Video Store Podcast

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I’ve been watching a lot of football lately. College bowl games are on just about every night and the NFL playoffs are in full swing.

Really the only thing better than watching a football game is watching a movie about football and there are some great ones to watch.

This week on the Video Store Podcast, I’m spotlighting four movies about football.

These are football movies where the game matters but the real story happens off the field. It’s about making tough choices, challenging authority and forging character.

Necessary Roughness (1991)

Necessary Roughness is a comedy straight from the ‘90s, starring Scott Bakula, Hector Elizondo, Sinbad and Kathy Ireland.

The Texas State Armadillos have repeatedly violated NCAA rules and the entire football is banned from playing. New coach Ed “Straight Arrow” Gennero is tasked with fielding a new team with no scholarships and no support.

Gennero pieces together a misfit team with more heart than talent. Eventually they come together and take on the cross state rivals, Texas Colts.

We Are Marshall (2006)

What do you do when the unthinkable happens?

In 1970, a plane carry the Marshall University football team crashes killing all 37 players and coaches on board.

Stricken with grief the University decides to rebuild the team and hires coach Jack Lengyel for the impossible task.

Through grit, determination and sorrow the Marshall Thundering Herd football team takes the field to honor the lost players.

Johnny Be Good (1988)

Johnny Be Good is a late 80s coming-of-age comedy.

Johnny Walker is the most wanted high school quarterback in the country and college recruiters will do anything to land him.

The movie takes an satirical and exaggerated look at college recruiting practices of the 80s.

It’s a movie about integrity, self-respect and choosing your own path, no matter the cost.

All The Right Moves (1983)

Trapped in a dead-end, go-nowhere town Stefan Djordjevic’s only hope is a football scholarship to college but clashes with his controlling coach make that dream seem impossible.

Stefan watches as his friends go down the wrong path and their dreams fade away. His talent propels him but his ego keeps getting in the way.

Through humility and respect Stefan realizes he must make All the Right Moves to succeed.

Thanks for visiting the Video Store Podcast. I hope you enjoy the movies whether you’re watching them for the first time or rediscovering them all over again.

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Welcome back to the Video Store! We’re kicking off the New Year with a look at some of the films that inspired the hit television series Stranger Things. Get your Eggos, Reese’s Pieces, and settle in for some classic films that helped to give Stranger Things its strange, yet familiar aesthetic and themes. For this episode, we’re only focusing on season one, so don’t worry if you’ve not gotten to watch the final season just yet! However, if you’ve not watched Stranger Things season one, be advised that there are spoilers ahead for that season!

E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

One of the biggest films of the 1980s and an inspiration for Stranger Things is Steven Spielberg and Melissa Mathison’s iconic film, E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Capturing wonder, fear, and warmth so well, this is a film whose influence was felt well into the 90s. Stranger Things draws aesthetic inspiration from E. T. while also pulling from its fish-out-of-water story.

Scanners (1981)

David Cronenberg’s cult sci-fi horror film, Scanners, is another point of inspiration for The Duffer Brothers. This film about psychics, scientific intrigue, and political power serves as an inspirational palette of ideas for Stranger Things that the Duffers have inverted, mashed up, and made their own. This is a film that also has a great influence on the later seasons of Stranger Things, but we’ll cover those when we get there.

Halloween (1978)

This is the film that really caused the slasher genre to take off, but John Carpenter’s first massive success also gives Stranger Things a good bit of its aesthetics. From monster-in-shadow cinematography to several meta uses of John Carpenter’s work, Halloween has its fingerprints on Stranger Things.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Perhaps the greatest influence on Stranger Things’ aesthetic and storytelling is Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. With two Nancys, two jocks with a baseball bat, and more things that won’t even show up until later seasons of the series, A Nightmare on Elm Street has invaded the minds of the Duffer Brothers.

Honorable Mentions

Stranger Things draws inspiration from so many films that we love here at the Video Store that we’ve already covered them on previous episodes! Check out my coverage of both versions of It in my Summer of Stephen King and Not Quite Retro episodes. Flack talked about John Carpenter’s The Thing in his Halloween Spirit episode. I discussed Stand By Me in my Film Friendships show, Alien in my Wonder Women episode, and Jaws in my Summer Spookies show.

Thanks for joining us here at the Video Store Podcast for these strange, but familiar films. We hope you enjoy our selections this week. Oh, and that flashing lightbulb? Must just be a short. We’ll change it out later.

