The Magnificently Huge Podcast

The first in what might be an occasional series on films that deliberately scarred children - and we love them for it! Join us as we explore the dark fantasy classic Coraline (2009). We discuss how its unsettling visuals, eerie storytelling, and masterful animation left an indelible mark on young audiences, and why none of that worked on Chris or Eric who are old and dead inside and hadn't seen it before. 0:00 - Intros 7:25 - What We Do In The Shadows 9:30 - Addams Family Channel and Munsters Channel (Pluto TV) 17:30 - Joywave 19:30 - Funny Girl (touring) 25:35 - Coraline (2009)

Doctor Sleep is the sequel to the Stephen King horror classic, The Shining, and is one of the better King movie adaptations that you probably heard was crap and so you didn’t see it. The truth is, it’s pretty darned good - if you watch the right version (ie, the theatrical cut or Mike Flanagan’s director’s cut). This is a rare occasion where the director’s cut is actually worth it, and not just a chance to see boobs. But it also exists within the very long shadow cast by Stanley Kubrick’s original masterpiece, which Stephen King hates. It is a complicated situation, is what we are saying. But watch Doctor Sleep and you will be rewarded, we promise. 0:00 - Intros 10:45 - Billy Bragg (live) 20:25 - Midge Ure 22:30 - Stevie Nicks - The Lighthouse 26:00 - Ted Danson 30:50 - Cruel World 2025 lineup 35:00 - Doctor Sleep (SPOILER Discussion)

Likely your parents told you to never pick up hitchhikers. But did C. Thomas Howell follow that advice back in 1986? Of course not! He stopped for Rutger Hauer on an empty desert highway in West Texas, and let’s just say he learned his lesson but good. It’s a B-movie grindhouse game of cat-and-mouse that has managed to gain a cult following over the years, but one that probably wouldn’t work as well in 2024, what with all our newfangled phone technology and freeways and such. Bottom line, they don’t make ‘em like this anymore…or do they? 0:00 - Intros 8:10 - Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Netflix) 15:40 - I Feel Love cover by Colin Benders & Cato van Dijck (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9S2iDh1je4) 18:00 - Solar Opposites (Hulu) 22:15 - Love Death and Robots (Netflix) 23:45 - Hacks (season 1) (Max) 29:20 - Kite Man, Hell Yeah! (Max) 35:05 - The Hitcher (1986)

Another Stephen King adaptation? In a word - yes. Full of vampire lore and 70s fashion, “‘Salem’s Lot” is actually a slightly better than average Stephen King adaptation. Want proof? Listen to the episode! 0:00 - Intros 7:30 - Megalopolis (2024) 18:50 - Surely You Can’t Be Serious (Book) 22:15 - Civil War (2024) 29:38 - Minnie Riperton - Come Into My Garden 31:15 - Salem’s Lot (2024) - SPOILER DISCUSSION

This week, we take a look at the 1991 thriller “Silence of the Lambs.” Aside from having some of the best performances, writing, directing and catering, this Jonathan Demme classic is one of the most eminently quotable films of all time. Look at that - for once we discuss a film that’s good? Are we evolving? We also talk about other pop culture stuff, because that’s how we roll. 0:00 - Intros and the 2024 Election 13:00 - The Decameron (Netflix) 17:45 - The Renaissance Unchained (Amazon) 20:25 - How the States Got Their Shapes 25:00 - Peter Hook & The Light 30:00 - Green Day Saviors Tour 42:50 - The Devotees 43:37 - The Silence of the Lambs For more on Waldemar Januszczak go to https://waldemar.tv/

There is no better way to enjoy all the fun of an election year than by watching a political satire mockumentary film from 1992 called Bob Roberts. Written by, directed by, and starring a young Tim Robbins, this one swings for the fences to skewer American political dysfunction. The film follows a rich, white businessman with no moral compass who is running for the Senate, a man who uses the extreme right wing demagogue playbook to steamroll his way into the hearts and minds of a feeble-minded electorate eager to go back to family values, no drugs, and no freeloaders… or something. Plus, he sings some bouncy folk music about how the leftists are destroying our country. Was Bob Roberts a scarily prescient film? Or have we always been stuck in this doom loop? You be the judge. Watch the full movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iZbT_izZ20 Some More News explaining why right wing comedy isn’t very good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSXKzPOcYDU&pp=ygUgc29tZSBtb3JlIG5ld3MgcmlnaHQgd2luZyBjb21lZHk%3D And here’s the movie “Feed”! We found it!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjd-A2HNnNw 0:00 - Intros 6:45 - Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War (Netflix) 10:40 - Watching YouTube without ads (PC + VPN + AdBlock Pro) 15:45 - Bands that have Songs named after them on Albums named after them: Talk Talk, Big Country, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Bad Company, Tin Machine, Living In A Box, Bo Diddley, Porno for Pyros, New Kids On The Block, Icehouse, Meat Puppets, Dog Police 24:49 - Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) 38:30 - Mrs. Doubtfire (Broadway touring company) 49:00 - Bob Roberts

