Episode 75: Hook, or Peter Pandering

Throw some invisible food and get ready to never grow up as we fly into 1991’s Hook. Why was the media of the 80s and 90s so full of daddy issues? Was Robin Williams going for restrained in this role, or phoning it in? How much of the Millennial generation considers Rufio their first crush? Was there any scenery left unchewed after Dustin Hoffman was done with it? We’ll tell you once we find our marbles.

Episode 74: The First Wives Club, or Divorces of Nature

Put on your power pantsuit and exact some just revenge as we sashay into 1992’s The First Wives Club. What kind of idiot lets Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, or Diane Keaton go? How do we get justice for Stockard Channing? And can we please get more middle-aged dance sequences in movies? Answers with a healthy side of schadenfreude can be found in this week’s episode.

Episode 73: The Good Son, or We Need to Talk About Kevin McCallister

Hide your dogs and work on your grip strength as we drop into 1993’s The Good Son. How does a parent overlook a whole murder shed? Why were Hallmark-level thrillers being released on the big screen in the 90s? Is this movie the most forceful argument for everyone needing to go to therapy—but with, like, a capable therapist? And are Elijah Wood and Macaulay Culkin the ultimate latchkey kids? If you survive dangling off this precarious cliff, we’ll tell you everything you need to know. 

Episode 72: Adventures in Babysitting, or Desperately Seeking Shue

Rev up that Camaro and make sure your shoulderpads are on straight as we peel into 1987’s Adventures in Babysitting. How dare Disney censor the most famous line in this movie, and why is swearing verboten but racism and misogyny ok? Is Elizabeth Shue the ultimate teenage girl hero? And is young Vincent D’Onofrio even more of an Asgardian beefcake than Chris Hemsworth? We’ll give you some answers as soon as we get back from the wilds of Chicago. 


Episode 71: L.A. Confidential, or The Big Sleep-y Performances

Let’s go back to 1950s L.A.—actually no, let’s not, it was a sucky time for women and minorities, so let’s be starkly reminded of that as we revisit L.A. Confidential. Is Guy Pierce wearing slutty little glasses? How much noir is too much noir? Does winning an Oscar make up for the hell Kim Basinger’s character goes through in this movie? And why did Kevin Spacey have to turn out to be such a creeper when he had so much talent? Join us as we tussle with these questions and dust off our film studies theorizing.