Optimism Vaccine

THIS WEEK: Caged Heat (1974), Crazy Mama (1975), Last Embrace (1979)

Before Jonathan Demme was hanging out with David Byrne and winning Oscars, he was pumping out exploitation flicks for Roger Corman and doing weird Hitchcock homages

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THIS WEEK: Manhunter (1986), Hannibal (2001), Red Dragon (2002), Hannibal Rising (2007)

After covering Jonathan Demme's Silence of The Lambs last week we decided to keep the ball rolling and cover the rest of the film adaptations of Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter novels. Not that any of us need an excuse to watch Manhunter for the 74726587432 time. Maybe we could have done without Bret Ratner, Hannibal's silly Italian hat, and the Samurai training montage though. Oh well.

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THIS WEEK: The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Cell (2000), Longlegs (2024)

People keep telling us Longlegs is the new Silence of the Lambs so we figured we had better see how Osgood Perkin's screeching Nic Cage glam rock dollmaker stacks up to Hannibal Lecter. We watched The Cell too because Miros is ride-or-die for J Lo and who doesn't love Tarsem Singh and Vincent D'Onofrio in a bad wig?

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THIS WEEK: The Crow: City of Angels (1996), The Crow: Salvation (2000), The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)

What's that? There's a brand new reboot of the Alex Proyas/Brandon Lee film, The Crow, and it stars the guy who played Pennywise in the IT remake? While the cowards make their way out of the local Hot Topic and into the AMC theater on the other side of the mall, only ONE podcast is daring to ignore both the beloved original and the maligned remake. That's right. It's the only Crow-cast with only Crow sequels. Pull out your Discman and pop in a burned CD with your favorite Nu-Metal jams. It's time to fly high with Edward Furlong and embrace the Crow cash-ins.

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THIS WEEK: 300 (2006), 300: Rise of an Empire (2014), Meet The Spartans (2008)

Some things are so difficult to comprehend they boggle the mind to the point of madness. Who knew Zack Snyder would create the cinematic playbook for stylized dumb guy action and modern reactionary right wing fascism? Who could have ever dreamed a wildly successful non-Snyder sequel to 300 would be released eight years later, only to be wiped clean from our collective memory? Who could have predicted parody film slop auteurs, Friedberg and Seltzer, would have a decade+ successful run in Hollywood?

And, most importantly, who ever thought Optimism Vaccine would make it to 300 episodes?

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THIS WEEK: Dances With Wolves (1990), Open Range (2003), Horizon: An American Story - Chapter 1 (2024)

We're joined by Aaron from Hit Factory to discuss the standard bearer for the modern American western, Kevin Costner, and why sometimes you need to lose your wife of 18 years so you can make a four-part epic about the 19th-century American frontier.

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THIS WEEK: I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)

In the late 90s, Kevin Williamson was the hottest name in horror after penning Scream for Wes Craven. Just a year later, he capitalized on his newfound fame with a script about small town teens getting their comeuppance after (maybe) committing a lil bit of manslaughter and covering it up. The resulting film is a fun giallo-inspired teen slasher featuring some of the era's biggest up-and-coming stars, including Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr, and Ryan Phillipe (oh and one of the Big Bang Theory guys).

But what about the sequel with a Rastafarian Jack Black or the direct-to-video third film starring literally no one?

OPTIMISM VACCINE INVESTIGATES.

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THIS WEEK: Golgo 13: The Professional (1983), Ninja Scroll (1993), Perfect Blue (1997) and Kite (1998)

Steve and Jack are both out this week so there's never been a better time to subject Adam "Hentai Hater" Miros to some of the best anime produced in 80s and 90s. And also Kite.

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THIS WEEK: Wishmaster (1997), Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999), Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell (2001) and Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled

In the horror desert of the late 90s, a group of practical effects legends and genre has-beens came together to crown Andrew Divoff as heir to the horror icons of yesteryear. We all wish that this had heralded in a new golden age of Karo syrup, squibs and latex, but if this franchise has taught us anything... wishing is for fools and suckers.

So pick yourselves up by your bootstraps, and do the work necessary for a better world.

And as always, Fear the Djinn.

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THIS WEEK: Death Race 2000 (1975), Rollerball (1975), The Running Man (1987)

Recently, President Joe Biden tried to salvage his legacy after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump by going on national television and reassuring the American people he was fit to be the commander-in-chief. Unfortunately, he committed the ultimate gaff and revealed that in America, things aren't settled by voting -- We handle it all at THE BATTLE BOX.

What do we really know about the ongoing American tradition of trial by combat at The Battle Box? We look to the world of film for clues. Will Hollywood reveal the answers?

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