened, The Stepfather II actually grossed slightly more than the first film did, earning $279k from 100 screens, compared to $260k for The Stepfather from 105 screens. But unlike the first film, which had some decent reviews when it opened, the sequel was a complete mess. To this day, it's still one of the few films to have a 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and The Stepfather II would limp its way through theatres during the Christmas holiday season, ending its run with a $1.5m gross.   But it would be their final film of the decade that would dictate their course for at least the first part of the 1990s.   Remember when I said earlier in the episode that Harvey Weinstein meant with the producers of another British film while in London for Scandal? We're at that film now, a film you probably know.   My Left Foot.   By November 1988, actor Daniel Day-Lewis had starred in several movies including James Ivory's A Room With a View and Philip Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. He had even been the lead in a major Hollywood studio film, Pat O'Connor's Stars and Bars, a very good film that unfortunately got caught up in the brouhaha over the exit of the studio head who greenlit the film, David Puttnam.   The film's director, Jim Sheridan, had never directed a movie before. He had become involved in stage production during his time at the University College in Dublin in the late 1960s, where he worked with future filmmaker Neil Jordan, and had spent nearly a decade after graduation doing stage work in Ireland and Canada, before settling in New York City in the early 1980s. Sheridan would go to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where one of his classmates was Spike Lee, and return to Ireland after graduating. He was nearly forty, married with two pre-teen daughters, and he needed to make a statement with his first film.   He would find that story in the autobiography of Irish writer and painter Christy Brown, whose spirit and creativity could not be contained by his severe cerebral palsy. Along with Irish actor and writer Shane Connaughton, Sheridan wrote a screenplay that could be a powerhouse film made on a very tight budget of less than a million dollars.   Daniel Day-Lewis was sent a copy of the script, in the hopes he would be intrigued enough to take almost no money to play a physically demanding role. He read the opening pages, which had the adult Christy Brown putting a record on a record player and dropping the needle on to the record with his left foot, and thought to himself it would be impossible to film. That intrigued him, and he signed on. But during filming in January and February of 1989, most of the scenes were shot using mirrors, as Day-Lewis couldn't do the scenes with his left foot. He could do them with his right foot, hence the mirrors.   As a method actor, Day-Lewis remained in character as Christy Brown for the entire two month shoot. From costume fittings and makeup in the morning, to getting the actor on set, to moving him around between shots, there were crew members assigned to assist the actor as if they were Christy Brown's caretakers themselves, including feeding him during breaks in shooting. A rumor debunked by the actor years later said Day-Lewis had broken two ribs during production because of how hunched down he needed to be in his crude prop wheelchair to properly play the character.   The actor had done a lot of prep work to play the role, including spending time at the Sandymount School Clinic where the young Christy Brown got his education, and much of his performance was molded on those young people.   While Miramax had acquired the American distribution rights to the film before it went into production, and those funds went into the production of the film, the film was not produced by Miramax, nor were the Weinsteins given any kind of executive producer credit, as they were able to get themselves on Scandal.   My Left Foot would make its world premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival on September 4th, 1989, followed soon thereafter by screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13th and the New York Film Festival on September 23rd. Across the board, critics and audiences were in love with the movie, and with Daniel Day-Lewis's performance. Jim Sheridan would receive a special prize at the Montreal World Film Festival for his direction, and Day-Lewis would win the festival's award for Best Actor. However, as the film played the festival circuit, another name would start to pop up. Brenda Fricker, a little known Irish actress who played Christy Brown's supportive but long-suffering mother Bridget, would pile up as many positive notices and awards as Day-Lewis. Although there was no Best Supporting Actress Award at the Montreal Film Festival, the judges felt her performance was deserving of some kind of attention, so they would create a Special Mention of the Jury Award to honor her.   Now, some sources online will tell you the film made its world premiere in Dublin on February 24th, 1989, based on a passage in a biography about Daniel Day-Lewis, but that would be impossible as the film would still be in production for two more days, and wasn't fully edited or scored by then.   I'm not sure when it first opened in the United Kingdom other than sometime in early 1990, but My Left Foot would have its commercial theatre debut in America on November 10th, when opened at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in New York City and the Century City 14 in Los Angeles. Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times would, in the very opening paragraph of her review, note that one shouldn't see My Left Foot for some kind of moral uplift or spiritual merit badge, but because of your pure love of great moviemaking. Vincent Canby's review in the New York Times spends most of his words praising Day-Lewis and Sheridan for making a film that is polite and non-judgmental.    Interestingly, Miramax went with an ad campaign that completely excluded any explanation of who Christy Brown was or why the film is titled the way it is. 70% of the ad space is taken from pull quotes from many of the top critics of the day, 20% with the title of the film, and 10% with a picture of Daniel Day-Lewis, clean shaven and full tooth smile, which I don't recall happening once in the movie, next to an obviously added-in picture of one of his co-stars that is more camera-friendly than Brenda Fricker or Fiona Shaw.   Whatever reasons people went to see the film, they flocked to the two theatres playing the film that weekend. It's $20,582 per screen average would be second only to Kenneth Branagh's Henry V, which had opened two days earlier, earning slightly more than $1,000 per screen than My Left Foot.   In week two, My Left Foot would gross another $35,133 from those two theatres, and it would overtake Henry V for the highest per screen average. In week three, Thanksgiving weekend, both Henry V and My Left Foot saw a a double digit increase in grosses despite not adding any theatres, and the latter film would hold on to the highest per screen average again, although the difference would only be $302. And this would continue for weeks. In the film's sixth week of release, it would get a boost in attention by being awarded Best Film of the Year by the New York Film Critics Circle. Daniel Day-Lewis would be named Best Actor that week by both the New York critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, while Fricker would win the Best Supporting Actress award from the latter group.   But even then, Miramax refused to budge on expanding the film until its seventh week of release, Christmas weekend, when My Left Foot finally moved into cities like Chicago and San Francisco. Its $135k gross that weekend was good, but it was starting to lose ground to other Oscar hopefuls like Born on the Fourth of July, Driving Miss Daisy, Enemies: A Love Story, and Glory.   And even though the film continued to rack up award win after award win, nomination after nomination, from the Golden Globes and the Writers Guild and the National Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review, Miramax still held firm on not expanding the film into more than 100 theatres nationwide until its 16th week in theatres, February 16th, 1990, two days after the announcement of the nominees for the 62nd Annual Academy Awards. While Daniel Day-Lewis's nomination for Best Actor was virtually assured and Brenda Fricker was practically a given, the film would pick up three other nominations, including surprise nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. Jim Sheridan and co-writer Shane Connaughton would also get picked for Best Adapted Screenplay.   Miramax also picked up a nomination for Best Original Screenplay for sex, lies, and videotape, and a Best Foreign Language Film nod for the Italian movie Cinema Paradiso, which, thanks to the specific rules for that category, a film could get a nomination before actually opening in theatres in America, which Miramax would rush to do with Paradiso the week after its nomination was announced.   The 62nd Academy Awards ceremony would be best remembered today as being the first Oscar show to be hosted by Billy Crystal, and for being considerably better than the previous year's ceremony, a mess of a show best remembered as being the one with a 12 minute opening musical segment that included Rob Lowe singing Proud Mary to an actress playing Snow White and another nine minute musical segment featuring a slew of expected future Oscar winners that, to date, feature exact zero Oscar nominees, both which rank as amongst the worst things to ever happen to the Oscars awards show.   The ceremony, held on March 26th, would see My Left Foot win two awards, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, as well as Cinema Paradiso for Best Foreign Film. The following weekend, March 30th, would see Miramax expand My Left Foot to 510 theatres, its widest point of release, and see the film made the national top ten and earn more than a million dollars for its one and only time during its eight month run.   The film would lose steam pretty quickly after its post-win bump, but it would eek out a modest run that ended with $14.75m in ticket sales just in the United States. Not bad for a little Irish movie with no major stars that cost less than a million dollars to make.   Of course, the early 90s would see Miramax fly to unimagined heights. In all of the 80s, Miramax would release 39 movies. They would release 30 films alone in 1991. They would release the first movies from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith. They'd release some of the best films from some of the best filmmakers in the world, including Woody Allen, Pedro Almadovar, Robert Altman, Bernardo Bertolucci, Atom Egoyan, Steven Frears, Peter Greenaway, Peter Jackson, Neil Jordan, Chen Kaige, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Lars von Trier, and Zhang Yimou. In 1993, the Mexican dramedy Like Water for Chocolate would become the highest grossing foreign language film ever released in America, and it would play in some theatres, including my theatre, the NuWilshire in Santa Monica, continuously for more than a year.   If you've listened to the whole series on the 1980s movies of Miramax Films, there are two things I hope you take away. First, I hope you discovered at least one film you hadn't heard of before and you might be interested in searching out. The second is the reminder that neither Bob nor Harvey Weinstein will profit in any way if you give any of the movies talked about in this series a chance. They sold Miramax to Disney in June 1993. They left Miramax in September 2005. Many of the contracts for the movies the company released in the 80s and 90s expired decades ago, with the rights reverting back to their original producers, none of whom made any deals with the Weinsteins once they got their rights back.   Harvey Weinstein is currently serving a 23 year prison sentence in upstate New York after being found guilty in 2020 of two sexual assaults. Once he completes that sentence, he'll be spending another 16 years in prison in California, after he was convicted of three sexual assaults that happened in Los Angeles between 2004 and 2013. And if the 71 year old makes it to 107 years old, he may have to serve time in England for two sexual assaults that happened in August 1996. That case is still working its way through the British legal system.   Bob Weinstein has kept a low profile since his brother's proclivities first became public knowledge in October 2017, although he would also be accused of sexual harassment by a show runner for the brothers' Spike TV-aired adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Mist, several days after the bombshell articles came out about his brother. However, Bob's lawyer, the powerful attorney to the stars Bert Fields, deny the allegations, and it appears nothing has occurred legally since the accusations were made.   A few weeks after the start of the MeToo movement that sparked up in the aftermath of the accusations of his brother's actions, Bob Weinstein denied having any knowledge of the nearly thirty years of documented sexual abuse at the hands of his brother, but did allow to an interviewer for The Hollywood Reporter that he had barely spoken to Harvey over the previous five years, saying he could no longer take Harvey's cheating, lying and general attitude towards everyone.   And with that, we conclude our journey with Miramax Films. While I am sure Bob and Harvey will likely pop up again in future episodes, they'll be minor characters at best, and we'll never have to focus on anything they did ever again.   Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again soon, when Episode 119 is released.   Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about the movies we covered this episode.   The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment.   Thank you again.   Good night.

