Grumpy Nostalgia: Second Look Cinema

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Is it or isn't it? Who cares, we say. The boys go back to 1988 to ponder when a man could be the lead in an action movie.  And that man could smoke, swear, kill people, and still be the hero.  This one also features one of our greatest performances ever, Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber.  All other movie villains have paled in comparison since.  The gang attempts to tackle the issue of this being a xmas movie or not, but their argument runs out of gas pretty quickly and they simply move on.  Welcome to the party pal!

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Ho ho ho grumpy nation.  We start our xmas adventure with this 1983 tale of excess, betrayal, gorillas, and Jamie Lee's silk blouses.  You know, standard holiday fare.

WARNING: This episode is different than others.  

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We're going mega-nerd this week reviewing the 1982 dark fantasy film, The Dark Crystal. So nerdy, in fact, that show co-host Mike had to recuse himself.  Actually, Mike is out this week and he asked show superfan, Dr. K @pinotjones to sit in for this odd but beautiful mess of a movie.  K had some big (smelly) shoes to fill, but he knocked it out of the park.  #thedarkcrystal #wheresmike 

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It's turkey time again, only our turkeys are the cinematic kind.  We needed some time for reflection this week, so we humbly ask you to revisit this special episode where we chow down on our most reviled holiday turkeys.  We only give thanks in that we don't have to watch these movies ever again.  This episode originally aired a few years ago and the movies we cover in it haven't gotten any better.  Now that you mention it, neither have we.  Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

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We dangerously test the patience of our audience by reviewing yet another Arnold movie.  This week it's 87's The Running Man, just in time for its unasked for remake in theaters. Arnold was bigger than most movies during this time and it appears that no one ever bothered to tell him that he could actually say "no" in some instances. That said, this is a glorious, check-your-brain-at-the-door example of 1987 film standards.  Amazing deaths, callous one-liners, and a cast that would make a Marine blush.  Speaking of re-makes, stick around till the end where we criticize a millennial-derived list of remakes that are "better" than the original. We have opinions, nearly all of them unjustified.

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With the release of Predator: Badlands this week, the gang remembered we talked about this franchise several years ago, but that episode stood out because we first met our heroine, Alaskan warrior princess Molly!  She bravely sat in for this episode and we have been awestruck ever since.  The movie was terrible, but this was a special podcast episode for many reasons.  Please give this another go.  Features a new intro with @mollsmusings herself!
#predator #hashtagsdontwork

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Our 2025 Halloween series comes to a merciful close as we cover the amazing An American Werewolf in London from 1981.  Much like a unicorn, its a crazy original horror movie from a time where imagination, creativity, and talent could beat up a CGI movie any day of the week.  We keep the grumpy going to the end where we name our worst horror movie of the 21st century displaying our complete lack of self-awareness. 

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The only thing more scary than Halloween is a bunch of unsupervised kids in 1978, high on sugar, wreaking havoc on suburbia.  This time the boys wax nostalgic on the Halloween experience in the 70s and 80s.  From horrible Woolworth's boxed costumes to those miserable clods that handed out pennies instead of candy to trick or treaters, we're covering it all.  If you ever filled a pillowcase full of peanut butter taffy twists and micro Snickers, this is the podcast for you.  We also give our best strategies for TP'ing those "non-compliant" houses.  Popcorn balls? Really?

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Time to kick off our season series Where Wolf? There! Wolf! with the obnoxiously entertaining Silver Bullet from 1985.  A little known Stephen King movie featuring Cory Haim and Gary Busey! And as if that wasnt horrible enough for you, the boys look back at the plethora of Stephen King movie adaptations from the very best to Lawnmower Man.  True horror, indeed.

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Cross over children. All are welcome. We're going back a bit to feature the first ever episode determined by a viewer's poll, the 1982 scare fest Poltergeist. Creepy clowns, little kids with horrible bangs, and a tree that eats little boys.  Spielberg made ET the same time he was shooting this so we suppose there was some repressed anger issues so he took it out on this audience.  Scarred. For. Life.