'80s All Over

When is a film about Stanley Kubrick not a film about Stanley Kubrick? When is a documentary about Phil Ochs not really a documentary about Phil Ochs? And when did the '80s really start? Seems like 1984 is a good answer and the year's still just revving up at this point. We've got a terrible Louis Malle film, an Eric Stoltz film that even Eric Stoltz may have never heard of, and Tom Selleck as a gentleman thief. All that, and Footloosetoo? How are you not already listening to February of 1984?

John Cassavetes wants a Gloria of his own, Eddie Deezen gets evil with some mutant punks, and Jodie Foster is somehow romantically involved with Ed Asner. Good lord, 1984, this is how you start? We’ve got a fistful of foreign-language classics like El Norte and Entre Nous, the obligatory teen sex comedies like Hot Dog… The Movie!, and the first film from the great Kathryn Bigelow. All that, plus a Woody Allen gem and a Steven Martin almost? It’s time to kick off the fifth season with January of 1984.

We started the year grumbling and mumbling so it seems like progress to go out cheering for the undeniable highs that the year ended up offering in the end. James L. Brooks. Philip Kaufman, Martin Scorsese... these are names you might expect to see on a list like this. But there are plenty of surprises in store as well. What movie surprises both of the guys with an almost side-by-side placement on their lists, considering they'd never seen it before this year? What filmmaker ends up on one of the lists twice? And how many times does Scott sing? We are thrilled to finish up season four, and in the end, maybe we can admit that we're a little more fond of 1983 than we used to be. And that's huge, considering where we began.

Wait… did we actually do it? Did we finish 1983?! OH MY GOD WE CAN DO ANYTHING!! WE ARE INVINCIBLE!One last time around the track, though, with another Stephen King adaptation (this one helmed by the great John Carpenter), Mel Brooks doing Ernst Lubitsch cosplay, Meryl Streep taking some really unpleasant showers, and Mickey Mouse’s return to the bigscreen. We’ve got superstar misfires, one of the weirdest horror movies of the year, Ziggy Stardust, and a special look at one of the biggest music videos of all time.That’s not enough for you? Really? Whattaya want, a mountain of cocaine and Al Pacino? WELL THEN YOU GET A MOUNTAIN OF COCAINE AND AL PACINO! Go ahead, make our day, and listen up for December 1983.

And just like that, we round the corner and can see the end of the year looming up suddenly. It's a crazy month of releases, too. There are not one but two nuclear nightmares, obscure teen wig-outs, a giant rat, America's favorite haunted house in 3-D, and a Smurfs movie with no damn Smurfs. Chevy Chase in a comedy from the director of The Exorcist and The French Connection? Sure. How about a movie about an out of work aerospace engineer, his schoolteacher wife, and the male stripper who comes between them from the director of Rockyand The Karate Kid? Sure! We've got a pirate film written by John Hughes, Robbie Benson as a Native American Olympic athlete, and a genuine no-shit embarrassment from the legendary Sam Peckinpah. All that, plus a holiday classic and the last film of the '70s?

Do you have the right stuff to make it through this month? It's a fair question, because even though there are some highs, like, oh, one of the greatest movies of the entire decade and one of the best Stephen King adaptations and one of the great unsung horror movies of the decade, there are some lows. And, man, do we mean lows. But that's what we've gotten used to here at '80s All Over, and so we dove in without hesitation, and somehow lived to tell the story of October 1983.

Man, this is where you start to feel like you're lost in a dark forest, and the right path appears not anywhere... Ninjas and frightmares and terrorists, oh, my! Rip Torn, Deathstalkers, and Koyaanisqatsi? That's not enough for you? You want more? How about two movies called the exact same goddamn thing? I'll even throw in Eddie, some Cruisers, and a Brainstorm. And that's still not even half of what we're covering in September of 1983.

The dog days of summer were particularly cruel this year. I mean, sure, there's a pretty good dog film in the form of Cujo, but that's only one small part of a very rocky landscape. Can the Pink Panther series get even worse? Yep. Can the Smokey and the Bandit series get even worse than that? We're almost done with 3D, thank god, but it's got a few more scars to leave. Sword and sorcery junk, post-apocalyptic dreck, and a teen sex comedy that's a real... well, you know. There are highlights. George Lucas throws a buddy a bone and we get an animated gem as a result. Peter Hyams does some moralizing. Frank Frazetta and Ralph Bakshi get it on. Rodney Dangerfield has to stop getting it on if he wants to get rich. And Bob and Doug MacKenzie head to Elsinore Brewery for some Strange Brew. All this plus the Citizen Kane of teen comedies and Berlin Alexanderplatz? It must be August of 1983.

Do you know what a glaive is? If so, you're already one step ahead for the generally rotten July 1983. We've got science-fiction junk, horror junk, sequel junk, and comedy junk. Sure, John Hughes basically hit the ground running this month, but that does not make up for the silly 3D shark sequel set at Sea World. Let's be honest. Nothing does.

We're still hungover from May, and it's June already?! Ahhhh, yes, here's the month where 1983 really gets its stink on. How about a Porky's sequel? No? How about a terrible James Bond film? No, wait, I know, let's cast Richard Pryor in a Superman sequel! How could that be anything BUT awesome? There are some great films this month, but not many. We had to look overseas and then uncover a few gems in unexpected places. Ingmar Bergman saves the summer! When's the last time anyone said that? If last month's Bill Cosby, Himself was controversial, that's nothing compared to the superstar anthology film that still haunts us from this month, and we're going to get into it. Strap on your safety helmets. June 1983 is a full-contact sport.