We finally complete our mini-series on the 1980s movies released by Miramax Films in 1989, a year that included sex, lies, and videotape, and My Left Foot. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT   From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today.   On this episode, we complete our look back at the 1980s theatrical releases for Miramax Films. And, for the final time, a reminder that we are not celebrating Bob and Harvey Weinstein, but reminiscing about the movies they had no involvement in making. We cannot talk about cinema in the 1980s without talking about Miramax, and I really wanted to get it out of the way, once and for all.   As we left Part 4, Miramax was on its way to winning its first Academy Award, Billie August's Pelle the Conquerer, the Scandinavian film that would be second film in a row from Denmark that would win for Best Foreign Language Film.   In fact, the first two films Miramax would release in 1989, the Australian film Warm Night on a Slow Moving Train and the Anthony Perkins slasher film Edge of Sanity, would not arrive in theatres until the Friday after the Academy Awards ceremony that year, which was being held on the last Wednesday in March.   Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train stars Wendy Hughes, the talented Australian actress who, sadly, is best remembered today as Lt. Commander Nella Daren, one of Captain Jean-Luc Picard's few love interests, on a 1993 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, as Jenny, a prostitute working a weekend train to Sydney, who is seduced by a man on the train, unaware that he plans on tricking her to kill someone for him. Colin Friels, another great Aussie actor who unfortunately is best known for playing the corrupt head of Strack Industries in Sam Raimi's Darkman, plays the unnamed man who will do anything to get what he wants.   Director Bob Ellis and his co-screenwriter Denny Lawrence came up with the idea for the film while they themselves were traveling on a weekend train to Sydney, with the idea that each client the call girl met on the train would represent some part of the Australian male.   Funding the $2.5m film was really simple… provided they cast Hughes in the lead role. Ellis and Lawrence weren't against Hughes as an actress. Any film would be lucky to have her in the lead. They just felt she she didn't have the right kind of sex appeal for this specific character.   Miramax would open the film in six theatres, including the Cineplex Beverly Center in Los Angeles and the Fashion Village 8 in Orlando, on March 31st. There were two versions of the movie prepared, one that ran 130 minutes and the other just 91. Miramax would go with the 91 minute version of the film for the American release, and most of the critics would note how clunky and confusing the film felt, although one critic for the Village Voice would have some kind words for Ms. Hughes' performance.   Whether it was because moviegoers were too busy seeing the winners of the just announced Academy Awards, including Best Picture winner Rain Man, or because this weekend was also the opening weekend of the new Major League Baseball season, or just turned off by the reviews, attendance at the theatres playing Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train was as empty as a train dining car at three in the morning. The Beverly Center alone would account for a third of the movie's opening weekend gross of $19,268. After a second weekend at the same six theatres pocketing just $14,382, this train stalled out, never to arrive at another station.   Their other March 31st release, Edge of Sanity, is notable for two things and only two things: it would be the first film Miramax would release under their genre specialty label, Millimeter Films, which would eventually evolve into Dimension Films in the next decade, and it would be the final feature film to star Anthony Perkins before his passing in 1992.   The film is yet another retelling of the classic 1886 Robert Louis Stevenson story The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, with the bonus story twist that Hyde was actually Jack the Ripper. As Jekyll, Perkins looks exactly as you'd expect a mid-fifties Norman Bates to look. As Hyde, Perkins is made to look like he's a backup keyboardist for the first Nine Inch Nails tour. Head Like a Hole would have been an appropriate song for the end credits, had the song or Pretty Hate Machine been released by that time, with its lyrics about bowing down before the one you serve and getting what you deserve.   Edge of Sanity would open in Atlanta and Indianapolis on March 31st. And like so many other Miramax releases in the 1980s, they did not initially announce any grosses for the film. That is, until its fourth weekend of release, when the film's theatre count had fallen to just six, down from the previous week's previously unannounced 35, grossing just $9,832. Miramax would not release grosses for the film again, with a final total of just $102,219.   Now when I started this series, I said that none of the films Miramax released in the 1980s were made by Miramax, but this next film would become the closest they would get during the decade.   In July 1961, John Profumo was the Secretary of State for War in the conservative government of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, when the married Profumo began a sexual relationship with a nineteen-year-old model named Christine Keeler. The affair was very short-lived, either ending, depending on the source, in August 1961 or December 1961. Unbeknownst to Profumo, Keeler was also having an affair with Yevgeny Ivanov, a senior naval attache at the Soviet Embassy at the same time.   No one was the wiser on any of this until December 1962, when a shooting incident involving two other men Keeler had been involved with led the press to start looking into Keeler's life. While it was never proven that his affair with Keeler was responsible for any breaches of national security, John Profumo was forced to resign from his position in June 1963, and the scandal would take down most of the Torie government with him. Prime Minister Macmillan would resign due to “health reasons” in October 1963, and the Labour Party would take control of the British government when the next elections were held in October 1964.   Scandal was originally planned in the mid-1980s as a three-part, five-hour miniseries by Australian screenwriter Michael Thomas and American music producer turned movie producer Joe Boyd. The BBC would commit to finance a two-part, three-hour miniseries,  until someone at the network found an old memo from the time of the Profumo scandal that forbade them from making any productions about it. Channel 4, which had been producing quality shows and movies for several years since their start in 1982, was approached, but rejected the series on the grounds of taste.   Palace Pictures, a British production company who had already produced three films for Neil Jordan including Mona Lisa, was willing to finance the script, provided it could be whittled down to a two hour movie. Originally budgeted at 3.2m British pounds, the costs would rise as they started the casting process.  John Hurt, twice Oscar-nominated for his roles in Midnight Express and The Elephant Man, would sign on to play Stephen Ward, a British osteopath who acted as Christine Keeler's… well… pimp, for lack of a better word. Ian McKellen, a respected actor on British stages and screens but still years away from finding mainstream global success in the X-Men movies, would sign on to play John Profumo. Joanne Whaley, who had filmed the yet to be released at that time Willow with her soon to be husband Val Kilmer, would get her first starring role as Keeler, and Bridget Fonda, who was quickly making a name for herself in the film world after being featured in Aria, would play Mandy Rice-Davies, the best friend and co-worker of Keeler's.   To save money, Palace Pictures would sign thirty-year-old Scottish filmmaker Michael Caton-Jones to direct, after seeing a short film he had made called The Riveter. But even with the neophyte feature filmmaker, Palace still needed about $2.35m to be able to fully finance the film. And they knew exactly who to go to.   Stephen Woolley, the co-founder of Palace Pictures and the main producer on the film, would fly from London to New York City to personally pitch Harvey and Bob Weinstein. Woolley felt that of all the independent distributors in America, they would be the ones most attracted to the sexual and controversial nature of the story. A day later, Woolley was back on a plane to London. The Weinsteins had agreed to purchase the American distribution rights to Scandal for $2.35m.   The film would spend two months shooting in the London area through the summer of 1988. Christine Keeler had no interest in the film, and refused to meet the now Joanne Whaley-Kilmer to talk about the affair, but Mandy Rice-Davies was more than happy to Bridget Fonda about her life, although the meetings between the two women were so secret, they would not come out until Woolley eulogized Rice-Davies after her 2014 death.   Although Harvey and Bob would be given co-executive producers on the film, Miramax was not a production company on the film. This, however, did not stop Harvey from flying to London multiple times, usually when he was made aware of some sexy scene that was going to shoot the following day, and try to insinuate himself into the film's making. At one point, Woolley decided to take a weekend off from the production, and actually did put Harvey in charge. That weekend's shoot would include a skinny-dipping scene featuring the Christine Keeler character, but when Whaley-Kilmer learned Harvey was going to be there, she told the director that she could not do the nudity in the scene. Her new husband was objecting to it, she told them. Harvey, not skipping a beat, found a lookalike for the actress who would be willing to bare all as a body double, and the scene would begin shooting a few hours later. Whaley-Kilmer watched the shoot from just behind the camera, and stopped the shoot a few minutes later. She was not happy that the body double's posterior was notably larger than her own, and didn't want audiences to think she had that much junk in her trunk. The body double was paid for her day, and Whaley-Kilmer finished the rest of the scene herself.   Caton-Jones and his editing team worked on shaping the film through the fall, and would screen his first edit of the film for Palace Pictures and the Weinsteins in November 1988. And while Harvey was very happy with the cut, he still asked the production team for a different edit for American audiences, noting that most Americans had no idea who Profumo or Keeler or Rice-Davies were, and that Americans would need to understand the story more right out of the first frame. Caton-Jones didn't want to cut a single frame, but he would work with Harvey to build an American-friendly cut.   While he was in London in November 1988, he would meet with the producers of another British film that was in pre-production at the time that would become another important film to the growth of the company, but we're not quite at that part of the story yet. We'll circle around to that film soon.   One of the things Harvey was most looking forward to going in to 1989 was the expected battle with the MPAA ratings board over Scandal. Ever since he had seen the brouhaha over Angel Heart's X rating two years earlier, he had been looking for a similar battle. He thought he had it with Aria in 1988, but he knew he definitely had it now.   And he'd be right.   In early March, just a few weeks before the film's planned April 21st opening day, the MPAA slapped an X rating on Scandal. The MPAA usually does not tell filmmakers or distributors what needs to be cut, in order to avoid accusations of actual censorship, but according to Harvey, they told him exactly what needed to be cut to get an R: a two second shot during an orgy scene, where it appears two background characters are having unsimulated sex.   So what did Harvey do?   He spent weeks complaining to the press about MPAA censorship, generating millions in free publicity for the film, all the while already having a close-up shot of Joanne Whaley-Kilmer's Christine Keeler watching the orgy but not participating in it, ready to replace the objectionable shot.   A few weeks later, Miramax screened the “edited” film to the MPAA and secured the R rating, and the film would open on 94 screens, including 28 each in the New York City and Los Angeles metro regions, on April 28th.   And while the reviews for the film were mostly great, audiences were drawn to the film for the Miramax-manufactured controversy as well as the key art for the film, a picture of a potentially naked Joanne Whaley-Kilmer sitting backwards in a chair, a mimic of a very famous photo Christine Keeler herself took to promote a movie about the Profumo affair she appeared in a few years after the events. I'll have a picture of both the Scandal poster and the Christine Keeler photo on this episode's page at The80sMoviePodcast.com   Five other movies would open that weekend, including the James Belushi comedy K-9 and the Kevin Bacon drama Criminal Law, and Scandal, with $658k worth of ticket sales, would have the second best per screen average of the five new openers, just a few hundred dollars below the new Holly Hunter movie Miss Firecracker, which only opened on six screens.   In its second weekend, Scandal would expand its run to 214 playdates, and make its debut in the national top ten, coming in tenth place with $981k. That would be more than the second week of the Patrick Dempsey rom-com Loverboy, even though Loverboy was playing on 5x as many screens.   In weekend number three, Scandal would have its best overall gross and top ten placement, coming in seventh with $1.22m from 346 screens. Scandal would start to slowly fade after that, falling back out of the top ten in its sixth week, but Miramax would wisely keep the screen count under 375, because Scandal wasn't going to play well in all areas of the country. After nearly five months in theatres, Miramax would have its biggest film to date. Scandal would gross $8.8m.   The second release from Millimeter Films was The Return of the Swamp Thing. And if you needed a reason why the 1980s was not a good time for comic book movies, here you are. The Return of the Swamp Thing took most of what made the character interesting in his comic series, and most of what was good from the 1982 Wes Craven adaptation, and decided “Hey, you know what would bring the kids in? Camp! Camp unseen in a comic book adaptation since the 1960s Batman series. They loved it then, they'll love it now!”   They did not love it now.   Heather Locklear, between her stints on T.J. Hooker and Melrose Place, plays the step-daughter of Louis Jourdan's evil Dr. Arcane from the first film, who heads down to the Florida swaps to confront dear old once presumed dead stepdad. He in turns kidnaps his stepdaughter and decides to do some of his genetic experiments on her, until she is rescued by Swamp Thing, one of Dr. Arcane's former co-workers who got turned into the gooey anti-hero in the first movie.   The film co-stars Sarah Douglas from Superman 1 and 2 as Dr. Arcane's assistant, Dick Durock reprising his role as Swamp Thing from the first film, and 1980s B-movie goddess Monique Gabrielle as Miss Poinsettia.   For director Jim Wynorski, this was his sixth movie as a director, and at $3m, one of the highest budgeted movies he would ever make. He's directed 107 movies since 1984, most of them low budget direct to video movies with titles like The Bare Wench Project and Alabama Jones and the Busty Crusade, although he does have one genuine horror classic under his belt, the 1986 sci-fi tinged Chopping Maul with Kelli Maroney and Barbara Crampton.   Wynorski suggested in a late 1990s DVD commentary for the film that he didn't particularly enjoy making the film, and had a difficult time directing Louis Jourdan, to the point that outside of calling “action” and “cut,” the two didn't speak to each other by the end of the shoot.   The Return of Swamp Thing would open in 123 theatres in the United States on May 12th, including 28 in the New York City metro region, 26 in the Los Angeles area, 15 in Detroit, and a handful of theatres in Phoenix, San Francisco. And, strangely, the newspaper ads would include an actual positive quote from none other than Roger Ebert, who said on Siskel & Ebert that he enjoyed himself, and that it was good to have Swamp Thing back. Siskel would not reciprocate his balcony partner's thumb up. But Siskel was about the only person who was positive on the return of Swamp Thing, and that box office would suffer. In its first three days, the film would gross just $119,200. After a couple more dismal weeks in theatres, The Return of Swamp Thing would be pulled from distribution, with a final gross of just $275k.   Fun fact: The Return of Swamp Thing was produced by Michael E. Uslan, whose next production, another adaptation of a DC Comics character, would arrive in theatres not six weeks later and become the biggest film of the summer. In fact, Uslan has been a producer or executive producer on every Batman-related movie and television show since 1989, from Tim Burton to Christopher Nolan to Zack Snyder to Matt Reeves, and from LEGO movies to Joker. He also, because of his ownership of the movie rights to Swamp Thing, got the movie screen rights, but not the television screen rights, to John Constantine.   Miramax didn't have too much time to worry about The Return of Swamp Thing's release, as it was happening while the Brothers Weinstein were at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. They had two primary goals at Cannes that year:   To buy American distribution rights to any movie that would increase their standing in the cinematic worldview, which they would achieve by picking up an Italian dramedy called, at the time, New Paradise Cinema, which was competing for the Palme D'Or with a Miramax pickup from Sundance back in January. Promote that very film, which did end up winning the Palme D'Or.   Ever since he was a kid, Steven Soderbergh wanted to be a filmmaker. Growing up in Baton Rouge, LA in the late 1970s, he would enroll in the LSU film animation class, even though he was only 15 and not yet a high school graduate. After graduating high school, he decided to move to Hollywood to break into the film industry, renting an above-garage room from Stephen Gyllenhaal, the filmmaker best known as the father of Jake and Maggie, but after a few freelance editing jobs, Soderbergh packed up his things and headed home to Baton Rouge.   Someone at Atco Records saw one of Soderbergh's short films, and hired him to direct a concert movie for one of their biggest bands at the time, Yes, who was enjoying a major comeback thanks to their 1983 triple platinum selling album, 90125. The concert film, called 9012Live, would premiere on MTV in late 1985, and it would be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video.   Soderbergh would use the money he earned from that project, $7,500, to make Winston, a 12 minute black and white short about sexual deception that he would, over the course of an eight day driving trip from Baton Rouge to Los Angeles, expand to a full length screen that he would call sex, lies and videotape. In later years, Soderbergh would admit that part of the story is autobiographical, but not the part you might think. Instead of the lead, Graham, an impotent but still sexually perverse late twentysomething who likes to tape women talking about their sexual fantasies for his own pleasure later, Soderbergh based the husband John, the unsophisticated lawyer who cheats on his wife with her sister, on himself, although there would be a bit of Graham that borrows from the filmmaker. Like his lead character, Soderbergh did sell off most of his possessions and hit the road to live a different life.   When he finished the script, he sent it out into the wilds of Hollywood. Morgan Mason, the son of actor James Mason and husband of Go-Go's lead singer Belinda Carlisle, would read it and sign on as an executive producer. Soderbergh had wanted to shoot the film in black and white, like he had with the Winston short that lead to the creation of this screenplay, but he and Mason had trouble getting anyone to commit to the project, even with only a projected budget of $200,000. For a hot moment, it looked like Universal might sign on to make the film, but they would eventually pass.   Robert Newmyer, who had left his job as a vice president of production and acquisitions at Columbia Pictures to start his own production company, signed on as a producer, and helped to convince Soderbergh to shoot the film in color, and cast some name actors in the leading roles. Once he acquiesced, Richard Branson's Virgin Vision agreed to put up $540k of the newly budgeted $1.2m film, while RCA/Columbia Home Video would put up the remaining $660k.   Soderbergh and his casting director, Deborah Aquila, would begin their casting search in New York, where they would meet with, amongst others, Andie MacDowell, who had already starred in two major Hollywood pictures, 1984's Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, and 1985's St. Elmo's Fire, but was still considered more of a top model than an actress, and Laura San Giacomo, who had recently graduated from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in Pittsburgh and would be making her feature debut. Moving on to Los Angeles, Soderbergh and Aquila would cast James Spader, who had made a name for himself as a mostly bad guy in 80s teen movies like Pretty in Pink and Less Than Zero, but had never been the lead in a drama like this. At Spader's suggestion, the pair met with Peter Gallagher, who was supposed to become a star nearly a decade earlier from his starring role in Taylor Hackford's The Idolmaker, but had mostly been playing supporting roles in television shows and movies for most of the decade.   In order to keep the budget down, Soderbergh, the producers, cinematographer Walt Lloyd and the four main cast members agreed to get paid their guild minimums in exchange for a 50/50 profit participation split with RCA/Columbia once the film recouped its costs.   The production would spend a week in rehearsals in Baton Rouge, before the thirty day shoot began on August 1st, 1988. On most days, the shoot was unbearable for many, as temperatures would reach as high as 110 degrees outside, but there were a couple days lost to what cinematographer Lloyd said was “biblical rains.” But the shoot completed as scheduled, and Soderbergh got to the task of editing right away. He knew he only had about eight weeks to get a cut ready if the film was going to be submitted to the 1989 U.S. Film Festival, now better known as Sundance. He did get a temporary cut of the film ready for submission, with a not quite final sound mix, and the film was accepted to the festival. It would make its world premiere on January 25th, 1989, in Park City UT, and as soon as the first screening was completed, the bids from distributors came rolling in. Larry Estes, the head of RCA/Columbia Home Video, would field more than a dozen submissions before the end of the night, but only one distributor was ready to make a deal right then and there.   Bob Weinstein wasn't totally sold on the film, but he loved the ending, and he loved that the word “sex” not only was in the title but lead the title. He knew that title alone would sell the movie. Harvey, who was still in New York the next morning, called Estes to make an appointment to meet in 24 hours. When he and Estes met, he brought with him three poster mockups the marketing department had prepared, and told Estes he wasn't going to go back to New York until he had a contract signed, and vowed to beat any other deal offered by $100,000. Island Pictures, who had made their name releasing movies like Stop Making Sense, Kiss of the Spider-Woman, The Trip to Bountiful and She's Gotta Have It, offered $1m for the distribution rights, plus a 30% distribution fee and a guaranteed $1m prints and advertising budget. Estes called Harvey up and told him what it would take to make the deal. $1.1m for the distribution rights, which needed to paid up front, a $1m P&A budget, to be put in escrow upon the signing of the contract until the film was released, a 30% distribution fee, no cutting of the film whatsoever once Soderbergh turns in his final cut, they would need to provide financial information for the films costs and returns once a month because of the profit participation contracts, and the Weinsteins would have to hire Ira Deutchman, who had spent nearly 15 years in the independent film world, doing marketing for Cinema 5, co-founding United Artists Classics, and co-founding Cinecom Pictures before opening his own company to act as a producers rep and marketer. And the Weinsteins would not only have to do exactly what Deutchman wanted, they'd have to pay for his services too.   The contract was signed a few weeks later.   