the Mildly Frumpy Protagonist

The 1980s may not have been quite as bleak as 1984 predicted, but the Reagan era did see plenty of doom and gloom in entertainment, from Mad Max and Blade Runner to The Terminator and RoboCop. In When We Were Young’s latest episodes, Reel Gents podcast host Travis Dukelow joins us to dissect a cornucopia of dystopias unleashed in the 80s.

In Part One, we cover Terry Gilliam’s legendary BRAZIL (1985), which takes several cues from Orwell’s 1984 and adds a healthy dollop of dryly absurd British humor. Jonathan Pryce stars as meek cog-in-the-machine Sam Lowry, whose heroic fantasies offer the only hope of escape from a dreary, duct-ravaged world — at least, until Robert De Niro shows up as the world’s most swashbuckling repairman. If your vision of the future involves Christmastime, lobotomies, plastic surgery gone awry, and terrorism, this is the dystopia for you!

If you prefer a more scathing satire of consumerism and media, however, look no further than John Carpenter’s camp classic THEY LIVE (1987), discussed in Part Two of this episode. It stars wrestler Roddy Piper as John Nada, a down-on-his-luck drifter who suddenly learns that roughly half of America’s population is being brainwashed by television — and the other half are aliens. This cult favorite features magic sunglasses, excessive ass-kicking, and absolutely no bubblegum — and yet feels strangely prescient about the state of the world in 2018.

Is it 1984 yet? Join us for this two-part dystopic extravaganza before the inevitable collapse of society renders podcasts obsolete!

When We Were Young is a podcast devoted to the most beloved pop culture of our formative years (roughly 1980-2000). Join us for a look back to the past with a critical eye on how these movies, songs, TV shows and more hold up now. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and you can email us your episodes suggestions at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California, by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung.

We need your clothes, your boots, your motorcycle and your full attention for our new episode! James Cameron's THE TERMINATOR (1984) put the filmmaker on the map, becoming a classic almost instantly upon its release. By the time T2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991) came out seven years later, Cameron had become one of the most successful filmmakers of all time and Arnold Schwarzenegger was a bonafide movie star.

It's clear that the first two films in the long-running (and seemingly never-ending) Terminator franchise are the most beloved by fans - but can they survive our scrutiny? Does Linda Hamilton hold up as a feminist hero? And was casting Arnold as the titular terminating cyborg actually the wrong call? It's judgment day on When We Were Young.

We also sit down with Ben Foster, co-director of the new sci-fi adventure TIME TRAP, to discuss the hardships of indie filmmaking and why people are so drawn to the time travel genre. Come with us if you want to relive two of the most iconic sci-fi movies of all time!

When We Were Young is a podcast devoted to the most beloved pop culture of our formative years (roughly 1980-2000). Join us for a look back to the past with a critical eye on how these movies, songs, TV shows and more hold up now. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and you can email us your episodes suggestions at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California, by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung.

Masks on, listeners! This October, we’re celebrating Halloween by celebrating HALLOWEEN — the iconic horror film that unintentionally concocted the formula for an entire genre. John Carpenter’s 1978 chiller was made on a shoestring budget and went on to become the most profitable independent film ever made. It also launched horror’s most enduring villain, the tight-lipped but heavy-breathing Michael Myers, and the career of Jamie Lee Curtis, crowned the genre’s official Scream Queen.

Curtis returned to her blood-spattered roots in 1998’s HALLOWEEN H2O, co-starring Josh Hartnett, LL Cool J, and Michelle Williams, in the 90s slasher revival spawned by Scream. Now, in 2018, she once again portrays Laurie Strode, the “Final Girl” who made her famous, in David Gordon Green’s new spin on this cinematic classic.

The podcast welcomes wife-and-husband duo Chelsea and Dan to discuss all matters of splatter, then looks back at the original Halloween in observance of its 40th anniversary. After countless knock-offs and a string of subpar sequels, is Halloween still worth hallowing? Or does its violence against nubile babysitters come off as much less enlightened four decades later? And is Halloween H2O still the franchise’s only decent sequel? Come for the Carpenter, and stay for the Cool J, as we cower in the closet all over again!

