Lee and Dan's Midnight Movie Club » Science Fiction

Battle Beyond the Stars

The Midnight Movie Crew — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:53:06 +0000

In order to ease everyone back into the brave new non-Star Trek Midnight Movie Club world Lee and Dan decided to stay in the realm of science fiction.

Dan regrets this decision.

Will we have a new sulk on our hands to rival the likes of Wrath of Khan or The Sure Thing?

Maybe. (Actually I already know the answer as I have already heard the podcast).

As well as Battle Beyond the Stars Dan and Lee discus the greatness (perhaps this is stretching the definition) of the following trailers:

The boys also discuss their thoughts on the new DC logo, the fact that The Avengers is going to be told from Captain America’s perspective, which movie makes Lee cry every time, lack of Benji on the podcast and foreign films.

Next week it’s the big 100 episode as we’re watching Big Trouble in Little China.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYY!!!!!

Star Trek (2009)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:12:23 +0000

All good things must come to an end, even Star Trek movie marathons. We’ve laughed, Dan cried, Lee questioned if it was a good idea in the first place (he’s totally convinced it was) but in the end it has all built up to this last installment featuring the J.J. Abrams helmed Star Trek.

Fair warning this is a long podcast, possibly the longest that Dan’s bladder or Lee’s remarkably limited attention span has permitted. All we can suggest is that you skip out on work, hide out in your local school’s storage attic, pace out your sandwiches (you have a long way to go) and enjoy…

In case you still need convincing Dan and Lee are also discussing Lego, Girl’s Lego, Bratz, Storm Troopers, the new Star Trek casting, Lord of the Rings, Mexican eBay, wrestling masks and the following trailers:

Wow that’s a lot of podcast, almost too much gingerbread.

Join the boys as next week they watch Battle Beyond the Stars.

Star Trek Nemesis

The Midnight Movie Crew — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:10:44 +0000

Happy 2012 everyone!

Lee and Dan are back this week and are talking about the final Star Trek: The Next Generation film Nemesis.

Nemesis was a box office and critical disaster so after so many hours of Star Trek films how does the film shape up to their expectations?

This week in geek Lee and Dan discuss the following trailers:

They also chat briefly about Batman Arkham City and the very exciting weight loss challenge going on in the Midmoclub labs!

So what did you guys think of Star Trek Nemesis? Was it really as bad as people have said? Do you think there ever will be another Next Generation film? How was your New Years?? Did you do anything geeky?!? Do you think there are too many questions??!?

Join us next week as we watch Star Trek (the reboot one!!).

Star Trek: Insurrection

Dan — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:11:17 +0000

Hurrah it’s the Midnight Movie Club Podcast Christmas special!!!!

This week we’re reviewing that classic yuletide movie Star Trek: Insurrection. You know – that one where Santa goes missing and so Ryker and Picard save Christmas by reversing the polarity of the Jeffries Tubes in order to use the Enterprise to deliver all the presents to the girls and boys.

OK, maybe not.

Due to poor planning and general lack of management we didn’t actually get round to watching a Christmas film this week, and so Star Trek: Insurrection is as good as you are going to get I’m afraid.

There are a some sleigh bells at the beginning of the show however.

So all that’s left to do is wish everyone a Merry Christmas from us here at the Midnight Movie Club. We hope you have a great one.

Here’s the podcast:

We’re unlikely to put out a podcast next week, but we should be able to manage one in the gap between Christmas and the New Year. If all goes to plan we’ll be watching Star Trek: Nemesis we’ll see you then.

Oh and remember – for all your Slaithwaite and Colne Valley Events and News why not visit Dan’s new blog – Slawit.org. You know it makes sense.

Star Trek: First Contact

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:37:54 +0000

Welcome to the all sex and drugs episode of the Midnight Movie Club oh and the boys are watching Star Trek: First Contact (which has very little to do with either but Lee claims a very loose connection to rock and or roll).

Medicine hour with Lee and Dan as we try to diagnose what ails Lee, (we settle on gall bladder – despite not really know what one is or does).
Star Wars Clone Wars will no longer be mentioned as it’s a given that Lee is continuing to watch it.
Lee has been however playing Uncharted 3 and it’s ok.
Dan has been not completing Deus Ex Human Revolution, X-Men Evolution (we’re not linking to that on Amazon because we’ve heard it’s very very bad) and a Warhammer game (?).
Lee consults with Matt on games decisions.

