Retro Grade Podcast

“YOU KNOW, I’VE ALWAYS WANTED A CHILD. AND NOW I THINK I’LL HAVE ONE ON TOAST!”

On this week’s episode, we are officially leaving behind summer and getting ready for Halloween. We start this season with revisiting a childhood classic, Hocus Pocus, directed by Kenny Ortega starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz, Thora Birch, Vinessa Shaw, and Doug Jones. Being released in 1993, the film was received very poorly, with well known film critic Gene Siskel calling it “dreadful,” and with little to no marketing support from Disney Studios, the film was dead on arrival, losing Disney around 16 million dollars at the time, But since then, the film has grown into a cult classic, with yearly presentations on television during Halloween. Similar to It’s a Wonderful Life, this movie had a second life on television, and it was continued to grow with no signs of stopping. And with the sequel being released on September 30th, there’s a chance for a whole new generation to learn about Hocus Pocus.

But how does the original hold up? We talk about one of the main reasons this film grew in popularity, the Sanderson Sisters. Being lead by the well-known Broadway actress, Bette Midler, the Sandersons Sisters antics and relationship was so charming and hilarious, that it’s easy to see why they were so impressionable to so many kids. From their dialogue to their performances, the Sanderson Sisters are brought so vividly to life, you can never forget them once you’ve spent time with them. We also talk about camp that is found in the film, and we discuss whether Kenny Ortega was intentional in the campiness, or if it just so happened to be there.

We talk about the release of this film, and how the cast and crew coped with the failure that is was considered to be, and how they feel about the film having seen a resurgence in recent years. And also, we talk about moving forward, this film might or might not have the same impact for future generations. So get ready for a spooktacular episode on a childhood classic, and stay tuned for the entire month of October, because we have a whole month of exciting films we’ll be revisiting.

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“LOOKS LIKE MEAT’S BACK ON THE MENU!“

On this episode of Retro Grade Podcast we talk about the second Peter Jackson live-action adaptation of The Lord of the Rings series, We are joined once again by our resident LOTR expert Becky to help us talk about why this film series changed the fantasy genre forever.

We talk about how this film splits the fellowship and takes our various heroes on their own journeys, fighting against the ethereal evil of Sauron. Delivering the ring to Mount Doom, defending the Rohan against the orc hordes, or recruiting more to join the cause, the ensemble cast really gets to come into their own in this film, and establish themselves as individual characters we can still relate to 20 years later. Speaking of characters, we talk about what makes Gollum at the top of many lists as one of the greatest CGI characters of all time. Not only do we get an amazing physical and vocal performance from Andy Serkis gave but also talk about the amazing work of the visual effects team at WETA Digital, and go through a brief history in the world of motion capture.

The Battle of Helm’s Deep is the big, climactic set piece in the film and probably the most iconic castle siege in film history. We talk about the months it took to film the scene, the way it is lit so that we can actually see the battle at night, and how the beats of the action walk the line of being an enjoyable action sequence, but also a commentary on the cost of war.

The allegory comes in heavy in The Two Towers, possibly more so here than in The Fellowship of The Ring. As we watch films, sometimes to get the most out of that experience we have to think about what the film is trying to say. When Sarumon says he wants “the old world to burn in the fires of industry,” maybe Tolkien wasn’t just talking about the old world of Middle-Earth. Maybe the reason these stories held up so well to be written as books and shared between generations and turned into films and now television series is because they are a reflection of real world concerns through a fantastical lens of dwarves, elves, wizards and orcs. And in this fantasy world, there is hope that’s worth fighting for, so maybe ours is too.

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“GET TO THE CHOPPER!“

On this week’s episode, we revisit the 1987 action/horror classic, Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by John McTiernan. This was an interesting film to revisit since both Austin and Jorge don’t really have a deep connection to the film, having only seen it a few times each. But it seems that they are both in the minority, with everyone else saying that this is an absolute classic piece of cinema, going down with the some of the best action and horror films, alongside Alien, Halloween, Friday the 13th, and many more. But those the film actually hold up? Does the film deliver on all these promises and how well does it stack to other films of the same genre and decade. That’s what we go over in this episode.

We go over the similarities between this film and other great horror films, and how closely this movie uses those tropes to create an atmosphere of dread that soon the characters feel. And look at each of the characters, from Jesse Ventura’s Blaine to Carl Weather’s Dillon, and how they take up the role of classic horror archetypes, and how our favorite action hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is actually this film’s version of the “Final Girl” trope, placing right up there with Jamie Lee Curtis, Neve Campbell, and Sigourney Weaver. But we also take about the action tropes that it uses, and how well does the film balance these genres out and whether the film masters both of them equally, or if it a bit one sided. Specifically, we look into the deaths of each character and whether we think those deaths are on par with classic horror kills, like to Johnny Depp’s death in A Nightmare of Elm Street, and whether the deaths hold up.

