Lee and Dan's Midnight Movie Club » Adventure

Batman and Robin

Midmoclub — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:36:02 +0000

After taking advantage of a technical problem last week and having a week off Lee and Dan are back this week with the last of the 90′s Batman films. Some would suggest that Batman and Robin is the worst of all the Batman films, some would suggest that it’s the worst film of all time and Lee and Dan have entered this murky world to bring you their thoughts on the matter.

How cool.

Sigh.

Also on the podcast Lee and Dan discuss the flogging of blogs, cabbagedan.com, quityourdayjob.com.au and fantasymoviepodcast.com for example.

You can possibly still enter the Amazon competition, depending on when you’re reading this.

Lee wants to either:

live on the International Space Station
join a semi secret organisation, that will give him a ring but won’t ask him to participate (a funny little hat would be welcomed as well).

To make any sense of this you will just need to listen to the podcast:

Support the podcast by buying crap you don’t need!

After the stunning success of last episode’s flogging of the pointy asian inspired Batman thing this week Lee and Dan are once again selling out by telling you to buy something else!

This week’s very useful item is a bullet proof clipboard.

Yup.

Bulletproof Body Armor Clipboard

Good Midmoclubbers DO NOT shoot guns at each other.

Next week:

After thirteen seconds of discussion Lee and Dan are throwing their combined might behind a push for Bill and Ted 3 by watching Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey instead of Catwoman.

Excellent.

Batman Forever

Midmoclub — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:25:48 +0000

Michael Keaton and Tim Burton are out and Val Kilmer and Joel Schumacher are in.

Is this a turn for the better?

Will Lee and Dan fall in love with the Schumacher Batmobile? Three things are sure, apparently chicks dig the car, blacklight paint poses a huge problem to the peace in Gotham City and you’re going to have to listen to the podcast to find out what the boys thought.

Apart from Batman Forever Lee and Dan chat about such issues as:

Dan having to go back to work, Lee getting kicked out of his building
Problems with iTunes, these things didn’t happen when Steve was about
Dan’s watching Supernatural and Burn Notice
Movies about kids killing kids don’t have enough laughs (Dan’s review of Hunger Games)
Lee’s watching Friday Night Lights the television series but has a grudge against the film
Lee’s been reading She-Hulk comics, Dan’s reading DC 52.

The trailers discussed this week:

Check out the podcast now!!

Now Lee and Dan flog you stuff that you don’t need!!

Support the podcast by buying something that has pointy edges!

If you thought Val Kilmer’s Batman performance was mechanical then you should check out the Batman Robot Vinyl Invader 11-Inch Vinyl Action Figure from Entertainment Earth. Capturing the classic look of a Japanese super-mecha and super shogun figures, this stylized Batman vinyl figure has no nipples on its outfit and stands at 11 inches making it the perfect defender of your desk.

Next week Lee and Dan visit the chilled out world of Batman and Robin… may God have mercy on them

Batman Returns

Midmoclub — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:37:30 +0000

After many technical problems with last week’s Batman the Movie podcast we are hoping that those of you who subscribe via iTunes will be able to see this week’s episode (and hopefully last week’s will show up eventually). Let us know in a couple of days if this hasn’t happened and we’ll talk to the people that we need to talk with (primarily this means poking Lee with a pointy stick).

So after watching the 1989 Tim Burton Batman film some time ago Lee and Dan pushed ahead into the second Burton Batman film Batman Returns.

Dan has been making marmalade and Tracey wants some and Lee asked Dan not to send any… it’s all very complicated
Trendy badges!!!!
Lee and Dan flog their new podcast Airbending with Lee and Dan.
Lee’s predictions of interwebz domination did not come to fruition.
Dan and Lee wade into the uproar of the current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle furor.
Lee takes us on a chocolate easter egg tangent.

Time to sit back and enjoy this week’s Midnight Movie club:

During the podcast Dan and Lee got a little deep and analysing of the film so let us know your thoughts about Batman Returns.

Leave us a comment here or over on Facebook.

Next week the boys are watching Batman Forever.

Batman: The Movie

Midmoclub — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 22:35:26 +0000

Holy podcast Batman!!

Yes this week the boys are travelling back to the 1966 Adam West version of Batman.

Also Dan is a little hyped up as he is now fallen off the wagon and is now back drinking Diet Coke.

Lee got a package in the mail from his Mum and proceeds to simply list everything contained within, fair warning given.
Dan is invited by some Red Dwarf guy to go talk about something, but he isn’t going to.
Dan also went to the theatre to experience the CGI extravaganza that is Sherlock Holmes.
Lee has a Superman figurine with no cape and his arms move really quickly like he is running.
Dan has been blowing his money on Skylanders (and will no doubt continue to).
Space shuttles with monster truck wheels are awesome.
The new Prometheus trailer. Lee and Dan are almost too scared to see this at the cinema.
The trailer for Lego Batman 2.
The trailer for Dark Shadows.

Now you should totally listen to the podcast just to hear how Canada has wronged Lee:

Now after you’ve listened to the podcast the following images may or may not make more sense:

The ancient Cyclops jelly that Lee refuses to eat

The figurine that Lee has no idea what it is

Seriously Canada, a duck?

