Mt. Rushmore Podcast

There are plenty of actors who dabble in directing, and there are plenty of directors who also famous for acting in their own movies. But what about famous directors who aren't actors but decide to go on the other side of a camera because of vanity or a favor to a friend?

There are many more of those than you would think, which gave us an abundance of choices for this week's episodes. From silly cameos to key supporting roles, we show the gamut of directors acting badly (or, sometimes, quite well.)

SHOW NOTES

• Steven Spielberg in "Goldmember" (Michael's Choice)
• Quinten Tarantino in "Desperado" (Richard's Choice)
• Peter Jackson in "Hot Fuzz" (Michael's Choice)
• Cecil B. Demille in "Sunset Boulevard" (Richard's Choice)
• George Lucas in "Beverly Hills Cop 3" (Michael's Choice)
• Spike Jonze in "Three Kings" (Richard's Choice)
• Francois Truffaut in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (Joint Choice)

Personally, I have never seen a large wooden shipping crate in real life. But I have seen them in movies, TV shows and cartoons. This week we're breaking out the crowbar to pry open our takes on the most iconic uses of this classic prop.

SHOW NOTES

• "Raiders of the Lost Ark" crate (Joint Choice)
• Wile E. Coyote's ACME crates (Joint Choice)
• The Leg Lamp crate from "A Christmas Story" (Joint Choice)
• Tyrion Lannister's crate from "Game of Thrones" (Richard's Choice)
• The Trojan Horse (Michael's Choice)

Nothing can be more traumatizing for hardcore fans of a band than learning that the lead singer is gone. Whether they leave to find greener pastures or are forced out because of "creative differences," few bands survive the replacement of a lead singer.

But sometimes it happens! In fact, sometimes the band can even reach greater heights with a new person at the front. This week we're looking at (mostly) successful transitions of lead singers for some of the biggest bands in the world.

SHOW NOTES

• Sammy Hagar for David Lee Roth in Van Halen (Joint Choice)
• Phil Collins for Peter Gabriel in Genesis (Richard's Choice)
• Joy Division becoming New Order (Michael's Choice)
• Brian Johnson for Bon Scott in AC/DC (Richard's Choice)
• Diana Ross and the Supremes becoming the Supremes (Michael's Choice)
• Todd Rundgren for Ric Ocasek in the Cars/New Cars (Richard's Choice)
• Various singers for Oderus Urungus in Gwar (Michael's Choice)

We were promised a future where robots would do, literally, everything for us. Well, it's 2020, and guess what? I STILL HAVE TO TIE MY OWN SHOES!

But that doesn't mean that robots aren't still cool as hell. This week, per Jeff's request, we're looking at robots. Just regular robots that do regular robot stuff.

SHOW NOTES

• The Roomba (Michael's Choice)
• R.O.B. the Robot from Nintendo (Richard's Choice)
• BigDog (Michael's Choice)
• Biohazard from "Battlebots" (Richard's Choice)
• Robots from "Flight of the Conchord" (Michael's Choice)
• DaVinci Surgical System (Richard's Choice)
• Bender from "Futurama" (Michael's Choice)
• The Opportunity Mars Rover (Richard's Choice)

Great special effects do more than just look cool. When done right, they can make the impossible seem like reality and completely immerse you into a movie. This week we're celebrating some of the visual effects scenes that made our jaws drop and wonder how they did that?!?

Joining us for the conversation is Iain Failes of "Befores and Afters." He's a veteran visual effects and animations journalist whose website enlightens people about the finer aspects of the VFX scenes we love.

SHOW NOTES

• Bullet Time from "The Matrix" (Joint Choice)
• Mirror Shot from "Contact" (Iain's Choice)
• T Rex Attack from "Jurassic Park (Richard and Michael's Choice)
• Paris Building Fold from "Inception" (Iain's Choice)
• Final Race from "Speed Racer" (Richard and Michael's Choice)
• Lobby Fight from "Jurassic Park" (Iain's Choice)
• Hallway Fight Scene from "Inception" (Richard and Michael's Choice)

Three is the magic number...when it comes to movies. For some reason, some of the best franchises in film history came out with three great movies (or at least two great movies and one that is OK.) It makes perfect sense when you think about it: three is enough to completely tell a story, but not too much so you leave them wanting more.