So after a discussion around how Dan doesn’t know who James Cromwell is (obviously Jack Bauer’s father) things do get a little Star Trek geeky as Lee and Dan over analyse little tiny bits of the plot and technology involved in First Contact:

Jim Robinson from Neighbours (sorry international listeners) arises as an actor to watch in the vein of Al Leong.

Ensign Dave FTW.

Join us next week as Lee and Dan watch Star Trek: Insurrection (the revenge of Ensign Dave…)

Star Trek: Generations

The Midnight Movie Crew — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:17:23 +0000

back from his holiday (although why he bothered going at all is beyond me as he already lives abroad) and so we managed to bash out yet another sparkling episode of the podcast. You truly are blessed.

This week we’re talking about :

Themed theme parks
Full Metal Alchemist
Lee liking Star Wars Episode I more than Ghostbusters
And a load of other things that I can’t remember.

We also hurl abuse at our friends at The Scuttercast and MASH 4077 podcast, because that’s just the way we roll.

Oh yeah, we talk about Star Trek: Generations a bit too.

Join us next week when we’re going to be cracking on with our Star Trek marathon and watching Star Trek: First Contact.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Dan — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:49:08 +0000

Today’s podcast is slightly late as I was a bit tied up preparing for an interview for a job. An interview for a job that I ended up not getting. So if you want to blame someone, blame the interview panel, not me.

Not that I’m bitter or anything *grumble mutter grumble*

Anyhow, on this weeks podcast we take a look at what the poll has exposed as the most popular Star Trek movie amongst Midnight Movie Club members – Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

So what do we think? Well you’ll have to listen and find out.

Next week we’ll be breaking with all midmoclub traditions and reviewing a movie from 2011 – The Big Bang staring Antonio Banderas, Sienna Guilory, and Thomas Kretschmann.

Yes, I know, we’re as excited about this as you are.

Star Trek V The Final Frontier

The Midnight Movie Crew — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:36:33 +0000

The Star Trek movie marathon rumbles forward as we hit the William Shatner directed Star Trek V The Final Frontier (and the realisation that we only have a couple of original Trek films left).

In this week’s week of geek there is:

A discussion of English comedy
Jones is trying to financially cripple Lee
The best segue to discuss Segways – discover Dan’s thoughts on Segways and Lee’s stance on gyroscopes
Dan has been working, though he did sneak in a couple of Batman comics
The DC Reboot, Catwoman’s bras and the state of comics in general
No one likes Dora the Explorer apparently
Lee’s up to date with Haven and the comic The Boys
Dan’s playing Red Faction and Lee’s playing Driver: San Francisco as well as picking up Ico and Shadow of the Colossos.
After the Star Trek discussion Lee and Dan also discuss

Calendar rage
2012 world ending people
Moon landing conspiracies
The film Wanted

So does Lee get upset with Dan and how hard does he have to defend the indefensible Star Trek V??

Next week Dan boldly goes where he’s not gone before and watches the film Frightnight.

Lee’s seen it once before.

Let us know your thoughts about Star Trek V and anything that was discussed in week of geek!!!

Have we gone too far with the Doctor McCoy obsession yet?

Planet of the Apes

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:57:37 +0000

In the continuing quest to alienate our listeners Lee and Dan are watching fan favourite Planet of the Apes and it’s not pretty folks.

No punches are pulled.

But before they get to the movie there is of course the week in geek:

Lee had a migraine before recording this… ummm no real pop culture reference but he does bang on about it
The further adventures of Jones
There’s a language barrier problem
Dan’s cheating at Portal but Lee justifies it for him
Lee versus the zombies… from behind the couch… flinching
Lee’s been reading the comic book series The Boys
Lee’s also been watching Star Wars on blu-ray

Join us next week as things take a turn for the worse as Lee and Dan visit the Final Frontier in Star Trek V which is considered by many as the worst. Lee does warn that he’s a Star Trek V apologist.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Dan — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:38:16 +0000

Dan’s stepping in and taking over podcast publishing duties this week, so you’re getting the podcast three or four hours earlier than usual. Unless of course you were expecting a podcast last week – in which case you’re getting it one hundred and sixty four hours late. That’s just the way Dan rolls I’m afraid.

But boy oh boy do we have a corker for you this week!