We talk about how difficult the production was on the entire cast and crew, including on the actors playing the title villain. Originally played by someone who would become very famous in the future, the actor would go on and talk about how difficult it was to play the villain in such a difficult environment that brough in extreme heat, difficult terrain to maneuver in, and a filming schedule that was brutal. We breakdown how difficult it was to place and operate a camera in this environment, just to give you an idea of how just aspect of filming was worsened by filming in the brutal jungle. From there we talk about how that actor was fired and replaced by Kevin Peter Hall, or as many people are familiar with him, Harry and the famous NBC show Harry and the Hendersons. Standing at over 7 feet tall, this change in actor and costume proved to be one of the best changes for the film, creating a creature that has stood the test of time and placed among the great villains in cinema history.

We end the episode talking about the portrayal of the country the film takes place in, and how even though it might not have been intended, reflected the real history of the United State’s involvement in Central American’s  politics during the cold war, and how that may have potentially been part of the inspiration for the 2022 Hulu film, Prey. Lastly, we talk about John McTiernan and the controversies he was wrapped in concerning and ex-wife and a producer on a future project. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this week’s episode on Predator

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“IS IT POSSIBLE, THAT THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES.“

As the “family vs aliens" genre receives another entry in Jordan Peele’s Nope, we at Retro Grade Podcast decided to talk about a similarly themed movie that recently celebrated it’s 20th anniversary. We are talking about, M Night Shyamalan’s Signs, starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin. We talk about how this movie left an impact on our childhoods, and it’s unexpected relatability in a post-911, mid-COVID America of today. We talk about the scenes that scared us, the scenes that made us laugh, the scenes that made us want to cry, and how Shyamalan packs all of this into one emotional roller coaster of a movie, that still makes us feel all of the things.

We gush about the strengths of the films cohesive structure and rant about how the current obsession over finding “plot holes“ is ruining our ability to enjoy movies. Seriously, stop trying to find plot holes. If you want to find them, you will find them in every single alien invasion movie, and perhaps any movie you want. Suspension of disbelief is something you need to have to appreciate storytelling, especially when it comes to movies.

We talk about the writer-director’s fall from grace, and whether or not he deserved the degree of criticism that he got. Shyamalan became known as the twist director, but how many of his films actually have twists? We talk about how widespread it became to ridicule Shyamalan and purposefully mispronounce his last name, and how he alone seemingly took the fall for the failure of the film adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. During the late aughts we saw a lot of terrible adaptations of beloved franchises, but how many of them do we still hold a grudge against to the person that directed them?

We discuss the different style of acting we see in this film. We don’t see big emotional performances, but instead get these grounded characters in the quiet moments of an impending apocalypse. Performances that help make the film so incredibly personal and charming. Even Mel Gibson, despite his controversial statements, outbursts, wild conspiracy theories, questionable politics and hateful comments, makes us want to root for Graham Hess. The severity of the controversies is something we touch on in this episode. Some people should probably be in jail, or perhaps not be allowed to make films ever again, but how does Hollywood decide who gets a second chance?

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“WE’RE NEVER GOING TO TALK ABOUT THIS, OKAY?”

On this week’s episode of Retro Grade Podcast, we talk about 2007’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, from Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu starring Anamaria Marinca and Laura Vasiliu. Over the past few weeks, the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, giving states the ability to make abortions illegal to millions of people. We wanted to watch a film that covered that same scenario, and try to see the challenges that those characters went through to try and get an abortion. We go over the story, which see’s Gabita trying to get an abortion during the1980s in Romania where they are illegal, and what her friend and roommate Otilia does to help her. We cover the setting, the structure, pace, tone and see how they all add to create a thriller that resembles a few other films that we have talked about on this podcast.

We cover how the film was shot, with many long takes to add to the realism of the film and how the cinematography was used to put the viewer directly in the head of Otilia as she is constantly running into obstacles. We talk about the themes of the film, not only about what it says about abortions, but about oppression towards woman, the tactics some men will use to establish dominance over women, but also the camaraderie and friendship that will arise between women when facing oppression.

Towards the second half of the episode, we begin to go over the real life setting that the film is based on, how Romania fell into economic turmoil, and how this lead to Decree 770, the decree by communist Romanian government of Nicolae Ceausescu. It restricted abortion and contraception, which did double the birth rate in the first few years, but would also increase the death toll of women  from having illegal abortions, and increased the number of orphans in the country.