Gattaca (1997) is one of those BIG IDEA sci-fi movies that is more interested in making you go hmmmm than it is in much else. So if you are into glacially-paced cautionary tales about the societal dangers of genetically engineering humans as the only way to achieve success in life, then this is the movie for you! Plus, it has identity theft! And a murder mystery! And a vaguely familiar retro-futuro design that has been used in countless other, better cautionary sci-fi movies about BIG IDEAS! With Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law! We have seen the future (again), and it is Gattaca. 0:00 - Intros 4:30 - David Bowie’s first albums 10:10 - Steve Miller Band (live) 17:00 - Journey and Def Leppard (live) 21:15 - John Wick (1, 2 and 3) 27:30 - Jack Ryan (Amazon/Freevee) 37:25 - Gattaca

It’s genre fiction at its most capitalistic! Join us as we discuss the history of Star Trek, Part 2 - the latter half where, like Marvel and Star Wars and Indiana Jones and anything else that was ever geek culture blockbuster fodder, the suits ruined everything. Will we finally get Chris to become a fan of Star Trek? Will Alex Kurtzman learn to create a coherent story? Will we ever learn how to not talk all over each other? And why is the answer to all of these questions, “no?” Find out this week! 0:00 - Intros 6:30 - The Rocketman Show (Rus Anderson) 13:00 - Atlians (Outkast) 18:30 - Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Zulu (1964) 23:30 - Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam (Netflix, 2024) 29:00 - Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024) 36:00 - Star Trek for Noobs Beyond! 39:05 - Enterprise 49:30 - JJ Abrams Star Trek (2009) 52:50 - Star Trek Into Darkness (2011) 57:10 - Star Trek Discovery (2017) 1:01:40 - Lower Decks (2020) 1:03:34 - Prodigy (2021) 1:04:45 - Strange New Worlds (2022) Here's our minimal list of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes you should watch Encounter at Farpoint (Season 1, episodes 1 & 2) The Measure of A Man (Season 2, episode 9) Q Who (Season 2, episode 16) The Defector (Season 3, episode 10) Yesterday’s Enterprise (Season 3, episode 15) The Offspring (Season 3, episode 16) The Best of Both Worlds, parts 1 and 2 (Season 3, episode 26 & Season 4, episode 1) Family (Season 4, episode 2) The Drumhead (Season 4, episode 21) Darmok (Season 5, episode 2) Ensign Ro (Season 5, episode 3) Conundrum (Season 5, episode 14) The Inner Light (Season 5, episode 25) Time’s Arrow (Seasons 5 & 6, episodes 26 & 1) Chain of Command, Parts 1 & 2 (Season 6, episodes 10 & 11) The Chase (Season 6, episode 20) All Good Things… (Season 7, episodes 25 & 26)

Curious about Star Trek, but don’t know where to start? Have we got a show for you! Because while all of us here at MagHuge know the Original Series stuff, some of us (cough… Chris… cough) never really got into anything else Trek in the last 37 years. So there are many questions for noobs who are maybe Trek-curious, but need some wizened guidance on where to begin in this vast, complicated universe of TV shows and movies…. which hardcore Star Trek fans are apparently only too happy to talk about. So sit back and enjoy our irreverent, warp speed overview of as much Trek as we could fit into this Part 1 discussion to try and make Star Trek happen. Again. And remember, the first taste is always free. 0:00 - Intros 4:00 - Childhood’s End (Clarke, 1953) 6:30 - American Gods (Gaiman, 2001) 15:00 - The Stars My Destination (Bester, 1956) 17:40 - Rapture-Palooza (2013) 23:00 - UB40 26:40 - Bowfinger (1999) 32:30 - Star Trek for Beginners 37:00 - The Original Series vs Star Wars 40:30 - Star Trek: The Next Generation 59:20 - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 1:13:00 - Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise

This week we discuss one of the greatest films ever made - apparently. It’s not entirely clear why The French Connection is considered one of the greatest movies ever made, but then all we did was watch it. Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider star in the filthiest depiction of filthy early-1970s New York City, with the famous car chase that will make you say, “meh.” But it’s us talking about it, so we make it all much more entertaining! Here’s a link to the Patrick (H) Willems video about car chases and Grand Prix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPnTm8C_OfY 0:00 - Intros 4:50 - Conan O’Brien needs a Friend / Beastie Boys 14:30 - Wicked Little Letters (2023) 18:30 - Borderlands (2024) 24:05 - The Serpent Queen (Starz, 2022) 29:40 - The French Connection (1971)

Hey edgelordz! If U think Crank isn’t the shiznit then ur dum. Quit dl that boy band trash from Napster and get with the kewl kidz. It’s like GTA but it’s a movie, yo! It’s L337! 0:00 - Intros 4:15 - Mythic Quest 5:00 - From 5:22 - Lolita (book) 7:25 - Deadpool & Wolverine 9:15 - Beverly Hills Cop and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F 24:00 - Crank and Crank: High Voltage

