One of the defining cultural touchstones of the decade it came out in, Flashdance is a sloppy, tonally-inconsistent, and amateurishly-crafted film that happens to have an exhilaratingly charismatic lead actress, some instantly-memorable dance sequences, and a soundtrack filled with absolute bangers. While Flashdance got miserable reviews and its studio expected it to be an utter failure, that soundtrack album sold millions of copies and it gradually turned the movie into a word-of-mouth sleeper hit.

Originally envisioned as a trashy, lowbrow exploitation thriller, Rebel Without A Cause got a massive boost to its budget when the success of East Of Eden (1955) convinced Warner Brothers that James Dean was a rising star worth more of an investment. Alongside director Nicholas Ray, Dean carefully molded the coming-of-age story into a tragic, Shakespearean melodrama. Released just after Dean's sudden death, Rebel Without A Cause struck a nerve in the American psyche and has remained a pop culture fixture to the present day.

This episode features a frank discussion about the multiple scenes of sexual assault that occur in the film. If that doesn't sound like the sort of thing you'd like to sit through, we'd advise you to sit this installment out.

One of the most popular, acclaimed, and widely-seen Hollywood films ever made, The Godfather contains a multitude of thematic subtext and its behind-the-scenes drama is about as thoroughly documented as humanly possible. As such, while all art is subjective, The Godfather is especially emblematic of this since there's absolutely no way that Ryan and Rachel can cover absolutely everything over the course of a single podcast episode. So, while this is true of every installment of Reel Deep Dive, it is particularly apparent that the hosts will be revealing more about themselves than anything else based on what elements of The Godfather tapestry that they choose to talk about.

Spinning off from the popular and acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series, Mask Of The Phantasm was initially intended for a direct-to-video release. However, Warner Brothers quickly decided to give the film a theatrical release and, after a rush to convert the animation to this format, Mask Of The Phantasm was released to little fanfare and indifferent box office. Despite this, Mask Of The Phantasm performed well on home video and its reputation has grown steadily as the years have gone on. These days, it is not uncommon for Mask Of The Phantasm to be argued as the finest Batman movie ever produced.

Loosely adapted from Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura's manga series, Lady Snowblood is a chanbara film centering on a young lady (Meiko Kaji) striving to enact vengeance for the murder of her father and rape of her mother. Filled with stylized melodrama, bold storytelling choices, and gallons of cartoonish gore, Lady Snowblood struck enough of a chord to result in a sequel, at least two remakes, a slot in the Criterion Collection, and a loving homage in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies.

One of the bedrock pop cultural institutions of its time, The Simpsons is unsurprisingly a formative TV experience for many of the commentators on Reel Deep Dive. Like with The Twilight Zone, Ryan has decided to tackle the program by doing a series of recordings where he and his guests break down the program by focusing on the most influential members of its writing staff.

Partially a romantic comedy and partially a coming-of-age drama about Catholic teen angst, Mermaids centers upon Rachel Flax (Cher), a flighty single mother who suddenly relocates to a small Massachusetts town on a whim. Most of the dramatic tension comes from the conflict between Mrs. Flax and her daughter Charlotte (Winona Ryder), a neurotic teen who's embraced Catholicism at least partially to rebel against her mother's libertine inclinations. However, things are complicated further when Mrs. Flax is courted by warm-hearted shoe salesman Louis (Bob Hoskins) and Charlotte's raging hormones put her in the path of twentysomething bus driver Joe (Michael Schoeffling). Christina Ricci, making her screen debut, fleshes out the cast as the younger Flax daughter Kate.

Based on a goofy, satirical comic book published by Marvel in the 1970's, Howard The Duck was produced by George Lucas when he was considered the man with the Midas touch. One of the most infamous box office failures of all time, the movie lost money, ruined careers, and flooded the world with duck puns. However, because of its omnipresence on basic cable and video rental store shelves, this film gradually became a cult favorite among Gen X and millennial audiences.  

Duck Soup (1933) is currently seen as one of the best comedic films ever made, but its reception was a bit lukewarm in its time and The Marx Brothers were soon looking for a new studio for their antics. They ultimately found a juicy contract with MGM, at that point the biggest filmmaker in Hollywood. In an effort to make the Marx Brothers more marketable to audiences, MGM insisted that the comedians sand down the rough edges of their routines, alter their personas to become more likable, and commit to a crowd-pleasing formula. This would result in lesser-regarded product down the line, but A Night At The Opera was a big hit that revived the Marx Brothers brand and is looked upon by posterity as one of their finest.