When We Were Young is a podcast devoted to the most beloved pop culture of our formative years (roughly 1980-2000). Join us for a look back to the past with a critical eye on how these movies, songs, TV shows and more hold up now. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and you can email us your episodes suggestions at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California, by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung.

Calling all creeps! If you were a literate kid in the 90s, you almost certainly cracked open a GOOSEBUMPS book at some point. With 62 titles in its original run, R.L. Stine’s legendary YA horror anthology is one of the best-selling book series of all time. It also spawned games, toys, lunchboxes, apparel, two major motion pictures, and one very Canadian TV series — and the spin-offs just keep on coming.

When We Were Young invites Goosebumps fanatic Daniel Montgomery onto the show to reminisce about the halcyon days of the Scholastic Book Fair and our favorite preteen reads. Then we dare turn back the cuckoo clock of doom to revisit three classic titles from our childhoods, including The Haunted Mask and Night of the Living Dummy, to see if Stine’s writing still thrills and chills.

From outlandish twist endings to the many, many fakeout scares, there’s at least as much campy comedy to Goosebumps as there is genuine spine-tingling. Do these books still dish out the deep trouble, or was R.L. Stine just crying monster all along? We’ll spoil the “gotcha!” right now — yes, this episode does involve a teenage Ryan Gosling. Listener, beware!

When We Were Young is a podcast devoted to the most beloved pop culture of our formative years (roughly 1980-2000). Join us for a look back to the past with a critical eye on how these movies, songs, TV shows and more hold up now. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and you can email us your episodes suggestions at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California, by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung.

How does 1988’s Best Picture Oscar winner hold up? We’re too busy answering a question from a half hour ago to weigh in right now, so you’ll have to listen to When We Were Young’s latest episode, just in time for the 30th anniversary of Barry Levinson's RAIN MAN.

Dustin Hoffman’s Academy Award winning role set the stage for many actors playing mentally or physically disabled characters to go for the gold. Does this still come off as a credible way to depict autism, or have changing times made this a more problematic performance? And how do we feel about Tom Cruise as a full-on dramatic leading man in an action-free film?

Take a break from memorizing that phone book and make sure you’re wearing the proper underwear, because we’re about to make like Wapner and judge whether Rain Man soars like Qantas or sucks like Kmart.

When We Were Young is a podcast devoted to the most beloved pop culture of our formative years (roughly 1980-2000). Join us for a look back to the past with a critical eye on how these movies, songs, TV shows and more hold up now. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and you can email us your episode suggestions at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California, by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung.

Our Summer Bruce Willis trilogy - Bruce Willogy, if you will - comes to a close as we return to the womb and the year 1989 to reexamine Amy Heckerling's hit comedy LOOK WHO'S TALKING. Willis voices Mikey, the titular talking baby... who isn't really talking, per se, since we are just hearing his thoughts... though sometimes the actor playing Mikey on screen is actually talking but we don't hear what he's saying... look, this movie turned out to be way more confounding than we thought possible.

We also discuss the film's two lesser successful sequels, LOOK WHO'S TALKING TOO (1990) and LOOK WHO'S TALKING NOW (1993), and count the many diminishing returns of talking babies and talking dogs. Plus, we deliver the good news about one of our hosts expecting their own bundle of joy, and get nostalgic about the last year of podcasting during our 2nd Anniversary special!

When We Were Young is a podcast devoted to the most beloved pop culture of our formative years (roughly 1980-2000). Join us for a look back to the past with a critical eye on how these movies, songs, TV shows and more hold up now. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and you can email us your episodes suggestions at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California, by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung.

Do you believe in magic? In this episode, your three favorite podcast hosts call all four corners with the help of returning guest Krissy, our go-to guru for movies involving spells and sorcery.

First, we chat about the stigma of being goth in the 90s, and casting fake spells on our enemies. Then, When We Were Young explores the dark arts via 1996’s THE CRAFT, starring Neve Campbell, Robin Tunney, Rachel True, and Fairuza Balk as teenage witches Sabrina wouldn’t be caught dead with.