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Season’s Greetings and Happy Holidays! Maybe I’m old school, but I still make New Year’s resolutions every year and this year I decided to look back at some of my favorite creature features to find inspiration. Each of this week’s movies feature characters who overcome adversities, saving themselves and others in the process!

In Ants! (1977), construction foreman Mike carr (Robert Foxworth) teams up with Valerie (Lynda Day George) to save vacationers staying at the ritzy Lakewood Manor from a angry swarm of angry ants empowered by pesticide the resort has been pumping into the ground. Featuring Suzanne Somers, Bernie Casey, and millions of ants.

In Squirm (1976), and army features of carnivorous earthworms attack a Georgia town after being awakened by electricity. At first New York City visitor Mick is accused of pranking town locals, but when citizens become worm-food, the town must come together to take on these slimy screaming squirmers. Featuring amazing practical effects and worms that bite.

You may have seen rats in the subway before, but you’ve never seen any like the ones in 1982’s Deadly Eyes. After snacking on steroid-induced grain, the dog-sized rats in this film (portrayed by Dachshunds in rat costumes with the occasional puppet) waste little time in escaping the subway and taking down old people and Scatman Crothers (!). A college basketball coach must team up with a local health inspector to destroy the infestation before they ruin the town’s debut of a new subway line. Bad timing! Featuring tons of 80s teens and one unfortunately unwatched toddler. Directed by the same man who directed Enter the Dragon and Game of Death, Deadly Eyes offers rabid rodent action.

1981’s Roar was one of the most dangerous movies ever made. The film featuring an all-star cast including real-life husband and wife Noel Marshall and Tippi Hedren (The Birds), their three teenage children including Melanie Griffith, and 150 untrained large cats including lions, tigers, cheetahs, and panthers. The movie took five years to film and before it wrapped, every actor and more than a dozen crew members had received major injuries. The co-producer required 120 stitches to reattach his scalp, Tippi Hedren received 38 stiches after being bitten in the head (and later fractured her leg after being thrown from an elephant), and Melanie Griffith was bitten so badly she required facial reconstruction surgery. The film, which has been referred to as the most expensive home movie ever made, cost $17 million to make and earned less than $2 million in theaters. While all the actors survived the filming, not all of the animals did. One of the most bizarre, bonkers, and horrifying things ever captured on film.

I hope you do not have to face killer ants, carnivorous worms, or hungry lions in 2026, but in whatever you face I hope you can find the inner strength the protagonists in these films managed to muster!

This week on The Video Store Podcast I am recommending four films that sit in an interesting stretch of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career, when their action persona took a left turn into broad studio comedy. These are all wide release films that played constantly on cable and sat on the front wall of the video store for years. They did well in theaters, but they almost felt built to be rented, watched with other people in the room, and talked about afterward. None of them are obscure, but seeing them together makes the choices clearer and more deliberate.

Twins from 1988 was the real pivot point. Ivan Reitman directed, pairing Arnold Schwarzenegger with Danny DeVito, which on paper felt like a gag and ended up working better than expected. It was one of the first times Schwarzenegger played openly against his screen image instead of reinforcing it. The film was also a financial gamble that paid off. Rather than taking a traditional salary, the main players took a share of the profits, which turned into one of the most lucrative deals of the era. It also helped normalize the idea that Schwarzenegger could carry a comedy without winking at the audience the whole time.

Kindergarten Cop followed in 1990 and again teamed Schwarzenegger with Reitman. This one leans harder into contrast, placing a very rigid screen presence into a setting that refuses to bend to it. The child actors are doing a lot of the real work here, and the movie wisely lets them. It was shot largely in Oregon (Goonies country!), which gives it a look that stands apart from a lot of studio comedies of the period. Just his second comedy leading role and the formula is obvious, but it still had enough care put into it to feel earned rather than lazy.

Junior arrived in 1994 and is probably the strangest entry in this group. It brings back Reitman, DeVito, and adds Emma Thompson, who plays it straight in a way that grounds the movie more than it probably deserves. This was one of the last times Schwarzenegger leaned fully into this specific style of high concept studio comedy. The visual effects were handled with restraint, and the film relies more on performance than spectacle, which makes it feel smaller and more controlled than its premise suggests.