THRILL at Dan dicing with death
MARVEL at Lee’s amazing psychic skills
BOO at Dylans’ dastardly behaviour on the Facebook group.
GASP in amazement at the brand new perky promo for the Fantasy Movie Podcast

And we talk about the Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The one with the whales and the nuclear wessles. Hurrah!

It’s all going on here people! The Midnight Movie Club Podcast: the most exciting podcast on the internet*

Join us next week when we’re watching Planet of the Apes.

_{*may not be true}

Star Trek II & III The Search for Spock

Lee — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 22:32:28 +0000

Continuing the Star Trek movie marathon the boys are watching Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan (kind of) and Star Trek III The Search for Spock.

This week in Week of Geek:

There is a pretzel stick incident that may or may not be Dan’s fault
Lee and Dan marvel at the widespread adoption of the term “streaky bacon”
Dan’s been buying logs of wood for manly purposes (building things)
There is no sign of the Lego Millenium Falcon
Dan is cheap when it comes to postage
Dan discusses the world tyre markets
Dan has a blog (you should go look at it)
Lee has been watching Star Trek The Original Series blu-rays
The Star Trek II Wrath of Khan podcast

So does Star Trek II and III shape up better than The Motion Picture?

Next week Lee and Dan are going back to the other movie marathon and watching Conan the Barbarian… by Crom!

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director’s Edition)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:56:05 +0000

It’s finally here!

The beginning of the Midnight Movie Club’s massive Star Trek marathon beginning with the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture, well actually the 2001 version of the film that had minor special effects added as well as a different edit (although it is just as long as the original version – just ask Dan!).

This week in Week of Geek:

Dan is very happy in his new job despite having to go to it more than once a month
In Lee’s office the arms race has heated up and his team are now carrying fully loaded Nerf weaponry
The very fine people of Mexico have to suffer poor impersonations
Lee’s been revisiting the Lethal Weapon series
Dan’s reports back on Arrietty, the latest Studio Ghibli film
Dan enjoyed the Captain America film and it continues the current tradition of Marvel adaptations
Marvel fatigue versus what DC is doing
Lee enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes and is trying to convince Dan

This week sees the launch of the “safe word” element, will Lee need to use it? Is this everything Dan fears? Find out in this week’s podcast:

So next week the advertised Star Trek II & III will not be playing because the internet discovered that Lee has never seen Footloose. So next week the boys will be heading off to small town America where the dancing is banned!!

So what did you think this week?

This episode was brought to you in association with time warner cable internet

Runaway

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 03 May 2011 22:45:09 +0000

We’re back!!

It’s an all new season of the Midnight Movie Club and Lee and Dan are fresh off their break from the podcast and are ready to the films that keep you bleary eyed at work the next morning after staying up too late on a school night!

In fact they have purposely only been watching brand new films of the highest quality just to keep themselves fresh and ready to dive into the vault to dig up the sometimes less than fresh films of the past!

The first film on the agenda is the 1984 science fiction “thriller” Runaway.
It stars Tom Selleck, Tom Selleck’s moustache, Kirstie Alley and Gene Simmons… yes THAT Gene Simmons.

So you have Magnum PI, Saavik, the bass player from KISS and hat box sized homicidal robots plus it’s all directed and written by the dude who wrote Jurassic Park, how can this film be anything but awesome?!?!

Have a listen and see if it lives up to all of its promise:

A huge thank you to Kasey of The Fantasy Movie Podcast for almost being on Three of the Best and for providing the voice for our brand new intro!!!

Join Lee and Dan next week as they catch the bus and watch Speed!

Are you going to track this film down? Have you already seen it?!?

Let us know what you thought in the comments!!

The Running Man

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:02:02 +0000

Well looky what we’ve got here, an all new look for the Midnight Movie Club!

This is really a precursor to the new season coming up where we’ll have all new… um old movies, all new segments… new except for the ones we already do and are keeping… umm look it’s going to be new and awesome.

But that’s next season and we’ve still got this season to deal with!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ceegnWSENQ

This week Lee and Dan are watching the Arnold Schwarzenegger science fiction action film The Running Man (1987). Does the film stand the test of time? Is there some sort of social commentary that can be taken from this? Does Lee say favourable things about Batman and Robin?? Listen to the podcast to find out!!

So what did you think of The Running Man? Remember to answer the poll (right over there on the sidebar!) and leave a comment!

Next week: Lee and Dan are taking a nap, they’ll be back in a couple of weeks with the all new Midnight Movie Club Season 2!!

