'80s All Over

One of the most important ingredients in some of the '80s most memorable movies sits down with Drew and Scott to discuss her work in multiple classics, including Back to the Future, Some Kind of Wonderful and... yes, Howard the Duck, too.

What do we have this month? Man, what DON'T we have this month? You want a weird uncomfortable sexual triangle between Gene Hackman, Barbra Streisand, and Dennis Quaid? Nope, us neither, but you're getting it anyway! Either Sam Neill or Bill Cosby is the devil this month... or maybe both of them are! We've got Tobe Hooper, Gary Coleman, Elliott Gould, Sally Field, Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, early Jim Jarmusch, and a comedy that Stanley Kubrick once described as "the perfect movie." Yep. It's March 1981.

A lovely conversation with the woman who helped make canon entries like Blow Out, RoboCop, and Carrie into the classics they truly are.

Wanna know what the best film that came out this month was? Well, it certainly wasn't SPHINX, based on the Robin Cook book, but that's where our trip through the month begins. Peter Ustinov's almost cheerfully offensive CHARLIE CHAN film is this month, as is the fascinating Christopher Walken performance at the heart of DOGS OF WAR. It's a pretty wild ride, including William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver, Paul Newman, a young Rachel Ticotin, Francois Truffaut, Toshiro Mifune, one of the biggest names in '80s comedy, and some tough talk about Ralph Bakshi.

Ahhhhh, January. Named for the Latin word for 'door,' this is the way into the second season of the show. Any film fan knows that January is a weird month for releases, and this is no exception. Lily Tomlin's THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN, the ambitious Native American fantasy WINDWALKER, and David Cronenberg's SCANNERS are just a few of the diverse titles we cover this month!

Well, we're not going to give it away (Popeye) or tell you what might show up on this episode (The Shining) or even hint at a single title you'll hear us discuss (The Empire Strikes Back), but now that we've wrapped up our first year of the podcast, it's time to do a best of episode and decide what films from our most recent trip through 1980 are the ones that stick with us most (Used Cars).

Our 12th episode finally brings us to December of 1980, and not only is this is the best month of movies we've had to discuss yet, it's also the best episode we've done yet! Seems fitting, right? After all, we get to talk about films like FLASH GORDON, RAGING BULL, NINE TO FIVE, ALTERED STATES, INSIDE MOVES, and, yes, Robert Altman's POPEYE. WHICH IS AWESOME. BECAUSE IT IS. AND WE WILL ACCEPT NO ARGUMENT ON THIS TOPIC. But seriously, POPEYE rules.

Oh my god, it's really going to happen: We're going to wrap up the first year of this project, and it's starting to feel... really comfortable. Do you have trouble telling GATES OF HEAVEN and HEAVEN'S GATE apart? You won't after this episode. Have you ever seen the Golan-Globus musical THE APPLE? We have, and we still can't believe it's real. And if you want a great example of high art and low art existing side by side, we're doing both KAGEMUSHA and SHOGUN ASSASSIN. It's November 1980, and it rules!

Can you believe we're almost done with 1980? It's flying by, and after a short holiday break, we are back with a jam-packed episode that covers everything from TERROR TRAIN to Frank Sinatra's final starring role, with a beloved romance starring Christopher Reeve, Paul Simon's most personal film, and David Lynch's mainstream breakthrough as well. Dig in, because this one covers almost 20 films.

We've got our sound issues all worked out finally, and just in time for one of the strangest episodes yet. Woody Allen gets all Fellini on us, Walter Matthau plays spy games, and Marty Feldman brings us Richard Pryor as a computer named G.O.D. Bette Midler, Robert Altman, Mary Tyler Moore, and Jason Robards as Howard Hughes. That's not enough for you? Come on! How much awesome can we give you in one week?

Scott is halfway out of the well! And just in time for a very strange episode, featuring films like SMOKEY & THE BANDIT II, THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU, and XANADU. This is the first appearance of Jackie Chan on the podcast, the first appearance of Tom Hanks, and we even cover two (yes, TWO) Chuck Norris movies.

First things first: you'll notice that Scott Weinberg was trapped in a well for this week's episode. He's fine! We've got him out of the well, and he's been reunited with his family, and the dog who led everyone to where he was trapped is going to get a parade and you're all invited! In the meantime, we cover July 1980, which includes CADDYSHACK, AIRPLANE!, USED CARS, and much more, so check that out.

This show just keeps getting better. Where else are you going to hear a conversation about THE BLUES BROTHERS, Clint Eastwood, Herbie Goes Bananas, the wacko Bermuda-Triangle-lost-pirates movie The Island, and Richard Rush's strange and beautiful The Stunt Man? Nowhere, that's where! Nowhere except '80s ALL OVER!

Oh my god, it's finally here. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. ...And if that were the only thing we were talking about this month, that would be awesome. BUT IT'S NOT. Try on FRIDAY THE 13th. Or THE SHINING. Or BON VOYAGE, CHARLIE BROWN (AND DON'T COME BACK). I mean, come on. Alan Parker's FAME. This is how good May is. ALL THE GOOD! ALL OF IT, I TELL YOU!

This was always the month that gave us stress when we were first talking about this idea, because it's got the fewest new releases for any month of the year, and it's not a great batch. Still, we've got Dabney Coleman, a weird Disney misfire, Don Knotts and Tim Conway together, and the giant freakshow that is James Coburn. Check this one out!

Holy cow, these just keep getting better. We've got LITTLE DARLINGS. We've got FORBIDDEN ZONE. We've got James Caan and Sissy Spacek and Gilda Freakin' Radner. Oh... and we've got a little something called MAD MAX. Seriously. Why aren't you already listening?

This time, we're looking at American Gigolo, John Carpenter's The Fog, Fatso, Hero At Large, Midnight Madness, Foxes, Cruising, Maniac, Saturn 3, Tom Horn, Middle-Age Crazy, Simon, and Caligula.

This isn't really the show yet. The intro doesn't sound the same. The sound doesn't sound the same (it'll take awhile before that gets locked in, and even then, Scott falls into a well at one point). And you'll notice this is a whole month of movies done in less than 40 minutes. That sure as hell never happens again, either. These are the humble beginnings of '80s All Over, a five-year mission that began with, of all the films; CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC, THE CHANGELING, DIE LAUGHING, HANGAR 18, HARDLY WORKING, HOW TO BEAT THE HIGH COST OF LIVING, THE BLACK MARBLE, and JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT.