Episode 227 - BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II

Back to the Future Part II playfully folds the fabric of cinematic space-time to create a sci-fi comedy that's boldly pioneering and uncannily familiar. We unravel the great mysteries of the universe with Andrew McNally and retrace our steps through the future, the past, and the alternate present. It's the sequel, listeners - something's got to be done about the sequel!

Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Written by Bob Gale
Starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson, and Elisabeth Shue

Episode 182 - BACK TO THE FUTURE

Great Scott! It's about darn time we talked about a pop culture giant like Back to the Future. And folks, this episode is heavy...with discussions of memories and memorabilia, characters and quotes, trivia and themes, all infused with the power of love.

Amy Ambler hops in our DeLorean for a trip back in time - and into a perennial cinematic comfort zone. Trust us, when this podcast hits 182 episodes, you're gonna hear some serious shit.

Back to the Future (1985)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis
Starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson, James Tolkan, Claudia Wells, and Huey Lewis

Episode 91 - THE PAGEMASTER

Culkin! Lloyd! Between the combined star power of these two 90's movie pillars, it's a wonder The Pagemaster isn't more of a mainstay in our collective memory. Perhaps the "Macaulay mystique" had waned by 1994, or maybe kids just don't go to the movies for reminders to visit their local library. A love letter to the written word, the live-action animated hybrid paints a shared universe of anthropomorphic books and familiar literary characters (strictly those in the public domain) in a rare cinematic attempt to encourage reading.

It turns out we both could stand a re-read, having remembered this 80-minute breeze more for the associated promotional content than the actual film itself. So get your library card ready and join us as we determine if this short story is a classic, or if it has us longing for that giant floating exit sign in the sky. When in doubt, look to the books!

The Pagemaster (1994)
Directed by Joe Johnston and Maurice Hunt
Produced by David Kirschner and Paul Gertz
Screenplay by David Casci, David Kirschner, and Ernie Contreras
Starring Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Ed Begley Jr., and Mel Harris; and the voices of Patrick Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, Frank Welker, and Leonard Nimoy

Episode 70 - ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES

Addams Family Values abandons all pretense to the relatively tame spookiness and ookiness associated with the macabre clan's previous iterations. It's a surprisingly dark and nihilistic free-for-all, filled with violence, mayhem, and sick burns (both fiery and verbal).

No taboo remains unbroken as Blythe Rudloff makes her long-awaited return to the podcast to salute this abnormally superior sequel and its stinging humor, and to explicate one of the laziest movie themes of all time. Whoomp! Here it is.

Addams Family Values (1993)
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Produced by Scott Rudin
Written by Paul Rudnick
Based on the characters created by Charles Addams
Starring Anjelica Huston, Raúl Juliá, Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, Jimmy Workman, Peter MacNichol, Christine Baranski, David Krumholtz, Carol Kane, Carel Struycken, Christopher Hart, and Joan Cusack

Episode 27 - CAMP NOWHERE

Camp Nowhere is a product of every kid's dream about that one perfect summer - that if we just had the time and resources, we could turn those three school-free months into something worth remembering forever.

In this case, it means taking over a former hippie commune and turning it into a playpen of Super Soakers, Jetskis, and electric guitar solos, all in the name of non-specific, PG-rated '90s rebellion.  Christopher Lloyd adds to the film's far-out vibe by re-imagining his iconic Taxi burnout Reverend Jim as a former flower child who doubles as a kind of camp counselor/enabler of unsupervised minors.

Also, Brian Rudloff returns to the show to share his own memories of cinematic summertime bliss, and to help us decide if Camp Nowhere is more than a typical wish fulfillment fantasy.

Camp Nowhere (1994)
Directed by Jonathan Prince
Produced by Michael Peyser
Written by Andrew Kurtzman and Eliot Wald
Starring Jonathan Jackson, Andrew Keegan, Marnette Patterson, Melody Kay, Wendy Makkena, M. Emmet Walsh, and Christopher Lloyd