Next week Lee and Dan are bypassing the 1989 Batman film (because we’ve already watched it) and are watching Batman Returns.

The Goonies

Midmoclub — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 22:00:14 +0000

It’s appropriate this week that Lee and Dan are discussing a children themed film The Goonies as Dan reveals how close it came to baby Cora being born during last week’s podcast!

Dan also reveals why babies look like Winston Churchill (in case you were wondering). They also discuss:

Dan managed to squeeze in watching Being Elmo, Lee is sad because he can’t become Elmo
Jim Henson’s funeral and some other celebrity funerals
The importance of Farscape
The Runaways comic book series
Star Wars the Clone Wars (Lee’s back on the wagon)
The comic book Hulk: Gray – Comic book of the month group
Lee reads a bunch of stuff out from Facebook and spoiler discussions
Fassbender is the same age as Lee…

So what did Lee and Dan think of your childhood favourite The Goonies?

Go ahead and have a listen:

Next week was going to be Cocktail, but then it was discussed and now the boys are launching their Batman extravaganza!!!

So next week they are watching Batman The Movie from the 60s!

Krull

Midmoclub — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 22:49:57 +0000

This week the podcast is all about fantasy, unicorns, cyclops, LARPs, renaissance fairs and a little science fiction thrown in for good measure (or confusion depending on your point of view) as the Midnight Movie Club welcomes special guest host Kasey Thacker of the Fantasy Movie Podcast to lend her expertise. This week the team are watching the 1983 fantasy science fiction epic cult favourite Krull.

Dan suffers greatly as he tries to define the term “fantasy film” and Kasey and Lee turn on him. Then Lee tries to get cheap psychiatric advice using Watchmen as a cover. Kasey has been playing Skyrim and watching anime.

They also discuss the following trailers:

It’s always exciting when we have a guest in the Midmoclub offices especially one who appeals to the younger generation that Dan and Lee can’t relate to so check out this weeks podcast:

If you need further convincing of Kasey’s fantasy geek cred behold:

Join just Lee and Dan next week as they watch the animated film Titan AE.

Remember if you would prefer to listen to more Kasey go out and check out the Fantasy Movie Podcast (of course you could always listen to both)

Daredevil

Midmoclub — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:57:28 +0000

It’s been a while since Lee and Dan have had a real disaster podcast on their hands but this week’s may just qualify as one. The end result was a bit of a struggle as Dan’s laptop deleted the makings of one of the funniest and thought provoking podcasts yet. On top of that Lee’s computer refused to record the backup so they lost it all. Then on the second run something else went wrong and a much more mediocre podcast was thrown to the side.

The third attempt is what you can hear today and we’re pretty happy with the job Dan has done putting it together.

In the podcast the boys discuss amongst other things the trailers of:

The boys also discuss the sheer volume of money that Apple has, why Dan is starting to dislike them and Lee’s irration distrust of people with various states of side-burns or lack of and teens.

None of this will make sense until you listen to the podcast.

Yes, that means listen to the podcast now!!

See now that wasn’t so bad now was it?

Next week Lee, Dan AND Kasey will be watching Krull.

Now go ahead and debate in the comments how much better 1960′s Batman is than Nolan Dark Knight!!!

The Golden Child

Midmoclub — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:19:49 +0000

It’s a bit of a ramble this week as both Lee and Dan didn’t have their usual painfully researched and extensively comprehensive notes to work from.

Obviously the boy’s pure professionalism was enough to get them through, especially as they’ve long anticipated and planned for situations like this. You may have thought that the midmoclub’s previously shambolic nature was a result of Lee and Dan’s incompetence. But no! It was all an intricate plan to reduce your expectations to a point where you’ll basically accept any old claptrap.

And let’s face it – it’s worked.

Suckers.

Trailers discussed this week:

Lee and Dan should have also discussed the Brave trailer again as they told Kasey they would. However they forgot. Sorry Kasey.

The movie discussed this week was the 1986 Eddie Murphy action comedy – The Golden Child.

Listen to the podcast here:

There’s no regular podcast next week, but you will be getting a sneak preview of some of the movies we’ll be watching over the next ten episodes – and also a few choice titbits from the midmoclub cutting room floor.

Supergirl

Dan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:49:31 +0000

We’re limping in just under the line this week, but technically its still Wednesday (at least in the UK) and so this weeks episode isn’t actually late – just accurately timed.

In this weeks podcast Lee and and Dan wrestle with the issue of Scottish independence, leaky fillings, and the boys both consider joining the secret service.

They also take a look at the trailers for:

Oh yeah, and they also talk about the 1984 movie Supergirl.

Why not listen to the podcast. Go on, you know you want to.

Next week Lee and Dan will be putting on their best Eddie Murphy impressions and watching Golden Child.

Big Trouble in Little China – 100th episode

Midmoclub — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:50:09 +0000

A drug addled Lee with toothache joins Dan for the giant, Huge, MASSIVE 100th episode featuring the all time classic and favourite of Lee (and apparently all of you) Big Trouble in Little China!