Stargate (1994)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:43:17 +0000

The podcast is a little on the long side this week as Lee and Dan take a look at the 1994 science fiction film Stargate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YtEp3b-A68

Some of the talking points:

the effect the spin off shows have on the impact of the movie
the structure of Stargate compared to Independence Day, Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow
some of the larger plot holes and how well the movie glosses over them
military discipline and its absolute breakdown in stressful alien environments
the quality of the blu-ray of Stargate and rating films by their colour tones
Lee and Dan are neither scientists or experts on the effect of nuclear explosions in the atmosphere of alien planets

Next week Dan and Lee are watching the Tim Burton directed film Pee-wee’s Big Adventure which Lee is not looking forward to at all (he’s never seen it).

Bonus content:

The horrible thing that Lee’s expecting for Christmas:

And bonus content! Here is the opening from the horrible animated series based on Stargate that Lee mentioned in the podcast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67E-_SQLVRo

Share your thoughts in the comments!!

Battlefield Earth: A saga of the year 3000 (2000)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 22:52:32 +0000

This week Lee and Dan tackle the film considered by many (especially Matt) as the worst film ever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0R_FR9pD2k

Yes the boys are watching Battlefield Earth (was this not evident from the title and the trailer?).

Remember to leave your comments below and share with ALL of your friends!

Next week: Dan and Lee will be watching Stargate, no bloody SG1, no bloody Atlantis and certainly no bloody Universe. The original movie that started it all!

Unless they get stuck for time and then they’ll probably talk about Harrier Jump Jets…

The Arrival (1996)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 22:56:27 +0000

This week Lee and Dan watched the science fiction alien invasion Charlie Sheen is a science guy 1996 film The Arrival.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JRwahO8eIc

Charlie Sheen is pretty sweaty in this film
Charlie Sheen has a cheap nasty haircut in this film
Dan thinks Charlie Sheen looks like Lee in this film
There is also no synopsis to speak of this week.
Lee does 93% less accents this week.
Lee’s no expert…
Dan’s general rule of thumb is not to break into alien strongholds
The pitfalls of having an exposed brain

Next week Dan and Lee finally sit down to watch Frankenhooker. Will it deliver all that the name and their memory promise?

Honestly how could it??

Demolition Man (1993)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:29:49 +0000

This week Lee and Dan visit the dystopian future of the Sylvester Stallone film Demolition Man and for once turn out a podcast that feels semi polished and professional. It may have more to do with Dan’s editing or perhaps Lee’s ban on hovercraft shopping for the 60 minutes or so it took to record.

The highlights:

the most justifiably complex synopsis yet
Sandra Bullock wears tight pants in this and Dan is the sexist one
apologies for past sins (hovercrafts are mentioned)
Lee has seen the future and is unimpressed
Dan agrees.
There is actually some intelligent discussion regarding futuristic settings
Where the hell was Al Leong?!!
There is a lot of discussion around some of the more sizeable plot holes
Does the three sea shell joke still work?
Hand towels can be icky…
Dan talks fire and ice

A note from Lee…

There is some mention of a video in the podcast and unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances there is no video however it would have been hilarious and would have involved me making a cup of tea illustrating my apathy towards Demolition Man.

Regards
Lee

Dan’s Rating: 6 out of 10 stars
Lee’s Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

Next week Dan and Lee are watching The Neverending Story, cue the music…

Gremlins (1984)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:14:15 +0000

Wow, that trailer really contains a bunch of spoilers!?!

Yes that’s right this week Lee and Dan are watching the 1984 film Gremlins which is a really hard film to classify so it’s been labelled a Science Fiction/Horror/Comedy.

in a departure from every other week Dan and Lee had technical problems
behold as the boys screw up Judge Reinhold’s name completely
Lee potentially creates ‘a famous illustrator’ in his mind and sees him in this film
was this released in the greatest weekend ever?
Gremlins scare Dan and Lee (possibly Lee more than Dan…)
Homages to other films including Spielberg’s
Lee can’t even remember the town’s name
Dan and Lee are loving Joe Dante
Stephen King and the construction of character and then doing something horrible to them
Dan identifies the connection to The Wizard of Oz
Lee bangs on about the soundtrack
The utter ridiculousness of the rules and the absence of science
Lee explores the metaphysics of the gremlins
Buffy the Gremlin Slayer – Dan is effing hilarious!!!
Lee and Dan discuss the mother’s place amongst science fiction heroes Ripley and Connor – she goes all Chuck Norris
Dealing with the dog
Dan does a great Gizmo impression!!
CGI vs Puppets
Oh, no more points go listen to the podcast already!!!!