Ewoks, man. Ewoks.There are other movies, too.

Ahhh, April. It's not summer yet, but the holidays are done, and in 1983, studios didn't know what the hell to do with themselves. Fassbinder's final feature film, some more teen sex comedies, a horror film that's barely a horror film, another horror film that is mainly a great poster in search of a movie, OJ Simpson and a dog, and possibly one of the best Italian knock-off post-apocalyptic films ever made... and that's just the start. Do you like Chuck Norris? Why? Even if you don't, though, holy cow, you have got to see Lone Wolf McQuade. That's really the big theme of the month... movies you've got to see for yourself. Sexy vampires, even sexier aliens, and the sexiest goddamn steel worker of all time. James Toback slimes it up, young Nic Cage charms the shit out of us, and something wicked heads in our general direction. All that plus the debut of one Samuel Muthaforkin' Raimi? It's a gift of a month, really. You'll see.

Before we even get into how surprisingly good this month is, let's just say there's a movie here that could be considered one of the most influential movies almost no one has seen, and without telling you what it is, I'll just say that we'll cover a lot of hip-hop films this decade, and it all starts here. Did we mention it's March of 1983already? And that it's a better month than we expected? I mean, we can make the case for at least two all-timers this month, and maybe three, and that's not counting the really solid triples that are also packed in there. John Sayles? Sure. Neil Simon? If we must. Young Sean Penn versus Young Esai Morales? Bring it on. Chuck Bronson makes it sleazy, THE BEYOND makes it weird, and Tom Selleck desperately tries to make up for the worst decision of his career. Stay gold, Pony Boy. It's time for a new '80s ALL OVER.

Okay, you know what? 1983 is already getting really interesting. Think about what we get to talk about this week. Bukowski. Wim Wenders. The Year Of Living Dangerously. Pinter. Hal Ashby. The Rolling Stones. Gilbert & Sullivan. Linda Ronstadt. And at least three genuinely all-time great films that I haven't even hinted at? I see you, 1983, and I like where you're going. Let's do this.

Here we go: We've talked some trash about 1983 as we've been ramping up to it, but let us assure you... we are going into this just as excited as we are about any month of any year of this project. This is where it starts to feel like we're really doing this. 1981 was fun. 1982 was easy. But 1983 is our fourth season of the show, and it's the moment when the multiplex started to explode across America. More screens meant more films, and more films meant more variety, both in subject matter and quality, and we hope to make sense of the onslaught. We're already feeling it, too, because there are approximately 745 films every month. Like what?Don't make me say Wacko, damn you. Don't make me do it.

This is our third wrap-up show, and now the format's starting to feel familiar. 1982 is considered one of the seminal years of the decade in terms of movies, so what did we pick as the best of the best? It's a surprising list on both counts, and one you're sure to have strong feelings about, especially if you're a regular listener! Dig in!

It's hard to believe we're already wrapping up December 1982, especially because it's jam-packed with so many films that it seemed like it took 14487300347 hours to record. Dustin Hoffman in a dress! Meryl Streep out of one! The best Paul Newman performance ever! A Richard Pryor movie that will make you weep! And not one but two Jessica Lange films! There's almost no way to do justice to how dense this month is, so jump in, get busy, and we'll see you back here in a week for our best of episode so we can wrap up the third year of this ten year project.

As the year starts to wind down, the line-up stays wild and diverse. You want to see the movie that ended the career of Fred Zinneman? It's a Sean Connery film and it's terrrrrrible. How about the movie that ostensibly started the career of James Cameron? It's a sequel and it's also terrrrrrible. We've got lots of awful kids films, including one of Gary Coleman's theatrical features and another rancid Bugs Bunny compilation, and we've got kung-fu comedy and slasher movies and Kristy McNichol and Sting and Cher and Mia Farrow singing.And if that last one didn't scare you... then how about Creepshow? Oh, man... why aren't you already listening?!

Oh my god, are we really almost done with another year's worth of episodes? Are you ready for not ONE but TWO movies by Ted Kotcheff in one month? CAN ANYONE REALLY BE READY FOR TWO TED KOTCHEFF MOVIES IN ONE MONTH? EVER?! It's a definite improvement after the bizarre nightmare of September 1982, but it's still a weird line-up. How weird? Nope. Not going to ruin it. But I will say you get your introduction to Rambo at the end of the month, so you've got that to look forward to. And Burt Young's back. So you know what that means. Dig in.

The good news is there are nine thousand movies that came out this month. The bad news is that most of those nine thousand movies were all over the place in terms of quality. Sure, there's a great Jeremy Irons film you may not already know. Sure, there's a pretty solid teen sex comedy that manages to somehow combine the sleaze of Porky's with the honest of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. And, man, if you're a fan of arch weird comedies that feel like John Waters probably vaguely approves of them, you are in luck. But, man, we are navigating some truly ugly waters this month. I have two words for you: Luciano. Pavarotti. And I have one more word for you. Inchon. Peter O'Toole, it's up to you to save us from September of 1982.

After the dizzying high of the summer of 1982, it was perhaps inevitable that we would experience a drop-off, but at least it's an interesting one. After all, we've got Fassbinder remaking the film that put Marlene Dietrich on the map. We've got Charlton Heston both writing and directing a strange riff on a Humphrey Bogart classic. And we've got a really crappy Friday the 13th sequel! But beyond that, we've got one of the strangest Ralph Bakshi films, we've got a terrible Cheech and Chong movie, we've got a Don Coscarelli cable mainstay, and we've got Mazursky riffing on Shakespeare. All of that, plus one of the greatest teen comedies of the decade? Totally awesome!

