The VHS Strikes Back

Herb has chosen another Aussie gem for us this week, the 2003 movie Gettin' Square! Starring Sam Worthington, David Wenham, Gary Sweet and Timothy Spall this is a crime caper that Chris and Dave will be seeing for the first time!

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Plot Summary:

Gettin' Square is about starting over, keeping clean and going straight. Barry Wirth is fresh out of prison and determined to stay on the straight and narrow. But like his mate Johnny 'Spit' Spiteri and reformed gangster turned restaurateur Dabba, he finds out the hard way that there are old scores and a few new ones that'll make getting square a lot harder than he thought.

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This week it's the turn of the man, the legend, the Patreon, Tony Farina! And we go back to an early movie and musical awakening for Tony and that's the 1980 comedy musical, Rock 'n' Roll High School! Directed by Allan Arkush, and story and screenplay written by Joe Dante, Richard Whitley, Russ Dvonch and Joseph McBride. And starring P. J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, Clint Howard, Dey Young and of course, The Ramones!!

Check out Tony's work at https://www.arfarina.com/.

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Plot Summary:

Vince Lombardi High School keeps losing principals to nervous breakdowns because of the students' love of rock 'n' roll and their disregard of education. The putative leader of the students is Riff Randell, who loves the music of the Ramones. A new principal, the rock-music-hating Miss Evelyn Togar, is brought in and promises to put an end to the music craze. When Miss Togar and a group of parents attempt to burn a pile of rock records, the students take over the high school, joined by the Ramones, who are made honorary students. When the police are summoned and demand that the students evacuate the building, they do so, which leads to an explosive finale.

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In the late 1980's, Double Dragon game was a huge arcade game that spawned several sequels and collected plenty of loose change. In 1994, a little before Street Fighter came out, and a year before Mortal Kombat hit theatres, Double Dragon was released and starred Robert Patrick, Mark Dacascos, Scott Wolf and Alyssa Milano. Directed by James Yukich and screenplay written by Michael Davis and Peter Gould, with the story by Paul Dini and Neal Shusterman. Is this a hidden gem, or is it as bad as everyone says it is?

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Plot Summary:

Two brothers have half of a powerful ancient Chinese talisman. An evil gang leader has the other half, and determines to get the brothers' half and have a complete medallion so he can gain absolute power.

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WARNING - You don't need to watch this one before listening to the episode. Consider it an early Christmas present!

When Spider-Dan (of Spider-Dan & the Secret Bores) sets his mind to something, he really goes for it. And like the Director of Nekromantik, Jörg Buttgereit, he delivered on what he set out to do. In Jörg's case, he wanted to make the most offensive movie he could in rebellion against the censorship in West Germany at the time. And since then this movie has gained cult status. 

Check out Dan at https://www.spiderdanandthesecretbores.com.

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Plot Summary:

A street sweeper who cleans up after grisly accidents brings home a full corpse for him and his wife to enjoy sexually, but is dismayed to see that his wife prefers the corpse over him.

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Chris' pick from this millennium is the 2001 heist movie, Ocean's Eleven. With a superstar ensemble cast of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy García, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and many more.

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Plot Summary:

Danny Ocean wants to score the biggest heist in history. He combines an eleven member team, including Frank Catton, Rusty Ryan and Linus Caldwell. Their target? The Bellagio, the Mirage and the MGM Grand. All casinos owned by Terry Benedict. It's not going to be easy, as they plan to get in secretly and out with $150 million.

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It's Patreon Susan's choice this week and she's chosen the 1982 parody slasher movie, Pandemonium. Directed by Alfred Sole and stars Tom Smothers, Eileen Brennan, Phil Hartman, Tab Hunter, Carol Kane, David Lander, Eve Arden, and Paul Reubens.

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Plot Summary:

A former high school student who always wanted to be a cheerleader decides to reopen the cheerleading program at her former high school after years of closure for being targeted by a serial killer.

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It's Patreon Justin's choice this week and he's chosen the debut movie for the Coen brothers, Blood Simple. Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, this movie stars John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, Samm-Art Williams and M. Emmet Walsh. This may just be a bit of a surprise!

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Plot Summary:

Texas bar owner Julian Marty, who is generally regarded as not a nice person, hires shady private detective Loren Visser, who is able to obtain what Marty requests evidence - in this instance, photographic - that his wife, Abby, and one of his bartenders, Ray, are having an affair. As Ray and Abby realize that Marty has found out about them, it allows them to plan for their future away from Marty, while being up front with Marty about the situation. Marty, in turn, decides to hire Visser once again, this time to kill Abby and Ray, and dispose of their bodies so that they won't be found. The out-in-the-open affair and the contract hit lead to some actions based on self-interest and a standoff of sorts between the four players, which is compounded in complexity by some wrong assumptions of what has happened, with an innocent bystander, another of the Marty's bartenders, Meurice, potentially, and unwittingly, adding to the scenario.

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It's time for a bit of sword and sorcery, swashbuckling adventures with the 1983 cinematic bomb, Krull. Though it flopped at the box office, Krull became a cult classic on video and a favorite of Dave's in the 80's. Chris on the other hand, will hate every minute of it.

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Plot Summary:

In the face of total annihilation by the omnipotent Beast's unstoppable hordes of Slayers, the young aristocrats of two hostile neighboring nations--the brave Prince Colwyn and the fair Princess Lyssa--are about to come into union and form an alliance against the common enemy. However, the otherworldly adversary is all-powerful, and before long, a fateful abduction will trigger a desperate quest to the evil entity's grim Black Fortress, as Colwyn and a handful of mismatched defenders are willing to dice with death to ensure the land's future. In this suicide mission, the magical, five-edged weapon known as the Glaive is their only chance of survival. Can Prince Colwyn slay the Beast, and save Lyssa and Krull, the small planet in the middle of the vast galaxy?

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Chris' choice this week is the sweet spot of a buddy-cop movie that came out in 1990. Written by Scott Spiegel and Boaz Yakin, this one is directed and stars Clint Eastwood alongside Charlie Sheen, Raul Julia and Sônia Braga. Let's see how another of Chris' picks holds up.

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Plot Summary:

After a car theft gang kills his previous partner, a veteran detective is assigned a rookie. He is determined to apprehend those responsible for his friend's death but his new partner isn't really up to the task.

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The Adventures of Ford Fairlane is the pick of Patreon Timothy this week! It's a movie Tim used to watch with his best mate Paul, and argue the toss over whether it was a hidden gem or turd. Directed by Renny Harlin, screenplay by David Arnott, James Cappe, and Daniel Waters and based on characters created by Rex Weiner. Neither Chris and Dave have seen this 1990 bomb, and you'll have to listen to see how it got on........ but there will be a no-prize awarded for guessing the outcome.

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Plot Summary:

Ford "Mr. Rock n' Roll Detective" Fairlane is experiencing problems, and it's not with the opposite sex. One of them is that all the rock stars pay him with drumsticks, koala bears, food processors, and bicycle shorts. Another one of them is that all his employers that want him to find a missing girl named Zuzu Petals. Why didn't he become a fisherman's detective instead? A must-see for Andrew Dice Clay fans.

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