Next week Lee and Dan are watching Dragnet!

Don’t forget your goat leggings!!

Flash Gordon (1980)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:24:47 +0000

This week Dan and Lee kind of watched the 1980 Flash Gordon film.

Dan didn’t really watch the start and Lee didn’t really watch the end
Dan compares Flash Gordon to Schindler’s List despite never seeing it
Lee drops a ghost
The producers bought shares in the oil in the water special effects companies
Lee mentions Judge Dredd
Dan is a little too obsessed with Brian Blessed
Lee is a little too obsessed with the hair in the film
There is an Oompa Loompa!!!
Dan doesn’t like Rocky Horror Picture Show
FRANKENHOOKER!!!
Dan respects the man who dresses as a Klingon
Dan discusses the evolution of creatures with eyes in their mouths
Lee gives advice on building a rocket
Dan now LOVES Queen
Dan and Lee explain the rating system…
… and the cup of tea test.

Next week the boys are watching Gremlins, you should watch it too so you know what they’re talking about!!

Did they pass the cup of tea test?

Field of Dreams (1989)

Lee — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:37:01 +0000

No Dan this week and also no embedded trailer because for some reason a certain film studio doesn’t allow embedding of a 20 year old film trailer because it might encourage someone to seek out the film…

Matt from Culture Kills drops off a couple of things to say
Lee’s first time watching the film (huge and massive thanks to SG3)
It was really hard to classify – science fiction??
It’s a lot shorter this week as well which is always a bonus

Next week’s move is a mystery… maybe Lee’s open to suggestion…

Starship Troopers 2 and 3

The Midnight Movie Crew — Wed, 26 May 2010 08:54:10 +0000

After the success of last week Lee, Dan and Arjan pressed ahead to watch the other movies in the Starship Troopers franchise.

The swearing is back!
Lee admits to occasionally making bad suggestions
Arjan “explains” what Starship Troopers 2 is about with his synopsis which runs in at about four minutes over the actual running time of the film.
Lee does Starship Troopers 3.
There is a lot of sniggering.
All military decisions appear to be random.
Once again Dan injects medieval England into a conversation.
The acting is bad even by Arjan’s level.
Lee wistfully thinks about Survivor season 1 for some reason.
Not enough shootings of Billy’s.
The subtleties of fixing doors and running over extension cables.
Lee pitches Starship Troopers 2 as a horror film.
Why give them crappy guns?!?
Dan likes Starship Troopers 3 more than 2 because it tries harder.
Dan, Lee and Arjan once again get to discuss nudity… but not in a good way.
Lee hates Starship Troopers 3
A lot.
Dan and Arjan didn’t hate it AS much.
Objectification of women in Starship Troopers 3
The most uncomfortable undressing scenes ever.
Lee says “boom boom chicky chicky boom boom”
Lee then defends T’Pol
Dan defends Casper.
Matt C wants mechs and he wants them now!!!
Dan quite likes… nothing to do with this film… giggle.
Arjan thought the singing was funny.
Lee did not.
Dan protected Kerry from the horrors of Troopers 2 and 3
Dan and Arjan turn on Lee
Reviewers are idiots.
Lee and Dan horrify Arjan with The Human Centipede trailer.

What are you waiting for!? Check out the podcast!!!

Next week despite promises of When Harry Met Sally Lee will be flying solo and talking Field of Dreams (which he’s never seen).

Starship Troopers

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 18 May 2010 23:45:12 +0000

This week’s midnight movie club movie appears to be a slam dunk; spaceships, explosions and giant bugs! On paper it sounds like the perfect film for the club or is it?

Would you like to know more?

Oh.

Really? Ummm okay then ahhhh in the podcast this week:

Dan makes a very exuberant greeting.
Dan and Lee are old.
Arjan is not.
There are 86% less insults directed at the Dutch.
Apparently Lee spoke to Casper Van Dien at some stage on MySpace.
There are 100% more references to flogging than before.
Lee is better and more widely read than Dan or Arjan.
No one is defending the Nazis.
Surprisingly less talk about balls.
Matt pops in for a cup of tea and some points about Starship Troopers.
No one likes Carmen.
No really, no one.
Doogie Howser MD.
Lee, Dan and Arjan discuss nudity *giggle* *snigger*
There are bug puns!!!
Everyone turns on Arjan when he refers to Denise Richards as eye candy.
Arjan then brings up penis removal?!?
Arjan then manages to jam Warhammer into the conversation.
Lee and Dan wonder why they invite the Dutch on to the podcast.
Lee just wants to wait in the car park.