Jingle All the Way from 1996 closes things out and feels very much of its moment. Directed by Brian Levant, it leans into consumer anxiety, holiday chaos, and the late nineteen nineties obsession with must-have toys. Sinbad is a big part of why the movie works at all, pushing against Schwarzenegger in a way that keeps the energy up. It was not especially well reviewed at the time, but it has stuck around in a way many similar holiday comedies did not. It also marks the end of this particular run, before audience tastes and Schwarzenegger’s career both shifted again.

Taken together, these four movies show a very specific window when studios were comfortable reshaping a major star’s image and audiences went along with it. They were reliable rentals, easy recommendations, and the kind of movies that people discovered out of order on VHS or on cable.

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It’s Christmas movie season but not everyone wants peppermint sweetness and cozy small-town charm. Some of us want our holiday movies filled with explosions, heists and a whole lot of chaos.

This week on the Video Store Podcast, I’m spotlighting four Christmas movies that trade twinkling lights for trouble.

Reindeer Games (2000)

Reindeer Games is a crime thriller set days before Christmas. When Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) is released from prison his only goal is to get home for Christmas. But when his cell-mate dies, Rudy steps into the man’s shoes to meet his mysterious and beautiful pen pal, Ashley (Charlize Theron).

One bad decision later and Rudy is trapped in a violent casino-robbery plot run by Ashley’s unstable “brother,” Gabriel (Gary Sinise). With no options, Rudy is forced deeper into the operation and nothing is what it seems as alliances shift and lies are uncovered.

Reindeer Games brings crime, plot twists and holiday mayhem together in one memorable movie.

Batman Returns (1992)

Tim Burton’s Batman Returns is set against a dark, gothic backdrop of Gotham City during the Christmas season. Batman Returns introduces two iconic villains who become the city’s newest threats.

The first is Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin, a physically deformed man who was abandoned by his wealthy parents and raised in the city’s sewers by penguins. The second is Selina Kyle, Catwoman, pushed to her limit by evil businessman Max Shreck.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the definitive Catwoman, seductive, broken and electric in every frame. Danny DeVito’s Penguin is a grotesque and disfigured man, a departure from the comics. Christopher Walken adds a sinister element as the businessman Max Shreck.

Tim Burton’s vision partnered with Danny Elfman’s haunting score creates a mesmerizing Christmas classic set in Gotham City.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) lives a quiet life as a schoolteacher until a car crash triggers memories of her past life as a deadly government assassin.

Samantha hires private detective Mitch Hennessey (Samuel L. Jackson) to help her uncover her past and together they set out to find the truth. Their adventure is full of gunfights, treachery, and some of the best buddy-dynamic chemistry of the ’90s. Davis transforms from warm suburban mom to hard-boiled operative with shocking believability and Jackson delivers one of his funniest, most charismatic roles.

Written by Shane Black and directed by Renny Harlin, The Long Kiss Goodnight mixes holiday atmosphere with espionage to create one of the 90’s most underrated action movies.

Lethal Weapon (1987)

Lethal Weapon redefined the buddy-cop genre and set the standard for all future buddy-cop movies. Set at Christmastime in Los Angeles, the movie pairs veteran detective Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) with newcomer Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson). Their investigation into a young woman’s suspicious death spirals into a violent clash with drug traffickers and the psychotic Mr. Joshua (Gary Busey).

Lethal Weapon is full of heart, which is what you want in a Christmas movie. Riggs who is spiraling out of control from grief and Murtaugh, a grounded family man, form a bond that is convincing from start to finish.

Also written by Shane Black, Hollywood’s king of Christmas action movies and directed by Richard Donner, Lethal Weapon blends holiday themes with explosive action, dark humor, and iconic one-liners. Lethal Weapon is on of my favorite Christmas action movies.

If you’re looking for Christmas movies that are filled with action, these four belong at the top of your December movie list.

Thanks for visiting the Video Store. Have a great New Year!

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Welcome back to the holiday season at the Video Store Podcast. I’m back today with another edition of Rankin/Bass B-Sides. I love Rankin/Bass so much, and they’re part of just about every holiday season for me. Here are four more lesser-known Rankin/Bass B-Sides for you to enjoy this holiday season. And bonus! If you missed it last year, go back and check out my original edition of “Rankin/Bass B-Sides.”

Cricket on the Hearth (1967)

Starring Danny and Marlo Thomas as father/daughter duo Caleb and Bertha, this is a heartwarming adaptation of a lesser-known Charles Dickens Christmas classic. This special has great tunes, and the titular cricket, Cricket Crocket, is voiced by brilliant character actor Roddy McDowall. This special also features the talents of Ed Ames, Hans Conried, Paul Frees, and singer Abbe Lane.

