Back To The Blockbuster

“How Do I Loathe Thee? Let Me Count Ways?” The Back To The Blockbuster team is taking on William Shakespeare with a modern day twist as we look back at 10 Things I Hate About You for its 25th anniversary! Directed by Gil Junger in his film directorial debut and written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, the film stars Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Gabrielle Union, Susan May Pratt, Allison Janney, and Larry Miller. Loosely based on William Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of the Shrew, the film follows new student Cameron James who is smitten with Bianca Stratford and attempts to get bad boy Patrick Verona to date her antisocial sister Kat in order to get around her father’s strict rules on dating. As you know, it’s not a look back at a 90s classic without our frequent guest, Mark J. Parker, host of the Release Date Rewind Podcast, so he’s also joining in on the fun as we look back at one of the best teen films of its time.

Links For Guests: Release Date Rewind Linktree

The Back To The Blockbuster team is taking it back to the darker but oh so hilarious part of high school with a look back at Heathers for its 35th anniversary! Written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts, the film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, and Penelope Milford. This twisted black comedy follows four teenage girls, three of whom are named Heather, in a clique at an Ohio high school, one of whose lives is disrupted by the arrival of a misanthrope intent on murdering the popular students and staging their deaths as suicides.

The Back To The Blockbuster team is taking it back to director Zack Snyder’s first film as a director with 2004’s Dawn of the Dead remake, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary! Written by James Gunn, the film stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, and Kevin Zegers and follows a group of survivors who try to survive a zombie apocalypse holed up in an upscale suburban shopping mall. Is this Zack Snyder’s best film? Is it one of the best remakes ever made? How does it hold against George A. Romero’s 1978 classic? We get into that and much more during this exciting look back at the walking dead!

In this latest episode of the Deep Dive spinoff, Gaius is joined by Dustin Rybka of the Sex Party podcast to discuss 1993’s Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, directed by Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm, and written by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, and Michael Reaves. The movie is based on Batman: The Animated Series and is the first original theatrical film produced by Warner Bros. Animation. In the film, Batman reconciles with a former lover, Andrea Beaumont, and faces a mysterious vigilante who is murdering Gothan City’s crime bosses. The situation comes complicated when the Joker enters picture and Batman is now faced goingup against two villains in this epic adventure that failed to ignite the box office upon initial release, but went on to become a cult classic on home video with some saying its one of the best Batman adaptations to date. The film features the vocal talents of Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Bob Hastings, Robert Costanzo, Dana Delany, Hart Bochner, Stacy Keach Jr., Abe Vigoda, Dick Miller, and John P. Ryan.

Other: Where To Watch Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Links For Guest: Dustin Rybka Instagram

It’s a big news week for the Back To The Blockbuster team with the news that Aaron Taylor-Johnson is rumored to be close to nailing down a deal to be the next  James Bond. The team also tackles Marvel wanting to take less risks which could lead to Eternals 2, Captain Marvel 3 and Ant-Man 4 not being in the works. In addition to this, the team talks Neve Campbell returning for Scream VII, The Batman Part II being delayed until 2026, more legal woes for Jonathan Majors, reactions to The Crow reboot trailer, Salem’s Lot skipping theaters and more! Everything gets wrapped up with box office predictions for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

It’s a quick news recap for the Back To The Blockbuster team as they go over what went down while the Academy Awards dominated most of the coverage. The team dives into the latest Karate Kid film filling out its ensemble cast and that’s followed with horror sequel news with the I Know What You Did Last Summer legacy sequel getting an update, Final Destination: Bloodlines begins filming and announces a 2025 theatrical release on IMAX screens, and the Halloween TV series clarifies what direction it may be taking in it early development. Other news includes The Accountant 2 movies from Warner Bros. to Amazon MGM Studios, box office results for Kung Fu Panda 4 and the second weekend of Dune: Part Two as well as box office predictions for Arthur The King.

Hollywood’s biggest night took place during the 96th Annual Academy Awards and the Back To The Blockbuster team is recapping all the wins, snubs, flubs, and jokes from the event. All the Oscars have been handed out and Oppenheimer, which led with eleven nominations, took home seven for the night, including Best Picture and Best Director for Christopher Nolan, marking the first Oscar win of his career. The show was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and we weigh in on if he measured up to his past endeavors as host and we  also touch on some of the bits on the show that landed (Messi The Dog, Ryan Gosling performing “I’m Just Ken”) and what jokes may have needed some work. Was it a proper celebration of the year in film? Listen to see if we felt it was the culmination of 2023’s output for the industry.

The Back To The Blockbuster scene is taking it back to the Class of 1999 and the mischievous teenagers of Manchester Prep with a look at Cruel Intentions for its 25th anniversary. Written and directed by Roger Kumble, the film stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Joshua Jackson, & Sean Patrick Thomas, and it’s a modern retelling of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses. In the film, two vicious step-siblings of an elite Manhattan prep school make a wager to deflower the new headmaster’s daughter before school starts. Joining us for this devilishly good episode is JC of @mercwiththemovies on Instagram to discuss why Cruel is still oh so fun 25 years later.

Links For Guests: MercWithTheMovies

Hollywood’s biggest night airs this Sunday so the Back To The Blockbuster team reveals their final predictions for the 96th annual Academy Awards. From Oppenheimer, to Poor Things, to Barbie, there are many movies that made 2023 a great year for film and now it’s time for the last major events of awards season to declare one of these movies the clear winner of the bunch. In addition to revealing our Oscar predictions, the team also tries to solve the mystery of who yelled at actress Rebecca Ferguson while also discussing the trailers for The Strangers: Chapter 1 and I Saw The TV Glow. Everything is then wrapped up with box office results for Dune: Part Two and our predictions for the film’s second weekend and if it can maintain the box office thrown with the arrival of Kung Fu Panda 4.

The Back To The Blockbuster team is about to have a most excellent adventure back in time by celebrating the 35th anniversary of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure! Directed by Stephen Herek and written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, the film stars Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and George Carlin and it follows Bill (Winter) and Ted (Reeves), who travel though time to assemble historical figures for their high school history presentation. Does it still hold up 35 years later or is just one hell of a bogus journey?