SNL movies were the entertainment vehicle we didn’t know we wanted, and then we found out why. The 90s were the heyday for movies based on popular characters from the sketch comedy juggernaut Saturday Night Live, so let’s talk about that. It’s the podcast episode you didn’t know you wanted, and then… are we repeating the joke here? Sorry, getting into the SNL mood. It’s a theme. The theme you didn’t know you wanted… 0:00 - Intros 3:10 - The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live 7:50 - Totally Tubular Festival 12:40 - Thelma (2024) 19:20 - Rock Hudson / Doris Day 29:15 - Saturday Night Live movies

Ever see a movie for the first time and feel like you’ve seen it all before? Well that is Doomsday, kids, the 2008 magnum opus of future-dystopia action-adventure from writer/director Neill Marshall (Dog Soldiers, Hellboy 2019). It is allegedly an homage to much better classic genre fare, but really what you get is a lazy story that lifts whole tropes & scenes & characters from those better classic genre flicks in a very obvious and tedious manner. From 28 Days Later to Escape From New York to Mad Max to Aliens and beyond, Doomsday is a kitchen-sink movie that isn’t so much concerned with reinventing the wheel as it is with reminding us all what was so great about the stuff it is stealing from. With more cannibalism and explosions! 3:12 - Kamala Harris flips the script 24:55 - Avengers: Doomsday 27:15 - Doomsday (2008)

In 1981, the creators of the uber midnight-movie classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show decided to press their luck and attempted to bottle lightning one more time…in a musical non-sequel sequel called Shock Treatment. Brad & Janet return in this messy media satire about reality television and our corporate overlords that was about 20 years ahead of its time…but arriving about 5 years too late. With no really memorable numbers ala Time Warp to speak of, what’s left is a shallow spiritual sequel to Rocky Horror that is utterly devoid of that predecessor’s weird glam-rock, gender-fluid charm. It looks great, but there ain’t much underneath, which makes it about as 1980’s as it gets. Yea verily. 0:00 - Intros 4:05 - Late Night With The Devil 5:05 - Interview With The Vampire (AMC) 11:10 - The Boys (Season 4) 13:15 - Jane Weidlin (live) 15:35 - How Music Got Free (1622 napster bad) 21:40 - Ren Faire (Max) 25:40 - The Green Planet 33:20 - Shock Treatment

The Last Starfighter is one of the most fun, mostly forgotten unsung heroes from the stacked roster of summer movies in 1984. A kid who dreams of escaping his dead-end life in a trailer park gets the high score on a video game, which ends up being a recruitment test for a fight against tyranny in a galaxy far, far away. Derivative? Yes. Dated effects? Sure. But fun? Most definitely! With (at the time) burgeoning state-of-the-art CGI, plus a breezy runtime and relatable characters, The Last Starfighter still wasn’t a huge hit - which is a shame. But it found new life on cable TV and at the video store well into the early 90s, until it just kinda disappeared into cult-filmdom. And now that it has turned 40, it is the perfect time to revisit one of our favorites and see if it still holds up. 0:00 - Intros 6:10 - Godzilla Minus One (2023) 15:20 - Superstar: Dare To Dream (1999) 21:10 - Peter Pan (touring) 24:50 - Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. (HBO / Hulu) 34:40 - The Last Fighter (1984)

This round we take aim at movie genres that have run their course. They make for cliche, uninteresting slop, where the preview tells you everything you need to know about what’s going to happen: This person will get laid, that person will get killed, that other person will overcome their whatever. Why? Because that’s how things work in this collection of tired movie genres that must end… or at least take a nice long break. 2:45 - 34 Felony Convictions 8:15 - Matt Rife vs Nikki Glaser 14:45 - Doctor Who 24:10 - Ghostbusters Frozen Empire 30:25 - Game of Thrones 41:15 - Genres that need to go away

Roger Corman is dead. Long live Roger Corman! 3:50 - Punk Rock Bowling (Madness, The English Beat, DEVO) 18:25 - The Fall Guy (2024) 24:55 - Furiosa (2024) 32:10 - Roger Corman

Akira (1988) is an undisputed anime classic, that much is true. But it also pretty much ruined all other anime for us by setting the bar so ridiculously high. Akira is a pure adrenaline rush, an epic visual feast about armageddon and rebirth that set the bar way too high. And nothing since (not even Miyazaki) has come close in terms of pure scale, tone and world-building. It is the perfect blend of sound and image that defies any simple description, and once you see it you cannot unsee it. Plus, it makes us yell Kaneda! at the top of our lungs every single time. Watch it, then listen to us talk about watching it. Rinse. Repeat. 5:10 - Masters of the Air (Apple TV+) 13:10 - I Am Big Bird (2014) 17:35 - Self Reliance (2024) 22:10 - The Righteous Gemstones 25:45 - Häxan (1922) 31:30 - Akira (1988)