The boys discuss the history of having your teeth pulled out and the horror of the student dentist, as well as a discourse on hookers and your obsession with all things Frankenhooker.

The trailers that Lee made Dan watch this week:

Lee and Dan also comment on SOPA, Netflix in the UK and celebrity spotting.

Apologies for the quality of the sound, Dan is very loud and Lee is very quiet… Dan is overcompensating for something:

So what do you think of the podcast, did any of the hosts have an extraordinarily wrong opinion??

Let us know in the comments and come back next week for Supergirl!!!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Midmoclub — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:07:44 +0000

What an amazing run of films that Lee and Dan have been watching with the amazing Indiana Jones trilogy but all good things must come to an end and that end is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

In this week of geek Lee and Dan discuss:

Shittiness and Batman
Jean-Paul Valley: the replacement Batman
Dan is an early un-adopter of Google+
X-Men First Class
The live action Star Blazers film Space Battleship Yamato
Transformers 3 and Dan’s advice on how to watch it
Lee highlights how much he doesn’t want to pay to watch Transformers 3

Now it should be noted that if you really love Indiana Jones 4 we at the Midnight Movie Club are very happy for you and don’t wish to take any of your enjoyment of said film away however you may find this podcast unsettling. Perhaps you should go listen to the other Indy podcasts again or of course come back next week!

On to the podcast:

Next week we’ve been given the heads up that there will be no Under Siege podcast until the following week but there will be a filler of some sort (we cannot guarantee quality though)

Vent in the comments over your Indy 4 rage!!!

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Midmoclub — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:46:13 +0000

Apologies for the late publishing of the podcast as was explained over on the Facebook page there was an issue with a Fossa and Terry the intern that looks like a Lemur.

This week Lee and Dan finish what they started by completing the Indiana Jones trilogy…

What?

Another one…?

That doesn’t sound right.

In week of geek Dan and Lee discuss:

the mystery of the fortune cookie
Lee marvels at the idea of character development in a television series (Falling Skies)
Dan slightly disses SeaQuest DSV
Dan is going to see Transformers 3 (he’s since actually gone and watched it) (Lee manages to discuss robot testicles… again)
Dan also contemplates watching Bridesmaids and they discuss its advertising
Dan is watching the Human Target and says it’s really really good. Lee disappointed there’s no The Bodyguard series.
Lee and Dan get into comic book crossovers and Flashpoint
Lee misses Harold the hunchback and Ace the Bat Hound.

Did Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade live up to expectations? Listen and find out!

Stick around for Dan’s thanks to all the Midmoclub iTunes reviewers!

Next week Lee and Dan are braving Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Be afraid.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Midmoclub — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 22:53:46 +0000

Anything goes this week as Lee and Dan journey to the deep dark historically and culturally inaccurate mysterious India as they this week they watch Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

In week of geek Dan and Lee discuss:

Lee makes up a delightful limerick featuring Dan’s name and then completely balls up using it
Dan is called out regarding his wife listening to the podcast
Dan isn’t much of a fan of older artwork in Batman comic books before 1995
Dan is still playing Batman Arkham Asylum
Lee has lost a lot of his spare minutes to the ridiculously addictive Tiny Tower
Lee has also been watching The Larry Sanders Show
There were no new comics at the local comic book store for Lee
MySpace is making a come back and Lee is leading the way
Dan is weary of Twitter but is excited about Google+ kind of.

Just a note that there is some sailor language in the podcast (you know swearing… you know the F word) so you should use discretion when playing to your co-workers or innocent family members, i think there’s only one or two occurrences but still.

Lots of interesting analysis regarding the middle child of the Indiana Jones trilogy lets keep the discussion going here in the comments or over on Facebook!

Next week rather predictably Lee and Dan are off to see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Midmoclub — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:45:57 +0000

Lee and Dan went to great lengths to bring this week’s podcast to you. Lee was suffering from the dreaded man flu and is more than a little surprised to have pulled through with no divorce to speak of. Dan on the other hand sat in his little recording room and watched the furniture melt around him due to the extreme heat… well extreme for him anyway.

The end result you’ll have to judge for yourself!

In week of geek Dan and Lee discussed:

Dan’s been playing Batman Arkham Asylum and Lee expresses his distaste for riddles.
Lee and Dan ponder the futility of The Clone Wars when we all know that he will murder in cold blood everyone around him including his padawan.
Economics and the reverse tower game Anomaly Warzone Earth
Dan has been banned from most major auction sites
Lee’s hopes to earn a trophy for sitting through video game credits, Dan spoils Halo for everyone yet to play it
Lee just started playing Homefront and praises Superman #712 (though gets the current Superman story lines completely balls’d up)
There is promise that Lee and Dan will talk about the DC Universe reboot in the future.

The film this week is Raiders of the Lost Ark starring Harrison Ford and directed by Steven Spielberg.

So did Lee and Dan get it right?

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Lee — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:00:52 +0000

This week laziness defines the new structure of the Midnight Movie Club as we enter a bold new period of the club of the sameness just shuffled around.