What are you waiting for then!!?!

So any thoughts on Starship Troopers? Agree? Disagree? What would you have rated it?

Next week: Starship Troopers 2 and 3 – oh my!

ID4 Independence Day (1996)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:05:43 +0000

Okay guys this one is a long one.

It’s a big file and it goes for about an hour and a half.

But we think it’s worth it

Listen to us discuss the effect alien invasion would have on Con Air Blu-ray supplies, how no one ever cares if the nazi dies, ID4 alien prisoner of war rights violations and how the nuclear weapon ruined the alien’s lunch hour.

Oh and Frankenhooker is mentioned…

…and Lee does a Ghostbusters quote.

Next week we’re watching Teen Wolf!!

Other podcasts you should listen to!

Remember to write to NASA and complain about their anti-stripper-wives policy!!

Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan (1982)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:36:49 +0000

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!

Okay, that’s out of the way now.

It feels like this podcast was years in the making and I can assure you that the quality of the podcast is not reflected by the time gone into it.

Support the Midnight Movie Club:

Next week: Better off Dead with special guest MC!!

Want to watch the movie before next week?

John Carpenter’s They Live (1988 – yes 1988!)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:00:57 +0000

This week the club shuns dancing and corner putting and returns to manly popcorn flicks… well we hoped anyway. There are a lot of guns in this and a lot walking around but there is also what feels like the longest fight scene ever!

I’m never quite sure what to say in these little introductions since we’ll be talking about the film in the podcast and don’t want to give anything away in a sad attempt to interest you enough to listen. Lee and Dan nickname one of the characters ‘Dead Eyes’ if that helps? They also completely don’t bother to learn anyone’s name in the film except the guy who has no name… ummm I might quit whilst I’m ahead.

Join Lee and Dan as they talk about John Carpenter’s They Live!

Support the Midnight Movie Club

Next week we head back into what we hope is enjoyable film watching with So I Married An Axe Murderer!!

Tremors 2: Aftershock (1996)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:00:05 +0000

Director: S.S. Wilson

Stars: Fred Ward, Christopher Gartin, Michael Gross, Helen Shaver

Earl Basset, a character from the original movie, is hired to clean up a infestation of giant subterranean worm creatures from a Mexican oil field.

This week we watched Tremors 2 and some people have already asked why we didn’t watch the first one, well in true Midnight Movie Club fashion Dan saw Tremors 2 late one night and knew straight away that we should watch it for the club.

So we watched it, we talked about it, have a listen:

It’s been a big week for the Midnight Movie Club as we slowly find our feet with the podcast and get various stuff organised.

If you cast your eyes over towards the side bar you can see that you can now subscribe to the podcast through:

If just one podcast a week isn’t enough for you you can also go to:

We’ve also set up an Amazon account so if you want to buy a movie that we’ve watched or am about to, a great way to support the club is by buying through our affiliate links.

Speaking of supporting us, if you liked the podcast why not share it with your friends on the various social networks and bookmarking sites or give us a review on iTunes!

Next week:

You’ll have the time of your life and you’ll owe all to us…

The Last Starfighter (1984)

The Midnight Movie Crew — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:55:04 +0000

Director: Nick Castle

Starring: Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Catherine Mary Stewart, Dan O’Herlihy

For the “best” description of the plot you really should listen to the podcast where you will get more than your fair share of synopsis.

This week’s podcast was cursed, cursed as if we had built a giant house over the top of a sacred burial ground moved in, put our daughter in front of a big tv and lit up some reefer.

We recorded it twice because the first time my computer ate it.

The second time Dan’s computer ate 45 minutes of editing time he had done.

Be happy that it’s finally here.

Was it worth it?

Support the Midnight Movie Club

Buy The Last Starfighter at amazon.com

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

Next week: Tremors 2: Aftershocks

Tron (1982)

The Midnight Movie Crew — 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!!

Back to the Future

The Midnight Movie Crew — 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.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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