Celluloid Zeroes

When Mike and Jim saw this movie in 1979 we thought it was one of the coolest things ever. There were spaceships, robots, lasers and giant red meteors! Oh, and this whirlpool looking black hole that meant almost certain death to anything that got sucked into it. Seeing this movie through adult eyes, however, led to a newfound appreciation of it.

Jim immediately takes us to a dark place because, well, he's Jim and needs to tout his intimate knowledge of personality disorders whenever he can. Mike explores the biblical themes of the story and, somehow, they both draw a parallel between The Black Hole and the massacre that happened in Jonestown just a year before this movie's release. Critics panned this movie, but we loved it and still love it!

We are pretty sure no one has ever looked at The Black Hole through such a critical eye before but there's a first time for everything. If you can set aside all of the scientific inaccuracies and suspend disbelief for 90 minutes, you just might like it too.

This episode is sponsored by Mike Carlon's novel Motel California which can be purchased in ebook or paperback format wherever books are sold online. Enjoy the show.

Today, the Carlon brothers are joined by filmmaker Joe Indusi to discuss 1982s MegaForce.

When this film came out, Mike and Jim were 8 years old. Looking back, that must have been the prime demographic for this film because it included flying motorcycles, glorified dune buggies with lasers, and men with feathered hair—lots of feathered hair. For all the missiles launched from motorcycles, there we no fatalities in this movie which makes us think that the inspiration was the GI Joe cartoon which was becoming popular around the same time.

Watching it at 45 is a difficult thing to do, and that's putting it mildly. The plot (is there one?) makes no sense, the gold spandex jumpsuits are cringeworthy, and the one liners just don't land. And wait, is that a Confederate Flag on the sleeve of a character named Dallas? It's like if The Road Warrior and Star Wars had a baby and that baby grew up to wear gold jumpsuits and over use hair mousse, you'd have MegaForce.

There is one scene, though, that really stands out. Ace Hunter (yes, you read that right) played by Barry Bostwick (again, you read that right) is mansplaining something to Major Zara, played by Persis Khambatta (you might know her as the Bald Lady in Star Trek The Motion Picture). The scene is a silhouette shot and Barry Bostwick is clearly making a statement with the placement of his right hand (while the left one is finger wagging like Kamala Harris, the right one is placed strategically below his waist).

Unfortunately, while we had fond memories of this flick as kids, it just doesn't hold up but that's okay because it makes our discussion all the more colorful. Happy listening!

This episode of Celluloid Zeroes is brought to you by All the F*cks I Cannot Give by Mike Carlon. The writers and director of MegaForce gave no F*cks when making that movie so this is your chance to learn how not giving a F*ck can be the path to self-enlightenment. You can purchase All the F*cks I Cannot Give in audiobook, paperback, or kindle format at Amazon.com. Enjoy the show.

In the second installment of Celluloid Zeroes, the Carlon brothers discuss the 1980 fantasy film Hawk the Slayer and question whether they actually had a happy childhood after all.

The plot of this movie has more holes in it than the European countryside in the 1940s. They ask the big questions such as what kid of dirt did the producers have on Jack Palance and was this really just a Dungeons and Drago's rip off of Star Wars?

Listen in as we address these questions and have a ton of laughs along the way.

In this inaugural episode of the Celluloid Zeroes Podcast, the Carlon brothers take a deep dive into the 1981 parody Zorro The Gay Blade starring George Hamilton, Lauren Hutton, and Ron Leibman.

Listen in as Mike and Jim discuss what they liked about this film back in the day and their reactions to it almost forty years after they saw it for the first time. We make a link to Batman, today's social justice initiatives, and how George Hamilton's accent is actually its own character.

Is there any chance this movie would see the light of day today? Listen to find out.