In week of geek Lee and Dan discuss:

Y: The Last Man – the brilliance of the series and our take on the end
The slowest Harry Potter film marathon ever and how Lee is unimpressed by JK Rowling
Pottermore (Lee predicts it as a fizzer)
Some of Dan’s thoughts on Green Lantern and how Australia doesn’t get to see it for ages
2D tickets outselling 3D tickets – 3D Graph

The film this week is of course the Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Lee watched the Blu-ray special edition and Dan watched the theatrical release.

A quick note about the sound quality, Dan feels that the sound levels had some trouble this week and apologises.

Lee didn’t notice any problems.

Next week: Dan and Lee are watching Raiders of the Lost Ark

Let us know what you thought of the podcast in the comments and remember you can use your Facebook login below the comments!

It’s a bonus! Romancing the Stone with the Casta La Vista boys

Lee — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 22:53:02 +0000

Whilst Lee and Dan are finishing sunning themselves and generally lazing around watching films made within the last ten years during their break we thought we’d treat you to a special episode of the Midnight Movie Club. Dan and Lee invited the Chris’s from the podcast Casta La Vista over for a cup of tea and a bit of a chat around the 1984 comedy adventure film Romancing the Stone. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito and was followed up with a sequel called The Jewel of the Nile.

Okay enough chit chat go listen to the podcast you’ve been hanging to listen to!

Sigh.

There now, wasn’t that worth it!?

Only another week without the boys and then season three of the Midnight Movie Club kicks off!!!

Big thanks to the Casta La Vista boys and you should add them to your listening selection (here’s one to ease you in… starring Lee and Dan!!)

Be back in two weeks or be… ummm absent… ummm you know, from the podcast…

Damnit.

Judge Dredd

Lee — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:39:37 +0000

Grab your helmet, lawgiver and your lawmaster and bring justice to unruly masses because this week Lee and Dan are visiting the mean streets of Mega City 1 in the 1995 film adaptation of Judge Dredd. Alternatively you can simply hide within a food dispensing robot and hope it all goes away.

It won’t though so you might as well just give in to the punishment and listen to the podcast:

Many thanks go to Matt Cavendish… no, wait… Caverstone… no, that’s not right… Caverhill! That’s it Caverhill! Many thanks to Matt Caverhill from the blog Culture Kills…wait, I mean cutlery for such a sterling job on both Week in Geek and Three of the Best. Thanks man.

Join us next week when we’ll be watching the 1993 Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, Hard Target.

BMX Bandits (1983)

Midmoclub — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:45:19 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsNjqh1MxiQ

This week Dan and Lee are joined by Ian who was very excited to be here to watch BMX Bandits!

So the boys couldn’t possibly turn that face away at the door, if he showed up at your place with a bag of popcorn and BMX Bandits you’d have to let him.

Of course as it often happens in the Midnight Movie Club there was a little disappointment:

Next week on the podcast Lee and Dan are watching one of Dan’s favourite films of all time. The Sure Thing with John Cusack.

Lee’s never heard of it.

Pee Wee Herman’s Big Adventure (1985)

Midmoclub — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 23:36:14 +0000

This week the boys go back to the world of Tim Burton and it’s all confusing as hell, Lee a long time Tim Burton apologist is hating on it and Dan who has mocked Burton in the past is all for it!?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrRi4saj1q8

Finally we have a movie that forces a divide in the Midnight Movie Club!!

Next week Lee and Dan form their own gang and visit the world of The Warriors.

Remember to leave a comment and share your own thoughts on Pee Wee Herman!

——————-

One last thing, the kind sponsors who provided us with a new microphone last week have just launched a new site. If you’re in the UK and suddenly find yourself in urgent need of a new fridge, dishwasher, oven, or other bit of white goods then head on over to Next Day Appliances who guarantee that they will get one to you by 7pm the next day. Ideal for all your Gremlin microwaving needs.

Batman (1989)

Midmoclub — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 22:49:49 +0000

After a couple of weeks of sweaty Charlie Sheens and hookers stitched together from other dead prostitute parts it was decided to go for a normal film set firmly in reality… a reality where a man dressed up as a bat stalks the night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPLUeA4vwik

Welcome to Gotham and the 1989 Tim Burton film Batman.

The highlights:

The little known “Batman fine” at Blockbuster
Lee likes this Batman cowl, Dan not so keen
Do you know why the bat symbol is different on his chest?
Lord of the Batdance
There is some more poor Irish accents, to be fair this will be the last
More villains, the worse the film
Dan brought a baseball bat for some Burton bashing
Melting Goths in Brisbane should play the practicality card
Dan actually talks about the score!
Lando Calrissian
The thoughts being casting Michael Keaton
The utter awesomeness of the Batmobile

Next week Lee and Dan are watching the anime classic My Neighbor Totoro.

The NeverEnding Story (1984)

Midmoclub — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:04:58 +0000

I don’t wish to alarm anyone but it appears that Lee and Dan have turned out another completely coherent, thought out, on topic and hovercraft free podcast.

I know.

