Special Guest Archives - Page 4 of 9

109 – M.A.N.T.I.S.

Newspaper ad for broadcast of the TV movie M.A.N.T.I.S.

What if Black Panther had been the pilot for a TV show, but when they went to series they took out Wakanda and most of the black people? You’d have M.A.N.T.I.S.! HYST superfan mugrimm joins Tim and Jen to talk about what was lost when the Sam Raimi/Sam Hamm/Rob Tapert pilot became a politically toothless show with white sidekicks.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

The documentary Jen couldn’t remember the name of is Call Me Lucky, and it was directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. It’s an account of the life of satirist and activist Barry Crimmins.

Want to hear about a more inept superhero telefilm? Why not listen to our episode about Captain America with MST3k and Rifftrax alum Bill Corbett?

104 – Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Screenwriter Josh Olson returns to share the Russ Meyer phantasmagoria Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and to make it clear that he did NOT write Gigli. The film was a hit when it arrived in 1970, but it was too strong for the studio and effectively ended Meyer’s career as a mainstream filmmaker. Meyer followed BTVOTD with the leaden legal drama Seven Minutes before going back to making titty flicks, thank god. In the episode Josh holds forth on Roger Ebert’s wonderful script, and we all weigh in on “fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke” filmmaking (we all think it’s good).

Josh previously joined us to bring to our attention the little-loved Martin Mull-starring satire, Serial.

As we mentioned in the episode, you can also see John Waters enthusing about Beyond the Valley of the Dolls at Criterion.

BTVOTD star Edy Williams was married to Meyer and also had a career sideline in appearing partially dressed at the Oscars. She did this until at least 1999. What a queen.

“Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” See the Roger Ebert(!)-penned line here, in the Sex Pistols’s last ever show.

If you like a more incoherent brand of 60s freak out, try our episode about Ted V. Mikels’s incomprehensible exploitation movie Astro-Zombies.

097 – Disco Godfather

Sean Morris joins Tim and Jen to talk about an underseen movie from Dolemite himself, Rudy Ray Moore! Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

Disco Godfather is easily viewable for free, and via a very nice transfer, courtesy of our favorite streaming service, Tubi.

For more on the Disco Godfather himself, Rudy Ray Moore, put yo’ weight on his official website.

And if you can’t get enough of the voluble Sean Morris, check out our episode on the unfairly forgotten Livin’ Large!

095 – Crash (the good one)

Jen and Tim welcome back Darren Herczeg to discuss one of the most controversial movies of the 90s— David Cronenberg’s arresting 1996 film, Crash.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

For the record, J.G. Ballard wholeheartedly endorsed the film:

A journalist from Finland spoke up and attacked us in a novel way. Rather than excoriating us for making a ﬁlm “beyond the bounds of depravity” (per Alexander Walker of the Evening Standard, who actually shook a schoolmaster’s disapproving ﬁnger at Jeremy from the back of the packed hall), he said that the movie completely betrayed the book, was a pathetic and weak skimming of a powerful work. Jim answered him: “The movie is actually better than the book. It goes further than the book, and is much more powerful and dynamic. It’s terriﬁc.” An astonishing thing for an author to say. Abashed, the Finnish journalist sat down.
David Cronenberg

If you’re a Darren stan, be sure to listen to our episode on the musical white elephant Lost Horizon!

093 – The Sleeping Car

Jen welcomes special guest Keenan to discuss an ineffectual answer to Jason and Freddy. It’s The Sleeping Car, from 1990!

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

As a bonus, here’s a look at Jeff Conaway’s role in the film as the most loathsome human being to ever draw breath.

If you love Kevin McCarthy as much as we do, listen to our episode on UHF!

092 – Christian the Lion

Jen welcomes animal expert Emma back to the show to discuss the documentary that spawned a surprise viral clip.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

Emma is one of our favorite guests, and stopped by a while back to talk about Tippi Hedren and Noel Marshall’s incredibly misguided film, Roar! Listen to that episode here.

More About Christian the Lion

Ace and John’s memoir, A Lion Called Christian, is available cheap at Alibris.

Ace and John’s website pays tribute to their lion friend and has lots of photos and information.

You can also visit a very Web 1.0 site with info about the remarkable George Adamson.

087 – Serial

Screenwriter Josh Olson brings us a movie that he swears is actually funny and good! It’s the little-seen Serial from 1980! Featuring Martin Mull, Tuesday Weld, violent gay bikers, Sally Kellerman’s boobs, casual homophobia, Tommy Smothers in a headband, hot tubs, est probably, psychologically disturbed children whose acting out is played for laughs, etc.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

For the curious, here is the full Kevin Thomas review of Serial from 1980 that we mentioned on the episode:

You can also hear more of Josh with Dave Anthony on The West Wing Thing, or with Joe Dante on The Movies That Made Me, or check out our episode on Beyond the Valley of the Dolls!

081 – 9012Live

080 – Into the Night

Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer in John Landis' Into the Night (1985)

We dissect John Landis’s first flop, Into the Night from 1985, with returning guest Sean Morris.

If you can get your hands on a copy, you must read Outrageous Conduct: Art, Ego and the Twilight Zone Case by Steve Farber. Farber provides a definitive case of the infamous Twilight Zone movie disaster. Try your local library!

For more of Sean, listen to our episode on the weirdest hit of 1998, Bulworth!

072 – Captain America (1979) with Bill Corbett

Jen and Tim welcome Mystery Science Theater 3000/Rifftrax alum Bill Corbett to the show! We talk about the Quaalude version of a Marvel superhero— a TV movie version of Marvel’s beloved Captain America. Reb Brown, most famously of Space Mutiny and Yor, the Hunter From the Future, stars, sort of.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

Bill has a Tolkien podcast with fellow Riffrax writer Sean Thomasen called Ringheads, and of course you can always find him at Rifftrax!

For more mellow 70s nonsense, try our episode on the very dumb Ben Murphy TV series Gemini Man!