The first move Miramax would make was to get Soderbergh's final cut of the film entered into the Cannes Film Festival, where it would be accepted to compete in the main competition. Which you kind of already know what happened, because that's what I lead with. The film would win the Palme D'Or, and Spader would be awarded the festival's award for Best Actor. It was very rare at the time, and really still is, for any film to be awarded more than one prize, so winning two was really a coup for the film and for Miramax, especially when many critics attending the festival felt Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing was the better film.   In March, Miramax expected the film to make around $5-10m, which would net the company a small profit on the film. After Cannes, they were hopeful for a $15m gross.   They never expected what would happen next.   On August 4th, sex, lies, and videotape would open on four screens, at the Cinema Studio in New York City, and at the AMC Century 14, the Cineplex Beverly Center 13 and the Mann Westwood 4 in Los Angeles. Three prime theatres and the best they could do in one of the then most competitive zones in all America. Remember, it's still the Summer 1989 movie season, filled with hits like Batman, Dead Poets Society, Ghostbusters 2, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Lethal Weapon 2, Parenthood, Turner & Hooch, and When Harry Met Sally. An independent distributor even getting one screen at the least attractive theatre in Westwood was a major get. And despite the fact that this movie wasn't really a summertime movie per se, the film would gross an incredible $156k in its first weekend from just these four theatres. Its nearly $40k per screen average would be 5x higher than the next closest film, Parenthood.   In its second weekend, the film would expand to 28 theatres, and would bring in over $600k in ticket sales, its per screen average of $21,527 nearly triple its closest competitor, Parenthood again. The company would keep spending small, as it slowly expanded the film each successive week. Forty theatres in its third week, and 101 in its fourth. The numbers held strong, and in its fifth week, Labor Day weekend, the film would have its first big expansion, playing in 347 theatres. The film would enter the top ten for the first time, despite playing in 500 to 1500 fewer theatres than the other films in the top ten. In its ninth weekend, the film would expand to its biggest screen count, 534, before slowly drawing down as the other major Oscar contenders started their theatrical runs. The film would continue to play through the Oscar season of 1989, and when it finally left theatres in May 1989, its final gross would be an astounding $24.7m.   Now, remember a few moments ago when I said that Miramax needed to provide financial statements every month for the profit participation contracts of Soderbergh, the producers, the cinematographer and the four lead actors? The film was so profitable for everyone so quickly that RCA/Columbia made its first profit participation payouts on October 17th, barely ten weeks after the film's opening.   That same week, Soderbergh also made what was at the time the largest deal with a book publisher for the writer/director's annotated version of the screenplay, which would also include his notes created during the creation of the film. That $75,000 deal would be more than he got paid to make the movie as the writer and the director and the editor, not counting the profit participation checks.   During the awards season, sex, lies, and videotape was considered to be one of the Oscars front runners for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and at least two acting nominations. The film would be nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress by the Golden Globes, and it would win the Spirit Awards for Best Picture, Soderbergh for Best Director, McDowell for Best Actress, and San Giacomo for Best Supporting Actress. But when the Academy Award nominations were announced, the film would only receive one nomination, for Best Original Screenplay. The same total and category as Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, which many people also felt had a chance for a Best Picture and Best Director nomination. Both films would lose out to Tom Shulman's screenplay for Dead Poet's Society.   The success of sex, lies, and videotape would launch Steven Soderbergh into one of the quirkiest Hollywood careers ever seen, including becoming the first and only director ever to be nominated twice for Best Director in the same year by the Motion Picture Academy, the Golden Globes and the Directors Guild of America, in 2001 for directing Erin Brockovich and Traffic. He would win the Oscar for directing Traffic.   Lost in the excitement of sex, lies, and videotape was The Little Thief, a French movie that had an unfortunate start as the screenplay François Truffaut was working on when he passed away in 1984 at the age of just 52.   Directed by Claude Miller, whose principal mentor was Truffaut, The Little Thief starred seventeen year old Charlotte Gainsbourg as Janine, a young woman in post-World War II France who commits a series of larcenies to support her dreams of becoming wealthy.   The film was a modest success in France when it opened in December 1988, but its American release date of August 25th, 1989, was set months in advance. So when it was obvious sex, lies, and videotape was going to be a bigger hit than they originally anticipated, it was too late for Miramax to pause the release of The Little Thief.   Opening at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in New York City, and buoyed by favorable reviews from every major critic in town, The Little Thief would see $39,931 worth of ticket sales in its first seven days, setting a new house record at the theatre for the year. In its second week, the gross would only drop $47. For the entire week. And when it opened at the Royal Theatre in West Los Angeles, its opening week gross of $30,654 would also set a new house record for the year.   The film would expand slowly but surely over the next several weeks, often in single screen playdates in major markets, but it would never play on more than twenty-four screens in any given week. And after four months in theatres, The Little Thief, the last movie created one of the greatest film writers the world had ever seen, would only gross $1.056m in the United States.   The next three releases from Miramax were all sent out under the Millimeter Films banner.   The first, a supernatural erotic drama called The Girl in a Swing, was about an English antiques dealer who travels to Copenhagen where he meets and falls in love with a mysterious German-born secretary, whom he marries, only to discover a darker side to his new bride. Rupert Frazer, who played Christian Bale's dad in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, plays the antique dealer, while Meg Tilly the mysterious new bride.   Filmed over a five week schedule in London and Copenhagen during May and June 1988, some online sources say the film first opened somewhere in California in December 1988, but I cannot find a single theatre not only in California but anywhere in the United States that played the film before its September 29th, 1989 opening date.   Roger Ebert didn't like the film, and wished Meg Tilly's “genuinely original performance” was in a better movie. Opening in 26 theatres, including six theatres each in New York City and Los Angeles, and spurred on by an intriguing key art for the film that featured a presumed naked Tilly on a swing looking seductively at the camera while a notice underneath her warns that No One Under 18 Will Be Admitted To The Theatre, The Girl in a Swing would gross $102k, good enough for 35th place nationally that week. And that's about the best it would do. The film would limp along, moving from market to market over the course of the next three months, and when its theatrical run was complete, it could only manage about $747k in ticket sales.   We'll quickly burn through the next two Millimeter Films releases, which came out a week apart from each other and didn't amount to much.   Animal Behavior was a rather unfunny comedy featuring some very good actors who probably signed on for a very different movie than the one that came to be. Karen Allen, Miss Marion Ravenwood herself, stars as Alex, a biologist who, like Dr. Jane Goodall, develops a “new” way to communicate with chimpanzees via sign language. Armand Assante plays a cellist who pursues the good doctor, and Holly Hunter plays the cellist's neighbor, who Alex mistakes for his wife.   Animal Behavior was filmed in 1984, and 1985, and 1987, and 1988. The initial production was directed by Jenny Bowen with the assistance of Robert Redford and The Sundance Institute, thanks to her debut film, 1981's Street Music featuring Elizabeth Daily. It's unknown why Bowen and her cinematographer husband Richard Bowen left the project, but when filming resumed again and again and again, those scenes were directed by the film's producer, Kjehl Rasmussen.   Because Bowen was not a member of the DGA at the time, she was not able to petition the guild for the use of the Alan Smithee pseudonym, a process that is automatically triggered whenever a director is let go of a project and filming continues with its producer taking the reigns as director. But she was able to get the production to use a pseudonym anyway for the director's credit, H. Anne Riley, while also giving Richard Bowen a pseudonym of his own for his work on the film, David Spellvin.   Opening on 24 screens on October 27th, Animal Behavior would come in 50th place in its opening weekend, grossing just $20,361. The New York film critics ripped the film apart, and there wouldn't be a second weekend for the film.   The following Friday, November 3rd, saw the release of The Stepfather II, a rushed together sequel to 1987's The Stepfather, which itself wasn't a big hit in theatres but found a very quick and receptive audience on cable.   Despite dying at the end of the first film, Terry O'Quinn's Jerry is somehow still alive, and institutionalized in Northern Washington state. He escapes and heads down to Los Angeles, where he assumes the identity of a recently deceased publisher, Gene Clifford, but instead passes himself off as a psychiatrist. Jerry, now Gene, begins to court his neighbor Carol, and the whole crazy story plays out again. Meg Foster plays the neighbor Carol, and Jonathan Brandis is her son.    Director Jeff Burr had made a name for himself with his 1987 horror anthology film From a Whisper to a Scream, featuring Vincent Price, Clu Gulager and Terry Kiser, and from all accounts, had a very smooth shooting process with this film. The trouble began when he turned in his cut to the producers. The producers were happy with the film, but when they sent it to Miramax, the American distributors, they were rather unhappy with the almost bloodless slasher film. They demanded reshoots, which Burr and O'Quinn refused to participate in. They brought in a new director, Doug Campbell, to handle the reshoots, which are easy to spot in the final film because they look and feel completely different from the scenes they're spliced into.   When it opened, The Stepfather II actually grossed slightly more than the first film did, earning $279k from 100 screens, compared to $260k for The Stepfather from 105 screens. But unlike the first film, which had some decent reviews when it opened, the sequel was a complete mess. To this day, it's still one of the few films to have a 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and The Stepfather II would limp its way through theatres during the Christmas holiday season, ending its run with a $1.5m gross.   But it would be their final film of the decade that would dictate their course for at least the first part of the 1990s.   Remember when I said earlier in the episode that Harvey Weinstein meant with the producers of another British film while in London for Scandal? We're at that film now, a film you probably know.   My Left Foot.   By November 1988, actor Daniel Day-Lewis had starred in several movies including James Ivory's A Room With a View and Philip Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. He had even been the lead in a major Hollywood studio film, Pat O'Connor's Stars and Bars, a very good film that unfortunately got caught up in the brouhaha over the exit of the studio head who greenlit the film, David Puttnam.   The film's director, Jim Sheridan, had never directed a movie before. He had become involved in stage production during his time at the University College in Dublin in the late 1960s, where he worked with future filmmaker Neil Jordan, and had spent nearly a decade after graduation doing stage work in Ireland and Canada, before settling in New York City in the early 1980s. Sheridan would go to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where one of his classmates was Spike Lee, and return to Ireland after graduating. He was nearly forty, married with two pre-teen daughters, and he needed to make a statement with his first film.   He would find that story in the autobiography of Irish writer and painter Christy Brown, whose spirit and creativity could not be contained by his severe cerebral palsy. Along with Irish actor and writer Shane Connaughton, Sheridan wrote a screenplay that could be a powerhouse film made on a very tight budget of less than a million dollars.   Daniel Day-Lewis was sent a copy of the script, in the hopes he would be intrigued enough to take almost no money to play a physically demanding role. He read the opening pages, which had the adult Christy Brown putting a record on a record player and dropping the needle on to the record with his left foot, and thought to himself it would be impossible to film. That intrigued him, and he signed on. But during filming in January and February of 1989, most of the scenes were shot using mirrors, as Day-Lewis couldn't do the scenes with his left foot. He could do them with his right foot, hence the mirrors.   As a method actor, Day-Lewis remained in character as Christy Brown for the entire two month shoot. From costume fittings and makeup in the morning, to getting the actor on set, to moving him around between shots, there were crew members assigned to assist the actor as if they were Christy Brown's caretakers themselves, including feeding him during breaks in shooting. A rumor debunked by the actor years later said Day-Lewis had broken two ribs during production because of how hunched down he needed to be in his crude prop wheelchair to properly play the character.   The actor had done a lot of prep work to play the role, including spending time at the Sandymount School Clinic where the young Christy Brown got his education, and much of his performance was molded on those young people.   While Miramax had acquired the American distribution rights to the film before it went into production, and those funds went into the production of the film, the film was not produced by Miramax, nor were the Weinsteins given any kind of executive producer credit, as they were able to get themselves on Scandal.   My Left Foot would make its world premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival on September 4th, 1989, followed soon thereafter by screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13th and the New York Film Festival on September 23rd. Across the board, critics and audiences were in love with the movie, and with Daniel Day-Lewis's performance. Jim Sheridan would receive a special prize at the Montreal World Film Festival for his direction, and Day-Lewis would win the festival's award for Best Actor. However, as the film played the festival circuit, another name would start to pop up. Brenda Fricker, a little known Irish actress who played Christy Brown's supportive but long-suffering mother Bridget, would pile up as many positive notices and awards as Day-Lewis. Although there was no Best Supporting Actress Award at the Montreal Film Festival, the judges felt her performance was deserving of some kind of attention, so they would create a Special Mention of the Jury Award to honor her.   Now, some sources online will tell you the film made its world premiere in Dublin on February 24th, 1989, based on a passage in a biography about Daniel Day-Lewis, but that would be impossible as the film would still be in production for two more days, and wasn't fully edited or scored by then.   I'm not sure when it first opened in the United Kingdom other than sometime in early 1990, but My Left Foot would have its commercial theatre debut in America on November 10th, when opened at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas in New York City and the Century City 14 in Los Angeles. Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times would, in the very opening paragraph of her review, note that one shouldn't see My Left Foot for some kind of moral uplift or spiritual merit badge, but because of your pure love of great moviemaking. Vincent Canby's review in the New York Times spends most of his words praising Day-Lewis and Sheridan for making a film that is polite and non-judgmental.    Interestingly, Miramax went with an ad campaign that completely excluded any explanation of who Christy Brown was or why the film is titled the way it is. 70% of the ad space is taken from pull quotes from many of the top critics of the day, 20% with the title of the film, and 10% with a picture of Daniel Day-Lewis, clean shaven and full tooth smile, which I don't recall happening once in the movie, next to an obviously added-in picture of one of his co-stars that is more camera-friendly than Brenda Fricker or Fiona Shaw.   Whatever reasons people went to see the film, they flocked to the two theatres playing the film that weekend. It's $20,582 per screen average would be second only to Kenneth Branagh's Henry V, which had opened two days earlier, earning slightly more than $1,000 per screen than My Left Foot.   In week two, My Left Foot would gross another $35,133 from those two theatres, and it would overtake Henry V for the highest per screen average. In week three, Thanksgiving weekend, both Henry V and My Left Foot saw a a double digit increase in grosses despite not adding any theatres, and the latter film would hold on to the highest per screen average again, although the difference would only be $302. And this would continue for weeks. In the film's sixth week of release, it would get a boost in attention by being awarded Best Film of the Year by the New York Film Critics Circle. Daniel Day-Lewis would be named Best Actor that week by both the New York critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, while Fricker would win the Best Supporting Actress award from the latter group.   But even then, Miramax refused to budge on expanding the film until its seventh week of release, Christmas weekend, when My Left Foot finally moved into cities like Chicago and San Francisco. Its $135k gross that weekend was good, but it was starting to lose ground to other Oscar hopefuls like Born on the Fourth of July, Driving Miss Daisy, Enemies: A Love Story, and Glory.   And even though the film continued to rack up award win after award win, nomination after nomination, from the Golden Globes and the Writers Guild and the National Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review, Miramax still held firm on not expanding the film into more than 100 theatres nationwide until its 16th week in theatres, February 16th, 1990, two days after the announcement of the nominees for the 62nd Annual Academy Awards. While Daniel Day-Lewis's nomination for Best Actor was virtually assured and Brenda Fricker was practically a given, the film would pick up three other nominations, including surprise nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. Jim Sheridan and co-writer Shane Connaughton would also get picked for Best Adapted Screenplay.   Miramax also picked up a nomination for Best Original Screenplay for sex, lies, and videotape, and a Best Foreign Language Film nod for the Italian movie Cinema Paradiso, which, thanks to the specific rules for that category, a film could get a nomination before actually opening in theatres in America, which Miramax would rush to do with Paradiso the week after its nomination was announced.   The 62nd Academy Awards ceremony would be best remembered today as being the first Oscar show to be hosted by Billy Crystal, and for being considerably better than the previous year's ceremony, a mess of a show best remembered as being the one with a 12 minute opening musical segment that included Rob Lowe singing Proud Mary to an actress playing Snow White and another nine minute musical segment featuring a slew of expected future Oscar winners that, to date, feature exact zero Oscar nominees, both which rank as amongst the worst things to ever happen to the Oscars awards show.   The ceremony, held on March 26th, would see My Left Foot win two awards, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, as well as Cinema Paradiso for Best Foreign Film. The following weekend, March 30th, would see Miramax expand My Left Foot to 510 theatres, its widest point of release, and see the film made the national top ten and earn more than a million dollars for its one and only time during its eight month run.   The film would lose steam pretty quickly after its post-win bump, but it would eek out a modest run that ended with $14.75m in ticket sales just in the United States. Not bad for a little Irish movie with no major stars that cost less than a million dollars to make.   Of course, the early 90s would see Miramax fly to unimagined heights. In all of the 80s, Miramax would release 39 movies. They would release 30 films alone in 1991. They would release the first movies from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith. They'd release some of the best films from some of the best filmmakers in the world, including Woody Allen, Pedro Almadovar, Robert Altman, Bernardo Bertolucci, Atom Egoyan, Steven Frears, Peter Greenaway, Peter Jackson, Neil Jordan, Chen Kaige, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Lars von Trier, and Zhang Yimou. In 1993, the Mexican dramedy Like Water for Chocolate would become the highest grossing foreign language film ever released in America, and it would play in some theatres, including my theatre, the NuWilshire in Santa Monica, continuously for more than a year.   If you've listened to the whole series on the 1980s movies of Miramax Films, there are two things I hope you take away. First, I hope you discovered at least one film you hadn't heard of before and you might be interested in searching out. The second is the reminder that neither Bob nor Harvey Weinstein will profit in any way if you give any of the movies talked about in this series a chance. They sold Miramax to Disney in June 1993. They left Miramax in September 2005. Many of the contracts for the movies the company released in the 80s and 90s expired decades ago, with the rights reverting back to their original producers, none of whom made any deals with the Weinsteins once they got their rights back.   Harvey Weinstein is currently serving a 23 year prison sentence in upstate New York after being found guilty in 2020 of two sexual assaults. Once he completes that sentence, he'll be spending another 16 years in prison in California, after he was convicted of three sexual assaults that happened in Los Angeles between 2004 and 2013. And if the 71 year old makes it to 107 years old, he may have to serve time in England for two sexual assaults that happened in August 1996. That case is still working its way through the British legal system.   Bob Weinstein has kept a low profile since his brother's proclivities first became public knowledge in October 2017, although he would also be accused of sexual harassment by a show runner for the brothers' Spike TV-aired adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Mist, several days after the bombshell articles came out about his brother. However, Bob's lawyer, the powerful attorney to the stars Bert Fields, deny the allegations, and it appears nothing has occurred legally since the accusations were made.   A few weeks after the start of the MeToo movement that sparked up in the aftermath of the accusations of his brother's actions, Bob Weinstein denied having any knowledge of the nearly thirty years of documented sexual abuse at the hands of his brother, but did allow to an interviewer for The Hollywood Reporter that he had barely spoken to Harvey over the previous five years, saying he could no longer take Harvey's cheating, lying and general attitude towards everyone.   And with that, we conclude our journey with Miramax Films. While I am sure Bob and Harvey will likely pop up again in future episodes, they'll be minor characters at best, and we'll never have to focus on anything they did ever again.   Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again soon, when Episode 119 is released.   Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about the movies we covered this episode.   The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment.   Thank you again.   Good night.