I’m scared too…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3DcWtkKeIY

The highlights:

A hard film to explain to people what’s it’s about (well for Lee anyway)
Who’s read the actual book?
Lee and Dan explore their memories attached to this story and reading in general
Mourning lost childhoods
Dan mocks Lee for reading Doom novels
The library is out to get Dan
The effectiveness of the absence of music
Dan assures us he wrote a very good blog post regarding X and Y generations
Lee calls all other movie podcasters lazy bastards
It’s okay not to be cool
Artax!!!!!!
All twenty-year-olds are arseholes
Puppets are freaking awesome!
Sometimes authors are a little precious
Things get deep
Don’t give up your childlike wonder
The parallels to The Princess Bride
Dan says something controversial about The Princess Bride
Does anyone know how long Bastian is in the school reading??!?
Lee now actually does have an iPad
Guests

Lee’s Rating: 10 out of 10 stars
Dan’s Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Next week Dan and Lee are watching Die Hard: With A Vengeance!

And just for everyone who wants it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3khTntOxX-k

Highlander (1986)

Midmoclub — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:17:20 +0000

Lee had never seen Highlander.

Ever.

Dan assures Lee that fee Apple Macs will soon flow to him
Lee doubts Dan
Dan realises that women watch science fiction
Lee wonders why they aren’t aliens
A Scotsman playing an Egyptian and a Frenchman playing a Scotsman…
Do the sword fights survive the test of time?
Lee and Dan refuse to pronounce more foreign names correctly.
Dan and Lee look at Wikipedia again
Demolition grade swords
Lee admits to not being a sword-smith
Dan likes his villains bald
Lee says Donkey Balls
Dan hates Queen
Dan has an interesting idea of what a spoiler is
Lee mentions Twilight…

So what do you guys think? Is Highlander dated? Is it still awesome? Drop us a comment!

Next week we’re watching Starship Troopers with Arjan!

Tron (1982)

Midmoclub — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:27:34 +0000

Director: Steven Lisberger

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleiter, David Warner

A hacker is transported into the world of a computer and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program.

As promised last week we have something new again this week! We would like to welcome Jeff Caddick as our guest Midnight Movie Crew member as we talk about the Disney computer film Tron.

Dan hadn’t actually seen Tron right up until about half an hour before we recorded this so it’s interesting to hear his take on it with completely fresh eyes.

Support the Midnight Movie Club:

Now in case you can’t get enough Dan and/or Lee you can:

Next week join us as we take to the skies (ummm for a little while) then spend time in the desert and finally go spelunking! That’s right next week we’re staying up and being bleary eyed for the John Woo film Broken Arrow!!

Will Dan and Lee agree on this one? Or will Broken Arrow be the one that drives a wedge between them? Come back next week and find out!

Have an iPod or an iPhone or have iTunes installed? Then you should subscribe via the iTunes store!!

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

Midmoclub — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:30:58 +0000

Director: Stephen Herek

Starring: Al Leong, Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin

Two teenage slackers: Bill S. Preston Esq and Ted Theodore Logan use a time traveling phone booth to collect historical figures from the past in order to pass their school report.

Welcome to a new era in the Midnight Movie Club, I know we haven’t been going that long but we are already making changes, we’re honing our craft, we’re refining the magic. We are changing over to a primarily podcast based blog now.

We know this will disappoint some of you but there are a couple of reasons why we’re changing the format and you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out what they are.

I know.

Sneaky.

This week we are as promised, talking about the 1989 film Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Whilst preparing for this podcast Dan realised that he actually has a page of original artwork from the Bill and Ted’s Excellent Comic Book which ran for 12 issues in 1991.

Look, he can even prove it:

Support the Midnight Movie Club:

Buy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure at amazon.com
Buy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure at amazon.co.uk

Now in case you can’t get enough Dan and/or Lee you can:

Come back next week as Dan prepares to get outraged for the upcoming sequel by watching Tron for the first time!

Have an iPod or an iPhone or have iTunes installed? Then you should subscribe via the iTunes store!!

Back to the Future

Midmoclub — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:30:31 +0000

Back to the Future (1985)

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson

Teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time from 1985 to 1955 by eccentric genius Doc brown. He meets his parents in high school and accidentaly attracts his mother’s romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by causing his parents to fall in love, while finding a way to return to 1985.

You do realise that if Back to the Future was made today Marty McFly would be time travelling back to 1980 (that’s 30 years). That makes me feel very old indeed.

I never thought about it like that, I wonder if there would be as big a culture clash? I can’t imagine life without iPods and the internet. My idle time travelling fantasy would be to go back to even as late as 1990 with Wikipedia fully loaded on to my iPhone.

Forget sports books!! Imagine having the knowledge contained in wikipedia in the past!?

I think the culture clash would be lessened. Although you’re right – the absence of information at your fingertips is probabaly the biggest difference. That and the god awful music that the 80′s had. In fact I think “The Power of Love” may be the only decent song to come out of the whole decade (but what a song!).

It’s a great song, did you spot his cameo in the film too?