You may not know his name immediately, but you probably know his work. He does movies for teenagers, but he’s only directed one Marvel movie. We’ve been discussing Matty Vaughn for a while now, always impressed with how far he’s gotten on so little. So we decided today we would bless him with our thoughts and rapier wits. ‘Cause that’s how we roll. 0:00 - Intros 11:14 - Totally Killer (2023) 14:40 - Unfrosted (2024) 25:10 - Robodoc (2023) 32:35 - Villains Inc. (2024) 39:10 - Boy Kills World (2024) 45:35 - Matthew Vaughn

In Medias Res means stories that start in the middle of things, or even at the end. It is a very old narrative device created by the Ancient Greeks that many filmmakers have used to varying degrees of success. So naturally we thought that deserved a no-holds-barred, incredibly arbitrary Bracket Challenge Battle to the Death! Behold, our Top 8 movie picks fight it out until they are whittled down to the last film standing. Maybe there is a prize given? But really, aren’t we all winners here? 0:00 - Intros 5:55 - Fallout (Amazon) 12:30 - Ripley (Netflix) 16:10 - Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire 25:20 - Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 33:00 - In Medias Res also rams 40:20 - In Medias Res - Best use Bracket 41:15 - Big Dumb Superhero Movies: Deadpool vs Iron Man 44:15 - The Christopher Nolan Mindfuck: The Prestige vs Memento 50:00 - Gen X Blood-soaked Fight To The Death: Reservoir Dogs vs Fight Club 55:10 - Oscar Darlings: Lawrence of Arabia vs Forrest Gump 1:01:20 - Semifinals 1:04:45 - Finals

Hard to believe that a Cold War satire about Mutually Assured Destruction through a nuclear holocaust could still pack a punch 60 years after its release. But that’s exactly what happened with Stanley Kubrick’s brilliant dark comedy, Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Starring Peter Sellers in a virtuoso 3-role performance as the titular insane scientist, a by-the-book RAF officer, and a milquetoast President, this one is arguably Kubrick’s best effort. Which sounds like a challenge for debate that we shall now have… NO FIGHTING IN THE WAR ROOM! 5:00 - Ricky Stanicky (2024) 12:30 - Dune Part Two (2024) 23:50 - Late Night with the Devil (trailer) 25:10 - Shipwreck videos found on YouTube 31:30 - Shogun (Max) 39:14 - Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb (1964)

Episode 295 - Train to Busan 2016 was the middle of the zombie pandemic. “What?” I hear you say, despite that being impossible. “There was a zombie apocalypse?” There sure was - in theaters! And 2016 was right smack dab in the middle of a bunch of great zombie films. That year saw “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” and “The Girl with All the Gifts,” which were great in their own ways. However they pale in comparison to this genre-homage from South Korea, a sort of “Die Hard” on a train with zombies. Un-Die Hard? No, not Un-Die Hard. That is stupid. Skip that… 0:00 - Intros 6:20 - Dream Scenario (2024) 11:55 - Rick and Morty season 7 16:50 - Mr Robot 27:50 - Argylle (2024) 31:20 - Roadhouse (2024) (36:44 - FSBUMP) 36:55 - Train To Busan (2016)

Before there was Nightmare on Elm Street, before there was Inception, there was Dreamscape! This under-the-radar sci-fi/action/thriller/romance from 1984 was a heady mix of genres, and while it was the first notable film to feature a storyline about people entering the dreams of others to help or harm, it has gone largely unnoticed in the last 40 years. But it beat Freddy and Christopher Nolan to the punch, which makes it a noteworthy thing to discuss. Starring Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Max Von Sydow, Christopher Plummer and an analog stop-motion evil Snake Man with legs and arms (don’t ask), Dreamscape is an oddity that fell through the cracks. Let’s dust it off and see if Freud and Jung were right all along…. 3:30 - The 80s Cruise(Sheena Easton, Wang Chung, Air Supply, Soft Cell, Midnight Star, Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg, My Posse In Effect) 26:20 - The Gentleman 28:40 - Swan Song (book) 33:00 - Dreamscape (1984)

Time again for yet another 80’s film retrospective! The year 1987 does not automatically spring to mind when one thinks of classic cinema. At first glance it is kind of meh, which is not surprising given that Three Men and a Baby was the top earner that year. But upon closer inspection, 1987 has a crap-ton of stealthily influential flicks buried within. Yup, 1987 is the year that gave us Evil Dead 2, RoboCop, Princess Bride, Lethal Weapon, The Untouchables, Withnail & I, Raising Arizona, River’s Edge, Predator, Spaceballs… this list goes on. We’re just as shocked as you are! So we’re giving props to a stealth year for stone-cold classics - 1987! Example of Scared Ketchup’s The Trump Show: https://youtu.be/4syP4lA3Q0Y?si=cLHzjzoo-Nw_fAQX 4:30 - Scared Ketchup - The Trump Show 11:10 - State Of The Union Address 15:35 - Euphoria (Max) 22:05 - Elektra 25:50 - The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989) 28:10 - Dempsey and Makepeace (1985) 34:00 - 1987 in movies

