Mama Needs a Movie

Writer Morgan Cline joins to discuss the romantic drama FLASHDANCE starring Jennifer Beals and Michael Nouri. This 1983 film was director Adrian Lyne's first breakout success, wowing audiences with the tale of a welder/cabaret performer who, despite no formal dance training, aspires to join the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance. FLASHDANCE was a star-making turn for Jennifer Beals, taking home a Best Original song Academy Award for "Flashdance...What a Feeling" composed by Giorgio Moroder and sung by Irene Cara. Though considered an undeniably iconic film of the '80s, how does the age gap and power differential of its core romance fare by modern standards? You'd simply be a MANIAC to miss this episode, which also features maniacal diversions into Santa Claus, Baby Boom, beefcakes, Finnish crime dramas, Joyride, She Said, Sliver, and much much more!

FLASHDANCE is available to stream with subscription on Paramount+

Director Danny Jelinek (Jimmy Kimmel Live!) returns to Mama Needs a Movie to discuss Steven Spielberg's autobiographical family drama, THE FABELMANS starring Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Gabriel LaBelle. Spielberg's newest release tells the story of an aspiring filmmaker named Sammy Fabelman coming of age in mid-century America, torn between his scientist father and whimsical, creative mother. This deeply personal film delves into the family rupture that has long informed Spielberg's work, but how does this literal portrayal of divorce and adolescent disillusionment stack up against the director's more fantastical works?  Take a Ditch Day and join us as we enter the Fabelman Family Fortress to find answer, while taking some diversions into Avatar, David Cronenberg, cooking shows, Rob Zombie, SpongeBob SquarePants, and much much more.

Actor and musician Michael Cassady (Don't Stop or We'll Die) joins to discuss Christopher Nolan's INCEPTION starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and Ken Watanabe. This sleek science-fiction caper wowed and confounded audiences in 2010 with its complex heist plot about dream "extractors" on a mission of corporate espionage. Over a decade after its release, INCEPTION is now considered the quintessential Nolan film, but how does the movie's earnest gambit to be a "thinking man's James Bond" adventure fare through the modern lens? Join us as Mama Needs a Movie dives several layers deep into this action blockbuster, drifting into numerous diversions including Timothée Chalamet, performance anxiety nightmares, Behind the Candelabra, the Arclight, Freddy's Nightmares, The Wizard of Oz, and much much more.

Writer/comedian Tim Kalpakis (The Sloppy Boys) joins to discuss the culinary comedy BIG NIGHT starring Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, Minnie Driver, Ian Holm, and Isabella Rossellini. Tucci and Campbell Scott co-directed this 1996 independent film that tells the story of two Italian immigrant brothers struggling to keep their restaurant alive on the Jersey Shore in the 1950s. Easily interpretable as an art versus commerce tale that represents the film business, BIG NIGHT was well-received upon release and has only grown in esteem as an essential food movie. Pull up a chair as we take a bite out of this indie classic and attempt to digest its many themes along with appetizing diversions into German spätzle, Rao's restaurant, engagement rings, The Beatles, '70s SNL, Catcher in the Rye, baby boomer nostalgia, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Freudian slips and much much more!

Nashville-based singer-songwriters Carly Layne and Andrew Shaver join us for a special family-themed Thanksgiving episode to discuss the dark comedy, THE REF starring Denis Leary, Judy Davis, and Kevin Spacey. MNAM's holiday season kicks off with this Ted Demme-directed movie about a professional thief who gets more than he bargained for while holding a dysfunctional family hostage. THE REF was released to little fanfare in March of 1994, but has since gained a cult following as an unconventional Christmas classic thanks to its sharp performances and biting, profanity-laced dialogue. In a conversation slightly less raunchy, we'll pass final judgment on THE REF, and take some diversions into Bridget Jones's Diary, engagement stories, problematic artists, cousins, music royalties, Wrongfully Accused, blackmail, YouTube families, and much much more!

THE REF is currently available to stream for free with subscription on Hoopla.