No, i didn’t realise he was in it

He’s the teacher who says “sorry guys you’re just too darn loud”

Ahh, well I suppose it’s hip to be square.

ZZ Top appear in the third film at the town dance and of course Flea from Red Hot Chilli Peppers appears in 2 and 3 as Needles.

Plus Madonna plays the waitress in number 2.

Actually she doesn’t, but I was feeling jealous of your astounding cameo knowledge

What about Mr Billy Zane?

Oh shut up.

I think Dan said in last week’s session regarding Scrooged that it was very hard to write something about the film because it was one of those perfect films and I’m finding the same thing happening this week with Back to the Future.

For me BTTF is an incredibly well rounded film that is perfectly cast, perfect pacing, great script, brilliant visuals and more than perfect soundtrack. So what more can you say than that? What is there to say that anyone who has watched this film doesn’t already know in their heart? Well hopefully something otherwise this week’s midnight movie club is going to be awfully bloody short!

So time for final thoughts then?…

Of course not! We’re the Midnight Movie Club! We can witter on about meaningless trivialities for hours without even drawing breath.

Hey, I just remembered some more cameos! Did you notice that Marty McFly’s uncle is the big brother from Wonder Years? Or that his sister is Ugly Betty?

I don’t think Ugly Betty was his sister, remember how old this film is.

I’ll prove it to you:

The actress is Wendie Jo Sperber, she was in 8 Simple Rules for four episodes, she’s actually been in a tonne of stuff apparently. But not Ugly Betty

Actually I’ve got to say that the BTTF wikipedia page is a little lacking.

Don’t those Wikipedia geeks know that we’re relying on them for our entire knowledge base? Come on you guys, get with the program!

There is a photo of the original Marty McFly there, because it wasn’t always Michael J Fox.

Is it me, or has Christopher Lloyd not aged at all in the 25 years since this was made? I saw him in the new Disney straight-to-DVD movie Snow Buddies recently and he looked exactly as old as he did in Back to the Future (*warning do NOT watch Snow Buddies if you can possibly avoid it*).

Perhaps it’s just testament to the skills of the makeup artists that they managed to age him realistically. But if it was then they certainly lost their skills by the time they got to Lea Thompson’s prosthetics. She looked just like Fat Bastard from the Ausin Powers films.

I am avoiding Snow Buddies now. I mean I was going to watch that tonight but now I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

You are completely right, Christopher Lloyd is timeless.

I found his aged makeup surprising actually, I never really paid attention until now that he had the makeup on in the 1985 time period. I’m glad they took care of that in the sequel with a rather clever plot device.

Lea Thompson’s prosthetics don’t hold up as well but are still passible in my opinion.

The problem is that she’s too young really to pass for a 40 year old (or whatever)

Yeah agreed, I think it’s easy to age a man.

It would be really cool if they made a Back to the Future 4 movie, with Michael J Fox as he is now reprising his role and using footage of the first three movies. It would be so intricate it would probably make your head explode.

It would NOT be cool if they did another sequel.

Yes it WOULD!

Dude we are so going to run a poll on this to confirm my absolute right’ness in this matter.

People will point and laugh at you in the street for saying something so absurd, your family will disown you, they will probably deport you… I hope they don’t do what they usually do and send you to Australia, we don’t need your ‘craving a BTTF part 4′ types here.

You know it makes sense man. Back to the Future 4: Back to the Past. I might even start putting together a script right now. I’ll even make sure there’s a part for Al Leong in it.

That’s what would have made BTTF more than perfect, some Al Leong in it.

Every film is better with Al Leong.

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Something that completely took me by surprise as I watched this time (I’ve seen this film a lot) was that in the cold harsh light of reflection Biff is an attempted rapist.

I mean that’s what is going on in that car, he’s essentially attempting to rape Lorraine. It’s something that I’ve never really considered before.They make a joke about how if it hadn’t been for Biff they never would have gotten together… yeah because he tried to rape your mother!?!?!?

Oh look the dude who tried to date rape Mum is waxing the car and accepting our packages?!?!?

Yes, very odd. However in the 50′s (and even 80′s) there was a different attitude to date rape and sexual crimes in general. it’s not completely inconceivable that such things would have been swept under the carpet.

But even given the social norms at the time you are right, you wouldn’t have him waxing the car.

When choosing the auto detailing company you’d probably go with the one that has strangers over the one with your attempted rapist, I’m just saying.

Something else that struck me as a little flawed is the home made wooden scooter that Marty takes off that kid, that just happens to have perfect skateboard trucks and wheels and a convenient back pivot point thingie (there must be a proper name for that back pivot thingie).

I wonder what effect on skateboard sales this movie had. Quite a significant one I suspect.

I remember that Michael J Fox did a public service announcement advising that the skateboard stunts in BTTF were heavily supervised and that kids shouldn’t try it at home. I guess there must have been some parent outrage at the time.

I know that even now I’m idly thinking about heading out onto the main road with amy’s Dora the Explorer scooter and and catching a ride by grabbing onto the back of a passing bus. That should be ok shouldn’t it?

worked in part 2 just fine

I suppose we should talk about the absolutely bloody marvel that is the time machine in this film. The Delorean is just an incredibly cool looking movie car. It’s iconic, I love how it looks like a spaceship in the barn when he first goes back in time.