Ever seen a movie or show and thought, “Wow - they sure got that wrong!” It could have been good, but they missed the point. Or maybe you had a better point in mind. That’s the theme of this week’s show - why not remake these things that were almost good? As long as everything else gets remade every five years, here are some projects that decidedly deserve to be correctly done. 0:00 - Intros 4:30 - Dicks The Musical 12:12 - Northern Exposure 17:45 - Wild Isles 20:20 - Fargo (season 5) 28:40 - I Can’t Believe They Didn’t Remake This Already

This week Brian made the MagHuge crew revisit the 1990 Warren Beatty magnum opus “Dick Tracy.” Will it stand the test of time? Will hijinks ensue? Will Chris and Eric drink hemlock? There’s only one way to find out! 0:00 - Intros 5:51 - Mr. Robot 13:30 - Japanese Precision Walking 16:15 - Kabaddi 20:39 - AR / VR 26:50 - Freaks VS The Reich 32:10 - Dick Tracy (1990)

Welcome to the Technical Difficulties Edition of yet another amazing Freshitravaganza show, wherein we have an ad hoc discussion about literally whatever dumb stuff pops into our heads! Funny story… We tried to do a show wherein we savaged Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon, his latest mirthless sci-fi IP starter. But all our tech went bonkers early without us realizing it and we lost everything but the Fresh Sh!t at the beginning. So we decided to cut our losses, keep that bit and expand it into a better, full-length show. Because no way were we giving Rebel Moon a do over. Nope. 4:45 - Fizz 9:50 - Good Burger 2 (2023) 13:25 - I Hate Suzie (Max) 18:40 - Blue Beetle (2023) 24:50 - Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon (2023) 30:00 - Green Dot Aviation 41:35 - Lisa Frankenstein (2024) 47:40 - Napoleon 48:40 - Pop Will Eat Itself, Jesus Jones, EMF and other Grebo acts 53:44 - The Beekeeper (2024) Auralnauts Zack Snyder’s Star Wars: https://youtu.be/J9X_FmCbrIA?si=JpDkiOUhH0rjZxUi Green Dot Aviation: https://www.youtube.com/@GreenDotAviation

Blazing Saddles is a comedy classic given to us by Mel Brooks way back in 1974 and we are going to celebrate the 50th Anniversary accordingly… with copious amounts of vulgarity, fart jokes and meta-humor on top of an angry, socially conscious satire of race relations in America. That’s right, Blazing Saddles is a foundational film comedy that is not afraid to make you laugh while also making you uncomfortable. So buckle up, cowpokes, and join us for a celebration that is sure to make you send us even more hate mail! Thank you, Mel Brooks, for the decades of laughter! 0:00 - Eric’s trip to Japan 10:00 - Brian’s work trip to India 20:30 - Sid and Marty Krofft shows on Tubi 21:20 - The Bay City Rollers Show 29:00 - Rick and Morty (season 7) 33:45 - American Fiction (2023) 38:25 - UFO (1970) and Space:1999 (1975) 41:55 - Blazing Saddles (1974) Brian’s India traffic video: https://youtu.be/oQwRNcVZ434 Brian’s India fast food video: https://youtu.be/vad9eFKz2Xw

Released in 1969, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun is a fun little cult sci-fi film. If you’re familiar with “Thunderbirds,” you’ll recognize the cool use of model special effects used here. The short sell - this is a fun romp through what the future could have been like. The long sell - well, if they had hired actual writers with talent to lay this sucker out, it would have been a classic. As it is, it’s a paper-thin premise with a paper-thin payoff, that ends in a very dark way, but has cool-ass spaceships. Yay! 3:56 - Letterkenny (final season, 2023) 10:20 - Reacher (Amazon Prime) 16:50 - Doctor Who (2023) 23:30 - Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) 32:35 - The Wiz (Broadway) 38:05 - For All Mankind 40:40 - Journey to the Far Side of the Sun / Doppelganger (1969)

In honor of the new movie musical version that no one asked for, we present another classic MagHuge episode! Two cliques enter, one clique leaves... Welcome to the High School Movie Grudge Match Thunderdome! We pitch 80’s black-comedy classic Heathers against 00’s teen classic Mean Girls in a head-to-head battle for ultimate Snark Supremacy! How Very. That’s So Fetch. Oh, and ⅔ of our crew had never actually watched Mean Girls before, but all of us have been quoting Heathers for decades so it’s okay. Was our Genx-X bias shattered by the popular Millennial challenger? F*#& me gently with a chainsaw, you’ll just have to listen to this podcast and find out! | 0:00 - Intros | 4:24 - Raw Deal (1986) | 9:55 - The Umbrella Academy Season 2 (Netflix, 2020) | 15:55 - Legion | 18:55 - Star Trek: The Next Generation | 26:05 - Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Nintendo, 2020) | 28:30 - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - Kimmy vs. The Reverend (Netflix, 2019) | 31:27 - Mean Girls (2004) vs. Heathers (1989)