We also try and see why so many films about unplanned pregnancies were released in such quick succession during 2007 (Knocked Up, Juno, Waitress, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, and lastly Revolutionary Road). This is the most difficult film we have covered on the podcast, but thankfully we have a special guest that will help shed even more light on this topic, Victoria, co-host of the Impure, Rethought podcast which covers how purity, patriarchy, and profit have shaped Western culture, be sure to give them a listen!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“IT’S NOT EASY HAVING A GOOD TIME.. EVEN SMILING MAKES MY FACE ACHE.“

This month, we at Retro Grade Podcast decided to cover one of the most beloved cult classics and recognizable LGBTQ+ themed movies of all time, The Rocky Horror Picture Show! Directed by Jim Sharman, written by Richard O’Brien, starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell and Richard O’Brien themself! Austin is a huge Rocky Horror Picture Show fan, but Jorge has never seen it. Throughout the course of recording this podcast, Jorge has a preference for movies with strong plots, and the musical genre is not exactly his favorite. However, after starting this show, Jorge has watched even more musicals and may actually be a secret music fan. Will he be converted to the House of Rocky during this episode?

We talk about how the movie serves as an homage to the campy sci-fi and horror movies of the 50’s and 60’s, references old Hollywood, glam rock, and classic art, all to tell a very fun movie with catchy music. However, beneath the fun exterior lies a story about a sexual awakening contrasted with the conservative sexual politics from the world the main characters come from, a fictional town in middle America. We talk about how the film can be empowering and inspiring, and also get a modern perspective of how some of the ideas can seen as problematic, and we give our opinions on controversy.

We talk about how the Rocky Horror show was born from the mind of Richard O’Brien, a transgender person in 1972 going through gender dysphoria while trying to be an actor. Without any of the resources (some) people in the LGBTQ+ community have today, Richard unintentionally wrote about what they were going through as a stageplay that turned into something the Library of Congress deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” How did The Rocky Horror Picture Show go from box office flop, to the longest running theatrical release for a film of all time?

We get into all of that and so much more! We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did making it!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“FEAR IS THEIR GREATEST DEFENSE!“

On this episode of the podcast we take a look behind the scenes of Star Wars: A New Hope. We go back to before it was even called Star Wars. Before George Lucas was even interested in making films in the first place. On this journey through the creative process of not only one of the most profitable movies, but entertainment and merchandise franchises of all time, we see that it all started with a guy and his friends driven to make a movie outside of Hollywood and the studio system. The same movie that would later be owned by one of the biggest Hollwood studios of all time. Ironic isn’t it?

We go back to George Lucas’ time at USC and all of the people he met that would be instrumental in the creation of the first Star Wars movie. We go back to how he met Francis Ford Coppola (director of the Godfather,) the short film that he made that left an impression on Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Jurassic Park,) the help with the famous crawl text he got from Brian De Palma (Carrie, Scarface) and perhaps his most important collaborator, Marcia Lucas (his then-wife) in editing the long, wordy space epic into the movie we know today. We talk about how George Lucas positioned himself to be the owner of his own movie, and how important that fact was in the creation of the franchise, and perhaps how that may have caused the quality of the saga to waver.

Thanks to the Wookiepedia, we found several of the early drafts of Star Wars and how concepts like a floating city, a jungle planet, kyber crystals and the names like Mace Windy and Starkiller all existed in early drafts of The Star Wars, but were ultimately cut out and repurposed later on in the expansion of the universe. We talk about the lines that almost were, and also the people that were almost playing the iconic characters. What would famed samurai actor and frequent Akira Kurosawa collaborator, Toshiro Mifune bring to the film by playing Ben Kenobi? Or what about Kurt Russel playing space smuggler, Han Solo?

We talk about a lot of ‘what ifs’ and ‘could have beens’ on this episode, but by the end we discover that the film was never about making the most amount of money possible, it was about taking an audience to a place they hadn’t been to before in a film, and unlocking the imagination of the children going to see it. It just happened to make a lot of money on the way.

We hope you enjoy this episode! And stay tuned for our next episode on another 70’s film, one that may not have had as much money, but has just as long lasting pop culture staying power. A different set of ‘Jaws’ if you will..

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“HOKEY RELIGIONS AND ANCIENT WEAPONS…"“

On this week’s episode, we finally get to talk the about the one that started it all: Star Wars (1977). Or rather: Star Wars: A New Hope. In 2022, the film is celebrating its 45th anniversary and we thought now would be the best time to revisit the film and see how it holds up.

We begin by talking about our earliest memories with the film, from how we first watched and loved it as children to how we remember it today. We go into the box office success, and how this is still one of the highest grossing films of all time after adjusted for inflation.