I had the opportunity to go see it in person this spring, as on one of my long distance walks we stopped in a town that had one of the promotional models in a motor museum. But it was a Sunday and the place had just shut. I was devastated . They even had a couple of Batmobiles and an original A-Team van. Oh why is life so cruel?

We could have taken a tour of the pencil museum instead, but it just didn’t feel the same.

I can’t believe you passed up a pencil tour. No wonder you want a BTTF 4.

We’d just walked 15 miles, so we were feeling a little too leaden for a pencil tour (“leaden”! “pencils”! I am a comedy genius!)

Something that adds to the experience of watching BTTF is the attention to detail contained within. Especially with the subtle changes to the timeline. I never noticed it before that the chunk of ledge where Doc Brown nearly falls on the clock tower is missing later in the future when Marty returns to 1985.

There are the more obvious but clever nonetheless changes such as the Lone Pine Mall name change. I assume there’s a bunch more that I can’t summon up as I think about it now.

There’s another neat little reference at the start of the film which always catches my eye. When we first open the movie and see all the clocks ticking away, one of the clocks has a character hanging off the hands of the clock in very much the way that Doc would do so later in the film. It’s a neat little nod.

Actually I did also note the perfection of the opening sequence, where we do see all of the clocks indicating the owner of the room is obsessed with time. We also find out that he has used his family fortune to pursue his research via the news clippings, although why anyone would frame such awful news surprises me. Finally when Marty first enters, on his skateboard, the board rolls over to hit the plutonium case under the desk (or it might be his bed now that I think about it).

There’s just a LOT of set up in that scene which is very well done.

Yes. In fact the exposition in this movie is handled extremely well throughout. There is only one scene where it clunks a bit – the one where they are walking into the school and it is so obviously overdubbed.

And you’re also right about how wonderfully planned it all is. I can envisage the plotting sessions involving a hell of a lot of index cards pinned to a board with string linking up the various references and plot points. The planning for Back to the Future II must have been even more complicated! I imagine that’s why they decided to set number 3 in just one time period – to give their brains a rest.

Number two must have been a nightmare for the editing team having to splice it all together. I’m particularly impressed with the way they reshot the Jennifer scenes in the beginning, in fact there is a video that compares the two scenes and it looks really cool, the timing goes out slightly but it wraps up at the exact same moment which is very impressive.

Are we ready for final thoughts on this one? I’ve got nothing else. As you say, what do you say about a classic that hasn’t been said before.

Yeah I guess final thoughts are in order, I keep feeling like there should be something else for me to write but the proof is there on the screen, maybe we shouldn’t watch such good films

I’m happily going to give Back to the Future ten double shot soy flat whites out of ten. Perfect film, easy to watch over and over, can’t wait for the blu-ray.

Back to the Future may well be the gold standard to which all other Midnight Movies are measured. As you said, perfect plot, perfect script, and perfect cast. I therefore agree with your score: ten Diet Cokes out of ten. Hey, what’s the point of having a top score if you’re not going to use it?

There are one or two films that I plan on breaking the system with

Next week:

The Great Muppet Caper

Midmoclub — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:00:46 +0000

The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

Director: Jim Henson

Starring: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Golez, Charles Grodin, Diana Rigg

Newspaper reporters Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo investigate the theft of a valuable necklace from Fashion Designer Lady Holiday (Diana Rigg). Their search takes them to London, where they soon team up with all the usual Muppet suspects.

One of the things I like about this movie is that it gives a lot of screen time to Fozzie Bear. I may be courting controversy here, but I think Henson had a tendency to focus far too much on Miss Piggy – who’s really rather a dull character when compared to the rest. Who wants to watch yet another rehash of the Kermit/Piggy romance when there are rubber chickens and “wocka wocka wocka’s!” to be had?

Unfortunately however there’s still far too much of Miss Piggy in the movie. Especially in the middle of the film when the action slows to a crawl. But at least the other characters get a little bit of room to shine whenever the pig isn’t around.

Miss Piggy doesn’t entertain me either, but then that trio of Kermit, Fozzy and Gonzo feels a bit tired (obviously at the time it wasn’t).

Heresy!

Fozzy was better in Muppets From Space.

As the Muppet films progressed it feels like Fozzie became less and less prominent in the lineup. He was criminally underused in Christmas Carol for example. I’m not sure I remember him much in Muppets From Space if I’m honest.

He was one of the commandos breaking into the lab and he was quite funny… for some reason I seem to recall he talked to someone living inside his finger..? I could be wrong.

No, you’re right. I remember now. He was very good in that movie, but then again that’s one of the best Muppet movies anyway, second only to the original.

I think he was good in Treasure Island too, but then there were Ghostbusters and Star Trek references in that film and that delightful Cabin Fever song.

Could I also highlight that at one point Fozzie picks up and plays a ukulele. Now that’s pure class.

