CF3: Cult Fans, Films & Finds

IMPORTANT: CF3 has transitioned to a video talk series on YouTube. This episode with scream queen and all-around sweetheart Kelli Maroney reviewing Chopping Mall (1986) is best experienced via video due to the high number of visual cues used in its production. Please subscribe to see and hear this episode in its native format @ youtube.com/project-nerd

NOTE: This is the second to last episode that will appear on this RSS feed. We have transitioned over to video on YouTube, and this episode (which features Mel Johnson, Jr. aka "Benny the Traitorous Mutant Cab Driver" and a video game review of the NES tie-in title by The Game Beaters, the latter of which is EXCLUSIVE to the YouTube episode) is a highly visual episode that does not entirely translate as an audio podcast. Going forward, you should subscribe to https://www.youtube.com/project-nerd to see & hear our future content. Our forthcoming episode in March (Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead w/Keith Coogan) will be the final one posted to this feed.

NOTE: CF3 is now a "video-first" show broadcasting on YouTube. Visual cues from the show do not translate well to podcasts. Please subscribe at youtube.com/c/CF3TV

FANS: Ernie Trinidad and Michael Kallio are the producer and director of Howard the Doc, Or: How I Learned to Start Quacking and Love the Bomb (2021), the forthcoming documentary about legendary box office bomb Howard the Duck (1986). We chat with them about the origin of the documentary, the bizarre nature of Howard the Duck, and their experiences landing interviews with Lea Thompson, Phil Tippett, and more.

FILMS: We review Howard the Duck (1986) with an assist from Ernie and Michael in the Total Recast and Cult Filmometer segments. We also debut Rev It Up w/Jeff, Playboy Watch and MAD About the Movies mini-segments on video for the first time.

FANS: Melissa Jo Murphy (Horrid, Incest Death Squad trilogy) talks about her favorite cult films, her entry into acting in Wisconsin, hanging out with Troma's Lloyd Kaufman while making IDS, and transitioning to working behind the camera. Laughter ensues.

FILMS: It's the first musical reviewed on CF3! Melissa nails her Audrey impersonation en route to this breakdown of Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors (1986), which has us discussing all the songs, singing many of them, pondering which cameo player stole the show, and recasting the movie without stepping on the toes of the already-in-development reboot. Dames shares a fascinating fact about Orin Scrivello's dentistry tools. Finally, we discover a new sound effect for all future Dopplegasms!

FINDS: HBO Max launches with a gaudy price point and the promise of a Justice League recut/do-over from Snyder, RIP Richard Herd, Together Apart reunites the cast and crew of Splash, Dane says you should watch Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet, and GoT alums Momoa & Dinklage co-star in a horror flick!

FANS & FILMS: We've assembled 9 friends for a breakdown of Police Academy (1984), complete with a discussion of the films of 1984 and a character-by-character breakdown of this incredible ensemble. The epic cast is not exempt from our sprawling Total Recast endeavors. You'll hear Skeeter Slater debut on CF3 with the most bad-ass Michael Winslow impersonation ever recorded. You'll hear Steve Fodor (Too Much Scrolling) walk around his house! You'll find out how Jon Cohorn (Modern Horrors) earned the middle name "Comedy Sucks." Matt Miller (Team Mayh3m) joins us from the Blue Oyster. Will Nexii's back hurts. Shitty Kevin Smith starts the FTP movement. There's no doubt it--this truly IS an episode of CF3 Podcast. There, we said it.

FINDS: Future guest Melissa Jo Murphy joins us and learns that Dames is a Scooby Doo fan. Jamie Lee Curtis directs, Snowpiercer spawns a TV series, the sequel to Mad Max: Fury Road evolves, and we pay tribute to Fred Willard and Ken Osmond.

FANS: Anthony "Right Boot" De Longis talks about his experiences portraying thug Ketcham in Road House, including his terrible audition, working with the late Patrick Swayze, and driving that sweet monster truck. Find out how you can hang out with Anthony at his ranch!

FILMS: Be nice. We "roundhouse" kick Road House (1989) directly into our Cult Filmometer with two special guest reviewers, Ryan Osbahr (Pony Creek) and Dan Olsen (Sack of Lions)--two musicians who have certainly played their share of road house gigs. The things people will do to get a JC Penney in their town will blow your mind. Watch out for polar bears and bring your college transcripts for this one!

FINDS: The Goonies cast and crew reunite on Zoom, Parks & Recreation returns for one night only, The Walking Dead, RIP Irrfan Khan, and Universal Studios takes on the chin from AMC and Regal in a move that might ultimately backfire on the theater industry.

FANS: Anthony De Longis (Road House, MOTU, The Sword & the Sorcerer) is an actor, weapons expert, fight choreographer, voiceover artist and so much more with a decades long career in the business, having trained Harrison Ford to use Indy's bullwhip, dueled with Lundrgren's He-Man in Masters of the Universe, and gone toe-to-bladed toe with Patrick Swayze's Dalton in Road House. He talks a lot about weaponry, fight choreography and his time on set as Blade and Skeletor's double in the 1987 Cannon Films He-Man movie. NOTE: This is Week 1 of a back-to-back De Longis doubleheader!

FILMS: Kevin Smith (nope, not that Kevin Smith) joins us for a review of Masters of the Universe (1987) that finds us all obviously upset to this to day by the direction the filmmakers took when adapting our childhood favorite. It all makes for a great time with our TOTAL RECAST segment! How does Anthony De Longis--Blade himself--think the film holds up all these years later? And what do we all think of Meg Foster? BONUS: Hear Anthony tell us about reading for parts in the new Netflix MOTU shows!

FINDS: Our tribute to the life of Brian Dennehy has some of us wondering if he died in 1995 or just now in 2020. Jeff offers a glimmer of hope with actual news of upcoming projects in development (hint: The Mandalorian Season 2).

FANS: Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare On Elm Street 4 & 5) tells us about her early days onstage that led to UCLA and her eventual casting as leading lady Alice Johnson in parts 4 and 5 of the popular A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise opposite Robert Englund. We also hear fun stories about convention life, the jewelry business she ran with Elm Street co-star Tuesday Knight, and learn some exciting news about upcoming work, including a film with Michael Madsen!

FILMS: After spending nearly an hour with Lisa Wilcox rapping about Elm Street 4 and 5, we recruit Kevin Smith to help us close out our official reviews of The Dream Master (1988) and The Dream Child (1989), including recasting Alice's dad, our favorite lines from both movies (many of which include Freddy calling someone a bitch), and quite a bit of disagreement over which of these is the superior movie.

FINDS: Although Coronavirus has its foot on the throat of the entertainment industry, we still manage to discuss their efforts to go online to entertain from home (SNL at Home, That Thing You Do! live cast commentary reunion, etc.), to drool over the new announcement of an exhaustive and definitive Bruce Lee box from Criterion, and to threaten to shame Kevin!

FANS: Musician and YouTube gamer Dan Bobek (The Game Beaters, Bobobot) talks about a new musical concept album based on the singularity. He also tells us about his time studying in France under legendary Nirvana record producer Steve Albini before the conversation shifts to his YouTube channel The Game Beaters and talk of classic NES games!

FILMS: We head to New Angeles (got that, Dames?) for a review of Double Dragon (1994), mainly to see if it's any better than Super Mario Bros (1993). Can the script and special FX escape the crossfire? Then find out NES which games we all would have liked to have seen adapted into a film back in the heyday of the platform.

FINDS: We really try to power through with news in a world that has suddenly hit the pause button on most everything. New reboots that include The Others and Doogie Howser, M.D. plus several notable deaths to cover (from both COVID-19 and other causes).