In July of '82, things were all over the place, and this is one of our weirdest episodes yet as a result. We've got the creator of Happy Days chasing the success of Airplane!, we've got the start of the big S.E. Hinton landrush with Disney's Tex, and we've got one of the weirdest Chuck Norris films of the era. And that's just to warm up. If you've ever wondered what it would have been like if George Lucas had starred in Smokey and the Bandit, you can finally find out. You want Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton in a big fat musical love story? We've got it. And it's time for Ron Howard's ascent to power to start with a comedy about hookers starring Michael Keaton. You'll learn the weird origins to two of the biggest power anthems of the '80s, and you'll hear Drew cry about one of his favorite movie stars. All that, and we'll throw in Raw Force, the single craziest film we've covered so far, all for the low low price of free. Who loves you? '80s All Over does, baby.

Has there ever been a month quite like June of 1982? Honestly, when we started talking about this podcast, we knew this would be a big episode, but I don't think we had any idea quite what that meant. I mean, we could just take two movies from this month -- Blade Runner and The Thing -- and that would be more than enough to discuss for an entire episode. But the point of this show has always been that there is so much more to the '80s than the canon that we've all accepted, and this month is the case that proves that. I don't even want to spoil it. Suffice it to say, this is a full two hours, and it could easily have gone two hours more. Seriously. This is bananas. You'll see.

Holy shit! Diner! I mean -- sorry, that's obviously not the only thing that came out in April of 1982, but it's one of the films we are delighted to finally be able to discuss. April was a crazy month overall, with terrible comedies making fun of gay people, Chuck Norris fighting a Frankenstein monster, weird mutants in baskets, and three-bladed swords. Also, we have further proof of our ongoing theory that Hollywood failed Richard Pryor completely. We're still just heating up, too, because it's a hell of a year overall. But for now, enjoy this one. And Diner!

Ahhh... March. As we settle into the third season of the show, 1982 starts to heat up. If the only movie we were discussing this month was the marvelous Blake Edwards comedy Victor/Victoria, that would already be one of the best episodes we've done. If the only movie we were discussing this month was the terrific Sidney Lumet thriller Deathtrap, that would be one of the best episodes. One of the things that makes the show so much fun for us is the insane diversity every episode. Where else are you going to hear about Jill Clayburgh's pill habit, the best terrible Jaws ripoff of all time, and Richard Pryor at his most incendiary, pun fully intended? We've got documentaries, an amazing movie about Nazi Germany, and, yes... we've got Porky's. Let's light this candle!

Cavemen, Charles Bronson, and the motherlovin' Swamp Thing! We are off and running with the second month of our third season of the program, and now we're really cooking. Look at how diverse this month's titles are: We've got a great little-seen Western starring Gary Busey and Willie Nelson. We've got a passion project (and you know what that means) from the Oscar-winning writer of The Sting. We've got the passion project to end all passion projects (and you definitely know what that means) from the Oscar-winning director of The Godfather. And you want a submarine movie? OF COURSE YOU DO. AND YOU WILL LOVE IT. Roger Daltrey. Hot air balloons. And Pia freakin' Zadora. Stop reading. Start listening. It's February 1982.

Have we really already finished two out of the ten years of this project? Yes. Yes, we have. And as a reward, it's time for 1982, one of the biggest, weirdest, and most eclectic years of the decade. We've got a fistful of horror films to kick things off, including the return of the Dainty Ape himself in VENOM, and we've got a couple of early documentaries from Nick Broomfield and Errol Morris, two of the best-known documentarians of all time. We've also got one of the best films ever made about divorce, an odd little Jack Nicholson thriller, and we are pleased to finally get a chance to talk about VICE SQUAD. Neon slime! Ramrod, baby! Let's do this thing as we kick the year off right!

Wow! We've made it to the end of our second year of the ten-year project, and we're celebrating with another best of episode. While Scott and Drew ended up agreeing completely on their number one film, they surprise each other throughout with their choices, and the results highlight just what a diverse and strange year of movies 1981 was. There's little doubt we'll be talking about Indiana Jones, but we'll also be talking about Albert Brooks, two werewolf movies, throwbacks to film noir and movie musicals, as well as commies and gamblers and time-traveling little people, oh my! Help us wrap up 1981 so we can finally kick off the year many of you have been waiting for, as '80S ALL OVER continues!

What?! We finished another year?! That's amazing! And what a line-up to feature in our final month of 1981. Jane Fonda and Kris Kristofferson flirt and try to keep the entire world economy from going belly-up, Richard Dreyfuss argues for his right to die, and Chevy Chase gets supernatural powers from magic cocaine. Wait, that can't be right, can it? You want to see why Andy Kaufman didn't have much of a film career? You want to see another Jane Fonda film? Wait: what is it with you and Jane Fonda? Should we be worried? We've got Fred Astaire in his weirdest role ever, and we've got Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in probably the most depressing duet of their long collaboration. But, hey, we've also got Warren Beatty's REDS, so it's all good. Let's do this thing, kids! Bye, 1981! See you soon, 1982!