We're back after a month away, and we're coming in hot with an expanded format. It's basically just smashing the long and short shows together into one thing, but it sounds more professional if you talk about formatting. That of course doesn't mean that the talk about nonsense garbage has stopped, or really been focused in any way, as this one goes everywhere. We talk about the oft-maligned 1996 Jerry O'Connell vehicle Joe's Apartment, the oeuvre of MTV Films in general, Keebler's discontinued line of pizza chips, the fact that we're apparently the number one source for information on the song "Strut" by Steven Seagal and Lady Saw, the 1986 Nico Mastorakis film The Zero Boys starring Kelli Maroney and Joe Estevez, the song "Destination Understanding" from Island of Death, new music from Novatron, Home Front, and Mats Gustafsson & Joachim Nordwall, the 1991 song "Joyride (I Saw the Film)" by Tribe, and the recent passing of noted director/wonderful maniac William Friedkin. Finally, in our main event, we discuss Sean's pick for this show: the 1982 John Frankenheimer movie The Challenge, a star-studded affair scored by Jerry Goldsmith, written by John Sayles, and starring Toshiro Mifune (and Scott Glenn, but you know... Mifune). Despite being loaded on all fronts with talent, the film flopped due to being absolutely swallowed up by the unreal number of megahits released in the summer of 1982. A true shame because this is a really good movie, and we think this is a really good episode. Enjoy? Website: www.queenvenerator.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queenvenerator/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/queenvenerator Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/queenvenerator/