Joining us this week in our journey down the world of movie trilogies is Brock from the Now Playing Podcast. He has some HOT TAKES about film trilogies and isn't afraid to put Richard and Michael in their place. Take a listen and make sure you swing by their website to check out all of their great shows.

SHOW NOTES

• "Star Wars" Original Trilogy (Brock's Choice)
• "Lord of the Rings" (Joint Choice)
• "Back to the Future" (Richard and Michael's Choice)
• "Toy Story" (Brock's Choice)
• "Three Flavours Cornetto" (Richard and Michael's Choice)
• "Indiana Jones" (Brock's Choice)
• "The Dark Knight" (Richard and Michael's Choice)

You know how we always say that you can suggest a topic and maybe even be a guest on the show? Well, that's exactly what happened this week. Listener Vince Pagano came up with a great topic, so we invited him on the show to debate it with us.

His topic was athletes who would have crushed it no matter when they played. Forget pudgy Babe Ruth and his roly-poly body. We're talking about the best of the best athletes only.

SHOW NOTES

• LeBron James (Vince's Choice)
• Wilt Chamberlain (Richard and Michael's Choice)
• Ray Lewis (Vince's Choice)
• Randy Johnson (Richard and Michael's Choice)
• Rickey Henderson (Vince's Choice)
• Pele (Richard and Michael's Choice)
• Jaromir Jagr (Vince's Choice)
• Carl Lewis (Richard and Michael's Choice)

When we think back on our Saturday mornings, we often remember the ads as much as we do the cartoons. That's the power that a well-crafted corporate mascot has over us. They can make us feel a connection to an otherwise faceless conglomerate. Tony the Tiger would never give me childhood diabetes. He's my friend.

This week we're looking at some of the most beloved - or controversial - fictional prepackaged food spokesperson and we have a great guest joining us. Michael and Richard are going up against Moxie LaBouche of the "Your Brain on Facts" podcast (and book), who, not shockingly, has a brain full of facts about food mascots.

SHOW NOTES

• Tony the Tiger (Moxie's Choice)
• The Frito Bandito (Richard and Michael's Choice)
• Cap'n Crunch (Moxie's Choice)
• Poppin' Fresh Pillsbury Doughboy (Richard and Michael's Choice)
• Snap, Crackle and Pop (Moxie's Choice)
• Betty Crocker (Richard and Michael's Choice)
• Jolly Green Giant (Moxie's Choice)
• Kool-Aid Man (Richard and Michael's Choice)

The best movie experiences are completely immersive and take you to another world for a few hours. Few elements of a movie are more crucial to this than the makeup. Whether it's gory special effects or subtle aging, iconic makeups help to create the illusion of fantasy that is so important to the viewing process.

This week we're saluting some of the greatest makeups in film history with the help of Hollywood practical effects artist Dan Crawley, who brings his years of experience to the table and, quite frankly, wipes the floor with Michael and Richard.

SHOW NOTES

• Frankenstein's Monster from "Frankenstein" (Michael and Richard's Choice)
• Father Merrin from "The Exorcist" (Dan's Choice)
• The Apes from "Planet of the Apes (Michael and Richard's Choice)
• Bela Lugosi from "Ed Wood" (Dan's Choice)
• David Kessler from "An American Werewolf in London" (Michael and Richard's Choice)
• The Phantom from "The Phantom of the Opera" (Dan's Choice)
• The Joker from "The Dark Knight" (Michael and Richard's Choice)
• The Lord of Darkness in "Legend" (Dan's Choice)

The wrestling business is no stranger to pushing the envelope with their content, where it's a little bit of female skin or a whole lot of blood and ultra-violence. But even in wrestling, there can be some storylines that go just a bit too far.

This week Michael and Richard team up - the Mega Powers coming together, if you will - to take on a worthy foe in former WWE Magazine graphic designer James Walker to discuss some of the most controversial angles in wrestling history. And while Jeff would usually serve as referee for this catch-as-catch-can brawl, he's a little too biased. Wait? Is that Eddie Firth's music? Yes, we have an actual wrestling referee and stand up comedian here to tell us exactly everything we botched.