Silver Screeners

Grab a Scrumdiddlyumptious bar, jump in the Wonkatania boat, and enter a world of pure imagination as we look back with affection at this Gene Wilder classic. Hear about the Bavarian town of Nordlingen, what the kids are up to now, and the new one-time segment "What Makes Grandpa Joe Totally Blow," which exposes Grandpa Joe as the shameless, tobacco-smoking, cabbage water-swilling opportunist he is. Plus, the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, weekly poll results, trivia segment, and listener shout-outs!

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, special guests Robbo and Cheeto from The Film Geezers podcast join me for a look back at the dystopian sci-fi/film noir-ish cult classic. We try to stump each other with trivia questions, and bring fun facts to the table. So grab your paper unicorns, retire some replicants, and find out what it means to be "more human than human" as we revisit this Harrison Ford flick. Plus, the usual weekly poll results, trivia segment, and listener shout-outs!

For a tip of the hat to Father's Day, two sardonic but ultimately loving dramedies that peel back the layers of the onion of complicated relationships between crotchety old coots and their exasperated grown sons. Jackie Gleason and Bruce Dern both act their tails off with Tom Hanks and Will Forte offering solid support. A bonus anecdote about a recent concert combines nicely with Nothing in Common's celestial choir of ad agency execs revealing an office window to Hanks. Plus, the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, weekly poll results, trivia segment, and listener shout-outs!

It's been 35 years since 'Baby' carried that watermelon out of a corner, and 10 since six down-on-their-luck blokes decided to go the full monty in a club in Sheffield and reap the fruits of their own labor. Whether you prefer, like their eager audience, some 'hot stuff' Donna Summer-style or a vicarious trip to the Catskills to have the 'time of your life,' there's plenty to dance about in episode 54. Plus, the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, weekly poll results, trivia segment, and listener shout-outs!

With the film ratings system in place in 1968, how did a 1969 social satire about liberated libidos during the free-spirited 60s and a 1971 dramedy about desperate narcissism, an inability to love, and misogyny make out with both the Oscars as well as the Motion Picture Association of America? And how did the public respond? Just ask the bewildered Edith Bunker of TV's sitcom All in the Family after she took Archie to what she mistakenly thought was "a religious picture, Cardinal Knowledge." Plus, the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, the poll results, trivia segment, and listener shout-outs!

In this episode, enjoy the backstory of how censorship evolved over the decades with the list of "Don'ts and Be Carefuls," as well as the Production Code that led to the gradual breakdown of the Hollywood Studio System. Along the way, two bold and saucy comedies from 1959 defied convention with bedroom farce and double entendres! Plus, the usual behind-the-scenes fun facts, poll results, listener trivia segment, and shout-outs!

Checking into motels, meals of sandwiches and milk, and taking showers took on new meanings with Alfred Hitchcock's cultural juggernaut that was Psycho, starring the incomparable Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates and the irreplaceable Janet Leigh in her Oscar-nominated performance as Marion Crane. Return guest Chris from the podcast The Movie Psycho joins me for a look back at and tip of the hat to this classic with behind the scenes fun facts and attempts to stump each other on Psycho-related trivia questions! Plus, the usual poll results, trivia segment, and listener shout-outs! Just be sure to stay out of cabin #1...

Silver Screeners hits the big 5-0! Special guest Carlo from The Movie Loot podcast joins me for a look back at the iconic mobster family crime drama The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. We talk about our favorite scenes and characters, try to stump each other with trivia questions, and bring fun facts to the table. Plus, the usual weekly poll results, trivia segment, and listener shout-outs! B.Y.O.C. (bring your own cannoli)

Careers were changed or lost once the silent era drew to a close, but the talkies have spoken! A look at a pair of Hollywood films about Hollywood in a time of painful and awkward transition - one, a surprisingly brutal depiction of narcissism, betrayal, desperation, and nearly psychotic jealousy and possessiveness while in the spotlight of celebrity ... and the other is Sunset Blvd. A listener reveals her familial relation to a Singin' in the Rain star, plus the behind-the-scenes fun facts, weekly poll results, trivia segment, and listener shout-outs!

Spice on the planet Arrakis. The Fremen. The House of Atreides. Paul, Lady Jessica, and Duke Leto. Sting's wardrobe. Josh Brolin's awesomeness. And those sandworms ... in this episode, Liz and Greg join me for a conversation about Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune, 1984's David Lynch-directed film adaptation, and Denis Villeneuve's 2021 rendition that nabbed six Academy Awards. Plus, the weekly poll results, trivia segment, behind-the-scenes fun facts, and listener shout-outs!