As the year winds down, we hit a strange lull. There are definitely some highlights like Terry Gilliam's amazing TIME BANDITS, but we've got some weird jailbait fantasies by filmmakers who should know better, a not-really-based-on-a-true-story love-on-the-run comedy with some chaaaaaaaaaarming actors, a compilation of great animation surrounded by some decidedly not great animation, a heartbroken work by a director in decline, and an amazing thriller gem from Down Under. Only two more two go after this, and we'll be done with two of the ten years of this project! That's insane! What more incentive do you need? Hurry up and listen, because it's November of 1981!

October of 1981 may be one of the most jam-packed months we've ever done, and the types of movies we're discussing are all over the place. We've got a fistful of grimy little horror films like Just Before Dawn, The Pit, and Galaxy of Terror, as well as high-end art-house releases like My Dinner With Andre and The French Lieutenant's Woman. Did you know there was a sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Well, we're going to discuss it! We'll discuss the two different Burt Reynolds personas, and we're going to make some sure-to-be-controversial comments about Halloween II. Peter Falk and women wrestlers, Bruce Dern needling Maude Adams, and the final film of the legendary George Cukor... all that and more!

We've got socially conscious comedies that are just barely conscious, like SO FINE and CARBON COPY, as well as a slew of wacko horror films like HOME SWEET HOME and DON'T GO IN THE WOODS, and we've got Robert Duvall and Robert De Niro as brothers tangled up in the Black Dahlia case in '40s Los Angeles. Walter Hill, young Rachel Ward, a tame John Belushi, a trio of very different movie mothers, and one of the best scores of the '80s. All of this, and we get to determine if Mel Gibson did or didn't in TIM? It must be September 1981.

Not one, but two comedies about the homeless or the mentally ill this week, because in Reagan's America, who didn't find an unbalanced street person delightful? Scott and Drew try to figure out how films like CHU CHU AND THE PHILLY FLASH and HONKY TONK FREEWAY got made, they talk about the lack of charisma that is Chuck Norris, they discuss the weird and often upsetting sexual mores of early '80s comedies, and they debate the relative merits of STUDENT BODIES. We've got early films from Australian icons John Duigan and Peter Weir, we've got Kathleen Turner's movie debut, we've got conservatives and liberals debating on the Supreme Court, and we've got one of the biggest animation experiments of the decade. Stick to the roads and stay off the moors, lads... it's August of 1981.

After the extreme high of June 1981, brace yourself for the very strange month that followed. You want Albert Finney fighting semi-werewolves? You want drunk Dudley Moore? You want to see Mary Poppins with her boobs out? You want to see Bo Derek have sex with an orangutan? Why? What's wrong with you? Brooke Shields, ground zero for the '80s 3D craze, Darby Crash, Carrie Fisher and a bunch of little people, and Pele versus WWII... all part of the insane landscape that made up July 1981.

Put simply, this is the biggest episode we've released so far. When we talk about big months, you can't get much more packed than this. CLASH OF THE TITANS. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. STRIPES. DRAGONSLAYER. HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1. That would be a lot, right? But that's not it. DEMONOID also came... wait, what the hell is DEMONOID? SUPERMAN II. THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER. THE CANNONBALL RUN. And a dude named Indiana Jones. You are not ready. We were not ready. This is why we do this podcast.

Oh, my god, there were roughly 11,000 movies released in May of 1981, and we managed to discuss every single one of them. You want John Waters? We've got John Waters. You want Hal Ashby? We've got Hal Ashby. We've got Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin together. We've got a terrible Lone Ranger movie. We've got Stewart Rafill at his Stewart Rafillest. Sean Connery's in outer space! And Richard Pryor shows up in a really terrible comedy featuring kids and the Klan! All that plus five -- yes FIVE -- slasher films. What are you waiting for?!

Get ready to listen to the only podcast you will ever hear that manages to transition from Tony Danza in GOIN' APE to Federico Fellini's CITY OF WOMEN. That's right, it's April 1981, and that means it's one seriously weird line-up. There are some classics, like EXCALIBUR and NIGHTHAWKS, and there are some no-so-classics like CAVEMAN and BLOODY BIRTHDAY. We found a delightful and largely forgotten Western with Burt Lancaster, and you'll get to hear a story about how Drew was a total creep to Susan Sarandon. What are you waiting for? Press play now!

What do we have this month? Man, what DON'T we have this month? You want a weird uncomfortable sexual triangle between Gene Hackman, Barbra Streisand, and Dennis Quaid? Nope, us neither, but you're getting it anyway! Either Sam Neill or Bill Cosby is the devil this month... or maybe both of them are! We've got Tobe Hooper, Gary Coleman, Elliott Gould, Sally Field, Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, early Jim Jarmusch, and a comedy that Stanley Kubrick once described as "the perfect movie." Yep. It's March 1981.

Wanna know what the best film that came out this month was? Well, it certainly wasn't SPHINX, based on the Robin Cook book, but that's where our trip through the month begins. Peter Ustinov's almost cheerfully offensive CHARLIE CHAN film is this month, as is the fascinating Christopher Walken performance at the heart of DOGS OF WAR. It's a pretty wild ride, including William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver, Paul Newman, a young Rachel Ticotin, Francois Truffaut, Toshiro Mifune, one of the biggest names in '80s comedy, and some tough talk about Ralph Bakshi.

Ahhhhh, January. Named for the Latin word for 'door,' this is the way into the second season of the show. Any film fan knows that January is a weird month for releases, and this is no exception. Lily Tomlin's THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN, the ambitious Native American fantasy WINDWALKER, and David Cronenberg's SCANNERS are just a few of the diverse titles we cover this month!