Comet fever runs wild and city sewers should be off-limits! Look, comets can be exciting, I get that. But it just seems that it should go without saying that avoiding sewers is a good policy. Welcome to 1984.Maybe everyone wanting to see the comet in Night of the Comet (1984) shouldn't be quite so eager? Unless you want to wake up as a pile of dust and clothes. Or some mutated zombie, and somehow not a pile of dust. Of course, if you were sleeping in a steel-reinforced projection booth, you're probably fine to go on living in this apocalyptic place.And city streets seemed bad enough in the 80s. So, I can only assume that the sewers were even worse. C.H.U.D. (1984) seems to verify that. There are some kind of weird mutants down there. Radioactive waste. And come on, the smell cannot be particularly inviting.The Summer of the 80s oozes on! And hey! Don't forget the Common Craig's Top 5 horror movies from 1984!

Hold onto your veiny meat sacks, because Troy and Roger are reunited and it feels so good! Almost as good as it must feel squeezing on one of Leslie's lady udders, but what would these two know about that? Join the boys as they sit down to record their first episode together in over a month, and what better title to kick things off than a full length review of the beloved fan favorite Chopping Mall! That's right, your favorite horror-lovin' gays are ready to dish over all of the hot topics, including Leslie's massive shiny areolas, poor Kelli Maroney's unusually horrendous wardrobe selections, those sassy Protectors and their gay little claws, and the head explosion heard around the world! Yup, you know the one! So get ready to shop til you mother fucking drop, because it's time for a brand new episode!