From the fashion to the soundtrack to the casting of Skeet Ulrich as the big man on campus, The Craft casts a very dated spell in some ways. But how does the film’s twisted take on 90s “girl power” hold up 22 years later? Is Balk’s kooky, spooky turn as the coven’s queen bee Nancy as magnetic as we remember? With perfect love and perfect trust, we bind you from not listening to this podcast.

When We Were Young is a podcast devoted to the most beloved pop culture of our formative years (roughly 1980-2000). Join us for a look back to the past with a critical eye on how these movies, songs, TV shows and more hold up now. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and you can email us your episodes suggestions at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California, by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung.

The Phantom of the Opera is here... and so are Eva Peron, Mr. Mistoffelees and Jesus Christ! Our latest episode explores the magical musical world of ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, the man who pretty much composed the soundtrack to Broadway, the West End, and our childhoods in the 1980s and 90s.

Andrew Lloyd Webber - we're sorry, SIR BARON Andrew Lloyd Webber - is arguably the most successful Broadway composer of all time, boasting many of the highest grossing musicals in history. His legend and influence cannot be disputed, but do his shows stand the test of time?

Is "Evita" still high, flying adored? Is "Phantom" best kept hidden far below the opera house? Does "Cats'" memory live on? Does "Jesus Christ Superstar" need to be crucified? Go, go, go Joseph, and join us on this symphonic journey through Lloyd Webber's biggest hits!

When We Were Young is a podcast devoted to the most beloved pop culture of our formative years (roughly 1980-2000). Join us for a look back to the past with a critical eye on how these movies, songs, TV shows and more hold up now. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and you can email us your episodes suggestions at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California, by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung.

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY (1998)

Bad taste. Bad behavior. Bad hair. There's a lot to be offended by in the Farrelly Brothers' 1998 hit comedy, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this month. But does all that bad make for a good movie? Or have movie audiences matured beyond jokes targeting the mentally challenged, the physically disabled and the incredibly wrinkled and tan in the last 20 years?

In our latest episode, we debate the merits of "Mary's" reliance on crude comedy - from Ben Stiller's unfortunate zipper incident, to Cameron Diaz's infamous hair don't, to Chris Elliott's presence. (He's super gross, right?) We also discuss our appreciation of - or very, very deep disgust for - gross-out humor in general.

So is there still something about the Farrelly Brothers' "Mary?" Listen and find out!

When We Were Young is a podcast devoted to the most beloved pop culture of our formative years (roughly 1980-2000). Join us for a look back to the past with a critical eye on how these movies, songs, TV shows and more hold up now. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and you can email us your episodes suggestions at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California, by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung.

DIE HARD (1988)

Welcome to the party, pal! In this episode, we’re celebrating Christmas in July with the 30th anniversary of DIE HARD, a (debatable) holiday favorite. John McTiernan’s 1988 hostage thriller posed Bruce Willis as a kinder, gentler action hero alternative to the likes of Schwarzenegger and Stallone — but don’t worry, he still murders lots of greedy terrorists. Ho, ho, ho!

This genre classic set the mold for many action flicks that followed, and featured one of the most beloved bad guys of all time in Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber. But what about its depiction of women in the workplace as a threat to masculinity? Or its serious skepticism toward capitalism, the media, and law enforcement? Before you RSVP “yes” to John McClane’s holiday bash, remember this: Die Hard also co-stars a series regular from TGIF’s Family Matters.

Will Die Hard hold up as well as Nakatomi Plaza under fire? And how about those sequels? Kindly remove your shoes before stepping into this nostalgic experience, because it’s time to say “yipee-ki-yay,” podcast lovers!

When We Were Young is a podcast devoted to the most beloved pop culture of our formative years (roughly 1980-2000). Join us for a look back to the past with a critical eye on how these movies, songs, TV shows and more hold up now. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and you can email us your episodes suggestions at [email protected]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on iTunes!

Help us defray the costs of creating this show, which includes purchasing movies/shows/music to review, delivery food to eat our feelings, and producing & editing in-house at the MFP Studio in Los Angeles, California, by donating to our Patreon account at patreon.com/WhenWeWereYoung.