Patreon Bonus #45 - It's Saturday Night Live

Maybe one of the single most influential and impactful forces on the world of film in the 1980s wasn't a director, or a writer, or the alumni of one film school or another. It was a sketch comedy show that didn't start until 11:30pm at night, and frankly wasn't very good a lot of the time. But when it was good? Oh, it was change the world good, and Drew and Scott dive into the legend of Saturday Night Live and the way it became a legitimate star-making machine that greatly benefitted the films of the 1980s.

July 1984

1984 giveth, and 1984 taketh away. After a month as great as June of 1984, it almost seems inevitable we'd get a terrible Cheech & Chong movie, some weird-ass Judge Reinhold thing you've never heard of, and a fistful of movies that Scott and Drew disagree on pretty wholeheartedly.

We're ready to crap on your childhood favorite, so say goodbye to your favorite horse. It's July of 1984.

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Patreon Bonus #44 - Video Games, Movies, and the '80s

Here in 2018, movies and video games enjoy a very... well, maybe healthy isn't the correct word, but accepted and expected relationship. But in the 1980s, video games were still more or less brand new, and movies didn't quite know what to make of this burgeoning industry that would soon be in direct competition for the youth market's eyes and ears. Scott and Drew discuss the decade's first attempts at incorporating (or hijacking, really) the appeal of video games, what video games appealed to them, and why that relationship between the two artforms has never been all that stable.

June 1984

This is it. This is the month many of you have been waiting for since the podcast began. We get it. It's a monolith. Gremlins. Ghostbusters. The Karate Kid. That's a huge month.

But it's so much more. It's so much deeper. This is a perfect example of why we do the show. Because, yes, you'll get Star Trek and Conan and Beat Street and Streets of Fire, but you'll also get weird thrillers with Roger Moore and Rutger Hauer and English boarding school dramas and imports from Sweden and Australia and Germany. One of the weirdest big-budget bombs of the decade was this month, as was a sweeping but troubled epic from one of our greatest filmmakers. You want a brilliant comedy that seems to be largely forgotten? How about the performance that should have won Best Actor at the Oscars that year? Or two other performances that would have been equally worthy from two of young Hollywood's most controversial leading men? There is so much to talk about that we're not sure we can do it justice. But, man, we are gonna try.

Strap in. It's June of 1984

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May 1984

Neil Jordan and Stephen Rea get started, Judd Nelson smarms it up, and Peter Fonda can't settle on a terrible title for a terrible movie. Summer gets off to a strange start with a baseball myth, some spring break bullshit, and two of the most heated conversations about big cultural icons we've had so far. Pop and lock with us, won't you? It's May of 1984.

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Patreon Bonus #42 - The Halloween Season

You're in Weinberg's world now, kids. Halloween means horror movies, and as you might have heard, Scott is somewhat of an aficionado of the fright flick. Drew isn't chopped liver when it comes to having chiller bonafides either, and their combined love for the Halloween season is something to behold, as they run down some of their favorite scary movies, the power of the genre as a whole, the (oft-undeserved) critical response it receives, and they even try to scare each other, a little... to varying effect.

April 1984

You know what kids love? Comedies about poop and tax laws! You want horse talk? We've got horse talk! You want a bunch of horror legends standing around looking confused about why they're all together? Man, are you set. And sex crimes? Well, it is the '80s.

Timothy Hutton's in love with a caveman, Jamie Lee Curtis gets startlingly naked, and Jonathan Demme pays homage to Rosie the Riveter. All that, and the very last Friday the 13th movie anyone ever made? Holy crap! It must be April of 1984!

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Patreon Bonus #41 - Jason Bailey

Drew is flying solo for this episode while Scott soaks up Fantastic Fest, but that doesn't mean he's without friends: Film critic Jason Bailey steps in to talk about his favorite and most formative '80s films, and the conversation is made all the better for the fact this is literally the first time, after years and years of talking and swapping stories online, that these two wordslingers are having a real life, real-time conversation about cinema, and they take that opportunity to do what they both do best. Go on some serious DEEP DIVES into their favorite films.

March 1984

We've had big shows before, but nothing like this one. You wouldn't think this would be such a crazy month, being smack dab in the middle of the spring, but you'd be wrong. Sure, there's a fistful of junk this week—including an uneven Vietnam war romance, dogs from Hell, and a barely-released adaptation of a novel every med student knows—but we also see the kickoff of one of the biggest franchises of the decade, a delightful coming-of-age film with three of the most promising young actors of the decade, and Tom Hanks romancing a mermaid.

Still not convinced? How about Stephen King stumbling, a super-serious Tarzan, or the movie that turned 14-year-old Drew into a snarling punk? Come on. This month goes to 11. Let's get busy with March of 1984

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Patreon Bonus #40 - Charles de Lauzirika

A highly educational, illuminating, and entertaining conversation with the director/producer known for making many of the best film documentaries of the last 20 years and an absolute legend to DVD and Blu-ray collectors everywhere: Charles de Lauzirika. That Blade Runner set you can't live without? That Alien Anthology? You have this man to thank, and he has some thoughts and opinions on how those things all came together (and what versions you should watch, in which order, too.) All that and some Blue Thunder too? Cue that 20th Century Fox fanfare...

February 1984

When is a film about Stanley Kubrick not a film about Stanley Kubrick? When is a documentary about Phil Ochs not really a documentary about Phil Ochs? And when did the '80s really start?

