Don’t Push Pause

COMING TO AMERICA (1988) is a crowd favorite among romantic comedies and considered one of Eddie Murphy’s best films. It serves up a lighthearted, Cinderella-type story, non-stop laughs and gives us too many memorable (and quotable) scenes to count. Also, there’s a shrouded controversy and ton of backstory surrounding the film. For this Eddie Murphy-centered episode, we travel from Africa to New York to suss out the story behind COMING TO AMERICA!

▶️Synopsis: Prince Akeem of Zamunda wants nothing more than to marry a woman who loves him for who he is, not because of his immense wealth. After postponing his arranged marriage, Akeem travels to New York City to pose as an exchange student, work a regular job, and search for his future bride-to-be.

⏩⏩Discussions include: Murphy’s relationship with director John Landis and his first endeavor into makeup/prosthetics from special effects master, Rick Baker. Murphy vs. studio reaction to actors playing multiple characters. Cast breakdown, the intended vision for the fictional nation of Zamunda, followed up by the lawsuit concerning the original script. An overall view of Murphy’s career, the COMING TO AMERICA sequel and all our favorites moments sprinkled in between. **Starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, John Amos, James Earl Jones, Madge Sinclair. Directed by John Landis.**

▶️**PICKS OF THE WEEK**

Justin’s Pick — LIFE (1999): Set in 1932, two men are framed for a crime they didn’t commit and sentenced to serving life in prison together. Though a comedy, the film’s tight script and solid performances lend to some serious realness, making for a sleeper of a truly great film. **Starring Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Bernie Mac, Ned Beatty. Directed by Ted Demme.**

Lindsay’s Pick — GOLDEN CHILD (1986): In this fantasy-adventure film, a Los Angeles social worker is sought out and informed he is the only person that can rescue a kidnapped Tibetan boy who happens to be the savior of all humankind. **Starring Eddie Murphy, Charlotte Lewis, Charles Dance. Directed by Michael Ritchie.**

▶️MURRAY(Murphy)MOMENT: In this extra special Season 6 opening monologue of SNL, Eddie comes out to save a spastic Billy, as the two end up channeling another legendary comedy duo.

▶️FINAL THOUGHTS: COMING TO AMERICA’s connection to another Murphy film, TRADING PLACES; Who is Darla the dog?; Landis’ motivation behind putting Murphy in whiteface.

▶️NEXT UP: ERASERHEAD (1977)!

DELIVERANCE (1972) is a straightforward story about survival. Whether it’s human vs. human or vs. nature, primal instincts are tested in this gripping John Boorman film. Just shy of fifty years since its release, DELIVERANCE continues to leaves audiences looming with foreboding sense of realism, atop the beautiful landscape of the Chattanooga River.🛶

▶️ Synopsis: Four friends go on a remote canoe adventure down a dangerous, soon-to-be-destroyed river. After being confronted by life-threatening locals and a murder in self-defense, the story becomes about emotional and physical self-preservation.

⏩⏩ Discussions include: Thematic elements, metaphors and significance of DELIVERANCE, Boorman’s unique direction style, the absence of special effects and stunt-related dangers encountered during filming. A breakdown of the memorable main characters/actors who played them, as well as James Dickey’s involvement in this film adaptation of his novel. The notorious rape scene will be hashed out, along with the overshadowing, double-standard effect it had on the film. **Starring Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox. Directed by John Boorman.**🛶

▶️ **PICKS OF THE WEEK**

🎥Lindsay’s Pick — BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS (1982): Based on a true story, this musical comedy focuses on a beloved, small-town brothel faced with being shut down by a puritanical TV journalist. **Starring Dolly Parton, Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Charles Durning, Jim Nabors. Directed by Colin Higgins.**🛶

▶️ MURRAYMOMENT: Billy makes a pop-in at Eric’s Canoe and Kayak Rental in Saint Croix Falls, WI., and Lindsay got a first-person recounting of the experience.🛶

▶️ FINAL THOUGHTS: A hidden secret about the infamous “Dueling Banjos” scene and John Boorman’s use of disembodied hands in his films.🛶

▶️ NEXT UP: COMING TO AMERICA (1988)!

MAGNOLIA (1999) is an opus character study film which exposes strange coincidences of life. While we may be through with the past, the past ain’t through with us.

▶️Synopsis: An intricately woven, relatable story of interconnected families stemming from a long-spanning quiz show. Within an intense 24 hours, multiple people experience life-altering situations, all of which move toward a cathartically-needed final release.