Writer, director and actor Bridey Elliott (Clara's Ghost) joins to discuss Nicolas Roeg's dark psychological drama BAD TIMING starring Theresa Russell, Art Garfunkel, and Harvey Keitel. The film uses a non-linear structure to portray a tumultuous love affair between a free spirited young woman and a psychiatrist living in Vienna. Receiving an extremely limited release in 1980, Roeg's lush and complex film didn't  gain notoriety until repeat airings on the Z Channel cable station and, much later, a 2005 Criterion disc release. Listen in on Mama Needs a Movie's sensual obsession with this cult classic, along with sexy diversions into Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, The Exorcist, the 1994 Northridge earthquake, manic pixie dream girls, Serpico, Starbucks, Gene Hackman, Mighty Joe Young, and much, much more! 

BAD TIMING is available to stream with subscription on The Criterion Channel.

Writer and performer Alison Tafel (Bojack Horseman) joins to discuss the post-apocalyptic action spectacular WATERWORLD starring Kevin Costner, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Dennis Hopper. Director Kevin Reynolds' environmentalist cautionary tale of a water-submerged planet was the most notoriously troubled production of Hollywood's old school blockbuster era, going wildly over-budget and releasing to middling reviews and an underwhelming box office take in 1995. Time has (somewhat) redeemed the reputation of WATERWORLD, with the contemporary consensus indicating a more favorable view of the film's entertainment value and worldwide box office performance, not to mention the long-running and beloved Universal Studios stunt show it has inspired. Drench yourself in Mama Needs A Movie's discussion of one of cinema history's most ambitious and over-reaching excesses, plus diversions into Ben Affleck, hotel movie watching, early pandemic anxiety, Keanu Reeves, theatre kids, TÁR, steampunk, The Boy Next Door, and much, much more!

Writer/director/actor Courtney Davis joins to discuss the 1991 comedy-fantasy DEFENDING YOUR LIFE starring Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep, Rip Torn, and Lee Grant. This was Brooks' fourth feature film as writer and director and his most ambitious comedy yet, depicting the afterlife as an efficient and religiously-unaffiliated destination called Judgment City, where highly intelligent bureaucrats prosecute, defend, and ultimately judge the lives of the recently dead. DEFENDING YOUR LIFE was a box office disappointment upon release, but has since grown in reputation as a singularly inventive and thought-provoking comedy of the '90s. In this episode, we render the definitive judgment on Brooks' pleasant purgatory, but not before some diversions into Universal Studios, The Fast and the Furious, Texas geography, Norman Mailer's Maidstone, Sizzler, remote education, social media woes, Don't Worry Darling, facing our fears, and much much more!

MNAM welcomes its first repeat guest, writer and filmmaker Alex Kavutskiy, who returns to discuss David Lean's World War II epic THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI starring William Holden, Alec Guinness and Sessue Hayakawa. The 1958 film concerns a British Lt. Colonel held in captivity as a prisoner of war by Japanese forces, and his obsessive need to finish a railway bridge connecting Bangkok and Rangoon. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI was an unqualified success upon release, topping the 1957 box office and sweeping that year's Academy Awards, but on MNAM it will have to compete against all nine Saw movies for attention. Don't miss this in-depth discussion into one of Lean's crowning achievements, plus notable diversions into Michael Clayton, Saw, Shoah, The Office, Saw VI,  Marry Me, roadtrip podcasts, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, and much much more.

THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI is currently streaming on Max.

Comedian and actor Holly Prazoff (Comedy Bang! Bang!) joins to discuss the 1987 romantic comedy MANNEQUIN starring Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall, James Spader, and Meshach Taylor. A loose adaptation of the Pygmalion myth, the Michael Gottleib-directed film tells the story of a department store mannequin inhabited by an ancient Egyptian woman. Though critically dismissed upon its release, MANNEQUIN proved to be a box office success and oft-replayed film on cable TV, earning an Academy Award nomination for its original song, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" performed by Jefferson Starship. Our conversation with Holly is nowhere near as rigid as the titular mannequin, as we veer into extended diversions covering Sex and the City, And Just Like That..., Pixar's Cars, Canadian radio, Tron, The Fisher King, the Holodeck, American Gigolo, UCB, Tom Cruise, and much much more.

MANNEQUIN is available to stream with subscription to Max.