Recovered

Grab your parka, light a flamethrower, and trust no one as we take on Things from Other Worlds! First, Dan, Keith, and special guest Emma head back to the 1950s for The Thing From Another World, based on the story Who Goes There, as an arctic base is beset by a plant-based invader out to steal their blood, and science and military find themselves at odds. Then jump to 1982 for another attempt to adapt the story, Keith's very favourite movie, John Carpenter's The Thing, a masterwork of paranoid thrills and practical effects; and its 2011 prequel-sort-of-remake, a case study of studio notes run amok. How will Keith deal with a remake of his favourite flick? How much damage can one bad test audience do? Find out!

Dan and Keith go storm chasing with Twister and Twisters! Back in the 90s, Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt chased tornadoes for non-specific Science while staying ahead of their rival who was out for vague Profit in a simple storm flick that became one of the top hits of 1996. A whopping 28 years later, Hollywood took another crack at it with Twisters, which despite its title has the approximate same number of tornadoes but being a Movie From the Mid 2020s DOES have more Glen Powell. Dan and Keith unpack motivations, quirky casts, film language, and how it's a little weird to portray tornadoes as slasher movie villains that can be defeated with microplastics. We've got the entertainment, so if you FEEL IT... CHASE IT!

Dan and Keith head back to the old west for two takes on the gritty western 3:10 to Yuma. Both versions see a desperate rancher agree to escort an outlaw bandit to the train to a prison in Yuma, something his gang is very willing to kill to prevent. In 1957, the conflict comes from the growing connection between Dan the rancher and Ben the bandit, and Ben probes and tests Dan's resolve through a long wait in a hotel for the train's arrival. The 2007 remake casts Russell Crowe and Christian Bale for a more action-packed version, but does it lose the original's magic? Take the train with us and find out.

It's another 80s classic (question mark) with a largely overlooked remake as Dan and Keith take on the Red Dawns! Back in Reagan's America, Hollywood wove a tale of America being invaded by a Russian/Cuban alliance, which took a very elaborate amount of set-up to justify, held at bay by rising stars Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, and Lea Thompson. The fierce Soviet alliance brought America to its knees overnight, but couldn't withstand six teenagers with attitudes. In 2012, after a few years on the shelf, an updated version was released with a new invading enemy... that had to be quickly re-written to keep valuable markets in play. The definitely not Chinese invaders are harassed by the recently famous Chris Hemsworth, The Beekeeper's Josh Hutcherson, The Orville's Adrianne Palicki, and somehow it all makes even less sense. Dan and Keith have some notes on the whole enterprise, from improbable set-ups to which fast food chain clearly didn't pay enough for their product placement. Listen in!

Jump back, listeners, as it's time for another 80s classic and its 2010s remake as Dan and Keith cut loose, Footloose. In 1984, Kevin Bacon comes to the town of Bomont to redeem it from frenzied Satanic Panic oppression through the power of dance, with excellent supporting performances from Chris Penn, John Lithgow, and the great Diane Wiest. Then in the 2010s, the story is retold with few updates aside from "also rap exists," with a cast whose breakout star is... Miles Teller? In the Chris Penn role? That can't be right, can it? Which version was better than it had any right to be, and which underdelivered? Tune in and cut foot loose with us!

The Kaiju Saga reaches its conclusion in the cinematic smackdowns of Godzilla Vs. Kong, the Scaly Boi vs. the Big Monke. But it's not cinema made it to the Monsterverse before someone thought "Maybe these two could fight," so we start back in the Showa Era with King Kong Vs Godzilla from 1962 (or '63 depending on country), in which Big Pharma orchestrates a fight between monsters for reasons that almost make sense. That done, back to the 2020s as Hollywood emerges from Plague Times with Godzilla Vs. Kong, then has the lizard and the monkey team up for the mismatched buddy cop throwdown Godzilla X Kong: New Empire. Who had the best human subplots? Or the most human subplots? Where were the best fights? Dan and Keith break it all down. Join us!

Dan and Keith are back into the Kings Kong, starting with Peter Jackson's 2005 remake. Fresh off Lord of the Rings, the future Sir Peter goes back to the 1930s in a lavish remake that references and homages the original while still adding a contemporary sensibility. Dan has some flowers for the filmmaking, while Keith thinks maybe Jackson put too much mustard on it. Then we return to the Monsterverse with Kong: Skull Island, a new take on Kong lore with a new story and a new way to make Man the real monster, as an all-star cast heads to Skull Island and finds out the massive gorilla isn't the biggest threat around. How do the 20th Century Kongs fare against the classics? Will Keith finally break Dan, or vice versa? Find out now!

We are back into the Kaiju Saga, trading Japan's scaly king for the USA's Big Monke! Dan and Keith cover two takes on King Kong: the original 1933 classic, and the 1976 remake that tries to be as different as it can while still being functionally identical. Two different Kongs of very different quality, but only one got a sequel: 1986's King Kong Lives, in which the producer and director of the remake reunite but can't convince any of the original cast to come back, so Linda Hamilton has to take their place. Who Kong'd the best? Will Keith's love of practical effects take a hit? Join us for the journey through 20th century Kongs. 

Throw on a suit, grab your neuralizer, and bounce with us, just bounce with us as we dig into the Men in Black! Back in 1997 an obscure comic became a classic sci-fi buddy-cop action-comedy teaming Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, then after two kinda samey sequels and a long gap an attempt was made to soft-reboot the franchise with Thor: Ragnarok's Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. Special guest Munsi-Parker Munroe returns to explain why heavily bi-coded MIBs were what they never knew they always needed, the original gets some love, and Keith has some thoughts on MIB: International. Join in for the ride, and help us show some love to Weird Little Guy performers!

Our deep dive into giant monsters continues as Godzilla, formerly Gojira, makes the jump across the ocean to Hollywood! Eventually. Takes a couple of tries. In 1998, the director of Independence Day tries to adapt the big scaly boi for America, making big changes in design and backstory, with what could be called mixed results. Sixteen years later, the director of Rogue One kicks off the Monsterverse with a more classic Godzilla as humanity's one best hope against some... kinda generic monsters that don't get names, and it's enough of a hit that (after something we'll get to later) the franchise went full giant monster mash, as Mothra and Rodan pitch in for the title bout of Godzilla vs Ghidorra in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Just like last time, but with way more budget and a stacked cast of notable actors. Can Hollywood crack the Godzilla code? Dan and Keith discuss, you listen, we're all happy.