From there, we cover the entire story, beginning with the iconic introduction with John William’s score with the yellow text scrolling by, leading into an action-packed shootout and the introduction of one of the greatest villain in cinema history: Darth Vader.

We talk about the extended sequence in Tatooine, where we are introduced to Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi. What’s surprising about this is how long this section truly is, and how it focuses on developing each of our characters and developing this universe, showing us how this universe’s underbelly or villainy and scum, to the outsiders like the Tusken Raiders and Jawas. And we cover the introduction another set of legendary characters, Han Solo and Chewbacca. We talk about how these scenes from the film on Disney+, actually differ from when we originally saw them on our home video VHS tapes.

During the Death Star, we focus the relationships between out three main leads, Han, Luke, and Leia, and how future installments don’t quite reach the same level with their characters. And all this leads us to the finale, with an epic space battle that combines groundbreaking computer graphics and practical camera work to deliver one of the greatest climaxes in cinema history.

On the next episode, we will talk about how George Lucas wrote and re-wrote and re-wrote Star Wars. We will get into how over the years the versions of the films have changed (and address an error made in the episode.) We will get into the troubled production and how the film we love was created in the editing room. We will talk about the impact Star Wars has had not just on us but on movies in general, and of course, we will get into our trademark quote section where we summarize how we feel about the film using one of its quotes.

This is where the fun begins!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“OUT, AM I?“
On this week’s episode, we continue talking about Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man film, released in 2002. In the first episode we focused on the story and on the style, how Sam Raimi went about filming the web swinger in his first Hollywood outing. Now, we go back to the very beginning of Spider-Man, back to when he was created in 1962. We go over his creation, and how he was result of a collaboration between Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. We talk about his first comic book appearance in Marvel Comic’s Amazing Fantasy No.15 which led to his own series The Amazing Spider-Man. From there we talk about the various forms that Spider-Man took, from a 1977 television show on CBS to a Japanese revisioning of the character.

With Spider-Man’s popular continuing to grow, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood planned to capitalize on his popularity in 1985. But that would take multiple decades, with multiple production companies vying for the rights to the character, and everyone suing and countersuing in order to have a chance at making his big screen debut. Numerous directors’ names were thrown around, but ultimately Raimi got the job.  We talk about all of that, and why we think he was the best one!

Afterwards, we go into the actually production, what went into the casting of the film, the hurdles Sam had to go through during that, the choice in trying to ground the film’s sillier ideas so they could mesh well with the real life setting of New York, including the Green Goblin’s costume and the use of the organic web shooters. We talk about how this film could have been rated R for some of the depictions of violence, and what the team did to avoid that. We cover the film’s marketing, and the ultimate U-turn the marketing team had to do in order to remove all images of the Twin Towers after the events of September 11th, 2001, and how real-life events have an effect of audiences interpretation of media, regardless of whether or not it chose to make a statement.

Lastly, we briefly talk about the newest Marvel film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness since it’s Sam Raimi’s return to directing after a 9 year hiatus. We talk about the good, the bad, and the weird things we saw in the film and in a spoiler free discussion. So sit back and enjoy our final episode on the original Spider-Man film!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o

“YOU MESS WITH ONE OF US, YOU MESS WITH ALL OF US!“

Just in time for the 20th anniversary of one of the greatest super hero (origin) movies from one of the greatest directors to ever tackle the genre, we at Retro Grade Podcast have decided to cover Spider-Man from 2002, directed by Sam Raimi, starring Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, and Kirsten Dunst. Although there have been several Peter Parker’s since 2002, none of them captured the duality of the Spider-Man like the first one. The duality of how fun and unfun being a hero is. For every win Spider-Man has, Peter Parker gets a few L’s, and this is what makes the character so endearing, relatable and somewhat inspiring.

We talk about the Willem Dafoe’s classic portrayal of Norman Osbourne, the Green Goblin. There’s a lot of ways to play a villain, and the way Dafoe chooses to rides that fine line between silly and scary, bouncing back and forth between making him more entertaining than any villain in the MCU (until he reprised the role of course.) He turns all of his dialogue into classic one-liners that we still laugh at today.

We get into the way Sam Raimi’s iconic, campy and visual style permeates through the fact that Spider-Man is Hollywood Blockbuster made for mainstream audiences. His style lends itself to the comic-book genre in a way that we haven’t really seen since. Needless to say, we are beyond excited to see his return to the genre in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness!

Because there is so much to talk about with the making of this movie and the movie itself, we decided to do another two-parter similar to our Godfather episodes. So stay tuned for our Making Of special, to hear us talk about how the movie was made and how the national tragedy of 9/11 shaped the making of Spider-Man!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o