The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow (1975)

Can a young orphaned shepherd boy find a new home and still keep his sheep? This special is notable for its beautiful animation, songs, and stars the late, great Angela Lansbury as Sister Theresa. Cozy up under a wool blanket and with some wool socks, and join us for this lesser-known Christmas special.

The Stingiest Man in Town (1978)

Based on the stage musical of the same name, this is an animated adaptation of Charles Dickens’ iconic novela, A Christmas Carol. This animated musical features the talents of Walter Matthau as Scrooge, Tom Bosley as B. A. H. Humbug, our insect narrator, voice acting legend Paul Frees as the ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, among others. The music in this special is top-tier, so be sure to check it out, especially if you love a song and dance number in your holiday specials.

Jack Frost (1979)

This iconic mythologizing of this winter sprite, Jack Frost, is a fish-out-of-water tale as Jack learns to be human. Can he win the heart of the girl he loves and remain human? This is a special with catchy tunes and loads of fun. You’ll feel a chill in the air, but warmth in your heart.

Thanks again for joining us at the Video Store Podcast. From all of us, to all of you, have a safe and happy holiday season.

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This week on the Video Store Podcast I am picking four Disney tapes you might have turned to when the big animated titles were already gone at the store. These were the ones that less visited shelf of the Disney section. You might not have planned on renting them, but once you did, they stayed with you. They would sometime sit untouched for weeks, but occasionally a family would rent one and their kids would fall in love with them. That meant they would return to the rent them again in the future.

A Dream Called Walt Disney World from 1981 is the first tape on the pile. It is a friendly tour of the resort at a moment when the whole property still felt wide open. You get long looks at early Magic Kingdom walkways and enough hotel footage to remind you of how new everything once was. The narration has that calm voice that Disney liked to use in this era. It is the kind of tape you might put on after a long day just to let the music and visuals calm you down. I used to rewind certain parts just to capture moments again and again, although I guess a lot of us did that.

Next is Walt Disney World EPCOT Center A Souvenir Program from 1983. This one always felt a little more polished. It has that nice steady tour feeling. The camera moves through Future World and World Showcase at a relaxed pace and gives you plenty of time to look at the early design work. You get glimpses of shops, shows, and attractions that changed only a few years later. People would keep this one longer than they were supposed to because its pacing calmed their kids down. Although I think the adults also liked it.

The third pick is Where the Toys Come From from 1984. It is different from the others, but it showed up in the same section since it wasn’t a “Disney Classic.” Theodore Thomas directed it and his father was one of Disney’s Nine Old Men, which gives it a little history under the surface. It is a small story told. Not a lot of noise, not a lot of movement, just a pleasant mix of travel and simple moments with the toys.

The last tape is Disneyland Fun from 1990. While we kept it in the children’s section, that did not stop older viewers from giving it a try. It is part of the Sing Along Songs line and it moves through the park with a sense of energy that fits the late eighties/early nineties. A few numbers were filmed just for this release, which gives it a couple of moments that never showed up anywhere else (Haunted Mansion!). The crowds and costumes look exactly like what you saw if you visited around that time. We played it at Suncoast often and I bought my own copy after seeing it the firs time.

These tapes were steady choices when everything else was checked out. They sat there waiting for someone to notice them and they did their job without much fuss. They made a quiet night at home feel a little brighter with Disney Magic.

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It’s Turkey Time! The leaves are changing and the air is crisp. As the jack-o-lanterns turn into pumpkin pie I love to sit down and watch Thanksgiving movies.

Some people will tell you there’s only one Thanksgiving movie to watch this time of year, I disagree. I’m going to recommend four other Thanksgiving movies that will get you in the holiday spirit and hopefully become a permanent part of your Thanksgiving watch-list.

First up we have Son in Law, the 1993 Pauly Shore movie. Becca, a small town Midwestern girl moves to Los Angeles to attend college. She meets Crawl (Shore) an eccentric surfer dude filled with chaotic energy. When Becca brings Crawl home for Thanksgiving the family and town aren’t prepared for teh antics.

John Hughes wrote two movies about Thanksgiving, one in 1987 and Dutch in 1991. Dutch is a road trip movie about a blue-collar and his spoiled, soon to be stepson. Along they way they each learn to view the world different and accept each other for who they are.

