Podcast - 1981: Genre-Movie-A-Go-Go

1981 dawns bright and fresh in our memory this week, a year so crammed full of cinematic goodness an hour barely seems like an adequate amount of time to cover it all off.

The legacy of Star Wars and Halloween is felt in '81, perhaps, more heavily than it was felt previously. The amount of SF and fantasy released in '81 was truly staggering.

The traditional horror fodder of the 70s was being left behind in a deluge of slasher movies, gross out horror and more fantastic fare featuring exploding heads, babylonian zombies and flesh-warping werewolves.

The eighties were most definitely here but still finding their feet, so let's look at the triumphs and tragedies of one of the most imaginitive years in cinematic history.



Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/0151981GenreMovieAGoGo/015-1981-Genre-Movie-A-Go-Go.mp3

Podcast - 1980: The Dawn of a New Age

For a cast called Revenge of the 80s kids the 80s have, thus far, lost out to the previous decade in terms of air time. Well, all that is coming to an end as of now. This week we look at 1980 itself in all it's new decade-y glory.

From Airplane to the Elephant Man from Altered States to Empire the eighties kids cover off a year confused as to which decade it even belonged in.

Also, The invocation of Hawk the Slayer has drastic consequences that may change the face of the podcast forever!



Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/0141980ANewDecadeDawns/014-1980-A-New-Decade-Dawns.mp3

Podcast - Verhoeven Retrospective

Bit of an emergency podcast this week as sound files in Leo's hard drive go mysteriously astray. So we poke around in a couple of recent news items, SyFy's recent darker themed programming and trepidation surrounding the upcoming RoboCop reboot, before talking Verhoeven.

The Dutch director brought the late 80s and 1990s some defining cinematic moments from ED-209 to Arnie's head exploding on Mars, from Sharon Stone's calculated wardrobe malfunction to the sight of Doogie Howser SS. The 80s kids ponder the violent imagery and deeper motivations of the man who made the 90s sexier and gorier than the previous decade.



Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/013ItsBeginningToLookABitLikeRobo/013-Its_Beginning_To_Look_A_Bit_Like_Robo.mp3

Podcast - Sue's Top 5 of the 80s

Right before we surge forth into the 80s we take a moment to connect with Sue and her top 5 of the 80s. The reason being that our own Top 5s of the 70s were a good intro to those shows but the 80s presents a trickier problem for the 80s kids.

Sue, though, has found her own choosing process easier and so we take a first bite of the sweet fruit of the 1980s in this special episode. Enjoy!



Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/012Sues80sTop5/012-Sues_80s_Top_5.mp3

Podcast - 79: Out On A High

1979... It was a year surprisingly full of noteworthy cinematic moments. So full, in fact, that it's added eight minutes to the run time of the cast. From the Black Hole, to Phantasm, to Star Trek, to Alien and beyond there was a whole heap of stuff happening in '79 it's a wonder that the 80s didn't suffer from some kind of performance anxiety.

Even so, the end of the 70s was like a universe in which the world of film was rudely torn asunder, alongside some big studio projects that traded strongly on existing properties and accepted wisdom were a number of breakaway hits that would help to shape and define the edge of the decade to come.

It's the final hors d'ouevre before we tuck into the decade for which this podcast was named and the trestle tables of this cinematic smorgasbord are groaning under the weight. Best grab a paper plate and pile it high.


Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/01179OutOnAHigh/011-79-Out-On-A-High.mp3

Podcast - 77/78: Close Encounters With The Bandit

It's the mid seventies and we've gone alien crazy, arthouse crazy and a man's man is a beer smuggler with a sweet car and a sweeter moustache. The era that bought you disco-funk renditions of some of the greatest orchestral scores of all time gets thouroughly examined by the cultural anthropologists that are the 80s kids this week.

1977 may have brought us Star Wars but what else did have to contribute? A lot of weirdness, that's for certain. Like the latter part of a good party the later parts of the 70s appeared to be winding up to something dark and dangerous but crazy and wonderful at the same time.

Some people were probably already getting their coats but for the 80s kids this was the party last night that we definitely had to beat tonight. So let's rock.


Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/0107778CloseEncountersWithTheBandit/010-77-78-Close-Encounters-With-The-Bandit.mp3

Podcast - A Bad Case of Marketing

Or maybe a case of bad marketing? Man of Steel tries to ingratiate the clergy and ends up being labelled the anti-christ. Arnie steps up to the plate for the Geriatrinator Reboot. And everyone seems to think that Pacific Rim is some kind of toilet detergent. This week's show is all about when marketing goes bad, goes wonky or just plain fails to work at the movies.

Incidentally Pacific Rim is a movie where mechas piloted by Idris Elba and Ron Perlman engage giant lizards directed by the man who brought you Blade II, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth and Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark and hence will be COMPLETELY AWESOME.

#DontLetPacificRimDie


Direct Link: https://archive.org/download/009ABadCaseOfMarketing/009-A-Bad-Case-Of-Marketing.mp3