HollywoodOutsider

Director John Maggio discusses his career and the timeliness of his latest film, The Perfect Weapon, centered around the growing use of cyberterrorism as the preferred warfare of the modern age. Maggio elaborates on many of the themes included in the film, such as the expansion of 5G and "Perception Hacks", as well as the challenges in bringing this riveting film to life. This is a fascinating interview every person needs to hear. 

Based on a best-selling book by New York Times national security correspondent David E. Sanger, The Perfect Weapon explores the rise of cyber conflict as the primary way nations now compete with and sabotage one another. ‌ ‌ Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker John Maggio (Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis) and featuring interviews with top military, intelligence, and political officials on the frontlines of cyberterrorism, the documentary brings to light the combatants and innocent victims caught in the crosshairs of a hidden war that has been going on for decades — a war that America started, but has no idea how to finish.‌ ‌ - HBO

The Perfect Weapon is now available on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. 

After a horrible boating accident kills her family, shy, sullen Angela moves in with her eccentric Aunt Martha and protective cousin Ricky. One summer, Martha sends the kids to Camp Arawak. Soon after their arrival, bizarre, increasingly-violent accidents claim the lives of various campers. Who is the twisted individual behind these murders?

The disclosure of the murderer's identity is one of the most shocking climaxes in the history of American cinema...and you're going to hear our immediate reactions as we watch Sleepaway Camp LIVE!

If you want to follow along, watch the film on YouTube at this link (as of this recording)  https://youtu.be/OZSwckT_gvs

• Please support The Hollywood Outsider and gain immediate access to bonus content, including Patreon exclusive podcast content, by visiting Patreon.com/ TheHollywoodOutsider

On this episode, our news roundup leads into spoiler-free reviews of new films Borat 2 and Spell. 

• Opening | Movie and TV News Roundup | Spell Give-Away 
• Spoiler-Free Reviews: Borat 2 and Spell

Welcome tooooooooo The Hollywood Outsider Halloween special! On this episode, we've assembled some of our favorite discussions on horror films and anything related to Halloween! First we build a perfect horror movie, then dive into a bit of history on women in horror before director Darren Lynn Bousman discusses his favorite SAW traps, which leads perfectly into the most iconic villains in horror. To cap everything off, we have a little fun by sharing how we would survive a horror movie. Halloween might look a bit different this year for many of us, but that doesn't mean we can't still laugh and pontificate and the way things used to be. Enjoy our 2020 Edition of A Happy, Happy Halloween!

• (0:00 – 04:52) Opening | Love and Monsters giveaway 
• (04:53 – 46:50) Building a Perfect Horror Movie

In this episode, we're determining which '80s family movie is the best, why we love them, and defending them with our last dying breath. Okay, maybe not that serious, but we are taking them into battle. Joined by our special Patreon guest who bought her way onto the show (yes, that is indeed a perk), Kristina Flores, the four of us each have two movies we bring to the ring and knock 'em down until we land on just one. Titles like Back to the Future, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Goonies, and E.T. - you don't want to miss out on who takes home the title AND which one landed in the listener top 10 but just wasn't good enough for us.

Also on this week's episode: entertainment news roundup, spoiler-free reviews of The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Boys, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, Shithouse, and Love and Monsters, give-away winners announced for Spontaneous, new releases, and our HO Teachable Minute.

• (0:00 – 25:18) Opening | Movie and TV News Roundup | Should a Critic Review Any Genre | Spontaneous Give-Away Winners
• (25:19 – 50:43) Spoiler-Free Reviews: The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, Shithouse, Love and Monsters, The Boys | New Releases | Patreon Thank you
• (50:44 – 1:43:26) From The Outside In: 80's Family Movie Battle Royale
• (1:43:27 – 1:56:18) Recommendations | Closing | HO Teachable Minute | Outtakes
• Please support The Hollywood Outsider and gain immediate access to bonus content, including Patreon exclusive podcast content, by visiting Patreon.com/ TheHollywoodOutsider

Here are three of our most popular topics from earlier this year: Bad TV Couples, Classic Movie Monsters, and the Perfect Summer Soundtrack. 

First up, from Episode 384: we’re discussing bad TV couples. Anyone who loves television has a favorite couple, or even several favorites. But have you ever loved a show and two characters getting together just ruined it for you? Are there shows where you just dread any potential romantic couplings – like it just doesn’t belong? We will be discussing all of this and giving our top 3 worst TV couples we’ve experienced.

Next, we head to Episode 386: we’re discussing those movie monster classics such as Mummy (1932), Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Dracula, Invisible Man, Creature of the Black Lagoon, etc. These classic horror movies are the beginning drivers for what we know horror movies and horror characters to be today and their visionary masters still reside in the horror hall of fame. We decided – with the upcoming release of The Invisible Man – we need to discuss these classic monsters: how they scared us, our favorites, and why we love them despite being less of a razzle-dazzle than horror movies now.

