Summer Blockbuster!?!

On this week’s episode, we tackle another ’80’s cult oddity: Robert Greenwald’s XANADU, a roller skating disco musical from 1980 that arrived about a year after disco officially died and is shockingly short on singing. But it sure has roller skating. So much roller skating. And Gene Kelly in what is arguably the most embarrassing … Continue reading Ep. #45-Xanadu →

On this week’s episode, we hitch a ride to Crazy Town as we take on 1984’s cult curiosity THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION, directed by W.D. Richter. ROBOCOP himself Peter Weller stars as the titular adventurer, just your average neuroscientist/rock star/samurai warrior trying to save the universe from an evil alien … Continue reading Ep. #44-The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension →

On this week’s episode, we’re talking all about SOLO–no, not the new STAR WARS spin-off, but the 1996 low-rent action flick starring Mario Van Peebles as the titular robot. When an android designed to be a top secret military weapon suddenly grows a conscience, he naturally goes on a violent killing spree, the irony of … Continue reading Ep. #43-Solo (1996) →

As DEADPOOL 2 snarks its way into theaters this weekend, we take on another Ryan Reynolds flick that was completely ignored by audiences in the summer of 2015: the stupidly named thriller SELF/LESS, directed by Tarsem Singh. When terminally ill billionaire Ben Kingsley has his consciousness transferred into the body of Reynolds, he discovers that … Continue reading Ep. #42-Self/less →

On this week’s episode, in honor of Mother’s Day, we take on 2014’s religious family comedy MOMS’ NIGHT OUT, directed by The Erwin Brothers. What’s a harried mother to do when her obvious clinical depression is getting the best of her? How about a crazy night out with the girls?! Balls will be bowled, kidnapping … Continue reading Ep. #41-Moms’ Night Out →

On this week’s episode, SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER!?! celebrates its one-year anniversary by taking on another comedic catastrophe from MARCI X director Richard Benjamin: 1994’s MILK MONEY, in which a horn-dog 12-year-old boy attempts to set up his father with the prostitute he has hiding in his tree house. And did we mention the potential lovebirds are … Continue reading Ep. #40-Milk Money →

On this week’s episode, steamy eroticism meets social commentary as we take on Stanley Kubrick’s controversial final film, 1999’s EYES WIDE SHUT. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman portray a status-obsessed couple whose marriage hits a rough patch, resulting in a journey of self-discovery that includes everything from masquerade orgies to sultry sailors to underage prostitutes–and … Continue reading Ep. #39-Eyes Wide Shut →

On this week’s episode, we’ve got something truly horrifying for your Friday the 13th: JOHN CARPENTER’S GHOSTS OF MARS, a film so bad that we actually kind of feel bad that Carpenter insisted on including his name in the title. An eclectic cast featuring Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Pam Grier(!), and Jason Statham(!!) take on … Continue reading Ep. #38-John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars →

On this week’s episode, Dana Carvey plays a bumbling private eye suffering from short-term memory loss in 1994’s film noir “spoof” CLEAN SLATE. What do you get when the director of the Whitney Houston vehicle THE BODYGUARD and the creator of THE GOOD WIFE combine forces to make Carvey into a sexy leading man? A … Continue reading Ep. #37-Clean Slate →

On this week’s episode, we tackle 1988’s truly nutso horror flick MONKEY SHINES, directed by the granddaddy of suspense, George A. Romero. What happens when a quadriplegic with anger issues is paired with a cute Capuchin that is undergoing sinister lab experimentation? Well, one could say monkey trouble, but we’re above such cheap puns here … Continue reading Ep. #36-Monkey Shines →

On this week’s episode, Oscar Month comes to a close as we tackle 2006’s Best Picture winner CRASH, a film often cited as the worst to ever receive the Big Prize. Has time been kind to the racially-charged ensemble drama? Or does it deserve the ridicule and scorn? Sandra Bullock hurls ethnic slurs, Ludacris gets … Continue reading Ep. #35-Crash (2005) →

This week, we’re bringing you a special bonus episode of SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER!?!, as Luke, Steve, and three of their favorite guests tackle the 2018 Oscar nominations. Can GET OUT win the big prize? Will Gary Oldman finally get some Oscar love? And can someone please explain to us what the heck ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ. … Continue reading BONUS EPISODE-2018 Oscar Predictions →

On this week’s episode, we continue to celebrate everything Oscars by tackling 2016’s LOVE & FRIENDSHIP, Whit Stillman’s comedy of manners that seemed to tick off all the Oscar boxes: Critically-acclaimed writer/director; period piece; big castles; fancy costumes; English countryside; Jane Austen. So why, then, did it get the shaft come awards season? And did … Continue reading Ep. #34-Love & Friendship →

It’s Oscars month here at SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER!?!, and we kick things off by discussing 1995’s BEYOND RANGOON,  a white savior-thriller whose awards prospects were pretty much dashed the moment director John Boorman decided that audiences should view the violent political uprising in 1980’s Burma through the eyes of a near-comatose Patricia Arquette. Can our heroine … Continue reading Ep. #33-Beyond Rangoon →

On this week’s episode, Summer Blockbuster!?! meets Bollywood as we take on 2015’s Indian epic BAAHUBALI: THE BEGINNING, a film that is 90% CGI and 100% batshit insane. Will our hero ever discover that he is the long-lost son of the titular, all-powerful warrior? It might be a whole lot easier if he would stop … Continue reading Ep. #32-Baahubali: The Beginning →

On this week’s episode, we celebrate the new year by taking on 1999’s New Year’s Eve comedy 200 CIGARETTES. An all-star cast parties like it’s 1981 as everyone from Ben Affleck to Dave Chappelle to Christina Ricci try to find some approximation of love before the clock strikes midnight. Can Paul Rudd and Courtney Love(!) … Continue reading Ep. #31-200 Cigarettes →

On this special holiday edition of SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER!?!, we take on 2004’s SURVIVING CHRISTMAS, a yuletide comedy that was apparently so subversive the studio found it necessary to release it two weeks before Halloween–or, more likely, ashamed and embarrassed. And who can blame them? Ben Affleck plays a seemingly coked-up advertising exec who rents James … Continue reading Ep. #30-Surviving Christmas →

On this week’s episode, we take on a film that helped to define what a summer blockbuster truly is, 1988’s action classic DIE HARD. Yes, we know this goes against everything this podcast stands for, but it’s the holiday season, and we’re in a giving mood. Plus, who thought it was a good idea to … Continue reading Ep. #29-Die Hard →

On this week’s episode, we flip the SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER!?! formula on its head as we tackle a behemoth of a film that was tailor-made for mindless air-conditioned consumption but instead released just in time for the holidays–2017’s JUSTICE LEAGUE. We bring in the biggest comic book nerd we know to determine if DC has struck … Continue reading Ep. #28-Justice League →

On this week’s episode, we get into the festive spirit with 1993’s SON-IN-LAW, and nothing screams the holidays like a Thanksgiving-set Pauly Shore flick originally released on Fourth of July weekend. Cones will be cupped, grindage will be munched, and gigs will be weized, as The Weasel takes on Midwestern farm life, buuuuuuuudy! And–spoiler alert!–we … Continue reading Ep. #27-Son-in-Law →