Well, we're not going to give it away (Popeye) or tell you what might show up on this episode (The Shining) or even hint at a single title you'll hear us discuss (The Empire Strikes Back), but now that we've wrapped up our first year of the podcast, it's time to do a best of episode and decide what films from our most recent trip through 1980 are the ones that stick with us most (Used Cars).

Our 12th episode finally brings us to December of 1980, and not only is this is the best month of movies we've had to discuss yet, it's also the best episode we've done yet! Seems fitting, right? After all, we get to talk about films like FLASH GORDON, RAGING BULL, NINE TO FIVE, ALTERED STATES, INSIDE MOVES, and, yes, Robert Altman's POPEYE. WHICH IS AWESOME. BECAUSE IT IS. AND WE WILL ACCEPT NO ARGUMENT ON THIS TOPIC. But seriously, POPEYE rules.

Oh my god, it's really going to happen: We're going to wrap up the first year of this project, and it's starting to feel... really comfortable. Do you have trouble telling GATES OF HEAVEN and HEAVEN'S GATE apart? You won't after this episode. Have you ever seen the Golan-Globus musical THE APPLE? We have, and we still can't believe it's real. And if you want a great example of high art and low art existing side by side, we're doing both KAGEMUSHA and SHOGUN ASSASSIN. It's November 1980, and it rules!

Can you believe we're almost done with 1980? It's flying by, and after a short holiday break, we are back with a jam-packed episode that covers everything from TERROR TRAIN to Frank Sinatra's final starring role, with a beloved romance starring Christopher Reeve, Paul Simon's most personal film, and David Lynch's mainstream breakthrough as well. Dig in, because this one covers almost 20 films.

We've got our sound issues all worked out finally, and just in time for one of the strangest episodes yet. Woody Allen gets all Fellini on us, Walter Matthau plays spy games, and Marty Feldman brings us Richard Pryor as a computer named G.O.D. Bette Midler, Robert Altman, Mary Tyler Moore, and Jason Robards as Howard Hughes. That's not enough for you? Come on! How much awesome can we give you in one week?

Scott is halfway out of the well! And just in time for a very strange episode, featuring films like SMOKEY & THE BANDIT II, THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU, and XANADU. This is the first appearance of Jackie Chan on the podcast, the first appearance of Tom Hanks, and we even cover two (yes, TWO) Chuck Norris movies.

First things first: you'll notice that Scott Weinberg was trapped in a well for this week's episode. He's fine! We've got him out of the well, and he's been reunited with his family, and the dog who led everyone to where he was trapped is going to get a parade and you're all invited! In the meantime, we cover July 1980, which includes CADDYSHACK, AIRPLANE!, USED CARS, and much more, so check that out.

This show just keeps getting better. Where else are you going to hear a conversation about THE BLUES BROTHERS, Clint Eastwood, Herbie Goes Bananas, the wacko Bermuda-Triangle-lost-pirates movie The Island, and Richard Rush's strange and beautiful The Stunt Man? Nowhere, that's where! Nowhere except '80s ALL OVER!

Oh my god, it's finally here. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. ...And if that were the only thing we were talking about this month, that would be awesome. BUT IT'S NOT. Try on FRIDAY THE 13th. Or THE SHINING. Or BON VOYAGE, CHARLIE BROWN (AND DON'T COME BACK). I mean, come on. Alan Parker's FAME. This is how good May is. ALL THE GOOD! ALL OF IT, I TELL YOU!

This was always the month that gave us stress when we were first talking about this idea, because it's got the fewest new releases for any month of the year, and it's not a great batch. Still, we've got Dabney Coleman, a weird Disney misfire, Don Knotts and Tim Conway together, and the giant freakshow that is James Coburn. Check this one out!

Holy cow, these just keep getting better. We've got LITTLE DARLINGS. We've got FORBIDDEN ZONE. We've got James Caan and Sissy Spacek and Gilda Freakin' Radner. Oh... and we've got a little something called MAD MAX. Seriously. Why aren't you already listening?

Matt Gourley is a man of very specialized talents. He knows his James Bond (obviously—he co-hosts Earwolf's James Bonding podcast) and he knows his Jason Voorhees (he does the In Voorhees We Trust podcast, too). Scott calls him "a crown prince of podcasting," and he's not really exaggerating at all, what with co-founding SuperEgo, creating I Was There Too, producing Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, and appearing on some of the absolute funniest episodes of Comedy Bang Bang, Never Not Funny, Thrilling Adventure Hour, and more. But truly, his finest hour must be this one, where he shoots the breeze for about an hour about '80s films with Drew and Scott. Join us, won't you?

On this very, very special Patreon bonus episode, Drew and Scott get to sit for a spell with writer/cinematographer/producer/director Peter Hyams, a man responsible for making some of the flat-out ballsiest moves that '80s Hollywood ever saw, not least of which was "I think I'm going to make the follow up to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey." The stories of that film's making are absolute must-hears, but so are the tales of his breaking into the industry, and the rules he had to break to stay there, the time Sean Connery tried yanking his chain on the set of Outland, and the absolute joy both in front and behind the camera during the making of Running Scared with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal.