⏩⏩Discussions include: Breaking down MAGNOLIA’s very-involved, fast-paced plot points with a character-by-actor tree, as well as the film’s themes of coincidence, failure, loneliness, death, regret, trauma and dysfunctional family patterns. The film’s aesthetic, style and behind the scenes moments which shape this emotionally-charged story are discussed, as will the two most divisive scenes — the frogs and the cast singalong. Loose ends are also tied up by explaining a character and story which were both omitted from the theatrical release. This episode seeks to open up dialogue about MAGNOLIA’s subject matter and leave the film open to individual interpretation. **Starring Julianne Moore, Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jason Robards, Philip Baker Hall, William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, Melora Walters, Melinda Dillon, Jeremy Blackman, April Grace. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.**

▶️**PICKS OF THE WEEK**

Lindsay’s Pick — CHICAGO CAB (1997): Taking place in one day, this is the episodic story of a Chicago cabbie experiencing a range of people, emotions and eye-opening situations. **Starring Paul Dillon, featuring John C. Reilly, Julianne Moore, April Grace, Gillian Anderson, John Cusack, Harry Lennix. Directed by Mary Cybulski, John Tintori.**

Justin’s Pick — HARD EIGHT (1996): A down-on-his-luck, inexperienced gambler is helped out by seemingly very interested and kind, yet mysterious stranger. **Starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.**

▶️MURRAYMOMENT: Billy’s no stranger to many themes contained in Paul Thomas Anderson films. Here, we’ll dive deep into the various levels of loneliness found within the characters of Billy Murray.

▶️FINAL THOUGHTS: A little more on Aimee Mann’s involvement in MAGNOLIA. And remember, strange and unexpected things happen all the time — including the ending of this episode.

▶️NEXT UP: DELIVERANCE (1972)!!

🧪RE-ANIMATOR (1985) became a cult classic as a result of creative special effects geniuses and intellectual horror hounds. This truly wild H.P. Lovecraft adaptation went on to further expand the horror horizon of the mid-1980s’.🧪

▶️ Herbert West is an extremely promising medical student who has unlocked the secret to bringing the dead back to life. However, such a thing requires experimentation, and also causes a creepy, dominating professor to want to claim West’s research as his own.

⏩⏩ Discussions include: An appreciation for RE-ANIMATOR as a whole, how this low-budget, well-researched, cross-genre film fits into horror cinema, the controversy behind the film’s musical score, how realism, absurdism, science-fiction, zombification, and the grotesque all work together as one, clinical bloodiness vs. exploitative gore, the overall evolution of the story and characters, and also how the film differs from the 1922 Lovecraft story, Herbert West — Reanimator. **Starring Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale. Directed by Stuart Gordon.**

▶️ **PICKS OF THE WEEK**

🎥Lindsay’s Pick — HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS (1989): When a scientist father’s experimental shrinking ray accidentally works, his children and two neighbors are shrunken down to size of insects and faced with traversing the dangers of the backyard. An action adventure flick for any age. **Starring Rick Moranis, Marcia Strassman, Matt Frewer, Kristine Sutherland, Amy O’Neill. Directed by Joe Johnston.**

🎥Justin’s Pick — THE STUFF (1985): This film takes a bite out of American consumerism when all of the country is obsessed with a suspiciously addictive, delicious dessert. And one investigator is on the case to figure out the sinister reason behind America’s communal craving. **Starring Michael Moriarty, Garrett Morris, Scott Bloom, Andrea Marcovicci, Paul Sorvino, Danny Aiello. Directed by Larry Cohen.**

▶️ MURRAYMOMENT: When the Marshmallow Man explodes in GHOSTBUSTERS (1984), its gooey goodness covers every outdoor surface and person, our ghostbustin’ heroes included. Except for one — Billy Murray. Find out why right here!

▶️ FINAL THOUGHTS: A few mentions of how Lovecraft’s 6-part serialized short story differs from the RE-ANIMATOR film. And Justin and Lindsay discuss Barbara Crampton’s awesomeness, as well as her most controversial scene in the film.

▶️ NEXT UP: MAGNOLIA (1999)!!

NEW JACK CITY (1991) raised the stakes for gangster films and put a spotlight on the rise of crack in inner cities. Cutting edge and concise, this film is a fast-paced crime thriller that is still relevant almost 30 years after its release.

▶️ (02:07) When a high-time crime lord rises to power and introduces crack to the surrounding city, a few rouge cops vow to take down the gangster-led drug ring destroying their community.

▶️ (37:20) **PICKS OF THE WEEK**

Lindsay’s Pick — DEMOLITION MAN (1993): After being cryogenically frozen in 1996, a 20th century criminal mastermind and risk-taking cop are reanimated only to find a very controlled society within a crime-free world and inept police force in this satirical, dystopian popcorn flick. *Starring Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Benjamin Bratt, Denis Leary, Bill Cobbs. Directed by Marco Brambilla.*

Justin’s Pick — BAADASSSSS! (2003):

▶️ (53:12) MURRAYMOMENT:

▶️ NEXT UP: RE-ANIMATOR (1985)!!