Silver Screeners

Return guest Chris of The Movie Psycho Podcast and I engage in an Orson Welles two-fer as we discuss The Third Man and Touch of Evil with a side dish of film noir thrown in. Plus, the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, poll results, interactive trivia, and listener shout-outs!

Ring in 2023 with one last Yuletide-themed episode of the season as Stu & Al of The Stu & Al Pod in England join me for a lively debate over which version of A Christmas Carol takes home the tinsel. We quiz each other, talk favorite scenes, and spread joy across the Atlantic. Plus, the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, trivia segment, and listener shout-outs!

December 1940. Miss Shields wants Ralphie to write ... a theme. Randy becomes Mommy's little piggy. The 'Old Man' wins a major award. Schwartz gets his. Flick gets triple-dog-dared. And Ralphie gets to dress up as a pink bunny. Yeet some milk bones next door to keep the Bupkis's dogs at bay so that you can relax and enjoy 7Ceez from the No on 15! All-Cast make a return appearance for a conversation about 1983's cult classic A Christmas Story. Plus, the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, poll results, interactive trivia segment, and listener shout-outs!

75 years ago, the Macy's Santa Claus got drunk at the Thanksgiving parade, paving the way for the real Kris Kringle to step in and replace him. A single divorced career mother didn't want her little girl to grow up believing in fairy tales and myths and legends. The executives at Macy's and the executives at Gimbel's engaged in a Christmas season retail smackdown. And that's just the tip of the tinsel for this endearing holiday classic with Edmund Gwynn in his Oscar-winning performance as Santa, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, and child star Natalie Wood. Plus, the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, poll results, interactive trivia segment, and listener shout-outs!

Special guests Stephen J. Holloran, a UK-based actor and YouTuber, and DaveyA of the podcast I'd Give That 10 Minutes! both join me for a conversation about the first two - or as we say, the only two - Home Alone films. Fun facts, a trivia contest between them, plus the usual poll results, listener trivia segment, and shout-outs!

TV has brought us lots of holiday specials and shows, but in the 1980s, two television movies in particular take the tinsel. Two festive, guilty pleasures are embraced as we revisit two sets of 6 siblings: the Herdmans, "the worst kids in the whole history of the world," and the Bradys, the family that doesn't know how to give their beloved former maid Alice a seat at the table. Plus, the usual fun facts, poll results, listener trivia segment, and shout-outs! kmm

35 years ago, November 1987, writer-director John Hughes threw Steve Martin and John Candy into a race against time to get home for Thanksgiving. A fond look at this comedy classic filled with diverted flights, busted trains, melted speedometers, and one very memorable car rental agent. Plus, the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, interactive trivia segment, and listener shout-outs!

40 years ago, an abandoned extraterrestrial missed his mothership and was stranded on Earth in fear and hopelessness. But nothing that a friendship with a lonely 9-year-old boy and some Reese's Pieces won't cure. 7Ceez from The No on 15! All Cast returns to the show for a nostalgic look back at the Steven Spielberg-directed film that defined a generation and had the Mars Company look at their stock of M&Ms and shake their heads in bitter regret. Plus, the usual fun facts, poll results, and listener trivia segment!

It's #Noirvember, which means a tip of the hat to the cynical, wisecracking anti-hero and the seductive, conniving femme fatale of FILM NOIR! Dimly-lit bars and alleyways, lots of cigarettes, stark contrasts between bright lights and shadows, fedoras and trench coats, and murder most foul abound in this stylized genre that dared to depict in the 40s and 50s the seedy side of the American Dream. 1944's 7-time Oscar nominee Double Indemnity is in the upper echelon of these character-driven crime thrillers, and Sorry, Wrong Number got Barbara Stanwyck her fourth Oscar nod for wrestling with a telephone receiver. Plus, the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, poll results, and listener trivia segment!

"I hear the Great Pumpkin!" To celebrate the Halloween holiday, this episode takes a fond look back at the TV special that was a staple in autumn-flavored pop culture for the past 56 years. Burning questions about it that have gone unanswered since I was a kid abound, as well as the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, poll results, listener trivia segment, and shout-outs!