The third movie on out Thanksgiving list is Home for the Holidays, directed by Jodi Foster. Home for the Holidays is a raw, unfiltered look at Thanksgiving through the lenses of a dysfunctional family. The Thanksgiving dinner scene alone is worth the price of the rental. It’s not your normal ‘everyone hug and say I love you’ happy ending. It’s a fantastic movie and highly underrated.

The final film on my list is Scent of A Woman from 1992. It’s about the unlikely friendship between a prep school student and a retired Army officer. It stars the great Al Pacino and it is his movie through and through. From start to finish, he gives a master class in acting. In the end it reminds us that no matter what our situation there’s always something and someone to be thankful for.

No matter how you spend the holiday, with family, with friends or something else, have safe, enjoyable and relaxing holiday.

We’re thankful you stop by The Video Store Podcast, please come again for more great movies to add to your list.

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November means Thanksgiving, and for me, that means holiday specials and Thanksgiving-themed TV episodes. One of the most popular shows to hit American television, Friends, had 10 Thanksgiving episodes across its 10-season run. I’ve picked 4 of my favorites for this week’s show. Bonus: if you want to watch the other 6, we’ve got the entire series here at the store.

Season 5, Episode 8, “The One With All the Thanksgivings”

If you’ve never seen Friends before, I bet you’ve seen some out-of-context images of Monica wearing a fez, sunglasses, and a 20 lb. turkey on her head. This is the episode where you get context for the wearing of a turkey. Don’t let the title fool you—this is not a repackaged clip show.

Season 6, Episode 9, “The One Where Ross Got High”

Monica and Chandler are bracing for an awkward Thanksgiving. Monica’s parents are coming to dinner, but they don’t know about their relationship, let alone that they’re living together. And to make it worse, they don’t like Chandler. In this episode, we get to the root cause of why the elder Gellers don’t like Chandler, and we also find out several other long-kept secrets.

Season 7, Episode 8, “The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs”

Chandler doesn’t like dogs, but Ross doesn’t like ice cream. We learn some more long-kept secrets in this Thanksgiving episode of the series. And we just can’t name that last state. However, by the end, it might just be a “Moo Point.” “The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs” features some of the iconic moments of the series and is well worth a watch.

Season 8, Episode 9, “The One With the Rumor”

Brad Pitt guest stars in this episode as Monica and Ross’ high school friend, Will, who’s had a glow-up since the last time they saw him. Will is in town for the holiday and is joining them for dinner. However, Rachel made his high school days miserable, and in a classic Rachel move, she doesn’t remember it all. That makes for an awkward Thanksgiving dinner. This episode gives us the concept we all require this time of year—Thanksgiving Pants™.

We’re thankful for you at the Video Store Podcast, and we hope you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving with your friends and family.

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When I was a kid if you wanted to talk to people about movies, you went to the local mom and pop video rental store… but if you wanted to hang out with other kids your age, you went to the mall. On this week’s episode of the Video Store Podcast, I’m recommending four movies that were filmed and heavily feature malls.

First up is Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a film that follows several teenagers as they navigate the halls and malls of southern California. With a star-studded cast, this film opens in a mall, which sets the tone for the entire film.

Next up is Dawn of the Dead, George Romero’s 1978 sequel to his original zombie film, Night of the Living Dead. In this film, four characters — two police officers and two news broadcasters — take cover in an abandoned mall… or is it? It’s not long before the mall is crawling with zombies and, eventually, pie-throwing bikers. Known as special effects wizard Tom Savini’s breakthrough film, this one features lots of bullets, brains, and blood.

Third is the lesser known Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge, released in 1989. This lesser-known 80s slasher features a mall-roaming “phantom” who used to live on the land the new mall was built on. It’s not a great movie, but it does feature a young and pre-MTV Pauly Shore which… well, doesn’t make it any better, but does make it interesting. This movie contains lots of interior mall shots and even more bad actors. What’s not to love?

Rounding up this episode is one of my favorite films of all time, Chopping Mall. In this 1986 horror classic, a group of teens plan a sleepover inside a furniture store inside their local mall. Unfortunately for them, that same night lightning strikes the building which short circuits the robots and turn them into killbots! If yo always wanted to know what would happen if Johnny 5 went bad — no, like, really bad — this will let you know.

Today’s malls are nothing like they were back in the 1980s. If you want to see what they were like in their heyday, check out one of these films. Malls were full of lights, food, shopping… and apparently, lots of murder.