We’re Baaaaaaaack! After a month-long hiatus of adhering to a Live-Laugh-Love mantra, the MagHuge crew rings in 2024 with a whole new podcast show about random crap we’ve all been watching and doing and listening to during our self-imposed holiday! We gots movies, concerts, TV and theater galore to catch you up on. But no books - because books are for the idle and never did no one no good never. Welcome to Re-FreshitExtravaganza! 9:23 - Fresh Shit 10:20 - Rocket around the Christmas Tree 13:20 - Great British Bake Off 16:00 - Wonka (2023) 29:00 - Mannheim Steamroller live 33:00 - Depeche Mode (Memento Mori tour 2023) 39:10 - The Ref (1994) 47:00 - Poor Things (2023) 52:00 - The Magnificently Huge Podcast 1:01:10 - Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (Max, 2023) 1:06:30 - Beau Is Afraid (2023)

Upon the occasion of his death, we are repeating our tribute to the great Norman Lear! In the 1970's, television producer Norman Lear beat Marvel to the punch by several decades with the creation of a sitcom universe filled with individual shows whose characters formed an unstoppable team of comedy heroes to defeat an array of social issues. Archie Bunker is Iron Man. Maude is Thor. George Jefferson is The Hulk. Also: Adrienne Barbeau is Adrienne Barbeau.

Episode 286 - Children of Men Children of Men (2006) is one of the finest dystopian future movies ever committed to film… that no one seems to remember. Which is weird, because it has one of Clive Owen’s best hangdog performances, and a supporting cast (Julianne Moore, Michael Caine & Chiwetel Ejiofor) that most movies would kill for. Plus, Alfonso Cuarón directed some of the most amazing “single-shot” action sequences of all time in what should have been a sure-fire classic of speculative fiction. Instead, this very prescient story about the world falling apart at the seams came and went with a shrug from most. Which is a damn shame, because this movie packs a real wallop. Do yourself a favor and watch it, then listen to this very special podcast! 8:20 - Lies of P 15:55 - Quiz Lady (2023) 21:10 - For All Mankind (Apple+) 26:10 - A Haunting in Venice (2023) 28:40 - Hogan’s Heroes 33:40 - Children of Men (2006)

Say you’re so rich and popular that you can just make a movie with all your most famous friends and make yourself look cool. Turns out that Frank Sinatra did it in 1960, and so did George Clooney in 2001. It turns out that both times the movie was named “Ocean’s Eleven!” It must be nice. For our part, we spoil more MCU stuff and hang out with a big fun hang-out movie. Hang out with us! 5:40 - Starfield (Xbox) 11:55 - Loki (Disney+) 17:30 - The Marvels (2023) 28:30 - Steven Seagal movies (Above the Law, Marked for Death, Out for Justice) 38 :55 - Ocean’s 11 (2001)

Spider Baby - the 1967 “cult classic” that you’ve probably never heard of. As always, we watch it for you, so you don’t have to! 4:15 - Invasion (Apple TV+) 7:45 - One Cut of the Dead 15:25 - Band of Brothers 20:05 - How To with John Wilson / Nathan For You 23:35 - No Hard Feelings (2023) 28:45 - Spider Baby (1967) You can watch Spider Baby on the internet archive here: https://archive.org/details/sinistercinema_spiderbaby

Among the notable horror icons of the 80s that spawned endless sequels of varying quality, few are as weird as the phenomenon of Chucky - the child’s doll possessed by the spirit of a psychopathic serial killer who dabbles in voodoo. First arriving in 1988, Child’s Play was a modest success that was buoyed by an interesting concept and some first-rate practical effects work that helped propel it into the Horror Hall of Fame. But is it still any good? We haven’t seen the sequels, but decided to catch up with the original to see if it still holds up. Please enjoy our look back at Child’s Play. Chuck You! 7:30 - Local Portland bands: NSynced, Faux B-52s 13:20 - Violent Femmes (live) 16:30 - Totally Killer (Amazon) 21:00 - Our Flag Means Death (Season 2, Max) 22:50 - Moonlighting (now on Hulu) (28:44 title sequence gets discussed) 32:30 - Child’s Play (1988)

