IMDbitch Fest

Welcome to the third installment of IMDbitchfest's We Need to Talk About Kevin series! Jo, Rhiannon, and New Jersey ambassador/season guest John continue their cruise through the 1990s with Kevin Smith’s third strike/film in the View Askewniverse: the notorious CHASING AMY (1997), starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee. This movie begs the question: who better than Kevin Smith and his beanie'd crew to examine and portray the ever-unfolding and delicate intricacies of human sexuality and partnership on-screen? Is the answer, “anyone?” Whether you love-to-hate it or hate-to-love it, you’ll be in good company--tune in and join the chase, If U Seek Amy!

In their second session of processing and deep psychoanalysis, Jo, John, and Rhiannon march their talk about Kevin straight to the mall with his 1995 "romantic buddy comedy" MALLRATS! The trio discuss emerging patterns, mall culture, suburbia, Kevin's penchant for tweeting drama, counterculture of yore, and faces old (Kevin) and new (Ben Affleck) of View Askewniverse as it comes into focus with this second installment, and more. So, meet us at Orange Julius and loiter at Hot Topic with @IMDbitchfest, mallrats! Do you think your mom could pick us up later?

Welcome to the inaugural episode of IMDbitchfest Season 4: We Need to Talk About Kevin: The Films/Oeuvre of Kevin Smith! In this episode, Jo and Rhiannon introduce their season guest, New Jersey's own Kevin Smith sexpert John Bazley, and together the trio clocks in to get the shelves stocked and the season started with Kevin's legendary debut as a writer-director-(silent) actor: CLERKS (1994), starring Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, and, of course, Kevin. Pop in for some smokes and tag along as we embark on a twisted little trip through the View Askewniverse! Subscribe to John's newsletter, B-Side Collection, at bsidecollection.substack.com

Presenting...our very first Listener's Choice episode, selected by our first Patreon raffle winner Dee Hylton aka Jo's mom!!! Dee slipped a very special DVD into our picnic baskets with baguettes sticking out of them: the dreamy 2001 French romantic fantasy situation Amélie (dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet)! In this episode Jo and Rhiannon look deep into their hearts and into the mirror as they fondly reminiscence their long lost youths and chat about what makes this endlessly twee movie a seemingly timeless and special one. Slide into this episode like you might dip your hand directly into a barrel of grain in a Parisian market like the magical little bitch you are. 

Jo and Rhiannon send off Season 3, 2020 the year of our lord, and their very lives in this episode vaguely about NEW YEAR'S EVIL (1980), the "new wave" slasher genre's answer to the question: are there even any horror movies about NYE? The girls toast and roast the 1980s as a whole, beg Hollywood to get a grip about tropes and stereotypes about mental health and hospitals, and throw in a few party poppers and resolutions for good measure. Auld lang syne, baby! 

What's This, you ask? Why, This is Halloween! And Christmas! It's downright a/The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)! Jo, Rhiannon, and their three-sizes-too-small Grinch hearts let loose on some very Hot Topic(s) in this very special episode: Tim Burton, pop culture saturation, nostalgia, Disney, the "shipping" of Jack and Sally, and the persistent and beloved phenomenon this movie remains. Most importantly, they answer the age old question of if this is a Halloween or Christmas movie--the answer being: who gives a stop-motion animated rat's ass! Merry Christmas! 

Don't bother locking those doors because this week's episode is coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE! For a special You Better Watch Out "two-fer," if you will, the gals bring the original (Dir. Bob Clark, 1974) and newest (Dir. Sophia Takal, 2019) interpretations of BLACK CHRISTMAS, the sensational seasonal sorority slasher, together in conversation. This episode has it all: musings on feminist horror, 1970s cool girl fashion, cursed statues, creepy Christmas vibes, DivaCups™, and Jo and Rhiannon's earnest regrets that they never pledged a sorority. Tis the season! 

It's Christmas with the Krampuses! Krampi? Who cares! In this episode, Jo and Rhiannon dig deep into the velvety cloak pockets of the 2015 horror comedy Krampus, the neither holly nor especially jolly Hollywood debut of the horned and scorned man, myth, and legend himself. Join us as we roast this film o'er an open fire and unwrap the meaning of this anti-Clausian antihero and his NOT-so-merry crew of possessed and murderous toys and treats. 

Welcome to Gremlins 303: Critical Gremlins Theory! This semester, Professors Jo & Rhiannon will be covering the breakdown of The American Dream, globalization, and the ouroboros that is late capitalism, all through the lens of the 1984 horror comedy Gremlins.

Christmas movie? Barely. Horror movie? It's a stretch. And yet, this week, Jo & Rhiannon take you into the dirty, naked heart of New York City and the infamous castles right outside its borders (you know the ones!) with the 1999 psychosexual thriller Eyes Wide Shut. This steamy puzzler has everything you could ever want: a masked sex cult, fairly tame nudity, pretty boring orgies, spooky piano, and Tom Cruise in Uggs! Eyes Wide Shut? More like Ears Wide Open!