Multiplex Overthruster

Welcome to our first ever spring special! As we approach the Summer of ’83, Javi, Paul and Producer Brad dive into Tony Scott’s extravagantly evocative and super stylish goth-punk erotic vampire thriller THE HUNGER, starring the gobsmackingly great-looking Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon. Mod music video and commercial aesthetics collide with neo-noir cinema like never before in this creepy cool treasure trove of a time capsule set in ’80s NYC where vampires are real, but very different than any you’ve seen before. Moviegoers on April 29, 1983, were simply not ready for it, but late night cable viewers and adventurous VHS renters soon would be. You don’t want to sleep on this one, especially as we examine the film in context and contrast to other standout vampire fare such as LET THE RIGHT ONE IN and SINNERS.

1983 Box Office

April 29, 1983 Box Office

The Hunger Box Office Results

Theme music by Mike McGuill

Additional voicework by Russell Bentley

Summer of '84 voiced by Colby Elliott

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Welcome to our first ever holiday special! Having traversed the Summer of ’82, Javi, Paul and Producer Brad are back at the multiplex to witness the whirlwind of wonders that is Jim Henson’s phantasmagoric puppetpalooza THE DARK CRYSTAL. Audiences young and old were both captivated and confounded by the strange spectacle of this creepy creature feature inexplicably intruding upon their holiday season (who on earth thought it was a good idea to release it on Dec. 17?), but its meticulous magnificence cannot be denied! Join us as we soak in the cinematic sorcery conjured by Jim Henson, Frank Oz, illustrator extraordinaire Brian Froud, and Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz. And this episode is special in more ways than one, as Javi shares his amazing experience working on the film’s Emmy-winning prequel series he helped write and produce, THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE.

Theme music by Mike McGuill

Additional voicework by Russell Bentley

Summer of '84 voiced by Colby Elliott

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Bluesky

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All great institutions bestow awards… and now so does Multiplex Overthruster! It’s our first ever Multi Awards episode, in which Paul, Javi, and - mercifully - Producer Brad run down the nominees and winners from all of the films they watched during this most august of summer movie summers. In addition to naming their Best Picture, Director, Screenplay - and so on and so on - Producer Brad has also compiled a list of superlatives (“best character introduction of all time!”) and revisits them with the benefit of hindsight to see which stood the test of time! Will Javi stand by that thing he said about Captain Morgan in “The Sword and the Sorcerer”? We won’t spoil it here. Trust us, you don't want to miss the first ever Multi Awards! Listen and share so that it won’t be the last!

Music by:

Mike McGuill/Pond5 www.pond5.com

Edward CN Brown/Pond5 www.pond5.com

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Bluesky

email: [email protected]

Theme music by Mike McGuill

Additional voicework by Russell Bentley

Summer of '84 voiced by Colby Elliott

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Bluesky

email: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 1980s was not only a time of genre excellence, but also one of romantic comedies about surly tone-deaf white men and their indefatigable struggle to remain that way. To this semi golden age of toxic masculinity, we consign Paul Mazursky’s Tempest, in which an otherwise sensitive and big-hearted filmmaker somehow marshals the talents of John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandon, Raul Julia, and (in her big screen debut) Molly Ringwald, to deliver some of the least likable characters in screen history. And it’s (vaguely) based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which only leaves Paul, Javi, and - indubitably - Producer Brad filling the much needed void with some of the finest comedy commentary of their careers!

Theme music by Mike McGuill

Additional voicework by Russell Bentley

Summer of '84 voiced by Colby Elliott

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Bluesky

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In the world of international espionage and Cold War intrigue there is no agent more secret than… The Soldier. This may perhaps be explained by the utter failure of this forgotten film. In this scintillating episode, a confounded Paul, Javi, and - serenely - Producer Brad investigate the first and only adventure of a would-be American James Bond in a desperate mission to uncover an international nuclear plot of international peculiar people hellbent on doing international terrible things. Sigh. It’s not a good movie, or even a coherent travelogue, but it’s possibly our funniest episode, and also among our shortest! (Though not quite as short as crazed Klaus Kinski’s confounding cameo as a sinister snow bunny assassin.)