While Scream and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare brought meta to the horror genre earlier, 2011’s The Cabin In The Woods brings a fresh new perspective to the well worn dead teenager film. If we want to get really meta about it, we can talk about how the scariest and most disturbing things about it are related to Joss Whedon, but really that’s just lazy comedy. Anyway, it’s October, so crank up the scary movies! 6:15 - P!nk (live) 11:45 - Tina the musical (touring) 15:30 - high school Aliens musical 16:40 - NHL is back (Stompin’ Tom) 17:15 - Only Murders in the Building (Hulu, Season 3) 21:00 - Sub Pop (Green River, Butthole Surfers, Sleater-Kinney) 23:40 - Some More News (youtube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ28knLt5Rs 27:55 - The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix) 31:00 - Roger Waters The Dark Side of the Moon Redux 35:23 - The Cabin in the Woods (2011) [SPOILER WARNING]

This week, we break down the career of David Cronenberg in three acts. The thing is, there’s little you can say about David Cronenberg that makes sense. He’s a filmmaker who makes horror films, kinda. He has a preoccupation with body horror, sort of. Really he’s interested in people’s obsessions - what we can’t do without, even if we won’t admit it to ourselves. I think. It’s tough to say - like all great artists, he defies simple explanation. So of course, we’re going to try. 04:45 - Zombie Houses and The Ugliest House In America 12:45 - The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Netflix) 18:50 - M*A*S*H* 20:15 - Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Book) 22:42 - The Troop (Book) 24:55 - Bottom (BBC) 27:55 - David Cronenberg

We love it when a plan comes together! Unless it doesn’t, as is the case with 2010’s misguided, uninspired, confusing reboot movie of the classic 80s TV juggernaut - The A-Team. What should have been a slam-dunk summer actioner was actually a giant, generic mess of a movie that arrived with a shrug and killed any hope of a franchise. Mistakes were made. A lot of mistakes. Join us for our shallow discussion about how NOT to reboot a TV show into a movie with The A-Team! We ain’t gettin’ on no podcast, Hannibal… 10:00 - Star Trek: The Next Generation 16:15 - James Hood’s Beautifica 19:00 - Painkiller (Netflix) 24:10 - I Think You Should Leave (Netflix) 25:50 - Peter Serafinowicz show 31:25 - Tim Heidecker take on Club Random and Bill Maher 33:45 - The A-Team (2010)

If you know, you know… John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China is flat out one of the greatest achievements in modern cinema. That’s it, that’s our thesis. Because when some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues…You just stare that big sucker right back in the eye and you remember what ol’ Jack Burton always says at a time like that: “Have ya paid your dues, Jack?” Yessir, the check is in the mail. 6:00 - Pixies (Live) 11:10 - Physical (Apple+) 13:30 - The Venture Bros: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (2023) 19:25 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) 25:00 - U2 at the sphere 27:00 - Harley Quinn Season 4 (Max) 30:55 - A Haunting In Venice (2023) 39:20 - Big Trouble In Little China (1986)

Join us as we discuss the forgotten mock spy classic “Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine.” The inspiration for the Fembots from Austin Powers, this movie reeks of mid-60s camp, sexism and utter lack of subversiveness. If nothing else, it explains why your boomer grandparents look so confused now. We also discuss what we’re watching this week, now that the writers and actors are on strike. And good for them while we’re at it! #WGAStrong! 3:00 - GTA Online 8:20 - Crimes of the Future (2022) 17:00 - OMD - Bauhaus Staircase 19:40 - What We Do In The Shadows (season 5) 21:10 - Matt Berry 27:55 - One Piece 31:3 0 - Good Omens 2 37:30 - Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine

So we thought it would be fun to do a show about Troma, the indie movie studio that has given us such classic exploitation comedy-horror schlock like The Toxic Avenger and Surf Nazis Must Die! for decades now. Turns out, we were dead wrong. The funny thing about Troma - at least for us - is that we always seem to remember the movies fondly…until we have the actual butt-squirming experience of trying to sit through one. But hey, at least there’s all the splatter and gore and naked boobs that a $500 production budget will allow! Anyway, we pick our favorite titles and then complain a lot about how it is too bad we aren’t 14 years old anymore so we could truly enjoy what is now regarded as the definitive Troma aesthetic. It’s a gas! 8:30 - Writer’s / Actor’s strike 9:57 - Ashoka (Disney+) 15:00 - Beetlejuice (the musical) 21:00 - Baldur’s Gate 3 24:00 - Moon Knight (comics) 31:40 - True History of the Kelly Gang (2019) 37:50 - Troma

Boy what is there to say about this weird-ass French Power Rangers inspired movie? Guess you’ll just have to listen to the podcast to find out! 5:55 - The Crowded Room (Apple TV+) 9:45 - The Dollop 13:00 - Berlin, Howard Jones, and Culture Club Live - The Letting It Go Show 17:15 - Tacoma FD 21:55 - Smoking Causes Coughing (2023)

