Episode 92 - HOMEWARD BOUND: THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY

Homeward Bound is a valentine to pet lovers everywhere, a fanciful look at what might be going on inside the minds of our furry friends. Its conclusions are simple and elemental: Dogs don't get along with cats. The world is meant for exploring. And our pets are eternally preoccupied with us, their human familiars.

The movie says much about our tendency to view pets as projections of ourselves, and says even more about what we find endearing in our animal companions. Who wouldn't want to run around with Chance, or caress Sassy's lustrous coat, or relax on the porch under Shadow's watchful eye?

It doesn't matter if you're a dog person or a cat person. All heartstrings will be pulled by our episode on this sentimental, four-legged family adventure!

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)
Directed by Duwayne Dunham
Produced by Jeffrey Chernov and Franklin R. Levy
Written by Caroline Thompson and Linda Woolverton
Based on The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
Starring Don Ameche, Sally Field, Michael J. Fox, Jean Smart, Kim Greist, and Robert Hays

Episode 6 - LITTLE GIANTS

How prescient is Little Giants?  It's a movie about a ragtag peewee football team that eerily touches on several hot-button topics in the college and pro game: scurrilous recruiting, the glorification of hostile masculinity, and the spread offense.  It's no wonder it would essentially be remade six years later, with adults, as The Replacements.

How dated is Little Giants?  It's got concussion jokes.  It mercilessly makes fun of the fat kid.  Every camcorder in the film is only slightly smaller than a ghettoblaster.  It assumes the audience still recognizes John Madden as an actual football coach.

All this, plus the complexities of Icebox as a ‘90s feminist icon, in this week’s episode.


Little Giants (1994)
Directed by Duwayne Dunham
Produced by Arne Schmidt
Written by James Ferguson & Robert Shallcross and Tommy Swerdlow & Michael Goldberg
Starring Rick Moranis, Ed O'Neill, Shawna Waldron, and Devon Sawa