Finally, we head to Episode 395: What are the best songs or themes from movies to crank up once Summer hits? Instead of dwelling on it all, let’s just make our perfect playlist. We each get 10 songs – they can be themes, songs from a movie soundtrack, or just synonymous with a movie – and make our own perfect summer movie soundtrack! That means you could see yourself, windows down, hair flowing, driving or jogging or whatever to our Spotify playlist, The Hollywood Outsider Perfect Summer Movie Soundtrack. Bonus points if you know the chorus…

Discussed on this episode of The Hollywood Outsider Movie and TV Podcast:

• (0:00 – 33:47) Opening | Bad TV Couples
• (33:48 – 59:54) Classic Movie Monsters
• (59:55 – 1:42:42) The Perfect Summer Movie Soundtrack
• Please support The Hollywood Outsider and gain immediate access to exclusive bonus content, including a BONUS monthly episode and Bad Movie Night, by visiting Patreon.com/ TheHollywoodOutsider

As we close out September, which is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and we’re approaching October 10th, which is World Mental Health Day, we thought it appropriate to take on a discussion about mental illness in entertainment. And this year it’s ironic, since so much of our personal mental health has been affected for better or worse by entertainment due to so many lockdowns across the country. We discuss what Hollywood gets right and what they get wrong about mental illness, the films or characters that opened our eyes to a particular mental illness, and our favorite movies, shows, and characters revolving around mental health. 

We also discuss our annual Fall TV preview, the shows returning we're looking forward to and new shows that we're anticipating. In this segment, we provide the premiere dates, the network, and the description, so don't miss out!

Also on this week's episode: entertainment news roundup, and reviews of Enola Holmes, Spontaneous, Kajillionaire, and The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw. 

• (0:00 – 15:55) Opening | Movie and TV News Roundup
• (15:56 – 54:00) Fall TV Preview
• (54:01 – 1:12:13) Spoiler-Free Reviews: Enola Holmes, Spontaneous, Kajillionaire, and The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw

Enjoy this sample of The Hollywood Outsider host Aaron Peterson's other podcast, Presenting Hitchcock, where he and Cory Metcalfe randomly break down a film a month in the filmography of the greatest directors of all-time, Alfred Hitchcock. This episode follows Psycho for its 60th anniversary, but be sure to subscribe to Presenting Hitchcock for the entirety of Hitchcock's work!

As mentioned on this podcast, be sure to pick up your copy of The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection and spend your time indoors watching some of the greatest films of all time: Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, and The Birds! 

On this episode, we discuss the most satisfying TV character exits. The way a television series handles the exit of a beloved - or hated - character can make or break the relationship with fans. Sometimes they get it incredibly wrong, but other times, they get as close to perfect as fans could hope. Whether a despised character or a beloved one, we are looking back on the greatest character exits in television.

Also on this week's episode: our entertainment news roundup, TV Mash-up game, Psycho giveaway from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, upcoming releases, reviews of The Broken Hearts Gallery, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, and the ever-so-controversial Netflix film, Cuties, and our HO Teachable Minute.

As mentioned on this podcast, be sure to pick up your copy of The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection and spend your time indoors watching some of the greatest films of all time: Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, and The Birds! And if you want a chance to win one of five digital copies of Psycho, courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, be sure to listen to the episode for the Subject Line phrase and then email your name to [email protected] before September 22nd, 2020 to be entered!

• (0:00 – 9:08) Opening | Movie and TV News Roundup
• (9:09 – 20:48) HO TV Mash-up Game | Psycho Giveaway | Purchase your copy of The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 
• (20:49 – 54:57) Spoiler-Free Reviews: The Broken Hearts Gallery, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, and Cuties Review and discussion on the current boycott

Not every story has a concrete ending and not every writer tells their stories that way. These writers enjoy the continuous debate over what truly happened. Inception is just one example, fairly recent in the scheme of things, that created a ton of water-cooler controversy on whether the token was spinning at the very end... or did it drop? We'll be discussing how we feel about these ambiguous endings, with examples of some of our favorites and how we think they ended.

Also on this week's episode: we want to take time to honor the passing of Chadwick Boseman and why this loss has felt so detrimental, new releases, reviews of Nolan's latest film Tenet (stick around for our spoilercast after the regular episode!), The New Mutants, and Bill and Ted Face the Music, Disney's Mulan at a reduced price of FREE in December, and a new take on our HO Teachable Minute.

• (0:00 – 19:59) Opening | Chadwick Boseman: The Devastating Impact of His Loss | New Releases
• (20:00 – 1:02:11) From The Outside In: Ambiguous Endings
• (1:02:12 – 1:33:20) HO Teachable Minute | Spoiler-Free Reviews: Tenet, The New Mutants, and Bill and Ted Face the Music 
• (1:33:21 – 2:00:13) Tenet Spoilercast
• Email topic suggestions or episode reactions to [email protected]