Take off, you hosers! Sorry, had to lead with that because it’s a beauty catchphrase, eh… from the SCTV duo of Bob & Doug McKenzie in their one and only film: Strange Brew. It’s a classic from 1983 that has achieved true cult status, and it turns 40 this year, so that deserved a little something from the podcast. Just know, everything we learned about Canadian culture came from this movie, so don’t blame us if we sound like we don’t know what we’re talking about, you hoser. Have another beer, eh? Or a jelly donut, maybe… 3:33 - Trump Indictment #4 11:15 - Ministry - Goddamn White Trash link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8imYWda6MOs 13:15 - Meg 2: The Trench (2023) 19:30 - The Hives - The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (2023) 21:30 - Werewolves Within (movie) 24:15 - Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season 2 - Paramount+) 28:15 - Foundation (Apple TV+) 35:35 - Strange Brew (1983)

You think you know what a cult film is? You think it’s something like “Clockwork Orange” or “Blade Runner,” just because they didn’t make money when they came out but were actually really great films? No! Cult movies are crap movies that are just balls-out weird. Like “Human Highway” - the love child experiment of granola rock merchant Neil Young. This week we do a deep dive into an ACTUAL cult film - replete with hubris, cocaine, DEVO, and the apocalypse. The only thing missing here is dramatic structure. 10:00 - It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) 17:45 - Secret Invasion (Marvel) 20:25 - Black Mirror - Joan is Awful and Cunk on Earth (2023) 26:00 - Invasion (Apple TV+) 30:30 - Human Highway Link to where you can watch Human Highway https://archive.org/details/human-highway

We interrupt our regularly scheduled podcast to bring you this very special episode of the Magnificently Huge Podcast. The recent news of the death of Sinéad O'Connor followed by Paul Reubens / Pee-Wee Herman knocked us off our rhythm of making each other watch movies. Raise a glass with us to some underappreciated talents. Also this week, we manage to actually talk about current movies like Oppenheimer and Ninja Turtles, so it’s not all existential dread. 2:35 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) 13:2 5 - Competing American Gladiators documentaries (2023) 20:40 - Oppenheimer (2023) 31:55 - Asteroid City (2023) 37:45 - RIP Sinead O’Connor and Paul Rubens

It’s our Ultimate 80s ‘Copter Throwdown! The premise is simple: Who would win in a fight between Blue Thunder and Airwolf? The answer is more difficult, especially if you have no idea what Blue Thunder or Airwolf are. Just know that back in the early 1980’s, movies and TV shows had a fascination with super-advanced tech applied to cars, trucks, planes, trains, motorcycles, and, yes…. Helicopters! Before smartphones and ChatGPT, we had super action! Which brings us back to the premise… pitting a super-creepy police urban surveillance machine against a super-secret advanced military weapon flown by two private-sector schmos. Get to da choppa! 4:30 - The Why Files (YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/@TheWhyFiles 13:00 - Mission Hill (1999) 17:28 - Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 25:45 - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 36:10 - Airwolf vs Blue Thunder

Nicolas Cage… the man, the myth, the actor… man! He’s got a rep for bringing the crazy, and for being in a boatload of dreck in the past 12-ish years to pay the bills. But he’s also damn good in just about everything he’s ever been in, never phones it in no matter what. We break it down by era, from early-Cage favorites to the post-Oscar late-90s action blockbusters and into the straight-to-video years. There is nothing Nic Cage can’t do, because he’s a national treasure… Also, we yuck it up about that Barbie movie that some folks think is too damn woke and turning everyone gay. Or maybe that was Oppenheimer? Whatever, just put the bunny down and give us more Nic Cage, already! 5:30 - Barbie (2023) 21:00 - Sparks and They Might Be Giants (Live) 30:25 - Eraser (1996) 34:30 - Nicolas Cage

What do Citizen Kane, Buckaroo Banzai, Risky Business and Ready Player One all have in common? If you read the title of this podcast you probably guessed that they’re all tangentially related to War of the Worlds! Join the MagHuge crew as we revisit the second Steven Spielberg / Tom Cruise effectstravaganza that no one asked for. This time from 2005. Yes, the very creaky Victorian-era sci-fi novel by H.G. Wells gets an update from the director who had never done aliens as baddies before, and the result is... well, let's just say it hasn't aged well, unlike Tom Cruise. 9:30 - The Sons of Anarchy 14:25 - Nora from Queens 17:45 - Asteroid City (2023) 26:40 - Escape to Athena (1979) 36:15 - War of the Worlds (2005)

Die Hard (1988) is an action movie classic, on that we all agree. Its success created an entirely new sub-genre that is still being aped today - something we’ve dubbed “Die Hard in a Whatever.” Baddies take over a confined space (building, bus, plane, mall, city, etc) but fail to account for a rogue everyman on the loose who is intent on foiling their plans and saving an estranged loved one in the process. Join us for a look at the questionable Die Hard sequels, plus some Die Hard clones/rip-offs of varying quality. But one thing is certain… There can only be one Die Hard and that is the actual Die Hard. Yippee kai yay, muther-effer! 4:15 - The Righteous Gemstones (Max) 9:28 - The Flash (2023) 22:00 - Smartless (Max) 25:00 - Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law (Adult Swim) 28:20 - Die Hard in a Die Hard