Three different pioneers get together for a special Patreon Bonus to discuss the weird wild west days of their youth: Drew & Scott discuss what it was like wandering the wilderness of UHF and VHS and taking that education and turning it into online film critic gold—while Kevin Murphy talks about wandering the wilderness of low-budget cable programming and turning that into culture-defining comedy with his work on Mystery Science Theater 3000. They talk about a bunch of '80s movies (and some not very good ones, too) while they're at it.

EG Daily is known to millions upon millions of people as one of the voices of their childhood: Tommy Pickles from Rugrats, Buttercup in The Powerpuff Girls... but so far as Drew and Scott are concerned, the voices they know her from are from her appearance in '80s films like Streets of Fire, and Fandango, and Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains; let's not forget that one little independent art film called Pee Wee's Big Adventure, of course, and yes... she was in Wacko, too.

Some of these bonus episodes are delightful, some are surprises, and then there's Diane Franklin's episode, which is consistently one delightful surprise after the other. Scott and Drew dig into her filmography, and the stories she shares about the making of all-time classics like The Last American Virgin, Better Off Dead and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure are as charming as you'd expect... but it's the stories about Amadeus and Amityville that really go places.

One of the best things about the bonus episodes is the opportunities it allows both Scott and Drew to nerd out with some of their very favoritest people, and that very much includes Switchblade Sisters co-host, film critic, and Blumhouse's Black Christmas screenwriter April Wolfe, who shares some of her biggest influences, tells stories of how her horror fandom has changed her life, and digs into some of her most treasured '80s horror classics.

The ICE... IS GONNA BREAK

Drew McWeeny has been many things in his life. Laserdisc slinger, Popcorn schlepper, cub reporter, theatre director, hopeless romantic, internet raconteur... but when he came to Los Angeles, it was in answer to the siren song of screenwriting. And this very special bonus episode digs deep into a lot of that history courtesy of today's special guest, filmmaker Rebecca Swan, Drew's writing partner on the Masters of Horror episodes Pro-Life and Cigarette Burns. They talk at length about their favorite films, shared obsessions, the way each informed the other's sensibilities, and much more.

Maybe one of the single most influential and impactful forces on the world of film in the 1980s wasn't a director, or a writer, or the alumni of one film school or another. It was a sketch comedy show that didn't start until 11:30pm at night, and frankly wasn't very good a lot of the time. But when it was good? Oh, it was change the world good, and Drew and Scott dive into the legend of Saturday Night Live and the way it became a legitimate star-making machine that greatly benefitted the films of the 1980s.

Here in 2018, movies and video games enjoy a very... well, maybe healthy isn't the correct word, but accepted and expected relationship. But in the 1980s, video games were still more or less brand new, and movies didn't quite know what to make of this burgeoning industry that would soon be in direct competition for the youth market's eyes and ears. Scott and Drew discuss the decade's first attempts at incorporating (or hijacking, really) the appeal of video games, what video games appealed to them, and why that relationship between the two artforms has never been all that stable.

You're in Weinberg's world now, kids. Halloween means horror movies, and as you might have heard, Scott is somewhat of an aficionado of the fright flick. Drew isn't chopped liver when it comes to having chiller bonafides either, and their combined love for the Halloween season is something to behold, as they run down some of their favorite scary movies, the power of the genre as a whole, the (oft-undeserved) critical response it receives, and they even try to scare each other, a little... to varying effect.

Drew is flying solo for this episode while Scott soaks up Fantastic Fest, but that doesn't mean he's without friends: Film critic Jason Bailey steps in to talk about his favorite and most formative '80s films, and the conversation is made all the better for the fact this is literally the first time, after years and years of talking and swapping stories online, that these two wordslingers are having a real life, real-time conversation about cinema, and they take that opportunity to do what they both do best. Go on some serious DEEP DIVES into their favorite films.

A highly educational, illuminating, and entertaining conversation with the director/producer known for making many of the best film documentaries of the last 20 years and an absolute legend to DVD and Blu-ray collectors everywhere: Charles de Lauzirika. That Blade Runner set you can't live without? That Alien Anthology? You have this man to thank, and he has some thoughts and opinions on how those things all came together (and what versions you should watch, in which order, too.) All that and some Blue Thunder too? Cue that 20th Century Fox fanfare...

It happened way too late, but it couldn't have happened to a better patron: The show finally makes good on its promise to dedicate an entire bonus episode to shooting the breeze with one of its most-constant listeners, Jeff the Movie Man, an unmissable and vital presence in the '80s All Over social media circle. So it's like getting to hang out with the guys on Twitter, except, you know - you can HEAR everyone in real time. And just like Twitter... there's no edit button.

Yes, the main purview of '80s All Over is the films of the decade, some unjustly forgotten, some rightfully so (but we're going to remind you anyway!) - but a huge part of the '80s was its television, and who better to talk about the way the tube set the tone for that decade's cultural explosions than Ken Reid, the TV Guidance Counselor... who talks about movies a little too.

No matter how many times they try to empty it, the '80s All Over mailbag never actually hit inbox zero. Pretty sure it never even got close. Maybe it was due to all the kibitzing and old-school-breakdancing going on in this episode, but then again—what good is efficiency in answers if you're robbed of the high-quality kibitizing Drew and Scott are known for. (The dancing? Not so much). Topics include the goodies found in movie novelizations, the filmmaker who had the best filmmaking streak in the '80s (it's not Spielberg!), and what '90s film was the film that actually closed the door on the '80s?