Episode 78 is LIVE, and this week for the letter 'N' Adam picked the 1984 Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney zombie apocalypse picture, NIGHT OF THE COMET! But we're warming up your dead brains with an appetizer of EVIL DEAD RISE! So charge up your dustbusters, and gas up the chainsaws, because its gonna get gruesome! JOIN US. Everywhere you pod. It's Miller time! DBP Hosts: Adam Crohn: Instagram: @actoydesign / @ihavespokenpod / @mom_gave_them_away Kevin Krull: Instagram: @theotherkevinkrull Support the show directly on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deathbypodcast Death by Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/deathbypodcast Follow us: Instagram: @deathbypodcast Twitter: @DeathByPodcast YouTube: @DeathByPodcast

Welcome to the Horror Project Podcast. Join hosts Phil and Laura as they review Chopping Mall (1986).It's time to enjoy some pure 80s mall fun as we discuss the unusual after-work party arranged by the "teens" young adults in this movie, which quickly evolves into an orgy! The perfect place for a first date?!?!And of course we chat about those devious Killbot's employed to protect the mall. Think Robocop combined with Jonny-5 but…EVIL!"Thank you... have a nice day."Plus we shall be finding a place on the leaderboard for the movie during our Ranking.We hope you enjoy the show, thanks for listening!Email - Horrorprojectpodcast@hotmail.com  Twitter - @TheHorrorProje1Instagram - horrorprojectpodcastTikTok - @horrorprojectpodcast

We're keeping the Crypticon Seattle hype train going by previewing a few of the spooky vendors this year, and capping it off with an aging conversation with the horror icon Kelli Maroney! We talk her career, horror conventions, and more in this super sized episode!! Even if you're not here in the PNW, and you can't make Crypticon, you can find the vendors we mentioned at crypticonseattle.com. You can also keep up with Kelli Maroney at www.kellimaroney.com. Be sure to visit her online shop we're you can buy autographs and more!  Listen up for this episode's trivia too!! We are excited to be part of the Deluxe Edition Network. Check out this awesome collection of indie podcasts at www.deluxeeditionnetwork.com If you've BEEN enjoying The Steve & Crypto Show, and want to support your #3rd FAVORITE PODCAST, you can do so in the following places: Promote The Steve & Crypto Show and look really freakin' cool doing it with some merch: www.etsy.com/shop/SteveAndCryptoMerch Get exclusive content on Patreon: www.patreon.com/stevecrypto Buy Me A Coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/stevecrypto Join the Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/stevecryptoshow And of course be sure to follow Steve and Crypto Zoo on social media @thestevestrout and @cryptozoo88 both on Twitter and Instagram! Thank you for your support! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/steveandcryptoshow/message

On this episode of YOU DON'T KNOW DICK (the world's finest Dick Miller-related podcast) we're joined by writer/editor Christine Makepeace to discuss John Mellencamp's cover of Van Morrison's "Wild Night" (/w Me'Shell Ndegeocello), music videos, mallrats, late stage capitalism and Jim Wynorski's CHOPPING MALL from 1986 featuring Kelli Maroney, Barbara Crampton, Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, and - of course - Dick Miller! Robots go berserk, paint stores explode, in-jokes abound and a good time is had by all. Join us, won't you? The post Episode 169 – You Don't Know Dick – Chopping Mall (1986) (/w Christine Makepeace) first appeared on Cinema Smorgasbord.

Chopping Mall - 1986Director - Jim WynorskiWriters - Jim Wynorski, Steve MitchellMusic - Chuck CirinoProducer - Julie Corman; Executive Producer - Roger CormanStars:Kelli MaroneyTony O'DellRussell ToddKarrie EmersonBarbara CramptonNick SegalJohn TerleskySuzee SlaterWhere shopping can cost you an arm and a leg.

This week, Andrew and Scotty get neither “chopped” nor “mauled” as they discuss "Chopping Mall". Scotty also mentions a recent screen credit he received, and stay tuned until the end of the episode to hear what Andrew chose for their next movie!"Chopping Mall" is a Roger Corman-produced movie directed by Jim Wynorski. It stars Kelli Maroney and Barbara Crampton, who are terrorized by security robots that become homicidal after lightning strikes the mall.Follow us on social media:Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/396586601815924Twitter - https://twitter.com/funwhorrorInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/fun_with_horror_podcast/FWH + Fangoria collab:For 20% off at the Fango Shop, just enter FUN_WITH_HORROR_PODCAST at checkout!

Tara's book “Tips for Your Last Year on Earth” so instead of reading, we're watching two movies about the last days on earth! The first, WHITE NOISE, is a satirical contemplation of modern life, major fears and denying death in a Netflix Original Movie starring Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, and Don Cheadle. Directed by Noah Baumbach this movie premiered during the death throes of summer on August 31st 2022. And then premiered on Netflix at Thanksgiving, another time with family where you want to die. And a movie that PEOPLE ALSO WATCHED…This 80's classic is also about people's last days of life on the planet, it's NIGHT OF THE COMET– From 1984 it stars Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney and is directed by Thom Eberhardt who also wrote and directed Captain Ron. Night of the Comet cost a mere 700 thousand dollars and made over 14million! Why hasn't there been a TV Show about this last night on earth?***Order Tara O'Brien's book TIPS FOR YOUR LAST YEAR ON EARTH here:***Every month, studios release big-budget features and for every one of those, there are a ton of lesser-known movies you just might love. Join Tara, Adam, & Dave, industry insiders clinging onto the lower rungs of the Hollywood ladder, as they compare a new release to an older, nearly forgotten movie. If you love the big-name, big-budget movies and the little-known movies that you think everybody must see, then you'll want to get to know what People Also Watched…! *** People Also Watched theme written & performed by: Brian Ruppenkamp *** Follow us on twitter/insta @PeopleAlsoWatchFollow Tara on twitter/insta @TarTarSauce1Follow Dave on twitter/insta @SuperDaveAwesumFollow Adam on Insta @UrJester

Ket tells Kim about Night of the Comet starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney and 80's misogyny. The girls have a fun way to spice up the bedroom that D and Arik are sure to love. They also need to know if costume changes are required for the apocalypse. Most importantly, we'll learn if Kim will live or die in Night of the Comet.Dir. Thom EberhardtWriter Thom EberhardtListen to Kim and Ket on Development Hell Podcast: “Michael Myers vs. Pinhead”Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1yVcRKVoetiKLKqZ6eo6vx?si=R2_MLQlUSaKKNu2h1uSEag Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/michael-myers-vs-pinhead-with-kim-ket/id1558238290?i=1000606252024 Support the girls on PATREON for some sweet BONE CON (bonus content) at: www.patreon.com/kimandketstayalivemaybeKKSAM Facebook Discussion Group!!"Sammies Stay Alive... Maybe"www.facebook.com/groups/kksampodcastGet acquainted with all things KIM & KET at www.kimandketstayalive.com Chat with the girls at kksampodcast@gmail.comPeep the girls on Instagram: @kksampodcastRock with the girls on Tik Tok: @kksampodcastBook the face of the girls on Facebook: @kksampodcastWear the shirts of the girls from the MERCH Store: kimandketstayalivemaybe.threadless.comOk we'll see ourselves out.Thanks for listening!xo and #StayAlive,K&KListen to season 1 of our horror trivia pod!KIM AND KET'S SURVIVE THE CELLARlink.chtbl.com/kkstcProud members of the Dread Podcast NetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Ron wipes out most of life on Earth with his recap of a quintessential 80s favorite starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, and Robert Beltran. Recap starts at 00:08:40