Theme music by Mike McGuill

Additional voicework by Russell Bentley

Summer of '84 voiced by Colby Elliott

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Bluesky

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Behold! Paul, Javi, and - majestically - Producer Brad brave yet another sword-and-sorcery spectacular-ish in this story of a warrior on a quest to find… honestly, it’s hard to remember, but it definitely had something to do with a weird angry guy (Rip Torn) in a strange place with a thing. And some sort of large roasted animal leg. Oh yes, and the warrior not only has a big sword, tiny loincloth, and major sixpack, he can somehow also talk to animals. Mostly ferrets. He also talks to Tanya Roberts, in an apotheotic bid for 1980s genre queen status. And as if that weren’t enough, don’t miss the shocking revelation of how Paul was once traumatized by ferrets belonging to an unnamed Oscar-winning director. It’s epic-ish battles, dazzling-ish magic, and yes, ferrets… it’s The Beastmaster!

Theme music by Mike McGuill

Additional voicework by Russell Bentley

Summer of '84 voiced by Colby Elliott

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Bluesky

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For the balance of the summer Paul, Javi, and - fearlessly - Producer Brad have braved one unbelievable movie premise after another: humanoid androids, murderous artificial intelligences, vengeful genetically engineered intergalactic dictators, the wastelands of the post-apocalypse, barbarian mercenaries with jet-powered swords… even singing sex workers have shown themselves to be no match for their laser-like analytical focus. But on the sixteenth weekend of the summer, our podcasters may have met their match with Amy Heckerling’s film of Cameron Crowe’s chronicle of 1980’s high school shenanigans “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”. What happens when three dyed-in-the-wool geeks face the unthinkable: sexually active high schoolers with no interest in genre films, TV, or comic books? Marvel as the intrepid Multipex Overthruster crew struggles to make sense of something so far out of their reality that they are frequently rendered speechless and without the capacity for rational thought! It’s the ultimately challenge - will the crew survive? There’s only one way to find out!

Theme music by Mike McGuill

Additional voicework by Russell Bentley

Summer of '84 voiced by Colby Elliott

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Bluesky

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After two perilous weeks of comedies about sex workers, Paul, Javi, and - inescapably - Producer Brad find themselves in more familiar territory with The Sword and the Sorcerer. It’s peak ’80s as the stars of both Matt Houston and Manimal cross swords and… uh, sorcery?… in this incredibly diverting low budget bacchanal of wizardry and bloodshed. Forget Conan The Barbarian, Prince Talon is here to slay some beasts, take down some tyrants, chomp on a roasted leg of cow, and buckle his swash with his three-bladed, rocket-powered sword. 

Get ready to rock the multiplex with the most action a very limited budget can buy. Marvel at the cavalcade of television stalwarts cashing a paycheck in the magical kingdom of Griffith Park during their hiatus. Learn Javi’s valuable lesson in cave rentals, discover the (possible) secret origin of Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding, and quiver in wonder as we reveal the greatest line reading in cinema history! How are you not already listening to this episode???

Theme music by Mike McGuill

Additional voicework by Russell Bentley

Summer of '84 voiced by Colby Elliott

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Bluesky

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The summer of ’82 continues to astound and confound Paul, Javi, and - inevitably - Producer Brad by serving up a SECOND romantic comedy about sex workers in as many weeks! After the soul-destroying pyrrhic victory that was “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”, the Multiplex Overthruster crew trades in small town Texas for sleazy New York City for “Night Shift”! Though directed by Ron Howard and starring Henry Winkler and Shelley Long, this one is most memorable for giving future Beetlejuice and Batman Michael Keaton his first starring role: and what better way to start a movie career than in a comedy chock full of prostitutes, pimps, murderous stand up comedians, oversized top hats, frozen corpses, bloodthirsty rottweilers, Shannen Doherty’s first screen appearance, and bad take out! So dim the lights and chill the Sunny-D because we’re firing up the hearse and heading off to the Night Shift!

Theme music by Mike McGuill

Additional voicework by Russell Bentley

Summer of '84 voiced by Colby Elliott

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Bluesky

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There comes a time when we are all tested to our very core. Paul, Javi and — unflappably — Producer Brad all thought that time had come six weeks ago with Grease 2. They were wrong; that time is now. Our faithful co-hosts face their darkest hour as they descend into the dungeon of despair that is The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, a film that makes Grease 2 look (and sound) like Singin’ in the Rain. Not even the divine gift of Dolly Parton can save this torturous endeavor, which somehow renders Burt Reynolds abrasively charmless. 

Join us as we brave our most treacherous moviegoing challenge yet, and are surreally surprised to discover one startling scene of sci-fi (seriously!), and one spellbinding song of sublimity. Along the way, Paul (our resident Texan) will pierce his PTSD with some injections of insight contextualizing the film’s real world roots. Trust us, you never want to see this movie, but you definitely want to listen to this episode. 

Theme music by Mike McGuill

Additional voicework by Russell Bentley

Summer of '84 voiced by Colby Elliott

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Bluesky

email: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.