'80s All Over becomes a little more of a Happy Place thanks to this episode's special guest, A.V. Club legend, Dissolve hero, Weird Al biographer, and yes, coiner of the phrase "Manic Pixie Dream Girl," Nathan Rabin. Nathan, unsurprisingly, has a lot of very deeply held opinions about the cinema of the '80s, some surprising, some not as surprising; but the passion that made him one of the most-read (and most-celebrated) culture writers on the internet can't be stopped from shining like the frickin' sun.

Sure, Drew and Scott could probably do this movie by themselves, verbatim, due to how magical it is and how often they've both seen it, but that wouldn't make for a fun commentary, really. What would be fun would be getting former film critic, current educator of the youth, and—most importantly—Canadian person of renown and acclaim James Rocchi to join them for a truly ahead-of-its-time comedy that still worked within its time because drunken SCTV stars saying "hoser" a lot will never not be funny.

It's not often one gets to talk to their heroes, and in this episode, Scott Weinberg gets to have a conversation with the film critic who helped him realize that's a thing he could be, too. Carrie Rickey joins Scott and Drew to discuss her history in Philadelphia media, her favorite movies, and her experiences surviving the '80s.

One of the most prolific directors in film history had a pretty busy 1980s, and Drew and Scott dive into his history and that filmography—ignoble (yet fascinating!)—as it may be, touching on his most mediocre-est of hits! Or misses. Mostly misses, really.

This bonus pairing of podcasts, this extra-special mashup of two movie-talking-tastes that taste very wry together isn't as jubilantly off the rails as Junkfood All Over was, but that's because Eric D. Snider and Jeff Bayer of Movie BS with Bayer and Snider is a more restrained, yet somehow still rambunctious listening experience, and when they take over this bonus episode, things do - no doubt - derail spectacularly, but with just a touch of class, too. Or as much class as can be mustered one one is championing the "classic" comedy Hunk.

The decade began with The Blues Brothers getting released to theaters, and was swiftly followed up by Popeye coming ashore on the big screen; you've gotta know that with an opening that strong, the '80s were going to be a decade that delivered some amazing musicals, and Drew and Scott come together to discuss their very favorites, including some of the usual singing and dancing suspects, and some you might not expect to get their share of the spotlight!

Scott flies solo on this bonus that is pulled entirely from his very active Twitter feed: He poses a question to the listeners, the listeners react, and then Scott reacts back. It's an extended act of react-ception, really. Not sure if that's the right word for it, though. It's not a word anyway, so it probably doesn't matter. Anyway, enjoy this half-hour of intimate alone time with Scott and his Twitter.

While the main show is solely for qualitatively cherished entertainments of the '80s, this bonus episode not only allowed Scott and Drew a chance to dig into Steven Spielberg's brand-spankin-new adaptation of a book that could have only been written because of the '80s, Ready Player One, but those insights are fleshed out via an interview with that film's writer, Zak Penn, who talks at length about his own intense '80s experiences, and the films that inspired him to become a filmmaker.

Not so much a guest spot or a bonus episode as it was a wholly satisfying podcast mash-up combining two great movie-loving tastes that cannot stay on-topic if everyone's lives depended on it. Brian Salisbury and C. Robert Cargill of Junkfood Cinema come roaring into this bonus episode of '80s All Over and even attempting to describe the movie-flavored madness that's indulged would do the episode a disservice. You gotta listen!

Scott goes solo on this very special episode with the star of flat-out classics like Re-Animator and From Beyond, Barbara Crampton, who shares a lot of very interesting behind-the-scenes stories on getting those indelible roles, and what it's like to keep a career healthy through four decades of Hollywood changes.

One-third of maybe the most popular movie podcast in podcast history (All 12 or so real years of it) sees fit to grace Scott and Drew with his presence. Granted, there's some technical difficulties with his mic, but look: If you can get Paul Scheer of How Did This Get Made and The Disaster Artist and The League and The Good Place on your podcast to talk about underrated, unsung, and plain weird faves from the '80s, you do it, and the boys absolutely dug into some stuff you're definitely going to wanna seek out once this show is done.

Some of cinema's most sneeringest, preeningest, smarmiest, most-punchable-in-the-biggus-dickusest villains came straight out of the '80s, and Drew and Scott came together to champion the actors who brought them to life, and to revel in just how lovably hatable these characters are.

Drew and Scott come together with a bunch of notes, a head full of memories, and full hearts full of nothing but a whole lotta love for a very important movie to both of them, Terry Gilliam's twisted fairy tale Time Bandits. They get into how the film came together, how innovative its making was, the charms of its myriad stars, and how it still packs a powerful punch all this time later.

There is no better intro for this episode than the one Scott himself freestyle-sang within the first 30 seconds of the bonus beginning. To quote: "It's Mail Bag! Number Three! And we're here to s-- (breath) uh-- DO SOME LETTERS!" Think of it as a tasty pre-Christmas morsel before 2018 kicks in, full force.

Can you believe Bill Hader agreed to sit (and hit it and quit it) with Drew to talk about all his favorite '80s films? We couldn't either. But he did, and if you thought "I bet Bill Hader likes some pretty weird and obscure '80s flicks," guess what - YOU'RE RIGHT! If you were also thinking "I bet this bonus is full of joyful Bill Hader-y goodness..." RIGHT AGAIN. Get listening already!

In this special Patreon Bonus, Drew goes one-on-one with a childhood friend with whom he shared many a formative filmgoing experience... a friend who just so happened to grow up and become the Executive Creative Director for Marvel Games, a guy named Bill Rosemann. You could only imagine the sort of '80s-era movie adventures they had, but that's the whole point of this bonus episode - you don't have to imagine. You can hear them!