IT'S TIME, for another @EchoChamberFP https://www.instagram.com/echochamberfp/ bumper installment!!! We start things off with a horror anthology from Paper Street Pictures & Shudder. Then we have El Salvadorian indie flick from Bulldog Film Distribution & Alternate Current. Finally checked out the straight gem from A24 & Stage 6 Films....AND, bring it home with the highly anticipated fourth banger from 87Eleven Entertainment & Lionsgate UK! Today we have: Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/6oTy4flA4zA FrightFest Film Festival: 16th November 2022 Digital Release Date: 22nd December 2022 Director: Aaron B. Koontz, Alexandra Barreto, Anthony Cousins, Jed Shepherd, Rachele Wiggins Cast: Jeremy King, Zoe Graham, Rich Sommer, Kelli Maroney, Shakira Ja'nai Pay, Graham Skipper Running Time: 99 min Cert: 18 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/9SiWHCS4t0g Watch via Shudder: Here. https://www.shudder.com/movies/watch/scare-package-ii-rad-chads-revenge/a52769759be9a00a Instagram: @scarepackage https://www.instagram.com/scarepackage/ ------------ The Whisper of Silence (El Suspiro del Silencio) Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/1FiRyxVr8IY Whistler Film Festival: 2nd December 2020 Digital Release Date: 27th March 2023 Director: Alfonso Quijada Cast: Laura Osma, William Castillo, Mercy Flores, Juan Carlos Velis, Fernando Gaviria, Carlos Aylagas, Alicia Chong, Ale Martore, Gonzalo Rivera, Anthony Hernandez Running Time: 93 min Cert: 18 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/G-UHARidz6U Watch via Apple TV+: Here. https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/the-whisper-of-silence/umc.cmc.2d6ca1uct7mx6bmzz2vp4u0xc Watch via Prime Video: Here. https://www.amazon.com/suspiro-del-silencio-Laura-Osma/dp/B09PMTNKKW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=27BOR0C7656C6&keywords=El+Suspiro+del+Silencio&qid=1679596573&s=instant-video&sprefix=el+suspiro+del+silencio%2Cinstant-video%2C177&sr=1-1 Website: Here. https://bulldog-film.com/films/the-whisper-of-silence/ ------------ Bodies Bodies Bodies Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/9dh0J1cggKM South by Southwest: 14th March 2022 Theatrical Release Date: 5th August 2022 Digital Release Date: 27th September 2022 Director: Halina Reijn Cast: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha'la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace, Pete Davidson, Conner O'Malley Running Time: 106 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/DMgLMaLlK9k Watch via Apple TV+: Here. https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/bodies-bodies-bodies/umc.cmc.4bkdfhinbptket3t9yfcci546 Watch via Prime Video: Here. https://www.amazon.com/Bodies-Amandla-Stenberg/dp/B0B5JSS9YJ Website: Here. https://a24films.com/films/bodies-bodies-bodies Twitter: @bodiesbodies https://twitter.com/bodiesbodies Facebook: Here. https://www.facebook.com/bodiesbodiesbodies Instagram: @bodiesbodiesbodies https://www.instagram.com/bodiesbodiesbodies/ ------------ John Wick: Chapter 4 Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/m4q4cJ6DHlw Odeon Luxe Leicester Square: 6th March 2023 Theatrical Release Date: 24th March 2023 Director: Chad Stahelski Cast: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Ian McShane, Clancy Brown, Natalia Tena, Marko Zaror, George Georgiou, Bridget Moynahan Running Time: 169 min Cert: 18 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/yjRHZEUamCc Website: Here. https://www.johnwick.movie/ Twitter: @JohnWickMovie https://twitter.com/johnwickmovie Facebook: Here. https://www.facebook.com/JohnWickUK/?brand_redir=339106609587573 Instagram: @johnwickmovie https://www.instagram.com/johnwickmovie/ ------------ *(Music) 'I See Now' (feat. Kanye West, Consequence) by Little Brother - 2005 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/eftv/message

We review Night of the Comet (1984) on The Atomic Cinema Experiment. This is a sci fi movie podcast. Night of the Comet (1984) is directed by Thom Eberhardt and stars Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, Robert Beltran, Mary Woronov patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mildfuzztv twitter: https://twitter.com/Mild_Fuzz discord: https://discord.gg/8fbyCehMTy TWITCH: https://www.twitch.tv/mildfuzztv Email: mftvquestions@gmail.com Audio version: https://the-ace-atomic-cinema-experime.pinecast.co Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfE6iWzdHzDn8_MF-n9Pxtg/join

In which Jorge and JT take a look at arguably the greatest (and, well, probably only) teenage comet zombie movie ever made.NEXT WEEKGuilty PleasuresLINKShttps://linktr.ee/podferatuSkull logo by Erik Leach @erikleach_art (Instagram)Theme:  Netherworld Shanty, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Tom and Jenny talk about the 1984 post-apocalyptic comedy horror film, written and directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Robert Beltran, and Kelli Maroney. Audio version: Video version: Please support us on Patreon! Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Also check out Jenny's horror channel, The … Continue reading Movie Time: Night of the Comet (1984)

The Grue-Crew review SCARE PACKAGE II: RAD CHAD'S REVENGE (2022, SHUDDER) on Gruesome Magazine episode 389. Jeff Mohr from Decades of Horror: The Classic Era, Crystal Cleveland, the Livin6Dead6irl from Decades of Horror: 1980s, award-winning filmmaker Christopher G. Moore, lead news writer Dave Dreher, and Doc Rotten share their thoughts about this week's frightening addition to streaming horror films. Warning: possible spoilers after the initial impressions! SCARE PACKAGE II: RAD CHAD'S REVENGE (2022, SHUDDER) When horror guru Rad Chad Buckley's funeral turns into an elaborate series of hilarious death traps, the guests must band together and use the rules of horror to survive the bloody game. Available Streaming on SHUDDER beginning December 22, 2022 Directed by: Aaron B. Koontz Alexandra Barreto (segment "Welcome to the 90s") Anthony Cousins (segment "The Night He Came Back Again! Part VI: The Night She Came Back") Jed Shepherd (segment "Special Edition") Rachele Wiggins (segment "We're So Dead") Written by: Alexandra Barreto, Aaron B. Koontz, Cameron Burns, John Karsko, Jed Shepherd Stars: Jeremy King, Zoe Graham, Rich Sommer, Kelli Maroney, Shakira Ja'nai Paye, Graham Skipper, Maria Olsen, Byron Brown FOLLOW: Gruesome Magazine Website http://gruesomemagazine.com YouTube Channel (Subscribe Today!) https://youtube.com/c/gruesomemagazine Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gruesomemagazine/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HorrorNewsRadioOfficial/ Doc, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DocRottenHNR Crystal, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/living6dead6irl Crystal, Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livin6dead6irl/ Jeff, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeffmohr9 Dave, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drehershouseofhorrors

It's that time of year again! Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is on the way, and the shopping blitz begins with Black Friday! In honor of the deadliest time of the year, the gang is watching Jim Wynorski's horror/sci-fi classic, Chopping Mall! Starring  Kelli Maroney and Barbara Crampton! Just ignore the ominous noises...Follow all of our relevant links here: https://linktr.ee/satellite12

On this edition of Parallax Views, we're joined by legendary 80s and 90s "Scream Queen" Brinke Stevens for the first in our spooky season-themed shows for Halloween! Known for her roles in such cult classics as Slumber Party Massacre, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, Grandmother's House, Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity, Nightmare Sisters, Haunting Fear, Bad Girls from Mars, and Teenage Exorcist among countless others, Brinke is making going from acting to directing in the latest Full Moon Features movie Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama 2. A long-awaited sequel to a true 80s, low-budget, cult horror-comedy classic, Brinke and I discuss that upcoming feature, due for release on streaming in November, as well as her career more generally. Among the topics we cover: - Brinke's journey from marine biology research to modeling and eventually working as an extra in movies like All the Marbles before becoming a full-fledged "Scream Queen" actress - Horror-comedies and the history of the "Scream Queen" era during the days of the VHS boom; Brinke, Linnea Quigley, and Michelle Bauer as the era's "Scream Queen" trio - Working with director's like Brian De Palma (in Body Double), Rob Reiner (in This is Spinal Tap), Fred Olen Ray, Jim Wynorski, and David DeCoteau - Stories behind films like Niko Mastorakis' underrated thriller Grandmother's House, in which Brinke had to rely solely on physical acting because her character had no dialogue, and Witchhouse 3, which Brinke describes as one of her more difficult experiences with make-up effects - The story behind Teenage Exorcist, a 90s horror comedy that Brinke Stevens both wrote and starred in alongside Fred Olen Ray regular Jay Richardson and nerdy character actor Eddie Deezen (Grease; the voice Mandark in Dexter's Lab and Know It All in Polar Express); the story of the unmade killer clown movie Tears of the Clown that Brinke wrote and would've starred Eddie Deezen - Shooting films on tight budgets and extremely short schedules - The enduring appeal of the original David DeCoteau's Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, which was a successful VHS rental before becoming a staple on the USA Network's Up All Night with Rhonda Shear - Working on nude scenes, sex appeal in the 80s cult classics Brinke appeared in, and Full Moon Features spotlighting female directors in the 21st century - Brinke's upcoming directorial effort in Joe Castro's Terror Toons 4 and how Brinke met Joe, who is an underrated special effects artist - What fans can expect from Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama 2, which'll focus on another evil killer imp just like the original movie; Fast Times at Ridgemont High actress Kelli Maroney's key role in the movie as the sister of Linnea Quigley's punk character Spider from the first one; her experience directing the movie and how her acting has played a role in her directing style - How Brinke met Ronald Reagan - The longevity of Brinke's career (she has over 200 credit!)

Welcome back to Horror. Cult. Trash. Other. Podcast! This is a bonus episode and the fourth of this year's Halloween Classics episodes that we have been releasing throughout October. Next up, we have 80s sci-fi slasher, Chopping Mall, a b-movie gem that features great performances from iconic scream queens, Kelli Maroney and Barbara Crampton, an incredible, super 80s synth score, and one of the greatest head explosions in horror history. Email us at horror.cult.trash.other@gmail.com and check us out on Social Media at the following links www.facebook.com/horrorculttrashother Twitter - @horrorculttrash Instagram - @horror.cult.trash.other Theme song is Stick Around by Gary's old band, One Week Stand. Check them out on Spotify, iTunes and many other digital distributors!

