Heathers (1988)

d. Michael Lehmann

Starring:Winona RyderChristian Slater

This week on Total Movie Recall, Steve takes us back to high school and shows us his lunch table of stoners and skaters, and Ryan shows us his lunch table of... nobody. We watched 1988's Heathers and talk about the eternal beauty of Winona Ryder, the Jean-Paul Sartre philosophy of Christian Slater, and eskimos. And somebody's mouth gets swords played in it.

A regular girl, Veronica, tries to survive the social jungle of high school by sticking with the three most popular girls at school who are all called Heather. As she meets a sociopath named JD, her life spirals into a continuous cycle of hate, unintentional murder and indifference, as she exacts revenge on her enemies, also known as her best friends.Written by Marielle via IMDB

Things discussed in the show:

Wet Hot American Summer (TV show)

Bradley Cooper

Lost Soul (documentary)

Ryan's love of Val Kilmer

Hearts of Darkness

My Best Fiend

Lost in La Mancha (Terry Gilliam)

Jodorowsky's Dune

H.R. Giger & Dan O'Bannon

Hudson Hawk

Airheads

Demolition Man

Batman Returns

Mean Girls

Stanley Kubrick

Barry Lyndon

Jack Nicholson

Joseph Gordon Levitt

James Dean

"Great pate, mom, but I gotta motor if I wanna be ready for that funeral."

John Hughes (Pretty in Pink, Breakfast Club)

Columbine

Basketball Diaries

"Kids and their Mtv video games."

Marilyn Manson

"Greetings and salutations."

Dangle earrings

Again with all the "fags." Come on '80s! - "I love my son. I love my dead gay son."

"Did you eat a brain tumor for breakfast?"

Johnny Depp and "wino forever" tattoo

Pirates of the Caribbean

Norwegians

Moby Dick

High School as microcosm of modern society

Parks & Recreation and The Office

Teacher as smokers (The Simpsons)

Violence on the News & Ferguson, MO

"Whether to kill yourself or not is one of the most important decisions a teenager can make."

Repo Man

"Teen Suicide, Don't Do It" by Big Fun

David Newman's score & Brian Eno

Jaw Breaker (Rose McGowen)

"I rarely listen to Neanderthals like Kurt Kelly but he said that he and Ram had a nice little sword fight in your mouth last night."

Date rape

Bullying

SEX BBQ (buy the new album here)

Teenage Clive Barker sex scenarios

Que Sera Sera

"The quarterback, buggering the linebacker... Oh the humanity."

Next week: White Men Can't Jump

Welcome to Total Movie Recall episode 002, where we’ll discuss the film Predator (1987), directed by John McTiernan & starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke & Jesse Ventura. Schwarzenegger, Weathers, Ventura, a vagina-faced alien. We went to deep into the jungles of Val Verde in our mind as we revisit the stone-cold classic.

A team of special force ops, led by a tough but fair soldier, Major "Dutch" Schaefer, are ordered in to assist CIA man, George Dillon, on a rescue mission for potential survivors of a Helicopter downed over remote South American jungle. Not long after they land, Dutch and his team discover that they have been sent in under false pretenses. This deception turns out to be the least of their worries though, when they find themselves being methodically hunted by something not of this world. - via IMDB

Things discussed in the show:

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

The Maze Runner

Bloodline

Flicks 36 - Atlanta

Correction Billy Bragg is a singer, Steve meant Joe Bob Briggs (sorry Joe Bob)

Svengoolie (Rich Koz)

Predator 2

Bill Paxton

The Vagrant

It's not okay to use the word"faggot," slack-jawed or otherwise - thanks '80s Hollywood

The Rescue

The Expendables

Dark Horse Comics (Alien vs. Predator)

Stan Winston vs. H.R. Giger

Jean Claude Van Damme

Jesse Ventura's chin dimple

Space Ghost Coast to Coast

G.I. Joe

Dr. Killbot and pussy jokes

Magical Indian Billy

The Governators Arnold & Jesse

Cannons & knuckle-blades

Val Verde

Gary Busey

"Come on... Come on! Do it! Do it! Come on. Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Kill me! I'm here! Kill me! Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Come on! Do it now! Kill me!"

Next Week: Heathers

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Total Movie Recall, where we’ll discuss the film American Splendor directed by Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini & starring Paul Giamatti, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar – based on the comic book of the same name.

Harvey Pekar is file clerk at the local VA hospital. His interactions with his co-workers offer some relief from the monotony, and their discussions encompass everything from music to the decline of American culture to new flavors of jellybeans and life itself. At home, Harvey fills his days with reading, writing and listening to jazz. His apartment is filled with thousands of books and LPs, and he regularly scours Cleveland’s thrift stores and garage sales for more, savoring the rare joy of a 25-cent find. It is at one of these junk sales that Harvey meets Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and music enthusiast. When, years later, Crumb finds international success for his underground comics, the idea that comic books can be a valid art form for adults inspires Harvey to write his own brand of comic book. An admirer of naturalist writers like Theodore Dreiser, Harvey makes his American Splendor a truthful, unsentimental record of his working-class life, a warts-and-all self portrait. First published in 1976, the comic earns Harvey cult fame throughout the 1980s and eventually leads him to the sardonic Joyce Barber, a partner in a Delaware comic book store who end ups being Harvey’s true soul mate as they experience the bizarre byproducts of Harvey’s cult celebrity stature. – synopsis written by Sujit R. Varma via IMDB

Things we talked about in the show:

Ghost Spy

Watched this week: 8 Mile, The Castle

Ren & Stimpy

James Urbaniak

Cleveland PR board

Lofts for hipsters

American Splendor (the comic)

Gourmet Jellybeans

Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

American Splendor (the play)

Pekar’s Letterman tirade

The Graduate

Robert Crumb

Yuppies and Portlandia with Jello Biafra

Buy Steve’s band SEX BBQ’s new album HERE

Revenge of the Nerds

Toby on Mtv

Havey Pekar’s death

“The theme of ‘American Splendor’ is about staying alive. Getting a job, finding a mate, having a place to live, finding a creative outlet. Life is a war of attrition. You have to stay active on all fronts. It’s one thing after another. I’ve tried to control a chaotic universe. And it’s a losing battle. But I can’t let go. I’ve tried, but I can’t.” -Harvey Pekar

Next week: Predator

Predator (1987) d. John McTiernan Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger Carl Weathers Jesse Ventura Bill Duke Vagina-faced Alien This week on TMR, Ryan shows us his depressing childhood of endlessly quoting 1987’s “Predator.” We talk about a simpler time when heroes could…

American Splendor (2003) d. Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini Starring: Paul Giamatti Hope Davis Harvey Pekar On our inaugural episode of Total Movie Recall, Steve shares with us the formative experience of 2003’s “American Splendor.” We take a look…