Despite their best attempts to empty the mailbag in the first Mail Call, the bag was not only UN-emptied, it just kept filling up, like Mickey Mouse had put on a cone-shaped hat and goofed around with a book of spells or something. Not only are questions answered, but Scott gets the chance to play God... MOVIE GOD. Which classic gets smited? SOMETHING MUST BE SMITED! Listen and learn!

It was a foregone conclusion that '80s All Over would spend some time talking film with Joe Lynch: Not only is he one of Drew's friends, but he's also one of his favorite directors (Wrong Turn 2, Everly, Mayhem) and Mr. Lynch is also a podcaster, co-hosting the must-listen The Movie Crypt with Adam Green. And after launching into a... questionable Scott Weinberg impersonation, Lynch brings to the table a list of '80s movies he truly treasures on a personal level, and helps invent a guest format that will continue into future bonus episodes.

Everyone loves a reaction video right? Well, maybe not everyone, but enough people for it to be a viable income stream on YouTube, because that's how we gauge success in the 21st Century. Well, this is kinda like that, except what's happening is that listeners are watching movies that have been covered on the show, and sending in their reactions, and then Drew and Scott react to those reactions! It's all part of the wonderful journey of (re-) discovery the show goes on every month.

Drew and Scott spent a very long time preparing for this episode... and then with less than a few hours before the scheduled record, Drew had to go to the doctor for some sort of radical back-replacement procedure... or something like that. So in the face of such short notice and no real alternative, their producer makes his first and only on-mic appearance, where he and Scott draft their five favorite soundtracks of the decade — an endeavor that is a lot harder than it sounds, considering the '80s is basically when the movie soundtrack became an artform unto itself.

Listeners already know about the first two test episodes of '80s All Over, set in the last year of the '70s, but while you might think those two episodes are where the show began, that's not really the truth. This episode, recorded in 2010, inside a Toronto hotel room, after the premiere of John Carpenter's The Ward, is essentially this show's secret origin. Drew hit record on a career-spanning conversation he and Scott were going to have anyway, and the late night experiment not only succeeded, but it eventually led to the creation of their own show.

An absolute legend passes, and two of his biggest fans spend an entire bonus episode speaking on the man's drive, his genius, his talent, his work, and the way that work affected not just them, but multiple generations of filmgoers, and filmmakers.

You got questions? '80s All Over has answers. The first in a series of episodes where the big ol' mailbag gets dumped over onto Scott and Drew's desks, and they try to answer what they can, as well as they can, before time is up. And the while the questions might not be all that out there, the places this episode winds up are... very interesting, to say the least.

There have been storytellers as special guests on '80s All Over before, but there are storytellers and then there's writer/director Steven E. De Souza, who hits the ground running in this conversation with Drew and Scott, and literally never stops, starting from day -1 of his career and continuing through some jaw-dropping anecdotes starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joel Silver, Lawrence Gordon, Walter Hill, John McTiernan, and more. Pull up a seat and be regaled by true tales from a key architect of some of the '80s most influential action classics.

The elements of the show start to lock into place, albeit in forms still not quite ironed out all the way—and wouldn't be until around the fourth or fifth episode of the show proper. But you can already tell that '80s All Over was well on its way, despite the way overlong intro and the not-so-quality sound quality. It certainly helped that August of 1979 provided Scott and Drew with a ton of great topics to touch on, including Apocalypse Now, The Amityville Horror, and the comic majesty of one Biggus Dickus.

The last Patreon exclusive was recorded shortly after one of the show's biggest decisions was made: To call the show '80s All Over as opposed to the original title... "Klytus, I'm Bored." An amazingly delivered line, but maybe not the most appealing or informative name for the podcast. But the proper tribute was shortly paid, as Drew and Scott convened for this commentary focused fully one of their most favorite films of the entire decade.

You can't just start a podcast fully-formed with your very first episode. Rather, I'm sure you can, it just won't stay that way very long, and it probably won't sound all that great. Usually you gotta put some training wheels on the bike and take a couple laps around the block before you show off to your friends. Before the "official" launch, Scott and Drew had to figure out their rhythm and get used to transforming their conversations into a show, and that meant practicing on the month of December, 1979, with films including Spielberg's infamous 1941, Peter Sellers' award-winning performance in Being There, and more.

Of all the films Drew and Scott have championed on the show, none are as thoroughly beloved as this: Robert Altman's bizarre, unique, touching, and authentic adaptation of the classic comic strip, giving star Robin Williams one of his earliest opportunities to show he was more than just Mork; and casting Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl - which is still the single most perfect piece of comic movie casting in film history.

One of the decade's most versatile and interesting "That guys" was actually this woman, who scared the hell out of people in Nightmare on Elm Street, but also counts among her contributions to '80s cinema roles in Better Off Dead, Silverado, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

On a chilling, cold, and super-spooky (checks notes) ... Sunday morning in broad daylight, Scott and Drew convened, triumphed over technological shortcomings, and delivered their appreciations, admirations, and thoughts on the John Carpenter classic, The Fog.

One of the most important ingredients in some of the '80s most memorable movies sits down with Drew and Scott to discuss her work in multiple classics, including Back to the Future, Some Kind of Wonderful and... yes, Howard the Duck, too.

A lovely conversation with the woman who helped make canon entries like Blow Out, RoboCop, and Carrie into the classics they truly are.