It's the apocalypse, and lets go to the mall! We watched Night of the Comet with returning guest Rudy Bleu. When a mysterious comet whipes out most of the life on Earth two valley girls Reggie and Sam find Los Angeles all to themsleves. In this clever blend of horror, sci-fi, comedy these sisters kick butt, ride motorcyles, play videogames, take over an abandoned radio station, shoot uzis, and then hit the mall. Night of the Comet truly checks all the boxes for cult films, and it's why it's one of our favorites. We wouldn't have Buffy Summers if it weren't for Catherine Mary Stewart, and Kelli Maroney. We discuss our apocalypse playlists, where we'd go if we had LA all to ourselves, and hot department store stock boys who might or might not be zombies.  www.patreon.com/moviesthatmadeusgay Facebook/Instagram: @moviesthatmadeusgay Twitter: @MTMUGPod Scott Youngbauer: Twitter @oscarscott / Instagram @scottyoungballer Peter Lozano: Twitter/Instagram @peterlasagna  

Superintendent Mike Manzi brings one of his favorite films to the slumber party; Night of the Comet. This post-apocolyptic tale of two teenage sisters was described as Valley Girl meets Repo Man. Staring Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney and Robert Beltran.

On Episode 109 of the RETROZEST podcast, Curtis conducts an exclusive interview with KELLI MARONEY (aka Head Cheerleader "Cindy Carr") in the first of two RetroZest podcast episodes celebrating the 40th Anniversary of FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH! The film was released in theaters on August 13, 1982 (the same day as Curtis' 16th Birthday!). In addition to Kelli, the film starred Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Robert Romanus, Brian Backer, Phoebe Cates, Vincent Schiavelli and Ray Walston. Other aspects of Kelli's career are discussed as well, including Ryan's Hope, Night of the Comet and Chopping Mall! Check out Kelli on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest! Incidentally, you may help the podcast by purchasing a FAST TIMES T-Shirt or two (many different designs and colors!) from our store at store.retrozest.com/fasttimes. You may also help the RetroZest Podcast by purchasing a Celebrity Video Message gift for a friend/family member from CelebVM! Choose from celebrities like Barry Williams, Gary Busey, Ernie Hudson, Robert Fripp, Right Said Fred, etc.! Simply enter their website through our portal at store.retrozest.com/celebvm, and shop as you normally would; it's no extra cost to you at all! Contact Curtis at podcast@retrozest.com, or via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Also, check us out on TikTok!

You might want to think twice before going outside to watch the next time a comet is flying by Earth. Join us as we watch the last remaining humans figure out how to outlast the bloodthirsty mutants in the 80's classic. Starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, and Robert Beltran. Written and Directed by Thom Eberhardt. Check out our favorite coffee by clicking on our link: Four Sigmatic Please share the podcast with your friends on social media to help us grow. Leave us a great review on whatever platform you are listening. Check us out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Slasher. If you would like to ask us a question or make a suggestion for the show, send us an email at horrorscriptpodcast@gmail.com You can write us or record a voice memo of yourself asking the question and we can play it on an upcoming episodeSupport the show by picking up some Horror Script Podcast merchandise, go to: Horror Script MerchIf you do reviews and interviews virtually try Squadcast for free by using our link below. You also help support the show by using it. Special thanks to John Saccardo and Vince Lipscomb for the amazing music. Support the show

Episode Number 103: NIGHT OF THE COMET (1984)We're back with another sci-fi horror classic of the '80s, NIGHT OF THE COMET, directed by Thom Eberhardt (CAPTAIN RON), and starring Catherine Mary Stewart (THE LAST STARFIGHTER) and Kelli Maroney (FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH). Do you agree that this is a classic? Write to us at chrisandchristalkmovies@gmail.com

Night of the Creeps (1986)   An American science fiction horror comedy film written and directed by Fred Dekker in his feature directorial debut, starring Jason Lively, Jill Whitlow and Tom Atkins. The film is an earnest attempt at a B movie and homage to the genre. While the main plot of the film is related to zombies, the film also mixes in takes on slashers and alien invasion films.  Director Fred Dekker originally wanted to shoot the film in black and white. He included every B movie cliche he could think of and insisted on directing the script himself. Most of the main characters (Romero, Carpenter, Raimi, Cameron, Hooper, Cronenberg, Cameron) are named after horror movie makers. The script was written in a week. ​ ​   Night of the Comet (1984)   An American science fiction comedy horror film written and directed by Thom Eberhardt It stars Catherine Mary Stewart, Robert Beltran, and Kelli Maroney as survivors of a comet that has turned most people into either dust or zombies.  The film would gain a cult following and influence the character of Buffy Sommers.  inspiration came from real-life teenage girls whom he met while filming PBS specials. Without telling the girls details about the script's premise, he asked them to describe how they would react to an apocalyptic event. The girls saw the scenario as an exciting adventure and only saw a downside to the experience when Eberhardt brought up the subject of dating. Using their answers, Eberhardt wrote the script to be lighthearted and adventuresome.   Opening Credits/Introduction (1.51); Oh My GOD!!! (13.46); Night of the Creeps Trailer (19.51); That Is Like So Tubular (21.18); It Is Totally Rad (44.42);  Night of the Comet Trailer (45.44); Bodacious Talk (48.14); Take A Chill Pill (1:05.35); End Credits (1:06.40); Closing Theme (1:08.02)   Opening Credits– Planet Synth by Dan Hughes   Closing Credits – I Surrender (To the Spirit of the Night) – by Samantha Fox.  Taken from the album Samantha Fox.  Copyright 1987 Jive Records   Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.    All rights reserved.   Used with Kind Permission.   All Songs available through Amazon.

H.P. Lovecraft being adapted to the big screen has been mixed to say the least.  And in many cases, such movies are part of his “universe” he created rather than based off any specific story that he has written.  The movie THE DEEP ONES (2021) appeared late last year and got some notice with its title alone – about a group of monsters that appeared or were mentioned in numerous tales of his. Alex and Petri are on vacation for some good old relaxation.   The property they are renting is owned by Russell Marsh, a local mover-and-shaker that runs a small colony of the beach town that the couple vacations in.  When a mysterious woman warns the couple about a mysterious cult, Alex especially becomes concerned when changes begin to happen with Petri's behavior. The film is written and directed by long time indy horror filmmaker Chad Ferrin.   THE DEEP ONES stars Gina La Piana, Johann Urb, Robert Miano, Silvia Spross, Jackie Debatin, and Kelli Maroney.  Dark Discussions takes a look at this midnight movie and gives their thoughts on this Lovecraft adaptation. 

Do you ever feel you are out of options? Do you feel like you've lost control of your life? In this insightful Brain Burrow Digging Deep interview, actor and producer Kelli Maroney shares her perspective on infusing gratitude in her life and her crucial practice of choosing positivity over negativity.  Kelli stresses that recognizing her own autonomy is vital to her satisfaction. Kelli made her film debut as the 'Spirit Bunny' "Cindy Carr" in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). Kelli achieved her greatest enduring cult popularity with her turn as  "Samantha" in Night of the Comet (1984). She's especially memorable as the sweet, killer-robot slayer, "Alison Parks", in the entertaining romp, Chopping Mall (1986). [IMDB] Connect with Kelli Maroney: kellimaroney.com facebook.com/kellimaroney IMDB instagram.com/kellimaroney/ twitter.com/Kellimaroney Connect with Mark D Valenti: instagram.com/valentihorror/ brainburrow.com​​ IMDB Brain Burrow YouTube twitter.com/brainburrow

Valley girls vs. the apocalypse! This week, Peaches and Michael are hitting the mean, abandoned streets in celebration of 1984's NIGHT OF THE COMET! In addition to discussing the movie's influence on the badass genre heroines that would follow, our hosts delve into the powerful symbology of handing a broken world to future generations. Joining the conversation is the film's iconic star, Kelli Maroney, who shares memories of her time on the set of this cult classic, as well as what it means to embrace its spitfire legacy. Then, celebrated comics author and Eisner Award-Winner Marc Andreyko stops by to dig into his longtime obsession with the movie, and why, through its camp, he believes it shares a little something with Shakespeare. From Mary Woronov to the DNA of Buffy, this episode has got it all! Go! 

Zack and Zo find out what it's like to be one of the last teenagers on Earth. Endless shopping? No real responsibilities? Maybe, if it weren't for the mysterious, nefarious, evil genius think tank filled with scientists and the zombies roaming the Los Angeles landscape. Check out this re-cap of this unsung cult classic.www.backlookcinema.comEmail: fanmail@backlookcinema.comTwitter: @backlookcinemaFacebook: The Back Look Cinema Podcast Instagram: backlookcinemapodcastBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com "Action Breakbeat" by  Zapsplat.com  

Chopping Mall co-writer Steve Mitchell introduces the film with a commentary on how it was made. Director Jim Wynorski & star Kelli Maroney also make an appearance to introduce the flick as well - all at the Sleepy Hollow International Film Festival 2021. WITH VIDEO - https://youtu.be/eiS55jk5Qy8 JOIN THE PATREON FOR LESS THAN A $2 CUP OF COFFEE!! https://www.patreon.com/Frumess

Film director Russ Emanuel talks about his new movie “Staycation” Starring Olivia d'Abo, Sean Kenney, Eileen Dietz, Kelli Maroney, Tracee Cocco, Laurene Landon etc. and how you can help with the movie! Russ also talks about how he got started in films including “Wisper”, “Occupants”, “Girl with the Gun” etc. , his major influences, the stories behind the movie and upcoming plans for 2021 and beyond! Check out his amazing arrays of movies at www.russem.com ! #russellemanuel #directorrussellemanuel #russemanuel #filmdirector #investorsneeded #staycation #oliviadabo #seankenney #eileendietz #kellimaroney #traceecocco #laurenelandon #russem #wisper #girlwiththegun #occupants #action #horror #mystery #iheartradio #spreaker #spotify #anchorfm #itunes #googleplay #applemusic #youtube #mikewagner #themikewagnershow #mikewagnerrussellemanuel #themikewagnershowrussellemanuel --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/themikewagnershow/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/themikewagnershow/support