Michael May's Blog, page 77

Sleigh Bell Cinema | Gremlins (1984)

I talk with Jeeg from Nerd Lunch about Joe Dante's Christmas horror-comedy, Gremlins. How well does it walk the line between snickers and scares? And what are some other holiday horror movies we like?

Be sure to also check out the Gremlins episodes of the Cult Film Club and I Read Movies podcasts, which we mention in the show.

Dragonfly Ripple | Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

David and I discuss Marvel's exploration of the space opera genre, the characters that inhabit it, and how it connects to the rest of the Cinematic Universe.

Thundarr Road | Valley of the Man-Apes

Heading south along the California coast, Thundarr and Friends reach the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood where they encounter talking apes who are gathering pieces of a secret (but familiar-looking) weapon to use in their war against a beleaguered city of little people. Noel, David, and I discuss the homage-heavy episode and whether it lives up to our hopes for it.

Gimme That Star Trek | Trek's Goofiest Episodes

It's been a while since I've gotten to talk about Star Trek on a podcast (RIP, Starmageddon), but Siskoid kindly invited me to his show to celebrate the sillier side of Trek. When I initially thought up the topic, I was thinking just about the original series (and we do spend most of our time there), but Siskoid wisely expanded the conversation to include the later shows, specifically asking if camp is something that should be part of every Star Trek iteration.

Sleigh Bell Cinema | It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

I'm joined by Carlin Trammel ( Nerd Lunch , Dragonfly Ripple ) to talk about Frank Capra's classic Christmas movie starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed.

After discussing what makes a Christmas movie (and why this film is one), we take a close look at George Bailey, his friends, his family, and his wonderful life.

Mystery Movie Night | Beetlejuice (1988), The Crow (1994), and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

It's appropriate that our 31st episode released on the 31st and to celebrate Halloween, we invited special guest Siskoid ( Siskoid's Blog of Geekery , The Fire and Water Podcast Network) to help us talk about a trio of spooky movies by auteur directors with passion for art direction. But that isn't the connection.

00:05:08 - Review of Beetlejuice

00:22:43 - Review of The Crow

00:45:24 - Review of Hellboy II: The Golden Army

01:11:01 - Guessing the Connection

Introducing Sleigh Bell Cinema

Now that Halloween is done, we've got another holiday to cover. If you've been hanging out with me here for a while, you know that Christmas is a big deal to me and hopefully you're looking forward to this year's installment of the Christmas Carol Project. But before we get to that, we have some Christmas movies to talk about.

I've started a new podcast called Sleigh Bell Cinema. It's going to be a seasonal podcast covering a wide variety of Christmas movies. In the first episode, I'm joined by Mike Westfall, whose TV-focused Advent Calendar House podcast is a direct inspiration for Sleigh Bell Cinema. And of course, we have to start with an adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

After a quick conversation about the Muppets' relationship with Christmas in general, we talk about one of our favorite Christmas Carol adaptations, The Muppet Christmas Carol. What makes it a good adaptation? How does it rank with other Muppet films? Did it get the casting right? Is there anything that it doesn't do so well? I hope you'll tune in for more fun than falling down a chimney and landing on a flaming hot goose.

Fourth Chair Army Invasion | Mike Drop

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Yesterday was the fifth Tuesday of the month, which means it's time for another exciting episode of the Nerd Lunch Fourth Chair Army Invasion. This one is an all-Mike episode when Michael DiGiovanni, Mike Downs, Mike Westfall, and I discuss our favorite pop culture Mikes, then drop said characters onto a Battle-Royale-style island to fight to the death. Who is the ultimate Mike? Only one way to find out!

Mystery Movie Night | The Candidate (1972), Die Hard 2 (1990), and Burn After Reading (2008)

Special guest Carlin Trammel (Nerd Lunch ,  Dragonfly Ripple ) joins Evan, Dave, David, and I in pondering the point of politics, planes, and plastic surgery.

00:02:40 - Review of The Candidate

00:21:44 - Review of Die Hard 2

00:35:40 - Review of Burn After Reading

00:55:53 - Guessing the Connection

Dragonfly Ripple | Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

David and I hash out why this is one of David's least favorite Marvel movies, but one of my favorites. There's some Agents of Shield discussion along the way, but mostly it's all spies and lies and the mortality of Nick Fury.