Mary Versus the Movies

Farmer Vincent and his sister Ida are just humble hoteliers and charcuterie aficionados. Is it really so bad they cut a few corners? And necks? Spooky month continues with this horror comedy about cannibalistic countryfolk and the people who cross their paths.

Starring Rory Calhoun, Nancy Parsons, Paul Linke, and Nina Axelrod. Written by Robert Jaffe and Steven-Charles Jaffe. Directed by Kevin Connor.

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Mary was sick this week, so she tapped friend of the show Josh Seybert to ask his Uncle Morty to step in and kick off Spooky Month with the aptly-named Spookies, a schlocky horror movie about squatters battling a warlock.

Starring Felix Ward, Dan Scott, Alec Nemser, and Maria Pechukas. Written and Directed by Thomas Doran, Brendan Faulkner, and Frank Farel.

Thanks again to Uncle Morty; check out Josh's many projects at https://screamingatclouds.libsyn.com and his show with Andy Mascola, Empathy at the Apocalypse: https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/8fee42d4-fe5b-4500-9db1-767a4e25b9f8

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In a Britain torn apart by civil war, with Christianity displacing the Old Religion, Queen Mab of the Faeries takes it upon herself to create Merlin, the greatest enchanter of all time, in order to reestablish people's worship of her and ensure her immortality. Merlin has other plans, though.

A surprising blend of high fantasy and historical romance, this TV miniseries is infinitely better than it has any right to be, thanks to a stellar cast, witty script, effects from the Jim Henson Shop, and designs by Alan Lee.

Starring Sam Neil, Miranda Richardson, Isabella Rossellini, Helena Bonham Carter, Rutger Hauer, and Martin Short. Written by Edward Khmara, David Stevens, and Peter Barnes. Directed by Steve Barron.

This is a preview of the latest episode of our series Hollywood Avalon. To hear the entire episode, join the Mary Versus the Movies patreon for $3/month to hear this and the entire series Hollywood Avalon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvsmovies.

Danny's an underdog, a poor Jersey boy suddenly dropped into Southern California, where he romances a rich girl and earns the wrath of her martial-arts-practicing bully of an ex. What's a boy to do, other than get the local handyman to teach him how to fight?

We celebrate our 250th episode with a movie Dennis loves and Mary remembered nothing about.

Starring Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and William Zabka. Written byRobert Mark Kamen. Directed by John G. Avildsen.

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Mel Brooks takes on Alfred Hitchcock in this underrated comedy that lovingly blends Hitchcock and his imitators into a fizzy little mystery. If this had starred Gene Wilder as intended, it would've been remembered along side the best of Brooks's films.

Starring Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman, Dick Van Patten, Ron Carey, and Howard Morris. Written by Mel Brooks, Ron Clark, Rudy De Luca, and Barry Levinson. Directed by Mel Brooks.

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Sleazy advertising, corrupt lawyers, inflation, an oil crisis--what is this, 1980 or 2026? This black comedy about the end of the Carter era--from the people who later brought us Back to the Future--has more than a few resonances with our current circumstances.

Starring Kurt Russell, Jack Warden, Gerritt Graham, Deborah Harmon, Frank McRae, David Lander, Michael McKean, and Joe Flaherty. Written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. Directed by Robert Zemeckis.

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A princess, her forest-dwelling boyfriend, and an assortment of fairies battle the devil after she accidentally leads a unicorn into an ambush by goblins. It's an uneven film, coming during the great 1980s fantasy boom, but we liked it in spite of ourselves.

Starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, Alice Playten, David Bennett, and Billy Barty. Written by William Hjortsberg. Directed by Ridley Scott.

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We're doing something a little different this month; instead of covering a film or tv show, we're releasing a lecture given earlier this month. Also, we're releasing this episode widely, including on the main feed.

We were recently invited by Rev. Michael Dangler--a member of the Patreon here--to give a talk at the Summerlands Festival about Arthurian cinema. And so I wrote a short essay, titled "The Once and Future King: Paganism and Arthurian Cinema", which discusses the origins of seeking Pagan themes in Arthurian legend, followed by a discussion of several films, all of which have been covered on the podcast: Apocalypse Now, Excalibur, and the Mists of Avalon among other films are brought up.

Apologies for the sound quality; we had an equipment failure, and so we only had one recording make it through the presentation, so there's some ambient noise, and audience interaction is hard to hear clearly.

Once again, we'd like to thank Rev. Dangler for inviting us to speak, we had a wonderful time, and it was great to get our thoughts down on the subject. This is the second time I've been able to give a short talk on film (see our bonus episode on Joe Dante's The Movie Orgy for the other); hopefully it won't be the last.

For anyone interested, Rev. Dangler has his own Patreon as well: https://www.patreon.com/cw/chronarchy

A rogue Soviet submarine commander wants to defect to America, but first he's got to outlive being hunted by both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., and only one man can help him--Jack Ryan, CIA desk-jockey, in his first cinematic outing.

Starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Sam Neill, Tim Curry, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones, and Stellan Skarsgård. Written by Larry Ferguson and Donald E. Stewart from Tom Clancy's novel. Directed by John McTiernan.

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A jewel thief tries to build the perfect life for himself, only to find he's in hock to more powerful gangsters in this stylish Neo-noir film that has one foot in 1970s American New Wave and another in the 1980s crime thriller.

Starring James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Robert Prosky, Willie Nelson, and James Belushi. Written and directed by Michael Mann.

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