Seems like 1984 is a good answer and the year's still just revving up at this point. We've got a terrible Louis Malle film, an Eric Stoltz film that even Eric Stoltz may have never heard of, and Tom Selleck as a gentleman thief. All that, and Footloose too? How are you not already listening to February of 1984?

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Patreon Bonus #39 - Jeff the Movie Man

It happened way too late, but it couldn't have happened to a better patron: The show finally makes good on its promise to dedicate an entire bonus episode to shooting the breeze with one of its most-constant listeners, Jeff the Movie Man, an unmissable and vital presence in the '80s All Over social media circle. So it's like getting to hang out with the guys on Twitter, except, you know - you can HEAR everyone in real time. And just like Twitter... there's no edit button. 

January 1984

John Cassavetes wants a Gloria of his own, Eddie Deezen gets evil with some mutant punks, and Jodie Foster is somehow romantically involved with Ed Asner. Good lord, 1984, this is how you start?

We’ve got a fistful of foreign-language classics like El Norte and Entre Nous, the obligatory teen sex comedies like Hot Dog… The Movie!, and the first film from the great Kathryn Bigelow. All that, plus a Woody Allen gem and a Steve Martin almost? It’s time to kick off the fifth season with January of 1984.

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Patreon Bonus #38 - Ken Reid, the TV Guidance Counselor

Yes, the main purview of '80s All Over is the films of the decade, some unjustly forgotten, some rightfully so (but we're going to remind you anyway!) - but a huge part of the '80s was its television, and who better to talk about the way the tube set the tone for that decade's cultural explosions than Ken Reid, the TV Guidance Counselor... who talks about movies a little too.

The Best of 1983

We started the year grumbling and mumbling so it seems like progress to go out cheering for the undeniable highs that the year ended up offering in the end.

James L. Brooks. Philip Kaufman, Martin Scorsese... these are names you might expect to see on a list like this. But there are plenty of surprises in store as well. What movie surprises both of the guys with an almost side-by-side placement on their lists, considering they'd never seen it before this year? What filmmaker ends up on one of the lists twice? And how many times does Scott sing?

We are thrilled to finish up season four, and in the end, maybe we can admit that we're a little more fond of 1983 than we used to be. And that's huge, considering where we began.

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Patreon Bonus #37 - Mail Call vol. 4

No matter how many times they try to empty it, the '80s All Over mailbag never actually hit inbox zero. Pretty sure it never even got close. Maybe it was due to all the kibitzing and old-school-breakdancing going on in this episode, but then again—what good is efficiency in answers if you're robbed of the high-quality kibitizing Drew and Scott are known for. (The dancing? Not so much). Topics include the goodies found in movie novelizations, the filmmaker who had the best filmmaking streak in the '80s (it's not Spielberg!), and what '90s film was the film that actually closed the door on the '80s?

December 1983

Wait… did we actually do it? Did we finish 1983?! OH MY GOD WE CAN DO ANYTHING!! WE ARE INVINCIBLE!

One last time around the track, though, with another Stephen King adaptation (this one helmed by the great John Carpenter), Mel Brooks doing Ernst Lubitsch cosplay, Meryl Streep taking some really unpleasant showers, and Mickey Mouse’s return to the bigscreen. We’ve got superstar misfires, one of the weirdest horror movies of the year, Ziggy Stardust, and a special look at one of the biggest music videos of all time.

That’s not enough for you? Really? Whattaya want, a mountain of cocaine and Al Pacino? WELL THEN YOU GET A MOUNTAIN OF COCAINE AND AL PACINO! Go ahead, make our day, and listen up for December 1983.

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Patreon Bonus #36 - Nathan Rabin

'80s All Over becomes a little more of a Happy Place thanks to this episode's special guest, A.V. Club legend, Dissolve hero, Weird Al biographer, and yes, coiner of the phrase "Manic Pixie Dream Girl," Nathan Rabin. Nathan, unsurprisingly, has a lot of very deeply held opinions about the cinema of the '80s, some surprising, some not as surprising; but the passion that made him one of the most-read (and most-celebrated) culture writers on the internet can't be stopped from shining like the frickin' sun.

November 1983

And just like that, we round the corner and can see the end of the year looming up suddenly. It's a crazy month of releases, too. There are not one but two nuclear nightmares, obscure teen wig-outs, a giant rat, America's favorite haunted house in 3-D, and a Smurfs movie with no damn Smurfs.

Chevy Chase in a comedy from the director of The Exorcist and The French Connection? Sure. How about a movie about an out of work aerospace engineer, his schoolteacher wife, and the male stripper who comes between them from the director of Rocky and The Karate Kid? Sure! We've got a pirate film written by John Hughes, Robbie Benson as a Native American Olympic athlete, and a genuine no-shit embarrassment from the legendary Sam Peckinpah. All that, plus a holiday classic and the last film of the '70s?

Papa, can you hear November 1983?

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And if you want to see one of this week's films, visit The '80s All Over Store!

Patreon Bonus #35 - Strange Brew with James Rocchi

Sure, Drew and Scott could probably do this movie by themselves, verbatim, due to how magical it is and how often they've both seen it, but that wouldn't make for a fun commentary, really. What would be fun would be getting former film critic, current educator of the youth, and—most importantly—Canadian person of renown and acclaim James Rocchi to join them for a truly ahead-of-its-time comedy that still worked within its time because drunken SCTV stars saying "hoser" a lot will never not be funny.