Wow, I’m really shocked. I can’t believe I’m about to say this but I really didn’t care for this film. I feel really weird about saying this about a Muppets film as I love all the rest but this one I just wanted to turn off the entire time.

I hadn’t seen the Great Muppet Caper either, it was the one Muppets film that for some reason I had avoided, well maybe not avoided but I certainly never went out of my way to see it until now.

I mean it was nice to see some of the secondary characters but nostalgia will only take you a certain distance and there wasn’t enough for me.

See I think personally I really hated how this film kept breaking the fourth wall and referring to themselves making a movie, something they don’t do so often in the later films. The joke quickly became stale to me.

Really? Because that’s actually another one of the things I liked. I love a bit of fourth wall breaking. Especially as there is a fifth wall that they don’t break (that they are puppets).

Arrrrrg I like a little too but it was like every second minute!?!? Even the opening credits seemed forced. I think I had to go take my diabetic medication because that balloon scene was so sickly sweet and I don’t know… inbred? Can I say that it felt like Deliverence?

It’s not inbred, it’s post-modernism (at least that’s what my cousin told me)

LOL I mean Kermit played the banjo in the first one didn’t he?? It felt like this backwards country aren’t we quaint feeling, I can’t think of the right words. Bleeerg comes to mind.

You’re a hard man Mr Sargent

Did I like anything in this film?

Yes.

John Cleese and the lady playing his wife steal the whole movie. The whole movie. I expect personally that they are representing exactly what the English are like.

In fact I would be disappointed to discover the statement that there appears to be a pig climbing the wall would be met with any more than a slight eyebrow raise and a return to the discussion of the weather.

Well yes, that’s true. We are all like that. Although I’m surprised you noticed that eyebrow raise, what with all the corks hanging off your hat getting in your eyes.

Ouch. At least I don’t have Columbo wandering around my city parks trying to sell watches. That’s creepy. I was worried for a second that we would see Kermit’s face on a milk carton. Actually I wasn’t worried, at that stage nothing had happened apart from me wishing I was watching a different Charles Grodin film… Beethoven maybe?

Blimey, that’s harsh!

Isn’t it interesting though how quickly cameo appearances go out of date. Other than Cleese, Falk, and that guy from Crazy Like a Fox I had absolutely no idea who half of the guest stars were in this movie.

Yeah me too, was that Jim Henson at the club?

The chap with the impressive beard? Yeah that was him. I dream of a beard like that.

It was a very impressive beard!

Oh I did enjoy the ‘bears wear hats’ joke about Kermit and Fozzy being twins. There was little else to enjoy of course

What about that bit when Fozzie tries to pat his head and rub his stomach at the same time? And the whole Museum theft scene which was wonderfully silly. Those both had me in stitches.

I must admit though, despite my massive Muppet bias, I do think there are major flaws. There are far too many boring musical numbers, which seem to be all about Henson pushing the craft of puppetry as far as he can rather than the craft of entertainment. I’m thinking specifically about the bicycle scenes and the synchronised swimming number.

And as I say, there’s far too much Miss Piggy.

there were a few scenes where I don’t think it helped the storyline but they were trying to be super impressive with the puppetry effects which don’t get me wrong, were really bloody awesome just not serving the storyline.

Yes, and they really slowed things down. The pace of muppet films should be madcap, not crawling.

Confession time, I stopped watching with about half an hour to go. I couldn’t do it. I just wouldn’t stay up late watching this movie. I’m going to bed.

Right, that’s it! I’m looking for another Midnight Movie partner. You obviously haven’t got the stamina for it. You do realise we have Police Acadamy 5 on our list? If you can’t take The Great Muppet Caper, then what chance do you think you have with that monstrosity.

I think in all honesty that I have more of a chance sitting through that. I mean fair’s fair I dipped out during Miss Piggy’s water dance number.

I must admit I wandered out of the room for a little while at that point myself.

But by missing the last half hour you missed the film picking back up again. As I said previously, the movie is mainly worth watching for the beginning and the end. The final museum robbery scene is delightfuly anarchic.

I will go back and watch the end, I will if only to be a completist but I won’t promise to like it.

So final thoughts? The Great Muppet Caper is far from Henson’s best work, and the middle section drags horrendously. But for me it still maintains that innocence and, admittedly saccharine, tenderness that has been homogenised out of the franchise since Disney took it over.

I will leave my final thoughts tomorrow after watching the final half hour. I do warn you though if it doesn’t pick up I will savage your childhood favourite like those dogs savaged that woman last week in Moonraker!!

I give the Great Muppet Caper 7 out of a possible 10 cans of Diet Coke. Admittedly if it hadn’t been a Muppet film I’d have probably given it a 5 due to its inconsistency.

Ok I watched the last half an hour and was entertained, if you remove the whole middle of the film and several other indulgent sections then you’ve got a really great short Muppet film.

I thought it interesting that they tied the start of the film with them being in the air for some unknown reason and the end where they have a reason. Interesting, I didn’t say that I liked it.

Ok so my double shot soy flat white rating is a three out of a possible ten cups.

I just wouldn’t stay up and watch this film, I’d easily fall asleep to it.